Council Report Card: Week of February 13th
In which Councilman Kenyatta Johnson greenlights the acquisition 136 acres in Tinicum Township for the PHL International airport expansion along with an interesting energy procurement idea; Councilman Mark Squilla permits some new street vendors in the 1st District; and several Councilmembers call for a hearing on whether the cigarette tax rate might be on the wrong side of the Laffer Curve, and whether something should be done about these drones.
Read moreCouncil Report Card: Back to School Edition
City Council has been on winter break for seven weeks, but they're back and ready for action. Or at least for filing some bills. Our Council Report Card is back too, with a weekly look at the top bills introduced in City Council. You can track the status of prior bills we've written about here.
One quick note: this week's Report Card contains bills introduced last Thursday, so they're about a week old. We'll have the latest bills up early next week.
Council Report Card: Week of December 12th
In which Derek Green and Al Taubenberger propose increasing the reward for reporting on short-dumping; Several Councilmembers propose some basic accommodations for pedestrians near construction sites; Mark Squilla proposes a crackdown on SLAPP lawsuits and a rezoning of Queen Village; and Curtis Jones, Helen Gym, and Maria Quiñones-Sánchez request an update on the Police Department's body camera project.
Read moreCouncil Report Card: Week of December 5th
In which Blondell Reynolds Brown, Al Taubenberger, and Mark Squilla propose a new fee to fund the Historical Commission; David Oh proposes repaying teachers who spend their own money on classroom supplies; Darrell Clarke and Maria Quiñones-Sánchez put some land in the Land Bank; and several Councilmembers call for a hearing on turning Philadelphia into a "zero waste" city.
Read moreCouncil Report Card: Week of November 28th
In which Bill Greenlee proposes some fixes to city towing regulations; Councilmembers deposit some land into the Land Bank and exempt publicly-owned properties from stormwater fees; Allan Domb, Bill Greenlee, and Darrell Clarke propose some basic tracking of tax incentives; and David Oh proposes clarifying the protocol for parking by broken parking meters.
Read moreCouncil Report Card: Week of November 7th
In which Blondell Reynolds-Brown calls for a sustainability pro on the Civic Design Review Committee; Darrell Clarke (via Bill Greenlee) proposes upzoning parts of Logan Square; Bobby Henon proposes changing the way city contracts are awarded; Kenyatta Johnson proposes buying some land near the airport; Derek Green, Helen Gym, and Mark Squilla propose giving L+I the power to shut down discriminatory businesses; and everybody except Darrell Clarke, Bill Greenlee, and Maria Quinones-Sanchez calls for hearings on increasing the number of buffered and protected bike lanes.
Read moreCouncil Report Card: Week of October 31st
In which Maria Quinones-Sanchez tries to tone down the reality TV pizzazz of our local towing industry; Council calls for hearings on the distribution of City contracts for Rebuild projects; and Derek Green, Cherelle Parker, and Mark Squilla hold hearings to introduce the Commerce Department's new small business lending consortium.
Read moreCouncil Report Card: Week of October 24th
In which Derek Green and Bobby Henon propose rules regulating the locations of medical marijuana dispensaries; Mark Squilla proposes allowing more housing near the future Rail Park; Maria Quiñones-Sánchez, Kenyatta Johnson, and Bill Greenlee (for Darrell Clarke) transfer some more public properties to the Land Bank; and Cindy Bass calls for hearings on increasing City WiFi access.
Read moreCouncil Report Card: Week of October 17th
This week's Council Report Card is coming to you late because Council didn't post last week's bills on Legistar until yesterday--five days later than usual.
Read moreCouncil Report Card: Week of October 10th
In which Curtis Jones proposes a charter change creating a modest Criminal Justice Reinvestment Fund; Cindy Bass and Bobby Henon propose removing Wells Fargo from the list of city depositories; and Darrell Clarke (via Bobby Henon) called for a hearing on city tax incentives.
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