Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney vetoed Bill No. 230410, legislation that would create an overlay district across the entire city (with the exception of the 3rd councilmanic district) banning safe-injection sites.
In his correspondence to city council about the veto, Kenney cited that shows safe injection sites, or Overdose Prevention Centers, help to reduce overdoses, improve quality-of-life issues in neighborhoods, and improve access to treatment and recovery.
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“They do not encourage drug use out in the neighborhoods,” Kenney said. “They bring it inside, where participants can also find connections to treatment, housing, medical care, and more.”
City Council rejected this line of reasoning and overrode Kenney’s veto 14-1, with Councilmember Brooks being the lone ‘no’ vote.
Councilmember Mark Squilla discussed statistics from safe-injection sites in Vancouver, indicating the negative affects.
“In Vancouver since 2003, when safe injection sites opened, we were told about statistics of how people who use the safe injection sites that nobody died in those sites, which is true,” Squilla said. “But since 2008, statistics from Vancouver have showed that there’s been a 20% increase in AIDS, 61% increase in homelessness, an 80% increase in crime, and over 1100% increase in overdose deaths.”
With the veto overriden, the overlay districts will become law. Specific areas in overaly districts can be changed by a variance, but the multi-step process is much more laborious than before the overlays were put into effect.
Lozada Introduces LOOP Extension; Other Resolutions
Councilmember Quetzy Lozada introduced a bill to extend the Longtime Owner-Occupants (LOOP) tax deadline, and resolution relating to human trafficking and
Property taxes, never popular in the best of times, have become even more fraught due to the Office of Property Assessment’s most recent reassement, which saw some properties increase by as much as 80%. While property tax increases affect everyone, larger tax bills disproportionately affect those on fixed incomes.
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Criteria for the LOOP program are as follows:
You must meet the following requirements to be eligible for LOOP:
- You are a homeowner whose primary residence’s assessment increased by 50% from last year OR 75% in the last five years.
- You have lived in your home for 10 years or more.
- Your property taxes must be current, or you must be in an Owner-Occupied Payment Agreement or installment plan.
- Your income must fall below the limit set for your family size.
More information about the LOOP program can be found here.
Councilmember Lozada introduced a resolution Authorizing “the Council Committee on Children and Youthto hold public hearings examining the response to human trafficking in the City of Philadelphia.”
According to the resolution 4.5 million people per year are forced into sex trafficking, which generates $99 billion per year. Labor trafficking affects 2.1 million per year while generating $51 billion annually. One in six runaways are likely to become victims of human trafficking.
Councilmember Lozada also introduced a resolution “Recognizing the immense pain caused to the family of Eddie Irizarry, the residents of 7thDistrict, our Latino community and the City of Philadelphia, by Municipal Court Judge Wendy L Pew’s erroneous decision to dismiss all charges against Mark Dial.”
The decision to dismiss the charges against Mark Dial came as a surprise to observers, as Hall Monitor contributor Vanessa Maria Graber reported on Wednesday’s program. District Attorney Larry Krasner will refile charges against Dial.
The pointed resolution ended with the following admonition: “RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That is does hereby recognize the profound grief caused to the family of Eddie Irizarry, the residents of District 7, the City of Philadelphia, and the people of the United States by Wendy L Pew’s disservice to justice, peace, accountability, and her judicial office.”
Harrity Introduces Bill Banning Deportation of Noncitizen Hospital Patients
Councilmember Jim Harrity introduced a bill “Amending Chapter 6-400 of the Philadelphia Code, to end the unlawful deportation of noncitizen patients by hospitals to the patients’ countries of origin without their consent.”
Speaking about the bill, Harrity said he believed medical deportation is a civil and human rights issue.
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“What we’re talking about here are people who are paying into the City Philadelphia tax base, they pay their taxes, they pay their state taxes,” Harrity said. “When they go for medical attention, the first thing should not be to ship them to someplace else, especially when some of the countries that they were origin from, they do not have the capability to handle what is going on with them.”
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