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Description
From the Stated Meeting of Philadelphia City Council held Thursday, December 13, 2018:
Councilman Allan Domb (At Large) makes remarks on the proposed sale of city-owned property at 4601 Market Street, Bill No. 181044.
Read the bill: http://bit.ly/2EsHZat
A
Chair
across
counts,
madam
Thank,
You.
Council.
President
two
comments.
One
I
wanted
to
mention
that
Kaitlyn
Feldstein,
my
legislative
aide,
will
be
leaving
after
today.
Sadly,
and
she
got
a
great
opportunity
to
work
as
an
in-house
attorney
at
a
private
firm,
which
is
one
of
the
unfortunate
situations
that
we
face
in
council.
We
could
lose
people
to
outside
firms,
but
one
of
the
wisher
well
and
congratulate.
A
The
second
is
on
one
of
the
dis
comment
on
46th
market.
Over
the
past
three
years,
I've
tried
to
voice
my
concerns
regarding
the
financial
management
of
the
taxes
paid
to
us
by
the
residents
and
businesses
of
the
city.
We,
as
a
council
are
responsible
for
an
operating
budget.
Today
of
4.7
billion
a
capital
budget
of
three
billion,
and
now
a
school
budget
of
3.2
billion
roughly
were
responsible
to
manage
11
billion
dollars.
This
is
very
serious
responsibility.
We
have
to
the
taxpayers
of
this
city.
A
Here's
why
the
cost
to
the
city
our
purchase
was
four
million
to
buy
it
48
million
to
improve
it,
and
we
borrowed
this
money
which
will
cost
us
42
million
dollars
in
interest
until
2040,
for
our
total
costs
of
46
and
market
is
94
million
dollars
and
at
a
sale
price
of
10
million
we
are
set
to
lose
84
million
of
taxpayer
money.
How
do
you
explain
this
to
the
hard-working
Philadelphia
residents
who
have
trusted
us
to
manage
their
tax
dollars
over
the
last
three
years?
A
I've
seen
many
areas
in
this
government
that
concern
me
financially.
Here
are
a
few
examples.
Last
year
we
searched
for
33
million
dollars
which
were
unaccounted
for
and
which
now
thank
God.
We
finally
finally
found
most
of
it.
I've
seen
us
call
to
light
the
fact
that
seven
of
our
bank
accounts
were
not
reconcile
they're
balanced
for
one
to
seven
years,
totaling
over
50
billion
unreconciled,
which
we
are
now
correcting,
which
is
good
I've
seen
us
lease
purchased
the
inquire
building,
which
cost
us
in
excess
of
40
million
dollars
without
obtaining
an
appraisal.
A
Let
me
report
the
facts
of
46
that
market
again,
so
we're
clear.
We
paid
four
million.
We
invested
48
million
in
improvements
in
soft
costs.
We
will
be
incurring
42
million
in
interest
costs
since
we
borrowed
this
money.
Our
total
cost
is
94
million
and
we
were
selling
the
property
for
10
million,
we're
going
to
lose
84
million
dollars
of
taxpayer
money
with
us,
paying
4
million
dollars
in
interest
every
year
until
2040.
For
for
this
debt,
it's
unacceptable.
We
answer
to
residents
and
businesses,
they
live
and
work
here.
A
They
have
trusted
us
to
manage
their
hard-earned
dollars
and
they
pay
us
in
taxes
to
manage
their
money
efficiently.
In
this
case,
we
have
failed
them
in
a
city
where
26%
of
our
people
are
living
in
poverty.
We
cannot
afford
to
make
an
eighty
four
million
dollar
mistake
when
we
have
so
many
other
needs.
This
84
million
is
greater
than
the
77
million
we
collect
in
a
year
in
the
beverage
tax.
This
84
million
is
greater
than
the
homeless
budget
of
the
city
of
51
million.
A
This
84
million
could
fund
the
libraries
for
two
years
and
this
84
million
could
have
paid
council
president
for
the
seventy
one
half
hundred
houses
on
the
waiting
list
for
the
basic
system
home
repair
services.
We
need
to
do
better
and,
while
I'm
not
against
the
proposed
use
of
46,
then
market
I
would
have
voted.
No
as
a
protest
vote
because
of
the
waste
of
taxpayer
money.
This
financial
miss
man
has
caused.
We
should
seek
alternate
solutions.
A
Maybe
the
city
should
consider
selling
half
the
property
to
a
developer
or
someone
who
develops
the
property
and
partner
with
them
so
that
we
have
the
opportunity
down
the
road
to
recover
our
losses
in
the
future.
Maybe
we
should
consider
leasing
it,
but
we
should
seek
alternate
solutions
to
try
to
recover
this
money.
Thank
You
council,
president
I,
wish
everyone
a
Merry
Christmas
and
a
Happy
New
Year
Thank
you
Thank
You
councilman.