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From YouTube: Committee of the Whole 4-18-2022
Description
The Committee of the Whole of the Council of the City of Philadelphia held a Public Hearing on Monday, April 18, 2022, at 10:00 AM to hear testimony on the following items:
220264 Resolution appointing Afroza Hossain to the Citizens Police Oversight Commission.
220265 Resolution appointing Benjamin Lerner to the Citizens Police Oversight Commission.
220266 Resolution appointing Haakim Peay to the Citizens Police Oversight Commission.
220267 Resolution appointing Hassan Bennett to the Citizens Police Oversight Commission.
220268 Resolution appointing Jahlee Hatchett to the Citizens Police Oversight Commission.
220269 Resolution appointing John Solomon to the Citizens Police Oversight Commission.
220270 Resolution appointing Maryelis Santiago to the Citizens Police Oversight Commission.
220271 Resolution appointing Melanie DeBouse to the Citizens Police Oversight Commission.
220272 Resolution appointing Rosaura Torres Thomas to the Citizens Police Oversight Commission.
B
Thank
you
and
good
morning
before
we
begin
the
public
hearing
I'll
make
the
following
announcement.
Due
to
the
continuing
threat
to
public
health
from
covert
19
and
its
variants,
city
council
committees
are
currently
meeting
remotely.
We
are
using
microsoft's
teams
to
make
these
remote
hearings
possible
instructions
for
how
the
public
may
view
and
offer
public
testimony
at
public
hearings
of
council
committees
are
included
in
the
public
hearing,
notices
that
are
published
in
the
daily
news
to
inquiry
and
illegal
intelligence
prior
to
the
hearing
and
can
also
be
found,
counsel
dot
com.
B
C
D
E
C
B
Hey
good
morning
to
all
and
we're
going
to
get
started
and
we
have
a
snap
of
saltwater.
This
is
the
public
hearing.
It's
the
public
hearing
committed
hold
regarding
resolutions.
Number
two:
two:
zero:
two:
sixty
four,
two:
two:
zero:
two:
sixty
five,
two:
two:
zero:
two:
six,
six,
two:
two:
zero:
two:
six,
seven,
two:
two:
zero:
two
sixty
eight
two,
two:
zero:
two,
sixty
nine
two,
two
zero:
two,
seven
o
two:
two:
zero:
two:
seven
one
and
220-272
mr
christmas.
Would
you
please
read
the
title
of
the
resolution.
B
Thank
you
before
we
begin
to
hear
testimony
from
the
witnesses
we
have
for
today.
Everyone
should
that
who
has
been
invited
to
the
meeting
should
testify
should
be
aware
that
the
public
hearing
is
being
reported
because
the
hearing
is
public.
Participants
and
viewers
have
no
reasonable
expectation
of
privacy.
So,
by
continuing
to
be
in
the
meeting,
you
are
consenting
to
being
reported
additionally
prior
to
recognizing
members
for
the
questions
or
comments
they
have
for
the
witnesses.
I
will
know
for
the
record
at
this
time.
B
They
will
use
the
chat
feature
available
on
microsoft's
teams
to
allow
members
to
signify
that
they
wish
to
be
recognized
in
order
to
comply
with
the
sunshine
act.
The
chat
feature
must
only
be
used
for
this
particular
purpose.
At
this
time,
I
would
like
to
recognize
the
one
prime
sponsor
of
the
bill.
Chair
recognizes
councilman
jones
remarks.
E
E
I
want
to
thank
my
colleagues
for
also
being
involved
committed
and
insightful
to
us
being
at
this
moment,
just
to
give
us
a
little
bit
of
reflection
in
1993,
then
mayor
ed,
rendell
created
philadelphia's,
first
executive
order
for
a
police
advisory
committee.
I
emphasized
the
word
advisory
because
it
was
not
what
we
are
dealing
with
today,
which
is
an
oversight
committee
due
to
police
and
community
interactions
that
were
negative.
E
E
That
sounds
like
a
mere
pittance
because,
quite
frankly,
it
was
when
we
began
the
process
of
looking
at
what
other
cities
had
done.
They
looked
and
said.
How
do
you
do
that
on
that
amount
of
money,
when
you
have
that
logical
force
that
many
complaints
and
those
many
investigations
to
have
to
deal
with
on
a
yearly
basis?
E
Council
president
clark
was
not
stopped
stifled
there,
he
helped
us
move
a
ballot.
Question
became
a
charter
change
and
a
half
million
people
agreed
that
there
needed
to
be
something
more
and
that
we
needed
to
have
permanency
a
permanency.
That
did
not
depend
on
the
whims
of
any
administration
of
any
council
of
any
mayor,
and
we
began
that
process
so
where
we
are
now
we
commit
committed
and
commissioned
a
selection
panel
of
individuals
who
gave
their
time
their
talent
to
that
process.
E
I
want
to
thank
them.
Samantha
williams
esquire,
who
is
my
legislative
director,
was
among
them
angelica
hender
hendricks,
who
has
become
the
chair
of
that
committee,
led
pastor
tyler,
who
was
always
a
a
force
for
this
process,
became
a
part
of
it.
Reverend
tyler
held
a
series
of
public
hearings
that
was
insightful
as
to
what
we
needed
to
have
in
a
commission.
I
want
to
say,
and
thank
them
for
their
work,
which
we
will
now
evaluate
today.
E
They
reviewed
over
300
applications
to
whittle
down
to
the
commissioners
that
we
are
proposing
today,
but
I
believe
is
it
represents
philadelphia.
It
has
a
mixture
of
people
that
reflect
philadelphia,
not
just
racially
not
just
gender
wise,
but
also
geographically,
which
I
am
proud
of
the
work
that
the
commission
did
with
that.
I
wanted
to
say
thank
you,
a
genuine
thank
you
to
those
who
are
before
us
today.
E
I
said
before
off
camera
that
it
was
like
being
appointed
to
a
four
year
jury
as
a
jurist
and
I'm
thankful
for
them,
taking
their
time
their
talent
and
often
their
treasury,
to
be
a
part
of
this,
and
with
that
we're
in
the
third
leg
of
this
journey,
and
hopefully
the
final
leg
will
be
giving
them
an
adequate
budget
so
that
they
can
complete
their
stated
mission.
Thank
you,
mr
president.
B
Thank
you
councilman,
and
thank
you
for
your
hard
work
and
your
due
diligence
and
all
the
members
of
council,
both
now
and
prior
to
this
particular
term,
because,
as
you
said,
this
has
been
a
long
journey
to
get
to
a
point
where
we
had
the
appropriate
entity
in
place
that
will
provide
the
appropriate
citizens
oversight.
I
want
to
thank
everybody
and
thank
you
all
for
agreeing
to
participate
in
this
awesome
process.
We
really
appreciate
it
at
this
time.
F
A
froza
is
also
fluent
in
several
languages,
including
bengali,
hindi,
italian
and
french
resolution
number
220265
appoints
judge
ben
lerner
for
initial
two-year
term
judge
lerner,
who
many
of
you
know,
has
a
wealth
of
experience
in
policing,
public
defense
and
criminal
justice
reform
resolution
number
220266
appoints
hakeem
p
for
an
initial
two-year
term.
Hakeem
is
the
youngest
nominee
and
a
recent
graduate
of
the
philadelphia
public
school
system
who
has
spent
his
time
in
high
school
working
to
bring
attention
to
the
school.
F
The
prison
pipeline
resolution
number
220267
appoints
hassan
bennett
for
an
initial
four-year
term
hassan
was
wrongfully
convicted
due
to
police
misconduct
and
was
exonerated
13
years
later
after
representing
himself
resolution
number
220268
appoints
jolly
hatchet
for
an
initial
two-year
term.
Dali
is
a
former
prosecutor
and
the
upcoming
president
of
the
barristers
association
he
currently
works
to
address
police
misconduct.
As
an
attorney
advisor
for
septa's
police
internal
affairs
department
resolution
number
220269
appoints
john
solomon
for
an
initial
four-year
term.
F
John
is
a
boost
on
the
ground,
anti-violence
activist
and
founder
of
endangered
kind,
an
organization
that
helps
local
communities
intervene
in
neighborhood
violence.
Resolution
number
220270
appoints
mariela
santiago
for
initial
four-year
term.
Mary
ellis
is
an
award-winning
youth
advocate
who
has
spent
the
past
15
years,
developing
programming
related
to
youth
and
those
struggling
with
the
opioid
crisis.
F
Resolution
number
220271
appoints
melanie
dubose
for
an
initial
four-year
term
elder
melanie
is
a
community
activist
leader
of
power
livery,
and
a
humanitarian
working
to
eradicate
poverty
in
philadelphia
resolution
number
2202
appoints
rosario
torres
thomas
for
an
initial
four-year
term.
Rossaro
is
an
author,
a
victim
witness
advocate,
and
a
survivor
of
police
officer
involved
domestic
violence.
F
F
The
selection
panel
received
a
total
of
320
responses
and
to
help
narrow
down
the
applicant
pool
each
panelist
reviewed
all
applications
using
a
rubric
to
evaluate
the
applicants
based
upon
one
how
their
identity
reflects
the
diversity
of
the
city,
two
their
community
experience
and
advocating
for
their
neighbors
three
experience
and
navigating
systemic
barriers,
four
experience
and
ensuring
justice
and
advocating
for
transparency
and,
lastly,
a
commitment
to
bringing
forth
structural
transformative
changes
with
this
rubric.
Panelists
evaluated
candidates
independently,
meaning
without
comparing
applicants
to
each
other.
F
The
panel
met
for
two
hours
a
week
for
16
weeks
to
discuss
the
applicants,
which
does
not
include
the
additional
hours
spent
preparing
for
these
meetings
and
doing
additional
cursory
checks
of
each
applicant
altogether.
I've
calculated
that
the
panelists
volunteered
over
120
hours
of
service
to
narrow
down
the
applicant
pool
from
320
to
82
candidates
and
once
the
candidate
pool
was
narrowed
to
82.
The
panel
then
began
the
process
of
considering
the
geographical
limitations
set
out
by
the
legislation.
F
After
reviewing
all
82
applicants
again,
the
pool
was
then
reduced
to
35
candidates
that
were
selected
for
an
interview.
The
interviews
were
held
in
early
january
and
consisted
of
a
panel
interview
setting
where
the
panelists
from
the
mayor's
selection
and
two
panelists
from
the
council
selection
met
with
each
candidate.
F
As
chair
of
the
panel,
I
facilitated
every
interview
amassing
over
18
hours
of
interviews
across
several
days.
During
the
interviews
we
asked
difficult
questions.
We
questioned
the
candidates
regarding
policing
their
community
involvement
and
also
inquired
as
to
how
well
they
will
work
alongside
eight
other
individuals
trying
to
achieve
a
shared
mission.
F
The
selection
panels
process,
as
required
by
the
legislation,
also
included
the
hosting
of
a
public
forum
for
community
feedback
on
the
proposed
nominees.
The
legislation
sponsor
council
member
jones
highlighted
the
importance
of
a
community
vetting
process
occurring
even
before
council's
own
vetting
process,
because
the
citizens
police
oversight
commission
is
for
the
community.
F
Even
though
our
initia,
our
official
duties,
may
be
complete
once
the
commissioners
are
confirmed,
the
work
doesn't
stop
there.
For
us.
We
are
committed
to
ensuring
that
the
commissioners
are
properly
trained
and
prepared
to
fulfill
their
responsibilities
of
the
legislation
and
as
such,
we
have
designed
a
training
schedule
for
the
commissioners,
which
will
include
a
local
and
national
overview
of
police
oversight.
F
We
know
many
members
of
council
are
concerned
about
public
safety
and
are
actively
considering
increases
to
the
police
department's
budget.
We
ask
council
to
consider:
can
there
be
public
safety
if
members
of
the
community
neither
trust
the
police
nor
views
policing
as
legitimate
when
philadelphia
officers
commit
misconduct,
it
trickles
into
all
communities
and
the
harm
is
felt
by
all
philadelphians?
F
F
B
C
B
A
A
F
G
There,
in
particular,
was
a
social
media
post
that
we
found
to
be
troubling.
We
did
give
mr
wong
an
opportunity,
after
the
town
hall,
to
interview
with
us
and
to
provide
an
explanation
and
upon
further
review
the
panelists
decided
not
to
move
forward
with
his
nomination.
We
did
explain
our
decision
to
mr
wong.
After
we
decided.
A
That
that
is
in
the
realm
of
the
selection
committee,
so
I
cannot
argue
about
that.
I
can
argue,
however,
that
I
did
see
the
three
documents,
two
of
which
were
not
authored
by
him
and
seemed
to
be
irrelevant,
though
those
were
authored
by
the
chair
of
the
police
asian
american
advisory
committee,
that
is
mr
quang
mack
and
seemed
to
more
have
to
do
with
just
internal
issues.
A
The
third
and
document
was
a
screenshot
of
a
social
media
post
in
chinese
that
he
forwarded
stating
that
basically
it's
not.
This
is
a
post
from
somebody
else
and
that
was
not
authored
by
him
either.
I
do
understand
that
a
person
came
forward
and
said
he
was
insensitive
at
least
insensitive
and
raise
the
issue
of
him
being.
A
Discriminatory
which
certainly
that
does
not
come
from
those
three
documents
nor
his
reputation
in
the
community
nor
any
of
his
activities.
I
think
the
problem
that
I
have
with
that
is
when
you
open
up
a
public
process
and
someone
comes
in
and
makes
a
smear
against
someone's
reputation
and
character.
A
B
B
E
E
E
B
B
B
E
E
I
believe
sincerely
that
oversight
without
insight
is
short-sighted,
and
I
am
truly
thankful
to
them
for
the
willingness
to
take
a
deeper
dive
into
the
operations
of
what
it
takes
to
be
a
police
officer.
What
some
of
the
rules
and
guides
are,
and
could
you
kind
of
tell
us
what
type
of
training
we
can
look
forward
to
them,
participating.
F
E
F
That's
a
great
question:
councilmember
jones,
so
a
few
of
us
have
have
been
meeting
to
discuss
what
type
of
training
is
necessary
for
commissioners
and
right
now.
We
have
some
guidance
that
will
be
about
a
five
or
six
part
series
for
training,
with
the
first
asking
the
most
important
question
of
what
is
police
oversight
and
what
are
the
requirements
found
within
the
legislation
and
some
of
the
duties
that
these
commissioners
will
have
to
conduct
once
they
are
confirmed.
F
Some
stakeholders,
including
the
defender
association
or
the
district
attorney's
office
power,
lift
free
and
also
some
community
organizations
as
well.
Community
partners,
philadelphia
is
filled
with
several
grassroot
organizations
that
seek
to
uplift
and
address
policing,
and
we
always
want
to
include
them
within
this
training
agenda
and
invite
them
to
meet
the
commissioners
and
so
yeah.
We
we
right
now
have
a
a
five
to
six
stage:
training
process
that
will
really
address
policing
oversight,
primarily
within
philadelphia,
but
also
making
sure
the
commissioners
are
aware
of
their
national
stakeholders
as
well.
B
B
D
C
Mr
president,
I
I
apologize
that
was
me,
but
but
while
I'm
one
I
do
want
to
thank
councilman
jones
for
his
steadfast
work
on
this
issue
and
for
bringing
forth
a
fantastic
group.
That's
going
to
really
help
move
this
agenda.
This
conversation
forward
in
a
significant
way.
So
you
know
I
just
really
wanted
to
say
that
and
thank
you
to
those
who
are
willing
to
serve,
because
this
is
going
to
be
work.
It's
going
to
be
hard
work
and
you
know
people
are
looking
for
outcomes.
B
C
B
Right,
thank
you
councilwoman
all
right.
Well
again,
thank
you
all
for
your
willingness
to
serve.
We
really
appreciate
all
the
work
that
all
of
you
have
done
leading
up
and
then,
as
we
move
forward
in
this
very,
very
significant
process
and
councilmember
jones.
Thank
you
all,
as
always
for
your
your
strong
commitment
to
all
sides
of
the
public
safety
issue,
so
so
important.
B
So
there
being
no
further
question
from
members
of
the
committee
and
no
other
witnesses
to
testify
or
ask
if
there's
anyone
else,
president
herring,
whose
name
we
have
failed
to
call
wishing
to
offer
testimony
on
the
resolution
being
considered
today,
boom
hearing
none.
I
want
to
thank
all
the
witnesses
for
their
participation
today.
We
value
your
opinion
now
by
all
witnesses.
Please
disconnect
from
the
hearing
before
we
go
into
our
public
meeting.
We
will
now
pause
the
proceeding
briefly
as
multiple
participants
leave
the
hearing.
C
B
D
B
Okay,
thank
you
very
much.
We
will
now
go
into
our
public
meeting
to
consider
the
action
to
be
taken
on
the
resolution
before
the
committee
today.
We
will
now
convene
the
public
meeting.
Mr
christmas,
will
you
please
call
the
role
to
take
attendance
members
that
are
in
attendance?
Please
indicate
that
you
are
present
when
your
name
is
called
also
just
to
make
sure
that
your
image
is
displayed
on
the
screen.
Mr
christmas,
caller.
B
That
game,
thank
you.
It
has
been
moving
property.
Second,
that
the
resolution
number
two
two
zero.
Two
sixty
four,
two,
two
zero:
two
sixty
five,
two:
two:
zero:
two,
six,
six,
two:
two:
zero:
two:
six,
seven,
two:
two:
zero:
two
sixty
eight
two,
two:
zero:
two,
sixty
nine
two,
two:
zero:
two,
seven,
eight,
two,
two:
zero:
two:
seventy
one
and
two:
two
zero:
two.
Seventy
two
be
reported
from
this
committee
to
a
favorable
recommendation.
All
in
favor
of
the
motion
will
signify
by
saying
aye
aye
aye;
those
opposed
I
have
it.