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From YouTube: Committee on Commerce and Economic Development 3-17-2021
Description
The Committee on Commerce & Economic Development of the Council of the City of Philadelphia held a Public Hearing on Wednesday, March 17, 2021, at 10:00 AM, in a remote manner using Microsoft® Teams to hear testimony on the following items:
200109 Resolution authorizing City Council’s Committee on Commerce & Economic Development to hold hearings regarding comprehensive qualitative and quantitative efforts to improve the ease of doing business in the City of Philadelphia.
A
A
I
understand
that
the
state
law
currently
requires
that
the
following
announcement
be
made
at
the
beginning
of
every
remote
public
hearing
as
follows.
Due
to
the
current
public
health
emergency,
the
city
council
committee
are
currently
meeting
remotely.
We
are
using
microsoft
teams
to
make
these
remote
hearings
possible
instructions
for
how
the
public
may
view
and
offer
public
testimony
of
public
hearings
and
council
committee
are
included
in
a
public
hearing
notice
that
are
published
in
the
daily
news,
inquire
and
legal
intelligence
denture
prior
to
the
hearings
and
can
also
be
found
on
philly
council
dot
com.
A
H
A
H
A
Before
we
get
into
hearing
a
testimony
from
witnesses
we
have,
for
today,
everyone
who
has
been
invited
to
the
meeting
to
testify
should
be
aware
that
the
public
hearing
is
being
recorded
because
the
hearing
is
public.
Participants
and
viewers
have
no
reason
reasonable
expectation
of
privacy.
By
continuing
to
be
in
the
meeting,
you
are
consenting
to
being
recorded
additionally
proud
to
be
recognized
members
for
questions
or
comments
they
have
for
witnesses.
I
will
know
for
the
record
at
this
time.
A
I
None
of
us
could
have
ever
imagined
what
was
going
to
be
upon
us,
which
was
the
novel
coronavirus
which
has
upended
all
aspects
of
our
lives
and
the
entire
world
flash
forward
a
year
later.
This
type
of
conversation
is
even
more
important
as
we
try
to
address
not
only
the
incredible
impact
that
the
pandemic
has
had
from
a
health
care
perspective,
but
also
the
devastating
economic
crisis
caused
by
cope
at
19..
I
G
G
Pandemic
in
that
sidewalk
and
sweetery
bill
that
many
of
us
supported,
we
had
a
limited
requirement
by
the
city
to
give
a
response
within
three
days.
I
think
going
forward
putting
into
time
frames
and
goals.
Legislation
is
very
important
for
accomplishing
speeding
up
the
time
frame
of
the
city.
So
with
that,
I'm
going
to
turn
it
back.
Thank
you
for
having
us
here
today.
A
I
think
it's
important
to
realize
even
after
the
vaccines
are
given-
and
you
know,
people
have
heard
immunity,
we
still
don't
know
the
the
long-term
effects
of
the
virus
and
we
still
don't
know
that
whether
we
need
a
booster,
shot
or
gonna
have
different
mutations,
and
things
like
that.
So
it's
very
important
as
we
go
back
to
look
at
how
we
go
back
safely.
This
may
be
a
long
long
time
that
we're
gonna
be
dealing
with
this,
and
so
we
just
can't
wait
until
it's
over
to
do
something.
A
B
Before
I
start
my
testimony,
however,
I
would
like
to
say
happy
st
patrick's
day
to
all
of
my
irish
brothers
and
sisters
and
friends
throughout
our
city.
As
some
as
some
of
you
know,
for
18
years,
I
work
for
an
irishman,
mr
dan
hilferty,
here
in
philadelphia,
a
very
avid
irish
supporter.
He
took
me
to
ireland
and
had
me
investigate
doing
business
for
our
company
in
ireland.
B
When
irish
people
were
not
considered
white,
they
were
they
were,
they
were
considered
almost
almost
negroes,
I
mean
they're
they're,
they
were
beat
up
on
the
street,
their
homes
were
burned,
their
churches
were
burned
and
they
suffered
tremendous
persecution,
and
I
I
think
that
that
has
has
brought
to
the
irish
people
at
least
some
feeling
of
sympathy
and
empathy
for
what
is
going
on
today
and
what
has
happened
today.
What
has
happened
in
our
country
with
the
africa
population?
B
B
B
The
work
that
we
do
in
the
commerce
department
has
never
been
more
important
than
it
is
right
now,
over
the
last
year,
as
our
city
has
grappled
with
covert
19,
thousands
of
businesses
have
closed
and
nearly
half
are
reporting
that
they
will
have
to
do
the
same.
If
things
don't
change
in
the
next
few
months,
according
to
a
2021
beach
enterprises,
black
business
directory
about
eight
percent
of
the
businesses,
black
businesses
owned
in
our
city
are
now
closed.
B
First
of
all,
there
was
the
government-imposed
shutdown
of
schools,
daycare,
centers,
restaurants,
people
were
told
to
stay
at
home,
logistics
was
crippled,
the
healthcare
industry
was
turned
upside
down.
The
construction
industry
was
shut
down
for
most
of
that
period,
and
air
travel
was
essentially
crippled
during
this
time.
B
I
think
that
the
work
that
we
did
last
year
is
work
that
that
needs
to
be
recognized,
and
I
think
it
shows
that
we
have.
We
have
the
ability,
not
only
in
commerce
but
the
entire
city
and
working
with
our
private
sector,
to
turn
our
economy
around
and
make
this
a
great
place
and
a
continued
great
place
to
do
business
over
the
last
year,
as
we
have
grappled
with
with
covet,
you
can
see
what
commerce
has
done.
B
We
have
worked
with
our
partners
at
pidc
to
deploy
business,
sustaining
resources
in
our
community
all
told
we
inject
injected
nearly
81
million
dollars
in
relief
funds
to
local
businesses.
Since
last
march,
these
programs
include
the
philadelphia
cove
at
19
small
business
relief
fund,
which
distributed
13.3
million
dollars
to
over
2
000
small
businesses.
B
66
of
those
awards
went
to
minority
owned
firms.
We
also
invested
more
than
37
million
dollars
in
cares
funding
to
support
philadelphia
businesses
that
applied
to
the
state's
grant
program
but
were
not
funded.
In
addition,
pidc
has
has
deployed
an
additional
eight
million
dollars
in
funds
to
cover
86
businesses
through
their
loan
programs.
B
B
B
B
Again
I
go
back
to
my
quote,
which
I
like
very
much.
The
future
is
not
said
there
is
no
future,
but
the
future
that
we
make
for
ourselves,
and
this
is
what
we
are
doing
here
in
philadelphia
and
now
we
are
an
example
we're
examining
which
elements
of
our
response
can
transform
how
we
operate
in
the
future.
B
For
example,
just
two
days
before
city
properties
were
closed
to
the
public
due
to
covet
19
dell,
and
I
successfully
launched
online
online
permitting
on
its
eclipse
technology
platform
covet
19
has
yet
to
stop
illini's
permitting
or
licensing
operation
for
a
single
day
now,
businesses
can
file
pay
for
and
submit
additional
information
and
permit
and
print
permits
online
24
hours
a
day.
Seven
days
a
week.
B
Incredibly,
the
l,
r
permitting
operation
has
met
pre-pandemic
service
level
agreements
for
both
commercial
and
residential
plan
plan
reviews
97
of
the
time
throughout
last
year.
I
also
want
to
commend
l
and
I
for
what
was
called
the
report
card
project
which
began
in
2018
and
had
his
highest
average
rating
this
past
year.
B
Through
this
annual
assessment,
illinois
gathers
feedback
from
key
constituencies
on
how
the
department
is
doing
and
when
and
when
it
comes
to
public
safety,
customer
service,
communication
and
innovation.
These
scores
are
published
publicly
on
filmfiller.gov
and
hold
the
department
accountable
for
improvements
in
a
frame
and
a
framework
for
measuring
success.
B
The
idea
of
public
public
publishing
of
our
performance
measures
is
something
that
we're
going
to
do
more
of
in.
In
the
commerce
department
and
other
other
departments
of
city
government,
likewise,
the
department
of
revenue
maintained
crucial
services
throughout
the
covet
19
pandemic,
such
as
payment
processing,
tax
clearance
communications,
and
we
launched
a
virtual
call
center
in
may
of
2020.
B
Revenue
is
also
currently
upgrading
their
online
tax
filing
and
payment
system,
and
this
new
system
will
increase
efficiencies
within
the
department,
but
especially
improve
the
experience
for
residents,
residences
and
businesses.
When
interacting
with
the
city
phase,
one
will
roll
out
in
november
of
2021..
B
The
new
system
will
make
it
easier
for
residents
and
businesses
to
find
and
apply
for
programs
when
they
need
assistance.
Additionally,
the
entire
system
in
epic
and
application
assistance
will
be
available
in
spanish
every
day.
I
speak
to
business
owners
throughout
philadelphia
about
what
it's
like
to
operate
here
and
what
we
can
do
better
to
better
support
new
and
existing
businesses,
while
it's
very
clear
that
there
is
still
lots
of
work
to
be
done.
B
I
want
to
thank
councilmember
greene
for
his
continued
leadership
on
this
issue,
as
well
as
the
chamber
of
commerce
for
their
valued
partnership
and
all
of
the
chamber,
chambers,
business
associations
and
business
owners
who
have
informed
this
work.
Thank
you,
council
members
for
the
opportunity
to
testify
before
you
today
and
I'm
happy
to
answer
any
questions
that
you
may
have.
A
Thank
you,
mr
rasheed.
We
really
appreciate
your
inputting
and
guidance
and
it's
a
breath
of
fresh
air,
knowing
that
we
as
a
city
are
looking
at
all
these
different
ways
to
to
help,
especially
the
struggling
businesses
here
in
the
city
of
philadelphia.
We
do
have
several
questions
from
there.
I
know
council,
member,
green
jones
and
then
gilmore
richardson,
so
councilmember
green.
I
B
I
Get
credit
for
the
boss.
Thank
you
for
that
correction
of
the
record,
but
also
thank
you
for
your
your
long
history
in
the
corporate
sector,
especially
work
at
a
keystone
emergency
health
plan
and
then
amerihealth
caritas.
You
bring
boundless
experience
and
equity
expertise
both
in
healthcare
and
also
from
your
work.
In
that
regard,
I
also
have
to
commend
the
commerce
department
prior
to
your
tenure.
I
From
my
understanding.
That
was
one
of
the
first
initiatives
I
think
in
the
country,
and
then
I
was
told
by
some
of
my
colleagues
that
I
worked
with
in
national
league
cities
and
democratic
minister
officials
of
a
city
actually
providing
dollars
to
small
businesses,
either
through
a
grant
or
loan
impacted
by
the
pandemic,
and
that
was
funded
with
dollars
not
only
identified
by
the
commerce
department,
but
also
through
their
own
efforts
to
raise
dollars
from
private
entities,
as
well
as
to
city
council's
85
million
transfer
ordinance
that
we
did
at
the
beginning
the
pandemic.
I
And
so
I
also
want
to
say
thank
you
for
your
new
initiative
of.
I
think
the
commerce
one-on-one
providing
opportunity
for
businesses
to
have
direct
conversations
with
the
commerce
department
to
address
some
of
the
issues
that
we're
talking
about
to
allow
them
to
navigate
through
some
of
the
challenges
they
have
in
doing
business
in
the
city
of
philadelphia
and
with
the
city.
I
Last
year
during
the
budget
crisis-
and
I
know
we
did
have
a
750
million
dollar
deficit
but
be
quite
frank-
the
commerce
department's
budget
was
decimated.
Now
it
was,
we
used.
Cdbg
cares
dollars
to
maintain
the
staff
levels
at
the
common
department,
but
when
you
think
of
a
global
pandemic
like
covet,
which
not
only
wasn't
a
health
crisis,
but
it
was
also
economic
calamity
for
so
many
businesses
in
the
city
of
philadelphia,
especially
african-american-owned
businesses.
I
When
you
look
at
the
data
from
a
u.s
census,
we
saw
a
significant
drop-off
of
afghan
african-american-owned
businesses
compared
to
white
businesses,
68
percent
drop-off
compared
to
44
percent
drop-off
for
white-owned
businesses.
So
my
concern
as
we
go
into
this
new
budget
season
with
the
mayor's
budget
address
on
april
15th.
I
really
want
to
get
a
perspective
of
how
commerce
will
be
at
the
table
in
reference
to
dollars
being
allocated
to
the
commerce
department.
I
I
know
we
do
have
a
450
million
dollar
deficit
and
we
will
be
receiving
two
tranches
of
dollars
from
the
american
rescue
plan,
one
within
less
than
60
days.
That
will
go
a
long
way
in
helping
us
to
address
our
budget
deficit,
450
million
dollars
and
then
another
tranche
next
year.
But
my
concern
is
the
prioritization
of
the
commerce
department
in
those
dollars
for
economic
development
activity
for
businesses
and
also
how
we
bring
back
a
number
of
industries
in
our
city.
I
I
look
at
what's
happened
in
other
jurisdictions
in
particular
baltimore
and
I've
said
this
anecdote
quite
a
bit
that
you
know
during
last
fall
during
a
monday
night
football
game,
there
was
advertisements
into
philadelphia
from
baltimore
and
tourism
industry
talking
that
come
to
baltimore
to
spend
their
dollars
recently.
I
did
a
tour
of
septa
and
we're
looking
at
some
of
the
challenges
the
scepter
is
having,
and
there
was
once
again
advertisements
in
the
city
of
philadelphia
at
the
newly
renovated
fit
the
market
station
saying
come
to
baltimore.
I
So
I
want
to
get
a
sense
from
your
perspective.
I
know
the
budget
has
not
been
completed
yet,
but
I
want
to
get
some
sense
of
how
the
work
of
your
department
will
be
prioritized
within
this
administration,
because,
yes,
the
pandemic
has
been
a
health
calamity,
but
has
also
been
a
very
significant
economic
crisis
and
we
need
to
make
sure
we
are
prioritizing
the
resources
that
we
can
to
help.
I
B
Thank
you,
councilman
and
those.
I
absolutely
agree
with
your
comments
there.
We
we
have
set
forth
four
major
priorities
for
the
commerce
department.
We
have
been
discussing
those
those
priorities
with
the
administration
and
I
think
the
administration
is
100
behind
us.
I
appreciate
the
support
that
we've
gotten
from
the
mayor's
office
from
the
from
the
budget
office
from
every
every
department.
B
So
business
response
is
a
huge
priority
of
ours.
I
I
try
to
explain
some
of
the
things
that
we
have
done
in
in
spite
of
the
covet
pandemic.
I
try
you
know
we
have
been
working
very
closely.
You
know
in
the
last
month,
or
so
actually,
two
months
with
the
restaurant
industry,
trying
to
make
things
better
for
them
doing
everything
that
we
can
for
them
and
also
their
employees.
We're
engaged
now
with
bulma
the
business
office
and
managers
association.
B
We
had
a
proposal
to
to
create,
what's
called
a
business
response
unit
in
the
commerce
department,
that
a
a
prospective
business
owner
could
just
call
and
there'll
be
one
person,
one
number
they
would
call
and
one
person
would
be
assigned
to
them,
and
this
person
could
walk
across
all
47
departments
of
philadelphia
government
and
fix
whatever
they
needed
for
them,
and
they
would
be
able
to
look.
The
business
owner
will
be
able
to
look
into
a
portal
and
see
where
we
were
in
that
process
at
any
point
in
time.
Where
is
that?
B
Where
is
their
application
for
a
permit?
Where
is
their
application
for
a
license,
et
cetera,
et
cetera,
that
was
that
was
put
together
in
2018?
It
was.
It
was
put
on
the
back
burner
because
of
the
pandemic.
It
is
a
number
one
priority
in
our
budget
submission
this
year
to
be
able
to
restart
the
business
response
team
because
it
would
mean
so
much
so
much
to
us.
B
14
years
later,
we
had
6
000
employees
and
we
were
in
16
states
and
we
accomplished
that
growth
and
we
were
able
to
attract
states
to
bring
jobs
into
the
city
of
philadelphia,
not
because
we
waited
for
those
states
to
say
okay,
we
we
want
to
come
to
philadelphia.
We
have
a,
we
have
a
competition
between
philadelphia
and
baltimore
or
whatever
we
got
to
those
states
long
before
the
decision
to
make
to
make
a
move
got
to
the
c-suite.
B
We
had
people
going
out
to
those
states
long
before
sp,
fanning
out
to
those
states
and
selling
amerihealth
to
those
states
before
they
even
thought
they
needed
amerihealth
we
mean
we
were
selling
and-
and
I
think
this
is
what
we
have
to
do-
a
lot
more
other
cities.
Do
a
lot
more
of
that?
You
talked
about
baltimore
they're
selling
before
a
company
really
has
made
a
decision,
they
haven't
even
thought
about
making
making
a
decision,
and
so
this
is
the
kind
of
thing
that
I
think
that
we
need
to
do.
It
takes
resources.
B
We
hope
that
the
stimulus
money
will
help
us
out.
We
hope
that
the
budget
will
help
us
out,
but
we
know
that
I'm
sure
that
I
don't
know
exact
number,
but
for
every
dollar
we
invest
in
trying
to
attract
business.
The
roi
is
going
to
be
a
multiple
of
multiple
of
those
dollars,
and
so
business
attraction
is
extremely
important.
For
us.
Working
on
the
commercial
quarters
is,
is
the
I
think,
the
most
important
thing
that
we
do?
There
are
studies
out.
It's
interesting.
B
It's
not
necessarily
what's
going
on
in
the
subway
system,
but
the
most
direct
connection
between
doing
something
and
growth
is
equity.
It's
equity
in
terms
of
business
opportunity,
especially
for
black
and
brown
businesses.
That
is
the
most
direct
connection
between
something
that
we
can
do,
and
growth
and-
and
so
that's
why
we
are.
B
We
want
to
spend
even
more
of
our
efforts
in
trying
to
build
equity
opportunities
for
black
and
brown
business
people,
that's
what
these
grants
have
been
all
about
and
as
we
go
to
the
federal
government
and
try
to
prioritize
stimulus
money,
I
think
you're
going
to
see
that
that
is
going
to
be
a
huge
priority
of
ours.
This
is
trying
to
create
more
and
more
opportunities
for
black
and
brown
businesses
who
will
hire
black
and
brown
people.
Black
and
brown.
B
Businesses
are
the
biggest
opportunity
for
black
and
brown
people
to
get
jobs,
but
there
has
to
be
more
black
and
brown
businesses
to
be
able
to
hire
those
people.
So
that's
that's
that's.
I
would
call
it
our
second
opportunity,
I'm
sorry,
our
third
area
of
priority,
the
fourth
priority
is
obviously
jobs
and
that's
that
there's
a
department
in
in
the
commerce
department
which
works
on
workforce-
and
we
have
to
do
a
lot
better
job.
B
We
have
to
do
much
much
better
as
a
society
and
as
a
city
in
terms
of
creating
more
and
more
jobs
in
our
in
our
in
our
city
and
and
the
last
one
is
obviously
the
oeo
office
of
economic
opportunity.
The
city
has
a
goal
of
35
percent,
minority
participation
and
economic
opportunity.
We
fell
down
the
past
this
past
year
we
went
from
35
percent
to
30
percent.
We
have
some
ambitious
plans,
not
only
to
get
our
own
departments,
and
the
mayor
is.
B
B
I
Well,
mr
rashid,
thank
you
for
that
perspective.
I
know
you
ken
fegley
von
boy,
all
the
staff,
the
commerce
department
are
committed
to
those
goals.
When
you
talk
about
equity,
when
you
think
about
the
city
of
philadelphia
having
25
percent
poverty
rate
and
the
african-american
population
is
about
40
44,
but
african-americans
only
own
six
percent
of
the
businesses
that
have
employees.
I
I
look
at
hispanic
population
in
the
city
of
philadelphia,
it's
about
15,
but
our
latin
brothers
and
sisters
only
own
four
percent
of
the
businesses
with
employees
in
the
city
of
philadelphia.
We're
not
going
to
be
able
to
grow
out
of
poverty
unless
we
grow
businesses,
especially
in
those
communities.
I
D
Thank
you,
mr
chairman,
and
thank
you
for
bringing
this
needed
hearing
to
the
public
space.
First,
let
me
thank
you.
Both
miss
harrison
and
also
mr
rashid.
This
is
your
first
time
testifying
before
council
and
both
of
you
come
from
a
private
sector
background
and
ran
away
and
joined
the
public
kind
of
service
space,
so
a
non-profit
space.
D
D
So
to
that
end,
are
you
prepared
to
talk
about
the
programs
that
I
know
as
a
board
member
of
pidc
and
working
with
commerce
and
the
chamber
have
been
targeted
and
I
think
there's
some
good
news
there
about
your
ability
and
your
partnerships
to
penetrate
that
particular
vulnerable
black
and
brown
community
and
I'm
sure
miss
harrison
is
gonna.
Have
some
input
on
that?
Can
you
speak
to
that.
B
B
Sarah
comes
to
us
as
forum
she's,
formerly
executive,
director
of
the
west
philadelphia
skills
initiative,
and
I
think
her
presence
points
to
the
high
priority
that
we're
gonna
place
on
jobs
and
jobs,
job
training,
especially
to
try
to
build
up
folks
in
the
in
the
black
and
brown
communities.
There's
also
karen
fagley,
who
works
with
the
neighborhood
business
services
that
we
provide
and
libby
libby
peters,
is
here
with
us
who
works
very
closely
with
pidc
and
and
and
our
data
capabilities.
H
I
think
somebody
needs
to
meet.
We
have
been
yeah
working
closely
with
pidc
and
with
all
of
our
partners
on
making
sure
that
we
could,
you
know,
make
all
of
our
grants
and
relief
programs
as
accessible
as
possible.
We
are
you
know
we
we,
we
always
need
to
do
more,
so
we're
always
working
for
continuous
improvement,
but
we're
pretty
pleased
that
we
feel
like
we
have
been
intentional
and
it
has
paid
off.
You
know
with
some
of
the
results
we've
gotten.
H
Got
it
yeah
I
mean
I
can
I'll
start
karen
if
that's
right
with
restored
reopen,
which
was
the
I
guess,
second
iteration,
of
a
relief
program
that
we
did,
and
this
was
in
the
wake
of
george
floyd's
murder,
and
we
we
partnered
very
closely
with
community-based
organizations
on
this
program.
So
we
really
took
the
learnings
that
we
had
from
the
small
business
relief
fund
where
we
reached
a
really
large
amount
of
businesses,
2
000
businesses,
66
of
which
were
minority
owned.
But
we
still
had
things
that
we
learned
from
there
right.
H
That
is
a
bit
of
a
reflection,
unfortunately
of
who
was
hurt
during
the
civil
unrest.
It
was
a
lot
of
our
businesses
on
52nd
street
22nd
and
lehigh
raw
germantown
in
erie,
but
I
think
that's
an
example
of
us
really
taking
what
we
learned
applying
it
to
the
next
program,
and
I
think
we've
continued
to
do
that
with
each
program.
D
So
you
guys
are
modest
and
I'm
gonna
brag
for
you
every
pidc
meeting
I
attend
every
exchange.
We
have
as
a
collective
I'm
hearing
unprecedented
numbers
of
penetration
into
communities
outside
of
center
city
and
into
black
and
brown
businesses,
and
I'm
thankful
as
a
council
member
who
represents
52nd
and
jefferson,
which
was
hard
hit
and
areas
throughout
my
my
district
and
my
staffer
josh
cohen,
literally
coordinated
and
shepherded
a
lot
of
the
applications
from
my
district
to
you
guys
and
what
I
appreciate
was
the
yeses
came
quick,
but
the
no's
came
quicker.
D
D
D
B
D
Great
and
finally,
what
we
discovered
in
some
of
the
responses
and
the
programs
related
to
getting
folks
back
open
is
that
there
was
a.
There
was
a
great
need
for
technical
assistance
for
small
businesses
and
some
of
them,
even
though
they
were
even
successful,
did
not
have
the
best
record-keeping
the
best
ability
to
respond
to
applications.
B
So
so
I'm
gonna
ask
karen
and
libby
to
comment
on
it,
but
but
from
my
perspective
I
am
I'm
really
excited
about
the
network
of
local
organizations
that
we
partner
with
whether
they
are
our
cdcs,
like
the
enterprise
center
or
or
the
cdfi
network
around
the
city.
Many
many
many
great
organizations
like
west
philadelphia,
financial
services,
which
I
believe
is
in
your
district
or
councilman
guardia's
district,
no.
B
I'm
sorry,
which
is
which
is
in
your
district,
but
many
many
other
organizations
like
that.
It's
a
tremendous
network
we
meet
with
them
all
the
time,
as
well
as
the
business
improvement
districts
who
we
we
we
fund
in
each
one
of
these
organizations,
some
not
every
not
all
of
them,
but
there
is
funding
that
we
are
able
to
supply
to
each
one
of
those
organizations
to
bring
technical
assistance
to
businesses
in
their
quarters.
You
know
everything
is
local
councilman.
I
don't
have
to
tell
you
that
everything
is
local.
B
Everything
is
about
relationships
and
and
having
some
so-called
expert
coming
from
city
council,
I'm
sorry
from
the
commerce
department
or
city
government
is
not
the
same
as
having
an
expert
that
you
know
who's
right
there
in
your
neighborhood,
so
we
contract
with
these
folks
to
help
people
get
their
books
together
to
get
their
their
management
structure
together
to
get
whatever
it
takes
to
be
able
to
present
and
pitch
their
services
to
others.
In
addition
to
that,
we
do
contract
with
experts.
B
We
are
contract
with
cpa
firms,
we
contract
with
management,
consulting
firms,
and-
and
we
need
to
do
more
of
that-
we
need
to
do
more
of
that,
and
that's
going
to
be.
If
I
have
anything
to
do
with
it,
that's
going
to
be
a
major
effort
that
we're
going
to
try
to
try
to
support
because
it
was
because
again
relationships
are
everything
local,
local,
being
local
is
extremely
important,
because
you
can,
you
can
respond
to
things
that
we
would
just
never
know
about
if,
if
you're
local,
so
that's
that's
really
important.
B
When
we
met
with
the
cdi
cdf
our
net
network
about
three
weeks
ago,
we
asked
them
they
were.
They
were
saying
what
you
were
saying
and
they
we
asked
them
to
give
us
a
proposal
and
so
they're
going
to
give
us
a
proposal,
hopefully
soon,
as
as
an
entire
network
for
how
they
can
help
and
partner
with
commerce
and
in
the
city
of
philadelphia
to
spur
economic
development
in
their
areas.
D
D
This
some
of
the
closures
and
some
of
the
even
looting
was
a
clearance
sale
and
they
were
able
to
restock
reopen
quickly
for
others,
it
was
a
fatal
blow
and
on
those
corridors
you
see
vacant
stores
that
will
probably
never
open
with
the
same
ownership.
Again,
how
can
we
work
with
the
state
to
look
at
different
products
offered
small
businesses
in
philadelphia
that
deal
with
issues
like
high
risk
pandemic
and
even
closures
due
to
unforeseen
looting?
And
how
can
we
work
to
at
least
discuss
discuss
these
issues.
H
Yeah,
that's
not
something
we've
really
tackled,
as
you
know,
as
the
director
and
councilman
you've
said
like
so
all
this
other
stuff,
we
were
very
aware
of.
You
know
the
need
to
for
better
taxes
and
bookkeeping,
and
all
of
that
we
we
were
aware
that
there
were
probably
you
know:
people
didn't
have
the
right
insurance,
but
we
haven't
had
to
deal
with
it
in
this
way
until
this
year
and
so
yeah.
That
is
a
great
idea.
It's
something
we
can
look
into
with
some
of
our
partners
and
maybe
lobby
at
the
state.
H
D
B
Well,
councilman,
I
have
to
say
that
as
a
newbie
here,
the
tour
that
I
took
with
you
on
west
54th
street
was
a
real
eye-opener
for
me
in
in
terms
of
the
role
that
we
can
play,
but
because
we
we
do
have
neighborhood
business
services
representatives
under
nazis
under
nasa's
leadership.
We
do
have
those
people
spread
out
into
commercial
quarters
around
the
city.
B
C
H
Confirm
for
you
that
that
you're
right
that
that's
one
of
the
sort
of
you
know
the
good
things
that
came
out
of
this
really,
you
know
the
really
hard
year.
Is
that
connection
with
emergency
management
and
with
the
police
department
and
with
all
the
contacts
and
network
that
commerce
has
built
up
over
the
years.
So
that
will
continue.
H
E
How
you
all
are
analyzing
and
looking
at
the
labor
market
indicators
as
a
tool
to
figure
out
how
you
invest
in
in
business,
because
we
know
we,
we
do
a
lot
of
investment
with
small
businesses,
but
I'm
very
concerned
about
the
middle
market,
businesses
and
the
smaller
ones
that
need
to
kind
of
grow
their
capacity
as
well.
So
that's!
I
know
that
was
a
lot
in
one
question,
but
I
wanted
to
to
start
with
that.
E
E
But
in
that
vein
I
wanted
to
talk
about
how
commerce
is
working
with
the
school
district
again
on
those
labor
market
indicators
to
help
them
with
their
curriculum,
realignment
around
the
business
opportunities
we're
seeing
for
philadelphia,
particularly
post
pandemic.
So
that's
the
the
second
part
of
that
question
and
then
I
wanted
to
go
to
the
business
accelerator
teams
and
just
figure
out
where
you
all
are
currently
with
those
teams,
and
you
know,
have
they
started
to
work
yet
and
sort
of.
What's
the
status
update
there.
B
H
However,
you
know
this
one
another
one
of
the
benefits
of
the
crisis
is:
is
everyone
coming
together,
and
so
the
way
folks
came
together
from
all
the
departments
around
outdoor
dining
has
really
laid
some
great
groundwork
for
us
to
continue
this
justine
bocus
is
our
senior
director
on
this
issue
and
we'll
continue
to
lead.
It
lead
the
interdepartmental
coordination.
We
have
requested
some
funds
in
the
fy
22
budget
to
get
it
launched.
H
We're
hoping
that
if
we're
able
to
do
that,
we'll
be
able
to
step
up
sort
of
case
management,
interdepartmental
coordination
and-
and
some
technology
needs
that
we
have
so
that
that
we
can
all
work
better
together.
We
know
we
understand
that
this
is
a
business
issue.
So
it's
a
it's
a
city
issue,
it's
a
revenue
issue,
but
it's
also
very
much
an
equity
issue.
You
know
really
large
businesses
with
with
whole
teams
of
folks
have
that
have
that
have
the
time
and
the
and
the
deep
pockets
to
maybe
navigate
some.
H
B
A
B
A
I
I
H
Morning
making
it
work
yes,
and
I
have
been
in
the
commerce
department
for
about
a
month
but,
as
mike
said
earlier,
I
do
have
a
background
in
workforce
development.
So
I
appreciate
the
question.
I'm
might
if
I
remember
the
questions
in
order.
I
might
work
from
the
back
so
talking
about
labor
market
information.
H
I
mean,
I
would
say
two
things
about
what
we're
seeing
in
the
labor
market,
and
the
first
thing
is
what
we're
seeing
in
almost
every
area
as
a
result
of
this
pandemic
is,
is
that
the
most
impacted
communities
are
those
communities
that
already
had
the
least
amount
of
access
to
begin
with.
So
I
think
that
any
strategy
that
we
pursue
needs
to
keep
that
in
mind
and
labor
market
data
indicates
that
we
have
some
really
exciting
opportunities
here
in
the
city
of
philadelphia.
H
We
have
exciting
opportunities
in
logistics
in
e-commerce.
We
also
have
the
same
in
life
sciences,
particularly
in
cell
and
gene
therapy.
So
I
think
it's
a
two-pronged
approach
that
has
us
investing
doubling
down
in
areas
where
there
are
middle
skills,
middle
wage,
job
opportunities
and
then
also
there
is.
There
is
a
really
dire
need
to
make
sure
that
those
positions
are
filled
with
philadelphians,
who
are
here
now,
and
the
building
of
the
workforce
system
to
connect
folks
intentionally
to
those
investments
in
logistics
in
life
sciences
in
healthcare.
H
I
think
that
is
the
role
of
the
workforce,
development
and
adult
education
and
training
system
that
we
have
here
in
our
city.
So
so
I
think
we
have
data
to
show
us
where
to
go
next
and
as
a
result
of
kind
of
the
size
of
our
department
and
the
partnerships
that
we
had
have
with
pw
pwi,
philadelphia
works
and
with
pidc.
E
For
me,
I
feel
like
we're
not
connecting
all
the
dots,
and
this
is
not
on
commerce
right,
because
you
know
this
is
about
the
coordination
of
effort
to
ensure
that
you
know
what
we
need
to
take
place
in
the
meantime
in
between
time
to
make
the
connection
actually
happens.
So
you
know
we
know
that
we
have
these
opportunities,
particularly
you
know
at
the
navy
yard.
E
It
won't
happen
because
we've
all
had
a
conversation
we
have
to
map
it
out,
put
it
down
on
paper
to
ensure
that
it's
actually
taking
place.
I
appreciate
you
bringing
that
up,
because
it
was
right
on
task
and
on
target
with
the
industries
that
I
was
specifically
thinking
about,
and-
and
I
want
to
be
very
involved
with
that
and
ensuring
that
we
make
that
happen.
I
might
already
introduce
a
resolution
on
curriculum
realignment.
E
I
mean,
I
appreciate
all
the
support
from
commerce,
but
I
want
to
continue
to
think
about
how
we
work
through
those
challenges.
Absolutely
I'd
be
happy
to
work
with
you
on
that.
Okay,
that'll
be
excellent.
Excellent
and
the
other
thing
I
wanted
to
to
circle
back
to
was
how
you
all
in
commerce,
are
prioritizing
your
investment
in
the
workforce
development
unit
within
commerce.
H
You
go
sure.
Well,
as
we
I
mean,
I
think
that
the
par
the
area
of
commerce
workforce
development
now
has
learned
how
to
do
more
with
less.
I
think
that
that
is
that
is
obvious,
and
I
think
that
they're
continuing
to
put
out
really
high
quality
work
in
a
couple
of
areas.
I
think
that
the
first
thing
that
they're
doing
is
sort
of
piloting
initiatives
like
the
fair
chance
hiring
initiative
like
the
achievers
initiative,
which
is
focused
on
high
school
equivalency.
H
These
are
programs
that
they've
stood
up
with
the
resources
that
they
have
available
and
have
the
opportunity
to
expand
more
broadly
city-wide
if
we
can
improve
their
effectiveness.
So
I
think
that
that
is
one
function
that
that
area
is
fulfilling
right
now.
I
also
believe
that
the
partnership
with
philadelphia
works
couldn't
be
more
important.
H
So
I
know
that
workforce
is
obviously
a
priority
for
michael
the
administration.
For
me,
so
I
think
the
most
important
thing
we
can
do
right
now
is
to
find
a
lot
of
role,
clarity
and
make
sure
that
everybody's
going
to
playing
to
their
strengths.
So
I
see
more
coming
out
on
that
over
the
next
few
weeks,
particularly
as
it's
related
to
some
of
the
earmarks
and
other
opportunities
that
may
come
down
from
the
federal
government.
I
think
we
can
approach
that
collectively
and
really
solidify
that
partnership
to
produce
results.
E
Sure,
in
looking
at
the
american
rescue
plan,
initially,
you
can
see
a
large
investment,
I'm
not
only
in
workforce
development
in
career
and
technical
education
programs,
and
I
think
you
know
you're
correct
that
we
need
to
capitalize
on
this
opportunity
and
ensure
that
we
are
doing
all
that
we
can
again
to
connect
the
dots.
The
other
thing
I
wanted
to
to
bring
up
is
is
just
thank
the
workforce,
development
professionals
and
commerce
for
continuing
to
keep
together
the
wpa,
the
alliance
of
all
the
the
workforce
development
professionals
in
the
city.
E
That
we
should
consider
implementing
here
in
philadelphia-
and
I
want
to
be-
you
know
very
clear,
because
we
want
to
call
with
one
of
the
the
black
business
organizations
that
was
put
together
by
my
colleagues,
councilmember,
green
and
johnson,
wherein
you
know
it's
very
hard
for
us
to
get
lost
in
the
minority
conversation,
but
in
philadelphia.
Specifically,
we
have
a
major
issue
with
black
businesses.
So
how
are
we
really
honing
in
on
the
black
business
community?.
B
B
Well,
we
think
we
put
some
innovative
ideas
in
our
budget
submission
this
year
around
a
workforce
and
we'd
love
to
have
you
involved,
as
we
continue
to
talk
about
that,
the
article,
the
article
that
you
mentioned
about
fewer
black
businesses
suffering
than
expected.
We
have
put
in
the
chat.
So
if
anybody
would
like
to
see
that
I
believe
it's
in
the
chat
now.
B
I
think
that
article
just
points
to
something
that
some
of
us
already
know
and
that
you
know
black
people
have
had
to
do
more
with
less
forever
since
we've
been
in
america
and-
and
I
think
that's
showing
with
the
black
businesses
that
was
studied
in
this
in
in
this
study-
and
I
could
I
could
talk
about
that
for
for
a
long
time.
The
last
point
you
made
I've
forgotten,
but
I
want
to
talk
about
that
too.
What
was
that.
E
B
B
You
talked
about
the
article
from
center
city
district,
about
yeah.
We
we
we
write.
We
read
that
article
with
great
interest.
We
were
disturbed
by
that
article.
We
we've
done
a
a
little
little
bit
of
research
on
that
article
and
and
some
of
the
data
was
not
exactly
apples
to
apples.
We'd
be
happy
to
talk
to
you
offline
about
some
of
the
data
data
that
they
presented
in
that
article.
I
don't
know
on
this
sort
of
go
into
it
now,
but
it
wasn't
necessarily
apples.
B
That's
true:
we
need
to
do
more,
I
mean
as
simple
as
that
we
need
to
do
more
before
I
before
I
came
on
board.
I
did
some
research
and
talked
to
some
folks
in
atlanta,
I'm
very
excited
about
what
I've
seen
in
atlanta,
especially
the
cooperation
between
city
government
and
the
the
private
sector,
and
I've
talked
to
rob
wonderling.
I
think
he's
on
the
line
today
talk
to
rob
wunderling
about
that,
and-
and
we
absolutely
want
to-
we
can't
do
this
by
ourselves-
I
mean
the
city.
E
But
are
you
all
working
in
tandem
with
the
com
with
the
chamber
of
commerce
on
their
new
initiative,
around
workforce
development
and
really
connecting
five
thousand
philadelphians
to
to
jobs?
Because
I
do
think
that
is
one
of
the
most
important
initiatives
that's
happening
in
our
city
relative
to
connecting
individuals
with
training
opportunities
and
real
employment.
E
So
I
just
want
to
make
sure
that
that
level
of
cooperation
is
there
for
the
program
and
then
also
you
mention
atlanta.
So
I
have
to
go
there.
That
goes
back
to
the
maynard
jackson
days,
and
I
know
my
colleague
councilmember
greene
always
talks
about
former
mayor
maynard
jackson,
but
he
had
a
dogged
determination
to
ensure
that
anyone
that
was
doing
business
with
the
city
had
to
work
with
and
support.
E
So
I
wanted
to
talk
about
how
we
are
ensuring
that
every
single
department
understands
the
importance
of
looking
at
contracting
in
a
different
way,
and
I
know
that
my
team
we're
working
on
communication
of
directly
for
the
mayor's
office
and
for
all
city
departments
prior
to
budget,
so
that
we
can
discuss
the
answers
and
not
the
questions
at
the
hearings
coming
up
after
april
15th.
But
I
think
that's
an
important
part
of
what
we
need
to
do
here
in
philadelphia.
L
G
Thank
you,
miss
chairman
squilla,
and
thank
you
for
your
testimony,
director
rasheed
and
thanks
for
your
work
and
your
team
for
all
their
work.
I
have
some
questions
I
want
to
really.
I
want
to
cover
two
things
and
do
the
time
constraints
feel
free
to
answer
them
as
concise
as
possible
like
a
lightning
round
round.
Almost,
I
think
we're
dealing
with
two
issues
and
one
is
the
virus
and
then
the
second
is
going
forward
after
the
virus
and
I'm
not
going
to
address
the
issues
my
colleagues
addressed.
G
I
am
in
110
percent
support
of
all
their
issues.
We
have
need
to
do
more
in
the
background
communities
and
we
need
to
in
in
almost
every
category-
and
I
think,
we've
talked
about
this
one
of
the
five
cities
surveyed
on
the
east
coast,
we're
in
the
lowest
formation
of
black
and
ground
businesses,
we're
the
lowest
formation
of
asian
hispanic
and
white,
all
of
them.
So
we
have
a
structural
problem.
The
dealing
with
the
virus
is
dealing
really
with
demand
and
what's
happening
with
our
businesses.
G
G
The
best
way
for
us
to
spring
back
is
to
bring
back
the
demand.
So
I
know
you
mentioned
you're
working
with
bulma.
I
know
that's
that's
great
and
I
hope
we
hopefully
we
can
get
these
office
buildings
opened
up
and
get
that
demand
back.
You
know,
and
I
want
to
speak
to
this
issue,
because
I
think
it's
important
that
we
understand
this
harold
epps
when
he
was
commerce.
G
Director
told
me
that
he
did
an
analysis
that
55
to
almost
60
percent
of
the
city's
tax
revenue
was
generated
in
a
10
block
radius
from
18th
and
walmart
10
blocks.
In
every
direction
55
to
60-
and
I
said
wow-
that's
kind
of
amazing-
I
said
it's
important-
that
we
continue
that,
so
we
have
the
money
that
we
generate
from
that
section
to
spend
across
the
city.
G
So
I
I'm
very
aware
that
that
demand
is
important,
because
when
you
walk
through
these
areas
right
now,
it's
almost
like
a
ghost
town
on
market
street
and
jfk
there's,
no
one
there,
no
one.
So
whatever
we
can
do
to
bring
back
that
demand,
we
need
to
bring
back,
and
let
me
mention.
I
had
a
couple
questions.
G
I
do
want
to
ask
you
about
technology,
and
I
want
to
talk
about
the
future
and
we
recently
upgraded
the
technology
being
used
by
opa
to
help
them
assess
properties
more
efficiently,
and
the
new
platform
has
transformed
the
department's
internal
processes.
Transitioning
it
to
the
new
platform
seems
to
have
caused
some
problems
between
opa
and
other
departments
that
philadelphia
businesses
have
no
choice
but
to
rely
on.
G
We
have
some
specific
examples
where
we
try
to
help
people
developing
properties
with
a
subdivided
lot,
they're
being
told
the
technology
problems
mean
they
have
to
wait
two
to
four
months,
that
subdivision
and
assessment
to
go
through
so
now
they
can't
sell
the
property.
We
can't
get
our
transfer
taxes
and
the
buyer
can't
buy
the
property.
It's
literally
holding
up
a
real
estate
transfer,
and
we've
heard
this
problem
more
than
once.
How
does
commerce
work
with
these
departments
to
help
them
fix
these
issues
and
better
serve
our
businesses
and
residents.
B
H
N
G
The
question
has
to
do
with
opa
and
some
of
the
issues
we're
having
in
getting
the
technology
issues
resolved
and
causing
sellers
and
buyers
to
have
to
wait
two
to
four
months
for
the
subdivision
and
assessments
to
go
through
which
are
holding
up.
Closings
people
can't
sell
their
homes,
people
can't
buy
their
homes
and
we're
not
collecting
transfer
tax.
H
N
Well,
I
was
just
gonna
say
the
subdivision
process
has
changed
slightly
through
eclipse.
It
actually
is
a
bit
more
streamlined
than
it
was
before
there.
Under
our
old
process.
There
was
a
lot
of
back
and
forth
between
opa
l
and
I
recording
the
deed,
and
now
it
is
a
bit
more
streamlined.
I
haven't
heard
of
any
issues
specifically
related
to
opa,
but
we
can
certainly
look
into
it
and
make
sure
you
know
any
issues
that
are
out
there
get
resolved
as
soon
as
possible.
G
We
have
several
of
them,
so
we'll
be
happy
to
get
them
resolved.
Let
me
go
to
the
next
question.
Our
next
large-scale
technology
transition
is
already
in
the
pipeline
with
finance
and
revenue
looking
to
replace
some
of
their
systems
that
are
very
antiquated.
The
implementation
of
one
philly
and
cama
have
been
rough
to
put
it
lightly.
How
can
we
get
in
front
of
this
transition
to
anticipate
service
delivery
issues
before
they
happen
and
resolve
them
more
quickly
when
they
do
happen,.
G
G
Okay,
another
another
question:
for
you:
what
kind
of
investment
does
the
office
of
business
development
make
in
attracting
businesses
from
elsewhere
to
philadelphia
and
of
the
companies
we've
been
able
to
attract
to
philadelphia?
How
many
have
been
located
outside
the
keystone
opportunity
zones
and
what
kind
of
return
do
we
get
on
our
business
attraction,
investment.
B
G
G
G
I
like
to
know
if
you're
a
business
and
you're
looking
to
expand
in
philadelphia.
With
that
backdrop,
are
you
looking
to
come
here
with
that
backdrop?
What
motivates
you
to
come
here
with
those
kind
of
tax
burdens?
I
bring
this
up
because
I
think
this
is
one
of
our
biggest
issues
we
need
to
address
if
we
want
to
expand
our
economic
tax
paying
base
and
now
could
be
a
great
opportunity
for
us
to
not
just
spend
this
money
we're
getting
from
the
federal
government,
but
to
invest
it
wisely
to
address
some
of
these
issues.
B
G
G
Great,
but
this
this
tax
structure
makes
your
jobs.
I
see
you
when
I
see
your
team
very
difficult,
very
difficult.
Yes,
we're
strangling
you
guys,
it's
not
right.
We
need
to
address
this,
so
we
can
help
existing
businesses
and
new
ones
come
here.
Otherwise
your
hands
are
pretty
much.
I
don't.
I
don't
know
how
you
bring
businesses
here
with
that
kind
of
structure.
I
really
give
you
guys
a
lot
of
credit,
because
it's
very
difficult.
In
that
backdrop,.
B
Again,
you
asked
me
to
be
succinct,
so
I'm
going
to
try,
but
I
I
will
say
this
in
spite
of
you
know
many
obstacles
that
we
have
and
we
have
a
lot
of
improvement
to
do.
Philadelphia
is
a
great
city
and
it
has
some
great
things
that
are
very
attractive
to
business,
and
I'm
telling
you
from
what
I
have
heard
business
people
say
and
again
happy
to
talk
to
you
offline
about
about
that,
but
we're
sitting
here
we're
sitting
here
on
a
gold
mine
in
terms
of
business
attraction.
B
G
I
agree
with
you,
except
when
they
did
the
survey
of
the
five
cities.
We
were
at
the
bottom
of
business
attraction
and
startup
for
every
every
black
brown
hispanic
asian
white,
every
one
of
them
were
at
the
bottom,
so
clearly
it
is
that
tax
that
has
to
be
addressed
all
right.
Look,
I
appreciate
what
you're
doing
and
I've
enjoyed
working
with
you
and
I
look
to
work
with
you
in
the
future,
but
I
think
it's
something
we
really
need
to
address
as
a
team
and
and
get
this
movement.
A
I
I
C
C
However,
even
with
that
assistance,
even
with
that
attention,
we're
still
finding
that
many
businesses
are
still
struggling
to
rebuild
their
inventory,
they're
still
struggling
to
make
necessary
physical
repairs,
and
I
worry
greatly
about
the
viability
of
our
neighborhood
commercial
corridors.
You
know.
N
C
B
Well,
councilwoman,
thank
you
for
that
question.
I'm
not
sure
if
you
were
on
when
we
were
recounting
the
money
that
we've
already
put
into
the
commercial
quarters
to
help
them
rebuild
to
to
build
up
inventory
if
they're
restaurants,
to
help
them
be
able
to
meet
the
guidelines,
so
they
can
open
up
at
50,
hopefully
even
higher
soon.
B
I'd,
be
happy
to
talk
to
you.
You
know
offline
about
what
some
of
our
ideas
but
they're
they're
prioritized
karen
is
here
with
with
her
staff
and
they
work
very
closely
with
neighborhood
businesses.
The
number
one
thing-
and
this
is
obvious-
the
number
one
thing
we
hear
from
neighborhood
businesses
is:
they
need
capital,
they
want
to
expand
and
we
we
we
provide
capital.
We
work
with
pidc
to
provide
capital.
We
work
with
the
cdcs
around
town
to
provide
capital
as
as
well
as
management
expertise
looking
into
the
future.
B
I
can't
afford
it
so
so
we
think
that
the
neighborhood
corridors
are
going
to
become
more
and
more
valuable,
quite
frankly
in
the
future,
and
if
you
can
buy
those
buildings,
you
can
protect
yourself
against
someone
else.
You
know
taking
that
business
from
you.
I
was.
I
was
so
pleased.
Last
last
week,
pidc
made
a
long,
a
loan
to
a
young
woman
on
50
52nd.
B
A
lot
not
a
lot
of
money,
but
you
know
I
think
it's
about
50
000
to
help
her
buy
her
building
which
saved
that
saved
her,
because
that's
a
hot
area
and
she
was
able
to
save
that.
So
she
wouldn't
she
wouldn't
get
put
out
and
she
was
able
to
save
her
business.
So
it's
things
like
that
that
we
think
that
we
can
do
and
pidc
is
a
great
vehicle
for
being
able
to
do
that.
C
I
thank
you
for
for
prioritizing
neighborhood
businesses
and
and
the
program
that
allows
small
businesses
to
buy
their
buildings.
Your
your
right
52nd
street.
We
recently
did
a
a
study
on
the
state
of
affordable
housing
in
the
third
district.
52Nd
street
was
identified
as
a
gentrifying
area
among
many
others
in
my
district.
So
I
have
a
great
concern
about
the
future
of
the
corridor
and
making
sure
that
it
remains
a
center
for
black
commerce
and
culture
in
particular,
and
so
I
think,
that's
a
very
important
program.
C
I
also
think
that
you
know
in
many
areas
of
of
my
district
and
probably
in
many
other
areas
of
the
city.
We
need
to
have
capital
for
trusted
entities
to
do
development
to
ensure
that
we
can
control
specific
parts
of
the
corridor
and
make
sure
that
what
happens,
particularly
in
gentrifying
areas,
is
advantageous
to
the
surrounding
community.
So
I
encourage
us
to
be
thinking
along
those
lines
too,
and
I
do
look
forward
to
talking
with
more
detail
about
the
plan
for
for
neighborhood
corridors
and
businesses.
C
Thank
you.
I
also
wanted
to
just
stress
you
know.
I
really
appreciated
the
conversation
with
my
colleague,
councilmember
gilmore
richardson,
around
workforce
development.
I
I
I
want
to
encourage
us
to
also
think
about
that
in
a
way
that
is
place-based.
So
what
I
mean
by
that
is,
there
are
areas
of
my
district
like
around
the
local
lower
school
hill,
where
either
the
city
owns
land
or
quasi-entities
like
pidc,
owns
a
considerable
amount
of
property,
and
we
are
using
that
as
a
business
attraction
opportunity
which
we
should
be
right.
C
But
I
don't
perceive
us
as
having
as
great
an
emphasis
on
workforce
development
as
we
do
on
the
business
attraction,
physical
development
piece
of
that
work.
And
so
what
I
am,
I
think
the
opportunity
is
to
to
focus
on
physical
development
to
focus
on
business
attraction
in
a
way
that
brings
a
lot
of
jobs
to
our
communities,
but
to
do
that
in
a
way
that
is
equitable
and
that
matters
for
the
people
who
already
live
in
that
community.
C
As
we
build
out
areas
like
the
lower
school
hill
and
the
navy
yard-
and
I
don't
think
that
happens
by
accident-
it
happens
with
intention,
it
happens
with,
and
it
happens
with
investment
investment
in
the
time
that
we
have
now
before
you
know
those
jobs
come
to
to
our
area.
So
I
look
forward
to
I.
I
would
love
to
know
how
you're
thinking
about
that,
and
I
look
forward
to
partnering
with
you
on
it
as
well.
Thank.
L
Thank
you,
mr
chair.
I
just
wanted
to
one
just
acknowledge
my
good
friend,
michael
rashid,
and
you
know,
as
we
look
forward
on
figuring
out,
how
we
continue
to
partner
around
supporting
particularly
black
and
brown
businesses,
and
making
sure
that
they're
able
to
go
to
scale
from
a
resource
and
technical
support
aspect
from
the
city
of
philadelphia
and
wanted
to
take
a
moment
to
acknowledge
some
work
that
my
colleague,
derek,
green
and
rob.
L
Wunderling
have
been
working
on
with
the
chamber
regarding
addressing
support
for
small
and
larger
businesses,
as
it
relates
to
the
city
of
philadelphia
and
really
looking
at
the
policies
around
supporting
black
and
brown
businesses.
But,
most
importantly,
what's
the
strategic
plan
forward
to
make
sure
that
those
businesses
thrive
and
one
of
the
initiatives
that
I
can?
L
We
have
a
forum
coming
up
particularly
around
this.
This
particular
initiative
just
to
make
sure
that
again
we're
the
number
one
big
city
when
it
comes
to
poverty,
but
as
councilman
jamie
gardier
talked
about,
we
only
eliminate
that
stigma.
By
being
intentional,
I'm
intentional
around
our
policy
intentional
around
our
resources,
and
so
I
just
wanted
to
state
that
foot
of
record
is
one
of
the
bright
spots
in
terms
of
things
that
we're
doing
to
move
the
city
forward.
But
I
look
forward
to
working
with
you.
L
I
look
forward
to
working
also
with
regina
harrison
who's
now
on
the
executive
director
of
the
african-american
chamber
of
commerce
and
making
sure
that
we're
intentional
about
partnering-
and
I
want
to
just
say
this-
for
the
record-
you
know
african-american
businesses
are
more
than
just
subs.
We
have
prime
businesses
that
as
well,
and
we
have
to
be
intentional
about
making
sure
that
we're
not
only
focusing
on
the
same
old
individuals
on
receiving
the
same
of
opportunity.
L
That's
why
I'm
proud
of
the
work
that
my
staff
worked
on
in
partnership
with
and
with
ed
levinson
pidc,
making
sure
that
the
10-year
master
plan
at
the
navy
yard
and
also
rob
wunderling,
played
a
major
role
in
that,
as
well
with
mosaic
of
being
like
the
lead
and
einstein
will
be
being
the
lead
on
on
developing
that
10-year
plan.
But.
L
Firm
right
well,
not
only
is
the
board
of
minority
a
black
african-american,
firm,
male
and
woman
male
and
female
man
and
woman
leading
this
effort,
which
shows
that
when
we're
intentional
about
the
policy
that
we
create
around
social
equity
and
making
sure
that
all
votes
rise
with
the
tide,
it
could
be
done.
And
so
I
look
forward
to
continue
working
with
you.
Mr
rashid,
you
keep
up
the
good
work
anyway,
I
have
to
be
supportive
of
you.
Don't
hesitate
to
reach
out
and
let
me
know.
B
B
Those
meetings
and
your
staff
has
been
very
vocal
and
very
pointed
in
terms
of
the
expectations
and
the
idea
that
we
don't
want
to
hear
a
year
or
two
years
from
now
that
they
tried,
but
they
were
not
successful.
It's
not
going
to
work
that
way.
That's
what
starts
at
what
starts
bad
is
going
to
end
worse,
and
so
we
want
to
start
on
the
right
foot
with
hilco
and
that's
what
your
people
have
been
has
been
emphasizing.
L
And
I
just
want
to
say
for
the
record
that
you
know
we
requested
upfront
50
minority
participation
not
only
just
around
workforce,
but
also
vendors
and
professional
services
contracts
and
really,
as
a
city.
We
need
to
begin
looking
at
how
that
should
be
the
standard,
because
I
know
for
a
fact
it
can
be
done
because,
because
we
did
the
same
requirement
for
the
quarters
live
casino
and
they
have
surpassed
that
50
gold
they're
up
around
56
right
and
so
that's
an
example
of
how
we're
intentional
around
our
policy.
L
We
know
that
we
can
reach
those
goals
and
make
sure
that
everybody
have
an
opportunity
to
participate,
and
so
before
I
wrap
up,
there's
a
young
man,
who's
also
part
of
a
part
of
the
panel.
That's
going
to
testify
name
tariq
wright,
who
has
a
restaurant
called
chef
riekes.
I
just
want
to
personally
give
him
a
public
shout
out.
He
has
very
fine
catering.
He
comes
from
south
philadelphia,
so
I'm
going
to
give
them
that
public
acknowledgement.
L
Because
oftentimes
again
we
have
businesses
that
are
working
hard
on
the
go
to
scale.
We
want
to
continue
to
support
them
and
wrap
our
arms
around
them,
so
chef
ricky,
you
keep
up
the
good
work
I'll
be
passed
against
some
of
that
vegan
french,
toast
sometime
in
the
future
and
take
care
all
right.
Thank
you
all
very
much
for
allowing
me
to
mr
chairman
that
share
my
comments.
I
A
A
Q
We'll
do
chairman
squilla
again
for
the
record.
My
name
is
rob
wunderling.
I
serve
as
the
president
and
ceo
of
the
chamber
of
commerce
for
greater
philadelphia
and
to
both
you
and
councilmember
greene.
We
really
do
appreciate
you,
as
we
move
through
a
post-pandemic
reopening
recovery
for
the
city
for
revisiting
this
issue
around
ease
of
doing
business.
Q
We
already
had
a
strong
partnership
with
the
commerce
department,
so
what
I
think
michael
has
done
in
a
short
amount
of
time
as
evidence.
I
think,
by
his
answers
to
the
questions
is
to
be
highly
collaborative
strategic
and
tactical,
and
I
must
say
at
this
early
day
in
his
tenure,
I
cannot
think
of
any
issue
or
matter
that
we're
not
in
alignment
with
him
and
his
team.
It's
been
a
real
delight,
we're
moving
with
urgency
and
dispatch,
because
we
think
the
stakes
are
very.
Q
Very
high
and
look
forward
to
continuing
to
work
with
the
kenny
administration,
commerce,
director,
rashid
broadly
and
on
the
specific
issues
that
the
resolution
is
focusing
on
today,
which
I
think
by
all
quarters
and
agreement
based
on
fact
and
data.
We
have.
We
have
work
to
do,
but
I
do
think
the
investments
made
even
during
the
pandemic
by
the
commerce
department,
administration,
illinois
et
cetera,
is
a
good
start
and
baseline
going
forward.
So
I
will
read
my
remarks.
Q
I
will
move
quickly
so
that
other
participants
on
this
panel
can
proceed
and
then
open,
obviously,
questions
and
comments
from
you
and
your
your
colleagues
on
council.
So
we
really
do.
Thank
you
for
hosting
this
important
hearing
regarding
the
ease
of
doing
business
in
philadelphia
and
as
the
city
does
look
towards
a
post-pandemic
future.
We
have
to
be
committed
to
getting
philadelphians
back
to
work.
Q
We
also
have
to
ensure
people's
safety
on
an
ongoing
basis
from
coven
19.,
but
I
must
say
I
can
think
of
no
other
decision
that
will
have
as
much
of
an
impact
on
our
city's
future
than
what
we
can
do
together
to
restart
our
economy
is
to
get
those
jobs
back,
get
people
working
again,
create
high-paying
jobs,
grow
the
pie
and
particularly,
and
most
specifically
among
our
working
poor
and
those
in
poverty
that
were
the
case
prior
to
the
pandemic
and,
sadly,
have
increased
their
right.
Their
ranks
during
the
pandemic.
Q
So,
as
the
city
is
moving
forward
to
recover
from
this
pandemic
and
with
as
much
as
1.2
billion
dollars
in
one-time
federal
stimulus
coming
to
the
city,
we
really
do
now
more
than
ever
to
make
sure
it's
easier
for
entrepreneurs
to
start
a
business
reopen
their
business.
We
need
to
improve
the
regulatory
environment
for
existing
businesses
and,
of
course,
recent
statistics
demonstrate
that
this
is
a
point
of
urgency,
as
a
thousand
philadelphia.
Businesses
have
closed
since
march
2020.
Q
We
know,
there's
a
significant
amount
of
work
to
do,
to
make
it
easier
to
begin
and
operate
a
business
in
philadelphia
and
let's
use
facts
and
data
to
make
that
point
in
2019
philadelphia
was
ranked
12th,
most
difficult
city
to
start
a
business
in
the
united
states,
with
a
level
of
difficulty
in
opening
a
small
to
mid-sized
business,
hiring
employees,
paying
taxes
getting
operating
permits,
et
cetera,
and
so
the
top-ranked
cities,
our
competition.
If
you
will
that
are
much
easier
to
do.
Q
Business
include
atlanta,
which
was
mentioned
earlier
this
morning,
charlotte
oklahoma
city,
arlington,
virginia
just
to
name
a
few,
and
this
is
just
taken
from
one
index,
and
I
know
there
will
be
testimony
later
in
today's
hearing.
Look
at
other
indexes-
and
there
are
many
third
party
index
that
currently
measure
philadelphia
as
a
place
where
it's
easy
or
difficult
to
do
business
and
in
all
those
indexes,
we
don't
fare
very
well.
Q
So
in
january
our
chamber
of
commerce
announced
that
it
was
seeking
to
create
a
new
partnership
with
our
city
government,
with
all
of
you,
individually
and
collectively
in
city
council
and
with
our
ongoing
commitments
to
neighborhood
growth
throughout
the
city,
and
we
think
that
is
an
important
partnership.
As
we
work
on
plans
to
reopen
our
city
to
bring
businesses
back
downtown
and
throughout
each
neighborhoods,
we'll
start
still
starting
to
and
continuing
to
fight
the
virus.
Q
It's
a
comprehensive
approach
to
a
smart
program
policies
that
will,
we
think,
drive
our
future
in
the
city
of
philadelphia.
I'm
not
going
to
go
through
the
list
now,
but
many
were
touched
on
in
commerce,
director
rasheed's
remarks
and
the
questions
regarding
restoration,
the
commerce
department's
budget.
Q
So
we
look
forward
to
working
with
this
legislative
body
and
the
mayor,
our
commerce
director,
as
those
budget
deliberations,
begin
with
the
mayor's
budget
announcement
in
about
a
month
from
now
look
philadelphia
has
long
recognized
it
needs
to
make
doing
business
in
this
city
easier.
We
think
with
the
new
stimulus
funds
coming
in.
We
do
have
this
unique
opportunity
to
shape
a
different
growth,
inclusive
growth
strategy
that
is
both
short-term
and
long-term
for
the
city
and
I'll
end.
Q
Where
I
began,
we
really
applaud
the
chair
here,
councilman
squilla
councilman
green,
for
introducing
the
ease
of
doing
business
resolution.
We
think
it
not
only
kickstarts,
but
it
builds
on
and
restarts
a
process
that
we
know
that
we
need
to
work
on
an
ongoing
basis.
Look
starting
and
running
a
business
is
hard
enough.
It
shouldn't
be
made
any
harder
by
unnecessary
red
tape
or
inflexible
bureaucracy,
and
my
final
comment-
and
I
know
I've
shared
this
with
councilman
jones.
A
Thank
you
rob
for
your
testimony,
much
appreciated
and
knowing
that
we
need
to
all
work
together
to
resolve
this
and
then
and
get
us
back
on
our
feet
again.
It
looks
like
we
do.
Have
them
do
what
how
about
we
do
you
want
to
ask
questions
now,
or
should
we
let's,
let's
do
the
panel
and
then,
if
rob,
if
you
don't
mind,
we'll
wait
and
then
ask
you
questions
all
at
the
same
time,
all
right
so
who
was
next.
R
R
R
Small
businesses
across
the
nation
have
been
dead
devastated
by
the
pandemic,
but
none
hit
harder
than
the
black
owned
businesses
nationally.
Black
businesses
have
shuttered
and
were
less
likely
to
receive
federal
aid
compared
to
other
groups.
At
the
start
of
the
pandemic,
the
philadelphia
business
journal
reported
that
people
of
color
in
philadelphia
was
disproportionately
under
banked,
as
are
minor
minority
owned
and
disadvantaged
businesses.
R
Black
owned
businesses
have
had
difficulty,
navigating
the
federal
loan
program
and
competing
with
better
network
companies.
Further.
The
u.s
census
bureau
also
indicated
that
the
number
of
active
black
business
owners
fell
by
68
from
early
march
to
july
2020,
while
the
number
of
active
white
businesses
fell
just
by
44
during
the
same
time.
R
But
what
is
the
city
of
philadelphia's
role
in
all
of
this?
Could
it
be
a
stronger
resource
to
small
businesses
within
our
region,
and
the
answer
is
absolutely
businesses,
especially
local
minority,
owned
business,
have
been
severely
impacted
by
the
deficiency
of
the
city's
infrastructure,
including,
but
not
limited,
to
obtaining
l,
I
permits
and
having
to
pay
for
fees
and
penalties
again
after
appeal.
R
Moreover,
support
for
minority
owned
and
disadvantaged
owned
businesses
must
be
concentrated
at
the
forefront.
History
has
shown
that
when
small
businesses
thrive
our
communities
flourish.
This
is
a
time
of
great
innovation
and
opportunity
and,
as
the
president
of
the
african-american
chamber
of
commerce,
I
am
eager
to
build
on
the
momentum
and
work
with
council
and
the
administration
as
we
reimagine
reset
and
reinvest
in
our
business
infrastructure
for
sustainable
for
future.
R
More
city,
procurement
opportunities
and
access
to
affordable
capital-
and
I
would
be
remiss
if
I
did
not
mention
equity
in
the
vaccine.
If
we
expect
our
economy
to
begin
to
move
and
thrive,
people
must
feel
comfortable
to
come
back
out
and
and
and
spend
their
money
in
the
economy,
and
that
means
the
black
community
must
receive
an
equitable
vaccination
as
well.
Thank
you.
A
Thank
you.
Thank
you
so
much
for
your
testimony
and
knowing
what
challenges
we've
had
here
in
the
city
of
philadelphia
and
trying
to
work
with
commerce
to
address
a
lot
of
these
concerns
that
you
broach
here,
it's
so
important
for
us
as
a
city
to
work
together.
We
know
commerce
had
grant
programs
and
I'm
going
to
ask
karen.
I
don't
know
if
karen's
still
on
there,
but
out
of
the
city's
grant
dollars.
Do
you
know
what
our
percentages
were
of
how
we
were
able
to
reach
out
to
these?
A
B
Councilman,
yes,
I
am
here
in
one
grant
program
over
60
of
the
dollars
went
to
african-american
and
quarter
businesses
and
another
program
over
80
went
to
african
to
african-american
and
brown
businesses
and
in
our
recent
restaurant
program
over
half
of
the
dollars
for
restaurant
improvement,
so
they
could
get
to
50
over
half
of
those
dollars
went
to
restaurants
outside
of
center
city.
So
I
don't
have
a
number,
but
I
know
that
how
many
of
them
were
african-american,
but
at
least
there
were
a
neighborhood.
A
J
J
J
My
name
is
narasimha
shanoi
founder
president
of
the
asian
american
chamber
of
commerce
of
greater
philadelphia.
I
will
read
a
prepared
statement:
a
vr
membership,
non-profit
organization
that
serves
asian
businesses,
individual
entrepreneurs
and
non-profit
organization
for
the
growth
of
economy
and
employment
in
greater
philadelphia
area.
We
focus
our
resources,
mainly
in
the
city.
J
Is
not
particularly
hospitable
for
asian
businesses
as
well
as
our
community
at
large
time
and
time
again
we
hear
about
business
being
overburdened
with
the
constant
violation
and
fines.
Many
businesses
may
may
be
unaware
and
not
well
informed
that
a
violation
was
committed
and
are
hurt
as
a
result
of
punitive
damages.
J
Regulatory
enforcement
personnel
should
be
trained
to
help
businesses
to
comply,
rather
than
use
it
to
shut
them
down.
For
many
years,
city
council
has
targeted
asian
businesses
through
unfriendly
regulations.
A
recent
lawsuit
filed
against
the
city
by
asian
business
owners
for
discrimination,
which
resulted
in
city
providing
conversation,
highlights
such
anti-asian
business
sentiment.
J
J
Convict
nikin
stigma
has
further
added
to
the
safety
concern,
as
business
owners
face
increasing
hate
crimes.
Many
businesses
will
not
be
reopening
in
corridors
as
they
are
afraid
that
city
will
no
longer
protect
their
investment
and
their
lives.
This
is
an
urgent
need.
There
is
an
urgent
need
for
the
city
to
initiate
a
program
to
help
businesses
and
community
to
feel
safe
to
reopen.
J
The
city
must
do
a
better
job
of
supporting
small
businesses
with
taxation
by
taxation
and
regulations,
transparency
and
cooperation.
Efforts
with
affected
businesses
need
to
accelerate
the
need
needed
to
accelerate
recovery
process.
I
do
have
some
recommendations
listed
for
the
time
because
of
the
time
frame.
I
will
just
pass
it
on.
You
can
read
that,
but
I
do
want
to
make
one
recommendation.
J
The
divorce
chambers
have
limited
resources
to
make
any
significant
impact
in
this
recovery
process,
as
they
have
limited
resources,
adequate
resources
needed
for
them
to
be
able
to
serve
their
business
members.
Finally,
murder
of
city
population
is
below
the
city.
Poverty
level
city
needs
to
focus
on
job
creation
to
reduce
poverty.
J
J
We
thank
councilman,
derek
green
for
hosting
this
hearing
and
giving
us
an
opportunity
to
express
our
opinions
and
concerns.
This
is
an
opportunity
for
dialogue
and
an
opportunity
to
create
an
environment
in
which
explicit
expectations
of
our
city
will
work
in
collaboration
with
businesses
and
are
accountable
for
its
customers
and
residents.
This
concludes
my
testimony.
N
N
200109
sbn
appreciates
the
invitation
to
participate
today
and
the
ongoing
conversations
that
we've
had
with
the
commerce
director
and
his
team,
and
let
me
first
say
that
we
support
many
of
the
points
raised
by
our
colleagues
today
and
for
the
purposes
of
time.
I
will
also
summarize
my
written
testimony
which
provides
further
detail
for
your
review
in
order
to
ensure
the
long-term
sustainability
of
community-based
economic
corridors
and
local
economies.
N
N
Some
recommendations,
while
it's
a
critical
foundational
document,
the
business
owner's
bill
of
rights
lacks
an
accountability
structure
to
ensure
that
city
departments
are
implementing
it
effectively.
The
city
through
the
commerce
department
should
have
the
budget
support
to
develop
metrics
and
time
frames,
collect
data
and
make
those
findings
public.
N
The
city
should
also
actively
promote
and
remove
the
cap
for
its
groundbreaking,
sustainable
business
tax
credit
and,
in
addition
to
the
city,
steps
to
increase
transparency,
diversity
and
localism
through
procurement.
It
should
also
seek
ways
to
expand
local
values
based
government
contracting
and
public
commercial
leasing,
practices
to
prioritize
diverse
local
businesses
and
socially
and
environmentally
responsible
business
practices.
N
N
By
undertaking
these
recommendations
and
providing
sufficient
programmatic
and
budget
support,
the
city
could
make
significant
progress
in
easing
the
burdens
on
new
entrepreneurs
and
established
local
independent
businesses,
leading
to
a
more
equitable
and
inclusive
ecosystem
needs.
To
be
intentional,
it's
not
an
easy
task
and,
of
course,
espn
appreciates
the
opportunity
to
participate
in
this
conversation
and
continue
the
important
work
of
making
philadelphia
a
place
where
diverse
local
businesses
can
thrive.
Thank.
N
A
I
No
thank
them.
Oh,
don't
thank
all
the
people
on
this
panel
for
testifying
for
your
work
for
the
various
constituencies
that
you
represent
and
support.
You
really
help
the
bread
and
butter
of
our
neighborhoods
and
communities.
I
just
have
a
question
and
this
could
be
for
anyone
on
our
panel,
but
I
think
there's
someone
that
has
their
microphone
on
if
they
can
put
it
on
mute.
No
such
thing
as.
I
I
I'm
curious
from
your
perspective
on
the
fact
that,
under
the
american
rescue
plan,
the
city
will
receive
over
a
billion
dollars.
As
I
said
in
my
opening
remarks
about
50
of
those
dollars,
I
will
be
available
within
less
than
60
days,
based
on
drawdowns
from
federal
government
and
considering
the
need
to
really
grow
businesses
coming
out
of
this
pandemic.
I
Q
Q
So
it
doesn't
become
a
reoccurring
line
item
that
it's
repositioned,
let's
say,
for
example,
to
have
the
appropriate
number
of
health
inspectors
that
would
accelerate
the
reopening
of
our
restaurant
communities
as
the
coven
19
restrictions
wear
off.
So,
if
you
look
at
it
through
the
lens
first
of
reopening
in
one
time
federal
use
for
those
dollars,
how
could
they
deploy
on
a
one-time
basis
to
accelerate
reopening
which
has
a
lot
to
do
to
rebuild
confidence
for
citizens
that
it
is
safe
to
be
in
in
centers
in
philadelphia?
Q
Not
just
center
city
than
the
neighborhoods
second
pre-pandemic,
and
according
to
the
sun
center
city,
business
district,
paul
levy's
organization
fairly,
one
percent
of
the
total
general
fund
was
used
for
growth
for
job
creation,
et
cetera,
and
so
beyond
the
restoration,
the
commerce
department's
budget.
We
think
there's
opportunity
to
leverage
the
1.2
billion
that
would
free
up
on
an
ongoing
basis,
general
fund
dollars
that
would
drive
growth
strategies,
inclusive
growth
strategies
beyond
a
grant
program
in
all
candor.
Q
That
would
look
at
perhaps
the
opportunity
of
hybrid
work
environments
to
create
more
growth
in
the
tax
structure,
kind
of
just
reference,
the
difficulty
around
tax
reform.
We
actually
think
now,
probably
the
first
time
in
a
decade,
there's
this
unique
opportunity
to
really
think
through
how
to
use
the
one-time
federal
stimulus
to
propel
a
confidence-building
message
to
particularly
small
and
mid-sign
businesses
that
the
city
is
open
for
business.
R
R
All
of
the
chambers
do
a
really
good
job
about
getting
the
information
out
to
its
members,
but
everyone
isn't
a
member
of
the
chamber.
So
it's
important
to
get
that
information
out
to
the
larger
community
and
we
do
work
with
the
city
on
various
campaigns
to
do
that
as
well.
But
there's
one
important
thing
that
I'll
say:
information
such
as
the
employee
retention
tax
credit.
R
G
B
Well,
thank
you.
Thank
you,
councilman.
I
appreciate
your
support.
I
I
am
at
the
table.
I
have
been
at
the
table.
I
think,
as
I
indicated
earlier.
Oh
my
god
at
least
two
months
ago,
discussion
started
about
what,
even
before
president
obama
biden
took
office,
this
discussion
started
within
the
administration
about
various
options
to
deal
with
taxes
etc.
There
are,
they
are
continuing.
I
am
at
the
table,
you
know
I'm
I
work
for
the
administration.
However,
you
understand
that
I'm
not
the
final
decision
maker,
but
I
am
I
am.
G
Q
Well,
that's
a
great
question,
particularly
since
you
and
your
colleagues
have
not
seen
such
such
lack
of
growth.
We
haven't
had
a
a
zero
to
no
growth
city,
particularly
related
to
job
creation
for
almost
25
30
years.
This
is
a
new
experience
for
all
of
us
and
we,
you
know,
applaud
the
obama
administration
and
bringing
the
resources
to
cities
across
america.
I
think
the
case
of
philadelphia
and
I
think,
there's
principles.
First,
that
would
ought
to
drive
that
investment
one.
Q
Q
Q
Second,
is
we're
still
gonna
have
to
fight
the
virus
and,
let's
not
turn
our
back
on.
You
know
the
insidious
nature
of
variants
and
but
not
that
it's
emerging,
and
so
I
do
think
longer-term
commitments
to
the
public
health
and
safety,
not
just
through
the
doh
but
related
to
our
police
and
law
enforcement
and
issues
around
our
vulnerable
populations.
Q
And
then,
third,
in
terms
of
investments-
and
I
alluded
to
this
at
one
level-
it
is
complicated,
but
I
do
think
and
you've
been
a
great
champion
around
tax
reform
and
it's
tax
reform.
Quite
frankly
for
small
and
mid-sized
entrepreneurs
they're
the
ones,
as
was
suggested
by
kendra,
is
the
backbone
of
the
city's
economy.
That's
where
you'll
accelerate
job
creation
right
every
once
will
have
a
company
come
to
town
and
locate
450
jobs
and
we're
not
going
to
stop
doing
that
business
attraction
work.
Q
The
budget,
that's
the
process
of
a
budget
deliberation,
but
if,
if
a
benchmark
was
said
in
post
federal
dollars,
that
would
be
committed
to
over
the
years
that
we
want
to
take
what's
less
than
one
percent
committed
pre-pandemic
to
the
general
fund
to
a
higher
percentage,
but
the
political
budgetary
deliberations
figure
out
how
to
do
that
measure
against
that?
Are
we
making
it
easier
to
do
business
on
that
index
that
we
hear
from
later
this
afternoon?
Q
Q
Q
We
think
technology
should
be
at
a
minimum
and
elective
no
different
than
art,
music
and
a
foreign
language,
and
it
is
technology-
it's
not
just
coding,
but
absolutely
would
agree
to
that
point.
Any
type
of
co-op
programs
we've
been
in
conversations
for
a
number
of
years,
yet
another
opportunity
now
post
pandemic
and
post
federal
dollars
to
sort
of
think
about
what
would
be
a
mainstream
I'll
use.
The
word
co-op
program
required
for
the
school
district
of
philadelphia.
Q
Q
Q
Q
Only
suggest
that
we
would
also
be
supportive
of
some
type
but
I'll
use
the
term
co-op
arrangements
and
requirements
for
philadelphia,
school
students.
The
school
district
of
philadelphia
does
already
have
several
working
pilots
in
this
regard,
where
you
get
credentialed
and
up
to
a
two
years
associate
degree.
If
that's,
if
that's
the
path
that
you're
taking
and
we
think
there's
opportunity
with
appropriate
resources
to
expand
that.
S
P
P
So,
as
as
some
of
my
colleagues
have
discussed
and
other
professional
groups,
you
know,
I
think
we
think
like
philadelphia
taxes
as
well
as
the
services
that
these
businesses
pay
for
need
to
improve.
You
know
some
of
you
mentioned,
like
the
the
tax
impact
on
businesses,
like
the
mpt
brt
wage
tax,
right
that
accounts
for
44
and
in
the
pandemic.
So
many
of
those
workers
are
not
longer
coming
to
philadelphia.
They
might
be
working
outside.
P
P
I
know
this
goal
that
is
shared
by
the
administration
and
council,
and
we
are
aware
of
the
hard
work
during
the
pandemic.
We
know
you
know.
Even
during
the
civil
unrest
revenue
department
has
been
going
to
the
offices
trying
to
to
get
things
running
the
commerce
department
too.
So
that
has
been
like
amazing
to
see
them
and
I'm
I
know
firsthand
how
hard
they
have
worked
work.
P
You
know
with
some
of
these
new
programs
that
they
have
mentioned.
However,
the
reality
is
business
owners
they
struggle
in
philadelphia
and
it's
not
an
easy
place
to
for
a
business
to
grow.
You
know
the
they
are
complex
system
in
place
as
as
some
of
them
mentioned,
and
there
are
recent
examples
I
will
mention
some
recent
examples
of
like
how
they
struggle.
P
You
know
and
and
say
like
okay,
we
are
missing,
maybe
a
plan
or
we
are
missing
something
please,
let's
close
it
and
because
otherwise,
if
I
make
it
official,
I
will
have
you
close
for
a
long
time.
So
you
know
if,
if
that's
happened,
if
I'm
starting
to
to
get
a
place
or
like
I
have
to
shut
my
business,
my
rent
keeps
running.
P
You
know
the
taxes
related
to
use
and
occupancy,
and
so
on
real
estate
tax
that
so
many
times
the
tenant
pays
continues
running,
which
makes
like
more
difficult
for
the
business
owner.
You
know
so
so
that
might
be
like
so
many
times
as
they
mentioned,
and
I
think
indra
more
mentioned,
there's
no
accountability
at
the
at
the
city
level
and
knowing
okay,
I
received
the
plans
and
all
the
documentation
on
a
tuesday,
I'm
giving
you
know
two
weeks
time
and
I
should
have
a
resolution
for
you,
but
we
don't
know
what
is
missing.
P
If
something
is
missing,
you
know
we
have
the
bills
of
right.
That
was
passed
and
was
approved,
and
it
was
a
great
effort
just
before
the
pandemic,
but
there's
no
real
tracking
or
accountability
of
who
is
doing
it
and
why
they're
doing
it
and
what
is
missing
and
why
something
delayed
right.
Sometimes
it's
eclipse
is
a
great
system.
The
email
is
a
great
system,
but
sometimes
documents
are
just
sitting
there.
P
You
know
we
can
get
letters
for
liquor
tags
when
they
were
have
been
paid
or
filings
from
a
long
time
ago,
due
to
e-files
that
they
were
like
glitches
in
the
system.
So
I
don't
want
this
testimony
to
be
an
attack
on
the
city.
As
in
all
these
cases,
they
were
addressed
by
the
department's
revenue
commerce
once
we
brought
them
to
to
their
attention,
but
they
are
important,
systemic
progress
that
that
you
know
we
keep
to
be
doing.
As
everyone
mentioned
before
so
business
owner
can
focus
on
their
business.
P
They
can
create
jobs,
build
a
stronger
economy
and
and
continue
supporting
local
business.
I
will
mention
just
before
I
finish
is
like
we,
mr
rashid
mentioned
that
around
200
restaurants,
out
of
the
probably
around
6
000
before
the
pandemic.
They
they
have
the
increased
capacity
right,
the
25
to
50
percent
that
you
are
all
aware,
which
is
extremely
complicated
right.
There
has
to
be
like
15
air
exchanges.
P
The
filter
has
to
be
better
in
a
in
a
medical
facility
right
like
e
m
e
rb
11
20
of
the
air
is
circulated
like
200
restaurants,
out
of
6.
000
is
just
a
three
percent,
you
know
when
they
have
been,
like
extremely
impacted,
so
I
think
some
of
this
measure,
even
like
they
are
meant
well
for
the
business
owner,
is
extremely
difficult
to
navigate
through
and
even,
if
he's,
allowing
the
business
potentially
to
increase
the
sitting
capacity.
P
A
D
K
M
M
I'm
very
grateful
for
the
opportunity
to
testify
today,
there's
been
so
many
outstanding
points
made
prior
to
my
testimony.
I
think
we've
talked
about
the
importance
of
inclusive
growth
throughout
the
city.
We've
talked
about,
so
many
of
the
pieces
of
we've
talked
about.
Why
and
how
this
city
needs
to
continue
to
grow
and
it
has
to
be
done
through
inclusive
growth.
M
M
What
I
would
like
to
have
the
committee
consider
and
and
remember,
is
that
making
it
easier
to
do
business
and
helping
businesses
in
the
city
of
philadelphia
that
compete
on
a
regional
or
national
basis
and
finding
ways
to
make
it
less
cumbersome
for
them
to
be
competitive.
I
think,
is
something
the
city
has
to
take
into
consideration.
M
M
M
M
M
That
being
said,
we're
here
we've
been
in
philadelphia.
We
were
founded
in
1946,
we've
been
a
philadelphia-based
firm
for
75
years.
We
continue
to
want
to
be
successful
and
to
want
to
be
an
important
employer
here
in
the
city,
but
we
need
help.
We
need
the
ability
to
be
more
competitive
and
we
need
city
council
to
help
us
get
there.
N
O
Yeah,
my
name
is,
and
thank
you
guys
for
having
me
my
name
is
tariq
bryant,
I'm
a
restaurant
owner
of
three
one
in
the
city
of
philadelphia
on
onward
avenue.
I
also
have
some
real
estate
in
the
city.
I
think
nine
properties
in
the
city
that
I
rent
and
you
know
look
to
you
know,
invest
and
flip,
but
homegrown
guy
and
just
wanna.
O
You
know
testify
that
in
the
early
I
think
I'm
going
on
my
fourth
year
in
business
and
in
the
earlier
earlier
stages
of
when
I
started
the
city
and
pidc
and
the
councilman's
office,
even
at
the
state
rep
level,
helped
me
so
much
with
funding,
because
I
mean
I
just
had
a
pipe
dream
of
opening
a
restaurant,
and
you
know
I
budgeted
maybe
140k
to
get
open.
I
mean
I'm
sorry,
I
budgeted
maybe
80k
to
get
open
which
actually
spiraled
into
me.
O
O
The
the
cohesiveness
of
l-
and
I
and
you
know
the
department
of
public
health
and
the
reviewers
of
plans
that
you
know
see
our
plans
to
open
these
restaurants,
and
you
know
we
might
get
a
green
light
from
up
top
or
somebody
in
the
municipal
municipal
services.
Building
that
looks
over
the
plans
and
gives
us
you
know
a
thumbs
up,
but
at
the
field
agent
level,
you
know
the
fail
agent
level
has
a
whole
different.
You
know
scope
of
what
he
feels
is
incorrect
or
how
you
know
those
people
at
that
level.
O
In
the
municipal
services
building.
You
know
they
don't
speak
the
same
language.
So
you
know
outside
of
the
budget.
Being
you
know
upside
down,
you
know
my
bank
account
was
upside
down
because
I
I
didn't
expect
all
in
my
business
plan.
I
it
to
be
open
and
you
know
making
money
at
this
at
this
month
and
it
just
didn't
happen
and
the
l
at
the
l-
and
I
level
you
know
just
something
as
small
as
you
know-
moving
the
pipe
over
two
inches
to
comply
with.
O
You
know
ada
or
you
know
something
that
he
knows,
that
the
plan
reviewer
didn't
know.
You
know
that
cost
me.
You
know
a
month
and
a
half,
because
we
you
know
we
got
to
cut
pvc
or
cut.
You
know,
cast
iron,
I'm
sorry
because
that's
commercial
cut
cast
iron
from
the
bottom.
You
know
remove
tile,
just
to
move
a
pipe
over
two
inches
to
comply
with.
O
You
know
something
that
the
plan
reviewer
saw
but
didn't
have
a
problem
with,
but
at
the
field
agent
level
he
did
have
a
problem
with
and
not
to
mention
from
my
understanding
when,
when
licensing
inspection
comes
to
review,
you
know
they
tell
you
at
the
first
visit.
You
know
everything.
That's
wrong,
you
know
what
I
mean
and
that
just
didn't
happen.
He
told
me
two
or
three
things
that
was
wrong
when
he
came
back
another
time
he
told
me
another
five
or
six
things.
O
That
was
wrong,
so
you
know
it
is
kind
of
frustrating
at
times
you
know
you
know
dealing
with
you
know
the
city
at
these
levels
and
my
other
two
restaurants
are
in
delco
and
I
think
somebody
else
mentioned
the
ease
of
business
and
the
tax.
You
know
the
tax
breaks
that
are
in
delaware
county
and
you
know
why
people
are
moving
to
atlanta
and
charlotte
and
other
places
to
start
a
business,
because
it's
I
mean
it's
a
lot
easier.
O
You
know
and
that's-
and
I
mean
that
means
it's
just
facts,
but
you
know
what
I
wanted
to
get
across
to
everyone
today
is
that
you
know
you
know
I've.
I've
been
I've
received
a
lot
of
funding
from
the
city
from
day,
one
through
the
storefront
improvement
program
through
the
forgivable
loan
program,
the
gym
and
restaurant
grant
that
just
opened
up.
O
So
you
know
I'm
grateful
that
you
know
you
guys
do
have
a
contingency
in
place
for
when
things
kind
of
get
hairy
you
know,
but
at
the
same
time
I
want
to
be
an
advocate
to
help
you
know
other
small
businesses,
you
know
be
viable
and
and
make
it
through
these.
You
know
tough
times,
because
this
virus
from
the
restaurant
industry
and
that's
you
know
all
I
can
speak
from
it's
it's
been
hell.
My
fixed
costs
are
remaining
the
same.
My
ppe,
you
know
mask
sanitizers,
and
restaurant
ppe
is
different
from
you
know.
O
What
everybody
else
is
accustomed
to.
Our
ppe
is
also
styrofoam
containers,
plastic
containers,
throw
away
silverware,
utensils
and
stuff
like
that.
So
it's
a
lot
of
things
that
go
into
just
changing
your
outfit
of
a
restaurant
from
buying
into
takeout,
where
all
of
these
costs
are
just
going
through
the
roof.
My
payroll
now
is
through
the
roof,
because
I
can't
pay
my
servers
two
dollars
an
hour.
No
more,
and
not
only.
You
know
that
two
two
dollars
and
80
cents
an
hour.
O
We
we
can't
even
we
can't
even
wait
on
tables
at
some
points
of
this
pandemic.
You
know
at
one
point:
we
were
just
shut
down
completely
so
if
there,
if
there's
no
tables
for
them
to
wait
on,
I
have
to
pay
them
a
living
wage
to
do
takeout,
which
is
like
you
know,
anywhere
between
12
or
14
hours,
an
hour.
You
know
just
to
do
takeout
and
I'm
I'm
I'm.
You
know
successful
in
a
brunch
and
you
know
lunch
kind
of
thing,
but
everybody's
not
in
a
rush
to
come,
get
pancakes
to
take
home.
O
O
You
know
some
pieces
of
business.
A
lot
of
people
touched
on
you
know
financial
literacy
and
and
helping
these
businesses
that
need
funding
and
really
could
you
know
thrive
with
the
funding
they
just
don't
some
of
them
just
don't
have
the
capacity
or
the
accounting
software
to
get
themselves
to
the
funding.
O
So
you
know
if,
if
the
city
could
actually
you
know,
help
support
these
businesses
with
some
workshops-
and
you
know
not
just
through
pidc,
but
you
know
some
workshops
where
you
know
some
other
business
owners
are
part
of
this
team
of
yours
and
can
actually
go
into
these
businesses.
You
know
set
up
appointments
for
one
or
two
hours
and
sit
with
them
with.
Maybe
some
you
know
I
don't
want
to
see
like
a
whole
curriculum
entire
curriculum,
but
maybe
an
hour
or
two
on.
You
know
how
to
do
quarterly
reports.
O
A
A
T
Thank
you
very
much
for
your
time.
My
name
is
chris
cyra.
I
live
in
the
bells
vista
section
of
the
city
with
my
family
and
I'm
also.
The
ceo
of
artwork
technologies
in
old
city
archive
technologies
is
a
certified
b
corporation
and
we're
a
digital
transformation
and
product
development.
Consulting
firm,
I'm
presently
on
the
board
of
the
greater
philadelphia
chamber
of
commerce,
and
I
was
small
business
person
of
the
year
in
2016..
T
I
also
co-founded
philly
start-up
leaders,
one
of
the
city's
largest
non-profit
organizations
dedicated
to
providing
the
region's
entrepreneurs
with
support,
insights
and
inspiration.
I've
spent
years
of
my
life
with
philly
startup
leaders
saying
great
things
about
the
city,
and
so
hopefully
my
comments
today
have
this
perspective.
As
my
backdrop
filled
up,
it's
a
great
place
to
start
stay
and
grow
a
company.
T
T
The
upside,
though,
is
that
the
data
gives
us
a
roadmap
for
improvement,
and
it
should
be
easy
for
council
members
to
use
this
tool.
For
instance,
the
starting
a
business
category
word
number
75
is
only
comprised
of
three
things:
number
of
procedures
we
have
five.
The
top
performing
city
has
three
time
and
working
days
just
to
begin
to
start
operations.
We
have
ten,
the
top
performing
city
has
one
and
the
cost
of
175
dollars.
T
I
point
this
out
just
to
demonstrate
the
simplicity
of
using
the
tool,
and
it
even
includes
a
fancy
website
to
navigate
back
and
forth
next
the
paying
taxes
category.
We
are
number
83
and
I
believe
that
council
members
can
truly
make
an
impact
here.
This
is
where
taxing
both
gross
receipts
and
net
income
hurts
us
as
a
strategy.
I
think
we
should
just
pick
one
most
economic
development
experts.
I
know
say
we
should
eliminate
or
reduce
the
net
income
taxes
in
order
to
make
it
make
philadelphia
more
attractive
to
businesses
that
want
to
move
here.
T
Even
if
that
strategy
is
implemented,
we
have
an
extremely
aggressive
practice
of
forcing
businesses
to
prepay
their
taxes,
starting
in
their
second
year.
I
call
this
the
second
year
slap
and
thanks
to
the
special
committee
on
regulatory
review
and
reform.
This
is
paid
quarterly,
instead
of
a
large
lump
sum
prepayment
annually,
but
it
still
just
needs
to
go
away.
Imagine
if
we
told
philadelphia
teenagers
that,
after
they
made
their
first
j,
that
after
they
got
their
first
job,
that
they
need
to
start
prepaying
their
taxes
on
money
they
haven't
made.
T
Yet
one
of
my
business
mentors
would
describe
this
practice
as
eating
our
young
and
long
before
they
can
grow
to
become
a
big
job
and
skills
creator.
I'm
not
a
legal
expert,
but
I
believe
this
practice
of
pre-paying
taxes
probably
goes
against
the
pennsylvania
constitution's
uniformity
of
taxation
clause
as
well.
In
summary,
I
hope
council
members
will
see
this
as
an
opportunity
for
themselves
to
contribute
to
positive
changes
that
grow
jobs
in
the
city.
I
firmly
believe
that
we
can
do
this.
Thank
you.
F
F
Number
one
is
you
know
I
have
a
scientific
background,
so
there's
a
key
axiom
that
I
believe
in
is
that
for
every
action,
there's
an
opposite
and
equal
reaction,
and-
and
I
think
other
speakers
have
spoken
about
this-
that
if
you
take
action,
you
need
to
think
about.
How
does
this
affect?
You
know
the
business
community
good
or
bad,
and
I
think
in
many
cases-
and
I
I
understand
elected
officials
by
and
large
you
guys
are
pleasers
you
want
to
help
your
constituents.
F
Was
the
emergency
family
leave
bill
and
I
think
what
I'd
like
to
say
is
that
there's
probably
no
real
reason
for
having
this
to
go
forward,
because
the
pandemic
is
almost
over
federal
assistance
with
the
american
rescue
plan
act,
hr
1319
is,
is
is
beginning
now
and
anytime
you
put
on
further
regulations
or
legislations
on
businesses.
It
puts
a
chilling
a
chill,
a
message
of
chill
out
there
in
the
business
community
now
I'll
flip
it
a
positive
side
about
what
I
think
is.
F
F
What
was
I,
what
I
was
most
struck
about
was
that
the
city
commerce
department
started
as
announced
that
they
were
going
to
do
zoom
sessions
one-on-one
help
on
the
first
and
fourth
monday
of
the
month
to
help
answer
questions
and
provide
guidance.
I
think
this
should
be
extended
even
past
the
pandemic.
F
One
thing
about
small
businesses:
they're,
usually
you
know
one
two,
three
people
and
if
you're
running
your
business-
and
you
know
trying
to
sweep
the
floor
and
stock
the
shelves
or
cook
the
meals,
it's
very
difficult
to
to
keep
to
stay
on
top
of
things.
So
it's
imp.
Excuse
me,
so
it's
important
to
have
more
or
less
an
ombudsman
at
the
city
level
or
within
some
of
the
non-profit
groups.
C
F
So
you
know
the
more
we
can
do
to
kind
of
hand,
hold
the
business
owners
to
walk
them
through
the
process
and
to
provide
the
technical
assistance
is
going
to
be
key.
I
also
want
to
mention
that
the
the
city
has
through
the
commerce
department
has
funded
the
minority
chambers
and,
and
that-
and
I
I
think
we're
all
grateful
for
that.
I'd
like
to
make
a
suggestion
that
the
minority
chambers
be
brought
into
the
redevelopment
discussions
earlier,
especially
on
large
projects.
F
Okay,
small
businesses
could
develop
coalitions
to
help
provide
possible
tenants
and
equity.
In
many
cases,
these
very
large
projects-
or
you
know,
developments.
The
city
goes
out
to
attract
a
very
large
developer
and
they're
taking
large
risk,
but
they
also
tend
to
get
garnered
the
most
benefit,
while
small
businesses
may
have
similar
risk,
but
are
left
with
less
benefits.
F
A
H
Thank
you
for
allowing
me
the
time
to
testify.
Today.
My
name
is
alex
balloon
and
I
am
the
executive
director
of
the
taconi
community
development
corporation.
We
are
a
volunteer
driven,
neighborhood-based
commercial
corridor
program
in
the
tocconi
neighborhood
of
northeast
philadelphia.
The
commerce
department
is
absolutely
critical
to
the
work
we
do.
We
are
funded
primarily
by
the
commerce
department,
and
this
close
partnership
allows
us
to
help
more
than
135
small
businesses
in
our
neighborhood.
H
A
small
business
would
interface
with
a
specific
regulation
or
practice.
This
has
been
a
challenge
with
some
of
the
city's
safe
red
home
restrictions,
and
I
want
to
commend
the
commerce
department
for
leading
the
way
to
create
more
simplicity
and
flexibility
for
sidewalk
dining,
which
was
a
lifeline
for
our
city's
food-based
businesses.
H
S
H
H
S
H
F
A
F
Absolutely
mark
collazo
executive
director
of
the
fishtown
kensington
area,
business
improvement
district
good
afternoon
to
the
members
of
the
committee
on
commerce
and
economic
development,
and
thank
you
for
allowing
me
to
testify
on
resolution.
Two
thousand
2001-090,
as
I
stated
I'm
mark
collazo
when
I'm
executive
director
of
the
fishtown
kensington
area
bid.
However,
today,
I'm
here
to
represent
the
philadelphia
bid
alliance,
the
alliance
was
established
in
early
2020.
F
We
are
an
affiliation
of
16
commercial
corridors
in
philadelphia
who
work
together,
sharing
resources
and
exchanging
information.
This
collaborative
effort
has
given
us
a
unique
view
of
the
city's
commerce,
its
strengths
and
its
weaknesses.
The
department
of
commerce
has
been
an
important
partner
in
our
effort.
Their
partnership
has
been
particularly
important
during
the
difficult
days
of
the
pandemic,
and
we
applaud
their
continued
dedication
to
helping
us
without
claiming
to
be
alone.
In
this,
it
has
been
a
hard
year
for
business.
F
F
The
work
that
we
do
and
the
aims
we
share
require
the
city
commitment
to
the
same
goals.
The
bid
alliance
met
with
new
department
of
commerce
director,
michael
rashid
in
january.
He
listened
to
our
concerns
and
gave
us
information
on
his
plans
for
the
department.
We
appreciated
his
input
and
the
time
he
gave
us
commerce
has
really
been
our
only
way
of
regular
engagement,
both
from
us
submitting
proposals
for
consideration,
as
well
as
commerce
advocating
on
our
behalf.
F
F
One
of
the
efforts
that
was
crucial
during
the
shutdown
and
civil
unrest
was
the
helpline
email
set
up
by
the
office
of
business
services.
We
particularly
want
to
highlight
the
work
done
by
the
department
of
commerce
and
its
employees
dennis
murphy,
justine
volkas,
karen
fegley
and
joshua
stratton
rainer
during
this
past
historic
year.
Their
levels
of
engagement
and
follow
through
was
also
historic.
F
Today,
the
council
has
before
the
resolution
that
that
includes
goals
that
we
support.
This
resolution
includes
good
examples
of
the
weaknesses
in
the
city
business
interface,
which
has
been
exposed
by
the
pandemic
as
an
effort
to
correct
them.
The
rest
of
the
restaurant
legislation,
for
which
our
restaurants
are
so
very
grateful,
is
just
one
instance
in
which
philadelphia
small
businesses
face
seemingly
insurmountable
red
tape
to
achieve
ordinary
tasks
that
are
pro-jobs,
pro-equity
and
pro-growth.
F
Prior
to
this
legislation
in
most
parts
of
the
city,
restaurants,
seeking
to
put
a
table
and
chairs
outside
of
their
businesses
required
this
body
to
pass
legislation
approving
it,
which
is
what
made
last
year's
bills
so
important
to
our
business
and
donors.
Similarly,
some
simple
signage
approvals
can
also
be
excessively
burdensome.
If
you
are
a
business
owner,
you
may
need
a
building,
permit
a
zoning
permit
and
an
electrical
permit.
If
you're
a
commercial
tenant,
you
may
need
to
pay
a
design,
professional
or
an
attorney
to
advocate
on
your
behalf.
F
F
We
believe
that
the
department
of
commerce
is
the
correct
place
to
house
these
initiatives
because
they
have
done
the
work
of
facilita
facilitating
this
much
already.
The
bid
alliance
is
ready
and
willing
to
work
with
council
on
how
to
reduce
red
tape
to
our
businesses
and
our
corridors
to
flourish.
Thank
you
for
allowing
me
to
testify.
A
Thank
you,
mr
collazo
appreciate
your
testimony
and
we
agree
with
how
well
commerce
has
been
able
to
really
go
above
and
beyond
to
reach
out,
but
we
also
want
to
thank
all
our
bids
because
our
bids
were
able
to
reach
a
lot
of
businesses
that
made
it
easier
for
us
to
get
that
information
disseminated
out
to
them.
So
much
appreciated.
S
A
S
That,
but
I
do
have-
and
I
do
appreciate
the
opportunity
to
speak
today.
My
name
is
stephen
mullen,
I'm
a
principal
with
econsult
solutions
inc,
and
we
do
a
lot
of.
We
do
a
lot
of
stuff
with
city
economies
and
stuff
here
so
and
as
I
mentioned,
we
have
I've
heard
a
lot
of
good
testimony
and
discussion
and
questions
back
and
forth.
S
But
if
there's
no
demand
people
actually
buying
your
products
or
services
here
then
the
then
the
costs
are
then
the
cost
story
is
is
not.
Import
is
not
as
important
and
a
huge
problem
with
the
pandemic,
as
we've
heard,
and
the
recovery
is
restoring
the
growth
in
demand
for
the
products
and
services
of
small
businesses.
S
S
One
is
the
income
of
the
of
the
consumers
of
the
people
who
are
going
to
be
purchasing
going
to
be
in
their
market
here
and
that
income
is
a
function
of
ultimately,
and
the
vast
majority
of
it
is
a
function
of
do
they
have
employment
here.
So
overall,
employment
is
absolutely
a
prerequisite
for
small
businesses,
small
businesses
of
owned
by
people
of
color
small
businesses
in
any
regard,
and
commercial,
neighborhood
commercial
corridors
and
stuff.
S
The
a
number
one
thing
is:
they
have
to
have
customers
who
have
money
in
their
income
in
their
pockets
and
money
in
their
pockets.
Here
we've
got
a
short
short
blip
by
the
way,
short
and
very
important,
and
sizable
blip
looks
probably
too
small
a
word
with
the
pandemic,
with
the
rescue
funds
going
directly
to
individuals,
but
that
needs
to
be
sustainable
and
sustainable
through
income.
S
The
second
is
what
businesses
small
businesses
are
selling
to
other
businesses
in
the
in
the
city
or
in
the
metropolitan
area
here,
and
for
that
they
need
those
businesses
to
be
doing
well,
too.
They
would
go
up
sort
of
a
business
business
food
chain
here
and
those
businesses
are
the
the
vast
majority
of
the
economy
of
our
120
billion
dollar
city
economy.
S
A
A
A
K
Sure
absolutely
my
name
is
steven
slovinski,
I'm
a
senior
research,
fellow
at
arizona,
state
university
and
also
the
project
director
of
the
doing
business.
North
america
report,
which
you've
heard
referenced
here
a
little
bit
today
and
I'll,
be
talking
today
about
the
results
that
we
have
from
that
study
as
they
pertain
to
philadelphia
just
a
quick
thing
that
might
be
interesting
to
the
committee
and
the
council.
I
myself
spent
a
lot
of
time
in
philadelphia
growing
up,
I'm
a
child
of
the
80s
grew
up
on
the
east
coast.
K
My
great-grandfather
came
through
ellis
island
and
settled
in
south
philly.
My
grandfather
was
born
there.
My
great
uncle
worked,
the
nabisco
factory
on
roosevelt
boulevard
back
in
the
day
used
to
drive
down
there
as
a
child
over
the
summers
and
roll
down
the
windows
it
was
like.
We
were
driving
by
willy
wonka's
chocolate
factory.
We
could
smell
the
cookies
being
baked
inside
and
then.
Finally,
my
other
great
uncle
was
the
last
civilian
commander
of
the
frankfurt
armory.
K
So
I've
got
a
lot
of
deep
roots
in
philadelphia,
so
it's
quite
an
honor
to
be
able
to
chat
with
you
today
to
talk
about
how
we
can
make
philadelphia
even
better,
and
the
way
we
can
do
that,
I
think,
is
to
focus
on
some
very
specific
attributes
of
the
business
regulatory
and
tax
environment,
as
it
pertains
in
in
relationship
to
other
competitor
cities
to
see
how
philadelphia
can
gain
a
competitive
advantage
in
those
areas.
I'd
like
to
go
ahead
and
share
my
my
powerpoint
presentation
with
you.
K
Can
alright,
wonderful,
wonderful,
so
here
at
arizona,
state
university,
we've
got
this
project
called
doing
business
north
america?
It's
an
annual
project
we're
entering
its
third
year
and
what
we've
done
is
we've
cobbled
together
about
a
dozen
researchers
over
the
course
of
the
past
year,
or
at
least
starting
in
2019
each
year
to
pretend
we're
a
business
and
go
through
the
regulatory
process
that
would
be
required
to
start
a
business
operate
a
business
and
if
you
lose
money,
then
close
down
that
business.
K
But
the
reality
is
that
these
types
of
costs
in
terms
of
time
and
money
vary
considerably
by
city.
And
so
what
we
want
to
do
is
is
gauge
all
of
the
the
attributes
of
these
factors
for
businesses
in
a
number
of
cities
across
north
america,
canada,
the
u.s
and
mexico.
In
fact,
130
cities
across
those
countries-
and
these
are
objective
measures
that
are
all
based
on
publicly
available
data
from
city,
typically
the
city
websites
themselves,
or
in
cases
where
we
had
to
call
to
confirm
things
and
the
logic
here
was.
K
And,
in
fact,
looking
at
the
empirical
analysis
that
have
been
done
both
on
the
bbna
data
set
and
other
data
sets
that
exist.
You
typically
tend
to
see
greater
growth
in
both
business
starts
and
expansion
of
existing
businesses
for
small
and
medium-sized
businesses,
basically
maybe
500
or
50.
Rather
in
our
case
50
people
in
below
are
the
kind
of
businesses
that
we
consider
small
to
medium.
K
You
tend
to
see
growth
more
actively
in
cities
that
have
a
lower
what
we
call
ease,
rather
a
higher
ease
of
doing
business
or
a
lower
barrier
to
entry.
If
you
will,
how
do
we
measure
these
things?
Well,
we
have
six
categories
that
we
look
at
starting
a
business.
Pretty
self-explanatory.
That's
the
number
of
steps
it
takes
to
actually
start
your
business
employing
workers.
K
This
is
a
measure
of
how
intrusive
or
less
intrusive
the
city
is
in
allowing
people
to
our
businesses
rather
to
employ
workers,
write
flexible
contracts
to
hire
contractors
things
of
this
sort,
not
all
cities,
get
involved
in
this
process,
but
some
cities
do
getting.
Electricity
is
basically
the
affordability
and
reliability
of
electricity
may
not
seem
like
it
varies
much,
but
it
does
vary
considerably
by
cities,
land
and
space
use.
K
This
gauges
the
the
level
of
taxation
and
also
the
type
of
taxation
that
exists
in
the
city
that
might
have
a
direct
impact
on
the
both
the
creation
of
a
business,
but
also
the
profitability
of
that
business
once
it
gets
up
and
running
and
finally,
resolving
insolvency,
that's
basically
bankruptcy.
This
is
the
only
category
that
actually
is
entirely
national
or
federal
in
nature.
This
is
basically
federal
bankruptcy
law.
K
U.S
bankruptcy
law
is
actually
better
than
canada
and
and
mexico,
and
so
all
u.s
cities
rank
first
in
this
category,
but
not
all
cities
rank
first
in
all
these
other
categories,
and
the
unfortunate
aspect
of
this
is
that
philadelphia
ranks
rather
poorly
in
many
of
these
categories.
They
rank
very
well
in
getting
electricity
16th
in
the
nation,
so
at
least
philadelphia
doesn't
have
to
worry
too
much
about
that
at
least
based
on
what
we
could
measure.
K
But
there
are
three
specific
categories
I
think
are
worth
mentioning
and
I'll
just
spend
the
rest
of
my
time
here,
just
briefly
going
through
these
three
categories,
what
they
mean
and
how
philadelphia
rank
in
comparison
to
other
cities.
First
they're
starting
a
business.
This
is
basically
the
number
of
procedures
and
that
it
costs
rather
the
number
of
procedures
to
start
a
business
and
then
the
time
and
cost
necessary
to
complete
these
procedures.
K
Philadelphia
ranks
75th
overall
in
this
category.
Now,
to
put
that
in
context,
we
had
80
u.s
cities
that
we
were
measuring
and
so
philadelphia
ranks
fairly
low.
In
fact,
this
from
the
bottom
really
in
this
specific
measure,
that's
largely
because
by
our
estimate
again
we
had
a
dozen
researchers,
pretending
like
they
were
a
business
going
through
the
business
start
process
by
our
measure,
and
our
estimate
would
take
about
10
days
to
go
through
all
of
the
processes
that
were
involved
starting
a
business.
K
It's
actually
that's
about
twice
what
most
major
east
coast
cities
and
certainly
most
of
your
competitor
cities,
we're
doing
in
terms
of
time
and
expediting
procedures,
so
it
takes
quite
a
while
to
actually
just
start
a
business
in
in
philadelphia.
Now,
let's
go
to
space
and
use.
This
is
a
zoning
measure,
but
it's
also
counting
the
procedures
and
and
the
number
of
days
and
the
amount
of
time
and
costs
it
takes
to
start
sorry
to
get
through
the
the
land
and
zoning
process.
K
Like
a
head
scratcher,
because
we
said
we
only
have
80
cities
in
the
u.s.
Well,
we
have
cities
in
canada,
new
mexico,
as
well
rather
in
mexico
as
well.
In
fact,
canadian
cities
ranked
quite
a
few
of
them
ranked
above
philadelphia
in
in
this.
In
this
specific
case.
Basically,
the
the
take-home
message
on
this
one
is
that
there
are
about
double
as
many
steps
in
philadelphia
to
get
through
the
zoning
and
through
the
transfer
of
property
process,
as
there
is
in
other
major
cities
of
comparable
size
and
certainly
of
mostly
competitor
cities.
K
And
finally,
I
want
to
end
with
paying
taxes
that's
been
mentioned
already.
This
is
effectively
the
type
and
the
rate
at
which
income
and
business
activity
is
taxed
in
both
the
state,
but
also
mainly
the
city
level
as
well.
What's
significant
here
is
that
philadelphia
goes
to
ranks
83rd
again
outside
of
the
haiti
cities
in
the
u.s,
because
there's
a
couple
of
canadian
cities
that
do
a
little
better
than
in
philadelphia.
K
But
the
main
reason
for
philadelphia's
low
score
in
this
is
the
fact
that
there
are
a
number
of
city
level,
taxes
that
are
actually
quite
punitive
and
unique
in
an
unfortunate
way.
In
fact,
there's
only
about
a
dozen
cities
that
tax
either
receipts,
meaning
like
a
gross
receipts,
type
tax
or
tax
income
at
the
city
level,
but
there's
only
one
city
that
taxes,
both
that's
philadelphia
and
that's
the
main
reason
why
philadelphia
ranks
so
poorly
relative
to
to
other
cities
that
we
measured.
K
One
of
the
best
things
we
love
about
this
study
is
that
it
is
available
for
download
by
anyone
at
dbna.asu.edu.
You
can
filter
by
city
by
country
by
state.
You
can
compare
yourself
see
where
we
got
all
the
data
and
you
can
download
all
the
spreadsheets
and
make
your
own
comparisons
and
also
open
it
up
to
researchers
to
make
sure
that
the
types
of
things
we're
measuring
are
correlating
with
real-world
economic
outcomes,
and
so
we're
really
excited
to
be
going
into
year.
K
Three,
the
third
edition
will
be
coming
out
in
october
of
this
year,
and
the
first
two
editions
have
already
been
out
there
available
on
that
website.
I'm
happy
to
take
any
questions
now,
but
if
you
have
any
additional
questions
after
we
finish
this
meeting,
you
can
go
to
economic
liberty
asu.edu
and
send
some
email
and
I'm
always
making
sure
I
answer
those
emails
as
soon
as
I
can
so.
Thank
you
for
your
time.
It's
been
quite
an
honor.
I
appreciate
it.
A
A
I
Yeah,
this
is
actually
a
question
for
mr
mullen.
I
know
steve,
who
has
been
a
consultant,
and
you
know
through
e-console,
advised
a
number
of
you
know:
entities
through
the
city
of
philadelphia
and
also
his
past
experience,
both
as
a
commerce
director
here
in
the
city
of
philadelphia
and
st
louis.
I
want
to
get
his
perspective
on
the
resources
that
will
be
coming
to
the
city
of
philadelphia
american
rescue
plan
and
considering
this
topic
and
the
earlier
questions
that
have
been
asked.
S
Hi
councilman,
that's
a
that's
a
nice,
a
nice
question
here,
that's
on
everybody's
on
everybody's
mind.
Obviously
I
would
note,
based
on
the
conversations
earlier
in
the
panel,
that
number
one
thing
that
I
think
is
important
to
think
about.
Is
I've
always
considered
the
the
rescue
plan,
these
things
here
to
be
basically
safety
nets?
These
are
not
long-term.
S
These
this
is,
we
fell.
We
in
the
whole
economy
fell
or
big
chunks
of
the
economy
fell
off
the
bike.
To
get
back
on
the
bike
we
needed,
we
needed
a
big
chunk
of
a
big
chunk
of
dough
as
a
safety
net.
This
is
not
a
permanent
thing,
so
the
concentration
of
thinking
about
okay.
How
do
we
use
this?
Not
just
to
say,
hey,
let's
just
get
back
and
and
say
we
can
set
the
rewind
to
february
2020
and
we'll
continue
on
like
we
were
before,
because
we've
gotten
back
up
here.
S
It's
not
that
it's
not
that
at
all,
so
so
an
opportunity
to
use
this
one
to
fill
some
of
the
gaps,
but
really
to
not
let
up
on
the
gas
pedal
at
all
for
growing
the
overall
economy.
Every
single
one
of
the
things
that
we're
trying
to
do
now,
which
is
a
broader
set
of
things
than
we
talked
about
with
equitable
development
inclusion
and
essentially
spreading
the
benefits
of
growth.
S
More
than
they've,
been
in
the
past,
all
require
continued
growth
in
one
way,
shape
in
one
way,
shape
or
form
so,
to
the
extent
that
some
of
the
so
that
the
city's
budget
here,
which
says
here's
our
here-
are
our
priorities.
We're
going
to
do
something
here,
to
the
extent
that
the
city's
budget
can
also
have
a
sizable,
an
earlier
commerce
director
where
she
mentioned.
You
know
he's
at
the
table
to
make
sure.
S
As
you
look
at
the
big
picture
here,
there's
going
to
be
something
about
investing
we've
used
the
term,
invest
a
lot
but
invest
in
the
productive
capacity
of
the
city
going
going
forward,
which
will
help
address
it's
a
necessary,
but
it's
not
a
sufficient
condition.
That's
the
old
trickle
down
story
was
this
is
next
necessary
and
sufficient,
but
it
is
a
necessary
condition
to
make
sure
that
the
economy
grows
back.
Sorry,
I
think
you
might,
you
might
be
on
mute
now.
Councilman.
I
G
All
thank
you
councilman
green
for
this
resolution
today
and
I
wanted
to
follow
up
with
counseling
questions,
and
maybe
you
could
be
a
baby,
a
little
more
specific
and
let's
just
make
believe
for
a
minute
that
you're
back
in
the
city
government
and
we
say
to
you
steve:
what's
the
three
best
things
we
could
do
with
this
money?
Give
me
three
specific
things.
S
So
the
regulatory
burdens
in
recognizing
those
and
maybe
having
some
type
of
compensation
would
be.
One
second
is
some
type
of
law,
some
some
reduction,
some
type
of
reduction,
long-term
and
business
taxes.
Here
I
was,
I
was
in
the
first.
I
was
in
the
first
class
sitting
around
the
table
back
in
the
1990s.
Looking
at
the
wage
tax
reductions
there
and
a
lot
of
people
don't
realize
that
the
it
was
originally
a
five-year
program
whacking
a
tenth
of
a
percent.
S
Every
year,
not
four
hundred
millionths
of
one
percent
each
year,
but
at
ten
percent
the
second
the
second
year
went
four
nine
six
to
four
eight
six.
It
was
supposed
to
go
into
four
four
four
four
six
here
the
second
year
went
from
four
eight
six
to
four
eight
four
and
like
hey
what
the
heck
happened
and
it
turned
out
hey.
We
thought
the
budget
director
said
we
couldn't
afford
the
going
all
the
way.
S
That
time
will
never
come
here,
so
you
have
to
do
it
and
build
it
in
up
front,
and-
and
I
know
that
I
know
like
members
of
council,
including
the
two
I'm
looking
at
here-
now-
have
sort
of
been
pointing
out
that
out,
and
I
think
there
was
a
when,
when
commerce
director
rasheed
said,
it'll
be
at
the
table
that
it's
not
like
here.
What's
this
department,
gonna
get
what's
this
department's
gonna
get?
S
What's
this
department
gonna
get
and
what's
the
commerce
department
gonna
get
and
what's
this
department,
what's
this
program
going
to
get?
No,
it
isn't
it's
a
it's
a
more
strategic,
it's
sort
of
like
it's
sort
of
like
current
operating
expenditures
versus
capital.
It's
not
just
here.
Oh
by
the
way
we
have
an
extra
30.
This
year
we
haven't
put
into
the
general
fund
or
we
haven't
budgeted
for
the
general
funds.
So
let's
use
this
for
capital,
no
say
we
need
this
capital
investment
by
the
way.
S
I
do
consider
that
for
my
earlier
answer,
I
do
consider
capital
investment
to
be
a
huge
infrastructure
investment
to
be
a
huge
part
of
that
overall
investment
we
were
talking
about.
I
was
talking
about
with
councilman
green
just
before
that,
so
so,
tax
rate
reductions,
increased
increased
investments
and
and
regulatory
if,
if
you're
looking
at
regulatory
changes
again
for
good
reason,
then
have
some
sort
of
a
compensation
back
in
the
late
90s.
S
Most
of
you
were
young
at
that
at
that
time.
Maybe
maybe
I
was
too,
but
there
was
a
big
thing
about
unfunded
mandates.
Federal
government
comes
in
and
says
here:
you're
gonna.
Do
this
this
this
and
this
and
say
whoa
when
we
do
this,
it's
gonna
cost
us.
We
understand
what
you're
saying
but
holy
crow.
It's
gonna
cost
us.
S
Tax
rates
here,
as
everybody
knows,
there's
been
different,
hey,
maybe
we'll
go
and
and
add
on
to
another
tax.
There
were
people
saying
why
don't
we
bond
out
of
that
for
five
years
or
something
like
that?
But
but
fundamentally,
I
think
there's
an
opportunity
here
with
the
with
the
cares
act
and
if
and
if
we
get
the
economy
back
up
running
and
so
it
catches
up
and
hopefully
continues
on
and
that's
a
big
if
I
think
that
you
find
it
in
the
growth.
A
A
S
I
Yes,
so
I
just
want
to
thank
all
of
the
witnesses
that
were
here
for
this
hearing.
I
think
this
was
a
very
engaged
conversation,
someone,
that's
very
timely,
considering
the
things
that
we're
dealing
with
in
reference
to
how
do
we
grow
the
business
climb
in
the
city
of
philadelphia?
It's
very
important
because
we've
got
to
grow
new
revenue
in
our
city
and
we've
got
to
do
that
by
taking
real,
decisive
action
going
forward.
I
I
But
the
last
point
is
the
issue
of
taxes
and
councilman
dom
to
talk
about
some
of
the
issues
that
I
want
to
talk
about
briefly,
because
then
we've
been
here
for
some
time,
but
the
historical
challenge
has
been:
how
do
we
reduce
the
birth
and
or
wage
tax?
And
how
do
you
make
up
that
revenue?
So
if
you
reduce
one,
you
got
to
make
it
up
with
something
else.
I
Now,
if
we
are
growing
as
a
city,
we
have
more
revenue
coming
to
the
city,
that's
an
easier
proposition,
but
ultimately,
if
you're
going
to
reduce
wage
or
burp
you're
taking
that
from
somewhere
else,
and
that's
been
one
of
the
challenges
and
when
you
look
at
other
cities
around
the
nation
cities
that
have
not
been
as
financially
impacted
by
the
pandemic.
Cities
like
boston,
where
you
know
80
of
their
revenue,
comes
from
real
estate
and
there's
been
a
conversation
for
years
about
how
we
make
that
shift
in
real
estate.
I
But
that's
a
challenge
because
you're
talking
about
a
possible
increase
in
real
estate
taxes
and
that's
something
that
people
have
some
real
concerns
about,
especially
when
we
have
a
25
poverty
rate.
I
know
steve.
You
have
been
involved
in
conversations
years
ago,
both
with
jerry
sweeney
and
paul
levy
in
reference
to
trying
to
make
that
change
of
having
those
who
own
commercial
property
to
pay
more
in
taxes
as
a
way
of
reducing
reduction
on
some
of
the
business
taxes.
I
I
So
we're
going
to
continue
that
conversation,
but
that
may
be
one
possibility
of
starting
to
shift
from
the
wage
invert
to
mourning
real
estate
using
land
value
tax
at
the
vehicle
similar
to
the
sweeney
levy
plan,
but
doing
it
within
our
house
and
not
going
to
the
general
assembly.
So
I'm
curious
on
just
your
initial
thoughts
and
we'll
have
some
additional
conversations
going
forward.
S
Well,
I've
been
a
I've,
been
a
huge
fan
of
the
land
value
tax
for
for
years,
when
I
came
here
from
saint
louis,
it
was
was
not
allowed
in
missouri,
and
I
said,
oh
I'm
going
to
pennsylvania
where
they
do
allow
it
here
and
taking
a
look
and,
and
also
it's
not,
you
have
sort
of
the
theoretical
all
land
as
opposed
to
more
heavily
weighting
the
land.
There's
ways
that
you
can
do
stuff.
So
it's
not
all
or
nothing
here,
which
I
think
is
important.
S
I
will
tell
one
story
my
last
my
last
day
as
finance
director
in
philadelphia.
The
next
day
I
became
the
commerce
director
I
had.
I
had
lunch
with
the
mayor
and
david
cohen
and
ben
haler,
the
new
finance
director
and
from
pittsburgh,
who
had
used
the
land
value
tax.
The
last
thing
on
the
450
item
agenda
that
we
had
on
a
for
its
eight
hour.
Lunch
was,
I
said,
I've
been
you
know,
want
to
take
a
look
at.
S
What's
our
what's
the
possibility
of
looking
at
you
know
the
land
land
value
tax
and
and
do
we
have
do
we
have
the
capacity
and
the
with
our
assessment
practices
to
get
those
numbers
because,
as
we
all
know
up
until
up
until
eight,
seven
or
eight
years
ago
so
like
it
was
hit
or
miss
and
mostly
miss
here
in
this
world.
So
could
you
do
that?
S
I
won't
tell
you,
I
won't
tell
you
what
ben
hayler's
reaction
was
to
that,
but
you'll
note
that
that
was
not
on
the
that
was
not
much
on
the
agenda
for
the
second
half
of
the
19
1990s
on
here
on
that
front.
So
I
think
that
and
and
and
implementing
it.
I
do
think
that
we're
in
a
completely
different
world
now
than
we
were
a
decade
or
two
decades
ago
or
two
three
decades
ago.
S
What
the
heck
are
you
really
talking
about,
and
the
answer
was
he
really
couldn't
now,
with
growth
and
and
by
the
way,
even
with
some?
Maybe
it's
maybe
it
starts
at
a
lower
level
and
and
takes
a
while
to
grow
back
up,
but
with
growth,
it's
and
with
the
capacity
that
we
have
now
for
assessments.
Here
I
think
you
have
it's
like
a
chef
chef
tv
show,
all
the
ingredients
for
making
a
good
soup
are
sitting
right
there.
S
I
Well,
actually,
it
wasn't
three
decades
ago
it
was
actually
four
decades.
The
first
person
to
talk
about
this
was,
if
I
remember
correctly
from
my
research-
was
joan
spector
and
jim
tyoon,
who
first
started
talking
about
land
value
attacks,
actually
had
a
bill
that
was
introduced.
Then
also
jonathan
seidel
had
talked
about
this
and
then
former
council
members,
wilson,
good
and
vladimir
valens
brown,
but
I
agree
with
you:
we
have
not
had
the
right
tools
to
get
it
done.
I
I
think
actual
initiative
helped
in
that
regard,
and
also
the
fact
that
we
did
not
have
camera,
which
is
now
and
that's
something.
I've
been
very
critical
about
in
reference
to
administration,
but
that's
also
and
different
place.
So
I
think
we
may
be
at
a
time
when
that
conversation
may
be
a
little
more
ripe
for
the
possibility.
A
Thank
you
all
and
again,
I
know
you
can't
see
me
well
with
the
screen,
but
I
do.
This
is
something
that
we
need
to
continue
to
talk
about
and
steve.
We
appreciate
all
the
numbers
and
data
that
you
give
us
and
commerce,
and
commissioner
rashid,
has
done
a
great
job
and
his
staff
that
are
always
there
when
we
call
and
reach
out
to
our
businesses
that
I
struggle
through
this.
So
thank
you
for
your
time
and
that
we
have
no
other
people
here
to
testify.
No
other
questions.
A
I
want
to
thank
all
the
panels
and
the
witnesses
for
participation.
We
value
your
opinions
and
knowing
that
we'll
continue
this
conversation
in
the
future.
This
will
conclude
the
business
before
the
committee
on
commerce
and
economic
development
today.
So
thank
you
all
very
much
for
your
attendance.
Your
attendance
and
attention
take
care
everyone.