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From YouTube: State and City Leaders On Lead Safety 10-31-2016
Description
Philadelphia-area elected officials gathered at City Hall on Monday, October 31, 2016 to discuss ongoing efforts to address concerns about lead-levels, lead safety and the impact of lead contamination on children.
In attendance:
Philadelphia City Council Members:
Council President Darrell Clarke (5th District)
Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell (3rd District)
Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. (4th District)
Councilwoman Cindy Bass (8th District)
Councilwoman Helen Gym (At Large)
State Senator Vincent Hughes (7th District)
State Rep. Maria Donnatucci (185th District)
State Rep. Donna Bullock (195th District)
A
A
Collect
individually
requires
us
to
work
together,
and
the
depth
of
the
problem
clearly
indicates
that
it
is
the
issue
of
city
and
the
state
and
the
federal
government
working
together
to
respond
to
a
crisis
that,
in
many
respects,
hazards
itself
a
center
point
here
in
Philadelphia,
but
clearly
clearly,
is
a
statewide
problem
and
it's
going
to
require
resources
I'm
not
going
to
run
away
from
it.
We're
going
to
address
that
problem
straight
on
resources
are
going
to
be
necessary.
A
There
used
to
be
resources
that
larger
were
driven
at
the
federal
level
to
come
into
cities
all
across
the
state
and
all
across
the
nation
to
address
the
issue
of
lead.
That
money
has
dried
up,
we're
going
to
have
to
figure
out
how
to
get
those
dollars
flowing
again,
because
you
cannot
remove
lead
out
of
communities.
A
Understanding
this
that,
from
a
statewide
perspective,
the
problem
of
lead
was
evidenced
as
a
result
of
a
a
statewide
analysis
of
cities
that
tested
at
higher
lead
content
level
for
their
children
higher
than
the
children
in
Flint
Michigan.
Maybe
the
only
thing
good
that
came
out
of
the
issue
of
Flint
was
the
fact
that
it
really
galvanized
more
public
attention
to
the
issue
of
lead.
That's
probably
all
anything
good
that
came
out
of
that.
A
But
cities
like
Altoona
cities,
like
Erie
cities
like
Allentown
cities
like
Bethlehem,
scranton/wilkes-barre,
ready,
Chester
communities
Pittsburgh
all
across
this
state
have
higher
LED
content
in
with
their
children,
then
the
children
in
Flint
Michigan.
So
this
is
a
statewide
problem,
but
I
think
what
we
have
heard
in
my
very
quick
conversation
within
24
hours
and
I
may
be
generous
with
the
24-hour
time
clock
uh-huh,
because
someone
told
me
they
got
a
call
a
good
night
last
night.
A
Earlier
this
year,
in
the
spring
of
this
year,
I,
along
with
my
colleague,
senator
art,
Haywood
and
a
number
of
members
of
the
Senate
Democratic
caucus,
stood
up
and
introduced
the
package
of
bills
to
try
to
move
forward
on
this
I'm
going
to
ask
someone
hey
what
if
he
could
speak
to
that
and
then
we'll
have
other
folks
join
in
at
both
the
city
level
and,
of
course,
in
Washington.
And
of
course,
our
community
activist
here,
senator
art,
hey,
would.
B
So
like
to
thank
Senator
used,
especially
for
providing
leadership
we're
here
today,
as
well
as
for
organizing
the
state
senators
to
come
up
with
a
set
of
pieces
of
legislation
to
try
to
address
the
lead
challenge
in
Pennsylvania
and
I,
also
like
to
thank
my
good
friend,
Phil
Lord
who's.
Here
I
was
with
the
tenant
return.
I
got
a
disclosed
I'm
a
treasure
for
turn
and
have
been
a
longtime
activist
and
a
housing
activists.
B
So
today,
I'm
going
to
speak
not
only
as
state
senator,
but
also
as
a
housing
attorney
who
better
housing
attorney
for
30
years,
I
shared
with
the
Senate
that
last
winner
winner
this
year,
I
visit
his
flat.
My
mother
lives
in
Toledo
Ohio.
It's
only
about
an
hour
from
Flint
I
thought.
I
would
see
what
was
going
on
for
myself.
I
did
and
what
I
saw
were
places
on
streets
where
bottles
and
bottles
of
water
where
people
had
to
go
to
get
water
for
themselves,
long
lines
or
people
hadn't
get
water.
B
I
met
the
mayor
of
Lenin.
She
told
me
story
after
story
of
families
and
individuals
who
couldn't
wash
their
clothes,
who
couldn't
provide
water
for
their
children.
I
made
a
meta
state
senator
who
said.
Even
though
they've
been
some
clearance
for
use
of
the
water,
he
still
wasn't
going
to
allow
his
six
month
old
to
drink
any
of
the
water
in
Flint,
so
I
left
Flint
with
a
clear
sense
of
sadness.
B
B
October
this
year,
the
school
district
and
now
say
a
plan
to
to
test
all
the
water
fountains
in
the
200
and
some
schools
that
they
have
the
announce
that
they've
looks
like
they've
tested
between
20
and
40
already,
and
they
want
to
test
the
balance
for
the
rest
of
you
in
the
next
18
months.
The
school
district
is
also
say
that
they're
testing
out
a
standard
of
15
parts
per
billion,
which
is
more
strict
than
the
normal
EPA
standard
of
20
parts
per
billion.
B
So
we
do
have
some
leadership
here
in
school
districts
got
a
long
way
to
go,
but
they
are
beginning
that
process
now
as
a
housing
attorney.
So
I
represented
individuals
facing
a
housing
discrimination
for
sniffing
a
part
of
my
life.
One
of
the
things
I
realized
in
all
of
those
cases
is
that,
in
order
to
get
individuals
to
comply,
there
has
to
be
a
cost
of
compliance,
that's
higher
than
the
cost
of
ignoring
the
challenge.
B
The
cost
of
non-compliance,
attorneys
fees,
emotional
damage,
those
costs
have
to
be
higher
than
the
cost
of
non-compliance,
and
that's
what
we
face
here.
The
cost
of
allowing
lead
in
the
homes
has
to
be
higher,
did
not
compliance
again.
I
want
to
thank
Senator
use
for
his
leadership
and
bring
us
all
together,
not
only
here
but
throughout
the
state
Thank
you
Thank.
A
C
Thank
you
senator
use,
and
thank
you
to
everybody.
That's
here
today,
I
stand
here
today
representing
the
Philadelphia
delegation
of
lawmakers
in
the
House
of
Representatives.
I
can
tell
you
that
the
health,
welfare
and
safety
of
the
children
of
our
city
is
number
one
to
us.
What
devotes
that
we
take
issues
we
raise
and
problems
we
tackle
protecting
Pennsylvania
children
is
always
a
common
denominator.
Personally,
this
is
an
issue.
I
have
been
worried
about
for
over
30
years.
This
isn't
a
new
problem.
C
The
house
we
live
in
was
built
in
1905,
when
my
late
husband,
Bob
decided
to
start
a
project
to
take
our
woodwork
down
to
the
original
wood
by
burning
off
the
paint.
I
didn't
come
home
with
our
newborn
son,
not
until
the
lead
paint
was
gone,
but
I
was
lucky.
My
parents
lived
a
few
blocks
away.
This
is
not
an
issue.
I
want
to
see
any
new
mother
or
parents
of
toddlers
we'll
have
to
be
dealing
with
today.
C
C
The
only
way
to
prevent
lead
poisoning
is
to
remove
the
source
of
exposure
and,
if
the
only
way
to
ensure
we're
resolving
the
source
is
to
enact
new
laws
than
not
that
we
need
to
do
as
legislators.
This
issue
is
calling
out
to
us
that
we
must
do
more
to
protect
and
safeguard
our
children
and
our
city
and
in
our
state.
Thank
you.
Thank.
D
You
very
much
in
fact
I
less
my
council
members
that
come
close,
because,
where
we
are
all
together,
we've
all
been
talking
already
about
having
hearings
of
what
it
is.
We
should
do
and
I'm
grateful
to
the
senator
for
bringing
us
all
together
and
the
Senate
who's
here,
our
president
and
all
who
are
here.
This
is
such
an
important
issue.
We
thought
I
was
talking
to
lieutenant
just
upstairs,
who
thought
we
thought
we
were
past
this
issue.
D
We
thought
we
had
had
this
discussion
and
hearing
so
many
years
ago,
when
the
late
Lucien
Blackwell
was
around.
This
is
not
a
new
issue.
It
is
just
amazing
to
me
that
we
have
to
fight
it
all
over
again,
because
people
don't
check
owners,
don't
make
sure
that
they
protect
the
citizens
of
our
city.
They
don't
make
sure
that
they
protect
people
in
need
and
people
who
can't
do
it
for
themselves
and
people
who
may
not
have
enough
money
to
pay
what
they
would
like,
and
so
we
are
grateful
we
are
all
together.
D
A
E
E
First
of
all,
senator
thank
you
for
the
rapid
response
on
that
we
have
in
order
not
to
be
Flint
Michigan.
You
shouldn't
wait
until
you
let
the
issue
catch
up.
You
should
respond
quickly
what
you
did
within
24
hours
here
we
are
and
as
the
white
Evans
soon-to-be
congressman
said,
government
works
better
when
we
work
together,
so
we
don't
have
to
do
a
memo.
We
have
we're
all
here
on
the
same
page
today.
E
I
wanted
to
assure
you
that
this
is
not
something
new
Councilwoman
blackball
talked
about
Lucien
Blackwell
starting
this
effort,
but
also
one
of
our
colleagues
who
could
not
be
here
today.
Councilwoman
blondell,
Reynolds
Brown
took
on
this
issue
full
force,
working
with
the
advocates
that
you
see
here
today
begin
conversations
and
it
met
with
a
lot
of
resistance.
As
I
recall,
a
lot
of
people
did
not
want
the
expense
of
encapsulation
or
detection
or
testing,
but,
as
you
can
see,
ounce
of
prevention
is
worth
a
pound
of
cure
and
we
need
to
safeguard
our
babies.
E
I
mean
you
almost
had
me
in
tears,
a
representative
about
that,
so
many
of
our
children
do
not
have
the
resources
to
remediate
to
encapsulate
or
to
provide
proper
medicine,
as
a
result
of
that.
But
I
wanted
to
you
to
know
by
way
of
the
record
that
in
2008
councilwoman
brought
this
issue
up
in
2010
she
and
worked
very
diligently
with
all
of
the
stakeholders.
E
The
final
proper
way
to
address
this
in
2010
Councilwoman,
Reynolds
Brown,
introduced
legislation
on
testing
and
prevention,
and
we
have
passed
that
and
it
worked
with
organizations
like
hepco
to
make
it
palatable.
So
this
is
the
next
leg
in
this
relay
and
we
are
determined
I'm
also
to
work
with
the
school
district,
because
not
only
do
we
need
to
protect
our
babies
that
go
there,
but
the
teachers
and
staff
that
work
there
and
they
should
not
have
to
bring
their
own
water.
It
should
be
able
to
deal
with
the
public
facilities
provided.
E
So
this
is
not
just
one
department.
This
is
not
just
one
level
of
government
is
all
of
us
working
together
m
we're
going
to
have
to
pay
for
it.
At
the
end
of
the
day,
progress
is
not
pay
less
on.
Sometimes
we
do
have
to
pay
attention
first
and
then
to
pay
a
little
more
to
remediate
and
prevent.
Thank
you.
F
Good
morning,
good
morning,
we
are
here
today
to
fight
for
Philadelphia's
children
and
to
fight
for
children
throughout
the
Commonwealth.
This
is
a
very
serious
serious
matter
and
I
agree
with
Councilman
blackwell
who
just
said
that
you
know
that
this
is
an
issue
that
should
have
been
addressed.
This
is
something
that
should
have
been
done.
We
shouldn't
be
here
right
now
in
2016
still
talking
about
this
issue,
and
so
we're
going
to
do
whatever
is
required
to
keep
our
children
safe
to
hold
folks
accountable,
particularly
landlords.
F
G
Thank
you
very
much.
My
name
is
Helen
game
I'm,
the
chair
of
City
Council's
Committee
on
children
and
youth
I
want
to
thank
Senator
Hughes
for
pulling
this
and
comedian
this
together.
My
council
president
for
convening
the
council
committee
on
children
and
youth,
and
especially
my
council
colleagues.
Last
spring,
we
introduced
a
package
of
bills
that
is,
that
was
looking
at
expanded,
lead,
testing
and
disclosure
within
our
city
that
would
affect
schools,
daycare,
centers
and
homes
in
particular.
G
I
share
the
concerns
of
all
my
colleagues
and
saying
that
we
are
both
outraged,
heartbroken
and
angered
about
the
situation
that
faces
so
many
of
our
city's
children
and
families.
The
reality,
though,
is,
is
that,
even
as
we
pursue
legislative
fixes,
what
we
need
is
a
much
more
comprehensive
review
of
larger
systems
that
are
in
place.
The
lead
poisoning
crisis
is,
in
fact
a
public
health
crisis,
but
it's
it
works
itself.
It
works
itself
out
through
very
private
venues.
I
mean
the
housing
market
is
a
private
market.
G
The
water
lines
that
go
into
homeowners
are
the
responsibility
of
those
homeowners.
So
we
need
to
be
a
lot
more
thoughtful
about
how
we're
looking
at
larger
systems
that
are
deeply
impacting
the
situation.
That's
why
this
week,
I
intend
to
introduce
a
resolution
to
authorize
hearings
on
the
crisis
of
substandard
housing,
face
specifically
by
low-income
tenants.
We
need
to
examine
more
clearly
what
we
are
going
to
do
to
ensure
safe
and
stable
housing
for
families,
and
we
may
be
even
looking
at
expanding
attendance
right
to
counsel.
G
Let
is,
after
all,
the
leading
indicator
of
an
even
larger
problem
that
people
live
in
homes
without
functioning
heat,
with
exposed
wires
that
are
at
risk
of
catching
fire
with
plumbing
defects
and
unless
we
change
the
power
dynamics
and
make
it
safe
for
tenants
to
assert
their
rights.
Very
little
will
change.
New
York
City
has
actually
led
the
way
in
recent
years
in
establishing
a
right
to
legal
help
for
tenants
and
part
circular,
and
we
want
to
understand
better
and
learn
from
their
model.
G
I
also
look
forward
to
working
with
the
mayor,
my
council,
colleagues
and
other
stakeholders
to
establish
a
lead
Commission
for
the
city
of
Philadelphia.
We
can
and
must
do
more
to
protect
the
health
and
well-being
of
our
children
and
families,
but
it
is
going
to
take
a
heavy
lift
amongst
all
of
us.
It's
especially
glad
I'm,
especially
glad
to
have
our
new
incoming
congressman
our
state
leaders
who
are
here
because
the
city
cannot
pick
this
up
on
its
own.
G
This
has
got
to
be
a
heavy
push
at
both
the
state
and
federal
level,
in
particular
that
this
country
needs
to
pay
attention
to
the
aging
infrastructure
and
serious
needs
of
its
large
cities
where
the
path
and
how
we
figure
this
out
is
a
path
to
the
future
of
how
we're
going
to
take
care
of
our
children
and
this
nation.
Thank
you.