Philadelphia City Council pitches $25M plan to address racial disparities

“We don’t have the money” that other cities do, Clarke said, “but we do have to make sure that we put money on the table to show people that we’re serious about this.”

The council president said he did not expect any pushback from the Kenney administration on the proposal.

That may not be the case.

Kenney’s proposed $4.9 billion budget dedicates $30 million from the recession reserve fund to pay for the city’s response to the pandemic, including recovery and reopening costs, which the federal government is not expected to reimburse the city for, said Mike Dunn, a Kenney administration spokesman, in an email.

The mayor’s plan banks the remaining $20 million in the reserve fund to safeguard against the ongoing recession and bolster the city’s anticipated lower fund balance, or surplus, to start the fiscal year on July 1 — $268 million, a reduction from $352 million projected before the pandemic.

“If expenses are higher or revenues lower than planned, we need a cushion against worsening conditions,” Dunn said.

City Council’s “New Normal Budget Act” reflects the issues confronting the city following the pandemic and demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, but members of council have been working on the proposal for a year. Many of the proposals were repackaged from the anti-poverty plan members of council put forward earlier this year, including providing rent subsidies and helping residents access federal and state benefits now going uncollected.

New proposals include providing resources to business owners rebuilding from looting and vandalism during a week of rallies, marches and protests, and apprenticeships for people of color.

Among the new proposals were modest police reforms to strengthen oversight of the department that is majority white (53%) in a city where the population is majority Black (44%).

Philly Mayor Kenney crafts new committee aimed to reconcile issues with ‘people of color’

While the plan pushed for reviving a residency requirement for police officers, the idea is dead on arrival for at least a year.

Residency requirements that allow officers to live outside city limits after five years of service are enshrined in the police union’s contract, which was extended a year through June 30, 2021. The Kenney administration was pushing to restore residency requirements in the ongoing contract negotiations before the pandemic hit.

Today, approximately 30% of the city’s police officers live outside Philadelphia.

Members of council did not consult with demonstrators, who have been marching in the city since May 30, when considering reforms to the police department, Clarke said.

“They want us to do our job,” Clarke said referring to demonstrators, adding, “We know. We’ve heard people’s cries. We get it. We hear you.”

Michael D’Onofrio is a reporter for the Philadelphia Tribune, where this story first appeared.