PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — City Council on Thursday got a bill that would make the eviction diversion program permanent, and it passed two related resolutions, calling for hearings on code enforcement for rental property and on automatic enrollment in the city’s tax relief programs. But one of the more interesting outcomes of the Council session is what didn’t happen.
Councilmembers Curtis Jones and Nic O’Rourke had planned to introduce a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, a measure that was sure to be as controversial as Council's resolution last October condemning Hamas and expressing solidarity with Israel.
Such a ceasefire resolution would have no impact, but Jones said introducing it would have given a Philadelphia woman an opportunity to speak at Council after having been shut out of a prior attempt.
When speaking during the public comment period in City Council’s March 21 session, Kate Perez attempted to condemn the Israeli military's slaying of more than 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza in retaliation for Hamas' slaughter of 1,200 people in its Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack on Israel. The Israel-Hamas war was not on the agenda, and the rules of Council say public comment must be about legislation that is up for a vote.
Putting the ceasefire resolution on the agenda would have given Perez the chance to address Council as she had wanted, but Jones backed off when, he said, both sides objected to the wording of the resolution.
“What we realize is you can’t legislate peace, not here in the streets of Philly. You can’t legislate it in the Gaza Strip,” Jones said.
O’Rourke issued a statement saying he saw no path forward for the resolution in this City Council.
Perez was disappointed: “I think a lot of people were excited to speak about the resolution ... but we know that this isn't the end of it and we're not going to go away.”