PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia City Council members got into a rare public tiff at Thursday’s meeting, when the Council president refused to allow a woman to speak about the war in Gaza during the public comment period.
The rules of Council say the public can only comment on legislation that’s up for a vote. The war in Gaza was not on the agenda, so when Kate Perez began speaking about Gaza, Council President Kenyatta Johnson interrupted her.
“I think I should be allowed my full two minutes to talk about Palestine,” Perez protested.
“Ms. Perez, could we just speak what’s on the actual bill?” asked Johnson, before ultimately cutting off her microphone and calling for the next speaker.
That prompted a rare public rebuke from Councilman Curtis Jones.
“When there is something egregious that is happening, we don’t want to fight the Middle East war here in City Council but doggone it, we have to be fair,” he said. “This is Ramadan. (I could) introduce a bill to allow her to speak. We can do it privately or we can do it real public.”
Jones went back and forth with Johnson until Council’s majority leader, Katherine Gilmore Richardson called for “orders of the day,” which means debate must stop. After the session, Jones and Johnson both said there were no hard feelings.
“There’s no bad blood,” Jones said, with Johnson adding, “For the record, this is us just having a spirited conversation.”
Council passed three significant bills at the meeting. One prohibits corner store gambling machines, which Council members say have become a nuisance and even a potential danger in vulnerable neighborhoods. Another bill outlaws devices that flip license plates, allowing drivers to evade police. The third imposes a curfew on businesses in Kensington that sponsor Quetcy Lozada says are problematic.
“This is just another tool we’re going to be able to use to respond to some of the illegal and disruptive activity that occurs after 11 p.m.,” said Lozada.
All three bills create new enforcement challenges for police and the Department of Licenses and Inspections.