Title
One Philly Budget
Body
Good morning to my friend, Council President Kenyatta Johnson, to Council’s Leadership team, Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson, Majority Whip Isaiah Thomas, Deputy Majority Whip Cindy Bass, Minority Leader Kendra Brooks, Minority Whip Nicolas O’Rourke, and every Member of City Council;
Members of the Philadelphia Delegation;
Faith Leaders, Men and Women of Organized Labor, Community Leaders, the Business and Philanthropic community;
Members of my Cabinet and our City Workers;
Everyone watching online, listening on WURD, or tuning in on TV…
Good morning and oh my, it sure feels good to be back!
This Council Chamber is where my journey to public service began. When I was 17-years-old, I stood here and gave a Black History Month speech. I was joined by elementary school winner Liberty Carpenter and middle school winner, and now Grammy and Tony Award winner, Leslie Odom Jr.
I was so nervous then (and look, might still have butterflies now…).
Then, to work here as an intern for my mentor Councilmember Marian Tasco. Awestruck by sheroes like Augusta “Gussie” Clark, Anna Verna, and Joan Krajewski. Humbled by the responsibility of public service.
Then, 10 years in Harrisburg serving in the State House.
I eventually was elected to City Council and spent seven years in this Chamber. Every day mattered. Then and now.
I am proud and honored to be with you today, having submitted my Fiscal Year 2025 Budget, Five-Year Plan, and Capital Budget and Program to City Council for consideration.
It’s my first budget proposal as your Mayor and it’s BIG and it’s BOLD.
I’m calling it the ‘One Philly Budget’ and it funds my promise to the people of Philadelphia of a safer, cleaner, greener city, with access to economic opportunity for all.
[FISCAL STABILITY]
Before we dive into budget details, I’d like to talk for a minute about the State of the City’s FISCAL HEALTH.
I am proud to report the state of the City’s fiscal health is Good! No, really!
We’re making contributions to the Budget Stabilization Reserve fund. Thank you, Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson, for your exceptional leadership on this issue.
We’re continuing the excellent trajectory of the City’s pension fund, which just reached a 62 percent funding level - the highest level in decades. Even better? It’s due to hit 80 percent in FY29 and 100 percent by FY33.
And in FY30, our debt service should go down by $200 million.
Our actions over the coming years will free up over A HALF BILLION DOLLARS ANNUALLY for future budgets.
Imagine what a Half Billion Dollars could do …
Now, there are some positive, but lean, projected fund balances in the out-years of my Plan - I won’t shy away from them.
It’s true, lower growth than projected for Wage and Real Estate Transfer taxes - a drop of about $300 million;
Spending the remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) stimulus funds this year;
In the 1990s, the City HAD to make a tough decision - it borrowed $1.3 billion to shore up our pension fund. We’re still paying for it today. From now through FY29, we’ll pay $1 billion in debt service, including an $80 million balloon payment due in ‘29;
In facing those challenges, I need everyone - rating agencies, our intergovernmental partners, PICA, the Controller - to know how seriously I take our City’s fiscal stability.
I’ll make sure my Administration is a responsible steward of the City’s finances.
Now, let’s get into the EXCITING stuff in my Budget.
Now, I’m going to say this next part out loud and proud: my Budget has NO NEW TAXES! No new taxes on the people of Philadelphia!
My One Philly Budget invests $2 BILLION over five years in NEW operating and capital dollars focusing on five pillars - Public Safety, Clean and Green, Economic Opportunity, Housing, and Education.
I’ve been listening, Mister President.
It’s not just new money but the new approaches to how the City delivers services that I’m excited about.
James Baldwin, one of my favorite public thinkers and writers, was often quoted as stating: “I cannot believe what you say, because I see what you do.”
The people of Philadelphia are tired of politicians getting elected and making good speeches! They want to see their tax dollars at work in their neighborhoods! They want to SEE us do things differently, so let me tell you what we’re DOING in this budget.
We’re laser-focused and unapologetic on improving Public Safety.
For the people of Kensington: The Parker administration hears you! Help is on the way.
We’ve created a new Office of Clean and Green Initiatives to tackle quality-of-life issues. Let’s banish the phrase “Filthadelphia” once and for all!
We’re taking the PHL Taking Care of Business (PHL TCB) neighborhood cleaning program to the next level - making it bigger and better.
We’re investing in workforce development and ‘upskilling’ City workers for more opportunities.
We’ll work hand-in-glove with our unions and employers on job creation and building a pipeline to municipal jobs.
Through our Business Roundtable we’ll lock arms with the private sector to make Philadelphia more economically competitive.
We’ll make homeownership a priority - and home preservation too.
Working with the School District, we’ll invest in Full-Day and Year-Round Schooling, modernize our school buildings, and fund career and technical education to prepare students for the workforce.
I want everyone to know - this budget comes from the ground up and reflects the voices of the People of Philadelphia.
Let me share more details about the One Philly Budget.
[PUBLIC SAFETY]
On my first day as Mayor, I signed an Executive Order declaring a Public Safety Emergency - to get every available resource into neighborhoods struggling with gun violence, drug dealing, and addiction.
Our Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel - the best Police Commissioner in the country- is developing a Comprehensive Plan to reduce and prevent gun violence and make our neighborhoods safe again.
I feel a sense of urgency right now and I know you feel it too.
The shootings last week - over four days, all on or near SEPTA buses - left our city shaken. A student and two adults killed; 12 people injured, including 11 high school students and a 71-year-old woman.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
Last Wednesday, I stood on Rising Sun Avenue at Five Points, surrounded by spent shell casings and yellow Police Evidence markers, trying to make sense of the senseless shooting of 8 young people standing at a bus stop.
This came two days after another shooting near a bus stop in Northwest Philadelphia left three students from Imhotep shot and two other women wounded.
One student, died from his wounds. He was 17. Packed with potential. Now he’s gone, all too soon.
The events of last week underscore the urgency I feel to restore a sense of order and safety to our City.
I want to thank every law enforcement partner working with us to make Philadelphia safer. The FBI, the U.S. Marshals, the ATF, the DEA, the Secret Service, the District Attorney’s Office, SEPTA, the Sheriff - EVERYONE working collaboratively with our Police Department to make our city safe again.
Here is what’s in my One Philly Budget to address gun violence in Philadelphia.
We’ll make $33 million in new investments in Public Safety. Including capital spending, our overall new Public Safety investments top $600 million during the Plan.
Don’t simply listen to what I say, watch what we do.
My Budget includes hiring at least 400 new officers every year. We’ll increase the number and frequency of recruiting classes and leverage a cadet program as a pipeline.
Take a moment with me to welcome two new Recruits from the current class at the Police Academy, Maria Do (DOE) and Tyreek Cooper.
Recruit Officers Do and Cooper, please stand up?
My One Philly Budget supports deploying more officers in the field - walking the beat, riding a bike, getting to know the people they are sworn to protect and serve - the core of our Community Policing model.
When I served in the Pennsylvania House, we had a pair of officers who walked the beat in my district. Officers Moody and Merchant.
They signed a logbook in stores up and down Wadsworth Avenue. They knew every store owner, every rec leader, every librarian, every youth sports leader. They were a part of our community - “M & M.”
I can say I was a little jealous as they got invited to more block parties, more baby showers, more graduations than I did and I was a State Rep. They didn’t need votes, I did!
The community trusted Officers Moody and Merchant. They were woven into the fabric of our neighborhood as guardians, not warriors.
Officer Moody is here with us today; can you please stand up?
Community Policing works. It’s in this budget, which funds over 100 officers doing community policing.
Our approach to crime is also centered on people - and my budget makes sure our brave colleagues in uniform have the resources they need to do their work.
My budget funds 150 new radio patrol cars; 75 new unmarked cars; cell phone and video software, drones, and upgrades to investigative equipment.
We’re also working to ensure that the 13 Parks and Rec sites without cameras get them and to improve the monitoring of the more than 1,600 cameras already in place.
While we live in a high-tech 21st Century society, our Detectives have been trying to solve crimes using dinosaur equipment. No more - we’re making a $45 million capital investment in a new Forensics Lab.
I’ll also ensure that we enforce the law regarding property crimes and quality of life issues.
How? Illegal use of ATVs, car meetups, nuisance crimes, and retail theft - they matter to residents and they matter to me! Going in and stealing $499 worth of merchandise from our stores is NOT OK anymore! We WILL ENFORCE the law!
As I talk about Public Safety, I want to thank Council President Kenyatta Johnson for the work he does every day to reduce gun violence. Long before he was elected to public office, he founded the community-based organization ‘Peace, Not Guns.’ It was born out of his lived life experience and personal loss.
Well Mr. President, my budget funds new services and resources for victims of violent crime, including additional Victim Advocates and anti-violence investments with $24 million for grants to community-based organizations.
With all that in mind, I want to acknowledge the tremendous work being done, day in and day out, by community groups like:
Unity in the Community (Anton Moore)
Every Murder is Real (Chantay Love)
Mothers in Charge (Dorothy Johnson Speight)
The Black Brain Campaign (Farida Boyer)
Father’s Day Rally Committee (Bilal Qayyum)
NOMO (Ricky Duncan)
Black Male Community Council (Stanley Crawford)
Man-Up PHL (Solomon Jones)
And every organization working each day to lessen the pain and the- trauma caused by gun violence.
Can these strong community leaders please stand up?
Now, you all know that I fully support our Police Department. But I want to be clear: we will have zero tolerance for any misuse or abuse of authority by law enforcement. Period.
That’s why we’re supporting the Citizens Police Oversight Commission with a $3 million investment this year. Given his years of leadership on public safety - including his “Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia” - I know Councilmember Curtis Jones, Jr. will be proud of this investment.
We also know that CANNOT police our way out of these problems.
So, we need ‘Same-Day Pay” and restorative justice programs that provide options and opportunities.
We also need a “one-stop-shop” for returning citizens to connect to services and supports from the federal, state, and local government.
For young people, we need trauma-informed care and therapy. The School District offers virtual therapy - free of charge - though an app called Kooth. Let’s build on that! Imagine if our children could talk to a therapist in our Rec Centers, in our Libraries?
We need conflict-resolution skills and Evening Resource Centers.
We also need youth sports and athletic associations.
I’m a proud Oak Lane Wildcat and I know youth sports aren’t just about wins and losses - they’re about giving children hope. Our kids shouldn’t have to stand in the middle of the street with their helmets held out to have the funding to do so.
That’s why we’re supporting youth sports with $3.2 million in my budget.
[KENSINGTON COMMUNITY RESTORATION]
We also face an enormous public safety and public health challenge in Kensington. The current status quo - where addiction and despair are normal - is unacceptable.
What we need is the WILL to make the tough decisions necessary to change the status quo. I have the voices and hopes of people who live and work in Kensington on my mind, as we fund and implement our Kensington Community Restoration Plan.
I want to commend “The Kensington Caucus” - Councilmembers Quetcy Lozada, Mark Squilla, Mike Driscoll, and Jim Harrity - as they fight to renew quality of life and public safety for the community.
I know it’s tough. It isn’t easy. But I want you to know that I’ve got your back.
I also want to recognize and thank the advocates on the ground, who have been working to make Kensington better. People like Casey O’Donnell from Impact Services, Dr. Bill McKinney from New Kensington CDC, and Craig Cerrito of Rock Ministries.
I hear you.
So let me be clear.
For the long-time residents and everyone who has weathered the humanitarian crisis, know that I want to make Kensington a neighborhood of choice and beacon of pride again.
For people like Dionicio Jiminez [DEE-o-NIECE-e-o He-MAN-ez] and Maria Saez [SIGH-ez], who own Cantina La Martina, a James Beard-nominated Mexican restaurant on Kensington Avenue.
Their resilience is what we’re fighting for in Kensington.
Dionicio and Maria, would you please stand?
Prevention, Intervention and Enforcement - the P.I.E. - is critical to everything we’re doing in Kensington and across Philadelphia to enhance public safety and community.
Managing Director Adam Thiel is examining every option for providing long-term care, treatment, and housing for those suffering from addiction, homelessness, and mental health challenges - backed up by over $100 million in new investments.
Last week, he convened a meeting of major health systems and insurance companies not to be “expert articulators of problems,” but to come up with solutions addressing the needs of our most vulnerable.
My Administration supports an array of public health strategies, from dispensing naloxone and Narcan and Fentanyl test strips to administering care, providing access to treatment and counseling, and other services. I will not allow us to be put in a box suggesting we do not care. We care - deeply - about every person in addiction.
Safer, cleaner, greener, and - as Councilmember Nina Ahmad would remind us - healthier! That’s what my One Philly Budget supports.
[CLEAN AND GREEN]
If public safety is priority Number 1 for Philadelphians, quality-of-life issues is Number 1A.
When residents see overflowing trash cans; short-dumping sites that pile back up days after being cleared; cars forgotten and abandoned …
Then you understand why some folks don’t believe their neighborhoods will ever be clean and green again.
We’re not getting the basics right. No more excuses.
Believe me when I say it - then watch us do it: the Parker Administration is going to make Philadelphia the cleanest and greenest big city in America.
The single largest new operating investment in my budget is for Clean and Green, with more than $36 million in new funds in FY25 and over $246 million during the Plan.
We’re using an all-hands-on-deck approach led by an empowered and experienced captain - Carlton Williams, the Director of our new Office of Clean and Green Initiatives.
Councilmember Jeff Young and neighborhood leader Bonita Cummings saw this in action last month along Strawberry Mansion’s 29th Street corridor.
Team members from Streets, Sanitation, Licenses and Inspections, Commerce, CLIP, and the Philadelphia Parking Authority responded to litter, illegal dumping, vacant lots and buildings, and abandoned cars.
Through this One Philly Budget, and with the Parking Authority by our side, we’ll tow more than 10,000 of them in the coming year - abandoned cars, that is!
And for vacant buildings, we’ll seek to clean and seal more than 900 this coming year.
I hope my District Councilmember friends will be excited to hear we’re investing roughly $18 million in a new Residential Cleaning Program with dedicated cleaning crews for each Councilmanic district.
District Councilmembers, close your eyes for a minute to imagine with me.
A constituent calls about trash on the street, something dumped near the school, an abandoned car under the bridge.
You immediately kick into your old gear: Call Sanitation… Call CLIP… Call Neighborhood Services Unit…
Not anymore! That siloed approach is history!
My budget funds a team - with equipment, trash trucks, and a team leader - for every Council district.
The crews will work in concert with PHL Taking Care of Business (PHL TCB) - the neighborhood commercial cleaning program that I feel like a proud parent of.
My baby is taking big steps now!
We’re expanding to additional commercial corridors and investing nearly $8 million to extend to nearby residential streets. We’ll reach nearly 140 total corridors across the city and hire about 150 more Cleaning Ambassadors.
It’s not new - it's modeled after what Center City District (CCD) does downtown every day. Our neighborhoods deserve the same level of care and cleanliness - don’t you agree?
And to help get the work done, we’ll hire 100 NEW Sanitation workers and buy more than 60 trash compactors.
We’ll collaborate with our faith-based partners, our Community Development Corporations, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, which will continue its terrific work - cleaning green spaces AND providing pathways to opportunity through “Same-Day Pay.”
As we do this important work, we’ll use new evaluation tools. See it and feel it - yes. But measure and use data to keep improving it too!
For years, Councilmember Cindy Bass has been calling out disparities in service delivery. We’re addressing that head on - my Five Year Plan includes over $11 million to pilot twice-weekly trash collection in our neighborhoods most challenged by trash and litter.
Over the course of the Plan, we’re adding hundreds and hundreds of new positions to make our city the cleanest and greenest.
You’ll see a new illegal dumping collection crew to shorten response time; a new special collection crew for bulk trash pick-up; more surveillance cameras in illegal dumping hot spots - AND the staff to monitor them and coordinate enforcement.
You’ll also see 1,500 new Big Belly trash and recycling cans, with the staffing needed to make sure they are emptied regularly.
Don’t simply listen to what I say … watch what we do!
Clean and Green is also about working towards a more sustainable future. We’ll focus on Environmental Justice for underserved and under-resourced communities.
Cleaner streets, more green spaces, and planting 15,000 more trees will mean fewer urban heat islands and healthier, more resilient communities.
You can’t have resilient communities without restoring and improving our libraries, community parks, and recreation facilities. So, we’ll continue Rebuild, which we know Councilmember Jamie Gauthier values, through our Capital Programs Office.
Public transit is also a linchpin to sustainable, resilient communities - let’s talk about SEPTA for a minute.
We know SEPTA is facing a fiscal cliff for this coming year. That’s why my One Philly Budget adds $117 million in operating funds for it.
As Council considers that funding, I know we all want to see SEPTA come forward with an aggressive plan to make buses and trains safer and cleaner.
While staying on transportation, I come bearing more good news: my proposed capital program invests half a billion dollars in street paving!
Driving through Philly streets should not feel like riding a bumpy roller-coaster while damaging your car.
That’s $250 million through the end of FY25 and put us on the path to repaving 130 miles per year - double our current rate.
Don’t listen to what we say - watch what we do!
[ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY]
As Commerce Director Alba Martinez often says, “economic growth is the antidote to poverty.” It’s also the best violence prevention tool.
That’s why I didn’t just promise to make Philadelphia the safest, cleanest, and greenest city in the nation, I also promised to provide access to “ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL.”
Councilmember Nic O’Rourke, I know we agree that equitable opportunity is an economic - and moral - imperative.
There are nearly 350,000 Philadelphians living in poverty and that is unacceptable to me.
I stand with Governor Shapiro in his call to raise Pennsylvania’s unconscionably low minimum wage to $15 an hour. Doing so will grow the economic pie, increase the City’s tax base, and give Philadelphians the raise they’ve long deserved!
We know this is the right thing to do!
We also lag behind many of our peer cities on other indicators. A 2020 Center City District report found that Philadelphia’s number of Black businesses was 65 percent below Washington, D.C.; 62 percent below Atlanta; and 41 percent below the national average.
That’s why my One Philly Budget includes nearly $20 million in new operating investments for economic opportunity, and more than $130 million over the Five Year Plan.
Now let’s talk details!
With the voices of my friends Della Clark of the Enterprise Center and Harold Epps in my ear, we’re responding to the need for CAPITAL - not just training programs.
My budget invests $1 million in the Accelerator Fund, which provides access to capital for developers from historically disadvantaged groups.
And it invests another $1 million in the Innovate Capital Growth Fund, which provides diverse entrepreneurs access to equity investments.
Della Clark has been the voice and conscience of entrepreneurship in Philadelphia for years. Della, can you please stand up?
On jobs and workforce development, I already described PHL TCB’s role in cleaning and greening.
But it’s also a pathway to steady employment, providing training for higher-wage jobs. We’re investing tens of millions of dollars to expand the program and will be connecting nearly 400 Philadelphians to economic opportunity.
I want to thank Amazon for its recent $100,000 contribution toward this work!
PHL TCB also supports our small businesses, like TWB Cleaning Contractors, which serves corridors in West Oak Lane, Ogontz, and Oxford Circle.
In 2014, Trina Worrell-Benjamin stepped out on faith to start TWB. In the decade since, she’s grown it to provide a range of services.
We couldn’t be prouder to partner with Trina. We’re honored to have her son Khalif Worrell, TWB’s manager, here today.
Let’s please recognize Khalif!
Let’s talk workforce, starting with the City’s own workforce.
We should be training our people for careers in every industry that is thriving in our city.
This is not new - it is what Apple does. They send their employees to Apple school.
Well, our Citizens are going to the City School.
No more complaining about recruitment and retention of City workers.
We create our own pipeline and train our own people.
And we’ll put people on a path to self-sufficiency - giving men and women dignity.
There’s a $10 million investment in Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) to establish a first-in-the-nation City College for Municipal Employment.
The City College will be a partnership between the City, CCP, and the School District.
Who’s going to go to City College? High school students; people looking to change careers; current municipal workers who want to upskill. ANYONE interested in working in City government.
They’ll earn a stipend while they learn and graduate into good City jobs. Jobs that have long been a pathway to the middle-class for Black and brown people, for women, for immigrants. Jobs with dignity.
And we’re not done yet!
My budget ALSO includes another $10 million to support workforce development and apprenticeship programs led by partners including the Building Trades and other unions.
We’ll train working-class Philadelphians for careers in industries that ALREADY are thriving and those that are projected to grow. Careers in labor, in logistics, in life sciences and biotech.
Philadelphia is on the cusp of leading the nation in Biotech and Life Sciences. We’re going to help this industry grow and become number one in the country!
Here’s the best part: to access these funds, there must be guaranteed employment for program graduates.
We’re putting our money where our mouth is - for individuals AND businesses.
Speaking of businesses, Councilmember Brian O’Neill and I know regulatory burdens impose a “time tax” and can deter investment and job growth.
So, my Plan includes almost $14 million for the “PHL Open for Business” initiative. We’ll make it easier to do business by getting rid of unnecessary regulations, streamlining steps to open or expand a business, and providing one-on-one navigator services to help entrepreneurs.
We’ll pair this with new ways of collaborating. Through our Business Roundtable - and our Faith-Based and Intergovernmental Roundtables - we’ll work with partners to solve shared challenges and bring more resources to our city.
[HOUSING]
Now, anyone who knows me knows I see “middle neighborhoods” as the backbone of the City. It’s not just because my family “moved on up” to one when I was born.
It’s because of what they represent.
The opportunity for low- and moderate-income AND working-class families to realize the American Dream.
Stable housing. Home ownership. Generational wealth.
In middle neighborhoods and across the city, my proposed budget begins my promise to create 30,000 units of housing. I want you all to hold me to it.
Some of those homes require significant repairs the owners can’t afford. With real credit to City Council and passionate housing advocates, we’re fortunate to have multiple, City-funded home repair programs, such as Basic Systems Repair Program and Restore Repair Renew.
These programs are terrific. But navigating through them? That’s a whole other matter…
My One Philly Budget supports a “one-front-door” approach. People will be able to apply for multiple programs at once - typing in their information and submitting their paperwork one time, not a half-dozen times.
It's interesting - when some people talk about housing, they don’t think people living in low- and moderate-income communities deserve nice things.
Not me! The way I see it, affordable housing must be high-quality housing - what I call “affordable luxury.” My Administration will ensure all new City-supported housing has the kinds of high-quality fixtures and finishes we all want for our homes.
We’ve seen what this can look like with Turn the Key homes. I can’t describe how powerful it is to see a family move into one of those beautiful homes.
We have a Turn the Key homeowner with us today.
Let’s recognize Marjorie Howell, who works in the City’s Health Department. She bought her home in Sharswood and Turn the Key provided a mortgage buydown- making Marjorie’s homeowership dream a reality.
Marjorie, can you please stand?
We want a thousand more homeowners like Marjorie!
To make that happen, we need the Neighborhood Preservation Initiative (NPI) and we need the building trades- I’m looking at you, Ryan Boyer. We look forward to working with you on many - 30,000 many! - more housing units in the years to come.
What else will it take?
Moving the inventory stuck in the City’s Land Bank. My Administration will turn those parcels into vibrant homes and community spaces, including gardens.
Councilmember Kendra Brooks, I know how much you support those precious green spaces maintained by community members.
Now, the easiest parcels for the Land Bank to convey are unoccupied and tax delinquent ones.
But that only works if our tax lien sales are up and running.
We know that the lack of tax sales has cost the City and School District an estimated $35 million in tax revenue - dollars that could have been invested in classrooms and rec centers.
I want to note - for the record - that Council President Johnson, Sheriff Bilal, City Solicitor Renee Garcia, and I have been meeting. Together, we all recognize the need to have tax sales up and running.
Today, I am pleased to announce that the Sheriff’s Office is now working with the Law Department to resolve this issue in the next four weeks - with the goal of the first sale occurring before July 1, 2024.
Again, these sales will generate millions of dollars in revenue for the City and School District AND help transform neighborhood blight into homes and community gardens.
[EDUCATION]
On Public Education, our goals are high - they must be. We’ll innovate to provide a world-class education for students of all ages and backgrounds.
For far too long, our students have struggled with far too little.
The days of settling for crumbs are over. Our students deserve a full loaf, and they’ll get it.
Following the Commonwealth Court’s historic ruling last year, the state recommended an infusion of $1.4 BILLION for Philadelphia schools over the next 7 years.
Governor Shapiro proposed $242 million more in education funds for Philadelphia this year and we will advocate vigorously for public education in Harrisburg.
In the meantime, my Administration is moving full steam ahead on OUR vision for public education.
My One Philly Budget includes over $24 million in new operating investments for education, with nearly $140 million over the Plan.
Of that, $129 million is for the School District.
Some people hear “School District” and think we’re just talking about K-12. Not me!
I know - and our terrific Superintendent Dr. Tony Watlington knows - that the foundation for a career needs to be laid early.
So, my budget includes a plan for full-day and year-round schooling - offering students educational enrichment throughout the year, with schedules that work for working families.
The Mayor’s Office of Education will coordinate the multi-year rollout of this initiative, which will launch in 20 pilot schools this Fall.
Councilmember Anthony Phillips: I know you support this vision and I’m grateful for your leadership of City Council’s Committee on Children and Youth.
Our students deserve to learn in safe, healthy facilities that support 21st Century learning. We need to modernize our existing schools AND build new ones.
Doing so is no small task. It requires an intergovernmental strategy - working with our allies on City Council, like Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas; the Pennsylvania General Assembly; and our federal delegation.
But it also presents an opportunity. Imagine our Building Trades giving students on-the-job training in restoring and building schools, and then welcoming them into the union workforce. Today’s generation building for the next.
We’ll do all this work in collaboration with teachers, families, and partners - all of us focused on what’s best for our young scholars.
[CORE SUPPORT]
City government is worth investing and believing in.
I want to take a moment to recognize and appreciate our workforce and their labor leaders with us today.
District Council 33: Omar Salaam
District Council 47: April Gigetts
FOP Lodge 5: Roosevelt Poplar
Firefighters Local 22: Mike Bresnan
Please join me in giving them a round of applause!
In addition to negotiating fair contracts, in the Parker Administration, we hope and expect that today’s clerk is tomorrow’s Commissioner!
That’s why my budget includes $14 million in new operating investments for FY25 and close to $141 million over the Five Year Plan for the resources that help our world-class municipal workers do their best work.
The funding supports our current workforce AND invests in recruiting new employees. We’ll do a better job marketing and recruiting for the good jobs available with the City. Jobs for nurses, social workers, paramedics.
We’ll tell people about our TOTAL COMPENSATION package - health benefits, retirement security, professional development, programs like Turn the Key - and compete for talent as an Employer of Choice.
We are working right now to create a process to re-employ our retired City workers.
So, for all my retired City workers out there - if you feel a call back to service, if your heart stirs at our vision, please consider coming back! We want to put your skills and know-how to work!
And for current City employees - we’ll have more to say about return-to-office. Please know that in developing our policy, we’re taking into consideration your needs, including childcare and elder care. City workers are people, not assets, and my administration will treat you with respect.
My One Philly Budget also supports the data and analytics behind those new approaches to doing the work.
Let’s start with PhillyStat 360. It’s performance management, it's results-based accountability, it’s our future.
Here’s what it means: every department will communicate with each other - backed up by data - on what they’re doing to advance our vision. That’s how we’ll ensure accountable government that you can see, touch, and feel.
We’re breaking down the silos between departments. We’re using data to make decisions - music to the ears of my fellow data-lover, Councilmember Rue Landau. We’re taking new approaches to our work together.
Don’t simply listen to what I say, watch what we do!
[CLOSING]
My name is Cherelle L. Parker and I’m the 100th Mayor and first Woman to lead Philadelphia in 341 years.
I’ve proposed this One Philly budget to the City Council of Philadelphia - with $2 billion of new investments in the people of our wonderful City - and I approve this message!
Today is just the beginning, I’m coming to a neighborhood near you for a budget briefing and town hall meeting!
Let’s work together with diplomacy, diligence, and purpose towards its passage and implementation for the People.
All with one shared goal in mind - to make our city Safer, Cleaner, and Greener, with Access to Economic Opportunity for All.
If we do this, we will ensure we truly are: One Philly, a United City. Thank you.
End