Late Wednesday in City Council, the first public hearing
devoted to legislation that would enable the Kenney administration’s plan to
renovate parks, rec centers, and libraries, took center stage.
The hearing on Rebuild, which came after two-plus weeks
of postponements and speculation, found councilmembers still airing out
frustrations about the administration’s approach to diversifying the local
building trades through the project, one of the three main tenets of Rebuild.
But in the end, following a nearly five-hour hearing, a
vote on one consolidated bill detailing both project management and financing
for Rebuild was delayed until next week.
A slate of amendments to the legislation did pass.
However, those amendments — some of which would alter central structural
elements of how the administration wants to deliver Rebuild — did not appear to
be part of a grand bargain between Council and the administration. Both sides
signaled that negotiations would continue.
“The meat and potatoes is going to come on a later date,”
said Councilwoman Cindy Bass during the hearing. “We’re having the
salad today.”
For close watchers of Rebuild, which has lofty goals and
a hefty price tag of $500 million, the message after the hearing seemed to be:
keep holding your breath.
While the tenor of questions from Council oftentimes
veered sharply into criticism of the administration, it was the kind of
pushback many expected.
Go to PlanPhilly.com for
concerns about jobs created and Rebuild's response.
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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