Ask these three
Jeffery Young Jr. 5th District, which includes the Academy
Council member Young represents the district where the Academy sits. He has introduced a zoning bill that would limit the Academy site to cultural and civic uses, which would make selling the building for apartments or offices harder. He also co-sponsored the resolution that gave Council’s investigation subpoena power.
Ask: Thank him and his staff for the zoning bill, Bill No. 260764, which the Committee on Rules takes up on Tuesday, November 17, at 10 a.m. in City Hall, Room 400. Ask what you can do to help it pass Council.
Council member Young’s office · City Hall, Room 586
Cindy Bass and Mark Squilla Chair and vice chair, Committee on Rules
Council member Bass chairs the Committee on Rules and Council member Squilla is its vice chair.
Ask: Council member Young’s Academy zoning bill, Bill No. 260764, is on the Rules Committee’s agenda for Tuesday, November 17, at 10 a.m. in City Hall, Room 400. Urge them to move the bill out of committee to the full Council. If you live in the 8th District (Bass) or the 1st District (Squilla), say so; your voice carries more weight.
Council member Bass’s office · City Hall, Room 508 · Council member Squilla’s office · City Hall, Room 332
Thank these five, and ask them to keep pushing
Isaiah Thomas At-large; chair, Committee on Legislative Oversight
Council member Thomas chairs the Committee on Legislative Oversight, which held the October 26 hearing on the closure. When Drexel’s president and the Deputy Mayor did not appear, the committee subpoenaed them to testify on November 16.
Ask: Thank him for the hearing and the subpoenas. Ask him to keep the committee on this until there is a public plan for the museum.
Council member Thomas’s office · City Hall, Room 330
Nina Ahmad, Rue Landau, Anthony Phillips and Quetcy Lozada At-large, at-large, 9th District, 7th District
These members have been the most active and outspoken in demanding answers. Council member Ahmad introduced the hearing resolution with Council member Young and has stood with supporters at rallies. Council member Landau is vice chair of the Committee on Legislative Oversight. Council member Phillips sits on that committee and called the museum’s silence toward the city “irresponsible.” Council member Lozada sits on that committee too; at the October 26 hearing she pressed Drexel on the transparency of the closure decision and told the room its testimony would be reviewed before November 16 (the hearing recording).
Ask: Thank them. Ask them to keep pressing the Mayor and their colleagues for public accountability and a plan that keeps the museum open.
Council member Ahmad’s office · Room 577 · Council member Landau’s office · Room 592 · Council member Phillips’s office · Room 594 · Council member Lozada’s office · Room 484
Then call your own member
Every Philadelphian has a district Council member and seven at-large members. Ask all of them to keep pressing for the hearing and to pressure the Mayor for a solution that keeps the Academy on the Parkway and open to the public.
Find your Council member Back to the action list
Sources: City Council’s standing committees (chairs and members); the Committee on Rules agenda for November 17 (Bill No. 260764, the time and room); the Inquirer, October 30 (the subpoenas and the November 16 date); Billy Penn, October 6 (the hearing date, subpoena power, the zoning bill); PHILADELPHIA.Today, September 30 (the zoning bill); WHYY, September 17 (the resolution and the rally). Office rooms from each member’s page on phlcouncil.com, which also lists phone numbers.