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. Ask where it stands and 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: When does the Rules Committee meet in October, and will Council member Young’s Academy zoning bill come before it? 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 three, and ask them to keep pushing
Nina Ahmad, Rue Landau and Anthony Phillips At-large, at-large, 9th 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.”
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
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); 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.