Here's a little early morning City Council drama from Chris Brennan:
Councilman Bill Green just stormed out of a hearing on legislation that would change the City Charter requirement that public meetings be advertised in three daily newspapers with paid circulation. The measure was introduced by Councilman Darrell Clarke, who said he was prompted by the recent bankruptcy filing by Philadelphia Media Holdings, which owns the Daily News, Inquirer and Philly.com.
But Green said he wasn't sure about the change.
"I just have the sense that we're kicking some great corporate citizens while they're down," Green said before he left. "I'm nervous about moving this quickly on something like that."
Green's departure briefly left the hearing without a quorum of members to vote on the bill. But Councilman Jim Kenney quickly turned up to fill the gap.
UPDATE: Green returned to the hearing about 20 minutes later.
UPDATE: The legislation was passed by the Committee on Law and Government after more than an hour of debate and tinkering. If approved by the full Council, voters would be asked in the May primary election if they want to change the city Charter to give Council the power to pass laws changing the way it advertises public information. Clarke added an amendment which would require a "super-majority" vote -- support from 12 of Council's 17 members -- to make any changes to the advertising procedures.