City Council to resume work after being away a month

After more than a month away, Philadelphia's 17 City Council members return to chambers Thursday, the start of a spring legislative session in which everybody's seat is up for grabs.

All 17 members are up for reelection in the May 19 primary.

On the docket this month are a mandatory paid sick-leave bill, a charter change that would amend development and planning procedures, and legislation related to how the city assigns defense counsel to the poor.

Traditionally, Council tends to operate slowly - or at least carefully - during election season. The mayor's budget presentation in March will likely be the focus down the road.

"Members who are going to be in competitive races like to stay away from anything that is - in terms of introduction of legislation - controversial," said longtime political observer Larry Ceisler. "You have a pretty cohesive group, so I would imagine that members are going to stay away from pushing legislation that would potentially be tough votes for their colleagues in competitive races."

Council returns three months after it came under fire for killing Mayor Nutter's proposal to sell the Philadelphia Gas Works.

Here are a few of the bills up this month.

Paid sick leave. A mandatory paid sick-leave bill will be heard in Committee on Tuesday and if reported out, go up for first reading on Jan. 29. Nutter twice vetoed sick-leave bills but last month, following a task force recommendation, said he would support the measure.

The bill, sponsored by at-large Councilman William Greenlee, could cover up to 200,000 workers. It exempts businesses with fewer than 10 employees. A previous draft put the threshold at five. The task force recommended 15.

On Wednesday, lobbyists from Action United, an organization of low- and moderate-income Philadelphians, popped in and out of Council offices encouraging members to vote yes and consider lowering the threshold to five.

Exemptions would also exist for federal and state employees, employees covered under a collective bargaining agreement, temporary workers, seasonal workers, interns, adjunct faculty, and independent contractors.

Development. Council President Darrell L. Clarke's controversial bill to restructure how development and planning are coordinated is scheduled for first reading.

Clarke's bill would create a cabinet-level Department of Planning and Development to take over functions now handled by seven entities, including the Department of Licenses and Inspections, the Planning Commission, and the Housing Authority.

Creating such a department requires voters to approve a change in the City Charter. Clarke wants to get it on the May ballot.

Despite pushback from people involved in development and building over the bill as introduced, Council's Committee on Law and Governance swiftly moved in December to have the bill considered by the full Council. Some in the development community have been lobbying Clarke to reconsider the bill or at least amend significant portions of it.

Indigent defense. Councilman Dennis O'Brien will introduce an ordinance requiring the city to hold a public hearing for any contract pertaining to legal representation of the poor in cases when the Public Defender's Office has a conflict.

O'Brien previously fought the administration's push to hire a private firm to take on all such cases.

The Public Defender's Office is in talks with the city to handle conflict cases itself. O'Brien wants more information on how that partnership would work.

jterruso@phillynews.com 215-854-5506 @juliaterruso

Inquirer staff writer Claudia Vargas contributed to this article.