1:14

Good evening. Welcome

1:14

to this episode of Homeless to Lawyer podcast.

1:19

I'm your host, Nikki

1:19

Johnson Alfano, and I'm really honored to have

1:23

tonight's guest. She

1:23

is a council member at large for the city of

1:27

Philadelphia, Catherine

1:27

Gilmer Richardson, who is the youngest woman

1:32

ever elected citywide

1:32

and the youngest African American woman ever

1:36

elected to Philadelphia

1:36

city council. She is focused on addressing

1:40

the city's ongoing recovery

1:40

from COVID-19. upskilling and re-skilling our

1:45

workforce, supporting

1:45

local, small and minority owned businesses,

1:49

and addressing climate

1:49

change and environmental justice. She is a

1:55

Philly girl through

1:55

and through. She previously served as a staff

1:59

member for Councilwoman

1:59

Blondo Reynolds Brown for 11 years, and that's

2:03

when I met you, in roles

2:03

ranging from constituent services to chief

2:07

of staff, a lifelong

2:07

Philadelphian. She is a graduate of Philadelphia

2:13

High School for Girls

2:13

and Westchester University, and she's a member

2:16

of Ridge Avenue Church

2:16

of God of Prophecy and a proud life member

2:20

of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority

2:20

Incorporated. She also resides in Winfield

2:25

with her husband and

2:25

three children. So let's give a warm welcome

2:30

to Councilwoman Gilmore

2:30

Richardson. Welcome.

2:34

Thank you. Thank

2:34

you so much, Nikki, for having me.

2:38

You are so incredibly

2:38

accomplished and so young to have accomplished

2:43

so much. I probably

2:43

met you a decade ago and anybody who knew you

2:48

then really isn't surprised

2:48

with everything that you have done. But for

2:53

my audience who may

2:53

not be familiar with you and may not be in

2:57

the Philadelphia area,

2:57

can you tell us a little bit about your background,

3:02

how you got into politics,

3:02

just because you're so... young and you did

3:07

it as an African American woman.

3:10

Right. Well,

3:10

first again, thank you so much for having me.

3:12

And I just truly

3:12

appreciate the opportunity to be on the podcast

3:17

today. But I

3:17

also want to uplift you and all that you have

3:20

done on behalf

3:20

of our city. As you stated, I first met you

3:25

when I was a

3:25

staffer for Councilmember Blondell Reynolds

3:27

Brown, and she

3:27

was honoring you as one of the city's rising

3:31

stars. And I

3:31

know that your star continues to shine bright.

3:35

So I thank you

3:35

and I uplift you in this moment as well.

3:38

Thank you.

3:40

thank you for

3:40

all the podcast listeners. I am Katherine Gilmore

3:44

Richardson,

3:44

currently serving my first term as a member

3:49

of Philadelphia

3:49

City Council. And as of a few weeks ago, recently

3:55

became a Democratic

3:55

nominee for a City Council at large to serve

3:59

another term

3:59

for another four years. But as Nikki stated,

4:03

I was born and

4:03

raised here in the city of Philadelphia. I

4:08

was actually

4:08

born to a age-style Philly girl who gave me

4:12

up for adoption

4:12

at birth to my parents who raised me in the

4:16

Winfield section

4:16

of Philadelphia and because of everything they

4:20

did for me I

4:20

was able to attend the best public schools

4:24

and graduated

4:24

from Girls High, went to Westchester and when

4:28

I was a junior

4:28

at the Philadelphia High School for Girls I'll

4:32

never forget

4:32

it was an early morning assembly I was 15

4:41

I heard a speaker

4:41

her name was Blondell Reynolds Brown she had

4:45

just been elected

4:45

to council but not yet sworn in and She came

4:49

back to talk

4:49

to us about her life and her career and she

4:53

was a former

4:53

teacher She's the oldest of seven and I just

4:57

thought her

4:57

story was so intriguing And so I went home

5:00

on my typewriter

5:00

because you know we were the family That was

5:04

the last ones

5:04

to have Encyclopedia set and we still had a

5:07

typewriter and

5:07

I went home and I wrote her letter and from

5:10

there we stayed

5:10

connected since 1999. So I had the opportunity

5:14

to serve in

5:14

her office both on the campaign side as a volunteer,

5:20

in her office

5:20

as a graduate intern when I was in graduate

5:24

school, and

5:24

then serving in every single position you could

5:28

hold as a city

5:28

council staffer except communications. And

5:33

when she decided

5:33

not to seek re-election, you know, my phone

5:36

rang off the

5:36

hook and so many people said, Kathy you really

5:40

should consider

5:40

this opportunity to run to be a member of Philadelphia

5:44

City Council

5:44

at large. So, you know, as you stated, I'm

5:47

a Philly girl

5:47

through and through, graduated from public

5:51

schools. I even

5:51

went to a state school for college, which is

5:54

not that far

5:54

away. I've only ever worked in Philly before

5:58

working in council.

5:58

I had a few pit stops. So in high school, I

6:03

worked at the

6:03

free library Philadelphia. So always somewhere

6:07

in like public

6:07

service or service to others. and then after

6:11

graduating college

6:11

I was a teacher for a while and I also worked

6:15

at the University

6:15

of Pennsylvania Health System as a staffing

6:18

coordinator.

6:18

So everything has been Philly for me. Philly

6:23

has given so

6:23

much to me which is why I'm honored to serve

6:26

our city as

6:26

a member of Philadelphia City Council.

6:29

How do you think your

6:29

experience of being given up for adoption and,

6:36

you know, being so Philly

6:36

through and through because, you know, I came

6:40

from California to Philadelphia

6:40

and I love this city. It's just like such a

6:45

gritty city. The people

6:45

are so real and when they love you and support

6:49

you, they have your

6:49

back. But one of the challenges with a city

6:55

like Philadelphia is

6:55

we have such an entrenched poverty rate.

6:59

Right.

7:07

How did that impact

7:07

you in terms of preparing you for your life

7:11

in politics, and how

7:11

has that influenced your values as a public

7:16

servant?

7:17

Sure, well...

7:17

I carry my story with me everywhere I go because

7:21

I think it's

7:21

important for all of us to share our stories

7:24

so people understand

7:24

our background and why we have the value system

7:29

that we have.

7:29

So for me, one thing I always think about are

7:34

the children

7:34

who are living in poverty in our city and how

7:37

we can uplift

7:37

them and their families. But also because of

7:42

how I came to

7:42

this world, I often think about the young girls

7:47

and the who

7:47

just need help and assistance as they're moving

7:52

into motherhood

7:52

and really trying to make their way. So every

7:56

policy I work

7:56

on, every budget investment we make, everything

8:01

that I do, even

8:01

down to how I interface with my constituents,

8:05

I think about

8:05

how I showed up in this world. And for me,

8:11

I try to not

8:11

only talk about it, but be about the service

8:16

of others and

8:16

really showing up and being there for them.

8:18

them. And so

8:18

I practice what I preach every single day.

8:23

I am someone

8:23

who believes in honesty and integrity. With

8:26

me, it is what

8:26

it is and you will get exactly what I mean.

8:30

You know, I

8:30

always mean what I say. And I try to show that

8:34

in every interaction

8:34

I have. I try to show empathy to everyone,

8:40

no matter what

8:40

the situation may be. And you know, sometimes

8:43

we're able to really incrementally

8:48

and sometimes unfortunately we're not able

8:51

to help at all

8:51

but I will know that I have done everything

8:55

possible to

8:55

try to get them to the best space in place

8:58

so that's how

8:58

I try to show up for people in our city every

9:03

single day.

9:05

So you're, and you really

9:05

do, anybody who knows you, knows you absolutely

9:10

walk the walk. Can you

9:10

talk about what you do in city council? Because

9:18

I know that, you know,

9:18

you really care a lot about education and I

9:22

know you care a lot

9:22

about businesses and they're kind of, they're

9:27

intertwined with each

9:27

other. We had several people who were prior

9:32

city council people

9:32

who were running for mayor. And I think it

9:35

became very clear that...

9:35

it wasn't clear to people what a city council

9:41

person could do and

9:41

what they were responsible for. So could you

9:44

tell us kind of the

9:44

role that you play in the issues like education,

9:49

crime, you know, jobs?

9:49

Like what can the city council do with these

9:55

really, you know, sensitive

9:55

tough issues that not only Philadelphia is

9:59

dealing with but other

9:59

large cities around the country?

10:02

Right, so one

10:02

thing I'll say is that I finally figured out

10:06

why so many

10:06

of my colleagues departed City Council to run

10:09

for mayor because

10:09

in council our primary responsibilities are

10:14

to what we call

10:14

legislate which is create laws and rules for

10:18

our city and

10:18

appropriate which means we are in charge of

10:23

our city's budget

10:23

and right now we're about 6.2 billion dollars

10:28

just in operating

10:28

costs like infrastructure and buildings and

10:34

supporting our

10:34

city's infrastructure. And that also does not

10:37

include the

10:37

SEPTA budget as well as the school district's

10:40

budget. And

10:40

so we are tasked with ensuring that the revenue

10:45

we receive as

10:45

a city, that we are allocating money in such

10:49

a way that we

10:49

can provide good quality service to our residents

10:54

across the city.

10:54

But I know that sometimes it can be frustrating

10:57

because while

10:57

we legislate and appropriate, it is up to the

11:01

administrative

11:01

branch government to implement the intent of

11:06

those laws and

11:06

to implement the intent of the investments

11:10

that we make

11:10

during our budget process. And so while you

11:13

can allocate

11:13

funds and, you know, pass legislation, the

11:18

mayor's office

11:18

and the mayor's team and all the departments

11:21

under the mayor's

11:21

office is tasked with that implementation.

11:24

And so I think

11:24

many of my colleagues who departed to run for

11:27

mayor wanted

11:27

to be the leader in charge of actual implementation.

11:32

and really making

11:32

a hands-on difference in our city. A lot of

11:37

folks, I realize,

11:37

don't even understand what council is and how

11:41

we're structured.

11:41

And so what I try to explain to folks is that

11:45

city council

11:45

is the legislative branch of government in

11:49

Philadelphia.

11:49

Like you have Congress in DC, you have city

11:52

council in Philly,

11:52

and it's 17 members total. Ten members are

11:57

in a district,

11:57

which means they represent about 160,000 people,

12:01

give or take.

12:01

few thousand in a certain area and then seven

12:05

are at large,

12:05

meaning we represent the entire city of Philadelphia.

12:10

So all 1.58

12:10

million people, you know, 142.59 plus square

12:17

miles in our

12:17

city. We represent that entire territory. And

12:21

our Home Rule

12:21

Charter states that of those seven people,

12:25

two must be

12:25

of a minority

12:32

minority party.

12:32

So you know that five of the members at large

12:36

are Democrats

12:36

and I'm one of the five members at large serving

12:39

as a Democrat

12:39

in the city council. And so really where we

12:43

interface with

12:43

major challenging issues in our city like right

12:48

now is public

12:48

safety number one, number two, and number three.

12:52

And obviously

12:52

education and dealing with our poverty rate

12:56

and so many

12:56

other issues. We are tasked with implementing

13:00

policy to deal

13:00

with those issues. issues and then working

13:03

with the administrative

13:03

branch of government to make a difference on

13:06

those issues.

13:06

And one thing I think people will see recently

13:10

is that we've

13:10

made for the first time in the history of government,

13:14

real significant

13:14

investments in violence, intervention and prevention

13:19

programs. But

13:19

again, once we make the investment, now the

13:22

administration

13:22

is tasked with coming up with all the providers

13:26

that will provide

13:26

that service on the ground.

13:32

department's

13:32

budget. We decide FHIR's budget and how it's

13:36

allocated so

13:36

that they can hire staff to deal with all the

13:39

challenges that

13:39

we have. We decide the streets department budget

13:43

to ensure that

13:43

we are you know adequately picking up the trash

13:47

you know every

13:47

single day and dealing with just transportation

13:52

issues across

13:52

the city in general even from an infrastructure

13:55

standpoint.

13:55

So all of that is under our purview and I will

13:59

tell you if

13:59

you really want to be an effective legislative

14:04

that prior to

14:04

introducing legislation, you meet with the

14:07

administration

14:07

to say this is my idea. This is what I want

14:11

to do and I

14:11

need your help to get us there and get us to

14:14

the finish line.

14:14

So I'll give you an example. Before the pandemic,

14:19

I had introduced

14:19

legislation to provide for a point preference

14:23

for all of our

14:23

career and technical education students when

14:27

they apply for

14:27

city service. city were eligible for retirement

14:34

and we knew

14:34

that we needed to bring younger people into

14:37

city government.

14:37

But I worked with the administration to say

14:40

once this passes,

14:40

you know, will you all be able to put this

14:43

together and

14:43

ensure that all of those graduates receive

14:47

the point preference?

14:47

And now the legislation is law and we have

14:50

a regulation

14:50

from the administration saying, hey, CTE graduates,

14:55

when you apply

14:55

for city service and want to be a civil servant,

14:59

you will receive

14:59

a five point preference. that type of work

15:02

that we have

15:02

to do on a granular level to ensure that we

15:05

can effectuate

15:05

policy changes that are necessary to move the

15:09

needle on issues in our city.

15:12

Well, you are about

15:12

to have a new mayor coming in and, you know,

15:18

we've gone through the

15:18

primary, so we still have to go through the

15:21

general election. But

15:21

if Philadelphia stays consistent with how we

15:25

generally vote, it will

15:25

be a Democrat. And for the first time ever.

15:30

We are looking at having

15:30

an African American woman, Sheryl Parker, who

15:35

would be our 100th mayor,

15:35

and also a former member of city council. So

15:42

tell me what it feels

15:42

like as an African American woman that is working

15:47

in politics to see another

15:47

African American woman that you were just serving

15:52

with now step into the

15:52

role of being a partner in the mayor's office.

15:58

Right, well

15:58

I am really excited about this moment in our

16:01

history in the

16:01

City of Philadelphia because it's a great moment

16:05

of transition.

16:05

We have many new members of Philadelphia City

16:09

Council who

16:09

are currently serving and will be serving and

16:13

then we'll have

16:13

a new mayor and we know that now Sherelle L.

16:18

Parker is our

16:18

Democratic nominee and I'm truly excited about

16:23

the possibility of her

16:27

Yes she will.

16:27

not only

16:28

She will

16:28

yes

16:28

serve.

16:28

she will, she

16:28

will serve. And I know that she has the experience

16:33

both from being

16:33

a former member of city council, but she was

16:36

also a city

16:36

council staffer, an intern, and a volunteer

16:40

for former council

16:40

member Marion Tasco. She was a mentee of former

16:45

council member

16:45

Gussie Clark. She also served as a state representative

16:50

and chair of

16:50

the Philadelphia delegation and enjoys

16:58

So for me, it's

16:58

not just that she's a former member of city

17:01

council. It's

17:01

not that she's just a former staffer. It's

17:05

not that she

17:05

is also a state rep and has wonderful relationships

17:09

on both sides

17:09

of the aisle, including with our governor.

17:12

But I know that

17:12

she would serve our city with distinction.

17:16

She would give

17:16

us the hope needed in this moment. She would

17:21

talk to us in

17:21

such a way that we understand what's going

17:24

on, but that

17:24

we feel confident in her ability to do. what

17:27

is necessary

17:27

to move our city forward. So I'm really excited

17:32

about the prospect

17:32

of her being our 100th mayor. And I've heard

17:36

her say that

17:36

she's not running to be, you know, a footnote

17:39

in anyone's

17:39

book, but she is running to ensure that the

17:44

city of Philadelphia

17:44

can be the safest, cleanest, greenest city

17:48

in our country.

17:48

And I know that she would do just that. I watched

17:51

her work in

17:51

council. I watched her work in Harrisburg,

17:54

and she has

17:54

been a stellar long time and I'm just excited

17:59

about the possibility.

17:59

One because we have so many similarities. You

18:03

know she was

18:03

an intern and volunteer, I was an intern and

18:06

volunteer. Former

18:06

council staffers, you know former members of

18:09

council, I just

18:09

know she's going to do an excellent job and

18:13

while she had

18:13

to take some very you know unpopular opinions

18:17

on the trail,

18:17

I know that she will always serve us with honesty,

18:22

with integrity,

18:22

and I know that she's the type of person who

18:26

will the job done.

18:30

I'm really looking forward

18:30

to seeing what she does because the city has

18:35

been through a lot of

18:35

challenges, especially trying to recover from

18:40

COVID-19 and really

18:40

the policy shift. We've seen a lot of people

18:46

not work from home,

18:46

who are working from home and not working within

18:50

the city. We've seen

18:50

an increase in crime. As you said, number one,

18:54

number two, number three. and also opportunities

19:00

that are presented in terms of business because

19:07

of COVID-19 and its

19:07

aftermath and some of the work that you've

19:11

been doing in that arena.

19:13

Sure, well,

19:13

I always try to look at everything as the glass

19:17

half full and

19:17

not half empty and look at it as an opportunity

19:21

for us to do

19:21

all that we can for our city. So I will tell

19:25

you, COVID-19

19:25

was really, really tough. We were just inaugurated

19:29

in January and

19:29

then two months later, we were out of City

19:32

Hall and working

19:32

virtually. And that was the very first time

19:36

in the history

19:36

of the city that we ever had virtual council

19:40

hearings and

19:40

meetings. negotiate and pass a budget virtually.

19:46

But in addition

19:46

to that, make emergency allocations for the

19:51

administration

19:51

to ensure that they can adequately respond

19:55

to COVID-19.

19:55

We were in the middle of COVID-19, in the middle

19:59

of civil unrest

19:59

in the city, and working really hard to figure

20:04

out this virtual

20:04

transition. But at every step of the time,

20:08

we were able

20:08

to get the job done. One thing I'll say is

20:12

that we have

20:12

to that we're supporting our business community.

20:18

Because we know

20:18

that many of them are still trying to recover

20:22

from the pandemic.

20:22

And things have shifted so much. Like you said,

20:25

so many people

20:25

are working remotely now. And so we have to

20:30

look at our

20:30

commercial real estate footprint, not just

20:34

downtown, but

20:34

across the entire city of Philadelphia. But

20:37

also we have

20:37

to look at our business tax structure to figure

20:40

out the best

20:40

ways an economic environment that would bring

20:45

growth to our

20:45

city, that will help us create jobs and help

20:49

companies to

20:49

know that we want them to come here and to

20:53

hire our residents

20:53

so that they can have a good business opportunity.

20:57

So one of the

20:57

first things I did at the onset of COVID-19

21:01

was work with

21:01

the Commerce Department to create a fund, a

21:04

grant fund that

21:04

was available for all of our businesses in

21:08

the community

21:08

that were not eligible for PPP loans could

21:13

apply for additional

21:13

funding during the pandemic. And then for the

21:18

last two budget

21:18

cycles have worked with my colleagues, namely

21:22

Council Member

21:22

Isaiah Thomas to ensure that we are working

21:26

on continued

21:26

incremental decreases in our city's BERT and

21:33

wage tax. And

21:33

decreasing those taxes helps businesses who

21:39

want to not

21:39

only come to the city, but it helps us to retain

21:42

businesses.

21:42

who believe that our tax structure is one that

21:47

is onerous.

21:47

And we rely pretty heavily on our wage tax

21:51

in the city.

21:51

And that is not like any other sort of large

21:56

municipalities

21:56

in the country, where more of them sort of

21:58

rely more so

21:58

on their property taxes than wage. But we have

22:03

a different

22:03

tax structure here. And because of that, we

22:06

wanna continue

22:06

to make incremental reductions so that we can

22:10

make the business

22:10

environment more advantageous. the kind of

22:13

work we're going

22:13

to continue to do. One other thing that I know

22:17

will save the

22:17

city millions and millions of dollars is the

22:21

rainy day fund

22:21

legislation that I introduced and passed and

22:26

it helps us

22:26

to set aside you know a certain percentage

22:29

of money each

22:29

year in our budget stabilization reserve and

22:33

that's important

22:33

because each year the city has borrowing costs

22:38

and in order

22:38

for us to keep our interest rates low and to

22:42

ensure that

22:42

when we are paying towards the debt that those

22:45

costs are low,

22:45

you have to have a good credit rating. It's

22:48

just like you

22:48

have to have a good credit score, you know,

22:51

to apply for

22:51

a home or a car loan. It's the same thing for

22:55

the city because

22:55

we have borrowing costs as well. And so the

22:59

legislation

22:59

that I did around our rainy day fund and our

23:02

budget stabilization

23:02

reserve has helped to increase our credit rating

23:07

and that will

23:07

help us to save millions of dollars on our

23:11

borrowing costs

23:11

over the to come. So that's the kind of work

23:14

I love to do.

23:14

People who know me know that I'm an avid and

23:19

I had to give

23:19

it up since council but I'm an avid couponer.

23:22

I love couponing like the TV

23:23

Ooh,

23:24

show. Yes,

23:24

I love that on TLC.

23:24

I love that show.

23:28

yes it's like

23:28

the TV show. I've been couponing for like 15

23:31

years and I

23:31

had to give it up since I became a member of

23:34

council because

23:34

I just don't have the time to dedicate to extreme

23:38

couponing but

23:38

I loved to coupon

23:41

So do you

23:41

and

23:41

have

23:41

save

23:41

a reserve?

23:41

money.

23:42

Do you have a back stock?

23:42

Because I judge a woman by her back stock and

23:47

a man too.

23:49

Yes, I do. I

23:49

really do. So it's really bad. And my husband

23:54

asked me to

23:54

stop couponing as much a couple years ago.

23:58

But I will say

23:58

when the pandemic first hit, we had over 250

24:03

rolls of toilet

24:03

paper and probably over 30.

24:07

And you looked like

24:07

a genius, didn't you?

24:09

Right. And I

24:09

saw laundry detergent, a ton of shampoo, and

24:15

a whole bunch

24:15

of other stuff that we probably didn't need.

24:17

But we had to

24:17

stockpile. And

24:19

I'm just

24:19

I

24:19

saying

24:20

hope you enjoyed

24:20

you could

24:20

it.

24:20

have like, that would

24:20

have been better than money in terms of like.

24:23

Right.

24:24

like the new economy,

24:24

like the zombie apocalypse COVID, like COVID

24:28

economy. Like for anybody

24:28

who doesn't know what we're talking about,

24:31

like back stock is when

24:31

you over shop or you get like, you get multiples

24:36

from coupons and you

24:36

keep a back stock of it. So your family can

24:41

use it, or, you know,

24:41

I do a lot of advocacy with the homeless. You

24:45

can donate it to your

24:45

church or to organizations that work with the

24:49

disadvantaged. And so.

24:49

You know, I love it. Council people just like

24:54

us.

24:55

Right, right.

24:55

And it's really, it's really bad. It's to the

24:59

point where

24:59

I also give away a lot of items to, there's

25:03

a homeless shelter

25:03

in my area that specifically focuses on pregnant

25:07

women or mothers

25:07

with really young children. And so I typically

25:11

give to that

25:11

shelter because I know it based on my experience

25:15

that it really

25:15

be helpful. But my sister comes over and takes

25:19

a lot of things,

25:19

but I love saving money. So that love for saving

25:23

money has translated

25:23

into helping the city save millions of dollars

25:28

as well.

25:30

Exactly, so you're a

25:30

responsible public servant. So you treat the

25:35

city's money the same

25:35

way you treat yours. So one of the things I

25:39

was very interested

25:39

in, and really looking at what you're working

25:43

on, is seeing that you

25:43

created Philadelphia's first apprenticeship

25:47

guidebook, including

25:47

information about application requirements,

25:51

training programs, career.

25:51

fills and pay benefits for over 20 apprenticeship

25:56

programs. Can you educate

25:56

my audience about these programs and why they

26:02

are a viable alternative

26:02

for people who are not able to attend college,

26:08

for financial reasons,

26:08

or they just don't have an interest in it,

26:13

but they want to have

26:13

a skill that can provide for them. And possibly

26:19

their family, you know,

26:19

and make a decent living for themselves.

26:23

Right, so this

26:23

is one of the first things I did also when

26:26

I became a member

26:26

of City Council and I did this because I knew

26:30

when I was a

26:30

teacher at Overbrook that not all of our young

26:34

people will

26:34

want to go to college but they should be college

26:37

or career ready

26:37

at graduation. And I remember working in Blondo's

26:42

office and every

26:42

so often we would receive letters from all

26:45

the different

26:45

unions just giving us the information about

26:49

their application

26:49

process and the requirements be and where constituents

26:55

could pick up

26:55

their applications. And we would get the letters

26:58

like just not

26:58

at a certain time. It would just be random.

27:01

And so I was

27:01

thinking, what if we put all of this information

27:04

together in

27:04

one central location where we have a list of

27:09

all of the apprenticeship

27:09

and pre-apprenticeship programs that are available

27:13

in the city?

27:13

We can talk about what you would do if you

27:17

gain employment

27:17

into that particular union, what the requirements

27:22

are, where you

27:22

go testing, you know what the requirements

27:26

are from as

27:26

far as working, and you know just anything

27:31

you need to

27:31

know to apply to a union apprenticeship in

27:35

the city. And

27:35

in addition to putting the book together, we

27:38

put a QR code

27:38

on the front so if you only have, say if a

27:42

friend has one

27:42

copy of the book left, you can just click the

27:44

QR code and

27:44

it'll populate on your phone. And so from there

27:48

we also do a

27:48

Labor Fridays program, we're gonna have one

27:51

probably soon,

27:51

where we highlight one of the programs and

27:56

we bring on

27:56

the apprenticeship coordinator and the representatives

28:00

from the program

28:00

and they talk all about what you would do in

28:03

that role and

28:03

how you gain entry, you know, into the union

28:07

and the test

28:07

and, you know, some of the other things you

28:09

need to do to

28:09

be prepared. Sometimes you have to have a driver's

28:12

license and

28:12

those type of things. And so I took an interest

28:16

in this because,

28:16

you know, when I was teaching at Overbrook,

28:19

that was the

28:19

first time because I went to Nassman and Girl's

28:22

High. at all

28:22

of my schools was college readiness. You know,

28:27

everyone knew

28:27

that everybody there was going to college,

28:30

right? But when

28:30

I started teaching at Overbrook, it was my

28:32

first time hearing

28:32

directly from students who would say, Ms. G,

28:36

I don't wanna

28:36

go to college. You know, I actually wanna go,

28:39

you know, into,

28:39

you know, the labor's union or into the electrician's

28:43

union or, you

28:43

know, into the boiler makers or I wanna go

28:46

into the military.

28:46

But a lot of our young people, when I was there,

28:50

they were telling

28:50

me they wanted to do something different And

28:53

I said we have

28:53

to make this resource available to them and

28:56

make it a living

28:56

document that is updated every single year

29:00

so young people

29:00

know what the possibilities are. Because I

29:04

didn't know

29:04

anything about working in construction or getting

29:07

into an apprenticeship

29:07

program when I was in high school. I never

29:10

heard about

29:10

it. But if I knew about it, I'm sure that it

29:13

may have piqued

29:13

my interest in some way. And even now when

29:16

I go to the

29:16

different union halls, particularly when I

29:19

go over to like

29:19

the Carpenters or to the Sprinkle Fitters,

29:23

or to the laborers,

29:23

I always see something new and different and

29:27

you know built

29:27

my flower box. We built flower boxes for community

29:31

organizations.

29:31

We built bird boxes at the carpenters and like

29:35

I love it. I

29:35

actually love to do that work and if I was

29:39

exposed to it

29:39

I may have been interested in it. So it's an

29:42

opportunity

29:42

to give career exposure not just to our young

29:46

people but for

29:46

anyone who may want to reskill or upskill.

29:49

We just got

29:49

a middle-aged African-American woman into carpenters

29:53

apprenticeship

29:53

ready program. She's in her 40s and she's on

29:56

a career switch

29:56

to become a carpenter. That's

29:59

Really?

29:59

the workout loop. Yes!

30:02

I do love that. That's

30:02

a great idea. So, you know, one thing I'm really

30:08

taken by is how... really

30:08

practical and solution oriented you are. Do

30:14

you think that being

30:14

on the younger side, and because of your personal

30:22

experience of working

30:22

in schools and actually being not that far

30:27

removed from college,

30:27

maybe relative in high school, relative to

30:31

maybe some of your other

30:31

coworkers, let's just say, impacts how you

30:37

look at these issues?

30:37

Because I think maybe people who are 50s, 60s,

30:43

70s may not see some

30:43

of these issues in the same way. They may not

30:49

understand that, you

30:49

know. college just isn't on the table for everyone.

30:55

They may not understand

30:55

the amount of debt that is weighing down on

31:01

an entire generation

31:01

of people who have already gotten into debt

31:06

or their family members

31:06

are seeing them in debt, maybe their cousins

31:10

or younger siblings,

31:10

and are saying, I can't do that, and they don't

31:14

see that they get the

31:14

value of it. Do you think that kind of being

31:18

a little bit younger

31:18

touch with some of these issues in a more practical

31:24

way just because

31:25

me.

31:26

the world looks different

31:26

and you've experienced it.

31:29

No, I mean you

31:29

really, you know, hit the nail on the head

31:32

really because

31:32

Councilmember Thomas and I, we are the first

31:37

two millennials

31:37

to ever

31:39

Uhhh

31:39

serve in Philadelphia

31:39

City Council. So when we were elected, we single-handedly

31:44

decreased like

31:44

the average age of a member of council by like

31:48

10 years. And

31:48

I think having that perspective is important,

31:53

you know, because

31:53

we grew up in an era where we had

31:59

social media,

31:59

right? When I was in college, that's when Facebook

32:02

first came out.

32:02

Like we've grown up with this new reality that

32:08

we all have

32:08

to deal with of just social media. And I think

32:11

that in and

32:11

of itself gives us a different perspective.

32:14

But it also

32:14

allows us to interface with our constituents

32:17

differently.

32:17

I get constituent cases from Facebook, Instagram,

32:21

Twitter, and

32:21

TikTok, believe it or not. And, you know, it's

32:26

just, you know,

32:26

something where we kind of understand the...

32:29

younger generation

32:29

of which we have a lot of millennials in the

32:33

city of Philadelphia's

32:33

one of the largest age groups

32:37

Mm-hmm.

32:37

and you know

32:37

we just understand things differently because

32:42

of our age and

32:42

it's no slight to our colleagues in any way

32:46

because they

32:46

also have institutional knowledge and experience

32:49

that

32:50

Absolutely.

32:50

I enjoy learning

32:50

from you know I really enjoy listening to some

32:54

of my colleagues

32:54

who have experience because they'll bring up

32:57

things that

32:57

we never things that we may not have experienced.

33:02

And so having

33:02

that interface with our colleagues, but also

33:07

having the younger

33:07

perspective, I think has helped us immensely

33:12

in crafting

33:12

not only policy initiatives, but also additional

33:17

opportunities

33:17

for the community that are not like things

33:19

we've seen before.

33:19

And I'm hopeful that we continue to bring in

33:25

younger members

33:25

of which we have now who took over for Council

33:31

Member Parker

33:31

in the 9th district. He's younger than us and

33:35

he brings a

33:35

different perspective, which I think is great.

33:38

And so I hope

33:38

that we continue to add more young people to

33:41

council to help

33:41

bring on different perspectives.

33:45

So speaking of young

33:45

people, to get back to crime, one of the things

33:51

that city council did

33:51

in the last year or two was come up with a

33:56

driver's rights policy,

33:56

which I believe that council member Thomas

34:02

spearheaded. Some of

34:02

these solutions are very complicated and are

34:09

so, I think, are taking

34:09

into account kind of the social unrest that

34:13

we've had the last few

34:13

years. But there is backlash against that,

34:19

not necessarily in a

34:19

city like Philadelphia where people, you know...

34:26

We tend to be a democratic

34:26

city, but in other cities, there's kind of

34:30

what they call a woke

34:30

backlash. Can you talk a little bit about crime

34:37

solutions and kind of

34:37

some of the solutions that you're coming up

34:42

with and really answer

34:42

some of the criticism that... What you're trying

34:48

to do is actually making

34:48

crime worse or coddling criminals. And could

34:54

you really just kind

34:54

of explain to my audience and educate them

34:58

a little bit about like

34:58

those, like the driver's bill, driver's rights

35:03

bill, and really what

35:03

you're hoping to make happen kind of in terms

35:08

of making things fair

35:08

for everyone, but also really dealing with

35:13

crime in Philadelphia.

35:16

Right, and so

35:16

I'll start with the driving equality legislation

35:21

because that's

35:21

one piece of legislation that has actually

35:25

been replicated

35:25

in the city of Memphis recently. And I think

35:30

what the driving

35:30

equality legislation was seeking to do was

35:34

really. look

35:34

at ways that we can redirect police time and

35:40

resources so

35:40

that we could keep Philadelphia safe while

35:45

also removing

35:45

negative interactions that sort of widen the

35:51

divide and perpetuate

35:51

mistrust in the system. And I recognize that

35:58

people may believe

35:58

that we're taking different types of approaches

36:05

to public safety,

36:05

but I think we have to do just that, public

36:09

safety, and

36:09

keep the public safe. In addition to that,

36:13

I did curfew

36:13

legislation to modify the hours that young

36:18

people have

36:18

to be off the streets because we knew and

36:27

people were

36:27

getting involved with crime or criminal incidents,

36:30

some of them

36:30

just because they had no place to go or they

36:35

were outside

36:35

in the wrong place at the wrong time. And so

36:41

you know I even

36:41

did curfew legislation you know to ensure that

36:44

we could address

36:44

that part of the public safety particularly

36:48

for our minors.

36:48

And look we also open community evening resource

36:51

centers which are very similar They're open

36:57

every single day from 7 PM to 2 AM. We have

37:01

four up and

37:01

running across the city. They did not exist

37:04

when I came

37:04

into office, but I worked with the mayor's

37:07

team to get

37:07

sports centers up and running that are open

37:12

every day to

37:12

service our young people and they even give

37:14

them a ride

37:14

home at the end of the night. So I think what

37:17

you see us seeking

37:17

to do in council is really use every tool available

37:23

in our toolbox

37:23

to address public safety. also ensure that

37:29

we are taking

37:29

a multi-pronged approach to dealing with some

37:33

of the challenges

37:33

we know we have in the city. We know we have

37:36

certain challenges

37:36

and we have to address them. They're not going

37:38

to go away by

37:38

us staying silent, which is why even tomorrow

37:43

I'm having a

37:43

press conference with the mayor for us to stand

37:46

up together.

37:46

It's our first press conference together in

37:49

four years to

37:49

say that some of the behavior we're seeing

37:53

across the city

37:53

from some of our young people is not acceptable.

37:57

is what we have

37:57

available for you if you want to be provided

38:01

service and

38:01

if not then we'll have to deal you know with

38:05

that at that

38:05

moment but it will be dealt with because I

38:07

don't think

38:07

we can continue to you know allow certain things

38:13

to happen in

38:13

our city without dealing with it and that's

38:16

what we intend

38:16

to continue to do.

38:20

And look, that's a fair

38:20

point. And I think that it's a delicate balance

38:24

because, you know, we

38:24

know that there are systems in place that have

38:28

not always been fair,

38:28

especially to black and brown communities.

38:33

But on the other hand,

38:33

when crime rises... Black and brown communities

38:38

are not just perpetrators,

38:38

but they're also disproportionately, maybe

38:43

disproportionately victims.

38:43

And

38:45

Right.

38:45

so that is a much more

38:45

complicated calculation. And I think it's gonna

38:52

take a multi-pronged

38:52

approach and we're gonna try different things.

38:56

And some things are

38:56

gonna work better than others, but I think

39:00

it's important that

39:00

we're at least having the conversation. So

39:03

I know we are getting

39:03

close you just have turned out to be such an

39:10

incredible leader. And

39:10

I just have to say, as a woman of color, I'm

39:15

just so proud to see

39:15

what you're doing and what an incredible role

39:19

model you are. for this

39:19

generation and I know part of it is because

39:25

you had great role models

39:25

yourselves. Can you talk about kind of what

39:30

your next plans are

39:30

for yourself? Like what are some of the projects

39:33

you're working on legislation

39:33

that my listeners should know about? And, you

39:39

know, are you aspiring

39:39

to hire political office yourself? Could we

39:43

see a mayor, Gilmore

39:43

Richardson, in the future? governor, council,

39:49

you know, congressperson,

39:49

president.

39:53

Hmm

39:53

Inquiring

39:54

well

39:54

minds wanna know.

39:55

Right, well

39:55

again I want to thank you for this opportunity

39:58

because I really,

39:58

really enjoyed it. I'm so happy that we were

40:01

able to do this.

40:01

Obviously we're coming up on the end of a legislative,

40:06

not just session,

40:06

but also term at the end of 2023. And so I

40:13

am working to

40:13

close out all of the legislation that I have

40:16

pending that

40:16

I want to bring to closure. And some of it

40:20

includes legislation

40:20

around creating lactation spaces for and where

40:26

possible also

40:26

for the public. I'm a working mom now. When

40:30

I first started

40:30

in government, I was single foot loose and

40:33

fancy free and

40:33

now I'm married with three children. And so

40:36

I also want

40:36

to work on, and we just achieved this victory

40:40

in budget, expanding

40:40

our parental leave. We are the sixth largest

40:46

city in the

40:46

country, one of the largest employers in our

40:49

region, the

40:49

city of Philadelphia is. And we have to work

40:52

on ways that

40:52

we can help recruit also retain our city employees

40:58

because so many

40:58

of them are eligible for retirement. So we

41:01

now have expanded

41:01

parental leave from four weeks to six weeks,

41:05

which is a major

41:05

budget victory. And so I'm going to continue

41:09

to work on that

41:09

type of work for the rest of the year. I have

41:13

a few more community

41:13

evening resource centers opening in the month

41:16

of July. And

41:16

so I'm so excited about that because it's one

41:20

for our East

41:20

Division, which is an area where we have many

41:24

challenges.

41:24

particularly for our young people. It includes

41:27

the territory

41:27

in Kensington, which is greatly represented

41:31

by Councilmember

41:31

Ketsie Lozada now and Councilmember Harrity.

41:35

And we also

41:35

have one opening in the Lower Northeast for

41:39

my colleagues

41:39

Councilmember Driscoll as well. And so I'll

41:44

continue to

41:44

work on that legislation. We're trying to get

41:47

a child care

41:47

unit in our quadplex as well and we have some

41:51

environmental

41:51

justice legislation coming up. Along with ensuring

41:56

that we are

41:56

bringing back money to the city of Philadelphia

41:59

to help us better

41:59

provide service. And so I'll have a ton of

42:02

things going

42:02

on before the end of the year, but as far as

42:06

career aspirations,

42:06

and I've said this and so many people saying

42:10

you're not going

42:10

to be able to hold to this, so you know just

42:12

don't say it,

42:12

but it's true. My goal is to retire at 55 and

42:17

so I have just about of the great

42:25

people of the best city in the world, and that's

42:28

Philadelphia.

42:28

And I will never say never, but I try to live

42:33

my life in such

42:33

a way that where God leads me I will follow.

42:38

I recognize

42:38

that I don't have all the answers, and I put

42:42

God first in

42:42

my life and ensure that what God wants for

42:47

me will be for

42:47

me. And so... Do I have higher aspirations?

42:53

Possibly. But

42:53

I'm just so happy and blessed that I'm able

42:57

to be in council

42:57

right now because this is work that I love

43:00

and I really

43:00

can't imagine doing anything else. Would I

43:06

pursue an opportunity

43:06

if it comes along? I sure would. And whether

43:11

that be in Philadelphia,

43:11

in Harrisburg, or in Washington, D.C., I will

43:17

never say never

43:17

I can do to help other people.

43:25

I love that and you

43:25

never know who's listening. So just like you

43:28

were listening to then

43:28

Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, you never

43:33

know what young person

43:33

may be listening in my audience that you may

43:37

inspire by the work

43:37

you do and just who you are. And we're really

43:42

excited and feel blessed

43:42

to have you. So Hopefully, Philadelphia will

43:47

have you for years longer,

43:47

but if we have to share you with the rest of

43:51

the world, we will.

43:51

So on that note, I would like to thank you

43:56

so much for being here

43:56

and talking about all of the wonderful work

44:00

that you're doing on

44:00

behalf of the citizens of Philadelphia. And

44:06

congratulations on your

44:06

primary victory. And we look forward to rooting

44:11

you on to success. in

44:11

November. So I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful

44:18

summer and thank you so much for being with us.

44:20

Oh, thank you

44:20

so much for having me. Thank you. Thank you.

44:23

Thank you

44:25

And that's it for this

44:25

episode of Homeless to Lawyer. I'm your host,

44:29

Nikki Johnson-Alfano,

44:29

and I'll see you next time.