Speaker Prohibited from Discussing the Covid-19 Vaccines in Philadelphia City Council

Lynn Landes of Health Alert Philly often addresses City Council on a variety of issues of concern that involve toxic exposures in our environment.  But this Thursday Council President Darrell Clarke stopped Landes from finishing her public comment citing a rule in Philadelphia City Council that limits public comment to only bills that are before the Council session.

Weekly City Council meeting are one of the only public forums where the public can address their local government.  Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Act (Open Meeting Law) requires the ability of the public to make comment on issues “that are or may be before the board.”  One should be able to deduce that would limit comment to policies or issues that are currently or likely to come under the purview of the law making body.

One may also be able to deduce from this reading of the law that topics, such as manufacturing techniques for gourmet ice cream, might fail to come under the protections of the Sunshine Act and be legally constrained since City Council does not now or very likely will never take up this commercial issue.

Since Landes was addressing city regulations that have seriously infringed on Philadelphian’s civil and human rights and have caused the premature death and disablement of an untold number of citizen’s (see disabled student Andre Cherry’s story) the topic Landes choose to bring to City Council and the Public’s attention is certainly one that may and should come before this chamber.

President Clarke interrupted PA-CHD chapter president Vince Feldman a month ago when he was addressing free speech rights and violations of the state’s Sunshine Act.  Feldman pointed out to Clarke that he was attempting to preventing him from speaking while he was trying to address the right to speak freely helping him make his point.

Council President Clarke kept Philadelphia’s Council meetings closed to remote only for the longest of any large municipality in the nation.  He restarted in chamber meetings only this past fall when big cities like Chicago, NY and LA reconvened more than six months earlier.  He has also continues to instituted a mask and social distancing requirement for attendance at City Council meetings even though the rest of City Hall’s 630,000 square feet are mask free.