The City Council is considering jail oversight and landlord pricing this week

Two years ago, Philadelphia City Council members tried to establish an independent oversight board to monitor and investigate the city’s troubled prison system amid a crisis of violence and disorder.

However, the council never considered such legislation, and its main sponsor, former council member Helen Gym, withdrew from running for mayor. Since then, the prison situation has further deteriorated, with severe staff shortages, high-profile prisoner escapes and deaths.

Now the Council is trying again. Also this week, a member introduced a bill to ban landlords from using certain types of software that he believes could enable “rental price fixing.” Here’s what happened during Thursday’s session, which came a day after Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s late-night public meeting at which the terms of the city’s deal with the Sixers to build a up-to-date arena were revealed.

What was the highlight of this week?

Board of Corrections Oversight, take two: Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, a citywide Democrat, introduced legislation Thursday that would establish a community oversight board and an accompanying Office of Corrections Oversight.

In announcing the up-to-date regulations, Thomas condemned “the perpetration of human and civil rights violations” at the prison complicated and cited a federal judge’s recent decision to condemn the city for violating an agreement as part of a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of incarcerated people. The city was fined $25 million.

The proposed supervisory board would consist of nine members – four appointed by the mayor and five by the chairman of the City Council. A separate Office of Corrections Oversight would be headed by a director and would have the authority to investigate Department of Corrections policies and practices.

The Act does not expressly grant any entity subpoena power, but the measure allows the Council to grant additional powers through future legislation.

Thomas’ legislation is sponsored by a majority of the Council, including Council Speaker Kenyatta Johnson, making the bill’s passage all but certain.

However, the official establishment of the supervisory board and the up-to-date office would require an amendment to the City Statute, a document similar to the constitution. Amendments to the bylaws must be approved by voters through a question on the ballot. The earliest the electorate will be able to vote on this issue is May 2025, given that postal voting has already begun for this year’s November elections.

What else happened this week?

Ban high-tech “price fixing”? Philadelphia could become the second city in the country to ban landlords from using certain algorithmic software to set rental prices, which the bill’s author says is an anti-competitive practice.

Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke, a member of the progressive city-wide Working Families Party, introduced legislation on Thursday to ban the utilize of software that analyzes non-public rent data and recommends prices to property owners and management companies.

Landlords who violate the ban face civil penalties in the thousands under O’Rourke’s legislation.

The legislation provides for several exceptions, including:

San Francisco legislators passed a similar bill last month.

Who was there?

The newest opponents in the arena are drag queens: Before the council session began, members were greeted by a group opposed to the proposed Sixers arena: gay supporters and a handful of drag queens, with petitions calling on the council to reject the project.

About 25 people from the No Arena Gayborhood group gathered outside City Hall Thursday morning, just hours after the Parker administration unveiled regulations authorizing the project. It is expected to be formally introduced at the Council meeting on October 24.

Supporters say the arena threatens the neighborhood and could gentrify an already distressed community. They also expressed concern about traffic congestion impeding access to LGBTQ health care providers.

Drag queen performer Lasha Cristál expressed concerns that the arena would make parking more pricey, hurting the ability to visit restaurants and shops in an area that was created “for us and by us.”

“We don’t want to be pushed out again,” Cristál said.

Kenneth Wilson, also known as Shometha Monét, a Philadelphia-based drag queen, said that, like Chinatown, Gayborhood is central to the city’s identity and culture. She said Council and Parker are effectively “selling our city block by block to the highest bidder.”

Of course, not everyone agreed that the arena at 10th and Market Streets would harm the Gayborhood, located south of Market.

Derek Deitsch, an observer who watched Thursday’s news conference, said “there’s a lot of vocal opposition, but there’s a lot of support” for the project. Some believe the arena could lend a hand strengthen businesses and move the city toward a greener, transit-oriented future, he said.

Quote of the week

That was Johnson, who spoke after the council meeting to a group of media outlets eager to hear his thoughts on the details of the arena deal between the mayor and the Sixers. Johnson has by no means taken a firm stance on the legislation, which is due to be formally introduced at the end of October. But he seemed to confirm the obvious: It could have been a violent fall.