Bills would help city residents get city jobs

BY JAN RANSOM, Daily News Staff Writer
Posted: October 19, 2012

LOTS OF Philadelphians need jobs, and City Council is looking for ways to help.

Council's Committee on Finance held a hearing Wednesday on two bills sponsored by Councilman Bill Green, including one that would require businesses with nonprofessional services contracts with the city to hire Philadelphians.

"This applies what has been applied only to the construction industry to all nonprofessional services," Green said. For any businesses that receive more than $150,000 in service contracts or that receive other forms of financial aid from the city, the bill creates a hiring goal of 50 percent Philadelphians. After five years, the goal becomes a mandate.

A second bill establishes a registry of potential employees for new entry-level jobs with those businesses. Green said companies would be required to interview 10 people from the registry before a listing of jobs is made public, but there would be no requirement to hire them.

"This legislation does not solve the total unemployment challenge in Philadelphia," said Donna Allie, president of Team Clean Inc., a janitorial company. "It is another tool available to the city to address a very serious structural problem."

It is not clear how many residents or businesses would be impacted. Violators could lose money or be barred from future work with the city.

Brian Abernathy, chief of staff to the managing director, wasn't sure whether contractors were hiring residents above or below the proposed goal. No data have ever been collected.

Impacted businesses would have to provide quarterly and annual reports under the measure. The Nutter administration supports the bills.

Contact Jan Ransom at ransomj@phillynews.com or 215-854-5218. Follow her on Twitter @Jan_Ransom.

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