City Hall says Kensington is improving. Council's hearings on it don't have dates yet

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker says life in Kensington is getting better. "Quality of life is improving here," she said, according to a Philadelphia Tribune special report published Oct. 25, the first in a series on the neighborhood. The report also found residents who say not much has changed.

City Council has said it wants a public accounting. On Oct. 22 it authorized two hearings, one on Kensington's past year and one on homelessness on sidewalks and in other public spaces. Neither has a date yet.

What the city says

According to the Tribune:

• Shelter beds. First Deputy Managing Director Crystal Yates-Gale said the city has opened 785 of the 1,000 additional beds Parker sought, and they're about 95% full. She cited drops in shootings, homicides and fatal overdoses but did not give figures.
• The Kensington Blitz. The One Philly Kensington Blitz, which began Sept. 5 under Managing Director Carlton Williams, divides the neighborhood into three zones and focuses police, fire, behavioral health, homeless services, sanitation and other departments on one zone each week.
• McPherson Square. Work began Sept. 28 on a $21.7 million renovation of the McPherson Square library and its six-acre park. The library will be closed for about two years.
• Schools. 7th District Councilmember Quetcy Lozada secured $750,000 for mental health support in Kensington schools. "Our work is far from finished, but we're making steady gains," she told the paper.

A local nonprofit leader told the Tribune that jobs and education are the root problems and remain unsolved. Some residents told the paper they don't feel heard by City Hall.

What our records add

This follows our Oct. 24 story on the two hearing resolutions.

• A sponsor update. When we wrote about Resolution 260899 on Oct. 24, our record listed no sponsor. It now lists Lozada as primary sponsor, with nine co-sponsors: Brian O'Neill, Curtis Jones Jr., Jim Harrity, Katherine Gilmore Richardson, Kendra Brooks, Mark Squilla, Mike Driscoll, Nicolas O'Rourke and Nina Ahmad. It authorizes the Special Committee on Kensington, which Lozada chairs, to hold a hearing on the past year's progress, current conditions and future barriers and goals.
• The second hearing. Resolution 260900, from 5th District Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr., authorizes joint hearings by the Committees on Streets and Services and on Housing, Neighborhood Development and the Homeless. They would look at unsheltered homelessness in public rights-of-way and how the city connects people with housing and services. It lists 10 sponsors.
• No dates yet. Both were adopted at the Oct. 22 session. Neither hearing appears in the meeting calendar in our records, which runs through Council's Dec. 10 session. In comparison, the Academy of Natural Sciences hearing came 39 days after its resolution passed, and Landau's student transit hearing came 159 days after.

Why the hearings matter

The Tribune report rests on what officials told a reporter. A Council hearing puts officials under questioning on the record, with testimony that can be checked later. The administration's figures on shootings and overdoses, which Yates-Gale didn't give the Tribune, are the kind of data a committee can ask for.

What's next

Watch the Special Committee on Kensington and the Streets and Services committee pages for hearing notices. The Tribune said more installments in its series are coming.