Budget Town Hall with Councilmembers Johnson, Gilmore Richardson, Young Jr., Thomas [IN-PERSON]
Philadelphia City Council2601 N 11th St Philadelphia 19133 (Directions)
Hope Partnership For Education
City Council is holding a neighborhood budget town hall to hear from Philadelphians about their vision for the City’s budget for Fiscal Year 2026.
Join Council President Kenyatta Johnson (2nd District) and Councilmembers Jeffery Young, Jr. (5th District), Katherine Gilmore Richardson (At-Large) and Isaiah Thomas (At-Large) for this town hall.
The event is being held on May 27, 2025 from 6 - 8 PM, at Hope Partnership for Education (2601 N. 11th Street, Philadelphia PA 19133).
Documenters will receive an additional hour of pay for attending in-person.
This special assignment is part of Philly Documenters FY26 Budget coverage. This year we are partnering with the People’s Budget Office to share all of the amazing work by Philly Docs. Our goals are to share what we learn, uplift your voices, and collectively engage with the budget process.
For this special assignment, we are looking for high-level notes of these longer hearings. We’re using a different document template to help guide Documenters in their note taking.
IMPORTANT: Any Documenter assigned to these special assignments should carefully read through the template to review the instructions and sections before the assignment starts. For assigning, we’ll keep an eye out for Docs who attended the Budget Training 101 in January.
Capture to the best of your ability the main parts of the town hall starting on page two, including themes heard from the public and how Councilmembers respond or react. Then take your time after the hearing to write your meeting brief, main themes, and observations – these are the sections you would share with your neighbor, friend, or co-conspirator.
In part of our partnership with the People’s Budget Office, we will be sharing recaps of the meeting using Documenters’ notes. You can follow PBO (peoplesbudget4philly) and Philly Documenters (@phldocumenters) on Instagram.
Since this is a new type of assignment, leaving feedback about your experience attending and documenting is appreciated, so we can enhance the process as we go. Reach out to documenters@resolvephilly.org with any questions.
Agency Information
Philadelphia City Council
Conducts hearings and public meetings on proposed bills and issues concerning the City of Philadelphia.
Council is the legislative arm of Philadelphia municipal government. Ten Councilmembers are elected by district and seven from the City-at-large, for a total of seventeen members. Under the rules of Council, regular public sessions of Council are held weekly, usually on Thursday morning at 10:00 AM., in Room 400, City Hall.
Every proposed ordinance is in the form of a bill introduced by a Councilmember. Before a bill can be enacted by Council, it must be:
- Referred by the President of Council to an appropriate standing committee of Council,
- Considered at a public hearing and public meeting, reported out by the committee,
- Printed as reported by the committee,
- Distributed to the members of Council,
- And made available to the public.
Passage of a bill requires the favorable vote of a majority of all members of Council. A bill becomes law upon the approval of the Mayor. If the Mayor vetoes a bill, Council may override the veto by a two-thirds vote.
The functions of City Council influence a wide range of public affairs in Philadelphia and directly impact the quality of life for its citizenry.