Philadelphia City Council member "undecided" on Sixers arena before potential vote
Philadelphia City Council is scheduled to meet today to discuss and possibly vote on legislation to approve a controversial new Sixers arena to be built on Market Street between 10th and 11th streets. As the highly-anticipated meeting nears, one city councilmember says they're still undecided about the project.
"I'm still undecided on the arena," Councilmember Jamie Gauthier said Tuesday.
City council's session today could prove important. The Committee of the Whole would need to pass the legislation out of committee by Thursday to receive a full council vote by Dec. 19, a day Council President Kenyatta Johnson has floated as a possible added session to the calendar.
The Sixers have also previously said they hoped to have an answer on the arena plan by the end of the year.
The proposal has been stuck in committee as councilmembers express concerns over various issues. One question was who would pay for SEPTA to add more trains to accommodate the plan to have more people take public transit to the arena.
Many councilmembers believe the team needs to increase its proposed $50 million Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) that would be paid out over 30 years.
Gauthier specifically took issue with the amount of money set aside to ward off the potential for rising home and business rents in neighboring communities like Chinatown.
"$3 million for that type of resource is not enough," Gauthier said. "$1.6 million for business disruption is not enough."
City leaders say they have been privately discussing the CBA price tag with the Sixers to reach an agreement. But the question is, how high does that number go?
Gauthier said she supports a proposal from the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation with a price tag of $163 million, but it's unclear if the Sixers would agree to that number.
The plan, however, does have the backing of Mayor Cherelle Parker, something she reiterated when she spoke with CBS News Philadelphia on Tuesday.
"I'm trusting the process, and hoping and praying that all goes well," Parker said.
Parker initially announced her support for the arena in September. She believes the project can help revitalize Market East, once a busy commercial corridor lined with empty storefronts.
"I'm proud and wholeheartedly supportive of a $1.3 billion private sector investment that would bring a revival to the first commercial corridor in the city of Philadelphia," Parker said. "We can reimagine a Market Street like we've never seen before, and support our very authentic and genuine and what I call the best Chinatown in the nation."
Parker has publicly deferred to city council as negotiations over the proposal continue and said she wasn't sure if council would move to vote on it Wednesday.
"I don't know if it'll be tomorrow," Parker said Tuesday. "I don't know if it'll be another time."
CBS News Philadelphia asked the mayor Tuesday if she was nervous the Sixers could leave the city. Representatives from the organization confirmed they are looking into Camden as an alternative site for the arena. Parker responded by recounting her time as chair of the Delaware River Port Authority.
"When I would go into that building in Camden, every time I looked out my window I saw the Sixers practice facility there. And every time I looked at it, I didn't like it," Parker said. "[The] 76ers are the Philadelphia 76ers for a reason. Our Sixers should be home and they should stay home."
