Earlier Thursday, City Council’s Committee of the Whole, which includes all 17 members, voted 12-4, with one member absent, to move enabling legislation out of committee.
Multiple protests and dragging negotiations over a community benefits agreement delayed the vote twice Wednesday, with lawmakers finally agreeing to a $60 million CBA — less than the $100 million lawmakers asked the Sixers for a day prior. Asian Pacific Islanders Political Alliance organizer Jenny Zhang called the vote “shameful” and “humiliating.”
“Clearly, council doesn’t know what they’re doing,” Zhang said. “Philadelphians are pissed off, we’re mad and you never want to piss off a Philadelphian. We will make our voices heard, and we will get our way.”
The full body is expected to take a second and final vote on the bills Thursday, Dec. 19, the last regular meeting before lawmakers break for winter recess. The controversial development is backed by Mayor Cherelle Parker, meaning she is likely to sign any related bills that reach her desk.
“City Council might have let themselves get steamrolled, the community will not,” Zhang said. “We’re going to make sure that this arena does not go through.”
At a price tag of $1.3 billion, the arena is on track to open for the 2031-2032 season, when the Sixers lease ends at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia.
