Why is Philadelphia’s City Council voting on a no-fly zone in Ukraine?

As a resident of Philadelphia, many of the things the local government does baffles me. Recently, legislation regarding mask mandates, showing vaccination cards at restaurants, and other pandemic issues made little sense. There were also previous laws such as banning all plastic bags from the city’s stores and taxing sugar and artificially sweetened beverages that were just odd. But perhaps the oddest thing Philadelphia’s City Council has done is hold a vote regarding a no-fly zone in Ukraine. And it was introduced by the city’s only Republican at-large councilman, David Oh.

“RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That it hereby urges the White House and United States Congress to work with NATO partners in establishing a limited no-fly-zone over humanitarian corridors in Ukraine,” the resolution reads.

It is nothing more than a symbolic resolution because Philadelphia’s City Council has absolutely no way to enforce a no-fly zone in Ukraine. The entire resolution is a waste of time and, in some ways, insulting to Philadelphians who have routinely been let down by their city government.

Philadelphia is coming off a year in which it set a record for homicides. Carjackings are soaring to never-before-seen levels in the city. Philadelphia is the poorest of the country’s biggest cities. The city is still plagued with record drug overdoses and the much-maligned opioid epidemic.

There is also the city’s failing public school system, which has been an issue for decades. And there are the city’s infrastructure issues and the economic fallout from the COVID pandemic that hurt many of the city’s businesses.

The city is rife with issues that the city has failed to address. There are areas of the city that look comparable to bombed sections of Kyiv, yet nothing is ever done about it. One can empathize with the plight of Ukrainians, but the city has its own citizens that badly need help. Quite frankly, the mere existence of such a resolution is an embarrassment.

Ultimately, the resolution failed with a slight majority of Philadelphia’s City Council voting against it on Thursday. Hopefully, now, Philadelphia’s City Council will now spend its time on any one of the numerous issues plaguing the city.