COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC HEARING - COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, May 11, 2005, 2:15 p.m. BILL 050166 - An Ordinance amending the Ordinance of April 22, 1975 (Bill No. 1796), establishing the Prison Industries Revolving Fund and providing for the administration thereof, by establishing a mechanism to authorize charges for goods and services produced by Prison Industries... PRESENT: COUNCILWOMAN MARIAN B. TASCO COUNCILWOMAN BLONDELL REYNOLDS BROWN COUNCILMAN W. WILSON GOODE, JR. COUNCILMAN JUAN F. RAMOS COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER COUNCILMAN BRIAN J. O'NEILL V A R A L L O Incorporated Litigation Support Services 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, PA 19103 215.561.2220 215.567.2670 2 5/11/05 - Bill 050166 - Public Health
The Committee on Public Health and Human Services is called to order. We have a quorum in the form of Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller and Councilman Wilson Goode, Jr. The Chair calls Leon King, Esquire, Prisons Commissioner, and his staff to come forward. And we ask Derek Green to read the title of the bill.
Ordinance No. 14 050166, an ordinance amending the ordinance of April 22, 1975, Bill No. 1796, establishing the Prison Industries Revolving Fund and providing for the administration thereof, by establishing a mechanism to authorize charges for goods and services produced by Prison Industries, by authorizing expenditures from the Fund for personnel costs, repair costs and other services required for the operation of Prison Industries, and by authorizing sales by Prison Industries to all City agencies and authorities and to non-profit agencies with 3 5/11/05 - Bill 050166 - Public Health whom the City has contracts, all under certain terms and conditions.
Would you identify yourself, please, and begin your testimony.
I'm Leon King, Prison Commissioner, and I'm sitting here with Mr. Freeman, who is the Director of our Prison Industries, Deputy Commissioner Tomaszewski, who has responsibility for this, and our Director of Administration Services, Mr. Rakowski, who I think is behind me.
Good afternoon, Councilwoman Tasco, other Council members present today. I am pleased to have the opportunity to testify on behalf of Bill 23 050166, Prison Industries Revolving Fund. I would like to thank City Council for considering the revision to City Council 4 5/11/05 - Bill 050166 - Public Health Ordinance No. 5, which established the Prison Industries Revolving Fund. This 30-year-old ordinance has become obsolete and does not permit the Industries Fund to operate in a cost-effective and competitive manner in today's environment. The requested revisions would allow the Correctional Industries Division to assume more of its operational costs by permitting the inclusion of Class 100 expenditures. These expenditures would be paid from PhilaCor's revenues rather than from the Prisons General Fund, thereby resulting in a savings to City taxpayers. PhilaCor, which is a trade name, which stands for Philadelphia Correctional Industries, has a mission to operate in a business-like manner while providing real-life work experience to inmates, focusing on the production of quality goods and services delivered in a timely manner and at minimal cost to the Philadelphia Prison System and to the Philadelphia taxpayers. The PhilaCor division is comprised 5 5/11/05 - Bill 050166 - Public Health of 13 industrial shops and programs structured to provide inmates incarcerated in our system with marketable skills, designed to reduce recidivism and also to assist them to seeking viable employment upon release from custody. The industrial shops include -- and I'm just going to read the list as opposed to describe each one.
The Barricade Shop; the Culinary Arts Program; the Dry Cleaning Plant; the Furniture Plant, which includes the Carpentry Shop, Finishing Shop and Upholstery Shop; the Graphics Plant, which includes a Print Plant, an Engraving Shop and a Garment Shop. We also have a General Products Plant, Laundry, Office Maintenance and a Transportation and Delivery section of PhilaCor. At a time when the Philadelphia Prison System is launching various efforts to improve the chances of successful prisoner reentry, revisions to the outdated ordinance 25 would allow the PPS to increase inmate 6 5/11/05 - Bill 050166 - Public Health participation in this industrial training program by expanding PhilaCor's customer base for prison-made goods by authorizing sales to all City and other governmental agencies and to tax exempt and non-profit agencies which are contracted with the City. This would permit these entities to purchase items for sale at a lower overall cost, ranging from 10 to 14 percent below market rates, with the dollar savings of upwards of --
10 to 40 you have in your -- you said 10 to or 10 to 14 40?
Ten to 40 percent below market rates, with dollar savings of upwards of several hundred thousand dollars per year. In summary, the proposed ordinance 20 changes would allow PhilaCor to operate in a more cost-effective and competitive manner, would reduce costs to taxpayers and would allow other governmental agencies, as well as tax exempt and non-profit agencies contracted with the City, to purchase quality-made 7 5/11/05 - Bill 050166 - Public Health PhilaCor products and services at reduced cost. It will allow the Correctional Industries Division to assume more of its operational costs by permitting the inclusion of Class 100 expenditures, which are currently charged to the Prisons General Fund. Additionally, the ordinance changes would allow for the expansion of the industrial training opportunities for inmates by as many as 100 slots to improve their chances of successful prisoner reentry. Presently, about 800 inmates participate each year in the 13 industrial training programs conducted by PhilaCor. These industrial training programs are designed to reduce recidivism by providing inmates with real-life work experience that will help them secure post-release employment. This expansion would require the hiring of several supervisors, who would be paid from the Industries Fund. Also, industries programs spend money in the local economy for staff materials and supplies. These industrial training 8 5/11/05 - Bill 050166 - Public Health programs help to increase facility safety and security. Busy inmates are not sitting idly by thinking up ways to disrupt facility operations or cause damage. Busy and productive inmates are less problematic for administrators, correctional staff, program and service staff and everyone associated with facility operations. An industry program can teach inmates good work habits and, in some instances, a skill that makes them more productive and employable when they are released and reenter society. Working in an industry program while confined can be the difference between becoming taxpayers or tax burdens on their communities. Most of the inmate workers in industry shops will some day be returning to society. Perhaps the greatest social and economic benefits from inmate labor force participation would likely come from reduced future crime and recidivism resulting from the improved post-release behavior of offenders. I hope that you and your fellow 9 5/11/05 - Bill 050166 - Public Health Council members will help the prisons to achieve these goals by enacting the ordinance 4 changes requested. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. Are there any questions from members of the Committee? The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
Good afternoon, Commissioner and your team. You mention on of your testimony that presently there are about 800 inmates participating each year. What's the total prison population?
And participation in these training programs is encouraged, required? How is one put into the 10 5/11/05 - Bill 050166 - Public Health pipeline for these options?
I believe it's not required. There are some inmates who are required to work as part of their sentence, but I believe most of it is inmates who interact with their social workers and they get recommended to work in the program.
Upon entry into prison, are they given some level of orientation as to the kinds of options available to them in terms of skill-training so that their time there is, for what it can be, productive?
I'd just like to recognize that Councilman O'Neill and Councilman Ramos have joined us. Councilman O'Neill, we recognize you.
Commissioner, I'd just like to congratulate you for taking this bold step after 30 years. It sounds terrific and something that probably 11 5/11/05 - Bill 050166 - Public Health should have been done a while ago. I have a question unrelated. It's prisoner labor, but it's unrelated to this issue. I believe that it's unrelated. I, more recently than ever, have been getting a lot of complaints from people in my district that government ground, whether it be the side of highways, but government-owned ground just has trash all over it, and I think it's overwhelming to the City particularly, and I don't want to speak for the state or quasi federal agencies like the railroad or something, but it's very visible and it kind of just is blight. And I know in the City we do not use -- the City and County of Philadelphia we do not use prisoners for this purposes. I'm told that Bucks does. My district borders Bucks and Montgomery. So you can go down a street and see the trash removed one day in fact very close to the prison just on Mill Road, just at the edge of the City, and when you get to the City side, it's there. I don't know if there's ever been 12 5/11/05 - Bill 050166 - Public Health any discussions on this or if there's anything currently being discussed. I'm sure there's issues with different vested groups, but I would think in this day and age, the counties have the same tension.
At the prison campus, we do use inmates to keep our border on State Road and Torresdale Avenue clean. We did have an issue, I think, a year and a half ago when we were clean. We try to keep Holmesburg from Holmesburg all the way to Rhawn Street, we try to keep that clean, and we did get a little bit of input, I guess, from the unions, because they felt we shouldn't be doing that sort of work. And the way we handled that was, I said, Submit to me a schedule when you'll be doing the work and that's when I'll pull the inmates. I've never gotten the schedule, so the inmates continue to do the work. We have been recently trying to help 13 5/11/05 - Bill 050166 - Public Health out in the community with that sort of thing with clean-up. I think we just had a really successful event this weekend using the weekender inmates to help clean in the Tacony -- I think with the Tacony Civic Association. So we're trying to do more of that. And if there are people in your district or anybody's district, you have a request, you should send it and we'll see what we can do.
I appreciate that, because your thinking is the same as mine with the unions. They're not doing it, and they haven't been doing it for years. This is not work that anybody is doing. So to the extent it can be done, it really does make the neighborhood better and it keeps some people active that otherwise would not be.
Because as the weekender guys were sort of frustrated because I would go there on the weekend and they're just sitting there doing nothing. But I also think that we had some 14 5/11/05 - Bill 050166 - Public Health discussion with Labor Relations or somebody and they told us that as long as it's a community group requesting our assistance, that's okay and the unions really didn't have --
Hi. Thank you, Madam Chair. I too wanted to commend you and congratulate you on this program and coming here today to make changes. Once it opens up to non-profits, do you have a catalogue? I mean, how do people know what you sell?
We do have a catalogue. I'm let Mr. Freeman explain that in a little bit more detail.
We do publish a catalogue -- my name is Leonard Freeman, the Correctional Industries Director, the 15 5/11/05 - Bill 050166 - Public Health Philadelphia Prison System. Excuse me. We do publish a catalogue of all our services and products. We update it two, three times a year. And I believe we just sent one to each Council person. And if we are permitted to sell to non-profits, we will contact them.
You said you're going to send a catalogue to each Council member?
I received it long before I got this ordinance, and I was reading it. I was quite impressed with the 16 5/11/05 - Bill 050166 - Public Health quality of furniture that you produce. Also, that you have the culinary arts kitchen. I think --
We do, and I would hope -- I don't know. I hope -- would that be covered in this? Because we cater a lot of events around the different City departments.
And it's part of the training for the inmates, and they prepare and present the food.
Thank you very much for your testimony. Is there anyone else here to testify 17 5/11/05 - Bill 050166 - Public Health on this bill? (No response.)
There being none, we will adjourn the public hearing and go into the public meeting. (Committee on Public Health and Human Services public hearing adjourned at 2:28 p.m.) - - - 18 5/11/05 - Bill 050166 - Public Health CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter on May 11, 2005, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. ______________________________ MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.) 19 5/11/05 - Bill 050166 - Public Health COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC MEETING - COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, April 27, 2005, 2:28 p.m. BILL 050166 - An Ordinance amending the Ordinance of April 22, 1975 (Bill No. 1796), establishing the Prison Industries Revolving Fund and providing for the administration thereof, by establishing a mechanism to authorize charges for goods and services produced by Prison Industries... PRESENT: COUNCILWOMAN MARIAN B. TASCO COUNCILWOMAN BLONDELL REYNOLDS BROWN COUNCILMAN W. WILSON GOODE, JR. COUNCILMAN JUAN F. RAMOS COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER COUNCILMAN BRIAN J. O'NEILL V A R A L L O Incorporated Litigation Support Services 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, PA 19103 215.561.2220 215.567.2670 20 5/11/05 - Bill 050166 - Public Health
The Chair now calls on Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller to report -- Do you want a suspension of the rules?
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill No. 050166 be reported out of this Committee with a favorable recommendation, and further request that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next session.
It has been moved and seconded that Bill 050166 be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation, with a request for the suspension of the rules so that this bill 23 would have its first reading at the next session of Council. All in favor will say aye. 21 5/11/05 - Bill 050166 - Public Health COUNCIL MEMBERS: Aye.
There being none, the bill is reported out of Committee. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. (Committee on Public Health and Human Services Public Meeting adjourned at 2:30 p.m.) - - - 22 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter on May 11, 2005, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. ______________________________ MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)