COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON LAW AND GOVERNMENT - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Tuesday, June 5, 2007 3:05 p.m. - - - PRESENT: COUNCILMAN WILLIAM GREENLEE, CHAIR COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY COUNCILWOMAN CAROL ANN CAMPBELL COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO COUNCILMAN JACK KELLY BILLS 070271, 070340, 070395 RESOLUTIONS 070360 and 070411 - - - V A R A L L O Incorporated Litigation Support Services Eleven Penn Center 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 215.561.2220 215.567.2670 2
Good afternoon, everyone. This is the Committee on Law and Government. And I'm sure we'll have a big cheer, it's the last committee hearing of the day, which we're all very happy for. Just for the record, we have a quorum, with myself; Councilman Kenney, the Vice-Chair of the Committee; Councilman Rizzo; and Councilwoman Campbell. If I could ask Mr. Boyle, the Clerk of the Committee, to read both ordinances, 070340, 070395, and Resolutions 070360 and 070411.
Ordinance 070395, an ordinance providing for the submission to the qualified electors of the City of Philadelphia of an amendment to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter creating the Office of the Handicapped and Disabled Advocate, as approved by Resolution of the City Council; fixing the date of a special election for such 3 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. purpose; prescribing the form of ballot questions to be voted on; and authorizing the appropriate officers to publish notice and to make arrangements for the special election. Resolution 070411, resolution 8 proposing an amendment to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter to create the Office of the Handicapped and Disabled Advocate, and providing for the submission of the amendment to the electors of Philadelphia. Ordinance 070340, an ordinance 15 providing for the submission to the qualified electors of the City of Philadelphia of an amendment to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter creating the Office of the Public School Family and Child Advocate, as approved by Resolution of the City Council; fixing the date of a special election for such purpose; prescribing the form of ballot questions to be voted on; and authorizing the appropriate officers to publish 4 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. notice and to make arrangements for the special election. Resolution 070360, resolution 5 proposing an amendment to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter to create the Office of the Public School Family and Child Advocate, and providing for the submission of the amendment to the electors of Philadelphia.
Thank you very much. Just for the record, in the advertisement there was also another bill 15 that was advertised, Bill 070271, but it is my understanding Councilwoman Campbell, the sponsor of the bill, is withdrawing it. Is that correct?
Thank you. So that bill will be listed as withdrawn. Ms. Wilkerson, I think, is here to speak on both bills and resolutions, 5 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. so if she could speak first. Good afternoon again.
Good afternoon. I'm Joyce Wilkerson, Chief of Staff to the Mayor. I'm here today to offer testimony regarding Bill No. 070340 and Resolution 070360, which, if approved by the voters, would amend the Home Rule Charter to create an Office of Public School Family and Child Advocate, and Bill No. 070395 and Resolution No. 13 070411, which, if approved by the voters, would amend the Home Rule Charter to create an Office of the Handicapped and Disabled Advocate. The Administration supports both proposed amendments to the Charter. First, I want to offer just a brief general comment. The City's Home Rule Charter was enacted in 1951. That was a time when ENIAC occupied a whole room at Drexel University and times were really different. For the first 39 years, there was not one amendment to the 6 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. Charter. Over the course of the next ten years, the Charter was amended once. But from 2002 to 2007, there have been 5 changes to the Home Rule Charter. The 6 proposed reforms before you today as well 7 as other dramatically changed 8 circumstances over the last half century 9 suggest perhaps the Charter does indeed 10 need to be revisited in a comprehensive 11 way. 12 That said, the Administration 13 supports both the proposed Charter 14 amendments. They create offices within 15 government to advocate for the concerns 16 of individuals in our City with special 17 needs that might not otherwise be 18 addressed. 19 I urge you to consider two 20 revisions. First, I urge that the terms of the appointed advocate be coterminous with that of the Mayor, the appointing authority. Second, the advocate in both instances ought to serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority, as do 7 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. virtually all other appointed officials. Both positions are significantly different from the Ethics Commission position where independence is essential to the integrity of the ethics oversight function. That is not the case with either advocacy positions being proposed by these Charter reforms.
Thank you, Ms. Wilkerson. If I could note for the record Councilman Kelly, also a member of the Committee, is here. And, Ms. Wilkerson, my understanding is that these are in conjunction with the wishes of the sponsor, Councilwoman Campbell. You're agreeing with that? I'm getting an affirmative head shake there. Thank you.
Just one other comment. I think that in particular with the position for the disabilities, for individuals with disabilities, it's 8 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. something that currently exists as a result of an Executive Order. I think that it is a position that is more appropriately reflected in the Charter with resources that are determined as a result of the Charter. And I think it's also appropriate that it be an appointee of a Mayor for his term, because part of what you want to do is get a close enough relationship with the Administration so that you can have somebody who has the flexibility to move around in the departments and work in a collegial fashion to get the kind of changes you need, but because it's a Charter position, you also have somebody that has sufficient independence in order to bring the baseball bat in the room when that's needed. And it's needed at times. So I think these are two --
-- good Charter amendments that are probably long 9 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. overdue.
Ms. Wilkerson, I just want to ask, how are these advocates going to be funded? Are they going to be funded by the City?
They'll be funded by the City. Both Charter amendments define at least the beginning salary for both advocates at $100,000 a year. They also provide that the advocate has the authority to appoint appropriate staff. So it will become a conversation with the Budget Director once you get past the initial salary.
So it's in addition to the advocate themselves, it will be staff positions also?
And it would be funded fully by the City Administration? 10 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC.
Thank you. Any other questions for Ms. Wilkerson? (No response.)
Seeing none, thank you very much, Ms. Wilkerson. First we're going to deal with the bill and resolution dealing with the Handicapped and Disabled Advocate, but before we go into our list of witnesses, I believe Councilwoman Campbell, the sponsor of all these bills and resolutions, would like to make a comment. Councilwoman Campbell.
Yeah. I would like to say that it is indeed a privilege to be able to bring this legislation to this point. 11 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. I have not always been disabled, but I became disabled about a year and a half ago, and although I've always been sensitive to other people's sensitivities and their needs, I never was as sensitive as I am now. And I see myself -- I am disabled as a result of medication that I had to take to save my life from pneumonia. And I'm resourceful and I have some resourceful relationships, and it began to worry me about people who don't have resources. And I know that we have a Commission in place that meets six times a year, but there are thousands and thousands of disabled people in this City that need help, and we need a regular office totally committed to helping these people for their needs, and that's why I have proposed this legislation. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilwoman. On my list to testify, let me 12 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. call up a few people at the same time to try to keep the hearing moving, and if I could just, as I always do, just respectfully urge, particularly if you have written testimony, if you submit that testimony, it will be made part of the record, and if you could summarize your written testimony in the interest of, again, keeping the hearing moving, since we're already about an hour and a half behind where we were supposed to be. My list calls first for Mr. Bruce McElrath, Rocco Iacullo -- I'm sorry if I'm messing up your name -- and Thomas Earle or representatives of the Disabilities Rights Network. Good afternoon, sir.
If you could identify yourself for the record, please, and proceed with your testimony.
Sure. My name is Rocco Iacullo. I'm a staff attorney at the Philadelphia office of the Disability 13 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. Rights Network of Pennsylvania. We're actually formerly the Disabilities Law Project. We have since merged with Pennsylvania Protection and Advocacy, so we are the designated P&A for Pennsylvania. DRN is a non-profit statewide public interest law firm that provides legal assistance and other services to individuals with disabilities, their organizations, their families and their advocates. Our main purpose is to advocate for the civil rights of persons with disabilities. We have worked to ensure that people with disabilities in the City and across the state have equal and unhindered access to employment, transportation, public accommodations and government services. I appreciate the opportunity to comment on Bill No. 070411, which proposes the creation of the Office of Handicapped and Disabled Advocate. I believe that it is extremely important 14 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. for people with disabilities to have a strong voice in City government, and I believe establishing an executive level department or office focusing on disability matters can fulfill that goal if it has the right focus. And that's why I'm here today, just to offer actually two brief comments with regard to the bill. The first comment is dealing with the sensitivities that Ms. Campbell spoke of, and I understand people who are not in this business of advocating for the civil rights of people with disabilities on a daily basis sometimes are not aware of these sensitivities. The one suggestion I had was possibly to revise the name of the office. The term "handicapped" has become sort of a no-no within the disability organization just because of the historical negative connotations that means that there's something wrong with those people. So that would be a suggested revision to 15 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. changing the title of this office either maybe to the Advocate for People with Disabilities or some other similar type of name. So that's the first suggestion.
Sir, if I could interrupt you just a second on that point, and I think the other Committee members will bear me out on this, the problem with that is, that that is in the title of the ordinance and resolution. We cannot amend that. It would mean that we would have to put a whole new bill and resolution in, and I think we're going to run into time issues there. So I just throw that out there. I guess we could amend it out after it's passed.
For the title? I don't think you can amend the title. All of us non-lawyers are here arguing this, but I think we're, through 16 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. the wealth of experience that we have here, I think I'm accurate. Councilwoman Campbell.
Mr. Chairman, according to the City Solicitor, I have spoken about that, and we cannot change the title. If we do, we will not be able to get it to the ballot. We don't have the time.
See, we have a time issue in getting it on the ballot, sir.
Is there some other mechanism even after this is created then to alter that?
Sure. You can amend it once it's through, once it's voted on, once it's out.
Sure. And that's all. I just wanted to throw it out there that that should be a consideration at some point. But that should be a consideration whenever it's possible.
I 17 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. understand your concern.
Sure. The only other suggestion in reviewing the bill 5 that I had -- and, again, with the issue that you raised, I'm not sure what the possibility of amendments are at this point in time, but with regard to clarifying the role and the duties of this office, the duties that are mentioned in the bill seem to be very general, and we support those duties. However, I wanted to discuss whether it was possible to somehow either incorporate the people who are working through the Mayor's Commission and with people with disabilities dealing with Title II ADA compliance issues into this office, because we feel that that's a very important function that needs to be addressed so that we can ensure that all construction or renovation projects in the City of Philadelphia are in compliance with the ADA and that the City's programs, services and activities 18 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. are in compliance with the ADA. I understand that there are individuals who are here present today who currently are handling those types of duties, but if they could maybe be incorporated into this office and be given increased staff and maybe increased power to be able to have a role in that process, because we are finding that there are some private renovation projects that have to get City permits. We've been encountering that they are having access problems. And if we think if that could be incorporated into this office, that it might be able to avoid some of those accessibility problems.
Okay. I appreciate that. I'm not sure how the sponsor feels and I don't know how specific we can really get in the duties, but that is not in the title, so I guess that could be a consideration. I mean, that's up to the sponsor of the bill. And it's also, as Councilman Kelly points 19 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. out, the Mayor is the appointing authority in this, so I don't know if we can dictate exactly who is on this. We set up the mechanism for it.
Sure. Or at least just to possibly incorporate that function into the office. I mean, not necessarily hiring a specific person. But that's it. Thank you.
Thank you, sir. Also on my list I have the following people. I don't know who are here. Karen Detamore. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: She will not be here.
Okay. A representative of the Legal Clinic for the Disabled? (No response.)
And then I have representatives from the Mayor's Commission on People with Disabilities. Are any of them here? Yes. Okay. 20 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. Please come forward.
My name is Phil Migliarese. I'm the Chairman of the Employment Committee, and I respectfully withdraw my testimony.
It's a complete duplication of all the rest of the testimony that you're going to hear, so for the sake of saving time, I withdraw.
We really appreciate that, sir. Thank you very much. Anybody else wish to testify? Good afternoon, sir.
Could you identify yourself for the record and proceed. Thank you.
Yes. I'm Roger Margulies, Assistant Deputy Mayor for the Mayor's Commission on People with 21 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. Disabilities. I respectfully thank the City Councilmembers here today for the opportunity to testify this afternoon and state that I support Bill No. 070395 and Resolution No. 070411, which proposes to amend the City Charter to provide for the Office of Handicapped and Disabled Advocate. I believe that the Mayor's Commission on People with Disabilities represents and advocates for thousands of citizens with disabilities in Philadelphia. However, a formal office with a staff and a budget that has a budget line would even make our successes even better. And I just want to very briefly mention some of the initiatives that the Mayor's Commission on People with Disabilities currently do, because this new office that you are putting -- that you are organizing, we are doing many of those responsibilities right now. And 22 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. some of our major initiatives are the ADA Title II oversight, which ensures that City buildings and private buildings where City services are provided and City programs and services are accessible, as required by Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. One of our ongoing missions is to change attitudes and promote disability pride. We want to have positive visibility for people with disabilities. The Mayor's Commission on People with Disabilities and City department heads right now, the Mayor's Commission is part of the Division of Social Services and I sit with the Commissioners of the major cities departments to ensure that disability matters are included, and with this new office, that would even be promoted to a higher level. And I think that this office would also continue to increase employment opportunities for people with 23 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. disabilities and have the attitude of mainstreaming and inclusion, bringing all segments of the disability community together to advocate for mainstreaming and inclusion of citizens with disabilities in all aspects of life. Currently, the Mayor's Commission on People with Disabilities is operating on a very minimal expenditure of $25,000 of discretionary funds in the Managing Director's Office. So a real office with a substantial budget will really help us to even continue and improve what we can accomplish. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Margulies. If I could just state for the record, as you know, in my previous life with Councilman Cohen, you and I talked many times on issues of the disabled, and I always appreciate your help and your insight. Thank you.
Any 24 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. questions from members of the Committee? (No response.)
Seeing none, thank you, sir. Are there any other individuals that wish to speak on the bill and resolution dealing with the Office of Disabled Advocate? (No response.)
Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
My name is Suzan Erb. I'm Chair of the Mayor's Commission on People with Disabilities, and it gives me great pleasure to be able to testify on behalf of this legislation. I heartily concur with 25 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. everything that Roger has said previously, and I would just like to add one or two points, and, namely, that one thing that has always given me great pleasure that the Commission has provided is the scholarships that we provide for students with disabilities who have completed secondary education and are going on to academic or vocational training. And just think what more we could do for students with disabilities if we had a budget and if we had more power, more oomph to be able to do -- maybe even provide more things for students, more things for all sorts of people in the City of Philadelphia. And because -- I think an important thing to remember too is that with this increasing problems of budgets, that we're all confronted with the shrinking dollar, the smaller pieces of the pie, that it's so important for people with disabilities to have someone advocating on our behalf, and especially we have to be able to 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. spend our resources widely. So to have someone who can give advice regarding the needs of people with disabilities is always an important thing. So, again, I heartily concur with everything that Roger has said and I hope that this will have fair consideration. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Erb. Any questions or comments? (No response.)
Thank you very much, ma'am. Is there anyone else who wishes to testify on this bill or resolution? MS. McCANDLESS: Theresa said she wanted to.
Okay. Just stay there, ma'am. We'll try to get a mike over there. We'll bring a mike over to you, ma'am. If you could just state your 27 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. name and then say whatever you'd like. MS. GATES (THROUGH INTERPRETER): Her name is Theresa Gates. I'm happy that you're going to have this office. She asked of you that this office has some power behind it. Please don't let this be a token person. We need somebody with a disability with a background in advocacy. Thank you.
Thank you, ma'am. Thank you for your testimony. We have one more person to testify. Please again state your name and -- MS. McCANDLESS: My name is Michelle McCandless. I have two things. Thomas Earle is not here today, so I'm going to get him to write out his. I like this bill, but two things. You're only going to put one person in power. That thing I really 28 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. don't like, but if you do, make sure he has a coalition of people underneath him. What I mean by "coalition," you do have a Mayor's Commission, but as you can see around this room, we have a group of people with disabilities. The Mayor's Commission -- a bunch of people that are in law. Three of us are from the Liberty Resources, which is a center for independent living. The Councilperson said that she didn't know about people. We also have people from Disabled in Action that know also rights, and you also have a disability community. Many of them could not be here today. If you want to know what's out there and what people need, those are the people you need to speak to. Many of them couldn't be here today, but if you want to know what the true people need, that's who you need to talk to. If you want them to be a part of this, those are the people. Yes, you need a coalition there, not just some token people that 29 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. don't know. I know a lot of people sitting around this table know me and know some of these people sitting back here. If we don't like what's going on, we'll be right around this table again. So if you want something done and you want it done properly, bring us around this table, or I'll be right back up here starting trouble.
Thank you. Anyone else that wishes to testify on this bill and resolution? (No response.)
Seeing none, we will move to the next bill and resolution, which had already been read, dealing with the Office of the Public School Family and Child Advocate. I have two names listed here to testify. Leon Williams, Esquire? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Leon called. He is not able to attend. And 30 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. David Krain is not here.
But we have written testimony from him. Is there anyone else that wishes to testify on this bill? (No response.)
Everybody has Mr. Krain's testimony. I think it's in our little packet there. Ms. Campbell, would like to say anything on this?
Yeah. This bill is because we've had many, many situations of grandparents raising grandchildren and it's been years since they were educated and they don't understand the intricacies involved in the educational process now, and sometimes -- in fact, many times -- wise choices were not made. A lot of grandparents were not cognizant of the fact that the No Child Shall Be Left Behind Act entitled the child if they were not doing well to tutorial service; 31 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. that also if the child had to be moved from one school to another, that it's incumbent upon the School District to pay for the transportation. Now, to a grandparent that's on a fixed income or low income, transportation can really make the difference when you have to put it out of your pocket. Because of this, a lot of children were not given the best education that they possibly could because of the ignorance that existed, and I felt that children have to have someone as an advocate for them. Their grandparents were doing the best that they could do with the advice, with the limited knowledge that they had, but there has to be someone in place that fights for the rights of these children and for their grandparents that are not cognizant of the intricacies involved, and that's why we've gotten to this point with this. This is a very much-needed legislation, because we're talking about thousands and thousands of 32 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. children. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Campbell. Any question or comment? (No response.)
Thank you very much. Once again, is there anyone else to testify on this particular bill 12 and/or resolution? (No response.)
Seeing none, that will conclude the public hearing of the Committee on Law and Government. We will now going into our public meeting, and the Chair recognizes Councilman Kelly.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just have a question for Councilwoman Campbell. As the sponsor of this bill, are you requesting a suspension of the rules? 33 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC.
Thank you. In our public meeting, we'll take them in the order as they were heard. First of all, again, for the record, Bill No. 070271 is being withdrawn at the request of the sponsor. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kelly regarding the amendment for Bill 14 No. 070395.
Mr. Chairman, I move that the amendment to Bill No. 070395 be approved.
It's been moved and seconded that Bill No. 070395 be amended. All in favor say aye. (Aye.) 34 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC.
The amendment passes. The Chair again recognizes Councilman Kelly regarding Bill 070395 as amended.
Mr. Chairman, I move that Bill No. 070395 as amended be reported out of this Committee with a favorable recommendation and also move for a suspension of the rules in order that this bill may be heard at the next session of Council.
The motion passes and Bill 070395 will be 35 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. reported favorably by this Committee and there will be a suspension of rules to allow for first reading at the next session of Council. The Chair again recognizes Councilman Kelly regarding an amendment for Resolution 070411.
Mr. Chairman, I move that the amendment for Bill No. 070411 be approved. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and seconded for an amendment to Resolution 070411. All in favor please say aye. (Aye.)
And the amendment passes. Again, the Chair recognizes Councilman Kelly regarding Resolution 24 070411 as amended.
36 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. Mr. Chairman, I move that Resolution No. 3 070411 as amended be approved and be reported out of this Committee with a favorable recommendation. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and seconded Resolution 070411 be reported out favorably by this Committee. All in favor please say aye. (Aye.)
None. The motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo regarding Bill No. 070340.
Let's move Bill No. 070340 out of this Committee with a favorable recommendation and that the rules of Council be suspended so Bill 22 No. 070340 can have its first reading at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
All in 37 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. favor please say aye. (Aye.)
The motion carries and Bill 070340 will be reported out of this Committee with a favorable recommendation and that the rules of Council be suspended to allow for first reading at the next session of Council. The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo regarding Resolution 070360.
Resolution 16 No. 070360 be moved out of this Committee with a favorable recommendation.
It's been moved and seconded that Resolution 070360 be reported out of this Committee with a favorable recommendation. All in favor please say aye. 38 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. (Aye.)
The motion carries. That concludes the business of the Committee on Law and Government. Thank you, members of the Committee. Just one second. Ms. Eubanks, you have a question?
Yes. I think there were amendments with Resolution 15 070360.
I'm sorry. I missed those. I take that back. The business is not completed yet. I'm sorry. Let's try this again. 39 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. Is it the resolution and ordinance?
There were two resolutions, this bill and the advocate for the school. Both of them have the same amendment.
Is the bill on the Public School Advocate also amended?
The bill 14 is not. That's what threw me off. Okay. The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo regarding an amendment to Resolution 070360.
It's been moved and seconded that Resolution 070360 be amended. All in favor please say aye. (Aye.) 40 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC.
Okay. The motion carries and Resolution 070360 is amended. Again, the Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo regarding Resolution 9 070360 as amended.
That we move that out of Committee with a favorable recommendation as amended. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and seconded that Resolution No. 16 070360 as amended be reported out of this Committee with a favorable recommendation. All in favor please say aye. (Aye.)
The motion carries, and we have now completed our business of the Committee on Law and 41 6/5/07 - LAW & GOV'T - BILL 070340, ETC. Government. Once again, thank you to everybody. Mostly thank the stenographer, who put up with eight hours of this stuff. Thank you very much. (Committee on Law and Government adjourned at 3:45 p.m.) - - - 42 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 5, 2007, 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.)