COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, April 9, 2025 10:25 a.m. PRESENT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT KENYATTA JOHNSON COUNCILWOMAN NINA AHMAD COUNCILWOMAN CINDY BASS COUNCILWOMAN KENDRA BROOKS COUNCILMAN MICHAEL DRISCOLL COUNCILWOMAN JAMIE GAUTHIER COUNCILWOMAN KATHERINE GILMORE RICHARDSON COUNCILMAN JIM HARRITY COUNCILMAN CURTIS JONES, JR. COUNCILWOMAN RUE LANDAU COUNCILWOMAN QUETCY M. LOZADA COUNCILMAN NICOLAS O'ROURKE COUNCILMAN ANTHONY PHILLIPS COUNCILMAN ISAIAH THOMAS COUNCILMAN JEFFREY YOUNG, JR. BILLS: 250195, 250196, 250197, 250198, 250199, 250200, 250201, 250202, 250210, 250211, 250212 RESOLUTION: 250214 - - -
Good morning, everyone. This is the public hearing and public meeting of the Committee of the Whole regarding Bills Nos. 250195, 250196, 250197, 250198, 250199, 250200, 250201, 250202, 250210, 250211, 250212 and Resolution No. 250214. Good morning, everyone. (Good morning.)
We will be starting shortly. The honorable Mr. Boyle, just wanted to start off by saying, good morning to you, sir. Good to see you over there. (Brief recess.)
I have to rearrange my Leadership team. Didn't you ask to run? Ms. Loughead, will you please take the roll to take attendance.
Present. Thank you, Ms. Loughead. A quorum of the Committee is present and this hearing is now called to order. Ms. Loughead, will you please read the titles of the resolutions.
Bill No. 23 250195, an ordinance amending Chapter 19-1500 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Wage and Net Profits Tax," by revising certain tax rates, under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 250196, an ordinance adopting the Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2026. Bill No. 250197, an ordinance to adopt a Fiscal 2026 Capital Budget. Bill No. 250198, an ordinance to adopt a Capital Program for the six Fiscal Years 2026-2031 inclusive. Bill No. 250199, an ordinance amending Chapter 19-2600 of The Philadelphia Tax Code, entitled "Business Income and Receipts Taxes," to revise certain tax rates and end certain exclusions from the tax on receipts, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 250200, an ordinance amending Chapter 12-100 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Traffic Code" to revise the fee for the use of parking meters, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 250201, an ordinance amending Chapter 19-1800 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "School Tax Authorization," to provide for an increase in the tax of the Board of Education of the School District of Philadelphia is authorized to impose on real estate; and amending Chapter 15 19-1300, entitled "Real Estate Taxes," to establish an equivalent reduction the tax rate for the City real estate tax, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 250202, an ordinance amending Chapter 19-1806 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Authorization of Realty Use and Occupancy Tax," to eliminate certain exemptions, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 250210, an ordinance amending Section 10-1001 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Fees of the Commissioner of Records," to increase the portion of fees for the recording of deeds and mortgages in related documents to be used for Housing Trust Fund purposes, under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 250211, an ordinance amending Chapter 19-1400 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Realty Transfer Tax" revising the rate of the tax, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 250212, an ordinance to amend Chapter 19-4400 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Development Impact Tax" to end imposition of the tax, under certain terms and conditions. Resolution No. 250214, resolution providing for the approval by the Council of the City of Philadelphia of a Revised Five Year Financial Plan for the City of Philadelphia covering Fiscal Years 2026-2030, and incorporating revisions with respect to Fiscal Year 2025, which is to be submitted by the Mayor to the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority pursuant to an Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement by and between the City and the Authority.
Today we will hold the public hearing of the Committee of the Whole to consider bills read by the Clerk that constitute proposed operating capital spending measures for Fiscal Year 2026, a Capital Program and a Forward-looking Capital Plan for Fiscal Year 2026 through Fiscal Year 2031. We have scheduled testimony from the Managing Director's Office. This afternoon we have scheduled testimony from the Philadelphia Department of Prisons. Ms. Loughead, will you please call the first witness to testify from the Administration.
Adam Thiel, Managing Director. (Witnesses approached Witness table.)
Good morning, Adam. Just state your name for the record and when you feel ready, begin your testimony.
Thank you, Council President. I'm Adam Thiel, the Managing Director for the City of Philadelphia. And good morning President Johnson and members of City Council. Joining me today are members of our Managing Director's Office executive team. You can see them here. We have Tara Mohr, our First Deputy Managing Director; Aparna Palantino, who's our Deputy Managing Director for the Capital Program Office; Dominick Mireles, who's our newly-appointed Deputy Managing Director for Community Safety; Aubrey Powers, our Deputy Managing Director for Community Services; Dave Wilson, Deputy Managing Director for General Services; Crystal Yates-Gale, our Deputy Managing Director for Health and Human Services; Mike Carroll, our Deputy Managing Director for the Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems; and Stephen St. Vincent, Deputy Managing Director for Strategic Initiatives along with Brian Clinton, our Chief of Staff and all of our agency heads are here or will be here as well as other relevant subject matter experts. I'm pleased to provide testimony on the Managing Director's Office's Fiscal Year 2026 operating budget. The Managing Director's Office or MDO works in coordination with individual operating departments to implement the Mayor's vision to make Philadelphia the safest, cleanest and greenest big city in the nation with access to economic opportunity for all and to deliver efficient, effective and responsive public services to every neighborhood in Philadelphia that residents can see, touch and feel. To that end, Council President, this just in. I'm pleased to announce that Mayor Parker will be making an announcement later today regarding the continuation of the SEPTA Key Advantage Program for City employees. About 13,000 City employees are presently enrolled in the Key Advantage Program, enabling them to commute to and from work free of charge. Additionally, Mayor Parker will be announcing the City is in discussions with SEPTA to extend the SEPTA Zero Fare pilot through Fiscal Year 2026, so you'll be seeing that announcement soon. Mayor Parker didn't want to sit on that good news, Council President. So with that, I'll be happy to answer your questions and Councilmembers' questions for FY26.
Coming correct today. Set the tone. So we obviously got to give credit where credit is due. So I want to acknowledge our Mayor who's a former member of this body. I want to take a moment to acknowledge Minority Whip Councilmember Nicolas O'Rourke who rose this issue to the next level through a sense of advocacy. And so, I just want to acknowledge you for your hard work and speaking truth to power, and also our Mayor for her compassion in addressing this as it relates to our fiscal budget. And so, thank you for that good news and let's get started. I want to jump right into it, Adam. Your budget request includes a substantial amount of funding for both highway and commercial beautification efforts. And so, just give me an idea of how you're going to determine what roadways and commercial corridors will receive the funding, and also how you're coordinating with the Office of Clean and Green, Streets Department as well as I know for the cleaning and greening and beautification of highways, there's been roughly $800,000 put in the budget of Mural Arts that has to be used for the beautification of highways. And so, those are three separate agencies that are already receiving funding for the beautification of highways. And I'm thinking hearing yesterday there was some talk also about work along commercial corridors. And so, it seems there's an overlap. So just give me some clarity.
Council President, I'll start by saying, as you know one of the hallmarks of this Administration and one of Mayor Parker's mantras is intergovernmental and interagency coordination and collaboration. I think we've demonstrated that over the past year with many of the so-called impossible projects that we've accomplished. And as we get ready for 2026, all of our roadways and highways need attention. This is something we know you hear all the time. We hear it all the time and it is a really challenging space to do that level of coordination. Nobody does it better than our Deputy Managing Director from the Office of Transportation Infrastructure Systems Mike Carroll. So I'm going to ask Mike to come up and address some of the specifics of how we're getting that done, Council President. (Witness approached Witness table.)
Good morning. Mike Carroll, Deputy Managing Director for the Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems here in the City. So as the Managing Director said, we're leveraging all the partnerships we can in order to get this work done. There's pieces of this work that CLIP has been engaged in, in commercial corridors -- I'm sorry, on the Highway Network working with PennDOT, and we're extending that work. So we're trying to reach an agreement with PennDOT to do a series of events over the next fiscal year to make sure we're prepared for all the events in 2026, and I expect that agreement can be reached later this spring. The work on commercial corridors is an extension of work that the Office of Clean and Green has already been involved in working with Commerce Department, so that's really a continuation of work that we've been doing and hopefully a little bit of an expansion of that. That's also coordinated around the events in 2026. And I think that gets to the Mayor's goal. As she said many times, we have company coming so we'll make sure the City looks as presentable as possible and everybody has a great experience there. The Mural Arts work is being rebooted based on information that PennDOT has shared with us. They are creating a policy, which is a little bit different than the way that we've done mural arts on the expressway system in the past. But we're confident that we can continue to resource that work. You may know that there have been some vandalism on some of the signature murals that were placed along our expressway network. And so, we're going to be cleaning that up and refreshing those murals. And in addition to that, it's my understanding that some of the murals around the city on the local streets and some arterial streets are also going to get a facelift and there will be an expansion of some of that work in order to make sure that we have some diversion possibilities for folks who have been tagging maybe neighborhoods, you know, kind of the way that we did in the past. And so, this is something the Mayor's also expressed interest in rebooting and resourcing at a higher level now to make sure that they can get on the right path and hopefully find a career track working with us through the Mural Arts program. In general as the Managing Director said, the emphasis has been on getting out of our silos, having conversations among departments, among units and extending that beyond the City administration to work as close as we can with our colleagues at PennDOT District 6 and others in the community.
And just a brief follow- up before I ask my next question, but the funding that's being asked for the beautification of the highways and commercial corridors and then there's also funding that's going into the Office of Clean and Green to do the same thing and there's also funding going into Mural Arts to do the same thing, do you see where I'm going with this? So one let's say is $1 million going to our Mural Arts, right. And for the beautification of highways and commercial corridors through MDO, there's significant funding being asked. Then in Clean and Green, there's also funding being asked so the coordination is cool. I'm just talking about the money asked for three different departments.
Council President, totally understand that and I think just being real about it I think your concern is, is there a duplication, are these somehow going to be -- is this going to be efficient. And I can assure you those efforts are complementary so they're going to be joined up and synced up. It's not like we're going to have somebody coming in and doing work and then painting over it or recleaning it unless it needs to be recleaned. So I think the idea with the presentation of the budget is to put the dollars closest to the work. So putting the dollars into the actual agency or entity that's going to be executing that work even or perhaps especially when it's part of a broader, coordinated strategic effort as everything is. And we meet -- this team meets every day to make sure that everything is synced up just in our portfolio. We meet obviously regularly with Mayor Parker and her team and all of our different -- while we have our direct portfolio, we work and enable across all of city government to make sure there's no duplication of effort and make sure we're efficient. And I think you all really saw that with the effort at Riverview having everybody all hands on deck meeting regularly, even in some cases from other government entities and from private sector partners.
And I have one more question and before we get into the Wellness Center, I'm sure members have questions regarding it, but I do want to give compliments in terms of it being an idea and you came new on a job last year during the budget process, very long budget process, about the 100 million being borrowed. And at the time it was just a concept, building it as we were moving forward. But thus far though, definitely a step in the right direction, definitely an actualization of the actual concept in terms of the actual Wellness Center. So I do want to commend you from having the idea and the concept. And to be quite frank, were short on answers and responses the last time. And we were saying, well, what are you going to do with this whole 100 million, but members had the opportunity to see the progress that has been made from proof of concept to actually the realization of the actual Wellness Center at Riverview. So I just want to acknowledge that and give credit where credit is due.
And, Council President, really appreciate that and appreciate your support. Understand, as I said last year, we were really asking you to believe in us and hopefully we delivered on that. We appreciate the trust. The essential thing, I use that as an example, that way of working is what's different, making sure that we are working across silos, that we are connecting these efforts, again not just within city government, intergovernmental, interagency, not-for-profit, private sector, so it's that way of working, everybody working towards a common goal and executing against that goal. You know, they said we couldn't build it while we flew it, but we did. And that is that way of working. Because we know 2026 is coming, we're using that same way of working for internal processes, external processes. And I think that is the assurance that we'll make sure those efforts you're talking about are joined up, executed efficiently and effectively.
Thank you. Michael Carroll, first and foremost, I've been working with you several years so I just want to thank you for your hard work as the leader of OTIS. So that's first and foremost. I tell you it publicly, I tell you privately. I respect your expertise in this space. Your testimony cites that OTIS will issue a new Vision Zero action plan, including programming safety on every mile of the High Injury Network and fostering citywide safety culture through key programs like Automated Speed Enforcement, which is in partnership with our good friend Richie Lazer and the Philadelphia Parking Authority, and Safe Routes Philly in partnership with the School District. Can you give us an idea of the actual action plan? And also, as we continue to make sure that we're a more pedestrian- friendly city, how we're addressing those efforts as well?
Yes. So the action plan, a lot more detail, so we want everybody to stay tuned as we're rolling that out. But the main focus will be to continue the work that we're doing in neighborhoods and schools in order to rightsize the right-of-way, implementing some narrowing up of lanes and some facilities that enhance crosswalks. We have work to do to protect bike lanes where we have bike lanes in place. And so, we're doing a series of capital projects throughout the city, create some level protection, whether it be planters in some neighborhoods which is a high-level protection, whether it's to continue to implement the parking-protected bike lanes on facilities where we've identified those projects. Also in some cases, we're doing more limited improvements to, as you have discussed several times, daylight intersections. And in order for daylight intersections, we want to make sure that we're coordinating with PPA and we're actually implementing physical obstructions in those intersections near the corners, near the crosswalks so that people don't just kind of cheat because they think the enforcement might be laxed, but of course enforcement is also part of it. We're coordinating this effort with the new implementation of speed cameras and red light cameras, which is continuing throughout the city, and that's providing us an opportunity to directly reduce speeds in a lot of neighborhoods. And we're also continuing with the planning work we're doing, engaging with communities which involves working with schools, working with neighborhoods, working with you as Council in order to identify other things that we can do to modify people's behavior, identify future products as well.
Can you and your team consider, I know we discussed this when I met with you and your team and Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition and the Bike Action group up in Room 576 regarding education campaign, awareness campaign, we have to just slow down in the city. People will be on AirPods in their ears, on their phones while they're driving, same thing when they're walking, same thing even when they're biking. And when you're not paying attention, this opens it up for more opportunity for somebody to get hurt. So that's something for us to just think about as a city itself just to get people in the mind state of specifically just slowing down and being more aware of their surroundings. I just think from the education standpoint if it's out there, people will be more intentional about their surroundings and slowing down when they're going to and from home or to and from their place of business. And so, that's all I have. I'm going to turn it over to my members. I want to ask members, because I know we started a little late, to be more direct in your questioning so we can get two rounds in today. And also, those who are on the panel to also be more specific in your responses so we can get a second round in as well because I know members will be texting me saying, you know, I would like to get a question. So I want to make sure I'm managing this time to keep this process moving forward and being fair so everybody can get some feedback in before we move forward, their questions in as we move forward. First person I want to call on is Councilmember Curtis Jones.
Thank you so much, Mr. President. And welcome back. I will be as succinct as possible in light of what's happening with tariffs, in light of what's happening with supply chains. Have we done a Plan B to make sure that we have a predictable cost within our infrastructure, within running of our government so that we are not caught flatfooted with spiked price increases and have we made that plan? And I want to get this in. By way of capital projects, it is the word in these chambers it is a 10-year process backlog in some cases. I have two charts here. One is the optimal chart of days 8 to get something done. The other 9 is 44 days. If either one of them 10 were close to true, it would be a 11 wonderful day. It's more like a 12 10-year process in some cases. 13 And as we start to look 14 at infrastructure repairs, how do 15 we cut this down? My good friend 16 Mr. Carroll has a bridge that 17 connects the Art Museum to the 18 Parkway that I'm worried about. 19 I'm worried about the 59th Street 20 Bridge that we at some point have 21 to close and we're talking about 22 2026, but I don't know, you know, 23 will that take 10 years and 24 disrupting traffic patterns in our city? So with that, succinctly Plan B on price spikes and tariffs and our exposure from the federal government and what are we doing to cut down the capital project time?
Councilmember, Council President, we are constantly tracking the market for the cost of materials as well as supply chains. It's incredibly dynamic. We have seen -- everybody has seen sometimes on a daily basis tariffs can go from x percent to 2x percent and back again. It's really challenging. And I'm not sure the market has necessarily priced all of that in right now because there are inventories that are already on the shelf. We're fortunate Aparna and her team Joe Brasky do a great job sourcing materials and supplies, which is why we were able to do Riverview so fast. That is going to continue to be a challenge. It's something that we are literally assessing every day. As far as your second question of the timing, this goes back to the answer I provided the Council President before. We are using this model and changed the way we're working for everything, so trying to get all of our partners, our enablers, our key enablers, all of our agencies around the table working together from jump to make sure that we can execute projects faster, still with quality and without short- circuiting any of the things that we need to do in terms of procurement regulations, supply chains, equity, making sure that we have the people we need working on those jobs. So we are absolutely working on that daily and tweaking our processes to be more efficient, faster and effective. And it is the uncertainty, like with everything, that's making that a challenge.
So before I pass off, I would like to take a look at our requirements contracts that we have within Procurement to see how we can lock in prices. We do that with gas. We do that with other commodities so that there's some predictability as to what the City of Philadelphia's costs are. And then we really just need to figure out ten toes down how we kind of take timelines, instead of one beginning when the other ends, run them synonymously to see if we can do a little better with this because every month is a half of a percent increase in inflation. We are getting ready to do, God-willing with this budget, a track and field up on Chamounix Drive. It's going to be a home field for Overbrook and about 7 other schools. From the time we 8 put that out to now, it's been like 9 a third increase in cost. We have 10 to get shovels in the ground quicker, lock down prices faster. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Member Jones. Councilmember Jamie Gauthier.
Thank you, Council President. Good morning, Managing Director.
My questions are about our support to immigrant communities. According to OIA's budget detail, $450,000 is added to the Legal Services budget for CLS and PAIFUP for assistance with temporary protective status, asylum and workplace rights. Considering the increased threat to our immigrant communities posed by the Trump Administration, advocates have been asking both about increasing this funding to 1.3 million and transferring these legal services to the Defender's Office, which already has dedicated staff for immigration efforts. I would want to hear your position on this request. And I have other questions that I'm going to get on record before you answer. Next, MDO budget documents state that OIA intends to work on increased community outreach and engagement with the aid of a new Community Engagement Plan, and I have several questions about that. One, can you provide some specific details about the engagement plan? Two, given what many have seen, particularly in the community as a lack of publicly- stated support for immigrant communities at this time, do you think that immigrants should feel safe reaching out to the City of Philadelphia and OIA specifically? And what are you doing to build trust in these communities at this time? And then lastly, on the first day of budget hearings Chief of Staff Tiffany Thurman mentioned that you all were in search of a new Executive Director for OIA. What is the status of the search and do we expect the position to be filled by the start of FY26? And I know that's a lot. And I'm happy to repeat questions if need be.
Councilmember, Council President, thank you. I think I'm tracking all those. I'll work backwards. That search is ongoing. The good news is we had a lot of candidates. The other news is we had a lot of candidates. We've narrowed that pool. First interviews I think are tomorrow -- Aubrey?
Tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. -- or tonight at 5:00 p.m., so we are actually doing interviews. That is really a key and critical position, that OIA Director. So that is -- like all of our agency have positions, something that Mayor Parker is taking personal interest in, we want to make sure that we get the best person for that very critical role, what remains a critical role. As far as the dollars, we actually have $450,000 increase that is going into Legal Services. Right now where that lands is under negotiation. We have a couple different possibilities for that, including the Defender's Association. And when our Director gets in, first order of business is where do we connect that and make sure that that important work continues. So actually dollars are still available in FY26 for that work with a new director. And other than that, as far as the trust and the engagement for us right now as a city all the supports that were in place continue to exist. So we are continuing to invest as you can see in the FY26 proposed budget, invest in those services. We're excited to get this new director on board and excited to continue the community engagement work that is underway while we continue to track a very dynamic situation at the federal level.
Small follow-ups. One, I understand that you're in the hiring process, but I think I'm asking if the Administration has a position on both increasing the amount of money for legal defense and housing it at the Defender's Association, which already has that as a strength? And you mentioned that we have the same supports in place, but the world isn't the same. The world has changed a lot in the last three months and there is terror in the immigrant community. Do you think that what we are proposing responds to that change in the world?
Councilmember, I think what we're proposing is to continue the suite of services that we've provided as a city with city funding. Certainly, the Defender's Association and where those dollars, who's going to execute that, that will be first order of business among several first orders of business for that new director. In terms of how people should feel, you know, it is our role in the MDO to focus on the things that we focus on, to execute policy, to execute the decisions of this body as well and to make sure that we are getting functions done on the ground and creating a government that our residents can see, touch and feel. As far as how folks interact with the federal government and what the federal government does, frankly that is not something that is within our ability to control.
Okay. My questions were all about local government, but I would hope that we can get some answers about this in this budget cycle. Regardless of whether that person is on board, this is an important moment for our city. Thank you, Council President.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Dr. Anthony Phillips.
Good morning. Thank you, Council President. Good morning, Managing Director Thiel.
Just wanted to ask a couple of questions. The Philadelphia Parks & Rec infrastructure is incredibly important at our recreation centers and our parks. Neighbors are often reporting the importance of paving, lighting, plumbing, roofing, all that and more. I just want to learn more about how your office is supporting our Parks and Recreation system to assess every recreation center in the city of Philadelphia to kind of understand what is needed for infrastructure and how we can increase capital project budget beyond our ITEF to support the needs of our recreation centers and our parks?
Councilmember, Council President, Philadelphia Parks & Rec Commissioner Slawson does an amazing job with the resources she has. As you know, this year we're going to be opening over the summer more pools. We have more lifeguards. We've done more with rec centers. Rebuild is continuing a pace thanks to Aparna Palantino and Commissioner Slawson. So I think we are constantly assessing the infrastructure at Parks & Rec. We know there's a lot more that needs to be done, including finishing all of the initial slate of Rebuild projects and then doing more. You've heard Mayor Parker talking about this, funding for youth sports. So I think across the entire PPR portfolio we're investing more. In terms of capital dollars, we have a lot of major projects that we are executing and I think that assessment that you're talking about is happening all the time because we know we are catching up on literally decades of deferred maintenance. So often -- and this is across our entire capital portfolio, Department of Public Property, Free Library, we are constantly balancing what we're trying to do with long-term capital strategic upgrades with the HVAC, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning system broke or the roof leaks and trying to shift those dollars around so we fix the tactical issues while we're continuing to move that strategic work plan forward.
Thank you. I'll follow up later with another question around that. But I just want to, one, also go to 311, Philly311. Residents reported their service requests are marked closed once they are transferred to departments. And I kind of mentioned this also last year about how this, you know, transparency around the 311 system. It creates confusion and frustration for users who expect closure to mean the issue has been addressed and resolved. What steps are your department going to take to ensure that service request statuses reflect actual progress and resolution rather than administrative transfer?
Councilmember, Council President, this is an ongoing challenge. I mean, I just have to be honest about it. Many of the calls that very dedicated 311 calltakers receive are for issues that have nothing to do with city government. We get calls, people ask about how to get a birth certificate, how to get a death certificate, how to fix something with their cable or their telephone bill. So many of those if it is not within the City's purview to fix those, tickets are closed. Now, I don't want you to think that means we're perfect on all the rest because we're not. So there's ongoing work with PhillyStat360 to be able to put all that out there and dashboard that so residents can see that, residents, businesses and visitors can see that and ongoing work behind the scenes as we join up in the implementation and the execution chain to make sure that departments are working with other infrastructure providers. For instance, if we get a 311 call about a hole in the ground, say, hypothetically at 16th and Samson, the City piece of that is the last piece. Once PGW, AT&T, PECO, the Water Department which is part of the City, do everything they need to do in that hole, then Streets can come in, and then and only then can we close the ticket. And that's the kind of thing that we're still working on. Those are long-term projects. We don't have control of all of the entities in that chain, so this is something we're going to have to continue to work on.
Chair recognizes Majority Leader Gilmore Richardson.
Thank you. Point of clarification. I have a point of clarification regarding that just based on your response, Managing Director Thiel. Is it that when 311 receives the call and when the actual case is sent to the department, is it listed as closed at that point? Because what we find sometimes is when there are multiple departments internally in city government that have to touch a case, that once the departments receive it, it doesn't mean that it's actually closed. They're saying that they received it. It doesn't mean that the case has been followed up on. And I'm just asking for that point of clarification because I was here when they implemented 311 and I was in the round of constituent services representatives that they met with to try to stand the system up. And we tried to explain to them when you have multi-department cases, we've talked about this over the years, I just want to get that clear on the record for Councilmember Phillips' question, because typically what happens is they close the case when the department receives it, not that it's touching other federal or state entities?
Councilmember, Council President, the short answer to your question is it depends. And that's what we're trying to make sure that we're getting right is when is the ticket closed, is it when it's done, is it when it's transferred, if it has nothing to do with us. We have additional dollars proposed in FY26 for an upgraded 311 app. So this is all something we're going to have to continue to work on. We're not alone in this. 311 is a very valuable service. We want to make sure that I think the real -- so the outcome is to fix whatever the problem is and that can take time. And certainly, closing the ticket when it just goes to the first agency in that implementation chain, that doesn't pass, that doesn't hit the mark. So we are still working on this, I want to be very honest about that, and we will continue to work on it. These are complex and complicated systems, even the ones that we do have ownership of. So we're going to have to keep working on this.
I just want to say -- just one follow-up. Thank you for your response. Just two things that I guess if we could consider. Going forward, maybe a citizen advisory group to help with ideas and thoughts around how to improve the system and maybe follow up on what their needs are. And then lastly, if we are able to get an assessment on our Library infrastructure, our Parks & Rec infrastructure, get someone to do all those assessments, maybe we can work closely. Your office can work closely with the Councilmembers and the Districts to figure out how we can create a timeline to fix up some of the immediate serious needs of the infrastructure in some of these spaces. And they come up with something where it's like FY27 this will be done, FY26, just a timeline of infrastructure being fixed over the years. That's all. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Chair recognizes Councilmember Jim Harrity.
Thank you, Council President. Hello, everybody. Thank you for being here this morning. Want to get right into it because of time. The MDO holds a $1.6 million contract with Johnson, Mirmiran & and Thompson.
Member Harrity, could you speak directly more into your microphone please.
I'm sorry. The MDO holds a $1.6 million contract with Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson for Rebuild project management. Can you explain exactly what this contract entails? And I'd also like to know what positions are you having trouble filling and why? And can you explain the discrepancies between FY26's budget positions compared to '25? And what I'm talking about is certain positions either have no 3 designation of how many employees are going to be where there were employees before. So for instance, the Citizens Police Oversight Commission, FY25 filled positions 22. And FY26, there's no 9 positions. The Defender's Association, they have nothing for '25 or '26. The Animal Care Control, nothing for '25 or '26. Office of Safe Neighborhoods and 15 nothing for '26. 16
17 Councilmember, Council President, 18 let me work I guess backwards from 19 there. The organizations that you 20 mentioned are not technically 21 within the Managing Director's 22 Office. They are independent 23 entities that manage their own 24 organizations. In the past, they were counted differently as part of this and/or some of them have been transferred to other parts of the City organization. So that's the answer to -- so those are essentially administrative changes that are coming out of our display and they will be somewhere else on those organizations.
Yeah, that's what I thought. So they're like the Defender's, they got their own budget?
Yes, sir. It doesn't mean that they're -- they're not gone. They're not being shown here because of administrative changes in the way the budget is displayed.
As far as the question about project management, I'm going to call up our Deputy Manager Director for Capital Projects Aparna Palantino, who is an absolute rock star. We're so thankful to have her and her team. We're continuing to build out her and her team. Hopefully, you're already seeing the benefits, I know I am, of this change in the organization where we have brought back and put together CPO. And Aparna has just done an amazing job. And I'm going to let her talk about some of the details and the specific question you asked about the $1.6 million project management contract for CPO.
Good morning. Aparna Palantino, Deputy Managing Director for Capital Programs. Councilmember Harrity, thank you for your question. The contract that you're referencing for JMT was an owner's representative services contract that Rebuild held for a number of years, so they provided various things, assistance with project management, estimating, inspections, also software to be able to help support the Rebuild program.
Okay. How many programs did they -- how many developments or fixes did they do in that time frame? How many jobs were they in charge of?
So it's a little bit difficult to answer that because they provided services that sort of covered the entire program. So for example, the software support was for the entire program for all 72 sites, but it wasn't necessarily site-specific. But then they did provide services, as I mentioned -
All right. Thank you. I'll wait until the next round for the rest of my questions.
Thank you very much. Councilmember Nic O'Rourke.
Well, glory to God and power to the people, Director Thiel. You come bearing gifts in April. Might be Christmas in April already. Wanted to begin by saying how grateful I am for the accolades and the congratulations from members of this body for the work and the advocacy that myself as well as my team, who worked tirelessly to help us to be effective representatives of the people in this gig for as long as we have it. We're not here forever. The ending date, unless the people say otherwise, for my job is December 31, 2027. And so, I'm grateful to be able to do something that I think is going to be meaningful for folks. But more than anything else beyond the accolades, it is really a testament to and what I'm grateful for is that the people themselves are getting what they need on this front. When we really kind of focused on this just in the last two weeks, we've heard a couple of comments, several comments and reports from constituents that were advocating around Zero Fare in particular. Quotes like "The past helps me afford groceries and bills. It ensures I can work during the day and have dinner with my kids at night." "This program saved my life after two years of homelessness," and things like that. These were the sorts of reports that we were asking for and it really is telling, which is the reason why I am looking forward to hearing what the rollout is as it relates to Key Advantage as well as Zero Fare. But also, as I mentioned last week our work as lawmakers is to find ways to make sure that we are measurably and materially improving the lives of working people. And so, that's why we're going to go forward with our legislation around the Transit Access Fund that I do continue to solicit the support of my colleagues to making sure that we can make this thing permanent here in the city of Philadelphia. That having been said, I will shift my focus to another pocket of concern for us, the Wellness Village and opioid settlement funds. Can you tell me, Director, what percentage of the City's opioid settlement funds are currently going towards or are planned to go toward the Wellness Village ecosystem?
Councilmember, Council President, I think the settlement dollars are going to a lot of different places. I could probably answer that as saying all of it because the wellness ecosystem is all encompassing, as you can see on the display there and the handouts that you all have on your desks. And that really is the former configuration and the former way that a lot of those settlement funds were administered, was in sort of again not a joined-up and not a strategic approach. That is not to say that the work that was happening and continues to happen with those dollars is not important. It is absolutely important. Everything that these folks are doing is important. It's important for us though, to the Council President's original point, that we are being strategic about this. We are making sure there's not duplication of effort. We're being efficient and effective. So the first priority for us is to make sure that the entire wellness ecosystem is funded and it works using whatever dollars are available. And those settlement dollars, that is, when you think about what those settlement dollars are for and the origination of those, the genesis of those, if you will, what is more applicable than ensuring that we have these journeys for folks through this wellness ecosystem to housing, et cetera. So we have absolutely changed the way that that is being approached in terms of these specific allocations and percentages. That's something that we can get to you because there are so many of those different programs and projects. We can get that to you as a memo and follow up.
Thank you, Director Thiel. I heard the bell. I'll come back around for a second round. But the question then becomes what programs actually have been cut or reduced in order to redirect the settlement funds to the Wellness Village? So if you could answer that, that would be great. But again, I can hold my time until the next round.
Councilmember, that's a long list. And so, we can certainly get you that specifically on follow-up. I do want one thing to reiterate, the wellness ecosystem is not the Riverview Wellness Village. Riverview is part of the broader ecosystem. So we are using those dollars throughout the entire ecosystem and also at the Riverview Wellness Village. And again, part of the reason we're using the settlement dollars to operate that, the alternative to that is largely the General Fund right now. So that is why we are making that the priority.
I would, if we could, get that list, if that's okay to have that submitted to the Chair of what programs again that have been cut or reduced in order to redirect all of the settlement funds, because I hear you saying all of it to the Wellness Village. Thank you very much.
Councilmember, just as a clarification, nothing's been cut. We just shifted. There have been no cuts. There's just been a shift in reallocation. So we'll get you that matrix.
Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Brooks.
Thank you, Council President. My questions are about reproductive rights. So we know that they're under heavy attack by the Trump Administration, including the recent cuts to Title X funding for Planned Parenthood and groups like Abortion Liberation Fund are having to turn away Philadelphians every day who need the funds for reproductive health care. I want to thank the members of the Administration for their participation in the Reproductive Freedom Task Force. But can you tell us what the Administration is doing to defend and directly fund reproductive services that Philadelphians need? And as we see funding cuts on the federal level putting this strain on our local providers, has the Administration increased funding for reproductive health care? And if so, in what ways?
Councilmember, Council President, I'm going to ask our Public Health Commissioner to come up and talk about what the City does in those areas. (Witness approached Witness table.)
Good morning, Council. My name is Dr. Palak Raval-Nelson and I'm the Health Commissioner for the City of Philadelphia. As far as the questions regarding funding, we were notified on March 25th that our COVID dollars, which were supposed to be extended into this fiscal year and next fiscal year, were abruptly cut on March 24th. At that time, we were in Council for a hearing. And so, Finance, Law as well as the Mayor's Office and the MDO's Office were notified immediately. Everybody rallied together and we worked with our state and other local partners to engage in all sorts of actions we needed to. Our internal team started looking at budget and figuring out how we can move people around. We communicated with the resource hubs, the community-based organizations and everybody else so everybody was on the same page. Right now the temporary restraining order is in place so our funding is available up until April 17th, and we're keeping an eye on all of this and working as the Managing Director has been saying without silos and working together as a City team.
Thank you for that. My next question is around mobile crisis. We heard from the community members that they would like to be more directly involved in mobile crisis units, including being hired directly to the teams. What would be the process or what would it look like to see more community engagement around mobile crisis units? And what do you need to do to make this happen?
I'm going to ask the Deputy Managing Director Yates-Gale, Councilmember, as I understand your question, it's about how to ensure those services are getting what they're needed?
And including some of the community-based organizations that work alongside and advocated for this program to be included in the process or hired to work alongside.
Thank you, Councilmember Brooks. I'm sorry. I didn't originally understand the question. The current providers are still providing the mobile crisis service. We are trying to work on reducing the response time but to get the other CBOs involved and other providers. As you know, the system will require them to apply with a proposal to an RFP process. Once we open that, all of the providers are notified by email that the opportunity is available, but it's not available at this time.
Do you know when the RFP process will be opening up for that?
Thank you so much. And my last question, we're hearing -- I think this is very similar to O'Rourke's question, so I'm going to skip to -- no, I'll save it for the next round.
Thank you, Member Brooks. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Rue Landau, then Councilmember Bass and Councilmember Majority Leader Richardson.
Thank you so much. Appreciate you. And good morning to the Managing Director's Office. I wanted to follow up first on Councilmember Gauthier's PAIFUP questions. I had some similar ones as well. The first question, when we were originally given a briefing from the Mayor's Office, a budget briefing, the operating for the program was listed as $450,000 but it was listed as an expansion of services even though it is $50,000 less than the amount appropriated for last year. Can you explain that? Did I get that right?
Actually no. 3 In FY25 the appropriations for that program was $500,000. And in FY26 it's adding $450,000. So FY26 would be the 500 plus the 450.
Okay. It's an additional 450. Okay. Thank you so much. Also wanted to double down on the request of what the immigrant service agencies want, that this goes to the Defender Association. This is in line with what they do in New York with their NAIFUP. I was a little surprised, Managing Director Thiel, at your reaction that you were distinguishing between feelings and execution of what your job is. And for a lot of us, what is happening to marginalized communities throughout Philadelphia is deeply, deeply felt. It's painful, it's scary, it's terrifying. And we would hope that our city can respond in a way that's not erratically emotional, but has that as a baseline and not just to the execution of a plan.
Councilmember, I appreciate that. And to clarify what I was saying, I certainly, you know, our mission is to execute at the local level and the state level. What I'm saying is my feelings about how things -- and again, I don't have that same lived experience. I certainly do have feelings about things that we're seeing at that level. And my mission is to stay focused on the City level and make sure that we are executing things. And as it stands right now, as you heard not only are we continuing to do all of the things that we did before, we are adding additional dollars to be ready to do more.
We appreciate that so very, very much. Thank you for that. I wanted to also follow up on the Wellness questions that we had yesterday. So my understanding is that the budget includes over $133 million in Class 200 which -- well, hang on. The Wellness money is going to support the wellness ecosystem, including the Wellness Court. And so, how does the $133 million for Class 200 expenses relate to the 16.6 million for the Office of Community Wellness and Recovery, which will oversee the implementation of the Wellness initiative? And then while I get through this real quick, can you detail this 16.6 million and will it cover the staff at the Wellness Court?
Councilmember, I think some of those dollars -- those dollars go to support the entire ecosystem, the operations of the entire ecosystem, the Class 200 dollars. So that includes the kind of overhead, which is the Office of Community Wellness and Recovery. They do the contract management. As we talked about last year with you all, you said it was very important that we make sure that we have very solid oversight and direct oversight and management of our pieces of this ecosystem. So that is really what Community Wellness and Recovery does, Isabel McDevitt and her team. The Class 200 dollars are for the providers who are providing services, Black Doctors Consortium, Merakey, Gardenzia and Riverview and in other locations around the wellness ecosystem. And the Wellness Court, Tara?
The Wellness Court, we have proposed an additional $1 million to the Defender's Association, and that's included in the Defender's Association section of the MDO budget. And that will cover the staff and use for covering the legal representation for Wellness Court.
So that's to ensure that folks that are going through that Neighborhood Wellness Court have the representation that is necessary.
One last question while he's not paying attention, a quick one. Is the Office of Immigrant Affairs still under the Managing Director's Office?
As it stands right now, the Office of Immigrant Affairs is under the Managing Director's Office. As we've talked about and hereto, we work very closely with the Law Department, especially right now, to understand what is happening daily and dynamically at the federal level. So that is a -- regardless of where that resides administratively, that is an area where we have a great deal of interagency collaboration.
Thank you, Member Landau. And I'm always watching, Member Landau. That's why I'm here. Councilmember Bass.
I want to give a shout-out to Donald Carlton. Is he over there? I'm sorry. I thought I saw Donald Carlton. A couple of questions. One question, I'm on the board for ACCT and I noticed that the proposal is for 8 million, a little over $8 million which is not that much more than they receive to date in the current budget. And so, I know that you mentioned in the beginning your proposed budget was $133.9 million in Class 200 funding, which included you specifically mentioned ACCT and the Domestic Violence Hotline. And so, when I look at the fact that it's almost being promoted that we're going to do more for them, but at the same time we're only giving them about $500,000?
Councilmember, Council President, the proposed budget includes a $921,000, so almost $1 million increase in what we're paying ACCT. That is for anticipated collective bargaining agreement-related increases for their staff compensation, insurance coverage, care supplies and additional veterinary staff. I think it's -- while ACCT, a very important organization to us and a contractual relationship that we have, I think that while I've only been in the MDO for a little bit, I think that's one of the most substantial increases that ACCT has had at some time.
So it says here $8,099,250. But you said it was actually million -- I 8 don't under -- 9
Councilmember, the increase, year- over-year increase that's proposed is an additional $921,000 from '25 to '26, so we're actually investing almost $1 million more in ACCT for the things that I mentioned.
I'm going to come back. I don't think that those numbers are accurate so I'm going to come back to you --
-- and just ask about that. Another quick question and I have a much longer question. The Philly Phlush public restroom, are these Portland Loos? Are these the Portland --
I thought we weren't using those anymore because they broke down, we couldn't get parts, it was a problem. Why are we still doing that program if we can't get parts when they break down? I was told like two years ago that we weren't going to use the Portland Loo anymore.
Councilmember, I'll have one of our colleagues join us, Deputy Managing Director Yates-Gale to talk about that. I think the short answer is because there still is a salient need. And you're right, it seems like --
There's definitely a need, but the product itself, there's more than one product I guess is my point. And that product is a problem. So why are we still using the product that when it breaks down, we can't get the parts, this restroom is out of service. And this is just one particular brand. Why aren't we using other brands? And actually, hold that because I really want to just ask my other question which is much more substantive and important to me. So the Support Center for Child Advocates under Legal Services, I don't know if you saw today's Inquirer article about basically the City's dereliction of duty when it comes to children who are in the foster care system and the high rate of child separation that we have here in Philadelphia. And we did have a conversation with DHS some time in the last week or so and talked to them about what the numbers were. I know Kimberly Ali didn't have the numbers available. But according to this article, it's much more troubling than what was presented here. And so, when I looked at again on the document you provided, the proposed funding for Fiscal Year '26 is a little over $7 million. Now, when you look at every department that was listed in your presentation in your briefing, every department has a set of strategic goals and has a set of performance measures except for this one. And I find that very disturbing because this is a department, according to your own description, that it's a legal representation for individuals who are in need but cannot afford an attorney. The Support Center for Child Advocates represents child victims of abuse and neglect, including new dependency cases and in criminal cases related to their victimization. Community Legal Services represents vulnerable populations, including indigent families and seniors, as they seek to access social service programs. So we put $7 million here. And yet we have no strategic goals and no performance measures and every other department here does have goals and performance measures? Please explain.
I'm going to take that one. Tara Mohr. I'm the First Deputy Managing Director. The Legal Services Division represents a combination, a collaboration with a couple of other different departments. And so, in some of these contracts that you see here is a collaboration with external departments. And so, we can work with them to come up with those performance measures and the strategic goals. But sometimes the funding that we have here, the funding is allocated to the Managing Director's Office to match and to supplement and augment some of the investments in other departments. So for example, the Support Center for Child Advocates contract that you referenced, our contribution is a supplement and augmentation to the funding that DHS also provides, so where there's a cross-section and a collaboration on those particular contracts.
Well, I was going to ask is there sort of any coordination with DHS on, you know, like, what's the number plan -
You're out of your time, Member Bass. Wrap it up please.
Yes, sir. But I do want to say this, when I think about what was printed in today's Inquirer -- and trust me, I'm not going exclusively on their word -- but it was extremely disturbing to me the idea that we have given so little thought that we have provided no goals, no 13 recommendations, no performance measures. And I understand it's sort of a collabo with all these different departments. That's still not acceptable. This is our most vulnerable population. And when we look at who's shooting who in a neighborhood, it's 12-, 13-, 14-, 15-, and 16-year-olds. It's not -- when I was coming up, it was more like 18, 20, 21, 22. They're much younger now. And that's because we're missing the mark, and we're missing the mark in many different departments based on what's presented here by the City. We don't even have any goals for this department. We're spending $7 million. That's like a giveaway, and we don't even have any requirements for how are we going to fix this situation. I think that it needs to be in here like it's in here for every other department that was listed.
Councilmember, certainly appreciate it and understand the importance of that. And again, the reason that that's not in there is it's essentially part of the way the budget is displayed.
We passed those dollars on to other entities that do that. And moreover, the Managing Director's Office can't do direct oversight because we sometimes are involved --
I understand. I'm not asking for direct oversight. I'm saying that it should be a part of your conversation and expectation. As we're handing money over, we should be saying what are we getting for this and how are we making things better and that should be reflected.
Councilmember, we'll certainly talk to our partners who execute those programs and see how we work with the Budget Office to get those displayed in the future.
Good morning, Councilmember. The Philly Phlush model is no longer using the Portland Loo model, yeah. And we have contracted with the provider to provide realtime quick repair service. We'll check and respond to you and your office about the Philly Phlush that's in your District. Now, that one is a little aside from the other two because it's a Rebuild project so we'll make sure that we have the repairs associated with that one.
Vernon Park, ma'am. You have one in Vernon Park. There's one outside --
Right, that's no longer being used. That model is no longer being used. We are building one in Clark Park as we speak as we go through the L&I process. And then the next Philly Phlush, we will be doing community engagement in South Philadelphia.
So I'm without a bathroom now in Vernon Park? I just want to --
So we don't have a bathroom anymore in Vernon Park; is that what you're --
No, no, you do. We need to make sure that our repair contract covers that.
You're welcome. Just a brief follow-up, the Support Center for the Child Advocate, who are we partnering with? Who's the contract with in regards to the -- helping provide the services for the Support Center for the Child Advocate?
With the Support Center for Child Advocate. Okay.
And that contract is partially funded by the Managing Director's Office and then also partially funded by the Department of Behavioral Services.
So we're partnering with the Support Center for Child Advocate, but they don't have a strategic plan and goals in terms of how we're addressing the advocacy issues on behalf of the youth; is that correct?
Council President, I'm not prepared to say what the Support Center does or does not have in terms of their strategic planning. That is something we can work with DHS to get on follow-up --
Money is coming from us the same way like money go through OHS and OHS partners with other entities, correct, to provide a service?
We and DHS fund them to provide a service, and we are also conflicted out of providing direct oversight because of the way court proceedings unfold. And I don't think it is at all unreasonable to ask for an understanding of what their strategic goals are, how they're spending the dollars.
Before this process in over, can you get back with a report to the Chair, members of this body regarding -- we want to be fiscally responsible, right, transparency, accountability on behalf of the taxpayers. And so, when Member Bass talked about our most vulnerable citizens which is our youth, our children, if any area, we want to advocate and make sure folks are doing right by them because they don't have lobbyists walking these halls asking for support. They don't have individuals who are getting paid in a government relations position coming and asking us to fight on their behalf. So I just wanted to follow up on that line of questioning. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Bass briefly.
Thank you, Mr. President. I just have to say I just find it so egregious that so little thought was given to this. We put more thought -- and I'm a Board member, as you know I love my fur babies, for ACCT. We put more thought into the dogs and cats than we did into the children. I mean, come on now. You got to do better. Who put this report together that thought it was okay to type that there were no strategic goals and no performance measures? Like, who did the document that didn't flag you all and say this is a problem, we shouldn't present this?
Duly noted for the 8 record. 9 The Chair recognizes 10 Dr. Phillips. 11
12 Yeah. I've also been relatively 13 concerned about funding for ACCT. 14 Because right now in a lot of parts 15 of our city, raccoons, other 16 rodents are literally going across 17 the city, and ACCT response is that 18 they don't have the ability to 19 capture these loose animals that 20 can be treated by them and in these 21 spaces because of certain 22 parameters, but if they had a 23 little bit more support and goals, 24 maybe that could be something that could be helpful. And I'm just trying to figure out why such as a raccoon problem is not even supported with the funding from ACCT.
Okay. So I want to call on Majority Leader Gilmore Richardson, but we'll expect that report. And I just think as a part of conversations that we'll have with Rob Dubow in Finance, I mean if we're going to be fiscally responsible in order for this body to sign off on it, then we need to see something that we feel confident for us to sign off on. So I don't mind going on record saying that as we move forward. But thank you, sir. The Chair recognizes Majority Leader Gilmore Richardson. Then we're going into our second round.
Thank you. Thank you, Council President. And thank you, Managing Director Thiel and Tara and your entire team. I wanted to just go through the detail. So if you have the detail, I think that would be helpful. You have it, Tara? Okay.
Majority Leader, could you speak into the microphone?
Yes. Surely, Council President. My apologies for the delay. So I'm going to go only on the detail for my first round of questions. You have a copy of the detail in front of you so we can speak with the same information. So I want to start with Section 43 of the FY26 operating budget for the Managing Director's Office. I'm back at Pages 171, 172 and you can include 170 as well. And so, this is strictly around Program Office of Workforce Development. And so, if you could detail for me very quickly the Office of Workforce Development as it relates to the Managing Director's Office? And I know most of these are grants that have been awarded. I'm very clear on that, but it states that it's under the Program of Office of Workforce Development under the Managing Director. Could you just detail that for the record?
Yes. Thank you for the question. The Office of Workforce Development, in particular these grants, are legacy grants that had been in existence in the Managing Director's Office when the Office of Workforce Development had existed in the Managing Director's Office and prior fiscal years.
And when was -- okay. For the record, can you say when that was?
Probably around FY21. However, I have not been with the Managing Director's Office except for only one year so I cannot -- FY21, but we would want to double check that and get back to you.
Okay. And for the record, the Office of Workforce Development grants that are listed that the City received that are ongoing, because some started back in 2020, was when Workforce Development was technically under the Managing Director's Office. Obviously, it would have to be at least 2020, right, because that's what the documents state. I just wanted to get that on the record. Now, I'm going to go to again to Section 43, under Program Administration and Policy. First line for Class 250 Professional Services, Chicago Women in Trades. Could you just explain what that's about?
Sure. Section 43, , Program Administration and Policy. The first listing under the Centralized Infrastructure Strategy for Professional Services 0250 which is Class 250, Chicago Women in Trades.
Yes, ma'am. Yes, I can confirm that that is there. And the question is what is that for?
Yes. Could you talk to us more about Chicago Women in Trades?
Excellent. And as quickly as possible because I have a number of items that I need to get on the record in this section.
Thank you. So that was a grant where we are working with several local apprenticeships and Chicago Women's in Trades has a presence here in Philadelphia where they'll be providing training opportunities for apprentices who come from Philadelphia communities.
Okay. So even though it says Chicago Women in Trades --
They're national and they have a footprint here in Philadelphia? Because that sticks out to me because I'm like, we have Philadelphia women in trades.
These folks were very talented working with young women in sectors where they're underrepresented. And so, the Mayor was aware of their work. They did establish a local presence. And so, they are doing the work here in Philadelphia on behalf of Philadelphia residents.
Okay. And they're working with Philadelphia residents?
Okay. Thank you. And I just wanted to put that on the record. We do have Philadelphia women in trades. We have WINC, Women in Nontraditional Careers. And so, I wanted to put that on the record for those organizations that we just hosted here in Council who also do wonderful work. I wanted to then go to Section 43 again, . And I hear the bell so I'm going to try to get all this in. Section 43, under Administration and Policy for the Managing Director's Office, again Class 250, Professional Services and Support Services for the City. I see listed here, Joseph -- third line down, Joseph A. DeLuca, Advisory and Consulting, $350,000 for contracted services or, no, I'm sorry, for OHS Fiscal Consultant. Could you talk about what that's for?