The City owns the building. The question is, who controls the 1002 2/19/99 WHOLE COMM./Budget/Bill 990023 collection, which, I think, is a more complicated question. That's why I'm hesitating here. I think we own the collection except under certain circumstances, am I correct? If we either abandon the building or --
I missed a little bit of the interplay back and forth. We own the building.
The answer is that it's the City's, it's the City's collection. There is a provision that says if the City abandons the building as the City's history museum, then the building reverts back to the Atwater Kent family.
Okay, all right. Now, how many people work at the Atwater Kent Museum?
There are full-time 24 equivalents, and about another 10 full-time 25 equivalent volunteers. 1003 2/19/99 WHOLE COMM./Budget/Bill 990023
The City of Philadelphia pays the salaries of right now four staff members. The salaries of the other staff members are paid by the funds that are raised from the private sector.
Okay. And operationally, on whatever organization chart you look at, who is the Atwater Kent Museum under, via department?
It's own operating department, but it's housed and looked after by the Department of Recreation.
It has -- on an accounting basis, it has an operating department number organizationally, and it's under Rick.
But for practical purposes, Atwater Kent pretty much operates on its own, as Nancy said.
All right. I mean, I guess I'm just -- this is my last comment for the day. 1004 2/19/99 WHOLE COMM./Budget/Bill 990023 From a public policy standpoint and conceptually, I guess I'm having difficulty with the dealing with the notion that an entity that was created by the City some many years ago for an appropriate purpose at that time, and seemingly a still appropriate purpose, it's owned by the City, the City owns the collection, we actually pay the people, that we're talking about defunding it a city who, you know, like it or not, whether you think it's right or wrong, or whatever, I mean, our whole goal and mantra over the past couple years ago tourism and hospitality. And we find ourselves in the, I will say, bizarre circumstance of defunding our own museum.
I guess I'd have several responses to that. One is that I don't think the City's defunding the Museum; I think we're making a substantial commitment over a large number of years to Capital.
Which obviously generates rather a large operating commitment.
I understand we 1005 2/19/99 WHOLE COMM./Budget/Bill 990023 have a wonderful building with no people in it. I mean, you can't support on the capital side and defund on the operating side. I mean, what are you left with?
Well, I think the Administration's position is not a new position, it's a position dating back to 1992, when we originally proposed eliminating funding, I believe, in '95, was that the Museum had the opportunity to stand on its own on an operating basis. I think we're reasonably close to that. And I -- I wouldn't say that reasonable people wouldn't differ, but I would say that, you know, this is something that the Mayor personally has thought about quite a bit, and the Administration's position, I think, reflects the fairly continuing viewpoint like that.
Okay, all right. Thank you. Thank you, Madame President.
This committee will stand in recess until Monday, February 22, 1999, at a.m. 5 Thank you. 6 (Adjourned at 3:40 p.m.) 7 - - - 8 9 1007 C E R T I F I C A T E I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of Friday, February 19, 1999, were reported fully and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of same. RE: COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE BILL NO. 990023 __________________________________, JOSEPHINE CARDILLO, Registered Professional Reporter