Council President, the Philadelphia Affordable Housing Coalition was asked to stop and step down because the gentleman was ill.
But when you called or whoever called, we were told that you would be extremely brief. We never expected as many people to come up to testify, as were here. We long, long exceeded the allotted time. Now, we do have other people who were on the list before you, and I think it's really not fair that they have to sit here and not be listened to either.
I beg your pardon. We were all on the list individually and we came collectively.
You were on the list, spread throughout the entire list. Had you said that you had 15 or 20 people and you were all coming up as a panel, 3349 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET that would have presented an entirely different picture. I will have you speak with the proviso that you be extremely brief. I think we have heard just how the group feels and we understand. So if you will identify yourself and be extremely brief we would appreciate it.
Thank you, Council President. My name is Alice Foley. I represent Liberty Resources and am a person with a disability. Liberty Resources, Incorporated is a center for independent living for the Philadelphia area that advocates for and works with persons with disabilities to ensure their civil rights and equal access to all aspects of life in our community. It is a non-profit consumer controlled organization serving over 3,000 people with disabilities annually. Presently 27 percent of the City's disabled population is living below the poverty line and lacks the necessary resources to gain access to housing. Providing resources to these vulnerable adults to aid 3350 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET them in finding an affordable, accessible and integrated permanent home is critical to Liberty Resource's mission. Once a home is found it is just as critical to provide the support needed to maintain it. This is often difficult for disabled persons living on a fixed income of about $600 a month. Due to evictions, foreclosures and utility shut offs, disabled people are losing their homes at crisis rates. We'd like to give you two examples. Liberty sees people every day who are being evicted from their homes. One consumer that we met with recently was being evicted from an apartment she'd lived in for the past year with her three-year-old son. She was able to afford the $700 a month rent without much difficulty because she was working full time. Beginning in October she had to take medical leave from her job, began the process of applying for disability for herself and her son, also disabled. But disability payments did not come through until March, and her 3351 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET savings ran out in February. This consumer found herself trying to survive on no income and make her rent each month. Her landlord evicted her, and now she must begin the process of finding affordable and accessible housing with the blemish of an eviction on her rental history. Had you been able to access emergency rental assistance to help with her rent for the month of February this consumer would not be now homeless with a three-year-old son. Foreclosure is another problem facing homeowners across the City at a high rate. In Philadelphia the number of Sheriff's sales have been increasing from 300 to 400 per month to more than 1,000. A social worker from a hospital called Liberty and requested assistance for a patient she was working with, a 45-year-old woman on dialysis. She was living with her son in a second story apartment that she could barely afford on her disability income. Her son had to carry her down the stairs each day for her dialysis appointment because they 3352 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET could not afford a first floor apartment that allowed her to get in and out using her wheelchair. Her electric was shut off over the summer because she could not afford an overdue balance of $700 from the previous winter. She was ineligible for LIHEAP because she does not have service currently in her name, so she has continued to live in the apartment without electricity. This has driven her gas bill up to well over $1,200 and she had never heard of the Utility Customer Assistance Program. Had this consumer been able to access an emergency fund to prevent utility shut off, she wouldn't be force to live with a life-threatening illness in an apartment without disability. Studies have also demonstrated the correlation between homelessness and utility terminations. On behalf of Liberty Resources, we would like to urge the $5 million for the Homeless Prevention Program.
Thank you very much. (Applause.) 3353 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET
Yes. Thank you. My name is Tim Dalwin (ph). I'll be extremely brief. I'm coming before you today as a concerned Philadelphian. I'm a native of West Philadelphia and a graduate of the Philadelphia Performing Arts High School, CAPA. I fortunately never experienced homelessness as child, but ironically have experienced it as an adult. I'm going through a housing crisis right now. I am also an artist, a starving artist. I'm an actor. This is a film, Winter Solstice, by Paramount Classics that has just been released in New York City and Los Angeles. It's starring my best friend, Mark Weber, who I grew up with, and he did have homelessness throughout his childhood. Some of you may be familiar with him. He's in this movie and I'm in this movie. It's being featured at the Philadelphia Film Festival. I also was able to go to the 3354 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET libraries and swim in the pools and do all of these great things that I heard us talk about all day today, and those are very important things that we need. But without a house, it's totally irrelevant. I came here with a bunch of homeless people that don't have anywhere to sleep tonight. We're talking about millions of dollars here for arts and culture, which I'm all for, but we need to put first things first and create affordable housing in Philadelphia now. Thank you. (Applause.)
Good afternoon. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Excuse me. Before you start, I'm trying to have everyone be given an opportunity to testify. A copy of 3355 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET your testimony will be given to the stenographer. It will be transcribed in full, and I would really appreciate it if you would simply make your brief remarks.
I will do that. Thank you very much for this opportunity, Council President Verna and distinguished members of City Council. My name is Ramona Riscoe-Benson, and I am the interim president of the African-American Museum in Philadelphia. I certainly appreciate the opportunity to be here with you this evening. This is my first appearance before you in this capacity, and I'm happy to be here. I should also add that our board chairman wanted to be here, Don Scott. Unfortunately he had to undergo surgery and so he will not be able to be with us today. This is an exciting time in the museum's history, and our organization appreciates the opportunity to thank our many supporters. I want to first acknowledge our museum board members, Councilman Frank Rizzo 3356 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET and Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, as well as acknowledge the support we have received, particularly over the last year, from Councilpersons Tasco, DiCicco and Blackwell. I want to acknowledge and give special thanks to the Commerce Director, Stephanie Naidoff, and also the Recreation Commissioner, Vic Richard, and his staff for currently providing a much needed facelift to the museum. In the spring of 2004, the museum's fiscal picture was bleak and the possibility that it could not remain in existence loomed large. In less than a year, incredible strides have been made and we are cautiously optimistic that the threat has been, if not eliminated, at least held in check while we vigorously pursue other avenues and make necessary changes. It was during the summer of last year that the board of directors took on a more involved role in the management of the museum. This enabled the board to put in 3357 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET place an interim structure that allowed it the time and flexibility to review the entire financial picture, identify areas of concern and engage a consultant to develop a short-term recovery plan that would address and resolve most issues. Implementation of the recovery plan is now underway. Subsequently the Board of Directors was reconstituted. Already the museum has completed audits for Fiscal Year 2003 and is finalizing its Fiscal Year 2004 audit, paving the way for expanded foundation and government support. We have also renewed past relationships with various stakeholders and initiated new ones. We have had a marked increased in individual and family organization memberships. The last four months have also seen an increase in the number of groups and organizations requesting space for meetings and events. We are also very excited that the museum was selected to co-host the state's Black History Conference, which Philadelphia will host April 21st 3358 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET through the 23rd. Through all of this we have not lost track of our primary mission, and that is to interpret and showcase the history and culture of African Americans and other people of African decent. Today art collections total over 750,000 objects, including the Jack Franklin collection of photographic images. In the next Fiscal Year we will celebrate our 30th anniversary, and we are looking forward to showcasing dynamic exhibitions of both national and regional interest. The museum is committed to restoring its previous partnership with the School District and helping public education implement its policy to provide a well rounded program in African American studies as an integral part of its total school experience. Currently we are able to accomplish this through school tours filled with story telling, gallery games and hands-on activities that incorporate an introduction to African American heritage, past and present.
3359 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET The African American Museum of Philadelphia is the region's single largest source of information and understanding of African-American history, culture and art, and is the only African American heritage institution open to the public six days per week, 52 weeks a day. The museum fills an important void in the arts community and we do so with a limited staff. They too represent a museum treasure, consistently offering their time and talent to keep the momentum going and remain competitive with other arts and historical organizations with far greater resources. We ask that the current level of City support be maintained in the new Fiscal Year. During the past 29 years, the museum has outgrown its space and much of the building has become outdated and insufficient. The lighting and HVAC systems do not meet museum standards and in the long run will be damaging to our artifacts and images. The museum's ability to develop and adhere to a sound business plan is impacted by the 3360 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET consistency of its funding allocation. It is crucial to AAMP's well-being that our funding from the City of Philadelphia remain. 8 percent of visitors to the City are African-Americans, and of those visitors, 54 percent have visited the African-American Museum. We should also note that 60 percent of our current visitors are school groups, with 40 percent coming from the Philadelphia School District. The endorsement of the museum and its offerings is staggering when you realize that our attendance is achieved with little to no marketing or promotional dollars for the past three years. We hope to increase our summer attendance through a small grant that we have received through GPTMC. For decades the Philadelphia community has depended on the African-American Museum in Philadelphia to showcase the value and beauty of a rich cultural heritage, while producing engaging, interactive ways to 3361 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET encourage all publics to learn to celebrate the arts and to discover the contributions of diversity. The museum has successfully met this mandate and many have been benefited. Annually the museum attracts visitors from across the Delaware Valley, the nation and internationally. Please visit our current events. We are highlighting the 30th anniversary commemoration of Odunda, Memories Go Round, which is an exhibition of Jack Franklin, Pieces and Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, which is our national exhibition. This museum has relevance, and with increased dedicated support it has the opportunity to become even more of a part of the City's future product vitality. The African American Museum in Philadelphia is a heritage treasure that deserves to be a 21st century museum for all visitors from within and to the City. Thank you for this opportunity to provide this testimony.
Thank you very much The Chair recognizes Councilwoman 3362 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET Brown.
Thank you, Madam Chair. As a member of the board, I certainly want to welcome Ms. Ramona Riscoe to these Chambers, and to let you know I'm sure Councilman Rizzo will echo my remarks that have been registered a number of times over my years here our interest in seeing the Afro-American Museum sustain itself. So trust that we'll do what we can to ensure the City's responsibility toward that end.
Thank you very much. If I take longer than four minutes I authorize you to cut me off. Council President, Members of Council who are here -- by the way, however, I 3363 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET would advise you not to time me by the clock behind me. It's an hour slow. I've waited three hours to make a very modest request. I would like to ask you to increase the budget of the Philadelphia Historical Commission by $125,000. That may seem like a minuscule amount of money to have waited three hours to testify about, and it is a miniscule amount of money in the size of the City budget. So why is it so important? This year Philadelphia will have a unique opportunity in historic preservation. For the first time in 30 years the Historical Commission will appoint a new executive director. Historic preservation has changed a lot in the last 30 years. As all of you know, it's a vital part of the economic development in the City. Hotels like the Ritz Carlton, the Lowes, all of the housing we see going on in Center City is a result of the adaptation of historic buildings to contemporary uses. Thousands of units of low and moderate income housing have been built using the Historic 3364 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET Preservation tax credits. Preservation is really economic development. It's just not about keeping pretty buildings. In order to get an executive director of the Commission who both knows preservation, but understands economic development to be able to work with developers, to be able to work with community groups, we need to get a first class person. The current budget suggests that the salary for the executive director will be lowered by $12,000. It's currently inadequate. The salary should be in the range of at least $100,000. So I'm asking you to increase the personnel budget of the Commission by $50,000 in order that we may attract a truly first class, highly experienced executive director. Secondly, when that executive director comes in, he or she will have a great many things to attend to. Many of these could be easily done by part-time contract services, not by necessarily having to add additional staff. Therefore, I'm asking you to add 3365 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET $75,000 to the budget for contract services. Let me give you just two quick examples. The Commission is totally antiquated in the use of technology. By the way, I did sit in the balcony while I was waiting, and the TV monitors work very well. But the Commission could use GIS, could use a great amount of computer technology that would enormously simplify its work. Secondly, the Commission now has four historic districts that have been nominated by homeowners who want to invest in their neighborhoods, about which the Commission is doing absolutely nothing. One of these districts has been nominated for two years. The Commission has done nothing to process this nomination. There are two others that have been submitted and two others that have made inquiries. A great deal of the Commission's work with these nominations could be done by part-time consulting staff that would expedite 3366 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET the Commission's work, and that's the reason why I'm asking you to increase the budget for contract services that would allow them to do this. $125,000 invested in the Commission will return an enormous amount of investment in Philadelphia through the way that historic buildings and historic neighborhoods are contributing to our City. Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak.
Amy Dougherty and Judge John Younge for the Free Library of Philadelphia.
Good evening, President Verna and City Council. My name is Amy Dougherty. I'm the director of the Friends of the Free Library of Philadelphia. I appreciate the opportunity to come before you once again on behalf of the library friends, members and patrons from across the 3367 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET City. As you are aware, the Friends of the Free Library's mission is to support the Free Library of Philadelphia through our affiliate branch friends groups who are volunteers promoting and raising funds for their library branch. Currently we have 38 active friends groups, about 10,000 members, and our 2005-2010 strategic plan outlines plans for a friends group at all 53 library branches by 2010. We want to thank City Council for the $1 million increase to the 2005 library budget for staff so that all branches could be open on Saturdays, although we understand that these funds never found their way to the library coffers. We also want to thank you for holding hearings on the library issue on March 17th in response to the large public outcry to reduction of library services in the neighborhoods. As the voice of library users, we are keenly aware of the role that library services play in the quality of life for our 3368 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET individuals and communities and in the ability of children, adults and neighborhoods to reach their full potential. We all know the only way we can be successful in life is we begin by reading. I want to briefly review some of the activities of library friends groups and supporters since the introduction of, quote/unquote, express libraries in January, and thank those of you who attended or assisted in these events. On February 12th we had our first large Love Your Library rally at Central Library, which attracted over 350 people and many area lawmakers. The beginning of March we had two Love your Library rallies, one at Wyoming Branch Library and one at Holmesburg Library, also attracting more than 400 people. We had testimony here on March 17th, and we filled the room to capacity. We presented City Council with 20,000 signatures on petitions asking for full six day per week service with accredited librarians at each branch. Hundred of letters, faxes and e-mails 3369 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET to Managing Director Phil Goldsmith, Mayor Street, City Council and to neighborhoods and City-wide media have gone out. We've held emergency meetings of friends groups to strategize how to make sure that the library is adequately funded. We want to guarantee that all Philadelphians have equal access to full service libraries with librarians, and are not left out of the opportunities available to others, including those families on the wrong side of the digital divide or children who attend under-performing public schools with no 15 libraries. For this reason, we are asking for an increase to the 2006 library budget by $5.5 million, for a total of $4.5 million for the library's General Fund. This will bring the library staff numbers back to the 2002 level of 660. It will open all branches for full day's service, six days per week, with accredited librarians. We believe that all citizens deserve this. In addition, we will be asking our state lawmakers to increase the state aid to 3370 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET libraries back to the $75 million level of 2002, which represents about $9 million for the Philadelphia system. We are also requesting that you let us know how we can help you to make sure that when you restore money to the library line item, the library will be able to spend these funds. Thank you for all of your efforts to keep library services, information and education accessible to everybody. We really appreciate the attention and the interest. That's all City Council has paid to this library issue.
Thank you so much. Let me say you're the first witness who made mention of the fact that the state lawmakers should also be increasing their funding to the libraries. For the last two years, as you know, the state did cut their funding. And I think it would be a wonderful partnership if the City and the state would both contribute to the loss of what we've seen. But I urge you 3371 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET to please keep up the fight with the state people.
Thanks so much. We do this every year and the state has increased -- since the 2002 cut has inched up state aid to libraries each year. So we're getting somewhere.
But they're still quite short, what, about $2 million?
Right. It's still short. I'm not saying that it's not. It's still short, so we're going to be speaking with them and have already begun to speak with them.
Certainly. President Verna and distinguished Members of City Council, good evening. My name is Ann Cohen 3372 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET and I am president of AFCSME Local 1637. With me tonight is business agent Fred Cummings. Local 1637 represents civilian employees of the Police and Fire Departments, the Department of Public Property, the District Attorney's Office, the Philadelphia Parking Authority and the Capital Program Office. We come here today in the aftermath of layoffs in the departments where we represent people and to comment on the proposed FY 2006 budget. In January the Police Department reduced its civilian workforce by 34 positions. The department cut 10 clerk typists, 14 police communications dispatchers, eight corrections officers, a storage worker and an automotive driver. Many of these employees have hired by other City departments and some have been recalled by the Police Department. In other departments where we represent employees we lost an additional 10 workers. As City Council proceeds with its budget deliberations, we ask that City Council 3373 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET take a long, hard look at the alleged savings of these layoffs, the real cost to the City in replacing these employees, and finally look at a long range plan that can actually save taxpayers money. Let's start with the Police Department. Of the clerk typists who were 9 laid off, seven served as CORAs, civilian 10 operation room assistants, civilian employees assigned to every police district in the City. These employees are responsible for preparing a variety of reports and processing critical paperwork related to daily police activities. Each and every time a CORA is not in a police district, he or she is replaced by a uniformed officer. By removing these seven CORAs, the City has assured that 1,820 times over the next year in various districts a patrol officer will be assigned to perform paperwork, instead of performing police work. With the City's uniformed workforce at its lowest level in decades, it makes no 24 sense economically or operationally to pay an officer to perform functions that could be 3374 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET more efficiently performed by civilian employees. Working side by side and performing identical functions, each uniformed officer receives between $10,000 and $20,000 a year more than a civilian to answer the phone, complete paperwork and maintain computer records. If this Administration is serious about saving money, rather than making a public display of cost cutting, it would restore the CORA positions and further civilianize operations rooms. 2 million each year. Clearly layoffs of these lower paid clerical employees has not saved the taxpayers a single dime. During the past years Local 1637 20 has come before this body many times to make 21 our cost savings civilianization proposals. 22 We hope that you're not tired of hearing us 23 sing the same old song. This year, as we have 24 seen the first layoffs in decades, and as the 25 financial future of the City remains unclear, 3375 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET the song sounds just a little sweeter. At a time when fire companies are being closed and library services are being dramatically cut back, can we afford to allow the City to proceed down the same money wasting path? City Council must join us in demanding that the City Administration take civilianization and civilian staffing seriously. We need to question the Administration on its planning and analysis. Having watched the budget process for many years, it appears to us that critical thinking and review has been glaringly absent this year. The layoff of police dispatchers is a good example. The department cut 14 dispatchers in late January. Of those, eight went to other departments after the Police Department had spent 15 weeks training them to work in 911. By March, the department realized it could not operate effectively and its reduced numbers of dispatchers.
The employees who were not placed in other departments were recalled. Currently, the 3376 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET Police Department is in the process of hiring and training new dispatchers. 4 While we applaud the department for 5 this decision, which will go a long way in 6 assuring the safety of the public and the 7 officers on the street, we ask you again, did 8 the taxpayers save any money? The answer is 9 no. 10 Ultimately the taxpayers will spend more to address a policy decision that was lacking in critical analysis. Other civilianization possibilities abound. Each and every one will result in significant savings for taxpayers. We have cited these examples for years. Briefly they include computer help desk functions, clerical supervision, radio room and police detention units supervision, and further civilianization of the Crime Scene Unit. But the Police Department was not the only department affected by layoffs. In the Fire Department, two clerical employees remain laid off, their duties reassigned to fire fighters and to other less senior 3377 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET employees. The rest of my testimony will stand as written. Except I'd like to just read the last two paragraphs. Finally, we must publicly decry the layoff of automotive interns and apprentices in the City's Office of Fleet Management. As we all struggle to provide viable career alternatives to the young people of Philadelphia, what lessons have we given to the high school students and recent graduates who got their pink slips in January? The union would like City Council to ask Mayor Street, as we have, how is it that you can hire summer law school interns and fire high school automotive interns? We appreciate the opportunity to testify before you today. We hope that City Council will take a real lead in researching and investigating the cost savings that can be achieved by comprehensive civilianization. We welcome the opportunity to be part of such a process. Thank you very much. 3378 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET
Ms. Cohen, how much was in the budget for the school automotive interns?
I know that you asked the Office of Fleet Management to produce that for you. I have not seen that. I know that the automotive interns who work hours a 9 week during the school year are paid $7.00 an 10 hour. How much can that be? 11
The next witnesses 14 are John Braxton and Linda Evans. 15
Good 16 evening and welcome. Thank you for your 17 patience. Please identify yourself for the 18 record and proceed with your testimony. 19
My name is John 20 Braxton. I'm the co-president of the Faculty and Staff Federation, representing 1,400 employees at Community College of Philadelphia. With me is Linda Evans, who is a part-timer adjunct faculty member of our union there. And thank you for all your 3379 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET patience. It has been a long day. We've been able to hear a lot of eloquent testimony ourselves. We're going to be brief. We have written testimony which we will be glad to have entered into the record.
We think it's pretty eloquent testimony, but we're hoping it will be even more eloquent if we just summarize it for you.
I will also just point out that during the few hours that we've been here, we've actually been able to get some grading of our lab reports and our homework done for our students, so in addition to hearing eloquent testimony, it hasn't been time wasted. We would like to make two or three basic points. We do appreciate the Councilmembers who have stayed this long. We recognize, and especially being here today, we 3380 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET recognize all the different constraints that are put on the budget here and on all the different very valuable functions that the City Budget has to take into consideration. We simply want to point out to you a few things about the Community College of Philadelphia situation with the funding. One is that it's our 40th anniversary, and that's cause for great celebration. But it's also cause for anxiety this year because for the first time Community College of Philadelphia students are being turned away. They're being turned away in part because their tuitions are rising so fast that they can't afford it, and they're also being turned away because college administrators are, as a result of the funding crisis, deciding not to open more sections of classes because those classes might not be completely filled. Therefore, students that want to take certain classes can't take them. And some of them are very basic classes. For example, people in nursing programs that want to get into nursing 3381 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET programs that have to take what I teach, biology, can't get into biology classes because they're all filled, and that delays their program for a long time. Linda teaches English, and the same thing is happening in English classes. So we would like you to just be aware that the affordability is providing an access problem that we have for decades been proud of being a full access college where anybody could come to the college and get a college education, and that's changing right now. We noted your comments about the library funding situation, and you appreciated that the person who spoke said that there was more state funding needed, and we want you to know that we're going to the state with this same set of issues. And we believe that some motion has occurred there. So we are hoping that this year or in the future, if not this year, that some more motion will occur from the City as well. So there's the affordability and access issues. Those are two issues really. 3382 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET And the third one that we want to remind you is the issue of poor pay for part-time faculty. So that we have a situation where 40 percent of all the credit sections at Community College of Philadelphia are taught by part-time faculty who are paid on the average well less than half of what full-time faculty would be paid to teach the same course. In fact, Linda has a flyer that's being distributed that says if the faculty are being treated badly, how does this reflect on the students? The problem is not that the part-time faculty are not highly qualified. The problem is that if they're running from one part-time job to another, they can't give it the same degree of attention. When Dr. Curtis testified, I know last year -- I wasn't able to be here this year -- he actually said part-time faculty are not paid to do office hours. Well, if they're not paid to do office hours, then students aren't getting that service. We realize that just for you to give 3383 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET the same amount of money this year as you did last year is a difficult thing, and we appreciate the fact that we're not hear saying restore the money that you're cutting. So we recognize that. But we also want to point out that when it's flat funded, what happens is that you actually have the City paying a lower percentage of the budget than it did last year because, of course, costs are going up for us. And that means that students are paying more.
So we appreciate your attention to this issue and we hope that in the future, if not in this year, it will be possible to provide more money for funding the college in general, and specifically, earmarked money for increasing part-time faculty salaries, which will benefit not only part-time faculty, but also ultimately the students as well, and that's what we're here for.
I don't remember the exact number, but I believe it's something 3384 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET like $97 a credit. We've had the highest tuition raises in history in each of the last two years.
I think Dr. Curtis indicated that and said that he fears that it may have to go up even more.
Yes. We're sorry to see that. One of the things that he indicated was that any help that can come will go directly to try to alleviate those increases. We really are all here to try to help out the students.
Thank you very much. Are there any comments or questions from Members of the Committee of the witnesses? (No response.)
No. No, thank you. John has said it. Help. We need money and we do a good job and we're just under served. We 3385 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET just need you to put this as a priority. Move it up on your list. I'm pleased to report that Senator Kuhl, who is the chairperson of the Senate Education Committee, and Representative Jesse Stairs, who's the Chair of the House Education Committee in Harrisburg, are very interested in our issue. We've been having meetings and hearings with them. We're continuing to make this happen. We just hope that Philadelphia City Council, don't be too far behind. It would be so nice if you would come out and take the leadership. Don't wait until the Pennsylvania House takes leadership on this, in which they do currently. So that's what I'll say to you. This community college is here in the City. It's not up in Harrisburg. Okay? As the Senator told me, he's from Schuylkill County. Senator Rose told me last week their local government does not even sponsor a community college, and that their students there need one. It's unheard of the fact that our City government does not fund it 3386 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET to its level. Oh, by the way, Senator Rose, he's a republican.
Good evening. You have been extremely patient. Thank you so much for waiting.
Good evening. Madam President and Members of Council. It's good to be back with you again. It's good to see you and to engage in this process where you hear the concerns and priorities of your people. I'm Frank Cervone, and I serve as director of the Support Center for Child Advocates. We're the volunteer lawyers program for abused children in Philadelphia. With me is Ourania Papademetriou from Women Against Abuse, and Ourania will be talking in just a moment. Ourania Papademetriou 3387 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET Tonight we represent the victim service agencies who serve this community of crime victims, and we seek your support to continue funding at the current level of $640,000 in Class 200 funding. This funding supports courtroom accompaniment and advocacy to more than 40,000 victims of crime. We received word from the District Attorney's Office, who is the conduit for this funding, that this funding stream will be cut by 5 percent, and we are troubled. Our programs are troubled to face these cuts. They would severely exacerbate the reductions in public and private funding we're already facing, and our clients and staff simply cannot sustain more reductions in programs and services. We ask you simply to maintain the current level of that funding this year. Ms. Papademetriou is going to talk about a client case that she's been involved with.
Just very briefly. As you know, last year there were 3388 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET almost 15,000 protection from abuse actions filed here in Philadelphia. That number is huge. But when you think about it, 15,000 petitions filed. That means each one of those people that came to court to look for service, to look for help, to look for safety, needed someone to stand beside them, to help give them the courage to move forward. Our agency, as the other agencies that come before you today, are there to help these victims. Someone who in the middle of the night is in fear for their safety and looks for help from the court, from the criminal justice system, from all of us need someone to stand beside them. Women Against Abuse provides this service. We have advocates in the courtrooms, each courtroom where there's a domestic violence case that's being heard. We are there to help the victims. We ask you to continue providing the funding that has been provided in the past so that we can continue to provide that service. Thank you.
Thank you. 3389 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET We are all very well aware of the wonderful work that do you. I guess the appropriations for this is in the District Attorney's budget, is it not.
That's correct. And we have communicated with them. Our intention to come before you and ask that the cut not be made, and Ms. Abraham has no problem with us making that request of you.
We haven't seen that, Your Honor. They put it back to us, Madam President.
In fact, Mr. McPherson is reminding that when she testified, she did ask for the restoration.
I'm thrilled to hear that. Thank you for informing us. We're a group of private agencies performing what is essentially a public function. When the City gets to privatize it gets to save money. What we would urge you 3390 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET not to do is to take advantage of us. Our staffs are working at below market wage. Our benefits are expensive to our agencies. We are reliant largely on volunteer support for much of our effort.
It's really a shame that an agency such as yours has to come in every year and almost beg, plead, implore for the funding. I remember years ago that we actually had people coming in on gurneys. Do you remember that? I don't if you were here. Do you recall that?
Yes, I do. We come every year. A board member of mine calls it the high dive into the shallow pool, that every year to get to the end of the Fiscal Year we have to struggle. All private agencies suffer this. But these victim service agencies have no natural constituency. Folks move on. Ourania's population, my population, these are poor people. Kids don't have money to give. The women who have been moved from their homes by violence, they're barely making it. 3391 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET They're barely making it. You've heard from many fine causes today and we certainly would not discourage any of them. We are a City of wealth and we are a City of need. We're a City rocked by gun violence. Those victims will be our clients. Your offices call us. Your clients and constituents are ours. We want to continue to serve. We will continue to serve. It gets increasingly hard each year.
We'll help in whatever way we can, I assure you. I want to publicly thank you for all the wonderful work that you do. Thank you so much. (Applause.)
Ms. Brill, 3392 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET good evening. For as long as I can remember you have come to just about every budget hearing. How many years has it been?
I don't know. A lot. And there are so many things that I could talk about because I'm involved in so many things in the City and have been a librarian with the City for many years. I'm just torn a million ways. But today I'm here to speak on behalf of the Northeast Philadelphia civic groups and Town Watches that are very concerned about the loss of the Municipal Services Center in Northeast Philadelphia at 9215-27 Roosevelt Boulevard. Last week we were here. We distributed letters to the Mayor and to City Council Members, and petitions have been distributed by many civic groups, and they've written to the Mayor, and we really have not gotten much response. So I'd like to just point out a few things that is in the letter that's being distributed. The genesis for this mini City Hall 3393 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET has served of the taxpayers of Northeast Philadelphia and citizens of the entire City well for more than years. 5 By the way, there's another 6 Municipal Service Center at 22nd and Somerset. 7 I believe they are also asking for the 8 continuation of their service. 9 The genesis for this service 10 occurred during the initial months of the 11 Administration of Mayor W. Wilson Goode. 12 There was a large community meeting at the 13 Northeast Regional Library. I was there. 14 Many other civic leaders were there. He said 15 he wanted to give us something that could be 16 done quickly and not be very costly. So 17 everybody said, gee, we could use a mini City 18 Hall here in the Northeast so that we didn't 19 have to travel 20 miles into Center City. For 20 many senior citizens that was hard to do. Well, that was accomplished in a very short time frame, and it has been going all these years. And over these past many years literally hundreds of thousands of our fellow Philadelphians have used the center. 3394 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET They've paid millions of dollars in City water and tax revenue bills and fees. In addition, many more thousands have received one or more of the services provided there, which includes the added benefit of permit issuance for local contractors and businesses that saves all day trips to Center City. Many of our seniors use this site and would find it difficult to travel to Center City to pay bills. The current site, which is in a shopping center, has from its inception been handicap accessible, centrally located, and has ample parking in the adjacent shopping center. If our information is correct, as we understand it, the current $50,000 expense for the lease comes from the budget of the Mayor's Office. Now, what we're asking, since the Mayor has cut this, is that we hope that other City departments such as Revenue or Licenses and Inspections, which receive revenue from the center, may pick up the cost. Other revenue enhancing ideas can and should be 3395 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET developed to keep this facility open. There are also other monetary benefits that accrue to the City. Individual stores in the shopping center where it's located have many customers who use their services from people who visit the mini City Hall. City wage tax for employees and receipts from the City portion of the sales tax are certainly tangible fiscal benefits. Also there's a location there of a City library, supermarket, restaurants and it makes it a very convenient site. As I said, we've been in touch with our state people. We've been in touch with other groups. Many petitions have been submitted and we're hoping you can get the $50,000 to keep it open. Since the announcement that it was going to be closing, the only service that's left is the cashiers. They've taken out the L&I services and the register of wills services. It's really hard for the people because they're not getting the benefit they've had for 20 years, and we're hoping you 3396 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET can find the money to bring it back.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Miller.
Thank you for coming in and bringing up the mini station. The 22nd Street station mini City Hall is actually in my district, and Councilman Clarke is just a block down. That's also a service that we've been fighting to try to keep open for many of the same reasons. It's in a business strip and it brings 500 people at least a day to those stores. So it's an intricate part of keeping that business strip alive. We've got many petitions and we've also requested the Mayor not to shut it down and to stop the diminishing services at this point.
We also surveyed the businesses in the shopping center. They're very upset because they really get a lot of people. They make a day of it. They come and pay the bills and then they go for lunch or something like that. It's a convenience for 3397 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET them too. We'd be losing all that. So we hope you can do that.
We will be looking into it. It was so nice seeing you, Ms. Brill. Thank you.
I am Leddy Thall, and I am here for the Maternity Care Coalition for Joanne Fisher, who unfortunately had a prior engagement this evening. I want to say I appreciate all of the Council people who are still here. You have had a long day. We want to take this opportunity to ask for money for next year, not this year, and to tell you a little bit about what has happened. We want to congratulate the City for taking seriously the problem of the dangers with safe sleep. With the leadership of the Managing Director, Social Services Director, the Department of Public Health and Human Services, the City has really responded in a direct and creative way. We've created a 3398 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET nationally significant public education effort. As a result of the advertising campaign that was developed jointly with DHS, we have seen how to develop culturally sensitive, literacy appropriate educational materials. Attached to everybody's testimony is in Spanish and in English brochures about safe sleep. We have responded to 3,000 phone calls this year and distributed over 1,800 cribs to needy families. But now, what do we do with this information as we have distributed and educated the community? As Commissioner Domzalski has noted, the City is conducting some real time death reviews when babies die within a co-sleeping context. So we can determine risk factors and prevention strategies. DHS also responded immediately by seeking our assistance, and in six months we have given 150 DHS involved families safe sleep education and cribs. But what about the families that 3399 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET aren't involved with DHS? What happens to them? Sadly, we do not have resources to adequately assess each family's needs and offer the support needed to prevent a new DHS case. As you may recall last year, with major City and federal funding cuts, Joanne Fisher was here saying that we would have to -- and unfortunately we did -- have to close both the Strawberry Mansion and Germantown Mom Mobiles. We're stretched thin asking when this crib crisis came along. We now have a waiting list of 175 seeking the Mom Mobile services. And this is without the cribs. About 124 of them are from the neighborhoods that the Germantown and Strawberry Mansion Mom Mobiles had served. So we want to just leave with questions, which is how do we get our City to see pregnant women and families of infants in urgent need of services? We've got a nine-month window. When we have waiting lists, whether they're for prenatal care or delivery, what do we do? 3400 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET We are just very pleased. We have a track record working with the Department of Public Health and Human Services. And when we learned that babies were dying, the City responded. And now that we can see an extent beyond a crib, we hope to work with everyone to solve it and let you know next year. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Thank you for your patience and your testimony. Our next witness?
Good evening, Mr. Mauer. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good evening. My name is Fred Mauer, and I represent the Friends of Tacony Creek Park, one of our five waterway parks that serves a tenth of the City's population. It is located in three Councilmanic districts. Our friends helped to rescue this park 15 years ago after the City 3401 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET budget was cut. The last capital project that we had for Tacony Creek Park was done 29 years ago to go to replace recreation facilities in the north section of the park. That was when Councilman Kelly was the advocate for us. Few pieces of the bicentennial equipment remain today because of benches being stolen and tables, and now the bicycle path is crumbling away. The 1976 plan installed three steel pedestrian bridges so that park users could use both sides of the park. In the 1987 park master plan, they recommended replacing a fourth bridge, which was never funded. This time, when Fairmount Park got the William Penn Grant for money and education, they actually spent money on demolition of equipment and actually the parking spaces. Two years ago, a non-employee of Fairmount Park, the natural lands manager, removed one of the pedestrian bridges without conferring with the Commission staff and with no public notice. That bridge had a capital 3402 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET life of 100 years, and it was the only way to cross over into a dead area of the park that is dead ended by the Amtrak railroad. It was never declared unsafe and it was not taken off the capital plan. It was a stupid manager's action of neglect. We appealed to the Park Commission and a bridge replacement was put in the City Planning Commission budget and approved in Fiscal Year '03-'04. Now, look, the Capital Budget this year has ended and the bridge has not been replaced. In fact, in this year the park removed the only public playground that was in our community. It was done without notice to the community or to the friends. They even trashed two new play horses that the friends had replaced as part of our work to make this park save and useable. Before Fairmount Park gives you some bull story that it was unsafe, I want to observe that they decided that they wanted no 23 playground. It was their choice and it was not supported by any study and it was not supported by any discussions with anyone else. 3403 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET They just took it out without notice to us. In this next Fiscal Year of '05 and '06 I see the budget to place a new playground but there's no mention of the bridge replacement. I think they're making a bait and switch game with us. The Planning Commission authorized the replacement bridge, and it had priority over all new plans. Yes, we do need a playground. Removal of the past one made it an emergency. I believe Tacony Creek Park is not getting reasonable care in the operations management or in its park assets. I ask City Council to take notice and have Fairmount Park fulfill its duty to replace the missing bridge and the playground. Thank you.
Thank you very much, sir. We appreciate your testimony. Our next witness?
Good evening. I'm Pauline Borkin, a West Philadelphia resident 3404 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET and a patient at Health Center 3, as well as the Health Center's Community Advisory Board. As such, I represent the over 30,000 patients who received healthcare last year at Health Center 3. Mr. Domzalski, the current Health Commissioner, requests $185.5 million for FY '06 to operate the Health Department. I'm asking that this amount be doubled to $360 million, and that a special committee be established to reallocate funds from other City departments in order to accomplish this goal. General Fund monies are being unfairly distributed to the detriment of the Health Department. Human services are certainly important, but is it six times more important than public health? Is the category, all others, three times as important as public health? I further ask that the 70 plus positions that were taken from the Health Department in November of 2004 be restored. It's especially concerning that at least 20 of 3405 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET these positions were front line care providers. For example, registered nurses. There are over 165,000 uninsured residents in Philadelphia. For the most part, these voters are employed contributors to the tax base who work in jobs where medical insurance is not provided. The healthcare centers of the Department of Public Health provide care for all Philadelphians who need it, without regard to the ability to pay for that service. I ask that the budget for the Health Department be increased to improve the care given to the uninsured. I also ask that a set percentage of the planned casino revenues be set aside to be spent on public health. Thank you.
Good evening. I'm William Borkin, a member of the community advisory board at District Health Center 3, as well as a patient of the health center. Health Center 3 serves the West Philadelphia community through filling over 400 3406 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET prescriptions a day and through its pediatric, adult, emergency walk-in, dental and specialty services and sees over 300 patients a day, over 30,000 patients a year. For some time this patient load has been performed by medical staff functioning at less than 50 percent. The healthcare staff, especially the nurses and nurse practitioners, are maintaining the patient level despite being less than 50 percent staffed. Each one is doing two to three positions' work. This causes staff burn out, increased retention problems, high turnover rates and, most critically, medical accidents and errors. I'm here to request that the over 70 healthcare professional positions removed from the health district in November 2004 be restored for a full staffing compliment. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Thank you very much for testifying. Do we have anyone in the audience whose name has not been called who would like to testify? 3407 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET Will you please approach the witness table? Good evening, sir. Please identify yourself for the record.
Good evening, Council President Verna. My name is Andre Butler. My name was missed on the list somehow. I represent the Philadelphia Unemployment Project. The Philadelphia Unemployment Project, first of all, we help people, as the name says, in the City and the region that need help getting jobs, whatever the job may be, whatever the income level is. We also see most of the foreclosure evidence in the City whom are foreclosed and we help them either get back on their feet, whether it be a lost litigation or whatever it is. I was here because I was an occasional member of Stan Shapiro's One Philadelphia Coalition. I'm here just to say a few words in opposition of the recommendation on the possibility of reduction of the Business Privilege Tax. 3408 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET As you've heard before I spoke, and as Stan Shapiro and Sharon Ward so eloquently stated earlier, and has been said up until now, there's an awful lot of services that the City residents need, and to be thinking about a reduction of Business Privilege Tax, of which businesses pay barely 8 percent of their income, I think is a bit financially irresponsible. Remember that we are now the sixth largest City in the country. We were fifth until Phoenix, Arizona passed us last year in May. We're losing our base of residents because they're moving. So if we're thinking about reducing a tax or eliminating a tax when our resident tax basis is not what it used to be, then that sounds a bit financially irresponsible. First let me also thank Councilman Ramos for being here. He supports our position and he helped us to get our other time at the podium last month. And Councilman Cohen, who also supports our position, who's unfortunately not here, but he made an 3409 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET eloquent speech the last time we were here, that this debate needs to be put out enough that people understand both sides of the issue. If the Business Privilege Tax is reduced, you're going to have an increase in property taxes. In simple words, we're raising taxes just to raise revenues. Not so much that the properties are worth more, but just to raise revenues. And in doing that you're still going to be increasing the possibility of foreclosures. As you heard, we have a thousand foreclosures a month, and some of those are because people cannot pay the property taxes. Those issues need to thought about when you're thinking about reducing Business Privilege Tax. I'll end by saying this. Councilman Clarke, I believe it was, when we were last here asked Brett Mandel, if we reduce the Business Privilege Tax, what should we do to help the City out? How do we make up the difference? Well, they are the wrong people 3410 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET to ask. Because the business people and the ones that are of the higher echelon in this City, they can afford to either live outside the City or they can afford to join health clubs. If the pools aren't open, they can join a health club. If the schools aren't the best, they can send their children to private school. If the police and firemen are reduced in rank and file, they can afford to pay for the best fire and police prevention for their home and businesses. So they are the wrong ones to ask. The ones to ask are the people that need the help. And the ones that need the help, as you've heard, are all the programs today that are being cut or might be cut or need help. We need to take a good look at understanding if we're going to reduce the Business Privilege Tax, which is barely, as I said, 8 percent of the businesses' income. Thank you, Council.
Thank you very much sir. Thank you. Is there anyone else that would like 3411 04/13/05 - FY '06 OPERATING BUDGET to testify? (No response.)
Seeing no 5 one, I thank you all very much. This Committee will stand in recess until April the 21st at 9:30. Thank you very much. (Council adjourned at 6:55 p.m.) - - - - 3412 C E R T I F I C A T I O N I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of Wednesday, April 13, 2005, were reported fully and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. RE: COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE _________________________ Lisa C. Bradley, RPR