COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Tuesday, April 7, 2009, 10:33 a.m. - - - Res. 090226 - Approval of revised Five-Year Financial Plan covering FY 2010 through 2014. Bill 090212 - Capital Program for six Fiscal Years 2010 to 2015, inclusive. Bill 090213 - FY '10 Capital Budget. Bill 090214 - FY '10 Operating Budget. COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT: Anna C. Verna, Chair Jannie C. Blackwell Darrell L. Clarke Wilson W. Goode, Jr. Bill Green William K. Greenlee Curtis Jones, Jr. Jack Kelly James F. Kenney Joan L. Krajewski Donna Reed Miller Brian J. O'Neill Blondell Reynolds-Brown Frank Rizzo Maria Quiñones-Sanchez Marian B. Tasco - - - V A R A L L O Incorporated Litigation Support Specialists 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 215.561.2220 215.567.2670 2 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET
Good morning everyone. Sorry for the delay. This is a continued public hearing of the Committee of the Whole. Mr. McPherson, who is our first witness? MR. McPHERSON: The first department is the Managing Director's Office. (Witness comes forward.)
Good morning. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Good morning, and good morning to the rest of the Council. I am Camille Barnett. I'm the managing director for the City, and it's a pleasure to be with you this morning. Since last year's budget presentation for the Managing Director's Office, this administration has refined our focus to four goals: The first is economic recovery and jobs. The second is enhancing public 3 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET safety. The third is investing in youth and protecting the most vulnerable. And the fourth is reforming government. To achieve these goals, we've undertaken a series of initiatives. As I discussed in last year's testimony, we have created four deputy mayors and a first deputy for administration to oversee operating departments. To strengthen these positions, the Managing Director's Office budget for Fiscal Year 2010 has been restructured. Previous budgets contained a scatter shot of eight divisions that crossed various aspects of City government. The 2010 budget has been streamlined to six divisions, one for each of the deputy mayors and first deputy and one for the new commissioner of parks and recreation this consolidation and reorganization of the budget better reflects reality. What I'd like to do is to 4 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET briefly describe the support that the Managing Director's Office provides for each of the deputies. For economic development, our first goal, the Office of Sustainability, composes the vast majority of economic- development portion of the Managing Director's budget. The total proposed allegation for this position is just over a million dollars, which is split between the General Fund and Grant Funds. The work of the Office of Sustainability is to constantly enhance the goal of making Philadelphia grow as a green city. Since continuing this mission in difficult times makes this goal even more important, we plan to fund nearly 57 percent of the projects of this division with grant money. For our goal of investing in youth and protecting the most vulnerable, the Office of Health and Opportunity composes actually a small portion of the Managing Director's budget. The proposed 5 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET allocation for this division is a little over $250,000, which is primarily the salary of staff members. For our goal of enhancing public safety, the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety gets quite a bit of assistance in the Managing Director's Office. The total allocation in the Managing Director's Office to support that deputy mayor and that goal is over $12 million; about half is in the General Fund and a half is in the Grant Funds. The operating sections of this office are some that, I'm sure, are very familiar to everyone on the Council, but these are funded through the Managing Director's Office. That's the Office of the -- the Criminal Justice Coordinating Office, the Office of Emergency Management, the Police Advisory Commission, and the Youth Violence Reduction Partnerships. We also have an initiative that supports both public safety and economic 6 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET recovery in this area, and that budget is the Office of Reintegration of Services for Ex-Offenders, formerly known as the Mayor's Office of Re-entry. This is where ex-offenders are offered the opportunity to learn new job skills. One other word on the Youth Violence Reduction Partnership: We will continue this program with significant investment in youth, and we sincerely hope that we will be able to expand that program through the use of recovery funds. 7 million is the General Fund and the rest are Grant Funds. These funds actually are only doing the following: They're combining two former divisions in our budget -- the Vacant-Lot Cleaning Program and 7 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET Graffiti-Fighting.
Collectively, they've been known as the Community Life Improvement Program, or CLIP, so this change really just reflects a reality on the ground that's been there for several years. As this New Neighborhood Services Division, the group of approximately 120 employees, will continue their work beautifying parts of the City ravaged by abandoned properties and graffiti. Between 2007 and 2008, this group increased the number of properties that they brought into compliance with property and sanitation codes by 30 percent, or a total of $10,500. They also closed 15 percent more vacant parcels, bringing the number of parcels cleaned to over 12,000. 6 million in professional services for tree removal and maintenance of Fairmount Park. An additional division will be 8 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET created to house the newly-formed Department of Parks and Recreation, which will be composed primarily of salary support for the commissioner. Since these functions are going to be integrated over the next fiscal year, we will probably see a change in this in the 2011 budget, but this is where that starts now. To keep deputy mayors and department heads focused on data-driven decision-making, we've conducted Philly Stat sessions for the past year. As you know, because I know that several of you have not only come and your staff have come, but for the record, I want to say that the Philly Stat sessions regularly monitor the progress of the departments against standards that have been set for their performance. Much of the data that we'll be able to use in the future of Philly Stat sessions will come from the newly-created 3-1-1 Contact Center. Philly 3-1-1 9 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET serves as a single place for the City to receive and record concerns from our citizens. With a single source of data the City can determine how well we're meeting the service-request turnaround standards that the departments have set for themselves. Though it's still a little early to determine service improvements, Philly 3-1-1 has allowed the City to cut costs by closing smaller customer-contact points in other departments, most specifically the City Hall switchboard and the Mayor's Action Center. To date Philly 3-1-1 has received almost 300,000 calls about City information and services. We've also gotten a lot of customer feedback on 3-1-1, which is generally positive, and we continue to make efforts to improve and offer new services. I'd like to take this opportunity to once again thank Councilman Kenney for his initial and 10 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET continued support of Philly 3-1-1. By the end of Fiscal Year '09, we expect Philly 3-1-1 to have cost approximately $2 million. The Class 100, or salary, monies have spent on the current staffing complement. There are currently 47 agents and trainees, 6 frontline supervisors, and support 10 staff. 11 Of our $630,000 spent in Class 200 are contracts. The largest contracts were for almost $250,000 for strategic planning purposes, $143,000 for customer-relationship management software, and $96,000 for training for call-takers. In the FY '10 budget, 3-1-1 has a budget request to bring us to full staffing. That request totals just over $3 million. The numbers break down to approximately $250,000 a month in fixed operating costs. This would represent a full complement of 57 agent trainees and 7 frontline supervisors and 8 support 11 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET staff. The Class 200, for contract budget requests for this, is for the maintenance of existing City contracts but not for new professional-services work. The primary drivers of this line are the customer-service relationship management software and the fees for telephone activities. The Administration has also created a series of reform teams comprising members of the private sector as well as a diverse array of City employees.
The teams have been asked to identify efficiencies and cost-savings to the City and have a specific focus on some of the longer-term reforms in these areas. The Reform Team's focus is on the City's a largest departments, with the intention of finding large-scale improvements that will provide greater leverage in service delivery and cost-savings. The Reform Team plans to 12 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET have a series of recommendations ready for this fall. Together, these initiatives will continue to create solutions that move us closer to achieving our four goals. 5 million is in the Grants Allocation Fund. This represents just over $3 million, or an 11 percent, decrease in the General Fund from the FY '09 budget. These savings were achieved through a series of cuts that were needed to help the City balance the Five-Year Plan, in response to this unprecedented global and financial cries. Approximately $460,000 of the cuts involve shifts from the General Fund to the Grants Allotment Fund. 8 million, consists of new potential 13 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET sources for non-City funding to maintain our service levels. If further cuts were to come to the Managing Director's Office through the initiation of Plan B, the service impacts would be severe. Professional and administrative staff would be cut from the Administration Division, thereby reducing the capacity of work that the Managing Director's Office could handle. This level of cut would also result in a reduction in the hours for a Phillies 3-1-1 operation, which would condense to 12-hour shifts on weekdays and Saturday and one eight-hour shift on Sunday. In addition, Plan B, in the Public Safety Division, would see a loss of a logistics planning coordinator in the Office of Emergency Management, a core position that oversees debris management, restoration of essential services, disaster logistics, and resource management, management and maintenance of the City's Emergency 14 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET Operations Center and emergency credentialing. There would also be varieties of reductions in the Youth Violence Reduction Partnership, with half the number of weekly visits to troubled youth, a decision that could make this vulnerable population much more likely to choose a life of crime. Our commitment to you and to the people of Philadelphia is to achieve these four goals while abiding by our core values of respect, service and integrity. We'll continue to make our operations smarter, faster, and better. I thank you for your partnership in these improvements and for the opportunity to testify this morning. I would be happy to answer any of your questions.
Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Councilman Goode. 15 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET
Thank you, Madam President. Good morning, Dr. Barnett. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Good morning.
The Office of Reintegration Services for Ex-Offenders, aside from the new name, what has changed in terms of reintegration services? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Okay. I'll ask Deputy Mayor Gillison. DEP.
to come up. We've examined new staffing patterns, and we also have some differences in the new programs, and he'll be happy to explain it to you in more of the detail. (Witness comes forward.) DEP.
I'm Everett Gillison, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety. 16 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET The model that we have adopted is a model that's a national model, where we actually target the numbers of people that we will be supporting. We are also looking forward to having a partnership with not only foundations to supply direct participation, but instead of the City doing the work itself, knowing that we don't have the ability to do that, we are partnering with direct providers in order to provide the services. We have a cap on the numbers of people available in the Managed Reentry Network; and as a result of that, our goal was to have 500 people being supported for an entire year, 250 of the most high-risk and 250 in the medium risk- categories, and making sure that they got into jobs.
In terms of targets, what are your specific targets? DEP.
What are your 17 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET specific targets? DEP.
We are looking at -- when you said the -- the category of assessments is where the targets are. And so, if a person comes in, for example, between the ages of and 9 24, that's the high-risk area deemed for 10 recidivism. We are also looking at the 11 numbers of convictions that they have, 12 and then the amount of time that they've 13 been out of prison is also one of the 14 assessment tools. 15 So using that particular 16 clientele or that cohort, that's who 17 we're trying to get to make sure that 18 they keep going straight.
So why you have targets is because you're trying to be more effective in terms of who you serve and target high-risk ex-offenders. Are there services offered to all ex-offenders? DEP.
At the 18 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET present time, the answer is yes, because we're still waiting for additional help with foundations coming forward. You are aware of a growing matter that we were able to announce, a partnership with Good Will, where Good Will is going to help us with the offenders that do not have any skills whatsoever. We will be able to provide a beginning operation for them to actually not only get paid but also learn some of the job skills that we're trying to teach in our job-readiness programs. So for the first 90 days, with an option for another 90 days, persons with no skills can actually come in, be part of the network, and actually get their skills-training at that time.
Specifically, if someone calls the office or someone stops by the office, what happens? DEP.
There is an assessment that is done. Since July 1st, when we started the Managed Reentry 19 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET Network, we have had approximately 1200 people actually come into the office. We have done the assessments and we have tried to begin the process of weeding them or steering them to the proper places. And we have currently -- approximately 391 were accepted for the Managed Reentry Network. So they would come in, they are assessed. If we are able to provide them with a referral to a place if we can't deal with them directly, which obviously we can't deal with everyone directly, we try to point them in the right direction. But by targeting, we should be able to have a better use of the money that we have available to us, and that's what the national models have shown us.
And what have been the budgetary changes over the last few years? DEP.
It started out -- I believe that we were trying to get up to $2.1 million. And we -- the 20 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET prison budget actually supports this, and it's at a $1.2 million level at this time.
Dr. Barnett, 3-1-1. You gave Councilman Kenney credit, for which I think he definitely deserves, but do you believe it's what Councilman Kenney envisioned, or is it what you envisioned? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Well, we're still working on it. In terms of getting 3-1-1 started, I think we have not only fulfilled our promise to implement it within the year's time, but we also did it in a time of severe financial cutback. When we look at our implementation of 3-1-1 with other major cities, we clearly did it better, faster, 21 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET and cheaper. And so I'm very pleased with the initial opening of the office. There are a lot of things that I think we can do with 3-1-1 that we're adding as we go through. We've been looking at connecting the systems for 3-1-1 with the work-order systems in the departments. That's happened in a couple of places, so it's just a lot easier to manage service requests on the back-end, if you can do that. The other thing that we're exploring is better access through the web. We've just now instituted web access to Philly 3-1-1, so anyone can go to the website, our phila.gov website/ 3-1-1. And you can get access to all of the information in the database. So if you want to ask a question about something in the City, you don't have to go through a 3-1-1 agent to do that; you can now access that information on the web. That gives us a great ability to expand our services and also a 22 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET real incentive to keep it updated. (Timer bell rings.) MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: The other thing that you can do on the web now is submit your own service request and get a tracking number. So people can do that without having to call. We still have people who need to call and want to call, and so we'll always have that as a part of the contact center. I do think that we'll be able to do some things hopefully in FY '10 to add handheld technology connected to 3-1-1, because that way, many of the people who are City employees or neighborhood leaders who are out in the community can take a handheld device and be able to get that information in realtime into the 3-1-1 system. So I think that there are improvements that we can make. I still have the dream of making 3-1-1 region-wide, so that if you're driving around and you need something and it's 23 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET not an emergency, anyone can call 3-1-1, and then we'll have a system to disperse it. I will say that we're a ways away from being able to do that yet. So those are the things I think we could improve on.
Just very quickly: How would you rate the percentage of calls answered? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: The percentage of calls answered, I think, is in the -- you know, within our timeframes, is in the 70-percent range at the moment. That's clearly below standard, and the reason that it's below standard is because we don't have the full complement of staffing. So if there's staff involved in the calls, they can't obviously take care of the other call. It's one of the reasons that in the next budget, we've requested the full complement of staffing for 3-1-1.
Thank you, 24 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET Madam President.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning, Managing Director. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Good morning.
It's good to see a project that's government-initiated move quickly, get completed. And, you know, I understand the problems of getting all of this, and I think the experience that I've had with it has been --
Okay. This is our next challenge (referring to Council chambers sound system). To be able see the system work as well as I know it can, but I have a 25 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET question about 3-1-1. Could you provide to the Chair the actual monthly fixed-costs? I know you -- in your budget, you talk about fixed costs in your statement here. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Mm-hmm.
But I'm curious about the monthly costs associated with the telephone company because -- MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: I'm sorry. I didn't hear you.
With the telephone company and other vendors that support the system. Do you have a feel for what the monthly fixed costs are to Verizon for 3-11? 'Cause I know 9-1-1 is supported by the telephone bill. People pay a surcharge each month for 9-1-1. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Well, we'll --
But 3-1-1 is not going to get any of that support; am I correct? 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: That's correct, although since the 3-1-1 Contact Center is the backup center for 9-1-1, a lot of the retrofitting of the building to handle the 3-1-1 Contact Center was funded by the 9-1-1 surcharge that you get on your telephone bill. I have those monthly numbers for you now.
Okay. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: So in terms of the detail of the monthly charges or operations for FY '10, you want me to -- I'll do '10 first and then I can tell what you it is currently.
Okay. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: That our proposal would be 2,743 -- I'm sorry $2,743,914 annually. The monthly cost is $228,659 and a half, 50 cents. And then the Class 200, or the contracts, are $260,000 annually. Approximately $21,666.67 27 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET monthly; that goes to Novo, which is our software, at approximately an annual cost of $160,000. Language translation lines at $50,000. And Verizon costs at $30,000.
That's 30,000 a month? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: No, no, no. Those are the total -- the total monthly costs -- the total annual cost is $260,000, which is made up of those numbers I gave you. The monthly cost is 21,000, or about 22,000.
And that includes the $30,000 annual from Verizon? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Yes, that includes Verizon at 30,000.
Okay. Let's go back to the organizational chart. I was a little confused yesterday -- and I think some of my confusion was cleared up -- about the structure of this 28 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET administration. The managing director is at the top here and the deputy mayors report to the managing director; is that correct? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: That's correct.
Now, the reason I'm asking that is, you're suggesting in your testimony that there might be a sixth deputy mayor; would that be Michael DeBerardinaris? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: No. It definitely won't be another deputy mayor. It's where we have put Mike DeBerardinaris's salary as the Commissioner of Parks and Recreation. I fully expect that that will go to the Department of Parks and Recreation next year.
So this sixth department will be the Department of -- MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: The sixth division is only for 2010. We'll present a different plan for 2011 when 29 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET we've got the complete consolidation of Parks and Recreation.
It says here, "An additional division will be created to house the newly-formed Department" -- MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Right.
-- "of Parks and Recreation, which will be composed of salaried support." That doesn't suggest a new deputy mayor. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: For the FY '10 budget, we needed to put the new commissioner's salary somewhere. Since there's not currently a combined Department of Parks and Recreation, we put his salary in my budget. I do expect that we will combine the Parks and Recreation Department, and so it won't -- it's only a temporary measure.
Terrific. Thank you for that. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Mm-hmm.
And 30 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET congratulations again on the launch of 3-1-1. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Thank you.
You're welcome. On of your detail, you're requesting three full-time positions at a cost of $2,983,000. That would indicate an average salary of $994,000 per person. Can you explain what's happening in the -- MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: I'm sorry. I missed the page. Tell me the page number again.
60. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: John, you want to help me with this. (Witness comes forward.) MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: This is John Farrell, who helped me put together 31 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET this detail, and I'd like for him to respond specifically to those items.
Good morning, Madam President and members of Council. If you look at the detail page, there are only three positions listed. The rest are expenditure transfers to other departments; these are actually positions that don't go through the Managing Director's Office, but the Managing Director's Office does wind up paying the salaries for them. They're listed in the line items below there. It's expenditure transfers from Licenses and Inspections where it's got the 16; that means there's 16 positions whose salary is actually paid out of the Managing Director's budget, but the positions are housed in the Department of Licenses and Inspections.
Isn't 32 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET there a provision that prohibits that in the operating ordinance, in the operating-budget ordinance?
I'm not aware of any, Madam President. This is simply to -- they're originally paid by Licenses and Inspections, and the Managing Director's Office reimburses those salaries to the department.
Could you tell me why that is the circumstance and why they are not paid by the department where they're working? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: They are. That's what this is.
Well, why are you paying -- why -- why isn't the 33 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET money appropriated to the department? Why are you transferring it to the department? (Witness comes forward.)
Steve Agostini, Budget Director. Councilmembers, I believe -- and I'm trying to get an answer to this. I'm not aware of the provision of it. If Charlie raised that as a question to you, Madam Present, there's probably something there, so I need to go look at it before I give you a response to that, so I'm trying to get some research on that. But I think, in many instances, there were a number of exempt positions that this administration inherited from the prior structure. They were allocated to the Managing Director's Office. 34 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET As you all know, the departments have certain caps on the number of exempt positions. Many of the positions that they're paying for from the Managing Director's Office that are then detailed to other departments are indeed in that exempt classification. But I'm trying to get you the detail right now so you know exactly what that is, what that looks like that. And that's -- as I understand it, it was sort of a custom administration that exempt positions were created in the Managing Director's Office and then assigned to various departments in the City.
I might understand Fairmount Park and MOCS, but what about L&I?
Madam Chair and Councilmember, I think it's the same thing, but I'm looking into that. We're trying to get an answer to that now.
Do you 35 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET think that we could get a response on that question before the end of the --
I'm going to try to get you a response this morning, Madam President.
Thank you. On , you're requesting $1.7 million for personal-services contracts. Can you tell us how these funds will be used? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: All of the items that you see on are for the CLIP program.
CLIP? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Mm-hmm. It's all under the division that we have for transportation and utilities and is managed by Deputy Mayor Rina Cutler.
And much of that 1.7 million, almost the entire thing is 36 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET (inaudible) --
Yes. The majority of that was what the budget -- or what the director described in her budget testimony, the 1.65 million that goes to Fairmount Park's tree-trimming program, is housed in that 1.7 million.
In the 1.7 million. And is that all tree- trimming?
Yes. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: It may be one of the things that changes when we have a combined Parks and Recreation Department, so we might be able to make that show more logically next year.
Also, you're requesting $7.2 million for transportation and utilities for FY '10, 37 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET of which $6.7 million is in the General Fund. Can you tell us what these funds are and why they are not included in your budget -- and why they're included in your budget? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: This is the new Neighborhood Services Division that is combining the former CLIP Program and the Graffiti-Fighting Program. It doesn't represent any change. There has been no reduction in this budget; it's just combining those two operations since they've been functionally combined for a while.
Is CLIP now operating in every section of the City, or is it still just in certain sections of the City? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: There are certain things that CLIP can do all over the City. And when we get a request through 3-1-1 or someplace else, if it's possible to move people there, we will. But it's still primarily focused 38 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET in the areas that it was before, particularly for vacant-lot cleaning. If there's some problems with abandoned cars or those kinds of neighborhood nuisances, it's often possible that we can use someone who's in the field for CLIP. But it is still not what I would call full citywide for all of these services. It would be, it makes sense to do it, but we don't have the funding to do it. We had to stretch just to keep the current funding level. So that's the reason the service is split as it s. (Addressing MDO staff.) And you may want to say something else about that --
Yes. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell for a point of information.
Thank you. Will that affect the -- this 39 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET grafitti removal, will this affect the Mural Arts Program? And if so, how? Let's hope not.
Thomas Conway, Deputy Managing Director. With regards to the budget, the $1.7 million was for tree removal and pruning. It wasn't in the Neighborhood Services Division budget; that is transferred. That was for the last request. With regards to graffiti removal and the vacant-lot cleaning, the budget's all been combined in the Mayor's Office of Transportation and Utilities. I think that kind of -- the Mural Arts --
Well, I don't know how transportation and utilities relates to Mural Arts and graffiti removal.
We're 40 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET worried about our Mural Arts budget; we love the Mural Arts. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Well, one of the things we can do to help the Mural Arts budget is to be sure that if there is a funding line somewhere where they can be funded, we put 'em there. So Mural Arts is actually funded out of several different places in the City's budget as well as, I'm sure you now, by private funds that are donated to the Mural Arts Program. I believe it's our job in the Managing Director's Office to keep that program alive and healthy, and we're doing all that we can to make sure that not only the existing funding but also any new monies that might be associated with recovery that are available for Mural Arts, that we use that. So it's high on our list to be sure that it gets adequately funded.
And my last point on this issue is, if you gave 41 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET 'em at least 50 percent of the 1 percent art, we wouldn't have to have these discussions. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: I think you're right.
Will you consider that? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Gary Stoyer is heading up that particular cultural arts activity, and I know that he's in conversation with several of the people who are funded through the 1 percent for the art, and I believe he will have recommendations for you on that in a few months.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Sanchez for a point of information.
Thank 42 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET you, Madam President. In last year's rebalancing, there were several cuts that were made to CLIP. Can you describe what they were, and can you give us an estimate of the reductions of the types of services you were offering that you did last year? because even though in this year's budget, there's no further reductions, I want to kind of put it in context last year's reductions.
And if you don't mind, I still am trying to get an explanation as to how CLIP is presently working. Is it citywide? And if it is, where are these employees housed? I'd like some information. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Okay. So let me just give you an overview, and then Mr. Conway can answer some additional questions. The CLIP currently operates in over a third of the City, and it's 43 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET expanded geographically when resources become available. The program, of course, as you know, started in one Council District, but as a compliance of property maintenance codes arose, the program was expanded to four additional Council Districts -- the 6th, the 10th, the 7th, the 9th, and parts of the 5th. Although CLIP is not a full citywide program, it is responsible for helping the police department in writing violations for abandoned vehicles located on private property citywide and for writing violations and managing the Vacant Lot Program and graffiti-abatement teams citywide. So that's the distinction. It's not -- there are only certain services that we're able to offer citywide. I think CLIP is probably one of our better programs, and I wish that we could operate it citywide, and we will as soon as we have the funds to do so. 44 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET
Yes. Councilwoman Sanchez, are you satisfied with your -- with the answer that --
No. You know, I still want to know the reductions of last year's budget because even though it's been stated that there's no new reductions, in the Rebalancing Act, there was a serious level of reductions, so...
The budget was reduced $929,000 from last year. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: And maintained at that reduced level for this year.
So what does that translate to in terms of your ability to abate properties, vacant lots, graffiti? Your service context.
Well, basically, it will curtail our activity abatement portions of writing the violations and 45 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET stuff, but I think with the combined efforts and compliance rates rising, we can expand to other areas, and we don't have to abate as many properties when people do comply with the --
And how many do you think you're going to do with your reduced budget?
Can you submit to the Chair your activities by line item and where you think these reductions are going to take you in terms of your ability to intervene on all of the different pieces?
And I say this 'cause I have an increase of activity and needs in the lower 46 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET northeast, and everybody is extremely concerned about what this means. I'm glad that we're able to do some citywide stuff, but I want to see what the service cuts really mean, how they translate in this context of lack thereof.
The Chair recognizes Councilman Green for a point of information.
Thank you. Mr. Conway, while you're there, you mentioned this would impact your ability to write fines, I think I just heard you say. But how many fines are you -- how much in dollar-value in fines are you responsible for writing?
Targeted violations. Roughly, we recoup about a half a million dollars through violations through L&I as well as tickets, CVNs, 47 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET with the Streets Department.
Basically what happens is, we need to bill the property for the cost of the cleanup. If they don't pay the bill, we do lien their property for the cost. Just recently, we've been inundated with calls regarding the lien process is working. People are responding to the request to pay the 48 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET liens now, which is good. They're asking for the violations and so on and so forth, which is, the process is working, which is a nice --
Great. It'd be nice to know -- since it's a lien on the property, you're likely to get paid, so we can count that money, unlike other fines and fees the City writes that has a very poor collection rate on? So, you know, what the total value of that is, and if you're not going to be able to write as many violations, then obviously, you know, we have to look at that.
Yeah. I think the violations will be written; we just won't be able to abate as many properties as we have in the past.
Which really solves the problem as to what the community wants and, obviously, what the Council wants. 49 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET
Thank you, Madam President. And after my five minutes, I want a point of information so I can take another ten minutes. (Laughter.)
How you doing, Dr. Barnett? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: I'm doing fine.
Good, good. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: How you doing, Councilman?
You, in your testimony, referenced the fact that you, in your previous budgets, broke down 50 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET government from eight divisions to six divisions, and I would like to know, which divisions did you eliminate? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Okay. So I have the divisions that we had last year -- or this current year. The divisions that we had in the Managing Director's Office were: Administration. Municipal Energy Office. Graffiti-Fighting. Office of Emergency Management. Police Advisory Commission. Vacant-Lot Cleaning Program. Targeted Assistance Program. And Criminal Justice Coordinating Office.
So you eliminated -- MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: What we did was to take these activities and reorganize them by deputy mayor so that the support for the deputy mayors was clear in terms of what the Managing 51 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET Director's Office does. And so all of these programs were reorganized so that it's clear what the Managing Director's Office actually does.
Okay. In your -- thank you for that clarification. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Mm-hmm.
In your testimony, you also referenced Reform Team made up of private-sector and City employees. First of all, who is on that Reform Team? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: I thought you might ask that. I have a list, and I'll be happy to provide it; it's a lot of names. What we have here -- let me tell you which reform teams that we have: We have a reform team on Police. One on Fire and Emergency Medical Service. One on Prisons and Criminal 52 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET Justice. Another on Human Services. One on Education. One on Energy and Sustainability. One on the development process. One on Streets. One on administration and technology. And one on customer service. We have a private-sector outreach board, which is a group of private-sector individuals who are helping us recruit people to serve on each one of these teams in the private sector. They serve with a deputy mayor or another senior leader of the organization so that we avoid the problem of having a report that nobody implements. So they're working together so that we can use experience and the new eyes and fresh approach from the private sector but also grounded in reality so 53 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET that they can be implemented. The members of the private sector outreach board: The chair is (indiscernible) Selnick, who's from Diversified Search. Daniel Fitzpatrick, who's president and CEO of Citizens Bank. J. William Mills, President of PNC. Michael Pierson, President of Union Packaging. Rosemary Turner, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of UPS. And Harold Yo, Chairman and CEO of Day Zimmerman. In addition, each of the reform teams have private-sector members, and I'll be happy to read them to you, or I'll send them to you.
I would appreciate if you would provide that to members of Council. My concern is that the -- and I know some of those names, and they're 54 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET great people, accomplished in their respective disciplines and businesses. But some diversity, by way of approach and perspective, is equally important in my mind. And then the question begs itself: What happens to the recommendations? And do they have labor-relations impacts? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: There are two points there that I'd like to respond to. First, if you have particular suggestions of people or perspectives that you want included, I would be very interested in getting it. This is meant to be an inclusive process, so any additional suggestions that you have are most welcome. And we're certainly at the beginning of this process, so it's not too late to join. And that certainly is for all of the Councilmembers: I'd be happy to get 55 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET some ideas about different perspectives. And we're generally thinking that the recommendations would be ready -- the major recommendations would be ready in the fall. But if we see something that needs to happen, and can happen, we implement it immediately. We are very cognizant of any labor-relations impacts and will work cooperatively not only with our Labor Management Steering committee but the unions as they want to participate.
'Cause in our discussions, we happen to talk to members of City staffs, inclusive of the labor unions, and they have some interesting perspectives -- (Timer bell rings.)
-- on how things could get done cost-effectively, and I want to make sure that those voices are heard as well. And I will hold the rest of my questions -- oh, one another -- 56 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco. And I would ask each member to please abide by the five-minute rule because we have just about every Councilmember that wants to ask questions.
Okay. Mine will be very short, I'm sure. Good morning. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Good morning.
Thank you for servicing my area, my district. He's very responsive, Tom Conway. On of the detail, there are some cuts, and I'm interested in the 57 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET Town Watch services; has that program been totally cut? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: No. 5 It's -- well, actually, I think it has now that we've gotten -- Deputy Mayor Gillison is coming. I think you remember that in the Rebalancing Plan, we cut it halfway, and we've continued additional cuts. So more of that is going to have to be done through volunteers and paid staff. Deputy Mayor Gillison will respond specifically. (Deputy Mayor Gillison returns to witness table.)
Okay. I guess I should ask, what is the budget for the Town Watch services? How much has been cut? And how much do you think that they will end up with at the end of the day? DEP.
The exact -- I'm sorry Everett Gillison, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety. 58 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET Town Watch was cut; it was cut approximately 40 to 45 percent from -- during the rebalancing. It was then maintained at the same amount as we went forward for the next year. We are trying to target what we do with the money that we have by keeping the block captains and keeping them not only involved but using utilizing a couple other technology ways to organize them in a different way than they were before. I have -- because Town Watch is under my purview, I've been also able to use the Office of Emergency Management and their ready-notify P.A. in order to begin to using e-mail and electronic ways of communicating not only with each other but with the police and the police department. So by taking more of a holistic approach to the limited resources that we have, we're trying to get more bang for our buck by keeping them involved. 59 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET I also want to take and use the Fire Department to bring those block captains as well, to be able to train them not only for policing with eyes and ears, but also looking out for each other's neighbors when a fire should happen or at least fire prevention services. So we're trying to really have a different kind of approach to Town Watch. It's not just going to be block captains and eyes and ears, but expanding it to all of public safety. And I understand, even talking with the Managing Director and with Deputy Mayor Rina Cutler with the Streets Department, expanding their capabilities as well. So we're trying to pool as much as we can to help our citizens help us do -- deal with the government.
Okay. Thank you very much. Also on , Madam Managing Director, you have a number of Grant 60 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET Funds listed. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Mm-hmm.
Could you give me some idea what these programs -- let me be just more specific. What -- what is Solar Cities? I imagine -- and Open Space? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Mm-hmm.
I guess they would be the two that I would be interested in. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Solar Cities has to do with our Stainability Program -- and I'll ask Mark Allen Hughes to come and respond to that -- and also to the William Penn Foundation's Stability Plan.
Let me respond first 61 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET on the Solar Cities America Partnership. That's a U.S. Department of Energy grant for $200,000 as well as some further in-kind from external partners to the City that is helping us expand the amount of solar energy in the City, that's actually deployed and built in the City. It's a two-year grant, and we're managing it through the Mayor's Office of Sustainability.
Okay. What about the William Penn foundation open Space Plan?
Now, the Open Space Plan is actually different. That is not directly under the control of the Office of Sustainability, but I could speak a little bit about that, which is -- it's supporting the work of the Green Plan, which is an Open Space Plan that has been underway for several years now, and this is the last piece of it, as they kind of land that big effort over the last several years and produce a report. 62 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET We're also using -- in our larger sustainability plan, we're using some of the findings of that Open Space Plan.
I just have one more question. You talked about the trees in the Fairmount Park. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Uh-huh.
Was that -- would those monies go to Fairmount Park in the next year? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: That's what I expect, yeah. There's no 19 particular reason they're in the MDO budget, so when we combine the two operations, we will probably have a new recommendation on the placement of those funds.
Mm-hmm. So now, if someone wants a tree cut. 63 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: They still call Fairmount Park. It's just the funding --
The funding? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: What it is, we transfer the funding from the Managing Director's Office to them to do the work.
You're welcome. Oh, before I recognize the next Councilmember, I understand that the budget director has a response to the question that was asked earlier.
Yes, I do. Thank you, Madam President and Councilwoman Tasco. With respect to those positions, the $3.4 million that was a question on , there are 116 positions that are 64 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET in three other departments: 92 positions in MOCS, those are all exempt; in 4 Fairmount Park; and 16 in Licenses and 5 Inspections; those are not exempt. 6 These are transfers of 7 expenditures back and forth between the 8 MDO and the departments. We settle up quarterly. We do notify Council on a quarterly basis that we are providing that. If it's the desire of the Councilwoman and the President, we will get you copies of those requests to settle those funds. And the reason this has been done, as I understand it, is that the sort of infrastructure in CLIP in terms of doing timesheets and doing the management and the supervising of those individuals is not sufficient, and so it made more sense to put them in these departments directly. And that's what I understand has been the case for sometime.
Thank 65 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET you.
Thank you, Madam President. Good morning. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Good morning.
First, on a light note, Doctor, you had mentioned, I think, in your first question to Councilman Goode about you vision down the road of being able to be in a car and handle a device to call 3-1-1 -- MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Oh, I --
-- and, obviously, you wouldn't do that while driving, right? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Oh, certainly not. And no cell phone either.
Okay, 'cause that would be against the law. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Yes, 66 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET that would be --
And we certainly don't want that. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: No. And that would certainly not be my recommendation.
Okay, all right. Just checking on that. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Yeah. Pull over.
Thank you. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Or do it while you're walking.
Okay, that's good. I just had a couple of questions on the Neighborhood Services Division. A lot of 'em got answered, but you mentioned in your testimony a group of approximately 120 employees will continue the work. Is that -- is that less than the combination of the two divisions, or are we talking about less people now or -- 67 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: It should be the same about --
About the same? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: There's been no cut from the Rebalancing Plan till now.
Okay. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: So it's approximately the same number of people.
It's approximately the same. MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: (Addressing MDO staff.) Do you want to respond? They said I was right.
Okay. And I think Mr. Conway said that one of the things that would be less is the abatement. How about the actual -- some of the other things that you do; will 68 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET that be lessened, if you could tell me?
With regards to enforcement, there will be probably, most likely, the same amount of violations written.
The abatement for the -- MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: What's that acronym mean?
Right. Okay. So other than that, it would stay about the same.
Yeah, it would stay about the same. Just the abatement will be cut a little bit. 69 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET But, hopefully, with community service workers and getting other people to join in with the cleanups of the neighborhoods, we won't need as many abatements on private properties.
And, again, it's about compliance. If we write the violation, the whole thing is to make them comply with their own violation.
Mm-hmm. And I agree with what everybody else has said: The program seems to be working extremely well.
Last question on tree-removal maintenance. This is basically what Fairmount Park has 70 4/7/09 - COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - 2010 BUDGET been doing before, right? MANAGING DIR. BARNETT: Yes.