They could be offices also listening to everything that we say and they are on call. This is a continuation of the committee hearing so they will be in tune.
I understand that. And thank for your attention. It's great to be in a place where the citizens have an opportunity to have input in the governing of our City. I am testifying on Bill 17 010373 speaking as a citizen that just happens to have the training and experience as a licensed real estate broker of nearly years. It is my civic 20 duty to participate in the governing of our City. I take that duty very serious and I wish the Councilpeople were too, the ones that are not here present. Because we have very limited community block development grant funds, we as a citizen must 168 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373 use best practices in spending tax dollars. Whenever I come to a hearing I say that and I just wish that we would move toward that. I want to refer to some legislation. The Neighborhood Transformation Initiative is not a new initiative. I want you to please refer to Resolution which was 9705311 which appointed a select committee on land management and reuse. This legislation is from June 1997. All Councilmembers sponsored this resolution except Clarke and Goode because they were not in Council at that time. So I want to know why are we acting like the Mayor has invented something new. I really am very much interested in the plan. As stated, in the director's John Kromer's report for Year 27, it is expected to be a transitional year as the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative is implemented. I contend this is a perfect time to stop the business as usual. If you all are truly serious, you would not allow projects to be financed with the limited funding that have not shown impact on improving quality of life. A cost benefit analysis should be performed on all of the projects in the pipeline per the Director's 169 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373 report. And I'm going to refer now to amendment to Bill No. 00334, and that's amendments that Councilman Nutter made to last year's Community Block Development Grant. And in that he requested that OHCD -- and I'm looking at Part 2 of Section 8 Part 2, I'm going to refer to letter C, OHCD should provide an explanation of how low and moderate income residents and families in each area throughout the particular councilmatic district affected or served will benefit from each project. And all D is an explanation of how minority residents and families in each area throughout the particular councilmatic district affected or served will benefit from each project. Then just to further expound on what Councilman was looking for, it said, it shall be the policy of the City that beginning in Year and 19 each year afterwards the City will consolidate 20 administrative functions associated in each agency 21 participating in the Community Block Development 22 Grant Program in order to avoid duplication of 23 service and reduce administrative costs. 24 I left a copy in the package for each 25 person to refer back to because I would like to 170 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373 specifically draw your attention to the pipeline that was presented from the Director's budget. On that, there is one project in particular that I am definitely concerned about. And I'm here today to really just open up this project. I brought pictures and those are the pictures that I have presented you. It's the PCCO 3S project. That project I am really requesting that this Finance Committee and all Council people analyze those pictures and tell me how that is a value to our community. It's very shoddy work. 9 million was spent on that project so far. They want to move forward with additional one million per the pipeline report here, and I just know as a citizen that that is not what the Mayor or any Councilperson should be allowing to happen with such limited resources. I went to that block. I talked to a person. She didn't know. She allowed me in her home. I took those pictures.
This women had written all the way to the President of the United States because the work was so shoddy, she couldn't get any feedback or anybody to listen to her here in the City of Philadelphia. She had to write down to Washington, and only then did somebody from here in Philadelphia 171 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373 handled her problem. But she still has a problem, as you can see photos. I am very concerned about it. I researched this project. I talked to the executive director or whoever this gentleman who has run this project and I am very concerned about it. I want this to be analyzed by you all for cost benefit analysis and I want it done as soon possible because they're talking about moving forward. So in that package I have the agreement. I also have the overview. And this project definitely should be better examined because it's no way that the limited resources we have should be squandered like this. And whatever I have to do to make sure that we don't continue down this road, I am definitely going to do it. That's why I'm here today as a first step. And I did speak to my Councilman Clarke about this and presented him with these same photos. It's in my district, the 5th District. I am very concerned that we are being allotted with this money and it's not being used as it should be. And I'm very concerned and I want something done about it as soon as possible. I talked a little bit -- and I'm just going to leave that alone because I'm sure that we 172 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373 will talk about it further because this is supposedly moving forward in the second phase. Just some solutions, because I don't want to come down here always sounding like I'm real angry because I not. I had a great time. I enjoyed the Sixers and everything last night. But this is really serious stuff and I really wish that we could move forward with really truly transforming our community as the Mayor claims he does and the Office of Housing and Community Development also. One thing I agree very much with the Director on his nine ways to create more resources. And No. 9 was to consolidate all of the agencies or merge the resources so that you don't duplicate services and that you could try to reduce some of the administrative costs, because from what I understand, a substantial amount of the monies that come into the City, Community Block Development Grant moneys is used for administrative cost and the payback of 108 loan. That leaves very little to go into the programs. In addition, when you squander money like this POCO Program then that just limits it even more. So that's why I'm so concerned about it. Also on -- I'm sorry, 97, there 173 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373 is another project in my community which I am not aware of and I would like to get more information about. That's the Susquehanna project for a nursing home or some type of seniors home. I would like to find out who is the entity requesting that this project move forward and I would like to get any additional information my Councilman or anybody else can give me. I want information about research on need for that, et cetera. Also I saw on , 1500 block of Diamond Street also in my district, resources were use to help PHA rehab properties. I'm little concerned about that because I understand PHA gets more money from HUD than OHCD does or a substantial amount and have been for 30 years or more. Why would limited resources from OHCD have to be used to help PHA rehab anything that they have especially when they were supposed to be managing these properties for the past 30 years. You know, I'm not trying to act like I'm so smart, you all, but I'm just a basic citizen with a little bit of knowledge of real state. These things are not adding up to me. I'm one citizen, but when I talk to people who don't have time to 174 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO.
010373 take off from work and come down here in front of you all, they say the same thing to me. They just can't understand what -- there's some disconnect here. All this money being spent. I can tell you maybe we need to privatize the situation if you cannot get any better bang for your buck than what's going on here. " But they don't have time to come down here and take away from their business to back it up. But I'm going work on getting some of that support. Also, basic system repair, we're talking about doing all these things to transform our community and all of the programs that are preservation-type programs have a backlog, every last one of them. And that's the reason why some of my houses that are being lived in are in such disrepair because these people don't have resources and they are waiting so long for those resources to come from the City of Philadelphia. So I really am concerned that more money is not put in the basic systems repair programs and other types of programs when you have more money going towards housing counseling and other areas which I as a licensed 175 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373 real estate broker am charged with counseling by law. So I'm trying to figure our why unlicensed people are getting training for like predatory lending, for instance, when I am a mortgage broker that have skills and knowledge of that and I probably could not be qualified as a counselor because OHCD has already designated X-number of counselors. I thought they knew about predatory lending, but now we're finding out that they're now going to learn, they're going to be trained. I found that very interesting as a professional that is well versed in all of those subjects. Thank you very much today for hearing me out. I will definitely be following up on these issues and I would like to get some answers from the Director, my Councilperson, and the members of the Finance Committee before you move forward to vote 16 to 0 or 7 to 0 body that we move with this program. These things definitely need to be looked at. And I thank you very much for your time.
Thank you, Ms. Robinson. With respect to two of the questions that 176 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373 you posed, I agree with you on the basic systems repair program that there should be additional funding. And I also think that we also have more flexibility in that particular funding. I would like to see the potential of a facade treatment program. Sometimes properties in some of these communities that happen to be a block where we're new housing, we spend a substantial amount of money for the new housing but those individuals in that block probably should be in a position to get something very minimal such as some facade treatment or new paint on the front. So I'd like to see us seriously think about coming up with a strategy that can treat, at a minimum, aesthetically the properties that exist in the area where we're doing development. And I actually had some discussion with Mr. McIntosh and Mr. Mackell (ph) about that and we'll be looking into that. Fifteenth and Susquehanna, the senior citizens facility that is mentioned in the Year 27 Plan came about as a result of a series of meetings that were had at Colorado Community Center that was sponsored by the Susquehanna NAC. In every particular meeting there was a request for the City 177 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373 and the Councilperson and currently the state rep, but at that time the director NAC to come up with a strategy to supply senior citizen housing in the community because they felt there needs were solely under-represtned. So as a result that, we had forwarded that request to the Office of Housing and they're in the process of acquiring a site. And I hope in the very near future we will be putting out a request for proposals for the development of that site either as a 202 or as a tax credit senior citizen facility.
I was going to send you a written response. 178 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373
Thank you again, Ms. Robinson. Kelly Shepherd, the Pennsylvania SIDS Center, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome representing Roseanne English. Ms. Shepherd, please identify yourself for the record and begin your testimony. Thank you for your patience.
Good afternoon. My name is Kelly Smith-Shepherd and I'm the Support Coordinator from the Pennsylvania SIDS Center. I'm here representing Roseanne English, our Executive Director. Infant mortality is a serious problem and a public health concern. Of the 22,000 babies born in Philadelphia each year, over 300 die before their first birthday, a rate of 12 percent per 1,000 live births. Among major cities, only Washington, D.C.; Detroit and Baltimore have higher rates. The City of Philadelphia is one of 15 communities participating in the federal Healthy Start Program, a federally program managed by the Philadelphia Health Department that was created to help reduce infant mortality in 15 American communities by 1996. 179 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373 The local Healthy Start area is West and Southwest Philadelphia, community groups, health care providers, local government and other concerned groups and individuals work in partnership to remove barriers to adequate levels of maternal and infant care among low-income families. The Pennsylvania SIDS Center was established to respond most single common cause of infant death, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, SIDS. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, SIDS, also known as crib death is the number 1 cause f infant mortality between the first week and first year of life. SIDS, defined as sudden unexpected death in what seems to be healthy baby which remains unexplained after the performance a complete post-mortem investigation, including an autopsy and examination of the death scene and a review of case history. Each year approximately 175 infants in Pennsylvania die from this mysterious killer. The Pennsylvania SIDS Center provides bereavement counseling and support services to families in Philadelphia following sudden unexpected death of an infant or child under two years of age. The majority of our families served have suffered 180 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373 from SIDS, Sudden Infant Death. Other families have suffered from infant death due to other sudden unexpected causes such as acute infection and fire and accidents. Last year the SIDS Center provided 184 families who live in Philadelphia. The SIDS Center is a lifeline to help these devastated families. Our service include 24-hour hotline, the SIDS Center will respond to 3,295 telephone calls last year, crisis intervention, in-home counselor visits, parent support group meetings, peer counseling programs, information resource center, education and training of professionals, community education and public relations, referrals for specialized services. Nowhere in the State of Pennsylvania are the services of the SIDS Center more strongly required than in Philadelphia. Our contract requires that at least 51 percent of our beneficiaries who we service shall be below very low or low or moderate income. 90 percent of our families in Philadelphia were from very low, low or moderate income households. The severe and prolonged bereavement reactions observed in poor minority groups suggested that this is an extreme 181 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373 high risk population. The Office of Housing and Community Development has long recognized the need for us to service these poor families. We are sincerely grateful to the Office of Housing and Community Development for your support over the last years. Each year we 8 continue to surpass our production goals for 9 counseling. Although we are planning to continue to 10 provide these essential serves to Philadelphia 11 families, we are faced with major financial 12 cutbacks. We thank you for you recommended allegation Preliminary Year 27 Consolidated Plan. However, we ask that you consider our request of you in sum of $150,000 so we can continue to provide our unique essential services to every Philadelphia family who experiences an infant death. So we're asking the Office of Housing and Community Development to up the sum from 108,000 to $150,000.
Thank you any questions. Anyone else here to testify before this committee on the Community Block Grant application? Thank you. Then we'll ask Mr. Kromer to come forward and if you would comment about the 3 million that's cut from the homeless budget 182 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373 allocation? Could you respond to that?
Yes, I can. I'm John Kromer, Director of the City of Philadelphia Office of Housing and Community Development. The approach that OHCD has used for several years now to provide development financing for special needs housing ventures has been to issue a request for proposals usually in the calendar year and then make commitments of funding so that homeless housing developers and other special needs developers can use the City's commitment to leverage other funding. During the period in which that approach has been in effect, and it's been some time, there is no 15 qualified development proposal that has not been funded. Every single development proposal that has met the threshold that has qualified has been funded. During the last request for proposals issued early this calendar year, a total of $2.8 million was requested by those groups that had submitted proposals that qualified, that met all the threshold requirements. The $2 million that is proposed in Year 27, plus $800,000 which remains unspent in Year line item of 3 million will be 183 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373 sufficient to fund all of these qualified proposals so the net amount available proposed to be available during this coming physical year will be $2.8 million. Now, as in the past years, all qualified development proposals will be funded. Now, I know that a number of groups have called for more funding to be made available to special needs housing and some might insist that taking $8 million on unspent funding from last year isn't sufficient -- I'm sorry, from this fiscal year is not sufficient, there should be more funding. Well, what we've heard today for the most part is requests and demands for more funding for a variety of activities: Acquisition, homeownership, repair, special needs housing, rental housing, the tenants action group, and so on. Only one group that I have heard so far has talked about collaborations to broaden our resource base. And that's the approach that we've got to take, and it's consistent with Mayor Street's Neighborhood Transformation Initiative. The time has passed when we can no 24 longer rely on the Community Development Block Grant as the basic source of funding for all of these 184 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373 activities. There simply is not enough block grant funding available to fund an ambitious special needs housing development program and everything else. So what is proposed for the coming fiscal year is $2.8 million. I would love to have triple that amount, but that amount will be sufficient to again fund all of the qualified development ventures that we've received.
You mentioned $800,000 thousand was not spent. Why is that?
I haven't reviewed all the numbers, but I believe that even after funding all the qualified proposals received in the last calendar year, there was still a balance of unspent funds remaining.
Given the need, for example, the Disabled in Action -- in fact, would you make sure you contact them? I told them we'd ask somebody to be in touch with them.
Absolutely. I heard the request for a meeting and we will definitely have that meeting and follow-up with the group.
Thank you. Given the need for just day-to-day emergency 185 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373 shelter, could not that money have been spent even there, that 800,000 that we didn't spend?
Clearly, that money could have been spent, but we've got a variety of demands on the budget and this is one way to spend it usefully. Strictly speaking, block grant money can't be used to support emergency shelter, but there's no question that we could use a lot more funding to support eligible special needs housing and service.
And the other issue that I've been hearing about for, I don't know, maybe about the last two years, is that there is a need -- I know the focus on Section 8 is on projects or specific projects, but there is still a need. And I haven't talked to Mr. Hess about this because I've just been hearing it, that there is a need for them to have access to Section 8 applications to certainly help these folks in shelters. Could you check into that as well?
Yes. Our office is working with Carl Green and Estelle Richman and Mr. Hess on a plan that would make more Section 8 project base certificates available for this business. 186 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373
Thank you very much, Mr. Kromer. Any questions for Mr. Kromer? Thank you. I understand Mr. McDonald is here. John MacDonald, Philadelphia Impact Services. Welcome. Is there anyone else who's come in to testify? Thank you, Mr. MacDonald. Please identify for yourself for the record. Welcome.
Good afternoon, Councilwoman Blackwell and other members of the Finance Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on the City's Year 27 Proposed Consolidated Plan. I'm John MacDonald, I'm President of Impact Services and also President of the Philadelphia Association Community Development Corporation. I'd like to add my voice to others in applauding increased support for the Commerce Department's neighborhood development grant program, neighborhood support services, planning and marketing grants, and predevelopment funding will go a long way towards strengthening neighborhood well-being especially if used to revitalize 187 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373 commercial corridors like Kensington and Allegheny. The allocation of additional funds for demolition will also be helpful to major housing initiatives in our Philadelphia plan area. However, the lack of funding to support property acquisition for real estate development projects and insufficient resources to support real estate development projects currently in the pipeline are very problematic since they disrupt implementation of projects already underway and in the development cycle. If these issues are not addressed now, there will be significant delay in advancing needed projects, if not a stoppage of the overall real estate development system. This is having a negative effect on our Youth Build Construction Training Program for dropout youth. CDBG funds are critical to making housing projects happen in Philadelphia and play a critical role in leveraging additional resources for other neighborhoods from other public and private sources. We have to work to assure that the funding flows are reasonably stable and predictable. The 10 percent cut in the overall level for a housing in Year level creates problems of 188 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373 program and project continuity for Impact and other members of PACDC. We need to find ways to maintain production levels and momentum. We think Mr. Kromer's list of nine ways to create more resources for neighborhood reinvestment submitted during his testimony last Thursday should be seriously considered in identifying ways to leverage more resources for the City. We also recommend that the City move up the start date for the CDBG program Year 28 six months from July 1 to January 1, 2002, as noted in the City's five-year financial plan to make almost $40 million in additional CDBG funds available during fiscal year 2002. We also encourage the City to allocate additional economic stimulus funds to neighborhood development projects and utilize City operating budget funds to cover a portion of the 34 million in additional operating costs currently funded by CDBG, freeing up additional CDBG funds for projects on the streets. On behalf of Impact Services and the members of PACDC. I a support balanced approach to resource allocation to support neighborhood revitalization. Property acquisition, the City currently has no funds to acquire properties to 189 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373 support new real estate development projects. This is problematic since it creates discontinuities in the real estate cycle. Additional funds for acquisition are needed immediately and the City needs to resume exercising its power to acquire properties for real estate development projects. In housing production, the City needs 44 million in addition funding just to support the housing development projects that the City has already committed to. The funding should be allocated in order to keep these projects moving through the pipeline. I think economic development recommendations are basically acceptable as they stand but would like to see more flexible economic stimulus funds to support neighborhood commercial corridor revitalization activities by CDCs. Going forward, we continue to see the need for City community development agencies to which you request for proposals.
With clear funding criteria to ensure a more open and competitive allocation process for community development funds for acquisition, housing production, and neighborhood economic development activities. In addition, funds should be allocated in a manner that is consistent 190 6/4/01 - COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - BILL NO. 010373 with strategic neighborhood plans. We know needs are great and resources are limited. We hope the Council will consider approving a plan that builds additional strengths for the City without disrupting the production and projects which are already underway. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Are there any questions? Thank you. We thank everyone for coming. This hearing will be recessed until tomorrow at 11:00 at which time we intend to discuss the possible amendments to this application and then move on from there. Thank you very much. Certainly, we've already spoken to Mr. Kromer and he's agreed to be here and we certainly welcome everyone else to the hearing tomorrow at 11:00. Thank you. (Council adjourned at 2:10 p.m.) - - - 191 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 June 4, 2001, were reported fully and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. RE: COMMITTEE ON FINANCE ___________________________ Lisa C. Bradley, RPR and Notary Public