We would have to do a transfer ordinance next year when they structure the deal.
If it's properly in 200, we'll have to do a transfer to move it from 700 to 200. If it works it would be in 704, then we wouldn't need a transfer because it's already in the right class, but we won't know that until the deal is actually done.
So you have to leave it in 701 and 702, you can't move it to 200?
Mr. Dubow, is the Blight Program going to be against our constitutional debt limit? 434 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005
The deal at 704 don't go against our debt limit. For instance, we have the reserve payments on some of the garage deals are in 704.
We'll wind up having to do a transfer then when the deal is done and we know what the actual numbers are.
Mr. Dubow, we want something in writing on this, please.
Thank you. Are there any other questions from members of the committee? (No further questions.)
Thank you 435 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 very much.
City Treasurer is next. (City Treasurer witnesses come forward.)
Good morning. Please identify yourself for the record.
Good morning, Madam President and members of City Council. My name is Joe Faraldo, I'm the acting City Treasurer. And with me today is Karen Yancy, Deputy City Treasurer. I appreciate this opportunity to testify before you today about our Fiscal Year 2001 budget request. The City Treasurer's Office is requesting 949,572 from the General Fund and $25,000 from the Grants Revenue Fund for a total request of $974,572 for a total Fiscal Year 2000 budget request. This request is $22,077 increase over fiscal year 2000's estimated obligations, and the entire increase is in Class 100 and the increase represents our fully funding of the negotiated pay increase scheduled for spring of this year. 436 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 What I'd like to do at this point is go through the major expenditure classes of our budget and explain how they relate to our entire budget and what they represent. Our class 100 request is $802,190. This represents 82 percent of our entire budget, and in this class -- this class contains our increase of $22,077, and as I stated, this is the fund, the pay increase due to employees in City 11 Treasurer's Office. 12 Class 200 request for Fiscal 2001 is 13 $143,719. This represents 15 percent of our 14 entire budget request and there is no change in 15 our request from Fiscal Year 2000 to 2001. This 16 class represents in excess of 82 percent -- I'm 17 sorry, 82 percent of this class is allocated to postage, professional services, and maintenance and support of computer equipment. Our Class 300 requests $26,713. This represents approximately 3 percent of our entire budget request. Again, there was no change from Fiscal Year 2000 to 2001. A hundred percent of this expenditure class is allocated to office supplies, printing, and books and publications. 437 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 Class 400 request for 2001 is $1,950. This represents less than 1 percent of our entire budget for 2001. The entire amount of this class is allocated to updating and maintaining our equipment. I thank you very much, and I will answer any questions you may have at this time.
Thank you, sir. What are the four financings you are anticipating in Fiscal 2001, and what is the projected size of each transaction? Are you planning on any refinancing in the coming fiscal year? And if so, have the projected savings been factored into the budget?
I can tell you what our -- what we anticipated as financings in our 2001 budget what they represented, and then I'll turn it over to Karen Yancy. She's the deputy in our public finance area, she can deal with some of the other aspects of the question. In our budget, we anticipated what typically represented from the City's Treasurer's Office a tran note barring which is a City 438 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 short-term borrowing for working capital purposes we do every year. Last year the size of that deal was 270 million. At this point we probably anticipate something similar in size in terms of a tran note borrowing. The other issues we typically would be involved with would be a G.O., a water deal, and quite frankly, the fourth one could have been -- it's basically we weren't sure exactly which deals may come before us, but typically an airport deal or a non-City related deal may come before us, a Parking Authority deal, a PAID deal. At this point I'd like Karen to maybe discuss any potential deals or size of those deals.
Good morning, Karen Yancy, Deputy Treasurer. The only deal for certain that I know is coming in 2001 is the tran. Of course, there is the possibility of the Blight Program through RDA and maybe an airport deal or Parking Authority deal, which we will be notified by those agencies. As far as any refundings, at this time, because interest rates have gone up a little bit between 6 and 6.5 percent, the City has had an 439 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 opportunity to refund a lot of their bonds at levels of or percent. I don't foresee any 4 refundings in the future as interest rates have 5 increased above levels where we're currently invested.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Just a couple of questions. On -14, under your purchase of services, how much were you able to recover from the private collection agencies for dormant fees due to the City?
Well, the way this works, Councilwoman, is that when the City recovers from one of these asset locators any monies, the monies are deposited into the City's Grants Revenue Fund, and depending on the commission, the asset locator is entitled to -- it could be anywhere from 10 percent to percent, we record the expenditure 23 in the City Treasurer's budget. So based on this 24 budget estimate of 25,000, assuming that the 25 recovery commission is 25 percent, probably 440 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 somewhere around $100,000.
They don't work directly for you, these agents? I didn't hear what you said?
No. They approach the City. Actually, it's kind of sporadic. It only happens once or twice a year. I think last year was the first year we really realized any revenues, and the portion that we had to remit to the locator was $25,000, so we just basically estimated a similar situation for 2001.
So the venders will approach you about collecting fees --
Yes, they notify us. They tell us that they found monies that are entitled to the City, and when we recover, we pay them.
Thank you. The Chair now recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Faraldo, I notice in your testimony 441 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 on that you had the pleasure of working through PAID to sell the $1.2 billion pension obligation bonds which worked on last year. There was some discussion yesterday about the prospect of structuring some financings to deal with either proposed renovations to the now well-known rat-infested Veterans Stadium or possibly financing the $21 million in voting machines. Could you provide to us through the Chair the Treasurer's Office's suggestion on if we wanted to pursue one or both of those types of transactions how you would structure it and provide for, naturally, the payments for that? Do you think it's possible to structure a transaction of that type for either of those purposes?
Again, I'd like to defer this question to Karen Yancy, our deputy for public finance. I would, in my opinion, I think probably if we were to structure a deal like this it would be part of a --
Could you either speak up a little or get the mike a little closer?
Yes. I'm sorry. I'd like to defer this question to Karen Yancy, our 442 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 deputy for public finance. Maybe she can answer it better than I could at this point.
Councilman Nutter, I know yesterday I did say that the City Treasurer's Office does not normally live get involved with pay transactions. Although the pension bond is in our testimony, it's here to represent the present the value savings, but I do have to say that the Treasurer's Office was not intimately involved with the pension fund. We basically worked on the exterior as far as, you know, getting ordinances in or signatures documented and not so much on the structuring of that deal.
I have to say that when it comes to structuring deals in reference to your Veterans Stadium question that we do look to the agencies themselves, we look to the Finance Director, and we also look to our financial advisor and different investment bankers with ideas. We evaluate those ideas and that's, you know, how we would come about structuring what would be best, you know, in line with the City and its intent. 443 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005
Okay. Well, I appreciate the response. I guess my question is a rather narrow one. One, in your professional opinion, is it possible to put together such a deal to either finance $40 million in capital improvements to a facility or provide $21 million for the purchase of new electronic voting machines? Can you do that, can that be done?
I will say, from my opinion, I believe it can be done, however, the scope of the Treasurer's Office is very limited and when you talk about capital -- you know, issuing monies for capital improvements, that would go against the G.O. There is a whole 'nother department within the City which determines, in fact, if we have the revenues to cover a $40 million, you know, G.O. for those types of capital improvements. There's a capital team that would evaluate that question and be able to have an answer for you. It is not under of Treasurer's Office purview.
Do you have 444 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 any further questions, Councilman?
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Goode.
Thank you, Madam President. Good morning, Mr. Faraldo. In your written testimony, it says the City Treasurer's Office will also work close with other administration officials and agencies, develop and implement a financing strategy that will permit the timely and cost-effective implementation of the Mayor's blight elimination initiative. Are you referring to public financing?
Well, with regard to private investment, are you satisfied with the community reinvestment track record by our depository banks? 445 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005
Well, if we're going to invest a quarter of a billion dollars in blight removal and we have deposits in banks, are we also going to look at the private investments that might come from those banks to invest in those neighborhoods?
Are we also going to look at the private investment that might come from our depository banks in those neighborhoods if we're going to spend a quarter of billion dollars on blight removal?
I'll defer this to Karen again. But quite frankly at this point, our office has had no discussion with anyone in terms of a blight bond deal. Who's going to do it, when it's going to happens, the size, it hasn't been mentioned to us at this point.
Well, aside from blight removal initiative, are you examining the community reinvestment track record of depository 446 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 banks?
Does anyone within the City examine the track record of community reinvestment with regard to those banks?
If my memory serves me correctly, at one point the Finance Director's Office was involved with that.
Well, the reports that I have received actually say the Finance Department and the Treasurer's Office. But your office is not involved in that?
I'll be glad to 447 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 furnish them to you, if you'd like.
I think we have the acting Finance Director here. Perhaps she can answer your question.
I'm Linda Orfanelli, acting Finance Director. The reports regarding the community reinvestment of banks were prepared with the help of Treasurer's Office and the Finance Department for over a four-year period. There was significant improvement shown by community -- in this area by the banks, and the report was not done after 1998.
There was significant improvement as it relates to home mortgages. Why has the department not examined small-business lending?
I was not the Finance Director at that time and I was not involved in the decision to stop doing the report. 448 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005
In earlier reports, in the 1995 report, the first report that was done, it said that the reports in the future would examine small-business lending. Is small-business lending in low-income neighborhoods not as important as home mortgages?
I was not involved in the decisions or the policies regarding that, so I can't really illuminate this.
Well, as acting Finance Director, do you have any intention of continuing to analyze community reinvestment of depository banks?
Since I've been acting Finance Director for about a month and a half, I have not looked at any of those policies. I don't know the length of my tenure and I have not really gotten into any of those things at this point.
But both the Finance Department and the Treasurer's Office would look to engage in a blight removal initiative that would cost the City a quarter of a billion dollars?
But both the Finance Department and the Treasurer's Office would look to engage in a blight removal initiative that would cost the City a quarter of a billion dollars without examining private investment from depository banks?
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Ortiz.
Good morning. What is our current debt service payments?
I would refer that question to the Sinking Fund Commission, Councilman. Debt service payments are not in our budget, they're not a part of our budget.
Excuse me? I know they're not out of your budget. You say you have debt management issues here and you manage the debt.
I think we 450 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 have someone else, Councilman, who can answer that question. (Vince Jannetti comes forward.)
I want to know how much we're paying in terms of debt service and if you can begin specifying as to towards which bonds are the payment's going? I want to know how much we're paying in terms of debt service for the Convention Center.
Before you respond, please identify yourself for the record.
Vince Jannetti, secretary of the Sinking Fund Commission. For the first part of your question, Councilman, on the general obligation bonds of the City, in the current fiscal year, fiscal 2000, we were going to spend $39.3 million in interest and we were going to spend $40,753,000 in principal payments. I think you asked about the Convention Center?
You haven't yet? 451 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005
In terms of the when you say we have gone to the speculative grade now to investment, could you explain that for the record, the investment grade?
Karen Yancy. Councilman, well, prior to 1992, the City's debt rating was below investment grade. Investment grade means that you get to have -- you get to borrow at lower interest rates than you would if you were below investment grade. The City, having attained an investment grade rating on its G.O. bonds, is a major accomplishment. I'm sure that the current administration will continue to keep the bonds at investment grade and also to see them increased even further in their ratings in other order for us to attain lower borrowing costs.
I'm sorry, how much can we 452 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 borrow?
Our remaining general obligation capacity is $288.2 million, and then that will change over time as we pay off existing debt or as assessment values change.
Well, if we didn't borrow anything, capacity would continue to increase. But since we plan to also do borrowings over time, that capacity will go down each year. We continue to seek authorizations. It actually works off voter approved authorizations. Each time we get an authorization, our ability --
I mean, we have a five-year plan. What is our projection in terms of the next four years.
We project -- it's actually shown in the capital program. Based on the borrowings we anticipate for our capital program, we project that by 2006 we'll actually be down to about 30 million in capacity. 453 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005
In your testimony, you say that you're working with other agencies to develop and implement the financing strategy that will permit the timely and cost-effective implementation of the Mayor's blight elimination initiative. Where are we on that?
That process has not proceeded very far, and basically that statement just says that the Treasurer's Office is there to support the agency and the program once the Administration has decided what avenue they would like to take.
Thank you. Could you detail to the President the minority firms that are currently involved in all of our transactions that you reach out to in terms to bring them in terms of bonds work and so on and so on, and how many of them are local and how many of them are from outside the City?
The five money managers we currently utilize in the treasurer office, two 454 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 of them are minority firms.
No. They're not local. One's based in Houston and one's based in Virginia.
The other three are out of, New York, Harrisburg, and North Carolina.
On the bond issuance side, we have several minority firms that we use, investment banking firms, bond counsel firms, and currently offhand I do not have a number but would be happy to provide you a list of those firms.
Well, not a list of the firms, but how many transactions have occurred and the involvement of different firms, be they local or outside of the City, and whether they're black or Latino or women?
Thank you. Are there any other questions from members of the committee? (No further questions.)
Thank you both very much. The Procurement Department is next. (Procurement Department witnesses come forward.)
Good morning, Commissioner. Thank you for your patience. We do have copies of your testimony, so if you would like to give it to us in brief, we'd appreciate it. COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: Good morning, Madam President, members of City Council. I am Louis Applebaum, the Commissioner of the Procurement Department. With me today are Deputy Commissioners of Procurement Marla Mason and Harry Hillock; our administrative services director, Deborah Beatrice; and our MIS director Alice Deyoung. 456 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 I am going to present for your consideration the Procurement Department's Fiscal Year 2001 budget. James Roundtree sitting to my left, the director of Minority Enterprise Council will follow my presentation with separate testimony on the City's efforts to create equal access to business opportunities with the City. You do have my full testimony and I will briefly summarize the highlights. 2 million. This represents an increase of $731,000 above Fiscal Year 2000 projected obligations. The additional fundings of $231,000 in Class 100 provides for the negotiated wage increases and full funding for the authorized position level of 79 employees. An increase of 500,000 in Class 200 provides for the increased costs of mandated advertising. Our major accomplishments this year includes the implementation of the new speed application and the services, supply, and equipment division. Speed will decrease bid turnaround time for SS & E bids by producing 457 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 electronic bid tabulations, work sheets, and templates for processing bid award letters. Contract documents for public works previously prepared by the Law Department are now prepared electronically in Speed and mailed directly to the vendors for signature. In addition, information from Speed is now on the City's Internet for reference by the operating departments that manage construction projects for the City. The Procurement Department is also responsible for maintaining the inventory records for all City-owned furniture and equipment. To improve inventory tracking and reporting capabilities, we have implemented an automated personal property database. This database has real time and on-line access for update, query, and reports and replace our procurement's punch card input. City departments now have inquiry and reporting capabilities. Our current objectives include participation in the electronic voting machine procurement committee in accordance with the November 3, 1998 voter referendum mandating this initiative. The department has prepared and 458 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 released the requests for proposal for the purchase of direct recording electronic voting machine system, and vendors submissions are now being evaluated. Vendors have made presentations and we are scheduling trips to visit jurisdictions on the voting days. The next step in the process will be to select a vendor and enter into negotiations. As part of the mayor's initiative to eliminate abandoned vehicles from City streets, we are working with the Managing Director's Office, the Police Department, L&I to procure salvers to remove, store, and dispose of abandoned vehicles. The procurement goal is to expand the number of salver companies with which the City contracts for the removal of abandoned vehicles and to improve the policies governing the public auction of City vehicles. The department is responsible for overseeing the City's Class 300 inventory consisting of consumable materials and supplies. To improve the warehousing of this inventory, a consultant was retained to conduct the warehouse and inventory management study. The Procurement 459 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 will participate in the implementations of recommendations resulting from this study which is expected to be completed during this fiscal year.
The Public Works Division is finalizing the first update to the standard contract requirements that are part of the City's construction contract. This document which has not been revised since 1979 is being rewritten in conjunction with the Law Department and various City agencies. When completed, the document will reflect modern terms and conditions and will also allow for the elimination of certain other contract documents now in use. Madam President, this concludes my testimony. I will now turn the floor over to Jim Roundtree, director of MBEC. We will then be glad to answer any questions you or the other members of City Council may have regarding our testimony. Thank you.
Thank you, very much, Commissioner. Mr. Roundtree?
Good morning, Madam Chair. My name is James Roundtree, the Deputy 460 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 Finance Director and an executive director of the Minority Business Enterprize Council. Today I have with me Kenneth Hitchcock who is e deputy of operations for the Minority Business Enterprise Council. We are pleased to request for the Minority Business Enterprise Council FY 2001 budget appropriation of $1,1632,000 (sic) which is increase $9,237 over Fiscal Year 2000 operating budget. The increase to MBEC operating budget is the result of the annualization of this year's 4 percent increase which will be implemented on March 15th. The MBEC is charged with administering the City of Philadelphia anti-discrimination and Affirmative Action purchasing policy under Executive Order 193 and formally under Chapter 17-500 of the Philadelphia Code. On December 31, 1998, the following legislation for Minority Business Enterprize Council of 17-500 expired. The Executive Order 193 was established to provide equal access and opportunity for all businesses in the City contracting program. It ensures that the City's funds are not used directly or indirectly to promote, reinforce, or perpetrate discrimination 461 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 on contracting practices. This concludes my brief testimony this morning, and I'm available to answer any questions.
Good morning, gentlemen. COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: Good morning.
Mr. Applebaum, I asked a question yesterday with respect to voting machines. COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: I heard the question.
The question essentially was what services that were going to be provided to people who have to administer these new voting machines? We find that a lot of times, 462 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 a lot of these individuals are somewhat older and may have difficulty acclimating themselves to this new technology and I'm just a little concerned about that. COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: Councilman, we have a lot of bright older people around, you know that.
Well, I say that and that I myself have difficulty acclimating myself to new technology. COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: I fully understand. Included in the RFP for the voting machines is quite an elaborate program for training. We have included in the purchase price of the equipment the vendor will include training initially for 1681 people, and we hope to attract those young people from colleges to assist and be placed at each polling place during the first time we use the new equipment. These people will be trained thoroughly in the new equipment and will be assigned to each polling place. In addition, they will also be preparing training programs and train the existing people that you talk about who do work at the polling places, but we don't feel 463 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 comfortable that that's adequate so that's why we're bringing in 1681 new people. Also, the training programs, the training programs, the videotapes, etc., etc., will be handled via minority vendors who will be brought in by the prime contractor to handle that part of the program. So we feel that through that requirement in the RFP that the day that we go live there will be adequate people adequately trained to properly handle the brand new equipment.
Let me understand this because this is important. As a ward leader, I need to know this. COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: We understand the problems that many people have had and we anticipate not having any problems with the brand new system.
All right, now, currently, the process is that individuals are called to various locations throughout the City to receive this training one, two, three weeks prior to the actual Election Day. Is that what you plan 464 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 on doing with this new training program? COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: We are going to negotiate with the vendors and have them prepare for us the training program. We know that we will have -- they will be required to have certain training classes. The first goal is to have attract 1681 people who will be willing to go to school for as long as it takes and then provide the transportation to be at each polling place the day of the first election. They will be adequately trained. And whether it takes -- whether it's one location or two locations, that will be up to the training company. We've had some -- in our presentations, we've had some very good vendors training companies who are adequately going to cover that program. And I feel real confident that there's some real good vendors that I've worked with and Jim has worked with that will handle that.
Can you keep me up to date and other members of Council up to date on this as you proceed and you get more specificity in terms of the arrangements that you're going to make because this is very important, as a person 465 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 who had a landslide victory -- that was a joke. (Laughter.) COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: I will be glad to have constant communications with you, but if I may, I can bring the Councilpeople up to date on where we are now. We did issue, as everyone knows, an RFP. The RFP was released on August of '99. We had a mandatory proposal meeting that was attended by five vendors. The RFP was open October of 1999. Four presented RFPs. From a period in late November, each vendor presented their program. We had eyeball-to-eyeball presentations. They brought in their equipment that was reviewed by the complete committee, including the MBEC was at each presentation and also the voting -- the City commissioners who are also participating. The committee is now making -- will be making visitations to jurisdictions to review election processes. Actually, today we were planning to go to Baltimore, but that was called off. February 29th we'll be in Virginia, March the 7th there is an election in Baltimore, Maryland, so we'll be there. Also on March 7th there's an election in 466 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 Columbus, Ohio; people will be visiting that. And on March the 10th there will be an election in Denver, Colorado; a people will be going there. We are visiting jurisdictions that have the machines sold to them by the vendors that we are dealing with. Mid to late March, the committee will make our determinations and we will negotiate with the selected vendor. The equipment that we're getting are call full ballot direct recording electronic voting machines, which means the people will go into the voting place, similar to what they do now. They will walk into a machine that will be covered, have protection with a curtain to give them privacy. They will look at the full ballot as they look at today. They'll have lights on each little block. And if you want to vote for someone, you just touch the block, So it's a touch screen. You touch the block, that will record your vote. When you're all done making your selections, you push a button, the vote is recorded. It's electronically captured within the guts of the machine. At the end of the night, the machine will print out a paper tape with the 467 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 totals, but more important, at the end of the night you will receive a very small electronic cartridge that will come out of the machine which will contain all of the totals of the vote for that day. The cartridge will be delivered to ten regional tabulation centers throughout the City. The cartridge will be entered into a reader machine that will be transmitted to Election Central, and all of the totals will be automatically handled through electronic media. And it is our goal and hope that within two hours or so after the conclusion of the election, the count will be done and it will be over. That's a brief description of what we're anticipating to get.
Okay, Thank you. One other question relating to a public hearing that was chaired by Councilman Ortiz on a resolution that we had submitted with respect to the abandoned vehicles and creating this RFP process for salvers. Can you kind of bring me up to date, or is that also going to be incorporated into the Mayor and Managing Director's -- COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: I can report 468 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 the procurement role to date on that particular program. We did invite to a meeting all salvers from four counties within the Delaware Valley, Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, and Delaware. Our goal is to expand the number of salvers that we have working with us in the City of Philadelphia. We currently have, I believe there's 9 Philadelphia salvers who are currently working 10 with the Police Department in removing cars. Our 11 goal is to expand that number as high as we can. 12 We had a meeting. We invited 140 salvers from the 13 surrounding counties to come to our meeting. 14 Seventeen companies showed up, and we believe as 15 we sit here today we have at least 10 to 12 who 16 will be signing up and they will be added to our 17 existing salvers to help us in our program to eliminate abandoned vehicles from the City of Philadelphia.
My question was related to the particular resolution that called for the selection per police district. And we wanted somebody to ultimately be responsible because in its current form, if any of those salvers decide that they don't did want to pick up 469 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 a vehicle, they're not mandated to do that. COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: We have worked with the Police Department, and I feel that that would best answered by the Police Department who I know are taking steps to accomplish what you're suggesting. But I think in all fairness, the Police Department should respond to your question because this is a specific Police Department issue, and I think they'll be here today and they will respond to that.
Thank you very much. Would you like to have that responded to now, Councilman? Is it possible to have a response to his question now? While you're coming forward, when do we anticipate using new machines, Commissioner? COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: Excuse me, what was the question?
When new machines? When do we anticipate using them, for which election? COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: We anticipate 470 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 having the machines ready for use in a primary election of May of the year 2001.
Councilman Clarke, my name is Joe Martz the Managing Director of Philadelphia. I don't want to get too far ahead of the Mayor on this because I believe he will be making a specific announcement about that, our actual abandoned auto program in the next couple of weeks. But what you were asking about the specifics of tying salvers to a particular police district is part of the program and part of the reason that we went about getting some of these outside vendors to see if we couldn't do a little better coordination that way. So we are going to try that out as part of the pilot.
So in other words, Mr. Managing Director, you're saying you anticipate that this issue will be resolved when this plan is announced?
I believe what we'd like to do is to find out if, A, it works, and then to try it at a specific location and then give you measurable results that we can report back. And 471 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 if it does, then we would be expanding it.
Councilman Clarke, does that answer your question? A follow-up, Councilman Rizzo?
I've done some research and I've learned that in Chicago and New York, both Chicago and New York have made money on their abandoned vehicle removal. New York, 2.3 million; Chicago, 3 million. I'm hoping we're exploring the same course of action where we could turn this abandoned car problem into a money-maker for the City of Philadelphia both like New York and Chicago.
Councilman, we are. As a matter of fact, there is two paths, and again, I don't want to get too far out ahead of the Mayor on the specific issue, but there are two courses of action that we're taking and we're taking them simultaneously. One is that we're going to correct the existing system as we operate under 472 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 right now. But also, we need to have some legislative from Harrisburg and there are some bills that are both the House and the Senate that we're working with that we think will lead us to the path, to the ultimate goal of turning this into at least a no-cost situation, but possibly a revenue-producing one.
Thank you. I just wanted to make sure we're on that track.
Thank you. Councilman Clarke, do you have other questions about this or other issues?
Yes, one last question. As a part of that discussion, I don't know if anybody's here from the City Solicitor's Office, there was an issue about the federal consent decree, it's a modification on elimination and we never got a response. COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: Elimination of what?
Pardon me? COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: Elimination of what?
Councilman Ortiz? 473 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005
Councilman Ortiz, you wanted to follow up on that question?
I've had meetings with CLS and I've informed the Chief of Staff, Stephanie Suber and she was -- Stephanie Franklin-Suber. I don't want to get fired. (Laughter.)
We're supposed to have a meeting with the Mayor, Councilman Clarke, myself and so on, but I'm still waiting for a date for that meeting together with CLS because CLS is willing to make modifications and go forward in terms of making the consent decree workable or eliminating it altogether, if possible.
Councilman Ortiz, for those who were not here or weren't privy to that conversation, would you explain more in detail what you're talking about?
Well, during the hearings that City Council had last year, the 474 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 Police Department, the Chief of Police brought up the issue and the City Solicitor brought up the issue that one of the biggest stumbling blocks was essentially a consent decree that the City entered into with several plaintiffs in late 1979, 1980. As a matter of fact, I participated on the other side in that. (Laughter.)
Well, the issue was that there were many cars being taken out of neighborhoods that used to belong -- that had owners. And Community Legal Services went into court to prevent the City from doing that. And the Court entered this order, and right now, what it does is that the City has to give at least a 13-day period and then notice to the owners and so on and so on, so it lengthens the day, the time of being able to detail when a car is abandoned, when it gets notified, and then when it finally can be towed away. We've been discussing with legal services the consent decree and the time period, and I think those things are doable. The issue is now having a meeting with the Administration, the City Solicitor and the Chief of Staff and the 475 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 mayor to be able to work out the arrangements and how do we proceed from there. So a meeting is to be set by the Chief of Staff with the Mayor and City Council and Legal Service.
Thank you. Would you make sure that the Chair knows and that certain Councilman Clarke is made aware of that?
I know. I'm waiting on another issue, I'm waiting for a meeting as well. We understand. Thank you very much. Councilman Clarke?
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
I'd like to go back to the voting machines in terms of the training. How intimately involved is the Election Bureau in this process? COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: The Election Bureau you're speaking of are the city 476 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 commissioners?
Yes. COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: The city commissioner are involved. They have been party to every presentation made by the voting machine manufacturers. The city commissioners are going to visit two jurisdictions, they're going to Denver and to Columbus, Ohio, to go to see two different companies that are actually running elections those days. Bob Lee, the supervisor of the whole operation, is part of our procurement team. So on balance, I would say that the city commissioners and the people who are responsible for the voting are intimately involved in the process.
How did you arrive at the -- I can figure out the number, 1,000 people you recruited. Did you say they were coming from colleges? COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: Our goal -- during many of our discussions, we were trying to figure out how we were going to get people to perform that service, and someone suggested --
And the service is 477 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 to -- COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: To be train adequately on these machines and be at each election district the day of the election, to be there early in the morning to supervise the election judges opening the machines, closing the machines, doing whatever has to be done and being there --
And staying there all day to observe the election and make sure that everything goes right.
Is this a one-shot deal on the first time or is this an ongoing? COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: We included in the RFP and included in the price is a one-shot deal. We are then asking them to give us a price in case we decide to do that for the second time. So there's a separate price that they're giving us. We'll have the option after that first election to determine whether we'll need them again for the second election.
Well, it might be good if you would ask those of us who run the 478 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 election every year to identify someone from the neighborhood who would like to be trained. That person, in addition to being there those two times, if we wanted to have them later on, we could access those individuals. They come from the neighborhood, they don't necessarily have to be politicos, but there are people who live -- there are young people who live in my neighborhoods where I could ask them to be a part of this training rather than have someone come from the University of Penn or Temple who might not be here the next time around. COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: That's a great idea. In addition to the colleges, we were also going to go to the high schools to get students who are the senior year of high school to also learn the system and participate in the program. But I would say that if there are people who in the neighborhoods would like to do that and are qualified, the company that will be doing the training will certainly be looking for those names, and we can get -- you can get in touch with that company to suggest the people.
I'm real concerned 479 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 about the training because we have a debacle over at PGW because of the lack of training and the time frame for the training. So, you know, we do this, those of us who run elections every six months, know what it takes to get that done and the commitment of the people who are going to do it. And so if I know the young man or lady who lives in my division and I've recruited them to be there, they will be there. Then after the second time, they become part of the payroll, right? COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: Well, as understand it, under the law, the people who work at the polling places are elected. I think they're called judges.
Mm-hmm. COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: We cannot control those people. They're elected; how that happens, I don't know. Our main goal is to have people that we select who are trained adequately, and they could be high-school students, they could be the people that you're talking about from the neighborhood, who will absolutely positively understand those machines, understand the process, and we'll end up with at least the first election 480 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 being successful and then we can go forward.
But at the same time, you're going to have to train those judges of election. COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: Correct.
They have to be trained simultaneously with your volunteers.
Because once the volunteers leave, you will have a vacuum if you haven't adequately trained the judges of elections. COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: Councilwoman, number one, these people will not be volunteers, they will be paid. They will be paid for their services. They also, as I mentioned earlier, part of the training program will be two parts, training the what's called the students, but also training the judges of elections who were there who are on the books, so to speak, right now, they will also be adequately trained. So we'll have two groups of people adequately trained at each polling place.
I want to yield to 481 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 Councilman Nutter.
Mr. Commissioner, in fact, I was just told by former commissioner that they went to Denver and really had mass chaos because a lot of the people there at polling places had not been to get instructions and that if you don't have people at each polling place who are experienced and who can guide that process with judges who some may know and some may not know, we could be in real trouble. COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: That's precisely why in the RFP we demand that 1681 people will be adequately trained to have one person at each polling location on that May date.
Councilman Nutter and Councilman Kenney also wanted to also follow up. All right, Councilman Nutter.
Commissioner Applebaum, first, are any of these elections 482 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 taking place in Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, or any of these other locales that you were talking about? I just want to go on the site visit to see the machines, to see how they operate. (Laughter.)
That's the throw-away question. Now to the more serious issue. COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: I won't responds to your question.
That's all right. Commissioner, you know that I respect you greatly and you've been going through a process to get the machines, you know the Council worked on this and we had hearings, Councilman Cohen and I put forward the bill, all of that, that's wonderful. Now we're getting to the deeper details and the mechanics on how this can function and operate. So first, I would be deeply concerned, I mean, I love people and, you know, I was young one time, too, but if you're going to have high school and college students as the primary trained people, you know, they have to go to school on Election Day. Election Day is a school day for at 483 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 least high-school students who should be in school and most college students are still in school on Election Day, so that's first. Or have already left. If we have a late election in May, many of the colleges get out first week in May, so they're gone, they're back to Poughkeepsie somewhere. So my concern is, as the Councilwoman raised, and we don't want to complete destroy the program, but the voters in Philadelphia for the most part are used to going to their polling place, they either know a committee person or know they know the judge of election or the machine operator. These are people in the neighborhood who they know who they will take some level of direction from. The prospect of having an unknown high school or college student responsible for the operation of the machine at Election Day, I think could be a little bit of a problem. And second, I mean, did you in the training component, did you give thought to first targeting the judge of election and/or the machine operator for those particular polling places -- The machine operator is not elected, the judge is -- to be the primary people for the training 484 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 because they are used to conducting elections? I mean, you just can't throw a person -- knowledge about the machine is one thing. The conduct of an election at the polling place on Election Day takes a person a fair amount of time and training and experience just to do it. I mean, those are some of our concerns. We don't necessarily have to decide all of these issues today. What I would like to strongly recommend is some opportunity for many of us who are involved in that particular side of the business to have a chance to sit down and talk with you in deeper detail about a lot of these factors. You have the Committee of Seventy and their folks and ward leader, elected officials, and a whole bunch of people who, you know -- I mean we do part of this for a living. COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: Councilman, let me respond. Number one, the Committee of Seventy is an active participant in our election procurement team.
I know that. COMMISSIONER APPLEBAUM: We're using their expertise. 485 2/15/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005