Thank you 18 very much. I just want to give my support to the concerns raised by Councilwoman Sanchez relative to the maintenance, and I'm talking about custodial maintenance and not so much into the skilled trades, because it's the custodial maintenance that provides the real work that needs to 116 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. be done to keep these centers clean. And I would say that area is sorely lacking, and if we want our young people and citizens to use the facilities, they have to feel comfortable going there and that the facility is clean and inviting to be there. Let me just ask you a couple of questions real quick. Camp William Penn, we no longer run that, right? COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: Correct.
What took the place of Camp William Penn? What kind of camp services are you providing? COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: Yeah. What took the place of Camp William Penn, Councilwoman Tasco, is Outward Bound and Salvation Army. What happened when it was decided that Camp William Penn would no longer run, we ensured that there was funding in the budget for these camps. They could do either overnight or daily trips that include them in being 117 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. environmental programs.
So our young people are referred to Outward Bound and Salvation Army? COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: That's correct.
And we provide financial services? COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: And we support the funding, yes, ma'am.
All right. Thank you. The other one is, what involvement -- you talked about recruiting and recruitment for employees in the Recreation Department. What role does your office play in establishing the guidelines and the test that's given to individuals who apply? COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: The tests are, at least as far as I know -- I'm trying to reintroduce myself to this, but the Central HR creates the test for Leader I, grounds maintenance. Some of 118 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. them are citywide, some of them are very specific to the Department. So that's all done within the City government. Then they're posted and they're advertised. But I think what I was trying to make the point earlier is that unless we make a special effort beyond that, our general makeup will stay the same. We have to change -- we, the Department, has to more aggressively recruit people to apply and to take the test.
The question I have is, do you review what test, the kind of tests that are being given and are you giving a high-level skills test for someone who is going to do custodial work and they can't pass the test? COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: Councilwoman, no, we're not -- they're not high-level skill tests for the Recreational Facility Caretakers, which are our custodial staff. They're not 119 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. high-level skill tests.
Councilwoman, if I may add, Parks and Recreation staff works with Central Personnel, HR, to develop the actual tests, so we work -- we kind of provide the content for the tests. They formulate and administer the test. So each test, whether it's a ground maintenance worker, custodial worker, tree worker, we help with the content of what that test is, and the content is geared to the appropriate level for that position.
And Rec does the same thing? COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: That's correct.
Okay. Let me just look at the organizational chart for a moment. I'm looking at the Commissioner of Parks and Recs. Then offline would be the Recreation Deputy Commissioner and the Parks Deputy 120 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Commissioner. All of the programs - Development, Operations, Administration - come under the Commissioner's purview? COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: I'm sorry. I was trying to get a look at the chart. I'm sorry.
Look at it. COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: So the question again is? I looked at it.
All of these departments under Programs - Development, Operations and Administration - all of those people report directly to you? COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: No. 18 In fact, this is not correct. The Programs would report directly to Commissioner Slawson, and the Operations would report to what will be something like Deputy Commissioner Focht.
You're going to redo this chart? COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: 121 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Yes. This is not where we currently are in the process. This is a dated chart. So my apologies for you guys having that. We will update that very quickly for you.
Thank you very much. Did the roof get fixed at Finley? COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: They're working on that roof, ma'am, yes.
All right. Programs on the weekends at the rec centers, do you have programs on the weekends? COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: We do Saturdays. We have programs on Saturdays. Some of the facilities are from 9:00 until 5:00, some of them are 11:00 to 2:00. It depends on what the need of the community is, but the answer is yes. We don't have programming on Sundays.
I need to talk to you about that. 122 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: Okay.
I'm not sure that's being followed. I think they're my questions that I have, but I need to talk to you about it. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
Thank you, Madam President. Quick follow-up to Councilwoman Tasco's question regarding Camp William Penn. Is the Camp William Penn land still in the City's inventory? COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: Camp William Penn, the settlement date is supposed to be May the 31st.
Settlement between who? COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: The State and the City of Philadelphia. 123 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc.
Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you. COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: I wear two hats here. But this is the State of Pennsylvania, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has purchased that parcel of land from the City of Philadelphia. The transaction will be finalized at the end of May where I think it's roughly 700-plus acres will then become part of the State forest in that -- that surrounds it. Now, I don't know what the current situation is with them, but as I was transitioning out of Harrisburg, we were trying to figure out how do we continue the recreation programs there, and I'll be honest with you, I'm not sure where that discussion is with non-profit organizations in the region to try to continue it, but I can find out pretty 124 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. quickly and let you know.
All right, then. COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: There would be continuing programs, at least on a portion of that land, for Philadelphia or Philadelphia area children.
Okay. And so we met goal with regards to the identification, recruitment and enrollment of Philadelphia young people in the summer program last year? COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: Yes, we did.
Let's move back to a continuing interest of many Councilmembers around inclusion and the Office of Equal Opportunity. Who created the 12 percent goal? How did you arrive at that number and who were the partners 125 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. in the discussion of the identification of that goal? COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: OEO comes up with the percentage that we have to meet.
So OEO determined percent to be the goal? 9 COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: That's 10 correct. 11
What 12 contracts were actually released? You're going to submit that to President Verna, correct? COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: Yes, we will.
How soon can I get that? Just give me a window, because so often we ask for information during budget and we look up and it's June, budget is over and it's lost its relevance. COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: We could have that to you, ma'am, by Friday.
Okay. So 126 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. if OEO identified percent as the goal, what should one assume by that? Did they also determine the capacity based on their knowledge base of MBE, WBEs and the contract areas you have? What information did you provide to them to help them arrive at that goal?
Councilwoman, I 10 think OEO evolved or arrived at that goal 11 in conversations with both Commissioner 12 Slawson and I and our senior staffs looking at the historical contracts that we have in place. We have many multi-year contracts in place, like turf management, tree work, a number of other programs. Those goals are already set and they're carrying over from prior contracts, and then every year we're letting new contracts. So I would assume in our conversations with OEO that they developed that by taking all the contractual information that we provided to them and that they have in their 127 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. system and which we will provide to you and then evolved to developing that through conversation with us.
Thank you, Madam President. Excuse me, Councilwoman Brown. The first statement was that OEO set the goal. The second statement was that there was a conversation between OEO and the departments. The third statement was that the goal was set based upon historical contracts and that you, quote/unquote, assume that OEO did their due diligence. I guess my simple question as I've asked other departments, if you know 128 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. what products and services you're trying to procure, don't you have a responsibility to know what disadvantaged businesses exist in those fields and contract areas and go out and do your own due diligence? In other words, if OEO is setting a fake goal or has not really tried to push any harder or doesn't know what they're doing in terms of goal-setting within your department, OEO doesn't do any contracting. There are goods and services you need to provide to get your job done, and you have a responsibility to take on that job yourself and to go out and do outreach in terms of disadvantaged firms to see whether they can better participate. So what you're saying is, first, it was OEO, it wasn't me. Then, but we did discuss it with them. But then third, no, it was just based upon what's been historically, which means that you're not going to do anything differently than what you did before. 129 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Thank you, Madam President.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
Yes. Do you have a response, reaction, comment, please?
Sure. Thank you, Councilwoman and Councilman. Perhaps my description of the process didn't capture the entire process, because indeed, again, speaking for my role as Director of Fairmount Park, we in fact do work with local businessmen, organizations, identify them. For example, on our turf mowing contract, we've worked very closely with a company actually called Minority Services -- that's the name of the company -- to get them into our four-year turf contract, and they actually -- specifically just to our turf mowing contract, currently 51 percent of that contract is minority participation 130 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. for that one contract. We've done similar work with tree care companies and we have historically done that, and we will continue to do that.
It will be very useful in the information you submit to President Verna that you stipulate the contracts and the breakdown --
-- MBE, WBE, DBE opportunities. Who makes the decision around multiple-year contracts and is that a standard operating procedure? Speak to the background on that.
Councilwoman, you mean the choice of whether or not we let a multi-year contract?
Generally with our -- again, I'll speak -- our two biggest contracts at Fairmount Park are turf maintenance and tree maintenance. 131 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. They have historically been let as multi-year contracts because the learning curve for a contractor to understand exactly where to cut the grass in East Park or exactly the pruning of trees, we have traditionally found that letting one-year contracts with two or three one-year extensions really builds the learning curve and actually builds in to our operating budget savings over time, because you're not bringing in a new contractor -- potentially bringing in a new contractor every year. And also that way, we can build in the participation standard. Again, on that turf maintenance contract at 51 percent, you can build in a fairly high participation rate over multiple years.
Okay. I'm not going to violate the clock, but I do have follow-up questions on this issue. Thank you, Madam President.
You're welcome. 132 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. The Chair recognizes Councilman Green.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Just briefly back to tree maintenance. There appears to have been two unfilled Tree Maintenance positions as of the November run and one Crew Chief unfilled.
The Tree Maintenance Worker position was filled and -- one moment, please.
Yes. Excuse me; positions all have been filled, Tree Maintenance Worker positions. And I'm sorry, Councilman, the second position you mentioned?
Crew Chief, 133 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Tree Maintenance Crew Chief.
So when were they filled? Early this year, late last year?
I don't have the exact date. I apologize. I would assume since the first of the year.
So you have three more tree maintenance people on your staff now than you did most of last year.
And we're increasing capacity that way. So I think where we may be with the budget, at least with respect to what I hear driving new divisions and things, are goals set by the Administration and Greenworks, which obviously we have to have reached goals as a city and other things, but the Department is not able to demonstrably prove that they could 134 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. achieve those goals even with the resources we have, and I also think that citizens have not expressed a willingness to pay for, say, 300,000 trees planted versus trash pick-up or police or fire service or other things. So governing is choosing between competing ideas for good with limited resources, and that's what this budget process is about. And I understand why you're in here advocating for your position, but we've asked a question that we don't have answered yet, which is how many trees were you able to plant with the $300,000 of capital budget last year. COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: We can tell you that. It's three hundred grand. I think 678. I'm close, I think. Mark is nervous. We'll get you the number. But, you know, Councilman, again -- give him the number.
Councilman, last year with the normal run of $300,000 in 135 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. capital, about 634 trees.
So with two and a half million dollars, we're going to plant what kind of multiple of that? COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: If we do it the conventional way, 5,800. See, but that's the point. This money is not going to get us to 300,000, and you can't appropriate enough money to get us to 300,000. The point is that if we want to go to the citizens of this city, if we want to go to the corporations and the foundations and the big institutions and say, Can you help us do something good -- now, if you don't think 300,000 is a good goal, then we got an argument. I mean --
Well, 250, 300 -- COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: -- if you don't think it's a worthy --
It's a discussion you haven't had with Council. COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: The point is, if someone doesn't think this 136 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. is a worthy goal, then this discussion doesn't matter. But if you think it is a worthy goal, then this city can't think it's going to plant 250,000 or 300,000 trees without putting any money on the table that brings others to the room, that shows the citizens that we care, that shows the Tree Tenders we care, that shows University of Pennsylvania we care, that shows -- (Applause.) COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield that we care, and that we, our obligation, is to leverage that money and not to plant -- if we plant 6,000 trees with two and a half million dollars, fire me next year when I come in here, because it ain't enough.
-- nobody wants to fire you. We're all glad you're 137 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. in your position, but based on what the Department has demonstrated it can achieve, you're not going to plant more than 6,000 trees next year, so I want to say I will not take you up on that offer. COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: How much do you want to put on that? How much you got in your pocket?
I will not take you up on that offer. COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: I'm sorry. But, no, it's a different -- look, it's the way you look at this. It's the way you look at how the public sector behaves. If the public sector says it's going to cost us $425 to dig a hole and put a tree in, we're going to get 6,000 trees.
I'm out of time. You've given your speech. You got the applause. One more question before the bell. COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: That's not the point. I'm having a real 138 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. debate.
Here we go: So how many of the positions in the Forestry and Environmental Resource Management position new divisions have been through the Civil Service process, there's a Civil Service exam ready for them, et cetera?
Well, the existing staff that will be moved into that division have all been through the Civil Service process, because they're existing employees. Of the new positions we're creating, we have exams ready for almost all of the positions.
You're not eliminating positions elsewhere, so it's not clear that there's any existing staff being moved into this division. If that's true, please provide the Chair with a chart that describes who is moving where and then where that leaves vacancies elsewhere. COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: 139 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. We'll do that.
Also, there's positions in here, I think we can agree, that aren't necessary, Public Relations Officer, $70,000 a year. The Mayor has six people who do public relations in his office. Maybe we can share one of those positions, et cetera. And as a practical matter, this is a year's worth of funding for 43 positions. How many positions -- if we were to appropriate all of this, how many of these positions would actually be hired on July 1st and have a full year's worth of salary? COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: I don't know, to be honest with you. So, I mean, maybe these guys know, but I don't know the answer to that question.
Will half the positions be filled by six months from the end of the fiscal year? COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: 140 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Here's what I would say: We could tell you in a very short order if -- first of all, I just want to talk -- there's some good points here about how we structured these jobs. So I think we could do a better job in using the additional money and creating the best product for the dollars. That was well articulated here in this body during this hearing, and we will reconsider the way we've put some of these -- the way we've created some of these positions. I think there's some very good points here. But I agree that we need to -- you need to know what the process would look like and what would the sequence be and when would these positions be in place. That's a legitimate question. We owe you an answer.
And I would suggest that it's going to be half the number that's here in terms of being able to hire people throughout an entire year, 43 new people in your department. We've 141 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. seen how long it takes to hire people in government. There's positions we 4 authorized last year that are 5 maintenance/custodial positions that we 6 haven't hired. So as a practical matter, 7 you're asking for money that you're not 8 going to spend, and given that -- 9 COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: I'm 10 not sure of that, but as I say, we will 11 let you know -- I'm not sure that's true, 12 but we will be clear with you on the 13 sequence. 14
15 Commissioner, I think you have company. 16 COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: 17 Pardon? 18
You have company joining you who would love to respond to the question. (Witness approached witness table.)
Hi, 142 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Steve.
-- Steve Agostini, Budget Director. Councilmember, I think it's important to remember context. Last year we were going through a very significant cash problem where we were holding payments to vendors for sometimes months. There was a very significant review of all the positions that was taking place that I did on a weekly, if not daily basis. It was our intent to try and slow that process so that we could generate savings so that wouldn't turn into layoffs that were unnecessary. I think in this context, given what I've heard from Councilmember Quinones-Sanchez and from others here with respect to the positions and the maintenance concerns here, I think it would be incumbent for us to be sure that those are positions that are moved as quickly as possible through this process so that they get filled. 143 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc.
So when within the budget year will all 43 people be hired?
I think to the Commissioner's point, we will get back to you and let you know. I think --
You would agree if they're not all hired on July 1st, that you don't need all the money that you're asking us to appropriate?
But we account for that in salary savings in all the budgets. We already do that.
Well, you and I have had this conversation a number of times. Each of the budgets has an assumption of some vacancies. It's the natural turnover. People will leave, people will get hired.
You're going to 144 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. see the salary savings number. There will be a deduction for the assumption that all positions are not going to be filled. It's just the natural friction, if you will, of people leaving, people being hired and not having a hundred percent of all positions filled a hundred percent of the time all year long.
These are 43 new positions, though. So how quickly can we actually hire these 43 people?
I think I'll leave that to the folks who have to manage that to get that to me so that I can then move that quickly and be sure that HR moves it quickly.
Okay. So there are some savings here if we don't fill them all by July 1st; is that right, Commissioner? COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: Look, we're going to go as fast as we can. You'll know how fast as we can, and then you figure it out. 145 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc.
Thank you. COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: We'll give it to you. We'll give the truth.
You can provide that to the Chair. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Greenlee.
Thank you, Madam President. Good afternoon, everybody. I think I have just a real basic question here. I don't think it's been asked yet. Street tree trimmings, I think you're averaging -- Mark, I guess you're the best one to ask. About how many -- like how many years does it usually take to do a given block, on average?
Councilman, we were working -- in the past when you and I have spoken about this, we were working 146 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. to try and get on a seven-year pruning cycle. We're unfortunately nowhere near that. We're probably more at a 10- to 11-year pruning cycle, because funding keeps decreasing.
I understand. And who does that work? Are they Fairmount Park employees, contractors or some of both?
And I think you kind of answered this, but in your -- in the perfect world, you would like to see seven years?
Correct. Good arboricultural standards would have us pruning the whole street tree inventory in the City on a seven-year cycle.
Because I know that often is something we get complaints about. And it does add to other things, safety and all.
All right. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you. I'm going to go back and forth with this around maintenance. Commissioner, every year the Department creates a list of outstanding maintenance issues by building, kind of your capital plan. Have you guys updated that recently? COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: Yeah. We actually -- I actually meet monthly to update that.
It would be important if you can submit to the Chair the listing of your building maintenance needs or capital improvement needs, because I think as part of this discussion as we discuss this budget and potentially moving things around, I want 148 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. us and my Council colleagues in particular to see kind of the backlog that's created around some of this maintenance stuff that we -- oh, look, Councilwoman Tasco has her list. But I think it would be important so that we can have it in the context of this budget discussion. And then Councilman Greenlee talked about the trees. I also think it would be important for us as part of this budget discussion to look at the backlog as it relates to dead trees, because that's an issue, those of us who are District Councilpeople, get every day, and I want to make sure that we keep that in the context of this discussion around the budget.
Councilwoman, certainly the Parks' current backlog for dead and dangerous tree removals is 1,672 as of the middle or so of last week. That's in part again to the decreasing in funds. I'll just give you a bit of 149 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. context for that. In Fiscal Year 2006, we had $1.7 million for tree removal. So we were doing about 2,500 trees that year. This year we're down to $554,000 in tree removal money. So we're down around that 630 number.
Again, I would strongly encourage you, particularly as again you revisit some of the positions that Councilman Green had talked about, that these are some of the areas -- because I believe this is your Class 200 allocation.
I don't think your Class 200 allocation kind of addresses some of the issues with the backlog. Those are the issues that are important to many of us, because I think that -- again, I understand the need to create an infrastructure. If you look at us and you compare us nationally with other parks, we could be putting more 150 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. money in there. And, again, we will -- I will commit again to be a strong advocate, but I do want to make sure that we're allocating money in areas that impact folks the most and I'd like to see us put more money into that Class 200 classification. I don't think this budget reflects what we hear every day. And then there was one more issue, and I guess you could submit this to the Chair. I'd like to get a listing, because I couldn't find it in your budget as it's reflected and other budgets in terms of your grants revenue, what of the grants revenue we get that is leveraged with our general operating. I think, again, this is one of the departments that when you look at the budget, we don't see the leveraging, because this budget presentation doesn't allow you to do it, but it would be important for you to show my Council colleagues where that grants revenue is leveraged. It has to be leveraged with our general operating 151 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. budget. I think that's important, particularly as it relates, for instance, to our older adult centers and how we leverage PCA money with our General Fund money. And in our programming with our Youth Works piece with the teen centers, I think, again, that's not -- there's no 9 opportunity for you to show that here, and I think it's important that Council understand that it's our teen center and then in particularly some of the work that's been done around our ice rinks and the money that's leveraged there. Again, this budget does not allow you to appropriately reflect. And I think where you can tie in some of these positions to the leveraging of that money, I think it would be important in the conversation of this budget. COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: We'll be happy to do that. COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: We'll make sure we get you that information.
People 152 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. agree that this budget does not allow you sometimes -- it limits it, but I think it's important, again, if we're going to talk about any reclassifications in these budgets, I think there's a lot of areas where we need to put more. Thank you, Madam President.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Thank you. We're going to talk about my favorite subject, and that's the Dell. It's going to operate this summer? COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: Yes. And actually Councilwoman Miller actually mentioned it, and I thanked you, but you had stepped out for a second, for your appropriation, your commitment to the Dell. The season will begin July the 12th. That will be our first concert. We're planning to have eight shows this season. We're excited. We're looking 153 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. forward to it, and it was a result of the commitment to quite a few of the Councilmembers here. Councilwoman Blackwell wasn't here either when I thanked you for your commitment to the Robin Hood Dell East. And so I think you're going to have a wonderful concert season. They're in the process now of actually putting the seats in. It's going to look like a new amphitheater when you see it.
Great. Sounds great. Who is going to manage the Dell? COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: Well, I am. I have some assistance, some staff members that have been with the Department for years and that have been a part of the process. And our process also allows us to hire various people that have worked with the Dell for years to come in to do promotion, to do advertising. And so the RFPs are actually out right now in order for us to 154 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. bring those people in to work along with me to make sure we have the right acts and we're running smoothly.
That sounds real good. I think that is my last question. I couldn't remember. I said how could I not ask about the Dell. Madam President, I think that's it for me.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Goode.
Commissioner DiBerardinis, I made the statement a few minutes ago that it appears that you want to give the contract to the same people, after which Mr. Focht pretty much confirmed that statement. Is that what 155 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. you heard? COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: I don't think that's what I heard, but can I comment generally on the question? I do think we have a responsibility. I mean, I think to your point earlier about our responsibility --
I heard Mr. Focht say that you can't change over contractors too quickly or too often, and so that says to me that he's planning on using the same old contractors. COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: Can I, Councilman Goode, give you an example of something that the Department of Recreation has been doing for quite a few years and I believe that --
Commissioner, if it's related to the question of whether you plan on using the same old contractors or not, because that's the question. COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: It's relating to that, sir. 156 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc.
Go ahead. COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: And so the Department of Recreation -- I may be throwing myself under the bus here, but just to comment to what you're saying, the Department of Recreation has been using a contractor for 20-some-odd plus years, and the contract was just signed when I started in June of '08, and it's a contract -- it's a pretty hefty contract. But what we do have the ability to do and I found out because we made some changes to one of our turf contracts last year, and by making those changes to the turf contracts, we bumped out a minority participant. And so to your comment, we do have some responsibility and we can give some input when it comes around to these contracts. Because of our input, I bumped someone out. We asked for some additional work to be done around the curb sites, around the weeding and work that wasn't being done, and because of 157 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. that, the job was a little larger than the minority contractor was used to, so they didn't get the contract. And so if I'm able to put language in the contract to bump someone out, I'm also able to put language in the contract to make sure that there's some inclusiveness as well.
But you can't do that and Mr. Focht can't do that and Commissioner DiBerardinis can't do that if you claim that they are multi-year contracts, which by law are not legal. COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: By law are?
I guess my next question is, you claim that there are multi-year contracts up to four years, Mr. Focht, is that true?
Councilman, I said the contract is a one-year contract with renewals.
That's not 158 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. what you said, but that's what I understood. So it's not a four-year contract?
It's a one-year contract that has a contract term that begins at the beginning of the fiscal year, ends at the end of the fiscal year, which means that you're not locked in to that contractor for two years or three years or four years?
So if it is your plan to try to build capacity of disadvantaged businesses, if it's your plan that you're going to be able to increase participation by showing people the work that needs to be done over several years, you can start that next year. And so is that goal of 12 percent, which is still not clear who actually set it, a low number or not? And my guess is that it is, but even if it's not a low number for Fiscal Year '11, my question 159 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. is, if we're going to take you at your word that you're actually trying to build the capacity of disadvantaged businesses to participate but you claim you can't do it right away because you have to actually rotate them in and it's a question about whether you're going to begin to rotate them in, then tell me what your long-term plan is. If it actually is percent for next year, 12 what is it the following year and what's the year after that, and do you actually have a real plan to increase participation? I think not. I think my statement is still true. For the most part, your plan -- and it may just be Mr. Focht -- you plan on using the same contractors year in and year out.
On the specifics of that contract, Councilman, I apologize if I said something that misled you. That's certainly not our intent. The contracts are one-year contracts with the option for renewal, and the specific contract I 160 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. was referring to has a 51 percent minority participation.
You said all that already. So the question I'm asking is this: You made the statement -- you used the term "four years," did you not? Did I just hear that or did you use the term "four years"?
Okay. You used the term "four years." You can't be honest about that. You used the term "four years" because you believed that you were going to give this person a one-year contract and then renew it three times. That's just the truth.
Correct. That's the truth on a contract that I was referencing that has 51 percent minority 161 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. participation.
I'm done. He's not even telling the truth. COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: Let me try to talk as sort of my responsibility for both departments, and so let me try to put a little light on this. Number one is that I know this was a big issue in Council, this whole question. I would say that we want to be more serious. We do have a responsibility. So we can't say Procurement, it's them. We can't point any fingers to anybody. We have to do as much as we can within the bounds that are set up. And if somebody asked me what are those -- where's that barrier there, I'm not sure, but we're going to find out, and that we will do everything in our power and within the authority which we can do to increase women and minority participation in the Department's contracts. It makes sense. It's the 162 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. right thing. So we're going to do it. I wish -- again, I'll talk for me. I'm not talking for either of these guys. I'm talking for me. This is sort of my first budget year, real budget year. We have to do better. That number is not enough. So my expectation is, we will do more. My expectation is, we will do more. And we have to look at this, we have to look at recruitment and we have to look at sort of how people move up in our system. So there's three areas that I think if we don't pay attention to, they get away from you. They'll get away from you. No matter how good-intentioned you are, if you don't pay attention on a regular basis to those three things, women and minority contractors, recruitment of high-quality diverse employee workforce and the track of those folks into leadership, if you don't pay attention to it, you won't succeed. It's that simple. 163 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. As we build this new department, we're going to be dedicated to those three things and build the management structure, that we pay attention to them every day and that the leadership in the Department is on it every day. That's the way we'll succeed. Short of that, we won't succeed.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
Thank you, Madam President. Let me go on record by saying we appreciate a department head making it clear that you're taking this seriously and you're not relying purely on OEO to do the due diligence, when really, as Councilman Goode has said repeatedly for the past ten years, ultimately you know what your needs are, you know what type of contractors you use for your 164 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. department, so, therefore, you have to have the responsibility to move the needle. Simply move the needle. So for you to be forthright about that is encouraging, and we would like to hear that type of commitment across City department heads. We don't have that yet. (Applause.)
Does your department have a contract with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society? COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: No. 15
Have you had a chance to give any thinking to linking up Class A rec centers with schools that have no physical facilities that allow for physical fitness activities at all? COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: Not that particular item, but we have 165 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. recently begun a series of meetings with the School District to look at both sort of where the connective tissue between the two institutions or departments and -- that institution and our department, and how do we explore sort of what we do out of school that supports their curriculum. I think that's the trick, finding -- if we're really going to work with the School District, how do we help kids be better ready to learn. I think that's the thing we have to move towards.
Okay. COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: So how do we do that, we're under discussion with them around that. We're also under discussion around partnering with them, in addition to the programming side, to the physical side and how do we help them green up their facilities and how do we help them become part of this big discussion about trees, be part of that campaign that could help the City green 166 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. up and help us leverage our dollars to support them to be more green and plant more trees on their campuses. So we're on a couple of levels.
In the exploration stage, at best? COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: Right. We're early in that discussion.
Will your department benefit at all from the tobacco dollars that are coming to the Health Department specifically around obesity-related initiatives? COMMISSIONER SLAWSON: Yes, we are benefiting. We were allotted one staff person that will be running a health and nutrition program throughout 100 of our facilities via the Health Department's grant.
Okay. Switch gears. Urban gardening, just give us an update on where that is within the Department. COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: We 167 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. are partnering with any number of non-profits to -- particularly with the rec centers on fallow, underutilized land. So like recently at the Carousel House, Teens 4 Good. And the Department partnered up with ShopRite, Brown ShopRite, a bunch of groups that now there's a series of agricultural plazas that not only provide food for the supermarket but also help the kids sort of get sort of vocationally oriented and have some good, high-quality programming. We want to do more of that through the system. Some of the existing farmland in the Park, we're going to convert some of that to commercial, small commercial plots. So we're trying to move us up not only around food and nutrition, not only around local production, but also around youth development as well. So we're trying to hit two or three or four big policy questions with this single approach.
So that 168 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. currently is a pilot program? COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: Yeah, but we hope to do more. We're in three or four -- East Poplar, Carousel House, the Manatawna, Awbury Park. So there's four or five, but we're slowly building it out. We expect this year to be a banner year in terms of how do we connect around quality food access, nutrition, education and youth development.
Keep us updated, if you will. Next year report back on what the yield is in your conversations and discussions with the School District. COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: Okay.
I think that is it for me. Thank you, Madam President.
You're welcome. Are there any other questions 169 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. from members of the Committee? (No response.)
Seeing no one, thank you all so very much. COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: Thank you. (Applause.)
This Committee will stand in recess until 1:45. Thank you. (Luncheon recess.)
Good afternoon. The Committee of the Whole is now back in session. Our next group to testify? MR. McPHERSON: Is the Atwater Kent Museum. (Witness approached witness table.)
Good afternoon. Kindly identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony. 170 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc.
Council President Verna and members of City Council, I'm Viki Sand, Executive Director of the Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent. I am here to present testimony in support of the Philadelphia History Museum budget of $248,630. This represents no change in Class 100 funds appropriated in Fiscal Year 2010, and funds support the following positions: Executive Director, Curator, Registrar and Municipal Guard. The budget continues to include $50,000 in Class 500 funds for the consolidated, long-term collection storage facility. I also want to recognize that the Museum receives essential administrative services from the Recreation Department, and I would like to thank Commissioner Susan Slawson and Michael DiBerardinis. The Museum has been assisted in achieving its major goals of collection storage as well as renovation to the 171 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Museum building by the Department of Public Property, Commissioner Joan Schlotterbeck. Everyone associated with the Philadelphia History Museum applauds the commitment of the Mayor and Council to support Philadelphia's cultural community, and we appreciate that there are no cuts to the Museum in this year's budget, and I appreciate that. We all appreciate it. I would like to recognize the support of Councilman Frank DiCicco in whose district the Museum is located, Councilmember Bill Greenlee, who is the Council's representative on the Museum Board and has been one of our strongest advocates for re-branding the Museum as the Philadelphia History Museum, and he has been a strong voice for our public outreach efforts. I'd also like to thank Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, the Chair of the Arts and Culture Committee, whose knowledge of education and opportunities for cultural collaboration 172 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. has strengthened our community programming. I will dispense with much of my testimony since it's there, but I do want to draw attention to our four major objectives that we have listed for Council and the work that we've been doing over the past year. In June, I am delighted to report that our $5.8 million renovation to the Museum building is on schedule and will be complete. Approximately 70 percent of that building, of that effort, relates to increased infrastructure capacity, including environmental, safety and accessibility requirements, but for the first time in recent memory, there will be a media-driven, interactive, must-see overview of Philadelphia history and a Philadelphia Voices gallery curated by outside individuals and community groups, two new galleries, a behind-the-scenes collection study facility or area so that people can have 173 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. up close and personal looks at the collection and collection objects. We have everything in this collection from the wampum belt received by the Lenape tribe to the uniform that Jimmy Rollins gave the Museum from the 2008 championship season, and as I brought two years ago, Mike Schmidt's jersey to show City Council members. I am delighted that in this, we have Jimmy Rollins' batting glove and we also have his jersey. (Applause.)
My point in sharing that is that we are not just about 17th and 18th century history. We are about up-to-the-minute history. And on Opening Day, it feels particularly appropriate. This is also -- let me just say one thing about the renovation. It's important to know that the Museum building was limiting every opportunity that the Museum had to build sustainable programs in the 21st century. 174 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. The building was not accessible for those with mobility disabilities. It was not possible to have both public hours and have school groups visit the Museum. Limited space meant that we could no 7 longer do and participate in a major professional development program with the School District of Philadelphia. We had no way to regulate heat, cooling and humidification of the environment in the building to preserve Philadelphia's iconic objects, and we did not have electrical capacity or IT capacity to meet the needs of a contemporary office, let alone the kinds of interactivity that are expected of family audiences. This year we also occupied the Collection Research Center, and for the first time in a very, very long time, the Museum -- it was able to care for the hundred thousand items that are in its collection. Not only the Historical Society of Pennsylvania collection that added to the Museum 300 -- to fill out 175 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. the full 300 years of Philadelphia history, but also the Balch Institute, also the Insurance Company of North America. So we are now able to link together the histories from William Penn and George Washington to immigrant trunks, remnants of industrial history and the sporting life of the City. We have continued during this renovation program, with greatly reduced staff, to work with middle and high school students as part of the National History Day Collaborative. We worked closely during this time with over 200 children to help them, in an intensive way, really develop their thinking skills, their research skills and all of the thought processes that better prepare them to be good students, but also to meet their personal goals as adults. This year over a thousand students participated at the National Constitution Center in March. And I would like to also then 176 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. address the fourth point, having to do with the re-branding of the Philadelphia History Museum. This is -- while we continue to honor the Museum's founder, we believe that this new name better conveys to diverse audiences the Museum's purpose. We also believe that the grid included in the logo draws upon the City's earliest day and suggests the continuing need to review and renew the values essential for an engaged citizenry and a dynamic, vibrant environment where all people have the opportunity for social justice, economic opportunity and an understanding of a shared heritage as Philadelphians. Last year, along with others, the Philadelphia History Museum absorbed up to 30 percent cuts in the City budget. We applaud the Administration and the Council efforts to look creatively for opportunities to generate revenue rather than to make additional cuts. In the coming year, improvements in the 177 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. operating systems to the museums will add significantly to our operating budget, and we are looking at a full range of sources to support this new effort. And we would say straightforwardly that further cuts in City-supported staff and operations at the City History Museum at this time would seriously undermine our efforts to preserve core services, as the Museum is working to make the collection accessible as never before and to reopen the building to a significantly increased attendance and program participation.
Let me speak to an issue that I know many Council -- the Council is very concerned about and has raised issues, and, that is, the Administration's goal of percent minority, women and 20 disabled-owned business participation in 21 City contracting. In 2009 as part of its 22 preparation to receive City capital grant 23 funds of $250,000 toward the building 24 renovation, we met with the compliance 25 officers of the Minority Business 178 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Enterprise Council and filed an equal opportunity plan that was accepted at 4 percent MBE, ten percent WBE and two 5 percent DSBE and 60 percent utilization 6 of Philadelphia-based contractors. 7 Because of the specialized nature of the 8 renovation, it was agreed that this would 9 be somewhat lower than what the City's 10 goals were, and as of February, I've 11 listed where we are on this. We have 17 12 percent MBE, ten percent WBE and zero 13 percent DBE. It's our aspiration to meet 14 the City's goals and other aspects of the 15 renovation, and we are working with the 16 Museum's construction manager towards 17 that end. It's important that I state 18 toward this purpose that the Museum's 19 agent for the project is a minority-owned 20 business and we are working to expand our pool of professional counsel, and a woman who is one of our key people in terms of our conservation effort is an African American woman. I think that the issues of 179 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. staffing the Museum I think is critically important, and we are laying in place as we increase the staff both particularly for our visitor services positions as well as our professional staff to improve what has been the makeup of the Museum staff, and it is something that is very much central to our thinking about the future. Before concluding my testimony, I want to express my appreciation to members of City Council with whom I have had the pleasure of working over the past eight years. Your personal kindness and commitment to help the City History Museum serve all Philadelphians has been important to our success, and I hope that you too take a good deal of satisfaction in our achievement. This concludes my testimony and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you very much. 180 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. The Chair recognizes Councilman Greenlee.
Thank you, Madam President. I more have a statement than a question, but I'll be brief. As Ms. Sand said, I've been on the Board either representing Councilman Cohen for a number of years or on my own, and I've seen a tremendous improvement in what is now, I'm happy to call, the Philadelphia History Museum. And with the hope that I'm not embarrassing Viki, I think a lot of people may know she's moving on. She's going to be leaving the Museum to pursue other goals, and I can really say the improvements I've seen over the years -- and there's been a lot of people involved with it, and I think once it opens up, it's going to not be a hidden treasure anymore, but a real treasure for the City. But I think if we had to wrap that up in two words about why it worked, the two words are "Viki Sand," because 181 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. she just did a tremendous job in just building up the Museum and making it an important feature of Philadelphia. So I was going to put a resolution in barring her from leaving, but I guess we can't do that, so I'll just say thank you for everything you did, both for the Museum and just for the City of Philadelphia generally. Thank you, Viki.
We certainly want to thank you for all of your years of service and hard work and want to wish you the very best for your future endeavors. Ms. Sand, has the grand reopening date been set for the Museum? 182 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. If so, when?
The target date is March 2011 for the public opening. The building renovation itself will be completed -- we expect to move back into the building in July. There are a number of environmental systems that need to be balanced out over the next two or three months before we bring objects -- after it opens before we bring objects back into the building, and it is our intention in the fall of 2010 to do a series of tours, special tours, programs and activities, but the official public opening is scheduled for March 2011.
Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
Thank you, Madam President. Good afternoon. Just one question, and then I would like to echo 183 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. the remarks of my colleagues. On of your testimony, speaking to the Administration's commitment and strategic plan around OEO and inclusion, you stipulate that because of the specialized nature of the renovation, we are somewhat behind our goal. So speak to what that specialization is and provide detail. You mention that you're having difficulty finding someone with that particular area of expertise, so state what that is and then tell us what your efforts have been.
The specific issues are that -- and the reason why we were granted a somewhat reduced level in terms of the goal was because of the environmental controls. So much of the work of the building deals with specialized HVAC systems, and it was recognized that there are not so many people who provide that kind of work. So that's the essential. And I'd be happy to provide you with detail of specifically who the companies are and 184 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. what was done to meet that goal.
We would appreciate that. And that is customary that we're asking across City government.
So then let me echo Councilman Greenlee's remarks. I had a chance to visit with the Museum shortly upon your arrival and then learned of and saw your vision, and here it is eight years later and you've achieved that and more. So know that we appreciate what I call stick-to-itiveness, because it was no 16 easy undertaking, and deeply appreciate all that you have done to grow the awareness of the Philadelphia History Museum and bid you well with the next chapter of your life. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Madam President. 185 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Madam President. I don't have questions. I likewise want to certainly say thank you, Viki, for all that you are and the leadership you've provided and for making us excited about that Museum. It's become such a major point of Philadelphia history, and we're excited about changing the name, and whenever I describe it, I talk about you can stand on your street, and people are always excited. And it's just been that and all that is above it. It's just been wonderful. You've made it come alive for us, and we say thank you for all your years of service.
Thank you. 186 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Any other questions or comments from members of the Committee? (No response.)
Seeing none, again, thank you so very much and good luck to you.
Thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity. I must say that there's nothing that pleases me more than when Philadelphians walk into the Museum and see something of their own lives and start to smile. The Council has been an essential partner, and I really appreciate all of the courtesies that I've received.
Thank you. Our next department? MR. McPHERSON: The Free Library of Philadelphia. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Good afternoon. Welcome. Kindly identify 187 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Council President, I'm Robert Heim, Chair of the Board of Trustees.
I'm Siobhan Reardon, President and Director of the Free Library of Philadelphia. COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: And I'm Mike DiBerardinis, Commissioner of Parks and Recreation and special advisor to the Mayor on the Free Library.
I think we've seen you before. COMMISSIONER DiBERARDINIS: Yes.
Council President Verna and members of Council, as I said, I'm Robert Heim, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Free Library, and I'm pleased to appear again this year and very much appreciate the opportunity to 188 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. speak briefly on behalf of the trustees, which, as you know, is an independent Board under our City Charter and the governing body of the Library. Joining me this afternoon are a number of trustees who wanted to be here for the testimony. Sherry Swirsky, who is Vice Chair of the Board, is here; Stephanie Naidoff; Shelly Yanoff, all trustees are attending, as is Alla Kera (ph), former Chair of the Board of Trustees and now a member of the Foundation Board. And I'm also pleased to see that Amy Dougherty, who is the Director of the Friends of the Free Library, is here, as well as Sherrie Cohen, who is a very important member of the Friends and, of course, the daughter of our cherished longtime but unfortunately deceased former Councilmember, David Cohen. So on behalf of the 22 members of the Board of Trustees, I first want to extend my thanks to City Council and to the Mayor and to the gentleman to my 189 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. right, Michael DiBerardinis, the Deputy Mayor, for all of the support that they have extended to the Library, that all of you have extended to the Library over the course of the last year, support that has helped us keep the libraries operating and providing materials and programs to City residents. We know that you have heard from your constituents about the importance of these services, and despite budget cuts, we have worked hard to continue to deliver them. At the same time, the Board of Trustees is committed to success in new areas. We are an active body, providing not only oversight of the policies and operations of the Free Library, but also essential advocacy for the Library and engagement in a wide range of hands-on services. And we want you to know that in these difficult economic times, the Board of Trustees has not just sat on its hands and waited for government to come to it. For the first time, we held a legislative 190 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. breakfast in Harrisburg, and our goal was to inform state legislators of the range of services that the Free Library provides and to let them know how much our customers and our constituents value their investment in our work, as well as the investment of City Council and the City and the Mayor. I am pleased to report that attendance at this legislative breakfast was substantial. It exceeded our expectations, even if it was at 8 o'clock in the morning. And we had legislators, I think some 30, 35 legislators attended from different counties, such as Blair, Centre and Lehigh and, of course, some of our own legislators attended. We talked about how important libraries are generally across the State, but we emphasized, of course, our own library and what we do here for the citizens of Philadelphia. But the interest in libraries on the part of the state legislators who attended the breakfast 191 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. was high. They appreciated that we came. They appreciated that we asked them to hold our funding and not to cut it any further, and they got the message. And we intend to continue giving them the message over and over again, emphasizing the importance of libraries to the people of Philadelphia and to the people of this Commonwealth. Another way that we're raising the profile of the Library is getting the word out about important areas of concentration.
In addition to providing reading assistance, literacy services, which are so very important to our population, and after-school homework help for our children, we are targeting five key audiences: job seekers; small businesses; new Americans, new citizens, new Americans; pre-kindergarten children and the digitally savvy, which I must say are mostly young people, but there are a few of us who are kind of catching on. The success of each of these groups is 192 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. integral to the City's economic recovery and ongoing prosperity, an effort we are committed to help lead. Board members have joined the working groups devoted to enhancing services to each of these populations. So each one of these core groups has trustees who are working with the staff to provide ideas, to provide input and to make sure that we're staying on target, and we are excited about this new direction, and Siobhan Reardon will talk about it a little more in her comments. I want to say -- and I think all of you know -- that a valuable way to learn about our libraries is to look to actually go out and tour them, something that the trustees have paid particular attention to in these last few years. So before or in conjunction with each trustees' meetings and sometimes in between, we get a small van and the trustees who are able to make it come out and they get in the van and we travel 193 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. around to three or four libraries, and we meet with the library staff, and it is a fascinating experience. It's very insightful. I particularly like talking to the security guards, because they have such a detached but informed and interesting observations about the operations of the Library. And so we go and we visit as many branches as we can in the morning, and we encourage any City Council member who might be interested in attending one of our van trips, we offer you the opportunity and we'd love to have you with us. As you know, each one of our 54 branches serves a distinct neighborhood and confronts different issues, and the better informed the trustees are, the better we can do our jobs. I should mention that the trustees work hand in glove with the Free Library Foundation Board of Directors, which are charged with securing private funds to support the work of the Library. 194 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. These private funds, these dollars, allow us to launch program initiatives that we just wouldn't be able to do without their help. The Free Library Festival is one. The highly successful lecture series in which we bring authors in from all around the country to speak to audiences is another. And, of course, the Foundation has been charged with raising the funds to build a much-needed expansion to the Parkway Central Library, which we believe can be a centerpiece for learning and knowledge transfer for adults and children, I guess children of all ages. So we've raised over a hundred million dollars in that regard. We're moving aggressively to seek the necessary funds for groundbreaking, and we hope to be able to do that within the next 12 months. So we look forward to continuing to work with City Council in the next year to ensure that all Philadelphians have access to the Library 195 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. services that they so clearly value. And, once again, thank you, each and every one of you, for all that you do for the Library.
Council President Verna and members of the Council, I am Siobhan Reardon, President and Director of the Free Library of Philadelphia. I am delighted to be here this afternoon to report to you that the operations of the Free Library remain strong. While this past year has been challenging, I want to commend the employees of the Free Library, the Board of Trustees, the Foundation Board of Directors and all whom have risen to the challenges to continue to deliver outstanding service to the people of Philadelphia. I want to publicly thank each and every one of them, all of you here in the Chamber and the Mayor and for everybody's efforts on behalf of the Free Library. 196 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. The Free Library of Philadelphia has a wealth of resources in materials, programs, spaces and staff. We are committed to employing these and other assets to help lead the City to economic recovery and ongoing prosperity. We have pursued this goal in a number of ways over the past years and have ambitious plans to enhance this work in the future. To this end, we are seeking nearly $33 million in City funds for Fiscal Year 2011. The Free Library's most noteworthy accomplishments over the past year has been the level of service that we have been able to deliver to our customers. Through a thoughtful redesign of the branch schedule and redeployment of staff, we have been able to provide library services across six days a week throughout the City. Nearby branches are paired, such as our Queen Memorial Library at 23rd and Federal and South Philadelphia at Broad and Morris, with 197 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. one open Monday through Friday and the other open Tuesday through Saturday. This schedule maximizes our resources and attempts to limit the inconvenience to our customers. As we do every summer, all branch locations will be open Monday through Friday beginning June 7th, 2010. Regional libraries will continue to open Tuesday through Saturdays, and our library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped is always open Monday through Friday 9:00 to 5:00 year round. One of the challenges in ensuring a stable schedule has been staffing, due largely to the number of positions lost in the Fiscal Year 2009 budget, along with normal resignations and attrition. A particular challenge is the availability of municipal guards, who are responsible not only for security but for the custodial tasks and general maintenance of the building. After an unfortunate delay, we expect to have eight full-time and six seasonal guards 198 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. on board by the end of the month. We are optimistic that this will help to ease the number of unexpected closings. m. four days a week. This is a real boon to working families and others who are not able to get to the library during the day and keeps us in compliance with State standards. We have managed this extra evening by keeping individual departments staffed when usage is heaviest and consolidating operations in other departments when they are less so. For the first time this year, the Library will offer seven-day service during the summer by keeping the Central Library open Sundays from 1:00 to 5:00. Youth and family programming will be added in order to make the library a destination and to continue to offer new entertainment options for the people using the Parkway. 199 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Over the past year, we have made a number of capital improvements to our branches, many of which are over a hundred years old. There are new heating systems at both the Nicetown-Tioga and Eastwick branches, a new transformer at our Overbrook Park Library, and Kingsessing has been spruced up with fresh plaster, paint and lighting. There will be new doors and a more welcoming entrance at our McPherson Square shortly. The Central Music Department has been renovated. The net effect, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, is a brighter, more highly functioning library.
All of these improvements have been critical for the safety and comfort of our staff and users. To better serve a growing population of older adults, the Free Library has opened a dedicated space for seniors. Central Senior Services provides state-of-the-art information resources on health, the arts and 200 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. business, five laptop computers, an Access Technology workstation, and materials that cater to an older clientele. We are also proud of the support we have provided to the high school and post-secondary students. The number of federal work study students has nearly doubled to 55, allowing us to place one in every single library. Additionally, each one of the last year's Teen Leadership Assistants, high school students who work in the LEAP After School Program, graduated on time, and over 95 percent went on to study at a post-secondary institution. The Free Library continues to maximize its usage of the federal e-rate program, a program that reimburses schools and libraries for their technology improvements. With this incentive, the Free Library has built a high-speed broadband fiber network for the entire library system and improved Internet service speed by 450 percent. 201 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. We have spent nearly three and a half million dollars on these and other accomplishments, 90 percent of which has been returned to the City. The Free Library has embarked on the development of a new strategic plan, which will guide our work in the coming years. While this process is underway, we have begun to refine our work in order to more effectively meet our commitment to lead the City to economic prosperity. We are focusing our work on enhancing our services to five targeted audiences that Bob discussed just a minute ago: jobseekers, small businesses and start-up entrepreneurs, pre-kindergarten children, new Americans and the digitally savvy. Each is critical to the City's ability to recover and to grow, and the Library has a meaningful role to play in meeting their standards. I'm going to skip through each of the individual areas, as it's in my 202 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. testimony. You can read through that. I'm going to skip over to the section 4 called Other Initiatives. Literacy underpins our work in all of the five targeted areas, as well as every other part of our -- and all of the work that we do, and the Free Library is reaffirming its role and commitment to its preeminence in all that we do. We have just received funding to train 60 teens to be literacy coaches this summer. They will then be prepared to work with the children in our LEAP program as the program transitions to a literacy-focused, year-round, out-of-school-time program. Our work with adults is critical as well, with estimates of the City's illiteracy rate ranging from nearly 20 percent of the City's working age population being below the most basic levels to as many as 50 percent lacking in the skills necessary to advance their careers. Numerous studies have also demonstrated the link 203 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. between low literacy and truancy, dropping out of school and even incarceration. Working hand in hand with the Mayor, the Free Library is reinvigorating the Mayor's Commission on Literacy and is conducting a national search to recruit and hire an Executive Director to lead this effort. The expansion of the Parkway Central Library will enable us to pursue these goals even more creatively and aggressively. A significantly larger children's department, discrete space for small business and entrepreneurs, a new auditorium and many more public commuters are just a few of the improvements that are being planned for the expanded campus. We appreciate the City's support of this project and are optimistic that we will be able to raise the additional remaining funds to get to groundbreaking this year.
I thank you for your time and attention, and I'm happy to answer any 204 4/12/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. questions that you have.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Goode.
Thank you, Madam President. Good afternoon, Ms. Reardon.
Let's deal with participation goals for disadvantaged businesses. First, who set the goal of five percent?
You recommended that goal to them or they recommended that goal to you?