Thank you, Councilman. Anyone else? Any other questions? (No response.)
Have a good afternoon. Our next department is Office of Information -- Innovation and Technology, please. Good afternoon.
It's a ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 379 long day already. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed. We already have your testimony as I think you know, so if would just summarize --
Thank you. My name is Adel Ebeid. I'm CIO for the Office of Innovation and Technology. While I'm fairly new in this role, I have some of the -- some very capable people next to me. To my left I have Chris Dinoto who is the CFO for my office, and to my right I have Jim White who is the chief operating officer. And not knowing what kind of questions I'm going to get, I have several member of my management team in the audience as well.
You always have to be flexible. We never know what --
If I can't ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 380 answer your questions because I'm new, I'll surely field it to one of them.
I'm going to yield my time to -- COUNCILGREENLE: Okay. Thank you. Let me ask a couple real quick. Now, one is something I came up with, and Councilman Green will be interested in this. The City Directory online seems to be missing a few things and being a little -- have a number of mistakes. I'll give you one example. There is a Councilman Green listed and Councilman at Large Green and under Councilman at Large Green is an employee named William Greenlee and everybody else in my office, and it just makes me shudder to think I'm working for Councilman Green, because I'd have to quit. So I just use that as an example, and I understand there's other departments that it's hard to find. ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 381 Now, I don't know -- you know, before we used tis nice blue book, and could look everybody up. And I modernization, but it seems like there's still a lot of things missing there. So I don't know if anybody has worked on that, if anybody can answer any of the concerns for that?
Yeah. I'll certainly take it as a task going back to my office. I'll find out who in my office is responsible for coordinating the across departments, and I'll do my best to make sure that you're not working for Councilman Green.
Okay. I was going to say, work on the one first for me. Okay.
Thank you. You say on page one of your written testimony that the general fund budget for OIT is supposed to realize a 2.8 million dollar reduction for FY13. How will this impact ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 382 services, and what's is the expected impact?
Chris Dinoto here. Some of the reduction is based on some onetime 9-1-1 charges this year that we won't have next year. There is also a reduction in the overall general fund budget reflecting some savings under the Verizon contract and some other cuts in some areas like training and software purchase. And we try to spread out the pain as little as possible so the services would not be terribly effected.
I know a lot of people have questions here, so I'd yield. Councilman Green. Sir.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So at last week's budget hearings with specific reference to the February ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 383 29, 2012 briefing the administration gave to Council, and in that briefing specifically stated what factor they used in evaluating where the prioritized project has been. I was told that it was various factors. Rather than go back on forth on that, I asked a simple question, that the details and scoring or whatever you had, anything on paper electronicly, et cetera, with respect to the prioritization process be turned over to the Chair. Has any information been turned over to the chair.
Hi. Councilman Green, we're just compiling the information in the budget office in order to provide all of the answers to you from the five-year plan hearing and the capital budget hearing to go the Chair to so part of those responses are their IT response as well.
Okay. ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 384 Great. I'd like IT's actual responses to you in addition to whatever you want to provide in whatever in whatever format you would like to provide presented to the Chair. When will that be provided?
We're just it putting together now. It should within in the next few days.
I think Friday is holiday. But I mean, if not tomorrow, then Monday or Tuesday. It should be coming pretty quickly.
In the legislation passed by Council in May 2010 the Board of Ethics was required to develop and deploy an online lobbyist registration reporting system. Have there been various updates provoided at various ethics board ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 385 meetings with respect to this? The registration requirement came into affect in January, and the first month quarterly reports are due I believe are this months. For reason that are hard to understand, the Ethics Board does not yet have a functioning system and instead registrations and upcoming reports are being submitted on paper forms that the Ethics Board are then having there to input to a stop gap data. At it's public meeting, the Ethics Board is described being promised repeatedly by OIT that a functioning system would be available by a date certain and each date coming and going without a system being available. Council passed the bill 15 with the full expectation that the Ethics Board would have an online system ready to go when the law came into affect, in fact, there was a significant delay in the implication process. So the OIT had more time than was originally contemplated. At the time, I suggested the Board contact the state department -- Pennsylvania Department of State which runs the state lobbying legislation that our bill was modeled on and just procure their ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 386 software. I'm not sure what's happened, but I'd like to understand where we are with this today?
Sure. So I walked in the movie halfway on this one, but the bottom line is, two weeks ago they -- the software was turned over to the Board of Ethics for testing. We continue to go through testing of the software and the functionalty. Almost every day I get a daily status of how that's going. I think we're maying much better progress than last year. At the end of the day, we're really waiting for the Board of Ethics to give us the -- the number of issues that they believe are show stoppers. We will back and facilitate those with the vendor.
I'm -- I'm not -- I don't know how much was spent so far, but I can tell you since November, we brought in the vendor back, and they've been ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 387 working on their own nickel to revise the system to meet the original set of requirement.
Thank you. I'll come back to this. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Right now I don't see anybody else listed to question. Councilman Henon.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. You had mentioned several times in previous briefings that you're upgrading the infrastructure and legacy programs. Will the City departments have the software soon where they'd be able to communicate with each other in a coordinated effort to share data; in other words, would the Hanson system be able to speak with Revenue or be able to talk with the BAA or the OAR? Will the system able to talk with the court system or any other departments?
Sure. So when you say departments communicating with each other, I take that to mean physically from a ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 388 physical network prospective. That's not what you mean. You mean from a programmatic prospective.
So one of the general principals that we've outlined for all that, or at least the eight systems that are going to be modernized, one of universal requirements is that ability for data integration and for the ability to -- for the data to flow freely across systems. Surely, the proof is in the pudding, but going into these modern-- the modernization initiative, that is one of our top goals so that we could, at least, eliminate the point the point-to-point integration what we have today in city which take a lot of resources to try to keep updated.
How long do you think it will take for that system or network to be implemented for realtime use? I'll give you an example. Just on the simplest of examples, there's been a lot of talk about, you ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 389 know, just identifying properties, all right, vacant land and properties that the City has and whether there's liens attached to it, whether there's citations or property maintenance violations or taxes, real estate taxes, owed to a particular property in addition to -- just a regular inventory. So you have the Mayor's Office of Sustainability, Public Property, you have a new office of data property, stemming from the finance department, and other multiple departments throughout the city are all kind of doing the same thing. Are you developing or working on a system or network, a network, a program, where they -- the -- you know, were we were told earlier today that it's going to be housed -- centralized from the Plan Commission. Is that going to be all integrated into a program where everybody can communicate and share data --
-- along those lines? This is short simple noncomplicated, you know, technical question. ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 390
The goal is, yes. In the out years, we would hope to have more better date integration than we have today. That's the goal. Absolutely.
So based on my years of profession experience, systems of 10 this size are not developed over night; however, 11 I see a lot of positive coordination that's 12 going on in the city, which is almost a 13 prerequisite before we start to modernize these 14 systems. 15 So when Ms. Soskia Thompson, 16 for example, from OPD about trying to coordinate 17 data, how it's administered, how it's captured, 18 how it will be saved, how will we define, the 19 semantics around data; when I find Ms. Judy 20 Castle doing something very similar along the 21 same lines of administrative systems, Bridget 22 who spoke this morning thinking of doing the 23 same thing for vacant parcels, those are the 24 kind of conversations that should be happening ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 391 right now before we modernize any of the systems. So I'm very -- I mean, I feel very confident that everybody who's got the -- their heart is in the right place. We're having the right conversations about data integration, and those are the kind of things that need to happen before we spend any money to modernize the systems. So based on what I've seen in the last twenty-five years these are systems that take two, three, and possibly my four years to developed. These are not systems that get developed over night.
Well, in fact, and I understand, you know, it must be extremely complicated to -- you know, to craft, you know, an old system to what our needs are, but -- and you're trying to save -- be cost effective as well when you're implementing, but aren't, indeed, we spending the money now in each separate department in trying to upgrade. So we're having -- what I'll saying is we're updating our systems ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 392 now while we're just starting -- you're just starting to have these discussions; is that correct?
Yeah. I'm aware of -- no. We're not upgrading our systems now. I think what's happening is where the dollars are spent is to maintain those point-to-point interfaces that I keep talking about or supporting a manual process just the make data, normalize the data and have it sync up with each other so-- I'm afraid that some of that stuff is going to have to continue until a brand-new system is in place. But the issues that you've identified are issues that have been shared with me. People are aware of them, and they're taking some great steps frankly to begin the dialogue and to coordinate cross agencies which is exactly the kind of dialogue that needs to happen before we spend serious dollars on modernizing the systems. ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 393 The 120 million dollar in capital is -- my guess is that it's only going to happen once in my lifetime, so we want to make sure we spend it a wisely as possible.
As long as the conversations include what did the -- you know, separate departments are doing now and how it falls into your transition in the-- you know, the bigger picture.
Yeah. Rest assured that I am actively engaged in just about every conversation that requires -- that involves data integration. I'm very passionate about that, got a lot of experience in it, and consider myself as a support process for a lot of what's happening.
We don't have a long line, so go ahead. ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 394
In the capital budget on FY14, 15, and 16, there seems to be in excess of 60 millions dollars of expenditures. Are they're earmarked for specific projects that you have in the coming years?
I believe they broke down. The number that I can recall is and 19. 18 million 18 dollars for infrastructure, securing and stabilized infrastructure; and 19 million for the -- to begin to business application modernization.
From your testimony? You're identifying your testimony. ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 395
So over the five-year plan -- in the five-year strategy you plan on spending 120 million capital improvement for OIT; is that right?
It's not enough which is why we're trying to prioritize and put a lot of governance around making sure that the dollars go to the most needy systems. The answer is, yes.
Thank you. Just finishing up on the ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 396 Board of Ethics, I really, having -- since I'm on every Board of ethics meeting and knowing what their expectation were and the many multiple dates they were given, I really don't think it's reasonable to throw sort of where we are in the lap of the Board of Ethics who received another copy two weeks ago and were told to evaluate it for errors. I don't think you meant it that way.
That's not what I said actually all. Yeah. I said, we're working with them to test a copy of the software deliverable that the vendor gave us. We've been doing that for the last two wokes. The goal is to arrive at two lists, a list of show stoppers that must be fixed by the vendor versus a list that's going to get best effort on the second time.
So I'd like you to provide the Chair with the wall costs associated with this project. I'd like to ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 397 understand why we didn't, as suggested to your predecessor, and the board simply try to license the software that the State of Pennsylvania already uses with respect to very similar reporting requiremens.
I believe in a meeting that I had with Mr. Rich Glazer and Netta, they actually went to see the system in Pennsylvania, and they did not like it at all frankly and they thought it was pretty archaic, and they did not within to adopt it for Philadelphia. I'm pretty sure that that was the report facts.
This is spend that's being passed through on our budget -- I mean, it appears on our budget.
It appears on your budget. Okay. All right. Well, I look forward to getting this up and implemented as quickly as possible as the law required. It should be in place today.
I share the ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 398 urgency.
Thank you. These questions may or may not be entirely on point with respect to what you're doing, but I'd like to hear from you about the project -- the progress of public safety applications as it relates to the city's wireless network.
As long as you appreciate that I'm just starting to look into this issue, so I'm willing to share some early observations with you.
Well, let's -- you know, I think I'll save that for departmental callbacks then because I'd rather have you have the opportunity to fully look it and -- not spend everybody's time with speculation, so I will come back to that.
Were you able to locate the document I was talking about that was in the presentation to Council I think?
I was not. I did communicate with your chief of staff over ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 399 the week, and I think she pointed me to someone who might have a copy and I'll be -- I will do that.
Okay. Great. On contract spending, I guess my final question that I'm to going want to know with respect to this, I'd like to -- it was my understanding that the implication of many of these things would be eligible for 9-1-1 spending, and I just -- so I'd to know, of what was in that report, what is 9-1-1 eligible and what's not?
Well, it's our stuff. It's no longer wireless Philadelphia, but yes. Those assets. During the five-year plan hearing last week I asked that each department provide a list of all contracts over 50 it plans to enter into in the coming fiscal year, descriptions of the specific services provided to citizens under those contracts and an explanation of how the department monitors the ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 400 contract to ensure the citizens receive value from it. Do you have that information available with you today?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just have two -- two questions for information. Can you explain to me the open data, what Open Data Philly is? And does the City pay for the organization, and who is responsible for the data that is given to the organization.
I'm going to ask someone from my staff to come in and chime in, but I'll certainly start the response. Open Data Philly is a certainly a movement that we support to encourage transparency and the publishing of ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 401 government data that otherwise would end up in the public domain. So this is public data. I am not aware of any dollars that -- that the City pays for, but we certainly benefit quite a bit from the coordination from the local tech community. Either Andrew or Stewart, can you chime in?
Stewart Baltor. Good afternoon. About a year or so ago we started out an organization called Open Data Philly. We don't spend any money on it. We're working with Comcast and several other partners out in the city. So the purpose of it is to prodoes open data. It's an issue that is really become large throughout the country, actually around the world. So Philadelphia decided to take a different tact and work with partners and publish more than just government data. The purpose of it is, the tech community in Philadelphia was actually extremely active and interested and civic minded ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 402 wants start producing data sets and apps that make sense for the government and the constituents. So there's a website out there that has, you know, Comcast data, all other kinds of data about the city. We are partnered in that that we're producing our own data sets, mostly GIS based, because that data was already made public, so it's just -- it's just a consolidated source of all the data available to the city.
Could you provide a list to the Chair with the known partners that you deal with please.
Before you leave, could you state your name and title again for the stenographer.
In your challenges looking forward to the future, you mention self-service for every transaction that was does not require face-to-face ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 403 authentication. Could you elaborate a little more on that please?
I'm not sure it's a challenge as much as I think we listed it as a planning assumption. One of the things that are trying to do is basically build a set of universal planning assumptions that should apply to how we make decisions and what we do moving forward. And I think planning assumption E Government or E Services is that anytime we are trying to -- that we have a transaction that does ont require somebody coming in into -- walking into and agency providing documents or authenticating themselves over the counter, that that transaction in and of itself should be an excellent candidate for internet or E Gov type of service. So think the challenge that we've given ourselves is that we're -- we're trying across city government that any transaction that doesn't require a face-to-face interaction we -- the goal should be to deliver ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 404 that through an another channel such as internet.
Any transaction that doesn't require face-to-face to interaction.
Okay. And then one of the examples that you have here is to provide constituent self-service anytime anywhere. Is that -- that's all -- it's basically the same type, a big type of --
Exactly. It's a forward looking statement of how we would like to see the kind of design and near systems that we build rather than dragging citizens downtown to an office.
I couldn't agree more with you, and I ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 405 think you're on the right track. I would assume though it would be a ten-year goal. Is it a five-year goal and looking forth?
You know, actually I think it's the kind of thing you'll see much sooner that. Some things have already been delivered some examples. There's three or four examples. And I would like to get into the habit of providing two or three services every six months over the internet or even more if we can.
Councilman, are you trying to put us out business with technology?
No. I'm trying to successfully get a time line for when the technology is going to be implemented.
All right. Okay. Business is not done ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 406 fax to fax, it's done face to face, right?
It certainly is, Chair. If I may, I just have one last question.
In the plan, we have -- you noted that we have 70 neighborhood community technology centers, and that was -- that was because of the ARA money,, recovery money; is that correct.
Where would these 70 centers be? Could you just provide a list to the Chair and --
We can certainly provide a list. Mr. Andrew West is also is --
And -- and services that they provide. I mean, if you want -- if you want to ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 407 speak on them, that's great. At the end, if you could just provide a list to the Chair. And are they going to be ongoing or we going to be maintaining them and are the services still needed, and are people taking vantage of of the services that you provide.
Andrew Buss, I'm the director of public programs at OIT. There are going to be 77 public computing centers, and I'm actually -- I'm trying to stop referring to them like that. I'm trying to call them technology enabled community centers because I feel it's a little more exciting frankly. The use these has actually been overwhelming, and I provide you the list where all the sites are located in all the neighborhood. And I think the reason I'm trying to not just think of them in terms of, sort of putting technology in a location, is really ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 408 because it's much more than that in that it's the infrastructure physically. It's the human infrastructure, and then -- so there's a lot this training and open-access hours that's involved as well. So a staff person at each of the sites.
Okay great. So, in other words, you're providing broadband or internet or technology services in potential neighbors that they may not have ready and available?
Yes. The idea was to provide access and training in areas of low connectivity in Philadelphia.
Can you describe for people that may be listening what -- when someone opens the door to one of these centers what they should experience, expect or ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 409 receive as services?
Well, I think the key with the program is really that there is a welcomeing staff person there and that staff person is -- we've really got some excellent people in that they're able to do kind of that customer service part of this, help the person as much as they want to be helped. It's -- they're all nice clean, centers, nice new technology and I think it's -- one of the interesting things that's really been happening with these is they're creating sort of communities on their own just because people like to come into the centers. You know, sometimes they use the technology, frankly sometimes they don't. Sometimes they just come in because they like to speak the same language with other people, so it's kind of an interesting thing we're seeing.
Will there be services for those of us who are technology challenged?
They're open for everyone? ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 410
They vary by organization really but they are generally about between to hours a hours a week. A lot of 9 that time the given to open-access hours and 10 some of it is given to programing. 11
Thank 18 you, Mr. Chair. 19 I have the same question for 20 OIT, unincumbered Class 200 professional contract funds that I've asked of other departments. How much is unimcumbered in your FY12 budget? ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 411
There is approximately percent of our general fund class 200 that has not been encumbered.
How much 6 of the balance can expect to incumber 7 by June 30th? 8
The rest of it 9 actually. A lot of our contracts 10 renew throughout but not necessarily 11 January 1st start dates. 12
I don't 13 understand that. Are you paying -- 14 are you renewing and then paying for 15 services that have already been 16 performed or are you -- 17
No. It's the 18 contract cost for the fiscal year. 19 For instance, if we do them now, we'll 20 pay for April, May and June using this 21 year's funds, and then nine months of 22 next year because it's a one-year year 23 contract. 24
If you ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 412 could provide detail about those that are unincumbered and who, you know, how they're going to be incumbered to the chair, I'd appreciate it.
So are you familiar with the open government paper that my office prepared, I guess, last year that calls for all data that is subject of public record laws be made available on the internet and open extensible, searchable, database to the public.
I am. And you should be proud. We're doing quite a bit of that.
Are you familiar with the laws we introduced this term about a month ago that would require the City to have that up and running?
How long will it take before you would actually ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 413 be able to incumber that if we were to pass that law?
I haven't looked at the bill from a physical impact prospective or -- I haven't viewed it tat way.
Okay. But you're working towards its goals I guess it's fair to say?
I -- I -- the Mayor believe in open government and transparency. The admission believes in open data and transparency, and I believe in it and have delivered quite a bit of it in my past in New Jersey, so I'm going to do a try do my best to try to bring lot of the things I've done in the past to the City of Philadelphia.
And the goal of this law is to make sure that all of ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 414 that survives this open-government mayor to the mayor to the next mayor, and forever, so that all data is available to all citizens at times.
Yeah. I mean, if open government and transparency is a core value, it should out last all of us.
Yes. And as part of this I guess, the consistently complaint that we have in City Council and that I hear from reporters and other people who constantly try to access data through four-year requests and other request, is that it takes an incredibly long time because the data is not even cataloged in an electronic way. In order to provide data, it has to go through -- you have to go through a lot of paper. How are you trying to solve that problem as you're looking at this in terms of past records rather than just going forward.
I'm not -- I'm ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 415 not sure how much we want to go back and solve the problem that involves the data that's held captive in legacy systems. I can tell you that moving forward the goal is to start with an enterprise architecture plan that speaks clearly about data standards, data semantics, pretty much what Ms. Soska Thompson is trying to do for OPD we would try to advocate city wide. That would make sure that the data that's being generated rated in the future is captured in a consistent fashion, can be easily published, easily manipulated, and that we would actually get in the habit of publishing it periodically over a portal to even eliminate the request processes altogether.
By the ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 416 end of the day so that when my neighbor pulls a fence permit, I can sign up to see -- receive an email alert because someone has pulled an L and permit within my ZIP code or on my block? Are you building the system with that kind of -- giving the citizen that kind of power so that -- that they can be as involved in their government and the affairs of their community as they desire to be, have as much information about that as someone who works for the City has?
Just to set expectations, we haven't built any systems yet. Right now are -- we're focused on governance. And what I mean by governance is that, making forward looking statements and going on the record with those looking statements to ensure that the overall vision for open data and open government --
Let me ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 417 state the question in a way that you're prepared to answer it. Is what I just described part of the governance you were going to put in place for the systems that you ultimately, implement the ability for citizens to sign up for alerts, to have full information about permitting and crime and whatever else they want they want to what know about what's going on in their community?
E Government and E Services for our citizens and business is a primary goal and a lot of public facing systems that we're going to be building in the future.
I'll try it one more time. Are we going to build -- is it a governance choice for the systems that we will ultimately implement that will allow citizens to sign up for alerts for any kind of transaction that government does that impacts the ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 418 city as a whole, their block, their ZIP code, their council district, whatever?
I think we're focused on an E Government strategy that I think meets the purpose and the intent and the spirit of what you just described. You just used examples that I don't want to set the one expectation and say yes to those, but the goal is provide more access to data by -- by citizens.
Well, that's a very low bar today, don't you think? I'm trying to see how high that we're trying set the bar.
I think it's a low bar today because much of the data that government collects is held captive in legacy systems.
And on paper, no 24 different than many of the other ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 419 jurisdictions that I've -- that I've seen.
I don't -- I don't want to compare us to anybody else. I want us to be the leader in the country in terms of open government.
I think the forward looking states that we made in our planning assumptions will put us on right path.
Why can't we just set a simple goal. Let's be the leader in the country for open government. Let's make an insanely great system that the rest of the country and want to emulate? Why don't we make that our goal, to be the best and to implement the best --
Because that ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 420 might --
Sure. I think that's a worthy goal, but the might involve a budget request we can't handle.
Well, you design by starting with the end, what I'm asking you about is what's the end. What is it we are seeking to achieve in the ending. My goal for this city is to have the best open government platform, the most information available to citizens, and to people in government so that we have the potential to have the most informed and active citizenry of anywhere in the world. ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 421
I believe that any other rational person wants the same thing.
So is that our end goal? What's our end goal if it's not it?
We can be more open simply by, you know, taking our legacy systems using mind share and make some of the data available on the internet. That's not more open. What I'm asking the bureaucracy for is a standard that we can be proud of that we're working towards. And if you can't answer that today, please think about it, and I will ask it again at callbacks. Let's see. The -- do you guys have -- basically i asked for vacancy new position information prior to budget hearings. We don't have that for today's hearings. ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 422 Do you have that with you.
I have that with me. I believe you asked the MDO this morning for him to coordinate a collection of all those reports. We would be happy to give them that at the end of the day today. I do have a copy with me.
You do. Well, just for the record, I'm certainly happy for him to coordinate it, but I would like the original reports, and he can then put it in whatever format he wants also.
Okay. Thank you. And I will take a look at that, and then go through the information on callbacks. Mr. Chair, thank you very much.
Thank you, Councilman. ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 423 The Chair recognizes Council Member Jones.
Thank, Mr. Chair. I have already presented my questions.
With there being none, thank you very much for your testimony today you. We would now like to ask the Department of Records to please come forward.
Good afternoon. Fine. How are you? Okay to begin? I will read my --
Excuse me. Can you hold ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 424 your conversation out in the rear, please. Thank you. Please proceed, Ma'am.
Good afternoon, Council President Clarke and Members of City Council. It's been a long day, so I won't read my testimony. My name is Joan Decker. I serve as the Records Commissioner in the city, and I have with me Jeanne Reedy who is the administrative services director. I'll just read the numbers very quickly. So request is in Class 100 for 2,845,219, in Class 200, 1,083,79 Class 300, $60,520; in Class 400 $18,256, and Class in 500, $1,456. In the testimony, we've indicated the Records Department mission. We've highlighted some of the work that we've done in the past year and will continue into this upcoming year. As requested by Council, OEO ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 425 participation is 52.48 percent. And as for the composition of managerial and supervisory staff in the Records Department, we have eight African-Americans, eight females, two males, seven Caucasians, three females, four males, and one Indian male. And I'd be happy to answer any questions that Council may have.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Green -- you know what, the board just filled up. Let me get mine in first. I just want a couple of quick questions. You have 63 budgeted positions and seven positions are vacant. Do you have -- what's going to happen with those positions --
-- are they going to be filled? ELECTRONIC REPORTING STENOGRAPHIC AFFILIATES 426