Yes, ma'am, and also Deputy Chief of Staff. So we eliminated the Director of Communications position and it had not been filled, and we eliminated in our November rebalancing.
What is that? That's a person who is responsible for dealing with all media and press on a day-in-and-day-out basis. That person is Doug Oliver.
Mark McDonald is a Senior, I think his title is, 53 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. Communications Specialist. If you look on there, he's in that cluster as well.
Let me go to relative to your contract for professional services.
I see you have nothing in that column in terms of companies you may use, but you have an amount there that would be determined.
So does that mean that all these contracts for professional services will be put out for bid?
But until you do that, do you maintain the relationship with these people? 54 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc.
Given the needs that we have in Harrisburg with the Legislature to help us with the two items, the wage tax and pension, will these companies fulfill that service?
Okay. And so when do you plan to offer a rebidding on these contracts for 2010? When those contracts go out?
The contracts, we were trying to adjust them so that they all ended at the same time. When we came in, there were a mishmash of end dates and I think we tried to get them all to conclude June 30th of this year. So we'll probably be rebidding them out prior to the end of this year. 55 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc.
And so if you have not bid them out by June 30th, then they continue on through June?
Let me ask you about NTI. I see that you've eliminated positions for 2010? Well, 10 no. It says -- on . 11
Can you 13 help me with that? That's not the page I 14 want. I want . 15 So now, are there any employees 16 currently working in the NTI Empowerment 17 Zone project? 18
Well, the way 19 I would describe it is that it's probably no longer an NTI Empowerment Zone project. There are people who were classified as NTI Empowerment people who are still on staff, but we have tried to, with our reorganization of the Commerce Department, refocus their activities. We 56 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. have something called a Neighborhood Business Services Office. So we've been trying to restructure that, and part of the restructuring has been retooling a lot of those jobs in that area.
So the 8 positions that were credited to NTI, have 9 all of them been assigned to the 10 Department of Commerce? 11
That's where 12 they had been when we came in to the 13 Administration. All of the, 14 quote/unquote, NTI positions were 15 operating in the Commerce Department. 16 All those people were sitting in 17 Commerce. 18
Except for those -- we eliminated four positions in the November rebalancing and it's our anticipation to eliminate another nine or so in this FY10 budget.
Okay. 57 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Madam Chairman. I guess my question is going to be redundant. Good morning.
In your testimony you refer to the elimination of positions and position reductions. How many of these positions were filled?
I think of the positions that we did in the November rebalancing, I think five or six were filled. In the current FY10 budget, nine of them, I think, are filled.
On FY09, what was the exact number of filled positions and unfilled positions?
In the cuts 58 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. that we made in the adjustment in 2009, there were actually six positions that were filled in the 2009 rebalancing and -- yeah, there were six.
Mr. Armbrister, during the hearing on the proposed Five-Year Plan, the Administration could not answer specific questions about Plan B reductions. These reductions would go into effect if the Administration is not successful in receiving the state's approval to extend the City's amortization of the unfunded 59 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. pension liability from years to 40 years and allow the City to increase its sales tax; is that correct? Didn't we talk about that?
The 8 Administration has assumed that the City 9 workers will not receive a pay increase 10 in any year of the Five-Year Plan, as 11 well as reduce the existing fringe 12 benefit costs by $25 million per year, 13 for a total savings of $305 million over 14 the life of the Plan, correct? 15
With 18 that being said and since we're agreeing 19 and we're so -- with that being said, in 20 order for these hearings to have any meaning, I personally think it is imperative that the departments are prepared to talk about the specifics of Plan B in detail. Would you agree?
Yes, and they 60 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. will be prepared to do that, Councilwoman.
Okay. I'm glad to hear that. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Miller.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning, Mr. Armbrister.
I just have a couple of questions here. One is about NTI and Empowerment Zone. So I know the NTI was -- and someone may have already asked you this, but I'll ask it again. I know that the NTI people, folks moved over into Commerce, some of them anyway. What's happening with the Empowerment Zone? Is that no longer going to be in existence?
What we've done -- and Commerce will be able to expand upon this, Councilwoman Miller -- 61 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. is that we have retooled the Commerce Department and created an Office of Neighborhood Business Services, and our activities with respect to NTI and business development and other activities in the neighborhoods is going to be focused out of that office. So we've reorganized that office and are utilizing resources to develop that work there.
Is there still federal funding for the Empowerment Zone? Because I know that years and years ago there was a lot of activity around an Empowerment Zone and funding that came into the City. Does that funding still exist?
Okay. And on of your testimony you indicate that enhanced transparency would be reached by providing the Office of Attorney General and the Arts, Culture and Creative Economy budget authority to 62 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. be independent. I guess I can somewhat understand the Office of the Attorney General, but what is it about the Office of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy that needs all this transparency?
Well, one of the things in reopening that office, we found -- at least I would suggest that Gary Steuer, the head of that office, found when he came to Philadelphia is that we had a lot of cultural and arts activities that were disparate throughout the government, and in order to kind of get a better handle and manage that, we thought it important to try to at least get as much of that under one umbrella as possible. So that way, if you want to have a question about what's going on in arts and culture -- there were activities in various departments of the government that were related to arts and culture. This is a way to kind of bring all those together so that you can look in one place and not have to look all over the 63 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. budget to find out what's going on in that area.
Okay. And in addition to just bringing everything together, I guess they just need to be transparent? That's kind of nuts to me. Okay. In looking through the budget also on , Section 2, can you explain the six positions totalling 420,507 and what do they do and how are they different from what you already have somewhere else?
These are positions that were a part of the Commerce Department, the NTI that you discussed, that were not eliminated but were retained, and for right now they are not yet filled. They are placeholders at this point. We haven't filled those at this point. So it's very possible that their scope and activities may change, but they're placeholders at this point.
So these 64 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. are vacant then; they're just on the book?
Well, as we continue to roll out our economic development strategy and other activities within the Mayor's Office, we will certainly look at that.
The Chair recognizes Councilman Green for a point of information.
Thank you. So Councilwoman Miller just identified a staff of six at $519,000, and it's now your testimony that these are NTI positions that are being retained even though the people are being transferred to another office. So, in essence, it's an increase in the Mayor's 65 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. budget of $519,559; isn't that correct?
No, that's not correct. These positions or these -- the folks in these jobs, these jobs will be eliminated and then they're being retained as placeholders. And the total is only $420,000, not 519, at least according to .
The budget detail has a new division called General, and what you're telling us is that you don't have an idea of what these positions will be, you can't identify who is going to be hired for them. It sounds like they're not necessary. What function is this $519,000 going to perform in the Mayor's Office?
Then why is it in the budget? Why are you asking us to appropriate money for which you have no function identified?
These 66 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. positions were brought over when we did the review of the Commerce Department, and we just thought in the first balancing act, that it wouldn't be prudent to cut out all those positions until we figured out what we were going to do with those --
I'm sorry. What functions are they going to perform? How are they going to --
Okay. I have a couple more. The contracts that come out of the Mayor's Office, are they no-bid contracts?
These are -- 67 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. they're done pursuant to RFPs.
Can you please -- and someone may have asked you this. I was a few minutes late. Can you please provide the Chair with a list of the contracts and what contracts are being eliminated and which ones went to minority and women and disabled firms?
Thank you, Madam President. Mr. Armbrister, I just want to go through some information that we compiled. I think it's pretty accurate, but we're going to actually ask you to review it and get back to us as to whether or not it's accurate. Briefly, it goes over the 68 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. Mayor's budget, and what we did, we did an analysis of the last year of the last Administration versus where we are FY10, and it goes through the various departments. I won't go through them all, but I'll go through the larger ones within the Mayor's Office. It talks about the executive office. FY08, it was 631. Now it's 959, an increase of 52 percent. Chief of Staff, you actually weren't too bad, 433 to 535, percent increase. Office of 14 Scheduling, it's not a lot of money, but 15 it's a significant increase, from 123 to 16 227, an 83 percent. 17
I'll give 23 them to you and you can get a chance. I get five minutes and I got to get it in while I can. 69 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. Office of Communications, 198, now it's 354, an increase of 78 percent. Office of Inspector General, 598, it's now 1.2 million, an increase of 103 percent. This kind of goes on pretty much, with the exception of two offices. There's actually increases, and the grand total is 2.9 in FY08 and 4.7 in FY10. Can you explain to me, given that the perception is that there's been a significant decrease in the Mayor's budget -- and based on these numbers, there seems to be a significant increase -- is this accurate or --
I don't know if it's accurate. I'd be happy to take a look at the information you have. I think the premise of comparing the last year of an administration to the beginning of a new administration is one that I might challenge in that in many of those instances, there are activities that are winding down a lot with respect 70 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. to the outgoing administration, particularly after eight years, and one of the things it would be interesting to see is the time at which those numbers were given. I don't know if those are the end of the fiscal year or if they're in transition as we were coming in, because one of the things that we noted --
It was the proposed FY08 budget. But, again, comparing the end of an eight-year administration to the beginning of a new administration is probably something that I would want to take a look at and make sure that people understood that. The other thing is that we made some conscious decisions about things that we wanted to invest in certainly in terms of things that we wanted to get done and try to operate as efficiently as we could, but sometimes it requires 71 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. investment, and one of the things that we've noticed in many areas throughout the government, and not just in the Mayor's Office, is there has been lack of investment in certain areas. So in those -- in certain areas, we've had to make investments, significant investments, to try to build up the level of activity that we would expect in our Administration to tackle.
I actually agree with you. I do believe that you should make investment in departments, particularly those departments that are responsible for setting policy, appropriating dollars, doing the things that need to be done to run a city. So I agree with you in that respect. And your reference to the end of the last Administration versus where you are now, that may have some validity. So I'll go from '09 to '10. You kind of in your last statement to some degree responded to this question. Based on that 72 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. information, there's actually a four percent decrease in the budget from '09 to '10. So it's not as broad as some people refer to. (Bell rung.)
It's a four percent and not a percent or not even 9 a ten percent, as Council has reduced its 10 budget. Would you agree with those 11 numbers? 12
Because while the Administration eliminated ten positions, you actually added 11.
But I'll 73 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. get you this, because I want you to review it. I think we're going to have some callbacks.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
Thank you, Madam President. I'd like to ask about the -- and maybe they're going to testify at some point, but the Commission on Aging, the Mayor's Commission on Aging.
Are they 74 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. going to testify today?
I see that the budget is scheduled to finally get some dollars, and I'm happy about that. I appreciate your testimony at the issue of "aging in place," which is trying to design communities to deal with the aging population that many of us in this city face. What I wanted to know is if in fact you guys have been meeting regularly now and who is on that Commission and what is its primary mission as of late?
Our Commission continues to meet regularly, sir, with bimonthly meetings of the Commission itself. I'm assuming that you're referring to the committee of the Health 75 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. Department that we had discussed that day?
That committee, under the direction of the Health Department, has not reconvened. The person who was the lead Director has been terminated and there has been some discussion with Philadelphia Corporation for Aging on convening a similar committee as we had discussed in the hearing, but that has not occurred. But within our own Commission, there is continued discussion about the aging-in-place communities.
So are these dollars scheduled to go to your Commission?
Yes. And those dollars, sir, come to your employment program through the federal government, and they represent stimulus money that will be directed to us and an increase in our regular grant from the federal 76 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. government.
Excuse me. I understand you have not identified yourself.
I'm sorry. Celeste Zappala, Director of the Mayor's Commission on Aging. Excuse me.
Yes, sir. Both of our grants -- the larger grant is the -- it's called the Senior Community Service Employment Program, and it helps to train and employ older adults, low-income older adults, and the other program is for education and outreach concerning health insurances for older adults.
Could you describe for this Council the relationship with the Health Department? You mentioned that briefly, and why they 77 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. have not met in reference to this?
What Councilman is referring to is a committee that had been convened by a physician from the Health Department to discuss and look at aging-in-place issues for older adults, meaning how can people in Philadelphia as they age maintain themselves in the community with services so that they are not forced to move into institutions. That committee met several times. There was a few subcommittees, but then when the Director of that effort, his position was eliminated, that then the Health Department has as of yet not made any recommitment to the effort.
It's my understanding -- and I appreciate what you would like to -- I guess that's where Mr. Armbrister comes in. My concern is that as a city who is gray and, in particular in the 4th Councilmanic District, we have the largest concentration of senior population in any 78 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. of the districts. In particular, if you look at City Avenue, we have a large number concentrated in assisted-living facilities. One of the things that we've tried to push forth is a concept called Aging in Place, allowing people to realize a graceful period of aging in the homes that they have grown up in or bought or purchased or raised families in. That activity, along with some other activities such as telemedicine where seniors can get medical relief in a local way and even up into their homes, is something that we want to put forth, and I'm hopeful that between the budget that is appropriated for the Mayor's Commission on Aging, the Philadelphia Corporation for the Aging and whatever relationship with the Health Department, that we can move this forward. It's my understanding also that there's money in the stimulus package particularly for telemedicine, and I don't know who is coordinating this 79 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. effort, if this body needs that kind of coordination from the Administration. It seems to me that when we have resources that can complement a worthwhile activity, that we should jump on that.
I would hope that we agree, but let us know when we're going to reconvene around that, and could you let the President of this Council and other members that are interested in the concept know when we are actually going to make some progress on that issue?
Thank you. 80 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
Thank you, Madam President. I would like to say to the Office of Aging, formally thank you for the accessibility and availability of your office every fall when we do our eight-week senior forum. We do appreciate the presence of your office. It does not go unappreciated. Thank you.
In the budget schedule, there's no mention of the Office of Sustainability or the Office of Arts and Culture or the Secretary of Education. When are we going to have a chance to converse with them?
Each of them are here, if you'd like. I did mention the Office of Arts and Culture in the sense that that was one of the offices that we talked about that we moved out of 81 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. the Mayor's Office. They have an independent budget. They are not independently scheduled. So Mr. Steuer is here, if you'd like to talk to him about it.
The Chief Education Officer, I think, Lori Shorr, is here as well, and I think Mark Alan Hughes was here. Yes, he's here as well. So all of those individuals are here and would be available if you have any questions for them.
Well, the office I'm prepared for today is Arts and Culture, and I'll wait to hear from the Secretary of Education when the School District comes before us.
Good 82 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. morning.
Thank you, Councilwoman. Gary Steuer, Chief Cultural Officer.
Congratulations, Gary. We know that you're now the leadership for the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy. Are you able at this juncture to give us an update on what the strategic plan is around addressing the creative economy and how we're going to continue to capture that particular sector here in the City?
Well, it's perhaps a little early yet to give a comprehensive plan, but I can say it's 83 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. something that I've been looking at very carefully. I think one of the things that for me is very important about this office is that it stretches beyond the traditional focus just on the non-profit arts and culture sector but on the larger creative economy. So I've been meeting with a lot of the individuals and businesses in that area that would encompass graphic design, architecture, art galleries, music clubs, the whole array of activity that doesn't necessarily happen within the non-profit art sector. So this was an important part of forming the Mayor's Cultural Advisory Council. So those folks are represented on that Council, and we're in the process of looking at how we can build that sector. And I should add also working closely with Commerce too, because there's been a focus on the creative economy area within Commerce. So whatever we do will probably be done in close partnership with the Department 84 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. of Commerce.
Any discussions with Innovation Philadelphia, which did a lot of homework and research and actually rolled out reports around this sector?
Yes. In fact, I should have mentioned that as well. I've been meeting with them. I'm serving on the Planning Committee for their next major conference that will be taking place in Philadelphia this coming fall, and I've been having conversations with their staff leadership about how we can work in partnership with one another as we look at this area.
Okay. And can you give us an update on the Barnes exhibit?
Only that as far as I know, they are proceeding. I don't 85 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. have an update in terms of specific plans or timeline at this time.
Will there be a role for the City in that enterprise at all, to your knowledge?
In what sense? I mean, certainly we've got a role and a partnership with all the major cultural organizations in the City. So in that sense, certainly I would hope to talk to them and make sure that we are very much a part of their plans, but they're an independent non-profit arts organization.
Okay. We introduced a resolution urging them to be green and go green as they build that new structure, and with the limited reach then of the City, what is the reach of the City knowing that it is a separate private not-for-profit enterprise?
Well, we certainly always have the power of persuasion with organizations, but they will have their own Board and their own budget. I don't 86 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. know in terms of what other influence we have. They will be on City-owned land. So certainly with institutions where the City owns their building or owns their land, we have an enhanced level of control and influence over those institutions. I don't know in terms of the construction of their building at this point what status exists in terms of how green it is, and that's certainly something that I can look into for you.
And then, finally, any update you would want to provide to us on the Cultural Fund? Has there been any change in operations or funding levels of organizations, et cetera? (Bell rung.)
Sure. Well, I can say that the Cultural Fund is in the budget at this point for level funding. 87 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. It's one of those areas where the Administration felt it was very important to continue to support the cultural sector and the role they play in fostering jobs and fostering cultural tourism in neighborhoods. There are conversations taking place with the Board of the Cultural Fund that are looking at how we might allocate a portion of those funds for a targeted program to support youth initiatives, programs in the neighborhoods that are specifically working with youth through arts and culture, and we'd like to look at could we, in addition to the general support that comes from the Cultural Fund, look at how we could allocate a portion, a relatively small portion of those total funds, to really make a difference in supporting in a more significant level some specific programs.
Acknowledging that the bell has rung, I would only caution you to not work in a 88 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. narrow tunnel vision, but to be in touch with where those programs are and do they complement schools that don't have arts and culture programs, with rec centers that may or may not have arts and culture programming, so that it makes sense in where you ultimately spend those dollars.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Give me one second, please. Just to close the loop on the Office of Inspector General, could you please provide us the Class 100 OIG expenditure for FY09 and explain the differences to us, and then please 89 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. provide us with a breakdown of the source of the Class 100 funds used by the Inspector General for FY09 and FY10, just so I can understand what you're talking about about different departments contributing, which I guess makes the assumption that money is not fungible, which I don't quite understand, but I will look forward to that information. Specifically, with respect to the office, I'd like to go back through --
Councilman, I was just provided at least information with respect to the funding. I can provide that answer now, if you'd like. In terms of additional funds that were received outside of the Mayor's Office, there's a total of $545,000, 250,000 of which comes from the Department of DHS, 65,000 from the Health Department, 55 from Water, 60 from L&I, 60 from Streets and 60 from Revenue.
So except 90 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. for the Water, those are all General Fund dollars?
I'm not sure with respect to DHS. I'm not sure if those funds are General Fund or not. I don't know. We'll find out. We'll find out the sources for you.
You're taking money out of the General Fund dollars that could be used for any purpose and spending it on the Inspector General's Office.
We're shifting dollars to enhance the activities of the Inspector General's Office, that's correct. 91 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc.
So let's talk about that. Can you tell me what the three auditors do for the Inspector General's Office?
I'll have the Inspector General, Amy Kurland, come up and answer that question. (Witness approached witness table.)
There are two auditors in the Inspector General's Office currently. They conduct forensic audits, which are different from the Controller-type audits in that they focus on fraudulent activities. To give you an example, we discovered an account that belonged to one of the City departments where somebody was using that account to pay their personal bills. The auditor in the Inspector General's Office is reviewing account information trying to discover how that fraud occurred.
But I've spoken to the City Controller about this 92 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. and they're certainly capable of providing forensic audits or even hiring forensic auditors if that's a function that's needed within City government.
That's correct, and we are continuing to work with the City Controller's Office, where they do the broader audits that determine whether the departments are functioning the way they should function and then we do a smaller investigation that's part of the investigation with the auditing records.
And these people are eight hours a day, five days a week conducting forensic audits of our different departments?
They're conducting investigations, and part of that investigation requires auditing skills.
So how much 93 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. of their time is actually spent auditing and how much of their time is spent investigating?
I can't really separate that out because the investigation includes auditing-type activities. Maybe the term "auditor" is not really the correct term for what they actually do.
Well, that's what I'm trying to find out. What do they actually do?
They conduct investigations that involve -- where the investigation requires an expertise in examining records and doing audit-type functions, but it's mostly an investigatory job.
There are two Chief Investigators. They supervise a team of investigators. There's a Chief Investigator from DHS who supervises all 94 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. the DHS-related investigations, and the other Chief Investigator supervises the basic investigators in the office.