Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
Thank you, Madam President. I only have five minutes, so I'm going to cover as much as I can, because I'm due in a conference call. Let me first congratulate you on the youth forum, which I believe was a great testimony to the notion that young people can and should have a voice in government, contrary to what members of the media thought was not a good thing to do for young people. That's number one. Number two, a couple of questions. You said that you're trying 391 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. to find your place in City Hall, and you say -- my concern is that you set goals that are Philadelphia centric. I mean, you mention something in here about what's happening in Baghdad, Harrisburg. And so I would suggest that you factor in some of the very, very specific goals the Mayor has outlined, like decreasing the dropout rate, increasing college-going rate, trying to find big sisters and big brothers for young people in our city and look to see where you can align what you are doing with what the Mayor has on track for improving the lives of Philadelphia's children. And then secondly, or lastly, I would can ask that -- let me ask you this: What role do you see for the Youth Commissioners when it comes to leading by example for other young people?
Sure. Can you clarify what should -- what qualities should they possess?
What type 392 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. of quality young person should we be looking for to serve on the Youth Commission?
And how about those qualities that require us to treat people the way we want to be treated?
Okay. So I would ask that some kind of training happens with young people on the Youth Commission where they are taught to understand that there are thousands of young people across this city who want to be where they are, and to the extent that that is a fact, it is important for those who are already there treat other young people with respect and dignity and embrace those who aspire to become Youth Commissioners. It starts from the top. 393 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. It needs to resonate with all of the Youth Commissioners. Lastly, you're a sophomore at Georgetown, Washington, DC?
Okay. Because my question was going to be how that important duty that you have in college complement, enhance the enormous duties you have of the Youth Commission. But there is --
There is no 15 conflict. I live in Philadelphia right now. And my term is up in August, when I return to school.
As you frame out what you want to be about, factor in high school students, because you all are leaders for tomorrow, and there are many who want to be where you are, and you can be a real role model for young people in high school who have a sense but really don't know how to do it. 394 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. So as you frame out what you want your priority activities to be, remember the young people in Philadelphia high schools and charter schools.
Let me just address that quickly. In January we spent a month going to different high schools. So Dobbins, Randolph, Ben Franklin, Masterman, Girls High, Central. So we did spend some time and we do spend time in fact really searching for young high school students to be on the Youth Commission and, two, just to actively engage high school students in general.
How many positions are vacant right now on the Youth Commission?
Well, what I would prefer is for young people to send us a resume, if they have one. If they do not, that's fine. But just a general 395 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. statement of interest, so something short and sweet.
So have you alerted the Councilmembers that you have those vacancies, that those vacancies exist so that we can inform the worlds that we represent that these opportunities exist on the Youth Commission?
Yes, but the first part of it was, there's some appointees who haven't been quite active, but I still very much wanted to engage those young people, and so I didn't want to necessarily come on board and just start, you know, kind of cutting the cord.
So how are you informing young people that these opportunities are open?
We have informed all a list of youth organizations. So City Year, Philadelphia Student Union, Youth Action, Mural Arts Program. You 396 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. name it, they know we have vacancies.
So if we have young people that we think are suitable and have that kind of aspiration, we should direct them to send in a letter to you?
Absolutely. And I think another component of this, what we're trying to do, is to -- just so we have a real representation of Philadelphia's youth is, we're also doing planning committees. And so if there isn't a space perhaps in the district where this person, where they live, there's other ways to engage these young people. We definitely want to be connected to them.
So definitely. Even if you have a Commissioner already that's an appointee, if there are young people you are finding who are interested in civic engagement, definitely send them our way. 397 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman Green.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I just have one quick question, and, that is, when the Charter provision was passed creating the Youth Commission, part of the Youth Commission's duties were to provide advice on every piece of legislation coming before Council, and I don't think that's happened yet and I want to know when you guys will be doing that.
Well, actually, it just so happens that your office has 398 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. been very, very helpful with us, and your appointee, Leon Stimpson, has been very active in terms of even now we get the legislation that comes through Council. And so we didn't have a chance to comment on the curfew bill, and we hope that we can kind of get in the loop before things come, because we're getting the calendar, I think, the week before things come to Council and it's hard to coordinate because of their busy schedules to get them in here to testify. So I think maybe -- I mean, that's probably an aside conversation to figure out how we can best get on -- just be informed of the legislation.
I would recommend that you contact the Chief Clerk's Office and they can put you on the distribution when bills are introduced. And if you start when they're introduced, you'll probably be able to --
That would be 399 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. preferred. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Madam Chair. First of all, congratulations on a successful year. For a new commission, it's hard enough to take over the reins of an existing commission, but to start it, create bylaws and operating procedures is phenomenal and it lets me know that our future in Philadelphia is bright with leadership in the wings ready to take over and do us proud. A couple of questions. Do you interact with the Philadelphia Students Union at all?
Yes, we do. They actually were really -- we had -- when we did the youth forum -- I'm sorry; the forum on the budget, we had a planning committee. And so the planning committee for that forum to include 400 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. everyone were members of Philadelphia Student Union, members of Mural Arts Program, members of Youth Actions, students from Girls High, students from -- it was basically just a collaboration really of young folks in the City that put the forum on. It just wasn't the Youth Commission. So that has been a part of our mission now, to include as many young folks as we can in whatever process that we have going on.
Just to add one thing. We've had numerous meetings with representatives of the student union. In fact, when we took our high school tour traveling from Ben Franklin to Randolph to Masterman, et cetera, we met with representatives of that organization and we also met with them at their office in West Philadelphia. So they're a great organization, and we've partnered with them on the budget forum in addition to making recommendations on the School District's strategic plan, Imagine 2014. 401 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc.
They seem to be doing dynamic things and I was glad to hear that you are working with them. If you had to define for this Council on the record three things that are pressing to young people, what are they?
Well, one of the things that the budget forum allowed us to do was to poll the hundreds of young people that were in the room. The number one concern of young people was public safety. The second was employment, so summer employment, which ties into our green jobs efforts. And the third was education. So those are the three main concerns of youth at this time, and that's what we're trying to focus on as we build our plan going forward.
Thank you. Thank you very much. 402 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc.
We will now hear from the Board of Ethics. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Thank you. Good afternoon. I guess I should say good evening at this point, Council President Verna and members of City Council. My name is Richard Glazer. I'm Chair of the Philadelphia Board of Ethics. Thank you for the opportunity to speak on the proposed budget for the Philadelphia Board of Ethics. With me today at my right is Shane Creamer, Executive Director to the Board. I am very proud of the work accomplished by the Board of Ethics since 403 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. we've appeared before you last year. The Board has made large strides toward restoring and maintaining public confidence in the integrity of City government. Recent newspaper editorials have recognized the Board as an ethics watchdog and attested to the Board's work in changing the political culture in Philadelphia. The Inquirer noted as recently as March 27th that the Board's record of success so far probably offers the best evidence of real reform since Mayor Nutter took office on a "change-the-culture pledge," close quotes. During the past year, we expanded our staff from four to nine. As a result, we increased and improved our in-person ethics training and offered 41 ethics classes in our office to more than 700 officials and employees. We began in December just past to provide campaign finance training to prospective candidates in the 2009 election for 404 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. District Attorney and Controller. With our expanded staff, we were able to provide advice and guidance more quickly to employees and officials, and we continued our vigorous investigative and enforcement activity. The Board believes that this work is essential to creating an ethical culture in Philadelphia so that citizens have confidence in their government. Our accomplishments in the past year are set forth in much greater detail in our annual report that has been filed just in the last few days with the Mayor, and hopefully every member of City Council has also received a copy. The Ethics Board's proposed Operating Budget for FY10 is 810,000. Parenthetically, it's 20 percent less than the million-dollar Operating Budget that was guaranteed by the Charter for the Board's first two fiscal years. The budget currently includes 732,600 for personnel, 58,900 for services and 405 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. $18,500 for materials, supplies and equipment. These are the class totals that are included in the budget book. The Board has asked that the class totals that currently appear in the FY10 budget be changed to accurately reflect the budget request that was submitted in January. This change will reallocate funds from Class 100 to Class 200 because we will not, under existing budget constraints, fill two key positions. The adjusted FY10 class totals requested by the Board are provided in the addendum to this testimony. The Board understands that the magnitude of the budget crisis requires that we adapt to a new fiscal reality, and you have our assurance that we will, even with reduced resources, do our utmost to maintain the high level of performance the citizens of Philadelphia have come to expect from us. But we wish to note that we believe that the budget cuts have a disproportionate impact on 406 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. our small agency, which relies almost exclusively upon direct person-to-person contacts by our staff with City officials, employees and the public. At the FY10 spending level of $810,000, the Board proposes to maintain its current staff level of nine and hopes to preserve its core education, advice and enforcement mandates. We had expected to reach a staffing level of 11 in FY09, but as the budget situation unfolded, the Board did not hire staff for two budgeted investigative positions. We are, therefore, already operating with two fewer staff members than anticipated and expect to continue to do so. We have modified and reallocated the work of our existing staff to adjust to this reduced staff level.
Because of its limited staff resources, the Board will not be able to develop a widespread public outreach program, including outreach to the business community that is mandated by 407 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. the City Code. Spending on equipment will be all but eliminated in FY10. No 4 funds will be spent on travel, except where necessary to provide mandated ethics training. This is especially unfortunate, because it is critical for our staff to remain involved in the national community of ethics agencies. Such activity not only exposes Board staff to development and new approaches in the field of government ethics, but also raises awareness and visibility of Philadelphia's accomplishments on the national level. I do personally note that two of our staff members participated as panelists, moderators and facilitators during a national ethics conference in Chicago in December of 2008 and, at some personal sacrifice on their part, spent their own funds for travel and lodging, because they recognized the importance of their attendance. They anticipate doing the same thing in FY10. 408 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. The primary impact of the reduced FY10 appropriation will be on the Board's ability to conduct core investigative and litigation activity. The amount in the Board's FY10 proposed budget for investigation and litigation-related tasks at this time for all matters is $42,000. Even with the technical change that we have requested to increase the funding in Class 200, the amount is inadequate to sustain multiple complex investigations and potential resulting litigation. For example, in an investigation of a potential election law violation, there are costs associated with locating and serving subpoenas on witnesses who were associated with a candidate or campaign. Once located, witnesses must be deposed and their testimony must be preserved in a transcript. An investigation may require forensic examination and analysis of computer equipment. There is no way at 409 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. the outset of an investigation to know what these costs may be. The Board may, therefore, be forced to reduce, suspend or eliminate investigative activity if the investigative costs are too high. This will cripple the Board's investigative and enforcement mandate. Further, because the Board is not represented by the City Solicitor, it will be impossible in the FY10 budget to hire outside counsel to represent the Board should it be faced with an outside legal challenge. In the past two years, there have been several such challenges brought against the Board. We were fortunate to be represented in these matters by pro bono counsel, but the Board is realistically concerned that such generous volunteer legal services may no longer be available, especially in this economic climate. If forced into court in FY10 without pro bono counsel, the Board and its mandates will be disadvantaged, as a total FY10 410 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. appropriation of $810,000 will not be sufficient to meet the costs of outside legal services. We will be forced to suspend other critical Board activity to permit existing staff to focus only on the litigation. In just over two years of existence, the Board has imposed civil penalties on candidate political committees and PACs totalling almost $100,000. When collected, the amounts are deposited directly into the General Fund. The Board stands ready to enforce these penalties if any party fails to pay. Even with the constraints imposed by the reduced FY10 budget, the Board of Ethics is excited to continue its efforts to implement and promote the City's public integrity laws. We take very seriously our mission to restore and maintain public confidence in the integrity of City government and will do everything we can to maximize our 411 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. resources to accomplish this task. Thank you. I'd be happy to take any questions.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Greenlee.
Thank you, Madam President. Very quickly, you talk about the investigations you do. How many of your nine positions are actually investigators?
Well, we have a Director of Enforcement. We have two -- and our Executive Director participates as well, and we have two folks that participate to some extent in investigations. So I would say probably two and a half.
Could you just send an outline to the President of the nine positions and kind of what their duties are, if that's possible. 412 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc.
The only other question I have, you talked about the penalties you've assessed. Is that based on set guidelines or you kind of use your judgement given each case?
Yes. Right now the maximum penalty for a violation is $1,900. However, in the course of settlement agreements, we will occasionally negotiate down that penalty.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
Thank you, Madam President. 413 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. Mr. Creamer, Mr. Glazer, how are you this afternoon? Thank you for your patience. Let me ask a couple of questions by way of the investigations. Did you come up with the standard of investigation or was it modeled after another agency? You mentioned the federal ethics kind of associations that you tend to get accreditation through.
Shane Creamer, Executive Director to the Ethics Board. We do use COGEL, is the agency that you're referring to. It's the Conference of Government Ethics Laws. It's an international government ethics association. We do go to its members, which include the Los Angeles Ethics Commission, the New York Conflict of Interest Board, the Chicago Ethics Board, to name just a few, and see how they conduct investigations. In fact, previously when I worked for the old Advisory Ethics Board, I went and visited 414 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. each of these organizations to learn how they conduct investigations.
And pretty much is there a standard, industry standard, on how they go about conducting certain types of investigations?
I don't know if it's correct to say there's an industry standard. It depends on the jurisdiction and authority of each of the agencies, and I think each of them have evolved and developed in their own sort of microclimates, if you will. For example, in New York, the Conflict of Interest Board, which is the Ethics Board equivalent, lacks jurisdiction to conduct any investigations. They have to ask the Office of -- I forget the name of it. I think it's Investigations -- to conduct investigations for them. Similarly, the Conflict of Interest Board does not have jurisdiction over campaign finance law. There's a separate agency in New York that has jurisdiction for that. 415 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. In Los Angeles, it's a little bit different, because the Los Angeles Ethics Commission is not independent of the City Solicitor, so they have to go to the city Law Department for legal advice and interpretation.
That's correct, we're different. So my point is that each of these agencies around the country have evolved a little bit differently and so the way they conduct investigations will depend on their authority.
I would just state in addition that the Code section under which the Board operates provides some skeletal information as to how investigations should take place, and in connection with that, requests that the Board create its own rules and regulations. And, in fact, our Regulation 2 sets forth in some detail how our investigations are undertaken. 416 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc.
In those investigations, is it common for the principal of the investigation to be interviewed?
Is it common? Is that the practice nationally? Is that some practice that -- I mean, in your experience over the last months 12 or so, is it common that you meet with 13 the principal or subject of the 14 investigation? 15
Okay. And in most of those cases when you don't, it's because of what?
It's because we already have enough information and 417 4/6/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090212, etc. evidence to proceed with the enforcement. We take all statements under oath, which requires a