COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - BUDGET PUBLIC TESTIMONY - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:00 p.m. - - - PRESENT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT ANNA C. VERNA COUNCILWOMAN JANNIE BLACKWELL COUNCILMAN DARRELL L. CLARKE COUNCILMAN W. WILSON GOODE, JR. COUNCILMAN BILL GREEN COUNCILMAN WILLIAM GREENLEE COUNCILMAN CURTIS JONES, JR. COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY COUNCILWOMAN MARIA QUINONES-SANCHEZ COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO COUNCILWOMAN MARIAN B. TASCO BILLS 080022, 080154, 080155, 080156, 080157, 080160, 080161 and 080168 RESOLUTION 080173 - - - V A R A L L O Incorporated Litigation Support Services Eleven Penn Center 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 215.561.2220 215.567.2670 2
Can I have everyone's attention, please. Thank you. Thank you very much. This is a continued public hearing of the Committee of the Whole regarding Bill Nos. -- MR. McPHERSON: 080022, 080154, 080155, 080156, 080157, 080160, 080161, 080168, 080173.
I would like to set some guidelines before we start our hearings. We have, I guess, approximately 50 witnesses to testify. We would really like to hear from everyone. So what we are going to do is allow everyone three minutes to testify. Now, my opinion is if you can't say what you have to say in three minutes, it's not worth saying. Our first witness is? MR. McPHERSON: Our first panel consists of Jim Helman, Mike McCrea, Claudia Sherrod, James Royal. (Witnesses approached witness 3 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. table.)
Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
My name is James Royal. I live at 3121 Norris Street here in the City of Philadelphia and I'm here talking about Recreation.
Excuse me. Please, the noise level is much too high. May I suggest you pull the microphone closer to you.
I'd just like to say that with so much going on in the City, in this country for that matter, our children need the best care that we 4 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. can give them, and in order to make that happen, we have to have more resources at the recreational level. I work with many recreation centers in North Central Philadelphia. Safe and Sound dollars really need to be moved back. We need to support the Dell, and we need to support our children and our staffs and the families. So we just want to throw that on the record, and as the little girl said on TV, "the end."
Claudia Sherrod, President of the Point Breeze Community Development Coalition and South Philadelphia Homes Executive Director.
Good afternoon, Council President Anna Verna and the City Council of the City of Philadelphia. 5 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. It is always an honor and a pleasure to have the opportunity to speak here in the City Council Chambers. Like always, I am here with a concern for the youth of Point Breeze and the City of Philadelphia. For over three months, I have solicited the audience of the Mayor to get his support to build a state-of-the-art Class A recreation center at the Chew Playground site. I have yet to get that meeting. I work closely with the Smith Playground facility supervisor, Todd Calistro, to promote the best recreation programs for our youth. So I can honestly say that enough is not being done for the recreation centers. Today I urge you, the City, to redistribute funds more fairly to the recreation centers' needs and allow the very children that are becoming mischief to have positive alternatives. The ball is in your court and also the lives of our youth and their families. 6 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. That's my testimony.
Thank you. As a matter of fact, I did take a visit at Chew, I think, one day last week and I think that the new recreation leader there is doing an excellent job.
It was clean. It was freshly painted. It really looked very, very nice.
And she's doing a great job as far as programs are concerned.
Good afternoon, President Verna and members of City Council. My name is Jim Helman. I'm a resident of Grays Ferry in the 2nd Council District. I am privileged to serve my community as Secretary/Treasurer of Vare Recreation Center, Acting 7 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. President of Smith Playground and Vice-President of Donald P. Finnegan Playground. To paraphrase Gerald Ford when he succeeded to the presidency at the end of the Nixon era, our long public recreation nightmare is over. The previous Administration has finally passed into the history it so richly deserves. We are encouraged by talk about cooperation and partnership with the Mayor and City Council. We are excited about the openness, transparency and customer-friendly City service we are hearing about. We expect a brighter future. While it certainly is not time to grab our umbrellas, we do, however, see a few clouds on the horizon. For example, in his recent budget address, Mayor Nutter never once mentioned public recreation. Apparently, our City's tremendous infrastructure of 52 8 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. recreation centers, 114 playgrounds, 160 parks and 80 swimming pools are not sufficiently important to merit even one sentence from the Mayor. We are bothered by that. In addition, while we are grateful, we're not exactly dancing in the aisles over the very modest budget increase given to the Department of Recreation. After so many years of budgetary hatchet jobs from the previous Administration, we expected a more reasonable assessment. Even with the budget increase, it is worth noting that the Department's budget is barely half the budget of a notorious and heretofore unacceptable no-bid contract holder that funds far fewer children in far fewer programs at far fewer locations and at far greater expense per child. There are other matters pertaining to the Department of Recreation that need to be addressed. 9 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Let's take the Capital Office, for example. A few years ago, President Verna authorized a capital expenditure to build new basketball courts at my facility, Vare Recreation Center. Within months after the job was finished, the surface on one of the courts began peeling away. The problem was addressed with the Capital Office at least three times. Each time brought a promise of action. Here we are in April of 2008 and the south basketball court is now a peeling mess. Our children and young people pay the public price by having to play on a defective court. The taxpayers pay the financial price amounting to some $150,000 for what may well be shoddy workmanship. By any analysis, it is a shame. This benign neglect by the Capital Office would not have occurred if the office were under the jurisdiction of the Department of Recreation as it had 10 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. been for many years. Our community would have had recourse to Department officials at all levels. The District Manager, Program Director, Deputy Commissioner and the Commissioner would all have understood much better than Capital how important that basketball court is to our children and young people and they would have done something about it. President Verna, I have color photographs I'd like to submit --
-- of the court. We are continually grateful for the support provided by City Council over the years. Frankly, we sometimes marvel at just how much the people's representatives on Council understand the importance of public recreation to our neighborhoods. An example of this happened just this year when Council insisted that the Administration fill the 57 vacant positions in the Department of 11 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Recreation so that the Department would be better placed to serve the citizens of our city. We also note how Council restored the funding cuts by the previous Administration each year even though that Administration didn't spend the money. As an aside, maybe it's time for the citizens to decide whether to amend the Home Rule Charter so as to require the Mayor to spend the funds appropriated by City Council. Maybe it's time to think about that. Along with Police -- (Bell rung.)
Along with Police and Fire, the Department of Recreation is one of three City departments that have regular contact with the public on a large scale almost every day. Public 12 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. recreation will continue to be on the front lines in our neighborhoods. If a child or teenager or young adult wants something to do, they need only walk through our doors. We would rather have them in our building than on our streets. We would rather hear the noise of structured programming and free play than the noise of gun shots. We will be there for our young people. We know City Council will be there. We hope the new Mayor and his Administration will be there with us. Thank you.
Thank you very much. ) MR. McCREA: Good afternoon. Mike McCrea. I'm President of Philadelphia Recreation Advisory Council. Philadelphia Recreation Advisory Council comprises almost 200 volunteer organizations serving youth in every community across the City of 13 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Philadelphia, and as President, it continues to be my responsibility to represent the membership in many different forums throughout the year. First of all, we support Bill 7 Carapucci as Mayor Nutter's choice for Acting Recreation Commissioner and we hope that the position will be made permanent very soon. We also endorse Mr. Carapucci's "back to basics" approach. As hard as we've worked in support of our partnership with the Department of Recreation, it's been abundantly clear over the last eight years that the physical condition and the programs at all facilities were not necessarily created equal. We've always believed that all facilities should have a minimum level of custodial aid and maintenance support and an equal level of basic service. It was clear to us that the new Commissioner started pushing that agenda on his first day, and it certainly was refreshing to hear the unvarnished 14 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. and honest truth coming from the Commissioner's office. A number of us were present at the Recreation Department's scheduled budget testimony about two weeks ago. We all appreciated the spirited discussion. Staffing has been a critical issue for some time with us, and we agree with President Verna and City Council that 468 positions is not an acceptable level of permanent staff, especially when the Department of Recreation has been budgeted for 517 for the last three years. It was brought up at the hearing that currently the Recreation Department is 18 maintenance positions short and nine program positions short; that is, short of the minimum staffing levels required at all facilities. This is one of the important core concepts of what we call "back to basics" initiatives. We also support the 15 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Department's decision not to utilize Camp William Penn. It should be clear to anyone with knowledge of the situation that for $650,000 that it costs to operate the facility for eight weeks a year, we could easily send more children to any number of private overnight camps in the Pocono Mountains, providing an even better experience at far less a cost. The possibility has been kicked around for quite a few years, and we are glad to see that it's getting resolved. We also look forward to continuing supporting the gateway initiative the Commissioner spoke about, which is a concentrated effort on enhancing the entranceway of every facility, including improved lighting, fresh paint and signage and a generally clean and inviting look. While we battled, sometimes bitterly, with the previous Administration, our resolve and our partnership with the Recreation 16 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Department has continued to remain intact due mainly to the fact that we all continue to work towards the common goal of making our communities safe and livable. As much as we all do individually and as groups, however, the sad reality is that there are still children in the City that take their lives in their hands just opening their front door every day, and that should never become acceptable. It's clear to anyone with a pulse that we have much work to do, creating opportunities in every area of our children's lives, and we certainly have to take some key steps to try and gather some momentum. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and we intend to be here to finish the race no matter how long it takes. ) MR. McCREA: We understand in the real world there are limitations and constraints both physical and financial that we have to contend with. Part of 17 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
our charge as individual organizations is to support our local facilities, including raising funds and sharing the workload. Some facilities are supported more by outside private funding than City funding. That's just one of the key components to the partnership. We are all stakeholders in the same fight, all of us living it every day, taking it home with us every night. When we talk about getting more bang for our buck, the Recreation Department delivers a quality service to the public for less than $2 per child per day. It's hard to imagine that there's any better value in the City's budget than this. The Recreation Department's budget was about $8 million less per year at the end of the Street Administration than at the beginning. Just to think where we could be if the budget just stayed the same for the last eight years. 18 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. No increase; just stayed the same. Imagine the state of our youth and how lack of funding has affected the lives of so many people. " Well, it's seven years later and we're still here cleaning up the mess that was left behind. The only thing we continue to ask for is a responsible level of funding for the Recreation Department and the support to implement the necessary changes. While there have been some extreme highs and lows in the journey, we have always experienced the support of City Council when we have needed it, and it's hard to imagine where we might have been without it, and for that, we say thank you very much.
Thank you. Thank you. 19 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. (Applause.) MR. McPHERSON: Our next panel consists of Marvin Johnson, Cynthia Johnson, Keisha Watson and Walter Marlin. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Good afternoon. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
My name is Keisha Watson. I'm a parent and also an Advisory Council President for Granahan Advisory Council. I'm in the 4th District, and Councilman Curtis Jones is my Councilperson. And I was told that my letter should be in reference to the general need of the Department of Recreation, but I'd like to share more about what our needs are in our particular community. Honorable Curtis Jones and our dedicated Council at-large, I am here to represent Overbrook, one of the many 20 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. communities in Philadelphia that is struggling to keep our children active and learning. We all can agree that idle minds can be a major contribution to intolerable behavior and often drug consumption. Lack of activities in young people's lives often lead them to criminal life-styles. It is time to break the cycle. As we all know, crime is at an all-time high and we are losing young men and women to death and incarceration. Our neighborhood recreation centers need larger, modern facilities to develop and house resources that are established and need room to grow. Our neighborhood recreation centers need buildings that support all season activities so our young and our old may find ways of working together to bridge the social gaps that our society has ignored for generations. The Department of Recreation needs more money to implement a radical 21 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. change to be a support to the young, precious minds we must learn to cherish. And I just want to say that Granahan Recreation Center is a pretty large facility. It's at 65th and Callowhill, and we have a lot of land that could be used properly, but we have a two-by-four for indoor facility, and I'm literally speaking a very small indoor facility. We have people that want to donate computers, that want to offer chess programs and activities, indoor activities for younger and for older people, and we have a facility that cannot harbor this. We have two skate facilities, outdoor skate facilities, that are inoperable. They have waves in the concrete. We have basketball courts that have been donated, but they are not capable to be used as accessibly as our young people need to use them. 22 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. So I ask that we spend some time to make sure that we use the surplus money and more money that may come to our city to help our young people thrive and be active. I thank you.
Thank you very much. Who is going to testify next?
Cynthia Johnson, Robin Hood Dell East Advisory. I'm here in support of the Robin Hood Dell East. We're asking for budget money. We know that this year the Dell will be closed for repairs. We're asking that the repairs be done as quickly as possible and that money would be available for the repairs. We're also asking to take into consideration that the contractors that will be doing the job, that it will be -- we will have minority contractors as well doing the work. The Robin Hood Dell is a venue 23 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. that has been an entertainment venue in the City for many, many years. We were saddened to hear that it was going to close this year for repairs, that necessary repairs remain. We're hoping that the repairs could be done within the one-year span that we're told, and so in 2009 that we can open with full force entertainment for our community. The Robin Hood Dell has been an entertainment community for many, many years and has entertained our community. The price of the cost -- I mean, the cost of the programming and the entertainment has always been affordable to our community. Robin Hood Dell East also has school that we have there, DEMBI, and we hope to have budget monies to keep the venue open at a longer time other than just the summer season. I'm just here in support of getting the money, the budget, to support any of the recreation centers in 24 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Philadelphia, any and all.
Good afternoon. My name is Walter Marlin. I'm President of the Finley Advisory Council located in the 9th Councilmanic District in the 50th Ward. I'm here today in support of the Department of Recreation and to mention a couple of things. First, we want to endorse the appointment of the Acting Commissioner of Recreation, Mr. Carapucci. We think that's a fine choice. We hope that's made permanent as soon as possible, because he's a man who has the experience and the background to move things forward. Secondly, in terms of participation in our neighborhood, it's our opinion that recreation centers, outside of our public schools, are the second most occupied buildings in the 25 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. City of Philadelphia after school between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00 p.m., and, of course, these are critical hours that most young people find something to do other than their homework. So why can't we consider redirecting some of our tax dollars back to our neighborhood recreation centers and playgrounds where our children and our grandchildren come to recreate, to learn and participate in well-sponsored, organized programs. I take my mind back to 1988 the last time I was here for testimony when we were raising money to get Finley rebuilt. We were successful in that endeavor. When Finley was redecorated -- rededicated in 1991, I want to quote to you the words of former Commissioner Delores Andy and former Prison Commissioner Gallagher. The comment was, Isn't it cheaper to recreate than incarcerate? And in our opinion, it is much cheaper to recreate than incarcerate. 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. So I ask that the Council seriously consider sending more tax dollars back to our communities in terms of maintenance to maintain the facilities, as well as staff to provide programming. It would be a great help. Thank you very much.
Good afternoon. Please identify yourself for the record.
Yes. Good afternoon. My name is Marvin Robinson. I'm from the Haddington's, the 4th Ward, 4th District. We have a program called Keep the Kids Off the Street. We've been having that for over 12 years. I started over at the Haddington's Recreation Center also in March of 2008. I've been an Advisory Council member for 16 years, but 2008 of this year, the people had 27 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. choose me to be the President for the Advisory Council at the Shepard Recreation Center. My main concern is this: We have a very beautiful project going on over at the recreation center. It's a $2 million project, and what I see over the years that I've been serving as a community leader, that the funding that we need to operate to keep the kids constantly to keep coming in our building, what I see that we have a program get started and then all the sudden when they give us the program, then they stop the money for the program, and that leaves the kids with nothing. And what I would like to see more -- we have a recreation center that's ten block -- I mean, an A-1 recreation center, which is out of the top ten of United States. We are in the top ten. And I would like to see more funding come our way, because we have more -- it's a six-block recreation center and we have a 28 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. lot of kids come through there, maybe 2,000 kids throughout the whole week, and we do not have enough activities to actually keep them focused and to keep them coming to our recreation center. I see a lot of fights outside, and I realize that if we can have more activity programs for them, these things would not be carrying on. So I'm just asking the Council -- and Curtis Jones as our 4th District and 4th Ward leader has gave us some support as a Councilman, that he will try his best to try to keep the funding and bring more activities to our recreation center. And that's the only thing is my real main concern, that we can try to bring -- keep the money in our recreation center for the kids can actually constantly come there from Monday to Saturday and have the great things to keep them out of the streets. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Just a moment, please. 29 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. The Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
I know you have more testimony than that. We met until 10:00 at night.
I would love to say that to everybody. I've been in the committee elections. For 28 years I've been on committee. That's how long I've been involved with election, and I have met many leaders in my community, but I wanted to really say this, while I do 30 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. have my Councilman in front of me, we as a community -- Councilman came out on a Friday and he sat with us. And, I mean, he sat for hours with us. So I just want to say personally as a leader, thank you, Councilman, because that really made a touch in my heart as a community leader. (Bell rung.)
We're glad to have you out there, and you're doing a great job. And I saw a gym packed with young people participating in organized sports. So we appreciate you for that.
You're welcome. (Applause.) MR. McPHERSON: The next person on our list is Frank Cervone. (Witness approached witness table.) 31 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
Good afternoon, Madam President and members of Council. I'm Frank Cervone from the Support Center for Child Advocates.
And I'm Jane Kyler-Borgerhoff and I'm here as Executive Director of Center City Crime Victim Services and representing the neighborhood-based agencies which cover the entire City of Philadelphia, from the Southwest up to the Northeast.
I'll be testifying on behalf of the 11 victim service agencies in Philadelphia. We are Center City Crime Victims directed by Janie; East Division Crime Victim Services; the Families of Murder Victims; North Central Victim Services; Northeast Philadelphia Victim Witness Services; Northwest Victim Services; my own Support Center for Child Advocates; the Victim Witness Services of South Philadelphia; West/Southwest; Women Organized Against Rape; and Women Against Abuse. You know 32 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. us well. We serve your clients, your constituents. We answer your calls and their calls for help. Briefly, the City of Philadelphia's victim services 7 agencies seek $730,000 in City funding in 8 2008-2009 to provide support, courtroom 9 accompaniment and advocacy to more than 10 40,000 victims of crime. Over the last 11 four years, federal support for the work of our agencies has been cut an average of 18.5 percent, more than $300,000 in cuts. With our costs rising, we need City Council Victim Services Class 200 funding through the District Attorney's budget to help fill some of this gap. Our clients and our staff simply cannot sustain more reductions in program funding and services. There's an error in our statement of need. We are not asking for an increase. We join District Attorney Abraham in asking for static funding at the level of 730, same as last year. 33 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. We turn just briefly to the end of our statement of need by way of summary. The crimes that we engage and the victims that we help suffer the horrors that we all know and read about: Sexual assault, elder abuse, burglary, assault, domestic violence, child abuse, neighborhood tensions, gangs and drugs. Our city is fraught by gun violence. We meet the victims, their families, the so-called co-victims of gun violence. Our agencies are involved in the lives and stories of so much victimization, trauma and need, and we are provided effective and critically important responses. We ask you to consider the important returns in the City's investment. We're serving and providing an important City, a government function. Yet, as private non-profit organizations, we're treated differently from other City-supported functions and agents, 34 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. virtually all of whom receive regular wage and benefit increases. At a time when court backlogs and staff shortages and the Police Department and District Attorney's Office have generated delays in trials and problems for victims of crime in Philadelphia, the victim services agencies have increasingly been called on to fill gaps in services. Our counseling, our aid and intervention on behalf of violent crime victims have become increasingly important. The participation of hundreds of volunteers stands as a partnership for service and symbol of community support. My own organization involves 350 volunteer lawyers from the Philadelphia legal community. They donated in excess of -- services that are valued in excess of $3 million to more than 800 child victims, and we have similar numbers from the other agencies. (Bell rung.) 35 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
Each year, the programs recover -- I'm so glad they don't have those bells in court, you know. Each year, the programs recover hundreds of thousands of dollars in crime victim compensation dollars, representing three times the annual City payout in program services. In summary, please provide City funding of $730,000 for services to victims of crime. Thank you.
Thank you, and we certainly applaud you for the wonderful work that you do. Thank you very much. Please identify yourself again and proceed with your testimony.
I'm Jane Kyler-Borgerhoff. I really am here just to support Frank's statement of need and to remind all of you that we provide a really important, positive response for 36 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. these victims, one at a time, in order to help them recover some of their financial losses and to help them get back on track so that they can return to productive lives, and much of that financial recovery actually goes back to health providers within the City of Philadelphia for medical expenses, counseling services and so on. So we actually are bringing back that amount of money into the City economy through helping the victims recover through crime victims compensation. Thank you.
Thank you. MR. McPHERSON: Our next two witnesses are Kevin Dow and June O'Neill, Board members of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund. 37 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Good afternoon. My name is June O'Neill. I'm the Manager of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund and I'm going to turn my time over to Kevin Dow, who will speak on behalf of the Fund.
Thank you, June. My name is Kevin Dow. I'm the Board President of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund. Good afternoon, Madam President, Councilmembers. On behalf of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, I want to start by expressing my sincere thanks. Thank you for providing the Cultural Fund an opportunity today to advocate on behalf of the many arts and cultural organizations throughout your districts 38 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. and in our wonderful neighborhoods. Also, I must thank you for the support you have, as a Council body and as individual members, provided over the years to ensure our great City's cultural community remains a vibrant and critical component of Philadelphia's fabric. Our city is indeed faced with daunting challenges, problems that have existed for a long time, some of them for a long time, longer than you and I have been here. Crime, homelessness, a desire to reduce taxes, reform the Zoning Code, improve education for our children, pay for the attention of our -- pay for and increase the attention to our natural environment, build a greater credibility and accountability in our government, and, of course, the most important thing of all, to increase jobs for our residents. For many years, this Council has fought both tooth and nail to address these, what have been at times, 39 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. larger-than-life issues. Without a doubt, you have experienced success, and I commend you for the work you have accomplished over the years to find solutions to ensure Philadelphia continues to move forward at being the great city for which we all know it to be. I've lived here my entire life, born and raised in West Philadelphia, moving out and living in Northeast Philadelphia and then now settling in the Fairmount neighborhood to raise a family. In all my years, I have never experienced the City so ready to move forward to address the longstanding issues than ever before. There is an aura around the City, a feeling that we have the chance for the first time in a long time to do something that will be transformational, something that will enable us as individuals, as a city, as individuals as a city together, to become better than 40 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. what we are in the past. This is a point in time that does not come around often, and we must take advantage. No longer can we address the same old questions with the same old answers, because as you know, we will get the same old results. Today I am here to convince you that the Cultural Fund should remain a fundamental component of the solution to these issues. Just over two months ago our forward-looking Mayor presented his vision for Philadelphia. It was reflective of the aura that surrounds the City and the desire he has in response to the voters to challenge ourselves to lead in a new way. Mayor Nutter's vision was backed up with a plan, the details of which you are no doubt reviewing to discern what is possible and what is not. The Mayor's vision focused on six broad areas. If Philadelphia is to take 41 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. advantage of the opportunity we have to continue to make ourselves great, we will need to think differently and be creative in our approach to each one of these areas. And know, the Cultural Fund, as do all of our grantee organizations, over 230 of them, who are your constituents, believe that there is a strong rationale that demonstrates that arts and cultural organizations and the programs that they present are integral to the solution. It has been clearly proven that kids who are exposed to, participate in and feel passionate about arts are more likely to stay involved and, therefore, stay off the streets and out of trouble. More often than not, our neighborhood groups are the first options to taking the kids off the streets, the kids that are most troubled.
And when you see and hear that marching band from Tioga, you not only experience the power of music in the child's life, you experience a program providing a solution 42 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. to our public safety strategies. Philly is a city of neighborhoods, and if you visit Taller Puertoqueno or the Polish American Cultural Center or the Samuel Fleisher Art Memorial, what do you experience? Organizations that not only provide great artistic opportunities for children, adults, visitors and residents, what you experience are organizations that create sustainable neighborhoods. In some situations, they create a sustainable neighborhood such as the Village of Arts and Humanity. I can recall my fondest memories of elementary school in Lamberton in West Philadelphia where my yearly treks to the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Philadelphia Museum, the Zoo and the Franklin Institute. Sure, as a child, the only thing I was excited about was the walk through the big heart or seeing all the giraffes graze in the sunlight. Little did I know there was 43 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. purpose behind it. As an adult, I began to understand that we can use art to teach history, to teach social science and to teach math and literacy, visualization of giraffes grazing in the sun to teach us about geography, or music to teach us how to add. After speaking with most of you, I know you would agree that there are benefits to a child's education if we infuse arts and culture activities in their educational experiences. A thriving culture community helps stimulate revitalization by building bridges across the City's ethnic, racial and class divides. It generates revenue, boosting residency by attracting students, artists, teachers and boosting the citywide economic development by attracting major corporations and fueling the creation of smaller ancillary businesses such as restaurants, hotels and services needed to support tourism, enhancing our 44 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. property values, tax resources and profitability. Above all and most importantly, providing jobs, jobs and jobs. Since 1991, the Cultural Fund has played a key stabilizing role for numerous organizations by providing critical operating funding that enables them to survive and grow. )
Your leadership in creating the fund and then followed by continued support over the years has been awesome. However, I said this before and I hate to say it again, it is not yet enough. Philadelphia needs you now to take it further. This is the time to take hold of this opportunity to increase our City's support for the arts and demonstrate what we all know and believe that is a proven vehicle to answer our most daunting challenges. I mentioned the Mayor has a 45 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. vision. He put a plan forth to achieve that vision. It included an allocation of $4.2 million for the Cultural Fund. Yes, a hefty increase, but a statement that demonstrates how he believes the Fund can be supportive in helping to resolve the challenges we all face and that we all are trying to resolve. As you continue your deliberations and review the budget in whole, I ask that you hold steadfast and you let the aura that has engulfed this city take over you so that you can sustain this increase for the coming budget year. Working together, the Mayor, you, me and the entire cultural community, can lead in a new way and provide new answers to the same old questions. I am confident together we will achieve the outcomes the City so much deserves that will make us better off. Thank you very much. 46 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
Our next panel. MR. McPHERSON: Consists of Marla Shoemaker, Jaleel Khabeer, Tanzania Bey, Tyreece Powell. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
And members of City Council. I'm Marla Shoemaker, the Senior Curator of Education at the Philadelphia Museum of the Art, and I'm here today with Jaleel Khabeer, Tanzania Bey and Tyreece Powell, who are three of literally dozens of teens who dedicate their time to the Museum to give back to their community through their volunteer service. They also represent thousands 47 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. of children who attend our programs on a yearly basis. We've come here to communicate to the Council our fervent belief in the power of art and in education in and through the arts to transform lives. Education is a core mission at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Our programs begin with pre-schoolers who visit with their classes for experiential lessons that link art to reading readiness. And I was happy to receive today in the mail this great new important book on the impact of early art experiences on literacy development. Our programs go on to serve school-age students, college students, university/graduates students, life-long learners of every sort. Several of the museums who will speak with you today help out in our family programs. Philadelphia Museum of Art has a family-friendly admission policy. Children under 12 are always 48 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. free at the Museum, and Sundays, which I think of as family day at the Museum, admission for all visitors is a simple pay-what-you-wish donation, ensuring that people from all walks of life can experience the excitement of standing before a masterpiece like Vincent van Gogh's "Sunflowers" or Henry Ossawa Tanner's portrait of his mother. I had the opportunity to see a VH-1 television interview with Philadelphia's great R&B singer Jill Scott, who was asked by a reporter what it was that inspired her to become the artist that she is. She mainly thanked her mother, but when talking about her wonderful mother, she mentioned in particular in that interview that one of the things her mother did was bring them to the Art Museum every Sunday because it was free. We are proud of that legacy, and we hope that with the City's continued support, we can continue to 49 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. play a role in inspiring artists and art lovers of many years to come. Thank you.
Good afternoon, President Verna and members of City Council. My name is Jaleel Khabeer. I'm here with Tanzania Bey and Tyreece Powell. I am a Mastery Charter student and I am currently an intern with Tanzania in the family programs. I think the Museum is important because it brings families and exposes people to art and different cultures. My favorite gallery is the Arms and Armory. I liked it because it was a shock to me to see people took tasks so many details and make it the way that it is. I have also worked at the Museum on Sundays, and in my own opinion, the Sunday programs help young people to 50 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. be creative at a young age so they have a better idea and understanding of art. The Asian New Year's was my favorite Sunday event because I got to work with kids and also learn something new about dragons and their importance in Asian culture. I want to be a graphic designer when I get older, and this internship has prepared me with a better understanding of art and more work experience and the opportunity to work with many different kinds of people. Thank you for your time.
Hi. My name is Tanzania Bey and I'm a junior at Mastery Charter High School.
Ms. Bey, would you just pull the microphone closer to you, please. Thank you. 51 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
My name is Tanzania Bey and I'm a junior at Mastery Charter High School. I have been an intern in the family program for weeks. Being 6 an intern has given me work experience 7 and will help me to be a photographer 8 when I'm older. 9 I like the black and white 10 photos in the Renoir exhibit because they 11 showed me how Renoir's life had really 12 been like. 13 I like the Museum because it 14 shows earth from many different cultures, 15 and it's important for people to use different perspectives. The Asian galleries are my favorite because when you are in the Japanese Tea House, you feel like you're really there. Thank you.
Good afternoon. 52 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. My name is Tyreece Powell and I'm a sophomore from the Academy of Palombo High School in South Philadelphia. I came to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the first time three years ago, and since then, I have been involved with the summer photography program and the film program. I worked in family programs and volunteered as a teen docent. Through the Museum, I have been able to meet different people from different cultures. The Museum offers young people jobs and an educational place to be where we can learn about different cultures through art. I have also learned new things that make me want to work harder. I have developed better people skills and have become more responsible and organized. A lot of PMA staff that I have worked with have been mentors to me. Around my neighborhood it's hard to find good role models and I truly appreciate 53 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. my mentors at the PMA who have stepped up for me. It is important for the City to support the Philadelphia Museum of Art so that students like me can continue to have the same opportunities and a better chance at a better future. Thank you.
Thank you very much. MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness is --
Thank you all very much. MR. McPHERSON: -- Peggy Amsterdam, the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund. (Witness approached witness table.)
Good afternoon. Welcome. 54 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
Good afternoon, Council President Verna and esteemed members of City Council. My name is Peggy Amsterdam and I am the President of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. I represent over 350 regional arts and cultural institutions, and on their behalf, I'm here to testify in support of an increased public investment in arts and culture in the City's Fiscal Year 2009 Operating Budget and Five-Year Plan. This year, Mayor Nutter has proposed a $2 million increase to the City's Cultural Fund. We wholeheartedly applaud and endorse this increase and urge all of you to support it. The work that is accomplished by the arts and culture sector is invaluable to our city and our region. Cultural organizations communicate our individual and collective experiences. Regional arts and culture organizations provide almost 56,000 events annually, 55 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. with over 50,000 of them taking place in Philadelphia. This means that our residents and tourists are exposed daily to over 100 offerings that contribute to increasing our tolerance for diversity, to rounding out our education, to making the City more livable, and our cultural institutions are actually visited by over 10 million people annually. The primary activity of our sector as a whole is supported by the City investment made through the City's Cultural Fund, which provides general operating grants to over 220 cultural organizations, and it's with these general operating dollars that cultural organizations can make investments in broader social areas. In Philadelphia County alone, cultural institutions support over 12,000 full-time and part-time jobs. Salary expenses, along with the standard office equipment that is needed for those employees, are paid for by general 56 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. operating support. 7 million school children annually. These activities will not continue if organizations cannot meet their basic needs. Public support from the government helps to stabilize our sector. When public support is high, arts and cultural organizations are less vulnerable to declining funding from other sources. This is because public dollars are used for leveraging other dollars and for keeping organizations from being too heavily reliant on other sources. Public dollars help to balance the weight between an organization's other sources of income. Along with the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance is thrilled to play a role in Philadelphia's and the region's continued growth, and we know that arts and culture play a key role in that 57 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. process. We are here on behalf of the entire cultural sector to extend our support to the new Office of Arts and Culture and to the City's initiatives to increase access to the arts for children and youth, to leverage the role of the arts in economic development, business and population growth, and to promote tourism. Our members and the Cultural Fund's grantees provide exemplary programming throughout the City and region and we offer the research, policy and planning tools to help government leaders and policymakers take the fullest advantage of the great work they do every day. Speaking of which, I hope that you will all join me and the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance on May 8th for a very important announcement about the next steps that the region's cultural organizations will be taking to deepen our connections to residents and visitors alike. We have some very exciting news 58 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. to share, including a major investment that will allow many cultural organizations to expand their work in engaging new audiences and further serving the residents of our city and region. We'll also be unveiling our next research report at our annual meeting this coming September.
Based on data from the Pennsylvania Cultural Data Project, the report will provide a ten-year analysis of growth in the sector, as well as a current snapshot of the state of arts and culture across the region. )
We trust that these resources will support the work that all of you do in your efforts to advance the lives of Philadelphians and will enable you to harness the power of arts and culture to continue the great trajectory of our city and region. Thank you for allowing me to 59 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. speak here today, and I urge you to support the $2 million increase in the Cultural Fund for 2009.
Thank you very much. We appreciate your coming in to testify.
Thank you. (Applause.) MR. McPHERSON: Our next panel is Stan Shapiro, Sherrie Cohen and Jonathan Stein. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Good afternoon. And I do have copies of my testimony. We're all going to talk about taxes from slightly different perspectives, but pretty much on point. And first I want to apologize. I completed this somewhat late last night and there are some 60 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. sentence fragments and a few typos, but you'll have the gist of what I'm saying here in this handout. So good afternoon once again. My name is Stan Shapiro. I'm here to testify for Neighborhood Networks and for One Philadelphia on the important tax issues that are now before you. In particular, I want to reiterate my testimony of February 27th that we oppose repeal of the Cohen tax cut, particularly as a way to pay for a business privilege tax cut. Any repeal of the Cohen tax rebate in a city with a poverty rate of percent would be simply 18 unconscionable. But aside from its 19 immorality, witnesses for One 20 Philadelphia have also previously laid 21 out the economic reasons why such repeal 22 would be foolhardy. Putting dollars in 23 hands of the working poor is the best way 24 to stimulate the economy. Almost all of 25 the taxes rebated will be spent at local 61 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. businesses or to pay for the basic costs of keeping families together, food, rent, utilities and other necessities of life. Maintaining intact families is, of course, a major objective of public policy, one that this Council has frequently paid homage to. There can be no clearer way of putting policy in service of those good intentions regarding families than to maintain the Cohen wage tax rebate. But maintaining the rebate means, in the eyes of some, competing with another essential public policy; namely, reducing the tax burden on business, especially small business. I'm not here to tell you that reducing taxes on small business would be a bad thing or that it would not be a fair thing. And it could be done easily if the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania treated the City fairly by, among other things, picking up essential county expenses such as funding the courts. But 62 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. the Commonwealth is not doing that, as amply pointed out in the Mayor's Five-Year Plan. So this Council has to make choices, and they're not particularly pleasant ones. Among them it has to decide this: Are business tax cuts the most important thing to pay for compared to other priorities that the Council might adopt? We think not. I've already spoken on why business tax cuts should not be a higher priority than the Cohen tax rebate. Dollar for dollar it's clear that the Cohen rebate provides more bang for the buck. But other sources of revenue to pay for BPT cuts are also problematic, and here I'm talking primarily of lost opportunity costs. To cut business taxes misses the opportunity to put more funding in the schools. To cut business taxes misses the opportunity to put more money into childcare. To cut business taxes misses the opportunity to put more money into libraries and the arts. To 63 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. cut business taxes misses the opportunity to put more money in the Housing Trust Fund. All of these missed opportunities will extend rather than end the deep chasm between rich and poor that we might well characterize as the phenomenon of two Philadelphias, one well off and prosperous, the other much larger, depressed and growing in hopelessness. And we should be clear. The Five-Year Plan makes no rosy assumptions about business tax cuts paying for themselves. The Finance Director has stated publicly and privately that the City's revenue estimates include zero dollars resulting from the Administration's proposed reduction in business taxes. So every dollar of such cuts is a dollar that this Council cannot appropriate to care for desperate City needs. (Bell rung.)
I only have one paragraph to go. 64 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. We recognize that compromise proposals are circulating which would involve less drastic business tax cuts than are contained in the legislation that's already been introduced. Although we have only seen preliminary revenue estimates for one such proposal, we understand that it may save 60 percent of the revenue that would be lost under the broader tax cut scenario now pending. That would be an improvement, particularly if the -- and here comes the sentence fragment -- particularly if the bulk of the taxes cut go to neighborhood business. But whatever this Council ultimately chooses to do, we urge you to do it recognizing that you cannot do everything that you wish. Reality simply won't allow it. We urge you to choose your priorities carefully, and in the end, we hope that you will put at the top of your list those things which lift us all by first lifting those who are now barely scraping by. 65 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Thank you for your attention, and after my colleagues testify, I'd be happy to answer any questions.
Thank you, Stan. The Chair recognizes Councilman Goode.
Thank you, Madam President. Good afternoon, Mr. Shapiro.
Mr. Shapiro, are you familiar with my position on the Cohen tax cut?
Absolutely. I was probably the first person to co-sponsor it. I absolutely voted against slowing it down. I voted to override the Mayor's veto. I will not 66 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. vote to repeal at this point, and I see no connection between that and business taxes.
Well, I certainly hope that -- first of all, we thank you very much for your position on that rebate and we think it's the correct one and we thank you for being out front on it.
The second question I have for you is, do you know how many jobs the City lost between 1970 and the year 2000?
I do not have an exact number. I do not believe that there's any proof that's ever been shown that there is --
I asked you a question. Do you know how many jobs the City lost --
-- between 1970 -- the answer is 220,000 jobs. 67 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. During the same period of time, between 1970 and the year 2000, do you know how many jobs the suburbs gained?
The suburbs went from 870,000 jobs to 1.7 million jobs. The suburbs almost doubled the amount of jobs that they had during the period of 1970 and 2000, while the City lost 220,000 jobs, about percent of 12 its job base. I just wanted to make you 13 aware of that. 14 Thank you for your testimony. 15
Thank 17 you. 18 Thank you, Stan. 19 Who is going to testify next? 20
Hi. Good 24 afternoon, everyone. I have copies of my 25 testimony. 68 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
Hello. My name is Sherrie Cohen. It is appalling and unconscionable that Mayor Michael Nutter is proposing to eliminate my father, Councilman David Cohen's, tax credit for the working poor of this city. It is appalling and unconscionable that the Mayor is seeking to balance the budget on the backs of the working poor. It is appalling and unconscionable that with one hand Mayor Nutter last month presented the Philadelphia Cultural Fund's David Cohen Award given to a cultural organization demonstrating an outstanding commitment to social and economic justice and with his other hand smacked my father in his grave, as Councilman Kenney said of Mayor John Street, when our former Mayor sought successfully to delay my father's tax 69 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. credit in 2006. How many reasons are there to oppose the Mayor's attack on working poor people in the City? To quote Helen Gym, there are 300,000 reasons, the number of working poor people estimated to live in Philadelphia. Who are these people? These are the people earning less than about $32,000 a year for a family of four. These are the people who work hard, yet cannot make ends meet. These are the people whose work fails to afford them basic dignity. " 70 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. study. 8 percent. 9 The working poor are the people 10 whose numbers are rising faster in 11 Philadelphia than in the nation as a 12 whole. 5 percent. 1 percent. The poverty rate increased 15 almost seven percent in seven years, 16 whereas the increase in poverty in the 17 state and nation was about two percent 18 during these years. S. cities. More than 37 percent of our children in the City live in poverty, which is more than double the rate in the state at 17 percent and more than one and 71 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. a half times as great as the national average, percent. In two census 4 tracts in North Central Philadelphia, 5 Tracts 166 and 167, 44 percent of the 6 people are living below the poverty 7 level. " 16 Low-income families in Philadelphia have 17 to pay hundreds more than higher-income 18 households to buy the same car, hundreds 19 more to borrow the same amount of money 20 for an auto loan, hundreds more to insure 21 the same car and drive, hundreds more to buy food in their neighborhood, hundreds more to obtain a short-term loan, hundreds more to establish the same type of utility service, hundreds more to use 72 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. the same amount of gas to heat homes and cook meals, hundreds more to borrow the same amount of money for a home loan, hundreds more to insure the same value of a home, hundreds more to buy the same appliances and furniture. These are the people who do not meet the 2006 self-sufficiency standard computed by PathWays PA, which determines how much people need to live and work without public or private assistance or subsidies. Being economically self-sufficient means you can pay the rent, have a car, have a job and pay your bills. You don't need to depend on anyone for anything. You are off all assistance programs. You can pay for daycare for your children, you can buy groceries and you can pay for life's necessities. )
PathWays found that a single parent with an infant needs to earn $15.57 per hour. A single parent 73 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. with a pre-schooler needs to earn $15.93 an hour, while a single parent with both pre-schooler and a school-age child must earn $20.12 per hour to meet her family's needs. Each adult in a two-adult family with a pre-schooler and a school-age child in Philadelphia would need to earn a self-sufficiency wage of $11.08 per hour. Among Philadelphia's working poor are those who have to reduce the size of their meals or skip meals entirely because they cannot afford food purchases, according to the Pennsylvania Health Management Corporation's 2004 Household Health Survey for Southeastern Pennsylvania, which documented 122,000 such households, including nearly 61,000 children. Among the working poor are those who have to wait five months to schedule an appointment with the doctor at a health center, according to a 2007 report released by the Philadelphia 74 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Unemployment Project. These are the people who will invest this tax rebate into their communities and help revitalize every neighborhood of the City. The Internal Revenue Service estimates that every dollar received from the Federal Earned Income Tax Credit puts up to $3 back into local communities. These are the people written about in "A Tale of Two Cities," the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board's 2007 report. These people are in City Council today and are our neighbors, our family members, our co-workers, our friends. Mayor Nutter and City Council, the choice is yours. Will you write off these people and increase the divide between Philadelphia's two cities or will you choose instead One Philadelphia? Thank you.
Thank 75 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. you very much. (Applause.)
Good afternoon, Councilwoman Verna, President Verna, City Council. My name is Andre Butler. I am the Board Chairman of the Philadelphia Unemployment Project, and I'm here to lend support to what my colleagues have said about we are against the proposed repeal of the Cohen tax cut. These people -- I am part of the working poor, and I'm going to be a half an hour late for my job because I wanted to say something here to City Council today. Let's not forget that two years ago we were the fifth largest city in the country. We're now the sixth largest city in the country, and if we continue to go down this particular path such as wanting to repeal the Cohen tax cut, we're going to soon become the seventh, 76 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. eighth, ninth or tenth largest city in the country. We're driving people away. As Councilman Goode noticed about the amount of jobs going to the suburbs, we're going to be sending more to the suburbs if, in my opinion, our opinion, if this particular tax rebate is repealed. These are the main people that need their money. I happen to have witnessed a foreclosure last week of people that I actually knew. Every month they were just pennies short of that payment, and the mortgage company would not accept pennies short of the payment. You have to pay exactly what the mortgage said, and they could not accept the payments being pennies or dollars short. Therefore, they continued to regress and regress and regress and regress, and last week they were foreclosed, evicted out of their homes. And that's just one family. 77 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. There are thousands of others who will be because of the subprime collapse of the subprime market. They're senior citizens, people every day who need their medications, who need that $5 or $10 to pay for that co-pay. They can't pay 4.95 or 8.95 or 9.75. They must pay the full $10. They must decide between whether they want to eat or get their medications. Therefore, it's important this tax cut stay in law as it is now, as it is now in the law. Let's -- in our opinion also, if you repeal this tax cut, that's not tax reform. That's tax regression. We're supposed to be moving forward, not going backwards. And to do that, it would not be the most prudent thing to do. And briefly, on the business privilege gross receipts tax cut, remember, the reason why many of those tax cuts were put into place, because they said they're going to bring jobs to 78 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. the City. Well, remember, people like Comcast and Wal-Mart people, they bring workers from out of state in here. They didn't do much for the people that are here that want jobs. Most of those jobs are people that are out of state that are brought here to work. And so let's remember that we are a city of brotherly love, and to fully and totally show brotherly love, let's respect the people on whose backs this city really is built. And if I can say a few words to the sentiment of your heart, as Sherrie Cohen said -- and I'll say it in my own words -- let's honor a dead man's wish, who was well loved by everybody in this city. Thank you. (Applause.)
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Goode. 79 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
Thank you, Madam President. Very briefly, as part of, I think, some legislation that might be proposed tomorrow, there has been tax data circulated for years 2005 and 2006. Are you familiar with that data?
When you refer to those businesses like the Wal-Marts and other large businesses that actually bring in over $10 million a year, are you familiar with how many there are in the City?
In 2005, there were 790. In 2006, there were 885. Don't you think that's kind of ridiculous for a major metropolitan city to have less than a thousand businesses with revenues of that much?
I would say that 80 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. for what -- if the numbers that you're giving, since that's not my expertise, if it's saying that the revenues are less than they should be, I have to agree with that.
There are about 80,000 people who pay business taxes within the City of Philadelphia, and roughly only about 800 out of the 80,000 have that level of revenue, and that is a problem and that is a major problem for the City of Philadelphia and a major reason why we don't have enough jobs. Thank you.
Yeah. Thank you, President Verna and fellow Councilpeople. I'm Jonathan Stein, general counsel at Community Legal Services, on behalf of PUP and also a former member of the Tax 81 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Reform Commission of Philadelphia. If I can -- I really just want to address my remarks. I won't read my prepared statement, nor will -- and this is a list of all the organizations that support continuing the Cohen tax cut. But if I can just address Councilman Goode's questions, which really may not have gotten -- perhaps they were rhetorical questions, perhaps they were questions seeking some answers, but there's -- no one doubts that jobs have been lost, that you have -- your 800 companies are the largest that pay the bulk of the business privilege tax. The question really is, what is the nexus between cutting taxes and growing the economy and adding jobs. Do we seriously believe that giving a tax windfall to Wal-Mart will get them to expand their business or to add more employees? Well, that's a rhetorical question, but I'll invite your answer in a question, though.
I'll be glad 82 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. to answer it.
Because there are a lot of studies -- and this is why this is a debatable subject -- about is tax cutting really going to bring the panacea. We see from the City's budget that not one job is predicted to be created by the business privilege tax cuts. Not one dollar will be generated in expected revenue, that the most -- just as another just a recent example, maybe you've read the op-ed that was in the Inquirer a couple days ago by leading urban thinkers from the Brookings Institute and from the Greater Philadelphia Economy League. What do they talk about growing the metropolis like Philadelphia? They talked about promoting innovation, job quality, workforce quality, infrastructure. Not one word in this entire long op-ed about cutting taxes as a panacea to growing a metropolis. And without really trying to debate that point right here, I'm just 83 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. saying there is --
It is something of wishful thinking to believe that business tax cutting will work. Nevertheless, I'm ready to concede, my colleagues, other groups are willing to concede that if one wants to cut business taxes, cut them for small businesses, for businesses in Philadelphia, and let's not give away the store with business tax cutting. Let's draw some reasonable lines that could be between the biggest businesses that have revenues over 10 million, it may be favoring Philadelphia businesses over suburban businesses who pay the business privilege tax so we give a message to businesses, It's better to stay in the City, we're going to reward you, as opposed to running outside the City. I mean, there are ways of fine tuning business tax cutting that will save money, promote the services that we 84 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. heard needed support, like recreation services, and allow the Cohen tax credit to take effect, but also see if the business tax cutting will work for the businesses that most people, I think, in this Chamber have in mind, which are the smaller businesses in neighborhoods that really deserve a break. (Bell rung.)
I'm sorry if that's not a real question or an answer to your question, but the only -- my only testimony I wanted to address really, the point of the affordability of the Cohen tax credit, and I'll very briefly make those points. One, the City has pretty much admitted that they have overestimated the cost of the Cohen tax credit. I don't think they did their own numbers. They just took numbers from the prior Administration, didn't look into how they were calculated, but it appears that they assume that 100 percent of all eligibles 85 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. would on day one, Fiscal Year 13, claim the Cohen tax credit. They are way off, we think, in their estimate, and I think we'll suggest some more reasonable numbers for those out years that they're worried about, eight, nine, ten years from now. Two, the City has not assumed any gaming revenue coming into the City, and we know that whatever the future of casinos, they will be down the road, gaming revenue, and that will allow for relieving funds that would go to across-the-board wage tax and that could further allow a Cohen credit. Another point is, the City doesn't have to go down the course of cutting the wage tax in the way being proposed. Mayor Nutter has already accepted a slowing down of the wage tax cut, and that could be slowed down even more to save more revenue. And I should add, there's no mandate that says you have to continue to cut the non-residents 86 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. wage tax cut. The non-residents wage tax cut is already lower than the City residents, and if you leave it frozen, it will still be lower than City residents down the road five years from now. And, lastly, we've talked about other ways of looking at the business privilege tax, and we urge the Council in its deliberations to consider fine tuning it so we don't give away the store. We provide targeted wage tax cuts to those businesses that we really think that need it. We don't think the Wal-Marts or Targets necessarily need it. We don't think that perhaps suburban businesses may need it as much as inner City businesses, and we think that's a further way of saving revenue. And that concludes my testimony.
Thank you very much. Councilman Goode, you will be brief. 87 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
Yes. Thank you, Madam President. I'll try to be brief. Mr. Stein, are you familiar with the data that's being circulated regarding tax years 2005 and 2006?
For those businesses with revenue between $1 and $100,000, is it your recollection that there were more of them in 2006 than 2005?
I can't really answer it in front of me. The only thing I remember from that data, Councilman Goode, is that the largest businesses --
Well, without having it in front of me, I'm not sure, but maybe you could --
For those 88 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. businesses that had revenue between $100,000 and $200,000, do you remember whether we actually gained in businesses from the year 2005 to 2006?
For those businesses that had revenue between $500,000 and a million dollars, do you know whether we gained or had business growth between 2005 and 2006?
For those businesses between a million dollars and $5 million, do you know whether we had business growth?
Of course not. My same answer. I've looked at that data and my memory is that the largest businesses in the City --
Mr. Stein, 89 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. I'm not finished yet.
My last question is, for those businesses that had revenue over $10 million or more, was there growth?
There absolutely was. It went from 790 businesses to 885 business. For every category I named before that, the number of businesses actually decreased in terms of those paying BPT. And I raise that point in the context of this: Our problem is not necessarily just business and job creation. Our problem is business and job loss and trying to stem business and job loss. If this environment is not good enough for small business and we want to 90 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. primarily create a better business environment for small business, but this environment already is not big enough for small businesses, how exactly do you think we've been stemming the tide of business and job loss? The truth of the matter is, when you look at the fact that we lost 220,000 jobs from 1970 to the year 2000, while the suburbs gained over 800,000 jobs during the same period, we recognize that whatever we do and whatever your strategy is for job creation, that's fine. Whatever your strategy is to create 5,000 jobs a year or 10,000 jobs a year, that's great. But at the same time, if you're losing 10,000 jobs and 15,000 jobs, if you're always losing more jobs than you're creating, you will always have net job loss. So my simple question is, what is your strategy to stem or stop business and job loss? Because you have not mentioned it once in your criticism of 91 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. anything.
Well, what I am questioning -- the question requires a much longer than answer that I have the opportunity to.
I asked you a question. You can answer it, not answer it, and then you can give whatever comments you want.
The strategy is a variety of factors that affect job growth which --
No, no, no. 15 My question was, what's your strategy to stem or stop business and job loss? I didn't talk about business and job creation. I didn't talk about business and job growth. I said how are you going to stop business and job loss. What's your strategy?
So you don't have one? 92 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
If you have one, just simply state what your strategy is to stop business and job loss.
Well, there's no 10 one-word answer I'm afraid I can satisfy you with or one-sentence answer.
Well, don't tell me what it's not. Tell me what it is. What is your strategy?
You improve the work -- you improve the workforce so there's a quality workforce. You improve services that businesses need, like transportation and access to resources. There's a list that businesses will give you that don't include in the top five or top ten cutting the business privilege tax.
In terms of why they leave or in terms of why they 93 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. come? You want to continue to have a conversation with me about whether this is about business attraction and whether this is about business and job creation. What I'm posing to you now is whether this is actually about business retention and job retention and whether our major problem is business and job loss and how do you stem it.
Well, okay. My answer is very similar. Those factors I've mentioned are critical to business loss -- business growth or business loss, and that the business privilege tax is way down the list of factors that are going to influence that result.
But the truth of the matter is, I never said that that was the answer. I simply asked you a question, what is your strategy to stem business and job loss.
Okay. I'm sorry if I'm limiting my answer, because we're talking about taxes and business 94 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. privilege tax. I'm sorry if that's my focus. You're owed a more extended answer, which I'd have to put off for another time.
The number one reason why businesses and jobs leave is the cost of doing business in the City.
And what percentage of their costs is the business privilege tax?
It's a whole number of things. It's the cost of labor. It's the cost of any number of different things that contributes to the cost of doing business.
Well, studies that have looked at costs of businesses -- and I cite one in my testimony -- have shown, a major study, that taxes are a very low piece of cost of businesses, that labor costs, utility, transportation costs, lots of other things weigh much more heavily than that piece that is a 95 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. business privilege tax.
But that's not the question I raised. The question I raise is, why do businesses and jobs leave, and the number one reason is still the cost of doing business in terms of why they leave.
It has nothing to do with the point I'm making. The point I'm making is, if our major problem in this city -- we can have a debate over attraction and creation, but that's not what I'm discussing. What I'm discussing is business and job loss, and what I'm saying is that the reason why businesses and jobs leave is the cost of doing business in the City.
We can agree that costs are a major factor. I don't think that we'd agree that costs are the sole factor or even --
Of why 96 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. businesses and jobs leave?
So I don't think we have a disagreement really, since our testimony was about taxes. We can agree that costs are a major factor. There are many elements of costs. Mr. Stein has indicated many of them. We also think the environment in which a business exists and, as a matter of fact, the environment for the Chief Executive Officer many times --
Many studies have shown that the environment that the Chief Executive Officer lives in is a major factor.
Mr. Shapiro, to be perfectly honest, I'm pretty through with this. This is actually the data which you're presenting to make your 97 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. case. You're not even familiar with it, aside from the points that you want to highlight. But in addition to that, when I pose a question of how do we stem job loss, if you had never thought about how to stem job loss, then just say, I never really thought about that, and that would suffice.
No one said we haven't thought about it. We said that that's not what we're testifying about.
Thank you. Just a moment, gentlemen. I would ask the Budget Director to please approach the witness table. (Witness approached witness table.)
I'm certain that you have heard the testimony 98 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. from this panel. Can you tell me if the Administration has had any input on the Cohen bill?
Madam President, members, Steve Agostini, Budget Director. Yes. We actually met with a group headed by the three individuals you see here. I was a little taken aback by the statement that the Administration has backed away from its original estimates. I don't believe that that's the case at all. In fact, Mr. Dubow, the Finance Director, and I have just had a conversation. We are still standing by those estimates. In fact, we believe they were carefully done. What we offered is that we would look at additional information that was to be provided to us to make sure that we had good estimates. But we have not backed away from those estimates, and I'm a little concerned that that statement was made, and for the record, it is not a correct statement. 99 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
We are still looking at these estimates, Madam President and members, and we are still looking at the impacts of that and have had conversations and have offered to do some follow-up on some of these items. So we're still awaiting the sort of ongoing conversations and where we are with those conversations.
Madam President, if Mr. Agostini is here, could he confirm, though, for us that the current Administration assumes that 100 percent of all eligibles on the first day of this tax credit would take effect five years from now, is the assumption that they're making about the cost of the credit?
Madam President, we actually don't have a point estimate. We have a range, and we have estimated 100 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. that range of somewhere between $12 and $18 million for the first year. That estimate has been challenging to put together and has taken some time, but absent any other estimates -- we're looking at how things like the Earned Income Tax Credit works, for example, to use that as a model. But absent any other sort of methodologies or formulas to do that, I would tell you that what we have is a fairly robust estimate right now, and, again, we will welcome any additional information that suggests that we should do this in a different manner. We haven't seen that yet.
Thank you again. Thank you. MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness is Brett Mandel. (No response.)
Is Mr. Mandel here? (No response.) 101 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
Our next witness. MR. McPHERSON: John Gallery. (Witness approached witness table.)
Good afternoon, Mr. Gallery. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
I'm John Gallery, the Executive Director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. I am here to testify regarding the budget of the Philadelphia Historical Commission. I'm not a member of the Historical Commission, obviously, but I feel that it is important to bring to the attention of this Council how critical the needs of the Historical Commission are. The Historical Commission has an excellent staff, but the fact of the matter is that the staff is incredibly 102 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. overworked and is carrying a workload which is requiring it to work overtime, evenings and weekends, without compensation, merely to meet the minimum requirements to process permits for construction activities in Philadelphia. I have to start off by saying that the Philadelphia Historical Commission is the worst funded Historical Commission of any major city in the United States. In my testimony -- I'm sorry that the pages were not numbered, but on of my testimony, there is a chart of my written testimony. There is a chart which shows a selected number of cities that indicates the ratio and staffing levels of the City of Philadelphia versus a select number of other cities. I could have included many, many more, all of whom are much better funded than the City of Philadelphia and much better staffed, and yet our historic resources are considerably more important. 103 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. The result of construction activity in recent years has been a substantial increase of permit applications that is necessary for the Historic Commission to do that are required by ordinance to be processed in a specific period of time. The current staff level allows these permits to be processed only if the staff is working these excessive amount of hours, but it doesn't allow anything else to happen. For example, there are five historic district nominations that have been submitted to the Commission that have been sitting for periods of three to five years with no activity on them whatsoever: Parkside in West Philadelphia; the Awbury Arboretum neighborhood in Germantown; East Falls, a section of East Falls. There are three other neighborhoods that are working with me on historic district nominations they would like to submit. These are all property owners who would like their 104 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. properties protected, and nothing is happening on them because there is insufficient staff to do this. Why is historic preservation important? If you look to the last of my testimony, you will see a number, $2.179 billion. This is a very conservative estimate of the amount of activity that has been invested in Philadelphia in the past ten years through historic preservation. That's an average about $220 million per year, and, in fact, in 2007, that was in fact the approximate number, $220 million. (Bell rung.)
What is needed? The Commission needs four additional staff persons. The cost of this in personnel is $200,000. That is a minuscule amount of money. But in addition to personnel, the Commission needs funding in what's called Class 200 funds to do public information, specialized consultants and 105 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. other activities. The Preservation Alliance is prepared to commit $100,000 of our own funds over the next two years to cover the costs of some of the things that were normally covered by Class 200 appropriations. For example, we recently produced this publication, which is the first publication that explains to property owners what they have to do if they require approval from the Historical Commission. We printed it ourselves. We mailed the postcard that's in it to every one of the 11,000 property owners of the City whose properties are covered by the Commission. We've made it available on our website. I have hard copies here for you today. If your constituents would like more, please let me know. We are prepared to fund these activities to take the burden off the City. In addition, the City is working on the development of a comprehensive plan and zoning plans. 106 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Historic preservation needs to be part of those. We have raised $250,000 from foundations to cover the costs of the production of a historic preservation plan for Philadelphia to coordinate with the City Planning Commission and the Historical Commission, again, so that we could relieve the City of this expenditure. We cannot fund personnel, and none of these other activities will work unless the personnel is there to be able to process these permits. So my pledge to you is that if you could find in this budget the $200,000 that is necessary to bring the Commission to the level of funding that is needed and sustain that for the next four years, we will raise whatever funds are necessary to supplement the Class 200 funds to allow the Commission to continue to operate in an effective manner. Thank you for your consideration. 107 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
Thank you. MR. McPHERSON: Our next two witnesses are Shelly Yanoff and Colleen McCauley-Brown. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Good afternoon. I am Shelly Yanoff, the Executive Director of Public Citizens for Children and Youth, the region's leading child advocacy organization working to improve the lives and life chances of the region's children. Thank you for the opportunity to testify about how we can work together to improve the lives of children and families in the City. At the beginning of a new Administration and new term, we look with hope to building together and achieving the ambitious goals that the Mayor has established for children and youth, improving public safety, reducing the dropout rate and dramatically increasing 108 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. the number of high school and college graduates in our city. These priorities are our priorities, and as you know, they must be built with many hands and on many strong foundations. Within the limitations of budget testimony and a limited budget, we offer these comments for your consideration. Part of the foundation for increasing the number of college graduates is children arriving at school ready to learn. Although this has not been a major responsibility of the City, we urge that you join other cities and explore ways the City can support early childhood learning as an important investment in the future. Researchers tell us that dollar for dollar the best public investments we can make are in quality early education program. Children enrolled in these programs not only master the cognitive skills they need to succeed in school, but they also develop social and emotional skills, such 109 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. as follow-through, empathy and conflict resolution that serve them throughout their lives. Those who attend quality early education programs are much more likely to graduate from high school, hold jobs, and much less likely to wind up in the criminal justice and public welfare systems than their peers. According to the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, every public dollar invested in quality or early education saves at least in 14 future special ed, criminal justice and 15 welfare costs. We urge that more 16 attention be paid to young children in 17 Philadelphia this year. As a starting point, we ask City Council to support renewing the Childcare Facilities Fund, which was created in 2003 with a five-year $5 million challenge grant from the Office of Housing and Community Development. As you know, the fund has leveraged much additional support from foundations and 110 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. corporations to make grants for capital improvements and needed maintenance at childcare programs throughout the City. The Fund protects children by improving the health and safety of their facilities in the region through grants, loans, advice and technical assistance. To meet the needs of families for safe, healthy and high-quality early care and education, we hope you will support the inclusion of $5 million to renew the Fund, one million in each of the next five years as part of the FY2009 budget. Although this is not a hearing to discuss education budget issues, we want to commend the Council for its past support of public education and urge that you continue and expand that support. As you know, we have a really important opportunity this year at the state level to make a critical step toward a better funding system, but even with that step taken, there is much to do at the local level. Experts also tell us that an 111 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. educated workforce is critical to business decisions to settle and expand here. Corporations and individuals will choose Philadelphia -- and probably not leave Philadelphia -- when we are successful in our schools, when we lower the number of dropouts, when we boost Community College. We strongly support the increase proposed for Community College and the emphasis on preventing dropouts. (Bell rung.)
That's good news, but we need to do much more. These are investments that are sound financially and are part of a critically important community building strategy that seeks to improve public safety and boost the educational attainment of all Philadelphians. So is the proposed funding for jobs for youth. We believe this is another vital link to the future. We commend the increase in 112 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. support for health centers, but are concerned that due to decisions at the federal level, the increase may be insufficient. As more people lose their health insurance coverage, utilization of City health center services are likely to increase as more and more Philadelphians have nowhere to turn for healthcare services. And, Madam Chair, you have recently chaired a meeting on the problems of health centers, and you know that access to prenatal care and dental care in particular is a problem. You are all aware of the problem of inadequate staffing in critical areas leading to waiting times that are too long. People wait to get some treatment. We urge that attention be paid to this critical need. The story of lead poison prevention in Philadelphia is an ongoing fragile but successful story. We urge the City not fall behind in its commitment to eradicating lead in 113 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. children's lives. We have moved forward -- we have moved from being one of the worst cities in the country to one of the best in terms of decreasing lead poisoning and making children's homes lead safe. At the back of our testimony is an outline of the homes in 2006 that were poisoned, known to having children in them and poisoning them, and it's broken out by districts. Additional funding is needed to remediate homes and fill staff vacancies in order to eradicate this small backlog of lead-infested properties where newborns live who have not yet become poisoned. We can do this. The budget does not, however, appear to have enough funding to support the needs in this critical area. We've come too far. You've come too far in the work on lead poison prevention to slip back now. We need and urge your commitment on this. PCCY has been a partner with 114 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. the Department of Behavioral Health and its work to develop a plan to make the behavioral health system more responsive to the needs of children and families. We urge City Council to remain vigilant in moving the Department's work forward. We must place more behavioral health supports and services in schools and in our neighborhoods. We should pay particular attention to the needs of young children to prevent them from experiencing behavioral health difficulties that will grow unless we do that. We strongly support strengthening the role of the recreation centers in community building, in assuring safe places for children and families to go in their neighborhoods and are concerned that the budget does not seem to reflect that value. We worry that the Recreation Department and the libraries will not be able to fulfill their vital roles in improving the 115 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. quality of life for all children and families in the neighborhood unless more supports are found for them. Turning to child welfare and juvenile justice, we have some good news and some concerns to report. In spite of much bad publicity over the past 9 months, the City's prevention efforts 10 appear to be taking hold. There has been 11 a marked decline in abuse and neglect 12 cases over the last several years. We 13 urge the City to continue focusing on 14 prevention and to assure that the funds 15 that are in the budget -- I'm sorry; to 16 assure that the funds are in the budget 17 to implement the recommendations of the 18 panel, which was called together last year after another crisis in DHS.
There have been many good steps taken, but there are far too many vacancies in staffing, too many promises that require both support and monitoring to get done. Finally, we urge that the City look closely at the large number of 116 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. first-time offenders that enter Family Court's Delinquency Division each year, that we track them, their progress, the programs that are open to them and determine how together we can come as a community to discourage recidivism and assist them in building a better life. Along these lines, we do commend the expansion of YVRP as a successful program. The list is long, we know that, and the demands on the City are not decreasing, but with your help and the promise of a new Administration, we will make the City a better place for children and families. Supporting the development of a well-educated, secure and healthy generation will help Philadelphia become the city it must be. Thank you.
This is Colleen 117 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. McCauley-Brown, who heads up our lead poison prevention, if anybody had any questions about that.
Thank you. MS. McCAULEY-BROWN: Thank you. MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness is Cynthia Kishinchand. (Witness approached witness table.)
Good afternoon, Councilmembers. My name is Cynthia Kishinchand. I live in District 4 on Coulter Street. I'm the coordinator for East Falls Street Tenders, a member of Friends of the Inn Yard Park, Friends of McMichael Park, the Parks Alliance, Fairmount Park Conservancy, Women for the Water Works Commission and steering committee of the PennFuture Southeastern Pennsylvania. I'm here today in reference to Mayor Nutter's parking tax proposal. I am here as a private citizen 118 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. to urge you to support Mayor Nutter's proposed parking tax. This tax would generate $12 and a half million for street repair, Fairmount Park and tree planting. My focus this afternoon is tree planting. By minuscule increase in the parking tax, this proposal would reap astounding economic benefits. These benefits, which can be quantified, reduce air pollution mitigation costs and carbon storage, storm water runoff management costs and energy consumption. For instance, the temperature on a tree-lined street is five percent lower than the temperature on a treeless street. Therefore, property owners on tree-lined streets have lower cooling costs for electricity for air conditioners than those living on treeless streets. The Water Department and other agencies have the data to substantiate the positive environmental and economic impact of the proposed tax increase, the 119 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. first such increase since July 1, 1987. Regarding the beauty of trees, just stroll through East Falls where East Falls Tree Tenders have coordinated the planting of approximately 400 trees since 1996. Alas, we are far from our goal to increase our tree canopy from the current percent to the designed 30 percent. 10 Eleven years ago, on April 30, 11 1997, I testified in City Council in favor of then Councilman Nutter's proposed ordinance, Bill No. 960826. In fact, I wore this same suit. This ordinance provided for a routine street maintenance program and for the removal of dead or dangerous trees. The bill 18 passed and was enacted in 1998. It is hard to believe 11 years have passed before the overall situation of tree planting is being addressed. In closing, I urge you to support legislation which will make Philadelphia a model for an effective street tree program, a green country 120 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. town, with a sound environmental and economic base. What better way can there be to celebrate Arbor Day April 25th.
I don't have any lights on today. MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness is Amy Dougherty. (Witness approached witness table.)
Hi. I'm Amy Dougherty, Executive Director of the Friends of the Free Library of Philadelphia. As you may recall, the Friends of the Free Library is an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to support the Free Library of Philadelphia. Through 121 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. affiliate neighborhood volunteer groups, we promote cooperation and communication between the community and the Free Library and advocate for library services for all adults and children. I want to acknowledge those of you who have given your time to meet with me in the last few weeks and to thank you all for the opportunity to speak with you today about library services and resources. Library Friends Groups in neighborhoods all across this city routinely boost their local libraries in many active ways. In addition, they raise money for books and other materials and programs by holding bake sales, book sales, flea and craft markets, bingo events and more. Library Friends are out there, doing their part. We now ask you to help us, adults and children, students at every academic level, folks needing assistance with job preparedness and applications, Philadelphians in every 122 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. neighborhood. On behalf of our 43 affiliate Friends Groups and library patrons across the City, I want today to let you know that we appreciate and value the basic level of services at the 53 library branches. We have, however, some concerns about the Library allocation in the proposed FY09 General Fund budget. More specifically, a review of Mayor Nutter's comprehensive Five-Year Plan suggests that the Free Library system is not and will not be utilized as fully as it could. The Free Library can, given appropriate resources, lead the way to positive social and economic change in Philadelphia. Every day we hear from constituents who are demanding updated materials and relevant programs at their libraries. In no way to diminish the traditional offerings of the library such as entertainment, literature, arts and culture, our constituents constantly ask their libraries to offer resources that 123 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. help them to help themselves. They want programs that lift their educational and economic level. Helping our citizens lift themselves requires leadership, commitment and coordination on the part of City officials, as well as dollars. We can do it, but not by cutting the Library budget. The Free Library's proposed FY09 general operating budget is $40,245,000. This represents a one percent reduction of $403,000 from the current '08 allocation. Of the proposed reductions, 189,000 is from Class 100 and is a result of administrative efficiencies so that library branch hours, five and a half days or full days Monday through Friday and half days on Saturdays, will not be affected. A hundred thousand dollars is slated to be cut from the purchase of contracted services due to a reduction in the price of library computer leases. Those cuts 124 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. make administrative and service sense. Far more troubling is the $114,000 slated to be cut from the materials line. This refers to all that you expect when you arrive at a library, including books, DVDs, periodicals, videos, software, et cetera. This allocation has been flat for the past seven years. The acquisition of materials, therefore, has not kept pace with inflation or the standard of living, but instead has significantly reduced the Free Library's purchasing power for library materials across the board year after year. We are requesting that you not cut the materials budget, but instead increase the FY08 level for materials, which is $3,331,000, by ten percent, for a total of $4,324,000 in FY09. In this way, every library location, not just a select few, can be equipped with sufficient materials for children and adults. There is, in addition, the 125 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. urgent matter of programmatic resources.
We understand that the City faces pressing fiscal demands resulting from our social challenges. Ours is a city rife with school dropouts, unemployment, illiteracy, crime, families living in poverty, a bloated prison population and 50 percent of our residents without home computers. )
The need, therefore, for basic reading and computer literacy and progressive workforce development programs is more imperative than ever. An example of programmatic shortages demonstrates that fiscal stringencies result in missed opportunities and perhaps even waste. As just one example, let me tell you about Gates Computer Labs in three library branches, Kensington, West Oak Lane and Lillian Marrero, with three more expected this year. These labs are equipped with 126 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. their own computers, a dozen of them for each lab, for computer skills training purposes. However, due to the absence of program dollars translated into trainers and marketing, these labs more often than not sit idle. This is but one puzzling and frustrating example of missed opportunities that I witness in my travels around the 53 Free Library branches. I believe that we can and must do better by setting aside dollars for programs that help our citizens to reach their full potential as we transition from a manufacturing economy to one that is knowledge based. The time is now to supply the dedicated resources so that library staff can deliver needed services to your constituents. We estimate that an additional one million dedicated to computer training and job readiness programming would be a good start. All together, we are requesting a total increase of $1,393,000 to the 127 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. proposed FY09 Library budget, $393,000 to be dedicated for materials and one million to be targeted to workforce programs, so that we can take the first steps in continuing to support the Library system as an agency that helps Philadelphians not merely sustain but succeed and indeed thrive. Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Thank you. When the Library testified before Council, they offered these cuts. Is there any collaboration between the Friends and the administration of the Library on what cuts are going to be made and what you think ought to be there in the budget?
Well, there are certainly conversations and there are -- the Library is a City agency that works with the Budget Office to come up with their proposed budget, and we represent library patrons. So while we support the 128 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Library in many, many ways, and we do support the Library, we are often asking City Council for consideration to increase their budget. We are separate from the Library, the administration.
Well, yes, I know that, but we were told -- we were under the impression during the course of the testimony that the Acting Executive Director asked for the cuts. He said that they could live with the cuts. Mr. Agostini, do you want to respond to that?
Well, I cannot speak for the Director of the Library. (Witness approached witness table.)
Madam Chair, members, Steve Agostini, Budget Director. We have had a series of conversations, and your recollection is our recollection, that the City Library came forward. The Director did indeed make a case for how he would be able to 129 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. live within those dollars. He felt very strongly about that. We had some careful conversations about that. His view was that -- and I think on the record what he said was, we're going to maintain the existing set of hours and the existing set of services and we will be able to do well with the budget that's been given to us. And we have had no discussions with him to suggest otherwise. In fact, prior to coming over, he sent an e-mail to reiterate that, and if he's here, I will try to find him to get up here to talk to you about that.
If I could add, that as I suggested in my testimony, in my travels throughout the 53 branches, I speak with library patrons, and library patrons are asking us and urging that there be dollars for programs specifically targeted to job readiness in a transitioning economy, computer literacy, and my understanding is that there are not enough program dollars for 130 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. this in the Library's proposed budget.
All right. Thank you very much. I'm sorry. Councilman Jones.
Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for your testimony, and, more importantly or as importantly, thank you for the briefing you gave me the other day, last week sometime now. We had an opportunity to go out to a couple of the libraries and recreation centers. Since then, my office is going to work with you to pull together in the 4th Councilmanic District a group of people interested in reestablishing and reaffirming some of the Friends of Free Library Groups. They're also going to invite the local schools and their librarians to that meeting. So I look forward to working with you on that, and thank you for that information. And I think it's an 131 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. essential part of the fabric of our community. And if you look at where Friends of Free Libraries are and then juxtapose some of the attainment levels of young people taking reading and math tests, you find that the more you have Friends of Free Library, the better the scores are, and I don't think that's just coincidence.
Thank you. Thank you very much. MR. McPHERSON: Our next panel is Sue Rosenthal and Alan McHale. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Good afternoon to you, Madam President. 132 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
I am Sue Rosenthal. I live at 1343 Ascot Place in Northeast Philadelphia. For 39 years I have served as Community Board Chair at Public Health Center 10. Congratulations, City Council, for your courage in passing five common sense anti-violence bills last week. Gun violence is a public health as well as a civic concern, and it's something that our State Legislature should have done long ago. Thank you.
Problems of our health centers are familiar to you. During your last two budget considerations, Council recognized the tragedy of long delays for medical appointments, services and prescriptions. Each time you added to the then Mayor's proposed budgets, you added money for 133 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. health center services. Unlike our previous appearances before you, we are here to urge your adoption of the FY2009 health centers budget. Recognizing what you already know, the new Mayor has added $3 million above last year's Health Department budget. This amount will begin to seriously address the unfilled needs of the public. In response to your questions, Health Commissioner Schwarz said another $1.3 million operating dollars would fully meet the demand for public health services. Passing the Health Department's proposed budget for the centers, however, will certainly make a healthy start this year. Of course, if you happen to find you have an extra $1.3 million at the end of this process, you know who can use it. That will help us meet 134 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. completely the goals that we have. We were pleased to hear Commissioner Schwarz say his department is investigating extending the centers' hours as one way to meet the exploding need for health services. Shelly Yanoff just mentioned this in her testimony, the possibility that we will have a need for more health services. You know what's happening in the economy. It would not surprise me at all. Funds for our health centers have a multiplying effect. Many of our clients are insured by Medicaid, Medicare or private health plans. These pay into the City's General Fund 67 cents for every 33 cents we spend for care through the health centers. In 2007, these sources paid $17 million to the City. That is a great return for offering the public a vital service. It is a win for the City and a win for the public. Thank you for your serious consideration. 135 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
Thank you. And I wish we did find that $1.5 million for you.
Good evening. MR. McHALE: Good evening, Madam President. My name is Alan McHale, members of Council, and I'm an outreach worker for the Rhawnhurst NORC, which stands for Naturally Occurring Retirement Community. I'm a long-time resident of the Northeast and I'm proud to say I was born in Philadelphia and I'm even prouder to say our son was also. A community group of Northeast families, providers, members of District 10 Health Center Community Board and the Maternity Care Coalition, which has a MOMobile program at Health District 10, has formed in Northeast Philadelphia and we meet regularly. I am here to support my neighbors and the Northeast Philadelphia families' goal to get a 136 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. maternity center at least in the Northeast. I am not, however, going to use my time before you going over all the same statistics and obvious reasons why the lack of maternity care in the Northeast is such a huge problem. I want to take my time and talk about what it means to me to be born in Philadelphia. Now, most of you, as far as I am aware, were born in Philadelphia, so you are aware of just what that means. My older brother and I were born at Temple University Hospital within a short walking distance of our childhood home at 17th and Ontario. My younger brother was born at Lower Bucks County Hospital. Both my brothers now live in Arizona and they have been for over 30 years. My older brother is still a hard-core Phillies and Eagles fan, and my younger brother, the one born in Bucks County, is now a Diamondbacks fan. When I talk to the seniors I 137 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. work with about the past and how things were when their children and grandchildren were being born, they are almost unanimous in their positive memories about neighborhood hospitals, full-service hospitals. They just don't understand the concept of a hospital without a maternity ward. Since I first went to the Northeast Town Hall meeting at St. Johns Church back in November, I've been talking to people of all ages about the concept that there are virtually no 15 maternity beds in Northeast Philadelphia. One couple's decision in particular could represent a growing trend if lacking maternity services in Northeast Philadelphia continues. They were both 20-something, recently engaged, currently pregnant and looking to buy their first home. Both were lawyers working in Center City, both local college and law school grads. They are looking at houses, one in Langhorne close to the St. 138 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Mary Medical Center and one in Fox Chase close to Jeanes. The woman was completely unaware that Jeanes had closed their maternity department. The odds are good that their child will not know the pride that comes from being born a Philadelphian. Much is being made in this city about how it's a new day and a new way. We hear about the importance of attracting the best and brightest young people to our city. We talk about Philadelphia using the Eds and Meds as a major component of positioning itself in a highly competitive flat world. We finally get approval for the Fox Chase Cancer Center expansion to attract thousands of high-tech jobs, and what are we going to tell those people? Oh, by the way, we love you living here, but if you decide to have children, make sure you know where Huntingdon Valley is. We are a better city than this. This Council has risen to a great many 139 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. challenges in the time that I have been paying attention, and this is another challenge. Join with Northeast residents and see that the maternity care issues of not just the Northeast but all over Philadelphia are identified and addressed. Make sure that the thousands of children due to be born in the next year actually have the opportunity to be born in Philadelphia. It means something. It means something to me and it means something to you. If it is indeed a new day and a new way, then let it begin today.
) MR. McHALE: Let it begin with this Council committing to the idea that no neighborhood in one of the great hospital cities in the world goes without adequate maternity care. Thank you very much.
Thank you. (Applause.) 140 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
Could I just have a question, if I may. MR. McHALE: Yes, ma'am.
From your testimony you say that there are no 7 maternity services in the Northeast and apparently one would have to go to Huntingdon Valley? MR. McHALE: Or Lower Bucks County.
So I have no idea what the mileage would be. How close would any one of the hospitals be to the Northeast area?
It would be not far from where I live in the Northeast, but as you're aware, the Northeast is quite a big place. And I would say it could be a half an hour easily for others. Many women are forced to use Einstein. Good hospital, but quite a distance away from them. We had five hospitals in the 141 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Northeast. Four of them have closed their maternity centers. The only one that still has beds, that's all, is 5 down at the southern tip of the Northeast 6 in Kensington, which, as you know, is 7 quite a distance from Somerton, let's 8 say, or something like that, all in the 9 Northeast. 10 So we have over 5,000 births a 11 year in the Northeast, and that is a 12 pretty regular number. And 22 beds for 13 5,000 people just doesn't cut it. The 14 problem with going to, let's say, 15 Huntingdon Valley, which is the Holy 16 Redeemer Hospital, is that you or I might 17 have an HMO contract that is not -- might 18 have an HMO for our medical services that 19 does not have a contract with that 20 hospital and, therefore, we can't go 21 there. We have to find somewhere further 22 away. So it is a very, very real problem, especially if we want to keep people interested in continuing to move 142 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. to the Northeast, keeping it a vital community and growing community. We hope that we'll be able to figure out some things, and we would like to know that Council understands the situation. And by the way, it's not limited to the Northeast.
Yeah. It's going throughout the City. And in the spring, there may be other hospitals doing this. So it's really not funny. Where does a baby get born?
Thank you. Thank you so much. MR. McHALE: Thank you, Madam President.
You're welcome. 143 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. (Applause.) MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness is Stephanie Scott. (No response.)
Is Stephanie Scott here? (No response.) MR. McPHERSON: Gina Koo. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
My name is Gina Koo and I am the Manager of the Childcare Initiative at Non-Profit Finance Fund.
And I'm Joanne Bursich. I'm also with Non-Profit Finance Fund.
Excuse me. Are you both going to 144 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. testify?
Thank you. We'll give you more time since the two of you are not testifying. Please proceed.
Thank you. First of all, thank you for allowing the public an opportunity to speak about possible amendments to the proposed City budget. NFF's Childcare Initiative is a public-private partnership committed to improving the quality of non-profit childcare centers in Southeastern Pennsylvania through the provision of capital advice and technical assistance. Launched in 2003 by the City of Philadelphia, William Penn Foundation, Wachovia Regional Community Development Corporation, United Way and other investors, the Initiative offers funding as an incentive for childcare agencies to increase organizational sustainability. 145 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. NFF's role in this important work is to steward and distribute grant funding and provide direct technical assistance to childcare providers. The $5 million that the City pledged to the Philadelphia Childcare Facilities Fund has been instrumental to the Initiative. These funds leveraged more than seven million in additional investments from private entities to serve young children and working families in Philadelphia and its surrounding counties. All of the City monies are dedicated exclusively for Philadelphia sites, while private funds are applied to childcare programs throughout the five-county region. I am here today to request that the City recommit to this initiative so that we can continue to improve the quality of care for our children. Since inception, the Childcare Initiative has made an impact on a site-by-site and systems-wide level. One 146 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. 2 million and $2 million in loans have been invested in 144 sites throughout Philadelphia and the surrounding four counties. Almost two-thirds of these grants have gone to Philadelphia-based providers. Ninety percent of NFF's capital grant recipients are enrolled in Keystone STARS. Fifty-two percent of eligible sites have improved their Keystone STAR rating or attained licensure after receiving a capital grant from NFF. Over 14,000 children, of whom more than 7,300 reside in Philadelphia, receive services daily at centers involved with the Initiative. And, lastly, 70 percent of children and families served are considered low and moderate income. Currently, an external evaluation of the Initiative is being conducted by St. Joseph's University. Preliminary findings from the interim 147 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. report show that three-quarters of the projects allowed programs to resolve a maintenance problem that had been deferred for some time. Nearly all of the projects categorized as "maintenance" helped to improve the health and safety of the childcare facility. Nearly all of the programs who cited "meeting or maintaining a quality standard" reported that they achieved their goal with the completion of the facilities project. In addition, I am delighted to report that these initial findings from the evaluation demonstrate positive changes in the sector that are consistent with NFF's organizational mission of supporting non-profits. Two-thirds of programs reporting instituting changes in how their Board or oversight committee reviews financial information. Receiving a grant through NFF enabled over half of the programs to improve their capacity to plan and/or manage a facilities project. Most respondents stated that completing 148 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. the project has positively impacted the safety and quality of physical space, the program's marketability and the quality of programming. Given this preliminary evaluation data, the researchers concluded that the Childcare Initiative is viewed as a valued program in the region that enhances rather than duplicates other quality improvement resources. Additionally, they found that the technical assistance that NFF brings as the financial intermediary is seen as contributing to the effectiveness of the Initiative.
As a separate effort, NFF is also currently serving 525 non-profit childcare providers to assess future facilities needs. So far, we have found that 93 percent are planning a project in the next three to five years and the median capital project cost is $100,000. While the Childcare Initiative has achieved great successes in the past 149 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. four years, this response data demonstrates the continued and urgent need for facilities funding. When discussing quality and early care, we tend to limit the conversation to resources in the classroom. But we forget that successful learning can only take place in an environment that promotes the health and safety of children. Outside the Childcare Facilities Fund, there are no other sources of funding that offer the same level of support to Philadelphia childcare providers undertaking major capital projects. NFF's mission is to create a strong, well-capitalized and durable non-profit sector that connects money to mission effectively. We recognize that childcare providers operate on thin margins and understand the financial and programmatic challenges of this industry. Limited revenue restrains a provider's 150 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. ability to make needed, often expensive, infrastructure investments such as equipment to outfit playgrounds, commercial kitchens and child-sized bathroom fixtures. Many of these upgrades, however, are required to stay in compliance with local and state regulations and to progress along the quality improvement continuum. There's no denying that access to quality early care is severely limited in Philadelphia and throughout the region. As Philadelphia's transformation into a world-class city continues, I hope you will keep in mind that early childhood care and education is a cross-sector policy issue that intersects with both quality of life and economic investment strategies. In addition, I am aware that Mayor Nutter is greatly interested in elevating Philadelphia's partnership with surrounding counties. The Childcare Initiative is a terrific example of a systems-level approach for 151 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. regional collaboration. City leaders must play an active role in stimulating facilities investments in order to fully realize the long-range benefits of early education. Allow me to reiterate that all of the City's funds are dedicated exclusively for Philadelphia sites. We strongly believe that the Childcare Initiative is measurably increasing the quality and safety of early learning environments, which will ultimately translate into positive outcomes for Philadelphia's children. I urge you to commit your support for the Philadelphia Childcare Facilities Fund to improve the quality of early care and education facilities. Thank you for your time today.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
Thank you for that testimony, and it's a worthwhile 152 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. effort indeed investing in facilities that invest in our young people. My question becomes, what is your relationship with St. Joe's? St. Joe's University, for the record.
Excuse me, please. You're going to have to identify yourself.
I'm sorry. Joanne Bursich with Non-Profit Finance Fund. William Penn Foundation selected St. Joe's as an independent evaluator of the Initiative, and they've recently completed the evaluation. It will be distributed very soon.
Are these what you submitted in your testimony the list of facilities that you funded?
That is only in Philadelphia, but it's a district-by-district breakout of the 153 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. centers that have been funded so far in Philadelphia.
So are there no children in the 4th Councilmanic District? There's only one facility on North 63rd Street within my district, and I'm looking at all these great -- I went through the list. I checked it twice. There's one that comes close, which is in Councilwoman Blackwell's district, but I'm wondering if we stopped having children --
That's a good question, sir. I'm actually a resident in East Falls, in your district. Part of this next year and if the Facilities Fund -- there is increased or continued funding for this initiative, is to tweak the marketing strategy, marketing, quote/unquote, marketing. Really, it's a resource and we need to be out there in people's faces almost, because it's hard work for them to actually submit an application and get this grant money even 154 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. though it's free. They don't have to repay it. But on top of everything else that they do for their centers every day, there's not enough hours sometimes. So that's where we come in, to provide the direct technical assistance. So we will be looking to directly meet with the providers.
As a resident of East Falls, you get a buy on this one.
But next year we need to do a lot better, and I am willing to work with you on outreach efforts, because you do have one, New Life Alternative on North 63rd Street, but other than that, I'm seeing other districts that are happy to have four and five, and they're letting me know it.
I do know -- and there may be a mistake on the form, but I can think off the top of my head of at least one other, North Light Community 155 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Center, which is in Manayunk.
Thank you. I don't believe anyone else wants to be recognized. Thank you for coming in.
Alexis Brown. (Witness approached witness table.)
Sure. My name is Alexis Brown and I'm the Executive Director of Community Women's Education 156 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Project. And, first of all, let me say good afternoon -- or good evening, President Verna and Councilmembers. I want to reiterate some of the testimony that you heard from Gina Koo. Community Women's Education Project is located in Kensington, which, as you know, is one of the hardest hit, one of the poorest areas in Philadelphia. We have been fortunate enough to receive some of the funding that Gina has described. I need to really reemphasize the impact of that funding. Our property is 110 years old. It's a schoolhouse located at Kensington and Frankford Avenue. We have a childcare center. We're nationally accredited. We're the only nationally accredited center in Kensington and we're a four-star site. A 110-year-old building needs a lot of care, and we need a lot of funding to do that. Gina Koo mentioned in her testimony that the level of funding that 157 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. they provide in the City, they are one of the only providers, and that is so. And believe me, I have looked and searched. As the Executive Director, that's part of my responsibility, is to find resources. They have provided kitchen equipment. They have replaced the doors, which almost did not lock to the front and the rear of the building. They have provided lots of technical assistance, and for an aging property, it's critical to have experts. Now, for a minute let me tell you how important it was to have experts at the table. I applied for funding to another funder for some of the money in order to get some of the repairs done. They quickly reminded me that I should be talking to Non-Profit Finance Fund to get the expertise that they lend around facilities maintenance. Once I told them I had done that and that NFF had indeed endorsed the work that we were 158 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. requesting, that opened the doors for some other funding. However, not as much. So it is critical for the monies that they provide and the technical assistance to keep agencies like WEP running and operating. They have paid for some of the assessment reports and facilities reports that we have had done, and that has been invaluable in helping us to plan for the future and what we need to do in the building. And we still use that report each and every time I apply for funding. So, again, I thank you for the opportunity, and I want to reiterate how important and how much we rely on that. The Board is also members of our building committee and they also have relied on the information and expertise that have been provided from NFF. So I just want to echo everything Gina said, and I thank you very much. 159 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Any questions? (No response.)
Thank you very much. MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness is Carol Goertzel. (Witness approached witness table.)
Good evening. It is evening. Good evening. I really want to thank City Council and thank the President for allowing the community to speak about the budget a bit. I'm Carol Goertzel, President and CEO of PathWays PA, and we provide child welfare and economic development services throughout the City of Philadelphia. I'm here to speak about the budget request of the Department of Human Services and the critical needs of the children and families that they and we serve. I am supporting the budget, but I 160 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. support the budget as a bottom line, because it is clearly -- it is not enough. As many of you know, we serve over 5,000 women, children, teens and families each year. We have one of the largest supervised independent living programs for pregnant and parenting teens, with about 50 teen moms at any one time. We provide in-home services targeting children surviving sex abuse and we have a residential center that unites families with mothers and children who are there because there has been some abuse of the child. We have successful prevention programs, as do many providers that are supported directly by DHS and are not part of the Safe and Sound funding, and that's what I'm here mostly to talk about. As an aside, I'll say as we're speaking about the budget, mention we've developed a tiered independent living program for the girls who come to us, so 161 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. that those who come in the beginning can be in a house with more support and then in other apartments that are together and then out in the community for those ready to age out of care. Most of the girls who come from foster care, all of their parents were drug and alcohol abusers, and the girls are trying to do it differently. The DHS budget has not allowed us to have any increase in the compensation for the independent living program for over five years. Our rents have gone up from $450 to $650 a month, and we've created this tiered program, because that's what the girls need. We have overnight monitoring, because that's what they need. We get foundation funding when we can for an education and support counselor, because that's what the girls need. We want them to learn to enter the mainstream. We want them to be educated and not be part of the 25 percent of the population of Philadelphia 162 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. that remain poor. We want their children to have a different effort. The funding that DHS provides does not provide this. I am here speaking about the importance of adequate funding for prevention services also. There has been a shift recently in services from referrals to the mandated services of SCOH, the in-home services, to prevention services, and that is wonderful, because we want to do everything we can for families in their homes without indicated cases. However, the resources have not shifted. While SCOH referrals are down, there have not been resources that have been funneled to prevention, and this has really caused an issue, because the children that we're working with have increasingly challenging issues and we do not have the number of staff we need to have for quality services, nor for the number of services. For instance, in our Truancy Court program, we have currently two and 163 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. a half times the number of referrals we were supposed to have, and there's been no increase in funding for the staffing to meet the needs of the children. (Bell rung.)
And I have here some examples I've given of the 13-year-old -- this is just one child. A young man who lives with his sister and mother, who is a double amputee, and they haven't had services. The 18-year-old was raped where she lived before. She doesn't -- and her sister, who is 13, was raped, and the 13-year-old will not go to school. If we had the funding, what we would do is accompany her to school while she's comfortable going to school, work with the family and make sure this child does not stay truant for her life and drop out of school. This is one example of the kinds of cases that we're working with now without increased funding. And our 164 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. School and Family Together program, we work with five-year-olds who walk out of school. We've had five or six referrals without targeting that, of autistic children who are six and seven who have no services, and we're the connectors and the family and child support. This is a prevention program. This is what we're seeing and this is who we are working with, which we want to do, but there's been no increase in funding for that. At the Adolescent Violence Reduction Programs or the AVRP, which you've heard about a lot, that's totally wonderful. We have not -- we were asked actually to reduce our budgets if we could, and we're working with kids who are more challenged and who need a lot of support, and we give that support beyond our funding. I could go on about our Teen Parent program and others, but basically I'm speaking not only for ourselves, but 165 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. for the other providers who focus on prevention services or in-home services who are not focused on the services when kids need to be placed out of the home, which we know are needed, but for those that can stay at home. And we're asking for the Council, when they look at the DHS budget, to make sure that there's adequate and increased funding for prevention so kids can be safe, quality services can be provided and we can adequately pay our staff, which we often cannot do, and pay for the transportation that our staff need in order to visit families. So I'm just coming to you -- I know it's late in the day -- as one of the providers working with the most at-risk kids and families and teens in the City and asking you, as you look at the budget, to make sure that there are adequate resources, not just flat resources, so we can make sure that the kids we work with do not become the 166 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. dropouts of the future and -- I mean, with this one child you see here where he's and just coming on his own, his 5 18-year-old sister is who he had to 6 watch be raped. This happened to be by 7 his father, who is now in jail. And she 8 is one of the teens roaming around West 9 Philly with a propensity to violence. We 10 do not want that to happen to any other 11 kids. We want the intervention to be 12 able to be meaningful, quality and be 13 there. I thank you very much.
Thank you, and thank you for the fine work you do. One moment, please.
Madam President, I will always be brief, because I know the late hour. I am intrigued by the work that 167 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. you do. What would be helpful to me is to find out exactly where you do this, because as Councilpeople, we -- unlike the at-large Councilpeople, they represent everyone in the City of Philadelphia. District Councilpeople have a segment of the City that they are indeed responsible for. It would be helpful for me as a district Councilperson to know exactly where and who and what clientele you have provided these services for.
I could just answer in two sentences some of it so as not to take the Council's time. The truancy intervention we provide in the Northwest area of the City. The School and Family program for five- to ten-year-olds is in the Northwest, but we've asked for it to be increased because we get calls from all over the City. The Teen Parent program is in West Philly, in your area and Mrs. Blackwell's area. And so the -- 168 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
I guess some of the financial programs that we work with are all over the City, and the in-home service programs are citywide.
Madam President, I am pleased to find out that some services in fact are in the 4th Councilmanic District. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Our next witness. MR. McPHERSON: Letty Thall. (Witness approached witness table.)
I'm Letty Thall, the Public Policy Director of the Maternity Care Coalition, and certainly appreciate all of you staying here at this hour. We're here -- if I get my straight, because I'm not going to read 169 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. all of this, but that I wanted to highlight some public health issues given this opportunity, because we all know, as Carol just explained, that people and families don't fit into our neat little bureaucracies or departments, and what we do -- and what it's what you all do every day as well -- is look at what the needs are of low-income women and children. We begin with the individual family and we work across the City departments to meet basic health and social needs that impact our youngest citizens and most vulnerable families. Some of them may be teenagers, as Carol Goertzel had explained. Some of them may be older. And we're widely known for our MOMobile program, which we have one in West Philadelphia. The funding is often -- where we serve is often dependent on the government funding requirements, and that's an issue we all face. But let me just turn to, number one, highlight breastfeeding. I've given 170 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. everyone and hopefully your colleagues who are not here have the breastfeeding friendly -- "breastfeeding welcome here" decals. We're doing that. We really appreciate the current Deputy Mayor, Dr. Schwarz, who has recognized breastfeeding as important, number one. It's good for babies and mom. Number two, it's a lot cheaper. We also want to recognize that the City has an ordinance that permits breastfeeding in public, but what we want to do is start working on employers and making our employers and workplaces breastfeeding friendly. So we will be having awards and we ask all of you to look for the employers in your district who you might want to nominate to be a breastfeeding-friendly business. That's number one public health issue. Number two has already been addressed here or has been mentioned, is the lack of prenatal birthing and post-partum services in the City. And 171 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. these solutions are not simple, but there are several ways that the City can impact the crisis. One is what is mentioned earlier, was -- in which we certainly support in the Northeast. The increased funding for the public health centers. Thank you so much. The second is the staffing of the health centers. And during the Health Department budget hearings, some Councilmembers had suggested different methods to reduce the costs or provide more services, and we welcome this creative problem-solving and are very pleased that Deputy Mayor Schwarz has said he would look into the commitments that were made by hospitals to serve communities when PGH closed. However, the system of providing healthcare to women has changed since the time PGH was closed, for those of us who remember that. We no longer have a system where individual physicians provide prenatal birthing and post-partum 172 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. care to our insured or underinsured families. Most obstetrician and nurse midwives are employees of hospitals, healthcare corporations or medical schools. The staffing of our health centers is through contracts with some of our hospitals and medical schools. Therefore, we'd like to request that City Council look at the roles that hospitals play as employers and anchors in our communities. You might want to review the profit margins of the hospitals in each community or maybe those just remaining. Financial rewards could be given to the medical schools and health systems that do provide medical care to our citizens, or look at those that are for-profit or not-for-profit and what are the system of rewards or tax benefits. (Bell rung.)
The last thing I want to mention quickly is where systems all come together is incarcerated women. 173 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. We have a program at Riverside Correctional Facility where we serve women who are pregnant or newly parenting. And I know you had mentioned this and I know Councilman Rizzo, I think, had mentioned it when the Corrections Department had testified before, and I want you to know, they need your support, we need your help. What happens is, if you're pregnant and you deliver when you're in prison, you used to go to Frankford, then Jeanes, then Einstein, and now you're taken to Northeastern. The experiences of women who are incarcerated is a huge example of what happens when services depend on who pays. What happens, they're treated like an accident victim in the hospital, just emergency Medicaid. The City pays for whatever prenatal care they receive, and their children are part of the state CHIP program. So thank you for this 174 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. opportunity, and we appreciate your consideration of these issues.
Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
Again, with the late hour, I will try to keep it brief. One of the reasons I ran for public office was because I lost a friend who was incarcerated in the Philadelphia Prison System due to inadequate healthcare. One of the reasons I ran for public office is because of that. So I support you. I support your cause, and I would like personally, along with this Council, to keep abreast of that particular vulnerable, vulnerable population.
Thank you. 175 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. (Applause.)
Our next witness. MR. McPHERSON: Our next panel consists of Margaret Zukoski, Pete Cogan, Gwen Bailey. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Good evening. Please identify yourself for the record.
Good evening. I am Margaret Zukoski. Thank you very much, Madam President and members of City Council, for giving us this opportunity to comment on the Department of Human Services' Fiscal Year '09 Operating Budget. As I said before, I am Margaret Zukoski and I represent the members of the Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth and Family Services. The Pennsylvania Council is a statewide membership association comprised of over 141 private agencies 176 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. employing 20,000 Pennsylvanians. These agencies contract with county children and youth public agencies to deliver direct services to abused, neglected, dependent, delinquent and at-risk youth and their families. In Pennsylvania, child welfare and juvenile justice services are state supervised, county administered and private provider delivered. The Pennsylvania Council represents its membership by advocating for policies, practices and resources aimed at protecting and serving Pennsylvania's most vulnerable children. Approximately one half of our member agencies contract with the Philadelphia Department of Human Services. Private providers deliver a broad array of services, including prevention services, with the goal of keeping children safe and out of the formal child welfare and juvenile justice systems. In addition, private providers deliver traditional child welfare and 177 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. juvenile justice services for, again, for abused, neglected and delinquent children through in-home services, foster care, group home and residential services. Tens of thousands of Philadelphia's children receive services from private providers on an annual basis. Today, the Pennsylvania Council is commenting on the Philadelphia Department of Human Services' funding year '09 general budget request for $616 million. The Department's budget request represents a 661,000 increase over the current year's funding level. This is less than a one percent increase. The provider community is deeply troubled about DHS's plan to carry forward a budget with no increases included for the delivery of direct services. It is particularly concerning that a flat budget has been proposed during a period when DHS is implementing significant and costly system reform in response to the tragic deaths of 178 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Philadelphia children while under the care of the child welfare system. DHS relies on its private providers to deliver the services, but it does not appropriately fund these services. You just heard from Carol Goertzel at PathWays PA who illustrated the problems associated with chronic underfunding. Without appropriate funding, it becomes increasingly difficult for providers to recruit and retain qualified staff, to offer training and professional development opportunities, and to implement promising practices. Ultimately quality services aimed at ensuring children's safety, well-being and permanency are jeopardized and the system that we rely on becomes destabilized. Today, you will hear from several executive directors. As I mentioned, you just heard from Carol Goertzel. You will also hear from Pete Cogan from Children's Aid Society, Gwen 179 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Bailey from Youth Service, Incorporated and Vivian Drayton from SCAN, who will reiterate this message. (Bell rung.)
These individuals will discuss in detail the impact of increasing costs without commensurate compensation on the services they deliver to vulnerable children and families. While the cost of doing business has skyrocketed over the past year, utilities, health insurance, transportation, DHS has not provided regular increases. In fact, the Consumer Price Index for Philadelphia that was released in February of 2008 indicated that transportation costs alone have risen ten percent in one year. We rely on our workers, families rely on our workers to provide home visits, children rely on our workers to be out in the field visiting them to ensure their safety. As transportation costs go 180 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. up --
I'm sorry. I don't mean to interrupt you, but your testimony is rather long. Can you start concluding it?
Yes, I will. I'm sorry. DHS -- and I'll sum it up. Thank you. As I said, DHS has not provided regular increases. This is not a new practice. Last year, we got a two percent COLA that the State Legislature included appropriated to the City. Only some providers were awarded a two percent increase, and even today in April of 2008 -- it was awarded in July 2007 -- providers have not yet seen that two percent increase. Other providers were slated not to receive the increase. Those providers were essentially prevention service providers. Prevention service providers have never received a rate increase. 181 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Some providers have not had rates increased in nine years. As you heard from Dr. Evans in his testimony, DHS is increasingly relying on prevention services as part of the reform strategy in the DHS system. Referrals to prevention programs, as you heard from Ms. Goertzel, have tripled in the first six months of this fiscal year, with no commensurate increases in rates. You've also heard from Shelly Yanoff that the City has seen great success in reducing the number --
We heard what the people had to say. I wish you wouldn't reiterate. Try to conclude your testimony, please.
Okay. Thank you. So essentially you've heard what they've said. There's been no rate increases. Prevention services are being destabilized as the referrals increase with no rate increases. 182 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Essentially, what I want to say, why DHS is proposed a flat budget year, why Dr. Evans proposed a flat budget this year is because state dollars have been kept at a flat rate. The funding for child welfare systems in this county and counties across the state is a complex mix of federal, state and local dollars. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has not approved DHS requests for increase in funding proposed in its Needs-Based Plan and Budget, which was submitted to the Department of Public Welfare in August of 2007. Because of that -- because the state, as it is compelled to do, has not completely funded the request for DHS that was proposed and documented in Needs-Based Budgets, providers are now feeling the brunt of that with continued and chronic lack of underfunding. What we're here today to urge you to do, we're urging the City to take every effort to compel the state, as it 183 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. is required to do under Act 130, to completely fund the budget request in the Needs-Based Plan and Budget and be prepared to also increase funds from the General Fund to act as a local match for Act 130 state dollars. Thank you, and I'm sorry for the delay.
I'm Gwendolyn Bailey, Executive Director of Youth Service, Incorporated. Youth Service, Incorporated is a private child welfare agency headquartered in the Mantua and Powelton Village areas of West Philadelphia. We're also a member of Pennsylvania Council for Children, Youth and Family Services. We provided placement and prevention programs citywide to children and families for more than 56 years. These programs and services are made 184 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. possible through a contractual relationship with the Department of Human Services. Unique to YSI is our Crisis Nursery program. We operate two nurseries, one in Germantown and the other is in Powelton Village. The Sally Watson Center in Germantown started in 1989 with funding from the William Penn Foundation. Baring House was added in 1994. Both centers are now funded by community-based prevention services at DHS. The crisis nurseries offer parents emergency care and respite during crisis situations. The nurseries support abuse prevention, as they offer a safe place for parents to leave their children. Parents have used the nurseries for medical appointments and emergencies, housing problems such as temporary homelessness, utility difficulties, inadequate childcare or waiting for care, and a break from the often overwhelming stressors of life that could lead to 185 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. abuse. DHS also uses the center to provide temporary care for children who have been removed from their homes. The crisis nurseries are a small example of vital services needed by children and families that are funded by DHS. For fiscal year ending June 30, 2007, the nursery served 845 unduplicated children. For the current fiscal year through March 31st, the nurseries have served 1,131 children. Projections are that by the end of this fiscal year, we will have served 1,500 children, which is a 78 percent increase over the previous year. Funding from DHS covers 80 percent of the cost for this program. Similar to other private agencies, YSI raises the additional dollars from private sources. I believe it is important for Council to know that with rising costs for necessities of operation such as utilities, insurance and transportation, no increase in contract funding is equivalent to a decrease. There are no 186 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. adjustments reflecting the increased costs of doing business for private providers in the proposed DHS budget. Without appropriate increases to reflect the cost of doing business, providers across the system are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain staff. This year one of our long-time dedicated supervisors moved to DHS for the salary and health benefits. Boards of Directors are continually questioning the solicitation and use of private funds for publicly mandated services. We ask that City Council make every effort to ensure that payment for services keeps pace with increased costs and ensures that state appropriations for contracted purchased services reach providers. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Good evening. Please identify 187 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. yourself for the record.
Good evening. I'm Peter Cogan. I won't be long. Somebody invited me to the Phillies game tonight, so I'll make this brief, but to the point. I'm the Executive Director of --
I hope tonight's game is as interesting as last night's.
I do, too. I hope they don't take as long. I'm the Executive Director at Children's Aid Society, soon to be Carson Valley Children's Aid as of July 1st. We welcome the opportunity to comment on the budget. In order to do more for more children, more families and more neighborhoods and do an even better job of making a measurable difference, come July 1, 2008 we, Children's Aid Society, will merge with Carson Valley School and 188 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. become the new Carson Valley Children's Aid. If you were to count every child, family and neighborhood we now serve in Philadelphia together, it would be over 3,100 children and/or families in seven neighborhoods: Frankford, Logan, West Oak Lane, Southwest, Allegheny West, Germantown and Mount Airy. Let me just make a couple comments and try not to repeat what others have said. The budget is really in trouble for the children of the system right now. As a private agency, once in a while we've gotten a rate increase for one or two percent. There's none proposed for next year. Our health benefits go up nine percent, and you know what gas costs. Sadly, some of our own staff have to pay because of their salary -- are eligible for some of the benefits that their clients are receiving. And the biggest thing is the prevention services 189 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. that we provide. They're terribly overloaded and they're not resourced. On the back of the green sheet, instead of going over them, you can certainly read them, but the dilemma is this: Instead of a more intensive service, we are being overwhelmed with truancy referrals, diversionary case management, referrals to keep kids out of the system, but those services require much more intensive than a visit to the home once or twice or three times. I've been at Children's Aid for 31 years. At this point, the system really needs to be reorganized, but in being reorganized and integrated and made seamless, it needs some additional dollars to do that. From my vantage point, chaos in the children's field is right around the corner and at the door. Thank you for your time.
Thank you. I don't believe anyone has any questions. Thank you so much for your 190 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. patience. We appreciate your coming in to testify.
Thank you very much. MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness is Helen Gym. (Witness approached witness table.)
Good evening. Thank you. My name is Helen Gym and I'm here to talk about education funding for the Philadelphia public schools, as a mother of three children in the public schools and a member of Parents United for Public Education, an organization focused on accountability and achievement in the School District as it regards the School District's budget. I know that the Council will have its own School District hearings later this month, but this was specific to the City's budget. 191 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. I want to first note how far we've come in a year's time regarding school funding. Last year at this time the public was reeling from the news that the District faced a $180 million deficit and growing, but today we're at a fraction of that, thanks in part to City Council and the City's unanimous support for the Public Education Reinvestment Act, a gift that continues to grow in funding for the schools, and the additional $10 million from Councilwoman Reynolds Brown and Councilman Kenney's bill to support, again, additional services to the public schools. We're incredibly grateful and we think that it's made a difference. In a difficult time, the City and Council rallied behind public schools like at no other time before. No one wants to see last year's financial fiasco happen again. But that is why I'm here today, to talk a little bit about the ways that the City has to use and have 192 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. reflected in its Five-Year Plan a strong vision for increasing the funding of our public schools. The current plan, though extremely supportive of public schools, shows no new revenues generated in the current time period. A legislative costing-out study put the underfunding of our schools at a billion dollars a year, and whether or not we consider that number realistic, we know the consequences of not addressing that gap. This year alone, we have 100 classrooms over the maximum class size of 33 students per teacher, 30 students in grades K to 3 with no aide. Those are the highest numbers in the state. We have school closings throughout West Philadelphia. We can bemoan the fact that 48 percent of our third graders are on a third grade reading level, but we need to consider the fact that the District literacy intern program was shuttered, 193 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. class sizes have increased in elementary schools and we've lost librarians from three-quarters of our schools, all due to funding, the majority of them at elementary schools. All of us are crossing our fingers on a very hopeful historic budget proposed by Governor Rendell, but none of us should be naive enough to think that that alone will fund our schools and solve our problems. We need to think proactively about looking at boosting the City's revenues, and the areas that we are going to talk about were four. One is the real estate taxes. And I know that as property tax assessments come through, which 60 percent of which now go to the Philadelphia public schools, we ask that City Council consider an inclusion, whoever is looking at the boards or different committees, that they consider someone who has public education specifically in mind, and especially the 194 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. impact of any changes in property tax assessment with regards to the public schools. At the state-wide level, it's become extremely problematic that there is a large discussion about property tax reductions, but there's not a concurrent discussion about funding, and that will become a problem at the state level eventually. We just want to make sure that that same problem doesn't happen at the City level. The use and occupancy tax is another tax which funds the Philadelphia public schools.
The area that we would ask City Council to take a look at and to consider is whether it is possible that if a non-profit -- what we want to say is that there are non-profits and then there are non-profits like Penn and CHOP and HUP, Blue Cross, and we want to ask whether those non-profits that rent to a for-profit agency might be considered to pay the use and occupancy tax whether 195 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. that -- that locality. )
The liquor-by-the-drink tax has not changed for ten years, and we'd also like to know if there's been a recent assessment around how many establishments actually pay into the tax and whether that needs to be reviewed. And, finally, we want to -- well, the second-to-last one we want to look at is the school income tax, which is a tax that goes directly to fund public schools. We are not sure in what recent times that the Revenue Department has taken a look at collection of those -- an aggressive collection of those taxes. And, finally, we also encourage City Council to take a look at the Philadelphia Parking Authority. I know that that is an agency that the City has lived with for a long time and tolerated, but I think that in the past year that 196 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. we've seen enormous number of stories come out that show that there is significant costs and that if an agency that raises $200 million in revenues can only give $1.2 million to the schools this year, then the School District will be coming to you again and again, and the City will have to look into its own budget whether there is also an agency that is there that could potentially fund the schools as well as meet its City obligations to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. None of us ever wants to see -- again, what we want to see is a plan for local revenue for our schools. It shouldn't take a financial disaster to force us to make that clear. We don't want our funds to go into another bailout. We want them to go into a plan of action. I want to add very quickly one last point about the Cohen wage credit. Of the 300,000 working poor in 197 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Philadelphia, an enormous number of those are families and parents in our Philadelphia public schools and, of course, are children. We know firsthand the consequences of poverty and what happens to a child when utilities are shut off or, for example, when a classmate of my own daughter's was rendered homeless suddenly last Christmas. The Cohen wage tax credit has its ledger costs, of course, but its loss will have -- its elimination will have costs that we will pay for no matter what happens for all of our working families in the City and especially in our public schools. Thank you very much.
Thank you. (Applause.) MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness is Stephanie Scott. (Witness approached witness table.) 198 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
Good afternoon. My name is Stephanie Scott. I'm here on behalf of the Partnership CDC. I'd like to wish a good afternoon to the Council --
-- and to President Anna C. Verna and our Councilperson, Councilwoman Blackwell. I am a Director of Operations for the Partnership CDC and we are a non-profit community development corporation located in West Philadelphia. Our mission is to stabilize West and Southwest through creating economic opportunities for working families in the areas of housing development, housing and financial education, workforce development, and neighborhood corridor revitalization. We are a certified housing counseling agency, neighborhood energy center and affordable housing developer. 199 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. We would like to present low-cost recommendations that would allow us to become a greater partner with the City of Philadelphia so that all households can become financially secure. So I hereby submit the following comments on the Fiscal Year 2009 City Council budget. In the area of corridor improvements, in recognition of Mayor Nutter reestablishing the Office of Transportation, we would like the support of this office in assisting us in the advocacy for the 40th and Market Street El stop to become handicapped accessible to allow seniors and disabled residents from both University City Square, which is a high-rise building apartment for elderly, and Elwyn to use it. We have received over 50 letters expressing the same concern, which we delivered to SEPTA to be recorded and reviewed for consideration in their capital budget. We would like 200 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. the assistance of the City in advocating for the conversion of the 40th and Market El stop. The City has made significant investments in strengthening neighborhood commercial corridors and small businesses to better adjust the need for local access to goods, services and jobs. The City should implement an overall strategy to build on this work, including providing adequate flexible support for local organizations engaged in neighborhood economic development. As part of this strategy, the City needs to develop a clear written policy on pedestrian-oriented lighting on commercial corridors and provide the resources to maintain this lighting over time in order to improve safety, physical attractiveness and business exposure on corridors. In addition, we would like to recommend a customized SWEEP cleaning program for the corridor so that business owners and CDCs can place trash cans in 201 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. designated areas without the receipt of SWEEP violations for trash out on the wrong day and for not recycling to encourage greater personal responsibility in keeping our corridors clean. In the area of economic opportunity, we recommend that the Recreation Department place an emphasis on employment for hiring youth for summer jobs within the Recreation Department as part of Mayor Nutter's promotion of summer youth job program. We recommend that the Human Services Department facilitate a stronger connection between youth aging out of foster care and local community development corporations, such as ours, to assist their transition into the mainstream via offerings and financial literacy, workforce development and affordable housing to assist these youth in becoming self-sufficient. This Partnership CDC is working with local institutions like the 202 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. University of Pennsylvania on economic inclusion and encouraging them to include more local and minority-owned businesses in their pool of vendors. We recommend that Procurement consider local CDCs as a referral source and/or a viable outreach partner for other new City procurement opportunities. In the area of neighborhood and housing development, we call on the new Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development to create a transparent program to continue the momentum to remove neighborhood blight and to assist low-income homeowners to maintain their status in gentrifying neighborhoods.
Given the discontinuation of NTI, as a CDC we are concerned about the accessibility of vacant properties at affordable prices. We recommend that L&I create a policy that would rate code violation and flag properties receiving multiple serious violations so that these properties may be taken by the RDA and 203 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. made available to CDCs for redevelopment into affordable housing. We call on the Office of Housing and Community Development to provide all housing counseling agencies with a brochure that educated homeowners -- that could educate homeowners at risk of foreclosure on their rights and needed steps to take before they become more than 90 days in arrears. In addition, OHCD needs to provide agencies such as ours with greater resources and training on foreclosure counseling curriculums. We would like to recommend that the Fire Department coordinate with the local neighborhood energy centers during the fall to distribute smoke detectors and encourage low-income residents to apply for LIHEAP and other emergency utility programs. )
This will help reduce the number of fires during the 204 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. winter and result in families heating their homes in an unsafe manner. We request that the Fire Department create a checklist that would protect tenants' rights in case of a fire at the property that they are renting, both residential and commercial. We appreciate the restructuring of the City Planning Department and especially appreciate the efforts of Michelle Webb, who is doing an excellent job in community outreach. Please continue to support positions like hers. We suggest the Zoning Commission strengthen communication with local CDCs to ensure that they are updated on changes and new developments. Given the large immigrant refugee population, we encourage all City departments to increase their sensitivity in the face of anti-immigration sentiments. In particular, we are still hearing stories of non-native residents being asked for Social Security numbers 205 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. at the health clinics and are being turned away when unable to provide. Others are not seeking health services for fear that they will be turned over to Homeland Security. We believe that it would be a greater public health risk to have people not receiving preventive checkups and encourage that this concern be addressed.
You're welcome. MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness is Donald Lubin. (No response.)
Please call the next witness. MR. McPHERSON: Polly Schaller. (Witness approached witness table.)
Good evening, 206 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. President Verna and Councilmembers.
I am Polly Schaller, the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Coalition of Community Mental Health and Mental Retardation Centers. Our 11-member agencies are the base service units for the behavioral health system in Philadelphia. They are non-profit comprehensive behavioral health and mental retardation centers that collectively serve over 60,000 adults, children and families each year who have severe mental illness, substance use disorders and developmental disabilities. These difficulties are compounded by psychosocial issues related to poverty, violence, healthcare disparities and other realities of the urban environment in which we all operate. The Philadelphia Coalition is enthusiastic about the new Administration 207 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. in Philadelphia, and we look forward to working collaboratively with Mayor Nutter, his Administration and City Council to make the goals he has set forth a reality for the City. Our member agencies and the Coalition are already collaborating with the Office of Behavioral Health and Mental Retardation Services on a variety of initiatives that support these goals. These include, but are not limited to, providing forensic intensive recovery services to divert people from the criminal justice system who have serious substance use disorders, thus reducing their potential to commit violent crimes; working with a diverse group of stakeholders, including the Police and victim services organizations, to develop a process to assure that individuals, families and communities affected by violent crime have access to behavioral health services; providing intensive behavioral health services in the schools 208 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. and working with families, teachers and school administrations to keep their children in school and to enable them to learn; actively participating in the various work groups and initiatives of the Philadelphia Compact to support the development of resiliency in children and make excellent community services more accessible and available to them and their families; evaluating and changing the ways in which adult outpatient day and residential services are provided to support recovery and actively engaging individuals receiving services and their families in directing and assessing the services they receive; working with the health district centers to expand access for both adults and children to behavioral health services. With regard to mental retardation and developmental disabilities, we've been actively engaged with the State Department of Public Welfare, Office of Developmental Programs 209 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. and Philadelphia's Mental Retardation Services in trying to transition services to a fee-for-service model that can draw federal participation without destroying the values of choice, community inclusion and everyday lives, which have been our guiding principles for many years. We have very much appreciated the leadership of Dr. Arthur Evans and Michael Covone in pushing the system to change and improve, though it has not always been an easy process. We support the priorities of this year's behavioral health plan and budget. Recognizing that the majority of resources for behavioral health and mental retardation services come to the City from federal and state resources, largely Medicaid dollars, you may wonder why we have chosen to testify before you this year. (Bell rung.)
It is because we are very concerned that the Governor has 210 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. not included in this year's state budget cost-of-living increases for any of the services provided by the behavioral health/mental retardation system. Our providers and our statewide associations are actively engaged in advocating for cost-of-living adjustments, for a COLA, with our legislators, and we would urge the City to use its influence and place this as a legislative priority as well. As you may be aware, services provided by our programs are staff intensive, and the cost of doing business in the behavioral health/mental retardation arena are largely out of the control of providers. And you heard from the DHS folks the exact same set of issues. We are entirely dependent on legislated cost-of-living increases and negotiated rate increases. In the last several years, the state has provided small COLAs for behavioral health and mental retardation services of about two 211 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. to three percent. Unfortunately, at the same time, there have been cuts in other areas that impacted Philadelphia disproportionately. In the last two years, behavioral health providers in Philadelphia have received no 8 cost-of-living increases, and there is no 9 COLA proposed by the Governor this year. We cannot understate the importance of obtaining a COLA to support the ongoing provision of quality services. We are advocating for a three percent COLA in FY09. And I have provided all of you with supporting documentation that I believe make a number of compelling arguments for this. With the development of Medicaid managed behavioral healthcare over the last ten years, the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health created and has sustained community behavioral health as its behavioral health managed care organization. In most years, CBH has managed to create a surplus available 212 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. for reinvestment into the community to fill gaps in behavioral health services to support system transformation initiatives, to provide some grants to behavioral health providers and to raise some rates. Last year, our providers were able to obtain infrastructure grants to make safety improvements to facilities, as well as to repair and replace worn items, paint and generally spruce up facilities that are used by individuals receiving services. It was a drop in the bucket, but it helped begin to make waiting rooms and client service areas more welcoming and user friendly, which certainly supports the Mayor's initiative around customer service. It is absolutely critical that these reinvestment dollars when they are available, which is not always, stay in the behavioral health systems to support critical services and are not diverted to support other City needs. We very much appreciate the 213 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. opportunity to come before you today. As I stated earlier, it is our desire to be excellent partners with the City in reaching its goals. If you have questions or we can be of help in any way, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Thank you so much. Thank you. MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness is Majeedah Rashid. (No response.) MR. McPHERSON: Mike Vogel. (No response.) MR. McPHERSON: Verlonda Bagnall. (No response.) MR. McPHERSON: Lauren Bornfriend. She left testimony. A panel consisting of James White, Nora Lictash and David Feldman. (Witness approached witness table.)
I'm 214 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. going to ask the panel to please try to abide by the three-minute rule, because we have a number of witnesses yet to be heard and we'd like to give everybody the opportunity to testify. Mr. White, wasn't there a panel to be --
I believe so, Madam President, but I believe with the hour, they had other commitments. So I'm submitting written testimony, and I will do my best to honor their spirit with my presence and my testimony.
And thank you for the opportunity to speak to you this evening. My name is James White and I am the Policy Coordinator of the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations. PACDC is a citywide association of more than 80 community development corporations and 215 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. other organizations that have extensive experience accessing and utilizing programs identified in the City budget. Today, I would like to focus my testimony on three issues that are critical to meeting the needs of Philadelphia's residents and fostering successful revitalization of our neighborhoods. One is increased funding for the Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund. Funding for affordable housing in Philadelphia continues to decline while the need for homes, home repair and homeless prevention grows. Federal CDBG and HOME funding continues to decrease and NTI funds are mostly spent, and the deed and mortgage fees for the Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund are down 18 percent from the last fiscal year. And I've enclosed a chart at the back there that goes to the end of February of this year. The City needs both a 216 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. short-term infusion of funds and a long-term expansion of dedicated funding to the successful Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund to better address these needs. As demonstrated by the overwhelming response to the two RFPs issued by the Housing Trust Fund this fiscal year to support the production of new homes, where more than 18.4 million in requests were received for approximately 6.7 million in available funds, there are real housing development projects that are in the pipeline that can't get funded without an increase in funding to the Trust Fund. We appreciate Mayor Nutter proposing the addition of a million dollars per year from the General Fund revenue for the next five years to the Housing Trust Fund. We also applaud Councilman Clarke and the seven other Councilmembers who have sponsored Bill 24 No. 080321 to support a $5 million appropriation from the City's General 217 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Fund for FY2009 to the Housing Trust Fund. We also need a long-term investment in the Housing Trust Fund that will provide the City with a unique resource that will leverage matching state and private sector dollars. Possible sources include revenue from expiring tax abatements and the growth in the City's realty transfer revenue stream. We support a $5 million appropriation from the General Fund for FY2009 to the Housing Trust Fund to supplement deed and mortgage recording fee revenues and welcome the opportunity to work with the Council and the Administration to develop a long-term solution to implementing additional dedicated funding for the Housing Trust Fund. Item 2, to improve the City's property acquisition and disposition process. The inability of the City to be able to assemble and make available 218 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. vacant and abandoned property to outside entities in a timely manner continues to be a major obstacle to putting these properties back into productive use. To help improve the City's process to acquire and dispose of these properties, the City should develop a Unified Land Bank to consolidate ownership of these properties and to facilitate their reuse. Communities should have a leadership role in developing an equitable disposition strategy to determine the reuse of abandoned property in their neighborhoods. This role would help to minimize the length of time properties remain abandoned, minimize the harm they do to the community and create conditions to bring them into productive use. (Bell rung.)
And this strategy should include utilizing existing City-owned land more strategically to support affordable housing development 219 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. and appropriate neighborhood economic development in appreciating neighborhoods to help ensure mixed-income communities that sustain over time. Lastly, I will applaud the City's commitment to neighborhood economic development through the ReStore Philadelphia's Corridors program. Due to this initiative, the City has made significant investments in strengthening commercial corridors and small businesses in local neighborhoods, which helps to address the needs of providing services, goods and jobs in our communities. We would ask that the City would work with the CDCs to continue to strengthen this program and to invest more dollars in facet redevelopment, as well as additional funding for pedestrian lighting, which would help to attract more businesses and more new customers to these neighborhoods. Lastly, the City needs to put forth a policy around pedestrian lighting 220 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. to help maintain and provide cost coverage for these so the costs do not fall upon the City residents and the community development organizations and their constituency which they serve. I thank you for your time.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Our next witness. MR. McPHERSON: Vivian Drayton. (Witness approached witness table.)
Good evening. My name is Vivian Drayton. I'm the Executive Director of SCAN, Stop Child Abuse Now, Incorporated, and I thank you for this opportunity. I will be brief.
Thank you. 221 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
I wanted to first thank Dr. Schwarz and Dr. Evans for access to the provider community in allowing us to come to them with our concerns. I want to just say that SCAN has been around providing services for some time in the area of multi-disciplinary intervention. In other words, we go into the homes to keep children and families, parents together. That is our sole focus. We don't take children out. It's an expensive process, but sometimes it's not necessary. So we do all our work in that area. The only issue that I want to just expound on a little bit is the issue of workforce issues. SCAN recently has been put on the carpet because we have not been able to fill positions. We will not hire just anybody. If they're not going to be good to families and children, we will not hire them. And I know it's a problem in the City, and what 222 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. I am stating is that there should be some reference to look at in terms of all of the agencies, because workforce as social workers, so forth, is a problem. We urge the City to support DHS and the Health Department in adequate funding so that we can certainly attract the best people. And I don't want to go over all of the things that have been previously stated. But it's more than just the money here, I want to say. There must be a uniform process. If we don't have the money, we have to be fair and equitable in terms of which agencies are going to receive the programs, and I just ask the City to just hold everybody accountable. It can't be because you speak out about issues that -- and which you haven't been paid in six months. An agency like SCAN, we can't go six months without receiving the first check. It is much better in the DHS department, but it is still a problem in the Health Department. 223 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. So we're asking not only to look at the agencies in terms of how much money, but how we receive the money and holding people accountable. That is the one area. And then the other issue, evaluations are necessary and we ask that the evaluations also be fair and equitable. Today we are wearing a pin. Some of my staff is here. It's called Whipped Enough, and it's a button that symbolizes a seminar that I've been doing around the country to encourage African-American parents and community not to support whipping children. To me, it's clearly connected to violence. But for today, however, we feel that all children have been whipped enough, from systems and the lack of quality, funding and services that could make a difference, whipped by personal interest that overshadow the best interest of children, whipped by outdated research, 224 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. racism and rationalization for putting families last on the agenda, and whipped by medical systems that speak to the economic issues of families as opposed to the needs of families and children. I thank you very much for your time.
Just a moment, please. You say your agency has not been paid for six months?
Well, what happens when you start on your initial grant -- and I have talked about this with previous heads of the Health Department. We wait sometimes six months before we get our first check, and that causes great havoc in terms of being able to meet payroll and so forth. And I'm asking us to look at that for especially smaller agencies so that we will not have to put things on hold or jeopardize the staff that we do have because we may have to say to them, We may not be able to pay you. 225 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
Were you or are you under the umbrella of Safe and Sound?
No, we are not. No, we are not. We receive the majority of our funding from the Health Department and DHS, more in from DHS and the Health Department. We have been -- we are one of the few child welfare agencies that basically has always made a connection with the Health Department and Department of Human Services. So we believe that multi-disciplinary intervention is important, so we've always worked with those two departments, but we feel that there has to be a process. Right now they use unitary contracting. So seven agencies sign one contract, and what happens, you don't get your money until six months. This has been going on for years, and I'm stating --
Is someone here from the Administration that could possibly respond to this? 226 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
Oh, we have Administration people coming from both ends. (Witness approached witness table.)
Donald Schwarz. I am the Deputy Mayor for Health and Opportunity and the Health Commissioner. We have talked about this issue, and the Health Department is -- or I am looking into it at the Health Department. It has been known for a number of years that contractors receive signed contracts relatively late, sometimes because of discussion about language in contracts and occasionally because of the time it has taken for contracts to move through the City system. So we are aware of it. We are 227 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. looking at what we can do to move things faster and earlier through the system so that an executed contract is available at the beginning of the fiscal year. But, yes, it is an issue and, yes, we are working on it.
Thank you. MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness is Henry Bennett.
And after Henry Bennett will be? MR. McPHERSON: After Mr. Bennett will be Shelah Harper.
Let's try for the next one. MR. McPHERSON: The next one is Prudence Humber and she left testimony. 228 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. (Witness approached witness table.)
Madam President, Councilmembers, I'm Henry Bennett. I am the Founder and Artistic Director of a theatre company called Kianja (ph). We are part of Resources for Human Development, under their umbrella called New Beginnings. Kianja is Swahili for the "sunshine after the rain." Myself and all the members of my theatre company are persons living with HIV and AIDS. We are entertainers and we're educators. We are the personification of the hopes, dreams and aspirations of persons living with HIV and AIDS. We are educators. We are performers. We are the personification of all the hopes, dreams and aspirations of persons living with HIV and AIDS. We are contributing members of society. Because of the continuing 229 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. advances of medical technology, persons who have become infected with HIV and AIDS are living, living longer and living productive, prosperous lives. Kianja Theatre Company takes the stance that HIV and AIDS has now been relegated to the status of being defined as a life change and no longer a death sentence. We are once both the message and the messenger of our own behaviors, past, present and future. It is all about acceptance, understanding and education of self and one another. We must take a stand to stem the tide of the spread of HIV and AIDS. We must give voice and take change. It is incumbent upon us, those of us who are presently living with HIV and AIDS. Our silence affects us and our denial infects us. We cannot allow the stigmas associated with HIV and AIDS to immobilize us. We must assume responsibility not only for ourselves but also for others, whether HIV negative or 230 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. positive, young or old. We are using our theatre company to educate, inform persons in the Philadelphia community about this virus and how it can be contracted. So I don't know how we're going to fit in, as part of the health problem or education or the arts. We want to be included in the budget. Thank you for your time.
Thank you. We appreciate your coming in to testify. MR. McPHERSON: The next witness is Olivia Hamilton. (No response.) MR. McPHERSON: Olivia Hamilton. (No response.)
Is Ms. Hamilton here? (No response.) MR. McPHERSON: Steve Culbertson. 231 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. (No response.) MR. McPHERSON: A panel consisting of Warren Haskins and Maya Burnett.
And the next witnesses so that they could come up front. MR. McPHERSON: William Mackey, Phil Lord, Priscilla Santana. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
My name is Maya Burnett, the President of the Family of the Dell East, Inc. Thank you.
Thank 232 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. you.
Honorable Chairperson Anna Verna, Co-Chair Jannie Blackwell -- I know she's not here. I'm sorry -- all Councilmembers, City officials, guests and fellow citizens, we give thanks for being able to give our testimony today in Council Chambers. We give thanks to our creator for allowing our words to touch hearts, speak the truth and affirm minds to the positive. Most of you this early evening do not know us personally. However, you may have heard of the institution we are here representing. The Family of the Dell East, Inc. is a 14-year-old volunteer non-profit corporation. We serve as an advocacy organization more than an advisory entity, because not many in power have consulted or listened to our wise and correct advice that was given years ago. Today is evident of that statement, as we stand here to support 233 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. the budget needs for Dell East in both programming and capital needs for the venue. In 1999, Family of the Dell East, Inc. financed, produced and provided the City Administration and the Philadelphia Department of Recreation with a comprehensive feasibility study of capital repairs and long-term improvements needed at the Dell East. The initial report was met with criticism and doubt because a community group of volunteers provided such far-reaching and complex data. Because of our persistence, the Department of Recreation spent $50,000 to an outside consultant company that literally confirmed our original data. Only finding the dollar amounts, which now reflecting upwards. Now, in 2008, we find it is termed "emergency and eminent dangers" at Dell East, thus forcing the immediate closing. I will let Warren Haskins, who is our CEO, continue. Thank you. 234 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
Family of the Dell East, Inc. has been very responsible in its efforts to preserve and protect the venue's capital needs and its programming. We have been most responsible in raising the present $2.5 million in the largess of the Recreation Department, now directed to go toward immediate repairs. We also have on the table a five-year long-term $42 million capital improvement project for Dell East. For the record, we'd like to say Family of the Dell East, Inc. had totally been against the booking policy of the former City Administration. We spoke against it at every opportunity and met with those responsible for maintaining and approving, with no 23 positive results. Thus, we followed ancient wisdom that suggests whenever one cannot change the situation, at least 235 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. register your contempt for the process. We do not believe the baby should be thrown out with the bath water. Now we have a new Administration and an opportunity to correct the past horrible mistakes. We speak in favor of returning the entire booking process back to the responsibility of the Department of Recreation, where the Department will hire a dedicated, responsible and competent general manager to nurture and resurrect a perceived damaged program. We go on record today, this program should return as a traditional R&B, gospel, jazz-formatted venue. For 30 of the 35 years, this program was regarded by the masses of its patrons as the best quality of entertainment in the east. It remains today as the only Class A venue programmed by and for the urban community. The majority promoter in Philadelphia controls 98 percent of the Class A venues in this region, a fact 236 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. that this urban venue should remain the minority cultural entity in Philadelphia County. To close, again, we would like to go on record, Family of Dell East, Inc., would like to be involved in every major decision that affects its continuance, health and direction. Additionally, we do not favor any sense of bidding out managing services to a majority interest promoter, herein labeled privatization. When the present and future dollars are applied to bringing Dell East back to code and attractive as a good venue to make big dollars, let us not forget the thousands of inner City residents who have patronized the program and who cannot afford to pay these higher ticket prices. Let those of you in position of influence today consider well the need to provide a cultural outlet for your constituents, now and for the foreseeable future. You have influence and form the basis of 237 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. decision for the continuance of cultural programming at Dell East. Allow these words of inspiration to touch your heart and hopefully influence your mind and help us to preserve, protect and perpetuate our wonderful Dell East for the next generations to follow. Thank you for the opportunity. (Applause.)
Thank you. MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness, again, William Mackey. (No response.) MR. McPHERSON: Phil Lord, Priscilla Santana. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Our numbers are great, but we will be very brief. 238 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. My name is Phil Lord. I'm the Executive Director of the Tenant Union Representative Network, or TURN, and we're a tenant advocacy and service organization in Philadelphia, which serves thousands of tenants each year, and those tenants face eviction and they face unhealthy and unsafe housing conditions. And we're here today because we're concerned about the elimination of the Cohen wage tax rebate, and we're also concerned about any business privilege or any business tax cuts that would result in less services in the City. My colleague, Albert Searight, will talk a little bit about the Cohen wage tax rebate. When it comes to business taxes, we believe that cutting business taxes is going to cut service, and that's a counterproductive technique to improve the quality of life in the City. In particular, we're concerned about L&I, the Department of Licenses and 239 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. Inspections, which is responsible for a lot of the quality of life in the City. We heard about a week or so ago when L&I testified that about 27 positions were still vacant in L&I, about seven of those were the positions for inspectors. What wasn't mentioned was that over the last decade or so more than a third of L&I inspectors have been lost, and even though we have fewer and fewer inspectors in L&I, the code violation in the City continue to rise, and we're concerned about that. We think L&I has to improve its enforcement techniques, and what we're most concerned about, in addition to getting more inspectors and increasing the budget to do that, is more effective techniques, which include recognizing the need for property abatement. L&I has the power to abate properties that are in bad condition. It can actually require the repairs, make the repairs and then bill 25 the landlords, lien the properties and 240 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. recoup the money by billing the landlords or even selling the properties if landlords don't pay those bills. We're concerned that this is rarely, if ever, used. And, in fact, there was one program that was really popular in the City. It was called the Heat Abatement Program. Many of you remember it from about five years ago. That program provided that L&I could go out and after notifying the landlord, fix a heater, get the heat restored and keep the tenant from having to move out. That program was discontinued and de-funded. It went from about $500,000 in the budget to 200,000 and then eliminated entirely. We believe that was the only program that effectively enabled a tenant to stay in a property when a landlord was neglectful, and now we don't have that program at all. We want more money for abatement, because we think that this is cost effective, and once the City does an 241 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. abatement, can fix to do a repair in a timely way, it can then bill the landlord and recoup that money by selling the property. In addition to that, we also think the Housing Trust Fund needs to be funded as much as possible. We realize that there's an effort to increase the funding, but we do not think a million dollars is going to meet the need in the City of Philadelphia. The Housing Trust Fund not only provides more affordable housing, it also subsidizes a lot of homelessness prevention programs that keep people from becoming homeless in the first place. We believe those programs are really important to reduce the suffering in the City. We also want to mention the rental suitability certificate, which is a new law that was passed by City Council a year or so ago. We would like this law to be enforced as effectively as possible. This law provides, as you may 242 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc.
recall, that in the event that a landlord is renting out a property to a new tenant, the landlord has to get a certificate that says there's no code violations and also has to certify that there are no health and safety defects on the property. We believe that L&I needs to not only provide access to certificate, but also notify landlords of their obligation to comply with it. They've done that once, but they need to do it more and more. And we believe that there needs to be an effective enforcement, which means going beyond just asking people to do it, but actually finding landlords who don't do it. Our experience is that when violations are found and inspections occur, that what typically happens is a reinspection may or may not occur very promptly, and after the reinspection, there's very little enforcement. If there is enforcement, that enforcement usually is in the form of a landlord 243 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. paying for the inspections after they do the work. There's no real penalty, and whatever penalties exist tend to be not much more comparable to the cost of the repair. So we're not getting good enforcement. We believe good enforcement will protect our housing stock and give us more and maintain more affordable housing. There are a few people here who are going to talk about their experience with L&I, and I'll turn it over to Albert Searight from my office first.
Mr. Lord, just on something you said, I just want to be clear. Because I know when L&I came in, the Commissioner came in, I believe I asked the question whether they still had -- I didn't know exactly what they called it -- but a program where if 244 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. there was a problem with a tenant-occupied property, that L&I could fix the heater and bill the owner, and I believe the Commissioner said there was such a program. Now, you're saying this doesn't really work?
I was here and listened carefully to your question and you asked about whether the capacity was there, I believe, and they said it was. But our experience is that they do not do that. They had a heat hotline that used to be a dedicated line for this service. That no longer is a dedicated line, from our experience. It goes to a main line, and what they do is, they come out and inspect, and they very often do that promptly, within 24, 48 hours. They cite the landlord, but they do not abate, which means they do not invest money in making repairs, and without that, it really is just smoke and mirrors.
So he was 245 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. saying there was a program, but the reality is it doesn't --
Okay. Would you identify yourself for the record, please.
Good evening. My name is Norma Walker. I'm a tenant of Lindley Towers, 1220 Lindley Avenue. My testimony is tonight when the tenants call L&I, we do not get a timely response. We have to call numerous times about the problems that we have. And when L&I come out, they only go to certain areas. They don't go to the areas that we complain about. I'm 246 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. part of the Tenant's Council here, and we pay our rent, but we don't get the service that we get. We're living with mice, rats, roaches and everything else, trash back down the back of the stairs, the fire exit. And I think we need more standard better living conditions than what we're getting there. Glenda.
I do think that issue was raised with that building the other day when L&I was in here. Ms. Johnson is following through on that. But I understand what you need, because I heard you.
Yeah. Like this morning, I had to walk down six flights of stairs. I volunteer two hours every day at a daycare. When I came home last -- when I left out yesterday, the elevator was working, but when I came back after two hours, it was broke down again. And this is constantly.
Hi. Yes. My name is Glenda Frazier and I am the Vice-President of 1220 Lindley Towers and I'm here to discuss numbers of violations in our building, including this fire safety, public safety and our human rights. My testimony is is that we have the elderly that live there, people --
Yeah, I'm in the same building. The elderly, the people that can't get around, you know, in wheelchairs and stuff like that. There's numerous times that our elevators are down, and if the ambulance come or anything like that, they can't get in numerous times because the doors are not safe for us. The fire exit is not safe. It's locked at night and we can't get out. And it's a lot of drug traffic and everything else, you know, that we have 248 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. to deal with. And we have women, children, single parents, you know. And that's my testimony. And sometimes I fear for my own life.
Good evening. Are you telling me that fire exits are locked? When you say "locked," what do they do, put chains through the panic bars?
They are locked from 8 o'clock at night until whenever they open it up in the morning.
We tried to close the building down some years 249 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. ago, Councilman. It's just very difficult. Yes. Are you going to testify?
Yes. I'm Albert Searight, organizer for the Tenant Action Group. In dealing with the L&I piece as the organizer for the Tenant Action Group and TAG previously for over 11 years, many times when we get into a 12 building like this, it gets into a 13 situation where because of the lack of 14 proper response from the City and once it 15 become public and once the City get 16 involved, the option is to close the 17 building down, and we feel as though 18 that's not a good option for many 19 families. 20 So we're not saying that we want the buildings closed down. We want buildings to be able to be maintained for families.
I agree. We talked to the L&I Acting Commissioner 250 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. after the testimony last week. So he called us back and we gave him all the information about the building. But he heard your testimony also.
Okay. Good. What I'm going to actually testify to in closing is that we're asking City Council to oppose the repeal of the Cohen's rebate law, because TURN provides services to thousands of Philadelphians, and through our services at TURN, 90 percent of our clients are in fact low-income families and individuals, and the needs of these families are great, as determined and seen when we have rental assistance or homeless prevention funds to assist families to pay back rent or security deposit. Sometimes our numbers swell to the point that we really have to get space outside of our office to service them. And these families are doing the best they can to maintain decent housing for their families, and it's important that as 251 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. these families try to continually be a meaningful part of Philadelphia, that we not use them to in fact try to deal with the City fiscal shortcomings. It's important that we do not repeal the Cohen tax rebate law, because it's not correct and proper to use the poor and the low-income individuals to in fact deal with other fiscal issues and concerns. We feel as though that's very important.
Thank you. Thank you so much for your testimony. We appreciate you very much. MR. McPHERSON: The last two witnesses that I have are -- (Applause.) MR. McPHERSON: -- Priscilla Santana and then after her will be Jan Sklaroff. (Witness approached witness table.)
Good evening. My name is Priscilla Santana and I am a 252 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. former parent truant officer, and I come here to speak on how terminating the program has not only affected me, but has affected our youth and their parents. First and foremost, I would like to speak on how this has affected me personally. It's been very hard for me as a single parent with two children to find employment that I really enjoy doing. The services that I provided for these parents and their children made me feel like I have accomplished something. So I really, really think that this needs to be looked at, because it has not only affected me, but has affected our community. Can you imagine a proud woman working, struggling to try to provide for her kids and the program has been shut off? So I urge that everyone looks at this problem and sees that this is great for children. Thank you. My testimony was 253 4/16/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. short and sweet.
Thank you very much for your testimony. MR. McPHERSON: The last witness that I have is Jan Sklaroff. (No response.)
Thank you. There being no other witnesses, this meeting is recessed until May 1st at 9:00 a.m.
Thank you. (Committee of the Whole adjourned at 6:55 p.m.) - - - 254 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter on April 16, 2008, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. ______________________________ MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)