Well, I think my answer is hopefully it would be an agreed-upon strategy, both the Administration and with support of the Councilmembers agree to in terms of how we distribute, allocate what our long-term development plans are for particular areas of the City. Hopefully it wouldn't be an either/or.
I'll accept that for now. It's not the -- I don't -- it's not a complete answer, but I'll accept it for now until I decide how to rephrase my question. Thank you. 111 12/16/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090890, etc. Thank you.
Thank you. Are there any other questions from members of Council? (No response.)
Thank you, Mr. Armbrister. Is there anyone else here to testify on this? MR. McPHERSON: Yes. John Gallery, and then it will be Mr. James White. (Witness approached witness table.)
I have copies of my testimony here for the members. My name is John Gallery. I'm the Executive Director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. I will confess that I feel like a fly on an elephant in terms of the discussions you've been having, but I would like to draw your attention to one 112 12/16/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090890, etc. of the programs that is funded by NTI, and I'd also like to ask you to consider increasing the funding for this program if there is an opportunity to reallocate money differently than what is in the budget proposed by Mayor Nutter. I'm just going to very briefly summarize my testimony. The Historic Property Repair program was established with NTI funds to provide a resource for low- and moderate-income homeowners whose properties are located in historic districts or listed on the Philadelphia Register, so that when those homeowners came before the Historical Commission to make repairs, they would have some financial assistance in making them equivalent to the standards which the Historical Commission applies. There is a million two hundred thousand dollars in the NTI budget for this program, and basically those funds have all been either spent or we have 113 12/16/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090890, etc. contractors at work or we have commitments to homeowners that are in their final stages of approval. Needless to say, any additional amount of funding would be helpful, but I suggested a figure of $250,000, not being clear from the budget information how much was available for reallocation. I know you have other priorities, but this is an important strategic program and is practically the only program that helps low- and moderate-income homeowners who live in historic properties. To date, we've completed 52 properties. I included a sheet which has a few photographs on it. The photographs were just intended to show that we've been working with properties throughout the City of a different historical nature, from Girard Estates in South Philadelphia to elaborate Victorian houses in North Philadelphia or Italian eight houses in Germantown. Altogether, grants have been made in seven 114 12/16/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090890, etc. councilmanic districts, so it is a program that works in multiple places, but it is limited to historic areas, which are also included on the map that I included in the program. A great many of the repairs that we make are addressed towards energy issues, repairing or replacing windows or other really critical elements such as roofs that are leaking, masonry that is leaking water, rebuilding of deteriorated porches and that nature. Again, I realize that there are many demands on the NTI funds that are still available, but I would appreciate if you would give consideration to the Historic Property Repair program as you look at the budget. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. Are there any questions or comments from members of Council? (No response.) 115 12/16/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090890, etc.
Thank you so much for your testimony. MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness is James White, and he will be followed by John MacDonald. (Witness approached witness table.)
Good afternoon and thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify. My name is James White. I am the Policy Coordinator at the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations. This afternoon I'm submitting testimony not only for myself, but for Mr. John MacDonald, one of our members longstanding and a member of our Board of Directors, who unfortunately had to leave, so his written testimony is also included in the folder alongside mine. PACDC, as you know, is a citywide association of more than 80 community development corporations and other organizations that have extensive 116 12/16/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090890, etc. experience utilizing the City's housing and community development programs and systems. First, we would like to thank City Council and the Nutter Administration for your leadership and support for expanding funding for the Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund through Bill No. 090849 and the companion state-authorizing legislation, HB 1645. While the City's Neighborhood Transformation Initiative provided seed funding four years ago to help capitalize the Housing Trust Fund, this legislation allows the City to significantly expand ongoing dedicated funding for the Housing Trust Fund, enabling the City and its partners to more effectively address our housing and neighborhood revitalization needs. Of course, you can't build new houses or rehab existing ones without access to property, including the huge inventory of vacant and abandoned homes 117 12/16/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090890, etc. and lots in Philadelphia. Thus, we are encouraged by the steps the Redevelopment Authority and the Office of Housing and Community Development are taking for much-needed reform to the City's process for acquisition and disposition, as well as looking forward to working along with the City and its partners in the creation of a Unified Land Bank to consolidate ownership of these properties as well as planning for their appropriate reuse and implementation of an equitable disposition policy. These are key steps in the process to achieve a more effective and efficient system. Such changes will minimize the length of time properties remain abandoned and the harm they do to our communities, while creating conditions to bring them back into productive use, reduce the high cost of dealing with these vacant properties and expand the City's revenues. At the same time the City 118 12/16/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090890, etc. pursues these larger system changes, there are a couple of other key property acquisition issues that I would like to address this afternoon that need to be addressed as soon as possible. Due to delays in making "just compensation" payments into court and extinguishing outstanding liens on properties that have already been acquired, purchasers, especially CDCs and non-profit developers, are having difficulty obtaining title insurance for their properties and tax abatements and investment payments for new developments since they don't have clear title. And new homeowners continue to receive tax and water bills for old judgments against previous owners who didn't pay their bills. We urge the Administration to commence as soon as possible with the making of "just compensation" payments into court and extinguishing outstanding liens on properties that have already been acquired to ensure clear title. 119 12/16/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090890, etc. Given the amount of time the payment into court process takes, the City should also implement a workable interim solution to enable viable planned development projects to proceed and homeowners to be protected. In addition, now that the audit of the NTI acquisition activities have been finalized, we urge the City to unfreeze the property acquisition and disposition pipeline to enable proposed viable new developments to proceed by creating new uses of these resources that have been allocated to support acquisition.
Finally, we believe that putting in place policies and resources to promote equitable development to help ensure that long-term and lower-income residents benefit from neighborhood change needs to be a key part of the City's overall development strategy. This includes creating new housing opportunities for residents at all 120 12/16/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090890, etc. incomes, as well as assisting existing homeowners who otherwise can't afford to maintain their homes. This later issue could be addressed in part through the proposed new Neighborhood Stabilization Targeted Basic Systems Repair program that would have the added benefit of reinforcing investments being made in rehabbing foreclosed homes. The City's strategy should also include utilizing publicly owned vacant and surplus property to strategically support the development of affordable housing and appropriate neighborhood economic development in appreciating neighborhoods, as well as other policies and strategies to help ensure mixed-income communities that can be sustained over time. We look forward to working with the City Council and the Administration to develop a more effective delivery system to facilitate the appropriate reuse of vacant and abandoned property in 121 12/16/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090890, etc. a way that will strengthen the City's neighborhoods and address residents' housing and community development needs. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Are there any questions from members of the Committee? (No response.)
Seeing no one, thank you again. MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness is John MacDonald.
You have his testimony. MacDonald had to leave. MR. McPHERSON: Okay. Thank you. Then our last witness is Susan Klein and Zach Lewis. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Good afternoon. I 122 12/16/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090890, etc. have copies here. Thank you very much.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Susan Klein. I am Director of Housing at the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, PCA. PCA is designated as the area agency on aging in Philadelphia, and we plan, coordinate and fund services to over 100,000 older Philadelphians and people with disabilities each year. We provide a variety of programs and services, including information and referral, care at home, senior community centers, home repairs and modifications, adult daycare, volunteer programs, and legal and employment assistance, all with the goal of increasing the independence and quality of life of our consumers. The 2008 Public Health Management Corporation's community health survey found that there are approximately 249,000 people age 60 and above in the 123 12/16/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090890, etc. City of Philadelphia. Approximately 78 percent of those are homeowners. And of these homeowners, about 81,000 are poor, and we're using 200 percent of poverty as the criteria for poor. The bottom line is that we have a great many seniors, both renters and homeowners, whose housing costs, design and conditions are creating major impediments to their health and safety. Philadelphia's seniors continue to be in desperate need of home repairs and modifications, affordable, accessible and appropriate rental units, and help through housing counseling for all housing issues. I'm here today specifically to express PCA's support for the $850,000 allocation in NTI funds for the Adaptive Modification program. This program, which is currently administered by the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation, provides essential home modifications to the homes of low-income 124 12/16/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090890, etc. Philadelphians of all ages with disabilities. Overwhelmingly, seniors want to stay in their own homes and in their own communities where they are an integral part of the fabric of Philadelphia. By providing modifications such as exterior wheelchair lifts, first-floor half baths or interior stair glides, this program provides an essential service to maintain the quality of life and health for seniors and younger people with disabilities. This is an important program, and we have three suggestions to improve it. PHDC actually administers three programs that are essential to low-income seniors - the Adaptive Mod program, Basic Systems Repair program and Weatherization. The way to access these services is through their hotline number. Unfortunately, the wait time to speak to an intake worker one morning a few weeks ago was at least seven minutes, and this appears to be the norm. Now, seven 125 12/16/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090890, etc. minutes is a very long time for a person who has arthritis or who has other health issues that make it difficult to hold a phone. We constantly hear complaints from our consumers that they're unable to reach a staff person. PCA requests that PHDC reexamine the intake process so it better addresses the needs of consumers. Certainly PHDC does not have, nor will never have, enough funds to address all the housing needs of applicants for their programs, but they can set up a system for better, more appropriate communications with the public. And the second point I wanted to make is for AMP, once people get onto the waiting list, 75 percent do not make it through the intake process. Roughly 50 percent of those applicants either do not come in or do not send someone in on their behalf to come to 1234 Market Street or are unable to do what is required to get a home visit. Another 25 126 12/16/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090890, etc. percent of applicants don't make it through the process because they cannot provide the appropriate documentation or similar reasons. PHDC must work diligently to reach out to these applicants to assist them through the application process so that their disability or frailty or programmatic impediments do not hinder their ability to receive service.
A final point is that AMP installs exterior wheelchair lifts and stair glides, but does not provide repairs to this mechanical equipment after the three-year warranty period is over. PCA frequently receives calls from recipients of AMP service who do not have the means for repairs, so they're stuck inside their house, looking out at a broken wheelchair lift. Exterior wheelchair lifts are mechanical equipment and they will break down over time. AMP consumers usually have no source of funds to provide the lift repairs. AMP must 127 12/16/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090890, etc. provide these repairs for people who cannot afford to make them. PCA strongly urges AMP to set aside a small amount of funds, up to $20,000 a year, to make repairs on lifts that are beyond the warranty. 5 million means there's a three-year waiting list for service even though 75 percent of the applicants have been lost through the intake process. The Philadelphia Corporation for Aging strongly supports the addition of $850,000 in NTI funds for AMP, which will reduce the waiting list by six months. I do want to mention that NTI funds and the Housing Trust funds are extremely important to this program. If you use CDBG funds, then you're required to address lead-based paint issues throughout the house, and when we had that program, it doubled the cost of the repairs, which means the waiting list instead of three years would be six 128 12/16/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090890, etc. years. So thank you very much for this opportunity.
Thank you. Are there any comments or questions from members of the Committee? (No response.)
Hello. My name is Zachary Lewis and I work for Liberty Resources. I'm also a consumer there as well, and I wanted to piggyback on a couple of things Ms. Susan spoke about regarding adaptive technology and adaptive modifications. I just wanted to let everyone know that they're very important, because without them, people like myself, people with disabilities, are not able to access the community at all. Like she said, they may be able to sit on their porches 129 12/16/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090890, etc. or through windows looking out at the world passing them by, and I just wanted to let everyone know that it's important to support that very much. Also, with regards to visitability, I think visitability is important and needs to be supported, because it allows people with disabilities such as myself to access other people's homes with regards to having no steps, no step entryways and doorways that are accessible, and bathrooms maybe like on the first floor that are accessible also. As an employee, I also come across a lot of people on a daily basis that continuously show -- that continuously call and let myself know that they need accessible, affordable housing, and with that access, like they need ways to get up and down their steps or get in and out of their house. So I just wanted to let you guys know that it's very important, if 130 12/16/09 - WHOLE - BILL 090890, etc. you guys could take a look at that when allocating funds.
Thank you, Mr. Lewis. Are there any questions or comments from members of the Committee? (No response.)
Seeing no one, this committee will stand in recess until 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. Thank you. (Committee of the Whole recessed at 12:55 p.m.) - - - 131 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 December 16, 2009, 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.)