Okay. I've been contacted by both of those groups. And since recidivism is one of the major causes of your population expanding, they actually are saying that they have successfully had about a 12 percent recidivism rate versus the more 13 than 70 percent. Seventy percent is 14 correct, isn't it? 15 COMMISSIONER KING: Our 16 recidivism rate -- this is a whole 17 complicated thing, but 56 percent the last time we did it was our recidivism rate. So that means -- I like to emphasize the positive. So it means 44 percent don't come back, but 56 percent do. But that is a dated number. It's three or four years old, and that's another reason I'm trying to get the AXIOM system up and going. 204 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC.
And you said the AXIOM system. I was wondering, is that system going to actually work or take a look at each individual inmate? COMMISSIONER KING: I mean, all their records are in that. It's in conjunction with DSS Cares, but all the records are there. And what we're going to be able to do a little better is evaluate programs like the Jobs Project and Options to see exactly whether they're doing what we intend them to do. Now, we have some records on the Jobs Project because we had people keeping track manually, but that's part of what we're going to do, going to have all the inmate information there so that we can be better at making decisions about how to spend money.
So when you describe your program as a population management program, that really just means putting all the data together in one place? 205 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. COMMISSIONER KING: Well, you gather it -- you gather it in what's called a data warehouse.
A data warehouse? COMMISSIONER KING: Right. In other words, we have Lock and Track that has a lot of information about inmates. We have other things that we're using to track stuff. The data warehouse brings it all together, and then you can ask it questions and you can slice it and you can dice it and make some judgments about what's going on at the Prison and what's good, what's bad and where we need to improve.
Okay. So that's what this whole system is about, then? COMMISSIONER KING: Yes.
When do you think it will be operable? COMMISSIONER KING: Well, we're going to be initially in six to eight 206 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. weeks, I believe, ready to start using it.
But anyway, if the Jobs Project is a successful project, then I want to advocate for its continued funding. And how much is that? COMMISSIONER KING: Well, I've got the figures here. We spent so far FY05 -- '04, '05, '06 and '07 all together $963,000. So that's for four years. That's four years start-up, all that thing, just for those two contracted agencies, and it's just for one facility. So I think the FY -- the fiscal year amount of money for each of those agencies for FY07, it's 146 for one and 134 for the other.
So it's about $280,000 for one year? COMMISSIONER KING: For one year at one jail.
All right. And maybe once you get this 207 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. system up, before the year is out you can really evaluate and assess whether it's a good project that should hang around, correct? COMMISSIONER KING: Right. Well, I have preliminary information that tells me some good stuff, but I need to -- I got one report. I'm sending it back with more questions. It looks promising. There have been at least 152 inmates that I know that found jobs through this program. So it shows promise.
And so far -- COMMISSIONER KING: But I haven't reached a final conclusion.
So far, how is the reentry -- what are the outcomes for the Reentry Office in terms of employment? COMMISSIONER KING: The Mayor's Office of Reentry? I don't know. They don't report to me, so I'm not sure. I 208 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. know it's open and I know they're offering services, but I don't have the specifics of how it's working.
You're welcome. Are there any other questions or comments from members of the Committee? (No response.)
Commissioner, again, thank you very much. COMMISSIONER KING: Thank you, Madam President.
You do a great job. COMMISSIONER KING: Thanks. MR. McPHERSON: The next department is the Records Department. (Pause.)
Good afternoon, Commissioner. You've been 209 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. extremely patient, and I thank you. Please identify yourself for the record. And may I say I have looked at your testimony. It's pages and pages long. We will give a copy of that to the stenographer. It will be transcribed in its complete form and I would ask you to simply abbreviate your testimony. COMMISSIONER DECKER: Sure. I'd be happy to. My name is Joan Decker. I'm the Records Commissioner in the City and I have with me today Jeanne Reedy, Administrative Services Director, Dave Werbo and also Diana Perry and Anita Banks. And just very briefly, I'd like to acknowledge Diana and Anita. They both are in the units that are the face of the public. They deal with a lot of activity every day. They are very efficient in supervising their units. We'd just like to give them some public recognition for their work on behalf of our department this past year. 210 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. For FY08, the Records Department is requesting a General Fund Operating Budget of $8,041,306, a net decrease of $13,547 from the Department's '07 estimated obligations, and this level reflects changes in the following areas: Class 100 declines from $3,667,831 to $3,658,731 for FY08, a net decrease of 9,100, which reflects a reduction in lump sum payments. Position level decreases from 77 to 76 full-time staff positions. We're able to support this due to phased-in implementation of automation and technology. Class 200 increases from the '07 level of $3,755,425 to $4,016,013. This level of funding supports continuous improvement in service delivery to the public and is funded through the Department of Records fee increases which were implemented in Fiscal Years '03, '04 and '05. In FY08, Class 300 decreases by $157,735 to $81,245, and Class 400 211 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. equipment allocation decreases by $177,265. Class 500 decreases from an '07 allocation of $2,456 to $1,456 in '08, and Class 800 is budgeted at $283,861 and reflects a partial payment of the Department's Productivity Bank loan. I'd be happy to answer any questions.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Greenlee.
Thank you, Madam President. Good afternoon, Commissioner. COMMISSIONER DECKER: Good afternoon.
I know you've been here a long time, so I won't elongate the record, but first I should just mention for the record your office's cooperation with us, both in my first life and the second life now that I have, 212 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. especially Linda Townsel, your assistant, who has been very, very helpful for many years. So thank you. Just a quick question. And I'll be honest with you, this is something I've been working on as far as an ordinance, so it might be a better time to talk about it then, but just quickly, the issue of disputed deeds and tangled titles. We all hear the stories about people getting their, quote/unquote, houses stolen. What, if any, protections recently have you put in to try to deal with that and other things are you talking about doing? COMMISSIONER DECKER: Sure. Well, we implemented a document notice letter that is sent each time a deed or mortgage is recorded in our office, and that is a notice sent to the owner of the property at the time of the transaction. That's an alert system. It alerts the homeowner that a transaction occurred against their property. In the event 213 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. that they are not aware of that transaction, we advise them in a letter to take a number of steps. We have also installed cameras. We have security cameras in the document recording room. We have a camera at the walk-in counter, which takes the photo of every person who brings a deed in, a walk-in deed, and we do ask them to sign a log as well. So we capture signature, which is helpful to law enforcement. And so these act as a deterrent. Their information of the act is a deterrent. We also work with the Philadelphia Bar Association. There is a Fraudulent Conveyance Committee, which is comprised of a number of interested attorneys in the Philadelphia Bar and also members of some of the non-profits, which you've mentioned, the Philly VIP, Senior Law Center, Community Legal Services, to name a few. We work in that group with some representatives from the Economic Crime Unit, the District 214 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. Attorney's Office and some of the police inspectors from the Major Crimes Unit in the Police Department. And what we do is look at what we can do to strengthen those areas that we have some authority over, and with that group, the Records Department is really working on a fraudulent tracking system, which is sort of like an alert, an internal alert, for the agencies that I've just mentioned, as well as some other City agencies that deal with land records, such as the Revenue Department's real estate group and the Board of Revision of Taxes. And that system we expect to be completed by the end of June of this fiscal year. And, again, it serves as an alert system. It is layered upon the GIS system that we have, our parcel map system, and it gives us the ability, in addition to having alerts, to identify clusters or trends in particular areas, with the hope that by having that information, we'd be able to target and 215 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. do some prevention activities as well.
Because I know the biggest problem is, somebody will put in a fraudulent deed and then try to sell it reasonably quickly. Is there any flag that's put on a property? Like if the owner is notified and raises some kind of questions, can that second sale be held up, frozen, whatever? COMMISSIONER DECKER: The document recording area is governed by state law and we have to abide by state law. So there are certain requirements which if present require that we record the document. So we cannot block the recording of a document unless we are pretty certain that some fraud has been committed. But, generally, we have to record, and the only way you can remove a document is through a Court order. So it is not just a simple factor of being aware of suspected fraud. It's a 216 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. difficult area. We legally cannot do that. And even if we did have some discretion, many of the reports of suspected fraudulent activity frequently deal with disputes among family members. So it would be very difficult to sort out what is a family dispute from what is legitimately an illegal transaction.
Okay. Well, as I said, I'm thinking about some legislation there, so I'm sure we'll talk in the future. COMMISSIONER DECKER: Yes. Okay.
Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Commissioner.
You're welcome. Are there any other questions of the Commissioner? (No response.)
Seeing none, I thank you again for your 217 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. patience. This Committee will stand in recess until Tuesday, April the 10th at 10:00 a.m. Thank you very much. (Committee of the Whole adjourned at 2:00 p.m.) - - - 218 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 March 28, 2007, 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.)