Committee Hearing, March 29, 2006

COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, March 29, 2006 3:20 p.m. - - - PRESENT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT ANNA C. VERNA COUNCILWOMAN JANNIE BLACKWELL COUNCILMAN DARRELL L. CLARKE COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO COUNCILWOMAN MARIAN B. TASCO BILLS 060001, 060002, 060003, 060004, 060006, 060007, 060008, 060014, 060089 and 060090 RESOLUTIONS 060019, 060099, 060100 and 060119 - - - 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

Good afternoon, everyone. This is the continued public hearing of the Committee of the Whole. I would ask Mr. McPherson to please call our first witnesses. MR. McPHERSON: Stan Shapiro, One Philadelphia.

Stan, do you have a panel?

Yes. There should be one other witness, Jonathan --

We're going to announce what the ruling will be. If there's a panel, each panel member will be given three minutes. Okay?

Okay. We should have one other member joining us, Jonathan Stein from Community Legal Services. He had to leave because of the problem we had and should be on his way back.

Okay. 3 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. He may be here before you're completed. Thank you.

I hope so.

All right, Stan. Are you going to testify first?

Yes. Good morning, Council President Verna and members of City Council. My name is Stan Shapiro, and I will be speaking on behalf of One Philadelphia. One Philadelphia is a coalition of community groups, labor organizations and individuals committed to facilitating economic growth with fairness for all Philadelphians. I will be speaking today in opposition to all of the changes in tax rates that have been introduced in Council for the next fiscal year. The last few years have seen a steady stream of proposals to drastically cut or eliminate the business privilege tax. We have testified in each of these 4 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. years against these proposals. We have argued first that cutting the BPT is, at best, a highly speculative way to promote growth. Secondly, we have argued that the City simply can't afford to give huge sums of tax revenue away to both big and small businesses alike in the current economic environment. The business privilege tax cuts on the table this year are smaller than in previous years. We remain opposed to them. Much has been said about projected surpluses in City revenues. But as PICA pointed out in a letter to you, Madam President, only three weeks ago, those surpluses are based, to a great extent, on questionable premises. Here is a list of just a few of the risky assumptions on which the Five-Year Plan is built, according to PICA: That state reimbursements for services provided by the Department of Human Services will be $132 million more over five years than 5 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. the amount that is required by law; that PGW will be able to repay the City's $45 million loan in Fiscal Year '09; that future fee increases and future government efficiencies will combine to generate $60 million over the life of the plan; that the state will provide funding to completely eliminate the City's costs for the Convention Center beginning in '09, Fiscal Year '09; that the City will receive more than $18 million annually from the Philadelphia Parking Authority; that the Administration will reduce health insurance costs by $46 million over the last four years of the Plan by implementing reforms, so-called reforms. 5 million. " 6 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. " Among these risky assumptions are the following: That the Administration will be successful in appealing the health and medical insurance award provided to the FOP; that the City will be able to stop the increase in the prison census and not see any increases in the costs of its prison health contracts; that the City will receive $25 million annually in gaming revenues beginning in FY09 from the state tax imposed on gaming institutions; that the number of shelter beds will stop growing; that there will be no increases in employee salaries after FY08. Furthermore, PICA states, "The 7 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. " City Council must be sure that it can meet the needs of its citizens, particularly those who can't help themselves, and its workers before it embarks on risky tax cuts. And as we've said before, such cuts, if affordable, should be targeted to help those in need, not big corporations such as Wal-Mart, Comcast and Sunoco. Finally, let me say that we also do not support repeal of the targeted tax cut for low-wage workers scheduled to take effect in 2010. Jonathan Stein will go into detail about the reasons why that would be a particularly poor way to raise revenue. If revenue is needed, which it may well be, all City tax rates should be on the table. Tax preferences for the working poor, however, should hardly be put at the head of that list. Thank you for this opportunity 8 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. to testify. I'll ask Tom Cronin to talk more about the risks to the Plan involving City workers, and then Jonathan will talk about the targeted tax cuts.

Thank you very much. Good afternoon. Welcome. Please identify yourself for the record.

Good afternoon, Council President. My name is Thomas P. Cronin. I'm the President of AFSCME District Council 47, City of Philadelphia. I will certainly abbreviate my testimony today, as per your request, and just say that I just -- let me just single out the issue of healthcare, which is really the main point that I want to make. As of the beginning of this year, we needed, meaning District Council 47, needed $869 per member per month to maintain our current level of benefits. Right now we get $750 per member per 9 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. month. So in order to maintain our benefits right now, we need immediately a percent increase in our healthcare. 5 Currently, the City of 6 Philadelphia gives us totally, I guess, 7 about $40.5 million for our healthcare, 8 and as of '06, just talking about one 9 year now, we're going to need 10 approximately $47 million. So about a 11 $6.5 million increase just to stay the 12 same. I'm not talking about two years in 13 a row, because if you talk two years in a 14 row and assume anywhere from a 16 to 15 20-some percent increase, you're really 16 starting to climb and very, very high. And, of course, what this does is, any wage gains that we did make, which were modest in the contract agreement that we have with the City of Philadelphia, will be greatly eroded, to say the least. We receive about the same as District Council 33, but with respect to all of the municipal unions and the exempt employees, many of the folks that 10 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. are sitting here, we receive the least. Everyone probably in this building now, including the firefighters that just ran into the building, get a lot more than District Council 33 and 47. In fact, I think, Councilwoman, you guys get approximately $782.14 per member per month. We've been asking the City of Philadelphia to -- we didn't expect the gap between uniformed and non-uniformed to evaporate overnight. In our discussions with the Mayor, we said that we wanted to see the City make a good-faith effort, though, to close that gap. Now, the current projections of the City, the current statements of the City about cutting back on healthcare, to me in my mind are just ridiculous, considering the reality that we all face, whether we're members of a union or not members of a union or members certainly like yourself, your family, your staff 11 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. and so on. So I'm saying that this surplus that we hear a lot about -- and I'm not even getting into the unfunded liability on the pensions and the other issues that come up with the departments that we staff, because we'll be around. We're trying to make appointments now to see various Councilmembers to do some lobbying on this issue. But it's much like, when I hear people say, Oh, there's this great surplus, it would be like me saying, Well, you know, I just got a paycheck for $1,500 and I have this great surplus. Well, maybe I do, but if I start to pay my mortgage, my electric bill, my gas bill, the kids' tuition, et cetera, et cetera, it quickly evaporates. So my point here is that I don't think this great surplus really exists when you take a look at the obligations that the City of Philadelphia needs to pay off, and I would 12 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. respectfully ask yourself and other City Councilmembers to remember this during the budget deliberations. Thank you, ma'am.

Thank you. Welcome, Mr. Stein. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.

Thank you, Council President and other members of City Council here. I'm Jonathan Stein, General Counsel at Community Legal Services, and I will be quite brief because I know this is an issue that you're well versed in. We're here to ask you to say no 19 to the repeal of the ordinance that would provide a working tax credit on the wage tax, an ordinance this Council passed with a very substantial majority vote in the recent past and which the Mayor now has, unfortunately, put before you for repeal. 13 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. We think that there's absolutely no need to address this ordinance now, because it only takes effect in Fiscal Year 2010. So it doesn't affect next year's budget. And when you look at the estimated costs of those outer years of 2010, 2011, one sees, on the basis of the Mayor's own estimates in his Five-Year Plan of what his expected surplus will be, that there's absolutely no fiscal imperative to repeal the ordinance even for those outer years, because the cost of the ordinance in those first two years would still leave the City with a surplus based on the Mayor's own numbers. This is an ordinance that had widespread support not only in City Council and an ordinance that this Council should be very proud of, because it is in fact one of the most progressive measures this City Council has ever enacted in the whole history of the wage tax and City taxes, but beyond the 14 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. support in this Council and this Councilmanic body, this ordinance had widespread support in the City. Labor unions supported it. Social service groups, like Project HOME and People's Emergency Center in West Philadelphia, supported it and saw this as a way of injecting some small measure of tax equity into our local City tax system. The tax credit is a sliding scale credit. It affects not only the working poor, but also working-class people and low/middle income people, up to incomes of about $30,000 or $32,000 a year, similar to the tax back that the state income tax system establishes. We know it's a fair way of assisting working families. We know those families will spend that credit not on vacations in Cancun or on other disbursements, but will spend it for immediate needs within the City of Philadelphia, on immediate needs with stores in the City, perhaps on PGW or 15 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Water Department bills that are overdue. So the City will see some benefits of seeing this money returned to either City government or to local businesses directly from this tax credit. So we do urge Council to set this request aside. It's just not needed for this budget. And we ask Council to take pride in this accomplishment and not undo something that is a great achievement of this body. Thank you.

Thank you all very much. Are there any questions from members of the Committee? (No response.)

Seeing none, I thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you. MR. McPHERSON: Our next witnesses are Jim Helman and Michael McCrea. 16 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC.

Good afternoon, gentlemen. You will each be given three minutes to testify. MR. McCREA: Thank you. Members of City Council, my name is Mike McCrea. I'm President of Philadelphia Recreation Advisory Council. Philadelphia Recreation Advisory Council is comprised of over 200 local volunteer organizations, each of whom serves different local community all across the City of Philadelphia, and one of my tasks as President has been to bring you every year a street-level message about the state of public recreation and specifically its effects on the City's children. Well, to be blunt, according to the Administration and Safe and Sound's own admission, the state of our children in Philadelphia is mixed with inconsistent progress, and that, quite frankly, really sucks. We can and must do better if we want to have any hope of providing a 17 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. positive future for our youngest and most vulnerable. Therefore, sadly, this message is not that much different than previous several years. Do any of you remember that 7 years ago the Mayor at the time created 8 Children and Families Cabinet, headed by 9 the former Recreation Commissioner, who 10 brought together an unprecedented 11 coalition of local, state and federal 12 departments to produce and enact a plan to curb the rising stem of violence at that time directed at youth of Philadelphia? S. Attorney, FBI, ATF and doctors from Children's Hospital. As partners, we worked together as a part of this coalition, and out of it came what we referred to as Youth Violence Reduction Partnership, as well as identifying specific programs with specific funding and targeted goals. 18 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. During the four-year period from 1996 to '99, major success was achieved in almost every measured category concerning youth violence. Most importantly, youth homicides from to 7 were reduced by 57 percent and from ages 8 18 to 24 were reduced by 24 percent. 9 Over the same period of time, 10 the City Administration allocated over $6 11 million of dedicated funding for 12 prevention activities, including 13 after-school programs, summer camps, swim 14 camps, youth access centers, youth 15 employment and other related activities. 16 While this may not have been 17 the panacea, it was clear to us involved in this process that these strategies were extremely effective and they were making a difference in every community across the City. We really seemed to have at least a basic handle on the current cause and effect of youth violence at that time. Now looking ahead at our current situation and statistics, 19 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. the question is begging to be asked, What happened? In 1999, we had an outgoing Administration that was not afraid to think out of the box, listen to anybody and all ideas to work through serious issues, and had a seat at the table for anyone interested and willing to put out the effort. This was replaced by an incoming Administration that reduced the size of the table, would not even listen to anyone that did not support 100 percent of their agenda and, after sealing it with heavy duct tape, hasn't been seen outside the box in over six years. The coalition was disbanded due to lack of support, and most of the initiatives developed during that time suffered the same fate soon after. That $6 million in dedicated funding disappeared, along with cuts of an additional 2 million. This was also replaced with Safe and Sound and 20 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Children's Investment Strategy, which now, almost $300 million and six years later, currently elevated statistics in almost every major category concerning youth violence, some reaching near record levels last year. That's what happened. It would have been hard to imagine that as a city we could sink to these depths in such a short period of time, and even Mayor Street last year admitted that he had no answers to the latest rise in violence and blood shed.

It seems ironic that he turned to the Governor, our former Mayor, who had the vision to initiate the creation of the coalition, which is nothing more than a distant memory to most people. Mayor Street had the opportunity to build on what it had accomplished in that coalition, raising the standards of every child to an all-time high. However, he chose to de-value everything we did and completely reinvent the wheel, costing the taxpayers 21 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. almost $300 million so far and costing way too many lives. Note to Mayor Street: We were here long before your Administration took office with over a $300 million surplus, and we'll be here to clean up this mess long after you're gone. However much you try to diminish our efforts, effectiveness and de-value our efforts, as volunteers we have done and will continue to do what we do every day, serving every child and making positive changes the best we can in every community across the City. Sadly, one of the positives we can take from all of this is, our children have seen the firsthand consequences of bad choices. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Helman, welcome.

Thank you. Good afternoon, President Verna and members of 22 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. City Council. My name is Jim Helman. I live in Grays Ferry and I'm very active in my community. I serve as Secretary/Treasurer of Vare Recreation Center at 26th and Morris Streets, and I am here to testify for public recreation. There's a darkly humorous joke making the rounds of public recreation volunteers. The first volunteer says, What are the three certainties in life? The second volunteer answers, That's easy. The three certainties in life are death, taxes and public recreation budget cuts from the Street Administration. We have seen the Department of Recreation's budget cut in five of the last six years. We have seen public recreation centers and programs made ineligible for funding that private organizations can apply for. We have weathered a scheme to close some 40 public recreation facilities and some 24 swimming pools. We have seen a hiring 25 freeze that caused serious public 23 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. recreation staff shortages. We have seen a cut in the number of department districts, hampering the department's ability to interact with our communities. We have seen a lot, and the record of the Street Administration is not a good one. The record is not good mostly because of the Administration's penchant for dictating policy from the top down instead of from the people up. " Now, it's great to generate revenue, but it's not so great to generate it at the expense of our communities and local recreation facilities. Revenue generation involves centralizing the permission to use public recreation fields and outdoor facilities. Under the scheme, the outdoor facilities at Vare Rec Center, for example, would be permitted by Fairmount Park. The public 24 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. would be charged a set fee, which would be paid into some Fairmount Park fund. This would remove our local community's voice on who gets to use our fields and for what purpose. Right now, when our facility allows a permitted use, we ask for a donation. Not only do we have a voice on the use, but the donation stays with the local facility and helps to fund programs and activities. That would be lost under the so-called "revenue generation" scheme. You can bet that the revenue generated would never find its way back to Vare. Of course, nobody at the local level was consulted about this. It's a scheme that we're all just supposed to accept and live with. That's a shame. It's a shame because an important voice is lost, the voice of our local communities. To be honest, give me a dozen parents in a room for a couple of hours and I will tell you what our community 25 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. needs far more effectively than all the fancy statisticians and boneheaded bean counters that the Street Administration has managed to accumulate in the last six years. Despite the Administration's awful record, public recreation remains on the front lines. Public recreation doesn't hide behind locked school doors or the school police or security personnel. Public recreation doesn't put up obstacles to involvement like lengthy and prying enrollment forms that require Social Security numbers and family income. With public recreation, if you want to play and you're willing to behave properly, then you can play. If you want to learn and you're willing to attend and apply yourself, then you can learn. If you want to socialize and you're willing to follow the rules, then you can socialize. It's that simple. And in its 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. simplicity, it works. In my judgment, it works better and more economically than any other City service that I am aware of. A friend came to City Council today. My friend's name is David Starling. David is years old now and 9 lives in Point Breeze. 10 David and his younger brother 11 have been coming to Vare for years.

They 12 have joined our sports leagues and 13 participated in other center activities. 14 They have come by for a swim on a hot 15 summer day or to run some ball in their 16 spare time or to just hang out with their 17 friends. 18 Last November, the real tragedy of Philadelphia's "Safe" and "Safer Streets" visited the Starling family in an unthinkable way. On November 7, 2005, David's younger brother Daniel was shot and killed in broad daylight in the vicinity of 20th Street and Snyder Avenue. Daniel 27 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. was on his way home from South Philly High School where he was a "B" student and a member of the football team. Daniel was the innocent victim of gun shots intended for another. He was 7 years old. 8 President Verna, with your 9 permission, David would like to say a few 10 words. 11

We'd 12 be very happy to hear from him. 13 Welcome, David. 14

Hi. My name is 15 David Starling. I'm here because we need 16 more public recreation, not less. We need more places like Vare Rec Center, not less. We need more people like Mr. Jerry and Mr. Jim here, who will focus their attention on young people in our community and create more activities that will give us alternatives on where to go and what to do. We need help staying off the streets and creating a safe environment 28 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. as we have at Vare. We need more activities that people my age will want to get involved with, activities like sports leagues, trips, chess clubs, dances and swim teams. I'm happy to know that Vare is going to have a to basketball 9 league. That's in addition to the Vare 10 summer program basketball league. It 11 shows that public recreation is willing 12 to help all ages. 13 Growing up, my brother Daniel, 14 who we also called Diesel, and me would 15 go to Vare Rec to be with friends or join 16 different programs. We liked it there 17 and would often volunteer to help clean 18 and set up for some of the activities. 19 It helped to keep us out of trouble. 20 I used to spend a lot of time with my brother. I miss how me and my brother and friends would spend our days at Vare. It will never be the same without him. I wish Diesel could be here 29 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. with me today. I know if he could, he will say that we need more public recreation, not less, and I hope that all of you today will help us get that. Thank you.

Thank you, David. (Applause.)

We certainly welcome you. Are there any questions or comments from members of the Committee?

I'm not quite finished.

Oh, I'm so sorry.

Almost, but not quite.

How could I overlook you?

I'll close by thanking City Council for your support for public recreation over the years. We know that without the support of the 30 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. people's representatives, the last six years would have been dismal instead of difficult. We ask you to continue to stand with us, stand with us and help us celebrate our many successes and achievements, and be there when we mourn our losses. We see a light at the end of the long, dark tunnel of the last six years. There's got to be better days ahead. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Helman, let me say that we couldn't do it without people like you. Thank you very much. MR. McPHERSON: Our next panel is representatives from the Philadelphia Art Museum, Juliet Childs, Nate Mitchell, Josh Lopez, Katherine Seed, Chiquita Paschal, Andrew Wineman and Aquil Benjamin. Please identify yourself for 31 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. the record and proceed.

I'm Juliet Childs. Hello, Council President Verna and members of City Council. My name is Juliet Childs, and I'm delighted to be here today with Nate Mitchell, Josh Lopez, Aquil Benjamin, Chiquita Paschal, Katherine Seed and Andrew Wineman. We have come forward to express our deep thanks as we ask you, City Council, to continue to work with the Mayor to support the arts in Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Museum of Art on a yearly basis and make the bold and necessary investment that is now needed to upgrade the Museum's great building. I have been a Philadelphia resident all my life. My family has lived in the Mantua section of the City, and my memories of the Art Museum go way back to my grandmother's stories about watching from our neighborhood across the river as the Museums's amazing buildings were being created over the first decades 32 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. of this century. I came to the Museum for the first time with my family at the age of about 12, and I remember distinctly the awe-inspiring experience that elevated my spirit. From my point of view as a child, the Museum was very big and very beautiful and it made me feel very important, more than any other building I had known. Soon after that time, I started coming to the Museum with my class, and I remember marveling at the living plants and running water in the Japanese Tea House, which is still there today, and I still see children marveling the same way I did. By the time I was a teenager and a young adult working with General Electric, I knew my way around the Museum's amazing building. This was powerful because I began to know the City's great Art Museum as my museum. As an adult, I came to my 33 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Museum for the first time as a volunteer. Eventually, I started working as a staff member, and now I am the Manager of Visitor Services. A big part of my job is welcoming visitors, and this week my job is very special because as we speak, the Museum is opening its doors to people from far and wide who are coming to see and experience the life's work of one of America's most beloved living artists, one of our great Pennsylvanians, Andrew Wyeth. I have seen Mr. Wyeth, who is 88 years old, in the Museum and identify with the way he walks through the Museum looking at great works of art in the beautiful building with a proud smile. For Mr. Wyeth and for me, the countless other Philadelphians and Pennsylvanians, this is our museum, and we share a profound sense of being fortunate that so many great works of art are ours. In the Department of Visitor 34 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Services, I supervise many people, and most of them are young, smart, strong individuals who have been attracted to jobs at the Museum because they love art and love museums. They are happy to be a part of creating a great experience by selling tickets, answering questions at the front desk, solving problems for visitors, checking coats and mostly making sure that everyone who comes in the door has the best experience possible. Next time you're in the Museum, make an extra point to acknowledge the people who give you your ticket or check your coat, because these are the young people who are, more and more, spreading the glow of creativity and youthful energy across the City as they build their lives here. I will close by saying how thrilled I am to be sharing this microphone today with people who are volunteers. Kathy and Andrew are retired 35 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. school teachers. Nate, Josh, Aquil and Chiquita are high school students who also volunteer in the Museum and have made the Museum part of their lives as Philadelphians as I have. Each of us is recounting our personal stories about the Museum. While the Museum is important to us, hopes to impress on you, the City Council, that we represent the millions of people across this City who love our Museum and want to see it thrive and grow.

We hope the City will continue to support the Museum now and in the future so that generations of Philadelphians can come to know what we know, that art has the power to improve and enhance the quality of life for everyone. Thank you. MR. McPHERSON: Identify yourself for the record, please.

My name is Nate Mitchell.

My name is Joshua 36 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Lopez.

My name is Aquil Benjamin.

Hello, President Verna and members of the City Council. My name is Nate Mitchell, and I'm here with Josh Lopez and Aquil Benjamin. We are all students at Mastery Charter High School in Philadelphia and we are all interns at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. For the past five months, we have helped prepare projects for children and families for weekend events in the educational department. In return, we are taking out tourists throughout the Art Museum. In these past weeks, I have seen many new things, such as the cultures and art in the Asian gallery. And the reason why we are here today, because we believe the City should fund the Philadelphia Art Museum.

Hello. My name is 37 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Joshua Lopez, and as an intern, each day is a learning experience to help further our knowledge of the workplace and also in the field of art. We have viewed many intriguing works of art from many renowned artists. My personal favorite was a man named Thomas Eakins. His works were unique due to the rigorous process he went through to produce his art. It is wonderful for me to know that the Museum will always be here, and when I have my own family, I can bring them back to the Museum and share this art with them. Thank you.

Hello. My name is Aquil Benjamin. For the five months I've been here interning at the Art Museum, I have seen young children, teenagers and adults walk around the galleries and observe and enjoy the arts. In my opinion, my knowledge of art has broadened from what I knew prior to taking this internship. 38 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. In my neighborhood, I see a lot of people in the streets, and a lot of people are dying. I took the internship to get off the streets and to get an opportunity that I have found here. I believe that the City should fund the Art Museum so that more people can gain this opportunity. Thank you very much. Thank you for your time. MR. McPHERSON: Councilwoman Tasco.

Are they finished? MR. McPHERSON: They have a few more.

Okay. Go ahead. When they're finished. MR. McPHERSON: Please identify yourself for the record and proceed.

My name is Andrew Wineman.

My name is Chiquita Paschal. 39 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC.

I'm Katherine Seed.

Good afternoon, President Verna, members of City Council. My name is Chiquita Paschal and I am currently a senior at Masterman High School. I have spent the last four years participating in the Teen Docent Program at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. On behalf of all involved, I thank you and the City of Philadelphia for your continued support of this unique and important program, which has given me the opportunity to both learn a lot and also give back to our community. The teen docents -- and there are ten of us this year -- train under the supervision of the Education Department at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and we present aspects of art and art history to the general public on Sundays. This year we are exploring medieval art, demonstrating such crafts as armor, stained glass, masonry, panel painting for the public. 40 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. The beauty of this program is that the benefits are twofold. The teenage docents spent about a month training, learning prior to the program's yearly debut. We receive all sorts of educational books, articles and demonstrations from the professional curators within the Museum. This intense training period is an amazing educational opportunity in itself. However, it also gives us the confidence to teach the general public. This is a program all about exploration. As teen docents, we are encouraged to conduct inquiries, ask questions and solve problems. We work as a group to plan how to best engage the public with our demonstrations. Our staff trainers emphasize public speaking skills. Each Sunday this spring we teen docents interact with about 600 people. The Philadelphia Museum of Art has a "pay what you wish" admission policy on 41 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Sundays, meaning that families from all walks of life can afford to spend time together looking and learning from the Art Museum's galleries. The teen docents realize that it's all too easy for families to stay at home and watch television on a Sunday afternoon when subjects such as art seem aloof and distant, intimidating and even boring. Our job is to get children and their parents engaged in art through hands-on demonstrations that involve everyone. The teen docents act as a liaison to bring art to life. I feel very fulfilled knowing that each Sunday afternoon there's a child somewhere thinking about how medieval panel painters ground up koshneel (ph) beetles for pigment. And if you really want an explanation, I'll tell you about it later. But understanding and appreciating art is an important tool for 42 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. making sense of the world, and the Teen Docent Program cultivates knowledge and interest in a memorable and lasting way for everyone involved. So I'd like to thank you again for supporting the Philadelphia Museum of Art and its great educational programs. Few museums make teens feel as welcome as the Art Museum does, and I know I'll always treasure my four years there. As a matter of fact, I'm about to start college in the fall and I intend to major in art history, and it's all because of this program. Thank you.

Good afternoon, City Councilmembers. I'm Katherine Seed. Through its support, City Council has acknowledged the contributions made to the City by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We are fortunate to have world-class collections and award-winning education programs. Today I speak on behalf of the 43 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. experiences available to students and teachers in Philadelphia and the region. Every day students visit the galleries and experience a walk through time and cultures. With guidance from Museum educators, they learn to look at art. Through participation, they learn to respond to it in a personal way. This past year, over 80,000 students attended, and 3,000 teachers have participated in a variety of workshops offered throughout the year at the Museum and in their schools. Curriculum-based workshops have a wide appeal. For example, on Saturday, there's a workshop called Mythology As Muse. Mythology is taught from middle grades through high school. The art of mythology in painting, sculptures, tapestries and architecture is a natural enhancement to the literature of mythology. In addition, resource materials are produced by the Museum. Free 44 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. teaching kits and packets are given in conjunction with special exhibitions. This year, for the Beauford Delaney and Andrew Wyeth shows. And to enrich classroom instruction using the permanent collections, there are posters and activities focusing on African art, modern art, women and art, Mexican art, just to name a few. The numbers bear repeating: Over 80,000 students and 3,000 teachers. On the horizon is an exciting new project, the Wachovia Education Resource Room. The Resource Room will provide area teachers, particularly those in Philadelphia, a space in which to use computers and a full range of reference materials to research PMA collections, artists, art styles. In other words, it will be a modern and comprehensive center. And to maximize their use of this extraordinary resource, teachers will be able to confer with Museum educators. 45 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. In the Perelman Building, the Wachovia Education Resource Room will have even broader use. It will be open to high school and college students, and it will be a quiet respite for the general public, a space to access information and read books on the collections left out for their use. Encapsulated, to be sure, but I've described a full range of educational opportunities, gallery explorations, professional development, instructional materials and soon a state-of-the-art research center. It's evidence that enriching and expanding education is a top priority at PMA. Thank you for your demonstrated confidence in the excellence of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Please continue your valued financial support, knowing that day-to-day programs are enriching the lives for thousands of visitors, from preschoolers through life-long learners. 46 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Thank you.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Andrew Wineman. I'm a volunteer weekend guide at the Museum, and I've just become a volunteer in the educational department as well. I am honored to have this opportunity to address you on a subject so dear to me, the Philadelphia Museum of Art. You've already heard from a number of people who see the Museum as an important part of their lives and of our regional community, and you've heard about many of the different programs which City funding helps to sustain. You've also seen that our volunteers are of different ages and come from many walks of life. As the old man of the group and apparently batting clean-up, I'd like to share some final thoughts with you. I came to the Philadelphia Museum of Art after a 33-year teaching 47 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. career. I taught English and, for the last years or so, art history. It was 4 in this latter capacity that I discovered 5 the invaluable teaching resources of the 6 PMA collections. 7 After my retirement, the first 8 and only place I thought of working was 9 at the PMA so that I could become part of 10 the ongoing educational outreach of this 11 institution. 12 I began my guide training with 13 about 25 other like-minded people a few 14 years ago. We were winnowed from an 15 initial group of some 200 applicants for 16 the program. Think about that. Two 17 hundred aspirants for 25 places. When 18 that many people are willing to offer 19 themselves for an intensive two-year 20 training commitment, followed by a lifetime commitment to serve the community through art education, there must be something very special going on. PMA volunteer guides are among the most thoroughly trained museum guides 48 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. in the country, and our dedication to the institution is truly remarkable. As an example, just to talk about myself for a moment, I've just come here from a Museum tour entitled "Benjamin Franklin's World," and this evening I'll return to the Museum to help host a tour of the Andrew Wyeth show. This sort of commitment is typical of our volunteers, and we do it all for free. It has been my very good fortune to have traveled to many great cities inside and outside the United States. Whenever possible, I visit art museums in those other countries. On each such visit, no matter how prestigious the museum I've seen, I can't help but be reimpressed by the quality of our own collection, the talent of our staffs, both paid and volunteer, and by the stately beauty of our famous home on the Parkway. Soon I hope, through the generosity of this Council, some needed 49 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. improvements and ingenious expansions of our gallery space will be made so that even more of our extraordinary collection can be viewed by even more of the public. On my tours in the Museum and in casual conversations with our visitors, whether they are first-timers from elsewhere in America or a foreign country or whether they live around the country and are frequent visitors, I hear the same reaction voiced over and over again. People are in awe of the quality and quantity of artworks on display and by the gracious treatment they have received from the staff. , for example, where great art is also on display, say that they were surprised and delighted by what they found at PMA. The current Andrew Wyeth show, which opens to the public today and which I hope all of you will be able to attend, 50 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. will further help to reinforce Philadelphia's role as a major player in the American art conversation. Here's an inside I've never forgotten: Many years ago during the series of Apollo missions which has put astronauts on the moon, I was watching a Sunday morning talk show about NASA and how expensive it was to send all those space craft up, and shouldn't we spend our money on something more down to earth.

The response from one of the speakers was this: "America is one of the greatest countries on earth, and great countries do great things. " I submit that the same formula applies here in the City of Brotherly Love. Philadelphia is one of America's greatest cities. In fact, becoming increasingly known from coast to coast. And great cities own and display great art in great settings, like PMA. Who else can do this? 51 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Let me conclude by thanking you, ladies and gentlemen, for maintaining PMA's level of funding this year and by encouraging you most sincerely to approve Mayor Street's proposed $30 million contribution to our capital improvement fund so that the Philadelphia Museum of Art, one of this great City's greatest attractions, can engage, entertain, educate and enlighten future generations of visitors. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Councilwoman Tasco would like to say something.

Yes. I'd like to certainly thank you for coming in to give your support to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It is a great asset to this City. I certainly want to say I appreciate the testimony of the young people and I'm glad that they are working 52 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. as interns at the Museum. It's a great learning experience and enhances their school curriculum, and you're doing a great job and thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Certainly we agree, and thank you very much. MR. McPHERSON: Our next panel is from the Cultural Fund, Peggy Amsterdam and Nancy Goldenberg.

Good afternoon, Council President Verna and esteemed members of City Council. My name is Peggy Amsterdam, and as President of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, a membership organization representing over 300 arts and culture institutions in the region, I am here today to testify in support of continued public investment in arts and culture in the City's Fiscal Year 2007 Operating Budget and Five-Year 53 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Plan. Four years ago, the Board of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund adopted the financial goal of growing the fund to $5 million in five years. We supported this simple and achievable plan to increase the fund in annual increments of $650,000. It was determined at the time that $5 million would enable the Cultural Fund to make grant awards that account for inflation and that keep pace with the growth of cultural organizations. This plan has had its setbacks, but, nonetheless, it is still our goal. In a year when there is a budget surplus, the time to push the plan is now. Arts and cultural organizations are providing more services and providing their value to the City. Arts and culture is the face of Philadelphia. This is how we are known to the rest of the world. This is what has gotten us recognition as the "next great city," has attracted tourists and new residents and 54 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. created a condo boom. I am proud to say that support of arts and culture is an economic strategy that produces notable results. Arts and cultural assets continue to make this a region of choice for young people, families, businesses and tourists. Community-based arts and culture helps eliminate barriers between culturally and economically diverse people. Arts and culture has steadily been transforming declining neighborhoods into thriving communities, and arts and culture contributes to our individual well-being by providing us with activities that renew our spirit as we take on our busy lives. Yet, for some reason, arts and culture has been relegated to be a discretionary element in the total vision of what it means to ensure the highest quality of life for the people of Philadelphia. I can tell you that arts and culture is neither discretionary nor 55 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. is it a stand-alone element. Instead, it is a vital component in the economic vitality of our region. I have a few quick examples in my testimony today that will show that arts and culture offers solutions to help with employment issues, housing issues, educational issues, civic participation, as well as aesthetic issues, making arts and culture a key and vital ingredient for positive change in our region. Arts and culture rehabilitates facilities, families and workers. The African Cultural Appliance of North America located in West Philadelphia unites the arts with social services. In addition to their annual arts and culture events, they offer a child protective services program that keeps families together, repairing unfit living spaces and providing job training to workers who are not attractive to mainstream employers. Arts and culture supports 56 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. educational opportunities by providing high-quality exhibits and classes for little or no cost. In 2005, the Wagner Free Institute of Science located in North Philadelphia educated 27,000 children and adults in subjects of contemporary science, such as genetics and biotechnology. The Wagner's adult classes are taught by faculty of some of the area's most respected institutions, like Penn and Princeton Universities. These adult classes were enjoyed by over 2,000 residents with an interest in science, as well as the area's professionals, such as Fairmount Park employees and gardeners at historic Bartram's Garden. Arts and culture engages residents of all ages in the civic activities necessary to help neighborhoods thrive.

Visual arts organization COSACOSA at large is using multimedia technology to rekindle community involvement. Last year, they 57 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. brought together youth from the Nicetown-Tioga neighborhood to produce a video to show how teenagers can serve as community leaders by engaging young people and inspiring adult community members to participate and make a difference. S. community-based arts organizations using multimedia technology to engage youth and civic participation. Our cultural organizations are some of the best museums, musical organizations, schools, theatres and historic attractions in the country. Having traveled a bit myself, I can tell you there aren't many other cities with the cultural product that we have right here, and it's our responsibility to preserve our heritage and show the world what Philadelphia is and what we have. We can only do that through the arts. Arts and culture is woven into the quality of life of our region, and 58 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. all of my previous examples are taken from organizations that receive a small amount of operating support from the Philadelphia Cultural Fund. Our City's public investment in arts and culture is generating invaluable programming, service and support of all those who live and visit here. The benefits we gain from the small investment the City makes through the Philadelphia Cultural Fund are significant, and yet the Cultural Fund is still only $2 million. Non-profit arts and cultural organizations run on tight zero-based budgets, which are spent down every year. Unlike private businesses that exist solely to turn a profit from their investment, non-profits put their investment right back into the community. Because of non-profit arts and cultural investments, we have a city that is not only rich in the variety of its cultural assets, but also in services that touch all of our lives. 59 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. I urge you to remain committed to providing the operating support that is critical to many of our cultural organizations. I ask that you carefully consider making arts and culture a priority and increase the Cultural Fund. I thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today and hope your completed budget reflects your continued commitment to seeing the Philadelphia Cultural Fund achieve its $5 million FY2008 goal. Thank you.

Good afternoon. My name is Nancy Goldenberg. I have the honor of serving as the President of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, and joining me at the table today is June O'Neill, the Cultural Fund Manager, as well as Julia Lopez, Executive Director of Flamenco Ole, one of our grantees, who will provide a few brief comments in a minute. Joining in spirit are the other 60 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. extraordinary members of our Board, four of whom are your colleagues, Councilmembers Tasco, Kelly, Reynolds Brown and our newest Council representative, Juan Ramos, and nearly 80 volunteer peer-review panelists, whose recommendations are used to determine our awards, and the very grateful 234 Philadelphia-based arts and cultural organizations who were this year's recipients of grants. The Cultural Fund turned 14 years old this year. The non-profit 15 corporation was established by City Council and the Administration in 1991 to help support and enhance the cultural life and vitality of the City and its residents, to promote arts and culture as engines of social and economic development in the region. We carry out our mission through the administration of an inclusive, equitable and informed process of distributing general operating dollars on an annual basis through a 61 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. peer-review process. We began in 1991 with half a million dollars. Our funding from the City has increased over the years to a high of $2.4 million, matching the goal in our Five-Year Plan in FY04. Unfortunately, our funding was reduced in FY05 to $2 million. This year's appropriation rose slightly to 2.1 million, and the proposed budget that you are now deliberating carries over that same amount, which is two and a quarter million dollars less than the 4.350 that we established as a goal in our Five-Year Plan that Peggy referred to a minute ago. We are grateful for the City's continued support of the Cultural Fund, for without it, we would not exist and I suspect neither would many wonderful arts and cultural groups in this City. I realize the Cultural Fund is but one of many important organizations vying for limited dollars, but if I were in your shoes, I'd want to invest in a proven 62 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. success, and few can deny the ongoing positive impact of the Cultural Fund. Our success is evident in our numbers. The number of grant applications we received this year was 241, an eight percent increase from the previous year. This big jump is due to outreach to our arts and cultural organizations. We conducted six application workshops this year, and the net result was new 12 groups that received grants. 13 Second, the Cultural Fund 14 revised its guidelines and application 15 this year to ensure a more friendly and 16 easy-to-use format. 17 And, third, we conducted 18 one-on-one technical assistance in filling out the applications, and 51 organizations took advantage of this help. We awarded 234 grants this year, the most ever. This is a 58 percent increase in grant giving from our initial 136 15 years ago. The Cultural Fund continues to 63 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. increase its visibility and serve as a network for arts and cultural groups from around the City. For the second year, grants were given at an annual reception, which many of you attended, and also this year we awarded the first annual Councilman David Cohen Award, which we will continue hopefully as long as we are around. We do all this and more with only one part-time manager and a very lean administrative budget of 4.2 percent. As I mentioned, we recognize you have many difficult decisions to make this budget season, but we believe the Cultural Fund has only touched the surface of what is possible to strengthen our arts and cultural community. Let me just introduce Julia Lopez, who has a few words to say about the impact of this grant on her organization, Flamenco Ole.

Thank you. You know we agree to give each 64 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. person three minutes. The first speaker took 12, and yours has been about five. So we want to try to stick to the time line so that everybody will get a chance to speak, but thank you very much. Ms. Lopez.

Thank you very much. Good afternoon. My name is Julia Lopez, and I'm going to try to make up for the time. I'm going to be very brief.

Thank you.

I want to let you know how appreciative I am for the money that I got from the City. We get other grants, and some of them are much bigger than this particular one, but I consider this one the most important one, because this is the one that keeps us alive for the whole year. This is the realistic one that we can do whatever we feel is more important for our company. The other ones are made for special projects. 65 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. But in reality, if we didn't have this one to start with that keeps us healthy, we won't be able to take advantage of the other ones. So, again, thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you. And because we mentioned time, that did not in any way mean we don't know of the fine job that you do, Nancy, and all of you and how we feel about the Cultural Fund. You're a wonderful organization.

Thank you.

Thank you. Any questions from members of the Committee? Councilwoman Tasco.

You know I have to say thank you for coming in and thank you for your hard work and thank you to the Executive Director, who works very hard. She's a one-person show. So we appreciate what they do. 66 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC.

Absolutely. Thank you, Councilwoman. MR. McPHERSON: The next group is the Philadelphia Theatre Company, Sarah Garonzik.

Thank you very much. Welcome. Feel free to identify yourself for the record and begin your testimony.

Good afternoon, Council President Verna, Councilwoman Blackwell and esteemed members of City Council. I'm Sarah Garonzik. I'm Producing Artistic Director at Philadelphia Theatre Company and I'm here to testify in favor of continued City support in arts and culture in the City's Operating Budget and in its Five-Year Plan. I'm so pleased that the Mayor recognizes and publicly acknowledges that we must support the operating and capital programs of Philadelphia's arts and institutions. 67 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Philadelphia Theatre Company is now celebrating its 30th anniversary season and is fortunate to receive funds from the Philadelphia Cultural Fund. We are proud to be known as an innovator, a risk-taker and an educator. Each year 35,000 citizens come through our doors, and since the beginning, we have put the spotlight on established and emerging American playwrights and emphasize the rich tradition, unique perspective and cultural diversity of the American experience. We have introduced well over 100 award-winning plays and musicals to Philadelphia audiences and beyond and have helped make Philadelphia an important center for new play development in this country. In fact, this year with the support from the Cultural Fund, we have two world premiers on our stage, the musical comedy "Adrift in Macao," which will open off Broadway next season, and "Some Men" by the world-renowned 68 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. playwright Terrence McNally, which opens next month. Funds from the Cultural Fund also support education and outreach programs, because theatre is not just entertainment, not just a night out, it's also a tremendous educational and humanizing experience. Philadelphia Theatre Company offers curriculum-based art enrichment programs to more than 5,000 middle and high school students each year. Using a multiple visit format, our teaching artists go into classrooms several times before the students come to the theatre. We pay specific attention to breaking down the perceived barriers that young people might encounter in experiencing live theatre for the first time. A few weeks ago, students from Girard College attended a performance of "After Ashley" after several prep sessions by our teaching artists. The students read the script before coming, 69 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. so when they finally experienced the play live, they understood it that much more and felt like they belonged. " And these students are now meeting with the teacher after school on their own time, reading the script on their own time, working with their study guide in preparation for coming to an evening performance, all on their own time. This scenario repeats itself each and every week in the public 16 schools and private schools and parochial 17 schools which we work with throughout the 18 year. 19 In October 2007, we will move 20 into our new home, the Suzanne Roberts 21 Theatre, as part of the Symphony House 22 Project on the Avenue of the Arts at Broad and Lombard Street. Our state-of-the-art facility will be physically accessible to all audience 70 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. members, as well as to the successful and nationally renowned artists that work back stage with us. The new theatre will serve not only Philadelphia Theatre Company, but our sister arts organizations and dance theatre, film and the surrounding schools and universities. When we're in our new home, we will be able to offer our education program to more than 20,000 students each year. We'll also be able to fully launch our first theatrical summer camp to introduce students to the craft of playwriting, as well as to acting, directing, set and lighting design, and other possible careers in theatre. Others have spoken eloquently today about the impact of the arts on the economics of the City and the importance of the arts in attracting residents to Center City and tourists to the region, and I endorse their comments.

It is well documented that for each dollar that the City spends on arts and culture, we 71 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. receive many more in return. But more than that, for each dollar that the City spends on arts and culture, students throughout Philadelphia are inspired to action. They experience life from another person's perspective and gain understanding and insight into themselves and the world at large. I thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today about Philadelphia Theatre Company and hope you will continue investing in the arts, which inspire, educate, nourish and illuminate us all each and every day. Thanks again.

Thank you very much. Any questions or comments? (No response.)

Thank you again. MR. McPHERSON: The next witnesses are Nicholas Torres, John Irizarry, Executive Director of Congreso.

Good 72 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. evening. Thank you for coming. Feel free to identify yourself for the record and begin your testimony.

Good afternoon. My name is Nicholas Torres and I serve as President of Congreso de Latinos Unidos, the largest Latino health, education, social service and workforce development community-based not-for-profit agency in Pennsylvania. With me here is Johnny Irizarry, who is the Executive Director of The Lighthouse, also serving North Philadelphia, and two community residents who have benefitted from adult literacy classes, who will also be testifying. On behalf of the over 24,000 clients we serve at Congreso, 70 percent who are Latino and percent who are 20 African-American, I am honored to be here 21 today to emphasize the critical need for 22 adult literacy classes. 23 One of the most assured means of securing a stable workforce is through educating our populace and preparing them 73 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. for higher-skilled jobs in the City. As such, community adult literacy classes are of the utmost importance for the thousands of adults with low literacy skills in Philadelphia. With your support, Congreso and other Latino-based community organizations are seeking a long-term solution to maintain adult literacy classes through the Community College of Philadelphia. Together we need to ensure the continuance of these classes. Pennsylvania state law outlines that community colleges are designed not only for post secondary studies, but also for out of school youth and for adult education programs. 5 percent of the state and city public funding for community colleges, about 20 million, is dedicated to adult literacy classes. 003 percent, or about 160,000, dedicated to the Latino community, the 74 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. largest demographic shift or increase in the City. This is even more significant considering that this is during a time when the City is experiencing demographic changes through new immigration requiring more ESL classes, continues to have a tremendously high drop-out rate, over 50 percent for the Latino community, and continues to struggle with many residents being unemployable given their low literacy rates and a changing job industry. Specifically, the Latino community has seen CCP's investment in adult literacy decrease from approximately 60 sections annually to its current 18 sections. This is a 70 percent decrease in less than three years. Again, I'd like to emphasize that this has been done at a time when, as a recent National Research Council study reports, increased immigration means that Latinos are highly overrepresented in 75 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. low-wage industries. Low-wage jobs and limited English proficiency lead to lack of self-sufficiency. Latino students are seeking a solution, but Dr. Steven Curtis, President of CCP, seeks to increase the costs shared with students to approximately $100 per class, representing about a 43 percent of the class cost. This cost of $100 per course to the student competes with essentials necessary to sustain a family, healthcare, food and housing. On average, annual family incomes for Latinos in eastern North Philadelphia is $14,000. Making $100 available for a semester course becomes a luxury for the population most needing adult literacy. As mentioned before, this decrease in funding comes at a time when demand for the classes and, hence, job readiness and workforce development are soaring. Congreso alone saw that only 50 percent of its applicants were being able 76 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. to be placed. There is currently a wait list of 400 students at Congreso. The decrease in availability of these classes only further reduces any hope of these individuals entering the workforce and becoming self-sufficient. As such, unemployment equates to a larger drain on social service resources as the heads of households have to support their families through alternative means. S. workforce, which will be increasingly made up of the younger growing Latino population.

In closing, I would like to remind City Council that our future will be in the hands of the next generation. We need to prepare them for their future and for ours. As such, we again implore your assistance for funding on the City level and an increase in the allocation designed for adult literacy classes and 77 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. 5 percent of their 57 million allocated by City and state funding. Thank you. )

Thank you very much. Thank you. Is there any other testimony?

Yes. Good afternoon. My name is Johnny Irizarry and I am the Executive Director of The Lighthouse, a 112-year-old settlement house/neighborhood center located in North Philadelphia/West Kensington. The Lighthouse serves over 6,600 individuals a year, and similar to community demographics, our program participants are 75 percent Latino and percent 20 African-American. 21 We want to sincerely thank you 22 for this forum and the opportunity to 23 share our concerns regarding the 24 essential and urgent need for your 25 support of comprehensive adult literacy 78 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. programs in our community. We strongly agree and support the issues raised in the testimony just provided by our colleague, Nicholas Torres, and would like to share additional information for your further consideration. As Nick stated in his statement, the eastern North Philadelphia community is experiencing an extreme drop in the number of adult literacy classes offered after many years of services provided by Community College of Philadelphia in partnership with a diverse group of predominately Latino community-based organizations in eastern North Philadelphia, such as The Lighthouse and Congreso, that made accessible ABE, ESL and GED classes, both in English and Spanish. Originally there were at least eight sites offering classes in partnership with CCP in North Philadelphia. In a little over five 79 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. years, CCP offerings in our community have been dramatically reduced. Just five years ago, an estimated 5,900 adult learners attended about 244 classes per year offered by CCP directly in our community. This last session served only 225 students total at three remaining sites, Congreso, Casa del Carmen and The Lighthouse, leaving a total of only nine CCP classes offered in our communities. Although there are other providers of adult literacy education in our community, some of which also provide a very limited number of classes in our organizations, these programs are very small in our area because of limited funding cannot pick up the great void of services caused by CCP unexpected cutbacks, and, unfortunately, these providers do not offer GED classes in Spanish. These and other providers of adult literacy programs have historically not offered many classes in the eastern North Philadelphia communities because 80 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. they knew that CCP served the area. But as a result of CCP cutbacks, our community will once again become one of the most underserved in adult literacy programs in the City. This is extremely alarming in light of what has already been highlighted by Mr. Torres in his testimony regarding the high drop-out rates and increasing number of the Latino population and growing immigration to our City. We are respectfully requesting that Philadelphia City Council consider the many complex issues adult learners confront in the Latino community and across the City and, through partnerships, policy and legislation development, institute solutions that will not abandon adults caught in the desperate void caused by not having the required tools for gaining access to the workforce, higher education and/or advanced job training opportunities because of not having a high school 81 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. diploma, a GED and/or not knowing the English language well enough to achieve economic stability and economic success at equitable levels with other communities across the City. S. S. is consistent 12 with research findings about the 13 importance of adult literacy. The report 14 affirms that adults with below basic English literacy skills are more likely to be unemployed than individuals at higher literacy categories and that those adults with adequate literacy skills are better equipped to be parents, workers and citizens.

Unfortunately, the report states that Hispanic adults showed a decrease in scores for both prose and document literacy and a higher percentage in the Below Basic category. All other groups improved in all three measures of 82 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. literacy as compared to 1992. S. society. S. society. We have two students that have very short testimonies, that they would like to add their personal experience.

Okay. We'll try to work with you. Let's try to keep it short.

They're very short.

Thank you. Thank you. 83 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. MS. DiRENZO: Good afternoon, members of City Council.

Good afternoon. MS. DiRENZO: My name is Marisol DiRenzo. I'm the Adult Education Coordinator at The Lighthouse. In 1991, I opened a small flower shop. In 2001, I closed it to take care of my cancer-stricken husband. I had not worked in an office setting in over a decade. I discovered most places no longer had a personnel office. Everyone had moved online. Everyone had an exam before any employer would even consider an interview. I needed to brush up. I looked into several community organizations. Even though I lived in Roxborough, I enrolled in a GED class at The Lighthouse, where I decided to volunteer with the Adult Education Department. I volunteered for six months. I completed my semester with renewed confidence ready 84 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. to face the working world. There were challenges that were presented to me as a Latina woman who was born and raised in North Philadelphia. Imagine for those who do not speak English who desperately want to seek a higher education and employment. There is also a demand for bilingual employment. Without these services, our students face multiple challenges and barriers. Without these programs, such as ESL I and II, English as a second language, you undermined the strength of a whole community. Not just for Latinos, but African-Americans, Asian and low-income whites. I'm here to speak on behalf of the student who takes GED in Spanish and also takes the ESL classes in order to further their education so they can go to a training school or a better-paying job. I speak for the student who has been out of school for many years and wishes to get their GED. I speak for the student 85 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. whose mother is tired of the violence in public schools and her son or daughter dropped out and they want their GED, because she can't give up on her children. Or the immigrant who is legally here and pays taxes, but is not entitled to any returns, studies ESL I, ESL II in hopes of preparation for his citizenship class, for all the students who have invested more than one or two semesters at The Lighthouse trying to get their GED and will feel the impact if CCP eliminates their classes and raises their rates to unaffordable levels. As the Adult Education Coordinator at The Lighthouse who registers CCP students, delivers their applications, delivers their money, assesses their students, please tell me what more can I do to enhance, strengthen the commitment that we owe to this community. I can only hope for all of our sake that CCP lives up to just a little of its name, community. 86 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC.

Thank you very much. (Applause.)

Good afternoon, Council. My name is Pablo Oquendo. I am a current student at The Lighthouse and I came here in the United States at the age of 18. I started working. And a few years ago, I got hurt, injured, and I decided that I needed to do something else, since I can't work with my hands no 13 longer. So I started taking my classes of GED, and to this day, it's been working for me. And I'm kind of ashamed that Community College will want to cut out these services for us Hispanic-speaking people to get a second chance in life. We want our second chance, too. And that's all I have to say. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. (Applause.) 87 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC.

Certainly. Everybody is deserving of a second chance. Thank you for your testimony. MR. McPHERSON: The next group is Victor Bryan Smith, Carla Johnson, Christina Taing.

Good evening. Welcome. Please introduce yourself for our record and begin your testimony.

Good afternoon, Madam City Council President.

Good afternoon.

My name is Victor Bryan Smith, Sr.

My name is Christina Taing.

My name is Carla Lucille Johnson.

Good evening.

Madam City Council 88 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. President, members of this esteemed body, visitors, my fellow students, greetings.

Greetings.

My name is Victor B. Smith, Sr. and I live in North Philadelphia. I am the Student Government President at Community College of Philadelphia. I am here today to request that the City support the College's request for an additional $2 million for its operating budget. I would like to present to you the following reasons why funding the College is so important. When founded in 1964, Community College of Philadelphia was dedicated to the following: Providing access to higher education for all who may benefit, providing academic skills, training and a coherent foundation for college transfer, employment and life-long learning. The College serves the City of Philadelphia by preparing its students to 89 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. be active participants in the cultural, business and political life of the City and the region. The College draws together students from a wide range of ages and backgrounds and seeks to provide the programs and support they need to achieve their goals. Some students, however, have the dream, but lack the funding to realize the dream. It is our responsibility to assist the citizens of this great City to achieve that dream. In this economy, education is being pushed aside. People with educational dreams are finding them crushed by bureaucracy. It begins in the high schools, where in the tristate area the drop-out rate is 11 percent. For those able to get into a four-year institution, the drop-out rate is 27 percent for first-year students. Funding, increased student funding, enables people to achieve those 90 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. goals, to become the productive voting members of the community, and empowers others to do the same. Over the last four years, Community College has received a budget with no increases or decreases, and we are grateful. But as with everything, prices go up and the cost of living cannot be treated the same as it was four years ago. And we have had tuition increases for the last three years. Although the nation is in a time of "no child left behind," without increased dedicated funding, entire generations will be left behind. The requested additional $2 million would be a great investment and send the message that we do care about our children. In a time of trying to find role models, an educational role model stands above all others. I am living proof of just one financial aid story. I retired in the year 2000 as a State Corrections Officer, 91 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. and as I pondered my plans for my future, I decided to return to Community College of Philadelphia after a 23-year absence. Since my return, I have maintained a 3.0 GPA. I have been the recipient of many awards for my volunteer work, not only in school but with the Community Builders Tour, which is sponsored by the Timberland Company. I have been honored by being placed on the National Dean's list of Who's Who in America's Junior Colleges for the year 2005 and 2006. And let me add, only one half of one percent of students across the country get that honor. I have been invited to speak on many occasions to high school students, and my message is the same: Never be afraid to let your light shine, for you empower others to do the same. My ten-year-old granddaughter, Brianna, constantly tells me just how proud of her Pop-Pop she is and she wants 92 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. to follow in my footsteps. But she wants to be President of the College. I tell her she can accomplish anything she wants to. With a good education and hard work, she will realize her dreams. While this is certainly true, it is not the full story. There is another ingredient that often is critical to success, the ability to afford a quality education. I urge you to increase funding for Community College of Philadelphia so that students like me and future students like my granddaughter will have access to a college education. Thank you for your time in allowing me to speak today. (Applause.)

Thank you very much.

Madam President, esteemed Councilmembers, visitors and fellow students, my name is Carla Lucille Johnson. I live in Germantown. I am 46 years old, divorced and I'm a mother of 93 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. two adult daughters, Pamela, who is 20, and Paula, who is 24. Pamela is also a full-time student at Community College. In 1981, I started at Community College, but stopped because of the birth of my first daughter. I was employed for years at Eastern Pennsylvania 9 Psychiatric Institute, EPPI for short. 10 It has been my life-long goal to become a 11 social worker working with geriatrics. 12 Although I was the financial provider for 13 two children, I was still able to attend 14 Community College of Philadelphia and 15 take several classes during the years 16 because of the affordable tuition. 17 In June of 2004, the Eastern 18 Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute closed 19 its doors. Unsure of what I was going to 20 do, I took the chance at becoming a 21 full-time student. To understand why I 22 chose to become a full-time student, I 23 would like to read excerpts from the 24 Mission Statement of Community College of Philadelphia. 94 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. The Community College of Philadelphia is an open admission, Associate-degree-granting institution, which provides access to higher education for all who may benefit. Its programs of study in liberal arts and sciences, career technologies and basic academic skills provide a coherent foundation for college transfer, employment and life-long learning. The College serves by preparing its students to be informed citizens, active participants in the cultural life of the City, enabled to meet the changing needs of business, industry and professions. To help address the broad economic, cultural and political concerns in the City and beyond, the College draws together students from a wide range of ages and backgrounds and seeks to provide the programs to support their needs to achieve their goals. The residents of Philadelphia do not realize the benefits Community 95 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. College of Philadelphia offers. I am an excellent example of this. Since becoming a full-time student, I have had many accomplishments. I have maintained a 3.1 GPA, and in 2004, 2005 and 2006, I received the honor to being placed on the National Dean's list for American Junior Colleges. I have been very active in different organizations. I am a member of LEADS, which stands for Leadership, plus Education, Achievements, plus Diversity equals Success. I am the Chairperson of the Community Service Subcommittee. We have had select food drives to support families in need. In addition, I am a student ambassador, and as an ambassador, I am able to speak to others about what the college offers, and I have done community service for the school. All of these things are possible because the financial aid covers the cost of my tuition. I would not have 96 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. been able to do this if my cost to attend the college was substantially more than the financial aid I receive. I am here today to show you that the money that the City of Philadelphia gives the College is being well spent. And an increase of money to the school ensures the same opportunity for future students to attend this college. Thank you for allowing me to address you today. (Applause.)

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen of the Council and guests. I appreciate having the opportunity to address some very pertinent issues that are relative to me and thousands of others. My name is Christina Taing. I am years old, and 22 I have been married for ten years and 23 have two young sons. I have lived in 24 Philadelphia for most of my life and I am 25 proud to say that I am a South 97 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Philadelphian. I am here today on behalf of the students of Community College of Philadelphia. Our college recently celebrated its 40th year as an institution of higher education that prides itself on being financially accessible to thousands of students. This accessibility to non-traditional, minority, immigrant and poor students is in grave danger due to a budget crisis that looms large on our campus. Though the City and state have kept funding for our college level for the past few years, we are all well aware of the rising costs of living. As our funding stays at a stagnant level, the costs for the operation of the College surge, in gas, electric, wages and more. In light of this situation, tuition has been increased every year for the past three years. We are looking at yet another tuition increase this coming year as well. With the higher costs comes cuts in departments, programs and 98 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. classes, all at the expense of those students who yearn to learn and succeed, yet are thwarted by the high cost of an education. I personally understand the barriers that can obstruct one in the pursuit of an education. I had dropped out of high school, but managed to complete my diploma on time with my peers. But college had not been for me. As a young mother, I dreaded the costs and the time, but especially the costs. When I decided to enroll in college last year, at the age of 24, I was heartened by the knowledge that community colleges were rather inexpensive and that financial aid could help me considerably. I can now proudly say that I have a 4.5 GPA, am Vice-President of the Student Government Association and an officer of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. When I complete my Associate's degree in May, I will be contemplating 99 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. admission into some of the best universities in the City, the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and Thomas Jefferson University. With the nurturing environment that CCP affords all of its students, I have gone from being a high school drop-out to a high school graduate, to realizing my hopes of accomplishing a Master's in nursing. My story is not unusual or atypical of the students that attend community colleges. There are thousands like me, which is why I am here today to beseech the City Council to increase the funding allotted to Community College of Philadelphia so that the students of the present and of the future can also have the opportunity to learn and to eventually become vital components to a continually thriving and expanding Philadelphia. Thank you for your time. (Applause.)

Thank 100 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. you very much. We certainly wish you well and applaud you for your commitment to making yourself and your family successful. Thank you all. Councilman Kenney.

I know this is public testimony from the general public. Is it appropriate for us to request some information from CCP? I'm just curious. Listening to the testimony of this panel and the last panel, a couple questions arose, and I would like to just make the request to the Chair that if I could find out what the tuition -- and you may know -- what the tuition annually is now for CCP, how many students are enrolled there and what the average financial aid that comes from either the state or federal government is. And, also, I assume that it's heavily weighted as Philadelphia residents, but I'd also be interested in 101 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. knowing whether or not there's any component of students that are from outside the boundaries of Philadelphia. Also, as a result of the discussion on the last panel relative to the cuts in ESL programs, I find it somewhat ironic that any federal legislation that's coming relative to immigration is requiring that people learn English and they're providing absolutely no help or funding to maintain that English Second Language program. Recent census data that I've become aware of today is that since the last census, Philadelphia has lost a gross number of 20,000 people and has a net loss of 8,000 people. Five thousand of those people were legal immigrants that made up the loss of the 20,000 gross loss of residents for the City. So even though in some neighborhoods we're doing a lot better and property values are up, we still are experiencing a net loss of people in trying to fill that gap through 102 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. legal immigration. But we need to provide some opportunities for people to learn English, like some of our Washington elected officials demand. So that information on the enrollment, tuition and financial aid would be helpful. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.

Thank you very much. We have noted that and we'll certainly pass that on to make sure we get that. Thank you all. MR. McPHERSON: The next group, Letty D. Thall, Joanne Fisher from the Maternity Care Coalition.

Hi. I'm Letty Thall, the Public Policy Director, and with me today is Lisa Salberg, our Cribs for Kids Coordinator. We're representing Joanne, who sends her regrets but is in the midst of our annual Mothers' Day Campaign, which is being chaired this year by Carolyn Smith and her son, Will 103 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Smith, Philadelphia native, Hollywood star and, for some of us of a certain age, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, who used to shoot hoops at -- or there were clips on TV of him shooting hoops at 17th and Mount Vernon Recreation Center. But we're here today to tell you that we appreciate the opportunity to provide this information to City Council since we work with and across City departments that impact the City's youngest citizens and vulnerable families to meet basic health and social needs, which hopefully will prevent later more expensive and longer term public involvement. With our brightly colored MOMobile vans, we see clients and make sure that appropriate health services are given during pregnancy and after. This work keeps us in touch with health, welfare, nutrition, early care and education, and social services or, in some cases, recognition of the dearth of 104 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. these vital services. It also enables us to see emerging trends, such as the need for breastfeeding education, screening and support for perinatal depression, HIV prevention, and education regarding safe sleep and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. We certainly appreciate all of the assistance given by many of you here in this room in City Council, the Department of Human Services and the Department of Public Health in helping us meet this newly emerging problem of infant death due to a family's inability to provide separate sleeping space for their new babies. Our Cribs for Kids Program has been able to provide education and cribs through a screening process for eligible families. And as you all know, the demand far exceeds the supply. I've attached a sheet that identifies the multiple public and private funding sources to try to meet this demand, and DHS in the midst of this 105 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. fiscal year, as well as the Department of Public Health, have been able to increase their contracts with us to serve their needed clients, and we're very grateful for this additional support, and we also look forward to the additional funding that the Mayor has proposed in the 2007 budget year. With this type of support, we can ensure that eligible families receive cribs and intensify our educational efforts. There is still some other problems that need solutions, and I'd just like to identify that heterosexual women of color have the fastest growing rate of HIV infection in our region. We provide services, and hope to be able to provide more. There are also women in prison who are pregnant or mothers of young children. We've been working with the Philadelphia Riverside Correctional Facility and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. We hope, and knock on wood 106 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. we're not jinxing it, that we may be able to bring some private funding into the City to serve this population. And my last paragraph is a description of who we are, because I know that City Council has also been concerned about contractor diversity. So I wanted you to know that we're a non-profit governed by a 27-member Board of Directors composed of four men and 12 women. Thirty three percent of our Board 13 members are African-American, 48 percent 14 Caucasian-American, 15 percent are Latino 15 or Latina and four percent are 16 Asian-American. And our staff is also 17 equally diverse. 18 We look forward to all of us 19 joining together to ensure that babies 20 born in Philadelphia can grow into 21 productive, healthy and happy citizens. 22

Thank 23 you very much.

Thank you very much. 107 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC.

Any questions or comments? (No response.)

Thank you. MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness is Frank Cervone. I'm sorry, with Jean Bordgerhoff and a panel with the Center City Crime Victims.

Again, we thank the Maternity Care Coalition for the fine job that they continue to do.

Thank you.

Thank you. Welcome. Please identify yourself for the record and begin your testimony.

Good evening, Councilwoman Blackwell and members. I I'm Frank Cervone and I serve as Director of the Support Center for Child Advocates. It's good to see you again. I represent tonight the 12 victim service agencies in the City of Philadelphia, and I will briefly summarize the statement of 108 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. need, which we've prepared, presented to you this evening, as well as had delivered to your Chambers. The agencies, you may know 6 them. I'm sure you know many. The 7 Action Alliance for Elderly Victim 8 Assistance, Center City Crime Victim 9 Services, East Division Crime Victim 10 Services, the Families of Murder Victims, 11 North Central Victim Services, Northeast 12 Philadelphia Victim/Witness Services, Northwest Victim Services, the Support Center for Child Advocates, Victim/Witness Services of South Philadelphia, West/Southwest, Women Organized Against Rape and Women Against Abuse. This afternoon we ask for your support in the form of $700,000 in appropriations in Class 200 funds in the District Attorney's budget. Over the last three years, our agencies have experienced an 18 percent drop in federal Victims of Crime Act 109 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. funding. For that drop, we've suffered no reduction in service. We keep squeezing ourselves, finding dollars and finding volunteer time. We recover in excess of $1.6 million in crime victim compensation. Our volunteers contribute millions of dollars in contributed services to this community. But volunteers need staff support in the neighborhoods and in the courts. Whether the victimization is by rape or domestic violence, child abuse, elder abuse or homicide, we are with the citizens, the victims, your constituents, we're with the people. We all saw what happened a few weeks ago in witness intimidation in the sad case of Faheem Childs when six witnesses failed to testify, refused to come forward, refused to do their part to protect the community. It's hard, though, to criticize such moves, because their fear is well founded. We're living in a violent time. 110 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. What we can tell you, though, is that because of our work, our courtroom accompaniment, our field work, our hand-holding, many, many thousands of victims are indeed coming forward. Cases are being heard and successfully prosecuted and their compensation being acquired. In short, victim service workers are a part of the answer. We know you've heard from District Attorney Abraham and from Councilman Kenney about the need for victim relocation dollars. Ours are the agencies that use some of those dollars in a sense by networking with the people who need to move. But, in fact, however you can come down on that difficult controversial decision, we believe that the larger part of the answer lies in supporting our work, in helping the thousands of victims who surely will not relocate, but face the same issues of intimidation and need for accompaniment. 111 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Do you know what is in the current budget for the DA for this service now?

I believe the same number as last year. I believe it's $630,000.

So you want an additional $700,000?

No; an additional $70,000, for a total of 700,000.

Thank you.

To fill in, and you'll see in our report some of the economic analysis, the financial analysis, to fill in some of the $231,000 cut in federal funding over the last three years.

Okay. Thank you very much. Are there other questions from 112 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. members of the Committee? (No response.)

Thank you very much, Mr. Cervone.

Thanks for having us. Good evening.

Certainly. MR. McPHERSON: Maurice Sampson, with panel, from the Streets Department Recycling.

Welcome. Good evening. Feel free to identify yourself for our record and begin your testimony. Good evening.

Good afternoon. My name is Maurice Sampson. I'm actually going to speak last. We have five of us speaking. We will recognize the limits.

Thank you.

And we'll start to hear from a resident, Ann Dixon.

Thank 113 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. you.

Hello. I'm a resident of West Philadelphia. Ann Dixon. It should be as easy to recycle as it is to properly dispose of trash, because it should be easy to do something that's going to save the City money without losing jobs. It should be easy to do something that lessens the burden on landfills and saves resources. It should be easy to recycle, because recycling is beneficial for everyone. If made easier, more people will participate. In summers, I leave for work before 7:00 a.m. on Saturdays. This means that if I want to recycle cardboard and plastic, I have to first remember which Saturdays are recycling days for the Cedar Park Neighbors Recycling Project at 50th and Baltimore. I load up my bicycle with cardboard and plastic at 6:30 a.m. and drop it off at the 114 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. recycling spot in front of a sign which reads "don't drop off recycling before 9:00 a.m." Others have already left the recycling. This process does not count as easy recycling. All recyclable items should be picked up curbside weekly the same day as trash. This, City Council members, could be your legacy, a major concrete item to show your constituents.

Good afternoon. My name is Emily Lynn and I'm a Program Director at Clean Air Council. Clean Air Council is a local environmental non-profit organization based in Philadelphia dedicated to protecting everyone's right to breathe clean air. The Council is also a founding member of the Recycling Alliance of Philadelphia. The Alliance is a coalition of organizations and individuals dedicated to promoting better recycling services in the City. Today I'm here specifically to comment on the City of Philadelphia's 115 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. recycling program. One of the most popular questions I get on a weekly or even daily basis is, Why don't Philadelphia residents recycle? This is a fairly simple-sounding question. Being the first city in the nation to pass a mandatory recycling law close to years 10 ago, you'd think we'd have it right by 11 now. But Philadelphia's resident 12 curbside recycling rate continues to 13 hover at or below five percent, ranking 14 the City second to the bottom among 15 cities with populations over million. 16 The fact remains: After 20 years of 17 operating under a mandatory recycling 18 law, it is still much easier and more 19 straightforward for Philadelphia 20 residents to put out the trash than put 21 out their recycling. 22 I would argue that there is 23 actually a very simple answer to this 24 question of why people don't recycle. If 25 the City makes recycling as easy for 116 1 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. residents as throwing out their trash and gives residents the tools they need to participate, then I guarantee you you'll see Philadelphia's recycling rates soar. Invest in our recycling program now and according to the City Controller's 2005 audit of the recycling program, the City could soon reap an economic savings to the tune of million a year. 11 There are four steps to 12 improving the City's recycling program 13 that Clean Air Council and the recycling 14 advocacy community as a whole would like 15 to see City Council champion. One, 16 collect recycling curbside on a weekly 17 basis in all neighborhoods of the City; two, allow residents to place all recyclable materials in one bin; three, expand curbside recycling to include plastics and cardboard; and, four, design and implement a targeted recycling educational campaign that gets residents the information they need. Philadelphia has a tremendous 117 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. opportunity to make recycling easy and simple for residents. Pilot programs in neighborhoods of Northwest Philadelphia have tested very successful single-stream collection in incentive-based recycling methods that have shown a drastic increase in both recycling participation rates and recycling diversion rates. By adopting a program City-wide which is modeled after the very successful recycling program that has been tested in these pilot neighborhoods, all of City residents can get weekly curbside recycling pick-up, can place all the materials in one bin, can recycle plastics and cardboard, along with their glass, aluminum and paper. And as my colleagues will explain, investing in a single-stream incentive-based recycling program City-wide can only result in savings for the City in the long run, not to mention all of the social and environmental benefits. In conclusion, we have a 118 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. tremendous opportunity right now to improve recycling for Philadelphia residents and to design a recycling program that is easy for residents to use and one that encourages rather than discourages their participation. Let's capture the momentum of these successful pilot programs and make Philadelphia a city that is looked at as a model for its successful and innovative recycling programs. Thank you.

Thank you very much. You've done a great job in communicating with us. We've heard from you, Ms. Dixon. Thank you for all that you do. Thank you.

My name is Christine Knapp. I'm the Eastern Pennsylvania Outreach Coordinator for Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future, also known as PennFuture. I'm also a Board member of Recycling Alliance of Philadelphia and sit on the Mayor's 119 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Recycling Advisory Committee. PennFuture works to create a just future where nature, the economy and communities thrive. PennFuture also aims to dispel the myth that the environment and the economy are opposing interests, and we work to demonstrate that a cleaner environment and a healthy economy are intrinsically linked. For years, I and other members of the Recycling Alliance have worked to promote recycling in Philadelphia, citing its numerous benefits, including reducing air and water pollution and saving our natural resources. We've also noted that recycling helps reduce litter on the street, which improves our quality of life. However, until recently, there has been little information on how recycling can impact the Philadelphia economy. At budget hearings three years ago, Councilman David Cohen cited data from the recycling office showing that 120 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. for the first time in Philadelphia, recycling a ton of trash was slightly cheaper than sending it to a landfill. Subsequently, recycling became significantly cheaper, by as much as $25 a ton. At that time, the Recycling Alliance began to wonder how much money the City could save if it was recycling at its full potential. Last May, the City Controller's office released an audit of the City's recycling program, which answered that question. " As a way of demonstrating the savings potential, we calculated that for each one percent improvement the City can achieve in the diversion rate, approximately $540,000 could be saved on an annual basis. As the diversion rate 121 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. approaches 35 to 40 percent, the savings could potentially reach $17 million a year. Seventeen million is how much Philadelphians are literally throwing in the garbage each year. This is money that could be spent keeping libraries open or putting police on the streets. The Controller's report has been out for almost a year, and yet City Council has taken no steps towards enacting the recommended changes that would result in the savings of million 14 a year. 15 There has been, and there will 16 undoubtedly be more, groups here today 17 asking for more money that should be allocated to education or fighting crime, the upkeeps of parks, cultural institutions, other worthy causes. As you hear each of these groups ask for more money, please remember that you have an additional $17 million that you could be investing in their programs if we just had an effective program for recycling in 122 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Philadelphia. Another economic point to note is that Philadelphia has been fortunate enough to run the first pilot test of RecycleBank, which Emily mentioned. RecycleBank rewards residents who recycle with coupons redeemable at national and local retailers. Two successful pilot programs in Northwest Philadelphia neighborhoods have shown that the program dramatically increases recycling diversion and participation rates. Residents are happy to be rewarded for doing something good. Businesses are happy because they see an increase in foot traffic from customers using their coupons. And the City of Philadelphia should be happy because increased recycling is good for its economy. As I mentioned, increased recycling saves tax dollars, but there's another economic boost as well. Each household participating in RecycleBank can receive up to $400 in coupons each 123 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. year. That is money that's reinvested in the local economy. If you have the entire City participating in RecycleBank, that would be millions of additional dollars that could be put into our local stores.

Materials collected through RecycleBank are processed at the Blue Mountain Recycling Facility in the Grays Ferry section of Philadelphia. Blue Mountain is a state-of-the-art facility that has been nationally recognized for its cutting-edge use of technology. They currently employ 80 City residents and continue to expand the growing business. If Philadelphia improved its recycling rate to 35 percent, Blue Mountain would likely have to open another facility in Philadelphia and hire more employees, yet another economic boom to the City. The time is long overdue for the City of Philadelphia to invest in a stronger, more efficient recycling program. While I'm sure everyone on 124 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Council supports the idea of an improved recycling program, you must take action to support it by allocating an appropriate budget to the recycling office. The City of Philadelphia now has a new reason to expand recycling. In fact, it has million new reasons. 9 Thank you. 10

Thank 11 you very much. 12 Any questions? 13

Yes, I 14 have a question. 15

16 Councilwoman Tasco. 17

Are you going to speak, Mr. Sampson?

Yes.

I want to ask him a question about his testimony. Go ahead and speak.

My name is Evan Belser. I live in Mt. Airy. I work for Clean Water Action. We're a grassroots 125 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. environmental group with about 6,000 members in Philadelphia and many more outside of that throughout the country. I'm a member of the Recycling Alliance of Philadelphia. I, as well as Christine, sit on the Mayor's Recycling Advisory Committee, and I sit on the Steering Committee for the Recycle NOW Philadelphia Campaign, which Maurice will go over in a minute. As every year, this year Philadelphia residents are going to drag about 700,000 tons of materials to the curb, and City sanitation employees are going to put this in one of two places, a recycling truck or trash truck. For the material that's tossed into a trash truck, it will be incinerated or dumped into a landfill, both of which are environmentally disgraceful practices. Burning trash pollutes our air. Landfills contaminate groundwater and are a shameful use of open space. Not only does disposal poison our air and water, 126 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. but also necessitates the use of virgin materials for the next round of consumer items. The health of our environment is inextricably linked to the health of our people, and thus these practices are unacceptable and entirely unsustainable. On the other hand, the materials that are tossed to a recycling truck will be recycled and reused, helping to lessen the City's environmental impact. If this year is like last year, 95 percent of what's put to the curb will be incinerated or taken to a landfill. This is one of the lowest diversion rates for major cities in the country and a rather sore point of pride for many residents of Philadelphia. The first step toward responsible waste management is to keep reusable materials out of landfills. This principle, of course, was the impetus behind Philadelphia's mandatory recycling ordinance set to law 20 years ago, a law with which the City has never 127 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. been in compliance. Sadly, citizens are still expending their energy to push the City to adhere to its own law. I'd like to remind everyone here that what we're asking for, what Philadelphia citizens are pushing for, are mere baby steps toward environmental stewardship. Advanced notions such as manufacturer responsibility, zero waste initiatives, bottle bills, pay-as-you-throw programs, curbside organics recovery, that's not what we're talking about. We need to crawl before we can walk or run. The motivation to recycle doesn't need to be out of concern for the environment or out of respect for the law nowadays. We can do it out of concern for our pocketbooks. Most of what gets trashed nowadays has value in today's market. By continuing to trash 95 percent of materials, the City foregoes real income, and this is exactly what former City Controller Saidel explained 128 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. in last year's audit. Seventeen million dollars is a large sum of money that we can't afford to pass on. The Streets Department is dragging its feet in negotiations with RecycleBank Company, claiming that there are up-front costs that must be paid before the program can move forward. Perhaps that's true. The objective should be to determine the best way to minimize those costs, not whether to incur them at all. This is a law, after all, we need to be following. This would be a prudent investment and would certainly earn a return. Once these costs are specified, I implore members of Council to allow the spending. People want recycling and are demanding it, and the circumstances are ripe for change. And the debate should not be about whether we should improve the City's recycling program, but simply how to do so. Thank you so much. I 129 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. appreciate your time.

Thank you very much.

Good afternoon. My name is Maurice. I live in Mt. Airy as well. Maurice Sampson. I run a company called Niche Recycling, and I am also now the Chair for the Recycle NOW Campaign. It's been years since I was 12 appointed as the City's first Recycling 13 Coordinator, 20 years in which despite a 14 flow of resources and support we are only 15 at five percent recycling rate. 16 Ninety-five percent of our trash goes to 17 landfills. It is a testimony to 18 institutional resistance that we are at 19 five percent, the second lowest among 20 America's largest cities. I am also asked the question why. Why if everyone else across the country is making recycling work, why not in Philadelphia? While it may be true that the Streets Department has blocked 130 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. all substantial progress in developing programs over the last years, it is 4 also true that Philadelphians have a 5 tendency to bemoan the lack of a 6 recycling program to each other and not 7 to City Council and to the Mayor. So 8 it's not strange to understand why it's 9 not a priority. 10 Delivering that message is what 11 the Recycle NOW Campaign is about, a 12 public education, information, civic 13 action campaign directed at our citizens 14 in the City so that they can understand 15 just what it is they need to do if they 16 want to see this become a priority, a 17 political resolve to make it happen. 18 Now, there are three recent 19 developments in the City that provide the 20 opportunity to dramatically improve the way we collect waste in Philadelphia. The first -- and it has been mentioned -- is the opening of the Blue Mountain recycling facility, one of the most modern material processing centers in the 131 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. United States, allowing us to put everything in one container and have it picked up in a standard compactor truck, a truck that has 44 percent more capacity than the compartmentalized recycling vehicles that we run right now. The second was the success of the RecycleBank incentive programs. The most important point to be looked at there is that they were tested in two neighborhoods, affluent Chestnut Hill and working-class West Oak Lane, one with 35 percent participation, the other with five percent participation. Both went to 90 percent. That kind of single approach, that approach that provides that kind of response over neighborhoods with that diverse is unprecedented. It's also clear that the $400 per year rewarding each household has a lot to do with that success. We also need to understand that City-wide that's $240 million that can be spent here in the City. 132 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Now, according to the City Controller -- and my third point, according to the City Controller's audit, they see that we can get the 35 to 40 percent of the mandated goal without significant new investment. Now, how would you accomplish that? According to the Fleets Department, the City has a compactor fleet of 268 trucks. However, only 166 of those are deployed every day for trash collection. That leaves 102 compactors unused and available for recycling. With only 12 compactors, we could replace all 67 of the recycling vehicles that are on the street, each having a longer route for recycling collection. That will leave 19 crews idle that could also be on compactor trucks serving a still larger area with any additional labor costs, while gradually increasing that recycling rate. The Controller's scenario suggests that with creativity and 133 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. redeployment of resources and no new expenditures, we can begin to develop a very aggressive recycling program with significant savings to the City. Now, the Streets Department has acknowledged the success of RecycleBank, but it has questioned the logic and the figures and the facts that have been presented by both RecycleBank and the City Controller's office.

4 million for 64 new vehicles and a $780,000 increase in annual labor costs. Similarly, in a presentation to the Recycling Advisory Committee in evaluating RecycleBank's program, they claimed in meeting the RecycleBank's proposal that we would need 33 new trucks, with increased labor costs of $10 to $18 million a year. 134 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Without question, this whole subject requires closer scrutiny and more discussion than is time for here today, but for respect for the rule of law, the questions of why laws passed by this Council have been ignored need to be addressed. For the financial well-being of this City, the potential for saving somewhere between $17 and $21 million a year and providing $240 million to the local economy, it needs to be fully explored. In this regard, I want to thank you and applaud Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown and sponsors Councilman Frank DiCicco, Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller, Councilman James F. Kenney and the support of this Council for their resolution authorizing the Committee on the Streets and Service to hold hearings so we can all fully explore these findings. I want to suggest you use the Controller's report as a template for 135 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. those hearings, and I would ask that in scheduling of those hearings, you provide enough time to the Streets Department and specifically direct them to employ the talents of Joan Hicken, the City's latest Recycling Coordinator, to present a plan or present alternatives in response to the Controller's report that will address both the actions they will take to come into compliance with the law and to meet the mandate to increase our recycling rate from five percent to 35 to 40 percent. And let's put that money into the parks and to recreation and to art, any place but the trash can. Thank you.

Thank you very much for your testimony. Any questions or comments? Councilwoman Tasco.

Yes. Since we're going to have hearings in Council, we will probably require some of the information that I want to ask, but 136 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. have you ever been given a financial analysis or feasibility study by the City regarding their argument around the reason for not fully implementing the recycling program?

No, but, you know, I had a conversation in 1999 with Clarena asking her about a philosophy that we approach in what recycling is about, and she explained to me that she sees recycling as an add-on to trash services, in that if you understand what that means, it means that really for every truck we have running on the street doing trash, we need to have one for recycling, too. That's a very expensive program. Whereas, instead, the way that it's done in the industry is, if you have 100 percent trash, 50 percent is recycle and you have ten trucks, five trucks for recycling, five trucks for trash, and you redeploy your trucks, you redeploy your fleet and you'll get your savings that way, because what goes in the recycling 137 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. trucks saves you money. What goes in the trash trucks costs you money. So there is a whole way of thinking about recycling and a whole way we approach it that makes it expensive right from the get-go. It's a question that we really need to put and we need to have Clarena answer that, because as my wife would remind me, I'm not in her mind, I don't know how she's thinking, and we really need to have her tell us exactly how we think about recycling and why we can't do what's been done in so many other cities.

Would there be any labor issues or union issues around the issue of recycling, and what would they be?

The recycling issues that would come up, one of the recommendations in the Controller's report is to look at reducing the number of people on a truck. Now, what's happening in other cities when they do 138 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. that is, they do that with the caveat that there will be no layoffs due to recycling, and what they do is, is that they redeploy the fleet. You end up not having to put out new labor, and that they do the cuts by attrition over time. Now, if you look at the decrease in employees, we've been losing employees every year. I would submit -- and it's a discussion I actually want to have -- that guaranteeing there would be no layoff due to recycling, there might be fewer people in the Streets Department laid off than have been laid off every year over the last five.

If you use the analysis that you gave earlier about using five trucks for trash and five trucks for recycling, couldn't you still have the same number of people?

That's right.

So there would be no need for layoffs, unless there's a reason why those people can't 139 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. work on the recycling truck. Is that a different labor issue relative to recycling?

No. The way that it's been represented right now, we could see dramatic increases without any change at all in the way that labor is set up. We have the vehicles there. I'm not quite sure I understand why we need new vehicles when we have 100 vehicles that are parked. Because we don't need new trucks. We don't need anything different. That's something that's just a mystery right now. But, no. You're absolutely right. Right now we could talk about moving forward on this by just redeploying fleet and shifting our workers.

Okay. Thank you very much.

Sure.

Thank you.

You're 140 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. welcome. Thank you. MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness is John Gallery and a panel from the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia.

Thank you very much. Good evening. Please feel free to identify yourself for our record and begin your testimony. Thank you.

Thank you very much. My name is John Gallery. I'm the Executive Director of the Preservation Alliance. I've previously submitted a copy of our testimony to individual members of City Council, and so I only brought a limited number of copies today. For those of you who are present, I'm grateful that you're here. Councilwoman Blackwell, members of City Council, it's a pleasure for me to be here to testify on the budget of the Philadelphia Historical Commission. I'm here on behalf of our organization 141 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. and a number of other organizations, whose names I'd just like to read. They include the Chestnut Hill Historical Society, the Society Hill Civic Association, the Philadelphia Historic Northwest Coalition, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, West Mt. Airy Neighbors, Penn Knox Neighborhood Association, Garden Court Community Association and the Parkside Historic Preservation Corporation and the East Falls Historic District Initiative, of which there is a representative here who will also make some very brief remarks. We are here for two reasons. We are here to ask City Council if it will consider increasing the budget for the Philadelphia Historical Commission in two ways. First, to add sufficient funds to hire three additional staff people for the Commission and, secondly, to increase the Class 200 line for outside services to $100,000 from the $20,000 in the budget to allow the Historical Commission 142 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. to retain some consultants during the next year to help it catch up on work that hasn't been completed and also to look at ways in which the use of contemporary computer-based technology can help the Commission to operate efficiently with a small staff. There are two basic reasons why we're making these requests. First of all, the Historical Commission is significantly underfunded and its staff is overworked. In the longer memo which I submitted, we showed the staffing relationships of other major cities in the United States with historic resources. If we were in Boston, the Historical Commission would have a staff of 12. If we were in Chicago, the Historical Commission would have a staff of 24. If we were in Cleveland even, the Historical Commission would have a staff of 12. But we're in Philadelphia and we have a staff of six. While most of the day-to-day 143 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. things are in fact done and done well, there are many things that are not getting done. In the past five years, there have been four nominations for historic districts submitted to the Historical Commission, none of which have been acted on in any way at this time. The Alliance is working with the Parkside community in West Philadelphia. We will be submitting a fifth nomination for historic district in May of this year. The Commission simply hasn't had the staff to deal with this. In addition, they haven't had the staff to deal with other issues of nominations of individual buildings, of providing appropriate levels of information and education to community groups about the impacts of historic preservation, and we feel it's essential for the Commission to be brought up to a level of staffing that it can adequately deal with these issues. The second reason that we're 144 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. asking for these requests is that most people do not really recognize that historic preservation is absolutely central to the economic development of Philadelphia. 5 billion of investment in historic properties in the conversion of those properties and the use of those properties for contemporary needs. We haven't had a chance to update that, but I can give you one interesting fact.

In the period from 1998 to 2005, 76 percent of all of the new residential units that have been constructed in Center City and adjacent neighborhoods where this big residential boom is going on have been created through the conversion of historic buildings or buildings that are in historic districts, 76 percent. That's 6,300 units of housing through historic preservation. 145 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Every one of the cultural groups that you heard today is in a historic building, and all of those people need the technical advice and the assistance of the Historical Commission staff to make the conversions that make those buildings part of our economy today. An investment in the Historical Commission is really an investment in economic development, and we believe it's time to bring that up to the level that's really needed in terms of the importance of the historical character of Philadelphia. Thank you very much for the opportunity to be here.

Thank you very much, Mr. Gallery. You will be testifying as well?

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you, 146 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Members. John Gallery here of the Preservation Alliance excellently summarized the value of historic preservation and designation in the City. I am here today representing the East Falls Preservation Initiative. Our initiative group was formed over three years ago to -- John Cugini. I'm sorry. The East Falls Initiative group was formed over three years ago to protect the architectural assets of the East Falls community. We toiled for approximately two years in developing a historic designation nomination, which has been submitted to the Historical Commission, and, unfortunately, that nomination has been unprocessed with the Historical Commission and it sits with three other nominations, one for Overbrook Farms, one for Spruce Hill and most recently the fourth, Green Hill now as well. I kindly request members of 147 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. City Council to consider the additional funding for the Historical Commission in order to protect the assets, the architectural assets, of Philadelphia, which, frankly, we cannot live without as a historic city. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm sure that you're both aware of the Task Force report?

I'm very well aware of the report.

Then you accept that it raises as many questions as it attempts to address.

It did raise many questions and it made recommendations. And I actually decided I would look at the Task Force report today. I actually have it in my briefcase, if you want me to address it in detail. And I was able to observe that 50 percent of all the recommendations in the Task Force report 148 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. have been acted on, many of them being acted on by the Alliance and some of them being acted on by the Historical Commission. And I'd be happy, separate from now, knowing the time, to give you a report on those, because I think the Task Force report was extremely helpful in pointing out a lot of issues that need to be addressed.

Well, they may have been acted on, but they weren't resolved. Issues, for example, like how people can afford to do preservation, should we have strict preservation on the front part of a property, should sides and back give the appearance of being historically preserved but done with less expensive materials, should we have a one-stop shop that has been our concern from the beginning where one organization decides what you buy, where you buy, how much you buy, what you pay for. I don't have my report here 149 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. either, but there are many issues that were raised. And so the question is not simply funding positions. For Spruce Hill and me as the elected official of that area, it's how we define what it is, and those questions have not been resolved. They were, in my opinion, correctly brought up. I did serve on that Task Force, but as we said when Mr. Sklaroff was here, it is not that simple, and we asked him to come back to us before they move forward. I don't want you to judge for me what happens in my district. The people who elect us have a right to come to us first. We held up our bill so that we could have this discussion. And we can always reintroduce a bill, as we said to Mr. Sklaroff, and have it come to Council before you go to the community. But you cannot give us problems by going to a community and saying, Yes, this is what we do, when we are elected to represent everybody. 150 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. So you can't tell me that we should fund positions to do what you determine my district needs. The people who live there collectively have to tell me what they want, and then we move. You don't realize that you give us problems when you go in communities and you determine what we should do and what we should think, when it is a collective opinion of those people who live there that determine how we move. So I take issue with you saying we should move and we should move on this issue and it's just a matter of staff to process those. It's not that simple. This historic preservation is much more complex than that, and it's really, really important that we have community inclusion. I say that. I said it to Mr. Sklaroff. I had his commitment that before he moved, that he would contact the Councilpeople in that area. And that's very, very important. Very, very 151 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. important that the District Councilpeople are involved in the discussion. I resent people who go into my area and who decide what happens, because we have the problem. And I'm sure I speak for the majority of the District Councilpeople when I say that. You've got to come to us so we don't end up with a fight in our own districts because of an organization who has gone in and made decisions and said this is what should happen and this is what we should do and you make the decisions. We're elected to make those decisions, and certainly we ask that you keep that in mind.

I'd like to comment on a couple of things. The request that we're making in terms of increase in staffing is to implement policies that have already been established by City Council by ordinance. Secondly, no one is going into any of these areas from the outside and requiring anyone to do anything. Any of 152 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. the district nominations that we've mentioned, any of the individual historic buildings that have been designated recently have been brought to the Commission by the communities themselves.

Mr. Gallery, I can reintroduce my legislation tomorrow.

I'm just telling you the facts.

I offered to hold it up, but you can't tell me what my community wanted. You can't do that.

I'm not telling you what --

Yes, you are. You sat here and said this is brought up by the community. I represent the community. You can't come as you did with Spruce Hill, give me a debate with my community, Spruce Hill, because you went in and said this is what happens. You don't have a right to do that. I'm 153 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. elected. People elect me to do that. Mr. Sklaroff agreed to come to us first and I agreed to hold up my bill. All I have to do is reintroduce it and have a hearing and we can legislate that Councilpeople are included first. If we have a problem with this, I'll just do that. It doesn't matter to me. We extended the courtesy for the last year or two and we held it up. It doesn't matter to me how we do it. But we are elected to represent the majority opinion in our districts, and when you go in and you meet with certain people and make decisions, it gives us a problem. I don't like people getting me in a debate with my district. And when you say that this has already been decided, it hasn't already been decided or I wouldn't be sitting here debating with you. I don't want a fight in my district. You give me fights in my district. I don't like to have a fight 154 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. in my district. You cannot tell me that we should give you more money to process stuff that you determine we should do. You can't do that. You can't do that.

Again, I'd just like to clarify again, I don't determine anything. The Preservation Alliance is a non-profit advisory organization. We do not determine anything. We give technical advice to people in community organizations, people who own historic properties, but we do not determine anything. We did not prepare any of the information that you referred to about Spruce Hill. We're working with Parkside because they asked us for our technical assistance in looking at historic preservation issues. We do not determine anything. We are trying to address a lot of the issues which you have raised. You may be aware that we are in fact implementing a program to provide grants to low and 155 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. moderate-income homeowners of historic properties in Philadelphia. That was one of the issues which came through loud and clear in the Task Force, and I'm very grateful that City Council appropriated funds for that purpose and that we have been selected to implement that program. We're very committed to making preservation work in all the neighborhoods of the City, and we're very aware of the concerns that you have and respectful of those concerns even though on not all of those issues you know that you and we don't agree. But we are very respectful of the issues that you raised and are trying to work with those issues in a constructive manner, but we still --

Thank you.

-- feel that the City-wide needs of historic preservation do justify increases in staff at the Commission, and we hope Council will look at that issue this year. 156 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC.

We agree with you in my district with Parkside Historic Preservation Coalition. We agree. We don't disagree on everything. I agree when my majority community supports something.

I know that.

But I don't when there are certain communities when you move ahead that give me a problem. We agree with that, and we agree with more grants for people with low income, obviously. So we don't fight all of it, but we're saying that we don't want to afford you the opportunity to choose it, because it gives us problems.

Again, remember, I'm not here asking for any funding for ourselves. I'm here to support a City agency who we and these other community organizations feel needs additional resources to do an important job for the City of Philadelphia. 157 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC.

Thank you very much. MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness is Cathy Scott, Local 2187.

Good evening. It's nice to have you. Nice to see you again. Please identify yourself to our record and begin.

Good evening, Councilwoman Blackwell and other members of City Council. My name is Cathy Scott and I am President of AFSCME Local 2187, District Council 47. As in every year, the decisions you make in approving the City budget for Fiscal Year 2008 will have long-range ramifications for the health of the City. This year's proposed budget projects a surplus. Some individuals and groups, including Philadelphia Forward, are pushing for a business privilege tax reduction based on the premise that there is a budget surplus. However, it is important to recognize that $110 million 158 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. of the projected surplus is the result of a change in the formula for calculating pension costs; that is, to calculate the payment based on the minimum payment required. Consequently, the City is deferring its obligations further into the future, resulting in higher interest costs, as opposed to paying the obligation now and avoiding the increased future costs. When viewed from this perspective, any discussion of business privilege tax reduction is akin to a person saying that she has money to buy an expensive car because she refinanced her mortgage from a 15-year mortgage to a 30-year mortgage and, therefore, she has more money at the end of the month. It can be done, but the question must be answered, Is it good public policy for the City to operate in this manner? I submit to you that it is not good public policy, and here is why: The public sector is entering into a time 159 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. which has not been experienced since before the baby boomer generation. Globally, we are moving from a buyers labor market where there were more good employees than good jobs to a sellers market. Several factors have come together to produce this phenomena: Aging workforce, growing skill shortage, lower birth rates, inverted population pyramid and increased importance of the knowledge worker. We are seeing the first boomers retire now, which has started the exodus of skills and experience. What will this mean for the City? As an employer, it will find it more difficult to recruit and retain employees. The public sector is not well positioned to deal with the labor force shortage to come. Jocelyn Bourgon in her fifth annual report to the Prime Minister of the Public Services of Canada states, "Years of downsizing, pay freezes, criticism and insufficient recruitment and the premature departure 160 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. " The words could have been written about an evaluation of the City of Philadelphia. The recruitment and retention of good, skilled workers needs to be an intricate part of the policy decisions surrounding the budget you are considering. It is critical that the benefits of the City's employees be factored into the Fiscal Year 2008 budget, which includes health and retirement benefits. Also, the City must consider the safety of its workers and the public. We must be sure that all public facilities are safe work environments. For example, libraries and recreation centers must have the necessary safeguards, such as surveillance cameras, proper lighting and proper staffing, including municipal guards, to ensure the 161 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. safety of the public and the staff. Unfortunately, the proposed budget does not include funding for these basic services. Another issue which Council should address is the fact that there is presently no incentive for departments to invest in methods to produce income to cover the costs of services they provide since that revenue generated does not get returned to the department, but instead goes into the General Fund. If departments were able to devote sparse resources to revenue enhancements with assurances that their efforts would be rewarded with the ability to recoup some or all of the revenue raised, the City would be able to make the necessary investment in staff and equipment to make it more efficient.

It would develop a highly skilled staff using state-of-the-art equipment, which would deliver a high level of service to the public. That is exactly what the public 162 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. wants. So as it is every year for City Council, the public policy decisions you make when you decide the budget will have ramifications for many years to come. Is the proposed budget surplus one that further mortgages the City's future, thus making it less competitive? Does that competitiveness get further compromised by giving the paper surplus away in the form of tax cuts for businesses such as Wal-Mart and Comcast and then hope for the trickle-down revenue associated? Or does the City invest in the public and its employees with safe environments, properly fund its benefits obligations and provide for methods for City departments to invest in equipment and resources to enhance their services to the public? Obviously, I am suggesting that you choose the third option. Thank you for the opportunity to present this testimony today.

Thank 163 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. you very much. We thank you for your commitment certainly to our City, to the workers and for the fine job you've done over the years.

Thank you.

Thank you. Any questions? (No response.)

Thank you very much. MR. McPHERSON: The next witness is Sue Rosenthal, Community Board Health Center 10.

Good evening. Welcome. It is very nice to have you here this evening, and we ask you to identify yourself for the record and begin your testimony.

Good evening.

Good evening.

I am reading this for Sue Rosenthal, who had a family 164 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. emergency. She has chaired the Public Health --

Give your name.

I'm sorry. My name is Andrea Jackson. She has chaired the Public Health District in the Northeast for 10 37 years. And my name is Andrea Jackson. I'm also a Board member with the Health District 10.

Thank you.

The Chair of the Community Board of our City's eight health districts thank you for this opportunity to speak. They are here together because they all support the testimony we are presenting. Together we represent over 100,000 Philadelphians who receive medical services through our Family Healthcare System. A sizable portion of Philadelphians receiving the services of 165 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. our healthcare centers have medical insurance. They could seek medical care from a variety of venues. They choose public health services. The City receives medical payments from their insurance companies. They choose us because our health centers offer a highly skilled, talented, competent level of care when we need the necessary resources. Many of our clients are covered by Medicaid. The remaining have neither public nor private coverage. They are hard-working Philadelphians, poorly paid, whose employers offer no health insurance and whose family obligations preclude their ability to buy insurance. Our public health centers are their only source of constant, sustained medical care. That is it. They depend on the City. They depend on you. For two years, there has been a virtual decrease in the City's contribution to the Health Department. 166 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Because of runaway medical costs, especially pharmaceuticals, the effect has been less real dollars necessary to offer often life-sustaining needs to our citizens. In the Northeast Philadelphia Health Center, one pharmacist and two technicians process over 500 prescriptions a day, 90,000 a year. This overload is typical of all of our health centers. We need our pharmacists. Our patients often wait at least four days before receiving their medication. Even patients requiring life-saving heart, asthma and diabetes medications and other illnesses, and for which the City may be paid by insurance, have to wait. This is endangering lives. We must have the financial resources to hire more pharmacists. There is a great demand for public healthcare, but getting these services is difficult. If you called a healthcare center today to join its 167 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Family Healthcare Program, you would have to wait up to six months for an initial examination. Because of the effect of inflation and rising medical costs on the Health Department's budget, at the Northeast Health Center, for example, the wait is two months longer than last year and four months longer than the year before. What if you have an emergency? Hours before our center opens, walk-ins, persons without appointments, line up to be admitted on a first-come, hoped to be first-served basis hoping to be seen. The health centers' staff have to cut the number that can be served that day. Others must return the next day, when perhaps they will get lucky and be treated. One very serious reason for turning persons away is staff which has been reduced by unfilled vacancies. There is not enough money to meet the 168 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. requirements to fully staff the centers in relation to demand for healthcare needs of Philadelphians. Replacing staff seems to have been purposely slowed by the Personnel Department. If a job is vacant for a year, it is often eliminated by Personnel. This puts an extra burden on shrinking health centers' staff. As a result, there is now a permanent reduction in nurses, physicians and clerks. That is why there is often a six-month wait for new appointments. An underfunded healthcare system with shrunken staffs are trying to serve an increasing number of Philadelphians. The Health Department saves and sustains lives every day, just as our police and firefighters do. Not as dramatically, but just as surely. You, City Council, have the ability and power to cure sickness, prevent serious illness from becoming worse and increase the number of lives saved, before they collapse from 169 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC.

financial starvation and decreasing staffs in the face of burgeoning needs. You must allocate more funding to our public health centers. Then you, too, will save lives. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Good afternoon, neighbor.

Good afternoon.

Please identify yourself and begin your testimony.

I'm Pauline Borkon, a West Philadelphia resident, Chair of the Community Advisory Board and a patient at Health Center 3. I represent the over 30,000 patients who received healthcare last year at Health Center 3, which serves the West Philadelphia community, along with Health Center 4. At Health Center 3, we fill over 400 prescriptions a day, see over 170 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. 300 patients a day, which comes to over 30,000 patients a year, through our pediatric, adult, emergency walk-in, dental and specialty services. The healthcare staff, especially the nurses and doctors, are maintaining the patient level despite being less than 50 percent staffed. Each one is doing two to three positions' work. This causes staff burnout, increased retention problems, high turnover rates and, most critically, medical accidents and errors. I'm asking that the 70-plus positions that were taken from the Health Department in November of 2004 be restored. It's especially concerning that at least of 18 these positions were front-line 19 providers; for example, registered nurses 20 and clerks. Ms. Carmen Paris, the interim Health Commissioner, has requested funds to operate the Health Department, and we are here to ask that those funds be doubled and that a special committee be 171 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. established to reallocate funds from other City departments in order to accomplish this goal. General Fund monies are being unfairly distributed to the detriment of the Health Department. Healthcare is an essential right for each Philadelphian. The voters of West Philadelphia, all 98,654, as well as the other parts of the City, have affirmed their support of universal healthcare in the election of 2003. There are over 165,000 residents in Philadelphia. These voters are employed contributors to the tax base who work in jobs where medical insurance is not provided. The healthcare centers provide care for all Philadelphians who need it, without regard to their ability to pay for that service. I'm asking that the budget for the Health Department be increased to improve the care given to our citizens and to answer the mandate of 2003. I also ask that a set percentage of the 172 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. planned casino revenues be set aside to be spent on public health. We thank you for the opportunity to present our thoughts and our hopes to City Council.

Thank you very much. Thank you, Ms. Borkon.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

My name is Shelah Harper. I chair Public Health Center No. 14 9. I have been working in conjunction with concerned citizens for a long time. A couple of concerns. The first thing is again to reiterate what my comrades said, full staff funding. What's going on right now is, once people retire through that DROP program, they are never replaced or the Health Department has to go through a lot of red tape in order to fill that position and justify the position staying in place. So through attrition, it was hoped, I 173 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. think, initially with the DROP program that eventually we would cut costs, but what we're doing is, we're cutting the quality of care that was, let's say, five years ago, it has resulted in we have more patients, because of course we have more uninsured, we have a higher percentage of need. We have a lot of healthcare needs that need to be met, and it cannot possibly be met with a shortened staff. Okay? Nurses, clerks, those people who really support the work of the public health center, it's going to put an undue burden on the existing staff. In addition, it ends up being -- five years ago, it cost less to provide the same amount of care that we're talking about. And if we're seeing more people now and the cost of inflation has increased, we need to not freeze those positions and fully fund staff without the red tape that the Health Department currently has to undergo in 174 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. order to replace somebody who has retired. Secondly, prevention. And for me, this is extremely personal. Violence. I am the mother of Asia Adams, who was a student at West Chester University, who was brutally murdered as a result of violence, as a result of a combination of mental health problems that are not being addressed from a prevention standpoint, as a result of substance abuse problems that are not being addressed from a prevention standpoint, as a result of child welfare problems and, as you know, the whole social list of stuff that's causing this problem. One of the themes that I'm seeing that just resonates throughout this whole thing was, each young person that came up talked about murder. Do you know what kind of a fear that places in the hearts of children? It makes them act tough so that they won't be, 175 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. whatever, pointed out, murdered or whatever the situation is. Prevention. No, it does not provide revenue, but the quality of life -- intervention, yeah, it provides revenue, but you don't deal with mental health problems after they've happened. You support people in their ability to be able to handle and cope with whatever mental health problems. You support people through -- including things like the Centers for Substance Abuse Prevention Program. Prevention. We had one here years ago. It was staffed by one person, and now that person is gone. Money is in treatment. Yes, we need treatment and we need intervention, but no, no, no, no. We have got to get our priorities clear, that monies need to go into prevention. Violence is a public health concern. I'm not talking about secondary stuff, whether Youth Reduction Partnership, AVRP, and the Operation Safe 176 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Streets. All that stuff is happening after the children are already in trouble. I'm talking about primary prevention. That's personal. It's real personal to me, and I wanted to make sure that you were aware of that. Thirdly, our pharmacies. Our pharmacies is a constant problem. We went through a process where they were going to look at pre-packing medication. That went out of the window because it was a concern that we would lose our license to operate our pharmacies, and we didn't really understand the implications of all of that, so we asked that it be pulled.

The Health Department literally had to go in there and fight to retain those dollars so that they can try something new, a centralized pharmacy where they're going to pull people out of the public health centers, pharmacists. We have two at each health center. Well, not really, but almost two, and they were 177 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. going to put half of them in a central location and the other half are going to remain at the site. The ones at the central location would do all of -- like an assembly line, preparation and then transportation out to these sites. The idea that they had to actually fight in order to make sure that this money for pre-packed medication or privatization did not happen. But in order to hold that money, in order to try the centralized pharmacy theme, well, what's going to happen next year? Last year, that was the solution. They put aside more money in order to do the pre-packed medication. Now, hold on to the money and we're going to try to -- it's like robbing Peter to pay Paul. And these are like life-sustaining medications that people are going without sometimes because they're not filled. There are certain prescriptions that are just not available, and there are waits of a couple of months in some cases. A 178 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. person that needs heart medicine, they can't go that long without heart medicine. They can't go that long without diabetes medicine. The whole pharmacy issue combined -- a couple of years ago I remember it gave an additional $1 million because of the HIV-positive patients that they needed to be able to provide prescriptions for. Well, that was ten years ago, and I'm sure that the number of HIV patients has increased, in addition to pharmacy costs have increased, and as a result, we are asking that Council take a real strong look at the whole pharmacy throughout the entire healthcare system. Secondly -- okay. Also, we have these mandates --

Would you try summarize for us, please.

I know. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Thank 179 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. you.

We have these mandates, HIPAA, Healthy People 2010. Nobody is funding any of it. HIPAA -- and, I mean, I don't think anybody really understands it, but what's going to happen is, now this year is the year that the federal government is going to implement compliance and they will cite each occurrence. That means each piece of paper that's laying around in those health centers in places that they should not be, $100 per paper. And you ask any of the health centers, and they have a lot of paper laying around in places that they should not be, which is against the HIPAA compliance needs. Same thing with Healthy Start. I have my whole context in writing, so you'll be able to get that. So in summary, I am here representing these citizens, representing the children, because when we're all said and done and dead, our children are going to 180 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. be here, hopefully. My child is not here. The quality of life and a focus on prevention may have helped her to remain here. So I submit my testimony in writing. I thank you. I really ask that you strongly consider increasing the Health Department's budget and consider health. It's integral to anything that we're going to do. Kids can't do art. Kids can't do nothing. They can't learn. They can't do anything if they're not healthy. So thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Any questions? Thank you.

I have a question.

Councilwoman Tasco.

I don't have a question. I just have a comment. 181 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. I want to thank you for coming in to testify, because we were led to believe that everything was hunky-dory in the Northeast, certainly that the waiting time didn't exist and it didn't take a long time to get a prescription filled and all of that. So we certainly appreciate your testimony, and we're going to do some follow-up. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness is Amy Dougherty, Friends of the Free Library.

Thank you all very much. Ms. Dougherty, feel free to identify yourself and begin your testimony.

Good evening, Councilwoman Blackwell.

Good evening. 182 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC.

My name is Lucretia Minniti. I'm here on behalf of --

Would you pull your microphone up. We can't hear you.

I'm sorry. Good evening, Councilwoman Blackwell. My name is Lucretia Minniti. I'm here on behalf of Amy Dougherty. She was called away on an emergency.

Would you spell your last name.

Yes. M-I-N-N-I-T-I.

And it's Lucretia, you said?

Yes.

Thank you.

I will just read some of her testimony for the record.

Thank you very much. We will include it all as 183 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. if it were read in entirety.

Thank you, Councilwoman Blackwell. Good evening, Council President Verna and members of Council. The Free Library of Philadelphia, an independent non-profit organization whose mission is to support the Free Library of Philadelphia. Access to information is a component of an informed democracy. We partner with neighborhood volunteer groups, Branch Friends, to promote cooperation and communication between the community and the Free Library for services for all. Our 40 active Friends Groups located throughout the City provide support to the library branches by boosting library use, planning, presenting and funding programs, purchasing books, DVDs, magazines and equipment. On average, Friends Groups raise approximately 200,000 per year for branches for their membership and through book and bake 184 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. sales and raffles. First and foremost, I want to thank President Verna and members of City Council for last year's 3.5 million increase to the Library's General Fund for more staff. Your decision to increase library funding gained local and national attention, including the Politician of the Year Award for two City Councilmembers, Councilman Frank DiCicco and Councilman Michael Nutter. The citizens of Philadelphia appealed to you and you heard us. We are extremely grateful. Your commitment to library services has a dramatic impact. All branches are open now six days per week and are staffed by two accredited librarians. With the restored evenings and Saturday hours, Friends Groups are able to meet regularly once again. Right now they are busy preparing for a busy spring. Friends Groups are among 185 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. hundreds of community groups that use branches. The library has three essential missions: Providing access to recorded information in all forms, advancing reading, serving as a central meeting place within the community. It is this coming together of people from diverse backgrounds that adds to the library's value. The library is the only free indoor public space open to all. You have not forgotten the value of this for us. I want to give you a very small snapshot of activities made possible by your vote to increase library funding. No. 1, Bushrod: Friends Group-funded program in which all local teens instruct seniors how to use computers. No. 2, Lawncrest: 30th anniversary of Friends Group that included an essay for children with prizes. No. 3, Santore: Pre-school reading programs, adult book clubs, 186 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. cultural programs in partnership with Anderson Recreation Center, Partners for a Healthy Philadelphia Smoking Cessation meetings, Friends Group Saturdays Chess Club for kids. No. 4, C.B. Moore: GED classes. No. 5, Logan and Donatucci: Fairmount Park's Growing Your Neighborhood Program community meetings in which residents took part in deciding 60,000 worth of improvements for their neighborhood parks. State Representative W. Curtis Thomas, Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller and Tyree, special assistant to Councilman Rizzo, attended these meetings. Thank you for your support and hard work. In conclusion, I ask that you support the Director of the Library, Elliot Shelkrot's, request for 39.5 million for 2007, which will fund 739 full-time General Fund positions.

Thank 187 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. you very much. Are there any questions? (No response.)

Thank you. MR. McPHERSON: The next witness is Shelly Yanoff.

Good evening.

Good evening.

Please identify yourself to our record and begin.

I will. Thank you. I am Shelly Yanoff. I'm Executive Director of Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth. Thank you for the opportunity to speak very briefly about the City's budget. I know it's late, and you have testimony. I will just summarize. One, we want to say we are really pleased about the cribs and we're 188 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. pleased about the Adolescent Violence Prevention Reduction Program. It is very important that we all figure out every way we can to decrease the violence in our community. And we are pleased, of course, with the improved economic forecast for the City, but we still are concerned. While the budget restores some positions, there are some others in some departments that are really limping along. I want to underscore the previous panel. The health clinics are -- the waiting lists are large. The staffing is just not adequate. We really want to also talk for a minute about dental care in our health clinics. And, Councilwoman Blackwell, we've talked with you about this before. We have been worried about the reduction in health clinics generally in the center staffing, as well as in dental care, but recently it was really brought home to us when we had -- we were supporting the 189 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. School District in helping get kids free dental care. We fielded 1,000 calls in one day from parents desperate to find dental care for their children. And we had -- in some of the health clinics, they had to wait four months, five months for a dental appointment. That's just not acceptable. And what's going to happen now is, it's going to get worse, because even level funding, when you've got more and more companies not providing healthcare for families, it's going to be -- it's increasing. So we urge you to do something about increasing the investment in our health clinics, particularly looking at dental healthcare. Recreation centers are the second piece. The budget includes significant new capital funding for some important infrastructure investment, but it doesn't reach the rec facilities. We have, as well as the Controller, but we have done a survey of 190 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. recreation centers and playgrounds, and there's not enough staffing, there's not enough programming. I'm not telling you anything you don't know. And the facilities need improvement. So we urge you to look at that and to invest some money there. Fairmount Park is another one, which you all know, and it definitely needs more support. That is the most commonly used recreation and breath-of-fresh-air place in our community. We have to support it. I want to just talk for a minute about something that's preliminary. I just came here from a hearing on what's happening with kids who are dropping out of school. I encourage you to look at a collaborative investment with the School District, with DHS to really see what we can do to really do something about the thousands of kids that we are losing every year. We don't want to take time up right now to talk 191 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. about it with you, but we would love to work on it with you. This is a critical need in our community. We also want to just note the idea that in any future property tax abatements or TIFs, that we hold the schools harmless. We'll talk about that more next week, but the reality is that our property taxes are booming, but we all know that improved public schools will make a real big difference in the economic outlook in our City, and, in fact, the schools have not been able, of course, to profit from the kind of investment that the new property abatements are yielding. In conclusion, there's a lot good in the budget, but we need to do more. So we thank you once again for all you do and for listening. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Yanoff. As you know, this Council held hearings in '93 on the school drop-out rate. 192 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC.

Right.

We thank you for that. And we've really been focusing very hard on the dental issue, especially with regard to children, because this has been a big problem. And so we're always happy to extend that conversation and let you know what we're trying to do in collaboration with HUP and the universities in our district. Thank you. Any questions? (No response.)

Thank you very much. MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness is Margaret Zukoski, Regional Director of PA Council of Children and Youth Services.

Good evening. Thank you for your patience. Is Cheryl Weiss here from Diversified Community Services? MR. McPHERSON: She left her 193 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. testimony.

Cheryl Weiss's testimony will be considered as part of the record. And, Shelly, we will submit your testimony as part of the record in its entirety. Thank you. Welcome again. Thank you for your patience. Identify yourself and begin your testimony. Thank you all.

Thank you very much. Good evening. I'm Margaret Zukoski, and this is Rhonda Rhone. We work at the Philadelphia Office of the Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth and Family Services. I'm joined by Felix Montanez, who is the Director of Children Services at the Asociacion De Peurtorriquenos En Marcha, who is a member agency of the Pennsylvania Council. The Pennsylvania Council is a state-wide membership association 194 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. comprised of over 130 private agencies that contract with counties to deliver direct services to abused, neglected, delinquent and dependent children and their families. We are here today to urge members of City Council to approve DHS's funding year 2007 operating budget for $609 million. Your approval will ensure that funding is available to meet the increasingly complex needs of Philadelphia's most vulnerable children and their families. I'd like to take this opportunity to discuss the critical role the private child welfare providers have in delivering services in Philadelphia. At least 60 percent, or 70 of our members, contract with the Philadelphia Department of Human Services. Eighty-four percent of DHS's funding is designated for payment to private agencies for the delivery of direct services. These figures illustrate DHS's 195 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. confidence in and reliance on the private sector in delivering services to Philadelphia's children and families. DHS and its private providers share the same goals and sense of responsibility toward ensuring that our children and families have access to high-quality services. Pennsylvania Council members work closely with DHS Commissioner, Cheryl Ransom-Garner, and meet with her frequently with the purpose of discussing the improvement of services to our children and families. Our Council members provide a broad array of services, ranging from prevention services aimed at diverting children from entering the formal child welfare system, to secured detention facilities for juvenile offenders. For example, private providers who contract with DHS deliver direct services to approximately 14,000 children receiving non-placement services through family preservation and services to children in 196 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. their own homes; 7,000 Philadelphia children currently placed in community-based homes, emergency shelters, general foster care, kinship care, treatment foster care, medical foster care and group homes; 1,400 children placed in institutional settings such as residential treatment facilities; 7,000 children enrolled in after-school and youth development programs. We provide services to 6,000 parents and caregivers participating in parenting education programs, and over 1,000 chronically truant youth who are diverted from placement. Additionally, many of our member agencies are licensed to deliver educational services through approved private schools and to provide behavioral health services. In delivering these services, Pennsylvania Council members often subsidize DHS-funded services by using their own private dollars. A 197 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Pennsylvania Council study conducted last year showed that a sample of 39 of our agencies in this region designated approximately $21 million to fill the gap between the actual cost of services and the contracted service rates offered by DHS. Generating private dollars through foundation grants and private donations is becoming increasingly more difficult, and providers can no longer rely on these private dollars to bridge the gap. On March 8, Commissioner Ransom-Garner provided testimony to City Council on both the changing demographics of the youth we serve and DHS's plans for new programming to address the changing environment. She noted that just a decade ago our foster care system was filled with very young children. Today, over 57 percent of the children entering placement are age 12 years old and older.

These older youth enter care with more complex behavioral, emotional and educational needs, and providers have 198 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. been making tremendous efforts to ensure that their needs are met, including working simultaneously to achieve permanency for them and to prepare them for independence and long-term stability. Providers continually have to recruit and train foster parents who are willing and able to care for adolescents. Foster parents are truly the heroes in our system. Providers have been invited by DHS to work with them in designing and implementing an older youth initiative which aims to enhance services to youth living in group homes. Everyone recognizes that we must focus more efforts on these children before they age out of the system. DHS also plans to implement an older youth diversion program for youth between ages 13 and 17. This program will provide intensive services to families of older youth who have reached a critical juncture where they want to 199 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. voluntarily place their sons or daughters because they can no longer cope with their behavior. Currently, DHS is also currently piloting a Rapid Service Response Initiative with the goal of helping families as soon as DHS investigators identify them as needing help. Pennsylvania Council wholeheartedly supports these new approaches. Ultimately they will reduce the number of youth who enter the formal child welfare system. The Commissioner also commented on the troubling rise in youth violence, noting that 10 percent of the victims of gun violence in Philadelphia are juveniles. This year, DHS implemented the Adolescent Violence Reduction Partnership in response to this trend. In funding year 2007, full implementation of AVRP will occur. Again, providers, private providers, are being called on to deliver this critical service. 200 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. In her testimony, the Commissioner also highlighted the significant successes that programs are demonstrating. Over the past several years, DHS and providers have achieved great success in reducing the numbers of dependent children in foster care, from 7,800 in funding year '03 to 6,700 at the end of December last year, a reduction of nearly percent. This dramatic 12 decrease in the number of children in 13 placement is due, in large part, to the 14 implementation of performance-based 15 contracting beginning in March 2003. Performance-based contracting in the foster and kinship care system has resulted in an 84 percent increase in the permanency rate and a 50 percent increase in stability of placements. Children are moving far less frequently than they did several years ago in stability and recidivism in placement as compared to 2002. Simultaneously, the numbers of 201 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. children entering foster care has decreased. This is attributable to the City's commitment to a broad array of community-based prevention services. Regrettably, the positive strides that have been made are now in jeopardy. The provider network on which DHS depends to deliver direct services is struggling, while the cost to do business, including skyrocketing insurance costs, health and general liability, energy, staff, travel and utilities, have not been commensurate with the rates that DHS pays us. Last year, agencies were not able to offer their staff salary increases and required greater contribution to health insurance. Not surprisingly, providers have seen a rise in staff turnover and are experiencing difficulty in attracting qualified staff. The families of children under DHS custody frequently are confronting multiple issues: Poverty, substance 202 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. abuse, domestic violence, mental illness and homelessness. Retaining experienced staff to work with these families is critical to achieving positive results for children. So why is this happening? Why are we falling behind?

In funding year 2005 and 2006, providers did not receive rate increases, even though the state allocated a two percent cost of doing business COLA in both years to DHS. In its funding year '07 budget, DPW again has included a two percent COLA for purchased services. We just learned today from Commissioner Ransom-Garner that she is committed to increasing service rates in 2007. This was very welcomed news. However, without an increase in our rates, providers will not be able to sustain services. If we have to go three years without an increase, many providers face going out of business. While this increase is truly appreciated, providers continue to ask 203 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. that DHS review all its rates for providers and make the appropriate adjustments that reflect the cost of living increases. As you work to make the budget numbers balance against the many competing interests and priorities that I heard today, the members of Pennsylvania Council urge you to support DHS's request for funding and thereby ensure that services are available to address the needs of our City's most vulnerable children. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. We appreciate the work that you do, and your commitment to our children is obvious. We thank you very much. Councilwoman Tasco.

Thank you. In the last portion of your testimony, you talked about in 2005 and 2006 that the state had appropriated two 204 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. percent cost of living. Was that for each year?

Yes.

And you did not get that?

No, we did not.

Do you know if it came to the City?

Yes, it did.

Was it received by the City?

Yes, it did.

This year you're getting the two percent?

Yes, we are. Well, I spoke to the Commissioner today and she said that she was working with the Mayor toward giving us rate increases and that they will not be across the board, but she will look at the dollars available and see what she can do for providers.

Did you all ask what happened to the 2005 and 205 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. 2006 dollars?

Yes, we did.

And what was the response?

Essentially when DPW allocates the dollars to the City, they frequently do not or ever, I should say, meet the requests that are made by the City in the needs-based plan and budget. Whenever there's a shortfall in the amount the City requested from DPW, providers take the brunt of that shortfall.

So the state provided two percent for the department, but not specifically for your services?

The two percent in the state budget was designated for purchased services. And when DHS receives its allocation for the Office of Children, Youth and Families, as I understand it, the Office of Children, Youth and Families will go over with DHS 206 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. where the cuts occurred in their request and where the money that they're providing is available. It is then up to DHS to determine where the money goes. They do not necessarily follow the legislative intent.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. The Chair notes that Representative Mark Cohen is in the room. We certainly welcome him. As all of you know, he is the son, in addition to being the State Rep, he is the son of the late David Cohen, our colleague. He's always welcome. We invite him. If there is something you would like to say, you're always welcome. We note that you are here and we welcome you. Thank you. MR. McPHERSON: Our next witness is Bonnie Swint.

It's Bennie Swint and Tanya Bassknight. MR. McPHERSON: We have the 207 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. name wrong. Sorry.

Good evening. These are folks from West Philly, so we know them and we welcome them, and thank you. Please identify yourself and begin your testimony. Thank you. Sorry, Mr. Swint.

Madam Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell and other Councilmembers and staff, my name is Bennie, B-E-N-N-I-E, Swint, S-W-I-N-T. I represent Albert Christy Recreation Center located at the 5600 block of Christian Street, West Philly, District 6. I'm a Block Captain. I've been a Block Captain for ten years. I'm the Chairman of the Capital Improvement at the Recreation Center and Ms. Tanya Bassknight is the Co-Chairman, in which she will express the grave concern about the condition outside and inside the center, the need for capital improvement, and I'd like for you to prioritize our needs. Thank you very much. 208 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC.

Thank you, Mr. Swint. Hi, Tanya.

Good evening, Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell. Always a pleasure. It's been quite a long time since I've been in City Council hearings. I'm here today to represent the Albert W. Christy Advisory Council. I am the Second Vice-President. Today, our center is requesting services. We are requesting a gymnasium, restroom repairs, supplies, roof overhangs, gate replacements for safety reasons and to secure outside entrances of activities, replacement swings. We have missing swings. The playground area should always have swings for our children. The swing area is utilized by surrounding schools, the Harrity Elementary School, the Huey Elementary School and local daycare centers. Knowing your resources is one of the many keys to success. We ask you, 209 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. our Mayor and City Council members as our elected officials, to hear our concerns pertaining to recreation funding resources in this letter. On behalf of the Albert W. Christy Recreation Center Advisory Council, we present to you our concerns for our center and ask that capital improvement funding be included in the budget for funding to our center and recreation centers across the City. It is said there is always something better, a better place to live, a better job to have, a better car to drive. However, we as the Council of the Albert W. Christy Recreation Center, we strive to take care of what we have. We, the Albert W. Christy Recreation Center, in taking care of what we have, we have completed a Building Inventory Needs Assessment, which has been done so well by Mr. Bennie Swint and he has taken pictures and we have presented pictures of the center, of the bathrooms, of the roof overhangs, of the gate replacements. 210 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. We have also submitted a picture of a vision of what we would like to see for our gymnasium. My son, Wyatt Benson, he is here today to show to the surrounding area and members that are here today our vision. We also brought with us today pictures of the softball league, the community-inspired softball league, which we're going into our third season, just to show the activities that go on at the center. And we would like to also add that -- and, of course, you know. We have an epidemic in our City. There's an epidemic of killings, and it's pertaining particularly to our youth. Across the City, we've had 380 deaths last year, which 80 percent were children under 17. So we have stepped up our efforts in our community to combat this problem. So we as community organizations, we have come together, and we come together at that center, and we 211 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. need the center to be state-of-the-art. In order for us to continue to serve, we need for it to be in a better standard. So we ask you to urgently look at this, revise some committees, appropriate funds for us to get this. The gym is in the sum of $80,000. So we are asking for today 80,000 plus in order to get these needs addressed. I thank you today. (Applause.)

Thank you very much, and we thank all of those who are here with her. We've just been talking about Christy today, just today, and just in fact during this hearing. Our Recreation Commissioner is here. He hears you. You know we love you. You know we're committed to Christy, and we're going to do everything that we can. Thank you very, very much.

Councilwoman, 212 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. this package is for you.

Thank you. Councilwoman Tasco.

Good afternoon -- good evening. It's quarter to 7:00.

Yes.

Before you leave the table, I would just like to comment on your testimony in terms of the need for the recreation facilities. Maybe for about the past ten years or more, the Councilmembers have been given a $1.2 million budget for each district to spend on their recreation facilities in their district, and that way, you can pretty much predict what you want to do, where you want to do it. We've been able to build two centers in the Ninth District because we captured those, knew how much money we were going to have, captured that money, got matching dollars from the state. We 213 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. built a state-of-the-art rec center up in Mt. Airy and we expanded the Simons Recreation facility and the Finley Recreation facility. We passed the budget in 2005 for the same amount of money. It was voted on by the voters of the City of Philadelphia for us to receive our $1.2 million. The Mayor decided that only the District Councilpeople could spend $500,000 in their district. The money is sitting in the budget. We are now faced with passing another budget with the cut for the districts. The money for 2005 is there. It is for us to spend, but there for some reason is no -- he does not want us to have that money in our districts. I think it's unfair to those people who live in the community, who went to the polls, voted for the money, and we voted on the issue in City Council that we would get $1.2 million and we're being asked to only take $850,000 for our district, which I think is silly and 214 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. disgraceful, when the money is sitting there, and it is our money. I am not going to ask my people and explain to my people how I take $850,000 when there's 1.2 million sitting there. And those are the questions you all should ask of your Councilpeople, why would they take that 850 when 1.2 is there. It's not like it's not there. And it's been appropriated for, and you can use it in your district. And you work with the Recreation Commissioner. He's a good Recreation Commissioner. He finds dollars to help you with your rec center. For some reason, I don't understand why these new shenanigans are going on. Sorry, Madam Chair. I just had to exercise my frustration, because I'm totally frustrated. (Applause.)

Thank you. And we agree that we have an excellent Recreation Commissioner. We're 215 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. all committed. We have wonderful people like this who have come down, who have taken time out of their busy schedules to come here and patiently sit and deal with their needs, and certainly we do support them in all that they want to do, and we thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much. MR. McPHERSON: The next witness is the Reverend Paris Bowen. (No response.) MR. McPHERSON: The next witness then would be Percy Rosales. (No response.) MR. McPHERSON: Okay. Phil Johnson, Marsha Wilcliff. (No response.) MR. McPHERSON: Robert Davis. (Applause.)

Good evening. We do thank you for your patience, and we ask that you identify yourself for the record and begin your 216 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. testimony.

My name is Bobby Davis. I'm President of Local 696, but the reason why I'm here today is more of concern about public issues that we are facing in the Clerk of Quarter Sessions. So I guess I'll be playing a dual role here. I'll be also supporting them as President of Local 696, District Council 33, but also I have concerns as a taxpayer.

I see someone has a sign that says -- what does that say back there? Stress? Cheese and rice. We know a little bit about that up here. But thank you all for coming. Thank you.

First of all, I want to give greetings, Madam Chairwoman Jannie Blackwell, greetings to our distinguished City Council members.

Thank you.

We thank you for 217 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. the opportunity to present our concerns relating to the Office of the Clerk of Quarter Sessions. The Clerk of Quarter Sessions with their necessary clerks, and I emphasize necessary, was established in each of the counties of Pennsylvania by William Penn's Frame of Governing of 1682. The powers, functions and duties of the Clerk of Quarter Sessions are prescribed by the state statutes of Pennsylvania and the local ordinances of the Philadelphia City Council. Under current laws, Quarter Sessions serves the criminal courts of Common Pleas and Municipal Court, as well as the Juvenile Division of Family Court. Its clerks record, index and file all the bills of information and transcripts of Municipal Court. They post dockets, take bail imposed by judges, enter judgments upon bail forfeitures, issue bench warrants, collect fines, costs imposed by the 218 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. courts, record on bills of information or criminal transcripts the decisions of the courts, issue commitments or discharges for the defendants and, when necessary, answer numerous inquiries from prisoners, attorneys and judges. The Clerk's office also expedites matters such as petitions for writs of habeas corpus, appeals from convictions, issuance of private detective licenses and other miscellaneous matters. In serving the Juvenile Division of Family Court, the Clerk of Quarter Sessions handles all matters relating to the court case files, including sending subpoenas to witnesses and notifying attorneys of court dates and activities. I want to emphasize this paragraph. The clerk's standing, however, is founded not on the threat of contempt, but rather on the duties of his office. Only the clerk of courts, not the common citizen, has had the 219 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. responsibility conferred upon him by the Pennsylvania Constitution to maintain court records for public access. And this is listed under the Pennsylvania Constitution Schedule Article 5, Section 7 15.2. The particulars of this constitutional duty are established in the Judicial Code 3. They are also addressed in the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, which directs a clerk of courts to maintain the criminal case files for the Court of Common Pleas and a list of docket entries based on the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedures 113(A) and (B). The duties are conferred on the clerk of courts by our Constitution, by our legislature and by Supreme Court. To be effective, the Direct Court Services Unit need to keep enough properly trained court clerks on its staff who will provide services to the requisite criminal court system in a 220 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. competent manner. Additionally, the Direct Court Service Unit must have a quality review process to ensure the qualitative aspects of its objectives. Our concern is for the continuous violation that exists in our courtrooms every day. These violations could ultimately compromise the safety of the citizens of Philadelphia. The powers, duties, the responsibilities of the Office of the Clerk of Quarter Sessions are outlined in the following. Just for the sake of time, you have that list.

Yes, sir, we do.

So what we'll do is just note that the list that we're referring to is in the Pennsylvania consolidated statutes, the Pennsylvania Code, the Pennsylvania Constitution. In 1992, the Controller's office did an audit of the Office of the Clerk of Quarter Sessions and found that 221 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. it violated many of the above laws. In their brief, the Clerk of Quarter Session through its DCSU does not effectively serve all criminal courts. Many criminal hearings held, particularly those in Common Pleas and the Municipal Court, did not have a court clerk assigned to the courtroom. Assignment practices and violations, legal requirements, this also was noted. To cope with the shortfall of the court clerk coverage, the DCSU management simultaneously assigned one court clerk to more than one criminal hearing in different courtrooms. That has to stop. That has to stop. (Applause.)

Such a court practice violates the legal intent of City Council Ordinance 275. The ordinance compels the clerk to be present at all times during criminal trials. That's not when they need somebody there, but to be present at all times to make 222 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. sure that they are able to get the information needed for them to be able to perform their job. It states that. The Clerk of Quarter Sessions assigns a court clerk to each court of record who shall be present at all times during the trial. Managers interpret this statement to mean that a criminal hearing cannot technically occur without a presiding judge and a court clerk. (Applause.)

Yet, as an agency, Quarter Sessions has made no formal policy of this interpretation and in fact has not even complied with it. During this audit, the Clerk of Quarter Sessions had 79 court clerks. That was in 1992. Since this period, the number of judges has increased, the number of court cases has increased, and yet the number of court clerks decreased to present 63. This is a disaster waiting to happen, and in 1998, it did. Warrington versus the City of 223 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Philadelphia. Warrington should have been our wake-up call. We should not have to find ourselves with a lawsuit against the City of Philadelphia as a result of someone's death created by an oversight due to violations of said laws. In addition to the law violations, we are concerned that the Mayor's Statement of Policy also bears some attention. The Office of Clerk of Quarter Sessions is predominantly females. Not providing them with the necessary means to perform their duties and responsibilities according to the law is a violation of equal opportunity. Philadelphia Home Rule Charter, Section 7-302, a civil service system to be effective requires the cooperation of all officers and employees and their complying with the civil service regulations. This section imposes mandatory general and specific duties of such cooperation and such compliance upon all officers and all employees. No one 224 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. is exempt. Civil Service Regulation 24.01, the working conditions: The Director, in cooperation with other City officers, shall be responsible for the development and operation of programs to improve the work effectiveness and the morale of employees in the City, including safety, health, welfare, recreation and labor relations, including grievances and hearings thereof. I say we are going backwards. Any time we start off with 79 clerks and we're down to 63 and only 53 are in the room and yet we got more judges than we can service and yet they're being criticized for the work they do, I think it's unfair, and something should be done about it soon. (Applause.)

We must and will hold the City of Philadelphia responsible for 26.01, responsibility for training. The state is getting ready to issue a 225 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. system that will become mandatory, and because of the shortness of staff, we won't be able to be adequately trained. According to this regulation, the Director shall foster and develop, in cooperation with appointing authorities in other programs, for the improvement of employee effectiveness. I won't read the rest of it. It's in front of you. In the near future, the Office of the Clerk of Quarter Sessions will be met with the Herculean task of providing training for the Case Management System. Without some additional staffing, it will be impossible to provide the much-needed training. The CMS system will be a state requirement. The court clerks are overwhelmed, overworked, understaffed, stressed. As stated in a letter from the Honorable Vivian T. Miller, the Clerk of Quarter Sessions, dated January 16, 2002, addressed to then Budget Director Robert 226 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. Dubow, she clearly states that her concern for the tremendous amount of stress being experienced by the court clerks. In addition, Ms. Miller states that due to the shortage of court clerks, the office is unable to grant vacation time. Therefore, morale is low. (Applause.)

Why wouldn't it be? If you are a lot of females and you're sitting in that court and you got to listen to a lot of the things that go on in that court and you can't take a break, at some point you will break down. (Applause.)

In 2002, Ms. Miller sent a letter to City Council stating that many assignments now require some courtrooms with two clerks, but due to the budget cuts over the years, only one is now assigned. She also stated it is clearly difficult for court clerks to keep up pace with the speed and volume with the cases handled during the course 227 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. of a normal day, requiring them to stay many hours on overtime, but yet they can't have any vacation. (Applause.)

The lack of clerks has been the source of some criticism by judges, as well as some defense attorneys. Because of present staffing, the level is not efficient enough to process prisoners in and out of the system in a timely manner, creating additional transportation and housing costs. It is costing you money on both ends. The problem becomes what end do you want to spend it on. The timely discharge of a defendant when appropriate is his or her constitutional right and should have the highest priority. What is even more frightening is statistics reported by Ms. Miller in the same letter. The numbers of misdemeanor/felony cases filed have increased from 43,000 in 1997 to more than 65,000 in 2001, and to date, that 228 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. number is now 80,000. (Applause.)

The increase in processing criminal cases has had a profound impact on our staff, our ability to perform our duties as court clerks in the criminal justice system. The threat of replacement by at-will employees adds extra pressure to a job that requires focus and concentration. It takes knowledge, skills and ability to do this job. Public safety is an issue. Because of the shortage, it would be difficult for court clerks to get the required proper training. We cannot afford errors, mistakes and employee turnover. These are some of the conditions that come about because of the undue stress related to the job. Employees who are committed to doing their job properly are forced to work under conditions such as no lunch, mandatory overtime, time off being denied, and the increase in the volume of 229 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. work all adds to low morale and contribute to employee turnover. Actually, some employees leave before probation is over and others just take a demotion and go elsewhere. (Applause.)

Judges have been increased. Court clerks need to surpass the amount of judges to give us the advantage we need in order for us to fully perform the duties that are mandated by law, Ordinance 275. These public safety issues create many dangers. For example, a commit and retain may be required without a court clerk in the room with knowledge that this order is needed. It may allow a defendant to be released on society. Often a separation order may be needed to keep one defendant from causing the death of another. A discharge may be required, and if not written, a defendant may be detained unduly and create a situation like the Warrington lawsuit. Our caseloads have 230 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. increased, but not the number of court clerks. To fully service the court system needs, our Quarter Sessions management must assign a court clerk to all criminal proceedings. The DCSU failed to provide needed court clerks at hearings and this, in turn, caused delays in trial proceedings as well as a complete courtroom shutdown. In closing, we would like to express our understanding of the budget issues facing this City. However, we expect everyone to obey and respect the laws that govern each one of us. To continue not to provide the necessary means allowed by law to the Office of the Clerk of Quarter Sessions to perform their duties and responsibilities is negligent. (Applause.)

The function of City Council influence a wide range of 231 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. public affairs in Philadelphia and directly impact the quality of life for its citizens. We are looking to City Council to help restore the confidence and trust to the Office of the Clerk of Quarter Sessions. (Applause.) (Standing ovation.)

Thank you for your testimony. We feel awful about you having to come out here -- you're already overworked and tired -- to make sure that we hear your concerns, but we hear you. And your Clerk of Quarter Sessions, Vivian Miller, has said as you have stated here. Year in and year out she comes here crying for help during the budget process, and we have agreed with her. We agreed with her when she's come here, and we have said that we agree that she needs help. And you really, really brought it home to us. So it's one of those issues that we will reiterate -- I'm sure 232 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. somebody from the Mayor's office is listening -- that we will reiterate where help is needed. As Councilwoman Tasco says, we can appropriate, but we can't spend. But we will certainly let the Administration know how concerned you are and how concerned we are, because we believe in you. We know that you get it done, and we couldn't survive without you, and we're really, really regretful that it is just awful that you have to work under these conditions. So we say thank you for all you've done, and we're with you and we're going to do our best to try to get some help. (Applause.)

Councilwoman Tasco.

Thank you very much. Are all these positions civil service positions?

Yes. 233 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC.

Do you all participate in the DROP program?

Yes.

Have you lost a number of employees to the DROP program?

Yes.

And those positions are not being filled?

No. 12

Thank you. We appreciate your hard work, and we hear you loudly and clearly.

Very important questions, Councilwoman.

The question is, we keep hearing the message over and over again, but there's nothing done about it. That's the shame of it all. Thank you. (Applause.)

Thank you again, all of you, for coming and for 234 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. being here.

Councilwoman, I just want to add --

Yes, sir.

-- that many of our employees are facing some serious health conditions. I didn't have that in my presentation, and I just want to make note of that. Because once I met with them today to give them an outline of the presentation, I'm certainly not in a position to talk about people's health issues, so I wanted to be very careful about that, but I was informed that it was okay with most of them to share that with you. And so I want to make sure that -- we're talking about people who normally were in good health and because of the stress now are facing a high blood pressure situation, medication, things that will be needed for them to now have to be on maintenance-type drugs for the rest of their life because of what we're 235 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. dealing with here. So I just want to make that part of the record, and also thank the Councilpeople for allowing us the opportunity to speak before you today.

Thank you very much. God bless you all. Thank you.

Same to you. MR. McPHERSON: The next witness is Donna Morrissey. (No response.) MR. McPHERSON: Donna Morrissey. (No response.) MR. McPHERSON: Lance Haver.

Is there anyone who would like to speak other than Mr. Haver? (No response.)

Okay. Thank you. Mr. Haver. This will be our last witness 236 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. for tonight. We thank you all for your patience. Mr. Haver, we thank you for the excellent job you do for us as well.

Thank you. Thank you very much, Councilwoman, for staying late and listening.

Thank you.

I'm here testifying as an individual and not in my official capacity. I have testimony --

Excuse me one moment. Could we have a little quiet. Thank you. Thanks, Mr. Haver.

I have testimony, but the hour being late, I'm just going to excerpt it, if you don't mind.

Thank you. We will submit your testimony in entirety for the record.

I'm here this 237 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. evening to urge Council to change the focus of the budget discussion from what taxes can be cut to how do we improve the quality of life in Philadelphia.

Amen.

If the only thing that mattered to citizens is how much they pay in taxes, then Bismarck, North Dakota, one of the American cities that has extremely low taxes, would be America's most populus city. It is not. New York City, where people pay far more to live than in Philadelphia, is the most populus. It is not just and only about taxes. The truth is, there is not a single academic or scientific study that indicates that taxes are the number one consideration that a person, family or even business uses when deciding where to live or locate. In fact, Philadelphia's recent history shows just the opposite. We have Keystone Opportunity Zones, which are tax-free, where there is no 238 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. development, and we have Center City Philadelphia, which surcharges, actually adds additional taxes, to its businesses that has seen the greatest economic expansion in the City. My testimony this evening is an attempt to get Council to begin thinking about newer ideas and to reject the failed policy of focusing solely on taxes. If we all agree that we want to bring new businesses into the City, then we should create a tax code that does just that. We should draw from our past successes. The real estate tax abatement, at least in part, has helped jump start the real estate development in the City. Now in fact we have the opposite problem. Housing prices are climbing so quickly that many families are being priced out of the market. Council should consider cutting back on the real estate tax abatement and creating one for start-up business. Let us give the start-up businesses a 239 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. three-year tax abatement and paying for it by cutting the real estate tax abatement by three years. If we want to help small businesses compete with large corporations that send their profits out of the City that have no allegiance to Philadelphia, then we ought to create a tax structure that helps small businesses more than large ones that don't need any help. And we must do that within the constitutional uniformity clause. We should consider a homestead exemption on the first hundred thousand dollars in sales. This will give the greatest savings to the smallest businesses, allowing them breathing room to grow. We can pay for such a tax break by taxing windfall profits that are created when we change the zoning on a parcel of land. For example, if when the zoning is changed on a waterfront property the value goes from million to 10 million, that $9 million windfall 240 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. profit is unearned and untaxed. It is also unfair. We should tax such windfalls and pay for the homestead exemption for small businesses. In closing, let me reiterate a discussion that focuses on cutting taxes, not the quality of life, is the wrong discussion. It does not help Philadelphia. When families decide where to live, when businesses decide where to locate, taxes are only one part of many considerations. To make it the only consideration is shortsighted and a disservice. Thank you for staying this evening.

Mr. Haver, I have always had a lot of respect for you, and I certainly look forward to maybe having a private discussion to further talk about some of the issues you raise. I believe your head and heart are in the right place, and certainly we want to pursue some of 241 3/29/06 - WHOLE - BILL 060001, ETC. these ideas more in detail, if that would be acceptable.

Of course. Thank you, Councilwoman, but I didn't want to keep you.

Thank you. Any questions? (No response.)

Thank you very much. Thank you all and good night. Thank you. This Committee will be recessed until Tuesday, April 4th at 10:00 a.m. when we will hear the School District. (Committee of the Whole adjourned at 7:10 p.m.) - - - 242 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 29, 2006, 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.)