COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA BUDGET HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, February 18, 1998 9:40 a.m. - - - BILL 980003 - An Ordinance adopting an Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 1999. - - - PRESENT: COUNCILMAN JOHN F. STREET, Chair COUNCILWOMAN ANNA C. VERNA, Vice-Chair COUNCILWOMAN HAPPY FERNANDEZ COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY COUNCILWOMAN AUGUSTA A. CLARK COUNCILMAN DAVID COHEN COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO COUNCILMAN ANGEL ORTIZ COUNCILMAN FRANK DiCICCO COUNCILMAN MICHAEL A. NUTTER COUNCILMAN RICHARD T. MARIANO COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER COUNCILWOMAN MARIAN B. TASCO - - - VINCENT VARALLO ASSOCIATES, INC. Registered Professional Reporters Eleven Penn Center Plaza, Suite 600 Philadelphia, PA 19103 (215) 561-2220 506 I N D E X BILL 980003 Joseph C. Certaine, Managing Director, City of Philadelphia--------------------------------- 509 Charles P. Kluge, Jr., Executive Director, Police Advisory Commission------------------- 538 John Wilder, Deputy Mayor, Criminal Justice----- 540 Tom Conway, Assistant Managing Director, City of Philadelphia--------------------------------- 584 Donna Wolf, Director, Target Assistance Program- 587 Michael Nardone, Deputy Managing Director, Special Needs Housing------------------------ 594 Harold B. Hairston, Commissioner, Philadelphia Fire Department------------------------------ 603 Joan Decker, Commissioner, Records Department--- 633 Joan M. Reeves, Commissioner, Department of Human Services------------------------------- 660 Joyce Burrell, Deputy Commissioner, Juvenile Justice Services-------------------- 680 Paul Bochetto, Private Citizen------------------ 726 Ed Schwartz, President, Institute for Study of Civic Affairs---------------------------- 732 Cynthia Ferguson, Community Women's Education Program------------------------------------- 748 Peggy Maguire, Germantown Women's Project------ 749 Faith Williams, Urban Affairs Coalition-------- 751 Jimmy Clark, President, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance--------------------------- 780 Robert Leslie, Freedom Theater----------------- 786 Grays Ferry Panel James Helman-------------------------------- 787 Celeste Harris------------------------------ 790 Pat Sheridan-------------------------------- 792 Terry Bennett------------------------------- 793 Walter Piecyznski, Private Citizen------------- 795 Gaylord Neal, Private Citizen------------------ 802 Reverend William Erat, Executive Director, Lutheran Children & Family Services--------- 807 June Cairns, Executive Director, Executive Committee of Children, Youth and Family Council Education Consortium---------------- 813 507 BILL 980003
May I have your attention, please. It is my understanding that the Mayor is having a press conference to make a very important announcement relating to the Police Department. On that basis, these hearings will stand in recess until o'clock a.m. 8 It is my understanding that the 9 Managing Director will be at the press conference. 10 And it would be unfair, in my judgment, to ask him 11 to be here testifying at the time when a significant announcement is being made that relates to one of the major operating departments of the City of Philadelphia. So this committee will stand in recess until 11 o'clock, at which time we will take the testimony of the Managing Director. Thank you. (Council stands in recess.)
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I will say good morning, while I still can. If I could have all Councilmembers come to the Council chambers, we would like to get started with our Public Hearing. This is a recessed Public Hearing 508 BILL 980003 from, actually, yesterday. And we will be taking testimony primarily on Bill No. 980003, An Ordinance 4 adopting an Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 1999. As most of you know, this committee has been in recess since about 9:30 this morning. And Councilmembers have had an opportunity to go down and meet the new Philadelphia Police Commissioner, as was announced today by the Mayor. It was agreed with the Mayor at that time that we will defer a consideration of testimony on the Police Department's budget until after the arrival of the new Police Commissioner. Given the fact that we will be taking testimony into March, we can arrange to have that testimony at a time when the new Commissioner is with us. So what we will do now is proceed with the consideration of testimony by the Managing Director on behalf of the Managing Director's Office. The Managing Director is with us. Mr. Certaine, please identify yourself for the record and proceed with a summary of your statement. And we appreciate your being available to answer questions of Councilmembers. 509 BILL 980003
Good morning, Mr. President. Thank you. Members of City Council, I am Joseph C. Certaine, Managing Director of the City of Philadelphia. The total proposed Operating Budget for the Managing Director's Office for Fiscal Year 1999 is $13,677,040, which includes $6,510,975 in the General Fund and $7,166,065 in the Grants Fund. The Fiscal Year 1999 General Fund budget request represents an increase of $361,018 from Fiscal Year 1998 estimated obligations. This increase includes $221,018 in additional Class 100 funds to support negotiated wage increases for staff and all divisions of the MDO. In addition, funding and responsibility for a $100,000 contract for consultant services to support the Telecommunications Policy Advisory Committee has been transferred from the Mayor's Office of Information Services, to the Managing Director's Office. Another $40,000 will be used to fund legal services for the Police Advisory Commission. 510 BILL 980003 The budget in the Grants Fund contains an increase of $5,125,473 from Fiscal Year 1998, which includes an additional $201,600 for services provided by the Targeted Assistance Program, an additional $59,678 for Criminal Justice Coordinating Services, an additional $4,864,195 for the Municipal Energy Office. Traditionally, the Managing Director's Office provided oversight, support, and assistance to the operating departments that it 12 directly serves. 13 In the last few years, we have dramatically increased the way we provide services to the departments and the citizens of Philadelphia in order to address the complex problems like blight, graffiti, and crime facing the city. The MDO plans and coordinates projects that enhance municipal service delivery across departmental lines, ensures that the department's critical service delivery performance levels are met and maintained, and works closely with neighborhood leaders to develop innovative methods for targeting service delivery. Some of the achievements of the 511 BILL 980003 Managing Director's Office over the last two years include deploying mobile data terminals for the Police Department, ensuring the growth of Philadelphia's communications infrastructure plan, evaluating proposals for the renewal of the city's cable TV franchises, designing and implementing service improvements in the Streets Department's daily operations, including the collection of refuse and recycling, as well as street maintenance and winter weather operations. We also are working with the state to develop an acceptable plan for the transition of the Navy base and Capart housing properties from federal to local jurisdiction and for the delivery of municipal services to these sites. And we are also conducting a comprehensive review of environmental priorities with the operating departments in order to develop a blueprint of the city's environmental priorities and coordinate environment compliance. The MDO is also working in the area of contract monitoring for the Prisons and Department of Public Property, developing new requests for proposals for commissary food and 512 BILL 980003 health services provided to the inmates of the Philadelphia Prison System. The key focus over the next year will be the ongoing review of deployment practices by the Police Department, including the creation of an Aviation Unit and the evaluation of the feasibility of a 311 nonemergency phone number. In May 1996, the Managing Director's Office, the Mayor's Office of Community Services, and the Recreation Department assumed primary responsibility for the city's antigraffiti initiatives.
As the Chair of the Graffiti Operations Committee, which provides oversight, policy guidance, and coordination for the city's comprehensive antigraffiti efforts, I have got to be able to say that since the onset of the new coordinated program for antigraffiti, the city now has five Zero Tolerance Zones, 37 Graffiti Free Zones, and has removed in excess of 7,000 tags of graffiti, and has cleaned approximately 19,000 instances of graffiti from the Zero Tolerance Zones. Since the city has instituted a 513 BILL 980003 Special Events Policy in May of 1993, the Managing Director's Office has coordinated the city's services that make possible such events as parades and festivals. We have been successful in recouping a portion of the money, a small portion at that, of the money that the city spends on these events. To date, approximately $266,000 has been billed. And in 1998 and '99, we anticipate collecting an additional $179,000. As I said a couple of minutes ago, this only helps to defray the city's costs for special events; it does not cover the costs of those events. The city's Partners for Progress Program was established in 1984 as an innovative community development stabilization program to improve the delivery of municipal services to targeted neighborhoods through a partnership of government action and civic responsibility. Since the program's inception, Partners has focused its attention to meet the needs of the neighborhoods that it has targeted and that it serves. 514 BILL 980003 Currently, elements of the Police Department's newly formed Rapid Response crime team, as well as the expanded Narcotics Strike Force, have been added to the Partners for Progress program initiatives in order to be part of an effort aimed at revitalizing community participation through community-based organizations and Town Watch groups in the fight against crime at the neighborhood level. Over the next year, the city will dedicate an additional $1 million to the demolition of imminently dangerous buildings in targeted Partners for Progress areas. In the last four years, the MDO has vastly increased the city's support provided to communities trying to make their neighborhoods safer, cleaner places to work and live. Between FY '95 and '98, the city has allocated nearly $6 million to support anti-crime activities and programming. Between Fiscal Year 1995 and '97, the MDO coordinated the distribution of 1,300 radios and 400 cellular phones -- roughly three radios or phones per Town Watch group -- and over 21,000 sets 515 BILL 980003 of T-shirts, jackets, and caps. In the same three years, the MDO has awarded 475 cash grants, amounting to nearly $245,000 to Town Watch groups alone. In 1998, the MDO will distribute approximately $200,000 worth of additional equipment and grants. In addition, the MDO distributes grants for neighborhood antidrug activities to address the problems of violence and drugs among the city's youth. These funds have been used for mentoring programs, youth organizations, trips for neighborhood youth, and educational programs to inform young people about violence, AIDS and AIDS prevention, drugs, and the criminal justice system. In recent years, the MDO has designated three deputy managing directors to coordinate the city's homeless service system, accessibility compliance, and prison population management. Deputy Managing Director for Special Needs Housing is charged with obtaining shelter beds, food kitchen sites, and job training for 516 BILL 980003 clients served by the homeless service system. And by securing these services on a citywide basis, significant economies of scale are achieved. In addition, the Deputy Managing Director has helped the city develop a long-term strategy for moving clients from large shelters, to transitional and permanent housing, and continues to work to temper the impacts of Welfare reform on the city's homeless system.
In response to the safety cap proposed by the prison system, which limited the number of inmates in custody in the city's prisons to 3,750 at any one time, the position of Deputy Managing Director for Criminal Justice Population Management was created. The deputy has worked closely with the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania, the District Attorney, the Police Department, the prison system, and the defender association to secure release from the Federally imposed prison cap and to ensure that the prison population is maintained at acceptable levels. The Deputy Managing Director for 517 BILL 980003 Accessibility Compliance is charged with coordinating the Americans with Disabilities Act compliance activities of every city department and agency, as effectively and efficiently as possible, while providing citizens with disabilities access to all public services. Since Fiscal Year 1990, the city has spent a total of $33 million to bring city facilities and streets into structural compliance with ADA guidelines. The city expects to install curb ramps for the city's intersections and renovate a total of approximately 70 buildings and facilities in order to improve access to the disabled. The Office of Emergency Management coordinates all contingency planning for the city and interdepartmental activities during emergency situations. During Fiscal Year 1998, the MDO will complete the first comprehensive status report on the city's emergency management program that will provide an overview of the city's state of readiness in the event of a local or regional disaster. The MDO is also responsible for 518 BILL 980003 coordinating the city's response to snow emergencies, of which we haven't had any this year, thank God. In late 1995, the MDO led the effort to establish the defunct Snow Emergency Route system. As a result, the city is now better equipped to handle snow emergencies by ticketing and towing vehicles left along the 110-mile route system after a snow emergency has been declared in order to make them more accessible for emergency response vehicles. In Fiscal 1998, the Targeted Assistance Program received a $298,400 grant to improve services to older refugee populations in an attempt to mitigate the impacts of Welfare reform. 1 million. The Municipal Energy Office's 1999 budget reflects an anticipated $4,864,000 increase in grant revenues largely attributable to two grants 519 BILL 980003 worth a total of $4,000,603 to construct a compressed natural gas refueling facility at the airport and the purchase of dedicated compressed 5 natural gas employee buses. 6 In the 42 months since its creation, 7 the Police Advisory Commission has received 407 8 individual allegations of police misconduct. Of 9 this total, 271 casess, or 67 percent, have been 10 closed, while 136 cases are currently under 11 investigation. 12 Mr. President, this concludes my 13 testimony for the Managing Director's Office, and I 14 would be glad to entertain any questions. 15
Thank you very 16 much. 17 The Chair recognizes Councilman 18 Cohen.
Thank you, Mr. President. The first question is a simple one. This money for the airport, you referred to two grants involving nearly $5 million. Could you tell me, where is that money coming from, what kinds of grants are they, is 520 BILL 980003 it General Fund money?
It is my understanding, Councilman, it is not General Fund money. And I am at a loss this morning because we just lost the Director -- we didn't lose her; she left the government -- of the Municipal Energy Office. But we would be glad to provide for you a detailed report on the source of the money, the type of grant it is, and the amounts.
Yes, I would appreciate that. Because it has been my understanding that the airport is self-sufficient and that whenever there are costs, they are apportioned among the various airlines that use the services. But we would appreciate getting that information. The second, last question is, who is the Deputy Managing Director for Special Needs Housing?
The deputy is in the Council chamber, and his name is Michael Nardone. He is seated right behind you, Councilman. 521 BILL 980003
Let's see. Mr. Certaine, I had also a question about the Municipal Energy Office. Is there someone here able to answer it, or should that be put on to a later time?
Councilwoman, I believe that that should be put on to a later time. As you know, Judith Mondre has left the government. There has not been a replacement named. And we can supply in any detail to your office or to you personally that you may need, but I am not prepared to answer any detailed questions on the Municipal Energy Office at this time.
I would like it on the record that maybe you could send it to the Chair. Is there a projection for savings 522 BILL 980003 that the office will produce in FY '99? Last year their savings were projected as 8.1 million, which is a significant amount of money. And I am wondering what your projection is for the next fiscal year.
I believe I may have mentioned -- let me just check here for a second. No. The figure that I have does include the FY '98 savings projected to be 8.1 million. So I would have to get a refinement of that for the upcoming fiscal year.
I think that that office has played a very important role, very quietly saving a lot of money in helping us be more efficient.
Yes. In addition to saving money, they have also brought into play a series of grants that have allowed us to do some very spectacular things in the area of energy savings and with an indirect, or maybe not so much an indirect, impact on environmental concerns that we all have.
And I think what Councilman Cohen was referring to is the natural gas.
Yes. The compressed natural gas facility that's scheduled for the airport, I don't have all of the detail on. But we would be glad to submit it to the Chair for the Councilman, and the information for the savings for the next fiscal year, also, for your office's perusal.
The second question was, in the discussion of the Five-Year Plan last week, I had requested a list of all the Partners for Progress areas, with a map showing where you had done work in the last several years. Is that ready yet?
No. You asked that of the Streets Commissioner. I was listening to the testimony at that time. We have produced periodically a series of maps indicating what the census tracts are that we worked in. I am in the process now of having the 524 BILL 980003 Planning Commission put together a large citywide map that indicates all the census tracts that we have been involved in. Some of those census tracts have been repeated from time to time. So what I want to do is put together a legend that describes what census tracts have been hit once and other census tracts that have been hit more than one time. That should be ready within the next ten days or so.
I would think you would want that for the work you are doing, and then I want it so I can see, if I am driving around the city, if I can tell where Partners for Progress has -- if an area looks cleaner, is that because of what you have done or is there something else going on; that's why I want it.
Councilwoman, I would caution you on that. Some areas of the city, no matter what we have done by way of Partner for Progress, we have those conditions that continuously reoccur. And other areas of the city, even 525 BILL 980003 though we may go in for a targeted concentration of municipal services, the Streets Department and other services are engaged in ongoing activities in some of the very same census tracts. So we try not to take credit where it is undue. And what I will try to differentiate on the map is where we have had an ongoing program, or some concentrated effort, of the targeted resources of municipal government to let you know where the program itself has been. But I would not read too much into that, particularly if the block captains and the other community organizations in that area have banded together to maintain what's been accomplished. More of that credit should go to them, than it should go to the program itself.
But your initial cleanup can really give encouragement and incentive to then try to keep it clean.
It is the impetus for a lot of the community organizations to dig in once again and try to maintain what's been accomplished. And we have been fairly successful around the city with that program. 526 BILL 980003
I also had a couple of questions on the anti-graffiti work. But I noticed on the schedule of hearings, that testimony is coming later?
Yes, Councilwoman. Assistant Managing Director Tom Conway is in the Council chambers. But I would suggest that when he presents his testimony, those questions will probably be more appropriate at that time.
That's good. So I will hold those questions. The last one was regarding the Deputy Mayor for Criminal Justice. They are always looking for ways to more effectively and cheaply control the prison population. Does the city use electronic monitoring of criminals so that they could be at home instead of, you know, sort of a more expensive stay in our prisons? And if we are doing that, how successful has that been?
Let me say this: With the rescheduling of this hearing from Friday to 527 BILL 980003 today, Dianne Granlund, who is the person who would best be able to answer your question, is not available right now. But I will say this: The City of Philadelphia does use electronic monitoring. The level of that use and how successful it has been, I am not really prepared to address. But we can get that information submitted to you. Miss Granlund was just not able, there was something else scheduled for today. When the scheduled testimony was moved, she couldn't meet this requirement.
Perhaps she could come back when they are talking about the prisons, anyway, and we can have that all together.
Absolutely. And we will make a note of that, and make sure that she is in Council chambers when Prisons gives their testimony.
Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Verna. 528 BILL 980003
On -10, No. 7, can you tell us who the Deputy Mayor is on that line item?
Would you submit to the President, please, or to the Chair who that is and what the responsibilities of that individual are?
Also, about four years ago several members of Council had done a study on 911, and a report was submitted, at which time we suggested that the Administration look into the possibility of initiating a 311 nonemergency phone number. I see that, in your testimony, we are 529 BILL 980003 still checking into the feasibility of that. Is it going to take another four years before we get an answer as to how it will work --
-- no, I don't think it will take another four years. I think we are very close to working out the details of establishing a number like that. The closest jurisdiction that has a successful 311 system is the City of Baltimore. That has been studied. We have consulted with them and some other jurisdictions around the country. We are in the process of working with the Department of Public Property, Communications Bureau, as well as the Police Department, to figure out the mechanics and the exact systems for implementation. But we do see it as something that would be beneficial, given the fact that a lot of nonpriority calls still flood the 911 system. And we would like to utilize something like that to clear that up, so that 911 is used for the purpose 530 BILL 980003 that it was intended for.
So when do you think? Give us an approximate date that you think that we will know a time when it could be initiated.
Well, Councilwoman, it is very difficult for me to say exactly when that would be implemented. But I think that we can look for implementation some time in Fiscal Year 1999. I can't give you an approximate date, though.
All right. Thank you. Also in your testimony you mention about assuming some responsibilities at the Navy Yard and the Kapart homes?
Do you know when the Department of Navy will be transferring those to the city?
Well, actually, the process requires the Department of Navy to send the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania a letter requesting transfer. 531 BILL 980003 The Commonwealth has indicated to us that they will not grant that transfer until the City of Philadelphia is ready to assume that jurisdiction. We are looking now, we are looking within a 90-day window. Because there are certain things that have to be done that includes the Kvaerner deal, that have to be taken care of prior to Kvaerner actually beginning their operation. We are in consultation with the departments. In fact, we have a series of meetings finalizing the service delivery side from those departments scheduled for early next week. From then, we should be able to notify PIDC and the Law Department as to the Operating Department's readiness to begin supplying the municipal services that are required in order for us to assume the jurisdiction. The key thing here is that that parcel of land is an additional 1100 acres that is being added to the city. It does have its own infrastructure. In some places the infrastructure that exists is not totally compatible with the city's infrastructure. 532 BILL 980003 We are prioritizing Public Safety, then Public Works, and then the regulatory issues that are involved in that. And I can safely say that we will meet the 90-day window that we are work working within. There will be some glitches that would have to be worked out a little bit later on. But it is also important for PIDC to be able to finalize the service delivery contracts, because they will be managing the site as an industrial site. And we want to make sure that the relationship between PIDC and the understanding in the contracts for service delivery are met right up front. We also have to anticipate some things that will occur once the Navy Yard is up and running at full tilt. And those are some of the things we have to anticipate. And I am not so sure that we have all the information that we would need from Kvaerner, not just for their startup operation, but for when they would have their 900-some employees on line. So we are trying to anticipate what those needs are. 533 BILL 980003 In some cases there will be placement of municipal departmental representation on the site itself. Those are the things we are working out right now.
Thank you. I note a significant increase in the anti-graffiti Town Watch contracts with groups, quote, to be determined, end of quote. What process is used to determine the groups?
Well, what has happened in the past -- in fact, there are a couple of variations. Very early on, there were a series of groups who were kind of held over from the previous Administration that were used to getting a certain amount of money in a year, regardless of what happened to anybody else. Several years ago, when we did the task force that included Council members, we changed that and tried to set a criteria for solicitation early in the year, and then a weeding-out process that included representatives of that task force, to determine which groups should get the limited 534 BILL 980003 funding that was available. What we have run up against is a listing of groups that feel that they should receive the same amount of money every year, regardless of whether a new and innovative program has been added to the inventory. We are trying to determine now what system of prioritization we are going to use and how we are going to make the spread so that we affect every councilmanic district in the city that has groups like this that are engaged in that kind of activity. We are in the process of doing that now. I am in consultation with the Mayor's Office. And if there is any recommendation from the Council that should be considered in that prioritization, I would really like to get ahold of it as quickly as possible. And the reason for that, Councilwoman, is that, even though there are some very good programs out there, these grants are considered to be seed money grants; they are not really intended to fund a program year after year after year. Some of the groups don't quite 535 BILL 980003 understand that. And when it gets beyond two or three years, you know it is past the seed money stage. And that's where I am trying to work that out, so that the groups understand that, and we can allow new groups that are innovative and dynamic to get into the system to get access to some of that funding.
Councilwoman Verna, I believe we have identified the Deputy Mayor on the budget detail that you had asked about.
Yes. May I ask who that is, and what are the Deputy Mayor's duties?
That is Deputy Mayor Donna Cooper, who took Mr. Rost's place when he became Chief of Staff. She is now Deputy Mayor for Policy and Planning in the Mayor's Office. She is housed in the Municipal Services Building, in the same offices that Greg Rost had when he was Deputy Mayor for Policy and Planning.
My question deals with TPAC, the Telecommunications Policy Advisory Commission.
A consultant was hired for 100,000 to assist TPAC. What process was used, who did you pick, and what services will he consult on?
Councilwoman, I am not sure that the consultant has been in fact hired. I know that $100,000 has been allocated. I have not been made aware that a consultant is already on line. I know that we have made arrangements 537 BILL 980003 in the Fiscal Year 1999 budget for $100,000 for consultant services to TPAC.
And what questions, what services will that consultant provide? What's he looking into? Why do we need a consultant for this issue?
That's information that I don't have with me today, Councilwoman. But we will make that information available to the Chair, so that you can receive it as soon as possible.
Okay. Mr. President, I yield to Mr. DiCicco, who has a follow-on question. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you, Councilwoman. In that same paragraph, at the end, it says another 40,000 could be used to fund legal services. Is that an outside law firm that we are hiring? I assume it is? And could you identify who the law firm is?
I cannot identify who 538 BILL 980003 the law firm is. But I believe that Mr. Kluge is here in the Council chamber. He may be able to identify it.
Good afternoon. My name is Charles, middle initial P, Kluge, K-L-U-G-E, Jr. I am the Executive Director of the Police Advisory Commission. The law firm is the same law firm, Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads, who has been providing pro bono legal services for the Police Advisory Commission for 42 months. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Is there any reason we would not be using the City Solicitor's Office? Is there a conflict there?
There would be a conflict. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Is there any reason we are not using the City Solicitor's Office?
There would be a conflict. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: No further questions. 539 BILL 980003
Okay. Back to me. Mr. Certaine, I want to discuss alternatives to incarceration. What, if any, are being presently employed by the city?
The one alternative to incarceration that we discussed a little bit earlier is the electronic monitoring. By way of programmatic alternatives, ma'am, I am not clear in my budget testimony as to what those programs would be or how extensively they are used within the criminal justice system. That is also an area of testimony that Dianne Granlund would be able to address. When you talk about alternatives to incarceration, is it programmatic or -- is it programmatic across the board for all levels for youth, as well as adult offenders?
I am interested in what you are doing for youth, as well as adults, yes.
Okay. I would be able to supply that information, but I don't have the detail at this time. 540 BILL 980003
Let me refine the question a little more. What are the alternatives, other than electronic monitoring, for incarceration for nonviolent criminals?
What has the Criminal Justice Coordinating Office proposed and/or advocated? And in serving as the Mayor's coordinating arm for drug control policy, what exactly does this office do?
Councilwoman Clark, Deputy Mayor John Wilder is here, who could probably answer the latter part of your question.
Unless you can answer the questions to alternatives to incarceration.
John Wilder is the name, Deputy Mayor for Criminal Justice, Drug Czar, City of Philadelphia. As far as alternatives are concerned, one of the things, the newly established drug court 541 BILL 980003 certainly has been one of the instrumental things that I think has taken some of the slack off of the prison overcrowding situation. With that, some of the defendants obviously are being sentenced to, if you want to call it that, home monitoring situations; some of them are being sentenced to halfway houses; some of them are being put in treatment in community-based and/or other types of treatment programs. So those are some of the alternatives that are taking place now. What does our office do? Let me just put it this way: I think I have tried, since being on board, to work with more than 200 antidrug groups that have been community-based throughout Philadelphia. In that sense, working in concert with the Managing Director's Office, I think in the first year we came on board, there were about ten of those group, and I think he alluded to it as it relates to funding for their particular programs, as well as summer programs for youth. That has gone and varied between 60 and probably 75 groups that have gotten funding over 542 BILL 980003 the last two or three years for their various programs. The other thing that we do, we have a Weed and Seed Program in North Central Philadelphia. That particular Weed and Seed Program, since the inception of the Mayor's term, going now six years, we have been fortunate enough to get somewhere in the neighborhood of to 4, million dollars for that particular program. It was, basically, geared as a three-year program. And that is getting the community-at-large to work with the police, to work with federal government, to work with state government, to work with city government, bringing in an array of city services to alleviate the problems of drugs and crime within that community, and also seed the community with opportunities not only for development, but also for jobs and things of this nature. In that particular community, it does have one distinction; it is the Empowerment Zone, as well. I think that the other thing is that, 543 BILL 980003 in working with -- as it relates to our office, one of the things that we find is that we have got to go outside of city government in order to try to get resources for these particular programs. Aside from lobbying with the feds for that kind of money over the last five, six years, just very recently, within the last four weeks, we got a new allocation of $100,000 for children that are victims of domestic violence, geared towards that particular area, which is North Philadelphia.
Mr. Wilder, I don't want to put a cross on you, but do you have a report that you could give us that shows me what you are saying here?
Yes. In fact, I have here -- and I will certainly see to it that you get it -- I have a document that outlines the services of our office and those things that we consider to be our mission.
Okay. What I would like you to do is to tell me the number of programs that you have operating, the number of dollars, the number of organizations, and the number of people with which you work. 544 BILL 980003
So I need a spreadsheet, so I can read it across and down, and get a picture of what it is that you are doing.
Because, as you know, over the last five or six years, this Council has shown a great deal of interest in drugs and the degree to which drugs have changed the way we live our lives in this city.
As the number one officer for whom drugs is your major reason to exist, we rely on your report as to what the city is doing to combat drugs and its effects on our lives.
Excuse me. I am going to have to ask that you two fine people, who are enjoying this question-and-answer exchange, limit your answers, because your time is long expired.
In closure, can I just have ten seconds, if you don't mind? Just one distinction I would like to make. Even as the Drug Czar, I can assist with my expertise as it relates to enforcement. But certainly the enforcement of the drug laws is the responsibility of the Police Department and the federal government.
Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney.
Thank you very much, Mr. President. Managing Director Certaine, what is Dianne Granlund's actual title, Deputy Managing Director for what?
Dianne Granlund is the Deputy Managing Director for Prison Population Management, primarily. 546 BILL 980003
And I know she is not here today, so I would like to give you a couple of questions that I would like her to be prepared to answer when she comes here, I assume, with her testimony as it relates to Prisons Department.
I am going to try and make sure that she is scheduled along with the Prisons.
I need to know how many defendants have been released by her office, or been recommended for release, that bail has been set for them, whether or not there is a limit on the bail number that would preclude a person from release without paying their bail. My understanding is, the way the process has been working, is an individual comes before the bail commissioner, the bail is set. The individual is then incarcerated because they can't make bail. And that there is a collection process that precedes relative to the amount of bail -- well, the individual that can't make bail is then released for various reasons. Okay? And what I want to try to find is, 547 BILL 980003 how many people have been released once bail has been set by judgment or by decision of the Managing Director's Office; whether or not there is a limit on the bail that's been set for them, for example, if there is a bail level set over which a person is not considered for that kind of pre-release; whether or not there is a number of previous arrests, offenses, or convictions that would preclude a person from that type of release; and what types of crimes, if any, preclude a person from that type of release.
Any type of crimes. It is my understanding, to the frustration of our Bail Commissioners, that individuals who have been arrested 15 or more times, who cannot make bail, for various offenses like theft from auto or burglary or shoplifting, for example, are released post the setting of bail by the Bail Commissioner based on a decision made by the Managing Director's Office. And that person, without electronic monitoring or without any particular constraints on 548 BILL 980003 their ability to move about, are released back into the community-at-large. So in the course of a year, I need to know how many people were -- as they say, one of the -- allegedly, one of the prisoners who come before a Bail Commissioner, after being released for another charge similar to what he had been incarcerated for in the first place, was asked by the Bail Commissioner how he paid his bail, because he couldn't make it. He had said that God paid it. I want to know how many people God paid the bail for in the course of the last year. Okay?
All right. Councilman, in fact, as soon as I get back, I will make that information available to Deputy Managing Director Granlund for submission to the Chair in response to your question.
Thank you, 549 BILL 980003 Mr. President. Mr. Managing Director, on your testimony, in the Partners for Progress section -- first, let me commend you and your staff -- I see Frankie Hughes over there, and a number of other people -- on the operation out in West Philadelphia. We should probably start giving these operations names. But for the moment it will be the operation out in West Philadelphia, 58th and Arch and the grid that was created out in West Philadelphia. I did want to ask, though, based on the testimony, last line on it talks about demolition of imminently dangerous buildings in targeted Partners for Progress zones. Are there now specific areas in the city that are considered Partners for Progress zones, or does an area get the designation after the operation has taken place?
That's just a matter of the writer's license, Councilman. We continue to target at-risk neighborhoods, largely with input from the District 550 BILL 980003 Councilperson. The amount of money that we are talking about is approximately half of that amount in this current fiscal year and half in the next fiscal year. It is money set aside. It is in the Department of Licenses and Inspections budget. That demolition funding would be used primarily for imminently dangerous properties that fall within a grid that we would be working on. It would be similar to -- was it Warren Street?
The Warren Street operation. Where there was no money set aside specifically for the Warren Street operation; it came out of the General Fund operation of L & I. It was successful. But in doing that particular project, we recognized the need to have funding associated with the Partners for Progress, the targeted resource program, so that we would not be dipping into the General Fund monies set aside in the L & I budget specifically for demolition, which usually includes large factories, imminently 551 BILL 980003 dangerous fire properties, things like that.
So that's what that's there for, and that's how we intend to use it.
Can you share with us, with regard to the general operations of Partners for Progress, once Partners has come through an area, what is, I guess, either the followup, or how do we, once we have cleaned up an area and stabilized it, what is our ability to keep track of what's going on in that specific area or zone or grid to make sure that the conditions don't go back to the way they were?
One of the things we try to do -- and this is constant throughout the program -- we try to form alliances with existing community leadership in the area, including the Town Watch anti-drug groups in the area, to provide us with a constant stream of intelligence, that we then turn over to the Police Department; in fact, turn over to the expanded narcotics strike force and the rapid response teams. Now, in addition to that, what happens is, the Town Watch liaison people that work 552 BILL 980003 under Deputy Managing Director Hughes are on the ground in those areas trying to reinforce or build, if there are none that exist, Town Watch groups. We try to get the Philadelphia More Beautiful Committee of the Streets Department to identify and work with potential block captains in the area. And what we try to do, essentially, is strengthen the neighborhood to the extent that when we roll out with the trucks and go on to another neighborhood, that we leave behind a reinforced network of Town Watch -- I am getting instructions here, Councilman.
This would be a real dissertation if I went into everything that we are doing.
But essentially what we try to do is strengthen the community-based network of leadership that exists in an area. If it does not exist, then we try to structure it. And we use Town Watch, reuse the 553 BILL 980003 anti-drug groups, we use members of the clergy that are active in an area. We will use just about any resources that we have access to to try and do that. And in many cases, it is the offices of elected officials, Councilpeople, as well as state representatives and state senators, that can steer us in the right direction as to the people we need to be reaching out and to talking to. So it is really, it is truly a partnership that we try to utilize to make the neighborhood stronger.
This is not in your testimony. But in your capacity as Managing Director, having direct authority over the ten operating departments -- but recognizing that for reasons stated earlier we will not have the Police Department here -- I still would like to raise one issue that I found in the Police Department testimony that had already been distributed for today. And hopefully it is something that can be looked at prior to the actual testimony coming up. It is on , and it talks about some of the grants that have been secured by the 554 BILL 980003 department. $2 million from the United States Department of Justice to purchase mobile data terminals, $4.4 million to reduce auto theft, $94,000 to help reduce the incidence of rape and sexual assault, and $32,500 to fight abuse against women. I am certainly pleased that the Police Department has been able to secure various grants for various programs. I do have to say, though, Mr. Managing Director, that the numbers on trying to reduce incidence of rape, sexual assault, and abuse against women seem to dramatically pale in comparison to -- and I realize auto theft is certainly important, or auto break-in and the like; and I'm not even suggesting that we should reduce in the other areas -- but I am a little perplexed, given the nature of these kinds of crimes, why those numbers are so particularly low. And what efforts will we make to increase them, given the nature of these rather, at times, vicious crimes?
Councilman Nutter, I agree with you that $32,500 -- and I believe this 555 BILL 980003 paragraph indicates since 1993.
I would like to think that it is an error. And once again, I don't want to speak for the Police Department and this draft of their testimony. But I believe that since 1993, the Police Department can claim to have received more than $32,500 for those types of activities.
Well, if you could check that out, and maybe we can get a better accounting of that, I would appreciate it.
Lastly, I had expected that the Finance Director would be back to finish up a piece of business from yesterday, but I do not see him here. I know our hearing has been postponed from the normal time. But, again, in your capacity as Managing Director -- and this seems to be a Public Property issue -- there is a proposed relocation of some City of Philadelphia personnel to a building 556 BILL 980003 located at 990 Spring Garden Street. The information I have is that a number of departments, or parts of departments, whose personnel, apparently, do not have to be located in Center City Philadelphia, or in any of what is generally called the triplex buildings, will be at this location, proposed location: The Streets Department, Survey Division, the Police Department 911 training, various other units of the Police Department that are apparently generally housed at 3rd and Race, the Police Training operation, and the L & I Code Enforcement Unit, as well as L & I's Weights and Measures Unit. With the exception of the Police Training Operation and the L & I Code Enforcement Unit, all of the other units of personnel are coming from city-owned facilities. The Police Training and the L & I Code Enforcement are located at 1415 North Broad Street, what I believe is generally referred to as either the OIC Building or the big white building up on North Broad Street. And so I am trying to understand why we are relocating those employees out of the OIC 557 BILL 980003 facility, over to 990 Spring Garden. Secondly, I understand that at least one of the police units that may be relocated to this 990 Spring Garden is our Internal Affairs either Bureau or Division, I think generally referred to as IAD. But what particularly perplexes me, I guess, about this transaction is my understanding that the owner of the building, or the company involved in this, is U.S. Realty. Are you familiar with this company or this transaction?
Yes, I am familiar with the relocation of the offices, some of which are coming from 1600 Arch Street and other locations around the city. There will be some movement of the L & I -- I believe the housing inspectors are at 1415 North Broad Street. It is, as far as I know, U.S. Realty that owns. That's the old Packard Press building on Spring Garden Street.
The police units that 558 BILL 980003 are coming from 3rd and Race are being moved out because of the condition of that particular building.
It is my understanding that that building is in great disrepair.
It is not in the best shape that we would want to have a police facility located in, even though it is one of our buildings.
And this was an opportunity that was taken advantage of. I believe the developer is, in fact, U.S. Realty.
Okay. And is it my understanding that U.S. Realty is either owned or controlled or operated by an individual by the name of Michael Grasso?
I believe that's the case. (Councilwoman Verna assumes the Chair.)
We had some prior dealing with U.S. Realty, I believe, when we 559 BILL 980003 relocated the old -- when we relocated Traffic Court from the old building on Broad Street.
And don't we also have some public employees in another building at Delaware and Spring Garden?
Delaware and Spring Garden is where the offices of the City Commissioners are, dealing specifically with the voter registration activities of the City Commissioner's Office.
Well, I would ask you as Managing Director, because I guess what concerns me here, if it is in fact the same individual and if that person's name is in fact Michael Grasso, there are newspaper accounts that seem to indicate that Mr. Grasso has, apparently, two previous federal convictions of various crimes and was listed some time ago by the Pennsylvania Crime Commission as being described as a financial adviser to the former, now deceased, Angelo Bruno. There seemed to be a number of 560 BILL 980003 questions about this. And I guess one of them is, how is it that we would have parts of our Police Department in a facility owned by a person with these issues, or this background? In addition, apparently we are going to put our Internal Affairs Bureau in a location where there are other police units. And, therefore, anyone coming to that building, possibly for an IAD interview, will have to either walk through or go past other police officers to get to that location. Now, from a policy standpoint and a procedure standpoint, that would seem to put either those individuals at some risk of exposure or potentially compromise investigations. Can you take a look at this and see what the story is, and why are we making this kind of transition, as well as, apparently, moving people out of, clearly, a neighborhood location, up at about Broad and Master, with the relocation to 9th and Spring Garden? Why are we doing this?
Yes, Councilman, I can look into that and answer the question that you have 561 BILL 980003 as quickly as I can get answers myself.
I would appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Managing Director, following up on a question that Councilwoman Verna asked you before. How many Deputy Managing Directors are there currently?
Just a moment, Councilman. Currently our budget detail, Councilman Ortiz, shows seven deputy managing directors.
And how many other managing directors are in the offices of other departments?
Let me rephrase 562 BILL 980003 that. Are all seven of those deputy managing directors in the MDO office, or are they assigned to other departments?
All of them are not currently working in the Managing Director's Office in the Municipal Services Building.
Are they working in other departments and being paid as deputy managing directors?
How many of those seven are in other departments, and what are those departments?
Councilman Ortiz, we can, as we have before, break that down and prepare that information for the Chair and have it to you as quickly as tomorrow. We have done that in the past, when this question has been raised, and we are fully prepared to do it again.
How many of the seven work directly for you? 563 BILL 980003
How many assistant managing directors do you have right now listed being paid out of the payroll line that says, "Assistant Managing Directors"?
Councilman Ortiz, I can prepare that information and have it to the Council President's office as quickly as tomorrow morning, but I am not prepared with that kind of detail in front of me.
I would like to find out how many of those assistant managing directors are working for other departments, and what those departments are.
That's not a problem. We do that routinely. That's a computer run that we do, and I neglected to bring it with me today.
Are any of the deputy managing directors that you currently have Latino? 564 BILL 980003
Are any of the assistant managing directors, which are many, that you currently have Latino?
In other departments, DHS, Health, on down the line, do you currently have Latinos in any sort of, other than Public Property, which Andre Perez is the Commissioner, sort of program director, policy-making positions?
That I am aware of -- we have never done a breakdown. I would not be prepared at this time to indicate that we have any at all.
Could you make that breakdown to see whether we have Latinos, over and above the clerical typist position, and if we have individuals in programmatic areas that are functioning in terms of executive and professional areas?
And to see how many Latinos there are in terms of programmatic and policy-making positions within the ten departments in the city?
But it is shameful that among all of those assistant managing directors, not a single Latino, or even the deputy mayor.
It is. It is a matter of some concern. You and I have discussed this before. And, quite frankly, I think that the issue probably should have been raised before now. We have talked about it. But I will examine the municipal payroll, along with central personnel, to find out what the breakdown really is.
During the last six years, has anyone, any Latino, been hired?
Councilman, I can't answer that question. Not in my office, I can say that.
Could you get 566 BILL 980003 that, if during the tenure of Administration, has there ever been a Latino at a position, policy-making in the Managing Director's Office, other than Andre Perez, okay, because he is a holdover from the other Administration? I would like to have that.
Madam Chair, can I just follow up on that? Mr. Certaine, you will be sure to include how many of these people are women, if you have any Asian, or any other groups? So you will indicate race and gender of the deputy managing directors and the assistant managing directors in this report that you are preparing?
Yes, that can be done. And let me say again, Councilwoman, what I would do is have the Office of Central Personnel do a full examination of the classes that Councilman Ortiz has described, to prepare, along 567 BILL 980003 with the Managing Director's Office, the report that we are talking about.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Certaine, could you please explain to me why the Division of Fleet Management doesn't report to the Managing Director?
The Office of Fleet Management, Councilman, was set up by executive order several years ago. And in its formation, because it was formed as a result of the Public/Private Task Force that was convened at the beginning of the Rendell Administration, it was thought that the Office of Fleet Management, which the Managing Director's Office did have a hand in creating, would report to the Mayor's Office until such time as the Mayor felt that it would then come under the jurisdiction of the Managing Director. Obviously that time has not come yet. That is beyond my control, and I think that's all I have to say about it. 568 BILL 980003
The problems that I have identified with some of the operations of Fleet Management is the fact that not all of the services that support Fleet Management have been given to Fleet Management. Public Property still controls certain types of services, and it doesn't appear that it has come together. And then when you ask questions, there is a lack of data on how much that we even spend on certain services that Fleet Management uses to keep this fleet running. And I just don't understand why the Managing Director's Office, that has -- and I know you said you won't comment on it; and I assume someone will -- why the ten operating departments that have the vehicles work for the Managing Director, but the support isn't there.
Councilman, one of the things that I should note is that the Office of Fleet Management is exactly that. It is not an operating department; it is an office. It is a nonchartered entity that was created by executive order. 569 BILL 980003 To the extent that it does become a department as defined in the City Charter, I am not sure that that is allowable without some sort of Charter change. But to the extent that the jurisdiction of the Office of Fleet Management is retained within the Mayor's Office, and has not yet come to the Managing Director's Office, that is a decision that is up to the Mayor. And it is stated in the executive order that formed that office, that at some point that would happen.
My next question is, I see the advertising for the Police Advisory Commission, billboards. And it states that it is a nonprofit organization. Could you explain that status?