Well, hopefully it is a nonprofit organization. But the Police Advisory Commission was created by this Council. And the Director of the Police Advisory Commission is here in the chamber, and he can probably more adequately explain what the content of those ads is intended to 570 BILL 980003 convey.
Excuse me, sir. Please identify yourself for the record.
Charles P. Kluge, Jr., Executive Director of the Police Advisory Commission. The message, Councilman, of the billboards is an outreach project to let the community know --
The message of the billboard advertisement is an outreach project to inform the community of our existence. I think it is our fault that we have not done enough outreach. In the very beginning we were doing community meetings, as much as we could. We don't have a staffing level that would allow us to do as much as we want. We try to do the best we can, and that was just one method of getting our message across. That same billboard message last year, and I think the year before, traveled in 571 BILL 980003 subway cars, buses, and trolley cars, the overhead advertisements.
My question was, the question was asked of me, and I didn't know the answer, so I am taking this opportunity, why are you a nonprofit organization, and what's the significance of that?
We were able to get the advertising at a much reduced rate by carrying the city seal in the advertisement. And I suppose the moniker that we are nonprofit, which we are -- I don't know whether we had to advertise that -- but I think it had to do with cost, carrying the city's seal in the advertising.
I was just curious. Because I have gotten a letter to ask why the Police Advisory Commission carries that nonprofit status. So it is strictly buying power, then? 572 BILL 980003
Councilman, I do believe that is accurate, though. As a part of city government, as a commission of the city government, it is a nonprofit. I just don't know if that wording needed to be used on an advertisement.
You are welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Clark.
My light is on by mistake, and I respectfully ask to have it withdrawn.
Thank you, 573 BILL 980003 Madam Chair. Good morning.
How are you? I just want to talk to you for a moment about Town hall in Germantown. I think you were the last person that I know of that was active in that whole situation. What will it take -- and Barbara Kaplan and I had a discussion a few weeks ago about Town Hall -- what will it take, do you believe, to restore Town Hall to a functional and operational condition and for use such as -- well, there are a lot of different people interested, but also the probability of a northwest municipal office?
Councilwoman, through the Department of Public Property, my last discussion was with Commissioner Perez about the estimated amount of money that would be required to renovate and make Town Hall operational was in the vicinity of $4 million. Now, that was not all at one time. I believe that at some point there -- and I believe it was with the Councilman prior to your tenure as 574 BILL 980003 Councilperson for the Eighth Councilmanic District, there was an effort launched by the community to try and include renovation dollars in each fiscal year's Capital Budget specifically targeted for Town Hall. What has happened to that, and whether or not that ever materialized, I am not real clear about right now. The Department of Public Property would be better suited to answer that question. I will say, however, that Town Hall, and my knowledge of Town Hall -- because I am very familiar with the building -- is not ADA compatible. So regardless of the systems improvements that would have to be made in order to make the building operational, there would be additional expenditures that would be necessary to make the building ADA compatible. And I believe that's why there is such a significant cost associated with the renovation of that building. In addition to that, the age of the building and other circumstances may have precluded the Capital Program Office or the Department of 575 BILL 980003 Public Property. They may have decided as a result of that that the amount of money that it would take not only to renovate the systems and make the building operational, but to also make it ADA compatible, may not be available in the budget, given the other Capital Program priorities that the city is faced with. That may be. I'm not sure that that is the reason. But from my perspective, I believe that that is a reasonable assumption, with me not having other information available to talk about right now.
Okay. Have you heard a rumor that someone has put in that Town Hall be demolished to expand parking for the 14th District Police?
I have heard that. Hopefully, that is not true. I am not aware of anything afoot within city government.
I think that between the two of us, though, we can probably work on that rumor to find out if that's going to happen. 576 BILL 980003
That is a historic building. It has been -- this is my own editorial comment now -- that is a historic building that is part of the Germantown Northwest fabric as long as I can remember, and even beyond that. And that would have to be given very careful consideration.
Absolutely. We would be opposed to it. Because it is a fabric of the community, it has been there forever, since I was a kid. And even now there is a lot of interest in reuse. So maybe we can get together and talk about Town Hall.
I would like to talk about that. I would suggest also that when the Commissioner of Public Property is available here in chambers for testimony, that question can be put to him.
And I will advise him that you have asked me about it, so that he will be prepared to respond. 577 BILL 980003
One other question. What does Partners for Progress do in the winter?
What we had been doing, right up through last winter, at the onset, we would shut down, we would stand down from December to March. But because I have unusual foresight, this year I was able to determine that we would have a mild winter, and Partners for Progress is operating through this winter.
It is amazing. But it is something, it is a gift that I have to handle.
All right. I just want to thank Frankie Hughes on your staff for coming out to our town meetings that we have been having. And I just enjoy the working relationship. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilwoman. She is in the chambers, so I am sure she heard that.
Thank you. 578 BILL 980003 The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a couple of quick last questions, Mr. Managing Director. On and of your testimony, there is reference made to anti-drug and anti-violence programs on , and the neighborhood anti-drug activities, in that the Managing Director's Office distributes grants for those programs. What I wanted to ask was, what is the cycle of funding for these programs, and how do we get, I guess, advance notification or copies of the applications? What normally happens is, we get a list of the awardees, which seems to be after application period and people coming in.
I would like to figure out a way to get in front of, I guess, the cycle or the process. In another grant program, the 579 BILL 980003 applications come in early, we in the Council, and I'm sure other places, mail them out to the various groups, and then they respond to them and get them back. This program seems to be handled a little differently.
This has been handled differently, and it is problematic in that respect. This is a question that Councilwoman Verna asked, or something similar to Councilwoman Verna's question, a little while ago. We are --
We believe if we keep asking the question about ten different ways, we will finally get the answer we want. That's part of the activity here.
As I responded to Councilwoman Verna, we are in the process now of trying to determine if there is a better way of allocating those resources. Deputy Mayor Wilder, who was here just a moment ago, said that at the beginning of the Rendell Administration, there were roughly about ten groups that got the bulk of that kind of funding. 580 BILL 980003 City Council has increased that funding. And what we have done in the Managing Director's Office and in the Mayor's Office, through the task force that was created, has been to reduce the amount of money going to each individual groups, and expand the number of groups. That has worked very well up until now. Because what has happened is, most of these groups have come to rely on this money. It was originally intended as seed money.
Now they have come to rely on it for programmatic delivery. In doing that, they shut out any new groups that may want to apply because they feel that they are -- because they have gotten the money in the past, that they are supposed to get it again.
But if I had a group that was seeking funding, and hopefully they wouldn't be a part of the kind of cabal of ten, at what point in time would they apply, or, I mean, how do we know when the application window is?
What has happened 581 BILL 980003 previously is that a letter has gone out from Deputy Mayor Wilder's office to the same groups that we have supplied funding to, year after year. That list has expanded, but it does not take into account any additional groups that may not be aware of the program, so that they can get an application in. It is based primarily on -- and I hate to say this -- it may be based on who it is you know and whether you can get access to that information. I believe that --
I believe there should be a more rational approach and a more objective way to systematize this process. And that is where we are right now. Usually around this time of year, those letters go out. I am consulting with the Mayor's Office to find out if this is the way we 582 BILL 980003 want to continue it for Fiscal 1999, or should we do some kind of posting, should it be through councilmanic, you know, representatives, the Councilpeople's offices. I'm not quite sure. But I know that the way it is proceeding, because of the expansion, I don't feel that it is fair and objective, particularly because I have run into other groups and organizations who know nothing about it.
One last question. On , if you could -- and I know that the individuals who, I guess, would have direct responsibility for this, you have indicated they will be coming to us shortly. But acknowledging that, can you just explain the difference between a Zero Tolerance Zone versus a Graffiti Free Zone? And with the graffiti vouchers, again, is that a rolling application process, or is there only one time of the year when you apply?
I can answer the latter first, if you permit. And then I believe Assistant Managing Director Tom Conway is in the 583 BILL 980003 chamber, and he can give you the difference between Zero Tolerance and Graffiti Free Zones. The voucher program is probably one of the earliest programs that we initiated in the Managing Director's Office. That is ongoing. That is year-round, at any time. A group or individual can apply to the Managing Director's Office, giving us the location of where they intend to apply resources, what they need, what it is they intend to do. And the Managing Director's Office will supply vouchers that allow them to go directly to the supplier and get the material they need for graffiti abatement.
That is year-round, and it has been ongoing. It is probably one of the most successful programs. And we did it at a time when the old anti-graffiti Network was having a problem with their inventory and warehouse. You remember those old draconian systems that were used then. That was one of the ways that we 584 BILL 980003 tried to alleviate the problems that were associated with that type of warehousing.
Tom Conway can answer the first part of your question, about the difference between Graffiti Free and Zero Tolerance.
My name is Tom Conway, Assistant Managing Director for the City of Philadelphia, and nervous as usual. The major difference between the Zero Tolerance Zone and a Graffiti Free Zone is just, Zero Tolerance Zone puts the responsibility on the city to remove graffiti within to 48 hours. 16 And the Graffiti Free Zone, which we 17 have currently 37, the responsibility is more on the 18 property owner, business owner. And we will, within 19 72 hours, I assume, to 90 hours, we go back, 20 previously, and go over the areas, and we will 21 remove any graffiti within that area. We do not 22 guarantee it will be within 24 hours. 23 Is that better? 24
Councilman, if I can add to that a little bit. And Tom Conway is very 585 BILL 980003 nervous up here.
Is there like a money-back guarantee involved in this? If you don't get it within hours, there is a rebate on your 6 property taxes? 7
No. I will say this, 8 however: The graffiti teams, once they go in and 9 clean the area, in the Graffiti Free Zones, I 10 believe you still make available to property owners 11 additional paint and supplies, where they can keep 12 the graffiti off as much as possible themselves. 13 In a Zero Tolerance Zone, it is the 14 city's responsibility to respond within 24 hours. 15
That's correct. We try 16 and make the area that we went through responsible 17 for their area. And we do go back to make sure the 18 area stays clean and keep it clean. 19
I understand how 20 you get a Zero Tolerance Zone. We have created an 21 elaborate bill and ordinance system to do that. 22 How do you get to be a Graffiti Free 23 Zone, the 72-to-90-hour response zone areas? 24
Basically, that's due to community input and business associations working 586 BILL 980003 with the groups throughout the city. They contact us, wanting to do a cleanup, say, in a certain area. And we will go out and work with them. As long as they are willing to partner with us and help maintain that area, that becomes a Graffiti Free Zone.
Lastly, let me mention this to you, Tom, I have tried to tell you this in the past, there is really no need to be nervous when you come to the table. The chair to your left is the one that has the electrodes in it. Your chair is clear. So you picked a good chair today. Don't worry about it.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman 587 BILL 980003 Tasco.
My question may have been asked. On of your testimony, you talk about the Targeted Assistance Program, working with persons from Southeast Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. And it says that you will employ outreach workers to increase knowledge of area aging services for elderly, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. What will the staff of this program look like in terms of its ability to communicate with people from Southeast Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe?
Councilwoman, I would like to introduce Donna Wolf, who has been directing the Target Assistance Program since its inception.
Good afternoon. The way the city is managing the funds for this elderly program is, we are leaving -- letting subcontracts with community groups, specifically folks from the former Soviet Union, the Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Association, the Nationality Services Center, and they are to hire 588 BILL 980003 the outreach people. They won't be staff from the city, per se.
Those are providers that you work with, you contract with them?
Yes. We prefer to do that, because it covers all the languages.
Okay. Thank you. And on , you talk about, under the Criminal Justice Population Management, you talk about alternative programs, programs for alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders. What procedures do you have for ARD? Are you a part of that, of setting policy for that program?
Councilwoman Tasco, that is similar to a question that Councilwoman Clark had asked a little while ago. And at that time I asked for the Councilwoman to allow us to contact the deputy managing director who is in charge of that program, 589 BILL 980003 Diane Granlund, who was not able to be with us today when the time for testimony was changed from Friday until today. We are going to try and make sure that in conjunction with the Philadelphia Prison System testimony, that Deputy Managing Director Granlund is available here in the Council chambers -- unless we can get that information to you in written form prior to that -- so that those questions can in fact be answered. I am not prepared at this time to discuss the detail of alternatives to incarceration.
Also, Deputy Mayor Wilder did allude to some of the alternatives to incarceration. But I don't believe that he or I is prepared with the kind of detail that Councilwoman Clark had needed and what your question would require.
What I will do is, make sure that she is aware of the question. 590 BILL 980003 If the information can be provided prior to her being here to answer questions directly, we will do that. But you will have the answer to the question you have asked.
I guess I am interested in if she has some input into that program, and what is the relationship with the District Attorney's Office, and moving the program forward, and if there has been an increase or a decrease in the number of people who have been put into that program.
Yes, ma'am, I understand. She will be fully prepared to answer those questions.
Thank you. The other question I have, your Partners for Progress, how do you decide which areas to target? I know you have been very responsive to calls. But do you have a plan, a master plan, of where you target the various communities, and when you are going in there, and that kind of thing? 591 BILL 980003
Since the program's inception in 1994, what we have tried to do is target census tracts in the city that meet certain demographic criteria that is available through the Census Bureau. With the popularity of the program, there has been some retreat from that kind of targeting, where we do try to respond to requests that come in largely from councilmanic offices. But we are also working, and have been since last spring, with the Philadelphia Police Department. And what we do -- contrary to popular opinion, the Police Department has computerized, it is GIS-based mapping systems, where they indicate on maps the hot spots for drug activity and other kinds of concentrations of illegal activity. What we try to do is focus our attention on those areas, primarily because what we have determined is that where those hot spots are for drug activity, there is a corresponding relationship with blighted conditions and other kinds of things that we need to respond to anyway. So we have drifted a little bit away 592 BILL 980003 from just plain demographics provided by the Census Bureau, on to kind of a municipal response tactical plan that's done in conjunction with the Philadelphia Police Department based on hot spots for drug activities. We have been very successful. We did a grid in Southwest Philadelphia last March. We did the Hunting Park area, around Hunting Park itself, during the summer. As Councilman Nutter mentioned, we just got finished a grid in the 19th district. And we are currently in the 39th district, in the vicinity of Triumph Baptist Church. From your office, I have received recently a request to go into the area just east of East Oak Lane, Feltonville, the lower -- what's considered the Lower Northeast area that borders the Ninth Councilmanic and the --
-- Seventh Councilmanic District. So it is a combination of requests from Council, as well as targeting, as well as census demographics that we are using now. 593 BILL 980003 We try to keep all the balls in the air at the same time.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Clark. She is going to be extremely brief.
I was premature when I said I didn't have a question. I do. Briefly, sir, would you describe for us what actions your office has taken to prepare for the projected increase in homelessness that is likely to result by the Welfare reform changes? Briefly.
Councilwoman Clark, I can be very brief. Because our role in the policy and planning initiatives associated with that has been limited. That is primarily being handled by the Deputy Mayor for Policy and Planning, who is Donna Cooper, that I had mentioned a little bit earlier in my testimony. To the extent that the Deputy Managing Director for Special Needs Housing, who is 594 BILL 980003 a part of the group of people who were considering those options and working on those plans, I would prefer to let Deputy Managing Director Mike Nardone respond to that question, if it's okay.
Good afternoon. Please identify yourself for the record.
My name is Mike Nardone, and I am Deputy Managing Director for Special Needs Housing. One of the major ways that we're trying to prepare for the onslaught of Welfare reform pertains to utilization of a federal Welfare Work Initiative. We anticipate receiving some $50 million in the City of Philadelphia over the next two years for employment and training efforts. And one of the things that Deputy Mayor Cooper has been working on is development of a plan to best utilize these resources. They probably -- or, they are not sufficient to do the job. But we are trying to put in place a plan that will try to be as effective as possible. 595 BILL 980003 And I know that there is a -- I know that there has been or will be an effort to brief City Council or what the initiatives will be included in that plan. At the same time, we are -- and I will talk a little bit about this more in my testimony next week -- that legislation and those Welfare work funds are targeted primarily at recipients, formerly, of AFDC. Within the OESS system, we are also beginning and putting in place, or relaunching, I would say, an initiative for those individuals who are non-TANF recipients, primarily single males and single females. And we have an RFP that was released last week. And over the next 15 months we think we will be able to spend, or expend, roughly a million dollars in terms of job training funds for non-TANF recipients. A major focus of my efforts is in that regard, with respect to being ready for Welfare reform. With respect to the homeless and funding from the state, we are still short of the 596 BILL 980003 funding that we need for homeless services. And that's something that we will have to advocate for at the state level, to get restitution of those funds.
I will not expand now, but I will be happy to hear your full presentation. Because it is my belief that there are many more people who will not be served than there are who will be served. And at the end of the training, what happens when there is no job? You see, I think we may be training toward futility and, as a result, towards increased frustration. Because at the end of the training grant, if there is no job, what happens to those people? They can't go back to receive Public Assistance. And so if we don't have some city program in place, they then increase the number of structurally and permanently homeless.
Well, I think you have made an excellent point, and I look forward to discussing that on Monday with you. 597 BILL 980003
Thank you, Madam Chair. I share the same concerns that Councilwoman Clark has. And not only that, but also the impact that the elimination of the homeless preference in terms of Section 8 will have in the overall aspect of creating more homelessness and adding costs to the city Operating Budget. But I will suffice that we will have that question answered later on. Mr. Managing Director, one short question. And this is something that we discussed for a couple of years now. The Licenses & Inspections outreach office, the director left that office to go to Camden to become the Licenses & Inspections Commissioner over there. Since then, no director has been appointed. From community folks we get a huge amount of phone calls and other individuals, because 598 BILL 980003 it has always been threatened with elimination. And I know that that is a concern of community folks and community agencies. And I would like to know when a director is going to be appointed, if, and what can we do to begin making sure that that office is fully staffed and provides the services that the community need?
Councilman Ortiz, I'd like to say that I am not so sure that a new director is going to be appointed for that office. There have been negotiations primarily for the transition of that building from the city to another organization. We have made arrangements for some transitional activity related to that L & I outpost to occur at 6th and Lehigh, at the newly renovated offices there in the lower level of the library. I might add -- and, once again, I don't want to speak for the L & I Commissioner -- she has indicated to me that there have been a series of requests from the staff in that particular office for transfer to other L & I locations. To the extent that any of that has 599 BILL 980003 been accomplished, I am not sure, since our last conversation. I do know that that office is still functioning. Whether or not any of the transfers have occurred or what staff level it is at right now, I'm not sure. We did make arrangements for a minimum of three people at 6th and Lehigh, but I don't believe that any of that has occurred yet.
I understand. If you want to really close an office, and an outreach office, you begin by cutting out certain services and not providing certain resources. Myself and other folks in the community are concerned that the resources have been cut, the staff has been diluted, and a lot of the folks have been transferred out, and, in essence, is leaving the office almost not able to perform what it was supposed to perform when Bennett Levin created it, in order to be able to do the job and outreach to that community. I have been very concerned, as you well know, and so has State Representative Ramos, 600 BILL 980003 about this. And what we see is an attrition process going on that will make it almost impossible for that office to function, and thereby give the reasons to the L & I Commissioner to close it. And that is going back on a promise made by the Commissioner, by the Administration, to that community, that they were going to do certain things differently.
Well, I am not sure what the level of commitments made through promise really is. But I will say this: I am aware of a number of requests by staff of that office for transfer. We have had discussions, including Deputy Mayor Ortiz and yourself at different times. I am not currently aware of what the overall status is. The L & I Commissioner, I believe, is due to present her testimony next Tuesday, on the 24th. I will advise her that that is a question that I was asked today, and she may be better prepared. 601 BILL 980003
I am just very concerned as to the whole process that has taken place.
Well, I will say this: We fully intend to maintain the Mayor's commitment to that community.
And the level, and what the perception of that commitment is with the community.
Because as we have seen with the employment, it hasn't been there. Thank you.
I will say this: There is some question as to the number of service requests that have been associated with that office, and how that community actually needs to be served.
Because obviously, the service requests, if a community understands that they are not going to be answered and they are 602 BILL 980003 not going to be served, and the resources will not be there when they call, they will stop calling. They are not fools. So if an office is not prepared with the resources to answer the concerns, you will not get phone calls.
What I will do is make sure that the L & I Commissioner is aware of this discussion -- and she may be, if she is listening -- and to make sure that there is a full report available to the Council President, as well as her preparation to answer the questions from the floor during her testimony next week.
Thank you. Are there any other questions of the Managing Director? Seeing none, thank you very much.
Thank you very much, Councilwoman. The Fire Department is next to testify. Good afternoon. Thank you for your 603 BILL 980003 patience, Commissioner. COMMISSIONER HAROLD B. HAIRSTON: Good afternoon, Councilwoman Verna. I am Fire Commissioner Harold Hairston. And with me is Matthew J. McCrory, who is the Deputy Commissioner for Technical Services; William McNaulty, who is the Deputy Commissioner for Administrative Services; and Dave Beatrice, who is our Fiscal Officer.
I'm sorry, Commissioner. Could you pull the microphone a little closer to you. You can't be heard. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Good afternoon again, and good afternoon to other members of Council. With me here is Deputy Commissioner for Technical Services Matthew J. McCrory, who is to my far right; Deputy Commissioner William McNaulty, who is the Deputy Commissioner for Administrative Services; and Dave Beatrice, who is our Fiscal Officer. The Fire Department's FY '99 Operating Budget proposes $137,464,663 for the General Fund, $3,854,400 for the Aviation Fund, and 604 BILL 980003 $551,893 for the Grants Fund. The General Fund application is an increase of $6,424,647 over the current estimated FY '98 budget for the department. This increase is primarily in Class 100, and largely related to the staffing and pay provisions for the 1996 city labor agreements. The increase also includes $1,800,000 to purchase a new, state-of-the-art, self-contained breathing apparatus system. The SCBA devices, as you know, provide firefighters with the ability to breathe while they are working in toxic atmospheres for up to approximately 45 minutes. The existing units being replaced have been in service for almost ten years, and our monthly maintenance costs have really skyrocketed. They are about $28,000 a month, for a total yearly of $336,000 for FY '98. In purchasing a new system we will, of course, eliminate normal maintenance costs for at least -- for the warranty period. And most of these vendors that we have talked to, or potential vendors, have said that 605 BILL 980003 they were willing to guarantee the product for six to eight years. And that will provide enhanced safety features to protect our firefighters. This year's budget also provides for the second-phase funding of our public relations campaign on the proper use of 911 emergency phone system. The first phase, which is really just about complete, in this Fiscal Year, FY '98, provided for an extensive market research and preliminary design of a public relations campaign. An allocation of $100,000 for FY '99 will provide for the final design and submittal of a fully developed public relations campaign aimed at reducing the number of improper calls by 17 percent. 18 Additional funding will be requested 19 in the next fiscal year in order to launch the 20 campaign. In FY '97, emergency medical services personnel responded to 157,769 calls for help and made 107,306 transports to area hospitals. We conservatively estimate 40,000 of these calls to be in the category of unnecessary or 606 BILL 980003 improper. Under fire prevention, although the number of fire deaths increased to 62 in Calendar Year 1997, over the record low of 51 in Calendar Year 1996, that number 62 still represents the second lowest annual fire death toll for the past 36 years and supports a general trending downward in fire deaths, especially over the past five years. I firmly believe that this extraordinary drop in fire deaths is directly related to our intensified efforts in fire prevention, including our continuing efforts of distributing smoke detectors through our Operation Save a Child in schools and hospitals, and especially our residential fire prevention programs which began back in 1995, where the field firefighting forces conduct routine residential inspections to identify fire hazards in homes, educate residents in fire safety, and recommend corrective steps to reduce the risk of fire. Virtually all the fire department's 2400 firefighters have been involved in this ongoing program. The number of structure fires has 607 BILL 980003 continued to decrease slightly. The Fire Department has experienced a downward trend in the past several years, coming down from 4,636 in FY '90, to 2,997 in FY '97. That represents a decrease of 35 percent in seven years. Under Emergency Medical Services, we have had a significant expansion of medic units in the past three years, and that has helped us stabilize the workload.
Our EMS personnel responded to 157,769 runs, and it is expected to run just about the same or maybe slightly less for this next fiscal year. The average number of medical runs per unit is expected to be about 4200. And that, if we hadn't had that expansion, it would probably be somewhere around 6200 in FY '98. Additionally, the higher number of units, particularly with the concept of employing peak period units, had, as promised, decreased the number of first-responder runs of the firefighting companies from about 49,000 to 37,000. And it looks like it is trending downward to somewhere around 33,000. 608 BILL 980003 This increased availability of EMS units has helped us to reduce the need to send fire apparatus and trained emergency medical technicians as first responders to medical emergencies. And this, of course, increases the amount of time firefighters' units have available in quarters to respond to fire emergencies. EMS revenues are up, too. The department expects significant increases in our EMS revenues of somewhere between and million dollars in FY '99 due to improved supervision and data collection for the claims. Providing for negotiation of better rates from third-party insurers and our private collection agency, and refinements in our fee structures to conform to industry standards which were implemented in November of 1997, these revenue enhancements have more than covered the cost of service expansion required to meet demands and should account for a continuing heavy revenue stream. We have been fortunate with our safety enhancements, too. In calendar year 1997, our lost-time injuries were reduced by 24 percent. 609 BILL 980003 That's down from 207 incidents in 1996, to 158 in 1997. What's even more dramatic is the trend since 1991 in paid days lost due to injuries. 42 paid days lost per member due to injuries. 96 days. The cost value of these days in lost time in 1990 was $1,422,000. In 1997, the cost had decreased to $347,000. Only through a very serious effort by the department management and personnel, and an equally serious effort by Risk Management personnel, could this kind of startling turnaround have been accomplished. Needless to say, we are proud of this accomplishment and grateful to Risk Management for their support. However, we remain fully committed to a zero tolerance of firefighter injuries. Just one serious injury of a firefighter is too many. Medical Priority Dispatch is something you have heard me talk about before. The department has completed its pilot testing on the 610 BILL 980003 new technology for a multiple priority dispatch system. That's a call-screening program that prompts call-takers in the dispatch center to ask certain questions of those calling for emergency medical services, and to aid them in assessing the level of emergency response and providing advice to the caller for pre-arrival preparation. This professionally certified computer-based system provides dispatchers with the ability to triage the call, which, in turn, enable a system of differentiated response that more scientifically aligns levels of response to levels of emergency to prevent inappropriate responses. For example, once this system is fully implemented and all training has been completed by the contractor, a patient with relatively minor injuries may get a different level of response than a patient whose condition is life-threatening. In the first instance, we may be able to respond by conforming to all traffic and safety regulations. And in the latter, response to be a full emergency with lights and sirens. 611 BILL 980003 The approximate cost of this is $300,000 for the system, and is fully funded through a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania EMS grant. By the end of FY '98, the department will have enhanced 911 online in our communications center. This life-saving system provides fire/EMS dispatchers with the telephone number and location of the citizens requesting our help.
As you might expect, there are times when callers are highly agitated, incoherent, and otherwise unable to give us the information that may be necessary. It is particularly supportive of the aforementioned priority, Multiple Priority Dispatch System, in that our dispatchers can quickly affirm and address with a caller and begin the dispatch process, and simultaneously begin efforts to calm the caller and give pre-arrival instructions for medical emergencies. Also, this new technology provides obvious advantages in reducing false calls. Data Terminals for Medic Units. In the spring of 1998, the department plans to install 612 BILL 980003 computerized data terminals in EMS to facilitate the cumbersome reporting requirements and to record more accurate data and to better substantiate EMS billings. That completes my testimony, and I will be happy to answer any questions that you might have.
Thank you very much, Commissioner. First I want to thank you and every member of your department for the wonderful job that you do in protecting our citizens each and every day. I don't think that any of you get the credit that you truly deserve. If I may, Commissioner, I would ask you to please refer to -12 of your budget. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Okay.
It would appear to me that in 1997, we had 1607 firefighters. We are budgeting for 1530 positions for firefighters for '99. However, I also note that we have more lieutenants for '99 than we had in '97. Am I correct in my assumption? COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Well, let me 613 BILL 980003 say this about that: What we have done from year to year is to take the number of firefighters that we would have, and then we would move them in various classes. A few years ago we made a conscious decision dealing with EMS to have a certain number of people, because of budgetary conditions, to put them under EMS, as opposed to under firefighting. If you look at this Administration, and you go back a few years, what you will see is that we have the largest number of people on board, uniformed people on board, than we have had since the late '80s. But for budgetary purposes, we may decide to put maybe 1600 people under firefighting for one year, and we may decide to change that the next year, just because of balancing the way we deal with EMS. But we actually have more people on board than we have ever had. So you don't have to worry about us cutting the force or anything like that.
I am glad to hear that. 614 BILL 980003 How many paramedics do we have? COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: We have on board about 189. We have provisions right now, we are going through a hiring process to hire more than that. We are probably, in the next few months -- because they are doing the interviews right now. And I would say probably another 30 to 45 days, we will actually hire probably another 25. What we are going to do with that is, we are going to start to upgrade some of these basic life support squads and make them advanced life support. That's just in our trending to try to deal with, in a more professional way, the response that we give to the public.
Do they receive the same salary as a firefighter? COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: No; they actually get 10 percent more.
They deserve it. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: They do a good job. And I appreciate your comments 615 BILL 980003 earlier, and I appreciate you making that comment about that. I really think they are kind of the unsung heroes. Because it is probably a little less dramatic, but certainly it is just as important. And although you may not know anybody that has personally had a fire emergency, everybody knows somebody who has had a heart attack.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I share your deep respect for the firefighters and the department and the excellent job you have been doing, and particularly the really commendable decrease in fire deaths, if I recall your testimony, to the lowest since they started keeping records, down to 53. So I think that's perhaps somewhat attributable to the focus on prevention that you have had, doing so much with children and doing so much with inspecting homes and making sure that the smoke detectors are there. 616 BILL 980003 So, again, I want to publicly thank you and commend you for your great record. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Thank you.
The one little point I wanted to bring up -- and I am aware that the department is doing some things already, again, way above and beyond the call of duty by being involved with the community, and particularly children -- but I wanted to note for the record a little piece from the Children's Defense Fund, which is a national group concerned about children. And I think a lot of people are trying to make a much sharper focus on children and their needs. And certainly here in City Council we have had hearings on the importance of after-school programs as a way to prevent crime, and the need for dealing with children who are truant from school, who, hearing their testimony, some of them so poignantly said, "We needed an adult to reach out to us and make us feel like we were valued and wanted." And I would note, what caught my eye was, the article says, "Fighting more than fires in Chicago." And they talk about what the fire 617 BILL 980003 department, a Company in Chicago, is doing. Where about three years ago firefighters initiated an attendance program with one of the local schools. Students with perfect attendance at the end of each month have a chance to win a T-shirt emblazoned with their school logo on the front and "Engine 16, Ambulance 35, Attendance Winners," on the back. The T-shirts are paid for out of the firefighters' and paramedics' own pockets. At the end of the school year, two students, one boy and one girl, with perfect attendance and A's and B's on their report card receive new bicycles. A bicycle repair shop has been set up in the basement, where young people can fix their bikes. Used bikes donated to the station are spiffed up and given to young people who may not get A's and B's, but whose progress at the schools are good. Last year the attendance rate at the school jumped from 85 to 94 percent. And the firehouse this year is trying to establish an attendance program with a second school. 618 BILL 980003 So that was sort of a new twist that I had never thought of. But in talking with you, Commissioner, I know that your officers and your firefighters are involved, and I know particularly with Lehigh Library. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Right.
But there might be some other ideas here. And maybe you want to share briefly what your officers are doing, in addition to their very central function of preventing and fighting fires. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Well, fire prevention has really been a major focus of everybody that's at this table and the other commanders that are in the Fire Department. The year before last we had about 3200 different programs that the field forces did. This past year, because of some changes that we made, we ended up with about 8200 programs that were done by our firefighting forces, one of which was the program that you just spoke about, which was at the library. We have something we call 619 BILL 980003 Partnerships for Prevention. And Partnerships for Prevention really is designed for each captain to design his own fire prevention program so that they can focus appropriately in the areas in which they are geographically responsible. That has worked to a very, very large degree for us. In addition to that, there are about 2500 programs that the actual Fire Prevention Division does. And we are always doing things with children and youth. The fact is, I think it is this week, where we make the final decisions as to who is going to get the awards for CAPA. CAPA won so many of our awards, until we decided that we would have to break them out and give them special awards, as opposed to the other high schools. But it has really been a major focus of ours to try to do more than just normal fire prevention. As part of that, National Fire Protection Association decided to give us $15,000 so that we could do a program called Learn Not To Burn. We did that in cooperation with the School 620 BILL 980003 District. They are presently negotiating with us to get us to become part of a new program called Risk Watch. Risk Watch takes it a step further. And the Centers for Disease Control has decided that they want to give us $10,000 a year, for the next three years, so that we would be a part of that. That's more of a holistic kind of program, where you work directly with the schools and you work with the Police Department, you work with the Health Department, so that you deal with safety in a much broader perspective. It is everything from how you cross the streets, to say no to drugs, to all of those other things that really cause our youth to really suffer some traumatic injuries and that kind of thing. So we believe that if we continue with that kind of focus, and not just be able to do this locally, but to take some of the programs that we have and spread them out from a national perspective, that that's good for Philadelphia, and it is certainly good for the citizens that we 621 BILL 980003 serve. And it is particularly good for the youth. It is a major focus of ours to try to reduce the number of injuries, to try to reduce the number of deaths to children, because we believe that they are preventable. Even under the worst of circumstances, if you can teach this early enough, it becomes a part of what they do. And they grow up to just be better citizens and to have a fair chance in this world.
And certainly you are always very positive role models. Many children probably look up the most to a firefighter or police officer as the sort of what everyone would like to be at some stage in their life. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: I feel very fortunate. This is the right time in the Fire Department to see certain changes. And we have been very fortunate to have so many people that work for us who have bought into the idea that that's an important thing. And I think that what you will find is, the firefighters see themselves as citizens 622 BILL 980003 first, so they are really contributors to this. And I think they do, in fact, deserve your praise, and I appreciate you giving it to us.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Commissioner, likewise, it is not the first time I have told you about the great work that all of you do in the Fire Department. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Thank you.
Commissioner, with the Philadelphia Police Department's creation of an Aviation Unit, we are going to have two helicopters. Have you begun conversations or some strategies to utilize that equipment to assist in fighting especially large fires, with firefighters trained in that unit to give information that could be helpful with a similar situation with the Meridian fire? 623 BILL 980003 How will the helicopters that the Police Department is purchasing be support to the Fire Department? COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Quite some time ago we made conscious efforts -- and I guess it became much more apparent in the Meridian fire than at any other time -- as to the value of helicopters. And we have procedures set up for the use of helicopters. And we have good working relationships with Penn Star and others, should we need them for emergency medical purposes or should we need them to help evacuate in case you end up with a fire as severe as the Meridian fire. So this has been not just thought out, but there is an actual procedure that deals with how you access them and how you can deal with these kinds of events in a safer manner.
My point, Commissioner, if we have helicopters out on patrol, and during the summer when you would have a report of a field fire in a park someplace, will there be coordination where that equipment out there, very costly equipment to operate, will be able to give 624 BILL 980003 assistance to the Fire Department to make you more efficient, and possibly recall equipment before it arrives on the scene? In other words, what I hear in other communities, especially in California, that have helicopters -- and you have seen the pictures on television where lives have been saved from burning buildings because there was no other access to the building other than by helicopter -- I would just hope that the Fire Department is going to get their bang for the buck out of this. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Some of that will be a matter of figuring out how to best coordinate those things. But let me just share a couple of things with you. One, because of paying attention to these kind of things over the years -- not just starting with me, but going back with previous commissioners -- and having some say about what happens with codes, I think you will find that we are relatively safe in terms of the way we have dealt with our buildings. Fortunately, we don't have very many brush and grass fires that are in the park itself 625 BILL 980003 that are of large loss. We have been very successful, I believe, in extinguishing those very quickly. If you have helicopters in the air, and they can point out some place where you have a fire in its incipient stage, obviously that's a help to us, because we can respond quickly and extinguish that before it gets the opportunity to expand. We will continue to do those things. And if there is anything that we can do to improve our operations, we are certainly going to do that. We believe that prevention is the key to any of this. And if you can't prevent it, at least keep it small. And that's the approach that we take with this.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Commissioner. Thank you, Madam Chair.
You are welcome. Commissioner, have the bids gone out on the new self-contained breathing apparatus? COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: No, they haven't. We right now have established the 626 BILL 980003 questionnaire. We believe that there will probably be about five vendors that can really appropriately supply this. We have cleared the path for an RFP. We are going to use that process to help select who the vendor is. We are going to go through an intensified program, where all of the vendors that can appropriately respond to this RFP will come to our Fire Academy. And, under great scrutiny, we will put them through various paces to see whether or not they meet all the qualifications that we believe are necessary.
In your testimony, you stated that most vendors have warranties extending up to six to eight years. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Yes.
Can you tell us what is the expected lifetime of this apparatus? COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: That's particularly hard to say. There is a part of it, which is the most critical piece of the apparatus itself, that 627 BILL 980003 they actually -- some manufacturer will guarantee for years. 4 As part of our system, as an example, 5 we plan to incorporate past devices, a personal 6 alert safety system. 7 If you operate this equipment, which 8 can take a beating, and you do it in the most 9 difficult areas, where you get a lot of usage, 10 obviously it wouldn't last quite as long as if you 11 were using it at, let's say, some place in Chestnut 12 Hill or something. 13 You can safely say that you can at 14 least get the guarantee, which would be for seven or 15 eight years. Because most of them are coming in six, seven, eight years in terms of their guarantees. The caution that I would have for this is this: That although a product may work very well and it may not need any repairs, and actually operate to 100 percent efficiency, because of changing technologies, if, in fact, you make a better product -- as these are better products than what we now have, because our old units are about ten years old -- I would like to see us at least 628 BILL 980003 start to examine very closely what's on the market when it comes down to the end of this guarantee period. The reason I would like to do that is because, if you are really going to be true to firefighters' safety, then you have to consider that it is not a matter of how long it lasts; it is a matter of whether or not there is a better product that can provide a safer environment for the firefighters. So I would say, in answer to your question, that the most difficult part of it is going to be guaranteed for somewhere around 15 years. The actual guarantee itself on the other parts of the product will probably come in at around seven or eight years. At that time, I think that Council ought to be ready to consider probably looking for whatever state-of-the-art is at that time.
Fine. Thank you very much, Commissioner. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Clark.
Thank you, Madam 629 BILL 980003 Chair. Mr. Commissioner, I associate myself with the comments made by Councilwoman Verna and Fernandez in complimenting you in the overall job that the department has done, particularly in reducing fire deaths, which is such a devastating thing to happen to a community. And it must personally hurt you each time you have to go and do your duties. And it is a very, very gruesome thing to have happen. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Thank you.
Sir, could you please elaborate on the types of safety enhancements that you have implemented which have resulted in the amount of lost time injuries being reduced by 17 percent, and the amount of paid days lost per member 18 due to injuries decreased to a record low of .96 19 days? 20 COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Well, the 21 first thing that we did was, to take a different 22 approach in terms of the way we were approaching the 23 injuries. 24 We used to have one person that primarily kept statistics. And what we decided to 630 BILL 980003 do was to establish a Field Safety Committee, which is a practical kind of way of dealing with our firefighting forces to help them better do their job and do it in a safe way. We also expanded the size of the unit itself. We decided that they ought to more appropriately examine every single injury, because one is too many. With that, what we have been able to do is to kind of devise some strategies. And on every single fire ground we established someone that is responsible for safety. It is everything from taking banner tape and putting it in a position where you keep people out of certain areas, keep firefighters back by a certain distance. So it becomes more a way of life than it is anything else.
Right. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: That's primarily been the kind of attitude that we have tried to foster with that. In addition to that, we took about $90,000 and put it into some sophisticated equipment 631 BILL 980003 for accidents. So we have been able to reduce our vehicle accidents, which people get hurt in vehicle accidents. We have been able to reduce that about percent. 6 What we continue to do is to try to 7 examine every single injury and take the attitude 8 that it ought to be zero. 9 And with that, and with change in the 10 focus on the way we look at injuries -- we used to spend more time looking at automobile accidents than we did firefighter injuries, so we changed the focus. So now the chief officer has to look very, very closely at each and every injury that occurs and tell us how it could have been prevented. And so it is more an attitude change, as well as actually changing some of the paperwork that we deal with, so people are forced to look at this in a very serious kind of way. And we have been successful with it. And I think if we continue with this -- because I believe it is the right path -- we will continue to even see better results. 632 BILL 980003
Well, thank you, sir. A grateful city acknowledges your work well done. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Thank you.
Are there any other questions of the Fire Commissioner? The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Miller.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't have a question for the Commissioner. I just want to thank him and the Fire Department for their excellent work in the Gorgus Lane fire on New Year's Day, and for the firefighting activities at the Stenton Aubury Apartments a couple of weeks ago. And I just want to commend the department. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Thank you for acknowledging that.
Are there any other questions or comments for the Commissioner? Commissioner, thank you very much. 633 BILL 980003 And thank you for your patience. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Thank you.
The next department to be heard is the Department of Records.
Good afternoon. COMMISSIONER JOAN DECKER: Good afternoon, Council Chair. I am Joan Decker, Commissioner of Records. And with me today is Jeanne Reedy, the Department's Administrative Services Director; Irene Macchia, a Manager; and Jarrance Nesbitt, one of our supervisors. I will make this very brief. I am not going to read through the entire testimony, since you do have a copy. But I would like to make two points. For Fiscal Year 1999, the Records Department is requesting a General Fund Operating Budget of $4,274,912, which is an overall decrease of $223,000 from our Fiscal '98 budget. This appropriation level is apportioned to cover personal services allocation changes from $3,388,536 in Fiscal '98, to 634 BILL 980003 $3,490,554, for Fiscal '99. And that increase of $102,018 is to cover negotiated wage increases. The number of staff positions remains unchanged at 98. Materials, supplies, and equipment allocation decreases from -- it is an overall reduction of $244,000. And this represents a one-time allocation in FY '98 for the replacement of a central duplicating high-speed copier. Excluding the copier, the proposed Class 300/400 budget is the same as the FY '98 budget. As for our accomplishments, I wanted to highlight a couple of improvements that we have made in the document recording and registration division. As a result of intensive work efforts in the document recording and registration divisions over the past ten weeks, the backlog of documents to be recorded, indexed, and verified has been dramatically reduced for the first time in four years. In November 1997, approximately 18,500 documents were in unrecorded backlog status, 635 BILL 980003 compared to zero today, the lowest level since FY '94. Approximately 25,000 documents were in the verification que awaiting processing. Today, most of the documents to be indexed and verified have been processed. Overall, the time to index and verify documents once they have been recorded has also been reduced, as has the time to return the original document to the filer. That time frame has been reduced from 11 months, to 4 and a half. And of course our goal is to further reduce that. Our goal is to maintain no backlog of unrecorded documents and to process all currently held documents through index and index verification before May of '98. Once this goal is reached, our goal for the remainder of '98 and '99 is the continued rapid document recording and indexing, with return to documents, return of documents to the filer, within one month. In FY '99, we will also continue to streamline the recording process, support state 636 BILL 980003 legislation to permit use of modern technology to capture and copy legal records, and continue to introduce automation to improve productivity and service delivery to citizens and companies. In FY '97, exactly 177,174 documents were recorded, and this was the second-highest number of documents processed in the past years, 9 and represented an increase of 30,967 documents from 10 FY '96. 11 I would like to thank Council for 12 their support in helping us to streamline by 13 supporting and endorsing some of the repealed 14 legislation that was introduced last spring. That 15 has made a difference in the recording process. 16 On an average, we are able to process 17 about 200 documents more on a daily basis. 18 This level, I ask for Council to 19 support this requested level of appropriation. This 20 will help us to continue with the various program initiatives that we have outlined in our testimony. Thank you very much for your support during the past year, and I hope that you will continue to support our department.
Thank you. 637 BILL 980003 The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon. From time to time my office gets requests for police reports, but it takes about three weeks to get a police report. Could you tell me why it takes so long and what's in your plans to speed up that process? COMMISSIONER DECKER: Sure. The Records Department receives the copies of the police reports from the Police Department after an accident has occurred and the report is written up by the police. I believe that the report is forwarded from the district offices in the Police Department, to Central Headquarters, where then a copy is made and forwarded to the Records Department. The Records Department accepts applications for copies of the reports, as well as the fees for the reports. And we process those applications in as timely a fashion as possible, and 638 BILL 980003 make available a copy of the report as soon as we receive the reports from the Police Department. So there are a number of steps. The report does not originate within the Records Department, but the report actually originates in the police district. It is then forwarded to the PAB. And from there a copy is made, and at that point the Records Department receives a copy. So that is the first time interval that the report copy is available to the Records Department to make available to the public.
So there could be the lag time from the Police Department to the Records Department? COMMISSIONER DECKER: That's correct.
Have you looked at the process with the Police Department to see what steps could be eliminated to get the report to you faster? COMMISSIONER DECKER: Yes. Yes. The Police Department has been reviewing and requesting, I think, looking at programs to increase 639 BILL 980003 automation. And I believe that they will be implementing and phasing that in. During the past year they did, we worked jointly, and the Police Department made available to the Records Department an automated transmittal system. And that gave our staff at least the ability to look into an electronic version of the first incident of the logging in of the report on the part of the Police Department, into an automated system. And through the use of that electronic tool, we are able to validate and confirm and sort of trouble-shoot if there are any problems. So that was the first step in the efforts to increase the use of automation to improve service delivery all around.
Thank you. Commissioner, on -5 of the budget detail, it shows an increase of more than $2 million in Grants Revenue for Document Recording 640 BILL 980003 Division. I believe that's a productivity loan? COMMISSIONER DECKER: Yes, that is correct.
That $2.4 million will be spent in Class 200; however, I don't see a breakdown of those costs. Can you provide such a breakdown to the committee? COMMISSIONER DECKER: Yes, we can furnish that to the committee.
Do you know them off the top of your head? COMMISSIONER DECKER: The actual costs cover hardware, software, and services overall for the automation efforts. I would say the great portion, the greater portion, probably more than one-half of that amount of money is for hardware, for network cabling, and other kinds of network infrastructure. The remainder of that would be applied to software and customized software and vendor services. 641 BILL 980003
I'm sorry. I know you may have indicated this, but I didn't quite hear you. Currently, how long does it take to record a document? And how long will it take as a result of the $2.4 million from the Productivity Fund that we are talking about with the implementation of the new system? COMMISSIONER DECKER: Sure. Currently, we are recording documents the same day that they are delivered to the department. There are two other -- and we would sustain that, obviously, with the use of automation. We record them the same day. There are two other important tasks in the recording process. They are indexing the information into a database and verifying that indexed information. We have significantly reduced the time to index and verify. In November, the verification process took approximately 45 days. That's now been reduced at least by half, to between 11 and 17 days. Our goal is to index and verify also 642 BILL 980003 on the same day. And we will be supported by the automation system to help us towards that goal.
Are you at liberty to tell us the status of the litigation that the city is engaged in concerning the length of time it takes to document or record a document? COMMISSIONER DECKER: Yes. We have submitted a Compliance Plan under the terms of the Court Order to the Court. The Court Order ruled that we had to clear up the backlog, meaning the documents had to be recorded, indexed, and verified the same day. And that Court Order gave us a six-month time frame to complete these tasks, until May '98. And as I mentioned in my testimony, we have eliminated that backlog of documents. We have no backlog of unrecorded documents. We record the same day. We do submit reports of the progress that was made to the judge through our lawyer. And, basically, that's the status. We did have to submit a Compliance Plan. We are well ahead of schedule, and we want to keep it that way. 643 BILL 980003
Thank you, Madam Chair. Commissioner, could you please describe for me the process? I guess to use a buzz word, how friendly is it for a citizen to do business with you? Can a person call? There are people that I hear constantly are told they must come down, they must come here to get a copy of a document. How easy is it for a senior citizen that lives in the Northeast, that would need a copy of a police report? Is there a person, is there a unit within your organization that can accept a phone call, mail them this, fax them this? Is everything done for a fee? Could you just take a quick couple of seconds to describe that? COMMISSIONER DECKER: Yes, we do have a separate unit. It is the Accident and Investigation Unit within the Records Department. 644 BILL 980003 And the process is that the person is really required to fill out and complete an application form, pay the fee, the required fee. They can submit that either through the mail or deliver that and fill it out in person in the department. We do have a separate room 8 within the department to conduct this business. And that, in a nutshell, is the process for fulfilling an AID request and for making a request to the department. I think that we have an excellent -- I know that we have an excellent -- AID supervisor. We January a year ago reorganized this particular unit and really regrouped the staff within the unit. We were able to clear up a sizable backlog there, too. And I know that the unit is -- supervisor of the unit is an excellent supervisor. We do have a voice mail box that is available for any citizens that are having any kinds of problems in obtaining a copy of a report or needing help in completing the application, and our supervisor returns the voice mail messages immediately. 645 BILL 980003 And we are very sensitive to the needs of elderly or any other kinds of clients that have special needs. And I would say that we do our best, very best, to fulfill those requests.
Commissioner, if I called the Records Department and needed a copy -- not being a member of Council, but a citizen -- and I happened to have a fax machine or a neighborhood business, will your people fax something to a person, or do you need to get paid first? COMMISSIONER DECKER: We do need the fee.
Is there anything you do for free? COMMISSIONER DECKER: Only if a special request is made for a waiver.
In other words, every document that comes out of your office, there are fees associated with getting that document? COMMISSIONER DECKER: That's correct. And we are audited on an annual basis 646 BILL 980003 by the Controller. So we have to have an audit trail of all the transactions which we complete within the department. If there are extenuating circumstances, we do, with the proper paperwork and so on and so forth, waive the fee. But the standard is to accept the fee for each copy report.
Would you fax something to someone if they needed it right away? Like I sent the check, your office got the check, you had the document, rather than mail it to them, if they requested -- I got a call that someone begged for a document to get faxed, and they said, "We don't do that." COMMISSIONER DECKER: That is not our standard policy. However, if there are extenuating circumstances and we can confirm and validate payment and/or there are extenuating circumstances, we would try to work with the citizen to fulfill that request.
Don't you think that is something you should look at? This is 647 BILL 980003 1999. If a person would send you a $15 check and put a note on there and say, hey, could you just fax this to this number, I think that would be a lot easier than putting it in an envelope. COMMISSIONER DECKER: We will do that. That is a good suggestion. We will take action on that.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Fernandez.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Commissioner, you note in your testimony that you have had some staff training for customer service. COMMISSIONER DECKER: Yes, that's correct.
To have your staff be as customer friendly as possible. Who have you had do that, and has it been pro bono or by contract? 648 BILL 980003 COMMISSIONER DECKER: Actually, we worked with the airport, the trainers at the airport. Two of the trainers within the personnel department, in the training group at the airport, who have conducted this particular program at the airport, were kind enough to make their services available to the Records Department.
Great. And also, again, I note that you have done a commendable job to try to reduce the backlog problem, and note in your testimony what your goals are. And I think on the issue of getting the document returned back to the customer, you said that right now it is -- it had been four and a half months, and your goal for '99, for next year, is to get it down to one month? COMMISSIONER DECKER: Yes, that's correct.
Which sounds 649 BILL 980003 great. How does that compare with other counties? COMMISSIONER DECKER: I think some of the counties are able to return it is usually within a month. I would say only the smaller counties are in a position to do less than that, but not too much less than that. Most of the recording process has a series of work-flow steps involved in it, and they are fairly standard for all the recorders across the country, but especially very consistent within Pennsylvania. So those same amount of steps have to be taken regardless of the size of the county. As I said, I think on an average, most of the counties in Pennsylvania are not too much better than one month. And the only way they would be able to do that would be if they were much smaller and their volumes were very much smaller than the annual volumes that we deal with in Philadelphia.
So if I hear 650 BILL 980003 you, basically if you can get it down to one month, that would make us comparable -- COMMISSIONER DECKER: To other counties.
-- to other counties. Which, again, I think would be great. Because that was one of the major complaints that I was hearing, why does it take so long in Philadelphia. So I hope you keep steaming right ahead. COMMISSIONER DECKER: Thank you. I do, too.
Commissioner, how are you today? COMMISSIONER DECKER: I am doing well. How are you?
I am good. My question will be about the Automated Integrated Document Recording System, that 651 BILL 980003 I understand has been in development for a number of years. When are you expecting it to be fully operational, and how is it doing with respect to estimated costs? COMMISSIONER DECKER: We are within budget. We have not spent anything beyond the original allocation through the productivity funding.
What does it cost? COMMISSIONER DECKER: The original amount of the productivity bank loan for the project, the project is costing us $3.4 million.
Is it completely operational? COMMISSIONER DECKER: It is not operational. The vendor has been slow in making a part of the delivery. The actual -- you asked for the time frame for implementation?
When do you expect it to be fully operational? COMMISSIONER DECKER: There are a 652 BILL 980003 series of tasks and events that have to be completed successfully before we introduce it into production. So the implementation is best explained in that manner, rather than a target. Where we are in the project now, we have implemented and installed enough hardware to enable us to establish a test lab to test the various components as they have been delivered to the department. We have also installed the network with the appropriate cabling. And we are in the process of testing the integrated software solution. We are currently working out the detailed plan to proceed with the full performance and integrated testing. There are a number of detailed tasks that have to be completed as part of the requirements for the successful performance test. The system must work for 30 days at a certain effectiveness level; in other words, a ratio of up time to down time. And we have to go through each of those 30 days and ensure that we are getting the appropriate response and performance times for 653 BILL 980003 data entry and response times within the system. And, as I said, the point in the project that we are currently at is working out the detailed plan to develop test cases --
But, Commissioner, my question is a date. When are we -- COMMISSIONER DECKER: We expect to have it --
Let me refine the question. When can we reasonably expect that this program will be fully operational, tested, debugged, and ready to go? Now that's a date. Whatever process you have to go through, I assume you are going to do it to the maximum level feasible, consistent with your duties to conserve the money. Now I need to know when to expect that. COMMISSIONER DECKER: We will have that in before the end of this fiscal year.
30 June, 1998, 654 BILL 980003 the whole system will be up, debugged, and ready to go? COMMISSIONER DECKER: Yes.
When it is in place, it will then permit you to reduce the time of recording process, whatever it is, from four months to less than one month? COMMISSIONER DECKER: Yes, to one month. And that would take it from the entry of the document into the department, until the original document is returned to the filer. That would be one month.
Is returned to the -- COMMISSIONER DECKER: The original document is returned to the filer, to the citizen.
To the person to whom the document belongs? COMMISSIONER DECKER: Yes, that's correct.
Okay. Did you recently reorganize your agency managementwise? I am missing Herb Smith, who is an old buddy of mine. He is like a fixture. 655 BILL 980003 What has happened there? COMMISSIONER DECKER: Yes, we have completed a reorganization of the Document Recording Division. We reorganized the Document Recording Room. There is a separate room, a separate division, which is a Registration Division, which was split out from the Document Recording area. The Registration Division is the area in which the maps are -- the city's Tax Assessment Maps are maintained. Each deed that comes into the department is reviewed, the legal description is reviewed, it is depicted in engineering accurate terms on the city's Tax Assessment Maps. That particular operation, as well as another room, which is commonly referred to as the reading room, which is a research room where the microfilm of all the permanent land records are retained and made available to the public, those two rooms were split out separately from the Document Recording Room. The reason for the reorganization was to enable the staff and each -- actually, the 656 BILL 980003 managers to concentrate on their particular area. Given the fact that in the past number of years, the volumes of documents have been fairly high due to mortgage refinancing rates, we had a deluge of documents. I think '95 was a particularly high period. And it was that combination of events that precipitated the backlog. I believe that it was an appropriate thing to do, to narrow the focus of the managers and expand the number of managers that we had within the department.
Where is Mr. Smith? Is he still the manager? COMMISSIONER DECKER: Mr. Smith, yes.
What does he manage? COMMISSIONER DECKER: He manages the Document Recording Room, and that is the primary room which accepts the documents that need to be recorded, and that the documents are reviewed for conformance to recordability requirements as set forth in the state law. 657 BILL 980003 So Mr. Smith, his title has not been changed.
Have his duties been changed? COMMISSIONER DECKER: His duties, he is still the Chief Title Recording Officer in the department.
So he hasn't been demoted; he has just been moved over? COMMISSIONER DECKER: Yes, that's correct.
All right. COMMISSIONER DECKER: Yes. The other areas were -- in other words, it was quite a bit to manage. And I guess the other parts of the operation were moved from the Document Recording, as I said, the Registry and the Reading Room, to make it more manageable for each of the managers to maintain their operations. But Mr. Smith's position, his title, has not changed.
Did you increase, decrease, or maintain the same staffing level for this calendar year, for this program 658 BILL 980003 year? COMMISSIONER DECKER: Yes; we are authorized at a staffing level of 98 positions.
And is that where you are? COMMISSIONER DECKER: Yes; we are at 95. We had unexpected some attrition, and we are in the process of trying to replace those positions.