COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Tuesday, March 23, 2010 10:15 a.m. - - - PRESENT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT ANNA C. VERNA COUNCILWOMAN JANNIE BLACKWELL COUNCILMAN DARRELL L. CLARKE COUNCILMAN FRANK DiCICCO COUNCILMAN W. WILSON GOODE, JR. COUNCILMAN BILL GREEN COUNCILMAN WILLIAM GREENLEE COUNCILMAN CURTIS JONES, JR. COUNCILMAN JACK KELLY COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY COUNCILWOMAN MARIA QUINONES-SANCHEZ COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER COUNCILWOMAN BLONDELL REYNOLDS BROWN COUNCILWOMAN MARIAN B. TASCO BILLS 100115, 100116, 100117, 100118, 100131 and 100141 - - - 2
Good morning, everyone. This is the continued public hearing of the Committee of the Whole. I would ask Mr. McPherson to please read the resolution and/or bills that we will be considering. MR. McPHERSON: Resolution 10 100141, providing for the approval by the Council of the City of Philadelphia of a Revised Five Year Financial Plan. Bill No. 100115, to adopt a Capital Program for the six Fiscal Years 2011 to 2016 inclusive. Bill No. 100116, to adopt the Fiscal 2011 Capital Budget. Bill No. 100117, adopting the Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2011. And Bill No. 100118, amending The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Finance, Taxes and Collections," by adding a new Chapter 19-3600, entitled "Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax." And Bill No. 100131, amending 3 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. Chapter 10-700 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Refuse and Littering," by providing for a sanitation fee. And today we're taking testimony on Bill No. 100117.
Thank you. And our first witness? MR. McPHERSON: Is the Managing Director's Office. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Yes. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good morning. My name is Camille Barnett. I'm Managing Director for the City of Philadelphia and it's a pleasure to be here this morning with you, Council. Despite a number of fiscal 4 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. challenges, this Administration, working with the City Council, has accomplished much. While I know that Deputy Mayors and Commissioners and department heads will outline these achievements in their own testimony, I want to take this opportunity to thank them and you for your dedication to the City and to our residents. You'll recall that last year my office reorganized its budget to better reflect the Administration's structure of government. Rather than using eight divisions that applied to various aspects of government, we reduced the number of divisions to five to better reflect operational realities. One division is assigned to each of our Deputy Mayors and to the First Deputy Managing Director. In the last year, some of our accomplishments in our office are maintaining some very important programs for public safety, particularly the Youth Violence Reduction Partnership and also 5 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. the Community Life Improvement Program, or CLIP. Despite the Great Recession, we have also expanded PhillyStat, which continuously improves our operations through performance management, and we've improved the services of our 3-1-1 Contact Center and initiated several other reforms with the help of the Private Sector Outreach Board. I'll talk a little bit more about these later in my testimony. 9 million and it maintains the same organizational approach that I've just described. Fiscal Year 2011's budget represents a net increase of 240,000, which is directly related to the expansion of the Clean Philly Program through expansion of activities for CLIP. This budget also contains several reductions, most notably the continuation of the reduction of 3-1-1's overnight shift. As part of the City's technology consolidation efforts, 6 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. we've transferred 202,733 to the Department of Technology for personnel, contracts and materials, and these transfers are primarily in the Office of Emergency Management. The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Opportunity composes a small portion of our budget. The proposed allocation for this division is 540,000, all of which is derived from the General Fund. This money supports the salaries of five staff members. Three of those positions are in the Department of Health or with the Department of Health and two are assigned to the Department of Parks and Recreation. These in Parks and Recreation operate independently of the Health Department, but we have put them in the Office of Health and Opportunity for simplicity's sake. 6 million. Five point six of this amount is derived from the General Fund, while 7 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. over seven million derives from various grant funds. The operating sections of this office that are funded through the Managing Director's Office budget include the Criminal Justice Coordinating Office, the Office of Emergency Management, the Police Advisory Commission and the Youth Violence Reduction Partnership. All of these programs, of course, have the primary focus of making the City a safer place. In support of economic recovery, the budget also contains funding to continue programs for the Office of Reintegration Services for Ex-Offenders, where ex-offenders are offered the opportunity to learn new job skills. The Youth Violence Reduction Partnership will continue their successful investment in Philadelphia's youth. The Office of Transportation and Utilities proposes a total allocation 8 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. 7 million. The grant funds here represents 440,000 of this total budget. The allocation also represents over a 500,000 increase, which again relates to the expansion of the CLIP program through the Clean Philly fee.
The Community Life Improvement Program continues to improve the appearance and image of the City of Philadelphia by educating residents about exterior property maintenance codes, enforcement of such codes and, when warranted, nuisance abatements. Compliance rates of property owners that receive exterior property maintenance violations, we're pleased to report, have continued to rise, and as more people are complying with our codes, this allows us to expand our operations geographically with limited resources. Although graffiti and vacant lot abatements have declined this year, we're finding new effective ways of addressing this neighborhood nuisance. One of the things 9 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. we're particularly pleased with is our Blight Detection Camera Surveillance Initiative, which uses solar-powered, motion-sensitive mobile cameras that capture clear, crisp pictures of illegal activity, such as graffiti, vandalism and illegal dumping. These high-resolution cameras are able to clearly show a vehicle's license plate even in total darkness. Thus far, we've issued $300 12 tickets to illegal dumpers. 13 Another new venture for CLIP is 14 the partnership between the Philadelphia 15 Prison System and our Community Services 16 Program to use non-violent offenders to 17 assist with the cleaning of vacant lots through the City of Philadelphia. This partnership creates additional resources to assist with the removal of trash, debris and overgrowth of weeds on vacant lots. The Office of Sustainability composes the majority of the Economic Development Division of the Managing 10 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. Director's Office budget. 5 million. Only 604,000 of these funds are within the General Fund, while a million nine are generated from grant revenues. Some of these grant funds are provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Specific projects for my budget include efforts to improve energy efficiency in municipal buildings, development of the energy management capacity, employee education and training aimed at reducing energy consumption, and the monitoring and reporting of the City's Greenworks Plan. Additional projects can also be found in other departments' budgets. The remainder of the Managing Director's budget is within the Administration Division. This division provides policy direction, efficiencies and ensures accountability for the delivery of services. Services in this portion of the budget include support for 11 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. mini city halls, the Office of Labor Standards, our administrative functions and, most notably, PhillyStat and 3-1-1. We also support various advisory boards in this portion of our budget. 9 million and includes 935,000 in grants revenue. The Council knows that on December 31st in 2008 we launched Philly311 in an effort to streamline and consolidate service requests into one contact center. While ultimately successful, as the Pew Foundation documented in their recent report, the system had some challenges and has made progress in its first year. By better training our agents and replacing those employees that did not meet expectations, we have reduced our wait time. By instituting an Interactive Voice Response system, callers may receive directory assistance or general information without having to 12 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. speak to an agent. Improvements in technology have allowed 3-1-1 and service departments to communicate more effectively and have improved service delivery to City residents as a whole. Now, though 3-1-1 has significantly improved, we still need additional improvements. This budget anticipates investing $500,000 in an implementation plan to determine what additional technology and telephone improvements are necessary to enhance our department's interface with work order systems and our callers' experience.
We are also actively working with the service departments to ensure communications and systems are working appropriately. PhillyStat was designed to provide accountability for performance. It accomplishes this by quantifying what good performance is for a department and regularly checking in to see if improvement projects are progressing. 13 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. Data provides the evidence of how well the departments are doing. Accountability for performance through PhillyStat is not measured solely on a department-by-department basis. Larger strategic goals of the Administration that cross departmental jurisdictions are also covered, such as progress on the Greenworks sustainability plan, our work on minority, disabled and women-owned business contracts, risk management, summer programs for youth and other such topics. The Private Sector Outreach Board is a volunteer group consisting of corporate executives that have dedicated their time to the City and to our departments to help solve some of our most difficult problems. Chaired by Judee von Seldeneck, the Board has helped implement many of the projects defined by the reform teams that I mentioned in last year's hearings. These projects range from the implementation of a business 14 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. portal in the Department of Licenses and Inspections, to customer service training for 3-1-1 operators, to the implementation of a shared services model for human resources functions. The Private Sector Outreach Board has been a valuable resource, and I thank them for their time and experience. I specifically also want to thank Councilmen Kenney and Green for their leadership and guidance on the Private Sector Outreach Board. In a similar vein, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Steering Committee, on which Councilman Jones participates, has been instrumental in guiding our investment choices. I'd like to take this opportunity to also briefly describe our minority, women and disabled business participation. The Managing Director's Office is committed to supporting this Administration's goal of percent 25 minority, woman and disabled-owned 15 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. businesses in participation in City contracting. The goal for Fiscal Year '11 for the Managing Director's Office is percent. 6 Before I conclude, I'd like to 7 touch on some of the potential service 8 reductions should the proposed revenue 9 enhancements fail. 3 million of reductions. 12 What this would mean for our office is 13 that not only would CLIP services not be 14 expanded, CLIP would actually be reduced. 15 The Anti-Graffiti Paint and Supply 16 Voucher Program would be eliminated, and 17 there would be a drastic reduction in the 18 purchase of supplies and equipment and 19 the distribution of free bags and gloves 20 for community clean-ups. Professional services contracts for the Youth Violence Reduction Partnership and our Town Watch program would also be reduced or eliminated. Third, the reduction in Police 16 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. overtime for the Youth Violence Reduction Program would also be eliminated. Roughly, 250,000 would be eliminated from our contracting services, and this 250,000 is a portion that we expect to dedicate to the reform efforts that I mentioned earlier. In addition, three staff positions would be eliminated in our Economic Development and our Health and Opportunity Divisions. 3 million. On a personal note, I would like to thank you for your support and dedication and ideas. It has been a pleasure working with you and an honor serving the people of Philadelphia. I'll be happy to answer any of your questions.
Thank you very much. You're requesting $295,000 in professional services for economic 17 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. development. Can you tell us how these funds will be used?
Yes. In the economic development professional services, we have several projects. The utility database management is $64,000. Greenworks coordination with PIDC is $70,000. Energy audits and consulting are $50,000, and consultants for Greenworks implementation, $111,000. All of our economic development professional services contracts are in support of our Greenworks Plan.
Thank you. You're requesting $2,527,000 for economic development in Fiscal 2011. Can someone explain how these funds will be used and the economic benefit the City will receive and how has that been reflected into the Proposed Five Year Plan?
I have with me John Farrell, who is our Assistant 18 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. Managing Director, and he's the one who put the budget together, so he'll give you the preliminary answer and then I've asked Alan Greenberger to also come up and explain the impact on economic development.
Good morning, Madam President, members of Council. My name is John Farrell. The primary funding for the Office of Sustainability, which comprises the vast majority of the Economic Development Division of our budget, there are two staff positions in there for the Office of Sustainability. One runs the Solar Philadelphia Program and the other one is administrative support for the office, and the rest of the money is almost entirely composed of that Class 250, professional services, that the Managing Director just described. The other Class 200 money that's not 19 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. dedicated for that is for small administrative purposes. The biggest use, I believe, is Zipcar and for copier leases.
One of the things that we've done with the Office of Sustainability is to combine it with what was formerly known as the Municipal Energy Office, which was in the Managing Director's Office. So a lot of our energy conservation programs are funded now as a sustainability program, which falls under the broad category of economic development.
On of your testimony, you mention a $240,000 increase for the Clean Philly program. On your budget schedule for increases and decreases, you show an increase of $500,000 for this program. Which is it?
The 240,000 is a net figure. So the 500,000 is the amount that's increased in CLIP, but we have 20 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. decreased the budget by the amount that we've transferred for the IT consolidation, and so the net of those two basic actions is the 240,000 increase.
You indicate that you're transferring $202,000 to the Division of Technology. Can you tell us the number of people and their titles that are being transferred?
All of these are Assistant Managing Directors and they're all from the Office of Emergency Management. Do you want their names or do you just need their titles?
They're the folks who are doing technology in the Office of Emergency Management now and they would be transferred to the Division of Technology.
I'm sorry. How many did you say there were? 21 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc.
There's three people, Assistant Managing Directors, and there are several other small amounts for licenses and other kinds of technology-related contracts.
What are the Class 200 items that are being transferred?
There's a list of several that range from $500 to $13,000, and John can give you the detail of those, if you'd like.
Certainly. From Class 209, we're contributing from four different divisions. From Division 21, it's $13,000. From Division 40, it's $500. From Division 42, it's $4,500, and from Division 43, it's $5,000. In Class 216, Division is 21 contributing $2,000. Class 266 of Division 21 is $3,000. In Class 282 of Division 42 is $3,000.
Can you tell us what are the materials and 22 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. supplies that are being transferred?
Certainly. These are all from Class 427, which I believe is the Computer Equipment line. From Division 21, we have $2,115. Division 42 is $5,000, and Division 43 is --
When you talk about "divisions," I'm not too clear on that.
I apologize, Council President. Division is the 13 Administrative Division of the Managing 14 Director's Office. Division 40 is the 15 Economic Development Division. Division 16 42 is the Public Safety Division, and 17 Division 43 is the Transportation and 18 Utilities Division. 19
Thank 20 you. 21 At this time, the Chair recognizes Councilman Jones.
Thank you, Madam President. Good morning, Dr. Barnett. 23 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc.
First -- and we don't give out compliments real easy around here, but I want to thank you for your dedication and service over the last two years and to specifically note for the record that in the area of transparency and efficiencies and clear direction, you provided a guiding light from your office. When we look at PhillyStat, and a lot of members don't admit that we do, but we learn from those sessions that you do, and I can clearly tell you that the first budget testimonies by your department heads and Commissioners, there was a stark improvement in the second year. They were ready for us, and that was good. Also, the increase in proficiency and technology in 3-1-1 was -- and it's growing pains, and we all know it, but it is growing, and so that is important. And, finally, when it came to a 24 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. chaotic and hectic stimulus situation, you and Mr. Agostini provided clear direction as captains of that ship, and the City is better for it. So we thank you for that.
I'll ask you some real questions. One, to the degree that the CLIP program has been a valuable asset to at least my office and probably many other members, to what degree can the stimulus money Jobs Program that we are anxiously trying to get an application in be used to complement what we're already doing with the non-violent offenders from the Prison System? Is there a way to keep those alleys and driveways, which are private property, which cannot be utilized by City municipal workers, can 25 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. we kind of get our heads around how we can better utilize them in that regard? It will help Councilpeople around the City. (Witness approached witness table.)
I'm going to ask Tom Conway, who manages that program, to respond.
Madam President, members of Council, my name is Thomas Conway, Deputy Managing Director for the City of Philadelphia. With regards to the stimulus money, we did meet with the Mayor's Office with regards to acquiring roughly about individuals to work in the 19 Community Services Program. Also met 20 with the Prison officials with regards to acquiring non-violent prison participants with regards to cleaning vacant lots, removing graffiti and also cleaning alleyways.
So is that 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. like we're going to use the stimulus money?
Because I only have five minutes, so short answers are better.
The good news is we're going to use the non-violent offenders from the Prisons three times a week at two separate locations.
But are we going to get regular people from the neighborhoods also connected to that?
That's our hope, is we want to engage the community to create large-scale clean-ups throughout the City of Philadelphia, working with Councilmembers and also community organizations and business associations throughout the City.
Because as we look at revenue enhancements, which are never popular, if we can 27 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. correspondingly increase services that we have not been able to address in the past, it gives us at least a rational argument about that. So I appreciate that. Can we also create or are we working towards the warrant nuisance piece, which my colleague Councilman DiCicco started the broken window theory? Are we incorporating that -- a lot of the CDCs and community folk out there want to get these nuisance properties either turned over to the City so they can be put back in reuse. Are we kind of working with that to complement what we're doing on our clean-ups?
If we're seeing a property that is vacant and is a blight in the community on an otherwise great block, can we start to use those ticketing processes to kind of either pry the owner into maintaining the property 28 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. or get it in City inventory so that we can put it back out there and get someone to develop it?
What happens when we do visit a private either piece of land or property in the City of Philadelphia, we start the violation process, which the Inspector goes out, documents the violation with pictures. We send the owner a violation notice. We give them either ten to 30 days to comply the violation. If they don't comply the violation, then they send City crews to abate the nuisance, and they do receive a bill. Everything that we go out to and send City crews on, they do receive a bill. If they do not pay the bill, then we do place a lien on the property, and once there's enough liens placed on a property, then the City could actually acquire the property.
I guess what I want you to do is suggest to this body 29 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. how we can improve the regulations laws so that we can expedite that process without violating the property owners' rights. But it has come to a point where we have to do something in a quick manner, because it is a cancer on otherwise good blocks, and block captains that I come in contact with become increasingly more frustrated with the inability to move an owner to do the right thing.
I think a large part of that problem is that some of the property owners are deceased. There's just vacant lots and vacant properties that we do not know who the owner is. We need to look into a solution to either create some type of larger tax or abatement fee to acquire these properties, so when they are ready to be developed, the liens are already in place and we can actually just move on it.
You're a front-line guy. Tell us what we need to 30 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. do to help you. I have for you, Dr. Barnett, I want you to on the record tell the next person to occupy that seat what lessons learned that you, as Blondell Reynolds Brown would say, do you take from this -- and this is a teaching moment for them -- and what we need to be aware of as a Council as to obstacles or things that can make the next job done by the next Managing Director a little better.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Greenlee.
Thank you, Madam President. Let me echo, thank you for your services to the City, Dr. Barnett.
On 3-1-1 I know in the beginning I think it was 24 hours; is that right? 31 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc.
Tom, you don't have to go anywhere. I'll have a question.
It was 24 hours, 11 and we reduced that in the last budget 12 reduction cycle and we're continuing that 13 into Fiscal Year '11. So it will not -- 14 at the current budget level, 3-1-1 will 15 have its current hours, not 24 hours a 16 day. 17
Well, let's see. 20 It's 8:00 until 6:00 -- 8:00 to 8:00 and 21 then on Saturdays, it's 9:00 to 5:00. 22
Is there voice mail? I mean, if they have a problem, can they leave --
No. We were advised that voice mail is really a very difficult way to follow up on 3-1-1. If you'd like more information about that, I can bring Rosetta up, but at this point, they would have to call back.
And then to sort of piggyback that, does that cause more people to call 9-1-1, the fact that they can't get through 3-1-1?
We haven't noticed that that has happened. The reason that we chose the hours that we did is, we looked at the number of calls that we get by hour and by day of the week, and we reduced the hours where we get the fewest calls. And so far, our experience is is that it's not increasing things during those hours to 9-1-1 and people are just calling back when the 3-1-1 center is open. 33 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc.
And what message do you get when they're off? Is there something that comes on?
It says something about the hours -- it says what the hours are and encourages the callers to call back.
This is good, Tom. We're not putting you on the spot here. Again, thank you for all you do. I know we all talk to you many times, Mr. Conway, so we appreciate it. Just this Blight Camera Surveillance Initiative, is that the same thing that Councilman Clarke had talked about? Is that the same cameras that he has with the -- that I think were put in the high-crime areas?
This is different? Okay. Can you explain that a little bit for us?
These are solar-powered, motion-sensitive, blight-deterrent cameras. They can be easily moved and located to different locations throughout the City. We worked with the Streets Department and we created what's called the Dirty Dozen of short dump hot spots, which is dumping of debris and trash, and what we do is, we place about two or three cameras at that location. What happens is, the motion -- the vehicle sets off the motion-sensitive camera. It takes a picture. We can zoom in to the license plate, catch the perpetrator actually in the act with regards to the picture of it. It does work in darkness, which is very effective and efficient, because a lot of these locations that they do short dump are out of the way, and they erode streets. And I believe it was 17 35 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. tickets, 17 $300 tickets were issued. We do send the picture out with the ticket, so it's --
Sort of like the Parking Authority does with the red light?
Yeah. Not that they want it, but hard for them to disagree with the case that we have.
Okay. Great. Thank you. One last thing. On your new venture, as you call it, for CLIP with the partnerships, now that hasn't happened yet; that is something you're putting together?
And am I right if the budget is -- somehow you don't get your full allocation, that would be one of the things that probably you would have trouble continuing or moving towards? 36 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc.
All right. Thank you. Thanks again. Thank you, Madam President.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
Thank you, Madam President. Good morning. Let me start off by echoing the sentiments of my colleagues. We really have watched and paid attention to your laser-beam focus on the Managing Director's Office, particularly 3-1-1, and for moving the needle on that new initiative. So we thank you for that.
And let me say that the mark of a true professional is consistency, and Tim Conway over the years I've been here has been a real professional around the CLIP program. 37 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. Tom Conway. Forgive me.
So there's a universal view that you're very responsive, and we appreciate that.
Are there plans to increase the vacant lot abatements next fiscal year?
That's what part of the additional funding is going to be used for, to increase the vacant lot clean-up program as well as graffiti removal with about 20 to 25 temporary seasonal employees.
That's part of the improvements with the Clean Philly fee. So there's an additional 500,000 that is going to CLIP for expanded 38 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. services out of that fee.
And how do those lucky lots become lucky to be part of the expansion? What criteria or factors do you consider?
Well, what happens with a lot of the vacant lots that are called into either 3-1-1 or your offices, we do have to follow the process with regards to the inspection process and having a violation written, so on and so forth. But what we're looking to do is actually with the new initiative and the partnership with the Prison officials is to be more proactive, to work with the community organizations and go out and sweep and clean several hundred vacant lots at one time.
Okay. I have questions regarding the OEO, but I know my Councilman colleague here also has questions on that. So let me segue back to Councilman Jones' last question. Managing Director, if you had 39 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. to pick one, two or three top priority considerations, challenges or recommendations that you would offer to your successor, what would they be?
Well, I think that continued improvements in 3-1-1 will really serve the City well. We've started it and miraculously with a very limited investment and we have made great strides, but to make this the kind of customer-focused government that you want, additional improvements will be needed in 3-1-1, including investments in technology. I'd like for us to go back to the hours. I'd like for us to 17 think regionally. I'd like for us to be 18 more connected with hand-held technology 19 that City workers have. All of these 20 kinds of things are possible with 3-1-1, 21 and I encourage you to continue the 22 improvements in 3-1-1. 23 I would also encourage you to 24 continue the focus on performance management through PhillyStat, really 40 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. paying attention to the results that you're getting for the dollars the taxpayers are giving us. And, thirdly, I think substantial reform in the way people do business in the City of Philadelphia, the way the government works is going to require substantial investment in technology. The biggest impediment that we have now to improving the way we work is that we don't have adequate technology. So I'm very encouraged with the Capital Budget proposals to improve our investment in technology, and I would urge the City Council to pay attention to making sure that those investments really do happen, because I think it will pay off for us and for our citizens.
Cite an example on where added needed technology improves the outcome.
Right now in the City of Philadelphia all of the workforce fills out paper time sheets. So we fill 41 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. out and sign paper time sheets for all the people who work in the City of Philadelphia. There's no reason that can't be an automated system. There's no 6 reason that that can't be tied in to our financial system, to our payroll system, to our pension system as well. And it's one of the top priorities recommended by the Private Sector Outreach Board, and it will be one of the things that we work on with the investments in technology that are anticipated in the Capital Budget this next year. That will save not only a lot of time, but it will also free up a lot of people who are now spending most of their time in a manual process of filling out paper time sheets. That's just one of thousands of things like that that we can improve.
In those -- agreed 2,000 percent. The only footnote I would add is, putting my former teacher hat on, is consideration for those citizens who come to apply for 42 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. work and simply don't have the skill-set for managing or manipulating technology. So that would be a great movement of the needle as long as we create a circumstance where we accommodate those citizens who simply come ill-equipped to manage technology.
That's a good point. Additional training and capacity building is an important part.
Okay. The clock hasn't struck yet, so let's go to the last page of your testimony where you say, and I state, The Managing Director's Office is committed to supporting the Administration's goal of percent 18 minority, women and disable-owned 19 businesses. 20 I live in a world where you 21 listen to what people say, then you watch 22 what they do. So cite for me what that 23 means, what "commitment" means. What 24 strategies or tactics or new practices 25 are in place to ensure that that goal is 43 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. met?
Well, first of all, I'll tell you about the action that supports it. In Fiscal Year '9, our percentage was 16.6 percent, and this year so far our percentage is 27 percent. So we feel that it's a very doable goal to reach another percent. 10 We work with the Office of 11 Economic Opportunity with every 12 professional service contract or other 13 contract that we submit to encourage 14 participation. We've also gone through a 15 process with the Office of Economic 16 Opportunity to identify vendors that we 17 have not used that we know about so that 18 we're not -- we're building the list that 19 we choose from, as well as the kinds of 20 things that we've been doing in the past in choosing from the existing list.
44 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Miller.
Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning, Ms. Barnett and staff. I have a couple questions. Can you tell me the difference between the Clean Philly Program and the Keep Philly Clean? What's the difference?
The Clean Philly Program are those packages of services that we have associated with the Clean Philly fee. So it would include trash collection, rubbish collection, leaf collection, as well as expansion of the Community Life Improvement Program.
Or is it 45 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. the same?
Well, they're very similar. The Clean Philly Program is a work with volunteers and other organizations to try to encourage people to keep the place clean, either with construction or with neighborhood clean-ups or others.
Like through the Philadelphia More Beautiful Campaign?
Okay. Last year in your testimony there were four priorities on the first page - economic recovery and jobs, enhancing public safety, investing in youth and protecting the most vulnerable Philadelphians, and reforming government. So this year -- and of all those four priorities, two of them to me are very important, and public safety has always been a number one priority for me, and as 46 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. Chair of the Public Safety Committee, I'm even more interested in public safety. It seems to be that many good programs centered around youth violence prevention have either been cut or are some of the first programs to be cut, and I guess it disturbs me that you mention that the YVRP program would be cut. I would think that that program should be a priority. Of those four priorities, we're continuing to talk about economic recovery and jobs and reforming government and putting lots of money in IT and then cutting in youth. Is there some reason for that? Isn't youth and protecting our citizens a priority?
Let me first say I'm so glad that you read those goals, because those goals continue to be our goals, and I want to be clear about what 47 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. we're doing with the Youth Violence Reduction Partnership. Our proposal is not to cut it. If we -- we were asked to talk about what our seven and a half percent cuts would be, and in the seven and a half percent cuts, which we are not recommending, we would have to cut the Youth Violence Reduction Partnership. We also have some additional people here to talk to you about that, if you're interested in hearing some more.
We eliminated the AVRP program and we just can't keep eliminating these youth programs. DEPUTY
Good morning, Councilwoman. Everett Gillison, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety. Good morning, Council President and all other members of Council. We agree totally with you, 48 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. Councilwoman. We are not proposing to cut it at all. As a matter of fact, as you know both in my briefings with you and also with my stated position, we should try to expand whenever necessary. That program in particular is one that is very near and dear to my heart. I know it works. It has the track record and the performance that works. I've actually invited some people here who are youth partners to talk about the effect of that program, so if you'd like to have them come up.
Yes. That would be very good. Because I know it works too and it just disturbed me that I see that there's a potential for cuts, additional cuts, in youth violence. DEPUTY
Particularly when we have -- what are we calling those, the children that are meeting like on South Street? 49 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Flash mobs.
Yeah. We have all that going on and we're talking about youth violence. DEPUTY
Yes. Is Mr. Thompson here? As Mr. Thompson comes forward, I'll just give you some of the background on him. Mr. Thompson is years old. 13 He is currently living in Upper Darby, 14 but he has been living in the 19th 15 District for quite a long time. YVRP 16 still visits him at his new address, and 17 he lives with his mother and is the 18 youngest of eight siblings. He does have 19 an adult arrest history for gunpoint 20 robbery. He served 20 months in jail, and he was active at one time with a gang that was at 56th and Master. He's been shot, but the person that he actually has been dealing with is a street worker. His street worker, who is Matue Swann 50 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. (ph), who is also present. But I could just have him talk to you about not only the efficacy of this program, but also its use and how we are using this investment to change lives. (Witness approached witness table.) DEPUTY
So if, Mr. Thompson, if you'd like to, Councilwoman Miller. Just speak into the -- just say your name.
How you doing, everybody? My name is Alan Thompson. I'm here to basically tell everybody that ever since I've been in this program, like everything been going on the street bad for me. Being as though when I wasn't in the program, I was getting in a lot of things, getting shot, getting shot at, not going to school, not listening to my mom. And basically ever since I met my street worker, Mr. Swanns, and -- at first I was having a little trouble, then I just started getting on the right page, 51 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. and ever since then, I took my GED test, because I had never finished school, and I'm waiting for my results now. I'm taking a trade for construction, and basically I'm trying to do the best I can. DEPUTY
And you're interested in a construction job as you get out?
And you became involved with YVRP, what, 15, 16? 52 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. How old were you then?
Good. That's great. We want to continue to hear good things about you.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning, Dr. Barnett. How 53 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. are you?
Thank you for the kind words in your testimony. I want to say it's been a pleasure to work on the Private Sector Outreach Board with you and to get to know you over the past couple of years. It's been a delight working with you and all of the different initiatives going on in your office. You are our first professional Managing Director, I think, in the City's history, and we will certainly miss the benefit of that experience, but I hope I'll be able to call you once in a while if I have questions about various things.
That's great. Anyway, I'm sad that this is your last budget, but now I don't feel bad about cutting the Managing Director's 54 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. Office to the bone.
I just have specific questions that I've been asking everybody, and it's really about currently vacant positions or positions that have been unfilled for a while, et cetera. So I ask people detail, how long positions have been vacant, what specific job duties will be fulfilled by the position and how those job duties have been handled while positions have been vacant. The budget detail indicates several new or vacant positions that are budgeted to be filled. Starting with the new positions, the detail indicates an Assistant Managing Director position in the Administration Division. The detail shows that the position was vacant as of January. Has the position been filled?
Yes, it has been filled. It's in 3-1-1. 55 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc.
And how were those duties performed prior to that person being hired?
We had additional people who left the employment in the Contact Center and so those duties were transferred to our new hire.
So you have a net reduction or are you planning to fill those positions?
No. We just filled the position. It was vacated and we filled it.
It was vacated and you filled it, okay. While it was vacated, were those functions being performed? 56 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc.
Okay. What would be the consequences of eliminating that position?
I think that it would damage the ability of the 3-1-1 Contact Center to perform.
Okay. There are three new Assistant Managing Director positions in the 3-1-1 Customer Contact Center. What are the salaries for these positions?
Two of them are at 40,000 and one of them is at 29,000. The one at 29,000 has been filled.
Hold on. Let me get the Contact Center Director up here. 57 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. (Witness approached witness table.)
You'll see that many of our vacant positions are in the Contact Center, so I'd like for you to hear directly from our Contact Center Manager, Rosetta Lue.
Good morning, Madam President and City Council. The positions that we have in the Contact Center are support positions. The three positions you're speaking of, one was filled already and we have two more that are vacant.
And what are the duties of these people in those positions?
For the Assistant Managing position, one of them is to oversee the Quality Assurance Program, which is critical in a contact center.
Who is doing that now? 58 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc.
It's sporadic, so it's between the supervisors and also another person when they have the opportunity to, but there's no 6 consistency right now.
Okay. And can you make it consistent among the supervisors?
We've tried to make it consistent among the supervisors. The issue we have is, as a start-up organization, there are a number of things on the supervisors' plate that sometimes they can't consistently monitor for quality assurance as we would like to.
They do go on the phone to handle calls when we have peak 59 3/23/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100117, etc. call volumes.
There's a new 40K Administrative Assistant position in the Health and Opportunity Division. What are the job duties of that position?
That's a position that was established last year as assistance for Michael DiBerardinis, who is the Commissioner of Parks and Recreation.
He currently has an administrative -- I don't know what he's called, whether it's a Chief of Staff or Administrative Aide who is helping with those positions now, with those duties now.