Okay. And that wasn't even the question that I planned to ask, now my time is up. So I will wait. Thank you, Madam President.
Madam Chair, I am looking at Councilman Kelly who wanted to ask a question. He hasn't had an opportunity to go on the first round. I will defer to him. 115 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04
Thank you. I just want to follow up on Councilman Nutter with that Welcome America program. I noticed you do have corporate sponsors for that event. Are there any other events that have corporate sponsors that contribute greatly to the city's part or share of this, of putting on these events?
For any other event. I know Welcome America, it costs over $462,000, but there are corporate sponsors who contributed greatly to that. And I would like to know how much they do contribute.
Are there any other events, that you know of, that have 116 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 corporate sponsors that do contribute to the cost of putting on those events?
Yes, there are. I think the bike race, probably the -- well, let me get you -- rather than speculate there are, I would rather be specific with you.
The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo for a point of information.
Mr. Managing Director, I think, in all fairness, when we are getting numbers, that we also ought to get some numbers to show what this brings to the city. I think that we need to know the activities for that ten days certainly had some positive effects on the city, and some of the other special events have positive impact. So I don't know, but I would hope so, that there is some way to calculate those positive effects that these special events have in our city. 117 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Chair. You mentioned before, and I want to follow up on Councilman Kenney's questioning, about police overtime. And police overtime, of course, is one of the, I think, major contributors of this deficit that we are facing. Could you tell me that, one of the major problems that we seem to be having is with police overtime relating to the court system. Now, I don't know if this is a question I should hold back and ask the Police Commissioner what's being done about that. I notice in your testimony that you are working with the courts to see what they can do to at least cut back the amount of other time that's necessary.
Well, I think it is -- court overtime, as I have said before, 118 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 is a perplexing issue because it really involves the Police Department, the District Attorney's Office, the courts, and, frankly, the Defense Bar. And to get all four of those in the same room and to agree is not always the easiest thing in the world. But, unfortunately, the court overtime problem shows up on the budget of the Police Department, which does not necessarily control what happens at the court or who the D.A. subpoenas or what type of continuances the Defense Bar asks for. Having said that, I know the Police Commissioner is working, has been working, on how we can do a better job of making sure only the appropriate policemen are subpoenaed. And, so, this is an issue that we think has to be worked with the courts, the Police, the District Attorney's Office.
What kind of cooperation are you receiving from the courts?
I think we are getting very good cooperation. 119 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04
Because this problem goes back not to the last few years. It goes back to years I think. 5
And it has been 7 growing and growing and growing, and nothing 8 ever seems to be working as far as reducing 9 the amount of overtime that's concerned with 10 the Police Department with regard to that. 11
I think the courts 12 understand the fiscal situation that we are 13 in. And they reached out to us and had some 14 ideas, and we plan to sit down, and so forth. 15 But one of the problems, unless 16 people have to pay for something, they may not 17 have as much interest in controlling things. 18 And one of the problems we have are, 19 the costs come to the Police Department. And 20 the Police Department has some responsibility for managing the costs, but so does the District Attorney's Office and the courts and the Defense Bar. But there is not as much incentive in there, you know, and everyone has different 120 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 interests in the criminal justice system. So that's why it has been a perplexing problem for years, and I think it will probably be 5 for another 20 years. 6 Which is not to say we can't chip 7 away at it and do a better job of it. And I 8 think the courts and the D.A.'s Office 9 understand that 10
I would to see at 11 least it diminished a little each year, and 12 then at least we are going in the right 13 direct. But it doesn't seem to be working 14 that way. 15 One of the other things I would like 16 to get back to is the quality of life issues, 17 and that's the CLIP program, or course. 18 And I want to commend you and your 19 Deputy Commissioner, Tom Conway. I think you 20 are doing an excellent job in the program, I really do. And I know that personally because I did make a call about year and a half ago with regard to a problem that some of my neighbors had, and it was taken care of quit 121 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 effectively. And I think you really did an outstanding job for the community up there. I want to commend you and your Deputy Managing Director for doing an outstanding job on that. I do have a question, though. If we did increase the amount of fines from, say, 9 to 75 dollars, would that justify the 10 expansion of the CLIP program to other parts 11 of the city? 12 In other words, right now I believe 13 there are only three districts that have that. 14
We do plan to expand 15 it to the rest of the city by zip code, 16 working with City Council to identify the 17 appropriate zip codes for the appropriate 18 problem. 19 I think what happens when you 20 increase the fine and you increase the 21 penalty -- and I think this is what we have 22 seen in CLIP, and why CLIP has been so 23 successful -- people start to take you 24 seriously and they stop doing the types of 25 things that they did before because they know 122 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 that there is going to be a consequence to it. So, you know, I think a $25 fine, it probably costs us a lot more to collect the money, and for most people that's a parking ticket. I think we have got to get people's attention. And I think that's the real message of what the CLIP program is all about, we got people's attention.
That could be an effective stream to go into the CLIP program itself, the additional revenue?
If the Budget Director would allow us. But we already have a problem that we have to fill with the deficit. But it is certainly something we could do.
As far as you know, then, that will be expanded, regardless of whether the increased fines?
But that would expedite it, if you did have the increased revenue from those fines; is that true? 123 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04
You are welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.
Thank you, Madam President. Real brief. I would like to follow up on a couple of the issues that I spoke to you earlier. One with respect to the staff, can you also give me the length of employment of the Deputy Managing Directors and the Assistant Deputies or Assistant Managing Directors?
And I just want to clarify what information I will be getting through the Chair on PFM. You indicated that that consulting contract was in July '03?
That's what I am told. I will make sure. 124 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04
For the Fleet Management issue. And was that -- I don't know if you know the answer to this. But if you don't, you can get it to us. Was that done through a professional services contract or bid solicitation?
I think it was done by a professional services contract, but we will get you all the information.
And I needed clarity on who in your department was responsible for interacting with PFM. Because I am still not clear as to who was responsible for collecting the information, who was responsible for analyzing the information.
Okay. I could have Bob Fox come up, if you would like, or we can get it to you in written answer, however you want.
Good morning, 125 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 Councilman. My name is Robert Fox. I am Administrative Services Director for Fleet Management. Councilman, would you want to rephrase your question so I can get started with an answer here for you?
Earlier there was a question with respect to the reduction in the fleet, and subsequently a question as it relates to the criteria associated with the reduction; who had the ultimate responsibility of determining who would be eligible to take a vehicle home, who would be eligible to drive a vehicle during the course of a work day, who would take priority over whom. And the Managing Director indicated that you hired a consultant, PFM, to determine some aspects of that operation. And at the time I wanted to know, you know, who was responsible as it relates to PFM. I had some sense that Fleet Management would, obviously, be in the loop, since they are ultimately responsible for vehicles. And I am just trying to find out who 126 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 did what, what was responsible.
The Managing Director had asked us about a year ago to take a long hard look at our fleet. Because the number of vehicles that we had in the fleet had risen by over 400 since the Year 2000, and the number that had take-home vehicles had also risen. So he wanted us to take a long hard look at it, with the intention to reduce. We did not think it was a good idea to just go across the board and just take off 10 percent from everybody. We thought it was a more prudent opportunity for us to take a look at how the vehicles were being utilized and try, where we would be forced to take vehicles, take them in a way that would have the least impact, knowing that whatever we did would have some impact. We had done this in '93 and we had done it in-house. And it was widely considered to be unsuccessful. Because while the departments consider Fleet Management to be an expert in purchasing vehicles and the 127 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 type of vehicles and maintaining them, they did not consider us to be an expert in how the vehicles were utilized and how many the departments need. They would say to us, we don't tell you how to fix them, so we really don't understand why you would tell us how many police cars we needed in the district or how many medic units we needed assigned to a firehouse. So we took that information seriously, and we decided that we would try to find a consultant that had --
Let me understand. You are telling me that you solicited information from departments, and they were nonresponsive?
No. What I said was, when we did -- we did a fleet reduction in '93. The departments' feedback to us was that, while we had done a professional job in reducing the fleet, they did not think that Fleet Management should be the agent for deciding how many they -- how many vehicles 128 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 they needed and how those vehicles were utilized. That we were more equipped to decide the kind of vehicles and how to repair them and when they should be replaced, but we were not equipped to know how many medic units the Fire Department would need, for instance.
So the departments decided that Fleet Management couldn't be the responsible entity to determine use. But are you suggesting that PFM then went to the departments, and the departments were responsive to them?
No. We decided that we would want to hire a professional consultant that had experience in municipal management and productivity.
So you internally didn't think that Fleet Management had the ability to manage that process? 129 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04
So we hired a consultant that had a lot of experience with municipal government to go out and meet with the departments and collect information that would lead us to making these kinds of hard decisions. And, for instance, one of the things that they came up with is, that we're very proud of, is Philly Carshare. It is a contract that we entered into with a local company where they provide vehicles for departments day in and day out on an hourly basis. So that if you do have your vehicle removed, you are able to go to a parking lot that is in the area and get a vehicle, use it for the time that you need it, and then bring that vehicle back. We know that fleet reduction is hard on departments, and we know that this is a hardship, and we also know that we had to make 130 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 a reduction.
All right. One actually not related to you, I just wanted to get into. I am going to ask the question, and then I assume that the response will be a little lengthy. With respect to vacant lots, I wanted to ask the question about the contract for long-term maintenance of the vacant lots that we are now cleaning internally, and understand that we have entered into a contract over the last year with an entity to maintain the lots; i.e., greening, tree planting, maintenance, the whole nine yards. And I would like to get information on the renewal of that contract versus the city doing that work internally.
Okay. Madam President, would there be a chance to take a break, please?
Certainly. How 131 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 much of a break do you want? minutes, a half hour?
I just -- I think my 5 issues are well advertised in the newspapers. 6 I just want to go down the hall for a minute. 7
Okay. Supposing 8 we recess for ten minutes. 9 (Short recess.) 10
Before we broke, 15 I was going to ask for a point of information from Mr. Fox. It was following the question about fleet reduction.
I can direct this -- I think my comment is more of an observation than a question, so I think the Managing Director might be able to handle this in Mr. Fox' absence.
Then it is not a 132 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 point of information. But, please proceed.
Okay. Mr. Managing Director, in reference to the contract that was entered upon to reduce the fleet, who better knows the needs of the various operating departments than the commissioners? My question is, why couldn't we rely on the operating department commissioners to come back with appropriate information in the area of fleet reduction? But as I say that, I have learned that back in 1993 they tried to use that approach, to go to the commissioners. And like in government, and state, local, federal government, people really hesitate to give up anything they have. Did we ever think of asking the commissioners in this 2004 for a similar information, since who knows best than the Recreation Commissioner, the Streets Commissioner, the Fire Commissioner, Police Commissioner, et cetera?
Yes, we did think of 133 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 that, and we have been doing that. And in some cases, particularly when it came to SUVs, we actually had people return their SUVs. I think, as Mr. Fox sort of reminded me of, is, I asked for a zero-based approach to fleet. Just like we are doing on school safety guards Rather than say we have X amount, let's work down. Let's make believe we have none, and let's work up. And I think that we always respect the commissioners' advice and what's needed, and commissioners were given an ample opportunity. And we haven't actually gone to the operating departments yet to give us their feedback on what we thought from sort of a, you know, numbers point of view, and so forth. And there was give and take, and there will continue to be give and take. But one of the issues we have with fleet, when it comes to the departments, is, we don't charge back to the departments the costs of their automobiles. So it is just 134 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 like, you know, when I was a kid, I always wanted my dad to get me a new car. You know, I wasn't paying for it; my father was. Actually, I am exaggerating, he didn't pay for it, either. But we have to get accountability back to the departments. And then I think you get a better sense of, you know, what they really need and what they really don't need. So I think it is a collaborative process. This isn't top down. But it is bringing in experts, crunching the numbers, going to the commissioners saying, what can you do without, and so forth. And, by the way, we are doing it differently than it has ever been done before. We are saying, we are giving you something in return. We are just not leaving you without wheels. We have come up with other alternatives. And I think that's a creative solution. And, I must say, I was looking at one of the national news programs yesterday, on Sunday, and there was this big feature on 135 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 the types of hybrid vehicles, where they are the hot thing right now in the country. And this city should be proud that we are out there reducing our fleet, going at it, and people will be treated fairly. But I think this is something we have got to do, and I think we are going to do it.
You are welcome. Councilman Clarke, I believe you were in the process of asking a question before we recessed.
Madam President, actually, the question I asked just before we recessed may take some time. If I could just follow up on the Fleet Management issue, while he is here, and I will come back.
On the Fleet Management issue, one of the things that I also needed to get a sense of is who made the 136 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 determination -- while PFM could possibly make the decision on usage, I am assuming that there is a human component to determine what employee will have the vehicle at the particular time. Or is it just simply down to the numbers, and whatever employee happens to be in that particular position at the time, that's the person that gets the vehicle? Or is it -- you know, who makes the determination if an employee has community meetings late at night on a particular week? I am assuming that there is somebody in the department that makes these decisions. Not PFM, because they obviously can't, they are not going to be around on a consistent basis, on a daily basis. And I want to know who makes those decisions about vehicle usage on a day-to-day basis?
Ultimately PFM, again, was a consultant. The decision as to what we -- how many vehicles and what types of vehicles we 137 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 thought were needed in the departments, that we looked at, was a decision that the task force made, which were city people. And then after gathering the information, coming up with our recommendations, that was sent back to each of the department heads and said, this is what we have come up with. You have an opportunity to come back to us and explain why you think, you know, you need three, as opposed to what we are saying is two, or whatever. And there was a give and take. They were given a form. And in some cases we agreed and some cases we disagreed and some cases we compromised. And they were given, I forget the date, that they were supposed to come back. Virtually every department came back to us on time. Now, going forward, once the department has X amount of cars, and who gets to use those cars, which will probably be more on a pool basis, that would be whoever is the head of that department, whoever that person delegates it to. 138 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 By the same token, if they are going to use Philly Carshare and go on the internet, or whatever, and reserve a car, that's ultimately what will be decided by the head of that department. It doesn't get decided by me or anyone else; it becomes an operational issue by the department.
So the department head makes the determination of vehicle usage of their particular employees --
Let me finish the question. Based on a blueprint that was provided by PFM?
The blueprint that PFM helped the city do is to try to determine how many cars we needed in this department. If someone has -- you know, one of the exceptions, if you are 24/7, if you are 24/7, and you are making -- and I forget, I think it's -- I forget the number. We will get that. If you can demonstrate that you are 139 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 out on emergency calls X amount of time, because you are 24/7, then we are not taking that car. But if you couldn't demonstrate that, and from mileage and so forth, we are saying, that department does not need that car. We are going to reduce the size of that fleet. So every department was a little bit different. Those were decisions that the task force made. And now, once a department has, whether it be three cars or five cars, who gets to use those cars at any given point in time, or use Philly Carshare, is an issue that the commissioner or the department head would make, or delegate to whoever he delegates it to.
So we have a minimum of three levels of entities determining the use of vehicles in a department. So we had the department head who has the ultimate decision-making power, we 140 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 have PFM -- no. We have the task force, then we have PFM.
I am saying to get to where we need to get. It seems like a lot of layers to determine as to how many vehicles a department needs. And I am just trying to understand why. You have Fleet Management. You said that they do a good job of maintaining the vehicles and providing gas and whatever else it is they do. Why we need to have three additional levels to determine the usage of a vehicle.
I don't think we have three different levels. I apologize for not explaining it appropriately. The first step of the process was to say -- let me tell you why I thought that we had to reduce the size of the fleet. One, we have a budget issue.
I agree with that. I agree with you totally. 141 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04
Fine. And I also would like to talk about the fact, we don't have mechanics, as many mechanics. They are hard to get in the private sector. So once we decided, say, we have to reduce the size of the fleet, we needed a process and a methodology to figure out how we go about that decision-making process. PFM was retained to help us do the process and the methodology. And we appointed a task force, which consisted of Fleet Management, Managing Director's Office, and the Budget Office. Once they agreed, the task force agreed, on the process and methodology, which I looked at and I agreed with, we then went and looked at every car that the city has. The decision was then made by the task force, how many cars does this particular department need? They made a recommendation. That was then sent to the department head to determine whether -- we didn't want to just do it at a numbers point of view. We needed the 142 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 on-ground assessment of it. But, by the same token, I will acknowledge we were going to be tough with it. It had to be a good excuse. Every department had the opportunity to come back and say, you have asked us to give up seven cars, but we really need three, and this is why. And we looked at those. I think probably more often than not that we agreed. So the process is determining -- where PFM came in was to help us with the methodology and the process. The task force, in conjunction with the head of that department, made the decision what we thought the size of that fleet should be in that department. It is now up to the department on how those cars are utilized. We are out of it now. That's it.
So if there is a vehicle riding around and Joe Q public says, or Jane Q public says, why is that vehicle here or there or whatever, that's the 143 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 department head's responsibility?
That's the department head. Obviously there are rhymes and regulations and so forth, but that's the department head. PFM has nothing to do with that. The task force has nothing to do with that. And I would only have something to do with it if I heard it was being used improperly.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Tasco. I am sorry, Councilwoman Miller.
Thank you, Madam President. Mr. Goldsmith, I want to raise the issue of the closing of the satellite service centers, or the mini City Halls. I had one in my district on 22nd 144 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 Street. And it is my understanding that that center has 450 to 550 cashier transactions daily. Can you please tell me the rationale for closing that center. And I thought I heard that there were plans to provide the service in other city-owned, neighborhood-based offices. And then someone else said they were not going to provide the service out in the neighborhoods at all, and people would have to take care of their payment of city bills at the Concourse. Can you please tell me that.
As we went through the budget and looked for ways that we could reduce our expenses and so forth, we looked in every nook and cranny. The mini City Halls came up. Which, I might add, are not in every councilmanic district. They are, I think, in just two councilmanic districts. And we determined that given the technology that's in use today, given other 145 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 ways that we could service the residents in those neighborhoods, that we would be better off closing those mini City Halls. We believe that -- and I think the one that you are alluding to, I think there is an L & I office not far from there, where people will be able to access services. The other thing we were told by both, I think, the Revenue Department and I think it was L & I, that having people out in the neighborhoods really does not provide the productivity that's really needed, and we can service those needs elsewhere. So what we have to do is, we have to show you how your constituents can be serviced without necessarily having to come into MSB. I believe that we can do that, and we will demonstrate that to you. This is one of these decisions which, you know, you wish you didn't have to make, but we are looking at every place that we can.
Well, certainly I was not a Councilperson when they 146 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 decided to have these satellite offices, but I guess the intent was probably to keep people from having to come into Center City to pay bills. Do you think that may have been it? I know you were not around then, either.
No; I think that's it. And I think that came during a point in time we were looking at mini City Halls, you know, and how to take City Hall out to the neighborhoods. I don't know what year that happened. But these are issues that we're looking at. And I think -- I'm not suggesting this as an alternative. But within a month or two months people are going to be able to pay bills on the internet for some of our services. But there are other ways for people to use our city offices to drop off payments and so forth, and we have to explore those.
So you are saying there is probably going to be away for people to drop off a water bill, et cetera, at 147 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 some other city office? I'm not clear because I can't hear you that well.
Yes. I think what we are going to be doing is exploring ways that people cannot have to come into the Concourse to do those things. And I think some of that will take some transition and some training. But I always say we've got -- I forget how many libraries out there. I'm not sure why libraries can't be a drop-off spot, or police districts can't be a, you know, drop-off spot. So I think there are other ways for us to meet the needs of the people in your district without necessarily having a mini City Hall or necessarily saying you have got to come down to Center City to do it.
Please keep me updated and informed on what's going on. My goal is to service the citizens and perhaps not have those to can't come downtown come all the way downtown just to pay a bill. If we can utilize other city 148 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 agencies out in the neighborhoods, then my goal is just to help the citizens be able to do what they can do from their neighborhood, rather than having to come all the way in Center City.
Okay. And I just have a couple more comments. One is that I would like to get more information on the grants management center, the partnership that you are going to have between William Penn Foundation and University of Pennsylvania. Because it sounds like you are going to help build capacity of nonprofits, and I want to get more information about that.
And, also, you know, we have several scrap yards. And your scrap yard initiatives, we have several scrap yards in our district that appear to be unregulated and have absentee owners. We would like to see strong enforcement and, if necessary, shut them down, 149 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 particularly those who just don't seem to want to comply with any of the environmental issues and the neighborhood issues. And they are just a blighted eyesore out in neighborhoods.
Well, we are now equipped to do that. And we have had some success. And I will have John Hadalski from my office contact you so he can get further information. We can zero in on those scrap yards.
Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you very much. In terms of the quality of life program that you are going to expand, will these new areas have the same level of services that are presently existing in the current Council districts?
We will be 150 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 attacking -- well, we will be attacking the same issues. But what we want to do is sit down with you, and for us to work together and you tell us which zip codes -- the reason we chose zip codes is because we had a great deal of debate on whether it should be by councilmanic district, whether it should be by police district whatever. And we thought zip codes was a better way because everyone knows their zip code, not everyone knows their police district or whatever. It would probably give us a better way to target the areas. But the same things that are being done in the other CLIP areas will be done in your area. What's going to have to happen is that we have to be working much better -- and I will use the Ogontz and Olney thing. When Ogontz and Olney happened, we just got the job done because everybody cooperated. And it is the same approach we are going to take on expanding CLIP, is that 151 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 there has got to be teamwork among the city departments so they are going in there together, getting the job done, and moving on. I think the other important component of this is the -- and I always forget the name of it -- but it is the outreach, the telecommunications outreach, that we have. You have to tell us -- it is called SwitchReach. You have to tell us which zip codes. We can break down by house, by street. And we can call people, and we can say, these are the policies, and we are going to be coming through in a month or two weeks or one week, or whatever it is, and say, this is what we are going to be looking for. And I have to tell you that, we are going to get a lot more deterrents as a result of those type of initiatives. So I hope that you will be comfortable with what we are doing. And we will, you know, keep on changing, as necessary. But I think we will have a good plan for you. 152 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04
Well, you know, a large number of people do not have telephones. How do you communicate with those people without listed telephones?
Well, we will have to go door by door, or whatever. We are going to use block captains, we are going to use all the resources we have. Because I think the most important thing here is for people to understand what is expected, and then we have to show people that we are serious.
We just got a zip code map. And, you know, you probably have looked at this. In whatever way it works, I just want to make sure that it works in the 9th Councilmanic District and the area that I target. But if you look at the zip codes, there are two or three Council Members in a zip code. So how do we know that you are going to -- will you cover -- say, suppose we take 19141, which is, basically, Logan.
She has Logan, he has Logan, and I have Logan. Does that mean all of Logan gets covered, that whole 19141 is going to get covered? I mean, this is for you to think about.
So you need to look at the zip code map, because it overlaps. I have 19138, Councilwoman Miller has 19138. I have 19126, and she may have 19126. And, I mean, that is that overlap when you start looking at zip codes. And I want to make sure that if we do it that way, that the areas targeted would be the entire zip code, or then you need to go back to the Council district. Something you might want to look at.
Right. Okay. And hopefully when we sit down in that case, we can sit down with the three of you just to make sure everyone is on the same page, or your aides.
In your budget message you talked about the overtime. And 154 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 you said you saved $17 million from 2003 to 2004. Is that tie-in because of the end of the Safe Streets program?
I can give you -- hopefully we can pick it up. No; part of it is police. But the Safe Streets program still exists. I think one of the unfortunate things that's happened with Safe Streets is that people have gotten to identify Safe Streets by the amount of overtime. And I think the Police Commissioner will speak a lot more eloquently than I can, that Safe Streets means much more than overtime. It is an approach to law enforcement. In some cases, for example, during the winter months, which was always the case with Safe Streets, you have fewer police officers out on the corners during the wintertime because just the nature of the weather. The weather turns nicer, you deploy differently. 155 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 I am not a law enforcement expert, so I don't want to get out of my field. But I do think that we have made a mistake by allowing the debate over Safe Streets to be defined by overtime. So when you see overtime coming down, it is not because Safe Streets is no 9 longer an active program; it is just that we have gotten better and more strategic in how to deploy people to protect our citizens.
Yes. On of the budget, you said that you will spend $1,367,298 with various providers for anti-drug and Town Watch initiatives. Who are these providers, and when will the contracts be initiated?
Good afternoon, Councilwoman. My name is Frankie Hughes, 156 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 Deputy Managing Director. In terms of the vendors under the anti-crime budget, we have the Philadelphia anti-drug/anti-violence network, also Operation Town Watch, and there are some anti-drug community-based organizations who we fund usually for some of their activities.
Do you have a list of these programs and the areas that they serve?
Are all of the programs being cut, or just certain programs being cut? Is it an across-the-board cut?
No. Actually, we are 157 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 going to increase Operation Town Watch's budget. They have not received an increase in over six years, I believe; whereas, we have increased PAN's budget in previous years. This year we are going to increase Town Watch's budget just due to the nature of the types of things that the approach is for Town Watch members, radios and other equipment. The cost has increasingly been going up, and we have been trying to find grants and other things to subsidize the costs. But this year there is no way around it, we are going to have to increase the budget.
Can we get a list of the groups you fund and the amount of their funding 2004, as opposed to 2005?
Councilwoman, may I just, on the PAN issue, it is my understanding that they have received more money from the School District, which we worked together on that program. 158 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 So while they may have less from our budget, I think they have received more from the School District. But I will check that out for you.
I would also be interested in the level of service -- I am sure they will probably coming in to testify. If the dollar level has decreased, and what impact it has on their services to the community. Thank you.
First, Mr. Managing Director, is there any answer to the last round, or my round before that, questions on the -- have we figured out the vacant lot situation yet?
Well, I thought for one of the series of questions I asked, you had some information that was at your hand, but you were trying to put your hands on it. Was that the vacant lots or was that the 159 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 overtime?
Okay. Can you tell me -- and I want to get into this and get out of it real quick -- how many officers would it take on a detail to spend a million dollars in overtime?
I said, I do not know that. I would have to get you that information.
All right. And someone else is finding the person who is in charge of the Welcome America event, and they are prepared --
I do not know. I 160 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 will find out.
Well, would you ask someone who is in charge of the event to come over here today, please.
I will try to, yes. One of the problems we have, Councilman is that Gloria Jackson from my office is out on an emergency today, and she handles most of these special events. So she would be much more equipped to answer some of this stuff.
I thought this particular event was mostly handled, in terms of the production of it, either by Commerce or more directly the City Rep's Office or Arts and Culture, something like that?
That's correct. I was talking in general questions on special events.
I want to be specific about, since we had the earlier 161 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 discussion, I want to be specific about the Welcome America event. And I asked who was in charge of it in terms of the production, the costs, arranging it. So if that is either the City Rep's Office or Art and Culture, what I am asking you now is to have the appropriate person come over to answer questions.
Okay. Let's talk about of your testimony. I had asked you earlier about crossing guards. I know you wanted to get information back to me. But my last question on is that is, who is actually responsible for the crossing guards? What part of the government are they attached to?
So the Police Department is in charge of crossing guards?
In the middle 162 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 part of your testimony, on , you talk about the safety in City Hall, and that some portion of it had been closed off. How many entrances or points of ingress, egress, are there to City Hall?
Is Commissioner Slauderbach here? I think it is like 20-some, but I would have to get you the precise number.
And since either the tragedy of 9/11 or the tragedy in New York City, have any of those entrances or exits been closed?
Probably three or four. I will have to get you the precise number.
And why is there still such significantly open and unprotected access to City Hall?
We are working on a security system. I think because this is a public building, and it is, you know, 163 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 unlike --
One Parkway is a different building. But it does not have courtrooms, it does not have City Council chambers. One Parkway is much more like an office building.
Mr. Managing Director, I asked a very simple question. Is One Parkway a public building? Answer yes or no. 14
The federal 164 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 building down at 6th and Arch, is that a public building?
So why is this public building so different than any other public building in the city?
I think this building is different because, number one, it was built many, many years ago, unlike One Parkway and MSB and the Federal Courthouse. It was built with many different entrances. And I think the fact, the nature of the business that's conducted in City Hall, whether it be people coming up here to petition their government, people appearing in courtrooms, the nature is different, the nature of the business being transacted here.
Yes, it is a public building. And that's a good point. That's a building that was built in the '80s, I think, or whenever it was, and there is security there. And it is a one-purpose building; this 165 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 is a multi-purpose building.
I understand that. No one is talking about restricting or reducing access. The issue is how you access the building and how secure it is. And I think you would have to agree, at least at this point, that this is possibly the most nonsecure public building in the City of Philadelphia.
Do you know of any other building that has as many entrances and exits to it as City Hall?
I will accept your premise that it is the most public and unsecured building. We also have plans to put security entrances here and card access here. And those will be done, are in the process of being bid out for work. So it is not as if nothing is taking place. I will also say that --
And I believe 166 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 that. When will they be done?
John, can you speak to that. I might also say, where the incident occurred in New York was a very secure building.
I understand that. That was a, obviously, a process and procedure failure, because there is always the human element of people making decisions. But at least they actually had something in place. You can't prevent people from making poor decisions.
The situation here is, there is no decision to be made. You just walk in with whatever you want, wherever you want, and do whatever you want, any time you want, virtually. Except for after 6 o'clock, when you have one entrance to come into the building. So, again, I don't think there is a person in here who would suggest for a moment 167 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 that the public shouldn't be allowed in the building. What I'm saying to you is, there are too many entry and exit points. They are not secure in any way, shape, or form. We have limited upgraded security, which I do appreciate. It comes in the form of the days that there is something going on in this chamber, we have some amount of security on the 4th and 5th floors. We have Council Members who actually work on the 3rd floor. I guess the message to them is, you know, they don't deserve any amount of protection. And there is the rest of the building and the rest of the people who work here. And I haven't seen virtually one ounce of change since 9/11, other than the new bollards, the green bollards, around the building that are secured by a chain. I mean, if you are planning to do something on the building, I don't necessarily know that a chain is going to stop you. So what is the time line for all of this upgraded security? We appreciate what's 168 OPERATING BUDGET - BILL NO. 020455 - 4/19/04 happened here in this room and the personnel on the 4th and 5th floors. But for a, you know, a seven-story, four-sided, multi-officed building, it doesn't necessarily provide any security to probably seven-eighths of the rest of the place.
Well, I will ask Rick Tustin, Head of Capital Projects Office, to tell you our timetable. Which, I might say, has been provided to Council before. But we will update you with the timetable.