Good afternoon. I'm Shelly Yanoff, Executive Director of PCCY, the region's outside government child advocacy 2218 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET organization. We receive no funds from government, but we work collaboratively as much as possible to urge all levels of government to do more and to do better by kids. We do this not just because it's the right thing to do, although it is; not just because it's the smart thing to do for the future, although it is; but because it's the best thing to do for now. If we become known as the city that's good for children and families, we will encourage families to come and live here, we will encourage our businesses to settle or stay and expand here, and we will encourage thousands of college graduates to make Philadelphia their home here. If we believe enough in ourselves, we will make this city the place to be, not for its cheese steaks but for the stake the people have in children and families. We will begin to stop our infighting and fight to keep our families and businesses in, by investing communities, in child care, and in our schools and in our after-school programs. With some few exception, the budget you 2219 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET have before you continues and expands somewhat many of your efforts of the past several years. We are moving forward. The challenge is to move quickly enough to make the difference to the City's children and families and to the City itself. We want to begin by commending the funding primarily provided by the State's TANF dollars to provide home visiting and follow-up supports to fragile families. We believe that this effort that DHS is making, in combination with increased community-based programming for similar families, may well lower the number of babies and children who end up casualties or in the child welfare system. We strongly support this and our family support efforts. We also are pleased to see the substantial increase in youth development funds. You've all heard us speak time and time again of the need for all of our kids to have someplace to go and something to do when school's out. While we agree that we have a long way to go, we've come a long way. Several years ago, this city spent less than half a million dollar on after-school 2220 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET programming and served a handful of children. Today, thousands upon thousands of children are benefitting because of the actions of this Council and the Administration, and many more will as a result of this budget. We also are pleased that there's an effort to improve standards in drawing down more funding as recreation centers strive to become licensed school-aged child-care providers. We also want to commend the health and safety fund's expansion to help child-care providers come into compliance with health and safety needs of kids. We urge you, however, to pass a budget which includes $600,000 for the health and safety fund. We believe responding to the current requests from child-care home providers for help for this fund would require that. We urge you to make sure that at least $600,000 again is set aside to support these programs, as they provide care to children so their parents can work. We understand the proposed budget includes 300,000 for this fund. This is an improvement, but it's not enough. By making it advantageous for homes to register as child-care 2221 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET providers, you increase the safety of the children and the eventual funds of the City. Do it. We next want to urge you to increase the funding for the Health Department's efforts to decrease the lead hazard by adding a half a million dollars to the budget specifically for this purpose. You all know that lead poisoning is hurting thousands of our children every year, robbing them of their futures, and causing us to pay enormous costs in special education and hospitalization and simply lost opportunities.
Each of you knows that most of the houses in this City were built at a time when lead was used in the paint. In lower-income communities, where the owner wouldn't or couldn't keep the paint intact, the kids and families suffered. Today, about one-third of the young children in low-income communities have elevated lead levels. In the last several years, we have developed a way to decrease the hazard. That generally doesn't require abatement, but it does help kids and families. Last year, about 700 new cases of lead poisoning were found in children. That's in addition to the cases where the families 2222 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET were already living in unsafe lead-hazard conditions with children known to have lead poisoning. There were about 1100 houses waiting for the Health Department to come out and do the work because the owner had not come into compliance. Last year, because of personnel vacancies the Health Department was only able to clean up about 30 of these homes. And, Council President, they were in your district and they were in Councilwoman Blackwell's district and they were in all of your districts. They were all over the City. If this Council simply increased the Health Department's funding for this lead work by a half a million dollars, the City could make it safer for almost 200 families whose children are already being injured by lead. The funding would also allow support for a safe house for families to stay in while their home is being cleaned. This $500,000 could mean a savings in special ed costs or a lifetime of dependency. It also could begin to have a stop in wasting the minds and futures of too many children. The request then is 2223 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET to begin to wipe out the backlog that is wiping out our children's minds. Do it. We next urge you to do something about Family Court. Last week, you read of the crisis in Dependency Court, and there is one as well court one in Delinquency Court. Courtrooms are not adequately staffed. Some days, there are no 9 judges; some days, there are no lawyers. Even when the courtrooms are staffed, there are up to 50 cases scheduled in a day. Justice is not served. Neither are we. Too often, these cases are not being heard. That hurts the youth and their families and it hurts all of us. We need more judges, more courtrooms, more lawyers, more staff, more help. If we don't move on this, the results will continue to be more kids held unnecessarily at the Youth Study Center because the hearings are not held. That ends up costing the kids, their families, and us. We urge you to use your capital to see that two more judges are assigned to Family Court. The courtrooms are there, they're ready; they need you to use your political power and energy to get more judges there. By doing that, you will make a 2224 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET difference in Family Court and in the lives of troubled youth and youth in trouble. We ask that you build in support additionally to make sure there are enough staff and court personnel to do the job. And now I turn to the shameful situation that many of our children face when they try to go to school but don't have enough money because of the high cost of tokens. At the hearing two years ago, we pointed out that Philadelphia school students pay more than the overwhelming majority of youth in the country to get to school. As you all know, the overwhelming majority of students in the Philadelphia schools are low-income. As you heard testimony two years ago and one year ago, it's difficult to ascertain exactly how many students are absent on any given day due to lack of fare, but there are many, many of them. You heard from some of them and some of their parents two years ago and again last year, and no doubt, you'll hear from them again in April, when Councilman Goode holds his hearings.
And you heard of students who had to drop out of 2225 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET their programs because they couldn't afford to go to the school they wanted to. There are students in charter schools, in magnet schools, as well as in parochial schools who also are losing out 'cause they can't stay in the schools they want to without help paying for transportation. And when any of our kids drop out, we all lose. Recently, the CEO of the academy program estimated that between one-fifth and one-quarter of their students missed school days during the month because of the high cost of getting to school. As we discussed last year, SEPTA provides no discount to the School District, who pays the regular full cost for tokens and also pays the full cost of transfers. 15 per token for about 10,000 students who meet about certain criteria to go free, and then discounts the tokens by cents and sells them to another 20,000 22 students at 90 cents a ride. More than one half 23 of these students need transfers. 3 million. 2226 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET As Councilman Ortiz noted in the hearings last week, in spite of the what the SEPTA representatives tried to imply, there is no 5 special break provided by SEPTA to the District. 15, which is what the School District is charged. As Mr. Leary admitted in last week's hearing and in the hearing last year, there are some special arrangements, 5 or 10 percent discounts given to the companies or the universities by SEPTA to encourage bulk ridership. Yet SEPTA has never come to the table and said they'd give a discount to the entity that buys the most bulk, the School District. Although there have been hearings on the subject and much coverage, nothing happens. As Mr. Leary said last week in response to Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown's question, they've not even put the issue on a board agenda, in spite of all of this fuss over all these years, in spite of the hearings and the Councilmatic interest. We urge you to insist that Council take this seriously for the first time, and the time to 2227 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET do that is now, when SEPTA's is asking for millions of dollars from this Council. If SEPTA were to continue to receive the full cost of tokens from the School District but simply not charge for transfers, the School District could put the savings into lowering the cost of tokens. We'd all be better off. We then could turn to the State and ask for more help, but the details of that can be held for another day, perhaps during the April hearings. We have to do what we can do here first. These are our children, all of them. It's in all of our interests that they go to school. 3 million from SEPTA's request and provide it to the School District for the sole purpose of covering the cost of transfers and, thus, lowering the cost of tokens for children. That could cut the cost from 90 cents per ride to about 55 cents per ride. That's significant. Many of the members of this Council have expressed leadership, interest, and concern about the high cost we charge for kids to get to school in this city. Only SEPTA has expressed no 2228 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET interest. When SEPTA charged that their State funding was short by $6 million in response to this request, we asked whether they would lower the cost or provide a discount were the 6 million restored, or whether SEPTA would have proposed lowering the rate before the State funding was cut. We all know the answer: SEPTA will find a way to fund what it plans to fund. Unfortunately, without significant prodding, they have shown they will do nothing to assist our children in getting to school or in getting a decent education. We ask you to help them change their minds.
In conclusion, we ask that you add $300,000 more to the health and safety fund budget, making its total $600,000 for next year so that thousands of children can have safer child care and so that day-care providers can gain some support for their economic development. We ask that you add $500,000 to the lead hazard reduction budget so that about 180 more families and at least 300 more children can be safer from lead poisoning. And that you support troubled children and families by seeing 2229 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET that two more judges assigned to the court. 3 million from the SEPTA request and provide it to the School District so that almost 20,000 students can go to and from school at more reasonable rates. We are thus urging that you change the shape of the budget by a comparatively small amount, but one that will make a big difference in thousands of children and families' lives. And we urge you to show that you care about getting kids to school and that you take this issue very seriously. In doing this, you will make Philadelphia a better, safer, and more supportive place for children and families and for businesses. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam President. 2230 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET It takes so little in terms of dollars to really give meaning to "The Year of the Child," and I think the statement by Shelly Yanoff, it's shameful that it has to be made, and I think we've got to take that statement and apply it to the same test that we've applied in other areas, and I think the City has to come up and explain before this Council takes final action on the budget what is going to be done in all of these areas. There's only one area that I have some disagreement with Shelly Yanoff, and that's I think she doesn't go far enough. If we have public schools and parochial schools and charter schools, and we believe that kids are entitled to an education and that the education ought to be available free, except for those families that are able to and choose another form of private school, whether parochial or otherwise private, I think every child should be entitled, as a matter of just living in our city, to free transportation to school. (Applause.)
And during the day, I think it would be shameful if there were a 2231 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET single child that missed a single session of school because the family had to choose between heat or food or medicine or which child goes to school today, or maybe this is the week that nobody goes.
Maybe next week, it will be one child, and three, they have to stay home. And, Madam President, I believe that there ought not to be any appropriation whatever for the School District and/or for SEPTA until this issue is resolved. (Applause.)
I think for years, all of us have been very patient. I think Shelly Yanoff's statement says how reasonable everybody's been. All sorts of ideas have been proposed that sound very reasonable to reduce the cost, but apparently, SEPTA and the School District and the City, including us, have never felt it urgent to take action. I agree with Shelly Yanoff. I think this is the year and I think what we ought to say 2232 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET is, beginning in the fall, certainly, every child rides free; you figure out how to do it. And I don't think it would really cost any more money than it costs now for SEPTA to have ample fleets. They're talking about raising prices. You know, when they raise the fare, ridership goes down. There will be plenty of remove room for all of the kids all of the time. (Laughter.)
And so, Madam President, I want to thank Shelly Yanoff for the clear vision she has expressed and her sapience, and I think we ought to take an absolute position that every child rides free, kids ride free. Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you, Madam President. I simply want to say that a number of members of this body were absolutely awestruck by 2233 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET the disheartening statistics around lead poisoning. I mean, when we know that there were 700 new cases last year and only 30 houses were treated, that caught our attention. So you should know that a few of us have had subsequent discussions and conversations about this, and I in no way want to suggest that we can do anything substantial this year, but know that there will be further action by several members of this body to do something about the fact that you have now caught our attention around the topic of lead poisoning.
In my haste to read my statement, I overlooked the fact that I also had a statement, which was distributed to you, from Dr. Carla Campbell, who is a pediatrician, and she urges immediate action on lead poisoning and says -- again, Councilman Cohen, we maybe have been too reasonable. We only asked for half a million dollars so that 200 kids can stop getting poisoned today. That's not -- we didn't ask for 10 2234 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET million; we asked for one half a million in a budget much 2.5 billion that we could -- these are kids who are known to be sick, they're known to have had elevated lead levels, and they have no 6 place to go. So we urge you to do what you can. We know that this Council cares about children, we know of your leadership, Councilwoman Brown. We urge you to not let them have to wait for another year the while we try how figure out the best thing. Sometimes getting to be perfect, like getting it free, which is what we want in the transportation, but if we could just begin to reverse the trend, we've made a statement, and we haven't begun yet. And after all of these years, both lead and transportation, let's do it. (Applause.)
Thirty-three years ago, when I first sat in City Council, in 1968, one of the first debates was on lead-paint poisoning and how badly it was affecting the 2235 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET children in Philadelphia, and 31 years later, we're still arguing about several hundred thousand dollars to save several hundred kids' ability, their mental abilities, and their opportunity to have a healthy life. I think it's outrageous, and I think this year ought to be the year when we tackle it boldly and pay what has to be paid. There's no 10 price too high for the health and safety of our kids. (Applause.)
Miss Yanoff, Dr. Campbell's testimony will be made a part of the our record. We have given a copy of it to the stenographer. And at this time, the stenographer is asking for a five-minute break. So we will recess for five minutes. (Break taken.) - - - (Proceedings resume.)
We are back 2236 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET in session.
Good afternoon, Madam President. I want to thank you very, very much for letting us get away in a hurry. And all I want to say is that I am President of the Historic Sites in Fairmount Park, and I've been a citizen of this city for 45 years -- just in case you think I'm not. And I'd like you to know that I think this is a grand opportunity to thank you and members of the Council for the wonderful job did with FDR Park. FDR Park has four marvelous sites. You have Bartram Gardens, we have the Blue Berlin, we have the American Swedish Museum, and we have that wonderful building Belaire. And really and truly, the people of South Philadelphia deserve to have a lovely oasis there, because when I went last year at this time, it was snowing and it was raining, and there was nobody in the park. And all of a sudden, four cars arrived and four senior citizens came out, 2237 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET and they put their chairs -- there was only a little bit of sunshine, and they put their little chairs out, and I said, When do you come here? and they said, We come here every Monday if the sun shines. So I think you've done a wonderful job for this park, and I'm so pleased about that. I also want to draw your attention to the Fairmount Park (indiscernible) historic sites. We have a wonderful group of people, stewards for these houses. We are stewards also, we are nonprofit. And they do a phenomenal job. And I want to draw my attention -- I'm going to praise Michael Nutter again because we draw your attention to Bill 505, the ordinance 16 that they -- Mayor Street and Councilman Nutter did some years ago, and it has been a great help to us. And these houses are absolutely national treasures. Last year, we had the honor of going to Washington to do a lot of advocacy on these things, and we really did very, very well. And during the convention last year, we had the honor of seeing people a lot of the people who were there. And also, we did give Arlen Specter the Founder's Day Award, because he really helped us a 2238 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET tremendous amount. And we've always had in our house the love and protection of Mayor Street, of Councilman Nutter, and Councilman-At-Large Frank Rizzo, and many, many of the Councilpeople, and I hope I haven't left them out because they really have been a marvelous way of strengthening us. And I really think that Michael just a little while ago said, If you don't know what's going on, then we have to tell you. So I appreciate that very, very much indeed. But I want to take this opportunity of bringing this latest piece of City Parks by Peter Harnick, and this is also about parks, and I want to read this to you because it's terribly important. "The future of Philadelphia Parks and recreational programs is unclear. On the one hand, the City has a substantial amount of park land and a large number of facilities, perhaps even too much land and too many facilities, and enjoys a high level of private interests and support, particularly from the foundation community, friends groups, and Philadelphia 2239 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET Green. On the other hand, the bureaucracies are not working together, and there is no effective unified park and recreation lobbying effort before the City Council. Mayor Rendell, who left his office at the end of 1999, was a tireless and effective booster of Philadelphia as a city, but he did not put parks at the top of his agenda and sometimes even tended to look at them as sources of revenue rather than as green infrastructure that need constant tending. " And I think this says it all. And I think you are going to find that this year, with some of the work that -- some of these houses being included in this budget, I really feel that they really need more money. This is not enough. It's -- the people -- we had 300,000 people come into these houses last year.
300,000 coming for 2240 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET different programs to these houses. We have an outreach program. We took 34 schools. We have Christmas programs for them, we have all kinds of things for young people. We have showcases of these houses, we invite the schools, and they come. And by seeing the houses and working with our people, they really appreciate what they see. And we'd be so grateful if you could give the park more money. Remember, 100,000 votes in that park, that's something. So please give us (indiscernible) and I'll turn this over to Maria Mirarchi. And I wish you continued success, Madam President, and thank you very much for listening to us.
Good afternoon. My name is Maria Mirarchi, representing the Friends of Historic Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in South Philadelphia. We've been in existence since 1987, and we are proud to be a part of the Fairmount Park system, part of the 85 Friends groups 2241 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET supporting the largest park system of 8,900 acres, not only in the State of PA but also throughout the United States and members of the Fairmount Council of Historic Sites. Thank you for the opportunity to express our appreciation and gratitude to Council President Anna Verna, all Councilmembers, elected officials, Philadelphia Historic Commission, and Fairmount Park Commission. As of August 9, 2000, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park has been given Philadelphia historic designation, a milestone for Fairmount Park, the City Preservation Mission, and every single resident of the City of Philadelphia. And hopefully, within the near future, Pennsylvania Registry will also be granted to us. We are here today to add our support to the Friends of Philadelphia Park, the Friends of Tacony Creek for their in-depth testimony. In order to provide all of our parks with their individual needs and to have them attended and for all major improvements to be made to our wonderful historic sites, additional funding, along with the proposed budget, is called for. Providing continuity and successful compounding on the 2242 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET already-existing endeavors requires an increase in funding. This can only be accomplished with the support and cooperation of our City Council and elected officials. With your collective support, this will not only affect the next six years, but this will ensure our natural park resource to be in -- I'm sorry -- to be in with our next few generations. Thank you very much, Madam President.
Thank you. Please know that we are very grateful for your interest, your concern, and all of the time that you have put into -- that I know Maria has put into FDR Park. And without people like you, I don't know that we would ever be able to accomplish as much as we have. And I want you to know that we are very grateful. Thank you so much.
Thank you very much, Madam President. We appreciate that. (Applause.)
The next group is the 2243 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET Family of the Dell East: Yvonne Downey, Maya Burnett, Lisette Harris, Sam Staten Jr., and Rena Brown. (Witnesses come forward.)
Good afternoon, Council President. First and foremost, I'd like to give honor and praise to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for allowing me to be here today. Good afternoon, Council President Anna Verna, distinguished members of City Council, Administration members, and invited guests. Thank you for allowing us to testify today. My name is Rena Brown, and I'm the recording secretary of the Family of the Dell East. And with me is Maya Burnett, our president.
We represent the officers of the Family of the Dell East, the official advocacy board for the venerable Dell East. Our 2244 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET mission today is to attempt to move you as an assemblage of law-makers and approvers of the City of Philadelphia's Operating Budget to assist the Dell East in its need for a budget increase. We recognize the need for fiscal constraints in City spending, and the Dell East has received its fair share of budget cuts. We recognize the needs for capital improvements, and we thank this distinguished chamber, in particular Councilman Michael Nutter and Councilman Darrell Clarke in the 4th and 5th Councilmatic districts respectively, for responding to our capital needs. However, this testimony is about operating budget.
The management of the Dell East has provided us with creative initiatives, long-term planning strategies, and prayers to help get us through another long, hot-summer season of great concert events at the Dell East. The Dell East program needs an additional $125,000 to completely start up the 2001 summer season of events. This request would help to eradicate a $94,000 debt from last year 2245 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET and help to prove $30,000 towards booking artists for this new season. We are here to ask you to please help the Dell East program obtain this needed amount. The Department of Recreation requested this amount in the early stages of the budget process and was denied. Again, we are concerned and we are here to request special consideration for additional funds.
The Dell East is a great institution in this city. For 29 years, the City of Philadelphia's Department of Recreation has presented high-quality entertainment for inner-city residents during the long, hot summer. With your continued assistance and a hand up to pull the Dell East out of its present financial dilemma, the City will continue to shine nightly in East Fairmount Park at the Dell East. If you haven't attended events at the Dell East lately, come out and join us team us, as we are a family and the new team, and we try hard to make each event a family event.
Council President, I have 2246 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET one more thing to add. I'd like your participation, since we didn't use three minutes. (Witness hands out pieces of Lifesaver candy to Councilmembers.)
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Oh, I'm not completed. I've passed out a Lifesaver and I'm asking you to hold that up in your hand for a minute. What you're holding in your hand is legacy of a company that put out Lifesavers, and each time they come up with a new concept, they are trying to change the flavor or put a new taste in our mouths. We are asking you to save the life of the Dell East. We are in desperate need of additional funding for start-up. We cannot bring the best entertainment to the City of Philadelphia. We're asking you to think about the life legacy of the Dell East of Philadelphia. (Applause.)
Thank you. At this time, the Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter. 2247 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET
Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you very much for the Lifesavers. Actually, I like this flavor. (Laughter.)
Yes, and I like the Dell East too. Madam Chair, I think the procedure that we're following today is to not so much ask questions particularly of the public unless imperative. This is a situation that I would like to re-raise with our Budget Director and the Recreation Department. And again, following, your judgment and lead, whenever that appropriate time arises during the course of these hearings, I would like to get back into this particular issue. Our good friends at the table are correct. Councilman Clarke and I and others have been talking about -- and not just talking about but trying to do something about the Dell East situation, and I know that there have been some 2248 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET discussions about this. We do not have a complete, up-to-date assessment of what the current situation is, and so I would like to reserve an opportunity at some point in time in the course of the hearings to get from our Budget Director and our Recreation Commissioner what the status on this operating issue is. We've had a lot of discussion about Capital Budget related to the Dell, but operating is equally important. So I'd like to have that opportunity at the appropriate moment.
Thank you. Thank you both very much. (Applause.)
The next witness is Ruth Birchette. (Witness comes forward.)
Good afternoon. 2249 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Ruth Birchette. I'm president and founder of Heritage Community Economic Development Corporation. And as I listened to the testimony of the ladies who just left the microphone, I decided to move up my comments about the Recreation Department to the top of my list. The Dell East is incredibly essential to our communities, without question. I speak not only as the founder of Heritage but also as a block captain, as a committee person, as someone who has devoted 30 years to community service here in Philadelphia, and a lifelong resident of North Philadelphia. And I tell you, the Dell East is critical to the life an livelihood of our community. We don't get -- poor families often don't get an opportunity to take advantage of cultural activities, because often, they're out of the reach. The Dell East is a place where people will walk to participate in it, and it's a big joke with the comedians about the people who get on to the cemetery and sit on the lawn and listen because it's such excitement. The Dell East is 2250 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET our Uptown Theater, now that the Uptown Theater is closed. The Uptown Theater is Philadelphia's Apollo Theater. And so please do whatever you can, and also let us community organizations know what we can do to support you in those efforts because we seriously do need to have the Dell East continue. And in that regard, the Philadelphia Department of Recreation is very critical to neighborhoods in a lot of different ways, and certainly, Mayor Street in his blight elimination plan really has generated a lot of hope in neighborhoods like mine, at 19th and Norris Street, where my family spent 50 years, and there are no houses left standing across the street. There are five abandoned houses on my side of the street and three vacant lots. In neighborhood like ours, you need hope, you need something to hope for, and -- but it's very clear that blight elimination is more than bricks and mortar. Blight elimination also has to deal with the social infrastructure of our communities, and so programs of the Philadelphia Department of Recreation and other departments, 2251 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET which I will mention as well, are very, very critical to ours. For example, the Philadelphia Department of Recreation's Mural Arts Program: It bring again, art, culture to our communities. Their team of talented artists literally with their staff come into our communities, sit with us, find a location, and decide on what needs to happen with regard to that wall or maybe the vacant lot that's near it. And, you know, after we're done with that, what's left is some type of artistry that reflects the spirit of the neighborhood, the talent of the artist and the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, which is a national-international example of what can happen in downtown business areas as well as deprived neighborhoods such as ours. And so I encourage you to do everything you can to support Jane Golden and her incredible staff with the Mural Arts Program so that they can expand those efforts. They get tremendous amounts of applications, but too often, it takes really a long time to try and get an actual mural done. It takes money. I'm startled at the small amount of money they spend allocated to that program. I 2252 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET mean, $600,000 is no money for a staff of nine, given what I know as a community person who is active citywide, the demand for the Mural Arts Program throughout City. Our program, in fact, you know, we're the recipients of the first mosaic tile mural of the Mural Arts Program. We're very, very proud of that, and it supports our efforts to try and turn a previously drug house into a clubhouse for community activities. And so we're able to use a major program like this to leverage volunteer efforts. And, again, I stress volunteer efforts. I am a volunteer with my community efforts.
And it's not just me; it's a lot of other people as well. Along the same light, in closing my comments regarding the Recreation Department, I'd like to speak about the recreation centers and the pools. I really would like to see -- and there may have been discussion on this already and maybe there's discussion going on now, but I'd really like for the Recreation Department and Council to consider coming up with a plan to enclose the 2253 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET pools so that the access to that recreation is a year-round opportunity for people. In the winter, our options narrow more and more in our communities for what our children and our families have access to. And it really -- you know, I don't know if it's just a few bricks or whatever and some heat, but it would really give us more options as we're really doing a lot to reshape the way services are being developed in our community efforts. And as we talk about reshaping efforts and programs, you know, I begin to talk about the Philadelphia Department of Human Services and the tremendous excitement that's generated there within the presence of Alba Martinez and its Commissioner. It's an incredible, incredible effort of improved thought, just the way you look at systems and how systems work together, and not being afraid to look at what is actually happening and what can -- and dream about what can happen in our programs. And rather, it's between the School District and the department and the collaborative efforts of the Family Courts or whatever. And I think that the Department of DHS 2254 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET is really doing an incredible job. In particular, the support community outreach program and the prevention services of the department are incredibly important to our community. I know that the Department of Human Services is the child protective agency for the County of Philadelphia. However, in neighborhoods such as ours, it is the prevention services that are just as important in the sense that we're out here trying to prevent our kids from being at risk of juvenile delinquency. And so we don't want our children to enter into the system, and that's why prevention services are so important. And so in that regard, I want to commend Council and the Department of Human Services for the creative way that the prevention component of DHS is being structured. And also to advocate for adequate funding to support those efforts. At the community level, there are lots and lots of people who are willing, such as myself, having started my program in my house. We're willing to do volunteer work, we're willing to put forth our own money and things of that sort 2255 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET and our own energy, but we really do need quality training so that we not just do a job but do a good job for our children and for our communities, and that we also have the kinds of supplies and access to tokens and car fare and things of that sort when it's necessary too. In line of that, I'd like to advocate that there not be a restriction between a community-based, grassroots organization being able to apply for more than one of these types of programs at the same time. And the example that I will bring up is the fact that under the Managing Director's Office, you have the drug abuse prevention program. Under the Department of Recreation, you have the Philadelphia activities fund. And no community-based organization can apply for both. You have to apply for one or the other. Well, most of the organizations that are out here applying for these monies and the top -- the maximum you can apply for is $5,000. Most organizations are out there operating on tiny money from the beginning.
And it's just ludicrous, given what we're out here working with 2256 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET for us to be barred from or have to choose from the fact that I run a kids cafe, and that's nutrition and trying to get our kids to cook some -- teach 'em how to cook some food on their own when in fact -- because the adult in their lives very often are not cooking for them. And so -- and I may have -- at the same time, I may have my science and nature club over here that's going around and cleaning vacant lots and trying to remove trash and trying to encourage our neighbors to do recycling. We should not have to choose which of those to apply for. We ought to be able to apply for both. Also, the ceiling -- the funding ceiling of $5,000, it should be a minimum, it should not be a max. We really ought to --- very often, you apply for the $5,000, which you usually get maybe 1500 or something like that. Again, please do everything that you can. We know that you're already doing an awful lot, but if you would, and if there's any way that we can as community organizations support you in those efforts, it would be greatly appreciated.
Miss 2257 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET Birchette, we're really enjoying your testimony, but I think you were not here when we indicated that each witness would be given three minutes to testify.
And we still do have any number of people waiting to testify, so if you would just summarize your testimony at this point, we'd appreciate it.
I think you mean prioritize. Okay, I got it. I have to say something about SEPTA and the Police Department, and that's going to be it. SEPTA and the Police Department. SEPTA, as it relates to the fares and the problem of the fares and the incredible problem we had with SEPTA going on strike the last time. In our community, the statistics for SEPTA will show you that we're -- our community in Northeast Philadelphia is most dependent on the public transportation. We had children who were unable to acquire summer youth 2258 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET employment because of the SEPTA strike the last time, and so we advocate that there not be an increase but also that there be every effort to avoid a strike. With regard to the Police Department, the abandoned car situation is really a -- has produced a very negative situation for people in low-income neighborhoods to the extent that these neighborhoods like ours don't have garages, and so, you know, while you're unemployed and you're waiting to get things together and have that car, you have nowhere to hide it, and I believe that while it's been very nice to clean up the neighborhoods, there have been some situations that have been totally extreme. I had a car right outside my door that's only been there since Saturday that was removed this morning. Absolutely unreal, uncalled for, totally uncalled for. No opportunity whatsoever for the young man to deal with -- to have a chance to deal with it. A young father, got a baby on the way in less than a month. Unreal. I conclude my comments with that. Thank you once again for tolerating my comments 2259 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET and for your diligence as well.
Good afternoon Councilmembers. My name is Peggy Amsterdam, the Executive Director of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, a regional arts and cultural advocacy organization. I appreciate this opportunity to testify in support of arts and culture in our city, specifically in support of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund. We are so lucky to live in Philadelphia, a city that boasts a wealth of cultural organizations that are vital to the City and region's social and economic quality of life. Arts and culture serves as one of our leading industries, generating $564 million in regional spending, attracting a wealth of tourists, and providing nearly $6.5 million in Philadelphia sales and wage taxes. In 1995, almost 18 million people 2260 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET visited a cultural organization or site in the Philadelphia region, million people. In that 4 same year, only million people attended a Phillies game, and about 700,000 observed the Eagles in action. A recent survey of area business leaders published by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and Sovereign Bank revealed that 64 percent of business leaders find cultural attractions to be a key strength of the region, second only to our geographical location in the northeast corridor. But beyond this substantial impact on our economy, the arts also revitalize Philadelphia's neighborhoods by creating a community where every person, regardless of his or her social, ethnic or economic background, can contribute as an equal and succeed. I applaud the City for its current and past investments in the cultural sector and urge their continued growth. We've heard some success stories about that here this afternoon. Since FY '99, appropriations for the cultural fund have remained steady at 2261 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET $1.5 million. However, the cultural industry has continued to grow and to increase its impact in our communities. Philadelphia ranks seventh of the nation's ten largest cities in government per-capita operating support for the arts. I think we should be able to do better than that. The cultural fund is critical to ensuring that the City's cultural institutions, everything from the Academy of Natural Sciences to the Village of Arts and Humanities, can continue to serve Philadelphia's residents. As you know, the cultural fund provides general operating support, the type of funds most difficult for nonprofits to raise. Yet it is operating funds that enable organizations to survive while developing new and innovative programming that revitalizes neighborhoods, increases tourism, and provides safe and enriching after-school activities for our children. As Philadelphia's cultural sector grows, demand for services for our citizens increase, new organizations continue to emerge, and existing ones broaden their most successful program. The cultural fund is prepared to support 2262 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET new and established organizations alike. However, the fund must grow to accommodate the growth of the cultural industry. As demands for cultural services in communities continues to grow, requests to the cultural funds increases as well. This year alone, the cultural fund received 214 requests, an increase of 14.5 percent. On behalf of the Cultural Alliance's more than 200 member organizations, many of which receive grants from the cultural fund, I thank Mayor Street, City Council, and all of the City department heads for their past support and ask that you continue this commitment with an increase in the cultural fund's FY '02 appropriation and that you establish the fund's continued growth in the City's Five-Year Plan. Cultural organizations invest heavily in their neighborhoods. We care. We want Philadelphia to be an exciting, interesting, and vibrant place to work and live. We hope that our city will share this vision by increasing its support of the Philadelphia cultural fund. Thank you.
Thank you 2263 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET very much. We appreciate your coming in to testify. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
My name is Wilkins Jones, I'm the Executive Director of the Friends of the Free Library, and I'm testifying in place of Jeremiah White, the President of the Friends of Free Library, who was here but had to leave. The Free Library's branch renovation program, Changing Lives, has been a resounding success. Every Philadelphian can be, and should be, proud of the progress the system has made in the last five years. In a little over 5 years, most of the 55 branches of the library system have been renovated and upgraded, thanks to the infusion of approximately $25 million in City 2264 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET capital funds into the Changing Lives project. The concern of the Friends is that after the expenditure of so much money in renovating branch libraries, these substantial gains will be diminished without ongoing preventive maintenance. The first of the libraries renovated are already showing some signs of wear and needing some attention. The Friends believe the library needs additional money over and above its current budget for contracted maintenance to keep neighborhood branches in good shape. The preventive maintenance projects that would be funded with such an allocation would include, or could include, interior and exterior painting of branch libraries and replacement of furniture and carpeting. We also believe that additional money for landscaping would further beautify our neighborhood libraries. In particular, we think that landscaping and exterior painting of neighborhood libraries makes sense. Not only is it a good preventive maintenance investment in own right, but it supports the Administration's initiative to remove blight. 2265 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET Clearly, any exterior enhancements to a neighborhood library will not only improve the appearance of the building, but it will contribute to the overall enhancement of that community's beautification. In a recent interview with American Libraries, the magazine of the American Library Association, Mary Dempsey, the Commissioner of the Chicago public library system said, "The welcoming physical presence of a beautiful library building makes a strong statement." The Friends of Free Library could not agree with that statement more. In Chicago, where the library system is in the midst of a renaissance, libraries have become the center of the community. The City's Mayor, Richard Daley, believes that libraries can spearhead the resurrection of quality urban living. As proud Philadelphians, we believe that our renovated and upgraded neighborhood libraries are poised to also play such a role. And with additional funding for preventive maintenance, they will be able to do so. Thank you, President Verna and members 2266 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET of Council.
Thank you very much, Mr. White. We appreciate your coming in to testify. Our next witness?
Tom Grade. Tom Grade? (Mr. Grade not present at this time.)
Good afternoon. I'm Michael McCrae. I'm President of Philadelphia Recreation Advisory. Before I start, I do want to congratulate yourself for the support you've given us and all the work we try to do at Grays Ferry at the Youth Access Center, and it makes my job a lot easier with your support, and it really has helped us to move that forward a lot quicker and a lot faster and keep the thing rolling, so I do appreciate your support in that matter. 2267 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET
Wonderful, thank you. (Mr. McCrae proceeds to read his written testimony verbatim, which can be found attached hereto.)
Thank you. Your testimony was excellent, and we appreciate you coming in. Thank you.
We are Laurie Ward, Chair, and Pat Simmons, Secretary, of the Southeast Region Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth and Family Services. In these volunteer roles, we represent 66 private nonprofit child welfare agencies in the five-county Philadelphia area. The Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth and Family Services is a statewide 2268 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET membership organization of agencies that provide services to abused, neglected, and delinquent children and youth and their families. Our member agencies provide a vast array of high-quality services, including abuse and neglect prevention programs, foster and kinship care, emergency shelters, group homes, and residential treatment. We also help families through parenting education, after school, truancy prevention, and day treatment services. Approximately 85 percent of the services to children and family for whom DHS is responsible are provided through our member agencies. As partners with DHS to provide quality services to children and their families, we have welcomed this administration's fresh approach to problem-solving and integration of services. We appreciate the opportunity to comment on the Fiscal Year 2002 Operating Budget. Based on our collective experience of serving vulnerable dependent and delinquent children and youth in every neighborhood through many different types of programs, several points made by Commissioner Martinez in her testimony warrant special recognition. 2269 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET
8 percent in FY 2002. Another point we want to recognize is the creation of the Division of Community-based Prevention Services, which will coordinate the Department's wide array of services to prevent abuse, neglect, and delinquency. Many of our member agencies provide prevention services to support families so that the children do not have to enter the more formal parts of the child welfare system. It is important to implement the school attendance program, which provides support services to absent students before they are excessively truant, to expand after-school programs to support school-aged children and their caretakers, and to support the community-based treatment programs to help youth avoid criminal and delinquent behavior. 2270 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET Another point worth recognizing is the implementation of the home-visiting programs for new mothers. We recognize the financial constraints in limiting this program to 400 new mothers, but we would like to emphasize that this type of in-home support has been proven to be successful. Home-visiting is an effective intervention throughout the life cycle of children and their families. It can be used not only for new mothers, but also as a prevention program for children as they grow. It also is helpful in families where parents have mental retardation issues through the HIP program, have mental health concerns, or who are caring for medically fragile children. Many of these home-visiting service models do not need to use the medical model that is important to newborns. Another point we want to recognize is the safety net for children. The Commissioner reiterated the need to strengthen the safety net for children who require protection by ensuring safety and achieving permanency for children and youth in and placement. Because of the private providers' close partnership with DHS, 2271 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET Philadelphia has exceeded federal standards for children placed with DHS. This is evidenced by the decrease in length of stay and care, successful reunifications, and increased adoptions. We have done this while facing critical staffing shortage, implementing additional service requirements, and serving children and families with increasingly complex problem. And another point, integration of services and funding, the need for systems integration. Children who come into placement require much attention and need many services. Besides a safe and supportive temporary home, they require comprehensive medical, developmental, and behavioral health assessments and services. The parents of the children also require intensive services and support to enable them to care for their children. If we give families the services they need initially, more intensive services may not be needed later. We were pleased that this front-loading of services to adults is part of the Commissioner's goals. We would like to add that 2272 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET these services must be available for the children as well. As we return children to their families and communities, we have to ensure that services are available to support the kids and their families and their reunification or their stepdown to a less restrictive placement setting. Too often, there is a disconnect between the services needed, the services available, and the services that are funded. One of the most frustrating issues for our staff and the families is the inability to have physical, behavioral, and drug and alcohol services readily available. Sometimes it is the lack of the available service at a specific time or place. More often, it is a lack of funding for the needed services. Some members have had to designate staff whose sole function is to communicate with the physical and behavioral health managed care organizations to access needed services for children. They spend inordinate amounts of time trying to obtain these services. Together, we need to remove this barrier.
The creation of a clinical services 2273 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET unit to coordinate the physical and behavioral health-care services for children in out-of-home placement is important. The goal to improve access to behavioral health services is critical. Again, the ability to access appropriate and timely behavioral health services is a critical factor in achieving successful outcomes, especially for children returning to families or being placed in less restrictive placement settings. However, it must be recognized that the direct services to the children are delivered by private contractors, and the quality and quantity of these services is dependent on the contracts.
Management and organization. We support the addition of 39 staff in DHS's case managers. One of the major barriers to all of us is the recruitment and retention of staff, whether it's case manager or direct child-serving staff. We have appreciated the department's willingness to share their communications plan to help us all recruit and retain the necessary staff. We are pleased that DHS is building its internal capacity for policy and planning to build resources that are based on 2274 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET best-practice research, cost-effective, and focused on outcomes. The department also plans on implementing performance-based contracting that will communicate measurable goals for DHS's contract providers. As part of this effort, the Department, in collaboration with contract providers, has implemented the Philadelphia Outcome Measurement Project, which was designed to track and measure service delivery outcomes. The relationship between the quality of the outcome and the cost of each service need to be identified and recognized. We have appreciated the Commissioner's willingness to discuss regular reviews for the services and costs that are delivered under contracts. Some of the contracts have not been increased for over five years. We all know that the cost of living as well as the goods and services we purchased have increased during this time period. Many of our member agencies have experienced extraordinary difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff as we compete with higher-paying industries. Simultaneously, we have 2275 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET undertaken a number of program changes to support additional regulatory and contractual requirements. In order to ensure that we can achieve desired outcomes, it is critical services are adequately funded. Fair rates will be possible through regular reviews of service expectations and costs. We look forward to working with this administration toward this goal. We would like to reiterate support of the current administration's thoughtful and comprehensive goals to support Philadelphia's most vulnerable children and their families. We as partners stand with the Commissioner in her efforts to implement the vision outlined in her testimony. Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments. (Applause.)
Ladies, I believe Councilwoman Brown would like to be recognized. I don't know whether she has a question or a comment. Councilwoman Brown. 2276 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET
Okay, your light was on. Thank you again. We appreciate your coming in to testify. Our next witness?
Mr. Stanton, I've seen you sitting back there. You've been extremely patient. Thank you very much for waiting.
Thank you all for listening to us. I'm Ed Stanton, President, Friends of the Wissahickon. I'll guarantee you I'll be under three minutes.
We applauded when Mayor Street and the City Council removed 40,000 abandoned cars from Philadelphia. This was a major step towards making our city more liveable. 2277 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET One interesting thing was that the Friends of the Wissahickon was asked for the number of abandoned cars in the Wissahickon that had to be removed. There was only one car in the Wissahickon, a 1966 Corvair, through whole skeleton remains was wearing a tree seven foot in diameter. Volunteers had spent over two years breaking apart and dragging out the remains of the car in the Wissahickon so that Fairmount Park could haul the pieces away. Countless volunteers have spent thousands and thousands of hours cleaning up the Wissahickon. Why? Most of these volunteers live close the to Wissahickon. They have all one thing in common: the love for the park. All along the edges of the Wissahickon -- Manayunk, Roxborough, Andorra, Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy, Germantown, and East Falls -- are some of the most desirable and solid neighborhoods in our City. The reason is obvious. These citizens are staying in these neighborhoods because of the Wissahickon. Wake up, City Council. Increase the Fairmount Park budget so that all of our parks will become a desirable place to live next to in 2278 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET our wonderful city of parks. This money will help revitalize many, many neighborhoods as did removing 40,000 cars. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Mr. Stanton. Councilman Rizzo?
Thank you. Mr. Stanton, I know that throughout the years, we've been back and forth on some issues, but I want to publicly state that I personally, as you know, as a supporter of Fairmount Park, and want to thank you and the members for all of the work you do. I think it's a double-edged sword. You do such a great job that sometimes people that control the purse strings figure you'll make it work. And, again, I want to thank you for all of the good work that you do, and I know Bill 21 Mifflin and the other members of the Fairmount Park Commission and the commissioners certainly appreciate everything.
You're quite 2279 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET welcome.
Good evening, Council President Verna and Councilwoman Blackwell. How are you. I was visiting City Hall today and found out that this was the opportunity to testify around the Operating Budget. In all of the years I've been testifying, I've only testified around the School District budget, so this is somewhat from the hip. Most of my testimony is going to be related to the Philadelphia Health Department, who, I think, comes to these hearings most of the time. I've witnessed them but never testified. And they are totally undercutting themselves as it relates to your budget. And I think this year, they did themselves a real disservice in terms of their budget request. 2280 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET And I certainly would like to start out by saying that I believe we need to pay more attention, just as Shelly Yanoff testified, around children and families who live in environments that could result in their children being lead-poisoned. And now that we have a concern about lead in the water in the Philadelphia school system, even more of our children are being exposed to the dangers of lead poisoning. And I must tell you that it was Estelle Richman, during her tenure as Health Commissioner here in Philadelphia, that certainly made me more aware of the issues around lead poisoning, and then we were able to talk more clearly to the people in our community around those issues. I'd like to say I'm terribly disappointed in this Health Commissioner, his lack of advocacy around issues of the environment, and certainly to have his staff come and present the kind of plan that they presented around lead awareness and education, in my opinion, was an absolute disgrace. And I just want to make that very clear for the record. We have met with this Health 2281 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET Commissioner to talk about issues of the environment, we have asked this Commissioner to join in an environmental team with people from your district, Councilwoman Verna, out in the Eastwick area, with people from Passyunk Homes, Mrs. Carter, that whole public housing development. For some reason, all of those fine families down there were displaced. We've asked this Health Department to do a risk assessment of these families, and they have not cooperated in the least. So I just want to -- from our organization, I'm speaking as the Executive Director of Healthy Family, and at this point, we're receiving no government dollars, and I feel real strong in a sense to sit here and say that we believe that we have made the wrong choice in hiring Walter Tsou as the Health Commissioner of the City of Philadelphia, and we would like to see him replaced. I would also like to say on a positive note that we believe the Health Department is critical to the recovery of our communities. We believe that they need to be involved in more 2282 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET education around issues of breast cancer, issues of prostate cancer. They need to be more active in our community around issues of infant death and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. We believe that some of the neighborhoods, like the community of Larchwood Gardens out in the Eastwick section of Southwest Philadelphia, are so far removed from quality health services, we believe that maybe there needs to be annexing of health center services to neighborhoods where it's almost -- where it's very hard for people to get to those services. And I guess in closing, we think that there needs to be a greater effort to educate the families who have children attending Philadelphia public schools around this issue of -- around this issue of lead in the water. And not isolated to that, but here's an opportunity to cut across curriculum in the School District and talk about other environmental concerns. So I certainly would support the effort to do more environmental education in the School District.
" There is not adequate space for a family who has children that are coming home from the hospital and we know that that environment where that child is going is going to be an environment for lead paint. There is not enough housing, transitional housing or safe housing, for that family to go through while we remediate the circumstances of their problem. So we would call for more dollars than Shelly called for to support this whole area around education. And I thank you for your time.
Thank you very much. We appreciate your coming in and we certainly appreciate your patience in sitting here all of that time to testify. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you. I likewise would like to say thank you and certainly thank you for your commitment to our city and all of your efforts, especially with the Health Department and with lead paint. I'm sure Councilwoman Reynolds Brown 2284 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET will concur with me that we have big problems in the lead paint issue and in lead poisoning and that we need to do something about it. And your leadership has really done a lot. Thank you.
Mr. McPherson, at this time, would you again call the names of people who are on our list and did not respond to the first call.
Neither one of them are here. Councilman Rizzo, at this point, would you like me to call Mr. Mifflin up to the table?
Thank you. Commissioner Mifflin. (Mr. Mifflin comes forward.) 2285 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET
Good evening, Council President. My name is William Mifflin, and I'm the Executive Director of the Fairmount Park Commission.
Great. I believe Councilman Rizzo had a question or two that he wanted to address to you earlier, so I thought this would be a good time to do that.
Earlier today, we 2286 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET had conversation, and earlier this year, I had some conversation with you that I considered privileged, and I did not want to discuss that information, and I thought I'd rather have you explain the situation. Earlier today, we had some accusations about gunshots in Pennypack Park and poachers versus the deer cull, and I know how controversial this deer cull issue has been, and I know that the first deer cull that occurred was not, in your opinion, as satisfactory as it could be, and I know that you did some things to hopefully make this a better effort this year. And I think that it's only fair that if people think that the gunshots that they're hearing are associated with the cull and if we have poachers, you need to know about it. So I thought that what we would do is to ask you, for the record, and this is being televised from what I understand, and there's a lot of people interested in this issue, that you could explain how the Fairmount Park Commission has changed the way we are attempting to cull the deer in Fairmount Park from the point where you've 2287 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET gotten legislation that allows you to do certain things. And so I would appreciate it if you would explain, because I didn't think it was appropriate for me to reveal the information that you gave me in the past.
Well, I'd be happy to. I appreciate the opportunity, actually, to have a public forum in which perhaps I can get a few of the Fairmount Park Commission issues across publicly. It seems that the opposition garners their fair support of the media. As you well know, Councilman, the Fairmount Park Commission, and at least in the opinion of the Fairmount Park Commission, there are too many deer in both the Pennypack and in the Wissahickon, perhaps as many as 30 times more than what we feel is appropriate for the park to be able to regenerate itself in an appropriate biodiversity manner. Two years ago, we began to take action with the use of professional sharpshooters to remove deer in the park. Not everyone agreed with that approach. There was some litigation, and we 2288 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET successfully fought or won or addressed, I guess, those issues, and we were able to continue, although in a much abbreviated manner. I guess the good thing is, we learned some lessons from that. And as you know, I believe the white tail deer in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are really the authority and the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. So not only do we have a unique situation of having an overpopulation of deer in the fifth largest city in the country, in a very urban area in the (indiscernible) parks, but we have a fairly significant burden of working within the confines of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's regulations, which called for hunting to be a part of any deer control permit that they issued. They did issue two permits to us -- one in '99 and one in 2000, with the proviso that that would be the last two permits that they would issue. And quite frankly, in that manner, without a hunting component. The Fairmount Park Commission has said repeatedly and even most recently that hunting is not acceptable to the Fairmount Park Commission. So we sought a relief 2289 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET from the regulations of the Game Commission and what we believed to be in the benefit interests of Fairmount Park Commission, not promoting hunting. And with the support of our State legislators, we were successful in getting Senate Bill 612 approved. I guess it was early January, late December, somewhere in that time frame. And basically, in quick summary, what Senate Bill 612 does is give us the ability to not include hunting as a part of the process in which the Fairmount Park Commission is utilizing and removing deer. It does not give us unilateral authority, as some people think we have, with deer. We still must apply to the Pennsylvania Game Commission for a permit. We still must apply for the number of deer tags, which suggests the number of deer we're going to remove from the park; each deer has to be tagged. It's a reporting situation or a requirement of the Game Commission that talks about the gender, the age, the health, and other statistics associated with each of the deer that we remove. It requires that all of the meat, venison meat that's taken from the animals to be 2290 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET given to food shelters in the City of Philadelphia. And it requires that we do all of this in a safe and appropriate manner. But it certainly gives us some latitude from the hunting seasons, and most importantly, it gives us the latitude that we do not have to do this through hunting, but through what we believe to be the most efficient and economical manner and safe, and that's with the use of USDA agents, in this case, working in concert with Fairmount Park staff in removing the deer.
Could you not give just the acronym, 'cause it sounds like we have a secret service here.
I'm sorry. The United States Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Management Bureau. And we have been in on operational mode since the 1st of February and we've been pleased with our success. I regret I was not in the room when the witnesses testified to some action in Pennypack Park, so I didn't hear it firsthand, but at least a dozen people have told me about the testimony, 2291 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET so I have a pretty good idea of what was presented this afternoon. And my answer is that this, of course, was not the Fairmount Park Commission performing what I was told to be actions of people with rifles on either private property or immediately- adjacent private property, and I believe this occurred on a Friday and a Saturday evening, times when we're not operating. So I feel 100 percent certain that this was not an operation of the Fairmount Park Commission. However, once brought to our attention, we immediately contacted the Philadelphia Police Department, who have been with us every single time, event that we've been in the park, basically approve every move that we make. Their supposition is that these were perhaps poachers or illegal actions taken by, at this point, unknown individuals. I'm not going to divulge what specific action the Police Department's going to take in regards to this matter because I think some of this information is somewhat sensitive, and we want to see if we can't, you know, stop this in a 2292 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET -- in the fastest way possible that we can. So it's very disturbing. Councilman, you and I have talked about this illegal act, known as "poaching," which has been going on for years, quite frankly. It's not just a symptom of what Fairmount Park is doing presently; it goes back regrettably decades. But it is an issue that has to be dealt with.
Well, I certainly appreciate that because I would not want the citizens of this city to equate what was heard here today with the program that the Fairmount Park Commission has undertaken to try to put this herd under control. And I am pleased that you're utilizing the folks -- the feds to come here and be of assistance to conduct this cull. And, again, I know it's controversial, and you were kind enough to brief me when I questioned you about this, and I didn't think it was appropriate for me to discuss what you told me, and that's why I asked you to.
Okay. Well, I appreciate the opportunity. I think quite frankly that the majority of folks who care about the park and who 2293 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET know the park think we're doing the right thing.
Thank you very much, Mr. Mifflin. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Mr. Mifflin, we have also had a number of conversations about this particular issue, and we'll make somewhat of an assumption, because Councilman Rizzo and I have also talked about. This our conversations have probably been slightly different than the conversations that you've had with Councilman Rizzo on this particular issue. He does, I know, feel very strongly about this and I respect his views on this matter very deeply. I have supported Fairmount Park in its efforts to bring the deer population under control. I don't consider myself an inhumane person. And at some level, there is, I think, somewhat of a humanitarian concern with regard to the deer population if they are not only eating up everything that's living around them but also at times literally running out of food, and in some 2294 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET instances, it may cause some of the deer to starve in the woods. Having said that, I was contacted by a constituent who had a concern, and it's probably to some extent in the same area that Councilman Rizzo raised a concern, which is either how efficient -- I'll use that term -- the sharpshooter is or the increased level of potential poaching activity, again, going on in the park. One of my constituents did contact me, Mr. Joseph Angell (ph.), who is very upset about a situation that he personally witnessed, where one of the deer had obviously been hit and hit ultimately fatally, but at the time he saw the deer, it was still walking around with a significant amount of head and neck area displaced. The -- a report was made, and I think some of the Game Warden people came out, who also said that more than likely, it was from a poaching activity. I think my constituent was not totally satisfied with that response. And to the extent that we have this activity going on, which I said 2295 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET earlier, I do support, whether it's going on at any particular point in time or not, this poaching issue, whether it's with rifles, bow and arrow,, lasso or whatever it is that people are doing out there, I think is a very, very serious issue and does raise some significant public-safety and also treatment issues with regard to these animals out in the woods but also people who either live nearby or frequent these particular areas. What I would ask is to the extent that the Commission can, in coordination with the Police Department and the 92nd Police District and at least for the portion that I cover of Fairmount Park as well as the Pennsylvania Game Commission, we need to see what other steps we can take to cut down on the number of non-authorized people who are engaged in this kind of activity. If you want to hunt, if people are into hunting, there are places in Pennsylvania that you can go to do that. Fairmount Park is not one of those places, as best I know. And I will give you a copy of this particular letter. It's rather detailed and slightly more graphic than we want to share on the 2296 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET record, but I do feel very strongly about a clear distinction between our authorized activity for a purpose versus what other people are doing just because they don't want to maybe travel 25, 50, 75 miles, wherever you have to go to engage in that activity. If you want to do that, that's fine; I don't have anything really against it, but it is very dangerous in an urban environment surrounded by a community. So I will give you this letter, and I would greatly appreciate it if you could respond directly to my constituent on the particular issue, and then I would like to know at a future point in time that there is a game plan put in place between the park, the police, and the Game Commission on how we're going to deal with this poaching issue.
Councilman, I'll be happy to respond to that person directly, and I appreciate you passing on that information to me. I don't think there's anything that irritates me more than the cowardly act of poaching. It's just totally unacceptable to all of us here. It does nothing beneficial for the 2297 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET park or for the City. And it's criminal, it's a criminal act, and it's just graceful that people would take the opportunity, whether it's because we're in the field now ourselves or, as I said earlier, it's actually regrettably been going on for sometime, but I think it is on the increase now.
Because deer are on the increase, and we do have a plan and I'd be happy to share with you that plan now and improvements that can be made to it.
Let me ask you one question, and I am not asking for any proprietary or confidential information with regard to the cull that's going on now and the person or people who are engaged by the Commission to do this work. The scope of this, I'll call it, "service," are they required -- if a shot is made and they believe that they have hit a target, are they then required to track the target down and make a retrieval? And what happens in a situation if they believe that they have made a hit, go to the 2298 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET location, and the target is not there?
Well, I can testify that that hasn't happened yet. We hit -- for every shot that's been fired, we've had a successful hit.
I mean, if your testimony is -- whatever the number is, and I'll make up a low number, that if shots were made 17 and there were 25 deer recovered, then, I mean, 18 that's -- that's about as good as it gets. 19
Thank you. 23 The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo. 24
Mr. Mifflin, the 25 accuracy of the people involved in this is 2299 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET obviously very good. But I'm wondering, to avoid any finger-pointing, obviously, I haven't even read that letter, but I'm assuming that that letter is trying to associate that deer's demise as a result of the cull, that that deer got away, but now you're telling us that that's not the case. Isn't there any way that the cull could have some way in identifying a cartridge or a slug that is able to -- you're able to prove that that -- in other words, that they would use one particular --
Can't you prove that in fact to a person it would be adamant that -- I'm not asking you to develop a crime lab.
-- for the Fairmount Park Commission, but -- it's not in your budget. But it would be very helpful to be able to say, without -- matter-of-factly that the carcass of that deer, that that shot that killed that deer had nothing with the cull activity.
That's right. An animal 2300 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET that -- the way -- if it was injured the way the Councilman was paraphrasing the letter, it was totally different weaponry than we are using. Now, that was most likely a shotgun weapon, and we're not using that type of weaponry.
Do you believe these poachers are -- anybody that shoots deer with a shotgun is obviously doing it just to kill something, because I don't know how usable, even if you shot a deer in the head with a shotgun, how usable the meat of that animal would be.
Do we understand the psyche of a poacher? What are most of these poachers trying to accomplish?
Well, I said earlier that they're cowards and they're lazy and they're criminals. Beyond that, I can't think of anything positive to say about them. They need to be stopped. It's just something we can't tolerate.
Just another 30 seconds. I a got a letter, believe it or not, in reference to the deer cull, and the issue is 2301 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET this. It's interesting, I never thought of it. The meat goes to a shelter?
The question was, where does the skin and the deer -- the leather associated with the animal go? There's apparently supposed to be a value for gloves. Where are the skins for these animals being taken and what happens to them?
In 1999, all of it was taken by Native Americans. This time, a small percentage of it is being used by Native Americans. The rest is just being lost.
So it's just being thrown away, there's no use for the deer skin?
That's correct. We're finding a lot of infestation of Lyme disease- carrying tics, so we just would rather dispose of it.
Thank you, Madam 2302 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET Chair.
Thank you. Any other questions for Mr. Mifflin? (No further questions.)
Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you for the support, Councilwoman.
You're welcome. The committee will stand in recess until 6 o'clock this evening. (Break taken.) - - - (Proceedings resume.)
Good evening, everyone. This is our continued public hearing of the Committee of the Whole. Our first witness?
Is Mr. Leonard here? (Witness comes forward.) 2303 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET
Good evening. Kindly identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Okay. Good evening. My name is Tom Leonard. And I'm a lifelong resident of the City of Philadelphia and I'm also a 24-year veteran of the Philadelphia Fire Department. I would like to start off by asking one question, if I may. The Councilpeople who are not present. Will they get a copy of what I'm going to say?
We have a stenographer back here who's taking notes.
Okay. I would really like Council to explain to me -- I was to listening to the budget hearings the past couple of days since they've been going on, and I would like Council to explain to me how the City can fund needles for AIDS patients, methadone for drug addicts, and the City can't fund hepatitis C for Philadelphia firefighters. 2304 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET You people have to be fair. There is something wrong with this picture. If you can support drug addicts and people that shoot dope, I can't see how you can't afford Worker's Compensation benefits for the Philadelphia Firefighters. We just went through eight years of the Rendell Administration and he did nothing but decimate our union. The morale has been the lowest I've seen it since I came on.
City Council did pass a resolution supporting --
This is an issue that the Mayor has been personally addressing.
I understand that, but the issue is, you did pass a resolution, and I really, really appreciate. All but three, I believe, voted positive for the resolution, but it's been a standstill since, nothing has been done. And right after youse did that, youse 2305 2/27/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET passed a stadium bill, not even knowing where $54 million is coming from. I can't see the point of this, I can't see how youse can continue to turn your backs on the City of Philadelphia Firefighters. I thank you very much.