Okay, all right. What is the status of the William Penn grant? DIRECTOR MIFFLIN: We are in the last year of that grant. The original five-year period, which will conclude on June 30th, 2002.
Mm-hmm. DIRECTOR MIFFLIN: We anticipate having expended or encumbered about $16 million of that million on -- by June of '02, perhaps more. 14
And the remaining 9 or 15 $10 million, what happens with that? 16 DIRECTOR MIFFLIN: The William Penn 17 Foundation has asked the Commission staff for a 18 proposal to identify how we would best spend that 19 remaining funds, and they will take that under 20 consideration. 21
How you would best 22 spend all of that money or how you would best spend 23 any subsequent funding requests? 24 DIRECTOR MIFFLIN: I think we'll submit a 25 proposal for all of that money. 131 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518
Okay. DIRECTOR MIFFLIN: I mean, if you give me a minute to expand. I mean, in addition to concluding the proceeding with the environmental education centers, it may not be the correct time. We also completed major -- or completed -- excuse me, master plans for all of our watersheds and a master plan for trail improvements. And we recognize now, upon the completion of those plans, that there's a significant amount of money that will be necessary to improve those watersheds and to improve those trails, significantly more than the 9 or $10 million that would be remaining from the grant.
Mm-hmm. DIRECTOR MIFFLIN: So one of the real successes of point grant has been our ability to identify what now very specifically what is needed in those seven watersheds from the miles of trails to the miles of fencing and storm water restoration. We now know -- the good news is that we know a great deal about those areas; the bad news is that we know it's going to take a significant amount of money to restore them. 132 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518
Let me ask both of you two questions. One, can you give the Chair and the committee a date certain by which there will be a coordinator recreation plan as contemplated by Section 5-600 of the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter? DIRECTOR MIFFLIN: Excuse me for a minute. COMMISSIONER RICHARD: Can we get back to you?
I'm sorry? COMMISSIONER RICHARD: Can we get back to you?
I guess I don't have much choice at the moment. COMMISSIONER RICHARD: Well, I don't have a problem with making a commitment and sticking to it, but without me having the calendar here, knowing the budget call, and I tell you, a three-month period and a budget call comes and we tie it up in there too much and I'm going to miss the commitment. I'm more than sure by the time I get back to my office and open the calendar, if Mr. Mifflin's available at the same time, I'll give you that commitment.
Okay, I appreciate 133 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 that. The second question is, again, for both of you. Can you also get back in touch with the Chair and provide to the committee a date certain by which you will have at least a proposal about the jurisdiction issues that have been raised by a number of Councilmembers not only in this hearing but in many previous hearings with regard to your thoughts on who should be responsible for what, should Recreation continue to maintain what is generally open space and what anyone else would think considered park land, and whether the parks should continue to maintain its own separate recreation division. And while you have these, you know, conversations about a coordinator recreation plan, can you provide us with again a date certain by which you would give us a proposal on what recommendations or suggestions you would have with regard to these jurisdictional issues of who maintains and is responsible for what. DIRECTOR MIFFLIN: I think that would be a part of the strategic plan, the first part of -- COMMISSIONER RICHARD: I think we could produce it in ten days, Mr. Councilman; that's my 134 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 commitment. I don't know what Mr. Mifflin can do. I can produce it in ten days.
Okay. Well, no 5 fighting at the table. COMMISSIONER RICHARD: I'm not fighting.
I understand. When you have the other discussion, why don't you have that discussion and you can figure it out at the same time. Lastly, Director Mifflin, do you have any meetings with Director of Social Services Estelle Richman and the various social services agencies in the context of, again, a broader outreach, the number of entities that are under Director Richman's commission, including Recreation, so that there is further coordination and opportunities for use of park facilities and coordination of services between Fairmount Park and a variety of other component of this government? DIRECTOR MIFFLIN: Yes.
How often do you meet? DIRECTOR MIFFLIN: I don't have a scheduled meeting with Commissioner Richman -- Secretary Richman on a weekly or monthly basis 135 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 personally. My staff and Miss Car, who was here earlier, is a member of the Mayor's Health and Fitness Program, and she meets regularly with staff, as Secretary Richman. One of -- two of my former staff members who are employed by the Fairmount Park Commission now work directly for Secretary Richman, and I'm -- I talk with them frequently, and I'm very aware of the efforts of her office, and I know that Fairmount Park is included in those efforts. I meet weekly with the Managing Director and I meet monthly with the Mayor.
Okay. How often do you meet with Police Commissioner Timoney to talk about safety issues in the park? And what, if any, impact has there been as a result of the 90th Police District in Memorial Hall and the shifting of all of those responsibilities to the 92nd District, which is located on Lincoln Drive? DIRECTOR MIFFLIN: Miss Richman and I have numerous conversations --
You mean Commissioner Timoney? DIRECTOR MIFFLIN: I'm sorry, Commissioner 136 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 Timoney. As police are a major entity in Fairmount Park, our -- the police interaction and relationship with our park rangers is one that we have frequent conversations with. The Managing Director has monthly operational meetings, so I know at a minimum on a monthly basis, I'm with Commissioner Timoney under the aegis of the Managing Director. I have numerous projects with the Police Department with -- as they relate to patrol efforts Town Watch efforts, etc., so we have a number of common issues in which we interact. The transfer, or the elimination, rather, of the -- technically, the elimination of the 90th District and combining that with the 92nd was actually a fairly seamless transition. On one hand, I concur a thousand percent with Mr. Dixon's comments of the days when there were park police assigned to park police, and that entity was over 500 persons' strong as recently as 1973. And now I believe the 90th and 92nd collectively have probably under a hundred police officers assigned to them. So there's no question that over the years there's been a loss, specifically the loss of 137 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 enforcement for park rules and regulations and, hence, the importance of the park rangers. But to answer your question specifically about the change from the 90th to the 92nd, there actually has not been, I don't think, a major negative to that change. I had hoped that the Commissioner would sustain the 92nd District efforts into the future, and I have had specific conversation with him regarding that.
Thank you, Councilman Nutter. Councilman Clarke, you just returned and I knew that you had a couple questions, and then we're going to again push the pause button with our commissioners and allow our Friends groups to have an opportunity to testify so that we do not lose you and get your testimony on the record. Councilman Clarke?
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm not sure if this came up because I was kind of in and out and doing some other pressing business, but I'll ask the question anyway. 138 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 Good afternoon, gentlemen. DIRECTOR MIFFLIN: Good afternoon.
I've actually had some discussions with you Mr. Mifflin about parts of my district in the past about neighborhood parks and subsequently as a result of what's being discussed on neighborhood transformation initiatives, and I think regardless of whoever proposes what, one of the things that discusses that we need to create open space wherever possible and green space wherever possible. And I guess my question centers around if in fact we ultimately will get the Mayor's proposed NTI program, or any other variation of that, what role particularly from a financial standpoint do you anticipate playing in building wherever possible new neighborhood parks, hopefully relatively low-maintenance because we always know that's a problem. But what role will you play, or have you had any substantive discussions about what role the park system and also what role the Recreation Department will play in the implementation of the parks and ultimately in the maintenance of the parks? 139 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 DIRECTOR MIFFLIN: Well, we're very excited -- at the Fairmount Park Commission, we're very excited about the Mayor's NTI initiative. And you're right, you and I have had successive discussions about the opportunity for open space and park-like settings, particularly in the 5th Councilmatic District. As we look at a map of Philadelphia, there is an absence of Fairmount Park land in lower Northeast Philadelphia and North Philadelphia, with the exception of a few pocket parks along the Delaware River. So in the spirit of serving our citizens across the City, I'd be very interested in having responsibility for the care and maintenance of parks and in parts of the City where perhaps open space will become available through the vacant land improvement and through perhaps demolition. I like the idea of passive parks. You're right in not creating a burden on the City for additional maintenance responsibilities. And today again working under Managing Director Martz, my staff has been asked to provide maintenance specifications, whether they be for mowing or for turf establishment, ornamental grasses, etc. We 140 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 have sort of been looked to as the stewards of land with our horticultural expertise so we can help provide the Mayor with that technical information. Also fencing or post and rail fence specifications have been shared. And lastly -- and this is more active than passe -- an aggressive street-tree removal of dead and dangerous trees and replanting. And, again, you've had here at the table the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society who we would work with partnership in on any open land initiative. So I think NTI has tremendous potential for Fairmount Park. I look forward to working with you and the Administration on that.
And I guess the most important part of that, have you talked about playing a role in the expenditure side? I'm sure that we're already stretched as it relates to our existing park system, so I just want to make sure that we get on that ledger when it comes time to allocate funding for any additional parks. There is another question I've had and one of the things we've actually discussed. This issue about our park, understanding that Fairmount Park -- 141 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 you know, I would put Fairmount Park up against any park in the world. And from time to time, we've talked about our ability to market our park as a part of the overall City of Philadelphia marketing and tourism. You could probably go anywhere in the United States and probably some places in Europe and if you were to say, "Where is Central Park?" everybody knows that Central Park is in New York. But if you can go to Pittsburgh and you might ask somebody, "Where is Fairmount Park?" they may not be able to tell you where that is. I guess you get my gist. DIRECTOR MIFFLIN: Yes.
I just thought that over the years, you know, given our wonderful park system, is that we don't really adequately market our park as a part of the overall marketing strategy for the City of Philadelphia. And I was wondering if you had any thoughts as to, you know, how we could enhance that and, you know, truly make this a destination point, such as we do Independence Hall and other areas. DIRECTOR MIFFLIN: Thank you. We could not agree with you more. I mean, that is a key 142 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 component of our strategic plan, and I was going to go down with Councilman Nutter point by point what has been accomplished by that plan. But we said in 1995 that a strategic marketing plan for Fairmount Park is needed. John Binswanger, who you've heard from this morning, can speak more eloquently about this than I can, but he understands as to his fellow Conservancy board members that probably that is one of the things we need to do from a fund-raising standpoint. It's amazing how people, even Philadelphians are unaware of what we have in Fairmount Park. We can do things ourselves. I mean, I am a member of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, as is Commissioner Levy, the head of the Sports Congress. It's hard -- it's hard to read something from the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and not see from their publications and not see a photograph of Logan Circle's fountain or someone jogging on the recreation paths along the Schuylkill River. We're everywhere. We are on Channel 6 every night when they open up their 6:00 o'clock news, but there's a disconnect. They see it, they understand 143 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 it, and perhaps they all understand it, but the value is not placed there that I think it should be, the benefits of the park. And I think that's something that Fairmount Park must do. We must market our assets better than we have in the past. Can the Greater Philadelphia tourism folks help us? Absolutely. Should they be? Absolutely. I think our potential is almost unlimited. We have some of the best examples of 19th century architecture in Fairmount Park, in East and West Park in our historic houses. And most people, when they come to Philadelphia, think of Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and now the Constitutional Center or whatever, and they don't make the connection to what is in East and West Park. And it's been there way for decades and we have to change that.
You're welcome. We want to thank you very much. We want 144 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 to now invite the Friends group to come up and allow our stenographer three minutes to catch breath and do what she needs to do to record the balance of these hearing. So while she is doing that, please come up: Linda Lauff of Penny Pack Park, which sits in the 6th, 7th and 10th Councilmatic Districts; Florence Richardson of Huntington Park, which sits in the 9th Councilmatic District; Fred Mauer of Tacony Creek Park, which sits in the 7th and 8th Councilmatic Districts; and Darlene Messina of Manayunk Canal, which sits in Councilman Nutter's district, the 4th Councilmatic District. (Break taken.) (Proceedings resume.) - - -
I'm Linde Lauff, with Friends of Pennypack Park, located in Northeast Philadelphia, with members throughout region. Our organization, in existence for 14 years, has been a vital catalyst in our parks improvement, from cleanups to trail maintenance, 145 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 spearheading recycling in the Northeast, initiating the Pennies for the Park Program, to education to the public on Lyme disease, composting or (indiscernible) improvements. We have played an integral part in what does and does not occur in our urban park. We are 2300 voting members strong. As citizens and taxpayers in the City, we implore Councilmembers to increase the funding to Fairmount Park. It is irresponsible to think that our great metropolitan city will not allocate adequate monies to maintain one of the greatest treasures we have, Fairmount Park. Our city is truly based with an abundant amount of open space and park land, an asset most cities can be envious of. As it is said, trees don't vote, but the friends of Pennypack members do vote. We are advocates, not just for the Pennypack but for all the City parks, whether they are 16+ acres large or a city block. There are many park issues to be addressed, but I have chosen to focus in on just a few at this time. First and most importantly, our members support the need for a citywide strategic 146 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 plan for future maintenance, development, and structuring of all of the Philadelphia parks. Second, we need to provide sustained funding in the budget to employ the five paid volunteer coordinators and their five field supervisors when the William Penn Foundation grant ends next spring. We recognize the value of environmental education as an important component in the park program. Without these positions, such as the paid park coordinators the environmental education centers built through the {indiscernible} are useless. These buildings are valuable, but they are only the tools from the staff to work from. Housing resource material, learning tools, and a place to conduct the program. Volunteers cannot be expected or relied upon to be a substitute for paid staff. These staff are needed to bring educational programs to life, whether or not they take place at the environmental centers or in the park. The Fairmount Park Commission staff cannot presently do an effective job of caring for the park when there are two-thirds less staff than Philadelphia had in 1970. It's simple arithmetic. 637 employees in 1970 versus 221 employees in 2001. 147 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 It is important that the volunteer coordinators, field supervisor positions, and educational positions be funded in addition rather than instead of existing positions within the Fairmount Park Commission. Why doesn't City Council see that Pennypack Park or any part of the beautiful acreage of Fairmount Park as an asset to market to visitors, potential property and homeowners, prospective businesses in our city, and as venues for promotional and special event. It's obviously an asset for the taxpaying and voting public of our city. You are asking us, the volunteers, to do more for the parks. We already donate thousands of hours a year. I ask you, City Council, what are you willing to do for the park? We ask you to include the paid volunteers, their field supervisors as well as the administrative and management components in future budget. Without these Fairmount Park staff members, our volunteers feel vulnerable and unwanted in the park. Our volunteer and citizens' safety is of great concern to us. The present volunteers in our 148 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 park significantly increases the level of safety of them and in the surrounding neighborhoods. Please understand that the committed volunteers in the Philadelphia parks make a great contribution to the safety and quality of life as well as to the beauty of your city Thank you.
Good afternoon, members of City Council. My name is Darlene Messina, and I'm the President of the Friends of the Manayunk Canal, which is a linear park, which is basically the toe path that runs along the Manayunk Canal. I am also a member of the Fairmount Park Citizens Advisory Board. And I would like to say that I feel like today I can confidently feel like I represent thousands and thousands of Philadelphians. The reason why I can say this is because I literally share the park experience with thousands of Philadelphians weekly. I will admit I am an athlete -- or I could rephrase this, and I would 149 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 like to say I'm an outdoor sports enthusiast. I love the fresh air, green, and open park spaces and our Schuylkill River. I'm a member of the (indiscernible) Boat House at Boathouse Row, and I was on the United States Dragon Boat team this past summer, which we won two world championships and we brought in thousands of people to enjoy that event in Philadelphia, which was located in Fairmount Park. It is this experience which allows me and thousands of other Philadelphians to balance the daily challenges of professional and personal life and cope with the stress from the uncertainty of war and find hope through having Fairmount Park available to us for world peace. It is the park that allows every citizen of Philadelphia to balance out all of the different challenges. Fairmount Park offers thousands of Philadelphians the opportunity for respite and affordable outlets for recreation and sport. People who engage in active or passive sports tend to be more reliable, motivated, and healthy. I would even go as far to say that these people are some of the most productive contributors to Philadelphia's 150 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 economy. We, therefore, are valuable citizens and we need healthy parks. Unfortunately, due to budgetary and staff cutbacks over the past decades, many of our parks, park buildings, and historic landmarks are deteriorating, projecting the public image and perception of an unsafe place, city, and parks. What are the consequences when this happens? I think the answer is obvious, and I trust others have testified to the issues. Yes, Fairmount Park needs help and a bigger budget. This is not to say Fairmount Park, and all City departments for that matter, cannot improve work efficiency and implement accountability measures. Despite this, it is widely recognized and recently documented that Fairmount Park is severely challenged with the monumental task of maintaining its parks, its infrastructure, buildings, and historic landmarks. The big questions are: Given the scarcity of City funds, is it prudent to invest in Fairmount Park? Does Fairmount Park contribute to the City's economy? What is Fairmount Park worth? My answer to those questions is yes, yes, and a lot. 151 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 Through the City's hundreds of annually produced tourism projects that include movie trailers at the Ritz, brochures, publications, and magazine ads, images of Fairmount Park are frequently used as a visual hook to attract tourists and promote our city. And let me state, earlier when I was listening to Councilman Clarke talk about using Fairmount Park as a tourist attraction, it actually is used as a tourist attraction, but it uses the images and it doesn't really lead tourists to the parks, and I think that is the disconnect Bill 14 Mifflin was talking about, because I would say 50 percent of the marketing materials that Philadelphia uses, you often see images of Fairmount Park. So I would like to say this image is exploited to present Philadelphia as a desirable urban destination. Everyone loves to see green trees, clean, open spaces, maintained historic buildings, and green ways along the river, and a vibrant, health people living in a healthy city.
It is precisely this Fairmount Park image that gives the City of Philadelphia this healthy, vibrant look. 152 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 This is an example of what Fairmount Park gives to the City of Philadelphia, and this translates into millions of tourist dollars annually. What does the City give back to Fairmount Park so that it can maintain this vital city infrastructure and resource? Every year the City gives back less and less, and every year the City depends more and more on tourism. For example, last week, the head of the Schuylkill regatta was here, located along Boathouse Row, and thousands of people came from all over the country, stayed at our City hotels, shopped and dined in our restaurants because of what Fairmount Park offers. I would like to propose one creative solution to the budgetary problem. I propose that maybe a half a percent or greater of annual tourist dollars goes back to Fairmount Park. I suggest we consult with the economic experts at the Wharton School to craft a plan to capture a percentage of tourism dollars, which Fairmount Park is directly responsible for bringing those people here to Philadelphia. And/or impose an internal-use tax fund on 153 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 all Fairmount Park images that used for the primary objective to attract tourism and to promote the City of Philadelphia. Clearly, Fairmount Park is deserving of these funds. Thank you.
I have ten copies of my testimony for committee members to help the clerk.
My name is Fred Maurer, a resident of Philadelphia since birth. I have lived in several neighborhoods of the City. I choose to remain in the City as a deliberate choice because of the park system and its cultural benefits that surpass any other motivation to escape to suburbia. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are unique cities to retain families and populations as long-term residents. We have very stable family situations because of the inherent qualities built to the past making of our city of park 154 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 neighborhoods. Fairmount Park Commission has been the most important benefactor to create our urban city. We have built our city around two rivers and five free-flowing streams. The lands in these seven watersheds compose our city urban development plan since 1913. These seven watersheds are legally protected by Fairmount Park Commission for the health and welfare of all citizens. We no longer have disease epidemics of past years because of watershed parks. All riparian lands are assigned by state law under the DER and City ordinances to Fairmount Park Commission for flood control and now for our water quality protection under the Federal Clean Water Act. The Fairmount Park Commission is an essential public health agency as a legal protector of all waterways with the Water Department, but it does not have staff to maintain our riparian lands. Volunteers do most of the riparian law work that should be done by the Park Commission staff. Where is the staff to comply with riparian laws? Fairmount Park's commission was intended to protect and develop public lands for social 155 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 benefits called the health and welfare of the city. It took away private lands and dedicated them in perpetuity under a state commission style of government. The Commission is not a regular City agency; it is a special agency comparable to county supervisors. It was a commission responsible to the State in order to do unique works in the City. Its independence is an important aspect. It also administers many specific trust funds from wills and benefactors who designated an endowed Fairmount Park Commission only. The Commission acts also as a regional agency with suburban residents with cultural interests on behalf of Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. It was intended to be a separate commission because no one in the State could trust Philadelphia politics before or now. Nor do I today. The Fairmount Park Commission accepted a public welfare role and became an important tool in saving our drinking water and storm flood relief. It also created public recreation for all stages of life. These health and welfare obligations are common values that make all of our cities liveable. Much of the lands of Fairmount Park 156 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 Commission are recovered land from blight of wastelands in the 1920s. Much of park land injured or in ruins because of private development, bad city planning, and shoddy work. The City used the Fairmount Park Commission to remove urban blight and convert them into our park jewels. Fairmount Park Commission was a stimulus for new development and our lasting city planning. Fairmount Park Commissioners intended to bring economic and new revenue to the City, and they succeeded. It also made great affordable cultural and public recreation programs for everyone, but our mayors forgot the public values and their generation of income and good work performance. Now mayors impose nuisance charges on park users and demand the Commission to make new revenue or lose funding. The commission had already created adequate funding but the docket (indiscernible) its share to operate a park system. The Fairmount Park Commission is not just a landholder of vacant lands; it is a land manager of vast city aspects.
The Parkway and its museums and apartment houses and historic homes and boathouses are the result of Fairmount Park 157 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 Commission's care. The Mann Center, Memorial Hall and Cultural Hall and the Handicapped Carousel House are Fairmount Park public treasures and are still contributing to the welfare of citizens. The Commission's sponsorship and programs of support for public events such as the flower show exhibits, marathons, and parades generates much public income that would not occur elsewhere without the Fairmount Park Commission. Those park assets produce much public income for the city and support tourism. A large part of the those economic values should sustain the Fairmount Park Commission and not be drained away, but the Commission is a cash cow that does not get fed. All City new neighborhoods were built in the City Planning Commission who made new city parks and more obligation to Fairmount Park, but the Planning Commission does not allocate more funding for the park staff. The taxes of these new places should be sufficient to support a quality park system but are not returned to the park. 45 percent of the 158 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 City's operating budget and it is leading to failure. Today, City Planners built development about park amenities to entice residents. Philadelphia already has those good amenities in our park system, but they are imperiled by funding neglect. Our park jewels are now endangered by four decades of malfeasance from mayors and from City Council's indifference. The strong mayor charter and combined budgets weaken the Commission to a subordinate role in City park politics. Our park system began after the City consolidated and made urban rowhouses on forms and along stream banks. The park system added value to all houses and allowed a very dense population. We have the same population size today as we did in 1912, when the City only had a few parks. The park system was made afterwards and fully staffed and policed properly by City property taxes. The kinds and staff and public services of our parks received in 1912 and incorporated into City infrastructure with much respect and incorporated intact into the 1953 new city charter and was funded well then. The City Charter intended Fairmount Park to be given the same status and assets as any other 159 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 City department. It is coequal with all other agencies and is not a stepchild. But our mayors now consider Fairmount Park as an agency to abuse and undercut its staff permanently. Fairmount Park Commission is the only agency to suffer over 50 percent staff reduction since the charter, while some other City agencies have doubled -- actually it was 67 percent. The Fairmount Park Commission has done a tremendous amount of good and made our city a place where residents can enjoy life during all stages of life, from birth to burial. When families become acclimated to our city, they tend to stay here permanently and only move away when outside forces demand their moving. Few families move away because of the lack of city qualities. Instead, indeed, we tend to persevere here and try to work on the problems for resolution. When will we solve the poverty status of Fairmount Park? Our citizens feel unsafe in parks because the police do not control our public spaces. There are many quality-of-life crimes in park that harm our parks and are never reported. Our parks 160 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 5 million worth of park security and left the parks unguarded. We had burned houses, more major crime, and preventable drownings. Major trash dumping and automobile abandonment and crime injure our park and are unabated. We do not have a security system for parks. 911 is not a substitute. The police do not become because parks have a very low priority. And police do not enforce park regulations.
Our volunteer watches are the only tools that save us. Where is the professional security for our park lands and assets? The Fairmount Park master plan of 1968 called for a park system of 75 rangers, but it was not funded. It was a cheap alternative to police, a one-third cost. The William Penn Foundation granted seed money to create park rangers with a small staff, but it was not City-funded. The Mayor's budget-makers have refused sustaining park rangers. City Council gave a small transfer funding as a matching emergency gift that will soon expire. When will the City support a full Ranger Corps? Montgomery County 161 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 has park rangers at Pennypack Park, so why are we so different here? We now have a city population with many seniors. They reside here, and parks are important of adult life. It is safe and nice, if it is safe and nice like a park used to be. It ain't now. Those seniors paid for our parks in past taxes and --
Mr. Mauer, Mr. Mauer, I want to say that I appreciate your comprehensive testimony. The reality, however, is that I am now under a clock and I have at least ten more people to testify. So I'm going to appeal to you to move to the last few paragraphs of your six pages and/or summarize your testimony.
And I wanted to give you the quality that I could you. That's why I wrote these things up so you could read them independently, and 162 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 there are some things in there I'm not going to say publicly.
And let me assure you that all of your testimony will go into the record, the written record.
I -- my experience testifying in zoning hearings is that they do not read testimony unless they heard it independently. So it's essential for these public hearings /you've done a great good for us.
I'm doing a wrap-up, right. Our public education. The State government now requires that all cities provide public environmental education in all grades, in several grades. We had a program already created by Fairmount Park, but we're not satisfying State laws. 163 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 Our Fairmount Park is the greatest outdoor classroom in our country. So if we don't fund our education program, if we value education, we're not complying with the State laws for environment. We need about a half a million dollars budgeted for that. Our income for the park. Our sports industry should -- I feel are so wealthy and we make some great efforts to make them wealthy, but we have to get a part of that money back. All of the revenue that's created for the professional sports, that includes sales and tickets and parking and fees, all of that money has to be taxed so we get recreation funding budgets. If we're supporting a recreation industry, then we need recreation taxes. We need to create a tax. If the tax means a portion of the existing taxes, take it out of there. We're already paying to create them, so let's get some money back. There may need to be a recreation tax.
Let me ask you this question, and we'll close with this particular panel. If there were two items that matter to you most with regards to what you would like to see happen at the end of the process, what would they be? 164 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518
And I would request that the Fairmount Park Commission cooperate with the Friends. We provide $6.5 million worth of volunteer work free, $6.5 million of work we do. I can't get the director to answer my letters or to cooperate with me. We just lost a million dollars worth of value in Tacony Creek Park because he allowed a program to remove a park bridge. We have lost a park bridge because some consultant wanted it out and he never dealt with us. I need some improvement in the cooperation we get from him, even if it means removing the director. We need --
Okay. We have to use moments like this to seize the moment. Commissioner Bill Mifflin is here. I am absolutely confident that he will be more than willing to have a sidebar conversation with you regarding that particular matter. So your interest is funding and --
Cooperation between us as park Friends. I want equality in what we do. If I 165 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 have spent years to make a park safe, if I had to go out -- and I've been mugged in the park. If my Town Watch is unsafe, I don't have to worry about those guys, then we need security systems. So I basically say park securities and funding and cooperation. Those three elements would make our parks more successful.
And that 10 information and feedback is very encouraging. And 11 be encouraged that all of us realize that the 20 to 12 30,000 volunteers who do a yeoman's job in our park, we understand that that does equal the dollar amount that you stipulated as well as at least eight full-time staff. So a lot of us share your interest in making sure that the funding for those volunteer coordinators are sustained. Thank you all for your testimony. And we don't want to lose any of our other panelists because we did make an effort to try to capture as much testimony as possible. (Applause.)
So if we could please ask George Rideout -- forgive me if I mispronounce your name -- of Fotteral Square; Len 166 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 Pannierello of Elmwood Park; and Vicki Berks of Cliveden Park. If you could please come forward and offer us your testimony. (Witnesses come forward.)
We apologize and thank you for your patience. Please state your full name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Hello, everyone. My name is George Rideout and I'm a block captain for the 1100 block of West Cumberland Street. To everyone present here today, I bring you greetings from myself and the residents of Fotteral Square in North Central Philadelphia. My motto has been: As the park goes, so goes the neighborhood. Our main interest is for the steady improvement and maintenance of our parks and recreation centers throughout the City. We hope to see all of our agencies, both City and private, coordinating their efforts in reaching this goal. I feel that Fotteral Square should be considered among the parks in urgent need because of its condition, its historic value, its strategic location to the tree farm, to the Village of the 167 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 Arts and Humanities, to Temple University, and to the many diverse neighborhoods surrounding our area. In the early 19th century, a triumphant Louis and Clark brought plants and bulbs from their expedition to Philadelphia to be nurtured in the greenhouse in what later became Fotteral Square. Some of these plants were later transferred to Washington DC when the City was laid out. About five or six years ago, the great- great- grandson of one of the owners of the land that is now Fotteral Square came to Philadelphia to visit his ancestors' grave site. He was extremely upset about the condition of the park. He was from Ohio. Our history is not something to be thrown away; it should be honored and taught to our children, the future stewards of our city. Maintenance has been the main problem in Fotteral Square. When capital improvements are made, they are not sustained. When money is appropriated, only a percentage goes to the improvement; the rest goes to labor cost and overruns, etc. Fotteral Square has been a favorite project of mine for over 48 years. After many years 168 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 of ups and downs, I had almost given up since all of my interested peers had passed on. Then along came two very thoughtful and resourceful residents, namely Esther Wideman and Terry Harrison. When they showed their interest and proved their willingness to work towards the positive goal in the neighborhood of Fotteral Square, I returned to active duty, but on a limited basis. It's a pleasure to be on board with them, and I hope that the City Council will work along with us to make the many needed changes. I, along with other park constituents, would like to see a thorough citywide strategic plan for all of Philadelphia's parks. Thank you very much.
Good afternoon, members of City Council. My name is Len Pannirello, and I remembers the Friends of Elmwood Park in Southwest Philadelphia, located about a mile from the airport. 169 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 I've lived in the neighborhood all of my life. While growing up in the '60s, I took for granted the park was a clean and safe place to visit. Once the full-time maintenance man disappeared, I realized how dirty and scary a public space could become when left unattended. It wasn't until I had children that I felt obligated to do whatever I could to reverse the negative trend. I wanted my kids to play in the park as I did as a child About six years ago, several other concerned neighbors and myself met with our Councilperson, Anna Verna, and the 12th District Police Department. We were encouraged to organize a community group willing to work to improve the conditions of the park. We raised funds to outfit a police bicycle patrol to eliminate the bad element and formed a partnership with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to rehabilitate the park. Over the past six years, the park has completely transformed into a safe, clean environment that now attracts families, children, and schools. Neighbors from all over the community use the park for quiet reflection, physical fitness, 170 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 science and art projects, and goal old family fun. Children can now ride their bikes, skateboard, rollerblade without fear of cutting themselves on broken glass; or worse yet, witnessing unsavory activity. Weather-permitting, Patterson Elementary School and Little Darlings Day Care Center take trips to the park. (Indiscernible) Academy brings young teenage children weekly to the park to work. Our local public school now has an adopt-a-tree program where youngsters visit the park during school hours to educate them on environmental issues and on the value of green space. Although volunteers put in approximately 4,000 hours a year trying to maintain Elmwood Park, it wasn't until the seasonal maintenance (or SMA Program) was initiated that we were able to see some consistency in keeping the park clean and safe. It is obvious to us that if the park is clean, safe, and well-maintained, those visiting the park will keep it that way. The bad element stays away, the park and neighborhood are much a much safer place to live and play. Neighbors now have a new respect for this space and act accordingly. 171 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 We strongly urge City Council to develop a citywide strategic plan for all of Philadelphia's wonderful parks. It is essential that the issues of performance standards, leadership, funding, and structure can be addressed comprehensively. In addition, a year-round SMA position must be created. We should return to the days when we had a full-time mains man in the park. This position should be a real job, where the SMA becomes a Department of Rec. employee and earns a living wage. The months from October to May, when there is no SMA presence, are crucial times when our school children most utilize the park. It is impossible to maintain a high standard of safety and cleanliness necessary for school activities to continue without a help of the year-round attendant. The partnership with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society has been very effective, but the City has to do its part in supporting our efforts. Currently, the City invests a mere 4 to 500 hours in our park; this is a far cry from what is needed to maintain the positive trend at Elmwood and doesn't come anywhere close to the 4,000 hours invested by park constituents. 172 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 The Friends of Elmwood Park would like to thank Council President Anna Verna for her encouragement and support. We hope all of City Council recognizes the valuable assets we have in the park system, and ask that you act quickly to ensure our progress continues.
We have come too far to allow our parks to return to their abandoned state. Thank you and have a good day. )
Gentlemen, we want to thank you both for your testimony. Thank you very much. We are now going to call up our out-of-town park experts and apologize for the hour. Please come forward, Karen Miller, National Recreation and Park Association; and Douglas Wendell, Pennsylvania Recreation and Parks Society. (Witnesses come forward.)
Again. Our apologies. Thank you for your tenacity, if nothing else. Welcome.
Good afternoon. 173 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518
My name is Karen Miller and I work for the National Recreation and Park Association. I'm the regional director for the Northeast Region, of which Pennsylvania obviously is in that region. I heard of the green alert through e-mail, and I was very interested in finding out more about what Pennsylvania was doing with regards to Friends of Parks and Recreation. Our association is a member-based association of both citizens and professionals nationally. We have approximately 23,000 members, and we have several goals that relate to parks and recreation. Specifically youth issues are important to us, health and welfare of communities and individuals within communities. The environment is obviously an issue for us, and we are a strong proponent for environmental stewardship of which all municipal park and recreation departments play a role in. We are very interested in urban parks and recreation, and we feel very strongly that urban parks play a very important role in the development of our youth and communities. We feel that they 174 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 play an important role in society in general. So I'm here really to just give you testimony that parks and recreation are important to citizens of the United States, whether it be in Detroit, whether it be in Chicago, whether it be in Philadelphia. And I'm also here to tell you that we would be supportive of working with this community in any way, shape, or form that we could, by way of offering best-practice scenarios to your community from other communities that have been in this similar situation. I was just mentioning to some folks that in Carrie, North Carolina, there have been a number of municipalities who have been come to the table together, along with other groups, and they are actually preparing a community-wide strategic plan for parks and recreation. And I think it's just important to note that across the country, these communities are trying to build better communities, stronger communities, and it takes the voice of all citizens to come to the table and really push for what's necessary for healthy communities. And we believe strongly that public parks and recreation 175 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 are indeed important for healthy communities all around So that's my testimony and that's what I was here to say to this group today. And I have a packet of information here that actually outlines all of the benefits of park an recreation. I heard a lot of testimony today about real estate values, crime and statistics that were spilled today, and I mean this information is just incredible and it's information that we can certainly help -- maybe to help develop some plans for your community. So I would like to leave this packet of material for you and my card is there. If you have need for questions, please feel free to contact me at any time.
Miss Miller, because you are under the clock, let me ask you a question before we move to the next testimony. Has your office lent assistance, technical assistance, to assists cities that want to engage in a strategic plan process?
Yes, we do. We do that by way of -- well, most of our departments have staff 176 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 that can come out. I believe it was one of the Friends group that had mentioned the creditation process that we offer. That is a phenomenal program that that we have for park and recreation agencies to participate in. It identifies, I believe, about 129 standards that most cities try to adhere to, or try to live up to. And it's really basically the standards of what makes a great park and recreation department in a city. And we have several agencies that it sometimes takes two, maybe three years to actually become accredited because they have to do so much work to achieve those 129 standards. So that is one way that we can offer assistance. We have some consultants that we contract with that can also come up and offer assistance. We have several professionals in our fields who again have been through this process, who have now in front of them successful plans, who would be happy to share that information with this community.
Thank you very much. Councilman Rizzo, do you have questions?
Thank you, Madam Chair. 177 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 Thank you for coming today, Karen Miller. I appreciate it. One of the areas of interest that maybe you could give us some guidance or a comment on is, I constantly ask our various departments if we're taking advantage of every opportunity -- we're very fortunate to have the William Penn Foundation grant to our park, and that is greatly appreciate, but I don't want to leave one stone unturned. I want to make sure that we're taking advantage of every possible opportunity. We have in this government a grants department that is constantly looking for funding for Philadelphia. So if you could provide us with anything that may be out there that we may not be taking advantage of, and I'll address the gentleman at the same time, that we would certainly appreciate that. Just to give you an example, and I don't believe -- we have a camp called "Camp William Penn" that's up in the Poconos, and it's managed by our recreation department. And I visited that this summer and I think I was one of the first Councilpeople, at least in recent years, to go there and actually tour and see what our young people that 178 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 visit that camp during the summer experience, and I was depressed at what I saw. And I saw a facility that had no capital budget. I asked the question, do we take advantage of any potential funding to help support that facility? So I guess what I'm asking you to provide to the Chair, we would appreciate you turning over every possible stone or telling us what we need to do to go after every possible source of funding in these tight years. And I'm sure that this funding is as tight as our budget is tight. So whatever you could do to help us with that would be greatly appreciated.
Well, I thank you for those comments, and we'll certainly do our best to do that. One of the programs that we offer is called "The Benefit of Parks and Recreation," which now calling "Discover the Benefits of Parks and Recreation," and it outlines -- well, it actually has three and we will be having a fourth component of education and training for communities, be it park and recreation professionals or citizens who would like to learn more about the actual benefits 179 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 of parks and recreation and how it is very important to the community. So that's one form of training. But to answer your question regarding funding sources, there are several funding sources out there. One of our main goals is to also be advocates for parks and recreation on Capitol Hill. And in order for us to that effectively, we need to be able to have input from every community and all citizens. Since our professional members are not allowed to lobby, it's very important for us to get all of the citizens, especially advisory councils and commissions, to help us advocate for parks and recreation, okay? Some of the bills and some of the legislation that come through Capitol Hill oftentimes leave out parks and recreation for special funding. You might see information in a bill that refers to police or crime, it might have to do with health and wellness, where perhaps other nonprofit organizations will receive funding, whereas parks and recreation will not. So, again, to advocate for legislation to include public parks and recreation is where you folks come into the picture and can help us to find 180 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 better sources. And, yes, I can provide a list of funding sources that we currently know are available, but I would also encourage you to, you know, help us advocate for that language in all legislation that has to do with any funding for youth programs, health and wellness, environmental issues, or anything that impacts your urban community or any part of your community.
Very instructive. We would like to hear from Douglas Wendell. Following him, we want the following individuals to brace yourselves for testimony: Jerry Walker, Brenda Cooper, Andrew Hohns, David Hardy, Mike Cherubini, Brian Rudnick, and Brad Thompson. You'll be asked to come forward next and provide testimony. Mr. Wendell?
Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of Council. I'd like to thank you for 181 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 the opportunity to come here and testify today on behalf of the Pennsylvania Recreation and Park Society. As I said, my name is Doug Wendell and I am a member of the board and also the chairman of the public awareness committee. Bob Griffith, who is the Executive Director, couldn't be here 'cause he has other commitments in Western Pennsylvania. The Society greatly appreciates the committee's interest in improving the quality of the City's park system, and we pledge our continued support and cooperation in that effort. The Pennsylvania Recreation and Park Society is an 1800-member statewide organization representing recreation and park professionals and many others interested in improving recreation and parks in Pennsylvania. Our organization is heavily involved in advocating for increased funding and the provision of a wide range of park and recreation-related education and training programs and in the provision of technical assistance and other support for recreation and park agencies. We have enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the both the Fairmount Park Commission and the Philadelphia Recreation 182 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 Department. We have been successful in providing them with support through our conferences workshops, legislative efforts, and other programs. Many of the staff members from both agencies have continued to be active on various society committees and the board of directors. Both agencies and individuals associated with them have received numerous awards from the Society, so we are well aware of the excellent work being done by Philadelphia's many dedicated staff members. In recognizing the importance of parks and recreations -- parks and other recreational amenities to the City of Philadelphia. As noted in the recent publication Fight or Flight: Metropolitan Philadelphia and its Future from metropolitan Philadelphia's Policy Center in September 2001, our natural environment improves our quality of life and attracts mobile professional workers in knowledge industries who consider natural resources and recreation an important amenity in choosing where to live. It is obvious that the parks will play a major role in the future of Philadelphia, and it will be important to keep the quality as high as possible. 183 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 Based on our knowledge of the park system in Philadelphia, we would like to offer the following recommendations. We would also offer to assist whenever possible with further exploration and implementation of these recommendations. We'd like to emphasize increased funding from the annual City budget and others sources and increased staffing to the maximum extent possible. The long-term reductions in staff and the fact that the budgets have not kept pace with inflation seem to be the most important factors contributing to problems facing the City's parks. We also recommend to maintain the current structures for the Fairmount Park Commission and the Philadelphia Recreation Department and examine areas where there may be opportunities for coordination and cooperation such as sharing of maintenance equipment, consolidating training programs, or cooperating with special events. The two agencies -- the Fairmount Park Commission and the Philadelphia Recreation Department -- seem to have distinctly different overall focuses but the Fairmount Park Commission is more focused on outdoor recreation, passive 184 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 recreation, and environmental education. And the Philadelphia Recreation Department os more focused on active recreation, youth sports, community centers, and after-school activities. We ask you to consider the development of new strategic action plans for both agencies, with realistic goals and periodic updates and evaluation.
Utilize the expertise in City but also draw upon PRPS and the National Recreation and Parks Association, the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and others to assist. Continue to incorporate best-management practices in the operation and administration of the agencies to maximize the benefits from existing resources. Continue to support -- continue to support for strong volunteer programs and Friends group. Provide adequate funding for staff to attend necessary education and training program. For example, this year and 2002, the PRPS annual state conference will be held from March 25th to the 28th at the Adam's Mark Hotel here in Philadelphia. It will provide an excellent opportunity for many of the staff from both the Philadelphia Recreation 185 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 Department and the Fairmount Park Commission to attend. PRPS has and will continue to work with these agencies to assist them with training and education needs. Continue to work with Pennsylvania Recreation Park Society and other groups to advocate for additional state and federal funding to assist our urban parks. Currently, there's at least one new state funding proposal being developed by a statewide coalition that will include an emphasis on urban parks, and we would welcome the support and involvement of City Council to make this a reality. Number eight is to continue to emphasize funds-raising efforts from corporations, foundations, and individuals. Develop marketing strategies with a number of goals. First to expand the education of the business community as to the value of parks in the hopes of increasing their financial support continue to do more to expand the public sense of ownership and involvement in the care and maintenance of the parks in hopes of reducing vandalism and increasing the volunteer involvement, as noted above. 186 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 Market the benefits of the parks to current residents and potential new residents the benefits -- I'm sorry, residents in cooperation with new housing ventures or improvement of existing housing to assist with the retention of residents. And, finally, enhance the park ranger program for the Fairmount Park system. With appropriate law enforcement authority plus the interpretive environmental educational training to increase park security in a customer-friendly manner. Consider funding by shifting a portion of the public safety budget to reflect the savings that the regular police force spends less time patrolling park areas. These are just some of the recommendations that are being made, and we would appreciate the opportunity to participate, and we look forward to working with you in the future. And we do appreciate the opportunity to be here in City Council today and present these to you also. I also brought down with me a few items that our public awareness committee has just developed. It's a poster that I would like the Chairwoman to have as our thanks for her interest 187 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 and support in recreation. The poster says that recreation is more than a walk in the park, and the picture on there kind of shows that interest /and I think that you'll like the poster and I hope you enjoy it.
Thank you very much, Mr. Wendell. Councilman Rizzo, please.
Again, also thank you for joining us today. You heard my comments to Miss Miller. And equally, I would appeal to you that -- and based on your statement that we would appreciate any support, direction that you could give this Fairmount Park Commission, this Council in trying to identify sources of funding. And specifically, since you are a Pennsylvania organization, and we're not here to discuss Camp William Penn today, but are you familiar with our camp in the Poconos?
I'm starting to see that facility deteriorate to the point where I would 188 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 even have a concern letting some of our young people go there. It's a safe environment and it's camping, but it's starting to get rough and it's starting to get -- with lack of maintenance, no capital budget I'm wondering if there's any source of funding that you know of within the State of Pennsylvania that would support a facility like Camp William Penn?
I'm sure that Bob Griffith and the staff at PRPS would know. Actually, I'm a volunteer. We do have some paid staff up there and they are constantly in touch with legislators, as Karen has said, and it's very important for the people that are local to talk to their State representatives so that they can come back to us and talk to us about initiatives that we're involved in. And we all work together, as Mr. Bessler and everyone in the Fairmount Park Commission have done before. They work very closely with PRPS and they can work together to work out that problem.
Well, I understand the importance of developing legislation, and obviously we need to do that, but I'm more interested in what is there that we may not be taking advantage of. It 189 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 would be distressing to find that we were eligible for some type of a grant from the State of Pennsylvania, from the Department of Environmental Resources, you name it. There are so many organizations out there that provide funding. And if you don't ask, you're not going to get it; and if you don't know, you're not going to ask. So my concern is Camp William Penn, the facility in the Poconos where hundreds of our young people go each summer, and I guess I can accept what I saw because it's camping and I remember Camp Heart as a young man, and I think I can accept what I saw there and justify what I saw. But in two, three, four more years, it's not a place where I would want to send our young Philadelphians.
PRPS has a variety of avenues that can be used to find out what's available in funding. And as Karen just reminded me, the Land and Water Conservation Fund has recently been funded through the federal government, so that's probably an area that's available. But the PRPS office is certainly much more poised to give that you direct information, and they can -- and I'm sure anybody from Fairmount Park can 190 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 directly get in touch with them.
I would appreciate the Chair being given that information because if we're not taking, again, advantage of every possible opportunity under the circumstances that we're experiencing here within our Recreation Department -- our commissioner identified a million and a half dollar reduction in his budget. And the Fairmount Park Commission, Bill Mifflin referred back to the '70s, when we had, probably without exaggeration, twice or maybe even more than that the number of employees, and you heard a community group talking about the fact that we don't have the ability to have a maintenance person at a particular facility. Well, that's all paying now, that's paying the toll right now for what we're experiencing. And let me tell you, I don't know how the people that run our Fairmount Park, our commissioners, Barry Bessler, Bill Mifflin, how they do even what they do with that they have. And I think what I heard earlier is basically correct. I think that a lot of politicians and a lot of people -- I'm not one of them, Blondell Reynolds 191 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 Brown is not one of them, because we're here, we're sitting here listening to this very carefully. And I think the park is not a priority and that is troubling to me. And I want to make sure that that park becomes a priority, maybe not once where it was, but I want to make sure that each year it doesn't get the rug pulled out from under it each year and they have less and less and less and less, and at some point, it becomes impossible to even have basic services that are associated with this beautiful park. So that's my appeal to you. If either of your organizations can provide the Chair with any suggestions, any sources of additional funding -- I see Barry over there with a smile on his face, so that, I'm sure, would be appreciated by a lot of people.
And we will as well on a national level. And I do want to thank you for the time to testify today.
We appreciate your coming and your perspective. I found your testimony to be very instructive. So 192 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 please make sure that we get copies of your written testimony so that we can do some follow-through on our end.
Thank you both very, very much. If we would please to ask to come forward Gerry Walker; Brenda Cooper; Andrew Hohns; David Hardy, who is the school vice president and coach on Fairmount Park fields; Mike Cherubini, Delaware Valley Mountain Bike Patrol; Brian Rudnick; and Brad Thomson. Good afternoon, everyone. (Witnesses come forward.)
My name is Gerry Walker. Good afternoon to you, Councilwoman Brown, and to Councilman Rizzo who was just here. " It's an equine program which provides experiences and riding instruction and horse care. But what makes it distinct is that it also has workshop, seminars, hands-on experiences, 193 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 and life skills, mental and physical health, and it is in conjunction with a number of partners in the West Philadelphia area. We have had conversations with the University of Pennsylvania in terms of partnering with over their veterinary school and with their research department. Also impacts services from the Veterans Administration building that is willing to work with us in terms of maintaining trails and facilities, but we're particularly interested in having this program available at Chamonix Stables, right off of Parkside. Jim Brown of Parkside Historical Preservation is one of our partners, as is Joe Certaine, former Managing Director and founder of the Buffalo Soldiers. As a former City representative and director of commerce, I've listened to the testimony and heard all of it as it relates to marketing the park externally. And I think it's very important that the park be marketed internally. Although there are a number of organizations here representing park advocates and people who use the park, there is a very large constituency in the City of Philadelphia that does not use Fairmount Park, 194 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 and particularly in the West Philadelphia area. And as we see this program, its key role is to provide a substantive program that has a very big outreach part to it. I grew up in West Philadelphia, as did Miss Cooper-Cutts. She's been riding -- and I won't say that she's 52 years, but the people that are riding with us have been riding for more than 52 years. So a horse program is really a very big part of her. I come from a different perspective in terms of being an educator and a businesswoman and being a West Philadelphia resident and knowing that that park has always been an integral part of our lives, but in talking to residents in the area, very often, they're only there for events, and not even understanding the various programs that have been defined and talked about today. And so we just want to go on record as saying that we want to work with Fairmount Park in their strategic planning and implementing a program that we think will bring not only old constituents but new people to the park. And I think that is a part of the park's mission. 195 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 One of the things that was said, and it touched me, was the young boy from Huey, when he talked about the importance of the park. And it only takes a little bit of education for a young man like that to understand the importance of the park, but how about the kids that didn't have that lesson in school, or didn't have someone to talk about that? And Miss Messina from Manayunk said it's been proven that people who work with or operate or engage in outdoor activities are more reliable more motivated, more productive, and I think that's what we want to see happen with our young people, and with our not so young people. And I think that this whole program really comes out of Miss Cooper-Cutts, who has asked me to be her spokesperson today. And although we are cofounders, the whole idea of Flying Horse is her baby, and the wrap-around service is mine. So I do want to say that we support strategic planning process that's been talked about and the increased funding for Fairmount Park, but I'd just like to throw in the proviso that only if a real emphasis is put on programs that really reach 196 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 out to the communities that surround the park, and whether that be through marketing or the use of volunteers or whatever.
That's the proviso that we want to see happen, that that be emphasized because the park is a jewel, and every citizen, every Philadelphian should really know about it and all of the programs that it has.
Brenda Cooper-Cutts. One thing I wanted to say is that I have surgery, so I'm trying to speak as clear as possible.
I have about men that are 14 federal agents and police officers who grew up with 15 me, riding with some of your -- vice president of 16 the Fraternal Order of Police, and they're willing 17 to come back and also ride and help protect the 18 park. We have a lot of programs that people from 19 West Philly would like to get involved in. I see 20 (indiscernible) wife sitting over here who has carriages. We have no carriage rides and things that could make money in Fairmount Park. When I came, up they had Jack Segal's, and we had actual riding trails. I have men that are sleeping in the park 'cause I'm the director of the homeless 197 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 outreach for West and Southwest Philadelphia, that have helped me pick up sticks and things in the park. I would like for them to be able to come back into the park and be able to do some things that can make them tired so that they can sleep at night also. I mean, you have a lot of resources that maybe you don't have money for, but you have a lot of free labor that minimum wages could bring people in to help. I also work with the impact services, which is the veterans, and I see all of these flags. We have a lot of soldiers that know how to do a lot of things, and they ever the material and impact services to be able to come out and give us weekends of cleaning from these soldiers -- some of them in programs, some of them already in the Reserves. With everything going on, I don't know how much help, but we do have some in programs that are willing to come out and try to help do some work so that they can sleep and feel productive at night.
Thank you very, very much. Let me just comment. I've actually kept a tally up here of how many times I've heard 198 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 "strategic plan." I won't call the number yet, but what I will say is that only two times did I hear individuals say how important it is that we also look at the inside of what we're doing with regards to marketing and outreach. And you being the second, the other being one of our Fairmount Park Commissioners, who made it clear that we have to also maximize the usage of the park by those of you who are already residents of the City. So thank you for that Please. Could you please make sure we get copies of your proposal?
Good morning, Madam Chair. My name is Andrew Hohnes. Thank you very much for calling these hearings. I think you've done a great service to the City today.
I'd also like the record to reflect that Councilman Clarke and Nutter have too shared with you in that service for cosponsoring the resolution. I think that we've convened to show you that parks do vote; they vote through the voice of 199 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 the thousands of park partisans that are here in the city that have come also from other sections of the state and also the nation. It's those for whom our wonderful park system is one of the primary attractions of city life. And we see this when people talk about London and Paris and Chicago and New York. One of the things that they often bring up is the park, walking along the Serpentine in London or through Central Park in New York and the duck ponds. And these parks are so important here, and yet, they are struggling now as never before. But the mandate that is here for change is also stronger than anything that has ever been before. So we must develop a citywide plan a strategic plan for all of Philadelphia's parks, addressing such issues as park leadership, accountability, performance standards, and funding. And we must aim high with this plan, seeking to extend the successes of our park system while reforming the troubled elements. Our plan must call, I think, for the centralization of park management under one agency so that a consistent vision can be had on behalf of the parks. It must 200 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 introduce accountability into those people who manage our parks; whereas now, there really is no 4 accountability in the system but only retrospective hearings like this. And also I think that these people would do well to report directly either to Council or to the Mayor so that you can see precisely how successful they have or have not been in terms of the fulfillment of your charge and their duty. Specifically what we need to do is continue to encourage the mixed use of our parks, the great performances of theater and music that we see at the Mann and the Dell, the picnicking on the plateau, and we should consider imposing fees for these sorts of things to reflect the usage of the park. And also the continued renovation of and development of the City's historic houses, the Fairmount Park houses, giving them over to nonprofit groups who enter into 30-year leases in order to repair these homes. It's a great idea, an example of some of the public and private partnerships that really do flourish. We must also look to supplement these new 201 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 activities with new revenue generation to support the parks revitalization. And by this I mean high quality and yet nevertheless reasonably priced food vendors throughout the park. 50 soda, which is a benefit to the concessionaire but no help all to the citizen, nor any encouragement for the user. So we need to look to find reasonable situations, and I think we all owe Ernesta Ballard an award because it seems that the Water Works will work out in that way. And so that's a very wonderful thing for us and I hope that will work. We should consider also creative uses within the park: A hedgerow maze, with a cafe nearby would be a lovely diversion. Even a four-foot tall hedgerow maze for children so that parents could stand watch their children from above as they run through the maze and yet it would be still safe. It's these sort of wholesome entertainments that are such a draw for a park. A 202 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 carousel, a duck pond, a bocce court. These would be the wholesome things that allow people of all ages -- not just over -- and of all incomes, not 5 just wealthy incomes, to advantage of the City's 6 resources. So we have to turn to that. 7 And we must put this in the context of a 8 25-year plan. I'll tell an anecdote, which is very 9 brief.
I promise to keep my remarks very much 10 short, because I think that when one considers the 11 assets that the City can use to attract and retain 12 young professionals and immigrants, families, 13 students, there really is no jewel that is brighter 14 nor one more needy of polish than that of our park 15 system. 16 Napolean, at one point during his reign, 17 suggested to a lieutenant of his that the soldiers 18 of France should have the luxury of marching into 19 Paris upon victory under the shade of great elm 20 trees. " Napolean insisted that the seeds must be planted right away. And I hope that from these hearings that is the question that will sit before us today, what 203 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 seeds are we planting right away in order to ensure that the park for our children is even stronger than that which our parents inherited. I thank you very much for your time and indulgence and I wish you godspeed with the resolution of these hearings.
Thank you very, very much, Mr. Andrew Hohnes, spoken very eloquently.
My name is Michael Cherubini and I'm a member of a Delaware Valley Mountain Bike Patrol. Our patrol was formed a few years ago to help patrol the Wissahickon Valley in light of the recent permits that are requested to use the trails in the Wissahickon Valley. For the past eight years, my wife and I have lived in Philadelphia, and we just started raising our family here; my wife actually grew up in Philadelphia. And because of its diverse urban environment, and more particularly, the fact that Fairmount Park is so readily available with so many opportunities, we plan on raising our child here forever. In saying that, I want to get back to the 204 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 bike patrol. Our patrol is an affiliated member of the National Mountain Bike Patrol, and we have members certified very similar to the National Ski Patrol; if anyone's familiar with skiing, it's the same thing. We have in the last few years volunteered 1200 hours patrolling the trails. In addition, bicycles in general have volunteered hundreds and hundreds of hours in cooperation with the Fairmount Park Commission through the natural lands restoration and environmental education program as well as to preserve the park program. And I want to say that without the volunteer coordinators and without the volunteer program that we have, the funding that we need for these programs it would be very hard to perform such hours of volunteer work. In addition, safety is a very big concern, especially within an urban park. And our bike patrol consists of trained and certified volunteers who assist the park rangers and patrol in the Wissahickon Valley and other areas of the Fairmount Park. Our patrollers carry park radios, and I want to make a quick note on that. The funding seems to be so low for park rangers that they themselves -- 205 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 it seems a constant effort to get park radios and have them fully charged, and they're in an effort now to get more radios. I believe they're buying old park radios from another company who's selling off used ones because they can't afford new park radios. So when we can get the park radios from the park rangers, we do; otherwise we carry cell phones first aid kits, maps, and we're all Red Cross first aid and CPR certified. So as an extension of the park rangers we patrol the parks, monitoring trail usage and conditions, assisting with directions which we seem to do a lot, and provide an additional security element throughout the park. And on that note, I can't even think about not having park rangers in the park. The few that they have now, I can't imagine funding going away for that, so I just want to stress that that is of utmost importance to make sure that there is money for park rangers. And in conclusion, the reason why I'm here is we've since last spring have collected 1,000 signatures of Philadelphia residents and residents throughout the neighboring areas that specifically 206 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 state that they want to continue biking in Fairmount Park; in particular Wissahickon Park. And, Bill, we will be forwarding this to you; we're just presenting it today because it was a last-minute thing, and you will be getting that as well. And I just want to say that I hope City Council considers the bicycling community's role, contributions, and overall endorsement of a healthy life style while evaluating the status of the City parks. And in just listening today, I think there's another issue that really wasn't raised, and I think it is should just be raised, is that in the last few years, Philadelphia's kind of gotten the notion from public magazines out there that we're a very unfit city. And Fairmount Park and all of the facilities that it provides makes our city more fit.
And by taking away money or even not giving them more money, we're basically not -- we're saying that we don't want to be fit, but we know that we do, we want to be a fit and healthy community. And by giving money to Fairmount Park to support these programs, we support a healthy, more fit Philadelphia. 207 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518
That is a perspective that was no mentioned today. Thank you for that.
We also have with us David Hardy. (Witnesses comes forward.)
Good afternoon. And I'll make this very quick. I'm Brad Thompson and I live at 235 West Winonah, and I'm a resident of this city, and the last three years, I worked on the natural lands environmental restoration project, and currently I teach environmental science at Philadelphia University. I'm in the park every day, and I want to say the problems that I saw three years ago are the same ones I saw today. And although we have a park staff working on a number of them, I think the park is still in decline, and the amount of money it will take to take care of these problems is just 208 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 increasing. And what I think is really interesting is I've been monitoring many of these sites for the last three years. The playground up here that I presented, I think, last year at the informal presentation still is unrepaired, and that picture is in here, attesting to the fact that routine maintenance, they're not able to keep up to it. There's not the people power in the park to get to all of these facilities and make sure that these equipment and facilities are working properly. And the young folks that would be using this equipment, they lack that opportunity. Throughout the City, in the seven watershed parks, people ask for the trails to be repaired, the trash to be picked up, and they ask for more policing. They constantly say, Why do anything in the park until you can provide the policing to ensure its safety? And that's something that I think goes unemphasized, that we have a park staff that are doing their best to provide service, and they can get the cars out of Tacony today, and I can go out there a day before the hearing and take pictures of more cars there, which are in the 209 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 testimony. It frustrates them as well as the citizenry. There's part of the park system that has been just relegated to dump sites. There aren't volunteer groups and they're often in the more disadvantaged parts of our city, where folks could benefit from programming and good facilities. And I think that's what I just want to leave with you is that these problems are continuing. We time and again testify at hearings about the problems, and what we really need is somebody to start figuring out how we solve the problems.
And I just -- well, we need support from City Hall to do this. And the park needs support, and we may need to go back and look and see how we organize. But it's clear that we need more funding to do this.
Thank you, thank you for your testimony and your visuals, which speak volumes about the challenges that remain ahead of us. Thank you very much for your time.
Sure. Good afternoon, Councilwoman Reynolds Brown and members of the City Council. My name is David Hardy. I am here today as a citizen, as executive director of Community Academy, and as a parent who for ten years coached baseball, soccer, and basketball in the Fairmount League as well as basketball at the Francis Bell Recreation Center. Over 100 athletic associations use Fairmount Park facilities. Tens of thousands of citizens are represented by these organizations. In 1991, my wife and I moved from the Princeton, New Jersey, area to Center City, Philadelphia. I was anxious to show my son, who was then a three-year-old, the city in which I had grown up. What I wanted most was for him to experience Fairmount Park. So many fine memories of my youth are connected with Fairmount Park. I played baseball, basketball and tennis at 33rd and Diamond, I played miniature golf at 33rd and Oxford, rode the giant sliding board at Smith Playground, learned to swim at Gustine Lake, and caught my first fish at the 211 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 Schuylkill River. My scout troop camped out at the end of Chamonix Drive and hiked the trail beside the Wissahickon Creek. Our annual Sunday school picnic was at Burholme Park. I saw my first serious concert at Robin Hood Dell and had my first serious kiss on George's Hill. Fairmount Park is full of wonderful memories for me. In our ten years of living in town my family has utilized the park every bit as much. Our sons, ages and 9, have both played baseball 13 and soccer in the Fairmount sports association, 14 which, in my very biased opinion, is the best in the City. They get physical activity and meet new friends that, were it not for the park's availability, would be extremely difficult to find in Center City. They ride their bikes, rollerblade and skateboard on West River Drive. My wife and I both exercise on Kelly Drive; she jogs, I walk. The park is there for a long afternoon picnic or a short leisurely evening walk. It has Philadelphia's most splendid views of each sunrise and sunset. I once lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 212 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 where the people would regularly boast about their park system. They considered it an attractive feature of city life; it was nice, but it was no 5 Fairmount Park. I have been in places where they charge an access fee for parks that are not of the same caliber as Fairmount Park. Our park is bigger and better than any urban park system in the world. The legendary saxophonist John Coltrane once wrote a lovely tune called "Central Park West." Since he lived across the street from Fairmount Park for many years, I always felt it was his true inspiration. Whether you see vigorous activity or tranquil reflection, Fairmount Park fits the bill. It serves everyone, from the infant to the octogenarian. It is free and accessible from just about any part of the city and it covers a great portion of the City. Fairmount Park is a treasure that we must maintain and improve. It's major reason to be glad you live in Philadelphia. I believe that in order to protect this treasure for future generations and for Philadelphia to be a first-class City, a comprehensive citywide strategy plan must be done for all of Philadelphia's parks. This plan should address issues of 213 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 structure, funding, leadership, performance measures, accountability, and governance. Thank you.
Thank you very, very much. Very thoughtful testimony. Thank you very much for taking the time and staying Our final witness is Tom Zimartis (ph.), Local 222. (Witness comes forward.)
Mr. Hardy, could you make sure we get a copy of your testimony as well. Good afternoon.
My name is Tom Zimartis, and I'm the business agent for AFSCME Local 222, just like school I guess; waited for the Z to the end.
I'll try to make this brief as possible. As a union representative and a City resident, I'm not only concerned for my members but the conditions of the deteriorating recreational park facilities. I am here to request that City 214 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 Council and the Mayor include funding from the blight program to increase staffing levels in Fairmount Park at least 100 percent, possibly up to 2. This could bring us close to staffing levels we had 30 years ago. It is not a secret that the park staff has declined since 1970. There were over 600 employees plus 500 who served as the park's police force. As of now, the Fairmount Park rangers are not permanent civil service employees and risk a chance of losing their jobs next April 2002 due to loss of City funding. Our parks are in bad shape. Welcome to the City dump also known as "Fairmount Park." Last year, 4300 tons of trash and debris was dumped Fairmount Park, which averages out to about 12 tons a day. This is a visible symptom of our city's government's long-standing neglect of our parks. Adding more park rangers and making the rangers full-time civil-service employees could greatly reduce this dumping dilemma within our park system. Over 30,000 volunteers organize cleanups and activities but we cannot always count on them. We need higher levels in the building trades and maintenance divisions. Everyone who used the park 215 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 also needs necessities like clean, safe, open restrooms. We need to maintain our buildings parking areas, asphalt roads, fast bicycle paths, but most important is tree maintenance, pruning and tree removal to ensure the safety all of Philadelphia's citizens. All Philadelphia's citizens should aggressively promote the enormous potential of Fairmount Park to attract new residents, businesses and visitors to our city. More people visit Fairmount Park than go to all major sports events and concerts combined. Mayor Street intends to demolish 14,000 buildings and clean up more than 30,000 lots in the next 5 years. The City's already neglecting big open spaces in the park. What's going to happen to these new spaces without proper staffing? The park oversees 8,900 acres with a $13.3 million budget. Libraries added 58 employees since 1983; recreation added 61 employees. Fairmount Park has lost 40 funded positions during this period. In 1970, the park's budget was $11.7 million; in '84, 11.3 million; in 1990, it was 11.6 million; and now it is 13.3 million and the City still wants to cut this 216 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 back. Not counting inflation, the park should be getting approximately $50 million today. Chicago spends approximately $37,000 an acre on its park; Cleveland, approximately 14; Detroit, approximately 10. Philadelphia spends $1800 per acre. What's wrong with this picture? This is the time for City Council and the Mayor to step up and together promote better leadership, vision, and funding for our city's most precious treasure Fairmount Park. I urge that Fairmount Park to continue to be a strategic part of the NTI program. This concludes my testimony, Madam Chair, and if you have any questions I'll be glad to answer them.
You too have given us come compelling numbers to think about and do something about. Let me assure we'll give some consideration to starting with Z next time.
In closing, a huge thank you to every single group -- users, advocates, the Fairmount Park Commissioners who came. The leadership in Bill Mifflin and Victor 217 10/31/01 PARKS & REC. COMMITTEE - RES. 010518 Richard who have to steer this boat, if you will. It's an important milestone, I would say, in the life of Fairmount Park and the Recreation Department, and your testimony will not stop here. Trust that I and my staff will take all of what we heard and pull together a summary with both recommendations and a request to the Mayor with hopes, of course, that he will look seriously at what he has to do in the face of limited resources and major, major requests. So thank you for your time thank you, for your indulgence, and thank you for working with our office to make today real. Have a good afternoon. (Applause.) (Proceedings end at 2:39 p.m.) - - - 218 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia's meeting of the Council Committee Parks, Recreation and Culture of Wednesday, 10/3/101, 2001, are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. RE: Res. No.010518 _______________________________, Josephine Cardillo Registered Professional Reporter and Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)