Yes. We hired Mr. Pak (ph.) three years ago and actually have him doing 1605 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS most of our document translation, most of our outreach. He doesn't have any one commercial corridor because, obviously, the influence within all of our corridors is so great, we kind of keep it moving. In addition, we've had the good fortune to work with Mr. Adam Kim, who is now working with the Sister City Program of Inchon, and he actually is housed on the fifth floor of our facility, who works with us even beyond just the document translation phase, but to also work with us on some meaningful kind of interaction between, I guess, native businesses, people that have been here a while, and also some new immigrant population and also people in the City of Inchon. They have over 3,000 factories. As a matter of fact, I think April 19th, we're going over there to try to do some relationship development with the factories there in order to create distributorships and manufacturing here in the City of Philadelphia, utilizing some of their equipment and import it. For example, they have over 3,000 -- well, over 10,000 different items. One of them is cup -- 1606 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS Styrofoam Cup manufacturing equipment and things like that that we can work with the existing businesses in Philadelphia to create those linkages so that they can do manufacturing from some of our commercial corridors. So we've, A, hired a staff person, but also, we have some other relationships with major Korean organizations that help us out as well.
Okay, one of the reasons that I really wanted that person on staff was to help communicate to the merchants their responsibility in dealing with just the day-to-day business, I guess, protocol. And I think that it would be helpful if you could set up some sessions with the business associations to discuss what happens in a zoning transaction. And that is, for me, a very crucial issue, and I'm not sure that the understanding is there. And I think having those discussions and training sessions, or information sessions, with not just the businessmen in my district, but throughout the City, would help us in trying to deal with some of the zoning matters that we come across on a day-to-day level, as well as handling 1607 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS some of the day-to-day issues that businessmen have to deal with. And, also, they should -- this person should be in contact with some of the community associations to have a sense of their concerns relative to the relationship between businesses and the community.
We had a discussion several years ago in reference to commercial retail versus wholesale, and since that time, we've expressed both to the merchants in the corridor in question -- and also we have not supported any of those zoning requests that didn't deal with business-to-consumer transactions. We didn't want any more wholesale up there, and we've supported that position.
Thank you. Ongoing dialogue has to take place. Mr. Cuorato, I listened to your comments about meeting with the businesses in the community to talk about what we could do for them. I will share with you my frustration. When we got some stimulus money from the Commerce Department, which we really appreciated up, on 1608 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS Wadsworth Avenue, and the difficulty we had in trying to get the merchants to buy into the program. And if some way that -- you should be able to address that problem, because even though we may want to help, I want to know what will be their commitment and their buy-in to Philadelphia. And so, it was very frustrating for us, when we were working with some of the businesses on Wadsworth, they would not buy into working with us on trying to upgrade the community. The other thing is that we had problems with landlords who rented to merchants who would no cooperate. So those are issues that I hope that you will address when you meet with the businesses. And certainly, I appreciate and hope that we can confer on the businesses in my district.
I know this is Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds's question, and I will leave the Cultural Fund to her, 'cause she's on the Board. 1609 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS Thank you very much.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
I wanted to go through a couple of the items in your testimony. I am -- I'm interested in the business outreach program, which certainly sounds like a good idea. What exactly are we going to talk about with these business people and what are we going to do for them? What's the reasonable expectation here?
Well, I guess there are a number of things that I want to accomplish. Number one, I want to let them know that this administration cares about business in Philadelphia. I really do believe there are a lot of businesses out there who face problems or have potential issues and are not aware that there might be some way we can help. So it's an 1610 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS outreach in the purest sense of the word in that we're going out to say that we are the city, we are here, tell us your problems, tell us your concerns, and are there ways that we can help you. We do have -- I would like to have more resources, but we do have a pretty diverse array of programs that we can offer to different businesses, both large and small. We have some new financing tools, we have some new incentives, there's a new 10-year tax abatement on improvements to property. If there are businesses who might be contemplating moving or expanding their business, I want them to know that we are there and we have some programs that may be able to assist them. I also want to get some direct feedback, and that's why I mentioned that we're working with the Finance and Budget offices on a questionnaire that we would have our representatives bring to each business. I really do want to get some direct feedback from businesses on the problems that they face. I mean, we talk all the time about the problems, and I talk to businesses during the 1611 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS course of my job on a almost daily basis, and we hear different things, but I wanted to just compile information in a very organized fashion so at the end of this first phase of this program, we can get results tabulated from 500 to 600 businesses and look for common -- you know, common themes as to what it is that they face in the City that they either have a problem with or what they like about the City, areas that we should emphasize. So it's information-gathering on our part, it's making businesses aware that we're there, and it's spreading the word that there are incentives that we may be able to help them with.
I get the impression that this will be a team approach; you talk about the Commerce Department along with representatives of appropriate delegate agencies. Who are some of the other agencies that will participate in this?
Well, I'm going to use some of my existing staff. I'm going to try to do some of these myself, actually, and ask my staff to be involved. The Mayor's Business Action Team, 1612 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS PIDC, PCDC, the Redevelopment Authority, those would be the primary agencies. As I mentioned in an earlier question from the President, I will make the offer to each member of Council, that if they would like a member of their staff to join us on any or all visits, they will be welcome to do that.
Do you anticipate any of the other, I guess, non-commerce, nonfinancial agencies participating? And I guess the reason I ask the question, not that every area is like, you know, either Center City or even some parts of my district, on a main street. I mean, we have some areas of the City that generally seem to be doing well, they look good, and that in many of them -- it may be just coincidence -- they also have, for instance, a Special Services District, most of which seem to emphasize a kind of running theme of clean, safe, and attractive. And so, for instance, in downtown Philadelphia, I mean, many of the businesses probably, you know, have not necessarily had to call on Commerce to get an incentive, you know, off the shelf or out of the storeroom, or they 1613 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS don't necessarily need low-cost financing. What they really needed was the place to be clean and safe and attractive and the streetscape improved or the lighting upgraded, or they really needed L&I to deal with some whacky businessperson maybe across the street, or the Streets Department, you know, after they called times to deal with the 9 pothole of a barricade or a plumber's ditch, or, 10 you know, whatever the issue may be. 11 And so, I guess, when I initially read 12 this, I thought it was going to be Commerce, along 13 with a couple of those agencies, because many of 14 those areas, at least that I represent, they're 15 not necessarily looking for low-cost financing. When we come in the door, I think they want to us help them with their other issues. ) out on Lancaster Avenue, and he may be in to you for some money, I don't know. But his recent correspondence to me had nothing to do with financing; it had to do with all of those raggedy businesses on the north side of Lancaster. You know, like, Why can't they pick up their trash or put it out on the right day, or any of that kind 1614 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS of stuff. So, I mean, I don't in any way, shape, or form wish to discourage this particular proposal; I think it's dynamic, it's exciting. But you might want to take a few of those other people with you; otherwise, you know, bring a note pad, because you're going to be taking down a lot of complaints in trying to pass them off to someone. Just my thought. Along those lines, I have some correspondence from the Haverford Avenue Shops Association. They mentioned six items in their letter -- this is back at the tail-end of last year. None of them had anything to do with financing; they didn't even ask for a TIF. I mean, you know, they're just nice folks out there on Haverford Avenue. They were talking about parking and lighting, derelict benches, L&I enforcement, and that kind of stuff. So you might run into different things in places in different places, and I wanted to mention that to you. I would be interested in what businesses you plan to visit, and I'd probably like to go to a few myself. 1615 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS In that vein, whether it's the Haverford business corridor or the Lancaster Avenue situation, will these -- I don't know whether, again, you're going to do a team approach or not, but this group of people who are going to go out, will they work in a specific area? I mean, would this kind of be the same crew that the business people will start to get used to, or will they have a different person every time they call? And, I guess, who are they going to call if they have issues? Do they just call you or Mjenzie or Curtis? I mean, I'm interested in the operational aspect, and I'll tell you why. I know our resources are limited and we have a laundry list -- it's either in someone's testimony or in some other document about all of the business corridors that we try to pay attention to.
I don't know if all of them have a corridor manager, but, I mean, I've had this thought for some time that if -- in some instances, if the private -- if the market will not necessarily take care of itself, then where are there opportunities for us to step in? 1616 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS And so, I don't know if anyone's really thinking about -- and Curtis will appreciate this. The closed former Exxon gas station at City and Bryn Mawr, it's been closed for a long time, I don't know what the problem is -- I mean, I don't like Exxon anyway. So -- but is anyone in the government thinking about City and Bryn Mawr? It's got to be a pretty decent location, whether you do gas there or not. Who owns it? what are they doing with it? can we market it, get somebody in there? Now, it's kind of small, it's kind of tight. Or the old drugstore at Bryn Mawr and Wynnefield, a premiere location in the community. They got a sign up; I don't know what they're doing. And I can't really worry too much or chase around some Realtor about what they want to do with a property; maybe they want to do something that I like, maybe they don't, then I got to get into a fight with them about it. As opposed to someone who is functioning for us, similar to, you know, either a mall manager or a corridor manager, who takes a look at all available property and real estate around and 1617 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS says, You know, that would make a great whatever. Let me work with the local community here and the political representatives and try to find someone to be in that space. I mean, I think -- I mean, in a totally different way, as the Law Department has decided to set up an Affirmative Litigation Unit, because now the City is going to become more the plaintiff than the defendant in all of our various cases. I mean, I think that we need to at some level get in the positive or affirmative real estate business, that if people are just going to sit around with their vacant, raggedy properties, we're at least going to try to step up and find viable potential tenants and act like we're in the real estate and economic development business.
Councilman, I think your point is well taken. There are -- I'm sure there are a multitude of properties in every Council district that would fit those -- that would fit the description that you just -- that you just mentioned. I would, I guess, offer to you that when we do our initial meetings with members of 1618 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS Council to start this program, maybe we can add that as an additional item of discussion, which is to say, are there certain properties such as what you've just described, where we can do a little -- you know, where we can do a little bit of a background check.
Because we do get calls from developers, from people interested in different parts of the City. So to the extent that we can match that up, you've got a property that you're wondering about, we think it may make sense for, you know, a laundromat or -- I mean, we may know of developers that can do that.
So I think we can certainly make that a part of the process.
And in your hotter areas, whether it's Center City or even Main Street, I mean, I don't really have to worry too much about a vacant store front on Main Street 'cause somebody's going to be in that space. I mean, they flip around, they spin around, but eventually, somebody's going to be in there. And 1619 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS the same thing probably happens on Walnut Street maybe -- maybe not so much for the moment on Chestnut, but maybe that's picking up, we've gotten away from the transitway concept. But I do have to worry about it on Ridge Avenue in Roxborough, or Ridge Avenue in East Falls 'cause folks are not banging down the door to get in those areas. Now, they should, and we've been working with the Department to upgrade the situation up in Roxborough, and East Falls, you know, would probably benefit from a little bit of a drift out of Main Street or whenever we or start building Schuylkill Falls, 52nd Street in West Philadelphia, Girard Avenue, Lansdowne Avenue. I mean, all of those places, they need that kind of help. And if the market won't drive it on its own, then I think we have to help them. So that's the kind of thing that I would like to get into as we move forward in a new realm of cooperating.
And that is entirely consist with my philosophy as well, Councilman, which is to take our resources and step in where we can make a difference and where it's consistent 1620 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS with what we want to accomplish in the neighborhood.
Okay, thank you. On of your testimony -- and I know this has been mentioned before, but I didn't get the full understanding of it. You say you've earmarked $5 million in CDBG funds specifically for neighborhood-based initiatives. Then you go on to talk about how you're going to do this consistent with the overall Neighborhood Transformation Initiative program. Tell me a little bit more about that.
The additional -- as is mentioned earlier in my testimony, the additional $5 million would be spread over the 3 agencies that are primarily involved in community development block grant activity: ourselves, PIDC, and PCDC. I'm going to ask Mr. Traylor, since he has been my (indiscernible) person on the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, to comment on the additional funding and how it would tie into that program.
Councilman, one portion 1621 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS of that increase that we sought for this year will be going into our development grant program, which is a program that we have administered through the years, but it really suffered last year and had no 6 dollars attached to it at all in the CDBG budget. So 1.5 million of that $5 million increase will be for that program. And as we said earlier, there's already a demand from the community development organizations particularly for those dollars. But, again, as the NTI activity really gets rolling, that demand is only going to increase. And so that's --
These dollars are usually used to finance gaps in development budgets. In most of these programs, the banks will be involved in them. In some cases, PIDC would be involved in them. But usually, there is some small gap that is left in these programs, and we fund that gap -- those gaps out of the --
So are you saying that the developers are the community-based 1622 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS organizations -- I mean, who's making that application, how do you find about it, how do you know?
Well, we're talking about, in the case of your district, the Farmers Market was such a project that received funding from that category. In other cases, it would be in, South Philadelphia, for instance, Universal Community Homes and their projects. Or in Germantown, it would be the Greater Germantown Housing Development Corporation and their projects. Just in mentioning these organizations, you already know, or can deduce easily, that this $1.5 million is a paultry amount, as it was sort of alluded to in Councilman Goode's remarks earlier, but this is one of the areas. Also, in the pre-development activity associated with those projects, that's another area where this increased funding would be used. 1623 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS And then we have in the category of neighborhood support services for several -- for some of the organizations that had received smaller amounts in years gone by, we're going to be able in Year 27 to provide some additional funding for their activities.
The testimony says there's been earmarked an additional $5 million in CDBG funds. Is that 5 million on top of something else or is that just 5 million?
Yes. The -- it's -- the allocation requested was $10.84 million.
And so now the total is 15, or was the original allocation 5?
I think what we're saying 1624 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS here is that as sites -- the big thing that is going to be produced in the NTI Program is large tracts of land that can be developed. And so what has been a historical demand based upon smaller tracts or individual properties, we're going to see that demand significantly increase once this massive demolition activity gets underway later on this year and sites get cleared. So we're simply trying to put ourselves in a position to have a somewhat better response to the demands that are going to come from the neighborhood organizations in trying to develop those sites.
I would. . . I would -- I hate to -- I hate to revisit this. You don't know how it pains me. Given what you just said, and if we go back to last week's discussion, and maybe this is a -- it's a topic for another day in a broader discussion, but if we're going to have all of this land available as a result of the mass demolitions -- we had last week a big discussion about what we have, what we don't have, whether it's, you know, KOZ I, soon to be KOZ II, pay no taxes in those areas. And for the moment I 1625 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS will assume that these large tracts of vast, open space will not have any of the advantages of KOZ I or KOZ II. What is, I guess, our overall strategy in attracting people to now this vast, open space, which will be new open space, with no tax incentives versus what we've done either in the past or what we're going to do after tomorrow with vast, open space that has -- I mean, it's like you travel to another country, it's like a duty-free zone, you know, come here and pay no taxes. I'm trying to match the two up and work through why you would go wherever and pay full freight versus over somewhere else and pay no 16 freight.
Well, I mean, I think that that's a very reasonable concern. But on the other hand, I think some of this is going to get dictated by where the activity is going on. And so -- and in fact, that is a big part of the current planning process right now. I mean, it's taking a long time to put the NTI Program together, and it's exactly because some of these things are going to have to be considered. In 1626 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS other words, are there areas that we should be concentrating on because they simply have more appeal for developers than other areas. And, by the way, all of this activity is not going to follow just demolition, because remember, another part of that NTI Program is the encapsulation, trying to save neighborhoods and some of the business corridors where there are -- where vacancies have begun to create the deterioration in given places. So a big part of NTI is going to be to try to encapsulate those places, stop the deterioration, and see whether or not some of that activity within itself will help to attract particularly the private people in developing them.
May I just ask you if you heard the same testimony I did yesterday? I thought that L&I said that they were going to encapsulate 100 maximum properties. 1627 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS
They're moving from 75. And my question also is, in addressing Councilman Nutter's question, is how about the properties that have tax lien sales? Is the City going to have to then purchase the tax lien and pay the attorney before we're able to either put that property up for sheriff's sale? This is much more complicated than we're being led to believe.
Yes. I'm sorry. I don't have the response specifically to that issue. And by the way, I'm sorry, I didn't hear. You say that L&I is saying that they are only going to be encapsulating 100 properties?
From 75 and going to 100. 1628 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS
Well, I would like for us to double-check on that, because it's my understanding that more encapsulation activity is supposed to be taking place than that, so we would like to get back to you on that.
And where is that -- well, I'm sure you wouldn't know where the funding from that would be.
From the bond -- from the $250 million bond issue. And I think that there are more dollars within that budget that have been allocated for encapsulation.
Yeah, along with 1629 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS the President, I mean, one, I would -- I think I actually threw something away, Madam President. I know it might seem incredible, given what my desk looks like. But, I mean, that was the testimony yesterday. We did ask a number of questions about that. We even asked -- again, nothing is ever enough, but, I mean, 100 properties, I mean, is kind of -- I mean it's 100 more than nothing but, you know, it's not a whole lot. And, I mean, one, in previous testimony, it's been fairly clear that there's not going to be one $250 million bond offering. In testimony maybe a week or so ago, I think, with the City Treasurer, we had a lot of discussion about how this was going to be laid out. And at the most, I think at the moment, we're looking at maybe 50 later this year, with subsequent series based on use and, I mean, private activity bonds and what you can, you know, tax-free portion nontaxable -- I mean taxable financings that are going to be done. But it sounded in that testimony as if the $250 million offering was going to be done over a series of years. 1630 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS
That is correct. But I'm still concerned with that number that has been given. I'd like to check into it and I'd like to get back to you on -- (Unintelligible, parties talking over each other.)
That's -- that is absolutely the number that was in the testimony.
Councilman, if I may go back to your question about different incentives for different areas and what we expect to happen. I guess I'd like to outline for you theoretically how I see this happening. We have Keystone Opportunity Zones, we are going to have vacant land as a result of the NTI Program. You are correct in that given the criteria for the Keystone Opportunity Zone program, we were not able to go in and designate neighborhoods per se because of the criteria of that program, the acreage issues and the nonresidential issue. However, I approach economic development in the City from the standpoint that 1631 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS any incentives that we can bring to bear help. I want as many tools as I possibly can at my disposal. So we have the Keystone Opportunity Zone Program, which will address certain areas. And there is no question that they are an incentive. For some large industrial projects, I mean, the most notable example of which is TJ Maxx, that program is making that project go. Where I see the NTI Program evolving and how we would fit into it is, we will have vacant, developable parcels in neighborhoods that had been blighted and that we are looking to turn around. The parcels will be in a situation where development is now possible; whereas heretofore, it was not possible. It's our job, then, to bring developers in who would be interested in doing projects that help to revitalize that neighborhood in conjunction with a housing component. At that point, we need to bring a different set of incentives to bear. And that's where I think the additional CDBG funding can help. Frankly, I'd like to have even more, as Councilman Goode referenced earlier. I'd like the ability to be 1632 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS able to do an unlimited number of these projects. But I think if you look at a situation where you have a parcel proposed for commercial development in a neighborhood, and you can offer the 10-year tax abatement on new construction and improvements, which we are now able to offer, and you can offer a package of loans and grants -- as Mr. Traylor mentioned, a lot of times we can use these grants to fill the gap that's not necessary. In many cases, you may be talking about a project cost that's in the, you know, that's under $5 million as opposed to some of these large industrial projects that we're working on -- the TJ Maxx warehouse at $60+ million. That's where I think these types of programs and incentives can make a difference in neighborhood development, as opposed to as what, in many cases, is the larger industrial-type development in KOZs.
Given the size of some of these parcels and when you do have the larger demolition, which -- I mean, there's no 24 disagreement about that. And if there's a longer answer to this, make it a part of the package of 1633 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS materials that we get back. As you move forward and as dollars are available and as you do the demolition, you have the question that the President asked, and I'm sure you're going to answer that with regard to tax liens. Even in a non-tax lien sale situation, I mean, it seems to me that the absolute key to development and to attracting someone's interest in development is site control. You can have all of the incentives in the world; if you can't get control of the parcel, you'll never build anything there. Are you working with either folks in the government here, or if there are issues with regard to Harrisburg to speed up, streamline, and eliminate, you know, many of the issues that we all struggle with as it relates to acquisition disposition. You can do the TJ Maxx piece. I'm assuming there's one big parcel owned by someone that you knew, somebody was ready to do a deal, boom, you're in. Some of these large --
That was actually publicly-owned land so it made it that much easier. 1634 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS
You really had a bonanza. You go and demolish, you know, an average Philadelphia street, and if you have a couple of them and you do just a whole bunch, I mean, you could be talking about a couple hundred properties, with a couple hundred owners. Fifty of them are scattered all over the country, the other fifty you can't find anywhere, another fifty are dead, and the other fifty are running away from pus. Now, I'm not saying that any of these are insurmountable issues, but I mean, I just -- you know, as they say, I try to do my best to keep it real.
Councilman, there is -- one of the task forces that's in the NTI planning process has been focusing exactly on that problem, okay? All of the impediments to the condemnation process, how the whole thing of getting these properties into either new private ownership or public ownership can be expedited. And one of the things that I think has been interesting about their work is that they have also discovered a lot 1635 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS of impediments in how we deal within government; you know, within the City itself, that is.
I can't imagine that you would ever have any intergovernmental problems trying to get a project done. I am astounded to hear that. (Laughter.)
And so some of the departments, I think, are discussing with one another these issues in a way that should see some new level of movement in the future. Also, at the same time, they are looking at what kinds of legislative changes are needed to help with this process.
My last item. Mr. Cuorato, we received correspondence from you -- and when I say "we," I'm assuming all members -- about the market, planning, and community festival funding program. You don't want to be saying that one too quick. We're trying to encourage festivals, community festivals, I guess, throughout the City, and we're going to provide some funding on a matching basis. Is that the basic nature of this program? 1636 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS
Yes, it is, Councilman. This was an attempt on our part to respond to an increasing number of requests that we get from neighborhoods groups all over the City, and it is directed at. As the program name implies, marketing, planning, and community festivals. It's not meant -- there are some criteria that are listed in the program proposal. It is not meant, for instance, for things like block parties. It is meant for community-based events which the community supports, which -- again, more than just a block party, a festival that celebrates a neighborhood.
We also are getting a lot of interest in the planning portion of the program, which is to say, a community who is looking to do, for instance, an overall streetscape for their area or just some sort of planning effort to make their neighborhood a better place. These are very flexible grants that we can provide on a very quick basis, again, going back to the testimony I gave earlier on the Economic Stimulus Program funds. The value in 1637 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS that program is the flexibility and our ability to be able to do things like this. So we would encourage any members of Council to tell their constituent groups that if they have needs that meet that program, we'd be glad to fund them.
Well, I will want to follow up with you, but I will say that when I received this, my comment on my little slip here actually was, What are the eligible activities? 'cause I couldn't figure out from the materials exactly what it was that we were trying to promote or who was eligible, or was it the block party thing that, you know -- I mean, if we start having $25,000 block parties, then I'm going to be spending a lot of time at block parties next summer. But one of the intriguing parts was, in other testimony, in the Managing Director's testimony earlier in this cycle, there was actually a section in his testimony where he talked about the need for the City to, to some extent, constrain and better control actually the amount of community festivals and concerts. Not 1638 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS that the Managing Director doesn't like them, but his concern was more from a cost standpoint and the overtime budgets that are driven by these kinds of activities, the need to clean up, and all of that. So, I mean, I just kind of got the impression -- I'm all for festivals, love a festival. You know, been to a few. But I was intrigued to some extent that the Commerce Department is trying to promote them and the Managing Director's trying to cut back on them. So -- but I will be interested in getting the additional criteria. You indicated that it's a relatively simple process?
There should be in the material that was sent to the members of Council, and I believe I have a copy of it with me. There should be . . .
The application process is included right in the program description. We want an application which delineates the 1639 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS neighborhood to be served. We want to know that it demonstrates that the group proposing for the grant has the capacity to complete the proposed study or carry out the community festival. We want documented support from the community. We want an estimate of the population to be served. We want the budget, and we want to know how our funding is needed and how it would fit in. A list of the board members from the group making the proposal. Articles of incorporation, bylaws, documented matching funds. The scope of services, if it is to be a planning or marketing study. Things like that. I think it really does go beyond just festivals. I mean, I would emphasize to you that --
Yeah, this application is somewhat -- I think my recollection is, it's almost somewhat similar to -- Mr. Traylor and I had a wonderful experience with the Roxborough Development Corporation application for funding up in their business corridor. I think we spent maybe about a year, year and a half working on that, trying to get through the process -- 1640 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS
-- and some of the documentation. And, I mean, maybe there's a difference between the planning grant and the rebate program and all of that as opposed to a community festival. I think when people apply for this, they'd actually, you know, probably like to do it in the year that they applied, not for, you know, the subsequent year. But that was an extremely painful process which asked for just about the same information. And, I mean, I've never seen a more frustrated group folks trying to get money from the government to do something in their business corridor, you know, for a positive purpose.
That's correct, Councilman. And, in fact, just to take that emphasis off of festivals, in that particular case, the parking need was something that needed a very specific look at. I mean, it needed some specific work to make decisions.
Right. Well, we had the parking piece and then we had the marketing study aspect. 1641 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS
There are a number of Councilmembers waiting. If you don't mind waiting for a second go-around. The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.
Thank you, Madam Chair. To kind of follow up on some of the questions that Councilman Nutter -- and not necessarily with a question, but it was my understanding both in these Council chambers in testimony and in meetings outside of this chambers, as it related to the demolition strategy, the priorities associated with mass demolition were going to be tied directly on the housing side to areas that enhance already City-sponsored or privately-sponsored housing initiatives, such as one in my district at 22md 1642 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS and Master, where there was recently a 72-unit housing development. And there is some discussion about potentially demolishing properties around the perimeter that are in pretty bad shape or even vacant. And so that would be to increase the ability to market those properties that we currently are building. Also, on a commercial development side, and I just bring these as examples because they happen to be in my district, on the Fifth Street APM Shopping Plaza -- and Mr. Traylor, I know you're familiar with that -- it's around the perimeter of that that there is a lot of blight and vacant buildings. And there is discussion currently to prioritize that particular location, the perimeter of that location to expand that particular shopping development. And is that your understanding of what we're looking at primarily as it relates to our demolition?
I think that's exactly the way the planners are looking at this right now, that those priorities have to be established in cooperation with your offices, the Councilmatic 1643 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS offices, as well as the groups that we're already working with in some of those neighborhoods in order to decide where that activity is going to be focused, and over what period of time. For instance -- I'll just give you one example -- we in the Commerce Department are preparing right now a list of industrial and commercial buildings that might be able to be targeted in the NTI activity. But now, that will be done in consultation with Councilpeople, that will be done in consultation with community development organizations. But even once we have a list, it will then be necessary to do a prioritization based upon where will we get the biggest result from early activity.
Right. So it's not L&I just determining that they ought to knock down a hundred buildings in this area and at the cheapest cost.
Absolutely not. And that is a part, in fact, of the frustration that comes with this protracted planning process right now, because it's these issues that have to be taken into consideration. 1644 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS
Okay, thank you. On these development initiatives, we're actually looking at a couple up in my part of the City of Philadelphia, and we had a meeting earlier, and Mr. Traylor was in that meeting, and we were talking to probably one of the largest retailers in the region, if not the country, about large-scale development initiatives. And my understanding is that there may now be an emphasis, when given an opportunity, on having massive developers, as opposed to what we currently do in the City too often, which is to have just this small nonprofit and maybe this for-profit, and we just kind of piecemeal development approaches in communities that have those opportunities as it relates to vacancy and the ability to assemble land. From a policy and a strategy standpoint, what's the Commerce's position on that? Should we look at that? I understand that up in Newark right now, this particular developer has formed a relationship with a housing developer, a relationship with a person that does social services and pulled this team together, and 1645 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS they were going to do massive development up close to the -- I believe it's the music center, the new music center in Newark. I understand that we're actually looking at potentially something in a part of the City currently. What is your strategy associated with us moving forward to that model, as opposed to piecemealing our development initiative?
I would say that the key word here is "partnerships." And I think, in fact, the Commerce Department very recently got a glimpse of what these partnerships need to look like. And, again, it's activity in President Verna's area, with Universal Community Homes that has now partnered with Parkway Corporation, partnered with Penn Rose, partnered -- who else is in that partnership?
Crafco. How could I forget that. And I think that we will be interested in trying to stay on top of that activity in a way that would enable us to, you know, help get it 1646 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS replicated in other areas, because there is no way that, as you have said, we can continue to have development based upon these singular projects, these single projects from just the small neighborhood development corporations.
Will we address that as a city, as a policy initiative, or will we just kind of wait around until a Crafco comes to us and says, I'm interested in doing this in this particular area? Or will we, as a part of Neighborhood Transformation Program, shop these particular areas that have the potential of doing that type of development, to developers to come in and form this partnership and then be the master developer for the entire area?
Well, I think in the presentation made even earlier on, the first presentation that was made to City Council on neighborhood transformation, I think it was made clear that there is no way that this activity is going to move forward in a productive way, without being able to leverage resources. And the only way you can leverage resources is through these partnerships. 1647 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS So, yes, that will be City policy.
All right, thank you. In the earlier testimony from the Planning Commission, this issue about student retention came up, and Commerce's name was mentioned as a part of that process. Can you tell me what your role will be in that student retention program?
Councilman, we're doing a couple of things. We have within our department now, chaired by Bonnie Grant, Deputy Representative, a Student Retention Committee, which pulls together people from the schools, the universities, the civic community, the government, and the high-tech industry, to look at programs and ways that we can get the word out about all that Philadelphia has to offer, to make the students aware that Philadelphia is not only a good place to spend their college careers, but somewhere that they might wants to live and work after that. My goal this year is to enhance and strengthen that committee. Bonnie and I are 1648 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS undertaking a review of the membership, and we're going to see if we can't bring some new people in to be involved in that effort, and it will be an ongoing effort. We also have teamed up with the e-Philadelphia Alliance, which is a group of over 100 high-tech businesses that are in Philadelphia right now, to take part in an advertising campaign that will begin next month. That campaign will drive students to a Web site called "ephiladelphiainsider.com," and that Web site will have all of the necessary information that students need regarding amenities in the City and housing and entertainment, but maybe more importantly, all of the businesses in the ePhiladelphia Alliance have agreed to post job openings on that Web site. So the pitch will be, Here is what Philadelphia has to offer, here is why it's a great place to live, and here are some future opportunities for you. So we're very excited about that campaign, which will be launched next month as a first phase. And if it is successful and we're 1649 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS getting the attention that we hope to get, we'll do a follow-up phase in the fall.
It appears to me that our approach currently is to market directly to students. Are you considering -- or are you involved in any way, shape, or form in marketing to people who recently were employed here in the City of Philadelphia but may not live in the City of Philadelphia; meaning that student that already left the university and he made a decision to get a job here in a health care-related industry or in Center City commercial buildings, or whatever, but that person's going to move to the suburbs, or has moved to the suburbs. Is there any relationship between you and these various businesses where, I'm sure, if we did an analysis, we could determine where these people came from as it relates to universities? 'Cause I'm sure there's some tracking system some, alumni system in the schools that have a sense of where their students are going to live and where their students are going to work. Have we thought about the possibility of doing it on that level, as opposed to just 1650 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS going directly to the students, and possibly going to the employers of these individuals to find out what it would take to get people to come back to live in the City of Philadelphia?
Councilman, I just want to make sure I understand your question. In other words, have we gone out to talk to the businesses who have hired students who may not be from Philadelphia?
Well, either students who may not be from Philadelphia, students who were in Philadelphia or were in Philadelphia while they were going to school and opted to leave immediately upon getting that diploma and going back to live where they live, in close proximity to Philadelphia but work here? Because we apparently have a lot of that, I'm being told. And are we working with businesses who essentially are the employers of these individuals in a concerted way to have those businesses work with us to get people to move back into the City?
We have not been, but we certainly, we can make that a focus as we move 1651 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS forward.
Yeah, I was just wondering if we had any relationship with all the various businesses that employ all of these people who have come through our many universities in the City and then opt to leave.
We do. I mean, we can reach those businesses through either the Chamber of Commerce or the Eastern Technology Council or some of the other regional organization, we can certainly reach those businesses.
All right. Later today, we're going to be cutting another ribbon on Cecil B. Moore Avenue, and I guess all of you will hopefully be there, and a part of the ribbon- cutting ceremony will be the announcement of a facade treatment program for the existing businesses across the street. And I expect that immediately every business owner on Cecil B. Avenue will be asking for facade treatment. And understanding the limited amount of resources available for such a program, I guess my question is to Mr. Jones. Can we -- and I do believe that we're limited to the money that's 1652 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS allocated from government. Have you looked at any other opportunities? I understand -- I read in the paper sometime last year that the Center City District got a large, large grant from some entity that allowed facade treatment programs in the Center City District, and Mr. Levy was quoted in talking about what a wonderful thing it is. Have you looked at the possibility of us going out and getting additional resources such as that in or any other creative way?
I'm not familiar with the Center City District, but we're constantly looking at RFPs, requests for proposals, foundation that would assist us to do those kinds of activities. I agree you that it's good that we put a half a million dollars into that deal. It's going to employ a number of people, it's a cornerstone for Cecil B. Moore Gateway, and it is also good that we are working with the existing businesses that would say, you know, Where is our buy-in to this prosperity? One of the things that do constantly is to look at RFPs. We believe that facade treatments, security rebates have a greater impact 1653 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS on commercial corridors such as Wadsworth Avenue and others than even on loan programs. So we're constantly looking for those kind of resources and will continue to do that.
Okay. Can you or someone from your office contact Paul and find out? 'Cause he --
Yes. I was looking back to make sure the -- (Unintelligible, parties talking over each other.)
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to go back to a question, I think, that was asked maybe a week or so ago in reference to missed opportunities, where, when we did the stadium deal, the City had an opportunity to buy a building. We heard, unfortunately, that a deal fell through for the airport, where we had 1654 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS an opportunity to buy land, which we believed we would eventually be able to use. And just to follow up on some of the other questions that were discussed today, some discussions that we had today. Is there a mechanism -- is PIDC in a position that if we have a property, which is obviously a location that is a valuable property -- we were told during that conversation a week or so ago that there isn't a mechanism for the City like to buy the Acme warehouse at x-numbers of millions of dollars, rather than buying it at $15 million after it becomes a part of an equation. What can we do today to buy -- and I like Exxon -- a location like that, where there's the potential of -- the potential of it being developed, and not having to pay a premium for it six, eight months down the road? So can PIDC, or there's obviously a limit, or do we need to create another quasi-government agency where we can inventory hot properties? What can we do? What if you, as the Commerce Director, saw a property and said, This 1655 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS is really something and we need to latch onto this now because of what you know is going to happen in a particular community. What can we do today to acquire that property at x-numbers of thousands of dollars versus millions two or three years down the road?
Councilman, I am a big proponent of public land ownership. I half-jokingly tell my staff at times that I would buy half the City if I had the money just because nothing controls development, the pace of development, the use, nothing controls development like land ownership. I mentioned earlier about the TJ Maxx project in Northeast Philadelphia. That's just one example. When we control the land, we can control how the land gets disposed of, what the use is. So I agree with you -- I agree with your point completely. We do have what is called a "Land Bank," which is funded by the Capital Program and which is used to purchase properties. There are a number of uses that the Land Bank has, but 1656 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS primarily to purchase properties, and we are actually looking at several properties right now. The example that you cite is one in which an area becomes quote, unquote, hot and then all of a sudden, you know, the prices go sky-high and we're forced to pay more than we probably should have. Our planning with PIDC is focusing on some properties right now that we think would make good long-term development sites but that are not in the spotlight, so to speak. So we're very much pursuing exactly what you're talking about here within the constraints of how much money we have in the Land Bank.
I hate to look back, but it's unfortunate that we're building stadiums -- and, again, I don't want to dig up graves, but that site that was in South Philadelphia, obviously, we knew something was going to happen down there. And that was before Jim Cuorato. If today, we were -- if you were in the seat you're in today and you knew that we were about to build, we weren't sure Center City versus South Philadelphia or anyplace else, would that have a 1657 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS property that you would have pushed to own? Craig Shelter is shaking his head yes.
It would -- yeah, it would depend on how much money we had available to us. There's certain properties that are going to be out of our reach, but any property that's in an area that we would consider attractive, that we think could be a future development site I would certainly support acquiring.
The next area I want to go into -- and since Craig Shelter -- do you want to comment on that?
Yeah, I just want to do comment, Councilman. One of the key things for us to be effective in terms of buying land is to be able to move in quickly. And where we've been most successful with that is where we can use a straw party, and they go and they make an offer to someone, Are you interested in selling property? And they say, Well, maybe I am maybe, maybe I'm not. And you say, What if we had cash in 30 days, no contingencies? All of a sudden, you've got a very interested seller and somebody who will 1658 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS respond. However, what you run up against is the City's charter, which says that you can't acquire a piece of property without City Council approval. So in order to really be effective in that, we would have to do what you did, for instance, with the Avenue of the Arts, where City Council approved, outside of the Land Bank, a fund for acquisition in the Avenue of the Arts area that we knew we had in advance, so that when we went in to make that offer, we could back it up, knowing we had the cash. We're not in a position where we could take the risk of not knowing we had the cash coming to us and get an agreement of sale and then have a liability for coming up with the money. So that's where you run into what Jim Cuorato said in terms of, in some senses, we're limited by the available pool of cash that's out there for this particular purpose. And also, just following up on the -- if referring to the Acme site down there, we believe that was a good property. That's clearly one, if there were sufficient funds in the Land Bank, that we would have proceeded to acquire 1659 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS because we believe that there was parts of that site which were undeveloped which we could have sold to other uses in the Food Center, even if the stadiums were not going to go forward.
Well, based on what you just described, the mechanism that we utilized with the Avenue of the Arts, do you envision another agency that would have those funds or something that would -- and I'm not suggesting that we lessen Council's input on deals that you do, but I would also not want to see us be in a situation where every time we do a deal, the taxpayers of the City pay three, four times what we could have purchased it for. So I would suggest that if you believe that there's another mechanism to put you in the position that you just described, we should pursue it. If we're planning to develop this city and make opportunities available, and based on what the Commerce Director said, no better position to be in than controlling the land, public ownership of the land, that if there's obstacles, maybe we need to start cutting through them.
Well, I think this year 1660 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS the Commerce Director, on our recommendation, did (indiscernible) recommendation to City Council extra money for land acquisition, and he's been a great supporter of us in that effort. And we've already lined up a 70-acre piece of land that we expect to acquire with that money.
While I have you, I'd like to ask about the Navy Yard. The President asked some very interesting questions about what's going to occur down there. But if you're a stranger and you're not tuned into Kaverner and you're not tuned into all of the things that are going there, and you're driving either south or north on I-95, and you look down, to me, it still looks like a Navy yard. What eventually's going to occur with the mothballed fleet that's there, because as long as all of those war ships are still there, visitors to this city are going to say, Oh, look, there's the Philadelphia Navy Yard, not knowing that it's a complex and the accomplishments that we're seeing there. When is it going to be clean and not look like the Navy Yard?
Well, Councilman, those 1661 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS ships are -- and the ship basin still belong to the Navy, and those ships will be there. There are -- from time to time, they move those ships to various places, they scrap some of them. So that recently, while they were all the way up to Broad Street, the ones that were back about 7 or 800 feet have now either been scrapped, demolished, or moved to another location to open up the basin somewhat which will improve the marketability along Broad Street, but we don't have any control over that particular piece of water and the ships that are in that area. I think what we have been doing, though, and you may or may not have noticed the -- some water tanks down that said "US Navy," we've made it "Philadelphia Naval Business Center," changing the image of it. We've put new street signs in throughout the area and have named all of the streets right now. We'll be redoing the front gate. We're talking to tenants about encouraging them actually to get some corporate names up on tops of buildings identifying whether it be North Gorman or whoever the company is, to let the people know that there's a number of different 1662 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS private companies that are down there. I also think that when we get to the point where Kvaerner -- the first ship rolls off the line, that they will have decided to paint "Kvaerner" across that Goliath crane that's down there so that everybody coming into the -- landing at the airport will go by it and see some corporate identification. We're doing increased marketing efforts. As I say, now that we know that we can sell the land -- that was a key feature. So until we could do that, we couldn't go out with a lot of other PR things because the fundamental aspect of the land wasn't resolved, and now that we've got that, we're looking at ways to make it much more visible and attractive. And I think the demolition that's going on down there now will dramatically improve that the redoing of the whole front gate off of I-95.
Well, thank you for that, but let me ask you about the part that the Navy still controls. That basin appears to be potentially a very lucrative piece of land, and obviously, the Navy has held on to that because a 1663 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS big impact in relocating and salvaging all of those war ships that are probably never, ever going to see any -- hopefully see any -- see any use. Eventually in our plan, will we eventually acquire that basin? And I would think that that would be a great area for -- correct me if I'm wrong, for a cruise ship to pull in there or -- I can't imagine that somewhere in our plan long-term acquiring that and cleaning that up isn't a part of the deal.
Councilman, I think that right now, we've focused on trying to see that the Naval Surface Warfare Center and the propeller shop, which are two of the places that surround the basin, that they continue to get the support by the Defense Department, because those are really good jobs for the City. They're high-technology jobs, they happen to surround the basin, it's where Philadelphia has a competitive advantage, so nobody begins to think in further backgrounds of having more of an impact on the base. And so we focused more on expanding those areas around the basin than actually getting the 1664 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS basin, focused on getting the land, with the idea that if down the road, it turns out that all those ships were go away, at that point, we would be delighted to talk to the Navy. But I think in the foreseeable future we see it as further down the road, and there are other places where we could be more productive.
I hate to tell Charlie Isdell this, but you reminded me of something that I wanted to bring up, and if you hadn't mentioned the crane for the airplanes, I wouldn't have had this question.
Charlie, could you please tell us about the runway at Philadelphia International Airport that apparently become antiquated, even shortly after it was constructed, and the mention of the crane, the Kvaerner crane, I talked to a commercial pilot that tells me that if he ever had an opportunity to take off from that runway, which is too short for the type of aircraft, the jet that he flies, that he'd smack run right into that Kvaerner crane. Could you just tell us a little bit 1665 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS about this runway that apparently we spent how many millions of dollars on?
221 million, and nothing but some propeller aircraft are able to use it?
Well, it's a 5,000-foot commuter runway. It was designed approximately 10 years ago, and the conception was that significant savings and efficiencies could be achieved by segregating the queueing of the smaller and slower aircraft from the arrival stream in particular of the larger commercial jets. At this point, the runway is partly receiving -- it's partly being underutilized because there's a significant piece of radar equipment, which the City expedited its installation last summer, but it is still awaiting final certification by the Federal Aviation Administration. That piece of equipment, which is called "a precision runway monitor," will allow simultaneous activity on the parallel runways down there, which is not currently allowed because 1666 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS they're too close together. The latest date of anticipated certification is May of this year. We will be meeting with the FAA within the next couple of weeks to see if we can get an update on that. They've pushed the date back several times, much to our chagrin, but that also will make the shorter runway, the new runway, more attractive and more useful during periods of low visibility and inclement weather, which is another one of the reasons it was designed. In other words, when we have low-visibility conditions at our airport, and prior to the construction of the new runway, all of the arrival streams were coming in in an east-west -- on our east-west runway. And, generally, they're coming in during those type of conditions from the west to the east. That -- in low-visibility conditions, the controllers are then required to separate the aircraft significantly further apart in order to avoid any danger. And with the precision radar monitor, that will not be the case. So that's one improvement we're looking forward to. 1667 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS The runway was expected, I believe, to save somewhere between 30 and $40 million per year to the airlines in terms of their costs while planes are delayed in the air. And on that basis, the anticipation was that it would pay for itself in roughly five to six years of use. Remember that no local funds were used for the construction of the runway. In fact, I have the breakdown. The largest single contribution to the construction of the runway was $114 million in airport revenue bonds, which are, of course, supported by the rates and charges paid by the airlines. So they supported the building of this runway. We think it will gain usage later this year, and we also think that the current concerns that the commuter operation, principally utilized by US Airways right now, which traditionally had been a turbo prop operation, is moving more into the new technology of regional jets. That's a concern because there is some disagreement as to whether or not the average regional jet can land on a 5,000-foot runway. But at the present time, US Airways only utilizes, I think, about a half 1668 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS dozen regional jets as opposed to several dozen turbo prop. The problem that I think you're alluding to that the pilot mentioned to you will become more significant in the coming years, say, within the next three to four years. We believe there are some possible solutions. There's the possibility, which our master planning people are looking at right now, of extension of the runway. There is -- our engineers have told us, as hard as it may be to believe, there is a possibility of extending the runway in the direction of the Kvaerner crane and still meet all of the FAA's obstruction standards. And we've also received indications from the aircraft manufacturing industry that as the regional jet -- as the regional jet becomes more common and they get into second and third generation, they will develop the ability to land on shorter runways with those aircraft.
So we're still optimistic that the runway will pay for itself in the same time frame as was originally planned.
Well, I'm pleased to 1669 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS hear that because the -- some of the professional pilots that I know indicated that that is a very, very underutilized facility, based on what you told me, the radar and the simultaneous and takeoffs and departures there, but seems at this point the investment of $209 million and -- it's still a significant amount of money to have a facility that's kind of like, I guess, a little bit of a joke with -- around the airport, with some of the commuter pilots, that it's there and they really can't use it.
I do think there are also some issues with the air traffic controllers, that they do have options during peak hours of the day, that they can use different configurations. They like to use our cross-wind runway. The one that runs basically north to south, in combination with our two big east-west parallel runways. They do a lot of forecasting and analysis, and their goal is generally to figure 1670 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS out how many planes can we land per hour during peak hours, what is the best configuration. That involves a lot more than just physical locations of the runways; it requires all of the approach routes and hand-off points surrounding the airport in the air space in its vicinity. And the indications we have are that to some extent, they use their options -- you know, they use their discretion to use the other runways at the expense of a new runway, I think, partly because it's new, partly because the PRM is not certified yet, and partly because pilots do because express a preference. If they have a choice, between a 5,000-foot runway and a 10,000-foot runway, they'll take the longer one most of the time.
Okay, I think that's a pretty good -- I think that's a safe decision, doubling your amount of landing area. Thank you for that. And, again, good luck down there.
You're welcome. 1671 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
I will say in the absence of the Councilwoman Tasco that I do appreciate her deferring to me with regards to the Cultural Fund, but I don't have any questions. I do have a comment that I am going to make, and I will say at the outset that it is biased. But thanks to President Verna, I am serving on the board and have followed the evolution of the Cultural Fund from the early days of it being Class 500 to now being an agency that I believe does an excellent job in a very objective way of providing needed fund dollars for the arts world here in our city. And I want to thank you for the discussions I've had with you and the Mayor and members of his cabinet and the Administration and members of the arts community around ultimately, 1672 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS hopefully, increasing that bottom line. So just know that I remain hopeful.
Let's turn our discussion to Commerce activity and Commerce opportunity beyond the borders of our city, and my questions are around trade with other countries. And I know in your testimony, it's virtually impossible to cover absolutely every single thing that your department does, but I am curious because I have taken an interest in this area. Share with me first, does the City currently have any substantial trade activity with other countries? I know one of the members of your team talked about Korea, but could you speak to commerce activity with countries outside of Philadelphia.
Yes. I will begin, Councilwoman, by just emphasizing on the Inchon, Korea, piece that the work there has resulted in establishing the first foreign trade office here in the City and, the Inchon trade office has been operating now since last year. And after it was established, then it led to a trade mission coming 1673 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS in from Inchon. And that is being responded to in a couple of months with a trade mission leaving from here, going to Inchon and Seoul. And so it's very encouraging, that activity is very encouraging. Also, in cooperating with your office, we had a trade mission to go to Cape Coast, Ghana. And even though, to my knowledge, the deals that came out of that mission are still being negotiated, again, I would describe it as a very encouraging activity. We had the largest trade mission to come from South Africa to the United States here in Philadelphia last year and followed -- and that was so successful that it was followed up with a mission from here to South Africa.
Well, it means that -- and I'm a little hesitant about mentioning the names of companies right now because I'm not absolutely certain of the levels of negotiation.
But I think that we have 1674 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS -- some of our companies are successfully --
-- pursuing involvement in airport development as well as a number of environmental projects. And we have still another delegation that's coming in that we will be meeting with this week, and we think that more deals will be coming out of that exchange.
We also have a trade mission going shortly to Panama, and one is developed right now for Mexico. So, you know, we just think that Philadelphia can just play a much more important part in some of the new trade activity that is going on in that part of the world.
And that's what I would hope we would be mindful of, that there are opportunities which add to the bottom line of what we're doing in our city, and it behooves us to seize those opportunities and make them work for our city. Is there any rhyme or reason to -- well, Korea is a sister city, is it not? 1675 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS
So that becomes a natural -- a follow-up or a natural next step, correct, with our sister cities?
South African and Panama? I'm just curious to know what sparks those countries versus any others in the world.
Well, some of that interest comes from the Council Corps here in the city.
And so that those interests, as they exist in other countries, most often get expressed through the Council Corps.
Through that body. Please know that I will continue to follow up and I will rely on you to inform and enlighten us on how this body can be helpful to you in broadening those activities.
Councilman, as you mentioned, even though it received only a brief 1676 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS mention in my testimony, that does not mean that it is not important to us. As Mr. Traylor noted, we have a series of ongoing trade missions; we're going to try to keep that momentum going.
Councilwoman, may I add just one another thing, that in September of this year, Philadelphia will host the Corporate Council on Africa, which will be one of the, you know, most significant gatherings of corporations and representation from most of the countries of Africa here taking place in the City, and in preparation for that, the African ambassadors who meet monthly in Washington, will be meeting here next month, they will hold their monthly meeting here to take a look at Philadelphia in preparation for that September meeting.
So I think that these are very significant developments for us.
And that will be a 1677 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS first for our city, will it not?
It will be a unique opportunity. I know that high-tech is high on your itinerary, and I'm always interested in making sure that students in our city are in the pipeline, or tapped and put in the pipeline. So as you move to growth the high-tech business -- well, first, let me ask you this question: What kind of effort has been given to ensuring that universities and community colleges are a part of all of the activity that's happening around the high-tech world in our city?
Councilwoman, I'm going to ask Bonnie Grant to come up and just talk briefly about our student retention committee, and she can explain to you the involvement of those institutions. (Witness comes forward.)
And let me just give you the context in which I ask the question. 1678 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS My thinking is, if we want to prepare tomorrow's workforce, that opportunities exist where we can take students and put them as interns into high-tech businesses so that they can get a taste of that world prior to going into it full-time, so that's the context in which I ask the question.
As part of our early outreach to colleges and universities, when we were gathering the information from the universities about what they wanted to see the City do, in terms of that, we hosted a career planning and placement forum with college university officials who worked in those areas to see what those students were looking for. We also met with a number of business department chairmen specific to high-tech outreach. And we organized two years ago our first event called "Entrepreneurship Philadelphia," and what we did was, we opened this event, which to all -- to all college students in universities in the region to come to one forum. We had our first year's event at Drexel University, and we worked with a number of university officials from different colleges. And 1679 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS we encouraged students to come forth with their business plans, most of which were high-tech, that were feasible to start these businesses in Philadelphia. We arranged a conference of venture capital people, young success stories to talk to them and had keynote speakers. We also held a very successful event last year at Temple University Fox School of Business. The first year we had about 130 students from college in attendance; last year, 13 we had about 200 students from even more colleges 14 in attendance. 15
Yes, and we're planning 18 another one this year. We're arranging with 19 LaSalle University to be the host location, and we 20 will further grow that program.
Okay. Let me ask, as you grow it, to keep in mind the students who attend our Philadelphia public schools. What you've outlined is terrific for college students who have a clear sense already of what they want 1680 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS to do -- or have some sense of what they want to do with their lives. But for high school students, and when we're thinking about what we need for a workforce for tomorrow, I'm interested in knowing that we as a city are putting our students on line, in the pipeline, to initially enlighten them about these opportunities, because it's presumptuous of us to think that they know what tomorrow holds. So I'm asking that the School District become in some way, shape, form, or fashion a partner, a participant about what you're doing.
Right. There has been some work in that from Greater Philadelphia First with the business academic partnership.
And they are represented on our committee. So we also use our student retention community as a communications venue to find out what each entity is doing. And Greater Philadelphia First has done some work in that, and I'd be happy to forward you some details on that program.
Please, if you 1681 2/21/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET HEARINGS would do that. Thank you very much. If you would forward that to the Chair.
You're welcome. Are there any other questions from members of the committee? (No further questions.)
Thank you. The Mayor's Office of Community Service will be next. (Witnesses come forward.)
Good afternoon and thank you for patience. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.