COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC HEARING COMMITTEES ON FINANCE and TRANSPORTATION - - - Room 696, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, May 7, 2003 10:15 a.m. - - - RESOLUTION 020607 - Resolution authorizing the City Council Committees on Finance and Transportaion to hold hearings to examine SEPTA's Market Street Elevated Reconstruction Project in West Philadelphia, its fiscal impact on local businesses, and its overall effect on the community and the city at large. - - - PRESENT: COUNCILWOMAN JANNIE BLACKWELL, Chair COUNCILMAN ANGEL ORTIZ COUNCILMAN W. WILSON GOODE, JR. COUNCILMAN MICHAEL NUTTER - - - V A R A L L O, INCORPORATED LITIGATION SUPPORT SERVICES 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 215.561.2220 215.567.2670 I N D E X RESOLUTION 020607 PAGE CECIL BOND, JR., SEPTA ..................... LILLIE CLAITT, SEPTA ....................... 23 FRANCES JONES, SEPTA ....................... 37 SHIRLEY GREGORY, District Director for Congressman Robert Brady .............. 84 MJENZI TRAYLOR, First Duputy Commerce Director 88 CHUCK O'CONNOR .............................. 99 DOM SABATINI (ph) ........................... 101 DENISE GARRIS, 60th Street Merchants Assoc... 108 JACK TEPPER, SEPTA .......................... 115 CLIFF ENGLISH, West Market Village Assoc. .. 117 REVEREND JOSEPH BARNES ...................... 123 DEBORAH MCGREGOR ............................ 145 MR. THURMAN, East Parkside Residents Assoc .. 151 ANTHONY FULLARD, African American Chamber of Commerce ............................ 153 GREGORY MCKINLEY, Angora Station Riders ..... 166 PAT EVANS ................................... 171 JOSEPH LEE .................................. 178 DAVE PAK .................................... 180 DAVID KOH, 52nd Street Korean Business Assoc. 181 RUTH BAZEMORE ............................... 185 SHERRI TATE ................................. 191 CHARLES GIBBS ............................... 196 3 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607
Thank you all for attending this hearing. This is a joint hearing with Committee on Finance and the Committee on Transportation to deal with SEPTA and the project on Market Street that goes from 46th and 60th, how it affects the businesses, as well as the residential communities, and what impact in general it's having on our City. Before we begin we would like to note that Steve Brookins passed. His funeral is this morning at 10:00. The viewing was at 9:00 at Mount Airy Church of God in Christ at 6401 Ogontz Avenue. And so we tried to attend the viewing since we needed to be here with all of you this morning. So we might ask before we begin that we have a moment of silence for Steve Brookins, who passed away. (Moment of silence.)
Thank you. Many of you know we have a lot of battles with -- we remember a lot of battles, from the subway to the hotels when SEPTA Transport Workers Union, that is, was going through their negotiations. But we have a long history with Mr. Brookins, and he certainly deserves all the respect 4 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 that he's getting this morning. People are lined up in the streets to view and to pay their respects to his family. We send them our condolences and hope that this rash of people passing away will stop, so many good people, and that their legacies will be forever remembered. What we'll ask now is that the Clerk will please read the title of the Bill. Before that, let me note that the Chair of the Transportation and Public Utilities Committee is here; to my left, the Honorable W. Wilson Goode; and to my right, the Honorable Angel Ortiz. He is on the Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities, and we are very glad that they are here this morning. Before we hear any testimony, we would like to ask the Clerk to read the title of this Resolution.
Resolution 020607, a Resolution authorizing the City Council Committees on Finance and Transportation to hold hearings to examine SEPTA's Market Street Elevated reconstruction project in West Philadelphia, its fiscal impact on local business and its overall 5 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 affect on the community and the city at large.
Thank you very much. And we thank all of you again who have come from your communities to testify. We'd like to give just a little bit by way of background, and then we'd like to ask Mr. Cecil Bond if he would come forward. He will be testifying. We note that Frances Jones is here. Then we'll take public testimony. Let me note that we did ask Faye Moore to be here this morning, but she has chosen not to come. We believe that she should have respected the request of this Committee to come forward. We have many questions that we have continued -- and we appreciate the Assistant General Manager, Business Services Division, to be here, and we ask him to take the witness stand. We appreciate, certainly, Reverend Jim Baker for being here and Frances Jones. I note Frances Jones is Community Relations -- Vice President of Community Relations?
Assistant 6 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 General Manager of Government Affairs. I said that all wrong. We appreciate their input and certainly we work with SEPTA -- we work with Frances Jones all the time, so our issue is certainly not with her. But we do have a serious problem with Faye Moore not respecting this Committee and the residents and business owners who are suffering by not coming forward herself to testify. She could have done that. We believe -- and we take it as an affront, as an insult to the efforts to try to help businesses on the Market Street corridor and businesses affected, as well as residents. And we believe that everybody can come when you have only positive things to say. If you have a serious agenda, nothing to hide, if your agenda is positive, that you can come certainly and face questions. We want to say from the onset that we do believe that, again, it is an insult for her to not come forward. Certainly, we have a $58 million subsidy that the City is involved with for SEPTA. We have the freedom to introduce an amendment to hold up or even remove that subsidy. Those are 7 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 always options we have when we have people who don't respect us. Then we have to decide what it is we think that our response should be. A few issues that concern us are, one, an action plan for the community. Residents and business owners have felt that they have been left out of the process. I said this during our SEPTA hearings that we had a block captain in the 5500 block of Market Street, for example, who came to us when those doing the work, contractors, were urinating in front of their homes. They didn't have a porto-toilet, and they were disrespecting people by urinating on the street. And disrespecting the community -- the workers on this project -- by not having a dumpster to even clean up at the end of the day. We've been complaining since the beginning of this project about the cleanliness, about the respect to the community. We want this project. When government overall is spending almost a billion dollars, to expect cleanliness, to expect people to clean up at the end of the day, to expect just some human decency is what a community has the right to expect. We're also concerned about -- and we 8 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 would like certainly for you to respond today -- about decisions for closing Angora Terrace. We have advertisements in my office I will have brought up that talk about advertising. There were advertising glitches. The train said one notice in terms of closing Angora Terrace, and then the El said another. So there was misinformation given on that and we're hoping and requesting that that closing be delayed because we didn't even have consistent information given out on the closing. Angora Terrace, that station, is in the middle of a mall, a neighborhood business mall. It's a block from a school, within a block of a school and a public library. It will make a big difference to that neighborhood. Albeit, we have a trolley that can take you downtown, closing that station and making that a wasteland really goes against the whole nature and plan for neighborhood transformation and certainly will adversely, greatly affect that neighborhood. So Angora Terrace was number two. Number three was route consolidation. People are complaining that it seemed to be random, even though I know you have plans. They are 9 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 absolutely complaining about the whole issue of route consolidation. Number four are contracts. We have contractors who are here. Anthony Fullard, for one, will speak for them. At the last meeting, many contractors came out to say, albeit, you give numbers like 34 percent during one aspect of the project, they don't see that and are complaining against neighborhood and minority inclusion.
All of us know that this is the time where minorities, women, and disabled have to be included on projects or they just won't go. So that's the fourth issue. And the last issue that we want to mention is a time line. We would like you to respond to what's going to happen and when in terms of this project. And finally, we have been trying to talk to everybody we can find to get business owners help. Nobody can survive six years without a full pay; not six weeks. None of us can do that. So we are really concerned about -- we need a plan to subsidize our businesses, and we have been -- I got a call as recently as yesterday with some consultants who want to work with us in the business 10 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 community and commerce to see what we can do. We've got to find a way to subsidize businesses because in five to six years we won't have businesses left if we don't find a way to give them some help around this project. There's also a meeting today with SEPTA's marketing department, along with -- it's called Clear Channel, a SEPTA proposal that will deal with Power 99 and WDAS Unity Day, where there is a plan to try to focus on maybe a trip to Disney World for people who shop on the strip and try to come up with a plan to focus interest on this commercial corridor. So we've been working with that, and we thank them for coming up with the idea and letting us know about it. So we will be reporting back to you about a meeting that is called the Clear Channel SEPTA Proposal. And Clear Channel is really trying to work with us to try to focus attention on this neighborhood corridor and to see what we can do to spur those interested to participate. Having said those things, I would like to ask my colleagues if they would like to make an opening statement. 11 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 The Chair notes that Councilman Michael Nutter is likewise here, and we thank him for his attendance as well. Mr. Bond, would you identify yourself then for the record and begin your testimony.
Good morning, Councilwoman Blackwell and Members of the City Council. , Assistant General Manger of Business Services at SEPTA. Today I'm representing the General Manager, Faye Moore, and SEPTA. Ms. Moore offers her regrets, as she is attending meetings having to do with the recent announcement of our budget crisis. In addition, I'm here to provide testimony on Resolution No. 020607, concerning the Market Street Elevated Reconstruction Project in West Philadelphia. Accompanying me is Frances Jones, Assistant General Manager for Government Affairs, and members of SEPTA's project team for the Market Street Elevated Project. We are undertaking the reconstruction of the Market Street Elevated Line in West Philadelphia and Delaware County as a part of a major capital investment project to improve the Market-Frankford 12 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 Subway Elevated Line between 46th Street and Millbourne Street in eastern Delaware County. Opened in 1907, the El in West Philadelphia has been in active service for 96 years. The intent of the Market Street Elevated Construction Project is to ensure the operational reliability and safety of this portion of our busiest line which transports more than 100,000 daily riders. The current scope of work for this project includes replacement and reconstruction of six existing stations; 46th Street, 52nd Street, 56th Street, 60th Street and 63rd Street in Philadelphia, and the Millbourne Station in Delaware County; replacement of 11,000 feet of guideway structure between Millbourne Station and 46th Street with a new single column bent structure; the construction of two new automatic train control buildings and other related safety improvements. The project is designed to open the area surrounding the El in West Philadelphia to more natural daylight and to ease the flow of traffic along Market Street. The new Americans with Disabilities Act compliant stations will be equipped 13 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 with new elevators and escalators, improved lighting, and new in-station communication systems. With a budget of $567 million, the project is scheduled to be substantially complete in the year 2007. In addition to four professional service contracts, the project is divided into five major construction contracts: The ATC Buildings at 52nd Street and 63rd Street; the Foundations, including ductbanks and utilities; the Cobbs Creek Project at Millbourne and 63rd Streets and the portion of the guideway between these stations; the guideway for the remaining sections of track between stations; and finally, the fifth package is the stations package, 46th, 52nd, 56th and 60th Streets, and a portion of guideway at each station. Construction is substantially complete on the two ATC buildings. The contracts for the Foundations package was awarded and is 40 percent complete, with a scheduled completion date of 2004. The Cobbs Creek contract is currently 19 percent complete, and work is scheduled to be completed in the year 2005. The guideway package was recently awarded at SEPTA's April 2003 board meeting. And 14 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 the station package bids will be open on May 9th, that's this Friday, the year 2003. As defined by the regulation of the US Department of Transportation 49 CFR Part 26, our Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Department, through its Affirmative Action program, ensures equal opportunities for minorities, women and construction area residents to participate in the construction contracts and employment opportunities associated with the program to reconstruct the El in West Philadelphia. The contract goals for disadvantaged business participation are established on a contract-by-contract basis. 8 percent. 9 percent for female. We added a voluntary construction area residents EEO goal of 10 percent.
We continue to meet with the contractors, encouraging achievement 15 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 of the expanded EEO goals established for the project. 14 percent. 24 percent. 37 percent. Forty individuals employed on the project are construction area residents. Since the beginning of the project, we have embarked on an aggressive outreach program for minority and women-owned businesses that includes technical assistance and advice concerning the DBE certification process. We've held six contract information outreach sessions, providing an opportunity for potential prime bidders and DBE subcontractors to network and discuss forging business relationships. We have also engaged in an intensive community outreach component with community residents and stakeholders. These tasks are presently being accomplished with the combined resources of SEPTA and its project consultants. To 16 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 this end, we have assumed direct responsibility for the staffing and management of a Community Information Center, located at 5344 Chestnut Street. By providing a daily presence, we are working to enhance communications, the flow of information, and improve coordination on matters demanding immediate attention. In addition, we continue to hold community meetings to provide project activity updates and to inform the community about pertinent project-related activities through comprehensive communication efforts. By the very nature of the construction work, individuals who live and work adjacent to the El structure are experiencing changes in their lifestyles. While every effort is being made to minimize these hardships, we recognize that the business community in and around Market Street have specific issues and concerns that must be addressed throughout the life of this project. We have identified in excess of 750 businesses within the larger project area, and approximately 163 businesses located along Market Street. Working through our consultants, we have developed a comprehensive business outreach program 17 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 designed to provide assistance to local businesses. A business resource guide with information about starting a business, developing a business plan, business marketing, agencies and organizations that can provide assistance and technical advice was prepared and distributed to area businesses. I think you have a copy of some of this literature in your package. Our consultants have also developed special promotional programs, including "It's Cool to Shop Around the El," and "Holiday Lights" to encourage community residents and SEPTA riders to support businesses within the project area. As an extension of our business outreach efforts, one member of the team has been assigned to daily monitor project activity, which includes walking the construction area, meeting with the business owners and providing assistance in resolving construction-related issues that might impede the normal flow of day-to-day business activities. In response to concerns expressed by businesses at 52nd and 56th Street and Market Streets concerning impediments to vehicular traffic, 18 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 we constructed two customer parking lots. In addition, we've met with Councilwoman Blackwell to discuss other possible locations for customer parking lots to support businesses within the project area. Even with the best intentions, it is difficult to complete a project of this magnitude and complexity without disruption to customers, community residents, and area businesses. However, every effort is being made to resolve issues that arise within the specific areas of construction. In response to concerns about lighting, we have replaced missing lights along the 5500 block of Market Street that are on the existing structure.
Our MSE project team has been actively coordinating with the 16th, 18th, and 19th Police Districts concerning street closures, construction activity locations and emergency vehicle access. The Market Street Elevated Reconstruction Project represents a major investment for the City of Philadelphia and the future of the citizens who live and work in West Philadelphia. As a quasi-public agency, please be assured that we are committed to addressing the 19 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 concerns of this Council and your constituents. We are prepared to collaborate with stakeholders and other government agencies to mitigate present and future issues. Thank you for your indulgence and continued support. That concludes my testimony.
Thank you very much. You mentioned that contract goals for minority participation are established on a contract-by-contract basis. Do you not have overall goals, and then deal with it on a contract-by-contract basis?
We're required by the FTA to submit an annual overall goal. I'm not sure exactly what that number is, but I think it's about 15 percent this year. Every year the goal varies based on available capital projects that are going to take place during the ensuing year. But when we review the contracts, there's some contracts that do not offer subcontracting opportunities for anyone. And so in those case we would not set goals. There are some contracts and most of the contracts on MSE project 20 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 provide opportunities for subcontracting to minority and other subcontractors. And so in those cases we do set goals.
Would you give us detailed information about that, the overall goals and the goals for each contract? That is going to be very important to the minority contractors, some of whom are here.
We have that information. I think we submitted it in the past, but we'll get it for you again. That's not a problem.
Thank you. Councilman Nutter, do you have a question on this area? Part of the El, as many of you know, above 60th Street to Millbourne is Councilman Nutter's, who's a Member of the Finance Committee, is his area.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I didn't understand the response.
Mr. Bond, would you repeat or clarify for us? 21 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607
Your question was, I thought, does SEPTA have an annual DBE goal. We do have an annual DBE goal. It's sent off to the FTA every year.
I thought the question was, do you have individual goals on the contracts related to this project. I thought that was the question.
I didn't understand that to be the question. If I misunderstood --
I thought your question was, are there goals for the project?
Absolutely. On , third paragraph of his testimony, he states, and I quote, "The contract goals for disadvantaged business enterprise participation are established on a contract-by-contract basis." And we needed clarification.
Right. And I thought your question was about that. And the next thing I heard about was an annual goal.
I misunderstood the question. I apologize. 22 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 Yes, there are contract goals set on each of the contracts for the Market Street Elevated Project. And we have the information on each contract by goal -- well, the goal of each particular project, on the MSE project.
But we also did question the overall goal, as well as the contract-by-contract, that we wanted that information.
Exactly. I just thought that the response was not responsive to the question that was asked, and I didn't understand it.
I apologize. I misunderstood the question. We have four professional services contracts. The DBE goal for the four professional services contracts were MSE Architecture and Engineering Services for Inspection design and construction-related Services, that was a percent 22 goal. 23 On the MSE, Affirmative Action Consulting Services was awarded in 1998. It was a 50 percent DBE goal. 23 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 On the MSE Communications and Community Relations Services, there was a 50 percent goal. On the MSE Program Management Services, there was a percent goal. That's on the 6 professional services contracts. 7 On the construction contracts -- 8
As you state the 13 goals, and you say these are professional services, 14 could you also state what minority companies were 15 hired and their addresses and so on? 16
And why are the goals so low? They're really low. In a City in which we're close to 60 percent of the population, the goals are very low.
I'll try the first question you asked first. 24 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 On the first professional services contract where the goal was percent -- 4
Define what we mean 5 by goals and what was achieved out of that with each 6 category that Councilwoman Blackwell and Councilman 7 Nutter asked for. 8
Good morning. I'm Lillie 9 Claitt with SEPTA. I work with the Small and 10 Disadvantaged Business Utilization Department. I 11 will do my best to answer the questions concerning 12 the DBE participation for the Market Street Elevated 13 project. 14 If I may please have the specific 15 question for right now, please, sir. 16
My name is Lillie Claitt. 19 I am with the Small and Disadvantaged Business 20 Utilization Department at SEPTA, and I work with the 21 goals for minority employment for Market Street 22 Elevated Project. I will do my best to answer the 23 questions regarding the minority firms or DBEs that are participating on the contracts that we've just informed you about. 25 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 Could I please have the specific question that you would like answered at this point in time, please?
I asked for, one, the identification of those firms that were hired; and also for the definition, and were the goals realized, and then why are they so low. If you reach this very low barrier, if you reach this very low barrier, are we then just, "Oh, well, we reached percent, so let's forget 12 it, let's go on and do that"? If we reach that low 13 barrier, then why don't we have a greater 14 participation? 15 It is a very low barrier that we have in terms of standards.
In terms of establishing the goal on a contract-by-contract basis, it's based on not just the elements of the work that is available for participation by minorities or any other contractor, but it's based also on the number or percentage of minority or DBE firms that we have certified in our database in terms of setting the goal. The achievement for each of the 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 contracts, if that's what you would like to know at this time, I have available for each contract, each contractor. On the professional services contracts, our achievement is 22.03 percent -- if I may correct that, please. On the architectural and engineering professional services contract, we have an achievement of, again, 22.03 percent. And that's based on the monitoring percentage of payment by the prime contractor to each of the subcontractors.
Could you define that, monitoring percentage of payment.
Monitoring is the review of monthly documents submitted by each contractor that demonstrates to SEPTA that they are paying the DBE subcontractors to achieve their goal. We monitor it on a monthly basis to determine if there's any deviation or if there's any problem or discrepancy based on the percentage of the contract that's complete and the percentage that has been paid to each of the DBEs. At that time, if a contractor is falling short of their DBE goal, we are in a position to 27 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 work with them to ensure that they do meet that goal. So that's a monthly utilization report that is submitted to us, together with canceled checks, evidencing the payment to those DBEs. Does that answer your question, sir?
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm sorry, ma'am. I was distracted. I didn't catch your name.
My name is Lillie Claitt, and I'm with SEPTA's Small and Disadvantaged Utilization Department.
Okay. Ms. Claitt, you were telling us about professional services contracts; is that correct?
Okay. Are there any minority or female firms that are functioning as a prime in the professional services area?
Yes, there are. We have 28 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 two.
On the communications and public relations, that's Portfolio Associates. That is a certified women-owned business located in Philadelphia. And on the Affirmative Action contract, we have Contract Compliance, Inc., which is owned by an African American male, with a home base in Bethesda, Maryland.
Contract Compliance, Inc., an African-American-owned consulting firm.
Which was set up to do this project. They're not based here; they set up an office because doing work here?
Okay. We'll get back to that. I guess what I was really asking on the professional services side in terms of prime contractors was related to the actual work of the 29 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 project, like architects or designers or something that's a little more directly related. I'm glad that we have a communications component. I'm not exactly thrilled about the Contract Compliance. I'm glad we have it. I'm sure we could have found someone who might have been interested in that work who is based here in Philadelphia, but we don't have to have that argument at the moment. What I'm trying to understand is, directly related to the single bent column system running down Market Street, is there any minority, black, Latino, Croatian, or any other minority that might be available, or a female firm, that is prime contractor for professional services?
All these projects with SEPTA are professional services contracts.
Right. Which have the maximum flexibility of any contract; is that correct? 30 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607
-- responding to the RFP. You cannot pick anyone you want. They have to be responsive to the RFP. There is a technical package that is submitted and there is a cost package that is submitted.
Do any firms that we've described here, whether minority, African American, female, or any other classification, respond to any of these RFPs?
I don't have that information at hand, but I can get the information on the number of firms who did, the type of firms and the number of firms.
Well, if none had, given your length of experience and the expertise that I know you've developed over the years, Mr. Bond, if none had responded, you'd probably know that, right? I mean, that would probably seem a little strange to you?
Yes, I probably would have 31 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 known if they had not responded. But what we do is, on all of our contracts, when they've submitted proposals, we have a list of the breakdown of all the firms who submitted responses, and we would also have a list of their ethnicity. And I have that information. I just don't have it at my fingertips. There may have been minority firms who responded as prime proposals on professional services contracts, on the architectural and engineering designs. And we did have African American firms performing as subs on those architectural and engineering design projects.
Well, you know, I'm always pleased to hear that. I mean, but the question is, are you working in the field, or do you own the farm? I mean, that's how you really start to make your way. When do people make the progression -- because everybody's got to start somewhere, and I understand that. When do you make the progression over the years from this sub status to the prime status? How does that happen? And if it doesn't happen in professional services, it's much more likely that's not going to happen anywhere 32 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 else because you have the greatest amount of discretion and leeway on the professional services side.
Well, I would tend to agree with you. What I'm saying is, I don't have it at my fingertips. I can get the information on the numbers --
Is it possible to get it in the course of this hearing? Does somebody else have it back at the shop?
Yes. We can get that information on the number of minority firms that bidded on all of the professional services contracts.
And how is it that -- increasingly what we seem to hear -- and this came up during budget hearings and some of the questioning by other colleagues -- it seems that when SEPTA sets a goal, however it may be established, the goal appears to be the ceiling, as opposed the floor, and you are always -- for any of the hearings that I've participated in, it sounds like you have always been within less than one percentage point of the goal. So at budget time, we 33 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 heard you have an overall goal of percent, and I think the actual was, like, 18.2. We hear on professional services the goal was 23 and your at 22.03. I mean, how does that happen?
The exact numerical goal that 7 you have on one contract is not the same on every 8 contract. 9
I understand that. 10 But how does it always end up that you are always 11 just right there? 12
I don't know that that's the 13 case. We can go through the numbers. But the goals 14 are set individually on each individual contract, 15 whether it's a Request For Proposal or a competitive 16 bid. Some of those goals are higher than others. 17 And on the professional services contracts, the 18 goals were higher obviously because, as you said, more minorities are certified in those particular areas. But I can't answer the question saying that they're that close. We could have an annual goal of 18 percent, and we can have some contracts with goals that go out that have percent. 24
I understand that. 25 But when you add it all up, it's right there at 18. 34 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607
The numbers are what they are. I understand that. It just seems that somehow -- we are starting to veer into mathematical improbability, that every time a goal is set, you are right there within less than a percentage point of that goal on either side of it.
Well, I can say as an agency -- and I've been involved in working in and around this area for the last years -- we have 13 encouraged all of our contractors to increase the 14 goals. Some of them do. Some of them don't. I 15 would say the majority of them accept the goal for 16 what it is. Be it not for the federal guidelines 17 that allow us to be able to set goals, I'm not too 18 sure there would be minority contractors on many of 19 our contracts. It is the goal that drives the 20 engine here. And what we try to do is, we have guidelines and regulations we have to follow. We follow the regulations on how we set goals on projects. It is not a special science that you sit down and say on all those projects, because it's in a special locale, we're going to set a 75 percent 35 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 goal. The other issue is, is that -- and I'm sure you've heard this before. It doesn't make matters any better. Is that the goal is made up of minorities, and based on the federal government standards, minorities include other than African Americans, including white females, which also hampers our ability to increase the goal from what it is to the African American community.
That was a point of information. I'll come back for regular questioning. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you very much. We certainly would like a response to these issues, other issues that I mentioned in my opening testimony about routes and Angora Terrace, et cetera. What we would like for you to do is to -- we want to permit some community residents who are here, who have taken off, to have the opportunity to testify, but we'll ask you if you will come back to respond to their issues, if that 36 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 is okay with the Committee. Councilman Ortiz.
On , you have, in addition to the total number of workers employed for all trades utilized was 558, of which 136 are African American, 24.37. Forty individuals employed on the project are construction area residents. Could you tell me if any of the 136 African Americans are in the trades or are laborers? How many of them are in the so-called skilled trades, and whether any of them are?
Can you give me a listing of those trades, and identify the 136?
They're members of the electricians, the carpenters, the steel workers and so on? 37 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607
Thank you, Councilman. And we ask that you get all information to the Chair as well. We'll make sure Committee Members get it. Councilman Goode and then Councilman Nutter.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning, Mr. Bond and Mrs. Jones. To set the tone for the testimony from the businesses and residents, I want to talk a little bit or ask you about the Frankford experience. Tell me about businesses lost, about business retention plans you may have had there, about any economic recovery that may or may not have taken place.
The Frankford Project was a bit different than the project we're doing on Market Street. The Frankford Project was the rebuilding of the existing structure and the stations. Market Street, we're doing a total --
Before there's any comparison, I actually just want to know the 38 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 Frankford experience; how it went, how it impacted businesses, how many businesses were lost; was there a retention plan, was there any economic recovery from whatever businesses were lost there?
The specific data on the businesses lost, I don't have that; but we can get that information back to you. To be very honest with you, there was no reimbursement for lost revenues for the businesses in Frankford around the project.
My question is, how bad was the problem? How much of an impact did it have? Was there any retention plan and how much recovery was there economically?
We can get that information back to you. It was quite devastating for businesses in Frankford.
Based upon that analysis of what happened in Frankford, was there any inventory of businesses around this project?
The Market Street Project, absolutely, which is why we have such an ambitious -- sorry.
How far did you 39 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 inventory around the project? What businesses did you consider to be impacted by the project?
We determined the project area to be a four-block radius, two blocks each side of the project, from 46th Street to 63rd Street, and including Millbourne Station in eastern Delaware County, as well as two blocks going north and south. So we consider that to be the project area. We also inventoried and considered the spoke streets, the numbered streets, 52nd Street, 60th Street, and 63rd Street, as well as all the businesses on Market Street.
How many businesses are contained within that inventory?
About 700. We determined it to be about 700 businesses in the project area.
I don't have that data in front of me. Thus far, there have been closures of 40 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 four businesses.
Was there a projection of how many businesses were going to be lost among those 700 inventory?
But you did have a Frankford experience, although there is a different project, you did know there was going to be some businesses lost, so you did an inventory for what purpose?
We did an inventory to determine who the businesses were, what type of businesses they were to determine essentially what their needs would be around technical assistance, and to deal with their issues, and where they were, the status of their individual businesses.
Because you were worried about the economic impact on those businesses?
But you did no 3 projection of what was going to be lost?
At this point, we did not. We will take that into consideration, Councilman.
Did you hold separate meetings for businesses, separate from residents?
Yes. And we're doing that on an on-going basis. We've been doing that since 1998.
How many businesses participated among those 700 inventoried?
Generally at the business meetings we get anywhere from to to 50 15 businesses. I think we've topped out at about 50 16 businesses at the round table meetings, or the 17 technical assistance meetings. 18
So, what outreach do 19 you do to those businesses beyond those meetings? 20
We have a consultant, number 21 one, who is out there on a daily basis. We have two 22 staff people that walk the project area. They go in 23 and out of businesses to determine what their needs 24 are. If there's special needs around deliveries or 25 special needs around access to the business in the 42 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 construction area, we're there to try to mitigate those kind of issues. And we have a specific person who's on board to provide technical assistance around marketing, advertising, internal controls, accounting procedures, those types of issues.
So how many of those 700 have been individually contacted?
Personally. There's a person that has gone door to door. When we first brought the consultant on board, we wanted an inventory to see who was there, how many vacant properties were there, the businesses. On an ongoing basis, we go back around promotions, if we're doing special activities, we go back door to door to each individual business. It's an arduous and tedious process, but we go individually door to door to every business in the corridor.
So what do you know 43 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 about the 700 businesses?
We know what type of businesses they are. We know what categories fall into. We know what their needs are.
I mean, beyond the initial inventory, in terms of the follow-up and the outreach to those 750 business, what do you know about those businesses now, if there's continuous outreach?
We know as much as they will provide us with, as far as information is concerned. Do we know what their -- in some instances, we know what revenues are, but in some instances, some of them think that that's very private business. So we know as much as they will tell us about their individual business, other than the information that we're able to get from them from site visits, the condition of their property. But the information that we're able to glean from them is the information that they give us voluntarily.
Thank you very much. 44 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 Councilman Nutter.
Let me refer to the testimony first, and then I have some other questions. On you say that the work hour goals were set at 17.3 percent minority. How do you arrive at such a number?
The 17.3 percent minority -- the 6.9 percent number is a federal standard that is set for all public agencies with regards of those agencies that are receiving federal grants.
That's the minimum that firms are required to hire. And it's work-hour goals only.
And after you meet the minimum, the max is the sky is the limit, right?
Councilman Ortiz 45 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 mentioned how is it that you end up at that kind of number, given the general population in Philadelphia, and specifically out in West Philadelphia, how do you end up with percent? 6 MS CLAITT: For the Market Street 7 Elevated Project, based on the demographics of the 8 workers in the trades, we established a 26.4 percent 9 goal for minority participation. And as a result, 10 that's what we're working towards. 11
That's the standard goal, 14 sir. 17.3 is the standard federal goal. 15
The 26.4 is the goal 18 established as a result of the demographics within 19 the construction area. 20
What's the minority 21 population in the construction area?
Have you ever been to the construction area? 46 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607
What's your sense of what the demographic is of the construction area?
It's based upon the trades that will be required for construction of the El.
So our problem is not that there are so many African Americans in West Philly; the problem is that not enough of them are in the trades. Is that the issue?
We've established a training program identifying those individuals within the community that are interested in trades. We performed outreach since 1998 with lists that totalled up to over 1,000 names. We've since purged that list based on different interests of the 47 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 people. We now have approximately 618 that have expressed interest in this project. Of those, 193 are current union card holders. The balance, we're working with to establish training programs.
Well, I mean, that would be the next natural question, right?
What are we doing to find out what those folks are up to?
The workers that we have -- the 193 union card holders, the majority of them are laborers. Each contractor as they come on board provide us with a list of the labor force that they will require at different phases of the work. We provide them with the list of the workers that we 48 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 have. From there, they go to the union halls to request or to get workers in the trades that they require. But they do have the list of our applicants.
So do they pick any of the folks from the list that you provided?
There has been a few of the names from our list that have been selected, yes.
Well, what's SEPTA's ability to insist on the utilization of people that you've identified?
To extent that the applicants are selected or are provided to the contractors through the union halls.
You provided them the names. You have 193 people that you've identified as card-carrying union members, right?
My question was, what is SEPTA's ability to insist or request or require that those people work on this particular 49 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 project?
To the extent possible, we encourage the contractors when they got to the unions halls to request those that are listed.
So when you pay for something, you demand a certain level of service, right?
Like, if I put my $1.60 or $2.00, or whatever it's going to be, in the box, if I'm trying to go east, I expect the train is going to take me east, right? That's what I'm 50 05/07/03 - FINANCE AND TRANSPORTATION - RES. 020607 paying for.