We thank you all for your testimony as well. Thank you very much. Leslie Miller, Alexander Scarola, Francis Vargas, Nick Bucci. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Good morning. Thank you for your patience. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
I'm Leslie Anne Miller. Madam Chair, Councilman Jones, I, like everyone present in this -- I'm sorry; Councilman Clarke. I need to get my glasses changed. I certainly know who you are. I'm off to a great start, aren't I? 168 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 I, like so many in this chamber this morning, have been struck by the array of talent who have testified, as well as by the outpouring of love for the Park. I think that in no small measure it's a tribute to the new system that you two have endeavored to create over the past nine years. I hope that it provides you some small measure of comfort as you struggle to make your choice of the individuals that you're going to forward to the Mayor from this incredible list. I appreciate the opportunity to introduce myself and take a few minutes to respectfully suggest why my name should be included in the list that you will ultimately forward to the Mayor for his final selection of those individuals who will serve on the new Commission on Parks and Recreation. As my application and accompanying resume demonstrates, throughout my 30-year career in Philadelphia, I have combined the 169 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 practice of law with community service. And, by the way, I'd like to refute the assertion of one of the prior individuals who testified. I too live in Lower Merion Township, but whenever asked, I declare myself as a Philadelphian. During those 30 years, I've been involved in a wide variety of organizations, often in leadership roles. There are five specific examples that I'd like to point out which I believe have particular relevance for my potential service on the Commission. First, the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where I became Acting President at the request of the Board and helped to complete the fundraising on this $265 million project, just before it opened. Secondly, the Women for the Water Works, which I currently chair and where I help to complete the remaining renovations of the Cliffside Paths and 170 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 the South Gardens by raising the final $5 million of this 30-year $30 million project. Third, the Fairmount Park Conservancy, which, as you know, is the official fundraising arm of the Park, where I am currently Vice-President of the Board. Fourth, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, where as Chair of the Green City Strategy Committee, I am leading an effort to build further support for one of the nation's most comprehensive greening programs. Finally, the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation, where I am the First Vice-President, and as you know, that foundation is the financial support of the Free Library system. My work with these organizations has educated me about the importance of the Park as a natural, recreational and economic resource. More importantly, it has caused me to think 171 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 increasingly about the untapped potential the Park holds for Philadelphia's future, particularly with the advent of the new Parks and Recreation Department and the current support of the Mayor. It is critical that the new Park system be properly implemented. A strong Commission on Parks and Recreation should play a key advisory role in this process and ultimately in the Park's oversight. I would like to continue my work on behalf of the Park by helping to define the Commission's role within the new system. I believe that my professional training and volunteer experience will serve me well in this process. As should be obvious, I'm a prodigious fundraiser, having honed my skills on behalf of a wide variety of not-for-profit and political causes. This training can and should be readily applied to the Park. 172 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 As an individual with many ties to the community, I believe that I could also be helpful in building consensus on key issues regarding the Park.
It's critical that the many Park-related groups unify in support of the work of the Commissioner and ultimately the Administration. Our common agenda must be to strengthen the Park. A cleaner, greener Fairmount Park, which generates more revenue, will not only enhance life for all of the citizens of the Philadelphia region, but will support economic development in our region. It needs to be sold as a reason to visit and/or use the City of Philadelphia for business or pleasure. The Park is a resource whose potential has yet to be fully realized, and now is the time to do so. I hope that I will be given the chance to participate in this critical period in the history of Fairmount Park. In case you can't tell, I too love the 173 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 Park and I want to do everything that I can to make it truly the crown jewel of our city's natural and economic resources. Thank you for your perseverance here today.
Good morning. Alex Scarola. I'd like to be interested for the Commission on Parks and Recreation because I'm a resident of the City of Philadelphia and I regularly use the parks and I really want to help make them better. I believe the Parks and Recreation system in this city is a vital part of what makes Philadelphia a great place to live, work and visit, and I want to help make sure this continues for generations to come. I've been using the parks in this City for almost nine years. Four to five days a week I exercise in 174 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 Rittenhouse Square, Schuylkill River Park, Boathouse Row or the loop around East River and West River Drive. I played a number of games of softball and football in Fairmount Park. I've participated in many charity runs, and I even participated in the Philadelphia Triathlon the past two summers. Yes, I swam in the Schuylkill River, and I enjoyed it. Over the course of many years, I've seen a lot of improvements to the parks in the system and I believe that we can continue to improve them for everyone's benefit. In addition to being a regular user of the parks in Philadelphia, I am a public finance lawyer who has worked on a number of financing transactions for local governments, some of which in the past related to capital funding for parks and recreation facilities. I can provide ideas that have worked in the past related to capital funding for the parks 175 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 and recreation facilities. In addition, I think it is very important, especially in these economic times, to come up with new and creative ways to finance operating and capital costs to promote, support and enhance the image of the parks and recreation system in Philadelphia. I can provide some unique ideas related to funding of the parks and recreation system. I feel that the Department of Parks and Recreation must be viewed as an integral part of the growth and prosperity of the City of Philadelphia, and I want to be a part of that. Bottom line is, I really just want to help. Thank you very much for your consideration.
Hi. I'm Francis Vargas. Good morning, members of City Council and to those who have come to participate in today's public hearings 176 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 regarding the Parks and Recreation Commission. I understand that I'm one of the last to provide testimony today and in the interest of time, I'll make every attempt to provide a short and concise statement.
Let me say this: You do not have to rush. You do have three minutes like everyone else. So seize the moment.
Great. I will. Thank you. Once again, my name is Francis Vargas. I'm a life-long Philadelphian, born and raised in eastern North Philadelphia and a current resident of East Mount Airy. I want to first thank everyone here for the opportunity to present testimony in support of my application to the Commission. I'm thrilled to see there's so much interest in the process and so many applicants. My interest in the Commission is admittedly 177 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 self-serving. As a Philadelphian and a new father, I am deeply invested in our city's future and, more specifically, our children's future in this city. I worked in community development for over 7 years now. I've worked at two great 8 non-profits, Asociacion de 9 Puertorriquenos en Marcha and Friends 10 Rehabilitation Program. I worked in City 11 government at the Redevelopment Authority 12 and currently am working in the private 13 sector for Allied Construction and the 14 Altman Group, where I concentrate mostly on affordable housing in the Philadelphia area. Over the years I balanced my career pursuits with volunteer activities on various boards and advisory groups, including Philly Green and the Community Scholars Program at Germantown Friends School, and I am currently on the Boards of People's Emergency Center and Octavia Hill Association. I have been involved in 178 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 planning, developing and building hundreds of affordable housing units throughout Philadelphia. While this has been very rewarding, I feel that my biggest accomplishments have been working on the smaller-scale projects, like working with Philly Green on community gardens in North Philadelphia or working with Jane Golden of the Mural Arts Program to bring murals and children's art projects to North 5th Street. It's these smaller, low profile and grassroots efforts in our community, coupled with well-planned housing and commercial development, that makes community development and community building work. I believe my participation in the Parks and Recreation Commission would be just as rewarding as the work that I do day to day. I believe my work and life experiences could be a valuable perspective as we plan for the future. I would urge us to look at our future strategically, and while I readily 179 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 acknowledge that we cannot always escape the politics of our decision, we have the responsibility as stewards of this great task to think past the next round of elections and think of our children. I also understand that you have many qualified candidates for this position and urge you all to select wisely and to select the most qualified applicants, and wherever I fall in that process, I will be happy to know that the best candidates are serving the City. I'd like to add a quick blurb in addition to my written testimony, just a reflection of some of the testimony I heard today, and talk a little bit about where I group up at 7th and Cambria as a child. There was a rec center at 5th and Allegheny and we had a park at Fairhill and Lehigh. I was prohibited to go to both of those as a child. Fifth and Allegheny was known as a dangerous spot. There was drug dealings. There was active shootings. I did not have a 180 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 positive experience as a child at those locations. The park was filled with needles. It was filled with people that will bring the associated drug trade to the park, and my father prohibited me from attending these areas. In East Mount Airy, we have thriving recreation centers. We have access to a beautiful park that's used by everyone around the City. I believe strongly this inequity is unacceptable and we have a responsibility to do something about this.
I'd like to also reflect on a comment that Councilman Clarke made many, many years ago when I was at RDA and we were working on a very small community garden project or a side yard, and I was very excited about it and Councilman Clarke was very supportive of it and looked at me said, You know, some day I hope we can work on a project that's like a Rittenhouse Square in North Philadelphia. And it's a notion that 181 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 stuck with me for many years and something that I hope some day we can do, and in the mean time, take our current assets and make these available to everybody of Philadelphia. They're not just neighborhood assets. They're assets of the City of Philadelphia. So thank you for the indulgence and the extra time. I've provided three letters of recommendation and support, with written copy of my testimony, as well as my application and resume outlining my interest and background in much greater detail. Thank you for your time and consideration. I'd gladly welcome any questions that you may have regarding my application.
We thank you all very, very much for your patience as well and understanding this process. Thank you so much for your testimony. Welcome. Please have a seat at the witness table. And might you have 182 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 testimony for us? It's okay if you don't. I just need to know for my records here.
I do not. I was given a phone call yesterday and there was a Sharon Ortiz who called me, and I called her back all day long.
So I'm unprepared in the matter of paperwork, but I've got something to say and I'd be glad for the opportunity to say it.
Terrific. Please be seated. You're not unprepared because you applied, and your application alone warrants the next step, which is for you to be here today --
And if I could please ask Wendy Rosen to report to the witness table. Terrific. So let's give her a chance to be seated.
So let me just underscore, if you don't have testimony today, that's not a problem. You're welcome to submit it at a later time.
Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony. I might add, you do have three minutes.
Thank you. I'll keep it short. The reason I applied was that I have a number of unique qualities to offer, and I seek to offer them, especially in Mr. Jones' district regarding the Wissahickon. I am friends with Bernie Strain, having recently met him at the Kelpius celebration. I lead tours in that area, and curiously people do not know that that very ridge in the Wissahickon is one of the oldest geological formations in North America and one of the most sacred sites in North America within one of the largest cities. Aside from that, I am a stone 185 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 mason by trade, a restoration carpenter and a classical cabinet maker. I'm a master in each one of those crafts, and I have two Ph.D.'s. And where I came up, Ph.D. stands for post hole digger.
Yes. Therefore, I am the person who is on the ground, and because I'm on the ground and in it, I have a rather unique view and understanding of the Park in workings that most people do not quite grasp or understand, particularly with the environment, the ecology, the geology and all of the natural ideas and items regarding the Park. Plus, the Park has almost 200 antique or period structures, most in dire need, and the time unfortunately for half measures and talk is over. Something very much needs to be done, because we are in great danger of losing some of these structures, Glen Fern, for one. Even though it is 186 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 somewhat maintained, it is reported to be the second oldest house in Pennsylvania. The Hermitage, of course, built on the site of the very spot which was at one time the Tabernacle and home of Johannes Kelpius, a German pietist who came with 40 followers and who in turn his disciples went on to become the instructors of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, David Rittenhouse, Benjamin Rush, John Bartram, those men who framed our Constitution. So essentially the freedoms, separation of church and state, emanate very much from the Wissahickon. And that is my area of expertise. Nobody really understands or knows this. A number of people from all over the country I've led on tours, and I've seen how we need so very much in the Park. Not as much as the money, and I realize everything costs a lot of money, but we need people. And I lead so many volunteers so often who want to help and 187 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 they don't have any money to spend, but they are willing to make the time and not the money to give, and those are what we really need in the Park, because those are the people -- it's their park. They don't own it. They take care of it. And those who care for it are the ones who very much own the Park. And we need those people. And I've interviewed 40 people, from one scale to the other, some former Park employees, and everybody is saddened at the fact that they have difficulty trusting the hierarchy because of the boondoggles that have constantly been stumbling in the Park. And there's no one in particular to blame. The system is just failing as it were. And what we need to do is essentially formulate a new system through this Commission, forming of people, the locale. The Roxborough-Manayunk Historical Society is very much interested in formulating a coalition. And I seek to form a coalition of the 188 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 various historical societies, the various groups and organizations that ring the Park, that really use the Park, because all of them are willing to help. And I, in reaching out with them, have listened to what they have to say, but so many of them feel that these hallowed halls are so far from their reach, and because I'm on the ground and in it, I seek to be a liaison between they and you in order to bring these nine of us together to formulate much more than a commission, much more than a committee, but an organization of people. Because they make money every day, they print it every day, but we don't get people every day. So when we get them, they are our most precious. And the most important thing we have is the children. No matter whose they are, they are the future. And there are so few children involved, and I seek to bring an educational curriculum. And I've approached a number of our 189 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 institutions, colleges, that is, to create an educational curriculum within the Park, and through their educational curriculums actually provide a labor force by volunteer, which in turn will help alleviate some of the cost.
And I've been working on programs for the last several years in regards to bringing environmental stability between the Park, the people and particularly the Philadelphia Zoo, because the Park has so much land, so much to offer, and it can actually create a food source, which are, again, part of the programs which I like to implement. And the reason, bottom line for doing all this is that it is for those who I have known and loved and they have --
And for those who I have never known and loved what they left. 190 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 Thank you.
Thank you very much for your testimony, and thank you for being able to respond so quickly.
Okay. Wendy Rosen. I've been a resident of Center City Philadelphia for over years and I'm 20 also the President of the Friends of 21 Rittenhouse Square. 22 This is a landmark moment in 23 Philadelphia's history, with the merger 24 of the City's Parks Commission and 25 Recreation Department. I think it's a 191 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 perfect moment to think differently about our green spaces. Obviously parks should be clean, welcoming, restful places, but they have the potential to be so much more. They can generate revenue for the City and limit the amount of expenses for the City. They may eventually pay for themselves. And when parks work well, property values and quality of life skyrocket. Making this happen means thinking creatively. It means learning about innovative approaches taken by other cities and transplanting those ideas here. It means dreaming up our own new ideas, imagining the unthinkable and putting them into action. Parks evolve over time. Today's Rittenhouse Square was a product of a redesign dating to World War I, the work of a French-born Philadelphia architect, Paul Cret, who literally did some of his planning and sketching in a 192 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 foxhole. It is important to remember that parks can and should change over time. In Rittenhouse Square, we have had a successful public-private partnership with Fairmount Park, a model that I can strongly recommend. It puts more operational responsibility in the hands of the public, while relieving the City of the considerable burden of both administrative and financial oversight. Checks and balances are ensured by the cooperation of the two parties. Against this background of a partnership with the former Fairmount Park Commission, I feel I am perfectly suited to continue this cooperative relationship and I am honored to be considered for this position. I am also excited to contribute to and benefit from the new energy, ideas and inspiration of the Commission. Thank you.
Thank you 193 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 for your testimony. Are you providing copies?
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I just want to say, keep up the good work.
Is there anyone else to testify on this resolution? (No response.)
Just for the record, 53 were scheduled to offer testimony today and 39 actually were able to be here. So with that said, Councilman Jones.
Yes, Madam 194 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 Chair. I want to commend you on your ability to endure all of those and conduct this hearing in a timely, efficient manner, and it speaks well of your ability to be a chairperson of this committee. I also wanted to say that a lot of the testimony, Ph.D. also must have meant Philadelphia Historical Dean, because you cited a lot of interesting points, referencing the beauty of our Park, particularly Rittenhouse up in the Park and near Wissahickon, which is the home of the first printing press ever introduced to the continent of the United States, or the Ohio House out in Centennial District, which is the celebratory building that sited the centennial celebration for this nation, and the Benedict Arnold's Mansion near the 5th District, which Benedict Arnold actually had as a summer home. These are the things that enrich our Park. And I wanted to say that today, 195 3/18/09 - PARKS - RES. 090057 Madam Chairwoman, I saw a variety of people come out and show their support for the Park. It's unfortunate that there are only limited amount of slots available, because I would hope that whoever winds up successful, those who don't wind up on the Commission still keep their level of commitment to this wonderful institution and this wonderful park. Thank you, Madam Chair.
You're very, very welcome. We have a huge task ahead of us, but the good news is that we have a rich slate of candidates. Let the record show that this hearing stands in recess until March 19th at 1:00 p.m. Thank you. (Committee on Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs recessed at 12:15 p.m.) - - - 196 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter on March 18, 2009, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. ______________________________ MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)