COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON LICENSES AND INSPECTIONS - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Thursday, April 29, 2010 1:50 p.m. - - - PRESENT: COUNCILWOMAN MARIA QUINONES-SANCHEZ, CHAIR COUNCILMAN BILL GREEN COUNCILMAN WILLIAM GREENLEE COUNCILMAN CURTIS JONES, JR. COUNCILMAN JACK KELLY COUNCILWOMAN JOAN L. KRAJEWSKI COUNCILWOMAN BLONDELL REYNOLDS BROWN BILL 100158 - An ordinance amending Section 12-1109 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Permits Required for Parades, Processions and Assemblages," by conditioning the issuance of such permits on the applicant's agreement to reimburse the City for additional costs... - - - 2
Good afternoon. The Committee on Licenses and Inspections will begin its hearing. Will the Clerk read the title of the bill.
Bill 100158, amending Section 12-1109 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Permits Required for Parades, Processions and Assemblages," by conditioning the issuance of such permits on the applicant's agreement to reimburse the City for additional costs the City incurs as a result of the activity for which the permit is issued, subject to the maximum reimbursement amount; by making such maximum reimbursement amount retroactive; and by requiring refunds to persons who reimbursed the City for costs in excess of such maximum amount, all under certain terms and conditions.
Thank you very much. I want to make note before we 3 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 get started in the public testimony and the Administration comes in and testifies that I want to thank all of the volunteers, sponsors, community groups who, year in and year out, provide incredible events throughout our City in celebration of whether it's the ethnic parades or festivals that make, I believe, Philadelphia the great city that it is, and I want to thank all of them for their time, their patience throughout this process. I also want to acknowledge the Administration's willingness to work with us on this. And while we can't come to an agreement, a final agreement, this Committee and this bill sponsor, myself and Greenlee and all the others, continue to be willing to work with the Administration. This bill is necessary in part because what we've seen happen when the Administration chose to institute this new policy in 2009 was many important 4 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 events throughout our City be cancelled, whether it was the Chinatown Dragon Parade, the Lawncrest 4th of July, Columbus Day Parade and others, and we strongly believe that these events are too important to Philadelphia and that the City, despite our economic situation, has to figure out a way we better support these activities. Many of these parades, including the Greek Independence Day Parade, were given bills of over 100 percent in police force, in overtime, and we want to ensure that while the public safety is an important issue as these events take place, that these groups do not shoulder the burden for what we believe is some cost, that while the Administration has shown us that they can reduce it, there's still much room to be worked out. We look forward to the Administration's presentation and a thorough breakdown of what this 5 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 legislation will do as it relates to the budget, because we are in the middle of a budget season and we will be responsible in ensuring that the money is in play to support these activities. Ultimately, the Administration still has full control of the permit issuance and they still have the power to control their costs when they issue these permits by continuing to work with the festivals and the parade operators in shorter routes, time of activities, and we look forward to a continuing discussion on that. So with that, I'll call our first witness, Deputy Mayor Everett Gillison. I will take note that the first panel is JoAnna Otero Cruz, Ellen Somekawa and Michael Blichacz. So they should be ready to present after the Administration. Thank you. (Witness approached witness 6 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 table.) DEPUTY
Thank you. Good afternoon, Councilwoman Sanchez and members of the Licenses and Inspections Committee. My name is Everett Gillison and I am the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today on behalf of the Nutter Administration to testify on Bill No. 12 100158. This bill provides that in order to be granted a permit to hold a parade, procession or assemblage, the event organizer must agree to reimburse the City for the additional costs associated with the increase in public services above those that would normally be required in the absence of the activity for which the permit is to be issued. The bill further provides that regardless of actual costs incurred by the City due to the event for which the permit is sought, the permit applicant shall only be required to pay $7,500 for parades and 7 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 $5,000 for street festivals and assemblages. Finally, the bill provides that the City shall refund any amounts received from any permit applicants that are in excess of the maximum amounts permitted. The Nutter Administration opposes adoption of this bill and requests that the Committee table the bill, as it would create a financially untenable position for the City. During the past several weeks and for several weeks yet to come, much of this body's work has been devoted to the City's budget. We are all aware that the City faces a $150 million budget deficit for Fiscal Year 2011. As we struggle to close this deficit by seeking new sources of revenue and making cuts, this proposed bill would only contribute to the problem and make matters worse. With the implementation of a new special events policy, the City only charges event organizers for the 8 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 incremental costs associated with their event. Incremental costs are those costs related to services performed by City employees who are brought in specifically to work an event. Any services provided by City employees while they are on their regular working schedule will not be billed to the event organizers. We simply don't believe this legislation is necessary. Each year there are approximately 500 parades, festivals and special events that take place in all parts of the City. Several are local community events, but many are large productions that attract thousands of people to the Parkway, Penn's Landing, the Art Museum area, South Street, the River Drives and other popular locations. In order to ensure that these events are safe, successful and enjoyable for the participants, the City provides a number of resources. As public safety is a paramount concern any time there is a 9 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 large gathering, such as a parade or festival, the Police Department deploys sufficient officers to patrol the event as well as to provide for street closures, traffic control and emergency management. In fact, police represent approximately 80 percent of the costs billed to event organizers. Additionally, the Fire Department ensures that emergency medical services are standing by ready to assist. Employees from the Departments of Recreation, Public Property and the Division of Technology provide such services as bleachers, power supplies, staging, barricades, sound systems, microphones and communication lines. Licensing and Inspections and Health Department employees ensure that vendors are complying with all the relevant code provisions. And, of course, large contingents of Streets Department employees are required to clean the streets and remove the trash. These 10 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 services are not cheap. For 2009, the actual cost of over 500 parades, festivals and special events that occurred in the City was $3,424,635. This was the amount actually billed. Of that amount, $2,081,614 represented overtime. To date, the City has received -- this is cash in hand -- $1,792,842, leaving an outstanding balance of $1,631,793.
Event organizers were able to work with us and pay their fair share of the costs associated with their events. The practice of paying for the costs of City services is a departure from the way business was done in the past. It is important to note, however, that the practice has not had a chilling effect on special event celebrations in the City, as the over 500 parades, festivals and special events in 2009 demonstrate. And let's not forget the change was necessitated by our precarious financial position. It is important to note that in 11 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 2009 our policy was to require event organizers to pay the entire cost of City services associated with their event. As with any policy, once it was put into place, we were able to identify problems and work on ways to make improvements. Our policy changed in 2010. It is now the City's current policy to only charge event organizers for the incremental costs associated with their event. Any services provided by City employees while they are on their regular working schedule are not billed to the event organizers. Only those services that are performed by employees who are brought in specifically to work on an event will be borne by the event organizers. We believe this change is eminently fair and more accurately reflects the true costs to the City associated with special events. The terms of Bill 100158 will only permit the City to recover $7,500 for a parade and $5,000 for other 12 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 festivals and assemblages. These amounts are woefully inadequate when compared to the incremental costs the City expends on all but the smallest events. If the City were limited by law in the amount we could recoup for the provision of City services for special events, we would have to find ways to close these annual deficits. The Administration realizes these events are important celebrations of civic pride and that many of them are longstanding traditions woven into our community fabric. While our City may be a culturally richer place for hosting these events, if this bill were to pass, we would also be financially poorer. We should not be looking to pass legislation that further jeopardizes the City's fiscal health. Lastly, I just wanted to state that another of the -- I know that we've had many discussions about this, but another consideration I would ask this 13 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 Committee to look at is the fact that there is no difference, if this bill were to pass, in a large event and a small event. So even when we were to have a large event such as, let's just say, the Mummers Parade, which actually this year was billed somewhere around $140,000 and, of that, police costs of 132,000, this bill would cap that cost at $7,500, which means that we would end up having a real net loss to the City. I think that financial considerations must be taken into account. And with that, I'll be glad to answer any questions on behalf of the Administration. I will also point out that with me is Deputy Managing Director Jazelle Jones, the City Representative Melanie Johnson and Mechelle Sabb, who is an Assistant Managing Director. Thank you.
Thank you, Deputy Mayor. I just again wanted to clarify for the record that we will be 14 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 proposing an amendment to codify the institution of a policy that would require all of the operators to pay for the issues you outlined here, which were the Department of Rec, Public Property and Division of Technology, where all festival and parades would be required to pay for services, bleachers, power supplies, staging, barricades, sound system, microphones, communication lines, and that the only thing that is up for dispute and we would codify is that they should not be required to pay for police. So I just wanted for the record that the amendment that would be presented today in the Committee changes from the initial bill that was introduced. And I wanted to just for the record, because I did not acknowledge, that we have a quorum established. On my far right, Councilwoman Krajewski, Joan Krajewski, Councilman Jack Kelly, Councilman Bill Greenlee, Councilman Bill 15 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 Green and the Chair of Recreation and Cultural Affairs, Blondell Reynolds Brown, who is here. So I just wanted to put that for the record. One of the things that you mentioned in your testimony was that in the cost billed in 2009 of 3.4 million, 2 million of that was in overtime. Can you tell me how that changed in 2010? DEPUTY
I can give you the figures that we are able to provide at this time. I do not have the actual, and I have requested it as a result of a meeting that we had before this particular Committee meeting, but I can tell you that in general, the -- as a matter of fact, we actually, so that we'll be able to work from the same document, so if you have particular questions, Ms. Jones will give each of the Councilpeople the document so we can refer to it together. The various costs that we were able to put out for the Mummers, St. 16 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 Patrick, Greek Independence, the Hoya Chinese American Parade, we have the total cost that we've been able to deal with, as well as a breakdown, a color breakdown, for both paid-in-full agreement and balances due for the various parades and festivals, which I believe is the focus of your bill. We have a total number of parades for 2009 of parades and festivals being the 12 total, which comes down to just a little 13 bit less than a million dollars covering 14 those matters, and we have this year, the 15 Mummers Parade went from a $300,000 cost 16 down to about $132,000. That shows the 17 effect of not only working together with the event organizer in trying to standardize as much of the cost as we could, but also controlling and having the effect on the policy that says that these are the incremental costs going forward. So we were able to realize, just in that, almost a 50 percent savings to the event organizer. 17 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 Similarly, with the St. Patrick's Day Parade, in 2009 you see it was 32,864. This year it came in at $22,000. So we, again, see as a result of the policy a decrease in cost. I think that these are going to be the way that we are moving forward. I want to stress that we work with event organizers, and it is our hope that whenever we can do parades on completely straight time, that they will not even have a charge at all if we're able to seek redeployment to cover the total needs of public safety for that particular event. It is only when we -- and that is basically done on a case-by-case basis. Usually 48 to 72 hours out, we end up getting an analysis of what is needed and who is scheduled to work and who is not, and we then adjust our manpower accordingly. So that's just part of what we're doing and how we're doing it, but I do not have an overtime cost that I can 18 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 tell you right now. I have that as a request to our Revenue Department to produce.
Just for the purposes of the record, I think one of the issues -- and we've talked about this numerous times -- is that when the policy was initially instituted, the overtime costs were just out of control, and our dispute around -- and philosophically we disagree. As I've said to you on the record, I don't think people should have to pay for the public safety piece of this. The overtime costs, as you stipulate in your presentation, were just out of control. DEPUTY
Two million dollars of the 3.4 million. In general, $2 million of that was overtime. And I have to -- and, again, Councilwoman, as I've said before, we have put in as a result of many new programs within the Police Department, Commissioner Ramsey and I have worked to 19 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 make sure that we are justifying overtime. The CJAB has worked with courts in order to help control overtime in that. We've seen almost a $5 million, I believe, savings, just because we are now checking on everyone's availability for court and getting them there at the right time. But the bottom line is is that officers are brought in, they work and they have -- their core function is to protect and serve the community, patrolling the community. The secondary issue that we have is that we'll then redeploy officers as they are needed for various events. We are down right now to an authorized strength in the Police Department of 6,674 officers. We do not have the ability to have an 8,000-member police force that gave us the flexibility in the past to probably put everything on straight time. That's just not the way we're going. We are actually at a 20 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 strength, a size that permits the Commissioner to do what he needs to do, and I think that we're trying to be sensitive not only to the community but to the City as a whole in making sure that public safety remains the number one concern of this department.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Bill Green.
You mention financial considerations. At every hearing on an issue like this or during department testimony, other times, I've asked a simple question of the Administration, what is the benefit, dollar benefit, of all these events to the City of Philadelphia in terms of 21 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 liquor-by-the-drink tax, sales tax, other things that come in as a result of all these events where lots of people aggregate, lots of people celebrate, stay in hotels, et cetera. Do we have that number today? DEPUTY
We do not have that number, and I think that that was something that we have discussed, and we have discussed actually having a third party perform that particular function, but we do not have that today.
Right. And so basically we've put in place a policy that could hamper or kill these events or slow them down or shrink them without knowing what the economic impact is. In other words, we've put in place a policy without the necessary data to back it up. That is the current Administration's policy, and that is what currently the Administration has done. I mean, you may know what your costs are, but you don't 22 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 know what the benefit is to the City of having all these great events. DEPUTY
A cost-benefit analysis was put in in the 1960s. The Kennedy Administration and the guy who came from Ford, whose name I can't remember, brought it into the governmental sphere. I guess that's McNamara; is that right? DEPUTY
Robert McNamara, good Irishman. And so like to even have this debate still two years after the policy was put in place, without knowing that data, I guess it's frustrating to me that we don't know that. I just want to ask you about a few cities. What is New York's fee for parades or special events, New York City's? 23 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 DEPUTY
I don't know, but I would ask. We do not have that information, at least not right now.
None. The answer is none. Dallas? Do you know what Dallas's is? DEPUTY
None. New Orleans, where they have a lot of events and parades, and tourism is important to them? None. None. No fees. We can only find one major city with a fee, Baltimore. Do you know what their fee is? DEPUTY
It's $1,000, roughly. So, you know, it doesn't seem like this is sound policy. It's not defensible. It's not something that is encouraging people to come into our city and have more events and bring more people and stay in more hotels, et cetera. And I've heard nothing in the testimony other than a focus on the City's finances, without any data about how much the City's finances actually benefit from having these events. So I don't really -- I guess I don't really have any questions. I just wanted to make sure that that was all clear for the record.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Bill Greenlee.
Thank you, Madam Chair. 25 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 Good afternoon, Mr. Gillison. DEPUTY
Actually, one of my questions is going to be similar to Councilman Green's. Isn't -- and I think the Councilman was saying sort of the same thing. Isn't it, when you talk about the cost to the City, misleading when you don't consider what money is brought in through these events? I mean, how -- DEPUTY
I don't believe that it is misleading, only because when we're doing budgets and we have a situation -- I want to again remind the Committee that the reason why we are so concerned about what it costs us is because we -- and I say "we," because that was a joint effort by Council and this Administration -- to meet a financial calamity, we ended up having to justify how we end up allocating funds in order to make sure 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 that we don't bankrupt ourselves, and over the -- when we had to change what had been the previous practice, not the policy but the practice, we had to be able to go into and answer the questions of where is all the money going. And so the focus has been to make sure that we understand how to control our cost, and I think that we have done not only a good job, we've done an excellent job at trying to control cost. The by-product of doing that has also meant that we have worked with each of the parade organizers over the last two years, and I don't think that there is anyone that would be able to testify that this Administration has not been responsive and also sensitive to their particular needs. I know that I am usually in the room or at least around the room when I hear the Deputy Managing Director Ms. Jones as well as the City Representative going and talking to people and suggesting ways to economize. 27 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 And the reason why we have those incentives that we're trying to put forward is to make sure that we end up being able to be supportive of the parade but, at the same time, balancing what the City can actually provide. So I think that we're doing just what you're suggesting.
Well, I don't know, though. And, look, obviously we all understand the budget problems here. We all know we got problems. That's obviously agreed. But you use the word "balancing." Don't you have to also balance in what -- like if you talk about the costs of the St. Patrick's Day Parade -- I don't know why I picked that out, but I'll pick that out -- don't you also have to balance in what is brought in to really what is the total cost? Do you understand what I'm saying? DEPUTY
So if 28 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 you're saying, for example, the total cost is $22,000 for March 14th, 2010, unless you consider that there would have been a lot less people in Center City at that time or around, like Councilman Green said, going to restaurants and all and just -- I think on St. Patrick's Parade, one or two people have a few beers. Okay? That's why I may have picked that out. That total cost to the City, isn't a lot of that made up by the money that would not be there if the parade was not there? So that's what I mean by "misleading." I don't mean anything nefarious there. I think it just doesn't give the true picture. It's almost like the parade or all these events are taking and not giving. I think there's giving there, too. DEPUTY
I will -- as I've said and have maintained before, when we are doing the budgeting -- and I have agreed that the 29 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 City does need to and I believe that we are trying to put together what the true economic cost is and that to be able to be fair, as both Councilman Green and as you've just indicated, that perhaps we need to do that and have a third party that would end up coming in and get that done. I think that what we will end up having then is the other intangible costs that people will say that we will need to have some kind of delta for as well, because it will be stated that a lot of the parades, once the work is actually done, they will say that the -- it will be hard to quantify the financial, but we will give a range. And then the range will be given and they'll say, Well, the City gets this indirectly through different areas, but the intangible costs. All I'm trying to do in budgeting -- and I'm a proponent of honest budgeting -- is that where there is a cost and it's a cost that is real -- 30 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 this is not a made-up one, this is one that is real and one that we are measuring -- I think that we have to be sensitive to the fact that when we change how we pay fees or ask people to pay fees for services that are being provided, I don't think it's unreasonable. I don't think it is unfair to ask people who want an additional service to pay for it.
Okay. And I guess we're going to go back and forth here, but I think, again, if you're really going to give the total picture, Mr. Gillison, I think you have to take in -- let's face it, there would not be as many people in Center City Philadelphia at 1 o'clock in the afternoon on March 14th, 2010 if the parade was not there. So I think you got to at least factor that in. And maybe you can't get the exact cost because you don't know exactly, but I can tell you, the total cost to the City would have to go down from 22,598 when you take in what 31 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 is given to the City that day in taxes. DEPUTY
And I think that you also have to remember that -- let's be honest with that particular analysis. Even if you were to say that you were able to prove on a one-to-one basis that 14,000 people came into the City and 14,000 people paid a dollar for a drink and we got an X number percentage and, therefore, we should actually capture that money in order to see what the cost and maybe even offset it against the parade cost, that money that is currently being raised is going into the General Fund as being used to fund everything else. So you would actually end up, if you were going to do that kind of accounting, you would end up taking that money away from the General Fund and saying that that would still cause a deficit. So your parade might look nice, but the rest of the money where that is going in the General Fund would be in a deficit situation. 32 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 So you can't double count that. So you can't double count that. I mean, you have to be sensitive to it. That's all I'm saying, you have to be sensitive to it.
I know, but I guess you have to also be sensitive that these parades and these events are generating some income to the City, too. DEPUTY
And that isn't really reflected when you say total cost, but okay. We're not going to agree. Just one last general question. Councilwoman Sanchez talked about this amendment. Have you seen it? DEPUTY
I haven't seen the amendment. I know we 33 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 spoke about it yesterday.
Because it would seem like taking out that -- I mean, you talked a couple times in your testimony about the limits of 7,500 and 5,000. I mean, this would seem like it, again, depending on the event and how much is done, it could bring in more money to the -- these organizers have to pay more money. So I don't think that limit would exist anymore. DEPUTY
Well, again, I think that however you slice and cut this, when you take out 80 percent of the cost, if we -- 80 percent of these costs are public safety related. So if you take that away, yes, it will look like -- you would end up getting 20 percent of the cost would then be tried to be covered by the Councilwoman's suggested fee structure.
The 80 34 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 percent is -- where we are now trying to do it is overtime and any other incremental cost, which is not going to be that much. It's going to be primarily overtime. So if you think about it, we're going to end up with that 80 percent being taken out and not covered by this. It has to be covered somewhere else, and I am sure that I'm going to be sitting at another -- a desk here again talking about that the police overtime remains high and we need to cut it, and I'm going to ask -- I'd be glad to do it, believe me. I take all suggestions, but I don't think that I want to get to the position where I was almost last year where I was looking at having to close things. I don't want to go there. I mean, we have to pay for things that we actually do, and public safety is of paramount importance to me, it's of paramount importance to the Mayor, and I know it's of paramount importance to each of you. 35 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158
So we have to balance what we're doing and how we're getting it done.
Okay. I guess it depends how we balance it, but I hear you. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. DEPUTY
Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon, Deputy Mayor. DEPUTY
I just want to follow up on the points that Councilman Green and Councilman Greenlee were just alluding to, and that's the revenue, how much revenue comes in from 36 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 these parades. For instance, I know you don't have the answer, but how much is collected from the bar tax, for instance, in the St. Patrick's Day Parade? That would be a very interesting number. I know this year it rained, but on a very beautiful day, I'm sure that number could be quite considerable. But what I'm looking at is your comparison between the parade and festival costs of 2009 and 2010. I notice that the numbers in 2010 have been significantly reduced. DEPUTY
If we go on that assumption that most of these costs will be reduced for all of the parades and festivals, would you say that the combined total could be approximately somewhere around 800,000 instead of the 982,000? DEPUTY
Would that 37 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 be reasonable? DEPUTY
I agree that it would probably be in that range. I mean, we're looking -- obviously this is a process and we're going forward. I try my best every time costs come over through the Special Events Committee and with everything else, whenever the number --
Well, have you or anyone from your Administration been trying to seek out corporate sponsors? Because if you look at this, the total for all of these festivals and the parades, I know 800,000 or 850,000 may seem like a lot of money, but when you're talking about a budget of a building almost, a corporate sponsor, if you had 20 of them, for instance, at $40,000 a piece, could take care of the 38 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 whole thing, and it's a good marketing tool for them because they can say they sponsor this. And there's a lot of corporations here, there's a lot of unions, there's a lot of other things that you can pick up at least some support for this thing, and maybe we won't have to charge a lot of these organizations hardly anything if we did this. DEPUTY
I wholeheartedly agree with your position, Councilman, that we have to be creative.
We have to look at other ways. We have to be very creative, and I think it's one of the ways that -- being in the advertising business in my prior life, you have to really promote and you have to promote your company and you have to do a lot of different things. This is one way to do it. Make it a Philadelphia company, Tastykake. A lot of these people, Comcast, they have the revenue and they 39 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 have the resources to do it, I think, but it needs some push from the Administration, I think, to get in contact with them. DEPUTY
I will say that I know that we have one of the best City Representatives that basically does just that, and I'll ask Ms. Johnson to help me with that particular one, since I'm public safety and I'll stay in my lane.
I'm so sorry. I'm Melanie Johnson, City Representative. Your suggestion is well taken. When we first started doing the charging for events in 2009, we basically looked at what each one had to offer, sat down and offered suggestions on marketing. I did that through most of 2009 with all of them. We actually had a plan at one 40 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 point to try and combine all of the events so that we could try and market them and get sponsorship. The year 2009 was not good for really raising money of any kind. It is something that we are revisiting at this point. But each event is different, which is why thinking about lumping them together might have helped, but that's a process that can't be done immediately, similar to not being able to give you an economic study within a month. So it's a process that we are looking at through this year to see whether or not it will have any effectiveness in 2011.
Yes. I would like to see an umbrella type of group that includes everyone and sort of put -- and that way you can control it. You can tell each one of these organizations exactly how much support they're going to get from this corporate sponsor organization, if you want to call 41 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 it that.
We are looking into that, yes. Absolutely. Also, I have to point out that each event is very different. What they have to offer for corporate sponsor in terms of multiple marketing opportunities is also very different. So it will take time, mostly this year, to see whether or not that's a viable solution to some of the problems that we're facing.
This will help us immensely and it will help the organizers of these parades, I'm sure.
They're looking for all the help they can get. Thank you, Ms. Johnson, and thank you, Mr. Gillison.
The 42 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 Chair recognizes Councilwoman Krajewski.
Thank you. On the police overtime, what is the amount that you have on police overtime? DEPUTY
Last year I think it was budgeted at 10 million. This year I think we ended up 11 bringing it in somewhere around 20 12 million to -- so we had a $5 million 13 decrease in overtime. We are hoping I 14 think this year, I think it is -- I don't 15 have my police budget with me, but I 16 believe it's somewhere around 20, is what 17 we're talking about doing for overtime, 18 and the Commissioner and I are trying to 19 even bring it in under that. 20
Well, 21 I don't know. I would think that maybe 22 if we could take maybe one or two 23 officers from each district and detail 24 them to the parade, wouldn't that save us 25 quite a bit? 43 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 DEPUTY
Well, that's the redeployment strategy that we're trying to utilize, and when we do that, we are not charging for that. So we're already taking that in. And, again, I want to make sure that you're aware, Councilwoman, that it is -- when we have the hottest districts, I try 10 not to move anyone from patrol from those 11 districts, because we need them to patrol 12 in that area to help keep the suppression of the crime down. We are taking from other districts sometimes to be able to kind of redeploy to do it on straight time so that we don't charge at all for that particular officer.
Well, I'm sure that it could be done, because it's done in my area in the 15th District. They take the police from the upper end and put them all down the lower end. DEPUTY
That's exactly right. That strategy is -- 44 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158
So I'm sure that we could work something out on the parades. DEPUTY
But as I said, we are doing that currently. That's what we've done this year. We are taking and redeploying officers. Consistent with the needs of the district, we're redeploying officers first and not charging the event organizer for that officer. It is only when we are bringing officers in on overtime that we are charging for overtime. That's what we are currently doing.
Just for the record, that was in 2010. That was not in 2009. DEPUTY
I want to recognize Councilman Jones, who joins 45 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 us, even though he's not on this Committee. He has a question.
Thank you, Madam Chair, for the courtesy. I'm not on your Committee, and I'm thankful for you affording me the opportunity to ask a couple of questions. And, first, thank you for bringing this to a head. It is frustrating at times for us to look on the news, whether it's the Dad Vail Regatta that is in my district or the bike race that runs through my district or the marathon that runs through my district by way of events, to be, you know, teeter and tottering about whether or not it's actually going to happen. So I think this discussion and dialogue is worthwhile, and I want to applaud you for taking leadership on it. My question would be a couple of things, that I started this when the City Representative gave her testimony and wanted to pursue it a little bit now. Have we given thought to in some cases, 46 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 not on all parades, because some of them need to be in Center City and on main venues, but some of the other parades, there is a stretch of land within my district that goes from the Please Touch Museum to Mann Music Center. It's Concourse Road east, Concourse Road west, which is pretty much on the money a mile each way. When we look at that, that might be ten blocks, maybe two major intersections. When we have pre-determined routes like that, can't we predict cost a little better? And I've got to believe if there's one such stretch in the Fourth District, wouldn't there be one in the Seventh or two in the Seventh and that we could pre-determine and predict our cost and, therefore, have a little more finite ability to determine how much the cost should be? Is that in your thinking at all? DEPUTY
Absolutely, and thank you very much, Councilman, for your question. Not only 47 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 is that part of our thinking, we have sat down with a lot of the event organizers. We are looking at having a pre-determined, what I would call the recommended, ethnic parade route both in Center City, but we also --
Recommended. But what it will enable us to do is have that fixed cost, that we know because of this route this is the cost. And we are able to then take that and either keep it on the outside or on the inside, and if you need something more, obviously that's an additional payment. But we're trying to actually make it so that we would be able to have that route and have it almost done for close to nothing if we can get there. And the other piece --
If we 48 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 can get there. If we can get there. But the idea is is to try and look at this route as a way of controlling cost. We also are looking at -- and we'll be working, and I hope to be able to sit down and talk with you and other District Councilpersons about the recommended routes in your districts so that we could then take your expertise for your district and you could tell us where you think a good parade route would be, where you would basically -- and then we would cost it out, get back to you, and then we could actually publicize that as a place. In addition, we were looking at festival sites within districts. For example, if you have a rec center that's a large enough space, perhaps we put up a permanent staging facility.
Let's put that on the record. 49 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158
Wait a minute. That idea, that is a Councilwoman Sanchez idea. In fact, I saw some of the mockups for the permanent stages, and they are gorgeous. So that wasn't an original idea. That's an idea I Napstered, if you would, from Councilwoman Sanchez. DEPUTY
And as I told -- as I had one of my many conversations with Councilwoman Sanchez, we are in agreement. I think that that's how we get, by working together, to understand the cost and understanding how we control cost. I think that's the way that we have to really go about doing this, because we need the incentives for everyone, police side, city side, but also on the other side, for event side as well, so that everyone has the same understanding of how we are coming up with not only the facts and the figures but what we are trying to accomplish here. I think those are things that we 50 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 can do. I do not believe that we need to do this bill in order to get to that discussion, though.
Well, I'm encouraged and I'm glad the idea exchange is occurring. I do agree with my colleagues in this respect, that I had an opportunity to work or listen to Kofi Asante, who for over a decade did the African American Parade, which no longer is in existence but is looking to be reborn. But in that, he knew what the value of his product was and he knew in negotiations with the television stations, who were even more keenly aware of what the value of that parade was by way of marketing, public relations, product placement, advertising, and knew that so well that he could quantify and pretty much negotiate better the price by which the sponsorship should be. Now, a lot of our ethnic festivals do that. They're volunteers. 51 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 Many of them have far greater expertise than anyone in this room, because they do it on a regular. But if we were to assist them and work with them in creating that price point, that -- and I'm not picking on them, but Channel 6 understands clearly what the Thanksgiving Parade means. And we're about to enter into Welcome America. For those professionals that do the back end of marketing and advertising, to give us a better sense of what that matrix was that you talked about, Councilman, to determine what the value of what we're giving away. The Dad Vail Regatta, which I go back to, books out hotels in the region. I mean, you can't get on City Avenue and get a room. So there is a value to it that we have to kind of tinker with the economic model, but there is a value that I think we're missing the price point on. And I -- DEPUTY
I agree 52 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 with you, Councilman.
If we're going to do that, I think this is a worthwhile outcome of your hearing.
Yes. I mean, I do want to put for the record that the Administration has been working around parade routes, and all of the parade organizers have been extremely cooperative in shortening routes, changing hours, and I think what we're talking about here is more of the cost and the Administration's position that there should be a dollar-for-dollar exchange, and that's where the disagreement is. I think this discussion that's been going on for months has taken us to a place where I think we're going to get a defined parade route that minimizes cost, where I think we're going to come up with a better policy around festivals and those types of activities. So I think we will get there, 53 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 and the issue at hand is until we get there and the numbers get better, the group should not shoulder that burden. The burden should be on government to provide that leadership and take care of that.
Thank you for the opportunity to give input, Madam Chair.
I appreciate it very much, my Council colleague. So if there's no other questions, I want to get to our panels, because they have been waiting for a year for this hearing and they are here to be heard. Thank you, Deputy Mayor Gillison. DEPUTY
If I may just one -- because I know that one of the questions -- and I don't know whether it was Councilman Kelly who asked. It may have been Councilman 54 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 Greenlee, that it appears to me that because the amendment still does not allow for any cost at all to be passed on for public safety, we're still in a deficit situation. That's my reading of the amendment, and I think that that's consistent with --
So it is still a deficit situation for public safety and we would not recoup any of the millions that we would be losing. So with that statement, I just want to say thank you very much for this opportunity.
We have appropriations authority and we'll have to take care of that. Absolutely. Thank you. DEPUTY
Thank you very much for the opportunity. I appreciate it. I'll look forward to working with you in the future. 55 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158
We will continue to work on this. Thank you very much, Deputy Mayor. I really appreciate your team and all of its work on this matter. So the first panel, JoAnna Otera Cruz, Ellen Somekawa and Michael Blichacz. Blichacz. My apologies. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Good afternoon. Thank you so much for your patience all year. You may proceed, whoever wants to start first. Identify yourself for the record.
I'm Michael Blichacz from the Polish American Congress, Eastern Pennsylvania District, and also head coordinator for the Ethnic Americans United, which you did receive a copy of the testimony. I'll be very brief about that. There are a few clarifications that I would like to make for the record. 56 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 Number one, since the year 1990, every ethnic parade and festival paid for all of its -- whether it's barricades, bleachers, audio systems, flags. Whatever was rented from the City's Department of Recreation was always paid for by -- so there's no dispute in this situation. Part of the problem came about when we were given notice that we would be billed overtime for police officers. Now, in the Pulaski Day Parade and I know the St. Patrick's Parade and a few of the others, for years, in my 20-plus-year involvement in the parade, we always requested the Commissioner to afford us any Polish Americans who were on duty in the surrounding districts to come and work the parade and also -- especially those with Polish-speaking ability to be there with us. They did. They were regular-duty officers that came from five or six of the closest surrounding districts. There was never 57 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 any difficulty in the situation. It was always honored, because they thought that it was culturally nice to do that. It helped to bring the officers of Polish heritage or Irish heritage or German heritage to their event, and since they are peaceful events, there was never any problem. And in the Pulaski Day Parade, I went -- I do attend all the parades, working with the Ethnic Americans United, and I do know that there is no reason for an overage of police. These are very peaceful, well-organized events. And in the St. Patrick's Parade, the number of police were low, because I walked the entire parade route. The Puerto Rican Day Parade, the Pulaski Day Parade, the Greek American Parade, I attend every one of these events, so I know exactly what's needed on the street. This is really a gathering of pride. So people come with pride, not with anything else in their heart. 58 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 Also, when we talk about the economic impact on the City of Philadelphia, it's not just the day of the parade. The people don't just show up on that particular day and start marching. The parade is a 365-day venture. There are various fundraisers to support local bands, to support various organizations, to get buses. The Pulaski Parade, we use 40 buses at, say, approximately $200. So that's an economic benefit. There's some benefit to the City on the rental of the buses. All throughout the year we not only come out on the parade, but we have various fundraisers and organizations, catering halls. Caterers are used. It's a 365-day-a-year preparation for the actual day. It's the rehearsal for the big day itself. So, I mean, we're bringing in big dollars. Additionally, each of the organizations does a tremendous amount of publicity for the City of Philadelphia, 59 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 radio, television, Internet. It's enormous, the economic impact, that helps people know that our city is not only receiving publicity regarding crime, but it's also receiving positive publicity that Philadelphia is a great mosaic and that people want to continue that mosaic through these parades. It adds to the cultural life of the City, and that has to be taken into consideration. Additionally, many of the parades are publicized and they're viewed on TV, and there's constantly promos, which allows people not only in Philadelphia but the whole tri-state area, the whole viewing area, to know that this event is taking place, that Philadelphia is a place to come to to celebrate culture and pride. For some time we've been suggesting a special cultural promotion fund, which I hope that would be able to come about.
I did hear the testimony of our City Reps, and it would be great if 60 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 we could finalize something like that as a Promote Philadelphia Fund. I do have something which I'm going to distribute with me today. It's something that we do through our Polish Museum on Walnut Street. We run a site, which is absolutely the very best for the City of Philadelphia. Would you please give that out? I appreciate it. On that site, I ask that -- you've seen it on many occasions, but we do promote all of our events. We do promote the City of Philadelphia. We have thousands upon thousands of people who hit this site a month. It goes to all of our area hotels. It goes to our cultural events. I encourage you to check that out. Through this site alone, the City generates enough money to fund all of the ethnic parades, because it's bringing positive publicity and bringing people to the City of Philadelphia, 61 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 because they know it is a tourist and a cultural destination. And, finally, it was mentioned that we have less police. I've been around for 20-some years. Twenty years ago we had mainly the men in blue. Today we have the SEPTA Police, Housing Authority Police, school police, all complementing our police force. For 30 officers, which are used -- approximately 30 officers are used on the different ethnic parades. I think that we have to do something so that we do something positive and we do something that will end all negative publicity regarding our parades and any other events taking place in Philadelphia. Councilwoman, I want to thank you for your great work on this issue and all of the Councilmembers, especially our Councilwoman Joan Krajewski, who has been a friend and supporter from the first day she entered this Chamber. And, of course, Bill Greenlee, I want to 62 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 compliment him, too. He's worked with our organization for over 30 years as an assistant to Councilman Cohen, and so he knows us. He knows our social service agency. He knows what we do. " Thank you.
Thank you so much. Thank you for your leadership with the Ethnic Coalition. We appreciate that.
I'll go next. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, Maria Quinones-Sanchez, and Councilmembers. My name is JoAnna Otera Cruz, the Executive Director for Concilio, Council of Spanish-Speaking Organization. Thank you for the opportunity to present this testimony today on ethnic parades concerning the cost and City fees totals and impact on local not-for-profit community-based organizations. 63 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 Concilio, since its inception in 1962, has been guided by its mission to ensure that equitable, social, educational, health and cultural services are available and affordable to everyone. Concilio operates 365 days a year providing child and family social services programs, such as foster care, kinship programs, immunization, housing, Let's Save Babies, summer youth work programs, smoking cessation, parenting and adoption. Concilio also has the responsibility and commitment to educate our Latino community, especially its youth, about its rich and historical culture through our arts and public community events, including Hispanic Fiesta and the Puerto Rican Day Parade. We have been organizing the Puerto Rican Day Parade for the last 48 years and hope to continue to do so unless detrimental to the organization's financial responsibilities and obligations. 64 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 Concilio is very aware of the restrictions and difficulties the City faces with today's budgetary issues. However, the process by which all fees and costs have been implemented has cost Concilio and other not-for-profit organizations a great financial loss. Concilio's budget for the Puerto Rican Day Parade in 2009 increased by 40 percent from its previous year as a result of City fees, which were made -- we were made aware of just a few weeks prior to our events, placing Concilio at a disadvantage. For 2010, City fees alone have increased by 38 percent. As you are aware, arts and culture events such as Concilio's Puerto Rican Day Parade not only bring value to the cultural dignity and embraces diversity to our City of Brotherly Love, but also positively supports Philadelphia's economic growth. Concilio will continue to strategize and make modifications to cut 65 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 costs given our commitment to financial responsibility and its community. In addition, we ask Councilmembers to seek for a reasonable and just solution to the City fees incurred in 2009 and again this year in 2010 that will ensure the preservation of our traditions and celebration of arts and cultural events. Concilio is proud of its minorities and the contributions they make to the economic, political and social activities to the City of Philadelphia. Concilio counts on the helping hands of volunteers who donate their time to ensure the parade can come to fruition. Concilio is a non-profit organization who gets no monetary benefits from this event, only the price of preservation of our traditions. Thank you for your time and your vested interest in ensuring the arts and cultural ethnic parades in the City of Philadelphia continue to be of value to the City of Philadelphia. 66 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158
Hello. I am Ellen Somekawa, Executive Director of Asian Americans United. I'd like to thank the Councilpeople here for your advocacy on this issue. I'm here to speak about the impact of the City services fees on small festivals and parades. In 1995, AAU created a festival that has become a community tradition. Ours is a home-grown festival. It's built on volunteer labor and the contributions of everyday people. With over 100 high school volunteers, an adult coordinating committee of and over 130 artists who 19 come out to share the arts that are 20 seldom seen in our community, we have 21 built what has become the largest annual 22 gathering in Chinatown, the beloved 23 Mid-Autumn Festival. 24 We don't have large corporate 25 donors, but we do have restaurants that 67 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 donate hundreds of meals to feed our volunteers throughout the day. We have bakeries that donate moon cakes, tofu shops that donate tofu and local businesses who pitch in $50, $100 or what they can afford. The annual budget of our organization is smaller than the budget of many of the parades that are being discussed today. For us, the added City services fees creates a strain on our ability to sustain our festival, and we realize that we are lucky compared to the other small festivals and parades that have even less than we do. Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional occasion for community and family gathering for Chinese and Vietnamese families in their homelands, but there was no community celebration of this event in Philadelphia until AAU catalyzed a local version of this tradition. In feeling and in importance, 68 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 Mid-Autumn Festival is perhaps most like our Thanksgiving. S. where the Mid-Autumn Festival was just another workday, families all but ignored this holiday. In 1995, AAU volunteers met with a group of immigrant youth in Chinatown who expressed homesickness, a sense of longing for the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival, a grieving that they weren't together with their families. For them, this also represented a chance to publicly demonstrate cultural and community pride in the face of everyday racism and contempt. The idea was borne then to reclaim Mid-Autumn Festival in Philadelphia's Chinatown. The youth immediately began planning this festival for the elderly, they said. Four weeks later, these immigrant youth welcomed 400 people into a church parking lot, our first festival. The festival has grown every year, has moved out from a church parking lot and onto the main street of 69 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 Chinatown, and now we have teenagers who come and volunteer with us, who cannot remember a time when there was not a Mid-Autumn Festival. Our festival motivates children to learn folk arts. It supports folk artists, who are given students who are eager to learn, and it gives them a rare opportunity to perform in a venue where people understand what it is they're doing. It creates a new generation of leaders who come to believe and care about something that's much larger than themselves. It brings people from the tri-state area who hunger for this community gathering. For our children to have roots, for our families to have a feeling of community and for our elderly to embrace memories and discover the power of passing on traditions, we must continually fight for the time and the space to celebrate. Our small community festivals, 70 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 parades and public gatherings must be safeguarded. They must be cherished as much by our City officials as they are by our communities.
I'd like to just add, perhaps it goes without saying, that although I think that the economic benefits that Councilpeople have been asking about are very important, it must not be overlooked the more intangible benefits to the City, that people's sense of commitment to a place, that their sense of connection to each other is part of what's going to be important for revitalization of Philadelphia and for this to be a strong and healthy place to raise our families.
Thank you. I don't know if there any questions for the panel. (No response.)
Seeing none, thank you so much again for your time and all the work that you do. 71 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 Our next panel is Malcolm Lazen from Equality Forum, Michael Bradley from St. Patrick's Day Parade and Oshun Bumi Fernandez from Odunde Festival. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
I'm sorry. Please state your name for the record and you could proceed with your testimony. Thank you so much.
Michael J. Bradley, Jr., Philadelphia St. Patrick's Day Parade.
My name is Oshun Bumi Fernandez. I'm CEO of Odunde, Incorporated.
You can proceed with your testimony, either one of you.
When Odunde first started -- my mother created Odunde 35 years ago -- she never thought that it would grow to this magnitude. Back in 1975, my mother had an idea and $100 and 72 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 she wanted -- the purpose of Odunde and the focus of Odunde was to educate the community, the tri-state area and the country about the importance of African and African American culture here in the City of Philadelphia. Now as we sit here in 2010, Odunde is celebrating our 35th anniversary. Odunde covers over City 11 blocks. We have over 300 vendors and 12 arts and crafts entrepreneurs and food vendors who come and to sell their wares. We also have a $25.2 million impact on the City of Philadelphia. This number was created -- I talked to Meryl Levitz of GPTMC and she gave me an equation to use, a multiplier to use depending on the amount of people that attend Odunde. The City services bill, as we call it in my generation, is somewhat of a stickup. That's what we feel like. Instead of the City using a weapon, they use an invoice. We do understand that the City 73 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 of Philadelphia, like most municipalities, are having financial issues, but we as non-profits are having a way bigger issue, and we think that -- we really want to work with the City of Philadelphia to make this possible, and we just feel that if we can come to some type of compromise with the City of Philadelphia and the different ethnic groups -- we are a festival, so we're much more different than a parade. We go from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. We are held on the second Sunday in June, and we have a whole week full of events. So we're just asking Philadelphia to work with us. Melanie Johnson and Jazelle Jones have worked with us, and they have been excellent in helping Odunde be -- last year we didn't know if Odunde was going to happen, but Melanie Johnson and Jazelle Jones and their staff said, We're going to work with you, and they did. And I want to thank also Mr. Clay Armbrister and Mayor 74 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 Nutter for working with us. But we just think it's imperative that these cultural organizations, that these parades, that these festivals continue, because not only do we bring an economic impact to the City of Philadelphia, we also bring a sense of awareness. Odunde is not just nationally known. Odunde is internationally known. We have people who come from different countries, from different continents, from the West Coast, from the East Coast to attend Odunde, and all we're asking is that the City of Philadelphia and the City Council continue to support us like they have in the past. Thank you.
Thank you, Chairman Sanchez, and thank you for all your hard work, and I'd like to thank the 75 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 members of Council for being here today. I would also like to echo your comments. Melanie Johnson and Jazelle Jones have been fantastic to work with. They've been very fair. We don't always agree with the policy that they have to enforce, but they're very professional, and I'd like to thank them for their professionalism. They represent your City well. Our parade is 240 years old, started in 1771. We bring bands from not only all over this area, the Delaware Valley, but also from the entire country and Ireland as well. And I'd like to quote Councilman Green, Where do we get the benefit for bringing all this business to the City of Philadelphia? This policy in place now takes no benefit of a cost-benefit analysis into account. We're here all year long. We're not just here one day of the year. And I heard Deputy Mayor Gillison, who I totally respect, testify 76 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 to a few things. He said that they would like to table this motion because they've had a few weeks to discuss this, but the fact is we've been discussing this for over 550 days. We've already had two parades, and we're still discussing this. The big catch seems to be this incremental cost, and every time we have a meeting, those costs come down and down and down. We started out with costs of $50,000. Today we're at 22,000. It seems to me the key is to have more meetings and the costs come down. The incremental cost is the big hang-up, and that's like trying to catch mercury in your hand at this point. I heard a figure of $20 million in police overtime, but I believe the bulk of the police overtime is really for officers to testify in court, not just for parades. I was told every policeman on our bill 23 was on overtime, yet when I talked to them, they told me they were redeployed from another area or they were on 77 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 straight time. 5 mile lineup, and all these costs were eventually whittled down as we met. We were charged for a podium and two speakers, $1,000. Trash, $3,300, but yet no trash bags, we have to bring our own trash bags. Barricades that you already own, you're charging double what a vendor charges. And when I brought up the point the porta-potties were double what the porta-potty vendor that you were using was -- they're supposed to be helping us out -- they immediately cancelled that policy and said they're no longer in the porta-potty business. So the more -- they have worked with us. Our bleacher costs came down from $8,000 to $2,000. But it's just not enough at this point. Councilman Greenlee said there's a benefit on St. Patrick's Day, the day of the parade, which was March 78 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 14th, but the fact is, we meet here all year long. We're here all the time. We park here. We use SEPTA. We go to hotels. They do drink and they eat here. I have over 250 groups are here, and they spend an average of $2,000 for that parade, not counting what they spend all year long. That's $500,000 in benefit to the City. Nobody seems to want to take into account what we bring in, but there's some voodoo economics here and I don't understand it. And I know that's a cliche, but the fact that if there are 500 parades that was testified about earlier, I have a hard time understanding that number, because that means there's almost one and a half every day in the City of Philadelphia. Are we talking about parades, major events like our events or are we talking about block parties? 75 million. 4 million. So I think we're really talking about the larger parades. We have a world-class city. We want to have the Democratic National Convention here. We want to have the World Cup here. We'd love to have Olympics here, but we can't supply trash bags for parades. We're stepping over millions of dollars of positive publicity to pick up a penny.
And all we want to do is say, yes, we're part of this community. Yes, we bring a benefit, and please take that benefit into account. Thank you.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Greenlee.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Bradley, you quoted some 80 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 figures about what -- I think you said total about $500,000. Is that what you said?
Maybe you've already given it to us. I'd be interested to see that, because that kind of goes into what we, I think, were saying about the benefit back to the City. So if you could break those down and maybe submit them to the Chair.
Sure. That's not a benefit of who stays in hotels or any -- I asked each group to come up with a figure that they spend on the parade, just on the parade, with their vehicles and decorating. That alone figure is almost $500,000.
But it's very difficult for a non-profit -- I'm a volunteer and everyone on our Board is a volunteer -- to come up with a quantitative number, and I don't want to 81 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 exaggerate it, because then we're going to look ridiculous.
Well, it's been exaggerated the other way, in my opinion, but that's all right.
I also want to thank all the members of the Irish community who came here to support me. Thank you.
Thank you all, the volunteers. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown.
Good afternoon. Let me first thank you for your testimony. History is very important, and it always puts an issue in context. Secondly, thank you for at least speaking to one issue we've been trying to get our arms around, and that is the economic impact. I do know that GPTMC, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism and Marketing Bureau, is in the business 82 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 of gathering information from hotels and restaurants and the like. So to Councilman Bill Greenlee's question, that will be helpful for us as a committee, because it drives the point that you all are making. And please give a huge thank-you to your mother for her vision of 35 years ago and to the magnitude to which that festival has grown 35 years later. I thank you both for your testimony.
Thank you. Thank you both. Thank you so much again for all your volunteerism and all your work. Our final panel is Dante Sanchez, Tracy Broyles and Michele Gambino. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
So we 83 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 have Dante Sanchez and Tracy Broyles. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
You have to speak into the microphone, so you might want to get closer to it.
I'm Tracy Broyles. I'm the Executive Director of Spiral Q Puppet Theatre. I thank you for having us here today and for bringing this issue to the floor. Spiral Q is located in West Philadelphia, and I've been the Director there since 2004. For more than the last 12 years, Spiral Q has worked in communities throughout Philadelphia helping to produce public large and small-scale festivals, parades and pageants that celebrate the lives of 84 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 Philadelphia residents. I came today to speak not only as the Director of my organization, but also as a concerned member of Philadelphia's larger arts and culture community. I'm here to ask you to reconsider these ordinances that impose fees on organizations and community groups producing parades, festivals and assemblages in the City's public spaces. While I understand the concern regarding the cost to the City for hosting such events and wish to commend the Council for your desire to avoid unmanageable costs for small organizations and community groups that produce them, I am nonetheless worried that these ordinances will create significant hardships or barriers for many of the communities within the City, specifically small arts and culture organizations, low-income communities and historically disenfranchised communities. My concern is centered around 85 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 the possibility that many of these celebrations and other public gatherings, especially those put on by the smallest organizations in historically disenfranchised communities, will become unaffordable in light of the fees required to hold such events. I want to ensure that our City does not lose any of its vibrant and vital public events in the process of managing these costs. To this end, I'd like to discuss the potential implications this legislation may have with regard specifically to the City's civil liberties and culture. We've talked a lot about the economy. I have submitted in my written testimony, and I can go there if we need to. As I know you are all aware, the right to assemble is one of our most important civil liberties and has had an important place throughout Philadelphia's history. Parades and festivals have played a significant role throughout that 86 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 history. By imposing a fee on events that assemble large groups of people in public spaces, this ordinance could potentially pose an impassable barrier to the right to assemble for those who cannot afford it. In a recent decision, the Supreme Court favored the free speech of corporations over the free speech of individuals. In a nation where the voices of those with the fewest resources are already being drowned out by those with the most, our city should be doing more to actively protect the free speech of the smallest organizations and groups of community members. Philadelphia, the birth place of our nation's Constitution, is famous for valuing and practicing democracy. In the Supreme Court decision that favored the free speech of corporations, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote, If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits government from fining citizens or 87 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 associations of citizens for simply engaging in speech. But isn't that exactly what this proposed ordinance is, a fine for engaging in speech? I ask you to reconsider these ordinances and fees not only because they pose a threat to the First Amendment rights of Philadelphia citizens, but also because it would invite expensive and unnecessary litigation only to be eventually struck down by a federal court. Parades, festivals -- I believe it is imperative that we protect these organizations not only for civil liberties or for the economic hardships that they would face, but also for the crucial support that they provide to the culture of underserved neighborhoods throughout the City.
Many of the events held in underserved neighborhoods would potentially be affected or cancelled, because the parade fees serve multiple purposes. Beside the economic benefits 88 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 these events provide, many of them provide a space for community celebration and collaboration to address some of the most pressing issues facing their neighborhoods, including drug abuse and dependence, homelessness, unemployment, poverty and violence, all of which disproportionately impacts communities of racial and ethnic minorities. The loss of an important cultural event for any one of these groups would make it much more difficult for these organizations seeking to unite their communities in response to the struggles they face and to celebrate collectively their victories in attempting to address those issues. On a broader scale, Philadelphians stand to lose many of the crucial events that compose its diverse cultural tapestry. If only those organizations that can afford these fees are allowed to produce events in public spaces, the City will lose many of its 89 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 valuable sources of arts and culture. The inaccessibility to large-scale events created by high fees for City services threatens to erase the smaller voices that would make Philadelphia's cultural sphere so impressive and diverse. My concerns, then, are not solely based on economic loss, but also on the potential disappearance of some of the rarest and most important aspects of our City's culture from our larger cultural life.
Thank you. I just wanted to, first of all, thank you. I know that we do the Norris Square Parade. I'm looking forward to this year's. We have an amendment that takes the fee structure off. It only requires groups to pay for City services related to staging and not public safety. So I just wanted to clarify that for the record. So the issue of imposing a fine or a fee will be amended out of the bill. 90 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158
One concern that could be discussed that in today's street climate, without sound equipment or stages, people cannot be seen or heard. So I mention that as -- there was a time when that might have been a luxury to an event's accessibility and visibility. At these stages, I do recognize those services can be rented from other agencies, but those two pieces of the puzzle are rather essential to the visibility of many of the events that I've witnessed.
My name is Danny Delore, also known as Dante Sanchez, which was my previous name before I became a citizen. I represent the Dominican Parade. I have the sad news to 91 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 tell you that last year we were not able to have the Dominican Parade because the City was asking the sum of $34,000. That is beside paying for the stage, the sound, fences, portable potties, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The Dominican Parade is a tool for marketing for the City or should be a tool, because that day we move thousands of people that buy things and pay for services. From the point of view of health, it is the belief of the Dominican Parade that the City should take care of the health of the constituents. Health is not just physical. It's also mental. Personal identity is part of a healthy mental health, and part of the healthy personal identity is the cultural identity. These parades promote the cultural identity of the people who participate in them. It is the belief that the City should invest to protect and to prevent the present anxiety and 92 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 other eases in people that can feel confined barriers in the City. We believe that the City should invest in this festival, because we create what is called the multiplicator factor of the dollars, when the dollars go from one hand to another. We expect the City to change the policy about the fees.
Thank you so much, Mr. Sanchez. Thank you both. Is anyone else here to testify? (No response.)
That not being the case, this concludes the public hearing of the Committee of Licenses and Inspection. We will now go to the public meeting of the Committee. The Chair recognizes Councilman Greenlee for a motion on the amendment to Bill 100158.
Thank you, Madam Chair. First, I note for the 93 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 record that in the proposed amendment there is one change. In Section 3 towards the bottom of , it should read "the City shall not charge any person who receives a permit under this Section for any public safety services provided by the City." So we added the word "safety." And with that, Madam Chair, I move the amendment to Bill No. 11 100158. (Duly seconded.)
All in favor of the amendment to Bill 100158 signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
Thank you. I recognize Councilman Green for a motion on Bill 100158, as amended.
I move that Bill 100158, as amended, be reported from 94 4/29/10 - L&I - BILL 100158 this Committee with a favorable recommendation and with a suspension of the rules so that this may have its first reading at our next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
Thank you so much. The Committee on Licenses and Inspections will now adjourn. Thank you. (Committee on Licenses and Inspections adjourned at 3:20 p.m.) - - - 95 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 April 29, 2010, 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.)