I understand. I am finished for the moment, Madam Chair. I have some other questions.
Thank you, Madam President. 195 3/1/06 - Whole - Bill 06003, etc. Good afternoon, Mr. Chapman and associates. We all know that many people have moved in the last decade from the City of Philadelphia to many of our suburban communities, and I would appreciate you helping with this because I received an e-mail from a gentleman that moved to the western suburbs but still works here in the City of Philadelphia. Every day he commutes, and it is hell to commute. There was once rail service from the western suburbs, from, I believe, Pottstown/Royersford, and if you listen to the traffic report every day, Route 422 inbound is a nightmare. SEPTA has abandoned that service, and I'm concerned that it's getting so bad with the growth that many of the people who still work here in the City will start looking for other places to work, and we will lose those jobs and that tax revenue. I understand that you have some 196 3/1/06 - Whole - Bill 06003, etc. relationship with those types of issues with SEPTA, but can you imagine the growth of those suburbs and not having a way for people to commute? They have to drive, from what I understand, to -- as close as they can get to Philadelphia and park their car is Norristown. There is no public transportation, rail transportation, from the western suburbs to Philadelphia. And this gentleman who works here in the City told me that if something doesn't improve, that he's going to start shopping for a job out of the City. Again, he used the word it is a nightmare. It is an hour and a half commute from where he lives somewhere out in the western suburbs into the City. It's gridlock every morning and every night. I think that maybe the role of the Planning Commission is to push SEPTA. I understand the rail is there. One of 197 3/1/06 - Whole - Bill 06003, etc. your colleagues is acting like he understands what I'm trying to express here, that that rail bed has been abandoned for some reason. What that would mean to have public transportation to people that aren't then -- if you have some information, sir, please sit down. I would appreciate it to hear it. To have people start looking for employment outside the City of Philadelphia -- and, as you know, that area is growing in leaps and bounds. Every farm, every area of land that can be developed is being developed, and guess who is occupying it? People who used to live here in the City of Philadelphia. And I don't want to see a double hit. I don't want to see us lose the residents and then lose the jobs. Do you have an organization within the Planning Commission that could work with SEPTA or at least ask some hard direct questions on what we can do to get 198 3/1/06 - Whole - Bill 06003, etc. -- can you imagine people that live out there have to drive to Norristown to get to Philadelphia?
Gary Jastrzab of the City Planning Commission. You may remember a number of years ago there was a proposal that had been floated -- and this has been through several different iterations now -- for the Schuylkill Valley Metro. That was a regional rail project that would link up Center City Philadelphia with the City of Reading. That project has proven to be extraordinarily expensive and there has never been a financial plan for that particular transit service that all of the counties in the southeastern Pennsylvania region could agree upon. About a year, a year and a half 199 3/1/06 - Whole - Bill 06003, etc. ago, the Governor created a special task force headed by the secretary of PennDOT to reevaluate the proposal for the Schuylkill Valley Metro and recommend to the governor an appropriate solution and potential cost for that service. That task force is still meeting and I believe that recommendations for that are running somewhat behind schedule. But they are expected this year. And our agency, working with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, have been -- while we are not part of that working group or that task force, we are informed on a periodic basis about the negotiations and the deliberations of that task force. At this point the cost looks still to be very, very high. I think we are conceptually in support of that rail service. We are very concerned about the loss of residents and jobs from the City, but until we know what those 200 3/1/06 - Whole - Bill 06003, etc. recommendations are, it's hard for us to make our own plans.
I appreciate what you've just said, but maybe you can provide me through the Chair some information. Don't we have a rail that's already in the ground? Don't we have stations -- I don't pretend to know that area very well other than the communication I receive. I believe we have a station that SEPTA closed in the western suburbs. I mean how do you close public transportation from an area that is growing? I mean something is wrong about that story. You add service; you don't close it. If eventually people say, "I have had it. I can't deal with this drive to Norristown" or "I can't deal with this commute to Philadelphia every day," could someone find out exactly what the circumstances with the rail that already is there, the right-of-way that is already there, the parking that is 201 3/1/06 - Whole - Bill 06003, etc. already there, because I think that our Planning Commission -- and this is not meant to be disrespectful -- that that is a plan that's very important to me and it is a very important part to Philadelphia because if we can get a couple thousand cars off the expressway or get them off of the streets of Philadelphia, it's to our advantage. So I would appreciate it, Mr. Chapman, that that is something that we ask SEPTA and give us maybe a short report back on what it would take to reactivate that service. I mean it was maybe years ago, or I don't even know 17 when it was discontinued. When there was 18 nothing out there, that was fine, but 19 now... 20 Listen tomorrow morning to the traffic report. Every morning, 422. I have been listening since I got this e-mail. 422, gridlock coming into the city. Eventually those people are going to say, "I've had it." 202 3/1/06 - Whole - Bill 06003, etc. Would you do that?
You're welcome, sir. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney.
Thank you, Madam President. I want to move just a moment to the Philadelphia Naval Business Center. Are you guys at all involved in either transportation planning issues or development planning issues at the yard? What is your role, if any?
Anything that's built in the Navy Yard comes through our office for a number of different reasons. Development reviews the fact that it may be in the floodplain down there. So I can tell you that everything of significance that has been done down 203 3/1/06 - Whole - Bill 06003, etc. there has come through our office at some point.
Have you been involved at all in any studies relative to the extension of transportation opportunities into the yard including the extension of the Broad Street Subway or rail surface line in conjunction with what the DRPA has been planning, if the DRPA is still in existence, what they have been planning on Columbus Boulevard and connections with PATCO? I mean are you guys all plugged into all that stuff?
Yes, we are. In fact, we are in the process of pursuing some money to do a study.
And have you had discussions and contact with DRPA relative to their transportation planning?
We recognize that that's a key. It's a very important issue for the Navy Yard.
Thank you. Is that also -- not only the yard, but the service to the sports complex, is that also part of that whole process?
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Madam Chair, I need Miss Reed. 205 3/1/06 - Whole - Bill 06003, etc.
It does not, but I, quite honestly, wanted to put it on the record and make the request and then I'm going to leave, which will delight a number of people.
Councilwoman Blackwell, I believe, has a question for Mr. Chapman.
Thank you. We certainly have been involved and appreciate the effort being made on the other end as we leave the City on Baltimore Avenue and the work that we are doing in those counties there, and we certainly look forward to continuing it. One of the mayors called me just yesterday. So certainly we look forward to continuing that dialogue and trying to work together in spite of all the -- there are always issues, but we appreciate your working with us in that 206 3/1/06 - Whole - Bill 06003, etc. regard.
Miss Reed, would you approach the witness table, please? Mr. Chapman, you can stay there. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Miss Reed, thank you for coming up. This is a data request in light of I think you're kind of generally either the designated person or the highest ranking person on behalf of the administration.
I think I might have 207 3/1/06 - Whole - Bill 06003, etc. the answer to your question. I was just making sure I had it available.
You're good. I'm still trying to figure out what the question is, but I commend you. And you think it is on that Blackberry?
Really? Okay. Let's give it a whirl. Miss Reed, what I would like is -- if you could provide through the Chair, I would like a comprehensive list, in light of the events of today, a comprehensive list of all public employees who live outside of the City of Philadelphia, the reason, whether there was a waiver granted, whether they're civil service or exempt, when was the waiver granted, where do they live, what department do they work in, how long have they worked for the City, and their salaries.
That wasn't the question I thought you were going to ask. 208 3/1/06 - Whole - Bill 06003, etc. Sorry.
I thought you were going to ask if we had gotten the information you had called us about regarding the second employee that the CIO thought had been part of the higher education program.
I was not going to ask you about that. Your deputy was trying to tell me about that, but since you have the information, why don't you put it on the record for us?
The answer is that the CIO has sent a group of us a Blackberry letting us know that she was incorrect about there being a second employee. The person that she thought had filed for benefits under that program in fact did not. So he was in a higher education program, but he did not get reimbursed by the City for that.
Did the 209 3/1/06 - Whole - Bill 06003, etc. person seek reimbursement?
Did not seek. All right. Just so we are clear, when the chief information officer testified yesterday that there was another person who had already completed their studies I think last summer and had applied for the program and the costs had been paid, that was incorrect?
Okay. Thank you very much. But you will be able to get us that data?
You will forward it to the Chair? Thanks. Thank you, Madam Chair. 210 3/1/06 - Whole - Bill 06003, etc.
You're welcome. Are there any other questions from members of the committee? Seeing no one, I thank you all for your patience. Thank you for your testimony, and the committee will stand in recess until Tuesday, March 7, at 10:00 a.m. Thank you very much. (The hearing adjourned at 4:00 p.m.) 211 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings of the Committee of The Whole of the Council of the City of Philadelphia are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me on Wednesday, March 1, 2006, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. ______________________________ Cynthia A. Whyte, RPR (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.)