Committee Hearing, October 25, 2006

COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, October 25, 2006 9:40 a.m. - - - PRESENT: COUNCILWOMAN JANNIE BLACKWELL, CHAIR COUNCILMAN W. WILSON GOODE, JR. COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER RESOLUTION 060708 - Resolution calling on the Council Committee on Finance to hold hearings for a Call to Action to stop the violence by providing additional funding for job training programs, extended hours of operation for school and recreation facilities, extended TANF benefits for those working in schools and neighborhoods and tax credits and other initiatives for reintegrating ex-offenders. - - - V A R A L L O Incorporated Litigation Support Services Eleven Penn Center 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 215.561.2220 215.567.2670 377

Good morning, everyone. This is a continuation of a hearing from the Committee on Finance with regard to a Call to Action to reduce violence in our City. We're happy to have all of you here. We're now going to have the Clerk to read the title of the resolution.

Resolution No. 13 060708, resolution calling on the Council Committee on Finance to hold hearings for a Call to Action to stop the violence by providing additional funding for job training programs, extended hours of operation for school and recreation facilities, extended TANF benefits for those working in schools and neighborhoods, and tax credits and other initiatives for reintegrating ex-offenders.

Thank you very much. 378 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 As you know, many of you may know, we had approximately 35 people testify yesterday with regard to this. The Mayor was here for about, I don't know, maybe close to an hour. The Police Commissioner was here, many representatives. Fleetway Leasing brought an ex-offender, who was grateful for the opportunity to talk about their job training program and car detailing. We had the Prison Commissioner who said that -- the Police Commissioner said you can't arrest your way out of it, and obviously you can't lock up your way out of the problem either. And certainly we had the Health Commissioner, as we said, the DHS Commissioner. We had many, many Commissioners who were here yesterday, people who talked about job training, people from City services, like Bilal Qayyum, who walked to Harrisburg, and so forth and so on. Certainly we won't 379 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 repeat all of it, but we just wanted to give you a background to frame what this is about. We believe that after the marches to Harrisburg, the task forces, after the many meetings and discussions, as was named by Jeff Felder from my staff who created the whole title and the whole concept of a Call to Action, we believe it's now time to go the next level, create a Call to Action. And this Call to Action calls for not only job training and employment, but programs for ex-offenders, after-school programs and programs in our recreation centers to reach us closer to the curfew. So that gives you a quick overview. We'll have a short beginning from Pastor Reed and Sharon Baptist Church, who also worked with us and are working on a whole issue of violence and the whole issue of Call to Action. To my left is Councilman W. Wilson Goode, who is a part of this 380 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Committee and who himself has come up with a tax issue for businesses who hire others in our City, and he'll speak to that at some point today. And now, again, we will begin this short tape to help frame the discussion and we'll begin our testimony. (Tape begins.) * * *

"Hello, Councilwoman Blackwell and distinguished constituents. Pertaining to this issue about violence in our City of Philadelphia, I am Pastor Keith W. , the senior pastor of Sharon Baptist Church. We are consulting with you and coming to you to talk about this whole issue of violence in our City, particularly among our young African-American young men from the ages of 18 to 25. The number of killings are just off the scale, it's off the record, and we are concerned about it as a church, and the church has not said 381 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 anything publicly. "I'm making this appeal to you -- and I do say an "appeal," because it is such a great burden on our hearts about our City and what's happening to our young men and our young ladies here in Philadelphia. "We as the Sharon Baptist Church are offering a possible solution to the problem. We've experienced some success with it, and this is a drama presentation of the drama and the violence that's going on in our City. And I think this play will be a good piece of demonstrating and sharing with other human beings about human life. "And I know that there's separation between church and state, but you have to let the church do what the church does. And we are concerned about human beings, but we also realize as a church that without God in our lives, we really don't stand a chance to do anything successful. 382 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 "So if you would just give us a listening ear by seeing clips from this play of what we performed or allowed to be at our church, and that night afterwards, we had about young people 7 come down the aisle in prayer, as well as 8 getting their relationship together with 9 God. 10 "And we'll tweak it if we have 11 to, but we can't X out God, because 12 that's who we are and that's what we 13 represent. 14 "So, please, I ask you, I 15 appeal to you, will you please just hear 16 what could be a solution to the problem 17 that we're having in our City. I pray 18 that you enjoy the clip that we want to 19 share with you about the play. 20 "Bless you and thank you for giving us the opportunity to share it with you. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: The Paxton is Signed is a play that specifically addresses the epidemic of 383 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 violence that's currently existing primarily in Philadelphia, because that's where we're closest to and that's where we are, but I think it's actually a problem that's throughout the inner city areas in the United States. "Personally, my personal motivation has come from two incidents. I had one younger cousin actually in Baltimore get gunned down on his way home from work, which was actually -- he was an upstanding individual. He wasn't involved in any problems. And that was a retaliatory strike against his brother. "But then most recently, this summer, April 30th, my nephew, 15 years old by the name of Anthony Williams, was shot and killed on his front step. And from what I understand, the only motivation for that was that he chose to hang out with some guys a few blocks away and the guys closest to where he lived didn't appreciate it, and he got gunned down. His sister right in the doorway, 384 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 grandmother right next door, father upstairs. "So I just felt in my heart and in my spirit that I had an opportunity and an obligation to do something that kind of showed the other side of what happens in the midst of one of these tragedies. "I believe that if people are more educated about the kind of pain that they inflict on that victim's families and the people who love them and the disruption of life that occurs just because of some senseless argument over a few dollars or over some disrespect or whatever the case is, that maybe it will just teach some of these younger people to be more sensitive and more rational in their thinking and not be so quick to jump to violence as a mean to settle whatever score there is.

"And also I would like to represent a Call to Action to the parents. Parents have to be a lot more 385 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 responsible as to what their children's activities are, as to what's coming in and out of their houses. "I mean, there's not one simple solution to this problem, but there's a multitude of solutions, and this play, what we hope to do is ruffle some feathers and kind of get some people who may not be thinking about solutions in that mindset where they are. "

"Shaboi Tewaz. "My involvement with the play, I'm doing the concert at the beginning of the play just to, I guess -- really entertainment, the musical entertainment for the play. The importance of the play, even in my life, has a lot to do with the violence that's going on, these homes with fathers not being present. 386 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 "It tugs at my heart a lot, because my ministry is geared towards that families -- seeing that family knit come back together, and the play hits home with it. It is exactly what, I guess, if I was a writer of a play what I would write just to touch base with this community becoming a community again, the church becoming the pinnacle in the community again. And I think the play shows every aspect of that. "And, you know, I just know it's going to do great things and I'm just happy to be a part of it. You know, I see it going outside of Philly and going to other communities so that this message can get out there, because it's a very important message. Not just in Philly are fathers not home, not just in Philly are they shooting. "But one thing I do know about Philadelphia is -- and I say this jokingly but in serious -- we can't win a Sixers championship, we can't win a 387 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Flyers championship, nor can we win a Super Bowl, but we manage to be number one in the nation in violence." (Tape stopped.) * * *

Thank you very much. That will give you a backdrop. At the conclusion of our hearings, as we did yesterday, we will play a DVD of the entire play. So those of you who would like to watch it, we invite you to come back or we invite you to remain. We won't take more time now, but we wanted you to know how sincere we are, how provocative it is and how widespread the concern in our community is. Having said that, the Chair realizes that the Honorable Judge Paula Patrick has to go back to court. We thank her for coming in this morning, and she will be our first witness to testify. Thank you very much. Again, we thank you all for 388 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 being here and for being a part. These are some of the most -- these hearings are -- in all my years in Council, I don't know that there's been any that are more important than what we're doing today, because we are talking about -- feel free to take the witness table, Judge. All right. While we are duplicating the Judge's testimony, we will call the Honorable James Roebuck. Thank you for coming. They were in Harrisburg last night. And the Honorable James Roebuck is also a member of our ward. We missed you, because instead of you giving everybody the -- going through the pink sheet, talking about who votes and talking about the questions, I had to do it. So you were especially missed last night. We told everyone about the important issues you were voting on in Harrisburg. Thank you for being here and 389 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 thank you for being here to talk about the issue of violence in our City. REPRESENTATIVE ROEBUCK: Thank you, Councilwoman Blackwell, Councilman Goode. I might just preface by saying that in fact the House was in session last night until o'clock and we 9 managed to do a number of important 10 pieces of legislation, but certainly I'm 11 very pleased to have the opportunity to 12 be here this morning to speak on this topic. I first want to thank City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell and the Philadelphia City Council for providing me the opportunity to present testimony on how we can reduce violence in our City, particularly in our schools and among our City's youth. I agree with the sentiments of City Council's resolution for a Call to Action to stop the violence, as well as its focus on job training programs for the unemployed, tax credits for hiring 390 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 ex-offenders and expanding the definition of, quote, work-related activities for TANF recipients. However, we need to go further to address as a community one of the major underlying issues that is behind rising violence among youth in our City, and that issue is the issue of the high school dropout crisis. The issue of high school dropouts is not just an education issue, but is an issue that affects the entire City in terms of its effect on poverty, crime and hopelessness among many of our City's youth. When a student drops out of school, they may no longer be a problem to the education system, but they do become a problem for our health and welfare system and for our criminal justice system. Studies confirm that high school dropouts are far more likely than high school graduates to live in poverty and to be on welfare and far more 391 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 likely to be incarcerated. There is a real cost to our society in terms of increased welfare spending and increased spending on prisons when a child drops out of school. It is a sad statement about the spending priorities of our state that it costs more to house a prisoner in the State Penitentiary than it does to educate them at Penn State University.

The extent of this dropout crisis was made clear last week with the issuing of the report "Philadelphia's Dropout Crisis" from Johns Hopkins University researchers that found that only 48 to 54 percent of students who start the ninth grade between the years 2000 and 2005 graduated within four years and only 60 to 63 percent graduated within six years. The study also found that Latino and African-American students had the lowest graduation rates. While the study noted that Philadelphia's findings were similar to graduating rates 392 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 in other major cities, this does not excuse a nearly 50 percent dropout rate from our schools. As Democratic Chairman of the House Education Committee, I held a hearing this past spring on this issue in Philadelphia and heard testimony from numerous groups on the dropout crisis and its impact on not only Philadelphia but the entire state. I am presently developing legislation with the input of several organizations here in Philadelphia that I believe will help address this issue. And I would note that I'm especially pleased that Councilwoman Blackwell was a part of one of those planning sessions and continue to work as we shape that state legislation. I would note also that I did submit my testimony for the record and I'm not going to read the entire document word for word. I do want to just add some additional points here. 393 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 In addition to addressing the dropout crisis, I'm hopeful that the Governor and the General Assembly will take serious action as specifically expanding funding for alternative education programs that can work to keep at-risk youth in school, as well as to promote dropout recovery programs where students who have dropped out of school can return to an alternative school program with the goal of achieving their high school diploma. These programs, as well as dual enrollment programs like the recently established Gateway to College program at the Community College of Philadelphia where I serve on the Board of Trustees, will make a real difference in lowering high school dropouts. However, these programs are not enough if we don't have the entire community working on this problem. Luckily, we do have in Philadelphia numerous organizations which are addressing this problem, and I would take 394 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 particular note of the efforts of the Philadelphia Youth Transitions Collaborative. This collaborative is a consortium of local organizations and City agencies, including the School District, whose mission is to promote enhanced opportunities for struggling students and out-of-school youth. The Philadelphia Youth Transitions Collaborative released the aforementioned "Philadelphia Dropout Crisis" report and last Thursday launched Project U-Turn, a campaign aimed at galvanizing the district, City agencies, the business community, neighborhood groups and parents to work together to keep students in school. I support their efforts and hope that Philadelphia City Council will assist this collaborative with possible funding for their initiatives, as well as provide assistance from other various City agencies. Together as a community and with the help from Governor Rendell and 395 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 the General Assembly, we can make a difference in reducing the number of high school dropouts. In doing this, I believe we will make a major impact on reducing violence in our City and give our City's youth hope for a better future through education. Once again, I thank you for this opportunity. I would certainly be glad to answer any questions that you might have.

Thank you very much, Representative Roebuck. And as you know -- and we say this for the record -- he is Chair of the State Committee on Education, as I am blessed to chair that locally in City Council, and so we work together to deal with these issues like dropout rate. It's very disparaging to learn that yesterday the Prison Commissioner told us it costs about $88 a day to house prisoners. We've just got to make better use of our dollars. And now we know 396 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 there's prison overcrowding that exacerbates it, where they're sleeping in kitchens and other space. So we are all our brother's keeper, and we work with the prison guards as well as the Prison Commissioner, and I think everybody is on the same page in being concerned about this whole dropout rate. Yesterday we talked about how many -- more than 80 percent of the inmates who have reading problems, who don't read well, who haven't finished high school, and if we look back, unemployment and education certainly are big issues that cause problems for us. And that is why these hearings are so important to deal with educators such as yourself who are also State officials and to talk about job training and employment and programs. We thank you certainly for your input. Thank you for coming here this morning. 397 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Are there any questions? (No response.)

Thank you very much. REPRESENTATIVE ROEBUCK: Thank you very much.

Thank you. Judge Paula Patrick. Thank you for coming, and we appreciate you taking time from your schedule on the bench to join us this morning. The courts, I will say, have really, really been involved in a big way on this whole issue. When we had hearings on the dropout rate, when we had hearings on crime in schools, we had Judge Lori Dumas and we've had Administrative Judge Kevin Dougherty speak, as well as yourself, on the whole issue of problems with youngsters. So, again, welcome. Please identify yourself for our record and begin your testimony. 398 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 JUDGE PATRICK-JOHNAKIN: Yes. Good morning, Councilwoman Blackwell and Councilman Goode. On behalf of my Administrative Judge, Kevin Dougherty, I offer my thanks and appreciation for the opportunity to testify regarding the importance of funding programs to help alleviate youth violence in the City of Philadelphia. My name is Paula Patrick-Johnakin and I'm currently a Judge of Court of Common Pleas, Family Court Division, Juvenile Section. I preside over juvenile cases, which include delinquent, dependent and truant youth. Juvenile crime, including gang violence, sex offending, substance abuse, property theft and truancy, continue to be a serious problem in our nation and in our community. I see firsthand the impact of what the ills of society have done to our children and families. Under the leadership of Administrative Judge Kevin Dougherty, the 399 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 goal of the Juvenile Court is not only to rehabilitate delinquent children, but also to ensure public safety by providing delinquent children and their families with the tools they need to become productive members of society. I believe that juvenile justice is a serious problem in our community and that it takes all of us, the four C's, the court, City Council, the Commonwealth and the community, working together to come to a reasonable solution. Daily, I and my colleagues on the juvenile bench are faced with making challenging decisions that must balance the interests of these children and families with the protection of the community. The late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. " My personal vision for the 400 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Philadelphia Juvenile Court is that every child be reared in a safe, permanent and nurturing family where love, self-control, concern for others and responsibility for the consequences of one's actions are experienced and taught as fundamental values for a successful life. Moreover, one of my greatest concerns is that families are equipped with the tools necessary to produce a strong family unit which enables a child to have a chance to take his or her place in a society being fully prepared emotionally, academically, financially and also spiritually. It is with this in mind that I, under the administration of Judge Kevin Dougherty, created the KOI Program. That's K-O-I. KOI stands for knowledge, opportunities and incentives for access to a better life. We have collaborated with the Missionary Baptist Pastor's Conference of Philadelphia and vicinity, as well as the Leon H. Sullivan Charitable Trust to 401 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 develop this program. I will give you a brief overview of the program. The first facet of KOI is knowledge. " The KOI program will solicit some of the best boarding schools and charter schools within the Commonwealth to accept and award scholarships to mentally gifted inner City youth who are in the juvenile court system. I found that some of our youth in the system have talent and would certainly benefit from a better educational opportunity. Some of these children will be placed in boarding school programs, thereby diverting them from crime and violence that often plague their schools and their neighborhoods. The second facet of the KOI program is opportunity.

The program will allow at-risk and truant youth the opportunity to work in a program at minimum wage for four days a week 402 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 learning life skills, communication skills, education alternatives and college preparation and enrollment. This is similar to the AAIM program under the direction of Dr. Audrey Brunson that is in operation in West Philadelphia. We need this program to be Citywide. In addition, youth would also learn skills for web building and design and are guaranteed employment upon completion of the program. The third facet of the KOI program is incentives. I believe that everyone should be rewarded or at least recognized for his or her accomplishments. The largest incentive offered will be guaranteed job placement for students and/or college admission. We will also solicit donations of tickets from our local professional sports clubs, museums, cultural organizations and movie theatres so that program participants and their families can participate in positive social activities as a reward 403 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 for hard work, dedication and commitment. These children will receive incentives for their compliance and will learn that hard work does breed compensation and reward. I am proud to say that this program was recently approved by the Administrative Governing Board of Judges. The next issue that we're working on is Housing Court. Another program I am working to develop with Judge Dougherty is Housing Court. Housing Court would operate out of the Family Court under the Juvenile Division. The concept is that being poor is not a crime and poor families should not be faced with the removal of their children if inadequate housing or lack thereof is their sole dependency issue. Housing Court would have units made available to us through the Philadelphia Housing Authority. PHA was established in 1937 and is the nation's fourth largest housing authority. PHA is the largest landlord 404 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 in Pennsylvania, and its funding comes primarily from the federal government working in partnership with the City and State government sources. There are a total of 33 PHA sites in the City of Philadelphia that have been either renovated or completely rebuilt brand new homes. Our proposal would simply be that PHA would reserve three units from each of these sites for the families that are in need in Family Court. All applicants would have to meet the PHA criteria for application, and the family must be in immediate need of housing. This means that the Court would no longer be forced to have the children removed forthwith from the parents' custody to be committed to the Department of Human Services for placement in a foster home due to the inadequate or lack of housing. Housing Court would place a three-year limit on families assigned to public housing under this program. Also 405 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 during this three-year period, the parents must enroll and complete IT training programs through either Verizon or Comcast, of which we are seeking to partner with for parent training and employment. Second, Housing Court would also have the authority to immediately refer a Section 8 housing violation case to Landlord/Tenant Court. This is necessary if the General Protective Services report for DHS has found that the premises that where the family lives under Section 8 is deplorable and in an uninhabitable condition as to no fault of the family. The family would then be relocated to another Section 8 home with a Section 8 voucher once the proper administrative channels have been addressed. Third, the Court would convene monthly to ensure that the family is compliant with PHA and the order of the Court. The Court would also have a 406 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 housing liaison, similar to the probation officer, to report the progress of the family and the new housing situation.

Moreover, DHS would have services to children in their own homes to also help monitor the families to ensure their safety and that the children's needs are being met. The family would be monitored for an entire year by the Court. Recreation centers, community youth programs, after-school and summer programs undoubtedly provide youth with a constructive alternative to destructive behaviors and violence. I am convinced that additional funding is needed for these programs. Adequate funding not only provides a more promising future for our youth, but also creates a more productive, more peaceful, safer and happier society in general. " Let us work together so that this evil of youth 407 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 violence, crime and poverty will cease to have a place among us. Dr. " Let us not be silent any longer. Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, I will take them.

Thank you, Your Honor. I will tell you that we are so pleased. This shows you the caliber of judge that we have on the court today. Years ago this would not have happened. We would not have had judges who decide that when they see youngsters who don't know where they live or their education is not in place or they're not sure where they live from day to night, who would have taken on the whole issue of developing a proposal and a program and working with the Administrative Judge and other judges to create such a program. It's so very, very, very 408 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 important, because we all know that it takes -- every aspect, as Dr. Robinson said, takes a village to raise a child, and certainly this is a vital part of what happens, what we can do to help children who are in the court system or who get there to certainly become stable members of our society. Thank you very much. Are there any questions? (No response.)

Thank you, Your Honor. JUDGE PATRICK-JOHNAKIN: Thank you all.

Thank you very, very much. Alan Butkovitz represented by Deputy Commissioner Harvey Rice. Thank you very much. Thank you so much for coming.

Thank you, Councilwoman. Good morning, Councilwoman Blackwell, Councilman Goode. I am Harvey 409 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Rice, the First Deputy City Controller. Controller Alan Butkovitz is in Washington today and he asked that I present his testimony in support of Resolution 060708. Accompanying me here today are Drae Jones, Director of our Financial and Policy Unit, and Anthony DiMartino of the Finance and Policy Unit. First off, I would like to thank you for this opportunity to testify and present the Controller's position on this resolution. The Controller would like to commend Councilwoman Blackwell, Councilman Goode and Council as a whole for their concern and leadership in addressing the causes of violence and in seeking solutions to make our City safe. As you know, violent crime has reached epidemic proportions in some of our neighborhoods. Today we stand at 328 murders in our City since the first of the year. In addition, there are over 1,500 shooting victims who have not died. 410 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Part of the City Controller's job is to help improve the quality of life in our City and recommend ways for City departments to improve upon the work they do and the services they provide to the people of this City. Gun violence and the murder of our citizens, some innocent bystanders and others, is alarming and has rocked the confidence of our citizens. In my role as Controller and auditor of the Philadelphia Police Department, I have been working with both City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell and Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson to help find ways for the Philadelphia Police Department to improve how it protects our citizens and ensure the public's safety. Together, Councilwoman Blackwell and I recommended to the Governor and the legislature legislation to permit searches without a warrant of parolees who have committed violent 411 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 crimes or have been convicted of firearms offenses. Police tell us that most gun crime in the City is perpetrated by individuals who have repeatedly been arrested and/or convicted of violent crimes and weapon offenses. This legislation will provide police with another tool to assist them in reducing violent crime, while making law enforcement more efficient and effective in the performance of their duties. This legislative initiative, sponsored by Philadelphia State Representative William Keller, passed overwhelmingly in a non-binding vote during the special House session on crime and violence. This non-binding vote is a good indication of the support for this measure, which is scheduled for a vote before the current legislative session ends in December. While this legislation will help police better monitor parolees, it 412 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 will also serve as a deterrent for parolees who would normally feel safe carrying a weapon because there is no 5 fear of automatic search and seizure by law enforcement. In addition, currently, there are 275 probation and parole officers within the Adult Probation and Parole Department. These officers monitor approximately 50,000 offenders, many of whom have multiple cases. The City's ratio of probation and parole officers to offender caseload is one to 182. The ratio for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is one to 75. Philadelphia ranked first statewide in all of the counties having the highest total caseloads. More probation and parole officers will result in better overall management of offenders and will help reduce repeat violent incidents. Consequently, a reduction in incarceration rates will result. 413 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Another tool which will significantly decrease the level of violence is the expansion of the Youth Violence Reduction Partnership. Far too often the violence we have seen on our streets involves our young people.

Statistics show that 40 percent of homicides, as well as percent to 56 10 percent of all other violent crimes are 11 committed by males between the ages of 16 12 and 24. This program encompasses 13 teenagers in the 12th, 19th, 22nd, 24th 14 and 25th Police Districts. It identifies 15 a specific number of youth adults at high 16 risk of violence. 17 Currently, there are 949 18 individuals being monitored in YVRP, and 19 567 are active participants in the 20 program. The program's goal is to 21 prevent repeat offenses by high-risk 22 adolescents and divert them away from 23 criminal and delinquent conduct. This 24 partnership includes collaboration with 25 the Police Department, human service 414 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 agencies, juvenile probation, schools, community organizations and the District Attorney's office. The main goal is to provide intensive monitoring and guidance for at-risk young adults and to provide intensive intervention. Some of the services provided include specialized life skills training, family and individual counseling, and parenting education. Again, Controller Butkovitz asked me to express his regrets and to commend Councilwoman Blackwell and City Council as a whole for seeking solutions to crime in our City and finding ways to decrease the level of violence that is permeating our City. There is no magic solution, but a collaboration of numerous different ideas, approaches and solutions will help alleviate violent crime and make our City streets safer. Thank you.

Thank you very much. And let me say that we 415 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 know there have been some who question the bill that was introduced by the Representative and overwhelmingly passed, but the other side of it is that if those who have had gun offenses are asked to sign a waiver that they can be stopped, generally unless they stick out in some way, it's a deterrent from the public who are afraid to snitch or tell on offenders for retaliation, and I know this was one of the motivations behind the bill being introduced initially.

Yes, it was, Councilwoman.

So we thank you very much. Are there any questions? (No response.)

Thank you very much, Commissioner Rice. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Maureen Rush, Vice-President of Public 416 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Safety, University of Pennsylvania. Thank you very much. As you may know, yesterday we talked with the University about some of the programs that they enjoy. We talked about that they work with us, with which we work together in the community, including the Sayre School, the Center for Community Partnerships, school programs, after-school programs and, of course, their Lucien E. Blackwell apprenticeship program that we're developing. Thank you for being here.

Thank you very much. Good morning, Councilwoman Blackwell, Councilman Goode. It's my pleasure to be here this morning. My name is Maureen Rush. I'm Vice-President for Public Safety at the University of Pennsylvania. A little bit about my background. I've been at Penn for 11 years, and prior to my career at Penn, I had an exciting and fulfilling 18-year career with the Philadelphia Police 417 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Department. During my over 30 years of law enforcement and public safety sector areas, I have witnessed the pain and suffering of victims of crime, as well as the wasted potential of perpetrators of crime. Thank you for inviting me to share my thoughts and observations about violence and possible solutions that the City can put forth to mitigate it with this Committee. Penn is the largest private employer in the City of Philadelphia and the second largest in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Penn has a total regular workforce of approximately 25,000 employees between the University and the University Health System. S. and international students apply to Penn for the rich intellectual and cultural experience offered both at Penn and the City of Philadelphia. An accomplished faculty, 418 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 committed to excellence in scholarship research and service, also come to Penn to pursue knowledge without boundaries. The safety and security of our students, faculty and staff is the number one priority for our President, Amy Gutmann, and all of us in the Division of Public Safety. Last year, the University City area experienced a startling increase in violent crime, as did the entire City of Philadelphia. This crime up-tick dramatically affected the quality of life of members of the Penn community and created doubt in the minds of prospective students, faculty and staff regarding their plans to join the Penn community. In addition to the numerous community outreach programs that the University and the University Health System engage in, President Amy Gutmann felt compelled to allocate an additional $5 million to fund a public safety 419 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 initiative to fight back against this frightening increase in crime. Unfortunately, a large number of both the perpetrators and victims in this recent upsurge in crime are juveniles. We are confronted with a younger, more vulnerable population in Philadelphia and we need to respond specifically to the needs of our youth in order to counter this alarming increase in violent behavior. m. m. The young men who videotaped their beating of a Drexel student late 2005 had been let out of the University City High School early that day to wander aimlessly on the streets. So what are we doing at the University of Pennsylvania? First, we meet regularly with the Philadelphia public schools to find ways to enhance 420 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 safety at the Penn Alexander School and the University City High School, and at the request of the principal at University City High School, we have arranged for Penn Police, along with SEPTA Police and the Philadelphia Police to have a police presence on Market Street at the dismissal times for the University City High. We also reach out to organizations that are working with troubled youth. We communicate on a daily basis with the Philadelphia's Adult and Juvenile Probation and Parole departments and regularly attend meetings of the West Philadelphia Truancy Stakeholders group. We proactively try to steer youth who we become involved with on criminal activities and before criminal activities towards the Tucker PAL, Police Athletic League. This is where the University of Pennsylvania Police Department, in partnership with the 421 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Philadelphia Police Department, engage youth in positive activities.

PAL, as you know, is Cops Helping Kids, a non-profit corporation that helps youngsters develop meaningful and productive lives through a variety of educational and recreational programs. The 27 PAL centers throughout the City of Philadelphia are open during this time frame that I mentioned earlier after school, providing more than 27,000 young people with a safe and engaging alternative to the temptations of the street. The University of Pennsylvania has embraced the Tucker PAL center with an increasing number of students, faculty and staff volunteering and the Penn Athletics Department hosting events for PAL youth, like rock climbing, basketball tournaments and things like that. Yesterday you heard from the University of Pennsylvania's Cory Bowman and Glenn Bryan outlining the 422 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 University's plans to establish an apprenticeship program, as well as our own Skill Development activities program. We believe more opportunities like these programs are needed throughout the City in order to give people coming out of prison an opportunity to learn skills that will assist them in gaining lawful and productive employment. These programs will also allow a young person an opportunity to choose between selling drugs on the street and a real job that will allow them to make money and build a future. Again, I thank you very much for this opportunity to present to Council on Finance, and I applaud you for continuing your efforts to find solutions to the violence in the City of Philadelphia.

Thank you very much. We thank you all for what your department does. Frankly, we need the support in the district, and with UCD 423 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 and with yourself and with our regular Police Department, we can really kind of keep hands on and know who is doing what where, and we commend you for the great job you've been doing there.

Thank you, Councilwoman.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Jeff Blumberg, Acting Director, Community Services. Is Jeff here? Next, Commissioner Portner, we'll call you. Mr. Blumberg, good morning, welcome, and please identify yourself for the record and begin your testimony. Thanks for coming.

Thank you. My name is Jeffrey Blumberg and I'm the Acting Director of Community Services Department, Philadelphia County 424 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Assistance Office, State Department of Public Welfare, and we commend Councilwoman Blackwell and the rest of the Committee for holding these hearings on such a serious issue and one that has such a major impact on so many people. We welcome the opportunity for being here, and I will testify now on some of the services we offer and benefits and supports that we can provide. I will submit my testimony after the fact to the Committee members just so you have the information, and I'll get that to you. Philadelphia County Assistance Office is responsible for overseeing the TANF program for the State, and not only just TANF but also food stamps and medical assistance. And these programs have a major economic impact on the City of Philadelphia, in that one in three Philadelphians are currently receiving some type of benefit. So we welcome anybody accessing these benefits in terms of income supports and helping stabilize 425 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 families in terms of involvement or in terms of receiving the support. We also have a lot of initiatives in terms of employment and training opportunities. We've heard the data on getting people involved and in terms of what they can, once involved with programs and opportunities, how it can reduce any kind of violence and criminal activity. We collaborate with community agencies throughout the City and also identify a number of employment and training opportunities so that, therefore, we can be an access point for information to these programs. We would welcome that involvement with any program and also provide information on where people can access these programs. We ourselves fund some of these programs, but we also work through other funding streams. But we also offer auxiliary support benefits, such as transportation and child care, for people 426 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 to attend the programs as well. So there are major opportunities through our 4 full-service district offices throughout 5 the City and also the number of programs 6 that are out there in community agencies, 7 like I said, that we collaborate with. 8 So we welcome the opportunity 9 to be a partner with any kind of efforts 10 to address this issue and offer the 11 benefits and services we provide. 12 Thank you. 13

Thank 14 you very much. I wanted to ask you a 15 question. With regard to parents who 16 receive TANF assistance, can these 17 parents work in the neighborhood schools that their children attend and receive baby-sitting, car fare, if necessary, and other services from TANF?

Yes. Our goal would be to tie that into what we call an employment plan with them. Everybody has to have an employment plan with us. They also can volunteer. So we would try to 427 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 tie that into an employment plan that they're doing with us, activities focused on getting people into permanent full-time employment and off of public assistance, and we can do that in a lot of creative and flexible ways. Some of our people already are doing things like that and also employed by the School District. Many work part time there, some full time. So we address when they're not employed there during the summer, for example. So there are a lot of creative activities, and we would be willing to discuss any initiative and further collaborate with anything on that order, including making it part of their employment plan.

Thank you. That's exactly what we hoped you would say.

Okay.

Thank you very much. We'll stay in touch. 428 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Any questions? (No response.)

Thank you very much.

Thank you for the opportunity.

Thank you. Commissioner Harvey Portner. Many of you may know, I think Harvey's like a brother to me. Many of you know him from Professional Healthcare Institute and Jean Bunn. Gosh, Harvey, I don't know. How long have we been working together? I can't remember. Maybe we shouldn't say.

Longer than ten years, Madam Chair, which doesn't date you, but it ages me.

Why thank you. He's a Commissioner in Montgomery County, as well as the head of 429 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Professional Healthcare Institute, and we invite you to give your testimony and introduce yourself to the record first.

Thank you very much. Let me introduce myself formally. I am Harvey Portner, sometimes referred to as Harry Potter, unfortunately. I happen to be a Commissioner in Cheltenham Township, Montgomery County. I'm also a partner in the Professional Healthcare Institute, and I also wear several other hats which, for the record, I think are important, because I have not issued a missile to this Committee, Madam Chair, but rather a general outline of the areas that I personally feel are important. I am the Chairman of the Workforce Investment Board for Montgomery County. I'm the President of the Board of the Community Action Agency in Montgomery County. And as most people know, Community Action was initiated by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964 with the admonishment that this country had to 430 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 eradicate poverty. And as Chair of the Workforce Investment Board in Montgomery County, we oversee CareerLink. We make sure that people are employed. And my appearance here today is to, number one, congratulate the Committee. This is very important. But I would like to zero in on job training for the unemployed, job training for ex-offenders. I would also like to address a very important piece of legislation that inhibits and prohibits a lot of the students that we service at our school, and all of them come from the shelters in the City of Philadelphia and from Philadelphia housing. One of the three courses that we teach is certified nursing assistant, and there is a piece of legislation under Act 14 passed in 1997 by the State legislature which indicates if an individual coming for training in that specific course has two misdemeanors or one felony, they cannot participate and 431 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 get training. And so I would urge this Committee and I would urge the Council as a whole to please indicate to the legislators in Harrisburg that somehow and some way we have to have a grandfather clause. I'll give you one example only. We occasionally have grandmothers and grandfathers coming in who apply to take that training to become certified nursing assistants, and 30 or 35 years ago when they just reach the majority in terms of being an adult, they committed an offense, but in the intervening time frame, they were free and clear. They cannot take that course, and the legislators have not been wise enough to notice that many of those who apply for that course who eventually can go into nursing are not qualified under that piece of legislation. The unemployment piece that I'd like to talk to you about today, Madam Chair and Councilman Goode, involves the 432 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 fact that in Montgomery County, the most important thing is to get a job for a single individual, and we do that through CareerLink. Your CareerLink here, Workforce Investment Board sometimes referred to as PWDC, does an outstanding job. My understanding is, they're short of funding. I'm not here to ask for funding on their behalf, because the funding is another source of aggravation to all of us who are part of the Workforce Investment Board program, but certainly with adequate funding, they can do much more than they've been doing, and it's not their fault. A single individual who needs a job, who qualifies, should be given a job, and there are jobs available. The unemployment piece in what you're doing, Madam Chair, is the most important part. I'm front line, I'm in this every day, and I can tell you point blank, recidivism is part of the program, too. 433 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 We're initiating now at our school, Professional Healthcare Institute, a program for ex-felons in the automotive field, with the idea in mind that if an ex-felon comes out, what employer is going to employ them unless they have some kind of background and quality education, and therein lies the problem and therein lies the problem with recidivism. Someone comes out. They serve two or three years for theft of some kind.

They would like to get a job, earn a living and perhaps feed the family that they've come back to. No job is available. Consequently, they go back to the old way. This is unfortunate. And so I appear before you today with the understanding as a front-line worker on a daily basis that the unemployment aspect of what your Committee is trying to do is perhaps the number one priority. If you give people jobs and an opportunity to earn a living, 434 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 you won't have the problem we have. And I know I didn't present you with any missile or statistics. You know that. We can get that from the sociologists. I'm talking about the here and now and the reality of what is important. And I thank you for the privilege of testifying before you this morning.

Thank you, Commissioner. Could you give us the various areas that Professional Institute teaches and give a little more detail about their plans?

Yes, ma'am. Professional Healthcare Institute services exclusively every shelter in the City and exclusively Philadelphia Housing clients. We are in the medical area. We have three courses that we promote: certified nursing assistant, pharmacy technology and medical billing. Each of the courses is eight weeks in length. As 435 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 a matter of fact, our next series of courses begins at the end of November, and when I left the school today, we were testing at least a dozen or more PHA candidates. And I thank you for that plug, Madam Chair.

Thank you. I know that you also offer courses in medical billing, lead abatement in addition to certified nurses assistant and front desk for those who get jobs in hotels.

That is correct.

And the new area we've been discussing?

The new area will be automotive body, where we get ex-felons in on a ten-week-course basis, with the idea in mind that we will train them and after the training, we will help place them. And I might add in each one of the courses that we train in, we place, and we have a remarkable record of placement, which is well over 85 percent. 436 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708

Thank you. That's one of the issues I wanted to make clear, that PHI, Professional Healthcare Institute, agreed to take on this challenge for doing car detailing, towing, some repairs to allow ex-offenders to have a hope so that they can get out of prison and have job training short term, eight to ten weeks, and have a job on the other end. So we've been working hard. This is one of the reasons why we wanted to have these hearings and why we wanted to let people know, to document where it is we're trying to go and what hope there is and help there is for people in trouble. Commissioner, we thank you very much. You've done a wonderful, wonderful job.

I thank you.

You have one of the highest records in the State. We know that. 437 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708

Thank you, Councilwoman.

And we thank you. Thank you very much. We want to call forward a gentleman who has a "rest in peace" sign here with us. Many of you see him around the City. He's considered a candidate for office next time, Mr. Tom Knox. Thank you for coming. We welcome you this morning. Unfortunately, if those of you who are here could see it more closely, you would see the many names that are on this board that Mr. Knox has been taking around the City, those who have unfortunately lost their lives in our City. We thank you for coming and certainly to deal with this very, very important issue of violence in our City, and ask you to identify yourself for the record and, again, thank you for being here.

Well, thank you, 438 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Mrs. Chairwoman. I appreciate the time to be here. My name is Tom Knox. I am the former CEO of the United Healthcare of Pennsylvania and right now I'm in the process of preparing to run for Mayor of Philadelphia.

Thank you.

And I do have that sign up there. I've listed all the people that have died in the past two years on it and the date that they've died, and I think that people need to be remembering these folks when they pass some new legislation or come to the conclusions of what they want to do here in Philadelphia. I want to talk to you today about crime and how to abate it. I agree with a lot of the people that have come here before me on what they intend to do. I believe that crime has -- there's two parts to crime. I think there's some long-term solutions and some short-term 439 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 solutions. I'd like to address first the long-term solutions, and basically there's three of them. Let me give them to you in reverse order of importance. One is, as has been pointed out, we need to educate and train people that have been incarcerated before they're released, before early release. It's important that these men and women and sometimes children get an education before they get released. They need to be able to read and write, add and subtract, apply for their GED and learn a trade. People with jobs don't shoot people. So we need to get these people acclimated back into the community. We need to make sure that the State, the City and, if possible, the federal government gives them the ability to work. Right now these people can't become a barber or a hair dresser in Pennsylvania. You can't even cut 440 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 people's nails. We need to get those laws changed so that these folks can get acclimated into the community, they can get good-paying jobs so that they can support their families. Instead of coming out of jail finding that there's no employment, taking a gun and getting readmitted, instead of doing that, let's get them back to work and make them productive citizen of our community. They deserve that opportunity. The second thing we need to do is, we need to get our workforce trained and educated. We used to have 380,000 manufacturing jobs in Philadelphia. Today we have 31,000 manufacturing jobs. Those people that had these previous jobs need to get training. They need to get educated on how to get jobs. They need to get a clear career path. We have the opportunity to do that. I've talked to a number of employers in Philadelphia, and they outsource jobs to other parts of the 441 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 country because they can't find qualified people. They bring people in from the four counties and from New Jersey because they can't find qualified people in Philadelphia. The people in Philadelphia are just as bright, just as qualified and just as energetic as the people in our surrounding communities. We just need to get them retrained. We need to come up with programs. Programs are available. City of Philadelphia underfunds Community College, which has these programs available, underfunds it by over 50 percent. They're supposed to put in a third. They put in 16 percent. The State does the same thing. They're supposed to put in 33 percent. They put in 28 percent. This puts the most vulnerable part of our community at risk. Some people think $15 is a lot of money. We need to make sure that we completely fund Community College and get opportunities 442 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 available for our workforce. And last, but not least and probably the most important, is our children. You read in the newspaper that 45 percent of them don't graduate high school, but in the underserved neighborhoods, that number approaches 60 percent. We need to give these children, these young adults, the opportunity to stay in school. We need to give them options. Some people don't see the light at the end of the tunnel. They believe that there's no hope for them and they leave school. Not everybody is college bound. We know that, because 45 percent of the kids are dropping out.

Let's give them the option -- only eight percent of them, by the way, somewhere between eight and nine percent of our kids have the opportunity to have career training in school. By "career training," the opportunity to work in the sciences, work in technology, work in the hospitals as 443 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 an x-ray technician. There are hundreds of jobs in hospitals that we can train people for. Independence Blue Cross has jobs over there that are outsourced. We can train our young men and women and our early releasees for these jobs. We need to do a better effort. We need to make opportunities available for our kids in school. At least 50 percent of them should have the opportunity to have career training. Now, I said there were also some short-term objectives. One that I believe we need to do is get ourselves into the 21st century. Right now we have an organization called Town Watch, and they do a great job. The problem is, most people would like to help, but they're not willing at 2 o'clock in the morning to get in a car and drive around neighborhoods, and some of them aren't willing to even do it during the day, because they're homebound. Wouldn't it be nice if we could take up on the 444 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. com, plug in a particular camera and watch her son or daughter going to school in a safe manner? I believe that observation can help us. I believe that we can do the same thing on our streets. We need to revitalize our neighborhoods. Frankford Avenue, Germantown Avenue, Ridge Avenue, and there's 50 other avenues that need to be revitalized. You take a look and you walk down these avenues, you see metal grates in front of their windows. As soon as they close the store, they put locks on these metal grates so that you can't see their merchandise. We used to do the same thing in 445 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Center City on Chestnut Street. What we do on Chestnut Street was, we got more lighting, we got officers on the beat, and people started taking the locks off, started rolling up the grates, started taking down the chain links, and now Chestnut Street has been revitalized. We can do the same thing for our neighborhoods. One of the things we can use is the surveillance system. It's good for Philadelphia. Most Philadelphians want it. The people that don't want it are the people that are going to create the problems. We need to get the City into the 21st century. Thank you for listening to me today, Jannie. I appreciate your time and I appreciate everybody else's. Thank you.

Thank you very much. We appreciate your coming here and realizing the importance of this issue and the hearings and that we really are trying to go to the next level, too, 446 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 as you have on this large board "stop the violence." So we're all connected. We're all about the same agenda, and we thank you very much for being here today, Mr. Knox. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Stan Straughter, Chairman, Mayor's Commission on African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs. Let me say that working with Mr. Straughter is a pleasure. I have not met anyone in all my travels who does more for the African and immigrant community hands-on, takes care of immigration issues, takes care of business issues and is absolutely a wonderful leader in our City. Thank you for being here. Please introduce yourself for the record and thank you again.

Thank you very much. My name is Stanley Straughter and I have the honor and pleasure of serving 447 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 as the Chairman of the Mayor's Commission on African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs for the City of Philadelphia. I'm also honored to serve as the Honorary Consul for the Republic of Guinea for Philadelphia and I serve on the Board of Nationality Services Center in Philadelphia. And all three of these voluntary roles, I regularly meet with representatives from the various immigrant communities that live in our City and, in particular, with the African and Caribbean immigrants, refugees and asylees living here. I want to thank you, Council Lady and also Councilman Wilson Goode, Jr., for convening this hearing. I think it's important for me to share with you some of the concerns of the African and Caribbean immigrant community. I also want to take a second to publicly thank you, Councilwoman Blackwell, for your keen insight and wisdom for joining with Mayor Street to 448 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 create this Commission in 2005. The Commission was created to protect the rights of African and Caribbean immigrants, refugees and asylees that live in Philadelphia. The Commission works with other organizations and agencies to assure that barriers caused by language and cultural differences are eliminated, and to promote public awareness of the benefits of diversity in the City of Philadelphia. And I also want to point out that we have some very -- I'm fortunate to have two upstanding members of the Commission here with me today, the esteemed and famous Dr. Ed Robinson, who is a Commissioner you will hear from and great educator, and also Tonic Garunda, who is the Chairperson of the African and Caribbean Business Council that was formed out of it. I thank him and the African and Caribbean business community for supporting the Commission as well.

Thank 449 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 you for being here. Welcome.

It is reported that we have over 60,000 African and Caribbean immigrants in Philadelphia, and they have empowered me to thank you, Council Lady Blackwell and the Mayor, for establishing this Commission. They also want to extend their sincere appreciation to the Council Committee on Finance for holding this important hearing this morning. Education for African and Caribbean immigrant children is just as important as it is to other parents and citizens of this City. Immigrant families arrive in Philadelphia believing that by getting an education, their children will get exposed to better opportunities. Many of the African and Caribbean parents are forced to work two, three jobs to take care of their families and send their children to schools in Philadelphia. So many African and 450 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Caribbean immigrant families think sending their children to a safe and wholesome learning environment is important and critical to their core beliefs, that by educating their children, they are taking the path out of poverty and towards economic freedom. Historically, immigrants have made a significant contribution to this City and to the region, and in 2006, they continue to do so. Some sections of our City would be devoid of any economic activity at all or retail establishments if it were not for the immigrant community. In the most recent census, it was reported that ten percent of Philadelphia's population are immigrants. There was a 31 percent increase in immigrant populations in the entire Philadelphia area during the 1990s. Twenty-seven percent of those entered Philadelphia between 1995 and 2000. Nationally, Philadelphia is 451 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 ranked as the 16th largest city in immigrant populations. S. cities in immigrants becoming naturalized. Five neighborhoods in Philadelphia have experienced an 83 percent growth in foreign-born in the 1990s, including south central parts of the City, South Philadelphia, Elmwood, the far Northeast, Olney and Oxford Circle. Many of these immigrants come from China, India, Vietnam, Cambodia and many, many African countries, Russia and the Caribbean nations, Philippines, Latin America as well. It's reported that if it were not for immigrants moving into our City during the last decade, Philadelphia would have suffered a loss of 100,000 people. I share this information with you because the contribution of immigrants are often overlooked, but we can also see in many sections of our City 452 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 immigrant children are a significant part of the population and, in particular, in the school system. I'm happy to report to this audience that George Washington High School for Boys' soccer team is in the public league -- is a public league defending champion with a record of 10 and 1 in the soccer league. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that only four of the team's 24 members are native-born Americans. The other team members are from Liberia, Russia, Columbia, Haiti, Nigeria, Albania, Brazil and Kenya. Also, this year, Bartram's soccer team has a record of 12 and 0, is in the top ten soccer teams in the region. That team has 18 players, and of those 18, 17 of them are from West Africa and one is from Jamaica. There are African soccer players at other public schools, including Lincoln and Fels and a number 453 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 of others. These young boys, through their exceptional soccer playing, are uniting the students in their schools and bringing a sense of pride to their schools. They are actually leaders and growing up in our community. Unfortunately, these foreign-born students are subjected to random acts of verbal and physical violence in the school system. In October last year, you may remember that a young boy from Guinea was brutally attacked, stabbed with a knife. His spine was severed, and this child will be in a wheelchair the rest of his life.

In November of last year, you may remember young Jacob Gray, a 13-year-old Liberian boy, who was brutally attacked by a group of boys and grown man on his way home from school. This child was on the critical list for many weeks. Certainly the violence visited upon African and Caribbean children in 454 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 many instances stems from their either speaking another language or maybe because they speak English with an accent. These children stand out because they either speak funny or sound different from their peers. In some instances, it's reported that even teachers make fun of these students. And this is, of course, a shame, because these teachers can set a bad example for their students that are hearing and listening to them. One of the recommendations that I would make is that we, for the Philadelphia School District, consider inviting many African and Caribbean volunteers into the classrooms. This would help give sensitivity training to students and teachers and may help to enlighten and educate our community to the cultural practices of many foreign-born students that go to our schools. The central point we have to 455 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 deal with is that immigrants, African and Caribbean immigrants in particular, are an important growing part of our population in this City. They are in the school system and they will continue to be here. If given an opportunity to get a quality education in a safe environment, they will continue to make valuable contributions to our City in the area of science, economic, business, finance, information technology, and help to keep our business and community environment in what we now call the global economy. On behalf of the Mayor's Commission on Caribbean and Immigrant Affairs, I want to endorse Resolution 19 060708 and the call to all levels of government to provide funding for after-school and summer programs, additional funding for job training programs for students in schools and for those boys and girls that drop out of school early. Without this training and 456 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 skills, our children will be forced to work in low-skilled jobs, being paid minimum wages, leading into a cycle of poverty, crime and violence. The private sector and government and the School District should join together to discuss what Philadelphia will look like in maybe ten, and years from now. I am sure that 11 the data could tell us what types of 12 jobs, what skills we would need to fill 13 those jobs and what will be required for 14 Philadelphia and our region to continue 15 to be competitive in the global economy. 16 Armed with this data, the 17 government could offer tax credits, as 18 proposed in the resolution, to the 19 private sector to train our students and 20 young people in our communities to prepare them for these jobs of the future. In closing, I want to make sure that you understand that the School District and the City have worked with 457 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 the African and Caribbean community, and we certainly appreciate that. Our problem is, we need more help, more training programs, more funding and more cooperation and collaboration from our leaders in the City. If educated and trained, immigrant students as well as other students can be the key to competitiveness in the global economy for our City. I want to thank you for allowing me to be here today and I want to pledge that the cooperation of the Mayor's Commission and the African immigrant community will continue throughout my tenure as Chairman. Thank you, Madam Chair and Councilman Goode.

Thank you very much. Again, let me say thank you for all that you continue to do for the Mayor's Commission on African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs in a hands-on way. We have many legitimate issues that 458 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 we have to discuss and work on always, and thank you for your excellent, committed leadership.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Rick Young, Mantua Community Improvement Committee. Thank you for being here. Thank you all. Please come forward. In West Philadelphia, we have a lot of exciting things. MCIC, the Mantua Community Improvement Committee, is one of them. Thank you all for coming. No 18 wonder Jeff says I'm keeping you from working. Thank you. We appreciate your committed leadership. We'll have some more comments. Please identify yourself for the record and begin your testimony.

I'd like to thank members of City Council, especially Honorable Jannie Blackwell, for allowing 459 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 me to speak at such an important issue. My name is Rick Young. I'm President of Mantua Community Improvement Committee, also referred to as MCIC. Beside me I have Joe Blake, my Administrative Director and Chief of Operation, and I also have Board Member Tony McCoo, who is our CPA, accounting, and John Fenton, who is also a member of our Board and Director of Operations for University City District here. So I want thank them for coming and for their support. MCIC is a Neighborhood Special Service District started in 2003 after a conversation that I had with Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell on how to improve the quality of life in Mantua. The conversation came in a response to a number of requests from the University City District asking for support of their organization, despite the fact that their services never made it north of Spring Garden Street. So I suggested to the Councilwoman that we 460 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 start a similar service in our own community of Mantua and we will employ the people in the community, people actually that come from Mantua. On the subject of safety, I think the Mayor's Safe Street program was very successful in eliminating much of the drug dealing in the communities. Unfortunately, the little money left on the street became so much more valuable to that particular community. There has yet to be an alternative in the form of legitimate jobs to replace the money which has made some people more -- let me start over again. There has yet to be an alternative in the form of legitimate jobs to replace the money which has made some people more willing to risk everything to get it. The results of this can be seen in an increasing number of homicides throughout the City. Also, no one has encouraged developers currently building in these 461 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 communities to give back something in the form of jobs. Instead, we hear the same tired excuse about using only union workers, which is almost impossible to join or requires more resources than anyone can afford who actually lives in the community. People between the ages of 10 and 26 have few options in terms of 11 making legitimate money, and despite the 12 belief that they don't want to work, the 13 few alternatives that used to exist in 14 recreation, including after-school 15 programs, sports, has almost disappeared 16 from communities like Mantua and other 17 urban communities. MCIC is a Neighborhood Special Service District that offers them an option or at least an opportunity to begin hiring some of what you could call the toughest guys on the streets or some of the thugs that other people will call, which we now call some of the positive influences in the community. By saying 462 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 that, our goal was to hire some of the people that used to be the negative influence or which some of the younger teenagers, to 14, look up to, because 6 the street has role models as well. So 7 now those kids look at MCIC as a positive 8 thing, because these guys that sat here 9 on my right here influenced the youth in 10 the community, because just like sports 11 players have role models, well, so do 12 gang members and thugs and everybody 13 else. So now that they see those people that they used to look up to as a negative influence being a positive influence, now we have no shorter than five to ten people a day asking to work for MCIC, which I think is a good thing. Eight out of the ten people who work for MCIC have some sort of delinquent past, but everyone deserves a second chance. If given the opportunity, I believe that a person's life or the course of their life can be different. There's no guarantees, but without 463 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES.

060708 options or a continuous walk down the same path, we think that at least if you're given an opportunity or a chance to prove that you deserve a second chance, that you should be given a second chance, because I think everyone in their teenage years has some sort of delinquent past, and we can't hold that against everyone. There should also be a Neighborhood Special Service District in every community next to every major university. We're talking about Temple, LaSalle, Drexel, the University of Pennsylvania. And we should also force developers to be more a part of the programs that's going on to say that there should be a Neighborhood Special Services District or MCIC in every major community, be it North Philly, South Philly, any urban neighborhood where you have these universities and these developers coming in and taking advantage of all the jobs and the environment of 464 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 the urban community. Now, who do you hold responsible for that? Do you hold the developers responsible for not giving back or do you hold City officials for allowing developers to come in and take advantage of communities? I mean, we think that communities are growing closer. We think universities can play a major part in establishing Neighborhood Special Service Districts that employ people actually from the community and not just people coming out of jail. I think we need to gear more towards people with the risk of even going to jail. So we think that that could be a very, very good thing for communities. And I don't think anyone wants to be killed, shot or chased by police on a daily basis, but, once again, living in an environment where you see no other alternatives and no one choose to hire you because of your past, it leads you to believe that nothing else is left to do. 465 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 So we think that it could be a very positive thing if more developers or City officials made it more important that if developers come in to build these $20 and $30 million developments look back to give back to the communities. Just like it wasn't the City's responsibility to come up with the idea of building this $20 or $30 million development, it shouldn't be the City's responsibility to find out where the developers get the money from. I think that should be a part of their plan when they come in on how we're going to give back to the community. I mean, the church asks you to give back ten percent of your income. Well, what percentage do we ask developers for? Well, I think ten percent is a good place to start. And from there, I think we can solve a large amount of this crime. Because you can have as much -- you can have police, you can hire more police, we could talk about 466 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 as many programs as we want, but unless the youth or the community people are actually hired -- when I say "community people," these guys that's targeted, these 17, to 20-year-old guys who have 7 never had a job before -- there is no 8 solution to it. There's no way that we 9 can solve this conflict, and signs like 10 this are going to continue to grow and 11 City crime is going to continue to grow 12 as well. 13 Success is not based on a 14 position in which we stand, but the 15 direction in which we look, and I think 16 the way City government and the legal 17 system has looked to solving problems 18 hasn't worked. So I think now we need to start looking into a different direction and coming up with new solutions to actually find solutions for some of these problems. I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to bring my ideas and my concerns to City Council on this 467 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 issue. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, and let me say that Mantua Community Improvement Committee Special Services District is an organization that we kind of toughed up. Rick Young came to us many years ago, said he was committed to the community. He had young men and women who needed a chance who were committed to their community and that he wouldn't go away, he would continue to fight. And if any of you know the history of Mantua, you will know that it was one of the most depressed areas in our City, whether it be lead paint, unemployment, infant mortality. And all of that has changed, and much of that has changed in a large part to MCIC, who keep it clean, who keep it neat, who let people know they care about their community. Rick Young hires, as he said, young men and women from the community 468 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 who otherwise would not have had a chance, gives them a positive life-style image and certainly does what he can, and our neighborhood finally in our lifetime is turning around. We commend you for all that you do.

We hold developers responsible. We hold institutions like Drexel University responsible, where they're going further in the community and it's becoming a smaller community in reference to ethnic background, and we think that they have a large responsibility to keeping the community clean and safe as well. I mean, I don't think that anyone just wants to live -- if you have to live in University City District to have a clean -- that has to be clean just because it's University City or you have to have safety only because it's in University City. I think any community, be it by Temple, be it by LaSalle, University of Pennsylvania, St. Joe's, communities are entitled to the 469 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 same respect, and I think that with City government having or putting their hand down on it, letting them know that this is one of the things that you have to consider if you want our help to expand and develop, that you have to establish these kind of organizations, and I think this will be a template or a role model for the rest of the City.

Thank you. We agree. We do want to thank Drexel University. We thanked Penn yesterday. We want to thank University City District for the partnership and for understanding that we are all part of the same neighborhood, part of the same community, and when we partner together, it improves the quality of life for us all. So we thank them for their investment and we thank you for your plan of vision to carry it out and to initiate it. Thank you very much.

Thank you. 470 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708

John Fenton, Senior Director of Operations, University City District. John is a brother. We thank him as well and thank him for certainly investing in MCIC and in our community. But John is part of our extended family, and University City District is loved because of him and his commitment. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilwoman Blackwell. Before we start testifying, I would like to introduce two of my employees. This is Kevin Norris. He's a lead employee in the Public Space Maintenance program and he's also the Anti-Graffiti Network personal in University City District. He takes down all the posters and graffiti. And this is Christopher Andrews. He's working with us from a program that we started with Ready, Willing and Able. I'll talk about that a 471 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 little bit more in the testimony.

Thank you.

Good morning, Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell and distinguished members of the Finance Committee. Thank you, Councilwoman Blackwell, for inviting me to speak to the City Council Committee for the Call to Action on reducing violence in the City. My name is John Fenton and I am the Senior Director of Operations for University City District, the Special Service District in West Philadelphia. 2 square mile area of West Philadelphia. We provide supplemental cleaning, safety, marketing, planning and neighborhood initiatives such as pedestrian lighting and facade improvements. University City District's mission is to build effective 472 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 partnerships, to maintain a clean and safe environment, and to promote, plan and advocate for University City's diverse urban community. UCD has a Philadelphia Police substation connected to our office at 3940 Chestnut Street. Lieutenant Jason Smith, the commanding officer, leads the substation with two sergeants and 11 police officers. Those officers conduct 12 joint roll calls with our UCD safety 13 ambassadors to coordinate our efforts in 14 public safety. UCD safety ambassadors 15 act as extra eyes and ears on the street 16 for the City police officers, the 17 University of Pennsylvania police and 18 Drexel Public Safety operations. 19 I'm here representing 20 University City District and I am pleased 21 to provide testimony on reducing violence 22 in the City. I will outline a few of the 23 initiatives we have utilized aimed at 24 reducing violence in our district. 25 UCD is part of a group to 473 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 replace cobra-head streetlights with the new brown rounds that illuminate 4 percent brighter from 30th to 43rd Street 5 from Market to Baltimore Avenue. The 6 project partners in this are the 7 University of Pennsylvania, Drexel 8 University, University of the Sciences in 9 Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Streets 10 Department and the Science Center. 11 This past February, our 12 Executive Director, Lewis Wendell, made a 13 presentation to the Education Committee 14 and he gave a brief overview of some of 15 the things that the University City 16 District was doing to combat school 17 violence. One of the things he talked 18 about was creating a summer jobs program, 19 which UCD initiated this year in 20 collaboration with the Greater 21 Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition and 22 with funding from the Philadelphia Youth 23 Network and University City District. 24 Eleven jobs were created, and 25 ten high school juniors and seniors from 474 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 low-income families in Philadelphia were introduced to the workforce. For most of them, it was their first job. Nine out of the ten stayed with the program for the eight weeks of work, helping the University City District's Public Space Maintenance Program. We want to expand this program for next year, provided that additional funding can be found. UCD is working to find employment for the homeless and is collaborating with Ready, Willing and Able and SELF, Incorporated. So far I have instituted a program with our security contractor, Allied Security, to provide employment opportunities for graduates of Ready, Willing and Able. Allied-Barton Security will hire two graduates from their program for a six-month period of time at the end, which the graduate employee's performance will be evaluated. If found satisfactory, they will be hired as permanent employees and moved on to 475 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 different Allied-Barton Security accounts. And another two graduates will then be hired at UCD for a six-month evaluation period and so on. We are also working with the neighbors in the Kingsessing section to assess the viability of hiring SELF, Incorporated Outley House to clean from 49th to 53rd Street from Chester Avenue to Woodland Avenue. This will depend on financial support.

I'm on the homeless outreach committee for the City of Philadelphia and am a participant in the City's ten-year plan to end homelessness. The UCD safety ambassadors also provide homeless outreach services. We transport approximately 400 homeless people a year to various shelters and hospitals in the City. UCD is currently working with the University of Pennsylvania, USP, Drexel University and the Philadelphia Police Department in exploring ways 476 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 ex-offenders released from incarceration can be assisted in reentering the community in constructive ways. UCD has hired ex-offenders into our public space maintenance program and has experienced success with this practice. In addition, UCD participates in Community Court. Since February 2002, extra hands have been helping to clean and beautify University City's sidewalks and vacant lots, these people who have been sentenced to perform community service by the Philadelphia Community Court. If a person is caught committing certain minor crimes within this area, he/she may be brought to Community Court and sentenced to community service in the area. Community service members' assignments include helping to plant trees, graffiti removal, watering plants and assisting with community gardens in West Philadelphia. This is in addition 477 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 to the social service assistance offered to these individuals by Community Court, such as health screening, mental health assistance and drug and alcohol rehabilitation referrals. There is a discussion about expanding the program to include night court so that more people can participate in this program, and we support that initiative. UCD has provided funding for the Mural Arts Program, most recently the Philadelphia Zoo on 34th Street Bridge that involved a number of local youths from Mantua who helped with painting. UCD works very closely with UC Green, Philadelphia Green, the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society and Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell's office and has helped to plant over 600 trees throughout West Philadelphia, maintain traffic triangles, care for parks and trim trees in West Philadelphia. University City District and 478 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 the University of Pennsylvania have worked with Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell's office to provide supplemental cleaning services at Malcolm X Park and Clark Park. These parks are the most used in West Philadelphia, and the supplemental cleaning program will be for months of the year. We believe 10 this enhances the quality of life in West 11 Philadelphia and helps to reinforce a 12 community atmosphere. UCD subcontracts with the Mantua Community Improvement Committee, a group dedicated to improving Mantua and which prides itself on helping local youth from the Mantua community find productive work. Rick Young has been an inspirational driving force behind helping people, changing behaviors and providing job opportunities for people in the Mantua. UCD has provided funding for an after-school football program, the Hurricanes Youth Program located at 49th 479 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 and Chestnut. UCD welcomes any programs to provide additional funding for summer and after-school employment programs, reentry job training and assistance programs for ex-offenders and the homeless. And that's part of my testimony, and what I would like to say is, on my right-hand side is Kevin Norris, who is an ex-offender and has been a model employee from the inception of UCD and is now a lead person in our organization. And Christopher Andrews is in a pilot program from Ready, Willing and Able so we can help get homeless people back to work.

I tell you, Mr. Fenton, I wonder why I didn't know all that you did, and I don't know how you do all that you do and know it. Whenever we call you, you'll say, We can handle that or We'll take care of it, and you make it all seem easy, but I see here it is because you are involved in 480 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 everything. But what you do to try to assist the community -- and certainly I see Kevin all the time. I mean, I see him all the time. We are so grateful and appreciative of all that you do over and beyond the call of duty. If they knew how many things we call you for and you say you'll take care of them, we know you don't have to do those things and aren't required to do them, but we ask John Fenton to do anything we can think of. Everybody in my office says, I'll call John. And he's never said no. 16 You've never said no. You've been an invaluable partner in this. And so much of the -- piece isn't the right word. So much of the cooperative environment that we enjoy with the University is because of you and your team, and we thank you very much. We love you and thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you. 481 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708

Thank you very much. Cindy Preston. And then I know Micro Society has to catch a plane. We'll get you next. Cindy Preston, Squirrel Hill Substation. And Cindy Preston, as she's coming forward, on Halloween last year they did, I don't know, 1,500 kids came for Halloween Haunted House Night, and she does an excellent job with Town Watch, the Squirrel Hill Substation. Halloween is her signature event to help kids in her community. She does everything. She's a committee person, Town Watch leader, block captain, you name it. Cindy Preston is that person. Thank you for coming, Cindy.

Thank you, Councilwoman Blackwell, and hello, Wilson Goode. I wanted to make it known we are operating out in my area with a City 482 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 repeater; that is, a chat line. You can only hear each other or whoever else may be on the radio. At this point, it is very dangerous. I'm steady training people, but not to patrol, because the police officers at this point aren't safe. Our life is really on the line. I want to say that really the solutions, I can't find any. I've tried them all. I'm at my last resort where I started sit-ins Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights from 8:00 at night until 12:30, 1:00 in the morning to try to deter a lot of the suspects and criminals. Now I'm a little perturbed about it because an individual of an organization got a hold of the information, sent it on e-mail to 21 several different people, and now I was exposed to what I was doing, how I was doing it and when I was doing it. So it sends me a message I see why a lot of people do have fear in participating in 483 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 regard to crime. I was awarded three officers in 1994 from Cops Ahead program. In return, I did a fundraiser. I raised $6,300 in two months to put the first bike officers on bikes in West Philadelphia, which we had none. I have no businesses in my area. The money came from the neighbors. Some gave $5, $10, $15 to make a difference. When I look, I notice there's changes a lot, and you have to move with change, but when I find that you bring in another identity as UCD District, which is part of the 18th and part of the 16th, take and utilize the bike patrol guys that are left for Drexel's detail, I feel as though Drexel, University of Penn has enough money to do whatever they need to do as far as crime and any other programs need to be. These people in the community, you cannot deprive them of something that they earned and paid for to protect their community. A priority 484 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 is one thing, but continuously I cannot accept. A bike training should be held at least once in three months. An officer leaves, then you would have another officer in place, because they do escalate. They get promoted. They go to corporal, sergeant, lieutenant, captain. But in the meantime, if no one is trained, this is equipment that the community has paid for that's sitting idle and is of no use. So what was the purpose? They always told me the bikes made a big difference when they were out here. I did the first three bikes, the Farmers Market did the following two, and our Police Advisory Board took on the next phase of bikes. We have two bike officers as I speak right now. I am in the street Monday to Sunday, day and night. My whole community can tell you who I am. People are reaching out for me at Cobbs 485 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Creek, 58th Street, but I can't take care of the world. I have another issue I would like to say. We don't even have a representative on the Town Watch Advisory Board, and you're entitled to two. I would like that answer addressed. I want to know why, because someone should be there at least for the 18th Police District. We're southwest. I have another suggestion about youth solutions, because children is very dear to my heart and seniors. I listen to the radio constantly. I attend a lot of meetings. And I know when I was a kid -- we always kids. Drop boxes came in mind to me. If you were to put a box in a school and a kid was seen putting that envelope in that box and four weeks later a person was arrested, that kid would be targeted because somebody saw him. My suggestion is the mailboxes. Mailboxes are scattered all over the City. If they want to form a panel, this 486 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 panel of volunteers that want to participate. " All of those envelopes go into a bin.

Twice a week someone or two volunteers will go to the bin, remove them, take the time that they sit there, separate to what police district they go to, feed that information to that commanding officer, CROs and special victims. The kids would not be put at risk, because they can put in any mailbox they want anywhere in the City and we would get the information. I'm looking if it can't go to the post office, I look at the libraries. Anywhere there is a common place and a safe place for a child to drop this envelope. Even adults, because they're in fear, and I know they're in fear. And just like I said previously, I'm just not a person that's afraid of anything or anybody, but if I was in the position to fear that e-mail, for example, that was 487 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 put across to everybody, I wouldn't be sitting here right now. But I don't have no fear and I don't care, because what I do I do from my heart and I'm going to continue doing that, and I thank you.

Thank you very much.

Is there any questions?

Thank you very much. We appreciate all that you do. We'll take your suggestions to heart and deal with the other issues you mentioned here today. Micro Society, then Mr. Stephens for Representative Thomas and then Dr. Robinson. Thank you very much. We're trying not to hold you very long. We see our Jane Golden there. We'll get you shortly. You know we love you and all you do. Thank you very much. We hope we didn't hold you too long. I know you 488 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 have a plane to catch. Let me ask you to identify yourself for the record and begin your testimony.

Thank you, Councilwoman. My name is Keith Pierce. I'm the Senior Vice-President from Micro Society, and sitting with me is CEO and President of Micro Society, Carolyn King Richmond.

Welcome.

Good morning, Councilwoman Blackwell and Councilman Goode. Thank you for having us and for holding these hearings. Micro Society is an organization based in Old City. We have a proven track record of turning around the lives of children for over 15 years in 250 sites and over 40 states in the country. We've been this successful because we believe that looking at children to help solve the solutions of children is the way to go. So I applaud 489 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 several of the speakers that I am privileged to listen to, particularly Rick Young from MCIC and the notion of engaging the youth in the answers. Micro Society is based on the philosophy that if children are engaged in the process of addressing some of the problems they face, then they can turn their own lives around, and they do this by building a miniature society inside schools and in after-school sites, but Mr. Pierce will explain that momentarily. I just want to comment on an article that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on October the 19th. Just to quote a few of the -- to actually go to the source of where the problem is, quoting a few of the children in this article. One child said, I was just bored in school. Another was talking about he thought school was a waste of time, and another says, I want to be somebody and do something. And addressing those goals of children is 490 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 what Micro Society is all about. I'll turn it over to Keith.

At one time, West Middle School in Sioux City, Iowa had as many as gangs, and now they have none. 7 This was attributed to the success of an 8 anti-gang program and Micro Society 9 created at the school. That's a quote 10 from Senator and former First Lady 11 Hillary Rodham Clinton. 12 A student's decision to engage 13 in acts of violence is often the end 14 result of a long series of negative 15 school experiences, academic failure, 16 grade retention, frequent suspensions, 17 and they begin often well before ninth grade. Violence and dropout prevention strategies, therefore, must be targeted at the elementary and middle school grades and before the stresses of a complex curriculum, a less personal environment and the growing need for peer acceptance poses danger to already disadvantaged students. 491 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 To pull Philadelphia out of the cycle of violence that it's in today, we must start early. After-school destinations must exist to offer kids of diverse backgrounds and diverse interests meaningful activities that motivate them to make positive choices, while also enhancing their academic performance and restoring hope in their communities that have been broken by violence. Micro Society After School, one of the programs of Micro Society, has the potential to do just that for Philadelphia. It addresses things like after-school violence, dropout prevention, life skills and civic engagement. In a Micro Society, students learn the value of integrity, the importance of making ethical decisions, the significance of having a caring and non-violent attitude about life. And its students also learn to take ownership of their own learning, their own choices and their own future. 492 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Having a significant number of after-school programs, Micro after-school programs in Philadelphia, would increase student motivation, would produce noticeable eagerness on the part of students to make better choices. It would increase parent and community involvement. It would raise student achievement and would boost children's self-esteem. There are a number of reasons -- and I won't quote them because we all know them. There are a number of reasons why urban violence is so much higher in the urban areas than suburban areas, but one of the differences is clear and it was said best by the Executive Director of Education Trust, Kati Haycock, when she said, We take kids who have less to begin with and we give them less in school. And I take that further and say that we not only give them less, but we take things away. We cut programs. We cut funding, and then 493 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 we act surprised when we get the results we get. And Micro Society right now is just poised to do something great for Philadelphia, and we're pleased to offer this opportunity for putting Micro Society after-school programs in Philadelphia and to create safe havens during the after-school hours, the most vulnerable hours for children, and to generate opportunities for creativity and responsibility that develop students in several areas that are not fully addressed during the school day, such as character building, career preparation and financial literacy. So an investment in after school in Philadelphia is an investment in the communities of Philadelphia. More importantly, it's an investment in children. Philadelphia must fund programs that work. Micro Society works, and it restores hope in our children and our families and our communities, and 494 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 they all deserve it, and our future depends on it.

Thank you very much. As you know, I'm well affiliated with the Micro Society, and I thank you, because having programs to engage young people and help create leaders, which is what you do, and help them know who they are and what their contributions can be is absolutely vital. We thank you for all that you do and for your commitment to the young people in our City and beyond. Thank you.

We do thank you for this opportunity. We thank you also for your commitment to us.

Thank you. Certainly. Mr. Stephens. Seitu Stephens for State Representative Curtis Thomas, and then, Dr. Robinson, we'll call you up. Forgive me for holding you. Welcome. Thank you, 495 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Mr. Stephens, for staying so long this morning, and please thank the Representative for his commitment to this issue. I've been to many meetings with him and know of his commitment to this area. Thank you. Micro Society, this is very lovely. Thank you. Mr. Stephens, please identify yourself for the record and make your statement. Thank you.

My name is Seitu I. Stephens. I'm the District Office Coordinator for the Office of State Representative W. Curtis Thomas. First and foremost, thank you, Madam Chair Councilwoman Blackwell, for your visionary leadership. Thank you for taking the initiative in developing this resolution initiating a hearing for a Call to Action to stop violence. I want to thank participating City Councilmembers and other elected officials for standing by this resolution 496 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 and supporting it. To all participants of this hearing, thank you for taking time off your busy schedules to address in unity the issues of violence and solutions to overcoming the grip it has taken on our beloved city. Violence in the City of Philadelphia is a complicated social issue. Although the criminal component of violence is inherent in nature, there are other components of violence that need to be adequately addressed. State Representative W. Curtis Thomas supports a multi-disciplinarian approach along with strategic policing strategies to create the social reform necessary to stem epidemic violence. In regards to behavioral health and social services, often acts of violence are manifestations of deep-rooted psychological issues. City, State and federal funding are needed to develop a cadre of behavioral health specialists and psychologists to identify 497 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 citizens who are at risk of committing violent crimes. Voluntary therapy and counseling should be administered to these citizens to make sure they are dealing with any psychological issues they may have in a healthy and safe manner. Every ex-offender who is released back into society needs to have a full psychological evaluation to determine their mental status. Incarceration can be extremely mentally damaging, especially when there is a lack of therapeutic services for offenders to benefit from during their incarceration. Halfway houses should be equipped with residential psychologists and behavior therapists to monitor the emotional and psychological state of recently paroled ex-offenders. In regard to extended hours of operation for schools and recreational facilities, every public school in the City of Philadelphia should be equipped 498 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 with a beacon program, not just for the children who attend but for the community that surrounds it. Keeping all schools open during evening hours allows working parents to have their children monitored in a safe and sound environment. Additionally, schools should be opened to community organizations for meetings, activities and events at a nominal charge to encourage greater community participation. The school counselor model we currently use is outdated and antiquated when you look at the problems of children today. Every middle school and high school should have a staff of behavioral therapists to monitor students who are at risk for violent behavior. All high schools should house no more than 400 to 800 students. All schools should adopt a small learning community model. Public schools need to utilize enforceable contracts that require parents to actively participate in their 499 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 child's learning experience. The parent-school contract should have emphasis on the parents' role in staying on top of their child's attendance, school performance and their attendance at PTA and home association meetings. Recreational facilities in North Philadelphia and certainly throughout the City are ill equipped to handle the recreational needs of the present generation of children. All outdated box-type recreational facilities throughout the City need to be demolished and replaced with 21st century facilities that are equipped to service their respective communities. Newly built community centers must be able to offer 21st century job skills training sensitive to local and global economic trends.

Staffing for these community centers should consist of members directly from the community. An effort should be made by all levels of 500 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 government to extend TANF benefits to qualifying staff who work in recreational community centers and schools. Additionally, community centers need to be stocked with in-house behavioral therapist, social workers and educational personnel to handle the social needs of the community. In regard to employment opportunities, State Representative W. Curtis Thomas is confident that Pennsylvania and, more specifically, the City of Philadelphia can compete globally in the service and manufacturing industries. The City of Philadelphia should aggressively seek employment opportunities for jobs that are continuously being outsourced to other countries. Establishing manufacturing jobs that pay above minimum wage and offer healthcare coverage is an innovative way for the City of Philadelphia to tap into the global manufacturing industry. 501 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 All levels of government must support efforts to provide meaningful jobs for youth age through 26, the 5 largest group of violent offenders. They 6 must be provided with more than seasonal 7 employment. The focus should be on long 8 term. Additionally, the City of 9 Philadelphia should aggressively prepare 10 their youth for the future by training 11 them for the next generation of 12 vocational jobs, such as fiber optics 13 maintenance, geo-spatial engineering and 14 digital telemarketing interface. 15 Securing relevant jobs for the future 16 workers of Philadelphia will ensure that 17 unemployment and violent crime rates are kept low. Laws that create unnecessary and arbitrary roadblocks for employment for ex-offenders must be repealed. Until such repressive laws are eradicated, City, State and federal jobs specifically for ex-offenders must be created. Federal expansion of tax credits for 502 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 employing ex-offenders is greatly needed to help secure employment opportunities for reintegrating ex-offenders that will help reduce recidivism and violent crimes. In conclusion, State Representative Curtis Thomas offers a solution called strategic counter imaging. Currently, the image of black males as gangsters and thugs and young black females as degrading sexual objects help cultivate a culture lacking of values and sensibility. A positive counter-image campaign of young black males and females is critical to help stem the present negative perception of black youth. Creating a counter-image campaign will help neutralize the negative images that young black children are readily exposed to, either via their neighborhoods or televisions. A counter-image campaign is critically needed for young black males. The African-American male is being 503 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 thoroughly exploited by a global drug trade economy. The City of Philadelphia must realize that it is competing against a trillion-dollar-a-year industry for one of its greatest resources, young black males. Perceiving young black men as valuable resources and not as social burdens is the first step to eradicating violence within the City. Positive counter images can help weaken the pervasive stereotypical image of young black males held in today's society. Counter imaging can also be done in various ways, public service campaign ads, recruitment of retired black male professionals to teach in public schools, increasing the level of black male elementary school teachers and graciously funding organizations that offer rights of passage programs for urban adolescents. Once again, Honorable Councilwoman Blackwell and elected officials, on behalf of State 504 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Representative W. Curtis Thomas and the 181st Legislative District, I thank you for this opportunity to offer testimony.

Thank you very much. We appreciate your patience. Certainly we agree. You mentioned ex-offenders having psychological evaluations. You mean while they're in prison? In other words, I think it's something we can work on, because we have so many issues with not only ex-offenders but youngsters getting into behavior-altering drugs. The whole issue of how we deal -- right now in public schools, I agree and Paul Vallas does with the size of schools, but right now in schools, you don't have counselors who are available every day. I mean, our old problem used to be that they would tell, especially African-Americans, you can't succeed and you should try to get a vocational job. Now you don't even have them to negatively impress young people. But nurses and counselors are hard to 505 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 have -- they're shared and they could have three or four schools in a week. So that's a real issue. But certainly I'm happy to talk about the issue and how you and the Representative feel about psychological evaluations for ex-offenders and how we use the information and how we use it to help them and how it is disseminated certainly throughout the City where they're trying to find their rightful place and get employment. We thank you very much and look forward to working with you on the issues you mentioned and others, and thank the Representative as well.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Dr. Robinson. Many of you know that his nephew was the Honorable State Representative David P. Richardson and he 506 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 was Dave's mentor, and certainly I've known Dr. Robinson my entire political life. Many of you know that he has also written a curriculum for African history in our public schools, and years ago when we had the black history in schools, he wrote that curriculum as well under Dr. Clayton. So he's been a leader. And I'll never forget, one time I heard him on radio and somebody -- or maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was in a meeting. I can't remember. It's been so long. But somebody asked him about his contribution to making a change in our society, and he talked about the Songhai Village and talked about all the things he does and then said, That's my contribution, what's yours? So he's that kind of person. This is what I think we should be doing. What are you doing? You can't just complain. That's easy. But what is your 507 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 contribution to improving life for people everywhere? And so I'm always impressed whenever I see him. It's always a gift to me and a blessing, and we thank you, Dr. Robinson, and welcome.

Thank you. Council Lady Blackwell, do you have my written --

Yes.

Okay. It did come through the fax? I was trying to make sure that you got it yesterday.

We have it and we've made copies for our Committee.

Very good. I know the hour is late and I want to say briefly that I'm representing in my first part of two parts of my presentation, I'm representing Mr. Sultan Ahmad. You know him. And my first part has to deal with what he has worked with the late Rotan Lee in getting together to 508 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 deal with violence. Briefly, we want to say that he wants the initiative of moving 25,000 youths into the workforce in full-time, part-time, after-school and weekend jobs in the public, corporate, private, civic and community sectors. He wants public safety, such as after-school programs, Town Watch, neighborhood police patrol, witness protection; full funding of all recreation facilities and staff Citywide; infusion of grants and loans for stock-on-the-shelf programs into economic development business opportunities in the neighborhood commercial corridors; creation of a long-term dedicated funding stream for community-based organizations based on their scope of services. Now, the projected results of what he is saying should be our initiative to stop the violence. In a four-year period, there would be more than 100,000 youths employed. In a 509 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 four-year period through public safety initiatives, there would be a major reduction in homicides. In a four-year period, we would create numerous safe havens and educational/recreational facilities. In a four-year period, we would restore many of the small businesses back into inner city neighborhoods with an infusion of new dollars. Then he thought that we should provide a thousand youths with tuition being paid in a college/university in the City of Philadelphia, with a commitment to do an internship with a community-based organization. Now, the above are the initiatives projected by my partner, and we're working together on another big program, whose name is Mr. Sultan Ahmad. Now here's mine: It's very interesting to me the emphasis there is on having black children get educated. How many people in here would believe 510 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 7 years? So it would seem now, if we're going to be logical, that the more education you have, the less crime. It doesn't work that way. It doesn't even work for blacks there is a direct relationship between the amount of schooling and the amount of money you make. It does for whites, not for blacks. 9 years. 8 years, and yet the crime is very high in Washington. People have been very polite today. They're not mentioning race. But of the 329 murders in Philadelphia, on a mathematical basis based on population, 94 percent of them were committed by blacks and the victims were black. Therefore, my approach for my second thing, stopping the violence, is working 511 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 on the African problem, the African problem. You see, 81 years ago, a great black author, whose name was Carter G. Woodson, wrote a book called The Miseducation of the Negro, in which he says that we are being miseducated. Not uneducated, miseducated, because we're not learning of the beauty and grandeur and sophistication of our African background. Now, there were many, many ideas projected here to Council Lady Blackwell and Mr. Goode, but it seems to me that you measure the worth of an idea by their effect on a statistically significant demonstration project. How have they worked? I would like to ask the gentleman if he would take this up to Council Lady Blackwell. This is for the Committee. What I have done over a 60-year period -- I started when I came out of 512 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 the Army in 1945 -- is try to figure out what is the problem facing black people, and I found out what the problem is. The problem is that the total society, the world society, has been brainwashed to believe that our African background has been one of the jungle, of taint, of ignorance. We've been brainwashed by Tarzan. So we've all been Tarzanized.

So to put my idea into action to say what would happen if we became de-Tarzanized, and I had school 14 projects that I worked on, teaching the 15 children who they are, really who they 16 are, really what contributions did they 17 make, and I found out that our people 18 didn't contribute to civilization, we 19 created civilization and other races 20 contributed to it. In your world book, in your Encyclopedia if you look up algebra, the history of algebra, it was created by a black man 3,700 years ago. His name was Amez, whose book today is in the British 513 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Museum. We have copies of the pages of the creation of algebra. You should see when our children learn who they are algebraically. They straighten up. When they found out -- and you can get it on your Internet for Leo C. Statini, historian/mathematician, found that trigonometry, geometry and the calculus was created by three black women 4,700 years ago, and we teach our children that. What happens when we teach our children that? If Council Lady Blackwell and Councilman Goode would look at this page with African Genesis, Inc. Would you look at that page. Out of the many demonstration projects in the various schools we've done, I just brought one of them here, and we did this at the Leeds School for the seventh grade. And at seventh grade, the children committed 328 offenses, 96 suspensions, 16 disruptive/offensive language, 53 assaults on students. 514 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Ninety-eight percent of the children were black. We brought in our African Genesis program in September. By January of that year, only 65 offenses were made, because the program hadn't gotten round up good yet, but between January and June, there were no offenses. We don't have to guess, and we're suggesting to the Committee, we're suggesting to you, Mr. Goode and Ms. Blackwell, you've heard these many different ideas. Measure their worth by their effect on the statistically significant demonstration project. I've done it. And I've presented this to Mr. Vallas and Sandra Dungee Glenn and the SEC, and they bought it. They said, Well, you have proven that what you are projecting for these children in the schools of their African background, along with the traditional white background and so on. I bought a book. They gave me 515 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 the textbooks of 2004. Now, instead of having a separate book on black history and African history, I did what is known as an infusion from kindergarten through eighth grade and then wrote a separate book, consulted a separate book separated between the ninth and twelfth grade. Now, what this infusion means, on , there's something about white history and European history. On , there's something about Songhai history. The Songhai Empire, from which 90 percent of African-Americans' ancestors came from, was an empire larger than Europe for over 700 years. Frederick Blumenbach told the southern plantations, Never let white children or black children ever learn that they came from a highly sophisticated empire in West Africa. Tell them they came from a jungle, then their heads will hang low. They will hate each other. They will believe anything they hear. On , there will be 516 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 something about European history. On , there's something about African history in the context of what's in the chapter. So I wrote these books from kindergarten through eighth grade, School District of Philadelphia, consulted on the separation between ninth grade and twelfth grade, mandatorily taught, only School District in the country that has mandatory African history infused into the curriculum of that School District. What effect? The behavior became exemplary in all our demonstration projects. The academic proficiency soared. You don't have to guess about it. What we have done -- and that's why they say, Well, don't be so blunt in your speech, Dr. Robinson, because you might affect your future.

When you're approaching 90 years old, you're already in your future. I don't deal with affecting my future. What I am suggesting to you -- 517 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 and I know that the hour is late and I'm not going into all that, but you can read it. You can read all that. I don't have to read it to you, because you know that education of the same old stuff is not going to do it. It doesn't do it in Washington, and we have more education in Washington of blacks than we have of whites, more in Philadelphia than of whites. Our children learn that our hair is the only hair on the planet that does not have head lice. Our children learn that our color keeps us from having skin cancer. They learn that we gave mathematics, reading and writing to the world. The first book written in Europe was by Homer and that was only 2,800 years ago. We had reading and writing 9,000 years ago with proof, 3,000 years before the Mesopotamians. And I can go on, and you know I could go on for the next four hours, but, look -- then about police brutality and 518 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 police killings. When I was with your father, I asked him to let me speak before the police. Mort Solomon was the Police Commissioner. Here's a Certificate of Appreciation that he gave, because for a brief shining moment, police killings stopped after my series of lectures, and Mort Solomon gave me this Certificate of Appreciation. When was it? 1980, May 1, 1980. Because police are brainwashed against us, too, and we're brainwashed against us, brainwashed against our ancestral worth called intrinsic worth, where you're from. Not African-American history; Songhai history. Songhai Empire made up of university cities and rolling farm lands, medical schools, not no village. It wasn't a village. They were great cities. Timbuktu, Gao, Jenne. And this is what we teach our children. And just one last point. We have an organization of 1,800 black youths we take to Africa, 200 and 300 at 519 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 a time every year, called the d'Zert Club, 1,800 of them. No violence, no 4 out-of-wedlock babies. Beauty and grandeur. So we have the proof that we have to have our children learn who their ancestors are from Songhai and the mother culture of Ancient Egypt, and that turns around the violence, just short-term and long-term goals. We have a motion picture in operation in drama showing the beauty, grandeur and sophistication of our African background. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, and we know that you have sung with Opera Ebony as well. We try to follow you a little bit, Dr. Robinson. What can we say, but thank you for your lifetime of contribution. Any questions? (No response.)

Thank 520 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 you very, very much. Thank you. Jane Golden, Mural Arts.

Good morning. My name is Jane Golden and I'm the Director of the City of Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program, and to both of you, thank you for inviting me here today. And, Councilwoman Blackwell, you are indeed an inspiration to us and have been for many, many, many years.

Thank you, as are you.

And to Councilman Goode, I got my start with your father. And I thought that I would just start out by just saying that we came out of the wonderful Anti-Graffiti Network. And there were many years where people said that the graffiti crisis in Philadelphia would never be solved and that kids would just continue writing on walls and we would have a city of defaced properties, and we are getting calls from cities from all over the world where 521 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 people are wringing their hands about the fact that graffiti is on the increase in every city except Philadelphia, where it has and was solved really effectively. And I think that it was solved effectively because opportunities were made available to young people from every part of the City, and they weren't just opportunities cleaning walls, but they were opportunities around real work, real possibility, finishing high school, going to college, and the seat of power was open to kids from the poorest neighborhoods of the City. It was truly a visionary program. So I feel fortunate indeed that I had such a wonderful foundation and incredible access my first years here in Philadelphia. Over the last stretch of years since we have become the Mural Arts Program in 1997, we have taken our responsibility to work with communities and young people very seriously. We have 522 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 developed a range of after-school and summer programs all around the wonderful art of creating murals. We're fortunate to be in a city where murals are truly embraced. As of today, we have 2,703 indoor and outdoor murals and we're serving over 3,500 young people. What's really important is that we see that art education can be merged with social services, and since 2000, we have been part of the Division of Social Services, and we have a range of programs now that I would like to talk about. All our programs are free and they're open to young people from every neighborhood of the City. Big Picture is a program for middle school kids. Mural Corps is for teenagers. We have a program for kids who are in trouble with law. If you're arrested for a minor crime in Philadelphia and you are under 18 and you like art, you are sentenced to us, and that's Mural ARTscape. 523 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 ArtWorks is a program for young people who are chronically truant. Three days a week they see us. The other two days they see social workers. We also work at the House of Correction for young people adjudicated as adults, at the Youth Study Center, at St. Gabriel's Hall, at Glen Mills. And then we have an extensive prison program where we work at Curran-Fromhold, Riverside Prison. We work at Graterford Prison as well. And for young people coming out of the House of Correction, we have a reentry program. So if kids win their appeal or have a shorter sentence and they get out, they can come to Mural Arts for employment. That's the same thing at CFCF as well. At Graterford Prison, we have a wonderful mural component there where the men are actually painting murals on a light-weight material called parachute cloth, and they're creating murals for schools and community centers all over 524 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 the City. It's a formal work program. And that, to me, has been really incredibly inspiring, because we feel strongly that everybody has potential, everybody can be productive. It's just up to us to provide those opportunities. I think, more importantly, what we've seen over the years is kids grow and thrive. And we just heard from Dr. Robinson about questioning effectiveness, and we have every year that we do our programs, we embark on a very serious evaluation. So we have data that shows that what we're doing is actually working. A very high percentage of young people that we work with graduate from high school.

That may not seem significant at first glance, except that many of these kids four years ago when we meet them are in and out of the court system. When young people stay with us, in their junior year we take them to look at Community College, art schools, trade 525 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 schools and college. We do portfolio development with them to help them seriously facilitate their next step in life. Our programs are very rigorous. They go three days a week during the school year, five days a week during the summer. For our older kids, they get paid. Just like at Anti-Graffiti, they get paid. If they do well, they get promoted. We open up savings accounts for them that they can't touch until they're 18. We continually talk about their future. But we really mean business. I think in trying to figure out what works, I think it is our responsibility. As Councilwoman Blackwell said, what are we bringing to the table. A lot of programs we're always -- and I'm just as guilty as everyone. I have my little cup out always asking for funding, but our responsibility is to make sure that every 526 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 minute we have those kids in our site, we are offering them the best programs possible, the most rigorous and the most challenging. We need to raise that bar. And we have found consistently when we raise that bar, when we approach the young people with rigor, with challenge and with love, then we see kids change. All of those kids that we worked with the Anti-Graffiti Network, all of those kids that had failure etched in their forehead, all of those kids that told me by the time they were 25, they'd be dead or at Graterford Prison, I can sit here for hours and tell you where they are. I'll tell you one thing, they're not in institutions, they're living productive lives. But it's because at Anti-Graffiti we believed in them and offered them the opportunity to succeed. We saw them not for four weeks or six weeks, because I think when we deal with kids at risk, short programs do not work. We need sustained programs 527 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 that are substantive, and when we do that, we will see real change. The kids we work with at ARTscape and ArtWork, our Corps kids, they're doing fresco and mosaic. Everybody should go down to 707 Chestnut and see a mural about Lincoln's legacy that's a million pieces of venetian glass. It's about civil rights and civil liberties, made by the young people in the City. Young people are doing public sculpture now, extraordinary works of public art, but beyond that, they're believing in their ability to facilitate social change around art. So when we have these kids, we need to do everything we can to ensure that they will succeed. And moving forward, we feel very, very committed to helping to do our part in reducing violence in the City. It is a heart break. Just like when we lost kids at Anti-Graffiti, it was a crushing blow, it's the same thing now. 528 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 It does not have to happen. I think when we examine the options, I beseech you and your colleagues to always think of having a programmatic solution at the table. You've heard it from other people who spoke today. Without good programs, our kids cannot succeed. They need this. " It's a huge project created by over a thousand citizens in the City of Philadelphia. We worked with kids at St. Gabriel's Hall and the House of Correction. I mean, here are kids who really -- they didn't just paint, they participated in very difficult discussions about the impact of crime and violence. Every other Wednesday night we bring kids to the visiting room of Graterford Prison. We turn that visiting room into an artist's studio where we do 529 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 poetry, writing, we do painting. We have discussions with lots of stakeholders around the City about the impact of juvenile crime.

We're trying to do bigger, complicated projects along with the regular murals we do every year. We do about 150 indoor and outdoor murals and serve lots of kids, but the big complex issues bring together crime victims and prisoners. They bring together kids in placement, community groups and prisoners. We're going to be embarking on a new project that will bring together police officers and young people. We're doing a major restorative justice project over the next two years, because murals -- and it's not just murals we're doing. As Councilwoman Blackwell knows, we also do sculpture gardens and thinking about not just the wall or the lot, but the entire block, a major corridor. How do we impact the City of Philadelphia with public art? How do we do that? And 530 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 kids, young people, should be part of this process. So when you think about restorative justice, think about how murals can be a form of visual restitution for young people. We can transform neighborhoods and we can save lives. They do not have to be mutually exclusive. In the history of public art, it's always been art that's parachuted down from the sky. Well, not in Philadelphia. It's art that's created in partnership with neighborhoods and created in a very painstaking way, with lots of love by young artists in the City who have a lot of potential gifts and talents and strengths, but these things have previously gone unrecognized. So I just want you to know, we're on a mission to continue to bring these services to every citizen of the City and every young person. Every person should have an opportunity to have 531 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 art education. If not, I think it's criminal, and so we need to do everything we can to keep providing services to the citizens. It is not just a job for us, it is a moral imperative. At the end of the day, we believe that art can transform and save lives. But it's not art alone. It's art working in partnership with DHS, the Department of Public Health and prisons. It's an integrated model of City government. We feel truly privileged to be able to do this work, and please know you have our total commitment moving forward in the years to come.

Thank you, Jane. We know how you feel about pre-school, after-school, inmate programs. We thank you. We thank you. You mentioned former Mayor W. Wilson Goode, so we got to mention Tim Spencer from Mantua.

Tim Spencer. Absolutely. 532 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708

And certainly I only wish -- and I've made this appeal for the last several years to the Mayor -- that you did control art in City Hall. We're ready to revisit that again. The one percent art. If we had more neighborhood involvement on a level that you bring, grassroots involvement, school-age involvement, ex-offender involvement, there is that much more that you could do. So certainly we commend you for your commitment in really making us not only one in mural arts and in murals in the country, but really showing, as you always say, that art changes lives.

Yes. Thank you, and please feel free to count on me in any way for talking about programs. Or anything that we can do to contribute, we want to do. And thank you again, both of you, for your support.

Thank you very much. Thank you. 533 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Mr. Mackey, I know you've been misparked and asked to get forward. Please come forward. I know that we've kind of held you up.

No, you didn't. Thank you. I'm a bit late. How is everyone? Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thanks, Councilwoman Blackwell and Councilman Goode. My name is William Mackey and I'm the Director of the Citywide Youth Leadership Agency, and for years, we've been organizing to motivate young people for empowerment. We think one of the answers we recommend is youth empowerment. We hear about a lot of programs in our communities. They're really doing good work. I don't think no one can be doubted of the effort that they put forward, but right now it's a youth issue. And I ask a question. If you had 534 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 a quarter million young people today, if we targeted a quarter million young people, how many of them do you think getting high? " So we asked people, out of a quarter million young people, a target population, if one out of four of them is potentially getting high -- then we ask out of a quarter million young people, how many have access to guns? People say about 50 percent. I mean, we need to look at this real. So if we're saying we got a potential 60,000 kids at 4 o'clock today, at 3 o'clock today when school let out, 60,000 kids is going to start indulging with some form of drugs, that's a dangerous community we live in. This is really dangerous and serious. And if we're saying out of a quarter million kids 50 percent of them know somebody to get a gun or know how to go get a gun, we 535 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 are really in a dangerous situation. And until we empower about 10,000 young people -- we need to empower, I'll say it again, 10,000 young people throughout the City of Philadelphia, and they need to be broke down into the regions, like what we proposed. We proposed that they be broken out in the regions. And out of the 10,000 young people, some of them is college students, some of them is ex-offenders that's being trained to be social developers, youth developers. We have some of them get into Community College and the local universities and let them organize themselves. We know there's a bill pending and there's going to be a resolution and a referendum next election, not this one, next primary that Councilwoman Brown has out to establish this Youth Council whatever. We proposed this stuff to this Administration eight years ago. We said there needs to be a Youth Council, but 536 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 guess what? That's old now. Even what we proposed is old now. It needs to be a Youth Crime Commission, an independent body that organizes young people to motivate and demonstrate leadership through each community. That's what needs to take place. I end with this, and I'm real short: Everybody has a driving license, right? Well, you know what? In schools they have school ID's. We proposed before this Council and this Administration six years ago to create a Youth Smart Card. Watch. That school ID card should allow those kids to ride SEPTA. That's school ID card should be a healthcare card. That school ID card should be a library card. That school ID card should be a DHS card. That school ID card should be a curfew prevention card. One Smart Card. All those computer experts and all those divisions I just talked to should be online together, not big 537 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 brother, but big smartness. These young people are smart. And the resources that we paying for now, if this Administration is spending $100 million for after-school programs, I'm the first one to tell you it's not being spent smart, because all the resources is not getting to those kids. If 60,000 target potential students had this card -- I'm going to go back to tell you one more thing. Tim Spencer told me, God bless him, that if all the resources was brought together for young people, this crime thing would go down immediately. But the departments is not talking to departments. We organized it. We had Temple University Center for Social Policy to write a comprehensive proposal, and we've given it to the School District. We had all the computer people.

We had the cards linked up, and you know what? Because it was Mackey that proposed it, it was thrown in the trash. 538 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 It's not right. You don't have to like the messenger. Write the message. It's real. And what I'm telling -- because I deal with young people every day, and they come and they're looking for jobs. They're looking for something to do. Can you imagine a kid to leave home at 7:00 in the morning that can swipe his card and get on SEPTA, leave school, go to the library after school or an after-school program? And it should be a point-driven card. All them days that the kids go and they're not absent, give them points. Then bring the companies in and give them a reward, give them a percent discount at Modell's. 19 But we're not doing that. And 20 until we empower the young people, until 21 we bring all the resources together, it's 22 just going to keep going and keep going 23 and keep going. And as much as I love my 24 Councilman, Councilman Clarke, and as 25 much as I love John F. Street, something 539 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 is happening with the Administration that it is dropping the ball for these young people. I see a lot of money pumped in there, and if you're not -- I don't know what it is. If you ain't on the team or whatever, your stuff go in the trash, and it shouldn't be that way. I'm personally hurt because it's starting to affect my community more, because I'm seeing students that I know getting in trouble that would not get in trouble. Why, I ask? Why should any kid not have a summer job this summer? Why? A waiting list. There shouldn't be no waiting list. Why are kids telling me they got to wait three weeks to see a counselor at school? Why? I don't understand that. I just can't understand it. So I recommend that the bill 21 that Councilwoman Brown has be amended to incorporate a Youth Crime Commission. That's what we think. We even think that it should be a Commissioner level. This thing is so serious that it should be a 540 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Commissioner level that deal -- the Charter change, a Commissioner level that deals with the youth violence in the City of Philadelphia. That's what we think, and coordinate all of the youth services and target the young people. Thank you. Have a good day.

Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mr. Mackey. Thank you for your commitment to youth.

Thank you.

Thank you for coming forward.

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilwoman.

Certainly. Mr. Randy Berlin, LISC. (No response.)

Do we 541 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 have Mr. Kevin Peter, Metropolitan Career Center? Thank you. Do we have Mr. Hamilton Rouse, Jr.?

Yes.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for being here.

Good morning. Thank you, Councilwoman Blackwell and also Councilman Goode. Thank you for the opportunity to speak this morning on the job training programs and helping reduce violence in Philadelphia. My name is Kevin Peter, Vice-President for Community Relations at Metropolitan Career Center, a non-profit community-based organization founded in Germantown in 1974. With facilities in Germantown and Center City, Metropolitan Career Center serves an average of 700 unemployed and underemployed adult 542 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Philadelphians from throughout the City annually. In total, we provided job training and career assistance to more than 13,000 people in the past 32 years. In Germantown, we provide basic job training and skills to more than 500 people each year. The three training programs we currently offer in Germantown range from four to weeks in length and 11 prepare people for entry-level jobs in 12 businesses as diverse as the major banks, 13 small businesses, non-profits and 14 retailers. One program, STRIVE, is a 15 four-week rapid attachment program to 16 help unemployed people, including those reentering the community after incarceration, learn appropriate behaviors and skills to be able to get and keep good jobs. Here in Center City, our Computer Technology Institute offers an Associate in Specialized Technology degree to people with a high school diploma or a GED. The 15 to 36-month 543 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Associate degree prepares people to enter the region's growing technology workforce and puts them on a path to earn upwards of $50,000 a year within three years of graduating. That's not a hypothetical number. That's some of the graduates that I speak with on a daily basis. At least 60 of our Associate degree graduates have gone even further in higher education and are working on Bachelor's degrees now at DeVry, University of Phoenix, Philadelphia University and Drexel. These are students who, for the most part, didn't really look at themselves as college material or higher education material before they came to Metropolitan Career Center. We work with ex-offenders on a daily basis. In our most recent program year, 15 percent of the people in our Germantown programs were ex-offenders, as were 11 percent of the people in our 544 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Associate degree program. Our goal with ex-offenders, as with all participants, is to get into a job that leads to a sustainable wage and benefits. 97 an hour. 50 per hour to start. These wages are certainly not enough to support a family without additional help, but clearly put the new wage earner on a path to higher earnings and financial stability. Nearly as important as the wages is the fact that more than half of our Germantown graduates and three-quarters of our Center City graduates started jobs that offered health benefits. For someone who has cycled through a series of short-term, low-paying, dead-end jobs, the likelihood of suddenly finding stability without an upgrade in skills or a shift in behaviors 545 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 and attitudes is remote. The picture is clearly brighter for a Philadelphian who completes job training than for a Philadelphian trying to find and keep a job on his or her own. We have seen people complete Metropolitan Career Center's STRIVE program, for example, land a job and then move into our Associate degree program on a part-time basis where their earning potential increases dramatically. We've seen ex-offenders improve skills and learn new behaviors and find a realistic way to stay employed, and the good news doesn't end there. Often adults who complete job training and maintain stable employment become role models for their families, making it more likely that their children will stay in school. We have seen cases where an adult is the first person in their extended family to complete any educational program.

That's the trigger that keeps the children in school and the 546 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 neighbors and their children in school or in training. In one case, one of our graduates triggered her mother's reentry into education, with the mother then earning a GED and an Associate degree at Community College. I wish I could share more good news, but right now there's a major barrier to many people who want to get training in Philadelphia. Job training programs throughout the City are dealing with major cuts in contracted training slots as a result of cuts at the State level. At Metropolitan Career Center, cuts in State funding mean we will train around 200 fewer people than planned this year. Citywide, nearly 1,000 training slots have been cut compared to last year. That's a thousand people in our City who need training but will not get it. The question is, what will they do, where will they go? We're happy that the Finance Committee is exploring the value of 547 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 training programs and helping to reduce violence in our City. We urge you to do anything in your power to find funding for job training programs. When we can train people, we can give them hope for a brighter future. Now I will be happy to answer any questions you have or provide additional details to help in your research, and, of course, we'll be happy to host the Committee or any Councilmembers at Metropolitan Career Center so you can see our programs in action and how we're helping people find a good path towards a sustainable job.

Thank you. You have a Center City location; do you not?

Yeah, right down at Broad and Sansom.

I'm sure that I have toured the program. You do do a great job. We thank you for what you do. It is our goal to really show in 548 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 a written organized form the programs we do have that can be funded and to be expanded, and certainly we agree with you, we don't need these programs cut. Thank you very much --

Thank you.

-- for all that the Metropolitan Career Center does. Mr. Hamilton Rouse, Jr. Do we have Greg Bucceroni? You'll speak for him and CB Kimmons. We'll call on you next. Thank you. Mr. Maleek Allah, are you okay today? Sir, are you here to testify? UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: No. I'm just here finding out as much information as I can.

Thank you for being here. Thank you very much for being here. Mr. Rouse.

Yes. Thank you, 549 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Councilwoman Blackwell and Councilman Goode, for this opportunity to speak. I represent my sister, Queena Bass, who is running for Mayor of Philadelphia, or trying to run, in 2007. " That really hurt real bad just to see something that awful in this City. And I think what society has done and what the City has done is make something that's very simple complicated. I want to try to speak about this City. The answer for this problem with violence, and always has been the answer, is love. We are known throughout America as the City of Brotherly Love. We have a beautiful statue that constantly reminds us of the word right across from City Hall. We have hundreds of churches and religious organizations in Philadelphia that teach love at one level or another. It is love that helps us grow 550 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 up from a child to adult, some form of kindness, concern, people care about us, a mother, a father, a grandmother and a grandfather or anyone who is our guardian. If you look at any problem in this City, the greatest solution in solving that problem is going to be love. We had a lot of suggestions today, beautiful suggestions, but the power behind that has got to be love. The greatest power on this earth is still love and will always be love, and the best thing this world has that makes life worth living is going to be love. The Bible, which they have in all these courtrooms and the polling places when you go there, in the book of First John, Chapter 14:16, it says that God is love. Our problem is that we have not let love be the most important part of our existence. We have let bureaucracy, economic power and control, 551 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 hatred, racism, petty arguments and just downright neglect lead us into a direction that makes life more of a burden than a blessing. It doesn't have to be winter for us to feel coldness in this City. We leave a lot of homeless on the street and talk about a ten-year plan. That is cold. We let children grow up in filthy ghettos, and that is cold. Abandoned building, lots full of weeds, disgusting areas, goes on being this for years and years. Just look at love. The last years, just look at 16 Broad and Cumberland, Clearfield, Lehigh, 17 York, just Broad Street, a mess for 18 years, 20 to 30 years. Where is the 19 love? It's cold. It's awful. And you 20 want our children to be better? We want them to have high standards and we show low standards. If we want to change things in this City to slow down the violent behavior, enough talk, enough marches, 552 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 enough trying to figure out these things, do what we know we should be doing, from the Governor on down, don't just talk a pretty picture, let's make a pretty picture. The State has found, what, $700 million for a new Convention Center and it looks like we can't even handle the traffic when we have a big convention now. We have $700 million for a new Convention Center. I can't imagine another convention bigger in this City. It's going to be deadlocked. But they have $700 million for their Convention Center. We can take that $700 million and get real good jobs with real good trades to beautify this City that's been messed up for years in many places. North Philly, West Philly, it's disgusting. It's time for a new Philadelphia, as my sister Queena Bass said. Philadelphia should be the example to the rest of the nation, and with our 553 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 motto being the City of Brotherly Love, what city but Philadelphia should lead the way? Our leaders, our politicians should remember to love their neighbor as themselves. What would you like to be done for you if you were living in these awful conditions? God knows we can do a whole lot better and we must, and that's the power that's going to change things. All this bureaucracy, all this paperwork, no. 13 No. God knows we're doing wrong.

These kids know we're doing wrong. That's why they're killing each other. It's because of a lot of the racism. We know that. And Queena Bass wants to try to change things. She's not here today. But we forget about what we really should be doing. We can talk for hours here in Council. It doesn't change my neighborhood. Nicetown has become the worst town that I've ever seen, and my grandmother, my grandfather, they would 554 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 be ashamed of how this neighborhood looks today. And what gets done? Year after year after year after year, Mayor after Mayor after Mayor. It's a shame. Thank you for letting me speak.

Thank you very much. We appreciate your testimony, Mr. Rouse. Mantua Against Drugs and then we will go to our last few guests. Thank you very much. Feel free to identify yourself for the record and make your comments.

Good afternoon, Councilwoman Blackwell. Good afternoon, Councilman Goode. My name is Greg Bucceroni. I'm with Men United for a Better Philadelphia in partnership with Mantua Against Drugs. Unfortunately, CB Kimmons was unavailable to attend today due to a medical response for his family, but I'm here to testify on his behalf and a little bit of what Men United for a Better Philadelphia is doing on our 555 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Citywide effort to improve the quality of life in the City of Philadelphia.

Thank you.

Here we are. Being no strangers in activists, starting in New York City and 20-some murders and bouncing back and forth between the Guardian Angels, Town Watch and now Men United for a Better Philadelphia, I've seen a lot of municipalities up and down the East Coast and some of the quality of life that goes on and particularly today with youth-related things. We've been out there every day, as you could see, Councilwoman. We've been out there several times. During the course of a day, we go out there in East Division, whether it's West Philadelphia, or even now in the Northeast dealing with adolescent-related crime and quality of life concerns. Every program, everyone who has testified gives a little bit of a piece 556 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 of that pie that comes up to the solution. If CB was here today, he would testify that we're working collectively together, although we could be doing better. Councilman Goode, when your dad was Mayor, we did a lot of work with him back in the early '80s to improve the quality of life, and we still have an uphill battle, but the battle can be won. It takes everyone's effort, whether it's our elected officials who have been there, police officials and no doubt the community residents. I think they're the key figure. The success that Mayor Giuliani had in New York City, the key success, even though he increased the NYPD presence on the street, was community participation. When we have these parents getting involved and we have community councils getting involved and we have, of course, citizens like myself and those who have testified before me 557 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 get involved, it becomes a win-win situation. So we're here just to testify on what we've done and what we need to be doing more. And I'm willing to work with any elected official -- CB is. If he was here, he would testify to that -- and any citizen or community organization to do that. We have, of course, the Mayor instilled recently a new program, Adolescents Violence Reduction Partnership, and even though that is a work in progress, it is something going in the right direction, as is PAL, the Boys and Girls Club and many of the community-based organizations to provide after-school activities for our youth in the City. So what I'd like to say is that we're going in the right direction, but it's not going to happen overnight. A lot of people believe that these things, the AVRP, for instance, that is a recent 558 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 program, you're not going to be able to analyze that program until, my guess is, about -- it's going to take about a year or two to analyze the effects of it, because we won't know the immediate effects. We know that we're going out there and counseling these young adolescent individuals and we're giving them the proper guidance as well as the other people had testified. And we'd like to move forward in these things and work in conjunction with City Council and our elected officials to finally improve the quality of life and move forward. I really don't have much to say, because CB was here and he was going to testify. He told me to do the medical concerns. He couldn't. So I came here just to say what we're doing and what we'd like to do and how we'd like to network with the other organizations that we haven't thus far to obviously improve the quality of life for the adolescents' experience in the City of Brotherly Love. 559 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708

Thank you. You've done quite well, and we thank you for your commitment. Give CB our best. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Councilwoman.

Thank you. We certainly want to acknowledge the presence of Governor Schweiker and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, all who are here. Next we will call on a colleague and a member of this Committee, Councilman W. Wilson Goode, and then we'll hear from the Governor. Thank you very much.

Good afternoon. Although I'm a Councilmember of the Committee, Councilwoman Blackwell asked me to actually offer testimony, and because of the context of my testimony, I also thought it would be appropriate to testify actually from the table. She asked me to talk about the 560 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 issue of employment and employer tax credits as it relates to crime and violence and the murder rate in the City. I'd like to start by just reading a short passage from actually one of my favorite books. It reads, "At the trial, momma said Charlie Painter asked to speak to the judge in his chambers before the sentence was handed down. Daddy was convicted of assault and sentenced to a year in prison. Momma has always said she believed Daddy was convicted because he slapped Charlie Painter, not because of what he did to her. "We were heartbroken. It seemed like our family was being broken apart beyond repair. "Daddy left the local jail for prison that August. His prison job was walking the hot, dusty roads serving water to prisoners on the chain gangs. "In the months following the trial, my sister in Philadelphia 561 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 convinced momma to leave North Carolina before daddy got out of prison. Momma and my brothers prepared to leave that January. I was doing well in school and they said I should stay behind with Aunt Lonnie and Uncle Frank Brown to finish out the school term. "On January 3, 1954, momma and my brothers left for Philadelphia. I tried to be happy as the moving van and car carrying my family headed north, but my heart was sinking. This was the first time I had ever been separated from my family. "Practically speaking, I knew it was only right for me to finish the school term, but I couldn't help thinking I needed to be with my family. " The young boy later came to Philadelphia, and the next chapter within the book is entitled "So This is Heaven," with a question mark. This is not a book 562 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 of fiction. The young boy went on to become the first African-American Mayor of Philadelphia. This is actually a story from my father's autobiography. Needless to say why people are very much aware of his work with children of prison inmates. They're not aware that the reason for that work is because he was a child of a prison inmate. Interesting about this story, this is a story that I did not find out until 1992 with the release of this autobiography. My grandfather actually died five years before this release. I remember my grandfather purely as a hard-working family man. Because when he was released from prison, he did reconcile with his family, did come to Philadelphia and provide for his family and ended up creating the type of family leadership that led to his son becoming who he became and his grandson becoming who he became. But in the South, my 563 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 grandfather was a very broken man because of issues of economic frustration and humiliation and the system of sharecropping. As a man, as a grown man, he was not able to provide for his family, not because he didn't work from sun up to sun down, but because he was not paid fairly and because people cheated him out of his money and people didn't give him the type of chance economically to support his family. As I said, the book goes on to talk about Philadelphia in the 1950's when my father came here with his family. There are many who would say that we are still economic sharecropping in Philadelphia over 50 years later. There are many that say that the economic system within Philadelphia still treats people with as much racial discrimination. I was taught about the discrimination that exists down South. I was also taught about the need to 564 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 continue to fight for economic fairness and equity in Philadelphia now.

So a lot of the work that I've done on City Council has been about creating economic opportunity, and it's because of my family history. So the work that my father does with the children, finding mentors for the children of prison inmates, is because up to 70 percent of them, if we don't engage them in some positive constructive manner, will go down that same path. And since he was saved from it, with a strong family and community, he wants to see others saved from it. The work I do to create economic opportunity is because we see it as saving lives and saving people for what could have been our family experience. But if I were to simply say that all of that is a part of my family history, that would not be true. As my father served as Managing Director and as Mayor of this City and often visited the 565 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 prisons as he continues to do, he would often be greeted with greetings from family members who were there, who still needed opportunity and somehow the success did not spread throughout the entire family. More recently as a member of this Council, about 15, months ago, I 10 had a family member, a first cousin, who 11 on a crack binge assaulted someone with a 12 hammer. A lot of people wanted to know 13 how I was going to deal with that issue. 14 I dealt with it not politically but 15 personally and within the family, and my 16 response to it immediately was to think of where we're at in this modern-day Philadelphia that those type of things are happening and can happen and how can two different cousins live very different lives. And I don't mind sharing. This is the first time I've shared this, so it's interesting that I'm sharing it publicly. I secluded myself probably for 566 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 about a week or so just reflecting upon those type of things and where the family had come and how far the family had come, but how many problems still existed that exists throughout this City. That's actually when I crafted a living wage bill, because I realized that a living wage bill had to be part of the solution, that if we can't focus on economic opportunity and economic opportunity that provides living wages, that that is a core issue that dates back for, yes, many people of color, but dates back for any number of people who have faced economic discrimination, who were born into an economic disadvantage. And, more importantly, as we deal with the issue of ex-offenders and the rate of recidivism, we know that ex-offenders who do not find employment are three times more likely to recidivate into a pattern of crime and violence and jail and, yes, murder. So we don't know all the solutions here, but we do know what part 567 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 of the solution is. It is providing jobs, it is providing jobs with wages that are livable as possible, and it's creating new economic opportunity where there is none. And so I offer this testimony as a prelude to challenging the private sector to work on employment options and working with us in terms of not just creating new tools in terms of ex-offender tax credits, but making sure those tools will be used. And so I'm just pleased to offer that testimony today.

Thank you very much. That was invaluable testimony that gets to the heart of why we're here and, as you said, why we do need the private sector to partner with us to change things. Thank you, Councilman. Thank you. It was wonderful. Governor Schweiker, we invite you. 568 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Thank you all for coming. We say welcome. GOVERNOR SCHWEIKER: Thank you.

Please identify yourself for the record and then make your testimony GOVERNOR SCHWEIKER: I'm Mark Schweiker, the President and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. I come before you today to offer testimony on Resolution 060708, as you know, a Call to Action to confront and stop the violence in our City. Thank you. And before I proceed, Madam Chair, let me acknowledge the observations and the experience Councilman Goode just shared. It certainly explains -- and I know his dad, and I say this in respectful, positive ways. I know about his dad's determination and perspective and certainly I know he has endowed the Councilman with the same sensitivity and perspective. So I think we all learned a 569 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 little bit there. So thank you for sharing that. Madam Chair, should I proceed?

Please. GOVERNOR SCHWEIKER: Thank you. At the outset, let me acknowledge and commend -- and I only have brief comments. I think you know I'm comfortable with the free flow, but I do think we've got some brief detailed testimony attending to this issue of trying to stop the violence and effective ways on which we can rely over the long haul. And let me also mention that Denise Early is with me, who represents the Chamber here in City Hall. Let me acknowledge and commend you on your effort to address the recent surge of violence plaguing our City. I know, Chairwoman Blackwell, that you attended our Annual Meeting of October 10th and heard firsthand from our new Chairman, Joe Frick, who is the President 570 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 and CEO of Independence Blue Cross, that this issue was a matter of great concern for the business community. Chairman Frick that morning offered the business community a challenge, and we will take it on with great passion. And to a great extent, our presence here today, with my full crew involved in public policy and issue advancement, is meant to confirm that we are prepared to pursue it in tandem with influential individuals like yourself. We believe that jobs for youth will help stem the violence. Let me tell you why. The GPCC has made a serious commitment to address violence through youth workforce development. In Philadelphia and across the Commonwealth, thousands of young people seek internships and related workplace experiences which can provide life-changing benefits, but are turned away because funded opportunities are 571 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 simply not available. Good research demonstrates that workplace experiences and related skills-building efforts during the high school years yield a number of positive benefits for participating youth, including higher wages and lower unemployment rates later in life, reduced incidence of youth violence and the potential for improved school performance and increased post secondary participation. Unfortunately, due to the record-high unemployment rates for teens so far this century, particularly those in the nation's urban center, far too few youth have access to these opportunities and related benefits. Now, while many high-quality and effective youth workforce development programs operate in Pennsylvania, they reach a small fraction of eligible young people. For example, specifically, WorkReady Philadelphia, a comprehensive effort to coordinate and expand youth 572 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 work and work-related opportunities, serves nearly 10,000 youth each year. However, despite these accomplishments, the annual waiting list of youth seeking enrollment in WorkReady programs consistently exceeds the number of 3,000. To address this critical need, the GPCC has made a serious commitment to work in partnership with local youth workforce development agencies and is mounting an aggressive campaign to promote youth employment and mentoring opportunities in businesses throughout the region. In an effort to build employer backing and participation for this initiative, the Chamber is currently seeking passage in Harrisburg of House Bill 3031, state legislation to provide incentive tax credits for businesses that employ underprivileged youth in Pennsylvania. House Bill 3031, I'm proud to know, is sponsored by Representative John Taylor of Philadelphia and 573 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Representative Josh Shapiro of Montgomery County and a growing bipartisan list of lawmakers from this region and across Pennsylvania. I think you and I know the importance of presenting that picture in the State Capital when it comes to what is clearly a major issue for we here in the City, but in order to succeed politically in Harrisburg, we've got to have the attention and the backing of a bipartisan nature from across the Commonwealth.

Through this measure, if a business hires a young adult -- and we define that as 14 to 21 years old -- who comes from a household with income less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level, that business would be eligible for tax credits equal to 70 percent of the wages paid to the young adult. Put simply, Madam Chair, we're talking about good jobs with a real paycheck, real jobs with a real paycheck. 574 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 In addition to the sponsors of House Bill 3031, the Chamber has been working closely with Congressman Bob Brady and State Representative Dwight Evans on this issue. This is so important to the business community that Congressman Brady and State Representative Josh Shapiro were guest speakers at our last Board of Directors meeting just days ago to discuss the epidemic of youth violence. We recognize that many of the issues outlined in your letter of invitation fall within the jurisdiction of government, items such as job training programs and TANF activities, as well as extension of school hours. I commend you for examining the feasibility of each and every option, and hopefully with a unique blend, they too dynamically will serve to meet the interests of young Philadelphians. For our part, we believe that the best thing the business community can 575 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 do is to create mentorship opportunities and summer jobs. We will be working with our members to expand the number of opportunities available to at-risk youth. It is incumbent upon each of us as stakeholders in the future of this City and region to identify new -- and perhaps I should add there, new and effective ways to prevent violence, especially among our youth, and that is why the Chamber will continue to garner bipartisan support for and passage of House Bill 3031. I might add, our sense is that they won't take this up until after the turn of the year. So we're not hearing anything as far as it being accelerated in the months of October, November or December, but we're monitoring that. We're ready to go to apply the appropriate political pressure in order to put this in place. In closing, let me reiterate that a job is the best social tool in the 576 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 proverbial box. We thank you for your interest and I thank you for the opportunity to bring my colleagues with me here today to provide comment, and I do believe that working in alliance with our region's companies and employers and City Council, we will provide meaningful jobs for youth and make a positive difference. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilman Goode.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon, Governor. First let me applaud you for your testimony and for your work on this initiative, which I am in strong support of House Bill 3031. GOVERNOR SCHWEIKER: Thank you.

I think it is a great bill. I was glad to have a chance to review it even before it was 577 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 introduced. And I also applaud you and your Chairman for the fact that not only is he taking a lead on this, but that he made that part of his opening remarks of his tenure. I do want to just pose some issues that I've posed even in another context as it relates to education, but I want to pose these issues related to employment today. Yesterday there was a discussion about the dropout rate and what correlation it has to crime and violence and murder, and I believe that we are not examining that data. I believe that we have not had access to that data fully to see that full connection. But clearly, even as reports on the dropout rate were released within the last couple of weeks, we clearly see that up to 50 percent or so of people who were entering ninth grade are dropping out. And even as we talk about 578 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 improved test scores, one of the points I made yesterday was the fact that test scores are improving for those people who stay. To a certain extent, we are actually creaming in terms of the test scores will go up for those people who don't feel that they can keep up, choose to leave if we don't get them to drop back in, and actually getting them to drop back in would actually force the test scores down. As we went through a discussion and the Mayor came here to testify, he talked about how to deal with dropout prevention and he talked about truancy and he talked about curfews, but more and more I pressed on the issue of post school-age dropouts and what are we going to do about them. If they don't have to go back to school and in some cases when it's not age appropriate for them to go back to school, how do we go out and reach them and get them involved in GED education, get them involved in job 579 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 training? How do we reach them and how do we help prepare them for employment opportunity? GOVERNOR SCHWEIKER: I think you're dead on.

But as we move forward in this discussion, I'll pose the question. House Bill 3031 is great. It's a great tool. I know there's other things that will be done on the State level and on the local level to create opportunities for ex-offenders. I'm wondering what sort of energy and resources is the Chamber going to commit to those who are above 21, those who are not necessarily identified within House Bill 3031. But is there going to be a push for those post school-age dropouts of finding a way to create GED and job training opportunities and finding ways to help overcome that obstacle of being stigmatized as an ex-offender? Because prevention is great, but the reason a lot of this has come up 580 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 is because of the focus on the murder rate, and in terms of the focus on the murder rate, if that's what we're really trying to get to and address as the impetus, if we're going to address crime and violence in extreme and to that extreme, we literally have to deal with people who don't necessarily have the educational capacity, don't have the employment opportunity and feel completely shut out with no opportunity. GOVERNOR SCHWEIKER: Yes. And I mean, however you and I discuss it or define it, it amounts to a significant form of deprivation that young, full of determination and may have screwed up earlier in life still can help in workplaces. Well, first, we are addressing ourselves to that -- who knows how this is going to come out in Harrisburg -- at age roughly 14 to 20, 21 to be specific. We would encourage our members to be attentive and to support this effort to 581 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 hire offenders, former offenders, I should say. Ultimately -- and this is what we hear from our companies and businesses and member companies -- it ultimately amounts to an individual decision for them. I mean, no one is surprised to hear that. So aside from that, I couldn't speak for the business community at this table at this point about their propensity to do so, but I believe, by and large, our members are civic and social-minded enough that they would want to work in tandem with you as we accent the need for looking beyond the youth, the young adult. So with that -- let me also add too that one of the, I think, virtues of having Joe Frick ready to serve as Chair over the next two years -- and I think you know this biographically -- he's been involved in workforce development, not as a second job, has given it some serious time over the years. It's a matter of 582 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 passion and heart for Joe. It explains why he offered the commentary and perspective he did just days ago at our annual meeting for close to 1,200 people, saying not just look at it, we got to be urgent in our actions. But having said that, generally on workforce development the Chamber is supportive, and I do think indirectly, Councilman, therein lies the fruits of your labor, that the more we say that this is important, the more that we exhort not just our member companies, all the business to look at these folks as full of promise, then it will lead to jobs, it will lead to paychecks and ultimately lower unemployment or higher employment rate. So the other two that I think I would mention as a third element of a response is, we're serious to the point that -- and I think this is where you could be heard, sir -- is, we're going to be working with the Daily News. You 583 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 probably know from time to time, under the guise of Rethinking Philadelphia, the pretty impressive journalistic effort to examine what we're doing well in the City and areas that certainly need attention and what may ail us. And we all know whether it's violence by kids or violence by older adults, we've got to work to eliminate it.

And so the next Rethinking Philadelphia gathering will be dedicated to not just the improper decision by young Philadelphians to use weapons to be violent, we can take a look at that as well. So I would extend a public invitation to you to think about participating. We'd like to hear your point of view.

Absolutely, because my concern is not just a matter of age consideration and whether the people we need to target are between the ages of 14 and 21, but my concern is if they are ex-offenders, the extent to 584 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 which they still face bias within the job market and how we begin to mitigate that. My concern is, if we are targeting people that we think are most likely to murder or be murdered, they cannot be captured by House Bill 3031. House Bill 3031 will do a lot to prevent, and that's why I'm in strong support of it, but there's a lot that needs to be done in terms of intervention if we are serious. GOVERNOR SCHWEIKER: We need to stay up with you on this. As you well know -- you both are accomplished officeholders -- in Harrisburg, we've had to seek Council about how you really improve the chances for passage of a 3031. And so a lot of the definitional elements are a direct consequence of people on both side of the fence, I might add, republic, democrat, urban, suburban and how we can make this acceptable from a constitutional standpoint as well. That's why we want to work with -- and I think it comes back to your instincts and 585 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 viewpoint as well, whether it's WorkReady Philadelphia or the Philadelphia Youth Network with whom we'll work when it comes to helping out these kids. We've got to work with the people who do the front-line work, because they can give you the most dependable insights in order to be effective here. Can I just say one other thing, Councilman Goode? I appreciate the fact that you talk about the Mayor's testimony. As you know, the Mayor and I created a pretty significant partnership, and he mentioned test scores. I don't know about you. I'll take improving test scores compared to what we've endured in years gone by, and I think we're making real progress there, but I do believe that the most important form indirectly so of economic development is what goes on in our public school classrooms and making sure ample resources are there and having tremendous backing by all of us who can influence thinking on the part of 586 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 residents and business people, is that the public school system is quintessential to our economic and social success here. And, yeah, we lose too many of the kids, and it doesn't wait until the junior year of high school. As you know, kids start -- when they see kids making more money through illicit means than what they would do by sitting in a classroom, they opt out, and it happens as early as the eighth grade to seventh grade when they're carrying guns more than they're carrying books. That should pain us all. So that's why I think the Mayor attends and talks about his take on truancy, what the school system ought to be doing better, certainly encouraging families, keeping families together, having caregivers or parents involved in the school. Parenthetically, I think a lot of public schools do a much better job of being accommodating to parents. When 587 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 you're working two jobs, it's not like you can show up at o'clock in the 4 morning for a conference. If you're 5 working two jobs, it's not like you can 6 show up at 5 after 3:00 in the afternoon. 7 If you've been busting your butt and 8 you're tired, you may have to look for a 9 different time to have that interaction between the teacher and the parent. Some are not good in accommodating that. So I think the Mayor is tuned in on that pretty well, and we want to stay attuned to that, because whether it's fighting truancy or keeping kids in school, I think our job of creating a sense of promise in them that this is a rewarding city or place is damaged if we don't keep them in school. So we're fervent believers that the business community, where possible, has to back the efforts of the public school system. That's why we have that -- maybe you could participate, too. I think you'd love it.

I know you're in 588 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 schools plenty, but our Read to Me program is where we do -- there are about 900 pre-K and kindergarten classrooms in this City, and some day I'd like to see -- and just for a couple of hours each day, coming along with books that are left behind in the libraries, so it's a permanent contribution. Top-level executives get into the schools and they read to the kids, and the kids love it, the adults love it, they want to come back, but the point is, our drive is all about getting them to understand that they can help even if it's just for three hours. Maybe it could be three days or three weeks or maybe a permanent backing of a school, but our preoccupation is exposing folks who otherwise would not get into public school classrooms to see that they can help, and the kids absolutely love it. I mean, any child likes attention. They come in and they literally read and they leave books behind. 589 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 So aside from the essence of 3031 and your important work with ex-offenders, the business community is determined to help with the public school effort and its continued improvement.

I completely agree with you that we can look at the future of the City's economy by taking a snapshot of children as they move from ninth grade on, and the possibilities change for those students in terms of whether they stay in school or whether they leave. My suggestion is just that we have to, for those who leave, in addition to more programs to prevent them from leaving, in terms of truancy and dealing with curfew issues even after they leave school, we have to go out and get them and intervene, and I believe that all these bills can work together because -- GOVERNOR SCHWEIKER: I do, too. So you want to have a bona fide alternative channel for those who aren't 590 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 always getting that high school diploma at age 17, or 19. Got you. 4

Because even 5 for those employers that we can reach 6 that are open to the idea of hiring 7 ex-offenders within that age group, they, 8 with the successful passage of all these 9 bills, can receive a work opportunity tax 10 credit from the federal level, can 11 receive a youth employment incentive tax 12 credit at the state level and can receive 13 an ex-offender employment tax credit at 14 the local level. And so the issue is, we 15 want to go out and find jobs. And my 16 comments are not lent toward which tool 17 we use, but lent toward using all of 18 them. GOVERNOR SCHWEIKER: We're on it.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Certainly Councilman Goode said it better than any of us can when he read from the autobiography. 591 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 We've been talking for months and we talked this summer about the whole issue of ex-offenders and hiring people. We have people who come to us every day who represent ex-offenders, some who are out of prison, some who are in who want to make a positive contribution and who realize that we're all part of the same community. And certainly Councilman Goode talked about a tax credit. We're happy to work with you and the business community that you represent in any way we can for credits. We support any of that, as he's likewise said, that would help to make it more attractive for certainly the private industry to hire this population, because otherwise we'll only be here next year with the same issues because people are untrained and unemployed. So, again, we thank you very much. GOVERNOR SCHWEIKER: Thank you. 592 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708

We have a gentleman who is sitting just behind you who represents years of being incarcerated who sat here both days trying to get information that he can use to empower his community that he can send back to those who are in prison. GOVERNOR SCHWEIKER: We look forward to continued efforts and what I think is a good working relationship, and I would say that as Councilman Goode's dad would assert, working together I think Philadelphians have a shot at the whole farm, in the proverbial sense, not just the sharecroppers piece. Point made. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. William Nesheiwat representing Councilwoman Donna Miller. Thank you very much and we thank the Councilwoman for having you represent her. Thank you very much. Identify yourself again for the record. 593 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Thank you.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and Councilman Goode. My name is William Nesheiwat, N-E-S-H-E-I-W-A-T. Unfortunately, Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller was unable to attend. She's the Councilwoman for the 8th Councilmanic District and the Chair of City Council's Committee on Public Safety. We want to begin by thanking you, Councilwoman Blackwell, for holding these hearings, and today I will be testifying about a problem that affects the entire City of Philadelphia and even the neighboring suburbs. I will be testifying today specifically on gun legislation. This is an attempt to provide a solution to the overwhelming problem. I would like to begin by thanking those who have taken an interest in Philadelphia and its problem with the violence. All of you here today 594 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 recognize that there is a problem, and I want to thank you personally for showing your interest and support. Together, Councilman Clarke and Councilwoman Miller have introduced seven pieces of legislation aimed at addressing the problems with violence, specifically with guns. Our legislation is not intended to impede anyone's Second Amendment rights. The intent of this legislation is simply to establish rules that govern responsible gun ownership. Unfortunately, the State has the power to make these laws and will not let us, Philadelphia, control or legislate our own gun laws. The gun laws that I'm referring to, the legislation before City Council, I'll begin with Bill No. 040117, addresses straw purchasing. Straw purchasing is when someone makes a business of legally buying guns and then illegally selling them on the streets, 595 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 and many of our murders are a result of guns obtained in this fashion. This is legislation that will only limit the purchasing of guns to one gun a month. Bill 040118 addresses ammunition by requiring the reporting of ammunition sales to the Police Department. Bill No. 040132 prohibits possession, sale and transfer of firearms by persons subject to protection from abuse orders. Fortunately, the State passed House Bill 1717, which went into effect on May of this year, and House Bill 1717 addresses this issue. Bill No. 040136 regulates the acquiring or transferring of any firearm within the City of Philadelphia. Bill No. 040137 requires the reporting of an application for or renewal of a license to carry a firearm. Bill No. 040312 requires the temporary removal of firearms of persons possessing a risk of imminent personal 596 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 injury to self or others. Finally, Bill No. 040315 provides for the prohibition and registration of certain assault weapons. Again, the purpose of these bills are not to take away people's Second Amendment rights, but rather to implement responsible gun ownership laws. Last month, we rallied in the State Capital trying to tell the lawmakers that we are fed up and it is time for the State to give us, Philadelphia, the power to stop the violence in our streets. We had over 3,000 Philadelphian demonstrators at the Capital steps. Do you know that we have reached 329 murders as of today? We have completed 298 days this year. That means that more than one person is getting killed every day in the streets of Philadelphia. Since we only have 67 days left this year, how many more will be killed? At least 74 more, according to 597 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 our current track record. We are losing people here in Philadelphia just like in Iraq, and they are at war. What is the problem? We have definitely passed last year's murder rate and it is only increasing. We need to do something now to stop the violence. I am aware that there is only so much that elected officials can do, but together the community, side by side, with elected officials, we can make a difference. And I know you care. That is why you are here today. As you all know, we cannot legislate attitude change, but it is a start.

It is important to start with why we are holding our hearings. The current violence we are seeing every day on the news did not start overnight, and the solution will not happen overnight either. In separate Committee hearings we have been discussing the Blueprint for 598 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 a Safer Philadelphia and its ten-year plan. We chose ten years because we felt that this process would take about ten years to make a real difference. Philadelphia's murder rate is an issue that has been ongoing for some time now, and in an effort to address this problem, Councilwoman Miller has joined forces with Councilwoman Tasco and State Representative Dwight Evans to hold public hearings at local high schools in the evenings. We understand that it is difficult for most people to attend our public hearings during the day, so we held four Committee hearings last Council session in high schools all around the City and we are holding four Committee hearings this session. We were over in Overbrook High School, West Philadelphia High School and Strawberry Mansion High School last month and this month. m. we will be in Bartram Main High School for our final joint Committee of Public Safety and 599 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 Committee of Public Health and Human Services. Gun violence is only a part of what we are here for today. We are here to show our young people that they are not destined to a violent end. We want to offer them alternatives to taking lives as a way of resolving disputes. We want to give them other options for their futures. We want to let them know that there is a bright future ahead of them and not one of doom and gloom. Our goal in holding these hearings is to make Philadelphia a safer place, a safer place to live in, a safer place to visit, a place where our drives to work are safe and ultimately a place where children can safely play in front of their houses or go to school without the fear of being senselessly gunned down. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify before this Committee, Madam Chair. 600 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708

Thank you so much, Mr. Nesheiwat, and we appreciate the job you do and we appreciate your testimony and certainly cataloguing and listing the various bills that this Council has been dealing with with regard to guns and possession, et cetera. Thank you very much. Any questions? (No response.)

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Is there anyone else here who would like to testify? (No response.)

At this time, we will again, as we said yesterday, we will show the clips from a DVD we showed yesterday dealing with violence, after which we will recess subject to the call of the Chair. 601 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 We thank you all for your testimony, all who have listened, all who have been here and participated. Very, very, very important testimony has taken place these last two days. This DVD is a very important document to deal with the issue as well, and we will be putting together other documents, a report, and we will be getting back to everyone about this issue what this Committee thinks. We especially thank Councilman Goode, who gave a heart-rendering testimony. You know, some things are said in special ways, and we thank him for that and his father, former Mayor W. Wilson Goode as well. Thank you all. (Tape begins.) * * *

By way of just a correction, we will make certainly this DVD from Sharon Baptist part of the record. We will also make, instead of compiling a report -- I thank my colleague for suggesting it. We will 602 10/25/06 - FINANCE - RES. 060708 make a whole electronic compilation of these hearings available for those who may want to use various parts of it, along with this DVD. After this is played, this hearing will be adjourned subject to the call of the Chair. Thank you. Thank you. (Tape continued to play.) * * * (Committee on Finance adjourned at 1:30 p.m.) - - - 603 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 October 25, 2006, 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.)