COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARING COMMITTEE ON LAW AND GOVERNMENT - - - Room 696, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Monday, May 5, 2003 5:20 p.m. - - - BILL 030117 - Resolution authorizing the City Council Committee on Law and Government to hold hearings to investigate the failure of the Philadelphia Housing Authority and four union locals: AFSCME District Council 47 Locals 2186 and 2187, AFSCME District Council 33 Local 934, and Fraternal Order of Housing Police, to negotiate new contracts and authorizing the Chairperson of the Committee in furtherance of such investigation to issue subpoenas or other process as the Chairperson deems necessary or appropriate to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents to the full extent authorized under Section 2-401 of the Home Rule Charter. BILL 030227 - Resolution authorizing City Council's Committee on Law and Government to investigate the effectiveness and efficiency of the delivery of public housing resources and services to the low and moderate income residents of Philadelphia by the Philadelphia Housing Authority in cooperation with the City of Philadelphia, and the available legislative remedies for inadequacies that may be found including, but not limited to, the reallocation of City-controlled and/or appropriated housing funds to other agencies, and authorizing the Chairperson of the Law and Government Committee in furtherance of such investigation to issue subpoenas or other process as the Chairperson deems necessary or appropriate to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents to the full extent authorized under Section 2-401 of the Home Rule Charter. 2 PRESENT: COUNCILMAN DAVID COHEN, Chair COUNCILWOMAN JANNIE BLACKWELL COUNCILMAN MICHAEL A. NUTTER COUNCILMAN ANGEL L. ORTIZ COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO COUNCILMAN W. WILSON GOODE, JR. - - - Also Present: JOEL M. SWEET, ESQUIRE WOLF BLOCK 1650 Arch Street, 22nd Floor Philadelphia, PA 19103 Telephone - 215-977-2044 Counsel for Philadelphia Housing Authority V A R A L L O Incorporated Litigation Support Services 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 215.561.2220 215.567.2670 3 5/5/03 - Law & Government P R O C E E D I N G S - - -
The Committee on Law and Government is now in order. At the recessed meeting that we've held today at the request of the Mayor, who asked us two weeks ago to not proceed with the meeting -- He actually asked the Council President, who came to another hearing that I was conducting at 4:30 in the afternoon, just a half an hour before the 5 o'clock meeting, and asked us to not take any action with respect to Mr. Greene not having appeared, not being ready to appear that day; and that the Mayor would intervene and that he would try to prevent the problem, in his words, from escalating and producing a result that would include Mr. Greene testifying. He said he would participate. He needed about a week. The Committee, at the request of the Council President, accommodated the Mayor, and we gave the Mayor 13 days. I have to report to you that nothing happened in between, except an offhand comment at 4 5/5/03 - Law & Government the Democratic dinner earlier, a week ago tonight, that he would be later in touch with me, but nothing happened. And so we're here today at 5 o'clock, and I'm asking Mr. Greene to take the stand, and see if he's here tonight. Mr. Greene, Carl Greene, if you're in the room, please take the witness stand. (No response.)
I don't see any movement anywhere in the room, so I have to assume that Mr. Greene is not present. And the Committee notes that once more Mr. Greene has refused to recognize the authority of The City Council and has decided that he has the right to determine whether or not he appears and that he'll make the rules and not City Council. There will be further episodes that we'll be following on that score. Now, in addition to Mr. Greene having been subpoenaed, we also subpoenaed documents. And I'm going to ask -- You can sit where you are. I'm going to ask one of the counsel to the Committee, Robert Jaffe, to give us 5 5/5/03 - Law & Government a very general report on whether anything was produced; and if anything was produced, was it all that was requested. Now, the Committee present here at moment is Councilwoman Blackwell, to my left; Councilman Ortiz; and Council Member Rizzo to my right. And Councilman Nutter will be with us very shortly. I don't know as to the other two Members of the Committee. Mr. Jaffe?
Will you report with respect to what was submitted to us in response to our subpoena duces tecum. Duces refers to documents and tecum means bring with you. And what it was, in addition to asking Mr. Greene or requiring his attendance today, we also required him to produce certain documents. Some things came in a box late Friday afternoon, about 4 o'clock, it was delivered to my office, maybe a thousand sheets or more of paper, nothing saying it's in response to a specific question, although the subpoena duces 6 5/5/03 - Law & Government tecum... Would you read that?
"Subpoena, The Council of The City of Philadelphia, to Carl R. Greene, Executive Director, Philadelphia Housing Authority. "You are ordered by the Council of The City of Philadelphia to come to Room 696, City Hall, Broad and Market Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 5, 2003, at 5:00 p.m., to testify before the Committee on Law and Government in connection with Resolution Number 030227, and to remain until excused. "Second, and to bring with you the following: All documents and information requested by the Law and Government Committee on April 22, 2003, during a hearing on Resolution 21 Number 030227, including but not limited to the following." And there's a list of nine items. At least four of the items clearly have not been brought. One, a document identifying the 7 5/5/03 - Law & Government name, address, title, term of office for all members of the P.H.A. Pension Board or Governing Body. We did receive that. Two, all documents detailing the governing rules, procedures, and authority for the actions, appointment, and removal of the P.H.A. Pension Board or Governing Body. We may or may not have. We need to look at it more. Three, all documents and/or contracts detailing the duties, responsibilities, compensation, and fringe benefits of Carl R. Greene, as Director of P.H.A. and the ten other highest compensated P.H.A. employees, including identification of all compensation, benefits, options, pension, deferred compensation, and bonuses. We did not receive that. Four, all documents describing or evaluating the performance of the P.H.A. pension plan during the past five years. We received that. Five, all documents and/or contracts 8 5/5/03 - Law & Government detailing the duties, responsibilities, compensation and fringe benefits of Carl R. Greene as the Director of P.H.A. in the first/original year of employment. I did not see that, if it came. We believe we did not receive it. Six, all contracts and/or cooperation agreements in effect presently or any time during the previous five years with The City of Philadelphia or any of the City's agencies. We did not receive that, to the best of my knowledge. Seven, any and all documents describing, examining or evaluating the pension plans and the of other housing authorities. We did not receive any comparative materials or materials that show why the Housing Authority is taking the actions they are, compared to the other major housing authorities in the country. Any and all evaluations and plans drafted by or for P.H.A. related to revenue shortfalls during the previous two years or shortfalls that P.H.A. anticipates experiencing 9 5/5/03 - Law & Government any time during the next five years. We did receive accounting and financial reports. If there are full written narratives, that was not included, even though certain actuarial reports were included. Nine, any and all evaluations and plans drafted by the P.H.A. Pension Board related to revenue or investment shortfalls during the previous two years of such shortfalls that the P.H.A. Pension Board anticipates experiencing any time during the next five years. We received some past material, but I don't believe we received any future projections or any narrative that gives an analysis of your future pension plan.
Was the information, the documents submitted, were they directed to a particular...
No. They were generalized materials that we have to go through, contained within a box.
So I question to what extent any of it met the requirements, but we'll find out later on. 10 5/5/03 - Law & Government It's too bad that Mr. Greene continues to persist and that the Mayor seemingly joints him in the myth that we're trying to negotiate a contract publicly. Both the Mayor and the Director of Housing both know that that is at best a figment of their own imagination because at no point has the Council ever requested, by way of a particular question, anything having to do with negotiation of a union contract. But at the same time, the fact that pensions may be a subject of a union negotiation does not insulate that subject and take away the power of City Council to legislate. We are very concerned about what's happening in the pension system of P.H.A. We want to know whether that is a plan proposed just by Carl Greene or is it a precursor to an effort by The City Administration to set up a precedent which will then apply to all City employees. Because the attack on pension systems is a nationwide attack by employers generally. And the government, particularly government which associates itself with a 11 5/5/03 - Law & Government political party that claims to represent working people and has as its base the labor movement, it is a particular shame that that kind of a government would be part of the parade raining down upon the working class, taking away their benefits that they've secured after many years of struggle. So we are very concerned about any effort by this government to lower working standards. We think City government ought to be a model employer, not in the fashion of the Chamber of Commerce desires for labor, but rather, in the way in which labor groups understand the needs of working people. Everybody knows that two-thirds of the Gross National Product comes from consumer demand, yet employers continually and stubbornly and in a self-defeating manner, continue their efforts to lower the standards by which people can buy things. It's important for the health of Philadelphia to stem the outflow of population, for us to strengthen the neighborhoods; and therefore, it's important for a government based 12 5/5/03 - Law & Government upon labor principles to have policies that support purchasing power. And that's the reason we're so concerned about the taking of a wrong turn by The City Administration. Now, having heard this... I'm reminded I think also to bring people up to date, we ought to hear the letter that The City Council sent to the P.H.A. Director when a letter came from their law office, informing us that they believe that Mr. Greene did not have to respond to the subpoena of The City Council. I must say I'm amazed that a major law firm, such as that which represents Philadelphia Housing, would attempt to indicate that it justifies the contemptuous behavior of Mr. Greene. But here is the letter we've sent to Mr. Greene.
Councilman, this is a letter that was sent by fax machine, and was put in the First Class Mail on May 1st. And it's to Carl Greene, Executive Director, P.H.A., from you. Dear Mr. Greene: I've read your letter of April 25, 2003, relating to the Law and Government Committee's investigation of P.H.A., 13 5/5/03 - Law & Government P.H.A.'s current pension proposals, and the impact these proposals will have on the overall effectiveness of P.H.A. The issues are of paramount importance to all the people of Philadelphia. Your letter presents interesting detail on these matters about which Committee Members will undoubtedly wish to pose a variety of questions. I look forward to your appearance before the Law and Government Committee on Monday, to enable you to respond to these questions. In addition, as you know, I have subpoenaed a number of documents which I look forward to reviewing, for the additional light it will shed on the shaping of P.H.A.'s pension plan and the overall relationship of P.H.A. to the City. I must tell you that I am puzzled by your last sentence in Carl Greene's letter, in which you request that City Council not inject itself into these negotiations. As I have indicated numerous times, including at the time of our meeting in my office several weeks ago, Council has no interest in 14 5/5/03 - Law & Government influencing the negotiation of labor contracts. We will inquire neither into your internal deliberations, your negotiating strategies, or the actual process of collective bargaining, relating to the contracts with your unions. We do continue to assert, however, that the mere fact that a matter of concern to Council is also the subject of bargaining does not insulate that subject matter from Council review. We are interested in the policy goals and analysis of your Administration, relating to pensions, and we will continue to explore them, in the interest of the citizens of our City. I look forward to seeing you on Monday in this room, and in response to the subpoena issued to you, along with the documents described in that subpoena. And it was signed: Sincerely, David Cohen, Councilman-at-large.
Thank you. One of the concerns that Mr. Greene expressed, as I went over the transcript of previous testimony. 15 5/5/03 - Law & Government
Councilman Rizzo wants to know what the ramifications are of not following the subpoena.
Well, the Home Rule Charter provides that anyone who fails to comply with a subpoena issued by The City Council is subject to having the matter raised in Common Pleas Court. That will be pursued by the Committee. Council will be directed, since Mr. Greene is not here, and since he's not complied fully either with the duces tecum portion of the subpoena, that will be reviewed. And we expect in short order if the conclusion remains the same that he's in violation of the order, we will be pursuing an action in Common Pleas Court to enforce the subpoena. The Court will have the power to order compliance with the subpoena or to reverse City Council and agree with Mr. Greene. We have every confidence that the Court will sustain the 16 5/5/03 - Law & Government City Council, because if it doesn't it's saying in effect that City Council has no subpoena powers. I've never known of any government official before who has acted in this contemptuous manner that Mr. Greene is acting in in just refusing to come. And just before Councilman Ortiz raised the question on behalf of Councilman Rizzo -- I don't know why Councilman Rizzo didn't do it directly.
Oh, you did. I didn't see. I'm sorry, then. Just before I was going to indicate that it came to me through the transcript that Mr. Greene was very bothered by the fact of the timing of the hearing at 5 o'clock. Now, I don't know whether he does not believe in working overtime and he considers his day's work ended at 5 o'clock or whether he was concerned that he would lose an ability to keep people from coming to the hearing during the day. The reason for the hearing at 5 17 5/5/03 - Law & Government o'clock was that hearings should be available to people interested in them. And we did not want to interfere with the work of P.H.A. And therefore, we called it at a time when everybody who was interested could come without interfering with work. Now, I've also since understood that there is a question as to whether requests for time off during the day to go to a hearing would be honored by Mr. Greene. And so it may well be that he thought he could prevent any employees from coming by instituting a policy of no leave during the day. I don't know what, because he's not here to give us an answer to those questions. But I want to make very clear that this Committee and Council will take very seriously any efforts by Mr. Greene or any P.H.A. supervisors who attempt to take unfair advantage of workers and penalize them in any way, as they seek to exercise their democratic rights to go to meetings. So I hope that those who are here, perhaps his attorneys, will make clear to him that that will further complicate the issue for 18 5/5/03 - Law & Government Mr. Greene. I just am totally at a loss to explain how anybody connected with City government can feel he's larger than the whole City of Philadelphia, and that he can flout their will -- They're the elected representatives -- and he can conduct public business in a private way. That cannot be done, and this Committee is determined to follow every legal step open to it to compel Mr. Greene to appear and account for his actions publicly. And among those that he will now have to account for will be for his contemptuous behavior of City Council. (Applause.)
Now, is there anyone here who wishes to be heard, since Mr. Greene is not present? All right. You can't speak... Unfortunately, to speak you have to come forward, sit down at the table, give your name, spell your last name, and make your statement. That's for the purpose of the record so that the