Any other questions from members of the committee? The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Miller.
Thank you, Madam President. I have two other short questions in regard to juveniles that are certified as adults under direct file. In your testimony on the 648 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET chart, it says that the Youth Study Center Security Unit will be closing and that the juveniles will then be transferred to the House of Corrections. Based on our average attendance, how many juveniles fit into this category?
Right now today, we have, I believe, a census of 103. Of the 102, there are a number that are housed at the Youth Study Center. The capacity there is about 37. The rest are housed at the House of Corrections. We have a special area at the House of Corrections where we house the remainder of the juveniles.
Okay, what makes their area different, the housing for the juveniles? What's the difference between that and the area for adults?
Well, we keep the certified juveniles who are committed as adults separate from the general adult population.
So at all times, their programming is set up so they do not intermingle with the adult population.
Okay, do you 649 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET still have that young lady there?
As of today, she is our only female, certified female, I believe. Let's see. No, we have one other one besides Meriam White.
She is being housed in the health service wing because of her age and some of the problems that she has and has had since her commitment. But we -- we are -- we 650 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET house the rest of the juvenile females in a separate trailer away from the complex.
Okay. Is this temporary or are there plans in the future to do or have any special wings built or whatnot for juvenile offenders?
We do not have any long-range plans for a separate building, but we do plan to eventually move those from the Youth Study Center to the House of Corrections, so there will be two areas that are separate and apart from the adult male population to house them long-term. At this point, that would -- that would -- there is some indecision as far as when that's going to happen. We hope to do it probably when the community center opens up.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
Thank you, Madam President. 651 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET Good afternoon, gentlemen.
I want to underscore and echo the questions raised by my colleagues around the entire notion and importance of educating inmates. And just note that I share -- I will not reiterate or restate the questions, but know that that's a concern that we all share, that when they are incarcerated, that we're doing the little or the most that we can to get them ready for re-entry into society. My second is question related Meriam White. Is she still under your jurisdiction?
And could you discuss some of the measures that you've had to undertake given the very uniqueness of her circumstance and situation with regards to education and psychiatric care and security and those kinds of matters.
Yes, I would actually like to ask Pres Grooms (ph.) to come up just for a minute to discuss this case. He has been the actual point person for Meriam's housing since she 652 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET has been with us. So I would ask him to come up and then talk about some of the significant issues surrounding her particular incarceration with us.
Good afternoon, Miss Brown. And certainly, it's nice to sit in this soft chair for a change. The chairs back there kind of hard and they're killing me. (Laughter.)
Miss White has been in our custody for almost two years this coming August. She has been someone that we were not prepared to deal with when she first arrived.
Okay, I need to ask you to speak a little slower and speak into the mic.
Okay. She was someone 653 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET that they were not prepared to deal with when she first arrived. But upon her arrival, we decided there was something that needed to be done for her in order to provide her with services and with education. We had a conversation with the director of the school, Mr. Fran Simatowski (ph.), and we set up school for her, and we're providing 30 hours of school for her every week. That's Pennypack School, which is a part of the Philadelphia School Board. She is getting psychiatric care. She is on some types of medication. Meriam, as you probably know, is a very unique person in terms of her mental capacity. She has developed in terms of a physical development over the years -- over the year. And we try to do whatever we can for her in terms of trying to make things as normal as possible. My original intention with Meriam was to try to integrate her into the female population, juvenile population, but as we dealt with her and talked to her psychiatrists, we thought it would be best to keep her where she 654 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET currently is and try to integrate her with the juvenile population incrementally. And in doing that, currently, we have her staying with the other juveniles from o'clock in the morning 6 until about 5:30 in the evening. Originally, she 7 was staying from 8 o'clock in the morning until 3 8 o'clock, until school was over. We provide her with recreational activities on a regular basis. She gets regular visits from her stepmother. We have her being watched by one correctional officer on each shift. We originally started with one on 7 to 3, one on 3 to 11, and one on 11 to 7. But as time went on, we thought it would be in her best advantage certainly to have an officer assigned 16 hours a day rather than 24 hours a day, which is what we have right now. But she's coming along, and we're trying to provide what we can for her. The warden of the detention has been providing her with things that a young person her age requires. She also gets tutoring and she gets speech therapy twice a week.
Okay, you've 655 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET listed a range of services that you're providing, and I would like to think you're not unaware of the criticism that has come, 'cause I sat on the other side in the courtroom, so because there's so many different aspects to the story, and one criticism was that there is no psychiatric care. So elaborate on the services you're providing with regard to psychiatric care and when they started, so that I as a viewer and a member of this body has all of the information when it comes to standing up for young people.
Okay. When Meriam initially came to the Philadelphia prison system back in August of 1999, she was -- we actually assigned a psychiatrist to see her. And he was seeing her on a regular basis about three times a week initially, because we were concerned about her doing harm to herself initially. So he was seeing her about three times a week, Dr. Oligian (ph.) was his name. And he saw her on a regular basis for about nine or ten months, until at which time, he decided to take another job somewhere else. When he left, that certainly left a big 656 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET void. But the new contractors that are there, PHS, does have a psychiatrist available that sees her, I'm going to guess now, about once a week. But certainly he is available on an as-needed basis. And they have been very, very helpful in terms of stabilizing her and maintaining her mental stability.
Sure. That helps me. You've given a lot more information that I had not been privy to in other circles that I traveled and in other places where I've asked questions. And I'm sure you do a number of things as an institution to make sure that this side of the story is provided to those people who are certainly telling not what you present here today. So that -- is that not so?
Meriam's certainly a unique case, and I think it's very important for the record to state the type of treatment she has received and the security and all of the efforts to protect her well-being, because she is, in fact, the youngest female inmate ever incarcerated in the system. 657 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET
She was years old 5 when she came to us, she turned 12 in August, and 6 she's been with us, as the Deputy Commissioner 7 said, for the last year and a half, but we have 8 treated her in a unique way other than, you know, 9 what may have been reported. 10
Thank you. Are there any other questions from the members of the committee? (No further questions.)
Good evening. The Fire Commissioner. I know you've 658 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET been extremely patient. You've been sitting here all day, and we really appreciate it. (Witnesses come forward.)
Commissioner, we have a copy of your written testimony, which we will make available to the stenographer, and your testimony will be printed in the notes of testimony, and if you will just abbreviate, we'd appreciate it. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Okay.
Because, I will tell you, I think you do such a fabulous job that I never even prepared a question you ask. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Thank you so much.
We're very proud of the job that you do and I personally want to thank you.. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Thank you, I appreciate your remarks. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Fire Commissioner Harold Hairston. And with me is Deputy Commissioner Bill McNulty. To my right is our fiscal officer, Dave Beatrice, to my left. As 659 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET you can tell, I'm losing some of my voice, so I'm going to ask if Bill McNulty will kind of summarize our testimony and I'll try to save my voice for any questions any Councilpeople might have.
Thank you. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER MCNULTY: I'll just summarize, Council President.
Thank you. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER MCNULTY: In terms of our service enhancements and accomplishments, last year's fire death, at 51, was the second lowest in 50 years. Our Fire Prevention Division and our field fire fighting forces will have installed by the end of this fiscal year 170,000 smoke detectors since FY '92. Once again, the structure fires have decreased from 2797 in Fiscal '99 to 2440 in Fiscal 2000. Our firefighter injuries have decreased precipitously from 9926 days lost in Fiscal '92 to 1764 days lost in Fiscal 2000, for a decrease of 83 percent. Last year, we responded to 182,000 660 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET medical incidents, which is nearly an percent increase in activity over the previous year. Our EMS revenue has increased from 3.9 million in Fiscal '92 to, we project, 15.1 million in Fiscal 2000, and projecting 15.5 million Fiscal '02. The technology enhancements that we accomplished last year are in the budget testimony, and I won't bore you with going back over these, the biggest thing being the hand-held computers that are in the rescue squads that we believe have increased the -- helped to increase the revenue in the past year. In conclusion, the amount of funding provided for our proposed budget should enable us to continue to provide the same high level of service to the citizens of our city that the citizens of our city have grown to expect. We would be remiss not to add here that in Fiscal 2000, the citizen survey showed that our citizens were more satisfied than ever with our services, with 83 percent reporting very or somewhat satisfied with fire protection and 86.3 percent similarly pleased with emergency services. We 661 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET were rated the highest major department in all previous surveys and improved significantly in this survey. This completes our testimony.
Thank you. Are there any questions of the fire Commissioner? The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Brown.
I just have one, Madam President. The Juvenile Fire Stoppers Program, you served 170 young people in the year 2000. Just tell me a little bit about that. And as always, I'm always interested in any linkage with the School District and what that linkage might be. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: That program was actually started back in 1986, when I was in the Fire Prevention Division. And the reason we started it was because we had troubled youth and they were out setting fires, and in some cases, you were getting fire deaths in homes caused by the youth that were setting fires. So what we've tried to do over the 662 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET years is to establish a program that really allows us, when we go to a scene, to make a determination as to whether or not a youth was involved in the fire setting and whether or not it's in school or whether it's in their home and whether or not they're actually on the street and set trash on fire or something like that. If we're able to identify 'em, we try to interact with the parents and ask them to allow us to come in and give programs to the individuals involved. And in the cases where you have families, we try to get the family involved in the program. Now, there are some cases that are very hard cases, as you might imagine, where you need to interact from a mental health perspective. And what we do with that is we get a person from the Health Department that's a mental health professional to help with that so that we make sure that we can give the proper treatment to that person. Most often, you don't have to take it quite that far. But we interact with the School District when we have enough evidence to indicate 663 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET who actually set the fire in the school. And the idea of it is to try to get that behavior curbed before it becomes troubling to the point where they're actually going to set, you know, large properties on fire or something like that, because fire-setters really scare everybody. When a person's very young, of course, it's a curiosity thing, and we try to work with the parents and make sure that we can curb that kind of behavior. When they get older, whether it's males or females -- and it's kind of odd that most people don't think girls set many fires, but they do. They don't set quite to the rate that boys do but it's the same kind of thing and certainly just as dangerous.
Sure. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: And what we try to do is to keep people from having to be incarcerated over it. We try to curb the behavior rather than have that happen. And we've been very good in terms of dealing with that program and we have had almost no recidivism. We probably had less than a half dozen cases where people have actually been repeat 664 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET offenders once we've able to identify them and then give them a viable program.
Thank you very much. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Commissioner, it's good to see you and your associates. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Thank you.
Commissioner, yesterday I was fortunate to go to an event for a gentleman -- I think you know him -- Mr. Cal Rudman, who wrote a significant check to the American Heart Association to sponsor CPR training. And in the course of that conversation, I had a chance to brag a little bit on behalf of the Fire Department because the representative of the American Heart Association thought that they were going to pursue Philadelphia International 665 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET Airport to equip the airport with defibrillators. You know, this is the kind of trend right now. This equipment has become very popular, and suburban municipalities are equipping the Police Department with defibrillation equipment. And I boast of the fact that we have one of the greatest response times for emergency medical services anywhere in the world. And I'm wondering if you have any thoughts on defibrillators, and should our police department have them? Do we have a medic unit assigned to the airport? COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Yes, we do. We do have a medic unit that is exclusively assigned to the airport.
So I would assume that if a passenger or an employee of the airport had need for defibrillation, that our unit would be there within seconds -- minutes, and in some cases, even seconds. Would you encourage -- and I know it's not fair to ask you to make a split decision, but would you consider a recommendation on equipping our police officers with defibrillators and/or the 666 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET airport or other municipal buildings, based on -- and I was, like, not as excited about it as I -- she was a little disappointed that I wasn't as responsive as I could be, based on the fact that the fine job that the Philadelphia Fire Department in responding to these cases. So is this something that you would look at? And if you have an initial response, I'd appreciate hearing it. And it is very convenient, Commissioner, that you come to the budget hearing with laryngitis. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Hey, that's the way it goes. Actually, this is something that I've given a lot of consideration to because this has been the kind of an idea that a number of people had, mostly manufacturers, in terms of trying to make available so that they can sell a lot of them. But there's a program right now that it's my understanding that the Police Department is going to involve themselves in so that they can get defibrillators. Now, I don't know the exact number that they're going to have, but they're 667 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET going to have a substantial amount in their cars. And, as you know, in many of the cases, police are right on the scene. They see an incident because they're out there, and they see it when it happens. There certainly will be some lives saved because of this. And as I'm sure you know, all of our units have defibrillators on them. The Medic Units, which are all run in a professional kind of way, not the big automatic kind but the ones that really give you a lot more information. But the other ones we have on our engines and ladders. And places that had these, they've actually recognized that there have been some lives saved. But contrary to popular belief, only about 1.6 percent of the cases that we respond to actually deal with a medical emergency that deals with a case where you'd have to defibrillate somebody. So it's not as often as you would think, but it's highly publicized. And if you can save one or two lives by having these, then certainly, it's not a bad idea to have them.
So the Police 668 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET Department is involved in a program at this point to equip their -- COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: No, we were actually queried by someone who had decided to give, I think it's, $50 million nationwide to see whether or not we wanted any defibrillators, but we would just be being greedy 'cause we already have 'em. And the Police Department didn't have them, and through the Managing Director's Office, he then queried both the Police Department and the Fire Department, and we made a written recommendation to his office. And it was my understanding that the Police Department is going to get a certain amount of those units. It was time-critical. In other words, you had to respond by a certain amount of time, you have to get the training by a certain amount of time, but they will be getting someone on board. And it's certainly not a bad idea because, as you know, the police are out there working very, very hard all the time, and they do see medical emergencies where, in fact, they can be used. And they're relatively simple to use. 669 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET I mean, it's -- they're automatic and you don't have to be a genius in order to use them and they will save some lives.
And the airport? COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: The airport, I think it's probably a very good idea because, as you know, we have a unit that's right out there. But what has to happen is, somebody's got to recognize that there's an emergency going on, then they have to dial 9-1-1, and then you have to be able to locate that person someplace in the airport. Now, no matter how familiar you were, it's not as good as having somebody in close proximity that could possibly take an action. These defibrillators have been kind of a Godsend in places on the actual airplanes, and they've gone to that some time ago. Now, in Las Vegas, they've done it in the casinos and they've had several saves, where it's -- you know, well, they've got that kind of action going on all night long, and -- (Unintelligible, parties talking over each other.)
If you lose ten 670 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET grand, you might need a defibrillator, right? COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Yeah, that's right.
Well, it's good to hear that, obviously, you're well-versed on the issue, and then it's something that I think we need to consider. My recommendation was that, when you mentioned it, that the airlines are already utilizing defibrillation equipment board their flights, and maybe the natural flow would be to the ground personnel that worked for the airlines to be the ones that would be trained in the utilization of that equipment. So thank you for the background there, and I hope you get better. COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Thank you.
Thank you. Commissioner, I have one question that's a yes- or no-question. Can you provide the appropriate personnel on the day and at the time that the Personnel Commissioner, Linda Seyda, is scheduled to testify? There will be some 671 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET discussion on that day of employee educational programs, tuition reimbursement programs, any programs that various departments or agencies have to help employees who might want to -- City employees who may want to upgrade their educational skills or educational attainment levels. It's my understanding that the Fire Department does have such a program that operates within in the Department, and I'd like to have the people who know about this program at that particular hearing date. The Police Department is going to have some personnel there. And I'd like to be able to get direct testimony from those individuals about your program and how we might be able to expand these kinds of tuition reimbursement programs or other educational opportunities for our public employee workforce. Could you have the appropriate personnel at that hearing? COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Yes.
Any other questions? 672 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET (No further questions.) COMMISSIONER HAIRSTON: Thank you.
The Mayor's Office of Information Technology. (Witnesses come forward.)
Thank you for your patience. We do have a copy of your testimony, which will be given to the stenographer, so if could you just abbreviate it, we'd appreciate it.
First let me introduce a number of individuals I've brought with me today, individuals who often don't get a chance to be seen here in Council but should be welcomed here along with myself. I am Dr. Karl Bortnick, the Acting Chief Information Officer. And on the left I have with me James Cartwright, who is the Program Manager for Web Services. And on my right here, Edgar Barrios, the Chief Information Officer for Technology; Jack Jones, the Program Manager for Public Safety. ), who is with me, who is who's the Budget Officer of the Department. In terms of my testimony, to be very brief about it, the most important thing to recognize here in addition to the dollars that we're requesting a total of $13,188,469 in the General Fund and the $7,783,299 in Class 100 for the 138 full-time positions and the $5,059,444 in Class 200 for computer hardware maintenance and software licenses training and project management support and the $252,112 in Class 3 and 400 is for materials, supplies, and equipment. This General Fund request represents $291,982 increase from Fiscal Year 2001's adopted budget obligation, and this budget request difference is due to wage increases and funding for four deputy CIOs. From the Water Fund, we are requesting a total of $979,508: $625,183 in Class 100 for 12 full-time positions; $327,358 in Class 200 for hardware and software maintenance; and $26,967 in Class 3 and 400 for materials, supplies, and 674 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET equipment. The City will implement technologies to address new initiatives particularly with respect to e-government and neighborhood transformation. The cluster of CIOs proposed within MOIS will support management and integration of technologies for public safety, social services, City services, and financial oversight, along with other significant aggregations of departments. MOIS will continue to enhance services and support for the City's central and department computer systems, expanding on our use of new technologies, the Internet, geographic information, data warehousing and network-based applications, and mobile computing. In Fiscal 2001, MOIS implemented two e-government technology initiatives bids on line with the Procurement Department and expanded automated clearinghouse payments with the Revenue Department. These initiatives have been discussed in more detail in those departmental budget presentations. In Fiscal Year 2001, MOIS also developed online assessment information with the 675 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET Board of Revision of Taxes. This application is available for use by City departments on CityNet today. In Fiscal Year 2002, MOIS will continue planning and implementing efforts with departments for electronic government. For example, the Department of Licenses and Inspections is preparing business application improvements on line, and Commissioner Edward MacLaughlin will expand on this effort in his budget testimony. S. Conference of Mayors Urban Challenge Grants funded by the 3 Com Coporations. This grant will be used in Fiscal Year 2001 and 2002 to deploy technology (indiscernible) at recreation centers based on education computer sites. These centers will enable children and families to access CD-ROM and Internet-based education as well as gain access to 21st century technical skills training and desktop and networking tools. 676 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET The Council may have seen the newspaper article that appeared on February 5th describing the opening of the Kingsessing Rec Center most recently. That was a part of the effort of the grant. In Fiscal Year 2002, MOIS will continue to support the process of system selection, implementation, and enhancement of City applications. And in Public Safety, for example, this objective focuses on the City's effort at reducing crime and improving the quality of life in our neighborhoods.
In Fiscal Year 2002, this budget will continue to support the updating of technologies associated with the City's technology infrastructure. Madam President, this concludes my testimony, and I want to thank City Council for your ongoing support, and I will be glad to answer any of the questions that you may have.
Thank you, Doctor. I see you are requesting four new deputy chief information officers at $120,000 677 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET each, for a total of $480,000. What will be their respective functions?
Yes. The four individuals will be associated with each of the four secretaries -- Public Safety, Social Services, City Services, and Finally Oversight. In their roles, they will be responsible for supporting the secretaries' efforts to integrate services and the technologies associated with those services.
Thank you. On -19 of your detail, it indicates that you expect to be reimbursed $610,000 for citywide training; is that correct?
What is the total breakdown of these reimbursements?
If it would be -- if it would be acceptable to yourself, I'd like to provide you those details subsequent to this.
If you will send it to me in writing, I will make certain that it's circulated.
Have the affected departments' budgets been adjusted to include these charges?
Typically, yes. These are types of -- or levels of training that we have had in the past, and these are not uncommon costs.
Am I also correct that this represents an increase in your reimbursements of almost $135,000 over the FY '01 estimated obligations?
I believe that is correct. And what it represents or reflects is the coming of technology associated with the new e-mail system, Lotus Notes.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Two items. One, Mr. Bortnick, I asked you about a situation the other day, and I wanted to thank you for the escalated response to that situation. And to the best of my knowledge, the matter has been resolved. So I appreciate the escalation. 679 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET Second, you just mentioned the implementation of Lotus Notes as the new CC Mail system; is that correct?
Yes. The CC Mail, as a software, has now reached end of its business life cycle. And the IBM Corporation's follow-on product which had been developed concurrently that is now the product for the City is Lotus Notes.
The implementation of Lotus Notes with respect to the infrastructure, the two pieces, hardware mail infrastructure, has already been implemented throughout the City. The software is being deployed, even as we speak, in various departments. A initial group of 3500 will be completed by mid-April and a total of approximately 6500 by June 30th.
I'll have to get back to you on the date of the roll-out for City Council because of the number of members and offices, and I'd be only glad to provide that to you, sir. 680 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET
Okay, just one quick question. Your testimony makes mention of addressing new initiatives, particularly with respect to e-government and Neighborhood Transformation. What's the role of MOIS in Neighborhood Transformation?
The role in MOIS and Neighborhood Transformation is a support role in relation to four type of technological needs. One is the tracking of bond repurchasing; the second is in terms of the mapping of the --
Bond financing, mm-hmm. With the added characteristics that you have to keep track of the individual properties to which the money was assigned.
So through this system, you're saying that we will know what dollars from a particular bond offering, or in yesterday's language, maybe a particular "tranche" of bonds was spent for a particular property?
Yes. That's part of the requirement of the law in order to disposition the property over the 30-year period of the bond to know which property it's associated with.
Yes. There are other components. A secondary component is work flow. The actual acquiring of a property, the passage of it through the various stages of City department and quasi-City departments necessary in order to create the availability of the property to be made available for economic development is part of this work flow. A third component is the geographic information representation itself. So that there is a visual -- a visual record accessible through 682 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET the Internet of what the particular properties are and where they're located.
You may have been able to help the Commerce Director this afternoon. He was on a search for some maps.
Yes, he was desperately looking for maps. Okay, Mr. Bortnick, thank you very much.
Thank you. Are there any other questions from members of the committee? The Chair recognizes Rizzo.
Thank you, Madam Chair. You made my day when you announced the fact that the upgrade would occur during our e-mail. It's interesting; just today, I sent an e-mail -- and I know that they refer to the U.S. mail as "snail mail"?
And e-mail is supposedly the speedy of the two. But it takes hours to send an e-mail. I sent an e-mail at o'clock, and the person got it at 5:18 this 6 evening. 7
Well, it goes to the 8 post office associated associated with Council in 9 this building. That post office holds it for a 10 period of time, looking for the server to which it needs to go next. And it gets handed off. If the person that you're sending to -- is the person outside the City or inside the City?
Okay, it goes through -- within probably half hour to 45 minutes, it's now exited the City's fire wall and gets transmitted to another of other systems to which e-mail transits in order to get to the next person. So within the City system, there are a series of hand-offs and they may take a certain time. If any one of the CC Mail post offices is under stress or having a problem, your mail could be held up. 684 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET One of the reasons to leave CC Mail is to get beyond a system of e-mail that has exactly what you described: a series way stations and hand-offs that are themselves not necessarily speedy. And then subsequently, on the outside, you are subject to whatever series of servers that it must go through in order to be delivered.
The new system -- I want to hear about push the button on the new system.
A new architecture? 685 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET If I sent in an e-mail from here to someplace in California, they'll get it within minutes?
Let's let the Chief Technology Officer Describe it in a second.
Well, Councilman, that could never be guaranteed. And the reason is because we have no control over the Internet. However, within the City of Philadelphia, we will see drastic improvements in delivery and performance and our liability.
Well, we certainly use e-mail internally a lot, but we're starting to communicate because people put their e-mail address on letters, and I try to use the technology. One thing that I would say like you to try to do is that right now, the system that we have, you can't get -- outside the system, you can't get a return receipt to know that the person received your communication. I would hope on this new system that we are able to do that.
The way that the Internet functions is within a specific -- the way that it functions, you cannot carry that out. 686 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET
Because, you know, what we need to do is to interchange mail with different systems, whether you go to Exchange, or whatever it is. So there's a protocol that has to be carried out, and that protocol does not have that capability.
So no -- and, again, you can tell I don't know what I'm trying to discuss here, being very basic.
Are you telling me that none of the technologies -- AOL or any of the Internet services today -- if I sent a message to the Connecticut, to the Department of State there, that none of these technologies will allow me to know that they have read my mail.
And the reason is because the way that the protocol functions, it's just their best effort to deliver. And that's it, 687 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET today.
Okay. Because today our voice mail, you can go out and the voice mail will tell you that you played my voice mail, which is a very nice feature. The other question that I have: Earlier today, we discussed here in Council -- and I'm sure you're aware -- oh, by the way, before I go there, you described these four new positions but I didn't hear any of them that will be taking care of City Council. Are any of those four people going to look at -- I know that we have to depend heavily on a consultant, which the President is kind enough to keep our computers running because we basically gave up, with no 17 disrespect, on the in-house services and we have our own contractor. You're aware of that. The Kimmel Group, I believe it's called?
Yes. We utilize a combination of both City employees and various provider in addition to the Kimmel Group. For example, we have another one, ACS, for desktop support. And desktop support is really, in a large organization like the City of Philadelphia, 688 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET a significant challenge.
What is this desk -- I'm not familiar with this desktop.
For desktop support. There are 5,000 computers in the City under desktop support through a company call ACS.
They provide at-site installation of software, remediation of problems, repair, similar to what the Kimmel Group does on behalf of the Council.
So if we can't get -- and they do a fine job for us, the Kimmel Group.
But you're telling me that beyond the consultant that works for City Council, if we needed support, we could get it through this group?
Well, that's a secret -- to me at least. I'm not aware of that.
It's a Citywide procurement requirements contract. 689 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET
Is it secret to the President also? I'll be honest, we gave up on using your people.
We only had two people stationed here full-time at the time earlier.
And that's basically why I think we gave up because we were light-years behind some senior in high school in a classroom. And I never saw anything so bad when -- and the President straightened it out by getting some support. I don't mean to be disrespectful.
But you're a new guy here, and hopefully, it will get better. But it really -- people really -- I can't even describe how bad our technology was, and it's getting better and we're not there, within City Council. So to answer the question, one of these new employees that are going to make 120K a year, is one of them going to be focused on our Council?
Of course not, yeah. 690 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET
The solution to how to address the Council that I've considered as one of the four was not -- was in -- not specifically in the AABC area. In other words, City Council attends the meetings that are chaired by the Secretary, Gussie Clark, which is the Agencies Boards and Commissions Meeting, is to --
I'm sorry, Doctor, would you mind repeating what you just said.
Yes. You have a Council representative that attends the meetings that are headed by the Secretary for Agencies, Authorities, Boards and Commissions. Are you aware?
This is all news to us. Again, coming here and telling us about this big plan for City government may (inaudible).
I wasn't leaving Council. Have a solution for that. A fifth --
A fifth -- a fifth cluster CIO programmed already within the context of my existing budget was envisioned by me to 691 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET address the agencies in another cluster, the AABC agencies, which included City Council among them, along with the Museum, the Library, and other agencies.
Yes. The person is already on board, and he works in the library.
That includes Council, because I would suggest that that be really a firm situation before the end of this budget process because -- I -- I'm not speaking for other members, but I'm speaking for this member, that we really need support because there's times when our computers are down for days. It's just a nightmare to try to work in an environment where you can't get any response to get problems resolved.
I will respond directly to you in writing in relation to what the plan is specifically with the agencies, boards, and 692 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET commissions, and this particular resource currently in place and responsible for a great deal of success within the existing technologies.
Well, I would hope that the legislative branch of government would be treated as well as the Art Museum and other agencies of government.
To the meat of the question that I have here. Today, we had a conversation earlier in reference to a vision of a customer service operation that would be a person calling City Hall and a representative being able to help with the water bill, the tax bill, the -- you name it, constituent requests for City services. We were told that the technology limits us from heading in that direction, and I heard earlier you discussed the fact that part of your responsibility will be to bring these departments together.
How long of a process would that take, where we would have the ability with both telecommunications and 693 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET technology to be able to have a person call City government and go to a representative that has expertise in the water bills -- push for Water, for Board of Revision of Taxes -- where one person would be able to handle the majority of contact with City government, where there would be a boiler room with a group of Water Department representatives, a customer service operation like you see in a major utility company, where there are hundreds of people -- an airline. I mean, you see -- when the news media shows you a picture of a reservation center, you see 50, 60, 70, 80 people. Obviously they're doing one task: booking flights. Could you envision the day where a room 17 of representatives would be able to deal with the majority of the services that are telephoned to City government?
The answer is yes. And do you want me to describe what that looks like?
In a 12- to 18-month period, which is typical of what I've seen in Houston and in Atlanta, taking technologies that 694 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET already exist that we are -- we have. For example, with Pinnacle, as the ACD technology, you could get the "Push 1, Push 2, Push 3." And indeed, a number of departments have already begun to use a common technology for telephone services. I use it, Water Revenue uses it, Revenue uses it, and some other departments. That's one level. I will describe it further in terms of data processing component to you in writing if you would like me to.
Well, what I've already experienced is that in one organization, that there are representatives that have greater skill levels to deal with different issues. As a matter of fact, a utility company has the ability now to identify the phone number that's calling, know that customer, transmit that call to a representative, if it's an industrial customer, it goes to an industrial representative that knows the tariffs and the rules.
That if that phone number is associated with a residential gas or 695 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET electric customer, it goes to a representative that's cross-trained in both services, both gas and electric. If it's a representative that's solely -- if it's a customer soley an electric customer, it goes to a more entry-level employee that knows how to deal with that level of customer need. So I see a lot of technology out there, and then I seat Streets Department with a customer service group, I see this department with a customer service group, I see another department with a customer service group. And I'm wondering, are we ever -- forget the labor issues. Will we ever be able to have the technology that could bring all of that together and we could have a customer service operation that serves the citizens of Philadelphia and be able to answer 80 percent, 90 percent of their need for services from the City? Fill a pothole. We have 10 people that work 7 o'clock in the morning to 7 o'clock at night in a small group that's in the Streets Department that answer calls. I can imagine it being hopefully more efficient if we could pull 696 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET all that together.
I believe you will get the answers to this. Also in the testimonies from the departments, you will see in the future -- for example, Public Property -- in terms of their efforts underway.
Doctor, we're rebuilding a municipal switchboard, from what I understand.
We're rebuilding a dinosaur. We're spending thousands and thousands of dollars on a manual switchboard where operators answer a telephone. You call other big cities, Chicago, they don't do it this way there, and I'm not suggesting we do away with telephone operators, but I'm just saying we're light-years behind utilizing technology than other major cities.
If it would be acceptable to the Councilman, I would appreciate the opportunity to develop a paper that I would share with him on these technologies, whether they be telephone, in conjunction with the Property 697 2/14/01 - FY '02 OPERATING BUDGET Department, as well as the databases for work orders and this type of thing.
Good luck to all of you. And don't forget to include us in the --