So INET is going to be a game changer in our systems because we have been struggling throughout our system, not just young people and adults that want to come into the facility and use it, our staff, they were struggling, but because of this partnership with Verizon and INET is just taking a little longer because some of our buildings, because of the age, we had to also figure out -- we had to find somebody to come in and run the wires. It wasn't as just -- it wasn't as easy as just coming and setting up, we literally had to have wires run throughout the facilities. And so there were 183 facilities, 90 percent of those are rec centers. But when this is finished, it's supposed to be -- Marissa, is it 18 a year or 24 months? 19
So I want to say that, believe it or not, 183 facilities, let's say 18 months from now, we'll be able to say all of our facilities have this Verizon INET and make a difference to those locations you're concerned about.
Super. I'll come back to more of my questions on the next round. But can you give us a list -- can you give park and rec -- give the chairman a list of what has been done, what centers have been done, and what's in order to, you know, come up and, you know, what's happening next in terms of WiFi? Just so that when people ask us, we can answer and give them a good guesstimate as to when WiFi will be coming to their center.
We will provide, Council President, of the list, Councilmember Bass of what's been done, what's going to be done. And hopefully, we can give you an idea when this will be complete as well.
Thank you. Councilmember O'Rourke, then Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, then Councilman Squilla.
Thank you, Mr. President. This has been quite the exchange this morning already. Good morning to you, Director Richards, as well as Commissioner Slawson.
Member O'Rourke, could you speak into the microphone, please?
Oh, very rarely am I told that I'm too quiet. Thank you very much. Good morning to you. I'm going to try to get my questions out. A lot of that has kind of been touched on in bits and pieces through the exchanges that have probably already taken place, but there are some nuances that I want to try to raise out of them. And I'll start with you Director Richards. The -- as leader Brooks mentioned in her point of information at the top, the library's proposed budget includes funding for over a thousand positions. And we also know that many of those remain unfilled, that hiring is slow and attrition is actually outpacing recruitment. We're also hearing directly from workers that there's a serious retention crisis, that workers are actually demoting themselves rather than seeking promotion because of inadequate support being asked to do too much with too little. Supervisors are overseeing dozens of employees, entire facilities without compensation, or resources to match. What's the administration doing to both accelerate hiring and create conditions that retain and support the staff who actually keep our libraries running and actually want to advance in those leadership positions.
Thank you, Councilman. The more people we hire alleviates stress on management for our team. So if we are able to fill more of these positions, it'll alleviate some of that. Again, it'll alleviate some of that stress for the workload that staff have been carrying on for a long time. So I believe as we bring more people on board, they'll have more support to provide the necessary programming that, you know, our staff are engaging in in all of our neighborhoods.
Thank you, sir. I also strongly, strongly, strongly support the scaling up services as the Free Library of Philadelphia plays a vital role in providing access to literacy, to learning, workforce development, opportunities for all residents. We have heard from workers that basic supplies are sometimes being purchased out-of-pocket. I think this was mentioned by the president at the top of the questions here, particularly due to issues with purchasing -- with the purchasing system itself, and that branches are regularly closing because of the HVAC failures that could be prevented. What steps can we take to ensure that this expansion is built on a solid foundation where infrastructure is functioning properly and where our front line workers are properly equipped to carry out this critical mission? More specifically, would it be possible to receive a map of the libraries that are -- or the rec centers that are currently at risk due to these infrastructure challenges? Like, if we could have like a list of them, a map of them and kind of know specifically where they are.
Just to make sure I can -- I understand your question. You're looking for a map of libraries that have a building or --
I believe there was a memo that was sent out in the line of -- be while this was going on, that I think the libraries are actually are straight on the HVAC issue. So if it's not libraries, then so be it. But it is a question, I guess, for both libraries as well as parks and rec. If we could get like a map of the sites that actually have these issues with the HVAC, that would be, I think, particularly helpful.
Okay. I have some other questions, but I'll wait for my second round. Thank you, Mr. President. Okay. Let me shoot to this in here. Since 2019, Commissioner Slawson, there have been more than, and again, the president looked this up already, 300 shootings at our near -- at our near parks and rec centers. And as you spoke to, workers are actually reporting being placed in unsafe conditions, without sufficient backup. Now, public safety takes varied forms, and I believe it is essential to focus on approaches that further meet communities' needs, such as having social workers and municipal guards on site. These are DC 33 jobs, these are DC 47 jobs that are just waiting. We see other departments, like the Free Library have these resources. Similar to what I said to President Johnson's question, what's the department's comprehensive strategy for public safety at recreation centers? These particular workers, like the municipal guards in particular, social workers, these roles and approaches are specifically well suited to supporting well-being and fostering positive relationships, particularly at high need, youth serving sites like parks and recs. And more specifically, how might we work together to expand the presence, again, of municipal guards and of social workers to create not just safety that we can see, but also that we can feel, that we can kind of cultivate in those spaces?
Thank you for the question, Councilmember O'Rourke. As far as the shootings and the public safety questions, Commissioner Bethel laid out some amazing statistics of what has happened since 2019 up until now, and how the numbers have decreased. And he also talked about how it's 3.6 percent of his total crime that happens around recreation facilities. I probably can't address that any better than he did, honestly. But as far as the municipal guards and the social workers that you're talking about, I think that's a conversation that we would have to sit down and have a conversation about to come up with some type of a plan for staffing, how much staff, a pilot program. It's not something I could honestly sit here and say, this is how this could work. I can tell you that we currently have trauma informed programs in six of our sites right now, because we recognize how difficult it is for some of our young people and even our adults to deal with some of the issues that are going on in the communities.
A thousand percent. I think some of that was -- some of Councilwoman Gauthier's work, I believe. I know some of those were in West Philly, and that's some -- that's exactly what I'm talking about. Having a more robust understanding of what providing care as well as protection is at our rec centers. And to the President's point, you know, again, a freshman year and a couple months in, but I think we will all agree that we would spare no expense on making sure that we can provide those sorts of protections. And I do think municipal -- there's private -- public-private partnerships, and there's also literally DC33, DC47 workers whose jobs are -- it is to be social workers, to be municipal guards. And leveraging that I think would only make our safety infrastructure at parks and rec that much better. So I would love to be a part of that conversation if that would be okay. But I've already been on the man's mic too long. Thank you so much.
Well, thank you, Member O'Rourke. The Chair recognizes Councilman Quetcy Lozada, then Chairman of Appropriations, Mark Squilla.
Thank you, Council President. Thank you for being with us this morning. I'll start really quick with the free library. Libraries are -- or should be community hubs in our neighborhoods. I have a question about the Frankford Library, beautiful brand new building, never opened. And so I'm just trying to figure out why? Are we missing -- are we crossing? My staff has been there multiple times. We've called and left messages to try to figure out how we connect residents with the programming in that space, and we can't ever get anyone there. And so I was just wondering whether it is open, it's not open. How do we connect? What's the best way?
Okay. Sorry. Sorry, Councilwoman. Good question. I just wanted to make sure I get the correct day. The second week in May is when the Frankford Library will be open.
And then that was my only question for the library, because in my other libraries they're operating, they -- they're doing what they need to do for communities. And so I'm grateful for the partnership that we've been able to have with my office, so thank you for that. Commissioner Slawson, I also want to thank you for the walk- throughs that we've been able to do in the different centers of my district. I think that we're on the same page that just because we don't have new spaces, that doesn't mean that they can't be clean spaces. And so I'm a stickler for cleaning. I want to put on the record that the person that you have at our Ferko Recreation Center should be given a raise because he does an amazing job at making sure that not just that rec center is clean, but that that entire park space is clean, as well as ensuring that the fields are clean, that the sidewalks are clean, and that Piccoli is also clean, and I don't think that that's fair. While I'm extremely grateful to him, and all that he does in our community, I think that expecting one person to maintain two very heavily used spaces is just not acceptable. And the response that we got from some of the members of your team is that there's a part- time person at Piccoli. And so as we look to do more in Piccoli, as we look to renovate Piccoli, is there an opportunity to find someone that's going to be able to maintain this space at Piccoli, or the area at Piccoli. Because, you know, it doesn't make sense to invest so much money and then not be able to sustain what we are investing in.
Thank you for that question, Councilman Lozada. And yes, we will have additional support at Piccoli, and not split the time for the gentleman that is actually covering Ferko, which is a huge facility, which has its own challenges. He should have support and he should not be at both sites. So we'll manage that and we'll make sure that there's a specific person assigned to Piccoli.
And speaking of sustaining, right, we're investing a lot of money in all of these rebuild projects. Are we -- do we have a system in place that will allow us to see these investments taken care of for years to come?
So we don't currently have a system in place, Councilmember Lozada, but I am working on getting an asset management system in place. Because what happens, if we don't, and I'll use Rivera, and I'll use Vare for instance. If we don't have an asset management system in place, years 4 from now, the challenges that we see 5 at some of these facilities we will 6 see at those sites. 7 And the goal is to plan out 8 to know when the air conditioner is 9 supposed to be replaced without it 10 dying, to know when the floors need 11 to be redone, to know when it needs 12 to be painted again. And we don't 13 have -- we have Proformo, which is 14 very limited. So I'm working on a 15 plan. We've actually had some of 16 our team put together a proposal to 17 come up with an asset management. 18 It really is about looking past next 19 week, next month, next year. 20 If we want to keep our system up, clean, and green, and safe, we have to do the planning now. And so once we get this asset management system, we'll be able to identify what needs to be done in our sites prior to, and not waiting until the facility again looks like it's years old. That defeats the 5 purpose of creating and building all 6 these new facilities. 7 So we are working on a plan 8 and we actually have the proposal. 9 So we will have an asset management 10 system in place at some point 11 because we recognize the need. 12
13 Thank you. And will that include 14 things like preparing for the 15 openings of our pool spaces? We 16 have a ton of pools, summer comes 17 every year, right. And so my -- 18 some of the frustrations that I 19 experience is that we're not 20 prepared because we need tanks, we need something. Are we -- is that management system going to include those kinds of things? And more importantly, are our pools all going to be ready for opening at the beginning of the season?
That system, asset -- that asset management system will include everything in our system that we need to maintain and be on top of. It is about maintenance for these sites. And the answer to your question, we will have 63 of our pools open. The other pools are under some type of a construction or a part of Rebuild, which would be our seven additional pools. But 63 will be open this summer.
Thank you. Do we have time for one more? No? Okay. Thank you.
I do have a -- well, be brief, I want my members to answer. I'll ask mine in the second round. But as a matter of equity, I know in Quetcy's district, right, when you ride through Hunting Park, they have the swimming pool with all the nice, like, art stuff, that's swimming pool stuff on the gates is very, very colorful. I think all the playgrounds, swimming pools should have it. Because that's very, very, very, very nice. And it, very, very, she-she. I asked Tumar about it last year, he said like some type of partnership. You know what I'm talking about?
And they did -- they identified certain pools where they were -- it's actually gorgeous. And you know what, every pool should have it. I'm going to do with you --
Whatever we need to do budget-wise to support because it felt very, very, she-she, when I was up there. Like, okay, this is nice. So we are putting in that as official request for support.
Equity would be across the city of Philadelphia. The Chair recognizes Councilmember and Chairman of Appropriations Mark Squilla. Then we'll have Councilmember Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore-Richardson, and then we'll have Jeffrey J. Young, and then Jamie Gauthier.
Thank you, Council president. Thank you, guys, for being here. And you know, we're all big advocates for both the libraries and our parks. And thank you, Mr. Richards, for your responses to our many emails and concerns. I know somebody had asked earlier and you had mentioned, I think it was Council President and they asked about the resources needed for our HVAC systems and while some of our libraries have been closed, do you think that the current budget ask will allow us to repair the current ones? But also, I know you were saying you were putting a list together of capital improvements necessary to replace a lot of the old HVAC systems throughout the libraries. Is that something that would be in a future ask, or will that be asked in this budget, or how would that work?
Well, the great thing about this budget is we've got a -- the buildings conditioning assessment. What that'll do is give us the opportunity to find out what our true needs are rather than going after each emergency that takes place. So this will give us, and it ties in even to our strategic plan. It -- this gives us a strategic plan for our buildings, and we can prioritize what needs to be done. But in the interim, we're -- in the interim is what's based in our budget now, is what we know of now and what we can work on to get fixed. But the assessment is going to give us the true data that we need to be able to present to you what our overall needs are for the whole system, and it's something we've never had before.
So no longer just, this money is just the patch things, keep them working as long as possible --
And then the assessment will tell us what that total cost is and what is needed. And it --
It will tell us what our -- what our major needs are going forward. Because again, like I said earlier, some of these systems date back to the 60s.
All right. Well, thank you. I want to continue to work on that and hopefully provide work with Council and administration on providing enough resources necessary to make sure that not only open -- every library is open six days, but hopefully getting into seven days with the not being closed because of either staffing or because of HVAC concerns.
And I think that's the goal of everybody here. Parks and Rec, Commissioner Slawson, thank you so much for all your advocacy and work and your team, they're always very responsive. This is something we've been asking every year and it's usually of the removal of dead trees and getting rid of some of the diseased or dangerous trees so we could replant in those locations. Do we have money -- enough money in our budget or we need to add money into our budget to make sure that we -- I know there was a new assessment done. I guess you could ask Sue or -- to see if we have enough resources to be able to address the removal and -- of the dead trees. Hi.
Hello. I'm Erica Smith Fichman. I'm the city forester. I'm happy to answer that question. So we -- last year with the $500 -- $500,000 increase in tree maintenance money, we were able to prune 2,700 trees. So that's more than twice what we are able to do in the two years prior. And we have been able to eliminate with the money we are spending on tree -- on street tree removals this year, we will be able to eliminate all of the dead and hazardous trees that are on our list. That's what we know of. Of course, trees are being added to that list every day. The existing backlog of trees to be removed is around 3000 across the city, and that's about $2.6 million.
So you would need additional $2.6 million in this year's budget to -- would you have the capacity to do that in a year?
It will be -- it would have to be a phased thing to work up to that, yes. But we have a certain amount of money in the budget -- well, we hope to have a certain amount of money in the budget to tackle a bunch of those in FY26 --
Excuse me, I have a point of information. Dr. Phillips.
Yes, thank you. Just a point of information. What -- he just said that three is -- you said 3,000 backlog or trees --
-- that would need to be pruned. But what would be needed to actually get that done? When you said $2.6 million, but in terms of staffing, what would be needed? Because I know it's hard to find arborists to do it, so are you -- are we coming up with a plan to make that happen? That's all. I just want to see what can -- what's the timeline? Because the residents want a timeline and how can we make that as a priority?
Yeah. So in terms of staffing, we do have a new inspector coming on in June and we have a couple of vacancies that we are actively filling to increase our inspector capacity. Because every one of those trees needs to be inspected to determine the condition, what the priority is on the list for removal. So we, you know, we do have our staffing plan that we are working towards, we also have existing contractors that can take on additional work over time. We need large amounts of time -- of money over time to increase capacity up to being able to do 3,000 trees in the single year. We've never done something quite that big before. So as we receive more money over time, we can increase our yearly production on tree removals.
Thank you. And it's great because it's -- you guys have been very responseful -- very responsive to our inquiries one off. But, I mean, it was great to have that full plan together and I guess an amount that we could work on the Council with the administration to see what is necessary to do that, because I do believe by removing the dead ones, we could even plant more trees in those areas.
And instead of reducing our canopy, growing our canopy, which I think is the goal, and I really -- one other thing I want to say is the appreciation of the maintenance of the trees, the tree trimming that has been done has been greatly appreciated, because that also adds to some of the damage when we have these windstorms and other things that these big branches end up coming off and end up having to remove a whole tree when if we have could have maintained them, we wouldn't have to do that in the future. So thank you all for your great response and I'm looking forward to continue working with you on this. I appreciate it.
And I just want to just follow-up briefly, and that's a matter of public safety. Now, I just called Frank Fabey the other day that assist me because Cobbs Creek Parkway, 63rd of Whitby Avenue, I think it's either me or Jamie's district but it's along the same area. We're adjacent to one another. I had to call them because it was posted that this huge tree branch came down and it totally blocked the whole street, right? And it went viral. And I called Frank Fabey, I called Keith Warren, and Keith Warren said this is under Parks and Recreation. But the debris was able to be removed, but as a matter of public safety, if somebody wasn't paying attention, they would've ran into that debris and, you know, could have started a fatality on Cobbs Creek Parkway. So whatever we need to do in 2.5 million, 6 million out of $8 billion is nothing. It's just do we have the capacity to staff up and make it a priority to get it done in a very, very timely fashion. So whatever we can do as a ally, we want to make sure we get it done. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Katherine Gilmore- Richardson, then Councilmember Jeffrey Jr. Young, Gauthier, then Dr. Nina Ahmad.
Thank you. Thank you very much, Council President, and thank each of you for being here and for your work. I'm going to quickly start off with my thank yous and then go into just a couple questions I have, primarily on capital side for the libraries. But I have to reiterate for Parks and Rec that I second the information and question shared by Councilmember Curtis Jones, Jr., who is also my district Councilmember regarding my concern around the John C. Anderson Cultural Center. For the record, we have no 16 recreation center or cultural center in Wynnefield at all. We have nothing for our young people. So, even at the town hall we had the other evening, someone approached Councilman Jones and I regarding the John C. Anderson Cultural Center. So I just want to underscore what he stated that we really want to get the John C. Anderson Cultural Center up and running. It also serves as one of our polling places in the 52nd Ward. So thank you very much to the Free Library of Philadelphia for accommodating an additional polling place request due to the library -- due to the cultural center being closed. But thank you very much to Kelly Richards, Christina Patton, Chris Caputo, Felina Hand, who's a Girl's High girl. And over at the Wynnefield Library specifically, branch manager, Susan Ben, Ms. Mary and Ms. Ethel. We appreciate all of those team members from the Free Library of Philadelphia. And from Parks and Rec, of course, our commissioner who is always responsive, Susan Slawson, we thank you very much for your commitment to the city of Philadelphia. Sue Buck, we don't get to see you a lot but we see you via e-mail. You are just always so helpful with all of our constituent cases, particularly the ones regarding tree maintenance. So, thank you very much and Beth says thank you. And then I saw Chris Creelman, thank you for the Rebuild updates and for your service to the city even back to your, Councilmember Krajewski days. But really quickly for the Free Library, I know Council President talked about the capital request. And as my colleague Councilmember O'Rourke stated, we did receive information during the hearing regarding the capital request. I know that I asked in advance of the administration team. I don't know if Sabrina or Rob are here to respond to this question, but I asked for a breakdown of all of the proposed capital investments, specifically for the Free Library of Philadelphia prior to this budget hearing. I wanted to have the information today so that we could have a more full and robust conversation that asked, was made of the administration's budget and finance team and the proposal, so you know that we received it stated, I think Andorra and Haverford for major capital investment, which is up in the 4th, in different parts of the 4th. And it said various projects. And so it doesn't list what those various projects are, what they're targeting and how much the spend would be. So even the information that we just received, it's a total amount of dollars. So it does not help us as members, and particularly for my district colleagues identify where the investments will take place. So, I want to put that on the record because it's important to us that during this process we're able to ensure that we are dealing with any and all capital issues as it relates to the Free Library of Philadelphia. And in addition to that, I was going through the detail, but if you could talk about the LEAP program, you know, that program is important and as we continue to want to provide additional space and opportunities for our young people, if you could talk about if the LEAP program will be fully operational this year and how many TLAs, Team Leadership Assistants will be able to hire throughout the system.
Okay. Thank you, Councilwoman and we really appreciate all that you do for the Free Library of Philadelphia and the obvious love that you have for it. Our Literacy Enrichment After-School Program, that program we're fully -- going to be fully funded for that. And our TLAs, I don't have an exact number. I think I'll have to get back with you with our team library assistance on how many we'll have on. But that -- do we have that number? 100? Okay. Awesome. Okay. I forgot I brought a team with me. We have -- we're going to have 100 of those. And that particular program for those who don't know, is an opportunity for teens to come in the library and work, and learn job skills, and propel them forward to be like a Mayor, councilwoman. And we've had some who've come back who work for some of -- some of our council. They learn these skills and they provide homework help for our youth throughout the city. So it's a great opportunity to learn job skills. And it's a great opportunity to provide homework help and support for young people throughout the city. I mean, it is a program that is 360 degree benefit of providing support and help for other young people and for young people to actually get job skills in a educational environment working with our premier staff and picking up skill sets for them. And Literacy Enrichment After-School Program is program -- I mean, help and support for young people again throughout the city --
Can we, Director Richards, because I heard the bell and I want to honor the clock. Could you all just send to us the recruitment information --
-- for the team leadership assistant positions, because that's another way to support young people in the summertime, and how they interact and interface with the Free Library System. And then I have to put on the record particularly for the autism program, that I think is stellar that was started at Wynnefield Library that you all are expanding. If you could just give us a response in writing regarding how that program will expand across the Free Library System. And then finally, I wanted to just mention this for Parks and Rec. One, the trees, we are getting so many requests for down trees and I heard Council President talk about this and other colleagues. I think it would be helpful if we get something that just says, like, what the parameters are, because, you know, some of the trees that we get, and I know Sue knows this, it's technically on the property line for the homeowner. And so, as far as the discretion that's utilized to determine, you know, when a tree is a -- when it's appropriate for us as Council to alert you all to a down a tree and then when it's technically the property owner's responsibility. We have a lot of cases like that. So if we could just get some education there, that would be exceedingly helpful. And then I just have to put one last thing in for the Dell. The Dell, The Dell and The Dell. Thank you.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Jeffrey J. Young, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, then Dr. Nina Ahmad, then Councilmember Kendra Brooks. And then we'll be officially in our second round.
Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to echo the thank yous as well to the staff at Parks and Rec, Capital Projects and to the library. I know I'm annoying, so, you know, we are -- but it's just because I care too much -- too much that someone would say about these particular issues. I want more, right? I ask for more. I demand more. And so our children deserve to have more. They should -- they deserve to have the best and I'm not going to hide from that, right? I'm not going to hide from the fact that I want the best for our kids in our city and in my -- and in my district. I serve some of the most vulnerable kids throughout the city. But particularly for the libraries. So libraries today are not the same as libraries in the past, right? When -- and when there's a need in the community, libraries have often filled that void and evolved with the times to step up to fill those needs for the community. So can you tell us about what ideas or plans or if any of our current spaces, any of our current library spaces offer, you know, have maker spaces, have pod casting studios, have video editing spaces, have gaming spaces, right? So to attract current teenagers, right, not teenagers of the past, but current teenagers to come to utilize these spaces.
Thank you, Councilman. Good question. Our focus has been to make sure to get these libraries open for the community. That's been the -- been the preeminent issue that we've been focused in on lately. We have a very creative, talented staff who provide programming opportunities throughout our system. We do anywhere from 25,000 to 30,000 programs a year and serves over 600,000 people. And within those programming efforts are STEM and STEAM activities, beekeeping, coding, we've -- gaming, you know, the -- you know, I'm outgrown, some of the Xbox and all that stuff. But, you know, we've had those, chess. I mean there's so -- we're so varied in the programming opportunities, STEM, STEAM programs that we provide the community, and there's a demand on it. And as we staff up, we'll be able to do even more. So we do quite a bit. We work hard to provide the same opportunities that you're saying for this city. And we're looking to do much more. We're going through a strategic planning process where we'll be receiving input from our young people, talking to them to find out what more do they want. So our goal is literally to be on the cutting edge of providing library services. And as you said, you know, libraries, you know, they're not what they used to be, you know, we are third space, we're community location where people come for a variety of different services and needs.
But what can you do if these teens, right, the patrons of the library say they want certain programs, but there just isn't enough physical space in our libraries to provide those opportunities to our citizens?
We have to be creative. You know, some events, even at our central library, we have outside because they're large. I mean, we could probably do some inside, but I mean, it -- we just have to be -- we have to be creative and I'm talking to you based on what we have now. We have to be creative. Our staff is creative and utilizing, you know, the space that we have.
Thank you. And I heard the bell. I'll come back for another round, Mr. President. Thank you.
Thank you. Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, Councilmember Dr. Nina Ahmad, then Councilmember Brooks, then we'll officially be in our second round.
Thank you, Council President. Good morning to both of you. Thank you for all that you do for our city. It's been a pleasure working with both of you and your teams. I wanted to reiterate the Majority Leader's request that we can receive information -- and, sorry, this is for Director Richards, that we can receive information on which specific library branches are slated for significant renovations or capital improvements in FY26. Additionally, would you be able to provide my office with an update on the current operational status of library branches, and for the Commissioner, recreation centers within the third district detailing which locations are fully operational, under renovation, operating with limited hours or awaiting future upgrades. And then my questions. First, for Director Richards, I wanted you to outline with respect to the capital improvements that you aim to make in FY26, what is the criteria for how you will prioritize those projects and make sure that there is equitable distribution across neighborhoods? And then also, can you give us a timeline for that sort of physical assessment that you mentioned as well as your strategic planning effort. And then for Commissioner Slawson, I'm really worried about, you know, our future beyond Rebuild. Rebuild has been amazing and I'm so glad that so many projects in my district and across the city have been renovated. But if we're being honest, there was a lot of deferred maintenance, and I'm scared that we'll get to the same place again. So I wanted to ask you, in terms of the FY26 budget, it -- what are we doing to account for maintenance from a financial perspective? Is there an increase for everyday needs, everyday capital needs for example? And then secondly for Commissioner Slawson, in the past we found that the reason that Parks and Recreation has had difficulty filling park positions is because many of them are seasonal and, you know, don't offer opportunities year-round nor is there a reliable path to full-time employment for seasonal workers. So can you speak to what Parks and Rec is doing to address that barrier? And I know that was a lot, so I'm happy to repeat questions if need be.
Councilmember Gauthier, we're going to answer your last question first and then I'll come back.
Good morning. First Deputy Commissioner Marissa Washington. To answer your question about pathways for our seasonals, one of the things that we have done, especially for our entry level positions, so our recreation outreach worker, ARL, rec leader trainee, and even our grounds maintenance facility worker, we have changed the specs since 2019 multiple times to decrease any barriers for our seasonals to come into full-time employment. Since 2019, and remember during the years of COVID, we did have a hiring freeze. We -- but we had 141 people that were seasonals that are in permanent employment. And that's just from four titles. That does not include administrative positions where folks have gone from seasonal to administrative positions, clerks and those sorts of things. So that probably goes up to about 170. So there's an organic thing that happens in parks and recreation when people work as seasonals, they are -- their experience qualifies them for full- time permanent positions within parks and recreation. So we do have a pathway. One of the things that we are trying to do more is really communicate those opportunities for folks. Last Saturday we had a job fair at Mander Recreation Center. It was supposed to be at The Dell Music Center, but because of the weather we moved it indoors. We had over 250 people come out for that. We're going to transition those folks into about 180, who are probably young people, so we're going to give them opportunities in our C2L program during the summer. And also put other folks into either seasonal opportunities or full-time opportunities. Office of Human Resources was also at Mander Recreation Center with their big bus outside, they shared all of the information, got contact information for folks, folks even put in applications that same day. So we are moving to decrease the barriers for permanent employment, and I think we've been doing a pretty good job. We're going to continue to move forward. One of the other things that we are doing when you think about skilled trades positions, even working with some of our seasonal staff to get them qualified to get into some of those hard to fill positions with skilled trades. Because that is a challenge not just for the City of Philadelphia, but hiring skilled trades positions is a challenge across the nation and it's evident by the bonuses that the Office of Human Services has offered to skilled trades -- to most of the skill trades positions.
What are we doing to ensure that we don't get back to the place we were where there was a need for a $400 million capital program? Because essentially we just did not take care of maintenance for years. What are we doing every single budget cycle to avoid that starting with this one?
It was -there's been a neglect in the system for decades. This isn't a couple years of not managing our facilities. There's been years of not addressing regular everyday challenges. And just like your home, if you have a little leak in your roof and you allow it to go for a year or two and you continue to patch and it's a 20-year roof, you're going to eventually have a roof that's going to cave in. And so now we're talking -- we're talking facilities throughout the City of Philadelphia. One of the things that's going to make a huge difference is this asset management system that I'm talking about. And we've come up with a system where we are deep cleaning our facilities, and I'm working on coming up with some inspectors to actually go and inspect our facilities because it's -- we have to hold people accountable for what's going on in our systems. And you can't hold people accountable if you're not saying these are some of the challenges. And sometimes when you're working in a facility and you are there day in and day out, you miss some things. And so you can't -- you just miss some things. But if you have people that are specifically assigned to go around and look to check various items in your facility, I go to the facilities and so I am looking, and I maybe looking for something different but we're going to have a list of what we should be looking for. I have a -- we started, I want to say the second month after I was assigned here, a decluttering of our facilities. We have things that have been in our facilities for 30 years in closets. And so we have a system in place now where we are going throughout all of our facilities and we're decluttering, we're also deep cleaning, we're stripping floors. But then on top of that, we are checking our roofs, we're checking our HVAC systems, but we need a system so when we check it, we're putting it somewhere and we're identifying that it needs to be done.
-- that you're going to be doing moving forward, correct?
Super quick follow-up. One, can you give us the timing on the asset management? And listing what we need to do is wonderful but we need money, right? And when I came in here this morning, I actually was talking to Dr. Phillips and we were talking about Denver and how Denver prioritizes their public spaces. You can tell in every public space you go into. So the timing on the asset management and what are we doing on the money side to take care of these issues?
So, I can -- I just had my team put a proposal together once identified that we did not have one and we needed one. So I can't honestly give you a timing on it. I know that it's something that I'm working pretty hard to get into place but I don't have a timing for you.
Okay. If that it could be something that you follow-up with --
It's very exciting to hear that. Thank you so much.
Thank you. When you get a chance, just provide that information to the Chair, Members of the Committee, very briefly, chairman of Parks and Rec. Your point of information, sir? Dr. Phillips?
Yes, just a point of information. I think that what we're just looking for, and it's something that the commissioner has pointed out. What's important is that we do have annual things that we put in the budget to work towards our Parks and Rec systems such as the lighting, all that and more. So that's why I said, I think you answered it earlier, but it's beyond that, you know.
Then Councilmember Brooks, thank you for waiting patiently. Then we'll go into the second round.
Thank you, Council President. I first want to commend both of you and your departments for not being the traditional front line essential workers but you are. Your work actually heads off and stops the problems downstream. So investing in you both in libraries and Parks And Recs is essential for us. And so I'm very glad to see so much engagement around that. I have a quick question about -- I'll start with the library system. Do you have a way of looking at the data to see where is the -- what is the usage of your services across the city? And the reason I'm asking that is I'm sure you're going to -- if you've done this already, you probably see it's not equivalent across the city. And based on that, do you deploy resources to those spaces that are under using libraries and co-locate resources with the library system to serve those underutilized spaces? And I am thinking of things like mobile libraries or ways to reach people where they are so they can see the library as a way to be an asset to them.
Thank you, Councilperson. I appreciate the question. Good question. Yes, we can look at our data to determine how much a library is being used, what kinds of materials people check, our borrowing from the library, you know, we've gotten better with calculating the number of people coming in and out of the door based on a budget request that you approved last year. So we are able to know how many people in some of our buildings at any moment. So yeah, we can -we can do that and then we staff too based on the number of people coming in and out, how busy buildings are, relative to the size, you know, of the building. So, we look at all that data, that is something libraries do. We -- you know, our mobility is not in like a mobile library. We don't -- we don't have that yet. At one point the library did but we -- you know, our staff, you know, we partner with all kinds of other organizations, other nonprofits, different city agencies to provide programming throughout the city depending on what the needs are, what the requests are to ask, or even if we just think this is something that should be done. So yes, we do have that data and we do look into it to provide services.
So I just want to make sure, I -- when I was deputy Mayor for Jim Kenney's first term, I worked with Playstreets and we took books and, you know, these spaces that were closed off to make sure children had food, but we also supplemented with books for the kids and sat and read with them. So that was sort of a model of meeting people where they are. But the follow through on that, knowing that those were spaces where these things were needed is what really is a bit concerning that we know where there's under utilization of these resources, but I don't know what the intersectional follow-up is. That's what I would love to see both from Parks and Recs and the library along with other resources. So for example, if we are understanding this particular space is not using the library, and then we go overlay that with our proficiency in math and reading, right, from the school district. And if we can then -- and then we look at housing needs or really have a comprehensive look to see how we deploy resources there. Because those children who are not having access to these resources are whose, you know, whose experiences are not being broadened, are going to suffer for no fault of their own. So I really want to think more philosophically how we really address the needs of our youngest Philadelphians who cannot advocate for themselves. We have -- we have children in certain neighborhoods and families who have these broad based knowledge. While I'm -- I appreciate, you know, making sure people have job skills, but we need to make sure they're global citizens who understand the world. And that's where libraries come in. You can travel the whole world just sitting in your library. And so I think while we emphasize making sure job skills and they're ready to put food on their table, we also need food for their mind. And I don't want that to be overlooked because we are so specific on some tangible skills we're giving them. Because you go to some of these well-resourced schools, they're getting that while those kids are not. So I just want to elevate that issue. And very quickly, I would like to pivot to -- before you answer, pivot to the Parks and Recs same thing about how much are we engaging young people to decide on programming. This was one of -- a conversation I was having yesterday with somebody who was a teacher, and she was saying that the engagement of young people to decide programming and rec centers, she was asking if that happens, right? And do we have things like youth advisory councils for our --
Ask the question, Dr. Ahmad. Ask the question.
Yeah. Do we have pathways for young people to be engaged to give feedback, what do they want? What do they want in those spaces? What would make them come to those spaces? And do we have advisory councils made of young people who might be able to advise us on that? I really want young people to see that not only are we doing this, but it's for them. And how are we being intentional about showing them that? Thank you, Council President.
So I want to -- I'll start. I want to specifically talk about just engaging our young people and finding out what it is that they want. One of the things that we are going to start are listening sessions. When I was here first go around, I did some listening sessions in a specific area, and because it was an area where there were no programs going on for the young people. And as a result of the listening sessions, we ended up not only filling up the space but having a school next to us give us -- pay us for their kids to come. So if you go and find out and have conversations with young people and you're serious about finding out what they want, they will come. So we are in the process of doing that. And we actually have leaders that work with their kids. We did the eSports that is -- that has been talked about. We recognize that we had to adapt and just kind of remain relevant to changing interests and the needs of our communities especially teens who often are our most vulnerable. And they're hard to engage. It's really challenging to engage them. And so we partnered with Nerd Street Games, a nationally renowned organization whose mission is to increase access to the gaming industry. The partnership produced the following: A team driven NBA 2K tournament with over 100 participants, eSports coach training for summer camp staff and supervisors, camp trips -- camp trips to Nerd Street local host gaming site, specialty camp opportunity for youth to attend a full week eSports camp. eSports centers, we have them at two of our sites. And thanks to INET, we'll be able to actually get more e-sites. But this is a direct result of what you're saying, having conversations with our young people and identifying what it is they need. But then once you do that, you got to actually do work.
And at the 16 library to address, you know, how we 17 address your comments, you know, 18 we've got teen librarians and youth 19 librarians who work in a library and 20 they're talking to young people 21 every day. And we have a youth 22 services coordinator who oversees, 23 you know, all of our district 24 centered programming and efforts for the whole city. So -- and through that role, we're partnering with other nonprofits, other organizations, looking at what those overall city needs are. But individually by neighborhood, we have staff in those locations. You know -- you know, Sue and I, we are like symbiotic, but some people want to -- want to read and come in the library and do arts and culture and do those kind of events after they finish, you know, recreational activities. And so we're communicating with them. Sue's team's communicating with them too. So we are hearing what they're wanting and what they're needing and we're not just solely focused on, you know, job skills. We're focused on their mind. And, you know, one of the things about the library, you can actually -- you can go in the library and you can leave the universe. You can go anywhere, travel through a black hole, you know, those kinds of things, and that creativity and the story time and the -- and the things we do to just enlighten and inspire young people. And we just have, you know, staff that that's what they do on a regular and daily basis. And we're listening to the young people. And that's why we can have 30,000 programs -- to 30,000 programs 14 because hearing from them and what 15 they want, what's going to inspire 16 them and their friends. 17
Council 20 President Johnson, can I just say 21 this? And I also wanted to say we 22 do have youth councils in our 23 facilities. 24
Thank you. The Chair recognize the presence of Councilmember Brian O'Neill. Councilmember Brooks.
Thank you, Council President. I think I just want -- I'm going to start with a combined question for Parks and Rec around --
Member Brooks, could you speak into the microphone, please?
Yes. Around the asset management systems because it's around the same line that I was going with the library system. We see that the school district of Philadelphia is in crisis now for this similar situation and I was wondering if both of you, could both kind of work on a plan so we can figure out longterm structure for Parks and Rec, as well as the libraries moving forward. So we know what we need to do in the next to 30 years to 6 secure our building and thank you so 7 much for starting that progress. 8 And then I wanted to kind 9 of comment off of -- Councilmember 10 Gauthier mentioned Level Up. I 11 visited the program as well and 12 they're doing an amazing job. And I 13 would be nice if you, Parks and Rec 14 in the library system connect with 15 these young folks and the leader of 16 that group for next steps and how 17 can we integrate them back in the 18 system. 19 And my other question was 20 around workers primarily for municipal guards and library assistant. I asked like, what is the process around hiring for that? And if you can give us something in writing around exactly what's -- what are we doing to make sure that these positions are filled and that they have a livable wage, because I heard that they were paid kind of low. I'm not sure what the exact dollar amount is but these are the folks that keep our libraries running. And my last thing, I must -- I want to talk about Carousel House. I read about it in the paper. I know we all saw that. And I was wondering, like, what are the next steps for folks with disabilities around the city to have access because now a two-year project is going to be 10, 7, I don't -- my numbers are mixed up. Because I know they closed during COVID and it was the premier project for folks with disabilities to be able to have access to sports and rec. And now we're talking about 2028 and that's problematic. And to that, they had a wheelchair accessible pool and I know we expanded ramps, and wheelchair accessibility on pools around the city. But what is the status of that? Because the promise is that there will be one wheelchair accessible pool in every district. And I wonder, are we there yet?
So the wheelchair program is still being housed at one of our -- two of our sites, Mayfair, where they used to be able to go to one location which was the Carousel House. Now they have to go to Mayfair and they also use our Gustine Lake location. And they're also using some space over in New Jersey for the actual tournament because they used to do the tournament at the School of the Future. I'm not exactly sure what happened there. It's an amazing program. It's something that we want to continue to be a part of. We want to bring it back and I do know that Aparna can speak to the Carousel House and what's happening there. So she will come and address that. But you had another question in there?
I was wondering about -- I know we -- Gustine and the other two of -- the two -- the two rec centers that were kind of allocated for special needs folks, but however, people with special needs live in every community. So I think if we're not going to use a Carousel House for much longer, we need a long-term plan to make sure that folks with varying abilities have the ability to enjoy our parks and rec system. And the problem being is that transportation is hard. Like, having to depend on CCT and all the things, wheelchair accessible vans, the burden of responsibility on caregivers is so great when this is a necessary need in our community. So I would love to see a broader vision or a plan around accessibility of our parks and recreation centers as well as libraries because this is a growing population for various reason and we need to make sure that we're accommodating them as Philadelphia citizens.
That was -- that was your other question. The pool lifts. We are -- I knew it was another question before I get up for Aparna. We are in the process of completing our system and getting pool lifts for all of our sites.
Okay. Thank you. Do -- will it be complete for this summer or where it is going to expand into, because we've had this --
This is way before you were here. This was 2020, 2021, during the COVID pandemic when they changed, you know, where everyone was broke. It was like two working in the city. Where are we going to be if, you know, Carousel House is not open till 2028 and we have a huge accessibility issue in our city.
The plan is to have all of the pool lists by the end of next summer.
Thank you, Member Brooks. Before we go into the brief second round, because we have a hard stop at 12:30, I just had a question. Why is it taking so long for us to fix and reopen the Carousel House? Just wanted to know.
Councilmember Brooks, thank you for that question. Council President, with regards to Carousel House, there have been -- first of all, it had to close due to conditions. There were a number of roof issues which resulted in structural issues so it would've closed regardless of the project. As far as the Rebuild project goes, it is in design. We've just negotiated. We are continuing design for that project. After COVID prices did certainly go up, there are -- so we had to align this scope of the project with the resources we had. The administration did put in more money. So we are at a point now that we can move forward with the scope of that work. Design is ongoing and we expect to start construction next year, which results in the two-year construction duration. With regards, however, I would like to make a global statement if I could, in terms of inclusive projects at Parks and Recreation, that has become the norm for every site that we do a capital project at. We don't add that as sort of a feature. We include that in the design of all the spaces. So every playground -- every spray ground, every building, all of that inherently is accessible to folks, to everyone, to every Philadelphian.
I do appreciate that because that's the law, like, we're required to do that. But what are we doing for -- it's a slow process.
I said, I appreciate that because that's the law. That's what ADA tells us that we need to do. But what are we doing for sites that aren't, if the backlog for a project that started in 2021 is 2028? What are we going to do for generations of young people with special needs that won't be able to assess our parks and rec? If you think about eight years, that's kindergarten through middle school.
And I know Parks and Recreation, as Commissioner Slawson did mention has relocated some of that programming to other sites so that we continue to serve those populations.
Okay. Because I just would like to see a comprehensive plan on what are we doing for people with disabilities in our city across city agencies so it's not just you. City hall is not that accessible, municipal buildings aren't that accessible, parks, recs, libraries. We need to have a comprehensive plan because our children and citizens need that. And I would just would like to see a clear plan and not allowing people to be left behind.
Thank you. We will now go into a brief second round. I just have one quick question. Well, two small ones. One, and I think this has been touched on. I still want to go on the record on it because I have a couple of constituents that will call on my district team wanting me to make sure I have it on the record. Addressing the issue of heating at recreational facilities during the winter time. And so is there a comprehensive plan for us to do analysis of our heating systems at our recreational facilities? And also cameras was also a major request regarding making sure we have equitable camera coverage of the rec centers across the district, particularly in the 2nd.
Yes, with regards to your first question, Counsel President, we have, with all of our client agencies this year, libraries included parks and recreation, set aside money for assessments of facilities. It's something that was last done in 2005 so we're 20 years, we're at the end of life cycle of pretty much everything in a building at this point. So that is something we have decided to do across all city facilities to be able to better program for the out years for the projects that need to be done. And so that, of course, includes heating systems as well as roofs, et cetera. And then we will prioritize based on those assessments, the most critical projects and put those into the five-year plan for funding. With regards to cameras, we have a handful of sites that are remaining in the camera program and we can get you a updated list of where cameras are installed.
-- in Parks and Recreation currently. And there are some sites that are in construction, so every site that goes into construction does receive cameras as well as part of the project.
Thank you very much. This is a lightning round. The chair recognizes the following members: Councilmember Cindy Bass, Dr. Phillips, O'Rourke, Harrity and Young. Spread.
Is who actually introduced the bill 21 and provided the funding for the cameras. Kicked it off at Marian Anderson Rec in South Philly.
Yes, we did kick it off in the 2nd district. Thank you very much for accommodating us. And I want to just, as a reminder, the camera program was supported by all members of council, all district members who made a commitment to use their ITEF funding to ensure that we had cameras, you know, in a -- in a faster timeframe. So thanks to all the members, who were there and thanks to those who are there now who are still continuing to see this project through. And I did want to ask about the cameras. Can you give us an update on exactly how many cameras are installed? I believe we should have touched all of our sites by now, but I know that there are a number of sites that are requesting additional cameras.
Thank you for that question, Councilmember Bass. And I actually remember you making sure that you worked with your fellow Council Members to get this program up and running.
And so, to date we have 2,228 cameras in our system. The actual list of how many cameras, where they are, how many you have in your site, we have that. And Council President, I will submit that to you so you could submit it to Council. We have 13 centers and playgrounds and seven other PPR sites where cameras will be -- have been installed since January 2024 until now. That was 13 centers. We have 174 total sites that have been outfitted with cameras. We have six under construction, and I have all those locations for you, but it would take -- you would probably tell me to be quiet if I started listening -- listing them. We also have nine sites that are in design. But we have 27 sites that remain to be designed. And there's an estimated cost of $1.25 million for those cameras, those 27 cameras to be designed. But I will present that information to you, sir.
That would be great. Can I just say one other thing real quick? I did want to acknowledge the -- our library director and thank him for his outstanding work, particularly around you and your teams outstanding work, particularly around the Nicetown-Tioga Library which was closed during the great earthquake of 2024 here in Philadelphia. You know, somehow the library was affected, you know, but I did want to thank you for that. And also wanted to make mention for those who don't know that that's the only library in the city of Philadelphia that has a job center operating out of it in partnership with my office and NWON Opportunities, Myra Brown and the Free Library of Philadelphia. So, we offer job training, resume writing, interviewing skills, you know, we -- career fairs, all kinds of things at the library in the neighborhood. So I just wanted to say thank you very much for that. And really quickly, the playground inclusion bill. I noticed you mentioned that Councilman Driscoll was getting some upgrades. We passed the bill, I think it was like 2016, for the playground inclusion bill. Would that require that all sites as they're addressed, as they're being renovated, will be upgraded to include additional needs for those who are disabled and for seniors? And so I know you mentioned that Councilman Driscoll was getting that, but I was hoping that that's, you know, sort of the standard across the board. And I know we're short on time, so you don't have to answer that now but if you could just respond in writing to the council president, that would be great.
Thank you. I just wanted to quickly comment on the -- one information and then go into the question. Yes, the time -- one of the things that we did on our PPR walks and tours, we noticed that there's paint things that we can do small things through capital funded paint, it could be pavement, it could be walls. So, you know, I think I just want to note that the commissioner has committed to working on some sort of plan around that. So I'm looking forward to seeing what that looks like. And I'm looking -- I thank you also, Director Richards, for working on your long-term plan as well around infrastructure as Councilman Gauthier mentioned. Quick question for Director Richards. What plans are in place to ensure expanded hours are supported with high quality programming at our rec centers? And then talk about the marketing plan that you have that you're going to be working on to market some of the high quality programs that are happening in our rec centers. And then also for our commissioner, if you could just really briefly speak on the programming that our rec centers need that you've been -- that we've observed around our boxing program as well as our gaming program and other, like, mentorship type programs as well. And then the last thing is just this -- a list of -- you have -- what would you do with more capital project funding? How many -- you know, how many in your capital project budget -- you got about $12 million that are probably set aside for, you know, for just already established Rebuild projects as well as ITEF, but you don't have much money to do maintenance for what I observe. So how much more money could you use for that? Thank you. Done.
You want to provide half of that in writing because we are not going to get it in right now, just to be frank. So how do you want to handle, Dr. Phillips? Answer what you can, the rest in writing, please, because I want my other members to get their line of question in before we bang the gavel at 12:30.
We'll try to do some of that in writing because in regards to programming and future programming for libraries and our communications plan, I can talk about that for a long time. But I will say our communications plan, it -- we -- it's new. We have a new communications department and a new communications lead, and we're building out that department. One of the things about the library, and the types of programming that we have, you know, sometimes it could be a hidden secret to just the people who know. So we're going to be with our new comms leadership and our department, we're going to be pushing out that information on social media, you know, and throughout the community in a variety of different ways to promote what our library staff are doing in the branches. Because, you know, they've done a great job over the years doing it themselves. But now, we are going to be doing it centralized with their support. But, you know, the number of programming -- the number of programming that we're going to be doing in our branches, that's just going to increase the more hours that we're open, the more staff we have. And the centralized programming that we're -- we now are able to do if -- significantly because of the, you know, the budget that Council's given us and the Mayor. We --
Thank you, sir. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Young, Harrity and Isaiah Thomas. You have a brief one because we are stopping at 12:30.
Thank you, Mr. President. This is a capital question. I was recently, I guess, quoted that it will cost about $700,000 to do a study for a plan or plans for a rec center in my district. But we are -- the whole study for Market East is like 750. Can you tell us, like, what's -- why it costs this much to just prepare a study to help renovate, you know, one of our rec centers.
Councilmember Young, if you could just be a little more specific on perhaps the project or the size of the project.
We were quoted saying it will cost $700,000 to just prepare, like, the design and plans and all that stuff just for that one center. But we are -- again, we're putting forth a study for Market East area that costs 725, 750, whatever that is. Like, what's the -- can you describe the -- tell us the cost discrepancy in that?
Thank you for providing that clarity. So, design costs are typically anywhere from to percent of a final 8 construction cost for a project. So 9 the scope of work at Dendy which 10 probably -- or which potentially 11 included an expansion of a building 12 and some major site improvements were probably of the magnitude that resulted in that estimate for design costs.
Thank you, Member Young. Chair recognizes Councilmember Harrity, then Councilman O'Rourke, and then finishing, Councilmember Thomas.
Thank you, Council President. I will be brief. How many city recreation centers are closed due to construction with the Rebuild program right now? And how does the success to rebuild projects compare to similar projects that have been completed by Parks and Rec itself? In other words, I'm trying to find out where the disconnect is, why this rebuild stuff is taking so much longer than -- I don't want to say that I know, but I feel --
Certainly. So with regards to your first question, the number of sites closed, it changes on a daily basis. So I -- we will get you that in writing. Some have come out of construction and some are going in. With regards to the second question about the duration, the rebuilt projects are generally much larger in scope. Typically, we don't have a to a million-dollar 9 parks and rec capital project. So 10 that is one of the primary reasons 11 it has taken so long for rebuilt 12 projects to be completed. 13 The second is as you may 14 have seen, we've adjusted some 15 process internally to expedite those 16 projects and we've been able to find 17 other contracting mechanisms, 18 typical city process, for example, 19 to be able to move those along 20 quicker.
Okay. I mean, I just feel as though that it kind of ran a little bit more smoother when you guys were in control of everything. I think sometimes when you --
I think sometimes when you get a lot of consultants and all involved and they have to justify their salaries, things tend to take longer.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Nicholas O'Rourke.
Thank you, Mr. President. The Rec staff as well as the Rangers, Commissioner Slawson, are reporting chronic shortages of essential tools like radios and flashlights, vehicles that need maintenance, poor lighting, which I heard you appreciate, already mentioned that you want to do more on that. But also significant delays in how supplies are actually distributed, especially with the summer programs just around the corner as I know that you're already thinking about -- quite a bit about. We can all sympathize with the pain of not having what you need when you need it. How was the '26 budget addressing the persistent supply and infrastructure gaps? And what steps does the department take to ensure timely equitable delivery of the materials and the equipment the staff actually needs, front lines workers needs across all those sites?
Good afternoon. So we are working with our Ranger unit. We meet with them regularly, so we're in a process of working with Fleet to get vehicles, to get the lights on the vehicles to get all the equipment that they need and training, whether it is getting electric bikes or those sorts of things. So we are working on that process now. It is a procurement process. Hopefully we will have most of the supplies in this summer, but we have been working to identify exactly what supplies our Rangers need, also, what training that they need to make sure that they are safe and that they can do their jobs effectively. And this is not just for our permanent rangers, but we hire about 15 to 16 seasonal rangers to help us doing the height of our season. So we're bringing those folks on now, hopefully all of them will be on if they kind of, you know, go through the onboarding process quickly. They'll all be on by the end of June.