Good morning. My name is Yvonne Downey. I'm representing Haddington Multi Services for Older Adults Incorporated. We're in West Philadelphia. Geneva A. Black is our executive director and I am her assistant. We are very outspoken, we are very militant at our center. We are not going to sit around with our hands folded and just let SEPTA 88 6/11/01 TRANSPORTATION/UTILITIES - RES. 597 increase their rates 33 percent. (Applause.)
We're from the era of Rosa Parks, we're from the era of sit-ins, we never get too old to speak out. Now, for a lot of these seniors, they are tired; they just need to sit down. But for those of us that are younger, the social workers, their voices, we can start some trouble in Philadelphia, we can start something up in here, as they say, okay? And all our seniors have to do is just show up and those that can walk can just walk. Just like we tied up traffic around City Hall a few minutes ago, we can do it for a few days. It's just an outing for us. (Applause.)
So as you were so kind to say that City Council will probably be against this rate increase, I would strongly suggest that those Councilpeople that these seniors voted for keep that in mind. Election time will come back around again soon. (Applause.)
And like I said, we're just 89 6/11/01 TRANSPORTATION/UTILITIES - RES. 597 tired. We're not quitting, and those of us that speak up for the seniors are going to do just that. And we're going to do it very loudly, I might add. (Applause.)
Thank you and have a nice day. (Applause.) (Witness comes forward.)
Good morning. My name is Norma Edwards. I'm from the Haddington Center. (Applause.)
I'm a volunteer at the Haddington Center and I am the president of the advisory council. Now, I was born here in Philadelphia, in the best part of Philadelphia -- North Philly -- and we don't play. (Applause.)
And there was a time when I was here, when I was born and you only had to pay 7 cents to get on PTC. It wasn't SEPTA. Then it was raised to 15 cents and you got a pass and you went out the front door, not the back door. 90 6/11/01 TRANSPORTATION/UTILITIES - RES. 597 But now I'm tired. You want to retire, you want to go someplace, you want to enjoy yourself. I was working 35 years on one job. I'm retired now. I don't want to go out and work no 6 more and to have to go out and pay a high fare. It's disgusting, it really is. And everybody -- we have a problem, not everybody, some people get around real good, and I'm one of them that can try to get around good. But other people, you have to look out for other people. It's hard. Why don't you come to our center and take a ride with me one day to some of these people's houses and see how they be treated. Be for real with 'em, be for real. We only human beings, we not cattle. We human beings, just like everybody else. And we intend to be treated like human beings. (Applause.)
And the fare shouldn't go up no more. We're not cattle. So please take it into consideration. You might get 75, 85. God bless you. But you want to be treated right. Thank you. 91 6/11/01 TRANSPORTATION/UTILITIES - RES. 597 (Applause.) (Witness comes forward.)
My name is Ron Ross, and I'm the Program Coordinator of the Southwest Center. I'm here to let you know the gravity of the situation. On our way down here, courtesy of Paratransit, our senior numbers were mixed up. Therefore, some of the seniors were not able to board. That's one of the existing problems and main problems as program coordinator that I've found since taking the position. Many of my programs are not able to run because of the ineptness of the people who handle the programming on the other end. Therefore, our programs, such as coming down here -- we would have been down here an hour before the time. We got down here late. As usual, I've been given excuses numerous times as to why our programs are not being attended. SEPTA, in fact, has not provided us with the transportation that we need in a timely manner. 92 6/11/01 TRANSPORTATION/UTILITIES - RES. 597 Therefore, the seniors are inconvenienced. Many times they are not picked up, as you've already heard. Their voices are not heard. I hear many times of the discourtesy that the drivers extend to them. We've had problems with some of our drivers, in fact, coming here and delivering people. And where does the 33 percent go? As a rider SEPTA myself, I've seen since I've been on public transportation as a native Philadelphian cuts. To ask for increases, what we really need to know and what we want to know is, where do they go, where does the money go, how do they justify it, and why are these people being inconvenienced? It's not fair to them. They have no way to go and no other way of getting there. If the drivers are not on time, they never meet their destinations and we constantly have to cancel and we have no programs. We can't get them there. Therefore, we're not funded. That's our main problem. We can't lose them. At this point in time, we really ask you to take under consideration what it is they're suggesting and put a stop to it. Thank you. 93 6/11/01 TRANSPORTATION/UTILITIES - RES. 597
My name is James Jordan, Sr. I am a member, a vice president, for Action Alliance for Senior Citizens organization, which you are all well familiar with, for 28 years. I'm also the committee person for the 4th Ward and the 8th Division. Being a member of the 4th Ward, 8th Division, I am down in the trenches where I know everybody on my street lives. It's close to 900 people that I see daily. Those people come to me for advice when the time comes for election, and election time is not far away, but I also when I became out on disability some years ago, I attended Haddington Multi Services -- (Applause.)
-- where I found a home away from home. I was there daily and enjoyed myself. I would have been lost without them. I would have been lost, but in going there, I'm keeping myself active. Many people say,"I don't believe you're a senior citizen" when I first did get my card to ride for free. They didn't want to 94 6/11/01 TRANSPORTATION/UTILITIES - RES. 597 say that I was, and I had been on disability then over a year before I was able to use my red and white card. Now, I went through the war and came out a disabled veteran and drew my pension check on the last day of July, 1945. And let me tell you one thing, it was a small pension, but every little bit helps. Then when I became of age and came out on disability and got the little increases in my money from Social Security, I want you to know everybody needs two checks or more to make ends meet. There are many sacrifices I have to make in order to make ends meet, but I don't regret a single day for the good things that I have done. But as I pass along this way, I notice, at 77 years of age, I look at the people in my club and organization, 85, 90, and they're still moving along. And I feel blessed as I go about through the nursing homes and see people much younger than I. And I say thank God, he's a good God. Every day now is a good day, every day is a good day. You may have two loaves of bread under each arm and you cry, but the thing about it is this: You have reasons to cry when you have been 95 6/11/01 TRANSPORTATION/UTILITIES - RES. 597 misused, your intelligence has been insulted by people that you have put in the positions they are in. (Applause.)
In the State of Pennsylvania and Florida, there are more senior citizens than in any other states in the union. On those bad days in November, cold, many of 'em, I had workers out trying to get votes, people to come to the polls. Who comes? The first people there when I opened the door in the morning standing in line were the senior citizens. (Applause.)
And let me tell you one thing, one day what goes around will come around. (Applause.)
I want you to believe that. And it's written in stone, it is written in stone. So don't forget. It's me today, and it may be you tomorrow.
Good morning. 96 6/11/01 TRANSPORTATION/UTILITIES - RES. 597
Good morning, Mr. Goode, Councilman and the representative from SEPTA. Good morning to everyone. My name is Arlene Sadler. I live in the 2500 block of North Myrtlewood Street. I'm a committee person and I've been around there since 1955. And I am speaking for myself and for other senior citizens that live in my neighborhood that are unable to get out. And the Paratransit come and pick the people up, take 'em to the doctor, they don't go back and get 'em. And I experienced that myself with the Paratransit in 1996. I am a former employee of SEPTA. I drove a bus out of the 29 Allegheny depot for nine and a half years. I met an unfortunate accident. In '96, I had to have a hip replacement, and due to that hip replacement, I had to go to the clinic. Paratransit came to pick me up, they were late. When they got me to the doctor, the doctor was gone. They left me, they never came back for me. I had to get a cab to get home. Then they came back another day to take me to the doctor. They came early and I wasn't ready and they never came back. 97 6/11/01 TRANSPORTATION/UTILITIES - RES. 597 So I never bothered Paratransit anymore. I forced myself because I live alone. My car was parked in front of my door and I asked the good master, "Dear Lord, give me strength to get in my car and drive myself to a doctor." I got in my car, I started it up, I waited. And I said, "Lord, you got to be my guide," and I drove from the 2500 block of North Myrtlewood Street to Domino Lane to the doctor. The doctor wanted to know how I got there. It was snow on the ground, I said, "I drove myself." He said, "You drove yourself?" I said, "I didn't have a choice." Because Paratransit was supposed to pick me up and they came early and they never came back. And I would just like to ask -- maybe it's a request, that Metro Paper that SEPTA is putting out on all of the these corners and all over Philadelphia County, maybe in some of the suburban, I can't speak for the suburban. That paper is free. People used to buy the Daily News but you don't see as many people buying the Daily News as they used. And I would like to ask a request. Some of that money, what they putting out there for that Metro Paper to be for everybody to pick up and the 98 6/11/01 TRANSPORTATION/UTILITIES - RES. 597 paper is all over the street, please, please consider us poor senior citizens that done worked hard in trying to get somewhere. If you all would find a few pennies of that to give to us, the senior citizens, to help us out, and we would appreciate it. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
I want to thank you all for coming out to testify. I -- (Witness comes forward.)
Good morning. My name is Dot Newton, and I'm the Director for Aging Services for Germantown Settlement. I really wasn't going to say anything and just let the seniors testify, but you see, this whole thing is impacting more than just the seniors. Unfortunately, it's impacting them, but I didn't realize the impact that it was going to have on other groups. You see, I was going to tell you about the fact that some seniors, the only meal that they will get per day is the one meal that they get at 99 6/11/01 TRANSPORTATION/UTILITIES - RES. 597 lunch at my center. And I was going to tell you that some members never knew they had glaucoma until they had screenings at my center. And I thought about telling you that there was some diabetes screenings and we found seniors had diabetes who never knew they had diabetes and had to leave right away to go to the hospital. I thought about telling you that seniors will sit in their homes all day and never speak to another person unless they come to a center. (Applause.)
I wanted to tell you about how they need stimulation and how important that was. That's what I was going to tell you. But you see, last night I got a phone call and I got a phone call from Florida, and my mother lives in Florida. My mother lived in Philadelphia and moved to Florida about 15 years ago. And earlier this year, there was an error-induced stroke, my mother had a stroke. My mother was a missionary for 40 years. My mother was a member on her choir. My mother would give clothing and go up and down the streets in her neighborhood to make sure seniors had food. And now 100 6/11/01 TRANSPORTATION/UTILITIES - RES. 597 my mother is a senior and my brother -- boys are very different in caregiving than females, and he calls me every single day. But last night, I got a phone call that disturbed me, Mr. Goode, because my brother said, "We have to do something about Mom because all she does is sit home and stare in the corner." And I said what? And my mother was a strong, strong black woman. My mother had six kids, and if you disrespected a senior, you would be slapped across your mouth. And things are real different today. My mother gets disrespected in hospitals, my mother gets disrespected at doctors' appointments. And I don't want to hear that stuff 'cause I can't handle, and I don't want my brother to tell me that kind of stuff. But it gets worst. You see, I investigated nursing homes and personal care homes. And, as a matter of fact, I was there looking over your grandmother, Mr. Goode, at Germantown Home. And for ten years, I investigated those homes and saw the abuse and the neglect, and I saw people sitting in their rooms by themselves, just deteriorating. 101 6/11/01 TRANSPORTATION/UTILITIES - RES. 597 People sit in their homes -- will sit in their homes by themselves, Mr. Goode, and deteriorate if they don't get to get out. We've taken cars from them because they can't drive anymore. And this is what that phone call was about. My mother didn't want to give up the car, but she has to give up the car. So all of a sudden, I thought I had a bright idea, Mr. Goode, and I said, "Send her to a senior center. We have that here. Oh, we just love it. We do this, we do that." My brother said, "Dot, Mom has lost 40 pounds." And I said, oh, only goodness. He said she won't eat, she won't cook. And I said, "Well, you can't yell at her to try to make her cook 'cause I don't even feel like cooking." And he said, "Well, what am I going to do?" I said, "Don't they have Meals on Wheels? Don't they have a senior center down there somewhere?" He said, "How is she going to get there?" And I said, "Well, don't they have like we have, the Paratransit? They're getting ready to try to hike that up, but don't you have that?" And my brother said, "Well, yeah, but we can't afford it. 102 6/11/01 TRANSPORTATION/UTILITIES - RES. 597 And I said what? He said, "We can't afford it." And I said, "Well, how much is it going to cost? I'll pay it. And so he said, "I don't know. Maybe a hundred dollars a week." I said, "A hundred dollars a week? What kind of transportation is that?" And he talked about the overall cost. I said "Al, we have to do something about Mom because if she sits there, she's going to get ulcers on her skin and she's going to lose her cognitive ability." Senior citizens are not just about recreation and coming in and laughing and talking. It is about the increase and the maintenance of quality of life for these people. That's what senior citizens is about. (Applause.)
I'm fighting in Philadelphia for senior centers and fighting against this transportation hike that SEPTA proposes because I know some seniors aren't going to come in there because they won't be able to afford to come in. And every day, I think about my mother, Mr. Goode. And so the other group that this impacts, it impacts people our age. Are you going 103 6/11/01 TRANSPORTATION/UTILITIES - RES. 597 to let your mother go downhill? Are you going to let your father go downhill, your aunts and your uncles, the people that were there for you? That's going to affect your paycheck because now I pay my mother's health insurance and now I'm getting ready to pay for Paratransit for my mother go to -- not Paratransit, but the transportation there for her to go to a senior center. Then I have to pay for the activities for the senior center. A lot of these seniors have a lot of children, but there will be one or two that will do something for them. (Applause.)
And I want you to know that I might be here in Philadelphia fighting for these seniors, but I have to fight for my mother in Florida, and that's coming out of my pocket, and it's going to come out of the pockets of not just these seniors; it's going to come out of the pockets of their children. And guess what, another thing with those school tokens? You have grandparents taking care of school-aged children. (Applause.)
So now they got to pay for 104 6/11/01 TRANSPORTATION/UTILITIES - RES. 597 the increase and pay for those school tokens. We need to think about that. And I said too much, but that's all I wanted to say, Mr. Goode. (Applause.)
Let me thank all of you for your testimony and thank you for coming out this morning. I was glad to give you the opportunity to make that testimony on Resolution 11 597. We will work along with Miss Wiggins and Mr. Rods on taking some action by this Thursday. If we're going to take any action before we recess -- City Council actually recesses for the summer on Thursday. I invite you back on that day. Beyond that, we look forward to working together. Thank you again for coming. This concludes our public hearing. (Applause.) (Adjourned 11:50 a.m.) 105 C E R T I F I C A T E I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of Monday, June 11, 2001, were reported fully and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of same. RE: COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC UTILITIES RES. NO. 000142, 000597 __________________________________, JOSEPHINE CARDILLO, Registered Professional Reporter