I disagree. For the issue that you're talking about, we held discussions in, I believe, five public meetings over a six-month period. And at the end of each of those discussions, up until the last one, we said publicly at that meeting that we would continue the discussion at the next meeting.
Was there ever an agenda issued letting the people know of the general public that you were --
There were minutes of the meeting that were posted on our 405 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 website that made reference to the fact that it was discussed and it was going to continue to be discussed.
Well, as a practical matter, nobody's going to read every minutes of the --
What I'm suggesting is, if you publish an agenda, then you'll get more input from citizens, from people who are involved, from the Committee of Seventy. Even though they send somebody there every time, they might not be prepared to discuss a new issue that wasn't in an agenda.
Certainly my office is very interested in what's going on. And publishing an agenda is an open, transparent way to conduct your business. And not publishing an agenda leaves you open to criticism 406 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 when you make decisions or issue advisory opinions that the public didn't have a chance for input and maybe raise issues that, because you didn't have a chance for public input, you weren't able to address.
Well, I think it's a good suggestion, and I think we'll make every effort to do that. I'm just trying to indicate that there are a couple of limitations: One, because of the nature of the work and because we have monthly meetings, the agenda doesn't get put together until very late; we can try to expedite that but sometimes, you know, we have to change it. We don't have a draft ready that we thought we were going to have ready or something else comes in the last couple of days. But we can make an effort to at least post a preliminary agenda maybe subject to change; we can do 407 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 that.
Okay. Well, I'm going to, I think, perhaps propose legislation that would require an agenda to be published in advance so that it's just -- I think it's the right away to go about things in the conduct of your business. And I want to be a strong ally of yours on Council. I want to fight for more funds if you think you need them for enforcement, inquiry, and investigation side. I think that the fact that you don't have the resources to sort of go look outside the four corners of the forms that are supposed to disclose conflicts, if you're not doing it, I'm not sure who is. You know, an increase in that activity, pointing things out, even if we're -- I don't think we should be making examples of people, but I think raising issues, making them aware, and having the 408 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 ability to have those resources is going to be important to your success, and we all want you to succeed; all employees of the City of Philadelphia do because we do want the public to think of us as serving in their interests.
Thank you very much for your testimony. And if you have specific recommendations for the Chair that would enhance what you're doing, please provide them, and we'll take a look at them.
We did, by the way, provide a detailed annual report that we hope everyone in Council got a copy of it, and included in there are a series of legislative recommendations 409 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 as well as some of the highlights of the last year.
Thank you very much for your testimony and your patience with us.
Until you figure out how to get that accomplished, why couldn't you simply e-mail the agenda to interested parties such as Council offices until you figure out how to get it on the --
Actually, for over a year, I've been e-mailing the agenda and whatever other documents are available to the reporters that come to every meeting. And now that we have others that are interested in coming, I 410 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 would be happy to send it to your office, Councilman Rizzo or --
And we can disseminate it -- we can send it to other people that are interested --
Maybe there's a way that MOIS can give you access to put things, you know, in a way on your website that you can do it directly.
We're working on that actually, but it's going to take time. We basically have to recreate the entire website in a different application, and then we'll have control over it, but that's going to take time, and, again, we only have four staff members right now.
Thanks. I have that opinion. The Councilman wants to read it and then I'll hand it off to you once I get 411 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 another copy.
You've been extremely patient. Thank you so much.
Thank you. MR. McPHERSON: The last department for the day is the Youth Commission. (Witnesses come forward.)
Thank you, Council President. My name is Benjamin Dubow. I am the appointee of Councilman Reynolds-Brown to the Philadelphia Youth Commission. I am pleased to appear before you today to present our proposed Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2009. 412 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 We are still in discussion with the Budget Office on the size of that budget and where those expenditures will be placed and expect to conclude these discussions in the next two weeks. When completed, we will bring that detail back for Council's consideration. The mission of the Youth Commission is the representation of Philadelphia youth in City Hall. Four-hundred-thousand youth live in Philadelphia. Many of the problems we face today stem from issues affecting youth a decade ago, and may of the problems we will face in a decade stem from issues affecting youth today. We believe in the ability of your Council to bring about change in this city. We believe in the ability of City youth to improve their condition. We hope to unite the abilities of our constituents and their government to better their lives 413 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 and the lives of their fellow residents. As a new organization, we plan to dedicate much of our budget to creating an effective Youth Commission in the years to come. The fulfillment of this goal supports three of Mayor Nutter's in the City's Strategic Plan: Education. America flourished under the principle that the governed can better their government. So too can our students better their schools. An effective Youth Commission is a power channel through which students are able to improve their education. Public safety. Youth is the biggest factor in determining the likelihood of committing crime. Many youth find themselves disillusioned with their situation. They turn to crime as the most available means to change. An effective youth commission gives these youths a path to engage their government to find that change 414 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 instead of turning to the streets. Healthy and sustainable communities. Youth have often taken a back seat in community involvement. The Youth Commission is a movement towards greater participation of young people in our city. We tell our constituents that they have the opportunity to become an important part of their communities and that their concerns are valid and will be heard. The upcoming year will focus on gaining clout among City youth and in City Hall. Our goals reflect our need to become a leader for young people and a professional organization. To measure our success we have three goals: List serve. We have to expand serve to at least 2,500 members by year's end. A list serve is a good measure of how many are showing interest in our organization. It also 415 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 provides a valuable means to spread word of the issues affecting youth. Events. Major gatherings are among the best ways to spread awareness. Throughout the summer and fall, community organizations from throughout the City (indiscernible) major events on the Parkway and in the neighborhoods. We seek to be present at no less than five major events and attach our name to at least one. The new session. Many other youth commissions around the country are missing members. This shows a lack of commitment for both government officials and youth and the lack of ability from the commission which must connect the two. We hope to begin a new session next year with all 21 members of the Youth Commission appointed by the end of January. I would like to thank this Council for putting forth the 416 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 referendum on the Youth Commission and the votes you represent for its passage. I believe both you and your constituents improve the referendum because of the great potential of the Youth Commission. I'm honored to be a part of realizing our promise, and I hope I have shown you how we plan to do so.
I thank you for your time and I would be pleased to answer any questions.
Thank you very much. Mr. Dubow, do you know anybody in the Finance Department? (Laughter.)
Or who the Finance Director is? And can you tell me why they would not have included your budget in the Youth Commission's budget in the present City budget that we have?
To answer your 417 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 first question, I'm pretty familiar with the Finance Director; he's my father, so I have a pretty close relationship with him. To answer the question about why the exact numbers are not included, I turn to Mr. Agostini.
Madam President and members, one apology before we begin. The Youth Commission has been very diligent, the members of the Youth Commission have been very diligent. We're sorry we didn't get the testimony to you on time; that was the Administration not following through, and we apologize. They were doing what they needed to do; we didn't. Secondly, we are discussing with the Youth Commission the size of the budget. The original budget we saw was about what we thought it would 418 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 be, but we don't have it in the right lines and items, so we're going to go back and discuss that and bring that back to you in the next week or two.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Greenlee.
Thank you, Madam President. Just very quickly. I know it's the end of the day, but I just want to put on record that I went to the opening swearing-in of the Youth Commission and was just very impressed. In fact, I guess we should congratulate ourselves; we appointed some, I thought, really impressive people that really showed the diversity of this city, and I think they will serve extremely well. I know the person I appointed, Nicole Rubin, who lives in the northeast, just recently told me how 419 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 impressed she was. She's met people from different parts of the City and she's learned a lot. And just talking to those people, I think Steve has a tough road. They're going to be tough on you, Steve. You better come up with that money. In any event, I wish him good luck, and I know Councilwoman Brown, who was the leader in pushing this, I think we did the right thing. And I'm very happy to say it was my first hearing of the Law and Government Committee was to put that Youth Commission on the ballot, so I'm proud to be part of that too. So good luck to you.
Allow me to also echo my colleague's sentiments and 420 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 congratulate the administration of this Council and the Commission for its establishment. I understand there are several other Commission members here, and I'd like them to come up and introduce themselves. I'd be interested in, if there's one priority you have, Mr. Dubow, what will it be for this year? If each commissioner could answer that.
Okay. I'll start. I think the most important part -- thing the Youth Commission can accomplish this year is spreading awareness of our organization and organizing youth in the City. As a new organization, the only people who know about us are the people who have taken it upon themselves to find out. We need to -- in order to have an effective Youth Commission, we need to gain clout and we need to have the backing of youth 421 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 throughout this city, 'cause as of right now, it's a little more than the members who are saying something 5 when the Youth Commission has a -- 6 when the Youth Commission recommends 7 or doesn't recommend a bill. 8 So raising awareness, 9 expanding our list serve, and being 10 present at major events are two of our 11 most important goals for the upcoming 12 year jean. 13
Saturday I 14 happened to see you at one of Mayor 15 Nutter's cleanups, weren't you? Were 16 you at the cleanups? 17
Oh, that was 19 the other handsome gentleman, your 20 father, who was there at the cleanup. 21 Okay, my mistake.
All right. Would the members of the Commission that are here please identify themselves just by name and 422 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 just I guess what part of the City you're from. Thank you. MISS JONES: My name is Tyeena Jones.
And where you from? MISS JONES: I'm from West Philadelphia. I represent the 4th District.
My name is Charlotte Jones. I'm from North Philadelphia and I represent the 8th District.
If each one 423 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 of you -- and for the record, Madam President, none of them are my children. There were a lot of Joneses there. But for the record, what issue are you most concerned about? MISS JONES: Well, I am mostly concerned about young youth who are unaware of their surroundings, who aren't safe. I'm concerned about safety. I'm concerned about education. I am concern about their well-beings at home as well as in school. I'm concerned about the respect levels. I'm concerned about basically everything that has something to do with the youth, not just about events and things of that sort. I'm really concerned about getting down to why are the youth so angry nowadays. So I think that the Youth Commission, us altogether, all 20 of us now, can work together to get to the bottom of why the youth nowadays 424 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 are so angry, and why they consist [sic] on doing the jumpings and things of that nature. So once we get to the bottom of that then, I guess we done got to the source of the problem.
Thank you very much. I congratulate all of you and wish you the very best. We look forward to work with you.
And thank you, Councilpeople for appointing all your Youth Commissioners and for being present for our first hearing.
Thank you very much. This concludes our public hearing for today. The committee will 425 4/7/08 - Whole - 080022, 157, 160, 164, 165 stand in recess until tomorrow, Tuesday, April the 8th, at a.m. 4 Thank you very much. 5 (Proceedings end at 5:05 p.m.) 6 * * * 7 8 9 10 426 C E R T I F I C A T E I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings of the City of Philadelphia Council Committee of the Whole are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me on Monday, April 7, 2008, and that this is a true and correct statement of same. __________________________________ JOSEPHINE CARDILLO Registered Professional Reporter (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)