COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGY AND INFORMATION SERVICES Remote location using Microsoft® Teams Wednesday, December 6, 2023 10:00 a.m. PRESENT: COUNCILMAN BRIAN J. O'NEILL, CHAIR COUNCILMAN MICHAEL DRISCOLL COUNCILMAN JIM HARRITY COUNCILMAN ANTHONY PHILLIPS
This is Councilman Brian O'Neill, Chair of the Committee on Technology and Information Services. And I want to say good afternoon to everyone. But before we begin the public hearing, I will make the following announcement: Due to the continuing threat to public health from COVID- 19, City Council Committees are currently meeting remotely. We are using Microsoft Teams to make these remote hearings possible. Instructions for how the public may view and offer public testimony at the public hearings of Council Committees are included in the public hearing notices that are published in the Daily News, Inquirer and Legal Intelligencer prior to the hearings and can also be found on PHILA -- PHLCouncil.com. I now note that the hour has come. Mr. Yerkov, will you please call the roll to take attendance. Members that are in attendance will please indicate that you are present when your name is called. Also, please say a few brief words when responding so that your image will be displayed on screen when you speak.
Good afternoon, everyone and Mr. Chairman. Thanks for being on.
Okay. Thank you. A quorum of the Committee is present and this hearing is now called to order. This is a public hearing of the Committee on Technology and Information Services regarding Bill 20 No. 230701. Mr. Yerkov, will you please read the title of the bill.
Bill No. 24 230701, authorizing the City Solicitor on behalf of the City to enter into a multi-year contract with a provider of codification, editing and marketing services to produce printed and electronic versions of The Philadelphia Code and related services and materials, all under certain terms and conditions.
Thank you. Before we begin to hear testimony from the witnesses we have for today, everyone who has been invited to the meeting to testify should be aware that this public hearing is being recorded. Because the hearing is public, participants and viewers have no 18 reasonable expectation of privacy. By continuing to be in the meeting, you are consenting to being recorded. Additionally, prior to recognizing Members for the questions or comments they have for witnesses, I will note for the record at this time that we will use the chat feature available in Microsoft Teams to allow Members to signify that they wish to be recognized. In order to comply with the Sunshine Act, the chat feature must only be used for this purpose. Mr. Yerkov, will you please call the witnesses we have to testify this afternoon on Bill No. 12 230701.
Good afternoon. Are you connected and ready to proceed? Please --
Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
My name is Reynelle Staley. That's spelled R-e-y-n-e-l-l-e. Last name is S-t-a-l-e-y. Good afternoon, Chairman O'Neill and members of the Committee. I'm a senior attorney in the Legislation and Legal Council Unit of the Law Department and I'm here to testify in support of Bill No. 230701, which would authorize the Law Department to enter into a multi-year contract for editing in publication services. One of the responsibilities of the Legislation Unit of the Law Department is to manage editing and publication of The Philadelphia Code and the City's Home Rule Charter. As you know, City Council frequently makes changes to The Philadelphia Code and occasionally with the approval of the voters, the Home Rule Charter. The Law Department contracts with a code publishing company to make sure these changes get put in the Code in the right place with appropriate footnoting and that the current Code and Charter are available online free of charge to the public. The contract also provides a publication of a complete new hard copy edition of the Code. Next year's will be the 13th Edition. A current reprint of the Charter, an annual or regular hard copy supplements to both the Charter and the Code. We found that a four-year contract is the most efficient approach because it guarantees the publisher and the City continuity of service for a reasonable period of time, while requiring us to revisit the contract at the time of planned publication of the new hard copy editions of the Code and Charter. Our current four-year contract with American Legal Publishing will expire on January 31, 2024. On November 4th we issued an RFP for a contract for the next four years. This contract will cover ongoing electronics and online updates of the Code, the next full hard copy edition of the Code and Charter and periodic supplements to the books. We hope that the out-of-pocket cost to the City for online hosting and editing service will remain relatively small, less than $10,000 per year. The basic approach we've used and which we hope to continue is that the vendor will provide editing and codification services as well as electronic and web-based versions of the Code largely in exchange for the rate publishing market, the official electronic editions of the Code to the public. City agencies including the Law Department also typically buy a number of print copies of the Code and Charter from the publisher at market prices. Courts, attorneys, personnel throughout the City, Council itself and most importantly the public all rely on access to up-to-date and accurate versions of the City's Home Rule Charter and the Code. Since 1998, the City has established a strong record of publishing and updating these documents on a consistent and predictable schedule. Our Code is one of the, if not the, most up-to-date and easy-to-use online code of any large city in the country. We plan to continue this practice and the bill before Council will allow us to procure services so that we can continue to do so in an efficient and cost- effective manner. The Law Department therefore respectfully request the Committee's favorable consideration of Bill No. 230701 and further, a suspension of the rules in order to allow first reading at the next Council session. Thank you for your time. And I am of course available for any questions that the Committee may have.
Thank you for your testimony. Are there any questions or comments from members of the Committee for this witness? (No response.)
Hearing none, are there any other witnesses, Mr. Yerkov?
Councilman, I just wanted to let everybody know that I'm here, Councilman Harrity. I am present. Sorry. I had some technical difficulties trying to get on.
That always happen with the Technology Committee, you know.
Are there any people waiting for public comment, Mr. Yerkov?
I do not believe so. Council Support, do we have anyone on the line to provide public comment? (No response.)
Hearing -- well, I should wait to hear. COUNCIL TECH SUPPORT: We do not have any participants for public comment today. Thank you.
Okay. Well, thank you. There being no further questions from members of the Committee and no other witnesses to testify, I will thank the witness for appearing here today. And before we go into a public meeting, we will pause the proceedings briefly to allow our witness to leave the hearing.
Thank you. This concludes the public hearing of the Committee. We will now go into a public meeting to consider the action to be taken on the bill before this Committee today. We will now convene the public meeting. Mr. Yerkov, will you please call the roll to take attendance. Members that are in attendance will please indicate that you are present when your name is called. Also, please say a few brief words when responding so that your image will be displayed on screen when you speak.
We will now go into our public meeting. Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Driscoll for a motion on Bill 230701.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that Bill No. 230701 be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council.
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Vaughn seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 20 230701 be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. This concludes the business before the Committee on Technology and Information Services. Thank you for your attendance. And as promised, it was fairly short.
You are the man, Chairman. (Committee on Technology and Information Services concluded at 12:13 p.m.) C E R T I F I C A T I O N I, hereby certify that the proceedings and evidence noted are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me in the foregoing matter, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. __________________________________ TANEHA CARROLL