Please do. 00412 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole
For Michael Nutter, in thanks and gratitude: At dawn today I leashed the hounds and bounded to the hill; As I have done near 30 years in early morning chill; Surveyed the meadow fast asleep where deer lay down at night; In barren beauty waved the trees through hazy dawning light. Golden stalks of flowers spent are stiff against the wind. The frozen ground beneath me gives, along the paths that bend. Weathered, stony rivulets. Here, lemon pea once roamed. Who felt the glow of brilliant sun where winter birds call home. Sheltered from the muffled din of City life below. Here God and nature safely rest. For this I surely know: This gift will last forever, Never stolen from its space. 00413 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole Could any man claim more than this? That he has sealed it's fate? Generations yet unborn will recognize it still; Because this statesman cared enough to save our Germany Hill. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
For those of you who don't know Germany Hill, my husband has been gracious enough to paint this picture of Germany Hill that we'd also like to present to Councilman Nutter. (Applause.)
Please stay, if you can. Miss Sewell, Mr. Sewell, I've had some very interesting days here in City Council in my time, both as an elected official, and when I was here as staff, and as a volunteer. You have done something very special. And I just wanted to say thank you very much for all of your efforts and support to make 00414 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole sure that the Germany Hill acquisition took place. You have also certainly made an impression and will leave very pleasant memories for all of us here in City Council. And let me assure you that between my colleagues and various members of the City Administration, this evening will not be forgotten. I will hear about this for a while.
And I'd like to come over and get that. But thank you from the bottom of my heart. I appreciate it. (Applause.)
Madam President, I think the Administration learned something tonight, how to deal with Councilman Nutter. They should be prepared, when they come here, with a 00415 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole poem. Thank you.
That was very nice. The Mural Arts Program is next. Good evening. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
How you doing? My name is Paris Stenzel. I work for the Recreation Department's Mural Arts Program. And I worked with Mural Arts since 1991, so I've seen it grow a lot. I've seen it expand. I've seen it deal with... Right now we deal with, like, about 1500 children in all different communities. I don't think there's one community that I haven't been in that I haven't worked with kids. We've expanded to work with the prison system. I've worked with homeless shelters. I've worked with MENA. And it's been a rewarding experience for me, and it's been a rewarding experience for generations of kids. And I'm just here to support the Mural Arts Program. And I just want to keep it 00416 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole short. Thank you.
Good evening. My name is Kenneth Millington. I live in the Fourth District.
You're going to have to pull the microphone closer. We can't hear you.
Sorry. My name is Kenneth Millington. I live in the Fourth District. I want to say thank you, to begin with, by giving me this opportunity to speak in support of the Mural Arts Program. Originally I'm from New York State, but I moved down here two and a half years ago specifically to work with the Mural Arts Program. Since then I've been a muralist for a couple years. I've painted several large-scale murals for the City, and I've also had the opportunity for the last year-and-a-half to teach art classes at the program. This is one of my students next to 00417 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole me. And through this program, the students have the opportunity to design and paint murals on their own, which I supervise and help out. And they also create art gardens for various communities. And in this setting is how I get to teach them. It's a very practical experience. I try and pass on what I've learned as an artist. And the students apply that to the project we're working on. And besides these art skills, I think they learn a lot about teamwork, collaboration, communication skills, and self-discipline. All that, of course, is related to the project, but it also, I think, will be useful as a skill later on in life. And I know this experience has enriched me as a teacher. It's made me improve to try and convey my knowledge to them more easily. But it's also given me a very rewarding opportunity to see the kids develop and gain confidence. I think this is a very important opportunity that the Mural Arts Program offers 00418 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole young people. It wasn't available to me in upstate New York when I was growing up, but I see the students have that here. The Mural Arts Program is also very important to me in the fact that it allows me to make a living as an artist, which is always very difficult. It provides me a lot of work doing murals and teaching. But most importantly, it allows me to do work that has value to communities. I feel like I'm making a positive contribution to make things a little bit better in my way, that I can. I've also had the opportunity to meet a lot of other artists and interact with them and discuss ideas. And that constantly causes me to improve. And I know that the Mural Arts Program has played a part in my improvement. And from the experience doing my work and working with the kids, I'm even wanting to go back and further learn myself. I want to go back and get a master's degree in fine arts and just continue that and keep getting better. 00419 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole And I think the Mural Arts Program is a very unique occurrence. I have had the opportunity to travel abroad to a lot of other cities. And I've never encountered anything remotely similar to the Mural Arts Program. It's very rare to find a City that has a strong commitment to the arts, a successful program to create the work, and a talented pool of artists to execute it. And it feels nice as an artist to be invited to try and do something positive for the community. And I would hope that the Mural Arts Program is a funding priority and continues to be that way for the City of Philadelphia.
We certainly thank you for all of the wonderful work you do.
Doesn't your student want to be recognized to say a few words?
Please 00420 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole identify yourself for the record.
My name is Shagretta Oliphant. I'm years old. I live in the City 5 of Philadelphia, in the Fifth District. 6 Since the time I had been involved 7 in the Mural Arts Program through Mural Core and 8 our activities... The Mural Arts Program is very 9 important to me because it is a way that I let out 10 my feelings through my work and my projects. 11 I also like the Mural Arts Program 12 because the projects are challenging. Through 13 this process, it helps me to think more clearly. 14 And I have also learned how to break bigger 15 projects down into smaller projects. 16 I have also learned how to draw, use the grid system, and also create mosaics. I've learned how to mix colors and recognize their complementary colors. I've also learned how to work well with others and just be my own individual self through this process. And that's it. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very much. 00421 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole Good evening.
Good evening. My name is Ruth Burkette. I'm here this evening as a mural arts advocate. We're an organization that supports the efforts of the Mural Arts Program. And I tell you very clearly that you need to be proud of this program. This program has done so very, very much for neighborhoods that don't have many nice things to look at. This program has done community organizing, has brought hope to communities that often don't meet amongst themselves, because when these artists come out, they come out and sit with community people and get from them their vision of what they'd like to see the drawing be. And with them they come together and... and often take a very bad situation and turn it into a very good situation. This is an essential program of the Department of Recreation. We invite you to come over to Akins House and see the wonderful art gallery that is on the walls all throughout the building. It is a very wonderful thing to go 00422 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole in there and to see artwork of children that is actually being able to be purchased from people there. Not only does this program, which started out as an anti-graffiti program a long time ago, to get rid of graffiti. And unfortunately, we're beginning to see a rise in the graffiti in our communities. And we need to step to that right away. But now it is literally an arts program, which has produced a book, which produces each year a calendar which is sought after, not only by other states in this country, but also by other governments around the world. Philadelphia has more murals than anywhere in the world. And that's spectacular. You ought to be proud of it. You also need to know that this effort deserves your support financially. Let it not be locked out of being a part of being recognized as a significant part of quality of life here in Philadelphia.
Thank you very much. 00423 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole The chair recognizes Councilman Ortiz.
Ruth mentioned it. This program is probably one of the great legacies of the Wilson Goode Administration. And people don't remember, but it began as a program to get the taggers, the kids who were painting the subways and the streets. And they were able... Timmy and those folks were able to get those kids into a program that has become this. And it began with a bunch of kids who at midnight with their paint cans and their stuff would skulk around the City and tag walls and trains and buses. And now it has become world renowned, in which we have artists coming from all over the world to participate in it. But you know, the hard part of it were to get those kids who are out there doing all of that and turn them into artists. And they have done that. And I think Wilson Goode needs to be remembered for that.
Yeah. In fact, I 00424 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole thought he lost his mind when that was one of the first programs that he started. But, yeah. We had people like Cornbread who wrote his name on the airplane. And it's a valuable program. I mean, these young people are able to sell their paintings and discover very, very early ways of positively expressing themselves. And that is very much related to an issue of anti-violence, which your Health Department may have a concern about. It is very much an issue of delinquency which the Department of Human Services may have a concern about. It is very much an issue for the D.A.'s office whose Juvenile Aide Panels are there trying to stop a child from going into, you know, a life of crime. So it is very, very important. And you really need to also acknowledge the very, very hard work of the staff there, as well Jane Golden right now is en route to Ireland on a fellowship. She is really a treasure that this City needs to be very, very proud of. And we want the artists of the program to do their artsy kinds 00425 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole of things to make this City the best as it can be; and that the program would have the kind of staff support that it needs to not only just do a good work but do it well in all respects. Thank you so very, very much.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
Thank you, Madam Chair. A couple items. One, I, similar to Councilman Ortiz and some of the other comments that have been made, I have also been a long-term supporter of what was then the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network and has now transformed itself into the Mural Arts Program, going back to its inception back in the early '80s. This is one of the best programs that the City of Philadelphia has to offer, bar none, for anything that we do in this government. It has transformed lives of young people. It has been looked at by governments and other institutions, not only across the country, but also across the world. 00426 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole We have a tremendous staff and artists that work with the program, and certainly the Director, Jane Golden, and the work that she does. And I just want to say thank you for the work that you do. I've had an opportunity to specifically, and I want to thank Paris directly and publicly, who my daughter has had an opportunity to work with him on a number of occasions at a variety of sites and learn directly from an artist. She would learn nothing about art from me, since I know nothing about art, although I do appreciate the picture that I received tonight. But it's the kind of program that I think some people are starting to understand better, that it's not just about art; it really is about people. and Art becomes the mechanism, the vehicle, to access folks who are at a different stage in their lives, and have now had an opportunity to find something that makes some sense to them. 00427 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole And all of us, you know, whether we're young, medium, or somewhat older, should have that wonderful opportunity to find that thing that we enjoy doing, that makes our lives that much better, but also transforms communities and neighborhoods. And so, I just really want to say thank you to you. You have a lot of support right here in City Council for the Mural Arts Program. Continue to do what you do. Continue to let us know how we can be supportive, not just here at Budget time, but the other 364 days of the year when you guys are out there doing work, high up on scaffolding, and taking blank walls which, you know, there's nothing wrong with a blank wall. But when you're finished with it, it's a whole different story. You don't even remember what was there before. It's not just a building. It is, in fact, a piece of art out in the public area. And it doesn't get much better than what you guys do. So I just really want to say thank you. I appreciate it. 00428 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole
Are there any other questions or comments from the Members of the Committee? (No response.)
Thank you again. We appreciate all that you do. Our next witness, Mr. McPherson. MR. McPHERSON: Nicole Hostettler.
Is Nicole Hostettler here? No. 14 (No response.) MR. McPHERSON: John Gallery.
Is John gallery here? No. 18 (No response.) MR. McPHERSON: Barry Jiminez. That's it.
Okay. That completes our... Oh, is this one of the witnesses?
Good 00429 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole evening. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
My name is Faren Jiminez, and I serve as Executive Director of Mt. Airy, USA, which is a non-profit real estate development corporation in Northwest Philadelphia. In addition, I serve as Treasurer of the Board of the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations. Whether one is in Harrisburg or in Philadelphia, the message is the same. Times are hard, and we need to tighten our belts. The Governor is challenged by a looming deficit, as well as the Mayor in a recent address to business leadership predicted a similarly gloomy forecast for Philadelphia. It is a fact that the City's CDBG allocation is declining which is a direct result of our diminishing population. And it is also a fact that those households that remain, according to a recent study reported by the Inquirer, are earning less than those households that took flight to the suburbs. 00430 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole Less people and less income translates into less revenue to support the good work of government. And certainly the message is loud and clear, that we must cut costs. But Members of Council, it is important not just that we cut costs, but what we cut. That we cut sends a message of fiscal responsibility, but what we cut signals our priorities. And if we are truly to transform our neighborhoods, if we are truly to attract private investment to Philadelphia's inner City, if we are truly to realize our dream of a stronger, more vibrant City, with strong commercial corridors, stable and attractive housing, and an increase in residents as well as visitors, we need to be ready to invest in those dreams. In 2001 Manor USA broke ground on an 18,000 square foot office and retail complex called Phoebe Commons. The $3 million project, located along the Germantown Avenue commercial corridor, replaced a dilapidated building and former nuisance bar, and it brought to a long-blighted corridor and stretch of our Avenue a 00431 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole new community asset, with jobs and services, including a new post office, bank and insurance office. Two under-utilized properties nearby recently went on the market, boasting their proximity to our Phoebe Commons. Both sold quickly. One is slated for a violin shop and the other for an art supply store. The City contributed less than ten percent of the cost of the Phoebe Commons project but is reaping the rewards with increased tax revenue, both from our project, and the increased private investment from the adjoining properties. In less than five years, we estimate that the City's $250,000 investment should be fully recaptured. Let me tell you that this project wasn't easy to piece together in a corridor where rents cannot sustain new construction debt, where credit tenants are challenged to woo, and where some might argues CDBG dollars are not permitted. But no one -- I repeat, no one -- can argue that this project was not a win for the City of Philadelphia, a win that was possible only 00432 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole through the availability of a flexible, inexpensive, and fast source of funds called Economic Stimulus. Why should we support Economic Stimulus versus -- against CDBG funding? There are four reasons. First, CDBG funding... Economic Stimulus funding is much more flexible. The next project proposed by Manor USA is a mixed-use project which combines ground floor retail with apartment dwellings on the upper floors. If we were to use CDBG funding, we would find some challenges, because we're doing a mixed-use project which combines housing and commercial development. Economic Stimulus funds can be used for either category. In addition, often for non-profit projects, as is true for for-profit projects, we may discover that we have an additional source of funding that comes in at a later date. Economic Stimulus monies can be backdated, to be used and applied as a project is needed.
CDBG funding can only be dated in the future, which creates financial constraints often 00433 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole to a project and less flexibility. The second reason Economic Stimulus is needed and needs to be increased is because it's an inexpensive source of funding. With our last project, the Phoebe Commons Project, there was a period of time where we were expecting that we were going to need to be using CDBG dollars on the project. As a result, we were instructed by the Commerce Department, in the event that we were going to be using CDBG dollars, to perform an archeological dig at the site. Archeological digs are often required with CDBG funded projects on historic corridors. That added $25,000 to the project, $25,000 of which could have been reinvested in our neighborhood but instead had to go to, in essence, an unfunded mandate. In addition, the reinvestment fund completed a study, which I believe is with the Administration, that shows that often the cost of money can add as much as $30 a square foot in unfunded mandates to the cost of housing construction. 00434 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole Were Economic Stimulus funding available, instead of CDBG or other kind of restricted funding sources, we could save as much as $30 a square foot, which translates on the typical project, to as much as $40,000. The other reason Economic Stimulus us more valuable than CDBG funding is that it's fast. On average, once one applies for CDBG funding, it can take to months from the time 11 one initiates the process to when one actually 12 gets a contract back in their hands. 13 And since, again, as I mentioned 14 earlier, you cannot backdate CDBG funding, that 15 means you are holding a project for 12 to 18 16 months until that date which that contract can 17 commence. 18 In addition, the reason it takes so long for CDBG funding to be allocated is because it requires a host of signatures and oversight before it can finally be executed. In stark contrast, Economic Stimulus can be... Economic Stimulus grants can be executed very quickly. I've had experiences where as quickly as a few weeks. And it only requires 00435 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole four signatures. Finally, the main reason that Economic Stimulus is needed greater and more important than CDBG is because it's worked. We've had experience of it in the past. And as a matter of explanation, the way Economic Stimulus funding originally occurred was under the Rendell Administration, when he first got in office, is that he wanted to create a flexible source of funds. So what he did is, he offset some of the general operating costs to the extent that they could be assigned to CDBG and swap the equal amount to create Economic Stimulus funds. In 1991 that number was around $20 million. By the end of his Administration, that was $30 million. In 2000 that number that became available for Economic Stimulus was sliced to $5 million. Significant reduction. In the Budget before you, the City allots just $4,750,000 towards Economic Stimulus, which is actually a reduction from the prior year. That means that next year we can support no more than a dozen Phoebe Commons across 00436 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole the City. And while to some that may sound like a lot, keep in mind that from 1991 through 1999, the available pool of Economic Stimulus funds could support more than 100 Phoebe Commons each year. Between $20 to $30 million was available annually. So let's really talk about Neighborhood Transformation, by not only restoring but increasing the pool of funds available for Economic Stimulus. Next year let's build 100 Phoebe Commons.
Thank you very much. Are there any questions or comments from Members of the Committee? (No response.)
Thank you again. We appreciate your testimony. That concludes our witness list. Is there anybody in the audience that would like to testify? Please approach the witness table. Kindly identify yourself for the record, please.
My name is Sheila Harper. I am Board Chair for Public Health Center 00437 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole Number 9. And I just wanted to come to Council to mention a few things. First, I wanted to thank Councilwoman Tasco. She has initiated a study of infant mortality up in the Northwest area. And I really am hopeful -- you know, thankful to her for that. And in addition to that, the Health Department has initiated something called The Fetal Infant Mortality Rate. And they're starting their focus in Northwest Philadelphia. I think it's directly probably as a result of what Miss Tasco did. So I'd like to thank her for that. One of the things that I would like to ask Council for, one of the problems is, there's really no funding for that. So I would like you to consider because of the fact that we do at this point have one of the highest infant mortality rates in the area, if you could set aside a pot of money to support the Health Department in the fetal infant mortality rate project they're working on right now... So that's one thing that I'd like to talk about. 00438 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole The second thing, we have a piece of X-ray equipment that has been sitting wherever for about the last year. It's a new piece of equipment. We currently have an X-ray machine from Philadelphia General Hospital. And you know, that closed in -- 9
Yeah. 1976. And it's 12 probably older than that. 13 We have a brand new piece of 14 equipment that's been sitting downtown, and it's 15 waiting for whatever, electrical wiring plugs or 16 something like that. 17 And it's been sitting around for 18 about a year now. And we would like to... 19 Whatever the process is. I know that there were some bids that were put out. But, you know, if they could just loosen up that money so we can get a piece of new X-ray equipment, I think it would help.
The piece of equipment is downtown somewhere? 00439 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole
The Commissioner of Health is here. Do you know anything about it, Commissioner? HEALTH COMMISSIONER: I'm going to find out.
Thirdly, the tobacco monies that were put aside for the Adult Basic Health Insurance Program? Well, we maxed out 40,000 a couple of months ago. They had put aside 40,000. They put aside funds for 40,000 people to be covered. Well, 40,000 was maxed out. That's all around the State. It was maxed out really quickly. And I'm here -- I want to ask Council, because those funds -- I think it's $11.5 billion that's been coming, you know, down on the tobacco settlement funds? We can go back each year to ask the State because they have to come up with a budget 00440 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole yearly on those funds. Well, 40,000 isn't even enough for Philadelphia, much less for the whole population of Pennsylvania. I would like Council to put forth something to the State to request specific funding of that tobacco money in the current State Budget -- I don't know exactly where that is -- but to ask for some of those funds to cover our uninsured. Of course, I'm concerned about Public Health Center Number 9 because we have so many uninsured. So, don't forget that we can ask every year. You know, I would have liked it if we could have gone in on ourselves -- you know, on our own, without having to go to the State to ask, but we do have a friend in Harrisburg now. So, I think we should go and ask. And basically that's it. I wanted to get the X-ray machine. And also, one final thing, mammogram. We have a ramp or we have a need for the ramp so that we can get the piece of mammogram equipment into the Health Center. 00441 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole Currently we send people to Temple Hospital to get their mammograms. For some people --
The Health Commissioner is diligently writing down everything you're saying, so I'm sure that he'll take care of that.
Are there any questions or comments from Members of the Committee? (No response.)
I believe we have another witness. Did you raise your hand? Would you please approach the witness table. Good evening. Identify yourself for the record, please. 00442 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole
I'm Leslie Birch. And I came here last year. I live in Art Museum Area; and, yes, I'm yet another person saying thanks for the Recycling Project. It is amazing just to even be in my area, to deliver stuff near Northstar Bar and to see how many happy people you get to know from doing recycling. And of course it helps immensely or we'd all be sitting on top of our plastic cartons at this point. And also, same with Rittenhouse Square. I witnessed that recently. It is a huge hoopla at Rittenhouse Square to see people taking their recycling. So I thank you so much for having that. And please continue it. And if anything, give it a little more money. That's it. Thank you.
Thanks a lot. Thank you. Anyone else to testify? (No response.)
Seeing no 25 one, the Committee will stand in recess until 00443 03/18/03 - Committee of the Whole Monday, March the 24th at 9:30. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for your patience. (Hearings continued to Monday, March 24, 2003, 9:30 a.m.) 00444 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings and evidence are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the City Council Hearing taken on March 18, 2003, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. _____________________________ DAVID A. DEIK, RPR and Commissioner of Deeds (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.)