Thank you so much, Mr. Thompson. Are any question from questions from members of the committee? (No questions.)
Thank you very much. Ruth Birchett from Heritage Community Development Corporation.
Good evening. Thank 2530 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 you.
For sacrificing your evening. I'm sure you could be with your families but you're here with us.
Thank you. I think all of us. I had four meetings so I missed my meetings so I would have been at another Town Meeting on education.
Well, I hope my notes serve me well in that I can make comments as concise as possible. My name is Ruth Birchett, B-I-R-C-H-E-T-T, and I'm founder of Heritage Community Economic Development Corporation in North Philadelphia. And I wanted to talk about the blight elimination plan and to say that in our North Philadelphia neighborhood we have great anticipation for this. I happen to live in a house where my family's been 50 years, and we're vested in our community. However, it's been a difficult journey. It's been a good journey, but it's also been a difficult journey. Across from my home there are no houses left standing and we 2531 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 find ourselves surrounded by huge vacant lots, some that expand a full square block. And so while we're very, very interested in having new construction and certainly the rehabilitation of existing structures that can be salvaged, we also understand that blight elimination is more than bricks and mortar. We also have a very real concern about restoring the social infrastructure of our neighborhoods as well. But on the issue of the bricks and mortar, it's amazing to imagine a billion dollars being targeted to turn our neighborhoods around here in the City. We have benefitted in seeing how far our City can go with economic development when there's a particular interest spent on businesses. And we're very happy about Mayor Street's focus on the neighborhoods as well. We've always believe that we can do both. And we are happy that we have that kind of leadership to say that it is indeed important. And one of the things I really advocate for is to look at the expenditure of those funds with an eye toward leveraging every single dollar possible to create job opportunities and to create 2532 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 opportunities for neighborhoods economic development. In listening to the discussion about recycling for example, I wasn't sitting here thinking about contacting a vendor who might come and get our tires and take them away, but rather I was thinking of exploring the creation of a business that would be Philadelphia-based that could process those tires itself that citizens could literally take their tires and drop them off there at no cost. Businesses such as that have to exist somewhere. We may as well have the revenue. Why give away millions an millions of tires that can be utilized to create jobs here and also solve a major problem. Many of the vacant lots in our community are some of the vacant lots that these tires end up on. My organization and the children with our science an nature club have engaged in competitions over the summer using summer youth workers to clean lots, and we enjoy a wonderful relationship with the clean and seal unit of Licenses and Inspections. In fact, we had a goal to clean a hundred lots in any one summer and the highest we've gotten has been 93, which is 2533 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 remarkable.
It is remarkable for teens, it is a remarkable effort from the people in the community who support, you know, our efforts. However, there needs to be more. So I'm really pleased to have heard all the focus on recycling because while we in the '80s found ourselves really struggling with the issue of short-dumping on these vacant lots and believed that Council and the state legislature did some things that they needed to do to make it more problematic for persons who would do that we haven't been able to resolve that issue with the tire situation. I'd like to say, also, with regard to the recycling issue that plastics is something that makes me wonder. I'm also block captain of my block and I'm a committee person as well, and my block has begun to recycle on a regular basis to the point where a neighbor will literally call me or I will call someone else and say, "This is recycling day," because it is difficult to 2534 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 remember every other week, and so I do support the concept of having the recycling be once a week and also perhaps coinciding with pickup day. And I know people will have a transition. I remember years ago when we had a garbage can and a trash can and, you know, it was kind of -- it was a struggle then and you did it in the summertime worry about maggots and all those other kinds of things. However, when we went to getting rid of the whole issue of garbage cans, we still -- people adapted. We did adapt, and I believe with the recycling we can adapt, too. But we're not using all the resources that we can use at our hand. For example, we have Philadelphia More Beautiful Committee has a list of 6,000 block captains. Now, I as a block captain I have received recycling literature through the mail, but this kind of initiative requires hands on. It requires community outreach, and I will really advocate for the recycling which in fact is the law in Pennsylvania and the law in the County of Philadelphia, but it is an unknown law and it is simply incredible and one that could really help us deal with the issue of trash on our vacant lots 2535 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 and also on our streets. So I will advocate for somehow for the Philadelphia the Beautiful Committee as well as the Recycling Office to be working together to energize block captains to get in on the act. Last year when the Mayor and the Streets Department introduced Curby Bucket to the Philadelphia community, it was my after-school program and my science and nature club that took off from school and came out to help do that. We have a commitment to recycling, but there really does need to be a visible campaign. I'd like to say also that with regard to blight elimination as well and part of what our neighborhoods need, we need to, as we're trying to restore neighborhoods like ours in North Philadelphia, for example -- our areas is the area where the riot were years ago. I was sitting on my steps the night of the riots, and our neighborhood has gone down ever since. And certainly it wasn't just the turmoil of the '60s that did it. We a major problem with police brutality and a bunch of other things as well. And certainly heroin coming into the community and 2536 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 then the gang warring situation didn't help matters at all, and the poverty, you know, was problematic as well. However, there are many, many families that have stayed regardless. It is very, very critical that we look at as we look at rebuilding our neighborhood that we look at how much we want to keep, how much of what we want to have in our neighborhood, and how much we don't want to have. For example, it has been a concern for me that our North Philadelphia neighborhoods have been the target of recovery houses.
And as someone who has run residential housing for the mentally ill, for the mentally retarded, for the homeless population and have advocated for housing throughout the City, I find myself as an advocate not to the extreme of "not in my neighborhood," but very, very sad because I'm seeing a ressentiment toward this population of people, people who are substance abusers. That's unfair. It also is causing us to digress from a matter of tolerance that we had built up toward. Having any type of residential housing in a neighborhood has always taken a lot of care, a lot of concern and a 2537 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 lot of effort on the part of provider as well as community people. And I've heard community people say over and over again that they're sick and tired of this. It baffles me how in the Health Department you can have the Office of Mental Health and Mental Retardation which are the trendsetters in this town, as far as I'm concerned, and I'm speaking out as a disabilities professional, have been the trendsetters in going out and working with neighborhoods to try to gain access for people with special populations. They have standards about oversaturation, standards about placement in housing, standards about normalization and not warehousing people into one cluster of the area. And I would like to see CODAP somehow confer with the people in the Office of Mental Health and Mental Retardation to look at what policies and practices and principles of operation that they have set forth and perhaps pattern something behind that. I think it will do a lot to give direction to the providers in an industry, for lack of a better word to describe it, that is evolving and coming up but doesn't have the same structure that MHMR does. 2538 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 And I would just like to say with regard to the social infrastructure as well, I'm very, very pleased that Mayor Street has put forth within the budget increase for after-school programs.
We believe that that is the very smart thing to do. Heritage began ten years ago in my home to respond to the situation of blight in our community, however, the children and elders and everyone else was so at risk because also ten years ago uzzis were on our blocks and just creating all kinds of problems so a lot of people were at risk. Well, now we have an after-school program, and I'm seeing with that that it is a desperate need for the existence of after-school programs, certainly particularly over the last year with our welfare reform. But as we look at the need for after-school programs, we really must remember the need to accommodate children with special needs. A lot of difficulties that families are having and children are having with achieving in school is directly related to their ability to function adequately. 2539 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 And it concerns me that the School District does not do everything it can do with their expertise on the issue of early intervention and ensuring that the needs of children are assessed and accommodated. Parent after parent has come to me in frustration voicing upset that they have a child that's been suspended over and over again, they have a child who's having problems and the answer is to remove them or to suspend them rather than to examine what is the problem with that child and child's level of functioning. And so, you know, I advocate for that to really be looked at because even in -- not just in a school environment do you find that it is difficult to accommodate some children, but you will find that also in the after-school environment as well. And we in our after-school program have even accommodated special children but with far less structure and support than the school district.
Thank you. Can you start wrapping it up, Ms. Birchett.
I also want to thank 2540 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 Council, too, for the renovations to Health Center 5. I'm a patient of Health Center and I boast 4 that we have some of the best staff anywhere as 5 health care professionals. We have people at our health care center, and I'm also vice president of their community board, but we have people at our health center staff who have been there an 30 9 years, very, very committed personnel. However, 10 they operate at a disadvantage. It's not just the 11 patients that are operating at a disadvantage. 12 When there isn't enough personnel and people can't 13 get an appointment in time, they're frustrated. 14 We have a broken door at Health Center 5 because a 15 dental patient was in so much pain and so 16 distressed that he ended up just acting out in 17 frustration. We have had a pharmacist open the 18 door to come out of the pharmacy and he was 19 punched. You know, it is a problem in a 20 neighborhood such as ours where a person leaves the prescription and has to come back a day or so later to get it. That person may have walked to that health center, that person may have taken off from work, that person may have the inability, if an elder in particular, to have the chance to come 2541 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 back to find that it may be ready or it may not be ready. And I know that the Health Department has attempted to address this effort, but I just need to say to you that we need an increase in the personnel for pharmacies, but we also need to really seriously look at and make financial accommodations to every extent possible for the personnel increases as the population of uninsured people has increased as well.
Absolutely. Very, very important. And we've heard that theme over and over.
Yes, I'm sure. And then the last thing I'd like to mention is the police department as it relates to, again, social infrastructure, and some people may not view that immediately as an issue of social infrastructure, but we do. It is important that the police department work along with communities. We've spent a lot of time over the past 15 years at least working on community policing, community policing. And it concerns me when in some people's mind with a department it is still something as active and something we want to 2542 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 pursue, but it concerns me when the Commissioner doesn't seem to share that. You know, we as you may know we have a very serious problem in the City about gunfire on New Year's eve. And I found it difficult to explain to people what the situation and how it was accelerating in our community to the point where I put my tape recorder outside of my window in 1998 on New Year's Eve and met with the Police Commissioner in the hopes that we could get him to work with us to develop a year-long campaign because it's not just the drug dealers that are out there shooting these guns; it is also the homeowners who just blow that gun out one time a year, and the bullet has got to land somewhere. It was our belief as community people that if Camden can get rid of fires on Halloween, the hundred fires every Halloween the way that they did with clergy, police, neighborhood people, Town Watch, children everybody working together, that they had nothing on our community-based organizations here in this town that we could do the same thing as well. And it's our hope that during this year that we can keep the issue alive, the issue of guns in our 2543 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 community, but also trying to make sure that that behavior diminishes even more in the next year. And lastly on the issue of --
We're going to give you another minute and then you're going to have to complete your testimony.
That's fine. Mayor Street had indicated an interest in suing the gun manufacturers. And I would just like to state that we are in favor of that, that I'm disappointed at the steps that are taken in Harrisburg that prevented counties from being able to do that, but I believe that if the Mayor and the Council thought it important to do so that you would find a lot of neighborhood support for you. And with that I end my comments and also encourage your tolerance for the testimony of community people as you do for the heads of your departments. I know that they have a lot more to talk about, but it's not often that we get a 2544 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 chance to have the forum and we try not to be lengthy, but it's important to be on the record. Thank you.
Miss Birchett, I think you set forth an excellent program for making Philadelphia a world-class city, and I think you have your priorities right because I heard no mention of stadiums in that direction. I heard a whole series of suggestions from you to improve life in the neighborhoods and I congratulate you on that and hope you win a lot of support for the kind of programs you talked about. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Is there anyone else here who would like to testify? Is there anyone else? Yes, ma'am, come forward. (Witness comes forward.)
Is there 2545 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 anyone else here? All right, give us your name for the record.
Oh, yes, we had you down earlier for 1:30. Okay, Ms. Fabian, thank you.
Honorable Members of Council and guests, we represent the Fisher Park Community Alliance which is an advocacy group for Fisher Park. It's a 26-acre park, urban park located on Fifth Street in the 6000 block between Spencer and Champlost Street. Right now the park operates by a tight group of volunteers under Fairmount Park and we have come to you tonight to ask for your support in helping the park be revitalized. As many neighborhoods in the City, we have been neglected. We view our park as both a unifier and a refuge for enjoyment. That unifier ties to unify a very richly diverse group of residents. The capital improvements we are seeking may highlight some of the neglect. We're 2546 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 asking for additional lighting, especially on the west and north sides of the park. We're looking to resurface the tennis courts for many of the summer programs that exist for our children in the community. We're looking to have bike police, not only in our park, but also could be shared with the Olney community. Many of our young mothers are leaving the City and going to suburban parks to use the playgrounds elsewhere for their toddlers, so we are asking that we have a tot lot for the many children and toddlers in our area and also enhanced playground equipment that meets current standards. Our teens have no movie theaters. Our children have no bowling allies. We have no place for our children. And we are hoping that by revitalizing the park, we can interest our teens and bring them back into the community and integrate them more than they are so now. We'd like to think that the money that the City invest into the parks are fewer dollars that are spent on criminal justice costs especially with your young teenagers. And tonight we ask you for your help and support for Fisher 2547 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 Park. Thank you.
Thank you very much. I'd just like to say that Fisher Park is in the 9th Councilmanic District. I want to thank the ladies for coming down to testify. We asked them and we appreciate your waiting and your testimony, and certainly we're very supportive for you and the park and I applaud you for the wonderful work you all do there and you all are volunteers and they are a wonderful group and they just represent a small portion of the larger committee but they're very active and work very hard so we support you.
To the two -- is 2548 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 this anybody in the audience from the Recreation Department who -- well, Fairmount Park is under the jurisdiction that would know about how much funding the County of Philadelphia gets compared to other funding by the State of counties. Is there anybody familiar with that? The reason I ask that question is it's my understanding that the City of Philadelphia in its role as a county gets less funding for parks than any other of the 67 counties in the State. That this is an example where the City of Philadelphia is simultaneously the County of Philadelphia precisely the same jurisdiction, we get shortchanged. The State treats us as a city for park purposes but for purposes of supporting the court system, it treats us as a county and says we have to assume county responsibilities, but we don't get any benefit from being a county. That's one of the problems that this Council, I think, is going to be addressing in the future. Thank you.
Yes, I yield to you. 2549 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005
One of the problems that I observe is that there's some confusion -- I don't know if confusion, but doesn't seem to be a very efficient way, where some of these community parks are managed by the Recreation Department. And forgive me if I've got it vice versa. And I don't understand how the Recreation Department when there's not one bit of recreation equipment in these community parks is responsible for maintaining what Fairmount Park Commission should be maintaining. So I think we really need, and I know the acting Recreation Commissioner is here, for someone to provide to the Chair the rationale of why the Recreation Department is responsible for a facility that I call a park when it's not a recreation facility. So I think that maybe we've got this placed improperly and not the most department. No disrespect when I say not the most efficient department, but not the right place for the maintenance of these facilities. I know Vernon Park, is that a facility that's maintained by the Recreation Department? 2550 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005
I can't figure how Vernon Park figures as a recreation facility. There's no play equipment in there, is there Commissioner?
So I think that that whole issue needs to be visited to see if maybe the transfer of that maintenance responsibility should go to the Fairmount Park Commission rather than the Recreation Commissioner. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you very much. Is this anyone else here to testify? (No response.)
All right. As soon as the president comes back verifying the date we recess until, but for tonight we're over and we will announce this committee will stand in recess until and I'll give you that date in a few seconds. Thank you everybody, and members from the administration, too. I know it's a grueling 2551 2/29/00, Operating Budget, Bill 000005 experience, but it will get better. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
The Committee of the Whole will stand in recess until Monday, March the 6th at o'clock. Thank you. 7 (Adjourned at 8:45 p.m.) 8 - - - 9 2552 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 February 29, 2000, were reported fully and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of same. RE: COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE BILL NO. 000005 __________________________________, JOSEPHINE CARDILLO, Registered Professional Reporter