Group Number 1
Moderators: Kiki Bolender and David Secan
Total points: 57

Group Description:
Our group of 25 was made up of seven men, 16 women and two middle-school-age girls. Seventeen were African American, and eight were white. About half were middle-age, with maybe six adults younger than 40 and a few maybe older than 60. The group worked in small groups of four people each to analyze the budget alternatives. Two city officials worked with us: Maia from the Managing Director’s Office and Rob Dubow, city finance director.

This was a group that made you glad to live in Philadelphia. People were, as befits good Philadelphians, opinionated, hard-headed, passionate and often loud, talking over one another as they might at a big family dinner. We did not make it to the “Gut Wrencher” bucket, even though people were willing to move on from a contentious point, in the interest of covering other issues.

A young woman who lives in Germantown, but works in two North Philadelphia city health centers, was very disturbed that there was not a workshop in North Philadelphia. She said she had passed out flyers at the centers to get people to go, but that it was just to difficult to get to the workshop locations, especially for the elderly. She thought it gave the appearance of a deliberate snub.

There were lots of good new ideas, with one major one that got a round of applause, with a promise from the moderators to try and make it happen. See below.

Low Hanging Fruit
Total points: 16
• No. 3: DROP Program - 4 points
o It is supposed to save money in the long run, but it has been abused and big loopholes have been found, especially among higher-income workers and elected officials.
• No. 16: Vehicle Fleet - 6 points
o High level of agreement, mainly centered on the question of why the city workers should have cars provided for them at all.
o By not turning over the vehicles regularly, the aged fleet could cost more in maintenance.
o The public perception of waste is important. “Put parking meters around City Hall” for the elected officials’ parking.
o Public transit would be given a lot more money if the politicians had to ride every day.
• No. 20: Eagles - 4 points
o Unanimous approval for this, with the light-hearted disagreement that the Eagles could keep the money if they spent it on a new wide receiver.
o No opposition, short discussion.
• No. 21: Parking - 2 points
o High level of agreement with very little discussion.

No Ways, No Hows
Total points taken off the table: 44
• No. 4: Fairmount Park - 1 or 2 points
o All agreed that it has already been cut to the bone. High level of agreement with very little discussion.
• No. 5: Fire - 10 or 20 points
o This is a very basic service, and it has already been cut to the bone.
• No. 6: Free Library - 1 or 3 points
o High level of agreement, especially around the issue of Internet access for people who cannot afford to have it at home.
• No. 7: Housing - 7 points
o High level of agreement, to protect those who are vulnerable. There was some annoyance with the city for not providing more information for us to work with.
• No. 13: Public Health - 5, 7 or 1 points
o Protect those who are vulnerable. High level of agreement with very little discussion.
• No. 14: Recreation - 2, 3 or 5 points
o All agreed that the department has already been cut to the bone. High level of agreement with very little discussion.

Shared Pain
Total points: 41
• No. 1: Administrative - 5 points
o Our understanding of this was enriched by one young man who works with transitioning people out of nursing homes and back into society. This program and others are funded through the Mayor’s Office, so the administrative cuts will be more painful than they might first appear.
o This area has already taken some serious budget hits.
• No. 11: Police - 16 points
o This was a very lively discussion that started out with people trying to understand what the various budget cuts might mean. Our city officials, Maia and Rob, were on their cell phones immediately to bring in Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Everett Gillison. Group members had basic questions and used the information from the deputy mayor to help formulate their decisions.
o What about that specialty unit that staked out a house in South Philadelphia for 10 years and never found anything?
o What are the specialty units that are listed to be cut? (EG: They include units that can be deployed for days or weeks to a “hot spot” like Point Breeze is right now.)
o “My sister was assaulted in her home, and it took the police 45 minutes to arrive.” Is that the work of a specialty unit? (EG: No, that is the responsibility of the patrol officers, the first of five core services - followed by detectives, homicide, sex crimes and highway units. He asked to speak privately with the questioner about what happened.)
o Again, this was a pretty tough group, even though they showed great compassion throughout. They voted to do a partial cut that would not take away everything that would be cut with the 10% cut.
• No. 15c: Pay As You Throw - 0 points
o This was very narrowly voted down (it may have returned had we had time for the “Gut Wrenchers”). People were very clear about exempting low-income people from the $260 annual fee, but it still did not quite make the list.
• No. 18: BPT - Gross Receipts - 2 points
o Some discussion about the nature of the tax. Some people thought that it was unfair to small businesses, but someone else thought that it was a way to get at big companies that could otherwise hide their profits.
• No. 19: BPT - Net Profits Tax - 2 points
o Little discussion, but still with sympathy for small businesses.
• No. 22: Real Estate - 10 points
o New idea - Modify the real estate tax to be heavily weighted toward unimproved land - increase revenue and inhibit speculation that keeps parcels empty to the detriment of the neighborhood.
o New idea - Expand the tax base by freeing up (selling) government land, like that held by the Redevelopment Authority.
o New idea - Allow a “homestead exemption” for property owners at a certain level of income.
• No. 24: Sales Tax - 6 points
o This was a very painful one to include, as it harshly affects lower-income and unemployed people. They don’t have the means to cross over the county to buy their prescriptions at Wal-Mart and get a lower sales tax.

Gut Wrenchers
Total points: 0
• We just ran out of time, even though we continued until 9:30.

Big, Hairy, Ambitious Goals
• First Judicial District
o Rob gave a very quick outline of the muddy legal history. Group members asked that the city stay the course and go after the state creatively.

Very Big New Idea
• City Council should take a hard look at itself, and perhaps commit to a 10-15% reduction in their budgets within 30 days after March 19. They should commit to participating in and supporting the same process we are currently doing, but for the City Council budgets.

Memorable Quotes
• “We’re not here to pull everything down to lower standards.” This was an interesting comment, coming from a group that was very realistic and not afraid to ask for more cuts and to go after wasteful spending. They want the cuts to be done very carefully.
• “I disagree with all service cuts done for financial reasons only.” Human needs are most important. The speaker was a representative of the Socialist Workers Party.
• “I’m just passing through.” Councilman Bill Green, when asked to sit down and join a small group that was short by one person.
• As people were leaving, a woman came up and asked the moderators what kind of impact we could really expect to have. In spite of her worries about the effectiveness of the process, she left praising the group, saying, “Everybody was concerned about those less fortunate. Philadelphia is great.”