Moderator Notes for Group 1
Kiki Bolender, Ben Cromie, David Secan
Pinn Memorial - West Philadelphia
February 23, 2009

Group Number 1
Moderators: Kiki Bolender, Benjamin Cromie, David Secan
Total points: 39

Group Description:

There were 12 people in the group. Seven were male and five were female; nine were white and three were African-American. We estimate that eight were between the ages of 21 and 40, one was 41 to 60 years old, and three were over 60.

The group was skeptical of the process throughout, although it was a very good discussion. One worksheet was filled out by a gentleman who could not stay for the whole event, but he did not say if he was dissenting. One person tried to dominate the discussion.

Low-Hanging Fruit
Total points: 39
• 20. Eagles - $8 million - 4 points
o Unanimous
o Eagles might leave the city if they don’t have a friendly environment
o Eagles should pay their own way
• 21. Parking - 30% tax - 10 points
o Almost everyone
o Raise to 30% to lower congestion
o City could lose revenue from visitors
o Lower parking meter rates
o Improve Septa and paratransit, use more PhillyCarShare
• 17. Amusement - increase to 6% - 2 points
o Perhaps in CC only - although some countered this might not be feasible
o Perhaps only on high ticket prices.
• 3. Drop Program - end program - 3 points
o Almost everyone
o Don’t cut the full value - just 3 points worth
• Exclude city council
• Don’t hire people under a new position after they take the deal
• 16. Vehicle Fleet - reduce budget by 20% - 3 points
o Almost everyone
o Don’t cut by full value - just 3 points
• Only non-essential vehicles
o Use more Zip Cars/PhillyCarShare/Septa
o Cut City Council cars (they know it is in a separate budget)
• 12. Prisons - reduce budget by 10% - 10 points
o The group liked the idea of diversion and other alternate sentencing programs for non-violent/drug offenders
o Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Everett Gillison stated that the programs work but “nimbyism” (Not In My Back Yard) limits implementation
o Dedicate 10% of existing programs and services in other departments (housing, etc.) to alternate sentencing.
• 1. Administrative - 5 points
o Unanimous
• 9. Law - Reduce budget by 30% - 2 pts
o Unanimous, little discussion
o “Kill the lawyers.”

• General note
o Where ever possible, pursue private funding to fill gaps, e.g. libraries and recreation
o One person countered that the city can afford to fund these “essential” services with public funding. A debate on what was “essential” ensued.

Mentioned but not selected

• 25. Wage/Resident - increase 0.1% to 4.0396 - 12 points
o Votes for 25 and 26 taken together
• 26. Wage/Commuter - increase 0.1% to 3.5997 - 5 points
o Some think it can be raised higher - to the 2004 levels.
o We should exempt some income to make the tax progressive, or convert it to an income tax.
o Jennie Sparandara of the Mayor’s Office of Policy and Planning said that we can legally raise commuter tax to same as residential level
o “Is it temporary or is the city going to get used to it?”
• 18. BPT Gross Receipts - 2 points
o Exempt first $500,000
o Need to encourage small businesses
o “We need a business friendly city:
o City should not shelter what it pays for consultants
o There should a business tax abatement or a “city opportunity zone”
o Focus on a tax structure that is progressive
o Stop giving hand-outs to corporations (Comcast, for its building)
• 22. Real Estate - both tax increases - 5 points per mil
o Tax non profits: schools and churches (this was the primary comment of the evening by one individual)
• 13. Public Health - 0 points
o Nursing homes are very important part of public health
o They don’t just help the elderly
o Perhaps they could be managed privately
No Ways, No Hows
Total points: 120

Towards the end of the session, the group agreed that the city should not cut essential services. They quickly came to consensus that all options related to the following areas are “essential” and are not to be cut:

• 4. Fairmount Park - 2 points
• 5. Fire - 20 points
• 6. Free Library - 3 points
• 7. Housing -7 points
• 8. Human Services - 19 points
• 10. Licenses and Inspections - 4 points
o “They need more money so they can do they’re job right.”
• 11. Police - 52 points
• 13. Public Health -8 points
(notes from discussion in Low-Hanging Fruit above)
o Nursing homes are very important part of public health
o They don’t just help the elderly
o Perhaps they could be managed privately
• 14. Recreation -5 points
Shared Pain
Total points: 0

Mentioned but not selected

• 4. Fairmount Park - both cuts- 0
o One person mentioned that, although she loved the park, she would suggest it in the spirit of shared sacrifice, but the motion was voted down.

Gut Wrenchers
Total points: 0
• We did not reach this section

Big, Hairy, Ambitious Goals
• We did not reach this section

Memorable Quotes

• “We need a business-friendly city.”
• Regarding Licenses and Inspections: “They need more money so they can do they’re job right.”
• “Creative thinking saved the libraries. We are here because we ‘broke the rules.’”
Process

• One person believed that some of the information on the worksheet was incorrect
• “We should be focusing on the big picture.”
• “We have to decide whether we deal with what we can change for 2010 or look at long-term ideas.”
• At one point the group voted to abandon the worksheet process in order to discuss the big picture, but immediately after the vote, people returned to discussing the worksheet.