Moderator Report
City Budget Report from Davis Lafferty 2/23/09; West Philadelphia, Pinn Memorial Baptist Church

Group 3
Moderators: Joan Davis, Pete Lafferty
Total points: 58 (LHF, GUT, and SP)
(62 in NHNW)
Group Description:
Our group was composed of 16 citizens; 10 women and 6 men. There were 5 African Americans and 11 Caucasians. 9 appeared to be under 40 years of age; 7 above 40.

Our group was situated in the basement room with 4 other groups which necessitated a closeness which helped conversation. There weren’t too many process questions or objections, and the group moved into the work. We split them into 4 small groups of 4 people each. While there appeared to be some dominant personalities, responses were heard from across most of the entire group. There were a few who were into advocating strongly for their positions on matters. One woman was advocating for homeless issues and stood to make her point, and raised her point in making her speech. Another person asked if he could make his statement, and stood to make it. We brought the group back to the deliberation process and continued our work. Overall, citizens listened as best they could and wanted to hear others and be heard. The group was appreciative of everyone’s efforts and some of the suggestions were of a volunteerism spirit (volunteer fire department, volunteers for Fairmount Park, etc.-please see other parts of the report). Our city budget officials were helpful in clarifying points as the evening progressed.

Dissenting worksheets: We didn’t note any completed.
Low-Hanging Fruit
Total Points: 14
• #20: Eagles: 4 pts
o No discussion
o Vote: 13/16: 81%
• #1: Administrative: 5 pts
o Who is cut; what services are affected?
o Transferable skills held by workers in these positions make it easier for them to find new jobs.
o Civil Service cuts are tough to make; will cuts be effective?
o Vote: 12/16: 75%
• #1: Administrative Revenue option: 1 pt
o Vote: 15/16: 94%
• #3: Drop Program: 4 pts
o Is this going to save money?
o City Council gave this; was it fair to give?
o Standard: if doing the Drop Program, employees can’t return to work
o Vote: 12/16: 75%
No Ways, No Hows
Total points: 62
• #2: Courts: 10 pts
o Critical to keep entire flow going; backups would occur.
o Keep in place to help with efficiency
o Vote: 13/16: 81%
• #8: Human Services: 19 pts
o Citizen would like more information on this topic
o Mostly federal/state dollars supporting the budget
o vote: 14/16: 88%
• #7: Housing: 7 pts
o End support for home purchases
o Concern over amount of affordable housing stock
o Get folks into foreclosed areas/homes
o Lower shelter population
o Vote: 14/16: 88%
• #13: Public Health: 5 pts
o Keep nursing home; privatization would increase costs and make it unaffordable
o Don’t close health center; no OTC meds
o Privatize? City can rent out the space to the vendor; bring in revenue, not on city budget.
o Vote: 13/16: 81%
• #12: Prisons: 21 pts
o Cut would cost more.
o Invest more into this
o 10% of prison population doesn’t belong there
o How is the quality of life?
o Vote: 12/16: 75%
Shared Pain
Total points: 11
• #17: Amusement: 2 pts
o Impact kids and seniors; those with fixed income or multiple kids
o Vote: 11/16: 69%
• #21: Parking: 2 pts
o More public transportation
o Too expensive to park
o So. Philly parking culture (double-parking): should be a revenue source; is there bias/unfair enforcement?
o Vote: 12/16: 75%
• #23: Real Estate Transfer: 2 pts
o Housing Trust Fund implications?
o Increase Trust Fund?
o Increase affordable housing
o Won’t affect housing purchases
o More rental properties desired
o Housing stock is demolished and replaced with higher priced properties
o Propose up to 4% increase
o Variables: raise fees-what impact on revenue?
o Strive for long-term sustainability
o Increase fees…move people in?
o Vote: 11/16: 69%
• #22: Real Estate: 5 pts
o Low income stipulation
o During poor economy avoid this increase
o Land value: empty lot challenge: tax lots/entire space vs. just the building
o Increase to 2 mil.
o Vote: 9/16: 56%
Gut Wrenchers
Total points: 33
• #11: Police: modified to 23 pts
o Cut 10%
o Is a huge amount of the budget
o No way not to take a hit
o Not enough Police in neighborhood; keep the police
o Supplement coverage with University Police
o Bike patrols by volunteers
o Don’t reduce specialty units or unit size
o No layoffs; just keep those positions vacant unfilled
o Control overtime costs; audit if necessary
o Cops in court result in overtime costs
o Vote: 13/16: 81%
• #5: Fire: 10 pts
o If Police dept. can take hit, so can Fire
o Volunteer force?
o Inefficient to close, then re-open a firehouse
o Vote: 13/16: 81%
Big, Hairy, Ambitious Goals 0; did not get to this part

Memorable Quotes: None
New Ideas:

A. Pilot Question: Have partnerships with non-profits: hospitals/universities: support libraries, etc.
B. Mill Rate: increase to 35
C. Pensions into 401k programs
D. Use volunteers for Fairmount park, parks and recreation departments, fire department
E. Fairmount Park and Parks and Recreation departments help kids
F. Take grassroots organizations seriously
G. Empower youth
H. Declare bankruptcy; renegotiate contracts and wages
I. Want to ‘pay per bag’ for garbage collection