Group 5
Moderators: Beth Perry and Ted Enoch
Total points: 28

Group Description:
Group 5 proved to be a passionate, sometimes outspoken, group of 15 citizens, most identifying as being from South Philadelphia. The group had a mix of ages, though many in the group appeared to be 40 to 60 years old. Most were women, most were white (12 of 15) and many were Italian Americans. There were three 8th grade boys from St. Monica’s school in the group, though only one stayed the entire time. This one boy, however, was a thoughtful and wise presence. The group seemed to be predominately working and middle class.

This group wanted more information than what was presented in the worksheet. Sometimes the group struggled to stay on one point at a time. Within the group, certainly was some dissatisfaction with the way Philadelphia has been run, and some members felt like any decision offered in the choices need only be made after problems like corruption, patronage and inefficiencies were addressed throughout our local government. Some did not love the process that was presented. Some did not feel it was our responsibility to close the gap with these choices. Rather they thought that too many mistakes had been made in the past and that Philadelphia has been too long avoiding making difficult decisions and changes. The group was willing to create new ideas and some were clearly concerned with long-range concerns like the city’s pension plan. As you might imagine, Group 5 did not fly through the process, easily making decision after decision that continuously closed the budget gap. Rather, the group spent a long time analyzing the process, then spent a long time trying to identify “the easy decisions” or “Low Hanging Fruit” options. Group 5 also spent a long time with the “No Way, No How” section, trying to identify services to protect and taxes or fees to avoid.

Ultimately, Group 5 did prove to be comprised of very invested and concerned citizens. They seemed like they may have been willing to go well past the 9:30 closing hour and continue talking about ideas and changes for the city. It should be noted that no one in the group took the option of filing a dissenting or individual report. All were willing to work as a group and submit one report forward to the city.

As to the decisions and ideas of this group, some interesting things happened:
• Many in the group were interested in trying to help the group get started, as many topics were introduced in the first section, the “Low Hanging Fruit.” And even though many topics were offered here, the group found that it was not so easy to have 75% of its members agree with a particular budget cut or tax hike.
• This group did not want to do anything that would make running a business more difficult.
• This group really did not want to cut services.
• Nor did this group really want to raise taxes. Some tough choices were made in the “Shared Pain” section, during which 50% of the members had to agree with a solution, but not many. The group did get to the final and most difficult decision-making section (you know, saving the hardest choices for last…) known as the “Gut Wrenchers,” where one decision was made. We might have benefited from getting to this final category earlier because it was clear that for Group 5 most of these decisions would be very painful, sometimes distasteful, and to be avoided if at all possible…

Here is what happened, round by round:

Low Hanging Fruit
Total points: 19
• #20. Eagles: 4 points
o 12 out 15 voted for this revenue action.
o Not much discussion.
• #16. Vehicle Fleet - Reduce budget by 20%: 6 points
o 14 of 15 voted for this cut.
o Members spoke about how they have seen city vehicles down the Shore during vacations. Not much discussion.
• #15b. Streets - Revenue Option: 2 points
o 9 out of 11 voted for this (15,000 businesses pay $200 per year for trash). Several group members left just before this vote.
o Group members were very concerned about the impact on small businesses and wanted this fee to be applied to only large businesses, citing the difficulties associated with running a small business. Hoped that if it applied to all businesses that some type of rebate might apply for the small ones.
• #3. DROP Program: 4 points
o 11 of 11 voted for this cut.
o Members cited that people should never be able to retire, take advantage of this program, and then return to work.
o Members did not like how this program can be abused and said that City Council should not be able to use this program.
• #17. Amusement: 2 points
o 9 out of 11 voted to increase this tax from 5% to 6%.
o Even though this passed, one member was very concerned that things like movies were some of the only ways some families could have fun and that this might discourage this type of family pastime.
• #13c. Public Health: 1 point
o 9 out of 11 voted for the option of generating revenue by creating co-pays and fees for physicals.

Items that were discussed but did not have the needed 75% of the vote:
• #15c. Streets, (fee for trash service) 13 points
o 2 out of 15 voted for this fee for trash service.
o Citizens were concerned with the way this program might be implemented.
o People in this group also thought that in many neighborhoods where houses are densely laid out next to one another - like in South Philly - it would be impossible to know whom the trash belonged to, even citing an example of a local doctor putting medical waste out on the street with his trash.
• 15a. Streets - reduce budget by 20%: 10 points
o 1 out of 15 voted for this cut.
o The trash on Broad Street was mentioned as a problem, and many members in this group think trash in the neighborhood is an important concern.
o Group members asked if we really need street cleaning, and remembered that many neighborhoods in South Philly have gone without street cleaning for years.
o Many thought that the use of flashing red lights would be dangerous but thought that somehow traffic lights could be reduced.
• #4a. Fairmont Park - Reduce budget by 20%: 1 point
o 6 of 11 voted for this cut.
o The person who brought this cut up didn’t like the cut, but thought that something needs to happen. One person asked if there was a way to turn the park assets into revenue generators.
• #9. Law - reduce budget by 30%: 2 points.
o 1 out of 11 voted for this cut.
o There was a fair amount of energy in this group to reduce the use of outside counsel as a regular practice.
• #8a. Human Services - Reduce budget by 10%: 9 points
o 1 out of 11 voted for this cut.
o One member of the group thought that too many in this department weren’t doing their jobs. Others disagreed.
• #13a. Public Health - Reduce budget by 20%: 5 points
o 5 out of 11 voted for this cut.
o This cut was introduced and voted on after the first “No Way, No How” was suggested. (See below for related comments.)

No Ways, No Hows
Total points taken off the table: 79 points
• #13b. Public Health - Reduce budget by 30%: 7 points.
o 10 of 11 voted to prevent this cut.
o One member put it succinctly, saying, “People could die!” Another stated that even closing one health center would be a problem.
• #11b. Police - Reduce budget by 20%: 52 possible points
o 10 of 11 voted to prevent this cut.
o Many in the group saw that crime could increase in difficult financial times.
• #11a. Police - Reduce budget by 10%: 26 points
o 8 of 11 voted to prevent this cut.
• #5b. Fire - Reduce budget 20%: 20 points
o 10 of 11 voted to prevent this cut.
• #5a. Fire - Reduce budget 10%: 10 points.
o 8 out of 11 voted to prevent this cut.

Items that were discussed as NWNH but did not have the 75% of the vote to pass:
• #6b. Free Library - Reduce budget by 20%: 3 points
o 7 out of 11 voted to prevent this cut; measure did not pass.
• #6a. Free Library - Reduce budget by 10: 1 point
o 3 out of 11 voted to prevent this cut; measure did not pass.
o This cut was ultimately the only cut made during the “Gut Wrencher” section. Good discussion took place on this topic. One member asked if the libraries are day- care centers. Several adults and one youth talked about how the libraries give everyone access to computers that help in job searches and other research, like homework. One mentioned that not all schools have functioning libraries.
o Finally, one member spoke up just before the votes and reminded everyone that even after some cuts, Philadelphia would still have more libraries per capita than any other U.S. city.
• #7. Housing - Reduce budget by 30%: 7 points.
o 6 out of 11 voted to prevent this cut; measure did not pass.
o One member who lives permanently in a shelter spoke how she would “be terrified if I was on the street, that this is frightening for women…”
• #10. Licenses and Inspections - Reduce budget by 30%: 4 points
o 7 out of 11 voted to prevent this cut; measure did not pass. One member felt the information presented wasn’t accurate. Some felt this department was ineffective. Others felt the department was already understaffed.

Shared Pain (51%+ or at least 6 votes needed to pass)
Total points: 8
• #1. Administrative - Reduce budget by 20%: 5 points
o 8 of 11 voted for this cut.
o Group members were very concerned that some department cuts would hurt the ability to raise revenue. Things like tourism and film production would decrease in the city.
• #21. Parking tax: 2 points
o 9 out of 11 voted for this cut.
o Some thought this would be a good way to raise revenue through suburban visitors.
• #1b. Administrative - Revenue option: 1 point
o 10 out 11 voted for this fee increase.

Items that were discussed as “Shared Pain,” but did not have the 50% of the vote needed to pass:
• #24. Sales tax: 6 points
o 5 out of 11 voted in favor.
o A few in the group spoke out that it is better to raise money somewhere than it is to lose services.
o Others countered that we should not raise fees and taxes and that we simply must learn to live within our budgets and that our city needs to be run like a business. We must eliminate things like people getting paid for jobs they don’t have to show up for and stop runaway pensions.
• #15a. Streets - Reduce budget by 20%: 10 points.
o 1 out of 11 voted for this cut.
• #22a. Real Estate: 5 points.
o No one voted for this tax increase.
• #18a. Business Privilege Tax: 2 points
o 1 out of 11 voted for this tax increase.
o Again, this group talked about how difficult it is to run a business these days.
• #14a. Recreation - Reduce budget by 10%: 2 points
o 4 out of 11 voted for this cut.
o It should be noted that the eighth-grade boy who regularly uses his local rec center proposed this cut because he felt like sacrifices need to be made. Some felt like volunteers and local nonprofits could bridge the gap if rec centers were cut, so this cut made sense.
o Others felt strongly that youth needed places to go and without rec centers problems would ensue.

Gut Wrenchers
Total points: 1
• 6a. Free Library - Reduce budget by 10%: 1 point
o 6 out of 11 voted for this cut.
o Time ran out at this point.

Items that were discussed as a “Gut Wrencher” but did not have votes needed to pass:
• 26b. Wage/Commuter tax: 5 points.
o Measure did not pass. No points were scored.

Big, Hairy, Ambitious Goals
• Our group was concerned with the unmanageability of the city’s pension plans.

Memorable Quotes and Other Ideas
• Pensions. “We need to have an eye to the future. Should tax payers carry the burden?”
• Keep recycling every week and reduce trash to every other week.
• Make people who use leaflets and pamphlets for advertising pay fees.
• We love revenue because the city doesn’t collect its taxes.
• Privatize sanitation.
• The real estate assessment and taxes is unequally and inequitably applied in the city. This needs to be fixed.