Group Number: M
Moderators: Chris Satullo, Harris Sokoloff
Total points: 56 points

Group Description:

The group in the main room was composed of more than 125 people, raging in age from late teens to mid-70s, with the majority in the 20s and 30s. The group was predominately white, with about 15% African-American and Latino.

Because of the size of the group, we asked people to work in small groups to do initial deliberations and we then gathered ideas from groups, as well as from individuals in groups. The room was noisy at times - evidence of engagement with the ideas and high energy. Ambient noises at times made it difficult for people to hear each other, but the general good will in the group prevailed as people repeated comments when asked. Still, given the size of the group, it was difficult at times for people to dig as deeply as they might have liked into pros and cons. The size of the group also made it difficult to work through all of the “buckets,” working their way into items for the “Share The Pain” bucket, but not making it to the “Gut Wrencher” bucket.

There was a large contingent of folks concerned about housing and human services, as well as a group protective of both fire and police departments. Some in the group were eager to raise taxes on the middle and upper classes - to avoid cutting programs. Others expressed concern that this would accelerate flight of the middle class and business out of the city. Still, the concern for housing and human services was paramount for a majority of the group. When it became clear that they couldn’t get to the goal just by raising taxes, there seemed to be more interest in seeing what could be cut with least service impact.

Low-Hanging Fruit
Total points: 16 points
• # 20, Eagles: 4 points (100%)
o There was little discussion around this as a murmur of agreement, and no disagreement, arose the moment this item and the next were mentioned.
• # 21, Parking: 2 points - Someone noted that this aligned with a desire to reduce traffic in Center City. (100%)
• # 1, Administrative: 5 points (90%)
o Like the Eagles and Parking, there was nearly universal agreement on this as a “low hanging fruit” - though a defender of the Philadelphia Film Office noted that it brought more revenue into the city that it spent, and should be preserved.
o The group agreed that money for the Film Office should be saved, while additional cuts from other offices might be made - particularly the Mayor’s office which they feel has grown too full of high-salaried people
o A police officer offered the view that the police dept. also had become top-heavy with “brass” since a charter change allowed the commissioner to appoint more exempt deputies.
o Indeed, throughout the evening, offices that generate more money than they take to run were out to be left as is.
• Amusement Tax: 2 points. No debate about this one.
• Fleet: 3 points (out of possible 6)
o It’s okay to cut the fleet of cars the city has, but not to the extent that it reduces the policing abilities. So don’t cut police cars.

A proposal to end 311 as Low-Hanging Fruit was met by an impassioned objection from a civic association leader who said 311 had already made a big difference in her neighborhood’s ability to get responses to its issues. The proposal was voted down.

No Ways, No Hows
Total points: 92 points
• Human services: 19 points
o Don’t cut this as it amounts to “preventive spending”
o They wanted the kinds of after school programs supported by Philadelphia Safe and Sound restored and supported, but thought that Safe and Sound was not run effectively.
o While the old DHS was ineffective, people do not want to “handcuff” DHS as a new commissioner comes in who has good plans. When run well, DHS is a valuable tool.
• Housing: 7 points
o In this weak economy, people need all the help they can get for housing and housing alternatives for the homeless.
• Public Health: 7 points
o Cutting here will disproportionately affect the poor, who need the most health support.
o There was a lot of back and forth about whether clients of health centers should be expected to pay for their over the counter medications. In the end, the majority seemed to think they should.
o Recreation at 20% Level: 7 points
o Cutting this much will lead more kids to stray, engage in risky behavior.
o Hard working parents, who can’t be home in afternoons or summer days, need the support of a safe place and program for their children.
o But there was a voice in the room that argued that parents still need to do their part. Recreation centers cannot do it alone, but need parental involvement.
o NOTE: We didn’t have time to get back to this at the 10% level.
• Police at 20% level: 52 points
o There was no support for cutting police at the 20% level.
o But there was some support for cutting at the 10% level so long as those cuts would be at the administration level, not beat police.
• Libraries: 3 points
o Students use these after school as safe, quiet place to study, for computers and other resources
o Adults use them during the day for access to computers for job searching.
o It might be okay to reduce hours of libraries in communities where people have their own computers, but not in poorest neighborhoods.
• Fire at 10% level: 10 points
o No discussion, no support at all for fire cuts.
Shared Pain
Total points: 40
• #10 Licenses and Inspections: 2 points
o Don’t cut those parts of L&I that bring in money from fines, etc.
o Reduce demolitions done, not staff.
• # 15 No on “pay as you throw,”
o But in discussion it was clear people didn’t understand how this would work. Much concern that it would lead to a rise in illegal dumping on corner lots and arguments among neighbors as bad actors tried to finagle so that neighbors got stuck paying for their trash.
• # 25 Wage Tax - 17 points
o Increase it 0.1 percent on both commuters and residents. A proposal to raise it much higher, while exempting the first, say, $40,000 in income to ease the burden on the working class, was voted down.
o There was discussion here about finding a way to go after, and tax, the underground economy which would bring in additional money.
o There was some concern about the impact of this on middle and upper class people - with concern about flight from the city putting more burdens on services.

• #18 and 19 No on Business Privilege Taxes

• #12 Prisons: 21 Points
o Close one prison and let non-violent criminals work their way back into society.
o Money cut here should not cut job training and reentry programs to make closing one prison possible.

• Sales tax hike was discussed but voted down, because of impact on people struggling to make ends meet. One person objected that food and clothing were exempted, so it was really more progressive a tax than people were saying.

Gut Wrenchers
Total points:
• Didn’t get here

Memorable Quotes

“The mayor’s office has just blown up in size with all these people from out of town making big dollars.”

“If we’ve got to cut something, it’s not clear to me why we can’t do some of this Fairmount Park stuff. I mean, compared to keeping rec centers open for kids, how important are fountains and historic houses?”

“Why can’t somebody, even if they’re poor, pay for their own aspirin?”

“Instead of cutting services, why not really tax the rich people who can afford to pay, but exempt low-income people from the increase.”

“You end the DROP program, you could keep some really experienced people who know what they’re doing from coming back to help the city out.”