Philly struggles to digitize paper records

Many seeking information on the burial sites of veterans in city records are hitting a brick wall because so much of that data is still available on antiquated paper records in City Hall.

Mayor Jim Kenney acknowledged Philadelphia isn’t keeping up when it comes to digitizing the records people need for reference. He said it’s a financially unfeasible.

“We have lots of priorities — education, public safety, parks and recreation, and libraries,” he said Friday. “And, you know, nobody’s perfect. We don’t have all the money to do all the things people expect us to do.”

Still, Kenney said, he will look into a report in the Inquirer that the Veterans Advisory Commission has paper burial records that are difficult to search.

“We’re trying to fix the things we need to fix … it’s just resources and time,” he said.

In office just over a year, Kenney said change doesn’t happen overnight.

The Veterans Affairs office is under the control of City Council.  Jane Roh, spokesperson for Council President Darrell Clarke sent a statement saying ” the law requires counties maintain a publicly available registry, not an online registry.”