►
Description
Meeting of Council's Committee of the Whole to hear testimony on the following bills/resolutions: Bill Nos. 160170, 160171, and 160172 & Resolution No. 160180 regarding the FY2017 Capital Budget.
Testimony from:
Sozi Pedro Tulante, City Solicitor
http://phlcouncil.com/FY17-council-budget-center
A
Very
important
to
each
one
of
you
on
council,
as
I
explained
during
my
confirmation
hearing,
my
goal
is
to
have
a
lot
of
department
staff.
Look
like
the
city
that
we
serve
and
one
of
our
challenges
is
making
sure
that
diverse
attorneys
are
aware
of
the
interesting
work
that
we
do
here
in
the
department
and
the
opportunities
that
we
offer.
So
we've
continued
to
reach
out
to
the
law,
schools
and
affinity,
Bar
Association's
in
an
effort
to
increase
the
pipeline
of
potential
applicants,
and
some
of
our
efforts.
I'm
happy
to
report
are
bearing
fruit.
A
We've
seen
renewed
interest
from
diverse
candidates
for
our
openings
and,
most
notably
seven
of
the
eleven
attorneys
who
have
started
with
with
the
offices.
I've
been
solicitor
are
African
American
and
six
of
the
eleven
are
women.
We're
excited
at
the
quality
of
the
new
hires.
For
instance,
our
last
hire
is
Damaris
Walker
he's
an
assistant
city
solicitor
in
a
housing
unit,
he's
a
Philadelphia
native,
a
public
school
graduate
and
his
honours
graduate
of
Dartmouth
College
and
Yale
Law
School
within
the
department
we're
creating
a
diversity
committee
to
address
diverse
diversity,
issues
and
I
meet
monthly.
A
With
Nolan
Atkinson
who's,
our
chief
diversity
and
inclusion
officer
to
address
diversity,
inclusion
issues
within
the
department.
In
addition,
we
provide
mr.
Atkinson
with
a
monthly
list
of
our
diversity
numbers
so
that
he
can
keep
track
of
how
we're
doing
we,
as
also
we've
also
partnered,
with
the
Philadelphia
diversity,
Law
Group,
to
have
a
diverse
attorney
of
color
as
part
of
our
summer
program,
the
PDL
G
programs,
a
leading
program
for
diverse
summer
lawyers,
PDL
G,
selects
academically
talented
students
were
tan,
interviewed
by
many
of
the
big
law
firms
and
ultimately
hired.
A
This
is
the
first
time
that
we've
participated
in
this
program
and
we
have
a
wonderful
academically.
Talented
Hispanic
student
from
Rutgers
law
who'll
be
joining
us
this
summer
and
finally,
we've
encouraged
many
of
our
diverse
attorneys
to
be
involved
in
the
affinity
Bar
Association's,
such
as
the
barristers
and
which
enables
us
to
increase
the
profile
of
our
Department.
Of
course,
getting
as
I
said
before,
getting
diverse
attorneys
in
the
door
is
just
the
first
step.
The
challenge
is
to
keep
them
and
that's
an
effort
we're
also
pursuing,
and
the
next
issue
I
want
to
discuss.
A
Is
our
efforts
to
expand
a
code
enforcement
unit?
The
December
2015,
building
safety
and
oversight
report
recommend
that
the
city,
expanded
law
departments
capacity
to
enforce
code
violations
in
court
by
adding
additional
staff
in
our
budget,
we
seek
to
add
six
additional
staff
to
the
unit
with
the
funding
of
$475,000,
which
is
partly
responsible
for
the
net
increase
of
216,
four
and
thirty
nine
thousand
dollars
in
class
100
funding
for
fiscal
year
2017.
A
These
additional
employees
will
allow
the
department
to
address
a
greater
number
of
dangerous
code
violations
in
court
in
an
expedited
manner
and
benefit
the
overall
safety
of
the
city
residents
in
its
neighborhoods.
An
effort
to
work
with
the
increase
in
staff.
The
Court
of
Common
Pleas
has
recently
allowed
an
additional
time
for
cases
involving
unsafe
and
dangerous
buildings,
and
we
have
a
very
good
working
relationship
with
the
courts
and
I'm
happy
to
comment.
This
additional
time
will
also
allow
court
enforcement
attorneys
to
prepare
additional
cases
for
court
enforcement.
A
Also,
a
newly
created
administrative
search
warrant
procedure
was
approved
by
the
Court
of
Common
Pleas,
streamlining
the
process
for
gaining
entry
into
properties
where
there
are
suspected
code
violations.
That
was
one
of
the
recommendations,
an
oversight
report
and
that
has
already
begun.
As
a
result
of
this
new
procedure,
investigation
of
code
violations
will
be
expedited
for
possible
enforcement
action.
Lastly,
the
additional
staff
will
allow
the
law
departments
take
a
more
proactive
approach
with
L&I
in
identifying
viable
cases
and
prepare
for
the
transition
of
filing
the
cases
in
both
Municipal
Court
and
Court
of
Common
Pleas.
A
While
these
efforts
are
directly
tied
to
improve
public
safety,
the
law
Department
expect
to
see
a
proportional
increase
in
fines
and
judgments
collected
as
a
result
of
the
increased
court
action.
Lastly,
I
want
to
speak
briefly
about
affirmative
litigation.
One
of
the
goals
I
had
coming
into
the
department
in
January
was
to
actively
and
affirmatively
pursue
cases
that
would
directly
benefit
the
city
and
our
taxpayers.
A
Some
of
this
work
has
already
begun
and
will
continue,
for
instance,
to
date,
in
fiscal
year,
2016
we've
collected
approximately
nine
hundred
eighteen
thousand
dollars
from
judgments
that
we
obtained
in
tort
cases
and
are
continuing
to
explore
ways
that
we
can
continue
to
be
proactive
to
collect
judgments
and
liens
from
the
tax
unit
in
our
code
enforcement
unit.
For
many
years
we
obtained
these
judgments
and
liens,
but
made
no
effort,
no
effort
to
actually
collect
the
money
that
is
duly
owned
to
the
city.
A
In
addition,
as
part
of
our
Furman
of
litigation
effort,
we're
also
looking
for
opportunities
to
involve
the
city
through
filing
amicus
briefs
and
litigation
in
cases
where
the
city
has
a
strong
public
policy
interest
one
example
recently
it
was
our
amicus
brief
in
the
Pennsylvania
Supreme
Court
supporting
the
plaintiffs
in
the
ongoing
school
funding
litigation.
In
that
brief,
we
explained
to
the
court
that
the
city
of
Philadelphia
has
a
strong
interest
in
fair
funding
for
our
schools,
because
we
believe
the
current
funding
formula
is
unfair
to
the
city.
A
That
formula
does
not
account
for
the
fact
that
many
of
our
students
are
poor,
emanated
them
are
non-english
speakers.
In
addition,
council
has
stretched
to
find
local
funding
for
the
schools
to
make
up
for
the
lack
of
state
aid.
We
will
continue
to
explore
such
efforts
with
some
of
our
public
interest
partners,
and
we
invite
you,
as
members
of
City
Council,
to
work
with
us
if
there
are
similar
opportunities
that
you
identify
for
us
to
pursue.
A
Lastly,
as
I
stated
in
my
testimony
in
February,
we
continue
to
be
in
conversation
with
outside
attorneys
and
other
partners
to
look
for
ways
to
bring
public
interest.
Litigation
on
behalf
of
the
city.
I
want
to
conclude
by
reiterating
what
I'd
said
in
February
that
there's
no
greater
honor
for
me
than
serving
as
a
city
solicitor
and
at
this
point
I
want
to.
Let
council
know
that
members
of
my
staff
and
I
are
happy
to
answer
any
questions
you
may
have
regarding
our
budget
I.
B
Thank
you.
Mr.
cilenti
I
appreciate
it.
Let's
start
with
councilman
Jones
your
afternoon
council
president
Thank
You
mr.
president
and
mr.
chair
a
couple
first
of
all
welcome
to
back
to
City
Council
at
this
time
in
a
capacity
for
your
budget
presentation,
and
we
appreciate
your
service
to
the
city
of
Philadelphia,
a
couple
of
questions.
A
And
one
of
the
things
we
do
in
the
aftermath
of
a
if
we
have
a
settlement
or
verdict
in
Barbic
a
police
case,
we
go
back
and
talk
to
the
police
department.
We
have
individual
their
captain,
Fran
Fran
Healy,
who
works
with
us.
In
addition
to
that,
we
found.
What
actually
has
been
helpful
is
the
the
DOJ
report
which
was
involving
you
force.
B
C
C
What
money-wise
is
sort
of
a
hard
hard
thing
to
quantify?
When
you
look
at
what
the
law
department
pays
out
in
civil
rights
claims
in
each
year
there
is
an
average
of
somewhere
between
eight
to
ten
million
dollars.
I
can
tell
you
with
this
last
fiscal
year.
Our
numbers
are
lower
than
they
were
the
year
before,
although
the
fiscal
year
hasn't
ended.
Yet
we
predict
that
we'll
probably
end
a
million
or
so
less
than
where
we
were
at
last
last
fiscal
year.
What.
C
Can
tell
you
Awards
for
juries
are
very
small.
Last
year
the
civil
rights
unit
tried
25
cases.
They
received
22
defense
verdicts,
the
three
plaintiffs
verdicts
I
think
totaled
less
than
a
hundred
and
fifty
thousand
dollars
in
the
year
before
that
the
civil
rights
unit
tried
40
trials
and
133
they
got
seven
plaintiffs
verdicts
and
I
know
the
verdicts
did
not
total
a
million
dollars.
Well.
B
We're
moving
the
needle
in
the
right
direction.
Thank
you
for
that.
I
guess,
one
of
the
other
things
that
came
up
before
you
become
so
I'm
making
the
demarcation
for
you.
One
of
the
issues
was
conflict
case
contract
I
believe
it
was
that
we,
how
did
we
wind
up
with
that
one?
Awarding
a
farm
or
a
rotation
of
lawyers
to
take
over
those
cases?
Well,.
A
In
I
can
speak
specifically
about
police
cases
because
that's
often
sometimes
when
it
occurs.
So
if
the
city
sued-
and
there
are
some
individual
liability
for
the
officers,
there
may
be
a
conflict
between
the
officers
in
the
city
and
we
typically
issue
RFPs
with
respect
to
that
not
has
come
since
I've
been
I've
inherited
about
of
those.
So
we
haven't
had
any
new
RFPs
dealing
with
that.
But
it's
something,
as
you
know,
it
costs
the
city
four
times
more
to
send
cases
out
than
to
do
it
ourselves.
A
So
we
want
to
do
as
many
cases
as
possible
within
the
law
department,
but
the
reality
is
that
we
have
an
ethical
obligation.
If
there's
a
there's,
a
direct
conflict
that
we
can't
represent
to
to
clients
who
have
a
conflict
and
so
I
don't
know,
I
don't
know
if
Craig
has
the
is
aware
of
any
particular
RFPs
we've
issued
since
I've
been
in
there,
but
we've
inherited
Marshall
Dennehy's
in
a
few
cases,
as
you
know,
also
Richard,
ello
and
narcotics
for
unit
after
they're
acquitted.
D
A
D
I
have
I,
have
the
February
I,
don't
have
March,
but
I
have
February's
list
from
the
revenue
department
of
the
different
delinquent
taxes.
So
my
questions
are
related
around
a
lot
of
delinquencies
and
what
can
we
do
to
collect
or
write-off
or
clean
up
our
books
so
give
me
some
examples:
wage
taxes
that
are
delinquent.
It's
about
forty
four
million
dollars.
Twenty
four
of
its
principal,
the
rest
is
interest
in
penalties,
but
can
we
get
a
plan
in
place
to
go
away
after
that,
collect
it
or
clean
it
up?
Well,
I'll
give
you
the
rest.
A
And
what
out?
What
I'll
take
the
opportunity
to
do?
Councilman
down?
Because
there
are
people
here
who
are
much
more
expert
in
this?
If
I
could
invite
Frank
Paiva
who's,
our
short
deep
revenue
council
sure
I'll,
pretend
like
I
know
what
I'm
talking
about
that
you
would
know
so
if
I
Fagin
so
just
identify.
E
D
We
have
44
million
of
wage
taxes,
we
have
130
million
of
business
income
and
receipt
birth
taxes.
We
have
other
than
331
million
of
real
estate
taxes
on
125,
250
million
of
water
and
sewer
we've
used
in
occupancy
landlord
tax
of
16
million
and
use
and
occupancy
tenant
tax
of
3
million.
We
have
understand
how
realty
transfer
taxes
delinquent
3.4
million,
because
they're
paid
at
the
closing
by
the
type
of
company.
Yes,.
D
Aces
I
got
it
so
and
then
there's
something
called
commercial
trash
fee.
That's
32
million
dollars
delinquent,
so
good.
My
overall
overview
is
there's
about
750
to
775
million,
give
or
take
a
few
dollars,
and
you
know
one
of
my
goals
is
to
collect
the
money
or
clean
it
up,
and
so
my
question
to
you
is:
how
come
we
have
any
help
accomplish
that
goal.
Well,.
E
I
mean
that
is
our
goal
as
well.
I
mean
that
we
have
is
a
very
large
portfolio
of
receivables.
Some
of
those
receivables
are
uncollectible
and
we
have,
for
the
past
two
years,
had
a
program
in
place
to
do
the
proper
due
diligence
to
actually
write
off
receivables
that
are
uncollectible.
We
have
written
off
close
to
365
million
dollars
in
receivables
in
the
past
two
years.
It.
D
Was
so
wait?
A
second
though
I
had
I
had
received
when
I
was
running
for
office.
I
saw
a
piece
of
paper
from
somewhere,
maybe
the
controller's
office.
That
said,
we
had
delinquents
of
1.8
billion
dollars
and
then,
when
I
was
elected,
I
was
found
out.
He
have
a
process
of
writing
off
bad
debts,
so
the
form
that
I
have
is
after
that
process
is
done,
we're
still
at
7
or
50
million
dollars.
E
Correct
and
the
process
is
ongoing
with
respect
to
write
offs
with
respect
to
the
collection
of
the
receivables,
there's
multiple
tools
that
are
being
used.
There
are
some
receivables
like
say,
wage
tax,
where
we
do
pursue
and
click
obtain
judgments
for
it.
Some
of
those
judgments
are
not
paid,
yet
the
person
is
still
alive
and
there's
always
still
the
possibility
that
someday
they'll
hit
the
lottery
or
whatever.
So
those
receivables
unfortunately,
do
not
get
written
off
yeah.
E
E
D
E
E
E
Okay,
that
is
a
fee.
That's
forum
thinks
300
dollars
a
year,
that's
imposed
on
landlords
for
trash
pickup,
and
that
is
a
tax
that
not
tax.
Excuse
me,
that
is
a
fee
that
for
a
number
of
years,
was
handled
by
the
streets
department
and
in
the
last
18
months
it
moved
over
to
revenue,
and
now
the
law
department
is
actively
involved
in
getting
collections.
The
the
tool
that's
primarily
used
for
those
collections
is
collection
agencies.
E
D
Make
one
of
the
comment
about
the
real
estate
taxes
and
water
and
sewer
I?
Don't
know
you
know,
there's
a
website
called
filly
delinquency.
You've
probably
seen
the
website
there's
a
guy
who's,
pretty
smart,
Chris
Sawyer,
who
runs
that
website
and
I
met
with
him
recently,
and
he
said
to
me
that
40%
of
the
people
who
don't
pay
their
taxes,
delinquents
don't
live
in
Philadelphia.
But
here's
the
interesting
statistic
that
he
told
me
70%
of
the
money,
doesn't
live
in
Philadelphia,
which
was
staggering
to
me.
That's
on
the
real
estate
tax,
delinquencies.
E
D
E
Real
estate,
delinquencies,
are
are
somewhat
challenging.
We
have
different
tools.
For
example,
we
obtained
this
recent
well
act,
93,
which
allows
the
city
to
take
our
real-estate,
lien
and
transfer
it
to
another
Pennsylvania
jurisdiction,
and
that
lien
would
act
as
a
personal
judgment
on
that
property
that
the
person
owes
outside
of
the
city,
the
the
trick,
of
course,
to
being
able
to
transfer
those
things
is
one
you
have
to
identify
other
property
owned
by
the
delinquent
outside
the
city
and
and
that
becomes
somewhat
challenging
in
that
the
vast
majority
of
our
real
estate
accounts.
E
You'd,
be
surprised
how
quickly
landlords
will
come
forward
and
enter
into
an
agreement
or
pay
the
full
amount
in
order
to
avoid
the
loss
of
control
of
their
properties,
and
we
were
basically
getting
around
18
to
20
million
dollars
a
year
and
it
seems
to
be
growing
every
year.
So
it's
a
very
efficient
tool,
much
more
efficient
than
a
sheriff
sale,
although
a
sheriff
still
has
the
benefit
of
actually
cleansing
the
prop
of
the
property,
because
we
have
a
lot
of
properties
in
this
jurisdiction
where
the
people
who
originally
owned
them
have
been
dead.
E
E
Sometimes
they're
surprised
they
even
still
have
an
interest
in
the
property
and
if
the
property's
valuable,
that
they're
happy,
but
we've
been
collecting
a
lot
of
money
through
that
and
it
cleanses
the
property
so
that
if
we
do
sell
it
at
the
ship
at
the
sale,
there's
now
a
new
person
who
we
hopefully
identify
and
make
sure
they
pay
going
for
it.
Okay,.
F
And
appreciate
your
acknowledgement
of
the
importance
of
diversity
when
Blondell
Ruggles
say
we
sound
like
a
broken
record,
but
we'll
keep
playing
it.
There's
not
have
a
play
it
this
afternoon
when
I
talk
about
it,
wouldn't
talk
to
about
collections,
since
you
were
just
finishing
up
side
and
of
mr.
Paiva
wants
to
come
back.
Is
there
any
restriction
of
asking
for
Social
Security
numbers
when
we
file
deeds?
If
that
is
one
of
the
impediments
to
collection?
Well,.
F
E
F
E
F
Well,
we
can
have
a
conversation
just
want
to
talk,
since
you
were
to
be
talking
about
this
and
I
know
we're
working
on
the
water
affordability.
You
have
publicly
stated
that
over
the
last
few
years,
three
hundred
sixty
five
million
dollars
and
receivables
have
been
written
off.
So
why
is
it
that
in
our
water
affordability,
there
is
a
reluctance
by
the
water
revenue
and
law
to
provide
for
a
certain
percentage
of
forgiveness
if
people
come
compliant,
if
Pico
and
PGW
do
it
and
you're
acknowledging
306.
F
F
We
worked
on
that
when
I
first
I
was
part
of
the
freshman
15
I
got
that
I'm
now
dealing
with
are
what
I
hope
to
be
national
best
practice,
standards
on
a
water
affordability
plan
and
one
of
the
points
of
contention
has
been
our
with
our
willingness
to
forgive
after
owner-occupied,
low-income
residents
have
become
compliant
to
allow
for
a
certain
level
of
forgiveness.
If
what
you're
saying
to
me,
it
is
a
practice
of
the
office
and
there's
an
acknowledgement
that
the
consultants
and
other
PDW
and
picot
doing
well.
D
E
Not
always
easy,
my
apologies,
the
city
of
Philadelphia,
has
a
very
unique
position
as
a
utility
as
a
city-owned
utility,
the
that
that,
for
the
water
is
a
municipal
claim,
and
that
is
a
lien
on
the
property.
So
it's
not
like
just
the
judgment,
its
saline,
so
if
that
property
ever
has
sold
the
city
will
get
paid
whatever
real
estate
taxes
do
whatever
water
is
still.
So
it's
like
one
of
these
things
where,
at
some
point
in
time
the
city
will
get
paid.
E
F
E
It
with
it
when
we
make
a
decision
to
write
things
off.
It
is
a
decision
based
on
our
inability
to
collect
that.
It's
just
something
that
we
cannot
collect
on
in
situations
where
it
may,
a
property
may
be
owned
by
of
someone
who
is
under
the
medium
income
levels,
but
yet
has
an
asset
that
has
value,
and
we
can
tell
that
we're
gonna
get
eventually
paid
from
that
asset.
F
Or
someone
situation
I'm
looking
at
it
from
someone
who
would
have
qualified
for
our
programs
had
we
had
an
efficient
program
that
if
you
take
it
in
a
package
of
had
this
person
been
in
the
low-income
program
that
they're
eligible
for
and
we
recalculate
it
they're
dead
you're.
Almost
looking
at
the
same
numbers,
I
understand.
B
G
Megan
mr.
chair
suicide
watch,
I
just
had
some
questions
and
I
think
I
heard
a
little
bit
in
your
colloquy
with
Councilman
Jones
and
reference
to
professional
services
and
I
noticed
on
page
16
and
17
of
your
budget
detail
on
the
class
250.
You
have
two
items:
one
for
vendors
to
be
determined
in
reference
to
legal
services
and
also
vendors,
to
be
determined
for
various
expert
and
those
experts
what's
and
for
extra
witnesses
and
medical
records.
What's
been
your
process,
your
thinking,
your
process
and
reference
to
selection,
especially
local
businesses
and
businesses
of
color.
A
Good
afternoon
councilman
green
I'm
just
like
get
to
that
page,
but
I
can
speak
generally
what
we
do
when
we
prepare
our
budget.
We
look
historically
categories
of
costs
that
we
know
is
going
to
come
up,
but
we
we
don't
know
how
or
the
amount.
So
we
don't
a
particular
vendor,
but
we
know
we
may
need
expert
witnesses
and
so
forth.
So
we
put
a
category
aside
and
typically
what
we
the
way
we
obtain
vendors
is
through
RFP.
So
we
we
prepare
the
the
materials.
A
Oh
oh,
come
talks
to
us
and
sets
a
range,
and
we
post
it,
and
one
of
the
things
that
we're
doing
right
now,
sort
of
being
proactive
in
terms
of
trying
to
increase
participation
is
to
try
to
get
demographic
information
and
diverse
and
information
on
front
end.
So
we've
actually
just
did
our
first
RFP.
This
is
from
the
airport
where
we
we
haven't.
A
So
that
way
when
we're
selecting,
we
know
that
we're
selecting
a
firm
that's
committed
to
it,
so
that's
sort
of
in
a
general
way
how,
but
in
terms
of
the
in
terms
of
those
vendors,
we
tweak,
we
don't
know
in
the
front
end
when
we
begin
to
fiscal
year
what
they're
gonna
be,
but
we
know
we're
gonna
need
expert
witnesses
for
our
claims
cases,
so
we
put
that
amount
and
then,
when
we
need
them,
we
try
to.
We
try
to
we
bit
out
one.
G
To
five
on
the
questions
the
council
went
down
had
on
a
collection
perspective
and
in
looking
your
testimony
on
page
Warner
face
chill
your
testimony
talked
about
the
collection
efforts
and
working
with
the
school
district.
Can
you
I
think
I'm
understanding?
What's
it
what
taxes
you're
collecting
along
with
the
school
district?
So
what
I
want
you
to
admission
to
I,
think
liquor
by
the
drink,
tax
and
other
taxes?
Can
you
kind
of
break
down
what
those
taxes
are
and
what's
been,
the
cooperation
you've
had
with
the
school
district
all.
E
Right
well,
the
number
one
tax
that
we
collect
a
for
the
school
district
is
the
real
estate
tax.
It's
a
substantial
amount
that
goes
to
the
school
district
every
year.
In
addition
to
that,
we
have
the
liquor
by
the
drink
tax.
We
have
the
school
income
tax
and
we
have
the
use
and
occupancy
tax
all
go
to
the
school
district.
Yeah.
G
I
was
I
thought
with
this
going
contacts
with
other
tanks,
but
I
guess.
My
question
is
especially
for
liquor
by
the
drink.
You
know
real
estate
and
the
school
income
tax.
Have
you
found
a
real
partnership
with
the
school
district
and
having
to
in
trying
to
collect
those
taxes?
What's
been
their
working
relationship
with
you,
I
mean.
E
They're
they're
our
partner
in
that,
and
they
clearly
are
interested
in
the
results
that
we
obtain.
We
meet
meet
with
them
on
a
monthly
basis.
It's
usually
a
conference
call
once
a
while
it's
in
person
to
let
them
know
what
the
progress
is
and
the
different
special
projects
either
that
loss
taking
or
that
the
revenue
department
is
taking
to
enhance
enforcement
of
the
school
district
taxes.
G
Also
social
on
say:
you
talked
about
affirmative
litigation
program
and
I
know.
Previous
solicitors
have
also
engaged
in
an
affirmative
litigation
program.
In
addition
to
some
of
the
things
you
talked
about
in
your
testimony
other
other
ideas,
you
have
a
reference
to
using
this
initiative
to
bring
in
the
additional
revenue
into
the
city,
yeah.
A
A
Typically,
plaintiffs
plaintiffs
attorneys,
we're
meeting
with
them
were
obtained,
getting
ideas
from
them
through
the
course
of
testifying,
and
also
talking
to
other
attorneys
other
municipal
attorneys,
so
the
the
City
Attorney
of
Baltimore
and
other
other
other
big
cities
they've
given
have
some
ideas
and
contacts.
We
think
we're
it's
promising
and
what
I
want
to
what
I
want
to
tell
Council
is
that
when
we're
at
a
point
where
we
think
you
know
we're,
gonna
move
I
want
to
be
able
to
give
the
opportunity
to
brief
you
privately
on
where
we're
going.
G
Also
I
know
you
had
provided
I,
believe
opinion
and
reference
to
the
proposed
sugar-sweetened
beverage
tax
and
reference
to
the
city's
ability
to
represent
or
defend
itself
against
any
type
of
litigation
against
that.
Can
you
give
your
perspective
on
that
opinion,
as
well
as
what
additional
steps
you
may
need
to
do
from
a
foreign
enforcement
perspective,
if
that
legislation
goes
into
effect,
yeah.
A
I
can't
talk
too
much
about
the
enforcement
is
mostly
on
the
revenue
side.
I
mean
in
terms
of
unless
there's
litigation,
but
I
can
tell
you
on
March
first,
as
I
think
I
provided
a
copy
to
Council.
With
the
permission
of
the
mayor
I,
the
mayor
asked
me
acting
responsibility
for
a
what
authority
this
body
has
in
terms
of
enacting
to
propose
sugar
sweetened
beverage.
Tax
I
gave
them
the
opinion
that
the
law
department
and
that
not
just
me
but
the
staff
working
for
me.
A
We
feel
very
confident
that
the
this
this
body
has
the
authority
to
enact
such
measures
identified
two
potential
arguments
that
we,
the
law
departments
familiar
with,
obviously
before
me
in
the
first
or
second
iteration
of
the
legislation
and
four
or
five
years
ago,
and
we
we
think
that
the
neither
argument
is
really
going
to
win
today.
The
first
one
is
the
contention
that
this
is
a
sales
tax
and
we
looked
at
the
body
of
law
that
goes
back
to
1957,
which
says
essentially
under
the
Stirling
Act.
A
A
sales
tax
naturally
is
measured
by
the
price,
in
this
particular
case
that
the
proposed
legislation
measures
the
tax
based
on
the
volume,
and
while
we
there's
conversation
about
how
much
would
be
passed
through
so
long
as
the
legislation
does
not
require
the
distributor
to
pass
it
through
distributors,
a
business
matter
can
pass
it
a
retailer
who
is
a
business
matter
to
decided
passes
a
consumer.
The
courts
would
not
look
at
that.
A
B
A
One
thing
for
councilman
green
I
wanted
just
to
to
make
clear
for
the
record.
My
my
position
is
simply
whether
or
not
this
body
has
authority
to
enact
it.
I
don't
I,
don't
give
an
opinion
as
to
whether
what
which
side
is
right
or
wrong
I'm
simply
giving
the
legal
opinion
I
just
want
to
make
that
clear
for
the
render
I
gets
confusing.
Thank
you.
Thank
You
counsel,
metals,
Brown.
G
A
B
Okay,
three
things:
one:
it's
no
secret
that
members
of
this
body
care
deeply
about
how
making
sure
that
our
government
looks
like
the
city
of
Philadelphia
and
more
specifically,
that
the
executive
level
of
government
looks
like
Philadelphia.
So
please
haven't
been
there
now
for
how
many
days,
how
old
are
you
9,
I'm.
A
B
A
And
there
are
two
ways
to
look
at
it:
Councilwoman
first
is
to
expand
the
pool
of
people
who
should
bid
on
our
contracts,
and
so
it
consistent
with
that
I've
actually
reached
out
coming
from
this
legal
community.
I
know
the
part
in
Johnson's
I
know,
though
I
do
tomorrow.
I
know
people
rich
Harris,
who
I
said
I
want
you
to
be
bidding
on
our
contracts.
Obviously
I
can't
give
them
advance
notice,
but
if
there's
an
RFP
it
involves
litigation,
I
know
folk
who
can
do
the
job
I?
Let
them
know
you
should
think
about
it.
A
Sorry
sometimes
they
come
back
to
me.
They
said
we
appreciate
it
Suzy,
but
the
rates
too
low
and
and
I
understand
that
but
other
times,
they're
intrigued,
because
they
say
no
one's
actually
ever
reached
out
to
us
affirmative
Lee
and
done
that.
The
second
issue
is
with
respect
to
any
of
our
any
of
our
vendors
corn,
fenders
I've,
reached
out
to
them
and
said
one.
A
A
By
that
I'm
starting
a
process
where
I'm,
actually
we've
never
done
that
before
we,
you
know
we
may
say
well,
you
said
you're
gonna
get
30%,
we
trust
you,
but
for
the
first
time
well,
actually
I'm
gonna
be
sending
letters
and
said
you
represented
that
you
have
you're
gonna.
You
expect
30%
of
your
work
to
be
done
by
a
diverse
attorneys.
Can
you
give
me
your
hours?
Tell
me
if
that's
the
case,
yes
and
I
think
most
firms.
You
know
if
that's
the
case,
that
is
the
case,
but
I
don't.
B
A
This
is
also
with
respect
to
any
subcontractor,
so
a
majority
firm
bids
and
says
I'm
gonna
give
40%
of
the
work
on
a
subcontracting
basis
to
a
diverse
attorney.
Now
we
want
to
know
whether
you've
done
that,
if
you
haven't,
why
not?
Because
we
assume,
when
people
represent
that
that's
what
they
intend
to
tour
and.
B
A
A
A
I
mean
I
sat
down
with
knowing
ikenson,
I
sat
down
Angela
Dao,
Burton
and
other
folks
to
just
try
to
come
up
with
a
way
to
to
have
our.
We
said
we
said
you
know,
and
then
that's
what
eight
million
dollars
out
that
if
eight
million
dollars
is
coming
from
the
law
departments
and
outside
counsel,
that
it's
getting
to
folks
who
represent
or
more
representative
for
Adelphia
I
mean
it's
not
gonna
happen
overnight.
It
would
require.
B
A
Think
somebody
in
Francis
couldn't
like
we
could
talk
to
that.
But
let
me
give
you
the
the
skinny.
The
skinny
is
that
at
the
time
this
contract
was
issued,
it
was
when
they're
doing
reassessments
through
avi
and
we
needed
appraisers
to
do
that.
Work
and
many
of
their
praises
in
the
city
were
conflicted
out.
Please.
A
A
A
H
Identify
yourself
in
person-
yes,
you'll,
remember
that
ABI
excuse
me:
I'm
friends,
exactly
and
I'm
a
member,
the
I
used
to
be
in
the
tax
unit
and
I'm
a
member.
The
law,
department
and
I
was
chief
counsel
at
the
time
that
that
contract
was
put
in
place.
If
you'll
remember,
ABI
was
a
bit
of
a
chaotic,
sudden
situation.
H
The
land
owners,
the
large
property
owners,
got
ahead
of
the
law
department
in
terms
of
hiring
most
of
the
best
appraisers.
We
had
very
few.
We
did
make
efforts
to
look
for
and
I
don't
remember.
We
discussed
it
here
with
council,
smaller
appraisal
firms,
women-owned
appraisal
firms,
minority
appraisal,
firms
who
really
couldn't
find
anybody
who
was
fit.
Who
was
equipped
to
do
the
work
other
than
this
one
firm
and
they
probably
a
lot
of
good
work
other
than
what
then
then,
the
firm
that
was
hired
so
quickly.
B
H
I
know
that
we
placed
advertisements
I
know
that
we
talked
it
up
among
the
community
of
appraisers
and
real
estate
tax
lawyers
trying
to
find
it
and
the
people
who
were
recognized
as
extremely
fine.
Almost
all
of
them
had
already
been
engaged
by
large
property
owners,
and
so
we
could
not
use
them
all
right
and
we
ended
up
basically
scrambling
I,
you
know
and
on
a
long-term
basis,
I,
don't
think
we
would
I
think
we
would
have
been
able
to
get
a
better
result.
H
H
B
The
Bell
has
rung
and
so
city
solicitor.
We
can
expect
some
progress
by
wind
by
a
year
from
now.
With
regards
to
this
new
protocol,
you
putting
in
place
for
ensuring
that
lawyers
in
these
large
firms
who
get
huge
city
contracts
are
making
sure
that
the
opportunity
gets
spread
across
minority
and
women
on
lit
lawyers
as.
A
G
A
B
H
H
F
H
Therefore,
from
a
lot
of
people,
I
was
wondering
if
you
could
speak
a
little
bit
more
about
your
plans
for
expanded
affirmative
litigation.
This
is
an
area
that
I
know
that
you
and
I
have
had
conversations
about
a
little
bit.
You've
referenced
some
some
things
about
expanded
consumer
protection
in
particular,
something
that
we've
certainly
been
looking
at
and
would
love
to
hear
what
some
of
your
thoughts
are
about.
Your?
What
you
think
is
possible
in
this
area
and.
A
I'm
gonna
start
by
probably
not
giving
the
answer
you
want,
which
is
I
I
want
to
give
you
a
very
general
over,
but
I
don't
like
to
let
people
I
might
sue
no
I'm,
gonna
sue
them.
So
I
can
tell
you
in
very
categorical
terms
the
process
were
undertaking
and
what
that
is
we're
first
examining
what
the
law
is,
unfortunately
in,
unlike
in
California,
because
they
have
been.
A
With
that,
because
that's
one
of
the
broad
categories
of
affirmative
litigation,
unfortunately,
we
don't
have
under
our
consumer
protection
laws.
The
city
doesn't
have
a
lot
of
the
authority
to
to
vindicate
those
attorney
general's
office.
Does
we
do
have
a
false
claims
ordinance
and
that's
something
that
we're
exploring
it's
been
underutilized
and
we
think
we
have
a
great
opportunity
to
explore
some
areas
there
another
what
what
the
process
we're
undertaking
is
we're
inviting.
We
talked
to
cities,
who've
been
very
aggressive
and
I.
A
Don't
know
if
you
saw
is
no
reason,
it's
all
in
the
Wall
Street
Journal
today
they
profile
the
city
of
Providence
as
20
city
attorneys,
but
they've
managed
to
sort
of
you
know,
push
the
envelope
and
affirmative
litigation
so
that
people
expect
this
kind
of
litigation
from
them.
Where
we
talk
to
folks
like
that,
and
they
said
well,
have
you
thought
about
a
B
or
C?
A
The
first
thing
we
have
to
examine
is
whether
or
not
we
have
damages
in
that
area,
and
we
and
we
we
see
if
there
are
damages,
then
we
look
at
the
legal
theory
and
the
problem
is
that
it
doesn't
happen
overnight
and
what
what
I?
What
I
promise
counsel
is
that,
when
we
get
closer
I'll
be
in
a
position
to
brief
you
before
before
we
make
any
moves,
and
you.
H
G
H
H
I
would
appreciate
you
know
anything
that
you
could
do
to
provide
some
clarity
about
this
area
and,
in
particular,
whether
information
related
to
the
judgments
and
settlements
is
made
available
to
the
public
and
how
often
that
happens
and
to
does
the
city
make
any
budgeting
projections
for
anticipated
annual
liability.
So.
C
The
media
has
provided
that
information
through
a
right
to
know
request,
and
that
has
been
at
least
for
the
past
five
or
six
years.
That
I'm
aware
of.
As
far
as
how
we
try
to
gauge
our
exposure,
I
can
tell
you
some
of
the
things
we
do
to
try
to
prevent
litigation
from
happening.
I
know
the
civil
rights
unit.
Does
training
of
police
Ric
police
recruits
on
a
rotating
basis,
as
the
recruits
are
going
through
the
police
academy,
they
spend
a
session
with
the
civil
rights
attorneys
talking
about
Fourth
Amendment
rights.
Talking
about
police
paperwork.
C
They
do
training
on
dealing
with
people
with
suffering
from
mental
illness.
Through
crisis
intervention
training,
we
do
follow-ups
with
the
police
department
when
we
know
that
there
have
been
settlements
made.
We
we
notify
the
police
department.
Here
are
the
settlements
that
have
occurred
in
the
last
quarter.
If
you
would
like,
we
can
provide
you
additional
information
to
the
police
department,
that's
how
we
work
with
Captain
Healy
and
in
regards
to
giving
projections.
C
As
far
as
what
we
expect
each
year,
I
can
say
over
the
ten
years
that
I've
been
there,
that
the
settlements
have
ranged
somewhere
between
8
to
10
million
dollars.
There
was
maybe
a
fluctuate
a
year
where
they
fluctuate
and
they
go
really
high,
but
then
we'll
be
a
year
where
they
go
back
down
part
of
the
problem
there
is
and
I
think
it's
in
any
cases
you
can't
control
what
happens
out
on
the
street.
So
if
you
have
an
incident
that
potentially
has
some
catastrophic
results.
A
In
council
minute
what
we
have,
we
have
breakdowns
that
we
can
share
with
you
in
terms
of
how
much
what
we
do
is
we
code
the
the
total
payments
we've
made
right
based
on
categories
by
fiscal
year,
so
shooting
excessive
force
city
motor
vehicle
sidewalk
fall
down,
and
we
had
that
information
that
we
could.
We
could
share
with
you
so
that
you
from
the
from
fiscal
year
2011
up
until
today.
H
So
I
would
respond
very
quickly
by
saying
that
FOIA
is
that
are
made
available
to
the
media.
Is
not
my
interpretation
of
what's
considered
publicly
available,
there's
a
big
difference
between
if
a
media
entity
decide
requests
a
FOIA
of
the
city
government,
that's
fundamentally
different
about
whether
that
is
actually
available
to
the
public
for
review.
Would
you
agree
with
that?
C
A
H
H
That's
to
me
a
risk
management
issue
and
there's
a
certain
amount
of
rubble,
but
I
think
what
I'm
discussing
is
an
issue
of
police
alleged
police
misconduct,
and
that
is
something
we
should
want
to
be
able
to
control
and
be
able
to
understand
better
and
there's
a
lot
of
apartment,
review,
judgments
and
settlements
related
to
police,
miss
College,
a
police
misconduct
in
order
to
identify
any
patterns
that
we
can
thus
control.
As
opposed
to
do
we
do
proactive
trainings.
H
Yes,
I
understand
that
very
clearly,
but
once
the
judgment
has
been
entered,
settlements
have
been
made
and
an
analysis
of
what
went
wrong
has
been
identified.
Do
you
then
work
with
the
police
department
to
review
or
identify
patterns
that
that
might
need
to
lead
to
policy
changes
or
practices
for
the
police
department?
Yeah.
A
C
On
numerous
occasions
will
actually
ask
the
police
department
or
request
the
police
department
to
address
in
their
policies
and
their
directives,
issues
that
we've
seen
come
up
through
cases
and
I
can
tell
you.
We
have
been
very
successful
with
having
a
very
good
working
relationship
with
them
to
where,
if
we
make
recommendations
there,
they're
normally
enacted
by
the
police
department,
okay,.
F
You
I
just
want
for
the
record,
since
the
city
solicitor
was
talking
about
the
soda
tax,
the
way
the
law
is
written,
there
is
a
provision
that,
if
the
distributor's
don't
pay,
we
will
collect
to
the
retail
folks.
So
this
notion
that
the
tax
is
based
on
this
on
the
distributors,
the
law
is
written
with,
with
a
fallback
plan,
yeah.
A
A
A
F
E
Another
microphone,
please:
okay,
the
sheriff
sales
that
we've
conducted
with
respect
to
water
have
been
limited
to
stormwater.
That
is
properties
where
they
do
not
have
water
service.
Okay,.
F
All
right,
I
just
want
that
clarification
for
it.
The
other
there's
a
little
in
congruence
with
the
law
department
is
claiming
that
you're
going
to
improve
collection
deaths
by
35%
in
the
testimony
by
the
water
department.
They
said
that
they
are
only
going
to
improve
collections
by
2%
and
using
that
to
justify
the
water
rate
increase
right.
E
F
So
what
gets
in
your
portfolio
versus
the
traditional
revenue
collection
strategy
right?
Exactly?
Okay,
so
and
we'll
talk
about
you
know
again
when
you
undo
the
call
back,
we
can
get
a
little
bit
into
the
water
revenue
debt
and
the
way
it
is
aged
and
quickly,
increasing,
as
it
relates
to
the
coupling
of
water
and
real
estate
debt
for
collection
purposes,
our
owner-occupied
properties
going
to
fall
in
that
batch.
F
E
Owner
occupied
properties
are
subject
to
sheriff
sale.
There
are
significant
safety
net
that
this
council
passed
the
owner-occupied
payment
agreements,
which
enables
taxpayers
to
pay
based
on
their
income
levels,
and
it
also
prevents
any
type
of
enforcement
actions
with
respect
to
pass
the
ridges
right.
F
We
in
the
early
indications
was
we
had
a
50%
non-compliance
rate
in
part,
because
if
you
didn't
pay
last
year's
debt
and
you're
not
on
the
monthly
plan
for
this
year's
that
we're
going
to
be
a
non-compliant,
like
you
know,
within
a
matter
of
months.
So
are
we
moving
the
same
way?
We
want
to
move
those
debts
together?
I
mean
it
is
our
hope.
Then,
when
our
water
for
terminal
affordability
regulations
are
in
place,
we
can
couple
them
together
for
payment
for
purposes
of
payment.
F
I
just
want
to
make
sure
that
again,
as
the
revenue
strategy
collection
strategies
align
that
this
council
has
been
very
affirmative
about
protecting
owner-occupied
properties
as
we
change
our
regulations
to
help
people
become
compliant
so
that
there
shouldn't
be
a
conflict
with
that.
There's
plenty
of
debt
of
people
who
can
afford
it
for
us
not
to
to
go
after
the
owner-occupied
I
just
want
to
be
highlight
that
and
then
I
guess.
If
we're
gonna
get
a
call
back
from
the
law
department,
because
mr.
chair
is
upset
here,
I'm.
B
F
C
B
D
You,
a
chairman,
greenlight,
a
few
more
follow-up
questions
on
this
I'm
gonna
leave
you
the
brief
questions.
Give
me
a
brief
answer.
If
you
can
so
we
get
through
this
in
the
areas
of
sequestration
right,
it
seems
to
me
that
the
use
in
occupancy
landlord
tax
and
use
and
occupancy
are
based
on
tenants
being
in
there
paying
rent
right,
which
you
should
be
able
to
then
use
that
program
for
those
taxes
or
you
can't
see.
E
D
E
Laws
is
limited,
I
mean
the
issue
that
occurs
and-
and
in
fact
there
are
some
folks
who
have
as
part
of
their
business
plan
is
that
the
landlords
are
not
collecting
the
UN
owe
tax.
Instead,
they
are
filing
with
the
city.
What
we
call
in
uo3
saying
the
tenant
hasn't
paid
me
to
tax,
so
don't
look
to
me
for
the
tax
look
to
the
tenant,
and
this
may
be
in
cases
where
the
landlord
in
fact
did
get
paid
the
rent.
E
It's
one
thing:
if
the
landlord
didn't
get
pay
the
rent,
we
can't
make
them
liable
for
it,
but
there
are
some
business
owners
who
are
taking
advantage
of
this
provision
and
that
just
results
because
it's
far
harder
to
collect
from
the
tenants
the
tenants
are
disappear
very
quickly,
often
they're
corporate
entities,
where
there's
no
personal
liability,
so
that
that's.
That
is
an
issue
with
the
U
n
o
tax.
It's.
D
A
We
have
bedbugs
everybody,
unspent
funds,
but
you
know
we
have
issues
like
that,
and
so
it
requires
a
leadership
being
present.
You
know
being
able
to
tell
people
that
they're
doing
a
good
job,
I
try
to
go
to
court
hearings
so
that
the
young
attorneys
know
I'm
there
and
and
it's
the
sense
of
working
together
whenever
someone
must
a
lot
apartment,
which
you'd
be
surprised,
happens
quite
frequently.
A
I
said
you
know
to
try
to
push
back
and
to
have
pride
in
the
work
we
do
so
we're
hoping
to
get
that
number
down,
but
until
there's
real
salary
adjustments
all
this
stuff
with
the
sort
of
period
victory.
Where
do
those
adjustments
have
to
come
from?
What
would
just
will
work
with
budget
and
well,
you
know
I
know:
we've
been
speaking
with
the
defenders
to
try
to
get
some
parity,
and
you
know
you.
D
D
C
A
B
D
A
E
A
Lot
higher,
no,
it's
something
that
we're
exploring
and
I
always
try
to
get
Anna
Adams
not
to
be
upset
at
me.
If
I
keep
asking
for
more
money,
but
you
know
it's
it's
a
it's
a
real
challenge
and
really
what
we
when
we
had
the
last
the
merit
raises.
I
was
able
to
allocate
more
money
to
our
younger
attorneys
because,
particularly
for
DHS,
there
they're
going
to
court
and
child
welfare
they're
completely
overwhelmed
with
the
amount
of
cases
but
they're
getting
paid.
Fifty
one
thousand
dollars
a
year
on
top
of
the
debt.
A
They
have
I
mean
that
that's
that's
the
challenge,
so
you
know
what
I'm
happy
to
continue
talking
about
salary
adjustments,
because
no
matter
what
what
else
we
talk
about,
if
we
don't
address
that
our
attrition
rate
will
always
be
high,
double
digits
without
question
and
we
won't
be
able
to
recruit
the
talented
people
we
have
and
the
way
I
saw
the
law
department.
Is
that
we're
doing
work
that
you
can't
do
anywhere
else
tour,
but
at
the
end
of
the
day,
people
have
families
and
and
wouldn't.
D
A
B
D
D
Well,
here's
my
concern
I'll,
just
the
statistics
that
I
saw.
We
spent
twenty
million
dollars
a
year
on
vacant
properties
which
could
produce
two
million
dollars
a
year
in
real
estate
taxes.
So
we'll
take
us
ten
years
once
we
get
rid
of
them
to
make
up
for
the
cost
per
year.
So
this
is
a
focus,
so
we
have
to
get
rid
of
these
properties
and
get
them
into
the
hands
of
people
paying
taxes,
but
we
got
to
get
rid
of
them
to
get
them
off
our
books,
it's
20
million
a
year
to
maintain
them.