Managing Director and Departments, Boards and Commissions under his Supervision

ANNOTATION

• Sources: No specific source.

• Purposes:
  1. The duties of the Mayor of a city the size of Philadelphia are so extensive and make such demands upon his time that it is almost a physically impossible task for the Mayor to supervise closely all the operations conducted by the various departments and other agencies of the executive branch of the City government. Should the Mayor be required to exercise personal supervision the result may well be a failure of adequate supervision and a failure of the departments to perform the duties with which they are charged. The Charter attacks this problem by creating the office of Managing Director.
  2. The Managing Director, appointed by the Mayor, is the Mayor's personal assistant and has under his charge the departments of the City rendering municipal services to the people of the City. The Managing Director has the duty of supervising these departments and the boards and commissions connected with them. He appoints, with the approval of the Mayor, the heads of all such departments. The department heads are responsible to the Managing Director who in turn is responsible to the Mayor. To vest authority commensurate with the responsibility given to him, the Managing Director is made the contact officer between the Mayor and the departments, boards and commissions under his supervision; service department heads will thus report to their superior, the Managing Director, and not to the Mayor.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: No specific source.

• Purposes: The Managing Director is required to report periodically to the Mayor concerning the affairs of the service departments and the boards and commissions connected with them so that the Mayor may be kept currently informed of their activities. The operations of the service departments will affect and will be affected by those of other agencies of the City government. Accordingly the Managing Director is authorized to make recommendations on matters generally concerning the affairs of the City government.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: No specific source.

• Purposes: The Managing Director is authorized to call together the heads of the various service departments for "cabinet" meetings because their activities are inter-related and will frequently require joint action. See Annotation to Section 4-104. Since the activities of the various service departments are related to and may affect or be affected by those of other agencies of the City government, the Managing Director is authorized to invite to such cabinet meetings other officers of the City government.

1. Law Enforcement. It shall preserve the public peace, prevent and detect crime, police the streets and highways and enforce traffic statutes, ordinances and regulations relating thereto. The Department shall at all times aid in the administration and enforcement within the City of the statutes of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the ordinances of the City.
2. Maintenance of the Philadelphia Police. The Department shall train, equip, maintain, supervise and discipline the Philadelphia Police.
3. Police Signal System. The Department shall operate a police signal system either as a separate system or in conjunction with the fire alarm system of the Fire Department.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: Act of June 25, 1919, P.L. 581, Article V, Sections 3 and 5, as amended.

• Purposes:
  1. The number of personnel engaged in police work, the importance to the general welfare and safety of an adequate and competent police force, and the absence of any vital relationship between police functions and fire functions, indicate the necessity for separate departments of police and fire. See Section 5-400. For similar reasons, functions of the former Department of Public Safety not directly related to police or fire work have been transferred to other departments. See Sections 5-500, 5-900 and 5-1002. These include operations of the electrical bureau and functions of building safety inspection and enforcement.
  2. The primary function of the Police Department is law enforcement and this includes the enforcement of City ordinances and the enforcement of State laws operative within the City.
  3. The training, equipment, maintenance, supervision and discipline of the Philadelphia Police is expressly provided for because each of these is a necessary prerequisite of an adequate and competent police force.
  4. The Police Department is authorized to maintain either a separate police signal system or one in conjunction with fire alarm system of the Fire Department so that one or the other of such systems may be employed, depending on which will be the more efficient for police purposes under varying conditions. See Sections 5-400(e) and 5-900(a)(2).

ANNOTATION

• Sources: No specific source.

• Purposes: Specification in detail of the powers of policemen is avoided in favor of a general statement of powers so that no particular power will be excluded because of a failure to refer to it. See Annotation to Section 1-100. Searches, seizures and arrests may be made if they are lawful, a constitutional caution necessary for the police to bear in mind in the exercise of such powers. Police are empowered to make lawful searches, seizures and arrests for the violation of any statutes, State or Federal, in force in the City, and of City ordinances. The powers of the police include all the common law powers of police officers.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: Act of June 25, 1919, P.L. 581, Article V, Section 6.

• Purposes: Most of this section continues existing law. The new language prohibiting appointment for service at any place where there exists a labor dispute or strike reflects past practices.

1. Protection of Public Health. It shall administer and enforce statutes, ordinances and regulations relating to public health including those dealing with air, water, food and drugs, health hazards, the pursuit of occupations affecting the public health, and pests, including animal, insect and plant-life.
2. Health Programs. The Department shall institute and conduct programs of public health and medical research and programs to promote public education in all matters concerning public health.
3. Health Facilities. The Department shall establish, maintain and operate health centers, stations and clinics, laboratories and other health facilities.
4. Vital Statistics. The Department shall be the agency of the City for compiling, analyzing, maintaining, and reporting statistics and data concerning births, still-births and deaths.
5. City Hospitals. The Department shall have general supervision over all City hospitals now or hereafter owned or operated by the City. It shall determine the capacity of City hospitals and determine and designate the type of persons and the proportion of each to be received therein. The Department shall recommend and bring to the attention of the officers and boards of trustees of City hospitals standards and methods helpful in the government and administration of such hospitals and for the betterment of the condition of their patients.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: Act of June 25, 1919, P.L. 581, Article VII, Section 3; the Administrative Code of 1928, P.L. 177, Section 2315.

• Purposes:
  1. The importance of the public health of the people of the City requires a separate Department of Public Health, empowered to deal with all public health problems. However, the licensing of occupations and activities subject to regulation by the City pursuant to statute or ordinance is made a function of the Department of Licenses and Inspections even though they are regulated for public health reasons. See Article V, Chapter 10. For the present, inspection functions in the public health area remain with the Department of Public Health except that if they involve also building safety or sanitation, they come within the jurisdiction of the Department of Licenses and Inspection. See Article V, Chapter 10.
  2. The Charter vests the management of City hospitals in boards of trustees. Section 5-303. Such boards, however, are attached to the Department of Public Health which is responsible for the general supervision of City hospitals. This does not include the management of day to day operations and the determination of the immediate hospital policy for such matters are within the province of the boards of trustees. But to the extent an overall City policy is required to be established and followed, its formulation is a matter for the Department of Public Health. Participation by boards of trustees in determining such policy is not precluded, for sound general supervision will take advantage of consultation with and the advice of those in day to day control of hospitals. Part of a City-wide hospital policy is the determination of how many patients a hospital shall accommodate and the kinds and number of each case it shall treat. Therefore, these are made matters for decision at the departmental level.

1. Within one year after the effective date of this charter, prepare, with the aid of the Law Department, and submit to the Council for its consideration a comprehensive Health Code which shall embrace all matters to which the powers and duties of the Department of Public Health shall extend and which shall have as it purpose the preservation and promotion of the health of the people of the City;

2. Make reasonable regulations, not contrary to any statute or ordinance, for the preservation and promotion of the health of the people of the City. Such regulations shall be the regulations of the Department of Public Health.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: No specific source.

• Purposes:
  1. The function of promulgating health regulations which are to be the regulations of the Department of Public Health, is vested in a Board of Health. These regulations will also concern and affect many of the residents of the City. A Board representative of persons professionally concerned with health matters and interested lay persons will bring to the content of health regulations a sounder and better rounded subject matter.
  2. The Board of Health is given the particular duty of preparing for submission to the Council a comprehensive health code. Codification of ordinances pertaining to health conforms with better public health administration and practice. Codification will make possible more effective control of health hazards.
  3. The power of the Board to make regulations is, under existing case law, an administrative function. The Board cannot, therefore, legislate. That remains a function of the Council.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: Ordinance of the City of Philadelphia, June 25, 1948.

• Purposes: The function of the Air Pollution Control Board is limited to the promulgation of administrative regulations since provision is made elsewhere in the Charter for uniform licensing practices and ultimately, enforcement procedures. See Article V, Chapter 10. Air pollution control regulation is made a function of a board of experts because of the technical nature of the subject. The regulations of the Board must not conflict with any statute or ordinance or the general regulations of the Board of Health.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: The Administrative Code of 1929, Act of April 9, 1929, P.L. 177, Section 2318, as amended.

• Purposes: Private hospital management through boards of trustees has shown a pattern of successful and efficient hospital operation and administration expected to be achieved in City hospitals by vesting their direct management in boards of trustees. General municipal control and the effectuation of over-all City policies are assured by attaching such boards to the Department of Public Health and by the vesting of general supervisory powers in the Department. See Section 5-300. Boards of trustees will be responsible for the day to day operation of City hospitals. Satisfactory hospital conditions, adequate facilities, proper care of patients, proper staffing of hospitals, and like matters are made the direct responsibility of the boards of trustees. The boards will determine such immediate policy questions and administrators selected by the boards will be responsible for executing policy determinations.

1. Fires. It shall extinguish fires at any place within the limits of the City and, upon the request of appropriate authorities and with the authorization of the Fire Commissioner, outside the limits of the City.

2. Fire Hazards and Safety. The Department shall administer and enforce statutes, ordinances and regulations relating to fire and explosion hazards including those dealing with the manufacture, storage, sale, transportation or use of any substance or article which is or may be combustible, inflammable or explosive, the installation of any containers for such substances or articles, the installation and use of any equipment which presents a hazard of fire or explosion, and fire escapes, emergency exits, occupancies, fire alarm systems and fire extinguishing equipment in any vessel, vehicle, premises, grounds, structure, building or underground passage.

3. Fire Prevention Programs. The Department shall institute and conduct programs of public education in fire prevention and safety.

4. Maintenance of Firemen. The Department shall train, equip, maintain, supervise and discipline an adequate number of firemen.

5. Fire Alarm System. The Department shall operate a fire alarm system either as a separate system or in conjunction with the police signal system of the Police Department.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: Act of June 25, 1919, P.L. 581, Article V, Section 3, as amended.

• Purposes:
  1. Fire functions have been vested in a separate department for the reason, stated in the Annotation to Section 5-200.
  2. The functions of the Fire Department are the functions normally vested in a fire department. Authorization is given for the Department to extinguish fires outside the City because at times conflagrations require the cooperation of fire fighting forces from adjoining municipalities.
  3. The Fire Department has complete jurisdiction in administering and enforcing laws and regulations concerned with fire safety and prevention except that licensing functions are within the jurisdiction of the Department of Licenses and Inspections. See Article V, Chapter 10 and the Annotation to Section 5-300. Powers and duties of the Fire Marshal under prior law are transferred to the Fire Department. See Section A-101.
  4. Fire prevention is stressed by authorizing the Department to conduct appropriate educational programs.
  5. As to subsections (d) and (e), see the Annotation to Section 5-200.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: No specific source.

• Purposes: City ordinances dealing with matters within the jurisdiction of the Fire Department have been enacted on many separate occasions over a period of many years. Such ordinances are not integrated and do not always reflect modern needs and practices. Codification is required by the Charter to remedy this condition and as an aid to a more effective fire control and prevention program.

1. City Streets. It shall itself, or by contract, design construct, repair and maintain:
   1. City streets, which shall include highways, roads, streets, alleys, footways, bridges, tunnels, overpasses and underpasses, including approaches and viaducts, owned, controlled or operated by the City or designated in accordance with law as streets of the City;
   2. The roads and drives in Fairmount Park.

2. Lighting. The Department shall itself, or by contract, locate, design, install, repair, maintain and operate equipment for lighting City streets and for that purpose supply electric current and gas to such equipment.

3. Sanitation. The Department shall itself, or when specifically authorized by the Council, by contract, clean and sand City streets, remove and dispose of ashes, garbage and refuse, remove and dispose of ice and snow from City streets, design, construct, repair, maintain and operate incinerators or other plants or equipment for the disposition of ashes, garbage and refuse, and administer and enforce statutes, ordinances and regulations for maintaining the cleanliness of City streets.

4. Traffic Engineering. The Department shall make such regulations governing traffic and parking on City streets and on the roads and drives in Fairmount Park as shall be authorized by statute or ordinance, establish and determine the type and location of any and all signs, signals, markings and devices for regulating and controlling vehicular and pedestrian traffic as shall be authorized by and not inconsistent with statute or ordinance, install, repair, maintain and operate them, collect and compile traffic data, prepare engineering studies and surveys in regard to vehicular and pedestrian traffic, prepare analyses of traffic accidents for determining their causes and means for their prevention, and institute and conduct an educational and public information program for the purpose of promoting the safety and unimpeded movement of vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

5. Surveys, Lines and Grades, Maps and Plans. The Department shall perform all surveying functions of the City. It shall furnish lines and grades of all kinds, prepare all maps, plans and other land records, and prepare and furnish descriptions of real property, based on surveys which it makes.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: Act of June 25 ,1919, P.L. 581, Article VI, Section 3, as amended; Ordinance of the City of Philadelphia, June 2, 1948.

• Purposes:
  1. A separate department is established with responsibility for all functions relating to City streets because of the importance of good and clean streets and the complexity of traffic problems in a large modern city. The construction and maintenance of City streets, in itself a tremendous operation, overburdened the Department of Public Works where this function was previously vested. The scope of this work alone and the number of employees engaged in it require a separate department to deal with it.
  2. The Department will have complete jurisdiction over the construction and maintenance of City streets which are broadly defined to include any public City thoroughfare handling traffic. This jurisdiction extends to the roads and drives in Fairmount Park to promote economy, efficiency and uniformity.
  3. Lighting of City streets in made a function of the Department because it is so intimately related to the control of traffic and the construction, design, and maintenance of City streets.
  4. The above comment as to lighting applies also to the problem of street sanitation. The Department has the additional function in this respect of administering and enforcing laws and regulations dealing with the cleanliness of City streets, but any licensing function in this regard would be handled by the Department of Licenses and Inspections. Article V, Chapter 10.
  5. Tied in with the entire problem of City streets is the over-all problem of traffic engineering and this function is therefore vested in the Department of Streets. In the interest of uniformity, the traffic engineering jurisdiction of the Department is extended to the roads and drives in Fairmount Park. Traffic engineering is defined to include all germane problems such as the installation, maintenance and operation of signs and signals regulating traffic. Public education in traffic safety is also made a function of the Department. The Department thus absorbs the functions of the former Highway Traffic Board.
  6. Surveying functions are placed in the Department of Streets because they are intimately connected with the construction and maintenance of City streets.
  7. The Department of Streets is authorized to perform its street construction, design, repair and lighting functions either itself or by contracting with private contractors to do the work. However, in the case of street cleaning, and the removal of garbage and other refuse, it may contract for this work only when it has been authorized by Council to do so. This limitation is carried forward from the 1919 Charter.

ANNOTATIONS

• Sources: Ordinances of the City of Philadelphia, March 17, 1884.

• Purposes: The Department of Streets absorbs the functions of the Board of Highways Supervisors. Street openings and excavations should not be made haphazardly and without the planned interruption of the use of City streets.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: Act of June 25, 1919, P.L. 581, Article VI, Section 4; Ordinances of the City of Philadelphia, March 17, 1884, and December 31, 1919.

• Purposes: The historical and technical functions of the Board of Surveyors are continued substantially as at present subject to provisions of the Charter of general application and the powers and duties vested in the City Planning Commission. See Section 4-600 and 4-603.

1. Coordinated Recreational Program. It shall from time to time formulate a comprehensive and coordinated program of cultural and physical recreational activities to be instituted and conducted in all City recreational facilities, including those managed and operated by the Fairmount Park Commission.

2. Conduct of Recreational Program. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the Department shall institute and conduct all recreational activities in accordance with its recreational program.

3. Recreational Facilities. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the Department shall manage and operate all City recreational facilities, including the Municipal Stadium, and all parks and public squares not managed and operated by the Fairmount Park Commission, and itself, or by contract, construct, maintain, improve and repair such facilities, parks and squares. Jointly with the Fairmount Park Commission, it shall determine the location of new recreational facilities to be situated in Fairmount Park and other City parks managed and operated by the Fairmount Park Commission. This paragraph shall not apply to City recreational facilities managed and operated by private corporations or privately owned recreational facilities supported in whole or in part by funds appropriated from the City Treasury but all requests for appropriations from the City Treasury for such City or private recreational facilities shall be made through the Department.

4. Historical Shrines. The Department shall preserve, manage and operate City historical shrines not under the management and operation of any board or commission and make plans for the acquisition by the City of buildings and grounds of historical significance to the City.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: Act of June 25, 1919, P.L. 581, Article VIII, Section 3.

• Purposes:
  1. Recreation was a function of the Department of Public Welfare under the 1919 Charter. It is made a function of a separate department under this Charter because of its importance to the welfare of the people of the City, the unsatisfactory experience under the 1919 Charter, and the absence of any relationship between recreational and institutional and public assistance functions.
  2. Recreation in the City is a function of the Board of Public Education, the Fairmount Park Commission and the City department vested with that function. An integrated City-wide recreational program would require the complete coordination of the recreational activities of the three agencies. The Charter Commission did not have any power to deal with the Board of Education. It did have such power in the case of the Fairmount Park Commission. Therefore, the Department of Recreation is empowered to formulate a comprehensive and coordinated recreational program to control recreational activities conducted in all City recreational facilities including those in Fairmount Park.
  3. Conduct of the recreational program is the responsibility of the Department of Recreation except that the Fairmount Park Commission will conduct that part of the program which involves recreational facilities managed and operated by it. This exception is made because the main objective to be achieved is that of a coordinated program and that goal will be attained by the requirement that the Department shall establish a program and that it shall be binding upon the Fairmount Park Commission. It was not deemed practicable, in view of the extensive jurisdiction of the Fairmount Park Commission over park facilities, to vest the conduct of the program in park facilities in the Department.
  4. The Department of Recreation is vested with the management and operation of all City recreational facilities other than those in Fairmount Park and other City parks managed and operated by the Fairmount Park Commission. Such park recreational facilities are to be managed and operated by the Commission. However, the location of new recreational facilities in parks under the jurisdiction of the Commission is to be jointly determined by the Commission and the Department. This will insure the implementation of the recreational program determined by the Department and the meeting of the recreational needs of the people of the City. Parks and public squares not managed and operated by the Fairmount Park Commission are to be operated and managed by the Department of Recreation because such parks and squares are important recreational facilities. Recreational facilities managed and operated by private corporations or privately owned are to continue under private management and operation or ownership even though they are supported in whole or in part by City funds. They are adequately managed and operated and those privately owned, the Charter Commission could not authorize the City to take over under its powers. However, a measure of control is retained by the City to the extent that appropriations are received from the City, for all requests for such appropriations must be channeled through the Department of Recreation.
  5. The Department is vested with a new function of managing and operating City historical shrines and of historical shrine planning. The City of Independence has many shrines of historical significance which are being neglected. Vesting this function in the Department should assure appropriate attention being paid to the acquisition of shrines not now owned by the City and to the more adequate care of such shrines as are owned by the City. Excepted from theses provisions are shrines which are managed and operated by a specific board or commission, such as the American Flag House and Betsy Ross Memorial.

ANNOTATIONS

• Sources: No specific source.

• Purposes: At the hearings of the Charter Commission many civic groups expressed concern and interest in the municipal function of recreation. A number believed that the coordination of recreational activities in the city (see Annotation to Section 5-600) could be materially enhanced if representatives of the various agencies involved and the public could be brought together in the form of a board to serve in an advisory capacity to the Department of Recreation on matters involving the coordination of recreational activities and of the use of recreational facilities.

1. The Department of Streets shall itself, or by contract, build, rebuild and maintain the roads and drives in Fairmount Park and make such regulations governing traffic thereon as shall be authorized by statute or ordinance, but the Commission shall determine the location and type of all such roads and drives, and may exclude certain types of vehicles from the use of any or all such roads or drives.

2. The Fairmount Park Commission shall institute and conduct, in accordance with the recreational program formulated by the Department of Recreation, recreational activities in Fairmount Park and other City parks managed and operated by the Commission. It shall manage and operate recreational facilities located in such parks and itself, or by contract, construct, maintain, improve and repair such facilities.

3. The head of the park police force shall cooperate fully at all times with the Police Commissioner.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: Act of March 26, 1867, P.L. 547, as amended.

• Purposes:
  1. The Commissioners of Fairmount Park are to continue to exercise the powers and perform the duties presently vested in them subject to the areas excepted by this section and by other provisions of the Charter of general application, such as those dealing with civil service and procurement. The offices of the Commissioners were established before the Constitution prohibited the delegation to special commissions of power to make, supervise or interfere with any municipal improvement, money, property or effects or to levy taxes or perform municipal functions. Constitution of Pennsylvania, Article III, Section 20. If the Commissioners were abolished, it would not have been possible to recreate a commission in this Charter with the same powers and duties. Nor were any urgent reasons present for abolishing the offices. However, because of the pressing need of a few peculiar problems, certain exceptions to the continuation of presently existing powers and duties had to be carved out.
  2. The building and maintenance of roads and drives in Fairmount Park and the promulgation of regulations governing traffic there are made functions of the Department of Streets in the interests of efficiency, economy and uniformity. See Section 5-500. The Commission, however, retains control over the location of roads and drives, decides of what type they shall be, and determines the kinds of vehicles which shall be excluded from such roads and drives so that the character of Fairmount Park may be preserved.
  3. Another exception is the determination of the program of recreational activities to be conducted in parks managed and operated by the Fairmount Park Commission. See Annotation to Section 5-600.
  4. The duty of the head of the Park police to cooperate with the Police Commissioner is emphasized in the interests of public safety.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: Ordinance of the City of Philadelphia, May 26, 1941.

• Purposes: The powers of the Board of Trustees of the American Flag House and Betsy Ross Memorial are retained as at present but the Board is connected with the Department of Recreation because its functions fall within the sphere of recreation.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: Ordinance of the City of Philadelphia, July 28, 1938.

• Purposes: The powers of the Board of Trustees of the Atwater Kent Museum are retained as at present because of the terms of the contract under which the City received the Museum. The Board is connected with the Department of Recreation because its function falls within the sphere of recreation.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: The Administrative Code of 1929, Act of April 9, 1929, P.L. 177, Section 2318, as amended.

• Purposes: The Board of Trustees of Camp Happy is established to manage and operate Camp Happy for substantially the reasons which prompted the creation of boards of trustees for City hospitals. See Annotation to Section 5-303. The Board is attached to the Department of Recreation because the functions of the Board are so closely connected with City recreational activities.

1. Assistance. It shall receive, care for and place dependent, mentally defective, neglected, incorrigible and delinquent children and mentally defective, aged, infirm and destitute adults whose support is paid for out of the City Treasury or out of other funds which are administered by the City. In cases where the Department has placed such children or adults, it shall from time to time investigate the manner in which they are being cared for. The Department shall also locate, care for and return to their places of residence transients, resident and non-resident, who because of age, lack of means, or other appropriate reasons require such assistance.

2. Assistance Payments and Collections. The Department shall approve or disapprove all bills rendered to the City by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the maintenance of City residents in State institutions for the insane and feebleminded and by private persons for the care of children and adults placed with them and no order shall be issued or paid without such approval. It shall transmit to the Department of Collections for collection all accounts due to the City for the care and placement of children and adults and the care and return of transients.

3. City Welfare Institutions. The Department shall have general supervision over all City penal, reformatory and correctional institutions, homes for the indigent and other welfare institutions now or hereafter owned or operated by the City. It shall determine the capacity of City institutions and determine and designate the type of persons and the proportion of each type to be received therein. The Department shall recommend and bring to the attention of the officers and boards of trustees of City institutions standards and methods helpful in the government and administration of such institutions and for the betterment of the condition of their inhabitants.

4. Inmate Labor. The Department shall:
   1. Establish and arrange for the maintenance of industries and where feasible farms in or in connection with City penal, reformatory or correctional institutions for the compensable employment of all physically capable persons sentenced to such institutions;
   2. Arrange for the compensable employment of inmates of City penal, reformatory or correctional institutions at such work or labor within or upon the grounds of any City institution as may be necessary for its maintenance;
   3. Transfer to the City or other public agencies, by sale or otherwise, articles manufactured or produced in any City penal, reformatory or correctional institution which cannot be used therein;
   4. Require each City penal, reformatory or correctional institution to keep proper records of the labor performed by its inmates, of the compensation paid to them, of the articles manufactured or produced therein, and of their disposition.

ANNOTATION

• Source: Act of June 25, 1919, P.L. 581, Article VIII, Section 3; the Administrative Code of 1929, P.L. 177, Section 2303, 2312 and 2315, as amended.

• Purposes:
  1. Welfare functions formerly vested in the Department of Public Welfare under the Charter of 1919 are of such importance and bear such scant relationship to the recreational functions formerly vested in the same Department that a separate department is needed to discharge them. Thus, the Department of Public Welfare established by this Charter has the sole duty of carrying out public welfare functions.
  2. As in the case of City hospitals, City welfare institutions are placed under the care and management of individual boards of trustees. See Section 5-701. The reasons motivating this decision and the relationship of the Department of Public Welfare to the boards of trustees are the same as those in the cases of the Department of Public Health and the boards of trustees of City hospitals. See Annotations to Section 5-300 and 5-303.
  3. Special emphasis is placed by the Charter on the establishment and fulfillment of a program of inmate labor so that inmates of penal, reformatory and correctional institutions will have an opportunity for compensable self improvement and the use of their time through the rendition of services which will also benefit the City. Such programs are limited by feasibility and the abilities of the persons who are to engage in them. Accounting requirements are imposed to make certain that the City and inmates will receive the full benefit from such programs as are instituted.

The foregoing powers shall be exercised by the respective boards of trustees in the management of the following institutions:

House of Correction
Home for the Indigent

The foregoing powers shall also be exercised by the respective boards of trustees of additional welfare institutions hereafter established, acquired or operated by the City.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: The Administrative Code of 1929, Act of April 9, 1929, P.L. 177, Section 2318, as amended.

• Purposes: See Annotation to Section 5-300 and 5-303.

1. Water. It shall operate the City's water supply system, and shall either itself, or by contract, construct, maintain, repair and improve City water supply facilities, including fire and drinking hydrants and water meters. It shall make investigations and prepare plans and estimates looking towards the acquisition by the City of new and better sources of water supply, and shall, with the approval of the Managing Director, make its recommendations to the Mayor for transmission to the Council. It shall also investigate and adopt methods for improving the quality of the water supply.

2. Sewage and Sewage Disposal. The Department shall operate, and itself, or by contract, maintain, repair and improve the City's sewage system and sewage disposal plants. When authorized by the Council, it shall acquire, design and construct additional sewage disposal plants and sewage facilities.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: Act of June 25, 1919, P.L. 581, Article VI, Section 3, as amended.

• Purposes:
  1. Under the Charter of 1919 the functions vested in the Water Department were performed chiefly by the Department of Public Works. These were but some of the many functions which overburdened that Department. A separate department to deal with the water problem is established by this Charter because of its urgency and because a separate department might facilitate a more immediate and adequate solution.
  2. The principal function of the Water Department is to furnish the City with an adequate water supply of improved quality.
  3. Because City sewage systems and sewage disposal facilities are closely related functionally to the water system of the City, their operation and maintenance are also vested in the Water Department.
  4. The acquisition, design and construction of sewage disposal plants and sewage facilities are major capital improvements and for this reason authorization by the Council is required before they can be undertaken.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: No specific source.

• Purposes: Small municipalities on the fringe of the city limits might not at times be in a position to furnish their residents with water and sewage disposal services. Thus, the Water Department is authorized pursuant to Councilmanic ordinance, to furnish such services to users outside the City.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: No specific source.

• Purposes: While a Water Department is created by the Charter to deal with the water problem, it is not intended to preclude the City from creating, pursuant to an appropriate statute, an authority to take over any or all of the services of the Department or from contracting with a private operator to do so, if either course of action would be of advantage to the City and beneficial to its citizens.

1. Buildings and Other Real Estate.
   1. It shall keep clean and presentable, maintain and repair, or supervise the cleaning, maintenance and repair of, the corridors, court rooms, meeting rooms and other facilities in City Hall, City Hall Annex and all other City buildings and grounds, except that with the approval of the Managing Director any department, board or commission may perform such services itself as to any buildings and grounds which it occupies exclusively. The Department shall operate the elevators in City Hall and City Hall Annex and in all other City buildings in such a manner as to provide adequate and prompt service to the public. Except for such space as shall in the judgment of the President of the Council and the Mayor be required for the accommodation of the Council and its members, which shall be assigned as provided in the rules of the Council, the Department shall assign to the several courts and the judges thereof, court rooms, offices and other rooms and quarters for a law library and for the Philadelphia Bar Association, and meeting rooms for members of the bar, and to officers, commissions and other governmental agencies supported out of the City Treasury, and to the Mayor and other officers of the City, and all departments, boards and commissions thereof, suitable quarters in City Hall, City Hall Annex or other suitable buildings owned or leased by the City; but in the assignment of quarters, the Department shall arrange that the offices of the Director of Finance, Auditing Department, Department of Collections, and City Treasurer, shall be adjacent to each other.
   2. The Department shall itself, or by contract, provide telephone service through a City telephone exchange or otherwise for all offices and agencies occupying City Hall, City Hall Annex and all other buildings operated by the City for the accommodation of the public, but the Police Department and the Fire Department may, jointly or separately, have separate telephone or other communication systems.
   3. Whenever the City shall have been authorized by ordinance or otherwise to erect a new building or to remodel or alter an existing building, the Department shall when necessary employ a suitable architect, and also when necessary an engineer, to design the same. When the plans have been approved by the Mayor, the Managing Director and the Art Commission, the Department shall cause appropriate specifications to be prepared which shall be submitted to the Mayor and Managing Director for approval. In the preparation of plans and specifications, the Department shall consult with the department, board or commission of the City or other governmental agency for whose use the building is being remodeled, altered or constructed. After a contract has been awarded, the Department shall supervise through its own engineers or otherwise, the remodeling, alteration or erection of the building under the contract.
   4. The Department shall, whenever authorized by ordinance, purchase, condemn in the manner provided by law, lease or otherwise acquire such grounds, buildings and building accommodations, structures and facilities as may be required by the City; and whenever any City real estate is not being used in connection with the work of any department, board or commission of the City or any other governmental agency, the Department may rent, or when authorized by the Council, sell the same upon the best terms obtainable after appropriate public advertising and the receipt of competitive bids.

2. Maintenance and Assignment of Automobiles and Other Vehicles. The Department shall maintain and repair or supervise the maintenance and repair of all automobiles and other vehicles owned by the City and assign, upon proper requisition, to any officer, department, board, or commission of the City the use of such automobiles and other vehicles as may be required by him or it.

3. Transit Facilities. The Department shall supervise the operation of leases of City transit facilities. It shall operate and itself, or by contract, maintain, repair and improve such facilities not under lease to others and when authorized by the Council, acquire, design and construct additional transit facilities.

4. Gas, Electricity and Steam. The Department shall supervise the operation of leases of City facilities for the production and transmission of gas, electricity and steam . It shall operate and itself, or by contract, maintain, repair and improve City gas, electric and steam facilities not under lease to others and when authorized by the Council, acquire, design and construct additional such facilities. The Department shall from time to time inspect and test the quality of gas, electricity and steam furnished to the City and its inhabitants, and the facilities for their transmission and metering.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: Act of June 25, 1919, P.L. 581, Article V, Section 3, as amended, Article VI, Section 3, as amended, Article X, Section 3, Article XXV, Section 3, as amended; the Administrative Code of 1929, P.L. 177, Section 2402, 2407, 2408 and 2411, as amended.

• Purposes:
  1. A Department of Public Property is established so that the manifold functions relating principally to the care, maintenance and acquisition of City real property will be concentrated in one City agency. Many functions of this kind were performed by the Department of Public Works under the Charter of 1919 and added to its overburdening. On the other hand, the Departments of City Architecture and Transit had limited functions to perform and comparatively small staffs for agencies with departmental status. The Electrical Bureau was a part of the Department of Public Safety and yet was responsible for functions connected with the maintenance and operation of City buildings. All such public property functions are now transferred to the Department of Public Property. Centralization in one department of the care of public buildings and facilities in public buildings should remedy undesirable conditions existing in such buildings at the time of the adoption of this Charter.
  2. The Department of Public Property has the function of assigning space in City buildings to the executive and administrative agencies of the City and to agencies presently using facilities in City Hall. The requirement is imposed that the financial departments shall be assigned space adjacent to each other in the interests of efficient operation and convenience to the public. While not mentioned, it is the intention that the Procurement Department shall also be situated adjacent to the other financial departments.
  3. The furnishing of municipal telephone services is made the responsibility of the Department of Public Property in order to effect needed improvements in the service rendered both to the City and to the public. Special provision is made in the case of communication system for the police and firemen for the reasons stated in the Annotation in Section 5-200.
  4. Responsibility for the design and construction of new City buildings is vested in the Department of Public property because its functions relate to all City real property and to promote efficiency and economy. Most of the work involved, such as architectural and engineering services and actual construction, will be performed on a contract basis but will be subject to general supervision by the Department. In the preparation of plans and specifications, the agency which will ultimately use the structure, is to be consulted to assure that the structure will meet its needs. The Department may have on its staff engineers and architects to the extent it does not contract for such services. The Department itself will not award contracts for this is a function of the Procurement Department Section 6-500.
  5. The Department is responsible for the acquisition and disposition of City owned or leased real estate. Centralization of this function should effect important economies.
  6. Responsibility for the maintenance and repair, or the supervision of the maintenance and repair, of all City automobiles and the assigning of the use of such automobiles is centralized in order to effect economies in these respects.
  7. City owned transit facilities are operated by private operators pursuant to leases and contracts with the City. The supervising of such leases and contracts does not require a separate department and the management of this property interest is placed in the Department of Public Property which will manage other property interests of the City, not of such magnitude or urgency as to require separate treatment. However, the possibility exists that the City may under certain circumstances be required to operate its transit facilities itself, and the Department is authorized to do so, should that prove necessary. Because the acquisition of additional transit facilities is a major capital improvement, authorization by the Council is required.
  8. Consideration similar to those applicable to transit facilities govern gas, electrical, and steam facilities. The factor of public safety and City use of services furnished by gas, electrical and steam utilities makes desirable the requirement that the Department inspect and test the quality of gas, electricity and steam furnished to the City and its inhabitants and the facilities for their transmission and metering.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: No specific source.

• Purposes: See Annotation to Section 5-803.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: Ordinance of the City of Philadelphia, December 30, 1937, as amended.

• Purposes: The functions of the Gas Commission will be determined by the contract in effect from time to time between the City and the operator of the City gas works. In the absence of a contract, Council will define the Commission's powers and duties by ordinance.

1. The Art Commission shall:
   1. Approve any work of art to be acquired by the City, whether by purchase, gift or otherwise and its proposed location;
   2. Require to be submitted to it, whenever it deems it proper, a complete model or design of any work of art to be acquired by the City;
   3. Approve the design and proposed location of any building, bridge and its approaches, arch, gate, fence, or other structure or fixture to be paid for, either wholly or in part, from the City Treasury or for which the City or any other public authority is to furnish a site but any such action taken by the Commission shall conform to the Physical Development Plan ;
   4. Approve any structure or fixture to be erected by any person upon or to extend over any highway, stream, lake, square, park or other public place within the City;
   5. Approve the removal, relocation or alteration of any existing work of art in the possession of the City;
   6. Examine every two years all City monuments and works of art and make a report to the Commissioner of Public Property on their condition with recommendations for their care and maintenance.

2. "Work of art" shall include all paintings, mural decorations, inscriptions, stained glass, statues, reliefs, or other sculptures, monuments, fountains, arches or other structures intended for ornament or commemoration.

3. If the Art Commission fails to act upon any matter submitted to it within sixty days after such submission, its approval of the matter submitted shall be presumed.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: Act of June 25, 1919, P.L. 581, Article II, Section 11.

• Purposes: The functions of the Art Commission are essentially those of the Art Jury under the Charter of 1919. The functions of the Art Commission will affect at times City planning and for that reason its decisions must conform with the requirements of the Physical Development Plan of the City. The examination of the condition of City monuments and works of art is a new function and is included so that these important and expensive properties of the City shall not suffer from neglect.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: No specific source.

• Purposes: The issuance of licenses and the performance of inspection functions by various agencies of the City government have resulted in inconvenience to the public, loss of revenue, lack of uniformity in procedures, and the absence of any effective over-all supervision and control. To remedy such conditions, one Department of Licenses and Inspections is created which is to issue all licenses required to be obtained from the City and ultimately to conduct all City inspection functions.

1. "License" shall mean any license or permit required by statute, ordinance or regulation to be obtained from any officer, department, board or commission as a prerequisite to engaging in any activity or having possession of or using any property but shall not include the right to admission to any facility in any park or under the jurisdiction of the Department of Recreation.

2. "Inspection" shall mean any inspection, test or examination to which any person is subject as an applicant for or a holder of a license or to which any property is subject under any statute, ordinance or regulation which it is the duty of the Mayor or of any other officer or of any department, board or commission to enforce.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: No specific source.

• Purposes: "License" is defined in the broadest sense of a grant of permission required from the City by private persons engaging in activities or using property subject to regulations by statute or ordinance. It is not intended to include what is normally regarded as a ticket of admission to any facility.

  "Inspection" is defined in the broadest possible sense of the examination or testing of property or the conduct of activities subject to regulation by statute or ordinance or to licensing. Thus, it is intended to include the inspection of means used for the storage of gasoline, the construction and operation of slaughter houses, or the operation of restaurants. It is intended to cover any examination which the operator of a motion picture projector might have to take to show that he is qualified to operate such a machine safely. On the other hand, "inspection" is not intended to cover the testing of materials or supplies purchased by the City to determine if they conform with specifications, nor does it include civil service examinations.

1. Building Safety and Sanitation, Signs and Zoning. It shall, except as otherwise specifically provided in this charter, administer and enforce all statutes, ordinances and regulations for the protection of persons and property from hazards, in the use, condition, erection, alteration, maintenance, repair, sanitation (including the maintenance and condition of plumbing and drainage facilities and the maintenance of sanitary conditions in housing accommodations), removal and demolition of buildings and structures or any parts thereof and the grounds appurtenant thereto, in the operation of equipment therein, and of outdoor signs. Subject to the powers and duties of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, the Department shall enforce compliance with zoning ordinances.

2. Issuance of Licenses. The Department shall:
   1. Issue all forms for applications and receive all applications for any license;
   2. Determine whether the applicant is properly entitled to the license which he seeks;
   3. If the application is granted and the proper fee has been paid to the Department of Collections through its employees in the Department of Licenses and Inspections, issue the license to the applicant, either for itself or as agent for the officer, department, board or commission under whose jurisdiction the subject matter thereof falls;
   4. If the application is refused, notify the applicant in writing of the refusal and the reasons therefor.

   The procedure shall be the same for original applications and for applications for transfer or renewal.

   The requirements and standards to be met by applicants for licenses shall be established by the Department in all cases in which the Department is responsible for the functions involved. In all other cases, the requirements and standards shall be certified to the Department by the officers, departments, boards or commissions for which the Department is acting. The Department, when in doubt concerning the interpretation to be placed on the certified requirements or standards, may consult the certifying officer, department, board or commission, but the Department shall make the decision whether the license should be granted.

3. Inspections. The Department shall make all inspections except as otherwise specifically provided in this charter.

   The standards to be met upon inspections shall be established by the Department in all cases in which it is responsible for the function involved. In all other cases, except where the inspection is provided in this charter to be made by any officer, department, board or commission other than the Department of Licenses and Inspections, the standards shall be certified to the Department of Licenses and Inspections by the respective officers, departments, boards or commissions for which the Department is acting.

   The Department shall train and maintain a competent force of inspectors, who, to the extent practicable, shall make single inspections within the scope of the functions of the Department to determine compliance with statutes, ordinances and regulations.

4. Enforcement. The Department shall determine as the result of its inspections whether any person or the owner of any property is violating the conditions of any license, or whether or not any property owner is violating any statute, ordinance or regulation which it is the duty of the Department to enforce.

   If the Department shall find a violation to exist, it shall forthwith make such order or take such other lawful action as may be necessary to correct the dangerous or unlawful condition, and if necessary it shall invoke the assistance of the Law Department or the Philadelphia Police or both.

5. Revocation, Suspension or Cancellation of Licenses. Whenever the Department finds that the holder of any license is violating the conditions thereof, and whenever the officer, department, board or commission as whose agent the Department granted the license directs the Department to do so, it shall revoke, suspend or cancel the license. Any revocation, suspension or cancellation shall be in writing and shall state in detail the reasons therefor.

6. Special Inspections on Request. The Department, on request of any officer, department, board or commission, shall make a special inspection of any property upon which unlawful conditions are believed to exist or of the manner in which the holder of any license is operating under it.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: No specific source.

• Purposes:
  1. Municipal regulations to assure building safety, the maintenance of sanitary housing conditions, the safe use of outdoor signs and compliance with zoning ordinances are all functionally inter-related and involve essentially similar enforcement activities of licensing and inspection. For this reason and because enforcement has not been adequate or satisfactory, responsibility in these areas is centralized in the Department of Licenses and Inspections.
  2. The Department of Licenses and Inspections will issue City licenses. See Annotation to Section 5-1000. However, license fees will be collected by a representative of Department of Collections stationed for the convenience of the public in the Department of Licenses and Inspections. See Section 6-200(d). The Department will issue licenses as the agent of any other City agency concerned in order to preserve the substantive power granted by statute or ordinance to such other agency. Due process motivates the requirement that upon the refusal of a license, the applicant shall be advised that it has been refused and the reasons why it has been refused.
  3. The department primarily charged with the administration of any law being enforced through a license is the department which is to establish the standards to be met by an applicant for such a license because that department has an appreciation and a comprehension of the reasons why a license is required to a degree not possible to be had by the Department of Licenses and Inspections. The latter Department is to apply those standards in issuing a license so that issuance will not be delayed by administrative routing and red tape. Thus, licenses involving problems of health will be issued according to standards determined by the Department of Public Health; licenses involving fire prevention and safety measures will be issued according to standards set by the Fire Department; etc. The Department of Licenses and Inspections is required when it is in doubt as to the application of standards, and should generally as a matter of good practice, consult with the various departments concerned, in discharging its licensing functions. In the case of building safety and sanitation, signs and zoning, standards will be set by the Department of Licenses and Inspections because it is charged with the substantive administrative functions in these categories.
  4. While the centralization of all inspection functions in the Department of Licenses and Inspections is the ultimate goal sought, if feasible, testimony presented at public hearings on the proposed Charter indicated that as a practical matter this could not be accomplished at once. Accordingly, the Charter envisages the gradual transfer of all inspections, if feasible, to the Department. Pending such transfer, each department vested with enforcement powers, such as the Departments of Public Health and Fire, are to continue to perform inspection functions. These are to be transferred to the Department of Licenses and Inspections in the course of time upon the order of the Mayor with the approval of the Administrative Board. Section 8-412.
  5. Standards to be met upon inspections are to be determined by the departments primarily responsible for the functions involved because they will be peculiarly competent to appraise and determine what shall constitute conformance with laws and regulations within the sphere of their functions. Thus, the Fire Department will determine what standards must be met by persons engaged in occupations involving the storage of combustible materials. The Department of Public Health will set the standards to be met upon inspection of barber shops became the problem involved is one of public health.
  6. The good to be achieved by the ultimate centralization of all inspection functions would be limited if the present practice of multiple inspections of the same property and the activities conducted therein were continued. For this reason, the requirement is imposed of single inspections through appropriately trained inspectors to the extent practicable.
  7. Since inspection is required primarily for law enforcement purposes, the Department of Licenses and Inspections is required to note violations of laws and regulations which it has the duty to enforce and to take appropriate action to correct any unlawful conditions. It may call upon the Law Department or the Philadelphia Police or both to aid in the enforcement process.
  8. As part of its licensing functions, the Department is required to revoke, suspend or cancel licenses when conditions upon which such licenses were granted are being violated. Discovery of violations may be made by the Department itself in fulfillment of its other law enforcement functions, or may come about by discovery or act of other departments in the performance of their functions. For this reason, an order from any other department to cancel a license is to be given full effect. Due process requires notification of such action and the reasons therefor.
  9. Since the Department of Licenses and Inspections will ultimately conduct most, if not all, inspections, specific provision is made that the Department shall fulfill the request of any department for a special inspection.

1. Transmit to the officer, department, board or commission primarily concerned with the subject of any particular category of licenses, a copy of every application for such a license or its transfer or renewal, of every such license issued, renewed or transferred, and of every notice of a refusal, suspension, revocation or cancellation of such a license;

2. Transmit to the officer, department, board or commission primarily concerned with the subject of any particular category of inspections, a report of every such inspection made by it and the results thereof, a copy of every notice or order issued and a report of any other action taken as a result of such an inspection;

3. Transmit to the City Solicitor a report of every violation of any statute, ordinance or regulation concerning any license, or discovered upon any inspection.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: No specific source.

• Purposes:
  1. Full information concerning all phases of the issuance and termination of any license as the result of any inspection is required to be forwarded to the department primarily concerned with the subject matter of any license or inspection so that such department can properly fulfill its function of promulgating regulations and law enforcement in its sphere. Such information will keep the department primarily concerned fully apprised of the end result of its primary function and will enable it to be in a position to make recommendation with respect to any necessary legislation and to conform its activities to current practices and needs.
  2. Notices of violations are required to be submitted to the City Solicitor because of his responsibility for law enforcement.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: New York City Charter, 1938, Section 492.

• Purposes: In order to fulfill its inspection functions, the Department of Licenses and Inspections must have a right of entry, qualified only by constitutional limitations.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: No specific source.

• Purposes: The Board of License and Inspection Review is a new agency created for the purpose of affording citizens, adversely affected by the exercise of licensing and inspection powers vested in City agencies, an orderly procedure, in conformity with due process, for the review of action taken against them. Decisions of the Board are to be binding upon the administrative agency of the City involved, subject, of course, to such further right of appeal to the courts as may exist.

1. In accordance with any statute or ordinance as now or hereafter in force, the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall:
   1. Hear and decide appeals in zoning matters where error is alleged in any order, requirement, decision or determination made by an administrative official in the enforcement of zoning ordinances, regulations and maps;
   2. Hear and decide special exceptions to any zoning ordinance upon which the Board is required to pass;
   3. Authorize, upon appeal, in specific cases, such variance from the terms of any zoning ordinance as will not be contrary to the public interest, where, owing to special conditions, a literal enforcement of the provisions of the ordinance will result in unnecessary hardship, and so that the spirit of the ordinance shall be observed and substantial justice done.

2. In the exercise of its powers, the Zoning Board of Adjustment may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or modify, the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from, and make such order, requirement, decision or determination as ought to be made, and, to that end, it shall have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: Act of May 6, 1929, P.L. 1551, Section 8.

• Purposes: The powers of the Zoning Board of Adjustment are continued substantially as at present.

1. Advise the Commissioner of Licenses and Inspections, upon his request, on the interpretation of the Building Code and of any regulations relating to building safety and sanitation;

2. Suggest regulations applying standards of good practice in the enforcement of statutes and ordinances dealing with building safety and sanitation;

3. Upon request of the Commissioner of Licenses and Inspections pass upon the worth of new and substitute materials proposed to be used in building construction and also upon new methods of construction;

4. Consider any suggested changes in standards and regulations, new and substitute materials, or new methods of construction, either with or without holding public hearings; but before the Board shall recommend any change or modification of such standards and regulations, it shall hold a public hearing at which all interested parties may present their views. After such public hearing the Board shall submit its findings and recommendations to the Commissioner of Licenses and Inspections for his approval. Upon approval by the Commissioner they shall become a part of the standards and regulations.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: Ordinance of the City of Philadelphia, May 9, 1949.

• Purposes: The Board of Building Standards is the successor to the Board of Standards and Appeals. It is connected with the Department of Licenses and Inspections because it is primarily concerned with matters affecting building safety. Its functions are largely those of the former Board of Standards and Appeals. The Board of Appeals established by the Ordinance of the City of Philadelphia, May 9, 1949, has been abolished because of the creation of the Board of Building Standards.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: See the National Archives Act, United States Code, Title 44, Sections 300, 300(c) et seq.; Federal Records Disposal Act, United States Code, Title 44, Chapter 10; the Administrative Code of 1929, April 9, 1929, P.L. 177, Section 2801-A, as amended.

• Purposes: Prior to this Charter, no agency of the City had been charged with the responsibility for the orderly and efficient maintenance of City records. As a result, many City records which could be disposed of occupy valuable storage space; many City records of historical significance and importance either have deteriorated or else are scattered widely throughout the City and under such conditions as will result in their ultimate deterioration; there is no uniform method for the creation and keeping of records so that certain economics could be effected and more useful records had. To overcome these undesirable conditions, a Department of Records is created and this section vests all record functions in that Department. City records are defined in broad and comprehensive terms to make clear the scope of the powers vested in the Department.

1. Standards. It shall make rules embodying standards for all departments, boards, commissions or other governmental agencies of the City to govern:
   1. The types of paper, ink and other materials to be used in the creation of City records;
   2. The methods and the kinds of equipment to be used for the filing of City records and the places where files shall be kept;
   3. The care and custody of City records necessary to secure their safety and preservation at all times at such places or in such depositories as shall be designated by the Department;
   4. The occasions, the methods, and the kinds of equipment to be used for the reproduction and duplication of City records;
   5. Procedures, subject to the provisions of this charter, for the disposition and archival preservation of City records.

2. Records for Public Inspection and Use. The Department shall collect, maintain and make available for public inspection the originals or duplicates of all City records maintained for that purpose. Where such records are necessary for the current exercise of the powers and the current performance of the duties of any office, department, board or commission or other agency, the original or a duplicate thereof may also be retained by such department, board or commission. The Department shall furnish to persons applying therefor certificates relating to City records or copies of City records upon the payment of such charges as shall fairly reimburse the City for the cost of such service and for this purpose it shall prepare and from time to time revise a schedule of fees.

3. Forms. The Department shall approve or disapprove and from time to time review the necessity for forms used by any office, department, board or commission in the exercise of its powers and the performance of its duties.

4. Archives. The Department shall:
   1. Preserve all City records not in current use and of historical, administrative, legal, research, cultural or other important value in the archives of the City which shall be under the care and supervision of an archivist;
   2. Receive such records from any department, board or commission, or other governmental agency of the City;
   3. Collect, classify, preserve and make acceptable for reference all records which may come into its possession;
   4. Periodically examine into the condition of City records of any office, department, board or commission or other governmental agency of the City.

5. Central Depository. The Department shall receive and keep the originals of rules and of regulations promulgated by any office, department, board or commission, and all bonds required to be filed by any officer or employee of the City, and receive, make a record of, and forward to the officer, department, board or commission concerned all documents required to be filed with the City by any person for public recordation.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: See Annotation to section 5-1100.

• Purposes:
  1. The Department of Records is to prescribe standards for the creation, keeping, care and custody, reproduction and duplication, and ultimately disposition and archival preservation of City records which are to be followed by all administrative and legislative agencies of the City. The benefits sought to be achieved through such rules include: A uniform method of creating City records, which, because proper materials are used to create them, will survive the passage of time. A uniform and adequate filing system that will yield records when they are needed without too much loss of time. The maintenance of records under conditions safe from hazards such as fire, water and dust, and if necessary, from destruction as a result of warfare. The saving of storage space through the disposition of records which are not necessary for current business and through the use of modern mechanical means of reproduction. The archival preservation of records. The disposition of City records is subject to Section 8-211, and the microfilming or other reproduction of records is subject to Section 8-212.
  2. The public has many occasions to use various City records for personal and business reasons. At present, such records are scattered through many agencies and parts of the City and this results in great inconvenience to public users. To remedy this condition, the Department of Records is made the agency where all records either in the original form or duplicate form are to be kept and are to be available for public inspection. To permit the continuance of current work by the originating agency of any record, provision is made that it either retain a duplicate and submit the original record to the Department of Records or retain the original and submit a duplicate. The Department of Records will be the one agency of the City where copies of records may be obtained by the public, but to reimburse the City for the cost of this service, the Department is authorized to charge a fee representing such cost.
  3. To control the tendency of agencies to issue unlimited governmental forms and to make certain that such forms as are issued are up to date and necessary, the Department of Records is vested with the power to approve or disapprove and review all forms used by any administrative agency of the City.
  4. Prior to the present Charter, there was no provision for any City archives for the keeping and exhibiting of records reflecting the history of the City. The Charter creates such a City archives within the Department of Records.
  5. The Department of Records is designated as a central depository for al originals of all rules and regulations so that there may be one place in the City where these documents may be kept, since they are so important to law enforcement and administration, and where they may be readily available for public inspection. Bonds required to be filed by any officer or employee of the City are also to be kept on file in the Department of Records.
  6. The Department of Records is intended to take over ultimately all public record keeping functions of the City government. This will include the recordation functions of the officers of the Recorder of Deeds and the Register of Wills upon City-County consolidation. It will make possible in time the filing with the Department of Records of any document which must be lodged with the City by any person for public recordation purposes, and also a central agency and place in the city where all such documents will be kept for the convenience of all those who must use them.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: See Annotation to Section 5-1100.

• Purposes: In order to enable the Department of Records properly to fulfill its functions, authorized officers and employees of the Department are given the right to examine the records of any administrative agency for the purpose of determining the manner in which they are being maintained. This right does not extend to records of the Council because a proper respect for the separation of the legislative and administrative functions of government requires that the administrative branch shall not have the unlimited right to deal with the records of the legislative branch.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: See Annotation to Section 5-1100.

• Purposes: The Department of Records is vested with the power to make rules binding on other administrative agencies so that it may effectively carry out its powers and duties. Approval of the Administrative Board is required as a check on this broad power.

ANNOTATION

• Sources: New York City Charter, 1938, Section 894.

• Purposes: Records of the City relate to the government of the City and for that reason those governed should have a right to inspect them. However, this right has to qualified by reasonableness as to the time, place and manner of inspection, by assuring adequate care for the records being examined, and by considerations for protecting the individual right to privacy, law enforcement, public safety, legally recognized duties of confidence legally recognized privileges and the interest of the City in any lawsuit in which it may be involved.