1937. 1938. 1939. 1940. 1941. 1937 1944: Overtime and increased population. 1945: Increase due to Pay Act; remodeling buildings (Shaw & Dunbar). 1946: Increase due to pay increase. District Training School for the Feeble-minded 1938. 1939 1940. 1941. 1938: Population increase; also increase in personnel. 1940: Increased personnel; new hospital building opened (one-half year). 1941: Increased personnel; full-year hospital operation. 1942: Personnel and operation two new cottages. BUDGET REQUIREMENTS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 1947 JOINT SUBCOMMITTEE ON FISCAL AFFAIRS OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D. C. The joint subcommittee met at 10 a. m., pursuant to adjournment, in the Senate District Committee room, Capitol, Washington, D. C., Senator Cain (chairman of the joint subcommittee) presiding. Present: Senators Cain (chairman of the joint subcommittee), McGrath; Representatives Bates (cochairman of the joint subcommittee), Smith, and Klein. Present also: Parker L. Jackson, special adviser to the House Committee on the District of Columbia. Senator CAIN. I will call this meeting to order. We shall adjourn at a quarter of 12 this morning. We shall hear first from the Recreation Department, then from the Alcoholic Control Board, and then from the correctional institutions. Subject to Mr. Bates' willingness, he being the cochairman, as you know, on the House side, we will probably recess our meeting at a quarter of 12 until next Tuesday at 10 o'clock. But that decision will be held subject to Mr. Bates' intentions. We now have, as our first witness, Mr. Christiansen, who is the Superintendent of Recreation of the District of Columbia Recreation Board, and he will proceed as he sees fit. STATEMENT OF MILO F. CHRISTIANSEN, SUPERINTENDENT OF RECREATION, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA RECREATION BOARD, WASHINGTON, D. C. Mr. CHRISTIANSEN. Mr. Chairman, I would like to say briefly, in order to understand the present situation, it is well to take a few seconds to give a little of the background for the present situation. Our Recreation Board was created in 1942 by act of Congress. The legislation resulted from several years of effort on the part of the citizens and the District officials, the park officials, and the planning officials to unify what previously had been a rather far-flung recreation system. There had been three separate budgets, three separate departments, three separate sets of officials. Thus many deficiencies existed in providing adequate recreation in the District of Columbia. There was a community center department under the Board of Education, a playground department under the District Commissioners, and a recreation division under the office of the National Capital Parks. Senator CAIN. And the consolidation took place when? Mr. CHRISTIANSEN. In 1942. Most of our records and reports really are for the 5-year period, although we have some figures that go back to 1937, which will be referred to later. Therefore, the budget and the increases on which I will report a little later will reflect on the responsibilities which were assumed by our Board in 1942. After exhaustive hearings in both the House and the Senate which pointed up the many deficiencies in providing recreation for our children, youth, and adults in the District, legislation was enacted by Congress creating this Board. The Board has the same independent authority as the Board of Education. It has seven members, four of whom are citizen members appointed by the District Commissioners. There are in addition three official members. Senator CAIN. If you do not mind my stopping you occasionally, you say it is an independent board. What is the relationship of your Board to the Board of District Commissioners? Mr. CHRISTIANSEN. I will be very glad to answer that question. The Board makes its own rules and regulations, appoints its own personnel, spends its own funds. We have to go to the Commissioners for our appropriations. The four citizen members are appointed to our Board by the District Commissioners. Of the three official members, one is a representative of the District Commissioners who is the budget officer, one is a representative of the Board of Education, and one is the Superintendent of the Office of National Capital Parks. The reason for putting these three officials on the Board is because they previously had the responsibility for operating recreation. In other words, it involved the use of their properties. Much of the difficulty which existed in the past was due to the mixed property jurisdictions and unmet recreation needs. Senator CAIN. Well, you design, therefore, your own budget. But before the Congress considers those budgets, they have been approved by the Board of Commissioners. Mr. CHRISTIANSEN. Oh, absolutely. We have very excellent working relations with the District Commissioners from the word "go." I might say that they have been very helpful and understanding in recognizing that we had a difficult problem when we were created. Our increases in appropriations are a reflection of that understanding, and the requests on the part of the citizens that adequate care had not been taken in the past. Senator CAIN. This reminds me of an independent question. Before we get through I should like to know, Mr. Commissioner, what boards, if any, act within your city jurisdiction, but over which you do not have any control. Commissioner YOUNG. What we call independent agencies. Senator CAIN. Yes. And if you would bear in mind a rather full discussion on that, I think it would be helpful to every one on our two committees. Commissioner YOUNG. Yes, sir. Mr. CHRISTIANSEN. I would like also to say, while you are on that question, that all of our purchase procedure, fiscal affairs, and budgeting expenditures, are subject to the same regulations and procedures as all the other District departments. You can see that this recreation-system plan before you was created by the National Capital Park and Planning Commission, in cooperation with the citizens and officials in this community. But it took several years to develop the need that each agency should give up the responsibility that they had and pool it together in the interest of economy and in the interest of rendering maximum service. The system that you see is projected on a neighborhood plan, utilizing the resources of the schools of the District and of the park proper ties. The large circles that you see, 26 of them, are major centers usually around junior or senior high schools or large park areas. The smaller circles are the smaller satellites, which are elementary schools or our smaller District properties which are primarily for youth programs and facilities. Senator CAIN. And primarily they consist of a playground adjacent to a playfield rather than Mr. CHRISTIANSEN. That is right. In a large area there are major centers around a junior or senior high school which provide for all age groups. Now, this plan also serves as a pattern for the acquisition of property. Everything you see in solid black means that the land has already been acquired, in some cases years in advance of our actual ability to develop it. Many of the properties in the recreational system plan are purchased by the National Capitol Park and Planning Commission, which corresponds in many communities to your local planning commissions. However, they have a unique function in that they have an authorization which dates back to 1930, to spend up to $16,000,000 for purchase of parks, parkways, and playgrounds. The Planning Commission buys considerable property that we use in our recreation system plan. Mr. BATES. I do not think the people out there are going to be able to hear you. Mr. CHRISTIANSEN. I started to explain, Mr. Bates, for your information and interest, too, that the pattern that you see up here is our recreation system plan which has been created by the Planning Commission of the District of Columbia. It involves a complete utilization to the fullest of our capacity of the resources of the parks, District properties, and of the school properties. As I said, we have a recreation board, and we have the same responsibility as the Board of Education. The Recreation Board was created in 1912 by Act of Congress. Do you want me to repeat this, Mr. Chairman? Mr. BATES. Merely the high lights; that is all. Mr. CHRISTIANSEN. There are 170 different units on the recreation system plan, involving both major and minor units; major meaning that we have more extensive facilities in the way of indoor and outdoor facilities; the minor units are the smaller units, usually around elementary schools or smaller District or park properties. Now, in order to put this plan into effect Mr. BATES. Before you turn the chart over, how many different playgrounds in the District come under your jurisdiction, and have you told the Senator what the number of personnel is? Mr. CHRISTIANSEN. I have not gotten to that yet, Mr. Bates. Mr. CHRISTIANSEN. There are in the plan 170 different locations. This last year we operated at 147 different locations. Mr. BATES. Does that include school buildings? Mr. CHRISTIANSEN. Yes, sir. Mr. BATES. Inside, that you are permitted to use by the school department? Mr. CHRISTIANSEN. Both indoor and outdoor properties and, of course, many of our units are seasonal. We have many summer playgrounds that we do not operate the rest of the year. We do not operate all the school properties because there are naturally not enough funds. Many of the school properties are not in the recreational system plan. Upon the creation of the Recreation Board by act of Congress in 1942, we took the scattered funds and personnel among the Board of Education, the District Commissioners, and some of the Recreation Division of the Parks Office, and put them into one department under the Recreation Board. There you see an organization chart of the Recreation Department, with your superintendent and two assistant superintendents, and under them the division heads. We have a two-way approach to providing recreation, the neighborhood approach and the city-wide approach. The difference in the two is primarily one of providing recreation in the neighborhoods for the children, youth, and adults, or where the participants live.. On the city-wide basis, employees of the Federal Government, of the department stores, and the other places of business who do not have neighborhood interests or affiliations, are provided recreation primarily on the basis of with whom they associate during the day. At the present time we have 136 classified employees. The bulk of our appropriations, about 70 percent of it, goes into salaries. About 23 percent goes into maintenance; the remaining 7 percent is for other obligations. The small chart in front of you is in condensed form, showing every position in the department. I will get into fiscal material later. Senator CAIN. Just one question. You have 136 classified employees today under your consolidation. Mr. CHRISTIANSEN. That is right. Senator CAIN. How many employees, if you recall, were employed in the three branches that were consolidated to make one? Mr. CHRISTIANSEN. When the Board took over? Senator CAIN. Yes. Mr. CHRISTIANSEN. Eighty-six. Senator CAIN. So you have gone from 86 to 136 in a period of 5 years. Mr. CHRISTIANSEN. That is right. And we also had additions in our pier diem employees, our seasonal employees. You see, when I say annual, those are now classified positions, and that is the 86 I referred to at the time we were created in 1942. Now, for purposes of discussion, it has been a most complex situation. In the attempt to unify the responsibilities involved, namely the purchasing of property, the planning of the facilities, and the |