Calling on Council's Committee on Public Safety to hold a hearing on the renewal by the Philadelphia Prisons System of its contract with Aramark Correctional Services to provide food service at Philadelphia Prisons System facilities and the Riverview Home in light of outstanding concerns into Aramark's billing practices.

WHEREAS,

The City of Philadelphia has a $12.7 million a year contract with Aramark Correctional Services, a division of Aramark Corp, to provide food service at the Philadelphia Prisons System. The contract is up for renewal on April 30, 2008; and

WHEREAS,

In September of 2007, the Philadelphia School District abruptly ended its two year-old contract with Aramark to run cafeterias at the district's schools, citing unexpected losses is the District's food service program. When Aramark took over the operation of Philadelphia school cafeterias in 2005, school officials expected that the contract would save the district about $3 million a year, helping to close a $3.5 million food service budget gap. Instead, at the end of the 2005-2006 school year, Aramark's food service operations in the Philadelphia schools posted a $4 million loss.

WHEREAS

, One year later in June of 2007, the estimated loss had jumped to almost $7 million, a 72% increase over the previous year's shortfall and

WHEREAS,

Questions were also raised about Aramark's food service contracts in Dauphin County, PA, and the states of Florida and Ohio; therefore

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA

,

THAT,

the Council's Committee on Public Safety to hold a hearing regarding the renewal by the Philadelphia Prisons System of its contract with Aramark Correctional Services to provide food service at Philadelphia Prisons System facilities and the Riverview Home in light of ongoing concerns with Aramark's billing practices.

End