Mr. BERGMAN. We had the U.S. bowl game last year and that will be continued annually. We have a full complement of football games. Professional football starts the week following baseball and practically every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will be taken up by the Washington Redskins, George Washington University, a bowl game and two high school games, including the championship high school game which drew some 50,000 people last year. I don't think any stadium can be utilized more than 100 days out of the 365 because of the winter months and outdoor weather. Mr. WILSON. I am sure you are making an effort to bring in all the revenue you can and all the use out of the stadium you can. We own it and we are paying for it and we want to get as much use out of it as we can. Thank you for your comment. Mr. KANE. The Redskins and Colts have a preseason Shrine game scheduled at the stadium on the 15th of August. We didn't have this extra game last year. There will be other games and this is all adding up. Mr. NATCHER. We want to commend you, Mr. Kane, Mr. Bergman, and members of the Board for the splendid service you are rendering. Certainly the position you find yourselves in from the standpoint of the operation of the stadium cannot be placed at your doorstep as the result of bad planning so far as you are concerned. We want to thank you for your appearance before our committee. Mr. KANE. Thank you, sir. Mr. NATCHER. We shall reconvene at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. TUESDAY, MAY 22, 1962. DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES WITNESSES GEORGE A. ENGLAND, DIRECTOR HERMAN S. COLE, DEPUTY DIRECTOR WILLIAM J. QUINN, EXECUTIVE OFFICER MRS. MARY A. SILVER, PERMIT CONTROL OFFICER Mr. NATCHER. The committee will come to order. At this time, we will take up the Department of Motor Vehicles. The amount requested is $1,648,600. This is an increase of $148,630 and we shall insert page 25-3 of the justifications at this point in the record. Mr. NATCHER. We have before the committee at this time Mr. George A. England, the Director of this Department, together with the members of his staff. Mr. England, it will be a pleasure to hear from you at this time. GENERAL STATEMENT Mr. ENGLAND. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. May I introduce the members of my staff in the back row; Mr. Cole, Deputy Director, and Mrs. Mary Silver who heads the Division dealing with driver licenses, suspensions, and revocations, and, Mr. Quinn, our executive officer. I am happy to be able to report that the Department of Motor Vehicles was able to continue its high quality of service to the public during the past 12 months; in fact significant advances were made in several areas as a result of the increases allowed by this committee a year ago. First, may I mention with some pride that the Department's driver licensing, safety promotion, and vehicle safety inspection programs all won national awards during the past year for proficiency and effectiveness. These awards were based on a comparison of our performance by the National Safety Council with that of State motor vehicle departments throughout the United States; and, in the case of traffic safety promotion, with cities of 500,000 or more population. I am also pleased to inform you that in 1961, the District recorded its third best year since traffic accident records were first kep in 1923 in the number of persons killed in traffic, and the best year on record in terms of the number of pedestrians killed. I am confident that the expanded safety promotion program authorized by this committee 2 years ago has contributed to this splendid record. The problem which confronted the Department last year as a result of the introduction of the insurance merit rating plan has been solved for the most part by the additional staff allowed. The nominal increase requested this. year is to take care of the increased number of requests for traffic records. The District of Columbia was the first jurisdiction to be on a fully cooperative basis with the Federal driver register established in the Department of Commerce. This means that all applicants for driver licenses are screened against the national list of persons whose licenses have been suspended or revoked for driving while intoxicated or negligent homicide involving the use of an automobile. The Department so far has been able to absorb this additional workload. Our management improvement program is beginning to show results. We have devised improved methods in the serving of our suspension and revocation orders; in recovering permits from persons who are involved in the more serious traffic violations, in our motor vehicle inspection call-in procedure, and in the production of record copies for insurance companies. We shall continue to introduce new and better methods to provide better service to the public and insure that we are getting the maximum benefit from the funds appropriated to us. We feel that we are presenting modest increases for 1963, and hope to be able to answer your questions to your satisfaction. REDUCTION IN BUDGET May I add that with the consent of the Commissioners, we are requesting that $31,000 be deducted from our estimates since we are not prepared at this time to go ahead with a program for the modernization of our registration methods. Mr. NATCHER. Mr. England, that gives us a good start for the day. Mr. ENGLAND. Fine, sir. REVENUES I would like also to say that our revenues continue to increase at a rate just below half a million dollars a year. In fact, based on our experience for the first 10 months of this fiscal year, we will show an increase in our revenues of approximately $450,000. All of this is related to increased workload. That is more than sufficient to cover the nominal increases we are asking for in this budget. LANGUAGE CHANGE Mr. NATCHER. Mr. England, we want to thank you for your statement and if you will at this time we would like for you to explain the language change that appears on page 25-1. We shall insert that page in the record at this point. (The page follows:) HIGHWAYS AND TRAFFIC CHANGE IN LANGUAGE After the words "without reference to any other law;" insert "the limitation of $200 included under the heading 'Department of Motor Vehicles' in the District of Columbia Appropriation Act, 1961, for membership in the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators is hereby increased to $240." JUSTIFICATION OF LANGUAGE CHANGE The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators has notified the Department that membership dues, payable in fiscal year 1963 and succeeding years, will be increased from $200 to $240. Similar increases have been applied to all other member jurisdictions. Mr. ENGLAND. The District of Columbia is a member of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. This is a group dedicated to achieving uniformity in traffic laws. and in the licensing of drivers. It is a very worthwhile association. It will achieve some of the objectives that certain Members of Congress have striven for over the years through various pieces of legislation. The item represents a nominal increase in annual dues from $200 to $240. Mr. NATCHER. You recommend this language change to the committee? Mr. ENGLAND. We do, indeed, and we feel the District of Columbia will benefit. NUMBER OF POSITIONS Mr. NATCHER. What is the total personnel in the Department of Motor Vehicles at the present time? Mr. ENGLAND. I will ask Mr. Quinn to give you that figure. Mr. NATCHER. How many do you have filled? Mr. ENGLAND. All but seven, sir. NEW POSITIONS Mr. NATCHER. Are you requesting any new positions in the budget for fiscal year 1963? Mr. ENGLAND. Yes, sir. Mr. NATCHER. How many are you requesting? Mr. ENGLAND. I will ask Mr. Quinn to give you that total. Mr. QUINN. In activity No. 3, we are requesting five positions in our Permit Examination and Issuance Section, and two positions in our Records Processing Section. Mr. NATCHER. A total of seven? Mr. QUINN. Yes, sir; and two more in our driver improvement operation. Mr. NATCHER. With seven vacancies and nine new positions requested, can we swap with you? Mr. ENGLAND. No, sir. Mr. NATCHER. Tell us why. Mr. ENGLAND. We would be unable to operate on that basis. Mr. ENGLAND. Five additional positions are required for a new program which will be introduced in the Department at the suggestion of the police department; that is, to add a photograph to the driver's license. In order to carry out that program we need three photographers and two clerks to oversee the operation. That is our major increase in the budget. Mr. NATCHER. We will take these up in a little more detail as we go along. ADMINISTRATION Mr. NATCHER. We will now take up the item of administration and here we have $237,825 requested and there is no change in the amount or in positions for this particular division. We shall insert page 25-4 in the record at this point. |