Starting the day with a bang, the Illinois Supreme Court released their ruling on two Chicago pension reformation plans, finding them unconstitutional, saddling the city with increased pension payments and making another set of municipal tax increases a near certainty.

Link To Supreme Court Ruling

“Though disappointing, this ruling does not change my commitment to ensuring employees and retirees have a secure retirement without placing the full burden on Chicago taxpayers,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement.

While the decision was a unanimous 5-0 ruling, Justices Charles Freeman and Anne Burke did not participate in the decision. Their districts both entirely lie within the City of Chicago. Justice Burke is also married to City Council Finance Committee Chairman, Ald. Ed Burke (14). Ald. Burke did not respond to Aldertrack’s request for comment on the pension ruling.

The Mayor’s pension plan was to reduce annuity benefits for public employees, then ramp up pension payments and put both funds on a path toward financial stability.

But there was no guarantee state courts would find it constitutional, so the Mayor and City Council took a series of risky bets last October when they approved the FY2016 budget, and with it a record $543 million property tax increase.

The first risk was when the Mayor’s Office based projected Municipal Employees (MEABF) and Laborers (LABF) pension payments on the law being upheld. Second, Mayoral staff based projected Police and Fire pension payments on the bet that state government would enact a bill to amend that payment schedule. That hoped-for bill, SB777, has passed the legislature, but has languished in legislative purgatory for over a year, passed by the Assembly, but unsigned by Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Amanda Kass, of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, called it a “fundamental misstep” and said that both laws were “very much up in the air” when the budget passed last October. “The city was hedging its bets on long shots,” she told Aldertrack yesterday, and that the record property tax increase was nowhere near what city pension funds needed.

During October’s budget process, several aldermen asked for worst case scenario plans, and suggested a bigger property tax hike might have been better. But the Mayor’s financial team, led by Budget Director Alex Holt and Chief Finance Officer Carole Brown, urged that their budgeted pension payments were safe bets for the time being.

At the time, the City Council’s newly formed Office of Financial Analysis, led by Ben Winick, agreed, concluding that the Mayor had little time to assess other options. “A number of other alternatives have been suggested [like a financial transactions tax, service tax, or commuter tax], and many of them warrant further discussion. But given the timing of when these liabilities are coming due, and the legal impediments to enacting them, the feasibility of assuming those changes to make the legally required pension contributions for 2015 and 2016 would not be a responsible course of action for the City to take.”

In the short-term, the city will actually need to make smaller pension payments, putting roughly $100 million less than originally planned for the FY 2015 payment into the Municipal Employee and Laborer Funds. Yesterday’s ruling means the city has to only make its statutorily required payment, based on a fixed multiplier, not the ramped up funding plan it pushed for in the law just struck down.

So what happens to the extra cash?

“The increased funding is set aside, and the City will make a final decision on how to utilize the additional funds once we’ve determined the next steps for the municipal and laborers pension funds,” Molly Poppe, a spokesperson for the city’s Budget Office told Aldertrack.

Explanation of Supreme Court Case & Ruling

The law the state’s highest court struck down, P.A. 98-641, would have increased city funding and employee contribution rates, while reducing annual increases for current and future retirees for the MEABF and LABF. The attorneys representing the city’s pension funds had argued the changes provided a “net benefit” to the beneficiaries by preventing the two funds from going insolvent in the next decade, and that in the long run, beneficiaries would benefit from a healthier and more stable pension fund.

Members of the two funds, which represent 79,000 city employees and non-teacher employees of CPS, argued the cuts infringed on their right to receive a pension, because under the Illinois constitution, public pension benefits cannot be “diminished or impaired.”

In their decision, the state’s highest court ruled that the city’s “net benefit” argument started from a “flawed premise,” because benefits are already protected under the state’s constitution. “The fact that some of its provisions are directed at improved funding cannot overcome the fact that constitutional rights of employees and retirees would be violated.”

The court also agreed with a lower court ruling that said the city’s argument didn’t hold up, because it had been warned, for years, that the current formula it uses to calculate its contributions was not sufficient to cover benefits, yet “the method of funding remained static.”

For example, in 2014, the city made a $180 million payment to the MEABF, which was based on that fixed multiplier of 1 or 1.25 times the total annual employee contributions. The “actuarially required” amount determined by the pension fund–the amount it needed to pay out owed benefits–was $839 million, a $659 million gap.

“The pension protection clause does not guarantee any particular method of funding, but, rather, guarantees the right to be paid,” the court opinion explained. The drafters’ original intent was to protect benefits, while giving the General Assembly the authority to take the necessary steps to fund the pension obligation.

Ruling May Hurt City Bond Ratings

The Civic Federation said the decision wasn’t a victory for anyone, because it doesn’t address the funds’ projected insolvency and “adds additional financial pressures to an already distressed City government.”

“The ruling also limits the options available to financially strained local governments throughout the State,” the Civic Federation said in an emailed statement, “and points to the need for a constitutional amendment to clarify the State’s pension protection clause. This should be yet another wakeup call to every member of the Illinois General Assembly and the Governor.”

There will likely be an immediate impact on the city’s credit rating. Credit agencies Moody’s and Fitch warned last spring that if the law was struck down, the city’s credit rating could take another hit. In a statement released Thursday morning, Moody’s said it "will continue assessing Chicago's actions to address unfunded pension liabilities, including any initiatives specifically aimed at the plans affected by today's court decision."

Cook County Government Took Action To Avoid Pension Problems

In the 2016 budget, Cook County opted to contribute more to its employee pension fund (County Officers’ and Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Cook County) than what’s required by law. Commissioners approved a 1% sales tax hike in the summer of 2015. In addition to the $195 million pension payment required by law, the county will put an extra $270.5 million in revenue from that sales tax hike toward pensions to hit actuarially required targets.

The county pension fund is currently 57.5% funded, with a $6.5 billion unfunded liability.

There is a one year intergovernmental agreement with the County’s Pension Fund that allows those extra payments starting in April, but ratings agency Fitch said the move leaves “the county vulnerable to potential litigation from taxpayers challenging the increased payments."

The first increased payment will be made April 29. As to whether the additional pension payments might open the county up to a lawsuit, Frank Shuftan, Communications Director for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said, “it is speculative and responding at present would be equally speculative.”

“Our finance staff is reviewing today’s Supreme Court decision to determine how it impacts efforts to ensure long-term fiscal viability for the Pension Fund that serves County employees and retirees,” Shuftan said. “The Court’s decision appears to settle some elements of the law while leaving others open. We will continue our collaboration with all stakeholders to identify appropriate, constitutionally sound measures to restore and preserve the Fund’s long-term solvency.”

The city agency in charge of reviewing cases of alleged police misconduct plans to hire an outside law firm to audit as many as 40 closed officer-involved shooting cases to determine how investigations could be better managed.

Recently-appointed Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) Chief Administrator Sharon Fairley announced yesterday that her office will hire Chicago-based law firm McGuireWoods to head up the six month review to ensure it is conducted “objectively and independently.”

A project team, which will include various subject matter experts on policing issues and use of force procedures, could be put in place as soon as next week, Fairley said. Former US Department of Justice Deputy Attorney and Acting Attorney General George Terwilliger III and Former Deputy Chief Assistant Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois Chicago office, Christina Egan, will lead the team.

“We know that here the trust in the agencies that are responsible for our public safety has been eroded,” Fairley told reporters during a press conference at its headquarters attached to the West Town Library. “And trust in our agency in particular is at an all time low since the agency was formed in 2007. I recognize that in order to restore trust in IPRA, we must understand how we lost public confidence in the first place.”

The cost and the scope of the external audit have yet to be determined. Fairley said McGuireWoods will set the criteria for choosing which cases will be reviewed and in what manner. Any police-involved shooting case dating back to 2008, of which there are closeto 700, is fair game. She offered an estimate of about 20 to 40, saying, “It would be really expensive to go back and look at each and every case.”

The purpose of the audit is not to “reopen” old cases, Fairley explained, but to “assess the quality of the investigative process and the accuracy of the findings and outcomes.”

“We want to make sure that our police department has a use of deadly force policy that allows for these investigations to be resolved fairly and in the interest of justice for everyone involved,” Fairley said.

But it’s unclear if officers previously cleared through the IPRA review process could see new action taken against them. “That may or may not be the case, and that would have to be looked at on a case by case basis,” she said.

Fairley also used yesterday’s media briefing to highlight changes she’s made in her first 100 days, including “completely revamping the leadership” and implementing a performance review process to address conflicts in the chain of command for how a case should be disposed of.

In addition to hiring a new chief of staff, Annette Moore, and a new chief investigator, Jay Westensee, Fairley has since brought on another chief investigator, Mark Garba, and a new Public Information Officer, Mia Sissac.

Like Fairley, two of those new investigators were recruited from the Chicago Office of the Inspector General: Westensee, who has been with the IG since 2005, and Garba, who did a two and a half year stint there as a forensic audit investigator, a job he held in between his time as an investigator for the U.S. Department of Labor and Chicago Public Schools.

A relatively quick and quiet Cook County Board of Commissioners meeting saw passage of a county “tampon tax” exemption, and a new proposal to combat stark youth unemployment numbers presented to commissioners earlier this week. It was also the first day on the job for Brian Hamer, Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s new Chief of Staff.

Passed:

• An ordinance exempting feminine hygiene products from the county’s portion of the sales tax. The county’s 1.75% share in the sales tax will join the city’s recently-passed exemption (at 1.25%), but will not take effect until January 2017. The delay is meant to give state legislators time to vote on a similar measure that’s already been introduced to the General Assembly.

• Three appointments to various county boards:

  • Thomas Szromba to the Board of Ethics - Szromba is a former principal senior counsel at Boeing Company and at the Chicago branch of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). During his confirmation, Szromba told commissioners he has more than 20 years of experience with criminal, civil, government, and private sector investigations on fraud and employee wrongdoing. Commissioner Larry Suffredin told Szromba he hopes he’ll use his “vigor as a prosecutor” to hold elected officials accountable.

  • Amber Smock to the Commission on Human Rights - Smock is the current Director of Advocacy at Access Living, a non-profit organization that advocates for the disabled. She said her experience as a deaf woman has “transformed the advocacy work she’s done,” and the commission has “untapped potential” to serve residents with disability issues, specifically citing Laquan McDonald, who engaged with local disability services.

  • Lisa Stephens to the Justice Advisory Council - Stephens is currently the Chief Operating Officer of the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago, an organization that aims to reduce gun violence in Chicago, and previously worked for more than 7 years in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office and for nearly six years as general counsel for the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. Commissioner John Daley told Stephens her “own personal knowledge will help tremendously” on the council.

• Tax breaks for two Cook County companies: one for a pallet company planning to move from South Holland to a vacant property in Chicago Heights, and another for a movie theater planned for Country Club Hills. Both are Class 8 property tax breaks, which are specially authorized by commissioners when a property has been abandoned for less than two years. Commercial real estate is normally assessed at 25% of its market value, but properties that qualify for a Class 8 are assessed at 10% of the market value for 10 years, 15% for the 11th year and 20% in the 12th year when construction is complete.  

Deferred:

• The creation of a Cook County Crane Operator’s License and a Board of Crane Operator Examiners: The ordinance would make it illegal to operate a crane without a license in the County, and is likely intended to beat the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)’s national deadline mandating all crane operators be certified by Nov. 10, 2017. The ordinance establishes a new, three member Board of Crane Operator Examiners made up of the Building and Zoning Commissioner, Timothy Bleuher, and two other experienced crane operators. A substitute was submitted that needs approval from the Cook County Building Commission.

• A pharmaceutical disposal ordinance aimed at protecting the County’s waterways from “improperly disposed of prescription drugs passing through [the County’s] wastewater and treatment centers.” The ordinance would establish a stewardship plan for the collection, paid for by pharmaceutical companies, to cover the transportation and disposal of covered pharmaceutical drugs. The sponsor, Commissioner Suffredin, “is working with a variety of interested groups, including pharmaceutical companies, on an amendment” ahead of next month’s meeting.

Introduced:

• Youth Employment Fund: After a marathon hearing on stark youth unemployment statistics in Chicago and Cook County on Tuesday, Workforce Development Chair Bridget Gainer, alongside Comms. Richard Boykin and Larry Suffredin, introduced an ordinance calling for the establishment of a special "youth employment" fund. The fund would be financed by businesses who have received property tax breaks (from Class 6b all the way to Class 9) from the county. Details on the calculation here. 

• An amendment from Comm. Suffredin mandating “All electronic communication by officials, board or commission appointees and employees regarding official government business shall be by and through official government email accounts.” No personal use of email, texts, or social media would be permitted for official government communication, but “Separately elected officials and their staffs may use separate email accounts associated with their own offices or personal email accounts if they notify the Secretary to the Board.” Suffredin explained, “We’re trying to just comply with recent cases and matters relating to freedom of information."

• A resolution supporting a bill in the Illinois Assembly that would make it illegal for any firearm dealer to operate without a dealer license from the state Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, and requires all dealers and their employees to have a Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) card and a background check.

• In keeping with his crusade to address lead poisoning concerns following the crisis in Flint, Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin introduced a resolutionurging the City of Chicago to eliminate its $0.05 tax on bottled water. The preamble to the resolution states: “recent analysis indicates that while the lead pipes that supply water to most of the City of Chicago and Cook County generally pose only a slight health risk, recent construction projects which disturb the water lines around the County have caused the risk to increase; and, WHEREAS, many informed residents of the City of Chicago and Cook County, in the light of the aforementioned risks, choose to drink bottled water rather than tap water.”

• The Board also moved forward on a $1 per month lease agreement with the City of Chicago for the Cook County Health and Hospital System’s planned Community Triage Center. The triage center is planned for a roughly 10,000 square foot space at the Chicago Department of Public Health’s Roseland Clinic (200 E. 115th Street). The lease agreement has also been submitted to the City Council for approval. Dr. Jay Shannon, CEO of CCHHS, testified the triage centers are intended to “reduce costs in correctional health and reduce the human misery index” for arrestees with mental health issues. Shannon says this will reduce costs for patients who would otherwise be sent to emergency rooms or the Cook County Jail. If this pilot program is successful, CCHHS plans to open as many as five additional centers.

Today the Illinois Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of a 2014 state law that overhauled two of the city’s pension funds which cover most city employees and non-teacher employees of Chicago Public Schools. It’s a decision that could not only significantly impact the city’s annual contributions to the funds, but also its ability to borrow in the future.

When Moody’s and Fitch downgraded the city’s credit rating on its outstanding debt last year, both credit agencies indicated that if the IL Supreme Court ruled P.A. 98-641 unconstitutional, additional downgrades would be likely.

That’s because the law modified required contribution and benefit amounts for the Municipal Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago (MEABF) and the Laborers Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago (LABF). Without the changes, the city  projected both funds will become insolvent in 11 to 14 years.

The law was promoted as a way to address the underfunding and projected insolvency of the two funds by increasing the city’s and employees’ annual share into both funds, while decreasing (and skipping altogether in some years) the automatic annual increases, or AAIs, to beneficiaries.

When then-Gov. Pat Quinn signed the law, MEABF was 36.9% funded and expected to become insolvent by 2026. LABF was 56.7% funded and projected to be insolvent by 2029.

To mitigate those concerns, the law provides for annual 0.5% increases to employees’ required contribution (currently at 8.5%) until their portion reached 11% in 2019. Once the pensions reach a 90% funded ratio, the rate would go down to 9.75%.

It also amends the multiplier the city uses to calculate its annual contributions, by ramping up the formula, so payments are based on getting both pension funds to a 90% funded ratio by 2055. Under the funding ramp, the city’s portion to MEABF and LABF will grow by an average of 22% each year until reaching an estimated contribution of $622.9 million in 2020.

In December 2014, shortly before the law was to take effect, two lawsuits were filed in Cook County Circuit Court by participants in the two funds. They sought an injunction, arguing the AAI changes violate the pension clause of the state’s constitution, which states, “Membership in any pension or retirement system of the State, any unit of local government [...], shall be an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired.”

On July 24, 2015, a Cook County judge ruled the law unconstitutional, and the city appealed the decision to the state’s highest court.

The city has argued that the law doesn’t violate the Pension Clause of the state constitution because it provides a “net benefit” to the funds’ members, because without it, both funds could become insolvent in the near future.

If the court rules that the law is unconstitutional, the city’s annual payments to fund MEABF and LABF could revert to the prior, lower levels based on the old multiplier formula, which the city has argued is insufficient to cover payouts to retirees.  

Today’s expected ruling comes eight months after the state’s high court ruled a seperate 2013 state pension reform bill was unconstitutional.

The Chicago Teachers Union will hold a vote tonight on whether to cancel classes and organize a city-wide strike on April 1st. Members of CTU’s House of Delegates will meet at the International Operating Engineers Hall at 6:30 tonight to determine if CTU should hold a so-called “Day of Action.”

The union said it wants to shed light on the growing financial problems plaguing the district and put pressure on City Hall and Springfield to find “progressive revenue” ideas to fill the budget hole. One of those ideas, of which there is legislation pending in the State Legislature and City Council, asks that the city use surplus property tax revenue, like TIF funds, to reverse a recent round of budget cuts the district said it needed to finish the school year.

“We do not trust the Board [of Education] and we intend to organize a showdown on April 1st over the question of school funding and educational justice,” CTU President Karen Lewis wrote in a letter sent to union members March 14. Other public service unions and minimum wage workers are expected to participate, she said.

CTU’s call for a day-long strike is also in response to stalled negotiations over the union's new contract, and the Board’s refusal to continue paying members’ share of their pensions. CPS has agreed to continue paying for the 7% “pension pickup” until a deal is reached. CPS CEO Forrest Claypool has said the old contract sunsetted the pension pickup. His office referenced Article 36-4.3, which states: “This pension pick up will not constitute a continuing element of compensation or benefit beyond Fiscal Year 2015 or 2016 should this Agreement be extended for one year.”

The union also wants guaranteed limits on class sizes and caseloads for supportive staff, for CPS to continue the pension pickup, and a moratorium on charter school expansion and school closings.

CTU and CPS have been bargaining over a new contract since November 2014. On February 1 of this year, a CTU bargaining committee voted to reject the tentative agreement for a four-year contract that would have eliminated the pension pick up and provided net pay raises in the third and fourth years of the contract.

The following day, CPS CEO Claypool announced plans to make $100 million in annual cuts to school budgets and recommitted to ending the pickup, which the Board said would save the district $170 million annually.

Any organized strike by the union before May 17 is considered illegal under state labor law. During collective bargaining agreements, unions are prohibited from striking until a third party mediator concludes fact-finding, which in this case, doesn’t end until May 17, about five weeks before the district’s last day of classes. The union has argued this action day is on the basis of unfair labor practices, not on contract negotiations.  

This Friday is the first of three unpaid furlough days for teachers announced at the start of the month. CPS said the move is expected to save $30 million. 

There’s no set plan to hold hearings on any of the aldermanic-backed plans to reform the police department in the wake of the Laquan McDonald dashcam video release. Ald. Ariel Reboyras, Chairman of the Council’s Public Safety Committee told Aldertrack yesterday that he has yet to discuss or determine whether to hold a hearing on any of the aldermanic proposals on things like mandating new use-of-force training, recruitment procedures, and the types of weapons officers should be equipped with.  

There are six police-related items pending in the Public Safety Committee, including one co-sponsored by Chairman Reboyras, which asks the department to reevaluate its entrance exam into the police academy.

The resolution Reboyras co-sponsored with Aldermen Ed Burke (14) and Patrick O'Connor (40) calls for a hearing on the police and fire entrance exam to determine if any of those tests–which include a psychological evaluation–unnecessarily exclude veterans.

Ald. Jason Ervin (28) wants every active duty police officer to be equipped with a taser, “which will become part of their uniform,” and have police department require mandatory taser training. He also wants to change the mandatory retirement age for sworn officers.

Another resolution, introduced by Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6), and supported by more than half the City Council, urges the department to research and institute procedures that promote alternative methods of force.

“Recent proliferation of high profile fatalities due to the use of deadly force by officers of the Chicago Police Department could have been avoided if an alternative to a lethal weapon had been readily available to them,” the preamble of the resolution states.

Noting that using non-lethal weapons will “drastically reduce the likelihood of serious bodily injury or death in conflict situations that police officers are often called upon to resolve,” Sawyer suggests the department consider various munitions options, such as solid or liquid filled rounds, foam baton rounds, rubber pellets, or bean bag rounds.

A similar ordinance, from Ald. Burke, would establish annual use-of-force and crisis intervention training for all Chicago police officers. Ald. Burke’s plan would amend the Municipal Code to require quarterly firearms training, no less than four hours of use-of-force training, and at least one hour of crisis intervention training annually. Burke directly introduced that ordinance at an 11-hour joint committee hearing on police accountability Ald. Reboyras and Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1) held in December.

A shorter and more pointedly worded order Ald. Rick Munoz (22) introduced makes one request, “ORDERED, that no documents currently in the possession of or hereafter created by and/or maintained by any office within the Chicago Police Department be destroyed for any purpose or under color of any statute between the introduction of this Order and December 31.” More than half the council signed on as a co-sponsor.

Reboyras Discusses Police Supt. Search

Whomever Mayor Rahm Emanuel picks to be the city’s next police superintendent will have to be confirmed by the council’s Public Safety Committee chaired by Ald. Reboyras, who, along with 11 of his colleagues on the City Council’s Latino Caucus, criticized the Police Board’s short list for excluding a Latino candidate. The group sent a letter to the Mayor last Friday demanding that he consider Interim Police Supt. John Escalante for the job.

But speaking to Aldertrack yesterday, Ald. Reboyras demurred as to whether he plans to use his position to put pressure on those demands, only reaffirming his position that a Latino should have been picked for the post.

For more than three hours yesterday, Cook County Commissioners were given stark statistics on Chicago’s high youth unemployment numbers, but few apparent solutions, as organizations like the Chicago Cook Workforce and One Summer Chicago have limited funds and shrinking resources from state and federal coffers.

“Sadly, we lead the nation in every category when it comes to unemployment,” Board President Toni Preckwinkle said at the opening of the meeting. “Far too many of our young people are cast adrift with little or no hope.”

Commissioner Bridget Gainer called for the hearing, intended for commissioners to hear results from a report out of the the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Great Cities Institute: “Lost: The Crisis Of Jobless and Out Of School Teens and Young Adults In Chicago, Illinois and the U.S.” The report said across the board, joblessness increased over the past decade for every race and age group. In Chicago, 88.5% of Black males 16-19 were unemployed, and Hispanic males were close behind at 87.4% in 2014.

Father Michael Pfleger, Senior Pastor at Saint Sabina Church, gave some of the day’s most impassioned testimony, calling for more state funding and for private companies to open their doors to former offenders. He blamed Republican Governor Bruce Raunerfor cutting a thriving summer jobs program for at-risk youth at his church, saying St. Sabina’s program employed more than 1150 at-risk youth in the summer of 2014, but just 350 in 2015. “If we do not offer our young people something positive to do, then in fact, we become the promoters of gangs and drugs in our city. We will have a bloody summer come ahead of us if we don’t offer options for young people to get involved in,” Pfleger said. “The blood’s going to be on our hands.”

Statistics suggesting youth employment combats violence were backed up by Kelly Hallberg, scientific director at the University of Chicago Crime Lab. She testified that participation in One Summer Chicago, the city’s jobs program, significantly cut criminal activity in youth. “We found a 43% reduction in violent crime arrests for the young people who participated in the One Summer Chicago program,” compared to youth who didn’t participate, Hallberg said. “The difference got larger as you got further away from the summer… there seems to be something bigger going on here.”

Commissioners Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and Deborah Sims each pushed Karin Norington-Reaves, CEO of the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, to call for funding for summer programs (rather than year-round), and for the city and county to voice support for national legislation proposed by U.S. Rep. John Conyears and Sen. Bernie Sanders to provide billions for youth employment. Garcia has campaigned for Sanders nationally.

Norington-Reaves emphasized the Partnership is non-partisan, focuses on year-round emplyoment, and was required to follow grant funding guidelines. “I understand your desire for summer jobs,” she told Commissioner Sims. “We’re hamstrung in our ability to have a large scale summer job program that just employs people for 6 or 8 weeks. That’s not what federal program is designed to do.” She said more than 4,000 young people are served by the partnership.

Following Norington-Reave’s testimony, dozens of pastors and county residents testified about the impact of youth employment on themselves or their communities, imploring commissioners for investment and empowerment.

Both the Mikva Challenge and One Summer Chicago are accepting applications.

Business and Economic Development Committee

Tax breaks for two Cook County companies are up in committee this morning - one for a pallet company planning to move from South Holland to a vacant property in Chicago Heights, and another for a movie theater planned for Country Club Hills.

Both are Class 8 property tax breaks, which are specially authorized by commissioners when a property has been abandoned for less than two years. Commercial real estate is normally assessed at 25% of its market value, but properties that qualify for a Class 8 are assessed at 10% of the market value for 10 years, 15% for the 11th year and 20% in the 12th year when construction is complete.

J&A Pallet Inc., an industrial-remanufacturing and recycling facility, is interested in moving south and adding two full-time positions. The property it plans to move to at 1321 Arnold Street is in Chicago Heights, and has been abandoned for 13 months. After the move, the company would have a total of 29 full time jobs.

Country Club Hills Plaza, LLC also plans to open up a movie theater at 4201 W. 167th Street. The plot has been empty for just a month. The project would create 50 construction jobs, and add 10 full-time and 165 part-time positions. The local AMC Loew’s theater shut down abruptly in January, citing an unaffordable hike in rent.

Health and Hospitals Committee

There’s just one item on the agenda - the Cook County Department of Public Health’s Quarterly presentation. You can view the materials here.

Finance Committee

An ordinance mirroring the so-called “tampon tax” exemption that successfully passed through Chicago City Council is up in Cook County’s Finance Committee today. Commissioners Richard Boykin and Deborah Sims introduced an ordinance March 2 that would exempt feminine hygiene products from the Cook County Retailers’ Occupation Tax. “Feminine products, like many medicines, are a necessity and not a luxury. Given this fact, these products should not be over taxed,” Commissioner Sims said in a press release. The county sales tax rate currently applied to tampons and other feminine hygiene products is 1.75%.

The committee, as usual, will also consider approval of a number of court costs and settlements, including:

• Pang Chong v. Cook County et. al.,: The $400,000 settlement over race discrimination and wrongful termination was approved by the Litigation Subcommittee back in October. Chong is represented by Avila Law Group.

• David Nardi v. Thomas Dart in his official capacity as Sheriff: Nardi, a Deputy, sued Dart for sexual harassment in 2012, alleging Dart’s office did nothing when fellow officers verbally abused him for being gay. Nardi is represented by Andreou & Casson Ltd. The settlement request is $100,000.

• Moutry v. Cook County, et al.: A $180,000 car accident settlement between Deborah Moutry and the county is up for a vote. The accident involved a highway department snowplow sliding due to snow and ice and rear-ending Moutry’s vehicle in 2012. A payout for self-insurance claims was on this finance agenda in 2012.

The committee has approved more than $15 million in claims, settlements, and cases so far this fiscal year. A breakdown of some select payments:

• Proposed Settlements approved FY16-Present: $9,339,465.52
• Injury Compensation Claims approved FY16-Present: $2,683,849.35
• Workers Compensation Claims approved FY16-Present: $2,180,665.28 
• Special Court Cases approved FY16-Present:  $696,957.85
• Criminal Division Cases approved FY16-Present: $445,597

Zoning and Building Committee

The creation of a Cook County Crane Operator’s License and a Board of Crane Operator Examiners is up for committee consideration today. The ordinance would make it illegal to operate a crane without a license in the County, and is likely intended to beat the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)’s national deadlinemandating all crane operators be certified by Nov. 10, 2017.

Chicago’s City Council worked with the City’s Department of Buildings on more stringent safety standards for licensed Chicago crane operators, amending its existing licensing requirements this past summer. Representatives from the Department of Buildings at the time said they were also working on an OSHA compliance plan.

The ordinance establishes a new, three member Board of Crane Operator Examiners made up of the Building and Zoning Commissioner, Timothy Bleuher, and two other experienced crane operators. Written tests administered by the County's Buildings Department would cost $150, and practical exams would cost $250. A one year license would cost $100, and a five year would cost $300. Apprentice permits would cost $50. Fines for not being licensed range from $1,000 to $10,000. The ordinance was deferred last month.

Items of Interest on the Board of Commissioners Agenda up for committee referral:

• An amendment from Comm. Larry Suffredin mandating “All electronic communication by officials, board or commission appointees and employees regarding official government business shall be by and through official government email accounts.” No personal use of email, texts, or social media would be permitted, but “Separately elected officials and their staffs may use separate email accounts associated with their own offices or personal email accounts if they notify the Secretary to the Board.”

• Establishment of a Commission on Social Innovation aimed at creating solutions to economic problems in “inner city” and “Southland Chicago.” The commission would be tasked with creating “novel solutions to social problems which are more effective, efficient, sustainable, or just compared to current solutions,” and “ideas that promote public, private, and philanthropic collaboration in order to create positive effects on areas with economic challenges.” It could have as many as 27 members, with Comm. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia as chair.

• A $4.1 million appropriation for the Department of Highways and Transportation for “contract maintenance and operation services of traffic signals and flashers at 460 locations, 30 roadway lighting and 5 interior lighting installations, 5 navigational lighting installations, 7 pumping stations and 5 cathodic protection locations.” The contract for those services will be introduced at a later date. The appropriation would come from the Motor Fuel Tax Fund.

• The renewal of the final year option for the Countywide Job Order Contract (JOC) Program contract, which has a current contract authority of $59 million. JOC is a procurement process that allows county facility owners complete repair, maintenance, and construction projects with one competitively bid contract, the item says, though no cost for the renewal is listed. The Departments of Transportation and Highways, Facilities Management, and Capital Planning and Policy currently use JOC Program contracts.

• A nearly $9 million contract with Southwest Industries, Inc. d/b/a Anderson Elevator Company to replace elevators, escalators, dumbwaiters, and wheelchair lifts at Stroger, Provident, and Oak Forest Hospitals and the Department of Facilities Management.

• A $3.5 million contract for a new comprehensive case management system to track probation, pretrial operations, cashier and contract monitoring. The current case management system, PROMIS, lives on the Cook County mainframe, was designed in the 70s, “and is antiquated, limited in its functionality, and cumbersome to use. Also, it is no longer supported by the company that designed it.”

Two appointments to the city’s Emergency Telephone System Board are up for review today by the Council’s Public Safety Committee.

The five-member, mayor-appointed board helps oversees the city’s 911 emergency call system, which receives approximately 5 million calls a year. The board coordinates and supervises any planned upgrades or maintenance to the call system, in addition to depositing revenue generated from a $3.90 per month surcharge on landlines to a fund that supports the call system. In 2015, when the city raised the surcharge from $2.50, it generated $123 million, a $25.8 million increase over 2014, according to the city’s 2015 Annual Financial Report.

Mayor Emanuel has asked the committee to appoint First Deputy Fire Commissioner Richard C. Ford II to the board. Ford, a 30-year veteran of the city’s Fire Department and a native of the city’s Chatham neighborhood on the South Side, was promoted to the post last month, according to the Chicago Tribune. Ford will fill a vacancy on the board for a term expiring on July 1, 2020.

The reappointment of Benjamin Dieterich, an assistant budget director for the city, to the board is also up for consideration. Dieterich was first appointed to the seat in 2013. Pending Council approval, his term will extend to 2020, as well.

Other than the appointment of Daniel Casey, a deputy director for the city’s Office of Emergency Management, to the board in May 2015, there haven’t been new appointments to the Emergency Telephone system board since 2013.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has made quick work of appointing a new Chief of Staff. In a press release Monday morning, Preckwinkle announced former Illinois Department of Revenue Director Brian Hamer would be joining her team. Hamer has served as Revenue Director from his appointment to the slot by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2003 until January of 2015.

Since exiting his state role at the start of the Rauner administration, Hamer has been a columnist with State Tax Notes.

Hamer will take over for Tasha Green Cruzat, who announced her resignation February 24 to head up the education advocacy group Voices for Illinois Children. Cruzat served an eight month stint to replace Kim Foxx, who recently won the Democratic primary for Cook County State’s Attorney.

Hamer’s salary as state Revenue Director was $142,339 a year.

Prior to his long stretch at the Revenue Department, Hamer served as First Deputy in Chicago’s Department of Revenue from 1998 to 2003, where, according to his appointment from Gov. Blagojevich, he “oversaw policy for settling tax disputes and modernized the city’s tax code.”  From 1990 to 1997 Hamer was Chief Assistant Corporation Counsel in the Tax Division of Chicago’s Law Department.

Hamer is a graduate of Yale (B.A.) and Columbia Law School. He also worked at Chicago mega-firm Mayer Brown.

It’ll be at least another month before the City Council takes up any of the plans that have been introduced to regulate room-sharing businesses like Airbnb in Chicago.

Two competing plans have been referred to a joint committee of the Council’s License and Housing Committees. Yesterday, Bob Fuller, a legislative aide for the Housing Committee, told Aldertrack it’s unlikely that meeting will be scheduled before April’s City Council meeting.

In January, Mayor Rahm Emanuel introduced an ordinance on behalf of the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection that would regulate the industry by imposing a 2% surcharge on vacation rentals and shared housing units. It’s expected to bring in an estimated $1 million in revenue, which would go towards affordable housing and reducing homelessness. North Side Aldermen Ameya Pawar (47) and Joe Moore (49), chairman of the council’s Housing Committee, are co-sponsors.

The following month, Aldermen Anthony Napolitano (41), Pat O’Connor (40) and Marge Laurino (39), all of which represent heavily residential neighborhoods on the North West Side near O’Hare Airport, co-sponsored a similar ordinance. The main difference: Chicagoans living in residentially zoned areas would be prohibited from putting their homes or flats on Airbnb for rental.

Five other aldermen signed onto a third proposal introduced in March that is focused more on bed-and-breakfasts. Under the ordinance, anyone who knowingly operated this type of establishment in the last two years without a proper license would be prohibited from applying for the license in the future. The city defines bed-and-breakfast establishments as, “any owner-occupied single family residential building, an owner occupied, multiple-family dwelling building, or an owner-occupied condominium, townhouse or cooperative, in which 11 or fewer sleeping rooms are available for rent or for hire for transient occupancy by registered guests.” That ordinance is co-sponsored by Ald. Brian Hopkins (2), Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1), Ald. Pat Dowell (3), Ald. Michele Smith (43), and Ald. Tom Tunney (44).

Eleven of the 49 aldermen currently serving on the City Council were appointed to their position by either Mayors Rahm Emanuel or Richard M. Daley, making it a fairly frequent occurrence. But the process remains opaque to public. The Mayor’s Office isn’t releasing details on the search for Ald. Will Burns’ (4) replacement, nor are members of a five-member task-force he created to head up the search.

Aldertrack reached out to three of the five members on the search committee for the 4th Ward vacancy following Ald. Burns’ decision to step down from the Council after he accepted a job at Airbnb as of March 1.

But two of those members, Paula Wolff with the Illinois Justice Project and Bonnie Sanchez-Carlson of the Near South Planning Board, said all questions regarding the search process must be submitted to the Mayor’s Press Office, which in turn told Aldertrack, “We don't have any further updates to share at this time. Feel free to check back at a later date, though.”

One of the 18 applicants who applied for the position, Tracey Bey, who ran and lost against Ald. Burns in 2015, said she has yet to hear from the task force, adding that the only information she’s heard about the search since she applied two weeks ago is from a recent Hyde-Park Herald article. She said that the way she read it, candidates won’t be contacted or interviewed until three finalists are chosen.

Evonne Taylor, the treasurer for Sophia King, who filed a D-1 on March 9th to help support her candidacy for alderman, refused to provide any details on the status of King’s application, saying it was “inappropriate” to discuss the process until it’s complete.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is expected to announce Ald. Burns’ replacement on April 29, and the new alderman will be sworn in at the May 18th City Council meeting.

The Mayor’s Press Office said it “anticipates” a final decision on who will succeed Burns’ as Chairman of the Council’s Education Committee will be released before the April Council Meeting. And that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be filled by the committee’s vice chair, Ald. Michele Smith (43).

In an email sent to Aldertrack, the Mayor’s press office wrote, “The Mayor is in the process of determining who will fill the vacancy. The Vice Chairman of a committee does not automatically succeed the Chair in cases of a vacancy.”

That appointment will be introduced in the form of a resolution to the full City Council for approval.

Aldermen who were appointed to their position (in ward order):

• 1st Ward Ald. Joe Moreno (2010) - appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley to replace Manny Flores, who resigned to chair the Illinois Commerce Commission

• 8th Ward Ald. Michelle Harris (2006) - Mayor Daley appointed her to fill Todd Stroger's seat after he won Cook County Board President. Prior to her appointment to the City Council, she was secretary to the Cook County Board under former President John Stroger.

• 22nd Ward Ald. Rick Muñoz (1993) - appointed by Mayor Daley to replace his former boss and mentor, Jesus "Chuy" Garcia.

• 25th Ward Ald. Danny Solis (1996) - appointed by Mayor Daley to replace Ambrosio Medrano, who was convicted for accepting bribes as part of the federal Silver Shovel Investigation.

• 26th Ward Ald. Roberto Maldonado (2009) - appointed by Mayor Daley to fill retiring-Ald. Billy Ocasio’s vacant seat

• 28th Ward Ald. Jason Ervin (2011) - appointed to finish mentor Ed Smith’s term in January 2011, and was elected to the seat a month later.

• 33rd Ward Ald. Deb Mell (2013) - appointed by Mayor Emanuel following the retirement of her father, longtime Ald. Dick Mell.

• 34th Ward Ald. Carrie Austin (1994) - appointed by Mayor Daley to fill the vacancy left by her husband, Lemuel Austin, Jr., who died of a heart attack.

• 37th Ward Ald. Emma Mitts (2000) - appointed by Mayor Daley to replace Ald. Percy Giles, who was convicted of bribery as part of the Operation Silver Shovel investigation.

• 39th Ward Ald. Marge Laurino (1994) - appointed by Mayor Daley to replace her father, Alderman and Democratic Committeeman Anthony Laurino.

• 44th Ward Ald. Tom Tunney (2003) - appointed by Mayor Daley to replace former 44th Ward Alderman Bernard Hansen. Tunney’s appointment over the non-Daley gay independent Rick Ingram was controversial at the time, although the appointment of the city’s first openly gay alderman was widely hailed as a step forward.

Comm. Larry Suffredin’s ordinance regulating pharmaceutical disposal won’t be heard at today’s Committee on Legislation and Intergovernmental Affairs meeting, a staffer in Suffredin’s office confirmed. The issue will be held until before the April 13 Board of Commissioners meeting.

“Com. Suffredin is working with a variety of interested groups, including pharmaceutical companies, on an amendment,” Suffredin’s Chief of Staff, Brian Miller, told Aldertrack.

"The Chicagoland Chamber opposes the proposed County wide, unfunded mandate on pharmaceutical manufacturers to plan, set up, pay for, and administer a consumer drug drop off site program," the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce's Michael Reever told Aldertrack. "It is yet another costly mandate the County seeks to place on the employer community, without regard to the unintended consequences, which include potentially increasing the cost of prescription drugs for consumers and creating a patchwork of policies that make it harder for employers to grow their business and invest in our communities."

The ordinance is aimed at protecting the County’s waterways from “improperly disposed of prescription drugs passing through [the County’s] wastewater and treatment centers.” The ordinance cites Alameda County’s Safe Drug ordinance, which was passed and amended in 2012. The ordinance would establish a stewardship plan for the collection, transportation and disposal of covered pharmaceutical drugs, and would be managed by the Cook County Sheriff’s Department.

Covered drugs include prescription, non-prescription, brand name and generic drugs. Drugs not included: homeopathic drugs or vitamins; cosmetics, shampoos, sunscreens, or other personal care products; drugs already covered by a pharmaceutical take back program; ‘biological products’; or medical devices. The Stewardship plan could include drop-off sites at local pharmacies or mail-in programs for homebound Cook County residents. Drug producers would have to document collection and final disposal policies, as well as publicize collection efforts and pay for all administrative and operational costs related to their Stewardship Plan.

The ordinance also creates a Pharmaceutical Disposal Advisory Committee made up of the President Preckwinkle and six other government officials from the Board of Commissioners, the Department of Environmental Control, the County Department of Public Health, and MWRD. If the issue passes at the April 13 Board of Commissioners meeting, the ordinance would be in effect in mid-October.

The Committee will hear various appointments put forward by President Preckwinkle last month:

• Board of Ethics: Thomas Szromba - Principal Senior Counsel, Litigation at The Boeing Company
• Cook County Commission on Human Rights: Amber Smock - Director of Advocacy, Access Living
• Cook County Justice Advisory Council: Lisa Stephens - Chief Operating Officer, Institute for Nonviolence Chicago

Subcommittee on Litigation

The Litigation subcommittee, which regularly meets in closed door session, will discuss a number of recommendations from Deputy State’s Attorney Don Pechous, who regularly appears before commissioners.

Commissioners will be updated on:

• Monica Kogan v. Cook County, et al.: an equal pay case brought by female orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Monica Kogan, who was a contractor at Stroger Hospital. She alleges she was paid less than her male counterparts, but had more experience.

• Justin Washington v. Cook County: Washington, a dietician at Stroger, alleges the county failed to pay him and others “who engaged in military service the difference between the pay they would have earned while employed by Cook County and the pay they received while on active military duty,” and accrual of time off.

• Billie Jean Ammons v. Cook County Sheriff’s Office, et al.: Ammons, who at the time was a Deputy Cook County Sheriff, alleges she was diagnosed with a permanent spinal injury and was awarded leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The amount of time Ammons took leave made her ineligible for a promotion to sergeant. After she filed her suit, she alleged she was retaliated against.   

Workforce, Housing & Community Development Committee

Persistent youth unemployment will highlight today’s Workforce Committee public hearing. Commissioners are set to hear statistics from the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Great Cities Institute study: “Lost: The Crisis Of Jobless and Out Of School Teens and Young Adults In Chicago, Illinois and the U.S.” The report concludes: “the crisis of joblessness for young people of color is chronic and concentrated. The conditions in Chicago are among the worst, and evident when compared to the U.S., Illinois, New York, and Los Angeles.”

The report was commissioned by the Alternative Schools Network and paints some stark statistics:

• For 20 to 24 year olds in Chicago, joblessness in 2014 was 59% for Blacks, 37% for Hispanic or Latinos, and 26% for Whites

• In Illinois in 2014, 84% of Black 16 to 19 year olds and 72% of Hispanic or Latino 16 to 19 year olds were jobless. Employment rates decreased by 13% for Blacks and 20% for Hispanic or Latinos from 2005 to 2014.

• Joblessness was worse in 2014 than in 2005 in every group, when looked at by age, race or gender. But the crisis was most acute for Black males, especially in Chicago, where 88.5% of Black males 16-19 were unemployed. Hispanic males were close behind - 87.4% were jobless in 2014.

• The biggest decline of employment rates among 16 to 19 year olds in the U.S., Illinois and Chicago was among female Latinas in Chicago, with a 44% drop.

Jack Wuest, executive director of the Alternative Schools Network, called the statistics “pretty devastating” at a presentation last month with State Rep. Art Turner, Jesse Ruizof the Chicago Parks District, Cook County Commissioners Richard Boykin, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, Ald. Chris Taliaferro, officials from the Urban League and other stakeholders.

Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership CEO Karin Norington-Reaves is expected to attend “to provide an update on available programming and services for Cook County youth.”

Labor Committee

The Labor Committee meets at noon today to vote on collective bargaining agreements with the House Staff Association of Cook County and the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 399.

Gun Violence Task Force

The Cook County Gun Violence Task Force will hold its second meeting today from 2:30 to 4:30 to discuss gun violence data and processes with officials from the University of Chicago Crime Lab and the Illinois Department of Corrections. Members will also discuss the public health impact of gun violence and future strategies with officials from Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital and the Cook County Health and Hospitals System.

33rd Ward Democratic Committeeman Dick Mell still had not conceded to challenger Aaron Goldstein yesterday, according to his daughter Ald. Deb Mell (33), despite being down 42 votes following Friday’s vote-by-mail count by the Chicago Board of Elections. In the 1st Ward, Democratic Committeeman challenger Maria Teresa Gonzalez was down 191 votes to incumbent Proco “Joe” Moreno following Friday’s ballot count.

On Thursday morning, before the count, Gonzalez released a statement saying, “At this point, the election is too close to call.”

There will be another count of newly arrived vote-by-mail ballots tomorrow, and then periodically for the next week, according to the Board of Elections. Final, official results will be announced on Tuesday, April 5.

The Chicago Police Board named three finalists for the job of police superintendent, and City Council's Latino Caucus called the short list an "insult." Eleven Aldermen voted against the Mayor's plan to increase the smoking age to 21, in addition to setting price floors and raising taxes on cigars, cigarillos, dip, and loose tobacco. But a ban on dip at Cubs and Sox games got unanimous support. We also talk bonds and discuss the winners and losers of this week's primary.