The final day of the City Council budget hearings started with a quick 15 minute briefing with the Department of Administrative Hearings, a nearly two hour hearing with the Department of Water Management, an approximately 40 minute hearing with the Department of Procurement Services, and it wrapped with the City’s Law Department and a tearful thank you to Budget Chair Carrie Austin (34).

Since it was the last day after a long slog, Vice Chair Jason Ervin (28) was in no mood to stay longer than needed. When Ald. David Moore (17), who already irked aldermen throughout the past two weeks for his persistent questioning, said he would wait for round two to ask follow up questions during the Department of Water Management hearing, Ervin grumbled, "It's Friday, man." The day’s session wrapped before 3:00 p.m.

 

Budget Chair Carrie Austin Delivers Tearful Thanks;
Reveals She Was In Coma During Hospitalization

Ald. Carrie Austin broke down in tears at the end of Friday's hearing while thanking a small group of aldermen for prayers during her illness, telling them she was near death and in a coma for two weeks.  

Austin was absent from Council several weeks throughout September, but aldermen and staffers kept her heart surgery under wraps. The Sun-Times broke a story just before budget season began, saying Austin had endured a couple lengthy hospital stays and one surgery, and cast doubt on whether she’d be able to chair what promised to be a contentious few weeks of hearings: “It’s highly unlikely Austin will have the stamina to chair marathon hearings that can drag on into the evening. Nor can she be counted on to be the iron-fisted chairman she has been.”

But Austin’s iron fist took center stage at several budget hearings, including with Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, and when keeping her fellow aldermen in line. Austin stayed late into the evening on several hearing days, sometimes sitting away from the podium or in the cloakroom while Budget Vice Chair Jason Ervintook over. She also became more active than usual on social media.

Ald. David Moore (17), who Austin had reprimanded a few times for asking too many questions and extending his time to second round questioning, brought her a big bouquet of flowers and thanked her on behalf of the full Council on the last day of budget hearings. “Chicago’s good and faithful servant, I appreciate you so much, and your colleagues as well. We appreciate you.”

“Still gonna be last,” she teased Moore, who ended up closing many hearing days with his extended questioning.

“Gosh, you had me crying when the Mayor did the Budget address, I’m gonna try not to do it this time.” She still cried.

Austin told aldermen she has a good bill of health, and two more doctor’s visits left. “I tore my aorta. I almost wasn’t here. But I’m grateful that God allowed me to be here. I was in the hospital 29 days. And in those 29 days that I was there, for the first two weeks I was unconscious, I was in a coma. Blood pressure went up over 300. The bottom number was 205, they couldn’t bring it down.”

Austin said after her hospital stay, she was home a week, but other aortic tears started near the bottom of her spine, requiring doctors at at Northwestern Memorial Hospital to put in three stents. “I’m doing pretty well unless it decides to go the other way, then it’ll be instant death. But if it happens, I’m ready to see the Lord, ‘cause I have served him all of my life.”

She told her colleagues, crying, that their prayers are what brought her back. “If I’ve offended anybody, I’m sorry. Charge it to my head and never to my heart, cause I love each and every one of y’all even though you make me sick and get on my nerves… But I do need to have a meeting with the newbies.” She sighed. Aldermen in the Chamber laughed.

“Flowers for a person while they yet live, while they can smell them, thank you. We made it through, and this meeting stands adjourned.” She got a standing ovation from those present.

ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

With few aldermen on hand for the early Friday morning hearing with the Department’s Director Patricia Jackowiak, the quick 15 minute hearing was short on questions and heavy on accolades. Vice Chair Jason Ervin lead the meeting, with Budget Chairman Carrie Austin arriving later in the day.

Attendance: Vice Chair Jason Ervin (28), Pat Dowell (3), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Mike Zalewski (23), Ariel Reboyras (30), Gilbert Villegas (36), Marge Laurino (39)

Submitted written testimony.

The Department of Administrative Hearings is asking for a $8.18 million appropriation for next year, a 2.7% increase from last year’s $7.96M appropriation. The largest chunk of the budget, $3.03 million, will go toward vehicle hearings for parking, red light, automated speed camera, and booted vehicle violations.

Before concluding the meeting, Vice Chair Ervin said one thing that does concern him is the lack of salary increases for the judges the City hires to oversee hearings. “Being able to retain quality, qualified attorneys that act as administrative law judges is important,” Ervin said.

The Department hires and trains outside attorneys to decide cases and serve as Administrative Law Judges. The 2016 budget appropriation calls for a $2,760 salary increase for over last year for judges, totaling $94,740.

“Hopefully we can find resources to increase that, because the one concern I do have is retention. Most of the individuals that are there are knowledgeable. They’ve been there for awhile. They understand the process. They understand the communities. And that’s something we don’t want to lose.”

Highlights from written testimony:

• In 2014, Administrative Law Judges presided over 627,923 hearings.

• 1,555 low-income respondents received legal representation from independent attorneys when going before a judge at the Central Hearing Facility between 7/1/14- 6/30/15. It’s part of the non-profit legal aid service Coordinated Advice & Referral Program for Legal Services (CARPLS).

• The Department’s Telephone  Language Line Interpretation Service, commonly known as “Language Line”, saw a 90% increase in usage over 2009, with 33,512 minutes of interpretation service in 2014.

• By the end of 2015, DOAH anticipates it’ll conduct 10,000 more hearings than in 2014

 

WATER MANAGEMENT

Department of Water Management Commissioner Tom Powers faced another nuts and bolts heavy hearing, with aldermen focusing on local infrastructure projects and complaining about poorly done sidewalk restorations, the sluggish timeline of sewer repairs, and questions about water meters. Despite criticism, Powers says the department is on track to complete its 10-year Capital Plan the Mayor first unveiled in 2012.

Attendance: Vice Chair Jason Ervin (28), Pat Dowell (3), Roderick Sawyer (6), Greg Mitchell (7), Michelle Harris (8), Susan Sadlowski-Garza (9), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), Marty Quinn (13), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Derrick Curtis (18), Matt O’Shea (19), Howard Brookins, Jr. (21), Mike Zalewski (23), Michael Scott, Jr. (24), Chris Taliaferro (29), Ariel Reboyras (30), Milly Santiago (31), Scott Waguespack (32), Deb Mell (33), Gilbert Villegas (36), Nick Sposato (38), Marge Laurino (39), Brendan Reilly (42), Tom Tunney (44), Michelle Smith (43) John Arena (45), James Cappleman (46), Deb Silverstein (50)

Submitted written testimony.

Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11), a former Water Reclamation District Commissioner, came out of left field with an odd question about selling cat food. “At the water filtration plants, where we have the intake, there is a lot of fish, I guess, that come in there. What do we do with that? Do we sell that for cat food, or do we try to monetize that at all? Anything?”

Powers said it’s not just fish that get caught in the screens, there’s also trash and floating debris that gets grounded out and sent out for treatment.  “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure...and we could try to utilize some of that,” Ald. Thompson, said reluctantly.

Then there was Ald. Raymond Lopez (15), who wanted to know if it was possible for aldermen to get access to the keys to shut off fire hydrants that get opened illegally. But he was immediately shut down by Powers, who said “even the guy to my right won’t give a magnetic key to his mother.” Powers assured Ald. Lopez that the Department is using data to track open hydrants to find trouble spots.

Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) asked Powers to “hurry up” and finish the water main repairs in his ward because “the traffic really stinks”, while Ald. Tom Tunney (44) complained about poorly done sidewalk restorations following underground water improvements.

“You know how I am about sidewalks,” Ald. Tunney lamented. “I do not believe they are done with the same quality that I see when our City department is in there...Water’s [restorations] are crap.”

But the most critical line of questioning came from South Side Ald. David Moore(17), as he pressed Powers to explain water rate increases and overtime amounts.

“I understand we are investing an extraordinary amount into our water delivery infrastructure, and I commend you on implementing all of this work,” Ald. Moore said, reading from his notes. “But financially, this investment has placed a rather large burden on people.”

In 2012, as part of his plan to update the city's water infrastructure, Mayor Emanuel proposed a four-year increase in rates for the City's water and sewer funds. In 2011, households paid a rate of $2.01/1000 gallons. The rate jumped to $3.82 this year, the final year of the phase-in. After this year, water rate increases will be  tied to the consumer price index.

“Water rates have increased by 60% over four years. Is that correct?” Ald. Moore asked Powers.

“It is about 60%, just over 60%,” Powers responded.

“If so, how do we explain that to people when their paychecks have certainly not gone up. And now we’re asking them for even more money,” Ald. Moore said, pointing to the Mayor’s proposed property tax hike and garbage fee in this year’s budget. “What is your plan for the future? Is it to continue to raise rates?”

“Alderman, Alderman,” Vice Chairman Ervin interjected before Powers could respond. “The rates in place were set four years ago [...] So the rate [increase] is not really a topic at this point…that’s something that’s kind of past us. But knock yourself out.”

After Powers assured Ald. Moore they could speak more about water rates offline, Ald. Moore pivoted to another hot topic: overtime.

“Under what circumstances do you authorize overtime?” Ald. Moore asked.

Powers said the Department has different types of overtime: contractual obligations with collective bargaining agreements, emergencies, and infrastructure malfunctions.

“And then there are instances where we use overtime to actually save money. And that doesn’t sound like an accurate statement,” Powers said explaining that in the water treatment plants, “in house forces” can compete against contractors to keep work in house if they are cheaper.

Powers gave the example of a recent project the Department undertook to replace 40 transformers. The original contractor for the project quoted $5,000 per transformer. But by opting to use city employees and paying them overtime hours instead, the Department got the job done for $2,900.

“So we actually saved money in this overall project by working with our in house crews and having them bid on work as if they were a contractor,” Powers said.

In the 2016 budget, the Department is asking for $4 million in overtime for its Bureau of Water Supply, despite spending $9.5 million in overtime in 2014. When asked about the difference, Powers said “shift coverage” was the main driver in those overtime hours and his department is working with the Budget Office to “hire strategically” to alleviate the costs.

The Department’s Bureau of Operations and Distribution spent $8.5 million in overtime in 2014 and is requesting $3 million next year, Ald. Moore pointed out. Those overtime hours are directly related to weather, emergencies, water main breaks, and sewer repairs, Powers replied. Major snow storms also lead to overtime hours in that sub-department because DWM helps Streets and Sanitation with snow removal.

And on the issue of delinquent water payments suburban towns owe the City, the Department has worked out payment plans to recoup $30 million dollars from the Cities of Dolton, Robins, and Harvey.

Highlights from written testimony:

• DWM purifies an average of 800 million gallons of water a day at the Department’s Jardine and South Water Purification Plants.

• 2.7 million customers are served in Chicago and 2.76 million customers in 125 surrounding suburbs, representing 42% of the state’s population.

 

PROCUREMENT SERVICES

After waiving the reading of the opening statement, and a surprisingly smaller than expected number of minority hiring questions, Commissioner Jamie Rhee spent a little over an hour testifying before the Budget Committee, where she revealed an unusual statistic: the City has made nearly $14 million dollars selling “junk” online over the past four years.

Attendance: Chair Carrie Austin (34), Vice Chair Jason Ervin (28), Joe Moreno (1), Pat Dowell (3), Michelle Harris (8), Susan Sadlowski-Garza (9), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), Marty Quinn (13), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Derrick Curtis (18), Matt O’Shea (19), Howard Brookins, Jr. (21), Rick Munoz (22), Mike Zalewski (23), Michael Scott, Jr. (24), Chris Taliaferro (29), Milly Santiago (31), Scott Waguespack (32), Deb Mell (33), Gilbert Villegas (36), Nick Sposato (38), Marge Laurino (39), Brendan Reilly (42), Tom Tunney (44), Michelle Smith (43) John Arena (45), James Cappleman (46), Ameya Pawar (47), Deb Silverstein (50)

Submitted written testimony.

Since 2011, DPS has worked with other City departments to identify surplus or decommissioned items that can be auctioned online. Items range from smaller equipment like old typewriters, calculators, phones, obsolete copier toner, and dog cages, to bigger pieces like solar panels, and construction equipment.

“It is surprising, but there is a huge market for this,” Rhee explained. The Department has been hosting daily auctions online with buyers from all over the world bidding on the obsolete equipment. “The market is actually recycling them, and there is a very active market.”

In 2015 alone, DPS is on target to sell over $2 million dollars worth of obsolete items.

Most of the questions aldermen had for Commissioner Rhee focused on the bidding requirements and the average timeline for DPS’ business certification process.

Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11) asked about city residency requirements for local contracts. Commissioner Rhee said on all non-federally funded projects over $100,000, 50% of the hours worked must be done by city residents. But as soon as a single federal dollar touches a project, the City is barred from demanding local residency requirements.

Asked if there is an option to buy out of that, Rhee said no, because the requirements were set through city ordinance passed in May 2013. This year, DPS recouped $141,000 in penalties from businesses that failed to meet the requirements. Since projects tend to span several years, DPS regularly monitors hiring practices through the life of the project.

“If we only have a couple hundred thousand dollars worth of penalties–I don’t know what the penalties are--but it doesn’t seem like a lot,” Ald. Thompson said, suggesting the requirements be increased. Rhee said she was open to the idea.

On the business certification front, Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) asked if the certification timeline is too long, noting he has only three certified businesses in his ward, and was told by local contractors that they prefer to get certified by the County because the process is “half as long”.

“That is their feeling… I’m just relaying the message,” Lopez added.

But before Rhee answered his question, Chairman Austin interjected. “Not it doesn’t. Most of the time [businesses] are using that as an excuse to get pushed a little faster.”

“But then the question comes along with participation,” Ald. Lopez said. “When a number of businesses hear rumors and stories that the payment for contracts takes longer. And sometimes for businesses that are minority or disadvantaged or women owned, they don’t have the capital, resources, or cashflow to sustain themselves three-to-six months before their first payment. Is that something your department is looking to address so we don’t exclude [this] group?”

“Absolutely,” Rhee said the City has a “whole committee” looking at how DPS is processing payments to alleviate this issue.

The Department is asking for $7.859 million, a modest reduction from their 2015 allocation of $7.97 million.

 

LAW DEPARTMENT

The City’s Law Department had a relatively short hearing, but released a huge brag sheet at Friday’s hearing, the very last of budget testimony for this season. “I kind of apologize for that,” Corporation Counsel Steve Patton said before testifying for about 75 minutes. He released a six-part, 26 page written testimony that scratched the surface of all the different areas of City government the DOL touches.

Attendance: Joe Moreno (1), Brian Hopkins (2), Pat Dowell (3), Leslie Hairston (5), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Derrick Curtis (18), Matt O’Shea (19), Ricardo Munoz (22), Michael Scott Jr. (24), Jason Ervin (29), Milly Santiago (31), Scott Waguespack (32), Carrie Austin (34, Nicholas Sposato (38), Brendan Reilly (42)

The department has 436 budgeted full time positions for 2016, one less than last year. The largest group of employees, 83, work in Building and License enforcement. DOL’s budget of $36.9 million has barely budged since Patton started, a consistency he says is purposeful. Among Patton’s long written testimony were the department’s impact on real estate and building code enforcement, the Barack Obama Foundation’s decision to choose Chicago for its location, changes to workers compensation and union agreements, the City minimum wage, parking ticket enforcement, sale of vacant lots, and renegotiated credit agreements.

The first question out of the gate came from Vice Chair Jason Ervin (28), who asked about police settlement cases. Patton estimated police settlements cost taxpayers $16.5 million this year (one settlement alone, the shooting death of teenager LaQuan McDonald, cost the City $5 million). But he said that number could have been much higher, and DOL only settles when it has to. “The only time I will settle the case is where my lawyers convince me the outcome for taxpayers is likely to be far worse if we don’t settle… we can’t wish these lawsuits away.” The Law Department won 40 of the 49 police cases it tried. In those cases, plaintiffs sought more than $60 million in damages, but recovered only $6 million.

The City’s expecting to pay $30 million dollars for settlements alone this year. That’s a 48% reduction from 2014, and 62% from 2013. When you add judgements, the City will pay $55 million. That number is still down by 42% from 2014, and 47% from 2013.

But there’s still cutting to do, Patton says. “We’re not doing a victory lap on this.” DOL has been working to cut through a backlog of costly cases from the Daley Administration. Patton said City lawyers in the previous administration would wait until just before a court date to decide whether to settle, compounding costs. Patton’s ended that practice, but that doesn’t mean the city isn’t still being sued for things like police shootings.

Patton also fielded questions about money and enforcement around vacation rental sites like Airbnb. He said he can’t disclose numbers about taxes collected from those sites, but the collection is “substantial,” now that sites have created an infrastructure to collect payment from users.

Throughout budget proceedings, aldermen have expressed worry that more than a thousand vacation rentals are making money without paying for a vacation rental license from the city. Ald. Reilly (42) said only 200 of the 3000 listed Airbnb units are registered, and there’s a rumor the DOL is working secretly to negotiate a separate set of rules and regulations just for Airbnb. Patton said he had no knowledge of any dealings, but would look into it.  

Aldermen also asked for an update on the $5.5 million the city agreed to pay in reparations for victims of torture by Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge. Patton said the process has so far gone “surprisingly smoothly.” The time for victims to make claims has expired, and the Law Department is working through deciding whether claims are meritorious. Advocacy groups who litigated on behalf of victims have referred 44 claimants, which have all been reviewed. More than 50 new claimants have also come in from off the radar, Patton said, and are in the process of being reviewed. Daniel T. Coyne, a law professor at Kent College, is independently reviewing claims with law students, and sending them on to DOL.

Other facts revealed in testimony:

• When discussing staffing, Patton revealed some of DOL’s tax enforcement priorities: “We are putting a renewed focus on trying to extract all the value we can in enforcing property taxes, and in opposing commercial requests for property tax reductions.”

• DoL collected a record-breaking $171.3 million in overdue monies owed to the City in 2014. The Department expects to set more records, including a $10 million increase in overdue parking tickets.

• The City won 85% of police cases it tried in 2015. It won or obtained dismissal in 102 out of 207 cases resolved through August 2015.

• The City’s cut down on legal costs by at least $90 million since 2011 by deciding whether cases should go to trial or be settled earlier. DOL estimates the timely settlement of one case, Hunter (McDonald) v. City of Chicago, saved the City $4.5 million alone.

• DOL’s employment is one of few with majority female employees, roughly 60%, and an equal gender split amongst Department managers.

• The City’s conveyed more than 425 vacant parcels for a $1 to neighbors in Englewood, West Englewood, Woodlawn, Washington Park, Greater Grand Crossing, New City, Fuller Park, East Garfield Park and Greater Englewood since December 2014. The Law Department expects to close 90 more in Austin before the end of this year, and open up 300 lots in Pullman and Roseland soon.

• After the Moody’s downgrade, DoL attorneys worked “literally around the clock” to prevent 11 banks from demanding immediate repayment of more than $1.8 billion in outstanding credit agreements, and negotiated forbearance agreements instead. Patton said one lawyer was up 36 hours on the case. That allowed the city to convert $806 million in variable rate general obligation bonds and $112 million in sales tax revenue bonds within a month of Moody’s downgrade.

• In 2015, DoL has prosecuted more than 350 drug and gang house cases and more than 350 license cases, including 178 license revocations for businesses.

• DoL expects to file a total of 900 to 1,000 building demolition cases by the end of the year.

Expect most of your burning budget questions to get clarification at the full City Council meeting on Wednesday, October 14th, when the revenue and levy ordinances will be introduced by the Mayor’s Office. It’s also public comment day for the budget. Budget office spokeswoman Molly Poppe said that introduction will include clarification on the controversial cloud tax. We’ll be looking for possible changes in the property tax levy and any movement on 311 privatization.

The public hearing will be followed by a Budget Committee meeting on the 19th and a Finance Committee meeting on the 20th, Poppe says. The Budget Committee meets again to “defer and publish” on October 21. The text of the ordinance is published in the Council Journals of Proceedings, but not passed, held for a vote until the next meeting. Final consideration is acted on during the “Unfinished Business” portion of a full City Council meeting, scheduled for October 28.

There were 4 “no” votes on last year’s budget: Ald. Bob Fioretti (2), who was running against Rahm Emanuel for Mayor at the time; Ald. Toni Foulkes, who was then 15th Ward Alderman, and is now 16th; Ald. Scott Waguespack (32), and Ald. John Arena (45).  

LICENSE APPEAL COMMISSION

Day 9 of the City Council Budget hearings kicked off with a quick, 20 minute hearing with the License Appeal Commission. With few questions asked and a small pool of aldermen present in the Chambers, Commission Chairman Dennis Michael Fleming gave a brief breakdown of cases heard over the past year, how fees are collected, and his annual salary.

Submitted written testimony.

Attendance: Chairman Carrie Austin (34), Vice Chairman Jason Ervin (28), Leslie Hairston (5), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), Raymond Lopez (15), Michael Zalewski (23), Ariel Reboyras (30), Scott Waguespack (32), Gilbert Villegas (36), Anthony Napolitano (41), James Cappleman (46) 

The Commission hears appeals from businesses and individuals seeking a review of decisions of the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection and the Local Liquor Control Commission. Fifty-two appeals were filed last year: 83% of those cases were applicant cases related to denied liquor licenses, the rest were disciplinary. The Commission has one full time position. Chairman Fleming said he works an average of 12 hours a week with an hourly rate of $125.

DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND SUPPORT SERVICES 

Questions about mental health programs for the City’s homeless population and suggestions on how DFSS could cut waste by changing how it allocates resources to delegate agencies took the brunt of the roughly two hour DFSS hearing with newly appointed Commissioner Lisa Morrison Butler. Having only assumed the office 50 days ago–a point she made repeatedly–Butler had several members of the DFSS staff back her testimony with data and background when asked statistic-related questions or about specific programs DFSS oversees.   

Attendance: Chairman Carrie Austin (34), Vice Chairman Jason Ervin (28), Pat Dowell (3), Leslie Hairston (5), Gregory Mitchell (7), Michelle Harris (8), Anthony Beale (9), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Matt O’Shea (19), Rick Munoz (22), Michael Zalewski (23), Michael Scott, Jr. (24), Walter Burnett (27), Chris Taliaferro (29), Ariel Reboyras (30), Milly Santiago (31), Scott Waguespack (32), Deb Mell (33), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), Gilbert Villegas (36), Emma Mitts (37), Nick Sposato (38), Anthony Napolitano (41), Brendan Reilly (42), Michele Smith (43), John Arena (45) James Cappleman (46), Harry Osterman (48), Deb Silverstein (50). 

Submitted written testimony.

Several aldermen asked why there isn’t more coordination between DFSS and the Public Health Department when it comes to mental health programs geared towards the city’s homeless population. 

A frustrated Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30) pounded his fists on the desk to lament the lack of programming and suggested DFSS and the City’s Health Department pool their resources. “This will alleviate the problems we have in jails,” Reboyras explained. He recalled an incident “four or five years ago” where he had to personally help a homeless man in his ward find shelter because resources were scarce. He said he bought the man a bottle of vodka, shared a drink on the street because, as Ald. Reboyras said “ if you can’t help him, you might as well join him”, and eventually helped the man find shelter at the local YMCA. “These are little things that no one knows the alderman does.” 

According to the City's last “point-in-time” count, there are approximately 6,700 individuals living on city streets or in city shelters;19.4% of those counted suffer from mental illness, 22.7% suffer from substance abuse. 

When Ald. Michele Smith (43) asked Butler to detail some of the main obstacles to find shelter for those who don’t suffer from either ailment, and if Single-Room Occupancy units might help mitigate those obstacles, Butler deferred the question to a member of her staff. Deputy Commissioner Alisa Rodriguez said, “to some extent,” saying affordability is more important.     

Butler said she is trying to collaborate with other city departments to make sure funding is spent efficiently. She said she has already had two meetings with Health Commissioner Julie Morita, adding that implementing new programs geared towards the City’s homeless population take time, because a relationship of “trust” between government agencies and the homeless take time. “They don’t have to go into shelter and they don’t have to take the services,” Butler explained. Unlike New York City, Chicago doesn’t have a court mandated right to shelter; all programs geared towards the City’s homeless population are on a voluntary basis.

As for ways DFSS could cut spending, Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) pointed to a Chicago Jobs Council survey that found DFSS had spent $350,000 in fees associated with the single-ride Ventra cards delegate agencies hand out to to help low-income job seekers get to interviews or students traveling to school. Calling the fees paid to Ventra owner Cubic “inappropriate”, Ald. Waguespack asked that DFSS look into the issue. “I don’t think anyone realized this was going on except Ventra seeing their bottom line increase to our detriment.”

DFSS Managing Deputy David Wells told Waguespack the department could work better with CTA as well as CPS to see if there is a way to “alleviate” that issue.

Another vocal member of the Progressive Caucus, Ald. John Arena (45) said he didn’t understand why DFSS needs its own Human Resources team when the City already has a Department of Human Resources. He brought up a similar issue during the Department of Public Health hearing. Going line-by-line listing the titles for the HR division within DFSS, Ald. Arena said the $500,000 appropriation didn’t make sense. ”I’m seeing redundancies here and within the Department of Health and that’s troubling to me. We are asking for the largest property tax increase and we’re not looking at our budgets and departments to say, ‘Where can we reduce redundancy?’”

Reminding Ald. Arena that she is new to the job, Butler said she didn’t have an immediate answer for him, and will have a better update on how the department can be more efficient after she works with an independent consulting agency, The Civic Consulting Alliance.

Other figures revealed in testimony:

• DFSS provides direct assistance to more than 300,000 Chicagoans annually through a citywide network of more than 300 community-based delegate agencies.

• The 2016 DFSS allocation is $348 million, representing a 4.7% increase over the 2015 allocation

• $170 million dollars will be invested in Head Start, Early Head Start and Child Care programs, including $15 million as part of the Early Head Start Child Care Partnership Grant

• DFSS is rolling out a P-3 Grant Pilot Program for teen mothers and their children. The initiative will provide mothers with training, job opportunities, and the ability to finish their high school degrees.

• 24,679 Chicago youth participated in the City’s employment initiative, One Summer Chicago (OSC), representing a 70% increase from 2011. DFSS wants to expand the program to 25,000 in 2016.

• $61,252,572 will be allocated to homeless programs, expanding the Mayor’s Plan 2.0 to End Homelessness.

• By the end of 2015, DFSS expects to open the City’s first domestic violence shelter in more than ten years. The two-story shelter will have 40 beds and the capacity to serve more than 100 families in 2016.

 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

A lengthy, and at times, contentious hearing with the Chicago Department of Transportation focused a significant amount of time on a budget item close to aldermen’s hearts: menu money and the rising cost of infrastructure improvements throughout the city. CDOT is asking for $576 million in this year’s budget: about $28 million more than last year. Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld fielded questions and praise for more than three hours Thursday.

Submitted written testimony.

Attendance: Chair: Carrie Austin (34), Joe Moreno (1), Pat Dowell (3), Leslie Hairston (5), Roderick Sawyer (6), Gregory Mitchell (7), Michelle Harris (8), Sue Sadlowski Garza (10), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), George Cardenas (12), Marty Quinn (13), Ed Burke (14), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Matt O’Shea (19), Howard Brookins (21), Ricardo Munoz (22), Michael Scott Jr (24), Walter Burnett Jr. (27), Jason Ervin (28), Chris Taliaferro (29), Ariel Reboyras (30), Scott Waguespack (32), Deb Mell (33), Carlos Ramirez Rosa (35), Gilbert Villegas (36), Nicholas Sposato (38), Anthony Napolitano (41), Brendan Reilly (42), Tom Tunney (44), John Arena (45), James Cappleman (46), Ameya Pawar (47), Harry Osterman (48), Deb Silverstein (50) 

A small argument broke out between Ald. Brendan Reilly (42), and Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30) and Ald. Joe Moreno (1). Throughout budget hearings, Reilly has pressed commissioners to justify a budget increase over the previous year, and asked them to detail increased expenses and additional positions. He devoted his full 10 minutes of question time to asking about overtime pay, why aldermen should pay for Americans with Disabilities Act compliant ramps when it’s in CDOT’s budget, and new positions added.

“Where in the line item is funding for the Active Transportation Alliance?” Reilly asked. The Alliance advocates for greater access to, and use of, public transportation, biking, and walking. CDOT pays the Alliance a consulting fee using a portion of federal grants dedicated to safety, Scheinfeld said. 

“They’re an advocacy organization as much as they are an education organization,” Reilly pushed back, saying there should be a delineation. “There are some members of this Council who are targeted by these folks in their advocacy when a bike lane is resisted or changes are proposed… I don’t believe tax dollars should be used to subsidize political activity, period.”

“What does this have to do with CDOT?” Ald. Reboyras said off-mic, “They do wonderful work.” Reboyras serves on the Alliance Board of Directors. 

“Maybe you could speak during your time, Alderman Reboyras,” Reilly retorted.

Ald. Joe Moreno (1) also voiced his support for the Alliance to the whole chamber, off-mic.

“Great. Good for you, Joe,” Reilly replied.

Chairman Carrie Austin reprimanded the group, “No outbursts.”

By the end of the exchange, Reilly’s 10 minutes were up, and several aldermen went to Reboyras’ desk to speak with him. 

Ald. Tom Tunney (44) wrangled with Scheinfeld over quality control on CDOT projects involving private contractors, who Tunney says sometimes screw up and have to do the job twice. He pointed to bad concrete pours and pothole fills. “This comes up all the time. Who is watching these privates on behalf of the taxpayer, and making sure that you’re in there once, you’re doing the job right, and move on?” Tunney asked.

Public way inspectors and CDOT’s permit office have oversight, Scheinfeld says, and the department aims to “minimize disruption,” but she didn’t discuss how screw-ups were punished. Contractors have to re-do projects if it’s done incorrectly but only within the warranty period, she added. Tunney used the rest of his allotted time to drive the point home, and suggested they meet after the hearing to figure out how to fine contractors for mistakes outside the warranty period.   

The maligned, now revamped Chicago Infrastructure Trust 2.0 was also a talking point. In September, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the ambitious “Chicago Smart Lighting Project”, a plan to overhaul the City’s lighting without using taxpayer money. Ald Marty Quinn (13) asked whether it could save aldermen menu money. Aldermen can easily spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in menu money lighting a park or single block. The Trust has put out an RFI (Request for Information) on the project, due in November. Scheinfeld said even before the announcement, CDOT was getting unsolicited pitches from businesses.   

Scheinfeld says the department wants to find out what other revenue sources lighting upgrades could support. “Street lights are essentially real estate,” she said upgrading all the city’s light infrastructure would take a huge investment. 

Ald. Harry Osterman (48) took a shine to the idea of private, branded funding for lighting improvements. “I think that the lighting we’ve put in the last four years has probably done as much for crime reduction as a lot of other efforts, but it kills us with the menu,” he said, supporting allowing companies to pay to brand municipal assets to money for infrastructure updates. “If it’s Whole Foods or Ikea or GE Lighting and they have their sign on there, I don’t care, and I don’t think my constituents care… if we get the light there, I would be welcome to be a pilot.” 

More on how aldermen have spent menu money in our previous report.

Ald. George Cardenas (12) echoed Osterman’s sentiment, saying dealing with CDOT is “very emotional” and says he has 3 states of emotion: Negative Ned, Positive Polly, and Flip Flop Freddy. He says he often begins an infrastructure project thinking CDOT won’t make it happen, then believes it will, then can’t actually pick projects from the menu because they’re too expensive. “Shopping with CDOT is like shopping at a Bloomingdale's, you like what you see, but you can’t afford it… I know inflation is not the problem. I know stagflation is not the problem, but our dollars are worth half of what they were 8 years ago.”

The $1.3 million allocation for each alderman “doesn’t buy anything anymore,” Cardenas said, adding he won’t finish lighting McKinley Park before he retires. Scheinfeld says CDOT always tries to help aldermen stretch their dollars as far as possible, sympathizes with cost hikes, and says rising menu prices are updated based on actual costs. 

Funding is also a problem for the expansion of Divvy, which Scheinfeld couldn’t give a conclusive timeline on for full expansion to the whole city. While aldermen are thrilled with the program’s growth over the past 2 years, others are clamoring for more. Ald. Matt O’Shea (19), whose ward is on the far South West Side, hasn’t seen Divvy reach his ward yet. Neighboring Ald. Anthony Beale (9) also asked about South Side expansion. Sheinfeld said they’re working on finding more federal funding, and want to reach every edge of the city. 

Other figures revealed in testimony:

• $5 million total is allocated for the Shared Sidewalk program for the next couple years, Scheinfeld said. Residents chip in $4 per square foot for sidewalk repairs, seniors even less, and CDOT covers the rest. Ald. O’Shea (19) said signups in his ward topped out in early January last year.

• The department expects to have 163 vacancies going into next year–fewer than listed in the budget.

• CDOT will spend $3.1 million on bike lanes, totaling up 100 miles of the lanes across Chicago by the end of fall.

• The budget office estimated CDOT had the highest absenteeism rate of the City’s big departments - 8.8%. Scheinfeld expects $2.5 million in savings from reduced absenteeism.

• 40% of Chicagoans commute to work on bikes or by public transportation.

On a day when many Council watchers expected fireworks, there were few true explosions from aldermen during Tuesday’s nearly six-hour Police Department budget hearing with Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. Even the biggest firecracker in the meeting, Budget Chair Carrie Austin, seemed to turn around by the hearing’s conclusion, “I’ve seen a different Garry. Not a Superintendent, but a different Garry…the one thing that I have seen that I have not seen in the past, and that’s compassion. Thank you for that.”

Other Black Caucus members, such as Ald. Michelle Harris (8), Ald. Greg Mitchell (7), and Ald. Emma Mitts (37), who all called for Supt. McCarthy’s firing the day before, approached him after the final gavel to shake his hand, and smiled as they parted ways.

Supt. McCarthy expressed surprise in a press conference after the hearing that tensions with the Black Caucus had mounted so much so that they called for his firing. “I just met with the Black Caucus for a couple of hours a few days ago, and the same conversations we had here, we had in that room, with the exception of one or two folks who were not there. So it did catch me a little off guard. You have to be prepared for surprises in this business, I guess.”

The day’s biggest contrasts were drawn between Black Caucus aldermen and a cadre of white aldermen who mostly had praise for Supt. McCarthy and CPD, efforts Ald. Austin described as “lopsided”. Great on the North Side, but “a bucket of blood” elsewhere.

Attendance: Budget Chair Carrie Austin (34), Joe Moreno (1), Brian Hopkins (2), Pat Dowell (3), Will Burns (4), Leslie Hairston (5), Roderick Sawyer (6), Gregory Mitchell (7), Michelle Harris (8), Anthony Beale (9), Sue Sadlowski Garza (10), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), George Cardenas (12), Marty Quinn (13), Ed Burke (14), Raymond Lopez (15), Toni Foulkes (16), David Moore (17), Matt O’Shea (19), Willie Cochran (20), Howard Brookins Jr. (21), Ricardo Munoz (22), Michael Zalewski (23), Michael Scott Jr (24), Danny Solis (25), Walter Burnett Jr. (27), Jason Ervin (28), Chris Taliaferro (29), Ariel Reboyras (30), Milly Santiago (31), Scott Waguespack (32), Deb Mell (33), Gilbert Villegas (36), Emma Mitts (37), Nicholas Sposato (38), Marge Laurino (39), Anthony Napolitano (41), Brendan Reilly (42), Michele Smith (43), Tom Tunney (44), John Arena (45), James Cappleman (46), Ameya Pawar (47), Harry Osterman (48), Joe Moore (49)

It was a packed house. Only Ald. Derrick Curtis (18) (who has been on his honeymoon), Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26), Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), Ald. Pat O’Connor (40), and Ald. Deb Silverstein (50) did not attend.

McCarthy started the meeting by getting ahead of his critics’ main bones of contention by reading his full, written statement outlining CPD's response to recent violence:

• Adding extra saturation units, which can be deployed quickly to address gang violence.


• A change that every illegal gun possession arrest will be assigned a dedicated detective, to arrest and charge anyone involved in an illegal gun transfer at any point in its history.


• Prioritizing city services for higher crime communities. Those communities will get their service requests–lighting, broken windows, abandoned buildings, and overgrown bushes–handled first.

Then, Supt. McCarthy responded to hours of questioning from aldermen frustrated with insufficient police response to problems in their ward.

Ald. Anthony Beale (9), one of the Superintendent’s most vocal opponents, didn’t ask Supt. McCarthy questions, only telling him that he’s tried to work with the police department on crime in his ward several times “to no avail.”

Ald. Michelle Harris (8) said CPD’s CAPS outreach was poorly staffed, and cops weren’t addressing quality of life issues.

Ald. Jason Ervin (28) said, “the same items we discussed in 2011 are the same items we’re discussing going into 2016… What do you plan to do different?” Ald. David Moore (17), and Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) brought up McCarthy’s firing again.

Ald. Leslie Hairston (5) criticized $30 million in spending on Operation Impact, a saturation program in high crime areas. “I cannot continue to try to justify $100 million in overtime when we have no results. We don’t have crime down. We have not reduced any of the violence at all. I don’t under when enough is enough or when you get signaled that it’s not working.” Supt. McCarthy disagreed, and said reductions in Impact zones have been significant.

Ald. Tom Tunney (44) said there have been big staffing reductions in his ward since the merger of the 19th and 23rd police districts, from 468 officers to 333. Supt. McCarthy apologized, and said he used to have a map to review staffing on a daily or weekly basis. “I got away from that, we’ll get it fixed. I take the hit."

Ald. Harry Osterman (48) told McCarthy the spike in crime near Argyle and thousands of shooting victims city-wide were “eating the soul of the city out."

“What can we do as elected officials?” Ald. O’Shea (19) asked about 90 minutes into the hearing, “Because I think we all have some responsibility in all this.”

Supt. McCarthy took pains to illustrate the illegal gun problem in Chicago, repeating a statistic that the city has seven times more guns than New York City. He pointed to some department victories, saying 5,500 illegal guns have been taken off the streets in 2015 alone, and gun arrests are up, but “We’re drinking from a fire hose…I don’t know if that resonates with anyone,” he said, audibly frustrated.

That set off Budget Chair Carrie Austin, seated immediately to McCarthy’s left. “You’re not answering Alderman O’Shea. All 49 of us that sit here today, what is it that YOU can tell us that we can do?

“Let’s get on a bus and go to Springfield,” Supt. McCarthy responded.

“And if you get the law changed, what is it still that we can do as elected officials that’s going to better our community and allow our children to have a life to live?” Austin asked.

“Hold the entire system accountable. I’m being held accountable right now…” Supt. McCarthy said.

Austin interrupted, “As are we!” Ald. Austin wanted something concrete. “Don’t tell me about no more legislation. We don’t control them. What we control is what is here.” She said the Police Department doesn’t pay attention to issues in her ward.

“There’s not a magic solution to this, and I can’t tell you one thing that’s going to change this,” Supt. McCarthy said. He said teamwork between legislators, prosecutors, the judiciary, and police is the answer to systemic problems, and pointed again to a need for change from Springfield. He said CPD could make arrests, but the bar for getting cases prosecuted is high, and his officers are arresting criminals with long rap sheets who get to go back out on the street.

As the afternoon wore on, it was marked by a fundamental disagreement between Supt. McCarthy and his staunchest critics about the solution for violence in the city, with Supt. McCarthy insisted CPD has made significant headway, but deep, systemic problems persisted. “I constructed New York’s crime strategies…I know what needs to happen. It’s the clearest thing on earth to me…Quite frankly I believed that we were getting some momentum on the issue, it was happening behind the scenes, it was happening in front of the cameras, and I’m concerned about this being derailed right now.” Supt. McCarthy said his goal is tracking down guns, finding trafficking patterns, and getting cases all the way to convictions.

Black Caucus aldermen continued to slam Supt. McCarthy on quality of life issues. From the sale of loose cigarettes and marijuana to public drinking, many black aldermen said they felt smaller crimes on the South Side were low on the Police Department’s priority list. Supt. McCarthy later said quality of life issues seemed to be the biggest complaint of the day.

Non-Black Caucus aldermen for the most part praised Supt. McCarthy and district commanders, using their allotted 10 minutes of questions to ask about vacation time for overtime officers, money spent on police settlements, sexual assault cases, and about tickets, or Administrative Notices of Violation (ANOVs).

Making his first appearance at a budget hearing this season, Ald. Ed Burke (14), a former police officer, offered complete support of Supt. McCarthy and the Police Department as a whole. “A lot of frustration I hear today is out of the hands of police. I think we’ve got the best police department in the nation,” he told Supt. McCarthy, “Chicago has the best big city police chief in the country today.”

Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41), another former police officer, also offered his praise, and said everyone should work to boost police morale, instead of pointing fingers. “Everybody wants answers…we need to realize what’s going on here. Kids aren’t out there just being knuckleheads, this is about money. This is about territory. This isn’t just ah, it’s nice out, I’m gonna shoot somebody…your job is harder than any job. More people need to get in that squad car,” and said Chicago violence needs to be classified as a war.

While Supt. McCarthy said there were more cops per capita than any other big city, Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29) a cop for 21 years right up until his election last April, pushed back. He had specific complaints about low staffing, a lack of morale, the violence reduction initiative being a failure, and a proliferation of shootings and sexual assaults in his West Side ward. He said he wasn’t speaking as a cop, but for his constituents when he called for Supt. McCarthy’s resignation Monday. “We need real resources…the responses we got the other day [at the Black Caucus meeting], Superintendent, they were as if they came from a car salesman.”

By the end of the night, only a few of the biggest stakeholders were left. Ald. Raymond Lopez (15), who had a shooting in front of his ward office and a gathered stack of headlines about violence in his ward, including the death of a grandmother and pregnant mom; a collection of black caucus members, who the day before had called on Supt. McCarthy to quit; Public Safety Chair Ariel Reboyras (30), who’d stayed silent all day; and Chairman Austin, who hours before had told the crowd to stay orderly, then gave the most passionate testimony, sitting right next to Supt. McCarthy.

By hour five of testimony, at 6:00 p.m., where the press box had earlier contained a horde, it held a mere 3 reporters. There were less than 20 stragglers in the gallery, a more measured tone from those left.

Reboyras painted both sides, saying quality of life issues are problems across the City, even as he has few problems in his own ward. “I don’t expect you or the Chicago police officers to quit on us. I think it’s going to be full speed ahead,” he said. “I also want to reiterate that we are going to vote on the largest property tax increase in Chicago…but we need to address what our colleagues have said today…we as aldermen are being blamed.”

At the end of the evening, Ald. Carrie Austin asked for the second time, after more than five hours of contentious testimony, “I won’t reiterate my displeasure, but I will still say it again, over and over, Superintendent, what is it that we can do to help you help us?” she asked. “We need to have a strategy… and when we can get that, then we can be a better Chicago, we don’t have to be Chiraq anymore… I think you’re doing as well as can be expected, but we expect more. We really expect more.”

Supt. McCarthy told reporters after the long day he had no intentions to step down. He said there was too much work to be done.

And he was backed up by Mayor Rahm Emanuel earlier in the day, when during a press conference he said, “I stand by the Superintendent, I stand by the men and women of the police department and I stand by the culture of professionalism of the Police Department.”

Other figures revealed during testimony:

• Of the 319 officers Mayor Emanuel has planned to transition from desk to beat duty, more than half, 167, will start this year as detention aides and property custodians. 90 of those officers will be placed on high crime saturation teams.


• The Department has 201 vacancies. Those will be filled at least in part by a new class of recruits coming in at the end of October, and another in November.


• $30M has been spent on crime initiatives in 2015 in 20 operation impact zones.


• CPD issued 125,000 Administrative Notices of Violation, or ANOVs, this year. McCarthy says 65% of them have gone toward the four top quality of life complaints: people smoking marijuana, public drinking, public urination, and gambling.


• McCarthy says he’s in favor of body cameras, in general, and there is currently a grant-funded pilot program in place, but would take a significant investment to make body cameras happen Department-wide.


• Civilian complaints against police are in decline, McCarthy says, down double digits compared to last year, and a quarter less than 4 years ago.


• Police-involved shootings are down 38% from last year.

Black Caucus’ members demands to get rid of Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy are real, aldermen, Council staffers and members of the administration told Aldertrack last night. The pressure has been building up for some time now, as aldermen are frustrated that McCarthy and district commanders he has appointed don’t return aldermanic phone calls, fail to consult with them on staff changes, and tend not to communicate plans big and small to address crime.

Virtually the entire Black Caucus attended a press conference outside Council chambers yesterday afternoon calling for McCarthy’s outster. Only Walter Burnett Jr. (27) Howard Brookins Jr. (21), Derrick Curtis (18) and Will Burns (4) did not attend. Scott Waguespack (32), Raymond Lopez (15) and Carlos Ramirez-Rosa(35) also joined. Burns penned a response opposing the Caucus’ call for McCarthy’s ouster, but more significant was that staunch Mayor Rahm Emanuel supporter and Budget Chair Carrie Austin (34) came out against him, and even had some angry words to share in the press conference.

“My concern is that my constituents get sick and tired of hearing about statistics and no action. You read the Trib - why don’t we own it? We own it every day,” Austin said.

“That’s right,” Caucus members responded.

“Every time somebody is shot, every time somebody’s been killed, we’re the ones knocking on the door,” Austin said, banging on the podium. “Everybody’s that’s standing here today works diligently to try to combat some of these things going on in our community.”

The timing is auspicious, as McCarthy appears before the Budget Committee this afternoon at 1:00 p.m. Expect a packed gallery and no light touch from Ald. Austin as she chairs the hearing.

But Mayor Emanuel is unlikely to dump McCarthy, say administration insiders, since the two of them are tied at the hip on crime policy. Some insiders even think Emanuel admires McCarthy’s my-way-or-the-highway attitude, one of the biggest problems cited by Caucus members we’ve spoken to, who’ve called McCarthy “disrespectful” and “condescending,” both to brass and aldermen.

Mayor Emanuel, who does not have a history of bending when threatened, issued a statement late Monday supporting McCarthy: “While the mayor shares the concerns about rising gun violence, our focus must remain on the public safety challenge we face–reducing access to the illegal guns that drive violence in our communities.”

Ald. Anthony Beale (9) dismissed the idea the timing of the announcement was calculated to overshadow a vote on a hike in the property tax and garbage fees. “Spin it however you want to. We’re fed up, and we’re looking for change. We are demanding a better quality of life for our community.”  

Ald. Lopez said the timing might seem calculated, but the fatal shooting in his ward last week cemented his stance, “I was having these feelings last week when the grandmother and pregnant mother were both shot and killed in Back of the Yards. That kind of crystallized it for me, and whatever the timing, I think the end result is the same: we need change.”

So, what comes next?

Caucus members are well aware Emanuel won’t fire McCarthy anytime soon, we’re told off the record. There was talk of a meeting of Caucus members with Emanuel set for tomorrow morning, but we’re told no meeting has been scheduled. However, there is an expectation that at some point, some pound of flesh will be extracted by the Black Caucus.

“One thing is for sure,” one old administration hand told us, “Mayor Daley would never have let a press conference like that happen. He would have talked to people first.”

And that’s probably the biggest problem Mayor Emanuel has. His credibility as someone to take your problems to has suffered enough that aldermen feel they have to take it to the media instead.

THE MAYOR'S OFFICE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

The Budget Committee blazed through hearings for the Office of Disabilities in an amazing seven minutes. Short of a couple comments from aldermen thanking Comm. Karen Tamley for her work stretching out Community Development Block Grants, there were few questions. 

Submitted written testimony. 

Attendance: Chair Carrie Austin (34), Leslie Hairston (5), Ricardo Munoz (22), Michael Scott (24), Jason Ervin (28), Chris Taliaferro (29), Ariel Reboyras (30), Anthony Napolitano (40). 

INDEPENDENT POLICE REVIEW AUTHORITY

Administrator Scott Ando trumpeted his organization’s ability to get out from IPRA’s case backlog, reducing pending cases from 2,200 in 2011 to 410 this year. Safer Report standards have called for 90% of cases to be resolved within 18 months, IPRA is at about 80% within 18 months.

Attendance: Chair Carrie Austin (34), Pat Dowell (3), Leslie Hairston (5), Roderick Sawyer (6), David Moore (17), Ricardo Munoz (22), Michael Zalewski (23), Michael Scott (24), Jason Ervin (28), Chris Taliaferro (29), Scott Waguespack (32), Emma Mitts (37), Anthony Napolitano (40), Brendan Reilly (42), Michele Smith (43), John Arena (45), Joe Moore (49), Ameya Pawar (47).

Submitted written testimony. 

Ando was asked in a number of different ways from aldermen about the status of the case with former IPRA investigator Lorenzo Davis and the merits of his charges that he was asked to make changes to reports. Answering Ald. Jason Ervin (28) he said, “I firmly believe that every allegation put forth in that lawsuit and put in the media is absolutely without merit.”

In an hour of questioning, aldermen were generally supportive of IPRA and Ando’s work during the Q&A session, focusing their questions on procedure.

Some other facts and figures from the Q&A session:

• In 2015 IRPA recommended 8 officers be separated and recommended 6 others for criminal prosecution.

• In 2015, IPRA attempted 76 mediations, it was accepted in 68 cases - 89.5%.

• Since 2012, around 450 cases have gone to mediation for a penalty.

• The city averages about 50 incidents where an officer shoots at someone each year.

• Before cases are allowed to go to mediation, all four top IPRA officials review it.

• The number of allegations this year are down about two-thirds than this time last year.

 

CULTURAL AFFAIRS AND SPECIAL EVENTS 

Breaking a trend, Chair Austin asked Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) Comm. Michelle Boone to read her whole testimony, adding ten minutes to the hearing. Most of the aldermen focused on ways to promote events and to manage permitting in their wards. 

Attendance: Chair Carrie Austin (34), Leslie Hairston (5), Anthony Beale (9), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), David Moore (17), Ricardo Munoz (22), Michael Zalewski (23), Michael Scott (24), Jason Ervin (28), Milly Santiago (31), Scott Waguespack (32), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), Gilbert Villegas (36), Emma Mitts (37), Nicholas Sposato (38), Marge Laurino (39), Anthony Napolitano (40), Brendan Reilly (42), Tom Tunney (44), John Arena (45), Ameya Pawar (47), Harry Osterman (48), Joe Moore (49)

Submitted written testimony.

  Some facts and figures revealed during the Q&A session:

• The Chicago Fire Festival - initial commitment was to support the festival for three years, this is the third and final year. The new location on Northerly Island worked well - and this year the houses burned. But there is no allocation in 2016.

• The Taste of Chicago had a $320,000 profit this year. First profit since 2013, which made just over $200,000. Boone believes it’s because there are more dining options offered.

• Special Events is working with CDOT to brand the various rapid transit stops drawing attention to city art. For instance the one on south side of Washington Ave. by Daley Plaza might be labeled the “Miro Stop”.

• DCASE is seeking a city-wide sponsor for the city’s Jumping Jack inflatables.

• Street festivals are not allowed by law to charge for access to the public way.

 

AVIATION 
by A.D. Quig - [email protected]

A lengthy Department of Aviation hearing with new Commissioner Ginger Evansfocused on a popular topic at budget hearings and constituent meetings–minority hiring and airport noise, with many aldermen complaining Evans wasn’t communicating proactively.

The proposed budget for CDA at O'Hare and Midway are $1.14 billion (up 8.3%) and $258.8 million (down 5.29%), respectively. 

Attendance: Joe Moreno (1), Pat Dowell (3), Leslie Hairston (5), Roderick Sawyer (6), Michelle Harris (8), Anthony Beale (9), Sue Sadlowski Garza (10), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), George Cardenas (12), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Matt O’Shea (19), Willie Cochran (20), Ald. Howard Brookins (21), Ricardo Munoz (22), Michael Zalewski (23), Michael Scott Jr. (24), Jason Ervin (28), Ariel Reboyras (30), Milly Santiago (31), Scott Waguespack (32), Carrie Austin (34), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), Gilbert Villegas (36), Emma Mitts (37), Nicholas Sposato (38), Marge Laurino (39) Anthony Napolitano (41), Brendan Reilly (42), Tom Tunney (44), John Arena (45), Ameya Pawar (47), Joe Moore (49)

Submitted written testimony. 

The roughly 3 hour meeting focused mostly on the intricacies of the RFP process for O’Hare’s modernization program, and on changes to flight patterns and how that would affect noise.

Ald. Marge Laurino (39), a northwest side alderman, echoed a popular refrain from airport noise complainers, “I didn’t move next to O’Hare airport, O’Hare airport moved next to me,” she said, asking what steps Evans was taking to give simple, clear answers about the airport’s new runway configuration.

“I am personally meeting with ONCC [the O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission]... we have also increased the amount of data we’re disclosing,” Evans said, “but we’re almost burying people in numbers.” She says CDA should distill, analyse, and simplify that data, including expanding the use of single page white papers to explain existing and upcoming changes. A night time noise pattern agreement is also in the works with surrounding communities, she says. 

Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41), whose ward encompasses O’Hare, backed Laurino up, as would be expected. But Evans seemed caught off guard by Ald. Leslie Hairston (5) and Ald. Willie Cochran (20), who said their South Side wards were also being impacted by airplane noise, and weren’t getting the kind of attention from CDA that North Siders were. “You’re the commissioner! All I know is when I’m impacted… I should not have to sit up here and guess,” which airport the noise is coming from, Hairston said.

Aldermen had several questions about whether CDA was reaching out to minority aldermen about upcoming requests for proposals during multi-million dollar upgrades at both airports. Evans said there have been briefings with all aldermen before and during the development of recent RFP, and held a “speed dating” networking event for contractors. Evans also singled out Tiffany Green as a contact. Green is Deputy Commissioner of Concession for CDA, and is responsible for the accounting, auditing, and contract compliance for concessionaires, including the O'Hare Modernization program.

Ald. Pat Dowell (3) called minority hiring in top management dismal. “You can do a better job than that, commissioner.”

Evans agreed, “It’s something that I’ve held as a high core value throughout my career… We really need minority and women in leadership positions in order to attract that young talent that we need to be successful--”

Dowell interrupted, “I will be here next year, and I’m going to be looking at this next year.”

Black aldermen in particular expressed disappointment that minority and women owned businesses were getting “crumbs” in the bid processes at both airports. Minorities make up 35% of the contract spend at both airports, according to CDA numbers. Ald. Beale called for the unbundling of big contracts, and Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) reiterated that an ordinance regulating a minimum for W/MBEs, “the goals that are set in the ordinance are the floor, not the ceiling. We should encourage vendors... that they should be more reflective of constituents.”

Aldermen also asked about how security will be handled when rideshare vehicles will be allowed to pick up from airports on January 1. “We will provide a separate staging facility for the rideshare drivers, separate from our taxicab staging facility, and then basically we will manage the curbside so those two services are basically physically separate.”   

Some facts and figures from CDA:

• The much-hyped airport rapid transit solution could come from CDA in 8-10 months. Evans says it requires significant coordination with Metra and CTA.

• CDA insulated more than 19,000 homes and 164 schools to protect against airport noise.

• The Midway Terminal Modernization touted by Evans and Mayor Emanuel will cost $248 million and create 1,700 new jobs. The bid will be proposed to City Council in 2016.

• While many aldermen said CDA should focus on minority hiring, few mentioned the domination of male employees department-wide, which CDA estimates is 79%. There are similar numbers among upper management and new hires (81 and 82% respectively). 6 out of 7 interns, however, are female.

The biggest news from yesterday’s education hearing was not what the committee did, but what it didn’t: Exercising the chair’s prerogative, Education Chair Will Burns(4) chose not to advance two resolutions from committee expressing a sense of the Council to the Board of Education and the Chicago City Colleges.

Attendance (committee members bolded): Chair Will Burns (4), Vice Chair Michele Smith (43), Pat Dowell (3), Roderick Sawyer (6), Anthony Beale (9), Sue Sadlowski Garza (10), Matt O'Shea (19), Jason Ervin (28), Scott Waguespack (32), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), Nicholas Sposato (38), Harry Osterman (48), Joe Moore (49)

The first resolution, co-sponsored by 42 aldermen, calls upon the Board of Educationand the Illinois State Board of Education to halt creation of new charter schools in Chicago for the 2015-2016 school year. Because the Chicago City Council has no regulatory or budget oversight over the Board of Education, the resolution would be non-binding and would not require any action or response from the board.

Asked by DNA Info for comment, Chair Burns would only say, “he has been a ‘consistent’ supporter of ‘school choice.’”

The second resolution to be bottled up in committee was an effort by an organization of adjunct professors, the City Colleges Contingent Labor Organizing Committee, for Council to express support for adjunct professors in Chicago City Colleges to receive pay equitable with full-time professors. After hearing about a half hour of testimony, Burns indicated, “We’re going to hold this resolution here but I think your testimony was very powerful.” No vote.

When asked by Aldertrack if he had any plans to call it for a vote, Burns said, “Not at this point, they’re in the middle of their contract negotiations, I think it’s important for them to get their story out. That’s the first step.”

Testimony on another resolution, similar to the City Colleges adjuncts, but in support of private school adjunct professors, was also heard yesterday and voted out of committee. That effort, led by SEIU Local 73, is part of an effort to organize adjunct professors at a number of Chicago’s private colleges and universities.

Drawing the most energized crowd yet, yesterday morning’s budget hearings focused on changes to taxi and rideshare regulations, while the afternoon’s Police Board, Fire Department and Animal Control hearings moved swiftly with considerably less aldermanic attendance and questioning.

Morning Attendance: Joe Moreno (1), Pat Dowell (3), Will Burns (4), Leslie Hairston (5), Roderick Sawyer (6), Gregory Mitchell (7), Michelle Harris (8), Anthony Beale (9), Sue Sadlowski Garza (10), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), Marty Quinn (13), David Moore (17), Howard Brookins (21), Ricardo Munoz (22), Michael Scott Jr. (24), Walter Burnett Jr. (27), Chris Taliaferro (29), Ariel Reboyras (30), Milly Santiago (31), Scott Waguespack (32), Deb Mell (33), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), Gilbert Villegas (36), Emma Mitts (37), Nicholas Sposato (38), Marge Laurino (39), Anthony Napolitano (41), Brendan Reilly (42), Michele Smith (43), John Arena (45), James Cappleman (46), Harry Osterman (48), Joe Moore (49). VIce Chair Jason Ervin (28) chairing.

BUSINESS AFFAIRS

In a raucous hearing marked by cheers and catcalls from the gallery, proposed regulatory changes for rideshare companies took the majority of the morning, with calls for more strict enforcement of Airbnb regulations running as a secondary theme. But everything ground to a screeching halt shortly before the lunch break, when Budget Committee Chair Carrie Austin gave a pointed speech excoriating aldermen for asking “silly questions” and to the overflow gallery audience for rowdy behavior.

Speaking after television cameras had left and there were few reporters present, Austin’s speech praised Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Comm. Maria Guerra Lapacek for her work, and took just about everyone else in the room to task. Austin, who arrived around 11:00 a.m. and had let Vice Chair Jason Ervinconduct business for the morning, took the microphone for two minutes around noon.

“But if they was having any other problems, why didn’t they come to us before today? But to use this chambers as place for them to have some...oops, calm down Carrie,” the chamber was blanketed in silence as she seemed to compose herself before launching again.

“All of this handclapping like, in my community the taxicabs didn’t come and Uber don’t either! So I don’t know why everybody’s so gung ho on either one. Cause anything on the far South Side Alderman Beale and I haven’t see them. Be it a taxi cab or be it an Uber driver.”

Austin continued for another minute defending Commissioner Lapacek, “Everybody want to showboat!...The next time you come into this chambers to attack you, they’re going to have to deal with me.” Then she slammed down the microphone.

Comm. Lapacek’s written testimony.

Rideshare

Nonetheless, the morning was filled with clapping, cheers and boos, as a group of aldermen (Anthony Beale (9), Scott Waguespack (32), Antonio Munoz (22), Susan Sadlowski Garza (10), Harry Osterman (48), Nick Sposato (38), Pat Dowell (3), John Arena (45), David Moore(17)) pressed Comm. Lapacek on the state of taxicab regulations. As the questioning continued, the administration’s position on rideshare became clear: Industry evolution can’t be stopped and the administration is taking a hands-off attitude.

In one back-and-forth between Ald. Anthony Beale (9) and Comm. Lapacek, Beale was attempting to make the point that unregulated rideshare companies have decimated the value of regulated taxi medallions. In her answers, Comm. Lapacek revealed that in 2014, there were 100 private party medallion sales. In 2015, only 12.

Beale said, “Doesn’t that tell you that we have a problem?”

Lapacek responded, “That WE have a problem?”

Her comment was followed by derisive laughter and applause from large gallery section of taxi drivers.

Despite the charged atmosphere, most of the discussion focused on requiring rideshare drivers to have the same licensing as taxi drivers, for both safety and city revenue reasons. Assuming 30,000 drivers and $200 annual fee, many aldermen focused on a $60 million annual revenue estimation. Comm. Lapacek retorted that the revenue would likely be significantly less and the number of new staff required to manage rideshare licenses would mean “not a net gain” in city revenue.

Ald. Joe Moreno (1), Joe Moore (49) and Howard Brookins (21) took the side of the rideshare companies, with Moreno giving a fiery speech: “These Uber drivers, mainly Hispanic and African American, are earning money they couldn’t do before Uber and rideshare came here… The taxicab industry didn’t innovate because they didn’t have to… I got your back on rideshare,” said Moreno, followed by battling catcalls and cheers from the gallery.

Some other facts from Comm. Lapacek and her staff from the Q&A session on rideshare:

• There are about 20,000 Uber drivers and another 10,000 Lyft drivers in Chicago. It’s unclear how much is overlap.

• 60-80% of rideshare cars are within five years of age.

• Taxicab industry fees brought in $4.6 million last year, while rideshare companies brought in $3.1 million last year.

• It costs $200 to obtain a taxi driver license, of which the city only keeps $15. The rest goes to City Colleges for training expenses.

• About 6,000 taxi rider complaints are registered with the city a year. Last year, only 13 rideshare complaints were registered, but most rideshare complaints likely go to the rideshare companies, not the city, according to Lapacek.

Vacation Rentals/Airbnb

On another topic, Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) and Michele Smith (43) pressed Comm. Lapacek to increase enforcement of Airbnb regulations passed earlier this year. Ald. Reilly asked why there are, “about 3,000 nightly vacation rental units advertised in the city of Chicago, yet only about 200 of them are licensed?”

Comm. Lapacek claimed that she does not have the manpower to enforce the law. Reilly suggested requiring a permit number for anyone advertising a location. Those advertisements could just be checked using an internet search, resulting in approximately $1.5M in missed revenue.

 

POLICE BOARD

The first official meeting between new Police Board Chair Lori Lightfoot and the full City Council was sparsely attended Friday afternoon, as Vice Chair Jason Ervincontinued to conduct hearings while a handful of aldermen and staffers stayed in the cloakroom after lunch instead of sitting for Lightfoot’s testimony, which lasted under an hour.

Afternoon Attendance: Pat Dowell (3), Leslie Hairston (5), Anthony Beale (9), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Chris Taliaferro (29), Ariel Reboyras (30), Milly Santiago (31), Scott Waguespack (32), Carrie Austin (34), Gilbert Villegas (36), Nicholas Sposato (38), Marge Laurino (39), Anthony Napolitano (41), Michele Smith (43), John Arena (45), James Cappleman (46)

Vice-Chair: Jason Ervin (28)

The Police Board is one of several law-enforcement related budget hearings this month (the Police Department and the Independent Police Review Authority also have their own budget hearings). The Police Board is a civilian body that decides disciplinary cases about allegations of police misconduct, nominates candidates for Superintendent of Police to the Mayor, and adopts rules and regulations for the governance of the Chicago Police Department.

Lightfoot’s submitted written testimony.

Lightfoot’s July appointment hearing in the Committee on Public Safety was markedly testier than Friday’s Q&A with aldermen. At July’s committee meeting, new aldermen Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41), Ald. Chris Taliaferro (both former officers), and Ald. David Moore (17), pressed Lightfoot on improving police/community relations, increasing diversity within the CPD, and how the board would handle a police officer caught lying under oath.

Ald. Pat Dowell (3) was one of six aldermen who had questions for Lightfoot, admitted she doesn’t follow the board, but asked whether police were being adequately punished for misconduct.  

Lightfoot said that impression is one she’s working to correct, and the Police Board is a unique model for civilian oversight in the country. “I can tell you in the two months that I’ve been Police Board President, we’ve had three cases that have come before us that have been fully litigated, if you will. And of those 3 cases, involved a total of 4 officers, we’ve recommended termination in every single one of those instances.”

Those officers have a chance to appeal to Circuit Court. Lightfoot says part of her new role is to publicize the Board’s work and, “disabuse the misnomer that police officers can do whatever they want with reckless abandon.” She says police haven’t gotten away with much in any of her various roles with CPD and law enforcement.

Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30) asked about Dante Servin, an officer recommended for termination by IPRA for shooting into a crowd, killing Rekia Boyd. Superintendent Garry McCarthy could send the case to the Police Board. “It’s not to us [sic], but I can pledge if that case does come to us with a termination recommendation, we’re going to treat it very very seriously. The commitment I made to [Rekia Boyd’s] family is that we make sure we give them information at every step of the process.”

In her prepared testimony, and in response to questioning from Ald. Scott Waguespack (32), Lightfoot said she’s focused on getting cases wrapped up sooner, and says since she started in her role, the average time from filing charges until a decision has dropped, to seven months.

She also pushed back against the Chicago Justice Project’s comparison between the Superintendent’s recommended disciplinary action versus the Police Board’s decision. CJP’s numbers suggest the two rarely agree. Lightfoot says those estimates don’t paint an accurate picture, because the Superintendent and the Police Board work off different information, often from different points in an investigation. “The number’s low, it’s not accurate.”  

 

ANIMAL CARE AND CONTROL

Attendance was bigger and questioning was more spirited during Animal Care and Control Executive Director Sandra Alfred’s hearing than during the Police Board’s moments before. Aldermen complained about raccoons, thanked Alfred for removing snake eggs, praised dog and cat adoption events, and asked the Commissioner whether she’d heard of the now-famous missing rare parrot.

Attendance: Pat Dowell (3) Leslie Hairston (5), Michelle Harris (8), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), George Cardenas (12), Raymond Lopez (15), Willie Cochran (20), Howard Brookins (21), Walter Burnett Jr. (27), Ariel Reboyras (30), Milly Santiago (31), Scott Waguespack (32), Carrie Austin (34), Gilbert Villegas (36), Emma Mitts (37), Nicholas Sposato (38), Anthony Napolitano (41), Brendan Reilly (42), John Arena (45), Vice Chair Jason Ervin (28)

“I have some special issues on the Northwest Side,” namely deer, Ald. Marge Laurino (39) told Alfred. She responded, “Yes, we had one ward that was leaving Whole Foods type of food out for deer… First of all it’s illegal to feed deer in Illinois.”

“Well that’s good to know,” Laurino said.

“I’m seeing more raccoons, possums, I’ve even seen a coyote in my ward,” Ald. Dowell (3) said, “They’re having babies, so we need to have some kind of response. I raise this every year, we do this every year.” Alfred said increased construction is likely leading to more wildlife sightings, and wants to work with aldermen to identify wildlife hotspots.

CACC has received more than 36,000 service requests so far in 2015. Their budget is $5.7 million in FY2016.

Other figures:

• 1,385 animal bite reports submitted to CACC in 2015

• 2,504 Municipal Code violations issued by CACC in 2015

• $75,677 in revenue from dog licensing since 2011

• 453 specimens submitted to CDPH for rabies testing

Of all the wildlife stories about roosters, “more raccoons than I can mention,” and bats, Ald. Brendan Reilly’s (42) questioning provided the most amusing bit of the hearing: “Are you familiar with this parrot that went missing in Lincoln Park?”

“This what now?” Alfred asked.

“A parrot. A pet parrot.”

“A pet parrot?”

“Parrot. A bird.”

“A bird.”

“Yeah.”

Reilly asked whether CACC dealt with lost pets. Alfred said yes, but mostly cats and dogs, and said people are free to inquire whether the department had found lost pets.

“Keep an eye out for the parrot,” Reilly told aldermen before asking about, and praising a conversion of several full-time positions to part time positions. Alfred said the shift helped with students and part-time applicants who wanted more flexibility. Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) also brought up an issue from his Clerk’s testimony about pet licensing through veterinarian’s offices.

FIRE DEPARTMENT

A quick and mostly laudatory hearing for the Chicago Fire Department closed out the day, with a few aldermen asking about overtime pay for CFD firefighters, which the Office of Inspector General says has increased “significantly.” “While some use of overtime is expected, excessive overtime or inequitable distribution of overtime may indicate that personnel assignments have not been optimized.” Fire Comm. José Santiago told aldermen overtime has actually gone down.

Attendance: Joe Moreno (1), Pat Dowell (3), Leslie Hairston (5), Gregory Mitchell (7), Michelle Harris (8), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Willie Cochran (20), Howard Brookins (21), Ricardo Munoz (22), Michael Scott Jr (24), Walter Burnett Jr. (27), Ariel Reboyras (30), Milly Santiago (31), Scott Waguespack (32), Carrie Austin (34),

The Fire Department has exactly $30 million budgeted for overtime in 2016, up from exactly $20 million in 2015. Santiago says overtime is actually down by a third from last year, when the Department spent over $57 million.

“We had some litigation in the past that prevented us from hiring, but now we’re catching up and we’re continuing to hire.” Santiago told Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30).

Santiago told Ald. David Moore (17) vacancies and a collective bargaining agreement that says a minimum amount of people have to man a truck are driving those costs. “When we have a position that’s open, we have to put someone in that.”

16% of expenditures from the City’s corporate fund go toward Fire–the third biggest expense after Police and the Finance General Fund. It’s budgeted personnel costs for this year are more than $592 million, and its overall budget is up by roughly $29 million.

Other figures from Santiago’s testimony:

• The entire Chicago Fire Department ambulance fleet is now rated and certified for advanced life support, with 2 licensed paramedics on every ambulance

• CFD responds to roughly 700,000 calls for service each year

• The Department’s Public Education Unit has reached out to 55,000 for drills, training, and education on fire safety

• Fire deaths in Chicago are among the lowest in major cities, which it says is from a robust smoke detector program entirely funded through corporate donations and grants. The majority of deaths are in homes with no smoke detectors

Ald. Willie Cochran (20) pushed Santiago on salary raises and upcoming lieutenant promotions. There are nearly 20 lieutenant promotions planned that will open up vacancies at the firefighter and engineer level. “We are going to hire in November at the firefighter level, so we can fill those vacancies, thus reducing overtime.”

Ald. Carrie Austin (34) closed testimony by thanking the first responders who, “I could almost say saved my life…It was for their fast action that I sit here today, along with the prayers that people prayed for me.” She also said, along with other aldermen, she’d be interested in a round of fire training, though she admitted, laughing, she couldn’t carry equipment up three stairs.

Yesterday’s morning hearings moved quickly under the sharp tongue of Budget Chair Carrie Austin, although at one point Board of Ethics Director Steve Berlinsaid Aldermanic ethics were “doing OK.” The afternoon hearings were focused on three hours of questions for Public Health Commissioner Julie Morita on the city's mental health services and HIV clinics. Keeping things moving, Austin waived the testimony of department heads and went straight to aldermanic questions and answers.

Morning Attendance: Budget Chair Carrie Austin (34), Joe Moreno (1), Pat Dowell (3), Leslie Hairston (5), Roderick Sawyer (6), Gregory Mitchell (7), Michelle Harris (8), Sue Sadlowski Garza (10), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), Marty Quinn (14), Raymond Lopez (15), Toni Foulkes (16), David Moore (17), Matt O’Shea (19), Willie Cochran (20), Howard Brookins (21), Ricardo Munoz (22), Michael Scott Jr. (24), Roberto Maldonado (26), Walter Burnett Jr. (27), Jason Ervin (28), Chris Taliaferro (29), Milly Santiago (30), Ariel Reboyras (31), Scott Waguespack (32), Deb Mell (33), Gilbert Villegas (36), Emma Mitts (37), Nicholas Sposato (38), Marge Laurino (39), Anthony Napolitano (40), Brendan Reilly (42), Michele Smith (43), Tom Tunney (44), James Cappleman (46), Ameya Pawar (47), Harry Osterman (48), Joe Moore (49), Deb Silverstein (50)

BUILDINGS

Comm. Judy Frydland announced in her written testimony that city building permits issued increased by 2.2% in 2015, the highest number of permits in the last five years. As a response, the city will be adding 21 new inspectors before the end of the year. To help pay for growing department needs, permit fees are proposed to go up in the coming budget, the first building permit fee increase since 1999.

Her submitted written testimony.

The majority of aldermanic questions were either praise for the Commissioner and her staff or questions about how the department can assist their ward in one way or another. Although there were a few nuggets of information that came out during the Q&A.

Asking about the building registration program created in 2011 the Emanuel administration, Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30) asked if banks are being compliant with registration.

Frydland responded, “We have over 7,000 buildings that are currently registered this year. The banks seem to be very responsive when we hear something has been broken into… We’ve been focusing our efforts on buildings that don’t have a lender involved. A lot of times you have a building where an owner passed away and you don’t have someone who has inherited or there’s no probate involved... We’re putting those buildings into court.”

“Banks are no longer the primary problem. It’s now about getting people to stay current on their mortgages,” she said.

Ald. Sue Sadlowski Garza (10) asked about vacant buildings with large outstanding water bills, and whether there’s a way water bills could be waived so they could be sold and back on tax rolls.

Frydland responded, “We do have a plan to try to help find new developers and buildings that have demolition orders. In the next couple of weeks, we’ll be posting a list of all the demo orders on our website and we’ll be posting a procedure if someone is interested in [vacant property] so we can do a forfeiture in circuit court.”

 

FLEET AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

Interrupting a 41-minute light speed question and answer session, Comm. David Reynolds turned somber to apologize to aldermen for problems with landscaping.

“Our kickoff for the landscape season this year is one of the most embarrassing things I have overseen since I’ve been in this department… This was an aberration, I will not let it happen next year,” he said. Reynolds blamed contract transitions and claimed personal responsibility.

Reynolds’ submitted, written testimony.

Most of the aldermanic questions focused on what properties the city plans to sell or if there are ways to sell certain properties. But at one point, Ald. Marty Quinn (13) broke his long Council meeting silence when he asked how city properties are selected for sale for proceeds. Reynolds replied that the lots sold near 740 N. Sedgwick was “opportunistic” and unusual. For the most part, the city will continue to liquidate former fire and police stations and ward yards.

Finally, answering a question from Ald. Matt O’Shea (19) about how many police cars are in the entire police fleet, Reynolds listed:

• 424 marked sedans

• 692 unmarked sedans

• 852 marked SUVs

• 301 unmarked SUVs

Regarding Ford Interceptors, produced in the 10th Ward, the city has received 744 new vehicles, 132 on order.
 

BOARD OF ETHICS

Another brisk question and answer session, mostly focused on explaining city procedures, was marked by a brief exchange between Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) and Ethics Director Steve Berlin.

“How we doing ethically, we doing OK?” asked Ald. Reilly.

“Ethically, yes, I think we’re doing OK,” responded Berlin cheerily. “Yes we are. I am very happy to say that.”

As Ald. Walter Burnett (27) later called it, the Board of Ethics Q&A session was a “lovefest.”

Berlin’s submitted, written testimony.

Ald. Joe Moore (49), who requested extra time from the Chair to ask additional questions about Board procedure, received a sharp look from Chair Austin and, “You want a round two?”

Moore in particular drilled in on the results of investigations from the now-expired Office of the Legislative Inspector General. According to city ordinance, OLIG investigations needed to be forwarded to the Board of Ethics for review. Responding to questions from Moore, Berlin revealed that:

• 47 petitions were made by OLIG to the Board of Ethics

• 26 investigations are still underway

• 21 resulted in completed investigations

  • 8 were dismissed by the OLIG

  • 4 were dismissed by Board of Ethics for lack of probable cause

  • 2 cases were referred and are still pending

  • 7 have been completed

Berlin referred aldermen to the tally of OLIG reports on the Board’s website for more information.
 

PUBLIC HEALTH

Hammering away at the 2012 shutdown of six city-operated mental health clinics, aldermen questioned Department of Public Health Commissioner Julie Morita for more than three hours Thursday about a possible privatization of the City’s HIV care clinics and the state of CDPH’s role in city mental health.

Afternoon Attendance: Joe Moreno (1), Pat Dowell (3), Leslie Hairston (5), Roderick Sawyer (6), Gregory Mitchell (7), Sue Sadlowski Garza (10), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), Raymond Lopez (15), Toni Foulkes (16), David Moore (17), Willie Cochran (20), Michael Scott Jr. (24), Walter Burnett Jr. (27), Jason Ervin (28), Chris Taliaferro (29), Ariel Reboyras (30), Milly Santiago (31), Deb Mell (33), Gilbert Villegas (36), Emma Mitts (37), Nicholas Sposato (38), Anthony Napolitano (41), Brendan Reilly (42), Tom Tunney (44), John Arena (45) James Cappleman (46), Ameya Pawar (47), Harry Osterman (48), Joe Moore (49)

Morita, hoarse after her testimony, told Aldertrack the changes are less about privatization and more of a partnership. “I think we’re exploring an opportunity to actually partner with community service providers who provide care already,” she said after the hearing. “There’s $21.5 million that already goes to community providers to provide primary care for HIV. What we’re considering whether or not we’d take the $1.5 million that we’re using for our own primary care clinics and making it available to providers to provide care in our locations.”

Morita's full testimony.

Morita says services will continue at the city’s Englewood Clinic location, and would stay in the Uptown community, but not necessarily at the same clinic location because there are a variety of providers in the area already.

AFSCME Council 31, who WBEZ reported represents at least 17 employees at those clinics, did not respond to requests for comment after the hearing.

Through the transition, Morita says, the City can achieve a broader spectrum of care, including help with housing, case management, and substance abuse for more people than they would running clinics by themselves, and ultimately prevent the spread of HIV. She says this would increase care for 2,000 patients, 1,500 more than they’re currently serving. HIV care stakeholders have been advocating for this partnership, Morita says.

Several aldermen, including some who voted for the 2012 closures, asked what measures CDPH would take to prevent people “slipping through the cracks.” CDPH is committed to making the transition seamless, she says. Morita says during the mental health clinic transition there were no funded agencies like the AIDS Foundation of Chicago and Chicago House to specifically help with the transition.

Ald. Joe Moore (49) asked, “What are we going to do to try to address this continuing issue that besets us with respect to the mentally ill? I know we’re not being helped by state cuts,” he asked.

Morita says the city is focusing its mental health efforts on at-risk communities, including work with the Cook County Jail, homeless and undocumented populations, and school children. “We know we have limited resources, we’re looking to foundations and philanthropy…we don’t want to be duplicative, we don’t want to be redundant.”

Ald. John Arena (45) asked for more information on case managers through the chair, and Ald. Moore asked for data on the transition from CDPH clinics to private providers in 2012. Aldermen were also referred to a June 2014 Mental Services Report from CDPH.

Out of 6 clinical sites left after the closings in 2012, CDPH only has one full time psychiatrist, an issue aldermen revisited several times. The Department has been using temporary psychiatrists to fill the gaps.

“We have a job posting out,” Morita says, “It’s not just a problem specific to Chicago, it’s a national shortage.” 

Ald. Leslie Hairston (5) pushed back. “You’re nowhere near competitive,” saying state psychiatrists make $50 more per hour than in Chicago. “You all are so far below the bar that you’re not going to get anybody.”

Morita says the department is already starting to interview candidates, after several changes to make positions more appealing, including a salary increase and a new designation for Chicago health centers as Health Shortage Service Areas. This allows applicants with outstanding medical school loans to be repaid by the federal government in exchange for working in underserved areas. Morita says CDPH is also considering loosening residency requirements to get more candidates.

Aldermen also asked about whether additional tobacco taxes were on the way.

“As far as I know, there have been no fatalities linked to the use of e-cigarettes, yet, it’s real easy to get cancer from chewing tobacco. Why have we not touched that?” Ald. Brendan Reilly asked, saying the UK has recognized e-cigarettes as a way to quit smoking.

Ald. Joe Moreno (1), currently championing an ordinance taxing e-cigarette containers and liquid that’s currently included in the FY2016 budget said laws in Springfield prohibited the city from taxing smokeless tobacco. But he says now the Law Department seems to have found a way to make it happen. “I have an ordinance ready to go,” he said.  

Morita defended the e-cigarette tax, saying CDPH is focused on cutting down tobacco use by youth overall. Reilly asked whether the tax, currently set at $1.25 per cartridge and $0.25 per milliliter of liquid, is enough. Morita says yes, because “youth are more price sensitive,” but says she is open to other measures to reduce all tobacco use.

A low-attendance, end of the day hearing on the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) was punctuated by a forceful, two word call to action and rebuke from IG Joe Ferguson on oversight of City Council: “Fix this.” By the end of Ferguson’s testimony at around 6:40 p.m., only a dozen aldermen were left.

Attendance: Joe Moreno (1), Pat Dowell (3), Michelle Harris (8), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Ricardo Munoz (22), Jason Ervin (28), Chris Taliaferro (29), Scott Waguespack (32), Emma Mitts (37), Nicholas Sposato (38), Michele Smith (43), Joe Moore (49)

For close to a year, a carefully crafted ordinance to fold in the Office of the Legislative Inspector General, currently headed by Faisal Khan, into the OIG, has been on hold. Khan, who rubbed many aldermen the wrong way (Ald. Moreno said Khan had a “cowboy mentality” and a staff of “political operators”), sent letters to aldermen and the Mayor this summer pleading for an adequate amount of money to do his job. His task was to provide oversight of 50 aldermen and roughly 450 staff with a budget of about $350,000. He eventually turned to paying staff out of his own pocket.

He told Aldertrack in early August, “It’s impossible to do your job when you’re supposed to ask for money from the people you’re supposed to oversee.”

Ferguson alluded to the subject’s touchiness when Ald. Scott Waguespack asked whether he was up for taking on the oversight task. “This is a long standing loose wire, a raw, sore spot for many people in this body,” he explained. Ald. Pat O’Connor (40), Ald. Ameya Pawar (47), Ald. Michelle Harris (8), representatives of the Law Department, the Mayor’s Office and the OIG’s office worked on the ordinance introduced last October to give OIG the power to investigate and audit City Council.

“There were 37, 36 sponsors,” Ferguson said, “And I think it didn’t include you, Ald. Waguespack, it didn’t include members of the so-called Progressive Caucus, that generally are along for that sort of good government ride. And it sat.” Ald. Michele Smith (43) and Ald. Joe Moore (49) worked to tweak and re-introduce the ordinance at the start of the new term in 2015.

That’s yet to see a vote either.

“I will say, as a resident of the City of Chicago, and as somebody who has tried to work for good government in the City of Chicago, it’s an embarrassment that it sits there. Let’s fix this…bring it up for a vote.” If not that ordinance, then give that same authority to Khan’s office, Ferguson says, which is expected to fold from lack of funding in November.

Ald. Joe Moore mentioned reservations some aldermen might have about unfounded accusations against them being made public, potentially damaging during elections. Aside from the Inspector General’s office good track record and the significant legal repercussions of a leak, Ferguson says an investigation going public is ultimately unlikely to happen because “it’s my ass on the line. You can call me before this body and ask what happened.” He was similarly not concerned about needing more funding than the OLIG, given the employees and institutional knowledge the office already has. “We’d make good use of that money.”

Ferguson also talked about the evolution of his office, which he says has moved beyond just investigations, and toward a more multi-faceted approach that includes audits, compliance and program review. “There’s a cultural shift that still needs to occur” with middle management in city departments who sometimes take months to provide publicly available information. He singled out a 17-month-long “game of cat and mouse” with management at City Clerk Susana Mendoza’s office, who he says won’t hand over basic data on city stickers. He said his office is also working on investigations into overtime at CPD, and possibly the Chicago Fire Department.

He also mentioned missed opportunities for City efficiencies, including a 2011 report his office issued saying the City is losing out on more than $100 million on unnecessary motor truck drivers. “As we approach the 2017 bargaining round, since the unions are the greatest beneficiaries of the increase in taxes…the workforce and their representatives in the unions need to be partners…to work with the administration and the City Council to take their hands off of work rules that result in this sort of waste.”

For the third day in a row, numerous alderman called on officials from the Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC) to preserve 311 employees’ jobs, while Department heads tried to reframe the privatization plan as a first, necessary step to bring the system up to speed. Aldermen also sought answers on new crossing guard responsibilities hoisted on on the Department by the Mayor’s Chicago Police Department shuffle, and aggressively confronted the Department’s Executive Director over minority hiring and contracts.

Afternoon attendance: Joe Moreno (1), Pat Dowell (3), Will Burns (4), Leslie Hairston (5), Gregory Mitchell (7), Michelle Harris (8), Sue Sadlowski-Garza (10), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), Raymond Lopez (15), Toni Foulkes (16), David Moore (17), Willie Cochran (20), Michael Scott Jr. (24), Danny Solis (25), Walter Burnett Jr. (27), Jason Ervin (28), Chris Taliaferro (29), Ariel Reboyras (30), Milly Santiago (31), Scott Waguespack (32), Deb Mell (33), Carrie Austin (34), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), Emma Mitts (37), Nicholas Sposato (38), Marge Laurino (39), Pat O’Connor (40), Anthony Napolitano (41), Brendan Reilly (42), Michele Smith (43), Tom Tunney (44), John Arena (45), James Cappleman (46), Ameya Pawar (47), Harry Osterman (48), Joe Moore (49), Debra Silverstein (50)



311 PRIVATIZATION

311 employers sporting green AFSCME Council 31 buttons that read “Privatization NO!” stood outside Council chambers, while inside, aldermen like Pat Dowell (3) testified she wanted tech upgrades, but not at the expense of staffers’ jobs and knowledge base.

“It’s important to invest in the equipment, but also to invest in the workers and to maintain them over time,” Dowell (3) told OEMC’s Executive Director, Gary Schenkel.

Ald. Michael Scott Jr. (24) and Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38) backed Dowell up, saying they didn’t want to see 311 jobs outsourced to the suburbs, another state, or even another country. Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41) called it a matter of civic pride to keep the jobs local, and Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) suggested private operators would seek profit over public safety.

“Whatever model we look at will have extreme Chicago oversight and involvement. It won’t be just a hand-off. That’s not the concept whatsoever… it may look very much like the same. We set the bar very high.” Schenkel said. The RFP would serve as a total re-examination of the system, and many questions about staffing and technological improvements would stay unanswered until bids come back in, he said. Some aldermen mistakenly believed there was already an RFP out to bid. Schenkel told aldermen he expects OEMC and DoIT to co-release one in 2016. Under Ald. Roderick Sawyer’s (6) privatization ordinance (that’s still awaiting passage), the change would then come back to council for a vote, he said.  

Aldermen might’ve been thinking of the Request for Proposal the Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT) put out in Fall 2013 to renovate 311's technology. Responses to that RFP gave the department the estimated $25-30 million upgrade price tag they’ve repeated throughout this week’s hearings.

The 2013 request called for a system, “not only replace the City's current technology, but to provide a holistic, transformative solution” to help the City provide constituent services, to “fundamentally transform” the way the City interacts with residents on a new system “that will rival best-in-class private sector offerings, such as Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and Amazon.com.” Schenkel repeated the hope for a new, “holistic” system on Wednesday.

“What’s the difference between us doing it and someone else doing it?” Budget Committee Vice Chair Jason Ervin (28) asked. There is a 311 call center in his ward.

“That’s what we hope to find out through the RFP process,” Schenkel said. “The system we have now is 16 years old and our yearly maintenance cost is $1.7 to $2.3 million a year.” An annual lease of a CSR from a private company might be a better way to keep up with fast moving technology, and keep costs down.

Mayor Emanuel gave the Sun-Times a higher estimated cost to modernize 311 than commissioners suggested this week: $40 to $50 million over the next three years. He suggested privatization is the City’s best option, given its fiscal straits, telling the Editorial Board, “Doing it with a private operator is a better way to do it. We don’t have that type of resources, so I’m being upfront about it.”

The 2013 RFP called for leveraging existing call center resources, a standardization of call-taking policies and procedures, and a revamp of the roughly 600 codes 311 uses to track requests. The switch-over was planned to begin with a pilot program in 311 and the Department of Water Management, then spread to service requests for “foundational” departments: Buildings, Family and Support Services, Transportation, and Streets and Sanitation, then eventually to the rest of City services.  

 

CROSSING GUARD CHANGES

Aldermen also spent a large portion of OEMC’s hearing asking about crossing guard reforms. As part of Mayor Emanuel’s proposal to move more than 300 CPD desk officers back to the street, the police department will transfer responsibility for hiring and supervising crossing guards to OEMC. The Mayor explained the move in a press release on September 20, “While civilians are already hired to serve as crossing guards, we expect this move to increase police manpower during the school year when CPD typically backfills crossing guard vacancies with police officers.”

“We’re using this first year to stabilize the whole operation,” he told Ald. Pat O’Connor (40), who suggested guards should live where they work. There are 806 crossing guard posts out there, and nearly 100 vacancies to fill, Schenkel says. “Maybe we need 910, maybe we need 750. According to CPS, those have not been reviewed comprehensively in quite some time. So we’ll be doing that as part of our first year stabilization and transition.”

 

ALD. MORENO CONFRONTS SCHENKEL ON MINORITY HIRING

The most heated moment of the day came at the end of the OEMC session, more than 2 hours in, when Ald. Joe Moreno (1) called Schenkel “rude and insensitive,” and later, a modern day racist. Continuing a common line of questioning at these hearings about minority hiring, Moreno asked, “Has this administration, has the Mayor or his staff or your liaison to the Mayor ever had a discussion with you about hiring numbers in terms of Hispanics and/or African Americans?”

Schenkel replied, “I’ve never had a conversation, nor have we been directed to hire any ethnicity, nor do I pay particular attention to that. I look for the best qualified candidate. I prefer to think that I’m colorblind, and I’d like to stay that way.” Moreno ended his questioning there.

But when Ald. Walter Burnett (27) later enquired about contracts awarded to African American bidders, Moreno jumped back in. There was some confusion between Burnett, Schenkel, and Vice Chair Jason Ervin about the exact percentage Burnett was looking for. Ald. Moreno spoke up, “This Commissioner said that he didn’t put importance on hiring of Latinos or African Americans, that he’s colorblind. So I would assume that he has the same position when he’s doing contracts, so I might be able to save your time and your questioning because of his rude and insensitive and his out of place comment to me, which is going to be taken up with the Mayor’s staff.”

As Vice Chair Ervin tried to interrupt, Moreno audibly slammed his microphone back down. Ald. Emma Mitts (37) went to speak with him, and he circled around chambers after the OEMC meeting concluded, talking with other aldermen, including those in the Latino Caucus. He later posted on Facebook, “Many in Latino & African American community see this kind of statement as modern racism.”

According to budget hearing documents shared Wednesday, roughly 37% of OEMC’s spending is on MBE/WBE contracts. 90% of its new hires, 72% of its department employees, and more than half of its department managers are non-white.

Questions surrounding the Chicago Police Department’s hiring practices, especially how it relates to minority hiring and the use of psychological evaluations, dominated the two hour hearing with Human Resources Commissioner Soo Choi.

Budget Vice Chair Jason Ervin (28) suggested CPD do away with the psychological exam, noting a “historic problem” of a disproportionate number of African Americans scoring poorly on the tests, despite receiving high marks on the written exam.

“We have heard the concern for a number of years,” Commissioner Choi said.

CPD hires an independent contractor to administer its written and psychological tests. But according to Ald. Willie Cochran (20), the contract is 20 years old.

“They have been providing that same test, over, and over and over again, no revisions or no changes in that,” Ald. Cochran explained. “Our society has changed and it doesn't suit well for us having not looked at other tools and instruments that are out there.”

But the Department of Human Resources has no authority over the RFP process. It’s a point Commissioner Choi made repeatedly, even as she agreed with the aldermen’s concerns. “Taking a look at the psychological exam is certainly warranted, and I believe that the [police] superintendent has also expressed that same desire.”

Former police officer Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41) suggested the test be done in-house with a scantron sheet. But Commissioner Choi said that kind of testing is “a complicated process” that requires “an appropriate entity to develop and administer the exam”.

In preparation for the upcoming Police Officer exam next February, the Human Resources Department is working with CPD and David Axelrod’s former public affairs firm, ASGK, on developing a recruiting and outreach campaign focused on increasing the number of minority applicants. The last time the CPD administered the test in 2013, more than 14,500 people sat for the exam and 12,713 made it to the eligibility list. That’s a significant increase from the 2010 recruitment pool of 8,621. Choi said the city would like to see those numbers grow.

South and West Side aldermen used the Department of Planning and Development hearing to demand more housing and economic development in their underserved wards.

Morning attendance: Pat Dowell (3), Will Burns (4), Leslie Hairston (5), Roderick Sawyer (6), Gregory Mitchell (7), Michelle Harris (8), Anthony Beale (9), Sue Sadlowski Garza (10), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Ricardo Munoz (22), Michael Zalewski (23), Michael Scott Jr. (24), Danny Solis (25), Roberto Maldonado (26), Walter Burnett Jr. (27), Jason Ervin (28), Chris Taliaferro (29), Ariel Reboyras (30), Milly Santiago (31), Scott Waguespack (32), Deb Mell (33), Carrie Austin (34), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), Gilbert Villegas (36), Emma Mitts (37), Nicholas Sposato (38), Marge Laurino (39), Pat O'Connor (40), Anthony Napolitano (41), Michele Smith (43), John Arena (45), James Cappleman (46), Debra Silverstein (50)

“I want to share my frustration with the department over the last 16 years and not getting anything tangible,” South Shore Ald. Leslie Hairston (5) opined, noting that while developers were “stepping over each other” to build in the City’s more affluent neighborhoods, she “can’t even get a phone call back” from developers. Hairston has spent the last two years trying to get a supermarket chain to open a store in the South Shore after the neighborhood’s only grocery store went out of business.

“Without the muscle of the City and the Mayor, this [kind of development] isn’t going to happen in our communities,” Hairston told newly appointed DPD Commissioner David Reifman.

Yesterday’s hearing was the first time aldermen had a chance to publicly speak to Reifman. He was recruited by the Mayor from global law firm DLA Piper in August to replace Andrew Mooney, who retired.

Due to time constraints, Reifman didn’t get a chance to read his statement, but we have uploaded a copy.

Raising similar concerns about the inequity of development in the City, Ald. Pat Dowell (3) told Reifman it was his and the Mayor’s responsibility to “use the power of the office” to look beyond the central business district when they are courting businesses and developers to relocate to Chicago. And Far West Side Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29) said his Austin neighborhood is in desperate need of housing, as he continues to see an exodus of businesses and residents to the suburbs.   

Downtown aldermen Brendan Reilly (42) and Walter Burnett, Jr (27) had concerns of their own. Recalling a time when DPD was mostly focused on neighborhood development, Ald. Reilly said he and the Mayor worked “really hard to promote development downtown,” and expressed concern that the new Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO) would stifle that growth.

The reforms to the ARO the City Council passed last year increase the number of required affordable housing units. 10% of units built on land sold by the City are required to be affordable; 20% if financial assistance is provided. Developers also have the option of paying an in-lieu fee per required unit depending on where it’s built. For downtown and high-income areas, the price ratchets up this month.

“I’m already seeing an impact on residential proposals in the central business district,” Ald. Reilly told Commissioner Reifman. “Meaning, that due to slimmer margins, some of these projects are falling out of queue because they simply can’t get financing.”  

“Do you have any insights for us, whether the ARO needs to be further tweaked, changed to address that sensitivity?” Reilly asked, adding that he knows of 6 projects that won’t move forward because they won’t make the October 13th filing deadline, which is when the new requirements take effect. But Reifman said it was too early to talk revisions and suggested another conversation down the line, “I think overall that ordinance achieves a balance for what we need as a City.”

Like Ald. Reilly, Ald. Burnett has seen a significant number of high-density, mixed-use residential developments break ground in his ward, which includes the recently-designated landmark, Fulton Market. He was mostly concerned about the growing backlash from residents who oppose large scale development. “It’s just getting crazy with the NIMBYs,” Burnett said, suggesting DPD commission a video touting the benefits increased density has on keeping housing prices low by growing the City’s housing stock.

TIF reform was a recurring discussion topic, with aldermen repeating many of the same points throughout the hearing. Ald. Michael Scott, Jr. (24) and Ald. Burnett suggested DPD allocate more TIF dollars to employment programs and business development.

“When we voted for these TIFs [...] we told folks the TIF money would be used to get jobs in our community. Not just for companies to be retrained and all of that stuff,” Burnett said.

Suggesting DPD was the wrong department to oversee TIF money, Burnett floated the idea of having the Department of Family and Supportive Services in charge of the neighborhood funds because “they are giving people jobs.” Burnett said he’s considering drafting an ordinance explicitly detailing what projects TIF money can be spent on.

On day two of budget hearings, alderman heard details on how the 311 system would be privatized, one commissioner said city departments were ordered to make 10% across-the-board cuts, Clerk Susana Mendoza wants to create a special parking pass for Realtors, and Treasurer Kurt Summers is hoping to make money from idle cash.

Morning Attendance: Joe Moreno (1), Brian Hopkins (2), Leslie Hairston (5), Gregory Mitchell (7), Michelle Harris (8), Sue Sadlowski Garza (10), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), Marty Quinn (13), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Derrick Curtis (18), Willie Cochran (20), Howard Brookins (21), Ricardo Munoz (22), Jason Ervin (28), Ariel Reboyras (30), Milly Santiago (31), Deb Mell (33), Carrie Austin (34), Emma Mitts (37), Nicholas Sposato (38), Anthony Napolitano (41), Brendan Reilly (42), Michele Smith (43), Tom Tunney (44), John Arena (45), James Cappleman (46), Harry Osterman (48), Joe Moore (49) 

CITY CLERK – With a statewide campaign for Comptroller around the corner, City Clerk Susana Mendoza touted her efforts to cut waste in her office by reducing overtime spending and streamlining vehicle sticker sales. The Clerk’s Office has a $10M budget and generates about $122M in revenue to the city through vehicle sticker sales. Since the City implemented year-round vehicle sticker sales this year, City Clerk locations saw an 85% reduction in wait times, according to Mendoza’s testimony.

Overtime in the City Clerk’s Council Division, the office that handles legislation and the City Council’s Journals of the Proceedings, is down 75% since Mendoza took office in 2010.



Clerk Mendoza said the department is bringing in an independent contractor to help find more efficiencies to work toward a paperless system. “Anything we can do to make our office more digital, I think is going to save a significant amount of money, and make our entire process much more streamlined.” 

Budget Chairman Carrie Austin (34), Vice Chairman Jason Ervin (28), and Vice Mayor Brendan Reilly (42) took turns leading the morning hearing, which mostly consisted of aldermen showering Mendoza with praise. Somewhat peeved, Reilly reminded his peers to stay on topic, “Let’s try and keep our comments and questions focused now on the budget request itself. I think we have done a good job praising staff. Sorry, we have other departments to be with today.”

One innovation: An ordinance Mendoza introduced to create a special vehicle sticker for Realtors that would let them park in any residential zoned parking spot during business hours (9:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.). Mendoza estimates the new sticker would bring in an additional $900,000 annually.

Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6) suggested aldermen get a similar sticker, because they too have the same dilemma: going to community meetings in an area with permit parking. Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41) suggested the program be expanded to include construction contractors too, because they are “getting ticketed like crazy” when they park outside work sites.

Mendoza said that while she is open to expanding the program down the line to include other occupations, her office needs to see how much demand the Realtor program will net, should the City Council approve it. “We don’t want to take up too much, without having any indication of what the popularity of the program is going to be.”

Mendoza also endorsed lifting the parking ban on noncommercial pickup trucks, after aldermen told her about complaints from residents who aren’t allowed to park their pickup trucks in front of their homes. “no one tells you when you buy a pickup truck that you can’t park it on any Chicago street,” Mendoza said, expressing a willingness to work with any aldermen that wants to make that happen.

And there was no shortage of new licensing proposals at the City Clerk budget hearing. Ald. Harry Osterman (48) went so far to suggest implementing a registration and licensing program for bicycles, and Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) floated the idea of creating a license for pets. Ald. Tom Tunney (44) asked about the feasibility of having a Ventra-style machine to sell city stickers, because his office has a full-time employee at the ward office in charge of selling City stickers. Mendoza reminded him residents can buy the stickers online, but Ald. Tunney said he gets a lot of complaints from residents who didn’t realize buying guest parking passes online meant waiting 9 business days for delivery.

 

CITY TREASURER – The City’s operating portfolio, also known as working capital, contains $3B dollars, enough to keep the City running for approximately three months, according to City Treasurer Kurt Summers. Until recently, the money had been sitting in a fund untouched, losing out on the opportunity to generate increased returns, he said. “It’s like cash sitting under a mattress,” Summers explained, before outlining his plan to invest two thirds of that money, which he estimates would net the City $14-$30M in annual returns.

Summers says national standards and rating agency requirements calls for Chicago to only have enough cash on hand to keep the City running for 45 days, or approximately $1B. “We are going to manage our cash better, more efficiently, more responsibly,”

The 2016 appropriation for the City Treasurer’s office increased significantly, from $2.58M to $4.9M, and calls for 8 new positions. All of those new hires will be auditors, which are sorely needed, according Summers. “Today, we don’t have a single regulatory compliance function in this office.” Summers told the Council that all of the trades to date haven’t gone through a regulatory compliance check. “That’s a risk on a $6B dollar investment portfolio.” It was also revealed that the Deputy City Treasurer makes more money than Summers.

By altering the funding structure for his office, Summers cut the general fund allocation by 30% (from $2.36M to $1.66M), supplementing most of that revenue with funds from the O’Hare Airport Fund (from approximately $76,000 to $1.128M). Summers said this change will "put an end to taxpayers subsidizing enterprise funds", as the corporate fund generates revenue through tax dollars while the O'Hare fund gets its revenue from airport fees. 

The City Treasurer’s office is in charge of paying all credit card transactions at City-owned locations. For example, if a person parks at O’Hare Airport and pays the parking fee with a credit card, the Treasurer’s office eats the credit card fee. By the end of 2015, Summers projects his office will pay out $16.9M dollars in fees for $920M in credit card transactions, or a rate of about 2%.

But the real eye-opener was the confusion aldermen had about the different responsibilities between the Treasurer’s Office and the Department of Finance. When a few aldermen asked Summers about the City’s bonds and debt, Summers said those topics are better suited for City’s Chief Financial Officer, Carole Brown. After having to explain that a few times, Budget Chairman Austin snapped at aldermen, telling them that they should have directed those questions to Brown when she testified before the Council Monday.

And while Treasurer Summers may have ambitious plans for his office, like significantly increasing investments in local neighborhoods through small business loans and financial education programs, he didn’t have much time to convey those initiatives during the hour and a half hearing. Not only did Budget Chairman Austin tell him to skip his open testimony because it was “45 pages and too long", she rushed him several times throughout the hearing, and even complained that listening to his testimony was "like watching paint dry". (For the record, Summers’ testimony was 5 pages, but it was part of a packet with a lot of supplemental information detailing his initiatives).

Other Highlights from Summers’ testimony:

• As of September 21, the City has $629M in its reserves


• The Treasurer monitors 1,521 different fund accounts; Summers found that 408 are dormant as of last quarter (which means little to no activity since January 2014)


• The City has $389.6M in unused bond proceeds sitting in accounts dated 2010 or older. Summers says this money should be used to supplement the capital program.


• 293 fund accounts have have a balance of $0.


• The City will have $77.6M dollars in total investment income across the funds by 2016 ($30-40M more than the previous years).


• The Treasurer’s Office earned $32.2M as of August, and is on target to earn $50.8M by the end of the year.


• The 33 year-old Treasury System Summers' office currently uses is so old that that it was implemented "three mayors ago."

Afternoon Attendance - Joe Moreno (1), Brian Hopkins (2), Leslie Hairston (5), Gregory Mitchell (7), Michelle Harris (8), Sue Sadlowski Garza (10), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Derrick Curtis (18), Willie Cochran (20), Howard Brookins (21), Ricardo Munoz (22), Jason Ervin (28), Milly Santiago (31), Deb Mell (33), Carrie Austin (34), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), Emma Mitts (37), Nicholas Sposato (38), Anthony Napolitano (41), Brendan Reilly (42), Michele Smith (43), John Arena (45), James Cappleman (46), Ameya Pawar (47), Harry Osterman (48), Joe Moore (49)

INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY – On day two of budget briefings, aldermen seemed to be agreeing that the 311 system needs to change. Brenna Berman, Chief Information Officer and Commissioner of the Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT), backed up Monday’s testimony from Budget Director Alex Holt,who said the City’s 311 system was outdated and would take $25 to $30 million to replace.

DoIT made major cuts in this year’s budget as part of the Mayor’s request for efficiencies in his administration. Berman says the Department saved $3.9 million in part by shutting down an old contract related to the city’s nearly phased-out mainframe, streamlining telecom management, consolidating licensing costs, and applying efficient systems across departments. Read her full hearing statement.

Ald. Sue Sadlowski-Garza (10) and Ald. Milly Santiago (31) asked why inputting 311 requests online sometimes took as long as 7 minutes to complete. The system’s just old, Berman said. “Chicago was the first city to launch a robust 311 system in 1999,” she explained. “It’s kind of like dog years, that’s an ancient system. It’s old. And it is just time to replace it.”

When asked what a 311 alternative would look like, Berman pointed to Philadelphia, Houston, and New York, who have taken a page out of the corporate book–they’re using customer relationship management (CRM) systems like Salesforce and Oracle to manage city services. Slow 311 logging online might also be because of ward office locations, she said. Some lack access to internet speeds sufficient for City work. Berman said several offices are currently in the process of getting network upgrades.

Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) also asked when the City will be in the position to switch to zero-based budgeting software, where every function is analyzed for needs and costs from a “zero base”, rather than comparing costs to the previous year. Berman said Budget Director Alex Holt is pushing to switch over, but it would have to be weighed against other technology investments the City needs over the next 1 to 2 years.

HUMAN RELATIONS– Providing a window into city budgeting, Commissioner Mona Noriega testified that the Commission on Human Resources was "one of many" City departments asked to make 10% cuts ahead of FY2016, but Noriega claimed the reduction will not impacted turnaround time on investigations. Questioning for Noriega lasted just over half an hour, with most spent on Noriega updating aldermen on the enforcement of the recent Ban the Box Ordinance. Starting January 1, 2015, Chicago expanded Illinois law restricting employers from using an applicant’s criminal background information to discriminate early in the job application process. The ordinance is aimed at giving former prisoners a fair chance at employment.

“We have no statistics because we have no complaints,” Noriega said, explaining the Department focuses more on spreading the word about Illinois state law and the Chicago ordinance through Chambers of Commerce, mailings, and newsletters. “Every place that we go we talk about it, and we try to get visuals out there as well. The outcomes are that we have more people who know about it, but I would always suspect that we could do more.”

Ald. Jason Ervin’s (29) questioning of Noriega bumped up against his 10 minute time limit, asking about housing and other discrimination that might not be quantified. “I think there are many employers that are discriminating and I don’t think it’s limited to Ban the Box,” she said, talking about the work to be done. There have been 206 complaints of discrimination so far this year, Noriega says. The largest category is employment discrimination, the next is public accommodations, and the third is housing. There have been 51 hate crimes reported this year, which like Ban the Box violations, Noriega says are likely underreported.

Inspector General Joe Ferguson’s office released a list of potential investigation targets and is taking public suggestions for investigative audits this upcoming fiscal year ahead of the release of the OIG's annual plan, which is tied to passage of the City’s budget.

Yesterday the office released 25 projects it is considering pursuing, and asked Chicagoans to pitch in with their own at the OIG’s website. On the regulatory front, the office is considering targeting the Department of Planning and Development’spossible under-enforcement of the Affordable Requirement Ordinance, overspending on the building and rehab of affordable housing in multi-family developments, unremediated building code violations that led to “several fatalities” in 2014, the fact that more than 75,000 cited electrical violations haven’t been fixed, whether the Chicago Department of Public Health has adequately taken on the responsibilities of the City’s now-shuttered Department of Environment, and City employers not paying contractors the minimum $13 per hour required by municipal code.

Gaps in community services make the list too, from a lack of access to City services for limited English speakers, to whether new developers comply with disability requirements. Ferguson’s office is also considering if there’s fair and efficient staffing at public libraries and whether tons of construction waste is ending up in landfills when it could be recycled.

The Chicago Police Department is also a potential target for audit. The IG’s office lists several projects, including a closer look at whether dashboard cams are functioning and if footage is archived properly, as well as intervention for at-risk officers. While overtime for Chicago police has been the target of public scrutiny, even at Monday’s budget hearing, the OIG is considering taking a closer look at firefighter overtime.

Ferguson’s past reports on city government waste and inefficiency has led the Mayor’s Office of Budget and Management to make changes in this year’s budget, including with garbage pickup. It’s also inspired several revenue generating pitches from members of the Progressive Caucus, who has said the OIG should conduct regular audits of every City department.

The Annual Plan from OIG is reviewed, updated, and published no later than four weeks after Council passes the annual City Budget Appropriation. Audit projects are selected based on risk assessment of programs and services, the unique value the OIG’s office can provide as a government insider, the need for a follow-up on past reports, and/or what resources the office has. You can email your audit suggestions to [email protected].