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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reboyras Discusses Police Supt. Search

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Business and Economic Development Committee

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

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

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

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

Health and Hospitals Committee

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

Finance Committee

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Zoning and Building Committee

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Subcommittee on Litigation

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

Commissioners will be updated on:

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

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

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

Workforce, Housing & Community Development Committee

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Labor Committee

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

Gun Violence Task Force

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

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

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

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

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

In order to “improve efficiency,” the Department of Planning and Development is slightly changing the way it conducts monthly Plan Commission meetings.

From now on, the department’s project managers will be taking over the responsibility of presenting plan development applications to commissioners, instead of developers, their attorneys or architects, which was how meetings were conducted in the past.  

Newly-appointed DPD Commissioner David Reifman will also change the mayor-appointed land use board’s start time to 10:00 a.m., instead of in the afternoon. Officials with DPD say developers and their attorneys will still be allowed to speak and answer questions from commissioners, but project managers, who are tasked with writing official staff reports for each project, will take over a majority of the PowerPoint presentations.

And the changes made a noticeable difference. Yesterday’s meeting, which had eight zoning applications up for consideration, wrapped in about four hours, adjourning around 2:00 p.m. Last month’s meeting barely met its adjournment deadline, and that was only after Chairman Martin Cabrera’s repeated requests that developers keep their presentations concise.

At past meetings, DPD project managers introduced each application, detailing the zoning change requested and skeletal information of the project. The development team, usually the zoning attorney followed by the architect or lead developer, would then expound on the finer details. More often than not, this method led to drawn-out, marathon-long meetings.

Meeting Highlights 

Only one application on yesterday's agenda, LG Development’s proposed nine-story plus penthouse condo building, garnered significant opposition from the public, with more than a dozen residents, mostly from a neighboring condo building, voicing their opposition. The proposed development would be built on a surface parking lot at 111 South Peoria Street, across from Mary Bartelme Park.

Some opponents argued that the West Loop is getting too dense, and the local transportation infrastructure has not kept up with the building boom (“If I wanted tall, I would have moved to Streeterville,” one complained). Others warned of “dramatic safety concerns” of having such a large residential building, with people coming and going so close to a park where children play. Lighting issues and vehicle traffic worries were frequently brought up, too.

This group was especially organized, with handouts, zoning maps, and presentation boards supplementing testimony. Attorney Ron Cope and city planner Les Pollack were among them.

Even local Ald. Walter Burnett (27) warned fellow commissioners that the project was so controversial in his community, that it was “used against him” during his re-election campaign last year.

Despite the overwhelming opposition from the community, the application still passed unanimously. Speaking to Aldertrack after the meeting, one opponent, Richard Dees, a an attorney from McDermott Will & Emery, said that they may sue the city, alleging the zoning change is inconsistent with previous DPD master zoning plans for the neighborhood. “That is how fed up West Loop residents are,” Dees explained in an email. “The politicians have been picking neighborhoods off separately. We need to stop every upzoning in the West Loop until there is a plan to take care of the people already living there, and that means uniting to oppose every upzoning, no matter how attractive the project appears.”

The remaining seven applications went through mostly without a hitch, and commissioners were noticeably less vocal about affordable housing issues than in past meetings.

Only one development team caught flak for taking advantage of a “loophole” in the city’s old affordable housing requirements: SMATT, LLC, the applicant behind a 513 ft residential high-rise with 500 units planned for 1320 South Michigan Avenue in city’s South Loop.

Ald. Burnett accused developer John Murphy and his zoning attorney Jack George of taking advantage of a “loophole” in the zoning code, because they won’t be adding on-site affordable housing or making an in lieu cash payment into the city’s affordable housing trust fund to make up for those lost units.

Instead, they’re taking advantage of an affordable housing bonus, agreeing to make a $1.96 million payment into the affordable housing trust fund in exchange for the ability to increase building density (Under the new rules, a developer would have to pay per affordable unit not included on site, in addition to the bonus, should they select it.)

When Burnett asked them to explain why they chose not to include the units, Murphy said there’s still an opportunity for it. “I have had discussions with the alderman to integrate affordable housing on site. That has not been determined yet, because it’s something that more recently came up,” he explained.  

“You making a lot of money, man. You got a lot of stuff over there,” Burnett later responded, after it was revealed that the building’s largest apartments, which would be about 1,100-square-feet, are expected to go on the market for about $4,000 a month (about $2.95-per-square-foot), and that 45% of the parking spaces will be leased out to the general public.

Union Concerns Raised at Planned McCormick Place Hotel (3rd Ward)

Draper & Kramer, the development team behind a proposed 22-story hotel and residential high-rise for the corner of Wabash Avenue and Cermak Road got some heat when it was revealed that the hotel wouldn’t employ unionized workers.

According to Larry Devito with Draper & Kramer, the hotel is committed to hiring locally and hosting job fairs, but employees won't be unionized. When Chairman Cabrera asked if “any effort was made to add unionized labor,” Devito’s partner, David Augusta, jumped in to explain that “select service hotels” or limited-service hotels, rarely employ union workers because it doesn’t make sense “economically and from a management standpoint.”   

Local Ald. Pat Dowell (3) later testified that she did “establish conversations” between the development team and Unite Here Local One.

The 144 room, ten-story hotel, which will be near the Cermak stop on the CTA’s Green Line, will employ 35 people when it’s built. The residential building, which will be 22-stories, will be located directly behind the hotel, with a setback along South Wabash Avenue. The development team plans to make ten of the 275 units affordable; those units will be distributed throughout the building. And of the total units, 37% will be efficency, 49% one-bedroom, and 14% two-bedrooms. Draper & Kramer will also take advantage of the adopt a landmark bonus, which lets them increase building density by paying about  $750,000 for building restorations at two landmarked neighborhood churches (Quinn Chapel AME and Second Presbyterian Church).

• Progressive Caucus Financial Transparency Resolution - The Progressive Caucus plans to work “closely” with the Mayor’s office to draft a Financial Transparency and Accountability Ordinance “designed to create oversight and transparency for untested financial arrangements like the so-called ‘toxic’ interest rate swap deals that have plagued the City in recent years,” a press release says. The goal is to impose more “rigorous” review for the city’s big financial transactions. A water revenue bond deal Progressive aldermen pushed against months ago for containing 'toxic swaps' passed City Council Wednesday.

• Commercial zoning for medical marijuana - Ald. Ed Burke (14) has submitted another ordinance loosening regulations for medical marijuana in the city. The zoning change would allow for medical marijuana dispensaries to set up shop in commercial districts if they receive a special use permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals. He and Ald. Willie Cochran (20) have previously teamed up to do away with 24-hour security requirements at dispensaries.

• More Bed and Breakfast Modifications - The ordinance from Ald. Brian Hopkins(2), Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1), Ald. Pat Dowell (3), Ald. Michele Smith (43), and Ald. Tom Tunney (44) would bar anyone who knowingly operated without a license within two years of the application from getting a Bed and Breakfast License. It’s the latest in a series of vacation rental and B&B ordinances introduced aimed at the shifting landscape of home and apartment rentals in Chicago, just before Ald. Will Burns (4) announced he’d be leaving City Hall to go work for Airbnb. Sources expect some kind of hearing on home sharing licensing and regulations in April or May.

• Student Loan Debt Hearing - Ald. Marge Laurino (39) and Ald. Ed Burke (14) teamed up to introduce a resolution calling for hearings on the “student loan debt crisis.” CFO Carole Brown, officials from the private sector, City Colleges, CPS, and other local colleges will be called to testify. The preamble says Illinois ranks 16th in the country for highest debt burden, and debt has doubled for students at Eastern Illinois, Illinois State, Northern Illinois, Southern Illinois at carbondale and Western Illinois Universities.

• Mondelez Hearing - Mirroring similar legislation introduced by Cook County Commissioner Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia, Ald. Burke and Ald. Derrick Curtis (18) have introduced items examining Modelez, the parent company that owns the Nabisco plant on the city’s Southwest side slated to send 600 jobs to a new plant in Mexico. Burke’s resolution calls on Department of Planning and Development Commissioner David Reifman to detail how the department tracks redevelopment agreements and job retention for companies that benefit from deals with the city. Curtis’ resolution urges Mondelez to expand its operations.  

• Health In All Policies Resolution: Previewed by Chicago Department of Public Health at Board of Health meetings this winter, this resolution introduced by the Mayor Wednesday calls for applying “a Health in All Policies approach to the City's decision making,” essentially applying a health filter to all “policy development and implementation, budgeting, and delivery of services” decisions. The resolution calls appointment of a task force to examine health policies in housing, transportation, food access, environmental protection, safety and violence prevention.

• Lease Agreements for Cook County Mental Health Services - The city plans to lease office space at two of its clinics as part of the new behavioral health initiativeCook County Health and Hospitals Systems officials announced last month. One clinical office space, located on the first floor of the West Town Neighborhood Health Center at 2418 West Division Street, will be used by the Cook County Department of Corrections for mental health services to ex-offenders. The other, the new triage center for behavioral issues for arrestees, will take up 10,784 square feet of clinical office space, subject to expansion include the entire building, at the Roseland Public Health Center at 200 East 115th Street.

• Seven CPS Land Moves (O2016-2526, O2016-2507, O2016-2505, O2016-2504, O2016-2483, O2016-2472, O2016-2461) and two TIF Assistance Ordinances (O2016-2455, O2016-2434) were also introduced. The city will accept three CPS properties for "public purpose," and the Park District will accept one for "open space, recreational and park purposes." The TIF assistance includes no more than $760,000 for school improvements to Amundsen High School and no more than $287,000 for Hope College Preparatory School.

• Street Designation for Nancy Maldonado - Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26) submitted an ordinance calling for the stretch of Division between 2400-2850 as Nancy Y. Franco-Maldonado Way, in honor of his late wife who passed away around the Christmas holiday.

• Repeal of the ban of flower peddling - Just in time for spring, Ald. Ed Burke’s (14) ordinance strikes out the language that prohibits the sale of flowers, plants, or bouquets. The sale is currently only allowed inside “duly licensed” restaurants and taverns.

On Wednesday, we incorrectly tweeted that aldermen approved the $29 million dollar sale of City Colleges’ former Malcolm X campus site. But the story behind what actually happened is more interesting.

Aldertrack has learned that the land sale never made it to the floor, because two freshman aldermen–Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) and Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36)–threatened to use parliamentary procedure to block the item from a vote, because they want to hold City Colleges’ feet to the fire over minority hiring.

At Monday’s Housing Committee meeting, the project received unanimous approval by voice vote, and Committee Chairman Joe Moore announced before adjourning that, “All eight of these [agenda] items will be reported out at the City Council meeting on Wednesday."

But it stopped there. “I believe it was some type of issue related to the City Colleges, and I don’t know the full track of it,” Bob Fuller, a legislative aide for the committee told Aldertrack. Rather than have the matter deferred and published, Ald. Moore opted to hold the issue in committee until Ald. Lopez and Villegas received the information they requested, Fuller said.

Ald. Villegas confirmed with Aldertrack that he and Ald. Lopez previously requested data on Latino hiring and contracts at City Colleges’, but haven’t been satisfied with, among other issues, “the lack of a plan for diversity and parity.”

“The only reason why there’s been growth at City Colleges is because of the Latino community. 28% of Malcolm X students are Latino, enough to designate it as a Hispanic institution now,” he said.

Villegas has introduced a resolution Wednesday urging City Colleges to “hire Hispanic professors and staff, reflective of the student population.” City Clerk Susana Mendoza is listed as the sole co-sponsor. He asked the issue be referred to the Committee on Workforce Development and Audit because the Education Committee, which normally hears City Colleges-related issues, is still without a chair. After City Colleges “stalled and delayed” giving statistics to Villegas, the resolution says, “City Colleges produced data that seems suspicious to Alderman Villegas and the Latino Caucus of the Chicago City Council.”

Villegas says citywide, the message he’s receiving is “Latinos need not apply.”

Ald. Walter Burnett (27), whose ward includes the Malcolm X site, told Aldertrack he doesn’t understand why they’re using the land sale as “leverage,” because City Colleges no longer owns the property, the city does, and argued they’re just preventing the city from making money and hurting the Blackhawks and Rush.

The Rush portion of the 11-acre site is slated to sell for $17.5 million, of which $1.8 million will pay for education, scholarships, research, and health and wellness programs for the community. The negotiated sale price for the Blackhawks portion is $11.7 million. $3 million is dedicated to community hockey training programs, fitness and nutritional programs and group events.

A representative for the Blackhawks said, “This is a procedural matter between the city and City Colleges, not the Chicago Blackhawks. We are moving forward with our timeline in accordance with our processes.” The Mayor’s office told Aldertrack they expect the sale to pass City Council next month.

Chicago City Council’s Latino Caucus will hold a conference at 10:00 a.m. at City Hall to demand Mayor Emanuel appoint current Interim Police Superintendent John Escalanteas permanent superintendent. The press conference is in response to yesterday’s Police Board announcement that three finalists had been chosen to submit to the mayor for consideration: Dr. Cedric L. Alexander, Anne E. Kirkpatrick, and Eugene Williams. Williams and Alexander are both African American, and Kirkpatrick is White; the Police Board posted each nominee’s resume and essay responses on its website.

It is possible Emanuel could send Lightfoot and fellow members back to the drawing board. In 2007, Mayor Richard M. Daley rejected Police Board’s first round of nominations to replace Phil Cline. Eight months later, Daley appointed Jody Weis to take over.  

Lori Lightfoot, head of the Police Board and the Police Accountability Task Force (PATF), told reporters she would not discuss applicants who didn’t make the cut, but said the city should be “grateful for Escalante’s service.” The release of the finalists’ names was delayed by two weeks. So are the recommendations from PATF. Lightfoot says those should be coming around April 15.

The city officially opened up the bidding process for developers interested in transforming the Old Main Post Office Complex. Yesterday morning, the Department of Planning and Development issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the massive historic building’s planned redevelopment in the city’s West Loop. A pre-submittal conference is scheduled for April 14. Bidding closes June 10.  

The move comes a week after the city’s Community Development Commission, a mayor-appointed panel, gave preliminary approval for the city to acquire the property from its current owners through eminent domain. 

RFP respondents may choose to redevelop the site in accordance with the existing planned development parameters for the site (PD# 1065), or they can select to amend the PD, which “allows for a wide variety of commercial and residential uses,” the Mayor’s Office said in a release.

Once a developer is chosen, they will have to commit to purchase the property at full market value and pay “all related acquisition costs.”

The U.S. Post Office sold the historic building in 2009 to International Property Developers North America, Inc. (IPD) for $25 million dollars. In 2013, the same developer bought the neighboring annex property for an additional $14 million.

IPD had planned a $3.5 billion mixed-use development to be completed in phases, including three towers and 16-million-square-feet of residential, retail, entertainment and office spaces. In July 2013, the City Council approved an amendment to the planned development for an additional 2,100 residential units in the old post office building. Plans for a hotel and commercial retail space on adjacent land were also approved.

The first phase of the project was scheduled to get underway in early 2015, but according to DPD, no significant redevelopment work has been completed to date.