Cook County Commissioners will meet today at 8:45 a.m. for six committee meetings ahead of today’s full Board of Commissioners meeting. They are scheduled to vote on paid sick leave for employees across the county, changes to the consent calendar that could make board meeting days much shorter, a revamped Ethics Ordinance, and a drug disposal program that has been on hold for months.

Aldermen approved “a matter of housekeeping” during a brief Workforce Committee meeting in the middle of Tuesday's police oversight hearing. The substitute makes some corrections to the three parts of the Chicago-Cook Workforce Partnership agreement. Jim McDonald, Deputy Corporation Counsel explained that the initial federal department that funded the Chicago-Cook Partnership has changed.

In a divided 39-8 vote Wednesday, City Council approved the Emanuel Administration's plan to dissolve the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) and replace it with two new police oversight agencies: a Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) and a new Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety.

A proposed pilot program aimed at spurring stagnant retail corridors in some of the city’s struggling communities was called “politically motivated” by some aldermen yesterday because the pilot left out several neighborhoods in need. The program was the subject of two ordinances before the Budget Committee Tuesday.

The Council’s Finance Committee will reconvene this morning at 9:00 a.m. to consider an order from Chair Ed Burke (14) that would bar the city from doing business with Wells Fargo bank. The order is in response to revelations that the bank opened more than two million fraudulent bank and credit card accounts without customer consent.

Under the order, which is binding, the city would be prohibited from doing business with Wells Fargo for the next two years. Specifically, the city’s Chief Financial Officer, Comptroller, and Treasurer would be prohibited from engaging Wells Fargo as a municipal depository, an underwriter for bond deals, a trustee in any loan or redevelopment agreement, a broker to buy investments on the city’s behalf, a financial advisor, or “in any other capacity or relationship with respect to the city.”

According to a chart provided by Ald. Burke’s office, the bank has benefited from about $19.5 million in business with the city since 2005.

The order also encourages the trustees of the city’s four pension funds to divest all of their investments with the bank and any of its subsidiaries. “At the very minimum, I think we can do this as a sign of our shock and displeasure about the conduct of a bank, and we don’t need to do business with a bank that has exhibited this kind of flagrant conduct,” said Burke when he directly introduced the order in committee on Friday.

On Monday, Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced the state suspended $30 billion in investment activity with Wells Fargo. The amount is higher than the state’s actual annual investment portfolio of $25 billion, because it includes dollars that go through Wells Fargo to pay off the state’s bills. The state treasurer’s office is involved in about $1 trillion in banking transactions a year, according to the press release.

And according to Bloomberg, City Treasurer Kurt Summers has also announced plans to divest $25 million the city has invested with the bank.

That meeting is expected to run quickly, because at 9:15 a.m. the Council’s Rules Committee is scheduled to continue deliberation on decorum rules for public comment, also known as “The Blakemore Rule”. The committee recessed without a vote on the issue last week after several Progressive Caucus and freshman aldermen expressed concerns that the new rules were subjective and limiting.

The ordinance would add a Rule 58 to the city’s Rules of Procedure. The rule imposes a three minute time limit for all members of the public and says they must be physically present and “refrain from using profane language or obscene conduct, or make irrelevant, repetitious or disruptive comments.”

Ald. Burke, the sponsor, and Jeff Levine, an attorney with the city’s Law Department, said that the ordinance only codifies what’s already standard practice at council committee meetings.

The Council’s Progressive Caucus drafted an amendment that eliminates the physically present requirement, as well as the rule that comments not be irrelevant, repetitious, or disruptive.

As Ald. John Arena (45) said in committee last week, “Those two things seem subject to interpretation. One person’s repetitious comment is another person’s emphasis of a point.” A similar measure is expected to be considered by the Cook County Board today.

Items Slated For Full Council Vote Today (Highlights) 

• Police Reform Ordinance (Details)

• Amendment to the city’s 2015 borrowing plan to add $25 million in general obligation bonds for 600 new cop cars over the next two years.

• A slew of procurement changes (Details)

• New Pilot Program to help spur development and business within depressed retail corridors in the following neighborhoods:  Austin, Back of the Yards, Bronzeville, Chatham, Englewood, South Chicago, West Humboldt Park, West Pullman.

• A new bid incentive program for mid-sized construction firms that would make them the exclusive bidder of contracts worth $3 million and $10 million.

• Amendments to the Welcoming City Ordinance to boost protections for undocumented Chicagoans.


• Several appointments and reappointments to the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, Chicago Advisory Council on Equity, Chicago Community Land Trust Fund Board, and the Board of Ethics.

• The establishment of a new TIF district for the redevelopment of the Lathrop Homes.  The Diversey/Chicago River Redevelopment TIF is expected to generate about $17.5 million in over the 23-year life of the TIF. Unlike all other TIFs, this one will be automatically repealed once it achieves the funding goal. Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) voted against it in committee.

• A peddling ban in the 14th Ward added to the list of areas where peddling, even with a license, is prohibited. The ban does not include mobile food vendors.

• A resolution from Ald. Ed Burke (14) urging the Chicago Police Department to make QuickClot Combat Gauze available to all police officers trained in the department’s Law Enforcement Medical and Rescue Training Program (LEMART)

• New mobile food cart stands for downtown Chicago (Locations: 140 South Clark Street, 105 East Monroe Street, 300 South Wabash Street, 140 South Franklin Street).

• Five Class 6(b) Incentives which gives industrial properties as 12-year property tax break.

• Expenditure of TIF dollars for a transit study for Jefferson Park

• $3.6 million parking lot sale to Near North Montessori School

• 39-year Lease agreement with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) to construct the North Branch Riverwalk Under-bridge Connection. The proposed pedestrian and bike bridge will connect Clark Park and California Park through a path along the Chicago River under Addison Street, eliminating the need for pedestrians and cyclists to cross the busy intersection.

• Intergovernmental Agreement with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency of Planning (CMAP) for the execution of a “multi-modal” transportation study of the Riverdale Community Area, which includes the city’s Altgeld Gardens, Eden Green Golden Gate, and Riverdale neighborhoods. CMAP would lead the study in collaboration with the city’s Department of Transportation (CDOT).

 

 

After six hours of debate, which included a heated exchange between aldermen and a handful of activists in the gallery who were eventually escorted out by City Hall security, a slightly tweaked version of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s police reform ordinance passed a joint committee in a 21-4 vote last night. Ald. Leslie Hairston (5), Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29) Ald. Nick Sposato (38), and Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41) voted against it.

Three non-competitive contracts for the Sheriff, Recorder of Deeds, and Animal and Rabies Control Departments are up for consideration in the Cook County Technology and Innovation Committee today, chaired by Comm. John Fritchey.

The City Council’s Budget Committee will consider five ordinances that would amend the city’s procurement process, most of which were introduced by Budget Chair Carrie Austin (34) in conjunction with the Department of Procurement Services. The amendments would add more incentives for minority- and women-owned (M/WBE) firms, and create a new incentive for mid-sized construction firms.

The Council’s Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee approved a substitute ordinance from Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) that would allow mobile food stands in certain parts of downtown.

Updated October 4, 2016 at 7:21 a.m.

On Tuesday morning, the City Council Joint Committee on Budget and Public Safety will take up Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposed police reform ordinance, which contains some of the biggest changes to Chicago’s criminal justice system in decades. Two other draft ordinances on police reform sponsored by Ald. Leslie Hairston (4) and Ald. Jason Ervin (28) are not on the agenda, but aspects of both plans were included to the mayor’s reform plan. The full Council is expected to vote on the ordinance on Wednesday.

The final draft of the mayor’s draft ordinance, released last Friday, focuses on two major changes to police oversight. First, the creation of a Civilian Office of Police Oversight (COPA) to replace and enhance many of the functions of the failed Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA). Second, the creation of a Deputy Inspector General, a “Police IG” who will have the power to audit COPA and the Chicago Police Department. The Police IG will be located within the Chicago Office of the Inspector General, currently led by Joe Ferguson.

One significant element missing from the proposed ordinance is the creation of a community safety oversight board, a recommendation from the Police Accountability Task Force (PATF) to create an entity comprised of community representatives that will have the power to oversee CPD, its Bureau of Internal Affairs, and the new COPA organization. That aspect of the reform plan won’t be considered for another six to nine months, according to the Mayor’s Office.

Briefing Materials From Mayor’s Office

Draft Ordinance Up For Debate

Ervin (FAIR Cops) Ordinance Comparison – This document outlines which aspects of Ald. Jason Ervin’s (28) FAIR Cops Ordinance the administration included in their police reform plan. According to the chart, one recommendation, that the police department could be forced to implement recommendations from the new Public Safety Inspector General, was not included.

Hairston Ordinance Comparison – One provision in Ald. Leslie Hairston’s (5) police reform ordinance was not included, according to this chart. Ald. Hairston called for the creation of a selection process for the new chief administrator that involves community input.

IPRA/COPA Matrix – This chart compares IPRA’s current powers and duties with that of COPA, what Ald. Hairston had called for in her police reform ordinance, and what the mayor’s Police Accountability Task Force recommended.

Public Safety Deputy/FAIR Cops Matrix – Similar to the above chart, this document compares the proposed role of the Public Safety Deputy, the recommendations outlined in Ald. Ervin’s FAIR Cops ordinance, and the recommendations of the PATF report.

Listen to our podcast: The “Fatal Flaws” In The Mayor’s Police Oversight Fixes

Drafts of the ordinance were closely held until last week. The Mayor’s office conducted briefings with dozens of community groups in August and September, according to those who participated. Over a dozen community meetings were held across Chicago by the City Council, the Justice Department, and the PATF. Not leaving anything to chance, private briefings were  held with community leaders until the last minute, including a briefing of black activists Monday afternoon at the Chicago Police headquarters at 35th Street and Michigan Ave.

As a result, many community leaders and aldermen expect it to pass through committee easily tomorrow.

“Not smooth sailing but enough support to finish, I think,” said Latino Caucus Chair Ald. George Cardenas (12), on Monday. Half a dozen other aldermen contacted by The Daily Line agreed with Cardenas’ assessment. If there were any stumbling blocks, aldermen thought the lack of a community oversight component would be the biggest.

Despite expectations of easy passage, two groups plan protest press conferences Tuesday morning. One led by Rainbow PUSH, NAACP and The Community Renewal Society, plan a protest at 9:30 a.m. outside Council chambers to urge a no vote against a "toothless police oversight ordinance."  A second group, The Chicago Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression, will protest at 9:00 a.m. outside Council chambers to urge passage of a elected Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC).

One the city’s leading proponents for police reform, Police Board President and Chair of the Police Accountability Task Force, Lori Lightfoot, is unreservedly in support of the proposed ordinance.

“I support it and urge passage of it. Most of the key elements from the Police Accountability Task Force are in the ordinance, like giving access to [outside] counsel and a guaranteed minimum budget,” Lightfoot said.

The access to counsel component was clarified in a final draft released by the Mayor’s office Friday, which would allow COPA to hire legal counsel outside of the city’s Law Department to assist in investigations from a pool developed in consultation with the Law Department. A guaranteed minimum budget of 1% of the police budget would be set for COPA, which results in about $14 million a year based on CPD’s current $1.4 billion annual budget. And the Inspector General’s annual budget would increase from 0.1% to 0.14% of the city’s general fund to support the new deputy position.

Steve Patton, the city’s Corporation Counsel, has said numerous community organizations requested legislation on a community oversight board be delayed. Lightfoot and other PATF members confirmed that request.

“There were ten to twelve community groups that met with the mayor’s office over the summer. They asked that they needed more time to find ways to increase engagement across the city,” said Lightfoot. “There needs to be a very robust community engagement process, and I was supportive of taking the time we needed to get that right.”

Those community groups, coordinated by Rev. Ron Taylor of United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations include Communities United, ONE Northside, Southwest Organizing Project, Inner City Muslim Action Network, Target Area Development Corporation, Workers Center for Racial Justice, Action Now, Enlace, Community Renewal Society and Southsiders Organized for Unity And Liberation (SOUL).

“It would have been crazy to have the Mayor’s office draft an ordinance about community oversight without community engagement,” said Adam Gross of Business and Professional People For The Public Interest, who participated in discussions with the Mayor’s office. “Under pressure, the Mayor’s office said they’d step back and let there be a process.”

The Chicago Board of Elections reports 1,471 people have voted through Sunday since the early voting polling place opened at 69 W. Washington Ave. on September 29. This is the first time Illinois has allowed voting 40 days before Election Day. Typically early voting begins 15 days in advance.

The late Cook County Comm. Joan Murphy’s replacement will be chosen at a special meeting scheduled for Saturday, October 8 at 9am. The democratic committeemen of the 6th District will vote, based on the weighted number of votes Comm. Murphy received in the 2014 general election (weights and links to clout.wiki entries below).

A plan to borrow an additional $25 million to pay for 600 new police cars over the next two years advanced out of the City Council’s Finance Committee Friday, even as some aldermen expressed concern that the city was bonding for short term assets.

Chicago aldermen are about to take a vote on a total overhaul of the city’s police accountability structure. It will establish a new agency to investigate police misconduct and establish a new auditing position that can diagnose law enforcement trends. It has been in the works for months, and from what we can tell, it’s a done deal with aldermen–it’s unlikely there will be be much of a fuss.

In a sit-down with the Aldercast this week, Tracy Siska, a criminologist and mayoral critic who has contributed to the drafting of the ordinance up for a vote, says even with this vote, the city is far from fixing the relationship between police and the community, and that both bodies have fatal flaws that damage their credibility. We’ll talk to Siska, the Executive Director of the Chicago Justice Project, about the remaining recommendations from the Police Accountability Task Force, the looming Department of Justice investigation, and the Mayor’s PR problem.

Questions, comments, or corrections? Email us: [email protected]

Building on the briefing documents released by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office last Monday (free access), the Mayor’s office transmitted his official proposed police reform ordinance to the Joint Committee on Budget and Public Safety Friday. The draft, which will be debated in committee on Tuesday, includes two major changes.

[Listen to our podcast: The “Fatal Flaws” In The Mayor’s Police Oversight Fixes]

The first change addresses the new Civilian Office on Police Accountability’s (COPA) ability to determine it’s own outside counsel, by adding language that the city’s Corporation Counsel would now determine choices “after consultation with [COPA]”. Reform advocates had been concerned the Corporation Counsel, who is effectively the Mayor’s attorney, would have undue influence in determining the legal assistance for COPA.

The second change eliminates the possibility of current or former police officers working for COPA as investigators. Police reform advocates have been concerned that Chicago police officers would not be objective enough investigators into potential police misdeeds.