Speaking yesterday afternoon at the Illinois State Fair’s Democrats Day event in Springfield, Jesse White announced he would not, after 17 years as Illinois Secretary of State, run for reelection in 2018. His announcement, which was expected but still a surprise in its timing, immediately set in motion announcements and conjectures for who would fill his seat.

Before the end of the day, Cook County Recorder of Deeds Karen Yarbrough expressed her intention to run. “I absolutely do have plans to [run],” Yarbrough told Aldertrack last night. “I’m excited about the possibilities of running and hope that I can put together a team that can help me get there.”

Yarbrough, who is also the Proviso Township Democratic Committeeman and African-American, is likely banking on following White’s path to Secretary of State. In 1998, he was Recorder of Deeds and the 27th Ward Democratic Committeeman.

Earlier this week Yarbrough was slated by the Cook County Dems for Recorder of Deeds in 2016.

A broad array of other Democrats have privately expressed interest in White’s seat over the years, including State Reps. John Bradley and Brandon Phelps, two of the few elected Democrats from south of I-70. In Chicago, sources say Hyde Park State Sen. Kwame Raoul, as well as Northwest Siders State Reps. Luis Arroyo and John D’Amico have expressed interest. Park Ridge State Sen. Dan Kotowski, a profligate fundraiser, is also a potential candidate.

“Kotowski has been waiting for something. This could be it,” says one high-ranking Democratic Party official.

Then there’s also the possibility that Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza, or Evanston’s State Sen. Daniel Biss, both already eyeing runs for Illinois Comptroller in 2016, could just pivot now or after losing the statewide election and toss their hats into the ring in 2018.

The Republican field is likely even broader. Jesse White has barely attracted any serious GOP opposition in the last 12 years, as he’s the most popular politician in Illinois, attracting 70%+ vote totals. Now that White’s will be off the ballot, Republicans will have the clearest shot to winning the Secretary of State spot they’ve had in decades.

White has not made it clear if he intends to serve out his current term, which ends in 2018. If he were to leave soon, a special election could be scheduled next year to fill the spot. If he were to leave after the 2016 elections, Gov. Bruce Rauner could appoint someone to serve in an acting position until the end of the 2018 term.

The Chicago Plan Commission approved all items on yesterday's agenda, including a proposed boutique hotel in the Gold Coast, a glass skyscraper in the downtown Loop, a new brewery and beer garden for Half Acre in Bowmanville, and another Whole Foods in Lakeview. The projects now advance to the City Council’s Zoning Committee for approval.

The meeting lasted for nearly four hours, with most of the public opposition directed toward the planned Viceroy Hotel in the Gold Coast. Developers are interested in demolishing the old four-story Cedar Hotel, and replacing it with an 18-story, 180 room hotel that would incorporate parts of Cedar’s historic, brick facade. Newly elected Ald. Brian Hopkins (2) testified in support, noting the “numerous” reductions the developer made to the original site plan. After several community meetings over two years, the developer cut 40 rooms and 53 ft. from the original plan, Hopkins said.

But those residents who testified against the project demanded more concessions. Nearly a dozen residents, most of whom were affiliated with the group Preserve our Dearborn, created specifically to oppose this hotel plan, demanded a shorter building and more parking.

“I think of [State St.] like a circulatory system,” concerned resident Jerry Silverman said. “That’s how things circulate in our neighborhood. When your circulatory system gets blocked up, you have a heart attack. And all I am suggesting is, that plan, as it’s laid out now, is going to give our community a heart attack.”

Nevertheless, the project received unanimous support from the Plan Commission, while another contentious development proposal, Half Acre’s proposed brewery for Bowmanville, did not.

Commissioner Linda Searl cast the lone vote against the beer company’s application to build a new brewery, taproom and beer garden in a predominantly residential neighborhood south of the Rosehill Cemetery.

Half Acre bought the subject site, 2050 W. Balmoral Ave., currently zoned as a manufacturing district, so they could expand operations outside their current location on Lincoln Ave., less than two miles away. Since the location is zoned as a manufacturing district, brewing is already permitted as right of way, but their proposed taproom with adjoining restaurant is not allowed under the current designation.

A handful of residents spoke in opposition to the project over concerns that the outdoor beer garden would bring additional car traffic and noise. “I dont want to raise my kids across the street from a liquor store,” local resident Ashley Katsia said, adding that the plans did not fit with the “tenor” of the neighborhood.

“The growth of Half Acre Brewery is requiring them to move, which is a wonderful thing for the city of Chicago,” Commissioner Patricia Scudiero said. The project architect, Angel Valtierra with Space Architects, added the company was interested in creating a “family-style” atmosphere. Gabriel Magliaro, owner of Half Acre Brewery, said they wouldn’t be a nuisance to the surrounding residents.

Half Acre wasn’t the only application to receive a divided roll call vote. Vice Chairman Smita Shah voted against a proposed four-story, 18 dwelling unit at 3418-3420 North Lincoln Avenue in the 47th Ward. Since the project is adjacent to the Paulina station on the CTA’s Brown Line, it qualifies as Transit Oriented Development (TOD), which means the applicant, Lincoln & Roscoe, LLC, was allowed to reduce on-site parking by 50%, increase the number of residential units by a third, and add an additional five feet to the building’s height.

Resident Roberta Stevens testified against, telling the commission “I think the city should slow down on the TODs. Make sure you want to build it. It’s like watering a plant, and it grows, and grows, and grows and then it dies.”

The Cook County Democratic Party endorsed its slate for the March 15th, 2016 Primary. But there are two races where party leadership decided not to endorse any of the candidates: the U.S. Senate and State’s Attorney seats.

Cook County Democratic Party Chairman Joe Berrios said the party leadership would rather have an open primary for the Illinois U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Mark Kirk because “none of the five candidates who addressed them were able to garner sufficient votes for support”, according to a press release.

“Our slate is an extremely diverse ticket, drawing from the suburbs as well as Chicago and individuals from various ethnicities,” Berrios said. “In the cases where we made no endorsements, there were simply too many qualified candidates for any one of them to receive the required number of votes for Party backing.”

This means U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, immigrant rights activist Susana Sandoval, State Sen. Napoleon Harris, Cook County Board Commissioner Richard Boykin and former Chicago Urban League CEO Andrea Zopp will have to fight it out without the party’s support.

Incumbent State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez will also have to fight her reelection without Cook County Democrats by her side. Her challengers include Donna More, Kim Foxx and Cook County Board Commissioner John Fritchey.

The full list of endorsed candidates for the 2016 election:

President of the United States: Hillary Clinton

Illinois State Comptroller: Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza

Clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court: Dorothy Brown (incumbent)

Cook County Recorder of Deeds:  Karen Yarbrough (incumbent)

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (6-year terms):  Barbara McGowan (incumbent), Mariyana Spyropoulos (incumbent), as well as Josina Morita

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (2-year term): Tom Greenhaw

Appellate Court: Justice Bertina Lampkin and Judge Eileen O’Neill Burke (Those selected as alternates: Associate Judge William Boyd, Judge Raul Vega and Associate Judge Leonard Murray)

Cook County Board of Review, 2nd District: Incumbent Commissioner Michael Cabonargi

Circuit Court Judge:  Judge Alison Conlon, Judge Daniel Patrick Duffy, Judge Rossana Fernandez, Judge Alexandra Gillespie, Maureen O’Donoghue Hannon, Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke Jr., Brendan O’Brien and Judge Devlin Joseph Schoop. (Selected as alternates: Fredrick Bates, Sean Chaudhuri, Patrick Heneghan, Nichole Patton and Peter Michael Gonzalez)

The Chicago Plan Commission holds its monthly meeting this afternoon (agenda). Instead of meeting at their normal location in the City Council Chambers, the Board will convene in room 201A at 1:00 p.m. These are some of the large scale projects on the agenda:

Proposed Viceroy Hotel, Gold Coast - 2nd Ward

1118 N. State St. | Ordinance: O2014-973 | Introduced: 12/10/2014

This plan is years in the making. The Viceroy Hotel Group wants to demolish the vacant Cedar Hotel in the Gold Coast so it can build an 18-story building with 180 hotel rooms, a restaurant on the ground floor, and an open green space on a 12,000 sq. ft. site. According to the design sketches produced by architecture firm Goettsch Partners, the new building will replicate the existing, red brick, decorative terra cotta facade, which is the “character defining feature” of the Cedar Hotel. The Los Angeles-based upscale boutique hotel chain has locations in Beverly Hills, Palm Springs, Miami, and New York. The applicant on file, Cedar Property, LLC, is seeking a zoning change from a DX-7 (Downtown Mixed Use District) to a Planned Development, because the proposed hotel exceeds the height threshold allowed under the current zoning designation. The applicant plans to make a $686,651 payment to the Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund, in addition to applying for an Adopt-a-Landmark Bonus. Edward Kus, with the law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister, LLP, is the attorney on file. Don Wilson with DRW-M Investor LLC and Convexity Properties are also part of the venture.

Deal for trendy Gold Coast hotel collapses, June 03, 2009, Crain’s Chicago.

Viceroy Hotel picks Gold Coast for its Chicago domain, December 19, 2014, Crain’s Chicago.

18 Story Viceroy Hotel to Open on State Street by 2017, March 5, 2015, Curbed Chicago.

 

Proposed 53-Story Office Tower, Loop - 42nd Ward

130 N. Franklin St.  | Ordinance: O2015-4174  | Introduced 5/20/2015
Real estate developer Tishman Speyer has been trying for years to turn the surface parking lot and surrounding vacant land along 130 N. Franklin St. into an office highrise. The former site of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (1928-1972), later occupied by Henry Crown & Company until 1986, was eventually turned into a surface parking lot with space for more than 200 cars. Through a joint venture with Henry Crown & Company, the applicants, under the name 130 N. Franklin St., LLC, seek to build a 53-story office building along Franklin St. between Randolph and Washington. Plans include ground floor commercial retail, a restaurant, a minimum of 140 on-site parking spaces and a large outdoor plaza. The development plan designed by architecture firm Krueck + Sexton will be 65,000 sq. ft., with approximately 20,700 sq. ft.dedicated to the landscaped open green space. When Henry & Crown Company occupied the site in 1989, they successfully rezoned it into a Planned Development (PD 496). When the PD expired, Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) rezoned the project site into a DC-16, Downtown Core District, a zoning classification intended to promote high density office and employment growth with mixed-use residential uses permitted. Developers are asking permission to rezone the area into a Business Planned Development.

 

Angular Glass Tower at 130 North Franklin Moving Forward Wednesday, April 8, 2015, Curbed Chicago

Get Your Funk On: Skyscraper Finally Coming to 130 North Franklin  January 22, 2015, Chicago Architecture Blog

Proposed Half Acre Brewery - 40th Ward

2050 W. Balmoral Ave. | Ordinance: O2015-4625 | Introduced: 6/17/2015
Half Acre Brewery wants to build a 35,000 sq. ft. brewery with an adjoining tasting room and full service kitchen on the first floor, and office space on the second floor of the existing property, which is a little over a mile north of the beer company’s Lincoln Ave. location. The applicant on file, Bastion of Balmoral, LLC, has requested a zoning change from an M1-2 Manufacturing District to a C3-3 Commercial District, because the planned tasting room exceeds the maximum size permitted under the current designation by 4,000 sq. ft. And while the renderings prepared by Space Architects + Planners do not call for the expansion of the current building, Half Acre will add an outdoor beer garden and on-site parking for 33 cars. Gabriel Magliaro, owner of Half Acre Brewery, is managing member of GMB Partners LLC, which manages Bastion of Balmoral. In a blog post from March 2014 on Half Acre’s website, the company said it bought the 2050 W. Balmoral site to serve as an extension to their Lincoln Avenue tap room, about 5 minutes away. “The additional space will allow us to expand our distribution footprint to the entire Chicagoland area, add more onsite enjoyment at both locations and explore our interests as brewers and beyond.”

Half Acre to open second Brewery, March 24, 2014, Chicago Tribune

 

Parkway East Project, Lakeview - 44th Ward

506-514 W. Diversey Parkway | Ordinance: O2015-4175 | Introduced: 5/20/2015
Boston-based Broder Diversey, LLC wants to build an 11-story residential tower near Diversey Harbor, with 56 dwelling units and commercial retail at the base. The site is zoned as a B3-5 Community Shopping District and is currently a surface parking lot with a neighboring 3-story residential commercial building. The developers, which includes the Gabriel Development Group and LA Commercial, LLC, want to rezone the area into a Residential Business Planned Development divided into two sub areas, according to the sketches from architectural firm, Pappageorge Haymes Partners. The larger plot, Sub Area A, is 14,250 sq. ft. and will include a minimum of 53 parking spaces and residential units. The neighboring Sub Area B takes up 4,750 sq. ft. and includes a minimum of 3 residential units without parking. When the concept was first brought to the community in 2014, another proposed development project across the street in the neighboring 43rd Ward was also in the works. Lexington Homes, LLC had proposed building a 17-story condo on 523 W. Diversey Ave, the site of the former Market Place Food Store, but Ald. Michelle Smith announced last month in an email the developer had withdrawn its plans after “it became clear the current proposal could not be realistically modified to address neighborhood concerns.”
High-Rise Development Could Still Become Reality, May 8, 2013, Lakeview Patch

'Horrendous' Congestion Feared As Lakeview, Lincoln Park Projects Collide, September 9, 2014, DNAInfo

 

Whole Foods, Lakeview - 44th Ward

3201 N. Ashland Ave. | Ordinance: O2015-3703 | Introduced: 5/6/2015
Novak Construction purchased the former LaSalle Bank site to build a new Whole Foods in the Lakeview neighborhood. The organic grocery chain already operates a store in Lakeview. The original Ashland Ave. store is almost two decades old. The new location is part of a large expansion plan the company unveiled last year to open 11 new stores across the US and Canada.  The applicant on file, Ashland Belmont, LLC, has a draft plan that includes construction of a 79,500 sq. ft. store and 305 parking spots. In order to break ground, the developers seek to amend the subject property, which is currently designated as Residential Planned Business Development #1052.
Lakeview Whole Foods To Double, Become City's Second-Largest, February 12, 2015, DNAinfo

Lakeview Whole Foods Adds Park, New Facade In Wake of Neighbors' Concerns, July 6, 2015 , DNAinfo

A Look at the New Behemoth Lakeview Whole Foods Proposal, Thursday, April 23, 2015, Curbed Chicago

 

Development Plans for the old Kitschy Ed Debevic’s Diner - 42nd Ward

200-212 W. Ontario St.; 628-648 N. Wells St.; 201-209 W. Erie St. | Ordinance: O2015-4176  | Introduced: 5/20/2015
Applicants Robert Stone and Jeffrey Himmel are part of a joint venture to build a residential complex at the site of the old Ed Debevic’s 50’s themed restaurant in River North. Filing their application under the name of Wells & Erie, LLC, the developers seek to rezone the site from a DX-7, Downtown District, to a Residential Business Planned Development to construct two buildings; a 22-story residential tower with 253 units and neighboring two-story commercial building to the west. The plans prepared by Hartshorne Plunkard Architects include 117 accessory off-street parking, and accessory and incidental uses--(it was reported that the small building will likely hold a daycare center for dogs). In order to increase the floor area permitted on site, developers plan to make a $1.5M cash contribution to the city’s Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund in lieu of providing on-site affordable housing, as well as a $1.2M cash contribution for public infrastructure improvements.  Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) held a community meeting in May, so that representatives of the JDL development team could present their plans to the River North Residents Association (slideshow).

River North's Kitschy Ed Debevic's to Make Way for New Tower Friday, April 24, 2015, Curbed Chicago

Ed Debevic's sass to go: Cheeky diner is looking for a new home April 24, 2015, Crain’s Chicago

A Look at the Apartment Tower That Will Replace Ed Debevic's Wednesday, May 13, 2015, by Curbed Staff

Acquisitions & Dispositions - Ald. Howard Brookins, Jr. (21) introduced an ordinance proposing the sale of city-owned property on 650 W. 83rd St. to Green ERA Educational NFP, so it can build a renewable energy anaerobic digester facility. The company will use the space and equipment to recycle food and park waste into composted soil and biogas. Ald. Brookins has requested the Plan Commission rezone the area from a M1-2, Manufacturing District, to an M3-2, Manufacturing District, and eventually into a planned development. The site will be roughly 440,000 sq. ft. [Ordinance: O2015-5391]

Tax Increment Financing - Proposals to amend two TIF Districts are slated for approval. One item is a resolution amending the Cicero/Archer Redevelopment Project. The other resolution is an expansion plan to add an additional 4,676 taxable properties to the 119th/I-57 TIF. The expansion plan is based on a study from an independent consulting firm, SB Friedman Development Advisors, the city hired to see if adjacent areas around the original project area would qualify as “blighted”. The expansion plan includes the Morgan Park and West Pullman neighborhoods.

Adjacent Neighbors - Two city-owned properties are for sale under the Adjacent Neighbors Land Acquisition Program. One property is on 6506 S. Dorchester Ave in Woodlawn. The three-unit, three floor building in the 20th Ward was built in 1888 and needs “minor repair”, according to the Cook County Assessor’s records. [Pin: 20-23-213-047-0000]. The other property, 8906 S. Lowe Ave, in the 21st Ward is a vacant lot in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood. [Pin: 25-04-118-024-0000].

Negotiated Sales - There is a resolution recommending the negotiated sale of City-owned land on 3427 W. Madison St. in the 28th Ward’s East Garfield Park neighborhood. [Pin: 16-14-201-006-0000]

Fresh off an evening with presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), and Ald. Sue Sadlowski Garza (10) gathered with more than a dozen representatives from community groups to back a comprehensive immigrant immigration plan. Standing in front of representatives from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, the National Immigrant Justice Center, and the Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, Ald. Rosa said the Working group was excited to collaborate with the City Council’s Latino Caucus and the Mayor’s office to implement a six point plan to make Chicago the most immigrant friendly city in the country.

The plan builds on existing ordinances that address immigrant communities, as well as emulating programs implemented in other big cities. Fred Tsao, with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, introduced the platform, which is fleshed out on Ald. Rosa’s website:

(1) Using New York City’s public defender program as a model, the working group wants Chicago to provide pro bono or low-cost representation to low-income immigrants in City immigration courts. New York spent $500,000 on the pilot program. The New York Times reported that money went to handling 190 deportation cases out of an estimated 1,650 in New York and New Jersey immigration courts. The program is administered by the non-profit Vera Institute of Justice and received a big funding bump–$4.9 million–from the New York City Council for the current fiscal year. The working group argues that the program would help pay for itself with savings on social services. “The City of Chicago should work with legal providers to assess the cost and benefits of providing legal representation for Chicago’s low income immigrants and children,” the platform reads.

(2) Bring Cook County’s and Chicago’s immigration policies in line by creating “a clear separation between local law enforcement and immigration enforcement.” Chicago’s existing Welcoming City Ordinance has arbitrary criteria, the group says. Current city policy keeps agencies from asking about the immigration status of people seeking City services. It also prohibits Chicago police officers from asking crime victims, witnesses, and residents about legal status. Undocumented Chicagoans could only be detained if there is a warrant out for their arrest, if they have been convicted of a serious crime, or are a threat to public safety.

“The County policy flatly bars the jail from holding anyone at ICE's request or sharing information with ICE regarding anyone in county custody.” Fred Tsao added. “The city ordinance does both as well but does not apply in certain circumstances when someone has an ICE warrant.”

(3) Expand the city’s existing ordinance to ensure immigrants have quality interactions with emergency services and Chicago Public Schools. The City Council recently passed an ordinance sponsored by Ald. Ameya Pawar (47) that ensures language access for non-English speakers. The group said the change is a “good first step,” but doesn’t address the need for translation services with emergency providers.

When the language access ordinance was being debated in Committee in April, Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) clashed with Ald. Pawar, arguing the ordinance didn’t go far enough. He said since it didn’t require the police or fire department to provide resources for non-English speakers, it “diminish[ed] the whole purpose, which is to get people services they need immediately, rather than sending them through an Alderman’s office or 311.”

Pawar conceded the ordinance wasn’t “100% there” and “coming up with a policy and a program reflecting the various duties in emergency services is going to require a significant amount of work,” but said CPD and CFD should eventually have to line up with other city agencies included in the ordinance.

The working group went further, saying the language ordinance should require Police, Fire, and Chicago Public Schools to provide access for non-English speakers. A new ordinance should also consider the needs of “linguistically isolated” emerging immigrant communities, and provide a place for people to complain about non-compliance, the group added.

Part of that language access ordinance also called for the creation of a task force to look into the creation of Chicago municipal IDs. Those IDs could be used to access local bank accounts, housing, and city services. The group supports (4) creation of municipal IDs in Chicago, as long as privacy of applicants is protected from immigration enforcement. New York, Oakland, San Francisco, Hartford, and New Haven are a few cities that have created their own municipal ID programs.

Tsao called municipal IDs a “vehicle for civic pride,” and said fees for applicants or corporate sponsorships are possible candidates for funding the cards.

The group also supports an effort to (5) get grant-makers, business leaders, and private donors together to create a low-interest loan program so children and parents can apply for deferred action. The city should also train 311 workers and other city employees on how to refer people to those services. “Research shows that cities benefit economically” from programs like these, the group says.

Finally, the city should (6) improve access for immigrants who are survivors of crime or victims of civil and labor rights abuses. The group says 70% of undocumented immigrants report being less likely to get in touch with police if they were victims of a crime. Improving relationships between immigrants and police is crucial, the group says.

When asked about the cost of implementing these policies, Rosa said ordinances are being “workshopped”, and he looks forward to collaborating with the Mayor’s office and the Latino Caucus to implement the changes.

17th Ward Ald. David Moore released some suggestions of his own Monday, calling for revenue generating reforms and an “equitable sharing of the pain.” His recommendations include an increased transaction tax targeting luxury real estate, a $2.50 per stay hotel surcharge, and an increased fee on concessions at O’Hare, Midway, and Navy Pier.

“Ultimately, our goal should be to work more responsibly with the funds we do have by creating efficiencies and more accountability in how money is spent,” Moore said in a press release, “We also have to raise revenue, but not solely on the backs of our constituents who also are trying to navigate these trying economic times.” He is a former accountant.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) released its latest report detailing problems with the Department of Family Support and Services (DFSS) scoring system for agencies that help the city address homelessness. It found DFSS employees had “scored delegate agency applications inaccurately and inconsistently,” erring in monitoring some of the 57 agencies that help the roughly 6300 homeless people living in Chicago.

You can read the full report here.

DFSS spent roughly $60M on “delegate agencies” that help the homeless between 2013 and 2014, with most of that money coming from federal grants. Given the small sample size of the investigation, the OIG’s office couldn’t conclude whether every agency given DFSS funds after review was the best candidate.

DFSS chooses agencies through an RFP process, and monitors chosen agencies through audits to check they’re in compliance with their contracts. According to the OIG’s report, finding, funding and monitoring delegate agencies that cover the whole city is a challenge, and “the Department told us that the number of applications it had to review and the time it had to review them led it to choose expediency over thoroughness.”

The report found a number of errors in DFSS audits, including giving agencies undeserved points, miscounting total scores, and failing to follow up on “red flag” reports where auditors came up with different scores for facilities.

In response to the OIG’s findings, DFSS put a new automated scoring system in place that “minimizes human error in proposal scoring,” and noted OIG’s audit span was a particularly busy time for the Department. DFSS also responded to OIG findings on how DFSS holds agencies accountable for report inaccuracies, saying it “will follow-up with the agencies that have been identified as having inconsistent data, via performance letters issued at least twice a year.” It’s also using new training to ensure negative findings don’t slip through the Department’s program monitoring audit tool.

In a press release, Inspector General Joe Ferguson praised DFSS’ response. “Choosing the most qualified agencies and ensuring that those agencies comply with local and federal program requirements are critical to providing quality service to a population that is unlikely to advocate for itself. DFSS’ response to our audit findings reflects a clear resolve to the continuing improvement of both.”

A transition team appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel submitted about 50 pages worth of policy recommendations for his second term focusing on three issues: strengthening City Hall’s public engagement strategy, driving neighborhood economic growth, and expanding pre-K opportunities.

The group was announced in April. At the time, the Mayor’s office floated other possible areas for the group to address, like strengthening neighborhood schools, establishing protections for working families, public transit investments, and improving police and community interactions.

Sarah Pang, who Mayor Emanuel also tapped for the board of the Regional Transportation Authority, chairs the group. She spent nine years in Mayor Richard M. Daley’s administration, and serves on the board of the Chicago Loop Alliance, the sole service provider for the State Street SSA #1.

The committee also includes:

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  Frank Clark, President of the Business Leadership Council; Mayor’s recent appointee as President of the Chicago Board of Education

  
  


• 
  

  Gillian Darlow, CEO of the Polk Bros.; co-chairs the Mayor’s Lucas Cultural Arts Museum location task force

  
  


• 
  

  Sol Flores, ED of La Casa Norte; Mayor reappointed to the City’s Zoning Board of Appeals, served on the Low Income Housing Task Force, and the Mayor’s Municipal ID and Minimum Wage working groups

  
  


• 
  

  Deborah Graham, former 29th ward alderman; given $120,000 by the Mayor and his Chicago Forward PAC in the 2015 elections

  
  


• 
  

  Dorri McWhorter, Metropolitan YWCA CEO; Mayor appointed to the “Great Rivers Chicago” project earlier this year

  
  


• 
  

  David Munar, President and CEO of the Howard Brown Health Center

  
  


• 
  

  Jorge Ramirez, the President of the Chicago Federation of Labor; sits on the Chicago Infrastructure Trust Board and worked with the Mayor on the City’s Wellness Program for employees, the recent subject of an OIG advisory

  
  


• 
  

  Michael Sacks, Vice Chair of the Mayor’s World Business Chicago board; helped with the parking meter dispute between the City and Chicago Parking Meters

  
  


• 
  

  Juan Salgado, President and CEO of the Instituto del Progreso Latino; appointed to the Parks District Board, a City-County cooperation joint committee, and the Office of New Americans advisory committee

  
  

 

The committee made 18 specific recommendations in total, summed up in a press release from the Mayor’s office. Each recommendation has a suggested timeline for implementation. Its recommendations for pre-K reforms, a major platform during the Mayor’s re-election, include streamlining administration, creating a unified enrollment process between the Department of Family Support and Services and Chicago Public Schools, and targeting high need communities.

The committee also recommended increasing City Hall’s presence in neighborhoods, appointing more young members to committees and advisory boards, and creating a network of neighborhood ambassadors. Small business assistance, expansion of Transit-Oriented Developments, increased TIF transparency and streamlining, and re-imagining Planned Manufacturing Districts were all recommended in the committees economic growth recommendations. The recommendations on TOD expansion and freezing TIF districts downtown, have already been implemented.

“I am proud to accept these recommendations that reflect the priorities and aspirations of people throughout Chicago,” the Mayor said in a press release.

The Civic Consulting Alliance, a group that builds pro-bono teams of experts with help from the Commercial Club, helped develop the recommendations. City departments briefed committee members and submitted their own ideas for priorities in the Mayor’s second term.

The elections are coming: The first day to circulate nominating petitions for candidates in the 2016 primaries is September 1. The Primary Election is March 15, 2016, and Election Day is November 8. Earlier this week, the Chicago Board of Elections released election calendar deadlines and ward-by-ward signature requirements that candidates will likely pore over ahead of a long election season. Read the whole thing here.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016 is the last day to register to vote or to transfer registration to a new address before the primaries (there’s also a grace period for certain circumstances, but why take your chances?).

Big changes noted by Chicago Board of Elections:

• Early voting will start 40 days before Election Day at the Election Board's offices, and then expand to 51 sites 15 days before Election Day for both the primary and general elections. Early voting also will end later, now on Monday the day before Election Day.


• Early voting will offered for three days at UIC, Chicago State University, and Northeastern Illinois University.


• Election Day registration will be offered in all Illinois jurisdictions. In Chicago, that will mean at each of the City's 2,069 precinct polling places. Voters still have to go to the correct precinct based on their home address.


• Election authorities will need to post updates on their web sites in the days after the elections, showing how many late-arriving Vote-By-Mail ballots have been received but not yet processed or counted. (These numbers will be fun to monitor in razor-thin margin races.)

Dates we’ll be watching ahead of the primary on March 15, 2016:

• Nov. 23, 2015: First day to file nomination papers for Federal, State, Legislative and Judicial offices, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, Cook County offices and for Ward Committeeman


• Nov. 30, 2015: Last day for nomination papers for the above offices, and last chance for candidates to file economic interest statements. Interestingly, candidates for Ward Committeemen are not required to file economic interest statements.


• Dec. 7, 2015: Last day to file objections to nomination papers of candidates


• Dec. 14, 2015: Last day for filing original petitions for the submission of ballot referendum question


• Dec. 21, 2015: Last day to file objections to petitions for the submission of ballot referendum questions


• Jan. 7, 2016: Last day for candidates who filed nomination papers with the State BOE to withdraw as candidates, and the day names are placed on the official ballot by the County Clerk (in the order they were certified)


• Jan. 13, 2016: Last day for candidates who filed with Cook County Clerk to withdraw, and the last day for the Cook County Clerk to certify to the Board of Election Commissioners the names of the candidates for the primary


• Feb. 29, 2016: First day for early voting at permanent polling place locations


• Mar. 8, 2016: Last day for the Board to publish a notice of referendum questions to be voted on


• MAR. 15, 2016: PRIMARY ELECTION

Almost simultaneous with the Board of Elections press release, Steve Berlin, Executive Director of the City’s Board of Ethics, tweeted out a Revised Guide to Political Activity for City Employees. It’s red, white, blue, and full of restrictions. “Remember: there’s no such thing as a silly ethics question,” the FAQ reads. Especially in Chicago.

CPS Unveils Budget Under Cloud of Uncertainty, Pensions & CTU Contract Remain Wild Cards; CTU & Rauner Respond
by Claudia Morell – [email protected] and A.D. Quig – [email protected]

Chicago Public Schools leadership says they need another $480 million to stay open after this school year’s first quarter. But statehouse politics makes it unclear if Springfield will simply cut a check to help, raise Chicago property taxes, or a combination of both.

During a Monday conference call that coincided with the release of its proposed $5.687 billion operating budget, CPS officials suggested the situation is out of their hands. “If Springfield fails to do its part, we’ll make more unsustainable borrowing and deeper cuts,” CPS Chief Executive Officer Forrest Claypool said in Monday’s call, but said he was encouraged by the direction of talks in Springfield. (Press release – fact sheet 1 – fact sheet 2)

Some budget numbers of note:

Cuts:

• $65.5M to operating budget


• $288.3M to capital budget - what CPS is calling an “austerity budget”


• $65.2M to debt budget

Layoffs:

• 204 high school teachers and 275 elementary school teachers - CPS says there are approximately 1,450 teaching vacancies expected


• 1012 additional non-teaching position layoffs

Borrowing:

• $255M in “scoop and toss”


• $1M line of credit

Revenue:

• $87M TIF surplus


• $80M in property taxes


• $480M from pension reform in Springfield

Nearly every other sentence from CPS officials on their August 10th press call included mention of Springfield or state government, but Claypool says he has no intention of lobbying in Springfield directly. He says even with an additional property tax levy and TIF surplus money, CPS will be in big trouble without reform at the end of this school quarter.

The proposed FY16 budget will be made available for public comment and review on Aug. 18 at three meetings around the city (6:00-8:00 p.m. at Shurz High School, Olive-Harvey College, and Malcolm X College). The final budget is expected to be presented to the Board of Education for a vote at its next meeting, scheduled for Aug. 26.

(Also, immediately before the CPS press conference, schools leadership announced new changes to school bell times, where 34 schools will have their bell times reverted back to their original settings. The final 48 schools with start time changes will save $5 million a year, CPS leadership claims.)

CTU Springfield Allies Introduce ESRB Legislation

At the same time as the CPS budget release call, supporters of an Elected Representative School Board (ESRB)–including state legislators, Chicago Teachers Union organizers and aldermen–gathered to call for passage of House Bill 4268. Filed August 6, the legislation would establish a 13 member school board with members from four regions of Chicago, to be elected in March 2016.

A press release from CTU distributed at yesterday's ESRB event called the appointed Board of Education a financial failure. “This long record of ineffective governance is not because ‘Springfield’ has made mistakes but is rather because the Board has made decisions in the interests of private contractors, charter schools, big banks, and bondholders rather than the interests of students and families.” (CTU fact sheet)

The bill’s chief co-sponsors include Rep. Rob Martwick (D-Chicago), Rep. Elgie Sims (D-Chicago), Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago), Rep. Jaime Andrade (D-Chicago), and Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago), and 28 other co-sponsors.

Rayner Holds Response Presser; Talks CPS, Elected School Board and CTU Power

In a last-minute press conference called in Chicago yesterday afternoon, Governor Bruce Rauner said he doesn’t support an elected school board for Chicago and described the power of the Chicago Teacher’s Union (CTU) as “overwhelming.”

After spending six minutes reiterating his position that Chicago has benefited from special treatment and suggesting he is “cautiously optimistic” the General Assembly and CPS officials are warming up to his statewide reforms, the Governor refused to comment on specific CPS budget projections because his office is still “crunching the numbers”.

He did comment on two CPS related issues: the teachers’ union contract and the movement for an elected school board.

“The power of the teachers union is overwhelming. Chicago has given and given and it has created the financial crisis that Chicago schools face now,” Gov. Rauner said about the stalled contract negotiations between CPS and the Chicago Teacher’s Union.

Gov. Rauner also said Chicago doesn’t need an elected school board because Mayor Rahm Emanuel was elected into office and was given a mandate to appoint members to the board, “And the Mayor has shown a willingness to stand up and advocate for taxpayers and has taken on some of the entrenched interests, so I’m not a supporter of the Mayor losing his ability to drive reforms.”

After railing against “a special one-off deal for Chicago” the day before, Governor Bruce Rauner changed his tune on a CPS bailout from Springfield at an impromptu press conference in the Thompson Center Thursday afternoon. Offering a package that would address every level of Chicago Public Schools’ financial woes, Gov. Rauner required that one of the biggest parts of his “Turnaround Agenda”, limiting local unions’ collective bargaining rights, be part of the deal.

Rauner described closed-door conversations with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Senate President John Cullerton as “productive”, while chastising House Speaker Michael Madigan for his unwillingness to budge on his reform package, repeatedly calling for a “two-way street”.

Underlined by a packet his press team handed out before the press conference, Rauner offered to delay CPS’ $600 million dollar pension payment, give the district a $450 million cash advance, and chip in pension costs for FY16 and FY17. Pressure is building for CPS’s finances, as it is expected to release its district-wide budget early next week and schools are to open on September 8.

In exchange, Rauner wants to “allow local governments and local school districts to decide what issues get collectively bargained, just like Chicago has already asked to be done. And the state has already done as a special arrangement to Chicago,” the Governor said, recalling the city’s request in 2011 for the state to amend collective bargaining rights for Chicago Teachers Union members so the City could force teachers to pay their portion of pension costs. CPS has been picking up the tab for that bill for decades but officials say they can no longer afford to make the required annual payment because of its $1 billion pension shortfall

Earlier this week, the State Senate passed a measure that does half of what Rauner called for, SB318, that would freeze property taxes, overhaul the state’s funding formula for public schools, and provide additional aid to the Chicago Public Schools’ pension fund–but lacks any mention of collective bargaining. The bill, passed by a 37-1 vote, establishes a two-year local property tax freeze starting in 2016. Governments in Cook County would get a delayed rollout under the measure, with a property tax freeze taking effect in 2017.

As for the aid to the Chicago Public School Teachers’ Pension & Retirement Fund, the state would be required to contribute $200 million this fiscal year. The state mandated deadline requiring the teacher’s pension plan reach 90% funding would be extended four years to 2063.

The bill has advanced to the Illinois House, where it is likely to stall under Speaker Michael Madigan.

Speaking at a morning press conference yesterday, Speaker Madigan said he needed more time to review the legislation, which he described as “multi-faceted”. He also reaffirmed his support for amending the state’s funding formula, noting that Chicago should be treated differently because it has the highest number of students in the state that are low-income. But he refused to budge on the Governor’s proposed restrictions on unions, saying it hurts working families and “bumps up against core beliefs” held by both parties.

In a written statement released about an hour after Rauner’s presser, CPS’s newly appointed CEO Forrest Claypool emphasized the clock is ticking for CPS, “We look forward to working towards a quick resolution that treats all of the state’s children equally,” Claypool's statement said. “After recently making $200 million in cuts, Chicago Public Schools cannot afford to wait any longer to address this inequity.”

Complicating matters even more, hours later, CPS told the Chicago Tribune they are dropping the offer of a one-year contract agreement with the Chicago Teacher’s Union, and are now requesting a multi-year deal.

Late yesterday the Chicago Teacher’s Union announced a press conference for today at 11:00 a.m. at CTU headquarters. Karen Lewis is expected to discuss their position on contract negotiations.

The board responsible for disciplining attorneys in Illinois has recommended Russ Stewart, political columnist for the Northwest Side's Nadig Newspapers, lose his law license for a six month period, according to documents filed last week. The recommendation from the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, which is not final until ruled on by the Illinois Supreme Court, resulted from a 2010 divorce settlement Stewart worked on where he was accused of eliciting false testimony, making false testimony to the court and notarizing a signature without actually witnessing it.

If ordered by the Supreme Court, this would be Stewart's second disciplinary action. He was previously censured, essentially given a warning, in 2002. In this case, Stewart could still request a full hearing from the Supreme Court.

Just days after city Budget Director Alex Holt met with Inspector General Joe Ferguson to discuss immediate measures the city could take to make revenue, the OIG’s office released a report stating serious doubts about the City’s $20 million wellness program’s deliverables.

Between 2012 and 2014, the City has spent more than $10.5 million on its Chicago Lives Healthy (CLH) program with the goal of improving employee health and reducing healthcare costs. But it hasn’t properly assessed the results and cost-effectiveness of the program and doesn’t have plans to, according to a report from the Office of Inspector general released Tuesday.

In 2012, Chicago, like many companies nationwide, adopted a wellness program, which offers premium discounts, gym memberships and other incentives to employees as a way to improve overall health and fitness and reduce health insurance costs. While there was a 19% decrease in the City’s workforce between 2003 and 2013, healthcare costs went up 43%, the IG says. The CLH website bills its program as a way to “improve health and help maintain high value health care benefits at a reasonable cost to employees.” Biometric screening and health coaching are requirements of the program.

85% of eligible city employees (or 23,130 of 27,339) are enrolled in the program, which is also made available to spouses and domestic partners. City employees that don’t want to participate pay a $50 monthly surcharge, which has garnered the city $1.9 million.

The City has no way of knowing the cost-effectiveness and health benefits of offering the program, because it has not “formally assessed” the program’s impact and no plans to do so, the report concludes. “The City has yet to determine a method for measuring healthcare cost savings and employee health improvements. Without such a framework, the City cannot make evidence-based, cost-benefit decisions about the future of CLH.”

The report advises the City to:

• Set health status and health care savings targets and timeline


• Connect performance measures like biometric data to targeted health performance outcomes


• Start a study to ID and measure whether there’s a causal relationship between CLH and health status improvement and health care savings


• Include specific health status and health care savings targets into an RFP for the next wellness program


• Monitoring CLH on an ongoing basis


• Publicly reporting findings

Healthways, the company operating the program, reports to the City on enrollment, coaching participation and employee health status. Its $24.0 million contract with the City ends December 31, 2015. In a press release, Inspector general Joe Ferguson said while “there are serious questions as to whether the program is achieving any demonstrable benefits and if it will ever do so,” the City has refused to make measurement changes. Ferguson sent his report to the city on June 25.

Council might be on break, but Ald. George Cardenas (12) and Ald. Ed Burke (14) can spend their time off counting contributions–the two reported the most activity since our last aldermanic contribution review in mid-July. But the biggest single aldermanic donation since July 20th was from one alderman to another: On July 23, Ald. Joe Moreno (1) transferred $10,000 to his fellow Latino Caucus member Ald. Danny Solis (25). Mayor Emanuel’s big election time donations haven’t totally let up either, he got a $25,000 boost from The Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters.

View contributions spreadsheet. Download contributions as CSV file.

Most of the contributions to the Burnham Committee, Ald. Burke's political action committee, are from large law firms and consulting services, including Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP ($1,500) and Locke Lord LLP ($1,500). The consulting firm reportedly lobbying on behalf of Uber in Illinois, Leinenweber, Baroni & Daffada, LLC, also contributed ($1,500) to the Burnham Committee.

Friends of George Cardenas, Ald. Cardenas’ campaign committee, drew a more diverse list of donors, including real estate firms, general contractors, financial service companies, and one elected official. Berwyn Ald. Cesar Santoy made a personal donation of $1,500 on July 21 to Ald. Cardenas (the money wasn’t filed as a transfer from Santoy’s candidate committee).

Cardenas, Chairman of the City Council’s Committee on Health and Environmental Protection, also reported contributions ($1,500) from Yards Plaza, LLC, the company behind the proposed multi-million dollar Back of the Yards Shopping Center, and two recycling companies: JLG Recycling, Inc. ($2,500) and Lakeshore Recycling Systems ($1,500).

Newly elected Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41) received $1,000 from LiUNA Chicago Area Laborers Political League, a labor organization with 20 local affiliates representing 20,000 construction workers, including many city workers. Earlier this month, Ald. Pat Dowell (3) received a $1,000 from the group, but listed them as “Construction & General Labors.”

Ald. Michelle Harris (8), Chairman of the City Council’s powerful Rules Committee, got a $1,500 lift from ComEd PAC, the political action group for the energy provider. The company’s PAC transferred the same amount of money to City Council Budget Committee Chairman Carrie Austin’s (34) candidate contribution group earlier this month.

Completely unreported by every media outlet (including this one), and seemingly unnoticed by everyone, last Thursday afternoon Chicago’s Legislative Inspector General, Faisal Khan, posted a letter to Facebook announcing that on August 28, his office will run out of money and need to shut down. A week earlier, Khan mailed hard copies and emailed the same letter to each alderman.

There was, “no response. Not from the Mayor’s office or any member of Council,” Khan told Aldertrack this weekend.

Khan, who has had an uneasy relationship with members of Council, is not surprised at the outcome.

“I don’t think there’s a real interest in sustaining this office. It was just a cover for real aldermanic abuse,” said Khan. ‘“As soon as we started doing real work, there was real push back. There’s been nothing but an adversarial relationship.”

The OLIG received a minimal budget of $350,000. Khan found it difficult to hire enough staff to do the job he believed he was hired to do. And, since his office had to seek a new appropriation each year, Khan believed the deck was stacked against him.

Making it worse, Khan thinks, is that his office has looked into hundreds of ethics complaints, including 425 potential campaign finance violations from the last election. Then, when he finds something potentially criminal, he refers it to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

“It’s impossible to do your job when you’re supposed to ask for money from the people you’re supposed to oversee. That’s one of the problems of this office. We’re at a point where when you know you’re under investigation you’re not [going to be] interested in supporting the office,” he said.

Khan, who has been commuting back to New York City each weekend to spend time with his wife and newborn twin sons, understands the end is near for his office. Now he’s beginning to look to the future, like packing up all his investigation documents and turning them over to federal investigators.

The feds are working on the cases, slowly and deliberately, said one of his former staffers. “There are cases referred to federal investigators that are of major import.”

In the meantime, the Legislative Inspector General won’t be waiting for City Council when it comes back from August vacation.