Chicago News
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There’s been a flood of news on Cook County’s nascent beverage tax, which started hitting customers on August 2nd. The knock-on political impact for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has been brutal so far. She told party bosses at the Cook County Democratic Party slating on Thursday that her administration has been “particularly challenged” as of late, but stood by the tax, saying it “was the right thing to do,” to prevent hundreds of layoffs in key the county’s public safety and health departments.
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AUG 11, 2017
A panel Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson commissioned nearly a year ago to overhaul the police department's approach to “community policing” released a preliminary draft of their suggested reforms Thursday. Very similar to that of a police reform roadmap Supt. Johnson issued in March, the draft, which calls for significant changes in training and day-to-day policing, won’t be finalized for at least another four months.
This puts CPD in the considerable position of designing a plan and corresponding curriculum at the same time it undergoes a major hiring bump, and while the city renegotiates a ten-year old, recently expired contract with all rank and file police officers.
The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, the union that represents Chicago police officers, was not part of the drafting, and its newly elected president Kevin Graham would not comment on its proposals, since, according to his secretary, Thursday late afternoon was the first time he’d seen it.
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Mayor Rahm Emanuel intends to create a new finance authority to issue debt on behalf of the city, using new powers built in the state’s 2018 budget passed last month that the mayor called a “key part” in addressing the city’s debt load and slumping credit ratings. Mayor Emanuel briefly discussed the initiative at the city’s annual Investors Conference, a yearly closed-door presentation the mayor and his finance team give to bankers in order to bolster the city’s fiscal image.
Though the “new tool” had been in the planning stage for over a year, through the city’s lobbying efforts in Springfield, this was the first time he spoke about it publicly, even if for only a few minutes.
“It allows us to issue our G.O. – our general obligation debt – in a way that is much more financially viable for the city,” Mayor Emanuel said of the new mechanism two-thirds of the way into his speech. “It will create a revenue that is essential for the city to continue on the path or restructuring and rebalancing the finances to create the certainty and stability that’s essential for the economic growth for the city of Chicago.”
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AUG 09, 2017
The Council’s Finance Committee held a subject matter hearing– but took no action– on an ordinance and resolution from committee chair Ald. Ed Burke (14) that seeks to curtail price gouging of prescription drugs by pharmaceutical companies.
The hearing is the latest in a series of subject matter hearings the committee has had on the issue of prescription drugs, whether in relation the the country’s ongoing opioid crisis or the burden drug costs have on seniors and the chronically ill.
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AUG 08, 2017
Chicago Public School officials delayed Monday’s planned release of the district’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget, and announced the regularly scheduled August Board of Education meeting would be moved to later in the month as well. Instead, the district announced a number of “staffing changes… based on enrollment changes, program adjustments and/or changes in students’ academic needs.”
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City Council’s Committee on Finance meets Tuesday morning to discuss a resolution [R2017-208] and an ordinance [O2017-4915] related to prescription drug pricing. The ordinance, sponsored by Chairman Ed Burke (14) and Ald. Sophia King (4), mandates that “pharmaceutical manufacturers whose drugs are sold in Chicago must disclose price hikes 90 days in advance if those increases fall into one of a series of categories. It also calls for the establishment of a price review board by the Health Department.” About a half dozen people are expected to testify in support. The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and CVS have both lobbied against the requirements, but aren’t expected to testify.
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On this week’s Aldercast, The Daily Line publisher Mike Fourcher sits down with two of our favorite sources on black politics in Chicago: Brian Sleet, a principal at Kivvit, and former campaign manager for State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, and Jedediah Brown, an activist, pastor and organizer with Chicago Life. The three sat down at WGN Radio in the Loop for a spirited (and split) discussion about who benefits from economic development in black communities, who has credibility on police reform, and the lack of candidates in the 2018 gubernatorial race that are talking about issues that matter to African American voters.
Have comments, questions, or suggestions? Send us an email: [email protected]. -
Cook County officials logged $1.1 million in total campaign fundraising receipts for the second quarter of 2017, according to an analysis of quarterly disclosure filings with the Illinois State Board of Elections. Between April 1st and June 30th, the total cash on hand among commissioners and elected officials is roughly $4.3 million. Unsurprisingly, Assessor Joe Berrios holds more than a third of that ($1.6 million) between his personal fund, Committee to Elect Joseph Berrios Assessor, and his political ward fund, the 31st Ward Democratic Organization. During this period, Assessor Berrios deactivated an older political fund, “Joseph Berrios, 31st Ward Committeeman”, but Cook County Democratic Party spokesperson Jacob Kaplan would not comment on why.
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The legal wrangling over the county’s soda tax seems far from over, as both sides–Cook County and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association–filed motions in Cook County Circuit and Appellate Courts Monday. IRMA filed a motion to appeal Friday’s ruling that allowed the tax to go forward. The county countered with a motion seeking damages, about $17 million in revenue it says it lost out on collecting because a judge delayed the effective July 1st date to today.
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AUG 02, 2017
South Works (Credit: Chicago Department of Planning and Development)
After a previous redevelopment plan led by McCaffery Interests floundered, a new development team has been selected to take over the redevelopment of the former U.S. Steel factory, a 440-acre stretch of prime lakefront land on the southern edge of Chicago.
In an early morning announcement released via email Tuesday– one that wasn’t paired with an on-site staged event–the Mayor’s Office revealed a green-tech development company, Emerald Living, is in the process of acquiring the property owned by the former manufacturing giant U.S. Steel.
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Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia’s office released its request for proposals for its municipal ID program, which is still on track to go live by the end of this year. The RFP requests potential vendors provide the services, technology, and hardware to print the identification cards, store “minimal” user data for applicants, integrate the city’s service departments into the program, and allow for fraud prevention.
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The city’s Budget Office released its Annual Financial Analysis Monday afternoon, boasting a record-low structural deficit (but leaving out some big ticket items), and revealing big costs down the road as the city grapples with legacy debt, growing pension payments, and personnel costs.
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AUG 01, 2017
Chicago finished out the 2016 fiscal year with $514.1 million cash on hand. Revenue collection was nearly 3-percent less than 2015, for a difference of $207.5 million, while expenditures continued to outpace receipts for a year-end net deficit of $27,429.9 million. Those are some of the big-picture numbers revealed in the city’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for FY 2016.
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Cook County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Kubasiak granted Cook County’s motion to dismiss the Illinois Retail Merchants Association’s (IRMA) case against the county’s sweetened beverage tax Friday afternoon. The decision surprised both sides, who expected for the motion to be denied and for the case–similar to the county’s proposed tax on ammunition–to drag on for some time. President Preckwinkle’s administration, in the midst of layoffs and position eliminations, applauded the decision.
