Officials from Cook County’s Pension Fund presented an abbreviated version of their most recent actuarial findings to commissioners at Wednesday’s board meeting, and painted an unsurprisingly bleak picture. The fund faces similar problems to many other municipalities: fewer employees signing up and more retirees collecting benefits, lower than anticipated returns on investments, and the cannibalization of assets to pay beneficiaries. The pension fund currently has more than 40,000 members and is headed for insolvency by 2039.

Even though commissioners approved a one year agreement to contribute $270 million in sales tax revenue to the pension fund, that extra contribution is going straight to paying benefits, the fund’s Executive Director & Chief Investment Officer Nickol Hackett said. “Those proceeds are going right to work,” Hackett said. “It allows the fund to adhere to our long term investment strategy” rather than liquidating assets to make payments.  

Commissioner Bridget Gainer, the chair of the Pension Committee, pointed out Hackett’s statement assumes the sales tax contribution continues into the future, and suggested a longer-term IGA might give the fund more certainty for future investment moves.

During budget negotiations, Gainer pushed for a longer intergovernmental agreement between the county and the fund, so future boards couldn’t redirect sales tax revenue elsewhere and leave the fund in the lurch.

The FY16 county budget did project extra contributions of sales tax revenue for the next 30 years. A $340 million contribution is projected FY2017, with annual contributions projected to grow at no more than 2% per year until 100% funding is reached in 2046.

While actuarial assets have trended upward, the unfunded liability is growing. In 2015, its funded ratio fell from 57.51% to 55.39%.

“We have a fundamental problem: the investment return has not met the actuarial assumption for a really long time,” County Chief Financial Officer Ivan Samsteinsaid, which will affect funding required year to year. But Samstein did point out what he viewed as the good news–that the three major credit rating agencies recently revised the county’s general obligation bond outlook to stable, citing the county’s effort to address pension funding problems.

While true, ratings agencies warned that the County might have a difficult time building up strong enough reserves to weather another recession. Standard and Poor’s actually downgraded the County to AA- when issuing its “stable” forecast. S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Helen Samuelson said the fact that Cook County shares a tax base with the City of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools, which are both facing funding and pension problems, "could impose practical limitations to the county's revenue and expenditure flexibility.”

But Samstein still said the pension fund is on the upswing. “They are beating the median. They are above average for comparable pension funds,” he said, crediting Hackett’s leadership for the turnaround.

Commissioner Gainer deferred the item, saying there would be another discussion once commissioners had a chance to assess the 14 page presentation and return with questions.

The pension fund hasn’t yet released its full audited financial statements or actuarial valuations for FY2015, which were presented to pension fund board members on June 2. A broader picture of the county’s fiscal position, the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), was released at about this time last year.

Pat Carey, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s Special Assistant for Government Affairs, is leaving his role for a new position at McGuireWoods LLP. His final day was June 1. Carey was Preckwinkle’s go-between with commissioners, and yesterday they took turns thanking him for his tireless work.

Commissioner Robert Steele joked he hoped Carey wasn’t getting poached by Airbnb, who recently hired 4th Ward Ald. Will Burns to head up midwest lobbying efforts. “They’re a client,” Carey responded, smiling.

His replacement wasn’t announced at Wednesday’s meeting, but is rumored to be Vasyl Markus, an experienced political hand who has worked on hospital organizing for SEIU, as legal counsel to House Speaker Mike Madigan, and more recently as a legislative liaison with the Illinois Department of Revenue and Director of Special Projects at the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability.

Brian Hamer, Preckwinkle’s current Chief of Staff, also hails from the Illinois Department of Revenue, where he served as director for 12 years. He joined Preckwinkle’s team at the end of March after another another high profile exit: Preckwinkle’s Chief of Staff, Tasha Green Cruzat. She announced in February she’d leave her county post to become president of the education advocacy group Voices for Illinois Children.

Carey started his public service career as an intern in Mayor Richard M. Daley’s office, where he moved up to Assistant to the Mayor. He shifted to the county side in 2011 as Assistant to the Chief of the Bureau of Economic Development, and was promoted to Preckwinkle’s team in 2013, where he was responsible for carrying out the president’s legislative agenda with commissioners.

“He’s a major loss for them,” one Cook County staffer told Aldertrack. “This loss may be more difficult than they even realize.”



Another said, “Whether our offices agreed or disagreed, we always knew Pat Carey would be honest with us and would work toward a common solution. Everyone is going to miss him because he, more than anyone in the administration, demonstrated a willingness to hear out board members’ concerns and ideas and take them seriously. There's a concern that might change.”

The ongoing saga over regulating Airbnb rentals in Chicago may not be over, according to City Council Housing Chairman Joe Moore (49), who tells Aldertrack that there is a “50/50” chance there could be another committee hearing to consider yet another revision to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposed regulations.

“I think there are some changes as we continue to make sure that people are comfortable with the ordinance and have an opportunity to have their concerns aired and addressed,” Ald. Moore said Wednesday of the ongoing talks.

Any additional changes won’t be favorable for Airbnb, aldermen tell Aldertrack. One pointed to Airbnb’s recent tv ad blitz against the Mayor, mayoral staff’s criticism over the ads, and concerns from neighborhood aldermen about rentals of single family homes to signal the majority of aldermen want more, not less regulations.

A joint meeting of the Council’s License and Housing Committees approved the Mayor’s proposed regulations minutes before the May 18 City Council meeting, after conducting a lengthy hearing the day before. Since introducing an outline of regulations in January, the Mayor has received stiff criticism from downtown and North Side aldermen who represent wards with the most bookings, and from Airbnb proponents who don’t want to see the service’s growth stifled.

The language has since gone through multiple revisions–it underwent three re-writes before a committee vote on the plan was called. Even then, the vote to consider the proposal passed committee in a tight 12-8 vote. The actual vote to approve the measure passed 17-9. At the time, Ald. Moore, citing ongoing concerns about the ordinance, chose not to report out the ordinance to the full Council for a vote that day.

Yesterday, Moore told Aldertrack that downtown and North Side aldermen who represent areas of the city with the highest concentration of Airbnb rentals still don’t think the regulations go far enough. He cited concerns over reporting requirements, whether the city has the ability to effectively regulate Airbnb, and whether owners of single family homes should be required to remain on the premises when they rent out a room.

A working group of aldermen have been meeting regularly since that May 18 committee meeting to discuss how the ordinance could be improved. They’ve already held two meetings and have another scheduled for this Friday, Aldertrack has learned. One alderman who has attended those meetings tells Aldertrack that while no new language has been drafted yet, Airbnb has “the most to lose” from the ongoing talks. That source said several aldermen who represent wards zoned mostly for single family homes want more local control, not less, an argument that seems to contradict Airbnb’s ad campaign against the Mayor.

As the law currently stands, it is illegal for anyone in a residentially zoned district to rent through Airbnb without first obtaining a special use permit from the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals. That allows the local alderman and neighbors to have a say in the matter. Those controls, which are rarely enforced, are done away with in the Mayor’s plan, the chief reason Ald. Marty Quinn (13) voted against it last May in committee. After the vote, Quinn told Aldertrack that 95% of his Southwest Side ward is made up of single-family homes. “I have some real concerns about turning single family home blocks in the 13th Ward into areas that have a lot of transition,” he said.

“In a perfect world, they’d like to have a hearing and a vote, but I don’t know yet,” said Ald. Moore. If any changes are made to the current ordinance, Ald. Moore and License Chairman Emma Mitts (37) would have to hold another joint committee hearing and vote.

Despite the recent flood of TV ads funded by the Internet Association criticizing the Mayor’s proposed regulations for being unduly burdensome for lower income homeowners–the ads argue the Mayor sided with the Gold Coast and the “1%” in drafting the measure–Ald. Moore said he hasn’t heard any concerns from aldermen saying the ordinance is too strict.

“I think Airbnb folks, who seem to be pretty tone deaf, need to realize that,” Ald. Moore said of the commercials, which he said he hasn’t seen personally.

“If the Mayor was looking for the easy, most politically expedient way out, he would listen to the concerns expressed by Ald. [Brendan] Reilly and Ald. [Michele] Smith,” Ald. Moore explained, suggesting they’re the ones who want to “kill all Airbnbs.”

Ald. Smith’s office confirmed with Aldertrack yesterday they are continuing to negotiate with the Mayor's office for stronger regulations and protections for their ward to be included in further revisions. The Mayor’s Office and the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection declined to comment.

Yesterday morning, a group of 13 advocates for policing reform, led by Police Board President Lori Lightfoot, announced an open letter to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and leading aldermen calling for increased transparency on efforts to reform city police policy and to invite the public into Mayor Emanuel’s plans to replace the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA), and to create a citizen’s oversight board and a public safety inspector general.

In a follow up interview with Aldertrack, Lightfoot made pointed remarks about the need for increased transparency and possible plans for the Police Board to make its own reform policies.

“The bar has been raised for public engagement,” Lightfoot told Aldertrack. “The status quo and old way of doing things has failed and has to be abandoned. Let people in, show transparency, show people what’s going on and invite people into the conversation.”

“We’re talking about fundamentally reshaping the entire local law enforcement structure,” she continued. “That is not something that can be done with a few people in the Mayor’s office. People are really interested in this topic. They are willing to give their time and talent to this issue. But you know, this is Chicago, so nothing is simple.”

Asked if the Police Board will use its statutory powers “to adopt rules and regulations for the governance of the police department”, to further press police reform, Lightfoot said, “I think there’s some interest on the current Police Board to craft responses to that provision. That is a discussion we are having. I expect us to come out with some thoughts on that relatively soon.”

Police Board members are appointed by the mayor for five year terms, and may only be removed for “just cause” such as “incompetence, neglect of duty, gross misconduct or criminal conduct.” The Mayor also appoints the president of the board for a two year term from among members of the board.

Aldermen are expected to hold a confirmation hearing for a new appointee, Eva-Dina Delgado, at a Public Safety Committee meeting June 14. If approved, Delgado, a registered lobbyist for People’s Gas, would replace Claudia Valenzuela, who resigned.

Lightfoot strongly endorsed Chief Administrator Sharon Fairley’s management of IPRA, saying she, “has done a really good job by righting the ship there.” She also had strong words of approval for one-time police superintendent candidate Anne Kirkpatrick, who was recently announced as the head of a new, reformulated Bureau of Professional Standards in the police department. “Anne Kirkpatrick is the real deal, no question about it. I can’t imagine she would leave the comfort of her home in Seattle if there was not an opportunity to do some real good.”

Kirkpatrick has served as the Chief of Police in Spokane, Washington and as Chief Deputy in the King’s County Sheriff’s Department.

Aldermen will schedule a hearing “in the upcoming months” on two competing ordinances to dissolve and replace the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA), the agency in charge of investigating allegations of police misconduct.

Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30), Chairman of the Council’s Public Safety Committee, and Ald. Carrie Austin (34), Chairman of the Council’s Budget Committee, sent out a vaguely worded press release yesterday to explain a hearing will be held, eventually. No date was mentioned. "We believe that we are at an incredibly important moment in our city's history as we work to revamp Chicago's police accountability structure," the press release states before referencing Ald. Leslie Hairston’s (5) proposed ordinance to abolish IPRA and replace it with a stronger agency run by a new Independent Citizen Police Monitor, and Ald. Jason Ervin’s (28) plan to put IPRA under the control of the city’s Inspector General.

Noting that those ordinances have "started the conversations for structural reforms", Reboyras and Austin add the two ordinances will "become part of the larger framework for the final ordinance."

“Building on that, we will continue to work with our colleagues and members of the public in order to ensure the ordinance reflects the input of a wide range of stakeholders," the release said.

Last month, the Mayor’s staff held private briefings with aldermen to discuss a replacement for IPRA. But those conversations have somewhat waned, according to Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29). He told Aldertrack yesterday that he hasn’t heard of any meetings since, while also raising doubts that IPRA will even be replaced. He expects the changes will be superficial, and that most of the staff, including new IPRA Chief Administrator Sharon Fairley, will stay on the payroll.

The City Council’s Human Relations Committee approved an amendment to the city’s Human Rights Ordinance that would make it possible for transgender individuals to use public restrooms associated with the gender they identify with without the threat of having to show a government issued ID. While the ordinance introduced by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the Council’s recently created LGBT Caucus, and Ald. Ed Burke (14) received a significant amount of public support yesterday, a few aldermen on the Council raised concerns about abuse, or what Ald. Nick Sposato (36) dubbed the “knucklehead effect.”

Attendance: Chair Pat Dowell (3), Brian Hopkins (2), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), Toni Foulkes (16), David Moore (17), Willie Cochran (20), Danny Solis (25), Chris Taliaferro (29), Scott Waguespack (32), Deb Mell (33), Nick Sposato (38), Anthony Napolitano (41), Michele Smith (43), Tom Tunney (44), James Cappleman (46), Joe Moore (49)

“I grew up with a lot of knuckleheads. I was a knucklehead, so I did stupid things. I see knuckleheads being knuckleheads. Guys saying now they want to go into the girl’s bathroom,” Ald. Sposato said, giving the example of a hypothetical boy named “Johnny” who everyone knows identifies as a guy and has a girlfriend. “And now he wants to be a funny guy...go into the girl’s bathroom.”

Like Sposato, Ald. David Moore (17), Ald. Willie Cochran (20), Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41) and Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11) expressed confusion over how the ordinance would be enforced, bringing up hypothetical situations of people taking advantage of the law. Ald. Napolitano asked what would happen to a man who went to the locker room of a health club to watch women shower. In another hypothetical situation, Ald. Thompson referenced long lines at public restrooms at White Sox games, inquiring what would prevent a non-transgender person from picking which bathroom to use based on wait times.

When administrative and legal officials with Chicago Public Schools testified in support of the ordinance–yesterday’s item was mirrored after recently announced CPS guidelines–Ald. Cochran questioned how CPS deals with students who abuse the rules.

What if I am a student “feeling like a girl” one day, Ald. Cochran asked, echoing Ald. Sposato. “If I want to be funny or offensive that day [...] how is this going to be balanced?” An official with CPS said the school would take disciplinary action only if “there was misbehavior in the bathroom.” Ald. Napolitano said it was concerning that regulations seemed to be enforced through “an honor system.”

Ald. Sposato requested that officials from the police department, who were present in the chambers in case their testimony was needed, clarify CPD policy on dealing with complaints made by people who see someone of the opposite sex in a public bathroom.

Police Commander Sean Joyce responded that, “depending on the circumstances”, an officer would respond to the scene and “conduct an investigation.”

“As you know, we don’t police comfort and uncomfort of people...” Commander Joyce began to respond, “If a crime has taken place–”

“I’m not talking about a crime,” Ald. Sposato interrupted. “A woman says a man is in the woman’s bathroom, they call the police. Let’s say we’re here at City Hall, police are all over the place. One of these ladies says–I’ll just use myself as an example–Nick Sposato is in the bathroom, [the police] come to me. What are they supposed to tell me? ‘Why were you in there?’”

Joyce responded that it’s not police policy to arrest someone for using the wrong bathroom unless a crime has been committed, but that an officer could stay on the scene if the complainant requested it.

Only Ald. Napolitano and Ald. Moore (17) voted against the measure. Sposato gave a vocal “no” when the voice vote was taken, but he’s not on the committee.

Prior to the vote, Ald. Moore wondered aloud if the item should be held until someone could properly address the mechanism for penalizing predators and those who falsely identify as transgender. But he was quickly shot down by Chairman Pat Dowell (3) and Ald. Joe Moore (49), who in echoing a famous quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. on the arch of progress, told his colleagues that it would be a shame for them to look back at this vote and see they were on the wrong side of history.

A majority of those present at yesterday’s meeting praised the ordinance. One of the sponsors, Ald. Tom Tunney (44), the first openly gay person to get elected to the Chicago City Council, noted the amendment was an “evolution of where we’re going as a culture.” Ald. James Cappleman (46) recalled the bigotry he faced when he first came out, adding that to this day he’s still the recipient of homophobic epithets. Public witnesses included representatives from the local chapter of the ACLU, Lambda Legal, and Howard Brown, a network of affordable health clinics geared toward LGBT Chicagoans.

Chicago filmmaker Lilly Wachowski, who is best known for directing The Matrix series, showed up to testify in support of the ordinance. She recently came out as transgender. “When I go about my daily life, I get snickered at, ogled, given the stink eye, or even am the subject of the odd, not so surreptitious phone snaps,” Wachowski testified. “It’s a sensitivity that all trans people share in our majority enforced, binary gendered society.”

The amendment now heads to the full City Council for a vote.

Lead sponsor Cook County Comm. Larry Suffredin deferred his ordinance clarifying that all electronic communication by government officials, board or commission appointees and employees regarding government business must be through official government email accounts. Separately, elected officials and their staff (like commissioners) may use separate email accounts associated with their own offices, or personal email accounts, but must tell Board Secretary Matthew DeLeon those accounts are being used for government purposes.

During yesterday’s Committee on Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations, Suffredin implied some were confused about what the ordinance required. “This is a serious ordinance change, but it is not one that is tying our hands or changing state law,” he told fellow commissioners, citing Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s and former Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy’s court battles over Freedom of Information Act requests.

Commissioners were also briefed on county legislative priorities in Springfield by chief lobbyist for Cook County, Scott Cisek. “I bring news of Springfield and it is not necessarily all good news. I personally do not see a balanced budget until after the election in November,” he said, anticipating budgeting will continue via court order or piecemeal. “To say the situation is dire is an understatement.”

Pending legislative priorities:

• SB2923 - Extending the tax sale deadline
• SB2605 - Forest Preserve tax abatement bill
• SB3292 - Changing probation for young drug offenders
• HB2470 - Changing law regarding life without parole for juveniles
• SB2925 - Allows other agencies to withhold licenses if the applicant owes the county money

Legislative priorities passed:

• HB5598 - Codifies intergovernmental agreement with the Illinois Department of Revenue, including information sharing
• SB384 - an exemption to the Open Meetings Act to allow discussion of topics that might fall under the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (HIPAA)
• SB 2767 - any tax or fee unpaid after an administrative hearing are considered debt due to the county
• HB6291 - the county’s juvenile justice reform package preventing juveniles from being sent for certain drug crimes until their third offense and scales back mandatory probation for juveniles for certain drug crimes.

Successfully killed bills:

• HB4348 - says a unit of local government may not impose any tax, fee, or other assessment other than the normal sales tax rate on guns, attachments, or ammunition
• SB3332 - ends the exemption for concealed carry in the Forest Preserves

The committee also approved three appointments: Judith Hamill as the first female member of the Cook County Zoning Board of Appeals, Dale Niewiardowski as a Trustee of the Northwest Mosquito Abatement District, and Michael Sullivan as Commissioner of the Weller Creek Drainage District Board of Commissioners.

The Council’s Committee on Human Relations meets today to consider an appointment to a city-run board on human rights and a proposal from Mayor Rahm Emanuel that aims to prevent discrimination against transgender individuals in public restrooms.

This will be the committee’s first meeting under Chairman Pat Dowell (3), who was selected to replace Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1) as committee chairman during the leadership shuffle prompted by 4th Ward Ald. Will Burns’ resignation. Moreno now oversees the Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development.

Under Mayor Emanuel’s anti-discrimination measure, which he introduced with the sponsorship of City Council’s recently-formed LGBT Caucus, public accommodations like hotels, restaurants or grocery stores would be barred from requiring that patrons show a government ID when that person requests to use the restroom. It’s a response to the national attention over transgender rights in public restrooms, first initiated by a controversial law passed in North Carolina.

The ordinance amends the definition of “sex” within the city’s Human Rights Ordinance to include “both biological category and gender identity” and states that “Each person determines his or her own gender identity; no proof shall be required except his or her expression of his or her gender.” The measure follows new guidelines recently issued by Chicago Public Schools.

The members of the LGBT Caucus are Ald. Tom Tunney (44), Ald. James Cappleman (46), Ald. Deb Mell (33), Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), and Ald. Raymond Lopez (15).

Mayor Emanuel has also requested that the committee appoint Ryan Dunigan, a litigation associate at the Chicago law firm Winston & Strawn, to the city’s Commission on Human Relations.

The Mayor created the 19-member board in 2012 to enforce the city’s Human Rights and Fair Housing ordinances. Under city law, the Mayor is allowed to appoint 14 of those 19 members. They serve without compensation but can be reimbursed for their “reasonable expenses” incurred while on the job.

Dunigan will serve out the remainder of Curtis J. Tarver, Jr.’s term. Tarver, the co-owner and brewer for the Vice District TapRoom, was appointed to the board in 2014 and has since resigned.

Ahead of today’s full Cook County Board of Commissioners meeting, scheduled for 11:00 a.m., committees will meet to consider a $4.1 million contract with Pepsi for County and Forest Preserve facilities, the status of the county’s pension fund, and a report on the county’s M/WBE contracts.

Contract Compliance Committee

An annual report on Cook County’s Minority and Women Owned Business (M/WBE) participation is the only agenda item for the Contract Compliance Committee today. Last fiscal year, roughly 30% of county contracts and contract payments were made to minority and women-owned businesses, totaling more than $86 million.

Overall, the report says, M/WBE participation increased by approximately four percent, to 29% in contracts awarded and by six percent (to 31%) in actual payments in FY15 from FY14.

Most MBE contract spending, $30 million, went to African American-owned businesses in FY15, followed by Hispanic Americans ($24 million) and Asian Americans ($14 million). Total MBE contract spending was $68 million. The bulk of total dollars spent on WBE businesses went to Caucasian-owned companies ($8 million), with African American woman-owned businesses trailing at $1 million, Hispanic businesses even further down at $300,000, and Asian Americans at $50,000.

Pension Committee

An ordinance from Cook Co. Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Finance Chair John P. Daley, and Gregg Goslin amends the pension reporting requirements to reflect recent guidelines from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB 67 and GASB 68). Taxing districts will have to submit financial data to Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas within 30 days of audits being issued, instead of the old deadline: the last Tuesday in December.

By July 29, 2016, districts will also have to electronically provide the most recent actuarial reports prepared for their pension plans in accordance with reporting requirements in GASB 67 and 68 (The County’s pension fund started following requirements for GASB 67 in 2014 and GASB 68 for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2015.) The accounting changes keep governments from overestimating investment returns, require a shorter amortization schedule, and different reported numbers for funding and accounting.

In short, the reporting requirements don’t change how much needs to be paid into a pension fund, but can paint a bleaker picture for pensions that have been historically underfunded. For example, Bloomberg reported New Jersey’s unfunded liability amount nearly doubled under the new accounting standard, from $43.8 billion to $78.8 billion.

A briefing for Commissioners is scheduled from the Cook County and Forest Preserve employee pension funds, including an update on the impact of recent Supreme Court decisions on pension reform and to discuss the estimated payment from the recent sales tax hike to the Cook County pension fund. The County currently has a one year agreement with its employee pension fund to contribute $270.5 million in sales tax revenue to the retirement fund (in addition to property taxes) to chip away at the unfunded liability. The first installment of sales tax revenue was due in April. The fund has a roughly $6.5 billion shortfall.

Asset Management Committee

Three items are up for committee consideration today: a two year $400,000 contract with Graybar Electric Company for electrical supplies, a $200,000 contract extension with Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. for industrial maintenance, repair and operating commodities and services. The last is a request from the Department of Real Estate and the Cook County Health and Hospitals System (CCHHS) to discuss in executive session the possible acquisition of property to be utilized by the Cook County Ambulatory & Community Health Network (ACHN) for a primary health care clinic.

Labor Committee

A substitute ordinance mandating construction on properties that receive a Class 8 property tax incentives “shall only be performed by a contractor or subcontractor who participates in an active apprenticeship and training program approved and registered with the US Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship” is one of just three Labor Committee agenda items today. The ordinance is sponsored by Commissioners Joan Patricia Murphy, Bridget Gainer, Jeffrey Tobolski, andSean Morrison.

Failure to file proof of participation in the apprenticeship program would result in "the loss of the incentive for the period relating to the non-filing," and properties already receiving the break would be subject to the same rules on any future construction at the site. Properties that receive a Class 8 break are assessed at a lower rate: 10% of the market value for 10 years, 15% for the 11th year and 20% in the 12th year (instead of 25%). The break is meant to spur industrial and commercial development.

The Labor Committee will also consider wage increases and healthcare for Sheriff's Telecommunications, Vehicle Service and Electronic Monitoring Supervisors (negotiated by the Metropolitan Alliance of Police Chapter 507), and a corrected collective bargaining agreement for support staff in the Office of the Public Defender (AFSCME 3696); assistant public defenders (AFSCME 3315); caseworkers, interpreters and investigative personnel in the Offices of the Public Defender, Medical Examiner and Adoption and Child Custody Advocacy (AFSCME 1767); and Cook County Assessor’s staff (AFSCME 3835).

 

Zoning and Building Committee

In addition to eight recommendations from the county Zoning Board of Appeals, the Zoning Committee will consider whether to add new zoning inspection fees to the county code for land not involving buildings (for creation of floodplains, drainage, grading, soil erosion control, streambank stabilization, and trail improvements). The fees range from $1,500 for less than five acres, and $50 per acre for projects over 100 acres. Areas with impermeable surfaces have higher fees. The change is sponsored by Board President Toni Preckwinkle, and was deferred last month.  

Finance Committee

A $4.1 million Pepsi contract is the only non-settlement or legal payment on today’s finance agenda. Per the 10 year deal, “Pepsi will receive exclusive pouring rights for all beverages served on all Cook County and Forest Preserve properties, in exchange for certain rebates, commissions and other one-time and annual revenues as specified.” The total $4,141,985 contract includes both Cook County Government’s and the Forest Preserve District’s share of projected revenues from the deal.

Within the pages of legal settlements on the agenda, here are the largest:

• Hinojosa v. Sheriff of Cook County et al. Hinojosa sued the Sheriff’s department on behalf of her husband, Arturas Kolgovas, who was killed in 2010. Kolgovas’ daughter called the police one afternoon in January, believing he would hurt her in a drunken rage. Officers had encountered Kolgovas twice before, when he threatened suicide. He was reportedly combative with police. In January, 2010 Kolgovas barricaded himself inside his apartment, at times threatening officers with a samurai sword. In an attempt to make an arrest, officers convinced Kolgovas to open the door. He was killed after one officer used a taser on him, and the other shot him once in the chest, possibly at the same time. He died a few hours later. The settlement amount is slightly under $100,000.

• Rogers v. Dart et. al. - Ray Rogers is expected to receive a $55,000 settlement in a case regarding the jail system’s handling of religious meals for inmates returning from court. Rogers, a pretrial detainee, requested halal foods without dairy. He says he was sometimes denied those meals when returning from court, and that the halal meals the jail provided were not as varied or nutritious as others.

• Troy Rush v. Cook County, et al. - Troy Rush, a Deputy Sheriff at the Juvenile Court facility, alleged she was sexually assaulted by a co-worker, and subject to “ongoing physical and sexual assault, battery, harassment and intimidation in the Plaintiff’s workplace”. As a result of her harassment, Rush said, she changed her schedule to avoid that co-worker. The County denied Rush’s version of events.

On Friday, Moody’s Investors Service revised its rating for Cook County, upgrading its general obligation bond rating outlook to stable, making it the third ratings agency to revise the County's outlook positively in the last week.

"We welcome Moody's, Fitch and Standard and Poor's upgrading the County's bond rating outlook to stable and their recognition of our work creating financial stability and confronting our legacy liabilities," Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said in a release on Tuesday. "This is an important acknowledgment by these three agencies of Cook County's willingness to tackle its fiscal challenges and not kick the can down the road."

In a statement on their ratings upgrade, Fitch said their A+ rating “incorporates the county's broad revenue raising capacity, limited expenditure flexibility and moderate long-term liabilities.” The agency pointed to recent efforts to make higher pension contributions, aggressive efforts to tamp down on expenditures, and improved operations and self-sufficiency at the Cook County Health and Hospitals System as reasons for the stable rating. The outlook generally cushions against downgrades for two years.

Both S&P and Moody's, the release said, recognized the County’s efforts to address unfunded pension liabilities, currently hovering around $6.5 billion. Representatives from pension funds, as detailed in the next story, are expected to present commissioners with updates on its audited financial statements and actuarial valuations.

Health Committee Chairman George Cardenas (12) tells Aldertrack that he’ll be scheduling a second committee meeting ahead of the June 22nd monthly City Council meeting so aldermen can vote on an ordinance calling for more humane handling of wild coyotes in Chicago.

Ald. Brian Hopkins (2) introduced the measure calling on the city’s Department of Animal Care and Control to “utiliz[e] education and humane hazing methods as primary methods and using lethal force only in the event of an accident or attack” when dealing with coyotes in the city.

The Health Committee already held a hearing on the ordinance last month. And Ald. Hopkins brought in two subject matter experts–Stan Gehrt of Ohio State University and Chris Anchor with the Cook County Forest Preserve–to elaborate on Cook County’s growing coyote population. But Chairman Cardenas held the measure. At the time, Hopkins’ office said the hold was to ensure there was no conflict with the state’s Animal Welfare Commission.

Prior to yesterday’s meeting, Cardenas made a request with the Clerk’s office to amend yesterday’s agenda to include the item, but the notice was filed too late. After yesterday’s meeting, which was a lengthy two-hour briefing on ComEd’s annual progress with only four aldermen present, Cardenas told Aldertrack that he’ll schedule a second meeting to hold a vote on the coyote item before the June monthly City Council meeting.

The heads of City Council's three biggest caucuses: Ald. Scott Waguespack (32), Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6), and Ald. George Cardenas (12) will join Ald. Harry Osterman (48) and Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis at an "emergency State Of Chicago Public Schools Summit" this weekend.

"With millions of dollars in destabilizing cuts threatened, the mayor and CEO of the Chicago Public Schools want to pin all our hopes on a gridlocked Springfield," the invite reads, saying short- and long-term solutions to school challenges will be discussed. "City Hall needs to hear the voices of parents, educators and community. Our children’s future is in jeopardy."

The three caucus heads met for the first time to reportedly discuss revenue options and a more powerful role for aldermen in mid-May, shortly after a New York Times poll showed Mayor Rahm Emanuel's approval rating at a record low. CTU, meanwhile, has been tussling with CPS CEO Forrest Claypool over contract negotiations and funding, with Mayor Emanuel over CTU proposals for more city revenue, and with Gov. Bruce Rauner over school funding.

The event will be held at the National Teachers Academy near McCormick Place from noon until 2pm and is co-sponsored by the Grassroots Education Movement (GEM), International Union of Operating Engineers Local 143, the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff Local 4343, and Chicago Jobs with Justice.

Ald. Ed Burke (14) wants to expand the city’s hate crime ordinance to include police officers, firefighters and other first responders to the list of protected citizens as part of the “Blue Lives Matter” movement.

Burke, along with several other former law enforcement officials on the Council, plan to introduce an ordinance that would charge a person who assaults an active or retired officer or other law enforcement personnel because of their uniform with a hate crime.

As the amendment is currently drafted, any person found unlawfully inciting a riot, or more specifically, a “clear and present danger of a riot or assault, battery or unlawful trespass against” a current or retired first responder would face fines between $25 and $500, and up to six months in prison.

And any individual who commits a “hate crime” as defined under the law, whether it be an assault or destroying personal property, against a first responder would face up to $2,500 in fines, up from the current $500 maximum.

“We need to extend to our first responders every possible protection,” Alderman Burke said in a press release sent yesterday. “Each day police officers and firefighters put their lives on the line to ensure our well-being and security. It is the goal of this ordinance to give prosecutors and judges every tool to punish those who interfere with, or threaten or physically assault, our public safety personnel.”

Last month, Louisiana’s Gov. John Bel Edwards signed similar legislation into law after it passed both houses of the majority Republican legislature.

At the federal level, Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado introduced similar legislation in March called the “Blue Lives Matter Act of 2016.” That measure would make an attack on a police officer a hate crime punishable with up to 10 years in prison or longer if there is a death involved.

Aldermen Willie Cochran (20), Nick Sposato (38), Anthony Napolitano (41), Derrick Curtis (18) and Chris Taliaferro (29), all of whom are former law enforcement officials, are listed as co-sponsors.

A spokesman from Burke’s office told Aldertrack yesterday that no decision has been made on when it will be introduced–or to what committee.

Thomas Ryan, President of Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2, which represents firefighters and paramedics, endorsed the measure in the press release. “This ordinance will provide added protection to first responders who risk their lives in service to others while also adding consequences for those who feel compelled to attack them in the performance of their duty.”

Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 7 President Dean Angelo told Aldertrack that the union is “obviously thankful” for the ordinance. “It's an anomaly at this particular time with so much anti-law enforcement rhetoric,” he said, adding that they look forward to its passage with all the “anti-police legislation” currently being introduced by people he described as being unfamiliar with what police officers deal with on a daily basis.

Asked if the ordinance would further strain community police relations in Chicago, Angelo said no. “I don't see how it would be taken in a negative context.”

Activists and police reformers are strongly opposed to the measure, especially in light of recent events over police misconduct.

“This proposal is a distraction from the real conversation we need in Chicago about fundamentally reforming the policing system, which has failed the people of the City. Crimes committed against police because of their status as police are down, not up,” said Karen Sheley, Director of the Police Practices Project at the ACLU of Illinois, in an emailed statement sent to Aldertrack.

“Rather than diverting scarce resources to this non-existent problem, we need to focus sharply on the very real and pressing problem of how to reform policing in Chicago, including rebuilding the trust between the community and the police department. We are in the midst of a grave crisis regarding this trust, and we should be working to insure that the community knows that police will be held accountable when they act improperly. This is a real problem that needs addressing now.”

“It’s a disaster. The efforts to criminalize more people would not work at this particular time...It’s adding nuclear energy to an already tense situation,” said Anton Seals, Jr., an organizer on police accountability issues and a Community and Neighborhood Coordinator at DePaul University. Referencing the Independent Police Review Authority's recent public disclosure of over 300 video clips that are part of open investigations into police misconduct, Seals said police aren’t the ones who need protection. “It looks like the abuse is the other way around.”

Meanwhile, Chicago activist Rachel Williams of Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100)said they’re not surprised by Burke’s efforts. “When Louisiana passed its bill, we knew that it would go across the board, that [similar measures] would be introduced across the country.”

County commissioners will meet at 9:15 a.m. today to consider clarifying rules on text messaging and emails from non-government accounts and phones, resolutions supporting more strict gun licensing rules, and a name change for the Office of Adoption and Child Custody. The Finance Subcommittee on Litigation will also meet in executive session to consider nearly a dozen pending lawsuits against the county.

Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee

New rules for texting and emailing for County Board employees, two resolutions supporting expanded gun regulations, a briefing on pending legislation in Springfield and Washington, and appointments to various agencies are on the agenda for today’s Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee meeting.

A resolution supporting a bill from State Rep. Christian Mitchell and State Sen. Don Harmon that requires all applicants for a gun dealer license and their employees to have a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) cards and a background check is up for consideration. The so-called Gun Dealer and Ammunition Seller Act would also require training for legal requirements and responsible business practices for gun sales. The preamble notes “between 2009 and 2013, four particular gun dealers, each located a short drive outside of Chicago, supplied 20% of all guns recovered from Chicago crime scenes.”

A similar resolution from Comm. Larry Suffredin urges the general assembly to institute statewide licensing and regulation of gun dealers and ranges, arguing the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has the resources to do so. "Lack of oversight makes it far too easy for gun dealers to turn a blind eye to 'straw purchasers,' and other traffickers,” the resolution reads. Commissioners are also due to be briefed on the status of lobbying efforts in the general assembly and in Congress.  

Comm. Suffredin first proposed this ordinance in March, saying all electronic communication by officials, board or commission appointees and employees regarding official government business must be through official government email accounts. Separately elected officials and their staffs (like commissioners) may use separate email accounts associated with their own offices, or personal email accounts, but must tell Board Secretary Matthew DeLeon those accounts are being used for government purposes.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has come under fire for use of private devices to conduct government business. The Chicago Tribune is currently battling the Mayor in court, alleging he violated the state's open records laws by refusing to release private emails and text messages about city business.

Three appointments are also up for committee consideration: Judith Hamill to the Cook County Zoning Board of Appeals, Dale Niewiardowski as a Trustee of the Northwest Mosquito Abatement District, and Michael Sullivan as Commissioner of the Weller Creek Drainage District Board of Commissioners. According to her LinkedIn, Hamill served in various roles in Chicago and Cook County government from 1975 until 2009. Niewiardowski is an Elk Grove Township trustee and Vice President of three local businesses: Nevarr Inc. Lawn and Construction Equipment Division, Nevarr Inc Public Safety and Homeland Security Division and Nevarr Property Management LLC.

Subcommittee on Litigation

The subcommittee on litigation will receive several updates from Don Pechous, a representative from the Cook County State's Attorney’s office, on pending litigation against the county, including:

• Debra Dyer-Webster v. Dent, et al., alleges excessive force by two employees of the Rapid Response Team at Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center while escorting a minor out of a classroom. The plaintiff, Debra Dyer-Webster from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services claimed two employees slammed a minor’s face against a desk, causing him “to lose consciousness, sustain an abrasion to his chin and fracture his jaw,” then verbally abused him.

• Karkoszka v. Dart, et al., James Karkoszka, an inmate at Cook County Jail, was waiting for transfer from a holding cell after medical treatment for blood clots. He testified didn’t want to be handcuffed and “purposely struggled to avoid” it. Multiple officers came to the holding cell to try to handcuff him while he was “flailing around.” After he was handcuffed, the suit alleges, officers escorted him to a room where they handcuffed him to a wall, sprayed him with pepper spray, and continued to hit and kick him. Medical records from Cermak Health Services at the jail said he was "beaten badly to the head," and sustained intra-cranial hemorrhaging. 10 employees were named in the case.

• Dixon v. Cook County, et al., This case brought by Lula Dixon, mother of the deceased Kevin Dixon, alleges officers at the Cook County Jail were “deliberately indifferent” to her son’s medical condition–complications from cancer. Dixon says her son was at times paralyzed from the legs down in his cell and didn’t receive medical attention quickly enough. Judge Thomas Durkin dismissed the complaint in October 2013, saying the delay in care wasn’t deliberate indifference, and there were no specific deficiencies that may have existed in the County's policies for medical treatment.

• There is also a case involving Dr. George Cybulski, a neurosurgeon who became head of the Cook County Health and Hospitals System Division of Neurosurgery in 2004, but left in 2009. He is still medical staff at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, and Stroger Hospital. He is listed as a plaintiff against the County.

Business and Economic Development 

Three Class 8 property tax breaks are up for consideration by commissioners today. Properties that receive a Class 8 break are assessed at a lower rate: 10% of the market value for 10 years, 15% for the 11th year and 20% in the 12th year (instead of 25%).

• 2520 Lincoln Highway, Olympia Fields: This property, in a commercial strip mall, has been vacant for 19 months–short of the 24 months generally required for a Class 8 break–but commissioners can consider it vacant under special circumstances. The applicant, ES Realty Olympia Fields LLC, plans to provide 8 full time jobs at the site.

• 16823 State Street and 61 East 168th Street, South Holland: Simone Kapovich/ S&J Construction is interested in purchasing this property for Industrial-Warehousing and logistics purposes, in addition to adding 18 full time jobs. According to the application, the property is in need of substantial rehabilitation. According to Google Maps, it appears S&J is already located at 61 E. 168th St.

• 13820 South Marquette, Burnham: Five full time jobs would be created and 165 would be retained at this waste hauling operation in Burnham. National waste handling company Mr. Bult’s Inc. (MBI) is the applicant. Their headquarters are just around the corner from the proposed location.  

There is also an amendment to a previously passed item creating a special purpose fund to defray administrative and project delivery costs for the Broadening Urban Investment to Leverage Transportation (BUILT) in Cook Loan Program (funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development). The program was created to allow the County to borrow money from private investors at reduced interest rates to “promote economic development, stimulate job growth and improve public facilities.”

Health and Hospitals Committee

A rename for the Cook County Office of Adoption and Child Custody is the only agenda item for the committee. The agency’s new name would be the Department of Adoption and Family Supportive Services, and will stay under the jurisdiction of the County Bureau of Administration.The change is due to recent amendments to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, which went into effect January 1, 2016. All references to "custody" were replaced by "parental responsibility allocation." The fingerprinting fee is being reduced from $50 to $15.

With far less than the 25 members needed for a quorum, aldermen on the Rules Committee advanced three non-binding ballot questions for the November election that would ask Chicago voters about strengthening penalties for illegal gun sales, if the city should issue municipal IDs for non-citizen residents and whether the state should provide “equitable” funding for Chicago Public Schools.

Attendance: Chair Michelle Harris (8), Pat Dowell (3), Howard Brookins, Jr, (21), Michael Scott, Jr. (24), Danny Solis (25), Ariel Reboyras (30), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), Marge Laurino (39), Pat O’Connor (40)

Ald. Scott Waguespack’s (32) proposed ballot question on whether an elected Independent Airport Authority should govern Chicago’s two airports, O’Hare and Midway, was not considered yesterday. It was the only ballot referendum proposed by an alderman not to advance to the Rules Committee. Instead, when Ald. Waguespack introduced the measure in May, at the same meeting the other three referenda were introduced, it was sent to the Aviation Committee.  

Further oversight at Chicago’s airports have faced major pushback in committee this year. In March, when Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41), whose ward includes O’Hare Airport, aggressively pushed for a hearing on his plan to put the City Council in charge of approving new runways, it got shot down with every member on the committee, with Ald. Napolitano voting against it.

The Mayor’s Office, the city’s Law Department and Aviation Department were vehemently opposed to that plan arguing it would disrupt day-to-day operations at the airport, hinder ongoing expansion plans and jeopardize millions of dollars in federal aid. Napolitano has also been publicly pushing to be included on the O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission, to no avail.

The referendum asking Chicago voters about establishing a new airport authority was drafted in consultation with SEIU Local 1, which represents some airport workers, and is supported by most of Ald. Waguespack’s Progressive Caucus.

After yesterday’s Rules Committee meeting, Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) told Aldertrack that the goal is to have the Aviation Committee consider and vote on the plan in time for the June 22nd monthly City Council meeting. That could give the supporters of the referendum the opportunity to convince other aldermen why that question is more important than the other three advanced by the Rules Committee yesterday.

State law limits the number of ballot referenda to three per jurisdiction. In Chicago’s case, the City Council has until August 22 to adopt the three advisory questions that will go to voters in the upcoming November election. And petitions to file an advisory question must be filed by August 8 with 8% of the total votes for governor cast in the last election within that jurisdiction, or 52,519 signatures for Chicago. Once the three slots are filled, no further questions may be submitted.

The three referenda questions the Rules Committee approved advanced fairly easily, although Ald. Rosa raised concerns that Ald. Danny Solis’ (25) municipal ID question could hinder work Cook County is currently doing to setup a countywide ID system.  

The proposed question would ask voters: “Should the City of Chicago consider creating a municipal identification card that will expand access to city services for residents unable to access other forms of identification?”

“I’m a strong believer of a municipal ID... but I have serious concerns about this question and the way that we are bringing it forward,” Ald. Rosa explained, referencing how the New York City Council, instead of posing municipal IDs as a question on the ballot, made it official city law.

Rosa said the question, depending on the outcome, could step on the County’s efforts, a message he said was relayed to him by county commissioners. “They feel strongly that this timing is not opportune for their efforts at the county level.”

But there is no official measure pending in Cook County to create a countywide ID. It’s still in the idea stage and was recently proposed as part of recommendations from Cook County Health Care Task Force. One of the suggestions is to create a countywide ID for immigrants or others without the means of getting a state ID in order to help them gain access to state subsidized care at county hospitals.

Rosa planned to make a quorum call to block a vote on the referenda, but said he changed his mind after receiving assurances from Ald. Solis that the Mayor's Office would speak to and address concerns from county commissioners and local immigrant leaders, who he said are worried that the current political climate over immigration could lead to an unfavorable outcome.

Meanwhile, there was no pushback for the Mayor’s ballot question about illegal guns or Ald. Howard Brookins, Jr. (21) inquiry about the state’s school funding formula.

Police Commander Christopher Kennedy, who oversees the gang investigation division with the Police Department’s Organized Crime Bureau, testified on behalf of the mayor’s proposed ballot question, which asks voters: “Should the State of Illinois strengthen penalties for the illegal trafficking of firearms and require background checks for gun dealers and their employees?”

According to Commander Kennedy, since the start of 2016, the police department has seized approximately 3,900 illegal guns, or the equivalent of one gun per hour, making the collection greater than the combined total of illegal guns seized in New York and Los Angeles. “It’s critically important that we reduce the size of Chicago’s illegal gun market by holding the sellers of illegal guns accountable as well, by strengthening the penalties of illegal trafficking of firearms, and by requiring background checks for gun dealers, the state of Illinois would be providing additional meaningful tools in our efforts to reduce gun violence.”

The third referendum the committee approved, introduced by newly appointed Education Chair Ald. Brookins, would ask: “Should the State of Illinois provide full and equitable funding for Chicago Public Schools?”

Brookins said the question is aimed at putting pressure on the state to fairly subsidize Chicago Public Schools.  “We need a permanent solution, we need an equitable solution for funding of education in this state, particularly in the city of Chicago,” Ald. Brookins’ explained. “We believe that this resolution allows people of the city of Chicago to speak to that.”

And all four corrections to the Journal of Proceedings were approved together without discussion.

Health Committee

The Council’s Health Committee will meet at 10:00 a.m. this morning to conduct their annual hearing on ComEd’s progress report for 2015. Officials with the utility are also scheduled to discuss summer preparedness.