Kicking off at 9:30 this morning, Cook County Commissioners are scheduled for back to back committee meetings to vote on millions in contracts, including new Cook County Health and Hospitals System (CCHHS) construction, the revamp of the old Cook County Hospital building, and the establishment of an animal abuse registry: 

Labor Committee

A new economic package for county pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, including wage hikes and health care, is the only item on the Labor Committee agenda. The collective bargaining agreement is effective through November 30, 2017, and was negotiated by the Cook County Pharmacy Association, Chicago Joint Board, Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union, AFL-CIO, CLC (RWDSU Local 200).  

Asset Management Committee

Commissioners will vote on a series of county construction contracts totaling $89 million in the Asset Management Committee today. Construction mega-firm F.H. Paschen was listed in several winning contracts totaling about a third of the total allocation, including as part of joint ventures.

Law Enforcement Committee

Commissioner John Fritchey’s ordinance creating a County-wide animal abuser registry is up in Law Enforcement Committee this morning. It creates a registry of animal abusers that will be maintained on the Sheriff’s Department website. No shelter, pet shop, pet seller, or rescue organization would be able to transfer ownership of any animal to someone listed on the offender list, or someone living with an abuser. “It would operate much like the sex offender registry, requiring anyone convicted of any form of animal abuse - including dog fighting, animal torture and aggravated cruelty - to register their names and addresses with the Animal Abuser Registry,” a release from Fritchey’s office says.

Failure to register would result in a fine up to $2,000 dollars. The ordinance would take effect November 1, 2016. Comm. Fritchey has been a frequent critic of the County’s Animal Control agency.

Finance Committee

Commissioners will get details on the proposed massive redevelopment and remediation of the old Cook County Hospital building at County Finance Committee today, as well as a $112 million contract with Clayco for construction of a new CCHHS administrative building, and demolition of three others.

The new nine-story, 282,000 square foot ambulatory and administrative office building is proposed for the corner of West Polk Street and South Damen Avenue.

“When combined, the two developments will create a state-of-the-art medical campus adjacent to a vibrant, mixed-use community,” a release from the county reads.

The new administrative and outpatient building “will allow CCHHS to compete in current and future healthcare markets, improve outpatient services, reduce operating costs, avoid costly capital renewals for obsolete buildings, and increase clinical and administrative efficiency,” the ordinance up today notes. The approval would make way for the demolition of the Fantus Clinic, Polk Administration Building, and Hektoen Auditorium and Office, freeing up 680,000 square feet of County real estate.

The existing agreement with Clayco, one of the Midwest’s biggest contracting companies, will move from the planning and schematic stage to construction into September of 2018. Groundbreaking is anticipated for the first quarter of 2017.

Clayco relocated a major portion of its workforce to Chicago in 2013, and was a backer of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s re-election PAC, Chicago Forward. Community activists calling for the resignation of Mayor Emanuel in the wake of the Laquan McDonald shooting protested outside Clayco on May 4 “to make sure that people such as Shawn Clark [Clayco’s VP of Finance] and Kevin McKenna [Executive VP and Shareholder] really understands [sic] that supporting Rahm Emanuel will lead to several boycotts at Clayco." The group also planned a protest of the Mayor's fundraiser last night, hosted by Robert Wislow, the Chair of USEquities Realty. 

Commissioners will also consider whether to enter into a private redevelopment agreement with Civic Health Development Group (a joint venture development team of MB Real Estate Services, Inc., Walsh Investors, LLC, Plenary Group USA Ltd and Granite Companies LLC) for the rehab of the vacant Cook County Hospital building. Construction of that project would also begin in 2017. More info on the project here.

CHDG will invest approximately $600 million in the redevelopment of the site at no cost to taxpayers, the county says. The renovation is slated to include residential, retail, office and hotel construction inside the building’s existing beaux arts facade. According to the county, CHDG will pay at least $2M in annual rent to the County over the term of the lease.

In this week’s episode we talk about Chicago Public School’s dire financial situation. Officials at CPS briefed aldermen this week to tell them they expect to finish the school year with only enough cash on hand to cover one-and-a-half days of operations. Meanwhile, the Chicago Teachers Union, still without a contract, announced $502 million in possible revenue ideas. And Mayor Emanuel gives a keynote address to the National Federation of Municipal Analysts.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported on Friday that Mayor Rahm Emanuel is organizing a private meeting of the City Council leadership, and yesterday aldermen and a mayoral staffer pulled back from that report to tell Aldertrack he is actually holding a “social gathering” with the chairmen of the Council’s 16 committees and their spouses. A private meeting with the committee chairs, depending on the agenda for the gathering, could have violated the state’s Open Meetings Act.

“I think it’s a good idea,” said Ald. Danny Solis (25), Chairman of the Council’s Zoning Committee, adding that it wasn’t too unusual, considering similar gatherings are held during the holidays.

Asked if they were going to the meeting with an agenda of their own, aldermen we spoke to said “no”, explaining that it was not that kind of meeting.

Ald. Joe Moore (49), Chairman of the Council’s Housing and Real Estate Committee, said that if he had an agenda he wanted to bring up, he’d meet with the Mayor or his staff on his own.

Ald. Solis and Ald. Howard Brookins, Jr. (21), Chairman of the Council’s Education Committee, responded in kind. It’s a “get to know you” type of meeting, Ald. Brookins explained. It’s “inappropriate” to bring up business at a social gathering, Ald. Solis added. And reached for comment, the Mayor’s Office confirmed that today’s meeting is in fact a social gathering with spouses.

Nevertheless, there has been some changes to the Council leadership following former 4th Ward Ald. Will Burns’ exit. Ald. Brookins took over Burns’ spot as chair of the Education Committee, which rarely meets despite Chicago Public Schools’ financial and contract issues. Brookins had served a brief stint overseeing the Committee on Economic, Capital and Technological Development, which meets regularly, mostly to approve tax breaks for companies that commit to rehabbing old, vacant industrial properties. Ald. Joe Moreno (1), who received a chairmanship after the election, will take over that committee. He was originally the chair of the Council’s Human Relations Committee, another body that rarely meets. Ald. Pat Dowell (3) inherited that seat.

The Ventra card system is “inefficient and inconvenient”, costing social service providers nearly a quarter of a million dollars in service fees, claims a report by the Chicago Jobs Council, a local nonprofit that helps connect people with jobs.

In the report, “The Hidden Cost of Ventra,” social service agencies in Chicago reported spending over $1 million in Ventra cards and single ride tickets each month. The CJC reached out to 345 agencies affiliated with the Department of Family and Supportive Services, the Chicago Housing Authority, and the Chicago-Cook Workforce Partnership. Only 53 agencies reported back, about a 15.3% response rate. 

This was the second CJC survey of social service providers since the city contracted out the ticket service to the company operated by Cubic Transportation Systems in 2013. The transition wasn't seamless. 

The Chicago Jobs Council argues in their findings that “nothing has changed.” Social service agencies are still left with buying bulk orders with “outdated paper order forms and checks.” They report wait times of two months for a shipment of tickets, according to 63% of respondents. Because of these delays, the report notes, “some providers have resorted to purchasing large quantities of tickets from regular Ventra vending machines, which is inefficient and burdensome.” And due to the 50-cent surcharge on paper tickets purchased through Ventra machines, fees cost providers $280,000 a year, the equivalent of 112,000 El rides.

The report makes the following recommendations:

• Eliminate the $0.50 fee on paper tickets for social service providers who receive funding from city and county agencies.

• Modernize the bulk order process with online credit card payment options and delivery tracking.

• Ensure delivery of bulk orders within 2 weeks of order.

• Designate high capacity Ventra vending machines that are accessible to providers across the city, allowing providers to fill immediate bulk transit needs.

• Allow providers to disable negative balance function of cards.

• Extend ticket expiration times.

• Offer bulk registration of cards online, and number products sequentially to simplify the bulk registration process.

• Allow more than one opportunity for providers to return expired tickets. 

In an emailed statement, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) said it already has been working to address the issues raised in the CJC report. “In fact, some of the changes we’re addressing are an outgrowth of the dialogues we’ve had with various providers since 2013, and include more than 400 social service agencies,” the transit agency said. “While we recognize and appreciate the important mission social service agencies serve, CTA also has a duty to consider its overall agency mission. In this strained and uncertain fiscal climate, any changes to CTA fare or fare-media policies pose challenges, and must be considered in the overall context of CTA operations.” 

CTA said it already provides over $100 million free and discounted rides annually through various state-mandates programs. But due to state budget cuts, the agency lost $28 million it depends on to subsidize those rides. “CTA relies on all fare revenue to keep our budget balanced and continue to provide the cost-effective service we provide to all Chicagoans,” the statement read. “We are committed to continuing the dialogue we have been having with social service providers to fully explore the issue and discuss options.”

In an early morning keynote speech to municipal bond analysts Wednesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel urged the crowd to consider a rosier picture for Chicago’s fiscal future, touting improved tourism, corporate relocation, and graduation rates, rather than solutions to bleak forecasts for the city’s pension funds and public schools. He accused the Illinois Supreme Court of putting a “straight jacket” around the city when it ruled earlier this year that his plan to reform the city’s Municipal and Labor funds was unconstitutional.

“I don’t believe how the Supreme Court interpreted the constitution was right. I think that they put, in my view, a straight jacket around us,” Mayor Emanuel said to the room of about 200 members of the National Federation of Municipal Analysts meeting at the Westin Michigan Avenue Hotel. It was one of his first official public remarks on that decision since the court’s ruling in March. The Mayor’s pension plan would have reduced annuity benefits for public employees, then ramp up pension payments and put both funds on a path toward financial stability.

Mayor Emanuel explained yesterday that the city is back at the table with the trustees of the labor and municipal funds “working through that issue” to find new revenue to keep the retirement funds from insolvency.

But his remarks fell short of explaining how he plans to rebound from that setback. The Civic Federation projects insolvency in muni and labor funds in 10 to 13 years. According to the city’s 2015 Annual Financial Analysis, the municipal workers’ pension was only 42 percent funded, and the laborers only 64 percent funded at the end of 2014 (p. 87).  

Mayor Emanuel expressed confidence that Gov. Bruce Rauner will sign a bill, SB777, to amend the funding timeline for the city’s police and fire pension funds. Gov. Rauner has said publicly that he will not sign pension reform without adding on components of his Turnaround Agenda. The city has already tapped a $220 million line of credit to meet a state-mandated March 1 deadline to have money available to make its pension payments.

The Mayor did not outline solutions for how to fix crumbling finances at Chicago Public Schools either, but instead provided recent CPS talking points that Springfield’s funding formula is one of the worst in the nation and reform is needed. CPS has disclosed to aldermen this week that it will only have $24 million cash on hand by the end of June and needs a line of credit for the next fiscal year.   

“We have met every issue head on,” Mayor Emanuel announced towards the end of his speech that was peppered with accomplishments that he tends to tout at these types of events: record tourism and growing corporate relocations; expanding pre-k and business-oriented curricula at community colleges; and having the most diverse economy in the country (he noted no industry makes up more than 13% of the city’s economy).

“I know you all want to talk about public finances, and I am going to talk about them,” he joked after highlighting those statistics. “But I want you to understand how we approach it in the City of Chicago, which is in a larger context of the economy. And that the fiscal condition of the City of Chicago needs to be part of an overall strategy. Not just fiscal over here, and the economy, or the health of Chicago’s economy, over here.”

Repeatedly reminding the crowd that he inherited the city’s poor fiscal position, Emanuel referenced the start of his first term in 2011. As a newly-elected mayor, he said he commissioned several independent reports on the city’s finances. He said he was faced with what he described as two reckless options for a city rebounding from the Great Recession: dramatically raise taxes or cut services.

“The most reckless strategy would have been to raise taxes without reforming, especially for people just emerging out of that recession,” he said. “Doesn’t mean we weren’t going to find additional revenue, but we weren’t just going to be willy-nilly about raising taxes.”

Emanuel said he also rejected the “other side of the ledger”, cutting services, which he called “crazy” and “reckless”, because of the number of people dependent on those city-funded services.

“We have not wavered. We have not wobbled in that effort. I don’t think denial is a long term strategy,” he concluded, attempting to make a joke about denial being a river in Egypt. Hardly anyone laughed.

Officials at Chicago Public Schools laid out a “dire financial situation” for aldermen at briefings Monday and Tuesday: not only will the district need a school funding reform passed through Springfield, it also needs aldermen to file an additional property tax levy to address its cash crunch, slated to hit this summer. The district projects by June 30, it will have only $24 million cash on hand, enough to cover a day and a half of expenses, according to an 11 slide powerpoint deck provided to Aldertrack.

The district is already “borrowing on a credit card” to address its cash flow needs. It has an $870 million line of credit that expires in August. In order to cover costs for the next school year, CPS would need to renew that $870 million line of credit, but it can't do so without a Fiscal Year 2017 budget and a new property tax levy. "Banks will only lend if they see a balanced budget with meaningful progress to structural balance and positive projected cash flows for FY 2017," the powerpoint says.

CPS is scheduled to release that FY 2017 budget later this month, and school officials said it will need help from the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), Springfield, and the city to close a yawning $1.1 billion structural deficit: “[it] will require shared commitment from all parties, starting with Springfield in the form of both pension parity and equitable funding; a contract with CTU that is fair to teachers, students and taxpayers; and the restoration of the pre-1995 property tax levy."

The district has publicly supported school funding reform bills currently being pushed by State Sen. Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill) and State Rep. Christian Mitchell (D-Chicago). CPS estimates Manar's bill (SB 0231) would provide an extra $300 million a year to CPS in FY 2017; Mitchell's (HB 4272) would provide an extra $260 to CPS in FY 2017 and more than $280 million the following years.

During the briefings, CPS officials outlined a plan dependent on the General Assembly passing funding reform and Gov. Bruce Rauner signing it into law. CPS would then ask City Council to approve a $142 million property tax levy devoted to CPS capital improvements. City Council has a separate property tax levy it can raise for CPS capital spending–last October, aldermen approved a $45 million levy, though they demanded CPS regularly report on what projects that money would be spent on.

“They’re not asking us to do that yet, they’re counting on Sen. Andy Manar and [State Rep.] Christian Mitchell’s bills,” said Council Education Committee Chair Howard Brookins, Jr. “But nobody, including CTU, believes there will be a permanent fix to anything until June 2019, when Rauner will be out office.”

CPS shot down revenue ideas pitched by CTU and some Progressive Caucus members–a Lasalle Street tax on financial transactions, and the use of TIF surplus funds–calling them both “unviable.”

Other statistics included in the PowerPoint:

• CPS will pay $700 million to teacher pensions in FY 2016. Its unfunded liability is $9.6 billion.

• The system's long term debt is $6.7 billion.

• Most rating agencies expect between 30-90 days of cash on hand. In CPS' case, that would be $470 million to $1.4 billion of the district's $5.7 billion in expenditures for 2016, far short of what the district is expected to have at the end of next month. 

• Since FY 2011, CPS has cut $740 million in administrative, central office, program and operating expenses.

The lobbying arm for the city’s taxi industry is actively pursuing aldermen, spending thousands of dollars in political donations to likely garner support for a plan imposing stricter regulations on their biggest competitors: the ride-hailing industry.

Over the past two months, the political action committee for the Illinois Transportation Trade Association, ITTA PAC, has donated a total of $23,000 to about 20 aldermen (some received more than one check) and the Progressive Caucus. The group’s stated purpose on the State Board of Elections website is to, “garner support for the Illinois taxicab industry.” Recent contributions to ITTA PAC have come from New York based credit lenders, including Medallion Financial, which provides drivers loans to buy taxicab medallions, and the League of Mutual Taxi Owners Incorporated (LOMTO) Federal Credit Union.

A number of the aldermen who received a $1,000 check from ITTA since March are on the Council’s Transportation and License Committees–the two bodies that are expected to take up an ordinance that would require Uber and other drivers contracted by ride-hailing apps obtain a full-time chauffeur's license, similar to the one the city requires of yellow cabbies.

The ordinance would drastically change how the ride-sharing industry operates in Chicago. Not only would Uber, Lyft and other drivers working for ride-hailing industries be required to get a public chauffeur's license, those drivers would also have to get fingerprinted by an outside contractor chosen by the Police Department, and at least 5% of all ride-share cars would have to be wheelchair accessible with the same pricing and response times as the rest of the fleet.

It’s an idea the Emanuel Administration has opposed in the past. Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Commissioner Maria Guerra Lapacek has argued the two industries should not be treated the same, mainly because being an Uber driver isn’t considered a full time occupation.

But since the city opened up the airports, Navy Pier and McCormick Place to ride-hailing companies last fall, yellow cab drivers have sounded the alarm, warning their industry is on the verge of collapse. When BACP asked the License Committee in March to update licensing requirements for taxi and ride-share drivers, several cabbies testified they could no longer sustain themselves because of the proliferation of Uber and Lyft drivers on city streets. Ironically, a notable number of the drivers who vocally expressed their outrage that the administration has not done enough to level the playing field were part of the Taxicab Driver Fairness Task Force, a panel Mayor Emanuel himself assembled in 2014.  

The same grievances were raised when the Transportation Committee considered a proposal from the Chairman, Ald. Anthony Beale (9), that would slap a 50-cent surcharge on all cab rides paid with credit or debit. Noting that plan would barely address the real issue at hand, creating parity among the two industries, Ald. Beale introduced an ordinance at the March City Council meeting that would further regulate the ride-sharing industry. That ordinance is currently in committee.

Since the beginning of March, Ald. Beale alone got the largest check from ITTA: $5,000. Other aldermen on the Transportation Committee who received a $1,000 check from ITTA include: Sue Sadlowski Garza (9), Raymond Lopez (15), Matt O’Shea (19), Chris Taliaferro (29), and Anthony Napolitano (41).

And those on the License Committee to accept a donation from ITTA include: Willie Cochran (20), Michael Scott, Jr. (24), Roberto Maldonado (26), Ariel Reboyras(30), Scott Waguespack (32), Tom Tunney (44), John Arena (45), and James Cappleman (46).

Aldermen Pat Dowell (3) and Joe Moore (49) were the only two aldermen on neither committee to receive a $1,000 check from the taxi lobby over the same period.

Uber has also been lobbying its riders to come out against Beale’s proposal in an online petition that argues the measure “would put an end to uberX in Chicago and the affordable ride Chicagoans have come to expect.” The petition has garneredmore than 100,000 signatures.

Eugene Williams, the Deputy Police Superintendent recently linked with a possible cheating scandal within the force, will be retiring this year. Police blog Second City Cop posted a tip saying a communication was being distributed announcing a “cake and coffee retirement reception” for Williams, but did not disclose a date.  

CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi confirmed the retirement, but did not respond to follow up requests for the effective date or whether Williams would return to the department in a civilian role. Guglielmi told Aldertrack that Williams, “hits the mandatory age retirement this year.” CPD’s mandatory retirement age is 63. About two dozen officers have returned to CPD or other city departments to fill civilian rolesafter their retirement from active duty, according a CBS and Better Government Association investigation.

DNAInfo has reported Williams and other higher-ups within the department are under investigation from the City Inspector General’s Office for sharing “privileged information” about the test used to promote sergeants to lieutenants.

Williams has served with CPD for 36 years, including 15 years at the command level, in part as Chief of Patrol. He also held positions in narcotics, homicide, organized crime and community policing divisions. In mid-March, Williams was revealed to be one of three finalists submitted by the Police Board to serve as new Superintendent of Police, and favored by some members of City Council’s Black Caucus. Mayor Emanuel tossed out those three finalists in favor of now-Supt. Eddie Johnson, whose fianceé, Lt. Nakia Fenner, is linked to the same testing scandal.

The city's Budget Office says it will begin working with aldermen to create a city-run property tax rebate program in time for this summer, when the next property tax bills are sent out. Loyola Law School holds a public forum to discuss reforming the Chicago Police Department. And the council’s Zoning Committee relaxes regulations on where in the city medical marijuana dispensaries can set up shop.

43rd Ward Republican Committeeman Chris Cleveland was re-elected as Chairman of the Chicago Republican Party Tuesday. Winning 94% of the vote, Cleveland will serve as head of the Chicago GOP for a four-year term. Cleveland was first elected Chairman of the Chicago Republican Party in May of 2015. He owns Dieselpoint, Inc., a Chicago-based software company.

The city’s Budget Office plans to start discussing different city-run property tax rebate options with aldermen “in the upcoming month”, a spokesperson for the City’s Budget Office told Aldertrack.  

In an emailed statement, Molly Poppe, a spokesperson for Budget Director Alex Holt, told Aldertrack yesterday that the office is looking at multiple rebate options, including a handful of plans aldermen have introduced since the City Council passed a historic $544 million property tax hike to help the city’s vastly underfunded Police and Fire pension fund.

“Any rebate plan will remain true to the Mayor’s goal of protecting low- and middle-income families that can least afford it,” Poppe said in the email.

Back in October, when aldermen approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s spending plan for 2016, aldermen also adopted a resolution, albeit symbolic, imposing an April 30th deadline for the city to start considering its own property tax rebate program should Springfield fail to double the homeowners exemption, a plan Mayor Emanuel was confident would pass.

The resolution, introduced by Ald. Michele Smith (43), was fueled partially by skepticism that the state legislature would pass that bill to double the homestead exemption from $7,000 to $14,000 by the time property tax bills were mailed out this year. 28th Ward Ald. Jason Ervin, at one point during the budget season, said voting on a property tax hike before Springfield passed an exemption was “akin to jumping in a pool and not knowing if it is a 9-foot pool or 29-foot pool.”

That exemption, Emanuel, Holt and Chief Finance Officer Carole Brown argued, would shelter homeowners whose homes are valued at $250,000 or less from seeing any increase in their tax bills. Homes valued above $250,000 would also see some relief.

The $544 million levy increase, which will be ramped up over four years, is an average 12.2% increase over the current 2015 estimated tax bill. According to numbers provided by the Mayor’s Office, a home valued at $232,630 would see an estimated $4,146 tax bill for 2015, a $276 increase over the previous year. At the peak of the ramp, in 2018, that same homeowner is expected to see a $4,344 tax bill, a $474 increase. If Springfield were to double the homeowner exemption, that homeowner would see $3,707 tax bill for 2015, and a $3,879 tax bill for 2018, a savings of $439 and $464, respectively.

“The exemption doesn’t need to be in place before the end of the year,” Holt explained to aldermen during a Finance Committee hearing held on October. “It does certainly need to be in place before the second installment [property tax] bills go out in July. Certainly for the purposes of the County, it would be preferable, given the work that they need to do, that this happen as soon as possible. But from a residents perspective, they won’t see an increase until the bill that’s due...next year.”

The Cook County Treasurer is responsible for compiling tax bills for all governments in the County while the Cook County Clerk is responsible for sending them. Last October Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle expressed doubt the County treasurer’s office could even implement the Mayor’s exemption plan, saying County does not have the technological capacity to separate city properties and their tax rates from the rest of the county’s. Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas later told Crain’s "They can't do it. I'm 95 percent sure they can't do it."

And since State Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie introduced an amendment to Illinois Senate Bill 1488 in October to double the homeowners exemption, the bill has yet to advance out of committee. With no state legislative action, the Mayor’s Office has yet to explain how it will make good on its promise to aldermen to make sure Emanuel’s historic property tax hike won’t impact homeowners who can least afford it.

Any city-run property tax rebate plan would likely face an uphill battle, too, making it doubtful that a reasonable plan would be put in place in time for when the second installment of the 2015 property tax bills are mailed out to residents this summer.

First, any rebate plan would need a funding source. The city has estimated it would cost upwards of $35 million, and finding a new revenue source could prove to be a hard sell for a Mayor whose latest budget included that historic property tax hike and an unpopular new garbage fee.

Second, business interests are vehemently opposed to special tax breaks for homeowners. When the Illinois House Finance and Revenue Committee held a debate in October on doubling the homeowner’s exemption, Michael Reever, Vice President of Government Affairs for the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, vocally expressed the group’s opposition to what he described as “Cook County’s archaic and unfair classification system,” which taxes commercial and industrial properties at a rate 2.5 times higher than residential properties. Those property owners would have to make up the levy difference if a residential exemption passed.

“[Mayor Emanuel’s] proposal would shift an even greater share of the property tax burden to business-- something the Chicagoland Chamber does not support,” Rever said in his statement. The burden, Reever said, is the recent minimum wage hike, implementation of the plastic bag ban, the new cloud tax, and an increase in the 911 surcharge.

There are four property tax rebate plans introduced by aldermen that have been sitting in Ald. Ed Burke’s (14) Finance Committee. All but one have been untouched since they were introduced last fall. And each plan caters to the needs of the sponsor’s constituents.

Ald. Joe Moreno’s (1) plan uses a rebate formula that factors in household income. His ward, which covers part of Wicker Park and Bucktown, has seen a significant increase in property values. Moreno’s ordinance would provide relief for homeowners with income under $100,000, with a higher rebate rate for those earning less. The rebate rate is multiplied by the difference in the City’s real estate tax assessment rate from last year to this year, then multiplied by the assessed value of the house. Moreno’s office said 57% of the occupied household population in Chicago would potentially be eligible to apply for relief under his ordinance.

In a conversation with Aldertrack yesterday, Moreno affirmed that he still believes doubling the homeowner’s exemption is the best course of action for the city, because rebates require more work for homeowners. An exemption is automatically deducted from a tax bill, while a rebate would have to be applied for. Noting that he’s skeptical Springfield will enact a rebate plan in time, Ald. Moreno said he has a meeting scheduled with the Budget Office next week to discuss why his rebate plan is the best one for the city.

Lincoln Park Ald. Michele Smith (43) introduced another rebate plan catered more towards elderly residents in her ward. Her plan provides additional relief for homeowners who are 60 years or older and have lived in their home for at least 18 years. Similar to Moreno’s, her ward has seen a surge in home values over the past two decades.

And Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), whose ward includes Logan Square, has two complementary proposals. One plan, which he introduced with Progressive Caucus members last fall, would shelter Chicago homeowners living 400% below the federal poverty level. In order to qualify for the rebate, a family of four would have to have a gross annual salary under $97,000, a family of two would have to report an annual salary under $63,000, and a single homeowner would have to have an annual salary under $47,000.

The fourth plan, which Ald. Rosa introduced at the April City Council meeting, expands on his first plan by extending the rebate to include rental property owners who do not increase their tenants’ rents. In order to be eligible for this plan, a property owner would have to prove that their tenants did not or will not see a rent increase “between the applicable year and the year immediately following the applicable year as determined by leases, affidavits, or other required documentation”, in addition to providing proof that at least 50% of all units on-site are rented to individuals or families whose income is within 400% of the federal poverty level.

Even more rebate plans could be introduced later this spring, after aldermen receive and study data from Cook County on the receipts from the first installment of this year’s property tax bills, one aldermanic staffer said. Those were due on March 1st of this year.

The Council’s Zoning Committee met for three hours yesterday to relax medical marijuana restrictions in one type of downtown zoning district and approve about 40 zoning applications, including one that received a significant amount of pushback at the Plan Commission meeting in March, but had no residential opposition at yesterday’s meeting. 

Present: Chairman Danny Solis (25), Vice Chair James Cappleman (46), Joe Moreno (1), Michelle Harris (8), Ed Burke (14), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Matt O’Shea (19), Roberto Maldonado (26), Walter Burnett (27), Brendan Reilly (42), John Arena (45), Ameya Pawar (47).

Medical Marijuana

The Zoning Committee approved a plan from Ald. Ed Burke (14) to expand the boundaries in the city’s downtown area where medical marijuana dispensaries are allowed to open up shop. The zoning code divides the city’s downtown area into four sub-categories: Downtown Core (“DC”), Downtown Residential (“DR”), Downtown Mixed-Use (“DX”), and Downtown Service (“DS”). When the City Council set the boundary parameters for where medical marijuana dispensaries could locate after the state approved the pilot program, they excluded the DC and DR districts from eligibility. The ordinance the committee approved yesterday would make available the DC district for dispensaries.

“After looking at this, I am not really aware of any compelling justification for distinguishing between DX, DS, and DC zoning districts with regard to medical cannabis dispensing organizations,” Ald. Burke testified. “I don’t know if it is an oversight, but I think that to continue to permit the code to prohibit these organizations from locating in this one DC downtown core district may not make any real sense. I don’t know if that was the intent.”

But due to the strict zoning requirements which forbid a dispensary from being 1,000 feet from a school and a child care facility, the change makes limited space available because of the high concentration of those entities downtown.

Former State Sen. Robert Molaro testified in support of the measure, noting that there were “five or six” sites in the downtown core district that medical marijuana dispensary operators wanted to locate only to find that they were barred from doing so. After speaking to the city’s Inspector General, Corporation Counsel and Ald. Burke’s office, they could not determine why the there was a moratorium put in place, Molaro said. “So we checked with everybody, and no one seems to have a problem allowing DC to go in,” he explained, adding that the same safeguards of requiring a special use permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals and local aldermanic approval would still be in place for community input.

This is Ald. Burke’s second medical marijuana related ordinance to go through the Zoning Committee this year. In January, the Council approved a measure championed by Ald. Burke that relaxed the on-site security requirements for local dispensaries. The ordinance eliminated the requirement that dispensaries have around-the-clock security on the premises. At that January committee meeting, Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) lamented the city’s strict restrictions and the moratorium on dispensaries in the DC districts.

At yesterday’s meeting Reilly praised Burke’s ordinance, saying the outer areas of the city, where dispensaries are allowed, are not easily accessible to downtown residents, especially the elderly.

“Downtown... is surrounded by medical facilities, hospitals, where people are seeing their doctors and obsentively getting these prescriptions,” Ald. Reilly said. “One would hope that they could then also have access to this medication in a centralized location.”

Plexiglass For Vacant Homes

The committee approved another application from Ald. Burke that would add polycarbonate clear boarding to the list of materials that can legally be used to board up vacant buildings. In his testimony, Ald. Burke noted that the Buildings Department already allows use of this tough plastic to secure windows and doors. This ordinance would codify that practice into law, he explained.

Robert Klein, founder and Chairman of Safeguard Properties, a Cleveland-based company that sells the material, testified at the meeting alongside Burke. Noting that his plastic is double the price of plywood, one of the more common materials used to close off homes, Klein argued his product saves money in the long-run. He claimed homes boarded up with polycarbonate clear boarding are less likely to get vandalized or impact the property values of surrounding buildings, because the material is indiscernible from a regular window.

His testimony sounded more like an advertisement, especially with Ald. Burke’s leading questions. And Ald. Raymond Lopez (15), who represents the city’s Back of the Yards neighborhood, which has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the city, took issue to Klein’s comments that his product was the answer to fixing the city’s blighted neighborhoods.

“You can still tell a foreclosed home whether it is plywood or plastic,” Ald. Lopez noted, saying that some of the 600 foreclosed homes in his ward are secured with the plastic material. “And, while I understand you're very much pitching the product, plywood doesn’t devalue the neighboring houses. A foreclosed home, period, devalues that property.”

Zoning Applications (Highlights)

Only one person showed up to testify against a nine-story plus penthouse building planned for 111 S. Peoria in the city’s Near West Side community. Roughly 20 residents signed up to testify against the project at the March Plan Commission meeting. None of the residents were aware that the item was listed on the deferred agenda for yesterday’s meeting, according to attorney Gregory M. Linde of the law firm Nixon Peabody. Linde is representing the Monroe Manor Condo Association, a group of residents that live to the north of the planned development.

The project proposed by LG Development would transform the surface parking lot across from Mary Bartelme Park into a condo building with 95 residential units. Ten percent of those units would be made affordable, at the request of local Ald. Walter Burnett (27). (Since LG Development filed their application before the beefed up affordable housing requirements took effect in October 2015, they took advantage of the affordable housing bonus, which lets them pay a fee for added density, and did not have to make any units affordable.)

Linde said the condo association opposes the project for three reasons: excessive bulk and density, safety reasons related to fire alley access, and “inadequate due process” by failing to notify residents that the project was on yesterday’s agenda.

Michael Ezgur, the attorney for LG Development, immediately refuted those claims. He said the density they are seeking–a change from a DS-3 to a DX-5–is consistent with surrounding zoning, which he said is a mix of DS-3, DX-5, and DX-7. Ezgur also noted that the Fire Department signed off on the plan and the project has been in the works for the past nine months. Ezgur and Ald. Burnett also lauded the various changes the developer made to the project: significantly reducing the number of on-site units, changing the makeup of those units from rentals to condos, and adding the affordable housing component.

“We need to hurry up and vote on this, so this guy can stop billing those neighbors who hired him to come and represent them. I’m sure he’s making a lot of money off them right now,” Ald. Burnett said, adding that he supports the project “100 percent.” It passed unanimously by voice vote.

Another item on the deferred agenda, a proposed four-story masonry building with 36 residential units at 2435 N. Western Ave. in the 1st Ward, received opposition from one vocal resident, Tina Lowry Harris, who lamented the “glut in the luxury rental market.” It was one of the few applications in the 1st Ward that got a hearing and passage. Most applications were deferred either at the request of the attorney or because Ald. Joe Moreno (1) could not be found when the applications in his ward were called up for consideration.

A handful of people, including the president for the Jefferson Park Neighborhood Association, Robert Bank, testified against a project at 5629 W. Higgins Ave. in the 45th Ward. The applicant and owner of the property, Wojciech Lejman, applied for a zoning change to increase allowable density on site so he could demolish the existing building and construct a new two-story, five-unit residential building.

Calling the zoning change “inappropriate” and “greedy” (he accused the developer of trying to squeeze more units in the building to make a greater return on the property), Bank asked that the committee reject the plan. “There is no need for another condo in this area,” he said, equating the units planned to a “cheaper cubical in some tall apartment building.”

Local Ald. John Arena (45) called it a “modest” condo development, noting the taller, six-story condo developments across the street, and recommended passage. It was approved unanimously.  

Several applications, including Helmut Jahn’s proposed 832-foot residential tower for 1000 S. Michigan Ave., were deferred. Chairman Solis (25) directly introduced three applications for zoning changes in his ward. And Ald. Matt O’Shea (19), who recently down-zoned several swathes of 111st Street to the lowest density allowed in a commercial designated zoning district, was put in an odd position of having to backtrack on one of those plans, because a restaurant in his ward that is in the process of expanding would have been found non-conforming.

Before today’s Board of Education hearing, elected officials and parent and community groups will stand outside CPS headquarters in opposition to charter school expansion in Chicago and throughout Illinois (Board Agenda).

Education group Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education (RYH) asked elected officials to sign letters to Gov. Bruce Rauner, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and Mayor Rahm Emanuel opposing the new charters, “24 of which would be in Chicago and 24 in the rest of the state,” the release from RYH says. Their estimate includes schools that would be built with the help of a $42 million federal grant the state won last fall that ISBE says will be used for “planning, program design, and initial implementation of charter schools in Illinois.”

A resolution submitted to City Council’s Education Committee last fall called on ISBE and the Chicago Board of Education “to jointly impose moratorium on charter school expansion for 2015-2016 school year.” The measure had 42 co-sponsors, including Ald. Howard Brookins (21), the newly-appointed chair of the Education Committee. The measure has since gone stale. Brookins is not listed among signees of the moratorium letter, but RYH’s Wendy Katten said outreach to elected officials on this issue was hampered in part by Spring Break, and is still ongoing.

Brookins did not respond to Aldertrack’s request for comment, but when asked about charter school expansion when he was appointed to chair the committee earlier this month, Brookins said, “Right now I am looking for [CPS CEO] Forrest Claypool and people at CPS to come up with a comprehensive strategy as to how and where they should open more schools, albeit charter or regular public schools, and how do we pay for them? I would like to see the why and the how. Why we need more schools and how do we pay for them?”

Signees (22): Joe Moreno (1), Pat Dowell (3), Leslie Hairston (5), Susan Sadlowski Garza (10), George Cardenas (12), Raymond Lopez (15), Ricardo Munoz (22), Michael Zalewski (23), Roberto Maldonado (26), Chris Taliaferro (29), Milly Santiago (31), Scott Waguespack (32),  Deb Mell (33), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), Gilbert Villegas (36), Nick Sposato (38), Anthony Napolitano (41), John Arena (45), James Cappleman (46), Ameya Pawar (47), Harry Osterman (48), Debra Silverstein (50)

Local stakeholders will gather tomorrow evening to discuss the findings of the Police Accountability Task Force (PATF) "and its ramifications for future policymaking, people's lawyering, and activism." The panel will feature Paul Strauss, Director of Impact Litigation at the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights; Stan Willis, a civil rights attorney; and Cosette Hampton, an organizer with the Chicago chapter of Black Youth Project 100 (BYP 100). Loyola Professor Alan Raphael will moderate.

BYP 100 has already come out against the PATF report, saying it's "filled with name-changes and more money for current programs and new programs that increase loopholes and bureaucracy and that the most vulnerable population, young Black people, did not ask for."

The City Council’s Zoning Committee will take up internationally-known architect Helmut Jahn’s proposed 832-foot residential tower for 1000 S. Michigan Ave. and a controversial project from LG Development that calls for a nine-story plus penthouse condo building on a surface parking lot across from Mary Bartelme Park on the city’s Near West Side, among roughly 60 other zoning applications.

Jahn’s 506-unit residential building, which will be a mix of condos and rentals, received unanimous approval from the Plan Commission last week. Seventy percent (358 units) would be made condos while the remaining 148 units, to be located at the bottom half of the building, would be sold as rentals.

All units planned will be sold at market rate. The developers, a joint venture of JK Equities and Time Equities, took advantage of the old 2007 affordable housing requirements, opting to use the Affordable Housing Bonus, which lets them pay an in-lieu fee of $828,502.40. Only one person signed up to testify against the project when it came before the Plan Commission.

Meanwhile, LG Development’s plan for 111 South Peoria Street is likely to get some neighborhood pushback, as more than a dozen residents signed up to testify against it at the Plan Commission meeting in March. That group was especially organized, with handouts, zoning maps, and presentation boards supplementing their testimony. Attorney Ron Cope and city planner Les Pollack were among them. The project, which has gone through five revisions, received unanimous approval from the Plan Commission.

Ald. Burke’s Apps, Plan Commission Appointments

Ald. Ed Burke (14) wants to lift the ban on medical marijuana dispensaries in the city’s downtown area, and add a type of transparent plastic to the list of materials that can be used to board up vacant or foreclosed homes.

Ald. Burke’s two ordinances are the only non-zoning change, aldermanic-backed measures before the Zoning Committee today.

The medical marijuana ordinance would amend the city’s zoning code to make it possible for dispensary operators to apply for a special use permit to open a medical marijuana shop on any street zoned “Downtown Core”, or “DC.” To obtain a special use permit, the operator would still need to apply for the permit with the Zoning Board of Appeals, the land-use body in charge of granting all special use permits.

Burke’s other measure would change the city’s Municipal Code to allow “the use of polycarbonate clear boarding to secure vacant residential buildings.” This type of transparent plastic is advertised as a way to board up homes as not to attract vandals or squatters, because the material makes it indiscernible that the home is closed off.

Under the city’s zoning code, the mortgage holder of any residential building that has become vacant and is not already registered with the city is required to secure the building’s doors and windows. The zoning code requires that “commercial-quality metal security panels” or plywood be used. Burke’s ordinance adds polycarbonate clear boarding to that list.

The Committee is also expected to take up the re-appointment of Leslie F. Bond, Jr.and Linda Searl to the Plan Commission. Bond, the founder and CEO of Attucks Asset Management, was first appointed to the land-use board by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2012. Searl, the president and principal at Searl Lamaster Howe Architects, P.C., was first appointed to the land-use board in 1997 by Mayor Richard M. Daley.

Noticeably missing from the list of appointments is the replacement for Juan Linares, who resigned from the seat after spending less than a year on the commission. At the last monthly City Council meeting on April 13, Mayor Emanuel introduced an ordinance replacing Linares with Lucino Sotelo, a Chief Marketing Officer at BMO Harris Bank.

Aldermanic Applications

• 2438-40 W. 47th Street (15th Ward) - Ald. Raymond Lopez filed a request to rezone a closed-off vacant piece of property currently being used as a private parking lot. It’s located next door to two restaurants, and various other commercial properties are also situated on the street. But Ald. Lopez wants to downzone it from a commercial property (B3-2) to a residential, detached house district (RS3).

• 3116 W. 111th Street (19th Ward) - In his latest zoning request–he had 5 at the last zoning meeting held earlier this month–Ald. Matt O’Shea (19) has filed yet another application to rezone a section of 111th Street. The latest request makes a modest change: from a B1-1 to a B1-1.5. The difference of the “0.5” impacts density, such as the minimum floor area ratio and the minimum lot area per unit allowed. At the April 5th meeting, Ald. O’Shea received some pushback from his colleagues on the committee concerning his applications to downzone various commercial strips (mostly on 111st Street) to the lowest density allowable for this type of commercial use. At that meeting, an aide for Ald. O’Shea testified that the alderman filed the applications to “keep consistent our business district,” and that most of the ward’s commercial streets already conform to that zoning designation.

• 2701-07 W. Division St. (26th Ward) - Ald. Roberto Maldonado is seeking approval to up-zone this commercial and residential building located a block away from Humboldt Park. He’s asking for a B3-3 designation, up from a B1-1. The difference is the type of retail allowed; B1-1 allows for small-scale shops, B3-3 allows for a very broad range of retail and commercial businesses.

• 2119-37 W. Erie St. (26th Ward) - Another application from Ald. Maldonado that would make a modest change to a residential street. He’s asking for a change from a RS3 to an RS2. The change in number affects the amount of density allowed.

• Clark Street from Diversey (2800 N) to Wellington (3000 N) (44th Ward) - Ald. Tom Tunney wants to designate this busy stretch of sidewalks as a “Pedestrian Retail Street.” By classifying these streets as such, Tunney is making sure that they remain pedestrian-oriented shopping corridors. Under the city’s zoning code, a pedestrian retail street is characterized as one that has a high concentration of existing stores and restaurants, few vacant, and most of which have windows and stores facing the street.

• 5140-90 N. Northwest Hwy (45th Ward) - Ald. John Arena filed an application to rezone this triangle lot occupied by a Walgreens building. The property is designated as a manufacturing district (M1-1). Arena wants to designate it as a business commercial district (B1-1). The lot is sandwiched between the 16th District police station and the Orion Industries and Surface Solution Group manufacturing building.

Private Applications on the Regular Agenda (Highlights)

• 1317-1335 N. Western Ave (1st Ward) - Gibbons Construction filed an application to rezone this property to facilitate construction of a new five-story, 60-foot, 39 dwelling unit building. No commercial space is planned. Other amenities would include 32 parking spaces.

• 4352 W. Flournoy St. (24th Ward) - Manal Musa filed an application to rezone a vacant piece of property at this location to build a one-story, 2,400-square-foot commercial strip mall building.

• 1708-12 W. Cermak Road (25th Ward) - Ashcer, LLC, owned by Tatiana Nowak, filed an application to rezone this property to construct a four-story, 46-foot tall building with 24 residential units and 24 parking spaces. Located on the northern border of the city’s lower west side neighborhood, the property is a block away from Benito Juarez Community Academy.

• 863 N. Orleans St. (27th Ward) - Three applicants filed a joint application to rezone this property to build a six-story office and retail building near the Chicago Brown Line CTA Station at Chicago Avenue, making this project a so-called “Transit Oriented Development.” According to the application, the bottom floor would include 3,700-square-feet of retail. Floors two-through-six would have 11,700-square-feet of office space. The three applicants are:
  BlitzLake 3D (David Blitz), TJ Tully LLC (Thomas Tully) Eric Rothner.