At 1:00 p.m. the Committee on Economic, Capital, and Technology Development will take up one property tax incentive application the Mayor introduced to help support a new boutique hotel near Midway Airport.

Parth 13, Inc., a corporation owned by Amit Patel, is applying for a Class 7(c) tax incentive for a new Best Western Hotel planned at the site of the former Alamo Car Rental building at 6501-6549 S. Cicero Ave. Part of Best Western's new upscale lifestyle brand “Vib,” the 31,000-square-foot, three-story, 74-room hotel will cater to business travelers. Other amenities include a cafe lounge, fitness center, and a 2,500-square-foot restaurant.

“With a design intended to reflect the newly-launched brand, along with modern tech amenities, the hotel would be the first to be built in Chicago near Midway in decades, ” according to a press release from the Mayor’s office.

The Class 7(c) incentive reduces the Cook County property tax assessment to 10% for the first three years, 15% in the fourth year, and 20% in the fifth year. Best Western is estimated to save $466,000 in property taxes if the Council approves the designation.

This isn’t the first time this hotel has been brought up at City Hall. In November, the Zoning Board of Appeals approved a special use permit for the hotel. Earlier in 2015, Patel received approval from the Council's Zoning Committee to build the three-story franchise hotel with 69 rooms.

The Council’s License Committee won’t take up any of the shared-housing plans that seek to regulate business like Airbnb, but they will take up an ordinance from Mayor Rahm Emanuel that would amend regulations for horse-drawn carriage and pedicab licenses, in addition to a proposal by Ald. Deb Silverstein (50) to legalize certain “cat cafés” in Chicago.

As previously reported, the competing Airbnb ordinances will be immediately referred to a joint committee of the Council’s License and Housing Committee. The decision to hold a special joint meeting is due to the fact that the plans address licensing and housing concerns, a legislative aide for the License Committee told Aldertrack last week. A date for that hearing is still unknown.   

The ordinance from Mayor Emanuel regarding horse-drawn carriage chauffeur and pedicab licenses was introduced in February on behalf of the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP).

It removes the provision requiring operators of horse-drawn carriages, “speak, read and write the English language,” when applying for the license, and adds a requirement that applicants can’t have been found guilty of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of a “controlled substance or cannabis.” Before, it was just alcohol.

As for changes to the pedicab license, it adds a section clarifying the definition of a pedicab license: “A person engages in a pedicab business by seeking or accepting a fee, an economic benefit of a donation or gratuity, or any form of compensation (goods or services) for providing transportation to passengers in a pedicab.”

According to the Sun Times, the change is aimed at “removing ambiguity,” as to who is required to get a pedicab license, after reports of pedicab drivers circumventing the license requirement by giving rides for free while encouraging tips.

The ordinance also removed the provision requiring that each taxicab licensee submit an affidavit when they renew their license, detailing all lease rates, fees, and charges associated with the leasing of the taxicab.

Ald. Silverstein’s application would let animal shelters serve non-alcoholic drinks, but beverages could only be sold in a designated cafe area and to prospective adopters.

The two-year permit would cost $250, and only applicants with a valid animal care license, or a member of a human society “whose mission is to rescue animals” would be eligible. The city’s health department would enforce the rules and violators could face up to $1,000 in fines.

So far, only one organization in Chicago, Uptown’s Tree House Humane Society, is getting into the cat cafe business. The group plans to open a $7 million, 15,000-square-foot care facility called Cat’fe at 7225 N. Western Avenue this Spring. The state-of-the-art adoption center will house approximately 200 cats, and will include a veterinary clinic, an education center, and a pet food pantry and supply store, according to their website.  

Following inaction in Springfield on Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s property tax relief plan and a looming April 30th deadline to consider a city-run program, Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1) and co-sponsors will hold a press conference at 10:00 a.m. today to call on the Finance Committee to hold a hearing on a Property Tax Relief Program he introduced in September. The Finance Committee meets this Friday at 10:00 a.m.

“We can not wait for Springfield to act on this important issue–our city must take action now and pass this important rebate program!” Moreno wrote in a recent Facebook post. Ald. Pat Dowell (3), Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6), Ald. Michael Scott Jr. (24), Ald. Danny Solis (25), Ald. Milly Santiago (31), Ald. James Cappleman (46), Ald. Ameya Pawar(47), and Ald. Joe Moore (49) are co-sponsors and have been invited to attend the press conference. “Families impacted by the property tax increase” will also be in attendance, according to a Moreno staffer.

Since Mayor Emanuel announced a historic property tax hike last fall to shore up funds for the city’s Police and Fire pensions, aldermen have proposed three different relief plans to mitigate the stress on homeowners.

Expressing worry that Springfield wouldn’t get their act together in time to approve Mayor Emanuel’s plan to double the Homestead exemption from $7,000 to $14,000 by this spring, the City Council adopted a resolution that set an April 30th deadline for the City to adopt a property tax relief plan of its own.

Officials with the City’s Budget Office, who spoke on background, told Aldertrack they’re looking at the various proposals and will meet with aldermen over the next few weeks to come up with an official city-run plan. It’s likely that plan won’t base rebates on home value, which they called “regressive.” The city is more interested in a “progressive” and simple plan focused on low income residents, they told Aldertrack.

The various plans on the table:

• Homestead exemption from Mayor Emanuel: A doubling of the homestead exemption from $7,000 to $14,000 in Springfield was painted as a home run by the Emanuel administration, since it didn’t cost the state anything and would give homeowners across the board some property tax relief. In a statement in October, the Mayor’s office said “any resident whose home is valued at $250,000 or less will be held nearly harmless over the four year phase in of the property tax increase, with many seeing a decrease in their bill.” But like most things in Springfield lately, the amendment hasn’t moved in months.

• Ald. Moreno’s Plan: Moreno’s ordinance is intended 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.

• Ald. Smith’s Plan: It was included in the same resolution that set the April 30th deadline, which passed as part of the consent calendar on the day of the budget vote. Ald. Michele Smith (43) and Ald. John Arena’s (45) resolution urges Springfield to pass the Mayor’s Homestead Exemption in Springfield, but if the exemption isn’t passed into law by April 30, 2016, the City Council would “consider an ordinance creating a City-administered Property Tax Rebate Program…” by June 1 “taking into account the numbers of years that such homeowners have resided in their homes, their age, their income, and the disproportionate impact upon them of the increased property tax levies and the 2016 reassessment of property values in Cook County.”
  
  The text of the resolution draws from Ald. Smith’s ordinance. Ald. Arena told Aldertrack at the time the rebate deal is why none of the Progressive Caucus’ revenue amendments introduced the week before the budget succeeded. Since a rebate plan is estimated to cost between $20 and $40 million dollars, depending on how many people apply, and since the city doesn’t currently have a dedicated revenue source to pay for it, some of the Progressive Caucus ordinances, like closing amusement tax loopholes, are being held back as potential ways to pay for the rebate, Arena said.

• Ald. Rosa’s Plan: Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), partnering with other Progressive Caucus members, introduced an ordinance that “makes use of fund set aside from the City's underutilized 2010 Property Tax Rebate program. In 2010 the City allocated $35,000,000 for a rebate, of which only $2.1 million was distributed,” according to a release from Rosa’s office. Rather than calculate a rebate based on the value of a home, the rebate would target income within 400% of the federal poverty level. “This would include single homeowners earning $47,080 (roughly the median income of the City of Chicago), and couples earning a combined income of $63,720,” the release says.  

As reported by the Chicago Board of Elections.

Unofficial Early Voting – Day by Day – Citywide data through 6:30 p.m., March 6, 2016
Ballots       Date      Sites Open

190	Feb 17	1 site
194	Feb 18	1 site
194	Feb 19	1 site
48	Feb 20	1 site
36	Feb 21	1 site
192	Feb 22	1 site
192	Feb 23	1 site
159	Feb 24	1 site
173	Feb 25	1 site
198	Feb 26	1 site
114	Feb 27	1 site
65	Feb 28	1 site
9,477	Feb 29	51 sites
6,081	Mar 1	51 sites
6,616	Mar 2	51 sites
5,226	Mar 3	51 sites
7,040	Mar 4	51 sites
9,910	Mar 5	51 sites
1,413	Mar 6	14 sites

Unofficial Cumulative: Feb. 17 through 6:30 p.m., March 6, 2016
Ward ......Early Voting Ballots

1	869
2	783
3	1,355
4	1,377
5	1,097
6	1,093
7	1,191
8	1,239
9	1,180
10	841
11	1,341
12	575
13	2,476
14	499
15	274
16	495
17	866
18	1,307
19	2,027
20	636
21	1,207
22	337
23	1,072
24	478
25	598
26	549
27	694
28	634
29	922
30	453
31	410
32	779
33	705
34	1,488
35	425
36	494
37	736
38	979
39	1,078
40	969
41	1,671
42	996
43	1,066
44	1,016
45	993
46	907
47	1,331
48	1,286
49	967
50	757
	47,518

A challenger for the 15th Ward Democratic Committeeman spot is kept his election hopes alive Friday evening with an order for an emergency Illinois Appellate Court hearing, despite a ruling by the Chicago Board of Elections and a judgement from the Cook County Circuit Court to remove him from the ballot. Jesus “Jesse” Iniguez, Committeeman challenger to incumbent and 15th Ward Alderman Raymond Lopez, has been fighting a challenge to signatures on his ballot petition for close to three months. The players in the ballot case are all linked to a complicated, messy campaign for Democratic Committeeman in the 12th Ward, where Lopez is managing the challenger’s campaign.

A bill calling for an elected Chicago Board of Education advances out of the Illinois House, but CPS Chief Executive Officer Forrest Claypool argues it's not the answer to the district's financial problems. The Chicago Teacher's Union announces a "day of action" April 1, but President Karen Lewis stops short of calling for an outright strike. Proponents of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's tobacco reforms drum up support by focusing on the benefits it would bring to the city's African American communities. Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle defends close to $300k in donations to former Chief of Staff Kim Foxx, who's in a heated–and very political–race for state’s attorney against incumbent Anita Alvarez.

A freshman North Side Alderman who says his office has been inundated with complaints about jet noise around O’Hare Airport since he got elected has a plan to put the City Council in charge of approving all construction projects at the international airport, including those planned as part of the O’Hare Modernization Program (OMP).

Ald. Anthony Napolitano, whose 41st Ward includes O’Hare, introduced an ordinance in January that would prevent Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans from completing or starting any new construction projects at O’Hare until the City Council has a chance to look over and vote on the plans. Specifically, Commissioner Evans wouldn’t have the authority to “manage and control all matters and things pertaining to the construction, reconfiguration, decommissioning, and destruction of runways and taxiways,” without first obtaining approval from the City Council’s Aviation Committee through a public hearing on the matter.

For Ald. Napolitano, the ordinance is about transparency and giving residents an ability to object to any new projects that would lead to more jet noise in their neighborhoods.

“We need to have the ability to talk about what’s going on,” Ald. Napolitano told Aldertrack, giving the example of the 10-year-long rollout of the $1.3 billion O’Hare Modernization Program. “No one has talked about how it has impacted the quality of life with the plane volume.”

The city has a commission that handles issues of jet noise at O’Hare Airport. The O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission (ONCC) holds regular meetings and works with the city to address issues of jet noise, but they can only make recommendations.

Napolitano has publicly asked but been rebuffed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to be named to the Commission to replace Catherine Dunlap, the 41st Ward’s ONCC Designee. She was appointed during former 41st Ward Ald. Mary O’Connor’s term in office.

It’s not Napolitano's first perceived slight from the Mayor. Napolitano has accused the Emanuel of political retribution, saying the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals went against his wishes by approving a medical marijuana dispensary in his ward. Napolitano alluded to DNAInfo the Mayor was getting back at him for voting “no” on the 2016 budget.

Ald. Napolitano says that if Council approval is required for routine traffic signs, it should also be required for runways at O’Hare Airport. “I’m going to go to a [Council] committee to talk about a stop sign, but I can’t talk about a runway. That’s ludicrous.”

In a private briefing on the ordinance Wednesday with various members of the Aviation Committee, the Department of Aviation, and the Mayor’s Office, Ald. Napolitano was told to “make [the ordinance] go away,” he tells Aldertrack. “They said it’s in direct conflict of what they want to do.”

“This ordinance is a step in the wrong direction for the city of Chicago and the residents who live near O’Hare International Airport,” Commissioner Evans responded in a written statement to Aldertrack. “Specifically, the ordinance would result in severe economic implications for the city, stunt O’Hare’s growth as a world-class airport, and jeopardize the important progress the city is making in providing noise relief for residents.”

A halt of construction would mean an end to a big employment initiative from the Mayor. The Emanuel Administration has estimated over the next few years, the OMP “will create more than 5,000 construction and professional services jobs... and an opportunity to turn hundreds of entry-level jobs into opportunities for our underserved communities.”

Other caveats from CDA: it would jeopardize “hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding that the City has already received for O’Hare; violate state law and various intergovernmental agreements with surrounding suburbs; and mandate that CDA operate its airports contrary to FAA safety standards and regulations.   

The morning before the briefing, Ald. Napolitano’s office sent out an email blast to constituents with the subject line: “O’Hare Noise - WE NEED YOUR HELP.”

In the email and to his roughly 3,900 Facebook followers, Ald. Napolitano encouraged residents to email all 18 members of the Council’s Aviation Committee and demand a hearing on the ordinance. A handful of ward offices we spoke to yesterday confirmed that they received a noticeable number of emails.  

Asked if the campaign was an effort to force Aviation Committee Chair Mike Zalewski’shand, Ald. Napolitano said no. He wanted to show his colleagues how big of an issue this is in his neighborhood. “The thing is, that I have received hundreds of thousands of complaints, others don’t realize the flight volume and how bad it is.”

Ald. Napolitano says his ward office gets at least 69,000 complaints a month, and that it was one of the biggest issues in the 2015 aldermanic election. “I have people calling my office in frustration, kids aren’t sleeping, houses rattling, these are people that never had planes flying over their house [a few years ago].”

Following the briefing, Ald. Napolitano sent a follow up email to his colleagues on the Aviation Committee to clear up issues brought up, specifically as it relates to the new 9C/27C runway planned as part of the OMP. The opening of that runway, according to Commissioner Evans’ 2016 budget testimony last fall, will “mark the completion of all O’Hare modernization projects on the south airfield.”

But Ald. Napolitano’s ordinance puts a big dent in that plan. It calls for the immediate reopening of a diagonal runway the Department of Aviation closed last year to make way for the construction of that new runway.

“The Commissioner continues to state that the FAA will not allow 14L/32R [the diagonal runway] to reopen although it was open and being used just seven months ago,” Ald. Napolitano explained in an email sent to aldermen on the Aviation Committee yesterday. “If this Ordinance is passed, The Department of Aviation would be required to notify the FAA of their intent to open diagonal runway 14L/32R. The FAA has complete authority to reject this request if the runway poses any threat to the safety of airline passengers.”

That means if the ordinance passes, construction on the new 9C/27C runway would have to stop until Commissioner Evans briefs and receives approval from the Council’s Aviation Committee.

There won’t be any Council action this month on two competing plans to regulate room-sharing businesses like Airbnb in Chicago. The Council’s License Committee released its agenda for next week’s meeting, noting both plans will be immediately referred to a joint License and Housing committee meeting. The time and date of that meeting is still unknown, a legislative aide for the License Committee told Aldertrack.

In January, Mayor Rahm Emanuel introduced an ordinance  on behalf of the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection that would regulate the industry and bring in an estimated $1 million in revenue.

The money would come from a 2% surcharge on the booking of any shared-housing unit, bed-and-breakfast or vacation rental. Hosts and house-sharing companies would be required to register their units with the city. Units that are rented out more than 90 nights a year would be required to register as a licensed bed-and-breakfast or vacation rental. Liability insurance would be required for all rental units. Airbnb, VRBO, and other companies that facilitate transactions between hosts and renters would have to receive a new “short-term residential intermediary license.”

“This new license will require the companies to provide the city with the information and data it needs to effectively monitor and regulate this new license type and compliance with city ordinance,” according to the Mayor’s Office. Revenue generated from the proposal would be used toward initiatives to “promote affordable housing, with a focus on reducing homelessness among families with children.” North Side Aldermen Ameya Pawar (47) and Joe Moore (49), who also chairs the Council’s Housing Committee, are co-sponsors.

The following month, Aldermen Anthony Napolitano (41), Pat O’Connor (40) and Marge Laurino (39) co-sponsored a similar ordinance, but aimed at restricting rentals in single family homes. Their plan includes the 2% surcharge on roomshare stays that would go toward affordable housing initiatives the Mayor’s ordinance has, in addition to proposing a ban on renting out apartments in multiple transactions for overlapping periods, or renting less than the whole space during a single transaction.

The Cook County Assessor’s office decided to weigh in on the fight between incumbent 12th Ward Democratic Committeeman Tony Muñoz and challenger George Cardenas. Yesterday we reported a flyer Muñoz’s campaign has been passing out promoting a property tax rebate seminar by the Assessor’s office at the same location and time as early voting, the McKinley Park Field House. It’s not a surprise that Cardenas’ campaign isn’t too happy about the arrangement.

State Sen. Munoz, “is guilty of [voter fraud] for handing out tax rebates at the polling place,” Cardenas campaign manager and 15th Ward Ald. Raymond Lopez told Aldertrack Tuesday.

Following our report, Cook County Assessor spokesman Tom Shaer contacted Aldertrack to ensure their office was not involved in any shenanigans.

“Senator Muñoz went through my department by phone weeks ago (approximately February 12th) and requested we answer the many questions his constituents have re: property taxes,” said Shaer in an email.

“It was my personal decision to use McKinley Field House,” Shaer added. “However, we require input from officials. My coordinator definitely talked to Senator Muñoz’s office about what location would work, and I usually go with whatever facility we’ve used in the past.” Shaer said they’ve held multiple events at McKinley in the past, and he was totally unaware of when early voting began when the event was scheduled.

Also: Recognize the name Tom Shaer? He’s the Channel 5 sportscaster you remember from the 1990’s. He left NBC5 in 1999 and broadcasting in 2009.

The Emanuel Administration is borrowing $220 million to prove the city has the money to pay the rest of its statutorily required FY2015 payment to Police and Fire pension funds, due by the end of this year.

The move, detailed in a letter Chief Financial Officer Carole Brown sent to aldermen this week, is in response to a lack of action in Springfield on the Mayor’s pension fund reform bill, SB 777, which would have decreased the annual payments the city is required to make to its police and fire pension funds.

Under current state law, the city’s Police and Fire pension plans must achieve a 90% funded ratio by the end of 2040. The Police Fund is only 26% funded with a $11.73 billion unfunded pension liability, and the Firemen’s Fund is only 23% funded with a $4.513 billion unfunded liability. The Mayor’s proposed legislation in Springfield would reduce payments through 2020 and push the 90% funding requirement to 2055.

But when the City Council approved the 2016 budget last year, it based its payment schedule on that reform bill, not current state law. The city only budgeted $619M for the FY2015 Police and Fire pension payment, but, under current law, is required to pay $839M, a difference of $220M.

Because SB 777 has yet to be signed by the Governor, state law requires the city deposit the difference with the city Treasurer to demonstrate it can make the full payment, Brown explained to aldermen.“To meet this requirement, the City is utilizing a short-term funding bridge. This short-term funding bridge will be terminated by the City when Governor Rauner signs SB 777.”

That “short-term funding bridge,” is a short-term line of credit, similar to the money the city uses for cashflow purposes to supplement the cost of city services until property tax receipts are dispersed, the city’s budget office told Aldertrack.

The money will be placed into an “agency fund” controlled by Treasurer Kurt Summers. He, in turn, will invest the funds, and use the earned income to offset the cost of borrowing the money, the city’s budget office said.

If SB 777 passes, the city would return the money to the bank and pay a nominal interest rate. But if SB 777 fails, the city would have to give that money to the pension funds and pay back the entire cost of borrowing the money.

City officials remain confident that SB 777 will pass. For them it’s a matter of when, not if. But Gov. Bruce Rauner has said that he’d only agree to it if it’s part of a larger structural reform package that includes aspects of his Turnaround Agenda.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle used her post-Board of Commissioners press conference Wednesday to again blast Gov. Bruce Rauner for a stalled budget and announced she’s asked departments to institute holdbacks for personnel and spending. She says some of the state’s Medicaid payments to the County’s hospitals are lagging by $100 million.

“Bureaus, departments and elected officials must trim their spending on personnel by an additional half a percent, and non-personnel items by three percent,” Preckwinkle told reporters. “These measures will not fully plug the gap created for us by Springfield. It will not pay for the expenses we incur every day enforcing child support for tens of thousands of Cook County minors. We continue to assess our options on that issue, including all possible legal remedies.”

The cutbacks would run from March 15 through November 30, the end of the fiscal year.

The Cook County Board last month passed a resolution from Comm. Larry Suffredin asking the State’s Attorney to look into ways the County could recoup that money. The resolution calls for the SA’s office to “review and research all existing court orders and consent decrees related to the 2016 Proposed State of Illinois Budget to determine if either they cover payments to Cook County or could be amended to cover payments to Cook County. Further, the Cook County State’s Attorney should research any new cause of action that would cause a Federal or State Court to order payment owed to Cook County.”

Preckwinkle says the state is more than $100M behind on some Medicaid payments owed to the Cook County Health and Hospitals System (CCHHS). “As a result of the failure of the state to pay its bills timely, [CCHHS is] running monthly deficits, and we’re going to have to take corrective action,” Preckwinkle said.

At a regular briefing during the Board of Commissioners meeting, CCHHS Chief Financial Officer Doug Elwell said the system was operating within “a fair amount of red ink as we continue to work through issues,” with enrollment in Cook County’s managed care Medicaid program, CountyCare. But Elwell anticipated the system would recover by the end of the fiscal year, as it had in 2014 and 2015. He said he’s getting advice from County CFO Ivan Samstein, and that the system is in negotiations with the state. “The state owes us $138 million,” Elwell said, though he characterized $68 million as a “normal lag.”

“We are now holding $31 million of their money and trying to negotiate with them to expedite the rest of the payments.”

Commissioners worried the delayed payments might impact CCHHS’ plans for new capital projects (including replacement of the outdated Fantus Clinic and CCHHS administrative offices), especially in light of lower-than-planned revenues from CountyCare and recent announcements of some possible competition: expansions at Rush University and the University of Chicago.

Elwell said the system is in talks with both Rush and U of C to ensure services wouldn’t be duplicative, and he’s confident issues with CountyCare will be worked out. “We just need to get our physicians to more often refer inside our system.” When asked, Preckwinkle didn’t express concern about CountyCare numbers at yesterday’s press conference.

Comm. Bridget Gainer asked that CCHHS brief the Finance Committee on enrollment in CountyCare and reimbursements to the system. “Those are troubling things. I want to make sure that before we make this enormous capital investment that we understand how people are using our system,” she said. Finance Chair John Daley agreed, and said he’d like an update on the impact of projects from Rush and U. of C.     

Other Items from the Cook County Board of Commissioners

Held:

• Litigation is still pending on Otero v. Thomas Dart, et al. The Litigation Subcommittee took up discussion of the case, which was slated to go to trial later this month. The two sides are instead pursuing a settlement. In 2011, Brian Otero was being held on Cook County Jail on a burglary charge, but was acquitted. Instead of going home, he was sent back to jail, told to put back on his uniform, and moved cell to cell for processing. He says when others found out he’d be going home, he was beaten, suffering torn ligaments in his hands and bruises on his face. Otero was released nine hours after his acquittal and is now lead in a class action lawsuit against the county for their post-acquittal detention policy. Commissioners requested monthly updates from the State’s Attorney’s office on the status of the settlement. A settlement on a similar issue in Los Angeles more than a decade ago cost taxpayers there $27 million, NBC Chicago reports.

Approved:

• A resolution from Comm. Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia urging Mondelez, the parent company of Nabisco, to continue its relationship with the South Side of Chicago, passed the board Wednesday. Garcia says 600 manufacturing jobs at the facility are “up in the air,” and the resolution “is simply imploring Mondelez and Nabisco to sit and continue to dialogue with affected workers, many of them residents of Chicago’s South and Southwest sides and suburban communities.” Comm. Richard Boykin, citing tax incentives Nabisco has received “reaching upwards of ninety million dollars” as well as an extended enterprise zone and $29 million in tax breaks over ten years, called for tougher legislation, or possibly penalties, for companies that leave the county after receiving tax breaks.

• Commissioners voted for a resolution calling for the U.S. Congress to pass the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support and Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act, which “would help disabled and older Americans live at home” by offering more resources and options to the estimated 40 million unpaid family caregivers in the country.

• A nearly $700,000 contract to Catalyst Consulting Group to make further improvements to applications on County Clerk David Orr’s website also passed the full Board of Commissioners. Catalyst has run the Clerk’s website since 2009, and developed 20 applications, according to the contract.

• An amendment to the County Code allowing licensed firearm instructors with current registration from the state to use replica guns for education, instruction, and training on firearm safety within a business or classroom setting also passed the full Board. Comm. Gregg Goslin introduced a substitute that corrected County Code language in committee Wednesday morning. “A couple items were left off,” Goslin said, the replica gun used as cell phone holder ordinance and a section on toy guns commissioners already approved last October. A similar ordinance in Chicago City Council was passed the month prior.

Introduced:

• An ordinance from Comm. Larry Suffredin that would create inspectors general for all municipalities and specialty districts, including Cemetery Associations; Drainage, Mosquito Abatement, River Conservancy, Sanitary, and Street Lighting Districts; and Water Commissions, was referred to committee yesterday. Comm. Jeffrey Tobolski requested the State’s Attorney verify whether the program is constitutional or enforceable, “before we spend taxpayer money.”

• Suffredin also introduced a pharmaceutical disposal ordinance aimed at protecting the County’s waterways from “improperly disposed of prescription drugs passing through [the County’s] wastewater and treatment centers.” The ordinance cites Alameda County’s Safe Drug ordinance, which was passed and amended in 2012. The ordinance would establish a stewardship plan for the collection, transportation and disposal of covered pharmaceutical drugs. The program would be managed by the Cook County Sheriff’s Department. It was referred to the Legislation and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee.

• The so-called ‘tampon tax’ has made its way to the Cook County Board, after also being introduced at the City Council. Commissioners Richard Boykin and Deborah Sims introduced an ordinance that would exempt feminine hygiene products from the Cook County Retailers’ Occupation Tax. “Feminine products, like many medicines, are a necessity and not a luxury. Given this fact, these products should not be over taxed,” Commissioner Sims said in a release. Feminine products are currently taxed at the rate of any common product in Chicago: 10.25 percent. The proposal has been referred to the Finance Committee.

The Chicago Board of Elections reports the following:

UNOFFICIAL Early Voting - Day by Day - Citywide data thru 6 pm, March 2, 2016

190	Feb 17	1 site
194	Feb 18	1 site
194	Feb 19	1 site
48	Feb 20	1 site
36	Feb 21	1 site
192	Feb 22	1 site
192	Feb 23	1 site
159	Feb 24	1 site
173	Feb 25	1 site
198	Feb 26	1 site
114	Feb 27	1 site
65	Feb 28	1 site
9,330	Feb 29	51 sites
6,018	Mar 1	51 sites
6,603	Mar 2	51 sites
	Mar 3	51 sites
	Mar 4	51 sites
	Mar 5	51 sites
	Mar 6	14 sites
	Mar 7	51 sites
	Mar 8	51 sites
	Mar 9	51 sites
	Mar 10	51 sites
	Mar 11	51 sites
	Mar 12	51 sites
	Mar 13	14 sites
	Mar 14	14 sites
23,706	Unofficial Total

UNOFFICIAL Cumulative: Feb. 17, 2016 thru 6:00 pm, March 2, 2016
Ward ......Early Voting Ballots

1	384
2	418
3	732
4	696
5	570
6	544
7	701
8	652
9	695
10	438
11	640
12	247
13	1,532
14	232
15	138
16	267
17	476
18	680
19	1,047
20	325
21	641
22	171
23	588
24	250
25	275
26	235
27	380
28	315
29	489
30	192
31	188
32	320
33	316
34	853
35	185
36	228
37	408
38	472
39	477
40	409
41	767
42	471
43	535
44	444
45	451
46	379
47	506
48	557
49	397
50	393
	23,706

The 12th Ward Democratic Committeemen campaign got hotter today, as the Muñoz and Cardenas campaigns lobbed charges of vote buying at one another while allies of one campaign launched an attack website.

Cook County was set to go to trial over a class action lawsuit brought against Sheriff Tom Dart and the County over the County Jail’s policy of bringing detainees who have been acquitted back to jail during processing. Last month, Cook County Commissioners voted, essentially, to take the case to trial. But that trial’s been put on hold, a staffer in Litigation Subcommittee Chair Peter Silvestri’s office said. “The judge struck the trial date in hopes that they’ll settle.”

The case is Otero v. Thomas Dart et. al. In 2011, Brian Otero was being held on Cook County Jail on a burglary charge, but was acquitted. Instead of going home, he was sent back to jail, told to put back on his uniform, and moved cell to cell for processing. He says when others found out he’d be going home, he was beaten, suffering torn ligaments in his hands and bruises on his face. Otero was released nine hours after his acquittal.

According to CBS Chicago, there are 60,000 others found not guilty or had charges dismissed or dropped, but still had to wait up to 30 hours for their release. Otero sued for unlawful detention in 2012, saying the County violated of the Civil Rights Act. The suit demanded a trial by jury. Otero and others are being represented by Myron M. Cherry & Associates, LLC, The Law Firm of Peter L. Currie, PC, Chavez Law Firm, P.C., and Foote Meyers Mielke & Flowers, LLC.

In a closed committee session on February 9th, Commissioners voted unanimously not to seek a settlement, Litigation Chair Peter Silvestri told Aldertrack, but, “there’s been new developments, so the State’s Attorney’s Office wants to update us.” The Litigation Subcommittee regularly moves into executive session during discussion of cases, then reconvenes publicly for a vote.

A settlement on a similar issue in Los Angeles more than a decade ago cost taxpayers there $27 million, NBC Chicago reports. Otero’s attorney, Mike Cherry (of Myron M. Cherry & Associates), told WBEZ in 2013 he hoped this case would be expensive enough to force Cook County to update what has been criticized as a “bureaucratic disaster of disappearing files and dinosaur age technology” - namely, the County Court System’s reliance on carbon copies of files that can slow down processing for acquittals, among other essential court functions.

Other Issues Up in Committee Today

Commissioners might get a broad view of the cost of compliance with the Shakman Decree today. Last month, Comm. Deborah Sims noted the “astronomical amounts” the county is paying for compliance at departments like the Recorder of Deeds and Assessor. “This is really ridiculous what we’re doing,” she said.

“For last three years we’ve been told this is coming to a conclusion,” Comm. Joan Patricia Murphy complained at the time. Comm. Silvestri noted that the Sheriff’s Office had come into compliance, and asked that Don Pechous with the State’s Attorney’s Office put together a list of the total number of cases and dollar amounts that the County has paid out over time for the next Subcommittee meeting.

“We can do that,” Pechous said.

Cook County’s Finance Committee will be voting to approve roughly $125,000 to pay for costs and fees of administrators who oversee compliance with Shakman Decrees at the County, Recorder of Deeds, Assessor, and Democratic Organization of Cook County today. Those recurring fees have added up. Each agenda item authorizing the payment includes a “paid to date” number. For the Recorder of Deeds’ Compliance Administrator, the total is $1.46 million. In the case of Shakman v. Democratic Organization of Cook County, et al., the County has so far paid out $7.83 million.

Commissioners will also vote on a resolution calling for the U.S. Congress to pass the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support and Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act, which “would help disabled and older Americans live at home” by offering more resources and options to unpaid family caregivers. AARP estimates 40 million Americans serve as family caregivers, worth an estimated $470 billion a year.

The Criminal Justice Committee will take up an ordinance amending the County Code allowing licensed firearm instructors with current registration from the state to use replica guns for education, instruction, and training on firearm safety within a business or classroom setting.

The full Board of Commissioners will meet today to vote on some of the above items and things we previewed yesterday. Here are some highlights from the consent calendar:

• 16-1895 (Comm. Larry Suffredin) - This amendment would allow applicants for property tax breaks to receive multiple breaks for the same piece of property.

• 16-1896 (Comm. Larry Suffredin) - By January 1, 2017, all municipalities and specialty districts would have to create Offices of Inspectors General. Specialty districts include Cemetery Associations; Drainage, Mosquito Abatement, River Conservancy, Sanitary, and Street Lighting Districts; and Water Commissions.

• 16-1898 (Comm. Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia) - This resolution urges Mondelez, the parent company of Nabisco, to continue its relationship with the South Side of Chicago. The company plans to move 600 manufacturing jobs to Mexico.

• 16-0907, 16-1742, 16-1743 (Pres. Toni Preckwinkle) - Collective Bargaining Agreements between the county and the House Staff Association of Cook County, The International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 399, and AFSCME Council 31.

Cook County Commissioners and officials from the Medical Examiner’s office gathered to announce the office achieved full National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) accreditation, what Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Cina called “the big prize”, years after the office was mired in scandal.  

Board President Toni Preckwinkle appointed Cina to the ME’s post in July 2012 to replace Dr. Nancy Jones, who announced her retirement after a series of bad headlines describing bodies piled up in the morgue’s coolers and poor administrative control. Preckwinkle brought Cina on during an overhaul of the department that included the firing of four, the disciplining of eight, and a new Executive Director, Daryl Jackson. She entrusted Cina with “reshap[ing] the Medical Examiner’s Office into a model facility.”

According to the Tribune, Cina approached the County, saying he was interested in righting the ship. He was previously associate medical director and chief administrative officer of the University of Miami’s Tissue Bank, Medical Examiner for Broward County, and well-versed in the politics of the job, telling commissioners at his confirmation, “Florida politics is not trivial, so I have been exposed to that… Cook County is legendary." After that staffing sweep, Comm. John Fritchey warned that turning around the ME’s office would fall squarely on President Preckwinkle’s shoulders.

Cina got a roughly $70k pay bump, an extended, five-year appointment, and a promise he could fill five vacancies and add three more medical positions. At the time, he was one of the highest paid ME’s in the country, making $300,000 a year.

He made staffing a priority at the outset, and thanked Preckwinkle and commissioners Tuesday for dedicating resources to turning around the office. The County has ramped up its spending on the morgue since Cina’s appointment, from $6.8 million in FY12 to about $11 million planned in FY16. In that time, commissioners have approved fee hikes for services like storage and cremation at the morgue. Spending has gone toward the beefed up staffing Cina called for, renovated “state-of-the-art coolers” ($1.4 million) and a “cutting-edge, cloud-based case management system” for tracking decedents ($900,000).

Other improvements include emergency preparedness, rehabbed policies and procedures, and increased staffing capabilities to handle more death scenes and process multiple shooting victims. “If a [shooting victim] hits the doors by 6 am, the family can claim that decedent by the end of the day,” Cina told reporters.

When he entered the office, Cina said, it had 27 deficiencies under the NAME requirements, but he won’t allow the office to lose the title under his watch.

The morgue will be up for review annually each January. Aside from prestige, the NAME-certified designation means more open doors for grant and fellowship money.