License Committee breezed through 15 minutes of testimony to create new restrictions on charter buses on Thursday, April 13, 2017. (Credit: Mike Fourcher)

City Council License Committee speedily approved new measures Thursday to make it easier to revoke licenses for about 370 charter vehicles, or so-called “party buses”, licensed in Chicago, and to crack down on unlicensed buses operating in the city. The move comes after a series of highly-publicized shootings and violent incidents. The ordinance strengthens and increases penalties for charter operators who do not take steps to warn passengers of that unlawful weapons and substances are not allowed.

Members of the City Council Black Caucus flank Cong. Bobby Rush to call for continued police reform on Thursday, April 13. (Credit: Mike Fourcher)

Members of the City Council Black Caucus were joined by African-American county, state and federal elected officials Thursday morning as they announced plans to vote against a future Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) contract if the contract did not include specified reforms, including removing restrictions on investigations of anonymous complaints, and removing the ban on rewards to police officers who provide information about misconduct.

Cook County commissioners socialize ahead of the full board meeting on April 12, 2017.

County officials came prepared Wednesday for questions from the press and commissioners about $1.6 million in misspent funds at the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM). The problem, officials said, was that DHSEM didn’t get approval before spending the money. That meant the $1.6 million they already spent will have to come from the county’s corporate fund, instead of from a pot of grant money. The department’s interim executive director, Mark Edingburg, presented a multi-step plan aimed at making sure DHSEM–which is largely funded by federal grants–stays within those grant requirements so the county isn’t left holding the bag in the future.

Aviation Committee Chair Mike Zalewski (23) wants officials at United Airlines and the Department of Aviation to come before his committee to explain why a passenger was dragged off one of its flights by police at O’Hare Airport over the weekend. The Committee will also consider a plan to lift the restriction on mobile food trucks at city airports.

Two big ticket items are slated for the Budget Committee Thursday: an ordinance establishing a new municipal ID for Chicago and the first disbursement of funds from the city’s recently created Neighborhood Opportunity Bonus (NOB) fund. A long-stalled initiative to upgrade 85% of the city’s street lights with new energy efficient LED bulbs is also moving forward, as is a contract with a Chicago-area biotech firm.

A routine ordinance requesting the city fix a subdivision error for a privately owned collection of parcels in the city’s Galewood neighborhood barely made it out of Transportation Committee Tuesday because of a series of confusing title transfers that involves the UNO Charter School Network.

Newly elected FOP Lodge 7 President Kevin Graham (on left) was sworn in shortly after the runoff election results were announced on Wednesday afternoon, April 12, 2017. (Credit: Mike Fourcher)

The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police changed their top leadership Wednesday after members elected 19th District patrolman Kevin Graham from the Blue Voice slate as the union’s president for a three-year term. Graham, in a runoff election, defeated incumbent Dean Angelo 56.21% to 43.79%. This is the second time in a row the FOP elected their president in a close election. Angelo defeated his predecessor, Mike Shields, in a 2014 runoff election.

Three meetings have been cancelled today: Workforce, Housing and Community Development, Zoning and Building, and Roads and Bridges. The Workforce committee was scheduled to discuss the county’s annual tax sale and “the impact this change has on communities hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis, senior citizens and homeowners of Cook County.” Treasurer Maria Pappas and Clerk David Orr were scheduled to appear.

The meeting was canceled at the request of Chairman Bridget Gainer. A staffer in Gainer’s office said they are accommodating Treasurer Pappas, who is in Greece celebrating the Easter holiday. 

Finance Chairman John Daley presides over the committee, April 11, 2017.

County Treasurer Maria Pappas attempted to set the record straight about who’s responsible for the “truncated time given to taxpayers to pay delinquencies” before their property taxes are sold. While away for the Easter holiday in Greece, she asked State Rep. Christian Mitchell to correct his recent newsletter saying she mischaracterized changes to the county’s tax sale. The treasurer sent a letter to commissioners ahead of yesterday’s Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations committee meeting, where Chairman Larry Suffredin (D-13) promised to try to clear up confusion over the annual sale.

The Council’s Zoning Committee has an extra short meeting planned Wednesday–there are no map amendments, just an appointment to the Public Building Commission, a clean-up ordinance from Ald. Brian Hopkins (2), and routine signboard applications and fee waivers.

The Council’s Education Committee was forced to recess its meeting Tuesday to dodge a quorum call by one member who expressed frustration with the committee’s lack of action in addressing Chicago Public Schools’ funding crisis.

Citing a last minute removal of a resolution from the agenda requesting CPS CEO Forrest Claypool and CPS budget officials testify before the committee on the state of its finances, Ald. Rick Muñoz (22) threatened a quorum call. Only 8 of the 20 members were present. He told reporters after the meeting that he wants Claypool to clear up inconsistencies with the district’s funding gap, “So that the City Council, if needed, can try and assess how to solve the problem.”

Cook County Commissioners will meet at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday to hear the month’s consent calendar items, followed by an afternoon of regular business. The $36 million contract to update the 40 year-old mainframe system at Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown’s office is up on the Finance Committee agenda (after a delay and committee reassignment last month). A legislative update from Springfield and several no cash bid sales are also on tap.

Laura Kunard, Public Safety Deputy IG nominee, speaks with Ald. James Cappleman (46) following her City Council confirmation hearing on Monday, April 11, 2017.

At her confirmation hearing Monday, Chicago’s soon-to-be Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety Dr. Laura Kunard told aldermen the city’s system for police oversight is “largely ineffective and confusing” and lacks “legitimacy” in the eyes of residents.

“I have deep respect for the profession of policing and its critical function and the role that it plays in our society. But I believe strongly that we must make change happen here in Chicago,” Kunard said in her opening remarks before a joint meeting of the Council’s Budget and Public Safety committees, which prompted a critical comment by one committee chair and skepticism from others that Kunard would be an impartial auditor of the city’s police department.

The Council’s Education Committee meets Tuesday morning to consider one new appointment and two reappointments to the Board of Trustees for the City Colleges. A resolution sponsored by Ald. Gregory Michell (7) that calls for a subject matter hearing on Chicago Public Schools’ student-based budgeting formula will be held.

A joint meeting of Budget and Public Safety Committees convenes Monday morning to consider the appointment of a new Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety. The position, created by Council last October, will perform regular audits of the Chicago Police Department and its oversight agencies. The $137,052-a-year position was created last fall as part of a larger police reform ordinance to replace the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) with a new Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA).