Chicago News
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Officials from Cook County’s pension fund will be on hand Tuesday to bring commissioners up to speed on the fund’s health. Statutory mandates for pension payments bring in less than 40% of what the pension fund needs to pay out benefits. Without continued revenue from the penny hike in the sales tax, the fund is projected to become insolvent by 2039.
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Former 2nd Ward Ald. Bob Fioretti launched his campaign challenge to President Toni Preckwinkle for Cook County Board President on Monday morning, and hotel workers will celebrate implementation of an ordinance meant to protect employees from sexual assault by cutting a cake with Harvey Weinstein’s face on it.
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On Friday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel released a long list of names who would serve on the search committee for the Civilian Office of Police Accountability's (COPA) new Chief Administrator, without the input of a community oversight board. Former 2nd Ward Ald. Bob Fioretti also announces his intentions for the 2018 campaign today.
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Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) has picked up some steam on his attempt to give City Council’s Financial Analyst, Ben Winick, more room to sound off on the long-term financial impact of city actions, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel has appointed longtime ally Andrea Zopp to the Police Board.
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Cook County commissioners made quick work of the Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee Wednesday. They voted unanimously to mandate the State’s Attorney’s Office (SAO) give notice when the county intends to file counter-claims seeking more than $100,000 in damages or fees.
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The Civic Federation, a government watchdog group, issued its response to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s 2018 budget that largely supports the$8.6 billion spending plan but details longer-term obligations that will come due when the city’s annually required pension payments switch to a new funding formula.
“Stay vigilant,” was the the overarching advice Civic Federation President Laurence Msall told aldermen when he testified for the public comment portion of Wednesday’s meeting. “Unfortunately, there are many more tough decisions that are going to face this body and face the city of Chicago.”
Full Report Civic Federation Supports Proposed FY2018 Chicago Budget
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NOV 09, 2017
Renderings of the proposed Public Safety Training Academy, courtesy of the City of Chicago.
Despite a celebrity appearance from Chance The Rapper and a trending #NoCopAcademy hashtag on Twitter, the Chicago City Council overwhelmingly approved the first of many steps needed to build a new, $95 million police and fire training academy.
Though a floor debate ran on for about an hour, mostly with laudatory remarks by aldermen touting the catalytic development for West Garfield Park and its part in the city’s overall “down payment” on police reform, the roll call ended in an anti-climatic 48-1 vote.
Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) of Logan Square issued the sole no vote, saying it was a bad investment. “There is no study here that anyone can point to that says new cement, new windows, new carpet, that a diving tank, aka. a pool, will stop police from killing young black and brown men and women.”
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The full City Council meets today to formally accept the annual budget and revenue appropriations for next year’s budget. Both ordinances will be deferred and published to allow for public comment and subsequent committee meetings to iron out any potential code changes.
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The budget hearing for the Cook County Health and Hospitals System (CCHHS) lasted from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Tuesday. It stayed largely in the weeds, exacerbated existing tensions on the board, and did not result in commissioners walking away with significant areas to cut to help fill the $200 budget gap in the next two weeks.
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Cook County Commissioner Ed Moody (D-6) announced he wouldn’t seek election in 2018, while Comm. Jerry Butler (D-3), one of the board’s most senior members, said he’d keep his plans a surprise, even though President Toni Preckwinkle is already canvassing with 3rd District hopeful Bill Lowry.
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NOV 07, 2017
With the flood of sexual harassment complaints surfacing at the state capitol, Finance Chair Ed Burke (14) wants to ensure similar complaints at the city level are properly handled. The city’s current sexual harassment policy only covers employees, meaning all 53 elected officials of the city are exempt from the rules.
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City Council's Housing Committee meets to consider the land acquisition for the new police and fire academy. Credit: A.D. Quig
City Council’s Housing Committee unanimously approved its two agenda items, the purchase of a 30-acre plot in the city’s 37th Ward for construction of police and fire academy that is not fully funded and a new mayoral program to sell city-owned lots for $1 for developers to build affordable housing.
