Retiring Cook County Clerk David Orr threw his support behind the progressive challenger to Cook County Democratic Party Chair Joe Berrios in the 2018 assessor’s race. Berrios will appear before the Cook County Board today to defend his budget, alongside the Chief Judge, Board of Review, and Board of Commissioners.  

Human Relations Commissioner Soo Choi heard more of the same complaints from aldermen at her budget hearing Wednesday, with repeated accusations that her department lacks diversity and the police psychological exam is racially biased against minorities. The two issues are brought up every year at budget hearings. More recently, members of the Latino Caucus have resorted to using props.

Choi revealed that there has been some difficulty filling the Chief Diversity Officer position announced this time last year.  “I admit there has been some delay,” she explained to Ald. Rick Munoz (22), “We had some issues with the salary. Recruitment was tough at first, so I increased the salary a little bit to attract more candidates.”

DHR Testimony
She said she met with two candidates but both fell through. The diversity officer would be tasked with tracking minority hiring throughout city government and detailing the results to City Council. Munoz retorted that Choo was “spinning the wheel” with excuses, audibly sighing throughout her response.

“I recognize that we have challenges in recruiting more Latino applicants. I acknowledge that. We have tried different strategies. I am disappointed that those strategies have not produced higher levels of interest in DHR positions from the Latino community,” Choo said. She added that the recent campaign by police to boost the number of minority applicants produced one of the most diverse applicant pools, suggesting the process could be replicated. DHR hired an outside contractor to oversee community outreach.

Handling the application process and administering the entry exam for new police recruits has been the largest initiative for the department this past year and will continue through the end of 2018. DHR administered the police exam to 8,620 candidates in April, about 75% of those applicants identified as minorities. Another test is scheduled for December with 14,000 individuals already registered.

CPD Psychological Exam

In 2016, the city eliminated the application fee for the police and fire exam based on an internal analysis that suggested it was one of the biggest deterrents for minorities. But for the past several years, some aldermen have argued the psychological exam is the biggest deterrent.  It was also the subject of a federal lawsuit that was ultimately dismissed (Bonnstetter et al v. City of Chicago et al Case No. 13 CV 4384.)

Choo said approximately 170 candidates were disqualified from the recruitment process in 2016 based on the results of the psychological exam, and 150 candidates appealed the test results.

The ability to appeal is the test is new, noted Choo, “So going forward, when an individual is disqualified based on the psychological evaluation, when they receive notice of that, they will receive the information for how to request an appeal.”

Choo said this process “works for now” given the massive recruitment campaign by CPD and suggested her department is considering a “longer term, more permanent process.”  

CPD outsources its background checks and pre-employment psychological tests. The Chicago-based Center for Applied Psychology and Forensic Studies (CAPFS) and California-based Law Enforcement Psychological Services, Inc. (LEPS), as a joint venture, have held the contract for the psychological exam since 1996, according to the Mayor’s Office. (In 2008, they received a no-bid contract, according to city records.) Kentech conducts the background investigations and US Health Works conducts the medical and drug screening.

The CAPFS-LEPS contract was scheduled to expire in 2013, but it included a three year renewal option. In February, the police department renewed the $1 million contract for one year and backdated the term to December 2016. It expires in November.

Budget Highlights (FY 2018 Appropriation increased to $7.4 million)

• Employment Services & Hiring – DHR processed approximately 298,000 applications as of Oct. 24 representing a 23.9% increase from 2016. About 4,049 vacancies were also filled, a 17% increase.


• The average time to fill a vacancy is 143 days, down from 184 days in 2016

City Inspector Joe Ferguson took some heat from aldermen Wednesday for a Sun-Times editorial he wrote about gun violence in Chicago. It concerned a Rogers Park teacher who taught his kids was fatally gunned down in a drive-by.

Employee elections for representatives on Cook County’s pension fund board wrapped yesterday. Two county departments meet for their budget hearings today, three meet for the city, and the mayor is adding to the six “Strategic Decisions Support Centers” launched in high-crime areas this morning.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx returned to the county board room Wednesday to defend her department’s $151 million budget. Foxx was previously President Toni Preckwinkle’s Chief of Staff. In her first budget presentation as state’s attorney, she warned 10% cuts would hit personnel in key areas, reverse strides made in recent years, and drive up costs far more than short term cuts could save.  

Sheriff Tom Dart addressed the elephant in the room at the top of his budget hearing Wednesday, seeking to address an issue he knew commissioners would question: staffing levels.

City Clerk Anna Valencia faced two rounds of questioning from aldermen on her department’s biggest initiative, a Chicago Municipal ID. The program received a $1 million appropriation in this year’s budget. The funding source was the city’s  poorly received property tax rebate program. The city’s 2018 budget includes an additional $1 million for the city-issued ID.

Female members of the Chicago City Council added to the chorus of voices decrying sexism and harassment in politics. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle introduced the Forest Preserve District of Cook County’s $92 million 2018 budget, and the city announced help for small businesses who want to apply for business improvement grants.

City Treasurer Kurt Summers raised doubts that Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s budget proposal for next year, suggesting it doesn’t address looming, statutorily required pension payments that are too large to rely on any of the new tax and fine increases approved since 2015.

The Executive Director for the Chicago Board of Elections (BOE) apologized to aldermen Tuesday for a major data breach that left personal records of 1.8 million Chicago voters, including social security numbers, exposed to the public.

Ald. Ed Burke (14) sought to put Police Board President Lori Lightfoot in the middle of a policing policy disagreement between Inspector General Joe Ferguson and Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson.

The second day of Cook County budget hearings kicks off with one of the most anticipated meetings of the session: the Sheriff’s Office. Not only have Sheriff Tom Dart and Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s administration recently sparred over contracts for jail guards and the costs of overtime, but many are questioning why Dart’s staff numbers have risen while jail population has dropped. Dart has also refused to issue a budget plan reflecting a 10% cut, arguing it’s too dangerous and costly.

With a light attendance, and committee members slipping out of the hearing room to attend the first day of budget hearings in the Council Chamber, the star of Monday’s Zoning Committee hearing was Council gadfly George Blakemore. Like a broken clock that’s right twice a day, Blakemore testified on every one of the hearing’s 25 items, repeatedly pointing out that with only three Aldermen in attendance for most of the hearing, there was no quorum, and the validity of the hearing’s proceedings was in question.

At the first budget hearing on next year’s budget, Chicago aldermen had few questions about the city’s long-term liabilities, choosing instead to stress how their constituents are fed up with taxes and long waits for garbage cans.

Comm. Dennis Deer (D-2), the newest member on the Cook County Board, has hired 16th Ward Democratic Committeewoman Stephanie Coleman as an aide, county disclosures of Shakman-exempt hires show. Coleman was also present at budget hearings Monday.

According to the county, “An exempt position is one that involves policy making to an extent or is confidential in such a way that political affiliation is an appropriate consideration for the effective performance of the job.” The Shakman decree was instituted to end patronage hiring in Cook County and Chicago government. Coleman was one of a large group of committeemen who voted to appoint Deer to his county board seat to replace the late Comm. Robert Steele. Steele’s aide, Melva Brownlee, is still the most senior member of the office. Coleman defeated Ald. Toni Foulkes (16) for the committeeman seat in 2015. She is the daughter of Ald. Shirley Coleman, who represented the ward from 1991 until 2007.