The Chicago City Council ended 2017 with a comparatively short and casual meeting.  Rows of gift bags lined the desks, many wore festive, Christmas-colored outfits.

Cook County commissioners will meet to consider rolling back some wage requirements for recipients of county property tax incentives, a ballot referendum question on recreational marijuana, and mandated sexual harassment training countywide. A new proposal would also allow presiding officers to ban a member of the public from testifying–a move that will likely raise the hackles of frequent public commenters like George Blakemore.

Today is the final full City Council meeting of 2017. Actionable items include increased authority for the Department of Aviation to set temporary fee and lease terms for the 61 airliners that operate at O’Hare International Airport. Thirty-five-year-old leases at city’s largest airport expire next Spring and the administration wants to ensure the transition is “seamless.”

The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) told the city’s Inspector General that it lacks the resources needed to update a three-year-old survey of the city’s arterial streets and will have to use a 2014 pavement report until it finds the money.

Aldermen from the city’s Northwest and Southwest Sides criticized Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) officials for not acting decisively to comfort and assist constituents whose soundproof windows near the city’s airports are “off-gassing” noxious smells. Many of those windows are past their warranty to be replaced by the city, leaving residents holding the bag.

Cook County Clerk David Orr held a lottery Monday to decide ballot positions in the March 2018 primary, and accepted all petition challenges. The objection process will play out in the coming weeks.

A $1 city-owned land sale in West Englewood to support an urban agricultural and job transition center is one of six land sales under consideration by the Council’s Housing Committee Tuesday.

After addressing the regular agenda, the committee is scheduled to receive its quarterly status update on the city’s progress toward its 2017 affordable housing goals.  For 2017, the city has committed to spend $244 million toward 7,600 units of affordable housing. At the close of September, according to the report, Chicago is $42 million over budget and 800 units short.

Four men cleared in a 1994 rape and murder in Englewood are on track to receive a $31 million settlement from the city, and likely more from the county, as aldermen on the city’s Finance Committee approved the payout Monday. Their favorable vote was made despite reservations from a spokesperson from the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 7, who said a cottage industry of attorneys were working the system to gain city payouts, and that there was compelling evidence against the four men.

Attendance: Chair Ed Burke (15), Proco Joe Moreno (1), Pat Dowell (3), Sophia King (4), Leslie Hairston (5), Gregory Mitchell (7), Michelle Harris (8), Patrick D. Thompson (11), George Cardenas (12), Marty Quinn (13), David Moore (17), Ricardo Muñoz (22), Mike Zalewski (23), Michael Scott (24), Walter Burnett Jr. (27), Jason Ervin (28), Ariel Reboyras (30), Gilbert Villegas (36), Nick Sposato (38), Marge Laurino (39), Pat O’Connor (40), Anthony Napolitano (41), Tom Tunney (44), Harry Osterman (48), Deb Silverstein (50),

The so-called Englewood Four–Michael Saunders, Vincent Thames, Harold Richardson and Terrill Swift–confessed and were convicted of the rape and murder of Nina Glover, whose naked body was found in a dumpster in Englewood in 1994. All four were teenagers at the time and spent 16 years in jail. They later alleged they were coerced and threatened into confessing by Chicago Police detectives and Cook County Assistant State’s Attorneys.

One of those attorneys, Terence Johnson, later described collusion between police and prosecutors in the felony review unit. DNA evidence and a police report also linked a different individual, Johnny Douglas, to the crime. He was a serial rapist and convicted murderer known for targeting sex workers. His DNA was found on Glover, a sex worker and drug addict. Douglas was shot and killed in 2008.

Cook County commissioners approved a $5.6 million settlement to Terrill Swift in July.

“We believe a jury is likely to conclude, as the circuit court did, that plaintiffs are innocent,” deputy corporation counsel Jenny Notz told aldermen. “They are also likely to conclude the confessions were false and unlawfully obtained.”

Of the nine attorneys named, two are still active on the force.

“Two are deceased, five are retired, and two are still on the force,” Notz said. The two still on the force “were fairly junior detectives at the time and were minor players in the lawsuit. I’ve been told there is a COPA investigation pending.”

Based on DNA and Douglas’ history, the Circuit Court vacated their convictions in 2011. The State’s Attorney dropped charges in 2012, and each man was given a certificate of innocence.

The city is responsible for the first $15 million in the settlement. It is self insured for the rest. The city has several such insurance policies for large settlements, a law department spokesperson said.

Asked to preview other large settlements aldermen might be voting on, Notz did not elaborate, but said there are hundreds of pending police cases against the city at any time.

FOP second vice president and spokesperson Martin Preib said aldermen should instead be focusing on corruption in the wrongful conviction movement. “Like any movement there are those within it who are well-intentioned. Unfortunately, this movement has morphed into something altogether different, motivated by garnering settlement money from the city of Chicago.”

“Civil rights lawyers have carved out a cottage industry in the name of wrongful convictions. They look to this chamber as their blank check. Do people who have been wrongly convicted deserve redress? Yes. Is that what’s taking place in Chicago? Absolutely not. I am no apologist for corrupt police officers,” but he said he is disgusted by false narratives against police, and that the murder is still considered unsolved.

There is “powerful evidence” the four were involved in this crime, Preib said, including a confession from one of the men they disposed of a mop and shovel in a nearby lagoon from the murder. He urged aldermen against frivolously tossing detectives’ reputations under the bus.

Ald. Harry Osterman (48) called Preib’s comments unbelievable, especially while the city was attempting to heal relationships between police and communities of color. “To have those comments come before this body when we have to pay out $30 million to four men whose formative years were taken from them, I think it’s going to further divide our city. I would ask the FOP to take that into consideration.”

Aldermen approved that settlement and three others by voice vote.

Water Refund for Laundromats Delayed

Chairman Burke delayed consideration of an ordinance from Ald. David Moore (17), O2017-7815, that would refund some water costs to self-service laundromats. The refund would be equal to any increase in the water tax rates made after June of 2016.

Burke said the ordinance is “not in proper form,” and could not be voted on, but still allowed laundromat owners to testify. All said they are struggling under the city’s property tax and water rate hikes, and are forced to pass on costs to their customers, who are generally low- and moderate-income earners.

Richard Jenkins owns a 4,000 square foot laundromat in Pilsen. He described the rate hikes as crushing. “This is $7,000 or $8000 a year. That’s 30,000 quarters. It’s so much money we’re going to have to pass along to our customers. These are people who give us pennies, nickels, quarters,” to wash clothes. “Every time we raise prices, our customers go down. I think it’s a law of unintended consequences. I know we didn’t see it coming.”

Vehicle Terrorism Task Force Approved

Officials from the Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC) endorsed a resolution from Ald. Burke and Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30) to convene a task force to strategize ways to prevent terrorist attacks by large vehicles in the city. The Chicago Police Department would lead the task force alongside OEMC, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

“This world has changed, has it not?” Burke said. “In an increasingly dangerous world, the perpetrators of mass murder and terrorism have found a much simpler method of spreading their hate and violence. It’s not a question of if, but of when.”

The meeting came hours after a man detonated a pipe bomb during rush hour in New York City. Burke and Reboyras introduced the resolution, R2017-911, after a truck drove onto on a bike path in Lower Manhattan on Halloween, killing eight people and injuring more than a dozen. The resolution mentioned eight other attacks, including the 2016 incident in Nice, France, where 86 people were killed and 458 were wounded in a truck attack.

Ald. Harry Osterman (48) pointed out the Las Vegas shooter had also booked a hotel room overlooking Grant Park during this summer’s Lollapalooza festival.

OEMC’s Alicia Tate-Nadeau, who was tapped for her ability to handle terrorist attacks, weather emergencies, and climate change, told aldermen Monday that the city plans for these types of incidents year round. The city has trained 2,500 people on suspicious activity reporting training. “Anytime we see this, we evaluate it as if it occurred in Chicago,” she said.

“We need to be proactive because so much of these plans and preventative approaches depend on cooperation on a metropolitan basis,” Burke said. “A truck or a van could very easily be rented outside the corporate limits of the city of Chicago then brought into the city.”

The task force must report back to City Council with its recommendations in 90 days.

Little or No Discussion on Chinatown SSA, Changes to Waste Brokers

A scope of services, budget and management agreement for a new Special Service Area that some Chinatown residents blasted last month passed without comment or question Monday. Some complained the additional property tax levy to help pay for security, cleanup, beautification, and marketing is unnecessary, and only further burdens overtaxed small business owners. Ald. Danny Solis (25) spoke out in favor of the new SSA 73 at the hearing in November, but was not present Monday.

Aldermen were similarly silent on a plan to remove Fulton Market from the Enterprise Zone 4 development incentive program. Local objectives for economic development have been accomplished, the planning department says. The change is expected to net the city millions, since enterprise zones offer exemptions on sales taxes for building materials, utility costs, and real estate transfer taxes.

Aldermen delayed consideration of an ordinance that would require waste brokers to apply for a city license and disclose all subcontractors was delayed. Burke said he wanted to wait until the city’s new Streets and Sanitation Commissioner, John Tully, was settled into office.

Resolutions supporting property tax breaks for four industrial properties in Chicago advanced out of the Council’s Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development. Over the 12-year incentive period the the combined savings from the four applicants exceeds $3.5 million.

The Council’s Zoning Committee temporarily stalled a Logan Square alderman’s efforts to zone a mile stretch along Milwaukee Avenue to one of the lowest density commercial districts.

Clarification: This post was updated on Dec. 11 to clarify that Eamon Kelly, who is running for Evanston Township Democratic committeeman, did not withdraw his candidacy, but one of his two sets of petitions.

Monday is an important Cook County filing day, as campaigns turn in the fruits of their days-long labor investigating the legitimacy of petition signatures. Meanwhile, Assessor candidate Fritz Kaegi boasted of three congressional endorsements, and the Chicago Teachers Union promised to let their members sound off on endorsements for governor and attorney general.

CPS CEO Forrest Claypool announced his resignation, effective December 31, 2017. “When I took this job I knew it would be the toughest of my political career. It's lived up to that expectation,” he said Friday. Photo: A.D. Quig, The Daily Line.



Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool announced his resignation late Friday afternoon in the basement of CPS’ headquarters. He was flanked by dozens of somber assembled community members, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and his successor, CPS Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson.

"I regret my actions and I've apologized for them,” Claypool said. “I am experienced enough to know that I've accomplished all I can accomplish at CPS."

The news broke hours before and followed a report from CPS’ Inspector General, accusing Claypool of misconduct and a coverup.

Emanuel stood by his appointee and friend of more than 30 years. He said Claypool should be judged by the entirety of his service with the city, the Cook County Board, at the Chicago Park District, the Chicago Transit Authority, and in securing more funding for CPS students in a deal reached in Springfield earlier this year.

“He can walk out with his head high because he did a job well. He will always be my friend. He did a great job for the children of the City of Chicago,” Emanuel said.

The day before, Emanuel had urged others not to make a “snap judgement” about Claypool’s future. The two first met in 1980, working on David Robinson’s unsuccessful congressional campaign. Alongside David Axelrod, the three went on to found Axelrod & Company. Claypool later advised on Mayor Harold Washington’s 1987 campaign, and twice became Chief of Staff to Mayor Richard M. Daley. He served two terms on the Cook County Board of Commissioners, defeating Ted Lechowitz.

Attendants of the packed the press room Friday included Rev. Leon Finney and Pastor Byron Brazier, two clouted pastors from the city’s South Side. Finney said Claypool was unlike any other superintendent he’d interacted with in his 50 years working with CPS.

“No other head of this body had the nerve to sue the state of Illinois on the (school funding) formula,” Finney said. “We owe Forrest a debt of gratitude for his courage and commitment.”

All speakers credited Claypool for owning up to his mistake, but neither the mayor, nor Claypool, Jackson, or Clark took questions as reporters shouted after them.

“Did you make a mistake by backing Claypool?”

“Did the board learn nothing from the SUPES scandal?”

“What does it say to the children of Chicago that Claypool was praised so much right now? That it’s okay to lie?”

Next Steps

Dr. Janice Jackson, the district’s chief education officer since 2015, has been elevated to acting CEO. The Board of Education will affirm her status at its January meeting, Board President Frank Clark said Friday.

Her mantra during her tenure as chief education officer, she told Crain’s last year, was “stability, stability, stability,” in a district that has seen leadership scandals and funding troubles that brought it to the brink of insolvency.

Jackson started as a social studies teacher at South Shore High School then moved up to become founding principal of Al Raby School for Community and Environment. She moved on to help open George Westinghouse College Prep. She went on to lead Network 9, one of the CPS’ 13 school zones that includes Bronzeville, Hyde Park, and Woodlawn. That zone has 26 schools and serves 14,000 students.

Jackson holds a bachelor’s in secondary education, a master’s in history from Chicago State University, a master’s in leadership and administration, and a doctorate in education policy studies and urban school leadership from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

She takes over as the district still struggles with finances, and as it moves to close and consolidate several schools.

Outside Reaction

CTU VP Jesse Sharkey said union members are “delighted” to see Claypool go, and he looks forward to having an educator at the helm of the district. Photo: A.D. Quig, The Daily Line.



Claypool’s resignation, following Supt. Barbara Byrd Bennett’s indictment, led some to repeat the call for an elected school board.

“For some time now we have been saying that the superintendent of the Board of Education should be a educator and that the board of education should be an elected board,” Ald. Ricardo Muñoz (22) told The Daily Line, “I hope would seize the opportunity to move in that direction.”

Jesse Sharkey, the vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union, agreed, saying he was optimistic that an educator would be at the helm of CPS for the first time in roughly 20 years, when Paul Vallas was in charge.

“Emanuel has now chosen three failed CEOs to run the third-largest school district in the nation, but Chicagoans deserve a qualified educator at the helm of our schools, and one who is vigorously vetted through a publicly transparent review process and found to be both highly qualified and without ethical stain or conflicts of interest. This should ultimately be the responsibility of the elected, representative school board that Chicago residents have overwhelmingly demanded,” he said in a statement.

Sharkey says the union’s priority with Jackson is on restoring funding to special education programs, securing more revenue for the district, and encouraging her to listen to teachers. He said he hadn’t spoken to Claypool in roughly two years.

The union has previously taken a no-confidence vote in Claypool, and has criticized his handling of nearly every issue, from contract negotiations to school funding. Sharkey said his exit should not be remembered as a resignation, but a firing.

Jesse Ruiz, the former Vice President of the Chicago Board of Education and its one-time interim CEO, said “It is time for Chicago to follow the lead of major cities around the country and move to an elected Board of Education. I believe an elected school board will increase transparency and accountability in the leadership of our public school system.”

It’s no secret Claypool has rankled some aldermen, who often hear complaints about their neighborhood schools, but have little power over changing conditions. Ahead of this past budget season, Ald. Susan Sadlowki Garza (10), a former CPS school counselor, got up and left a briefing after she said Claypool told her he didn’t believe her about overcrowded classes in her ward.

Other aldermen who wouldn’t normally speak up at briefings didn’t hold back that day, Garza said at the time, complaining of classrooms with leaky roofs and broken windows. “Aldermen are fed up, and people that usually don’t open their mouth did. And good.”

Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41), who for months has testified about overcrowding at Dirksen Elementary, said the change in guard matters less to him than finding solutions. “No matter who’s in that seat they’re going see and hear me fight for our schools.”

“I think he did the right thing,” said Ald. Anthony Beale (9) of Claypool’s decision to step down. “He would have been an ongoing distraction. He couldn’t lead with this hanging over his head.”

Beale said he hopes the mayor conducts a national search for Claypool’s replacement. If Jackson keeps the job, “So be it.”

“Today’s announcement is shocking but not surprising,” Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) said. Lopez has protested the district’s recent closure and consolidation plans, which would include the closure of Harper High School in his ward. “I hope his successor is willing to address the needs of our communities from a place of genuine collaboration and humility.”

“After having hear Dr. Jackson talk with disdain for the prospects of the communities I represent, namely West Englewood, I am hopeful someone with a more open mind will be permanently chosen,” Lopez said.

The Council’s Aviation Committee has two meetings scheduled for Monday. The first is a joint meeting with Finance to address a soundproofing window program for homes near Midway airport. The second meeting, slated for the afternoon, concerns the collection of fees at O’Hare Airport.

The final legal settlement to pass through City Council before the close of 2017– a $30.9 million payout stemming from the wrongful conviction of four teens in 1994 – is up for consideration in the Finance Committee Monday.

In less than ten minutes, aldermen on the city’s Workforce Committee voted to include sexual harassment training within the city’s annual online ethics training. In-person sexual harassment training would be added to required training that aldermen, aldermanic staff, and senior executives in the city must take within 120 days of entering City service. That in-person training is repeated every four years.