Ald. Ed Burke (14) wants to expand the city’s hate crime ordinance to include police officers, firefighters and other first responders to the list of protected citizens as part of the “Blue Lives Matter” movement.

Burke, along with several other former law enforcement officials on the Council, plan to introduce an ordinance that would charge a person who assaults an active or retired officer or other law enforcement personnel because of their uniform with a hate crime.

As the amendment is currently drafted, any person found unlawfully inciting a riot, or more specifically, a “clear and present danger of a riot or assault, battery or unlawful trespass against” a current or retired first responder would face fines between $25 and $500, and up to six months in prison.

And any individual who commits a “hate crime” as defined under the law, whether it be an assault or destroying personal property, against a first responder would face up to $2,500 in fines, up from the current $500 maximum.

“We need to extend to our first responders every possible protection,” Alderman Burke said in a press release sent yesterday. “Each day police officers and firefighters put their lives on the line to ensure our well-being and security. It is the goal of this ordinance to give prosecutors and judges every tool to punish those who interfere with, or threaten or physically assault, our public safety personnel.”

Last month, Louisiana’s Gov. John Bel Edwards signed similar legislation into law after it passed both houses of the majority Republican legislature.

At the federal level, Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado introduced similar legislation in March called the “Blue Lives Matter Act of 2016.” That measure would make an attack on a police officer a hate crime punishable with up to 10 years in prison or longer if there is a death involved.

Aldermen Willie Cochran (20), Nick Sposato (38), Anthony Napolitano (41), Derrick Curtis (18) and Chris Taliaferro (29), all of whom are former law enforcement officials, are listed as co-sponsors.

A spokesman from Burke’s office told Aldertrack yesterday that no decision has been made on when it will be introduced–or to what committee.

Thomas Ryan, President of Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2, which represents firefighters and paramedics, endorsed the measure in the press release. “This ordinance will provide added protection to first responders who risk their lives in service to others while also adding consequences for those who feel compelled to attack them in the performance of their duty.”

Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 7 President Dean Angelo told Aldertrack that the union is “obviously thankful” for the ordinance. “It's an anomaly at this particular time with so much anti-law enforcement rhetoric,” he said, adding that they look forward to its passage with all the “anti-police legislation” currently being introduced by people he described as being unfamiliar with what police officers deal with on a daily basis.

Asked if the ordinance would further strain community police relations in Chicago, Angelo said no. “I don't see how it would be taken in a negative context.”

Activists and police reformers are strongly opposed to the measure, especially in light of recent events over police misconduct.

“This proposal is a distraction from the real conversation we need in Chicago about fundamentally reforming the policing system, which has failed the people of the City. Crimes committed against police because of their status as police are down, not up,” said Karen Sheley, Director of the Police Practices Project at the ACLU of Illinois, in an emailed statement sent to Aldertrack.

“Rather than diverting scarce resources to this non-existent problem, we need to focus sharply on the very real and pressing problem of how to reform policing in Chicago, including rebuilding the trust between the community and the police department. We are in the midst of a grave crisis regarding this trust, and we should be working to insure that the community knows that police will be held accountable when they act improperly. This is a real problem that needs addressing now.”

“It’s a disaster. The efforts to criminalize more people would not work at this particular time...It’s adding nuclear energy to an already tense situation,” said Anton Seals, Jr., an organizer on police accountability issues and a Community and Neighborhood Coordinator at DePaul University. Referencing the Independent Police Review Authority's recent public disclosure of over 300 video clips that are part of open investigations into police misconduct, Seals said police aren’t the ones who need protection. “It looks like the abuse is the other way around.”

Meanwhile, Chicago activist Rachel Williams of Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100)said they’re not surprised by Burke’s efforts. “When Louisiana passed its bill, we knew that it would go across the board, that [similar measures] would be introduced across the country.”

County commissioners will meet at 9:15 a.m. today to consider clarifying rules on text messaging and emails from non-government accounts and phones, resolutions supporting more strict gun licensing rules, and a name change for the Office of Adoption and Child Custody. The Finance Subcommittee on Litigation will also meet in executive session to consider nearly a dozen pending lawsuits against the county.

Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee

New rules for texting and emailing for County Board employees, two resolutions supporting expanded gun regulations, a briefing on pending legislation in Springfield and Washington, and appointments to various agencies are on the agenda for today’s Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee meeting.

A resolution supporting a bill from State Rep. Christian Mitchell and State Sen. Don Harmon that requires all applicants for a gun dealer license and their employees to have a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) cards and a background check is up for consideration. The so-called Gun Dealer and Ammunition Seller Act would also require training for legal requirements and responsible business practices for gun sales. The preamble notes “between 2009 and 2013, four particular gun dealers, each located a short drive outside of Chicago, supplied 20% of all guns recovered from Chicago crime scenes.”

A similar resolution from Comm. Larry Suffredin urges the general assembly to institute statewide licensing and regulation of gun dealers and ranges, arguing the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has the resources to do so. "Lack of oversight makes it far too easy for gun dealers to turn a blind eye to 'straw purchasers,' and other traffickers,” the resolution reads. Commissioners are also due to be briefed on the status of lobbying efforts in the general assembly and in Congress.  

Comm. Suffredin first proposed this ordinance in March, saying all electronic communication by officials, board or commission appointees and employees regarding official government business must be through official government email accounts. Separately elected officials and their staffs (like commissioners) may use separate email accounts associated with their own offices, or personal email accounts, but must tell Board Secretary Matthew DeLeon those accounts are being used for government purposes.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has come under fire for use of private devices to conduct government business. The Chicago Tribune is currently battling the Mayor in court, alleging he violated the state's open records laws by refusing to release private emails and text messages about city business.

Three appointments are also up for committee consideration: Judith Hamill to the Cook County Zoning Board of Appeals, Dale Niewiardowski as a Trustee of the Northwest Mosquito Abatement District, and Michael Sullivan as Commissioner of the Weller Creek Drainage District Board of Commissioners. According to her LinkedIn, Hamill served in various roles in Chicago and Cook County government from 1975 until 2009. Niewiardowski is an Elk Grove Township trustee and Vice President of three local businesses: Nevarr Inc. Lawn and Construction Equipment Division, Nevarr Inc Public Safety and Homeland Security Division and Nevarr Property Management LLC.

Subcommittee on Litigation

The subcommittee on litigation will receive several updates from Don Pechous, a representative from the Cook County State's Attorney’s office, on pending litigation against the county, including:

• Debra Dyer-Webster v. Dent, et al., alleges excessive force by two employees of the Rapid Response Team at Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center while escorting a minor out of a classroom. The plaintiff, Debra Dyer-Webster from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services claimed two employees slammed a minor’s face against a desk, causing him “to lose consciousness, sustain an abrasion to his chin and fracture his jaw,” then verbally abused him.

• Karkoszka v. Dart, et al., James Karkoszka, an inmate at Cook County Jail, was waiting for transfer from a holding cell after medical treatment for blood clots. He testified didn’t want to be handcuffed and “purposely struggled to avoid” it. Multiple officers came to the holding cell to try to handcuff him while he was “flailing around.” After he was handcuffed, the suit alleges, officers escorted him to a room where they handcuffed him to a wall, sprayed him with pepper spray, and continued to hit and kick him. Medical records from Cermak Health Services at the jail said he was "beaten badly to the head," and sustained intra-cranial hemorrhaging. 10 employees were named in the case.

• Dixon v. Cook County, et al., This case brought by Lula Dixon, mother of the deceased Kevin Dixon, alleges officers at the Cook County Jail were “deliberately indifferent” to her son’s medical condition–complications from cancer. Dixon says her son was at times paralyzed from the legs down in his cell and didn’t receive medical attention quickly enough. Judge Thomas Durkin dismissed the complaint in October 2013, saying the delay in care wasn’t deliberate indifference, and there were no specific deficiencies that may have existed in the County's policies for medical treatment.

• There is also a case involving Dr. George Cybulski, a neurosurgeon who became head of the Cook County Health and Hospitals System Division of Neurosurgery in 2004, but left in 2009. He is still medical staff at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, and Stroger Hospital. He is listed as a plaintiff against the County.

Business and Economic Development 

Three Class 8 property tax breaks are up for consideration by commissioners today. Properties that receive a Class 8 break are assessed at a lower rate: 10% of the market value for 10 years, 15% for the 11th year and 20% in the 12th year (instead of 25%).

• 2520 Lincoln Highway, Olympia Fields: This property, in a commercial strip mall, has been vacant for 19 months–short of the 24 months generally required for a Class 8 break–but commissioners can consider it vacant under special circumstances. The applicant, ES Realty Olympia Fields LLC, plans to provide 8 full time jobs at the site.

• 16823 State Street and 61 East 168th Street, South Holland: Simone Kapovich/ S&J Construction is interested in purchasing this property for Industrial-Warehousing and logistics purposes, in addition to adding 18 full time jobs. According to the application, the property is in need of substantial rehabilitation. According to Google Maps, it appears S&J is already located at 61 E. 168th St.

• 13820 South Marquette, Burnham: Five full time jobs would be created and 165 would be retained at this waste hauling operation in Burnham. National waste handling company Mr. Bult’s Inc. (MBI) is the applicant. Their headquarters are just around the corner from the proposed location.  

There is also an amendment to a previously passed item creating a special purpose fund to defray administrative and project delivery costs for the Broadening Urban Investment to Leverage Transportation (BUILT) in Cook Loan Program (funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development). The program was created to allow the County to borrow money from private investors at reduced interest rates to “promote economic development, stimulate job growth and improve public facilities.”

Health and Hospitals Committee

A rename for the Cook County Office of Adoption and Child Custody is the only agenda item for the committee. The agency’s new name would be the Department of Adoption and Family Supportive Services, and will stay under the jurisdiction of the County Bureau of Administration.The change is due to recent amendments to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, which went into effect January 1, 2016. All references to "custody" were replaced by "parental responsibility allocation." The fingerprinting fee is being reduced from $50 to $15.

With far less than the 25 members needed for a quorum, aldermen on the Rules Committee advanced three non-binding ballot questions for the November election that would ask Chicago voters about strengthening penalties for illegal gun sales, if the city should issue municipal IDs for non-citizen residents and whether the state should provide “equitable” funding for Chicago Public Schools.

Attendance: Chair Michelle Harris (8), Pat Dowell (3), Howard Brookins, Jr, (21), Michael Scott, Jr. (24), Danny Solis (25), Ariel Reboyras (30), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), Marge Laurino (39), Pat O’Connor (40)

Ald. Scott Waguespack’s (32) proposed ballot question on whether an elected Independent Airport Authority should govern Chicago’s two airports, O’Hare and Midway, was not considered yesterday. It was the only ballot referendum proposed by an alderman not to advance to the Rules Committee. Instead, when Ald. Waguespack introduced the measure in May, at the same meeting the other three referenda were introduced, it was sent to the Aviation Committee.  

Further oversight at Chicago’s airports have faced major pushback in committee this year. In March, when Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41), whose ward includes O’Hare Airport, aggressively pushed for a hearing on his plan to put the City Council in charge of approving new runways, it got shot down with every member on the committee, with Ald. Napolitano voting against it.

The Mayor’s Office, the city’s Law Department and Aviation Department were vehemently opposed to that plan arguing it would disrupt day-to-day operations at the airport, hinder ongoing expansion plans and jeopardize millions of dollars in federal aid. Napolitano has also been publicly pushing to be included on the O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission, to no avail.

The referendum asking Chicago voters about establishing a new airport authority was drafted in consultation with SEIU Local 1, which represents some airport workers, and is supported by most of Ald. Waguespack’s Progressive Caucus.

After yesterday’s Rules Committee meeting, Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) told Aldertrack that the goal is to have the Aviation Committee consider and vote on the plan in time for the June 22nd monthly City Council meeting. That could give the supporters of the referendum the opportunity to convince other aldermen why that question is more important than the other three advanced by the Rules Committee yesterday.

State law limits the number of ballot referenda to three per jurisdiction. In Chicago’s case, the City Council has until August 22 to adopt the three advisory questions that will go to voters in the upcoming November election. And petitions to file an advisory question must be filed by August 8 with 8% of the total votes for governor cast in the last election within that jurisdiction, or 52,519 signatures for Chicago. Once the three slots are filled, no further questions may be submitted.

The three referenda questions the Rules Committee approved advanced fairly easily, although Ald. Rosa raised concerns that Ald. Danny Solis’ (25) municipal ID question could hinder work Cook County is currently doing to setup a countywide ID system.  

The proposed question would ask voters: “Should the City of Chicago consider creating a municipal identification card that will expand access to city services for residents unable to access other forms of identification?”

“I’m a strong believer of a municipal ID... but I have serious concerns about this question and the way that we are bringing it forward,” Ald. Rosa explained, referencing how the New York City Council, instead of posing municipal IDs as a question on the ballot, made it official city law.

Rosa said the question, depending on the outcome, could step on the County’s efforts, a message he said was relayed to him by county commissioners. “They feel strongly that this timing is not opportune for their efforts at the county level.”

But there is no official measure pending in Cook County to create a countywide ID. It’s still in the idea stage and was recently proposed as part of recommendations from Cook County Health Care Task Force. One of the suggestions is to create a countywide ID for immigrants or others without the means of getting a state ID in order to help them gain access to state subsidized care at county hospitals.

Rosa planned to make a quorum call to block a vote on the referenda, but said he changed his mind after receiving assurances from Ald. Solis that the Mayor's Office would speak to and address concerns from county commissioners and local immigrant leaders, who he said are worried that the current political climate over immigration could lead to an unfavorable outcome.

Meanwhile, there was no pushback for the Mayor’s ballot question about illegal guns or Ald. Howard Brookins, Jr. (21) inquiry about the state’s school funding formula.

Police Commander Christopher Kennedy, who oversees the gang investigation division with the Police Department’s Organized Crime Bureau, testified on behalf of the mayor’s proposed ballot question, which asks voters: “Should the State of Illinois strengthen penalties for the illegal trafficking of firearms and require background checks for gun dealers and their employees?”

According to Commander Kennedy, since the start of 2016, the police department has seized approximately 3,900 illegal guns, or the equivalent of one gun per hour, making the collection greater than the combined total of illegal guns seized in New York and Los Angeles. “It’s critically important that we reduce the size of Chicago’s illegal gun market by holding the sellers of illegal guns accountable as well, by strengthening the penalties of illegal trafficking of firearms, and by requiring background checks for gun dealers, the state of Illinois would be providing additional meaningful tools in our efforts to reduce gun violence.”

The third referendum the committee approved, introduced by newly appointed Education Chair Ald. Brookins, would ask: “Should the State of Illinois provide full and equitable funding for Chicago Public Schools?”

Brookins said the question is aimed at putting pressure on the state to fairly subsidize Chicago Public Schools.  “We need a permanent solution, we need an equitable solution for funding of education in this state, particularly in the city of Chicago,” Ald. Brookins’ explained. “We believe that this resolution allows people of the city of Chicago to speak to that.”

And all four corrections to the Journal of Proceedings were approved together without discussion.

Health Committee

The Council’s Health Committee will meet at 10:00 a.m. this morning to conduct their annual hearing on ComEd’s progress report for 2015. Officials with the utility are also scheduled to discuss summer preparedness.

City Council’s Rules Committee meets at 9:00 a.m. today to consider three non-binding ballot referenda for November’s election. State law limits the number of ballot referendums to three per jurisdiction. The deadline for City Council to adopt up to three advisory questions for the November ballot is August 22. Petitions to file an advisory question must be filed by August 8 with 8% of the total votes for governor cast in the last election within that jurisdiction, or 52,519 signatures for Chicago.

One proposed ballot referendum from Mayor Rahm Emanuel would ask Chicago voters whether the state should strengthen penalties for illegal trafficking of firearms and require background checks for gun dealers and their employees.

The second, proposed by Ald. Danny Solis (25) calls for a ballot question on the creation of city-issued IDs “that will expand access to city services for residents unable to access other forms of identification.” The city’s language access ordinance, which passed about a year ago, called for the creation of a task force to look into the development of municipal IDs to connect Chicagoans with city programs, regardless of immigration status, homeless status, or gender identity. Mayor Emanuel established the group in July of 2015, and was supposed to report its findings in time for the release of the FY 2016 budget. But one of its members, Fred Tsao of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, told Aldertrack last month that scheduled meetings were postponed.

The third referendum on the agenda, introduced by newly appointed Education Chair Howard Brookins, Jr. (20) asks: Should the State of Illinois provide full and equitable funding for Chicago Public Schools? Brookins made headlines recently for saying Gov. Bruce Rauner’s “attacks” on Chicago Public Schools funding were “racially tinged.” It’s not the first time the argument’s been made. At the unveiling of CPS’ 20 for 20 campaign in April, CPS CEO Forrest Claypool said Gov. Rauner’s suggested budget discriminates against minority and low income children across the state. Board of Education President Frank Clark emphasized that most CPS students are children of color. And local pastor Dr. Byron T. Brazier said Rauner’s school budget was intended to continue “racial and economic practices of the past.”

Not on the agenda: a proposed referendum question from Ald. Scott Waguespack(32) asking voters if an elected Independent Airport Authority should govern Chicago’s two airports, O’Hare and Midway. The question was drafted in consultation with SEIU, which represents airport workers, and has 27 signatures. At a May press conference, some of the main sponsors, including progressive aldermen Leslie Hairston (5), Susan Sadlowski Garza (10), and Toni Foulkes, stood with workers who alleged they were subject to wage theft, intimidation, retaliation and discrimination by airport managers.

The Fair Elections Ordinance and hearings on the Finance Committee’s workers compensation department are both on hold in the committee, as is a citizen-introduced item on procedures for recalling the mayor.  

There are four corrections to the Journal of Proceedings. Three technical corrections are from 42nd Ward Ald. Brendan Reilly (a misnumbered Planned Development number), 15th Ward Ald. Raymond Lopez (a misnumbered address for a sign issuance) and City Clerk Susana Mendoza (the incorrect year on a resolution).

Ald. Danny Solis (25) also has a correction changing the site of the old Malcolm X College building from an Institutional Planned Development (reserved for hospitals, schools, and universities) to a Business Planned Development. Students from the Malcolm X campus have since moved to a brand new facility, and the city has sold the land to the Chicago Blackhawks and Rush University for construction of a new practice facility for the hockey team and a new medical academic campus for the university.

A state bill to overhaul the city’s payment schedule for its police and fire pension funds clears big hurdles in Springfield, and gives the Mayor some breathing room on property taxes. Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson highlights ongoing reforms at CPD, while the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) publicly releases videos and police records for more than 100 pending police misconduct investigations. And City Council Zoning Chairman Danny Solis (25) flexes his local control powers to push out a new development in Pilsen.

The Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) released video footage and police records of 101 active investigations into police misconduct and highlighted six specific cases believed to be of public interest. But none of those cases include victims whose families have recently received sizable settlements from the city for alleged police misconduct.

The release began with an on-background session for reporters that lasted an hour. No cameras or recording equipment were allowed while officials with the city’s Law Department and IPRA walked reporters through the database. Once complete, there was a 30 minute break for TV crews to set up cameras, followed by a brief, nine minute press conference with IPRA Chief Sharon Fairley, who took only a handful of questions from reporters.

These six cases are considered to be the most graphic of the roughly 300 video clips posted on the website:

• David Strong, Leland Dudley, John Givens (Incident #1053667) - This case stems from an April 30, 2012 incident involving a robbery at Mike’s Electronics on 24th and Western. Strong, Dudley and Givens were in the process of robbing the electronic store when police arrived at the scene. One video clip shows a black SUV barreling out of a parking lot in reverse, almost hitting officers on the sidewalk. Police open fire at the car. Strong died from a gunshot wound. Dudley and Givens were both shot but not killed and are currently serving 35-year prison sentences.

• Ishmael Jamison (Incident #1058573) - This case stems from a November 22, 2012 incident at 62nd and California. Jameson was on a CTA bus assaulting passengers and the driver. Video footage on the website shows Jamison pacing back and forth at the bus stop without a shirt on before being shot by an officer. He suffered two bullets, one to the stomach, the other to his foot.

• Michael J. Cote (Incident #1069721) - This case stems from a June 11, 2014 incident at North and Hoyne. At the time, Cote was driving a black SUV in Bucktown, hitting every parked car on the street, according to the 911 calls posted. This cases includes cell phone video footage obtained from two witnesses who recorded the event from their apartment window. There’s graphic audio with a lot of swearing, and the footage shows several officers approaching the car and opening fire. The witnesses scream that Cote is dead, but he didn’t suffer a fatal wound. He survived a bullet to the abdomen and is no longer serving time.

• Zainul Hussein (Incident #1076216) - This case stems from a July 20, 2015 incident at North and Clybourn. Officers arrived at the scene after receiving reports of a man hitting people with a baseball bat. The video footage for this incident came from a dashcam video from a squad car that arrived after Hussein was already shot by police. As the car approaches Hussein, you can see him shirtless and on his knees in the middle of the street with what looks like blood on the ground. He was shot in the leg. There was no footage from the squad car that was already at the scene, nor is there footage from the Bank of America across the street from where Hussein was shot.

• Lisa Simmons, Jeremiah Smith (Incident #1071320) - This case stems from a July 12, 2014 incident at a block party at 15th and Christiana. The video footage, which was captured from a cell phone camera after police had already arrived at the scene, shows officers arresting Simmons and Smith. Both were charged with resisting arrest.

• Terrence Clarke (Incident #1075692) - This case stems from a June 16th, 2015  incident at a Portillo’s on Clark and Ontario. Clark, a tourist from Canada, was at the restaurant watching the final game of the Stanley Cup. The incident occurred after the game was over, when the restaurant was closing up. Video footage shows an off duty officer who was working as a security guard for the restaurant get into an altercation with Clarke before escorting him out of the restaurant, telling him he will be arrested. It’s hard to tell from the video what sparked the altercation.

Under the new video release policy, first outlined in February, IPRA will regularly update the database, adding new cases that fit the criteria. This includes case materials involving officer-involved shootings, officer-involved Taser use “that results in death or great bodily harm”, and incidents of “death or great bodily harm (other than self-inflicted harm) that occur in police custody.”

IPRA will release all relevant case material within 60 days of the incident, including footage captured on a squad car dashcam, street surveillance cameras or “PODs”, cell phone video, and private security tapes from local businesses. Not all of the videos have audio, but some audio files will be included in the release, such as 911 calls, OEMC dispatch recordings, CPD radio calls and other third-party audio. Police arrest reports, original case incident reports, officer’s batter reports and tactical response ports are included. In some cases IPRA can request an additional 30 day delay before releasing the documents.

But within the portal, there’s little information on victims of police misconduct the City Council approved settlements for within the last year.

No records are provided on the database for Calvin Cross, a 19-year-old who was shot 45 times by police officers in 2010 during a foot chase. The Council approved a $2 million settlement to Cross’ family in June 2015. Nor are there records for Ontario Billups, Emmanuel Lopez or Ryan Rogers. Billups was shot by police in 2010 after police mistook a bag of marijuana he hand in his hands for a gun. The City Council settled that case for $500,000 in November 2015. Last month, aldermen approved a $2.2 million payout to Lopez’s family. The 23-year-old was fatally shot by police officers during a car chase in September 2005. A $1 million settlement for Rogers’ family was also approved last month. He was fatally shot by Chicago police in suburban East Hazel Crest in March 2013 during an undercover operation targeting stolen cell phones.

At that May 16th Finance Committee, Jane Notz of the city’s Law Department told aldermen the IPRA investigation of the Lopez case was still pending.

According to Mia Sissac, the Public Information Officer for IPRA, there are several reasons for cases not being listed on the website. Any IPRA cases completed or closed prior to the creation of the new transparency policy released in February 2016 or cases involving a juvenile are not included on the portal.

IPRA recently announced that it will make investigators available at various community centers and churches on a weekly basis for people to report cases of police misconduct. The announcement was made a couple weeks after the Mayor submitted an op-ed to the Sun-Times announcing he’d dissolve the agency. But Sissac tells Aldertrack it’ll be sometime before IPRA is replaced. Until then, the agency will continue to implement reforms suggested by the task force. Legally, an agency must be in place to investigate police, and a new oversight body would take some time to establish.

The Council’s Zoning Committee approved Chairman Danny Solis’ (25) request to downzone a nearly eight acre parcel of vacant land in Pilsen after residents said they were worried they wouldn’t get a say on what kind of development would be built.

Attendance: Chairman Danny Solis (25), Vice Chair James Cappleman (46), Proco Joe Moreno (1), Sophia King (4), Anthony Beale (9), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Walter Burnett (27), Deb Mell (33), Tom Tunney (44)

The ordinance the committee approved rezones a vacant parcel bounded by West 16th, South Newberry, South Peoria, and West 18th Streets from a Community Shopping District (B3-2) to a Limited Manufacturing/Business District (M1-2). The manufacturing designation will prohibit any residential development from being built on the site without a thorough community review process and corresponding zoning change.

Chairman Solis asked for the downzone, according to DNAinfo, because the site developer refused to comply with a zoning rule in Pilsen that mandates any residential project must include at least 21% affordable units. The developer, Noah Gottlieb of Property Markets Group, had originally planned a 500 unit apartment building for the site, then said he’d build something smaller that wouldn’t require a zoning change in order to completely forgo the affordable housing requirements.

At yesterday’s meeting, Chairman Solis argued that he still thinks residential, not industrial, is the best use for the property and that the zoning change was meant to prove a point. “Sometimes what the community needs, and what the community wants, isn’t exactly what a developer is proposing,” he explained. Solis said he wasn’t closing the door on the proposed developer or any other developer who wants to build on the site, but rather, he was addressing the needs of the residents he represents. And those needs are more affordable housing in Pilsen.

Thirteen people signed up to testify on the project, eight of them in favor of Solis’ zoning change. But all sides seemed to agree on the same point: residential units should be built on the vacant land, eventually. Opponents argued changing the zoning would delay that development, leaving a blighted, and sometimes unsafe vacant lot undeveloped. Proponents said they wanted more time to decide what should be built, and that any new residential building planned for the area must go through a “thoughtful community process.”

Michael Grill, an attorney for Holland & Knight, testified against the zoning change on behalf of the developer, saying Pilsen’s commercial corridors would benefit from more density. “They need more residents living in that area who can spend their good, hard earned dollars on the good businesses that we have along those streets, so those businesses can continue to provide good jobs in this neighborhood,” he said.

“It’s strange to me that if the purported reasoning behind changing this is to provide more affordable housing–which is a laudable goal–changing it to an industrial use simply will not provide more affordable housing in this area,” he added, urging Solis to work with his client to bring a project that complies within the existing B3-2 zoning.  

Vincent Cook, an attorney representing the property owner, The Midwest Providence of the Society of Jesus, also testified against the zoning change. “We feel that the current residential zoning is a perfect use for that neighborhood, and we feel that a change to light manufacturing is not the best use of that property,” Cook said, adding that his clients are still interested in working with Solis toward a solution.

Most of the residents who supported the zoning change said they were lifelong residents of Pilsen and expressed worry that they would soon be priced out of their neighborhood if the zoning remained intact. Nineteen-year resident Walcolda Reyesargued that the site has remained vacant for more than a decade because no developer has brought forth a plan that “provides the community benefit that we believe is what needs to happen there.”

Julio Paz, whose family has been living in Pilsen since 1948, agreed. “We need time to find the best plan for that parcel of land. The community’s character, vitality, and culture are under threat.”

“I would like for all parties to work together,” Chairman Solis said before calling for a vote. “This is a strategy that not only I, but other aldermen have used, and if you look at the history, and if you look at the record of my ward and other wards, you’ll find that sometimes doing this gets the message across.” The zoning change passed unanimously.

Ald. King Receives On-site Affordable Housing In Two South Loop Projects

Newly appointed 4th Ward Ald. Sophia King also did her part to make sure two South Loop projects made a last minute change to allow on-site affordable units. Zoning Attorney Rolando Acosta said his client, developer Keith Giles, agreed to make 10 of his 320 units affordable for his proposed 26-story residential tower at 1136 S. Wabash, which is currently a surface parking lot. The developer originally wanted to buy out of the affordable housing requirement. Giles will instead enroll those units in the Chicago Housing Authority’s voucher program.

Oxford Capital Group, the developer behind a plan to rehab the Essex Inn and build an adjacent 57-story residential building, also agreed at the request of Ald. King to add on-site affordable housing. The developer’s attorney, Paul Shadle of DLA Piper, said his clients will make a $2.02 million payment to the affordable housing trust fund, in addition to providing on-site units. He didn’t mention the number of units.

“Affordable housing is a responsibility that the whole city should share in all parts of the city,” Ald. King argued.  

Ald. Moreno Rejects Plan Because It Lacks Affordable Housing

Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1), who often grandstands on affordable housing issues on the floor of City Council as he faces intense scrutiny in his ward about gentrification concerns, voted against a project in the neighboring 32nd Ward for its lack of affordable housing.

There have been protests in recent months, including one along the new 606 trail, calling for more affordable housing in Wicker Park, Bucktown and Logan Square. The project Moreno rejected calls for the construction of three, four-story residential buildings for a total of 76 units. None of the units will be made affordable. The developer, Mark Kozlowski, has chosen to make an in lieu payment of $800,000 into the affordable housing trust fund.

Moreno took issue with not only the in lieu payment, but also local Ald. Scott Waguespack (32), who he did not mention by name: “We have elected officials that say they support affordable housing and CHA and don’t build them on site.” Moreno and Waguespack also faced off over on-site units at the massive redevelopment at the Lathrop Homes.

“I know I sound like a broken record on this, but it continues and continues to happen.”

Chairman Defers Public Building Commission Appointment

At the start of yesterday’s meeting, Zoning Chairman Solis announced he’d be deferring the appointment of David Whittley to the Public Building Commission, but didn’t explain why. He did  allow the committee to approve another appointment: Albert D. Tyson III to the Plan Commission.

Tyson was previously on the PBC and his vacancy would have been filled by Whittley. Tyson spoke for less than a minute at yesterday’s meeting, mostly to say that he was honored at the opportunity to serve on the Plan Commission. Ald. Walter Burnett (27) and Ald. Anthony Beale (9) said Tyson is a good fit for the land use board because of the development work he’s had a hand in on the city’s Near West Side.

Historical Landmark Designation for Old Town Gets Pushback from Residents  

Twenty-one people testified on a proposal to designate several residential buildings on West Burton Place as historical landmarks, 14 in support and seven against. The buildings are part of the Old Town Artist Colony, a group of 12 buildings and five coach houses, which were remodeled between roughly 1920 and 1940 by a group of artists, including Edgar Miller and Sol Kogen. The landmark designation would protect the buildings' exterior elevations, as well as select walls, fences, gates and sidewalks, from alteration or demolition. The properties include 150-160 W. Burton Place and 143-161 W. Burton Place.

Matt Crawford, a representative with the Department of Planning and Development, said the designation would protect and highlight the unique character of the neighborhood. “The artist colony that developed here became the home and workplace of numerous prominent artists and architects of national and international stature for over eight decades,” he said.  

The buildings are already listed on a national historic registry and the effort to landmark the area has been in the works since 2007, according to Ald. Burnett. The effort to make the residential block a Chicago landmark ramped up last year after a developer bought one of the buildings with the intention of demolishing it. But as the city’s Landmarks Commission began drafting the boundaries of the landmark district, several property owners reached out to Burnett asking that their buildings be excluded. The Landmarks Commission agreed with some of those requests. Only 12 of the 18 buildings in the area are included in the proposed designation, Burnett said.

One property owner who had made that request but wasn’t excluded from the designation, Penny Kurston of 143 W. Burton Place, called the entire process unethical gerrymandering. She said realtors and real estate attorneys told her the designation would have a negative impact on her insurance rates and property value. Kurston’s 12-year-old daughter testified at the meeting and relayed the trouble the family went through to get Ald. Burnett’s attention on the issue.

Ald. Burnett said he did make an effort to get her property out of the designation, but the landmarks commission denied the request. He then accused an unnamed resident of being “really aggressive on stalking” him and other commissioners on the landmarks committee.

“The last time she saw me, I was like ‘I may have to do a restraining order against you’, because she followed be all the way to my car,” Burnett explained, saying she also followed commissioners to the bathrooms, their offices or homes.

“After I just got hit by somebody, you know, I was like you better stay away from me, because I’m not ready to get hit again,” he joked, referring to a man who punched him outside his ward office two months ago.

It appears Zoning Chairman Danny Solis (25) will move forward with his plan to rezone a nearly eight acre plot of vacant land in Pilsen to prevent the development of a massive apartment building after a developer reportedly refused to comply with the neighborhood’s stringent affordable housing rules.

First reported by DNAinfo, Ald. Solis introduced an ordinance that would rezone a vacant parcel bounded by West 16th, South Newberry, South Peoria, and West 18th Streets from a Community Shopping District (B3-2) to a Limited Manufacturing/Business District (M1-2). According to DNAinfo, the zoning application is in response to a plan by developer Noah Gottlieb of Property Markets Group to build a large apartment complex on the vacant parcel. Ald. Solis demanded that at least 21% of the units be designated affordable housing and refused to support the plan through the plan development process until that criteria was met.

But instead of complying with the affordable housing requirements Solis enforces in Pilsen, Gottlieb reportedly decided to build a smaller building allowed as of right under the existing B3-2 zoning designation. Solis introduced a map amendment, the first item on today’s zoning agenda, to upzone the property to manufacturing, preventing any residential development to be built on the site. Manufacturing is considered one of the most strict zoning designations, and in the past, aldermen have used it as a tool to restrict new development and affirm local control. Any rezone from a manufacturing district requires a community review process and, in some cases, the green light from the city’s Plan Commission.

The parcel received its current zoning designation of B3-2 back in 2013 when Ald. Solis sunsetted an existing planned development (No. 1012). The Midwest Jesuits, which bought the land in 2009, are still listed as property owners.

Ald. Solis’ change request would fit somewhat with the existing zoning of the surrounding area. Properties directly across the street of West 18th are currently zoned for manufacturing, as is a parallel section of land between Morgan and Peoria Streets. But a portion along Newbery Avenue, which is located on the same block as the vacant parcel of land Ald. Solis wants to upzone, is currently zoned for residential homes with under 20 units.

If Ald. Solis is successful in obtaining the zoning change, public, civic or commercial uses would be allowed as of right. Any residential uses would need a special use permit. Neither Chairman Solis nor Gottlieb responded to our request for comment by publication.

Other Items on the Agenda

• 2847-2937 W. Lawrence Ave (33rd Ward): Ald. Deb Mell wants to downzone a strip of vacant land a block east of the North Branch Chicago River from a Neighborhood Commercial District (C1-2) to a Neighborhood Shopping District (B1-1). Both zoning designations allow for a broad range of small scale business, retail or service uses. But they diverge in the range of uses allowed: a C1 district permits taverns and liquor stores by-right.

• Two Mayoral Appointments: The Zoning Committee will take up two mayoral appointments: one to the Public Buildings Commission (PBC), the other to the Plan Commission. The former is an 11-member board that maintains, acquires and facilitates the construction of city-owned buildings. The latter is a 22-member board that reviews applications for planned developments citywide and projects along the lakefront, like the recent controversial Lucas Museum plan. Mayor Rahm Emanuel is transferring Albert Tyson III from the Public Building Commission to the Plan Commission, and replacing his vacant seat on the PBC with David T. Whittley, a pastor of the Corinthian Temple Church of God in Christ in Garfield Park.  
  
  Tyson has served Saint Stephen African Methodist Episcopal Church since 1985, in addition to holding a slew of city-run board positions, including a the Board of Trustees for City Colleges of Chicago. Tyson replaces another member of the cloth on the Plan Commission: Bishop John R. Bryant of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in the city’s Grand Boulevard neighborhood. Bryant, who was appointed to the commission less than a year ago in the summer of 2015, was vocal advocate of affordable housing, opposing a handful of applications for its lack of on-site affordable units.

• Two projects in Pullman (9th Ward): One project from neighborhood group Pullman Artspace will be an affordable artist live-work space, the other plan from non-profit Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives will be a cluster of restaurants to serve the increased number of tourists visiting the recently designated Pullman national monument. A team of art and neighborhood organizations are behind a plan to transform a 18,500 square foot parcel of vacant land and the two adjacent historic, three-story apartment buildings on South Langley Avenue into affordable housing for artists. All of the units in the Pullman Artspace Lofts will be made affordable.
  
  Thirty-eight units are planned for the site, six will be located in each of the existing buildings and 26 units will be located in the newly constructed building which will be designed to fit in with the surrounding historic landmarked buildings. The apartments will range from studios to two-bedrooms, or 750-square-feet to 1,100-square feet. Rents will range from $295 to $863 a month.
  
  The other project, a proposed multi-tenant restaurant, will be located at 720 East 111th Street, right off the expressway to the neighborhood. DPD Commissioner David Reifman helped get this project off the ground when he was a zoning attorney at DLA Piper. When the item went before the Plan Commission in May, David Doig, President of Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, said the development team is moving forward with lease agreements for a Potbelly and Chipotle. Doig is a veteran of the city’s Housing Department, DPD and the Park District under the Daley administration. The two will be the first fast casual restaurants to set up shop on the far South Side in over two decades, Doig said. The organization is saving an adjacent parcel for a “Chicago restaurant” they plan to open at a later date.

• Three Proposed Historical Landmark Designations: The Stone Temple Baptist Church Building (3620-3624 W. Douglas Blvd.) in the 24th Ward; the Commercial National Bank Building (125 S. Clark St.) in the 42nd Ward; and a group of residential buildings in Old Town known as the Artists Colony (150-160 W. Burton Place) are up for landmark designation by the committee.
  
  Stone Temple Baptist in North Lawndale regularly hosted speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and served as a synagogue for Jewish immigrants fleeing anti-Semitism in Romania, according a release from the Mayor's office. The Commercial National Bank Building, once CPS headquarters, is the city’s oldest high-rise commercial bank building. Blue Star Properties Inc., the building’s owner, is spending $21 million to rehab the building. If the bank is given landmark status, it would qualify for a Class L property tax break from Cook County. Total tax savings would be approximately $13.9 million over the next 12 years, the Mayor’s office says. The Old Town Artists Colony, a group of 12 buildings and five coach houses, were remodeled between roughly 1920 and 1940 by a group of artists including Edgar Miller and Sol Kogen. The landmark designation would protect the buildings' exterior elevations, as well as select walls, fences, gates and sidewalks, from alteration or demolition.

• Proposed Hyde Park Hotel (5th Ward): The 90-foot, 100-room boutique smart hotel the Olympia Companies have planned for Hyde Park will be the second of its kind along 53rd Street. It’ll be located at the corner of 53rd and Dorchester, just two blocks away from the recently opened Hyatt Hotel. The Hyatt will share its parking garage with the new hotel. The project received the green light from the Plan Commission in May (1401 E. 53rd Street).

• Essex Inn Revamp (4th Ward): Already approved by the Chicago Plan Commission, Oxford Capital Group’s redevelopment plan for the Essex Hotel awaits consideration by the Council’s Zoning Committee. The developer plans to build a 57-story tower adjacent to the Inn at 800 S. Michigan Ave. It will replace the existing parking garage. The new building will include hotel rooms on floors two to six, a restaurant on the seventh floor, a pool on the eighth, and 476 residential units on the remaining floors. The Essex Inn will be rehabbed to include 290 hotel rooms. In May, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks recommended that the building be designated an official landmark. That designation has yet to advance to the Council. (800 S. Michigan Ave)

• Uptown Housing Development & Theater Restoration (46th Ward): The Wilson Avenue Theater would be restored as part of a plan by Cedar Street to redevelop the neighboring vacant parcel into a seven-story apartment building. Since the project is located a block east of the CTA’s Wilson Avenue Red Line stop, the project is considered a Transit Oriented Development (TOD). That designation means that the developers have to provide only 16 parking spaces for the 102 unit building. (1050 W. Wilson Ave.)

• Another South Loop Parking Lot Turned Residential High Rise (4th Ward): Developer Keith Giles is seeking to establish a planned development to build a 26-story mixed-use residential building with ground floor retail and 320 apartments. Ten of those units will be made affordable. Plans also call for a rooftop pool. The measure passed the Plan Commission in May. Giles has been involved in several other historic and high rise developments. (1136 S. Wabash Ave.)

• New Parking Lot for North Park University (33rd & 39th Wards): North Park University filed an application with the city to incorporate land it already owns into an existing planned development (no. 707) for the construction of a surface parking lot. According to the Plan Commission agenda, the parking lot will hold up to 79 cars. The university is seeking a rezone of underlying zoning of the planned development to make that possible. (5001 N. Kedzie Avenue)

As police reform, yawning budget deficits and pensions take center stage in City Council, and as lobbyists work feverishly behind the scenes on city regulations to sharing economy platforms like Airbnb, Uber, and Lyft, we wanted to check in on some items that once generated excitement and attracted attention only months ago, but have fallen into the darker recesses of Council’s consciousness.

Paid Sick Leave - Despite a two year fight, paid sick leave legislation looks subject to the whims of Springfield, according to Workforce Committee Chair Pat O’Connor(40). Even though Chicago has the power to implement labor reforms like sick leave, O’Connor told Aldertrack last month he’s waiting for some key issues to be resolved in Springfield, “which clearly would impact the city’s future and the city’s revenue picture.” Ald. Ameya Pawar (47), one of the ordinance’s main sponsors, pointed to uncertain reforms for CPS funding as a possible contributor to the delay, but said it was no excuse. “This issue is equally as important as reforms to the police department and CPS funding inequities, because they all impact the same people. We need a vote [in June].”

Two business organizations with a strong presence in Springfield and Chicago, the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, have come out strongly against the ordinance, writing a dissenting report about paid sick leave findings from a task force hand picked by Mayor Emanuel. But proponents argue the latest ordinance is much more business friendly than the first ordinance

Property Tax Rebate Plan - Property owners anticipating an unwelcome hike in their second installment property tax bills in July still don’t have hope for a break from city or state lawmakers. Despite several aldermen–Michele Smith (43), John Arena(45), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), and Proco Joe Moreno (1)–proposing their own ordinances for a city-run rebate plan since October 2015, none have had a hearing, or have a hearing scheduled, in committee. And Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposed doubling of the current exemption from $7,000 to $14,000 has gone nowhere in Springfield, either (there are even some doubts the exemption would be workable given the County’s outdated tech).

Officials from the city’s Budget Office told Aldertrack this time last month they’d be looking at aldermanic proposals in May, and would stay “true to the Mayor’s goal of protecting low- and middle-income families that can least afford it.” Aldermen and aides Aldertrack spoke to in recent weeks said the budget office is still crunching numbers. The budget office didn’t respond to requests for an update.

Municipal Deposits - This ordinance requiring financial institutions to submit reports on employee data, community involvement, and loan data has been held up for nearly a year, despite backing from City Treasurer Kurt Summers and progressive aldermen like Roderick Sawyer (6). One source close to negotiations said the final product is likely to be a pared down cleanup bill, short of what Treasurer Summers advocated for last June.  

Proponents of the measure argue banks that hold up to a billion dollars in city money should be accountable for reinvesting in local small businesses, non-profits and entrepreneurs. Treasurer Summers, who recently announced support for joining a class action suit against big banks for bad swap deals, wanted to use extra reporting required in the ordinance to create a Banking Scorecard “to ensure Chicagoans can identify if and how frequently their local banks are investing back into their communities.” The city’s 18 current municipal depositories include big banks like U.S. Bank, Citibank, BMO Harris, Chase, and PNC.

Keeping the Promise - Since a tense, day-long hearing four months ago on oversight of the Chicago Housing Authority, there’s been no movement on Ald. Proco Joe Moreno’s (1) “Keeping the Promise” ordinance, according to the alderman’s legislative aide. The ordinance, drafted with the Chicago Housing Initiative, mandates regular reporting from CHA on unspent city, state, and federal funds; progress and plans for replacement housing, outstanding “Right to Return” contracts and vouchers; and one for one replacement of affordable housing units.

At the February subject matter hearing on the measure, then-newly appointed CHA head Eugene Jones said the new requirements would be overly burdensome. While the agency closed out the books in 2015 with $221 million in surplus, Jones said, it’s expecting to end 2017 in the red because of committed projects planned over the next two years. Critics accused the CHA of diverting money that’s supposed to be used for housing vouchers and building or rehabbing units toward padding its cash reserves and shoring up pension payments instead. An analysis of CHA’s spending from the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability (CTBA) found on average, the CHA annually issued 13,534 fewer housing vouchers than the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funded, while more than 30,000 people waited for vouchers.  

Hearings on CPD surveillance of protestors, political groups - A resolution Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) filed in mid-October 2015 has similarly gone nowhere. It’s one of a few CPD-related ordinances filed before the video release of the Laquan McDonald shooting, and has yet to face a hearing. Waguespack introduced the resolution in response to an investigation by the Sun Times’ Mick Dumke into surveillance practices of the Chicago Police Department over the past six years.

Dumke’s report said even after the police department disbanded the so-called “Red Squad” that spied on activists, “the police still are allowed to gather information on demonstrators as long as they establish a ‘reasonable law enforcement purpose.’... interpreted by the department as including efforts to prevent future crimes, even when there’s no evidence any law has been broken yet.”

Video Gambling - Ald. Raymond Lopez’s (15) ordinance opening up video gambling in Chicago got immediate pushback from the Mayor when it was first introduced in November. Mayor Emanuel said he’d prefer Chicago to have one land-based casino. But Lopez would still like to see movement, saying he’s got nearly half the Council (mostly border aldermen) on board, and each would have control over where new machines are allowed in their ward. The ordinance calls for a $1,000 licensing fee per year on video gaming terminals, which Lopez says could net the city tens of millions of dollars.

“I think that with whatever’s coming down the pike, we should not leave any revenue option off the table,” Lopez told Aldertrack last week. Gold Rush Amusements, one of the largest distributors of video poker gaming machines in Illinois, has donated money to several aldermen, including a $1,000 check in November 2015 to Ald. Lopez. The company has also contributed to Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1) 31st Ward Ald. Milly Santiago ($2,500) and 40th Ward Ald. Pat O’Connor ($300). The 33rd Ward Regular Democratic Organization, run by the ward’s former Democratic Committeeman Dick Mell, received a $10,000 donation from the company.

Fair Elections - First introduced in January, the proposal from Ald. Joe Moore (49), Ald. John Arena (45) and Ald. Michelle Harris (8) would create a small donor match campaign finance system, similar to New York City’s. The ordinance would establish a special election fund to provide candidates running for mayor, alderman, city clerk, and city treasurer with $6 of public matching funds for every dollar raised, up to $175. In order to qualify for the money, a candidate can’t accept any donations more than $500 from one individual source. Since its referral to the Rules Committee, which Ald. Harris chairs, the ordinance hasn’t seen the light of day.

Mental Health Clinics - Ald. Jason Ervin’s (28) ordinance, introduced with fanfare and a press conference with stakeholders like AFSCME Council 31, and mental health self-advocates in February, has not surfaced in the Health and Environmental Protection Committee. Chair George Cardenas (12) told Aldertrack that Ald. Ervin has not been actively advocating for the item, which would require the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) to join three managed-care networks that reimburse for mental health care, and work to hire psychiatrists at the city’s six clinics. Six others were closed in 2012.

The ordinance was filed in the wake of Quintonio Legrier’s death at the hands of Chicago police. Supporters like AFSCME’s Jo Patton said at the time the political will might be enough “for the mayor to put a little bit of money into mental health instead of [policing].” As part of police reforms suggested by the Police Accountability Task Force, CDPH is partnering with mental health practitioners to design a community education campaign to help “residents recognize the symptoms of mental illness and inform them how best to respond to mental health crisis.”

Odds and Ends:

Legacy Businesses - Ald. Brian Hopkins’ (2) pitch to create a property tax break for older, established small businesses that would “allow any Alderman or the Mayor to nominate a longstanding business deemed an economic or cultural fixture to the community for at least 30 years” hasn’t moved since it was introduced to the Finance Committee in February.

Redevelopment Agreement Hearing - Despite Ald. Ed Burke’s (14) sponsorship and introduction to his own committee, the resolution calling for Mondelez to testify about some Nabisco bakery jobs exiting from Chicago hasn’t moved. The company has faced criticism from city and county officials for shorting local governments who gave the company tax breaks after announcing plans to move 600 jobs from its factory on the Southwest Side to Mexico. The resolution also calls on the city’s Department of Planning and Development to report on how it tracks redevelopment agreements between the city and its corporations, how many jobs were retained because of redevelopment agreement, and the success of the Enterprise Zone program.

COFA CPS Revenue - A resolution asking Council’s independent financial analyst, Ben Winick, to look at potential revenue sources for financial aid to Chicago Public Schools has stalled since its February introduction. The resolution, introduced by Ald. Ameya Pawar (47) has 34 sponsors, including new Education Committee chair Ald. Howard Brookins (21). Similarly, aa resolution spearheaded by Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) on using TIF surplus funds to give CPS a financial leg up was re-referred to the Budget Committee and hasn’t surfaced since.

Workers Comp Re-Examination - A steep uphill battle is likely in store for this introduction from Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) calling for a closer look into Ald. Ed Burke’s (14) Finance Department and its $100 million per year workers compensation program, described by critics as a “fiefdom” run by “political hacks.” Ald. John Arena (45) is the sole co-sponsor. The item calls for Budget Committee hearings to examine the “legal, administrative, and financial benefits of control and authority of workers' compensation claims,” currently not subject to "full, independent and transparent audits of programs, processes, and instance of claims."

If you didn’t make it to the Aldertrack 1st Anniversary Celebration panels last Wednesday night at the University Club, you missed out some some big statements and some important insights. Demographer Rob Paral, on our first panel answering, “Is Chicago shrinking?” with Marisa Novara and Richard Wilson, encapsulated almost the entire conversation by suggesting a new hashtag, #stoptalkingaboutDetroitifyouliveinChicago.

Watch our panels: Panel 1 – Panel 2

Listen to panels.

While our first panel confronted the reality that Chicago is getting smaller, it was a hopeful conversation. Our second panel, led by a trio of political insiders, Brian Sleet, Greg Goldner and Victor Reyes, not as much.

Reyes, about halfway through made this bold statement, to which nobody argued with: “I think by 2019 you will likely have an elected school board.”

The enabling legislation raced through committee, 42-16, he said. “It’s a bill where if you put it on the board, it’s going to pass.”

But Reyes, probably one of former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s best known directors of Intergovernmental Affairs and now founder and CEO of public affairs firm Reyes Kurson, doesn’t think an elected school board will absolve Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Council members from responsibility. “[The Mayor] has to care about who gets elected there. The aldermen, have to care about who gets elected. They’re going to held accountable for those property tax levies that schools make, which are bigger than anybody else’s.”

“Whenever property taxes go up, people blame City Council and the Mayor,” agreed Brian Sleet, the campaign manager for Cook County State’s Attorney Democratic nominee Kim Foxx.

Later, the discussion turned to funding Chicago Public Schools. At one point Greg Goldner, also a former Daley director of Intergovernmental Affairs, and founder and CEO of Resolute Consulting, perfectly illustrated the money problems CPS has.

Goldner: Where do we get the other $700 million for next year? Seriously. We’re talking about a $1.1 billion deficit for Chicago public schools, out a $5.6 billion budget… Under the Democrats plan [in Springfield], House or Senate, the [bailout] ceiling anyone is talking about is $400 million, and CPS’ authority to raise property tax is capped. You can’t go to the markets, you already paid 8.5%, maybe they’re open, maybe they’re not. If they are it’s going to cost a lot, and you gotta pay it back at some point. I don’t think you gotta wait too long to figure out what are going to be the dominant issues. What are the solutions, how are we going to track all that? That’s a big number. Is CPS going to get its cap lifted in Springfield? Probably not. Is the City of Chicago City Council going to vote to raise property taxes to give to CPS and how much?

Fourcher: I’ve been told that would be a disaster from a legal perspective, because it would open up the city of Chicago to legal liability by paying off another government entity’s bills. Bondholders would be angry about it.

Goldner: Someone in government would say, who cares? Because we cannot cut $700 million from CPS. And that’s if there’s $400 million [coming] from Springfield.

That second part, if you’re a bondholder, should be chilling to you. Goldner is no slouch. He ran Rahm Emanuel’s successful 2002 Congressional campaign and is the manager of Illinois Go, the super PAC associated with Gov. Bruce Rauner. While I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t talk out of school, he has personal knowledge of what Illinois’ top leaders are willing to do.

People who make a living listening hard to politicians, and staking their reputations on what they think they’ll do, like Reyes, Sleet and Goldner, think things are going to get much rockier this year. I think I agree with them.

Uber and Lyft faced tough questioning from aldermen at a joint committee hearing this week over tighter regulations for rideshare drivers. Both companies say those regulations would keep part timers from signing up, and effectively end rideshare as we know it in Chicago–and a lot of aldermen seem fine with that. Plus, we preview some of the most fascinating bits from our one year anniversary panel: on Chicago’s shrinking population and how the shifting political landscape might affect municipal elections in 2019.

The city’s Department of Planning and Development has spent only 11% of this year’s resource allocation goal for affordable housing, while it added 42% of its unit goal, according to the department’s first quarter affordable housing report for 2016.

Attendance: Chairman Joe Moore (49), Pat Dowell (3), Sophia King (4), Gregory Mitchell (7), Sue Sadlowski-Garza (10), David Moore (17), Michael Scott, Jr. (24), Ariel Reboyras (30), Gilbert Villegas (36).

For 2016, DPD has projected commitments of over $250 million to assist more than 8,000 units of affordable housing. In the first quarter of 2016, from January to March, DPD committed almost $27 million of those funds to support 3,300 units of affordable housing.

At the City Council’s Housing Committee’s regular hearing on the department’s progress towards bringing more affordable units to Chicago, aldermen pressed DPD staff to explain the funding status of a special trust fund the city has in place to collect money from downtown developers for affordable housing.

In the fall of 2015, stricter metrics took effect requiring developers to provide up to 20% affordable housing units or pay an in lieu fee that, depending on where the project is located, ranges from $50,000 to $175,000 per affordable unit not added on site or within a mile of the new development. There was a rush of applications filed before the October 2015 cut off date before the new Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO) would take effect. And since payment is due when the developer applies for a building permit, not when the zoning application is approved by the city, it will be a while before the city starts recouping some of that money, DPD staff told aldermen.

DPD’s Tracy Sanchez said the Affordable Housing Opportunity Trust Fund currently has collections from payments made between September 2014 to September 2015. “To date, I don’t think it is impacting it very much yet, because they just became effective, the 2015 ARO. So we will probably see more effects of it going forward, like later on in the year or next year,” she said.

Cary Steinbuck, Executive Director for the Chicago Low-Income Housing Trust Fund, added that the fund relies on two sources of revenue: money collected through the Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund, which she said came in higher for 2016, and state funds.

“Unfortunately we have received no state money. We are tied up in the state budget, and even though our court case was successful there’s back money owed to the trust fund,” she said. Steinbuck said once the department is successful in recouping that money, the fund’s board of directors will decide how to spend it.

“This will be the first time we have new units in more than five years. Only thing we have been funding is relocation of subsidies, and those are mostly selected by the tenants themselves as to where they want to relocate or to move,” she said.

The Mayor’s new Neighborhood Opportunity Bonus the City Council passed this month was briefly brought up during the hearing. The plan, which takes effect in June, will leverage downtown development by collecting fees from developers in exchange for the ability to add extra square footage to their buildings. Eighty-percent of the money collected will go into the new Neighborhood Opportunity Fund. DPD will grant out that money to spur development in the city’s most blighted neighborhoods.

Kevin Jackson with the Chicago Rehab Network, an organization that regularly analyzes DPD’s quarterly affordable housing reports, said they’ve determined the new fund “will not result in any meaningful loss of affordable housing funds.”

But Jackson had some suggestions for how to improve transparency, such as creating a scorecard for evaluating competing projects and “better defined avenues for community control.” Jackson said one example of more local control would be to create advisory groups similar to the Pilsen Land Use Committee to publicly vet proposals. He’d also like DPD to hold hearings on its progress, similar to how the Housing Committee holds quarterly reports on its efforts to reach its affordable housing goals.

Earlier this week, City Treasurer Kurt Summers sent letters to three of the fiveChicago employee pension funds recommending they join a growing federal class action suit against banks for selling them interest rate transactions, or so-called “toxic swaps”. Two other employee pension funds, those for teachers and the police, have already made moves to join the suit, with the police deciding to join just last week, according to the Treasurer’s Office.

[Read Teacher’s Pension Fund complaint.]

While the merits of a potential case are still to be decided by the courts, Summers’ support for suing the banks puts daylight between him, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and city CFO Carole Brown, who told reporters last January that the city found “no evidence that would support a claim” against banks for toxic swaps purchased by city financial managers. But Summers is pushing a different angle than the city, his team says.

Summers, who sits on the boards of all city employee pension funds, also happens to be an oft-discussed 2019 candidate for Mayor.

It’s a highly technical, but important piece of daylight, since unions and aldermen in the Progressive Caucus have been accusing the city siding with banks first, ensuring bankers get paid while raising taxes and cutting city services.

A statement issued by the Chicago Teachers Union earlier this week lauded the Treasurer’s move. “Summers' letter confirms what the Chicago Teachers Union, parent and student activists, and community organizations have been saying for years—our city, our school system and our state must pursue the recovery of profits unjustly taken through Wall Street greed.”

This morning the Council Progressive Caucus also released a statement supporting Summers. “We are pleased to hear that the Treasurer has broken from the Emanuel administration’s position that suing the big banks over toxic swaps is impossible,” said Ald. Ricardo Muñoz (22). “The banks have reaped historic and unjust profits in these deals.”

Treasurer Summers’ team contends there’s no political motive behind his recent promotion of a class action suit. “There’s no special timing to it other than he’s trying to do his job as a fiduciary,” said spokesperson Alexandra Sims. “He has a job to be transparent, that’s what he’s doing.”

The anti-trust suit Summers suggests pension funds join is in its early stages, months away from applying for class certification, and is vastly complicated, stretching over multiple jurisdictions. It hinges on the ability of the complainants, which is made up of city and state pension funds from across the country, to demonstrate that the banks were purposefully keeping swap transaction markets murky, so banks would always make money.

“You’d have to go directly to the banks, and these banks have worked together to keep the open markets from seeing the light of day. If you had a market platform, you would have had more efficient pricing, and you could have saved money on the whole transaction,” says Drew Beres, General Counsel for the Treasurer’s Office.

The potential defendant list is a mile long, including every big investment bank you’ve ever heard of, and the case, even if it does manage to win class certification, will likely take years to grind through federal court. But, if the pension funds win the case, because it’s an anti-trust case it could result in treble damages from the banks, equaling tens of billions of dollars. To give you a sense of the stakes, a similar, much smaller case was settled by investment banks for $1.87 billion in 2015.

But regardless of how the case goes, Summers may have just shot the first salvo in the 2019 elections.

At a day long, often boisterous City Council Joint License and Transportation Committee hearing on a plan to increase regulations for drivers of ride-hailing companies to “level the playing field” with the yellow taxi industry, executives of Uber and Lyft threatened that a regulatory crackdown would “end ride-sharing as we know it” in Chicago.

There was no vote, only debate and public testimony, on Transportation ChairmanAnthony Beale’s (9) ordinance requiring Uber and Lyft drivers apply for a public chauffeur's license, be subject to background checks and fingerprinting, and make 5% of their fleet handicap accessible. Uber and Lyft supporters and yellow cab drivers packed the gallery, often cheering and jeering at testimony. At one point, Chairman Beale threatened to clear the gallery if the disruptions continued.

The meeting was heated, with Uber and Lyft supporters often on the receiving end of fact-checking responses from pro-regulation aldermen, and pro-regulation aldermen receiving taunts from boisterous audience members. Most present agreed on the need for more wheelchair accessible cars, but could not agree on how to work that out. Division of opinions was especially prominent on the issue of requiring fingerprinting for ride-hail drivers.  

At one point Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1), one of the few vocal Uber sympathizers on the Council, said, “I have more security when I get out of Uber or Lyft than I do with the taxi cab,” a cab driver in the gallery stood up and yelled, “You lie!” City Hall security had to intervene to get the driver to sit down.

“This is the Jetsons versus the Flintstones,” Moreno continued. “I am all for an even playing field, but why are we taking a very entrepreneurial industry and trying to have them go back to 70’s regulations?”

Both Ald. Moreno and Ald. Joe Moore (49) asked whether easing regulations on the taxi industry was an option–a suggestion also pitched by Uber Chief Advisor David Plouffe. Moreno claimed that the taxi industry was only interested in “killing” Uber, not working with them, citing the new fingerprinting rule. “I’d rather have a discussion about what we can do to lessen the restrictions on taxi cabs...bring them at least into 1990.”

But Moreno seemed to be in the minority. More than half the City Council has signed up to support Ald. Beale’s ordinance for more strict rideshare regulations, and few sounded off in support of deregulating cabs. Ald. John Arena (45) and Chairman Beale suggested Lyft and Uber should conform to new standards or leave Chicago.

“It’s simply ensuring we are doing the best we can to protect consumers," Arena said, arguing proposed changes were reasonable, and could be completed in a day. "If the industry doesn’t want to meet a very low standard, then go somewhere else where those standards are acceptable.” Arena noted if Uber and Lyft drivers could take a day off to testify, they could do the same to take an expedited one day class to achieve their chauffeur's license. 

And former 17th Ward Ald. Latasha Thomas, now counsel for law firm Reyes Kurson, which represents the taxi lobbying group the Illinois Transportation Trade Association, the taxi lobby, said it didn’t make sense that beauticians jump through more hoops than Uber drivers to get a license. “There’s more risk to getting in someone’s car than doing my nails,” she said.

Joseph Okpaku, Vice President of Government Relations for Lyft, said there is a greater risk of Chicagoans losing citywide transportation access and a chance to make extra money if the regulations were approved. He said there was a “distinct possibility” the company would leave Chicago if their drivers had to spend time and money to conform to the new rules. Part time drivers represent a “critical mass” of the service, he said. Extra barriers to access might dissuade them from signing up in the first place.

“We have never operated in a city with requirements like that,” he said of the proposed chauffeur’s license rule. Both sides frequently mentioned the company’s withdrawal from Austin, Texas, after voters there approved a ballot referendum requiring fingerprinting for drivers a few weeks ago.  

Marco McCottry, a General Manager for Uber, agreed, saying Chicago already has some of the strictest regulations on the books. “If this ordinance were to pass, ride-sharing as we know it would no longer exist in Chicago," he said. Chairman Beale shot back, saying a multi-billion dollar company could eat the cost. He also chastised the representatives and accused them of spreading lies about his ordinance through “scare tactics.”

Uber and Lyft have both actively lobbied riders and drivers online, on the radio, and on TV, encouraging supporters to contact their local alderman to vote against Beale’s ordinance. Uber has claimed changes would nearly double the cost of rides.

Chairman Beale said the hearing was supposed to be about “increasing safety” and creating parity between the two industries, but race, the lack of jobs and transportation to the city’s South and West Sides were brought up frequently.

“The taxi industry had a monopoly in this town and they didn’t have to innovate.” Ald. Moreno said prompting cheers from the gallery. “And now here comes Uber, and Latinos and African-Americans are driving more cars because of Uber and Lyft than ever in the taxicab industry.”

Okpaku and McCottry said their platforms filled a void. 80% of drivers for Lyft drive less than 15 hours a week and most are full time students, retirees or in between jobs, Okpaku said. McCorry testified that Uber has led several recruitment efforts in neighborhoods on the South and West Sides, adding about 11,000 new drivers from those areas to the platform.

Both Okpaku and McCottry said requiring that their drivers get fingerprinted would unfairly impact communities of color where there are higher concentrations of arrests. But two former police officers on the Council, Aldermen Chris Taliaferro (29) and Anthony Napolitano (41) said it’s the only way to get an accurate portrayal of a person’s criminal history.

“One thing I don’t want to do, no matter what, under any circumstance, is compromise safety,” said Ald. Taliaferro. “There was a reason why we did fingerprinting with the police department. Fingerprinting tells us things you don’t want us to know.”

“I’m upset when I hear these arguments about discrimination, against workers, against people of color,” said Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35). He said he was offended that a multi-billion dollar company was pitting workers against each other and trying to evade regulations by claiming their companies help predominately low-income Chicagoans.

By the four hour mark, when it was the public’s time to testify, Ald. Beale employed a buzzer to prevent people from going over a two minute limit. Most of the public testimony came from Uber, Lyft, and cab drivers, with a handful of advocates for more handicapped accessible vehicles.

Ezzedin Abdelmagid, a member of Cab Drivers United, said, “the taxi industry is on the verge of collapse”, echoing previous testimony he made earlier this year at a previous License Committee meeting. “You must create a fair set of rules for all of us.” He said that deregulating the taxi industry was a “terrible” idea.

Parallel to Beale’s ordinance, the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection is working on its own compromise, spurred, in part, by a U.S. District Court decision that said the distinctions between regulations taxis and “transportation network providers” (TNPs) appeared “utterly arbitrary” and that “the requirements for taxis are far more onerous than for TNPs.” The decision allowed taxi interest to pursue equal protection claims against the city.

After the meeting, Chairman Beale said he plans to schedule a vote on his plan ahead of the next City Council meeting. Beale said he might tweak the plan, but “doesn’t scare easy.”

The Illinois Supreme Court rules a state pension reform law is unconstitutional, forcing Mayor Emanuel to find a new way to fix its struggling Municipal and Labor funds. Aldermen with the Black and Latino Caucus call for public vetting of the three finalists for the city’s top cop vacancy. IPRA’s new chief orders an external audit of closed police involved shooting cases dating back to 2007. And the Chicago Teachers’ Union authorizes a strike.