After about two hours of debate and public testimony, the City Council’s Zoning Committee approved an amended version of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to overhaul a development tool that lets developers add square footage to buildings in the city’s downtown area, by linking fees collected for those increases to investments in some of the city’s most economically underserved neighborhoods.

• $600 million in general obligation bonds: $100 million of taxable debt will help with the cost of legal settlements expected to be paid out in 2016 and 2017, $150.5 million of tax-exempt debt for “E-Note” or equipment purchases in 2016 and 2017, and $237.2M of tax-exempt debt for capital spending in 2016 and 2017. While the total comes to $487.7M, the remaining portion of the $600M authorization is to cover the cost of borrowing and issuance fees.

• $3.2 million in police-related settlements: The larger of two payouts, $2.2 million, will go to the family of Emmanuel Lopez, a 23-year old fatally shot by police officers during a car chase in September 2005. And a $1 million payout to the family of Ryan Rogers, fatally shot by Chicago police in suburban East Hazel Crest in March 2013 during an undercover operation targeting stolen cell phones.

• Mayor’s new Neighborhood Opportunity Bonus which would revamp the entire density bonus system and create a new fund that would support development projects in some of the city’s most underserved neighborhoods (details are below in the Zoning Committee story).

• A requirement that the head of the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) appear before the Finance Committee when police-related settlements are up for consideration. Chairman Burke said “if and when there is a successor agency”, the ordinance would be amended to include the new agency head. Mayor Emanuel recently announced he would move to replace IPRA.

• A requirement that the Police Superintendent refer all cases involving the death of a suspect in custody to the Cook County State’s Attorney's Office. The ordinance would codify into law what the police directive already mandates.

• A so-called “Debt Transaction Accountability Ordinance” from the council’s Progressive Caucus that would require a “more rigorous evaluation and more meaningful public scrutiny” of the city’s future debt offerings.

• A proposal from Mayor Emanuel banning those under 18 from using tanning salons, allow anyone 18 and up to get tattoos, and require those under 18 who would like to get a lip or tongue piercing to have a parent sign an official form issued by Public Health Commissioner Julie Morita.

• A proposal from Mayor Emanuel, Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) and others that would make leaving pet waste on your own private property a fineable offense.

• Two introductions from the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH): one clarifying city code on low-risk restaurants that issue self-inspections for food safety. The other, part of the city’s Healthy Chicago 2.0 initiative, calls for policymakers to apply a health lens to all law making, and creates a cross-department task force to examine how the city can address short, medium, and long term recommendations for changes to policies, practices, and procedures to improve community health.

• The appointment of Juan Linares to the 15-member Chicago Low Income Housing Trust Fund Board. Linares is the Executive Director of LUCHA, a Northwest Side organization that focuses on affordable housing. He briefly served on the city’s Plan Commission

• The appointment of Lucino Sotelo, a Chief Marketing Officer at BMO Harris Bank, to the city’s Plan Commission, to replace Linares.

• The appointment of Barrett Murphy to serve as the city’s Water Commissioner.

• The appointment of Patricia G. Perez to the Chicago Public Library Board. Perez is the former Executive Director of law firm Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg, and served as Director of Administration at several other large Chicago law firms.

• The sale of the former Leland Elementary School.

• An intergovernmental agreement with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office to trade use of two city-owned backhoes and a wood chipper for the County’s Restoring Neighborhoods Workforce Program (RENEW) in exchange for use of Cook County Jail inmates to serve as Sheriff’s Work Alternative Program (SWAP)

The only conclusion reached by audience members and aldermen at the end of last night's joint meeting of License and Housing Committees on Airbnb regulations was that the ordinance wasn't up to snuff. The meeting wrapped after five hours, with co-chairs Joe Moore (49) and Emma Mitts (37) announcing members would recess at 9:00 a.m. today.

“I have no expectations,” Ald. Michele Smith (43) said of this morning's meeting. She'd voiced some of the strongest opposition to the Mayor's most recent proposal, which she said left a giant loophole for property investors to take advantage of.

Attendance: Chairmen Emma Mitts (37), Joe Moore (49), Proco Joe Moreno (1), Brian Hopkins (2), Pat Dowell (3), Sophia King (4), Leslie Hairston (5), Roderick Sawyer (6), Gregory Mitchell (7), Michelle Harris (8), Susan Sadlowski Garza (10), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), George Cardenas (12), Marty Quinn (13), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Derrick Curtis (18), Matt O'Shea (19), Willie B. Cochran (20), Michael Scott, Jr. (24), Roberto Maldonado (26), Walter Burnett, Jr. (27), Ariel Reboyras (30), Scott Waguespack (32), Carrie Austin (34), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), Brendan Reilly (42), Michele Smith (43), Tom Tunney (44), John Arena (45), James Cappleman (46), Ameya Pawar (47)

Few, from Airbnb hosts and advocates, aldermen on the North Side and near downtown, or hotel and apartment interests, made full-throated endorsements of the Mayor’s proposal. The day was marked with disagreement over Airbnb’s compliance with local laws in Chicago and other big cities, BACP enforcement capacity, and aldermanic control over licensing.

Download Mayor’s proposed ordinance.

The meeting got off to an inauspicious start. It was a half hour delayed by regular committee meetings. The hearing site, Room 201A, was already full, with hundreds waiting in the 2nd floor lobby to testify, many wearing peach or teal colored Airbnb shirts. License Committee Chair Emma Mitts then called for the hearing to move to Council Chambers, which was already occupied by the Zoning Committee and only on its first item. She ended up recessing until 1:30 p.m., and swapping rooms with the Zoning Committee. The ordinance under consideration was the fourth version the Mayor’s office proposed, and was given to aldermen a mere 90 minutes before the hearing began. They had been briefed on a different version only 24 hours prior.

The 53-page substitute included changes that capped the number of home-share units in high-rises to six units or 25% of the total units, whichever is less. In two-, three-, and four-flats, only one unit in the building could be put up for rent on home-share platforms (but only if that unit is the primary residence). Those who rent out more than one unit would have to get an operator’s license and have the homes inspected by the city. Single family homes could not be rented out for more than 120 days each year.

“It feels a little bit like we’re building the car while we’re driving it,” Ald. John Arena(45) said of the changes.

The “huge loophole” change Smith opposed was described by Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Commissioner Maria Guerra Lapacek as giving homeowners more “flexibility”, and was borne out of requests from other aldermen. It would create an administrative review process (called “adjustments” in the ordinance) for hosts who would like to rent out additional units. After the meeting wrapped, Smith told Aldertrack that investors with multiple properties could easily abuse the system. “That really eviscerates the ordinance, giving away our residential streets for even less money than we gave away the parking meters.” Ald. Tom Tunney (44) called the adjustments a “quagmire” that would force aldermen to court to fight extra rentals.

Smith told the joint committee that to ward off the further proliferation of rentals, she'd like to see Airbnb subject to the same regulations currently imposed on nail salons and barber shops. Applicants must apply for special use permits and face review from the Zoning Board of Appeals.

“I think everybody agrees there needs to be regulation. What we basically want is for the proposed ordinance to be delayed so that it can be written responsibly,” one testifier, Sandra Madsen, said nearly four hours into the hearing. The entire audience, made up of both Airbnb renters and Airbnb proliferation opponents, applauded. Madsen said she didn’t want the ordinance to be “rushed through and unenforceable.”

Others testifying said the process was opaque and that there were too many questions left unanswered by city and Airbnb. Ald. Brian Hopkins (2) and Brendan Reilly (42) expressed doubt Airbnb would adhere to stricter regulations, or that BACP could enforce them.  

Reilly initially complimented BACP on adjustments to the Mayor’s first proposals from January, and on enforcing regulations on bad apple hosts, but said that work was undone by the substitute.

“With your help we were able to crack down on some illegal renters,” Ald. Reilly said to Commissioner Lapacek, but “it was a major resource strain, not only on your department but on the Chicago Police Department as well.” He said it would be difficult to apply that effort to other violations with the $160,000 appropriation BACP would get from extra fees on rentals. Lapacek said it would be enough for “at least two staff.”

“I don’t blame you for lack of resources,” Reilly continued. “The mayor spends $10 million enforcing ordinances they have on the books and they’re still losing the battle. This is not a criticism of you, but I’m very concerned. The ordinance is only as good as the enforcement behind it.”  

Ald. Pat Dowell (3) voiced similar concerns, and asked how long it typically took BACP to rescind a license. Lapacek said “It could take, 8 months, a year.”

“When it comes to Airbnb and problems in the neighborhood, we need an immediate response, and I’m not feeling that we’re going to get that with just 8% of $2 million earmarked,” Dowell said.

“Everything you could do is not enough,” Ald. Hopkins said of BACP’s enforcement capacity. He, like Smith, mentioned rules governing barber shops and nail salons. “You’re overwhelmed by the scope of this problem, as are we.”

Reilly and Smith both criticized Airbnb for not shutting down the accounts of bad actors in other major cities, or for opening data up for examination.

Airbnb advocates, not speaking to specifics of the Mayor’s proposal, lauded the financial and tourism benefits of the service, and agreed bad actors–like those who allowed 20 or 28 guests in a single apartment near Wrigley Field, or guests who disturb neighbors with loud parties–should be kicked off the platform. One issue most agreed on, they were in favor of more funding for programs to address homelessness, funded by an added 4% surcharge on bookings.

“We both want to support homelessness program, we both want to promote tourism, we want to craft regulations that distinguish between the use of one’s home and commercial activity,” Jillian Irvin, Airbnb’s Director of Public Policy testified, but opposed the Mayor’s substitute ordinance. “Airbnb does want to be regulated, but we cannot support regressive regulations that will cost middle class Chicagoans millions in extra income.” She said listings have saved more than 900 Chicago renters from eviction, and hosting is growing fastest on the South Side.

As Chairman Moore worked through a thick stack of pink slips, alternating between proponents and opponents of the Mayor’s ordinance, one audience member yelled, “I mean, what time does this end?” Some aldermen left the meeting at about 5:00pm, anticipating a recess.

“I have been a little concerned that maybe we’re talking to ourselves,” one Airbnb host testified. Aldermen, including Chairman Moore, Susan Sadlowski Garza (10), and James Cappleman (46) perked up, and said they were. “Are you sure? Really? Commissioner?” she said to Lapacek, who had been talking to Ald. Sadlowski Garza. “The last two speeches were completely lost on you. You were talking through the whole thing.” Lapacek, visibly annoyed, said something about testimony being “very compelling,” and returned to the box where other administration officials sat.   

Other members of the Mayor’s office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Lapacek could be seen lobbying some of the day’s most vocal opponents, including Aldermen Smith and Reilly, on the floor until the meeting wrapped.

“I’m sure there’s going to be some changes made,” Ald. Mitts said, but didn't hint at whether she believed another substitute would be introduced this morning, or whether the issue might be tabled until some kind of middle ground could be reached.

Following recent high-profile incidents between Chicago Police Officers and people suffering from mental illness, Finance Chairman Ed Burke (14) wants to establish a special unit within the police department that would help train and support officers to be better equipped in handling these types of situations.

At yesterday’s Finance Committee, Chairman Burke directly introduced an ordinance that would establish a “Mental Health Critical Response Unit.” According to the ordinance, the unit “shall be responsible for mental health crisis response functions, Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training, community outreach and engagement, cross-agency coordination, and data collection.”

The plan was directly pulled from the recent Police Accountability Task Force recommendations released in April, which called for the creation of a unit within CPD to be “responsible for mental health crisis response functions, training, support, community outreach and engagement, cross-agency coordination and data collection.”

Ald. Willie Cochran (20), a former police officer, co-sponsored the ordinance. “The task force has introduced it. We have already known it. And I think that it is a responsible response...to make this mental health critical response unit a reality and take the first steps in addressing this situation that we know is so critical in our community.”

The unit would consist of at least eight full-time police officers, two mental health service providers, the police department’s critical response unit, and a full-time data analyst “who shall evaluate all aspects of crisis intervention training, personnel needs, community feedback, mental health-related dispatched calls for service from [OEMC]”.

In addition to having the authority to develop a crisis response system for responding to repeat mental health-related incidents, the unit would be required to transmit a daily assignment roster to OEMC identifying officers who are CIT trained.

To make sure the unit doesn’t follow the same fate as previous, underutilized CIT programs within CPD, the ordinance would require that the police superintendent provide quarterly progress reports to the City Council detailing the number of CIT trained officers and the district they serve, which districts have the highest concentration of mental-health related calls, and the number of CIT-trained officers who responded to those calls.

Since Chairman Burke directly introduced the ordinance into committee, there was no action taken.

Other Police Related Items Passed By Finance Committee Yesterday

• IPRA Officials Required To Attend Finance Committee Meetings - Prior to Mayor Emanuel’s announcement that he would be dissolving the Independent Police Review Authority, the agency that handles cases of police misconduct, Chairman Burke drafted and introduced an ordinance that would require that IPRA officials attend any Finance Committee meeting that has a legal settlement against a police officer on the agenda.
  
  He introduced the ordinance so that IPRA could be present to directly answer questions about pending investigations of officers involved in the settlements. In past meetings, those inquiries had to be submitted through the chair, because the city’s Law Department didn’t have specifics. At yesterday’s meeting, Ald. Jason Ervin (28) asked if the ordinance would be amended to mandate that officials with whatever agency replaces IPRA be present at future meetings. Burke said that “if and when there is a successor agency” the ordinance could be amended. The ordinance passed by voice vote.

• Another police-related ordinance on the Finance agenda from Chairman Burke would require the Police Superintendent to refer all cases involving the death of a suspect in custody to the Cook County State’s Attorney's Office. The ordinance would codify into law what the police directive already mandates, Burke said yesterday.
  
  According to the ordinance, an “officer involved-death” includes any death that results directly from “an action or directly from an intentional omission, including unreasonable delay involving a person in custody or intentional failure to seek medical attention when the need for treatment is apparent.” Any police-involved death that occurs while an officer is off duty would fall under this rule, as well, if that officer was “performing activities that are within the scope of his or her law enforcement duties.” The ordinance would take effect upon passage.

The City Council’s Finance Committee approved a $600 million dollar bond offering yesterday to help fund the city’s capital program over the the next two years, but the city amended the maximum allowable interest rate on the general obligation bonds from 18% to 10% at the request of one Progressive Caucus alderman. The Committee also approved a slew of police-related items, and Chairman Burke directly introduced an ordinance establishing a new mental health unit within the police department that he modeled after one of the recommendations on the recently-published Police Accountability Task Force report.

Aldermen Present: Chairman Ed Burke (14), Joe Moreno (1), Pat Dowell (3), Leslie Hairston (5), Rod Sawyer (6), Gregory Mitchell (7), Anthony Beale (9), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), George Cardenas (12), Marty Quinn (13), Raymond Lopez (15), Toni Foulkes (16), David Moore (17), Derrick Curtis (18), Willie Cochran (20), Howard Brookins (21), Mike Zalewski (23), Danny Solis (25), Roberto Maldonado (26), Walter Burnett (27), Jason Ervin (28), Ariel Reboyras (30), Scott Waguespack (32), Emma Mitts (33), Carrie Austin (34), Gilbert Villegas (36), Nick Sposato (38), Marge Laurino (39), Pat O’Connor (40), Brendan Reilly (42), Michele Smith (43), Tom Tunney (44) John Arena (45), Harry Osterman (48), Deb Silverstein (50)

The change on the interest rate cap was made at the request of Ald. John Arena(45) who mid-meeting, asked a representative from the city’s Law Department, James McDonald, if it was possible for the city to reduce the rate. Since the interest rate ceiling is set by the city, not the state, it’s allowed to issue whatever interest rate cap it wants through the authorizing ordinance, McDonald said. So Finance Chairman Ed Burke (14) asked that the ordinance be amended to reflect the new lowered interest rate before the committee approved the bonds by voice vote. Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11) and Ald. Rod Sawyer (6) invoked Rule 14 and abstained from voting.

Goldman Sachs will oversee the sale of the general obligation bonds. Most of the money raised will help fund the city’s capital program for 2016 and 2017. No new big infrastructure projects are planned. Instead, the proceeds will help pay for the backlog of repairs to city-owned buildings. According to city Budget Director Alex Holt, money raised through the offering will be paid out on a “worst first” basis, meaning basic capital repairs to roofs, boilers and other smaller maintenance issues to existing buildings will receive priority.

Funding will also go toward other basic capital repairs including sidewalks, bridges, firefighter bunker gear, new ambulances and police cars, and the 2017 Aldermanic Menu program, which gives each alderman roughly $1 million a year to spend on local infrastructure projects. This year’s menu program was paid for by a previous bond offering backed by the city’s sales tax revenue. That offering was approved in January.

The GO bonds will raise a total of $100 million to help fund settlements and judgements for 2016 and 2017. A portion of the $50 million budgeted for 2016 will be used to cover any potential cost overruns from settlements and judgements in 2015. But Holt said she expects that amount to be “well south of $50 million.”

For at least the past three years, the city has under-budgeted settlement amounts and used borrowed money to make up the difference. It was an issue Ald. Arena brought up in yesterday’s meeting. “Is the ultimate goal, and is it reasonable, to get to a place where we are not bonding for settlements anymore? Is that a financial policy that we are trying to get to?” Arena asked.

In 2012, the city budgeted $28 million for settlements, Holt said, but spent $80 million from the operating budget, in addition to $112 million in borrowed money. In 2013, the city budgeted $27 million for settlements, but spent $66 million worth of operating funds and borrowed $137 million to cover the rest of the tab. The same happened in 2014. Even after the city increased that year’s settlement appropriation to $32 million, the city spent $51 million of its operating budget on settlements and used $58 million worth of borrowed money to cover the rest.

Holt said the city has made a “real attempt” at moving routine settlements and judgements off the bonded money and back on to the operating budget. She added that the higher than normal settlement payouts in the previous years were due in part to several cases that had been building up for years, including an expensive discriminatory hiring case brought against the city’s Fire Department.

“With a city this large, we are always going to have routine settlements and judgements. We’d like to get to a point where those are fully well incorporated within the operating budget,” Holt explained.

“I suspect there will always be some extraordinary settlements and judgements in some matter,” she added. “We may resort at some point in time to bonding for those because...of their size. But we would expect that to be the exception and not the rule.”

Holt said the city hopes to phase out the practice by 2019.

Financial Transparency Ordinance

Shortly after aldermen approved the bond issuance, the committee approved an ordinance that would provide more oversight of future borrowing plans. The so-called Debt Transaction Accountability Ordinance was drafted by the Progressive Caucus in collaboration with the city Chief Financial Officer Carole Brown. In her testimony, Brown said the ordinance would provide more opportunities for debate prior to future bond offerings without “unduly inhibiting” the city’s ability to handle its finances.

$3.2M in Police Settlements

At the tail end of the meeting, aldermen approved $3.2M in legal settlements involving officer involved fatal shootings.

The larger payout, $2.2 million, will go to the family of Emmanuel Lopez, a 23-year-old who was fatally shot by police officers during a car chase in September 2005. According to testimony from the Law Department’s Jane Notz, four officers fired 42 shots. 16 of those shots hit Lopez and all but two of those bullets hit him in the back of his head or back.

Notz said the case was pending for close to a decade because the family had refused to lower its original demand of $18 million until last year. If the case had gone to trial, Notz said, the city would have argued that Lopez was driving while intoxicated and the suspect of a hit and run when he was fatally shot. He hit an off-duty police officer who had allegedly drank two beers before the incident occurred. She said if the case had gone to trial, the family would have argued the department fabricated the tire marks on the officer’s pants and that there was no reasonable suspicion to prompt the shooting. The IPRA investigation is pending. No officers involved have been reprimanded, she said.

The second settlement aldermen approved is a $1 million payout to the family of Ryan Rogers, who was fatally shot by police in suburban East Hazel Crest during an undercover operation of stolen cell phones.

According to Notz, in March 2013, the Chicago Police Department was working with FBI and law enforcement officials in the northwest suburbs when two CPD officers in an unmarked vehicle tracked a car believing it had duffle bags filled with stolen cell phones. Rogers, who was driving the car with two passengers, believed the plainclothes officers were attempting to rob them, according to his girlfriend, a passenger.

The officers opened fire fearing Rogers was going to run them over, Notz said. Rogers’ family had originally demanded $2.5 million. If the lawsuit had advanced to trial, it would have rested on whether the jury believed the officers who shot Rogers had reasonable fear for their lives. The plaintiffs would have argued that the officers did not properly identify themselves as law enforcement officials, Notz said.

Members of City Council’s Zoning Committee face a likely marathon hearing today: not only is the Mayor’s Neighborhood Opportunity Fund up for consideration, there are 17 additional pages agenda items, smack in the middle of a packed Council day.

You can see more details on the Mayor’s plan to simplify and update the city’s downtown floor area bonus formula for the first time since 2004 in our previous report on the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund. The ordinance up for debate today would overhaul the process the city currently uses to manage square footage to buildings in the city’s downtown area, and links fees collected for those increases to investments in some of the city’s most economically underserved neighborhoods.

Other items of note:

• New TOD In Lakeview: A seven story Transit Oriented Development is being proposed at the site of “The Alley”, the now-closed Lakeview staple for leather punk and goth wear, owned by local Ald. Tom Tunney’s (44) former aldermanic challenger, Mark Thomas. He told DNAInfo his store was “slaughtered” by construction and crime along Belmont Ave. The proposed site would have 24 residential units on floors 2-7, commercial space in the basement and first floors, and 100% of required affordable housing units on-site. The new building would be located next to the Target Express currently being built on the busy corner of Clark and Belmont, near the Belmont stop on the CTA’s Red Line.

• 500 Room Hotel In River North: Landlord Albert Friedman is seeking a zoning change to Waterway Business Planned Development to add a 377 foot tall, 500 room hotel to a property along the river downtown at 322 N. Clark. According to Crain’s, the development would be next to the Reid Murdoch Center, a vintage brick office office building Friedman already owns in the 42nd Ward. He was also developer on three hotels just north of this proposed project: Aloft, Hyatt Place, and Fairfield Inn & Suites. Jack George is listed as the attorney on the project. Since the hotel needs a planned development it will be immediately deferred at the start of the meeting.

• Far West Side Townhouses: Mia Property Acquisitions is seeking a planned development to build 14 three-story, six unit residential buildings with 145 onsite parking spaces in the 29th Ward near the city’s border. The site is near the Galewood Metra stop and UCSN Roberto Clemente School. The property owner is Regal Beloit Corp., an electric motor manufacturer based in Beloit, Wisconsin.

• Finkl Steel Area Redevelopment: A 207,000 square-foot office building from developer Sterling Bay is being proposed in the 2nd Ward near the buzzed-about 28-acre Finkl Steel site, which may see looser zoning rules later this year. According to Crain’s, logistics firm C.H. Robinson Worldwide plans to move some of its 2,000 employees to the site of the former Guttman leather tannery in Lincoln Park. The zoning change sought is for a Waterway Planned Development, which means it will need to go before the Plan Commission prior to City Council action.

City Council’s Budget Committee will hear the appointment of Barrett Murphy to serve as Water Commissioner at its 10:00am meeting today. Murphy was former Deputy Commissioner under Tom Powers, and has served in various positions in Chicago government over the past 20 years. Powers exited as the city faced questions over its lead testing, though the Mayor’s office said he had planned to leave a year earlier, but “agreed to stay on longer at the Mayor’s request to ensure a smooth transition.”

DWM is in the middle of a 10 year capital improvement program which this year, includes replacing 90 miles of water, 72 miles of sewer and installing 14,000 sewer structures and 20,000 water meters. The effort is being funded, in part, by a rate hike that passed in 2012. DWM has more than 2,000 employees and a budget over $1 billion.

Julie Hernandez-Tomlin, currently DWM’s Managing Deputy, will replace Murphy as the First Deputy Commissioner. Marisol Santiago, currently DWM’s Director of Administration, will replace Hernandez-Tomlin as the Department’s Managing Deputy.  

The committee will also consider the appointment of Patricia G. Perez to the Chicago Public Library (CPL) Board. Perez is the former Executive Director of law firm Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg, and served as Director of Administration at several other large Chicago law firms. According to her LinkedIn, Perez left NG&E in April 2014 and started her own consulting firm. She also serves as Board President of Erie House, where Ald. Proco Joe Moreno’s (1) wife, Celena Roldan Moreno, recently served as Executive Director. Perez succeeds Cristina Benitez, whose term expired. Perez is already listed as a board member on CPL’s website.

An intergovernmental agreement with the Sheriff’s office to trade use of two city-owned backhoes and a wood chipper for the County’s Restoring Neighborhoods Workforce Program (RENEW) in exchange for use of Cook County Jail inmates to serve as Sheriff’s Work Alternative Program (SWAP) is also on the agenda. RENEW participants deconstruct, clear and secure vacant and abandoned properties in Cook County. SWAP participants are non-violent offenders charged with DUI and other misdemeanor crimes who “swap” jail time for community service like cleaning streets, sidewalks, and viaducts.

Several amendments removing the “bureau of fire prevention”, “director in charge of the bureau of fire prevention” and “division marshal” from portions of the municipal code regulating inspections, and replacing it with “fire department” and “fire commissioner” are up for a vote. The committee will also consider a minor budget amendment to reflect a $5,000 federal grant awarded to the Department of Family and Support Services for a Medicare program.

Prior to holding a joint hearing with the License Committee on the mayor’s newly proposed regulations for Airbnb, the Council’s Housing Committee will take up a series of routine land sales and appointments.

The Housing Committee will consider the appointment of Juan Linares to the 15-member Chicago Low Income Housing Trust Fund Board. Linares, the Executive Director of LUCHA, a Northwest Side organization that focuses on affordable housing, briefly served on the city’s Plan Commission, and was known for pressing developers about on-site affordable housing plans, including one-for-one replacement of affordable units at CHA’s Lathrop Homes, which is currently undergoing a massive, mixed-use redevelopment plan. He resigned in mid-April, but would not publicly comment on the reason. Deborah Bennett (member since 2006), Sol Flores (member since 2010), and Gabriela Roman (member since 2000) are also up for re-appointment.  

The sale of the former Leland Elementary School is also up for committee consideration. Students from Leland joined students from Armstrong Math & Science and relocated to the May Elementary building. May was part of the 2012 school closings. Under the ordinance up in committee today, the Leland building would be sold to Kidz Express to be used for community youth programming. Kidz Express, a not-for-profit, describes itself as “providing holistic solutions to the urban challenges of South Austin by building a continuum of community support” on its website. Though the site was appraised between $300,000 and $350,000, Kidz had the highest bid at $201,065.

Three separate lease agreements for clinic space are also on today’s agenda. The city plans to lease 6,400-square-feet of clinical office space at the Lower West Side Neighborhood Health Clinic in Pilsen to the University of Illinois to deliver primary care, maternal health, and preventative medical services, according to the ordinance. The intergovernmental agreement between the city and the University would expire in 2022, and the University will pay $1 for the lease.

Another $1 lease being proposed is between the city and The Thresholds, a mental and behavioral health services provider. Thresholds would use roughly 14,000-square-feet of clinical office space in the Lakeview Neighborhood Health Clinic (44th Ward) for mental health and substance abuse services, group therapy, and wellness classes.

Part of the Englewood Neighborhood Health Clinic is also up for a $1, six year lease agreement with Howard Brown Health. The Chicago Department of Public Health(CDPH) announced earlier this year it would partner with Howard Brown and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) to privatize operations at city-owned HIV clinics.

The committee will also consider an $810,000 land sale to developer Peppercorn Capital LLC, whose client list has included Crate & Barrel/CB2, Binny's, Goose Island Brewery, Goodwill Industries, and Harpo Productions. The group is looking to purchase a plot in Ald. Walter Burnett’s 27th Ward near the United Center. Its bid came $400,000 above the appraised value of the vacant lot.

Mt. Sinai Hospital and Medical Center is also looking to buy a vacant plot of city-owned land to construct a parking lot as part of its massive redevelopment, Sinai Tomorrow. The city has already awarded the hospital $31 million in TIF money for the $100 million redevelopment. The sale up for committee consideration today is for $1. Though the land is valued at roughly $190,000, there were no other bids. Sinai is the biggest employer in Ald. Jason Ervin’s 28th Ward.

A substitute ordinance changing nudity rules and allowing strip clubs to serve alcohol will be introduced by License Committee Chair Emma Mitts (37) in Wednesday’s Council meeting, following her move to defer and publish a previous version of the same ordinance at April’s Council meeting. The previous D&P of the strip club ordinance, which included Zoning Chair Danny Solis (25), allows Mitts to force an up or down vote on her latest substitute, which has gone through a number of revisions in the last month.

Under Ald. Mitts’ most recent substitution circulated on paper yesterday, strip clubs would be allowed to purchase a two-year $75,000 license for the privilege of serving alcohol and having their dancers perform topless. Excruciatingly specific language in the substitute would allow use of only g-strings in clubs that serve alcohol. Current zoning code bans alcohol, but allows BYOB (bring your own bottle), and dancers are required to cover parts of their breasts and buttocks.

“The problem is they bring their own bottle,” Ald. Mitts told reporters yesterday. “What is that? That means you can drink [there]. Why not regulate them...license that establishment, get some money for that liquor license.”

But opponents of the changes charge that selling more alcohol in the clubs will only fuel violence against the dancers.

“The level of nudity in the strip clubs is not the source of our opposition. It’s the introduction of alcohol,” said Lynne Johnson, Policy Director of Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE).

“As the night wears on, the patrons are getting drunker and drunker, [the dancers] are getting hit, slapped, called names. Many are in back rooms and no one can hear them because the music is so loud and they have very few people to protect them,” Johnson said at a press conference yesterday morning attended by Alds. Patrick Daley Thompson (11), Toni Foulkes (16), Matt O’Shea (19), Michele Smith (43) and James Cappleman (46).

According to the new version of the ordinance, all revenue derived from the new “live adult sub-use license” fee will be set aside in a special fund to support services for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.

“Domestic violence providers are not interested in cash resulting from strip clubs. Allowing sexual exploitation in return from cash from strip clubs is not OK,” said Johnson.

Tomorrow, City Council’s License and Housing Committees will consider a substitute ordinance from Mayor Rahm Emanuel to create new regulations for short term rental companies like Airbnb in Chicago.

Under the amended proposal, the type of registration or license required will change depending on the type of platform used to rent the unit. According to Shannon Breymaier, a spokesperson for the Mayor, the breakdown would be:  

• “Intermediaries” like Airbnb would be required to produce monthly reports regarding rental activity to the city and local alderman. These businesses would have to also provide insurance on behalf of their hosts and remove units in violation of city rules. Units booked through an intermediary would be required to register as a “shared housing unit.”
• For “advertising platforms” like HomeAway, which collect a fee for units listed on the company’s platform, the city would face similar regulations as intermediaries: the company would have to provide unit registration data from the city, and remove homes from listings that aren’t licensed. Units booked through an advertising platform or offline (e.g. newspaper ads) would be subject to an updated “vacation rental” license.
• A new “shared housing unit operator” license would be created for hosts who rent more than one shared housing unit. This license would provide the city with an additional tool to enforce against bad actors by allowing suspension or revocation action against an operator’s license and all the operator’s units registered units if there’s a violation in any unit.

Mayor Emanuel’s new plan calls for doubling the surcharge to 4% on the booking of any shared housing unit, bed and breakfast, or vacation rental. A majority of the money would help pay for city-run homeless and affordable housing initiatives. Up to 8% of the approximately $2 million in revenue raised from this surcharge will pay for enforcement and administration.

And “to address quality of life concerns” raised by several North Side aldermen, who represent neighborhoods with the highest concentration of Airbnb rentals, the ordinance would set limits on the number of allowable units within buildings.

• For single family homes: “only primary residences–when the host is present–can be listed or licensed, and egregious conditions like large parties would be subject to heightened penalties.”
• For multi-family homes (2-4 units): one rental per building would be allowed.
• For multi-unit buildings: the building owner, condo board or homeowners association would be in charge of setting the limit of units. They would have to inform the city of those limits. So-called “Guest sites”, or extra units within buildings for family and friends that are not advertised as primary residences, are not subject to the restrictions.

The owner of any home-sharing unit found facilitating “egregious conditions” such as drug trafficking, prostitution, and gang activity would face a $5,000 fine for each day found in violation, in addition to losing the privilege of renting out that unit. The plan also calls for a three strikes rule for other types of disturbances to surrounding neighbors, like noise or exceeding occupancy limits. “The City will have the right to suspend or revoke a registration for certain types of offenses, including if the continued rental would pose an imminent threat to public safety,” an email from Breymaier says.

Three items are listed on the agenda today for the Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development: two Class 6(b) property tax breaks for industrial properties and a reappointment to the Community Development Commission, the body in charge of establishing new TIF districts and Redevelopment Areas, as well as the appointment of members to Community Conservation Councils. This will be Ald. Proco Joe Moreno's (1) first time chairing the committee. His predecessor, Ald. Howard Brookins (21) was tapped to fill Ald. Will Burns' slot as Education Committee chair.

Rockwell Properties applied for a Class 6(b) tax incentive to support the “purchase, rehabilitation and build-out” of a 135,000-square-foot of industrial space at 3057 N. Rockwell Ave. The rehab would be to accommodate Metropolis Coffee Company, which uses part of the property for coffee roasting, warehousing, and office space. The rest of the available space in the building would be targeted out to other food related companies.

The property is located in the Addison Industrial Corridor, along the North Branch of the Chicago River in Ald. Deb Mell’s 33rd Ward. The project is expected to cost $11.2 million, including the cost of remediation work, roof repairs and upgrades to the 11 industrial buildings located on site. With the tax incentive, the company would save $1.6 million over the next 12 years.

Another application for a Class 6(b) tax incentive from J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc.would help the company continue operating a 28-acre trucking and intermodal facility in Stevenson Industrial Corridor. If approved, this would be the company’s third renewal, saving the company an estimated $3.1 million in real estate taxes over the next 12 years. The company applied for their first Class 6(b) designation in 1994 and renewed it in 2006, saving the company $4.9 million.

The third item on the agenda is the reappointment of Robert Buford to the Community Development Commission, a 15-member body that oversees TIFs. Buford is the CEO of Planned Realty Group. He was first appointed to the commission in 2011 by Mayor Emanuel.

 

Presser Against Mitts’ Strip Club Ordinance Scheduled This Morning, After Mitts Files Rule 41
by A.D. Quig – [email protected]

Representatives from sexual exploitation advocacy groups will hold a press conference at City Hall this morning against Ald. Emma Mitts’ (37) ordinance allowing liquor sales at fully nude strip clubs. Advocacy groups say the alcohol and full nudity are an “explosive combination frequently leading to abuse, assault and violence in areas where strip clubs are located.” Ald. Toni Foulkes (16) and Ald. Matt O’Shea (19) will also join today’s press conference.

Though the issue passed the Zoning Committee last month, Ald. Mitts deferred and published the item at April’s full Council meeting, saying she didn’t want to “mislead” her colleagues, and initially believed the measure was limited to topless bars. She said the ordinance, which has the backing of Ald. Ed Burke (14) would need some re-working. She filed a Rule 41 on Friday saying she intends to call it for a vote this Wednesday.

The City Council’s Finance Committee will consider authorizing $600 million in general obligation bonds as part of the Administration’s overall $1.2 billion GO issue for 2016. The original borrowing plan, introduced in January, was cut down to $650 million following Council concerns about growing city debt and unclear plans on how the bond proceeds would be spent.

“We will come back to the Council when we have more details around the capital projects with a proposal to do general obligation new money capital later in the year,” city Chief Financial Officer Carole Brown told Finance Committee members on January 11.

Of the $600 million in GO bonds, $100 million of taxable debt will help with the cost of legal settlements expected to be paid out in 2016 and 2017, $150.5 million of tax-exempt debt for “E-Note” or equipment purchases in 2016 and 2017, and $237.2 of tax-exempt debt for capital spending in 2016 and 2017. While the total comes to $487.7, the city is seeking authorization for $600 in spending to cover the cost of borrowing the money and issuance fees.

At today’s Finance meeting, aldermen will also consider a plan championed by the Council’s Progressive Caucus that would require “more rigorous evaluation and more meaningful public scrutiny” of future debt offerings.

Under the plan, the city wouldn’t be able to enter into a debt transaction until a strict timeline is met. The Chief Financial Officer (currently Carole Brown) would be required to direct a Registered Agent to prepare a report determining if the issuance of new debt is in the best interests of the city and its residents, in addition to detailing the associated costs and risks.

The City Council’s newly-created Office of Financial Analysis (COFA) under the direction of Ben Winick, would be required to prepare a report on the debt transaction and circulate it to all members of the City Council. COFA would also be required to post that report publicly at least a week before the Finance Committee holds a hearing. That report must evaluate whether the proposed debt issuance is in the best interest of the city and quantify the associated risks to the taxpayers.

The Progressive Caucus drafted the “Debt Transaction Accountability” ordinance in consultation with the city’s Finance Department, following concerns raised over the city’s exposure to expensive swap termination fees. That debate was part of the reason why the administration chose to table half of its borrowing plan. Part of the proceeds from the first round of borrowing would have paid off some of those termination fees to switch the city’s variable rate debt to a fixed rate.

The Finance Committee will also take up a resolution from Chairman Ed Burke (14), Ald. Rod Sawyer (6), and Ald. Gregory Mitchell (7) to rename the South Water Purification Plant at 3300 E. Cheltenham Place to the Eugene “Gene” SawyerWater Purification Plant. Sawyer, the father of the 6th Ward aldermen and 53rd mayor of the city, began his career with the city’s water department, the resolution notes.

Another proposed ordinance from Chairman Burke would require that representatives with the Independent Police Review Authority testify before the Finance Committee when the body is deciding on legal settlements against police officers.  The ordinance, co-sponsored by Ald. Scott Waguespack (32), Ald. Leslie Hairston (5), who first called for the IPRA’s dissolution, plus Ald. Sawyer, would have required officials at IPRA attend the finance meetings and provide members with a “written status report on any and all investigations involving department members who are named parties to said lawsuits and controverted claims.”

Last Friday, in an op-ed published by the Chicago Sun-Times, Mayor Emanuel announced he would move to abolish the agency. The committee will also consider two settlements for families of men killed by CPD, totaling $3.2 million (more details in our Friday newsletter).

Another police-related ordinance on the Finance agenda from Chairman Burke would require the Police Superintendent to refer all cases involving the death of a suspect in custody to the Cook County State’s Attorney's Office. According to the ordinance, an “officer involved-death” includes any death that results directly from “an action or directly from an intentional omission, including unreasonable delay involving a person in custody or intentional failure to seek medical attention when the need for treatment is apparent.”

Any police-involved death that occurs while an officer is off duty would fall under this rule, as well, if that officer was “performing activities that are within the scope of his or her law enforcement duties.” The ordinance would take effect upon passage. Public Safety Chairman Ariel Reboyras (30), Budget Chair Carrie Austin (34), and Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Chairman Walter Burnett (27) are listed as co-sponsors.

The debate over how to regulate room-sharing companies like Airbnb boils to the surface as the City Council prepares to hold hearings on the matter next week. An alderman who wants to further regulate Uber and other ride-hailing services says he’s got the support he needs to get it through the Council. And Cook County Commissioners vote on massive redevelopment in the Illinois Medical district, and after some vociferous public support, pulled back on whether to make Clerk of the Circuit Court Dorothy Brown's position an appointed one. (Correction: We mistakenly said the new Cook County Health and Hospitals building would cost $18 million. The correct estimated cost is $118 million.)

Two items from freshmen aldermen were tabled by Chairman George Cardenas (12) at yesterday’s Health and Environmental Protection Committee meeting–resolutions calling for the city to participate in a recycled asphalt pilot program and a humane coyote management program–while new rules on tattoos, piercings, and pet waste will move on to the full City Council on Wednesday.

Attendance: Chairman George Cardenas (12), Brian Hopkins (2), Susan Sadlowski Garza (10), Willie Cochran (20), Ariel Reboyras (30), Deb Mell (33), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), Gilbert Villegas (36), James Cappleman (46), Harry Osterman (48)

Both Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) and Ald. Brian Hopkins (2) presented subject matter experts at yesterday’s meeting, but both of their proposals were tabled because city or state officials weren’t on hand to offer their perspective, Chairman Cardenas explained.

Villegas, whose pre-aldermanic career was mostly in the construction industry at the Illinois Capital Development Board and the Illinois Department of Transportation, offered up Brian Lansu, VP and legal counsel of US Recycled Asphalt Shingle, an industry trade group, as a witness. The city could save $5 per ton of asphalt if they participated in a statewide pilot program that used asphalt made with recycled shingles, Lansu testified. He says the Illinois Department of Transportation is already working on several projects using the asphalt, including in the Chicago area. But Cardenas opted to hold the resolution because the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) wasn’t there to testify.

“It was news to me that it was being held,” Ald. Villegas told Aldertrack. He assumed when the issue was called in committee, the Mayor’s office would have made a CDOT official available to testify. “I had a conversation with the Mayor’s office [after the meeting] that if they want to talk about something I’m okay with it, but don’t hold my resolution up without talking to me...I was a little frustrated with that. We can negotiate an ordinance, but I don’t like just arbitrarily saying ‘no’.”

Villegas says he wants a vote on the issue next month. “We’re in the beginning of paving season. I wanted to have the ability for Chicago to do a pilot program to put forth some cost-effective alternatives.” He estimates CDOT could save hundreds of thousands using the “green” asphalt.

Ald. Brian Hopkins (2) presented two subject matter experts to back up his pitch for more humane treatment of coyotes by animal control officials. Stan Gehrt, an associate professor at the Ohio State University who has studied the increasing population of coyotes in Cook County, testified about local coyotes’ eating habits (feral cats, rats, goose eggs, and deer), reaction to humans (they generally stay away), and the risks of having them live nearby (some carry disease, and some have nipped at humans who get close to them).

Chris Anchor with the Cook County Forest Preserve also testified, expressing his “gratitude that Chicago is taking the initiative to use science-based program… and an incredible amount of science has been done right here in the community.”

But Ald. Cardenas held the issue. Hopkins’ office said the hold was to ensure there was no conflict with the state’s Animal Welfare Commission.

“We did not have the respective city and state agencies, we need to have them to make hay of what we’re talking about,” Ald. Cardenas said of both proposals after the meeting adjourned. He said there was a miscommunication with Ald. Hopkins’ office, that he believed the issue wasn’t supposed to be called until June, but Hopkins’ expert was in town today. He says there will be a “more robust” proposal introduced later on.

The committee did move on several other proposals:

• A proposal from Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) and others would make leaving pet waste on your own private property a fineable offense if it passes full Council Wednesday. Rosa said the ordinance was spurred on because there was no code on the books that allowed residents to complain about pet waste piling up in their neighbor’s yard. Officials with the Department of Streets and Sanitation said similar to rules about overgrown weeds, they would talk to the offender before issuing a fine (which could range between $50 and $500). Neighbors shouldn’t have to deal with “five, ten, fifteen pounds of poop and smells,” when they open their windows or walk to their car, Ald. Willie B. Cochran (20) testified. Rosa said it will also eliminate a popular food source for rats, though Ald. James Cappleman (46) pushed back, citing Steve Dale’s (host of Steve Dale’s Pet World) contention the pests prefer seeds, berries, and trash more than feces. Cappleman ultimately supported the ordinance, though, saying it was a “quality of life issue.”   

• A proposal from Mayor Emanuel banning those under 18 from using tanning salons, allow anyone 18 and up to get tattoos, and require those under 18 who would like to get a lip or tongue piercing to have a parent sign an official form issued by Public Health Commissioner Julie Morita.

• Two introductions from the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH): one clarifying city code on low-risk restaurants that issue self-inspections for food safety, the other, part of the city’s Healthy Chicago 2.0 initiative, calls for policymakers to apply a health lens to all law making, and creates a cross-department task force to examine how the city can address short, medium, and long term recommendations for changes to policies, practices, and procedures to improve community health.

Aldermen will consider $3.2 million in police settlements and two police reform ordinances in the Finance Committee Monday, with both reform ordinances backed by Chairman Ed Burke (14). One item requires the head of the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) appear before the committee when police settlements are requested by Corporation Counsel. IPRA’s current head, Sharon Fairley, would have to provide committee members a written status report “on any and all investigations involving department members who are named parties to said lawsuits or controverted claims.”

The ordinance is sponsored by Burke (14), Ald. Scott Waguespack (32), Ald. Leslie Hairston (5), and Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6). Both items were introduced last month, just after Ald. Burke lamented the deaths of two men in Chicago Police custody. Aldermen approved two settlements totaling $6.5 million to the families of both men–one who was repeatedly tasered in police custody, the other who died after an asthma attack.  

The other ordinance, sponsored by Burke, Ald. Carrie Austin (34), Public Safety Chair Ariel Reboyras (30), and Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27), would require the Police Superintendent to refer all cases involving the death of a suspect in custody to the Cook County State’s Attorney's Office.

According to the ordinance, an “officer involved-death” includes any death that results directly from “an action or directly from an intentional omission, including unreasonable delay involving a person in custody or intentional failure to seek medical attention when the need for treatment is apparent.” Any police-involved death that occurs while an officer is off duty would fall under this rule, as well, if that officer was “performing activities that are within the scope of his or her law enforcement duties.” The ordinance would take effect upon passage.

Aldermen are set to vote on a $2.2 million settlement to the family of Emmanuel Lopez, who was killed by police at a traffic stop. His aunt, Ana Lopez-Cervin, initially sought $20 million in damages. Lopez, an illegal immigrant, was shot 16 times at the stop in 2006. The officers, according to the Chicago Tribune, said they fired at Lopez's car only after he drove into an officer and trapped him under his bumper. Lopez’s family said the ballistics and tire tracks on the officer’s pants didn’t support their claim.

A $1 million settlement is also up for committee consideration, to the mother of a Ryan Rogers, who was shot once and killed by a CPD officer in 2013. Rogers’ girlfriend told CBS Chicago she and Rogers were getting in their car on 171st street in East Hazel Crest to get something to eat, and were approached by undercover officers in plain clothes. Rogers’ girlfriend said he believed they were being robbed, and tried to drive away. Officers said they opened fire in fear for their lives.