Proposals to provide two South Side companies with approximately $2 million in property tax relief over the next twelve years are up for consideration.

Balton Corporation, a paper, plastic and dairy product distributor, is seeking a Class 6(b) property tax incentive to relocate from New City to an old industrial facility in Burnside previously occupied by Jay’s Potato Chips. The company plans to spend $4.6 million to renovate the building and expand operations. If the property tax break is approved, the company would save an estimated $1.2 million over the next 12 years.

Takis Royal Foods, a wholesale foodservice supplier to restaurants, is applying for the same property tax incentive to support the recent acquisition and rehabilitation of a 48,000-square-foot industrial building in Archer Heights. The company recently relocated from the Near West Side and has budgeted $2.3 million for renovations and upgrades. If the property tax break is approved, the company would save an estimated $532,000 over the next 12 years.

Aldermen will be urged to approve Mayor Emanuel’s plan to issues billions of new bonds, including $1.25 billion in General Obligation bonds after reluctantly approving a $1.1 billion borrowing plan less than a year ago. At the time, Chief Financial Officer Carole Brown warned the city would default on its debt payments and ruin its credit if they failed to act.

This new borrowing package would pay down or restructure existing debt, including a continuation of “scoop and toss” through 2019; fund the Aldermanic Menu Program, which gives each alderman $1.3 million to pay for local infrastructure projects of their choosing; pay for capital improvements at the city’s airports as well as to the city’s water and sewer system; and commit $700 million to the city’s capital program over the next two years.

The bond initiatives up for a vote include:

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  $1.25 billion in General Obligation bonds – with $700 million going towards capital improvement projects over the next two years and a planned continuation of “scoop and toss” until 2019, according to the Mayor’s office. The remaining proceeds are to retire old debt.

  
  


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  $1 billion in Chicago Midway Airport Revenue Bonds – The bond issuance includes $500 million in new money to pay for capital improvements at the airport for parking, concessions, noise mitigation and other general infrastructure repairs, $200 million to refund bonds for savings, and $200 million to convert outstanding bonds to Customer Facility Charge bonds. The conversion gives rental car companies operating at the airport greater financial flexibility and mirrors the financing structure used at O’Hare, according to draft documents. Barclays will manage the bond sale.

  
  


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  $200 million in Sales Tax Revenue Bonds – This bond issue would raise $70 million in new money to fund the Aldermanic Menu Program, which gives each alderman $1.3 million a year to spend on local infrastructure projects of their choosing. The rest will be used to pay off existing debt. Called an “experiment” by CFO Brown, for the first time the city would use sales taxes to finance the Aldermanic Menu Money program. Historically, sales tax revenues have been used for operations, while property taxes were for capital programs, debt and pensions. However, most of the city’s existing property tax levy has been committed to pensions and debt already, forcing the city to begin to use other revenue sources for capital programs. Siebert will manage the bond sale scheduled for the third quarter of 2016.

  
  


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  $400 million in Second Lien Wastewater Transmission Bonds - The new money will pay for flood abatement, sewer replacement, and other infrastructure improvements to the city’s sewer system. The bonds are backed by sewer fees and will be issued in either the second or third quarter of 2016. Chicago-basedMesirow is handling the sale.

  
  


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  $400 million in two separate Second Lien Water Revenue Bonds - Half of the new money will pay for swap terminations, the other half will pay for capital improvements.

  
  


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  $98.4 million in Special Assessment Bonds for Franklin Point - This is an inducement ordinance that gives the city the option to issue tax-exempt bonds in the future to pay down existing project costs. Should the city decide to issue the bonds, a separate ordinance would have to be introduced and approved by the City Council.

  
  

Tax-Increment Financing (TIF)-related Ordinances Before Finance Committee

Aldermen will consider a proposal to allocate $500,000 in TIF money to help pay for construction costs associated with the Union Station Master Plan, multi-year, multi-phase plan to increase capacity, modernize, and improve Union Station’s connectivity to other public transit. Amtrak owns the downtown train station and will foot the bill for half of the the $6 million plan and the city will reimburse up to $500,000 of the cost with money from the Canal Congress TIF.

Plans call for approximately $1.3 million to renovate and expand the lobby entrance off Canal Street to allow for greater pedestrian flow and “increased natural light into the Concourse”; $1.3 million to widen METRA train platforms to minimize congestion during peak hours; and approximately $1 million to repurpose an existing unused corridor into an underground, weather protected pedestrian passageway connecting the Union Station concourse with the Ogilvie Transportation Center.

Another ordinance allocates $4.6 million in TIF funds to pay for a new athletic field to be shared by Williams Jones College Preparatory High School and National Teachers Academy, a public elementary school. Chicago Public Schools is building the new athletic field at 2300 South Dearborn Avenue, and the 24th/Michigan TIF, which spans the 3rd, 4th, and 25th Wards, will pay for it.

Two Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority-related Ordinances

Ald. Pat Dowell (3) has introduced an ordinance requesting all construction permit and zoning fees incurred after November 5, 2015 associated with the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority be waived. Under the agreement, the MPEA will be required to submit quarterly reports to the city’s Office of Budget and Management detailing the fees waived. [O2015-8533]. Another MPEA related ordinance from the Mayor’s office is an intergovernmental agreement with the Chicago Park District for the redevelopment of Prairie Park.

On Monday, the Finance Committee will consider seven bond-related ordinances, including one authorizing the issuance of $1.25 billion in General Obligation bonds, $300 million of which is a so-called scoop and toss restructuring over the next two years, part of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s promise to phase out the practice by 2019.

Other bonds up for a vote include:

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  $98 million for municipal improvements within the Franklin Point and River South Areas

  
  


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  $200 million for issuance of bonds funded by sales tax revenue, $70 million of which will  finance aldermanic menu money spending

  
  


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  $1 billion in Midway Airport Revenue Bonds

  
  


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  $800 million in three separate water- and wastewater-related bonds

  
  

[View PowerPoint presented to aldermen by CFO Carole Brown]

The City’s Chief Financial Officer, Carole Brown, briefed aldermen in person on the issuances earlier this week, but aldermen Aldertrack spoke to don’t necessarily feel up to speed, and some feel rushed.

“I think the issue here is not that they’re borrowing the money. It’s that they haven’t talked about it until the last couple days,” Ald. Ameya Pawar (47) told Aldertrack, noting that the airport and water bonds are not out of the ordinary. Pawar is not a member of the Finance Committee, but he says he hopes the votes will be delayed untilBen Winick, with the Council’s newly created Office of Financial Analysis, can provide context to aldermen.

All seven bond authorization ordinances, some upwards of 500 pages, were introduced before the holiday break at the December 9 full City Council meeting.

Ald. Howard Brookins (21), a Finance Committee member, said he had a one-hour briefing with Brown this week. “It was comprehensive,” he said, “so much so that they handed us literally 50 sheets of paper.” He said from his briefing, the borrowing seemed in line with what the Mayor previewed in budget negotiations, but, “unless you’re a finance major, it’s like, what are we looking at?”

Another alderman put it bluntly, “I don’t know what the hell it is. I don’t know why they’re trying to do all this at one time.”

Ald. Scott Waguespack (32), a vocal critic and the sole “no” vote on the last issuance of general obligation bonds in committee last June, said, “This is a massive bundling of offerings and some are basically a blank check.” At the June 15 Finance Committee meeting, aldermen voted to advance Mayor Emanuel’s plan to issue up to $1.1B in General Obligation bonds, although several committee members said they had a hard time understanding the language of the ordinance or what was at stake if they failed to approve it.

Rather than be connected to specific tax receipts or revenue streams, General Obligation bonds are backed by a government body’s entire revenue stream, and repaid through the general fund for regular government operations. Other bond issuances, like airport bonds, are backed by revenue specifically generated from airport activities, like ticket fees and gate lease fees charged to airlines.

Of the $1.25B general obligation bond authorization up for a vote Monday, $125 million would go towards traditional refunding for present value savings, $300 million would cover two years of scoop-and-toss restructuring for budget relief, and $700 million would cover two years of as-yet unannounced capital projects, according to finance publication Bond Buyer.

A Mayoral briefing presentation from June includes the four-year phase-out schedule for scoop and toss, which would be $225 million in 2015, $150 million in 2016, $100 million in 2017, $50 million in 2018, zeroing out in 2019.

Of the $200 million authorized for sales tax revenue bonds, $70 million will fund the 2016 Aldermanic Menu program which gives each alderman $1 million to spend on local improvement projects in their ward. The bonds will also "refund outstanding Sales Tax Revenue Bonds for interest cost savings," according to Brown’s presentation.

Winick, who was appointed last year to oversee the City Council’s new independent budget office, told Aldertrack he’s still looking over the details and hasn’t offered concrete answers to aldermen.

Next Tuesday, $500 million in General Obligation bonds authorized in September will go to market. Five aldermen on the Finance Committee voted against the issuance at the time: Ald. Willie Cochran (20), Ald. Pat Dowell (3), Ald. Scott Waguespack (32),Ald. John Arena (45), and Ald. Gregory Mitchell (7).

A blue ribbon panel Rules Committee Chairman Michelle Harris (8) assembled to find a new Legislative Inspector General is expected to make its recommendations in “the next few days”, one member on the selection team told Aldertrack yesterday. The news came the same day Ald. Michele Smith (43) announced she has the votes needed to eliminate that office and put the responsibility of investigating aldermen under the jurisdiction of Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson.

Alejandra Garza, one of the five members of the selection committee, confirmed with Aldertrack last night that, “the search process is coming to an end and [they] will be making their recommendation in the next few days.” Harris created the panel in November to find a replacement for the Council’s former LIG Faisal Khan after his term expired. But Garza wouldn’t confirm how many applicants applied or remain for consideration.

That candidate could be announced as early as Monday, according to a memo Ald. Pat O’Connor’s office sent to aldermen yesterday afternoon. The memo says his Workforce Development Committee will meet Monday afternoon to consider Ald. Smith’s merger ordinance, in addition to potentially “accept[ing] and consider[ing] a substitute ordinance that retains the Office of the Legislative Inspector General and enhances the powers and duties of that Office in place of the above ordinance.”

While neither O’Connor’s nor Harris’ office could confirm that a candidate would be announced at that meeting by our publication deadline, O’Connor said in December–when he held a subject hearing on the two ordinances–that he would not allow a vote on either until an LIG candidate was found. He reasoned that all 50 aldermen should have the opportunity to decide and that decision shouldn’t be made until then.

“You will not be making that choice in a vacuum, because you will also have an opportunity to understand who this selection committee has picked and have an understanding of what that person’s thought process is,” O’Connor told aldermen at the meeting.

When asked multiple times by Council colleges and reporters why the city needed to find a new LIG when a majority of the Council seemed to favor eliminating the office, O’Connor said the ordinance that created the office legally requires a search for a replacement take place should the office become vacant.

“By January we will be voting on one or the other,” he promised his colleagues.

But Ald. Smith thinks the Council has waited long enough. She held a press conference at City Hall yesterday morning announcing she has the votes to discharge her merger ordinance from Ald. O’Connor’s committee at the full City Council meeting next Wednesday. The procedural move, known as a Rule 41, would need a majority of the full Council to bring the ordinance to the floor for consideration. Another alderman could object the motion, but if the item makes it to the floor, the full Council can vote to amend or pass it. 27 aldermen signed the Rule 41 notice Smith filed with the City Clerk’s Office.

“Our numbers in support of this effort reflect the cries of Chicagoans who demand accountability of their lawmakers, particularly at this significant time in our city’s history. There have never been this many Aldermen to co-sponsor a ‘Rule 41’ to bring about true, lasting change,” Smith said at the press conference, with ten of her council colleagues echoing her call to put the issue to rest.

Hours later, after O’Connor sent out the memo, Ald. Smith told Aldertrack, “Considering a substitute ordinance and a [LIG] candidate on such short notice would be a huge mistake for the City Council.”

“None of us know if there is a new LIG and if so, who it is,” she added.

While this debate over who should investigate aldermen has been going on for more than a year, support for the merger ordinance “surged” this past fall, according to Smith, when former LIG Khan’s term expired. Before he left the post, he claimed his office was designed to fail because his $354,000 budget barely covered expenses, and his inability to investigate anonymous complaints made him powerless.

And when Harris announced in November she had created a selection committee to find Khan’s replacement, Ald. Smith expressed concern that the city would hire a new LIG before the Council had an opportunity to consider her merger plan.

She and Ald. Ameya Pawar (47) introduced a second ordinance to strengthen the LIG’s office. That ordinance, which Smith described as a parliamentary “plan b”, would increase the OLIG’s annual budget to at least $500,000 and authorizes the LIG to initiate its own investigations without prior approval from the BOE and a signed and sworn complaint. The possible substitute O’Connor referred to in his memo could further amend that plan, but neither Smith nor Pawar know who is drafting it.

A pilot program in the 1st Ward that lets nonprofits near residential streets buy daily parking permits for its employees could be expanded through 2016 with two additional lakefront wards, under a proposal before the Council’s Pedestrian & Traffic Safety Committee today.

The ordinance introduced by Clerk Susana Mendoza would expand the pilot program to Ald. Tom Tunney’s 44th Ward (Lakeview) and Michele Smith’s 43rd Ward (Lincoln Park). Under the program, not-for-profits can buy up to 150 daily parking permits a month for its employees, or 30 stickers a month for each of up to five employees.

The rest of the committee’s agenda consists of routine parking matters. The meeting originally scheduled for noon was pushed to 1:30 pm and will now be held in the Council Chambers.

A former Chicago Public Schools official who now serves on the Illinois State Charter School Commission is joining the Chicago Board of Education. Mayor Rahm Emanuelannounced yesterday Jaime Guzman will replace Jesse Ruiz, who stepped down from the Board last year to become the new Chair of the Chicago Park District Board. Emanuel is also recommending the Board of Education elect Guzman to fill Ruiz’s old job of Board Vice President.

Guzman currently serves as the Taproot Foundation’s Executive Director for the Midwest. The national nonprofit connects business professionals with nonprofits in need of pro-bono services. Guzman will vacate his spot on the state charter school commission once his appointment to the BOE is finalized.

During Mayor Richard M. Daley’s administration, Guzman led CPS’ Office of New Schools (ONS), the department in charge of authorizing all district charter schools and new schools. Before that, he taught at Kanoon Magnet School, a public elementary school in the city’s Little Village neighborhood. According to his LinkedIn, Guzman got his first teaching job as a Teach for America teacher in Paterson, New Jersey.

The Chicago Teacher’s Union called the appointment “unfortunate” and Guzman a charter school ally, saying, “With the mayor’s selection of Guzman, more than half of the Board of Ed’s members are now unabashed charter supporters.”

Streets and sidewalks around Union Station will get a little less crowded under a new deal the Committee on Transportation and Public Way approved with Megabus. It transfers a street under the Congress Parkway to the charter bus company to build a stop to pick up and drop off passengers.

Members Present: Chairman Anthony Beale (9), Pat Dowell (3), Marty Quinn (13), Matt O’Shea (19), Willie Cochran (21), Chris Taliaferro (29),  Milly Santiago (31), Deb Mell (33), Gilbert Villegas (36), Anthony Napolitano (41) Michele Smith (43

The city has been working for years to address the growing congestion around the West Loop train station, which sees an average of 120,000 passengers a week. And according to Jeff Sriver with the Chicago Department of Transportation, the mix of those commuter passengers, cars, taxies, CTA buses has made it difficult for Megabus to pick up passengers curbside at their current location a block away from the station on the corner of West Van Buren and South Canal Street.

Sriver said that’s why CDOT sought City Council approval to vacate property owned by the State Department of Transportation at 432-498 South Clinton Street and permit Megabus to use the off-street location as a bus stop. Under the 25-year agreement, Megabus will have to aesthetically improve the land and add new lighting, pavement, and signs.

But aldermen were less concerned about the traffic. They wanted to know what was in it for the city and who Megabus would hire as a contractor.

Ald. Pat Dowell (3) asked more questions than anyone else on the committee, inquiring if the city would make money on the permit (answer: no); if the city makes money every time Megabus sells a ticket to or from Chicago (answer: no); and if it’s common for cities to vacate public streets for private transportation companies (answer: Yes, charter buses are considered common carriers like taxis which are allowed to pick up passengers curbside).

MegaBus plans to spend $350,000 to $500,000 on construction, according Jim Schwartz, who testified on behalf of the company. Their request for proposals will be private and their architect has already given them a short list of potential contractors.Chairman Anthony Beale (9) and Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) found this disappointing, and suggested the company consider opening up the bid to make it easier for minority-owned companies to enter the applicant pool.

Chairman Beale even went as far as to request that the Law Department “explore” how the city could expand its minority and women-owned business procurement requirements to private companies that hire contractors to work on public way improvements. The city’s current M/WBE program is set to expire in March. BudgetChairman Carrie Austin allowed for a temporary extension of the program last month so she could hold “in depth hearings” on how the city can strengthen it.

Two mayoral appointments to the city’s Board of Local Improvements, the body that oversees infrastructure improvements prompted by new development projects, also advanced in committee. Christopher M. Michalek, a partner at McGuire Woods, LLP, and Edward T. McKinnie, Sr., the President of the Board of Directors for Black Contractors United, will fill two of the three vacancies on the board. Neither will get paid, as Mayor Emanuel eliminated the stipend in 2011 as a way to save money.

Today’s 21-page agenda for Transportation and Public Way is full of mostly routine matters, but includes a pair of appointments to the Board of Local Improvements and a new deal for Megabus.

The five-member Board of Local Improvements, which oversees street infrastructure improvements prompted by new development projects, has three vacancies, as the terms for the two members currently serving on the board don’t expire. Both were appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley, one in 1990, the other in 2008.

Mayor Emanuel has appointed Christopher M. Michalek to succeed Fred A. Moody, whose term expired. Michalek is a partner at McGuire Woods LLP, where his law practice focuses “on all aspects of labor and employment.” The Mayor also appointedEdward T. McKinnie, Sr., the President of the Board of Directors for Black Contractors United. McKinnie will replace George W. Migala, who resigned. Migala also served as a member of the Plan Commission, and according to his LinkedIn, stepped down from Local Improvements back in May of 2015.

The committee will also consider a proposal from the City’s Department of Transportation to let Megabus use and improve a state-owned site under the Congress Parkway at South Clinton Street between the Greyhound station and Union Station for loading and unloading passengers from their buses.

Despite having several contentious applications on the agenda, hardly anyone from the public spoke at yesterday’s three hour City Council Zoning meeting awkwardly led by Vice Chairman James Cappleman (46) and committee staffers who guided him by regularly whispering his cues and correcting his motions.

Save for Council fixture George Blakemore, who testified on almost every application, and another Council regular from Lincoln Park, Allan Mellis, who spoke in support of a new modern-style hotel in his neighborhood, several large scale projects that received a sizable amount of public opposition at the December Plan Commission meeting breezed through yesterday’s meeting without much detail or debate.

Committee Members Present (7/17): Vice Chairman James Cappleman (46), Joe Moreno (1), Toni Foulkes (16), Matt O’Shea (19), Walter Burnett (27), Tom Tunney (44), Ameya Pawar (47).
Other Aldermen Present: Will Burns (4), Deb Mell (33), Michele Smith (43)

Spending an average of five minutes per application, the committee advanced zoning changes to allow construction of a new 24-story luxury high-rise and office building in River North, updated plans for an 11-story luxury condo building next to the landmark Village Theater in Old Town, and a proposal to transform the landmark Colvin House in Edgewater into office space, among several others.

Only one project garnered aldermanic opposition, and it was over the issue of affordable housing units. Ald. Joe Moreno (1) tried to block Marc Realty’s plan to build two identical mixed-use, luxury condo buildings with 220-units at the site of the former Discount Mega Mall in Logan Square. Moreno, whose ward neighbors the project, was concerned the developers would fall back on their promise to provide affordable housing, prompting a technical debate about codifying the law in zoning applications.

When the project was brought up for consideration at yesterday’s meeting, the applicant’s attorney, Carol Stubblefield with the law firm Neal & Leroy, testified that 10 percent, or 22 units, will be made affordable as required under the city’s old Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO).

Noting the 220-unit count did not match the 240 unit count listed on the agenda, Moreno asked for a point of clarification to make sure the promised affordable units were codified in the planned development statements.

Zoning Administrator Patti Scudiero noted that when the developer filed the application in September, the last month before beefed up ARO requirements took effect, the developer initially listed 240-units, but later scaled the number down to appease local residents. The change was noted at the Plan Commission meeting, she added.

But Ald. Moreno pressed on, taking issue with the language in the PD statement, which says the developer must provide the 22 affordable units “or” make an in lieu cash payment to the city. Since the cash payment is required when building permits are issued, not when the zoning change is approved, the standard PD language regarding affordable housing is usually written as an option, Scudiero noted.

An exhibit in the application states the developer will add affordable units on site, and meeting records further codify the requirements, Stubblefield added. But Moreno said that wasn’t good enough, saying he was worried the contradictory statements would lead to a legal battle over which document supersedes the other.

“You can’t come up here and say it’s codified in the agreement that they have to do it on site when there is legal language that says they can buy out of it,” Moreno argued. “Mr. Chairman, you’re in charge, but I don’t see how the committee can move forward on this when such an important issue of the project is in limbo.”

By this point the attorney was annoyed, noticeably raising her voice to again argue the issue is codified. Ald. Ameya Pawar (47) suggested the committee strike the word “or” so the committee could move on. But Vice Chairman Cappleman fumbled on the motion, accidently asking the committee to strike the language that would require the affordable units instead. Several yelled “no” and Scudiero had to step in to say the department would strike the language after “or”. The committee approved the motion, finally putting the issue to rest.

Updates on Proposed Medical Marijuana Security Changes, New Event Liquor License

The committee deferred a proposal to amend security requirements for medical marijuana dispensaries that operate in Chicago. The ordinance co-sponsored by Ald. Ed Burke (14) and Ald. Willie Cochran (20) would reverse a city requirement Burke pushed for and ultimately got approved in 2014 that requires  around-the-clock security guards at dispensaries. The change would loosen the restrictions to require security only when the dispensary is open for business. That item was deferred because Ald. Burke is amending his proposal, and a substitute is expected to be introduced at the next zoning meeting on January 20th, according to a legislative aide for the committee.

The aide also noted that Chairman Danny Solis (25) is amending his proposal to create a new liquor license for large-scale private parties. The ordinance Solis introduced in July would eliminate Class A and B licenses and create a new license with a fee structure based on the number of attendees, starting at $700 for an event with at least 350 attendees and capped at $4,000 for an event with 4,000 patrons. The committee will take up a substitute on that ordinance at the January 20th meeting, too.

Highlights of Approved Items

Co-Working Space Planned for Edgewater Landmark (48th Ward): A proposal to turn Edgewater’s historic Colvin House at 5940 N. Sheridan Road into a co-working space for young professionals advanced in committee. Built in 1901 and designed by Architect George W. Maher, the yellow, three-story mansion on the the corner of Thorndale Avenue and Sheridan Road is one of the last remaining lakefront mansions from the turn of the 20th century. Citing its “[d]ominant central entries, broad hipped roofs, bold rectangular massing, and complementary landscaping,” the city designated the home a Chicago landmark in 1994.

Angela Valavanis, the applicant behind the zoning change, owns a Creative Co-Working space in downtown Evanston and wants to open a similar facility in the 77,000-square-foot home. “This particular building is gorgeous, seems perfect and gives me an opportunity to also restore a historic landmark and open it up to the community to be a shared resource,” she testified. Zoning Administrator Patti Scudiero says she lives across the street from the home and spoke in support, saying, “This [home] has sat empty for quite a long time, and in the summertime the parcel is so beautiful, but the weeds prevent anyone from seeing the beauty on this corner.” According to Curbed Chicago, the property was listed in April for $1.2 million dollars.

Chicago Police Officer to Open Art Gallery for Kids on West Side (27th Ward): The Zoning Committee approved Chicago Police Officer Corry Williams’ application to remodel a vacant, one-story building in the East Garfield neighborhood on the city’s West Side and transform it into an art gallery for neighborhood youth.

According to his attorney, Rolando Acosta, Officer Williams bought the approximately 1,500-square-foot building at 345 N. Kedzie Ave. as a way to, “engage the community and bringing other activities that children can engage in, other than those that we wish they did not.”

Testifying in support of the project, local 27th Ward Ald. Walter Burnett noted the neighborhood was once a heavily industrial area but most of the surrounding buildings have since been converted to live-work lofts or live-work art spaces, “This is pretty much an artistical [sic] area.”

Williams had sought a zoning change from a manufacturing district (M1-2) to a neighborhood commercial district (C1-2) to facilitate the remodel, but his attorney corrected the record to reflect a mistake: they’re seeking a business district (B1-2) per request of the local community.

The subject site includes a detached, two-car garage (approx. 630-square-feet) and according to the application, plans also call for “workspace or retail or office uses”. The city issued a construction permit for the property in October 2015 for $60,000 in expected renovations that will include a “build-out for new general contractor's office and new construction of rear masonry garage.”

Lofts for Former East Village Polish Center (1st Ward): The Ashland Church of God, the historic and distinctly orange Polish community center at 1062-1100 N. Ashland Ave. will be turned into residential lofts. Developer Mark Sutherland’s so-called East Village Lofts will house 34-residential units divided among the building’s five floors. A breakdown of the planned residential units was not provided at the meeting, but according to the East Village Association, the building will have four studio apartments, 16 one-bedroom units, and 13 two-bedroom units.

Sutherland sought a rezone to demolish part of the building. The existing orange facade will remain, per community request, according to Sutherland’s attorney.

Since the development is 700 feet from the CTA’s Blue Line, it was filed as a Transit Oriented Development (TOD). The developer agreed to provide the required 10 percent ratio of affordable units. But those units, according to 1st Ward Ald. Joe Moreno, will be built off-site, as allowed in the new “linkage” provision added to the updated 2015 ARO requirements.

Aldermanic Applications (Highlights)

Several aldermanic applications were deferred in committee, mostly because none of them showed up to testify at yesterday’s meeting.

11th Ward Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson’s proposed downzone of the landmarked Spiegel Administration Building in Bridgeport and 8th Ward Ald. Michelle Harris’ downzone of the iconic Sears store in Grand Crossing.

A staff assistant for Ald. Harris, Michelle Evans, did, however, come down to testify on behalf of Harris’ other application: a downzone of a jerk chicken shop and adjacent parking lot at 1652-56 E. 79th Street in the South Shore neighborhood. After Vice Chairman Cappleman read the application and motioned for Evans to speak, she did not provide any details, saying, “The alderman is in support of this zone change.” As Cappleman opened the floor up for questions–(no one had any)–a zoning committee staff assistant whispered to Evans, whose mic was still on, “No, she introduced it, she is probably doing it for land use planning.”

“Okay,” Evans said before going back on mic to add, “for land use planning.”

In fact, 19th Ward Ald. Matt O’Shea was the only alderman to speak on behalf of his zoning applications. He had three in all: two rezone requests, which the committee approved, modestly rezone portions of Kedzie Avenue to make the commercial strip more uniform. The other application, listed on the deferred agenda, downzones a portion of the 1100 block of South Ridge Avenue from a community shopping district to a residential single-unit district. The change was needed because the surrounding properties are already zoned for residential use, according to Ald. O’Shea.

Ald. Deb Silverstein’s (50) proposed downzone of a building across from Warren Park, where a medical marijuana dispensary wanted to locate, was deferred to February. The dispensary, 420 Capital Management, failed to secure the special use permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals, a week after their attorney accused Silverstein of making an illegal zoning change as an attempt to block his client from moving to the location. The property, 6501-11 N. Western Avenue, is zoned for motor vehicle and commercial uses, but Silverstein wants it reclassified for single family homes. According to a legislative aide for the Zoning Committee, Ald. Silverstein is now seeking a larger designation, so the item has to be re-published and re-noticed.

Providing a reprise of her disjointed and disorganized testimony before the joint City Council committee on police accountability, Acting Independent Police Review Authority Chief Administrator Sharon Fairley held a brief press conference Monday announcing leadership changes, but offering few other details on transparency efforts at the embattled Authority, once again emphasizing her brief time at the helm.
At a podium filled with microphones, Fairley had was forced to step back to read from the prepared statement in her binder. IPRA’s Director of Community Outreach and Engagement, Larry Merritt, allowed just nine minutes of questions from reporters.

Merritt tried his best to maintain control after Fairley’s statement Monday, but reporters talked out of turn, pressing Fairley, in the job for a month, about how she can maintain the Authority’s independence in light of the recent e-mail dump showing former IPRA Chief Scott Ando’s close messaging coordination with the Emanuel administration, what will happen cases from fired IPRA investigator Lorenzo Davis, and what specific moves IPRA would make to increase transparency. Fairley instead attempted to emphasize that policy and procedure changes were still under development, that she’s blocking out her afternoons during the “entire month of January” to review IPRA’s police-involved shooting cases, and said she did not have time to read the email exchanges between her predecessor and officials in the Emanuel administration.

Perhaps the biggest change in policy Fairley announced is that IPRA officials will begin commenting on ongoing investigations. “We are no longer going to standing by a hard and fast rule that we will never discuss the details of an investigation until it’s complete,” Fairley told reporters. “I think that that position is now untenable in the world that we live in.” But she said while IPRA officials “will be on scene,” she stopped short of promising official comments at every crime scene. “I will release information if it’s appropriate,” she said.

Fairley announced restructuring changes previewed over the weekend, “to bring on strong leaders who provide fresh investigative and administrative perspective to IPRA coupled with knowledge and expertise that will aid IPRA in fulfilling its mission.” Two new hires: Chief of Staff Annette Moore, and Chief Investigator Jay Westensee were named Monday, but neither were present.

Moore is Associate Director of Admissions at the University of Chicago Law School, and “was instrumental in spearheading diversity outreach efforts and programming,” the IPRA press release says. Moore also worked for more than seven years as an associate at Sidley Austin LLP, where she represented “borrowers, lenders and financial intermediaries in connection with syndicated and structured loans,” according to her LinkedIn.

Westensee is slated to start as Chief Investigator at IPRA in mid-January. According tohis LinkedIn, he has worked at the Office of the Inspector General for more than a decade, where he’s currently Chief Investigator.

Fairley also worked at the OIG’s office as First Deputy and General Counsel, starting in April 2015. Shortly after her appointment on December 6, Fairley also referred theLaquan McDonald administrative investigation to the OIG.

Fairley says she’s also working to find a new First Deputy and General Counsel, fill an existing Attorney vacancy, and add Supervising Attorney and Attorney positions, but acknowledged adding positions and resources will require a bigger budget. IPRA will also establish “a dedicated community outreach team” and will maintain Larry Merritt, a holdover from Ando’s administration, as the Director of Community Outreach and Engagement, “supported by a coordinator who has yet to be hired.”

ZBA Chairman Appointed as New Chicago Board of Elections Commissioner
by Claudia Morell – [email protected]

Zoning Board of Appeals Chairman Jonathan Swain will join the City’s Board of Elections, replacing Commissioner Langdon Neal, who resigned from the post effective December 31.

A majority of Cook County Circuit Judges approved the appointment forwarded by Chief Cook County Circuit Judge Timothy C. Evans. In a written statement, Evans said Swain’s appointment will ensure the city’s diversity is represented on the three-member board, “Swain, who is African-American, will join Marisol Hernandez, who is Hispanic, and William Kresse, who is Caucasian.”

Swain will forfeit his spot as Zoning Board chairman, a position he’s held since 2010, and finish out Neal’s three-year term expiring on November 30, 2017. He’ll receive an annual salary of $77,798.

Seven other candidates vied for the position, including Dick Simpson, a former alderman and Political Science Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Despite Calls For His Resignation, Mayor Emanuel Raised Big Cash in December
by Claudia Morell – [email protected]

In his first big fundraising push since the mayoral election, and despite the political fallout he has received from his handling of the Laquan McDonald case, Mayor Rahm Emanuel collected more than $100,000 in political donations last month. According to State Board of Elections’ filings, all of the 56 donation checks he collected were dated on the 11th and 21st of December, suggesting he held a year-end fundraiser with some of the city’s most prominent business leaders.

John Bucksbaum, founder of Bucksbaum Retail Properties, one of the firms behind the massive one-million-square-foot New City commercial retail complex on Clybourn Avenue in Lincoln Park, gave the maximum contribution of $5,400. His wife, Jacolyn, donated another $5,400.

Other notable contributions in the $5,000 range to the mayor’s personal campaign fund came from Scott Cochrane, president of Cochrane Enterprises, which operates several bars in downtown Urbana frequented by University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign students; New Congress, LLC, a private company created by Michael Moyer for the Congress Theater mixed-use redevelopment plan; and attorney Thomas Raines.

Five employees from the hedge fund firm Grosvenor Capital Management donated a total of $7,500. The company’s CEO, Michael Sacks, is a close ally of Emanuel, contributing regularly to the mayor’s personal campaign fund and super PACs. And as head of World Business Chicago’s board of directors, Sacks plays an influential role as a liaison between the mayor’s office and the city’s business community.

Several Chicago-area executives made donations in the $1,000 to $2,000 range, including Fred Eychaner of NewsWeb Corporation, George Moncada of Marquette Bank, John A. Canning, Jr. of Madison Dearborn Partners, Craig Duchossois of the Duchossois Group, Inc., Antonio Gracias of Valor Equity Partners, Dean Harrison of Northwestern Memorial Healthcare, Larry Richman of The Private Bank, and Donald Wilson of DRW Trading Group.

But Emanuel’s fundraising boom fell short of Ald. Brendan Reilly’s collection. The Vice Mayor reported nearly $200,000 in political donations over the same month, and the 82 donations he gathered are also divided among two dates, the 9th or the 22nd, suggesting he held an end of the year fundraiser.

Ald. Reilly got significant support from the Melmans, the family that owns Lettuce Entertain You, a restaurant company that owns about a hundred high end and fast-food restaurants, mostly in the Chicagoland area. Reilly reported a total of $22,000 in contributions from the Melmans. He received a $5,000 contribution from the company, in addition to reporting $5,000 checks from the company’s CEO Richard Melman and his two sons, Robert “R.J” and Jerrod. Their attorney, Jay Stieber, gave $2,000. The younger Melmans operate one of the company's newer restaurants in River North,Hub 51.

South Loop Alderman Pat Dowell (3) also had a fundraising blitz at the end of 2015, reporting nearly $65,000 in new contributions in December alone.

Other Notable Contributions:

• Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg donated $10,000 to the Leadership for Education Equity’s political PAC. The nonpartisan, nonprofit organization is affiliated with Teach for America, and the local Illinois chapter uses its campaign chest to back former members running for office.


• Black Dog Corporation, a minority owned petroleum distribution firm, gave money to 4th Ward Ald. Will Burns ($1,000), 14th Ward Alderman Ed Burke($1,500), and 34th Ward Alderman Carrie Austin ($1,000).


• The law firm that filed a class action lawsuit against the city for improperly issuing automated red-light and speed camera tickets, Cherry, Myron M. & Associates, donated $1,000 to Ald. Ed Burke (14). In the lawsuit Simpson v. City of Chicago, the company filed in 2015, attorneys claimed the city illegally collected hundreds of millions of dollars in fines from traffic violations caught on street cameras, because it failed to mail second notices to drivers.


• Former Cook County Assessor, Thomas M. Tulley, donated $1,500 to Ald. Brian Hopkins and $5,000 to Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios. Tulley transferred the funds from his old political campaign, Citizens for Tulley, which according to his latest Quarterly filings is nearly $280,000 in the red, as all of the money in the campaign fund are personal loans.

Last week’s New Year’s Eve release of thousands of email messages between top Chicago administration staffers in response to multiple news organizations’ Freedom of Information Act requests provides an unprecedented look into the workings of the top levels of an active Chicago mayoral operation. The messages, related to the Laquan McDonald shooting, illustrate the extensive authority the mayoral press operation has within city government.

WTTW’s Chicago Tonight has provided an excellent reference to the messages released, and a volunteer group, led by data analyst Steven Vance, has created a catalogue of each email message in the FOIA dump.

While the huge volume of email communication provides insight into how Mayor Emanuel’s office operates, it is far from a complete picture. There are likely many other related policy discussions elsewhere, either in email, on the phone or in person. Indeed, several message chains end with “please call me”, suggesting many decisions were made offline.

Reviewing the email trove, other news organizations have reported that Scott Ando and the Independent Police Review Authority coordinated closely with the Mayor’s office, that the McDonald family attorney threatened to reveal evidence of a “cover up” if there was no settlement and that the release of the McDonald video produced an “all hands on deck” response from Mayoral staff. There are likely to be more reports stemming from the email dump.

Early in my career, I served on personal staff for a pair of Cabinet Secretaries during the Clinton Administration. While these kinds of communications are familiar to me, a few things stand out.

Primarily, the communications between Emanuel staffers are extremely disciplined and process-oriented. There’s little personal talk, or references the usual familiarities that litter email between people in constant communication. Especially after the release of the McDonald video, when things are moving quickly, the team remains highly focused on the facts as they understand them and oriented towards delivering the message of the day.

This sort of message and process focus is no small feat, especially when so many average citizens are vilifying your boss on the outside. It is natural for even small challenges to the goal to come up (e.g. someone asking, “Is this the right thing to do?”), but the Emanuel team consistently seems to have its eye on the ball: Do everything possible to ensure Team Emanuel’s message wins the day.

After the release of the McDonald shooting video, the Emanuel team seems taken aback at the virulence of the protests and the extent of the national response to the video. At one point, Communications Director Kelley Quinn says about a relatively tame December 1 New York Times Editorial suggesting Emanuel has lost credibility, “Well, I knew it'd be bad but this is ridiculous.”

To ensure message consistency, the emails show the Emanuel press team to be in regular, close communication with other city agencies, including the heads of communications from the Police Department, Chicago Public Schools and the Independent Police Review Authority. While it’s not surprising that former IPRA Executive Director Scott Ando and Chief of Staff Larry Merritt were in contact with the Mayor’s communications team on an issue that involved them, the level of guidance they received is surprising. Rather than setting an independent communications strategy for IRPA, on multiple occasions Ando and Merritt checked with Mayoral staff to see if they should even respond to press requests for interviews and for guidance on specific reporter requests.

In April, Mayoral Deputy Communications Director Adam Collins writes, “I found out a bit ago that IPRA's PIO talked to Monica [Davey from New York Times] about the structure of IPRA and how they operate without checking in with me (and despite the fact I had already reached out to coordinate earlier in the day).”

Some other observations from the New Year’s Eve FOIA dump:

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  Prior to the video release, there was a great deal of discussion between the press office and Law Department about how to honor FOIA requests. While freelancer Jamie Kalven was moving for the video release in court, Sun Times columnist Laura Washington and Tribune crime reporter Jeremy Gorner were pressing Emanuel staff for details on the circumstances surrounding the McDonald video and shooting as early as January 2015.

  
  


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  A few local politicians are referenced as clear friends of the Mayor’s office in attempts to influence reporters: Ald. Will Burns (4), Ald. George Cardenas(12), Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) and Ald. Carrie Austin (34) as well as State Senator Kwame Raoul. Austin at one point goes so far as to run proposed press release language by Mayoral staff.

  
  


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  Early every morning Mayor Emanuel receives an email with top press issues of the day and suggested talking points. While not unusual, this sort of message guidance is not typical. Many top politicos resist a “message of the day”, preferring to speak more extemporaneously. Clearly not Emanuel. Anyone who has watched Emanuel’s press conferences can see evidence of his strong message discipline.

  
  


• 
  

  Mayoral communications staff seem to pay much closer attention to television reporting than other outlets. The emails suggest they closely monitor morning and evening broadcasts and respond with much more urgency to TV than to a print or digital media request.

  
  


• 
  

  Mayoral staff put an enormous amount of energy into the December 2 Politico Q&A with Mike Allen, clearly thinking the event would be an opportunity to shape national thinking. Instead the event was overtaken by Emanuel’s anger over Allen revealing his Cuba holiday vacation plans.

  
  


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  Deputy Mayor Ken Bennett and Mayoral Deputy Chief of Staff Vance Henry seem to be the point persons to gather information on protestors and organizers.

  
  


• 
  

  When protests really began to roll, Vance Henry, the Office of Emergency Management and Communications and other Mayoral staffers attempted to track the when and where of every protest. One email chain on December 7 with Dep. Chief Operating Officer Lisa Laws seems to suggest she was monitoring the protests using city surveillance cameras at the OEMC control room.

  
  

Elections attorney Perry Abbasi, representing an objector to State Rep. LaShawn Ford’s ballot petition to run for 29th Ward Committeeman, says the Chicago Board of Elections will remove Ford from the Committeeman ballot when it meets on Tuesday. Abbasi, who is representing long-time West Side operative Tommy Simmons in the objection, and is paid by Ald. Chris Taliaferro, says a Board of Elections Administrator shared a draft of his report on the Simmons objection, and will sustain it.

Ford turned in 2,229 signatures, but after Simmons’ objection only about 404 were sustained, says to Abbasi. 759 are needed to stay on the ballot. Ford could file a “Rule 20” request to appeal the ruling directly to the Board of Elections, but as of Friday afternoon he had not yet done so.

Ford also filed an objection to Taliaferro’s Committeeman ballot petition, but Abbasi reports the Board of Elections did not sustain enough objected signatures to knock Taliaferro off the ballot.

Ford says he’ll be talking with his attorney, Mike Kasper, to decide whether or not he’ll be filing a Rule 20 before Tuesday’s Board of Elections hearing. “I focused on making sure I had my State Rep. stuff and I relied on someone else to get my Committeeman signatures. I think he screwed me.”

If the Board of Elections removes Ford from the ballot and keeps Taliaferro on, Taliaferro will run unopposed for 29th Ward Democratic Committeeman. Former 29th Ward Ald. Deborah Graham, the incumbent, did not file for reelection.

Ald. Michele Smith will not be running for reelection as 43rd Ward Democratic Committeeman, according to a statement her office provided to Aldertrack last week. Instead she will be supporting Lucy Moog, a former Congressional staffer for Mayor Rahm Emanuel and wife of successful internet entrepreneur Matt Moog.