The Chicago Teachers Union is holding a day-long strike today with events planned across the city organized not only by CTU but various other union groups.

Picket lines outside schools will start as early as 6:30 in the morning, and according to CTU’s count, more than 50 union and community organizations are expected to take part in the so-called “Day of Action.” The day will conclude with an afternoon rally at 4:00 p.m. outside the Thompson Center.

Ahead of today’s events, the union released a tentative schedule of schools CTU President Karen Lewis will visit, including:

• King High School (4445 S. Drexel Blvd.)

• Beasley Elementary School (5255 S. State Street)

• Chicago State University Rally for Higher Education (9501 S. King Drive)

• Fund Our Futures Rally (Thompson Center)

In addition to these stops, Lewis will visit other schools along the route. The demonstration at Chicago State University, which is running out of money due to the state budget impasse, is an effort by students and the administration to call on the state to fund higher education. CSU President Thomas Calhoun is scheduled to attend.

The University Professionals of Illinois (Local 1400), which represents more than 3,000 faculty and staff at the state’s public universities, is planning several “Fund our Future” events at campuses around the state. Black Youth Project 100 will also have members organizing an event at Chicago State University’s Student Union.

Other Labor Groups taking part in today’s events: Northeastern University Illinois Faculty Union, Chicago State University Faculty Union, Fight for $15, United Electrical Workers Western Region, Alliance of Charter School Teachers and Staff 4343, SEIU Healthcare Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, Cook County College Teachers Union Local 1600, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308, Jobs With Justice, Illinois Association of Retired Americans, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, and SEIU Local 73. Close to 30 community groups have also signed up to support CTU.

CPS Outlines Contingency Plans

Citing concern that there will be an unknown number of faculty absences, Chicago Public Schools said it will open more than 250 contingency sites where parents can drop off their kids. The Board of Education is teaming up with the city’s public libraries and Park District to help staff sites around the city, each will provide students with breakfast and lunch.

All afternoon programs will be canceled and CPS-operated buses won’t provide transportation. Instead, CTA will provide free transportation for all students who present a CPS ID.  

• CPS schools and Chicago Park District sites will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

• Chicago Public Library sites will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Safe Haven hours, which are 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

CTU & CPS Still Bargaining; Claypool Calls Strike “Illegal”

CTU called for the “unfair labor practice” strike today to show support for increased state revenue and to protest stalled contract negotiations with the Board of Education and “union busting” efforts by Gov. Bruce Rauner.

On Wednesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said that while he understands and “shares those concerns” raised by CTU, he didn’t think the union should “take it out on our students.”

“I appreciate the stand with teachers in opposition to what our state’s doing. I ask you not to take it out on our children and their education. You have a political call to action, it is a correct political call, but...the call to action should not lead you to walking out of the classroom,” the mayor said during a media briefing. Asked what course of action he thought the union should take instead of a strike, Emanuel said that’s up to the members. “I’ll join hands with them in trying to get Springfield to change.”

Officials with the Board of Education have called the strike illegal, citing state labor law that says unions are prohibited from picketing in the middle of contract negotiations. CTU and CPS have been bargaining over a new contract since November 2014. Early last month, a CTU bargaining committee voted to reject the tentative agreement for a four-year contract that would have eliminated the Board of Education’s pension pick up and provided net pay raises in the third and fourth years of the contract.

A third party arbitrator is still in the fact finding process required under collective bargaining agreements. That 105 day fact finding period concludes on May 17, about a month before the end of the school year. The union has argued this strike is based on unfair labor practices, not on contract negotiations. CPS Chief Executive Officer Forrest Claypool said any teacher who walks out won’t get paid.

Citing the need to address the root causes of disease and racial inequity, Chicago’s public health department unveiled Healthy Chicago 2.0, a four year public health policy vision for the city at a Chicago Cultural Center event Tuesday morning. Mayor Rahm Emanuel was not present at the event, though he had an empty public schedule. The 86-page document takes square aim at addressing health, housing, education, and transportation inequalities disproportionately affecting Chicagoans of color. Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Julie Morita, who introduced the plan, told the assembled crowd when it comes to health in Chicago, zip code matters more than genetics.

Morita was joined onstage by Dr. Mindy Fullilove, a Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, who spoke of the impact of the city’s racial “fracturing”, redlining, and the need to restore joy and equity in cities. “We must have a more holistic view of what it means to address health disparities, including an understanding that social conditions are the fundamental causes of disease,” Fullilove said in a press release. “The fractured city causes trauma and destroys joy,” she told the crowd Tuesday. “If you live in a high rise downtown, your life expectancy is 81 or 89 or 100 years, and if you live in the Cabrini Green area, your life expectancy is more like 69 or 50 or 14 years.”

“Data show that health inequities are wide and we must do more to eliminate the unjust differences in health that exist among Chicago communities and across the lines of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, gender identity and sexual orientation,” Mayor Emanuel said in the opening statement in the report.

The following key data points can be viewed in the report, or in interactive maps at the Chicago Health Atlas:

• 1 in 2 African American and Hispanic children live in low child opportunity areas compared to 1 in 50 white children.

• African Americans are 2.6 times more likely to be unemployed than whites.

• Nearly a third of Chicagoans were living in high economic hardship in 2014.

• 3.5% of Chicago children under three years old have elevated blood lead levels - many of whom live in areas with very low child opportunity on the South, Southwest and South sides.

• 1 in 3 Hispanic adults does not have a primary care provider.

• Washington Heights, Chatham, and West Garfield Park have infant mortality rates that are more than double the citywide rate.

The Department plans to tackle these, and a lofty 82 objectives by leveraging partnerships with more than 130 city and public partners over the next four years. There’s a resolution pending in City Council introduced by the Mayor that establishes a “Health in All Policies” initiative where officials would be encouraged to apply a health filter when making policy. The resolution also calls for establishment of a health task force.

A two hour hearing Tuesday by the Council’s License and Public Safety Committees on alleged widespread illegal car seizures by Lincoln Towing was short on substance. There were no official plans introduced to address towing issues, but the meeting was long on grievances as residents testified about their own personal horror stories of dealing with the operator.

At one point, Ald. Ameya Pawar (47), who had called for the hearing following numerous complaints about alleged towing by the company, got into a heated exchange with Lincoln Towing’s attorney, Allen Perl, who accused the aldermen of citing unsubstantiated statistics and dodging his phone calls ahead of yesterday’s meeting.

Present: Chair Ariel Reboyras (30), Gregory Mitchell (7), Ed Burke (14), David Moore (17), Matt O’Shea (19), Willie Cochran (20), Chris Taliaferro (29), Scott Waguespack (32), Deb Mell (33), Anthony Napolitano (41), Michele Smith (43), Tom Tunney (44), John Arena (45), Ameya Pawar (47), Harry Osterman (48).

The company’s infamy in Chicago is so ingrained in popular culture and the city’s history, that Ald. Ed Burke (14), the longest serving alderman on the Council, noted that yesterday’s meeting “seem[ed] like deja vu.”

“You are too young to remember when these were issues here in this building in 1987 and 1988,” Ald. Burke told Ald. Pawar, recalling Mike Royko columns about Lincoln Towing when the company was owned by Ross Cascio. Burke then proceeded to recite the chorus of Steve Goodman’s song, “The Lincoln Park Pirates.”

Perl refused to name the company’s new owner in testimony, but said that he has represented the towing company for the past 20 years. He then claimed that during his tenure as attorney he has never received a phone call complaining about illegal tows. He also took issue with the recitation of Goodman’s song. “When the song was written in the 70’s, [the company’s current owner] was about ten years old. I know that we consistently hear that song about Lincoln Towing, I don’t know what relevance it has today unless you want to indict someone from the 1970s.”

Perl was the last person to testify and spent a significant portion of his time arguing that none of the testimony preceding him was factual. “Everyone in this room so far–and it’s really the vocal minority that’s indicting Lincoln Towing–no one really has the numbers,” Perl argued. He said that there are only about 90 complaints against his client currently pending with the Illinois State Commerce Commission, not the 3,891 cited in previous testimony. Given that Lincoln Towing tows an average of 20,000 cars a year, Perl said, that number works out to be four-tenths of one-percent. “And most complaints have nothing to do with the tow,” he added.

Perl went on to say that he made numerous attempts to speak to Ald. Pawar ahead of yesterday’s hearing, but never got a call back. Lincoln Towing is based in Pawar’s ward. Perl said he later learned from a reporter that Pawar had no plans to call him back.

“Meeting with you prior to this hearing didn’t make sense to me,” Pawar responded, saying that he had no interest in making any “back room deals” because he wanted Perl to show up at the hearing. Pawar said he would only meet with Perl and his client if they agreed to sit down and and provide data and documentation of past tows. “Until that happens, I’m not going to sit in some back room with you prior to a hearing over 40 years of issues.”

The City Council’s Licence and Public Safety Committees scheduled the joint meeting at the request of Public Safety Chairman Ariel Reboyras (30) and Ald. Pawar (47), both of whom filed a resolution calling for a hearing on how the city could enforce or draft new regulations to rein in what they described as “a pattern of illegal towing and abuse of customers by Lincoln Towing.”

“It’s about not just the people who are towed, it’s about the amount of man hours the police department spends on complaints related to towing companies,” said Ald. Pawar, who noted that his local police district spent nearly 600 hours addressing phone calls about people’s cars allegedly getting towed.

There was some talk about potentially drafting up a “bill of rights” to protect vehicle owners, determining ways the city could enforce laws already on the books, and the possibility of improving regulations regarding another headache for car owners: booting. At multiple times during the hearing, Ald. Pawar called on representatives of the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) to audit Lincoln Towing and release their findings to aldermen. Due to an ongoing investigation into the company, the Illinois Commerce Commission declined an invitation from Chair Reboyras to testify.  

Ald. Willie Cochran (20) reminded fellow aldermen that last year he moved through Council an ordinance requiring private tow companies to document every car towed by taking pictures of their warning signs posted in parking lots, the car towed, and the address where the car was parked. “I am being told that that isn’t being followed, it is not being conformed to. So every tow that has been towed by these companies are in violation of the law, and so they should be fined for that,” Cochran argued.

Most of yesterday’s meeting was more of an opportunity for residents to air their grievances, and for other tow operators to distance themselves from Lincoln Towing.

William Rankin, a building owner from the city’s North Side who told a story about his neighbors’ cars getting towed in his lot without his consent, turned around to Ald. Burke to say, “And we can pass all the damn ordinances we want, and Lincoln Towing is going to ignore them because that has been their record for how many years Ald. Burke? How many years have they ignored anything that you passed? They don’t give a damn about anything that you passed.”

Ed Forsythe, President of the Professional Towing and Recovering Operators of Illinois, an association that represents the business and legislative interests of several towing operators across the state, agreed. “You can pass any law you want and a bad guy is not going to pay attention. He may get locked up in the end, but he’s not going to pay attention.”

Forsythe said the Illinois Commerce Commission is the only regulatory body with teeth to enforce punishment for allegations of widespread towing. When he was asked by Chairman Reboyras if he thought that Lincoln Towing made the rest of the association look bad, Forsythe said yes.

“Absolutely, but there is nothing we can do until a ruling is given,” Forsythe said, adding that the association is in a “pickle” because they can’t remove Lincoln Towing from their organization without just cause.

The Chicago Board of Elections released final unofficial results, yesterday, the last step before certification on April 5. The final unofficial results are declared after all counts are completed.

PDF of Results Summary – PDF of Summary by Congressional District

As expected, 33rd Ward incumbent Democratic Committeeman Dick Mell has lost to challenger Aaron Goldstein by a narrow 50 votes, 5,457 to 5,407. In the 1st Ward, incumbent Democratic Committeeman Proco "Joe" Moreno defeated challenger Maria Theresa Gonzalez 6,604 to 6,405.

According to the Board, "At 53.52% turnout, Chicago will likely finish at or near first [in turnout] in the state, in a year when many suburban and downstate counties reported that they had set records.

However, Chicago itself previously has had higher Presidential Primary turnouts:
(1) 1984 - 58.54%
(2) 1980 - 56.74%
(3) 1988 - 56.03%
(4) 1976 - 54.59%

Lincoln Towing, a company Ald. Ameya Pawar (47) says has had “allegations of abuse and illegal towing leveled against them over the last forty years,” will be called face a joint Public Safety and License Committee meeting this afternoon. The only agenda item: a resolution introduced by Pawar and Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30), which sites reported and anecdotal stories of illegal service and reckless driving from Lincoln Towing (and this song, “The Pirates of Lincoln Park”, comprehensive wiki on Lincoln here).

Representatives from the Illinois Commerce Commission, Chicago Police Department, Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, and towing operators from Chicago and Cook County, including Lincoln, have been invited to tell aldermen about the current regulatory landscape. Pawar told DNA Info he’s interested in developing a “towing bill of rights.” One of Pawar’s constituents has started a petition asking him and the City Council to suspend Lincoln’s license. The petition has garnered about 3,200 signatures.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel promoted the Chicago Police Department’s Chief of Patrol, Eddie Johnson, to the role of interim Police Superintendent and subsequently asked the Police Board to initiate a new search for the top cop vacancy. Mayor Emanuel’s end-run around the Police Board also raised questions about the Board’s future relevancy, since Mayor Emanuel had directed the Board to conduct a nationwide search, only to choose a Chicago-based candidate who didn’t apply to the position.

Johnson will take over the role that until yesterday was held by Interim Superintendent John Escalante, who will resume his previous role as second in command, the First Deputy Chief of Police.

“I believe [Eddie Johnson] is the right person at the right time to serve as Interim Superintendent. He has the command, the character and the capability to lead the department at this critical juncture,” Mayor Emanuel said of his decision at a late afternoon press conference held at CPD headquarters yesterday.

Attending the press conference in the front row, but not on stage, was a smattering of aldermen, including Rules Committee Chair Michelle Harris (8), Public Safety Chair Ariel Reboyras (30), Zoning Committee Chair Danny Solis (25) and Latino Caucus Chair George Cardenas (12).

Emanuel said that while the Police Board was conducting its national search to fill the vacancy left by the firing of former Police Supt. Garry McCarthy, he met with community leaders, aldermen and police officers across the city to get a feel for who they wanted in the leadership role.

It was during those CAPS meetings, roll calls, and private lunches, the Mayor said, that he “kept hearing” about all the attributes that the next superintendent should have: “a proven crime fighter, someone who knows Chicago, someone who can mentor our officers, and someone with impeccable integrity.”

“Someone who has those attributes is Eddie Johnson,” he said.

But the question still remains as to how Johnson received consideration from the Mayor in the first place. The Police Board is mandated by city law, when a police superintendent vacancy occurs, to “nominate three candidates to fill the position and to submit those nominations to the mayor.” If none of the nominees are accepted by the mayor, the Board must come up with three more. The mayor appoints the Police Board members, who serve for five year terms and can be removed for “just cause”.

Asked by reporters about his process, Mayor Emanuel said that his conversation with Johnson started “a little over a week ago”, around the same time he was talking to those various stakeholders. “This name [Eddie Johnson] came up in different venues and different forms.”

Some sources suggested to Aldertrack yesterday that Fr. Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Church offered up Johnson’s name, because of their close relationship dating back to when Johnson was commander of the 6th Police District, which includes Fr. Pfleger’s church.

But Fr. Pfleger told Aldertrack that he made no such recommendation, and that it wasn’t until the mayor called him Saturday night, before the news broke, that he first learned Johnson was under consideration.

“The Mayor called to keep me in the loop,” Pfleger told Aldertrack prior to Mayor Emanuel’s press conference, adding that he had no idea why the Mayor had chosen not to proceed with any of the three finalists recommended by the Police Board. “If [Johnson] had applied, he would have been one of the top three.”

Fr. Pfleger had nothing but praise for the 27-year veteran of the police department. “I have great respect for him,” he told Aldertrack, characterizing Johnson as a “quietly strong guy” with “good police sense”, and someone who has been very accessible and a strong track record of listening to the community.

“Do I think Eddie can to it? Yeah. But it will take a lot of cooperation [within the department] to restore trust,” he added.

Police Board Not Notified; Future Role Unclear

As of mid-day yesterday, the Police Board had not received official notification of the Johnson pick from the Mayor, according to Board executive director Max Caproni. Members had not been notified of the Mayor’s decision to restart the search either, according one member, Rev. Michael Eaddy, a senior pastor at the People’s Church of the Harvest Church of God in Christ.

“The Mayor hasn’t provided any written communication to us,” Rev. Eaddy told Aldertrack Monday afternoon, also ahead of the mayor’s announcement, adding that all he knew about the Johnson appointment is what he’d read in the news.

“We picked three ideal candidates,” Rev. Eaddy told Aldertrack, “The only thing I know, those three finalists were interviewed last weekend.”

Within an hour of the Mayor’s formal announcement Monday afternoon, the Police Board issued a statement saying they had received word their finalists were rejected. “We will convene as a Board as soon as we are able and decide appropriate next steps,” the statement read.

While the Police Board has an ex officio role by law, it is unclear what de facto role it now has in choosing the next superintendent, now that the Mayor has announced his ultimate choice.

“I am being consistent with the process, and it also has precedent,” said Mayor Emanuel yesterday. As we reported earlier this month, when the top three finalists were officially announced, Mayor Richard M. Daley, in 2007, rejected Police Board’s first round of nominations to replace Phil Cline. Daley sent them back to the drawing board, and the board submitted three new names. Eight months later, Daley appointed Jody Weis to take over.  

When asked in yesterday’s press conference in separate questions if the Police Board was relevant or an anachronism, because he brushed aside their recommendations and essentially directed them to nominate his choice, Mayor Emanuel refused to directly answer the question. “It’s an outgrowth of another problem the city had before,” he said.

Both Interim Supt. Johnson and Mayor Emanuel said that once that search begins, Johnson will formally apply to become the permanent superintendent. Asked why he didn’t apply during the first round, Johnson responded that interim Police Supt. John Escalante was vying for the position, “So out of support for him, I didn’t apply.”  

Support For A “Chicagoan”

Both also dismissed the characterization of Johnson as an “insider”, arguing his experience is more likely to help not hinder reform the department, especially at a time when morale amongst the rank and file is at an all-time low.  

“I think that because I am an insider, I can fix things from the inside out, as opposed to coming from the outside and having to fix it from the outside in,” Johnson said. “We have the Department of Justice review going on now, and the Mayor’s Task Force, and I welcome those things.”

Lori Lightfoot, the Police Board President, is also a member of the Mayor's Police Accountability Task Force, which is slated to release its findings in mid-April. 

“I would say he is a ‘Chicagoan,’” the Mayor added. “He grew up in the city and the department.”

Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30), Chairman of the City Council Committee on Public Safety told Aldertrack that he no longer plans to conduct a hearing on Thursday to interview the previous submitted superintendent candidates. “We’ll be supporting the Mayor’s choice,” he said.

Council’s Black and Latino Caucuses Plan to Press Agenda Further

Two Council Caucuses lent their full-throated support to the new interim superintendent choice, but also delivered a warning that the new coalition between Black and Latino aldermen wouldn’t dissolve any time soon.

At a joint press conference with Latino Caucus chair Ald. George Cardenas (12), Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6), Chair of the Black Caucus told reporters, “The gist of this is about, the Latino Caucus and the Black Caucus are continuing to work together towards transformative change in the City of Chicago.”

He continued, “Let’s be quite honest here. The city is comprised by a majority of Black and Latino members. We’re the majority. Between the two of us, our two caucuses, we’re the majority on the City Council.” Combined, the caucuses make up 28 members of the 50 member Council. They also take up majorities on two of Council’s most important committees, Finance (19 out of 34 members) and Budget (18 out of 34).

Sawyer went on to say that Chicago government, despite its rubber stamp reputation, was intended to be a strong council, weak mayor system. When asked what was next for the two caucuses to team up on, Sawyer had a short, nonspecific list: appointments, finance issues, and procurement. Cardenas was similarly short during the press conference, briefly mentioning economic and education issues.

Council recently passed higher procurement goals for the city to hire women and minorities for construction contracts, and incentives for contractors to hire apprentices, journey workers, and laborers from low-income, high-poverty and high-unemployment areas.

Both caucuses have shown they can successfully pressure the Mayor into bending on proposals. The Mayor’s office had a first round bout during the protracted showdown over the hike in the smoking age and prices for other tobacco product. The Mayor’s office issued a full court press at the time to appease South and West side Black and Latino aldermen’s concerns about loose cigarette sales and the burden on small retailers and border businesses.

The Latino Caucus is playing a long game, of sorts. At Monday’s press conference, Cardenas said the Latino Caucus is invested in promotions within the Chicago Police Department, so a Latino candidate rises to the top next time there’s an opening. “In order to have more Hispanics on that final count next time, we want to make sure that we address that now and not at that point.” Sources have said (and Caucus members have alluded to) elevating Latinos in leadership positions across the city.

The Chicago Police Department currently has vacancies for Chiefs of Detectives and Support Services. New Interim Superintendent Johnson would be responsible for making those appointments.

Saturday afternoon Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced his intention to install Chicago Police Chief of Patrol Eddie Johnson as Police Superintendent. While most of Chicago’s media and politicians were busy with family Easter celebrations, Sun Times’ Fran Speilman and Frank Main got the Mayor’s office leak while NBC5’s Mary Ann Ahern broke the most inflammatory news, that Police Board nominee Cedric Alexander was offered the job first after a stumbling interview with Emanuel.

A tick tock built from those must-read stories, plus a Chicago Tribune team reportreleased this morning follows:

Saturday, March 19 – Mayor Emanuel interviews Police Board nominees, including Cedric Alexander.

Sunday, March 20 – Emanuel meets with Alexander a second time, but Alexander claims Emanuel was “disrespectful” and subsequently asked Police Board to withdraw nomination.

Thursday, March 24 – Black Caucus holds press conference calling for local African-American choice, but is unspecific whom they prefer.

Emanuel asks for “reboot”,  meets with Cedric Alexander for third time in D.C., offers him superintendent job.

Friday, March 25 – Latino Caucus issues release calling for hearings.

Emanuel calls Alexander, tells him to wait before telling anyone.

Saturday, March 26 – Emanuel announces Eddie Johnson as pick.

Police Board announces “has not received formal communication” from Mayor.

Latino & Black Caucus issue joint release, welcoming Eddie Johnson as interim choice.

The City Council’s Black Caucus said the city’s next police superintendent should be an African American who knows the city and police department “inside and out, top to bottom,” and has the respect of the rank and file.

But the group stopped short of a full-throated endorsement of Eugene Williams, who fits that bill and is on the mayor’s short list to fill the superintendent slot, because they want the City Council, not just the Mayor, to have an opportunity to vet all the finalists. “We want to hear about all candidates right now before the decision is made,” Caucus Chairman Roderick Sawyer (6) said.

“The previous police chief was a total outsider without working knowledge of the people, the policies, and prevailing practices and traditions. His leadership style was not consultive, but unilateral,” Sawyer told reporters at a press conference at City Hall. He said two outsiders who previously ran the department didn't successfully break down “the blue wall”. Many black aldermen called for Supt. Garry McCarthy's ouster during budget hearings and in the wake of the Laquan McDonald video release. 

So, Eugene Williams?

Sawyer said first, the caucus wants a chance to publicly vet Williams and the other two candidates, Cedric Alexander and Anne Kirkpatrick, in a Public Safety committee meeting. Without that hearing, the group said, they may stall. “We may either not vote or we’re going to have an awfully long hearing that particular day.” Though after the press conference, Ald. Carrie Austin (34) said she'd told Mayor Emanuel she preferred Williams. 

“I would not go against it, I think the City Council should be able to vet the candidates before us,” Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30), told Aldertrack. But he also said that any call for a hearing would have to be introduced as a resolution, which could delay the selection of a finalist further.

The Latino Caucus, of which Reboyras is a member, criticized the superintendent picks the Police Board put forward last week, saying current Interim Superintendent John Escalante should be considered. They also said it was “insulting” a Latino candidate didn’t make the short list.

In response to the Chicago Teachers Union’s decision to strike on April 1st, Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool said the city will open more than 250 contingency sites where parents can drop off their kids, while warning teachers that since the strike is illegal, if they choose to walk out, they won’t get paid that day.

Noting that it’s unlikely there will be enough teachers to staff classrooms because of the strike, Claypool said the district will work with the city’s Park District and Public Libraries to make sure there are enough schools, parks, and libraries properly staffed on that day for students. A list with the exact locations will be sent out to parents next Tuesday.

Claypool also took yesterday’s announcement to warn the union that under state labor law, their “Day of Action” is an illegal one day strike, and therefore teachers won't be compensated unless they hand in a doctor's note. “Employees cannot use personal business days without a demonstrated need to be absent,” the district said in an emailed announcement.

Starting the day with a bang, the Illinois Supreme Court released their ruling on two Chicago pension reformation plans, finding them unconstitutional, saddling the city with increased pension payments and making another set of municipal tax increases a near certainty.

Link To Supreme Court Ruling

“Though disappointing, this ruling does not change my commitment to ensuring employees and retirees have a secure retirement without placing the full burden on Chicago taxpayers,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement.

While the decision was a unanimous 5-0 ruling, Justices Charles Freeman and Anne Burke did not participate in the decision. Their districts both entirely lie within the City of Chicago. Justice Burke is also married to City Council Finance Committee Chairman, Ald. Ed Burke (14). Ald. Burke did not respond to Aldertrack’s request for comment on the pension ruling.

The Mayor’s pension plan was to reduce annuity benefits for public employees, then ramp up pension payments and put both funds on a path toward financial stability.

But there was no guarantee state courts would find it constitutional, so the Mayor and City Council took a series of risky bets last October when they approved the FY2016 budget, and with it a record $543 million property tax increase.

The first risk was when the Mayor’s Office based projected Municipal Employees (MEABF) and Laborers (LABF) pension payments on the law being upheld. Second, Mayoral staff based projected Police and Fire pension payments on the bet that state government would enact a bill to amend that payment schedule. That hoped-for bill, SB777, has passed the legislature, but has languished in legislative purgatory for over a year, passed by the Assembly, but unsigned by Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Amanda Kass, of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, called it a “fundamental misstep” and said that both laws were “very much up in the air” when the budget passed last October. “The city was hedging its bets on long shots,” she told Aldertrack yesterday, and that the record property tax increase was nowhere near what city pension funds needed.

During October’s budget process, several aldermen asked for worst case scenario plans, and suggested a bigger property tax hike might have been better. But the Mayor’s financial team, led by Budget Director Alex Holt and Chief Finance Officer Carole Brown, urged that their budgeted pension payments were safe bets for the time being.

At the time, the City Council’s newly formed Office of Financial Analysis, led by Ben Winick, agreed, concluding that the Mayor had little time to assess other options. “A number of other alternatives have been suggested [like a financial transactions tax, service tax, or commuter tax], and many of them warrant further discussion. But given the timing of when these liabilities are coming due, and the legal impediments to enacting them, the feasibility of assuming those changes to make the legally required pension contributions for 2015 and 2016 would not be a responsible course of action for the City to take.”

In the short-term, the city will actually need to make smaller pension payments, putting roughly $100 million less than originally planned for the FY 2015 payment into the Municipal Employee and Laborer Funds. Yesterday’s ruling means the city has to only make its statutorily required payment, based on a fixed multiplier, not the ramped up funding plan it pushed for in the law just struck down.

So what happens to the extra cash?

“The increased funding is set aside, and the City will make a final decision on how to utilize the additional funds once we’ve determined the next steps for the municipal and laborers pension funds,” Molly Poppe, a spokesperson for the city’s Budget Office told Aldertrack.

Explanation of Supreme Court Case & Ruling

The law the state’s highest court struck down, P.A. 98-641, would have increased city funding and employee contribution rates, while reducing annual increases for current and future retirees for the MEABF and LABF. The attorneys representing the city’s pension funds had argued the changes provided a “net benefit” to the beneficiaries by preventing the two funds from going insolvent in the next decade, and that in the long run, beneficiaries would benefit from a healthier and more stable pension fund.

Members of the two funds, which represent 79,000 city employees and non-teacher employees of CPS, argued the cuts infringed on their right to receive a pension, because under the Illinois constitution, public pension benefits cannot be “diminished or impaired.”

In their decision, the state’s highest court ruled that the city’s “net benefit” argument started from a “flawed premise,” because benefits are already protected under the state’s constitution. “The fact that some of its provisions are directed at improved funding cannot overcome the fact that constitutional rights of employees and retirees would be violated.”

The court also agreed with a lower court ruling that said the city’s argument didn’t hold up, because it had been warned, for years, that the current formula it uses to calculate its contributions was not sufficient to cover benefits, yet “the method of funding remained static.”

For example, in 2014, the city made a $180 million payment to the MEABF, which was based on that fixed multiplier of 1 or 1.25 times the total annual employee contributions. The “actuarially required” amount determined by the pension fund–the amount it needed to pay out owed benefits–was $839 million, a $659 million gap.

“The pension protection clause does not guarantee any particular method of funding, but, rather, guarantees the right to be paid,” the court opinion explained. The drafters’ original intent was to protect benefits, while giving the General Assembly the authority to take the necessary steps to fund the pension obligation.

Ruling May Hurt City Bond Ratings

The Civic Federation said the decision wasn’t a victory for anyone, because it doesn’t address the funds’ projected insolvency and “adds additional financial pressures to an already distressed City government.”

“The ruling also limits the options available to financially strained local governments throughout the State,” the Civic Federation said in an emailed statement, “and points to the need for a constitutional amendment to clarify the State’s pension protection clause. This should be yet another wakeup call to every member of the Illinois General Assembly and the Governor.”

There will likely be an immediate impact on the city’s credit rating. Credit agencies Moody’s and Fitch warned last spring that if the law was struck down, the city’s credit rating could take another hit. In a statement released Thursday morning, Moody’s said it "will continue assessing Chicago's actions to address unfunded pension liabilities, including any initiatives specifically aimed at the plans affected by today's court decision."

Cook County Government Took Action To Avoid Pension Problems

In the 2016 budget, Cook County opted to contribute more to its employee pension fund (County Officers’ and Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Cook County) than what’s required by law. Commissioners approved a 1% sales tax hike in the summer of 2015. In addition to the $195 million pension payment required by law, the county will put an extra $270.5 million in revenue from that sales tax hike toward pensions to hit actuarially required targets.

The county pension fund is currently 57.5% funded, with a $6.5 billion unfunded liability.

There is a one year intergovernmental agreement with the County’s Pension Fund that allows those extra payments starting in April, but ratings agency Fitch said the move leaves “the county vulnerable to potential litigation from taxpayers challenging the increased payments."

The first increased payment will be made April 29. As to whether the additional pension payments might open the county up to a lawsuit, Frank Shuftan, Communications Director for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said, “it is speculative and responding at present would be equally speculative.”

“Our finance staff is reviewing today’s Supreme Court decision to determine how it impacts efforts to ensure long-term fiscal viability for the Pension Fund that serves County employees and retirees,” Shuftan said. “The Court’s decision appears to settle some elements of the law while leaving others open. We will continue our collaboration with all stakeholders to identify appropriate, constitutionally sound measures to restore and preserve the Fund’s long-term solvency.”

The city agency in charge of reviewing cases of alleged police misconduct plans to hire an outside law firm to audit as many as 40 closed officer-involved shooting cases to determine how investigations could be better managed.

Recently-appointed Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) Chief Administrator Sharon Fairley announced yesterday that her office will hire Chicago-based law firm McGuireWoods to head up the six month review to ensure it is conducted “objectively and independently.”

A project team, which will include various subject matter experts on policing issues and use of force procedures, could be put in place as soon as next week, Fairley said. Former US Department of Justice Deputy Attorney and Acting Attorney General George Terwilliger III and Former Deputy Chief Assistant Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois Chicago office, Christina Egan, will lead the team.

“We know that here the trust in the agencies that are responsible for our public safety has been eroded,” Fairley told reporters during a press conference at its headquarters attached to the West Town Library. “And trust in our agency in particular is at an all time low since the agency was formed in 2007. I recognize that in order to restore trust in IPRA, we must understand how we lost public confidence in the first place.”

The cost and the scope of the external audit have yet to be determined. Fairley said McGuireWoods will set the criteria for choosing which cases will be reviewed and in what manner. Any police-involved shooting case dating back to 2008, of which there are closeto 700, is fair game. She offered an estimate of about 20 to 40, saying, “It would be really expensive to go back and look at each and every case.”

The purpose of the audit is not to “reopen” old cases, Fairley explained, but to “assess the quality of the investigative process and the accuracy of the findings and outcomes.”

“We want to make sure that our police department has a use of deadly force policy that allows for these investigations to be resolved fairly and in the interest of justice for everyone involved,” Fairley said.

But it’s unclear if officers previously cleared through the IPRA review process could see new action taken against them. “That may or may not be the case, and that would have to be looked at on a case by case basis,” she said.

Fairley also used yesterday’s media briefing to highlight changes she’s made in her first 100 days, including “completely revamping the leadership” and implementing a performance review process to address conflicts in the chain of command for how a case should be disposed of.

In addition to hiring a new chief of staff, Annette Moore, and a new chief investigator, Jay Westensee, Fairley has since brought on another chief investigator, Mark Garba, and a new Public Information Officer, Mia Sissac.

Like Fairley, two of those new investigators were recruited from the Chicago Office of the Inspector General: Westensee, who has been with the IG since 2005, and Garba, who did a two and a half year stint there as a forensic audit investigator, a job he held in between his time as an investigator for the U.S. Department of Labor and Chicago Public Schools.

A relatively quick and quiet Cook County Board of Commissioners meeting saw passage of a county “tampon tax” exemption, and a new proposal to combat stark youth unemployment numbers presented to commissioners earlier this week. It was also the first day on the job for Brian Hamer, Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s new Chief of Staff.

Passed:

• An ordinance exempting feminine hygiene products from the county’s portion of the sales tax. The county’s 1.75% share in the sales tax will join the city’s recently-passed exemption (at 1.25%), but will not take effect until January 2017. The delay is meant to give state legislators time to vote on a similar measure that’s already been introduced to the General Assembly.

• Three appointments to various county boards:

  • Thomas Szromba to the Board of Ethics - Szromba is a former principal senior counsel at Boeing Company and at the Chicago branch of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). During his confirmation, Szromba told commissioners he has more than 20 years of experience with criminal, civil, government, and private sector investigations on fraud and employee wrongdoing. Commissioner Larry Suffredin told Szromba he hopes he’ll use his “vigor as a prosecutor” to hold elected officials accountable.

  • Amber Smock to the Commission on Human Rights - Smock is the current Director of Advocacy at Access Living, a non-profit organization that advocates for the disabled. She said her experience as a deaf woman has “transformed the advocacy work she’s done,” and the commission has “untapped potential” to serve residents with disability issues, specifically citing Laquan McDonald, who engaged with local disability services.

  • Lisa Stephens to the Justice Advisory Council - Stephens is currently the Chief Operating Officer of the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago, an organization that aims to reduce gun violence in Chicago, and previously worked for more than 7 years in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office and for nearly six years as general counsel for the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. Commissioner John Daley told Stephens her “own personal knowledge will help tremendously” on the council.

• Tax breaks for two Cook County companies: one for a pallet company planning to move from South Holland to a vacant property in Chicago Heights, and another for a movie theater planned for Country Club Hills. Both are Class 8 property tax breaks, which are specially authorized by commissioners when a property has been abandoned for less than two years. Commercial real estate is normally assessed at 25% of its market value, but properties that qualify for a Class 8 are assessed at 10% of the market value for 10 years, 15% for the 11th year and 20% in the 12th year when construction is complete.  

Deferred:

• The creation of a Cook County Crane Operator’s License and a Board of Crane Operator Examiners: The ordinance would make it illegal to operate a crane without a license in the County, and is likely intended to beat the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)’s national deadline mandating all crane operators be certified by Nov. 10, 2017. The ordinance establishes a new, three member Board of Crane Operator Examiners made up of the Building and Zoning Commissioner, Timothy Bleuher, and two other experienced crane operators. A substitute was submitted that needs approval from the Cook County Building Commission.

• A pharmaceutical disposal ordinance aimed at protecting the County’s waterways from “improperly disposed of prescription drugs passing through [the County’s] wastewater and treatment centers.” The ordinance would establish a stewardship plan for the collection, paid for by pharmaceutical companies, to cover the transportation and disposal of covered pharmaceutical drugs. The sponsor, Commissioner Suffredin, “is working with a variety of interested groups, including pharmaceutical companies, on an amendment” ahead of next month’s meeting.

Introduced:

• Youth Employment Fund: After a marathon hearing on stark youth unemployment statistics in Chicago and Cook County on Tuesday, Workforce Development Chair Bridget Gainer, alongside Comms. Richard Boykin and Larry Suffredin, introduced an ordinance calling for the establishment of a special "youth employment" fund. The fund would be financed by businesses who have received property tax breaks (from Class 6b all the way to Class 9) from the county. Details on the calculation here. 

• An amendment from Comm. Suffredin mandating “All electronic communication by officials, board or commission appointees and employees regarding official government business shall be by and through official government email accounts.” No personal use of email, texts, or social media would be permitted for official government communication, but “Separately elected officials and their staffs may use separate email accounts associated with their own offices or personal email accounts if they notify the Secretary to the Board.” Suffredin explained, “We’re trying to just comply with recent cases and matters relating to freedom of information."

• A resolution supporting a bill in the Illinois Assembly that would make it illegal for any firearm dealer to operate without a dealer license from the state Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, and requires all dealers and their employees to have a Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) card and a background check.

• In keeping with his crusade to address lead poisoning concerns following the crisis in Flint, Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin introduced a resolutionurging the City of Chicago to eliminate its $0.05 tax on bottled water. The preamble to the resolution states: “recent analysis indicates that while the lead pipes that supply water to most of the City of Chicago and Cook County generally pose only a slight health risk, recent construction projects which disturb the water lines around the County have caused the risk to increase; and, WHEREAS, many informed residents of the City of Chicago and Cook County, in the light of the aforementioned risks, choose to drink bottled water rather than tap water.”

• The Board also moved forward on a $1 per month lease agreement with the City of Chicago for the Cook County Health and Hospital System’s planned Community Triage Center. The triage center is planned for a roughly 10,000 square foot space at the Chicago Department of Public Health’s Roseland Clinic (200 E. 115th Street). The lease agreement has also been submitted to the City Council for approval. Dr. Jay Shannon, CEO of CCHHS, testified the triage centers are intended to “reduce costs in correctional health and reduce the human misery index” for arrestees with mental health issues. Shannon says this will reduce costs for patients who would otherwise be sent to emergency rooms or the Cook County Jail. If this pilot program is successful, CCHHS plans to open as many as five additional centers.

Today the Illinois Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of a 2014 state law that overhauled two of the city’s pension funds which cover most city employees and non-teacher employees of Chicago Public Schools. It’s a decision that could not only significantly impact the city’s annual contributions to the funds, but also its ability to borrow in the future.

When Moody’s and Fitch downgraded the city’s credit rating on its outstanding debt last year, both credit agencies indicated that if the IL Supreme Court ruled P.A. 98-641 unconstitutional, additional downgrades would be likely.

That’s because the law modified required contribution and benefit amounts for the Municipal Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago (MEABF) and the Laborers Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago (LABF). Without the changes, the city  projected both funds will become insolvent in 11 to 14 years.

The law was promoted as a way to address the underfunding and projected insolvency of the two funds by increasing the city’s and employees’ annual share into both funds, while decreasing (and skipping altogether in some years) the automatic annual increases, or AAIs, to beneficiaries.

When then-Gov. Pat Quinn signed the law, MEABF was 36.9% funded and expected to become insolvent by 2026. LABF was 56.7% funded and projected to be insolvent by 2029.

To mitigate those concerns, the law provides for annual 0.5% increases to employees’ required contribution (currently at 8.5%) until their portion reached 11% in 2019. Once the pensions reach a 90% funded ratio, the rate would go down to 9.75%.

It also amends the multiplier the city uses to calculate its annual contributions, by ramping up the formula, so payments are based on getting both pension funds to a 90% funded ratio by 2055. Under the funding ramp, the city’s portion to MEABF and LABF will grow by an average of 22% each year until reaching an estimated contribution of $622.9 million in 2020.

In December 2014, shortly before the law was to take effect, two lawsuits were filed in Cook County Circuit Court by participants in the two funds. They sought an injunction, arguing the AAI changes violate the pension clause of the state’s constitution, which states, “Membership in any pension or retirement system of the State, any unit of local government [...], shall be an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired.”

On July 24, 2015, a Cook County judge ruled the law unconstitutional, and the city appealed the decision to the state’s highest court.

The city has argued that the law doesn’t violate the Pension Clause of the state constitution because it provides a “net benefit” to the funds’ members, because without it, both funds could become insolvent in the near future.

If the court rules that the law is unconstitutional, the city’s annual payments to fund MEABF and LABF could revert to the prior, lower levels based on the old multiplier formula, which the city has argued is insufficient to cover payouts to retirees.  

Today’s expected ruling comes eight months after the state’s high court ruled a seperate 2013 state pension reform bill was unconstitutional.

The Chicago Teachers Union will hold a vote tonight on whether to cancel classes and organize a city-wide strike on April 1st. Members of CTU’s House of Delegates will meet at the International Operating Engineers Hall at 6:30 tonight to determine if CTU should hold a so-called “Day of Action.”

The union said it wants to shed light on the growing financial problems plaguing the district and put pressure on City Hall and Springfield to find “progressive revenue” ideas to fill the budget hole. One of those ideas, of which there is legislation pending in the State Legislature and City Council, asks that the city use surplus property tax revenue, like TIF funds, to reverse a recent round of budget cuts the district said it needed to finish the school year.

“We do not trust the Board [of Education] and we intend to organize a showdown on April 1st over the question of school funding and educational justice,” CTU President Karen Lewis wrote in a letter sent to union members March 14. Other public service unions and minimum wage workers are expected to participate, she said.

CTU’s call for a day-long strike is also in response to stalled negotiations over the union's new contract, and the Board’s refusal to continue paying members’ share of their pensions. CPS has agreed to continue paying for the 7% “pension pickup” until a deal is reached. CPS CEO Forrest Claypool has said the old contract sunsetted the pension pickup. His office referenced Article 36-4.3, which states: “This pension pick up will not constitute a continuing element of compensation or benefit beyond Fiscal Year 2015 or 2016 should this Agreement be extended for one year.”

The union also wants guaranteed limits on class sizes and caseloads for supportive staff, for CPS to continue the pension pickup, and a moratorium on charter school expansion and school closings.

CTU and CPS have been bargaining over a new contract since November 2014. On February 1 of this year, a CTU bargaining committee voted to reject the tentative agreement for a four-year contract that would have eliminated the pension pick up and provided net pay raises in the third and fourth years of the contract.

The following day, CPS CEO Claypool announced plans to make $100 million in annual cuts to school budgets and recommitted to ending the pickup, which the Board said would save the district $170 million annually.

Any organized strike by the union before May 17 is considered illegal under state labor law. During collective bargaining agreements, unions are prohibited from striking until a third party mediator concludes fact-finding, which in this case, doesn’t end until May 17, about five weeks before the district’s last day of classes. The union has argued this action day is on the basis of unfair labor practices, not on contract negotiations.  

This Friday is the first of three unpaid furlough days for teachers announced at the start of the month. CPS said the move is expected to save $30 million. 

There’s no set plan to hold hearings on any of the aldermanic-backed plans to reform the police department in the wake of the Laquan McDonald dashcam video release. Ald. Ariel Reboyras, Chairman of the Council’s Public Safety Committee told Aldertrack yesterday that he has yet to discuss or determine whether to hold a hearing on any of the aldermanic proposals on things like mandating new use-of-force training, recruitment procedures, and the types of weapons officers should be equipped with.  

There are six police-related items pending in the Public Safety Committee, including one co-sponsored by Chairman Reboyras, which asks the department to reevaluate its entrance exam into the police academy.

The resolution Reboyras co-sponsored with Aldermen Ed Burke (14) and Patrick O'Connor (40) calls for a hearing on the police and fire entrance exam to determine if any of those tests–which include a psychological evaluation–unnecessarily exclude veterans.

Ald. Jason Ervin (28) wants every active duty police officer to be equipped with a taser, “which will become part of their uniform,” and have police department require mandatory taser training. He also wants to change the mandatory retirement age for sworn officers.

Another resolution, introduced by Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6), and supported by more than half the City Council, urges the department to research and institute procedures that promote alternative methods of force.

“Recent proliferation of high profile fatalities due to the use of deadly force by officers of the Chicago Police Department could have been avoided if an alternative to a lethal weapon had been readily available to them,” the preamble of the resolution states.

Noting that using non-lethal weapons will “drastically reduce the likelihood of serious bodily injury or death in conflict situations that police officers are often called upon to resolve,” Sawyer suggests the department consider various munitions options, such as solid or liquid filled rounds, foam baton rounds, rubber pellets, or bean bag rounds.

A similar ordinance, from Ald. Burke, would establish annual use-of-force and crisis intervention training for all Chicago police officers. Ald. Burke’s plan would amend the Municipal Code to require quarterly firearms training, no less than four hours of use-of-force training, and at least one hour of crisis intervention training annually. Burke directly introduced that ordinance at an 11-hour joint committee hearing on police accountability Ald. Reboyras and Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1) held in December.

A shorter and more pointedly worded order Ald. Rick Munoz (22) introduced makes one request, “ORDERED, that no documents currently in the possession of or hereafter created by and/or maintained by any office within the Chicago Police Department be destroyed for any purpose or under color of any statute between the introduction of this Order and December 31.” More than half the council signed on as a co-sponsor.

Reboyras Discusses Police Supt. Search

Whomever Mayor Rahm Emanuel picks to be the city’s next police superintendent will have to be confirmed by the council’s Public Safety Committee chaired by Ald. Reboyras, who, along with 11 of his colleagues on the City Council’s Latino Caucus, criticized the Police Board’s short list for excluding a Latino candidate. The group sent a letter to the Mayor last Friday demanding that he consider Interim Police Supt. John Escalante for the job.

But speaking to Aldertrack yesterday, Ald. Reboyras demurred as to whether he plans to use his position to put pressure on those demands, only reaffirming his position that a Latino should have been picked for the post.