The Council’s Finance Committee is holding a public hearing Thursday on a proposal to create a new business improvement district for Chinatown and renew an existing one for the Cottage Grove neighborhood.

Chicago has more than 50 of these special taxing districts, officially called Special Service Areas (SSAs), which are funded through a special property tax levy imposed on all property within the set boundaries. Most SSAs cover neighborhood commercial strips and support public amenities or beautification efforts in addition to those provided by the city. This could be anything from more trashcans, street lighting, snow removal, and private security.

[Proposed Chinatown SSA MAP]

[Existing Cottage Grove SSA MAP]

The Chamber of Commerce in Chinatown is leading the effort to establish the boundaries in conjunction with local Ald. Danny Solis (25), who represents one of three wards that divide the neighborhood. According to this recent letter from Solis, Chinatown Square was removed from the proposed boundary because of a “delinquent tax lien.”

The new SSA 73 would cover 263 properties, 99% of which are zoned commercial or mixed-use. Under the proposed tax rate of 0.31%, the SSA projects a first year budget of $161,755.

Each SSA is governed by a delegate agency and board of commissioners whose appointments are approved by the City Council’s Finance Committee. The slate of Chinatown Advisory Board members is hosted on the advisory board’s website.

Meanwhile, the Cottage Grove/47th Street SSA, first established in 2008, is renewing its authority. Quad Communities Development Corporation, the SSA’s service provider, is leading the effort, along with local Ald. Sophia King (4). The SSA covers the neighborhoods south of Navy Pier along the lakefront, and had a 2017 budget of about $346,000.

The full City Council met for a quick session Wednesday to procedurally defer and publish the package of ordinances composing the city’s 2018 Budget. This was also an opportunity for aldermen to introduce their own amendments. Only one was filed and it concerns the intergovernmental agreement with the Board of Education included in the 2018 revenue ordinance.

[Spreadsheet of Introduced Items.]

The amendment, O2017-8391, removes a provision authorizing the city budget director to disburse money from the city’s general fund to Chicago Public Schools. This is the first intergovernmental agreement with CPS that allows for the transfer of city funds to the financially troubled school district. The aldermen who introduced it, Brendan Reilly (42), Scott Waguespack (32) and Gilbert Villegas (36), said it sets a dangerous precedence.

A City Hall source told The Daily Line the group of aldermen filed an amendment removing a similar IGA to transfer funds to the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) but the city clerk’s office didn’t include it in the introductions because it wasn’t filed on time.

Rendering of the Booth Hansen designed multi-family residential building Boutique Properties has planned for Lincoln Park.

A light agenda awaits the Chicago Plan Commission Thursday with only four zoning amendments, three of which require approval by the mayor’s appointed land-use body because the projects are located near the lakefront.

Tampa-based Grus Corporation is behind two projects in the 4th Ward along the 3700 block of South Lake Park Avenue, which falls within the Lake Michigan and Chicago Lakefront Protection Ordinance.

The development team is keeping the underlying residential multi-unit zoning classification, RM5, for both sites. At 3745 S. Lake Park Ave., Grus is proposing to build a 45-foot tall residential building with four units and accessory parking spaces. At 3759 S. Lake Park Ave., the proposed building would be 47-feet in height with eight units and accessory parking spaces.

Further north, across the street from Lincoln Park, Boutique Properties has an application to construct a 4-story residential building with eight units and 12 accessory parking spaces at 443-47 W. Arlington Pl. The underlying RM5 zoning will remain. According to local Ald. Michele Smith’s (43) website, the parcel is located within the Arlington & Roslyn Landmark District and contains a single family home and a vacant lot

[Renderings for Boutique Properties’ Proposed Building ]

The only planned development application slated for review concerns a 110,000 square foot food processing warehouse and facility planned for the Brighton Park neighborhood on southwest side. R.F.M. Properties, a subsidiary of Amigos Foods filed the application in October. The warehouse, along with a 5,300 square foot maintenance facility, would be located at 5000-58 S. St. Louis Ave., across the street from the UNO High School in the 14th Ward.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle took the opportunity Wednesday to criticize Sheriff Tom Dart, blaming Dart’s management in part for the rape of a female detainee and for the sexual harassment of female public defenders and jail guards. Dart’s office blamed collective bargaining agreements for a delay in the guards’ dismissal and obstinance from the public defender’s office for the detainees’ continued bad behavior.

Cook County commissioners approved a $3.25 million settlement for a woman who alleged civil rights violations by Dart’s office when she was raped by two male detainees during her detention at the Markham Courthouse. The two men face criminal charges.

Sheriff Dart announced he would move to fire nine of his employees whom, he said, were “determined to have allowed the rape” when they allowed two men into the woman’s holding cell.

“Clearly what happened was unacceptable and we should all be outraged, but we need to understand how this kind of thing could possibly happen in one of our lockups. What were the management and supervision issues that led to this? What has the sheriff done besides move to fire these individuals to prevent a repeat incident?” Preckwinkle said.

Since 2015, she said the county board has approved $25 million in legal settlements originating from complaints against the sheriff’s office. He should “do a better job to put systems in place so there are clear operational and managerial guidelines for staff. This is disgraceful.”

Sheriff spokesperson Cara Smith said the office has “done everything in our power and under our control to put in place additional measures to ensure this won’t happen again,” including “body cameras, additional training, additional supervisors, and installing mirrors,”

As for the firing of the officers at Markham, there is “nothing delayed about it. There’s a frustrating process that we’re required to abide by in collective bargaining agreements,” Smith said. “It includes 14 days notice prior to the firing of the complainant, a whole host of time frames that will be up on Monday. That’s when the complaints can be filed.”

Preckwinkle’s management criticism also extended to a recent lawsuit filed against Dart and Public Defender Amy Campanelli by female public defenders and jail guards, who say detainees frequently expose themselves to the defenders, and masturbate openly in their presence. Authorities haven’t done enough to stop it, the suit claims.

“Look. This is clearly bad behavior, sexual harassment. I think the Sheriff needs to supervise detainees in lockups,” Preckwinkle said. “When there was more vigorous supervision this happened less often.”

Smith disagreed. “This is not a matter of staffing. In fact, the president’s office has demanded we cut staffing. This is a matter of the public defender’s office in particular coming together to work on strategies to deter it.”

The sheriff’s office has proposed cuffing defendants behind the back during visits with attorneys, and waiving defendants’ appearances in court or providing video hearings if they masturbate or expose themselves. The public defender has opposed both, Smith said.

“This is a very, very complicated problem that is made worse by the obstructionist behavior of the public defender’s office. We need to come together for solutions that may be uncomfortable for a defense attorney, but they are necessary.”

Preckwinkle confident in her budget solution

Preckwinkle says she is working toward securing the nine votes needed to pass her budget proposal next week, which includes laying off roughly 500 county employees and eliminating 1,000 vacant positions. She said she had to provide her own budget amendment because commissioners “couldn’t do it, and it’s my obligation as executive.”

That’s a reversal from just after the beverage tax was repealed, when she and allies placed the onus on commissioners who voted for the repeal to cut their way to $200 million.

“In our democracy it's the obligation of the executive to present the budget, and the obligation of the legislature to approve the budget,” Preckwinkle said a month ago. “The legislature has an obligation... to decide what amendments or changes they wish to make.”

This week, she proposed her own omnibus budget amendment. As The Daily Line reported on Tuesday, it includes 591 layoffs, and roughly 750 vacancy eliminations on top of about 235 included in her original 2018 budget.

The proposal spares the state’s attorney and public defender, but cuts deepest from the chief judge, sheriff, and clerk of the circuit court. Preckwinkle said her staff did its best to preserve front line workers and improve the ratio of managers to staff.

While she said eliminating 1,000 vacancies “will make a big impact on the prospective budget gap that we face,” the full impact won’t be clear until after the budget is finalized.

“The beverage tax was to provide a three-year plan for financial stability,” Preckwinkle spokesperson Frank Shuftan told The Daily Line Wednesday. “Repeal of the tax means that we have to make $200 million worth of cuts for FY18, but also acknowledge that the lack of revenue will impact the next two years.”

“Some of the cuts – such as layoffs and vacancy eliminations – will transfer to future years. But steps such as deferring purchases may not. And FY 18 furloughs do nothing for the structural issues facing the county in fiscal 19 and 20.”

Those structural issues include rising costs from utilities, healthcare, and debt service, he said. “It’s too early to determine what the out-year shortfall might be – quite frankly, our focus right now trying to finalize the budget for FY 18.”

Sexual Harassment Ordinance Referred to Committee

Preckwinkle did not comment on a proposal from the county board to mandate sexual harassment training for county employees and lobbyists.

Asked about her own experiences with harassment, she said, “I’m six feet tall and kind of an imposing person, so I haven’t had some of the terrible experiences other people have had. It was in my early career as a teacher when I was a lot younger when I had to deal with harassment,” but commended women who have come forward.

All commissioners asked for leave to be sponsors on the harassment ordinance, which was referred to the Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations committee.

Comm. Richard Boykin (D-1) told reporters he plans to introduce a budget amendment to add a dedicated investigator in the Office of the Inspector General focused on sexual harassment and assault.

There are a patchwork of resources for county employees to report harassment, including with human resources departments within the county and state, by filing a federal EEOC complaint, or to the county’s Commission on Human Relations, which can receive complaints from any employer in the county, including private companies. Some offices, like the clerk of the circuit court and sheriff, have their own inspectors general.

Water, Recreational Marijuana, Lactation Room Ordinances Referred to Committee

Hearings related to the cost of water in Cook County, inspired by the Chicago Tribune investigation, “The Water Drain,” were referred to the Human Relations committee. At her post-board press conference, Preckwinkle said there was little the county could do to alleviate costs besides raising awareness of the issue, since Cook County is not a water distributor and cannot control municipal rates.

Though Comm. John Fritchey (D-12) was absent while recovering from a recent hip replacement surgery, his ballot referendum on recreational marijuana was referred to the Legislation Committee. He said he has kept up on board proceedings on the county’s live stream. Fritchey and Comm. Bridget Gainer’s (D-10) proposal to examine the availability of lactation rooms in county buildings was referred to the same committee.

A proposal to convene public safety stakeholders to conduct court utilization study was referred to the Asset Management Committee. Several commissioners have suggested the county cut costs by closing branch or district courts, which must be staffed with attorneys, sheriffs, and judges and maintained by county facilities employees.

Further changes to the county’s public testimony rules that appeared aimed at concerned citizen George Blakemore were referred to the Rules and Administration committee.

‘Invest in Cook’, State’s Attorney Disclosures Approved

Commissioners approved a slate of projects related to the Department of Transportation and Highways’ “Invest in Cook” program. Announced during last year’s budget, it invested $7.2 million of county money to leverage federal, state and local funds for transportation projects countywide. The renovation of the 147th Street Metra Electric Station, a feasibility study of a highly populated access road in Franklin Park, and an examination of  railroad crossings’ impact on resident quality of life in Dolton all made the cut.

Cook County Comm. Deborah Sims (D-2), the chairwoman of the County’s Roads and Bridges Committee, said in a release that “long-neglected, disadvantaged communities in particular are benefiting from the County’s targeting of its transportation funds.”

A new rule mandating the state’s attorney’s office give notice when the county intends to file counter-claims seeking more than $100,000 in damages or fees also passed the full board. The change was spurred by the Preckwinkle administration’s decision to counter-sue the Illinois Retail Merchants Association (IRMA) for damages in the beverage tax suit.

Commissioners also approved a $27,000 lobbying contract with John J. Millner and Associates, Inc. Millner is a former Republican member of the Illinois House and Senate and served as the Elmhurst Chief of Police for more than 30 years. During his time in the general assembly, Millner focused on law enforcement legislation, and owns a law enforcement training company. Millner already lists the President’s Office as a client.

Cook County commissioners meet beginning at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday to consider more than $12 million in legal settlements, mandated sexual harassment training for county employees and lobbyists, and a ballot question on legalization of recreational marijuana.

The Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee will meet to consider Lynette Stokes-Wilson’s position as trustee of the South Cook County Mosquito Abatement District. Stokes-Wilson holds a Doctorate in Education and is Vice President of South Suburban College.

The Rules and Administration committee will meet to discuss new procurement guidelines that allow the board to rescind a contract or amendment that fails to include all reasonably anticipated future costs, and the Labor Committee will consider prevailing wages for trade workers represented by Coalition of Unionized Public Employees (C.O.U.P.E.). That includes painters, carpenters, pipe coverers and bricklayers.

9:30 a.m. – Business and Economic Development Committee

Three property tax incentives are on Wednesday morning’s agenda:

• The first class 6b incentive on the agenda is for Curve Development in Elk Grove. The 6b gives a 12-year property tax break for new industrial facilities, the rehabilitation of existing industrial structures, and the industrial reutilization of abandoned buildings. The site, in Comm. Tim Schneider’s 15th District, has been vacant for seven months. The industrial design, manufacturing and distribution facility would create 5-10 full time jobs, retain 15 jobs in Cook County, and create 10-15 construction jobs.


• The second 6b incentive is for 1365 Mitchell LLC is also in Schneider’s district, and would boost for a Schaumburg flexible packaging distribution facility. Five full-time jobs would be created, 45 would be retained in the county, and the facility would help create 25 to 50 construction jobs.


• A class 8 incentive to encourage industrial and commercial development in economically stagnant areas of the county is the last agenda item. The incentive would create two to four full time jobs and roughly the same number of construction jobs for Dhyanni Groceries, a mini-mart in Comm. Stanley Moore’s (D-4) district.

10:00 a.m. – Finance Committee

The committee meets for consideration of more than $12 million in public safety and health settlements, including three major cases that passed through the litigation subcommittee in October. In one case, the county will pay a $3.25 million settlement to a female detainee who said she was raped by two male detainees at the Markham Courthouse, and who subsequently accused Sheriff Tom Dart’s office of civil rights violations.

According to the Daily Herald, Dart announced he would move to terminate “nine Markham courthouse employees determined to have allowed the rape of a female detainee by two male detainees in a holding cell at the courthouse” and institute new reforms, including body cameras, for guards. According to the Chicago Tribune, those employees have not been fired yet.

The committee will also vote on a $3 million settlement in the case Stotler, Helen and Billy v. Cook County to settle a medical malpractice claim. According to the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, this deals with a bone infection at Stroger Hospital that was misdiagnosed, leading to an amputation.

The county also agreed to a $4.75 million settlement in the case Borys v. Dart, et al., which alleges a civil rights violation at the Cook County Jail. According to the Sun-Times, the suit was filed on behalf of Michael Joseph Borys, who “says a Cook County sheriff’s officer and a commander waited too long to give Borys the anti-seizure medication a jail doctor had ordered,” resulting in Borys losing sight in one eye.

A few workers’ compensation claims also stand out, including a $126,000 payment to a sheriff’s deputy who “was escorting people for court-ordered community service when he tripped over a wire injuring both arms.” A $95,000 settlement to SEIU Local 73 to vacate an “adverse arbitration decision” is also on the agenda.

To date, the county has approved $27 million in settlements in the 2017 fiscal year.

Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown’s staff has also returned to the board to ask for a fund shift to help pay for, among other things, $15,000 for new blazers for employees using money earmarked for postage and office equipment. The request is part of a $200,000 fund shift request that would also help pay to install video monitors on the 11th and 22nd Floors at the Daley Center.

Brown is also requesting a $100,000 fund transfer to help cover travel costs for the vendor that handles the office’s case management system, Tyler Technologies. The county inked a $36 million deal with Tyler this past spring.

Board of Commissioners – 11:00 a.m.

The full board meets to take up new items and approve items that passed in committee Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Here are highlights from items that will be introduced today.

• 17-6302 – A resolution from three male commissioners, Dennis Deer (D-2), Larry Suffredin (D-13) and Tim Schneider (R-15) calling for sexual harassment training for county employees and those who lobby the county. “Each official and employee of Cook County must complete, at least annually, beginning in 2018, a sexual harassment training program conducted by the Bureau of Human Resources. The sexual harassment training program shall be overseen by the Department of Ethics and the Office of the  Independent Inspector General,” the resolution reads. It comes in the wake of sweeping sexual harassment reforms locally and nationally, and the same week that public defenders sued the county over sexual harassment by inmates. Female jail guards joined the next day.
  


• 17-6208 – Comm. John Fritchey’s resolution to put an advisory question on the March 2018 primary ballot to ask county voters: “Shall the State of Illinois legalize the cultivation, manufacture, distribution, testing, and sale of marijuana and marijuana products for recreational use by adults 21 and older subject to state regulation, taxation and local ordinance?" His resolution has 12 sponsors.


• 17-6213 – Comm. Richard Boykin’s (D-1) resolution calling for hearings into the issue of water infrastructure and billing in Cook County based on the Chicago Tribune’s investigation, “The Water Drain.” That investigation found the rate hike in water bills falls disproportionately on black communities, “where residents’ median water bill is 20 percent higher for the same amount of water than residents pay in predominantly white communities.”


• 17-9982 – Schneider’s resolution for the board to reconsider the current ban on video gambling in unincorporated Cook County. It notes 59 businesses with liquor licenses are currently barred from operating video gaming terminals, and allowing unincorporated areas to catch up to the 89 municipalities that allow it “would level the playing field.”


• 17-9993 – Comms. John Fritchey (D-12) and Bridget Gainer’s (D-10) resolution requesting the county evaluate how many accessible lactation rooms are at county courthouses, clinics, and other buildings. The resolution came in response to an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune about a nursing attorney and mother called for jury duty who said pumping at the courthouse “was basically impossible.” In a press release, Fritchey said lactation rooms at the county building and Daley Center are hard to find and lock from outside, reducing access for mothers without keys. “Employees and members of the public who visit our buildings should not be made to jump through hoops just so they can have some privacy and a clean space to provide milk for their child," he said.


• 17-6195 – Another change to public testimony rules that seem aimed squarely at concerned citizen George Blakemore, who has raised the ire of multiple commissioners for occasionally speaking off topic, for insulting immigrants, rebuking commissioners for not paying attention, and for raising his voice. The series of changes, proposed by Comm. Suffredin, include certain decorum rules that could get a speaker banned from testimony. Among other rules, it stipulates “The Board President may issue an exclusion from future participation in public comment or testimony periods for up to twenty-eight calendar days.”

The new independent finance authority the Chicago City Council approved to borrow up to $3 billion in sales tax bonds on the city’s behalf is courting investors.

There will be more annuitants collecting from Cook County’s pension fund than there will be employees in 2019, the fund’s executive director told a small group of commissioners on Tuesday. The result is shrinking contributions from employees while payouts to retirees grow along with mounting financial pressure on county coffers and taxpayers.

The full City Council convenes today for what should be a quick meeting to defer and publish the package of ordinances that make up Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s 2018 budget.

President Toni Preckwinkle’s staff briefed commissioners over the weekend and on Monday on a plan to fill the county’s $200.6 million budget gap. If passed in full, the plan would cover the entirety of the shortfall, but result in 591 layoffs and 745 vacancy eliminations, according to a briefing document obtained by The Daily Line.

Chicago aldermen can’t shake the feeling they’re being asked to subsidize costs of sister agencies without their input. Though the Board of Education has received the brunt of the criticism for its perceived mismanagement of Chicago Public Schools’ money, aldermen are now raising doubts about the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA).

Officials from Cook County’s pension fund will be on hand Tuesday to bring commissioners up to speed on the fund’s health. Statutory mandates for pension payments bring in less than 40% of what the pension fund needs to pay out benefits. Without continued revenue from the penny hike in the sales tax, the fund is projected to become insolvent by 2039.

Former 2nd Ward Ald. Bob Fioretti launched his campaign challenge to President Toni Preckwinkle for Cook County Board President on Monday morning, and hotel workers will celebrate implementation of an ordinance meant to protect employees from sexual assault by cutting a cake with Harvey Weinstein’s face on it.

On Friday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel released a long list of names who would serve on the search committee for the Civilian Office of Police Accountability's (COPA) new Chief Administrator, without the input of a community oversight board. Former 2nd Ward Ald. Bob Fioretti also announces his intentions for the 2018 campaign today.

The Council’s Finance and Budget Committees meet Monday to consider code changes needed to implement Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s spending plan for 2018.

Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) has picked up some steam on his attempt to give City Council’s Financial Analyst, Ben Winick, more room to sound off on the long-term financial impact of city actions, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel has appointed longtime ally Andrea Zopp to the Police Board.