Advocates behind Wednesday’s introduction of a paid sick leave ordinancedescribed the move as a “baseline of decency” that will lift up close to half of private sector workers in Chicago currently working without leave: an estimated 400,000 employees. The measure has 40 sponsors and has been referred to the Committee on Workforce Development and Audit, chaired by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s de facto floor leader, Ald. Pat O’Connor (40).

Its lead sponsors are new Economic, Capital, and Technology development chair Ald. Joe Moreno (1), Ald. Toni Foulkes (16), and Ald. Ameya Pawar (47) co-chair of the Working Families Task Force.

Ald. Ed Burke (14) and Ald. Carrie Austin (34) both signed on as co-sponsors, but missing from the list are Ald. Brendan Reilly (42), Ald. Brian Hopkins (2), and O’Connor.  

The ordinance amends the minimum wage chapter of the city’s municipal code. A covered employee who works at least 80 hours within any 120-day period shall be eligible for paid sick leave, capped at 40 hours per year. Leave would kick in after the 180th day of employment for new employees.

The ordinance would take effect 90 days after passage from the full City Council and would be enforced by the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP), led by Commissioner Maria Guerra Lapacek.

“Our country has a history of passing laws to protect worker health and safety. Getting sick or needing to care for family members is something that affects all of us. For these reasons, we must advance at least a minimum standard to ensure that everyone has access to earned sick time. This should not be left to individual employers, because some workers get good benefits and some get none,” the group Women Employed said in an FAQ distributed to reporters April 13. Anne Ladky, the group’s executive director, served as task force co-chair.

The ordinance already has some opponents in the business community, including the Chicagoland Chambers of Commerce and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association. Both were represented on the Working Families Task Force who helped draft recommendations to inform the ordinance. But the pair issued a minority report saying the recommendations hit businesses already reeling from the city’s minimum wage hike and hikes in the local sales tax and property taxes.

The Chambers’ Mike Reever told Aldertrack he wasn’t surprised to see their concerns “basically ignored” in the ordinance. “For example, there is no exemption for small businesses. The aldermen we talked to over the course of the past year all talked of the importance of local economic development, but this will have a cost impact on their local businesses. Throw in the first $588 million, of potentially multiple, City property tax increases, and it is enough to give pause to any potential entrepreneur or existing small business owner of how they are going to survive in Chicago's current economic climate.”

The task force estimated implementing paid sick leave would lead to less than a 0.7-1.5% increase in labor costs for most employers. The Chambers and IRMA said “some of the data was not as recent as it could have been, and their cost model has biased assumptions.”

Provision Highlights:

• “Covered Employee” means any Employee who, in any particular two-week period, performs at least two hours of work for an Employer while physically present within the geographic boundaries of the City (some exclusions apply for youth and transitional programs

• Any Covered Employee who works at least 80 hours for an Employer within any 120-day period shall be eligible

• For every 40 hours worked after a Covered Employee’s Paid Sick Leave begins to accrue, he or she shall accrue one hour of Paid Sick Leave. Paid Sick Leave shall accrue only in hourly increments. There shall be no fractional accruals.

• For each Covered Employee, there shall be a cap of 40 hours on accrued Paid Sick Leave per 12-month period, unless his or her Employer selects a higher limit.

• At the end of a Covered Employee’s 12-month accrual period, he or she shall be allowed to carry over to the following 12-month period half of his or her unused accrued Paid Sick Leave, up to a maximum of 20 hours.

• If an Employer is subject to the Family and Medical Leave Act, each of the Employer’s Covered Employees shall be permitted, at the end of his or her 12-month Paid Sick Leave accrual period, to carry over up to forty hours of his or her unused accrued Paid Sick Leave to use exclusively for Family and Medical Leave Act eligible purposes

• If an Employer has a paid-time-off (PTO) policy that grants Covered Employees paid time off in an amount and a manner that meets the requirements for Paid Sick Leave under this section, the Employer is not required to provide additional paid leave.

In a post-City Council press conference April 13, Mayor Emanuel didn’t give the ordinance a ringing endorsement, but said he supports the “thrust” of the reforms, and believes it should be pursued statewide, but “I don’t have any delusion that they are going to move on anything since nothing else is happening down in Springfield.”

Pawar told Aldertrack last week he expects the Mayor to be “very involved” with the ordinance going forward.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel introduced a $600 million general obligation bond authorization yesterday, a retread of a January attempt, where an original $1.2 billion GO issue was chopped down to $650 million following Council concerns about growing city debt and unclear plans on how bond proceedings would be spent.

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

The actual funds sought is about $100 million of taxable debt for settlements and judgements to be paid out in 2016 and 2017, $150.5 million of tax-exempt debt for “E-Note” or equipment purchases in 2016 and 2017 and $237.2 of tax-exempt debt for capital spending in 2016 and 2017. While the total comes to $487.7, the city is seeking authorization for $600 in spending to cover the cost of borrowing the money and issuance fees.

The bond issue is expected to be taken up in the next Finance Committee meeting.

Cook County Commissioners Bridget Gainer and Richard Boykin each introduced items Wednesday to address summer youth unemployment in the County, 70 days before the end of the school year.

“Violence is on the rise in Cook County communities and police departments are bracing for the worst this summer. Nothing stops a bullet like a job. We must act now to give young people a better way to spend their summer,” Gainer said in a release. She proposed bid incentives for Cook County companies who employ teens aged 16-19 and a challenge to elective county spending “not required for life, safety or health to be challenged and deferred to create funds for the Chicago-Cook Workforce Partnership, One Summer Chicago, Alternative Schools Network and the Chicago Urban League.”

A recent study from the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Great Cities Institute estimates 87% of African-Americans, 78% of Hispanics, and 74% of White teenagers are unemployed in Cook County. Four students testified about their struggle to find work.

Commissioner Boykin also proposed a package of programs funded by a $0.04 per gallon gas tax, with revenues to be used for four separate and related Cook County initiatives “designed to strengthen and stabilize neighborhoods in Cook County with high levels of poverty and unemployment.” Those programs would include $45 million in spending on youth jobs programs, a Youth Jobs Council, a Parenting to Prevent Violence Initiative, establishment of a county Office for People with Disabilities, and a Community Policing Initiative. But programs wouldn’t kick in until 2017.

Cutting through both proposals, Commissioner Deborah Sims called for immediate action, and the possible re-establishment of the President’s Office of Employment and Training (POET). “I know we have a program between the state, the city, and the county, and I’ve said this to [head of the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership] Karen Norington-Reaves: I don’t believe this program is working,” Sims said.

A member of the public in the gallery chimed in, “Say that.”

Norington-Reaves testified at a hearing on youth unemployment last month that the Workforce Partnership is “hamstrung” in its ability to create temporary summer jobs for youth. Grants guidelines from the federal government emphasize year-round employment and skills training.

The scandal-plagued POET program was scrapped and streamlined under Board President Toni Preckwinkle in 2011, and placed under the Workforce’s jurisdiction. The move saved the county about $5 million and cut 23 positions.

Cook County Hospital Redevelopment

Two Cook County hospital related redevelopment proposals have been introduced to the Board of Commissioners. The Civic Health Development Group (CHDG) was selected to redevelop the abandoned beaux arts Cook County Hospital building in the Illinois Medical District. CHDG plans to “invest approximately $600M” in the redevelopment of the space for residential, retail, office, and hotel use, President Preckwinkle’s office says, and will pay at least $2M in annual rent to the County over the term of the lease. Redevelopment would begin in 2017.

The proposal will be referred to the Finance Committee, which will hold a special meeting on the issue May 10 at 1 pm. Finance Chair John Daley said 20% of the residential units in the building will be mandated as affordable housing, and CHDG will work to hire people that live within two miles of the project on Chicago’s near West side in the Illinois Medical District.

A proposal for a $108.5 million contract extension and budget for construction of CCHHS’ new outpatient Central Campus Health Center was also introduced Wednesday. A new building will adjoin Stroger Hospital. Three county buildings will be decommissioned as a result, replaced with one “efficient” building. The move will reduce the county’s real estate footprint by 680,000 square feet.

Cook County Home Loan Program to Run Parallel To City’

A Cook County-administered program to help qualifying home buyers get fixed-rate 30-year mortgage loans and assistance with down payments and closing costs passed the Board of Commissioners, after some substitute confusion in committee and some last-minute recess session tweaks on Wednesday. “I think what we have now is a much better product than we had an hour and a half ago,” Commissioner Larry Suffredin said at the item’s passage. He’d earlier said that the entry to the lending program was very “unorthodox.”

Commissioners wanted assurance the program would be open to city residents and to ensure the program would be administered at no cost to County. The Bureau of Economic Development will report on the program’s progress quarterly.

Michael Jasso, Bureau Chief of the Bureau of Economic Development said, “We will be working with housing counselors and lenders across the county to make sure that this product is known,” but could not project how many home buyers could be impacted by the program. He said the County’s program would run parallel to the city’s recently-launched Home Buyer Assistance Program, which has identified 30 lenders already.

Home Loans will be sold to and serviced by Austin, Texas-based 360 Mortgage Group, which does not charge fees. The county is also making USDA and Fannie and Freddie Mac grant funds available for closing costs and down payments of up to 3% of the final purchase price or the final mortgage loan amount.

Following a leaked executive summary of the the Police Accountability Task Force’s report in the Chicago Tribune yesterday, Task Force Chair Lori Lightfoot released statements late last night announcing a press conference at 2:00 p.m. today at Harold Washington Library to address the task force’s “recommendations for reform of the Chicago Police Department.” She said the summary reported by the Tribune was “incomplete.”

From Lightfoot’s statement: “The Police Accountability Task Force has not yet presented its report to Mayor Emanuel or the Chicago City Council, or officially released it to anyone and we are disappointed that incomplete accounts of a draft summary of the report are now online and in social media.”

Parents, teachers and neighbors of CPS elementary schools may vote for elementary school LSC representatives today. High schools hold elections tomorrow. Today is also elementary school report card pick up day, so parents can vote when they find out how Jack and Jane are doing in class.

LSCs set school discretionary budgets, determine some curriculum aspects and have the ability to hire and fire school principals.

Elementary school LSCs consist of 6 parent representatives, two community members, two teachers, one non-teacher staff member and the principal. High school LSCs also have an elected student representative. CPS reports 5,857 candidates and 774 seats that have no candidates across the city.

The Council’s Rules Committee is scheduled to meet an hour before today’s full City Council meeting to appoint Sophia King to the 4th Ward aldermanic seat vacated by Will Burns earlier this year.

The committee met briefly yesterday morning to give aldermen an opportunity to meet with King, but Committee Chair Michelle Harris (8) chose to recess the meeting, holding off on the official vote to confirm her to the seat until today. Harris said she wanted to give aldermen an opportunity to get to know her, so the vote would be quick.

After the Rules Committee confirms her appointment, it will advance to the full council, scheduled shortly after.
 

Highlights of Items Awaiting Council Approval

• An amendment to the municipal code that would give the mayor a one-time exemption to circumvent the Police Board’s jurisdiction to recommend interim Police Supt. Eddie Johnson to a permanent post, as well as Johnson’s actual appointment to the post.  

• $6.45M in two police-related settlements. The larger of the two settlements, a $4.95 million payout, would go to the family of Philip Coleman. The suit names 13 police officers and one detention aide, and alleges their use of excessive force, which included tasing Coleman more than a dozen times, and refusal to take Coleman, who was experiencing a psychotic episode, to a hospital, as the cause of his death. $1.5 million will go to the family of Justin Cook, who died from suffocation after officers allegedly failed to administer his inhaler to him during an asthma attack.

• Gate ground lease agreement with American Airlines at O’Hare Airport. The ordinance would allow the airline to begin construction on five new gates at the end of Terminal 3. The gates are known as the L Stringer Gates, with a total space of about 165,000 feet, comprised of new waiting areas and concession stands, among other amenities. The gates are scheduled to open in 2018, with the open bid for concessionaires scheduled for next year.

• Financial Transparency Resolution. The resolution from Ald. John Arena (45) that the committee approved requests that the council draft an ordinance that would require more transparency and oversight for the city when it tries to enter into risky financial agreements with banks. More details on the ordinance to be introduced as a result of the resolution below.

• Substitute Class 6(b) certification for Eli’s Cheesecake Company for the property located at 4350 N. Normandy Ave. and 6701 W. Forest Preserve Dr. The tax break would help support a roughly 38,000 sq ft addition to an existing 62,000 sq ft manufacturing and distribution facility in Ald. Nick Sposato’s 38th ward in the Read/Dunning TIF.

• Amendment of muni code concerning parking of pickup trucks of residential and business streets. The ordinance sponsored by City Clerk Susana Mendoza would eliminate the requirement that non-commercial pickup trucks get a special sticker from the ward office in order to legally park on residential and commercial streets.

• A $29 million sale of city-owned land (the former Malcolm X College CampusSite) for Rush University’s new medical academic village and a new training center for the Chicago Blackhawks. The sale is broken up into two ordinances - one for Rush (worth $17.5 million), and one for the Blackhawks(worth $11.7 million). The land sale didn’t make it to the floor last month, because two freshman aldermen–Gilbert Villegas (36) and Raymond Lopez(15)–threatened to use parliamentary procedure to block the item from a vote. The two wanted answers about City Colleges’ minority staffing and procurement.

• Lifting the prohibition on the peddling of flowers: This ordinance, sponsored by Ald. Ed Burke (14), would make it legal for someone with a peddler’s license to sell flowers out of their cart or vehicle. The ban was put in place in 1943.

Appointments

• Richard C. Ford II to the Chicago Emergency Telephone System Board; (Re-appointment of Benjamin Dieterich to the board)
• Andrea L. Yao to the Board of Local Improvements.
• Nicholas Delgado, Dwight Curtis, and Mae Whiteside to the Community Development Commission

Notable Expected Introductions

• Paid Sick Leave - Members of the Progressive Caucus including Ald. Toni Foulkes (16), the Earned Sick Time Coalition, and Aldermen Joe Moreno (1) and Ameya Pawar (47) will hold a press conference at 9:00 a.m. today voicing support for a paid sick leave ordinance that, “will guarantee paid sick days off to some 400,000 Chicago workers beginning in 2017.” The ordinance was crafted to reflect recommendations from Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Working Families Task Force and was developed over eight months. According to the draft of the ordinance, a covered employee who works at least 80 hours within any 120-day period shall be eligible for paid sick leave, capped at 40 hours per year. Leave would kick in after the 180th day of employment for new employees. The ordinance would take effect 90 days after passage from the full City Council.

• Financial Transparency - This ordinance says the city can’t issue any bonds, note, or other non-fixed rate debt with a maturity of longer than 271 days without certain conditions being met. The city’s independent municipal advisor, Martin Luby, and the Council’s Office of Financial Analysis, headed by Ben Winick, would each be required prepare reports detailing the risks and whether issuing new debt is in the best interest of the city. City CFO Carole Brown would be required, 45 days before a City Council vote, to submit a plain-English summary of the issuance, and an annual report that describes the financial performance of each transaction.

• Abolition of IPRA - Somewhat mirroring Police Accountability Task Force (PATF) recommendations leaked to the Chicago Tribune yesterday, Ald. Leslie Hairston (5) drafted an ordinance calls for the abolition of the Independent Police Review Authority. It would be replaced with a so-called, “Independent Citizen Police Monitor” that would open up police and misconduct data to the public, widen the scope of the Chief Administrator’s powers, and hasten the release of information and the conclusion of investigations. The Monitor’s office would maintain at least one full-time investigator for every 100 sworn officers in the Chicago Police Department. CPD has more than 12,000 sworn members, as of its 2010 annual report. The office’s budget would be roughly $21.7 million, more than double IPRA’s current appropriation.

• FAIR COPS - Ald. Jason Ervin (28) plans to hold a press conference at 9:30 a.m. this morning to discuss an ordinance that would put the departments that investigate allegations of police misconduct under the jurisdiction of the city’s Inspector General. The ordinance he plans to introduce is modeled after a similar measure first proposed by the Community Renewal Society in December. The ordinance establishes a Deputy Inspector General for Police Functions to be appointed by a five-member selection committee chosen by current IG Joe Ferguson. The Deputy IG has 20 listed powers, including the authority to: review, audit, collect, analyze, propose recommendations, and investigate any police-related matters under IPRA, Police Board, or CPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau. The concept of a police inspector general was also mentioned in the leaked executive summary of the PATF report. Several off-limits areas would also be open to public inspection, including reports on use of body cameras, contact cards, citizen complaints, and misconduct investigations, which would all be published on the OIG’s website. Similar to Hairston’s ordinance, the office would be funded by a portion of the Police Department’s $1.45 billion appropriation–no less than one percent, or approximately $14.6 million. There would be one full-time employee for every 250 sworn officers in the department.

The Council’s License Committee approved an ordinance from Ald. Ed Burke (14) that would make it legal for licensed peddlers to sell flowers from their carts or vehicles, while Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) received some pushback for re-upping 19 liquor moratoriums along streets in Logan Square.  

Attendance: Chair Emma Mitts (37) Rod Sawyer (6), Gregory Mitchell (7), David Moore (17), Matt O’Shea (19), Michael Scott, Jr. (24), Mike Zalewski (23), Michael Scott, Jr. (24), Roberto Maldonado (26),  Walter Burnett (27), Chris Taliaferro (29), Ariel Reboyras (30), Scott Waguespack (32), Carlos Ramirez Rosa (35), Marge Laurino (39), Michele Smith (43), Tom Tunney (44), James Cappleman (46), Deb Silverstein (50).

According to Ald. Burke, the prohibition on selling flowers on the street dates back to 1943, when then-Finance Chairman JJ Duffy of the city’s 19th Ward championed a ban to eliminate competition to his floral shop, JJ Florals. “No, I was not there,” Burke joked, adding that he learned of the ban when someone went to him to get a peddler’s license to sell flowers but was told that it was illegal.

Under the municipal code, a peddler is defined as a person who moves from place to place and sells goods from some kind of vehicle or cart, according to Matt Link, a staff attorney for the Finance Committee, who was on hand for testimony. The item received unanimous approval.

The committee also approved Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa’s (35) nineteen ordinances renewing various liquor moratoriums in his ward. All of which, according to him, had either been put in place by his predecessor, Rey Colon, or were along streets recently incorporated during the ward remap. Ald. Ramirez-Rosa said he was renewing the moratoriums to give more local control to his community.

“In a number of instances I have heard from constituents and members of the business community that are concerned about the number of establishments that are pulling liquor licences,” Ald. Ramirez-Rosa testified. “So, placing these moratoriums back in effect will ensure that we have local community control, and that we have a level of accountability through me as the elected official of that ward.”

Ald. Ramirez-Rosa held one of those items, an ordinance that would have renewed the moratorium on North Milwaukee Avenue, from North Kedzie Avenue to North Kimball Avenue, at the request of Pat Doerr of the Hospitality Business Association, who testified at yesterday’s meeting. The decision to hold the item was made prior to the meeting, Ald. Ramirez-Rosa said, after he had a meeting with Doerr.

“We respect aldermanic prerogative,” Doerr explained that he was speaking more as a point of information, than as a witness in opposition to the tavern licenses. He thanked Ald. Ramirez-Rosa for holding off on the moratorium on Milwaukee Avenue, which he said would have prevented a new woman-owned business planned on that commercial strip.

But Doerr requested that the aldermen revisit the issue, arguing the new tavern prohibitions would prevent the ability to open new craft breweries and tasting rooms, which he called a “pretty popular asset.”

Most of the other liquor license items on the agenda lifted moratoriums on tavern licences, including one on North Clybourn Avenue in the 2nd Ward to allow brewpubs on Goose Island.

“We are the Napa Valley of craft brewing,” Ald. Brian Hopkins (2) said of the growth of craft breweries in the area. The ordinance he sponsored, which the committee approved, would give those breweries the ability to serve alcohol on site at breweries along the west side of Clybourn Avenue, between Willow Street and Cortland Avenue.

The Cook County Board of Commissioners convenes at 9:45 this morning to consider items in the Technology, Workforce, Finance, Zoning, Rules, and Roads Committees, before the full Board of Commissioners meets at 11:00 a.m.

Finance Committee

Cook County’s Finance Committee will vote on whether to approve a $1.2 million settlement to Brian Otero, who alleges he was sent back to Cook County Jail after he was found not guilty of robbery charges. Otero was told to put back on his uniform and sent from cell to cell during his processing. In a suit against the county, Otero said when others found out he’d be going home, he was beaten, suffering torn ligaments in his hands and bruises on his face. He was released nine hours after being found not guilty.

According to CBS Chicago, there are 60,000 others found not guilty or had charges dismissed or dropped, but still had to wait up to 30 hours for their release.

A settlement on a similar issue in Los Angeles more than a decade ago cost taxpayers there $27 million, NBC Chicago reports. Otero’s attorney, Mike Cherry (of Myron M. Cherry & Associates), told WBEZ in 2013 he hoped this case would be expensive enough to force Cook County to update the County Court System’s reliance on carbon copies of files that can slow down processing for acquittals.

The committee will also vote on approval of a $120,000 settlement for Billie Jean Ammons, a former Deputy Cook County Sheriff, who alleged after she was diagnosed with a permanent spinal injury and put on leave, she was made ineligible for a promotion to sergeant. Ammons alleged she was retaliated against by colleagues after she filed suit.

There’s also a $175,000 settlement to Justin Washington and James X. Bormes (of the Law Offices of James X. Bormes) over a Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) violation up for consideration. Washington, a dietician at Stroger Hospital, alleged the county failed to pay him and others “who engaged in military service the difference between the pay they would have earned while employed by Cook County and the pay they received while on active military duty,” and accrual of time off. There’s also a $200,000 settlement to the family of Rex Johnson. Johnson’s family sued Sheriff Tom Dart after Johnson’s death. They claimed the jail had records of the medication he needed from his previous stints, but didn’t administer them.

Workforce, Housing & Community Development Committee

The Workforce, Housing & Community Development Committee will call up an item Board President Toni Preckwinkle first introduced in January to initiate and administer a County Down Payment Assistance Program with the County’s Department of Planning and Development and Bureau of Finance. The program is supposed to help qualifying home buyers get fixed-rate 30-year mortgage loans and assistance with down payments and closing costs. More info here.

Loans will be sold to and serviced by Austin, Texas-based 360 Mortgage Group, a home loan lending company. Borrower income may not exceed 115% of the County median income for FHA, VA, USDA loans and up to 140% of the County median income for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, regardless of family size. Grantees would have to participate in a homeowner education program. The county is also making USDA and Fannie and Freddie Mac grant funds available for closing costs and down payments of up to 3% of the final purchase price or the final mortgage loan amount.

The County will act as the required government sponsor for the program, and will assist in marketing and working with local housing counseling agencies and local lenders to implement the program. It would only be available for purchased or refinanced homes in the County, and must be an owner’s primary residence. The program will focus on suburban Cook County, since Chicago recently passed its own Homebuyer Assistance Program.

Pressers, Odds and Ends

Supporters of All Kids Illinois, a program dedicated to uninsured low-income children in Illinois, is set to expire July 1, 2016. Members of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Healthy Communities Cook County (HC3), and a group of commissioners will introduce a resolution supporting HB 5736 in Springfield to extend the All Kids program to October 1, 2019.

Community activists with IIRON and National People’s Action will also hold a demonstration this morning calling for the passage of the Cook County Responsible Business Act. Comm. Robert Steele introduced the ordinance in October, but held it in committee over concerns from the State’s Attorney’s office that the language could not withstand a court challenge. Co-sponsors included Commissioners Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia, Joan Patricia Murphy, Luis Arroyo, Larry Suffredin, and Jerry “Iceman” Butler.

When it was introduced, the ordinance outlined a hike in wage rates, which would climb every year: wages would start from a base of $10.00 in December 2015, climbing to $11.25 in December 2016, $12.50 in 2017, $13.75 in 2018, and will be tied to the “Cook County Living Wage hourly rate” every year after. Employers would be required to tally the average wage for each full- and part-time employee. If more than 750 employees are paid less than the minimum wage rate set for that year, they’d face a $750 penalty per employee, per dollar below the required amount. Religious organizations and governments are exempt. IIRON and National People’s Action have staged similar events before, targeted at Finance Chair John Daley and Wal-Mart.

Full Board Meeting

In addition to the items outlined above, the Board of Commissioners is expected to vote on:

• A resolution calling for the City of Chicago to rescind the $0.05 bottled water tax, in light of the water contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan. The resolution, which says “many Chicago and Cook County residents with low and moderate household incomes rely upon bottled water as their cleanest source of drinking water,” is sponsored by Comm. Richard Boykin.

• Establishment of the Cook County Commission on Social Innovation For Job Creation, Workforce Development, Entrepreneurship, Community Revitalization, and Industrial Development. The move is aimed at creating solutions to economic problems in “inner city” and “Southland Chicago.” The commission would be tasked with creating “novel solutions to social problems which are more effective, efficient, sustainable, or just compared to current solutions,” and “ideas that promote public, private, and philanthropic collaboration in order to create positive effects on areas with economic challenges.” It could have as many as 27 members, with Comm. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia as chair.

• Creation of a County crane operator’s license. 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 County’s Building and Zoning Commissioner, Timothy Bleuher, and two other experienced crane operators, and has been deferred and amended multiple times.

The following will be referred to committee:

• Old Cook County Hospital Redevelopment: The Civic Health Development Group (CHDG) was selected to redevelop the abandoned beaux arts Cook County Hospital building in the Illinois Medical District. CHDG plans to “invest approximately $600M” in the redevelopment of the space for residential, retail, office, and hotel use, President Preckwinkle’s office says, and will pay at least $2M in annual rent to the County over the term of the lease. Redevelopment would begin in 2017. The redevelopment proposal will be referred to the Finance Committee.

• North Carolina/Mississippi Boycott: Comm. Luis Arroyo Jr. and Board President Toni Preckwinkle will propose two resolutions “banning any use of County monies in doing business with the Governments of the State of North Carolina and Mississippi and with any businesses headquartered in these States,” based on both states’ adoption of acts criticized as anti-LGBT because they restrict the definition of sex, “forcing all government-controlled facilities to maintain single-sex bathrooms matching an individual's biological sex at birth only, regardless of the individual’s sexual identity,” a release from Arroyo says.

• Paid Sick Leave: Commissioners Larry Suffredin, Luis Arroyo Jr., Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, and Richard Boykin are introducing a paid sick leave provision that would apply to public works construction, maintenance, and repair contracts. For every 30 hours worked, employees from county bidders “shall earn one hour of paid sick leave, up to 7 days per year,” which would be limited to employees of the prime contractor, but not subcontractors. Sick days could be used for physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition; a doctor’s visit; care for a child, spouse, domestic partner; or to deal with domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. The County’s Department of Procurement would serve as enforcement arm, and the effective date would be June 1, 2016.

• Stop Bullets With Jobs Fund: Pivoting from an earlier introduction, Comm. Bridget Gainer is proposing an “emergency” plan to create jobs for youth this summer. The three-pronged plan will challenge to all elective Cook County spending not required for life, safety or health to instead “create funds for summer jobs programs at partner organizations such as the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, One Summer Chicago, Alternative Schools Network and Chicago Urban League,” give qualified Cook County bidders an incentive of up to 0.5% on county-funded projects if they hire local teens, and offer a job pool of County youth to local Chambers of Commerce and small businesses. The call is in response to a recent county hearing on the negative impact of youth unemployment.

• New Hospital System Buildings: A proposal for a $108.5 million contract extension and budget for construction of CCHHS’ new outpatient Central Campus Health Center will be introduced to commissioners, according to a release from the System. A new building will adjoin Stroger Hospital. The developer, Clayco (which has already been approved by the Board and is in the first phase of the project) “will shift to... finalizing design and construction for the clinical and office spaces in the new facility,” a release says. Three county buildings–an administrative building on Polk, the Fantus Clinic, and the Hektoen Administration Building–will be decommissioned as a result, replaced with one “efficient” building and reducing the county’s real estate footprint by 680,000 square feet. The Hektoen site will be part of the old Cook County Hospital site redevelopment, detailed above.

• A number of introductions from Commissioner Richard Boykin including a Gas Tax Special Use: A $0.04 per gallon gas tax, with revenues to be usedfor four separate and related Cook County initiatives “designed to strengthen and stabilize neighborhoods in Cook County with high levels of poverty and unemployment:

  • Cook County Jobs Council: a nine-member council tasked with crafting “a plan to expand employment opportunity for that area’s residents... to finance partnerships with private sector employers, and with an emphasis on incentivizing the hiring of unskilled labor in order to provide work opportunities for individuals without high school and / or college diplomas or trade certifications.” Boykin wants to spend $45 million on youth jobs programs.

  • Cook County Parenting to Prevent Violence Initiative: a $2 million “parent enrichment” grant program run by the Justice Advisory Council to “strategically [invest] County resources in programs that attack the root cause of violence in our communities.”

  • Cook County Office for People with Disabilities: a $1 million appropriation to establish a three member office that would be tasked with researching and making recommendations “to all departments and offices of the County in matters affecting concerns of people with disabilities” and to “promote the full integration and participation of people with disabilities into all areas of economic, political, and community life.”

  • Cook County Community Policing Initiative: The $2 million initiative would add 15 additional Sheriff’s Police Officers to work alongside Chicago Police to work in Cook County neighborhoods with high levels of violence “to more effectively and cooperatively combat gang violence.”

• Cleanup language to several of the County’s taxes: President Preckwinkle’s office has proposed amendments to a slew of the county’s taxes, including on alcoholic beverages, gambling machines, gas, new car sales, parking lot and garage operations, amusements, and tobacco. The changes will “clarify, simplify and maximize enforcement efforts,” Preckwinkle spokesman Frank Shuftan says. “This happens from time to time and it is easiest to do all at once and avoid a piecemeal approach.

Aldertrack has learned that Mayor Rahm Emanuel plans to officially introduce legislation today to overhaul the city’s density bonus system and create a new Neighborhood Opportunity Bonus in today’s full City Council meeting. Specific details are embargoed until the ordinance is introduced, sources tell us, because the Department of Planning and Development was still working on final changes as late as yesterday afternoon.

Aldertrack sources say the ordinance would completely revamp a section in the city’s zoning code that lets developers build bigger and taller buildings in the city’s downtown area in exchange for money that would help support investment opportunities in the city’s poorest neighborhoods. DPD has been holding meetings with aldermen for the past several weeks, and sources say told “big changes” should be expected.

One issue of contention, according to two sources at those briefings, is the issue of how the fees levied would be allocated and which agency would administer them. It’s likely that issue will be left to be determined in committee.

Back in February, Mayor Emanuel announced that he would work with newly appointed DPD Commissioner David Reifman, who was recruited from national law firm DLA Piper, to update the zoning bonus system by eliminating outdated bonuses.

At the time, the Mayor’s Office said the money collected from the new Neighborhood Opportunity Bonus would help support, “business development and job growth in neighborhoods facing poverty, high unemployment and other indicators of underinvestment by the private market.”  

According to statistics provided by DPD, since 2012, approximately 24 projects took advantage of 37 bonuses for an additional 1.49 million square feet of space. That includes:

• 14 Affordable Housing Density Bonuses  
• 11 Upper Level Setback Bonuses  
• 1 Arcade Bonus
• 2 Green Roof Bonuses
• 1 Concealed Parking Bonus
• 1 Underground Parking Bonus
• 1 Lower Level Planting Bonus
• 2 Adopt-a-Landmark Bonuses
• 2 Transit Bonuses
• 1 Plaza Bonus
• 1 Sidewalk Widening Bonus

Despite reservations that they were setting a concerning precedent, aldermen on the Council’s Public Safety Committee overwhelmingly approved a one-time exemption to city law, giving Mayor Emanuel the authority to appoint interim Police Supt. Eddie Johnson to a permanent post. They then spent more than two hours vetting him before unanimously recommending his appointment.

Attendance: Chairman Ariel Reboyras (30), Joe Moreno (1), Brian Hopkins (2), Pat Dowell (3), Leslie Hairston (5), Rod Sawyer (6), Gregory Michell (7), Anthony Beale (9), Sue Sadlowski Garza (10) Patrick Daley Thompson (11), George Cardenas (12), Ed Burke (14), Raymond Lopez (15), Toni Foulkes (16), David Moore (17), Derek Curtis (18), Matt O’Shea (19), Willie Cochran (20), Rick Munoz (22), Danny Solis (25), Roberto Maldonado (26), Walter Burnett (27), Jason Ervin (28), Chris Taliaferro (29), Scott Waguespack (32), Deb Mell (33), Carrie Austin (34), Emma Mitts (37), Nick Sposato (38), Marge Laurino (39), Anthony Napolitano (41), Tom Tunney (44), John Arena (45), Ameya Pawar (47) Harry Osterman (48), Deb Silverstein (50)

The ordinance the Public Safety Committee approved would temporarily suspend the Police Board’s role in the police superintendent search process, so the Mayor could immediately appoint interim Police Supt. Johnson to the post without having to assemble a new search.

According to the city’s Chief Assistant Corporation Counsel Jeff Levine, the ordinance, if approved by the full City Council today, would take effect immediately. After a month, the municipal code would revert back to the status quo, putting the authority of searching and vetting for a new police superintendent back in the hands of the Police Board.  

But several aldermen expressed that they were essentially setting precedent by giving the Mayor the ability to change the rules whenever it suits his needs.

“I don’t think this was transparent. Everything was thrown out the window. And we did everything we wanted to do anyway,” Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza (10) said, adding that “rules were made to be followed,” not “tweaked.”

Nearly all of those aldermen who took issue to changing the law said it was the process, not the individual, they had issue with, explaining they, too, think Johnson is the best man to lead the department, especially at a time when crime rates have spiked and morale among rank and file is at an all-time low.

To address those concerns about precedent, Levine told aldermen that it was an “extraordinary time,” and this law would not “set a trend.”  

“What’s the purpose of amending this order? Are we saving money? Shortening the process?” Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29), a former police officer, asked Levine, expressing confusion over the legal implications of keeping Johnson as an interim until proper protocol is followed. In response, Levine said it wasn’t “ideal” to keep the position occupied on an interim basis for an indefinite period of time.

He also said it was “conceivable” that the appointment of Johnson to the permanent position without changing the law would be perceived as “not legally proper.” But he dismissed concerns that possible legal action could be taken against the city, and said this was just a matter of making sure “all the legal i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed.”

Only one alderman, Patrick Daley Thompson (11), voted against the law change and pushed back harder than anyone else on the council. “What is the urgency, and why can’t we follow that process?” he asked. He said Johnson did not go through the same vetting as the candidates who submitted applications and were interviewed by the Police Board.

Levine said interim Police Supt. Johnson went through “the same level of scrutiny and review” as the rest of the Police Board finalists, but couldn’t name who specifically conducted that vetting.

Several aldermen who were strongly in favor of the change argued it was an opportunity to finally get the search over with and suggested they use this meeting to vet Johnson. Committee Vice Chair Willie Cochran (20) called it was a “unique opportunity.”

Others said they were tired of the “charade” over the police search and wanted to get someone in the post and move on before crime gets worse.

“This is a unique situation and it requires unique ideas,” Ald. Nick Sposato (38) said, echoing a common phrase used by proponents of changing the law. “We need to stop the charade here, we don’t need to go on and act like we’re doing another search. The mayor has who he wants, the council’s happy with him. We need to move forward, get somebody in there.”

“The reason we need somebody to take over this department right now is because overtime is running amok, crime is running amok, the Police Department morale is down, and we need someone to get ahold of this ship and turn it around,” Ald. Anthony Beale (9) said. “And we don’t have another three or four months to do that.”

But as the meeting was laid out, aldermen couldn’t vet or ask Johnson questions until they approved the law change. That’s because Chairman Ariel Reboyras (30) chose to hold separate votes on each item–the amendment to the municipal code and the appointment of Johnson to the superintendent position. One couldn’t move forward until the other was approved, which Ald. Jason Ervin (28) said didn’t make sense. “Why not have that conversation first?” he asked.

When aldermen were finally given the opportunity to question Johnson, police overtime was the most common issue brought up. Aldermen urged him to get it under control, complaining that year after year, during every budget season, former Police Supt. Garry McCarthy promised to rein in overtime spending, only to bill more than the year before.

Yesterday’s meeting was also Johnson’s first opportunity to outline his goals for the department, even if most of them have yet to be worked out.

Among those plans include increasing foot and bike patrols and police presence at schools, and working on a legislative agenda in Springfield that would include cracking down on straw purchasing of guns and stronger sentencing for people found with an illegal gun.

As Mayor Emanuel asks the City Council to give him a one-time exemption to circumvent city law and make interim Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson the permanent pick, some aldermen are working to restructure the organizations that oversee the police department with an eye toward more transparency.

Today, the Council’s Public Safety Committee will be asked to consider an ordinance from Mayor Rahm Emanuel that would give him a one-time exemption to bypass the Police Board and appoint Johnson to officially succeed former Police Supt. Garry McCarthy, who was ousted from his seat following the public outcry of the department’s handling of the police shooting of Laquan McDonald. After considering and voting on that measure, aldermen will then be asked to confirm interim Police Supt. Johnson to the post. Johnson is expected to be on hand to answer questions from committee members.

This comes just a day before the monthly City Council meeting, where two South Side aldermen, Leslie Hairston (5) and Jason Ervin (28) are expected to introduce two separate proposals to reform how cases of police misconduct are handled by oversight agencies. Later that afternoon, aldermen are scheduled to briefed on the findings from Mayor Emanuel’s Police Accountability Task Force, which will be publicly released on Friday.

And for the most part, despite being critical of the Mayor’s handling of the superintendent search last month, aldermen have accepted that Johnson will be taking the helm of the department, saying the cost and time required to launch a new search would be wasteful.

Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6), Chairman of the Council’s Black Caucus, said that while the Caucus is “not ecstatic about the process,” they are satisfied with the selection of Johnson.

“Our concerns, especially on the South and West Side, is getting a superintendent in there to hit the ground running, start working,” Ald. Sawyer said to reporters Monday. “[The] process, we have some issues with. But the most important thing is getting somebody on the job that can help us, and the situation we are experiencing right now.”

“I wish that the process would have been followed but it’s kind of tough when you as the mayor say what you want to see, and the board gives you something different,” echoed Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36), who noted that about “90 percent” of the rank and file officers he spoke to say Johnson is a “good guy.”

“But in this case, I think it’s too late where we’re at right now, and the mayor said he wants Johnson, so why would we spend money doing another search just to get the result of Johnson?” Villegas added. Last week, the Sun-Times reported the city spent $500,000 to conduct a nationwide search and pick three finalists for former Supt. Garry McCarthy’s replacement.

Ald. Emma Mitts (37) expressed a similar desire to move forward, rather than spend taxpayer money on another search.

Under city code, when there is a vacancy in the superintendent of police position, the Police Board is required to nominate three candidates to fill the position and to submit those nominations to the mayor.

“In designating the nominees for the position of superintendent of police, the board shall be governed solely by the professional and executive qualifications required for the position which shall be without reference to the residence of the nominees,” according to the section of the Municipal Code related to the board’s powers and duties. “If none of the nominees accept appointment, the board shall submit new lists of three nominees until the position is filled.”

Today, aldermen will vote on a one-time exemption. The amendment to the municipal code “lifts the requirement that the Police Board go through its process and then it reinstates it after a short period of time,” Ald. John Arena (45) said, explaining that he was told by representatives from the Mayor’s office. “So it really is just isolated to this one appointment. But that begs the question: if we do that, then why do we do the process in the first place?”

The Police Board was put in place in 1960 by then-Mayor Richard J. Daley, following the infamous Summerdale Scandal. Mayor Daley appointed criminologistOrlando W. Wilson as superintendent of police. Wilson would go on to move the superintendent’s office from City Hall to Police Headquarters, de-politicize promotions with the department, and usher in the creation of the Police Board.

Fifty-six years later, and the council’s longest serving alderman, Ed Burke (14), said that he didn’t think aldermen should be concerned that the Mayor wants to forego the entire process. “What the citizens need, and what the men and women of the police department need, is certainty about who is going to lead the police department during these critical times,” Burke said, adding that Johnson fits that bill.

“Whatever it is, it’s going to be the Mayor’s choice,” Ald. Sawyer said, adding that the Police Board could conduct multiple searches, but at the end of the day, it’s the mayor who gets to decide who should get the job. “Any mayor who does not have the authority to pick their superintendent has the risk of having that office failing, because he’s not controlling that portion of it. Not to say that person shouldn’t have autonomy...but it’s going to be the Mayor’s pick.”

Late Monday night, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office announced plans to appoint non-profit leader Sophia King to replace Will Burns for an interim term as 4th Ward Alderman. Aldertrack had previously reported King as one of the potential candidates for the vacancy, but when Aldertrack called early yesterday evening to confirm with King, the chairman of her political campaign fund for 4th Ward Alderman, Evonne Taylor, said, “I didn’t hear that” King was a finalist and that her appointment was news to her, though the Mayor’s office said he interviewed finalists last week.

The term will only extend to Spring 2017, when the city will conduct a special election for the seat. King will appear in front of the Rules Committee today and will face a confirmation vote by the City Council on Wednesday, and then, once approved, will be sworn in as part of the full meeting of the Council, the Mayor’s Office says.

The appointment had been closely held secret for weeks. During City Council committee meetings yesterday, some aldermen present told Aldertrack they hadn’t heard any updates, other than receiving notice that a name would be released today, which was included on the Rules agenda released last week. Others had heard three finalists had been picked, but could not name any of them. Eighteen people applied for the position, according to the Mayor’s Office. The Mayor’s Office has refused to release a list of candidate names or finalists.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office announced late last night that Ald. Howard Brookins (21) will become Chair of the Council Education Committee, Ald. Joe Moreno (1) will become Chair of the Council’s Committee on Economic, Capital, and Technology Development, and Ald. Pat Dowell (3) will be appointed Chair of the Council’s Human Relations Committee.

Contacted last night, Ald. Howard Brookins (21) said he accepted the position reluctantly, asking for condolences rather than congratulations.

“Reluctant because it just looked like it was a lose-lose situation on all fronts. The city doesn’t have the money, CPS doesn’t have the money, CPS and the City of Chicago are being downgraded with respect to bonds, everybody is being taxed to the limits. The teacher’s union is threatening to strike and we have a governor who is trying to push his own agenda. It is truly not a situation that you go in saying, ‘Hey this is a cushy job,’” Brookins told Aldertrack yesterday, while acknowledging that the committee doesn’t have much leverage outside of the power to pass mostly symbolic resolutions and hold hearings.

Brookins said he already has plans to work with state legislators on comprehensive education funding reform to change the current system that “leaves kids in poor districts underserved.”

“We’re up for the challenge. I understand there’s going to be a challenge,” Brookins said, possibly referring to Ald. Burns sometimes being the target of protests by education groups calling to a moratorium on charter school expansion. “I’ve been a target before. We’ll do the best we can.”

Asked about charter school expansion or new CPS builds, Brookins said he’s waiting for an assessment. “Right now I am looking for [CPS CEO] Forrest Claypool and people at CPS to come up with a comprehensive strategy as to how and where they should open more schools, albeit charter or public,” Brookins said. “I’m not shutting the door on anything, but I would like to see the why and the how: Why do we need more schools and how do we pay for them?”

Brookins met with Mayor Emanuel Sunday, he says, and the two discussed a top priority: leveraging City Colleges’ jobs-based curriculum to meet manufacturing demand, possibly the next phase in the Colleges to Careers (C2C) program.

Brookins says he and Cook County Commissioner Stanley Moore have met with Greg Baise, President of the Illinois Manufacturing Association, who told them the skilled workforce is aging out and near retirement. Baise said nearly all workers (95 to 98%) who pass a training program could be guaranteed a job, and “within five years they would be making $95,000 a year,” Brookins said. “We can fulfill a need for people who need jobs, well-paid jobs. The mayor sees the same opportunity and has the same ideas. That is going to be huge out of this committee within probably the next 12 months.”

9th Ward Ald. Anthony Beale called for the repeal of new lease agreements with Cook County unless he saw results from new behavioral health initiatives from police within one year.

“I have a very strong feeling on mental health when it comes to my community because we do have huge problems,” Beale said. “I really want to see some heavy results after one year… I no longer want to give these leases out and have organizations get these resources and we don’t see the results in the community.”

There were two leases on the agenda, both with County entities. One is a $1 lease for a 10,000 sq ft space at the City’s Roseland Clinic. The Cook County Health and Hospitals System (CCHHS) intends to convert that space into a community triage center “to provide early intervention services for individuals who are at risk of detention or hospitalization due to behavioral health conditions,” according to a release.

Instead of booking the mentally ill in jail or dropping them off in emergency rooms, police could take people to the triage center. The new center would open later this year with the hopes of diverting hundreds of people from local ERs and the Cook County Jail in the first year, ultimately saving money. If the pilot at the Roseland clinic is successful, CCHHS plans to expand the triage model to five other sites. The Cook County Board has already approved the lease.

The other lease agreement, with the Cook County Department of Corrections would allow use of the West Town Neighborhood Health Center “for the provision of mental health services to ex-offenders.” The 10-year, $1 lease is for about 750 square feet of clinical office space for outpatient treatment, including counseling services, and links to psychiatric and medical care. The goal, a county official told aldermen, is to minimize ex-offenders’ chances of coming back into the Cook County Jail because of their mental illness.

Both of those leases and 25 other items passed the committee unanimously.

Committee Chairman Joe Moore and Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) also told Aldertrack that a previously-held $29 million land sale to the Chicago Blackhawks and Rush University Medical Center will also proceed to the full City Council Wednesday. The land sale didn’t make it to the floor after committee last month, because two freshman aldermen–Villegas and Ald. Raymond Lopez (15)–threatened to use parliamentary procedure to block the item from a vote. The two wanted answers about City Colleges’ minority staffing and procurement.

Ald. Villegas, Lopez, and Ald. George Cardenas (12) met with representatives from the Mayor’s office and City Colleges Chancellor Cheryl Hyman to discuss breaking out minority hiring statistics by ethnicity and solving the “mystery how they select architects and engineering firms” to ensure City Colleges are relaying their information “to the M/WBE communities,” Villegas told Aldertrack.

Following three hours of testimony focused heavily on aldermen expressing the need for better excessive force and mental health training for police officers, aldermen reluctantly approved two payouts totaling $6.45 million to families who say their sons died at the hands of police officers.

Attendance: Chairman Ed Burke (14), Joe Moreno (1), Brian Hopkins (2), Pat Dowell (3), Leslie Hairston (5), Rod Sawyer (6), Gregory Mitchell (7), Michelle Harris (8), Anthony Beale (9), Sue Garza (10), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), Marty Quinn (13), Raymond Lopez (15), Toni Foulkes (16), David Moore (17), Willie Cochran (20), Howard Brookins (21), Mike Zalewski (23), Michael Scott, Jr. (24), Roberto Maldonado (26), Walter Burnett (27) Jason Ervin (28), Ariel Reboyras (30), Scott Waguespack (32), Carrie Austin (34), Emma Mitts (37), Gilbert Villegas (36),  Nick Sposato (38), Marge Laurino (39), Brendan Reilly (42), Tom Tunney (44), John Arena (45), Ameya Pawar (47),  Harry Osterman (48), Deb Silverstein (50).

The larger of the two settlements, a $4.95 million payout, would go to the family of Philip Coleman. The suit names 13 police officers and one detention aide, and alleges their use of excessive force, which included tasing Coleman more than a dozen times, and refusal to take Coleman, who was experiencing a psychotic episode, to a hospital, as the cause of Coleman’s death. Harrison Coleman, Philip’s father, was a retired CHA police officer, and has told reporters, “I helped put my son in the paddy wagon. That was the last time I saw my son alive."

According to Steve Patton, Corporation Counsel with the city’s Law Department, the Medical Examiner ruled that Coleman died from a “rare allergic reaction” to an antipsychotic drug provided to him when he was brought to the hospital.

Patton said if the case had gone to trial, the plaintiffs would have provided “the foremost expert” in the subject of the drug and its side effects, which they retained for this case. That expert would have argued Coleman’s death was the result of his treatment in lockup: dehydration, stress, and physical encounters with the police; not the drug. Patton also characterized Coleman, a University of Chicago graduate who was on his way to get his Masters in Public Health, as a “sympathetic plaintiff” with a “bright future,” which would have made it a hard case to win by jury.

Police officers were called to Coleman’s home where he suffered an “acute mental breakdown,” Patton explained, as he described the incident that resulted in the lawsuit. It was Coleman’s mother who called the police after her son chased her around the house and physically attacked her. She retreated and climbed out the bathroom window to “escape this mad rage,” Patton continued, describing Coleman as “acting like an airplane” and rolling around the ground when police arrived at the scene.

Data retrieved from the officers show that Coleman was tased 13 times, but according to Patton, that doesn’t mean the charges hit Coleman, but rather that the trigger was pulled that many times.

Coleman was a constituent of Ald. Carrie Austin (34), who did not take kindly to Patton’s characterization that Coleman was “acting crazy.”

“In your next deliberation, please don’t use that kind of language of this young man ‘being acting crazy’, because he is absolutely not. Anybody can have a breakdown. I’m sure that you’ve had one, and some of your children, as well,” Ald. Austin scolded Patton. She said she knew Coleman’s parents because they went to her for help following their son’s death. ”So don’t use that language on him, ‘cause this was a young man that you didn’t know personally.”

The conversation focused heavily on the need for better police training, especially as it relates to mental health issues, during this and the subsequent settlement the council approved–a $1.5 million payout to the family of Justin Cook, who died from suffocation after officers allegedly failed to administer his inhaler to him during an asthma attack.

“We are constantly paying out large settlements because of lack of training and lack of resources,” said Ald. Anthony Beale (9), who also knew the Coleman family. He pushed for Patton and Bureau of Internal Affairs Deputy Chief Eddie Welch, who was on hand to testify on proper police protocol, to do better.

“We don’t choose to defend these cases,” Patton later told reporters when asked to respond to public claims that the city’s process of settling cases enables police misconduct. “I think that’s absolutely false.”

“We’ve been a voice for trying to manage risk, is a polite way of saying it,” Patton continued, “trying to see what problems have led to lawsuits and try to prevent them from recurring, but there is a lot more work to be done. And as soon as we get that wood chopped and that work done, the better off we’ll be.”  

The Cook settlement stemmed from an incident on Sept. 20, 2014, when two officers who had recently finished probation were on duty when they saw Cook drive through a stop sign, said Patton.

The officers followed Cook to an alley, where he and a fellow passenger pulled over and proceeded to run from the officers, said Patton. According to the officer’s account, as relayed by Patton, Cook dropped a gun that he had on him. The plaintiffs refute that claim. Both sides agree that Cook was an asthmatic, although how the officers handled that is a point of contention, said Patton.

The two officers said they retrieved Cook’s inhaler and sprayed it into his mouth when they approached him in the alley, then again when he was handcuffed in the squad car. But four eye witnesses, one of whom made a 911 call at the scene, said the officers deliberately withheld his inhaler, some claimed one of the officers threw the inhaler at Cook. Patton said one witness reported hearing the officer say to Cook, “Is this what you want? Well you are not going to get it.”

Patton said it was because of these witnesses that the city chose to settle out of court. The $1.5 million payout would be a structured settlement with payments over time to Cook’s three children. Both cases are currently being investigated by IPRA. None of the officers mentioned have been relieved of their police duties.

Other Items Approved by Finance Committee

• Financial Transparency Resolution. The resolution from Ald. John Arena(45) that the committee approved requests that the council draft an ordinance that would require more transparency and oversight for the city when it tries to enter into risky financial agreements with banks. According to Ald. Arena, that official ordinance is set to be introduced Wednesday. The resolution called for a hearing, but after three hours of testimony on the settlements, hardly anyone was in the chambers by the time it was called up. Ald. Arena and the rest of the Progressive Caucus has been meeting with the administration for “several weeks” to draft the language, beginning when the caucus objected to a $200 water revenue bond deal that included so-called toxic swaps.

• A Loan Modification agreement for LMR United Inc. This project is in the 24th Ward and Ald. Michael Scott, Jr. (24) testified in favor. When it was voted on and approved, Burke abstained.

• Amendment to a redevelopment agreement with Devon, NJ. This item passed in committee, but Chairman Burke said he would hold it, pending the resolution of an issue involving unpaid taxes that the Department of Planning Development is scheduled to settle this week. This amendment transfers ownership of a city-supported mixed-use housing development at 6401-6415 N Rockwell Ave. in the city’s 50th Ward. It’s a 30-unit, approximately 24,800-square-foot building with 232 parking stalls. According to Mary Bonome, a deputy commissioner with DPD, the development company that previously bought the land from the city, ASAT, Inc., went bankrupt and illegally sold the land in a short sale before the project was complete. ASAT, Inc. had bought the land worth $915k from the city for $1 in 2011 and got TIF funds to support construction. This ordinance transfers the project over to Devon, NJ LLC, a developer who completed the project, eliminates the TIF assistance, and designated 195 parking spaces for public use. But there is an issue over taxes on the project due to the city, which Bonome said DPD is in the process of recouping through legal channels.