The elections are coming: The first day to circulate nominating petitions for candidates in the 2016 primaries is September 1. The Primary Election is March 15, 2016, and Election Day is November 8. Earlier this week, the Chicago Board of Elections released election calendar deadlines and ward-by-ward signature requirements that candidates will likely pore over ahead of a long election season. Read the whole thing here.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016 is the last day to register to vote or to transfer registration to a new address before the primaries (there’s also a grace period for certain circumstances, but why take your chances?).

Big changes noted by Chicago Board of Elections:

• Early voting will start 40 days before Election Day at the Election Board's offices, and then expand to 51 sites 15 days before Election Day for both the primary and general elections. Early voting also will end later, now on Monday the day before Election Day.


• Early voting will offered for three days at UIC, Chicago State University, and Northeastern Illinois University.


• Election Day registration will be offered in all Illinois jurisdictions. In Chicago, that will mean at each of the City's 2,069 precinct polling places. Voters still have to go to the correct precinct based on their home address.


• Election authorities will need to post updates on their web sites in the days after the elections, showing how many late-arriving Vote-By-Mail ballots have been received but not yet processed or counted. (These numbers will be fun to monitor in razor-thin margin races.)

Dates we’ll be watching ahead of the primary on March 15, 2016:

• Nov. 23, 2015: First day to file nomination papers for Federal, State, Legislative and Judicial offices, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, Cook County offices and for Ward Committeeman


• Nov. 30, 2015: Last day for nomination papers for the above offices, and last chance for candidates to file economic interest statements. Interestingly, candidates for Ward Committeemen are not required to file economic interest statements.


• Dec. 7, 2015: Last day to file objections to nomination papers of candidates


• Dec. 14, 2015: Last day for filing original petitions for the submission of ballot referendum question


• Dec. 21, 2015: Last day to file objections to petitions for the submission of ballot referendum questions


• Jan. 7, 2016: Last day for candidates who filed nomination papers with the State BOE to withdraw as candidates, and the day names are placed on the official ballot by the County Clerk (in the order they were certified)


• Jan. 13, 2016: Last day for candidates who filed with Cook County Clerk to withdraw, and the last day for the Cook County Clerk to certify to the Board of Election Commissioners the names of the candidates for the primary


• Feb. 29, 2016: First day for early voting at permanent polling place locations


• Mar. 8, 2016: Last day for the Board to publish a notice of referendum questions to be voted on


• MAR. 15, 2016: PRIMARY ELECTION

Almost simultaneous with the Board of Elections press release, Steve Berlin, Executive Director of the City’s Board of Ethics, tweeted out a Revised Guide to Political Activity for City Employees. It’s red, white, blue, and full of restrictions. “Remember: there’s no such thing as a silly ethics question,” the FAQ reads. Especially in Chicago.

CPS Unveils Budget Under Cloud of Uncertainty, Pensions & CTU Contract Remain Wild Cards; CTU & Rauner Respond
by Claudia Morell – [email protected] and A.D. Quig – [email protected]

Chicago Public Schools leadership says they need another $480 million to stay open after this school year’s first quarter. But statehouse politics makes it unclear if Springfield will simply cut a check to help, raise Chicago property taxes, or a combination of both.

During a Monday conference call that coincided with the release of its proposed $5.687 billion operating budget, CPS officials suggested the situation is out of their hands. “If Springfield fails to do its part, we’ll make more unsustainable borrowing and deeper cuts,” CPS Chief Executive Officer Forrest Claypool said in Monday’s call, but said he was encouraged by the direction of talks in Springfield. (Press release – fact sheet 1 – fact sheet 2)

Some budget numbers of note:

Cuts:

• $65.5M to operating budget


• $288.3M to capital budget - what CPS is calling an “austerity budget”


• $65.2M to debt budget

Layoffs:

• 204 high school teachers and 275 elementary school teachers - CPS says there are approximately 1,450 teaching vacancies expected


• 1012 additional non-teaching position layoffs

Borrowing:

• $255M in “scoop and toss”


• $1M line of credit

Revenue:

• $87M TIF surplus


• $80M in property taxes


• $480M from pension reform in Springfield

Nearly every other sentence from CPS officials on their August 10th press call included mention of Springfield or state government, but Claypool says he has no intention of lobbying in Springfield directly. He says even with an additional property tax levy and TIF surplus money, CPS will be in big trouble without reform at the end of this school quarter.

The proposed FY16 budget will be made available for public comment and review on Aug. 18 at three meetings around the city (6:00-8:00 p.m. at Shurz High School, Olive-Harvey College, and Malcolm X College). The final budget is expected to be presented to the Board of Education for a vote at its next meeting, scheduled for Aug. 26.

(Also, immediately before the CPS press conference, schools leadership announced new changes to school bell times, where 34 schools will have their bell times reverted back to their original settings. The final 48 schools with start time changes will save $5 million a year, CPS leadership claims.)

CTU Springfield Allies Introduce ESRB Legislation

At the same time as the CPS budget release call, supporters of an Elected Representative School Board (ESRB)–including state legislators, Chicago Teachers Union organizers and aldermen–gathered to call for passage of House Bill 4268. Filed August 6, the legislation would establish a 13 member school board with members from four regions of Chicago, to be elected in March 2016.

A press release from CTU distributed at yesterday's ESRB event called the appointed Board of Education a financial failure. “This long record of ineffective governance is not because ‘Springfield’ has made mistakes but is rather because the Board has made decisions in the interests of private contractors, charter schools, big banks, and bondholders rather than the interests of students and families.” (CTU fact sheet)

The bill’s chief co-sponsors include Rep. Rob Martwick (D-Chicago), Rep. Elgie Sims (D-Chicago), Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago), Rep. Jaime Andrade (D-Chicago), and Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago), and 28 other co-sponsors.

Rayner Holds Response Presser; Talks CPS, Elected School Board and CTU Power

In a last-minute press conference called in Chicago yesterday afternoon, Governor Bruce Rauner said he doesn’t support an elected school board for Chicago and described the power of the Chicago Teacher’s Union (CTU) as “overwhelming.”

After spending six minutes reiterating his position that Chicago has benefited from special treatment and suggesting he is “cautiously optimistic” the General Assembly and CPS officials are warming up to his statewide reforms, the Governor refused to comment on specific CPS budget projections because his office is still “crunching the numbers”.

He did comment on two CPS related issues: the teachers’ union contract and the movement for an elected school board.

“The power of the teachers union is overwhelming. Chicago has given and given and it has created the financial crisis that Chicago schools face now,” Gov. Rauner said about the stalled contract negotiations between CPS and the Chicago Teacher’s Union.

Gov. Rauner also said Chicago doesn’t need an elected school board because Mayor Rahm Emanuel was elected into office and was given a mandate to appoint members to the board, “And the Mayor has shown a willingness to stand up and advocate for taxpayers and has taken on some of the entrenched interests, so I’m not a supporter of the Mayor losing his ability to drive reforms.”

After railing against “a special one-off deal for Chicago” the day before, Governor Bruce Rauner changed his tune on a CPS bailout from Springfield at an impromptu press conference in the Thompson Center Thursday afternoon. Offering a package that would address every level of Chicago Public Schools’ financial woes, Gov. Rauner required that one of the biggest parts of his “Turnaround Agenda”, limiting local unions’ collective bargaining rights, be part of the deal.

Rauner described closed-door conversations with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Senate President John Cullerton as “productive”, while chastising House Speaker Michael Madigan for his unwillingness to budge on his reform package, repeatedly calling for a “two-way street”.

Underlined by a packet his press team handed out before the press conference, Rauner offered to delay CPS’ $600 million dollar pension payment, give the district a $450 million cash advance, and chip in pension costs for FY16 and FY17. Pressure is building for CPS’s finances, as it is expected to release its district-wide budget early next week and schools are to open on September 8.

In exchange, Rauner wants to “allow local governments and local school districts to decide what issues get collectively bargained, just like Chicago has already asked to be done. And the state has already done as a special arrangement to Chicago,” the Governor said, recalling the city’s request in 2011 for the state to amend collective bargaining rights for Chicago Teachers Union members so the City could force teachers to pay their portion of pension costs. CPS has been picking up the tab for that bill for decades but officials say they can no longer afford to make the required annual payment because of its $1 billion pension shortfall

Earlier this week, the State Senate passed a measure that does half of what Rauner called for, SB318, that would freeze property taxes, overhaul the state’s funding formula for public schools, and provide additional aid to the Chicago Public Schools’ pension fund–but lacks any mention of collective bargaining. The bill, passed by a 37-1 vote, establishes a two-year local property tax freeze starting in 2016. Governments in Cook County would get a delayed rollout under the measure, with a property tax freeze taking effect in 2017.

As for the aid to the Chicago Public School Teachers’ Pension & Retirement Fund, the state would be required to contribute $200 million this fiscal year. The state mandated deadline requiring the teacher’s pension plan reach 90% funding would be extended four years to 2063.

The bill has advanced to the Illinois House, where it is likely to stall under Speaker Michael Madigan.

Speaking at a morning press conference yesterday, Speaker Madigan said he needed more time to review the legislation, which he described as “multi-faceted”. He also reaffirmed his support for amending the state’s funding formula, noting that Chicago should be treated differently because it has the highest number of students in the state that are low-income. But he refused to budge on the Governor’s proposed restrictions on unions, saying it hurts working families and “bumps up against core beliefs” held by both parties.

In a written statement released about an hour after Rauner’s presser, CPS’s newly appointed CEO Forrest Claypool emphasized the clock is ticking for CPS, “We look forward to working towards a quick resolution that treats all of the state’s children equally,” Claypool's statement said. “After recently making $200 million in cuts, Chicago Public Schools cannot afford to wait any longer to address this inequity.”

Complicating matters even more, hours later, CPS told the Chicago Tribune they are dropping the offer of a one-year contract agreement with the Chicago Teacher’s Union, and are now requesting a multi-year deal.

Late yesterday the Chicago Teacher’s Union announced a press conference for today at 11:00 a.m. at CTU headquarters. Karen Lewis is expected to discuss their position on contract negotiations.

The board responsible for disciplining attorneys in Illinois has recommended Russ Stewart, political columnist for the Northwest Side's Nadig Newspapers, lose his law license for a six month period, according to documents filed last week. The recommendation from the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, which is not final until ruled on by the Illinois Supreme Court, resulted from a 2010 divorce settlement Stewart worked on where he was accused of eliciting false testimony, making false testimony to the court and notarizing a signature without actually witnessing it.

If ordered by the Supreme Court, this would be Stewart's second disciplinary action. He was previously censured, essentially given a warning, in 2002. In this case, Stewart could still request a full hearing from the Supreme Court.

Just days after city Budget Director Alex Holt met with Inspector General Joe Ferguson to discuss immediate measures the city could take to make revenue, the OIG’s office released a report stating serious doubts about the City’s $20 million wellness program’s deliverables.

Between 2012 and 2014, the City has spent more than $10.5 million on its Chicago Lives Healthy (CLH) program with the goal of improving employee health and reducing healthcare costs. But it hasn’t properly assessed the results and cost-effectiveness of the program and doesn’t have plans to, according to a report from the Office of Inspector general released Tuesday.

In 2012, Chicago, like many companies nationwide, adopted a wellness program, which offers premium discounts, gym memberships and other incentives to employees as a way to improve overall health and fitness and reduce health insurance costs. While there was a 19% decrease in the City’s workforce between 2003 and 2013, healthcare costs went up 43%, the IG says. The CLH website bills its program as a way to “improve health and help maintain high value health care benefits at a reasonable cost to employees.” Biometric screening and health coaching are requirements of the program.

85% of eligible city employees (or 23,130 of 27,339) are enrolled in the program, which is also made available to spouses and domestic partners. City employees that don’t want to participate pay a $50 monthly surcharge, which has garnered the city $1.9 million.

The City has no way of knowing the cost-effectiveness and health benefits of offering the program, because it has not “formally assessed” the program’s impact and no plans to do so, the report concludes. “The City has yet to determine a method for measuring healthcare cost savings and employee health improvements. Without such a framework, the City cannot make evidence-based, cost-benefit decisions about the future of CLH.”

The report advises the City to:

• Set health status and health care savings targets and timeline


• Connect performance measures like biometric data to targeted health performance outcomes


• Start a study to ID and measure whether there’s a causal relationship between CLH and health status improvement and health care savings


• Include specific health status and health care savings targets into an RFP for the next wellness program


• Monitoring CLH on an ongoing basis


• Publicly reporting findings

Healthways, the company operating the program, reports to the City on enrollment, coaching participation and employee health status. Its $24.0 million contract with the City ends December 31, 2015. In a press release, Inspector general Joe Ferguson said while “there are serious questions as to whether the program is achieving any demonstrable benefits and if it will ever do so,” the City has refused to make measurement changes. Ferguson sent his report to the city on June 25.

Council might be on break, but Ald. George Cardenas (12) and Ald. Ed Burke (14) can spend their time off counting contributions–the two reported the most activity since our last aldermanic contribution review in mid-July. But the biggest single aldermanic donation since July 20th was from one alderman to another: On July 23, Ald. Joe Moreno (1) transferred $10,000 to his fellow Latino Caucus member Ald. Danny Solis (25). Mayor Emanuel’s big election time donations haven’t totally let up either, he got a $25,000 boost from The Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters.

View contributions spreadsheet. Download contributions as CSV file.

Most of the contributions to the Burnham Committee, Ald. Burke's political action committee, are from large law firms and consulting services, including Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP ($1,500) and Locke Lord LLP ($1,500). The consulting firm reportedly lobbying on behalf of Uber in Illinois, Leinenweber, Baroni & Daffada, LLC, also contributed ($1,500) to the Burnham Committee.

Friends of George Cardenas, Ald. Cardenas’ campaign committee, drew a more diverse list of donors, including real estate firms, general contractors, financial service companies, and one elected official. Berwyn Ald. Cesar Santoy made a personal donation of $1,500 on July 21 to Ald. Cardenas (the money wasn’t filed as a transfer from Santoy’s candidate committee).

Cardenas, Chairman of the City Council’s Committee on Health and Environmental Protection, also reported contributions ($1,500) from Yards Plaza, LLC, the company behind the proposed multi-million dollar Back of the Yards Shopping Center, and two recycling companies: JLG Recycling, Inc. ($2,500) and Lakeshore Recycling Systems ($1,500).

Newly elected Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41) received $1,000 from LiUNA Chicago Area Laborers Political League, a labor organization with 20 local affiliates representing 20,000 construction workers, including many city workers. Earlier this month, Ald. Pat Dowell (3) received a $1,000 from the group, but listed them as “Construction & General Labors.”

Ald. Michelle Harris (8), Chairman of the City Council’s powerful Rules Committee, got a $1,500 lift from ComEd PAC, the political action group for the energy provider. The company’s PAC transferred the same amount of money to City Council Budget Committee Chairman Carrie Austin’s (34) candidate contribution group earlier this month.

Completely unreported by every media outlet (including this one), and seemingly unnoticed by everyone, last Thursday afternoon Chicago’s Legislative Inspector General, Faisal Khan, posted a letter to Facebook announcing that on August 28, his office will run out of money and need to shut down. A week earlier, Khan mailed hard copies and emailed the same letter to each alderman.

There was, “no response. Not from the Mayor’s office or any member of Council,” Khan told Aldertrack this weekend.

Khan, who has had an uneasy relationship with members of Council, is not surprised at the outcome.

“I don’t think there’s a real interest in sustaining this office. It was just a cover for real aldermanic abuse,” said Khan. ‘“As soon as we started doing real work, there was real push back. There’s been nothing but an adversarial relationship.”

The OLIG received a minimal budget of $350,000. Khan found it difficult to hire enough staff to do the job he believed he was hired to do. And, since his office had to seek a new appropriation each year, Khan believed the deck was stacked against him.

Making it worse, Khan thinks, is that his office has looked into hundreds of ethics complaints, including 425 potential campaign finance violations from the last election. Then, when he finds something potentially criminal, he refers it to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

“It’s impossible to do your job when you’re supposed to ask for money from the people you’re supposed to oversee. That’s one of the problems of this office. We’re at a point where when you know you’re under investigation you’re not [going to be] interested in supporting the office,” he said.

Khan, who has been commuting back to New York City each weekend to spend time with his wife and newborn twin sons, understands the end is near for his office. Now he’s beginning to look to the future, like packing up all his investigation documents and turning them over to federal investigators.

The feds are working on the cases, slowly and deliberately, said one of his former staffers. “There are cases referred to federal investigators that are of major import.”

In the meantime, the Legislative Inspector General won’t be waiting for City Council when it comes back from August vacation.

There’s more bad news for the city in its annual financial analysis released late Friday afternoon: Chicago will have to come up with at least $754 million more for next year’s budget, potentially hundreds of millions more if certain pension reforms aren’t enacted by Springfield. But incomplete data in the analysis may be covering much worse problems. The amounts break down as:

• $233M - operations deficit in Corporate Fund


• $100M - additional debt payment to end “scoop and toss”


• $93M - pension payments to labor, municipal, police and firefighter pensions


• $328M - additional payments to police and firefighter pensions

The total could go up another $221 million more if Senate Bill 777 is not enacted in Springfield, a change to Chicago’s police and firefighter pensions that pushes payments into the future–essentially switching from an 30-year to a 40-year mortgage.

The analysis, as has been done in the past, provides a tremendous amount of detail about the city’s Corporate Fund, where most the city's operations spending is done, but much less detail about the Property Tax Fund, where most of the city’s pension payments and debt service are carried.

In past years this was not a big deal, since property tax revenue was more than enough to cover pensions and debts. But since this year’s budget problems are centered on pensions and debt payment, more detail in this area would answer some big questions. For instance, comparing last year’s financial analysis to this year’s, there’s a $712 million difference between 2015’s projected and actual general obligation bond debt that’s largely paid by property taxes. In other words, this past year Chicago borrowed $712 million more than originally anticipated.

Why that money was borrowed and what it was used for is an important question, since it sheds light on how well the city has been managing its existing debt load–and how manageable that debt load can remain under existing revenue plans.

This may seem like green eyeshade kind of stuff, but the numbers–pushing into billions–are so big they have the potential to overwhelm every other aspect of the city’s budget and programs.

The Mayor’s Office did not respond to our weekend requests for explanation.

A wave of press conferences before the full Council meeting kept the 2nd floor lobby humming. A half dozen competing press conferences and demonstrations overlapped, and at one point a group opposing the Herbalife multi-level marketing company got into a chanting match with protesters urging improvements to shuttered Dyett High School.

CHA Residents Back “Keeping the Promise” Ordinance
Members of the Chicago Housing Initiative, a Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) accountability group, gathered to back Ald. Joe Moreno’s (1) “Keeping the Promise” ordinance, which co-sponsor Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26) says “urges CHA to properly utilize its federal funding for those in need of housing and phase-in 3,000 additional vouchers/year over 3 years.” The ordinance would strengthen City Council oversight of the CHA by requiring that the department issue quarterly reports to the City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate. Attending aldermen also included Susan Sadlowski-Garza (10), Toni Foulkes (17) Ricardo Munoz (22), Walter Burnett (27), James Cappleman (46) and Ameya Pawar (47). Press materials. Draft ordinance.

Stop and Frisk, Police Brutality Targeted by #ChiStops
Youth organizers with #ChiStops gathered with Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26), Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6), and a tardy Ald. Joe Moreno (1) to call for passage of the STOP Act ordinance. The ordinance aims to end stop and frisk in the city by requiring CPD to collect and share data for all stops it performs, including demographics, badge numbers, location, reason, and result of stop. Cops would also have to give a receipt for every stop, and make data collected publicly available on a quarterly basis. The ordinance has support from more than 30 community groups, including the ACLU of Illinois, Chicago Votes, and Black Youth Project 100. Press materials.

Dyett Defenders Block Elevators, Disrupt Other Press Events
Protesters gathered to support saving Bronzeville’s Walter H. Dyett school and turning it into Dyett Global Leadership and Green Technology High School. Their action caused the biggest stir Wednesday morning as protesters sat down with a sign reading “Save Dyett” and blocked the bay of elevators that open into the 2nd floor lobby, forcing some to climb over, and others to take the elevator up a floor and walk down the stairs just a few minutes before the Council meeting was scheduled to begin. The volume of their chanting overtook several press conferences scheduled in the lobby, some who refused to remove were arrested, and others were still in their spots more than an hour after conferences had wrapped. Press materials.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice Speak Out Against Deportation Threats
Perhaps the most sidelined presser of the day, Asian Americans Advancing Justice held a conference supporting an amendment to Chicago's Welcoming City ordinance preventing city employees, including police officers, from using coercion and threat of deportation against community members. Andy Kang, Legal Director of Advancing Justice, Chicago, tried his best to speak over Dyett protesters, and tell the story of Jessica Klyzek, an American citizen who was threatened with deportation in a police run-in last year. Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) introduced the amendment at Wednesday’s meeting. Press materials.

Protesters Demand A.G. Madigan Take On Pyramid Scheme
Latino protesters held the last presser of the day, competing with Dyett chants with their own against Herbalife, a global nutrition and weight loss company that relies on multi-level marketing. The group called for Attorney General Lisa Madigan to wrap up an investigation into the company, which they say is a get-rich-quick pyramid scheme that targets Latino consumers. Ald. George Cardenas (12), supports a resolution calling for an end to an investigation. Press materials.

While the Mayor's finance staff are set to begin a series of private budget briefings for aldermen this afternoon, the Council Progressive Caucus plans to advance its own budget ideas in a press conference this morning at 11:30 a.m. in City Hall Room 201A. The plan will raise, "millions of dollars in an equitable manner," said Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) on Chicago Tonight last night.

The City budget is typically introduced and voted on in September, so today's presser and budget briefing marks the beginning of a process overshadowed by Springfield's own stalled and broken budget process. Because Chicago's budget gap is so yawning, with a shortfall in the billions of dollars and much of the gap coming from unavoidable debt and pensions service, the city will ultimately have to turn to major new revenue sources, like a big property tax increase (think 25-40% increase), a financial services tax or creation of a services sales tax, all of which would require approval from the state legislature and Governor Bruce Rauner.

In addition, large fund transfers from state government, such as the municipal portion of state sales tax for the city and the state portion of CPS' budget are likely to remain in the air through August and into September. Since major portions of the city's and CPS' operating budgets will be unclear for some time–as well as Gov. Rauner's likelihood of approving major new taxes–the city will be forced to devise and maybe even vote on a budget that will become one more pawn in the Springfield budget fight. One scenario discussed is that Council votes on a budget with major portions unfunded by the state, and then fill them in later as part of the larger Statehouse budget scrum.

In short: The Cloud Tax introduced earlier this month is a harbinger of what's to come, as city budget leaders struggle to find as many home rule taxes and fees they can, so the city can reduce the amount of money–and political capital–needed from Springfield. Expect a lot of ideas to come over the transom this month.

Notwithstanding the flurry of dueling press conferences that clogged the second floor of City Hall, yesterday’s meeting dragged along in predictable fashion. Alderman dedicated over an hour to resolutions of praise and then quickly approved more than 300 pieces of legislation, most of which were routine (the Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee had 216 routine traffic items alone).

Mayor Emanuel’s ordinance amending the ethics code was the one of the only contentious items of the day, as some alderman used it as a springboard to resurface old pleas to merge the Office of the Legislative Inspector General (OLIG) and the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The OLIG is tasked with investigating aldermen, while the Inspector General polices the rest of city government.

The ordinance, which the City Council passed after about 20 minutes of discussion, tweaked several sections of the ethics code, including a provision requiring the OLIG submit evidence gathered during the course of an investigation to the Board of Ethics. When the item was discussed in committee Monday, Board of Ethics Executive Director Steve Berlin assured aldermen the changes were minor, as the underlying goal of the ordinance was to add clarity to the existing code.

But prior to the full City Council meeting, Legislative Inspector General Faisal Khan sent a memo to aldermen warning them the change would “destroy the ability for citizens to make complaints without fear of retaliation and [would] have a chilling effect on potential witnesses.” This wasn’t the first time Khan accused the City of preventing him from doing his job. During last year’s budget hearings, he sued several prominent alderman claiming his annual appropriation of $354,000 makes it impossible for him to do his job.

So when Ald. Michelle Harris (8), Chairman of the Committee on Committees, Rules, Ethics, brought the item up for a vote, several aldermen asked to speak. Most demanded a formal hearing on an ordinance to eliminate Khan’s office and give Inspector General Ferguson the authority to police the City Council.

“I think it would behoove us to look at once and for all putting ourselves under the inspector general, Mr. Ferguson's office, and put an end to all the back and forth games that we have been playing for several years,” Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) demanded, after calling the ethics ordinance a game of musical chairs.

Ald. John Arena (45) said while he would support the ordinance because it “clarifies” the scope and duties among the Board of Ethics and the two inspector generals, something would have to be done to address the “triangle” of offices tasked with enforcing the ethics code.

Ald. James Cappleman (45), Ald. Michele Smith (43), Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa(35), Ald. Joe Moore (49), Ald. Ameya Pawar (47) made similar comments.

Despite the strong words, only two aldermen, Nick Sposato (38) and Anthony Napolitano (41) voted against the ordinance. Neither of them asked to speak before the council. The only other divided roll call vote was on Ald. Matt O’Shea’s (19) ordinance to end free trash pickup at large apartment buildings. Ald. Leslie Hairston (5), whose lakefront Hyde Park residents are a key constituency, was the lone no vote. As for abstentions, Ald. Ed Burke (14) invoked Rule 14 on the vote to approve Multi-Family Revenue Bonds for the St. Edmunds’ Oasis development project. BMO Harris, a client of Ald. Burke’s law firm, will issue the bonds. Ald. Ameya Pawar (47) also abstained from approving the University of Chicago’szoning request to build a new charter school in the Woodlawn Area. His wife works for the University.

New Revenue-Generating Ordinances: A Sign of What’s To Come?
If yesterday’s City Council meeting is any indication of what’s to come, the pre-budget season will likely include several proposals to add incremental fees, fines and taxes to add much needed revenue to the city's coffers.

With the full month of August off and the next full City Council meeting scheduled for the end of September, around the same time as Mayor Rahm Emanuel is poised to introduce his budget plan for the next fiscal year, city agencies and aldermen are rushing to find new sources of revenue.

The Mayor declined to comment on revenue generating ideas passed or proposed at Wednesday’s meeting, but at a post-Council press conference, he said he directed Alex Holt, head of the Office of Budget and Management, to schedule three separate meetings with aldermen to discuss ideas for cuts, reforms, efficiencies, and revenue. In the meantime, he says he doesn’t want to “prejudice anybody” who brings forward their own proposals. The mayor said Holt was also scheduled to meet with Inspector General Joe Ferguson Wednesday to discuss immediate reforms the city can make based on IG findings. Ferguson’s trash pickup enforcement report spurred Wednesday’s vote to end free trash pickup at apartment buildings with more than four units, a change expected to save the city $3.3 million.

Aldermen also approved ordinances requiring new permits for fire hydrant use and urban farms that want to sell their fertilizer off site, and an ordinance giving city inspectors the right to fine dry cleaners and auto shops up to $5,000 for improper use of a hazardous chemical, perchloroethylene, commonly found in industrial cleaners.

Additional revenue-generating ordinances like a new soda tax, fines for noisy neighbors and people who fly drones near Chicago airports, and a new permit for restaurants that want to set up additional seating on the street were formally introduced at yesterday's meeting.

Ald. George Cardenas (12) is reviving his plan to create a “Chicago Sweetened-Beverage Tax”, which would be a penny-per-ounce tax on sodas and other sugary drinks. Since the item was referred to the Committee on Health and Environmental Protection, which Ald. Cardenas chairs, it shouldn’t have a hard time moving through committee.

Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) is behind an amendment to the Municipal Code that would fine those who play loud music, defined as “audible above conversational level within 100 ft.”, between 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m . Starting at 8:00 p.m., the ordinance would fine $500 for violations. That fine would double at 10:00 p.m. and double again at midnight.

Northside aldermen Tom Tunney (44) and Michele Smith (43) introduced an ordinance to create a curbside cafe permit as part of a new pilot program that would run from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016. The permit would cost $100 plus the anticipated lost parking meter revenue for all affected spaces.

Ald. Burke and Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) co-sponsored an ordinance that would ban drones from flying within five miles of O’Hare and Midway Airport. The ordinance would require drone operators to carry insurance and register their drones with the City’s Department of Aviation. These unmanned aircrafts would also be prohibited within a quarter mile of a school, hospital, or place of worship. Violators would face fines ranging from $500 to $5,000 per occurrence and could face up to 180 days in jail.

Mayoral Appointments to Buildings, Human Services, Police Board Approved

In addition to the items already mentioned, aldermen also approved:

• Official landmark designation for the Fulton-Randolph Market


• A ban on smartphone cases that look like guns


• Relaxed zoning restrictions for amusement arcades. These internet gaming establishments were previously restricted to areas zoned for taverns and strip malls.


• Appointments and changes to the Chicago Infrastructure Trust Board. The ordinance changes City Treasurer Kurt Summers’ status from a nonvoting advisory member to a voting member, as he was appointed Board Chairman. The Board will vote on a new Executive Director at their August 7th meeting. Mayor Emanuel has asked that they choose Leslie Darling, the First Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City’s Law Department. The other approved members of the board are listed here.


• Ben Winick as the Financial Analyst for the City’s new Independent Budget Office, and Ald. Ed Burke as Vice Chair of the City Council Committee overseeing the new office. Burke replaces Carole Brown, the city’s new Chief Financial Officer.


• Lisa Morrison Butler as the new Commissioner for the Department of Family and Supportive Services


• Lori Lightfoot as the new President of the Chicago Police Board


• Judy Frydland as the new Commissioner of the Department of Buildings

Mayoral Introduces TOD, Privatization Ordinances
Below are brief summaries of the ordinances with links to the legislation and corresponding press release. We will provide more details as the items move through committee.

Amendments to Transit Oriented Developments [O2015-5334]
The ordinance creates incentives for developers to build closer to CTA and Metra Stations by expanding the size of Transit Oriented Development Zones, removing all on-site parking requirements, and adding new affordable housing requirements by increasing the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) to 3.75 in business and commercial zoned districts (B-3;C-3) if half of the development is dedicated to affordable housing. The FAR increase would only apply to planned developments. The ordinance also adds specific distance requirements for these developments. For example, for a proposal to qualify as a TOD in a downtown zoned district (D-3), it would have to be located within a quarter mile of a CTA or METRA rail station entrance. Press Release.

Restrictions on Privatizing City Assets O2015-5434
The ordinance co-sponsored by Mayor Emanuel and Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6) puts additional hurdles in place to make sure any future privatization deal is in the city’s best interest. There aren’t any plans currently in place to lease city assets, but if the ordinance is approved, the City’s Chief Financial Officer would have to find an independent advisor to prepare a report assessing the proposed sale. That report would evaluate: (1) if selling the asset is in the best interest of the City; (2) is the contractor buying the asset was “fair and transparent; (3) if the sale price is fair. The advisor would have 90 days to complete the report before the proposed sale could go to the City Council. Once the item is introduced, the CFO would have 23 days to issue a report detailing the scope of the deal to the Council Committee, and the Chairman would have to schedule a public hearing seven days before advancing it to the full City Council. The contractor purchasing the asset would have to pay for the additional oversight provisions outlined in the ordinance. Press Release

Discussion of the ordinance took up the bulk of Mayor Emanuel’s post-Council press conference Wednesday. The Mayor said he’s following through from a campaign pledge he made to create a process to study privatization matters, using Midway privatization consideration as inspiration. He penned an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune in September 2013 about the process:

“...first, a group of outside experts should be impaneled at the start of the process to monitor each step; second, there must be a minimum 30-day review by the City Council before the project is voted upon; third, there should be a clear set of standards so the public can judge a potential partnership when it is presented; fourth, the funds should be invested in infrastructure rather than used as a plug for short-term budget holes; fifth, a true public-private partnership requires that taxpayers maintain control of the asset and share in management decisions and financial profit.”

When asked in yesterday's press conference whether he had an “epiphany” about Ald. Sawyer’s ordinance, first introduced three years ago, the mayor laughed and circled back around to the Midway Airport process. “It pretty much follows the process I put in place as associated with Midway when the city was analyzing and studying whether there should be privatization. I put in place because of all the things that were done in and around the parking meters.”

Ordinance Defining Tax Increment Finance (TIF) Surplus [O2015-5328]
This ordinance would turn an Executive Order Mayor Emanuel issued in 2013 into law. It would require that each of the city’s 147 TIFs declare surplus funds, so that money can be dispersed to Chicago Public Schools, the City, Cook County, and other local taxing bodies. For a TIF to qualify, it must be more than three years old, have a minimum balance of $1 million, not for a single redevelopment project.

Ordinance Giving the Police Superintendent Subpoena Power [O2015-5856]
The ordinance Mayor Emanuel introduced on behalf of the Police Department gives the police superintendent and any member of his command staff the authority to issue subpoenas to “compel attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of information relevant to investigations” conducted by the department’s Bureau of Internal Affairs. The person receiving the subpoena would have seven days to comply or provide written notice objecting to the contents of the subpoena. Anyone who refuses to comply or interferes with an investigation could be fined up to $5,000 and could face up to six months in jail.

Additional Police for Public Housing Buildings [O2015-5964]
The ordinance updates an intergovernmental agreement between the Chicago Police Department and the Chicago Housing Authority to allow for additional police patrol watches at “mutually determined” high-crime CHA developments. As part of this CHA Policing Strategy, CPD would be required to “regularly and routinely coordinate, cooperate and share relevant data” with various law enforcement task forces, including the FBI and DEA. The agreement also asks that CPD regularly provide CHA with detailed reports of arrests and policy activity.

Committee on Aviation Creates New O’Hare Parking Programs

The Committee on Aviation met briefly to approve an updated concession agreement with Simply Wheelz, LLC and to defer Mayor Emanuel’s ordinance requiring concession agreements between parking providers at O’Hare Airport and the Aviation Commissioner. That ordinance would have also created a premium parking service program.

 

Committee on License and Consumer Protection Approves New Booting Rules

A quick Committee on License and Consumer Protection meeting yesterday concluded with what aldermen described as “weirdness”: an ordinance regarding car booting, which is usually submitted by the  local alderman, had the City Clerk listed as the sponsor.

The Committee approved all items on the agenda, including a direct introduction from Mayor Emanuel amending the Municipal Code regarding crane operator licensing, extending the effective date from September 1, 2015 to March 1, 2016. Matthew Beaudet with the City Building Department said changing the effective date will not conflict with upcoming updated OSHA licensing requirements. Chairman Emma Mitts (37) asked one item (O2015-4660), an ordinance allowing packaged goods on a portion of W. Division, be deferred.

The only bit of weirdness came with the last few agenda items permitting wards to allow “booting” of cars on private property by private firms. Ald. Brian Hopkins asked if the 2nd Ward could be included, and provided brief testimony about small businesses who said shoppers were parking in their spots, but shopping elsewhere. The committee approved his request.

An identical ordinance from the 31st Ward was next, but neither Ald. Milly Santiago nor the listed sponsor, City Clerk Susanna Mendoza, were present. A representative from Santiago’s office told the committee Ald. Santiago had no objection to the private booting, and that the businesses had simply been remapped into the 31st Ward. Ald. Tom Tunney said Santiago should have introduced the ordinance. “It’s a little weird,” he said. Chairman Mitts agreed, but both voted to approve the ordinance.

Recently hired City employees who don’t live in Chicago would have 90 days to move within city limits or apply for a waiver with the Department of Human Resources, under an ordinance the Committee on Workforce Development approved. The waiver would only be granted in cases of extraordinary circumstances like fleeing from an abusive partner, losing your house in a fire or other “natural calamity.”

The HR department was already granting 2 or 3 waivers a year, but recently learned there isn’t a law on the books that made it okay, says Human Resources Commissioner Soo Choo.

Choo’s office wasn’t aware of the oversight until a recent Inspector General investigation involving a residency issue found that there isn’t a provision allowing “wiggle room” for special circumstances. The IG’s office helped draft the legislation, Choo added.

City employees requesting waivers would have to file a written request to the Commissioner of Human Resources, who would have final say on the matter. The documents are public, but the “extraordinary circumstance” would remain confidential.

Several proposed large-scale development projects like the Nobu Hotel for West Randolph Street, a residential complex off the Brown Line’s Southport stop, and the new development next to the Apollo Theater in Lincoln Park await approval from the City Council today. Three Mayoral appointments and one City Council appointment, Ben Winick as the Financial Analyst for the City’s new independent budget office, will also get called for a vote. Here are some highlights:

The following mayoral appointments passed in committee and will be reported out for a full vote:

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  Lisa Morrison Butler as the Commissioner of the Department of Family and Supportive Services [A2015-47] Butler currently serves as Executive Director for City Year Chicago, an organization that works with CPS to help at-risk students graduate from high school. Mayor Emanuel announced Butler’s appointment at the beginning of the month, saying she will “help quarterback some of the most critical items on my second term agenda,” from progress on the Mayor’s universal pre-K program to an expansion of youth violence prevention programs.

  
  


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  Lori Lightfoot as President of the Chicago Police Board [A2015-48]. Lightfoot is a former federal prosecutor She also worked for the City as head of the Chicago Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards (OPS), where she investigated cases of police misconduct. After two years as Chief Administrator for OPS, Lightfoot worked in the City’s Office of Emergency Management and Communication (OEMC), and eventually migrated over to the Office of Procurement Services. Following her tenure with the City, Lightfoot went back to private practice and has since worked with the law firm Mayer Brown. The Police Board is an independent body that decides disciplinary action against police accused of misconduct. Lightfoot told the committee she’ll do what she can to improve fairness, transparency and efficiency.

  
  


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  Judy Frydland as Commissioner of the Department of Buildings [A2015-46]  Frydland currently serves as the Deputy Corporation Counsel for the Chicago Department of Law’s Building & License Enforcement Division. During her tenure with the law department, Frydland was involved in high profile cases like the E2 nightclub disaster in 2003 and the 2003 Lincoln Park porch collapse. Frydland will be responsible for enforcing the building code and modernizing the department, but didn’t provide any details on her priorities during the committee hearing.

  
  

The following ordinances passed in committee (keep scrolling for items approved in committee Tuesday):

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  The Pullman National Monument Advisory Commission [O2015-4653]: the seven member body would include a chairman and six members appointed by the mayor “with input from Pullman community leaders, business owners, and residents,” according to the ordinance. The board would be responsible for coordinating projects to promote tourism and raise community awareness, maintaining the area, and reporting new developments with the City Council and Mayor’s Office. The board could also solicit and accept public and private contributions, but would have to coordinate spending with the National Park Service.

  
  


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  Amendments to the Ethics Code for “Financial Statements of Interest”[O2015-4685] It moves the maximum requirement for ownership in stock of a publicly traded company from $15,000 to one half of 1% of that company’s outstanding shares, and refines the reverse revolving door provision that applies to incoming city officials or employees by permanently prohibiting them from participating in a city matter if they worked personally and substantially on that matter for their immediate pre-city employer or client. They would be prohibited for 2 years from working on any other matter that involves their pre-city employer or client unless they’ve severed monetary ties.

  
  


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  An ordinance adding federal & state Perchloroethylene regulations to the Municipal Code [O2015-4652] The ordinance aligns Chicago code with state and federal standards, so Chicago public health inspectors would have the authority to ticket dry cleaning facilities and auto repair shops that improperly dispose of perchloroethylene (“PERC”), a hazardous chemical found in polishes and cleaner. The state currently regulates the use and disposal of the chemical. Violators would be fined between $1,000 to $5,000.

  
  

No Meetings In August
Following tradition, Council will not meet in August and there are no scheduled committee meetings next month, according to our sources. Some sort of emergency could change that, but vacation plans have been made so we do not expect it to change.

Finance to Vote on Infrastructure Trust Changes
The Committee on Finance scheduled an extra meeting at 9:15 a.m. this morning before the 10:00 a.m. full Council meeting to vote on Mayor Rahm Emanuel’sproposed amendments to the Chicago Infrastructure Trust Board. On Monday Finance Committee Chairman Ed Burke allowed discussion on the two ordinances appointing new leadership to the Trust and expanding the board by two members, but deferred consideration for today because he wanted more time to review the Mayor’s proposed changes. (Agenda)

Ald. Moreno Holds Stop And Frisk Press Conference
Ald. Joe Moreno (1) plans to hold a press conference ahead of the full City Council meeting to address issues he has with the police department’s “stop and frisk” policy. Moreno will introduce an ordinance based on an American Civil Liberties Union report, asking that Chicago police officers record all stops–not just those that result in an arrest. The ordinance would also mandate a training program to teach officers how stops should be conducted.

OLIG Rejects Ethics Amendment Up for Vote
Legislative Inspector General Faisal Khan blasted amendments to the ethics code the Committee on Committees, Rules, and Ethics approved Monday, saying the changes “will destroy the ability for citizens to make complaints without fear of retaliation and will have a chilling effect on potential witnesses.” He is especially concerned with the provision requiring his office submit all evidence gathered in the course of an investigation to the Board of Ethics, who he says in turn will provide that information to the subject of the investigation. “The evidence turned over would include complainants’ names, addresses, testimony, and other investigative materials. This is flat out wrong and dangerous,” Khan says in a press release.

Steve Berlin, Executive Director of the Board of Ethics, described those changes as a “snag list” that will make the ethics rules run smoother. We wrote about his testimony in Monday’s newsletter, or you can read the full ordinance.