The City Council Budget Committee meets today at 10:00 a.m. to hear resolutions and ordinances that would direct the Law Department to fight against early termination penalties, possibly hike fees for building inspections done by the fire department, and encourage the city to re-route TIF surplus funds to help plug CPS’ budget gap. Specifically:

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  An ordinance directing the Department of Law to explore legal action concerning early termination penalties, recovering past losses and repayment on all interest rate swap agreements: This Progressive Caucusordinance argues the City and CPS have paid more than $1.1 billion in payments for interest rate swap deals and the city should work to recoup them. “Other public and private entities in the United States have taken legal action... and avoided or lowered termination penalties for interest rate swap agreements and were repaid payments previously made to financial institutions.” Progressive Caucus opposition to swap termination fees within a $200 million water revenue bond deal last month delayed the sale (for the time being).

  
  


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  TIF Surplus for CPS Resolution: More than half the City Council has signed on to the CPS-TIF Surplus resolution that Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) introduced last month. The resolution states the City Council would be in favor of “immediate new TIF surplus action, in addition to the surplus declared in August 2015, be utilized to mitigate any program cuts, layoffs of staff, and reductions in services in the Chicago Public Schools.” Diverting TIF surplus to schools, though it would fall short of CPS’ initial $480 million budget gap for this year, would “offset drastic cuts”, keep “essential programs”, and alleviate “potential mass layoffs. Legislation introduced in Springfield by Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie would divert all TIF surplus to CPS in this emergency situation instead of to other local taxing bodies. Aldermen will hold a press conference an hour before the meeting on the second floor of City Hall to highlight this item, which more than half of the city council has signed up to co-sponsor.

  
  


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  An intergovernmental agreement to expand Divvy to Evanston and Oak Park: Chicago has so far received $28 million from the federal government for the bike sharing program, with the city chipping in roughly $6.5 million. According to the IGA, the City will pass through $320,000 to Evanston and $480,000 to Oak Park for an “interoperable”, branded Divvy program. Evanston will pay $80,000 in local matching funds, Oak Park will pay $120,000. Costs and revenues will be shared: Chicago will get annual membership fees for people whose addresses are listed in Chicago and anywhere outside Evanston or Oak Park, and annual memberships purchased by people with Evanston or Oak Park mailing addresses will be distributed to each. Revenue from overage fees and 24-hour passes will also go towards the municipality where the ride originates.

  
  


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  An ordinance authorizing the fire commissioner to pick a program for electronic tracking and billing of building inspections: The ordinance authorizes Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago to choose a provider for electronic handling of inspection records and fees for those inspections. The costs will be borne by inspectors, who can pass on charges to building owners.

  
  


• A communication recommending a proposed ordinance amending the municipal code concerning the continuation of the MBE/WBE Construction Procurement Program: Last month, Budget Chair Carrie Austin called for a temporary extension of the city’s Minority and Women-Owned Business (M/WBE) Construction Program that was set to expire at the end of the year. The original ordinance extended it through 2020, but Austin called for temporary stretch through March 31, 2016. Since this is just a communication, the committee won’t hear testimony or debate changes to the M/WBE Construction Procurement Program at this meeting.

For more than three hours, aldermen from a broad spectrum of backgrounds pushed back against Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposed tobacco regulations that would increase the city’s smoking age to 21 and generate $6 million in new revenue from increased taxes on tobacco products. Committee Finance Chairman Ed Burkeeventually decided to hold the item for further consideration.

At the end of yesterday's meeting, Burke called a new meeting on Wednesday at 9:15 a.m. to reconsider the item.

Present: Chairman Ed Burke (14), Joe Moreno (1), Pat Dowell (3), Leslie Hairston (5), Roderick Sawyer (6) Greg Mitchell (7), Anthony Beale (9), Sue Sadlowski Garza (10),  Patrick Daley Thompson (11), Marty Quinn (13), Toni Foulkes (16), David Moore (17), Matt O’Shea (19), Willie Cochran (20), Howard Brookins, Jr. (21), Rick Munoz (22), Mike Zalewski (23), Michael Scott, Jr. (24), Danny Solis (25), Walter Burnett, Jr. (27), Jason Ervin (28), Carrie Austin (34), Marge Laurino (38), Scott Waguespack (32), Nick Sposato (38), Pat O’Connor (40), Tom Tunney (44), John Arena (45), James Cappleman (46), Ameya Pawar (47) Harry Osterman (48), Deb Silverstein (50)

Yesterday’s Finance Committee meeting started with a full press gallery, likely in anticipation of a debate on a resolution urging the city to quickly settle the a lawsuit filed by Bettie Ruth Jones, the woman accidentally killed by the Chicago police officer responding to the Quintonio Legrier call, but a section of the gallery emptied out moments after the meeting was called to order when Chairman Burke (14) announced that he and resolution sponsor Ald. Jason Ervin (28) agreed to hold the resolution and submit it to a subcommittee to fix the “verbiage.”

Tobacco Tax Debate

Expressing worry that the increased taxes would kill small businesses, especially those located in border wards, and fuel the underground market of loose cigarette sales, aldermen argued the new regulations would cause more harm than good during three hours of debate.

[Draft Substitute Ordinance Language]

While the revenue generated by the new tax would fund a new orientation program for CPS freshmen smoking cessation programs, some aldermen argued the enforcement mechanism is unclear; a few questioned whether the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) or the city’s police department would take over the reins to enforce the new rules.

Although Chicago’s cigarette tax is already the highest in the nation, Public Health Commissioner Julie Morita, M.D. says raising the tobacco age would to curb youth smoking at a key time when their brains are still developing. Smokers who start at a younger age will have a harder time quitting as they get older, she said. Young consumers are also more price sensitive.

But Ald. Leslie Hairston (5) rejected that premise, pointing to the thousands of young adults who buy expensive concert tickets, cell phones, and designer clothing and shoes. “It seems like we are a city that wants to chase people away,” she said, garnering cheers from the gallery.

South Side Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6) says he knows one man who makes $800 a day selling loose cigarettes. He gave voice to concerns that the new taxes would hurt “communities of color”. Ald. Jason Ervin (28) recalled a constituent who used to sell loose cigarettes out in the “freezing cold” but now sells those cigarettes “from the luxury of a brand new Jeep.”

When Commissioner Morita suggested aldermen were raising “theoretical” concerns about black market sales, Ald. Ervin shot back, “I would implore you to walk down Madison with me, from Hamlin all the way to Kosner, and you will see the real consequences of what we’re talking about. This is not theoretical. This is not something I dreamed up,” he added.

Apologizing and saying she misspoke when dismissing Ervin’s comments, Morita tried to shift the conversation back to the public health benefits of the ordinance.

But few aldermen were interested in talking about health. While they agreed curbing youth smoking is admirable, they said they couldn't understand why the city felt the need to target small business owners who, in some cases, could see up to a 50% reduction in sales.

Several aldermen asked to hear how CPS plans to spend the $6 million in potential new revenue. The Mayor’s office has said it would be earmarked for a new week-long orientation program for students entering their freshman year of high school. Finding it odd that the new taxes are aimed at curbing smoking, which theoretically would lead to a reduction in year-over-year revenue, Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11) asked how the summer program could continue when the annual revenue isn’t guaranteed. Morita said she didn’t have an answer.

Even former Ald. James Balcer (11) showed up to testify against the ordinance. Balcer, who is a veteran, said vets and active military personnel should be exempt from the age restrictions, because, as he put it, if they are old enough to fight for their country and vote, they are old enough to smoke.

As the hearing approached the three hour mark, Ald. Ameya Pawar (47), who is not a member of the committee, but is one of the ordinance's lead sponsors, had had enough and accused his colleagues of backing big tobacco.

“I’m at a loss, we have progressives saying they’re for tobacco. I don’t know what is going on when we have people carrying the water of tobacco companies,” he opined. Taking his comments a step further, Ald. Pawar said yesterday’s focus on the economic impact of tobacco sales was akin to colonial times, when during the British occupation of India, the British used to give out free cigarettes as a way “to get them hooked so they could pay for them later.”

The dividing issue of public health versus business interest carried over into the public portion of the meeting. Representatives from the American Heart Association and area hospitals lined up to support the ordinance for its health benefits.

Representatives from the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, 7-Eleven, Jewel Osco, and two South Side pastors testified against the ordinance, citing the economic burden they’d face and the potential legal issues the city would open itself up to if it approved the changes.

According to Tanya Triche, vice president and general counsel of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association (IRMA), Chicago has no jurisdiction to impose a new tax because the state legislature ended that authority in the early 1990s. Should the industry take legal action on this package, the recent taxes the City Council approved on vaping products could be folded into the lawsuit. “These are very murky legal waters,” she warned.

Committee Approves $3M+ In Police-Related Legal Settlements

The handful of aldermen who remained in the Council chambers following the heated debate on tobacco approved about $3.5 million in legal settlements lodged against the city’s police department. All three settlements were approved together by voice vote following testimony on each item from Jane Notz with the City’s Law Department.

The biggest amount, $3.1 million, settles a Department of Justice suit against a hiring practice no longer in effect that required ten-years continuous residency in the U.S. for all police candidates. Ald. Nick Sposato (38), a former firefighter, cast the sole “no” vote, arguing the department’s residency requirement was warranted. “I’m so troubled by this. I don’t think this is something I can support. I think we did everything right… We need a history, we need to know what these people were like.”

The suit alleges that between 2006 and 2011 the police department engaged in “national origin discrimination,” blocking 47 police candidates a spot on the force because they failed the residency requirement, said Notz.

“The requirement was designed to ensure that applicants had sufficient contacts in the United States for the department to conduct an adequate background check,” she explained. However, Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act makes it illegal to discriminate against an employee because of his or her national origin, leading the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to find the police department at fault. The department revised the policy to five years in August 2011. The new policy is not considered discriminatory, since only two candidates were turned down, Notz said.

A number of factors contributed to the $3.1 million figure. Under the settlement, the department has agreed to hire up to eight of the 47 applicants who were denied a spot on the police force. Each of the new hires will be eligible to receive retroactive retirement benefits (about $1 million). The city will also pay approximately $2 million in backpay damages and a $10,000 award to each of the two original plaintiffs, “in recognition of their assistance to the DOJ and EEOC.”

If the case had made it to court, Notz explained, the city could have been forced to pay out additional benefits to the denied police candidates and a court order could have forced the department to hire more than eight candidates.

The other two legal settlements the committee approved stem from allegations of police misconduct, or more specifically, illegal searches and seizures. Both had a smaller price tag: $200,000 and $220,000.

Municipal Depository Retraction - [Press release and draft ordinance.]

Ald. Jason Ervin (28) and Ald. Michael Scott, Jr. (24) directly introduced an ordinance into committee that would remove JP Morgan from the list of banks that can hold the city’s money in response to the bank closing a branch at 4114 W. Madison St. in East Garfield Park. It’s the only bank or ATM in the community, Ald. Ervin explained. Chairman Burke held the matter to give Ald. Ervin time to work the issue out with the bank and said it could be heard at the next meeting if no movement has been made.

McPier Building Permit Fee Waiver

Once-controversial building permit fee waivers for McPier that Chairman Burke held in committee after aldermen cried foul were brought up at the very end of the meeting, after the miscellaneous portion. Mike Merchant with the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority testified for less than five minutes and it was quickly approved by the handful of aldermen that remained.

Back in January, after nearly 40 minutes of debate, Chairman Burke held two proposals that would have waived building and permit fees for the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, as well as a proposal that would authorize $7 million in TIF funds to pay for a new public park next to the Marriott Marquis Hotel currently being built. Some aldermen complained the city shouldn't be subsidizing private development.

But those in opposition were long gone by then. Ald. Pat Dowell’s (3) ordinance, if approved Wednesday, will save McPier roughly $2.6 million in construction fees associated with the McCormick Place expansion plan through 2017.

SSA Appointments Approved

The Committee quickly approved SSA appointments for:

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  John H. Idler, SSA 1-2015, the State Street Commission

  
  


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  Jacob Elkins-Ryan, SSA 8, the Lakeview East Commission

  
  


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  Nicol Vargas, SSA 18, the North Halsted Commission

  
  


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  Nickolas J. Cocalis, SSA 18, the North Halsted Commission

  
  


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  Luis A. Monje, SSA 27, the West Lakeview Commission

  
  


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  Paul F. Kartcheske, SSA 31, Greater Ravenswood Commission

  
  

An ordinance that would trigger special reporting from the State’s Attorney’s Office on big County financial settlements is up for consideration in the Cook County Finance Subcommittee on Litigation. The ordinance, sponsored by Commissioner Bridget Gainer and co-sponsored by Comm. Larry Suffredin and Comm. Peter Silvestri,includes a provision requiring the State’s Attorney’s office to release photo, video, or other relevant evidence in cases where the County seeks to settle for more than $500,000.

The ordinance was introduced weeks after the release of the Laquan McDonaldvideo, and after Cook County Commissioners John Fritchey and Jesus 'Chuy' Garcia called for State's Attorney Anita Alvarez to testify before the board on her role in the case. Comm. Richard Boykin has also called for a special prosecutor in future police shooting cases in the County, arguing the State's Attorney's relationship with police is too close to prosecute fairly.

In any settlement above that amount, the SA’s office would have to disclose potential conflicts of interest in the case, the employment status of County stakeholders named in the case, and “significant tangible evidence” like photos or video that are relevant to the settlement recommendation. The SA would also have to submit an annual summary of all cases settled for more than $500,000, and report regularly to the County’s Ethics Officer on county employees involved in settlements.

"As advocates for the best interests of all Cook County stakeholders it is our job as County Commissioners to ensure we are given all information in order to make decisions with millions of dollars of taxpayer dollars. Access to this information will also help serve as an additional safety-net for our critical first-responders: police officers, sheriff’s deputies, doctors, nurses and all Cook County employees,” Gainer said in a statement.

A special meeting of Cook County’s Finance Committee is scheduled today to hear the impact of the state budget standoff on public safety and health programs. Last month, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and officials from her administration warned of the risk of the County having to lay off dozens of employees without tens of millions of dollars worth of state and federal grants that pass through Springfield.

In January, County CFO Ivan Samstein said “common knowledge has shifted”, and the possibility that a FY2016 budget for Illinois might never pass was becoming more plausible. Budget Director Tanya Anthony told commissioners 46 employees in public safety and public health could be laid off.

Today’s meeting will include presentations from Samstein on, “all state grants and other State of Illinois revenues that impact the 2016 Budget of Cook County,” Budget Director Tanya Anthony on what the County can do to balance the current FY16 budget without grant funds, and Cook County Health and Hospital System officials on all state funds owed to the system and the impact layoffs would have on county clinics and hospitals.

This morning the Zoning Committee will take up the next step in the Blackhawks’ andRush University Medical Center’s plans for the old Malcolm X College campus on the city’s Near West Side. The Chicago Blackhawks hockey team is looking to build a community ice rink and training facility at the site. Rush University wants to build a new medical campus. The University will take a majority of the 11 acre site to build a 1.4 million square foot “academic village” that’ll include three academic buildings and one dormitory for 300 students.

According to University President Peter Butler, who spoke before the Plan Commission in January, student enrollment has doubled over recent years and their current facilities and technology are nearly half a century old.

While both projects got full support from the Chicago Plan Commission last month, a handful of commissioners said they were concerned that the timetable for Rush’s plans–a six-year first phase and three-to-five years in between the subsequent three phases–is a bit long. Some weren’t thrilled that a provision in the planned development wouldn’t require Rush to go back for public review should they decide to amend their proposal later. Instead, the development team would have the ability to work out any changes through an internal review by the Department of Planning and Development.

Another application, from Clark 800, LLC, seeks to an amend an existing planned development to build a 230-unit residential building at a site directly north of Bush Temple, a Chicago Landmark. That item got Plan Commission approval in January as well.

Fulton Market Rezone

Sterling Bay’s application to rezone a section of Fulton Market where a partially completed office building currently stands will also be reviewed today. The project stalled after the dot-com bust in the late nineties, when developers were unable to finance the full project. The site and the adjacent 170-car parking garage to the north have been vacant ever since.

Calling the project a “catalyst” for the neighborhood at the December Plan Commission meeting, representatives from Sterling Bay sought a rezone to expand the existing skeleton, transforming it into an eight-story building with office and commercial space. The bottom five floors will conform with the height and design of the surrounding brick buildings, while the top three floors will have an extensive setback, with a glass and aluminum facade. The parking garage will be expanded to hold approximately 610 parking spaces to serve the entire Fulton Market community. At the December meeting, Ald. Walter Burnett (27) said the burgeoning Fulton Market is facing a parking shortage.

Bucktown Tower

Also on tap: Vequity’s plan to build a seven-story residential building at a busy intersection on the corner of Milwaukee and Western Avenue next to the Western Avenue blue line stop. According to Kyle Glascott, one of the members on Vequity’s development team, most of the units will be roughly 600-square-foot one-bedroom units. Their target audience is “young professionals” and they’re hoping to lease out the ground floor commercial space to a “transit oriented” retail operator, like a cafe or bike repair shop, he told the Plan Commission last month.

This application got a lot of pushback from commissioners because no affordable units are planned on site. Ald. Joe Moreno (1) was particularly peeved about this project and accused neighboring Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) of failing to do his job in ensuring affordable units. This project did not get unanimous Plan Commission support.

Uptown/Maryville Development

Vequity’s application is not nearly as controversial as the proposed residential development for the former Maryville/Cuneo Hospital site in Uptown. JDL Development is looking to build a massive, 860-unit housing complex with 50,000 square feet of retail and commercial space at an expected price tag of $125 million. At issue: TIF money is being offered for the project and local residents are crying foul. Dozens of local residents testified against the project at the January Plan Commission meeting and it failed to win unanimous support from commissioners.

Industrial Party Liquor License

Zoning Chairman Danny Solis (25) will finally bring up an ordinance he introduced over the summer creating a new liquor license for industrial parties. It’s unclear why Solis has been holding on to the ordinance for so long, but a staff assistant said it will move forward unamended. The ordinance would eliminate Class A and B licenses and create a new license with a fee structure based on the number of attendees, starting at $700 for an event with at least 350 attendees and capped at $4,000 for an event with 4,000 attendees.

With the new license, hosts could serve liquor for up to three days at a maximum of six locations between 4:00 p.m. and midnight on weekdays, 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. on Saturdays, and 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. on Sundays. Events held at places of worship or schools would be exempt. To apply for the license, a vendor must submit certification of insurance of at least $300,000 per incident, a description of the event, a site plan, and other routine information (time, location, place, etc.). A 35 to 90 day review process is required under the ordinance.

Solis' ordinance also provides local control: the city must notify the local alderman and all property owners within 500 feet within 5 days of receiving a license application. All parties have 35 days from when the license fee is paid to file an objection. Violators could face penalties of up to $10,000.

A new incentive program for cab drivers pitched by the Mayor’s Office is up for discussion in License and Consumer Protection Committee today, as are restrictions for mobile food vendors along certain stretches in Lincoln Park and label changes for grease containers. One item noticeably missing from the agenda today: Mayor Rahm Emanuel's proposed changes to regulations for home-sharing companies likeAirbnb, VRBO, and HomeAway.

Council sources say the holdup is not entirely due to Ald. Will Burns' (4) exit from City Council to lobby for Airbnb. Many stakeholders, including aldermen and lobbyists for condo, realtors, and hospitality interest groups, think the ordinance needs tinkering. Mayor Emanuel introduced an ordinance at City Council's January meeting that would, according to a press release, allow the city to track units. Renters will have to “register their units with the city through a free and simple online process. House-sharing companies will also be able to register these units directly with the city."

Yesterday evening, after working hours, Ald. Pat O’Connor (40), chair of a working group to tweak an ordinance that would merge the Office of the Legislative Inspector General with the City's Office of the Inspector General, released an analysis of draft legislation detailing how the changes would work and what proposed new jurisdictions the IG would have. The analysis, mailed to aldermen’s private email addresses, was forwarded to Aldertrack.

[IG Working Group Ordinance Analysis]

The original merger ordinance, sponsored by Ald. Ameya Pawar (47) and Ald. Michele Smith (42) was deferred and published at the January Council meeting. Following the meeting, O’Connor announced he was chairing a working group to “clean up” the ordinance in preparation for the February full City Council meeting, when it would be forced to a simple up or down vote. The chief changes, according to the worksheet are:

• IG’s authority does not extend to reviewing, auditing or investigating waste and inefficiency in the City Council’s legislative processes and operations.


• The IG receives complaints against CC employees.


• Investigation against an alderman can be initiated only by a complaint that (1) names the alderman; (2) states the facts underlying the complaint; and (3) is signed by the person making the complaint. Any city officer or employee may sign such a complaint.


• The deferred and published IG ordinance is amended by inserting “whereas” clauses.


• The deferred and published IG ordinance is amended by removing a code section amending the OIG’s minimum budget. The minimum budget language is legislated and already included in the code.


• The deferred and published IG ordinance is amended by specifying that the IG can investigate alleged violations of Chicago Municipal Code Chapter 2-156 (the Ethics Ordinance), or any other law, order or regulation applicable to aldermen/CC employees’ performance of duties or discharge of responsibilities.


• The deferred and published IG ordinance is amended by correcting outdated effective date language.

The Council’s Finance Committee will take up a $3 million settlement today stemming from a Department of Justice lawsuit filed against the city’s Police Department over a hiring practice it no longer employs. The committee will also take up new tobacco regulations that includes a plan to change the smoking age to 21 and dozens of other routine items involving TIFs.

Police-Related Settlements

The lawsuit filed by Vanita Gupta, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on Friday claims the Chicago Police Department unfairly discriminated against foreign-born police applicants because of a hiring policy requiring ten years of continuous residency in the U.S.

This requirement, according to the lawsuit, “resulted in statistically-significant adverse impact against candidates born outside the United States on the basis of their national origin.”

Of the police candidates whom CPD disqualified through this requirement, 92.2% were foreign-born candidates and only 7.8% were born in the U.S., the lawsuit argues. “CPD has not demonstrated that its use of the ten-year continuous residency requirement is job related for the PPO position and consistent with business necessity.”

The lawsuit cites two police candidates, Masood Khan from India, and Glenford Flowers from Belize, who passed the written test in 2006 but were denied a spot on the force because they didn’t pass the residency requirement.

“When reviewing the PHQs [Personal History Questionnaires] of candidates who passed on of the 2006 written examinations, CPD disqualified from further hiring consideration all candidates who had not continuously resided in the United States of ten years prior to the date of submission of the completed PHQ. CPD enforced this ten-year continuous residency requirement for all PPO applicants who took the 2006 written examination other than those who were abroad as result of military service.”

Soon after being denied a badge, the candidates filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Fund, which forwarded the complaint to the Department of Justice.

The police department eliminated the ten-year continuous residency requirement in 2011, replacing it with a five-year requirement.

The other two legal settlements on the agenda are also police-related. One lawsuit filed by Tiffany Hondras alleges police officers unfairly cuffed her and her boyfriend after pulling her boyfriend’s car over without cause. Hondras filed the lawsuit in 2013. The city seeks to settle the case for $220,000.

A second lawsuit filed by Jonathan and Jesse Hadnott, Kevin Hunt and Brandell Betts would be settled for a $200,000 payout. Jonathan Hadnott alleges Chicago police officers illegally stopped, searched, and detained him one December afternoon in 2006. After police detained Hadnott, the suit claims, police officers drove to Hunt and Betts’ home. “Defendant police officers entered and searched [home] without warrant, without permission, and without legal cause,” the lawsuit claims.

“Plaintiffs were detained against their will at the home and not allowed to leave withle defendant police officers searched the home. Defendants say they were looking for a gun.”

After the police officers failed to recover a gun at the home, they left, the suit claims.

Another police-related item will also be addressed by the committee: A resolution sponsored by four South Side aldermen calling for the city to settle a lawsuit filed by the two daughters of Bettie Jones who was accidently shot by police over the Christmas holiday. The incident occurred on the evening of December 26th, when Jones’ neighbor, Antonio LeGrier, called the police because his son Quintonio LeGrier was threatening him with a baseball bat. When the police showed up, Jones answered the door and was “accidentally struck and tragically killed.”

But Alderman Jason Ervin (28), the main sponsor of the ordinance, claims the police are at fault for failing to provide medical attention and “stopp[ing] Mrs. Jones’ daughter Latisha from administering first aid.” The shooting happened in Ervin’s ward. Aldermen Michael Scott, Jr. (24), Derrick Curtis (18) and Chris Taliaferro (29) are listed as co-sponsors.

Tobacco Tax Changes

In addition to raising the smoking age in Chicago, the Emanuel Administration wants to further regulate the price and quantity by which certain tobacco products are sold. The ordinance would impose new taxes and set a minimum price of $11.50 for a pack of cigarettes, a pack of little cigars (cigarillos), and a pouch of loose tobacco. Cigarillos would have to be sold at a minimum pack size of 20. Bigger cigars would be capped at four per pack. Expensive cigars, generally sold at specialty shops, would be exempt from these rules. The changes are expected to bring in an additional $6 million to be used to fund a universal summer orientation program for all incoming CPS freshman.

Aldermen are expected to hear supporting testimony from Joel Affrick with the Respiratory Health Association, Jameika A. Sampson with Mercy Hospital, and Dr. Timothy Sanborn, a cardiologist at NorthShore Medical Group.

Naturally, the tobacco industry opposes the added taxes and regulations and have been pushing robo-calls to a lot of South and West Side aldermen warning them the changes could lead to an underground market of loose cigarette sales, one source said.

The changes, per the Mayor’s office:

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  Setting a minimum price for the following products:

  
  
  
  
  
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    $11.50 for a pack of cigarettes, a pack of little cigars, and a 0.65 ounce pouch of roll-your-own tobacco

    
    
  
  
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    $4.00 for an ounce of smokeless tobacco

    
    
  
  
  
  


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  Requiring little cigars be sold at a minimum pack size of 20 and four per pack for big cigars (exempting expensive cigars)

  
  


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  Ban of free samples and discounts that put the price below the minimum

  
  


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  A tax on non-cigarette products:

  
  
  
  
  
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    $0.15 per little cigar, raising the price of a 20-pack from $5.79 to $8.79

    
    
  
  
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    $0.90 per cigar, raising the price of the average two-pack of cigars from $2.25 to $4.05

    
    
  
  
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    $6.60 per ounce of roll-your-own tobacco, raising the average price of a small pouch from $7.25 to $11.54

    
    
  
  
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    $1.80 per ounce of smokeless tobacco, raising the price of the standard 1.2 ounce can from $4.19 to $6.35

    
    
  
  
  
  

Routine Items

TIF $ for Belmont-Cragin Elementary School: The ordinance before the committee would transfer $287,000 in Tax Increment Financing, TIF, money for the construction of a new playground with rubber surfacing. “The funds would be applied to planning, design and construction costs. The work would be entirely funded by TIF,” according to a press release from the mayor’s office.

Small Business Improvement Fund Program: This ordinance would renew this program in four Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts. The Small Business Improvement Fund provides financial assistance for building improvement costs. The SBIF grant uses local TIF revenues to reimburse eligible applicants for repairs done to industrial, commercial, or residential properties located within specific TIF districts. The assistance is provided once the project is complete and does not have to be repaid. The proposal the Department of Planning and Development introduced would reallocate $500,000 each for existing SBIF programs in the Austin, Commercial, Belmont/Central, and Portage Park TIF districts and $1 million for the Northwest Industrial Corridor TIF district.

The Committee will take up an ordinance that would help with the planned expansion of Julia de Burgos Park, one of a handful of city-owned parks located along the elevated Bloomingdale Trail. Under the agreement before the committee, the Logan Square park would receive $235,000 in “Open Space Impact Fees,” which are taken from new residential developments to help expand and improve local park space. The money would help pay for environmental remediation costs at an adjacent vacant plot of land the city acquired. Once the cleanup is done, the land would be transferred to the Chicago Park District.

In this week's episode we breakdown the stalled contract negotiations between the Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers' Union, accusations that Gov. Bruce Rauner tried to tank CPS' bond deal, a $1 land sale for a new charter school campus in Woodlawn, and potential changes to the city's remaining mental health clinics.

A proposal to sell 19 city-owned parcels of vacant land for $1 to the University of Chicago advanced out the Council’s Housing and Real Estate Committee yesterday. But the plan wasn’t without controversy with a handful of aldermen questioning the “fairness” of the sale.

The land, approximately 153,200-square-feet, is appraised at $755,000 (approximately $4.93 per square foot). Under a public-private partnership with the city, the University would spend $27.5 million to build a new three-story charter school and athletic field.

The new school building will serve the university's existing Woodlawn Charter School (UCCS-Woodlawn), which has an enrollment of about 650 students in grades six through twelve. UCCS-Woodlawn, run by the University of Chicago’s Urban Education Institute, is currently leasing space from CPS at the old Woodworth Elementary school.

The sale got significant pushback from Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza (10), the only alderman on the Council who is also a member of Chicago Teachers Union (CTU).

“I have a big problem with this because this is a charter school network. We all know what is happening with CPS. We’re going to give a charter school network 19 parcels for a dollar when CPS is broke makes no sense to me, ”she said, pressing officials from CPS, the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) and the University of Chicago to explain the price.

The university made a bid to CPS in the summer of 2014 to purchase the Woodworth Elementary School building, according to Liza Balistreri, Director of Real Estate for the Board of Education. The board rejected their offer because the university’s $100,000 bid fell far short of Woodworth’s appraised value, which was somewhere between $2 and 2.6 million.

But since the university had planned to spend millions on rehabbing that school–almost as much as they planned to spend on a new campus–the city worked out a “public-private partnership” with university to sell the adjacent vacant land so they could instead build a new school, according to Michelle Nolan, a project manager for DPD.

Garza was unimpressed. “I don’t have a problem with new schools. I have a problem with new charter schools.”

“When these schools are built, the neighborhood schools lose their kids and then CPS comes in, says they’re underutilized, and then they close them and give them to more charters,” she added.

Ald. Willie Cochran (20), whose South Side ward would benefit from the new campus, defended the project, touting UCCS-Woodlawn’s graduation and college acceptance rates, which he said are the second highest in the city. The network has a $40 million yearly budget. “This school has been doing a tremendous amount of work in improving education… $755,000 is worth the investment in my children, in my community.”

Sean Evans, CEO of the university's charter school network, reminded aldermen that this land sale isn’t considered “charter school expansion,” because their school has been around since 2006. “We want to serve students on the South Side,” Evans explained, adding that all four of the network’s schools are located there. He says 99% of their student population is African American and 82% qualify for free or reduced lunch.

Committee Vice Chair Pat Dowell (3) asked Evans to detail investments the university has made in the city, which he eagerly obliged. The Urban Education Institute has an annual budget of about $40 million, where it spends money on the charter schools, it runs a consortium that provides data and research for all public schools in the city, teacher training programs, and IMPACT, he said.

Ald. Michael Scott, Jr. (24) praised one of the school’s recent graduates, whom he said he had the “pleasure of meeting” recently. And Ald. Cochran again reminded his colleagues that this school is what his community wants.

Still, there was reluctance.

“A number of us feel charters benefit from incentives, that’s an argument for a whole other day,” Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) noted. “I don’t think that I would consider U of C to be a cash-strapped non-for-profit institute. I would have just hoped that we would have been able to negotiate a better deal,” he said pointing to the rest of the agenda where land sales were priced in the thousands of dollars.

Englewood Alderman David Moore (17) wasn’t thrilled that the new school would increase its capacity by 100 students, saying, “So, you are pulling students from all of our communities.”

When it was eventually time to vote on the item, Moore and Garza (10) voted no.

Mt. Sinai Land Transfer

Another one dollar land sale advanced through committee with a lot less pushback: a proposal to sell 12 parcels in North Lawndale to Mt. Sinai Health System. The hospital would rehab the existing 7,800-square-foot, one-story building, an old Boys & Girls Club, into a child development center with eight classrooms, administrative offices, and an outdoor playground. The building has been vacant since 2007 and construction would cost $3.5 million.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the price tag,” said Ald. Lopez said.“I would like to see us do a little better, especially when we have to go back to our constituents and tell them that we did everything we could.”

Chairman Joe Moore (49) asked local alderman Michael Scott, Jr. (24) to defend the price tag.

Scott said Mt. Sinai is the neighborhood’s biggest employer and the investment they’ve put in the community goes a long way. Sarah Wilson with DPD said the city had problems securing a tenant for the property.

The facility will serve as the new home for the existing Gads Hill Center, a family resource provider that’s served low-income residents on the city’s southwest side since the late 1800s.

CTA Lease Renewal

One item on the agenda was held: an ordinance authorizing a lease renewal with the Chicago Transit Authority for use of vacant city-owned property at 5975 N. Pulaski Rd. in the 39th Ward, at the request of local Ald. Marge Laurino. At the last housing meeting, she expressed concern that CTA bus drivers were using the lot as a bathroom stop (the bus drivers put a porta potty there) and she was working on getting them to find another place to do their business.

The Chicago Board of Elections says while yesterday was the statutory start date for early voting, because the board has yet to complete testing 1,000 different ballot styles in four different languages, balloting systems likely won’t be ready until Feb 17. You can check the status here. A Board statement said some pending statewide objections just wrapped this week.

Anyone who arrives early at the Chicago Election Board to vote early will get an application to Vote by Mail–you can save a trip by applying for a ballot online (deadline is March 10).

Per the board, when in-person early voting starts, the program will be offered:

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  Through Feb. 28 only at the Chicago Election Board at 69 W. Washington St.

  
  


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  From Feb. 29 through March 12, at 51 sites throughout the city.

  
  


• On March 13 and March 14, at 14 “permanent” early voting sites.

Ald. Pat O’Connor (40), Chairman of the City Council’s Workforce Development Committee, sent out an email to aldermen yesterday reminding them that he plans to discharge an ordinance from his committee that would eliminate the Legislative Inspector General’s office and put the authority of policing aldermen under the jurisdiction of the City’s Inspector General, Joe Ferguson.

That ordinance, sponsored by Ald. Michele Smith (43) and Ald. Ameya Pawar (47), was deferred and published at last month’s city council meeting at the request of two powerful aldermen: Finance Chairman Ed Burke (14) and Budget Chairman Carrie Austin (34). After that meeting, Ald. Austin told Aldertrack she wanted to clean up the language of the ordinance and add a provision requiring signed affidavits for all complaints. “If you gonna tell on me, how come you don’t want to swear to it?” she had asked rhetorically.

The email Ald. O’Connor sent is a procedural Rule 41 reminder that the full Council meeting will have to vote on the matter at the City Council meeting scheduled for next Wednesday.

A working group of six aldermen created at the January City Council meeting to “clean up” the ordinance has met twice since then, said one member, Ald. Joe Moore (49).

Another member, Ald. Pawar, tells Aldertrack he and his colleagues are, “still working things through… people are still trying to figure out whether there are any tweaks,” but couldn’t offer up specific changes that have been proposed.

Ald. Moore stayed similarly tight-lipped, “We’re still working on stuff. Still working on some language.”

“There’s going to be a vote. That much we know,” Pawar said.

Ald. Will Burns (4), who sponsored, but raised concerns about the ordinance, and two Progressive Caucus members and supporters: Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6), and Ald. Rick Munoz (22), are also part of the working group.

Before last month’s vote, Ald. Burns (4) suggested he’d like to see more protections from political attacks. "Sometimes when you tell people ‘no’ and you make difficult decisions over land use, over TIF funding, over public subsidies, CDBG, whether someone can purchase a vacant lot, you could anger those people and they could file complaints and use, or abuse, unfortunately, the ethics process to harass and to seek retaliation."

He suggested formation of a special City Council committee, similar to the State Legislature’s bicameral Legislative Ethics Commission, to “have some sort of oversight over whether or not the Inspector General conducts an investigation… as a check or protection against what can be fairly sweeping powers.” He said he worried that it would be politically difficult to change provisions of the ordinance in the future without it looking like aldermen were “watering it down.”

A proposal to sell approximately 3.5 acres of city-owned land to the University of Chicago for construction of a new charter school campus is up for consideration in Council’s Housing and Real Estate Committee today.

The committee will consider an ordinance that would transfer a plot of vacant land valued at $755,000 to the university for $1. The university is interested in building a new campus for their existing Woodlawn Charter School, which currently serves 650 6th-12th grade students. U of C operates four charter schools scattered throughout the South Side. An allocation of up to $200,000 in TIF money to one of those schools, Donohue, was approved in 2011.

Woodlawn is about a block away from the development site, and is housed in what used to be a CPS school, Wadsworth Elementary. The new campus would allow the school to increase enrollment to 750 students and includes plans for STEM labs and an outdoor track that would be open for community use.

The university plans to spend $27.5 million on the new three-story building in Ald. Willie Cochran’s 20th Ward, bounded by East 63rd Street to the north, South University Avenue on the east, East 64th Street on the south and South Greenwood Avenue on the west. Cochran has sponsored a series of zoning changes to accommodate the build.

Other notable items on the agenda:

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  a sale of city-owned land in North Lawndale to Sinai Health System and Sinai Community Institute. The 12 city-owned parcels of land in the 24th ward appraised at $255,000 will be sold to Sinai Health System for $1. The hospital will rehab the existing 7,800-square-foot, one-story building into a child development center with eight classrooms, administrative offices, and an outdoor playground. Construction will cost $3.5 million. According to a press release from the mayor’s office, the facility will serve as the new home for the existing Gads Hill Center, “a community-based family resource provider serving low-income residents.” The center has been in operation at its current location on the city’s southwest side since 1898. The move is part of the “Sinai Tomorrow” redevelopment plan of the hospital campus. (24th Ward)

  
  


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  a $40,000 sale of city-owned land to the Luna Liena Group run by the Mickelson family. According to the application they filed with the city, the company will build a parking lot. (3rd Ward)

  
  


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  an amended redevelopment agreement with Windy City Habitat for Humanity(d/b/a Habitat for Humanity). The organization got approval in 2011 to build 16 single family homes to be sold at 100% of area medium income (AMI) and are now seeking an extension. The organization has built two homes so far. Under the extended timeline, construction will need to be completed by March 31, 2018. (34th Ward)

  
  

The Committee on Human Relations advanced an ordinance that would make it harder for landlords to discriminate against veteran and active duty military personnel looking for housing amid questions by some committee members about whether the protections would have unintended consequences for individual renters.

Members Present (11/17): Chairman Joe Moreno (1), Brian Hopkins (2), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), David Moore (17), Jason Ervin (28), Ariel Reboyras (30), Scott Waguespack (32), Milly Santiago (31), Anthony Napolitano (41), Michele Smith (43).

According to testimony from Mona Noriega, the head of the city’s Commission on Human Relations, it is becoming more common for landlords to discriminate against military personnel, especially those who are still active, for fear that notice of sudden deployment will leave the landlord in pinch to fill the vacant unit.

Similarly, veterans who attempt to lease an apartment with their GI bill benefits listed as their main source of income find a hard time getting an apartment, because landlords don’t consider those benefits to be a stable source of income, Noriega added.

The ordinance received some pushback from Ald. Jason Ervin (28) of East Garfield Park and Ald. Brian Hopkins (2) of the Gold Coast. Both gave voice to a concern that a significant number of landlords in the city are “mom and pops” or seniors who are heavily dependent on the income they receive from renting out their apartment or a floor in their home.

“The average dwelling in my ward is a two-unit building, and that means that someone is generally owning and someone is renting, and those residents, they depend on that income to pay the mortgage and to balance out their lives financially,” Ervin explained. These types of renters would be left in a bind to fill the rental units once a military member breaks the lease, he argued.

Victor J. Lagroon, director of veterans affairs for the city, said active duty military officers don’t receive their deployment orders in a 24-hour period, it’s closer to 60 days. In that span, officers can decide whether to continue paying the rent while they are away or break the lease. “Every command in this country requires you to pay your bills. The military is adamant about that,” he added.

Ald. Hopkins echoed concerns on another provision in the ordinance that would make it illegal for a landlord or realtor to retaliate against a tenant who files a housing discrimination complaint against them with the city. Those protections are already in place for employees to file discrimination complaints against their employer.

Without this protection, said Commissioner Noriega, tenants will continue to be reluctant to file complaints for fear of discrimination by their landlords. Such discrimination could come in the form of charging more rent, sexual and other harassment, or other unfair terms and conditions added to the rental lease, she explained. These measures are already codified at the county and state level, she added.

“It’s one thing to have the right to file a complaint, it’s another thing to have an incentive,” Ald. Hopkins warned, arguing the ordinance creates an incentive for a tenant to file a “non-meritorious complaint” when facing possible eviction.

“People who have the skill of being able to move from rental unit to rental unit, they know where the loopholes are, and they know how to play the game and run the clock… and this is one more tool they can use to stay in a place where they’re not paying rent, causing harm to those mom and pops.”

If a tenant files a complaint, that complaint would not stay any ongoing eviction proceedings, a staff representative with Noriega countered. Hopkins ended up voting to approve.

The committee also approved the appointment of Julio Rodriguez to the Commission on Human Relations, a 19-member body created in 2012 to enforce the city’s human rights and anti-discriminatory housing laws. Rodriguez is a deputy director in the office of employment and training for the state’s Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.*

“This is an area that I am very, very interested in. Human rights and access to housing, employment, and other services to me is something that we always have to be very diligent on,” he told the committee.

Chairman Joe Moreno (1), who said he knows Rodriguez personally, touted much of his resume, including various roles with the Illinois Latino Prevention Network andIllinois Leadership Development Council, and his induction into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame.

Correction: Yesterday, we incorrectly reported Rodriguez’s job title based on his LinkedIn, which said he was “director of program services.”