The Chicago Teachers Union and the Board of Education are scheduled to resume contract negotiations this Thursday, according to CTU’s lawyer, Robert Bloch.

CTU has been without a contract since June 30, 2015. Previous attempts to reach an agreement have failed and resulted in a one day strike in April.

In this week’s episode we discuss a plan introduced in the City Council to divert surplus TIF revenue to CPS. It’s second time an alderman has introduced such a plan to help the financially burdened school district. Meanwhile, the city’s Pullman neighborhood gets a Whole Foods distribution plant thanks to some TIF support. 

Two Chicago aldermen are pressing members of the Chicago Board of Education to support their plan to use surplus tax increment financing (TIF) revenue to plug CPS’ budget hole for the upcoming 2017 school year.

At yesterday’s monthly meeting of the full Board, Ald. George Cardenas (12), of Brighton Park, and Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) of Wicker Park and West Town, urged BOE members to support an ordinance they introduced in City Council last week that would create a mechanism for the city to annually assess the district’s financial needs and use surplus TIF money to help fill the hole.

More than 1,600 individual donations were made to Chicago’s elected city officials and Ward Organizations in the month of June, making it one of the biggest fundraising months since the 2015 election.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel alone brought in approximately $525,700 in individual donations. A significant number of those donations, about 15, came from lawyers with Kirkland & Ellis.

[Full Spreadsheet]

A big chunk of that money, about $161,700, came in the form of three checks of $53,900, the maximum allowable amount a political action committee can give to a candidate in one election cycle. Those donors are all trade labor unions: the Chicagoland Operators Joint Labor-Management PAC, Engineers Political Education Committee, and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 399.

Two plans to raise additional revenue for Chicago Public Schools, a roadmap for the creation of a civilian oversight board of the Chicago Police Department, and restrictions on party buses were all introduced by aldermen at the July monthly City Council meeting. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has also made a slew of appointments, including a new Commissioner for the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and two ordinances related to existing bond offerings for O’Hare Airport: (Ordinance #1/Ordinance #2)

One day after nearly 300 people attended a public hearing on police accountability hosted by the City Council’s Progressive Caucus, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Office announced its timeline for reforms, including when the City Council is expected to vote to replace Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) with a “civilian investigative agency,” create a Public Safety Auditor, and a new element: the creation of a Community Oversight Board.

The announcement, which landed late Friday afternoon, included a schedule of five public hearings throughout August for aldermen to gather input from residents. A vote on IPRA's replacement and the new Public Safety Auditor position are expected as early as September. 

Nearly a year after approving a historic property tax hike to shore up revenue for the city’s Police and Fire pension funds, the City Council approves a modest rebate plan for homeowners who make $75k and less. We finally learn what happens when there’s a tie in committee. And demands for a civilian oversight board for the police department builds.

  The Chicago Plan Commission approved a zoning change to facilitate the construction of McDonald’s new headquarters in the Fulton Market District, land-use plans for a second TIF district dedicated to the massive Lathrop Homes development, a plan to turn the historic Old Main Building on the Illinois Institute of Technology campus into apartments, and a new residential housing complex for Wicker Park, along with several other large-scale residential developments and one hotel at its monthly meeting yesterday.

McDonald’s Headquarters for Fulton Market District (27th Ward)

Sterling Bay, the developer behind McDonald’s new downtown office, plans to build a nine-story office building with ground floor retail at the Harpo Studios site, the former home of the Oprah Winfrey Show. The site at 110 N. Carpenter contains a surface parking lot and the adjacent, vacant production studio building.

McDonald’s anticipates that a significant number of the 2,000 employees who currently work out of the Oak Brook office will be transferred to the new Chicago location. A minimum of 300 parking spaces will be provided, along with shuttle buses that will drive to downtown METRA stations.

The City Council’s Law Department is expected to draft a memorandum to aldermen detailing how council committees should proceed when a vote on a matter ends in a tie.

Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) made the request to Jeff Levine, a lead attorney with the city’s Law Department, at yesterday’s early morning Rules Committee meeting after the two butted heads over their own interpretations of the council’s Rules of Procedure.

A proposal to create a Civilian Police Accountability Council to oversee investigations into police misconduct will be introduced by Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) today.

Copy of the Draft Ordinance

The “CPAC” ordinance, as it has been commonly referred to by supporters, would create a board of 22 members elected from each police district across the city. Members would serve four-year terms, with elections held at the same time as those for Chicago Public School’s Local School Councils, which have had low participation rates.

After some last minute negotiations, the Finance Committee approved a re-work of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposed property tax rebate program, including a special “hardship clause” for homeowners with an annual gross income of $50,000 or less.

Attendance: Chairman Ed Burke (14), Joe Moreno (1), Pat Dowell (3), Sophia King (6), Rod Sawyer (6), Gregory Mitchell (7), Michelle Harris (8), Anthony Beale (9), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), George Cardenas (12), Marty Quinn (13), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Derrick Curtis (18), Matt O’Shea (19), Willie Cochran (20), Rick Munoz (22), Mike Zalewski (23), Michael Scott, Jr. (24), Danny Solis (25), Walter Burnett (27), Jason Ervin (28), Ariel Reboyras (30), Scott Waguespack (32), Carlos Ramirez Rosa (35), Emma Mitts (37), Nick Sposato (38), Brendan Reilly (42), Michele Smith (43), Tom Tunney (44), John Arena (45), Harry Osterman (48), Deb Silverstein (50)

No official rules or details as to how the city plans to help homeowners in that income bracket were included in the latest version the committee approved. Instead, at the request of Ald. John Arena (45), a clause was added to the ordinance giving Budget Director Alex Holt the authority to add extra protections for those homeowners. Budget spokesperson Molly Poppe said hardship would be decided case by case, and those who qualify might be eligible to recoup the full amount of their property tax hike.

Today is the monthly City Council meeting. The Rules Committee is expected to convene in the Council Chambers 45 minutes ahead of the full meeting to reconsider a ballot referendum question from Ald. Walter Burnett (27).

The resolution, which asks Chicago voters if the state and federal government should invest more money in city roads and public transit, ended in a rare tie vote (7-to-7) in committee last week.

Items Pending Approval

• A Property Tax Rebate Plan for Homeowners with a gross annual income of $75,000 or less.

• TIF amendments to aid a three-year City-County partnership pilot program aimed at spurring development in the city’s industrial corridors.

• A more robust recycling program from Mayor Rahm Emanuel, designed to bring large residential buildings into compliance with the city’s single-source recycling program.

• $4.72 million in legal settlements against police officers with the Chicago Police Department

• A more robust vacant building registration program, extending the registration requirement to foreclosed commercial and retail property.

• Repealing the $30 exam fee for the police and fire entrance exam to bolster minority recruiting.

• Appointment of Alicia Tate-Nadeau as the Executive Director of the Office Of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC).

• Appointment of Nancy C. Andrade as a member of the Board of Ethics, to replace Julia Nowicki, who resigned.

• Allowing alley access for motor vehicle repair shops with less than seven parking spaces, to make it easier for small businesses to build out a cheaper commercial driveway off the alley.

• A proposal to create a “Shared Street” on a portion of Argyle Street in Edgewater, as part of a new pilot program to make commercial corridors more pedestrian friendly.

• A substitute ordinance changing public way permitting, allowing the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Transportation to issue those permits upon passage by the City Council, rather than only after “passage and publication.”

• Bid incentives for veteran-owned subcontractors or Veteran-owned small local businesses

• An expansion of the city's apprentice program to CPS graduates (the program is currently for graduates of City Colleges)

• A symbolic resolution on the Department of Homeland Security to designate Ecuador for temporary protected status and to provide temporary immigration relief to eligible Ecuadorians living in Chicago following a devastating earthquake there that resulted in 660 deaths and racked up about $3 billion in damages earlier this year.

• A new Animal Care and Control policy calling for humane treatment of urban coyotes.

One proposed property tax break for a vacant warehouse located at the southern tip of Bridgeport is the only item on the agenda for the Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development.  

The applicant is Howard Wedren, the founder and principal of Dayton Street Partners, a “a niche commercial real estate investment and development firm focused on the acquisition and development of infill industrial, office and retail properties”, according to the company’s website.

A revised version of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s property rebate plan and $4.72 million in legal settlements against the Chicago Police Department are up for consideration by the Finance Committee this morning.

Monday’s Zoning Committee was fairly uneventful overall, as all proposed planned development applications were immediately deferred because those items have yet to go before the Plan Commission. A majority of the zoning applications approved were for small development projects, mostly to facilitate the construction of single family homes three-to-four floor, multi-unit residential buildings. A notable number of aldermanic applications were also deferred, as aldermen who had sponsored the zoning changes weren’t in attendance.

Attendance: Chair Danny Solis (25), Vice Chair James Cappleman (46), Proco Joe Moreno (1), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Matt O’Shea (19), Walter Burnett (27), Marge Laurino (39), Brendan Reilly (42).

In an attempt to fill all three referenda slots by next month’s filing deadline for placement on the November ballot, Ald. Walter Burnett (27) filed a letter with the City Clerk Monday that gives notice of his intention to call up his proposed question on infrastructure spending for a vote by the full body at the monthly Council meeting tomorrow.

Ald. Burnett’s proposed non-binding ballot question asks Chicago voters if they think the state and federal government should invest more money in city roads and public transit. Consideration ended in a rare tie vote (7-to-7) in the Rules Committee last Wednesday.

Under Robert’s Rules of Order a tie technically means a motion failed, but Rules Chair Michelle Harris (8) recessed the meeting and scheduled a second vote 45 minutes before the monthly meeting.

A proposal aimed at curbing massage parlors, a plan from Ald. Brian Hopkins (2) to allow medical marijuana dispensaries in the Elston Corridor, and changes to permitting for billboards are all on today's Zoning Committee agenda.

Similar to last month’s zoning meeting, today’s features a significant number of zoning applications for the construction of new three-to-four story residential buildings or single family homes.

Two North Side activists are suing the City Council for allegedly violating the state’s Open Meetings Act, claiming they were denied entrance to the May and June full Council meetings because preferential admission was given to government staff and “the Mayor’s allies.”

Andrew Thayer and Rick Garcia filed a complaint Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court. They are represented by attorneys with Loevy & Loevy and the Uptown People’s Law Center. Thayer is a member of the Gay Liberation Network and the Uptown Tent City Organizers Group. Garcia is a long-time gay activist and founding member of Equality Illinois.

The suit alleges that on May 18th, 2016, Thayer showed up to City Hall with several others around 8:30 a.m. to attend the monthly City Council meeting. That day, a joint meeting of License and Housing Committees was being held in the Council Chambers an hour prior to the monthly meeting, so aldermen could consider a substitute of the Mayor’s Airbnb regulations.

The Council’s Finance Committee is set to take up a proposed property tax rebate plan next Tuesday that “blends” several proposals from aldermen over the past year, following inaction in Springfield on the Mayor’s plan to double the homeowner’s exemption to $14,000.

The proposed rebate plan comes as the second installment of property tax bills are due August 1st. About a third of the city’s homeowners would qualify for the rebate plan, according to details released by the Mayor’s Office yesterday.

The plan would cost the city about $21 million to administer if everyone eligible applied for the rebate, which is unlikely, as was the case when Mayor Richard M. Daley rolled out a city-run rebate plan in 2010. That plan was aimed at offsetting the impact of the 2008 recession. About $35 million from the city’s parking meter fund was set aside for the program, but only 18% of eligible homeowners applied, so the city awarded only $2.1 million in rebates. It has also been said the Daley Administration did a poor job of publicly advertising the program.

Aldermen on the Council’s License Committee spent nearly an hour yesterday wrangling over the details of Ald. Ariel Reboyras’ (30) plan to make it easier for motor vehicle repair shops to allow vehicular access from an adjacent alley.

The ordinance eventually passed by voice vote, but it took some slight tweaks and clarification from the city’s Law Department.

Under Ald. Reboyras’ original plan, motor vehicle repair shops with less than seven parking spaces would have the ability to allow access to their shop from the alley, instead of the main street. He introduced the ordinance as a way to make it easier for small businesses to build out a cheaper commercial driveway off the alley.