A dense, three page memo released Tuesday by the City Council Office on Financial Analysis suggests the assumed rate of return currently used by the Municipal Employees’ Annual and Benefit Fund (MEABF) should be lowered, thus significantly increasing the fund’s liabilities.

They say social media is ephemeral, but a tweet last weekend from Grammy and Oscar winning rapper and Chatham resident Che “Rhymefest” Smith was tangible enough to draw the attention of the Chicago Police Chief of Patrol. “You wonder [why] we don't report crimes? The police treated me disgustingly,” Rhymefest tweeted out with a video Saturday morning.

The two minute video is worth watching. Shot with Smith’s phone, it’s a group of Chicago police officers at the Grand Crossing station, impassively arguing with and walking away from Smith as he’s trying to register a complaint after being held up at gunpoint in his car earlier that morning. In the video, Smith is agitated, but not aggressive, as you might be if you had been recently held up. The police officers seemed to not have cared less.

To the police department’s credit, spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi tweeted back an apology just a few hours later. And later that night, CPD’s Chief of Patrol Fred Waller called Smith to apologize on behalf of the department.

The incident caught on video demonstrates a yawning chasm that divides Chicago’s police and minority communities. We’ve been hearing about that gap throughout the may hearings held across the city by City Council, the Police Accountability Task Force and the Department of Justice. “We don’t trust you,” has pretty much been the theme.

A group of police officers ignoring someone may not seem like a big deal, but in parts of Chicago, it’s just more fuel for the fire.

“The reason the police department has no legitimacy are these small indecencies,” says community organizer Anton Seals, Jr. “The only reason we hear about Rhymefest is because of who he is. I can name countless people that have gone through this. The police are completely disconnected.”

A South Shore resident, Seals has been working on the South and West Sides for decades to build stronger relationships between communities, institutions and the city. In Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods, Seals observes, police officers are dealing with the realities of a broken society every day, and he doesn’t blame them for their reaction.

“The officers are inundated with so many things; the calamity of poverty, addiction, broken households. They think the worst of humanity, because they see the worst. You see it in that video. No sense of care. No sense of service, like, what’s wrong? They were antagonizing him,” said Seals “At that level, why would people come see you about a murder?”

Last Thursday, aldermen briefed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s staff on potentially sweeping police reform plans were told that the Mayor plans to put his reforms up for a vote by September 14, and he may or may not publically release a draft of his proposed ordinance this week–two weeks before a vote. Emanuel’s team was also not forthcoming about who they have been working with to draft the police reform ordinance. At the end of their briefing, Aldermen were even asked to hand back papers with the ordinance’s outline.

Aldermen at the briefing were not happy with Emanuel’s lack of interest in disclosing information about his process or a draft of the ordinance to the public. They’re going back for another meeting this morning at 10:00 a.m. I’m told that they’ll be calling for a public release for a second time.

At his best, Mayor Emanuel’s relentless drive to push through change serves the city well. The sheer amount of information available on the city’s data portal is a good example of transparency done right. But his demand for a quick policy fix–even a big one–can sometimes sweep aside important details, like extending Chicago Public Schools’ number of instruction days without getting just a little bit of teacher buy-in first.

Here again, the Emanuel policy freight train is gaining speed, and I’m concerned it will result in a Council rubber stamp without gaining public trust.

Police reform might actually be the biggest issue of Emanuel’s entire tenure. And unless Emanuel is able to enact meaningful reform, there is a real possibility the Department of Justice will take away mayoral control of the police, as they have in Newark and are threatening to do in Baltimore.

But reform requires more than policy, it requires trust.

Chief of Patrol Fred Waller’s apology call this weekend was a good step towards building trust. But that sort of thing needs to happen a thousand times over for Chicagoans that haven’t won Grammys or Oscars. If Mayor Emanuel can put some of his considerable energy into visiting Chicago’s communities to explain his proposed police reforms before a Council vote, he might begin to gain the trust he needs to make his policies work.

A recent city Law Department opinion on how tie votes should be considered in City Council gives considerable new powers to the chair, effectively making it possible for recorded tie votes to be overturned in favor of whatever ruling the chair favors.

Former State Representative candidate Jason Gonzalez filed a 39-count federal lawsuit yesterday against Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and numerous allies, alleging that Madigan and his “minions” deprived Gonzalez of his rights under the First, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. In addition, Gonzalez charges the Prison Review Board defamed him by releasing his records to a reporter, which they had no standing to do.

A Chicago Inspector General report released to aldermen today finds that prior to 1995, the Independent Police Review Authority had “inaccurate and incomplete” reporting of use of force incidents by the Chicago Police Department and that the Authority “could improve its reporting procedures to provide meaningful transparency.” In all, the OIG found that between September 2007 and September 2014, IPRA overreported 4 hit shootings, underreported 49 non-hit shootings, and underreported 119 uses of pepper spray by Chicago police officers.

Friday afternoon the Chicago Budget Office released its 2016 Annual Financial Analysis revealing an expected $137 million gap between expected revenues and spending for FY2017 and that $898 million of the city’s total $3.7 billion corporate fund budget will be devoted to pension payments next year. But hanging over it all, was that news that to get the Municipal Employees Pension Fund back on track, Chicago may need a new property tax hike as large as the ones put into place last year for the Police and Fire Pension Funds.

Alderman Brian Hopkins’ (2) Back to School Fair and Family Summerfest is coming August 6th!

Deets on the Garfield Blvd. Green Line L stop renovation, from Ald. Pat Dowell (3) Meanwhile, Dowell caught Diana Ross at Ravinia last night.

Plenty of block parties kept Ald. Rod Sawyer (6) busy last weekend.

Guess who’s on the DNC floor! Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson! (11)

Ald. David Moore’s (17) got convention pix with Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Acting DNC Chairman Donna Brazile and Cong. John Lewis and Dr. Michael Eric Dyson

Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26) posted pix of his swimmer son, Rene, 15, who just qualified to participate in the 2020 Olympic Trials.

Don’t get your car towed in Ukrainian Village and make way for the “Chicago P.D.” filming, says Ald. Brian Hopkins (2).

Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza (10) is putting together a 10th Ward Labor Day parade.

Ald. David Moore (17) snagged a pic with Sen. Corey Booker (D-NJ).

The 36th Ward had a State of Ward meeting last night. They’ll do it again tomorrow night, says Ald. Gil VIllegas (36).

Who’s that guy with NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio? Ald. Joe Moore (49).

Lotsa shots from the DNC Convention. Clerk Susana Mendoza, Ald. Leslie Hairston (5), Ald. Ray Lopez (15), Ald. David Moore (17), Ald. Danny Solis (25), Ald. Carlos Rosa (35).

A mayoral office training document, found lying in an empty City Hall meeting room by a Daily Line reporter, explicitly describes the process of how a City Council meetings work and the important role Ald. Ed Burke (14) plays in the mechanics of Council operations.

• Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1) is hosting his next community meeting tomorrow in Logan Square. 
• Ald. Brian Hopkins (2) is hosting a second positive loitering event at the site of a shooting near downtown last week. 
• Ald. Leslie Hairston (5) is holding a community meeting to discuss a new grocery store proposed for the ward.
• Ald. Ed Burke (14) released a statement on Abner Mikva's death: "Abner Mikva led an honorable life and served his country during World War II as a member of the Army Air Corps. He was a proud member of our “greatest generation,” one defined by strength, tenacity and values.
  He was a progressive voice whose integrity never faltered and whose sincerity defined his success."
• Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) held an impromptu community rally to condemn the shootings of two children over the 4th of July weekend. 
• Ald. Chris Taliaferro's (29) latest community meeting is tonight. 
• Ald. John Arena (45) says a six month pilot plan to test a noise reduction strategy at O'Hare begins today. 
• Ald. Ameya Pawar (47) celebrated the announcement that the Illinois Commerce Commission will hold a hearing on Lincoln Towing, the inspiration behind Pawar's recently-passed Towing Bill of Rights. 
• Ald. Joe Moore (49) paid tribute to the late Abner Mikva: "I cut my political teeth working on his congressional campaigns in Evanston and the north suburbs back in the 1970s... May he rest in peace and may his good works live on the lives of the many young people he has inspired."
• City Treasurer Kurt Summers also issued a short statement on Abner Mikva's death: "Though he left public life in 1995, he never stopped serving. His legacy lives on through his wonderful family and through the tremendous Mikva Challenge program that has been an introduction to public service for over 11,000 youths in Chicago, Washington and Los Angeles."
• City Clerk Susana Mendoza also issued a brief statement: "As a member of the Illinois General Assembly, a Congressman, a White House counsel and a federal judge, he fought tirelessly for justice in all three branches of our national government... To meet Abner, was to be inspired by him."

North Side Democratic Committeeman selected Omar Aquino to finish out the remainder of State Sen. Willie Delgado’s term for the 2nd Senate District at a meeting held at Roots Pizza in West Town yesterday afternoon.

Aquino won the contentious Democratic Primary election for the seat this past March in a tight 52.95% to 47.05% margin against Angelica Alfaro. He had been floated as the likely placeholder by those familiar with the vote, as he’ll be sworn in to the seat January 2017.

“There is a sense since the vote in March that no one else is going to throw their hat in the ring,” said Jacob Kaplan with the Cook County Democrats hours before the vote.

And he was right. No other nominees’ names were brought forward, so the selection committee unanimously approved Aquino to the seat without ever going into executive session. The entire meeting lasted roughly 20 minutes, and it was Cook County Democratic Party Chairman Joe Berrios who made the first recommendation of Aquino to the seat.

It’s a sure sign of the upcoming budget season: Cook County’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) has landed. Released at the end of the day, we will have a more in-depth look at the report tomorrow.

The County spent a mere $37.2 million more in Fiscal Year 2015 than in the previous fiscal year, but increased its total liabilities by $780.6M over the previous year.

The City of Chicago’s CAFR is also expected to be released this week.

With a long couple of months debating regulations for ride- and home-sharing platforms, aldermen didn’t spend too much time drafting new legislation this past month, as there were only a handful of big ticket items introduced yesterday. Here are some highlights from the Mayor’s Office and aldermen.

Repealing Police Exam Fee
Committee Assignment: Workforce Development and Audit.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel introduced an ordinance on behalf of the Commissioner on Human Resources that would eliminate the $30 registration fee for the entry-level police exam. The ordinance was introduced following a review of the Police Department’s recruitment procedures, which found a significant number of African-American and women applicants had applied to be on the force, but never sat in for the test because of the associated costs, according to the Mayor’s Office. The review was part of last year’s targeted minority recruitment campaign for CPD. The Department of Human Resources (DHR) worked with CPD, aldermen, and “community leaders” to “find ways to break down the barriers allowing more to apply,” said Michelle Levar with DHR. 

By removing the fee, the city hopes to make the police exam more accessible to minority applicants. “This ordinance removes a potential financial hurdle and makes the police hiring process more accessible to all, particularly those who may not have taken the exam otherwise,” said a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Human Resources. Eliminating the fee won’t strain the budget, said a spokesperson in the Mayor’s Office, because the test costs about $2 million to administer and the city recoups less than a fourth of that from the fee. The entrance exam is administered by an outside vendor.   

Proposed Changes to IPRA Investigations
Committee Assignment: Public Safety

Ald. Ed Burke (14) and Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29), a former police officer, want theIndependent Police Review Authority (IPRA) to pick up the pace on investigations into police misconduct. Under their ordinance, IPRA would be required to complete an investigation within two years. The agency would also be required to initiate any new investigation within five years of an incident. The ordinance would apply to “all charges for which removal or discharge, or suspension of more than 30 days is recommended must be brought within 5 years after the commission of the act upon which the charge is based.”

According to a press release from Ald. Burke’s office, the ordinance is based on recommendations made in a police report Mayor Rahm Emanuel commissioned and shelved around the Christmas holiday in 2014, entitled “Preventing and Disciplining Police Misconduct.” Following a record number of homicides in 2012, Mayor Emanuel commissioned the report as part of a series of efforts to improve policing. It’s colloquially referred to the Safer Report after lead author, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Safer. Burke’s Office also references an opinion from the Illinois Appellate Court in which the court called the police department’s decision to wait six years to file charges against an officer an “unreasonable length of time.” 

Medical Marijuana Expansion
Committee Assignment: Zoning

Ald. Brian Hopkins (2) introduced an ordinance that would permit medical marijuana dispensaries in the Elston Corridor (Planned Manufacturing District # 2b). As the zoning code is currently written, a dispensary would need to apply for a special use permit with the Zoning Board of Appeals. If the ordinance is approved, dispensaries would be allowed as of right. But opening a cultivation center would still require a special use permit. 

Limiting Massage Parlors
Committee Assignment: Zoning

A plan to require a special use permit to establish a massage parlor in any “C” designated zoning district was introduced by Ald. George Cardenas (12). Under the current zoning code, these businesses are allowed as of right. The ordinance was drafted in order to stem the proliferation of massage parlors, some of which operate as covert brothels, according to a former aide for Ald. Cardenas who drafted the ordinance. By requiring a special use permit, any operator seeking to open a parlor would have to go through the same checks and balances as nail salons: a detailed review by the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Call for Hearings On Safe Water
Committee Assignment: Public Safety

Thirty aldermen have signed on to Ald. Chris Taliaferro's (29) resolution calling on the Council’s Public Safety Committee to hold hearings to determine the state or Chicago is in violation of the federal Safe Water Drinking Act, the Clean Water Drinking Act or “any other applicable federal or state laws.” Elevated levels of lead were found in the water at 14 Chicago Public Schools since the district began testing drinking fountains, and tests for “hundreds of other schools” have yet to be completed, the preamble states. 

Aldermen are calling for the hearings to verify those tests conducted by CPS were in compliance with EPA standards and to get a better understanding of the “financial, legal, and social consequences that that taxpayers of Chicago may incur as a result of the emerging crisis of lead contaminants in public water sources.”

Revamping The City’s Recycling Program
Committee Assignment: Health and Environmental Protection

Mayor Emanuel wants to revamp the city’s recycling program, putting the brunt of the changes on high-rise residential buildings. The ordinance would repeal the existing chapter of the municipal code related to recycling and replace it with a new set of guidelines focused on “source-separated recycling.”

Under the ordinance, which would take effect January 1, 2017 pending council approval, residential buildings with more than four units would be required to place recyclable material in designated recycling containers and keep the material separate from waste until collection. Building owners would be required to set up “clearly identified” recycling containers that display a written and/or pictorial list of the recyclable material. They’d also be required to implement an “ongoing education program” to notify tenants about the new recycling policy through flyers. 

Buildings could apply for an exemption if they feel the recycling program would be unduly burdensome “due to the configuration, location or unique characteristics” of their building. The Commissioner of Streets and Sanitation, or a delegate of their choosing, would be in charge of determining exemptions. The application fee for the exemption would cost $500. Interestingly, the mayor, at his most recent fundraiser in May, received a $10,000 donation from the Astor Company, a recycling consulting firm. 

Billboard Signage Changes
Committee Assignment: Zoning

Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1), Danny Solis (25) and Scott Waguespack (32) jointlyintroduced an ordinance concerning replacement of certain nonconforming signs. The ordinance would put the owner of a building, not the sign company, is charge of signage on billboards. This would allow smaller sign shops to compete for the advertising space.  According to Ald. Moreno, the ordinance isn’t new. The idea was kicked around 5 to 6 years ago but it never made it out of committee, due to strong objections from large billboard companies.

After months of protests, bad financial news and a city government that keeps stumbling on new problems, Mayor Rahm Emanuel seemed like maybe he’s found his footing after yesterday’s Council meeting.

“Progress is more important than postponing,” Mayor Emanuel said in his post-Council meeting press conference. “I think it stands in direct contrast to Springfield, where we actually have put progress in front of politics, we’ve put dialogue ahead of demonization and actually found a way where people of differing views could work together.”

It was a blockbuster City Council meeting, lasting about five hours, that included passage of new regulations on a wide suite of issues, from ride-sharing to paid sick leave to a new Wrigley Field plaza to “homesharing”, as Emanuel kept calling it. A month ago, Emanuel’s team was struggling with negotiations in multiple committees, meeting sharp resistance from some of his most devout Council allies.

But it seemed like he took a turn this past week, and has maybe even created a new slogan that could carry him through to 2019: We get things done in Chicago. In other places? Not so much.

Feeling his oats, Mayor Emanuel went on yesterday to compare his leadership to other cities in the U.S. and globally. “We’ve made significant progress and in some ways putting [our] own signature on issues that are being debated and discussed in cities where they can’t make progress, like Austin, Texas, like Houston, like San Francisco, and when it comes to the ride-share industry, Paris [and] Buenos Aires where they are not making any progress.”

While political crowing sometimes gets a bit off kilter, there’s some truth to what Mayor Emanuel said. Since the spring, he’s begun to grind it out. Springfield’s passage of SB777, a negotiated plan for refinancing the laborers pension fund, and termination of toxic swap agreements have eased some of the city’s biggest festering financial problems. May’s passage of a major new plan for Central Business District development incentives is the first significant city planning move in almost 20 years.

Yet there are items on which he is moving at a snail’s pace, such as ensuring Chicago Public Schools are funded for an on-time fall start.

But on enacting meaningful policing reform–an issue on which he has suffered serious tin-earitus, there are a some signs that he’s beginning to get a plan together.

The first sign of that change has been the Police Department’s decision in the case of the police officer who stomped on the head of Chicagoan Shaquille O'Neal last week. In a surprise move Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson announced he had stripped the plainclothes officer of police powers. Supt. Johnson’s decision has not sat well with the police rank and file, stirring fears the Superintendent isn’t protecting their back, but from every perspective outside of the department it seems like a common sense measure.

The second move, although not without some prodding, has been Mayor Emanuel’s decision to run his policing reform plans through Council. While he originally announced in May changes as almost a fait accompli, Police Board President Lori Lightfoot’s very public call for transparency resulted in a set of joint Public Safety and Budget Committee hearings planned for early July.

In those hearings we should expect to finally hear discussion of Ald. Leslie Hairston’s (5) call to eliminate the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) to create an independent (of the mayor) citizen police monitor and Ald. Jason Ervin’s(28) proposal to create a police inspector general.

But lest we forget, we’re still dealing with Mr. Dead-Fish-In-The-Mail. Asked yesterday to explain why he and Ald. Ed Burke (14) used parliamentary procedures to crush rebellion against the ride-share ordinance in yesterday’s Council meeting, he shrugged it off, suggesting nothing would have changed anyway.

“I will guarantee you,” Mayor Emanuel said, “had we done this a month later, it would have been the same vote, nothing would have been clarified. People knew exactly how they were going to vote.”

In other words, opposition is pointless when Rahm Emanuel is on a roll.

The Department of Justice is conducting the second of a series of four public forums this evening, as part of investigation into the Chicago Police Department. The first forum on Monday evening at Malcolm X College, which did not receive significant promotion (and escaped the notice of this publication) attracted a mere 30 attendees. Progress Illinois reported that DOJ representatives at Monday’s meeting, “said they have already heard from about 400 community members about their experiences with the CPD through an email hotline and letters.”

Tonight’s meeting is at 6:30 p.m. at Kennedy King City College (U Building), 740 W. 63rd St.

According to a release from the DOJ, “The purpose of the pattern or practice investigation is to determine whether there are systemic violations of the Constitution or federal law by the Chicago Police Department.”

A third meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., July 12, at Truman College, and a fourth public meeting for 6:30 p.m. at KROC Center Chapel, 1250 W. 119th St.

Aldermen will consider a watered down version of Ald. Anthony Beale’s (9) ride-share ordinance on Wednesday after a substitute ordinance drafted by the Mayor’s Office was discussed in a nearly two hour private briefing yesterday.

[Substitute ordinance briefing doc from Mayor’s Office.]

The substitute ordinance will be swapped in at Wednesday’s full City Council meeting, Ald. Beale told Aldertrack.

The substitute ordinance, which hadn't been drafted as of yesterday evening, according to multiple sources, would eliminate the fingerprinting and drug test requirement, and would let ride-share drivers undergo a background check conducted by Uber and Lyft.

Some of the provisions in the proposed substitute:

• Drivers would still have to apply for a public chauffeur’s license, paying a nominal fee to the city, but the city-administered background check portion of the license would be removed from the measure. Uber and Lyft would conduct their own background checks.
• The licensing change, depending on how it’s written, could also impact pedicabs, horse drawn carriages and livery cabs, which are currently required to apply for the same license.
• Ald. Beale said the city would still have the authority to order a drug or background check if a driver gets into an accident or displays “abnormal behavior.”
• Instead of requiring that Uber and Lyft drivers attend a one day class to obtain a special license, drivers would be able to take an online class or in person class.
• Drivers would be subject to semi-annual debt checks to find whether drivers owe any debt to the city. 
• An independent study on the role of fingerprinting would be conducted. It was argued during committee meetings and previous briefings that fingerprinting unfairly discriminates against minorities because it doesn’t give an accurate picture of someone’s background. Those opposed to the fingerprinting rule have said a person could be flagged for an arrest, even if the charges were dismissed. Depending on the findings of the study, fingerprinting requirements for city jobs and contracts could be done away with down the road.
• The mandate that requires at least 5% of all Uber and Lyft cars be wheelchair accessible would be temporarily waived. Under the substitute, Uber and Lyft would be given about six months to come up with a plan to improve accessibility, and another six months to implement the plan. Ald. Beale told Aldertrack that the two companies would be hit with exorbitant daily fines if the companies don’t comply.  

“We want to implement some studies to clear the air,” Ald. Beale explained, although he anticipates that the ordinance will be deferred and published at Wednesday’s full City Council meeting because the taxi industry and some aldermen didn’t get “100%” of what they were asking for.

The Illinois Transportation Trade Association "is not happy about some of the provisions,” Ald. Beale said when asked if the taxi industry supports the plan. “When you are negotiating, no one is going to be totally happy.”

Those who attended yesterday's briefing told Aldertrack that the discussion got somewhat heated, with Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1) getting particularly “animated” about his opposition to Ald. Beale’s ride-share ordinance. Prior to attending the briefing, Ald. Moreno held a press conference on the second floor of City Hall to argue that the downsides of Ald. Beale’s ordinance far outweigh the benefits. Ald. Sophia King (4) was listed on the press release, but didn’t attend the press conference.

“We are coming up with a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist,” Ald. Moreno told reporters, suggesting that taking a ride with Uber or Lyft is safer than a taxi, because the platform lets the rider know the name of the driver, the type of car and the route taken. He also dismissed Ald. Beale’s previous assertions that he had the votes to get his beefed up licensing requirements through the council.

At the private briefing, which one source described to Aldertrack as “rather dysfunctional”, the Mayor’s Office provided a study by a the Frazier Group that discounts the need for fingerprinting. Aldermen present at the meeting were displeased that roughly five to six lobbyists with Lyft were allowed to attend the meeting. Aldermen asked them to leave, arguing it was inappropriate that they were allowed to sit in on a meeting about regulations for their industry, the sources said.

Two letters and a set of protests were announced as the Chicago Teachers Union and Local School Council leaders pressure Mayor Rahm Emanuel to find more funding for public schools, and Mayor Emanuel joined suburban mayors to pressure Governor Bruce Rauner to increase funding to school districts with high numbers of impoverished students.

Mayor Emanuel’s office released a letter signed by him and 16 other suburban mayors calling on Rauner, “to address the school-funding inequities that threaten so many Illinois public schools and their students.” Aldertrack first reported this letter was in circulation for signatures on Wednesday, June 15.

Meanwhile, over 500 Local School Council members have signed a letter to the Chicago Board of Education and Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypoolsaying, “legislative proposals in Springfield remain nebulous and, even if passed, would fail to solve the revenue crunch” for CPS. The letter provides specific requests for action, including:

• Declare an emergency return of surplus TIF funds;
• Cancel projects like Obama Prep;
• Allow CPS to initiate a Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL) referendum; and
• CPS reduce non-classroom spending, including reducing the length of the school day, reducing standardized testing and stopping charter school expansion.

Finally, the Chicago Teachers Union announced five actions to take place at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 22, to protest “hypocrisy coming from the fifth floor of City Hall and Emanuel’s hand picked school board” as well as “to connect the dots between Governor Bruce Rauner’s notorious ‘turnaround agenda’ and the mayor’s refusal to fully support public schools.”

The protests include the offices of Gov. Rauner donor Larry Levy, Mayor Emanuel supporter and donor Ken Griffin, former Board of Education president David Vitale, as well as the Board of Education and City Hall.

Gliding down the James R. Thompson Center escalators, former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn arrived for a lunchtime meeting in the food court in every way you would expect Pat Quinn to do so. It was hot, so he lacked a jacket, but wore his shirt unbuttoned two buttons. Carrying a thick accordion folder he says hello mildly but with a firm handshake.

After settling in at a quieter table, Quinn chit chatted a bit, but was excited to talk about his new effort to create an elected Chicago Consumer Advocate and to set a term limit for Chicago’s mayor, beginning in 2019. He brandished a dogeared copy of the Illinois Constitution, wrapped with a rubber band and full of underlined passages. For half an hour, Quinn expounded on his new referenda, his opinion of the performance of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Gov. Bruce Rauner and what he's doing to fill his time out of office.

The following is transcript of our conversation, edited for length and clarity.

Aldertrack: What spurred you to do this referenda now?
Quinn: I’ve always been interested in Article VII, the local government article, because I want to see more initiatives and referendum statewide. You can pass a constitutional amendment for that, and I think we can.

But a city council can enact its own local initiative process, so this is already existing, it only pertains to certain subjects, the manner of selection and creating an office. You can do binding initiatives on this. I’ve been interested in this since I was in law school.

Do you think Rahm Emanuel is doing a good job?
I don’t want to get into too much into the personalities and performance. I believe in the policy, whether Emanuel is mayor or someone else is mayor. I believe that two four year terms, consecutive terms, is sufficient.

But you could have written this so it could take effect in the next one. You very specifically said in 2019.
Because the current office holder is on his second elected term.

You could grandfather him in for one more.
But I think the two term, two consecutive terms is the proper way to go. A number of communities in Illinois, twenty, have used this to have various things in terms of term limits on their mayor. And most of them are consecutive four year terms. And there’s another factor, probably even bigger, the big cities of America, the ten biggest, only Chicago doesn’t have term limits on its mayor. New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Houston, San Diego.

Your spokesman said you’re not ready to roll out supporters just yet. How are you going to put together the organization to put together a 100,000 signatures, let alone the 53,000 good signatures you need.
Keep in mind our goal is to get 100,000 names and take as long as necessary to get it.

So it doesn’t have to be for the November 8th ballot?
Having been around Illinois politics for a while, sometimes there are politicians who keep you off the ballot. You might have heard of that.

This goes on the ballot at least 92 days after the filing of this petition, so when we get the names, then we’ll put it–we’ll file. We’re not going to be in a situation where our adversaries perhaps try to keep this off the ballot by trying to hog the ballot.

Has this sort of thing been done before? The Fair Maps Amendment team, they were really hemmed in by the time period, and the first time around they had a hard time–
That’s a different part of the constitution, which I have used as well. Since 1980. There, there is a specific deadline, you cannot have, you can’t do the 92 days. You must put it on a General Election ballot. That’s Article XIV. That’s different.

I’m curious to know, what do you think of the fight going on between Michael Madigan and Governor Rauner? You had issues with Madigan too.
Obviously I ran against Rauner, and many of the things that I, more than many, of the things that I predicted he would do, he has done and made a mess of things. I am very disappointed in the performance of Rauner as governor. People like Jim Edgar, who is in a different party than mine, and he supported Rauner, have the same disappointment. The first job of the governor is to get a budget, and not to engage in alibis about why not.

Is it possible we could go a whole Rauner term without a budget? Is that conceivable?
I hope not. But our state has the highest unemployment rate in the country now. We’ve had six straight months of higher unemployment. When I left office, we had 25 straight months of unemployment rate that was stable or declining. Never rising. Now it’s up. And I think it’s in due part to poor leadership by the governor.

You’re basically the template for the populist politician in Illinois. I think you’ve done that on purpose.
I believe in it. It’s not hard. This was on the ballot in Chicago in 1982 [pulls out old flyer for Citizens Utility Board initiative]. Chicago had a referendum on CUB, it passed overwhelmingly, within a year it because the law in the state of Illinois. So I was the guy who got it on the ballot, and I believe in it.

Thinking as a populist, is Rahm Emanuel doing the right thing spending so much energy on something like the Lucas Museum, versus school funding and the police force?
Yeah. There are core priorities like safety, education. This thing they’re having at Crain’s? [The Crain’s Future of Chicago Conference] What was missing? Fighting violence, good education, economic development–what’s missing? Democracy. What Chicago is missing, is giving voters more opportunity to call the policies they think are right. To me that’s a big problem. In other words, if you empower and strengthen the voice of voters we’ll have a better city, right now it’s too top down. That’s why term limits are so important. They’re the ultimate of campaign finance reform. You can just incumbency to raise money for their election.

So is the Lucas Museum the kind of thing a mayor should be expending their energy on? 
To me, that wouldn’t be my top priority. But that’s his, I guess.

Have you reached out to Rahm Emanuel to talk about [the referendum]?
On this one, I haven’t talked to him directly. But imagine that time will come. I think he would be well advised to support this. Believe it or not, quite a few municipalities who have come together on this, twenty all together, have put it on the ballot by themselves, without a petition. Some had to have a petition. This is a good policy. Two consecutive elected terms, then you step out. Worked for George Washington!

You’ve got an office in River North. So what else are you spending your time on?
I volunteer for everything I can. I was called the Broadband Governor, I do a lot with high speed internet for schools and hospitals. Wrongful conviction. I did quite a few clemencies when I was governor, one of the last ones was a man named Tyrone Hood, who was in Menard 22 years for a murder he didn’t commit, I pardoned him at the end. I got involved with folks who, our criminal justice system, you can’t make mistakes and put innocent people in jail, so I worked on that and I’m going to do the food bank walk this weekend and I do a lot of work for veterans. They’re called Gold Star Veterans who lost a son or daughter in Iraq or Afghanistan. Last year I went to The Cell, for a baseball game, we had a suite, and we did one for the Cardinals, for the fans there. So we had a Gold Star family group at a Cardinals game.

Have you been doing and private legal work?
No.

Have you been taking private clients or advising anyone, that sort of thing?
No. I believe in volunteerism. I do believe in petition passing. I got 150 names yesterday.

What’s the likelihood of the passage of an elected school board by 2019 for Chicago?
In some ways, our petition helps it. If things aren’t moving on stuff like elected school board, which is a perfect example of why we need local initiative. People voted on that in an advisory way. But how did they get it on the ballot? They had to go ward by ward.

Right now the bill passed the House, I asked Madigan to be for that, he looked at me like there was a man from the moon. Now he’s for it, bless his heart. Some people have a change of heart. Now it’s up to [Illinois Senate President] John [Cullerton] to call the bill, and it would pass if he did, but John and the Mayor are pretty tight.

So you think Cullerton will hold on it?
I think the Mayor has got to realize, the longer he blocks the elected school board the bill that passed the house, the more people that are going to sign on the petition.

How many candidates for mayor do you think we’re going to see for 2019?
I hope a good number. I think it’s healthy to have viewpoints.

What do you think of Donald Trump?
He’s a charlatan. In a lot of ways, the guy who ran for governor against me, used some of the Trump techniques in 2014. Insulting, calling people corrupt. He called his three Republican opponents in the primary corrupt. That kind of stuff. When you attack the character of your political adversaries, it doesn’t lend much to civility, which is very important to run a democracy. [Former Republican Governor Jim] Edgar said that last week.

Is the Fair Maps Amendment going to pass?
I’ve been involved in a number of cases in the supreme court level on that part of the constitution and initiatives. I think they have some drafting challenges in their proposal. THey way it is drafted. Two years ago it was not very well done. And I really feel looking at it, they are going to have survive a court case.

So you think it will be knocked off the ballot?
Because of poor drafting. You gotta read the cases.

Are we going to see Pat Quinn running for Governor or Mayor?
You’ll see me passing petitions right now. [Interrupted by two construction workers saying hello. “Good seeing you brother!” one says.]

So, are we going to see you running for Mayor or Governor?
I’m not even thinking about that. If you want to do an initiative and I do on this, you really need to put a lot of heart and soul into that. When it’s time to run for office, I’ll think about that when that time comes. Right now this [taps initiative petition] is the time.

Are you going to be fundraising for that?
I made a contribution, a loan. We have enough money to get started. I believe in this. If you invest in it, your own money, that’s really underlines you believe it.

Flexing the muscles he knows best, Sunday press conferences and populist referenda, former Governor Pat Quinn jumped back in the political scene yesterday when he launched a website and a drive to collect 100,000 signatures in support of two referenda for the November 8 ballot: to limit the Chicago mayor to just two terms and to create an elected Consumer Advocate for Taxpayers and Consumers for Chicago.

[Read the petition language.]

Quinn’s press conference, held mid-Sunday afternoon with State Representative candidate Theresa Mah as the only notable politico joining him, is the biggest political move he’s made since leaving the Governor’s office in 2014. Since his defeat by Republican Bruce Rauner, Quinn has kept a low profile: he's appeared at various union pickets and political rallies, and his political committee, Taxpayers for Quinn, has been steadily drawn down and was last reported at $411,045 at the end of March.

The first referendum he is proposing calls for limiting the Chicago mayor to two four-year terms, effective in 2019. The second referendum would replace the Commissioner of the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection with an elected Consumer Advocate, who would receive the same salary and elected rank as the City Clerk.

“We can make history: these would be Chicago’s first binding referendums in memory,” Quinn said in a statement. “I expect it will be a healthy exercise in democracy and hope it sparks a citywide debate over the structure of our government.”

Contacted yesterday afternoon, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office did not provide a comment on the referenda by publication.

Quinn will have a number of significant challenges to get the two referenda on the ballot. In an unusual move, the two questions are placed on the same petition, a decision at least one election attorney questioned.

“In my almost fifty years of experience, I’ve never seen a two part referendum where one part didn’t have anything to do with the other,” said attorney Rich Means. “I’m sure opponents can think of all kinds of reasons to tie this up. There’s loads of problems with it if you can have an ex-post facto poisoning of an incumbent, telling him you can’t run again.”

Quinn’s team will also need to gather just over 52,000 valid signatures by August 8 if they want to get on the November ballot, a deadline a mere 7 weeks away from today.

There is also some question of whether or not the referenda will even be allowed on the ballot, since on June 22 the City Council is expected to vote on three ballot referenda, and only three are allowed per jurisdiction. However, a Quinn spokesman contends that doesn’t apply to their proposals.

“Those are all non-binding referendum questions, so [ours] takes precedence,” said Quinn spokesman William Morgan.

As of yesterday, Team Quinn was not ready to announce a field operation for the petitions, but Morgan says Quinn will be personally involved in the petition effort.

“He plans on bringing that clipboard from corner to corner around the city,” said Morgan. “He’s not just a figurehead, he’s a petition passer.”

Chicago will get another chance to see what a Pat Quinn political effort looks like this morning. He’s scheduled a second event at 11:30 a.m. on the Randolph Street side of City Hall.

Yesterday morning, a group of 13 advocates for policing reform, led by Police Board President Lori Lightfoot, announced an open letter to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and leading aldermen calling for increased transparency on efforts to reform city police policy and to invite the public into Mayor Emanuel’s plans to replace the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA), and to create a citizen’s oversight board and a public safety inspector general.

In a follow up interview with Aldertrack, Lightfoot made pointed remarks about the need for increased transparency and possible plans for the Police Board to make its own reform policies.

“The bar has been raised for public engagement,” Lightfoot told Aldertrack. “The status quo and old way of doing things has failed and has to be abandoned. Let people in, show transparency, show people what’s going on and invite people into the conversation.”

“We’re talking about fundamentally reshaping the entire local law enforcement structure,” she continued. “That is not something that can be done with a few people in the Mayor’s office. People are really interested in this topic. They are willing to give their time and talent to this issue. But you know, this is Chicago, so nothing is simple.”

Asked if the Police Board will use its statutory powers “to adopt rules and regulations for the governance of the police department”, to further press police reform, Lightfoot said, “I think there’s some interest on the current Police Board to craft responses to that provision. That is a discussion we are having. I expect us to come out with some thoughts on that relatively soon.”

Police Board members are appointed by the mayor for five year terms, and may only be removed for “just cause” such as “incompetence, neglect of duty, gross misconduct or criminal conduct.” The Mayor also appoints the president of the board for a two year term from among members of the board.

Aldermen are expected to hold a confirmation hearing for a new appointee, Eva-Dina Delgado, at a Public Safety Committee meeting June 14. If approved, Delgado, a registered lobbyist for People’s Gas, would replace Claudia Valenzuela, who resigned.

Lightfoot strongly endorsed Chief Administrator Sharon Fairley’s management of IPRA, saying she, “has done a really good job by righting the ship there.” She also had strong words of approval for one-time police superintendent candidate Anne Kirkpatrick, who was recently announced as the head of a new, reformulated Bureau of Professional Standards in the police department. “Anne Kirkpatrick is the real deal, no question about it. I can’t imagine she would leave the comfort of her home in Seattle if there was not an opportunity to do some real good.”

Kirkpatrick has served as the Chief of Police in Spokane, Washington and as Chief Deputy in the King’s County Sheriff’s Department.