Cook County Board Observer Reports

Cook County Board Approves Intergovernmental Agreement with MWRD for Independent Inspector General Services

5/2/2019

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Cook County Board of Commissioners Meeting- April 25, 2019

Notable Items Passed:

The Board approved an amendment (Agenda Item 19-3024) to the ordinance covering the Office of Independent Inspector General (OIIG) that will allow the OIIG to provide services pursuant to any intergovernmental agreement approved by the Board of Commissioners to which the OIIG is a party (Cook County Code, section 2-284 #14) and to provide services pursuant to a memorandum of understanding to any agency funded by the County Board to which the OIIG is a party and the OIIG determines that a memorandum of understanding is applicable or preferred (Cook County Code, section 2-284 #15). The Board then approved the proposed intergovernmental agreement with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) for the OIIG to provide services to the District (Agenda Item 19-3027). The League testified in support of this intergovernment agreement at the MWRD the week before, and sent a letter of support to the Cook County Board prior to the vote.
The Board approved a proposed amendment to the Human Relations - Housing section of the Cook County Code that will require landlords to determine if someone can qualify for a property before the landlord can ask about criminal history, and delayed the effective date for this amendment for 6 months. Commissioners discussed the importance of clear guidelines for small landlords in the rule making process in order to make clear what is needed for compliance. A question was raised regarding whether “rules” come back to the Board for review, and the answer was yes. (Agenda Item 19-2394)
The Board approved the Report and Amended Resolution from the Litigation Subcommitte following the Committee’s hearing on the status of the Shakman cases in the Offices of the Assessor, Clerk of the Court, and Recorder of Deeds. (Agenda Item 19-2242) Court-appointed oversight of these offices has been ongoing for 9 years for the Assessor, 7 years for the Recorder, and since last year for the Clerk. Much work needs still to be done before they can be found to be in substantial compliance with the Shakman decisions, which prohibit political considerations with regard to the hiring, firing, promotion, or pay of all but a few “exempt” employees. These cases have cost the County millions of dollars. The Commissioners at the hearing on Tuesday emphasized the need for these offices to come into compliance as soon as possible. The Subcommittee amended the hearing resolution to provide for quarterly hearings on these matters. The League testified in support of such regular oversight by the Subcommittee, and the Subcommittee utilized the questions submitted by the League during the hearing on April 23

Other items of interest:

The Board approved a contract with the Adult Probation Department, Circuit Court of Cook County and Loyola University to develop and implement a recidivism reduction program for high-risk probationers. This plan will “include an in-depth implementation fidelity review plan, a process evaluation plan, and an outcome evaluation plan”. The contract period is 5/01/2019 - 9/30/2021. (Agenda Item 19-2519)
Com. Kevin Morrison questioned a contract for disposable kitchen supplies for the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. Com. Morrison asked if the contract looked at compostable, biodegradable or reusable supplies.

Future items:

A proposed ordinance regarding establishing civil fees and criminal and traffic assessments collected by the Clerk of the Circuit Court Cook County was referred to the Finance Committee. The Criminal and Traffic Assessment Act restructures criminal, traffic and civil fees in the circuit courts in Illinois in order to consolidate fees into unified schedules. (Agenda Item 19-2843)

Observer - Laura Davis. Meeting Length - 2 hours and 10 minutes when observer left - ongoing

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Cook County Board Votes to Request Hearing on Shakman Compliance

3/24/2019

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Cook County Board of Commissioners Meeting - March 21, 2019

NOTABLE RESOLUTIONS PASSED:

There was a resolution passed to secure a memorial to document the location of the 1924 lynching of William Bell. This will be done in partnership with the DuSable Museum and the University of Illinois (Chicago). Counties throughout the nation are cooperating with the Equal Justice Initiative/Memorial Museum in Montgomery, Alabama to shed light on this part of American History.
A unanimous vote was cast requesting a hearing of the Litigation Subcommittee to discuss the status of Shakman compliance in the office of the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court, the Cook County Recorder of Deeds and the Cook County Assessor. Violations have cost the county tax payers millions of dollars.
There was a resolution to urge the Illinois General Assembly to amend the property tax code regarding the senior citizen homestead exemption. Currently each senior must request this annually, which the commissioners deemed to be unnecessary.

COMMITTEE ITEMS REQUIRING BOARD ACTION:

The commissioners concurred with a proposed resolution from the Human Relations Committee urging the U.S. Congress to provide emergency legislation to prevent the deportation of recipients of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and TPS (temporary protected status).
Commissioners concurred with Finance Committee’s proposed amendment to the Predictable Recording Fee Ordinance.
Commissioners concurred to Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee’s resolution requesting a hearing to discuss the status of the Cook County Sheriff’s Prescription Drug Take Back Program.

With the exception of a few minor questions to clarify, there was no discussion of items, and the board moved quickly through the agenda. Even with an extensive public comment period to support the DACA resolution and to oppose a power plant in Glenwood, Illinois, the meeting adjourned at 12:20 pm.

Observer - Georgia Gebhardt Meeting Length: 2 hours

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Cook County Board Meeting Lasts Less than an Hour!

3/15/2019

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Cook County Board of Commissioner Meeting - February 21, 2019

Comm. Suffredin & Arroyo were both absent. All others present

Board Action:

Deferred - Proposed resolution to discuss Cook County and Forest Preserve Employees’ and Officers’ Annuity & Benefit Fund.
Approved - Items/ordinances that had been sent to committee, including the Predictable Recording Fee Ordinance (Finance) and Regional Gang Intelligence Database (Criminal Justice)
Approval of new leases for office space of commissioners Britton, Deere, Morrison, Britton, met with welcoming applause of group.
Superintendent, Cook County Dept. of Transportation and Highways, John Yonan spoke in support of the supplemental improvement Motor Fuel Tax Project (+$335,000) affecting Chicago, Des Plaines, Elk Grove Village & Unincorporated Elk Grove, and its funding for Phase II Design Engineering, related to cost of design change.

Of Interest: Meeting was speedy!

Observer - Mary Ann Benden

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Cook County Board Eliminates Regional Gang Data Base

2/21/2019

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Cook County Board of Commissioners Committee Meetings - February 20, 2019

Criminal Justice Committee

After several amendments and substitutions, the Criminal Justice Committee voted to prohibit the use of Sheriff Dart’s Regional Gang Data Base (Agenda Item 19-0687).
The Sheriff has already decommissioned the data base, but this ordinance seeks to prevent a future use by other officials and to prevent a re-commissioning of any future data base.
The ordinance also provides that this committee will hold a public hearing within 90 days on this issue.
Public speakers brought up issues of discrimination, due process and fairness. 84% of the people on the gang data base are African-American or Latino.

Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee

Approved an ordinance that gives a preference on county contracts to businesses owned by people with disabilities—physical and mental. (Agenda Item 19-0604)

Asset Management Committee

Deferred an item that sets up a new procedure for awarding Capital Planning contracts. Commissioners S. Morrison and Silvestri were concerned that the Board is left out of contract oversight with this new procedure. Since so many questions were brought up, further meetings between Procurement and commissioners will be held before a vote. (Agenda Item 19-1074)
Also Deferred at the request of the sponsor, Comm. Moore - a resolution that would hold a hearing to discuss the various projects and programs run by the Bureau of Asset Management. (Agenda Item 19-1358)

Other Items of Interest

Apparently over the last two days, one regular speaker has been derogatory in speaking against the Human Rights Committee formation and against immigrants. The Board will seek a legal opinion on what can be done about abusive speakers during the public testimony time.
This observer came at the designated time for the beginning of all these committee meetings—10:30am. However, the lengthy Consent Calendar, whereby residents and other groups are honored for various accomplishments, was only partially completed so the committee meetings did not begin until 12:50pm. The committee meetings all adjourned by 3:15pm. The League has long proposed that the Consent Calendar business be conducted on days other than Regular Board meeting and committee meeting days so that more time can be spent on the business of the County.

Observer - Karin Hribar

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Cook County Board Raises Age to Purchase Tobacco Products to 21, but only Applies in Unincorporated Areas

1/28/2019

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Cook County Board Meeting and Board Committee Meetings
January 23 and 24, 2019

Meeting Length: Board Meeting lasted 2 hours on Jan. 24. Committee meetings lasted approx. 3 hours on Jan. 23, and started 3 hours late because of length of Consent Agenda meeting.

What did the Board decide?

Approved raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21. Comm. Degnen voted no and Comm. Arroyo voted present because they believe 18 is considered to be an “adult” for other purposes and adults should have the freedom to choose. During the Committee hearing, much to the surprise of the sponsors, a County attorney stated that the ordinance would only apply to unincorporated areas. The ordinance does not apply to “possession” of tobacco products because no one wants someone under 21 to get a “record” for possession. Comm. Sean Morrison said that it was good that when this same ordinance was introduced at the last meeting of the prior Board, it was decided not to rush but to instead reintroduce it with the new Board. He said he took the time to reach out to businesses in his district and found that there would be little impact because only about 4% of the tobacco purchases were from those under 21. With the extra time, he became a “yes” vote. (Agenda Item 19-0605).
Approved amendments to Inspector General ordinance that add penalties for disclosing information from Confidential Summary Reports that are sent only to President’s Office and the applicable elected official or department head. Penalties are up to 6 months imprisonment and up to $5,000 fine. Inspector General explained that these Confidential Reports differ from the summary public reports that are posted on his web site and which have far fewer details. (Agenda Item 19-0602)
Approved creation of a Complete Count Census Commission to be headed by Comms. Moore and Deer. Purpose is to create plan for reach-out to ensure everyone is counted because many federal and state funds are based on the census count. (Agenda Item 19-0733)
Approved a new contract for a “communication platform” for the Jail and Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. This covers phone calls (reduced from 12.5 cents a minute to 6 cents locally, 8 cents long distance within North America, and 13 cents for international calls), email exchanges (from and to detainee for total of 10 cents), and texts ($10 for up to 250 texts, or $20 for up to 600 texts). Also includes education component that provides tablets and classes for free to detainees. And this platform will eliminate a lot of paper that flows within the jail. Costs the County nothing and it receives no revenues. There was apparently some controversy over the awarding of the contract to Adobo in that the current provider of telephone service objected, but the head of Procurement explained the award was justified taking into account all the services to be provided at the specified fees. (Agenda Item 19-0005)
Approved a resolution requiring the development of a county-wide CPR and AED training awareness campaign and expansion of training access. The Cook County Health Department supported, and there were a number of speakers in favor. A date will be set for the Commissioners to be trained. (Agenda Item 19-0645)
Approved a resolution for the County to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030. (Agenda Item 19-1080)
Approved waiving fee for rabies vaccination for veterans and residents with disabilities. (Agenda Item 19-1234)

What to watch for:

Sent to Legislation & Govt. Affairs Committee: Hearing on impact of U.S. government shutdown on County. (Agenda Item 19-1368)
Sent to Economic Development Committee: Amendment to Ordinance that established a Commission on Social Innovation for Job Creation, Workforce Development, Entrepreneurship, Community Revitalization, and Individual Development. Comm. Suffredin expressed concern over the ordinance and fact that Chair and, under amendment, Vice-Chair has sole authority to appoint members. Comm. Gainer explained the only change to ordinance was to allow Vice Chair (Comm. Anaya) to appoint and run Commission’s activities, in addition to Chair, who had been Comm. Garcia and who is now Comm. Gainer. Will be interesting to see if any further changes are made to this ordinance in Committee. (Agenda Item 19-1382)
Comm. Moore will have hearings of Criminal Justice and Asset Management Committees which he chairs to discuss status of various programs of Sheriff and of Asset Management Dept., respectively. (Agenda Items 19-1338 and 19-1358)

Observer - Priscilla Mims,

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Parking App Tax Break Repealed by Cook County Board

12/20/2018

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Cook County Board of Commissioners - December 12, 2018
Committees: Rules and Administration, Zoning and Building, Finance
Meeting Length: 2 hours

What did the Board decide?

At a previous Board meeting, it was decided that starting in 2019, all committees will meet the day prior to the regular Board meeting instead of the same day. This was reiterated to the audience since one speaker complained.
Comm. Suffredin explained general procedures for approval of court cases, litigation and workers comp payments and encouraged new Board members to learn about these cases. Judges are pleased to discuss this with new Board members.
Unanimous approval by the Board to repeal a parking tax break (Ordinance 18-5789) for parking app users such as Spot Hero. The tax was scheduled to drop to 1.75% in January, but with the repeal the tax will remain at 6%.
Approved the creation of a Census Count Commission (Agenda Item 19-0733)

What else did the Board discuss or refer to committee?

The following items were referred to these respective committees:
Legislation & Intergovernmental Relations Committee

Ordinance to increase age for purchase of tobacco products to 21 (Agenda Item 19-0605)
Amendment to the Inspector General Ordinance that would enable financial and prison penalties for leaking confidential Inspector General reports information (Agenda Item 19-0602)

Criminal Justice Committee

Restrictions on the use of Gang Intelligence Data Base (Agenda Item 19-0687)
Create a Charitable Rotating Bond Fund (Agenda Item 19-0768)

Finance Committee

Fair Elections Program and Fund which would provide public matching funds of up to $1,500,000 per year for Cook County elected offices and commissioner elections (Agenda Item 19-0689)

Economic Development Committee

Historical Property Tax Exemption (Agenda Item 19-0688)

Observer - Karin Hribar

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<<Previous

Cook County Board Approves Intergovernmental Agreement with MWRD for Independent Inspector General Services

Cook County Board Votes to Request Hearing on Shakman Compliance

Cook County Board Meeting Lasts Less than an Hour!

Cook County Board Eliminates Regional Gang Data Base

Cook County Board Raises Age to Purchase Tobacco Products to 21, but only Applies in Unincorporated Areas

Parking App Tax Break Repealed by Cook County Board

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