Cook County Board of Commissioners Meeting via Zoom
April 15, 2021
                     Attendance: all 17 commissioners were present. Meeting led by President Preckwinkle

Items of Interest Sent to Committee:

• Agenda Item 21-2634: This item involves the speeding up of payments to contractors, especially minority and women owned business enterprises. The goal is for these businesses to receive payment within 30 days. Electronic means will be utilized to aid in the process. Many Commissioners asked to be Co-Sponsors. This was sent to the Finance Committee.
• Agenda Item 21-2662: Declaration of Gun Violence as a Public Health Crisis. This topic took up much discussion as statistics were explored (3893 shootings in 2020 as compared to 2536 in 2019, for example.) The cost of treating gun shot victims is between $30 and $40 million. Many Commissioners asked to be Co-Sponsors of this. It was referred to the Health and Hospital Committee.
• Agenda Item 21-2427: The requirement for progress reports on the Recorder of Deeds office as it is now under the Office of the Clerk. This item was referred to the Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee without discussion.

Board Action:

• Agenda Item 21-2133: Reappointment of Hedy Ratner to the head of the Human Rights Commission. Many Commissioners spoke out in favor of Ms. Ratner as many knew her and worked with her for many years on women’s issues. She is credited with much progress in the areas of reproductive rights and economic progress. Her tireless efforts have led to many county contracts with MBE and WBE (minority and women business enterprises).  She was called “a treasure of the 3rd district”.
• Agenda Item 21-2516- Cook County’s Disaster Proclamation was extended until May 31st. The same  2 Commissioners voted “No” (Degnan and Sean Morrison) but no reasons were given this month. The vote was 15-2.
• Agenda Item 21-2309 The Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC)  has an advisory board that wrote a report with recommendations for the JTDC. Much of the report centered around solitary confinement. The report was received and filed with the CC Board.  A spokesperson for Chief Judge Evans, Jim Anderson. announced the formation of a committee to study these recommendations. The Chicago Tribune reported on this committee in a short article the next day. It stated that Commissioner Suffredin would be on this committee along with former Commissioner Richard Boykin, among others.
• Agenda Item 21-2658- This resolution was passed to address violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Many commissioners asked to be added as co-sponsors as statistics were discussed on the increasing number of incidents of violence and harassment against these groups.
• Agenda Item 21-1369  The Performance Review Report was received and filed. There was no discussion.
• Agenda Item 21-2378- This proposed grant award for mass Covid-19 vaccinations in Cook County was accepted with much fanfare. President Preckwinkle announced that the 2 days prior to the meeting (April 13th and 14th) saw record daily numbers of people receiving doses through CCH (about 14,000 each day) She also announced the 500,000th dose had just been achieved  by CCH facilities. She also announced a brand new facility opening in Matteson.
• Agenda Item 21-1963- Peter Creticos’ firm was given a contract to work on the redistricting of Cook County Commissioners’ districts. President Preckwinkle thanked Commissioner Sims for leading the committee on this task, which she called “a thankless job”.
• Agenda Item 21-1218  The resolution condemning the Acts of Domestic Terrorism at the capitol on Jan.6,2021 received much support, much discussion, and an abundance of gratitude to Commissioner Johnson for bringing this to the board. Many Commissioners asked to be added as co-sponsors. Commissioner Deer quoted the preamble to the US Constitution about “insuring domestic tranquility” and added that there was none on that day.
• Agenda Item 21-2125- Sheila Chalmers-Curran, the Mayor of Matteson was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Cook County Land Bank Authority. 
• Agenda Item 21-2677- Modifications were made to the Land Bank Authority Ordinance including a change that will allow the Cook County President to appoint the Executive Director with approval of the Board of Directors of the Land Bank..

Recognized on the Consent Agenda were 2  individuals who have impacted Criminal Justice within Cook County. 

1. Amy Campanelli, the head of the Public Defenders office was given a great deal of thanks by many Commissioners and the President for her work. She just stepped down as her term was up and Sharone Mitchell was chosen to succeed her.
2. Pam Rodriguez, the head of TASC (Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities), has retired.

Observer - Jan Goldberg                        Meeting Duration: 10am until 1:30 PM

Cook County Board - Health and Hospitals Committee Meeting
April 13, 2021

Cook County Health (CCH) has been working hard to get people vaccinated.  The following improvements to the system were cited

1. 5 mass vaccination centers opened including the new site in Matteson which is the largest and is in an abandoned Target store.
2. 13 PODS (point of distribution) sites opened to target school personnel.
3. Worked with 145 organizations for other sites
4. Changes made to improve the vaccination website including adding a waiting room. 1.4 million people have scheduled through the site.
5. Expanding hours for the telephone hotline for scheduling appointments for non computer users. Hours are M-F 7am-10p and Sunday 8am-10p. Average of  30,000 to 50,000 calls per day. When new shipments arrive calls can exceed 100,000 per day
6. CCH is committed to equity and has identified 32 communities needing attention and will be doing temporary priority PODS 
7. Current limiting factor is still supply but the sites are capable of a ⅓ surge if supplies increase.
8. Paramedics will be making visits to vaccinate homebound people 
9. Organizations can request pop up sites
10. There will be drive through sites opening now that the weather is improving.
11. Research indicates that the most hesitant to be vaccinated are 18-34 year olds. A My Shot campaign has trusted voices for this demographic recommending shots.

In addition to vaccinations, the CCH Contact Tracing initiative now has 187 tracers and 63 investigators. 90% of newly identified Covid patients are contacted and 71% responded. Funds are available to help quarantining patients with food, home supplies and lost income.

The number of new cases is rising but they can still keep up for now.
The BinaxNow rapid antigen test is in use.

The meeting had been delayed while CCH CEO Israel Rocha, and Drs Joshi and Rubin from the Cook County Department of Public Health, and Mr Barnes were handling the problems caused by the temporary hold on Johnson & Johnson vaccines.  All patients who were to receive the J&J vaccine will be offered either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.  Anyone with a scheduled appointment can still be vaccinated. Only 27,000 J&J vaccines have been given in suburban Cook County and no issues with blood clots have been reported.

Several commissioners spoke - some had questions but most were just complimentary comments.

Observed by: Lisa Slankard                                           Length of Meeting - 1 hour

Cook County Board and Committee Meetings
March 17 and 18, 2021

The Board approved:

• The appointment of Sharonne Mitchell, Jr. to a 6-year term (April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2027) as the Cook County Public Defender.  At the Legislation & Intergovernmental Relations Committee meeting on March 17, there were several public comments in support, including one from the president of the union representing the assistant public defenders, saying that the union believes Mr. Mitchell appreciates the role of collective bargaining and the key issues of the union, including having a workplace free of harassment, management support, workload issues (can’t take on other functions), fairness in promotion, and the morale of the office.  The Commissioners thanked outgoing Public Defender Amy Campanelli for her hard work and passion in representing her clients.  Agenda Item 21-2052
• An extension of the proclamation of disaster in Cook County through April 30, 2021.  This continues providing the President with additional authority to take action without prior Board approval.  Commissioners Bridget Degnen and Sean Morrison voted “no.”  Commissioner Degnen explained that she believes that the Board should have more say in directing the funds, though agrees with Commissioner John Daley’s statement that the Bureau of Finance has done an excellent job of keeping the Commissioners informed and answering questions. Agenda Item 21-2068.
• A resolution authorizing the publication of the plain language summary of the Residential Tenant Landlord Ordinance that had been recommended by the Zoning & Building Committee. Agenda  Item 21-1848.

The Board referred to the Redistricting Committee:

• Contract with Peter A. Creticos, LTD for remapping and redistricting services (Agenda Item 21-1963) and contract with Election Data Services for redistricting software and support services (Agenda Item 21-1967).  Commissioner Deborah Sims, the chair of the Committee, said that now the Committee members (all Commissioners) can begin the conversation on redistricting.

Other:

• People wishing to make public comments now have the option to present verbally at the meeting, in addition to providing comments in writing, which the Secretary of the Board has been summarizing, and which are posted on the “meeting details” page for the meeting entry on the Legistar system.
• A number of Commissioners joined the meeting of the Business & Economic Development Committee to hear the presentation from the Bureau of Economic Development for its “Cook County COVID Community Recovery Initiative Impact Report” from March 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020.  Bureau Chief Xochitl Flores described the use of the $77M CARES Act fund to aide critical social services, small businesses, workforce development, and mortgage & rental assistance.  (Agenda Item 21-1367).  The County partnered with a number of agencies, private foundations, and associations to provide services, loans, and grants.  Commissioner Ana Anaya commented that the Bureau has created a new infrastructure for long-term change.  
• The Comptroller reported to the Finance Committee that for the first 2 months of the new fiscal year, the General Fund has a positive balance of $89M (with revenues above and expenses below budget) and the Health Fund has a negative balance of $127M (with revenues down, but which have since been collected, and expenses above budget). (Agenda Item 21-1991)

Priscilla Mims - Observer

Cook County Board of Commissioners 
Health & Hospitals System Committee Meeting
March 16, 2021

Following two public comments urging that additional vaccination sites be set up in the western and southern suburbs, coincidentally, the presentations by both the Department of Emergency Management & Regional Security and the Department of Public Health (“DPH”) focused on the criteria that has been used in establishing County-sponsored vaccination sites in the suburbs and how this is changing.  Both Departments acknowledged the need to provide more vaccination opportunities in the southern and western suburbs and said that they expect, with the promised increase in vaccination doses, to be able to do so.

• Executive Director of Emergency Management William Barnes explained that the County started by looking at large sites in order to be able to get as many shots in arms as possible.  Convention Centers were looked to, such as the one in Tinley Park.  Began rethinking as heard from communities wanting their own sites, as well as the Federal and State governments now also wanting to be involved.
• Currently looking at large commercial sites, such as big box stores, which are located all over the County and are very flexible (can use large or small areas as required), have lots of parking, generally are easy to locate, and often accessible by public transportation (all key factors).
• But also looking at other alternatives:  know that while about 40% of people happy to go to large sites, the rest prefer smaller sites.
• CEO of Cook County Health Israel Rocha, Jr. said that currently there are more people wanting the vaccine than those needing more education about it.  He touted the number of contacts from residents to the vaccine web site, www.vaccine.cookcountyil.gov, and the vaccine hotline, 1-833-308-1988.
• Dr. Kran Joshi reported that 18% of suburban residents have received at least 1 vaccine shot and 9% have received 2. 
• A Mobile Vaccination Strategy is in place to help reach more places, with a pilot successfully conducted in Maywood recently.  More are scheduled.
• Dr. Rachel Rubin reported that the DPH finally has a significant workforce in place to do contact tracing.
• DPH presented its 1st quarter report (Item 21-0798) which focused on its grants of $5 million to 42 community organizations to help educate and vaccinate people and of $1 million to 5 worker centers to help reach temporary workers over the 6-month period from Dec. thru May.  With more funds coming, DPH expects to continue the efforts through the end of 2021.

DPH also told the Commissioners that it had received reaccreditation in Feb. for the next 5 years.

Priscilla Mims, Observer

Cook County Board of Commissioners Meeting
February 25, 2021

Public Speakers & Consent Agenda:

• There were no verbal public speakers but the Board received 38 written comments mostly supporting renaming the Columbus Holiday to Indigenous Peoples’ Holiday. Commissioner Suffredin stated that the Legislative & Intergovernmental Affairs Committee will hold a Public Hearing on this issue in May and vote on it in June.  He also said that the Ethics Ordinance will be on the Committee’s agenda in March with an April vote expected.
• Former US Senators’ Roland Burris and Carol Moseley Braun were recognized as part of black history month.  They participated virtually and were honored collectively and individually by the Commissioners.  Karen Lewis, former President of the Chicago Teachers Union, was also honored.

Board Action:

• Agenda Item 21-1048  Approved an ordinance amendment requiring Tax Increment Financing Districts to provide information to the Cook County (CC) Treasurer each year, within 60 days of audited financials, plus provide such information for the past 5 years within 60 days of this amendment becoming effective 60 days from February 25.  This change will allow the Treasurer to provide a report to the public.
• Agenda Item 21-1189  Approved a resolution to assess the needs and improve the quality and effectiveness of behavioral health care provided by County Government.  It requires a quarterly report and a public hearing from at least 9 government departments and agencies covering a list of 14 specific pieces of information.
• ​Agenda Item 21-1848 Approved changing the recently passed Tenant-Landlord Ordinance to only require a summary of the Ordinance to be given to each new lease and posted on the Department of Human Rights and Ethics website. 
• Agenda Item 21-1752 Passed a resolution to encourage CC residents to learn about the Summer project.  Summer offers free advisory services to chart the most affordable loan path and to simplify repayment plans.  This service is free because of a grant from the Joyce Foundation.
• Agenda Item 21-1664 Approved a resolution requesting an extension of a food contract with the Black Dog Company for meat deliveries to the Juvenile Detention Center. Commissioner Suffredin said that this is the last time he will vote for a Black Dog contract.  He referred to several critical articles in the Sun Times and Tribune.  A representative from the Chief Judge’s office said that an RFP has been issued and it will take the rest of this year to go through the process to hire a new contractor.  Commissioners asked Mr. Suffredin to send them the articles.
• Agenda Item 21-1609 Authorizes the Bureau of Economic Development to design and implement the CC Rental & Utility Assistance Program using the $72.6 million in Federal Funds awarded to Cook County.
• Agenda Item 21-0388 The Safer Foundation asked for a license agreement to park mobile trailers outside of 3 courthouses so it may provide information about their services which include housing and job placement.  The three sites are the Markham and Maywood courthouses and the Leighton Criminal Courts building. 
• Appointed Transportation and Highways Superintendent, John Yonan, to Chief of the Bureau of Asset Management and Jennifer [Sis] Killen as his replacement.
• Several Ordinance amendments were passed to help businesses in unincorporated CC during Covid.  Among them is video gaming application fees and then licensing fees per termination.  Both were cut in half.  Wheel taxes on various types of commercial vehicles were also cut.  Beer garden licenses were reduced to $200.
• Grants to Cook County Health and the Department of Public Health were approved as part of the new requirements for approval by the CC Commissioners.  These requests to receive grants do not need to be reviewed at the committee level before board authorization. $1.2 million was awarded by the US Department of Justice to fund a comprehensive opioid, stimulant, and substance abuse program.  
• A $600,000 grant to the Justice Advisory Council was also approved.  The Il. Criminal Justice Information Authority provided the grant.

Other: 

• Agenda Item 21-1273 Resolution to allow joint committee meetings and referred to the Rules and Administration Committee on January 28, 2021 is still in committee.
• Agenda Item 21-1306 Resolution calling for a public hearing to evaluate the economic impact of vacant and abandoned properties in CC and referred to the Business and Economic Development committee on January 28, 2021 has been held/deferred in committee.

Observed by:  Diane Edmundson                                            Meeting Length:   3 ½ hours

Cook County Board of Commissioners Committee Meetings 
February 24, 2021

Cook County Health and Hospital  Committee 

• In a public hearing, CEO Israel Rocha, of Cook County Health and Hospital System, and Dr. Rachel Ruben, of the Cook County Department of Public Health, gave updates on the COVID vaccine program.  Information included website improvements for scheduling vaccines, locations to get vaccinated, the distribution of vaccine system, and current numbers of those vaccinated in Cook County.  There are 11 large and 145 small vaccine locations in Cook County.  These include major sites in Tinley Park, Triton College and newly opened New Trier High School.  There is also a partnership with Walgreens, Osco Drug, and Mariano’s Grocery pharmacy.  The call center receives about 12,000 calls per day.  In the last month about 105,000 residents have been vaccinated with at least one dose.
• Cook County Commissioners’ questions and concerns were addressed. Regarding Chicago residents using Cook County locations:  this is a reciprocal arrangement designed to quickly vaccinate as many people as possible; about 30% of Chicagoans and 30% of suburban residents have been vaccinated by the other entity.
• Numerous  programs and outreach have been developed to encourage minorities and other hesitant residents to take the vaccine.  About half of these communities are not inclined to be vaccinated.  There is no charge to anyone for vaccines and tests, but insurance companies may be charged an administration fee.  Group 1c (those 16-64 years of age with co-morbidities) will likely be added mid-to late March in Cook County.
• In other business, the committee passed a Resolution to Assess Needs and Improve the Quality and Effectiveness of Behavioral Health Care Provided by Cook County Government (21-1189).  A 2015 study found that behavioral health visits to emergency departments (ED) in Illinois are the largest growth category of ED visits.

Finance Committee Meeting--

• Cook County CFO Amar Rizki gave an overview of the property tax levy levied by Cook County government.  The base levy has not changed since 1994 ($720,000,000).  That and other revenue sources make a total of $784,214,215 for the 2021 budget.  Because of the tough budget year (COVID and business closures), two of seven categories will not be funded this year—Corporate and Capital.

Finance Subcommittee on Litigation 

• Regarding the Inspector General’s recommendations for the Board of Review:  the issues related to Shakman-type practices have not been resolved by the Board of Review.  There will be a special meeting next week to discuss these problems.  It is not known if this will be a public meeting.

Observer -  Karin Hribar