Cook County Board Observer Reports

Cook County Board Meeting Lasts Less than an Hour!

3/15/2019

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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Cook County Board Honors the Seven Retiring Commissioners for their Service

12/8/2018

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Cook County Board of Commissioners Meeting - November 14, 2018

All commissioners were present except Commissioner Garcia who was in Washington DC, for Congress Orientation. Commissioners Boykin, Butler, Fritchey, Garcia, Goslin, Moody and Schneider were honored for their service on the Cook County Board.

What did the Board decide?

The Annual Calendar of regular and consent meetings for the calendar year 2019 was approved. Click here to see schedule of meetings.

The regular Board meetings will occur on Thursdays, at 10:00 am. - approximately monthly (13 meetings scheduled)
The Consent Calendar meetings will take place on Wednesdays at 9:00 am. - monthly the day prior to the Board Meeting (11 meetings scheduled)
The Finance Committee and Rules Committee will meet on Wednesdays, at 10:30am - following the Consent Calendar Meetings
The Zoning and Building Committee and Transportation Committee (formally known as Roads and Bridges Committee) will meet at 10:30 am on the following Wednesdays - January 23, April 24, July 24, and October 23.

President Toni Preckwinkle, said there will be no committee meetings held on the day of the regular Board meeting.

What else did the Board decide:

Proposed Ordinance amendment, that would amend the Land Bank ordinance to prohibit Land Bank from conveying any property to an employee of the Land Bank or the County to their immediate family members was passed with no discussion.
Proposed ordinance from Commissioner Suffredin to increase the GIS fees from $15 to $20 was withdrawn.
All Collective Bargaining agreements were approved without discussion

Committee Items Requiring Board Action:

Workforce Committee: An Intergovernmental agreement with Cook County as lead, and 16 suburban communities to develop a regional assessment of Fair Housing. Approved.
Law Enforcement Committee: Commissioner Moore calling for a hearing on electronic monitoring, Meeting was cancelled
Legislation & Intergovernmental Relations: item proposed by Commissioners Boykin and Suffredin that would change the age to purchase tobacco product from 18 to 21 was deferred. Note that there were students from Proviso High School urging the commissioners to pass this.
Business and Economic Development Committee: Proposed Resolution establishing an Emergency Fund to address the citizenship question in the 2020 Census was tabled.

Watch for in the Future

Proposed ordinance amendment requiring a Fiscal Impact note for pending Legislation was withdrawn, look to see if re-introduced. (18-4207)
Proposed ordinance substitute changing the age from 18-21 to purchase tobacco products. Commissioner Suffredin said it will be deferred to a later date but will be discussed.(18-6109)
Item proposed by Commissioner Suffredin , to increase GIS fee from $15 to $20 was withdrawn, look to see if re-introduced. (18-6982)
See if Commissioner Moore’s proposal for a hearing on electronic monitoring, as it relates to Juveniles, (15-5343) is re-introduced.

Observer - Nancy Marcus Meeting Length: About 3 ½ hours

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Cook County Board Approves $5.9Billion Budget for 2019

11/21/2018

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Cook County Board and Finance Committee Meetings - November 15, 2018

By unanimous vote (15 to 0, with Commissioners Butler and Garcia absent), the Cook County Board approved the budget for fiscal year 2019 that begins on December 1, 2018. Prior to that vote, the Finance Committee (a committee composed of all the Commissioners) approved 16 amendments which are incorporated into the final budget.
These amendments include one which increased the Revenue for the General Fund amount by $11.4 million based on (1) higher surplus in TIF accounts released by Chicago, (2) higher projected revenues by the Treasurer, and (3) projected increases in reimbursements from other governments. This additional $11.4 million was disbursed by several amendments which

Increase General Fund expenditures by $5.6 million through a “Technical Amendment.” In the past, these Technical Amendments generally did not increase the total expenditures, but simply moved amounts around from what had originally been proposed. The League thus far has not been able to identify where the additional funds are to be spent.
Add 10 employees to the Board of Review for $661,102 for the purpose of defending assessments before the Property Tax Appeals Board. During the meeting with the Board of Review, Commissioners were told that such additional employees would more than pay for themselves with the savings achieved by successfully defending assessments.
Add 43 new positions to the Sheriff’s area to add patrols to help stem violence on the south and west sides of Chicago and in the southern suburbs, for a total of $1 million.
Use $1 million to provide and coordinate reentry services for formerly incarcerated. Such services will include mental health and substance abuse services.
Add 16 Assistant State’s Attorneys and a clerk for $1.4 million for the Civil Division of the State’s Attorney’s office. Again, it is expected that this expenditure could pay for itself by enabling the County to seek damages/amounts owed in civil cases and/or to do more work in-house at a lower cost than hiring outside counsel.
Utilize $500,000 to fund services for pregnant and postpartum individuals awaiting trial.
Utilize $1.25 million to fund outreach marketing efforts to increase participation in the 2020 census. Obtaining an accurate count is critical to the County and State obtaining their appropriate share of government funds based on population, as well as appropriate Congressional seats.
Utilize $70,000 to increase funding for the office of the Commissioner who will serve as President Pro Tempore.

Commissioner Fritchey gave a warning about using these potentially one-time funds for creating positions, even as he voted for the amendments and resulting budget.
Two other amendments:

Would create up to 11 analyst positions at the Board of Review for assessment appeals, but only to the extent there are actual receipts from the newly enacted Board of Review Bulk User Fee to cover the costs.
Would allow newly elected officials (the Recorder, Clerk, and 5 new Commissioners) to create new positions by transferring amounts from other accounts within their budgets (so no overall increase in their budgets).

The Finance Committee meeting lasted less than 1 hour, the shortest budget amendment meeting since the League began observing in the mid-2000’s.
Observer - Priscilla Mims

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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

Cook County Board Honors the Seven Retiring Commissioners for their Service

Cook County Board Approves $5.9Billion Budget for 2019

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