Cook County Board Committee Meetings
October 21, 2020 - Committee Meetings were held from 9:30am-2:30pm

Items of Interest: 
Health & Hospital Committee: 

• The 2020 2nd Quarter Report for the Public Health Department was submitted. In the report it was reported that there have been 70,000 Covid19 cases and 2000 deaths attributed to Covid19. The positivity rate is 7% and trending up in all age groups. Disparities were noted due to structural racism. Federal policy has generated fear among the undocumented, making them reluctant to seek medical help.  County level risk metrics were blue in August but now back to orange.  The CC Health System has responded to 10,000 requests from the public. CCH is partnering with other agencies to expand rapid testing for Covid in coming weeks. They are also staffing up for increased contact tracing.

Legislation & Intergovernmental Relations Committee
Agenda Item 20-4191 - Final Report on Merger of Recorder of Deeds Office with the Office of the County Clerk

• During the meeting there was an extensive discussion on the transfer of jobs from the Recorder of Deeds Office to the office of the County Clerk.  Union representatives were present to object to the fact that employees of the Recorder’s office were being forced to reapply for jobs with the Clerk. Their collective bargaining unit, along with their jobs, will be terminated on November 30 when these two offices merge. The union objects that Recorder employees must compete with outside applicants for the positions that will now be within the Clerk’s office. Many employees have a good deal of experience/seniority and feel that they are being unjustly treated.
• Several commissioners expressed surprise that the merger was not proceeding as seamlessly as they had believed. The HR representative reminded the commissioners that the merger was  complicated by Shakman and by Covid. Also, the positions of the two agencies are not a simple “apples to apples” process when it comes to hiring. She did make a commitment that those who were hired by the Clerk would not lose their seniority or their salary. Approximately 20-25 jobs will be cut. It was hoped that these could be absorbed by attrition/early retirement. 
• Clerk Yarborough has requested a legal opinion from the States Attorney. Commissioner Suffredin recommended deferring action on the ordinance until this opinion is obtained.
• The report on the Clerk’s office assuming duties of the Recorder was accepted with no discussion at the October 22 Board meeting.                          

Cook County Board Of Commissioners Meeting
October 22, 2020          Meeting Length - 3 hours 15 minutes

Key Items Addressed by the Board: 
Agenda Item 20-4204    
Mr. Israel Rocha, candidate for the Cook County Hospital’s CEO position,
        received the blessing of the Cook County Board on October 22, 2020. His 
        offer package included a base salary of $650,000 plus a 10% performance-
        based annual bonus opportunity. The industry’s standard severance package
        of one year was reduced to 20 weeks.  CCH Board President officially intro-
        duced Mr. Rocha, though he had met most of the 17 Commissioners prior to
        this meeting. While taking longer than the expected six months to identify
        and vet the final candidate, it appears that the Cook County Board and the
        Hospital Board are in strong agreement that they have found the right person.
        Mr. Rocha has experience in all of the responsibility areas he will assume as
        CEO, including: Public Health, A Managed Health Care Plan, Forensic Medi-
        cine and an Ambulatory Care Network.
In his remarks, Mr. Rocha said that he wants to create a leading model of care
        for Cook County.  He offered the following six goals toward that end:
        1. Operate a safe and clinically sound system of care
        2. Responsive to patients’ needs
        3. Take bold steps by breaking barriers to achieve equity and inclusion
        4. Ensure fiscal and financial resilience
        5. Be known as the employer of choice and the provider of choice
        6. Be known as a leader in the advancement of medicine as a human right.

Agenda Item 20-3460    CC Board unanimously adopted Juneteenth as a county holiday.

Agenda Item 20-3562    The Board voted a substitute for the Proposed Landlord Tenant Ordinance
        and then discharged it from the Finance Committee and referred it to the
        Zoning & Building Committee. This ordinance is meant to establish the same
        rights for all renters and tenants throughout suburban Cook County as those
        currently enjoyed by citizens of Chicago, Evanston, and Mt. Prospect.

Agenda Item 20-4872    A resolution was passed stating the Clerk of the Court should collect $150 on
        all mortgage foreclosure filings to be used to support a plan to save residents
        from eviction and mortgage foreclosures. The Illinois Supreme Court authorized
        the collection. Passed unanimously.

Agenda Item 20-4814    The Board unanimously passed a resolution to forgive loans made by the 
        County under the program established to deal with Covid. The County can use
        CARES money from the federal government as long as it is done before the end
        of December.

Agenda Item 20-3431    The Board approved appointment of Joseph M. Harrington to the CCH Board.

Agenda Item 20-4202    The Board passed an ordinance by President Preckwinkle to establish a 
        Property Assessed Clean Energy Program & Area. It is to finance the acqui-
        sition, construction, installation or modification of energy projects. 

Agenda Item 20-4684    The Cook County Board honored Dorothy Brown on her retirement from 20years of service as the Clerk of the Circuit Court. 

Commissioners praised the Coronavirus report (9-30-20) as a great resource. The distribution 
of funds was broken down into four areas: 1) direct costs, 2) workplace redesign, 3) economic
development and 4) grants to local governments (due by October 31).

Observers: Georgia Gebhardt and Diane Edmundson                   

Cook County Board of Commissioners Meeting -  Sept. 24, 2020​

Key Items Addressed by the Board:                      

• 20-4302  Extending Disaster Proclamation through Dec. 31, 2020. Motion made by Com. Daley and seconded by Com Suffredin.  Com Daley stated Pres. Preckwinkle has continued to hold conference calls with department heads and staff to answer questions of commissioners and provide requested information.  Com Suffredin affirmed the prudence of the extension in light of continuing need to access resources to address the recession and Covid19; he stated no abuse of power has occurred.  Com Britton stated it is necessary for county to be “nimble” in its responses. Com. Morrisson questioned why technology could not allow us to operate without this extension. Another concern was that not enough meetings were held to address Covid19.  Commissioners are receiving monthly statements from the Budget Director. Passed.  Aye-13  No-3. Present-1

Moved by Com. Suffredin, seconded by Com Britton, and approved to take up out of order the recommendations of Legislative and Intergovernmental Regulations Committee the 3 items below. Then moved by Suffredin and Britton to concur with the recommendations of that committee.

• 20-3428 Appoint Raul Garza as Director to Cook County Health Board for a 4 yr term.  Approved
• 20-3433 Appoint Robert Currie as Director to Cook County Health Board for a 4 yr term. Approved.
• 20-0016  Approve as Substitute Proposed Amendment to Office of Inspector General.  This included a new provision requested by the LWVCC to have quarterly reports from the IG Office submitted as Board agenda to receive and file or refer to Litigation Subcommittee. It also includes clarification on minimum qualifications for the IG position and allows the president with approval from the Board to reappoint the existing IG for a 2 yr term. It adds a requirement that before the IG would issue a written public statement regarding an investigation that found inefficient or wasteful management, the IG must first submit this to the affected department and allow the department to provide a written comment within 10 days to be issued (and any response by the IG) with the written public statement. Passed.
  

• 20-4289 Re-appointment of Patrick Blanchard for 2-yr term as Inspector General. Moved by Com Suffredin and second by Com. Britton.  Commissioners expressed support of past work of IG Blanchard.  Passed.
  
• 20-4259 Proposed Cook County Health (CCH) Preliminary Budget FY2021. Move to approve by Com. Deere and seconded by Com. Arroyo. One question was whether this was supposed to go first to committee.  It was explained that the purpose of the document is to see the hospital budget for substantive issues, format. The budget can be discussed after it has been received by the President’s office. The CCH budget becomes part of the Cook County budget to be defended by CCH later in the budget process. Debra Carrie, Interim CEO, spoke to a question of the dollar value of the budget.  She stated the tax allocation for 2021 would increase $40 million over 2020 allocation, making it $123 million for FY2021. Approved.

Other item of note:

• Clarification was made regarding roll call votes and voice votes in virtual meetings.  Per the Open Meetings Act, all actions require roll call votes.  Motions for referral of items can be voice votes since the actual action takes place in committees.

Observer:  Carolyn Cosentino                                        Length of Meeting 3 hr 32 min

Cook County Board Committee Meetings - Sept. 23, 2020
Litigation and Governmental Relations Committee  10:30am

Agenda Item 20-0016   Substitute Ordinance Amendment to Inspector General Ordinance: 
(Sponsored by all CCB Commissioners) 
Special Counsel Lechowicz stated that the changes, highlighted by bold type, add specificity to procedures as well as qualifications for the OIG.  IG Blanchard stated his agreement to the committee, adding that the changes make the ordinance better and stronger.  It was passed with unanimous aye votes.

Included in the Substitute Ordinance Amendment:

• Re Quarterly Reports, these will be placed on the next regular County Board meeting agenda as items for receipt and file or as items to be referred to Litigation Committee.  Included would be the number of IG investigations pending for over 180 days.
• As the term of an IG is up, a search process may be restarted for a new IG (6 yr term) or allow a 2 yr. reappointment during the search for a new IG.
• Procedures are now specified for investigations taking more than 180 days.  The OIG currently follows these.

Committee Chair Suffredin explained that the Substitute Ordinance Amendment will need to be passed at tomorrow’s Cook County Board meeting; following passage IG Blanchard would be eligible for reappointment for a 2 yr term. 
Agenda Item 20-3428  Appointment of Raul Garza to CCHHS Board of Directors, 4 yr term.  Statements of welcome and support were made by commissioners.  Mr. Garza brings experience as CEO & COO of Aunt Martha’s Health and Wellness, located in the south suburbs, where he has worked since 1993.  Their focus is addressing needs of people facing disparities in healthcare. All members voted aye for appointment. Appointment to be finalized at Sept. 24, 2020 CCBC Meeting. 
Agenda Item 20-3431 Appointment of Joseph M Harrington to CCHHS Board of Directors, 4 yr term.  This was deferred at the request of the CCB President due to scheduling issues.  It will be completed at next month’s meetings.
Agenda Item 20-3433 Appointment of Robert Currie to CCHHS Board of Directors, 4 yr term.  Statements of welcome and support were made by commissioners.  Mr. Currie is retired, brings 30 yr of experience in managed care.  Mr Currie states that the county is well-positioned to continue outreach in bolstering services for mental health, healthcare, opioid addiction and the gun violence impacting Stroger Hospital. All members voted aye for appointment. Appointment to be finalized at Sept. 24, 2020 CCBC Meeting. 

Observer - Carolyn Cosentino

Cook County Commissioners - Board and Committee Meetings
July 27, 29 and 30, 2020

Key items passed by the Board:

• “Justice for Black Lives” Resolution.  The substitute non-binding resolution calls on monies for policing and incarceration to be redirected to public services, not administered by law enforcement, which will promote community health and public safety, particularly in Black and Brown communities most impacted by violence and incarceration.  Such services to include housing, health care, mental health, restorative justice, job creation, public transport, eviction/foreclosure, and increasing opportunities for Minority-owned and Women-owned business enterprises.  Passed with 15 votes; Commissioner Aguilar voted present and Commissioner Sean Morrison voted no, both expressing concern with the idea that the resolution calls for defunding the police.  Commissioners voting in favor say that this lays out priorities for reducing crime and promoting opportunities through these other means.  The upcoming 2021 budget (which will be considered in October and November) will offer the first opportunity for the Commissioners to start to carry out the resolution. (Agenda Item 20-2867)
• Resolution to utilize $82 million of money County received under the CARES Act to aid economic recovery from COVID-19.  (Agenda Item 20-3229)  See the Observer Report for the Special Board Meeting on July 16 for details of the distribution.

Other Items of Interest Discussed in Committees:
Finance Committee:

• County’s Use of CARES Act funds:  CFO Ammar Rizki reported that the $429 million has been allocated for (1) County’s operational costs (46%), (2) County’s direct costs incurred  (23%), (3) spurs for economic development across the County (19%, the Resolution described above), and (4) $51 M for eligible costs incurred by suburban municipalities (12%, as described in the Observer Report for the July 16 Special Board Meeting).  New guidance comes out regularly from the U.S. Treasury as to how these monies can be spent.  Mr. Rizki said that with $300 M in lost revenues to the County, it is critical that now County can use the CARES money to cover some salary and benefit costs.  However, Mr. Rizki said that CARES Act money can only be used to cover hazard pay for those employees directly dealing with COVID positive people (health care workers and correctional officers in the Jail).  So hazard pay provided to other people will not be covered, based on current information.  Mr. Rizki stressed that with many people predicting a spike in COVID cases in the fall, the County needs to conserve some of these funds to cover future costs.
• To date, 439 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19.
• So far, no monies have been allocated to township governments, which have other options.
• Mr. Rizki receives a weekly report of which municipalities have requested monies under the $51 M allocation by the County and will share with the Commissioners so they can make sure municipalities in their districts are applying for that money.
• Cook County Health has received $59 million of CARES Act funding in May in addition to the above as a health care provider. 

Audit Committee:

• Clean audits received for both the County as a whole and Cook County Health (“CCH”) for fiscal year 2019.  County has a Fund Balance that would cover 2 months of expenses, which is considered what is necessary.  (Agenda Items 20-2685, 2687)
• Auditor stated that CCH’s receivables tend to be risky, but thinks there are sufficient reserves to cover delinquencies.  Liabilities include $477 M of claims to County Care for outside (“foreign”) providers, $236M which are identified and the rest based on management estimates of what claims will be submitted after the fiscal year for care provided during the fiscal year.  Comm. Miller asked for breakdown of these “foreign” claims so they will know where people are going for care outside of CCH’s facilities.  Comm. Morrison wants to know dollar amount not collected due to mistakes; this goes beyond scope of this audit.  Andrea Gibson, CCH interim chief business officer, will be setting up meetings with the Commissioners.  She said that CCH is now catching out-of-network people and so not providing service under County Care.  Also, CCH is making sure getting pre-authorizations required by other insurers.
• Clean audit for Clerk of the Circuit Court, except that fees not disbursed in timely manner as required under Illinois Clerks of the Courts Act. (Agenda Item 20-2653)

Legislation & Intergovernmental Relations Committee:

• Review of the Final Recommended Plan for consolidating the Recorder of Deeds functions into the Office of the County Clerk.  Estimated cost savings during 2021 is $1.1 M, and annual savings thereafter over next 3 years estimated at $6 M.  Expect reductions in positions down to 79 for recorder’s work due to streamlining and broadening of work done by an employee.  Savings also due to moving Clerk’s Vital Records area from Daley Center pedway to Recorder’s office on main floor and moving Clerk’s offices on 14th floor of 69 W. Washington to Recorder’s administrative offices in County building. (Agenda Item 20-2745)  Next review by Commissioners of this consolidation will be in the proposed budget submitted in October.

Items to watch for at next Committee meetings, likely during the week of Sept. 21:

• Agenda Item 20-3562: Proposed “Residential Tenant & Landlord Ordinance,” which was referred to the Finance Committee.  Co-sponsor Britton said that this is modeled on the Chicago and Evanston ordinances.  Would spell out tenant and landlord rights and obligations.
• Agenda Item 20-3482:  Proposed resolution requesting hearings every month of the Criminal Justice Committee with the Sheriff and senior staff to discuss the operation of the Jail and Police Department (responsible for unincorporated areas plus some suburban towns under inter-government agreements).  Referred to Criminal Justice Committee.
• Agenda Item 20-3435:  Proposed resolution supporting the Illinois NAACP State Conference and Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police Ten Shared Principles.  Referred to Law Enforcement Committee.
• Commissioners Deer and Moore each submitted separate proposals to add Juneteenth as a County holiday, which were withdrawn.  The Commissioners said they would work to add this holiday without putting an added expense to the budget.

Note:  The Cook County Board and most of the Board Committees are not scheduled to meet again until week of Sept. 21, though Commissioner Suffredin wanted the public to know that everyone is still working and Commissioners continue meeting virtually in small groups (so as not to violate the Open Meetings Act) each Sunday with key County personnel.

Observer - Priscilla Mims

Cook County Board of Commissioners Finance Committee
Mid-Year Budget Hearings - July 28, 2020

State’s Attorney 

​General Information
Revenues - Revenue was $238,000; that is down $178,667 which is a 42.3% variance.  
Expenses - Actual expenses were $59,343,256 which is variance of 4.3% ($2.7 Million)
Holdback Target - Holdback target achieved 

Other information of interest:

• State’s Attorney’s Office (SAO) fees consist entirely of certain fees for felony and misdemeanor convictions in the Circuit Court and imposed by judges.  Revenue has historically begun to decrease. The trend points to a continued decline; court closures due to Covid19 has exacerbated the decline.
• Most hiring for attorneys occurs after the July bar exam so vacancies are carried in the first half of a fiscal year which represent the variance. Prior to mandated FY2020 appropriation reduction due to Covid19, the office rescinded 43 attorney offers that were tentatively planned to occur between Aug-Sept., and negotiated 75 delayed hiring of vacant positions to meet target reductions due to Covid19. Less expenditure payment requests associated with case activity, supplies, operations and delayed maintenance has resulted in decreased expenses until normal operations resume.
• The SAO Case Management System is in the review stage; expectation is that the proposal will come before the Board in FY2020.
• Holdback target was met by delayed hiring on open positions, non-personnel reductions, and estimated savings from furloughs. 
• SAO piloted Paperless Digital First project during the office closures; Its success has resulted in rolling out the approach to the entire criminal and special protection bureaus so that information can move throughout the supply and information chain without paper and those underlying costs.

Observer - Carolyn Cosentino

Cook County Board of Commissioners' Finance Committee
        Midyear Budget Hearings - July 22, 2020 

Public Defender
General information available from report online:

• Actual operating expenses as of 5/31/2020 $36,254 530. This was a 2% variance.  FY2020 YTD Budget was $37, 254,530.
• Holdback target of $5,094, 821 was not yet met.  Amount achieved was $3, 020,947 which were line items.  $2 million in COVID-19 related expenses are expected to be reimbursed through CARES Act.  Office currently has 35-40 vacancies holding off on hiring until year end unless critical. 43 attorney office hires were rescinded for Aug-Sept.  Hiring has been impacted by COVID-19 related issues.

Other information of interest

• Closure of cases has been impacted by court closures for 2 1/2 months and has impacted fee collection.  Revenue began to decrease in FY 2019.  No corrective action at this time; dependent on return to normal conditions.
• Case Management Evaluation system will be proposed for Board approval in 2020.
• Preliminary forecast for 2021 is that the office would not be able to meet budget targets. A $9 million reduction for FY 2021 would  result in a reduction of over 100 employees.  Anticipating both backlog of cases due to COVD-19 and uptick in violence this summer, the results would be a high volume of cases of all types. In addition to lawyers, outreach workers, social workers, and paralegals are needed. 
• Reduction in funding would eliminate resources to defend clients; assigning clients fo private attorneys would be more costly, perhaps as much as $6 million. Over-burden of case can likely lead to lawsuits.
• Implementation of Mental Health Resource Unit is in progress.  Currently one psychologist has been hired and been reviewing cases since and establishing relationships with community organizations and stakeholders.  31 referrals have been accepted by this one staff member.
• Police Station Representation Unit (PSRU) continues to build awareness through outreach and networking with community partners. The goal for FY 2020 was to double police station visits to over 2,000 to maximize calls for counsel to represent people in custody.  Due to the impact of COVID however, calls and virtual visits have declined and the goal will not be met.  18% of those provided counsel at the station house were not charged with any offense, demonstrating the effectiveness of the unit.
• Plans to provide improved service to clients, including  those in its conflict division and non-citizens who are best served by lawyers specializing in immigration law were presented. Implementation is dependent on having the necessary resources as demands on this office increase. 

Observer - Carolyn Cosentino