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