Cook County Board of Commissioners - Meeting - September 26, 2019
Absent: Commissioner Tobolski Board Actions:
Items referred to Committees for future discussion and consideration:
Committee Recommendations Approved: Very quickly and without much explanation the following committee items were approved by the Board of Commissioners (I may have missed some that were bundled with other items and approved):
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Cook County Board of Commissioners Meeting - May 23, 2019
Commissioners Absent - Silvestri and Gainer What did the Board Decide:
Other Items of Interest
Observer - Cynthia Schilsky Meeting Length: 2 and 1/2 hours Cook County Board of Commissioners Meeting - March 21, 2019
NOTABLE RESOLUTIONS PASSED:
COMMITTEE ITEMS REQUIRING BOARD ACTION:
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 Cook County Board Finance Committee - Departmental Budget Hearings
October 24, 2018 Cook County Assessor Cook County Treasurer Chicago Board of Elections Clerk of the Circuit Court Office of the Secretary to the Board There were 10 Cook County Commissioners present. Cook County Assessor: Joseph Berrios Budget Highlights:
The Commissioners thanked Assessor Berrios for his serve. Cook County Treasurer: Maria Pappas Budget Highlights:
Maria Pappas, commented that tax bills are being sent out in a timely matter and more and more people are accessing their bills and paying their bills online. March Bills will be online in December. This has saved the county money. Commissioners pointed out that all of the IT work is done in house and this has saved the County money. They also noted that the Cook County Treasurer’s Website is very user friendly. Chicago Board of Election: Lance Gough, Executive Director Budget Highlights:
Board of Elections is continuing to grow online registrations. There has been an increase of early voting in the city and a growing participation in Vote by Mail. Commissioners asked whether new voting machines would be ready for the February and April elections. Mr. Gough responded that they will not be ready and the City of Chicago will be using the same equipment that is being used for the November 2018 Election. New equipment will be ready for the 2020 Presidential Election. He is confident that the new equipment will be secure. There was also discussion concerning the lack of polling places and judges in the City. Chicago is moving towards Voting Centers. Condominiums and schools do not want to open their spaces for voting. He said that the Super Site on West Washington is working well. Clerk of the Circuit Court - Dorothy Brown Budget Highlights:
Dorothy Brown commented that as of July 2018, e-Filing has become mandatory for all civil areas of law. This system has caused difficulties for the Clerk’s office as the staff has had to provide extra-specialized customer service assistants to both self-represented litigants and attorneys, in order for them to e-File successfully. The challenge is not having enough employees to help. The Commissioners suggested that perhaps they might need to charge for providing help. They also suggested that a printed quick reference card or TV presentation with directions as to how to use the system could be implemented. It was noted that this system was created first for smaller counties, and then implemented for use in Cook County. Dorothy Brown would like to hire more people but cannot until they meet the budget requirement concerning the furlough days. Office of the Secretary to the Board - Matthew De Leon Budget Highlights:
Commissioners had suggestions for the Board meetings and the boardroom
Observer: Nancy Marcus (11:00-2:00 with an hour break for lunch) Cook County Board Finance Committee - Departmental Budget Review
October 24, 2018 Board of Review Commissioners absent: Butler, Fritchey, Goslin, Gainer and Garcia. Board of Review Commissioners Rogers, Patlak and Cabonargi, presented the following:.
Com Suffredin stated that a fairer system is needed. When asked if the department was all right with the CC Board President’s budget, the response was yes. When asked what areas they would like to grow/improve, the review board stated that they would like to have a separate PTELL unit (I believe it is currently 6 people). The PTELL unit defends challenges. If the Board of Review could have a larger PTELL unit, it could more effectively defend challenges, and that would recover more money for the county which would fund local schools and municipalities. The Board of review asked for $90,000 for its appraisal budget. It also suggested that an additional $750,000 to fund the PTELL defense budget would generate about $1 million for the county. In other words, it would pay for itself. One of the commissioners said that as the county is doing well with revenue (sounded like it was due to increased revenue from sales tax), that it made sense to fund extra money for the Board of Review which would ultimately pay for itself. Observer - Laura Davis Cook County Board Finance Committee - July 24, 2018
Midyear Budget Hearing - Day 2 - Morning Session I arrived right at 9AM for the hearings and there were 2 commissioners present (Suffredin and Morrison) other than Chariman Daley. Seven more arrived by 9:30AM and 3 more by 11AM. Absent for the entire morning session were Commissioners Goslin, Gainer, Butler, and Fritchey. Commissioner Sims asked everyone the core mission of his or her department and if there was any waste to cut. She did this even when both questions were answered in the original presentation. Commissioner Morrison asked everyone what new taxes they would propose, if any. Most took no stand on this issue. Board of Review (BoR): I came in just as their presentation was wrapping up, but I heard all of the questions.
The Assessor: This presentation and Q and A session was extremely short. It lasted maybe 15 minutes.
Cook County Health and Hospitals System (CCHHS): A short report was given to each commissioner.
State’s Attorney: Presentation was given by Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx.
Observer - Jan Goldberg |
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