Cook County Board of Commissioners Meeting - May 10, 2017                               

Significant Decisions Made:  

• The Patriot Acres Special Use proposal to establish an organic materials recycling facility to convert landscape trimmings and food scraps into high quality compost in Des Plaines was approved with several additional conditions imposed.  The vote was 13 yeas and 2 nos from Comm. Goslin and Morrison.  Comm. Silvestri recused himself from discussion and voting and Comm. Schneider was absent. (Agenda Item ​17-2310)
• Accepted a grant from IDHA of $250,000 to be used for maintenance and demolition of abandoned property. (Agenda Item 17-3106)
• Comm. Boykin's Resolution urging suburban communities to consider adopting and working  constructively with  Chicago neighborhoods was approved. (Agenda Item 17-3227)
• Reappointment of Cook County Health and Hospitals System (CCHHS) Board members Hill Hammock, Mary Driscoll,  Robert Reiter.

Significant Topics Discussed and/or Referred to Committee: 

• Comptroller’s Report  -  The State of Illinois owes Cook County $105 million dollars - including money from 2016. County did recently receive a $40 million payment for 2017.  The Board discussed the possibility  of getting paid interest from the state under The Prompt Payment Act.
• Commission Suffredin introduced an ordinance allowing for the electronic filing of witness slips by the public on all issues that come before the Cook County Board and the Committees of the Board The ordinance was referred to the Rules Committee to be voted on at June 7 meeting. (Agenda Item 17-3293)

Other Testimony: 

• During CCHHS reports, Dr. Shannon was asked about what can be done about the gun violence problems.  His comments focused on the desperation in the communities and the need for jobs, education, other societal determinants of health and the need to improve the economics of the community.

Other Comments or Observations:

• The lengthy meeting was a result of the large number of individuals who testified on the Patriot Acres proposal. 

Observer: Syvia Tillman                                         Meeting Length:  5 hours including committee meetings

Cook County Board of Commissioners Board Meeting - April 12, 2017

At the end of the Finance Committee that preceded the Board Meeting, a report from the Cook County Health and Hospitals System (CCHHS) CFO stated that the state owes $45 million to the county for FY16.  There is a match that the county makes to the state that is required to meet the federal match and CCHHS makes expedited payments to the state in order to get the money back from the federal government. The money is actually driven down by the CFO and hand delivered to the state office in order to prevent the continued delay from the state regarding not yet receiving the match money from the county!  

Comm. Boykin asked Dr. Jay Shannon, CCHHS CEO, to explain the status of the gun violence reduction study being done by CCHHS.  Dr. Shannon said that the study continues, but preliminary results show major stresses on families and communities are similar to the stresses that researchers are finding with children in Syria!  Trauma Informed Care is showing that the trauma of living in a continued state of stress leads to chronic behavioral problems and ultimately to physical disease.  He described it as a cascading problem.  CCHHS is targeting community based care which will offer social and mental health support in the affected communities. The goal is for CCHHS to get into the community,  and better results will occur.  Comm. Steele suggested looking at mental health awareness.  Comm. Sims then offered her own experience of visiting with families and educating families about resources available.  Dr. Shannon explained that almost anything can be accomplished if the resources are available. Comm. Sims then said that she thought they all would agree to find a way and she suggested that the Dept of Human Services should take the lead. There are other models in the country where communities have put through referendums to tax the affected community in order to financially support the needed services. 

During Public Comment two women from the violence impacted communities provided emotional testimony and one stated that she was with the Warriors on the Watch. They described needed services and support for neighborhoods filled with liquor stores and abandoned houses. They expressed anger about guns and gangs and kids dying in the street. They asked for work “in our communities, so we don’t have to duck and die."  One called out Comm. Sims and said she is in the suburbs, not the west side.  Both were verbally supported by comments from Mr. George Blakemore.

Significant Issues Discussed and/or Action Taken:

• The Administrative Office of IL Courts (AOIC) is paying the county for probation officers (including juvenile), but slowly. Cook County is owed over $30 million and  the costs are about $3.7 million/month. 
• There was discussion from the interim director of Homeland Security (the last director was removed by Preckwinkle in November), regarding a grant from federal Homeland Security. Comm. Suffredin questioned the rules and budgeting of the grant.  He referred to a grant from last year, poorly managed, that resulted in the county having to come up with a significant amount of money to make the grant whole.  Homeland Security will monitor the new grant closely and will supply quarterly reports.
• Monitoring of the merger of the offices of the County Clerk/Recorder of Deeds was moved to the legislative committee. 
• Comm. Boykin’s resolution urging suburban-neighborhood innovation partnerships  is being expanded and will be reintroduced next month. (Agenda Item 17-2736)
• John Yonan, Superintendent, Dept of Transportation and Highways, answered questions from Comm. Suffredin regarding the request for $1,120,000 for 1.1 miles of road in Palatine that divides the oldest Forest Preserve in Cook County.  As the original request dates back to 7/12/2005, Superintendent Yonan explained that the bid includes an environmental and engineering study, which were never done. As I live within 5 miles of this forest preserve and understand the sensitivity of the area, I was very interested in the discussion.  The forest preserve is in Comm. Goslin’s district. He asked no questions.
• Approved a contract request from the Public Defender for the Safer Foundation that provides confirmation reports to judges that defendants are safe to be released.  Safer Foundation verifies information regarding defendants with low bonds and gives confidence to the judges. This is in collaboration with the MacArthur Foundation, the Justice Advisory Council and the Public Defender Office, to provide services for individuals with low bonds who have remained in jail for extended periods due to failure to post bond.
• Approved as substituted the $36m technology contract for Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County - Dorothy Brown’s office - that includes money for outside oversight of the contract. 

 
Observer - Laura Davis                                                              Meeting:   9:45 to 12:45

Cook County Board of Commissioners Board and Committee Meetings - March 8, 2017

Significant Actions Taken: 

• The Board unanimously passed a Resolution to Condemn Hateful Acts of Violence and Rhetoric Directed at Jews and Muslims.  Initially sponsored by Commissioners Boykin (D, 1st) and the four Republican Commissioners, all Commissioners joined as co-sponsors.  To indicate the seriousness of the resolution, the approval was given by a “rising vote” with all Commissioners standing to express their support.
• The Board also approved the Ordinance Amendment which modified different portions of the County Code to eliminate references to “citizens” because the benefits, opportunities, and services provided by the County are not conditioned on citizenship or immigration status. (Agenda Item 17-1165)
• The Healthy Workforce and Health Care Access Amendment made  similar changes in language and specifically added that discrimination based on immigration status is prohibited unless required by Federal or State law.  As explained by Commissioner Gainer, the purpose of both these actions is to encourage people to seek health care and report crimes without fear, no matter what their immigration status is. (Agenda Item 17-1732)

Other Actions Taken:

• Approved a resolution requiring the Cook County Recorder and Clerk to submit progress reports on the transfer of all duties and responsibilities of the Recorder to the Clerk’s office by December 7, 2020.  Reports will be due in May and November in 2017 and 2018, and quarterly (January, March, July, and October) in 2019 and 2020.  Commissioners Boykin, Sims and Steele voted against the resolution, without discussion. (Agenda Item 17-2106)
• Approved a substitute ordinance that requires reports from departments in connection with an agenda item to be made available (electronically, paper, or by posting on the Legistar system) by 5 pm on the day the agenda is posted, except for items to be referred to a Committee.  The original version of this measure would have required the reports to be made available 72 hours prior to the meeting and stated that a failure to meet that deadline would result in the item being deferred to the next meeting unless there was a vote by at least 2/3’s to allow consideration then. (Agenda Item 17-0058)
• Referred to Technology a proposed contract for a Unified Communications (Voice over IP) for $24 million over 5 years to replace the County’s aging telephone infrastructure (Agenda Item 17-1942).

Other Discussion of Interest:   Cook County Health & Hospitals System (CCHHS) Issues
During the Finance Committee’s consideration of a monthly report from CCHHS:

• Comm. Gainer asked whether the nearby hospitals (U of I and Rush) were in “competition” with CCHHS.  The CCHHS CEO Dr. Shannon said that the populations served were different.  About 1/3 of CCHHS’ patients are uninsured vs. 4% to 6% at the other hospitals.  Also, while the majority of CCHHS’ patients are insured, the majority  are under Medicaid, and a large amount of these are under the expanded Medicaid coverage that is the result of the Affordable Care Act..  Only a small percentage (less than 10%) of the patients purchase insurance on the exchange.  Comm. Gainer noted, and Dr. Shannon agreed, that this means that the biggest concern for the financial health of CCHHS is whether there will be significant changes to expanded Medicaid coverage, as currently proposed in the bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives this week.
• Comm. Boykin asked for an update on CCHHS’ involvement with the gun violence consortium.  Dr. Shannon said that CCHHS is looking at the effect on the family of victims of gun violence and the researchers are finding increased stress and depression.  Another effect of the increased violence in Chicago is on the trauma staff of CCHHS:  the staff is saying that during this past winter they were contending with a level of violence that is normally only experienced in the summer.  Usually, the staff has some time during the winter months to recover from the stress of dealing with violence.​

​Observer:  Priscilla Mims                                                          Length of Board Meeting:  1 hour

Cook County Board of Commissioners Committee Meetings and Board Meeting - December 14, 2016

Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee Meeting

• An amendment to the Cook County Ethics Ordinance was approved that will include the office of the Independent Inspector General of Cook County as an office that can receive reports of ethics violations, supspected violations, or other misconduct. This is in addition to the Board of Ethics as a place where such can be reported with the rationale that this will make it easier for violations to be reported. The amendment was approved by all Commissioners present. (Comm. Steele was the only commissioner absent) (Agenda Item 16-5767)

Rules and Administration Committee Meeting

• An ordinance to the Rules of Organization and Procedure of the Cook County Board of Commissioners stating that a “substitute ordinance shall not be considered until the meeting of the Board of Commissioners following the meeting at which the substitute was introduced “was deferred to the January Board meeting. It was deferred because the Commissioners felt more discussion of this was needed and there was concern about substituted amendments during the budget process and how this might affect the budget. Commissioner Sufferdin thanked the LWV Cook County for their input on this matter. (Agenda Item 16-5778)

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING

Significant Items Approved:

• The Board unanimously approved the Cook County Gun Violence Task Force Final Report. The Task Force was established to serve as an investigative and fact-finding body authorized to hear and gather testimony and data about economic, social, and cultural causes of gun violence in the City of Chicago and Cook County, with the specific objective of recommending a  set of written policies designed to reduce gun violence and its roots. The report can be found HERE. (Agenda Item 17-0524)

Other items of interest:

• The Board approved the Annual Calendar of Regular Meetings for 2017. There will be 13 meetings with one every month except for two in March and June, and no meeting in August. (Agenda Item 17-0615)
• The Cook County Justice Advisory Board awarded seven Violence Prevention, Intervention, and Reduction Demonstration Grants to provide various services and /or programs. (Agenda Item 17-0428)

New Items Added to the Agenda:

• Proposed Resolution amendment to establish the President Pro Tempore and Chairs and Vice-chairs of the standing committees and subcommittees. Commissioner Steele will remain as President Pro-Tempore and some of the Chair and Vice-Chair have been changed due to the death of Commissioner Murphy. (Agenda Item 17-0644)
• Proposed Resolution designating and appointing members of the standing committees and subcommittees. This was done to add Commissioner Moody who replaced Commissioner Murphy to the standing committees, (Agenda Item 17-0645)

New items referred to Committees:

• An ordinance establishing time limits for distribution of departmental documents to the Board was referred to the Rules Committee, (Agenda Item 17-0058)
• A Resolution for County Unity for fair and equal treatment of immigrants, refugees and their families etc. for all of Cook County was referred to the Human Relations Committee.

​Observer - Nancy Marcus