Funding for Electronic Monitoring Questioned by Cook County Commissioners

Cook County Board of Commissioners Meeting - December 17, 2020
Virtual Meeting - All Commissioners present  
President Preckwinkle left at 2:10 to attend the Covid inoculation.  Vice Chair Sims took over.

Public Speakers:

• Statements were read by the Board Secretary and included support for the change of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples day, support and opposition to the landlord/tenant ordinance, concerns about the use of electronic monitoring.

Board Actions:

• Agenda Item 21-0019 Appointment of Michelle Kohler to Cook County Commission on Women’s Issues.   Approved.
• 21-0490   The proclamation of disaster under the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act due to Covid was extended through January 31, 2021.   Passed
• 21-0295  The Department of Transportation and Highways  requested approval of the Intergovernmental Agreement between the County and Metra. Beginning in January 2021, Cook County and the region's transit agencies will launch a three-year pilot project to improve transit service for the residents of south suburban Cook and the south side of Chicago. The pilot will begin with a 50% fare reduction on the Metra Electric and Rock Island commuter rail lines and service improvements on the Pace 352 bus route.  Cook County will underwrite the costs of the participating agencies.   Passed.
• 21-0441, 21-0445  Ammar Rizki from the Bureau of Finance explained the resolutions to contribute $341,961,760 to the Pension Stabilization Fund beyond the statute required amount. FY2021 Pension Fund supplemental contributions will be made on a monthly basis in the amount of $20,000,000 from December 2020 through October 2021. The final FY 2021 Pension Fund supplemental contribution will be made during November 2021 in the amount of $33,961,760.        Passed.
• 21-001  The Department of Transportation and Highways requested approval of the proposed Improvement Resolution for the South Cook Fair Transit Pilot. The funds will go towards the planning studies and implementation of the South Cook Fair Transit Pilot in southern Cook County. These funds are to be used with both Metra and Pace working in conjunction on this project. Commission Degnen questioned how this could impact CTA ridership.   President Preckwinkle responded that the Department of Transportation is currently working with Metra and PACE and there are ongoing discussions with the CTA.   Passed
• 21-0367   Authorization to enter into an interagency agreement. The Cook County Safety and Justice Challenge Stakeholders including the Office of the Chief Judge, Circuit Court of Cook County, Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court, Cook County Public Defender’s Office, and Cook County Sheriff’s Office will partner with Loyola University to provide the data to develop a data portal to host criminal justice data to support data-informed policy decision making. Commissioner Keven Morrison asked when findings will be available.     The contract is for 2 years, but data will start to be shared immediately.     Passed.
• 21-0352   This was a request from the Sheriff’s Office and the Court to expand the existing approved contract with the GPS equipment provider.  The equipment is used for electronic monitoring. The Original Approval amount was $4,064,311.50.  The increase requested was $13,389,943.00. The increase to the contract is needed due to the unforeseen significant increase in electronic monitoring (EM) participants during FY 2020 because of the Covid virus, the program to reduce the use of cash bail, and the Sheriff’s Office transitioning current EM participants from radio frequency equipment to GPS equipment. There was a one-hour discussion about this resolution.  Initially it had been decided to send the resolution to committee because several commissioners had questions before the meeting.  Other commissioners requested to approve the increase as the Sheriff’s office has said they could run out of equipment.  Commissioner Sean Morrison pointed out that this contract had been discussed and approved and that the resolution was only for additional money.  Commissioner Anaya and Commissioner Kevin Morrison had a number of questions about the current usage of equipment for both radio frequency and GPS monitoring and why the projection for money was so much.    Representatives of the Sheriff’s office had to check on answers.   The monitoring is moving from radio frequency to GPS.   The equipment is leased and so any outdated radio frequency equipment is being returned to the vendor and all GPS equipment has to be recycled to that vendor for sterilization after use Commissioners Anaya, Johnson, Miller and Degnen had concerns about the use of electronic monitoring.  Degnen, Miller, and Anaya had received a letter from George Washington University about the negatives in using electronic monitoring.  That is why they wanted the whole program to be discussed in committee.  Passed    14 yes 3 no
• 20-3460 Juneteenth Recognized as a paid Cook County Holiday.   Several Commissioners spoke in favor of this.    There was no discussion about costs.   Passed.

​Follow Up Items

• Agenda Item 20-5667 PROPOSED RESOLUTION Requesting Presentations from the Cook County Treasurer and Cook County Assessor to Discuss the Impact of Increased Property Taxes on Constituents

Observer:  Kathleen Graffam                                                        Meeting Length:  5 hours