Resolution to Review Compensation of Elected Officials Approved by Cook County Board Finance Committee

Committee Meetings of the Cook County Board of Commissioners
Oct 5 & 6, 2021
 
Note: all items listed below as being approved by a Committee do not become effective until the Board approves them at the Board meeting held on October 7.

October 5 Meeting Highlights:

Health and Hospitals Committee

• Agenda Item 21-0541  CCH and Public Health Dept update on Covid. Deferred  Cook County Health (CCH) established a mandate for employee vaccination or weekly testing.   As of Oct 1, 83% of the employees are fully vaccinated and 92% had one dose.
• 21-5290 Resolution declaring mental health a public health crisis.     Passed   Commissioners Amaya, Degnen, and Kevin Morrison said their constituents want more money spent on mental health services.   Commissioner Miller said American Rescue Plan Act funds should be spent on improving these services.  Commissioner Daley said that there needs to be coordination with other existing services including private hospitals.

Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee

• 21-5410 Ordinance to codify the existence, duties and appointments for the Commission on Women’s Issues.     Passed    The Commission was formed in 1995 by resolution. The purpose of this action was to put it into the County ordinances.  
  
• 21-0565  Proposed resolution to celebrate Indigenous People’s Day and Reconciliation Day                                                                                           Deferred     There were several public speakers in favor and against the proposed resolution.    One point often raised by the public speakers and the Commissioners was though it is important to recognize the wrongs done to Indigenous People, there was no reason to take away a day that honors the contributions of the Italian Americans.   The State of Illinois has named the last Monday of September as Indigenous Peoples Day. Several Commissioners thanked Commissioner Johnson for initiating the process and resulting difficult conversations that were illuminating.

October 6 Meeting Highlights

Finance Committee

• 21-5258  Calling for a review and recommendation regarding elected officials’ compensation.  Passed.  Comm. Suffredin proposed to initiate a process to engage an economist and an outside compensation consultant to review the compensation of Cook County officials and compare it to other counties.  The last review was in 2000. The committee would prepare a report on the comparison and recommend salaries to the Commissioners.  The report would be prepared by February of 2022.  The Commissioners would then decide if any action was needed. Any such increase would be effective in the next fiscal year in 2023 after the election for the offices.  The Clerk of the Court would be excepted since it isn’t up for election until Nov. 2024.
  
• 21-4303 Proposed amendment to the Procurement Code.     Deferred to Nov Mtg.  It would require that the Chief Procurement Officer shall make every effort to have at least one woman and one African American or Hispanic  on any evaluation committee for an RFQ or RFP.  
  
• 21-4102   Approval of Unarmed Security Contract for the Juvenile Detention Center (JDT)  Passed      11 Aye  4 present   Commissioner Sean Morrison No  Leonard Dixon of the JDT  reported that supplemental guards were needed at the facility because they are currently experiencing a 23% absentee rate.  He is recommending a three-year contract with Monterrey Security Consultants to provide 22 officers.   The JDT has 400 FTEs in security staff and currently 100 vacancies.  The standard absence had been 10-15%.  The vacancies are due to COVID, retirement, FMLA, injuries, and difficulty in hiring.   The JDT brought in a psychologist to help the staff with the stress of the job.  He anticipates that it will take them 3 years to rebuild to full staff.   The JDT can have an average of 200 detainees. Comm. Sean Morrison had previously asked to see the contracts and supporting documents and had not received them.   He was concerned that the vendor could commit to handling all the requirements. Comm. Daley asked for a follow up report on how the JDT was reducing the absentee rate.

Technology Committee

• 21-5079   Chief Technology Officer’s major project report.       Deferred to the November meeting  
• The Clerk of Court technology officer reported that they were making progress on the Odyssey system, that allows electronic access to court documents and dates.  Initially, Judge Evans delayed the Court from implementing the system.   He has since given approval for Phase 1 and 2 to be implemented.   The traffic court is in the last phase and will be implemented by the end of the year.
• The completion of the Integrated Tax Processing System will be delayed until September of 2024.    Comm. Sean Morrison referred to a letter that all the Commissioners received from Treasurer Pappas with concerns about the project.   The vendor is Tyler Information Systems and they were originally contracted in 2015 with a completion date of 2019.  The contract was performance based and Tyler has not been paid for implementation projects since 2017 although the implementation is continuing.   They are also contracted for ongoing licensing and maintenance of the system.     Comm. Sean Morrison said Tyler’s performance is disappointing. Comm. Kevin Morrison said he may call a special meeting to address the issues.   Since it is a contract issue, the committee would have to meet in executive session.

Observed by: Kathi Graffam                                           Time: 7 hours total