Oh, wow.
Yeah, it's not working. Testing, testing.
And they
have an,
yeah,
the indigenous mask
position.
What you Yes sir.
Testing, testing.
Testing. We hear you. We hear you,
Judge.
They're doing the same thing. Everybody.
Yes sir. Thank you. Thank you.
No, I think I you
No, you can tell
because right now they
start talking about you understand, but you know, take
battery.
Ready?
I
you got that.
They cannot continue have these same meeting at the
same damn time.
And they, they bullied us. They can't keep doing this.
They got a meeting going on in the chambers
and a meeting right here.
This meeting was supposed to start at one o'clock
and now they waiting on the call.
Uh, I just hate people to try
to make a g*****n fool out of me.
I just hated
Because Make a damn fool outta people.
Why would you put these same, these at the same damn task?
Why would I have to wait?
I keep hollering about that and they ignore me.
Legal. That's the whole thing.
We don't want to confront our enemy.
And sometimes we are our own enemy.
Black on black hate.
Don't stalk doing
The yo-yo thing bouncing Around here.
It's gonna start now because they left the other meeting.
Now they gonna have a call. Who, who does that?
Put two me, same time, same
Thing. Would thought a special
events meeting
would be an hour and 20 minutes.
Thank no, you don't start on time meeting
All of y'all.
You don't wanna confront them, but you'll confront me.
So Black aid will confront me.
How you doing, sir?
I know
They got one item.
It's supposed to be appointed some to the
Police Board.
I know. Sometimes they have elected police members.
Oh yeah. Come on. Yes sir. Yes sir.
Well, they can, are they trying
to call somebody on the phone to get a call?
Can you come down here? We need a call. Why you doing that?
Why you calling him last night? Why you waiting today?
Why you called last night
and said, you know, we having a meeting and,
and we want you to be on time.
The, the old blacks are complaining about
you're always late.
No, they, they could have got, they could have a cold man.
They don't want, they ready the picture.
You, they don't serve you. You serve them.
I'm talking about IT I'm a al.
You know the people didn't elect you.
You were selected by the democratic machine.
You came from the state and you ack over here.
Now y'all go by elect.
None of y'all, it's all the corrupt democratic machine.
Whatever the machine slate
that suits the black vote for How long long did you retire?
17. Yeah.
Whatever they slate you vote for.
I'm from
1 11 34.
You know. Good. Where, what do they do?
They just got two hog pens.
One over at the county and one over here.
They just recycle from one to the other two hog pens.
I voted for this two. Not vote for nobody.
They slate and you vote whoever they slate.
Hell, you don't vote. You don't put nobody in
because you can't take nobody out.
That's why they don't, that's why they
don't pay you any attention.
That's why they don't respect you. That's why respect.
And I don't respect you and you don't respect me
because you got no accept respect.
You don't respect yourself. You got no shame.
Why she want these all I'm doing something real shame.
Look at me high. I don't want you
to see me doing other things.
But you all don't care. You slow damn bold.
You don't care if I, if I'm doing something real bad,
here come Mr. Moore, look at me.
Look at me high. I don't want Mr. Moore
to see me doing bad things.
I got shame. You got no damn shame.
You got no damn shame. None at all.
No shame, man.
If I'm out here doing something, I said, oh, that's,
I'm going kind of hide.
I don't want Mr. Irving to see me doing nothing bad. But Mr.
Irv don't give a damn what he do in front of us.
He don't give a damn what he in front of us.
One time he started US meat without
a and put out.
He put out
that young man right here.
He put him out, he put him outta the meeting.
And it wasn't even the damn meeting.
Whoever heard anything like that, he put him out
and it wasn't even the damn me.
And then later on had another old white top knee.
These saying something else.
Now that's 30 minutes late.
These scores are doing whatever they wanna do when they want
to do it and how they want to.
Do you know what they telling you? The senator?
They're telling you the kids.
You got the
Or present response. Present
response form. Roll call is used for later purposes.
Chairman Tyler Farrell's. Here. Chairman Robinson's Here.
Alderman Hall. Alderman Mitchell's. Here.
Alderman. Nicole Lee. Alderman Curtis is here.
Alderwoman Taylor. Alderman Mosley's. Here present.
Alderwoman Savanna. Tabba.
Alderman Irving. Present. Alderman Cardona.
Alderman Sdo Al Nugent.
Alderman Napolitano. Present. Alderman Kon.
Alderman Gardner.
Alderman Alderman Silverstein.
We have nine members present.
We do have a quarrel pursuant to Rule 59.
Alderwoman Taylor, alderman Gardner
and Alderman Napolitano have requested to appear
by bid video conference.
Can I get a motion for the approval of the alderman
to appear by remote means?
So moved by Alderman Mitchell. All those in favor say aye.
All those app opposed. And if opinion, the chairs,
the ayes have it at this time.
We'll begin public comment.
Each speaker will be given three minutes to speak.
Our first speaker will be Mr. George Blakemore. Mr.
Blakemore, good afternoon.
We serve and protect the department.
Serve, protect the
department five department,
16% of the pharmacy of Chicago.
50%. Wait.
Can he restart again? Wait, George.
Mr. Blakemore, can you hold on one
second to see if your mic is working?
Restart. Okay. Your time. Ms. Paul, Ben, Paul.
Hey, mic. Working.
Detective, would it be fair
to restart this time to I'm
Mic or give the mic?
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Byebye Turn.
Can we test the other mic over here as well?
Why don't you test those mics before working now.
Alright, thank you. Give Mr.
Blakemore three minutes,
please. Go ahead, Mr. Blakemore. Alright.
Thank you. You 15%, 16%
of the departments are are black.
So that was several years ago
and that number hadn't changed.
The departments decided to go
to federal government and have a lawsuit.
It took 'em several years.
And then when they won the lawsuit, some
of these men was old.
Too old to be firemen.
The police department is racist,
but over 50% of the policemen are black, uh, white.
The rest are 40 or 35% Hispanic.
About 10% or 15% are are black.
So it seemed like the, the age old problem with,
with America make America great
again on that red hat.
And I painted a a, a, again, I painted that off,
but I'm going Trump make America.
But the big problem with America is racism.
What race is, that's the big problem
because they never wanted to free us black people.
We never received our 40 acres
and Amu, these 13, 14th amendments.
All of this means nothing to constitution
because these people hate us
and they have no respect for us
because they brought us over here as
slaves to serve them.
And we are still on the white man trying take shots.
Even though we have black faces
in high places, they are the over oversee the big
what what I heard Ms. Jackson say black.
So-called leadership don't want to confront white.
They wanna go along to get along
because they are not free.
They still have a slave mentality.
So that's the big issue, is racism.
Now they going to appoint someone,
I don't know if she's black or white on this, uh, uh, board.
And everything in
America is racist.
Racism is still alive, though
Democrats are Republican.
But I'm going Republican on my way to freedom land,
to, to be independent of both of these parties.
So again, it's very important for our people to recognize
that you're not free.
You know it and I know it.
Are you pretending you are happy when you're blue?
Are you pretending when you're,
you are free when you're not.
Love your nappy hair, your big nose
and your black hole Consult
People. Thank you,
Mr. Blake Moore.
Chairman recognizes Alderman David Moore for purposes of,
uh, attendance today and also pursuant to Rule 59,
Al Alderman Kon has requested appear by remote.
Can I get a motion? So moved by Alderman Mitchell.
Again, hearing no objections. So ordered.
Our next public speaker will be Burke Smith. Burke Smith.
Mr. Smith, thank you. Good afternoon, sir.
White. We Good Afternoon. Good
Afternoon. My name is
Burke Smith.
I'm a retired city of Chicago Fireman
and I'm here to talk about the city services
of the police and the fire.
There's a commissioner named Nance Ho, who was, who was, uh,
a captain on the job when I became a fireman.
And she was a, she was a appointed the federal monitor
to make sure that we got fair treatment.
She did not. She's now the commissioner that signs
that the system doesn't work.
I live locally in the city of Chicago.
The police are not policing
or they're over-policing, things like that has
to be mitigated.
There's no reason for us not
to have sanctity in a sanctuary state.
Right? Command.
Uh, NS Hope is a black woman
and everybody on the board is black with her.
And she's not ensuring that we get fair and equal treatment.
Like Mr. Blakemore said is 16% right?
The 111 who got hired in 2012 when they retire, all,
all the, all the manpower from Black people's gone.
We have no representation there.
They're still making rules
to contradict the rules for all of us.
Right? Who's policing the police? Who's policing the fire?
Nobody. It's supposed to be a paramilitary organization.
As a military man, they are not military.
They're not practicing or ensuring us.
Americanism is unfair.
They're using our tax dollars against the,
the, the taxpayers.
They have sorties from,
from the American Coast Guard at the Police Marine unit.
They have police, uh, helicopters flying all over us.
They're not policing us.
They, they have cameras all over the place
for, for martial law.
I know exactly what that is.
And the city of Chicago know exactly what it is.
They're preparing for catastrophe instead
of mitigating the catastrophe.
Now, when I go into those other neighborhoods
where people live who don't look like me,
there's no cameras there waiting for something to happen
because they're mitigating what could happen.
They're ensuring safe passage.
But in my city and my neighborhoods where I cohabitate,
where I reside, there is no safe passage.
Right, wrong.
What you guys are doing is allowing
and waiting for a war, a civil war.
That's the only war that America truly had.
And as a citizen, as a black man, as a ex-military man,
I'm getting ready for the worst
because the city of Chicago is allowing the worst to happen.
It's premeditated, which means that I'm premeditate,
I'm ready to protect my borders
as a citizen, as a black man.
That's my due diligence.
When the stuff hits the fan, you cannot say
that you don't understand.
You don't know what the smell is because you're watching it.
And like, I get to smell it. You get to smell it too.
Now we're talking about it before it happens.
You have enough time to mitigate that before it happens.
Thank you. You thank you for your service.
Peace and blessings. Thank
You Mr. Smith.
Mr. Wan Sims, speaker, my next speaker, speakers,
Mr. Wan Sims. Thank you,
Sir. We got more
activists showing up. I love it.
I love it. Mm-Hmm.
I love it. I want you to come on off, sir.
Thank you. Thank you, thank you.
You know about this lawsuit?
Yes, sir. So, hey,
How y'all doing? Good
afternoon, Mr. Sims.
So this is, um, so it's been since September 22nd,
that shot spotter was taken outta or decommissioned,
but I still see it up in 87.
I was wondering if it's still commissioned. Does it work?
Don't work. Okay, so a man shot in Rogers Park Drive by, um,
three shot one fatally on Howard Street in Rogers Park.
A man was shot and killed Sunday night
outside the CTA live station on Rogers Park.
They said that they, this is a headline, also Game Conflict
to blame Morris Avenue shooting
as third person killed near CTA stop.
CPD officers were called around 2:00 PM to the 1400 block
of West Morris Avenue.
Roger Park, Rogers Park shooting leaves three hurt,
one critically near Howard Red Line.
I tell y'all about two other shootings.
So one, the, the first time I was shot, well, I,
I could tell you about four or five other shootings.
And then I was shot in each one of these. Instance.
I didn't realize what was going on in my neighborhood
or what, just being allowed to go on in my neighborhood
where Black Americans are being slaughtered.
Maria hadn't, is a, is she black?
Okay. Well I guess she got some type of contract then
with these people or she,
and then it said in the, um, recent headline
that she was wanting to make an agreement
with the killers that she hired.
Because Maria Pogonia is one was a person
that they put on the police district.
On the C-C-P-S-A. She was part, she even look.
So that was a murder that took place. They killed James.
So James got killed by um, smack son.
See, I know all these people
'cause I was there for 30 years in my neighborhood.
I was even the violence prevention,
I was a violence prevention person.
What, what, what were we called?
The, um, what was, um, to Hartman's crew in violence?
Interrupters. That's what we were in our neighborhood.
In my neighborhood. But I ain't need
to be a violence interrupter the way I stood on it,
about not shooting, about not hurting each other.
So I stood on. So in 2020
and then when my, when I was in my neighborhood,
wasn't nothing happening until somebody turned
my neighborhood against me.
So I would have to guess that, that I had to be people
with power because I was shot not
once, but twice.
Not three, but three times in my neighborhood in 2020,
not in the span of 90 days or 30
or no, in the span of less than under a month.
Tried. They attempted to murder me in my neighborhood.
And people don't bother me in my neighborhood.
I got a real issue.
But this lady, Maria Hyden, figured she's a gangster girl.
I believe she's a gangster girl. Gotta be one.
But y'all won't investigate.
I stood in ethics and told y'all to investigate this woman
and murder after murder, after murder,
after murder of black individuals, young black women,
young black child, 5-year-old.
Y'all forgot Devin McGregor already a 5-year-old dead.
And it continues to happen.
So I guess y'all just write it off.
'cause there's them n****s, huh? I want to know.
Yes. Thank you Mr. Sims.
Thank Our next speaker is Ms. Jessica Jackson. Ms. Jackson,
good afternoon.
Um, you know, I don't know.
I don't know. I just know that
In order for any of this stuff to be straightened out
in the black community, it has
to start with the courts.
No matter what you all talk about in here, in this meeting,
a county meeting, any other meeting, no change is going
to take place until we can get justice in the courts.
We talk about the criminal courts all the time,
and we know that's a problem.
But it's a problem that we allow.
Society has allowed to just fester and go on and on and on.
And as much as you want to write it off
as whether they shouldn't have did this
or they shouldn't have did that, and da da da da.
Me being in this situation with my estate,
it gave me a close up, close up view of just
how corrupt these courts are.
They are corrupt
and we need the police, the police chiefs, superintendents,
whatever, to be able to press charges against these judges.
Go after these judges,
stop acting like the crime is this surface level
of just these street stuff.
When we know we got to pull it up from the roots,
which is these judges.
And we are being too afraid to confront these judges.
I have a whole thing of documentation here, a whole thing
of court documents here,
where the civil court judges in Cook County courts are
continuously committing fraud
and perjury in my mother's estate.
And I can't get anybody to go against these judges.
It is true black faces in high places.
We've got to go ahead and chisel through
and deal with these white judges.
Yes. Yes, we have to. That's where it is.
Now, this federal judge right here, judge Blakey,
that's doing Mike Madison's case right now, he's the one
that dismissed my case.
He has a reputation for dismissing cases
that are against judges.
So now I have to get this to Trump.
I need somebody that's going
to help me in Trump knows about the discrepancies in court
and how dirty these courts are.
Whether y'all wanna say he talking smack or not.
The reality is that mugshot was real.
Yes, black people identified 'cause it's a unjust system.
And yes, Zoe is going to get these documents
to Donald Trump for me, so
that he can see about my case.
Go red. We gotta go red. Red.
Thank you, Ms. Jackson. That
concludes our public comments.
Um, thank each for every one
of you for coming down to speak.
Uh, the chairman recognizes all the women leave
for purposes of a quorum as well.
Um, there are no Rule 45 report to a report this month.
Um, I there's one item before the committee.
Um, item number A 20 24 1 3 0 6 9, the appointment
of Sierra Whitaker as dis as member of district Council six.
Ms. Whitaker is joining us today.
If I can have you please, uh, step up
to the microphone and have a seat.
We will begin with Ms.
Whitaker's opening statement, followed by questions
and comments by committee members and council members.
Thank you for joining us, Ms. Whitaker.
Good afternoon Chairman, vice chairman
and committee members, and thank you
for the opportunity to speak before you today.
Good afternoon. My name. My name is Sierra Whitaker
and I'm honored to be considered
for the appointment on the sixth District
Police Council member.
I am a lifelong Chicago resident
and currently a resident of the Sixth Ward.
I've attended Chicago State University
where I hold two master's degree, A MBA
and a Master's in Criminal Justice.
I am the program director at the Chamber of Comers,
where I've spent over a decade advocating
for local businesses
and building initiatives that foster economic development
and community engagement.
I oversee critical projects like securing loans
and grants for small businesses,
and I've worked alongside members
and business owners to create programs
that directly benefit our neighborhood.
Our from leading program implementation
to fostering relationships
with community members and stakeholders.
Through my leadership, I've been able to foster partnerships
that strengthen communities, trust
and create opportunities for growth and security.
These skills directly translate into
what I believe is critical
for the six district council member role.
The ability to build community relationships,
prioritize public safety, and lead with transparency.
In addition to my professional work,
I am actively involved in serving iner, uh,
several leadership roles within my community.
I serve as the Vice chair for local school Council,
Jane A. Neal, and I am also serve at Simeon Career
Academy Local School Council.
As a member, I am the board president
of the Blacks Gold non-for-profit organization dedicated
to supporting youth and young women with college
and career readiness and leadership development skills.
Additionally, I serve at Chicago State Alumni Association
Board of Advisors.
As someone with this extensive experience in community
engagement, community advocacy, I believe
that I bring a unique perspective to the district council
that would contribute to achievement, our shared goal
for a safer, more connected district.
My passion has always been to serve
and empower, uplift our community.
And I'm ready to continue that work
with the same dedication, passion,
and integrity that I've,
that have guided me through my career.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
and hopefully today I can earn your support.
Thank you, Ms. Whitaker.
Are there any questions and comments from Ms. Whitaker?
Um, alderman Mitchell, followed by Alderman Moore.
All right. Good afternoon everybody.
I, I am, uh, I've been, I've known Ms. Whitaker for,
for over 10 years now.
And in addition to all the things she just rattled off,
I'll put it alt in perspective, she is a professional.
She is a advocate for her community.
I had had the pleasure of working with her.
She has no problem pulling me to the side
to kind of check me on some things.
So I take that too.
I might think the, uh, sixth district,
I think the sixth district would, uh, is,
is you would be an asset to the district.
I congratulated you or congratulate you here, colleagues.
I, you, I don't speak a lot,
but this one right here, she's a keeper.
So I like, again, I think she gives the
asset to the sixth district.
Look forward to continue to work with you.
Thank, and I, uh, I ask for everybody's favorable, uh,
support for her appointment. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you Alderman Mitchell.
Imma stick with committee first Alderman,
and, um, I'm getting right back to you.
Um, alderman Mosley,
go, go.
Go ahead, Alman more. Can somebody get Alderman more? Mike?
Testing 1, 2, 3. All right. All right.
Before I make any statements, I need to, um, ask a question
because I think this is important in terms of, um,
when we're dealing with, um, uh, and,
and dealing with our community
and having a passion for people.
And we have to have a heart for people, whether it's
through faith or anything like that.
Um, what church do you belong to?
Fellowship Chicago. Say that again.
Fellowship Chicago.
That's all I need to be said.
The fact that you're a member of Fellowship, uh,
that mean you got some, um, good qualities about you,
but, um, that's true.
And I wanted to just make that statement. It matters.
But what I appreciate about, uh, Ms. Whitaker
and I echo everything that, um,
alderman Mitchell has said is that sometimes
people, when they get on boards or anything like that,
or they do certain things
that they don't get involved with the community.
She really gets involved with the community
and her hands reaches.
You see, he lives in the seventh, um, ward,
which is South Shore.
Her hands are over there, they're in Inglewood.
Um, Michael Merchant, her son played football
for the Ogden Park Vikings,
and she, um, took them to the Mambo.
Um, and all this
to say she didn't just have her son playing.
She was involved as a parent.
Um, the challenges, some of the challenges that we, um,
face in Englewood, um, she got on the ground making sure
that our communities are safe over there for our children.
But then she lives in the Sixth Ward
and she comes to the meetings, um, the business meetings,
um, we're hearing about our businesses who have problems
with crime and she tried to help address those.
So I can't think I'm telling you of a better person
who is fit for this position that will add value, um,
to the, um, um, you know, police commission.
So, um, I do stand in in support of this.
And we'll be voting, yes, voting at the Full City Council.
Thank you Alderman Moore.
I was, I was looking at the resume
to see if you went to Simeon also.
That was the only, um, shortcoming. You know,
I, I saw Alderman Moore here.
I said she had to go. So, um, alderman Moseley,
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Although she did not go to Simeon,
she is on the local school Council of Ion.
So she is, uh, getting that blue and gold experience.
Um, 21st Ward rises in support of this.
The sixth district is one of the districts
that services our ward.
And when I think about community engagement, miss uh,
Whitaker Ms here, you, you are it.
We've seen each other in spaces well
before, uh, being here, uh, at this moment in time.
And I see nothing changing, only more and more engagement.
And, uh, I think that, um, when the 21st Ward residents get
to know you and get to know more opportunities of how, uh,
we can take control of our safety.
I think about the push now with us not having shot spotter,
the need for really to reinvigorate, uh,
neighborhood crime watches and so forth.
Uh, getting, uh, more involvement with our CAP meetings
and our BEAT meetings and so forth.
I know those are things that, uh,
you'll make very accessible to the residents
and just seeing how they can take, uh, more
and more safety into their own hands.
So we appreciate your time, talent,
and the treasure that you're bringing to this role. Thank
You. Thank you.
And I only asked since you said she didn't go to Ion,
she was smart enough to send her son there.
Alright, so he says he's a student there
and he's on the football team there again, a parent
who does excellent and, and,
and bringing her children in excellence as well.
Thank you. Alderman Moore are, are they, um,
Derek Curtis, alderman Curtis.
Oh, who I didn't see him
ultimately.
Alderwoman Lee.
Thank you Chairman. Um, hello Sierra.
Nice to, hi, nice to see you in person.
Um, we had a great conversation yesterday, um, uh,
and appreciated you taking the time to speak with me.
Um, can you talk about what you think
your biggest opportunities are, um,
to make an impact in this role?
I am, I've stayed in the sixth district my entire life
and my biggest opportunity is that c the community know me
and they're familiar with me.
So, um, communication and communication
and community engagement is one.
I don't have to go build relationships.
I have those relationships
and I'm committed to making this district more connected
with the community and have put, and also youth.
I wanna bring youth to the table.
It's important that their voices are heard
and that they have a seat at the table.
So. And what do you think the biggest challenges right now
are in the sixth district?
I think, uh, the biggest challenge in the sixth district
is call response, waiting on the police to get there.
Got it. That's, Thank you uncle Woman.
She said Call response, call response.
And I, I think that's something
that we're challenged with across the city.
Um, and I, you know, as we spoke about on the phone earlier,
I think, you know, your focus on communicating
and building more networks within the community are,
are definitely gonna help make this more
of a community response type of effort.
As my colleague Alderman Mosley was saying, uh, without some
of the tools that the police previously had,
it's gonna be more and more important
that the community be engaged.
So I appreciate
that you wanna take on this responsibility in addition
to all of the other things you're already doing.
Thank you. Um, and I will be pleased to, uh, let, uh,
lend you my support when the vote comes up. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Alderwoman Lee. Alderwoman. Nugent.
Okay. Um, alderman Cardona. All right. Alderman Curtis.
There we go. Testing, testing. Uh, thank you.
Um, 18th Ward also shares the six digit Sierra,
your, uh, experience, uh, is, is outstanding.
Your, you great leadership, uh, something
that Chicago definitely needs.
Uh, so we definitely support you.
Uh, you are a rising star
and I really, really look forward to working with you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, alderman. Uh,
since there's no further questions
or comments, I'll just go ahead and briefly close.
Um, and, and it was a pleasure speaking with you and,
and listening to, uh, your heart
and your commitment, uh, to this challenge
and this responsibility.
Um, you know, going back a few years, probably 2015
and 2014, even
before, um, that, um, Alder woman, uh, my former colleague,
Alder woman, Leslie Harriston
and Alderman Yancy, um, saw fit
that the public should be involved in the policies
and, um, with regard to our Chicago Police department.
And, and this is a direct result of their hard work.
Um, I see the executive director behind you as well,
and let me recognize him
because he was part of that team, um,
executive director, gross.
And so I, I thank them
because this is a wonderful opportunity for you
to get engaged and continue to be engaged, um, uh,
with the community on policies, um, that affect, um,
the community and the police department.
So, um, it's not a easy challenge.
Um, and, and because I
because of that, I, I, um,
sincerely thank you for taking it on.
And, uh, with that you have my support.
Uh, and so with that, I call a vote on this matter.
Can I get a motion for the passage of this item?
So moved once again by Alderman Mitchell.
All of those in favor say aye.
All those opposed say nay in the opinion of the chair.
The ayes have it. Congratulation.
Um, Ms. Whitaker, this matter will be,
will be reported out at the next
meeting of the city council.
There being no further business before the committee.
Um, alderman Irvin motions to adjourn
by the affirmative roll call vote of all members present.
Hearing no objections. This meeting is now adjourned. Thank,
Thank you.