Committee on budget and government operations
will come back to order.
Uh, we will begin this, uh, session
of the hearings with public comment.
Uh, we have 13 people up for public comment.
Uh, with that in mind, we will, uh, limit comments
to two minutes per person since we have over
10, but less than 15.
We'll, uh, have comments for two minutes per person.
Our first, uh, speaker will be Danielle Carter, followed
by Howard Ray.
Okay, this is my third time speaking.
Uh, I just wanna tell you all, I wanna piggyback on
what P Ray said
because I, I really, really appreciate
that you guys stood up, like she said,
and did what was right far as the tax height.
And I'm asking you guys
to keep listening to your constituents.
Keep listening to the people who are going
to vote you in office this election.
Please keep listening to the people
because we are making sure
that everyone knows who's voting for what,
what you all voting for,
and what our taxpayers are being spent to.
So, I wanna thank you all again
because I want to piggyback off
what P Ray said, because she did.
That's something that we didn't thank you all for.
So we do thank you all for that, for vote voting that down
and for the other things that you all didn't go for
what John wanted to do.
And we want you all to please keep doing that.
Standing up for what's right, standing up for what you know
that's going to, is in the best interest of the people
that put you in these chairs.
And I just wanna thank you all.
I do wanna come and say thank you all for that.
And that's really all I have to say. And, and hold on.
And just please keep doing that
because we are going to make sure all your constituents see
what you all are VO voting for.
So we are gonna make you famous.
Whether it's good or bad, they're gonna know
and they're gonna know if they want to keep you in office
or take you out or remove you.
So thank you all again for doing what was right with
that type, that tax height.
And I'm asking you all to keep doing what's right. Okay?
Thank you for your attention.
'cause you always give your attention.
Thank you for your comment. Uh,
next we'll have Howard Ray, follow by Jessica Jackson.
Yes, I wanna start off for the people at home, I
Wanna start off, my number is
2 2 4 3 7 0 1 2 4 2.
That is West Humble Park Community Coalition.
And um, and the email is w
hpcc@gmail.com.
Again, the People fund is what we're pushing.
We are trying to bring in new revenue for the people.
And you guys continue with your revenue.
But we really want to implement this policy so that way
it can bring $350 billion
or $700 billion, uh, in a fiscal year.
And what it is, again, it's a policy where Cook County
and Chicago will either reallocate 6 cent from
their 1.25, 1.75 sale tax revenue and,
and reallocate it to the people.
Or we could, the people wouldn't mind imposing a 6 cent
transactional tax for every sale transaction
that occurs in Cook County.
We estimate that there's 6 trillion transactions
that occurs in Cook County 12 a year.
Uh, we've done our study, we've been,
we actually been out south, we've been out west,
we've been everywhere in Cook County.
And the people want this proposal.
They want this proposal
because we will not have to pay our property taxes
because this fund will pay the property taxes.
We, we won't have to lay off any police officers.
You can borrow some money from this
fund, but we'll help you out.
The community will help you out,
but you will still have your 10.25 sale tax
that you use right now.
So again, um,
give us a call at (224) 370-1242 or email us
because we're gonna come to e every alderman office,
every commissioner office and get this petition signed.
We're doing it for you guys and you guys work for us.
Thank you Mr. Ray.
Uh, Jessica Jackson, followed by Zoe Lay.
Well, unlike p Ray
and Danny, I ain't thanking you for nothing
because as far as I'm concerned, you should have been done.
Something to stop Brandon Johnson.
You all should have been done something
to help the citizens.
It's no way this should have got going this far.
I've been coming down here
for almost two years about my property.
And I know for a fact you all haven't done anything.
I know for a fact every time somebody tried
to stop you all from doing something, you,
Jason Irvin is the number one person that stump up
and talk in favor of that mayor.
Even though you know he loser.
You sat up here
and didn't do nothing about Rosa when he did
that sanctuary city stuff.
You assisted him that day.
So I ain't getting ready to thank nobody for nothing
until they fix these problems with black people's property.
Y'all don't deserve no pat on the back.
You don't deserve no handshake.
Far as I'm concerned, you don't even deserve a kind word.
Y'all need to learn how to govern better,
have more respect for the citizens.
You the main one. When the, uh, press conference came,
the cameras came and you talking about you didn't see no
way, but property taxes and then No, no, no, no.
So no, you don't get no thank you boss. I'm concerned.
Only thing you need to get is the door, but you
and your wife to walk on through.
'cause y'all don't have no business holding a
whole purse to the city.
'cause you don't know what you doing.
And the feds already came and got her computers.
Are you kidding me right now?
I think you when you find Kwame Rahul, how about that?
Can you find him or is he hiding from ice too?
'cause he a Haitian. Y'all making me sick.
Alright, thank you for your comments.
Uh, Zoe Lee followed by Laura Saltzman.
Yep. Uh, piggybacks, uh, what Ms.
Jessica said, I'm not thinking nobody either.
'cause I've been coming here for two years as well.
The City of Chicago violated the building department,
violated the Fifth Amendment, which is the law of the land,
the US Constitution.
Y'all owe me, y'all owe my family.
Y'all been stealing black people's property in the name
of building violations.
But it's really a illegal imminent domain scheme. Right?
We can't find Illinois Attorney General Kame Raul.
This is why, this is why Kamala Harris didn't win.
'cause she was a terrible attorney general in California.
That's exactly why she didn't win.
And, but I don't think nothing tops this man right here,
Kwame Raul, he makes $202,000 a year.
Okay? His endorsements is Danny Davis, which I,
that doesn't really count.
You've got John, you know, the president
of the Illinois Senate, John Cullerton.
You got the CTU Chicago's Teachers Union,
and maybe that's why we can't find them.
Okay? And you got the Cook County Democratic Party.
You already know how y'all are. Okay.
On May 7th, 2024, Illinois GOP Chairman,
Jan Tr Don Tracy said, another day,
another Illinois Democrat is facing a corruption inquiry
talking about Tiffany Hangar.
That makes over a dozen that, that makes over a dozen
during my tenure as Illinois Republican Party Chairman alone
as Illinois, um, as conveniently for him,
attorney General Kwame Raul is never involved since taking
over as Attorney General in 2019,
Rael has avoided every opportunity
to take substantive action to address public corruption
and what can be described as nothing sort of,
um, uh, of duty.
Rahul must show he's willing to take on public corruption
or orders to start calling for Attorney General,
who will fine Kwame Rahul,
they stealing black people's property.
Thank you for your comments.
Next we'll have Laura Saltzman followed by David Mason.
Hi. Um, hi. My name is Laura Saltzman.
I am the Transportation Policy Analyst for Access Living,
a disability justice organization
and Chicago Center for Independent Living.
And I'm here to request that the city fund, the plow,
the sidewalks pilot, that so many advocates
and people at the city, including at CO, worked on
sidewalk snow clearance can be the difference
can be the difference for disabled people
between being isolated at home
and being able to be in the community, not having
to roll in the street to
or be yelled at, that you have unintentionally walked into
it because you are blind and the tactile domes are covered.
I realize that we are in a tough budget situation,
and yet, not once during an all day budget hearing
for a Department of Streets and Sanitation,
did I hear any member of city council
or the administration suggest it was time
to tighten things up, no longer plow the streets of snow
and require adjacent property owners to clear the streets.
Instead, drivers do not need to depend on the clear,
depend on the kindness of strangers to clear the block.
For some reason, when it comes to the streets,
the budget deficit doesn't make snow clearance impossible.
We aren't asking for the moon.
We are asking for the city to fund a pilot.
Its own interdepartmental team recommended.
This would be a fraction of a fraction of the city's budget.
This is important on its own to disabled people,
but it is more than that as well.
It is about showing a commitment
and ultimately a pretty cheap one
that you believe disabled people are of value all the time,
even when the budget is tough,
that people deserve to be in community.
And support is not just talk.
You cannot build trust just by asking for it.
Which is why we are asking that many city council members
and the mayor who have touted their support,
that plow the sidewalks to fund this pilot.
Thank you.
Thank you for your comment.
Uh, next we'll have David Mason, followed by Ms.
P Ray Easley.
So as we always previously seen,
all you economies have to go.
Brandon Johns is not interested in economic prosperity.
He only, he's the only interested in economic equity,
which is a sure path to greater poverty
and did spa for Chicagoans
local residents could have benefited from the idiotic
spending you've been doing since you've been in office.
When black Americans are in dire need, you turn
to your precious illegals,
also spend $30,000 on your hair and makeup.
But don't worry about it though, because Trump is gonna come
and do an audit and he's gonna clean up this god
forsaken dystopian city.
Thank you for your comment. Uh, next we have Ms.
P Ray Easley, followed by Kyle Lucas.
Good afternoon everybody.
Once again, shout out to that Chicago red helmet
because the movement is growing.
Uh, you look wonderful in that.
Um, I'm here because we are having a budget meeting,
and I am not speaking in my official capacity,
but I went to school and I got a finance degree.
What I know is that the budget is going to be dictated
by the policies in which you guys can legislate.
As we stand here at this mic
and we keep saying get rid of the illegals, the first way
that that has to happen is
through suspending the sanctuary city ordinance.
There's gonna be no way for you all to reduce spending
for the migrants.
Even though we are the migrants.
Stop calling these people migrants.
It is disrespectful to our ancestors
who migrated from the south as American citizens.
These are illegal aliens.
So because you guys have policy in place
to protect these people, then you then have
to have line item allocations to fund those policies.
Therefore, we have to get rid of the policy.
The conversation should be nothing more than getting rid
of the sanctuary city ordinance.
If that's not the conversation,
then you guys are gaslighting us.
You guys are playing with us.
You all think that you're the smartest people in the room.
And I'm here to tell you I'm a Chicago
Public School graduate.
I can read, write, and count extremely well.
And like I said before, I know when the trick is being
played on me, y'all are playing a trick on us
because what's happening is, like I said,
we're proud, uh, Sue, Ms.
Jessica point, I am proud that y'all did
what you were supposed to do.
However, we have
to get past the performative measures of the council.
The council has to get to the meat of what you're doing,
and that is legislation and policy.
If you are not talking about suspending
that sanctuary rule in any way, then this policy,
this budget discussion is moot
because you're gonna have to continue to fund them.
So, once again, for the umpteenth time,
please revisit the Sanctuary city ordinance so
that we can demagnetize our city from illegal immigration.
Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Easley. Next we'll have Kyle Lucas,
followed by Alex Nelson.
Good afternoon, counsel.
Uh, my name is Kyle Lucas with Better Streett Chicago.
Um, but you've heard from me already today,
and unfortunately because of the setup of these hearings,
uh, many people who wanted to provide comment, uh,
were not able to attend.
So today I'm reading a comment on behalf of Ilena Haven,
who, uh, is a powered wheelchair user
and a disability advocate.
Uh, good morning. My name is Ilena Haven.
I'm an organizer and I live in Belmont Craig, near one
of the pilot zone areas on the West side.
I work daily with residents of the city to fight
for more accessible housing for the elderly
and people with disabilities
as disabled residents being unable to leave our homes due
to ice coated snow.
Uh, snow filled sidewalks can cost us our jobs,
our health, and our independence.
Our disabilities should not limit us to lives of poverty
and punishment due to a lack of fair accommodations.
Personally, when extreme weather hits,
I cannot see broken sidewalks with snow and ice.
I cannot access my office,
the grocery store, nor the hospital.
I have to reschedule appointments that take months
to schedule in the first place.
The snow and ice destroy my electoral equipment.
When will the city support our basic
rights and accommodate us?
Which is why I am here
or intended to be here today, asking you
to fund the Plow the Sidewalks Pilot program.
The cost of this essential program is minuscule in
comparison to other items in the budget,
yet it is on the chopping block.
Mayor Johnson and City Council members,
I know it is incredibly difficult to balance this budget,
and I applaud you for doing what you can.
But if you want disabled people to begin
to trust you when you say our needs matter, you need
to fund this pilot program.
Please amend the mistakes your predecessors made
and prioritize funding for this program
and the livelihood of your disabled residents.
Thank you so much.
Thank you Mr. Next we will have,
uh, Michael Rogers, followed by George Blakemore.
Good afternoon, everybody started so early.
Um, my name is Michael Pods.
I'm the policy director at Better Street Chicago.
Um, as my colleague Kyle Lucas mentioned, um,
an unfortunate fact of the city council meetings
and their structure is that very often members
of the public can't attend and make comments.
Therefore, I will be reading off a statement
for Nabi Israel, who is also a wheelchair user, self sider,
and disability rights activist.
Uh, this is what they said. Dear Mayor Johnson
and members of your administration, my name is Nabi Israel.
I'm a wheelchair bound, I'm wheelchair bound
and a constituent with a disability.
I'm also a direct disability advocate
working with Access Living.
I'm writing to express my urgent support
for the Plow the Sidewalks Pilot program,
and to request its full funding.
Due to my physical limitations, I'm unfortunately unable
to attend this public commentary session in person.
However, I want to emphasize the critical importance
of this initiative to invi individuals
with mobility impairments.
The lack of accessible sidewalks
during winter storms presents significant barriers
to our participation in community life, safe and timely.
Snow removal is not simply a convenience,
it is a fundamental necessity for ensuring equal access
to employment, healthcare, education, and social activities.
The Plow, the Sidewalks Pilot program offers a VIR vital
opportunity to address this critical accessibility gap
and improve the quality of life For myself
and countless residents with disabilities, I urge you
to prioritize its funding
and implementation to create a more inclusive
and equitable city of Chicago for all.
That is the end of Navi statement. Thank you.
Thank you much. Uh,
next we're gonna have George Blakemore.
And then after that I'm gonna have Alex Nelson.
Sand transportation is very important.
Streets are sand and sea Dock haven the streets.
So I'm going to connect the dots.
They're talking about illegal immigrants,
but we are in transportation.
Now, how you going to, uh, connect those dots, Mr.
Blakemore? When I see illegals
paving the streets working,
I'm connecting the dots.
They, they getting paid.
So, uh, I'm amazed by
black people in high places.
And you, sir, you the same gentleman, but, but by two
or three weeks ago, wanted to throw me out
because you had 16 and you went
and got the lottery started shaking them up.
And I said, Ms. Lee, tell me he can't do that.
I said, Ms. Lee telling me, yeah, gonna get a lottery.
Now you change a a a a nine minutes.
Who do you think you are? No, not who do you think you are?
Is who are you the people to let them get away with that
you deserve your government, you get,
and you get the government you deserve
to let them get away with that.
So, uh, he he'll get away with it.
But because you let him do that,
you let him do that.
So you black folks,
let them bring these illegals in,
and now you're going talk about white folks in Mexico.
Let 'em, you let 'em, people are,
you gotta teach people how.
If they don't, you let them do that.
So if somebody take your mama's property
or whatever, you let 'em do it, you let them do it all.
I don't give a damn about you.
All right? All right, Mr. Blakemore, please.
All right, let's, uh, all right.
Uh, okay, let's, let's, uh,
that's, uh, Mr.
Blakemore, Mr. Blakemore, please take your seat.
Ladies and gentlemen. Ladies and gentlemen.
Alright, next, uh, we've got Mr. Alex Nelson,
followed by an angel.
Mama. D hold on,
hold on, please.
Let's, let's come on. Let's, let's, let's quiet down.
Please, please, if,
if you all, if you all don't, bring it in.
And we going, uh, again.
Alright, Sergeant at arms,
please, uh, maintain order.
Alex Nelson.
Hello, folks. My name is Alex Nelson.
I am the strategic advisor for Better Streete Chicago.
And I'm here to provide public comment on behalf
of Laurel Donaldson.
Uh, she's a city of Chicago resident as well
as a wheelchair user, and she couldn't join us today,
so I'll be speaking on her behalf.
My name is Laura Donaldson.
I'm a constituent and a wheelchair user.
I'm sharing my story because I was deeply concerned when I
read the Tribune article about the unfunding of the Plow,
the Sidewalks pilot program.
The first snowfall has already happened.
How will you help me get out of my home
during the winters if we don't fund this pilot program?
When the city didn't shovel the sidewalk
after its nose, it is extremely difficult to just go
and pick up a few things from
the store with my granddaughter.
She doesn't know how to safely push me down the sidewalk.
It is very tiring for her and me.
What would take 45 minutes normally
with unobstructed conditions can take twice
as long, if not longer.
I don't like having to second guess if it'll be safe
because the sidewalks are recovered
and potentially icy going to get dinner.
A couple treats or snacks should not be life
altering or life changing at all.
But it can be further disabling when the sidewalks are not
shoveled properly, immediately, or within reason.
Please do the right thing
and fund this pilot, especially given it is not very costly.
Thank you.
Thank you for your comments.
Uh, next we will have angel, uh,
mama d followed by Mrs. Lawrence.
Uh, yeah, God be the glory.
Um, I'm Eva Angel, mama de love ya Nubian.
And, um, I oppose the
property tax hike.
And, um, I think we should get the language straight.
Immigrants and refugees who are not
citizens don't have rights.
They have privileges.
Um, a long time ago there was a man named Rodney King
and he said something, he said, can't y'all just get along?
And so I would like for us to just get along.
And I think the way we can do that is to start with
what happened 29 years ago.
Most of you all were not aldermans and councilpersons,
but, um, they passed, uh, a
29 years ago.
It was, it called a
Divinity Days in Chicago.
Those days are October 16th, atonement Day
and December 18th, spiritual secession Divinity Day,
December 18th, marks the hundredth
and 59th anniversary of the ratifying of the 13th Amendment
that abolished slavery in America
and throughout its territory.
So I'm asking this council for your support
for to reintroduce
divinity days in Chicago.
Divinity days are different from holy days because they,
and holidays, because they require fasting and praying.
So be still fast
and pray Unity begins
with you taking a stand. Thank
You for your comment. Yes.
Next we'll have Mrs. Lawrence.
Okay, so we are here about the financial needs
of the multiple departments
and those financial needs come from the citizens.
I do know that we are also being charged
for our garbage collection along
with other taxes as well.
But I like to know what's coming back in return
because right now I don't see it.
And I'm quite sure a lot of us don't see it.
Let's talk about that $150 million that
we are not going to vote for either,
because we're not paying another penny in taxes.
Y'all need to do your cuts in this office the way
you need to do it.
You need to go up there to some
of these offices in this building
where the employees are supposedly working from home.
That's why you can't get service up in here
and let's start working there.
But you being the president of this meeting,
whatever you wanna call him, I don't care.
You haven't looked out for anyone,
not even in your North Lawndale,
I Garfield, wherever you from.
I hear people talk about this.
And the point being is that you only jumped on board with
that 50 vol is
because you look like the eyeball that you are
because you continuously do the things that you do.
And I'm trying to keep my words nice of what I really feel.
Don't take another penny from us, not another penny.
We have paid out, paid out and paid out,
and yet nothing in return.
But illegals living off of us
with their dollars getting slashed all through
to place like we sitting here like some fools,
which were not, by the way.
Because if you do, those votes are coming up
for your positions.
Remember those six figures that you're getting? Bye.
Thank you for your comment. Uh, we have one, uh, virtual
participant, uh, Peter Ska.
Peter is not present on Zoom.
Nick, anybody on, uh, Come on. No, he is not on Zoom.
Okay. Thank you very much. Uh,
that concludes public comment.
Uh, we will begin, uh, today
with the Department of Transportation.
Um, welcome Commissioner Kearney
and you and the, uh, team.
We will have. We'll begin with, uh, the Council Office
of Financial Analysis Director Ode Gray,
followed by, uh, commissioner.
You can give you opening statement while at the same
time introducing your staff.
And, uh, we will begin a questions
with our, uh, chair people. Director Gray.
Thank you, Derman Irvin, chairman Irvin
Ter, persons and Guest.
Good afternoon. My name is Janice Oda Gray.
I am the director of cofa.
And now we're gonna look at a snapshot
of the Chicago Department of Transportation.
Keep in mind when you're looking at these numbers
that they look, you know, the variances look super big.
And that's because of the increase in spending for FY 25 due
to their grant cycle.
It just depends on the projects
and if they do the project for this year
or not, starting with their proposed budget.
The proposed budget for transportation in fiscal year 2025
is $2 billion, which represent an increase
of 673.1 million
or 49% compared to fiscal year 24.
Contractual services are projected to be 170% higher
in fiscal year 25.
That in 24, in part due to those federal grants,
namely $143 million federal grant
for the Bridge Investment Program
and a $20 million federal grant
for the Safe Streets and Roads initiative.
Additionally, the 9,000 purposes is specified account.
Again, that reserve balance has experienced a significant
increase of 14862% in fiscal year 25,
rising from 7.03 million
to 1.0 billion
because of various programs and grants.
The budget, full-time equivalent for fiscal year 25,
expected to be 16 positions lower this year
than the revised figures for fiscal year 24,
decreasing from 1,592
to 1,576.
In terms of expenditure,
the budget allocates 163.8 million for personnel
and 1.9 billion for non personnel cost.
Finally, it's worth noting that only 2.4%
of the funds in the fiscal year 25
budget are corporate funded.
Thank you. Director Gray. Commissioner. Thank
You Chair.
Thank you Chairman. Um, I think I'll, uh, start by, uh,
introducing, um, the members of the team who are here today.
Um, sitting alongside me is our, uh,
new first Deputy Commissioner Craig Turner.
Um, in the box here today, we have, um, Dan Burke, uh,
managing Deputy Commissioner, chief Engineer Alonzo Owens,
managing Deputy Commissioner of Operations,
VI Krishna Murthy, managing Deputy of Planning and Design.
Deputy Commissioner Mike Drake in-House Construction.
Arturo Rodriguez, deputy Commissioner Division
of Electrical Operations.
Molly Samati, deputy Commissioner Division
of Project Development, Chico High Deputy Commissioner,
division of Administration.
Um, in the second row there we have Sean Ell,
deputy Commissioner, division of Citywide Services, uh,
Jay Kil, deputy Commissioner, division
of Infrastructure Management, Mary Nichol,
deputy Commissioner, division of Planning and Policy.
Ann Zang, deputy Commissioner Division of Engineering.
Uh, Sam Alexander, deputy Commissioner Division
of Sign Management.
And Abraham Emmanuel, deputy Commissioner
Division of Traffic Safety.
Good afternoon, chairman Irvin
and members of the City Council.
Thank you for inviting the Chicago Department
of Transportation here today to discuss our work
and our 2025 budget.
My name is Tom Carney, commissioner of cdot,
and I look forward to answering your questions about our
efforts to enhance the quality of life for all Chicagoans.
Through strategic infrastructure improvements,
CDOT manages an extensive network of streets, sidewalks,
bridges, alleys, bikeways, traffic signals
and streetlights connecting every corner of Chicago
and reaching every resident.
Our mission is to keep this system safe, efficient,
and accessible to ensure
that people can move smoothly throughout the city,
regardless of their destination or mode of travel.
With the strong support of Mayor Johnson, the members
of the city council and fellow city departments
and sister agencies,
2024 has been an incredibly productive year,
and we're excited to carry that momentum forward into 2025.
By the end of this year, CDOT will have resurfaced 188 miles
of residential streets, arterial streets,
and alleys installed over 350 blocks
of new residential and arterial street lighting.
Completed more than 2,500 sidewalk repairs
and installed over 7,000 a DA sidewalk.
Ramps reconstructed over 50 alleys through the menu program,
thereby improving stormwater drainage
and mitigating flooding refreshed
and installed nearly 350 miles of roadway pavement.
Markings build more than 354,000 potholes,
planted more than 5,400 trees along arterial streets
and in medians and boulevards,
and completed over 135,000 work orders in response
to service requests from the public.
As all of you know so well, these projects
and services are essential to the daily experience
of your constituents and the vitality of your wards.
In 2024,
we also completed eight major streetscape projects citywide
from Commercial Avenue and South Chicago to Clark
and Devon in Rogers Park
and Chicago Avenue in Austin, to name a few
more than two dozen additional projects are currently
advancing through various stages of outreach, design,
procurement, and construction.
With many of these set to break ground in 2025
streets scape projects are effective in upgrading aging
infrastructure with new streets, sidewalks, lighting,
and traffic signals,
while also incorporating placemaking elements
that help turn these corridors into destinations
where people want to spend time.
The result is a network of inviting walkable spaces
that enhance quality of life and promote economic growth.
Beyond creating inviting public spaces,
CDOT is deeply committed to making our streets safer
for everyone by reducing serious crashes and saving lives.
We delivered pedestrian safety improvements at more than 400
locations throughout the city
by integrating safety features into all
CDOT construction programs.
In addition, CDOT is on track to install over 50 miles
of new Bikeway projects this year,
marking the second consecutive year of record progress,
these investments are creating a safer
Chicago for all road users.
In 2023,
Chicago saw a 27% reduction in traffic fatalities
from the peak in 2021 compared
to a 5% reduction nationwide.
This downward trend has continued in 2024
with a 13.5% reduction in fatal crashes compared
to this time last year.
We look forward to continued collaboration with City Council
to further enhance safety across Chicago streets.
We are also working closely with our partners at CTA
to enhance bus infrastructure, recognizing that Tran,
the transit experience starts when you,
when you leave your front door
and ends when you reach your destination.
Guided by the better Streets for Buses plan,
we installed over 60 in lane bus stops
and upgraded over 100 stops
to improve accessibility in 2024.
We also installed key segments
of new bus only lanes along Chicago Avenue
to help mitigate bus lane traffic.
This month we were proud
to launch the Smart Streets pilot program
with our partners in the Department of Finance
to keep these bus lanes working as intended.
The pilot program uses camera technology
to enforce illegal parking and bus
and bike lanes with the aim of improving safety
and reducing delays for commuters.
In addition to these initiatives,
CDOT has made substantial progress on several major capital
projects that are transforming our city's infrastructure.
I'd like to highlight some
of the key milestones we have reached this summer.
We opened the new Damon Green Greenline, CTA station
at Damon and Lake,
filling a critical transit gap on the near west side.
CDOT led the design and construction of the station,
which now serves the Kinsey Industrial Corridor,
the United Center, Malcolm X College,
and the surrounding residential area.
CO completed phase one of our efforts to enhance mobility in
and around Jackson Park.
In support of the Obama Presidential Center,
we have added three new pedestrian underpasses,
reconfigured Hayes Drive between Stony Island Avenue
and Saba Lake Shore Drive,
and redesigned Stony Island
to include new landscape medians, traffic signals,
street lighting, improved bus stops and safer crossings.
Base two of the project is coming in spring 2025
and will include additional roadway work south
of 64th Street.
This year we broke ground on a major reconstruction
of Milwaukee Avenue from Belmont to Logan Square.
This project includes the reconfiguration of Logan Square
to increase public space and improve traffic safety
and the creation of a new public plaza.
Adjacent to the Logan Square Blue Line Station in 2025,
we'll break ground on the new state
and Lake CTA station
that will replace the more than 100-year-old existing
structure and modernize this historic transit hub
from everyday neighborhood services
to multi-year capital projects, as well
as helping our city host major events such as the DNC,
nascar, the Chicago Marathon to name a few.
CDOT is working to make Chicago more connected, accessible,
and a better place to live and visit.
We have accomplished so much in 2024 in close collaboration
with City Council and the support of Mayor Johnson.
We look forward to building on the success
to deliver the best possible services to the residents
of Chicago in 2025.
I'm happy to answer your questions at this time.
Thank you, commissioner. We'll start with,
uh, chairman Mitchell.
Alright, thank you Chairman.
Alright, Tom, I, I, I think I talked to you the most out
of every, any commissioner, uh, at the very department.
Um, I won't get into specific things pertaining to my work
'cause we talk about those things all the time.
But it's one thing that I'm a stickler on
and it's, it's policies and operations.
Um, I mentioned to, I think it was coal over in the streets
and sands that I, I don't think our,
I don't think our policies have kept up
with present day situations.
I think we've all, but some
of our things stayed in, stayed behind.
So I'm going to, I'm gonna, I'm gonna be going into 2025.
I wanna work with you more on that and talk more about that
and kind of put some things together to improve
how we do things going forward.
Um, it's real interesting that you started off by saying
efforts to enhance the quality of life
of all Chicago Institute strategic infrastructure.
'cause that was actually one of my campaign, uh, uh, uh,
uh, po uh, campaign.
Things I wanted, I I said I was gonna bring to the war.
Um, so before I asked any questions
through the chair request, um, one first thing I want to ask
for is ordinances and policies, ordinances and
or policies related to the city's responsibility
and associated actions in response
to safety hazards in the public way.
And examples of those are raised sidewalks, uh, scene codes
that we may see, um, uh, damage to infrastructure,
uh, either by forestry
or the snowplows in the, in the, in the, in the wintertime.
Um, 'cause a lot of those things happen, but they go,
unless we say something, they, they, they, they remain
and it just get worse and worse and worse.
Next thing you know, we, are we coming out of hundreds
of thousands of dollars for our menu
or, you know, the problems get worse, um,
through the chair request.
What is the policy around planting trees in a public way?
I can't speak for every area in, in, in Chicago,
but in on the south side,
and particularly my ward, the public way, we have a lot of,
uh, sewer issues, uh, with respect
to trees and tree roots.
So now I see, I think under the life of administration,
they promised to plant 75,000 new trees.
Now I hear that the trees are different,
but I, that's a hard sale to a lot
of our constituents when they've experiencing a lot
of problems in the public way and they're starting
to see more and more trees pop up while we are still
experiencing those type of issues in a public way.
So what's the policy around it?
Can anybody just plant trees in a public way?
Because I hear we have environmental groups that just,
they're just taking trees and just planting them.
Um, Tom, you already heard from me,
is trees popping up in my ward?
That should not be.
And I told you, you know,
showed you examples why that's a problem.
Um, requirements
and stipulations under infrastructure programs like the AR
program for arter resurfacing.
Uh, I, you know,
and I will use an example in my ward that doesn't include
the replacement of curbs and gutters.
However, just resurfacing certain streets
that may have not been engineered properly could pose a huge
problem with just resurfacing without any
engineering on the curbs and gutters.
And I know that part of the a r program,
you could do spot repairs
or spot, what's the policy behind that?
Because if that, if that's something that alderman
to take into consideration, then we need
to have that conversation.
Uh, so we won't be expecting,
or I wouldn't know more expect that, you know, the,
all these curbs are supposed to get replaced,
but based on this program, you, it's only budgeted
for spot spot repairs.
Um, because again, spot repairs done could, doesn't,
could make a situation worse
or could create a situation that that doesn't exist.
Um, so those policies, uh, around, around that, um,
a policy that wanted
to talk about going forward earlier la well, late last year
or the year before I submitted, I was looking
to do an ordinance, uh, calling for the coordination
of all the departments.
Um, and it was a reaction related
to the lead service, right?
Replacement program, you know, streets
that we have just resurfaced, Alonzo,
we finished it on Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
they were digging into my streets.
Um, and my first thing, what was there supposed
to be some coordination around that?
Um, I held off, uh, and, and, and,
and going forward with the ordinance.
Um, and, and this is on me, you invited me
to take a deeper dive in the OOUC and everything,
but, uh, I wanna make sure we, we, as we get into the thick
of that, how we coordinate that
and if there's, I know we have the OUC meeting
and the intent of it, but that meeting already existed
and we've already had problems.
So I wanted to see are we look, taking a step back
and saying, okay, we have this huge pro program coming
and we have to be aggressive.
How do we coordinate that better?
Um, so we won't be, 'cause no one's gonna hold off on menu.
We gonna go and we gonna identify our streets.
And then I hate for somebody to go through what I went
through streets getting dug up, uh, right
after, you know, it's been, it's
for the land service pipe replace right
after we resurfaced them.
And what is the warranty behind that?
You know, is it different if the city does it versus if a
contractor does it, you know, the resurfacing.
'cause I know in-house you could either be
in-house or a contractor.
What, what, what goes into that?
Uh, that I think that that's gonna be gro grossly important.
Um, also part of operations
and policies, you know, we all seen in the wintertime or
after the winter where we trucks drive by
and they're, they're putting asphalt, filling up potholes
and they do the fill
and pat, they fill it with the rake, pat it down.
Well there's also in your, in CDOs possession rollers.
And just taking a stab at it, I would assume that
going behind filling a pothole
with a roller versus the pat filling patent method
would be a lot more effective.
Um, I don't know how many pothole, how many rollers we have.
You can answer that. And is
that something we need to budget for?
Is that something Dan Birkin found the money for?
I mean, you know, I had to wake you up, Dan,
but tho you know, tho those, those type of things, uh,
and you've heard this several times, notification
of in no putting, oh, I'm moving too fast.
Okay. No,
What she's saying is that you need
to let the man answer the question.
Well, I'm putting them out there
so you can just run through 'em.
Oh, go ahead. Alright. All right.
Craig is writing down. All right, I'll stop right there.
Craig. Yeah, go ahead.
Because Tom, you know, you son,
you know, some of these questions already.
I'm telling. All
Right, man.
All right. Fair enough. Thank you. Got my colleague.
Let's sign you up for a round two. Alright.
Um, so first off,
welcome those conversations about policies, um, that,
that you referenced with, you know, streets
and San, um, as well.
Um, to we happy to be a part of those conversations in 2025.
Um, I will flag that our division
of infrastructure management, um, with our, uh,
under Jay kil, um, where the public way inspectors exist.
We, we do have an SOP that guides the work
of the public way inspectors.
We are currently working on a, a revamp update of that SOP
'cause times, times have changed.
Some of the technologies change, so there's a need for it,
um, with regards to planting of trees.
So yes, CDOT planted over 5,400 trees.
Our, our, uh, operating area is the arterial streets.
Uh, 'cause our tree program, uh, is aligned
with our street scapes.
Um, and, and our, uh, care of the medians and boulevards.
Um, but also looking at other, um, arterial corridors.
So we have, uh, you know,
we follow the guidelines in the ordinance and,
and we can definitely provide, um,
our protocols through the chair.
We are definitely planning species that will survive, um,
and are better suited for arterial streets as opposed to,
um, something in a park or something like that.
You know, the trees we're planting are better suited in,
in terms of size and species.
Um, with regards to the AR program,
um, with the spot curb repair, it is done,
it is designed to not create flooding.
So careful consideration is done
to make sure we're not doing a spot curb repair
that's gonna cause standing water issues.
Um, if it does, there's a warranty on that,
that it would be addressed.
Um, but at at the heart of it, we do it
because we're trying to stretch our dollar Mm-Hmm.
We're trying to get to as many, um, locations as we can.
Um, we are doing an assessment
of the Collector Street program.
'cause now we're a couple years into it.
Um, but that was one
of the reasons we designed the Collector
Street program that way.
'cause we knew that in the residential areas, um, a lot
of those segments weren't not getting attention.
Um, they needed on the curb repair.
Um, and, and we saw that the benefit
of doing it on the AR mm-Hmm.
So, um, some of the wins in the collector program are things
that were best practices taken from the AR program.
Um, and then, and how
Old is the ar ar program?
And you can get that information through the chair. Yes.
You said it was Yeah. Outdated. Is
That Yes, we will.
We will do that. Um,
and then, yes, welcome the continued
conversation about coordination.
Um, you know, I'm happy
that our team in 2024 did dot maps training
for 25 wards.
Um, that also means there's 25 wards out there
that we can do some more training on, um,
to further educate council on the tools that we have.
Um, we are doing a thing where we're gonna record some
of our, uh, project coordination meetings
and make those available so that council can see the kind
of coordination that goes on at the PCO.
Um, and certainly as the year has gone on, um,
the number of touch points that we've had, um, in terms of,
uh, at the staff level with water department
and our, our folks at in-house construction and,
and, um, infrastructure management has increased to try
and get, get that sweet spot with the lead service line.
Um, knowing that, you know, it's, it's a sporadic, um,
phenomenon based on the leaks and breaks.
Yeah. Um, the PCO has changed some of its protocols to try
and catch, have more checks and balances.
So we'll be happy to share with some of those
technical changes that we've done in order to try
and capture better that we're not paving a street
and then missing an opportunity that water has to cut in.
Alright. Alright. Um, and I'll continue to work on thanks.
Let me, let me, let me give quick. Of course.
Alonzo man couldn't do a lot of things without you.
Arturo, appreciate you
and Craig have always been, especially with my lighting.
Craig, I'm happy to see that you got raised up.
Um, Mike Drake, thank you, man. Sell you man.
He praises you. We've come a long way, Mike.
Appreciate you, man.
Uh, Molly, thanks for all the
traffic studies and everything.
'cause I know we keep 'em coming. We keep 'em coming.
Dan, the money man and our public way.
Inspector Howard and, um, Mike. Mike.
I think he pronounce his gross gross.
Uh, phenomenal, phenomenal guys. Yeah. Boom.
And we, we going, we need to work on more though.
So thanks Brett. Thanks chairman.
Thank you. Uh, thank you Chairman Mitchell, uh, chairman
of Spotify, followed by, uh, chairman Mitch.
Hey, thank you very much, chair, commissioner, thank you
so much for being with us.
This is one of the few places
where I can look at your whole box
and say that the work you do makes both my personal
and my professional life more exciting and more fulfilling.
And I could exhaust the day sharing the list
of first word constituents who would say the same thing.
So thank you very much for all of that.
Uh, I won't repeat all the accomplishments. I have some.
Okay. Well, I have some questions that I'll go
through on the actual budget.
I'm really interested to hear more about this new team.
Specifically, there's a lot
of reorg happening within your team.
If someone could speak, maybe marry
or yourself on this new policy and planning org 2110.
Uh, yes. So thank you for your kind words. Uh, chairman.
Um, yes. So as we were preparing our budget and,
and when I took the role as commissioner was really seeing
how there's some just, um, really, uh,
important topics, uh, really things
that are gonna change our city
and that we have to be really thoughtful on topics like ev
uh, topics like autonomous vehicles, climate change, um,
and folks like myself and and others in the box.
Um, with the day-to-Day, a cdo, it can be very hectic.
Uh, it can be very, um, we're running around from project
to project and, and situation to situation.
Um, and so I thought it was very important for us to, to,
to carve out a section of our department
and really build a team that can really focus, um,
spend more time on these complex issues.
So what does that mean?
Not only, you know, doing their own research,
but collaborating with other cities, talking to people,
you know, our our federal partners, um, in incorporated in
that planning and policy section is an outreach team
to really get community input as well, uh,
to work with council.
Um, and then that'll guide us better in, in the pursuit
of federal funds, federal grants and things of that nature.
So, um, it was really designed to give, uh,
give a a group of people the space they need
to give greater thought to these complex topics.
And if I could, I would like to kick it over to, uh,
Mary Nichol, who is the new deputy commissioner
of this new division.
Um, Mary, if you wanted to add a few things.
No,
Let me stand up. There
You go. There you go.
You stop the clock.
Stop the clock.
Testing, testing.
I see how it's working. Testing, testing.
I see the game testing
Thing Go.
Thank you. Um, uh, thank you for your question, chairman,
and nice to, um, inter give me the opportunity
to interview it myself.
So, uh, deputy commissioner for the newly reformed division
of planning and policy, uh,
commissioner Carney couldn't have said it better, uh,
but I'll, the tagline I often use is that we're here
to be proactive rather than reactive.
So look forward to continuing to work with you
and your committee, um, to solve some
of these emerging complex issues
that we know we face as a city.
I'm like really, really looking forward to it as well.
Thank you. Um, I have a question on page 4 41 on the budget.
Under sign management, I know
that we're seeing like some cost efficiencies across the
board, but under sign management administration, the,
the headcount reduction, can we work with this?
What is, what is the impact?
Because I know that that is one of the particular challenges
in, in getting the sign shop working as quickly
and efficiently as possible.
I'm wondering if somebody can speak to what the loss
of these admin assistant positions mean for the team?
Uh, yeah. So some of it is reflective of that.
Um, the Department of Human Resources merged some titles,
uh, to create it into an overall
administrative assistant title.
Um, so some of that it is reflected,
that's how it looks in the budget.
Um, there were two posi administrative positions cut.
Um, uh, we do have 174 vacancies, um,
that we are starting 2025 with.
Um, and as a normal course of business in,
in a big city department every year you have
to make difficult choices.
And sometimes you look at you, you know,
you start off the year with your plan,
but then you look at where your needs are
and sometimes you reallocate a vacancy from one division
to another, do a paid As
and turn it into the title you need.
Um, so that is something we're gonna be looking at, um,
because I do, we recognize the importance of we,
we gotta keep that office moving in order
to keep the work on the street moving in regards to signage.
Okay. I appreciate that.
Um, I'm looking at page 4 56
and I see under professional and technical services
and other third party benefit agreements of reduction
of about 500,000.
Can somebody speak to what that means for your department?
Yes. Um, so that's in our, uh, division
of infrastructure management.
Um, our department, uh,
received the same marching orders from, uh,
the budget office as everyone else at, um, looking for, um,
3% reductions.
Um, and so in order to try
and meet that, um, we did look at what our spend is
and what the, uh, prognosis is for, uh,
2025, um, with regard so that that is specifically
to our project coordination office alderman.
And so with some dynamics through the, uh,
ICC Illinois Commerce Commission, um, we are seeing a major,
uh, pulling back, scaling back of people's gases program
and come EDS program.
So they are not really gonna have the same level
of capital program going on in 2025.
Um, we are still seeing the dynamics of, um,
water management's capital program evolving,
but we, we do foresee, um,
a reduction in those capital programs.
So we think we can get by with that reduction
of the project coordination office.
We still feel we have the adequate funding levels
to do what we need to do with that.
But we did make some cuts Yeah. There to meet that 3%.
I, I noticed that somewhat,
and I'll pivot from here, but I'll just note
On a second. Hold on a second.
Your, um, number that you referred
to on your cut was not corporate,
however, the number that he spoke of
was in the vehicle tax fund.
And my understanding on those numbers were fairly static
and that you all did not take the same hits in other funds
other than that of the corporate fund.
So that your statement does not line up with
what we've been told.
Um, we, we did have some reductions in,
in the 300, 3 10 alder.
What were, what were in total,
what were your reductions in 300?
Um, we, we tried to get, they were, I, I'd have to get
that number for you, but it was approximately
like 3%. Okay.
Alright. Please do that. Go ahead
And I'll, I'll just note like a across the board if there
were vacancies that we could work with you on the,
the cuts, I mean about 40% of a cut
to underground construction is 42 38.
Anything that we can do to improve underground coordination,
I would say you probably have a lot
of support in the room on that front,
but I'll, I'll pivot at this point.
'cause you started talking about com, ed,
people's gas water management's capital.
Usually during this time we would be looking at a draft of
what the, the CDO proposed capital budget looks like
for the forthcoming year.
I know a lot of our, our bond funds are expiring
and we're looking to do potential renewals.
Can you talk about the timeline for counsel looking at the,
the forthcoming capital plan?
Yes. Um, so it's my understanding that
that would be coming to a, a theater near you very shortly,
um, in December.
That, that the bond, um, will be, um, the bond vote
or the bond information will be coming out to council.
Um, from there we'll be, uh, working to get out the,
the annual menu to, uh, all 50 wards followed
by our normal protocol of CIP briefings
with each individual ward.
Okay. December is really coming up soon, so I'll, I'll
go on Fandango, I'll get my tickets.
Sounds exciting. Um, on that front, I know
that we're doing a lot in terms of, I noted
about 25, the number
of a DA pad repairs is helpful, uh, through the chair.
It'd be helpful if your team could provide the,
the timeline similar to we get in the back here,
average days for an a DA pad going from the complaint
to being repaired.
I wanted to lean into that a little bit.
Um, 'cause we're hearing a lot about disability issues,
which is as Chicago ages
and even for our currency, the issues for
disabled Chicagoans then their accessibility mobility needs
is only only gonna be more strongly felt.
What are we doing at, what are we looking at
improving our engagement with a DA accessible crosswalks,
improving the repair time for those pads.
Have we thought about finding a, a deputy
or even like a director level position to coordinate a DA
and accessibility issues for the city?
Yeah. So, um, since 2 0 0 6 when this started, um,
cdot s um, and,
and through partnerships with other, you know, uh, utilities
and, and certainly the water department, uh, the city's up
to over 144,000, um, a DA ramps installed.
Now, those early iterations of ramps, it took a while for us
to find the right, uh, material right design
that had more durability.
So we do see failures in those early iterations,
the clay tiles, some of the plastic tiles.
Um, in 2013 we shifted to, uh, cast iron.
And the, uh, durability
of the cast iron has, has been exceptional.
Um, the failure rate is, is minuscule.
So, um, as we are going through our different programs
and encountering, um, the older iterations of ramps, we do
as in part of the project, incorporate,
we we upgrade to cast iron.
So I do think we are on the right trajectory to, uh,
having a long-term solution that, you know, ramps will be,
uh, fully accessible and they'll be durable.
We won't be dealing with the 3 1 1, um, situations.
Um, we, we will get that, um, duration time to you.
Um, for those, I think you're talking about
where there's a 3 1 1 complaint about a cracked,
uh, existing ramp. Correct.
I would appreciate that. And I would also ask with the,
the waning seconds, if your team can provide
through the chair the, the average days to completion,
not only for sidewalk inspection, but we have that,
but also if a sidewalk is proven to be hazardous,
the, the timeline to restoration of that sidewalk,
knowing the, the fiscal challenge that if it's not repaired,
what that can pose to the city.
But overall, again, just deep, deep respect
and admiration for the work that your team is doing with us
as we are genuinely building the safest
large city in America.
And that's a true statement. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you Chairman.
Uh, do you have an estimation on, uh,
trip trip hazard replacement?
You are commit, uh, deputy Mike Drake?
Can you repeat the question? Chairman?
The sidewalk hazards the trip hazards that, um,
many times get reported.
'cause the point that, uh, chairman of the spotter makes
as it relates to the fiscal impact when those are
reported but not addressed.
So the, I guess the question is, what is the ETA on repair
of trip hazards in the public way?
Uh, yeah. So when, when a service request comes in, um,
it first goes to a section that is charged
with sidewalk inspection
and then from the sidewalk inspection it might get sent to,
uh, in-house construction.
'cause it's deemed a 3 1, 1, um, other
projects might get deemed as their a larger capital, um,
thing or something that might be more suitable
for another program or menu.
Uh, or it might be a program that's suitable
for shared cost sidewalk.
I'll, uh, ask the staff if they have the, uh, uh,
Mike Drake when you get it for sidewalk, uh,
hazardous repair, what the, uh, SR service request
duration times on those are
Correct?
Yeah. Currently we're about, uh,
3,700 open sidewalk repair programs in the system. 37
You said? 3,700?
Correct. And then what is your estimation on,
uh, completing those?
These are deemed hazardous
or are these just regular sorrow repairs
or the ones that are above the, the minimus store sold?
Uh, They don't, they, they all come that way.
So they're all deemed in that bucket.
Any broken sidewalk
or it, it gets referred to in-house, that that's, it's not,
they don't do the determination about the de the minimus
broken or raised.
So if, if we have, let me just, let me just be clear.
If you have sidewalk that is broken,
it may be older in the system,
but not, doesn't meet the threshold of being dangerous
and hazardous, those get put in done
before those that are considered dangerous and hazardous.
Um, so let answer it this way.
So we have a ongoing flow coming in, um,
and the way we approach it is
to make sure we're touching all parts of the city,
is there's, you know, crews North, central South
and they are moving work toward grabbing 20
to 25 locations in a proximity and cleaning up that area.
And we do that 'cause we're trying
to have the most efficiencies as possible, as opposed
to them bouncing around
because, um, that way we're trying
to get the highest production.
So in that cycle of picking up what's closest
by, in, in a tight geographic area
to maximize our concrete pores, um,
it's not always oldest dispersed, if
that answers your question. No,
I, I, I totally understand your statement.
However, I think that what Chairman Mitchell raised was the,
in both la Spota as relates to those that are considered
hazards that if they're not dealt with,
pose a financial liability to the city.
I think that's the question that they're focusing on.
And from what you guys are saying,
it seems like we don't prioritize those that are above the
de minis threshold versus those that are not.
Is, is that a fair statement?
Y Yeah, I think it be, yes,
because I mean, law department would say if it's reported,
we're on notice as a city.
Okay. And I think the, the ask here is that those
that are considered to be above the mini threshold,
that those get prioritized, understanding that you all have,
may have other items that are in the area.
Uh, and then we can take the tree approach.
Whereas if you have a tree emergency versus a regular item,
that those items get prioritized
because they do represent a potential liability financially
greater than that of just fixing the sidewalk.
And I think that's the point I, I think
that everybody is, is stating.
So to the extent that you all have that information
to prioritize those, uh, so that we don't continue
to get these, uh, trips
and, you know, subsequent liability from those, I think is,
is where I think the majority of members are as it relates
to just basic sidewalk hazards.
I I think that's a very good point, chairman.
Um, and we'll certainly take a look at that.
I will say that, um, across our programs,
we are doing more sidewalk repairs in the last three years
than we have, um, at any time previous.
Um, I think where we gotta get tighter on is
that when we do those sidewalk repairs that we're capturing,
um, there's open
sidewalk inspections from a previous time
and making sure that that's getting
closed out in the system.
Um, so that's something we have to work on in 2025. Okay.
Alright. We, we appreciate that.
Uh, alright, we have everybody down.
Uh, we're just going fly through on a seniority basis.
And so next we're gonna have Alderman MIT
or Chairman mi followed by, uh, chairman Harris.
Mike's not on. Got you.
You got it.
Good afternoon, commissioner.
Good afternoon. Um, look, I don't have to thank you
for all the work that you've done,
but I have a couple requests that I've been getting
for a couple years and I just wanna know one of, uh, one
of 'em is La Claire and Augusta.
They've been asking for a stop sign there for
two or three years now.
Uh, well I guess I could have answered that one,
but that's just one of my constituents.
I have several, which makes me really concerned
that I've had three or four block club groups.
There must have been a, a lot of crash there.
It may be a dark side.
And the engineer told me that, um, the, the,
the stop sign would, uh, stop the floor, the traffic
because traffic signals was too close.
One on La Verne and one on Laramie,
but there's still a lot of, uh, traffic
that are happening in the area.
Now what can I do?
I'm trying to take the advice of the engineer from your team
who didn't recommend to put a stop sign,
but we have to do something
because the community wouldn't keep telling me that we have,
uh, accident occurring there.
Okay. And, and, and I'm trying
to follow your recommendation,
but they think I'm not working on their behalf,
so I gotta come up with something that we need
to do and do it.
I think they, uh, they just said another one happened this
weekend, so maybe you need to check the data on that too.
Is accident that occurred.
Um, 'cause I know I've been getting asked for a while.
Uh, I keep telling them
that the city is not recommending the stop sign.
Mm-Hmm. Somebody can I, that's Lara, can
I first ask you? I heard Le
Claire, but I didn't hear the crowd.
Le Claire and Augusta. And
Claire and Augusta.
Augusta, okay. And,
You know, um, I hear from the neighbors now,
I noticed you did a lot of work on Chicago Avenue, um,
and thank you for the work.
Uh, you're starting at Austin coming back, looking
to hit my ward next year.
So when you, you're doing the construction, the, the traffic
move to Augusta
and is anybody monitoring the traffic flow now
from one street to the other one when
construction is being done?
Yes. So we, we do look at that actively and,
and that's part of the thing we monitor through our, uh,
coordination project, coordination office and,
and making sure that there's, and,
and the permit office making sure that there's an adequate,
um, MOT uh, mode of transportation
through there through the corridor.
And then the public way inspectors are there also to exist
to see if modifications need to be made, if,
if a traffic detour is, is pushing too much traffic, um,
onto another street.
Um, but I think that's, that's helpful to know that
that possibly that that
and Augusta, that exacerbated the
problem with the stop sign. Um,
Something had happened.
Um, I, I'm, I believe in listening to the community,
so they telling me and, um, different ones.
It's not the same people that tell me this either.
So we will, I will get
with the team. We'll take a look at what
Here at the, lemme ask the question about, uh, lighting.
And I know, you know, the one on, um, the constituent asked
for Laramie and you're looking into that, but
because the time change in the wintertime
and gets dark sooner,
the light seems to not be enough light out there.
It just seems like, what is the wattage
that's in the light bulbs?
Do you have to request for, uh,
how wide did you light bulb every time?
So I, I do wanna, I'll, I'll kick it to,
uh, Craig here in a second.
I do wanna say that has the smart
lighting program rolled out?
There was a couple different iterations of fixtures. Ah, we
Tried. My wall was
one of the first ones
that were rolled out in, so maybe that's,
So I mean, one of the first things we'll look at is,
is the different fixture and, and the wattage.
Um, I'll turn it over to Craig.
Uh, good afternoon, alderman.
Good afternoon to you.
Yeah, the smart light system, the, the,
the street lights come on.
They're set to a calendar and they set to come on 30 minutes
before, um, sunset and go off 30 minutes after sunrise.
So it's, it is a, it is a moving target,
but yes, with the time change it is a little different.
But if, do you have any issues with the,
the brightness of the license?
Uh, send me the locations.
Not, not bright enough. Right.
Just send me the locations and we can do a study. Okay.
Uh, well, because my ward was one of the first wars
that the smart lights was rode out here, they seem to not be
as high of a wat its light that it should be.
And with crime being as high as it is, I would
really like for someone to look at that
to see if these lights can be brighter.
I hate to see kids coming home from
libraries and it's just dark.
Yes, some places there may need to be an additional pole,
smart lights was put up,
but, uh, some areas
there should be another pole put in order
to make it balance out for both sides of the street.
But lemme lemme ask, um, about your contracts.
What is the percentage of contracts that you awarded?
And give me the, the numbers broken down
in terms of ethnicity.
Um, bear with me. I have that.
So these are our, um, numbers through July, um, 31st,
um, year to date.
Um, our,
our total spend year to date, uh, well January one
to July 31st was pro, uh,
a little over 211 million.
Um, our MWBE total purchase was, uh,
of that 211 million is, uh, 86.7 million.
So that's 41.1%, um, which is up from
all of 2023 was at 38.6%.
So we are up, um, hopefully that continues as we, uh,
trend through the rest of the, the 2024.
Um, our WBE spend was 9.11.
Our African American spend was 7.78.
Asian spend was 7.86,
and Hispanic spend was 16.3%.
So are you working on, um, com?
Diversity would look like to me. What are you doing?
Yes. Um, so, uh, when I became commissioner I,
I put back into place something we had done
as a department a few years back.
And that, that is, I started, um, a monthly
MWBE, uh, working group.
So we have folks from our, uh, division of administration
with Deputy Chico High,
but also the leadership of the other divisions that, uh,
have contracting.
Um, and, and really the goal of that, that working group is
to really, um, analyze where we're hitting the mark
and where we need to improve.
Um, really understanding our numbers better
and then looking at the upcoming contract opportunities
to see where should we increase those goals. Um, who is
Your working group?
Um, so myself, um, the first deputy, um,
all the, well, a couple of deputies in the box, uh, uh,
our deputies over, uh, Dan Burke,
our deputy over engineering, Ann Zang,
deputy over project development, Molly Samati, um,
managing Deputy Vic Krishna Murti, um, deputy Chico High.
Um, and then a few of the project managers
that are over some of the, um, larger contracts.
Um, I will say that the big thing that, you know,
really have seen, uh, trend-wise
is in our professional services contracts.
Um, the African American spend is, is up around 23%.
Um, so that's a very strong number Mm-Hmm.
But we've gotta get better on our construction
side, um, on that spend.
Um, and really diving into the numbers, see that our, um,
Hispanic, uh, firm spend is really good on construction.
But on the professional services side, um,
is where we need to do some work.
Um, from a WBE standpoint, we were at 4.3 last year.
This year we're at 9.1.
So, um, the goal is really to really understand our numbers
so we can really, um, do a better job and,
and continue to move, um, this in the right direction.
Um, you know, it, it is good that we're at 41%.
I do feel like the number will continue to trend upwards
because we do have a lot of payments, um,
that will be accounted for for the third quarter is a,
is a very large, uh, um, month in terms
of the construction volume.
So do you have, um, a list of contractors that you,
um, you're working with?
Can you provide it through the chair?
Yes, yes, we can do that. Um,
Okay. Well, thank you very
much, uh, for your service.
Uh, I do wanna see one thing that's been a problem for us
in our community is when CDOT does work, making sure
that we have peoples in these neighborhoods
that look like them or they don't work
in those neighborhoods.
You know, your team catch trouble
and you have to go find somebody.
And, and that shouldn't be, I was wondering
how we could help to better fill
that pool when you come out there to work
or getting people who are qualified to work with you.
Maybe you have a mentorship program that,
just a question I need to know.
Do you have a mentorship program in cdo? No.
Yes or no? Don't
Are, are you talking for
Yeah, do you just have a mentorship program
that you are working with?
We, we do have, um, you take in the contract contracts,
there are requirements about apprenticeship, uhhuh, uh,
apprenticeship goals in the contracts.
So, um, that is a step in the right direction.
Um, but I think what you're asking for is specifically for,
um, vendors, contractors to hire folks from the community.
Right. So we'd be happy to have met
with other wards on that.
I'd be happy to meet with you. Um, okay. Talk through that.
Alright. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
You sure? No, I ain't sure, but thank you.
Well, you, you got 24 years in,
so we'll give you a little slack, so it's all good.
Uh, chairman Harris followed by, uh, chairman, do
Thank you. Um,
most of my questions have been answered.
Um, I just wanted a little clarity Commissioner, um,
did you give up some vacancies that out
of the budget on the corporate side? Is that
Yes. Okay. There
was four positions. Okay.
Alright. Um,
I'd be interested in you gonna send it
through the chair on the, the, the, your percentage
and where that came from, uh, on the corporate side only.
Don't worry about what you did on the, on the tax side,
but if you could, when you're doing that through the chair,
just make sure you, you let me know.
I think somebody else asked for it,
but I just, I'm reiterating that I would be
Curious the four positions that were cut,
Not just the four positions,
but how you got to the 3% Okay. Of
Transportation, Um, past that.
Um, I work real closely with everybody in the box,
but I gotta send a thank yous
'cause I got a crazy text from my people
that said I better say it.
So they wanna thank Craig Turner, who is now in his new spot
as the first deputy.
Uh, um, I wanna thank Dan and Mike Drake
and Zoe, not necessarily in that order,
but Z No, I called him at midnight
and he'd be like, what do you want?
But Zoe, thank you for everything.
Um, Mike, you are the bomb.com
and I'll love you for coming out
and always doing the walkthroughs,
my crazy walkthroughs as I call him.
And, um, and make sure you tell Scott that I do love him.
Okay. Um,
and Sam Alexander back there in the back, uh, thank you.
Uh, he says, he said, me too, number seven said, me too,
Sam, thank you you for everything
that you do, uh, back there.
And it's not that I don't work with everybody,
but these are the folks that, um,
and art is my new speed Dow gas, so thank you Art.
But I, I, I do wanna say that transportation is my bread
and butter department, along with streets and sanitation,
and it's a make me or break me.
So I thank you all for always educating me,
working with me, being real patient with me as I go
through my crazy cycle in life.
And so I am truly grateful for all of you, all
for everything that you do.
Barbara says she loves you,
so if Barbara loves you, I love you.
So thank you all again for everything that you do.
I, I, I know that you all have
to do this times 49 other people,
so I really appreciate everybody's time and effort.
Um, it is a very difficult job in this climate.
Um, I like to sit down
and get an offline conversation about what,
how much the bond is going to be next year.
That's it. That's It. Alright.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
Thank you Chairman Harris. Uh, chairman Dow followed by,
uh, alderman Walker Spec.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Hello, commissioner. Hello.
Uh, You answered the question on the new policy
and planning division
and you mentioned, uh, the electric vehicle,
charging station and climate change.
Can you tell me a little bit about your priorities in the
electric vehicle area for 2025?
Uh, yes. So there's, um,
through a couple different grants, um,
that we're actively working on, um,
there's about $55 million, um, that we're trying to secure,
secure, um, probably the, the thing that is
That state money or federal money,
Uh, it's a combination of federal and state.
Um, there's a couple different, um, grants, um,
in the pipeline there that we're working on.
Um, probably the thing that I I I foresee us, um,
seeing arrive, um, in the most near future is, um,
we have, um, a, a grant, uh, for approximately 3.8 million
to, uh, secure 10 electric, uh,
TR bucket trucks for our division of electrical operation.
So, um, DEO will have new bucket trucks that are ev,
it'll be the first we've had of those.
Um, so that that'll certainly, uh, help out
and compliment their fleet.
Um, we're also working to wrap up, um, the first draft
of our EV framework
and then release that out to, um, public comment.
Um, so that, that's continuing our work
to have the overall framework for our city on that.
Um, I think I will kick it over to Mary
to maybe talk about those other, um, uh,
C-M-Q-C-M-A-Q grants that we're working on.
Yes. Um, yes, chairman Doll.
Uh, in addition, so, uh, you know, we met with you last year
and spoke about the charging
and fueling infrastructure grant,
which we were successful in receiving.
Uh, that's $15 million.
So there will be investments at 20 Chicago public libraries.
Uh, there will be some fast charging investments
at Midway Airport.
And then, uh, some of our community partners will be able
to do community planning
and decide where they wanna locate charging, uh,
in their particular communities.
But as the commissioner said, so,
So I don't wanna get, I only have like 10 minutes.
So the public library locations,
have you identified where those are gonna be?
There's been a, in the application there was an initial
scan of 20, uh, libraries, and we can get you those
S Can I get that through the chair?
Yes. And the community locations
that you are engaging community people around those will be
nonpublic building locations?
Uh, it will depend on their strategy,
so it will really depend on that process.
But most likely, yes, they will be, uh, uh, uh,
either public way
or, um, either partnering with the city to identify, uh,
vacant space that they can use for that.
Okay. And what's the total number of, uh,
charging stations that, that grant covers?
Uh, we can get you the exact number,
but it will be, um, a little over probably in the 20 to,
to 40 range.
Okay. Thank you. Um, commissioner, I also noticed, uh,
I call it drastic, uh, $700 million
increase in grant funding.
Uh, what's, where's that designated to go?
Uh, well there's a lot of projects out there, there.
You don't have to name it if there's, uh,
if there are a lot of little projects, I'd just like to know
how that breaks down. Sure.
We can, we can provide, Okay.
I can get that through the chair. We'll
provide that full list to you.
Uh, the one, I mean, highlighting a, a major one is, is the,
uh, the Calumet Bridges.
So the 144 million through the, um, you know,
Biden infrastructure, uh, program.
Okay. And now that DPI at the 78 is not gonna go forward,
are you still putting in the 15th,
15th Street is still going in?
Yes. Okay. Wentworth Guard, Wentworth connector
Still to be determined.
Um, we'll still keep in close contact with you
and, um, Alder Woman Lee on that one.
Okay. Um, you know,
the finance committee handles claims, uh,
and we've noticed
that there's been a dramatic increase in the claims
for pothole damages.
Last year was 344,
and as of this year to date, we're almost close to 500.
What are you doing,
and I guess this is for Mike, he needs,
probably needs more crews,
but what can be done to reduce that?
Uh, so those numbers can go
down. How are you dealing with that?
Uh, well, certainly, um, the, the biggest
and best thing we could do is what we've been doing, um,
in terms of the moral miles paved.
Um, you know, I'm happy the number we put up this year.
A we set a goal for 150 miles paved, we're gonna get 188.
Um, that certainly is gonna make a big difference.
Um, we are budgeted to have, um, you know,
if you look at our whole pothole budget, um, for,
for the year next year, it'd be about approximately
22 million in terms of, um, labor material.
Um, we, we have our, we'll have our full compliment
of crews, um, in January, we'll switch
to seven day a week coverage.
Um, so I, I, I do think though that, uh,
it's, it sometimes just takes a couple years
of these paving programs to really
where you start seeing the difference.
And, and, you know,
the Collector Street thing I think has really taken off
and we're, we're getting, um, more bang for our buck
by doing these segments in the wards.
Um, the work we're doing in alleys
with the alley reconstruction, our 50 year investments, that
really will, you won't have a crew having
to go lose a half a day, dropping four ton to, you know,
trying to repair an alley that's bombed out.
If, if, if you have that alley, that investment,
you've now freed up that crew to be out
responding in quicker duration time.
So these things are long range type things
that are difference makers.
Um, so, so we'll
Look at the number for next year.
Thank you. Um,
and then another question one, what's your policy on
quality, quality control on asphalting when a
street is resurfaced?
Do you guys go out there
and check the work that the contractor
is doing or has done?
Yes. So we have a, we have a, a section in our division
of engineering, uh, quality assurance, quality control.
Um, we do material testing on both our in-house crews
and our contractor crews.
We do material testing on the contractors that do work
for the water department.
Um, they will go out and take cores, um,
and send those for testing to make sure
that the material put down meet specification.
Um, they will also, uh, when jobs are going,
they will go out and,
and take, uh, testing
of make sure we have the proper
temperatures and the material.
Um, and then we also have, um, re support, um,
on our, uh, contracted jobs through our AR program
that are on site, not, they're looking at quality control
and final work product, not just material testing.
And how many crews do we have citywide for that work?
Um, I would have to ask, uh,
Dan or Ann if they know how much staff is in qa, qc, um,
I take that through the chair as well.
Okay. Alright. Um, just two more questions.
I have the same question about the
evaluation of light poles.
Um, also, uh, the finance committee, we've, I think,
settled a large, uh,
poll and light pole issue.
And that question came up from a number
of my colleagues about, uh, C DOT's policy
for evaluating light poles.
Yes. So, uh, two things on that.
One, um, when we did the smart lighting program,
there was a, a baseline evaluation of, uh, to find the,
the worst condition poles in the city.
Um, those were replaced as part
of the smart lighting program.
Then with the, uh, extra Chicago
with the bond money in recent years through Chicago Works,
we, we in fact then took that list
and continued down that list to continue, uh,
going at any poles that were like the next tranche.
So we've replaced thousands of poles, um, in the,
in the downtown area with,
which I believe is the case you were referencing.
Um, we did see, uh, we did uncover that there was, with the,
with a certain trend with the, what they're called,
the short loop poles, that with the shroud at the base,
they were retaining water,
which was leading to some rusting.
So we went on an aggressive program to survey all of those.
Um, we have a couple locations that we have
to check out still, they're, they're newer poles.
Like we got to the oldest of the old, um,
and we did a, we've been doing an ongoing program
to either replace those poles in advance of any failures
or, um, if we found the base is fine, we,
we now have a design that we lift up that shroud, um,
and put it on clamps so that it gets, um, air
and ventilation in there to
prevent the rusting that we were seeing.
Thank you Commissioner and Yep.
And chairman, I, I had one other question and a thank you.
Um, the vehicle tax fund in the division of engineering,
you show an 800 increase, $800,000 increase in software.
What is that for?
So that is a, a, a project we've been working on it,
it's called the EPS system.
Um, and with Chicago Works is where we started off on this.
We really had a challenge in that, um,
across our different sections,
different project managers were managing on their own kind
of standalone separate spreadsheets.
Um, and we really wanted to get into a comprehensive system
that, um, makes them better able
to manage their projects better, manage funding, speak
to other systems at the Department
of Finance and the budget office.
Um, so after doing a lot of research on it, we identified
that the system, um, utilized
by water management was pretty sound
and it, it met about 80% of our needs.
So it, and it, it had a quicker to time to delivery.
So, um, we've been building that system,
and this is really now reflecting on the licensing
and ongoing maintenance of, of that program.
But we have several of our programs such
as the Shared Sidewalk program, um,
and a few of the other programs are now getting up
and running in that system.
It's reducing the amount of data entry, um, when, uh,
information is shared between OBM Finance us.
Um, and really what I like to say about it is, you know,
the, you know, our, our staff are
project managers, divisions.
They only, uh, their, their amount of time is a pie.
And if too much of that pie is going to
administrative type stuff
and not actually working on their projects, I worry about
what harm that's doing for the quality of projects and, and,
and getting, hitting the mark quality, uh, efficiency
of delivery of those projects.
So freeing up staff,
but also better managing the finances
of it is, is a real win.
So that, that's what that reflects.
All right. Thank you. Um,
and just in closing, uh, chairman, I just wanted to thank,
uh, Alonzo
and Craig, I'm going against my own rule on this
'cause I, I,
but I want to, uh, thank, uh, Alonzo Craig.
Um, I wanna thank Sam Alexander for the work
that he did at, um, old St.
Mary's. Um, Mike Drake, thank you so much.
And then Arturo, I haven't met you formally,
but, uh, thank you for your work
and also to, uh, give kudos to Frank Iruo
and Lua for their work as well in my ward.
Thank you. Thank you, chair doll.
Um, next we'll, uh, alderman Waba.
Thank you, chairman. Uh, good afternoon, commissioner.
I have more, uh, it sounds like you've got quite a few
of answers that you'd be having, uh, sent through the chair,
so, um, I won't repeat any of those.
Um, going to, so just a few policy questions.
Um, number one, um, the scooter program,
you know, we, uh,
obviously passed some legislation more recently
to allow an expansion of that.
Um, my question for you is, has CDOT looked at the,
um, growth of injuries related to
the scooter program in the city?
Um, based on maybe information, um, post accident,
um, for scooters?
Um, before I kick it over to our, uh,
deputy commissioner on that, I, I do wanna flag that we did,
uh, institute, uh, you know, with the expanded hours,
some tools to try
and make sure that, you know, people are, you know, zero in
that we're not, you know, people are impaired to try
and make it harder for them to, uh, get a scooter.
So there, there has been a thought to some
of the safety aspects of it,
but I'll kick it to Sean Weell on that.
Okay. Alright, thank you for your question, alderman.
Um, we have, especially during the pilot, we focused,
we partnered with the Chicago Public Health Department
to collect data on, uh, injuries that were coming into
the, um, emergency rooms across the city related to, um,
scooter injuries, self, self, uh,
they were self-reported scooter injuries.
Um, we have, we did that for a couple years.
We weren't able to continue that
with change in leadership at the health department.
However, we are very closely monitoring other data
around scooters such as sidewalk riding compliance,
both from the rider's perspective
and the company's perspective, uh, parking, compliance
and safety so that we don't negatively impact other, uh,
riders and other, uh, pedestrians, people trying to get
around the city, uh, and geofence
and other, uh, responsibilities.
So we've, can you, okay.
Um, so we've, we've not been actively monitoring
that data over the last year or two.
Um, but we did actually track it.
And what we found when we did the data
analysis in the past is that the, um, injuries related
to scooters were very similar to injuries related to bikes.
They were not, uh, people riding bikes.
There wasn't a, a statistically significant
difference between the two.
Okay. Um, while I'm on that, uh, the other thing,
I've had a lot of complaints about our electric bikes,
especially the much larger ones, um,
essentially riding in bike lanes at full speed.
Um, have you started to look at that too?
I mean, I mean, I think it was 12
to maybe more than 12 years ago
where we allowed electric bikes to use the bike lanes.
Is that something that you have
considered revisiting as a policy?
Uh, as I would say, as, as we've continued to see more
and more, uh, electric bikes out there, we, you know, there,
there has been an increase, most
of the electric bikes out there, class one
or class two, which is limited to a speed
of 20 miles per an hour, per hour.
Um, we are seeing some class three,
which are 28 miles per hour.
They're not supposed to be using the bike lanes.
Um, they're, you know,
however, there's not an active enforcement program
against that at this time.
Um, just because the, the, uh, resources that,
that would need to go into that, I
Think. Yeah, that was, that
was the next question was, um,
if even if you could, how would, well,
how would you go about that if you could enforce it?
Because it, it seems to be sort of a growing problem
with these much larger, heavier bikes.
Um, you know,
just literally had complaints from both pedestrians
and cyclists who were being passed
or kind of pushed out of the way by some
of these larger cla I'm assuming they're class three.
Maybe not.
We've, I I think it's, it's, um, the thing
that we focus on really is working
with our safe ambassadors program and education
and trying to get folks
to understand their rights and responsibilities.
Um, as a cyclist myself, honestly, um,
it also drives me crazy when someone burns
by me on an e-bike.
Um, and I think one of the things we need
to do is keep educating folks to at least have the courtesy
to say, I'm passing on my on left ring a bell,
something like that to make that so
that at least there's not that startle
of someone passing you at a higher speed.
If you, um, in the future, if you think of programs
or if you're kind of working on that, please let us know.
I think every alderman would want, you know, to help out
to get that word out, because I think we're just seeing a
growing problem with the number of people on electric bikes
that don't seem to know any safety rules whatsoever.
So I would hate to see,
and I, I haven't, uh, received any direct, you know, com
or complaints about direct hits by e-bikes of pedestrians,
but I'm sure that's happening based on the volume out there.
Um, so if we can work with you on that, please let us know.
Um, and I, to go back to the point about, um, CDPH,
I have talked to different hospital systems about the growth
of, um, traumatic, uh, injuries
or head injuries for people using, uh, scooters,
in particular teenagers.
And, um, it just seems to me that maybe we could push to,
um, make sure that CPS
students are also understanding the potential impact
of riding on a scooter without a
helmet or how they're riding.
So that might be something that to, uh, work with CPS on.
That's a good, if you think that's a good idea.
Um, and maybe this might be your question too, Sean,
but, uh, commissioner, um, so the state, MOU or,
or what the MOU that we have with IDOT
to review accidents at, um, pedestrian intersections, uh,
IDOT highways, um, could you give us a review of that,
how it's working and, um, what, uh,
what things we need to improve on to make sure that
as we're looking at those particular intersections, um,
I know that your staff have worked very closely
with us all the time to make sure that, you know, we can try
to, um, make all of our intersections,
our school zones safer, you know, et cetera.
Just maybe you could give us an update on, um, how
that MOU is working
and, um, what improvements could be made.
Yes. Uh, I can answer that.
So, um, and thank you for that question.
Um, it was a, a very good step forward.
A lot of hard work done by, um, our staff in collaboration
with IDOT to get that MOU, um, as it
started into implementation of trying to figure things out,
um, it, it was encountered on the state level,
on the IDOT side that there was some, um, um,
I'll say some specifics that didn't align
with what they could approve.
That didn't really come to light until later on.
Um, so back, back to the meeting room, uh, with our team
and idot and, and we've now hammered out, um,
some good solutions that will, um, enable,
uh, us to, you know, have greater, uh, opportunities for,
um, curb extensions
and bump outs on those IDOT routes, not just, um,
on like turning onto a residential street,
but actual, um, extensions on the IDOT routes,
which will be, is really what's needed for, for the safety.
Um, also some opportunities with, uh,
pedestrian refuge islands.
Um, the one caveat I will say with
that was it did require some legislate legisl changes
legislatively, um, in Springfield.
Um, we thought it would make it into the veto session,
unfortunately it didn't.
So it's really, um, now everybody, it, there's anticipation
that the lame duck session, it'll pass
because we do have, um, um, that's, that's our understanding
through the, the legislatures, uh, legislators at the state
and house level that it will pass in the lame duck.
So from that point, um, we will be in a better spot
to address some of these, um, IDOT routes
that have been a pain point for several awards in trying
to find, um, um, better, uh, safety measures
for pedestrians on those routes.
Yeah, and I know, I know we push you a lot to get, um,
improvements on some
of those bigger arterials commercial streets
and obviously idot.
So, um, I appreciate the work that continues there,
and I know what the hiccups are.
I just, I think we, you know, we're constantly looking
to improve those safety aspects.
Um, with that, I appreciate everything you guys do, my staff
and I really enjoy working with you and all staff up
and down in each division,
and, um, want to continue to do that work together.
Thank you very much. Thank you, chairwoman. Thank
You. Thank you.
Uh, alderman Riley, followed by,
uh, alderman Quinn.
Oh, yes. And Al Alderman O'Shay will be next after Alderman
Quinn. Thank you, chairwoman.
Uh, good afternoon, commissioner.
I wanna thank you for responding
to the annual budget memo I send out.
Um, appreciate your response
and I'll, I'll get into a
few questions about that in a moment.
I did wanna make a brief statement
before I get into my questions, chairman.
Um, I've been made aware that, um,
our department heads have been instructed by the Office
of Budget Management and
or IGA to sit on these memos
that I've requested until they're
before us in a public hearing, whether
or not the memos are ready or not.
And my concern is that in a number of cases,
departments have had their responses to my request
prepared days in advance, yet have been told to sit on
that information until the before us.
And given the truncated timeline
that this administration has manufactured for us,
that is unacceptable completely
and totally unacceptable, which dovetails rather nicely
with the fact that 13 days ago, on behalf
of 15 alderman, 30% of the city council,
I sent a data request to the Office
of Budget Management, a two page request.
Less than 20 questions, uh, that I've been told
by former city budget directors should have been at the
fingertips of our budget management office.
If they spent a minute looking at trying to control costs
or find efficiencies in this budget, that office is claiming
that the data request we have submitted as members
of this city council is onerous.
It would take a lot of time to get assembled for us.
Um, as someone who used to assemble state budgets in
Springfield for the House Democrats, uh, I could tell you
that I personally, if I had access to the data,
could have pulled that stuff together within 48 hours.
Yet, here we are 13 days later with the clock ticking
on this budget, which needs to be passed by the end
of this year, still waiting for a basic
response to a data request.
And I'd like to emphasize not to embarrass the folks sitting
to your left, Madam Chair.
Kofa has also been asking for very similar data sets
for almost the same amount of time that we have
as a council, and they've been rebuffed.
This is a collaborative approach.
This is a collaborative process BS total
BS So again, uh, commissioner Carney, I apologize.
I wanted to say that, um,
before I got into, um, your subject matter,
but when the mayor announces at his press conference
that he just held this afternoon,
that he's got entire floors of this building working
around the clock to help us craft a responsible budget
that we can balance by the end of the year,
he rattled off the fifth floor, the sixth floor,
the seventh floor, lots
and lots of people, yet they still can't respond
to a basic data request from a body.
They're asking to approve their budget.
Totally unacceptable.
So, so thank you for indulging me on that, Madam Chair.
I'll get into my questions for the depart. No problem. If
You could just hold his time for a minute
and actually just hold his time for a minute.
If we can get from IGA
and the, the budget office, uh,
status on all outstanding requests through the chair,
otherwise, um, I would like an update on that
before we leave today.
And I'd like to know when not only the status,
when the answers are the,
to those questions are gonna be delivered.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
And I, I appreciate that,
and I also appreciate, uh, hopefully Chairman Irvin, uh,
underscoring that, that important point, um, to,
to the responses that we received from you.
Uh, commissioner Carney. First, I wanna say, um,
I have tremendous respect for the work that you
and your team do at cdot.
I know that, that my office, uh, uh, really taxes yours
with lots of requests and,
and information requests and the like.
And you've been incredibly responsive.
And again, I think you're, you're very, uh, lucky to have,
um, so much talent in your front office,
and I just wanted to acknowledge that.
Thank you. Um, having said that, um, you know,
I've been grilling each of the departments,
so I'm not picking on yours, uh, about our manager
to employee ratio.
So how many managers we have
supervising, how many employees.
And I can tell you that in the private sector,
the standard's considered to be optimal is one manager
to 10 to 20 employees.
And based on what you've sent to me, of the 244 managers
that you have at CDOT that have direct reports, 204 of them
manage several, seven or fewer employees.
And in some cases, I understand that's probably
because these are highly specif, sorry, highly specialized
positions or areas of expertise.
I, I, I, I can account for that.
Um, but, um,
that is a significant pattern within your department.
And, and of the 204, uh, managers at cdot,
um, that are supervising seven employees
or less, 30 of them are supervising seven employees.
That leaves us with 14 supervisors that have
more than seven employees to, to manage.
Um, again, uh,
this is not something on pinning directly on your
department, but there needs to be a greater effort to,
I would say, um, load up managers with more direct reports.
Um, I'm someone who's been in a management position in a
previous career, uh,
and I had a lot more than 20 direct reports
and was able to make that job work.
Um, so I'd just ask you to, to, to examine that as,
as you move forward, commissioner, um,
Sure. If I, if I could
answer, answer that. Sure, of course.
Uh, briefly, uh, alderman, I think one thing that, um, I,
I would welcome a conversation with you on
to further go into that is we included in that our,
our foreman on crews.
Ah, so, um, if you take, uh, a pothole crew,
standard pothole crew, you have a foreman, two laborers
and a driver, he's, he
or she is, is the person in charge out there.
And it, I guess those are the positions I,
I can understand, because that's
Okay. How you
Operate your crew.
I'm talking more about the managerial.
So, so we included that number in there so that, that,
you know, we have iron worker crews, pothole crews,
concrete crews, you know, our, our, you know,
lighting crews are, some of them are,
are three, a staff of three.
So I think, um, if you want, we could certainly circle up
with you, get, maybe if you're looking more for, um, the,
uh, spear of supervision for deputies
and assistant commissioners, if that's what you're looking
for, I'd be happy to dive into that with you.
And that's where the ratio is, is worse, right?
So a lot of the folks that are,
are not out there supervising the crews have a direct report
ratio of, you know, one manager to, to two
or maybe three employees.
Mm-Hmm. You could work on that at least.
Understood. Um,
And I understand, you know,
you're projecting a headcount increase
of six in the 2025 budget.
Um, you're looking to carry over 33 funded
vacancies in the corporate fund.
Thank you for answering that.
Um, and that you're only proposing to cut
four vacancies in your 2025 position, a policy analyst,
an administrative assistant, two, an admin assistant three,
and an engineering technician four.
Um, why are we only able
to find four vacancies
to eliminate within the entirety of your department?
So, um, we worked really hard
to meet our 3%, um, need in the corporate budget.
Um, by looking at all lines, looking at every,
looking at our spend in 2024
and really being serious about, um, you know,
what we need in various lines in those divisions for 2025,
um, we did not wanna cut any vacancies.
I mean, uh, we, you know, we need, we
No department does commissioner,
Right? So
we worked very hard to look every, under every rock to,
to get the cuts we needed so
that we didn't have to go to vacancies.
Understood. And, um, you also responded
that your 89 non-union employees are all scheduled
to receive salary increases in the 2025 budget.
Do you happen to know what that total amount is,
the dollar amount of those 89 positions aggregated?
Uh, I can certainly get that
through the chair if you could. Yeah.
Before we vote on the budget, that'd be helpful.
And, um, I also noted in your,
in your 2025 initiatives, one that seems awfully familiar
to me, implementing the utilidor management initiative,
which is a really cool sounding name.
Um, but it sounds a lot like coordinating utility work in
the right of way when we open the right of way
to make sure all that work is completed at the same time
as best we can, so we're not constantly reopening the right
of way and then restoring, and then reopening and restore.
Is that correct?
Yeah, so this is a bit different.
Um, so in our, uh, capital, uh,
large scale projects such as, if you could picture, uh,
like Wells Wentworth
or when we, uh, rebuilt Wacker Drive, um, we built, uh,
util doors to have designated space, um,
for telecoms and fiber and things of that nature.
Um, this is taking it to another level
because, you know, the, the ongoing, um, frustration
or, you know, uh, desire,
we've heard from council about the frustration
about cutting into new streets.
Mm-Hmm. So this is taking the util door concept
to our street scapes and our street reconstruction projects.
Um, so to try
and build that space in the beginning, um,
to reduce any cuts, future cuts into, you know,
we're making these investments on these streets scapes, um,
we do need, we, we do plan
to collect revenue to manage this program.
Um, so that's why it's part
of the revenue management ordinance,
and there will be staff to manage it, um, once it is,
you know, put into place if a utility wants to access it
or put more fiber in there, we will be charging for that.
Well, that's good to hear.
And I'd like to see what the fee schedule
is, please, through the chair.
Um, it looks like I'm about out of time, uh, chairwoman.
Um, one last thing I'm gonna ask you about,
and it's something I mentioned
to you when we met in person not that long ago, uh,
but I wanted to get it on the record, is, uh,
all the work you've been doing, um, to refresh
and install 350 miles of roadway pavement markings,
you know, that's, that's an impressive statistic there.
So congratulations.
Um, but sadly, I'm not seeing a lot of
that work being done in the central business district
where all the cars are and all the pedestrians are,
and where the greatest sub, you know,
public safety risks exist when we don't have,
well-defined lanes
and pedestrian crossings, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
Um, what can we do to expedite the restoration of paintings
and markings in the central business district where all
of our daily commuters are?
Um, yeah. So I, um, there was a, a good meeting
and you flagged, uh, you flagged that correctly, alderman,
and, and we did, you know, map out the ward
and we do have some areas of the ward
that we've gotta give some attention to.
So we are actively, uh, you know, planning our spring, um,
and we will, uh, follow up with you on, on what
that looks like on which corridors we'll be focusing on.
Very good. Thank you. And, uh,
not a question chair, and then I'm done.
Um, thank you. Uh,
the last point in your initiatives is related
to the Lake Street Basque Bridge,
which is obviously over a hundred years old.
And, and in need of repair, it carries a CTA train up top.
Um, that is a project that's gonna have a
massive impact on, uh, the 34th ward, alderman, uh,
Conway's constituents and mine in the 42nd.
So I would just ask that as soon as you're able, um,
to start hosting, coordinating meetings with us
so we can prepare impacted business owners and residents
and, and others, um, for the disruptions
that are sure to come. So,
Absolutely. Thank you. Thank
you again, commissioner,
for the great work that you do.
And to everyone here in the box at cdot. Thank you.
Uh, thank you, Madam Chair,
You, alderman Riley, uh, we've got Alderman Quinn,
followed by Alderman O'Shea, and then Alderman Spto.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon, commissioner.
Um, good afternoon, Commissioner.
Um, can you talk a little bit about
what we can anticipate in terms of
construction costs rising for 2025?
Um, yes.
So, um, in terms of our, um, asphalt
and concrete costs, um, the new asphalt contract spec
that we put out, um, puts us in a better position, um,
in terms of the previous contract was more subject
to the asphalt contract, was more subject
to some volatility, um, in CPI that would impact, we'd see,
we see some larger swings on that.
Um, so the new contract
that we have in place eases that out.
Um, so we're not really seeing, um,
too high increases on that.
Um, on the concrete side, it, it, I think they're,
they're both gonna be in the range of, you know, standard,
I'd say 2% type things.
2%, okay. Yeah. Two to three, you know, in that range.
Um, I think the thing that worries me would be, um,
there's been a lot of talk about tariffs and stuff,
and the last time that tariffs were put into play, um,
we saw dramatics cost swings in aluminum and steel
and things of those nature.
And that really hits home to our bridge work, our division
of sign management and our division of electrical operation.
Um, so those are some things
that we're gonna keep a close eye on, um,
with the new federal administration
Commissioner in, in, in past, um, budget conversations,
we talked about electricians
and the need for electricians
to make sure lights are turned on.
Um, where, where are you at with electricians
going into 2025?
Um, so They've done a nice job.
I, I wanna credit our division of administration
and all the divisions, um, here today for, you know,
we started off 2024 with 240 vacancies.
We're starting off 2025 with 174.
So we did move the needle a lot on hiring.
Um, in terms of our division of electrical operations,
they've gotten through, um, some rounds of, of heavy, uh,
attrition where they sell a lot of retirements.
Yeah. Um, and they've moved the line.
Um, the two areas that they've gotta work on is, is, uh,
traffic signal repairmen.
Um, there's a bit of a, a shortage in, in the region on,
you know, 'cause it takes extra training to be a, a,
a traffic signal repair technician, uh, electrician that,
um, you can't just put anybody out there due to the safety,
um, nature of that work.
Um, and then really the, the vacancies that, um, Arturo
and his team have to work on is the entry level,
the lamp maintenance worker.
So, um, they'll be working on that.
Um, I don't know if Craig, or,
or Art, you have an update on the lamp maintenance worker.
All right. Rodriguez, deputy commissioner.
So for land maintenance worker,
we recently took down a posting for 14 vacancies,
and that should start getting, they gotta go
through testing, uh, and then a hands-on test also.
And then that hopefully early next year,
we should start filling those vacancies.
Commissioner, how many,
how many retirements are we anticipating
for LEC electricians?
I don't, I don't know if you have any.
Yeah, we, we really don't know that answer yet.
I mean, or how, how many we are looking, but we did, like
How many, how, let me rephrase the question.
How many, how many employees are eligible to retire?
Uh, we have to get that through the chair
For you. Okay, fair enough.
Um, commissioner,
can you talk a little bit about Trip and falls
and, you know, there's a conversation
that broke out earlier about Trip and falls
and what's, what's the total allotment from a budget
perspective on Trip and Falls?
Uh, so the, uh, budget for in-house construction, uh,
for the 3 1 1 program is 4 million.
Um, and then the, um, funding for, um,
shared cost sidewalk program, which is another way get at
that is, is 4 million as well.
Um, the budget for, um,
vaulted sidewalk work, uh, is 1 million.
Um, so those, those are, um, programs
that kinda localize specific address specific
locations for repairs.
It's not to say that
that's the only way we get it Sidewalk repairs,
certainly there's the menu, certainly there's, um,
repairs we do through the collector program and,
and you know, a few other things if there's tiff requests,
I think that's an important point.
Uh, um, we wanna talk about raised sidewalks.
It's, it's, could be, could be dealt
with in many different scenarios.
And four mil, the $4 million amount hasn't
changed in a number of years
That Yeah. That, and that
is bond funding. Right.
Okay. Um,
Do we know, just real quick,
if I can just jump in about the average cost of a, uh,
of a sidewalk repair for like a, a trip hazard?
Like how many squares is that usually? Is it,
It's three contiguous, right, commissioner?
Yes. Yeah.
I'm just trying to get to the back of the envelope, Matt.
So, so to your point, if the number hasn't changed over
time, we're, we're, we're repairing fewer of these
because the costs have gone up.
So it, it really, I mean, so we, we typically look
for three squares, uh, or if it's, uh, a courtesy walk
or the, the sunken catwalk
or are typically the,
what you're seeing in the 3 1 1 program.
Um, that's not to say that there might need
to be taken an extra square Sure.
Or two based on transition to make sure we meet, um, the,
the slope requirements of a DA standards.
Um, but we can get you an average take,
take the amount spent
and figure out an average cost for you.
Here. Here's the point I'm, I'm trying to make, uh,
Madam Chair, is that, you know,
you wanna raise a complaint about it.
There's no money to fund it.
Four, $4 million doesn't go very far citywide.
So, so we, there a problem was elevated this afternoon
and there's, there's no means to fund it at three,
three contiguous squares at what?
400 bucks a square, Tom?
Um, I, I mean, Doesn't go very far is my point.
I, you know, um, we're certainly ha happy
to have the conversation Yeah. About funding.
I, I, I, that's what we're we're,
we're talking about budget wise
and problems have been elevated this afternoon,
but the point that I'm trying to make is there's not a lot
of money to fund fund what is being asked?
I don't, I'm not expecting you to comment. Commissioner.
Um, finally, I just wanna say thank you.
Thank you for all of the hard work
that goes in day in and day out.
You have a great team. Um, they deserve a lot of credit
as well, and I'm, I'm, I'm grateful for the collaboration.
Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Thank you.
Uh, next we're gonna have Alderman, OSHA followed
by Alderman sdo.
Good afternoon, commissioner.
Good afternoon. Uh, Tom, I'd like
to talk about speed cameras.
How many speed cameras do we currently have across the city?
162.
1 6 2. How many more
could we put up by ordinance?
Oh, we could expand it up to 300
Speed parameters came nine years ago.
I wanna say 2012. Uh, 2012.
2012. And when they first came,
our threshold was significantly more than it is now.
As far as, uh, when a ticket was issued,
Um, there was an adjustment to the threshold, correct?
The original threshold,
I believe was 10 miles per hour over,
and now it's significantly less.
What do we, what do we generate?
Obviously we wouldn't have 20, 24 numbers,
but in 2023,
what are the 162 speed cameras citywide,
um, generate in revenue?
Um, I'm gonna ask, uh, vigor.
Abraham, do you have that number for 2023?
Abraham Manuel, deputy for Traffic Safety element, uh,
department of Finance collect the numbers.
They have the accurate numbers for 2023,
but it's roughly around $70 million.
I'm sorry, what was that figure? I think
You said $70 million. $70 million.
Is there discussions at any level
of adding more speed cameras?
Uh, yes. Alderman, so we have, um, approximately, uh,
I wanna say about requests from about 27 wards, um,
that have identified locations, you know,
throughout the city in their wards where they're, um,
and this, this list is built for a year
or two, um, adds up to about 45, 50 locations,
and we are in 2025, uh, gonna be working with the wards
to implement those locations.
And of those 1 62, is every ward covered?
Um, I don't know if every ward has a speed camera.
Um, Abraham, do you
Know, we'll have to get through the chair.
It, it's not, it's not like, um, every ward gets won.
It's like your one pick. It's not like that. Yeah.
Hopefully there were crash data supports.
Um, I know I, I have four in the 19th ward, right?
Every single one of them is where we have
had a pedestrian killed and or injured.
And sadly, some where we've had more than one. Um,
do we have the ability
to put speed cameras on every road within the city proper?
No. Um, the program is still has its, uh, you know,
parameters tied to school, um, or parks.
Um, and there's a couple other parameters such as, you know,
they're not allowed on Lakeshore de Lakeshore Drive.
Um, so, um, you know, that, that's,
that's like the first thing to look at obviously,
is if you have a school or park nearby.
Um, and then there's, um, also contemplated safety zones so
that you, you don't have a saturation of cameras in one
area versus, you know, the rest of the city.
If, if we were to explore speed cameras on
Lakeshore Drive near parks
or schools, we would've to work with the state of Illinois,
Not, um, well, lake Shore Drive.
Yes. Um, certainly that's the state route.
Um, in terms of the rest of the locations, um, I mean,
there, there's certainly viability locations that we,
we wouldn't have to do any, you know, working
with the state to implement.
I think we really should explore where crash data supports
the expansion of speed cameras.
And I know a lot of people disagree with that,
but, um, it
slows traffic, it makes areas safer,
and I've seen it in my own community.
Um, some of my colleagues
before me had covered some of the things I wanted
to get into, but, um, I just wanna say, uh,
really enjoy working with you.
You are very responsive, uh,
obviously came up through the ranks.
I enjoy working with your team, those here in the box who,
uh, help my staff and I with many issues, um,
throughout the year.
Uh, and many of those that aren't with us here today,
but are out on the street, uh,
really enjoy working with you.
Commissioner, you're a strong leader in our city government.
Thanks for your time. Thanks, chairman.
Welcome. Thank you, alderman. Thank
You. Uh, next we have
Alderman Spto, followed by Alderman Moore.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Lemme put my helmet on.
So the commissioner takes me a little more serious.
Commissioner, it's always a pleasure. Safety
First, alderman, safety first.
It's always a pleasure. Consider you a friend, you know,
so I always have to scold you
for calling me Alderman all the time.
But one of these days, maybe I'll call me Nick.
So, um, I just have a couple budget questions
and then just some kudos to some people.
So, um, how many speed limit signs do we have in the city
that say 30 miles an hour?
You roughly, you don't have to gimme exact number. 5,000.
I'm, I'm gonna guess thousands alderman.
Um, I'll ask Sam if he's got any estimate on that.
And I don't need an exact number. Sam. Got it.
Thank you. Uh, alderman,
I think we actually have over 10,000, uh,
30 miles, hour speed.
31,000. So what did
You, I'm sorry, speak Up.
Is the mic on 10? Yeah,
I'm sorry. We have,
uh,
are you talking about the 30 miles per hour signs?
Yes. Or just, just We have over 30, uh, 10,000.
10,000. Okay. That's in the city of Chicago, right?
So if we, if we had to take all of those down,
it'd be one cost, and then if we had to take it down
and replace 'em with another thing that said 25,
you guys have any idea on what
that would cost this city right now, at this point?
Um, we have done some assessments of that, you know,
as part of the, the conversation about, uh, change
of the speed limit sign.
Um, I wanted to ask Vig, uh, what those additional, uh,
preliminary projections were?
Uh, yes. Good afternoon. Vig Krismer,
the Managing Deputy Commissioner, uh, alderman,
we estimated working with division
of sign management an average of, uh, $250 per sign.
And so approximately $2.5 million there would be a variation
of, um, banded sign work, post sign work, drill, sign work.
But that is a, a high
level estimate for the city as a whole. Okay.
All right. Cheaper than I thought, but thank you.
You're Welcome. Um,
I know we keep talking about cuts commissioner,
but I mean, I, I, I feel your com your,
your department needs more money.
So, um, it's just the whole, the whole, you know,
electrical thing and the whole sign thing.
I don't know how, uh, how these guys do it,
but somehow, some way they always seem to manage, um,
in a way everybody wants to see cuts,
but it sure would be nice to, you know, when it takes,
as long as it does, it gets some signs up.
Um, a little difficult,
but I do wanna appre tell you your people, I appreciate 'em.
So there's, you know, three guys there,
and I don't deal with you guys a lot, but
whenever I do, you guys always come through for me, uh,
Mike, Sam and Craig.
Um, so, uh, appreciate you guys.
Um, whether you're communicating with me
or just coming through for me,
I don't think I bother you that much.
I probably don't, but when I do bother,
you guys really come through for me.
So I just wanna say thank you.
Uh, but the guy that always comes through for me,
commissioner, I know we're not supposed to do this,
but that's Lenise.
I, he is always there for me. I sometimes,
even though I'm older than him,
I feel like he's my older brother always calling me
and trying to help me, you know, get my everything in order.
So I really appreciate Len,
it's important for me to say that.
And that's about it. I don't really have any real questions
other than I just had a concern about, I,
I think you need more staff in the sign
department and electrical.
And I also, uh, have a big concern about the,
if we do change it to 25, not only
because of the road rage, it's gonna happen,
but also the cost, it's gonna cost
us to change all the signs.
I don't know if we could get away with what,
just taking it down and just say, okay,
the limit is now, uh, 25.
I would guess the court of law people would be able
to beat those tickets all the time.
But with that, just thank you for everything.
Thank you for the great job you do.
Thank you for your friendship,
and, uh, keep up the good work, buddy. Thank
You, alderman. Thank you.
You're welcome. Um, just
to follow up on your question about the signs, uh,
I know you've given us a cost estimate.
What, what, what would that take in terms
of man hours, um, to replace?
I mean, how many signs do we replace
sort of on an annual basis?
I'm just trying to get a, a sense of the order
of magnitude of a job like that.
Yeah, so I, I mean, I, to the staff, I, I always refer
to the sign management as the little engine that could, um,
and, and their output is, is tremendous for,
for the size of the operations.
So Sam and his team do do a fantastic job.
Um, they were over 40,000 signs so far this year in 2024.
Um, so if you put it in that context, you know, um,
It's a big undertaking.
Correct. And it would, that, that would almost
just about double the number of signs.
I mean, if we've done 40,000 in one year
and it's 30,000, that's gonna take some, uh,
some transitioning too, if that happens.
Okay, thank you for that.
Um, next we have, um, alderman Moore, followed
by Alderman Viegas.
Alright, thank you, um, so much.
Um, chairman, um, first of all,
commissioner y you are doing a, um, yeoman's job,
you and your entire team.
Uh, I know I'm trying to get outta the habit
and I think I have a little bit of, um, calling you,
'cause I'm used to calling you,
but I gotta, I wanna always respect your position
as commissioner
and only call you when nothing else is getting done.
But that's very little because I'm wearing Alonzo out
because he's getting it done and,
and just, you know, um, on top of it.
And I appreciate you so much, Alonzo Day or night.
Your attitude is just great, man.
And I, I just wanna say thank you
and I know Sharon, um, she's a, um, she's a bulldog
and award and, um, and,
and for you all to have that good working relationship, um,
with her means a lot to me.
And, um, being proactive with her is great.
And Greg, anytime I'm calling you, you're responding
and I just wanna appreciate that.
Um, um, I wanna really thank you, um, uh,
for having people like Chico on your team from an
administrative standpoint, so
that when we are needing things
and getting information, I mean, she's on it
and I really appreciate, um, her for that.
So your whole entire team is doing great.
Part of that, I, I'm gonna ask a question
because what I see, I'm seeing something
and I just wanna make sure when I'm talking out there
to my constituents, I'm saying the right things as,
you know, I'm a person, I drive other communities
to see what's going on, and I have to honestly say,
and I'm a give, um, you know, a shout out to the mayor,
one for choosing you.
But then what if he's, if he, if he was probably the one
that gave giving you, along with John Roberson, the charge,
I am just seeing so much work done out there, um,
not just on the main streets, taking that out of,
I'm talking about in little small areas.
Because when we talk about yes, our wards,
I've gotta drive in this whole city.
And when I'm seeing spots that I normally drive in
and other wards, my ward,
that has not been done in a long while.
And I know this is not all menu.
I know what stuff is menu,
and I know what stuff is not menu.
And it's even some obscure places that I'm like, man,
these roads, these streets been bad forever.
I am seeing, seeing a lot
of stuff getting done throughout this city,
and I want to, I wanna know, is that
from the infrastructure bond money?
Is that from the grants you were talking about?
Or money from a state? A combination of thereof.
If you could just elaborate on that,
because I haven't seen this before.
And, and, and it's, it's, I'm like, wow, I,
I have no complaints, you know, in terms of the work
that needs to be done throughout this city.
So I wanna commend you for that,
but at the same time, um, how we're doing this
and with what resources,
Uh, so thank you, thank you for that.
That's, that's really encouraging to hear.
Um, the, the Chicago works really, uh,
supercharged our work.
Um, and if you go, you know, during our budget preparations,
you know, if you just go across looking at
all our work categories, the sidewalk streets, lighting, uh,
everything across the board is up.
Um, and, and that funding is really making a difference.
I will say that we had over a decade
where it was really a famine though, so we had a lot
of catching up to do, um, in terms
of our infrastructure work. But, you know,
So the Chicago works and forgive me for not knowing,
'cause I don't know what we call things sometimes.
Was that the, the bond bond that we had?
The bond, right? Absolutely. Okay. Yeah.
So, so things that I'm really happy about.
Um, you know, we set a goal for 150 miles of paving.
We're gonna get 188 miles.
We, you know, last year, uh, well,
so this year we're over 350 blocks of new lighting
that beat last year's total by over 60 blocks.
Mm-Hmm. Right? So, you know, you think about
that investment on those blocks of lighting, what that does
for the quality of life for our residents is huge.
You know, for many years we, we were trying to, we were kind
of around 12 to 15 blocks a year for Alley reconstructions.
This year we set a goal for 50, we're gonna get around 60,
and those are 40, 50 year investments, you know, so
what a game changer for those, those folks
to have a concrete alley that'll stand the test of time.
So, um, we, we got a lot of work to keep going though.
Um, there's certainly things that, you know, we,
we know we gotta keep working at, keep plugging away at.
Um, and so,
but I appreciate your, uh,
notice in the work that we're doing out there. No,
It's ab it's absolutely clear through, I mean,
throughout the entire city from, from south to north.
And so I just wanna say I appreciate that.
Now, given that, and,
and this is going back to, I, I, I don't think,
I can't remember if it was, um, Derman
or Miss when we were talk, when she was talking about the,
um, um, contracting and, um,
and the 7.7% of the African American spend.
What, what are we doing?
Is it, are we doing target market
or is it just certain jobs?
Can you explain or what can we do?
I don't want to get into, you know, the negative point
of what can we do?
And I don't know if it's certain type of contracting,
if it is, explain it to me
and what we need to do to help get these numbers up.
And I don't know if it's certain type of jobs
that we are doing that if we don't have the people there
or if there's a bond capacity,
I need to know what's going on.
Because when we, we're not even in a double digits
and we are, you know, when we talk about 30% on every level
of, in terms of, you know, what the representation of this,
um, city is, that 7.7 is, is is not the place we want to be.
Very good question Alderman.
So, um, gotta give kudos to one of my predecessors, uh, uh,
commissioner Seinfeld.
Mm-Hmm. Um, who, uh, launched this cons,
launched this concept of, uh, target market, um, for, uh,
construction management and professional services, um,
a target market pool of MWBE firms.
Um, and it, it's, it's coming to the end,
but it's been tremendously successful, um, in terms of,
it gave us the ability to have this, this pool
that we could issue task orders to for locally funded work.
Um, and so, uh, as you know, part
of our monthly working group where we're really getting into
how to get, how to keep moving the needle on this, you know,
we're seeing that African American firms make up about 23%
of our professional services.
Um, so target market for, for that, though,
that work category is really working.
So that's why we're gonna re-up it, you know,
as the contracts are expiring now, it's come time
to, to re-up those.
So we're working with DPS to re-up the target market pools.
Um, but, you know, we're seeing where construction,
the construction spend has gotta get, um, better.
Um, we have it on the to-do list to, to go meet, meet
with a lot of agencies and a lot of, uh, stakeholders to try
and get a better sense of how do we, um,
how do we get the primes to get more workout to subs.
Right. You know? Okay.
Um, it was good that, um, our, I asked two jock contracts,
went to minority firms, um, you know, so our, um,
on the one we're, we're over 25 million in spend
and the other one we're, we just topped
over 10 million in spend. Um, so
How do we, when you say minority firms, what,
what's the ethnicity of those firms?
Uh, so our, uh, flat work jock contract
for flat work is an African American firm.
Okay. And our jock contract for structures is a Latino firm.
Yeah. Alright. No, I appreciate that effort.
Continue to do what you're doing.
I see that is moving in a, you know, continuing
to move in a positive direction.
And, um, again, uh, I just wanna say I thank you so much
because seeing that, um, is just blowing my mind.
I mean, I was not only happy for
what I was seeing in my ward,
but when I was going to other wards
and, you know, we, you know, driving these streets
'cause we just don't live in a bubble.
I'm like, wow, CDOT is really doing.
So I had to really highlight that.
If no one else, um,
has noticed throughout the city, uh, I'm noticing.
And I, and I think the, I know the resident
of Chicago, uh, appreciate that.
And, and if I have to vote for a property tax increase that,
you know, those, one of those things you can,
you got something that we can point to that helps a little
and people like to have something they can point
to when they're, um, well, we're spending their tax dollars
and, and you guys really, I'm just, I'm elated.
I I'm bragging about it throughout the city.
You guys kick butt on on that. So thanks a lot.
Thank you so much. I appreciate you so much. Thank
You.
So, just to follow up on one of the things that, um,
alderman Moore asked, and you guys were talking about just
the miles of pavement, um, that have been,
uh, laid out this year.
Can we get a breakdown through the chair, um, of the,
of those miles by ward?
Yes. Great. Okay.
Um, next we're gonna have Alderman Viegas followed
by Alderwoman Coleman.
Thank you. Thank you Madam Chair.
Uh, commissioner, first of all, um,
always pleasure working with you guys.
Um, could you provide through the chair a li your,
your department in the presentation from COFA talked about
7 million to 1 billion in grants.
Could you, through the chair, provide a list of those grants
where they're originating from, whether state, federal,
county, whatever, and where, uh,
whether they're being used for?
Okay. Yes. Yeah.
Uh, and then, um, to piggyback off the, uh, questions
around diversity in the professional services
and the contracting, do an applaud, uh, the department for,
uh, embarking on the Mentor Protege program.
Uh, obviously on, with the professional service,
there's a lot more flexibility
'cause of the QBS process that's used versus, uh, low bid.
Um, have, have, um,
how are you guys doing on the construction
side with Mentor Protege?
Or have you embarked on that yet?
No, that's, that's something we gotta work on.
Um, not so much. Um, I'm, I'm not really, I I think we have
to do some work with our partners at DPS to have a,
a better format for it on the construction side.
Okay. Um,
but you are doing it on the
professional services? I correct,
Yes. Okay.
Um, the, uh, I, I wanna applaud, uh,
the collaboration with you
and I worked on the Sidewalk ordinance, um, where, um,
the utilities, there's a percentage now this body
unanimously passed it something
that we've been talking about.
The, the Office of Coordination has been just like
a thorn in my side.
Um, and, um, when,
when the, the departments are coming,
well, first of all, strike that.
The Office of Coordination, um, is
that under your department?
Yeah, the project coordination, well,
there's the Project Coordination Office, the PCO,
and then there's the OUC Office
of Underground Coordination. They're both And
Both. Both on the
Office cdot? Yes, both.
Both of under your purview. Okay.
Uh, can you explain the difference between the two?
Yes. So you, you'll go to the OUC
with your plans, um,
and then, so a, an agency will submit its plans to cdot.
CDOT is the hub that will then shoot those plans out
to over 20 different, uh, utility owners, uh,
or facility holders.
So gas company, electric water, sewer, you know, so
that those agencies can look at the plans
and see if that project is gonna conflict
with their facilities, is it gonna conflict
with their infrastructure?
So as that, the two agencies can coordinate so as
to do this in a way that this, you know, contractor,
whoever doesn't come in and have a hit.
Right. So the water department doesn't come in
and hit, uh, our CDOT streetlights. Um, so,
So you, you're talking, so you're talking more
of the underground, but what about the actual coordination
of the actual rehabilitation and restoration work?
Correct. So then after OUC,
after plans, you get through the OUC, you have your OUC rep
approval of all the agencies, then you can shift into,
you have a project and you submit for permitting.
And then that's through, through that process at that time,
that's where the project coordination office is working
to say, okay, well this, this project
that CDOT is doing overlaps with something
that people's gas is doing.
And then that's where we're trying to figure out timing
of when each agency does its work,
who's gonna handle final restoration.
So we're only doing it once.
So what, so we have more leverage on the
outside folks, the utilities.
Well that's a, that's a statement.
Do we have more leverage over the
outside utilities versus the inside?
Um, like other infrastructure, like water.
And reason where I'm going with this is that what I've,
what I've seen firsthand is where that lack of coordination
between the city departments
and then who has, who has like the final jurisdiction,
who has a final say as to
how the schedule's gonna actually proceed, minus,
minus emergencies.
I mean, how do you, are you guys the ultimate authority
around the restoration and how that's coordinated?
Yes. That, that responsibility is with us.
I mean, certainly we wanna, we work hard
to have collaboration and coordination with everybody.
But do you wanna say where, where does the buck stop?
It stops with cdot.
Okay. So are you aware that under the water department,
the declaration, when they declare emergency,
they have 30 days to repair an emergency?
Yes. So I mean, the leaks
and brakes is something that is, is really
stress testing the system for sure. Um,
So Right, so, so, so the leaks
and brakes, um, I mean like when I think of an emergency
around water or infrastructure, it's like, you know,
the poles on the ground,
there's sparks water shooting outta the street.
That's an emergency. But I think the 30 day window really
is not an emergency.
It's just really a, a failure to plan.
And I think that's why the project coordination office was
initially put there was to, to allow for this clearinghouse
of infrastructures thing so that we can coordinate it
and be more efficient around the, uh, the dollars
that are appropriated for, for capital.
'cause they're limited to, as you said earlier.
So is there, so is, is that something that,
that you think we should take, maybe take a look at around
bringing that 30 day emergency window down?
Because it sounds like it's, it's not an emergency so much
as it's a lack of planning.
Um, we're open to, you know,
all suggestions on how to get better at this.
I'll, I'll certainly talk with Commissioner Con, uh, Connor
and his team on that.
Uh, I will say that, you know, un under Jay kil and,
and the, the, uh, PCO team, like they've made modifications
to our protocols this year to try
and have extra checkpoints to try
and catch, you know, sharing of it, like changing workflows,
lessons learned from situations that have happened
to continually try and,
and fine tune this with the leaks and brakes.
Alright. I, I don't know, Jay, if you wanna share some
of those changes that the PCO has made this year?
Yes. Uh, we have made a lot of, uh, so like you said,
that, uh, break and leaks happens
and in it, then as soon as break
and leaks, that emergency is fixed.
They put their program through our dad map system
and we run through that scheduling conflict
and work with all other utilities
and restore that, uh, break
and leak become a LSR project.
So if it is they need to be done, then we look it up.
If it is a menu project there
or a AR collector street we work for, uh, closely with
DWM to get that one done, uh, time to time,
they might not be able to get all the way to the house,
then they will do the public wave portion
before we pay the street.
Alright. So that coordination is get lot tighter now
and that their PMO team
and our project coordination office is
working hand to hand on that. Thank
You. So, uh, commissioner
at some point
after in the new year, could we sit down
and kind of take a look at how that looks as relates to
the underground coordination, the PCO
and then the actual scheduling if,
'cause I just have a problem
with the emergencies having a 30 day window.
'cause again, that when I envision an emergency,
it's not a 30 day anticipation like that.
I'd be happy to schedule that
With you all. Okay. Then, um,
around, uh, WPA streets, um,
in this capital bill that the federal government passed
where there's, were there an allocation around, uh,
WPA streets money earmarked for WPA street?
In, in the FE federal? Yes. In the federal?
No. Uh, not for WPA, no. Okay.
So then the w typically
That federal money that that flows down through,
through idot, it, it, it can't go on local roads,
it's gotta go on arterial.
It's gotta be programmed arterial.
It can't go on like residential local.
And that's where we see a lot
of the WPAs are on the residential side.
Well, well IDA does have a local roads division,
so they do allow for funding for local roads.
Yep. Lemme kick it to Dan here.
Dan Burke, Dan Burke, managing deputy, um,
all the al in the local, the i that local roads.
The name, um, is local jurisdiction routes.
So it's arterial streets that are local jurisdiction routes.
Gotcha. Okay. Alright.
Um, so there's no federal funding allowed for local,
local roads for the municipality.
Okay. Um,
uh, one more thing.
Shoot, I forgot the question. Um, alright, Madam chair.
That's it for now, but if I think about it,
I'll give thank you commissioner,
and again, uh, pleasure working with your, your team.
Oh, um, the, I, I remembered the bond.
So this body passed the capital bill.
The one mistake I always say that we didn't do was earmark,
um, funding and just provide all the money to you
and hope that we get projects.
So the $4 million that's earmarked for, um, sidewalks
is, that's something that your department decided
to spend money on
or did h how did, how did that $4 million number, um,
how did you arrive to that $4 million number out
of a billion, out of $3.7 billion in, in bond money.
Um, so that's the ongoing, um, you know, work with,
with the budget office on the bond and,
and how the programming levels
to the different categories in the bond.
Um, and that's that 4 million is that specific 3 1 1
sidewalk trip hazard program.
So, and that, those are, um, yes, CDOT is directing
the work to respond,
but it, it's, it, the workflow is generated
through three one ones either called in
or entered in by alderman's offices
and we're responding to it. So,
So you're using the 3 1 1 as an asset management to kind
of determine where there's some infrastructure
improvements needed for sidewalks?
Yes. Okay. So knowing that a lot
of the sidewalks have been installed decades ago
and seeing that there's a lot of issues
around sidewalks like to, for you
to take into consideration when you meet with OBM
to take a look at increasing that number
because this body did vote
and support a $3.7 billion capital project.
And the fact that the, the bread
and butter issues that we typically deal
with are not being addressed, I think is concerning.
'cause I, I like to see more money in curves, sidewalks,
alleys, the things that we typically get called
for as, as alderman.
Uh, very rarely do we get calls for, uh, bridges
because we understand that that's, that's a huge expense
and typically IDOT
or the federal government puts forward funding for that,
and there's a match at the local level.
So I'd just like you to take con consideration the, the way
that that's funding being appropriated.
Thank you. Thank you Madam Chair. Thank you.
Thank you, commissioner. We'll take a look at it.
Yes. Thank you. Alderman Derman.
Coleman, do you have any questions?
Go right ahead.
My turn.
Yes, ma'am. Thank you so much.
Uh, commissioner, I had to kind of echo, um, the sentiments
of Alderman Moore here.
I was writing down Ashland
and just admire how smooth the street was.
Ashland is the street that I learned how to drive on.
I know east and west, north
and south, uh, being the joiner of Inglewood
to Auburn Gresham and et cetera.
So I had to compliment my colleagues on just
how great the street is.
I know that 59th is coming to an end
and we're going to extend Ashland North of 63rd Street.
Isn't that right, Alonzo?
To about 51st Street and then we're gonna go west on 63rd.
Right. Commissioner, don't turn too red.
Yes, yes. But no seriously, um, 59th Street.
You know, I've been advocating for that
for the last five years, so it's finally coming to fruition.
I gotta, uh, command your deputy in our meeting.
You know, I'm very intentional about seeing people
that look like me and that reflect my neighborhood, uh,
when we're doing these, uh, infrastructure projects,
especially in the neighborhoods.
So I wanna thank you, thank you.
Especially your team, all of you, all my soro over there
for being intentional about making sure that the safety
of those that are working for these subs,
that they're hiring people that look like me
and I have to just stick to that
projects will get stopped if people do not look like me
working in my neighborhoods.
Okay. Um,
other than 59th Street I do, I would like to know,
um, what other capital, um, projects
or specifically lighting,
what are we doing about lighting
and coordinating with forestry?
What I am finding is that the trees are covering the lights.
And even when we are doing our drive-throughs, we find that
that is a huge public safety,
especially when people can hide
behind trees when weapons are found, you know,
trees are becoming a safety place, uh, for weapons,
but are, it's, there's some coordin coordination
or what should we do to better coordinate forestry
and the street lighting program
and making sure that we light it up.
Yeah. So that, that's a great, uh, topic that you flagged.
I mean, that that's, we, we do get, um, calls to assess
locations and checkout lighting
and, you know, that's, that is a, a common, um,
thing that like the first thing, you know, identified
by our crews is like the lights are working,
the system's telling us lights are working,
the lights are working, everything's fine.
It's just the tree canopy is, is really impacting here.
So we elevate those requests with forestry, um,
especially when there's, there's crime, uh, yeah.
Implications to, to prioritize those locations,
to trim the trip back to trees to get the lights back, uh,
light coverage back to the residents.
Um, I don't know if it's been asked, you know, a lot
of us went over, but how did DNC impact, uh,
the department I noticed for about three weeks right?
In the thick of, you know,
construction work when our menu items
would've been performed.
Um, I didn't see any work being done in our wards.
Have you made up for that 21 day during
that construction period of what you could not, you know,
attend to in our wards versus, um, versus being down
in the West Loop area?
So, um, our work on the DNC really started in,
in August of 2023 and it carried on straight through.
Mm-Hmm. Um, it, it stress test a lot of, um,
everyone in the box there and their division,
I'm sure. Um,
so we, we sprinted towards the end. Yeah.
Um, I'm extremely pleased with the work
that we all did in terms of, you know, beating our goals
of production for, you know, variety of things from,
you know, lighting to pavement markings to, uh, paving.
Um, I will say that, um, you know,
in in delivering menus for all 50 wards
and delivering work all over the city,
there's gonna be times where you might not see us.
Um, and so I don't know if I'd necessarily characterize it
as DNC related, um, as much as just, just,
I mean, you know, let me just stop you, commissioner.
It is fair to say that work was not being done in our wards
because of this one major event.
Is that fair? Yes.
I don't wanna put words in your mouth,
but times you got pulled away,
but the writing is on the wall.
And the question is, have you been supported by way of this,
this last budget with the makeup for the absence of
what you all had to, you know, what we as a city had to
commit to, but it trickles down when wards, like,
when our wards aren't being serviced
or really asking, have you been given the, the leeway
to make up for overtime for the lack thereof of the presence
of your department in the thick of construction season?
So, I, I think I, to answer your question, I mean, so we,
we have to manage our workload.
That's, that's what the administration expects
of me and the department.
So for example, um, you know,
DNC tax sign management for sure.
Um, so we have to figure out ways to, to,
to support sign management
and be creative with getting work done.
Sign management did more signs this year than last year.
Now where, where were the sign done? Right. Okay.
So one of the things we're rolling out is restoring a north
side, uh, sign shop so
that we can cut down on those travel times
where we had only been pulling out of a south side shop.
So that way we can be more efficient when we
have during our work hours.
Um, with regards to paving on the residential side, um,
we do like Monday morning quarterback on it.
We probably should have pulled back on Collector
Streets a little bit earlier.
Mm-Hmm. To focus on menu.
Um, you know, looking at the overall workload for the year,
it's gonna end up, there's about 160 more blocks
of menu requests than the year before.
Um, and speed hump, there's about 300 more, um,
than we got the year before.
So the workflow, we probably should have pull, you know,
pulled off a little bit on Collector Streets
and shifted to that a little bit earlier.
But now we know, you know, come March, April,
when we come out of the gate next year,
we have our game plan that we have,
we're gonna hold off on some Collector Street work
and focus on those menu projects
that are owed towards whether it be, you know,
some alley resurfacing or street resurfacing and humps.
That's on us though, to manage our workflow
to make sure we're touching every ward
and making sure we're, we're meeting
the needs of your communities.
And this budget will reflect that support that is needed.
Because I don't think any alderman here wants to hear like,
oh, I have to wait until, you know, next March or April
and chairwoman you're agreeing with me.
We don't wanna hear that, especially with a limited budget.
But I also don't want to hear this time next year that
because of 24, we were backed up,
which is called 25 to be even more backed up
and we need more money, or we did not, you know,
we underestimated the work that we had to make up.
We are, although
I know you know how to get all the money, commissioner,
I understand we are strategizing
to catch up where we need to.
Um, and I can assure the council
that we are not gonna do any DNC work in 2025.
Okay, great. That's good to know.
No further questions.
And I know that you'll go, uh, to the extreme, seriously.
Um, I admire how creative, um, the department is with a lot
of help, especially from the ladies, um,
of getting more dollars to our wards.
'cause you know, that 1.5 can go like that. So Thank you.
Commissioner, you didn't turn red.
Not over yet. We still got a few more alders to go.
So just, uh, just an Alderman Coleman's question.
Can we get, um, through the chair the number of, uh,
menu projects that have been deferred by Ward?
Look, I, you guys are amazing.
I think you've heard that over and over again.
You'll hear the same thing from me when I get my time,
and I'll say some more about that.
But, um, we know that through the natural course of things,
especially with something as big as the DNC coming
through Chicago this year,
that some projects were gonna be delayed.
Um, so I just wanna make sure that, you know,
we all have a handle on, um, what projects have been delayed
and not just delayed from this year,
but I know, you know, I know in, in my word at least,
I've got at least one, one
or two projects that were delayed from
the, the previous year too.
So, you know, in, in order for us to be able
to manage expectations in our ward, we need to just be able
to have a, a better sense of where those things are
because every time we come to, to you
or any other department with a request for,
give me a timeline because we're, we're sharing
that information with our constituents.
So when we're taking the beating from the people walking in
the door, uh, you know, we, we, we'd like to be able to,
to provide as accurate a picture as possible,
or at least a, a generous buffer in terms of
how long the certain projects are gonna take.
Okay. Next, uh, next Alderman up is, uh,
chairman Sig Cho Lopez, and
then followed by Alderman Vasquez.
Thank you Vice Chair Lee,
and thank you commissioner for being here with us
and appreciate the, um, the work that you do.
I think that you, as other colleagues have said,
you're very responsive and appreciate
that you recently stopped by your office
to talk about some specifics on award in terms of, I know,
um, some, some older persons mentioned this already.
Um, most of the increases in your budget, uh, had to do
with the state and federal grants.
I mean, a huge, this is a, a significant increment.
I see the, uh, the difficulty managing the priorities,
you know, um, for us, I see as local, all the persons is,
um, sidewalks
and, uh, some colleagues may mentioned, uh, alleys
and so forth, lighting, uh, as opposed to bridges
and, um, uh, other big infrastructure high, uh,
highways and so forth.
Um, my question in regards of the priorities
for the department, um, in order
to prioritize these local needs, lighting,
we have vaulted sidewalks
and also, uh, you know, we mentioned the possibility
of identifying grants for additional projects such as, um,
um, uh, let's say lighting as one of the main issues side,
uh, uh, bolted sidewalks on so far.
Um, how do you plan to pro to look at the budget?
I know the main, the main increases are not on salaries,
but rather on capital, uh, funds.
In your, in your department, uh, I,
I heard all the women Coleman mention, uh, ways
to make it more efficient and effective
or responsive, uh, throughout the city.
So in terms of how you balance that
and how you prioritize that.
So how do you, and I have some more specifics,
but generally speaking, that is my question in terms
of like the $2 billion project, uh,
budget for the department.
Yeah, so I mean, there is some, um, very large projects,
um, that are coming down the pike.
Uh, for 2025.
Um, if you, you know, I'm just gonna rattle off, you know,
several of them, you know, uh, whether it's next phases of,
um, Jackson Park Mobility, um, the, um,
the new, um, L station, I'm drawing a blank.
It's, uh, state and lake, um, bridge work,
major bridge work, um, whether it be on, uh,
lake Street Bridge downtown,
or we're looking to get advertised, um, Western, uh,
over to the South branch.
Um, you know, these are all, you know, major projects
that we don't just fund, um, with our local budget, right?
This is, you know, these federal
or state grants we're talking about.
Certainly the calume, the funding
for the Calumet Bridges is gonna be huge.
As a city. We were never gonna be able to find a way
to give those bridges the repairs they needed.
Um, but these projects aren't like a menu program where,
you know, we can reasonably deliver
the majority of it each year.
There's long-term, um, planning involved.
There's long-term design work involved.
There's lead times on material, there's lead times on, um,
getting approvals from, um, those state
and federal agencies.
They don't just write you a check and say good luck.
You know, there's a lot of interaction that goes into it.
Um, so, um,
but we have an experienced team
that knows how to deliver that.
Um, in terms of the local work though, I do feel like,
um, you know, DNC nascar, there was a lot of things
that stress, you know, put stress on our organization
to deliver that.
Um, we won't be facing in 2025.
So, um, I am very confident that, you know,
we will be hitting the ground running in March
and April catching up on any carryover work, um,
from the menu program.
Um, we showed that, you know, we,
in terms even in a busy year that we could go from, uh,
289 blocks of new lighting up to 351 blocks of lighting.
How can we take it to the next level, you know, in,
in 2024 we're coming up around getting close to 60 blocks
of alley reconstruction
the year before we were in the twenties.
So a lot of these programs, you know,
we're getting better at it.
Um, we're, you know, finding, you know,
when you do a capital program, you're not gonna start off,
um, with, you know, with the bond money from a couple years
ago, year one hitting your rhythm on some of these things.
So it took a few, it took a few years,
but I'm confident
that 2025 is gonna be a very productive year in delivering,
you know, um, not only major capital,
but um, the projects that are important
to council at the block level. Mm-Hmm.
Yeah. And, and, um, commissioner mentioned that
because I think like in, in terms of the Kafa report,
you know, it shows that, um, last year where
almost doubling overtime think it was a $6 million
allocation ended up being about $12 million.
Um, do you expect the overtime, um, the overtime
that you're projecting to be more in line with what you are,
uh, or you probably gonna end up at the end of the year?
I know that this was an exceptional year with the DNC
and so far, um,
and as you know, we do also have, uh,
significant scrutiny over the work that we do.
I know we talked in detail about issues in award
where work is not being done for weeks
and even, you know, there's been a speculation over even if
we are even submitting requests in some of the cases.
Um, so just in terms of over time, you know, what are,
you know, what are your, your thoughts?
I not like in you have some specifics, for instance,
public way inspectors, you know,
think there's another $200,000 edition in traffic.
There's another 200,000
and, uh, maybe you can mention about
the one call program as well.
That means about about 300,000, um, dollars.
How do we, um, how do we ensure
that we wine within, uh, the budget?
And two, to make sure, again, at the local level,
I will be pressing more in terms
of public way inspections in, in terms of,
you know, traffic signals.
Also that I think, again, I'm okay with, you know,
helping the department be more effective,
but also at the same time, we wanna be mindful of what I,
we ask of our constituents to be mean.
Not only be infected,
but be prudent, especially with overtime in doubling.
I think that's based on the cover report.
Yeah, so we, you know, we did incur, uh,
higher overtime, um, this year.
And, um, you know, as part of, uh, budget, you know,
belt tightening, we, we have to scale back on that,
um, in 2025.
Um, that's not to say though
that if there are emergency situations,
you know, CDOT will respond.
As we've always responded.
We, you know, if there's hazards that need
to be addressed right away, we will be out there.
Um, the nature of our work, there are times
where it overtime actually is a better way to do it.
Um, in terms of, um, the timing of the work,
maybe it makes more sense to do it at a time
where it'll be less impactful for whether that's, uh,
you know, a business or a location
or there's something unique going on.
Um, we'll always have a certain amount
of contractual overtime.
Um, that's part, that's part of what's the union, you know,
collective bargaining agreements.
Um, but we have to be strategic in it.
But we will, um, we will certainly, you know, do our part
to, um, respond to situations like, you know, we have
to manage weather events, uh, both, you know,
through our in-house forces with, um, snow
and then, you know, electrical operations when there's, um,
you know, high wind storms that affect streetlights.
Um, one thing I will flag with the, with the traffic signal,
um, changes in costs, um, we did have some, uh, attrition,
uh, in our traffic safety section, um, that's impacted.
Um, you know, there's a shortage of,
of traffic engineers nationwide and Illinois
and, um, we're certainly feeling it like other agencies.
So we had some shortages there that we had to, we have
to allocate some funding for some consultant resources,
so we're able to keep up
with traffic signal timings is a frequent request we get
both for, um, to assist with, um,
if modifications need to be made for a private development
or if there's, um, for example, work on the Kennedy, uh,
and they need I dots looking for us to adjust signal timings
to, you know,
handle those traffic flow cha, you know, adjustments.
Um, so we need to stay, you know, we need to be able
to continue to deliver those signal timing things.
So that's, that's reflected in that,
that number you referenced, alderman.
Thank you Commissioner. Um, yeah, last lastly,
and I think I echo
what Alderman Moore mentioned about making sure
that in their contractual relationships we
reflect the diversity.
I think that equity within those contracts,
uh, are important.
The, the, the need, um, also to be, um,
effective in this, in these relationships.
And I think, um, we do, we did talk about the, the issue of,
of vaulted sidewalks in our area.
I know we're, we're, we're going to address that.
I know that our neighborhoods one, especially in Pilsen, one
of the oldest in the city,
and that is a, I think a special consideration.
But finally, I think just by looking at cover requests,
I think there's about another $152 million in terms
of additional contract.
So two questions. One is how are we going to improve these,
um, the equity reflected in the contracting?
And two, um, what is the mainly, you know, this, um,
you know, this jumping about 150 million from last year,
what are those contractual, um, services coming from?
And again, my, my pressing on making, uh, good
by the promises, making sure
that we deliver at the neighborhood level,
and two, making sure that those contractors are hold
to a high standard and also that are equitable.
I do think those are, those are expectations
that we have in this council.
So I don't know if there's specifics that you're thinking
and, um, how we ensure that at the local level, you know,
sidewalks, alleys, those are very important
to our constituents and we like
to see that those are prioritized.
Yes, Solomon. Um, so, um, I had referenced it earlier.
Um, our m
and WBE spend, um,
through July is at 41.1%.
So we're up from the 38% last year.
Um, I think it will continue
to trend in the right direction.
We, we typically, you know, the reporting we do for budget,
uh, they, they, uh, identify to end at July 31st.
But if you think about our construction cycle, some
of our highest payment amounts will show in, you know,
September, october as we wrap up the construction season.
That's, there's usually around a 60 day
turnaround time in there.
So, um, that spend will continue to, to grow.
Um, and, um, you know, we've been, we've,
we've established our, our monthly working group
and each new contract opportunity that comes up, we look at,
is this a situation where, you know, kind
of the city standard is 26 and six,
but is this an opportunity for us to expand those goals?
Do we think it's a contract that we can get better, uh,
minority participation on?
Um, we feel like we've made some good headway on
that in 2024 and those, um, meetings
and our, our, our MWB working group will be continuing
to do its work in 2025.
Thank commissioner. It would be possible maybe, um,
that you report back
or share with us those, you know,
what the findings are from the monthly meetings
that you're having and the progress that is being made
around minority contract.
You know, contracting I think is important,
especially what's happening around the federal, um,
the federal, uh, contracting climate per se.
Yeah. You know, I do think it's gonna be very critical
that we protect that and, uh, regular check-in
and maybe there's a way to report back to the council.
I will welcome that opportunity.
Yes. Thank you, commissioner. Thank you.
Thank you. Um, and just to follow up on one of the things
that was just mentioned, um, you know, one of the things
that we, we often get, um, at the ward office level is, uh,
just the, the time between when work is done
and when work is fully restored.
Um, so I know that, you know, in the case of this year,
there was a asphalt, uh, contractor that went bankrupt
that caused a quite a delay.
Um, what do we, what can we do to improve sort of the time
between when the major work is done and when the, the street
or the sidewalk, the public way is, uh, ultimately, um,
completely restored?
'cause in my case, I had a few instances where people fell
and got injuries or had their cars damaged
and were, you know, were paying claims on these
things as a city as well.
Um, what, what's the ideal time?
Like, you know, it's the best practice in terms of,
you know, from the time work is completed
to when it's fully restored
and, um, how, how did we perform on that this year?
Yeah, it, it's a great question.
Um, and it's, it's a little nuanced
because different work types have different, um, what, what,
you know, wrapping up punch list has different implications.
Um, I think two things that are front of mind for us, um,
one is, uh, on the Collector Street program, um,
it's great to do eight block sections segment, right?
Um, but we are finding that if we started on the eastern
limit and we're getting out on the western limit,
that there might be too much duration time in there
that the folks on the Eastern limit are
like, what's going on?
Um, and, and there might be a situation
where it's an open site that, uh, can, can lead to an issue.
Um, so that's something we're looking at for our, uh,
collector Street program.
Um, with regards to overall improving restoration,
I think a real key factor that is gonna,
it's not like a light switch effect,
but I think it'll be a gradual thing
that people see a benefit to.
Around 2022, we were really short public weight inspectors.
We were really only about 19, uh,
live bodies out on the street.
And we were only about, uh,
two staffers writing sign work orders, um,
that nu we're getting healthy again.
Um, over at, uh,
public Way inspectors we're looking at about having about 29
live bodies that are doing, uh, construction compliance.
And we're on the verge of, of starting four staff members,
four additional staff members for, uh, signed management
to work exclusively on writing sign work orders.
So that twofold approach,
they could focus on writing the sign work orders,
it frees up a bit more of the bandwidth, um,
for the construction compliance group.
And then also we have more in construction compliance
that they can be tighter on who owes restoration here,
what's, when is this contractor coming back
to resurface and things of that nature.
Again, I don't think it's something that, um,
overnight you'll see it,
but I think by having those staffing,
both those divisions in a better staffing spot, um,
we will be able to tighten up those times.
Yeah. And if I can make a suggestion just on
how we could work together on maybe putting together some
marketing material to, um, communicate
to residents when work is being restored.
Like I've got a lot of people who have said, you know,
you ruin the parkway grass that I take such good care of.
I know that, you know, the, our process is, um, to,
you know, fill in the, fill in the parkway
and then put hydros seeded,
and then it requires maintenance from there.
Right? You've gotta water that.
Um, I just dunno what kind of communication we have
to residents to make sure that they're, they're working
with us to make sure that that gets restored, um, as,
as well as can be expected given
what the resources we have are.
So, I, I've just noticed that over the course
of this last year, we could fill in some communication gaps
to make sure that people understand kind of
what the expectation is when you're getting,
you're getting these great new curbs
and gutters and everything.
Um, yeah, it's gonna, it, it's gonna maybe tear up your,
your parkway grass a little bit.
'cause we gotta get in there, but here's what we're gonna do
to fix it and here's what we're not going to do to fix it.
Yeah. I, I think that's a, a great point.
And, uh, I'm looking to my, uh, team over there
to ask where's my flyers that I had asked
for about best practices for, uh,
restoration after we, yeah,
We'd love to share it. I mean,
we'll be partners with you on that,
'cause I think that's helpful to all of us
See where that's at. But yeah,
that was something we, we'd asked, let's,
let's give some direction to residents about here's best,
best, uh, practices in terms of, you know, uh,
restoring your grass for if there was absolutely sidewalk
concrete work done in front of your house.
Thanks for that. Um, alderman Vasquez, you're next.
Thank you Chairman. Um, I,
you could add a plus one to all those points.
I, I would wager you could add a plus 49.
Um, I got a couple questions.
I'm gonna send a whole bunch of them to the chair
'cause I'm not gonna do a round two or three.
But to start where we got, so, um,
we had a similar issue, uh, basically related to violations
and collecting funds for folks.
So the, um, there's a lot of projects that don't, um,
that they don't meet compliance when it comes
to environmental standards as far as the vendors.
Uh, in October, a local environmental group put out a
report called Pay to Pollute.
That said, there isn't any City department monitoring the
environmental requirements in CDOs contracts.
Uh, CDPH said during their hearing, they don't track vendors
and the contracts are outside their authority.
Procurement will be here on Wednesday
and we'll ask them, but you guys are here today.
So do you know if your vendors are complying
with environmental requirements in their contracts?
And if not, what do you all do about it?
So, could I ask for clarification?
What you mean environmental requirements?
Uh, did you have something in
mind, specifically alderman or,
So I think it might be materials used, right?
Thinking about, um, like runoff, uh, right.
If they're doing treatment for it's curb
and gutter, like there might be different things,
but there, I don't think there's anyone
that actually checks the standard on if they're complying
with anything that they're supposed to when it comes
to environmental, and it's not exclusive to cdot,
but it just, it's kind of troubling
that we put out a standard, it isn't being measured,
and then when people are violating it,
they're not being fined or anything.
And so when we brought up a similar parallel,
which was like the events that DKS does
and the fact we haven't been reimbursed our funds there,
there seems to be no mechanism for actually collecting funds
and enforcing any of this.
And so just wondering if there's examples
of that y'all might've seen. Yeah,
So a couple things that come to mind, alderman.
So, you know, in the new asphalt contract that, um,
we put out, we did a lot of work, um, in, in the new spec,
um, with, um, CDPH, um,
to have, um, higher standards with regards to blue smoke
and blue smoke monitoring.
Uh, and that pertains to the odors
that emit from the asphalt plants.
Um, I'm happy to say that with the three vendors, two
of them are, are already have
that equipment installed at their plants.
The third one is on the right track to meet the deadline.
The deadline for installation is 2025.
So there, there, there was a ramp up time for them
to make those investments in their, uh, facilities.
Um, certainly some of the things you, you cited on, um,
also cross the line with not, you know,
I guess it's an environmental regulation,
but it certainly would be a, a violation of our rules
and regs for compliance in the public way construction.
Um, so if somebody's, you know, dumping right,
or doing washout right into the sewer, you know,
that would be something that would be enforcement
with our public way inspectors.
So, um, I think, um, there are things we are doing,
but I think maybe I'd like to have a conversation with you
to see if there's things that we're missing the mark on and,
and things that our team could, um, I,
I think there's stuff we're doing,
but maybe it's not under exact moniker
that I have a environmental compliance.
Yeah. Well, and also to your point, like the,
the public way inspectors are a little spread thin,
and so trying to grow that out in a way
that covers more ground Right.
That, that would be helpful. Um,
but yeah, happy to have the conversation.
Um, I think similarly we've got,
we've heard from CD about issues
with contractors causing project delays, whether that's
because the contractors themselves are having issues or
because the city assigned the contract there
so many projects that they don't have the capacity
to complete them within the year.
Um, which we've heard like year over year, right?
First it was, uh, during covid,
like we couldn't get all the projects, so the next year
where to do double the projects, but we're gonna have more
vendors and then they get overwhelmed
and they're not getting it done.
So it keeps pushing things back.
How does CDOT approach hiring the contractors?
What are the standards that they're held to?
Like, do y'all have any documentation of who's doing it well
and who's not and what the standards are?
We go, Hey, we're not gonna do business
with you guys if you guys keep
messing this up year over year.
Is that a, is that, like, what's the incentive for them
to do it right, if they're just gonna keep coming next year
and working at the same speed?
Yeah. So, um, couple things.
Um, one, I, I can't, um, praise enough.
Um, the PVC Public Building Commission
who has been a phenomenal partner, um, for cdot, um,
they've, we've really expanded.
Um, we, we had to ratchet up the work with through the bond,
um, and some of the contractors that were not hitting,
keeping pace with
the workload that we were pushing their way.
So PBC has jumped in, uh, helped us do some specific,
uh, contract opportunities
to catch up on those green alleys, uh,
the alley reconstructions on the north side, uh, to help us
with some of the concrete work to, to get in front
of the Collector Street program.
Um, so we really work to build our capacity by, you know,
utilizing, uh, the resources of the PBC.
They've been wonderful partners.
Um, so that, that's been a factor of it.
Um, with regards to, um, you know,
we do have, um, liquidated damages in the contracts.
We'll call 'em lds.
Um, and we certainly, uh, can assess them.
Um, and we, we do have at times assess them.
But, um, it, it's, I would say, you know, it's a little bit
of the law, the diminishing returns, right?
If you ld a a firm out of business
now we don't have anybody, right?
Um, so we work with them.
We try and, um, be judicious on that.
We, we have frequent touch points.
I think, um, a final point to mention, you know, a lot
of times we, these contracts
and especially the, at the local block level
for menu delivery, they,
they are not like one year contracts, right?
They're multi-year contracts.
So you're gonna have, they bid for an area for three years
with a, you know, year extension.
It might be four years.
I'd, I'd have to check with the team.
But until we rebid those, um, that's kind
of like they ha they bid and they won the area.
So if I, if I hear this correctly,
and I'm probably not gonna frame it the best way,
they're in a comfort zone within the three years going, eh,
you know, still good until you get closer to the end
of the contract and you wanna make sure you're on your game
to get re-upped.
I wouldn't say that. Um, we certainly can Liquid,
liquid liquid, they damage you any time.
Yeah. Um, you know, we certainly can, you know, um,
The reason I say that For workmanship,
we cannot withhold payment to you.
Yeah. I mean, there's, there's levers that you can do,
whether it's year one or year two or whatever, but, um,
Yeah, I'm just curious like how that accountability gets
utilized or implemented because, you know, we're told, Hey,
these ar are gonna be done in
2024, and then we're like, Nope.
Guess what? It's gonna happen in 2025.
So tell your neighbors they gotta wait another time,
or you've got resurfacing that's not happening
'cause things aren't being milled in time.
So that's still, and then
we're told we're not gonna be able to finish it.
We're gonna winterize it.
So if, to your point, there's a limited pool
of these folks doing it, what are we doing
to build a larger pool of more folks to get it done so
that these folks don't feel, so they're incentivized
to continue improving, right?
Because again, I'm more than comfortable telling our
neighbors when something's gonna be completed.
If they stick to that deadline,
it's when it doesn't stick to that deadline.
Now we're pushing it a number of months
that then we look like morons going
back to their neighbors about it.
And so I, I think that's what I'd like to get addressed.
Just a level of accountability.
So when people say they're
gonna get a job done, they get it done.
And if not, there's consequences for it.
Your point is well taken. A,
Um, thank you.
Uh, we, I had sent a list of questions.
I think, uh, it might've been last year about tra
or no, earlier in the year about traffic,
common element landscape maintenance agreements, right?
Right. So these are like your traffic circles
that neighbors want to put landscaping in
that sometimes feels onerous
and it's hard to get neighbors to sign on, right?
They might wanna do native species.
And there's all these different particulars
that we just want to simplify it as much as possible
so neighbors can actually sign on.
And so, um, we'll submit it through the chair again.
I would like some kind of response on
how we can get that simplified.
We got neighbors that always ask for landscaping.
They're willing to take on the work,
but then when it comes to the contract piece,
they just feel like they can't go forward with it
because of whatever's in the clauses.
And so I really wanna work to simplify that.
Um, next question is the office
of the Inspector General put out a report in March
by the city, follows a complaint based model of services.
Tree trims would be the example of, of something we fixed
and went from doing complaint services to a grid model.
Pavement is something similar, right?
We reach out about certain streets as opposed
to there being a methodical way of like getting that done.
Um, are we still following a complaint based model
for paving as it relates to the department?
And has CDOT done a cost benefit analysis on
how much it would save us to maybe move from
that complaint base and do it kind of more in a grid system?
Um, so I,
if I remember the OIG audit you're referring to, um,
it was focused on paving Mm-Hmm.
Um, so since that's come out, you know, we've really, uh,
fine tuned our pavement condition index,
which really guides, um, the paving work of our AR program.
And the, and post
that OIG audit was the creation of the collector streets,
which gets at not only, um, one
of the driving factors of the collector streets
is condition index.
And one of the things it's also looking at is
long segments Okay.
Of paving. Yeah,
Actually, I, I appreciate that. 'cause I think
this is the first year where our office was
aware of even the ARS that were occurring.
So I think that that has improved some.
And I wanna make sure we
just continue outta the communication.
So I commend you on that.
Another shout out we wanted to do was
for the Bureau of Electricity.
So CDO electrical seems
to have an efficient process using their general email
CDOT d info@cityofchicago.org
to effectively handle all issues related to electrical.
Can you speak to this model, how it's staffed
and can other divisions within CDOT operate similarly?
'cause they're, according to our
team, knocking it out the park.
Sure. So they are, they do an excellent job.
Um, there a great group over there.
Um, and they, they successfully managed through,
they had a few vacancies that they had to navigate through.
But, um, one of the things they have going
for 'em is they're a 24 7 operation.
So there's always somebody there, um, whether it's Saturday,
you know, Monday or Tuesday, Wednesday, um,
and they have multiple shifts, so
it gives a little bit more opportunity than, um, you know,
some of the other places, just by nature of things are not
sure, not 24 7, so that, that overnight shift,
they have a little bit more time to respond to everything,
clear out, different things, you know, and I
Bet the emails are slower at midnight,
so it probably gives 'em more chance to catch up.
Yes. I that's, that's fair.
Uh, also, especially when we have folks asking about
overtime trying
to have the other departments spread out to cover that.
Like, I totally get that.
So, um, I, I do want to thank all of the teams
and people that we do work with here.
I think they do amazing work. It is difficult work.
I mean, we're always gonna be asking the tough questions.
The the one thing that I would recommend related
to like menu would be like a portal
or getting the information that's like in a spreadsheet form
as opposed to like an email every other
week about what's happening.
'cause I think I appreciate it.
Len does an amazing job of getting it to us,
but sometimes, rather than following up, it'd be great
to just be on a portal and get that done.
And then the last one, 'cause I see Z right here.
So Zoe, I got a quick shout out for you.
I want the pigeon wire fixed on Grandville
and Ravenswood viaduct.
I am so tired of everyone pointing at each other
to say it's Streets in Sand or it's Junior Pacific.
I just want that one done wired, put up, covered.
That thing is hanging like a chandelier off
that viaduct and it looks crazy.
I just wanted to flag that as a very local city thing.
Um, that I wanna make sure is
Grandville and Grandville and Ravenswood.
Ravenswood. Yeah.
Like we've got a whole bunch on Ravenswood.
The other ones are largely good. That one looks crazy.
And then we unfortunately have one
where the neighbors are leaving food out
for these birds all the time that I'm like losing my mind.
And it's a block away from a lot
of our neighbors, including myself.
So I'm losing it every time I see it.
That's all. Thank you. There,
There's a new sign request that we can design.
Do not feed the birds or the pigeons.
'cause I have the same problem in a few different
places in my ward.
Okay. Where, where there's all these generous people
that like to feed all of the pigeons.
Um, and then they make a lot of work
for Streets and Sands where we need
To over there on that one. That's
where they put the food right in front
of the sign just to tell everybody we're gonna do it anyway.
So like, I'd love some help there.
Thank you very much. Y'all take care.
And I'd like that you all that sign in in
traditional Chinese as well, please.
Thank you. Um, I'm, I'm gonna just follow up with the,
with a couple of questions just
because I'm up in on the seniority list.
So get a wrap mine up here.
Um, with all of the, the, uh, the bike lanes
that we've put in, um, I'd love
to have a better understanding of the, the increased costs
of maintenance of the, um, of the bike lanes,
because I know that there's specialized equipment
that CDOT runs, I believe, right?
Um, the, the smaller, um, street cleaning, uh, vehicles.
How are we, how are we growing that fleet of equipment
as we put, as we bring on more miles of bike lanes?
Yeah, so, um, we're very happy.
We just got four new pieces in.
Um, so the, the newer models that we've been buying
to support the growth of the bike lanes, we're up
to 12 of those units.
Um, they're interchangeable that they can,
you could take the attachment off to put on, um, a sweeper
or a plow or a plow.
Um, we are gonna try
and go with a model this year where we, we run eight plows
and keep the sweeper attachments on even through the winter.
Um, so we feel a lot better in terms of our newer equipment.
Um, behind that, we still have, um, our pieces as we,
you know, as we've gotten more into this over the years,
we've retained some pieces that are our backups for.
We have a down, um, there's about 10 pieces.
Um, they kind of overall 10 pieces.
There are different types. There's a Kubota,
there's another thing called a Bombardier.
There's another thing called tractors, you know.
So I do feel going into winter we have what we need, um,
to cover, do that coverage.
Um, it is something that, you know, as we build out,
you get new locations where we have, um, bike lanes, it, it,
it takes a little while to understand the nuances
of those routes, how
to do the cover those routes most efficiently.
Um, new routes.
We, we always find, you know, all right, where,
where is a problem area that maybe there's a, a, a business
that clears its parking lot
and leaves a big pile right in the bike lane.
Um, you know, we've gotten better last year we did more of,
uh, incorporating that.
Um, we assign public way inspectors with our,
uh, in-house crews that are clearing the lanes
for if they're seeing folks doing bad behavior to cite them.
Mm-Hmm. Um, so it, it, you know, it's,
it's a growing network, so it's, it's a growing program,
but, um, I I feel pretty good about where we're at
with getting those four pieces in before winter.
Great. Um, and let's stay on the topic
of bike lanes for a second.
Um, have, has CDO done any studies in terms of, um, as we,
as we're implementing new bike lanes?
I know some, some of them were starting out just paint
and posts others, you know, we're, we're pouring concrete.
I'm interested in understanding the sort of the,
the public safety ramifications in terms
of emergency vehicles.
We've just put in some bike lanes a year ago, um, in front
of a guaranteed rate field along 35th Street.
So it's, uh, I think it's been well received by the,
the cycling community.
And I think it's done its job in terms
of slowing traffic down.
But also, you know, I've,
I've also heard anecdotally some concerns around being able
to get emergency vehicles sort of in and out.
Um, so I'm just wondering as we've added more
and more, uh, bike lane infrastructure, um,
if we've seen any challenges with having to sort
of navigate, uh, emergency
response vehicles getting through.
Um, I'll, I'll check with the team.
Uh, none come to mind, you know, uh, that I'm familiar with.
But, um, certainly one of the thought processes, if you,
if you've seen in areas
where we've added the concrete cast in place, um,
model is that those can be removed.
Mm-Hmm. So, um, it's kind of designed that way.
If, if the project goes in and time evolves
and there is something that, hey, we, we need
to re-look at this, that that was a part
of the calculation with that.
Um, I don't know if anyone else has had any experiences
with it impacting emergency vehicles.
Um, but certainly, I mean, we, we, you know, be happy
to look at a locational concern. I mean, yeah.
No, we'll, we haven't had our follow up meeting yet.
Um, about 35th and shield, so we'll, we'll do that
and we'll, and we'll be sure to take
that up locally in the ward.
Um, just with, uh, you don't wanna echo the, uh,
the need for your traffic.
Um, engineers, I know, um, Molly
and her team Carl, they've been great.
We've, we've actually had them out to the ward
and I, I probably single-handedly in the 11th ward increased
the number of traffic studies.
Um, I, I feel like we, more
and more traffic studies have been requested, especially
because we are adding bike lanes, we're looking for ways
to slow traffic down.
I know, you know, my colleague Alderman,
OSHA talked about the speed cameras.
I've got two in my ward.
I'd love to get a couple more because people just don't pay
attention, um, to the speeds that they're going.
And it is very disconcerting the number of people
that even speed by my office on a daily basis.
So, um, if we can get through the chair, um, the number
of traffic accidents per ward, um, I think
that would be really helpful for us to, to understand kind
of where the, the pain points are for us
and if we can include the locations.
Um, and then just, you know, traffic accidents and,
and how they've strained the, the department in terms
of a workforce and budgetary sense, um,
from, from your perspective.
I know, um, again, there, there's not enough people, um,
and we have to end up using
contractors for some of this work.
Um, I think a lot of, a lot of folks don't understand, um,
that just because you request a a traffic, uh,
a traffic study doesn't mean that it's gonna get done,
you know, all liquidity split and that some,
and that we have to do, we have to follow along
and take the recommendations as well.
Um, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna end my time here
with just thank yous.
Um, I, I would be remiss not to, to thank all of the people,
and I'm sure that some
of my staff made me a list so that I wouldn't miss anybody.
So if we missed anybody, you can blame my staff for that.
Um, commissioner of course, thank thanks to you.
Um, and your team, uh, Zoe is amazing.
We, we blow his phone up all the time.
Jim bolster, Mike Drake, um, Scott Valeria, Franco Ruo,
bill Higgins, Tony Passi, Molly I mentioned already.
And of course, Carl, uh, Schwartzer, um,
your, your team's amazing.
They always come with solutions.
And I know that you're always, um, very challenged as well.
You've got 50 of us to, to work with, um,
and not a whole lot of, uh, not a whole lot
of money at the end of the day
for all the work that needs to be done.
So you, you kind of know what it is to be an alderman too,
um, but on a much larger scale with infrastructure.
So thank you to you and the team and,
and everybody who, not just the folks that I mentioned,
but every single person that works up
and down the line, um, especially during, uh,
the most trying times with all
the storms that we had this year.
So thank you to each and every one of you.
Thank you. Um, next we're going
to have Alderman Conway, followed
by Alderman Lawson and Alderman Manal.
Howorth.
All right. Uh, well, you know,
I'll continue the thank you tour right off the front.
Commissioner and I, I think you certainly do a hell
of a job, but my, uh, myself
and my office have had a, uh, a wonderful experience working
with, uh, working with Mike Drake, uh, Dan Burke, uh, Molly,
and, and her team as well.
Uh, Jerry, uh, Mande Hana, Anthony Meia,
Sam Alexander, and everyone in the,
in the sign shop has have a great team as well.
So, um, I know we spoke recently about some things
that were unique to my wards, so I won't, uh,
I won't belabor those, but I, I really appreciate your, uh,
your responsiveness on those.
A few, a few kind of open-ended quick questions I'd have
for you is in the, uh, it's a citywide issue,
but it's particularly in the 34th ward.
We we're blessed to have some, some development
and, um, as a result, we create a lot
of neighborhood opportunity funds.
And just wanted thoughts from you about how that intersects
or, um, enhances your work at cdot.
I know it's kind of open-ended, but,
Um, yeah, I think, um, I mean, I think some of those,
correct me if I'm wrong big, but I, I think so
I really don't mean it to be a hard question.
I'm just kind of curious how it all works together
and how it may help things to
Succeed. I mean, so we,
we are, you know, I think you're referring
to on like the plan developments, correct?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, you know, uh, uh,
OC Commissioners member plan commission, um,
but, uh, our, I have a great team in our division
of project development that, you know,
reviews all those plans and,
and not only is looking for the traffic impacts,
but they're very strategic in looking at
how can we make other enhancements to that, you know,
those major developments, um,
to improve situations on the block, improve situations,
you know, in surrounding, whether it's a driveway,
but whether it's adding trees
to the parkway, things of that nature.
So, um, they do a really nice job Mm-Hmm.
Um, you know, on developments, uh, uh,
you know, big and small.
Um, and I, I really have to commend them on that.
I don't, don't think if there's anything you wanna add to
how they, their work, um, filters into that.
Holly
Repeat Commissioner Melissa mad here.
Um, yes.
Uh, in terms of, uh, development alderman, uh, we always,
uh, try to put back the money
that we got from the developer, whether it it's
for our signal or sidewalk improvement, bump outs,
any kind of, uh, infrastructure improvements.
It goes back to the, uh, project itself
or, you know, upcoming projects as well.
No, that's, that, that's great.
I, and I certainly appreciate the collaboration between
my office and some of the other, uh, wards that are blessed
to have a lot of development
and how we can, how we can make it efficient for everybody.
Uh, so the in so that the infrastructure's there is,
we get a lot of, a lot of new residents as well.
Um, you know, and that,
and that actually inadvertently
answered my other question as well.
So I just wanna thank you again for all the, uh,
great work you're doing, uh,
commissioner and everyone in the box.
Thank you, sir. Absolutely.
Thank you. Thank you.
Derman, uh, Lawson, Derman Lawson.
Thank you, chair. Good afternoon, commissioner.
Good afternoon. Good to see
You. Uh, I'm second
to last,
so I told you I probably wasn't gonna ask any questions,
but you've been flying through today.
Um, and I do appreciate our meeting a couple weeks ago.
We talked about a lot of, uh, the issues we have locally.
Um, and, uh,
wanna let you know they did come back to Halstead.
It's looking much better. Thank you.
And they're excited to get the pylons going, uh, next year.
Yes. Yes. Um, but Eloise, Molly Soman
and Bill Higgins, we've known since his 47th Wars days,
among others are, are always great to work with.
I feel like we've done a lot of traffic
studies in 44 as well.
Uh, ways we could better pede, protect pedestrians.
Um, one of the things, we talked a lot about speed cams.
Is there such a thing as a stop sign cam?
Um, so no, we are,
we don't have any in the city Okay.
Right now. Um, where it's been asked
before about, um, the stop signs that, you know,
are lit up, you know, or like have a glowing around them.
Right. The, the initial pause about the thought is, is the,
the implications with the power source.
Fair. Fair. You know, I I, we've put in a couple
of race crosswalks in our schools to get people to stop.
Um, you know, we've done visibility, we've done bump outs,
and, and unfortunately it might have
to hit 'em in the wallet before.
Uh, they take it seriously,
especially on side streets when they're cutting through
as fast as they can to avoid, you know, on Main Street.
So put that in the back of your head.
Um, some questions for my staff.
Uh, they, uh, curious about
how many individuals within CDOT review
and process permits, including special events,
public way uses and others.
Um, gonna ask, uh, Jay, if you could, uh, answer that on
how many staff you have, uh, review
and permits in the permit office.
That in, in our permit office,
we have eight staff current, uh,
eight staff reviewing, uh, special events.
Uh, it is, is depend what type of projects altogether.
There is, uh, 12 people there in the permit office.
So there's eight staff, Eight staff areas are doing
special event, like can be involved
with a special event permits.
Okay. So, eight on special events,
but then public way use,
So that eight people that they will rotate,
Eight people take care of everything.
Okay. Um, 'cause we've, we've talked about communication
and, and maybe we don't start
projects in the first day of school.
Um, yes, I think is a good idea.
Put that out into the universe as well.
'cause I, I had a number of headaches when people are doing
something not for the first time, but again, new and,
and any, any kink in the system,
whether it's near Lake Shore Drive
or not, can cause a lot of, uh, headaches.
Um, just on the, on the special events piece, I guess,
you know, we know there's a lot
of departments involved in special events, streets
and Sand does the postings.
Um, and we coordinate a lot of those,
those here with, with the signage.
But I, you know, whatever we can do to, to, uh,
streamline those processes
and communications for events is really important for me.
You guys do a great job around Wrigley.
Um, we've gotta squeeze in all our menu work before or
after, or on longer, uh, away stands.
And I appreciate the way you guys have done that.
I've had a lot of work done until it snowed.
Um, another question for my staff is, uh, maybe
through the chair, maybe you can just speak on this.
So I have 200 passes, pedestrian underpasses,
under Lake Shore Drive,
and there's always some question as to
who is actually responsible for whatever the issue is,
if it's water, if it's parks, um, DOE
or you guys, um, what's the best way to deal
with those pedestrian via ducts, but,
or underpasses, um, through your department or others?
I, I think, um, w we'll commit to our staff
that we will give you the location and we'll write this out.
You should have a, a guide document. Great.
Great. Um,
Allman Coleman asked about signage.
I'm happy to hear about a north side sign shop.
Um, I feel like I've got some I've been
waiting on for a long time.
Um, especially Waveland and Halstead.
There should be a no outlet for anyone Turning West,
which we made a one way east.
And, uh, that's, that started at the beginning
of Cub season, and we still are putting that together.
We're gonna have to pave that street, uh, next year as well.
Um, and then just generally, I've got signs that are so low
that, you know, they're, they're covered in stickers,
they're unreadable, um, or graffiti.
We we're usually better about stickers we're not.
Um, so getting those replaced, repaired is,
is a real priority for me.
Um, one of the thing that I, this came up
with fire and,
and, uh, I think all the women, Lee just mentioned it about
bike lanes and emergency vehicles and, and, and bump outs
and some of those things we're doing
to improve pedestrian safety.
Um, we wanna make sure we, we can still get the firetruck
to make the turn though, and,
and make sure that process is, is fluid
or, you know, is something that that
takes place in every, every instance.
What does that look like from the
CDOT side of things right now?
And maybe some thoughts on
how we can do it better if needed?
Yeah. So, um, we'll certainly follow up with, uh,
CFD on that.
Um, we certainly don't wanna impact their, uh, you know, uh,
emergency response in any way.
Um, you know, our engineering folks, you know, we,
we design our projects based on analyzing turn movements
of vehicles, you know, that, uh, you know, based on
what size vehicles are gonna be turning on the street.
So, um, it's, it's certainly in front
of mind when we design our projects.
But I think I'll ask, uh, you know, Dan,
or if you wanna elaborate on, on that.
Yes. Uh, Dan Burke, managing Deputy Commissioner Alderman,
um, our new designs will incorporate a fire truck.
They're designed for that.
What they're not designed for is a WB 60, uh,
65 foot over road trailer
that had previously been in the, the design standard.
I'm glad to hear that. Um,
I think we could use a little smaller
truck in the city myself.
Um, great. That's really all I had.
Um, we talk regularly and that won't change.
So thank you very much. Thank you Chair. Alright,
Autumn,
are you ready? Thank you.
Hi. Thank you Chair. All new matter hop award.
Thank you, chair. Hi Commissioner. Hello to your team.
Hello. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Um, thank you.
First thank you to Kevin Cartwright, our, um,
public Weight Inspector Allen Hall, um,
Ivan Mulch, our current public land inspector, John O'Neill,
traffic Safety, uh, Abraham Emanuel,
and the entire division of electrical operations, uh,
Shaneika Collins and the entire division of sign management.
Um, VIG and Dave and Bradley
and everyone on safe streets.
Um, and, and you commissioner for your commitment to, um,
vision Zero and, um, all the great things that you're doing.
Um, I, I biked a lot. I think I mentioned this to you.
I, I biked a lot, um, especially during the DNC.
And so it was beyond Edgewater and the lakefront,
and I was really pleasantly surprised
how easy it was to get around.
Um, I, I also am, um, concerned about, um,
electric bikes that are in the path
that are going very fast.
I would like to address that, um, at some point as well.
I'm very happy with so much street scape that's happening.
Um, the, what's happening on Devon
and Clark is, um, amazing.
It's gonna bring more business and and safety to that area.
Um, you know, the Edgewater area is basically the entire
area is a school zone.
Yeah, yeah. It's very condensed.
And so, um, everything that's, that we're planning on doing
around sun and the raised crosswalks is,
is really essential.
So thank you for that. And all the stuff
that's happening on Broadway too, uh,
'cause we, we just want
to prevent more deaths from happening.
Um, and everything that's happening on Grandville as well.
I'm, I very much appreciate the conversations that we've had
with the community across, um, several wards.
And, um, it's, it's hard to bring about change
and changes like this, um, I think
can happen incrementally.
You know, you have to take a holistic view
and I appreciate your team's help in bringing that
to my community
because I believe it really, truly will save lives
where we have, um, schools and mosques
and there's a theater there.
Um, so I, I really do appreciate that.
Um, and I wanna continue our conversations about what's
happening on Ridge, you know, um,
and the pedestrian hybrid beacon and what we can do there.
Um, I, I hope
to see while the sidewalks implemented, um, there's a lot
of conversations happening right now.
We, um, alter chair Lee asked about, um,
clearing bike lanes.
I'm just curious, are those the same kind of plows
that might be used to clear sidewalks as well?
Um, we, we'd have to take a look at the, the size
and weight of the, um, we did not purchase them
with sidewalks in mind.
But I mean, when you're, um, evaluating a program,
that would certainly be the type
of thing we'd take a look at.
Yeah, I, I'd appreciate that.
You know, um, on Sheridan Road,
I was just telling this story recently that, that I see, um,
two, like, I think they're a couple
and they use power wheelchairs
and they actually go into the street on Sheridan Road
'cause they wanna avoid the sidewalk.
Um, but I'm also talking to other alters who, um,
purchased their own, uh, plow sidewalk plow.
And I don't know if it will have to come to that for us,
but, um, but I do believe it is an equity issue.
And, um, and speaking of, um, accessibility, you know,
thank you for all the things that you're doing, including,
um, lighting.
And I was curious about accessible
crosswalk systems, a PS, um,
how many of those do we have in Chicago?
Yeah, so, um, we've, we've started to, uh,
get the assembly line moving on that, um, we're up
to 84 or in the city.
Um, I think, uh, in terms of giving you an example
where you could see 'em is on, um, Ashland Avenue.
We did a, a major project, um,
and they're on from like Washington to Harrison, um,
but more local around here.
You, you'll see 'em on, uh, LaSalle and Lake.
Um, they're newly installed.
Um, we did award a contract, uh, in the fall, um,
that's gonna work on 26 priority locations.
Um, so that'll build on that.
Um, there's, there's overall 39 locations that are kind
of actively we're working on,
but the 26, uh, locations that are part of this contract,
they're actually like ordering material and stuff.
Those are the ones that'll be coming up next in the queue.
So, um, meaningful work has started on that,
but certainly more work needs to be done.
So is that, um, information that you just shared, is that
publicly available also to, so that I could go back
and track and see, you know, where we are in terms of, um,
increasing the number of accessible crosswalks?
Um, I don't know if it's, um, anywhere listed publicly,
but we certainly can provide you the locations
where they're installed
and where we're are part of the 26th that are
Coming up. Okay.
Um, thank you.
I, I represent the 48th warden.
We have, um, Asian Argyle, is it the only
shared street in Chicago?
Um, turn it over to Vig,
Um, VIG c managing Deputy.
Um, we was one of the pioneering, um,
curbless Street designs for Chicago.
We've replicated since in the Fulton Market Street scape.
And then in other upcoming streetscape projects,
the commissioner mentioned, we've tried to take some
of those elements, maybe just for a block
or two, um,
almost creating like a mini plaza replicating those, uh,
pedestrianized areas.
Terrific. I, I was curious, um, well, for, for me, I know
that in my neighborhood it has helped with public safety.
You know, uh, we have, uh, night markets there too.
Um, and once the red line is done with the construction,
it's gonna be incredible.
Um, but I was curious, um, about the
economic impact of basically you pedestrianize the street,
you know, is are there studies that you are doing on, um,
like how do you measure success for something like that?
Because that was a big change
and you're doing it in other areas.
How are you going back and checking
to see if it's actually successful?
So, uh, in partnership with the, uh, MPO Cmap, we have,
um, some funding from them to support exactly
that kind of analysis.
Right now, uh, we're particularly looking at, it's sort
of harder to go back and get the baseline
data on older projects.
So, um, for projects that are going to construction,
we're working to develop a baseline data set,
looking at different indicators like sales, tax, revenue,
foot traffic, um, many other things that could then allow us
to come back maybe in two or three years
and see what, how, how can we compare the after the before.
Yeah, I, I'd be really interested in knowing, um,
more about that study or that data.
Um, small businesses, you know, they rely on foot traffic
and also, um,
bringing people in from outside of the neighborhood.
I would like to see more neighborhoods built
for neighborhoods where people can just walk
to wherever they need to go.
But of course, bringing in, uh, other people.
'cause tourism is real too.
Um, I'm just very curious, like, how,
how do we measure success when we're doing something as,
as, uh, big as that?
And, um, and also,
do you have plans on doing other others like that?
And also if you do, um, what is going
to inhibit you from progressing to, um,
actually doing those projects?
Is it because of the lack of data
or lack of public engagement, or is it
because of the lack of, uh, traffic engineering positions
to actually do a project like that for scree street scaping
and sustainable design?
Yeah, I, I, I would answer it that, um, e each, um,
streetscapes is a bit unique of its own.
Um, and a lot of it's driven
by the community feedback we get
and the feedback we get from the local businesses
and what, what they're looking for.
Um, so certainly don't wanna spend the, the, the time, money
and, and, and hard work to design something that's not
what a community's looking for,
but where a community really embraces the idea.
Yeah. That's, that's, we,
we will continue to look for those opportunities. Yeah.
Yeah. Thanks. Um, sometimes it's hard for people
to imagine something different than what they have too.
And so bringing in ideas or successes from other cities
or other countries, um, is enlightening as well,
um, to just have conversations.
Um, thank you for that.
I'm happy to know that you're, uh, working
with the new Department of Environment on many projects
and, um, you're so cdot, was it one
of the departments required to
make an environmental justice action plan by hood?
Yes, we were part of that, yes. Okay.
And then, um, you all were tasked
to incorporate emission reduction goals
into your transportation planning and programming.
Um, and I just wanna know, like, how,
how are you measuring success in, uh, driving down, um,
and reducing emissions?
How is, how's that going?
Um, so, uh, certainly it's work with, um,
two fm, um, on our own fleet.
Um, but, um, so we can go to ev we try to,
but um, also with our contractors, you know, like, uh,
vehicle mission goals for their, their trucks
and things that's, that's included in like
new specs that come up.
Yeah. I'm really glad to hear about that.
Um, electrification of our fleet.
But is there a way for us to track progress?
Like, what's our baseline now? Do you know
Mary, Mary, do you have a,
Maybe that's not your department? Well, I'm just curious
If, you know, just I was, if Mary, do you take it
To Mary? Hi, uh, Mary
Nickel.
Um, yeah, so one of the things that we, uh,
think about in terms
of when we're thinking about reducing emissions from the
transportation sector, which in the city makes up
around 25%, um, from, uh,
that sector is we look at, um, you know,
how many bike lanes are we building?
Um, so that we're encouraging mode shift.
So we're encouraging residents to transition modes.
And we do, if you look at our climate action plan,
we do have a mode shift goal, um, that we're,
that we're moving towards.
Uh, one of the goals that we set in our climate action plan
as well was increasing, uh, the amount of divvy ridership.
We have surpassed that goal.
And so we also see that as a significant,
um, element of that.
Um, in addition to leading by example
and transitioning our own fleet, um, to electric vehicles.
We're also, you know, we're trying
to build a transportation network in Chicago
that doesn't require car ownership.
Um, and that folks can get
around safely without having the burden of having to pay
for a car, but as well as, um, so it's more a livable city.
Um, so we also, you know, for folks who do need to drive
around the city, we're also working hard to ensure that, um,
we're electrifying personal vehicles as,
as quickly as possible. Well, as well.
Okay. That, that is helpful. Thank you.
I, I think I told you I got a bike and it got stolen.
So now I'm a divvy subscriber.
Um, I use a helmet, but that,
and I knew this was gonna happen someday, that I was gonna
fall, but the helmet did not help when I fell on my face.
But, but we have to be careful, you know, I, I think
that we do have to be careful and we have to have more, um,
education around, like, how is it that we can get, um,
because, because I see those scooters, especially around,
um, schools, um, people, young people use the scooters
and then they, they leave them around their high school.
And, um, and I worry about, um, class traffic.
So, um, I would like to work with you more on, on on
that issue as well.
Can I ask another question?
Um, thank you,
Alderwoman. We, we have our,
uh, safe ambassador program that goes out
and does trainings at school.
So we can arrange that with your office
Too. Yeah, that, that
would be terrific.
'cause I, I want, I want people to use our bike lanes.
I want people to use all modes of transportation,
but I, I worry about, um, like everybody
that uses a road, including cars, um,
including the bikers I have, I, um,
in my travels in the last year on an e-bike, I've run across
bikers who are impatient as well.
You know, I think that we're all pretty guilty when we need
to get somewhere, but, um, we all have
to be responsible as well.
And I worry about the young people.
Um, and also, uh, bikes on sidewalks.
It is, it's really a problem on Sheridan Road, as you know.
And we have a lot of older adults there.
Oh, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't go.
What is that? Uh, keep going. Don't take them don mind.
Um, I, can you talk a little bit more about Chicago works
and how it's going?
Um, it's astounding to me how much you do, um,
and, uh, the small percentage
that you take from the corporate fund
and that you are mostly grant funded.
So I just curious to know how is Chicago works going?
Um, do you have enough funding
to meet all your capital needs?
Um, you know, do you need additional funding
to meet those goals?
Um, So Chicago works has been, um, you know,
quite an undertaking,
but, uh, an undertaking
that we're very happy at the department
to have been a part of.
Um, some of us old birds have, you know, we saw
what we would call like the famine years
where it was really, uh, not enough capital to support, uh,
the infrastructure in Chicago.
Um, each year we've seen growth in, whether it's paving,
sidewalk work, lighting, um,
and, you know, we're seeing the difference it's making.
Um, so we, we wanna continue to move on that, uh,
to continue to, uh, build on those gains.
Um, some programs still gotta get off the ground a bit more.
I'd like to see us, uh, I'd
get more progress on the WPA streets.
We really haven't, um, delivered as much
as we would like to on that.
So that's a work in progress.
But I think, um, the alley reconstruction is, is a really,
uh, great example of, of like the success of the program,
um, in that you have, you know, this year close to 60, um,
you know, new alleys, concrete alleys
that are green infrastructure going in.
And it's not just going in, in a part of the city
or a section of the city where maybe a award had tiff money.
These are investments going on in all 50 wards.
So it's addressing the needs citywide
and it's making a difference in folks' life.
So, um, we, you know, we have a full plate of work of,
you know, between all our funding sources
to continue on with that capital.
Um, but certainly there'll be another bond, um, vote
that will be before council.
So CDOT would be, um,
encouraging council to be supportive of that.
So we can continue our,
Our thank you.
Is, um, the reimagining
of Bel Lakeshore drive a part of that?
Um, not specifically, no.
That, that is a project that would be,
we'd be looking at the federal
and state funding to, um, support.
Okay. Are you worried at all with the new
federal administration coming in president
that we are not gonna be able to complete those projects?
Um, it's our job to work with every, um,
new administration, whether
that's at the state level or federal level.
Um, so we have to find a way, um,
and we'll, we'll fully intend to do that.
Um, I DOT's committed to the par,
they're their partner on the project, they're committed
to the project, so, um, we'll,
we'll continue to work closely with them.
Um, they're gonna be a big, um, piece of the puzzle.
So, um, we have to work with everyone. We'll find a way.
Uh, as you know, a lot of my constituents were not happy
'cause we are at the end of Saba Leisure Drive
and, um, a lot of constituents are, are, um, they would like
to know how we are gonna move forward
to have more public engagement around that project.
So I hope that we can continue that conversation. Yes, yes.
Okay. Um,
and also red light cameras onto self lake drive.
People, people want, um,
people want people to slow down, you know,
and I, um, my youngest is 19
and, um, he's just got his license this year
and he got his first ticket, I think I might have told you
it was, it was 20 miles an hour over the speed limit.
And I said, what happened?
And he said, I thought there was this unspoken agreement
that everybody just goes the same speed.
And I think that's kind
of the same way on December Lake Drive.
Everybody's just going at the speed that they think
that everybody else is going.
And, and really when you look at your speedometer,
it's much faster than it should be.
So, um, red light cameras
onto some police drive and slow it down.
Um, so I hope that we can continue
to have that conversation.
Um, a lot of, a lot of people are very interested in, in,
in, um, the environmental impact of that project as well
and is what is it that we can do better?
And I know that project started 10 years ago, so, um, beyond
that, I, I just wanna thank everybody in the box
for your work and so many who are not here today.
Um, infrastructure is, is really the way, um, forward for me
and my ward to keep people safe.
'cause we have so many fast roads in Edgewater
and we're the end of Devo Lakeshore Drive.
And, um, so many schools, as I said,
we're like basically a whole safety zone.
Um, so I thank you and appreciate all of your work.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, alderman.
Uh, I just got a couple of items just as an FYI, uh,
state law precludes us from putting, uh,
speed cameras on Lake Shore Drive, unfortunately,
or fortunately, depending on how fast you drive.
So, um, uh, well, again, it is, it is not on us.
Uh, that's one of the, uh, I think that was one
of the caveats when speed cameras came in that, uh,
lake Shore Drive was, uh, was not,
they weren't allowed on Lake Shore Drive at the time.
So, uh, just a couple of questions that I have, uh,
in the, uh, division of traffic safety
gas have a $16 million, uh, line item for, uh,
repairing maintenance of equipment.
Just trying to figure out what, what, what
that would be in traffic safety that you guys are, uh,
rent equipment for just as a off,
That's, that's the speed and,
and, uh, speed cameras and red light cameras.
Oh, okay. All right.
Well, that, that, that, that makes a lot
of sense then if that's the case.
And, uh, well, we don't have
to get into the revenue side of that equation.
Uh, and how much longer we have left on that contract?
Uh, well, they're two separate contracts.
Um, and they, they're in extension phases that go into, uh,
and one goes into the end of 2025,
and I believe the other one goes into the,
into the beginning of 2026.
Uh, that's right, commissioner, about six months
later. Six months.
Oh, okay. So that will, oh, those, so those are ending.
Okay. I'm sure we'll have additional conversations on that.
And your, uh, returning citizens initiatives, what are,
what are your folks doing, uh, in relation
to returning citizens?
Oh, um, so, well, we continue to, uh, uh,
you know, um, lead the Green Core program. Um,
Oh, that's the green, okay. That's
okay. Very
Happy. It's, uh, 30th
anniversary this year. Okay,
Cool. Uh,
one thing that I, I noticed, um, uh,
you have reimbursable amounts.
What, how does that work from a budgetary standpoint?
Are these being shifted over to capital funds
or other funds, or are they just placeholders in the budget
for positions?
Uh, how does that work exactly? Uh,
Are you talking about like the lines
that say reimbursable personnel?
Correct. Yeah.
So the reimbursable personnel, that's, that their name kind
of describes what they do.
That, um, we, we fund a portion of their salaries
and the, of the, of that staff based on,
they can get assigned to menu projects, TIFF projects,
they can get it, uh, county projects, stuff like that.
So whatever the funding source is to reimburse,
um, that salary.
Um, or sometimes if they're fully reimbursable personnel,
it's personnel that, like they're,
they're gonna be on capital or,
or a project specific the whole time.
Okay. And then that money ultimately finds its way back to
whatever fund that, um, came out
of the corporate vehicle tax, motor fuel tax.
Yeah. I, I think the technical term is,
there's like an appendix obligation that we have to meet.
Okay. Uh, in your infrastructure management, uh,
you guys have added 1,000,003
for software maintenance and licensing.
Uh, what, what is, what is that for?
Um, uh, million three?
Yeah. Jake, can you remind me what that, uh, million three
and, uh, infrastructure management is?
Yeah. So that are for our IPS maintenance,
so, which is, IPS is our permitting system.
So permitting system maintenance.
What, say that again.
Oh, IPS is a system we use.
That's, that's the system the permit office uses to, uh,
you know, for folks to apply for a permit for construction
or apply for a permit for a special event.
And then the permit's issued, and it's the payment system.
So that was new this year? No.
Or is it, was that a shift from another, uh, number?
It was always, there was, uh, we took a cut on it.
It was, last year was a $1 million. Now it is, is 8 81.
So, so this is on page 4 56.
In 2023, your expense was around 16,000.
This year came up to million four. This year's 1,000,003.
I'm just trying to understand, was that, was
that a shift in expenses or was that just, or is are these,
or is this new programming that you all are doing?
It was the, uh, licensing in a different, um, place
from 2023 to 2024.
You just said page 4 46, 4 5 6, 4 56, 4, 5, 6.
Close.
I think it was 4 56.
Are you talking about that 2023 funding versus 2024 and
20 25 1, 1 1 49
account and, uh,
infrastructure management.
Yep. So 2023 when we were doing the funding,
all those maintenance was done through the ITGB fund
through a IS.
So we've been told that 2024
and 2025, we need to get our own money to do it.
Okay. So that's the reason that we have increased
that ITGB bar fund to our budget.
So it is a reduction from a IS to cdot.
Okay. That was just, just, it was just call shift then?
Yes. Okay.
Um, final set of questions around where are we at, uh,
on professional services?
I know your number, um,
I don't know if there was a hard construction number
that you talked about your mbs,
but where are we on the professional service side
as it relates to, uh, MBE?
Uh, work primarily around engineering.
Might have to, um, get the total, uh, MBE
for professional services, um, through the chair.
Okay. I don't know, do we have that broken out? Okay.
Um, what
Chico High Deputy Commissioner, um,
for professional services, um, we have a total
of $53 million that we paid out of which, um,
37% of that went to MBE
and 13% went to WBE.
So for total, MBE
and WBE for professional services,
it's $27 million.
And what, uh, what is the ethnicity breakout of the,
that's approximately about 50% of
that professional service spend.
What's the ethnicity break breakout in that,
The ethnicity breakdown of
that 50% would be African American, 22.93
Hispanic, 6.22, Asian
18.57 women,
2.56, and Native American 0%.
And that's of the, were you speaking
in percentages or, or dollars?
Um, I'm sorry. I was speaking percentages.
I do have dollar amounts if you want
That. Uh, I, I just, I was
just trying to understand what,
what you were, uh, what you were alluding
to in that, in that respect.
So, uh, okay.
The, um, uh, before we conclude, my staff sent me a note.
Um, it says, um,
Tova Frazier, Tony Vicente
and Gerardo Guzman, uh, are excellent, uh, people.
And they're, you should be glad to have them.
I agree. Oh, Okay. Alright.
Now you got some other folks that I, I will,
I will withhold judgment on sitting in the box, uh,
'cause I'm still waiting on something
and I, I will, uh, um, I I, I'll deal with them, uh,
afterwards and maybe we both can take 'em in the back room
and, and see if we can shake some outta their pockets to,
to help us on the, on the side.
But nonetheless, uh, we know that you guys have, uh,
a a difficult, you know, job and,
and a lot of things that happen sometimes
and not within your control, through supply chain
and other issues and weather and, and the like.
So, uh, you know, we, we thank you guys
for the work that you do.
Um, I know that, um,
there have definitely been improvements, uh,
since my tenure here in, uh, time to get things done
and that the efficiency, uh, has definitely improved.
Uh, we always can definitely, uh, utilize more.
However, uh, from where we started to where we are today,
your work that you guys have done has been, uh, has been,
has been, has been good.
Now, um, the last thing I'm gonna talk about is your,
uh, between the sign management, the lights,
and in-house, uh, really, uh, those guys are, are the, uh,
bread and butter of what many of us deal
with on a day-to-Day basis.
We are getting used to the, uh, bike lanes
and the raised, uh, crosswalks and all of that stuff.
I'm not a biker. Uh, uh, you know, I'm a driver, so I,
maybe I'm in the minority now.
But, uh, as things evolve, uh, you know,
looks like you all are trying
to satisfy both needs, uh, in the city.
Uh, and we understand that, uh,
we've gotta make some adjustments as time moves forward.
Uh, but the fact that you all, you know, try to balance both
of those sets of needs, we definitely appreciate that.
And again, uh, you all keep up the very positive work.
I want to thank, uh, pretty much everybody in the box
for delivering services on behalf of the residents
of the city and, uh, getting us where we need to be.
I do want to, uh, uh, I'm glad that, uh, Jim bolster
and, uh, Zo are still around, uh, even though they are, um,
pickpockets, um, in, uh, various ways, but
nonetheless, yeah, bolster, especially him.
Um, he, he likes to pick you clean
and borrow against next year.
So, uh, but
nonetheless, uh, we, we, we appreciate their work
and their sincerity, but, uh, they need more money
and, uh, to help us help the citizens.
And so I know that, uh,
chairman Mitchell has talked about some menu related stuff.
I think that we, we really need to kinda, uh, right size
and get that right, especially for some of our colleagues
that have a lot of curb, curb miles and other things.
Uh, 'cause uh, everybody's servicing on servicing on this
one and a half million, uh,
and every ward is, is a travesty for some communities,
especially if they don't lack any other funding sources.
So, again, I know that's something
that Chairman Mitchell had been talking about,
but I think we have to work toward making
that a reality for our colleagues.
'cause again, these communities
are challenged with infrastructure.
Uh, but, you know, we've gotta,
we've gotta figure something out in that respect.
So, uh, again, thank you guys for your hard work.
Uh, you all will be excused,
but everybody's subject to recall.
Uh, but, uh, the time is now, uh, five 40.
The committee will stand at ease until tomorrow at 10:00 AM
Thank you.