Good morning council members.
The meeting will begin shortly.
Please remember to log into your devices. Thank you.
City of Chicago, city Council Rules of Convict
for Public Meetings 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to the Chicago City Council rules of order
and procedure Rule 49,
the sergeant at ARM sets forth the following rules
of conduct to be followed during the public comment period
and the duration of all committee and city council meetings.
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or disruptive language is not permitted, demeaning,
discriminatory, or harassing behavior
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or disrespectful conduct
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to stand only when providing public comment.
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Failing to adhere to these rules will be asked
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to removal from the meeting by the sergeant at arms
In the last couple years.
What
Good Morning Council members,
the meeting will begin shortly.
Please remember to log into your devices. Thank you.
Good morning Council members.
The meeting will begin shortly.
Please remember to log into your devices. Thank you,
Ms,
To log in there again.
Okay. Good morning City Council will begin. Moment.
Good Morning City Council. We will begin momentarily.
Please find your seats and log into your Eev device.
If you have any questions, please raise your hand.
Please log into your Eev device at this time. Thank you.
Good morning Council members.
The meeting will begin shortly.
Please remember to log into your devices. Thank you.
Good morning. The council will come to the order.
Please take a quorum roll call, Madam Clerk,
The quorum is now open. Please use your Eev device.
The quorum is now open. Raise your hand if you need support.
The trying.
I will now call on those who have not, uh,
have not used the Eev device for a voice vote.
Alderman Hopkins not present.
Alderman Hall present.
Alderman Beal. Present
Alderman or also Alderwoman
Gutierrez not present.
Alderwoman Coleman Not present. Alderman Moore.
Present. Present. Alderman Curtis.
Present. Alderman Ccho Lopez.
Present Alder person, Fuentes.
Present. Alderman Burnett. Present.
Alderman Wapac. Present.
Alderman Conway
Conway.
Present Alderman Ramirez.
Rosa not present.
Alderman MITs present.
Alderman Spto Podo is present.
Alderman Gardner. Gardner is present.
Alderwoman Clay not present.
Alderwoman Silverstein not present.
Your mayor. We have a quorum.
Very well. Thank you very much. Mme. Clark.
There are, how many are present? I can't speak.
Uh, there are 44 present. There
Are 44 present. Thank
you. We do have a quorum. There are Okay.
No alders who have requested to participate remotely.
Very well. Let's stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the republic for which it stands,
one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty
and justice for all.
Please remain standing for our invocation, the director
of Reus Chicago.
Mr. Mike Rolfs.
Thank you Mr. Mayor. Um, in behalf of, uh, re new Chicago
and Park Community Church and Chicago Sunday Evening
Club, I'm delighted to be here.
Please know that every day, Monday
through Saturday at noontime, we, we have a zoom call.
We pray for the city and you,
you all are being prayed for regularly.
So, uh, let's pray.
Father, this is a big day for the city, um,
and a budget address is a reflection of our values.
So we are, uh, grateful for the work of the mayor
and his team that, uh, put together the budget.
I asked for, um, an anointing of him from the, uh, crown
of his head to the soles of his feet that he will, um,
present boldly
and he'll present clearly the direction, uh,
that they would like to take the city.
We ask for a spirit of wisdom
and discernment for the, for the council that they may be,
um, uh, fully, fully, uh, engaged,
and that, uh, please just control their minds, uh, uh,
bend their wheels to your purposes and to your glory
and for the good of our people
and for the callings that they've taken
to build a good and great city.
Father, we're mindful next week we have another important
week in our nation's history that, uh, a spirit
of tranquility will rule.
Uh, we, we may not know,
but it certainly is within your control so you know the man
or the woman that you have, uh, that you have in store
to be our next president.
So regardless, let's, uh, have it a spirit of, of peace
and just remind ourselves the truth about this country.
Uh, and we've respond with gratitude.
And as, as we move into November, we, uh,
our lives should be marked with gratitude
and whether we call, uh, our, our providence,
whether we call him Messiah or Allah or Yahweh
or, uh, those whose faith is known to you alone, Lord, uh,
we just ask for grateful hearts.
And for those of us who are who follow Jesus,
we should be especially reminded
'cause we are, we know that, uh, you did a work
that we could not have done ourselves
and our only response can be gratitude
and all of these things we pray. Amen. Jesus.
Amen. Please, you may be seated.
This is the portion of the meeting for public comments. Mr.
Clerk.
The council will now begin the public comment period,
which is limited to a maximum of 30 minutes.
Each speaker is limited to three minutes.
Speakers cannot yield
or transfer their time to another speaker.
Any written comments that have been submitted will be posted
and made available for all automatic review.
Our first speaker today is Mona Alise.
Hello. Can you hear me? Now
We can hear you. Yes, we can hear you. Good
morning.
Thank you. Good morning. Are you ready?
Please. You may commence. Thank
You.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you.
I am sure you would agree with the statement.
To deny an individual
of their first amendment right would be a violation
of fundamental public policy.
My job as a citizen is to bring to you the problem.
And as a governmental body, it is your job to solve it.
My concern is this, Scientology has
what is called safe pointing.
They have been doing this for decades
and now it seems to be a normal way of doing business.
This normalization extends directly
to the weaponization of CPD.
There are OIG investigations right now in your city
pertaining to this inappropriate relationship.
There are other cases in several states
that will expose them for what they are doing.
The RICO case, human trafficking, child sexual abuse
and exploitation, fair gaming harassment
and labor abuse cases.
They are working themselves through the courts.
There's a case in your city right now, in fact today
that goes against a First Amendment demonstrator.
If this goes to trial, God forbid
it will give a black eye to your city.
They don't want their horrors exposed.
This is p Diddy, Epstein and Nassar on steroids.
Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about.
This is behind the scenes.
A 12-year-old is counseling a grown man.
This is standard procedure.
These words are spoken
to the grown man locked in a room with a child.
And I quote, while we cannot guarantee you
that the matters revealed in this list will be held forever
secret, we can promise you faithfully that no part of what
your answer is.
We'll be given to the police or to the state.
No Scientologist will ever bear witness
against you in court.
Here's some actual questions
and as I said, I
quote, I just lost my paper.
Sorry. Have you committed a crime? How went where?
Give details. Have you ever done anything
you don't want me to know?
Have you masturbated? Have you smothered a baby?
I know those are cringe-worthy. I'm sorry.
Sadly, a child must know what these words mean
and they have to define, explain,
and show what the words mean during their training.
Even like the masturbation, all sessions are audio
and video recorded.
I am asking you, please question your relationship
or your loyalty to this abusing
family, destroying cult.
Staying that being in a cult for
for adults is perfectly legal and it is a choice,
but kids cannot consent.
Thank you. And I yield back my time.
Thank you very much for your comments.
Our next speaker is Jody Whitaker.
I,
good morning, can you hear me?
Good morning. Yes we can.
Good morning, mayor Johnson, it's Chicago City Council.
My name is Jody Whitaker
and I'm speaking on behalf of the Chicago Alliance
for Animals more than 3000 members.
But I am also speaking for millions of people who want
to end the brutal suffering
of beautiful wild fur bearing animals
and stave off the dangers of confining thousands of animals
to tight contaminated spaces where viruses can thrive.
I'm going to read a few quotes from a May, 2022 New York
Times article titled The Michigan Mink Mystery.
How did an interspecies outbreak unfold
In late September of 2020?
Captive mink on a farm in Michigan suddenly fell ill.
They stopped eating, struggled
to breathe and bled from the nose.
According to a report from the World Organization
for Animal Health, 2000 animals died.
Laboratory testing soon confirmed
that the mink were infected with the coronavirus.
The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention dispatched a team of outbreak investigators
who collaborated with other agencies to swab N farm workers
and a menagerie of other animals from rats to raccoons
to determine how the virus had spread.
We tried to leave no stone unturned said Dr. Casey Barton
Bar Harsch, who dis dis directs the
CDC D'S one health office.
Last month the CDC confirmed that four Michigan residents,
including two farm employees, had been infected
with the same unique coronavirus variant
that was found in the Meek
since the early days of the pandemic.
When the co coronavirus tore through fur farms,
scientists have worried that mink might become a long-term
reservoir for the virus
and a potential source of new variants.
To date coronavirus infections have been,
have been detected in mink on 18 American farms,
the most recent in Wisconsin in February.
Even as Congress considers a ban on mink farming,
there is still no national system
for proactive surveillance on mink farms,
which are not required to report cases
to federal authorities
and officials have not released much information about
the outbreak investigations.
They have concluded some of those details are reported.
Reported here for the first time together, the secrecy
and spotty surveillance make it difficult to determine
how much of a risk mink farms pose scientists say,
and it threatens to leave experts flying to the emergence
of worrisome new variants that could spill back into humans
extending the pandemic.
As you just heard, these risks are very real
and we're seeing disturbing trends in our neighboring states
of Michigan and Wisconsin.
So thank you to the 21 co-sponsors
who support O 2023 dash 2 9 83.
Thank you all for your time and consideration
and I hope you will all work together
to pass this common sense measure as soon as possible
so our great city can play a part in preventing
future pandemics.
Thank you very much for your time today.
Thank you very much for your comments.
Our next speaker is Johnny Mohammed.
Good morning. Good morning.
My name is Johnny JC Mohammed and I am grateful, happy,
and humble to be given the opportunity to speak
at this morning's city council hearing.
The mayor and the city council has a serious
and sacred responsibility
to manage the finances of this city.
But when we look back at the city's current financial
predicament, it has become all too apparent
that over the decades individuals occupying these positions
have not respected this responsibility in a manner
that provides this city with the physical health
that it requires for its residents.
The city's greatest resources are its residents
and managing our resources in a way
that invest in individuals, families,
and communities will inevitably contribute
to the long-term physical health of this city.
But in order to do that, you our public officials
must not be too reluctant to hesitant
or too timid to tax the rich and the wealthy of this city.
We need bold, courageous leadership
that will defend the interest of struggling poor
and working class people of the city of Chicago.
We need expanded mental health services.
We must have concrete
and comprehensive solutions for our homeless population
and our youth programs
and services should be of the highest priority
because our young people represent the
future promise of this city.
We need a budget that creates millions of jobs
and create an increased wages for those who
continue to be at the on the sidelines
of the Chicago economy.
We need a city budget that invests in our public schools
and our underserved communities in a manner
that ends the systemic inequality in our tax system
by making corporations pay their fair share
and makes this city once again safe, decent,
and affordable place to live in.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for your comments.
Our next speaker is Christiana Powell.
Good morning. Uh, should I wait
until the mayor comes back
because my address is
to him, so please stop.
Thank you for stopping that clock.
You, you can,
you can continue your comments please.
That is not fair. The clock should be stopped.
Put back at three minutes.
The mayor, the head of this council, the leader
of this city that I have come to address has stepped off
for whatever reason, for whatever reason
and that I am in this, I'm being disrespected as a resident
and a citizen of the city of Chicago
who pays taxes and votes.
So I'm gonna wait. I'm gonna wait
because I will not be disrespected
You as pro te I can listen to your public comment.
Thank you.
Please continue with your public comments. Thank you.
There's the mayor.
Where is the head?
The body cannot receive anything
unless it first comes from the head and flows down.
The body does not tell the head what to do
and if the head is not present,
then the body will become discombobulated
in its choices, its decisions
and in its standing.
So Mayor Johnson, I voted for you.
Please respect my vote.
I will respect this council.
Even though I am being disrespected,
I don't trust me.
The God I serve is guiding me right now.
Therefore I stand on what he tells me to do,
which is stand still.
Thank you very much for your comments.
Our next speaker is Will Tasman.
Our next speaker is Will Tansman.
Would you like to go to the next speaker?
Let's go to the next speaker please.
Our next speaker is George Blakemore.
Point of order, alderman Lopez.
Thank you Madam President.
Why is the sergeant in arm's hand
on the microphone while Mr.
Blakemore is trying to speak?
I'm not sure. Alderman Lopez,
What you have. Gimme
a second please. Away from me.
Do they know it's his turn? Turn the ma'am,
Can we please turn the mic on for Mr.
Blakemore up there?
Just relax.
Can we please have, can we please have order upstairs?
We're trying to get the mic on for Mr. Blakemore.
Okay, let's go to the next speaker please.
And then we'll go back to Mr. Blakemore. He seems to be
Not coming to the Mic. The
next speaker is Mary Bagot.
Our next speaker is Mary Bagot.
And you're gonna have to take a time,
you're gonna have to gimme a second here.
I'm trying. I understand.
If you guys could just bear with us for one second.
It looks like they're trying to restore order up there
to ensure that all the people
that are signed up to speak can speak.
Just bear with us for one moment.
Hey Mary.
Uh, Mary ett.
She, she,
now what do we do now?
What do we do? What do we do now?
Recess.
Let's take a 10 minute recess while we work out the
technical issues upstairs.
I
Supposed to be here and listen
and we not gonna only beat up on the,
alright.
Thank you.
The meeting will come back to order. Mr.
Clerk will pick up what we left off in public comments
before I took a moment.
Our next speaker this morning is Will Tansman.
This meeting will come back to order please.
Alders, could you please return to your spots public?
The public that is here witnessing today.
Could you please return to your seats?
This meeting will come back to order. Mr. Clerk,
Our next speaker this morning is Will Hansman.
Hey. Excuse me Judge, don't call me.
Good morning. Good morning.
My name is Will Tanin.
I serve as executive director of the People's Lobby,
a grassroots organization
with members across the Chicago region who fight together
for racial, economic and environmental justice.
For decades, our previous city leaders gave tax breaks
to corporations and the wealthy invested in downtown while
taking money out of schools and social services
and low income and working class neighborhoods.
We see the results in our underfunded schools, encampments
of homeless people, struggling public
transit system and more.
And this doesn't make people or businesses want to move to
or stay in our great city.
We are grateful to the mayor
and the city council for taking some initial steps
to reverse this inequity.
We appreciate Mayor Johnson's work
to reopen mental health clinics,
invest in affordable housing
and push for more funding for schools
as federal covid relief dollars run out.
I know this is going to be a challenging budget,
but our city needs to invest more rather than less
and build on the progress that has begun.
We need to reject cuts to essential public services
and identify new revenue sources that are as progressive
as possible given the limits
of the city's revenue raising powers.
Some options include pushing the huge elite universities
with multi-billion dollar endowments to agree
to payments in lieu of taxes,
establishing a fee on vacant properties,
increasing hotel taxes, increasing taxes on airplane fuel,
reestablishing a corporate head tax
and taking money from Tiffs.
And if we need to raise other taxes,
I'd rather pay a bit more
for the public services we need than
to see further cuts devastate our city services
and we need to fight for longer term progressive revenue
sources that may require action
by other levels of government.
We want to see the city expand funding
for affordable housing schools, mental health clinics,
shelters for both new arrivals
and long-term homeless people, non-police,
public safety solutions, enforcement of workers' rights,
public funding of elections, green infrastructure and more.
Only by investing in Chicago can our incredible city follow
through on its promise and potential to be a city
for all of its residents.
A city that prioritizes poor and working people
and not just the rich and powerful.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for your comments.
Our next speaker this morning is George Blakemore,
Honor ba mayor Brandon Johnson.
I would like to, I know you got a heavy load
with the honor ba Mayor Brandon Johnson
before when you left, perhaps it was an emergency
and you did leave when someone was speaking.
Now we glad to see you are back.
I'm asking you, will you allow a young lady, uh, to speak,
she came specifically to address some issues with you.
So could you do that?
Anyway, the big picture here is a one party system.
They're all Democrats. All Democrats.
And it is a corrupt machine here.
It just didn't come here with Brandon Johnson.
It's been here. These budgets never been balanced.
Now you, you wanna beat up on him?
Mayor David, get all that money when he sold out the street.
Get all that money. Only thing we just have a new
overseer, but just go with
that Democratic machine is just go from one
hog pin to another.
It's time for us to change it. Good citizen change it.
Go red. Go red. Go red.
Well, did you know trump's a racist?
Well both of those are political party are racist.
So what we got, I'm leaving one plantation on my way
to another plantation.
But my ultimate aim is to be a free black man in America.
I want my people to open up banks
and have economic development.
I want 'em to have excellent schools.
We cannot depend on these political hacks,
especially these Democrats.
Go red, go red. Go red.
Now honorable, honorable, honorable.
Brandon Johnson, will you do this?
Let the lady come back
because she thinks so much of you,
she came down to address you.
And I'm sure that it had to be an emergency
for you to leave.
You just wouldn't walk away from a citizen. No you wouldn't.
He wouldn't. She voted for you. So I know. Good.
Well that it had to be an emergency.
But now you back and you now are ahead.
You running this plantation now. Call her back.
Call her back. Thank you. Come back young lady.
Come back to speed. Oh, come back young lady.
Okay. No, I'm for the people. Come back, young lady.
Come back, young lady. Alright, thank you.
Come back young lady.
Thank you very much for your comments. Our next speaker is
Just a second, Mr. Clark. Before
we, um, let's proceed with the the names in order.
And for the young woman who wanted to speak to me directly,
we'll, we'll, we'll give some consideration to that.
But let's continue on. Okay,
Our next speaker is Mary Bagot.
Good afternoon everyone. Good morning.
Um, I'm coming to this microphone
because I want to address Walter Burnett
for being disrespectful to our leadership.
Um, basically telling her
she don't oversee the surrounding area.
She's a president
that sits on our local advisory council slash CAC board.
Wow. And she is the president of that surrounding area.
And for you to tell her she don't oversee the area,
she just only oversee Horner.
That's disrespectful.
Horner assists through that development from Washington
to Randolph to Madison and anything else in that area.
You need to learn how to respect the people.
And not only that, that's $7 billion project that's coming
and y'all won't CHA land, she's the president of that.
And the only way it could get addressed
or approved, they gotta come to us first.
We are board of 14.
So when you say you don't, she don't run nothing.
You are wrong. You need to learn how
to be respectful to the people.
And also this contract steering,
y'all need to stop that too.
Stopping people from working in your ward,
black contractors, all of that.
You need to stop it in the 27th Ward.
You're very disrespectful and it needs to end your vote.
Come from us as people.
Y'all look to these other nationalities
like they the only ones out here
but us as blacks put votes in too.
So respect us, Walter Burnett.
And I'm saying that loud and clear so you can hear me.
I'm not done with you. I'm coming for you. And that's it.
And that's all. So I'm done with that
and that Mayor Brandon Johnson.
I am a 30 year city employee whom retired June
of 2022.
You all did not pay us for covid.
You all did not pay us our retro pay.
When we retired, they had the audacity to say July 1st
was when the contract was signed
and that we didn't qualify for Covid pay.
But y'all let somebody come in, got
got hired within six months, received covid pay,
received retro pay, all of that.
I took sick during that time with Covid O
and also I worked hard for 30 years for the city.
I fought with the union local 1 0 0 1.
I deserve my retro pay and I deserve my covid pay.
I got sick during that time
and it's many of us that are retired that took sick
and did not receive our pay.
You need to look into that.
A lot of these people that denied us,
they all got these deals under the table with positions
to stop us from receiving our pay.
As retirees, we want our pay.
Thank you very much for your comments.
Our next speaker is Janet, MCA
Thank you city council.
I have a poem called Wake Up. Open our Eyes and Ears.
I can remember when I was a little girl
and I felt safe in my neighborhood place.
I never thought about being shot at child traffic.
We didn't worry about stuff like that.
I remember as kids we had a healthy fear
of those in authority.
We had community uniformity.
All the kids understood that when the streetlights came on,
racing home was the norm.
Most of us had a mom and dad at home.
We make, we rode bikes and played outside before computers
and cell phones wake up, open our eyes and ears, our eyes
and ears closed to the devastation
and evil that's being disposed.
The the hopelessness. The foolishness.
Our youth running and gunning dreams being stuck,
snuffed out and sinless violence
and many leaders we trusted, responding silence.
Parents' hearts are aching, losing their children,
senselessly to other children, misbehaving dreams,
being snuffed out.
Wake up, open our eyes and ears.
Everyone with our skin ain't our friend.
I'm not saying we should deny who we are as a people,
but blind faith in man has been lethal.
We need to see the truth and in it we'll find the proof.
It's like we believe everything.
Some leaders say believe what they do.
That's where their real fruit would be on display.
There are those who say that we
as a people can't secede in this country.
Putting it bluntly, I believe some
of 'em think we're stupid.
We are told. We are told how oppressed and suppressed
and we'll never and we'll always be excluded.
What's not said is that we are descendants of people
who suffered, endured and persevered.
We are strong people who are resilient,
innovative, brilliant.
Wake up, open your eyes and ears.
We have multitudes of su successful black men
and women families who have worked hard
and seceded in the face of the race card.
All this racism rhetoric is wearing thin.
There will always be racist people. God calls this sin.
Families and communities aren't healthy.
Morality in our parks are running on empty.
We have our, what's full is our caskets and jails.
Why do we keep trusting government to get us outta this?
Hell wake up, open our eyes and ears.
How did we get here as trying to remove God from society?
Work for us. Maybe we need to return to a godly fear.
Some, some in power have been blinded by evil
and lost their way and the cost has been more than
we citizens wanna pay.
Can we, what do we have to lose?
Maybe it's time we put God first.
It's not, we have not seen the worst along
for those days when children plan
outside safely was not an illusion with when education,
working hard and perseverance with and moral
and with our economic solution, wake up, open our eyes
and ears to this evil stuff.
Citizens. When are we going to say enough is enough?
Praise him.
Thank you very much for your comments.
Our next speaker is Tulo Steward.
Hello Mayor Johnson. I have one thing I wanna say to you.
How you doing Mayor Johnson? Welcome.
My name is Wan Welcome. Thank you.
And I wanna know why did you give all the migrants all the
fun and people out here suffering with their kids
homeless like me?
I am disabled. I cannot pay my rent.
The landlord is trying to evict me of my house with my kids.
I've been calling down here telling the complaints about
what's going on in my building.
People been getting staff everything in my building.
I have two disabled kids
and I'm very struggling paying my rent
and I've been making complaints about the building.
All I get closed. Closed case is closed. Case is closed.
I can't get no help to get out the building.
I've been talking to Jeanette Taylor
about what's going on in the building.
I cannot get no help to get out that building with my kids.
I'm living around drugs here, crack heads with my kids
and I have two disabled kids.
I don't understand you.
Then you gave the migrants all their funds
and they walk around up
and down King Drive selling stuff when other
people need stuff too.
I don't understand you. You gave them that.
They over there selling drugs,
everything over there on King Drive.
They over there stealing at the stores and everything.
Stealing that store that we need in the community.
You sitting up and gave them migrants.
All that fun where people sleeping on the streets.
You wrong for that. You, you need some help.
Thank you very much for your comments.
Our next speaker is Sister Aya.
SI
would just like to say good afternoon I think it is
to good morning Mr.
Mayor, my brother and to the city council family
and the media down there.
I wanna get right to the point
because I wanna direct my first concern
to the committee on special events,
cultural Affairs and Recreation.
We have a big problem at Ellis Park Field House
on 35th and Cottage Grove, which is in my community
that I have lived in for 40 years.
Very beautiful facility but we going into our seventh week
and we do not have an instructor for a chair exercise
for our seniors or chair aerobics for our seniors
or line dancing for our seniors.
Here's the biggest problem. There is not an attendant.
There is not an attendant to come in
and mop up puddles of water
in the women's locker room when we come out
of the pool from water aerobics
that I take three times a week.
Now, you know that's a suit park district
need to look at that.
Very careful. There is one in the evening
and she wants more hours.
Why you can't give her those hours
during the daytime when a 70
and 80-year-old seniors have to hop around in puddles
of water in the ladies' locker room.
That is a concern that is really bothering me.
The second thing is the, uh,
healthy home ordinance.
Please, Mr. Mayor, I want you
and the, all the people that have signed on to it
to discuss the need for the rental in inspect
inspecting inspectors program that all residents need.
This is a ordinance that will allow inspectors
to come in every three years and inspect these apartments.
So it won't be any problems.
Our residents will not have to complain all the time.
If the aldermen that are not passing
or not supporting this bill, they should consider
supporting this ordinance.
It's very necessary. Very, very necessary.
So think about it, it is the Chicago Healthy Home Program.
Please those aldermen that are not supporting it,
please think about putting your heads together
'cause we got new housing that's coming up
and we wanna keep new housing together
and we want the tenant
and residents to be happy in their homes
without any problems.
Thank you my brother, mayor Law continue
to bless you. Thank you.
Thank you very much for your comments.
So Lee from the body to allow Ms.
Christiana Powell to, um, give her, uh, public comment so
that she can give it directly to me.
Uh, Ms. Christina Powell,
you have three minutes. Uh, Christiana
Grand Rising to everyone.
Good morning. Thank you Mayor Johnson, the mayor
that I voted for, for giving me this opportunity
to address you.
The head of this body directly.
My name is Christiana Powell
and yeah, I got something to say.
We can talk about problems all day long,
but we gotta get to the solutions.
And I'm here to tell you definitely
there's an open secret taking place in this city.
Any area that has been labeled
gentrified, that's an open secret.
What that word means is you pick out
your property and come and get it.
But it seems like they only coming
after what is owned by black folks on the south side
of Chicago in Woodlawn and in South Shore.
So now if you all wanna look at me
and say, okay, she'd have joined the group or whatever.
Let me take you back to August the 16th when 30 Cook County
Sheriff's Officers was kicking in my door, 64 years old,
a veteran of the United States Army, okay,
kicking in my door to steal my property
because the bank committed fraud.
I fought him for seven years
and for the last two years I've had to be a pro se litigant,
which means for those who don't understand, I had
to study federal law and I had to study state law
'cause I had to go in and fight myself
because I couldn't get no help.
There's stealing, not they,
you all are allowing it
to happen 'cause it's an open secret.
You know what's going on.
They're stealing the property that is generational wealth,
inheritance and legacy of black people.
My family owned that property since 1950.
They wanna say that I went in a foreclosure
because I couldn't pay my mortgage.
I need to show you my bank statement.
I could have paid my mortgage for the next three years
and never put another dime in the bank.
I am a black woman who ain't broke,
but they wanna think we all are.
And I'm here to tell you, thus say the Lord of hosts,
I miss nothing.
I sleep and I do not slumber, touch, not my anointed.
Do no harm to my prophet.
And you've done that to both of them.
To my anointed prophet.
You put your hands on me,
you put your hands on my promised land,
you allow them to steal it.
Now you got to answer to God.
And he is somebody that you don't wanna deal with
because he knows what has been taking place.
What you've done in the dark is now gonna come to the light.
I am here to inform you. I'm on assignment.
You'll be exposed if you so much as compromised
your spiritual belief.
Thank you very much for your comments, your Honor.
There are no further speakers
who have timely served. Thank the public comments.
That completes our public comments at this time.
Clerk communications is what's next.
The following communications from the honorable
Brandon Johnson, mayor who, Phil,
who was filed in my office on October 25th, 2024 at
3:57 PM Dear Clerk Valencia, please be advised at the,
at the city council meeting of October 30th, 2024 during
that portion of the meeting devoted
to a communications from the mayor c Rule three,
I'll be delivering the mayor's budget address for the City
of Chicago budget for 2025.
Please include this letter to your agenda for that portion
of the above referenced city council meeting.
Very truly yours, Brandon Johnson, mayor,
Very well, thank you very much.
Madam Clerk. We're grateful that our,
our city treasurer has also joined us.
Let's please give a nice round of applause for our clerk
as well as our treasurer.
The chair recognizes Alderman Bill.
Thank you Mr. President. Uh, Mr.
President, before you, um, give your remarks on the budget.
Uh, I would like, like to ask,
are budget books ready at the proceeding of this meeting?
That is correct. So they will be available. Budget
Books will be made available 2 0 1 a
All the room numbers around here.
Just gimme a second.
We'll confirm, uh, that, that location for you. Okay,
Mr. President, I just want to
go on the record as well as a lot
of my colleagues that the, uh,
budget address was postponed over two weeks
and we have a one point billion dollars deficit.
And if books are not readily available, I move
that we push budget briefings back to November 13th.
I don't believe that move or that, is that a move?
Yes, It's what's a move
That is a motion. Okay.
To Move if books are not ready available.
I don't, I just wanna make sure that we're talking
about a motion and not a move.
Well, I'll make sure that the, the budget
as being presented today, that
that would be made available as it always has been.
Very well
Already. I've, I've
just said today that the budget book
as well as electronically, all
of it will be made available today.
Okay.
Thank you. You're welcome. How's everybody doing today?
All right, that's good. Little parliamentary,
um, dynamics, right?
And then there's more Chair recognizes Alder Gutierrez.
Thank you Mr. President.
I just wanna make sure that I'm recording as
Pressing. Thank you. There are a number of
individuals that have walked in.
Um, after attendance is taken, uh, we'll make sure
that Gutierrez is added.
Were there other alders?
I believe Alder Robinson was recorded.
Um, I believe Alderman Hopkins is now here.
Uh, Alderwoman Clay is here.
Alderwoman Coleman is here.
I know that that Alderwoman Silverstein has been in the
room, though she is not currently present.
I believe that everything is pristine
and in order, like the Johnson's household was on Saturday
mornings to the Vice Mayor Burnett,
chairwoman Dow Chairman Irvin
Chairwoman Harris, the President Pro temp Nugent to members
of the city council and to all of the residents
that have assembled today.
Good morning. When I stood up here last year,
we had just closed a $538 million budget gap.
We faced that challenge head on
and focused on the closing of
that gap while also investing in people
of this amazing city.
We made tremendous strides in critical investments in youth
employment and housing, mental health and community safety.
We also forecasted though
that in 2025 we would face a deficit of this magnitude,
$986 million.
The choices we made to present a balanced budget
have certainly been sobering.
And as a city we are constrained
by our legacy pensions and our debt costs.
These past debt challenges our budget
and our ability to invest in the great
city that we all love.
Debts that were created by repeated decisions to
kick the can down the road when tough choices
presented themselves.
Those so-called tough choices at the time,
including concluded closing 50 of our public schools,
14 of our mental health clinics were shuttered
in order to cut costs.
The department of the environment was
eradicated to cut costs.
I was in North Lawndale when schools were being shut down
and the families in that community desperately cried
for another pathway forward.
I was in Bronzeville,
I was in Roseland in my own community in Austin.
When these services were cut
and people begged this body to do right by them,
the parking meters sold.
Chicago Skyway sold off to balance the budgets.
Our pension funds were ignored
and the city did not fulfill its
obligations to working people.
And the city deferred paying principal on its debt service.
Year after year after year
after year, the shortsighted decisions have had serious
long-term consequences.
Lemme give you an example of one of them.
10 years ago, our city pensions were projected, projected
to go bankrupt, bankrupt.
In this decade from 2004 to 2014,
the the city did not do enough.
They deposited an average of $442 million each year
to the pension funds, which was less than half
than what was required.
Because of that, we are now obligated
to contribute 2.7 billion to the city's four pension funds
and we will contribute an additional 2.9 billion
in the 2025 budget.
When I ran for office, I promised to tell people the truth
and that I would not support programs
that we did not have funds for.
And I'm gonna stick to that promise.
We will pay the city's past and present bills
and we will not leave a legacy of unpaid bills
to the next generation so that
by time my daughter is 18 years old
and she gets to finally vote for me in the next eight years,
I don't want her to go to that polling booth
and say, dad, how come you didn't do something
today to fix the problem?
So she doesn't inherit the crisis.
In spite of the past mistakes our administration,
though we've been able to fulfill the promises that I made
to Chicago and deliver for the people of Chicago.
And we did it in a fiscally responsible way.
It turns out that you can invest in people.
It turns out that you can invest into the core values of
what makes us this incredible city and do it eloquently
and do it responsibly.
We invested in our city's future by increasing the number
of young people hired through the one
summer Chicago program.
We hired a total of almost 28,000 young people,
which is nearly an 8,000 increase since I've been sworn in.
And through one summer Chicago, we were able to make sure
that young people, young people could gain professional
experience and real paying jobs
and a vision for their future.
Here's one specific example though, that I'm very proud of
the General Labor Training Program.
We work with the City Department of Human Resources
and the Department of Streets
and Sanitation partner with Chicago Public Schools
and local lu, sorry, local 10 0 1 to develop
and implement what we call a general labor training program.
This 12 week on-the-job training opportunity
provided 70 CPS graduating students
with job skills participants achieved union bid rights,
union bid rights during the program.
And and upon successful completion,
they were offered the opportunity to bid on placement
for laborer vacancies.
55 of the 70 general laborer trainees were hired
for full-time and they are working for the city
of Chicago today.
In fact, we have one
of our newest city employees that's here today.
Quia Brown is here with us today.
Quia was hired directly from the trainee program
and is an example example of
how job opportunity can change the career trajectory
of our city's young people.
And under my leadership, Chicago has become the most
pro worker city in America.
This year we enacted the most expansive paid leave statute
for a major city.
The impact of this legislation will be felt
by over 1 million workers.
Effectively doubling the amount
of paid leave available workers now have significantly more
time, more time to spend with their families,
personal health needs and of course
to care for their loved ones.
Additionally, we enacted the one Fair Wage ordinance
with the support of a coalition to partners,
including community advocates.
From the One Fair Wage Coalition
and Women employed together,
we eliminated the sum minimum wage
for over 60,000 tip workers.
This reform boost the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands
of Chicagoans, primarily women of color
and support small businesses so that it encouraged people
to get back into the restaurant and hospitality industries.
And under my leadership, we became a safer city.
We invested in programs
and strategies that are proven to foster safe communities
and the results speak for themselves.
Since I've been in office, since I've been in office,
we have seen a decrease in homicides, shootings, robberies,
vehicular, hijackings, criminal, criminal, sexual assaults.
Look, it's a lot of work to be done,
but we are moving in the right direction.
I promise that dear my first term
that I would promote 200 new detectives
to the Chicago Police Department.
Well, we have achieved that
and we did it without increasing the number
of sworn officers.
And today I'm proud that by the end of the year,
that goal will be fully realized.
And promoting these brave men
and women to be detectives
has already begun to pay dividends.
Right now we have a homicide clearance rate of nearly 54%.
And again, while we have more work to do you all,
it is the highest since 2015.
So I do want to thank our superintendent Snelling
and the brave Women and men of the Chicago Police Department
for facilitating hard work to make sure
that this city continues to make progress.
I also wanna recognize our mayor's Office
of Community Safety, their impressive efforts
to holistically address the root cause of the violence
of the common goal of keeping our city safe.
In addition, thank you.
In addition to keeping Chicago safe,
we delivered on a long sought
after promise to expand our mental health system.
We are reopening a public mental health clinic in Roseland.
We are layering,
we are layering mental health services into the lower West
side CDPH clinic in Pilsen.
And we have integrated
and right on the west side of Chicago, we've integrated
mental health services at Legler Library.
It's the full force of government.
You all, it's the vision
for a better, stronger, safer Chicago.
We have made the monumental transition though,
from a Conder police response
to a full public health response for 9 1 1 calls
regarding mental health crises.
Now, this work would not have been possible
without strong partnership.
And the leadership of my friend and ally
and my sister, Alder woman Rodriguez Sanchez,
you know, this mental health system expansion ordinance.
It was designed and was created with a working group
and allowed us to make these new investments.
But for me, this work
to expand mental health access is, it is personal.
I often talk about my brother Leon, who is my hero.
He struggled with mental illness
and died addicted and unhoused.
And I believe that a real commitment to mental health
and treating people rather than
criminalizing these individuals who are experiencing trauma
that allows for lives to be extended on this earth.
I'm proud of the vital work of our care team that,
that they have done responding to families
and individuals in need
and we get them the help that they deserve.
And I want to take a moment to acknowledge
Tiffany Patton Burnside, the Senior Director
of crisis services.
You know, Tiffany has been such an integral part
of the care leadership team
and a passionate advocate for her team
and this program from the start, Tiffany has shepherded
and so thank you Tiffany, and to your entire team
to care team has addressed over 1500 cases
and counting
under my leadership, we,
we supported our residents in their time of need.
You know, after the West side was hit with an intense flood,
my administration through the Chicago Department of Housing,
we secured an additional $5 million
for flood assistance repair program.
This program aims to support up to 200 homeowners whose
homes were damaged significantly during the,
the torrential reigns in July of 2023.
And I'm proud to say that we are still moving full steam
ahead with these repairs.
This week. Fa Hobbins, a proud resident of the best side,
the west side of Chicago, will have work done in her house.
And in the past year, we've made it clear to Chicago
that we are open for business.
You all, we have worked hand in hand with government,
with government agencies, the state, the county,
world business, Chicago,
and the business community to usher in more than $20 billion
of new investments in the city of Chicago.
And this includes side quantum,
which will anchor the Illinois Quantum
and Microelectronics Park, um, which that whole campus
that will transform the southeast side of Chicago.
That place has le been left vacant
for the last 30 something years.
And under my administration, we finally deliver something
for the southeast side of Chicago,
the LaSalle Street investments that will convert, um,
four underutilized offices into mixed use buildings
and create more than 1000 new apartments,
affordable homes downtown.
We broke ground in Google's new Chicago headquarters
at the Thompson Center.
We celebrated the one year anniversary since the opening
of the temporary valley's, uh, temporary casino site,
which currently employs over 450 residents.
And we began construction on
that $1.7 billion permanent casino project.
We also celebrated renovations
to the JP Morgan Chase building O'Hare global expansion
and countless other projects.
These investments demonstrate the deep confidence
that business has in Chicago and in my admin administration.
This past year, we demonstrated what it means
to be a global city.
This summer, we showed the world why Chicago is genuinely
the greatest freaking city in the world.
When we hosted the best Democratic National Convention
brought over 350, $370 million to this city.
Even the press said, if it goes well, it won't be
because of him, but if it goes bad,
it will be because of him.
Well, guess what? It went well.
The city of Chicago made a promise to the world
that we would show up for the world.
So I'm here to say yes.
Sometimes even the press gets it wrong.
But in addition to an historic,
but not all the time, the easy.
In addition to an historic DNC,
we hosted major support sporting events
and countless, uh, music events and festivals.
And we generated more than $800 million in the
economic impact of our city.
And after a successful summer, I got a chance to travel
to London to continue
to strengthen Chicago's global presence
and drive new opportunities for investments
and economic growth and international collaboration.
This trip resulted in another pro Chicago decision being
made where perks a company that will provide access
to affordable healthcare services
to workers at not-for-profits
and micro businesses, they have chosen
to locate its first US headquarters right here in Chicago.
And in partnership with Choose Chicago, the MPEA.
We've seen Chicago solidify its status
as the best city in the US for conventions
with 82 total meetings at the McCormick Place
so far this year with more than 1 million attendees,
creating numerous job opportunities
and having long lasting impact on the vitality of this city.
And just last month we hosted the International
Manufacturing Technology Show, one
of the largest trade shows in the world at the McCormick
Place, attracting nearly 90,000 attendees.
This year we passed the cut the tape initiative
to fast track commercial
and residential development in Chicago
to get more shovels in the ground so
that we can get more cranes in the sky
because for too long we've heard that it is too difficult
to build in Chicago.
We have heard that the city needs to get out of its own way
and reduce the hurdles that that developers
and contractors face when they're trying to develop housing
and commercial properties.
And that is why last year I signed that executive order
requiring 14 city departments
to evaluate their development process
and propose solutions that will remove the bottleneck
and to accelerate review and approval timelines.
And we're seeing the impact of this already.
Developments are moving faster and the pipeline is growing.
For example, the time that it takes for a project to get
to the plan commission is down 40% from
131 days to 79 days.
And I want to thank the Broad Coalition
of development leaders that work with my team
to contribute to this plan.
The many developers, the architects, contractors, attorneys,
lenders, advocates, and so many more.
We kicked off this historic investment in our neighborhoods
with our people and
for our people when we passed the $1.25 billion
housing and economic development bond, the largest
economic development bond and investment for housing
and economic development in the history of Chicago.
This administration continues to make history
for the people of this city.
And this bond is a game changer for our city. $625 million,
$625 million going directly into small businesses,
community assets that are ultimately the anchor
of the neighborhoods across this city.
We've already used this bond
to invest in local businesses like the Austin Hope Center.
This facility will be anchored
by Lurie Children's, uh, clinic.
The building will also be occupied by thresholds
who will provide behavioral healthcare to,
to people experiencing serious mental illness, people
who are experiencing homelessness
and living on the streets on the west side.
And by investing in spaces like the Austin Hope Center,
my administration seeks to continue to close gaps currently
that exist in our healthcare system.
And particularly neighborhoods like Austin.
The west side will never be forgotten again, ever.
In addition to investing in our business development
and our commercial real estate, the
other $625 million will go
towards building more affordable homes.
I'm so tired of black people being kicked outta this city.
The Negro Removal Act has been a dec decades
of negligence for our people.
We're gonna keep building and preserving
and repairing homes across this city.
That is what the people voted for.
And that's what the people deserve
and that's what they're gonna get in this budget.
That's why we turned over vacant land so
that developers can build affordable homes in the 20th ward,
in the ninth Ward, in the 24th ward.
And additionally, my administration utilized a once in a
lifetime American Rescue Plan Act
where we relaunched the city's ARPA spending plan in June
of this year after careful evaluation of each initiative.
And I'm proud to say that we've doubled the emergency fund
for gender-based violence survivors to $10 million,
providing immediate unrestricted cash assistance
for those seeking safety and stability.
Thank you Stephanie Coleman. Thank you Jeanette Taylor.
Thank you Maria Hadden for seeing black women
with arpa.
We also provided vital maternal health care
through the expansion of the CDP
H'S Family Connections program.
We also were supporting artists
and arts organizations in need
'cause the pandemic wreaked havoc on the art industry and
provided we're providing much needed grant assistance
to small businesses and not-for-profits
to help sustain their workforce
and to build up their capacity Post pandemic.
And every investment that we made last year from youth
employment, workforce development, mental health,
community safety, housing
and home homelessness demonstrates our commitment
to investing in people.
And I wanted to be very clear.
I have to be clear, in this year's budget, we are going
to build on the progress that we have made.
Even in a difficult budget year,
we will not stop investing in our city, the people
who make the city thrive.
We will continue to invest in them.
And over the course of the past year,
our community engagement team worked
to actively engage residents during this budget process.
And we held four public round tables, one exclusively
for young people across the city.
We need to hear directly from people so
that we can make sure that
their priorities are in this budget.
And we listen to the needs of the community
and we use the robust community engagement process
to guide us when we develop this budget just
as we did in 2024.
And in this year's budget,
we will continue to invest in people.
We will continue to invest in communities
and empower everyone to be able to live up
to their greatest potential.
And that is why in this investment in this budget,
a $52 million investment will again be prioriti
prioritized for our young people.
We're going to increase the number of paid summer jobs
for our city's youth program by additional 2000 positions,
preparing our young people for the workforce tomorrow.
And in collaboration with Alder Woman Fuentes,
we will build upon the foundation set this year
by expanding the number
of peacekeeper positions within the one summer Chicago,
while also enhancing the My Shy, my Future website
and the mobile application to incorporate the tools
and resources of the Peace Book.
The Peace Book program is not only about hiring our young
people, but it's about enabling them to directly contribute
to the safety of our city.
I want to thank Alderwoman Fuentes
and DFSS Commissioner Brandi Kazi for their tireless effort,
the team work that they put in to make sure that components
of the Peace book become a reality.
And in fact, the 2025 budget, the work
of Alder Woman Fuentes
and the work of Commissioner Kazi will make sure
that the components of the Peace Book finally make it in its
totality in the 2025 budget.
In addition,
in addition to the one summer, Chicago
city departments will once again host student interns
and trainees creating a pathway for our young people
to find careers in public service.
And through an investment of $40 million in this budget,
we will see our capacity to care
for the unhoused in the city expand
by more than doubling the number
of beds within the city's shelter network from 3000
to 6,800 beds
through our partnership with the state of Illinois.
Our vision for a one shelter system where anyone
that needs help can find assistance, will begin
to take shape with an investment of $30 million.
We will continue to move households from temporary homeless
shelters or unsheltered locations into stable housing
through the city's rapid rehousing program
and accelerating our moving events.
Let me say this other note about this one shelter system.
When our city was under attack by the governor of TAC Texas,
intentionally targeting our city, this city rose
above the pettiness of nasty politics.
Not only did we show up for new arrivals,
we created a system that will benefit all of Chicago.
When 70% of Chicagoans who are unhoused are black, we need
to ensure that we create systems of care to respond
to the people who need the help the most.
Despite what Buddy did on the, at the border,
it did not stop us from moving forward.
That's the strength of this city.
That's the power of a welcoming city.
That's the power of an administration that understands
that we are not going to allow people
to separate and to divide us.
We're gonna come out stronger,
and we have with a single shelter system
that works for everyone.
But, but, but we know
that sheltering the unhoused is not enough.
We have to promote conditions
for making housing more affordable,
and we need new financing tools
to meet the scale of the problem.
And in 2025, my administration is committed to the launch
of the green social housing and innovative and,
and proven form of affordable mixed income housing
development that does not rely on federal subsidies.
Not only does this model offer a way to grow the pie,
it increases the number of affordable homes
that the city can create without relying upon state
and federal subsidies.
And because it is structured like a revolving loan program
by recycling people every few years, it allows
for new projects to go online.
And this program will be funded
with $135 million from the Housing
and Economic Development, Bo Bond,
making it the largest social housing revolving loan fund in
the entire country.
Chicago. We're doing it again
through this program, we aim to develop over 600 affordable
and sustainable rental units for Chicagoans,
and we can do it over the next five years.
Additionally, in the years ahead, we will continue
to advance the Once in a Generation modernization project
known as O'Hare 21, starting with the construction
of satellite concourse one at
19 gate expansion is already underway.
This will create over 3,800 construction jobs
and numerous contracting opportunities
for diverse firms of all sizes.
This administration will continue to work to strengthen
the mental health network of those in this city.
And by building upon reopening the three mental health
clinics in 2025, we will continue to build capacity
with those clinics as well
as hiring behavioral health telecommunicators within our
Office of Emergency Management
and Communications to ensure
that calls are triaged appropriately with care dedicated
to those who are in need.
With over $100 million in investments
and community violence prevention in 2025,
we will continue our work you all
to provide direct investments to communities
that are being plagued by violence.
The Mayor's Office of Community Safety awarded several key
community organizations with grants that, uh,
that are ultimately leading efforts to decrease violence
and increase investments in the areas of these sections
of the city that need it the most.
And team work Inglewood will lead our efforts in Inglewood.
The historic West side in A A CP will lead the efforts
in Austin and beyond.
The Ball in Little Village will work hand in hand
with my administration to make place-based
and people-based investments
through the People's Plan for community safety.
In addition, under the direction of our new director
of Reentry, Joseph Map, the Office
of Reentry will lead this administration's efforts
to reintegrate those
who are returning home from incarceration so
that they can experience support,
and they can actually have some dignity.
2025, we'll see over $5 million awarded
to community-based organizations
who are on the frontline doing this work.
And this year we saw the re-establishment
of the city's department of the environment.
You know, we cannot
afford to have cuts to key areas of our government
that will put our planet in jeopardy.
And despite the spending, um, um, spending the bulk of
of this year's staffing up the department under the
leadership of our chief sustainability officer,
Angela Tovar, she achieved, um, so much That's right.
Give it up for Angela Tovar.
So, so beginning in January,
the city will celebrate a major milestone
by transitioning its operations
to 100% renewable electric electricity, thanks to a contract
with Constellation Energy to power all city owned buildings,
streetlights Midway and O'Hare, airports, Jardine,
and all of the other 400 plus city facilities.
And we are not resting just simply
on these achievements alone.
Today, I'm happy to announce that through the partnership
with the Civic Consulting Alliance in 2025,
we will further de, uh, deliver on our plan
to reconstitute the Department of the Environment
through the delivery of a transition plan,
laying out the steps
to shift from more regulatory authority under the Chief
Sustainability officers so
that we can take on our full responsibility
to combat global climate change while healing the
communities that have been burdened
by environmental justice.
20% of the world's fresh waters in our front yard,
you all global population shift will continue to happen.
Whether it's through policies
or whether it's through GL climate change, the city
of Chicago can hold another million people in it.
We gotta return people who have been forced out
and we gotta make sure we open our arms for those
who will seek refuge here.
And I'm,
we are a global city with world class attractions
and festivals attended by people from around the world.
You know, the budget invests 3 million additional funding
dollars to enhance the cultural
and special events hosted by a Department
of Cultural Affairs and special events with an increase
of $1 million to our arts grants program
and D cases operational budget.
Over $9 million in funding will go towards supporting
artists and cultural organizations to foster
creative initiatives and to contribute to the artistic
and cultural vitality.
This city is known for you all.
We, we have accomplished so much this year.
The investments that we have made are, it's a down payment
of implementing the values I was elected to uphold.
And because we cannot talk about making lasting change in
our city without investing in young people,
we can't talk about long transformational
change in our city without talking about housing
and mental health and community safety.
These are the investments that will change this city.
When I ran for mayor, I said the city's fiscal position
was much worse than what was being forecast.
And within months of taking office, our budget team led
by Annette Guzman issued a revised forecast
that in fact predicted that we would face a budget gap close
to more than a billion dollars
or at least a billion dollars.
And we are facing that challenge head on.
We will continue to invest in our priorities so
that we can build a future that we all want for better,
stronger, safer Chicago.
We will not neglect our long-term obligations.
We will pay our debt and our pensions
and we will continue to embrace business
and economic development.
But we have to work with less resources right now,
but we really have to raise more revenue.
Let me pause for a moment to be very clear.
I stand here today before you with the absolute willingness
to invest in Chicagoans
and the willingness to make hard decisions so
that we can be fiscally responsible to balance a budget.
And we can do that. We can do that.
We can, we can hold the truth of investment
and being responsible.
They can exist meeting our obligations today so
that we have the resources for the future so
that we can continue to invest in our people.
That's the smart approach the city has
for far too many administrations have governed with this
veneer of fiscal responsibility when in fact they weren't.
But this is not our path today.
When we released our budget forecast this year,
we were faced with one
of the largest budget gaps in the city,
anticipating the depth of our fiscal challenge.
My financial team began working on ways to lower the cost
through budgetary efficiencies, while also identifying ways
to increase our revenues.
And therefore we made very smart,
timely adjustments to our expenditures.
My budget team asked every department
to cut their budget by 3%.
Not only did our departments meet that challenge,
but many of them went beyond
because they understand that for Chicago
we can pro provide a more efficient government while still
meeting the needs of our residents.
And city council. You all also stepped up. Thank you.
Cutting your budgets by 3%.
And of course, the mayor's office.
We had partners with our city clerk and our city treasurer.
We also cut vacancies where they weren't mission critical.
What does cutting vacancies mean to Chicagoans though?
It means that positions that are empty today
because someone retired
or moved to a different job, will not be filled.
It means that jobs we have planned
to fill will be eliminated.
It means that city, the city's workforce will have
to operate more effectively
and we will have to have, um,
we will have to have more lean
services face this challenge.
Any large organization has waste in the city of Chicago.
As no exception, our departments drilled down to determine
where there's waste or overlap.
We asked ourselves what can be done in a better way
for these measures alone.
We save $300 million.
To put that into perspective, those savings on their own
represented an amount larger than the general fund budget
of the entire city of Rockford.
And these savings are on top
of the 200 million already achieved in the 2024 budget
through the very prudent fiscal practices
that were implemented by my budget team.
And while some have called for extreme austerity measures
such as mass layoffs to address our fiscal gap,
these are not solutions that align with our values
as a city, it is our responsibility to provide services
to our residents, to business community
and countless visitors who come here.
Mass layoffs would hamper our ability to drive
economic development and protect our most vulnerable,
the people who provide and rely upon healthcare.
I want to take a moment to spell out to everyone
what Chicago would look like if we only use cuts
to our city's workforce.
To solve the budget gap, we would need
to reduce our workforce by another 4,000 positions equating
to a 17% reduction in the city's workforce.
We would have to reduce our police force by 2,500 personnel
or just under 20%.
We would be forced to reduce our fire department
by over 600 personnel dramatically lowering our ability
to respond to fires and provide lifesaving medical care.
Our streets would see garbage collection and recycling
and rat abatement services
and tree trimming completely limited
and less frequent as our sanitation department will be
reduced by 150 additional positions.
And the maintenance and repair
of our physical assets would be further hampered
as our facilities team would see in over 200 personnel cut
these cuts threatened to make our neighborhoods,
our residents and our our workers.
Let's save. I wanna be clear, we will not
have layoffs in this budget
and we will still raise more mo revenue to ensure
that we can keep up with our investments.
So here's what we did. We took a good look at our TIF funds.
My administration has spent last year examining every TIF
district and work with our departments to remove projects
that are no longer viable while still reserving funding
for projects that will benefit our overall city.
In doing so, we have been able to ensure
that every single dollar, uh, not used
for projects will be returned to all of the taxing bodies,
um, throughout the entire county.
Here's what this exercise allows for us to do.
Our TIF surplus will be $570 million
with $131 million being surplus to the city.
Over $300 million surpluses Chicago Public Schools record
amounts to other taxing bodies, including the Park district,
city colleges, Chicago public Libraries, cook County,
and uh, metropolitan Water Reclamation District.
Here's why that's important for our community colleges.
Since I've been in office 11,
12% increase in enrollment in our city colleges,
the number one subgroup of individuals
who are enrolling in our city colleges are young black men
sold the billions of dollars of investments that are coming.
We're creating the workforce
that can benefit from those investments.
In total, this budget includes over 400 million in
additional revenue, including enhancements
to our existing revenue streams.
And through the leadership
of the city's corporation council, we are cracking down on,
you know, these bad actors
and, uh, corporations that owe the city money
pursuing another $30 million
through the efforts of our law department.
In terms of revenue enhancements, my administration worked
diligently to find, um, these inefficient areas and our tax
and licensing rates that will raise revenue
for the city without overburdening Chicagoans, such
as removing the retail concession portion of the bag tax
to ensure that the full 7 cents goes
towards the city revenue.
In other words, your mayor is making sure we
get, we get all of our money.
And, and here's what I've said from the start.
I'm committed to protecting security,
the retirement security,
and upholding our pension obligations In this budget,
we are adhering to our policy to make a contribution
that ensures our unfunded liabilities will not grow further.
This fiscally prudent policy is projected
to save the city almost $3 billion in the future pension
contributions so that we can ensure
that our children are not saddled
with these long deferred costs.
And our workers can be confident that pensions
that they spent their careers earning will be
there at retirement.
Our city workers have their pension contributions deducted
from every paycheck, and they never miss
or defer a deposit in that system.
We must uphold our obligations as well.
And, and when we invest in our retirees
and our workers, it keeps our communities vibrant and alive.
In Austin, the neighborhood where my wife
and I are raising our family,
the local economy would e would,
would collapse if we did not have pensioners
holding up our zip code.
And that is why, that is why to ensure
that we don't lay people off to ensure
that we hold our obligation to make sure that we continue
to make sure that we invest in housing and youth employment
and mental health and safety.
That is why this budget currently includes a property tax
increase of $300 million to fund
and keep our commitment to fund not just our pension
contributions, but to fund the future of our city.
This is tough. It is, it is something
that I grappled with for weeks and weeks.
We didn't make this decision lightly.
I directed my budget team to look at all the options at
closing this budget gap.
And when it came down to either mass layoffs,
curbing vital city services
or an increase in property taxes,
I would certainly much rather tax the rich.
But I did have to make the choice
to increase our property taxes.
And I understand that today I'm asking families to lean in
yet again and do a little bit more in order to make sure
that their neighbors are not laid off.
And to make sure that we don't have
to cut vital City Services.
I know that across the city,
working families make tough decisions every day.
God knows that I do. And whether it's the cost of childcare,
paying utilities, certainly I know the challenge
of paying utilities and even going grocery shopping
and buying food for our families.
I know adding to those tough choices is not easy.
But this was the best option that I have at this time.
It allows us to move forward in a sustainable way.
This is the start of a multi-year process
that will finally get Chicago's finances back on track.
It is important to realize that one
of the reasons why we have made some of these decisions is
because our ability to raise revenue that we ultimately need
to fund the essential mission of city government.
It is limited. The city of Chicago cannot do this alone.
The largest revenue, uh, sources are either controlled
or limited at the state level,
whether it's personal income tax
or corporate income tax sale tax policies.
These are controlled by the state.
We need to continue to work with the state
and the county in a truly collaborative matter
to make our revenue streams more equitable.
And I have no doubt that with the strong partnership
with the state and the county that we can do that together.
Our North Star is to make the city's taxes more equitable.
This goal is shared by many, if not most
of the people in this room as well
as the majority of city residents.
You know, we are not the first, um, to take up this fight.
When Governor Pritzker led the the good
and just effort to create a graduated income tax in
Illinois, the federal government
and most states have graduated income tax
because it is the more fair and equitable method.
Higher income earners who have more ability to pay,
should do and pay more
and lower income earners should have to pay less.
It's very simple. The City of Chicago voters,
we said yes to that.
Our black and brown residents
resoundly voted in the affirmative for
that graduated income tax.
But unfortunately, a handful of
all too rich corporate interests lobbied against the
referendum and it was defeated.
This year. Chicago residents voted on bringing Chicago home,
which would've provided the much needed funds
to support programming
and operations to reduce homelessness in city.
The referendum would have authorized an increase
to the transfer tax
with properties over $1 million when they're being sold.
The referendum even included an inflator so
that the $1 million threshold will grow over time
because we did not want the homes
of just average working people in Chicago
to eventually be subject
to the tax just because of inflation.
And once again, once again, the efforts of the interests
of the ultra rich incorporation funded a
smear campaign which sold fear
and misunderstanding to the electorate.
If that referendum had passed,
the city would've collected an average
of 100 million more dollars in revenues
to fund the critical needs of our unhoused residents.
Do you know that the number of beds that we actually need
to really transform our single shelter system, the number
of beds that we need, the amount
that prevented us from meeting that number
was the exact amount of money we would've raised
to bring Chicago home.
And lastly, we did discuss extensively in the
2025 budget forecast.
Chicago's revenues from the personal
property revenue tax dropped precipitously this year due
to the expiration in estate law that now allows
for corporations
to claim unlimited losses against their positive income
gains resulting in a decline
of over $150 million since 2023.
So yet again, yet again, the interest
of corporations continue to get favored over working people.
And this budget proposal reflects the reality
of our fiscal constraints.
We will continue, of course, though the work
with our partners, all of them, our labor partners,
business partners, city council members
and other stakeholders to tackle this challenge
and to make sure that we have distributed taxes so
that the burden is not on working people.
And we can make sure that the entities that can do more,
that they pay their fair share.
So I welcome, I do additional revenue ideas that allow us
to make our obligations and make critical investments
and to protect our residents.
My administration takes seriously our duty
to make sure our revenue collection is equitable
and balanced as possible.
And that is why we passed an ordinance
to greatly expand debt relief programs.
This year we permanently codified the city's clear path
relief program and administrative debt relief program
to ensure pathway for relief from fee
and fine debt for those individuals
who are leased able to shoulder it.
It is why under my administration we have expanded the
utility bill building billing relief program, uh,
to three flats to further, um, uh, live out the goals
of the program and provide much needed relief
to qualified homeowners.
And that is why through our partnership with
Alderman LaSpada
and Alderman Viegas,
we will be implementing the water leak relief pilot program
to provide substantial financial relief
to residents facing unexpected water bills due
to these negligible underground water leaks
and we aren't stopping there.
Next year we will be instituting another parking
ticket amnesty program.
The 2025 amnesty, which my administration worked on
with Chairwoman Dow
and Vice Mayor Burnett to develop will allow residents
to get, uh, clean of their city parking debt penalties while
repaying the principle that they owe
with this proposed budget.
We are, we are balanced, but we're not just balanced.
We are focused on delivering to the people of Chicago.
We are making sure that we are providing working people
of the city with support the services
and opportunities that they need and that they deserve.
We are building a government that truly works for the people
because no longer will Chicago turn it back on those
who are struggling with mental health issues.
Instead, the city will lend a helping hand to them.
No longer will the city
of Chicago be dismissive about our young people
and the children who are the future of the city.
Instead, we are going to give them real jobs with a W2 so
that they can see opportunity and achieve success.
No longer will Chicago's neighborhoods be forgotten.
We are going to make sure that residents are not only safe,
that crime is ultimately solved.
We are going to make sure that our neighborhoods flourish
with more and more investments.
No longer can Chicago
and no longer will Chicago be a city
where folks cannot afford a home.
We are going to build, we are going to build, we are going
to build and make sure that there is affordable housing
for every single family who needs it.
No more disinvestment,
no more selling off our public assets.
I am saying no to those bad habits.
And yes to the future of this city.
We are, we are moving full steam ahead.
We are taking ownership of years of poor decisions
that have left everyday Chicagoans behind
and charting a new pathway forward
that actually invest in our people.
We are upholding our promise to the people of Chicago
to move forward, to move together,
to move forward with a brighter future.
The potential for Chicago is still endless
and I'm proud to stand before you today
and say that we are not slowing down.
We will not be complacent.
We will not turn our backs on the people
of the greatest freak in city in the world.
There is only one direction we're going
and that is full steam ahead.
Now look, it's gonna take all of us, all of us
to tackle these challenges.
The stuff that we've already done
because we've done it together.
We've already changed the course of this city.
This budget was, was made possible
by the countless city workers and leaders
and residents who informed this budget, guided us
through these very difficult decisions
and supported this mission to invest in people.
I want to thank our city department leaders.
Our commissioners steadfastly serve our city.
It greatly informed our budget process.
I also wanna thank this finance team.
Annette Guzman is a bad black Shut your mouth.
There's a, this
belief unfortunately in the ether that black women
and that black man can't count that we don't know how to do
the fiscal stuff even though every single decision
that we are making is because of what other people did.
One more time. Y'all don't even have to clap.
I'm just talking to my sister.
Trust you.
I come from a black woman.
I go to bed and wake up to one and I'm raising one.
I'm always going to bet on a sister. Thank you.
You our chief financial officer, Jill Roski. Thank you.
I'm sorry Jill. She also too is a bad mother.
Shut your watch your mouth
and to our city comptroller chase
to the entire budget management team for their hard work.
And of course I want to thank the residents.
I participated in the budget engagement roundtables
and the meetings voicing your concerns and your ideas.
You are reflected in this budget. You are.
It is my sincere belief that progress will not
and cannot be made without the people of Chicago.
And and it is in this spirit of collaboration
that we made tremendous gains in the first year
of my administration and we set our city on a path
to true equity and promising to never leave behind
black and brown communities.
And with this budget, we set the stage
for continued progress for years.
Years to come. Let us continue on this path
to make our city even greater.
I want to thank you all from the bottom of heart.
God bless you all. God bless the city of Chicago. Thank you.
This meeting will stand in research for the next 10 minutes,
But we're willing to have that conversation
Reestablish.
Thank you very much for your patience.
The meeting will come back to order.
City council meeting will come back to order.
Alderman Mitchell here. There go.
The chair recognizes Alderman Mitchell.
I'm sorry Madam Clerk. Uh, that's okay. We are done.
Thank you Madam Clerk, please continue with communications.
Communications from his honor, the mayor
to the Honorable the city council.
The city of Chicago. Ladies
and gentlemen, request the budget director I transmit here
with the fiscal year 2025 tax levy reveal the consideration.
This ordinance will be appreciated. Very true years.
Brandon Johnson, mayor
for referred the Committee on finance.
Ladies and gentlemen, request the budget director
of transmit here the 2025 revenue ordinance
that amends various titles of the municipal code.
Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be
appreciated very truly years.
Brandon Johnson, mayor referred the committee on finance.
Ladies and gentlemen, request the commissioner of Housing
and transmit here with ordinances authorizing the issuance
and uh, issuance of financial assistance
for the Casa U Yucatan Affordable
Housing Development Project.
Your paper consideration of this ordinance,
this will be appreciated by two years.
Brandon Johnson, mayor for the Committee on Finance.
Ladies and gentlemen, I transmit
with here the proposed 2025 budget recommendations.
Your paper consideration of this item will be appreciated.
Very truly yours, Brandon Johnson, mayor
for the committee on Budget and Government Operations.
Ladies and gentlemen, I request a budget director.
I transmit here with the resolution,
amending the salary resolution.
Your favorable consideration as the resolution will be
appreciated very two years.
Brandon Johnson, mayor
for the committee on Budget Government Operations ladies
and gentlemen, at the request of corporation counsel,
I transmit here with the 2025 Municipal
Code Corrections ordinance.
Your favorable consideration
of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Vary the truly years. Brandon Johnson, mayor
for the committee of Budget and Government Operations.
Ladies and gentlemen, request the budget director I trans
here with the 2025 management ordinance
that amends various titles of the municipal code.
Your favorable consideration
of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Vary two years. Brandon Johnson may refer the committee on
budget and government operations.
Ladies and gentlemen, request the budget director I transmit
here with an ordinance authorizing the execution
of an intergovernmental agreement
with the Chicago Transit Authority in Cook County
for the allocation of motor fuel tax funds.
Favorable consideration this ordinance will
be appreciated very two years.
Brandon Johnson, mayor
for the committee on budget and Government Operations.
Ladies and gentlemen, request the budget director I transmit
here with an ordinance authorizing the allocation
of motor fuel tax funds prevail consideration.
This ordinance will be appreciated. Very truly yours,
Brandon Johnson, mayor for the committee on
Budget and Government Operations.
Ladies and gentlemen, request the Commissioner planning
and development I transmit here
with an ordinance authorizing the execution
of extended service agreement with local initiatives.
Support core operation for the court
Corridor Manager program consideration this ordinance.
Be appreciated. Truly yours, b Johnson Mayor
for the committee on Contract Oversight.
Ladies and gentlemen, request the commissioner planning
and development are transmit here
with an ordinance authorizing a class speed tax incentive
for a property located at 4 55 North Ashton Avenue.
For Fayville favorable
consideration, this ordinance may be appreciated.
Truly yours, Brandon Johnson, mayor
for the Committee on Economic
Capital and Technology Development.
Ladies and gentlemen, request the Commissioner of Fleet
and Facility Management.
I transmit here with an ordinance authorizing the execution
of a lease agreement with GH Chicago IL
LLC or hip book consideration.
This ordinance via appreciated very truly years.
Brandon Johnson Mayor referred the Committee on Housing
and Real Estate, ladies
and gentlemen, requesting of commissioner planning
and development or transmit here
with ordinances authorizing the
sale of city owned properties.
Favorable consideration,
this ordinances will be appreciated very truly years.
Brandon Johnson Mayor referred the
Committee on Housing and Real Estate.
Ladies and gentlemen, I trans here transmit here
with appointments to various special service
areas, your favorable considerations.
This appointments be appreciated.
Very truly, your Brandon Johnson mayor
for the Committee on Economic
Capital and Technology Development.
Ladies and gentlemen, I trans here with appointments
to the Chicago Commission on Human Relations
or favor will consider these
appointments will be appreciated.
Very true. Yours, Brandon Johnson,
mayor referred the Committee on Health and Human Relations.
Ladies and gentlemen, I transferred here with appointments
to the Board of Health Haven, considers these appointments
to be appreciated by two years.
Brandon Johnson Mayor referred the Committee
on Health and Human Relations.
I city clerk Anna Valencia hereby informed the city councils
that a communication from Annette Guzman budget director was
filed in my office regarding the estimated year 2025
aggregate property tax levy I city Clerk Lindsey also
informed the city council that all those matters,
which were considered by the city council at the regular
meeting held on October 9th, 2024, in which were required
by statute to be published invo or pamphlet form, or in one
or more newspapers were published in pamphlet form on
October 30th, 2024.
By being printed in full text
and printed PAMP pamphlet, copies of the journal Proceedings
of the City council, city of Chicago I city Clerk Valencia,
also informed the city council, the ordinance to were passed
by the city council on October 22nd, 2024
regarding the refunding of a general obligation sales tax.
The Securitization Corporation Bond series 2024 in which
requested to be published in a span special pamphlet form
was was published in a special pamphlet form on
October 29th, 2024.
I City Clerk Valencia also transmit here
with the following miscellaneous communications reports
requiring city council action zoning.
Reclassification of particular areas were referred
to a committee on zoning landmarks building standards claims
against the city of Chicago, which referred
to the Committee on Finance recommendation
by commission on Chicago landmarks for approval
of technical amendment to Newport Avenue,
Chicago Landmark District Boundaries referred
to the committee on zoning landmarks
and building standards recommendation
by commission on Chicago landmarks for approval
of permanent application for demolish
of non-contributing building at 9 0 6 West Bolton Street,
which defer the committee on zoning landmarks
and building standards, your Honor,
that concludes the reports and communications from the
mayor and other city officers.
Very well, thank you. Now we have resolutions, but
before we attend to those resolutions, we do have a couple
of alders that wished
and have requested to make some acknowledgements.
The first, um, person is Alderwoman Harris.
Uh, she wishes to make an acknowledgement, uh,
regarding breast cancer awareness.
Month chair recognizes all the woman Harris.
Thank you. Uh, today I am really honored
to have a few people here from my community who, um,
have experienced cancer in a real special way.
Um, I wanna acknowledge them first
before I even start my remarks.
Uh, Yolanda Godwin, Mrs.
Uh, breast cancer survivor,
Mabel Wayne, Mrs.
Mabel Wayne. And
last but not least, Mrs. Mary Smith.
Um, all from the eighth Ward.
And I wanna thank these women despite what they've been
through, uh, they have still kept going
and never stopped moving.
And it goes to show that cancer, uh,
while you could have cancer, it could not have you.
And they've been surviving wonderfully.
And I'm so proud of these women.
Thank you all so much for being patient
and sticking around with us all day long here.
Uh, so I appreciate you all.
Um, and, uh, just want the body to, to know who they are.
But my, my commercial is for breast cancer
month to say, please get tested.
Please get tested. Um,
Yolanda Godwin is the reason why I got tested
after she went through her journey
and I followed her every day
and took her through her, her journey.
I hadn't had a mammogram for five years.
So in October, after going down through her journey, uh,
I decided to have a mammogram.
And below what did they find? Something wonderful.
So I got a gift from God. It was called cancer.
And it was my gift because it then became a journey for me
to tell people about how taking care
of your body is so important.
That journey took me to surgery and chemo and radiation.
But it's so important that you catch it early enough
so that you can survive cancer.
It doesn't have to be a disease that takes you out.
And I'll say that I was a fortunate one, uh,
that it had metastasized
and hadn't done some really other horrible
things inside your body.
So I beg you all to women to take care
of your bodies, get your mammograms.
For black women who have dense breasts,
they now have these wonderful tests.
I implore you to make sure
that you use what's freely out there for you so
that you can be here to take care of your loved ones,
your children, your mothers, your fathers,
your sisters, your brothers.
Um, and cancer does not have to be a death sentence.
So to everybody here who has gone through,
and I have several colleagues who have been
through breast cancer with me down here at City Hall also
that should tell their story.
Um, but I beg women how important it is to get it
so that I'm reiterating myself.
I'm gonna repeat myself a thousand times.
You can be here, you can live, you can survive,
catch it early, get it treated, um,
and do exactly what your doctors tell you to do
if you do exactly what your doctors tell you to do.
I'm five years out now.
Um, and so do what your doctors tell you to do.
I don't know how glad people are
and I'm still here, but I'm still here.
Uh, but thank you all, uh, ladies, for being here
with me to share this moment.
I appreciate you all taking time outta your days
to be here with us today.
Thank you, Mr. President. Thank, thank you.
Thank you Alderwoman Harris.
I know that Alderman Robinson, uh, wishes to
acknowledge HIV AIDS Awareness month.
Before I do that though, I do want to thank, um,
the older woman Harris, for her bravery
and her transparency and vulnerability.
Um, recognizing October
as breast cancer awareness month is an important part
of the overall education, the continual education
for our, for our city.
Uh, breast cancer is a second leading cause
of cancer to women.
Over 3 million women across our country have battled
and continue to battle this disease.
We know that regular screenings as older woman Harris,
has already expressed health education are important tools
to fight against, um, as well as provide you
with better treatment for breast cancer.
Early detection, uh, can lead to a 99% survival rate
for those that are diagnosed with cancer.
So we are still seeing those in underserved communities,
though those who are uninsured and women in black
and brown communities are more likely to be diagnosed
and, um, at a later stage.
And that's because of the lack of access to resources.
So as we continue to lift up, um,
awareness there in this month, that's continue
to put our arms around our women.
Um, you know, my mother unfortunately died at 50 years old,
um, partly because of heart failure and breast cancer.
So it's imperative that we continue to, um, educate, uh,
and motivate, uh, so that our,
our women can live and thrive.
So with that, the chair recognizes Alderman Lamont Robinson.
Mayor, thank you very much.
Um, let me, uh, first thank
my friend, mentor
Alderman Michelle Harris for sharing her story because,
and this body, when we share our stories,
mayor, uh, folks listen.
And unfortunately, we have to continue to, uh,
let folks know, particularly in the African American
community, how important our health is, um,
and what we have to do to, uh, fight cancer.
And so, uh, Auman Harris, thank you, uh, for
your steadfastness on this issue.
Uh, and hope that, um, our sisters
and brothers that are black and brown hear you
and share the information that they've learned today
to get tested, which moves me to, um, something
that is very dear to my heart.
Work that I have been fighting for
in the Illinois General Assembly
and now fighting in the city council.
Rates of HIV are going down.
Unfortunately, the African
American community still has high rates
of HIV infections, particularly with our young folks.
Folks,
Continue. I
want to thank our budget chair Chairman Irvin,
for asking the question,
where are we putting our funding?
We know that we have high rates of HIV
and the African American community,
but where is that funding going?
And so I thank my colleague for asking the question
and making sure that funding is going to where,
where it needs to be going.
And that's in black led
organizations that have been doing the work.
And so, chairman Irvin, thank you for being an ally.
Thank you for raising the question.
And thank you for making sure that funding is going to,
again, organizations that do the work.
As we look at this epidemic, Mr.
Mayor, we have to
focus in on why we have these causes.
There are
medications that stop this virus,
but if you have lack of housing, if you have
a lack of job, then you're
not focusing in on your healthcare.
And so as we look at HIV,
we have to look at the specific causes.
And so as we prepare to make sure
that we usher a budget
and the city council that Chicagoans can be
proud of, that we're not kicking the can down the road like
previous administrations, Mr.
Mayor, we need to make sure that, again,
we're not only focusing in on HIV funding,
but focusing in on the other issues that are attached.
And that, again, is education.
That again, is housing that again, is jobs. And so, Mr.
Mayor, I thank you for allowing me this opportunity
to speak to this issue.
And I look forward to working with my colleagues
and your budget staff to make sure that we're doing right
by the citizens of the City
of Chicago. Thank you very much.
And along with, um, you know, this body,
uh, this moment to recognize HIV AIDS Awareness Month, it's,
um, it's critical because the work to
end this disease still continues today.
There are more than 37 million people who are still living
with HIV AIDS around the world.
And this is due to the increase.
Um, the, the, the, the increase of educational campaigns
and groundbreaking research in medicine has certainly been,
um, a way in which we can, um,
inform people about the transmission
and the prevention of hiv aids.
But it does highlight the fact
that we need better support and resources.
Um, but it is, it is
because of awareness campaigns like this,
thank you Alderman Robinson.
Um, this awareness that allows us to reach more people,
particularly those who are most vulnerable and at risk.
So the public in general can continue to fight to put an end
to this, um, deadly disease.
So we'll continue to work to ensure that those families
who need it the most, that this virus, um, can be defeated.
So with that, I do wish to continue
to on with our resolutions.
And with that, uh, thank you both.
And the chair recognizes Alderman Mitchell.
Mr. President, I move for the temporary suspension
of the rules for the media consideration.
Very well here. No objections.
So we'll order, um, of course with,
with the time moving beyond the sort of the normal
allotted time, our resolution, uh, Chicago,
that we are honoring today.
But we won't read through the entire resolution.
It's, um, a resolution that is designating the city
of Chicago as a Purple Heart City.
And Alder Viegas helped bring this item before us today.
And Alder
and in Vegas has asked that he would like, um, to open
or do you prefer to close?
Alright, he prefers to close.
Are there any members of the body that wish to speak
to this re resolution?
Declaring the city of Chicago, a Purple Heart City.
Very well. The chair recognizes Alderman Raymond Lopez
Act, actually, Mr.
President, good afternoon.
Um, oh, yes, I would actually request that the clerk, um,
spend a few minutes and read the resolution in honor
of the gentlemen who have given so much to this country
Very well,
A resolution from his honor, the mayor, together
with Alder Persons Viega Lopez, Chico, Vasquez Silverstein,
Irvin Gu Gutierrez Nugent had in Lawson, Robinson, mit,
clay Hopkins, osha, Gardner, Conway, Poto, Fuentes,
Cruz MHA Worth, Moore Harris, Yancy, Mosley Dial,
Lee Rodriguez, Ramirez, Rosa,
and the city clerk, Valencia r as follows.
Whereas the Purple Heart medal was the first American
Service award or declaration made available
to the common soldier, and is specifically awarded
to members of the United States Armed Forces
who have been wounded or paid the ultimate sacrifice in
combat with a declared enemy
of the United States of America.
And whereas Illinois has lost over 30,000 of its brave sons
and daughters in past conflicts with thousands more
who have been wounded in action, who carry the scars
with them, including 1,789 Illinoisans
who had never returned home from the Korean War.
And 2,936 veterans from Illinois
who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Vietnam War,
and are honored the Vietnam Veterans Memorial along the
Chicago River Walk, and many more service members
who are all still accounted, unaccounted for.
And whereas the duty, the city of Chicago, to honor the men
and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice
and service to our country in both our words
and our actions to remember the enduring courage
and strength of their families.
And where Chicago has a long, longstanding tradition
of honoring the valor, valor of those
who have served in the United States Armed forces.
And the city remains committed
to supporting its veteran community through services,
events, and partnerships.
And whereas the mission in the military order
of the Purple Heart is to foster an environment
of goodwill com, uh, comradery
among combat wounded veterans, promote patriotism,
support necessary legislative initiatives,
and most importantly, provide service
to all veterans and their families.
And whereas the Military Order
of the Purple Heart has established the Purple Heart Trail
to create a symbolic
and honorary system of roads, highways, bridges,
and other monuments that give tribute to the men
and women who have been awarded the Purple Heart Medal,
including 39 cities in Illinois,
which are designated as Purple Heart Cities.
And whereas designating Chicago's a Purple Heart City
acknowledges the city's profound respect
for the sacrifices made by military personnel
and their families, and demonstrates the city's commitment
to recognize the bravery
and selflessness of Purple Heart recipients now there
for it be resolved that we, the mayor
and the member of the City Council, the City of Chicago,
assembled this 30th day, this 30th day of October, 2024,
proudly support the mission of the military,
order the Purple Heart,
and now officially designate Chicago as a Purple Heart City
to honor the sacrifices made by Purple Heart recipients
and defense of our freedoms,
and reaffirm Chicago's commitment, recognizing
and supporting the valor of those who have been wounded
or lost in their lives and military service.
And be it further resolved that suitable copies
of this resolution be presented to the military Order
of the Purple Heart, so the city
of Chicago can be properly recognized
with a Purple Heart City. Congratulations.
Very well. Thank you, Madam Clerk.
The chair recognizes Alderman David Moore.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Um, I definitely stand in support of this resolution
as I already had added my name to it.
And, um, before I get to these gentlemen here, I just want
to, um, in the memory of, um, Robert Davis
who passed on last week, um,
who was a com commander, Robert Davis.
Let me give him his right just due, uh,
he was the commander, um, of Dory Miller Post nine 15, um,
before starting
and, um, being over the, um,
Blackwood, um, post the Charles j Blackwood, senior
American Legion Post 800, uh,
who was very instrumental in making sure that
veterans had the services that they, um, need.
But also instrumental in what we started was the, um,
first South side, um, Memorial Day parade
to recognize our, um, veterans.
And it is so important to me when we talk about, um,
Chicago being a Purple Heart city.
Uh, it's critical, uh, as a son who of a Vietnam veteran
who beat into my head, always thank a veteran.
Um, the work you all have done
and, uh, continue to do, uh, has been, is just
unmatched and more over there.
What, uh, commander Robert Smith constantly say to me,
alderman, freedom ain't free.
Freedom ain't free. And that's how he would say it.
And it's not free because you all stood on that wall.
Um, many, um, gave all some,
but some gave what all.
And, uh, for those ones that gave all we remember.
But for you all who come back here to know what was endured
and what you went through, but also what you give back, um,
to other veterans who are struggling out there, making sure
that they have, um, the services that they need
and their families long sometimes
after these, um, veterans are gone, is, is crucial to us.
So, thank you, um, for your service.
Thank you, um, for your commitment
and thank you, um, for standing up on that wall for us.
Some, um, who do to this day may not appreciate it as much
as others, but I, myself,
and on behalf of the 17th Ward,
we appreciate it. God bless you.
Thank you. Chair recognizes Alderwoman Lee.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Um, I too rise in support of this resolution.
I wanna first acknowledge, um, my, uh,
my illustrious predecessor to well few, few ago, uh, many
of you know, uh, former Alderman Jim Bolser.
Yes, please give him a round of applause
as is in the chambers today.
Thank you for that. Colleagues, um, alderman Bolser, uh,
is a retired Marine.
Um, he served as, uh, the city's director of Veteran Affairs
before he was then called upon to serve, um, as Alderman
of the 11th Ward for, um, more than a decade, close to two.
And he's still serving it
today, I can tell you that for sure.
Um, he has not stopped for one moment, uh, serving those
who have served this country.
Um, and for that I'm ever grateful
because every day that I get to be with you, Jim, um, I know
that we're doing something positive for the men
and women who have served this country.
Um, I'm, I'm especially honored to stand in support
of this resolution, um, designating Chicago
as a Purple Heart city because of what that means,
the sacrifice that it's meant.
Um, and for all of you that are in the box,
and I'm, I'm sorry I have not had a chance to meet you yet,
but I will come shake your hand later.
Um, I really wanna thank you for your service and,
and the sacrifices that you and your families have made.
Uh, and for those who, uh, have fallen, uh, in the service
of this country, you know, we in the 11th ward honor those
who have served, um, in really great ways.
We have active VFW, we have great, um, McKinley Park,
American Legion Post, which is so active, um,
and we have multiple memorials and victory gardens.
And every time there's an opportunity to celebrate
and honor those who have served, um, our community shows up.
So for that, um, you have our gratitude for all
of your service and know that, uh, your sacrifices, uh,
are not in vain, that we stand here on your shoulders and,
and honor your sacrifices.
Uh, and appreciate you being here today.
And for all the work that's been done
to designate Chicago Purple Heart City. Thank you.
Thank you. The chair recognizes Alderman Matte.
Thank you, Mr. President. I too rise in support
of this resolution, um, to all the men
and women in the box, thank you for your service.
I come from a family of many who have served before me,
and, um, this is important.
This is very important.
As my colleague Alderman Moore mentioned,
freedom isn't free.
And, and many of us in this room have lost friends
or family that have served, um, allowing us
to very freedom we enjoy today.
Um, and lastly, uh, to my former colleague, alderman Balser.
Uh, Jim, you are a gentleman, and here you are still long
after retirement, working to support our veterans.
Uh, I've enjoyed working
with you over the years supporting the Road Home Program,
rush University Medical Center, Jesse Brown va, um,
for organizations I'm proud to partner with
and try to support and will continue to do so.
Well, thank you, sir, for being an
example for all of us here. Thank you.
Thank you. The chair recognizes Alderman Curtis.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Uh, I too rise to support and honor, uh, this resolution.
Uh, uh,
before, uh, I, I talked about this resolution, uh, a a a
as it relates to my uncle, uh, I, I must thank,
uh, chairman Harris.
Uh, uh, I want to thank her, uh,
for being a champion.
Being a champion, and fighting for breast cancer.
Uh, my mom, my mom passed away at the age
of 33 from breast cancer.
I was 11 years old.
Uh, which brings me to, uh, my uncle, uh,
who two years ago I received his purple heart.
Uh, my aunt gave it to me two years ago when he passed away,
uh, because he called his self taking care of me.
Uh, we always talked about it.
He saved a woman in, in Vietnam. I always looked up to him.
Uh, and we always talked about, uh, the military.
Uh, I always saw, uh, I always saw
a lot in, I saw his struggles.
I saw, I saw
government in those days.
I saw government in those days, uh, bring him
through some of those struggles also.
And that's why I fight so much.
Uh, I see a couple of, uh, you guys now
that come to my veterans events now,
and I talk about it all the time
of the reason why I didn't go into, uh, the military,
which I I, you know, I regret it today,
but to fight every day of what,
'cause I, I, I saw my uncle even lose his house, uh, uh,
which wasn't, uh, you know,
right in the Austin neighborhood, uh,
Psalm lose his house and everything.
And, and I don't feel if you made that ultimate sacrifice
to give your life no matter what, uh, when you made that off
ultimate sacrifice to go into the military
to give your life, I don't if you could pay your mortgage
fine, but if you can't, hey, you know what I, I,
I wonder what it looked like for you
would've been in the military saving that banker's,
parents' life, and you had to take their house.
Imagine that. And you had to make that decision
to take their, their house.
So I, I honor you and I will continue to honor what you do.
So thank you so much,
and thank you so much, uh, uh, chairman Harris,
and for everyone else, uh, that, that's fighting cancer.
My son right now is fighting cancer.
Uh, and thank everyone for their perseverance. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
The chair recognizes Alderman Irvin,
Thank Mr. President.
And again, uh, I want to thank the, uh, members
of the council that are actually, who have actually served,
uh, served our country.
And again, stand in support of this resolution.
Uh, one thing I I will say is this, um, growing up, I, I,
I didn't really have, um, an understanding of
what a Purple heart was until one day, a, a cousin
of my mother's, um, had Purple Heart license plate.
And there's something that, you know,
I'm a really a numbers person, so I have something
that I noticed, but never really understood it.
And so I, I asked him, Hey, what, what is that from?
What does that mean? And he showed me a gash in his arm
that basically he had a big chunk of his arm removed from a,
uh, from being shot in, in Vietnam.
And at that moment, it kinda clicked me like, man,
this guy almost died.
Or being in the military for protecting us.
And so that put a different spin
and perspective on what military service means
and what it, it did, what it meant, uh, to our family
and how we could have lost members
of our family in these various conflicts and war.
So again, uh, alderman Boser, we thank you for the advocacy
and all of the gentlemen who are are, are seated with you
for your service and for what you all have done
and what we have not seen.
I as a, as a citizen, I have not served in the military,
but I truly recognize
and understand the sacrifices that all of you all have made
to protect the very reason that we are here today,
to protect the freedoms that allow us to do
what we're able to do today.
So to our colleagues in the city council,
to the gentleman in the box, thank you
for your service. God bless you.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Alderman Conway.
Uh, thank you, Mr. President, of course, Bryce,
to support this as a, as a fellow veteran
and still active, uh, reservist.
It was, it was great fun and,
and thrilling to swap, uh, swap sea stories
and bunker stories, uh, with you all this morning.
Uh, of course, want to thank you all
for everything you've done to defend, uh,
freedom all over the world.
Alderman Bolser was great swapping stories this morning.
I showed him this bit
of scar tissue I have in my elbow from having
to crawl into a bunker in Afghanistan.
And then he proceeded tell me in great detail about getting
shrapnel pulled out of his back in, in, uh, Vietnam.
So significant raise on that, by the way.
Uh, so I wanna thank you all for, for the sacrifices
that you've all made that led to your, led to your medal
and, and certainly appreciate the leadership of, uh, of,
of Alderman baller, as well as the two, my two fellow, uh,
members of the Veterans Caucus in in Alderman Viegas
and Alderman Te Farro, uh, all
of whom are are proud
veterans of the Department of the Navy. Thank you.
Thank you. The chair recognizes Alderman Beal.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I too rise to support this resolution
and to thank you all for your service.
Uh, I come from a military family.
I had three uncles that served in the war,
and my brother is a retired military living in
Atlanta currently.
Uh, so I do know the importance of, um, the sacrifice
that you all have made, and we don't take it lightly.
And I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.
Um, and to really expound on the importance of knowing,
um, about veterans, you all,
we have started a veterans program in my ward,
and I really implore everyone here to reach out
because we found out
that there's almost 400 veterans in just my ward,
who doesn't realize the resources
that are available to them.
And so we're going door to door
and we're trying to, uh, find those, those 400 veterans,
just to let them know that there are services
that are there, uh,
and that government is there to help them,
and they are not forgotten.
And so, you know, alderman er was a champion.
Uh, I don't think there was a city council meeting
that we had where he did not stand up
and say something about veterans here
in the city of Chicago.
And so we don't have that presence today in this console.
But I'm gonna tell you, your presence is still felt, um,
you know, sitting beside you every day, um, you know,
at City Council, making sure you represented those
who were not here, but you represented
and you represented well.
And so from the bottom of heart, I just wanna appreciate all
of you all, but especially you, alderman Boston,
because you're still active today.
Uh, I know we, we still go to dinner once or twice a year
and, and we talk about old times,
but, uh, your presence is still felt,
and we're gonna carry on
and we're gonna make sure the veterans are never forgotten
here in the city of Chicago.
Thanks for all of you all, and the help that you have done.
Thank you so much, and God bless you.
Thank you. The chair recognizes Alderman Sdo.
Thank you, Mr. President. I too support this resolution.
Can't thank all you guys enough for which you did.
Um, my biggest regret in life,
and I always say this every time we honor veterans,
I never joined a military.
I was post-Vietnam.
I'm just guessing all the negativity
and all the things that Vietnam guys went through,
which I'll never understand why.
'cause as we know, and Jim, I'm sure you,
I know think you said you were drafted.
So, um, everybody, these guys were drafted.
Um, both of my grandfathers, multiple great uncles were in.
I lost a great uncle in World War ii.
Um, my grandfather was also a Purple Heart recipient,
and also he's a, it was a police officer
who was murdered in a line of duty.
Nothing to do with the veterans,
but they just wanna bring that up.
But, uh, just can't thank you guys enough
for all you all you did.
Once again, wish I would've joined you guys.
Jim, we miss you. But Alderman Viegas picked up the baton
frame and been doing a great job, uh,
for all the leadership when, when it comes
to veteran veteran things with, with our group,
unfortunately, I think, is there two veterans in here?
Three. We have three veterans. Okay.
We only have three veterans left.
I think there was one time we had seven or radio, so,
but thank for all you did.
God bless you. God bless America. Thank you, Mr. President.
You're welcome. The chair recognizes Alderman Wapac.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Uh, first I wanna thank Alderman Viegas
for writing up this resolution.
I think it's very important, not just for the people
that we're recognizing today,
and especially our former colleague, Jim Balser, uh,
and all the veterans here today.
Uh, but for all our family members
and friends who suffer every day or go through physical
and mental, mental difficulties with the injuries
or the things that they saw while, uh, they served
in World War ii, Korea, Vietnam, uh,
Iraq, Afghanistan, all those places that we send people on,
those that are often unheard.
Um, I think as the resolution so aptly states, you know,
we have to show our profound respect for you
and for the sacrifices you made in service of our country.
And I know on behalf of my family, um,
with the family members that have served
and those who have received purple hearts that, um,
we feel greatly for everything that you did.
Um, so our health, our heartfelt thanks to each one of you.
And I would just say to, uh, add a little bit to this.
Um, you know, if a colleague is looking for a place to
put some, uh, right placing of funds for
something that was done by a donor,
that wasn't a great thing.
Uh, you could donate to the VFW, you could donate
to the American Legion,
or you could donate to an organization like the Montford
Point, Marines Veterans Association.
Those are plenty of places in this city that, uh,
someone could donate funds to, to help make sure
that we continue to, uh, support people in, in any way
that we can, uh, who have served our country.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you. The chair recognizes Altman Napolitano.
Thank you, Mr. President. I rise to,
in support of this resolution.
Um, I think we all have a common thread here.
A lot of us have family that, uh,
is very strong in the military
and very proud to, to have done, to serve the country.
Um, I'd just like to say thank you from bottom of my heart,
from the 41st Ward, from the city of Chicago
for this country, um, for stepping up and saying, here I am.
Send me, um, it's a great strong representation
of your love, your dedication,
what you've sacrificed for this country,
and for that great American flag that we have.
And I wanna thank you on behalf of myself
and my family who passed.
My father passed not too long ago, extremely,
extremely proud, um, member of the United States Army.
Um, thank you so much. Thank you for your service.
Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you. The chair recognizes Alderman Gardner.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I too rise in support of this resolution.
Thank you, chairman Viegas
and each of the members of this body
who have served in the military and our guests here today.
Um, it's pretty obvious you visited us on a, uh, very, um,
enthusiastic day and, uh, as much divide that you may see
or feel in this room.
Uh, it's very humbling.
Um, or it should be humbling to know, uh,
that we stand here.
Everybody in this room, united
and thanking you for your sincerely thanking
you for your service.
Uh, you embody what it truly is to serve this country.
Um, you've put your lives on the line,
and I'm very grateful, uh, that you are able to be, uh,
to see and hear the gratitude that we have.
Um, so, um, thank you for all that you do.
And, uh, Jim, thank you for everything that you continue
to do for our veterans. Thank you.
Thank you. The chair recognizes Alderman Raymond Lopez.
Thank you, Mr. President. I will be brief.
I I just wish to stand and support.
I take it easy. Take it easy.
But as somebody who's the son, grandson,
and great-grandson of Army veterans,
and as someone who's great-grandfather received a purple
heart, I know what it's like, uh, to have that
burden in your family,
because that is a medal that's not meant to be an honor,
but it's a reminder of, of what you have, uh, put forward
for the country that you so love that we so love.
Um, so I thank you.
I thank Kevin for his dedication, uh,
through your office, Mr.
President for Office of Veterans Affairs
for continuously working for our veteran community here,
and to raise awareness through all our offices.
And Mr. President, if I may,
whenever the motion is, uh, correct timing, give leave
of the body so that our former colleague could
speak before the council.
Thank you. Are there any other auditors
that wish to speak before Alderman?
Viegas closes us out, seeing no other hands.
The chair recognizes Alderman Viegas.
Thank you, Mr. President and Altman Lopez.
You beat me to that. That was my last, um,
request from the body.
Uh, since 2014, every August 7th, our country
as a whole has recognized a Purple Heart Day.
The day serves as a poignant reminder of the bravery,
sacrifice, and selflessness of the men
and women who have been wounded or killed in action while
serving in United States.
And though the commemorative day is only 10 years old,
the history of the Purple Heart goes back
to the very beginning of our country.
From the badge of military merit, its predecessor,
and up to now over 2 million Purple Heart medals have been
awarded 320,000 in World War I, 1 million in World War ii,
including 2,700 Puerto Rican service members,
mostly in the 65th in in infantry regiment, also known
as the Voting Caners, 118,000 in Korean War,
351,000 in the Vietnam War, 12,000 in the Afghanistan war,
and 35,000 in the Iraq War.
Here in the state of Illinois, we have had three 30,000
of our brave sons
and daughters that have made the ultimate sacrifice.
We will never forget them and their service.
And this body made sure that we don't forget them
because in the chambers here, we have A-P-O-W-M-I-H here
to remind people that those, there are those
that served our country, but didn't make it back.
Well, purple Heart is more than just a medal.
It's a dedication to those recipients, their families,
and their friends, that we will promote their legacy,
highlight their unwavering patriotism,
and push for legislation that benefits them.
With those memories and stories in mind,
it gives me great privilege to be here today to officially
recognize Chicago as a Purple Heart City.
With this designation, the City
of Chicago reaffirms our commitment
to recognizing the bravery
and selfness of Heart of Purple Heart recipients.
A copy of today's designation will be shared
with the Military Order of the Purple Heart, verifying
Chicago status as a Purple Heart City, to all those
who have received a Purple Heart
or con connected to a recipient.
Thank you. Thank you for your service
and for giving everything you had
for our great city and for our great country.
As mentioned before, I would ask Leave of the body
to allow our former alderman, James Bolser,
private first class USMC, uh, to,
to provide a couple of words for the body.
Thank you very much. Leave has been granted.
The chair recognizes former alderman, Jim Bolser.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Uh, mayor, I appreciate you guys.
Almost brought me to tears there a little bit.
I appreciate everything
and my fellow Purple Heart veterans here.
Uh, you guys are my friends.
A lot of you have known me for a lot of years.
We did what was right for the country, and you did,
and I, the one guy at the end, Toma
Korean War veteran.
I wanna acknowledge you.
Sitting next to me here is, uh, Eldridge Johnson, who, uh,
came up with the idea about the Purple Heart City.
Want to thank you and acknowledge, acknowledge that
everyone else that I've known here, Mr.
Blue, the rest West.
Now remember my friend, bill Beavers,
the alderman that, that just passed.
Nicole, thank you for what you said. Good looking.
Tony Beal, pleasure sitting next to you for 17 years.
Me, you, and John, uh, Marty, Matt,
Ray, thank everyone.
Bill down there. You're not a Marine,
but you're still with the Navy.
I, I just wanna acknowledge these individuals
and everyone else who I served
with in the council, 17 years in here.
I know people think it's rancorous and this and that,
but we do a job or we, I did.
And you're doing the job now,
and I want to thank you for that.
Mayor again. Thank you.
You helped us with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial,
the funding to redo the memorial.
And I want to thank you again for what you've done
and what you're doing here now.
Thank you. Kevin Barza, the Director of Veterans.
Uh, thank you.
You've done a magnificent job, Kevin,
with everything you've done.
I really appreciate that for making our city
a Purple Heart City.
I don't know if people know this.
There are over 900 Purple Heart cities around the country.
The Purple Heart is our oldest military decoration
created by General Washington.
There are over 300,000 purple hearts
that were given out in Vietnam per wounds or death.
Here's some staggering facts.
I looked at, I know a, I know a lot about Vietnam
and I followed everything,
but there were things that I looked at about when I was
there at 18 years old,
33,103 18 year olds
were killed in Vietnam.
Over 8,000 two hundred and eighty three nineteen year olds
were killed in Vietnam.
We all had something in common
who were there when we were 18.
And I used to b***h about it to my friends,
could fight for the country.
You could die for the country, but you couldn't vote.
I never ever forgot that. Never. Not, not once.
The importance of voting and what it meant.
Finally, July 1st, 1971,
they gave 2019
and 18 year olds the right to vote again.
You could die for the country, you could get wounded,
but you couldn't participate in, in the government.
In closing, I just wanna say again, thank you
for everything you said about us
up here and remembering that.
And I joked around, was telling, oh, I got one Purple Heart.
I have three of them, but one, we were on a truck convoy
and, uh, they started mortaring us
and I had to bend down in the truck.
We were trying to outrun the mortars.
I had to bend down in the truck.
And the next thing I knew, I went, oh boy, what happened?
I got sh trapp metal in my rear end and in my shoulder,
and my commanding officer had shp metal
in his, his his arms.
It was like buckshot.
But I never forgot that for a long time.
I never talked about it. I never
wanted to say anything about it.
You just kept your mouth shut
and went about your business in life.
I got over that. And just being here
with everybody again means a lot to me.
And, uh, November 11th, the city mayor, am I right?
Uh, the Veteran's Day ceremony at, uh, soldier Field at,
I hope I'm right at this time, 11:00 AM Alright, good.
I hope to see everybody there.
And November 10th, uh, Ray, what's November 10th?
Or Gil, what's,
what's November 10th Best day
on Earth Marine Corps birthday.
Marine Corps birthday? I would've to say
that everybody again, thank you for what you've done.
And Mayor, thank you for staying here
and the pe, the alderman, the alderman
and women that stayed here, thank you.
And the people in the crowd too.
Thank you for, for everything.
And yes, Mr. Blake Moore, I would not forget you.
I would not forget you again.
Thank you, mayor. Thank
You Altman Boer.
So thank you to all of the individuals
who have joined us today.
Um, thank you to all
of the Alders who have brought this forward.
Viegas and Conway, thank you Alderman Farro
for your service as well.
And again, we have Alderman Boser
and Elridge Johnson, a a family member
that I just discovered today.
Charlotte Johnson, his wife. We got my cousins in the box.
Charles Lynn Lauder and Eden Puente.
Barry Wright, Barry Wright, uh,
James Terry Blue Mark Straw, uh, Richard, Rick Lumen,
Maureen Lumen, and Thomas, uh, Lozado
and Irma Cornier, which is the daughter of Thomas Lozado.
Thank you all for being here, has been expressed.
This Purple Heart Award, of course is, you know, it's, uh,
an award that reminds us the of the real sacrifice
that people make for not just this country,
but the globe wounded
and having lost their lives during combat.
Um, Illinois has actually lost over 30,000 service women
and men in past conflicts
and thousands more who carry the scars
of the combat every single day
throughout Illinois and Chicago.
We honor these women and men for their service
and sacrifices supporting our veterans through services,
events, and partnerships.
Um, that is why we are very proud to work
with the Military Order of the Purple Heart
and your efforts to build connections among the wounded, uh,
con the wounded, uh, veterans in combat, while also ensuring
that our veterans and families, particularly our families
as well, of those that have lost, um, you know, access
to many vital resources and services
and opportunities the way Ultimate Curtis has expressed.
So today we reaffirm our commitment to recognizing, um,
and building, um, alongside those
who have bravely fought for the freedoms.
And we will continue to honor, um, you
for making these ultimate sacrifices.
So today, um, we certainly stand in full support, um,
the mission of the Military Order of the Purple Heart,
as we are now proudly an official designate of Chicago
as a Purple Heart city.
And so with that Auman Mitchell on an motion to, uh, uh,
prove, uh, the passage of this resolution
with a rising vote, Mr.
President, I move passage and be, honor this
and let's, uh, in a, uh, rising vote.
Oh, um, we hear, I'm sorry, I'm hearing no objection.
So order, let's stand with a writing
vote rising vote too quick.
Yeah, it's okay. And we can clap too. You're fine.
Yes, yes, yes.
Thank you very much. Uh, you all may be seated.
I, I just before we get back to, uh, the regular Order
of business, alderman Mitchell, um,
and thank you all again, uh, for joining us in this box.
You, you are, you are free to stay or you are free to go.
You have earned it. Um, if you want to see the rest
of this meeting, um, you see, uh,
alderman Bolser is not interested in staying.
I don't, I don't blame you Alderman.
He said 15 years, 17 years good enough for me.
Um, so as they clear the box,
we'll just give them an opportunity to do that.
I
Speak to the mayor's office about that.
They, they, we'll get you.
Alright, thank you very much.
We will, before we return, uh, back to our order
of business, I do think it's appropriate just
to take a moment.
If you can just bear with me, um,
if we can just have order in the chamber
just for a couple more seconds.
All right. Thank you. I believe it's important
that we just bring up, um, at this moment, uh,
the re the recent, uh, horrific, horrific shooting
of a visibly Jewish member
of the West Rogers Park Jewish community.
Um, as he was on his way to synagogue, place of worship
and a place of sanctity
and the members of the Chicago Police Department,
the shooter also attempted to harm.
And so the, uh, shooting
of this visibly Jewish member as well as the, um, shooting
of a Chicago police department,
or at least the attempt to harm, I want
to reaffirm our support for
the Jewish community, um,
and the ultimate condemnation of the antisemitism
that is moving about in the city
of Chicago and around the world.
You have as a community, my commitment along
with the superintendent, that we will bring all
of the necessary resources to bear to address this act
or acts of violence, and to ensure that justice is done
to the fullest possible degree.
As the investigation continues,
let it be a constant reminder of why we have
to remain committed and vigilant
of protecting our way of, of freedom.
And with that, the chair recognizes Alderman Mitchell, Mr.
President, I move that We return to that hearing.
No objections. So order, uh, this is the portion
of the meeting, uh, for our committee reports.
Our first committee chair recognizes, uh,
the committee woman for the Finance Committee
Finance Chairwoman Doe.
Thank you Mr. President
and members of the city council reporting
for the City Council's Committee on Finance,
which held a committee meeting on October 28th, 2024.
The following items received a due pass
recommendation from the committee.
Item number one is an ordinance concerning the execution
of a redevelopment agreement, an issuance of TIF funds
for the heart of Uptown Apartments Rehabilitation project
at 44 31 through 41 North Clifton Avenue,
9 27 West Wilson Avenue, 900
through 9 0 2 West WinDor Avenue, 8 47
through 8 49 West Sunnyside Avenue,
and 41 30 North Kenmore Avenue in the 46th Ward in the
amount not to exceed $15 million.
Uh, Mr. President, unless someone wishes to speak on this,
I move passage of this item by a roll call, vote
Hearing, um,
and seeing no hands, uh, members please use, oh,
there are hands, my apologies.
Alright, the chair recognizes Alder Woman. Clay, thank
You so much, chairman, that will be my
hand that you recognize.
And I just wanna say thank you so much to my colleagues for,
uh, really supporting this project.
The heart of Uptown, um, is literally
what it says in its name.
It is deep affordable housing that has been in my ward
for over 50 years.
Um, and they have not had sustainable rehabilitation.
You all imagine living in the same space for 10
or 20 years without having deep investment
and allowing this to happen is really going to, um,
reenergize this space.
It's going to welcome families, um, into accessible units
and it is also coming from a viable tiff, um,
that has done a great job.
So I just wanna say thank you
to everyone for supporting this. Thank
You. Wo and Clay
is urging and I vote on this item.
That's what it, the chair recognizes. Alderman Irvin.
Thank you Mr. President
with the Alderman yield for questions.
Would you yield for questions?
Yes. Okay. Uh, there's been a yielding for questions.
Uh, alderman Irvin, your question, uh,
You would like for us to support this, ma'am,
I would love for you to support this, sir.
Thank you very much. I was gonna leave play
with you a little bit today, but
I'm gonna leave it alone, please.
Very well. Congratulations. Thank you.
Thank you very much. So it has been moved
and seconded by the Alder woman of the, um, 46 ward
that she is encouraging
and I vote so members, uh,
please use your EVO application
to record your vote at this time.
And so, um, if I could just ask for, uh,
just a moment here.
Uh, one of our, one of the members of the city council
has asked for the participation of the remaining
of the meeting remotely.
Um, is there a motion for Rule 59 to allow Alderwoman MITs
to, it's been moved.
Is there a second? Um, all those in favor, um,
signify by saying aye.
Any opposed, say nay.
Madam Clerk, can you verify Alderwoman MIT's,
um, attendance?
I'm here. Mr. I'm here. Mr. She is here. All right.
So Alderwoman, MITs will be added
as a remote participant with that.
Now back to the original motion members.
Use your EVO application, record your vote at this time,
We'll now call on those who have not yet cast their vote.
Alder person Robinson Alder person Robinson is a yes.
Alderwoman Coleman, no.
Alderman Burnett
Alderwoman Rodriguez Sanchez Alderwoman mi
Aye. Alderman
mi is a a An aye.
Okay, voting is now closed.
Earl, well thank you Madam Clerk.
There are 47 yays zero nays. This matter has passed.
Congratulations. However, just real quick on a motion
to reconsider the chair recognizes Alderman Mitchell
move to reconsider the vote.
Any of those, anyone in favor of the reconsideration
of this vote signified by saying aye.
Any opposed say No. The motion fails. You're all good.
Congratulations. All right,
chair recognizes Chairwoman Dow. Thank
You Mr. President. Item
number two is an ordinance
concerning the issuance of tax exempt housing revenue bonds
for the benefit of lahr preservation Phase one C project in
the 32nd ward in an amount not
to exceed a hundred million dollars.
I move passage of this item
by the first most favorable roll call vote
of the Committee on Finance report
and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider
Hearing. No objection.
So ordered
Item number three is an ordinance concerning the authority
to enter into and execute an intergovernmental agreement
with the Chicago Board of Education for provision
of TIFF funds for improvements at CVS
or Chicago Vocational Career Academy High School
at 2100 East 87th Street in the eighth ward in an amount not
to exceed 5 million.
I move passage of this item by the same motion hearing.
No objection. So ordered
Item number four is an ordinance concerning the execution
of a redevelopment agreement with an issuance
of tax increment financing funds to Revolution workshop
for space improvements at 34 10 West Lake Street
in the 28th Ward not
to exceed 3,000,714
$519.
I move passage of this item by the same motion
Hearing. No objection.
So ordered
Item number five is an ordinance authorizing fee, waivers
or refund for the Chicago Board of Education
and its contractors for buildings
and facilities used for public
or governmental purposes with annual reporting
of fee waivers to the Office of Budget and Management.
I move passage of this item by the same motion
with the exception of Alderman Riley
and Alderman Viegas who wish to be recorded
as voting no on this item.
Hearing no objection. So ordered
Item number six A is an order
authorizing corporation counsel to enter into
and execute a settlement order in the case
of Ashley Pfeiffer individually
and as the supervised administrator of the estate
of Joshua Beal and as the mother and next friend of JBJ
and JB Minor children
and next of kin of Joshua Beal versus the City
of Chicago office, Joseph Teresa, Sergeant Thomas,
and the estate of Ryan Kinsella in the amount
of $225,000.
I move passage of this item by the same motion
with the exception of Alderman Lopez who wishes
to be recorded as voting No on this item hearing
No other objection. So ordered
Item number six B is an order authorized in corporation
counsel to enter into
and execute a settlement order in the case
of Winman Chin versus City
of Chicago et al in the amount of $325,000.
I move passage of this item by the same motion
with the exception of Alderman Lopez Moore Quinn,
be Riley Nugent
and Spto who all wish to be recorded
as voted no on this item.
Alderman Gardner, would you also like to be, please put me
as a no as well, right, the ninth person
Alderman Conway would like to be recorded as a no.
Alright. EZ All Woman EZ would also like to be recorded
as a no all, um, hearing, no,
no objections despite the division. Um, so ordered
Item number six C is an order authorizing corporation
counsel to enter into
and execute a settlement order in the case
of Morgan Kendall Howard versus City of Chicago
and Marcus q Smith in the amount of $400,000.
I move passage of this item by the same motion
with the exception of Alderman Riley, Quinn, Scott
and Cardona, who all wish to be recorded
as voting no on this item
Very well, Altman, SDO, Alderwoman Nugent.
I'm sorry, the chair recognizes Alderwoman Nugent.
Thank you Mr. President. I was trying
to ensure I was recorded as a no on the Chen case.
Please. You were. Thank you. I appreciate that.
Okay. Would you also like to be added
as a no on this one? Uh,
No. Thank you Mr. President
Altman sdo to the, to be added.
Anyone else wish to be added as a no woman to
what looks like wish to be added as a no
Politano is that you wish to be?
No. Very well. All right.
Um, hearing, hear,
hearing no objections despite the division.
So ordered
Item number 60 is an order authorizing corporation counsel
to enter into and execute a settlement order in the case
of Germaine Harris as independent administrator
for the estate of Lee Harris versus Richard Zuli et al in
the amount of $4 million.
I move passage of this item by the same motion,
Hearing no objections. So ordered.
Item number seven is a communication transmitting reports
of cases in which verdicts, judgments
or settlements were entered into for the month
of September, 2024.
This will be placed on file with the clerks.
Item number eight and nine consists of orders
of authorization for the payment
of various small claims against the city of Chicago
and the denial of payment
of various small claims against the city of Chicago.
If there are no objections, I move
that these be placed in the, uh,
Hearing none, hearing none so ordered.
Item number 10 is a proposed order
authorizing charitable solicitation on the public way.
Tag day permits for Chicago, hopes for kids for streets
around Wrigley Field.
November 26th, 2024 through November 30th, 2024.
These will be placed on file with the clerk. With the clerk.
Mr. President, this concludes my report.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Very well. Thank you again.
Madam Chair. Now for the Committee on Economic Capital
and Technology Development.
The chair recognizes Chairman Viegas.
Thank you Mr. President, members
of the city council reporting
for the Committee on Economic Capital
and Technology Development, which meant on Tuesday,
October 29th committee, the committee held a meeting
and recommends pass of the following items.
Item one on the report is reappointment
to a special service area, the reappointment
of Juliana Monte Homan to SSA number 17,
the Central Lake View Commission.
I move for passes this reappointment
by the first favorable roll call vote
of the committee on finance and the associated
unsuccessful motion to reconsider
Hearing. No objection. So ordered
Items two through nine on the report are series
of ordinances, regard ordinances regarding the scope
of services, budget, tax, levy
and service provider agreements in the following, SSA,
districts SSA number 4, 23, 31, 35
dash 20 15, 47, 55, 56 dash
2022, and 73.
I move for pass that these items
for the first favorable roll call vote
of the committee on finance and the associated
unsuccessful motion to reconsider
Hearing. No objection.
So ordered,
Uh, items 10 through 33 are direct introductions to scope
of services, budget management agreements in the following
special service areas in the following districts,
SSA number
2, 3, 5, 7 8 10 13, 16, 18, 22, 26, 28
dash 20 14, 29 dash
20 14, 34, 38, 39, 42, 45, 59
dash
20 22, 61, 20 23, 62, 69, 79,
and 80.
I move for these items
by the first favorable roll call vote,
the Committee on finance and the associated
unsuccessful motion to reconsider
Hearing. No objection. So
ordered
Item 34 is a direct introduction to scope of services,
budget management agreement
and amendment to S to 2024, service provider agreement
and budget for special service area number 27.
I move for pass of this item
by the same f first favorable roll call vote,
the Committee on finance and the associated
unsuccessful motion to reconsider
Hearing. No objection.
So ordered items
35 through 38 are direct introductions
to the establishments of special service areas, approval
of the 2025 budget
and imposition of the 2024 tax rate levying the following
SSA districts SSA number 32 dash 20 24, 76 dash
20 24 81 and 82.
I move for pass of these items
by the first favorable roll call vote
of the Committee on Finance and the associated unsuccessful
motion to reconsider hearing.
No objection sole ordered.
Items 39 through 41 are series
of tax incentive ordinances.
Item 39 is an ordinance on a Class eight micro
property tax incentive for former US Steel Mill,
located in seventh
and 10th wards in amendments
of municipal code chapter two dash eight
and two dash 45 to waive various fees.
Class eight micro projects Item 40 ordinance
to support a Class six B tax incentive
for the property at 46 55 West Arlington Street.
Item 41, an ordinance to support Class C tax incentive
for property at various special various addresses rather for
HSG Belmont Clark, LLCI move for pass of these items
by the first favorable roll call vote
of the Committee on Finance in the associated unsuccessful
motion to reconsider hearing.
No objection. So ordered. Thank
You Mr. President. That concludes
my report.
Thank you Mr. Chair for our committee on housing
and real estate chair recognizes chair six Lopez.
Thank you Mr. President, uh, members
of the city council reporting
for your committee on housing real estate,
which held an in-person meeting on Tuesday,
October 29th, 2024.
The committee has a series of reports recommending passage
of one appointment and three ordinances, including two right
of entry agreements and one land sale.
The first item is an appointment to the CHA board.
Item number one is an appointment 2024 dash 0 1 3 0 6 8
appointment of Lahan Cobb As commissioner
of the Chicago Housing Authority, I move passes of this item
by the first Mor, uh, first most favor,
role call board on the Committee on Finance
and associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider
Hearing. No objection.
So ordered.
The following items from Department of Fleet
and Facility Management are
grouped together for convenience.
And, um, four on the summary of report are
for the First Amendment to write a venture agreements both
in the 42nd ward.
The, um,
the ordinance numbers are ordinance
20 24 0 0 1, 3, 1, 2, 9, and zero.
Ordinance 20 24 0 13 1 3 3 passage
of these items by the same motion.
Make your motion again.
Yes. Um, the following items from the Department of Lead
and Facilities Management are
grouped together for convenience.
Item three and four on the summary of report are
for the First Amendment to write
of entry agreements both in the 42nd ward.
The ordinances are, uh, ordinance 2024 dash 0 0 13 1 29
and ordinance 2024 dash 0 0 13 1 3 3.
I move passage of these two items by the same motion
Hearing. No objection. So ordered.
The last item is from the Department of Planning
and Development Ordinance 20 24 0 0 13 1 0 6 for the sale
of city owned property for use
of garden space in the 16th ward.
I move passes of this item by the same motion
Hearing. No objection.
So ordered.
Mr. President, this concludes
My report. Thank you Mr. Chair.
The Committee on Pedestrian
and Traffic Safety.
The chair recognizes chairperson lasa.
Thank you Mr. President reporting
for your committee on pedestrian traffic safety
for which a meeting was held on Monday, October 21st, 2024.
The first item is the re-referral
of oh 2024 dash 0 0 1 2 8 6 3 amendment
of municipal code section four dash 2 44 dash 1 40 0
to prohibit pedaling on portions of E East 79th Street,
east 75th Street,
and South Euclid Parkway to the Committee on License
and Consumer Protection.
If there are no objections, I move re referral of this item
to the Committee on License
and Consumer Protection
by the first most favorable roll call vote from the
Committee on Finance and the associated unsuccessful
motion to reconsider the
Hearing. No objections. So
ordered.
There were also four routine traffic
ordinances that passed.
If there are no objections, I move passage of these items
by the first most favorable roll call vote from the
Committee on Finance and the associated
unsuccessful motion to reconsider to
The hearing. No objection. So
ordered. That
Concludes my report. Thank.
Thank you Mr. Chair for the Committee on Police and Fire.
The chair recognizes Chairman Talia Farro.
Good afternoon, Mr. President Afternoon
for the city council reporting for your committee on police
and fire for which a meeting was held on October 25th, 2024.
There was one item before the committee
for which committee recommends do pass, um,
a 20 24 1 3 0 6 9, the appointment of Sierra Whitaker
as member of the District Council six District.
If there are no objection, your Honor, I, Mr.
President, I move the, um, passage of this item
by the first most favorable roll call vote in the Committee
on Finance and the associated unsuccessful motion
to reconsider hearing.
No objection. So ordered. That
Concludes my report. Thank you Mr.
Chair. For the committee on Public Safety
chair recognizes Chairman Hopkins.
Thank you Mr. President reporting
for your committee on public safety,
which held a meeting pursuant to notice October 23rd.
Your committee recommends passage of the FI following item,
resolution number 8 9 6 0 calling
for hearings on missing women in the city of Chicago.
If no one wishes to speak, I move passage of this item
by the first favorable roll call of the committee on Finance
and associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider seeing
No hands hearing, no objection. So ordered. Thank
You.
Thank you. That completes your committee
report for the committee on Thank you Mr.
Chair. The Committee on Special Events cultural Affairs
and Recreation Chair recognizes Chairman Podo
Running for a committee on special events cultural affairs
and recreation, also known as a happy committee,
which held a meeting on Friday, October 25th, 2024.
The committee recommends passes of the following items,
A 2 0 2 4 dash
0 0 1 2 4 6 appointment of Sharon Bush
as commissioner of the Chicago Park District.
I move passage of this item by the first favorable roll call
of the Committee on Finance
and associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider hearing.
No objection. So ordered
Oh 2 0 2 4 0 1 2 4 9 1
expenditure of open space impact fees
for improvements at LaSalle two Elementary School Turf Field
1 1 4 8 8 North Honoree Avenue.
I move passage of this item
by the first favorable roll call, uh, vote, uh,
on the Committee of finance
and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider hearing
No objection. So ordered
Oh 2 0 2 4 dash 0 2 4 9 5.
Expenditure of open space impact fee funds.
The neighbor space for development of
Winsley Parkway Community Garden
and east side of Ravenswood Avenue from Lawrence
to Ainsley.
I move passes this item
by the first favorable roll call vote
of the Committee on finance
and the associated unsuccessful motion
to reconsider hearing.
No objection. So ordered
Oh
2 0 2 2 4 0 0 1 3 1 2 4.
Expenditure of open space impact fee funds improvements for
Girthy Elementary.
I think I'm saying it right. I hope,
I hope I am school athletic
and recreational facilities at 2 2 3 6 North Rockwell.
I will pass to this item
by the first favorable roll call vote on the committee
of finance and associated unsuccessful
motion to reconsider hearing.
No objection. So ordered
Oh 2 0 2 4 dash 0 3 1 25.
Expenditure of open space impact fee funds the neighbor
space for installation of permanent infrastructure in
community open space
and garden at 9 4 7 West Cullerton Street.
I move passes this item
by the first favorable roll call vote on the Committee
of Finance and the associated unsuccessful motion
Hearing. No objection.
So ordered.
Thank you Mr. President. That concludes my
Report. Thank you Mr. Chairs.
Committee on Transportation Public Way
Chair recognizes Chairman Mitchell,
Mr. President members
of the city council reporting
for your committee on Transportation
and Public Way, which held a meeting on October 28th, 2024.
The following items passed
by the majority of the members present.
Page two, item one A, a mayor ordinance for the appointment
of Dennis j Monero as member of the RTA Board of Directors.
Uh, uh, appointment 2 0 2 4 0 0 1 3 5 3 9.
Page two. Item two, a Mayor oral appointment ordinance,
a mayor or a mayor, oral ordinance
for the appointment of JSON Medina as member
of the RTA Board of Directors appointment
2 0 2 4 0 0 1 3 5 3 8.
Page two, item three a May mayoral ordinance
for the appointment of Natasha e Jenkins as member
of the RTA Board
of Directors appointment
2 0 2 4 0 0 1 3 5 3 5.
Page two. Item four is a May oral ordinance
for the appointment of Nora Kay Ryan as member
of the RTA Board of Directors
or appointment 2 0 2 4 0 0 1 3 5 4 0.
Page two. Item five, A mayoral ordinance for the appointment
of Thomas g Coter as a member of the RTA Board of directors.
Appointment 2 0 2 4 0 0 1 3 5 3 6.
Pages three and four include 15 ordinances
for miscellaneous items introduced
by the local alderman from Wards
3, 20 23, 25, 26, 28, 35, 36
and 42.
Page five item one a resolution congratulating the CTA on
their DNC operations resolution
2 0 2 4 0 0 1 3 1 4 7.
Page six includes item ordinance
2 0 2 4 0 0 1 1 1 9 7,
a vacation ordinance for a property located in the 27th Ward
with regards to the RT a appointment of Thomas Terrick.
I have made aware, I've been made aware that the letter
that passed and committee contained a scribner's error,
namely an expiration date
of the July 1st instead of May 14th.
The typo has been corrected
and so I move that the date correction, uh, be accepted
and that's appointment be passed on its
correct corrected form
So we can accept the, the, um, amendment essentially,
uh, correction to the date.
Um, if there aren't any objections that part of
what you are requesting has is so ordered.
Thank you, Mr. President. You're welcome.
And I, I presume that there are folks who want
to parse out, uh, these items.
Yeah. No, not yet.
Yes. So we haven't No, we're good. We're good.
So we're just accepting. No, I honor.
We're just accepting the correction of the actual time
of the appointment, but there has been no motions for any
of those specific appointments
or those items to be passed
with the most favorable roll call
and the subsequent unsuccessful motion
to reconsider its failure.
But I would imagine that there are individuals that wish to
parse out these items.
So how about we do this? Let's go back
to those initial appointments.
Make your motion of those appointments for the RTA
and then we'll open it up for anyone who wishes
to, uh, vote.
Um, um, not in the affirmative
or anyone who wishes to speak to that.
So make your motion, uh, uh, chairman
for the first five items, page two, I believe.
Okay. On the fir on the first five item.
If there are no objections, I'll move pass of these items
by the first More favor, roll call vote on committee on
finance and unsuccessful motion to reconsider
Very well, the chair recognizes Altman Waba.
Uh, thank you Mr. President.
I was just going to ask if you were gonna, uh,
separate those votes, but, um, I just wanna say, uh,
there were some excellent appointees to this RTA board, um,
that we had good discussion with during the, uh,
committee meeting, and some of them
provided excellent, uh, responses that I think, uh,
are really big change from what we originally saw.
And I just want to commend you for those appointees.
However, I, I would like to be recorded as voting though on
item SA 20 24 0 0 1 3 5 3 8
or, uh, Medina as member of the RTA Board.
Thank you. Very well, thank you.
Are there any other, uh,
the chair recognizes Alderman David Moore.
Thank you. Um, Mr. President as I, I spoke in committee
and after, um, listening to all of them,
but also, um, knowing several of them, um, I, I wanted
to commend you on the selection of, um, those appointees.
Mr. Mayor was a representative of number one,
what our city looked like,
but not only from that standpoint, um,
it was a representation of people who had knowledge,
but also people who have compassion as well.
And I was, um, more than happy, um, to support that group
of appointees to the RTA board.
I, I, I stressed in the committee, as you look at that,
continue to use that as a, if you will, uh, benchmark to
what we really need, um, in this city in terms of, you know,
um, um, the right type of people
that we need in these spaces.
And so, uh, with that, I, I, I really wish my colleagues,
um, you know, um, um, support this whole, um, slate.
I think there are people who are gonna have some independent
voices as well as, um, try to do what's best, uh,
for our constituents who ride, um, you know,
the CTA pace, uh, and mattress.
So, um, thank you so much for those appointments
and I, I wanna commend joining.
Thank you. Are the, and are there any other orders
that wish to speak to these, these items?
Chair, the chair recognizes Alman. Raymond Lopez.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I just have a a point of order on this.
Are, is the motion to vote on all five together? That
Is correct. With
the ability to, uh, vote no on any one of those,
uh, five items of which ultimate wack is PAC is
already expressed to his interest. So,
Mr. President, I think
there's only one individual
that I think people are trying to vote no on.
So, um, perhaps we should divide the question so
that the four are voted in unison. And the one
I think I, I appreciate the, um, logistical, uh, dynamics
that you're wishing to solve, but I, I trust
that our clerk's department can make that delineation.
We can still take all of them up at once
and still make the delineation
Where people, but the mr President, there's no such thing
as letting the clerk delineate that I move
to divide the question.
So that appointment of Roc
and Medina is separated from the other four, other four,
It's fine, mean, I dunno.
It's fine. It's, it's fine.
Unless this body wishes according to the rules
to actually vote on the delineation
or the dividing of the particular individuals.
Um, if there are no objections, um, I'll accept that as a
friendly clarification to what we are already doing.
Okay. So they will be separated out. Okay, so let's do this.
Let's, uh, which item is which item?
Which item number is this particular
individual? Are they the first item?
No, Mr. President, it's, it's, it's the second item.
It's the second item. So why don't we make our motion
if there presumably that there are no other people
who will record a no on the other four.
Let's make a motion then.
Let's redo your motion for the four.
Let's separate out, divide the question
for item number two. Chair.
Mr. Present, if there are no objections for, if
there are no objections for item one, item three,
item four or item five.
I move passes of the items by the first most favor.
Roll call vote of the committee on finance
and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider
Very well. So
we'll try this one more time just
to make sure that there are no objections.
Hearing none sole ordered.
Now make a motion for the second item.
Uh, if there are no objections to item two,
I move passion of these items by the first most favor.
Roll call vote on the committee on
Unfinance the unsu successful sec.
Associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
Very well. There's been a motion to, um,
approve item number two.
There's been a request for a roll call.
Both the chair recognizes alderman ada.
Thank you very much Mr. President.
I was not at transplantation
and public way was a very crowded committee agenda
and I know that there have been questions related to
the appointment of religious leaders
to the RTA board over the past few months.
I have raised some of those questions
and I will say today I do not have questions
or concerns related to what
Reverend Medina brings to this board.
And I say this as someone
who has known him throughout my tenure in office,
I've had an opportunity to serve with him, to lead
with him, to pray with him.
And I would say like, I understand some of the comments
that he made in committee,
but I do believe that he brings traits
and values that we could say are underrepresented at times
on the RTA board.
I think his, I think his work around fiscal responsibility
for the institution that he serves is deeply valuable
for the RTA board.
I think the work I've seen him do
around community engagement,
genuine community engagement is deeply valuable
for the RTA board and I'm glad to support him today.
I'll say however the vote goes should he end up serving,
I will personally commit to using my relationship
with Mr. Medina to communicate the first words, concerns
and needs where public transit is concerned. Thank you Mr.
Very well, thank you. There are any other orders
that wish to speak to this item?
The roll call vote, uh, is, is has been requested.
Uh, members of the city council,
please use your EVO application
to cash your vote at this time.
Mm-Hmm,
There we go. Voting
is now open.
Please mark your vote through your electronic devices.
Okay, I will now call on those
who have not yet cast their vote.
Alder person Robinson Alder person.
Yancy Alderwoman
Coleman Alderman.
OSHA Alderman. OSHA is a no. Alderman.
Moseley Alder person.
Fuentes Alderman Burnett
Alder person Rodriguez Sanchez.
Alderwoman. MITs
alderman MITs is a no Alderwoman.
MITs is a no. Alderman Vasquez.
Sorry. Alderman Vasquez is a no. Okay.
Everyone has voted Who is in chambers? Voting is now closed.
There are 18 yays 25 Nays. This motion fails.
Chair recognizes Alderman Mitchell,
just you move on to the next item, please.
Well, Mr. President, that actually is the, my final.
So this concludes my
Report. Thank you very
much Mr. Chair. The last committee.
Committee on zoning and landmarks and building standards.
The chair recognized chair.
The chair recognizes Alderman Riley.
Thank you Mr. President. I'm just checking
to see if we needed a vote to reconsider those last items.
The last item, uh, it's not required.
Okay. The chair recognizes the vice chair, uh,
Lawson for zoning, landmark and building standards.
Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. President. Afternoon.
Members of the council presenting a series of reports
for the committee on zoning landmarks
and building standards, which held the meeting on
October 29th, 2024.
These reports are grouped for convenience.
The following items were passed by a majority of members.
Present. Page one contains mayor oral text amendment oh
2024 dash 0 0 1 2 4 2 7
that modifies regulations
for signs within the Michigan Avenue
and State Street Special signed district.
I move passage of this item
by the last most favorable roll call vote
of the finance committee report
and the associated unsuccessful
motion to reconsider hearing.
No objection. So ordered
Page one also contains mayoral text amendment oh 2024 dash
0 1 2 4 2 8 that amends the use of funds
for administrative reporting
and monitoring of the citywide Adopt a landmark fund.
I move passage of this item by the same motion.
If there is no objection, hearing
None so ordered.
Page one also contains text amendment oh 2024 dash
0 0 1 2 4 1 8 That amends permitting
for urban farm operations in the DC
and DX zoning designations.
And we'll pass it by this item by the same motion.
If there is no objection, hearing
None so ordered.
Moving on. Pages one
through 11 contain various map amendments in the first,
third, eighth, 12th, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th,
29th, 32nd, 33rd, 34th, 36th,
39th, 40th, 42nd, 43rd, 44th, 47th,
48th, 49th, and 50th wards.
I move passage of these items by the same motion.
If there is no objection,
Hearing none so ordered.
Lastly, page 12 contains various large signs over 100
square feet in area 24 feet above grade in the eighth, 11th,
12th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 32nd, 33rd,
34th, 42nd, 44th, and 45th wards.
I move passage of these items
by the same motion. If there is no objection,
No objections, hearing none so ordered. Thank
You Mr. President. That
concludes my
Report. Thank you Mr. Vice Chair.
Therefore the agreed upon calendar
chair recognizes for the agreed upon calendar.
The chair recognizes Alderwoman Harris.
Thank you. I received from
city clerk Andrea
and Valencia, a total of 85 items proposed
with the agreed upon calendar consisting
of congratulatory commemorative
atory resolutions from the following, all the persons,
all the person hall or the person Harris or person Lopez
or the person call me or the person Tobar
or the person Viegas
and all the person silver oversee,
I move them in the omnibus hearing.
No objection. So ordered. Thank you.
Now for new business,
the clerk will call the wards beginning with the 50th ward
Zoning amendments which are referred
to the Committee on zoning landmarks
and building standards, traffic regulations,
traffic control signals and traffic science,
which are referred to the Committee on Pedestrian
and Traffic Safety exemption from physical barrier
requirements for commercial driveway alley access
to parking facilities which are referred
to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alder person Silverstein has proposed ordinance
for amendment of municipal code section four dash 60 dash
0 23 to allow additional package with licenses on portions
of North Kie Avenue, which is referred
to the Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
All the person hadn't has a proposed ordinance
for a transfer of funds within the 49th Ward.
Alderman expense account for the year 2024,
which is referred to the committee on the budget
and Government Operations all the person had
and also has a proposed ordinance for the transfer
of funds within the Committee on Economic Committee on
Environmental Protection and Energy for the year 2024,
which is referred to the committee on the budget
and Government Operations.
All the person Lawson has a proposed ordinance for amendment
of municipal code Title four
by modifying chapters four dash 13
and four dash 14 regarding short term shared housing
and vacation rental regulations, fees
and prohibitions, which is referred
to the Committee on License and Consumer
Protection Alder person.
Lawson also has proposed ordinance for amendment
of municipal code chapter seven dash 38
by replacing section seven dash 38 dash one 10 in its
entirety regarding mobile food vendor prohibited locations
and equipment which is referred
to the Committee on Transportation and Public wa.
All the person Wapac has proposed ordinance for amendment
of municipal code section 17 dash 13 dash 1 0 0 3 dash M,
allowing shared housing units in non-conforming owner
occupied dwelling units in M districts, which is referred
to committee on zoning landmarks and building standards.
All the person WA spec also has a proposed order
for the issuance of permits for signed sign boards at 10 30
West North Avenue, which is referred
to committee on zoning landmarks and building standards.
All the person RO has a proposed ordinance for amendment
of municipal code section eight dash four dash two 70
prohibiting posting of any notice
or advertisement upon any garage which is referred
to C on license and consumer protection.
All the person Rodriguez has proposed during this
for amendment of municipal code section nine dash 64 dash
2 0 6, relocating parking meters from 2,600
through 26 11 South Kaminski Avenue to 25 58
through 25 47 South Karloff Avenue, which is referred
to the Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety.
All the person Mosley has proposed orders for amendment
of municipal code section four dash 2 44 dash one 40
that prohibit pedaling in the 21st ward, which is referred
to the Committee on license Consumer Protection.
All person Quinn has proposed orders for the issuance
of permits for signed sign boards at 44 39 West 63rd Street,
which are referred to the committee
as zoning landmarks and building standards.
Older person Robinson has proposed ordinance
for a fee waiver of all permits related
to the Metropolitan Pier
and exposition authority renovation of the Hyatt,
of the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, which is referred
to the Committee on Finance and Consumer Protection.
Your Honor, that concludes the presentation
of all thematic introductions.
Thank you very much. The approval of the journal,
uh, alderman Mitchell.
I'm not aware of any corrections
to the journal from the October 9th, 2024
meeting and move it be approved
Hearing, no objections.
So ordered for unfinished business. Alderman Mitchell.
I'm not aware of any unfinished business.
Thank you very much. Now
for miscellaneous business Alderman Mitchell,
I am aware of one piece of miscellaneous business.
It is the budget resolution
and it was filed by Chairman Irvin. I defer to him
Very well. The chair
recognizes Chairman Irvin.
Thank you Mr. President. I
provided the clerk, uh, with the proposed resolution
provided for publication and setting the date
and time of the necessary hearing on the budget
and has the resolution be read.
Thank you. Uh, Mr.
Clerk, please read the, read the resolution,
Whereas Mayor Brandon Johnson on October 30th, 2024
submitted to the city council, the executive budget
of the city of Chicago for the fiscal year,
beginning January 1st, 2025 and ending December 31st, 2025.
And whereas it is provided by law
that at least one public hearing shall be held
by the corporate authorities on the budget document,
not less than one week after publication thereof in such
manner as the corporate authorities may determine
and prior to final action thereon.
And whereas it is provi, it is further
provided by law that notice of such hearing shall be given
by publication in a newspaper,
having general circulation in the city of Chicago,
not less than one week prior to the time of such hearing.
Now therefore be it resolved that the budget document
for the fiscal year, beginning January 1st, 2025,
and ending December 31st, 2025, estimated by the mayor
to the city council, be published in pamphlet form
and made available for public inspection in the office
of the city clerk no later than November 4th, 2024,
and be a further resolved
that the public hearing onset budget document be held
by the city council at 11:30 AM on December 2nd, 2024.
And the city council chamber and city hall
and the city clerk has hereby directed the cause.
A notice of such hearing to be published in a newspaper,
having general circulation in the city
of Chicago at least one week prior
to the time of such public hearing.
Thank you very much, Mr. Clerk. Chairman Irvin.
Mr. President, I move for the temporary suspension
of the rules for the admitted consideration
of the resolution hearing.
No objection. So ordered.
I'm move to adopt this resolution by voice. Vote very
Well. All those in favor signify
by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed?
Say No. The ayes have it. This resolution is passed.
Altman Mitchell. And the motion to reconsider move
To reconsider The vote. All
those in favor of the motion
to reconsider sign signify by saying Aye.
All those opposed say no. The motion fails.
Chairman Imit Irvin.
Thank you. Uh, budget, hearing schedule is available.
I have had passed out along with the resolution, uh, for
hearings, which shall begin on
November 6th at noon, 12 noon.
Here in the council chamber, uh,
that day we will provide a, uh, lunch.
It will be an, uh, Asian and infuse soul food brunch.
And so we will see each
and every one of you on the sixth,
bright eyed and bushy tail.
We will provide the orange juice.
You can choose to bring champagne or vodka.
So welcome to 2025 budget season.
I now move. We return to the regular order of business
Hearing. No objection. So
ordered Alderman Mitchell.
Except for the order setting.
The date and time of the next meeting.
I'm not aware of any further miscellaneous b***h. Very
Well for the date and time of the
next meeting, alderman Mitchell,
I've handed up an ordinance
to the clerk stating the date and the time for the next meeting.
You Notre Dame by the City Council of the City of Chicago,
section one, that the next regular meeting
of the city council of the City
of Chicago shall be held on Monday, December 2nd, 2024,
beginning at 10:00 AM in the council chambers on the second
floor in City Hall 1 21 North LaSalle Street, Chicago,
Illinois, section two.
This ordinance shall take effect and reinforce from
and after its passage.
Very well. Before we move for the passage
of this in the omnibus, I do wish to recognize
Alderwoman Harris, who wishes to speak to, um, um,
I guess an exciting but perhaps maybe sad day.
A sad day. Um, Leva Parnell, who has been here forever,
been, uh, has decided to retire.
And so just want to thank him for his years of Levada.
Are you in here? He's retiring.
Today is his la tomorrow is his last day off.
And so Levada Levada,
um, I'm super for you.
Definitely. I particularly wanna say thank you to Levada,
who's Reverend Levada, who often tells me, alderman,
you need to get control yourself.
So thank you Levada
for being my conscious when I need it.
And thank you for all your hard work and commitment
and always doing your job with a smile.
And I like leaving the body to acknowledge, uh,
let Alderman Podo make a statement.
Thank you very much. Leave his granted the chair
recognizes Alderman Pdo
Aman Gardner. Mr. President,
can I get a little help
Over here? Yes. Alman Gardner.
Yeah, go.
Thank you guys. Yes. Very well.
I, I didn't, I didn't know I was being
called on, but I just, oh,
Well you are on the spot now, sir.
I don't know what's up. Me All right. Elevator.
I don't have any food elevator. Sorry.
Okay, I gotta go to my office for that. Okay.
Elevator been a pleasure working for all the years,
believe it or not, you're kind of a funny guy to me.
I always loved the way you protected the food for us
and made sure you were the first guy in line
to get food then after that.
So always gotta chuckle outta that.
But 13 and a half years, who would've thought, here we are.
So just enjoy your retirement. Um, you're awesome.
You know, you always looked out for us.
I know things have totally changed from when I first met you
13 and a half years ago to now you're getting a,
a big blessing to not be part of this craziness anymore.
So I wish you the best, uh, happy retirement
and, uh, don't be a stranger. Thank
You, Almanza.
Thank you for that recognition. Thank you, sir.
I appreciate how you just turned this into a one person
parade and, uh, didn't get a permit
for that, but that's okay.
I do. Before we pass, uh, alderman Mitchell, I do want
to thank Al Alderwoman, Sam Nugent.
Um, our, uh, pro temp, uh, I don't think she might have.
Um, uh, there she is. Alderwoman Sam Nugent.
Thank you for presiding over a city council meeting,
particularly during public comments.
Appreciate for your leadership. Thank you very much. Yes.
And then finally, this was a request that was asked earlier
to all the, to all the alderman.
Uh, the budget books will be distributed
by the council service desk, um, as you leave out.
That's in room 2 0 1, A
Alderman Mitchell on the passage moving
the passage of the omnibus
In the omnibus Hearing.
No objections. So ordered Auman Mitchell,
I move that matters in the omnibus be passed
by the first most favorable roll call vote in the,
on the committee on finance and the associated
unsuccessful motion to reconsider
Hearing no objections. So
ordered on the motion to adjourn Auman Mitchell. There
Being no further business before this body.
I move that we adjourn, hearing
No objections. So ordered
the meeting is adjourned.