Good morning.
Uh, the, the committee will come back to order.
Uh, we will begin today with, uh, our public comment period.
Uh, we have, uh, one, uh, commenter, uh, Mr. Taiwan Sims.
Mr. Sims,
sir, do you wish to make public comment?
Okay. Are you forfeiting your public comment, sir? Okay.
Okay. Well, thank you then. Alright. Alright. Okay.
We will, uh, we'll begin with, um, our first department.
Could you please bring in the office of, uh,
public Safety Committee Committee will be at ease
until public safety comes in.
Good morning. Uh, the committee will come back to order.
Um, again, this is a continuation
of a recess meeting from yesterday.
Um, I'll give you one other opportunity.
Do you want to have public comment?
I'm not, there is no threat here, sir. Okay. So, all right.
Nevermind if, uh, okay.
Uh, if not, if you don't want, allow, allow Mr.
Blakemore to go. And please keep in mind,
please keep in mind, this is a recess meeting.
Public comment is not, excuse me.
Uh, we will give you an opportunity.
This is a recess meeting,
and public comment is not required in a recess meeting.
We do this as a courtesy to the residents
and to everyone to make comment on the departments
that have come before us, uh, for the day.
So, again, it's not required,
but we do this, uh, as a way to do that.
So, Mr. Blakemore, you may proceed.
Yes. Yesterday I asked the Sergeant Var was,
did he say this was a recess meeting?
And he said no.
He said it would be new departments
and new issues that that will be presented here.
Young man. Am I lying? Didn't you tell me?
Wasn't a recess, did you, or did you not tell me?
It was not, it wasn't a recess meeting.
It was different departments that was, was coming in.
I work about that. Did you tell me this?
Did you, did you tell me this?
Answer the question, my question here.
Did you tell, I say, is this gonna be a recess?
And you said no, it was different departments.
Didn't you tell me that? Did you tell me that? No.
Did you tell me that,
Mr. Blakemore, if
you could direct the comments to, to the body,
Mr. Sir.
I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm,
I'm sorry if it been some disconnect,
but I specifically asked the sergeant of arms,
is this a recess meeting?
He said, no, it will be different departments
that will come in and make their presentation.
So maybe you should, uh, Mr.
Irving, uh, communicate with the sergeant of arms.
So, I am expected to, well, uh, to come today is what?
Tuesday or when there each day.
And, and I, I'm expected, I, I want to be heard.
I want, I, I don't want this to occur
tomorrow when I come down here.
The, the communication, the communication was not good
because the sergeant of, um,
I specifically asked him that question.
He gave me an answer. He said, no, it's not recess.
Anyway, uh, uh, yet, uh, the, the meeting getting ready to,
uh, to, uh, to start now,
and maybe you all can iron this out later.
Let me have my time, uh, to speak
if the departments are heads are coming in
and, uh, uh, I can't believe it.
1, 2, 3 Altimas
or four Altimas that are present here,
which yourself make five.
Well, well, you, it was your responsibility
for you to inform and engage
and enlighten these altimas
that you was having this meeting.
And, and even if it was a recess that you wanted them
to be present.
There's no quo here.
I I was expected to be talking to the Alman,
and I only see 3, 1, 2, 3
with yourself as four.
So it's truly a disconnect here. But since I
Thank you Mr. Blake Moore for your,
for your comments today.
Um, yes, nine 30, we're starting.
If you're here at nine 30, you will. All right. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blakemore. Again, recess meeting.
We keep rolling. Just, just different, different topics,
different days, similar to our budget hearings that we do,
uh, later, uh, in the fall.
So, Mr. Sims,
I, I, I vaguely re remember last year,
suffering the same abuse from this gentleman,
but his whole spill is to make us look disruptive.
And this is from a chairman, somebody who sits at a seat
who chairs the seat of budget.
So un understand, that's a thief right there,
a unfair man right there.
But he chair the budget, this man looking over our check.
But, but anyways, I came here
to speak today about two unlawful arrests
and about a continuum of abuse from the courts,
which is coloring the law.
So the first one took place on April 16th,
2 5 1 2 0 4 5 8 3 0 1,
while I was arrested at 1 21 North LaSalle, when I came here
to appeal to the city government the same today,
the next would be 2 5 2 8 6 9 2 1,
where I came back after completing all the conditions of my
release, and inside of coming back to further appeal
and let the government know, Hey,
I'm still dealing with the same issues.
I was once again arrested for whatever reason.
But I also previously came
to you all telling you all about two 3D 7 9 5 9 7
a case dealing with my son, Yas Roosevelt Sims,
where Deanna Williamson had abused me over
there at 50 West Washington.
But still, they incorporated a way to try
to go through a back door.
We called that in the streets
when they murder people in the streets.
It's called the back door.
So the backdoor use was to, when I came previously
to 5, 5, 5, west Washington was to present
for order protection, which was two three, OP 7 2 3 1 5.
That turned into two 3D 7 9 5 9 7.
Now, since they say
that I violated this bog order protection, I'm at trial on,
is that what, October 10th for two four
DV 7 2 5 5 1.
In an attempt to criminalize me in an attempt
to make me a villain or some disruptive individual,
which I'm gonna show that I'm not,
but I'm gonna show that this room exhibits a level
of criminality outside of our will, the will of the people,
the people that voted them in as representatives
to take care of our situation and circumstances.
Mr. Irving, this morning was yet another display
of just how unscrupulous you can be, just
how unfair you can be, just how much of a thief you are.
So understand, just like the Lord said that man did it
'cause he had the book or the bag,
but we going to check you, Mr.
Irvin. Y'all think y'all have the, what is it?
The, I don't know what she is. Ms.
Wisberg, the Inspector General, already, uh,
presented complaints to her, which have been ignored,
but they won't be ignored when they go up to higher levels.
So let us all play the
Thank you Mr. Sand for
your comments. Uh, today, uh,
before us, uh, we will have three departments.
We'll start with the Office of Public Safety Administration,
then go to the fire department,
and then wrap up the day with the Office
of Emergency Management and Communication.
Uh, joining us is Eric Patterson, who is, uh,
fresh off appointment.
Wait a minute. You're not, your, your appointment is,
uh, um, almost appointed.
Okay. Yeah, you're like halfway through the process.
Uh, so we will, uh, again, uh,
it's not too late to turn back.
Uh, but, uh, again, uh, welcome.
Uh, this is, uh, the first of, uh,
many conversations I'm sure that we will have, uh,
in relation to Public Safety Administration.
Um, as we know, we spend an extraordinary amount
of money on, uh, public and community safety.
And, uh, you have been charged with helping us to, uh,
streamline and make our processes more efficient
and save us a few dollars.
So, uh, again, uh, welcome to, um, welcome
to the Committee on Budget and Government Operations.
Uh, you may proceed with your opening statement
and introduce, uh, any members you have here in the, uh,
in the well, uh, as well as over in the box.
So please proceed.
I'm gonna test out my readers today,
so I might be a little, uh, uncoordinated,
but just bear with me.
Good morning, chairman Irvin, members of the committee
and Distinguished Alder Persons.
My name is E Patterson,
and I am the Acting Executive Director of the Office
of Public Safety Administrator Administration.
Joining me today for this midyear budget presentation,
our first deputy director, Frank Limb Bloom,
managing Deputy Director of Human Resources,
Tenaya Williams, managing Deputy Director
of Information Technology.
Dan Casey, managing Deputy Director
of Finance Administration.
Natalie Gutierrez, deputy Director
of Finance Administration, ante Smith, director
of Human Resources, joy Brown,
and Medical Administrator Care, Clara Sanchez.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear
before you today to present OPSA midyear budget
and highlight their critical support our office provides
behind the scenes to ensure the Chicago Police Department,
Chicago Fire Department,
and the Office of Emergency Management
and Communications can do their jobs effectively.
The mission of OPSA is simple but vital.
We deliver the essential administrative services
that allow Chicago's public safety departments
to focus on their core missions of keeping Chicagoan safe.
We do this by centralizing administrative functions such
as payroll, human resources, finance
and procurement technology,
and facilities management for the public safety departments.
Admittedly, these are not the most visible functions,
but they are the behind the scenes efforts
that help make it possible for police officers.
Firefighters, paramedics call takers
and dispatchers to do their jobs more efficiently
and effectively Since its creation in 2020,
OPSA has worked to fulfill its mission
by delivering measurable efficiencies
and cost savings, while helping
to bring public safety departments into the 21st century
through modern technology.
For example, OPSA has streamlined pre-employment processing
with the implementation
of a new public safety applicant portal.
This initiative has reduced the processing time
for sworn officer candidates at CPD from six months
to four months, which is a 34% reduction,
and cut the hiring timeline for CFD paramedics
by 50%.
OPSA has supported the Chicago Police Department
by hiring civilians to take on administrative duties
once performed by sworn officers, allowing more officers
to return to frontline service.
At O PSA's inception,
152 CPD officers were detailed to our office.
Today, that number has been reduced
to 41 full-time officers
and 25 limited duty officers
demonstrating real progress in returning officers to
where they are most needed.
Regarding fiscal management, the creation
of OPSA consolidated the three separate finance divisions
that were previously operated within C-P-D-C-F-D
and OEMC into a single, smaller,
but highly effective finance team.
This eliminated redundancies across departments
and reduced overall staffing required to manage the finances
of the public safety departments.
OPSA has also delivered significant technology
and infrastructure savings.
For example, the office successfully managed the rollout
of 7,000 new phones
without increasing the overall telecom expenditures.
This was done by eliminating unused lines,
negotiating more favorable rates,
and securing free plans for our first responders.
Similarly, o PSA's maintenance of more than 400 miles
of city owned fiber has eliminated the need
for private leasing, generating annual savings
of over 1.2 million in totally nearly 3.8 million.
To date, OPSA has also successfully ensured
that all CPD officers on duty have access
to a body-worn camera.
And we are currently working to ensure
that all CPD officers have cell phones
resulting in over $5 million in savings
and hardware associated with legacy technology
and CPD vehicles.
Additionally, OPSA is in the process
of finalizing the procurement
of a new records management system
that will consolidate several major systems into one unified
reporting platform for the Chicago Police Department.
This system will allow police officers
to complete reports more quickly without the need to return
to the police stations,
thereby significantly reducing time spent on paperwork
and freeing them up to focus on their core law
enforcement responsibilities.
Finally, OPSA is also in the process
of rolling out a new next Gen 9 1 1 system,
which will allow text to 9 1 1 from mobile devices
and improve caller location accuracy
among other new enhancements.
These are just a few examples of
how OPSA has already cut costs, streamlined processes,
and improved efficiencies across our
public safety departments.
And we're just getting started turning our attention
to the current fiscal year.
As of May 31st,
OPSA had spent 36.21% of our fund, 100,
which is our corporate line, 26.73%
of fund 3 53, which is our surcharge line,
25.75% of fund six 10, which is
for midway airport
and 11.48% of fund seven 40, which is for O'Hare.
These percentages capture both the amounts already spent
and the funds that had been committed as of May 31st.
Also, as of this date, OPSA had spent 54%
of its allocated, or I'm sorry,
appropriated overtime budget.
This represents a 10% reduction as compared
to the same time in FY 24
and a 23% reduction as compared
to the same time in FY 23.
As of September 1st, OPSA has a total
of 82 vacancies, which represents 22%
of our total head count of 382.
This represents a 4% reduction in the percentage
of vacancies from the same time in FY 24.
And of those current vacancies, 54%
of them are currently in the process of being filled
through the HR process.
OPSA is currently exploring other efficiency opportunities
that will enable us to continue to meet our mandate.
A few examples include investing in leadership development
training to provide meaningful mentorship
and accountability to our staff,
conducting a thorough review of our medical division
to return firefighters
and police officers to duty quicker
enhancing technology offerings across all public safety
departments, identifying potential revenue opportunities.
And an FY 26, we will be conducting a thorough analysis
of our human resource practices to reduce redundancies
and fill gaps in current service delivery.
As I have briefly highlighted,
OPSA has already demonstrated meaningful cost savings,
process improvements, and operational efficiencies.
As a shared service department, we remain committed
to building on this progress
to maximize the office's ability
to achieve its full potential while exercising the necessary
fiscal restraint that the current fiscal climate requires.
As OPSA continues to evolve, we welcome your partnership,
and I ask for your patience.
My commitment to all of you is that
through steady leadership accountability
and transparency, OPSA will remain a critical
behind the scenes partner in keeping Chicago safe.
Thank you for the opportunity to present today,
and I welcome any questions you may have at this time.
Thank you. Uh, director Patterson.
Um, what, what I'm about
to say may sound a little harsh and may, it may be, um,
and I know you, you're just getting here.
Um, there is a common belief that,
and I'll, and I'll just say this anecdotally, in the,
in the, in the council that, um,
that OPSA has not met what we thought it would do,
uh, meaning that the reduction in, um, costs,
the savings, uh, and this is all anecdotal,
and we just don't,
and I'll say we, I think, I think there, there,
there's some people in, in, in the council that, um,
believe in its core
and on paper, I am one of those people that really felt
that it would, you know, enhance us and,
and move us in the right direction.
Um, the job that you have,
and as I stated even during your confirmation, uh, is,
is is tough because you have a belief out there that
we have not maximized the benefit
of the department.
I think part of it was, you know, steeped in,
you know, internal bureaucracy.
Um, quite frankly, in my opinion,
you're probably the last shot
that this department will have.
Um, it has, again,
and this is all anecdotally
and when we really haven't, like,
taken a deep dive into the data.
So, um, and I'll just say this, your job is as tough
as it is, but with that layer added to it, um,
it's really going to be,
and coming upon the department to really show us that
it needs to exist.
I believe that it does need to exist.
Um, I'm hopeful that, um, the things that you're,
you're speaking of show themselves in tangible ways
that we all can see
and that our citizens can see, um, so that we can, you know,
really consolidate and move, uh, move costs
and be cost savings come to come to fruition.
One of the biggest challenges has been the ization
of both fire and police.
And it's a conversation that's been going on.
I've been in council almost 15 years that has just not
happened at a, uh, at a rate
that we think could generate not only savings for the city,
but also put more officers on the street.
Couple that with the, um, medical issues
and the pension stuff, um, this is a,
a real recipe for a disaster.
Um, I'm hopeful that under your leadership,
the department can reverse that trend
and, you know, be what it, I think all of us wanted to be
and needed to be, uh, on, on behalf
and the sake of the taxpayers.
So with that, I know you, you all were working in the, uh,
medical space and,
and my understanding is that there somewhere near a thousand
or so people who are in some form
of medical management, uh, in the department, IOD, um,
injured on duty or other phases, uh, what are we doing to
bring people back to work?
Uh, and I, and I, and I say this anecdotally
because, um, I have these conversations with the treasurer,
um, about individuals who are medically cleared
by the pension fund, coming back to the city
and then being basically rejected by the city
and then being sent back to the pension fund.
Again, these are costs
that we are absorbing at the pension level costs
that are being absorbed at the city's level with overtime
and, and inefficiency.
Um, can you tell us where we are in fixing that?
If we fix that, that would be a huge savings.
I don't know, quantify it or couldn't quantify it today,
but we know that there's a huge savings, uh, there in that,
uh, in that process.
Thank you, chairman. I hear everything that you have said.
I have heard it, um, several times since I've been here.
And our priority is to help paint a clearer picture
for everyone to understand the value that OPSA brings to
Chicago and to the public safety departments.
You know, one of the things that I think it's really
important that people understand is there are various ways
to show value.
One of the easiest ways to see
that value is through cost savings.
So that is something that we definitely focus on.
But another way that we bring value is also just
through efficiencies in terms of how we enable people
to do their jobs more effectively.
Um, and that's particularly important as it comes,
as it relates to our public safety frontline workers,
and making sure that we're investing in technology
to bring us into the 21st century to enable those officers
and the members of the police, the fire department, OEMC,
to do their jobs much more efficiently and effectively.
And that does come at a price tag,
but our, the uniqueness about our agency is
because we are a shared service agency, we can really
leverage our buying power
because we're buying on behalf
of all the apartments across the board to really make sure
that we're negotiating the best prices.
So we will make sure that we do a better job as a department
bringing everyone along this path with us so
that you all aren't in the dark about what we're doing
and how we're doing it.
As I said in my speech, we do welcome partnership.
We do welcome collaboration.
We do welcome the, um, perspectives that you guys have
and the observations that you have made,
because it will only make all of us better
and make all of us safer.
And with respect to the medical division, that is one of the
things about my office that I doesn't,
it doesn't keep me up at night
because I'm confident we will get there,
but it is one of the biggest challenges that we face
and we will get there.
Um, there was an audit that this body,
I believe requested last year of the medical division.
That audit is ongoing
and hopefully it will be finalized soon.
I do believe that as we're thinking about next steps,
it's important to be, make sure that we're doing
so in the most informed way possible.
And I'm hopeful that the recommendations that come out of
that audit will help us figure out the path forward
and help us prioritize what we need to do in order
to get our medical division to a place
where people feel confident
that we are returning our first responders back to duty
safely, but in the most efficient manner.
I think one of the challenges that, um, we face
through the medical division is lack of staffing.
So we currently only have one doctor that is
probably not really conducive to a goal
of being more efficient.
So we're looking at that
and we're hoping to correct that in the very near future.
Another challenge is
because of the role we play in terms of making sure
that our first responders are in the best physical
and mental emotional space to return to the front lines,
there are standards, evidence-based standards that
our medical team is going to refer to that are specific
to first responders, specific to sworn officers
that perhaps another medical doctor in the private sector
that is relying on more general medical standards
that might be okay to return somebody back
to an office traditional job.
But when you're talking about a police officer
and you're talking about arming a police officer
to come back to work, or you're talking about a firefighter
and you want a firefighter to be able
to run into a building, we have to make sure
that they are in prime condition to be able to do that.
So if a doctor clears someone with a hand injury
to come back to work
and they're a police officer, we have to make sure
that police officer can actually handle their gun
appropriately so they don't cause any more of a threat
or harm when we're asked them to fill their duties.
If a firefighter comes back to work
and they have a heart condition,
and yes, they may be typically clear to return
to a typical job, if that wound is still open
and we're asking them to run into a fire, that is something
that our doctors, our medical team has to look at.
And so there, there has been a traditional kind of push
and pull between
what someone's medical Dr. May clear an employee
to come back to work for versus
what our team may clear someone back to work for.
So that is one thing that can contribute to some
of the frustrations in the time delays.
But the other is, the reality is we really do need to
have a better way of managing our caseload.
You know, we are hoping to procure a electronic medical
records system in the very near future that will enable us
to have a better handle on case management.
Um, 'cause we wanna make sure we're not missing deadlines.
We wanna make sure that no one
is slipping through the cracks.
We wanna make sure that we are able
to be in the best position to provide the standard
of medical care that will enable us
to do our jobs effectively
and make sure that we're returning people in the best,
um, position possible.
And I'm hopeful that the audit will help answer some
of those questions for us in terms of
how do we get there from a process standpoint, you know,
what are the resources that we currently don't have
that maybe we need to invest in, in order
to achieve this common goal that everyone has.
But I, I share the concerns, um,
this is going to be a challenge,
but it is a challenge that we are taking head on,
and we do look forward to making sure
that we're keeping this body informed
of the progress that we're making.
Uh, thank you for that response.
As a, as a follow-up question, um, is there a,
a statutory difference between, um,
return to work from the pensions perspective
versus the department's perspective?
Fire and or police, because I'm the fire department
and the police department both have separate funds,
and in my mind, they should be looking at the same things,
uh, for someone to be able to return to work
because we are, we're not dealing with, we're dealing
with firefighters or we're dealing with police officers
that are, that are in their respective funds.
But it's, it's challenging when they're saying you're clear
and we're saying that you're not.
And so, and the question comes back to,
is there a different standard that's being applied?
And if so, why?
And you know, if not, then how do we, how do we, you know,
you know, referee that
because it, it's, it's challenging when we hear
that people are being cleared for work,
but being rejected by the department.
I think that's a great question.
I don't know the specific answer,
but in general, whatever the standards are,
all of us are gonna have to make sure
that we are following those standards.
Those standards might vary depending on the rule.
So examples that come to mind for me are, again,
when you have a safety sensitive position, there are going
to be certain limitations that are going to be unique
to making sure that when we are asking people
to perform those safety sensitive positions,
that we aren't creating more liability and more harm.
And that is specifically going to be directly related
to our firefighters and our police officers.
There are also different, uh, types of duty, I believe,
as it relates to the police department.
There is full duty, which might, um, enable someone
to return a lot quicker,
but then there may be, uh, limited duty, uh,
positions that have additional restrictions on them.
So, you know, our goal as a department is always
to assess individuals based on their unique needs,
their unique medical histories,
the unique underlying factors
that might impact their ability to recover
and return to full duty faster.
We are charged with the responsibility of doing
that thorough analysis
and treating each person as an individual.
Other departments might not have that same level
of, of detail
because they may be able
to do a more generalized assessment based on
the role that they play.
We have a very unique role,
but the standards should always be followed.
Our goal is to make sure that we are doing that to the best
of our ability and that we're doing a thorough assessment.
Uh, I, I definitely agree with that.
Uh, and I guess, and I, I don't expect you
to have the answer to this, but, uh, through the chair, um,
could you all tell us if there are differences between
the pension fund's definition of ready
to work versus the city's definition of ready to work
for both police and fire?
Um, not as, um, I'm just not as concerned.
Um, I am concerned, but not as concerned about the balance
of your OMC, which are, again, generalized.
Those individuals are primarily in the M-E-A-B-F,
which again, has a, may have a different set of standards
for, uh, return to work.
But again, we're, we're not necessarily speaking of, of
the same caliber and, and
or type of work that we expect our police officers
and firefighters to do.
Because if there is a difference, if there is a gap, I,
I think we all need to be reading from the same book
and not have separate standards.
Because again, it's going to create this
unnecessary back and forth.
And if we're all, you know, looking at the same set
of standards, we should reach the same conclusions, uh,
within reason, uh, between somebody's, uh, fitness,
uh, uh, for duty.
Again, uh, the challenge that I see is that somebody saying,
Hey, you're, you're able to work.
And, and if that's on our pension funds trying
to push people out, then we need to know.
'cause that that's not, that's performing
a disservice to those members.
And again, if it's on our,
our on the city side, we need to know.
'cause again, that's, that's performing a
disservice as well.
So I think we just need to get some clarity on the standards
so that everybody's, um, you know, reading from the same,
uh, book and understanding the same processes so
that we can, you know, have some clarity.
Going back to your light duty comment, um, I am, and,
and I'll defer, um, to, um, uh,
Altman Gardner on, on, on this one about the,
the light duty policy,
if there is one in the fire department.
Um, I, I know that there may be some limited jobs
in the police department that, uh, that could be light duty,
but I was always under the impression that if you are back
to work, then you are fully able to function in any capacity
that your title requires that you do that.
So, and I'll go ahead, uh, Altman Gardner
and then, uh, direct you to respond.
Yes. Uh, thank you chairman.
Um, so, uh, throughout my
14 years in the Chicago Fire Department, I had
to use medical at times,
but you are correct in that, uh, it's either all or nothing.
You can't come back as light duty.
I do believe that the Chicago Police Department does have
light duty, uh, but the Chicago Fire Department is all
or nothing, meaning either you're all the way back, uh,
or you're not working at all.
Okay. Alright. And then the capacity
of light duty in the police department, what is that?
Uh, I guess what positions or what does that look like
and what standard is utilized to
create, um, that class?
Or what do they do in, in a light duty capacity?
Sure. And, and I don't, I don't wanna speak
for the Chicago Police Department
'cause I've never been a Chicago police officer,
but from my understanding is that they could be, uh,
what could be called like desk duty.
Uh, like when you walk into your local district
and you talk to an individual who might be at the,
at the front desk and you have, um,
questions you need to fill out a police report.
Um, an individual
who may be on what's considered light duty would be able
to fulfill those obligations. If
I, if I may. Sure.
Um, one, it's limited duty.
I wanna make sure that we're, um,
using the appropriate term.
Um, as a lawyer, I can't help myself. We have to
Use, so li limited duty versus light duty. That's
Fair. So with limited duty,
I am gonna ask Claire,
because from a medical standpoint in the Chicago Police
department does have very strict minimum
requirement that an officer must fulfill
before they can be clear to return to limited duty.
I'm gonna ask Clara Sanchez,
who's a medical administrator in our office, if she's able
to walk us through what those minimum standards are.
Good morning. Um, yes, as, um,
we have been discussing the essential job functions
of the police officer who is in limited duty are
highlighted on their limited duty packet, which we ask
that every treating provider, whether it's
for a injury sustained on duty
or off duty, is reviewed and signed off.
When we do place a member on limited duty,
we do respect the, a specific restrictions
that the provider would put.
Uh, but the assignment of where the officer would go
after that is something that's done within CPDs role.
Um, so we do have a very extensive packet that, you know,
would highlight what those four essential job functions are
for the department members so that the provider is on aware
of what is the expectation.
But we would highlight what restrictions there would be such
as if the member needed, um, you know, less of a time
of sitting period or rising. So Clara,
Are you able to tell us what those four essential
job functions are, please?
Sure. Um, the member must have the physical,
psychological, and emotional ability
to safely effectuate and arrest.
Um, they must have the physical, psychological,
and emotional ability to safely carry, handle,
and use a department weapon, maintain an independent
and stable gate without the use of any assistive devices
such as canes and other, um, they must have the ability
to safely and effectively operate a vehicle
and have and maintain a valid
and current firearms owner's identification card.
Is that for limited duty or is that for full
Duty duty? That is limited
duty. So that is what we wanted
to impress upon you guys in understanding.
I think generally,
and myself included historically,
when I thought about limited duty, I think about a desk job.
I don't think about somebody having
to carry and use a weapon.
So then if, if, if, using your case in point here,
what is the, what is the criteria for someone to come back
to full duty if that's the light?
Uh, I'm sorry. Limited duty standard.
What is the full duty standard?
Sure. Their provider would have
to highlight no restrictions.
This is identified for a communication aspect
of the provider to help them understand
what are the essential,
essential job functions of an officer.
And we go into, we have to ensure
that they have no restrictions on file.
Hold on, hold on. So wait a minute, minute. Hold on. Ask
It a different way. Can I ask
it a different way?
Please do. 'cause that made no sense.
Clara, similar to the four essential job duties
that we an officer must meet for limited duty,
is there a similar list for essential job duties
that an officer must meet in order
to be returned to full duty?
And do we have that list here today?
We do not. Okay.
We will provide is what the list does exist. Okay.
We will provide that list through the chair.
I I will, I'm a little baffled.
What you described to me was somebody that was able
for full duty, not limited duty.
And if that is the standard that is being utilized
for limited duty, um, I could not imagine
what else would be necessary for one to have full duty, uh,
if that is the, if that is the standard.
So, uh, definitely we, we need to know
and understand the differences between limited
and full duty.
I hope that maybe that that was a mistake
and that's full duty.
But for, for limited duty, that to me sounds like somebody
that should be eligible
for full duty based on the description,
again, as a lay person.
And, uh, just mad chairman.
Yeah. Point of clarification.
Is this a standard that is developed by
the police department
or is this a standard that is, uh, something
that's within the CBA for the police?
It is a standard that was developed
by the police department,
and it is a standard that has been hard fought and won
and upheld via arbitration.
Okay. Thank you. Okay.
Um, you, you were gonna add something previously?
No, no. I was just asking if I could have assistance
to ask Claire the question.
Oh, very well. Okay.
Um, again, I, I, I think we need some, some clarity in,
in understanding, uh, as to the differences
and what, um, one is or, or,
or is not a able to do.
Uh, because again, uh, standards, I mean, we, we need
to make sure that we are all singing from the same hymnal
when it comes down to these particular, uh, standards of,
uh, of bringing someone, uh,
bringing someone back to back to work.
Uh, we did, uh, I think as, uh, almond Gardner alluded to,
there is not a limited role in the fire department.
Is that something that OPSA is examining?
Is that part of this a medical audit, uh, process
that maybe a set of standards
or exists for, uh, limited,
limited duty in the fire department, uh, as well?
No, that is not a, that is not a role that OPSA plays.
The determination of what is required for a person
to be a firefighter lies wholly within the
Chicago Fire Department.
They are the subject matter experts.
They are in the best position to know
what they need in order to do their mission effectively.
But you all are, I won't call you a referee,
but, um, you all are, are, are charged with some level of
managing, um, individual's care to get them back to,
uh, get them back to work.
And, and how do you handle then conflicts?
I mean, because there, there's clearly a conflict between
the city and I and I
and I will call the, uh, the firefighters
and the police, uh, benefit annuity funds, arms of the city.
There's clearly some conflict here that, uh, we, we,
we have to, we have to resolve.
But once it clears that hurdle, what,
if any role are you all pushing
or advocating for members to return to work?
So again, In terms of the medical
treatment we have, we have healthcare professionals that are
mandated to look at best practices
and we like to look at best practices as it relates to
the unique roles
and requirements of the sworn members
of the police department and the fire department.
We have to rely upon each department's definition of
what duty is their definitions of what individuals have
to meet in order to be able to do those jobs effectively.
We take those definitions,
we take whatever those general orders say,
whatever it is they say they need.
Our job is to make sure that we do the medical
examination and review
and clear them when those standards are met
from a medical standpoint, period.
We can't manage the operations of those departments.
We can't tell those departments how
their employees should be doing their jobs.
We, we let them tell us what they need
and then we make sure that
before we send folks back to them,
that they're medically cleared
and able to fulfill those requirements.
Okay. Um, any other questions?
Um, go to, um, alderman Nugent followed by, uh,
vice chair question and followed by vice chair.
Lee, go ahead Altman.
Thank you chairman. And good morning.
Everybody in the team was, had a few questions.
Just wanted to touch base on, um, you guys,
do you guys have CAD oversight under PSA,
Um, s The, um, the dispatch?
Yes. Perfect. Um,
Well I'm gonna, I'm gonna provide a point
of clarification there.
We manage the technology perfect component of the cad,
but in terms of the operations
and how the CAD is used, that falls under the jurisdiction
of OEMC.
Perfect. Then I, I'm actually, my question will pertain
to the tech part, so Perfect.
Just wanna make sure I had it in the right spot.
I think we had a new vendor take over the CAD system
and can we kind of speak to where we are
with the CAD system, with the new vendor
and, and how that's going?
I, I felt like, I think in another hearings we've heard
there's been some obligations
and I, I want to get a feel of where they are.
So I'll take the first stab
and then I'm sure Dan Casey will come and correct me
and provide clarification as needed.
So when I came to the department,
and it was three months as of yesterday, um, there was a,
um, a cure notice that had been sent to the vendor.
So this contract was procured six years ago.
Um, and obviously with the pandemic there,
ha there were some delays,
but there's been some challenges getting the new CAD system
up and running 'cause it's not up
and running right now. And
When was it supposed to be up
and running per the contract?
I will let Kent, uh, Dan answer that specific question.
2023 And, okay,
so they're two years behind on delivery. So
They're behind on delivery.
And we, since that cure notice was sent,
uh, we have been working very, very closely.
In fact, I am participating myself in a four hour working
session tomorrow to try to get a handle on
getting this system up and running
and implemented ASAP.
Uh, there have been some, um, requests
that the city has had in terms of
customizing the CAD system in order to meet the department's
needs and make sure that we are able to dispatch, uh,
aid throughout the city in a way that, uh,
Chicago feels is in, in, in the best, uh,
way based on what we do.
But there is a lot of progress
that has been made.
Um, I believe, uh,
And I'm, I'm just gonna interrupt
'cause I have more questions and I see, go ahead.
Sorry. Is it okay? Thank you, chairman.
No, no, keep going then. If, if Chairman says go, go.
Oh, no. I mean, the reality is we're in the middle
of trying to get this back on track.
It's not completely back on track yet.
Um, they have a deadline of September 30th currently
that the chief procurement officer has issued as a part
of this cured notice.
There are a lot of ongoing conversations
and working sessions that continue
to occur in order to address the concerns
that have been raised by the city.
Progress is being made,
but is being made in a, like
painstakingly tedious way.
Um, and so I do believe it's a little too early today to say
where we're going to land at the end of the month
because of the pace of work.
And at this point we are having daily working sessions
with the vendor to address the concerns
that the city has raised
And how much are we paying for the old system.
So the old system we have to pay,
I believe it's just under $6 million a year just
to maintain this 30-year-old antiquated system
that we currently rely upon now.
And then what is the value of the contract
that we're two years, not you guys,
but the vendor is two years late on. So
This contract was procured for a total
of just under $75 million, which includes the cost
of the actual kind of equipment
and hardware software as well
as the implementation of the new system.
And are there consequences
for a vendor running too late on a contract?
Like I I and can you give like a one sentence
for my colleagues like what CAD is
and does like, I think it's so important.
Oh, sure. Sorry. I,
Um, I will give my layman's definition of it
and then maybe we'll turn it to the technical, uh,
subject matter expert.
But basically it's the system, it's the 9 1 1 system.
So when someone calls 9 1 1, the CAD is the computer system
that connects that dispatcher
to the Chicago Police Department
and the Chicago Fire Department.
And it's an interactive tool that allows the call takers
and the dispatchers to get a paramedic out,
to get a police officer out to get a fire engine out
to the location where help is needed.
And then thank you for that. And then it's a $75 million
contract and the vendor's two years behind.
What do, they're not meeting deliverables quickly
and like what is our recourse when a vendor is that late
for a contract that big?
So in this particular instance, uh,
we have not paid them in two years.
Okay. Um, I think I just in preparation
for the October hearing, I think we need to have
some more information about the cad.
Um, I have a few other questions, chairman.
Is that all right? Thank you.
Um, uh, question I wanted to just touch on
is I know we've dealt with the ratio of managers
to frontline staff as we deal with staffing.
Um, can we kind of, what is the supervisor
to staff ratio right now, like in PSA now that we've sort
of reformatted some of the, the staff in there?
Um, that is not an answer that I have.
Do we have that number ready?
Um, we're gonna have to provide that data point
to you through the chair.
Um, okay. And I'd appreciate that.
And then, um, I just have one other question.
I just have to look at my notes for one second.
Uh, I think there's just some questions surrounding
the care teams and if FIRE is being deployed
with the care teams when they go
out and sort of how that works.
Is that through PSA
When you, when you say care team,
are you speaking toward like the mental health Yeah.
Component. The Okay. Yes. Crisis team. Okay. Alright.
That be operations. That's, so that is actually a,
a question that's probably best answered
by the Chicago Fire Department that's responsible
for the operations or OMC.
And then maybe can you just talk me through for a second
what your office's role is with the care team, just
so I can understand your component.
Um, Dan, do you wanna help with that one? I'm not
In KC Office of Public Safety Administration.
It, we provide them with any technical, uh,
devices they would need, or that's dictated by, uh, OEMC
or the fire department or police when they're involved.
So if they need radios
or anything of that nature, we would provide that to them.
Okay. Um, last, last quick one, chairman.
Um, I know that I've talked
to you guys every year about UAE grant funding.
Uh, can we speak to what we believe the UAE is going to be
or not be this year and how we're working to deal with that?
So, um, And
that UAE is Urban Area Security an initiative?
Is that the last word? Initiative?
That's the federal funding that, that sounds right.
Protect the urban area just right.
I know I'm speaking in acronyms. So,
USE is a federal, it's a grant that, uh,
historically we receive from the federal government
to help deal with, um, those types of issues.
We received, uh, information this year that the grant amount
that we historically, uh, are ac accustomed
to receiving was cut significantly.
And I'm gonna ask Natalie to provide more specifics about,
um, kind of where we are now with the USC funds.
Good morning. Natalie Gutierrez. Um, yes.
So the reason that UAC comes up that the Alderman, um,
asks every year is this is public safety
as a whole's largest grant that we receive.
So police, fire OMC across the board, it,
we rely heavily on this Homeland Security grant.
The grant is meant for terrorism prevention.
It's been here since 2003
and historically we've fared very well.
We were always tied second with Los Angeles, uh,
for the National Pot of Money.
The only one beating us out has been New York.
Historically, uh, last year we were before you
and we had taken a significant cut at 10% NA nationwide.
Uh, Chicago was not the only ones to get cut this year.
Uh, four cities specifically were targeted and, uh, Chicago
and DC were the, the top, uh, cities to receive cuts.
So we dropped 45% in funding in this grant overnight.
Uh, what's the number they gave you?
So, 33 million as opposed to 60 million
that we're accustomed to, or three years ago, 67
or 69 million.
So 33 million. And that has to be shared amongst the state,
who's our administrative agency
and state partners get a cut of that money
and Cook County does as well.
So by the time it's coming to City Partners, Chicago Police,
fire, OEMC and our IT section, we were left with 20 million.
That's a significant,
because I think at our height when I worked with you guys,
we had 67 million for the urban area.
Um, okay. I, uh, I appreciate that.
And that's really detrimental to the city
and, um, I'm sad for the city actually to hear that.
That's what I've got. Thanks for
the extension chairman. Appreciate it.
No problem. Thank you much. Uh, as far as UA,
we have UAC JAG
and, uh, cops are, those are three, uh, major grants
that we received from DOJ.
Uh, yes, chairman, there's,
there's additional ones from Department of Justice
that the police department gets.
Um, you know, there's one-off
grants that come up every year.
A lot of those applications have not come up yet this year.
We're still hoping they do, but cops did, JG did.
Um, and, and UAE did.
So our major ones we were at least able to apply for, uh,
whether or not the funding comes through
to us in the same way we're accustomed to,
we're still waiting, we're still waiting to see
that over the next month or so.
And, and have we seen similar, uh, uh,
reductions on those three larger grants?
No, no, U os E
and, uh, surprisingly the Department
of Homeland Security side of it through UI was the one that,
um, presented, presented the decrease.
And, uh, speaking of that UI was, if I remember correctly,
that is where we purchased the helicopter from.
Two of the helicopters Yes. Did come out of ui.
The third was our DNC grant from last year.
And, and have those been
delivered and are they functioning?
Yes, they are. All three. Okay.
Alright. Thank you much Vice Chair Lee.
Thank Thank you Chair.
Um, just a quick follow up while we're on the subject of ui.
Um, what, what typically gets funded out of those funds?
The, the UI funds?
Sure. Um, so historically, our entire, for instance,
our public safety camera program used to be, so a lot
of the, the progress we've made over the last 20 years
started with UAC
and this grant program, uh,
radios we relied heavily on for many years now.
Those programs have since moved
to our surcharge 3 53 funding.
Uh, what's left on UAC is all
of public safety's joint training.
So anytime you see police fire OMC jointly training at
venues, how to respond to mass attacks, mass shooters, uh,
catastrophes of that nature,
when you see the portable bollards out on the street
during festivals that we've positioned, um,
to prevent vehicular terrorism, those came out of ui.
You might have this year noticed there was some Marvel comic
trains, uh, running through the city, especially
to get youth engaged in citizen preparedness.
That type of outreach comes out of this grant
and all of our special operations equipment maintenance,
sustainment and purchases for police fire.
So bomb squads, swat, fire, special ops,
if there's a high rise, you know, fire
or rescue incident, any of those major incidents, all of
that equipment is coming out of this grant.
Um, this might be a harder question to answer,
but it might not be, uh,
how much pain is this gonna cause us with these cuts?
I mean, what significant, uh, I'm assuming,
but do you have a picture of what that's going to mean?
Just sort of like, in just plain terms
that's gonna mean vice chair,
if you could speak into the mic.
Sorry. There you go. Um, the question being, um,
how are these cuts gonna impact us for the rest of this year
and as we're looking, um,
forecasting into the next budget cycle?
Yeah, great question. So right now we are running on
several different UAC grants.
They're mo they're three year programs.
So you do have some overlap.
So for the next year until basically this time next year,
we are going to reprogram
and move around some of our existing money to make room
for some of the things we can no longer fund
because of the cuts this year
come this time next year when two
of those programs have expired
and we're now limited to one carryover
and one new, the one I just spoke about,
we're gonna be in a really bad position.
The city as a whole public safety will have to sit down
and given the obviously climate,
we can't just move everything over
to corporate funding or other funds.
Uh, we're gonna be very limited in terms of
how we address the maintenance and sustainment.
We wanna avoid having warehouses full of equipment
that's collecting dust.
Mm-hmm. We wanna keep them out on the streets.
Um, so we're gonna have to really review
and stagger how we maintain and sustain, um, all of this.
And then things like training are
gonna become a big concern.
It's a lot of funding. Got it.
You know, bring all those folks together. Right.
More to come on that. I wanna switch gears
because I would like to talk about, um,
sworn officer positions at OPSA.
Uh, can you tell me how many current, um,
sworn officer positions are active?
Like not vacant or anything like that,
but how many, how many positions are filled
by sworn officers currently?
Yes. So we have 44
full-time officers.
I'm sorry, 41 full-time officers
and 25, 25 limited
duty officers.
Is that police or These are,
Or fire or both?
These are Chicago police officers that are detailed
to OPSA.
I'm gonna jump in here. And can you, uh,
through the check, could you provide us a list of titles
that are of individuals who are police officers
who are detailed to OPSA in their various functions?
Yes, we can ma'am.
And also from, uh, where they are detailed from,
From the Chicago Police Department.
I understand where they're detail from,
but what units are they detailed from to come to OPSA?
Uh, Aldo,
Just just to let you know, there are police officers there
that in, in the security box that are there 24 7, I believe.
Correct. So, so many that are detailed there,
like anybody can't just like go in there.
There's, there's a guard shack that they have to go through,
So Oh, no, no, no. I,
I I, I fully under, I fully understand that, uh,
I think the point that Chairman Dow was, uh, referring to,
uh, is a, I won't call it voodoo,
but uh, it, it, it kind of goes to some of the concerns
as the issues that are,
are raised when officers are accounted for in one place,
but actually are serving in another place.
So, um, that, that, that I think is the, what we're at,
because I don't know if those positions
exist in your budget.
Uh, in the OPSA budget,
they're in the police department's budget,
but they're a functioning in a different
capacity in a different department. So
Yes. So the
Chicago police officers that are detailed
to OPSA are not in OP PSA's budget.
They remain in the Chicago Police Department's budget.
The divisions in our office, we,
Chicago police officers are detailed.
Our, our general support division, our medical division,
our human resources division, and it
Okay.
Yes, general support, medical,
hr and IT
Pleasure. Um,
yes, thank you for that.
And we're gonna just stay on this
line of questioning for a second.
So I thank you for clarifying that the police officers are,
um, are on CPDs budget, not opsa.
Uh, does that apply to also the timekeepers?
You are literally in my brain right now.
Um, so that was one thing I wanted to clarify.
So we have reduced our staff
7% since OPSA was created.
That's with the addition of all
of the civilian timekeepers, which are on ops a's budget
and are in our headcount that we are charged with hiring
for the Chicago Police Department.
So that is an example of a title that historically used
to be performed by Chicago police officers.
And we have taken the initiative to increase our headcount
while also reducing the total number
of our headcount in order to absorb that civilian function
of timekeeping.
And then we disperse OPSA
employees throughout the Chicago police districts to form
that function on behalf of the Chicago Police Department.
Are there sworn officers
currently in those positions though?
Do we know?
So currently as we work to fill those
vacancies with full-time civilian staff, we are
gradually able to release police officers back
to the Chicago Police Department
so they can determine better placement for them.
But right now, my understanding is
that the Chicago police officers
that are doing this are primarily doing it part-time.
Okay. Um, if I may go ahead chair.
Um, what's the,
what's the average cost savings when you move from a sworn
officer to a civilian, uh, timekeeper.
So we've had this conversation internally,
and the, from my understanding of it,
it's not a one-to-one, right?
Sure. Because a lot of the roles
that Chicago police officers play, they may have done
so on a part-time basis or full-time basis.
And there are so many kind of duties
that we have hired into for civilians on a full-time basis
that it's not a direct one-to-one.
We can provide, like, like I said earlier in an aggregate,
the numbers of like, so we had 111 police officers
that no longer work at OPSA that we've backfilled
with civilian roles.
Um, but it's not a one-to-one like black
and white mathematical formula.
I understand. I understand that just because
of how the staffing works
To get a sense of the, the savings, right.
Even if it's in the aggregate, if that's something
that you can just, with what's already been done
with what's been transitioned from, um, sworn to,
let's just say you move 10 sworn officers off of the desk
for timekeepers and you replace them
with, you know, 10 civilian.
Just to give us some sense of, you know, what the,
what the efficiency is, uh, uh, in that sense.
I mean, look, at the end of the day that it's the taxpayers
that are paying the money for, for all of these functions.
Um, the, the sworn officers are then moved back onto
CPDs budget and we, we will have them on the street.
That's the idea. We want more police officers
on the street. I'm sorry, go ahead.
So, can you guys hear me? Yes. Okay. Sorry.
So the average timekeeper, can
You identify yourself for,
Introduce yourself for the record?
Uh, Frank Lo boom, first deputy director.
So the average starting salary
for the CPD timekeeper is roughly $55,000.
A little over that. And the average salary
of a police officer is roughly 92,000.
You know, so that delta in terms of, you know,
if we did a 10 for 10, you know, it'd be rough.
That's great. That, that gives me a general enough idea.
Um, the, the last part of what I wanted
to ask about is just sort of, um, as you're,
as you're creating these efficiencies
and you're reducing the workforce
and great that you, you brought in a new job title
and you were still able to reduce by 7%.
Um, what does that look like from a manager
to frontline staff ratio perspective?
So that goes to the, the question I believe we've,
we've just promised to provide to the chair in terms of
what our management ratio to frontline staff is.
That's just not a number that I have with me today,
but we'll, we'll run those numbers
and we'll provide that information through the chair.
Thank you. That's all I've got here. Thanks.
Thank you. Um, next we're gonna have, uh, chairman Dow
Question. Uh, yes,
thank you. Hi, Ms. Patterson.
I must say that you are a breath of fresh air
'cause of your clarity of, of, uh, speech
and the, the thoughtfulness
and how you respond to these questions.
I appreciate that. I just wanted to let you know, um,
this audit that you talked about, uh, I thought it was
for more than just a review of the medical division.
So there are two audits that, uh, EY is performing.
One is a broader audit around operations.
Um, that's a, that's a separate audit.
And then, um, there is a standalone audit
of the medical division
that is also happening on a parallel path.
Okay. On and, and they're both being done by ey?
Yes. Okay.
Uh, can you, I know that we have not received the report
yet, but can you tell me, you know, some
of the elements or some of the aspects
that are being reviewed for the medical division?
I also have not seen the report yet.
Um, but I have participated in several meetings
with the team, and my understanding is they're looking at
everything from, you know,
how we're processing medical files, um,
how we're managing medical records, um, you know,
what costs are associated with how,
uh, many people are out on leave.
Um, from my understanding, it's a really thorough kind of
a analysis from end to end of the medical division,
including staffing.
Um, I, I think it's a, it, it seems
to be fairly comprehensive,
and I'm saying that not having had the benefit of seeing
a draft or anything at this point,
but just based on the meetings I participated in,
they do seem to be, um,
asking very thorough questions
to really get an understanding of what we do, how we do it,
so they can make some recommendations on
how we can improve upon current practice.
And have you been able to give your
flavor? Oh,
I absolutely have given my flavor.
I can't wait to see this draft.
Okay. Thank you. I just wanted to make sure that, uh,
as a new incoming person that what you're seeing from your
new position that you're able to somehow add
that into the mix.
Um, I also had a question on the
manager staff ratio.
So I, I know you're gonna get that through the chair.
Can you talk about, in comparison to last year's budget,
have there been any significant unspent funds
or overage, um, for, you've talked about overtime in your,
uh, remarks, but for equipment, um,
specifically focused on the ambulances?
Um, I am going to ask ante.
I'm sorry. Okay.
Um, so I am being told that the,
so you're asking specifically about cost savings
as it relates to the cost equip the vehicles
or the actual technology that goes into the vehicles, no
Equipment.
I'm speaking specifically about overage
or, um, s um, efficiencies,
unspent money or equipment.
How does that compare this year to previous years?
I'm still gonna defer that one to Sarte
or, uh, director of finance.
Hi, Sarte Smith, deputy Director of Finance.
Our spending has been, um, on par, uh, throughout the year.
So as far as equipment,
we have not had any significant overage,
but we continue to monitor our budget to see
what we have some efficiencies at,
but not anything that particularly stood out
as far as equipment.
So you think you'll be over, you're spending less
or more than this year than you did last year?
So Right, right now for equipment, um,
you didn't really provide a line,
so I'm just gonna take a look or a fund.
So our equipment off hand, let's see,
we are actually under from where we, what we were last year
for the amount spent for,
but this is the lease of equipment.
So I, I, I need more clarification on
what equipment you're referring to. Are you
Okay. I'll talk to you offline.
Okay. Okay. Um,
and yesterday the budget director said
that we were in a hiring freeze.
Um, and you mentioned that you have 82 vacancies of which 54
are currently Yes.
Um, in process, how are we hiring?
I mean, on, I thought that our hiring freeze was for
first responders, um,
but I thought it was for first responders
that are actually responding on our streets.
Yeah. So that hiring freeze, I believe,
went into effect in August.
Um, but we did have several positions
that were already in the pipeline
that had already been posted where we were already kind
of reviewing, um, candidate resumes
and anticipation of interviews.
So that freeze didn't stop anything
that was already ongoing in terms of, uh,
the human resources recruitment, um,
for pre-employment selection.
Like, so we are still able to continue
to hire into those positions that had already
been in process prior to that deadline.
So when that freeze took a place, took effect,
that means like as of that date when we were no longer,
um, seeking to fill new vacancies.
I got it. Thank you. Um, can you, you mentioned
that there's like 41 sworn officers
and 25 light duty Yes.
People. So can you talk about your focus on maximizing
opportunities for civilian ization?
What more are you doing?
So I think there's always a, a, a conversation
of looking at, um, what
our police officers are doing with their time
that might make more sense for, um, civilians to perform.
Um, the timekeepers are the ones that have been kind
of prioritized right now.
Um, there are also some, um, consent decree mandates
that our office is really kind of prioritized
and I don't know.
Joy, do you wanna provide any additional insight? Sure.
Can everybody hear me? Uh, director of hr, joy Brown.
Um, so within PSA timekeepers, could you
Speak into the mic? Oh, I'm sorry. Can
you hear me? Can you hear me?
That's, oh, there we go. Uh, joy Brown, director of hr.
So as far as OPSA is concerned,
our timekeepers are our number one priority.
Uh, we've hired 10 this year.
We have 17 remaining that will be reposted,
um, to fill this year.
Um, but we also do assist with hiring, uh,
obviously within the Chicago Police Department
and identifying those roles, um, that civilians, uh,
can kind of go into.
And so just as a highlight, um, uh,
BIA has civilianized their investigator, uh, unit, so
that's another title, um, with training officer, um,
that's been identified for ization
and welcoming retirees back to the department.
Okay. And do all of your decisions have to be
put before the person that oversees our consent decree?
When you make decisions like this? This
Is, it's hard to hear.
Can you repeat that question for me as I make sense? Yeah,
Do, do, do these decisions have to be, uh, reviewed
by the consent decree monitor?
So anything related to the consent decree paragraphs,
there is a report that goes
to the monitor on a regular basis in terms of the status
and of where we are on fulfilling those.
We have work, obviously, we work very closely
with the Chicago Police Department to, uh, reach compliance,
and there are several paragraphs where we have reached, uh,
compliance, um, so that the monitor is,
is notified, um, on a regular basis of the status
of where we are at.
And I don't know if you guys wanna add anything. So,
Hiring for public safety administration, department,
department positions don't have to go
before the, uh, monitor,
but, uh, CPD has identified consent decree positions within
their department, um,
that we've prioritized in Civilianizing,
uh, for the past few years.
And, and what was your name again?
Joy Brown.
Uh, thank you very much.
I think the point that, um,
chairman Irvin made at the beginning about demystifying
OPSA, um,
and, um, providing some proof,
uh, of concept, uh, would go a long way.
And so I wish you well in, uh, your new role.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Um, next we'll have Alderman
sdo followed by LaSpada
Know, knows how to make a guy feel well.
Might as well have Alderman sdo,
but at least you call me Alderman.
Thank you. Uh, thank you Madam Chair. Thank you, director.
Um, deputy director. Um, just had a question.
I didn't have a question, but you said something
that brought me a question to my mind.
You mentioned some of the places where CPDs at,
and that was HR and medical, which kind
of surprises me that that's where they're at.
But are they there because they're on, like light duty
or something, or they, they put 'em there,
or they, are they permanent hires over there when, um,
I would think that would be civilians.
So, and I don't know, Frank, um,
Cora, can you provide some clarification on the
Sure. Uh, we do have
light duty officers in hr, um, specifically.
That makes sense. Yeah. Um, the sworn that we have there,
um, help with our, uh, we have a sergeant that does our,
um, administrative functions in terms of ordering, uh,
direct orders and stripping people.
Uh, so that has to be performed by a sworn officer.
So that happens to be in hr.
Okay. Thank you. Yep. All right.
Just once again, wish you the best.
Hopefully you keep Frank on board that it's,
you'll keep me off your back if Frank's around.
Enjoy. And it was, when I called Frank, he calls Joy.
And, you know, I've got a lot of questions
and most of the questions I call about are not even
for me or for my colleagues.
So, uh, but, uh, best wishes to you
and, uh, thanks for all you guys do.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you.
Thank you. Alderman Spaza. Alderman LaSpada.
Thank you very much Ms. Patterson.
Great to see you in person, office screen.
It's wonderful to connect.
I really enjoyed our previous conversation.
I'll follow up on that. Just briefly.
I did wanna ask, 'cause I was looking at the
August vacancy numbers that just came out where admittedly,
your, your timekeeper vacancies are better than they've been
all year, which I'm grateful
for the progress on your behalf.
But when you do have, like, in that place, 17 vacancies,
a lot of vacancies across the board, particularly
for timekeepers, what is the practical impact
of those vacancies so that council can understand
that better and maybe advocate on your behalf?
I wanna make sure I understand your, your question.
Um, in terms the impact
of the vacancies on the Chicago Police Department in
terms of timekeepers,
Um, like this, so 30 positions failed, 17 vacant.
Well, how, what is the impact in the,
on the timekeeping process of that number of vacancies?
I mean, the reality of it is, is, you know, ever,
for every vacancy that we currently have
for the timekeepers, that means that we still have
to rely upon police officers who are familiar with that,
that duty to help provide that as a service
for the department in terms of helping
to make sure the timekeeping is done accurately
and, uh, efficiently throughout the Chicago Police
Department, which is why we have prioritized back filling
that with civilians so that we can help free up the time
of those police officers
so the Chicago Police Department can reassign them
to a more appropriate location.
I appreciate that. I had one follow up question related
to timekeeping, watching the clock.
Um, when we, I look at the number
of timekeeping positions within your department,
I think about how timekeeping
currently operates within the city of Chicago.
I'm very curious, is this reflected in the practices
of our peer cities?
Do they do electronic timekeeping?
Do they have the kind of paper process
that we have in the sad of Chicago?
I can't speak to other cities, but I can speak
to Cook County.
And Cook County has, I was actually shocked when I came
to the city at the fact that it is a paper-based manual
process at Cook County.
We had a timekeeping system. Um, we don't have timekeepers.
That's not a job.
I mean, we have folks who have a timekeeping role
that they play kind of part-time as kind of like a cleanup
before payroll closes, but it's all electronic.
And I, you know, I I will say, I, I hope that the,
the conversation around technology as it relates to
timekeeping continues to evolve.
It is frustrating as a department head
to not have an electronic system that I can log onto
and look at my entire department
and see where people are, what their time is,
what days off they have, how they're using their overtime.
Like it's mm-hmm. That is something
that is completely manual right now,
was my understanding with the city.
And, and I hope that the conversation continues
around investing in the technology so
that we don't have people manually having to perform this,
um, as a full-time job.
There will always be a need to have some person logging in
that system and cleaning up the data and the records and,
and doing that cleanup.
That's always gonna be a, a part of it.
So don't get me wrong. Mm-hmm.
But I do think that at a point in the future,
the goal would be to have this mirror
what other municipalities are doing,
which is electronic timekeeping systems.
And that's not even looking outside of Illinois
or our co county.
Just so I'm, I wanna make sure I got it crystal clear.
Cook County law enforcement professionals within the,
the county jurisdiction
of government have electronic timekeeping,
and they found efficient and accurate ways to do that.
Cook County across the board,
the board has electronic timekeeping.
Yes.
I appreciate that. I think I
will seed the rest of my time.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Uh, chair La Spotter, uh,
alderman, uh, manna Hopper, if you have any questions.
Thank you, chair. Hello. It's nice to see you.
Um, I had a, actually along the lines of, uh, elder Ada and,
and timekeeping across Cook County.
I worked at the Cook County Hospital
system in the late nineties.
So I remember, um, paper really was the way
that we communicated across our teams at the
Cook County Hospital system.
And, um, there's value to that,
but also, um, we are here to talk about efficiencies
and how we can make our systems better.
So, along those lines, can you talk to me a little bit about
the technology
and infrastructure savings
that you mentioned in your opening statements?
And, uh, firstly is it, is what you're saying that we,
that all CPD did not have access to cell phones before.
Can you, can you talk about
that program a little bit more? Yes,
I will fumble my way through it,
and then I'm gonna hand it over to Dan
to provide any clarification.
But yeah, that's exactly right.
So with the Chicago police officers, um,
before OPSA kind of initiated this project, no, the,
the officers were not equipped with mobile phones.
Um, we have made it a priority
to equip every single police officer with a mobile phone.
And that's like phase one of a larger technology efficiency,
um, project that we're working on, where eventually,
this is a, a little computer, right?
Like, we don't really need police officers to go back to
the police district to sit in front of a computer in order
to fill out a police report.
And the way the police reports are currently filled out,
my understanding, it's a very redundant manual process where
a lot of the police reports,
if you've ever seen a police report, a lot
of the information they ask is redundant.
So that means the officers having
to fill out someone's name, address, location
of the incident, every single time for every single form,
that takes a lot of time.
And we are working on a record management system now
where you can put all of that in
through an app on your phone,
and it'll automatically populate
that information into the police reports.
And a police officer doesn't have to go
to the police station, sit at a desk to do it.
They can do it from their squad car.
And we also have invested in these vex systems
for the police car.
So I think everyone's familiar that the cars used
to have these like laptops,
and that was pretty cool back in whenever we did that.
But now, as technology has improved,
we've realized this is a computer, right?
So we have keyboards and a screen that this plugs into,
and it turns that screen into a computer monitor
version of your phone.
So you can type all your information there without having
to go to a police district to fill out your reports.
It's all there in your car,
and it's all based on your cell phone.
So that's why we've prioritized this as an investment.
Is there there a way to show the cost
savings towards that end?
I don't, I don't know where, where would I find that?
It's like Dan's itching to answer that one.
You've done a great job. Thank you.
Uh, Dan Casey, OPSA, it, uh, as exec director said,
we've done a lot to roll these out.
Our vehicle installation costs used to be over $6,000
to put a laptop in there.
Those are hardened laptops. They were very expensive.
And then the mounts for them,
as the executive director said, now
what gets mounted into the vehicle is just a keyboard
and a screen and that mount system for it,
it's less than $3,000.
So per vehicle, we're saving thousands of dollars.
That's both police and fire.
Very good. Um, to, speaking of fire
and, um, data analysts, do, each department does,
do each of the departments have their own data analysts
in terms of figuring out these cost savings?
If you were not doing this work, would each
of the departments be able to absorb it?
If we weren't doing it, then we would return to
what the preop SA world was,
which would be having each department having their own mini
finance, many HR, mini procurement,
many like departments within those respective departments.
I think one of the things that's, that, um, you know,
having the shared service model is, is benefiting the city,
is we are able to have a more global,
like 3000 level view of all
of the public safety needs, right?
So we are able to kind of leverage, you know,
our buying power one,
because we are a much more powerful kind of buyer.
'cause we're buying all the technology in,
in bulk across public safety.
So you're going to be able to negotiate a better rate just
because of that alone.
We also are able to be that kind of neutral
third party where we're able to weigh the priorities
of all of the departments in a much cohesive,
collaborative way, um, to reduce those redundancies
and improve efficiencies.
So if we weren't doing it, then you would have
to disperse individuals in each of the departments to do it.
They would be doing it in a silo.
They would be doing it without the benefit of having
that 30,000 foot view.
And it would just be less efficient across the board.
May, may I ask another question? Chair. Go ahead.
Um, is O-P-S-A-A revenue generating department?
Uh, not nearly as much as we could be.
Um, that's one of the things that we are also looking at.
Um, and we welcome kind of partnership from this body
and exploring ways to authorize us to be able to collect,
uh, more revenue.
Thank you. Um, and just one more question please.
What, um, in terms of, um,
in terms of getting people hired, um,
because I, I do speak to the officers on the streets
and they of course want, um, they want more people.
They, um, so what is it, what is it that you're doing
to help, um,
make those HR processes more efficient?
Uh, well, for starters, our office has weekly meetings
with the Chicago Police Department, with the Department
of Human Resources, with the Office of Budget
and Management in order to make sure
that we're moving those processes along, uh, quicker.
Um, I think we have found that having those weekly
touch points really allows everyone in the process to, to,
um, hire people at a much faster pace.
Uh, the other part of that is, you know,
as I mentioned in my speech, my goal is
to spend next year really doing a deep dive into the HR
functions across public safety
to really get a sound understanding of how that process
currently works and to provide recommendations for, um,
improved efficiencies moving forward.
But is it, do you think
that it's a technology systems issue
or is it a process issue?
It could be a a some of of all,
it could be a combination of each.
I would imagine that there will likely be some, I mean,
just like timekeeping in
and of itself, that's an HR function.
That's something that, you know,
there's definitely efficiency improvements we could make if
we could just invest in that type of a system for the city
or even just for public safety.
Thank you. Thank you, chairman.
Thank you. Uh, alderman, uh, we were gonna go to, um,
alderman Vasquez.
Um, any others here
before I go to those that are, uh, virtual?
No. You good? No, you, you're,
you were in yesterday. You're good. This
Guy, Alderman Vasquez, nobody else in here,
uh, followed by Alderman Taylor.
Thank you very much, chairman. I appreciate it.
Um, I'll get to the question first.
I just highly frustrated about everything I was hearing.
Right now it is 2025
and the fact that people can't figure out
timekeeping is nuts.
But I'll just go to the next thing, like, anyway.
So we've been discussing third party contracts
that we brought up yesterday.
Can you share like what the cost benefit analysis is
for determining which positions are
in-house versus third party?
Like when you guys have
to make any decisions on, on any of that?
Can you give an example of a third party
position that you're referring to?
Uh, well I think it's not some's for position.
Some are for the contracts.
So I think some of the, um,
I'll follow up 'cause I gotta make sure
and talk to the team about which things.
But the, uh, a separate question I had related,
which I'll go into, the one
that I actually wanna know is license plate reader cameras.
So we submit a whole bunch of requests all the time,
and then we don't really have a sense
of when they get implemented.
Um, I know last year when we had done it, we were told
that we were waiting on funding to be able to do it.
And so I just don't know how any of
that process has determined what a,
what a protocol looks like.
Um, so anything you could do to share
and anything do to share about a
process would be super helpful as well.
Um, so for license plate readers specifically, which is
what I understand your question Yeah.
Is about, we have two types of license plate readers.
We've got fixed license plates readers,
and we have mounted license plate readers.
We have increased the number of license plate readers
that the city has, um, from 200 to over 600.
Um, you know, by leveraging the technology
that was already in the existing vehicles, which also,
you know, generated cost savings.
But in terms of the process, what do you,
can you provide more clarification
and what do you mean by Yeah,
So we have a portal where we submit the request.
I have zero idea how long it takes, when it takes,
I've waited over a year for one.
And because we have no sense of what
that process is on our end, oh, there's no expectation set.
Right. That would be helpful. Like if I knew it's gonna take
a certain amount of time, then I would know rather than when
people are asking me what's going on in a certain corner
where they've been asking for one.
So you've asked for license plate readers in your ward
and you're asking the process for that.
Correct. Dan, do you provide clarification?
Yes, absolutely. Uh,
Dan Casey office about safety administration.
It, yes, we have worked
with your office Alder, and we'll go back and look at that.
Yeah. Uh, we work with Chicago Police Department
for priorities, and as you mentioned, budgets as well.
So we have limited funds
and, you know, we work with the,
the highest priorities for the police department.
So we have put, uh, cameras and LPRs in your ward.
Um, we'll look at the ones that are
remaining, the requests that are out there.
We do need to be a little bit more, uh, transparent with
how we communicate back with you.
But it is a process that we do with CPD.
We sit down with CPD
and walk through what their priorities are. Yeah.
And, and, and for clarity, it's not me going
like, where are my dang cameras?
It's more just like having an understanding
of what the process looks like.
Obviously there's a whole city to think about.
And so I think the more we're informed, the more we can kind
of level set our own expectations
and go, okay, you know, what's in the hopper.
We can let the neighbors know
that it was more that of that sense.
Absolutely. Okay. Um, I know,
yeah, I guess it would be y'all.
Uh, and if it wasn't asked already, uh, when
Shot Spotter was, the contract was ended,
there was a whole conversation related to technology
and there being some level of study
of what could be done next.
I think a number of us who had concerns about ShotSpotter
we're trying to find out what else could
be utilized as far as technology.
And so far we haven't gotten any updates.
And so I was kind of curious as to
when we would get updates, what's been done
so far, any of that information.
So I'll take the first crack
and then I'll hand it over to Dan.
Um, so I don't know if, if you are aware, there,
there were a lot of conversations, I'm gonna have
to shout out The Cook County Public Defenders who are part
of the, um, the process of providing that insight in terms
of, you know, what, if you're going to have this type
of system, what those components, um,
should include, what it should look like.
We are right now in the process
of finalizing the procurement for, uh,
to determine the vendor for gunshot detection.
Um, I know that this is something that is of concern
for everyone in the city.
And, uh, our priority has been to do it
in a very thorough way.
Uh, and incorporating the feedback, uh, in those kind
of conversations that took place
before the procurement process started.
Um, we're at towards the end of that process now.
It is a confidential process, so we are not allowed
to talk specifics about kind of how it is going.
Uh, but we do anticipate being able to make a recommendation
to the chief procurement officer later this fall. Okay.
I I, I'll just add very quickly another time is obviously
as we're finding out that like, uh, flock cameras,
for example, are being hacked into by the federal government
and being utilized in other ways to, to make sure that
as we're thinking through that, obviously you can't share a
process that that is clearly a priority
or criteria to think about who else can pull
that information at other levels of government.
'cause we could be setting ourselves up
for a scarier situation.
And so thank you.
It's all here. It's all got, thank you. Okay.
Um, I, I guess, um, you stated
you'll have a recommendation on gunshot detection this fall?
Yes. Okay.
Uh, what is the, uh, timeframe
for implementation after such?
So that is going to be heavily dependent on, um,
the contract negotiation.
Um, in our experience when, um, a vendor has been
identified, that's like the first step.
'cause then we have to negotiate the terms
and conditions of the contract.
And these tend to be very technically involved,
um, contracts.
And so it, it does take time.
And so depending on how, uh, quickly we're able
to kind of get that contract finalized.
Once it's finalized, then we're able to to go.
But it, my understanding is that it has taken upwards of
18 months to negotiate these types
of highly technical contracts.
So feasibly we may not see a new system
into 2027.
It's a very real possibility.
Um, and then there would have to be, obviously,
an implementation phase once the contract has been
signed and finalized.
Um, I, I, I don't think that's, uh, what, what we wanted
to hear, uh, understanding the process.
I, I, I guess that's, uh, I guess it's half the battle.
So, um, I think that, um, that,
that's, that's a little disheartening that,
that we're gonna be the 2027 in that respect.
But that, as I say, it is what it is.
Um, I, I just, I I,
I was a little baffling on that front.
So, uh, any questions for any,
any other members in the chamber?
Um, alderman Taylor.
Thank you, chairman.
My question is, you talked about efficiencies.
How you doing, commissioner?
I'm good, thank you. Um,
you talked about going electronic.
What support do you need on our end to help you do that?
When it comes to timekeeping,
I, I think the reality is that I,
when we're talking about technology in general,
the startup cost for technology, I mean, usually you have
to make some short term investments in order to realize
long term gains.
I think a timekeeping system is one of those examples where,
you know, when you're looking at the number of people
that we are employing over the course of their careers
with the city to do this manually, knowing that
in this day and age, there are systems that are available
that will, um, enable us to maybe reinvest those positions
to address other needs of the city.
I, I think that's the, I think that's a conversation
that we need to, to have
and really weigh the value of that.
Um, you know, I, I think that, that if we are willing
to look long-term in terms of the benefits
of some of these investments that we have
to make in the short term, I think you'll see
that the return on investment is there and very much needed.
So Commissioner, I'm looking for you to start
that conversation and to get that work done.
This is one of the committees
or the departments that we've asked for the city
to X altogether.
But based on a conversation that I had with you, I, I want
to give you the opportunity to make this department
what it was meant to be and for it to be effective
and to make sure that it's sufficient.
And according to your own statement, in your own
explanation, we need to go to electronically.
And so I want you to start to look at how we start to do
that and how to make that happen.
What is the, the, the work plan
to fill some of the vacancies?
Is there a outreach plan? Is there a hiring plan?
So there, there is a hiring plan, um,
that we are proactively working on in terms of,
of filling the vacancies.
I think one of the challenges that we also have to,
you know, just kind of talk about is,
and one of the reasons why I wanna look at our hiring
process across the board next year,
and this is not unique to Chicago,
but you know, we post positions
and we seek to fill vacancies,
but we aren't always able to get enough candidates
to fill those vacancies.
So we find ourselves having to repost for timekeepers,
for example, multiple times in order to try to get people
to take these jobs.
And, um, joy Brown, did you look like,
you look like you wanna add something? I
Was just gonna say, um, for certain titles are obviously
limitations like tests and other things.
So we do work closely, uh, with DHR
and our other partners to ensure that we're kind of, uh,
following both the city's process
and also ensuring that the requirements for the jobs are
what we actually need them to be,
whether they're more technical or not.
So there are some limitations,
but we do work very closely with both OBM
and DHR to fill our vacancies.
Um, and we do, again, like the comm uh,
the executive director said we do have 44, uh,
more vacancies that we hope to fill by the end of the year.
So how are you all not doing silo work?
'cause how long have you had these vacancies?
So that means, how are you talking to Alderman?
How are you working with DFSS? How are you working with DPD?
We all do events all day, every day.
What I am tired of,
and this is a reflection on the city as a whole.
We say we wanna fill vacancies.
We say we're looking for folks,
where are we getting those young people from?
Where are we training them? Are we reaching out
to our city calendars?
I need for every department to do everything they can
to work with everybody so that we can A, get people working
and b, they be people from our city.
Like we, we had a positions,
and I'm not sure how long those positions have been there,
but we got a problem.
We got a real problem when it comes to hiring.
And I'm not gonna say this is not a department
that I've seen in higher in France, 'cause I have seen you.
But also, what are we doing to make sure we can train people
who can actually work here?
I mean, you raised very valid points
and we share your frustration.
I mean, one of the things that we are doing,
and we can definitely be doing more
and we will, is I'm gonna take this opportunity
to plug a community event that we are co-hosting
with the other public safety agencies on September 27th
at the public Safety headquarters, uh,
building in our parking lot.
We will be having a hiring fair across public safety
agencies where people can come
and learn what vacancies are currently available
and also apply for those positions that day.
Um, but we need to be doing more.
And that's one of the reasons why we are going
to be taking a real hard look at that across the board.
That includes marketing, how, like, you know, making sure
that we're having strategic marketing so
that we're targeting the appropriate, um, pools of people
that, um, are not only qualified
but also interested in taking these jobs.
But there, there's a lot that we need to be doing.
And I share your frustration.
Thank you. You, you, you haven't been here long enough,
uh, to, to, to, to kinda take, take the bulk
of what's going on.
But if we're, and I'm saying this
to every department based on the amount
of money we spend in each of these departments, I expect
for people to have hiring plans
and make sure that we're being effective when
it comes to hiring people.
Can you do a little bit more talking about timekeeping, is
what type of positions are those?
Like who qualifies for 'em? Is there some testing?
Can you talk a little bit about that?
Sure. I'm gonna ask Joy to speak the,
to the specifics about the requirements for timekeepers
and kind of what that position looks like for the city.
One second.
So Alderman, it is a tested title.
Um, so I'll, the minimum requirements for the job,
I'll just say real quickly here, um,
are two years of progressively, uh, progressively, uh,
responsible for timekeeping or payroll duties, um,
or an equivalent of a combination
of training for experience.
So two years
of timekeeping experience plus a test are the minimum
requirements for the job.
Is it possible for you all to email that out to me
and my coworkers Sure will do.
I won't, I won't be little.
I I mean, I won't waste you all's time.
I, you all got work till we'll do,
and we want you to get back to it.
The last thing I'll say is there needs
to be a real conversation about the city
of Chicago doing hiring fairs
or us doing more to make sure these positions get filled.
Not sure how long,
but the longer that we keep these positions open,
it makes us feel like you don't need 'em,
you can't fill 'em, you're not doing the work to fill 'em.
And so why should we keep them?
We're in a budget deficit and we penny pension.
And I'm gonna be honest, there are vacancies
that have been here since I walked in, probably since
before I got here, and we're just still holding on 'em.
Um, commissioner, you, you got some work to do and you're,
but you're not in this alone.
You need to reach out to us and, and,
and let us know how we help
these people say all the time I need, I need, I need.
But you all never reach back and say, this is what we need
and how we can support you.
And so we want to be able to support you.
Thank you, chairman.
Thank you. Uh, chairman Taylor. Um, any, any others?
Okay. Um, seeing none, uh, in our virtual, uh, audience,
um, just, uh, this is something
that I've asked every department head that has come, uh,
date, uh, looking at the, um,
overall corporate expenditure scenario where
I'm sure there's gonna be some level of, uh, reductions, uh,
three to 5%, uh, reductions.
Uh, number one, and you may not have this answer,
but I I think you have to in some respects, uh,
before we come back in, uh, October, uh,
help us to understand what does that mean to the department?
And when I say that, I mean service wise, does it mean
that it's longer to fill a position?
Does it mean that, how does that impact your department?
When we started speaking about expenditure reductions in
that three to 5% range, uh, for the department, um,
to the extent you can answer it
now, you know, that would be helpful.
But, and, and,
and I want to see some, uh, speci specificity on that
so that we understand what these reductions mean, uh,
to your department, uh, overall.
And if we've got those top 10 functions that you all do, um,
what does that impact, uh, do to your, uh, department?
Sure. So, so generally speaking, keeping in mind the fact
that we are a shared service agency
and our mission is to provide support
to the public safety departments.
And when we're talking about cuts to our budgets,
we're talking about impacting not only OPSA,
we're talking about impacting public
safety across the board.
So when we're looking at cuts, the number one kind of thing
that people know us for,
and the most money that we spend in our
office is on technology.
And so that impacts the technology that we're able to
procure and maintain on behalf
of the public safety agencies.
And then we're also looking at vacancies.
Um, and so, you know, that speaks to some of the,
the frustrations that come with, with staffing in terms
of like the timekeepers
and the support that that will provide
to the Chicago Police Department.
Um, you know, so we will
do a deeper dive per your request
and provide some information to you about
some more specific information about, um, what those types
of cups will do
and how they will impact not only our office,
but public safety across the board.
Okay. And that's, and that's a, a fair statement.
And also, and if there are, uh, revenue opportunities
that are forgone, uh, by that
or, uh, deeper expenditure cuts that could, uh, or,
or let me strike that, uh, efficiencies
that could come about, uh, from that conversation, uh,
if the reductions are, are brought forward, I think
that's something that we as a council in this committee
needs to know and to, uh, and to understand.
So, um, I, I, I thank you for, uh, for joining us today.
Um, um, this is your first time.
So, um, we, uh, I think, um, uh,
you did a good job today.
So, uh, we, we we're not going to, uh, what is that?
Yeah, I know, but, uh, uh, I, I, I think that we'll, uh,
uh, thank you.
Uh, but again, uh, thank you for your, uh, for your service.
And again, we know that the job
of this department is, is not easy.
Uh, but it is necessary, uh, in order for us
to move into the 21st century of, uh, technology
and policing and all of those, uh, things that we continue
to say that we want, but we've gotta deliver on those,
especially with the civilian of positions
that really should be civilianized.
I know we talked about timekeepers extensively today.
Uh, and we ultimately want to see some movement, uh,
'cause we believe that that is a function that should easily
be transferable to a civilian.
I mean, there are other functions that we, we know
should be transferred,
but that on its face is a very simple transition.
And to the extent that we are not meeting that goal,
I think comes back to, uh, some of the frustration
that members of council have, um, with the,
with the department and coupled with the medical, uh,
challenges that exist.
Um, um, please understand that, uh, these are things
that we're watching and, uh, these are some, what we believe
to be low hanging fruit that could be done
and create the efficiencies
and the, uh, conversation, I,
I think would, would be much different.
So, uh, again, thank you for joining us on today.
Uh, did you have anything, um,
um, Alman Silverstein?
No, you don't. Okay. I'm sorry. Okay. Alright.
Thank you very much. And, uh, we will see you in October,
hopefully, uh, in a, in better shape, uh, than today.
But, uh, we know this is your first shot.
So comedian, stand at ease while fire comes in
Because he went un announced the
Other chief. Good morning.
We are, uh, back on, uh, committee on budget
and Government Operations stand.
Come back the order, uh, now
before us, we have the Chicago Fire Department, uh,
with Commissioner Nance Holt.
Uh, we will, uh, um, we'll begin
with her opening statement, uh, followed by our introduction
to members of the, uh, of the staff that are with her today,
in which we will go into, uh, questions thereafter.
So, commitments, please. Uh, excuse.
Hold on. Before we start, uh, as we have in the past, Mr.
Blakemore, we have our public
speaking at the beginning of the day.
Uh, um, no, I don't, I don't care
what somebody else told you that was incorrect.
Uh, every day. Hold on, hold on, sir.
Every day we start with public comment for the day.
Um, uh, I,
I'm not saying you're lying, I'm not calling you anything,
so,
but okay.
But the understanding hasn't changed.
This, this, how it's been. It's okay. Okay.
Thank you, Mr. Blakemore.
Uh, commissioner, I'm sorry.
Before I begin, I wanna recognize, uh, Altman Conway for,
uh, purposes of quorum, please.
Comm commence. Uh, commissioner,
uh, Mr.
Blakemore, uh, the time for public comment has passed.
Uh, so, uh, I can't speak to
what the sergeant in arms states.
The sergeant in ours does not have control of this,
uh, committee hearing.
So, uh, uh, again, we're not gonna go through that.
Mr. Blakemore, if I would ask you if you could please have a
seat and, uh, and,
and remain quiet so that you can participate in the, in the,
in the hearing today, uh, we would greatly appreciate it.
Uh, Mr. Blakemore, just, just have a seat, sir.
Please, please, just, just have a seat so we can commence
with the, with the fire department here of the, of the
I'm not calling you anything, sir.
I, I, I can't call you anything.
I'm not gonna call you anything.
I'm just asking that you would please,
if you would just please have a seat
and if you wanna participate.
Otherwise, if you wanna leave the room again,
if you would please have a seat.
If you wanna stay in the room
and participate, uh, by listening.
Um, Mr. Blakemore, Mr. Blakemore, Mr.
Blakemore, Mr. Blakemore? Mr. Mr.
Blakemore. Mr.
Blakemore, if you, Mr.
Blakemore is not our desire to, to put citizens,
uh, in that manner.
I'm not calling you anything, sir. Okay.
So again, if Mr.
Blakemore, if you could just please just have a seat.
And Mr. Blakemore, Mr.
Blakemore, if you continue to be disruptive,
I will ask the sergeant in arms
to remove you from the chambers.
Uh, it, it
again, again, Mr.
Blakemore, we are just asking that.
We're just asking that you just have a seat and,
and listen to what's happening here.
No one's calling you anything.
We're asking that you sit down
and if you, if you choose to want to stay in the room,
we're just asking you to sit down and participate.
Mr. Mr. Sergeant at, if you could please, uh, escort Mr.
Blakemore outta the chambers if he refuses to sit down
to participate in, in, in act, in respectful manner.
Mr. Blakemore, we're not calling you anything.
Very well, Mr. Sergeant Bernard can remove
the gentleman from the chambers.
Mr. Blakemore? Mr. Blakemore?
Blakemore, we we're just asking that you,
there is no misunderstanding.
We, I'm trying to work with you.
I am, Uh,
no, I can't.
I don't know what was stated between you and anybody else.
I know we have, we have a setter. We've got a set of rules.
We wanna operate by them.
And again, uh, we've had I, sir again,
you had a right.
You spoke this morning. I,
I can't No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
That is not, that has not been our practice.
That has not been how he, again,
are you, are you going to sit down or not?
It is real clear at this point.
Are you going to, are you gonna sit down or not?
Is is this, is, are you, are you gonna part, are you going
to sit down or not?
Yes. I will have you removed.
Okay. Very well.
Alright, Sergeant Arms.
Uh, commissioner, you can commence. No, go ahead.
Did you say Yes, Sergeant, please proceed.
I cannot, uh, uh, we, we want to, we wanna proceed.
You would have a chance. That's what he told me.
He said, no, that's what he told you.
I'm not, I'm not
Committee will stand at ease.
While this takes,
Uh,
Mine used to be Deborah Sims.
Um, we're gonna go, uh, back on, uh,
committee to come back to order.
Uh, we will proceed, um, at least through lunch, uh,
with, um, uh, public upstairs in the, uh,
in the gallery upstairs, uh,
after lunch we'll see if we're able
to bring everybody back down.
But for now, the public will be upstairs in the, um,
in the upstairs portion, uh, of the,
of the council chambers, uh, per conversation
with, uh, corporation Council.
So, um, we will proceed. Uh, commissioner, please proceed.
Alright, good morning chair
and members of the City Council.
Thank you for the opportunity
to provide the Chicago Fire Department's midyear update.
Our mission is to protect life, property
and the environment in every neighborhood of this city.
And we do so with the clear focus on efficiency,
equity, and innovation.
As of mid-year, our expenditures stand at 266 million,
approximately 42% of our 633 million appropriation.
Keeping us on track over time.
Costs are down by 3% compared to the same time last year.
Thanks to tighter scheduling and better resource allocation.
Our vacancy rate is only 4%, third lowest in the city.
Ensuring critical services are fully staffed while
minimizing costly over time.
At the same time, we are strengthening community
impact and public safety.
Our mobile integrated health program has conducted 413 home
visits, over 3,100 coordination calls
and served 98 clients with 334 referrals, most
of whom has success successfully graduated from the program.
These efforts reduce nine one calls
and ambulance transports,
ensuring emergency resources are available
where they are needed most,
while connecting vulnerable residents to care.
We're also invested in Vector Solutions, a training
and compliance platform that allows us
to deliver essential training without pulling
companies from their neighborhoods.
This saves fuel and time, reduces risk,
and ensures every firefighter
and paramedic regardless of assignment and,
and meets federal, state, and local standards.
The system also tracks equipment controls, substances
and member certifications, which improves accountability
and regulatory compliance.
From January 1st to May 31st,
CFD Log 448,879 activities,
15,741 courses
and 162,567 logins.
Finally, community engagement remains our
priority This year.
CFD has hosted 39 outreach events, including partnerships
with the Chicago Housing Authority
and senior focused health education programs
reinforcing our commitment to equity and prevention.
Every one of these steps reflects our approach.
Strong financial stewardship here with deep commitment
to service and safety for every Chicagoan.
Thank you for your continued partnership,
and I look forward to your questions.
And now, uh, to the right of me, I have Brandon Keller,
my first Deputy Fire Commissioner,
and Mike devita, my Chief of Staff.
And in a box, Don Walker, deputy Fire Commissioner
of Operations, Cynthia Herring, deputy Fire Commissioner,
fire Prevention Bureau, Brian Himmel,
deputy Fire Commissioner, administrative Services,
Juan Hernandez, assistant Deputy Fire Commissioner, EMS,
Deborah, summer District Chief Community Outreach,
recruitment and Diversity.
And Michael Kudo, district Chief Logistics.
And behind them from OPSA, Natalie Gutierrez,
managing Deputy Director, joy Brown,
director Human Resources Ante Smith, deputy
Director Tenaya Williams, managing Deputy Director
and Claris Sanchez, medical Administrator.
And just so I acknowledge the members in the gallery from
CFD, Jonathan Zines, district Chief Safety Special Projects,
Ryan Rivera, commanding Fire Marshal, Cynthia Rivera,
deputy Commissioner, and Evan Ham, our general counsel.
Thank you. I'm ready for questions.
Thank you Commissioner. Uh, questions? Questions.
I know we have, uh, chair, um, servicing followed
by our vice chair.
Um, Lee,
Thank you Chairman.
I think it's officially good afternoon all you.
Um, I first wanna start by, um, thanking all of you, all
of the first responders for everything that you do.
Um, and I also just wanted to let my colleagues know
that I recently attended, it was a summer camp event
that you had, what was it called?
It was called Camp Courage.
Camp Courage. It was, can you talk about a little bit,
because it's an amazing program
and I was so impressed by what you did for our kids.
Okay, I'll start out a little bit with it.
A day of summer could finish,
but Camp Courage was an initiative that she
and her team put together to engage youth.
Uh, I believe it was 13 to 18 years old,
with an immersive view of
what the Chicago Fire Department does.
Both fire and EMS, they learned a lot
of critical hands-on skills like CPR, hands-only,
CPR Stop the Bleed.
Uh, we went to six different locations
across the entire city.
Um, we have participation from our Aldis,
which we really appreciate You came outta,
supported us and the young people.
Uh, we look forward to doing a lot more next year.
Um, we're doing that with limited resources without
driving overtime too.
So Deb, if you wanna add a little more to that.
Well, thank you for coming to the graduation event
that we hold on the third day of the camp.
Uh, day one is generally our fire operations.
Day two is EMS,
but on the third day we actually do a simulated rescue, uh,
in a non-threatening environment so that the kids can
become familiar not only with what we do,
but also a fire safety escape plan.
They're constantly being taught, uh,
community risk reduction skills, you know, exit plans, um,
not just stop, drop and roll.
But the other part of it is at the end of
that simulated rescue, um, they had a better appreciation
for what firefighters and paramedics do.
We held a mini job fair, uh, promoting the park district,
our high school program, C-P-F-T-A,
and for those that were older career pathways through
to the fire department, through our website as schools,
we had OEMC come out and talk to them about jobs.
We had EMT training come out.
So we tried to give 'em a whole platter of information.
And that is one of the other reasons we brought the parents
in on the last day is
because that's the catalyst to support those kids as they go
through if they're looking to join the fire department
or gain career experience with us.
I know I spoke to some of the kids there
and I, I think they do wanna make that their career path.
So thank you for everything that you did for our children.
It's really important. Um, I'm gonna bring up something
that I, um, I know you know already, um, that I talk about
every single year.
I think for the past maybe five years.
Um, could you tell me how many
firehouses do not have an ambulance
Actually, you are the only Alder woman
who does not have an ambulance in your ward.
Your ward is the only ward? That's correct.
Okay. Um, I'm just wanna get this on the record
and for my colleagues to hear that.
Um, I have been asking for an annex to our firehouse
for several years.
Initially, uh, we were told it was gonna cost $3 million,
so I went to my state representatives
and they were able to get $3 million for the annex.
And then we went back
and they said, oh, now it's not $3 million, it's $5 million.
So I went back and they were able to get us $5 million.
And then when we went back again, um,
they're now saying it's 10 million plus
I'm the only firehouse that does not have an ambulance.
Uh, we have state money ready
and available to use for this project if anybody would like
to visit my firehouse, you will see that the engine is used
as an end table, um,
because there is absolutely no room for the firefighters
to, um, live in that space.
And I know that you are advocating for it.
Um, but I am extremely frustrated that this is not moving,
and we definitely have the records.
I don't know if there's anyone here that could
speak for the calls for service.
Uh, that would lead I think everybody to believe
that we need an ambulance.
I think ambulances are, um, in need across the city.
Um, and if there's any way that you could speak on that,
and this is not coming towards you
because I know you support this project,
but if there's anything that you
or anyone here would like to add to my comments,
please feel free.
Well, I, I, I think Chief Kin, uh, could talk about, uh,
that firehouse and the project a little bit,
but we support the project.
We just, the fire department does
not have the money for that.
And it's not our facility.
It's actually a two FM facility though. But yes.
Um, good afternoon. Uh,
Michael Kendra, just chief of logistics.
Um, and, and as fire commissioner said,
absolutely we 100% support that facility.
Um, you are correct, um,
where the engine sits is really kind of, uh, unbearable
for the firefighters to be in there comfortably.
Um, an annex would solve a lot of problems.
But again, that, that funding doesn't come from us
and that, that building project still comes from two fm.
Uh, we still have conversations about it,
and we still try to try to champion that cause,
but we're a little bit limited as far as, uh,
how much more we can push.
Well, if there's any way, um, that any
of my colleagues would like to, um, help influence, um,
anyone that makes the decisions here, the, the necessity
of an annex in my ward,
I would greatly appreciate the support
because, um, I know that my community has signed petitions.
We have hundreds of signatures asking for this.
Um, it is great need for my community,
and I am gonna continue to fight for this
until I can actually see it come to fruition.
Thank you. Uh, chair Silverstein.
Um, I understand, uh,
what, uh, chair state in the, in the 50th ward has there,
has there been like the
internal review of, and, and,
and this is in, in the, in the late layman's terms, that
we are seeing more work on the EMS side.
We're seeing less work on the suppression side.
Has there been any conversations about rightsizing the,
um, differences that
may exist or the, for one may consider the over
potential oversaturation on the suppression side at the
expense of EMS services?
So, just so you know, uh,
of course there are more EMS calls across the country.
It's not just Chicago. It's the national trend.
However, uh, if you don't, fire companies do respond
as first responders to those companies with EMTs and
or EMTs and paramedics.
So they get care faster than they would
possibly waiting on an ambulance if an ambulance is not
close enough to the event.
Plus, you have more hands on a patient at a time,
especially if you have a opinion, which we've had a lot
of this year rollovers and all types of other incidents.
Mass shootings, having all the resources on the scene,
it means a lot to the life of the person.
And also, we've had success with our Rosc,
our resuscitation efforts in the city of Chicago,
because we have more hands on the chest of a person doing,
uh, CPR right away before anything else.
So we actually are one of the cities
that's leading the nation as far as CPR
and resuscitating people.
So if you wanna be somewhere
and something happened, Chicago probably is a better place
to be for EMS and Fire.
Okay. Um, I, I, I, I do, um,
I do understand your, uh, your,
your point as it relates to that.
Um, I, I just,
everybody's, um, you know, we, we don't want
to necessarily monetize
or put that price on,
on safety.
And this is not just for fires for police
or OEMC, all of our public safety mechanisms.
Um, but I do believe that we, we have to take a,
an honest assessment on where we are,
what we're doing, how do we look toward some of our peers,
how do we manage
or maintain within that same methodology while still
coloring inside of the lines.
I know that's a difficult task.
Um, it's a necessary task, uh,
that we, that we have to undergo.
Uh, and I, I totally understand the, uh, concerns
that the Alder woman has raised in, in the 50th ward.
We have to figure out a way to thread the needle, per se, so
that we can meet the demands, uh, that exist, uh,
while being as efficient as possible.
And I, and I think that's the crux of, of, of these,
of these conversations that we, we need to busy fishing
as possible while meeting the demands of the citizenry.
So, uh, do you have anything to add to that? Uh, chairman,
I just wanna reiterate that, um, I am the only
firehouse without an ambulance, the only one.
And my constituents are
just beside themselves at the fact that we have been asking
for years and years and years, and it has gone on deaf ears.
And we deserve to have what everyone else deserves to have.
We deserve to have an ambulance just like every other
firehouse in the city of Chicago.
Alright. All right. That's fair.
Um, I, I, I would make a, um, a statement,
but it would take me back to Texas,
and I don't think we want to entertain
redistricting, uh, at this time.
But, uh, be that, be that as it may, um,
vice Chair Lee, followed by Altman Man, Harper Roof.
Thank you, chair. Um, good afternoon, commissioner.
Good afternoon to see you.
Um, uh, I'll echo all of the, the thanks for what you
and your team do every day.
Um, es especially the things that you do that are outside
of just the, the daily duties of keeping the community safe,
but all of the things that you do in the communities,
I'm very well aware of those things that you do, uh,
with very, very few resources at the end of the day.
So congratulations on the success of the, uh,
camp courage this summer.
I'm sorry I wasn't able to make it myself. Um,
Vice chair, we gotta get you close
to the mic again. Thank you. Oh,
It's been a while since we've been back here.
Sorry. Um, with respect to, um,
just picking up where, uh, my colleague left off.
Where's the nearest fire station to the 50th ward?
Like proximity wise, how long would it take?
Or like, where, where do they get transport from if, if, uh,
emergency medical assistance is needed
and they need transport?
I know EMS with a fire engine is available,
but they can't transport people.
Yeah. Mike dta, you live in the area, you can.
Sure. Uh, thank you for that question.
The, uh, surrounding firehouses would come from Peterson
and Pulaski to the west, uh, Peterson and Clark to the east,
and then a little bit for further northeast, um,
it would be Tuy and Clark, uh, Tuy and Clark.
So, and then I just wanted to clarify that, um,
that firehouse that the older woman is speaking
of is not the only firehouse without an ambulance.
We do have several single engine.
Uh, she's the only ward, right. Without the ambulance.
Got it. Thank you for that clarification. We
Have just under 20 firehouses that,
that don't have an ambulance in there.
25. And how many total firehouses
do we have across the city?
Uh, about 97. Okay.
And some of them can't actually fit an additional
apparatus in em anyway, be it an engine or anything else,
or an ambulance, and Yeah, he's right.
Thank you for clearing that up.
She's the only ward with that one. Yes.
Um, Um, could you tell us
how far away that is?
Um, from the northern part of my ward,
for those ambulances to get there?
Yeah. To transport. If,
If everyone is home, you know, that,
that's always the, the key.
But the current firehouse that we're speaking
of is 2,800 West.
So, um, Pulaski is 4,000.
And then going in the other direction,
it would be about 15, 1600.
So it, it is a little bit of a haul, uh, engine 71
that we're speaking of is an a LS engine.
So they do have an a, uh, paramedic support,
but they don't have, uh, an ambulance.
Um, and the unique thing about this facility is there is,
it is sits on a double lot.
So the city does own the lot to the south,
adjacent to the firehouse.
So there's plenty of real estate to build an annex.
And the current structure does not meet our standards.
Uh, and, and there are, there are a lot of issues.
It's a very old house.
It's a, begs the question why it hasn't happened yet.
Um, so I, I think that
I appreciate my colleague bringing it up.
And, you know, alderman Silverstein, you,
you've got my support, um, to work on getting you
that annex that you need.
I, I get calls. I, I started to get a lot
of calls in the last year about, um, not having, um,
ambulances in, in the warden.
I think there was like reallocation, I think
of equipment maybe, um, you know,
regularly I would get calls just about like, you know,
folks have to come from far away if we need services now.
Um, can you talk a little bit about the, the decision
to sort of rejigger the, the equipment
and like where, where we have just EMS
response services versus sort of,
and forgive me for my ignorance, um, the different levels
of care, um, that are
provided through, uh, various pieces of, uh, well,
equipment and personnel. So
I can briefly start,
then I'll turn it over to Juan Hernandez.
But basic life support, you'll get a fire engine
or a fire truck or apparatus with, uh, A EMT,
maybe two eem, everybody now is almost an EMT.
So you might get a full compliment of EMTs on the company.
And they have A-A-A-E-D.
They have oxygen, they have Narcan, they have,
uh, albuterol.
And what am I missing, Mike? Anything? No. Okay.
And then you have a a LS, uh, Ambu, a a LS engine,
which has a paramedic
and EMTs on it that has a cardiac monitor.
They have the actual drugs, some of the drugs
that the ambulances have,
and they are able to start, uh, that type of care,
a LS care right away.
And then Juan, you could talk more about a LS ambulances.
Yes, ma'am. So Juan Hernandez, uh, EMS Chief, uh,
we have a two tier system as the commissioner mentioned.
Uh, we have, uh, basic life support fire companies
and advanced life support fire companies.
Uh, when a basic life support gets on a scene,
they can always upgrade and request for an a LS,
uh, fire company.
Um, and then, and then obviously the, uh,
we have a fully staffed two paramedics on each ambulance,
uh, 80 ambulances across the city who can respond.
Um, and then they are, uh, transport, uh, the patient
to the hospital, uh, to the appropriate hospital
because now we have a systems of care.
So when we get on a scene, we can, if it's a cardiac event,
we can transport 'em to the appropriate hospital.
Uh, that, uh, gives the services for cardiac stroke,
same thing, uh, trauma, same thing.
So, uh, it is really depending on, on the patient,
what type of patient we have.
Um, and that's where we transport a patient from the scene
to the appropriate hospital.
That answer your question?
Yeah. In part, I think the, if I may share, um,
I'm, I'm curious to know sort of how, how this has all gone,
um, in the last year.
And then you don't have to answer this question out
through the chair if there's, if we have any data on, um,
you, I'm, what I'm curious about is just the instances
where, um, this new system that you're talking about,
and I look, we have a lot more smart information.
We know where we can send people,
but you know, there's a, there's a belief out there
that this is, um,
actually maybe causing more potential harm than good.
Um, I just wonder what the data tells us about if we're,
if we're getting people to places
or getting to the scene late when we need, let's say basic,
um, life support goes out
and then we fi we figure out advanced life support is needed
and the call for that because,
and you, you made the comment earlier,
chief dda about whether
or not, uh, it, the company is at home at the time, right?
So if the, if it's available,
then it can be deployed to that area.
I'm wondering like what the strain has been,
if we've seen any trends like that.
The, the one thing I can speak to
and Mike can probably speak to the rest,
is our BLS call volume is greater than our a LS call volume.
So we're seeing more basic life support calls than we are a
LS advanced life support calls at this time.
We do not have a data analyst. Mm-hmm.
So we can't do data uhhuh.
We, that's something we've asked for every budget hearing.
So if we had a data analyst, we could dig deeper into a lot
of this, uh, all the things that we need to get answers for
as far as stats and response times and all of that.
But we really don't have a lot of that.
And like I said, a lot of people call, uh, 9 1 1
because they wanna get to the hospital.
Some people wait
and they just need, they think if we call
9 1 1, we'll get in faster.
And that's really not true. You won't get seen faster.
So I think education, we've been talking about this, trying
to educate people on when to use 9 1 1.
And that's probably tying us up too.
Chief Veda. So, uh, we did take a look at
for 2025 our, our transport.
So, so far, uh,
we have transported 176,858.
Out of that 98,968 were categorized as BLS.
But that was after we had two paramedics go
and assess the patient.
Okay. A lot of times the call will come in based off
of the caller's information.
It will be categorized as an A LS.
A lot of times the call taker and,
and that's a question for OEMC,
but they will overc categorize just if there's any doubt.
Um, but once our paramedics arrive on scene
and assess the patient, then they determine a LS or BLS.
Got it. My last question is just about equipment.
How often do you have equipment? Just down? What? Fire.
Fire engines, uh, ambulances. Do cars fail?
I mean, like vehicles fail.
Uh, do we have downtime for these?
The is really not, I'm asking how many, uh,
trucks don't work on a regular basis.
And if, because the, the question
for two fm eventually is going to be
where we stand on equipment, how old our fire engines are,
um, are we looking to replace any of them just to sort of,
you know, the age of the fleet.
Um, actually, uh, there are a lot of variables
that come into play when you talk about equipment down.
Some of it is mechanical failure, some
of it is human error accidents.
So we might get a piece of equipment
and it might get into an accident and now it's down.
Um, and availability, like with squads,
we are looking at snorkels.
They no longer make snorkels the way they used to make 'em,
so availability of getting equipment.
But we do have like a, a a order.
I'm gonna let Mike talk about it
'cause he has what the orders have been for 2024
and then 2025, what's upcoming.
But the problem has been
that investments were not made continually every year into,
uh, updating the fleet.
And it's nobody's fault here or there either.
But now they have a plan that they're working on.
Well, he has it. Mike, you could go ahead. Listen,
I couldn't get it. Good afternoon
everybody. Um, so as, as far as, uh,
equipment that gets down the street every year, um, we try
to average, right now the average is, uh, six engines,
four trucks for last year.
This year we're looking at, um, probably four engines, uh,
five trucks for this year.
Um, that's strictly speaking on trucks and engines.
Um, that is short of where we need to replace a 97
engine fleet in every 15 years.
Uh, the NPA uh, guidelines are every 15 years that
that rig should be no, no longer a frontline rig
and should be moved into spare status.
Right now, roughly 58%
of our engine fleet is over older than 15 year, 15 years.
Roughly 29% of our truck fleet is over older than 15 years.
But part of our problem is the cost
of apparatus have gone up drastically.
So what they used to could buy with one,
now you're splitting to buy one engine.
You don't, it's like, what is it?
A million, about a million for an engine. Mike
Engines go for about a million trucks.
About 1,000,001 tower ladders are about 1,000,003. Yeah.
So the cost and then the turnaround time
for our apparatus, since COVID have increased too.
So they increased the prices
and then the time to turnaround vehicles has decreased.
So now we wait on ve vehicles anywhere up to three years.
So if we order something today,
we won't see it for three years.
And that's part of, uh,
I think there is something in the state they're trying
to propose to go after manufacturers.
I read it somewhere about trying
to get fleets turned around faster. Alright,
Thank you. That's all I got
here. Um,
Let me just a follow up question to that.
What is the difference between an engine, a truck
and you, you, you u utilize one other term, tower tower.
So what, what are what's IIII, I know
what a tower ladder is based on that,
but what is the difference between an engine and a truck
That I engineer used to Be?
Thank you for that question chair.
Um, just to put it in very simple terms,
a fire engine has a 1500 gallon a minute pump.
That's what hooks up to the fire hydrant.
And it carries a compliment of just over 3000 feet of hose
that then we go and attack the fire with a truck.
Is the, is the apparatus that you see
with the a hundred foot, um, ladder on top.
And it also has a, an entire compliment of ground ladders
that we could, that the
firefighters can deploy to the building.
Um, and a tower ladder is just like a truck,
although there is a basket at the end with a waterway
that's pre-PIP on the ladder.
And so we can extend it
and we can shoot water from an, an adv an aerial advantage.
Okay. Alright. Thank you.
Um, speaking of equipment, um,
I think this may go back to, uh, Altman Silverstein's point.
Is there a piece of equipment, and,
and this comes back to the fact that we are doing more
emergency, uh, medical runs versus fire calls.
Is there a piece of equipment that doubles as a transport
for patients and a fire engine
or a fire suppression piece of equipment?
Equipment? The only, uh, units
that transport are ambulances talking about transport
Patients. Yeah, I I'm just,
I I'm just asking the question.
'cause I, I, I, I, I don't know.
And, uh, I didn't know if there was this piece of equipment
that we could get that
because we are doing, we're sending, literally,
we're sending firefighters to ambulance calls
and, you know, is there a piece of equipment
that has the duality to be both?
And that, that's my, that's my real question.
Um, Mike o Kendall says,
Um, thank you for that question.
Currently, no, there isn't
a piece of equipment that does that.
And the reason is, um, they fall under different standards
as far as patient transportation
and fire engines themselves.
It comes down to a matter of patient safety
and being able to safely transport a patient in a vehicle
the size of an engine, there just isn't something
that they make on market that's currently
Okay. Alright. I, I,
I just didn't know that. Okay.
Just asking a question. Any other questions
for the fire department, ada?
One sec. Okay. There you go. Thank you chairman.
Uh, and thank you Commissioner Nance Holt for being here
and for all of your team.
Um, just like my colleagues
before who said, thank you very
much for all of your service.
Um, I know it's a thankless job many of the times,
but you keep our community safe.
Um, I also want to thank, uh,
the fire department's continued partnership, uh,
and, uh, for having our honor service at Fireman's Park in
the 35th Ward, which is situated at the corner
of Kimball Diversity Milwaukee, uh, which is in memoriam
of the Lost Firefighters in Logan Square.
Um, and so, you know, we always have, uh,
an honoree, uh, service there.
Uh, a lot of our community members come out,
our office comes out, we clean up the park together,
we put up some flowers, um, and we have a beautiful service.
I just want to thank you again for your continued, uh,
partnership in the 35th Ward.
Um, my question is around, um, the care, uh, teams, the, uh,
crisis assistance response and engagement teams.
I wanna know better understand your engagement, uh,
in collaboration with the Department of Public Health.
Uh, because I know that the vans that go out, uh, is
because there is partnership between the fire department
and CDPH, but to my understanding,
there are sometimes issues with either scheduling
or not being able to have the right staff available.
Um, so if you could just explain to me
and to my colleagues better, um, how
that coordination works.
How doesn't it work and why sometimes, uh, we're not able
to get Vans out, um,
and what, what are some of those causes?
Okay. Uh, the Chicago Fire Department is not engaged
with the care team currently,
and we haven't been for some time.
When we were engaged with the care team,
there were no budgeted positions in the fire department
to support the care team.
So we were taking people from our mobile integrated health
units that we ex we talked about earlier,
and using them to staff the care teams.
Well, when you have people on vacation, people
who are on medical
or people just, um, not wanting to, to be in that,
they didn't sign up for that.
They signed up as community paramedics
to be in mobile integrated health.
So currently the fire department is not, um,
under the care team or working with the care team currently.
Got it. And so do you have an estimation of, um,
how many staff you would need to be able to work
with Department of Public Health on, on that?
I don't, uh, you know what, they haven't had a discussion
with us about that, so we haven't talked about
how they're trying to scale it
or if CDPH is gonna continue to run it, you know,
that's not a conversation we've had,
so I couldn't really say.
Excellent. That's very helpful context,
and I'm sure I can issue any
more questions through the chair.
Um, and also when we're,
whenever we talk to the Department
of Public Health, but thank you very much. Thanks.
Thank you, alderman. Um, uh,
let me, I'm gonna come to you next.
Uh, alderman man, Howorth, uh, Mobil Integrated Health.
Can you describe and tell us what that is
and how it functions and, and,
and what it, what it actually does?
Okay. I know Chief Saints, this is his lane,
I'm gonna start off and I'm gonna let him say it,
but Mobile Integrated Health was developed to try
to keep people from utilizing 9 1 1
and going to the emergency room for COVID morbidities, like,
um, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart failure, uh,
different conditions that people get in various communities
and people who don't have access
to healthcare like they should or have doctors.
So what community peer, I mean, mobile integrated health,
what they do, they're community paramedics,
and I've actually gone out with them.
They actually sit with a client, like they get a person
to agree that, yes, I would like to receive your service.
They go out and they sit with them
and they actually work through everything.
They look at their medicines, they talk about
what would they like to see,
how do they wanna improve their health?
They give them tools to help them.
They schedule doctor's appointments.
They take more time
with a person than a doctor's office, you know, doctor's office.
They like, hurry up, hurry up.
They sit down and find out
what you need based on who you are.
And sometimes, like the time I went,
it wasn't just the husband, it was the wife too.
So they were able to help both.
And Jonathan, I think you can add to that, where's he at?
Jonathan Zanes, district Chief.
Uh, yes, as the commissioner said,
mobile integrated healthcare is delivery
of preventative services in a pre-hospital environment
given by paramedics.
It's a national model. And the big goal here is building
relationships within these communities
and with these individuals to ensure
that their healthcare needs and vulnerabilities are met.
Uh, we've had tremendous success with individuals
who are high frequency utilizers identified by our engines,
our ambulances, our trucks,
and other computer community partners such as CHA,
in targeting these people who are victimized
by chronic disease conditions, as mentioned
by the Fire commissioner, that account for about 60% of the,
uh, age gap difference in some of these neighborhoods.
And we have reduced a lot of their 9 1 1 utilization
by over 50% in most cases over time.
So these, these are, these services are, are, uh, toward
what I call a frequent flyers?
Correct. There's a, a subset of individuals
that have dependency upon 9 1 1 and emergency rooms.
Often there's an overlap with those
that are calling 9 1 1 regularly
because of these unmet health needs
and, uh, the healthcare
disparities within their communities.
Have you all identified, um, locations, um,
and, and it, and I think it may go back to the data, uh,
data analysis, uh, component, uh, of a referral.
Let's say the engine company doesn't refer that individual,
but you all have the data
to figure out Person X has called 9 1 1 8 times in the last,
you know, 30 days or something along those lines
to figure out that there are people that need
to be in this program, and you all need to be reaching out
to that.
You're not reaching them
because somebody just hasn't said, Hey, let's refer them to
this particular program.
That is correct. There's, for starters,
we do follow up on every single referral.
Um, if, at at least with a callback to the refer individual
who refer to me their CHA agencies,
other healthcare agencies
or the, uh, crew that referred them.
But typically we do contact the individual
because even when we find that there are,
perhaps they are in charge of their healthcare situations,
there are other city agencies that we may be able to put
with them with to better enable
and allow them to empower
themselves within their own community.
So yes, there is a matrix that we use
to determine if they will fall into the specific program
visit model we use,
but we do not turn down a conversation with anyone
to help them engage with other city agencies.
And there are some referrals from fire companies,
as we say, um, because we recognize people
who need us more frequently than others.
And, and when you ask about where they're at,
I got a list of where they're at.
It's a quite extensive list
of the communities that we serve.
Um, and like I said,
it's a phenomenal program. It really is.
Okay. Um, I, I, I, um, I, I would, I, I guess the question
that I would, would raise in that, and,
and I will, if you, I'll make sure that we pass this along
to, uh, all of our, uh, all of our colleagues.
Um, and you're saying that's being staffed by a paramedic,
two paramedics, two paramedics are, are,
are staff are staffing this.
Okay. Um, the only other, uh, um,
and I, I'll follow back up on this when I
go to, uh, man Harper.
Thank you Chair. Um,
my question is along the lines of what, what you're speaking
of right now, the mobile Integrated healthcare program,
and I'm curious if that program
is in operation in the Edgewater area community, um,
along the Lakefront 48th Ward,
Jonathan
District Chief Saints, again, thank
you all to person for that question.
Uh, we recently just worked within the last few months
with our resource hospital
because since it is medical services
that comes under the Regional 11 medical Authority,
and we do have a, one of the four consortium medical doctors
who allows us to bridge our area.
We have just recently gotten the approval from the region
to go ahead and expand our services
to other wards and areas.
So yes, I can say by the end of the year,
we will be servicing clients
within the Edgewater neighborhood.
And also, Jonathan, can you talk about
how you graduate people from this program?
'cause we have a graduation for them too.
Uh, please. Thank you Commissioner for that question.
Yeah. Part of the, the core
of the program is actually a multi visit model where we,
we take you through the steps of self-care,
healthcare empowerment,
and also how to, uh, manage your healthcare needs
to reduce your dependency on 9 1 1 in the emergency room.
And that is a typically a four visit model
with the fourth visit being a graduation
where you actually receive a certificate and then follow up.
We use that as a benchmark too, to look at six month
and 12 month data for how we're doing to reduce.
And we also use that as touch points to recommunicate
with those clients to see how their healthcare needs are
and if there are any other gaps within their services.
I, I wanna say thank you for, for presenting, uh, uh,
and also talking about how important, uh, prevention is.
Um, so as you know, Edgewater is served
by, um, the firehouse.
It's on Ashland. And so it,
but the density in our ward is on the east side.
And so you have to get through the Edgewater neighborhood,
our, our residential streets to get to Sheridan Road
where most of our density is.
And it's, and, uh, and we hear the sirens all the time,
and I, and I speak to your officers and, uh,
and by the way, thank you for the 144 fire, um,
personnel who came to put out the fire on, um, on, uh,
Broadway 63 41 Broadway just days ago, uh,
where no one was hurt.
And so we, we really appreciate your service always.
Um, but, but,
but to your point of, um, what is needed right now, it seems
to me that, um, and,
and I've met the, the, the, um, uh, during a service call
and, and spoken to your, um, fire officers
and, um, waiting, um, in the middle of the street waiting
for someone to, to, um, to relieve the officers and,
and waiting for an ambulance, sorry,
waiting for an ambulance.
Um, that, that takes up a lot of time.
And like, um, being on the street, it's, uh, it's,
it's traumatizing in a way for communities to have, um,
fire trucks having to go through the neighborhoods.
Um, and to reduce that call time is really important.
And I, I speak on this as also a, um, a physical therapist
who worked at the Cook County Hospital,
where I saw frequent, frequent, uh, flyers for, um, chronic,
um, chronic pain, for instance, chronic disease, you know,
um, uh, where people use the emergency room, um,
for services that they, they should have gotten
because, um, they,
they are not plugged into the healthcare system in a way
that could prevent these, um, these things from happening.
Um, and, and needing, needing, um, essential services.
But going by way of 9 1 1.
So, uh, all of this to say that, um,
Edgewater is a very small, um, footprint,
and we hear the fire trucks going
through the neighborhood all the time.
Um, I do wonder like the data behind those calls
for service, you know, whether, um,
of course we know when there's a fire that happens,
we hear it in the press, but for those other calls,
how do we know, for instance, um, the response time, um,
even, um, in the midst of all the construction
that's happening, for instance, in Edgewater, you know,
how has that impacted your, your calls to service?
Um, and, and I'm wondering if a data analyst would be able
to help you sort through that data.
Um, I'm wondering if we knew about the types
of calls you were getting and,
and the, um, the, uh, like how, how is it
that we can prevent these calls
from happening in the first place?
And then to, um, alderman ADA's point, um,
where is it that care, the care program could fit in to
also help, um, to service all, all of those
that need the help the most?
Um, so, um, the question I have is, does it make sense
to have a data analyst through the fire department or,
or OEMC?
The fire department needs a data analyst,
and we've been trying to get one.
We've had, uh, conversations with University of Chicago
to try to get one loan to us.
Uh, we were told that we would get one through OPSA,
we still don't have a data analyst,
and we would love to see our run response time as well.
However, we are, uh, everyone that lives in the city,
I drive every day.
Traffic is horrendous, so we have
to overcome traffic road construction and now new roadways.
So all of that plays on response times.
And it's not just about, if we had a ambulance
for every person, it still wouldn't be enough, trust me.
So right now, um,
having the first responder companies on there,
providing service is the best model we have at this time.
Um, the care team, that's something I really can't discuss
'cause I'm not really in on that yet.
But, um, like I said,
the analyst would help us a lot. I appreciate that one.
Thank you. And if you could just keep in touch
with me about the, the data
that we can compile in the Edgewater area,
I'd be very interested in that, especially again, as we're,
um, we're doing a lot of road construction and,
and I know this is a, um, a priority of the city too,
to have safe streets no matter how you get around,
be able to use our intersections, whether you are walking
or using an assisted device or what have you.
Um, we want all of our streets to be safe,
and we want you to be able to get to the people
who need those essential services the most and,
and the most expedient time.
Thank you. Mm-hmm.
Check. Thank you. Um, tdo, do you have anything? Nothing.
Any other questions? Um, Ottman.
Taylor, do you have a question?
I do. Chairman, can you gimme two seconds?
No worries. Cancel That meeting.
Uh, you right, I do have one. Um,
So I'm ready. Um,
Oh, go, go ahead. Go ahead. Alman Taylor.
Thank you, Jeremy. Um, my question is, Hey,
commissioner, good morning.
The contract for CPD was ratified with the exclusion
of Appendix G
I'm sorry, can you repeat that? I'm sorry.
I said was the CFD contract ratified
with the removal of Appendix G, which means
the contract was signed with, and the,
and they removed the Appendix G from the contract,
which would protect black folks from making sure they could
become firefighters.
What I can tell you is I cannot talk about the contract
because it has not been ratified.
Um, Evan Ham, if he would like
to interject anything in there,
but I can't talk about the contract at all.
I'm sorry.
Oh, can anybody say anything about that?
No, he, uh, he's coming to the microphone.
Uh, alderman, uh, go ahead. Uh, Mr.
Thank you for the question. And the union voted in favor
of the contract that voting closed on Monday.
However, this body has not ratified that contract yet.
So right now the contract is still considered pending,
so we can't comment on what was included
or not included in what will be presented
to this body, I believe later this month.
Commissioner, for the record,
can you talk about the racial makeup or of CFD?
So are you talking about the diversity
of the whole department?
Yes. Okay.
So currently diversity department wide,
um, you want me to go through each, I guess, uh,
Asian 1.9, American Indian, uh, point 19
black, 14.9 Hispanic, 21.23.
White, 60.87 Pacific Islander 0.19,
uh, two or more?
Uh, 1.36.
And, uh, total unknown,
uh, 0.19.
How many people are currently on the department as whole?
And how many vacancies do you all currently have?
Okay. Uh, looks like we got 48 48 for our number.
And vacancies are 2 33, is that correct?
I'm not looking at it. We can't find it.
It's on the back page. What's the bottom number? 2 33.
2 33 on my vacancies.
Um, and as you know, Alder Woman, we have a higher plan
and, uh, chief Hemel has done an excellent job at keeping up
with the higher plan, working with budget and, um, OPSA
and DHR to fill our vacancies.
And because the fire department is unique, a lot of our, uh,
uniform members tend to retire in November.
And so when they retire in November, we have to wait
for those vacancies to be available for us to fill our, um,
entry level firefighter classes.
And in some cases, our paramedics.
Uh, but we ha we do have a higher plan
and we have usually two classes per year of fire,
depending on vacancies.
Do you all point to do any testing anytime soon?
Well, okay. I couldn't, I'm sorry. I couldn't hear you.
She asked if you were doing any testing
anytime soon. Okay.
So we don't determine testing.
Uh, that would have to go through DHR.
Right now we have not heard of any new,
and I think you're speaking of entry level Alder woman.
Yes. Yeah, we haven't heard
of any entry level testing at this time.
And you said it would come from DHR?
Yeah. Yeah, they actually administer the test.
We don't. So
Who decides when the testing happens?
I would guess that would be a conversation
with, uh, Hemel.
Can you answer that? 'cause I'm, we don't,
Yeah. Our, our
testing, uh, actually debated it,
whether we're gonna put it in the budget for, for fiscal 26.
I know it's on the table right now with DHRs budget,
not the fire department's budget.
Current list. Right now we're,
we're operating under like three years old.
We're at about a halfway point in that current list.
What we are opening up in the fall
of this year is we anticipate opening up the paramedic sign
up, which is not a test, it is a sign up.
And we anticipate that before the end of the year.
Thank you. How often are you
calling people from off that list?
Did you hear? Could you repeat the question? We
Can't hear good.
How often do you call people from off that list?
Because you said the list is three
years old, but you all are. Yeah,
We're, we're processing.
I, the OPSA is processing on, on the need of the department.
Our department and our hire plan all works in succession
with opening these vacancies geared towards
May two classes a year.
May fir may, the early part of May
and December 1st, like the commissioner alluded to,
we lose the majority of our people in November.
We're probably lose 150.
And with the contract on the table, that could increase.
We are, we build in all our ranks up until November.
So when November hits, we're already in a good position
with two, with only 233 vacancies all together.
And then when November hits, it's gonna drop,
we immediately start a fire class in December one,
then start then, then the, uh, HR system shuts down
between mid-December and mid, uh, in mid, uh, January.
Then we start the process of promotion,
which creates the vacancies for the May class.
It's very, uh, kind of integral. It works all hand in hand.
It, as long as everything we have current lists, we have,
uh, pro promotional lists all
current, and we do at this time.
It, it works very well.
And that's why you see our vacancy number at such a low
level, 3% total.
And also, uh, Alder woman, um,
our department is fairly young now.
We're shifting over from the older people.
Us, and we got a lot more younger,
so our vacancies are gonna start being less and less.
Uh, but we traditionally had classes of around a hundred,
and that was before our crossovers
of our firefighter paramedics crossing over our class.
Currently in there, I think it's like 57
or 54 that's currently in there right now in the fireside.
So we expect them to graduate in
December, November, December.
Thanks, commissioner through the chair.
Can you all explain what happens when people are on
that list and what happens if they sit on the list
for too long or they age out?
You say, do they age out if they sit on there too long?
Yes. That, That's, so they've been on the list
for three years, four years.
Mm-hmm. The only, they don't, don't qualify anymore.
What happens are they kicked off the list,
and you don't have to explain that now, commissioner,
you can send it through the chair.
Thank you, chairman. Because that's
Gonna be OPSA.
That's OPSA Alder woman.
And the only way you age off, you age off at 38.
If you're 38, then you age off the list.
Otherwise you stay on the list
unless you're disqualified by OPSA or some other entity.
We don't do that. So
that's all O-P-S-A-O.
Can OPSA explain that they're right.
Oh, there are, there are members from O PS here. Joy
Is here.
Joy, would you like to answer?
Is it on? Oh, okay. Hi, uh, Derman Taylor.
Uh, so Joy Brown, director of HR for OPSA.
Um, so just to give a little context,
from the 2022 eligibility list,
there are still 1,192 candidates on the list.
Um, and so, uh, as Chief Hamel said, as uh,
vacancies become available, obviously we are working
to fill those vacancies, uh, within the department.
Um, so again, the current list won't expire
until a new exam is given,
but there are still plenty of viable
candidates on this current list.
Chairwoman, Yes.
Um, getting into the elevator.
Um, my apologies if you don't hear me.
No, what did you, did you have a follow up question to
that
chair?
Did Chairwoman, did you have a follow up question to, uh,
what the HR director stated?
Okay. Alright. Uh, thank you for that.
Uh, and I'll, I'll, um, knowing that
we have a annual, um, group of people
that leave out in November, uh, from what, uh,
I think was stated, we don't bring a new class in until May.
No. We have, uh, two classes a year,
and it's based on vacancies.
So our two classes per year would be December and May.
Oh, December and May. Right.
Okay. But we have to have the, A forms
or the vacancies in order to have a new, uh, candidate class
for firefighter or a paramedic, you have to have a spot.
So once they free 'em up
and we get a class that's processed, depending on the number
of vacancies, that's what we'll have.
So, like I said, a class right now,
it's only 50 something in that class.
Traditionally we have a class of a hundred.
So just just so that I'm clear, um, your,
your, you all are limited by the number of vacancies,
vacancies to process the class.
Un unless No, but,
but earlier you all stated that you,
you're at a 3% vacancy rate, right?
Not to process the class.
'cause they start processing way ahead of time. Understood.
To actually, yeah, start the class.
Alright, so the class of what should be 100, is that, is
that the general number or is this 50 some odd number?
The actual number? Generally
The class is approximately a hundred,
but based on vacancies we only had 50 plus.
And Joy can say what they
No, no, no, no. I that's,
I, I I understand your point.
So the class that should be a hundred is 57
due to, uh, due to vacancies, number one.
Number two, um, if you have, uh,
vacancies that continue to attribute through the year,
should those classes be 50 or 60?
Or should that class be 100?
I'm sorry. I don't really, yeah, I don't,
Go ahead. I
don't, go ahead.
Go ahead Altman and I'll come, go ahead. Altman,
Can, can I, can I jump in and help out here?
Uh, chairman and commissioner, go ahead.
So there should the, the number
of people in a class shouldn't
be anything other than what they need.
So for example, when the commissioner came on,
I think she had a class of a hundred when Brian came on,
I think he had a class of 50.
He was a class before me when I came on.
I had a class of 60. So it should be whatever they need.
There's not, it should be a hundred, it should be 150.
In 1988, they had three classes, two of 'em
or three of 'em all for a hundred to 150.
So it, the, it should be whatever they need.
It's not, it's not, it always gotta be a hundred.
It's always gotta be 50. No, that's
That, that's the point that I'm trying to get at
because trying to tell you,
It should Be anything they need the question.
And that's what I, that's what I wasn't understanding.
If the number was, she said the number was based on
vacancies, but that might not equate to the need.
And if the need is greater than the amount of vacancies
that exist, because it ultimately will cost us more money
not to hire or create another class.
That's what I'm trying to understand.
They're not gonna process a hundred
and then when they only need 50 and they come out
and say, sorry, Johnny, we don't have jobs for you, 50,
50 people. The question I, I,
I understand your point,
but the question comes back to the need.
If the, you're, you're saying you're processing a class
of 57 based on quote unquote vacancies,
but we know we're going to a trip another 20
or 30 people in the interim,
and then we, we continue to play catch up
behind the ball when we may,
may come out better come out ahead if we just go ahead
and put the people through on the front end versus waiting
for 'em to fall out on the back end.
So every decision is based on budget.
So we are not allowed,
I'm not asking a, I'm not asking a,
I'm not asking a budgetary question.
I'm asking a, a need question.
So if the, if the need is 80
and you're telling me you are only filling 57
because there's not a theoretic space, uh, on a line item
for that to happen, even though it's gonna cost us more
money in the long run to, to do it the way
that you're saying, I think that's a question of efficiency
that we may need to look at
and may be create, you know, create a, a, uh, for lack
of a better term, a pool of hire.
And we've done this in other departments
where we created a pool of people that have the ability
to transfer into a department,
for example, motor truck drivers.
We do that with laborers.
We're starting to do that with, I don't see why we could not
do that with your department, given the lead time
that is necessary in order to bring somebody in
and get them fully up to speed.
You're talking, you know, six months to a year.
This is a different animal that we have to deal with.
And I think we have to look at it from a,
a slightly different perspective,
because if we don't do it,
we end up costing ourselves more money.
Because you all have minimum manual,
you all have other requirements that we continue to have
to deal with, and it becomes a loser to focus it
and run it the way that you're saying that is the question
that I'm trying to get some
clarity and understanding around.
So I will turn that over to OPSA
because of course I can only, uh, get
what they give me in the end.
So Joy.
Sure. Chairman Iman Irvin,
I'm not sure I understood your question,
but I mean, ultimately,
obviously we've cut down on processing time.
So generally speaking, we do have more people that are ready
for class and they have vacancies.
Um, but if you're asking about operational manning
and the need for more positions, I think
that's a different question.
So maybe I'm just not understanding
the question you've posed.
Um, this is not rocket science.
This is a, this is a math problem
and it comes down to are we hiring enough people
to offset our attrition, which in turn cost us more money
because we have to hire people back in order
to maintain a level of service
that's required under our collective bargaining agreement.
Oh, okay. So that's a staffing question.
I will turn that over to Chief Helen. No,
It's not a staffing question, it's a budget.
It's, it is really, it's, it's a question of if we
don't hire people, we don't process people
because of the lead time it requires
to get somebody up and functioning.
Are we losing money doing it that way?
Should we create something in order for us not
to create additional overtime
because we have a minimum manner requirement under our CBA
with the fire department.
So as far as processing is concerned, if there are folks
that are left over in the process,
so there's a December class, right?
And there are folks that won't make it to that class.
We don't redo the background processing, uh, in order to get
that person ready for the next available class.
Um, so we're not, I guess we're not expending resources in
that sense, but if anybody else has a take on
that question, I'll
Answer. Alright. Well, I I,
I hope somebody in the atmosphere
understands my question.
And when you ask, come back in October, uh, I, I I expect
that we have a, a,
a decent answer to that particular question.
So I'm gonna just leave it at that and, um,
and then we'll move forward.
Any other questions for the fire department?
Uh, my final question, which is something
that I've asked all the departments, um, looking at, um,
your, uh, department, you guys are $600 million, um,
approximately give
or take of our, of our corporate, uh, corporate budget.
And, um, based on the conversations, um, we had last year
and this year, um, looking at three to 5%
in expenditure reductions, uh, what does that mean
to the department and operations,
uh, of what you do?
Uh, and can that be, uh, delineated
and reduced to a form that we understand, uh,
what expenditure cuts mean to the department?
Because I think we need to understand as we go
through this process, uh, what does a 5% cut
to fire equate to?
What does that mean on service delivery?
What does that mean on training?
What does that mean on community intervention?
I'm a community, uh, outreach.
What do those things mean to the department
and for us as a, as a body to understand the potential of
what those particular reductions look like.
So contributing to being fiscally responsible, uh,
in this budget season, uh, 11 positions are being given up.
Um, as you know, the fire department's, uh,
staffing is 89% of our budget.
I operate on 11%, which is pretty hard
to do in a city this big
with all the resources that we have.
If we did not have grants,
which you've heard earlier about our grants being reduced,
uh, drastically to help us for training, to help us buy our,
uh, technical rescue, our special operations equipment,
it's, it's hard buying, uh, purchasing, uh,
pharmaceuticals for our ambulances.
Everything has gone up since COVID.
Everything is going through the roof, so it does impact us.
I do not have an analyst, I hate to keep beating that,
that dead horse, but that would help me determine exactly
where we're, we're falling short.
For instance, we talked about vector solutions.
Vector Solutions is moving us into, from out
of the stone age into a new direction
for the fire department where we maintain all our records,
all our CER certifications through all our training
that cost us about 669,000.
We don't have that in our budget to pay for it.
So now I'm left to figure out how do I pay for something
that's moving us where we need to go
with OSHA screaming at me with any other entity.
When we did our ISO rating,
that's the insurance standard rating
that gave the city ISO one rating
for our Chicago Fire Department,
which reduces the taxes the taxpayers
and businesses have to pay.
We didn't have that when we first went through that process.
We have that now so
that all our records are contained in one place.
And so it's very helpful to have things like that technology
that help us do our jobs better as well.
So, I mean, I can name a hundred projects.
I would like to see community engagement.
I don't have a community engagement team.
I got Deb Summer and I got Jasmine GA back there.
I got those two people. The rest of us,
all these uniforms you see sitting here
and my civilians, we step in, we get in where we need
to get in, and we show up at these events for you, alderman,
you see us there, you see us at a community event,
wherever you need us, we try to get there with what we have.
So we're giving, and we know everybody's giving,
so we're just contributing to that.
So, I mean, everybody's contributing.
Okay. No, I, again, I, I think we as a, a body
and I think, uh, the city needs to understand, uh, what, uh,
expenditure reductions equate to and what they mean.
And, uh, and I,
and I think sometimes we miss the mark on that.
So, uh, I think it's imperative that we
as a council understand
and that we in turn can help, uh, the ministry of the city
of Chicago understand that as well.
So, uh, if there are no further questions, alright, uh,
the committee will stand, uh, in recess until 1:30 PM
Yeah.
For this month.
Good afternoon. Uh, committee will come back to order.
Um, we are, we have in front of us the Office
of Emergency Management
and Communication, uh, commissioner,
if you would introduce yourself, members of the team
that are with you in the well, as well as those
who are in the box
after which, uh, if you could give your opening statement
and then we'll go into questions.
Good afternoon, chairman Irving and Vice Chair, uh, Lee
and members of City Council.
To the right of me, I have General Counsel Ryan Mulligan
and my first Deputy Joe Bird.
I'm Frank Velez, the Executive Director of the Office
of Emergency Management Communications.
It's my honor to be here today
to answer any questions you may have regarding OMC.
Excuse me. I've been serving this role,
been appointed in February
and confirmed in May as a 29 year member
of the Chicago Fire Department veteran.
I know the first firsthand
and critical role OMC performs to keep residents, visitors,
and first responders safe.
I'm grateful for the dedicated professionals at OMC
who work 24 7 to ensure the safety
and wellbeing all of Chicago visitors and residents.
This past year, OMC leads coordination efforts in the
responses with severe several weather,
including recent flooding in July
and in August that impacted several wards in the city,
not just once, but twice.
This includes to continue working towards
updating our nine one one network phone systems
and our next Gen 9 1 1 compliance.
This gives us the ability to receive text videos
amongst other enhanced capabilities.
OMC will also further develop
and expand all call taken dispatchers
for mental health related calls, centralized under OMC
and partnership with the Mayor's office and CDPH.
Finally, I'm, as I stated,
and I'm excited that I have my first deputy hired, uh,
the beginning of September,
and we also hired two new CLI clinicians
for our 9 1 1 floor.
These positions onsite at OMC
and first of their kind, these clinicians
and developments such need programming for other employees
around mental health and stress management.
In closing this year has been challenging.
I'd like to thank the workforce at OMC for their dedication
and commitment to our city and its residents.
They continue to rise to the occasion
and work tirelessly around the clock
to keep the kitty the city safe.
Again, thank you chairman and members of City Council.
I look forward to answering any of your questions.
Thank you. And, uh, the members you have with us today,
Members, I have, as I stated to my right,
I have General counsel Ryan Mulligan,
and to the right of him, my first Deputy Joe Bird.
Alright, um, let me open with a couple items, uh,
from this morning's conversation with, uh, OPSA, uh,
talked about 9 1 1 and the, uh, CAD
and the fact of that, uh,
project being approximately two years behind schedule.
Um, can you help us to understand what's happening with
that, uh, what the path forward is
and what are, what have we lost by not necessarily, uh,
having this new CAD in place when it was,
as we were told this morning due
to be completed in sometime in 2023?
Oh, great question, sir.
Um, I'm gonna pass this question over to general counsel.
Thank you, chairman Ryan Neligan.
Um, I thought, uh, executive director, uh,
Patterson gave an eloquent answer in regards to it.
Um, the status of that currently is that there was a letter
of cure, and we have an upcoming date, um,
to determine next steps, um, at the end
of this month, September 30th.
Um, I imagine when we're here for a full budget hearing
that we will have a lot more answers at that ti that time,
but, uh, currently that's where it's sitting.
What, what does that equate to, uh, operationally from,
um, from a standpoint of dispatch and,
and other things that my assumptions would go along
with up upgrading the cad?
Uh, what, what does that do operationally
to, to your, uh, unit?
Sure. To be very clear to everyone, I just wanna state
that our current CAD is antiquated,
but is still currently working as it is, uh, programmed
to do, uh, the new cad along with the benefits
of going forward with Next Gen 9 1 1 would allow the city,
um, additional capabilities
as the executive director mentioned
in his opening statement.
That would include, um, text to call, things like that.
There'd be availability
to potentially from callers to download videos.
So, um, it would just be more of a in line
with the current technology we have around chairman.
Um, and, and my understanding from earlier was
that the current CAD
is costing us approximately $6 million a year to continue.
Um, its maintenance, upkeep, all, all of that good stuff.
And, um, going
to the new cab would create a savings of what,
Um, I am not sure on the savings as
that is a PSA contract,
but I would say this, that, um, currently you're correct,
we are paying, uh, perton,
our current providers $6 million a year, um, as we try
and do the upgrade to the new cad.
Um, at some point, um, when we have the new cad,
there would be a transfer at that point, then
the maintenance would be by the new provider.
And at that point, um, we would be,
it'd be a termination if there is any cost savings, sir. So
The new provider is not the same as the old provider,
uh, in this case?
Correct. Okay.
Um, uh, the next question, uh, there's been a lot
of conversation around 3 1 1 and, uh,
and again, no, there, there, no, no one is a stranger
to the news that we're having some, uh, challenges on the,
on the expense and revenue side.
And one conversation piece was the potential to,
as we look at and benchmark ourselves against other cities,
that no one really has a 24 7 3 1 1 system.
And have you all taken a look at, uh, new technologies
or efficiencies that potentially, uh, take us
where still people are able to access services,
but it may not be manned, uh, 24 7 as it is today?
Um, great question, sir.
Now, 3, 1, 1, you know, the ability
that it serves 24 hours a day to make the services available
and effective for our citizen citizens.
Uh, the importance of 3 1 1 is especially the emergency
management portion of an partnership
with the emergency management sister agencies.
Uh, what it assists us is to be able to
identify those 24 7 operations survey
emergency response and coordinations.
A perfect example is that back in July
and August when we had the floods
and the incidences with the multiple calls that we received
of flooding, we were able to send out our team
to do an assessment quickly to see how bad the floods were
to assist us, uh, also for the shelter impacts,
and it also impacts on the automatic wards would assist in
the mitigation and misinformation and,
and removes the burden from the calls
to the automatic offices to help us with those requests.
We're also working with Salesforce right now
with some new developments.
Okay. Um, has there been some, uh,
someone previously brought up, like the use of, uh,
artificial intelligence in this, uh, in the provision of,
of, from a call taking aspect of services?
Are these things that the department is looking at?
Is we, you know, work to get a little more efficient, uh,
in, in the, uh, processing of the service requests?
Uh, general cost, Sure.
Chairman, thank you for the question, Ryan Negan again.
Um, I think as it regards to the 3 1 1 system, currently,
the 3 1 1 system is used by Salesforce, um, technology,
which is being run by DTI for the city.
So that's one of our platforms that is not, um,
under the PSA, it, um, any updates
that are potential, um, as you know,
as you hear from your constituents, most of the people
that are calling 3 1 1, we try and push them to our app.
We try and push them to respond to their data
through the webpage.
They would like to talk to someone when they are asking
for their request or asking for a city service
or asking for a service request for a shelter.
Um, if there's potential for a savings as the world starts,
um, getting into technology like ai, obviously, um,
we're not the technology people,
but more than willing to consider any benefits that can be
to any visitors or citizens,
Um, through the, through the chair.
Could you guys provide us with, um, calls for service,
uh, by hour, um, in, in the aggregate
for the last, uh, 12 months
or maybe, uh, yeah.
Cost of service by hour?
Yeah, we can take care of that, sir. Great question.
Um, we average about 3.5 million calls
that come into 3 1 1 on a yearly basis.
Okay. So we can get that broken down for you. Chair.
I also wanted to, if you don't mind, go ahead.
I wanted to also elaborate some with 3 0 1 assisting
with emergency responses, uh, for assistance.
It's also staffed by emergency duty officers in the, um,
a RS section to help the city for, uh,
reporting auto accidents, for reporting stolen vehicles
and things of that magnitude.
Also, that's a pipeline to our Department of Buildings,
cdot, uh, department of Streets and Sanitation, and
after our clinical Physicians of healthcare. So
This is this part of the, again, part
of another earlier conversation
around limited duty individuals
that are performing these functions
or, uh, what from a,
I guess from a police and
or fire standpoint, it not, I think mostly police,
but, uh, who's actually staffing that function specifically
General.
Sure. Chairman, thank you for the question.
Currently, the a RS program,
or is it's more commonly known,
the alternate response section at CPD is currently, um,
light duty or stripped officers
from the Chicago Police Department.
And, uh, on any, uh, given
day or given time, how many members are in that status
or, or let me say, uh, let me rephrase that.
Or, or in that section,
Um, as I, as they still technically work
for the Chicago Police Department.
Sir, I don't have that information. Okay.
I'm sure we could get it through the chair.
Uh, we'll, we'll reserve that for, uh,
we'll reserve that for CPD.
Okay. Um, any questions for, uh, um, we'll start
with, uh, Conway, followed by, uh, alderman Nugent, followed
by Alderman Lawson.
Yeah. Um, uh, Mr.
Executive Director, is that the proper way to, um, first
of all, want, want to commend you on, uh, on your great team
with, uh, with Mr.
Neligan and, and Mr. Bird?
I had the pleasure of working with Mr. Bird a long time when
he was, uh, head of the central control group for CPD,
sorry, was sorry to see him go in that position,
but glad he's, uh, uh,
taken a prominent position in, in OEMC.
Um, uh, my question would be, so in
my ward, which represents, um, you know, a lot
of the loop downtown we have, we're blessed to have a lot
of major events.
And when we're talking about how best to structure these
such as Lollapalooza
and nascar, there's often discussion about should we be
encouraging them to reimburse the city
for their police overtime,
or should we be encouraging them to hire off-duty police
or additional security,
and how should we be thinking about that?
And, and we as a body
that are untrained in this matter, often go back and forth.
So I would, I would just be, uh, if,
if you had some thoughts on
how we should perhaps be thinking about that in the future,
I'd certainly welcome them.
Uh, great question, sir. General counsel.
Thank you, alderman for the question.
Ryan Elegan, um, the city has heard the concerns
of the alderman in regards to the special events
and the rising cost.
Um, the city has put together
a special events working group, um, trying to
look at the practices of cities of our size, see
what they're doing in regards to trying
to get a better cost recovery,
I think would be the nicest way to say it.
Um, I don't know if we'll ever get to the point where
public safety is fully reimbursed,
but I think we can get from where we are right now
to a better position, um,
may require some additional
or changes in wording in regards to, um, the ordinances.
But I think it, I think the short answer is that
that's on the city's agenda.
And, um, we should have,
the city would probably be having news in the near future.
And, and with regard, I mean, that's, I mean, it's a true
of a citywide issue with regard to major events.
Should we be thinking about using CPD
or should we using about using folks that are,
that are off duty, or,
or is this something that the working group
is currently looking at?
Um, I don't wanna speak for the working group.
I will say this, um,
as you guys know how it works in regards
to traffic management and at the large events,
we have traffic, uh, control hourlies.
Uh, we've had a hard time since COVID
and maintaining a proper amount of those.
Mm-hmm. Um, as anyone
or any alderman can speak of
who has all these major events in their DIS
and their award, um, you know,
we'd appreciate your help in getting us back up to the,
to our pre COVID numbers.
Um, and the only thing I can say about that is if
OMC doesn't have enough TCA hourlies, it, it then falls on
other more expensive city members.
Um, you know, it could fall onto the Chal Police Department.
As you know, they seem to be the catchall for everything.
Um, we have a constant hiring for those.
We send those out to the,
the alderman wards when we get those openings.
So anything you can to help us along that line, uh,
would be greatly appreciated.
Those are obviously positions
that are on the corporate budget,
but are also revenue generating positions.
Okay. Yeah, that's all I got.
I just want to think about what we should be thinking about
in the future with regard to those.
So thank you very much.
That's, that's all I have, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. Uh, Oman Conway.
Uh, speaking of TCA hourly, uh, how many,
uh, how many are you down?
Thank you for your question chair.
Uh, Ryan Elgan, I would just say that pre COVID, our,
our preferred number would've been 400,
and we are currently struggling at around 150. Wow.
Okay. Um, We do have, uh, through, uh, the great work,
uh, at DHR
and PSA hr, we have, we do have 27 coming on this month.
Um, it's a part-time job.
A lot of the events are at night
and on the weekends, it doesn't work for a large scale
of the population.
Um, but we, we take anyone we can,
Um, go ahead vice, sir.
What did we budget for in terms of hours, um,
in the 2025 budget?
I, so I hear you way down.
I feel it during SOX games for sure.
Um, because we never have enough, uh,
folks work in the streets, appreciate the ones that we have,
and I know it's very difficult to hire.
But, um, what are we budgeting for?
I think as it as it works for TCA Hourlies, um,
there is a pool of hours that is in the budget for TCAs.
Obviously, we've, we're not coming anywhere close to using
that number of hours, uh,
because we just don't have the bodies to do it.
Um, there's no lack of events as every alderman knows.
It's just the lack of people.
So, um, in the budget, it's not necessarily positions.
It looks like it's budgeted hours.
I, I'll look that up in the budget
for myself later. Thank you. Oh,
Um, there's also a, if, if,
if my memory serves me correct, there is a class that is
with city colleges that pretty much gives a person
preference on, uh, on hiring into that
position from our, if I remember correctly.
And what else is required to, uh, take on that position?
Oh, great question, sir. Go ahead, Brian. We did it,
Um, as we speak about the class that we started in 2022
with city colleges, it is,
it's a professional development class called Introduction
to Emergency Management and Communications.
It goes over the four main things that we do at OEMC,
obviously 9 1, 1 3, 1 1.
Emergency management
and traffic management are our four, um,
operations divisions.
Um, it gives a preference to people
that have passed a class, uh, in hiring, um,
just like veterans on certain things,
or Chicago public school graduates.
Uh, it's used as a preference, uh, in the hiring.
We are very happy with the program. It has done a great job.
We keep expanding. I think the last college we expanded
to is daily college.
Uh, so that it is been going great.
And we've had, uh, we are
approximately 15 of those people have come
and joined us in multiple of our jobs.
So very excited about that program as it continues to grow.
And usually when our classes are coming out,
we send a letter to the alderman
and the Alderman's office to do anything you can
to see if you, uh, to reach out to your constituents.
So, once again, thank you
for the work you've done in the past
and to continue, uh, to work with us.
D does that job and,
and does that, does that job, like, let's say I start
as A-A-A-A-T-C-A
and does that give me a preference on potentially being a,
a 9 1 1 operator or a 3 1 1 operator
or another position, uh, in the OEMC uh, family, uh,
as a preference from coming as a traffic control aide,
either part-time to full-time
or to some other position in the mix?
Um, I would say most of the time, uh, chairman people
who start out as TCA holidays, um, if they were to move
to a different job, now, obviously they can go
to any job once you're a city employee and,
and advance yourself in any way that you decide.
But most of those people end up becoming full-time TCAs
that do the work at the two international airports.
Or eventually, I think also there's a component in the,
at the Department of Aviation that we lose people
to in regards to traffic management,
but that's usually the route they go in regards
to moving from an hourly employee to a full-time deployment.
To answer your question, there is no specific preference
from being a TCA hourly
to move into specifically the 9 1 1 floor.
But there is a pre, there is a preference from moving
into hourly to full time
That I'm sure I'm unsure of.
Um, there are availed all the possibilities
of being a city employee in regards to applying
for other city jobs, but I wouldn't necessarily characterize
it as a preference.
Um, is that a
union issue or city issue or policy issue?
I am unsure how to answer that,
but, um, we could find that out for you to see. What's the
Roadblock? I think just through the chair,
because I guess the,
the best way to a full-time job may be a part-time job,
similar to what we see with our, our drivers in, uh,
streets and sanitation.
They start in at the two hour motor pool drivers
and then eventually make their way into the, through the,
to the mix of being a full-time, uh, individual.
So maybe a tool that, uh, can be utilized to attract talent,
uh, if there's a hope
or thought that a full-time job could come about,
may not be today, but it, there, there's some, uh,
goal in the future to, uh, to get there.
So, uh, chairman Nugent
Chairman, as I mentioned, we are,
I don't wanna say woefully short,
but definitely considerably short.
So anything that this body could do to help us in
that process would be greatly appreciated.
Alman, NuGen, Alman Lawson.
Thank you Chairman. And, um,
thanks Frank to you and your team.
You guys do a great job and love working with you.
Just had a couple quick questions.
When, uh, PSA was up earlier,
Natalie was talking about UAE grant,
and I heard we're at 33 million this year.
What does OEM, what did OEMC get last year
and what are you guys supposed to get this year outta UAE?
Do we know? It's
Not what OMC got.
Its across the board. Okay.
Uh, that you get a total number through the UAE grant
and that 45% reduction, then
we receive our portion
after the state who is the holder of the grant.
Then it's divided between the county.
Uh, once the county gets a portion of theirs,
then it's broken down into C-F-D-C-P-D-O-M-C,
and, uh, DTI.
So that reduces that amount significantly
on the need by each department's request.
So we have to then divide that accordingly.
Do you guys have people on payroll, uh,
through U as a that,
Uh, currently, no. Okay. We do not.
Okay. Um, and just a quick question.
We were talking about the cad, um, when PSA was here today,
and they're working on that contract,
and they say that they're in daily meetings,
and I understand that they're working on the contract,
but I'm guessing they need impact from you guys
operationally on the things you wanna see.
Are you guys dedicating time?
Do you have to have your staff with PSA working on
that contract with the vendor?
So, yes. Our staff is in there with OPSA at this moment.
So all meetings
and all timelines are met by OMC and OPSA.
Okay. And, and the,
and the reason I'm asking this is I've been trying
to figure out is it helpful,
would it be more helpful if you were running
that contract out out of OMC?
Um, I'm just trying to understand the best use of
resources in a budget season like this
and sort of where PSA fits and where OEMC fits
and like, would you guys have been the natural if there
wasn't a PSA, would CPD be
deliberating the CAD contract?
Or would OEMC?
No, that would be under OPSA, I mean under OEMC,
but let me have general counsel answer that question.
Sure. Thank you for your question, alderman.
Um, obviously it's an operational piece of equipment for us.
Mm-hmm. But it, there is a large technology component
to the cad, uh, CAD is computer aided dispatch.
It's the, takes all the information from the, the, um, prior
to the creation of OPSA, those functions
would've been with OMC.
Um, it's been six years since OPSA has been created.
So I was, we were never,
US three were never here when it was the other way.
So I don't know what the advantage would be.
Okay. I just, I mean, I'm just, we're really late.
We're several years behind.
We need the technology
and the folks that operationally would use this, uh,
are not owning that.
You don't have the ownership of the contract.
And I, and that is not to say PSA hasn't said,
you're not a valuable partner.
'cause I know they believe you are.
I'm just, we need to make sure that we're being very smart
and strategic in how we, how we move resources. Um, no,
No. And, and thank
you for that question, ma'am.
And respectfully is that when I came out in February,
I sat down with the team and discussed this.
And, um, with OPSA, we joined alliances to make sure
that we reviewed that contract
with the procurement department to make sure
to see why are they at default.
And then these corrective measures have led up to
where we're at at this moment, the letter of cure.
Okay. I, I appreciate that. Thank you.
Thank you, chairman.
Thank you. Uh, next we have, uh, Altman Lawson, followed
by Alderman Manna Hopper.
Thank you Chair. Um, my colleagues
and I are of similar minds, so I, some
of my things have been covered, but it's good
to see you chief Les,
I probably demo you every time I call you that,
but, uh, it's force of habit.
Um, I wanted to ask,
obviously t the TCAs are a real problem, um,
because we don't have enough
to cover the expanded footprint we've put
into place around Wrigley.
Um, and I know we will put in whatever we can,
but I, this is becoming a perennial problem.
Um, and is there a way to go from an hourly
to a full-time outside of the airport?
You know, maybe we need to do
something different with this role.
Um, adding payroll
of course is gonna be tough in any year, especially this one.
But maybe it's the attractiveness, the stability of the job.
Um, you know, I know our sports venues,
they work at Wrigley, they work at the United Center.
They may work somewhere else and they make
a full-time job out of it.
Maybe we need to start to look at it that way
because being less than 50% covered, I mean, there's,
you can't cover everything with overtime.
And then some, there's just not enough hours in the day.
So whatever we can do to be helpful there.
I just wanna put a point on that.
Um, I specifically also wanted to ask about cost recovery
because I know, uh, the Cubs, uh, write a check to the city
and I'm not sure who else does for traffic control aids,
if we could get that through the chair, um, on, you know,
so far this year or maybe last year's, number two, you know,
who's writing the checks, how many aids are they getting?
'cause I know it is based on, uh, per per person
or, or, or man hours.
Um, I think that would be helpful for us to understand.
Um, I'm also interested in the special events working group,
um, because that was a big part of last year's budget.
We a lot of discussion. How many times has it met,
You know, uh, sir, lemme just go back
to one of your questions.
First one that you asked,
we've sat many times in your office and, and your groups.
We do express
and we understand the concern of security measures that need
to be met, of course, for our residents
and our visitors for any, uh, music venue
or stadium that we have.
And as you see, we're trying to work with the districts,
the Chicago Police Department, uh, cdot Streets
and Sanitation, and of course, Wrigley
and their organization to augment their operations
and improve some of their security measures in order
to help us mitigate and release some of that stress.
So at this moment, as you know,
that we've been working on some security plans to see how
to augment that to help reduce some of
that manpower when it comes to that.
Right. And, and actually, I I, I was gonna ask, um, too,
uh, we'll talk about some of that technology in a minute,
but specifically on the special events working group, is
that something that is meeting, uh, regularly?
Is that something we should expect a recommendation
for in the next six weeks?
And, and who is, and that is out
of D Case is, is
coordinating that? Correct me if I'm wrong.
Um, it's a good question, alderman.
Um, I am not sure in regards
to the frequency of the meetings.
I just know in the, in, in regards to the ones
that OEMC is asked to be part of.
Like obviously there's a, there's a lot
of fluid moving parts in regards to the city, um,
special events and our sister agencies
and their sister, you know, and their events.
So, you know, we meet, it seems quite often at,
at the OEMC level, but I don't wanna speak for the group,
and I wouldn't know necessarily who is,
who's a point person on this group.
You know, I know it was,
this came up at budget last time, right.
And, um, it started shortly after budget,
and it probably even started prior to budget.
But this body has expressed its concerns, um, has expressed
that they believe there is a better way to cost recovery
that has been heard by the city and its departments.
Um, and it's a lot of coordination
because in regards to D cases, special events
and all the ballparks special events,
not including the games, but the concerts
and things like that, um, there's still the park district,
you know, there's still additional people that are adding
to the queue of special events.
It seems. We haven't said no
to any special events since COVID in our I have, I
Have, I have, I swear in our, in our guise
to reopen the city.
But, um, you, you've seen this special events calendar
and it Oh, yeah, it's quite full, sir. Oh,
I mean, I mean, what I get from dks, uh,
on a weekly basis, I, it, it sounds me, you know, there's,
there's huge things that we plan for,
and then a ton of little stuff too, um, that seems to grow.
So even if you, if you cut an event
or you say no to new events, um,
we're growing some of the others.
Um, I think my concern with this is that, you know,
this was a big part of closing
the gap in last year's budget.
And this really, it, it's a financial issue
and it seems like this group is not operating certainly
with any coordination with our, with the council.
I, I'm not sure if, um,
we have the chair of special events here.
I, I don't believe, uh, chair Spto,
you've been included in the, the working group for, um,
the special events working group at all,
or anyone from your staff?
He's nodding no. So if we're gonna, if, if it is, you know,
I, I'd like this to have just a,
a little bit more participation if we can.
Um, back to, uh, sort of what, uh, my colleague,
uh, Alwin Nugent said, the UI grants I know are paying for,
um, the Archer Meridian barricades, which we love
around Wrigley and have been a real, sorry, um,
have been a real boon to help us free up police officers,
TMAs, all sorts of personnel when they don't have
to man a wooden barricade.
And actually they're, they're, they're improving safety.
I would hope that we're able to continue to invest in those,
um, if, if we still have the money,
um, for, from these grants.
Um, but alongside that, I know cameras right?
My ward is pretty well covered between Wrigley and Pride
and Marathon Routes and Lakefront.
It's tough to go anywhere and not be on camera in my ward,
but that's not true of some others.
So just as, as we look at, at those grants diminishing,
are we gonna continue to be able to, um, buy these resources
and purchase and place these resources
that I really do help us with manpower?
Yeah. And obviously that's a concern across the board
for the entire city with these USA grant
and, you know, fire department, police department
that are reliant on these.
We have to look back at the city, uh, to see
how we can then try to find some other type of funding
and grants to augment those operations.
Right. Keep us posted. 'cause if we're working
with Springfield, if we're working with private partners,
large venues, you know, um, I think that's important.
And I'll just close, um, I,
I would love us if we had a propane working group.
I know you and I have talked about it a lot.
I think, uh, I know my colleague from the 39th Ward has had
issues certainly at the 49th Ward as well, 46th Ward
as well under some via ducts.
Um, if we could put some time into that
and plan to have something for next season,
um, I think that would be really helpful.
And I would love for you guys to take the lead
as you're doing so many wonderful safety projects
in our city and my neighborhood.
So, um, that's really it. Thank you Chair.
Okay. Uh, Altman man.
Howorth, any others behind Alderman Man Hopper,
Thank you, chair.
Hello, executive director
and, uh, welcome to your team.
Um, thank you for all your work with City Colleges
to get people interested in a future ready program.
I think that's terrific. We could do all that we can to,
to promote that, um, opportunity for people.
Um, I also wanted to piggyback off of
what folks are, what you said earlier about the lack of,
um, TCAs.
You know, in the, in the 48th ward, we had a $9 million, um,
water main replacement program,
and we had to shut down Ridge.
And as you know, uh, Edgewater is the funnel for
Saba Lakeshore Drive traffic.
So it really, it was, um,
very unsafe in my neighborhood when we closed off Ridge
because that traffic went through our side streets
and our residential neighborhoods and alleys
and, you know,
the traffic went the wrong way down the one ways.
And we worked really hard with our commanders to,
to figure out and, uh, DWM
and CDOT to figure out ways to redirect traffic.
And we did all we could. Um, we even appealed
to Google in ways to try to figure out, you know, how,
how can you, um, help us
because truly I was following cars east
and west in my neighborhood, um, to try
to figure out the traffic patterns.
And the, these were not people
who, who lived in our neighborhoods.
They were cutting through. Um,
and I was out in the middle of the intersections on Brynmore
and Clark Street to try to protect our,
our crossing guards by our schools.
Um, all of this to say is that we asked for,
and were not able to get folks to help us during that time,
uh, to help us manage our traffic.
We felt it, I felt it every day for months since May
until we opened up Bridge.
And so I, I do hope that we can figure out ways to, um,
get you the people that you need.
Um, my question is,
I've, I have two main questions, um,
because I, I hear
what Alder Nugent is asking about the cad, um, system.
It, it is, um, something that needs to happen now.
Um, and also we have been talking about
data analysis all day.
And so, um, can you tell me, actually,
chair, maybe you could tell me, is, was there a hearing,
is there something scheduled
to bring all these departments together with DTI
to talk about, um, how,
where our gaps are in terms of our data?
Like, I simply wanna know what is the response time
for our fire trucks, um, for the calls to service,
especially during times of like major
construction in my ward where we had two major
streets shut down and,
and, uh, we had neighbors concerned about the, the, um,
the response times, you know, because our firehouse is west
and they had to go through the neighborhood to get east to
where the, the most density is in the ward.
Um, and so there was that,
and I just wanna know, how is it that I asked, uh, they,
the, um, fire department could not provide data to
how their response times have changed
because of traffic in the ward.
So is that something that the CAD is able
to provide, or do we have to have that in place
before we have that kind of information?
I ask because, um, I had conversations with another, uh,
fireman from the suburbs,
and they say that they, you know,
they write those things down.
Each firehouse has that kind of thing,
but I don't think that that, um, happens here.
You know, is there something that, that I could look to,
to just simply see what the response times have been, um,
during major traffic, um, construction times in the ward?
Yeah, we could, uh, look at that
through the chair for you.
Thank you. Because I do believe that we need
to be data driven in what we do.
Um, and I know that, um, you know, we, we, we,
we just had a major fire on Broadway
and, um, our, our fire, we had a hundred
and a hundred, over a hundred, uh, firemen there,
fire people there, um, putting out that blaze.
And thankfully nobody got hurt.
But, you know, that, that has been a major concern
of, of my neighborhood.
You know, how, as we're trying to, um,
make our streets safer for anybody who uses it, pedestrians
and bikers and, and, uh, drivers, as we're
reconstructing our streets to make it safer,
how is it impacting our, um, cost
of service from the fire department?
And then the second question I ask, if I may go ahead.
Uh, the second question I have, um, is do you,
do you have people staffed?
And by the way, thank you for, um, allowing us to come
to OEMC to tour, to talk to your staff, um,
to see how things work.
It was, it's very enlightening and I,
and I know that your staff works really hard, um,
to make sure that, um, people are getting
what they need at the 9 1 1 Center,
but do you have people staffed now
to handle mental health crisis calls to route people
to the CARES teams, and if not, why?
Well, currently we're working with, um,
the city's initiative, with the mayor's initiative
and CDPH to augment the CARES program at this moment.
So at this moment, we're in a working phase when it comes to
trying to identify some of the deficiencies
and how we can assist in improvement.
But that is under CDPH
and the mayor's office for the CARES program.
All we do is we provide the dispatchers
and call takers for the dispatching,
but the, um, personnel would be ran through CDPH.
So to, to be clear,
what happens now if somebody does call 9 1 1
and they're having mental health crisis?
Well, currently we do provide them still.
Um, we do either provide 'em with the 9, 8, 8 number.
If the individual needs hospitalization, then we will still
dispatch 'em over to 9 1 1
for a paramedic units to take 'em to the hospital.
But there's no route for people to connect
with the CARES program. Is that right? There
Is, the CARES program is limited at this moment,
and they're working to augment those
operations at this moment.
So due to some, um, staffing issues,
uh, they've only had a few vans up
and their hours of operations, we're working closely
with them to augment
and change those operations
to better improve the system in the city.
So in the 9 1 1 Center, if somebody calls
and they could benefit from the CARES program,
Absolutely, They are, they are connected
with the CARES program somehow.
Yes. Great.
Um, thank you.
I, um, I know that it is, it is a, it is a, uh,
I know it is important to you.
I know that, um, prevention is very important
to you in your former role.
Um, it's a fire department
and, um, I know
that my neighborhood could also benefit from, from the use
of cares, uh, versus, um, having a firetruck called
to the scene or CPD.
And so I'm very interested in
and how we could get that program up and running.
Well, do you have any other, any other thing
that you would like to share about that?
No, I just wanted to go back is understand is that, um,
on our fire side, we do have the trained EMTs
and paramedics that do work there to be able
to mitigate those calls.
And of course, we're under the, um, watch
of our Illinois Department of Public Health
and CDPH that we work closely with to make sure
to identify those mental health crisis
and get them the appropriate resources.
Thank you. Thank you. Executive director.
And then, um, to the chair, do you, do you know,
is there any hearing that we had recently
or plan on having to address the technology
data gaps that we have between all
of our public safety departments, including OAMC,
fire Police?
Um, not to my knowledge as it relates to this committee,
but I do know that the Committee on Economic Capital
and Technology Development, uh, has been, uh,
looking into things in this, in this ballpark.
So, uh, I would defer to Chairman Viegas, uh, in
that conversation, but to my knowledge, at least not here,
uh, have we, uh, jumped into that conversation.
But I would, uh, speak with him
before, you know, we, we delve into that to see
what they have done or may be planning to do.
Thank you, chair. That's all I have. Thank you.
Alright. Thank you. Thank you.
Uh, alderman, manna Howorth, uh, general of Spotter.
Thank you. Just briefly, um, executive Director Villa,
thank you so much for being with, with us.
Like, and I, I know the big show is next month,
but I just wanted to say like, your team has been really
responsive to me and my office, like,
and I'm excited for like, continuing that collaboration.
I have one question and then one comment,
and then I'll let you go.
The question is, we have some challenges,
and maybe this is experienced by other wards with
how 3 1 1 calls are sometimes routed
and then rerouted.
So I'll, I'll give you an example.
When we put in on behalf of residents, um,
building issues, those can be, those are sometimes routed
to CDPH.
If it's a construction related issue,
the CDB CDPH inspector then comes to our, our office
and says, this really should be routed
as a building complaint.
We go ahead, submit another 3 1 1,
and we, we find ourselves kind of going in circles.
I'm not sure if others experience that with, in terms of
how efficiently and effectively complaints are routed to the
correct department.
But I'm wondering internally
how this is evaluated if you see this issue elsewhere,
and what we, what we can do about it.
Um, general Counsel,
Alderman, uh, Ryan Neligan, thank you for your question.
Um, the only way that we would be able to
know about those things is if, if you let us know, like
calling 9 1 1 and calling 3 1 1 is an imperfect science.
And a lot of the times it's the same thing
on the nine one one floor.
The call and the ticket it's given is based on the
information that is given from the caller.
So sometimes that information is incomplete.
Sometimes they, you know, there's triage questions
that we ask and sometimes information is given, no.
So if you find those incidents, just please reach out to us
to let us know so
that we can fine tune our triage questions.
Perhaps there's been a lot of miscommunications
with the second question when it comes
to water in the basement, you know what, whatever it is
that can help us, because our job at 3 0 1 is
to take the call to take the information
and to get it to the right department.
That that's our, our goal.
And then the, obviously
that once the responding department gets it,
they wanna be responding to calls
that are the appropriate calls.
So it benefits everyone.
So we'd be willing to work with yourself
or any alderman that if you have any issues
or you're here multiple issues of that issue, we'd love
to hear about it so that we can
kind of fine tune our system.
What's the best route for submitting that feedback?
I assume it's not 3 1 1. I'm making joke.
Um, It took
A touche, sir. Touche,
uh, um, you have all of our,
you know, you, each ward has context.
I at OEMC, just any way you can get us the
information would be appreciated.
I was asking for your preference, but
If, if I can say Alderman and, and,
and I understand your frustration
and it's everyone's frustrations at this moment, especially,
you know, in this day and age,
but understand, you know, with the 3 1 1 assisting, I,
it's imperative to understand we're there
to assist in mitigation and, and miss, uh, information.
So we wanna make sure
that when you do have these pressing issues
to please contact our office so we can address it
accordingly to make sure
and see why is it not being streamlined
accordingly to what your request may be.
From Department of Streets
and sanitation to, uh, trees down
to any other services, we wanna make sure that
we don't know if there was a problem in the sales force
or something in the computer.
So we wanna make sure that
that information is getting out there for you.
I really appreciate that. Uh, last point, just to comment,
I know that there's ongoing
and past due labor contracts within
your department as well.
I just want to be here voicing my support
for getting those contracts resolved,
because I can imagine the, the ins instability
and that morale issue that it probably
causes for some of your workers.
So just know, like we want to see them taken care of
as well, so you don't have to respond to that,
putting that out in the air.
And that's, that's all for me. Thank you, chair.
Thank you. Thank you. Uh, um, that was funny.
So, uh, um, the question I've asked, uh,
all, uh, department heads have that have come in has been,
uh, given our, um, constraints, um,
fiscally, uh, three to 5%, uh,
expenditure reductions on in a corporate fund, uh,
what would that do to your operations?
Uh, how, what type of impact would it have in, uh,
if you could quantify the top 10 things the department does
and what that potentially does to service levels
or if it's the, the length of time it takes
for a call to be answered.
A um, 3 1 1 call, a 9 1 1 call.
What do these expenditure reductions mean to the level
and quality of service the department is able to provide?
Thank you for your question, chairman.
Um, OMCS budget is made up of quite a few buckets.
So our corporate exposure,
let's say our overall budget is a hundred million.
Currently, our corporate exposure of
that budget is about 10%, so approximately 10 million, so
a three to 5% cut and, and that 10 million is significant,
but it's not, not as significant as to some
of these departments that are fully on corporate's budget.
So that being said, on the corporate budget for OEMC, um,
3 1, 1 is on there.
Uh, TMA hourlies are on there, um, administration
and, um, media affairs for OEMC,
which is Mary May in her shop, probably the city's best PIO
because she's constantly working.
Um, so it's not that bad for us.
Um, in conversation with, ultimately,
earlier we mentioned about these hours, the blocks of hours
for the TC Hourlies, um, reducing that number
of numbers that we're actually not never able
to fill anyway is probably gonna be our solution if,
if it comes to a three to 5% budget Cut.
And tho those are corporate, uh, positions?
Yes, sir. For us, uh, corporate means administration,
media Affairs 3 1 1 Center
and TCA Hourlys, uh, the TCAs that are full-time are,
are both on work for the airport, so they're on seven 40
and six 10, and then our er, our nine one floor co
and emergency management is all under 3 53.
Okay. Um, yeah, so I,
I I guess you guys have a little installation from, uh, some
of the other, however, um, we have, um, there,
I know there's some pending legislation in Springfield
that may have an impact on your 3 53 funds, um, on this, uh,
I think the prepaid wireless 9 1 1 deal.
So, um, I, I know that's out there, so I don't know what
impact that would have, um, to your operations if that
was not, uh, if that didn't, you know, if that did not pass.
Um, I know something came up last year where we,
there was a missed deadline and I know that
PSA it ourselves had been working with the mayor's office,
IGA and their Springfield team to see
what can be done in regards to making sure that the
loopholes that are potentially in the laws,
technology advances are filled
and that, uh, the city gets their fair share, sir.
Okay. Any other questions? Question?
Thank you, chair. Um, it's more
of a comment than a question, but maybe it's a suggestion.
Um, with the traffic of the TCAs, I know it's part-time
and it's, you know, seasonal as the,
we have games and things like that.
I wonder if there's any way to, um, get creative
with parking enforcement too.
I mean, you're, your TCAs are out there on the streets
already, they interface with the public.
Um, maybe there's a, a way
to convert those into more full-time positions, um,
ultimately that, you know, then,
then you just got more people in general
and then they can do a dual role, um, of, you know, writing,
uh, parking tickets as well as, uh, helping
to manage traffic.
That's a great idea. Uh, I don't, I don't know what, um,
Or Yeah, no, I think that's a, everything
Like that. But, uh,
it seems to me that they've got, uh,
just proximity wise
and sort of the, the out in the field that they've got a lot
of similarities, uh, that they may be able
to be crosstrained to do both.
No, that's, it's a fair, that's a fair statement. Honor.
Mr. Pido.
Thank you, chairman. I don't have a question,
but I, I, I, I guess I'm last, so I'll wrap up with a,
with a happy, uh, happy comments, more of a comment.
So, um, entertain you folks somewhat, I hope,
but it's a true story,
and I don't even know if Frank knows this.
So Frank and me have been friends for a long time,
I'm guessing over 25 years.
Frank always calls me Nikki.
Hey Nick, you know, so Frank calls me one day when
during the, uh, the COVID scam Demic, uh,
Frank was in charge of the, they did the testing at a,
at a site in my ward, and Frank was over there
and he calls me one day and he, Hey, Nikki,
they don't feed these kids over here.
And I'm like, what? What are you talking about?
I don't even know. I told Frank this story.
What do you mean? He goes, they don't feed him.
Can you do something? I said, all right,
let me see if I can do something Frank.
So 'cause of Frank telling me that I found out about it,
I got one of my reporter friends, Julian Cruz, of the story,
and, uh, the floodgates opened with money.
So every day because of Frank, those troops were fed
that when other otherwise would not have been fed
because I ordered food from, I picked it up, I delivered it.
We had a hundred troops there.
And because of Frank, these troops were able to have a,
a decent Chicago lunch every day.
I would rotate lunch for 'em seven days
a week, a hundred people.
So I don't even know if I ever told you that story, Frank,
but because of you, those troops got fed
and they didn't have to eat res, they got
to eat real hot dogs and pizza and pasta and whatever else.
So just a happy story to wrap this up.
Hopefully it's wrapped up. Thank you. Thank you, chairman.
Thank you. Um, with that in mind, uh, um,
you could feed the troops tomorrow.
Um, with that in mind, uh,
be that as it may, committee is in recess
and will reconvene tomorrow,
Thursday at 9:30 AM in
Council Chambers.
I hope that is clear enough for everyone
that we are in recess.
Thank you. Until tomorrow morning,
Thursday at 9:00 AM.