Good afternoon, members of the City Council. The meeting will begin shortly.
Please remember to log into your devices. Thank you.
Good afternoon, members of the City Council. The meeting will begin shortly. Please remember to log in to your devices. Thank you.
Good afternoon, members of the City Council. The meeting will begin shortly. Please remember to log in to your devices. Thank you.
Good afternoon, members of the City Council.
The meeting will begin shortly.
Please remember to log into your devices.
Thank you.
Good morning.
The council will come to order.
Oh, yes.
Good afternoon.
The council will still come to order.
Members, please use this time as the clerk prepares for the quorum roll call.
Okay, the voting is open.
Please mark yourself present using your e-device.
If you are having difficulty, please raise your hand.
Hold on a minute.
Okay, I will now call on those who have not yet marked themselves present.
Alderman Laspata.
Alderman Laspata is present.
Alderman Hopkins.
Alderman Hopkins is present.
Alderwoman Dowell.
Alderwoman Dowell is present.
Alderperson Robinson.
Alderperson Robinson is present.
Alderman Hall.
Alderman Hall is present.
Alderman Mitchell.
Alderman Mitchell is present.
Alderwoman Harris.
Alderwoman Harris is present.
Alderwoman Ramirez.
Alderwoman Ramirez is present.
Alderwoman Coleman.
Alderwoman Coleman is present.
Alderman Moore.
Alderman Moore is present.
Alderman O'Shea.
Alderman O'Shea is present.
Alderman Mosley.
Alderman Mosley is present.
Alderwoman Scott.
Alderwoman Scott is present.
Alderman Vasquez Alderman Vasquez is present Alderman Riley Alderman Riley
is present Alderman Knutson Alderman Knutson is present Alderman Gardner
Alderman Gardner is present let's just double-check Alderman Moore does have
everybody okay hold on Alderman Moore is present
Alderman Gardner is present they are working on it so they're not here
okay Moore is present in Silverstein Silverstein and we're good hey mayor we
have a quorum very well there are 46 members that are present thank you madam
clerk we do have a quorum there are three members that have requested to
participate in today's meeting remotely for reasons stated in rule 59 can we
confirm madam clerk that Alders Curtis Conway and Silverstein are present Alderman
Curtis are you there Alderman Conway yeah Alderman Conway is present
you
you
Alderwoman Silverstein.
Present.
Alderwoman Silverstein is present.
I'm going to try Curtis one more time.
Yep.
Alderman Curtis.
Very well.
Thank you, Madam Clerk.
With the exception of Alderman Curtis, Alders Conway and Silverstein have confirmed their presence online.
So with that, can I get a motion to approve the remote participation of those two members?
Very well.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
Any opposed, say nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Madam Clerk, please record Alders Conway and Silverstein as a part of the quorum roll call.
Let's stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Please remain standing for our invocation and call to worship by Alderman Will Hall.
Let's bow our heads.
God, we first of all say thank you for this afternoon.
We thank you for the blessings of the morning.
God, we ask that today we handle your business.
God, we pray that dignity and compassion and empathy stay on the agenda today.
God, may we never be consumed with titles and power, but may love make a way.
And so, God, we ask that the things that we do today may be pleasing in your sight.
We pray for a stronger Chicago, a safer Chicago, a Chicago that reflects the hearts of those that are sitting in these seats.
And God, when it's all said and done today, may we leave this place with your will being done on earth as it is in heaven.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Amen.
Thank you.
You may be seated.
Mr. Clerk, this is the portion of the meeting for public comments.
The council will now begin the public comment period, which is limited to a maximum of 30 minutes.
Each speaker is limited to three minutes.
Speakers cannot yield or transfer their time to another speaker.
Any written comments that have been submitted will be posted and made available for Aldermanic review.
Our first speaker this afternoon is Nicole Foster.
All Aldermanic leaders of Chicago, we come before you today on behalf of the 2.7 million Chicagoans who rely on our parks as safe public spaces for our communities, families, and children.
Today, there are more than 60 encampments inside our parks.
DFSS recently shared in their mid-year budget hearing, now there are so-called designated encampment sites within the park district.
This flies in the face of long-standing ordinances that ban tents, overnight stays, open fires, drugs, and alcohol.
For two years, Mayor Johnson has blocked their enforcement, leaving residents and the unhoused in danger.
Let us be clear, parks are not shelters.
The Chicago Tribune agreed in a September 14th editorial stating tent cities don't belong in Chicago parks.
Parks are simply not designed nor intended to be permanent places to live.
They lack restrooms, showers, food prep, heating, cooling, and security.
And for the unhoused, parks are unsafe and undignified.
For residents, it has become dangerous.
Over 21 fires at Gompers Park, blazes at Legion Park, rampant drug use, discarded needles, violence.
This isn't compassion.
It's negligence.
Over 18 months ago, Mayor Johnson appointed a chief homelessness officer to develop a five-year plan.
All we have seen is a recent survey asking if we think homelessness is a problem in Chicago.
That is delay, not leadership.
Winter is coming, and tents and parks are not a plan.
You criminalize homelessness when you place human beings in tents in the middle of a Chicago winter.
Other cities have proven real solutions do exist, like tiny home villages on vacant land where people have locking doors, safety, where services are delivered and dignity is restored.
We have shared write-ups on these ideas with Chief Homelessness Officer Cindy Soto, with Superintendent Ramirez Rosa, and with park commissioners.
Yet nothing changes.
After spending over $450 million housing 15,000 new arrivals, how can Chicago leave 1,300 unsheltered residents in tents in our parks?
The truth is this.
The mayor has a budget shortfall, and he's offloading this crisis onto the parks district's $600 million budget to fund.
He is turning parks into de facto homeless shelters.
Per parks' 2024 budget report, $200 million of its operating budget is funded by taxpayers.
But residents have had no seat at the table.
Our parks are not Mayor Johnson's to give away.
They belong to the people of Chicago.
There are no kings in this city.
Alders, you are the last line of defense.
We are asking you to stand up now.
Thank you very much for your comments, however your time has expired.
Our next speaker this afternoon is Gail Beitz.
Good afternoon, Mayor Johnson and esteemed members of the City Council.
My name is Gail Beitz.
For over two years, Gompers Park was a site to a homeless encampment with more than 20 tents.
In partnership with Alderman Samantha Nugent, the community lobbied aggressively for the city to approve an accelerated moving event aimed at connecting unhoused individuals with shelter, housing opportunities, essential wraparound services.
While some accepted support, others declined and remained in unsafe and unsanitary conditions.
After repeated project delays, the park district finally cleared the encampment area, only to grant the remaining individual space across the street at Eugene Field Park, continuing the cycle rather than solving it.
I am appalled to learn that designated encampment zones have been approved in our city parks.
Homeless encampments are on the rise and allowing individuals to live in tents without access to plumbing, electricity, or safe shelter is both unacceptable and inhumane.
These conditions expose vulnerable people to dangerous weather while also creating unhealthy environments.
At the same time, the presence of encampment undermines the broader community's use of our parks.
In the case of Gompers Park, there were used drug needles throughout the park, including the baseball diamond, rampant fires, excessive alcohol use, assaults, threats, and intimidation.
Families are discouraged from visiting, children's and adults' programming is disrupted, and a vital public space is lost.
When rules and regulations are ignored, enforcement disappears and disorder follows.
These conditions have allowed criminal activity to flourish.
It is deeply unfair to the 2.7 million Chicago residents who pay taxes to use these parks, many of whom rely on them, as their only access to green space.
We have already seen that enforcement works.
At Bumple Park and Cooley Park, encampments were cleared and ordinances were consistently applied.
No tents, no open flames, no drugs or alcohol, and enforcement of park hours.
The same standards must be applied citywide.
This is not an isolated issue, Alderman.
It is coming to a park near you.
I strongly urge you to take immediate action and join Alderman Samantha Nugent in pressing the mayor and the City Park District to uniformly enforce existing rules.
By doing so, you will help restore the safe and shared enjoyment of our parks and ensure that individuals experiencing homelessness are guided toward appropriate housing and services,
rather than left in unsafe encampments.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for your comments.
Our next speaker is Lynn Burmeister.
For more than one year, the Restore Gompers Park Coalition has spoken at monthly Park District Board meetings.
At these meetings, we brought attention to the collapse of the safety net of housing and social services promised to individuals living in tents in Gompers Park.
Despite our calls for attention, the Department of Family and Social Services and the Chicago Continuum of Care consistently fail these individuals,
and they continue to fail the unhoused living in parks across our city today.
Now, these agencies, who are charged with providing housing and services to the unhoused, are telling the City that park property is their only solution.
And the mayor agrees.
At the most recent Park District Board meeting, CEO Carlos Ramirez Rosa explained that the District now uses discretion in code enforcement to align with the City's Housing First approach.
Nowhere in his remarks did he define what this discretion is based on, whose bias it reflects, or how impacted communities are considered.
In effect, the voices of your constituents are being excluded from critical decisions about the discretionary information.
enforcement of ordinances, and the creation of sanctioned encampments in our parks.
This is a slippery slope of biased discretion, and one that should be ringing alarms in all
of your thoughts, particularly since we know that for over 190 years, parks has been an
integral part of civic life in Chicago, and having parkland misappropriated for housing
disregards the voices of millions of Chicagoans. Month after month, residents from across the city
representing parks like South Shore Park, Washington Park, and Douglas Park, people from the far south
side to the northwest side attend board meetings to advocate for facilities upgrades, stronger security,
and better representation in programming and events. Their message is clear. They love their
parks and want them preserved and strengthened, not diminished. The park district's motto,
Herbs in Horto, or City in the Garden, reflect generations of commitment by Chicagoans to
protect and grow these shared spaces. Parks are not a substitute for DFSS housing, nor should they
serve as the solution to the crisis identified by the Chicago Continual Care. Parks are not
shelters. They were never intended to meet housing needs, and there are more effective, humane ways to
address this issue. We ask you to hold DFSS, the Mayor's Homelessness Officer, and the Chicago
Continual Care accountable for delivering real solutions. We urge you to stand with your constituents
and preserve our parks. Thank you. Thank you very much for your comments. Our next speaker this
afternoon is Claire Bacon. Claire Bacon has left the meeting. Here is Linda Jennings. Good afternoon,
everyone. My name is Linda Jennings. I'm with the South Shorewood Line Community Benefits Agreement.
I want to thank you for those that agreed with some of our, what we wanted. However, I'm here to speak
about being in the Obama footprint that our rents and our mortgages are going up. We need something in place,
like a community benefits agreement to keep us stable in South Shore and Woodlawn. South Shore has the
highest elderly rate of anywhere in the city. They may have paid off their homes. However,
they need repairs. And with this ordinance, I would be, my group would be very, very happy to include
for the elderly people to get their pipes fixed, help with their pipes, help with their roofs. The
expectation isn't for you to pay for all. The expectation is a grant. South Shore has some of the oldest
structures in the city averaging 100 years old. So that's 100-year-old pipes, 100-year-old roofs,
100-year-old plumbing, all of that. And a lot of times, condo associations can't handle
the whole grasp of the price. That's why grants would help us, help the elderly in Woodlawn and
South Shore. And we would be, we would like you to take this into consideration and to take it seriously.
Thank you. Thank you very much for your comments. Our next speaker is Ms. Lawrence.
Hello, everyone. My purpose here today is because I prayed this morning, like I do every morning,
and asked God if there's something he would like for me to relay. And I have some scriptures for you.
Yes, that'd be me, the one that was a prosperity off of WBEZ last Tuesday. You see my face now.
I'm the one that also said, if we don't have a voice in here, we will have a voice out there
back in 2023. So let's get started. Ecclesiastes 10.2, the heart of the wise inclines to the right,
but the fool to the left. Matthew 25.33, and he will place the sheep on the right, but the goats on the
left. And then there's Luke 17.1 and 2. Jesus said, things that cause people to stumble are bound to come,
but woe to anyone through who that comes. Now, for those of you who knows about the Bible,
you'll know that these are truth, not facts. They are the truth. So I'm going to get started
on about the USA is a republic. We don't speak the democratic, even though Democrats want to speak
that, but it's a republic. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
Republic. I want to just stress on that. Next, let's go with Chicago crime stats. Chicago crime
stats, that is not what we all believe. And the reason why is because I went and done some
investigation myself. As you would know, my colleague, Ben Mark Armstrong at Deep South Press
Corp that speaks with you, he as well knows what investigations that I do. And here's some of the
things that I have learned that going to these police stations, they don't absolutely take reports
all the time. They will try to discourage you and deter you from taking in reports. And then after
that, I got a lot of feedback across the social media platforms that a lot of people are experiencing
this all the way to California, New York, and everywhere else. So now when we talk about crime,
let's talk about reported crime is what you call it. Let's play on those words reported versus
unreported and then misclassified crime. Those are three different things, Mr. Johnson. Now let's go to
the next thing here about honesty and integrity. Uh, they are critical because that's what the Bible
teaches us. Basic instructions before leaving earth acronyms for the Bible. So honesty and integrity
is critical in your role and any other role that any one of you carry. And we all can see with our
own eyes what's truly happening. So for last, uh, what you said about the troops, they need to come
here because you're holding our officers down. We need the National Guard. I have National Guard family
members and they know well what's going on here. So for those who disagree. Thank you very much for your
comments. Our next speaker is Aaron Mantila. Good evening. My name is Aaron Mantila. I am from Avondale
35th Ward under Anthony Cazada. I'm speaking on behalf of the Urban Center and I am strongly opposing
with the Urban Center, of course, the 1% grocery tax in the city of Chicago. I stand here representing
community members who oppose Mayor Johnson's grocery tax. And I want to say clearly, we're all watching.
We are all paying attention and we will remember those who vote, those who vote this would take
food off of our table. This proposed grocery tax is not abstract. It is a direct hit to working
families, especially now when food costs are already more than 20% higher than just a few years ago.
When people are choosing between fresh produce and cheaper alternatives, every extra cent matters.
Do not be misled by thinking 1% is small. A family spending $800 a month on groceries, which is
not very unique, fairly standard. 1% adds up significantly. It's nearly 100% of all of their budget that they use
up for all of these different expenses they have. And it hurts every, every tax, every new nickel and
dime. It all hurts. Child's school lunches, gas to get to work, public transit fares. All of this
is eaten up by this tax. Money struggling families cannot afford to send away. That's what this tax takes
from you. Small, local grocers will feel this too. These local grocers are not faceless corporations.
These are daily lifelines in undeserved neighborhoods. When costs go up, customers go
elsewhere, people move away, or we all cut back. When those businesses close, access to affordable
groceries disappears. This is not just a tax. It is a regressive tax. It hits hardest the people who have
already had the fewest options. Workers, single parents, seniors, everybody.
What's even worse is that some elected officials here who claim to be champions for the working people will gladly vote in favor for this.
We cannot let this stand. Let me be clear. The real working people of your wards are watching.
They will remember who stood with them and who added to their burden.
So I say again, vote no. And while the grocery tax may not get called today,
we at the Urban Center will oppose it wherever and however it reappears.
We are just getting started. Thank you.
Thank you very much for your comments.
Our next speaker this afternoon is Carolyn Wooten.
Good afternoon. My name is Caroline Wooten. I am the organizing director for the Illinois Sierra Club.
We have more than 20,000 dues paying members across the state of Illinois, including thousands here in the city of Chicago.
I'm here today to voice our support for the Hazel M. Johnson Cumulative Impacts Ordinance.
We're proud to work with dozens of community and environmental groups across Chicago to try and pass this ordinance,
including the Chicago Environmental Justice Network, who's been spearheading this effort.
I just wanted to share a little bit of remind you all of context in terms of why this ordinance is being pushed.
You all might remember the General Irons situation.
Community members had to go on a month-long hunger strike to keep a polluting metal shredder from moving in next to a high school on the southeast side.
Let's keep in mind that the reason it was moving was because that metal shredder was deemed too dirty for Linkin Park.
And there's a reason why it was such a hot-button issue.
Pollution has major health impacts and is tied with ailments as serious as cancer.
These decisions truly are life or death for communities, and that's why we need some basic guidelines,
especially ones that take into account the amount of pollution a community is already facing.
The ordinance closes a loophole and lays out a clear process that is fair to industry and fair to communities.
I also wanted to just take a little bit of time to address some of the concerns that we've heard.
One, we just want to be clear that advocates have met with a lot of stakeholders and met extensively with opposition and negotiated.
There have been changes made to the ordinance, which have been sent to you all as alders.
Also, just want to share that this does not apply to small businesses, does not apply to housing.
This is specifically for large industrial polluters.
For example, if this ordinance was in place this year, it would only apply to three facilities.
And then we've also heard concerns about slowing down the process.
We feel it actually makes the process more explicit.
Developers and community know what to expect.
There are clear steps and timelines.
If you remember the General Iron situation, that extended for years, and this at least creates a clear and transparent process.
So I would urge City Council to vote yes on this ordinance.
Do as much as you can to pass this as swiftly as possible, including getting the ordinance out of rules today and into zoning.
Thank you so much for your time.
Thank you very much for your comments.
Our next speaker is Alec Freytag.
Council members, Mayor Johnson, my name is Alec Freytag.
I'm here representing the community violence intervention sector.
If you watch the news or if you listen to some of the speakers here, you may think that violence is at an all-time high in Chicago.
But if you look on the ground, that's simply not what the facts show.
This is – last summer was the lowest amount of shootings, not violent – or fatal and non-fatal since 1962, a 60-year low.
Overall, shootings in Chicago are down 35 percent from last year.
And in our neighborhoods that we serve, they're down over 45 percent.
This is a huge impact, and that's because of what CVI does.
CVI, community violence intervention, goes to the people on the ground and directly intervenes and stops shootings before they happen.
Organizations such as Communities Partnering for Peace, Metropolitan Peace Initiatives, Aclavis, Chicago Cred, and many others do this vital work on the ground in coordination with the community as well as CPD.
CVI is all about building a safer Chicago for all of us, particularly under traditionally underinvested communities across the city.
But the benefits go to everyone.
Less violence is good for everybody that lives in our beloved city.
What we're asking is to continue being funded.
We know that budget cuts are difficult this year, but the work that we're doing on the ground is vital if we want to continue seeing violence drop year to year.
If we want to see these numbers increase, we need to continue funding.
CVI is just a small part of the budget, but they are significantly less expensive than what traditional law enforcement has looked like.
Incarceration, medical expenses from shooting, and just legal fees are significantly high.
A study showed from every town for gun violence research showed that more than $800,000 is spent on every homicide.
We are a significantly cheaper solution to that, and not only that, we work with the community themselves to support them.
Studies have shown that every dollar invested in CVI leads to about $40 return to that community on fees that would have been spent on medical, legal, and incarceration.
This is a good investment for the city.
This is a good investment for all of your neighbors.
This is a good investment to help Chicago get to where we want it to be.
Please continue funding CVI.
Please keep us in mind when you're doing this budget work, and know that the people on the ground, the people that were shouted out during the meeting earlier today, are the ones that are risking their lives every day to make sure that we're all safer.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much for your comments.
Our next speaker is Tom Quinn.
Mr. Quinn, are you here?
Your Honor, there are no further speakers who have timely signed up for the public comment period.
Madam Clerk, this concludes our public speaking portion of the meeting.
Alderwoman Tabaris has asked to participate in the rest of today's meeting remotely.
Madam Clerk or Mrs. Clerk, can you confirm Alder Tabaris' presence online?
Alderwoman Tabaris, are you there?
Tabaris is here.
Okay.
Very well, confirmation, and for rules stated in Rule 59 is why she wishes to participate for the remaining of today's meeting remotely.
Can I get a motion to approve the remote participation of Tabaris?
Very well.
It's been moved.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
Any opposed say nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Madam Clerk, please add Alder Tabaris as part of the quorum participating remote.
Now, before we attend to the other business today, and there's some exciting business that is before us,
I request that we first consider an appointment, an appointment of the 27th Ward Alderman.
This item was heard this morning in the Rules Committee, and so as a matter of proper procedure,
I would ask that we suspend the rules so that the chair of the Rules Committee can present this appointment.
Chair recognizes Chairwoman Harris.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I move for the temporary suspension of the rules for immediate consideration of the appointment of the 27th Ward Alderman.
Are there any objections to the suspension of the rules?
Hearing none, so order.
Alderwoman Harris.
Chairwoman Harris.
Your Committee on Committees and Rules, which met earlier today, recommends the approval of the appointment of Walter Redmond Burnett
as the Alderman of the 27th Ward, replacing Walter Burnett, Jr., who has resigned.
And after any remarks, I move passage of this item by a roll call vote.
Farewell.
There's a motion on the floor for the approval of the appointment of the 27th Ward Alder person.
There's been a request for a roll call vote here.
Before we take that vote, are there any members of the body that wish to speak to this appointment?
The chair recognizes Alderman Beal.
President.
Mr. President, first of all, I would like to apologize to the body and also the people in the gallery for, you know,
basically waiting all this time, especially members of the press.
But I hope that everybody will withhold their comments so we can move this thing along in an expeditious manner
by moving the roll call vote for this appointment.
The question has been called.
No other speakers?
Very well.
Well, Madam Clerk, can you provide the e-vote application at this time so that members of this body can vote for this motion?
Okay, the voting is now open.
The voting is now open.
Please hit refresh.
If you're having difficulty signing in, please raise your hand.
Okay, I will now call on those who have not yet voted.
Alderman Hopkins.
Alderman Hopkins is a yes.
Alderperson Robinson.
Alderperson Robinson is a yes.
Alderman O'Shea.
Alderman O'Shea is a yes.
Alderman Rodriguez.
Alderman Rodriguez is a yes.
Alderwoman Tabaris.
Aye.
Aye.
Alderwoman Tabaris is a yes.
Alderperson Fuentes.
Alderperson Fuentes is not in chambers.
Alderperson Rodriguez Sanchez.
Rodriguez Sanchez is not in chambers.
Alderman Conway.
Yes.
Alderman Conway is a yes.
Alderman Vasquez.
Alderman Vasquez is not in chambers.
Alderman Gardner.
Alderman Gardner is a yes.
Alderwoman Silverstein.
Yes.
Alderwoman Silverstein is a yes.
Okay.
And I believe everyone who is in chambers has voted.
Voting is now closed.
Oh, sorry.
Alderperson Vasquez is a yes.
Alderperson Fuentes.
Is that a yes?
Alderperson Fuentes is a yes.
Alderperson Rodriguez Sanchez.
Alderperson Luani.
Not in chambers.
Okay.
Voting is now closed.
Very well.
There are 48 yays and there are zero nays.
This matter is packed.
I'm sorry.
There are 47 yays and zero nays.
this matter has passed alderman alderman mitchell i move that we can reconsider the vote
that's pretty bogus there all those in favor of the reconsideration of this vote signify by saying
aye any opposed say no this is not fair alderman burnett please come to the dais for the oath of
office that will be administered by sigma man judge carl walker before we get started just a
moment here let's make sure that uh that uh mrs burnett makes her way oh we do i agree so before
we move forward with the oath i just want to recognize uh a mayor mayor i ask i want to
apologize for having my back to you so we do that in court if we have our back to a judge
and to anybody who's honorable uh and uh to the to my friends my longtime friends uh walter and
alana burnett uh to walter redmond burnett to the members of the city council and to all the other
elected officials that are here community members community leaders uh good afternoon good afternoon
it is this is a great privilege to be able to stand here to swear in a young man whom i've known for a
very long time because of my extremely close friendship with his dad uh my friend and brother
uh walter burnett uh immediate past alderman walter burnett uh i want to just briefly talk about an
experience that i had an intern to the building today uh mr mayor uh as i approached i had my
judicial identification out and there were two black officers there and they told me that i couldn't come
in with that identification that i needed a city id and i said i showed i said i'm a part of the
ceremony today and i showed him my oath of office that i had prepared and i showed them my robe and
showed my judicial identification again and he said that won't help you need somebody to uh to uh to
vouch for you is the word that he used and there were two of them and then one of the officers began
to talk to two other guys that walked up two other white guys that walked up they also did not have a
city identification and then he decided to let them in and then i said to the officer i said the one that
i was still talking to i said well you just let the two white guys go in without a city id but you're
telling the black judge who has a judicial identification that he can't come in unless someone vouches for him
and uh he said well you want to play the race card i said well no i'm not playing the race card you played
the race card when you allowed the two white men to walk in and you're still holding the black judge
with identification here and won't let him in and he said well someone needs to vouch for you
so fortunately a black lawyer who i happen to know walks up and i start telling him about the situation
he works for the corporation council and they saw me talking to him and then they said to the black
lawyer they said oh can you vouch for him he said yeah he's a judge and then they said oh well you can
go in and i just want to say that i am an eternal optimist and i believe that we can all do better
we all need to do better and what i have learned and i tell people very often when i do motivational
speaking and this is why i am optimistic i've learned that optimism is that one character trait above
all others that's more associate associated with success and happiness than any other character
trait so i'm going to remain optimistic and i'm asking all of you despite my story to please remain
optimistic i want to say first that public service is the highest challenge and the highest calling in
our democracy today as we swear in our newest alderman we affirm the strength of local government rented
i'm sorry rooted in the voice of the people
to serve as an alderman is to take the responsibility that is both deeply civic and deeply personal
it is a commitment to lead and to listen to the voices of our neighbors and to act always in the interest of public good
local government is where democracy lives breathes and it is where decisions are made that shape our streets
our schools our safety our shared future it depends on those who are willing to serve
we want to thank you walter redmond barnett for answering the call today's ceremony is more than a formality
it is a reminder that our government is rooted in the will of the people
and strengthened by those who are willing to serve as we welcome walter redmond barnett into this role
we do so with gratitude with trust and with great hope for our future let us proceed with the oath of office
i'm going to ask you you can please place your left hand on the bible and raise your right hand
i walter redmond barnett do solemnly swear or affirm
solemnly swear that i will support the constitution of the united states that i will support the
constitution of the united states the constitution of the state of illinois constitution of the state of
illinois the ordinances of the city of chicago the ordinances of the city of chicago and that i will
faithfully discharge that i will faithfully discharge the duties of the office the duties of the office
of Alderman of the City of Chicago
of Alderman of the City of Chicago
to the best of my ability.
To the best of my ability.
Consider yourself sworn.
Standing alongside of his father,
the former Alderman of the 27th Ward,
his mother, Mr. Arlene Burnett,
his brother, State Representative Omar Williams,
and his cousin, Officer Marcus Burnett.
Congratulations, Alderman Burnett.
Welcome to the City Council,
and the floor is yours.
Thank you, everyone.
I was able to get my comments already,
so I appreciate the time.
And you can actually talk.
You know what, Alderman, why don't you...
to speak actually at the podium with that microphone.
Yeah.
Thank you, everyone.
Very excited to be a part of this council.
Looking forward to working with all the alders and the rest of elected officials in the state of Illinois.
Really excited and ready to get to work.
Appreciate it.
Very well.
So, Madam Clerk, despite the fact that the alderman said that he's prepared to work with city council
in the state of Illinois and did not include the mayor,
you're good, I'm just, I'm watching you, brother.
As he signs himself in, would you please add Alderman Burnett to the roll call for the purpose of this quorum?
And Sergeant at Arms, would you please escort Mr. Alderman Burnett to the 27th Ward seat?
You have him?
You're taking him?
Okay.
Yes.
The Sergeant at Arms is ready.
All right.
Very well.
Okay.
It was good.
It was open now.
It was open.
I don't know.
I don't know.
But I don't like that.
It's safe.
Thank you.
Chairwoman Harris.
Mr. President, I now move that we return to the regular order of business.
Hearing no objections, so ordered.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Now we have a number of acknowledgments.
Mr. President.
The chair recognizes Alderman Deal.
Once again, Mr. President, because of the late time that we are here today, I recommend, hopefully my colleagues agree, that we suspend all the acknowledgments with the exception of Jeff Levine.
Is that a motion?
Okay.
All right.
All right.
And I appreciate your best effort.
I mean, we recognize it's been a long day already.
We'll do the best that we can to do the people's business as expeditious as we possibly can.
So there are, I believe, five acknowledgments, and that we'll move through these as quickly as we possibly can.
And then we would ask that you all keep your comments as abbreviated as possible.
The first chair recognizes, chair recognizes Alderwoman Silverstein, which she would like to memorialize the life of Gertrude, known as Trude Matanke, Alderwoman Silverstein.
Oh, would you, on behalf of Alder Silverstein, Alderman Lopez will do this acknowledgement.
The chair recognizes Alderman Raymond Lopez.
Thank you, Mr. President, and good afternoon, members of the City Council.
On behalf of our colleague, Alderman Debra Silverstein, I'd like to take a moment to recognize the family of Trude Matanke.
Here with us today are her sons, Robert and James, and her grandson, Yitzee, if you would please rise.
Today, and on behalf of Alderman Silverstein, today I rise to honor the memory of an extraordinary woman, Gertrude Matanke.
We are fortunate to have members of her family with us this morning, and I thank you for recognizing them and extending our sympathy to them and their entire family.
Gertrude Matanke, or Trudy as she was known, was a lifelong Chicagoan.
She was a teacher for Chicago Public Schools, a businesswoman, a philanthropist, and a true community leader.
She dedicated her life not only to her family, but also to strengthening our neighborhoods, uplifting the Jewish community, and improving the city of Chicago.
Trudy led by example.
She was a driving force behind keeping the Bernard Horwish JCC open to serve the 50th Ward community.
And through her work with Matanke Realty Group, she helped improve neighborhoods throughout our city and in many of the wards sponsoring this resolution today.
She instilled in her children the values of leadership, service, and tradition, values that continue to benefit Chicago today.
Trudy is survived by her four children, Shelley Stopek, Robert, Rabbi Leonard Matanke, and James, 18 grandchildren and 44 great-grandchildren.
On behalf of the 50th Ward and the entire city council, we mourn Trudy's passing today, and we honor her remarkable legacy.
Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman Lopez, for that.
Thank you to the Matanke family.
Alder Vasquez would like to acknowledge Lawrence Hall on its 160th anniversary and Friedman Place on its 90th anniversary.
The chair recognizes Alderman Vasquez.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Yes, as stated, thank you so much.
I'd like to acknowledge Lawrence Hall, celebrating their 160th year anniversary of bringing hope and healing to youth and families around Chicago.
They've given us a model of building empowerment, resilience, and community for youth who have experienced trauma, and we're so proud to have them in the 40th Ward upon taking office, understanding the populations they serve and the kind of trauma youth go through.
It's a population that we wish more folks were providing support, and to see Lawrence Hall do such amazing work and be such a staple in our community is something that I'm very proud to represent, and so we're glad to hear with us.
Similarly, Friedman Place is celebrating two milestone anniversaries in 2025.
The 90th anniversary of the Association of Jewish Blind Kagan Home, Friedman Place's founding organization, which was founded in 1935, and the 20th anniversary of the founding of Friedman Place, a supportive living community for adults who are blind in the Lincoln Avenue Arts District.
Friedman Place does incredible work providing housing and support services to blind and visually impaired people, and has provided a model of rehabilitation that prioritizes community and independence.
We're grateful to have them in our community, and we're grateful for the learning of how we can improve how we think about our city, in thinking about our community that is blind or vision impaired, and honored to recognize them for 90 years of service.
So thank you all for being here.
Thank you, Mr. President.
You're welcome.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
For our third acknowledgment, Alderman Lawson, I'm sorry, yes, it is Alderman Lawson, would like to memorialize the life of Lori Cannon.
The chair recognizes Alderman Lawson.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I'm proud to rise today to honor the life and legacy of Lori Cannon, who passed away last month at the age of 74.
Lori was a tireless advocate, activist, and an ally whose work transformed how our city responded to the HIV-AIDS crisis.
In 1988, she founded Open Hand Chicago, which became the Vital Bridges Food Program, ensuring that thousands of people living with HIV had access to meals and dignity when they needed it most.
Lori was also a founding member of ACT UP Chicago and a volunteer with countless organizations always on the front lines,
whether organizing food pantries, coordinating the AIDS Memorial Quilt in Chicago, or standing in protest to demand care and justice.
Known as the beacon in red with her signature hair and nails,
Lori used humor, empathy, and courage to lift up those who were most vulnerable and was inducted into Chicago's LGBT Hall of Fame in 1994.
But perhaps her greatest recognition is the love and gratitude of the community she served.
This resolution is not only about remembering her contributions, it is about recommitting ourselves to the values she lived by,
compassion, justice, and refusing to leave anyone behind.
So on behalf of the 44th Ward, the LGBT Caucus, and the City of Chicago, I'm proud to present this resolution in her honor
and extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends, and the many Chicagoans whose lives she touched.
Thank you, Alderman Lawson.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Acknowledgement will be provided by Alderman Hopkins, who would like to memorialize the life of Cubs legend Ryan Sambur.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. President. A brief story about the Cubs legend, Ryan Sandberg, tells you all you need to know about the man. He was as good a human being as he was an athlete. As a lifelong baseball fan, which I know you are too, Mr. President, I've asked for a lot of autographs over the course of my life.
And the one that is the most memorable is when I asked Ryan Sandberg to autograph my son's children's book about the Cubs. It was printed in 2015. That fact will be relevant in a minute before they won the World Series in 2016. And on one page, there was a list of all the great Cubs legends, guys like Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins, and Ryan Sandberg was on there.
And when I asked for his autograph, I turned to that page and I had the Sharpie and I handed it to him. Without even looking, he flipped immediately away from the page that featured him and turned to the page that had the World Series championships from 1907 on it.
He drew a World Series trophy and wrote in big letters 2016. And that is what he signed. The man was a consummate team player to the end. And that is Ryan Sandberg in a nutshell.
He was a great man, a great leader, a great athlete, and a great Cubs. He'll be missed by all of us, including White Sox fans.
That's right. Thank you very much, Alderman Hopkins. I believe this is our final acknowledgement, which will be offered up by Alder Gutierrez, who would like to acknowledge St. Bruno's Church 100th anniversary. Chair recognizes Alder Gutierrez.
Thank you, Mr. President. It is my honor to introduce this resolution honoring the 100th anniversary of St. Bruno Parish in the 14th Ward neighborhood, Archer Heights.
For a century, St. Bruno has been a pillar of our community, a place where families have gathered in faith, celebrating milestones, and carrying forward traditions that reflect the heart of our neighborhood.
St. Bruno has always opened its doors to everyone, offering math in English, Polish, and Spanish, and serving as a reflection of the diversity of Archer Heights and the southwest side of Chicago.
It is a blessing to know that our community has been shaped and continues to grow through the support of this parish.
In 2021, St. Bruno unified with St. Richard Parish, strengthening both churches and ensuring their shared legacy to continue for generations.
This unification speaks to the resilience and commitment of our parish families who have worked together to preserve their faith and a place in our city.
This upcoming Saturday, October 4th, the parish will welcome Cardinal Blaise Zupich to celebrate their rich history and community with a mass of thanksgiving.
On behalf of the 14th Ward, I congratulate Reverend Bartos, Father Andres, Deacons Ed and Larry, Monica and Berta from the Church Administration,
Delia from Religious Education, and all the parishioners for these remarkable milestones.
And I look forward to the continued presence of St. Bruno and Richard Parish for the next century to come.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Congratulations.
100 years.
Okay, thank you again, all to go together.
Now, we do have three resolutions, but I do know that folks are working to move through this with as much expediency as we possibly can.
However, there are three powerful ones.
One, celebrating Latine Heritage Month, commemorating the 10th year anniversary of the Diet Hunger Strike,
and then, of course, finally honoring Mr. Jeffrey Levine for his service to the city of Chicago.
So, Alderman Mitchell, for the motion to temporarily suspend the rules to take these up for immediate consideration.
Mr. President, I move for the temporary suspension of the rules for the immediate consideration of these three resolutions.
All right.
Hearing no objections, so order.
And in the interest of time, we will forego the reading of these resolutions and go straight to the remarks from City Council.
And our first resolution is celebrating Latine Heritage Month.
Are there any alders that wish to speak to this resolution?
The chair recognizes Alder Quezada.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Members of the council, it is an honor to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month this year as the alderman of a historically diverse Latino ward
and as the proud son of working-class Mexican and Costa Rican immigrants
and as the first Costa Rican to serve in this body and to be elected in the state of Illinois.
This month is a time to celebrate our culture, our heritage, and our shared history.
But it is also a time to recognize those who have carried our culture forward in ways that uplift all of us.
I want to take a moment to recognize my special guest for today's celebration, Ignacio Lopez.
Ignacio, can you say hi to the team?
There you go.
He is the executive director of the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance.
Ignacio, your leadership and the leadership of your team has ensured that Puerto Rican music, art, and history
are alive and accessible in every corner of our city.
Through cultural programming and youth development, you are helping to build the next generation of leaders
who will carry our traditions with pride and strength, and we thank you as a city.
But as we gather in celebration, we cannot ignore the reality of this moment.
Across the country, the federal government continues to attack Hispanic and immigrant communities.
Families are torn apart by deportations, people are criminalized simply for existing,
and our contributions are too often erased or dismissed.
In moments like this, it's not only important to celebrate our heritage,
it is essential to understand that our resistance is a part of that heritage.
For generations, our communities have resisted.
From the fight against colonization and genocide,
to the struggle against gentrification and displacement in our neighborhoods,
to defending our neighbors against criminalization and deportation.
This struggle is a part of who we are.
That is why it is important to understand that it is both our moral responsibility
and our civic duty to defend one another.
That act of resistance is not separate from our culture.
It is our culture.
It is our history.
So today, as we celebrate Latino Heritage Month,
I call on all of us, this body, our communities, our city,
to continue to work together.
Let us celebrate the beauty of our heritage,
and let us also defend it with courage, with solidarity, and with love.
Our culture, our people, and our future will live on,
but only through struggle, only if we fight back,
and only if we continue to uphold the banner of solidarity and love.
Que viva la libertad!
Que viva la igualdad!
Y que viva la democracia!
Gracias!
Thank you.
Thank you.
The chair recognizes, older woman Ruth Cruz.
Thank you, Mr. President.
It is an honor to be with all of you here as an immigrant, as Mexican,
but it's an honor also.
I'm very proud to honor Juan Pablo Prieto, known as JP.
So, Juan Pablo, please, please stand up, Juan Pablo.
Juan Pablo is a proud son of Colombian immigrants, a lifelong Chicagoan,
and a true pillar of our community.
As Director of Diversity Programs and DBE's Liaison Officer at Chicago Transit Authority,
Juan Pablo has championed opportunities for small businesses and working families,
ensuring that billions of dollars in contracts truly reflect the diversity of our city.
His leadership has opened doors to entrepreneurs, created pathways of good jobs,
and made sure our communities share in Chicago's growth and progress.
But beyond his professional accomplishments, Juan Pablo is a devoted father, son, husband, friend, and neighbor.
He gives back through his non-for-profit boards, advocates for housing, safety, equity,
and lives his value every day.
He currently serves on board of La Casa Norte, the Latino Workers Safety Center,
and the Spanish Coalition for Housing, always giving back and always lifting others.
His leadership and advocacy has also been recognized across the city and beyond with numerous awards,
and most recently, the Black Contractors Owners and Executive Advocacy Award early this month.
Our ward is proud to count him as one of our own.
His dedication and integrity and passion make him not only a good leader in transit, but a leader in the community.
We thank him for his partnership, his friendship, and his example,
and we celebrate him today with gratitude and pride during Hispanic Heritage Month.
Juan Pablo has been there with us every single day,
has been standing strong with the immigrant community,
has always been lending a hand.
And Juan Pablo, I admire you, and thank you so much for the friendship.
Feliz día, Mesa Lerencia Hispana, y que viva México y que viva Colombia.
Thank you very much.
The chair recognizes Alderman Chico.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I, too, rise in support, and I want to thank everybody in the box for your contributions
to this great city.
I want to honor my guest today, Deputy Chief Migdalia Bonas from the Academy.
Deputy Chief Bonas is the highest-ranking Latina in the Chicago Police Department, the highest-ranking
one.
I want to thank you for your years of service to the Chicago Police Department.
I personally have had the opportunity to watch you grow, not only as a police officer, but
as a person.
I met you as a lieutenant in the 4th District, where you were my lieutenant, and then you
became commander, and now you are here as Deputy Chief.
And through your rise, I've watched you reach back and help people, and I know you've done
that because you helped me.
And I will be eternally grateful for you helping me at a time of uncertainty in my life.
As you know, I was hurt on the job, didn't know what was going to happen with myself, and I
came to see you, and you found a spot for me.
You made it work.
You made me feel relevant.
And I will always, always remember that.
So thank you for that, because you mean more to me than you know.
Thank you for your work.
You were a past president of ALI, the Alliance of Hispanic Law Enforcement, helping uplift
Hispanic officers, and all officers for that matter.
So thank you for that.
And thank you for your years of commitment to the city.
Once again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for all you have done for me.
You mean the world to me.
And to Juan Pablo, thank you for your leadership and your partnership, as the Red Line Extension
will be ending in the 10th Ward on the 130th, and making sure my community is heard and represented.
Thank you for that.
And I look forward to years of partnership as we get this thing rolling.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
The chair recognizes Alderman Mike Rodriguez.
Thank you, Mayor.
And congratulations to all of you in the box, many of which I know well, for your leadership.
I have the distinct honor of recognizing Yesenia Juarez from Little Village and the 22nd Ward,
an amazing human being.
She started the Little Village Busy Bees.
So she's got young people throughout the neighborhood, adults as well, crocheting throughout our community.
I invite you to visit our local library, our park, many other locations, trees throughout the neighborhood.
Have beautiful Mexican, Latina-inspired crocheting artwork, really, throughout our community, through to her efforts.
But, you know, it's interesting.
Her efforts don't stop there.
She's the mother of three, like, amazing, beautiful young children who I just – they're awesome.
I think their dad is here as well today.
There he is, Raul.
So the Juarez family is such a pillar in our community, and I call your father-in-law one of my – you know, I'm a real mentor, I would say, an amazing human being.
But today's about you, and this is about you.
So I just wanted to say I thank you for every day giving so much of yourself, giving so much of your time to the community that could – you know, is really an opportunity to cost to your family.
So I just wanted to say thank you and really just recognize who you are, also on the board of I don't know how many organizations in the neighborhood, taking on fights in the neighborhood to make sure that we have real leadership in our community that's about our neighborhood, and you really embody that.
The last thing I'll say, and I'll connect you with a little bit broader comments, is Yesenia is also a major part of many things we do in the neighborhood, but she's also part of our Rapid Response Network.
And we have a couple of different Rapid Response Networks that are based on a couple of different chat platforms.
And every day we hear about tamaleras being kidnapped.
Every day we hear about people who are looking for work while they're looking for work being detained and kidnapped.
You know, there's a misnomer about who is being impacted by this federal administration, because the fact is, is that I'm a citizen born in this country, and I am impacted by this.
I have a good family member of mine who graduated from CPS, born here, went on to get her bachelor's degree from DePaul University, a master's degree from Northwestern University, and told me the other day she will not leave the home, leave our home, without her ID, and that's my wife.
My father is a legal permanent resident in this country for the last 70 years.
He will not go back to Mexico, because he doesn't know if he'll be able to come back to this country.
You know, he's a teamster.
Worked third shift, delivering the Chicago Sun-Times.
Amazing human being.
And this agenda is impacting the quality of life.
If I look at 26th Street, which is not the second Magnificent Mile, it's the Magnificent Two Miles, where we just had our Mexican Independence Day parade.
Usually tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people dressed, much like Yesenia is today, and you look amazing.
I love the garb.
But our parade this year, significant less people out for fears.
Our community should not live in fear.
Thank you, Alderman Casada, for your words.
Our existence is our resistance.
And the fact is, you represent that, and you at the front lines of our Rapid Response Team, you're so emblematic of all the people who don't get the recognition that they deserve.
For going out there in the morning and being there for our community, well into the night being there for our community, I just want to say muchas gracias de todo mi corazón, de toda la comunidad.
Lo que usted representa nuestra comunidad es algo muy grande.
El futuro de nuestra comunidad seas tú, seas tu familia, seas nuestra comunidad y nuestra familia.
Thank you very much, Mayor, and thank you, Yesenia, for being such a baddie.
Appreciate you.
Thank you.
Chair recognizes Alder Jesse Fuentes.
Thank you, Mr. President.
First, I want to congratulate everyone in the box, because you represent so much of what our community has to offer.
Whether we are protecting our city, educating our young people, ensuring that they have access to transportation, you all are what's great about the city of Chicago and what's excellent about our community and what we have to offer.
Prince, I want to thank you for your dedicated work, I want to thank you for being in the box today, and I want to apologize for our late start.
And I want to let my colleagues know it's hard to feel in a celebratory mood this month.
Yesterday I had a Grito de Lares event in my community where we talked about Puerto Rican resistance and our fight to be self-determined and free.
I joined my colleagues in La Vida for Mexican Independence Day in solidarity with our Mexican community in celebration of their freedom.
But yet every single day we are waking up to our signal chat with hundreds of volunteers who are showing up to locations where our neighbors are being kidnapped and disappeared.
I wake up every single day wondering who do I have to provide condolences to, or whose household do I have to have a conversation with and offer reassurance that we are trying our best to protect our neighbors, while we have a federal agency that is terrorizing our communities.
You know, I spent two weeks calling business owners in my ward, two weeks.
I called every single license holder, in fact.
And every business owner's story was the same.
Older person, we are struggling.
People are not coming in to shop, whether that's coming in to eat, buy furniture, buy clothes.
Or people aren't showing up to work, because they are scared.
They're scared to leave their parents behind.
They're scared they're going to get picked up at the door.
They're scared that if they drop off their child, they won't be there to pick them up from school.
When I look at big commercial corridors like Division Street or North Avenue and don't see the foot traffic.
that we usually see. I don't see the El Otero on the division in Washtenaw or the woman selling
tamales on California because they are afraid they are going to get picked up. I have individuals who
are going through the process, quote unquote, the right way, who are showing up to their
appointments and getting deported. We have an administration who is selling this narrative
that they're only picking up criminals. And yet the people that are being picked up have been in
this country for 40 to 50 years that haven't committed a crime. So it's hard to be in a
celebratory mood. I'm Puerto Rican and Cuban born a United States citizen, a daughter of
a Cuban immigrant. And when my father came here, he came here to raise his children to
ensure that they could have a better life. I have a brother that is a part of the Union
of Engineers. I have a sister who's in the medical field. I am an elected official. I mean,
I think my dad did a great job. Do you? He came to this country to offer his children a
better life. There are so many people that came to this country to offer their children
a better life. And what we have to offer them is for them to live in fear. And so I think
that this month calls us in. It calls us to remind us that there is still so much more
to fight for. Yes, we have achieved so much. There are more Latinos in elected office now
more than ever. There are more Latinos in leadership positions and nonprofits and corporations
now more than ever. But there is still so much more to fight for. And Mayor, I'd be remiss
if I didn't thank you for how strong you stand beside our community. I will tell you that our
community won't forget that. There are so many families that see you. And I know it's not
easy standing beside the immigrant community. But we see you. So I want to thank all our
colleagues who have stood beside us no matter what, because I also know that that's not
easy. I know to be in solidarity right now is difficult. So I want to thank all of my
colleagues in the room for being with us. And as we are in Latino Heritage Month, I want
to remind us that there are still so many families that need us. And they don't just live in Latino
wars. They live all over the city. And I know that all of my colleagues are doing the best
that they can by our community. And as we're building a rapid response network, as we're
working to protect our siblings in our neighborhoods, I want us to know that we still got to do more.
And so for those who are in the box to show up every single day, thank you. For my colleagues
who show up, thank you. And for those who work to make this job just a little bit easier in difficult
times under such political odds, thank you. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you. Thank you. The chair recognizes Alder Rodriguez-Sanchez.
Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Alderman Casada and Alderwoman Fuentes for your words. The first
thing I want to say is that, as I hope everybody knows, being Latino is not a race. We are everything.
We are black and we're indigenous. We're trans. We're queer. We're everything. And I think one
of the most important things that we need to be doing in this moment, as people that come
from a heritage all over Latin America that has dealt with dictatorships and authoritarianism
and have had to fight it, is build solidarity with everybody else. In Argentina, 30,000 people
were disappeared during the dictatorship in Chile. Tens of thousands of people were also
disappeared. We are experiencing this right now in Chicago. We're experiencing this right
now in the United States. They are disappearing people. They are kidnapping people. They are
ignoring constitutional rights of due process. And our communities are the biggest target.
So today, I want to honor somebody in my community who is all about solidarity. Irma, would you
please stand up just for a second? This is Irma Aragon, everybody. She is the founder of Israel
Gifts of Hope. And this is an organization that supports survivors of gun violence. Irma lost her son to gun
violence about six years ago. And when she lost her son, she realized that there was very little support
for families that were struggling with that grief. And she started organizing to get the resources for
herself. And then she started supporting other families. Irma has created an incredible organization that has
become a lifeline for so many families across races. Irma supports people in the south side and the west side
and the north side and anywhere people need it. Irma is somebody that as soon as a violent incident takes place
And we know that somebody has lost their life. She's going to show up with groceries. She's going to show up with blankets.
She's going to show up with a hug. She's going to walk people through the unimaginable pain of having to bury a child.
She has done this work as a volunteer. She has helped mend hearts. She gets families that are grieving together for the holidays.
And she figures out how to make sure that they have some joy during the holiday season.
She has been doing this work for a long time now. And I am so grateful that I have her in my community to continue building that solidarity.
And it seems to me that in this moment, this is what we need to cling to. We need to cling to the helpers.
We need to cling to the people who are willing to support each other, who are willing to love their neighbors as much as they love
themselves and their families. And that is what Irma does in my community.
So Irma, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the love that you give to our communities.
Thank you for showing so much solidarity across neighborhoods, across races.
Thank you for all you have given to the city of Chicago. And I am so excited to continue working with you.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you. The chair recognizes Alder Vasquez.
Thank you very much, Mr. President.
It's been great growing up Latino in Chicago.
I can't remember a time where we didn't deal with some level of struggle or judgment.
But it's helped shape us. It's made us stronger.
We are a people that are humble and hardworking, but clearly continue to get pushed to the brink regularly.
We all have stories of growing up and parents that have come from other countries who were treated like outsiders.
And as we grow up generations later and we're in elected office, one would imagine that things would move forward.
And they do in many instances.
We have a lot of elected officials.
We have grown economically.
But we still go through the same kind of challenges and in some regard, even worse.
Last weekend, I came to my office to find a note in a dead rat.
And a letter found on the door of my office referred to undocumented folks as illegals and as vermin.
And we have Jewish siblings here who understand what those terms mean and how dangerous and harmful they are.
And it spoke of letting ICE do their job and getting rid of them so it could lower our taxes,
which says all about how people listen to narratives that have no basis in fact if they think their taxes are affected by it at all.
But because we have a kind of system where people just fall for whatever they see on their phone,
we deal with those kind of threats at a ward office.
At the end of that week, I was at Broadview getting tear gassed while we were watching as people were held in a processing center
that we know is a detention center where you had 150 people in there who can't sleep.
to the standing room only, where we had to hear a father call his children to explain that they
don't let them shower or escape or anything. And so when you see people speaking up against that
kind of injustice in real time, you show up and you put your body on the line. You don't always
expect that the federal government will have people with masks unidentified and weapons
shooting tear gas at people and harming people who probably shouldn't be there in the first
place but want to stand up for the right thing. We have a federal government that in Franklin
Park murdered someone and stated that they were attacked by a vehicle, caught under a
vehicle, only to see video footage of that officer saying it was nothing major and a picture
of a scraped knee. And we're living in a government where you can't hold the federal government
accountable when they do murder someone in that manner. We all face injustice. It's not
a competition. It's never been one. But we know that in this moment, as we're watching
the federal government weaponize itself against its people, we happen to be the first ones
they're going after. We're not going to be the last. And so when we talk about it, it is
because we have to stand up for each other. And there are moments where we, members of
this council, have stood up for each other. We don't always expect it. We don't always ask
for it. But if people aren't paying attention to the moment that we're in now, it is going
to get worse. And we know how the U.S. government has attacked everyone. We know how the CIA
pumped drugs to get people addicted here in the United States, how they've gone into Central
America and South America and everywhere across the world to cause damage. And so when we talk
about that moment, it isn't because, hey, it's us. We just need help. It's because us is all
of us. When we saw the Japanese being interned, put in internment camps, I don't know what it
must have been like in that moment. And then I think about, well, I actually do. We're living
in it now. We're watching it. And we're not believing that it's happening. We're trying
to find whatever bias is on our phone. And so I implore everyone here to do the best job
they can. And I commend you, Mayor Johnson, for being able to stand on the right side of history
history and making sure that our police department here is doing the same and that there is that
level of accountability. Because when things like that occur, unfortunately, but thankfully,
it's in a suburb. It hasn't happened here. And I can't thank you enough because I know it
has not been easy to stand there to do that. I know you invite critique for doing the right
thing and you've made the right decision and made the right choice. And I thank you personally
for that. And I want to recognize the members of our caucus, if you all could please stand.
I love our caucus. We love ourselves. We hate ourselves. We have ideological differences
across the gamut. We argue about things all the time. But what we understand in this moment
is just like family, we can argue, but we stand resolute. And we stand not just with each
other, but the rest of the city council and the rest of the city. So even though we may disagree
on an ordinance or a thing or two, I am proud of the members of this caucus because when push
comes to shove, we are standing shoulder to shoulder as we should. And I thank each and
every one of you because it's not easy. And it means a lot to me personally. It's been
challenging for all of us to move together, but we are doing it. And what I would like to
see is the same example citywide and nationwide. Because economically, we have a lot of power.
We have a third of the population. Politically, we're so busy fighting amongst ourselves about
what we agree or don't we agree on that we don't actually build the kind of power necessary to be
respected. But I think that's going to change because we are under attack. And so I thank each
of you for your courage, for your ability to challenge us, and for us coming together to
develop what is a better city, not just for Latinos, but for every single person in Chicago,
undocumented or not, black, white, brown, Asian, everything, queer, disabled. We are one city.
And just know that we're doing our part and we'll continue to. We're on the front lines right
now. We're going to remain that. When they come for anybody else, we'll be there with you.
Thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Chicago. Thank you all for everything you do in every
organization. You all are giants that we've been lucky enough to stand on the shoulders of.
And we'll continue to do that work. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you.
The chair recognizes Alder Laspada.
Chairman Vasquez, you should have elected to close. I'm hoping that there's somebody following me,
but here's what I will say briefly, because it's 2.53 and I'll be done by 2.55.
Talk to people about their stoles. The stoles are new this year. I'm so proud to see such a diversity
of representation of where folks' heritage came from. I have been asked now seven times,
where's the Italian flag on the bottom of my stall? Not a lot of Spanish speakers in Italy,
but I'm here by the heritage of the ward that was built, made, kept safe, holds business with
the Latino community. And I'm so proud of the people that I represent and the heritage that
they bring. Here's what I want to say. Here's my call to action here. Folks have talked about
solidarity. And I see the safety solidarity on a daily basis in the folks who keep our wards
safe, who are out there right now till the dark of night, making sure that our neighbors are safe
from ICE. I want to speak about economic solidarity, because there's so many things right now that we
order from Amazon that we could be buying on Division Street. And there's so many things getting
delivered to my house from Target that I could be buying on 26th Street. Colleagues, I want to ask you
to send to me and maybe to everyone a business, a Latino business in your neighborhood that I can
highlight in my newsletter, in my public communications, because we can stand in the gap economically for
your communities the same way that we're trying to socially and from a safety perspective. Please do
that for me so that the first ward can show you all that our solidarity extends to our pocketbooks as
well. Thank you so much. And thank you to the folks in the box with us. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you. The chair recognizes Alder Villegas.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. I want to also acknowledge the guests that are in the box.
And I also want to just to highlight how important the Latino community has played in this country.
When we take a look at Latino Americans who have served with honor and distinction in every major
U.S. conflict, from the Revolutionary War to more recent conflicts, defending America's shared values
and freedoms. We have participated and we have put blood into this country, whether it was the Civil War
where Latinos served on both sides, and thousands of soldiers from Cook County, including those from
Chicago answered the call to fight in the Union Army. And during World War I, where approximately 200,000
Latino Americans served nationwide, and Chicago's burgeoning Mexican and Puerto Rican communities
contributed to the share to the global conflict. Or during World War II, an estimated 400 to 500,000
Latino Americans served across all branches of the Armed Forces, including Private First Class
Manuel Perez, Manuel Perez, raised in Little Village, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for valor in the
Philippines. While in the Korean War, more than 100,000 Latino service members fought, exemplified by the
Puerto Rican 65th Infantry, nicknamed the Borinqueneers, who earned a congressional gold medal for the
Valiant Service. Vietnam War, 80,000 Hispanic Americans served, including Staff Sergeant Felix M. Conde Falcón, raised in Humboldt Park, awarded the Medal of Honor, Lance Corporal Emilio de la Garza, also awarded the Medal of Honor. And I say all this to say that
this is a community that has given blood, sweat and tears for this country. And we will continue to do that. And I want to thank my colleagues in this body for standing with us as we see that right now our community is under attack.
And I appreciate the solidarity and looking forward to continuing to work together to make sure that Chicago, Chicago is a welcoming city. So with that, happy Hispanic Heritage Month to everyone. And again, congratulations to the people in the box. Thank you.
Okay. Okay. Are there any other alders that wish to speak on behalf of this resolution? Otherwise, I will acknowledge Byron Sigcho Lopez for the final comments. The chair recognizes Alderman Lopez.
Good afternoon, members of the City Council. Good afternoon, Mr. President, members and all of those who are still here.
I rise in support of recognizing National Hispanic Heritage Month. But as I read the resolution, I'm seeing the culture that I've heard so eloquently talked about being whitewashed, even in the words written on this paper. To say we're Hispanic, to say you're Latino is one thing.
but we continue to see the language of our heritage manipulated and torn apart
to go from Latinx to Latinx.
God only knows what's coming up next year.
We know who we are.
We should be proud of who we are.
And as I get to delightfully say, the most senior Latino in this room,
stole or not, I know that our communities are, in fact, under attack,
particularly the Mexican undocumented community,
making up almost 50 percent of the collateral captures that we've seen under the Trump administration
as Homeland Security and ICE go after the more than 2,000 high-priority targets
from those migrant asylum seekers that the previous administration allowed to come into our country,
that Democratic and Republican governors allowed to come to our city,
that this administration and the one before decided to spend nearly $1 billion on.
It pains me, absolutely pains me, to see all of those on the southwest side in particular,
those Mexican communities where we have many who are here, undocumented,
getting swept up because so many in this room, including this administration,
challenged Donald Trump to go find them themselves.
We had the opportunity to not only be a welcoming city, but to say,
you know what, if you choose to do something illegal, if you choose to do something dangerous,
if you choose to do something that is contrary to our norms, our laws,
then we should have the ability to work with immigration to deal with you in a very different way.
We punted before Donald Trump took office.
We said, no, we're going to follow yet another failed Lightfoot policy
and say that we are going to make no exceptions.
None.
Mr. President, you, many people in this room,
doubled down and said we will never, never work with the Trump administration
to go after those individuals who break the law on criminal matters.
Many of you in this room said if you want them, you go in the communities and find them yourself.
You even said that yourself, Mr. President, time and time again.
The problem with that, ladies and gentlemen,
is that they know who they're going after.
And when they knock on the door for someone who they're looking for
and the wrong person answers,
that's the person that gets taken away.
You challenge them to go do that,
and yet you cry here and say we're under attack,
that we're going to stand in solidarity.
You should have thought about that eight months ago
when you had the opportunity to grant in the law
the transfer and custody of individuals from CPD to ICE
when someone chooses to start shooting at people,
sell drugs, human trafficking, or any of those other crimes.
Spare me the fake tears,
because you brought this on our communities yourself,
and you're a hypocrite,
and someone who's never had a deal with undocumented
because you come from an island where you're guaranteed citizenship.
So don't you dare talk to me about what my people have to go through.
Alderman, Alderman, direct your comments to me, sir, please.
Fine.
Then I want her censured for calling me a hypocrite in this room.
And I make that motion right now, Mr. Chairman,
because you allow her to say it.
You do not allow anyone to say anything.
Then I move that Alderman...
There's a motion on the floor to censure...
All those in favor of the censure of Alder Fuentes signifies saying aye.
There's a roll call.
All those opposed say...
Yes, here, roll call, please.
All right.
There's a motion.
It's been voted down to censure...
There was a...
Motion fails.
Please continue.
Well, I'm glad that at least you all are consistent, including yourself, Mr. President.
You're steamrolling individuals who you know nothing about, pretending to understand communities
from a point of privilege that other people do not have.
You want to stand here and make as though you're fighting for everyone when you're not, when
you've put a target on the backs of every undocumented Mexican in the city of Chicago, you did that.
Enjoy your fake heritage now.
Because what you've defended, what you continue to stand up for, has nothing to do with those
who are most impacted.
Those are the people I deal with.
I represent the ones who come to me when none of you answer the goddamn phone on how to keep
them safe.
Hold a minute, I would ask...
Mr. President, I'm going to say this.
Please do that.
You all, including yourself, have brought this on the people of the city of Chicago.
And as you sit here today and say, we're going to celebrate your heritage, you are the hypocrites.
You are the liars.
You are the ones who allow this to happen in your communities because you had the chance
to protect people and said no.
So how dare you to stand here today and act as though everything's okay, that you're somehow
fighting for our children, fighting for our futures, fighting for your people.
Mock me all you want.
But I guarantee you, those that know, know.
Those that feel it, agree with me and understand that all of you should be ashamed of yourselves.
Thank you, Alderman.
Are there any other Alders that wish to speak to this resolution?
All right.
See it?
Sure.
So no need to apologize.
So we're going to recognize in this order, the next three speakers will get Alder Ramirez,
will get Alder Gutierrez, and then the final speaker will be Alderman Siccio Lopez.
The chair recognizes Alderwoman Ramirez.
Thank you so much.
I didn't want to end on that note.
You know, I'm a proud Latina, but I'm also a proud leftina, as people like to call me on
the internet.
I really want to thank Alderman Siccio Lopez for bringing the young people.
Like, I wish they were still in the chambers.
It was so beautiful.
As many of you guys know, I'm expecting my first little one.
And it just makes me so proud to see, like, the way that, you know, somebody like Siccio
is celebrating.
Like, the young people, our tradition, where we come from, the love that we have.
And that's the type of heart that I want to show that a lot of us here in council have.
You know, I didn't want to speak because literally right now, there's a press conference in my
ward.
There were 20 vehicles full of federal agents.
And they picked up the tamale lady, the damn tamale lady on the corner of 47th and Western
who have kids in college.
I mean, we all know this story.
So I feel like, yeah, I'm standing here in privilege, but I want to go back in my ward
and I want to do the work.
And I want to support people that are sitting in here that really do give a damn.
And they show up every morning.
And I'm not kidding.
I mean, you guys know this rapid response chats, they're going off consistently.
Sometimes I don't look at my phone for five minutes and there's 100 messages.
And I just sit here and I keep thinking to myself, what else could we do?
And thank you, Mayor, for standing with us.
Thank you, Latino Caucus, for standing with me.
I want to also shout out Beatriz Ponce de Leon for everything that she's done.
It is not an easy position.
When a lot of people have left, you know, within the past two and a half years, she could have
left and she stayed.
And she called me this morning after that incident in my ward.
And my last comment is really about my honoree who had to leave because she is the lead responder
on our rapid response chat.
And she leads our safe passage in the 12th ward, in the 14th ward.
And she's so courageous.
And, you know, I hope that she does get a chance to see this.
So please give a round of applause to Joanna Cabrera, who is back in the ward and is actually doing the work.
So.
Thank you.
The chair recognizes all the Gutierrez.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
And as you all know, I was born and raised in Mexico.
And being able to now represent the 14th ward and being able to be part of this decision making
that would help our constituents shape their lives and be okay with their families in our
wards is really important.
And despite everything that is happening and despite the negative comments, we're standing
strong in this country because we migrated for a better life for our kids and for our own.
And many of us Latinos here are proving the administration wrong.
We are working hard.
We're providing for our families.
Many.
business owners, many talented people that don't even speak English,
but they work hard day in, day out to provide for their families.
It just hurts the comments also in social media about people don't understanding
that we have a broken immigration system.
It's not that easy just to become a legal permanent resident and to become a citizen.
I was blessed enough to come to this country as a permanent resident already.
But not all, and everybody is blessed like I was.
And I just want people to understand that we're stronger together.
Yes, there are bad actors, but not only bad actors of the Latinx community.
There's bad actors everywhere.
But we just need to stand strong.
And our people that is being kidnapped in the streets, people that don't have no record,
is proving the administration wrong, that this is just profiling people.
You all know a flower bender in my community got picked up, another person just walking
at the sidewalk, another one waiting on the bus just to complete their numbers, and that's
not fair.
So we're going to continue fighting for our people.
And when I did wanted to run for this position, and I made the oath, I did it to serve and protect
all of my constituents.
If they live in the 14th Ward, if they live in Chicago, they deserve the resources.
They deserve the services.
And I'm going to continue to do it.
Despite some of my constituents saying that I am helping them, I am doing what is just.
I am providing services for every single one.
If you live in the Ward, if you live in Chicago, you deserve any type of service within any level
of government.
And we need, I know you all do it, and let's continue doing it.
But it's just, it's a pride moment for us.
It's hard times.
But we need to let our communities know, and our kids that are watching know, that we're
stronger together.
That we need to stand proud of being Latino, of being an immigrant.
With that, I want to thank you all for the work that you're doing, and despite whatever
things happening out there, let's keep working, united, to get this city rolling, and have
our kids proud of the work that we're doing.
You know, I have three little ones, and it just hurts, as a mom, just to remember.
Take your time.
All right.
How some kids don't even want to go to school, because they're afraid of coming back, and not
being able to see their fans.
With that said, we need to continue to be proactive in those rapid response teams, because
sometimes it's not ICE out there in our communities.
It's CPD doing their job.
We thank them for what they're doing, our sheriff's office.
But we just need to stand united.
And in times like this, we need to stand proud of our roots.
And we need to continue fighting, because our kids deserve it.
And they don't need to be in fear of not being able to go to school, or go to their park,
or enjoy time with their families, because they don't know what's going to happen.
So happy Heritage Month.
Yes.
Because we still need to celebrate the accomplishments of many people that have suffered for us to
be able to be here today.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Our final speaker will be Alderman Sigcho Lopez.
The chair recognizes Alderman Sigcho Lopez.
Thank you, Mr. President.
And I do also like to rise in support on this important resolution.
I also have a special guest in the audience, and wanted to recognize everybody in the box for
your wonderful contributions to the city of Chicago, to the over 820,000 residents in
the city of Chicago who identified as Latinos, Latinas.
We are proud of our heritage.
We are proud of our identity.
We are proud of where we come from.
The story of immigrants in our country, in our city, is a story of courage, resiliency,
bravery, to leave everything behind, to come and start new, with a family, in a place where
often people don't know their language, don't know the system, but they find a way to not
only make it in a tough environment, but provide for their communities, for their city.
A traffic violation should never end in a death sentence.
Never.
There's no crime for those who are selling tamales, or those who are working in roofs.
Those are the people that are being detained and persecuted.
No child should be afraid of going to school, and be afraid that when they come back, they
may not fight their parents.
It is a hard time for our community, and that's what was more important to recognize, those
who make the difference, for our children, our most beautiful, precious thing that we
have.
The 150,000 children from CPS who identified as Latinos and Latinas have a very difficult
time.
They survive a pandemic.
They come back every day with courage and hope that we, here in these positions, do everything
we can to protect them, so they have also a future they can believe in.
So today, I have the honor and privilege to recognize a teacher in our community who's mine, who's
made a tremendous difference in our community as a music teacher.
Our teachers have been, our first line of defense, protecting our children to make sure that they come
to school.
They're part of first responders.
They have thought to keep our schools open, and that's one of our own.
So I have the honor, and I would like, and I know our students from Cooper had to leave
a little earlier.
They were a little hungry.
And oftentimes, in our schools, is when our kids receive the only meal, and yet, they were
here delighting our council members with a beautiful performance, because music, because
our history is something to be celebrated, in despite of the challenges, and especially
in a moment like this.
So I want to recognize, and I hope that you can just stand for a second to feel it, Ola Saba,
a good director, or the mariachi at Cooper, and also a collaborator at Juarez High School.
The many generations that have been mentored by Mr. Ola Saba for almost 15 years have seen
the courage of teachers who come and fight to keep our schools open, to fight that our schools
can come to school, to protect our parents and our community.
There are for people like Philip that our city is better off.
And I am proud, in a moment like this, of our city of Chicago.
Chicagoans have not let us down.
As an immigrant, as someone who's come to this city, as soon as I could, as I often says,
because we recognize righteousness, and we recognize a city that upholds their values and principles,
and recognize why we must protect every single resident, and every single child at home.
So today I want to recognize Mr. Ola Saba for their contributions on a daily basis.
This is someone who comes, and not only after schools, continue with after school program,
at night I've seen him going, and fighting so that we have funding, so that we can continue
teaching our kids, our heritage, our beautiful mariachi music.
And soon, I think that no one views music, and fusion of music, because of Mr. Ola Saba,
now he's finding grants, so that we can learn from other cultures, because we must be proud
of our identity, as every single child should be.
And as Latinos, Latinos, who have been in this continent for 10,000 years,
leaders, le duela quien le duela, we're not foreigners in this continent, we're simply
not.
We live a dystopian reality, but storms will pass, and leaders and communities and cities
like us will prevail.
So to Chicago, to the Chicagoans who identified as Latinas, Latinos, to our children that are
sitting and watching, we tell you, we will not let you down.
We will fight, and we will fight with music, and we will fight in our legislative bodies,
and we'll fight in courts, and in the streets, and wherever we have to.
because we're proud of where we come from.
And we celebrate our Latina,
Latino Heritage Month, proud of where we are
and proud of where we come from
and proud of where we go
because Chicago is the best
and the best city, the best freaking city
in the world.
Thank you so much.
And it's because of Latina, Latina.
Right on.
Right on.
Well, we may not agree on our sports teams,
but we do agree we are the best
freaking city in the world.
And that's because we have a very proud heritage
of Hispanic Latinos, Latinas in our great city.
Thank you, Irma Aragon,
Yacini Juarez, Ignacio Lopez,
of course, Mr. Philip Alazaba.
We met several, several years ago
when we were on the front lines as educators.
To our incredibly proud leader,
Deputy Chief Bones, Mr. Juan Pablo Preto,
Juan Gonzalez,
his body has done an amazing job
standing firm on our values.
And we should be proud.
And we are proud to recognize
National Hispanic Heritage Month
and celebrate the city's Hispanic community.
Chicago's nearly 820,000 deep residents
of the Latina community strengthen our city.
They are an important part of the soul of Chicago.
It's our schools, our hospitals,
the halls of government, community organizations,
local businesses.
It's the Hispanic residents that fuel our economy
and allows for our city to continue to run.
In celebrations, festivals, cultural enclaves,
Chicago's Hispanic communities share
in all of the great richness of our city,
from our food to music,
all of these traditions enrich our city.
So I do want to recognize
and thank the 15 members of this body,
including our city clerk,
city clerk Anna Valencia,
who represents the diverse range
of neighborhoods and communities across Chicago.
I also want to recognize
the members of my administration
that make up the fine force of government
that is leading the transformation
to build a safe and affordable city
to all of the Hispanic members of our administration.
And again,
during this National Hispanic Heritage Month,
let us reflect on the people
and communities of our city
who contribute to our greatness
and build our bright future.
And during this year,
National Hispanic Heritage Month,
as a city,
let us continue to honor all of the communities,
not just in words, but with action.
And while many in our nation
are threatened by diversity,
here in Chicago,
we uphold diversity
as one of the city's great strength.
Let's reaffirm our values.
Let's continue to make sure
that our immigrant community,
whether they are documented or not,
that we stand together
to protect the Constitution
of this country.
When we are talking about
the dignity of our humanity
and the rights of people,
if we fail to protect the Constitution,
then we fail our democracy.
And so knowing our rights,
making sure that we have executive orders,
litigation,
that we're organizing
in a peaceful way
to rightfully, peacefully assemble
based upon that constitutional authority.
Chicago truly is a beacon of hope
for many people.
And so we are grateful
that we are celebrating
in this city
the Hispanic community.
Congratulations.
Happy Hispanic Heritage Month.
Alderman Harris,
Morris, can I get a motion
for the passage of this resolution?
All right.
It's been moved for the passage
in the omnibus.
So hearing no objections,
so ordered.
As the box is clear,
we will prepare for our second
of three resolutions.
And the next resolution
is commemorating
the 10-year anniversary
of the Diet Hunger Strike.
So we'll give those members
a moment to get in the box.
And if there are any alders
that wish to speak
to this resolution,
if you can raise your hand,
give some notification to me now,
eventually.
All right.
So what I'll do
for the sake of time,
we'll move.
If we can just have order,
just quiet in the chambers.
Thank you.
So I want to acknowledge,
again,
these are the Hunger Strike
individuals.
Thank you,
Mr. G2 Brown.
Of course,
our dear alderwoman,
Jeanette Taylor,
Dr. Monique Radeau,
Irene Robinson,
Ms. Kathy Dell is here,
April Strangner,
Asif Wilson,
Anna Jones,
Dr. Aisha Wade-Bey,
Mr. Mark Kaplan,
Prudence Brown,
we have Reverend Robert Jones,
and Nelson Souza.
Are there any alders
that wish to speak
to this resolution?
If not,
we'll close
with recognition
of Alder Jeanette Taylor.
Thank you,
Mr. President.
August 10th of 2015,
which is Marcus Garvey's birthday,
12 people decided
that they would go
on the Hunger Strike
to save its last
open enrollment high school.
We know that the city
of Chicago
and Chicago Public School
makes the bad habit
of mistreating Black folks
in their own community.
And so you closing
the last open enrollment school
while opening up
charter schools
and contract schools
during a time
where you say
you ain't got it.
You just don't have it
for Black children.
And so these 12 folks
decided that they were
going to go on
a 34-day hunger strike
to save a high school.
And think about this.
That was 10 years ago.
Think about this.
In 2025,
Diet High School
was the Illinois
State Champions
in the state
of Illinois.
See what happens
when Black parents
get together
and don't count out
their children.
And so these brave souls
who have stayed today
along with the other
alternatives
who went on
this hunger strike,
it's been 10 years.
We actually came down
to city council
during that time.
And it's funny,
Walter Burnett
was in the apartment
at that time.
I ain't gonna watch it.
I'm gonna say
what I said to him
at that time.
Right.
And we ain't talking
about red.
We talking about Walter.
Walter Burnett
was walking in the building
and I'm like,
hey,
we on the hunger strike
and he was like,
I'm sorry,
it ain't my word.
I'm like,
Walter Burnett,
you know what?
Right now,
everybody look like
hot dogs and hamburgers.
Y'all know in the cartoon
where you hungry,
everybody start walking around
looking like food.
I'm like,
I ought to put you
in the trunk of the car,
but I'm not gonna do it
because I don't want
to go to jail.
And so that's always a joke
that me and him
have between each other.
But it was a sad time
that we were on
that hunger strike
for the first 10 days
and we got no media coverage.
Nobody said anything
and people were okay with it
even to the point
people start to fall out.
And so let's show you
how disrespectful
Chicago Public School is.
I passed out
on that 10th day
and their answer
was to roll me out
so the cameras
didn't see me passed out
from not eating.
Do it look like I don't eat?
Right now,
I got snacks in my bag
and my coworker,
Ronnie Mosley,
love me so much
he bring me snacks every day.
But what I want to say is
stop discounting
young people in our community.
Stop targeting them.
Make sure
these schools are supported.
And so I want to say
to April,
Reverend Jones,
Kathy,
Kathy's grandbaby
is running around
because he had it.
Miss Irene was here
and also Mayor Johnson
who was an alternative
because after the 30th day
a lot of us
could no longer
stay on the hunger strike.
And so I want to thank you all
for taking the charge
and making sure
young people in our community
knew that people
actually stand up.
There's always a lot of talk
and this is something
that Jason Irvin
says all the time.
Everybody want to go heaven
but nobody want to die.
I was going to die
and I was okay with it too.
See,
we'll talk that
but we actually won't do it.
And so I want to say
to those young people,
we haven't forgotten about you.
We're still fighting for you.
Diet is an amazing art school.
That's not what
the community asks for
but sometimes
it's called compromise.
And so to those people
in the box,
to you Mayor Johnson
from the Washington Park community,
from the Bronzeville community,
from the diet community,
we say thank you.
Thank you.
Okay.
I know we said
that you were going to close
but someone did ask to speak.
All right.
All right.
So the chair will recognize
Alder Hatton
if that's okay with you.
All right.
Very well.
The chair recognizes
Alder Hatton
on behalf of the graciousness
of Alderwoman Taylor.
Thank you, Chair.
And thank you,
Alderwoman Taylor.
I stepped out
for a little coffee sip
so I'm sorry.
I want to recognize
our guests that are in the box
and celebrate
your example of a fight. I've got this photo. Jeanette knows what photo I'm talking about.
So, Hunger Strike is when I first met Jeanette. My wife Natalia and I, we would go down and we
would bring this like butter tea for the hunger strikers to support them in getting some calories
and do some of the marching with the community and putting your bodies on the line for your
community. What a gift, but also what a demonstration for the young people. Too often, we have people in
our community who feel like no one cares, that government doesn't care. Alderwoman Taylor,
your story that you shared about the interaction that you had when you guys were dealing with City
Hall, that's all too common. And to be honest, that's why a lot of us are here, right? 2015,
2019 class, certainly the 2023 class, we're here because a lot of us, I've sat on the fifth floor
in protest multiple times. And we felt like people didn't hear us. And particularly in the context of
all that we still need to fight for, I just want to thank you for your example. This is what we need
to do. Sometimes we have to put our bodies on the line and our youth and our city needs to know that
we mean it and that we're worth it. We might fight in different ways in government, but we still need
community to show that fight. Because threats to our youth, threats to our schools, threats to our city,
threats to our democracy, we're not supposed to just capitulate to a bully. Somebody's taking something
from us. If somebody is threatening us, you don't say, oh, hey, yes, sir, you know what, let me just sign
over. Let me just sign over my rights. Let me comply just because, you know, let me accept that
you're just closing this school and our community because that's just the way it's got to be. When
people take from us, when they ignore our communities, we fight. So this is what we're doing here in Chicago
still. That's why I appreciate the leadership of my colleague, Alderwoman Taylor. She's always been
a fighter. She's always going to be a fighter and helps to be, I think, a good moral check as well.
Sometimes I just walk into a room and I'm like, Jeanette, what are you doing? Okay. Well, I'm doing
what Jeanette's doing. So just, you know, thank you. Thank you for still being here. Thank you for
continuing the fight. Thank you for showing us how to fight. And thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you. Thank you. All right. Very well. See you in no other hands. You know, 10 years ago,
the Diet High School was slated to be closed because it was deemed unworthy to be saved.
And the parents and the community and organizers stood up and fought. Fought for their school. They
fought for their children. But they fought for this city. For 34 days, there were 12 brave individuals
that took part in this hunger strike. And many of them were part of the Kenwood Oakland Community
Organization, which their first executive director, the Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., supported them
through the protests as they fought for justice and better investments in all of our schools.
You know, Alderwoman, you're right. I did take part in those last 10 days of the hunger strike. But
I did it because I was inspired by so many people who made it possible for us to even have
the ability to fight for our schools. So today we do celebrate Diet High School and we remember this
moment. But let's just be absolutely clear. This was an attack by the government against the existence
of black people in this city, where there was an intentional effort to depopulate this city of
black people. And they used our schools as means and justification to move such a racist policy.
And so this city is familiar with that type of tyranny. Thank God for the power of blackness.
Because the fight wasn't just about the 14 million dollars to go into Diet High School.
It wasn't just about the resources for the school. It was about making sure that we would have a clear
vision for sustainable community schools, of which now, because of this fight, there are 36
sustainable community schools because of those black folks in that box right there.
So you are an inspiration to all of us. We have seen these battles before as we fight for justice
and equity. And as Habibi Du Bois said at public education, at the expense of the state, after all,
is a Negro idea. So Alderman Taylor, to the Diet Hunger Strikers, thank you for embodying the Negro idea.
Thank you. Thank you. All right. We have one more resolution, you all. So just hang in there.
Hang in there. Oh, yes. Thank you. My apologies. Alderman Harris, on the motion for the passage of this
resolution of the omnibus.
Move the pass in the omnibus.
Hearing no objections, so order. And now for our final resolution today, we will be acknowledging
Mr. Jeff Levine. Very well. The chair recognizes Alderman Beal.
Thank you, Mr. President. I tried to get you up early, Jeff, because I know it's been a long day.
And I'm sure you appreciate all the accolades that my colleagues are going to share with you today.
But it gives me great pleasure to rise to support this resolution.
Jeff, we have battled over the years. But I'm going to tell you, they've been good battles.
And they have not been personal battles. They've been battles on behalf of moving this city forward.
I will tell you all, me and Jeff talked all the time and went back and forth about the rules,
about whatever, you know, fight that we had. But I will tell you all, without question,
whatever fight we had, we would always go over to the corner and laugh about the fight we just had.
Because we didn't take it personal.
That's the one thing I appreciate about Jeff. Jeff, you are nothing short of amazing.
And I'm glad that you are getting your flowers while you are here.
I've known you 27 years.
And you have been the same person for 27 years.
You have led with integrity.
You love this city and can't nobody take that away from you.
You are a great public servant and you have done a hell of a job on behalf of this city of Chicago.
I think everybody needs to give him a round of applause.
Now, Jeff, I'm going to tell you.
You know, I'm not going to miss you.
Because you are a master at getting around the rules.
And I mean that in a good way.
And I'm going to tell you, I have nothing but love for Jeff, y'all.
So whatever I say, don't take it personal because Jeff has been, he's got the rules.
Look, he's still walking around with the rules in his pocket.
Every suit he has in his closet probably has a rule book in it.
So that way, he'd grab his jacket and he'd never leave the house without the rules.
But you are a student of those rules.
You can teach those rules.
You knew how to get around those rules.
And that's what I respected about you.
So, Jeff, on behalf of my career and everything that I've.
here in the city of Chicago, I just want to thank you personally
for being you, for being that person
even killed every single day.
And another thing I'm going to tell you all about Jeff. I didn't think Jeff was leaving
because every time I talked to Jeff, I said, how long are you going to be here? Not that I was
trying to push him out the door, but I said, Jeff, how long are you
going to be here? He said, Alderman, I don't know. He said, I'll probably
have another two or three years in me before I left.
And so when you told us that you were leaving,
I called you right before you called me
to let you know what a wonderful job that you have done, and I
appreciated you from the bottom of my heart. So you will be missed,
but I guarantee you your family is going to appreciate you
that much more because they will get to see you that much more.
But one thing I know about you, you're not going to stay
down long. You're going to find a way to get busy
because that's your nature.
So once again, Jeff, I appreciate you, man.
I'm going to miss you. Job well done.
And thank you so much on behalf of the city of Chicago.
Thank you, Jeff.
The chair recognizes Alderman David Moore.
Thank you so much, Mr. President. I hung around here just for you, Jeff.
I got to go see and greet Leo as they come back to Chicago for the job they did,
well, the good job that they did at America's Got Talent.
But guess what? You got talent, too.
And I echo the things that Alderman Bill said, but what I can say about you
and that I've looked at is your ability to really care about the city.
And you remove yourself from a lot of the equations to make sure that you stay
committed to the person that the people elected to head this city,
whether it was Mayor Daley, Mayor Rami Emanuel, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, or Mayor Johnson,
all those different personalities that take a gift and a person that truly care
about this city to stay here that long.
Other people just give up, walk away, but you did it.
And I'm telling you, brother, you did it with class.
And so I just enjoyed working with you.
One thing I appreciate about you, anytime I called, you answered.
You tried to answer the question as fairly as possible,
but always provided information that was helpful so we can move along.
But also, just stop in the hall anytime.
Is there anything you need, Alderman?
Is there anything I can help you with?
All that goes a long way, and I'm truly going to miss you.
You thought I was just joking out there.
I was meaning that as your, is that your grandson?
Your nephew, you saw this crazy man marching, hell, no, you can't go.
I meant that.
But here's something that Reverend Evers used to say.
It's the best thing is good to leave while people still want you,
rather than people pushing you out the door.
And so you're leaving on your own terms while people still want you to stay.
Thank you so much for your service.
And thank your family for lending him to us for the late nights, everything.
And I know you guys had the sacrifice.
And like I told him, I know he had such a good eye, but I see.
And he got a beautiful wife.
And thank you so much for the time that you had the sacrifice for him to help move this city forward.
Thank you so much, Jeff.
Thank you, Alderman.
And the chair recognizes, older woman, Michelle Harris.
Jeff, it's no secret that me and you have a love affair.
You did that with this city hall.
And that when I became pro-tem, I was so nervous about getting up there.
But you made it easy for me.
You laid it out for me.
You protected me from myself and kept me from falling in all the potholes that I could fall into.
And what a wonderful teacher you have been.
And so for the last 16 years of this career, you have guided me and led me and kept me on the path to better understand city government.
And I have to say a big part about why I understand city government is because of you.
So today I stand here as a pupil who's been taught.
And it's kind of emotional for me, who's been taught by somebody who really loved what they did.
And you passed all that down without asking me for anything in return.
So today, as Alderman Bill said, I want to give you your flowers while you're here to tell you how much all of that meant to me and how you have been such a tremendous effect on who I became over this vast time here in the city hall building.
And it was only because you poured into me and without asking me for anything in return.
Again, I thank you.
God bless you and your family.
I want you to really enjoy some things that you like to do.
And more than that, I'm going to miss seeing you ride your bike down here and come in and then go put on your suit.
So I appreciate you, Jeff, in ways that you'll never know.
And I thank you for everything that you've ever done, not just for me, but for the city of Chicago.
Thank you.
Thank you.
The chair recognizes Alderman Irvin.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Jeff, it was the.
I think the third person.
That I met.
Like some of us, you.
I was appointed.
And when you get appointed, you sit down with the mayor, who was a daily at the time.
Next, you talk to Ken Mayer, who reads you the riot act.
And then you talk to Jeff Levine, who kind of calms you down.
The one thing that Alderman Bill did not mention is that Jeff actually wrote all the rules.
So he knows the ins and the outs of them to be able to guide us through these challenges.
And quite frankly, I actually missed you this morning.
But again, I think you've always tried to keep things on the level, always tried to say both sides of what was going on.
Even when we challenged you on the rules, challenged you on parliamentary procedure, you always found a way to thread the needle so that everybody could come out in a winning way in many cases.
So I really thank you for your counsel.
Thank you for your service, the ordinances that you help us craft and tell us the nuances.
You may not want to do this.
You may want to look at it this way.
We've always given good counsel to all of us here in this body.
I know specifically that I appreciated all the work that you've done for us and for me throughout my tenure here in the council.
So you will definitely be missed.
You have, as they say, huge shoes to fill.
But I know you've reached a point in life where you want to, you know, smell the roses.
And you're entitled to do that, to spend time with your family, to ride your bike to wherever it is you choose to go to.
But again, I just wanted to thank you for everything that you've done to help make this body stronger, help to make this city run better, and make us who we are today.
So thank you, and may God bless you.
Thank you.
The chair recognizes Alderman Nugent.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I, too, rise in support of this resolution honoring my friend Jeff.
Jeff's career stands as a model of what justice looks like when it's not just used with knowledge of the law, but by using kindness and fairness in an uncompromising commitment to what is right.
And contrary to what Alderman Beal said, Jeff never, never bent the law for convenience.
You never used it as a weapon.
You applied it with integrity, and you always did it with respect for the people whose lives were touched by its outcomes.
And I always, I always really felt that about how you, how you conducted yourself throughout the council and up on the dais and helping me as pro tem.
And I heard a quote the other day that made me think of you, and it's attributed to Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
And she said, the law is not abstract.
It is about people.
It is about justice.
It is about compassion.
And I think you're all those things.
And I also think you're pretty funny, too.
And I loved working with you.
So congratulations and best of luck on your retirement.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you.
The chair recognizes Alderman Marty Quinn.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Jeff, you're a true professional with a flawless reputation.
I'm grateful for the work that we've done together.
Congratulations.
Job well done.
Thank you, Alderman.
The chair recognizes Alderman Bennett Lawson.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I rise as a long-term former staffer to thank Jeff Levine for being nice to all of the staff, not just the alderman that he encountered.
You were right.
If you didn't answer, you called back within a few minutes and had a good answer for me and answered all of the multiple questions that came after that.
All right.
Okay.
I envy your patience as someone who dragged you into the side room while we were negotiating the Wrigley Field plan development, the Cubs night game deal.
Cannabis was a late night in zoning committee.
But all the times that you stayed put and you stayed calm, you stayed level-headed to keep us on the right track.
I just want to thank you for that.
And so a well-deserved retirement.
You probably could have done a million other things, and you chose to spend your career with the city, and we admire you for that.
So thank you, Jeff.
Thank you, Alderman.
The chair recognizes Alderman O'Shea.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I, too, rise in support of this well-earned resolution.
When I think of you, Jeff, I think of the word kind.
You were always such a kind man at times, and we were debating things, and more often than not, you were wrong.
I was right, but you were always kind when you pointed out that at the end you would win.
No, but seriously, how wonderful is it that your family's here to hear how much this body, this room, thinks of what a wonderful person he's been.
And everything you did, your patience, your willingness to sit down and try to find middle ground, even at times when you disagreed with someone, like my colleague Alderman Beal.
So I just wanted to say thank you for your service, and I'll miss your friendship here.
God bless you and your family.
Thank you, Alderman.
The chair recognizes Alderman Matt Martin.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I think, as a lot of people hinted at, we could spend days singing your praises, Jeff.
I think in ways both big and small, most people who are stuck with us through today's crazy meeting will never fully appreciate all of the ways in which you've given so much to the city.
As a former attorney myself, I have a lot of appreciation and respect for what you bring to the table, but also recognize that you could have done so many other things and earned so much more money, but as Alderman O'Shea said, you understood the value of your work and the fact that the city really needed it.
The word that I go back to when I think about what you've contributed to our body and to my office is a counselor, like that consummate counselor who I have that two questions in my head that you oftentimes would ask me when you're like, okay, okay, young buck, like, let's slow down.
One is, what do you want to do?
Because you might come in thinking that you want to do X, Y, and Z, and you're really hot on that.
What do you want to accomplish?
And then have you thought about X, Y, and Z?
A very subtle but still direct way of saying, maybe it's not this way, but maybe it's this other way.
And so that counselor of being someone who could, at the end of the day, help us solve problems when we were struggling to solve them ourselves is something that we've already seen we're struggling with a little bit.
But we're going to have to figure a way out, and our collective loss is obviously your benefit and your family's benefit.
So I wanted you to know, as well as everybody in this box, just how much you've meant to me, to this body, and to our entire city, and that we're going to miss you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
The chair recognizes Alderwoman Nicole Lee.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I, too, rise in support of this resolution.
Jeff, I'm so glad that you weren't able to just sneak off quietly and that you're here, as my colleagues have said, to get your flowers.
I have not been here nearly as long as many of my colleagues, but your reputation precedes itself.
Obviously, you got to work with my father as well.
But as I'm sitting here listening to the things that people are saying about you, I couldn't agree with them more.
When I think of you, I think that gentleman is the term that comes to mind for me.
I was an appointee as well, and as Chairman Irvin said, you did bring the calm.
You gave great direction.
You know, it was such a whirlwind coming into this council, and you were – everything slowed down when we were with you.
And that was great.
It gave me a lot of comfort.
And also, you were very encouraging to me when it came to the first time I got up to this microphone to offer remarks to anything.
So I thank you for that gift and always encouraging me to take on new things and giving me great feedback and always answering questions when I needed them to be answered.
As everybody has said, you were always a consummate professional, and I don't know that people really realize the full measure of your contributions to this city and all of the things that you have little fingerprints on.
So on behalf of the people of the 11th Ward, my family, thank you for your service.
Thank you.
The chair recognizes Audiman Lopez.
Good afternoon, Mr. President and members of the City Council.
I, too, rise in support of this resolution, although after several attempts to try to divide the question, defer and publish, I couldn't find anyone to join me in seconding any of those motions.
So you're in luck.
You get to continue on your retirement.
I think all of us have our own special Jeff Levine stories.
I remember almost 10 years ago, Jeff yelling at me for coming into a committee meeting wearing a T-shirt.
We only had two members in the room, but we had to get the job done that day, and I was allowed to wear a T-shirt outside of decorum.
It's actually very funny, but it's symbolic of what our relationship has really been, especially after the last six years.
I will say that Jeff and our parliamentary battles here has made me a much better alderman, much to the chagrin of many of you in this room,
especially when I try to have budget amendments read out loud at 6 in the evening and no one wants to listen.
I get to walk around with a binder, which I probably should give to you as a parting gift, because it was how we were able to go back and forth month after month, week after week.
And sorry, Redato, I am keeping it, so you have to deal with me now.
But it's amazing and a testament to your dedication to this democratic process, Jeff, when you think that we have 58 rules that govern us that you had to know by the back of your hand.
Along with the 86 other Roberts rules of order that exist out there that you've never allowed us to use, such as parliamentary inquiries, objections to the question, which I actually like and may use later, expunging minutes and continuing the breach of order.
A lot of things for a lot of room to grow, but sadly, they are not going to be your problem anymore.
I want to thank your family for allowing us all these years.
I was just barely a junior in high school when your adventure started, but I'm glad that, nonetheless, being able to have the friendly banter, the friendly competition,
and at the end of the day, the lost art of disagreeing yet still never becoming disagreeable with each other is something that I think I will miss most
and hope that we can continue here in this body, even if it's just you and I.
So thank you.
Godspeed to you.
Watch out for Daniel Espada and the bike lanes, and have a great rest of your vacation.
Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman.
The chair recognizes Alder Haddon.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Jeff, congratulations.
I know I got to see it personally earlier.
Thank you, family, who is here and supporting him in the box.
The only thing that I would add, right, and also not having a very long length of time to serve with you,
is our last resolution around the anniversary of the Diet Hunger Strike.
I mentioned thanking people for showing us how to fight, and I want to thank you as well for showing us how to fight,
because while democracy is girded by protest and action and demonstration and community voice,
it is also protected by rules and order and our compliance to them.
We sit in this body, and the only thing that gives us power is that we all agree to follow the rules.
So I want to thank you for being a champion of democracy for the city of Chicago.
Even when we were unhappy with the decisions that you rendered, you and the work that you have done holds this body together
and supports the foundation of everything that we are able to do for the people of Chicago.
So thank you.
Thank you, Alderman.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I also stand in support of this resolution, and Jeff just wanted to thank you for your service to the city.
And like a lot of folks here, you taught me a lot about this process, too.
I learned a lot more from you when I was on the administration's team as vice mayor or president.
pro tem. But I've learned just as much not necessarily being on the administration's team
by being on the other side of your parliamentary maneuvers and tactics. And no one is better at
that than you. But as others have said, even though we've disagreed, it's always been
in an agreeable way. And I've always admired your professionalism not to take what can sometimes
get to be, you know, heated legislative battle as personal. It never has been, at least between me
and you, I don't think. And it's a nice reminder that, you know, this is, we're doing the work of
the people here. It's not meant to be personal. And I think that from time to time, you've been
able to give us that gentle reminder when it's needed. So, you know, despite our sometimes
adversarial relationship over the years, I really do appreciate all that you've done for the city.
I think the city is a better place for it. And we'll miss you here. I know I will.
And hopefully we'll see you around the building, but not advising any more administrations.
But thank you, Jeff, for all you've done. And thank you to your family. Congratulations. And
good luck in your retirement.
Thank you. The chair recognizes Alderman Napolitano.
Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. Levine, I rise in support of this resolution.
Congratulations to you and your retirement. Every question that we've ever had, any insight
that we needed, you could tell that you had a love for the law and you had a love for
the rules. And you did it with kindness in your heart. I have to tell you, though, I've
always, in my short 10 years here, I've had a little inside nickname for you. It was the
Grim Reaper. And I had to tell you, and I mean that lovingly, sir, because you've just
been awesome. But, you know, on this floor, when we think we got it up here, the parliamentary
side of it, that we crossed our T's and dotted our I's and we've got it nailed and we got
it. You would metamorphosize out of nowhere. And I knew I'm up. There's the Reaper. We're
done. And sure enough, we were done. But the professional side that you brought to it,
and as many of my colleagues said, it was never personal. And the conversations that we'd
have afterwards and on how it works and where we went wrong or what we can do better, you
always took the time to explain it to us. And that means a lot to all of us. You are an
incredible asset to the city of Chicago. You're going to be missed. And I love my
conversations that I've had with you. I think I've always started with, this is going to
be a very stupid conversation or question. And you've always said there's no, I'm going
to add this part to it. You always said there's no stupid questions, but I know what you meant
was there's only stupid people when you were talking to me. But I appreciate it, sir, and
enjoy your retirement. Thank you, Mr. President.
You're welcome. Thank you. The chair recognizes Alderman Scott.
Jeff, thank you. Thank you for your service for the city. I don't know what you're going to
do next. I know you're going to be bored, but I just wanted to say thank you. And thank
you for being here for me when I needed you. Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman Scott. The chair recognizes Alderman Wagesbeck.
Thank you, Mr. President. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to extend my best wishes to Jeff Levine
and his family as well. Thank you for all your years of service to this institution through
many mayors, many councils, and certainly many aldermen. And I have seen you work through
those different administrations, always being the consummate lawyer, showing empathy, showing
patience, showing timeliness and attention to detail that this institution needs to survive.
And without that timeliness, without that attention to detail, this place falls apart. And it falls
apart very quickly. So I hope that what you, when you look back at what you did over many
decades, that you can hold in your heart and say that you serve the people of Chicago as best
you could, because a lot of us know that you did. And we appreciate that. When I was finance
chair, and I think Alderman Dow can speak to this, it was always a pleasure to have you working
closely with us to make sure that everything we were doing was tight knit, and that as we moved
forward and rolled out those reports or talked through the settlements and all those things that
happened behind closed doors, that we serve the people in the right way and made sure that things
happened. But it only did because of what you did. So I know my staff, my former staff had texted me
today and said, hey, please make sure to extend our gratitude to all the work that you did in the
four years that we were in finance, especially through COVID. And I think a lot of people don't
realize how much extra effort you put in during that COVID period to make sure that this institution
continued on, and again, did not fall apart, as we saw others do. So I think with, with all the
appreciation, you are even keeled, as Alderman Beal said, but to me, you were always a whole lawyer.
You had the whole package. And I have seen lawyers and big corporate firms fall apart under less
pressure. And you did not buckle over all these years. So I want to thank you. And thank you for all
the time that you stayed away from your family to do the things on the weekends throughout the evenings
over the last many years. And I hope to see you out there on the bike trails riding away. Thank you.
Thank you.
The chair recognizes Alder Quesada.
Thank you, Mr. President. I rise to congratulate Mr. Levine on his retirement and also for his many
years of service. I truly regret not having had more time to draw from your wisdom and experience,
Mr. Levine. You are a well of knowledge, a wealth of knowledge. And as my colleagues have said,
institutions like these do not function without dedicated public servants like yourself. So I rise
in full solidarity with all my colleagues here and thanking you for your many years of leadership.
And of course, I'm grateful for the time and attention that you gave me during my onboarding
process as a freshman to this body. I'm not a freshman legislator, but I'm a freshman alderman.
And I'm very grateful, again, for the time that you took with Emily to help me teach,
to help teach some of the ropes. And I will be calling on you if I have some more complicated
questions. But I promise I want to make sure you have time to be with your family, to enjoy
all life that you deserve. And again, you are a kind soul and a dedicated public servant.
You are a true model for what Chicagoans need in this moment. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Alderman. Thank you. The chair recognizes Alderman Hall.
Mr. President, I rise in full support of this resolution and to thank who I call affectionately
Uncle Jeff. You have answered the phone for some of the craziest ideas that I've had to try to figure
out revenue for this city. And you've never left me defeated. You left me with a list of contacts to call
and a bunch of things to read. And so thank you for deepening my wisdom and understanding of not
only my role as chair of revenue, but as a citizen of Chicago, but moreover, how to be a better man.
So thank you for your empathy and compassion and your insight. And thank you for answering the call,
even in retirement, to answer more questions. So thank you for being that guy to me. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, Alderman. The chair recognizes Alderman Mitz.
Thank you, Jeff. When I learned that you were getting ready to retire, I didn't know how to take that.
I was like in shock because ever since I've been in the council, 26 years, you say you've been at 30.
I'm like, wow. So I guess it's time for everything to come to an end.
But you certainly left a mark on this city, one that I see that we can't replace.
Your shoes was too large to fill right now.
You've helped us through many ups and downs, and we're grateful for the work that you put in with your heart and soul into it
to make sure the city was running as best that you could offer to us to carry out.
You served under four mayors here in the city of Chicago, and that has got to be a bit of history.
And to be able to retire behind those years, I know that your love will always be here for the city,
just as our love will be for you having been here with this city and to help us get here.
So, yeah, you should retire. Enjoy the family.
We don't know what the end will be for us, but one thing we do know,
they didn't create retirement for us not to take advantage of it at some point in time.
So thank you so much. Enjoy your family, and God bless all of you.
Thank you, Alderman. Thank you.
The chair recognizes Alderman Sposado.
Thank you, Mr. President. I, too, support this resolution. Thank you. Thank you.
Jeff, what can I say? I mean, everything's been said.
It's a pleasure working with you. You're always kind. You're patient. You're always available.
Thank you.
And I'm sure, like most of Mike, I'm sure I'm not the only guy that would call you at nighttime.
I haven't called you since you've been retired.
Like my colleague, Alderman O'Shea, I just love when I was right and you were wrong also.
So that would be a highlight of my day.
But, you know, it's just, you know, kind of the way things went down.
I'll never forget.
You called me and said, Nick, I just want to let you know I'm retired.
I said, oh, okay, good for you.
When are you leaving?
Tomorrow.
It was that abrupt.
So it was kind of sudden.
The sad thing was we never got to have a little last day party for you or anything like that.
But you would certainly be missed.
And when I first came here 14 plus years ago, you were nothing but a parliamentarian to me.
But you avowed into a true friend.
So I wish you and your family the best.
And happy retirement.
I'm not so sure you're going to be retired.
But hopefully you'll find some good, fun job, stress-free, and best wishes to you.
God bless you and your family.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Alderman.
Thank you.
The chair recognizes Alderman Hoppenworth.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I, too, stand in support of your retirement, Jeff.
In 2023, a couple months after I was sworn in as a freshman.
I don't know if you remember, but we were in Grant Park getting ready to do Bike the Drive.
And you tried to have small talk, conversation with me.
And I just kept staring at you because I wasn't certain that it was you.
I, when I think of you, I think of you living here, that you were always going to be here.
But that's really not the case now.
You know, you are going to be retired and you're going to be a part of Chicago.
You have been for so long.
And I hope that every day now you're going to be able to enjoy the city of Chicago, the city that you have been serving and you've protected for so long through the rule of laws.
As, as Alder Haddon has said, it's really the foundation of our democracy and what we do here.
So I want to thank you for your service and thank your family for coming here to support and to hear all the great things about Jeff that we have loved about you for so long here in these chambers.
Congratulations.
And please, whenever you're in Edgewater in the 48th Ward, please come by and say hello.
Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman.
The chair recognizes Alderman Gardner.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I will be brief, Jeff.
I just, on behalf of the 45th Ward, on behalf of my family, Samantha and I, we want to thank you for your 30 years of dedication.
I know Samantha, more often than not, was on your side of these arguments and I was on the opposing side.
But regardless of what we disagreed on, you were always a professional and I appreciate that.
And I wish you and your family the very best in many years to come.
So God bless you.
Thank you, Alderman.
The chair recognizes Alderman Brian Hopkins.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I move to reconsider Jeff's decision to retire.
All those who wish him to stay, please say aye.
Aye.
Well, there you go, Jeff.
You're not going to find a more clear endorsement of your value to this body and the manner in which you've performed your duties here.
You are universally acclaimed and respected, as you've just heard.
We're sorry to see you go.
But we know it's the right decision for you at this point in your career.
So all we can do now is tell you how much you will be missed, that you've set the bar very high for your eventual successor.
And we wish nothing but the best to you, good health, and blessings to you and your family.
Thank you, Jeff.
Thank you, Alderman.
The chair recognizes Alderman Laspata.
Thank you so much.
Jeff, I will genuinely miss you for your kindness, the calm that you bring to the whirlwind that is the space.
But I think, I'm not sure if someone has mentioned this yet, your genuine love of the law and the work that you did to pass that love of the law on to others.
The work that you do to bring interns into this space, to create spaces for us to talk about our work with them.
There's a lot of people who do the work.
There's a lot of folks who lead, but the work that you did to mentor others, to bring them into this space, is meaningful to me and encouraging to me.
And I was always grateful for the invitations that you extended for us to share our experience with the law department interns.
Thank you for that.
Thank you for everything that you brought to this body and to the city.
And I will genuinely miss having you in this space.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you, Mr. President.
You are welcome.
I do not have any other names on my list.
Now we do.
The chair recognizes, Alderman Mosley.
Thank you so much, Mr. President.
I rise to say, Jeff, you know, the gift of knowledge is the highest gift that you can ever share with anyone.
And we are really thankful that you have shared that gift with us.
I'll miss our days of kicking back, kicking our feet.
But truly hope that you get to keep your feet up during your next journey.
So thank you so much for your time, talent, and sharing with us that greatest gift of all.
Thank you, Alderman.
I'm sorry.
The chair recognizes my apologies.
The chair recognizes Alderman Dowell.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I, too, rise to be associated with this resolution.
Jeff, when I came in this morning, I told you I wasn't going to say anything.
I wanted to thank you privately, but I do want to thank you publicly and say that your counsel, as I was ascending to the chair of the Human Relations Committee, when I really was unsure about the rules, the ordinances, and how to handle that seat, your support was essential.
And your clear language, you know, most lawyers, they talk in gobbledygook, and it's real hard to follow concepts and things.
But I think that as a lawyer, you have clear language, and I always appreciated that.
I also want to tell you my nickname for you.
I've never told you this was Grumpy from the Seven Dwarfs.
But I have learned since then that you are really happy of the Seven Dwarfs.
And as Alderman Nugent said, you have a wicked sense of humor that not many people get a chance to see, because you don't show it very often.
But it is appreciated, especially in a space like this, where it can be tense and unforgiving.
So I wish you the best in your retirement.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
All right.
So that's everyone, unless anyone else.
All right.
Very good.
So thank you to Mr. Levine.
His wife is here, Pam Levine.
His son, Joey, is with us, Levine.
He has his brother and sister-in-law, Dan and Nancy Levine.
And then we met his grandson, I'm sorry, nephew, earlier, which is Danny Levine.
So four administrations over 30 years.
One of the best legal scholars that the city has experienced.
You've guided ordinances by drafting them, working in budgeting and ethics.
And, of course, everyone has already spoken to your parliamentary prowess.
I do want to personally thank you.
I'm incredibly grateful for your time during my administration, as you have guided and you
have supported me as we build the safest, most affordable big city in America.
We've enjoyed our bike rides, the couple that we've had together.
And I'm looking forward to you getting a chance to do that as often as you wish.
So on behalf of the city of Chicago, this next chapter of your life, we pray and hope that
you'll get a chance to travel and to explore all of the wonderful things, of course, that
this city and this country, this world has to offer.
So here's to Mr. Jeff Levine.
Chairwoman Harris, leave.
Major President, leave to allow Jeff to have the mic.
Of course, leave is granted.
Mr. Levine, the floor is yours.
All right, you have three minutes.
Yeah, I think you guys are going to regret this.
And I want to thank Chair Dell for at least not characterizing me as dopey.
And given that it's dinnertime, I'm going to keep it short.
I, it has been such a privilege to be a.
part of this room and and this building. I have often thought about the distinction between work
and home. And for me, that distinction has become very blurred here. I. I feel like you all are
family. I really I really do. And I know that families can have good times and families can
have dysfunction. And this family is no different. But it has always been much more than just the job.
I also have been given rare insight into just what a crushingly hard job it is to be an alder.
And how for the guy up there at the dais, it's maybe 50 times that hard. And so I just have such
respect and admiration for how each of you just gets up every morning and gets back into it and
gives it your all. And it has just been my honor and my privilege to be a part of of this.
Um, this era. Thank you. Thank you. Alderman Mitchell. On a motion for the passage of this
resolution. No. Mr. President, I move passage in the honor of this hearing no objections. So order
you would be leaving during the longest city council meeting in the history of Chicago.
Well done, sir. Alderman Mitchell, for the motion to move back to the regular order of business.
Mr. President, I move that we return to the regular order of business. Hearing no objections. So order.
Next up, communications.
Communications from his honor, the mayor, to the honorable city council of the city of Chicago.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the chief financial officer, I transmitted with an ordinance
amending the municipal code regarding the employee charitable contribution program.
Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be appreciated. Very truly yours.
Signed, Brendan Johnson, mayor. Referred to the committee on finance.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the commissioner of housing, I transmitted with an ordinance
amending ordinance number SO 2025-0018149 to restore section 2-44-140 of the municipal code
regarding debt waiver. Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be appreciated. Very truly yours.
Signed, Brendan Johnson, mayor. Referred to the committee on finance.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the commissioner of housing, I transmitted with an ordinance
authorizing the issuance of up to $31 million in tax-exempt multifamily housing revenue bonds
to support the rehabilitation of the Indian Trails Apartments.
Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be appreciated. Very truly yours.
Signed, Brendan Johnson, mayor. Referred to the committee on finance.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the commissioner of housing, I transmitted with an ordinance
authorizing the issuance of financial assistance for the Holman Square Phase 4 project.
Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be appreciated. Very truly yours.
Signed, Brendan Johnson, mayor. Referred to the committee on finance.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the commissioner of planning and development,
I transmitted with ordinances authorizing the provision of TIF funds for improvements at various
parks within the city. Your favorable consideration of these ordinances will be appreciated.
Very truly yours. Signed, Brendan Johnson, mayor. Referred to the committee on finance.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the commissioner of planning and development,
I transmitted with an ordinance authorizing the execution of a redevelopment agreement with JTA Development, Inc.
to provide TIF funds for the Renaissance Estates Project.
Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours.
Signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor, refer to the Committee on Finance.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner of Transportation,
I transmitted with an ordinance authorizing the execution of capital funding agreement
to provide TIF funding for improvements at the Union Station.
Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours.
Signed, Brandon.
Brandon Johnson, Mayor, refer to the Committee on Finance.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Department of Housing,
I transmitted with an ordinance authorizing the provision of TIF funds
for the redevelopment of the property located at 1539 North Pulaski Road.
Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours.
Signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor, refer to the Committee on Finance.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner of Housing,
I transmitted with an ordinance authorizing the transfer and assumption of loan for the 3,800 King properties.
Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours.
Signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor, refer to the Committee on Finance.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner of Housing,
I transmitted with an ordinance authorizing the issuance of tax-exempt housing revenue bonds
for the benefit of 5853 Broadway 4 LP.
Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours.
Signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor.
Refer to the Committee on Finance.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner of Housing,
I transmitted with an ordinance authorizing the continuation of the single-family mortgage credit certificate program.
Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours.
Signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor, refer to the Committee on Finance.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner of Aviation,
I transmitted with an ordinance authorizing the execution of a renewal intergovernmental agreement
regarding the O'Hare Noise Compatibility Commission.
Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours.
Signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor, refer to the Committee on Aviation.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner of Aviation,
I transmitted with an ordinance authorizing the execution of a renewal intergovernmental agreement
regarding the Midway Noise Compatibility Commission.
Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours.
Signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor, refer to the Committee on Aviation.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner of Aviation,
I transmitted with an ordinance authorizing transfer of interest
and a concession agreement to a new owner.
Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours, signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor.
Refer to the Committee on Aviation.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner of Planning and Development,
I transmit it with an ordinance authorizing the execution of a redevelopment agreement
with the Carol Robertson Center for Learning to provide neighborhood opportunity funds
for improvements at the center.
Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours, signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor.
Refer to the Committee on the Budget and Government Operations.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner of Planning and Development,
I transmit it with ordinances authorizing favorable tax classification status
for specified properties within the city.
Your favorable consideration of these ordinances will be appreciated.
Very truly yours, signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor.
Refer to the Committee on Economic, Capital, and Technology Development.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner of Planning and Development,
I transmit it with ordinances authorizing the 2026 Budget and Service Provider Agreements
for various special service areas.
Your favorable consideration of these ordinances will be appreciated.
Very truly yours, signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor.
Refer to the Committee on Economic, Capital, and Technology Development.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner of Fleet and Facility Management,
I transmit it with an ordinance authorizing the execution of a lease agreement
with Millennium Park Garages, LLC,
for rent space for the city's electric vehicle fleet parking and charging.
Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours, signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor.
Refer to the Committee on Housing and Real Estate.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner of Planning and Development,
I transmit it with ordinances authorizing the sale of city-owned properties.
Your favorable consideration of these ordinances will be appreciated.
Very truly yours, signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor.
Refer to the Committee on Housing and Real Estate.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner of Planning and Development,
I transmit it with an ordinance authorizing the release of city-owned lands
from the amended redevelopment agreement with JRD LLC.
C. Your favorable consideration to this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours.
Signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor.
Refer to the Committee on Housing and Real Estate.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner of Fleet and Facility Management,
I transmit it with an ordinance authorizing the execution of a renewal lease agreement
to lease the property located at 4150 West 55th Street.
Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours.
Signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor.
Refer to the Committee on Housing and Real Estate.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner of Fleet and Facility Management,
I transmit it with an ordinance authorizing the execution of a renewal lease agreement
to lease the property located at 3500 South Wallace Street.
Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours.
Signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor.
Refer to the Committee on Housing and Real Estate.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection,
I transmit it with an ordinance amending the municipal code regarding taxicab and taxi chauffeurs.
Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours.
Signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor.
I transmit it with an ordinance authorizing the approval of a collective bargain agreement
with the Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2.
Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours.
Signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor.
Refer to the Committee on Workforce Development.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner of Planning and Development,
I transmit it with a zoning map amendment ordinance for correcting boundary lines and map number.
Your favorable consideration of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours.
Signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor.
Refer to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks, and Building Standards.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have appointed Angela J. Green as Commissioner of the Chicago Department
of Family and Support Services.
Your favorable consideration of this appointment will be appreciated.
Very truly yours.
Signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor.
Refer to the Committee on Health and Human Relations.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have reappointed Laura Perry as a member of the Licensed Appeal Commission for a term effective
immediately and expiring May 23, 2027.
Your favorable consideration of this appointment will be appreciated.
Very truly yours.
Signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor.
Refer to the Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
Ladies and gentlemen, I transmit here with appointments to various special service areas.
Your favorable consideration of these appointments will be appreciated.
Very truly yours.
Signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor.
Refer to the Committee on Economic, Capital, and Technology Development.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have appointed Oswaldo Alvarez as a member of the Regional Transportation Authority
for a term effective immediately and expiring July 1, 2027 to secede Sarah Pang, whose term has expired.
Your favorable consideration of this appointment will be appreciated.
Very truly yours.
Signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor.
Refer to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have appointed Alicia Blakely as a member of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks
for a term effective immediately and expiring March 11, 2027 to secede Tierra L. Hughes, whose term has expired.
Your favorable consideration of this appointment will be appreciated.
Very truly yours.
Signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor.
Refer to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks, and Building Standards.
Ladies and gentlemen, I transmit here with appointments to the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Your favorable consideration of these appointments will be appreciated.
Very truly yours.
Signed, Brandon Johnson, Mayor.
Refer to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks, and Building Standards.
City Clerk Anna Valencia hereby informs the City Council that the following documents were filed in her office
relating to the respective subjects designated as follows.
Executive Order No. 2025-4 regarding prohibition of smoking on Chicago Transit Authority properties
and deployment of public health resources.
Executive Order No. 2025-5 regarding building a healthier Chicago by expanding healthy food access and nutrition.
Executive Order No. 2025-6 denouncing any attempts to deploy the United States Armed Forces
and or the National Guard and or militarize civilian immigration enforcement in Chicago
and to establish the Protecting Chicago Initiative.
Executive Order No. 2025-7 regarding protection of the rights to protests
and facilitating safe and peaceful assembly.
Also, a mayoral proclamation of disaster in the City of Chicago regarding flooding
and major damage to residential areas sustained during the weather event of July 25th through July 28th, 2025.
And a mayoral proclamation of disaster in the City of Chicago regarding flooding and major damage
to residential areas sustained during a severe weather event on August 16th through August 19th, 2025.
Also, the notification of resignation of Walter Burnett, Jr. as Vice Mayor and Alderperson of the 27th Ward.
And the Firefighters Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago's funding resolution for the year 2026.
Also placed on file was the Retirement Board and Municipal Employees and Officers and Officials Annuity and Benefit Fund
funding resolution for the year 2026.
And the Office of Inspector General's Advisory on Regulatory Conduct of the City Council members.
Also, Office of the Inspector General's Follow-Up Report on Fairness and Consistency
in Disciplinary Processes for the Chicago Police Department members.
And the Office of Inspector General's Audit of the Department of Public Health's Mental Health and Equity Initiative.
City Clerk Valencia also informs the City Council that all those matters which were considered by the City Council
at the regular meeting held on July 16th, 2025, and which were required by statute to be published in book or pamphlet form
or in one or more newspapers, were published in pamphlet form on September 25th, 2025,
by being printed in full text in printed pamphlet copies of the Journal of Proceedings of the City of Chicago.
City Clerk Valencia also transmits you with the following miscellaneous communications and reports requiring City Council action.
Zoning reclassifications of particular areas, which are referred to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks, and Building Standards.
Claims against the City of Chicago, which are referred to the Committee on Finance.
Also, the recommendation by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks for designation of the Erie Street Row
at 161 East Erie Street as a Chicago landmark, which is referred to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks, and Building Standards.
And the recommendation by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks for designation of the Genesis Assembly of God Baptist Church
at 1400 North Larambee Avenue as a Chicago landmark, which is referred to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks, and Building Standards.
And the recommendation by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks for designation of the Fred C. Beeson House, No. 4,
at 5830 West Midway Park as a Chicago landmark, which is referred to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks, and Building Standards.
Your Honor, that concludes the report of communications from the Mayor and other city officers.
Beryl, thank you very much, Mr. Clerk.
Alders Moore and Rodriguez-Sanchez would like to participate in the remaining of this meeting remotely for reasons stated in Rule 59.
Madam Clerk, can you confirm their presence online?
Alderman Moore?
Alderman Moore is present.
Alderman Moore is present.
Alderwoman Rodriguez-Sanchez?
I'm here.
Thank you.
Okay.
Beryl, can I get a motion for the approval of these two members?
It's been moved.
All those in favor for the participation remotely of these additional two members signify by saying aye.
Any opposed say nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Madam Clerk, please add these two individuals as participants remotely.
For committee reports, the first committee is Committee on Finance.
Chair recognizes Chairwoman Dow.
Thank you, Mr. President and members of the City Council.
Reporting for the City Council Committee on Finance, which held a committee meeting on September 15, 2025,
the following items received a due pass recommendation from the committee.
Item number one is an ordinance approving the execution of a redevelopment agreement
and issuance of tax increment financing funds to After School Matters, Inc.
for the renovation of 1065 North Orleans Street into the After School Matters Orleans Teen Center in the 27th Ward
and in an amount not to exceed $5 million.
Mr. President, unless someone wishes to speak on this item, I move passes of this item by roll call vote.
Seeing no hands, this vote will be taken as a roll call.
So, members, please use your e-vote application to record your vote at this time.
Please use your device to cast your ballot.
It's still saying vacant under vote.
It's okay, it's okay.
As long as we can put a vote in, that's fine.
Okay, I will now call on those who have not yet placed their vote.
Alderperson Robinson.
Alderperson Robinson is a yes.
Alderman Hall.
Alderman Hall is a yes.
Alderwoman Ramirez.
Alderwoman Ramirez is a yes.
Alderman O'Shea.
Alderman O'Shea is a yes.
Alderwoman Tabaris.
Yes.
Alderwoman Tabaris is a yes.
Alderman Burnett.
Alderman Burnett is a yes.
Alderman Cardona.
Alderman Cardona is a yes.
Alderman Rodriguez Sanchez.
Yes.
Alderwoman Rodriguez Sanchez is a yes.
Alderman Conway.
Yes.
Alderman Conway is a yes.
Thank you.
Alderwoman Silverstein. Yes. Alderwoman Silverstein is a yes.
Alderman Moore. Yes. Alderman Moore is a yes.
Okay. Voting is now closed.
Very well. Thank you, Madam Clerk. There are 49 yeas, zero nays. This motion is passed.
Alderman Mitchell on the motion to reconsider. All those in favor of the reconsideration of this
vote signify by saying aye. All those opposed say no. This motion fails. Chair recognizes Chairwoman
Dow. Mr. President, item number two is an ordinance approving the execution of a redevelopment
agreement and issuance of tax increment financing funds to Steep Theater Company for the renovation
and construction of a new theater venue and community space at 5300 through 5318 North
Kenmore Avenue in the 48th Ward in an amount not to exceed $3,868,535. I move passage of this item by
the first most favorable roll call vote on the Committee on Finance report and the associated
unsuccessful motion to reconsider. Hearing no objections, so ordered. Item number three is the
substitute ordinance approving the execution of a redevelopment agreement and issuance of tax
increment financing funds to 105 Adams Development LLC for improvements at the Clark Adams Building at 105
West Adams Street in the 34th Ward in an amount not to exceed $67.5 million. I move passage of this item by
the same motion. Hearing no objections, so ordered. Item number four is the substitute ordinance authorizing the
issuance of tax increment financing assistance to the Field Building Revitalization Partners LLC for the adaptive
reuse of the building at 135 South LaSalle Street in the 34th Ward in an amount not to exceed $98 million in TIF. I move passage of
this item by the same motion. Hearing no objections, so ordered. Item number 5A is an order authorizing the
Corp Council, Corporation Council, to enter into and execute a settlement order in the case of Danielle Young
versus City of Chicago, case number 2023-L6688 in the amount of $125,000. I move passage of this item by the same motion,
motion by the same motion by the same motion, and the same motion by the same motion by the same motion,
and the same motion by the same motion, and the same motion by the same motion, and the same motion.
Hearing no objections, so ordered. Item number 5B is an order authorizing Corporation
Council to enter into and execute a settlement order in the case of Vincent Miller versus Danny Mai
and the City of Chicago, case number 23L7130 in the amount of $350,000. I move passage of this item by the
motion by the same motion by the same motion by the same motion by the same motion by the same motion.
Hearing no objections, so ordered. Item number 5C is an order authorizing Corporation
Council to enter into and execute a settlement order in the case of Jerome Tillis versus City of Chicago,
Sean Howe and Layette Fountain, case number 22L5089 in the amount of $350,000.
I move passage of this item by the same motion by the same motion, with the exception of Alderman Quinn,
Lopez, Cardona, and Sposado, who all wish to be recorded as voting no on this item.
Hearing no other objections, so ordered. Item number 5D is an order authorizing the Corporation
Council to enter into and execute a settlement order in the case of Henry, former Sergeant Ronald Watts,
in the Northern District of Illinois in the amount of $90 million. I move passage of this item by the
same motion as applied to item number 5B.
The Chair recognizes Alderman Villegas.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to speak on this item, and I wanted to thank the Chairwoman for
Finance for allowing for hearings to take place on some of these cases that are coming before the body.
I want to applaud Corporation Council for her team putting forward a strategy, minimizing the risk
and exposure to the City of Chicago. I think that this is a huge win for the city, and I wanted to make
sure that I gave the Corporation Council and her team the respect and acknowledge the hard work
that her team did. And also thank the Chairwoman for, again, bringing attention to this matter.
We still have a lot of outstanding cases, but I think that this move right here and this vote to
clear over 100 cases at the price of $90 million is a deal for the city. And again, I wanted to publicly
say and publicly thank both the Chairwoman of Finance as well as the Corporation Council for their hard work.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Alderman Sposado.
Mr. President, it's exactly what I wanted to say, so I don't have to say anything other than ditto.
Corp Council, you guys did an awesome job. Victoria, thanks for coming back.
This is awesome for the city. I know people may be listening and thinking $90 million, but
this is a deal of the century. So great job, Corp Council and everybody else involved in this.
Thank you. Very well. Thank you. The Chair recognizes Alderman Lopez.
Thank you, Mr. President and members of the City Council. I too rise in support of this item and
wish to applaud your administration and indeed your Corporation Council and her team for their efforts
to put this ugly chapter behind us in a way that is both respectful to victims, but also more
just as equally important and respectful to the taxpayers of the City of Chicago.
As I said during committee, it's rumored that I'm oftentimes at odds with the law department,
but in this time I'm in full agreement. And I believe that in having more of these types of
continuing conversations with members of our respective committees and concerned members,
this should be the model of how we move forward through the remainder of this administration,
so that we're able to do common sense things that help people as well as the municipal corporation.
So I am happy to stand in strong support of this, and hopefully we can continue to work towards some
of those other items that we've talked about in finance as well, addressing the recurring
departmental challenges that we see where other lawyers are circling like vultures waiting for
us to have missteps. So again, applaud you on this and look forward to supporting it. Thank you.
Thank you. Chair recognizes Audemant Irvin.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I just have to write that down. That's all. I want to thank corporations. Hey,
man, maybe these late meetings help us out a little bit. We'll be all right. But
446 now, man. We'll chronoize it. But again, I think that this has been a tremendous
battle that Corporate Council has saved the city from. We're glad to see that they're using some
innovative tactics in dealing with these lawsuits. And hopefully we use this as some methodology
moving forward on trying to settle these large, outstanding lawsuits. While this closes a nasty and
ugly chapter that many young men on the South Side endured, we know we need to settle these things,
and we appreciate the work and the actual dollars that you saved us. And as Alderman Sposato stated,
this is, for us, very good management. We appreciate the work that you and your team are doing.
And we continue to bring that innovation as we talked in budget about how we can
save money by attacking these things and bringing the personnel in to do this. So continue the good
work, positive work. Thank you, Corporate Council. Very well. Thank you very much. Seeing
other hands. There's a motion on the floor. Passive item four. Sorry, 5D.
The most favorable roll call on the fine finance committee and the associated unsuccessful motion
to reconsider. Hearing no other objections, seeing other hands, so ordered. Chair recognizes.
Thank you, Mr. President. I too want to just acknowledge publicly
the great work that was done by Corp Council and Victoria Benson in moving us forward. This is really
very positive. And I know you have a lot more on your plate and you're thinking ahead. And so thank you so much.
Item number six is a communication transmitting reports of cases in which verdicts, judgments,
or settlements were entered into for the month of July 2025 and August 2025. This was a direct
introduction that will be placed on file with the clerk. Items number seven and eight consist of
orders of authorization for the payment of various small claims against the city of Chicago and denial of
payments of various small claims against the city of Chicago. If there are no objections,
I move that these items be placed for passage in the omnibus. Hearing none, so ordered. Item number
nine is a proposed order authorizing charitable solicitation on the public way permit for the
Salvation Army North and Central Illinois Division citywide from November 1st, 2025 to December 24th, 2025.
Also a direct introduction.
that will be placed on file with the clerk.
Item number 10 is an ordinance introduced
by Alderwoman Jeanette Taylor of the 20th Ward
amending Title V of the Municipal Code
by adding new chapter 5-2025, Senior Bill of Rights.
This item will be referred to a Joint Committee
on Housing and Real Estate
and the Committee on Budget and Government Operations.
Mr. President, that concludes my report.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Our next Committee on Budget and Government Operations.
The chair recognizes Chairman Irvin.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Members of the council reporting for the Committee
on Budget and Government Operations,
which held a meeting on September 17th.
The committee has a series of reports
recommending passage of the following items.
Item number one is the communication
recommending the proposed ordinance
concerning an annual appropriation ordinance year 2025
amendment within Fund 925.
A move passage of this item
by the first favorable roll call
of the Committee on Finance
and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
Hearing no objections, so ordered.
Item number two is a communication
recommending the proposed ordinance
concerning a redevelopment agreement
with RAGE uplifting to provide
neighborhood opportunity funds
for improvements at 1210 West 59th Street
in the 16th Ward.
I make the same motion if there is no objection.
Hearing none, so ordered.
Item number three is a transfer of funds
within the second ward wage
and automatic expense allowance account for year 2025.
I make the same motion if there is no objection.
Hearing no objections, so ordered.
Mr. President, it concludes my report.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the Committee
on Committees and Rules.
The chair recognizes Chairwoman Harris.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Reporting for the Committee on Committees and Rules,
which met earlier today, Thursday, the 25th, 2025,
the committee recommends the passage of the following items.
Item one is a report approving the appointment
of Walter Redmond Burnett as the alderman of the 27th Ward.
This item has already been adopted by the City Council.
Item two is a resolution amending the resolution
identifying the chairman, vice chairman,
and members of a standing committee
of the City Council of the City of Chicago
for 2023 to 2027 term.
Mr. President, if no one wishes to speak,
I move adoption of all the resolution
by the first most favorable roll call vote
previously applied to item one
on the Finance Committee report
and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
Hearing no objections, so ordered.
Thank you.
Item three is a resolution amending the resolution
identifying the vice mayor of the City of Chicago
for 2023, which was held in committee.
Which was held in the committee.
Mr. President, this item was held.
Item four is a resolution amending the resolution
identifying the sergeant-at-arms for 2023 to 2024 term
by removing Levada Purnell
and adding Lincoln Hayes as assistant sergeant-at-arms.
Mr. President, if no one wishes to speak,
I move the adoption of this resolution
by the first most favorable roll call vote
previously applied in item one
on the Committee on Finance report
and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
Seeing no hands, hearing no objections, so ordered.
Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Chair,
for the Committee on Economic Capital
and Technology Development.
The chair recognizes Chair Villegas.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Members of the City Council
reporting for the Committee on Economic Capital
and Technology Development,
which met on Tuesday, September 23rd, 2025.
The committee held a meeting
and recommended passage of the following items.
Items one through four
are a series of SSA appointments and reappointment.
Item one is in a reappointment
of Claudia P. Rodriguez as a member of SSA number 25.
Items two and four, I'm sorry, strike that.
Items two through four are appointments
of Hugo Avila, Rosa Jaraf, and Pamela Flowers-Thomas
as members of SSA number 25,
the Little Village Commission,
and SSA number 34, Uptown Commission,
as well as SSA number 81,
87th Street Business Corridor Commission, respectively.
I move for pass of these items
by the first favorable roll call vote
of the Committee on Finance
and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
Hearing no objections, so order.
Item five on the report
is the ordinance that amends 2025 budget
and service provider agreement
for special service area number 47, Cottage Grove.
I move for pass of this item
by the first favorable roll call
of the vote of the Committee on Finance
and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
Hearing no objections, so order.
Item six through eight on the report
are direct introduction ordinances
dealing with public hearings
for the following service special areas.
SSA number 17, Central Lakeview,
SSA number 27, West Lakeview,
SSA number 72,
the Village Chicago Avenue Cultural Corridor.
I move for pass of these items
by the first favorable roll call
of the Committee on Finance
and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
Hearing no objections, so order.
Item nine through 11 on the report,
our series, no, strike that.
Item nine and 11 on the report
are a series of tax incentive ordinances
that were approved by the Committee.
Item nine is a Class 6B tax incentive ordinance
for the property at 1400 West 46th Street
and the 15th Ward.
And item 11 is a Class 7B tax incentive ordinance
for the property at 1210 West 59th Street
and the 16th Ward.
I move for pass of these items
by the first favorable roll call,
the Committee on Finance,
and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
Hearing no objections, so order.
Item 10 is a Class 6B tax incentive
for the property at 501 North Sacramento Boulevard,
the 27th Ward, and it was held in committee.
We also held a subject matter hearing
for the Departments of Water Management,
Transportation, Fleet, and Facility Management,
and Finance were present to answer questions
on their capital improvement plans.
Thank you, Mr. President.
That concludes my report.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
For the Committee on Education and Child Development,
Chair recognizes Chair Taylor.
Thank you, Mr. President
and members of the City Council.
I'm here reporting on your Committee
of Education and Child Development,
which held a meeting on September 15th.
The committee had three items to report,
a subject matter hearing regarding quarterly hearings
with Chicago Public School,
and two reappointments.
The two items voted on out of committee
are two reappointments for the Board of Trustees
for the Community College District 508-82025-0018738,
the reappointment of Darlene Oliver-Hightower,
and 82025-0018740,
reappointment of Oscar Sanchez.
I move passage of these two items
by the first favorable roll call,
the Committee on Finance,
and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
Hearing.
This concludes my report.
Hearing no objections,
so order, thank you, Madam Chair.
For the Committee on Environmental Protection
and Energy,
the chair recognizes Chair Haddon.
Mr. President and members of the City Council,
reporting for your Committee
on Environmental Protection and Energy,
which held committee meetings on July 23rd, 2025,
and on September 22nd, 2025.
The committee has full reports
and recommends the passage of the following items.
Item one is R2024-00010861,
a call for hearings on bird-friendly building design
in the City of Chicago,
which passed the Committee on Environmental Protection
and Energy during its July 23rd, 2025 meeting.
I move passage of this item
by the first favorable roll call
of the Committee on Finance
and associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
Hearing no objections, so order.
Item two is SR2025-0018772,
affirmation of commitment to goals
of Paris Climate Agreement
and call for federal government
to support fossil fuel
and non-proliferation treaty,
which passed the Committee
on Environmental Protection and Energy
during its September 22nd, 2025 meeting.
I move passage of this item
by the first favorable roll call vote
of the Committee on Finance
and associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
Hearing no objections, so order.
Item three is SO2025-0018160,
amendment of municipal code section 7-28-715,
prohibiting restrictions on residential composting,
which passed the Committee
on Environmental Protection and Energy
during its September 22nd, 2025 meeting.
I move passage of this item
by the first favorable roll call vote
of the Committee on Finance
and associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
Chair recognizes Ottoman Lopez.
Good afternoon, Mr. President.
Again, members of the City Council.
During Committee, there was discussion
with the sponsor of this ordinance,
myself and others,
with regards to liability for businesses
or for housing providers, excuse me,
who over their objections
will now have composting opportunities for tenants.
There are some serious concerns
that I have stressed in Committee
and want to vocalize very briefly
that if we are allowing tenants
to supersede the decisions
of their housing providers,
then we must make sure
that we work together to hold harmless
when violations occur
because of those provisions,
the housing provider,
which now has been removed from the equation.
For example, if composting is something
that becomes a violation
because of sanitation or health code reasons,
as it is currently written in the law,
the property owner,
not the subscriber of the third-party service
will be held liable per the law.
But I am pleased to report
that it's my understanding
that in working with the sponsor and others
that we'll be able to look at this moving forward
so that we can at least move on this item today.
So I appreciate my colleagues' support
for that affirmation.
Thank you.
and look forward to the successful and amended rollout out of this policy moving forward.
Thank you.
Thank you.
There's a motion on the floor for this item.
Hearing no other objections, so ordered.
Item four is R-2025-001715, a call for hearings on delays by the Department of Water Management
and notifying residents affected by lead service lines supplying water to their homes,
which passed the Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy during its September 22, 2025 meeting.
I move passage of this item by the first favorable roll call vote of the Committee on Finance
and Associated Unsuccessful Motion to Reconsider.
Hearing no other, Chair recognizes Alderman Villegas.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I don't have an objection to this.
I just wanted to comment on it.
I wanted to thank the Chair from the Environment Committee for putting hearings on this.
You know, oftentimes this is the infrastructure that people don't see.
They flip their switch on, lights turn on, you turn your faucet, water comes out.
But we have a huge risk here, and we have a ticking time bomb, in my opinion.
We know that lead affects children.
They absorb it 40% to 50%.
Adults, they only absorb it at 10% to 15%.
We know that children's brains are at risk of developing poorly due to lead poisoning,
increasing their risk of development delays and other disorders.
We also know that it was not until 1986 that the federal government finally said,
stop using lead in the city of Chicago, that the city of Chicago finally did it.
That being said, that's led us to right now where we have over 400,000 lead service lines
that are currently underground in the city of Chicago,
and nine of the top 10 zip codes that have the largest percentage of lead test results
were found in neighborhoods that were made up of majority black and or Hispanic residents,
mostly on the southwest sides of the city.
Now, we also know that lead service line replacements has a huge cost,
and there's estimates that have been put out there at $35,000 per line.
And the reason why, in my opinion, it's so high is because of the approach we're taking,
where we're not really doing it in a large scale, while as the national estimates are anywhere between 4,700 to 12,000 per line.
So that tells us that it's four to five times higher.
In the last four years, the city, unfortunately, had just managed to replace, on average, 793 lead pipes per year.
The federal law has required that we warrant approximately 900,000 people who have potential lead poisoning before November 16th.
Unfortunately, it just says, which is true, the federal government provided no funding to help with that type of outreach,
and the state of Illinois also put a deadline and did not provide any funding as well,
something that the federal government and state government love to do to local government.
That being said, only 7% of the people that are on that list have been warned as of July 20th and 25th,
means 93% of people have not been notified according to what the federal government has required us to do.
So I say all that to say is that we have a huge opportunity here to do a couple of things.
As a body, go down to Springfield and advocate for funding to figure out how we're going to get out of this mess.
I know that there's been efforts around funding at a local level,
but the reality is that we're talking about a multibillion-dollar issue that we have to try to solve within the next two decades.
So look forward to working with you and your administration to figure out how we can get that money,
because I see it as an opportunity to put people to work, expose young black and brown kids to the building trades,
and women as well to the building trades,
allow for minority and women-owned firms and veteran-owned firms to participate on this infrastructure project.
And again, I look at this as a jobs bill.
But I wanted to really just continue to put an emphasis on this,
because this is a problem that's not going away.
Whether it's under your term, our term, it's going to be here for the next two or three decades,
and we've got to get the lead out of the water.
So thank you, Chair, for doing these hearings and looking forward to continuing to try to figure out a solution on how to get the lead out.
Thank you.
Great. Thank you, Alderman.
Seeing no other hands, hearing no objections, so ordered.
And finally, Mr. President, I just want to thank my Vice Chair Knudsen for chairing the meeting.
Thank you. You did a fantastic job.
Appreciate your partnership.
And, Mr. President, that concludes my report.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
The Committee on Health and Human Relations, Murphy Q, the chair recognizes the vice chair of this committee, Vice Chair Ramirez.
Awesome.
Good afternoon, Mr. President, reporting from the Committee on Health and Human Relations, which held three meetings since our last report.
The committee met on July 22nd, July 31st, and September 24th of 2025.
In total, the committee reviewed six items.
Item number one is R2025-0017564, a call for hearings on the city's plans for public health education and the pursuit of federal public health grants.
This item received a due pass recommendation by the committee.
Mr. President, I move passage of this item by the first most favorable roll call vote of the Committee on Finance and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
Hearing no objections, so ordered.
Item number two, SR2024-0014414, a call for hearings on the allocation of HIV AIDS grant funding.
This item received a due pass recommendation by the committee and make the same motion if there is no objection.
Hearing none, so ordered.
Item number three is R2025-0017499, a call on U.S. Congress to establish an end date for the Puerto Rico Financial Oversight and Management Board and ensure a transition toward Puerto Rican fiscal autonomy.
This item received a due pass recommendation by the committee and make the same motion if there is no objection.
Hearing none, so ordered.
Item number four is SR2024-0011018, a call on U.S. President Donald J. Trump to remove Cuba from the state-sponsored terrorism list and restore travel and trade.
This item received a due pass recommendation by the committee and make the same motion if there is no objection.
Hearing none, so ordered.
Item number five is R2025-0017551, a call for hearings on the implementation of gender-based violence prevention services and programming in Chicago.
This item received a due pass recommendation by the committee and make the same motion if there is no objection.
Hearing none, so ordered.
Item number six is R2025-0015728, an issuance of a formal apology from City Council to Black citizens of Chicago for the historical injustices of slavery.
This item received a due pass recommendation by the committee and make the same motion if there is no objection.
Chair recognizes Audemann Lopez.
Thank you, Mr. President, members of the committee.
Generally speaking, I am very supportive of most of the resolutions that we do to address issues of accountability.
But in this resolution, I must object.
I must object because of the fact that history is on Chicago's side.
Knowing that our economy, our early economy, our founding, and indeed most of our residents, had nothing to do with slavery.
There are states and there are cities.
Even the state of Illinois has some culpability.
But to say that the city of Chicago, whose own economy was not slave-driven, did not primarily benefit because of the diversity of our economy compared to some of the northern states and cities or even the southern states,
and the fact that descendants of slaves, freedmen came to Chicago to escape slavery, to escape the south, it's hard to say that we are at fault as a city.
It's hard for a majority of the residents of the city of Chicago who came here as immigrants over the last hundred years have somehow culpability for something that they were not a part of.
They weren't even a part of this country.
That has to be said out loud, Mr. President.
The city of Chicago, in the past, has taken steps to ensure that we do not allow those who benefited from slavery to benefit from doing business with the city of Chicago.
We already require affidavits and acknowledgments from those that we do business with if they had ties with slavery so that we can have that included in our decision-making process when it comes to these matters.
But to say that the city of Chicago owes an apology for something it was not connected with, I have a problem with.
150 years ago is when Reconstruction began.
The city of Chicago was in its infancy.
But if we want to talk about the injustices to the black community,
I want to talk about where we have failed.
We don't have to look that far back.
We want to only look to what's going on in the streets and in our neighborhoods right now.
We have removed tools from our law enforcement's toolbox that help keep people safe and bring police to victims of violence when they need it.
We've created a school structure that fails to educate African-American and Latino kids.
who make up the majority of CPS.
We have seen the disinvestment by government
and the manipulation of that disinvestment
to enrich friends and people alike
at the expense of those communities.
If we're going to apologize for anything,
that's where our apologies should go to.
And I think that would be a more useful benefit of our time
to find ways to ensure that we can correct
what we see going on in the now
as opposed to constantly looking backwards
for things that quite literally
a vast majority of Chicagoans
have no direct connection to at all.
And with that, I would request to be recorded
as voting no on this item.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Mr. Clerk, could you please add Alderman Lopez
as a no on this particular motion?
Chair recognizes Alderman Sposado.
Alderman Sposado.
Thank you, Mr. President.
There's a lot of blame to go around,
but certainly not the city of Chicago,
certainly not my family.
Well, I'm second and a half generation.
I like to say two grandparents born here,
two born in Italy.
I'm not going to be long-winded about who to blame.
I apologize to absolutely nobody.
I want my name off there.
I do not want to be associated with this.
Thank you, Alderman Sposado.
I will, you wish to be added as a no.
Thank you.
Very well.
The chair recognizes Alderman Vasquez.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I really appreciate the resolution.
I want to thank folks for that.
I'd like to issue my own apologies.
Although Ray Lopez is not a member of the caucus,
Latino caucus, I want to apologize on that behalf.
It's embarrassing.
I am directing them to you.
I am apologizing to you as the president.
I will now continue.
Thank you.
Would you all please just, I got you.
All right.
Yeah.
See, I would just please direct your comments towards me.
It's been a long day.
I get it.
There's a lot of emotions in the air.
Let's just do our best to keep some level of decorum.
Alderman Lopez.
I'm going to, thank you, Mr. President.
I'm going to allow my colleague to continue whatever his remarks are meant to be.
But I would like to point out, this is the second time I've been called out,
either directly or by name.
And according to Rule 13, I have the point of personal privilege to address
both things that have been said about me.
Right.
And I reserve that right later.
Okay.
You don't want to have that wish granted now?
I'm going to allow him to say what he wants to say,
and I'm going to reserve my right in case any of my other Latino brother
and want to throw something out there.
All right.
Very well.
So let's do our best not to throw anything else out there.
Alder Vasquez, could you?
Thank you.
I appreciate being allowed.
So what I did want to say, just for clarity,
is that benefit is connection.
Although people who are here may not have been here when the harm was occurred,
they benefit from it.
This city has been built like this country has been built.
on the backs of slaves.
And there needs to be an acknowledgement of what that is,
because anyone benefiting from that now, that is a connection.
They did not have to directly cause it to gain from it.
And so having an apology, which is not the hardest thing in the world.
In fact, we have other cities, including one right north of us,
willing to actually do reparations because we understand that there's harm
that's been done.
And so I respectfully want us to understand that.
We are a city that was founded by a Haitian black man.
We are a black city.
We are a city that's been segregated and harmed.
If it wasn't even intentional from the beginning,
it's continued for 100 years in this city.
It is why when you mention the side of the city,
there's a connotation to it.
There has been harm done.
We should absolutely apologize for it.
And it should have happened a long time ago.
We should continually do it and make amends and fix things because people are being hurt.
We know there's a whole history of police misconduct that largely hurts our black community
and descendants of slavery.
So it is absolutely fair to us as a city,
especially those who represent it as government,
to apologize for harm that the government has done.
And so I am largely in support and would ask our colleagues to join the same.
For those who don't want to, I appreciate that you don't want to.
I don't agree.
I vehemently disagree.
But they have every right.
I just want to make sure that we as a city understand we should be sorry for it.
Thank you, Mayor.
Thank you.
The chair recognizes Ottoman Napolitano.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I don't think there's a soul in here that doesn't think that there's been harm done.
I really don't think there's a soul.
I think there's just as much harm done in here to this city over the last couple of years as well.
So please hold me down as a no.
Thank you.
The chair recognizes Alderman Lamont Robinson.
Do you still wish to speak, sir?
The chair recognizes Alderman Lamont Robinson.
As a African-American male, son of Chicago, in 2025, we have to debate, is the city of Chicago at all responsible for slavery?
Absolutely it is.
When you drive down King Drive in Bronzeville, any of our other boulevards, the Gold Coast, where do you think that our wealthy Chicagoans got their money from 200 years ago?
Do you think they created this wealth on their own?
So let me first thank my colleagues that have common sense.
Whether you're black or white, Latino, I will still respect my colleagues that are no.
It's your decision.
The facts are facts.
History is history.
And there's not a black person that does not live in each of the 50 wards in this city.
So those of you that decided to say no, you are against your constituents.
And shame on you.
You're debating something that is simple.
So this community, the African-American community, has been open to everybody, every group.
And for you to stand and say no to something as simple as an apology, not reparations.
And I want to thank the mayor for moving reparations forward in this city.
But that is still separate from an apology that was given at the state.
And it damn well is going to be given in the city of Chicago.
So you can keep your no.
But you have to be able to share with your constituents, your black constituents in all damn 50 wards,
why you would say no to this resolution.
Shame on you.
The chair recognizes Alderwoman Haddon.
Thank you, Mr. President.
And I want to thank the sponsor of this resolution, Alderperson Lamont Robinson.
Thank you for your words.
I said this in committee.
I'm just going to repeat what I said in committee when I voted in support of this resolution.
And that is that recognition and apology is part of repair.
And as we support reparations, which are necessary to moving forward.
So you can use a lot of arguments that we've heard from colleagues on the floor on why they're voting no.
These, you know, oh, well, my family didn't directly benefit or, you know, I don't think Chicago was directly involved.
These are things that take us back.
And I know that there are people in this country that want to go backward.
But it is important to remember our history.
It is important to to look backwards.
And so those who would accuse us of going backwards by recognizing fact and truth, I challenge that sentiment.
We are not the ones going backwards.
We are moving forwards.
Repair and resolution and recognition of what harms have been done are healthy.
They're OK.
You don't have to feel personally guilty.
It's not going to keep you up at night.
Right.
But what will hold us back as a city is denial.
Is putting your I don't know, personal feelings, I guess, over the greater good and over the facts.
Alderman Robinson's correct.
Right.
The city of Chicago itself might not have dealt.
Alderman Lopez is correct.
City of Chicago didn't directly deal in enslaved people.
but the money that built this city and controlled the power did.
I was hoping this would be a unanimous one of all the things that we can
unanimously support.
So this is a surprising, shocking, appalling piece,
because this isn't about you and whether you directly benefited.
This is about the facts and the history of our city and that we all want to
move forward together.
Everybody in this room wants to move forward together.
We know we do.
We want a good city.
We want a great city.
You can't be part of that if you're going to deny history and truth.
So the city of Chicago needs to move forward,
and we're going to be a beacon for this country in moving forward.
And to equate the atrocity that was chattel slavery in the United States
and the Americas to the social ills that our community faces because of white
supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalism is wild to me and deeply offensive.
Deeply offensive.
So as an African-American descendant of slavery,
as a resident of the city of Chicago,
for colleagues who want to have actual conversation about this,
we can talk, not after this meeting because we're going home, right?
But maybe a different day.
If you really do, if it's really something you believe,
if you really believe what you've just said,
happy to be open to dialogue.
But I think that the type of arguments put out here against this
are emblematic of some of the worst behavior that we're seeing
coming out of D.C. and in other parts of the country.
We're better than that,
and we still have opportunities to move forward together.
I ask the colleagues who asked to be recorded as a no
to maybe reconsider their vote.
And thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you.
The chair recognizes Alder Rosanna Rodriguez-Sanchez.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I just wanted to make a brief comment.
I wanted to thank my colleague Lamont Robinson
for bringing this through our committee.
I am incredibly proud of our committee for passing this resolution.
I stand in solidarity with Lamont and in support of this resolution,
and it's just incredibly painful to hear that in 2025 we are still in denial
or that there are people that are in denial,
and I think that this is definitely a sample or an effect
of this white supremacist culture that is currently devastating this country.
Thank you, Lamont, for bringing this,
and I hope that we can pass this out of our body today.
Thank you.
Thank you.
The motion has been made for the passage of this item.
There are three chairs.
Okay.
There's a request for a roll call.
Madam Clerk.
Members, please use your e-vote applications at this time to record your votes.
Give us one second, please.
Okay.
The voting is open.
The voting is open.
Please hit refresh.
If you're having difficulty, please let me know.
Actually, it's too late.
Yeah, because you always think of the vote.
Yeah.
Okay.
I will now call on those who have not yet cast their vote.
Alderman Moore.
Hi.
Alderman Moore is a yes.
Alderman, wait, he's not yet.
Alderman O'Shea.
Alderman Taylor.
Yeah, I'll put some free.
Alderman Tabaris.
Yes.
Alderman Tabaris is a yes.
Alderman Burnett.
Alderman Burnett is a yes.
Alderman Conway.
Alderman Conway.
Alderman Casada.
Aye.
Alderman.
Oh, he wasn't.
I'm sorry.
Alderman Casada, you weren't added yet, so don't mark him.
He's undoing.
You're fine.
Alderman Silverstein.
Alderman Silverstein.
Yes.
Yes.
Okay.
Alderman Silverstein is a yes.
You didn't call on me.
This is Alderman Rosana Rodriguez-Sanchez.
Right.
It's, you have not been added to the Rule 59 as a yes.
Was she?
Okay.
Okay, perfect.
Then I will call on you.
Alderman Rodriguez-Sanchez.
Yes, absolutely.
Okay.
You are a yes.
Alderman Casada.
Alderman Casada has not been added as Rule 59 participant yet.
Alderman Conway, I'm going to call on you one more time.
Alderman Conway.
Alderman Conway.
So, voting is now closed.
The budget passes.
There are, there are four, I tried, I tried, Raymond.
Good one, Mayor.
There are 43 yeas, four nays.
This motion passes.
Alderman Mitchell, on a motion to reconsider.
Mr. President, motion to reconsider the vote.
All those in favor of the reconsideration of the vote, signify by saying aye.
All those opposed, say no.
This motion fails.
Chair recognizes Vice Chair Ramirez.
The committee also held three subject matter hearings.
The first was with the Chicago Department of Public Health, where they provided an overview
of its strategic plan, including updates in the following areas of work.
Infant and maternal health, where they highlighted the Family Connects program.
Infectious diseases, where they highlighted respiratory viruses and vaccinations.
The department also provided further information related to CDPH's budget, threats to public
health funding, HIV funding equity, and addressing misinformation from the federal government.
The second was to provide an overview of 211 and information about the impacts of reduced
federal funding on the local social service landscape.
The third was related to item R-2025-0017551 and provided information on the implementation
of gender-based violence prevention services and programming in Chicago.
No votes were taken on these hearings.
Thank you, Mr. President.
That concludes my report.
Thank you, Madam Vice Chair.
For the Committee on Housing and Real Estate, the chair recognizes Chair Ciccio Lopez.
Thank you, Mr. President and members of the City Council.
Reporting for your Committee on Housing and Real Estate, which held a meeting on September
24, 2025.
The committee has a series of reports recommending passage of eight ordinances.
These include redevelopment agreements, a municipal code amendment, and various land sales.
Item number one is an Ordinance 2025-0018223, Redevelopment Agreement for Sale of Properties to Citizens
Building a Better Community LLC under City Loads for Working Families Program in the third
and fourth awards.
I have moved passage of this item by the first most favorable roll call vote on the Committee
on Finance and Associated and Successful Motion to Reconsider.
Hearing no objections, so ordered.
Item number two from the Department of Housing, Ordinance 2025-0018850, Sale of City-Owned
Renovated Motel at 5230 North Lincoln Avenue, former Diplomat Motel, to Cornerstone Community
Outreach under Department of Housing, Non-Congregate Shelter Acquisition Program to Operate and
Manage as a Non-Congregate Shelter to be known as the Heaven on Lincoln in the 40th Ward.
I have moved passage of this item by the same motion.
Hearing no objections, so ordered.
The next two items are all demanding introductions.
Item 4, Ordinance 2025-0018-733, designation of 6756-66758 South Chapel Avenue as Low Affordability Community in the 5th Ward.
I move passage of this item by the same motion.
Hearing no objections, so ordered.
Item 5 is the Substitute Ordinance 2023-0004085, which passes a substitute as Establishment of Jackson Park Housing Pilot Program by amending various parts of Chapter 2-44-110, 5-10, and 5-12 of the Municipal Code in the 5th, 6th, and 20th Ward.
I will be invoking Rule 30 to amend and extract and insert to correct a small typo under Section 8 in Chapter 5-12-135E regarding the paragraph as it stands.
That was a typo.
The result is in the following paragraph, at least 30 instead of 30, 90 days prior to the stated termination date of the rental agreement of the landlord's intent to terminate a periodic tenancy, not renew a fixed-term rental agreement, or increase the rental rate for a tenancy lasting a period of one year or less.
Motion to accept the Rule 30th Amendment hearing no objection, unless there's any objections.
So we're not hearing any objections, so so ordered.
Thank you.
I move passes of these items, substituted by the first, most favorable roll call, then, vote on the Committee on Finance and associated a successful motion to reconsider.
Hearing no objections, so ordered.
And just for clarification, there was a correction there, because there was a typo.
There was just a typo.
Very well.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
The next item from the Department of Transportation passed a substitute, Substitute Ordinance 2025-0015-983,
sale of city-owned property at 3901 South Halstead Street to Illinois Department of Transportation for Persian Road Highway Improvement Project in 11th Ward.
I move passes of these items by the same motion.
Hearing no objections, so ordered.
The following items are from the Department of Planning and Development.
Items 8 and 9 are from the Park and Raid, sale of city-owned property in the 20th and 6th Ward.
The ordinance numbers are 2025-0018-836 and 2025-0018-832.
I move passes of these items by the same motion.
Hearing no objections, so ordered.
The last item, Ordinance 2025-0018-851, First Amendment to Redevelopment Agreement with Center Court Development, LLC,
for phased development of city parcels in the 20th Ward.
I move passes of these items by the same motion.
There's no objections, so ordered.
Mr. President, this concludes my report.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
For reasons stated in Rule 59,
Alderman Anthony Quezada has asked to participate in the remaining of this meeting remotely.
My apologies.
Madam Clerk, could you confirm that he's still with us?
I sure am, Mr. President.
Very well.
Is there a motion for the approval of his remote participation?
It's been moved.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
Any opposed, say nay.
Motion passes.
Thank you.
Please add Anthony Quezada, Alderman, as a participant in this meeting remotely.
Alderman Mosley.
Nope.
All right.
Our next committee is on License and Consumer Protection.
The chair recognizes Vice Chair Chico.
Mr. President and members of the city council,
I'm reporting for the Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
We held a meeting on September 16, 2025,
and the following items were passed by the committee.
Two ordinances, 0-2025-0018450 and 0018579,
regarding liquor moratoriums in the 30th and 49th wards.
The committee has recommended passage of each of these items.
Mr. President, I move that the city council concur
in the recommendations of the License Committee
by the same roll call as item number one
of the Committee on Finance report
and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
Hearing no objections, so order.
0-2025-0018802 will be held.
Mr. President, this concludes my report.
Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair.
Committee on Pedestrian Traffic Safety.
Chair recognizes Chair Laspata.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Reporting for your Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety,
for which meetings were held on Monday, July 21, 2025,
and Monday, September 22, 2025.
On Monday, July 21, the committee held a meeting
with a subject matter hearing on the city's process
for sidewalk repairs.
No votes were taken.
On Monday, September 22,
the committee held a subject matter hearing
reporting out from the Equity and Enforcement Working Group.
No vote was taken on that item.
There were also 243 routine traffic items
before the committee.
Two items were held in committee
and the other 241 passed.
If there are no objections,
I move passage of these 241 routine traffic items
by the first most favorable roll call vote
from the Committee on Finance
and the associated unsuccessful motion
to reconsider the vote.
Hearing none, so order.
That concludes my report.
Thank you, Mr. Chair,
for the Committee on Police and Fire.
The Chair recognizes for the Committee on Police and Fire.
The Chair recognizes Chair Talia Faro.
Excuse me, Mr. President,
members of the City Council reporting
for your Committee on Police and Fire,
for which a meeting was held.
You lift your mic up, Mr. Chair.
Very good.
September 5, 2025.
There was one item before the committee
for which the committee recommends a due passage.
Item number one was a direct introduction,
the appointment of Aira Patterson
as Executive Director
of the Office of Public Safety Administration.
If there are no objections, Your Honor,
I move the passage of this item
by the first most favorable roll call vote
in the Committee on Finance
and the associated unsuccessful motion
to reconsider.
Hearing none, so order.
That concludes my report, Mr. President.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
For the Committee on Public Safety,
Chair recognizes Chairman Hopkins.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Reporting for your Committee on Public Safety,
which held a meeting on September 3, 2025,
the committee considered a subject matter hearing
on Resolution 14883
to consider alternative models of parking enforcement.
No vote was taken on that matter.
However, the committee did vote
to recommend passage of Item 2,
Ordinance number 18805,
Reimbursement of Community Benefit Funds
to the Magnificent Mile Association,
named as a service provider
for public safety improvements
in the area surrounding the temporary casino.
If no one wishes to speak,
I move passage of this item
by the first favorable roll call vote
of the Committee on Finance
and associated unsuccessful motion.
See you, no hands here,
no objections, so order.
Thank you, Mr. President.
That concludes my report.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
For the Committee on Transportation
and Public Way,
the chair recognizes Chair Mitchell.
Mr. President,
members of the City Council,
reporting for your Committee
on Transportation.
What do we got going on?
Thank you, guys.
I appreciate it.
Fred, we love you, baby.
All right.
Mr. President and members
of the City Council,
reporting for your Committee
on Transportation and Public Way,
which held a meeting
on July 30, 2025,
the following items passed
by the majority
of the members present.
Page 2 includes item
Resolution 2025-0018153,
a call on the
Chicago Transit Authority Board.
The Committee on Transportation
and Public Way
also held a meeting
on September 23, 2025.
The following items passed
by the majority
of the members present.
Pages 3 and 4
include 17 ordinances
for miscellaneous items
introduced by the local
aldermen from wards
9 through 12, 27, 29 through 32,
28, 42, 45, 46, and 47.
If there is no objection,
I move passage of the item
of these items
by the first most favorable
roll call vote
of the Committee on Financing
the Associated Unsuccessful Motion
to recuse it.
Hearing none, so order.
Mr. President,
that concludes my report.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
For the Committee
on Workforce Development,
the chair recognizes
Chairman Rodriguez.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Members of the City Council,
reporting for the Committee
on Workforce Development,
which held a meeting
on September 22nd.
There was one item
on the agenda,
02023-0004210,
the Heat Illness Prevention
in Outdoor Places of Employment,
an Ordinance Providing
for Heat Illness Prevention
for Outdoor Workers.
This ordinance was passed
as substituted
in committee
as SO 2023-0004210
by a roll call vote.
Chair Haddon and I
move to defer
and publish this item.
Farewell.
Chair of Manhattan,
can you confirm that?
Very well.
That item will be
deferred and published.
This concludes the report
of the Committee
on Workforce Development.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
For the Committee
on Zoning Landmarks
and Building Standards,
the chair recognizes
Vice Chair Lawson.
Thank you, Mr. President
and members
of the City Council,
presenting a series of reports
for the Committee
on Zoning Landmarks
and Building Standards,
which held a meeting
on September 23rd, 2025.
The following items
were passed
by a majority
of the members present
in our group
for convenience.
Page one
contains document number
O-2024-0010959
regarding exempting
public and civic uses
from dynamic image
sign criteria.
I move passage
of this item
by the last most favorable
roll call vote
of the Finance Committee report
and the associated
unsuccessful motion
to reconsider.
Hearing no objections
to order.
Page one also contains
document numbers
0-2025-0.
0-1-8-3-9-0 and 0-2025-0018761 that amend PMD numbers 8 and 11 and hold passage of these items
by the same motion if there is no objection. Hearing none, so ordered. Page one also contains
document number 0-2025-0018473, a journal correction for the Journal of Proceedings for
the May 21st, 2025 City Council and hold passage of this item by the same motion if there is no
objection. Hearing none, so ordered. Page one contains document number 0-2025-0018189,
authorizing the zoning administrator to approve exemptions from minimum lot area for Chicago
landmark buildings and move passage of this item by the same motion if there is no objection. Hearing
none, so ordered. Page one also contains document number 0-2025-0018769, excuse me, having under
consideration an ordinance introduced by Alders Byron Sichel-Lopez and Walter Burnett for the
execution of Affordable Housing Covenant and Lean for 1810 West Jackson Boulevard. I beg leave to
recommend that your honorable body re-refer that ordinance which is transmitted herewith to the
Committee on Housing and Real Estate. Very well that I will be re-referred. Moving on, pages 1-16
contain various map amendments in the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 19th, 21st,
22nd, 25th, 26th, 30th, 32nd, 33rd, 34th, 35th, 36th, 37th, 38th, 40th, 42nd, and 43rd wards. I move
passage of these items by the same motion if there is no objection. Hearing none, so ordered.
Lastly, page 17 contains various large signs over 100 square feet in area, 24 feet above grade
in wards 11, 12, 23, 25, 27, 31, 32, 34, 36, 42, 46, and 48. I move passage of these items by the
same motion if there is no objection. Hearing none, so ordered. Thank you, Mr. President. That concludes
my report. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair, for the matters on the agreed-upon calendar. The chair recognizes
orderwoman Harris. Thank you, Mr. President. I've received from the City Clerk, Andrea M. Valencia,
a total of 221 items proposed for the agreed calendar consisting of congratulatory, commemorative,
and tributary resolutions for the following orderpersons. Orderperson Lesbada, Orderperson
Hopkins, Orderperson Dow, Orderperson Yancey, Orderperson Hall, Orderperson Harris, Orderperson Chico,
Orderperson Lee, Orderperson Quinn, Orderperson Gutierrez, Orderperson Lopez,
Orderperson Coleman, Orderperson O'Shea, Orderperson Taylor, Orderperson Mosley, Orderperson Rodriguez,
Orderperson Tabaris, Orderperson Burnett, Orderperson Cruz, Orderperson Wagus Pack, Orderperson Conway,
Orderperson Quesada, Orderperson Villegas, Orderperson Mitt, Orderperson Spisado, Orderperson Villegas,
Orderperson Riley, Orderperson Canusen, Orderperson Lawson, Orderperson Gardner, Orderperson Manna Hoppingworth,
Alder Person Silverstein with two add-ons for the 40th anniversary of the Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Foundation
from the clerk in the 8th Ward, and then from the 5th Ward, a 70th anniversary of the High Park Youth Symphony.
That concludes my report.
Hearing no objection, this has been moved for the passage for the agreed upon calendar in the omnibus.
Hearing no objection, so ordered.
Starting with the first ward, the clerk will read the new business.
Thank you, Mr. Clerk.
Zoning amendments, which are referred to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks, and Building Standards,
Traffic Regulations, Traffic Control Signals, and Traffic Signs, which are referred to the Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety,
and exemption from physical barrier requirements for commercial driveway alley access for parking facilities,
which are referred to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alder Person Laspata has a proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code Section 4-60-023
to disallow additional package goods licenses on a portion of West Chicago Avenue,
which is referred to the Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
Alder Person Laspata also has a proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code Section 4-60-022
to disallow additional alcoholic liquor licenses on a portion of West Chicago Avenue,
which is referred to the Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
Alder Person Laspata also has a proposed ordinance for amendment of the Annual Appropriation Ordinance
to transfer funds from the first ward wage allowance to the automatic expense account for the year 2025.
This is referred to the Committee on Budget and Government Operations.
Alder Person Laspata also has a proposed ordinance for a vacation of a portion of the public alley
in the area bounded by North Rockwell Street, West Lindale Street, North Maplewood Avenue, and North Milwaukee Avenue.
This is referred to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alder Person Laspata also has a proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code Section 17-3-05
allowing for building height increases in certain areas of B-3 and C-3 zoning districts
if project is subject to affordable requirements ordinance requirements.
This is referred to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks, and Building Standards.
Alder Person Laspata, Alder Person Laspata, Mosley, and Vasquez
has a proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code Section 9-64-050
to authorize erection of disabled permit parking signs
in certain RS, RT, and RM zoning districts,
which are referred to the Committee on Traffic Control and Safety.
Alder Person Hopkins has a proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code Section 7-38-115
to remove overnight parking exceptions for mobile food vehicles,
which is referred to the Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
Alder Person Dowell has proposed orders for the issues of permits for signed signboards at various locations,
which are referred to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks, and Building Standards.
Alder Person Dowell also has proposed orders for amendment of the Annual Appropriation Ordinance
to transfer funds from the Third Ward Wage Allowance
to the All-Amenic Expense Account for the year 2025,
which is referred to the Committee on the Budget and Government Operations.
Alder Person Robinson has a proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code Section 4-60-022
to allow additional alcohol and liquor licenses on a portion of South Cottage Grove Avenue,
which is referred to the Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
Alder Person Harris has a proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code Section 4-60-023
to allow additional package goods licenses on a portion of East 87th Street,
which is referred to the Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
Alder Person Lee has a proposed ordinance for amendment of the Annual Appropriation Ordinance
to transfer funds from the 11th Ward Automatic Expense Account
to the Wage Allowance Account for the year 2025,
which is referred to the Committee on the Budget and Government Operations.
Alder Person Lee also has a proposed ordinance for an honorary street designation
as Old Neighborhood Italian American Club,
which is referred to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alder Person Lopez has a proposed ordinance for amendment of the Annual Appropriation
Ordinance to transfer funds from the 15th Ward Wage Allowance
to the Automatic Expense Account for the year 2025,
which is referred to the Committee on the Budget and Government Operations.
Alder Person Lopez also has a proposed order for the City of Chicago Department of Law
directed to enter into and negotiate settlement agreement with NPL Construction Company,
which is referred to the Committee on Finance.
Alder Person Lopez also has a proposed ordinance for amendment of the Annual Appropriation Ordinance
to transfer funds from the 15th Ward Wage Allowance
to the Automatic Expense Account for the year 2025,
which is referred to the Committee on the Budget and Government Operations.
Alder Person Lopez also has a proposed order to call to hold Ozingo Ready-Mix Concrete Inc. business license
until inspection of sewers and specified neighborhoods confirm no blockage,
which is referred to the Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy.
Alder Person Lopez also has a proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code Chapter 2-74
by adding new Section 2-74-076 to establish Department of Human Resources hiring preference
for children and spouses of Chicago first responders killed in the line of duty,
which is referred to the Committee on the Budget and Government Operations.
Alder Person Lopez and others have a proposed resolution
to call on the Secretary of the U.S. Department of War
to restore the legacy of Ira Hayes and all diverse veterans to a place of honor,
which is referred to the Committee on Health and Human Relations.
Alder Person Lopez also has a proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code Chapter 6-10
by modifying Sections 6-10-010 and 6-10-020
to include anti-Semitism as discrimination
in Chicago City Council Declaration of General Human Rights,
which is referred to the Committee on Public Safety.
Alder Person Lopez also has a proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code Section 2-156-145
requiring that ethics and sexual harassment education training
include Section Addressing Anti-Semitism,
which is referred to the Committee on Health and Human Relations.
Alder Person Lopez and Alder Person Villegas have a proposed ordinance
to call on President Donald Trump to revisit Executive Order 14012
to grant non-citizen U.S.-United States military members
immediate path to citizenship after service completion,
which is referred to the Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
Alder Person Lopez and Alder Person Villegas also have a proposed order
for calling on the City Comptroller is directed to activate provisions
of the MC11-12-470 Leak Relief Pilot Program,
which is referred to the Committee on Economic Capital and Technology Development.
Alder Person Moore has a proposed ordinance for an honorary street designation
as James Thomas Drake Senior Way,
which is referred to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alder Person Moore also has a proposed ordinance for an honorary street designation
as Bishop Artie Edward Goodwin Senior Way,
which is referred to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alder Person O'Shea and others have a proposed resolution
to call for hearings on safety risks of reducing number of crossing guards
and the option to return program to the Office of Emergency Management and Communications,
which is referred to a joint committee of the Committee on Pedestrian Traffic Safety
and the Committee on Public Safety.
Alder Person Taylor and Alder Person Yancey have a proposed ordinance
for an honorary street designation as Clark Gabe Williams Street,
which is referred to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alder Person O'Shea and Alder Person
All the person Mosley has proposed ordinance for correction of the City Council Journal of Proceedings of November 7th, 2023, which is referred to the Committee on Housing.
All the person Mosley has proposed ordinance for opening of a public way bounded by South Ashley Avenue, West 119th Street, South Morgan Street, and West 120th Street, which is referred to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
All the person Mosley also has proposed ordinance for amendment of the annual appropriation ordinance to transfer funds from the 21st Ward wage allowance to the automatic expense account for the year 2025, which is referred to the Committee on the Budget and Government Operations.
All the person Mosley also has proposed ordinance for approval of Platt of West Pullman Industrial Subdivision, which is referred to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
All the person Mosley also has proposed ordinance for an honorary street designation as Durham Boulevard, which is referred to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
All the person Rodriguez and others have proposed a resolution to call for support of immigrant communities, racial justice, and constitutional freedoms and opposition to military presence in Chicago, which is referred to the Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
All the person Rodriguez has proposed a resolution to call on Open Kitchens, Inc. to respect results of July 25, 2025 union election, which is referred to the Committee on Workforce Development.
All the person, Tobias and others have proposed a resolution to call for creation of a Chicago-Cook County Task Force to reduce violence against women, which is referred to the Committee on Public Safety.
All the person, Cicho Lopez, has proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code Section 4-60-023 to disallow additional package goods licenses on portions of West 18th Street, South Ada Street, and West 17th Street, which is referred to the Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
All the person, Cicho Lopez, and others have proposed a resolution for condemnation of practices by federal immigration enforcement agents that endanger children, urging of residents reporting of immigration enforcement misconduct, and calls for the federal and state action regarding ICE misconduct, which is referred to the Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
All the person, Fuentes, has proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code Section 4-60-022 to allow additional alcoholic liquor licenses on a portion of West Armitage Avenue, which is referred to the Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
All the person, Burnett, has proposed orders for permits for signed signboards at various locations, which are referred to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks, and Building Standards.
All the person, Irvin, has proposed ordinance for an honorary street designation as Reverend Larry Newman Way, which is referred to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alderman Irvin also has proposed orders for the issuance of permits for signed signboards at various locations, which are referred to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks, and Building Standards.
All the person, Tullefierro, has proposed orders for the issuance of permits for signed signboards at various locations, which are referred to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks, and Building Standards.
Alderman Burnett has proposed ordinance for parking meters at 911 through 923 West Forten Market, which is referred to the Committee on Traffic Persestation and Traffic Safety.
Alderperson, Telefiero, also has proposed ordinance for approval of a plan of NNN re-subdivision,
which is referred to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alderperson, Telefiero, also has proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code Section 4-60-022
to disallow additional alcoholic liquor licenses on a portion of West Chicago Avenue,
which is referred to the Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
Alderperson, Cruz, and others have proposed a resolution to call in the United States Congress
to pass Medicare for All Act of 2025, which is referred to the Committee on Health and Human Relations.
Alderperson, Cardona, has proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code Section 4-60-023
to allow additional package goods licenses on portions of West Diversity Avenue,
which is referred to the Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
Alderperson, Wagaspac, has proposed ordinance for approval of a plan of Wee Bash Riverfront Subdivision,
which is referred to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alderperson, Wagaspac, also has proposed ordinance for the use of permits for signed signboards at various locations,
which are referred to the Committee on zoning, landmarks, and building standards.
Alderperson, Wagaspac, also has proposed ordinance for designation of the property at 1840-1866 North Marcy Street
as a low-affordability community, which is referred to the Committee on Housing and Real Estate.
Alderperson, Rodriguez, has proposed ordinance for amendment of the annual appropriation ordinance
to transfer funds from the 33rd Ward wage allowance to the automatic expense account for the year 2025,
which is referred to the Committee on the Budget and Government Operations.
Alderperson, Rodriguez, Sanchez, also has proposed a resolution to call on federal government
to submit Universal Periodic Review Report for the year 2025,
which is referred to the Committee on Health and Human Relations.
Alderperson, Rodriguez, Sanchez, also has proposed a resolution for expression of support
and call for resignation of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. from position of Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, which is referred to the Committee on Health, which is referred to the Committee on Health.
Alderperson, two committees called Committee on Health and the Committee on the Budget and Government Operations.
The matters refer to the Committee on Committees and Rules.
Alderperson, Rodriguez, Sanchez, also has proposed ordinance for the establishment of a proactive rental inspection working group
to regulate inspections, certifications, testing, criteria, among other things, of rental housing in Chicago.
This is referred to the Committee on Housing and Real Estate.
Alderperson, Conway, has proposed orders for issues of permits for signed signboards at various locations,
which are referred to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks, and Building Standards.
Alderperson, Conway, also has proposed orders for amendment of Municipal Code, Section 4-60-022,
to allow additional alcohol and liquor licenses on a portion of North Elizabeth Street,
which is referred to the Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
Alderperson, Conway, also has proposed orders for an honorary street designation as Honorary Howard Fromm Way,
which is referred to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alderman, Cozada, has proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code, Section 5-12-130,
to require a 30-day written notice from landlord of rental agreement termination for tenancies under six months,
which is referred to the Committee on Housing and Real Estate.
Alderman, Cozada, also has proposed resolution for submission of a public question by referendum to Chicago voters,
if the Commission for Public Safety and Accountability should be changed from seven members to 11 members,
and associated a member of Municipal Code, Chapter 2-80, regarding commission on public safety and accountability,
which is referred to the Joint Committee, comprise the members of the Committee on Public Safety,
and the members of the Committee on Police and Fire.
Alderman, Cozada, also has proposed ordinance for opening of the public way along North Milwaukee Avenue and West Logan Boulevard,
founded by West Logan Boulevard, North Milwaukee Avenue, North Sacramento Avenue, North Linden Avenue,
North Linden Place, and North Kedzie Avenue, which is referred to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alderman, Cozada, also has proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code, Section 4-60-022,
to disallow additional alcoholic liquor licenses on a portion of West Belmont Avenue,
which is referred to the Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
Alderman, Cozada, also has proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code, Section 4-60-022,
to disallow additional alcoholic liquor licenses on a portion of West Armitage Avenue,
which is referred to the Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
Alderman, Cozada, also has proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code, Section 4-60-022,
to disallow additional alcoholic liquor licenses on a portion of North Elston Avenue,
which is referred to the Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
Alderman, Cozada, has proposed resolution to call for hearings with Commonwealth Edison
on infrastructure of future energy use in Chicago,
which is referred to the Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy.
Alderman, Cozada, and others have proposed resolution to call for hearings
on installation of slot machines at Chicago airports,
which is referred to a joint committee comprised of the members of the Committee on Finance
and the members of the Committee on Aviation.
Alderman, Cozada, has proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code, Section 2-152-410,
to increase maximum age to receive initial appointment as probationary career service officer
to 55 years old, which is referred to the Committee on Police and Fire.
Alderman, Cozada, and Alderman, Cozada, have proposed resolution
to call an Illinois General Assembly to enact legislation to authorize Chicago re-amortization
of public pension debt as part of a comprehensive pension refinancing strategy,
which is referred to the Committee on Finance.
Alderman, Cozada, has proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code, Section 3-43-030,
to prohibit increase in tax on bottled water without two-thirds vote by city council,
which is referred to the Committee on Finance.
Two committees called the Committee on Finance and the Committee on the Budget.
The matter is referred to the Committee on Committees and Rules.
Alderman, Cozada, and Villegas also has a proposed resolution
for amendment of the City Council Rules of Order and Procedure
by modifying Rules 33, 41, and 46 to require legislation substitute documents
and direct introductions to be made electronically available to the public
not less than one hour before a city council vote, which is referred to the Committee on Committees and Rules.
Alderman, Cozada, and Villegas also has a proposed resolution to call on the Illinois General Assembly
to enact legislation or authorize the City Council to change Chicago Municipal Election Day
to match State of Illinois, which is referred to the Committee on Committees and Rules.
Alderman, Cozada, and others have a proposed resolution to call for annual subject matter hearings
on parties impacted by tenants' rights to purchase pilot programs,
which is referred to the Committee on Housing and Real Estate.
Alderman, Cozada, and others have a proposed ordinance for an honorary street designation
as Buddy Bear Way, which is referred to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alderman, Cozada, and others have a proposed ordinance for an honorary street designation
as Brad Cummings Way, which is referred to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alderman, Cozada, and others have a proposed ordinance for an honorary street designation
as St. Mary of Providence Way, which is referred to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alderman, Cozada, and others have a proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code Title II
by modifying sections 2-78-120 and 2-56-030 to modify powers and duties
of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability and Inspector General
regarding investigations against members of the police department
and other city bodies, which is referred to a joint committee comprised of –
Rules.
Which is referred to a joint committee of police and fire and immigrant and refugee –
Two committees have been called, the Joint Committee and the Committee on Committees and Rules.
The matter is referred to the Committee on Committees and Rules.
Alderperson Vasquez also has a...
The chair recognizes Alderman Wagesbeck.
Could the clerk repeat who called that for rules?
That was, I believe, Silverstein. Can we just double-check?
No, that was Alderman Tavares.
Okay, thank you. Thank you, Alderman Wagesbeck.
Alderman Villegas, excuse me, Alderman Wagesbeck has also proposed a resolution to call for hearings to examine the city's methodology for determining settlement budgets and how the Chicago Police Department is addressing trends to prevent future misconduct.
It was referred to a Joint Committee of the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Public Safety.
Alderman Wagesbeck also has proposed orders for amendment of Municipal Code Chapter 2-29 by adding a new Section 2-29-100,
requiring all city departments, delegate agencies, and contractors of OEMC to report all interactions related to ICE, which is referred to the Committee on Public Safety.
Alderman Wagesbeck and Alderman Wagesbeck have proposed a resolution to call on the Illinois Congressional Delegation
for investigation of every instance of potential misconduct by Department of Homeland Security and other deputized agents in Chicago,
which is referred to the Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
Alderman Wagesbeck has proposed orders for amendment of Municipal Code Section 4-60-0,
to disallow additional package goods licenses on a portion of North Nagel Avenue,
which is referred to the Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
Alderman Wagesbeck also has proposed orders for the issuance of permits for signed signboards at various locations,
which are referred to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks, and Building Standards.
Alderman Wagesbeck has proposed orders for the issuance of permits for signed signboards at various locations,
which are referred to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks, and Building Standards.
Alderman Wagesbeck also has proposed orders for amendment of Municipal Code Section 4-60-022
to disallow additional alcoholic liquor licenses on a portion of North Rush Street and East Oak
Street, which is referred to the Committee on License and Consumer Protection. Otherperson
Riley also has a proposed resolution to call for hearings on the installation of automatic
defibrillators in all Chicago Housing Authority senior buildings, which is referred to the Committee
on Health and Human Relations. Otherperson Knutson has a proposed ordinance for amendment of
municipal code section 4-8-031 by replacing in its entirety and to establish regulations for
dog-friendly retail food establishments, which is referred to the Committee on License and Consumer
Protection. Otherperson Lawson has a proposed ordinance for amendment of municipal code section 4-60-022
to allow additional alcoholic liquor licenses on a portion of North Sheffield Avenue, which is
referred to the Committee on License and Consumer Protection. Otherperson Gardner has a proposed
resolution for condemnation of violence and intimidation against individuals for political
or religious beliefs, which is referred to the Committee on Public Safety. Otherperson Gardner
and others have a proposed resolution for condemnation of acts of violence, intimidation,
or harassment targeting individuals on the basis of political or religious beliefs, which is
referred to the Committee on Public Safety. Otherperson Martin and others have a proposed
ordinance for amendment of municipal code by NextGen Student Committee on Public Safety to enhance
existing community spaces for youths in the grades of 6 through 12, which is referred to the Committee
on Public Safety. Otherperson Martin has a proposed ordinance for amendment of municipal code,
Chapter 4-232, by modifying sections and replacing in entirety Section 4-232-200, requiring signage
and disclosures for commercial garages, which is referred to the Committee on License and Consumer
Protection. Otherperson Martin and others have a proposed ordinance for amendment of municipal code,
Title IX, by adding News Chapter 9-109 to establish Parking Alternative Response Pilot Program,
which is referred to the Committee on Public Safety. Otherperson Manaha Hoppenworth has a proposed
ordinance for amendment of the annual appropriation ordinance to transfer funds from the 48th Ward,
automatic expense account to the wage allowance account for the year 2025, which is referred to
the Committee on the Budget and Government Operations. Otherperson Hatton has a proposed
ordinance for amendment of municipal code, Section 4-68023, to disallow additional package goods
licenses on a portion of North Clark Street, which is referred to the Committee on License and Consumer
Protection. Otherperson Hatton also has a proposed ordinance for amendment of municipal code, Section 4-68023,
to disallow additional packaging goods licenses on a portion of North Clark Street, which is referred to
the Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
All the person had and also has proposed orders for amendment of the annual appropriation
ordinance to transfer funds from the 49th Ward's automatic expense account to the wage
allowance account for the year 2025, which is referred to the Committee on the Budget
and Government Operations.
All the person had and also has proposed orders for amendment of Municipal Code Section 4-60-023
to allow additional package licenses to a portion of North Clark Street, which is referred
to the Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
All the person had and also has a proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code Chapter 10-28
by modifying various sections to establish partial year outdoor dining street permit option
and full year option in the 44th, 47th, and 49th Ward's as referred to the Committee on Transportation
and the Public Way.
All the person had and also has proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code Chapter 10-28
by modifying various sections to establish full year and partial year outdoor dining street
permit options, which is referred to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alderman Fuentes has proposed ordinance for amendment of Municipal Code Section 2-78-120
regarding WCO jurisdiction amendments, which is referred to the Joint Committee on Immigrant
and Refugee Rights and Committee on Police and Fire.
Your Honor, that concludes the presentation of all the medic introductions.
Very well.
Thank you.
For the approval of the journal, Alderman Mitchell.
Mr. President, I'm not aware of any corrections to the journal from the July 16, 2025 meeting
and move that it be approved.
Hearing no objections.
So ordered, for reasons stated in Rule 59, Alderwoman Nicole Lee has asked to participate in the
remaining of the meeting remotely.
Madam Clerk, can we confirm that Alderwoman Lee is with us online?
Alderwoman Lee, are you there?
Can you hear me?
Yes.
Alderwoman Lee is there.
Thank you.
Well, can I get a motion for the approval?
So moved.
It's been moved.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
Any opposed, say nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Now, for unfinished business.
Oh, one moment, please.
The chair recognizes Alderman Irvin.
Thank you, Mr. President.
During the introduction of ordinances, there was an ordinance from Alderman Cazada that was
in relation to a referendum that did not go to the proper committee.
I'm going to ask if he would mind sending it to the Committee on Committees and Rules.
He may not have been aware that those are heard by the Committee of the Whole, opposed
to the Committee on Public Safety and Police and Fire, which I think it was referred to.
Alderman, because the committee has already been called, if you call for another committee,
according to our rules, then that's two committees called, which then will send it to Rules.
No, no, no.
I'm asking if he would adjust his committee.
I wanted to ask you.
I can't talk to him, so I'm asking you to ask him to refer it to the right committee.
That's all, sir.
Yeah, at this point, it is too late.
He would have to re-refer it.
Okay.
Very well.
It's okay, but thank you.
The chair recognizes Alderman Mitchell for unfinished business.
Mr. President, I'm aware of one piece of unfinished business, which was filed by both Alderman Lawson and Alderman Quinn, and I defer to them.
Very well.
The chair recognizes Alderman Lawson.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Substitute Ordinance SO 2024-0008918, which was deferred and ordered published at the July 16, 2025 City Council Meeting,
which concerns the amendment of the Municipal Code Titles 2 and 17 regarding conversion units and coach houses, is now before the body.
I now move to substitute SO 2024-0008918 with a new substitute ordinance as amended, which was distributed to all members electronically on Tuesday.
Very well.
I'm hearing no objections, then so order.
Now for the substitute for SO 2024-0008918, which is now before us, Alderman Quinn would like to open the debate.
And then, of course, Alderman Lawson has requested to close.
Very well.
The chair recognizes Alderman Quinn.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I stand in support of this revised ordinance and applaud the many voices that came to the table to make it happen.
To our friends in labor, I'm thrilled you're a part of this initiative.
I feel this revised ordinance better represent Chicago's values by lifting up our labor unions and workers.
I will always stand by an ordinance that encourages local hiring and fair wage standards.
Chicago is a union town, and including our labor unions in this process was critical.
Thank you to the many labor organizations that work to move this proposal forward.
I also want to recognize and thank Alderman Bennett Lawson.
I appreciate your collaboration and partnership to get us to where we are today.
What we achieved is not something we see every day, two sides coming together to find common ground, to reach a solution that works for everyone.
Bennett, I applaud your efforts.
I believe this ordinance reflects the needs of all of our 77 communities.
I trust my colleagues to know what's best for their residents and their wards.
I will be supporting this revised ADU ordinance and withdrawing my Rule 41.
I hope my colleagues will do the same.
Thank you.
Thank you.
The chair recognizes Alderman Sposado.
Does Alderman Sposado still wish to be recognized?
I'm sorry.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I want to thank both my colleagues here.
This is the way things should work.
There was a huge difference between them.
They worked it out to a point that everybody could agree, I would hope, or pretty close to that.
So I thank both you guys for working together to resolve this.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Alderman Sposado.
Does anyone else wish to speak to this item?
Seeing no other hands, the chair recognizes Alderman Lawson.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I will be brief.
I think I have talked to all of you in this room at least once, if not multiple times, about this ordinance.
It's something I introduced on my first day as an Alderman as a value statement and what I can do to help with my colleagues bring balanced development to every neighborhood of the city.
And I think in working last summer and this summer to hear the concerns of our colleagues, to craft something that is impactful but still represents the character and protects the fabrics of neighborhoods and lifts up labor is really, really important.
And I think we have an opportunity.
I think we have an opportunity with apprenticeship to look at ways that we can include young people, learners, diverse contractors, small contractors, in coach house construction.
And I'm determined to make sure that we're connecting those qualified contractors with the homeowners, the property owners that want to build coach houses, because that's an asset that will benefit our city.
A lot of the space we're using for this is existing built space.
It's the upstairs attic, the basement, the upstairs office above a store, the back storeroom.
This ordinance is a city-wide ordinance and a huge expansion.
Every multi-unit district in this city is now ADU eligible.
Every business and commercial zone in this city is ADU eligible.
And we have extended our pilot in single-family zones to allow for that gentle density where it was not previously allowed.
And so I look forward to working with my colleagues going forward in a way to identify those areas that we're going to include in the expanded new pilot.
I want to thank everybody for their work on this.
Like I said, I think this is something that is very impactful.
It will bring hundreds of new units, hopefully a year, but in ways that you may not even notice in a neighborhood.
I've also given my commitment to a lot of people that if you feel overrun over a certain time, we will fix it.
I don't think you will.
I think we have guardrails that are in place.
We have the reporting that's in place so that we understand where we're being impactful.
And then also thanks to Alderwoman Dowell, Chairwoman Dowell, we are going to look at ways to assist low and moderate income homeowners to add these values.
This supports multigenerational living.
It helps stabilize our neighborhoods, helps people pay their property taxes, pay their bills, keep grandma close or the kids closer.
And, again, I just really appreciate everyone's support on this.
With that, Mayor, I would move for a roll call vote.
Very well.
There's a motion for the passage of this substitute item, and there's a request for a roll call vote.
Members, please use your e-vote application as the clerk prepares the application at this time.
It's coming.
Okay, voting is now open.
The voting is now open.
Please use your device to cast your vote.
Okay, I will now call on those who have not yet cast their vote.
Alderman Beal?
Yep.
Alderman Beal is a yes.
Alderwoman Lee?
Alderman Lee is a yes.
Alderwoman Lee is a yes.
Alderman Moore?
Alderman Moore?
Alderman O'Shea.
Alderman O'Shea is a yes.
Alderwoman Tabaris?
Yes.
Alderwoman Tabaris is a yes.
Alderwoman Scott?
Not present in chambers.
Alderman Burnett?
Alderman Burnett is a yes.
Alderwoman Rodriguez-Sanchez?
Aye.
Alderwoman Rodriguez-Sanchez is a yes.
Alderman Conway?
Alderman Quesada?
100% aye.
Alderman Quesada is a yes.
Alderman Sposado?
Alderman Sposado is a yes.
Alderwoman Silverstein?
Yes.
Alderwoman Silverstein is a yes.
Alderman Moore?
Alderwoman Scott?
Alderman Conway?
Voting is now closed.
There are 46 yeas, zero nays.
This motion passes.
Alderman Mitchell on a motion to reconsider.
Mr. President, motion to reconsider the vote.
All those in favor of the reconsideration of this vote signify by saying aye.
Any opposed say no.
This motion fails.
Alderman Mitchell, anything else?
I am not aware of any further pieces of-
Very well.
Thank you, Alderman Mitchell.
Now for miscellaneous business, Alderman Mitchell.
I'm aware of three items of miscellaneous business.
The first piece of miscellaneous business was filed by Alderman Martin, and I defer to him.
Very well.
The chair recognizes Alderman Martin.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
At the May 2025 City Council meeting, I introduced 02025-0017572, which concerns regulations involving security deposits and move-in fees.
I am seeking to re-refer this item from the Committee on Committees and Rules to the Committee on Housing and Real Estate as I continue to meet with key stakeholders, both within and outside of city government, to revise this proposal.
I move passage of this re-referral by the first most favorable roll call vote in the Committee on Finance and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
Yeah.
Alderman Mitchell, I'm sorry.
Alderman Martin, the first thing we have to do is to discharge it.
Oh, my apologies.
I move to discharge this item.
All those in favor of the discharging of this particular item signify by saying aye.
Any opposed say nay.
The opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Now your motion.
Now I move to re-refer this item from the Committee on Committees and Rules to the Committee on Housing and Real Estate.
Very well.
Does anyone wish to speak to the re-referral?
I should have asked that first.
All right.
Seeing no hands, there's a motion on the floor for the re-referral of this item.
All those in favor signify by saying aye.
Any opposed say nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Are there other items?
There's a second item.
Alderman Mitchell.
A piece of miscellaneous business was filed by Alderman Ramirez, and I defer to her.
Chair recognizes Alderman Ramirez.
Say it again.
Not very close.
Okay, great.
Well, I can only hope to follow the footsteps of the last two alders.
First, I want to discharge the Rules Committee from further consideration of 02025-0016697 concerning the amendment of Municipal Code Chapter 2-31 at Title 17 regarding the environmental cumulative impacts of pollution on historically disadvantaged areas by a roll call vote.
Very well.
There's a motion to discharge this particular item, and there's a roll call.
request for the discharge.
Are you okay with a voice vote or do you wish to roll call?
All right.
Well, there's been a call for a roll call either way.
All right.
So the item for discharge, does there anyone want to speak to this item before we vote
on it?
But this is a discharge.
Yep.
All right.
Okay.
The chair recognizes Alderman Villegas.
Mr. Chairman, thank you.
I, my only comment is that now that my colleague has agreed to continue dialogue with those
folks and those that have interest in this, I really appreciate that.
And I think we can get to a spot where at the end of the day, we can get really a significant
bill that deals with the issues that you're trying to deal with.
So thank you for the willingness to continue dialogue.
Very well.
The chair recognizes Alderman Dow.
Thank you.
I just want to ask the Alderman, where are you sending this once we discharge it?
I'm sending it to zoning committee.
All right.
Any other questions or anyone else wish to speak to this motion?
All right.
There's a motion on the floor to discharge this particular item and a roll call vote has
been requested.
Members of the city council, please use your e-vote application to record your vote as soon
as the clerk has it ready.
Voting is now open.
The voting is now open.
Please use your e-device to cast your vote.
Thank you.
Okay.
I'll now call on those who have not yet cast their vote.
Alderman Hopkins, not present in chambers.
Alderwoman Lee.
Yes.
Alderwoman Lee is a yes.
Alderman Moore.
Alderman O'Shea.
Alderman O'Shea is a no.
Alderwoman Taylor, not present in chambers.
Alderwoman Tabaris.
No.
Alderwoman Tabaris is a no.
Alderwoman Scott, not present in chambers.
Alderman Burnett.
Alderman Burnett is a yes.
Alderwoman Rodriguez Sanchez.
Aye.
Alderwoman Rodriguez Sanchez is a yes.
Alderman Conway.
Alderman Cassata.
Alderman Cassata is a yes.
Aldermanaled Spezato.
Alderman Spezato is a yes.
Alderwoman Nugent.
Alderwoman Nugent is a no.
Alderwoman Silverstein.
No.
Alderwoman Silverstein is a no.
No. Alderman Hopkins. Alderman Moore. Alderman Taylor. Alderman Scott. Alderman Conway. Voting is now closed.
There are 31 yeas, 13 nays. This motion passes. You only need 26 votes for the discharge of the committee.
Does there need to be a motion to reconsider for this one? Yes. Alderman Mitchell, in a motion to reconsider?
All those in favor of the reconsideration of this vote, signify by saying aye. All those opposed, say no.
No.
Now the chair recognizes this motion. Thank you. The chair now recognizes Alderman Ramirez.
I now move to re-refer 02025-0016697 to Committee on Zoning Landmarks and Building Standards by the same vote as the vote on the discharge.
Very well. There's a motion on the floor to re-refer this committee to the Committee on Zoning.
With the same vote that just occurred. Hearing no objections, then so ordered.
Thank you. Alderman Mitchell, on our final item.
The third piece of miscellaneous business was filed by Alderman Vasquez, and I defer to him.
Thank you. The chair recognizes Alder Vasquez.
Thank you, Mr. President. We'll be holding it. We're happy to go home. We're holding it.
Okay.
Yep.
So this item is held. Alderman Mitchell, is there anything else?
Except for the ordinance setting the date and time for the next meeting, I'm not aware of any further miscellaneous business.
Farewell for the date and time of the next meeting, Alderman Mitchell.
I've handed up an ordinance to the clerk setting the date and time of the next meeting.
Mr. Clerk, could you please read the ordinance?
Yeah.
Be ordained by the City Council of the City of Chicago.
Section 1.
The next regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Chicago shall be held on Thursday, October 16, 2025,
beginning at 10 o'clock a.m. in the Council Chamber in the second floor, City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois.
Section 2.
This ordinance shall take effect and be enforced from and after its passage.
Alderman Mitchell.
The 16th.
Thursday, October 16, at 10 o'clock a.m.
All right, Mr. President, I move passage in the omnibus.
Hearing no objections, so order for the omnibus.
Alderman Mitchell.
I move that matters in the omnibus be passed by the first most favorable roll call vote by the Committee on Finance
and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
Hearing no objections, so order.
Alderman Mitchell, on a motion to adjourn.
There being no further business before there's body, I move that we adjourn.
Hearing no objections, so order the meeting is adjourned.
Thank you all.