Good morning committee will come back to order.
My apologies for our, our late start.
Uh, has all who, who wish to make public comment signed up.
Sergeant, ours. We've got everybody. Uh, four. Okay.
Very well. We have four, uh, people
for public comment this morning.
Uh, beginning with, uh, Mr. George Blakemore, followed
by Patrick Cleary.
Thank you, uh, honorable, uh, Jason Irvy.
I, I, I, I beat up upon you
and I beat up on all the political, I call 'em hacks.
But you're getting ready to hear the public, uh, speak
for their three minutes.
And we have, uh, one, two
altimas present.
When we come down to speak, we expect to see, uh,
our, our ultimates.
Now, that's a reflection on you.
You, you are the chairman and,
and you supposed to, to let them know
that they have to be present.
Now, when the fire department come up, they're doing the,
they're getting paid and they're making their presentation.
They will be only be making their presentation for too all.
Now. You know, something is wrong here. Don't you all agree?
If you don't, you should. You should.
And the public comment period. Now, three minutes.
Where are the public? We all at four. Mr.
Blakemore is a failure. Mr. Irving is a failure.
All you and you farmers are failures too,
because you are citizens.
Even though you, you work for the county and the city.
You work for the city. You are a citizen.
So we all have to solve this problem.
It's a problem here, a real problem here.
So you feel like I'm a fireman.
I can't do nothing about it because I work.
You are still a citizen of this city.
Then you can see what I see.
You know these people Now, can't you see it?
Well, why are you silent? Because of your job money.
Why are you silent? We are all, each of us problem.
Let us stop this, Mr. Irving. Honorable. Let us stop it.
Let us stop this, Mr. Osha,
you got to stop it.
We got to stop it now.
Here come another one struggling in, in the, the,
when you wanna hear from the public, we are doing our job
because we are participating.
You all are, see this presentation
about the fire department, the racist fire department.
But, but where the, and the people, the people of the city
of Chicago, they're responsible too.
We are all responsible. Something.
Thank you for your comments, Mr. Blakemore.
Just, uh, just as a point of reference, uh, these items are,
these, uh, presentations are online for everyone to see.
Many cases, uh, alderman are watching, uh, your comments,
uh, and doing this, uh, while they are, uh, doing, uh,
other duties in their respective community.
So we shall continue.
Uh, next we'll have, uh, Patrick Cleary,
followed by Dennis White,
Ms. Jackson.
Uh, that's one.
So please do, please refrain from these
outbursts and comments.
Uh, otherwise we'll have you re removed.
Please, you may proceed. Mr. Cleary.
Good morning. My name's Patrick Cleary.
I'm the President of the Chicago Firefighters Union,
and I'm here to speak about the recent
Inspector General Report.
The Office of the Inspector General published a report
recently whereby the CFD proclaimed
that they couldn't provide the data showing response times
for CFD emergency vehicles.
The CFD is provided the same response
for five reports from 2013 through 2025.
The CFD claims that they are unable to collect response data
and continues to mislead the public
because they don't want to admit
that their response times do, do not meet NFPA standards,
and that there is a growing need
for more ambulances in the city of Chicago every day.
Chicago's emergency medical services to thousands
of 9 1 1 calls ranging from serious trauma incidents
to cardiac arrest and other medical emergencies.
According to recent city data,
Chicago averages over 1500 emergency medical calls per day.
A number that has steadily increased in recent years.
Despite the search, the number
of available ambulances has not grown at the same pace.
Currently, there are only 80 ambulances in operation serving
a population of nearly 2.7 million residents,
not including commuters and visitors.
This imbalance between demand
and available resources has serious consequences
during peak hours.
Ambulances are often tied up on other runs,
forcing dispatchers to send units from,
uh, neighboring areas.
There are many times where the alarm office is calling out
for ambulances, and we have none available.
They're calling the hospitals requesting if anyone can come
available to take and runs.
This problem has strained the city's paramedics
who face increasing workloads and burnout.
Chicago's ambulance shortage is not just an
issue of convenience.
It's a matter of public safety
and public health, ensuring that every resident, no matter
what neighborhood they live in,
that they can count on emergency care,
is a fundamental responsibility of our city.
Increasing ambulance capacity is an investment not only in
lives saved, but in a stronger, safer Chicago for everyone.
Therefore, I'm requesting during this budget hearing
that you increase funding
to purchase at least 20 more ambulances,
especially in the high demand districts.
And if you can't afford to purchase 20 ambulances,
I would request that you purchase five per year
until we get 20 more.
We need it at least a hundred ambulances.
And I'm respectfully asking you guys to
provide the ambulance service services to, to our citizens.
We, we drastically need this. Thank you for my,
For allowing me to speak.
Thank you, Mr. Cleary.
Next we have, uh, Mr. Dennis White, followed
by Jessica Jackson.
Good morning. I see
1, 2, 3, 3 alderman here.
In a public speaking, we see three blacks,
four blacks here in the chamber.
Public safety is the safety for the public,
not the safety of 150 police detail for one person.
And that's Mayor Brandon Johnson.
If you have 8,000 police officers that patrolled the city
of Chicago, populated of 2.7 million plus the one,
now let's add about five 10 more million of undocumented
that's in the city of Chicago.
There's a problem. And then you have mask liberals
that don't live in Chicago.
They live in down Grove Elk Grove Village, Naperville.
They live everywhere,
but they don't experience what's going on on the south side.
They don't, uh, experience what's on the west side.
They don't only experience what's South Shore, Austin,
Auburn Gresham, Inglewood.
They don't experience that. But they come here
with masks on they face talking about the police don't
deserve no overtime,
but they don't live in a reality
where black people live in reality.
And that is crime.
So if you want to, if you tell
Brandon Johnson, alderman Irving, Hey, look, we can't,
we can't go by your plans, then you going to have you,
he going to have to do something about it.
But if he wanna put, he don't care about our black life,
he care about his black life
with 150 police officer in the detail.
And I'm going to say, I'm gonna address something
to you, alderman Irving.
I don't know you that well, however, you the chairman,
you all could say no
whenever you want to, to Brandon Johnson.
Now he's in trouble with $3.2 million Ralph hints.
So that sound like impeachable to me.
But the thing about it is,
he don't care about nobody but himself.
He don't care about nobody but the illegal and the police.
I'm gonna speak for the police and stuff.
It's that they are working tire tirelessly.
And I got, I see a couple of ormen who ain't listening to
what I'm saying right now.
So, you know, we gonna wait until when
that election season come
and these 50 seats gonna be replaced.
It will be replaced,
and the head of that snake will be replaced
as Brandon Johnson because he don't care about the citizen,
he don't care about the voter.
He only care about what's in his pocket, CTU
and these illegal aliens and stuff.
And it's time for us to get them out too.
Thank you for your comments.
Uh, our last speaker, uh, this morning will be,
uh, Ms. Jessica Jackson.
You got Okay, sir, I'm good.
You may proceed
Again.
I'm going to address the, uh, aldermen that are here
and the people in the audience.
Everybody in this room, everybody in this room,
with the exception of maybe that lady right there,
and this lady right here, know about my situation
with my property and how the public administrators
and Cook County judges are collaborating to steal property.
Y'all all know, y'all know I've met
with several aldermen in here
and have shown them the fraudulent paperwork that the judges
and the public administrators are doing
to steal my property.
So there's no doubt that that's happening, right?
And I have to sit around, over and over again
and hear idiotic things like that's the city,
that's the county, that's the county.
That's the city when we know that they work together.
Now, everybody loves the firemen. Everybody love firemen.
And you all have heard me at this mic advocate
for whatever you all come here talking about
your contracts or whatever.
I'm asking you all to send me the same
courtesy as a citizen.
As a matter of my public safety.
These are building code violations from the city.
A full report April of 2022.
I've been trying to get my property fixed since then.
The public administrators are telling my basement
tenant to squat.
She has been squatting since February, 2023.
They are not allowing me to fix my property.
That can lead to all type of health hazards, all type
of safety hazards.
But the only thing that matters, right, is
that y'all don't go against the judges.
You don't go against the public administrator.
So you sit here and watch citizens like myself, property
and safety be in jeopardy.
So when that building burns down,
and if I die in that big, uh, fire,
I only ask one thing.
And same thing I said to the police. Same thing.
I said to the Cook County Commissioners, be decent enough.
Please be decent enough to tell my children
that your mother got killed,
because we wouldn't come and help her.
She kept asking us to help her,
but we wouldn't all the way until
I got domestic violence charges where that, uh, person,
the tenant has tried to attack me and my daughter.
We took it to 5 5 5 West Harrison.
The public administrators intervened on that
and wouldn't let that go forward.
Just like they won't let me get my building fixed.
So I'm gonna say it again. When y'all find me dead,
either beaten or in my building,
burnt down the ashes, remember?
'cause I did go to the Inspector General. Just
Thank you for your comments, uh, committee
with Stand at Ease while, uh, OPSA joins us.
Okay? We will begin, uh, today with the Office
of Public Safety Administration, we'll have opening, uh,
overview from our, uh, director
of kofa, uh, Janus Soda Gray, followed by, uh,
opening statement and introduction of members
of the OPSA team
and the diocese, as well as those that are in the box, uh,
by executive Director Patterson,
uh, director Gray, you may proceed.
Chairman Irvin Alder, persons and Guest. Good morning.
My name is Janice Oda Gray, chief Administrative Officer
for the City Council Office of Financial Analysis.
The proposed FY 26 budget
for OPSA totals 1 35 0.71 million,
representing a decrease of 16.43 million from FY 25
OPSA is 51% corporate fund supported with the remainder,
primarily from other local funds and grants.
Spending. Overview personnel services,
39.67 million non-personnel services,
96.04 million total FTEs
373.
A decrease of 10 positions from FY
25 appropriations.
Contractual services represents the largest share
of spending, followed by personnel services.
Personnel services saw the largest
increase in categorical appropriations
when comparing the FY 25 ordinance
to the FY 26 recommendation funding sources.
OPSA is 84% locally funded,
of which 51% is corporate funded.
With the additional local funding categories being
Emergency Communications fund, both airport funds, midway
and O'Hara, all local funds were decreased in the FY 26
recommendation except Midway Airport
that remained flat year over year.
All grant funding was lower in FY 26 than the previous year.
Historical appropriations, OPSA is relatively new
and created under the prior administration in 2020, starting
with a budget of 33.45 million
and increasing yearly until 2025.
From 21 through 24 OPSA appropriations
rose at an average of 3% annually
less than the citywide average.
The FY 26 recommended proposal shows a decrease
of 16 point 43 million.
Staffing, O PSA's budgeted headcount has been relatively
consistent from 21 through 25.
Staffing levels were reduced
by 10 FTE in the current FY 26 proposal,
with a decline being the result of the elimination
of timekeepers offset
by an increase in the Inquiry Aid title.
This concludes my report for the Office
of Public Safety Administration.
Thank you, director Ode Gray. Director Patterson.
Good morning, chairman Erwin
and Distinguished Alder Persons.
My name is E Patterson
and I am the Executive Director of the Office
of the Public Safety Administration.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear
before you today to present OPSA FY 26 budget proposal.
Joining me today are Ante Smith, deputy Director
of Finance Administration, Dan Casey,
managing Deputy Director of Information Technology,
joy Brown, director of Human Resources, Tenaya Williams,
managing Deputy Director of Human Resources.
Natalie Gutierrez, managing Deputy Director
of Finance Administration.
Kevin Patter, deputy Director
of Public Safety Contracts, Oklahoma.
Dennis Barnes, director of Finance Administration.
Leon Lee, deputy Director of Video
and Analytic Systems and cybersecurity.
Dennis Bega, deputy Director
of IT Infrastructure and operations.
Sandra Alba, general Counsel, Clara Sanchez,
medical Administrator.
Iris Archula, deputy Director of General Support Services,
toma Tomas Mullein, director of Grants Management.
And Kevin Daniel, director of Facilities.
Over the past several months, I've had the pleasure
of meeting with many of you,
and I truly appreciate those thoughtful
and candid conversations today.
I'd like to briefly outline O PSA's role
and share a few key highlights
of the progress our office has made so far.
So let's start talking by what OPSA does.
The mission of OPSA is simple, yet vital.
We deliver the administrative services
that allow Chicago's public safety agencies
to focus on their core missions of keeping Chicagoan safe.
We provide the shared services
that help power Chicago's public safety infrastructure,
managing critical functions such as finance,
human resources, procurement, technology,
facilities management, and medical services.
Chicago deserves public safety systems built
for the world we live in today that are modern,
efficient, and dependable.
O PSA's leading that transformation.
We're modernizing how the city supports police, fire
and OEMC by building smarter systems,
streamlining operations and investing where it counts.
Our FY 26 budget proposal directly supports the mayor's
protecting Chicago budget, which prioritizes public safety,
invests in our workforce, drives efficiencies
and strengthens the systems
that keep our city moving forward.
OPSA serves as the operational backbone of this vision,
ensuring our public safety infrastructure remains strong,
streamlined, and sustainable for all Chicagoans.
This budget reflects an ongoing commitment
to improve efficiencies
and deliver cost savings On the personnel side, the opi.
Since o PSA's creation
and FY 20, the office has focused on building an efficient
right size shared services agency.
OPSA began with 411 budgeted positions
early on, the office did a comprehensive review
of those positions, eliminated several duplicate positions,
and realigned O PSA's teams to better support police fire
and 9 1 1 operations.
Today, opsa headcount has been reduced
to 373 budgeted positions,
representing a 9% reduction in our overall workforce since
FY 20, even while incorporating additional timekeeping
staff to our headcount.
On the non-personnel side, our budget tells a similar story.
When OPSA was first established,
only personnel costs were included in the budget.
Beginning in FY 21 when non-personnel costs were added,
our budget expanded to support critical technology upgrades
and modernization efforts for public safety.
At its peak in FY 23, OPA
O PSA's budget reached approximately $180 million
to accommodate these essential investments
through right sizing
and efficiency efforts,
OPSA has significantly reduced its financial footprint.
Our proposed FY 26 budget of 135.7 million
represents nearly a 25% reduction since FY 23
and an 11% reduction as compared
to our current FY 25 allocation.
Since assuming this role five months ago,
I have focused on strengthening the accountability,
improving employee morale throughout OPSA
and rebuilding trust with our public safety partners.
In this short time, we've already delivered significant
results across multiple fronts.
For example, our medical section,
OPSA houses the department responsible
for ensuring CPD and CFD.
Applicants and members are medically
qualified to do their jobs.
Upon determining the department's operations
and efficacy were in need of reform,
I took decisive action to strengthen it.
The former medical director is no longer with the city,
and we have onboarded a new physician
through our Concentra contract, ensuring
uninterrupted service provision while we rebuild a more
robust, efficient medical section.
As many of you may know, an audit
of the OPSA medical unit was released last month.
That included a number of recommendations for improvement.
We take those findings
and recommendations from that report seriously,
and we are ready already working
to systemically implement those recommendations.
For example, we are in the process
of procuring a HIPAA compliance electronic medical record
system, streamlining workflows, clarifying responsibilities,
and collaborating directly with CPD
and CFD to ensure that our reforms align
with their operational needs.
OPSA is responsible
for managing the public safety technology that is deployed
to keep our community safe.
After years of delay, I'm pleased to report
that the new computer aided dispatch system
for 9 1 1 is back on track with a targeted goal to launch
before next summer.
OPSA also manages the Public Safety Training Center,
a cutting edge facility dedicated
to equipping first responders with the skills
and training necessary to protect
and serve our communities
to mitigate the liability risks arising from
visitors to that center.
I instituted a new liability waiver procedure
for all non-city visitors.
This is a small but targeted improvement
that strengthens oversight, manages risks,
and protects city operations.
In an effort to strengthen our internal OPSA employees
who are the heartbeat of our office's mission,
I've taken several steps to rebuild trust,
invest in our people,
and deliver disciplined results-driven management grounded
and accountability efficiency, and continuous improvement.
For example, for the first time in ops a's history,
I've established quarterly all staff meetings
to build transparency, improve communication,
and foster collaboration across every division.
I've also launched OPS a's first ever leadership development
series with monthly sessions designed
to reinforce critical practices for team leadership,
staff mentoring, and building a culture of accountability.
These initiatives over the last five months reflect my
commitment to rebuilding trust, investing in our people,
and delivering discipline results driven management grounded
and accountability efficiency and continuous improvement.
I have many aspirations for this office
and the impact that it will make.
I am building upon the foundation that was laid
by my predecessors since its inception.
OPSA has proactively advanced efficiency initiatives
and cost savings measures resulting in tens of millions
of dollars in cumulative savings.
But this isn't just about cutting costs,
it's about delivering strong public safety outcomes
through smarter technology, modernized infrastructure,
and streamlined operations
that benefit every Chicago neighborhood.
One example of delivering strong public safety outcomes
through technology is the CAD system.
As I noted earlier, the CAD project is set
to launch next year, but this isn't just an IT upgrade.
The CAD implementation represents a transformation in
how our first responders coordinate during emergencies.
Once live, it will improve response times
and coordination across police, fire,
and 9 1 1 operations, while simultaneously
reducing annual maintenance costs by up to $4 million.
In parallel with this effort,
we're also implementing the new next generation
9 1 1 system.
This upgrade will allow residents to text
to nine one one directly from their smartphones,
provide enhanced location accuracy for emergency calls,
and deliver faster, more reliable network communications
during crisis situations.
With the projected cost savings
of just over $2 million annually, the system is projected
to deliver a complete return on rete on investment in under
three years, while significantly enhancing public safety
capabilities to optimize
how first responders communicate while
fulfilling their core mission.
OPSA has rolled out a number of connectivity,
infrastructure, and communication enhancements.
For example, OPSA maintains more than 400 miles
of city owned fiber optic network,
which has eliminated our dependence on expensive
leased circuits.
This infrastructure investment has already saved taxpayers
$3.8 million since FY 21
with another projected 1.2 million in annual savings.
As we retire remaining legacy connections
beyond these network improvements,
we have comprehensively modernized the IT infrastructure
for C-P-D-C-F-D and OEMC.
These upgrades have strengthened our cybersecurity posture,
improved system reliability,
and enhanced disaster recovery capabilities,
all while generating 1.5
to $2 million in reoccurring annual savings.
OPSA has made reform so that first responders have more time
to fulfill their core missions.
For example, an FY 25 OPSA successfully deployed 4,000
smartphones A CPD Without increasing our telecom spend
to date, OPSA has successfully deployed a total
of nearly 14,000 smartphones that functions
as in-car computers for police officers
through our Samsung Decks mobile platform.
This strategic modernization has replaced outdated hardware
in police vehicles as a savings
of approximately $3,000 per car,
and approximately 2.5 to $3 million savings
and mobile costs while significantly enhancing
field efficiency.
We are also in the final stages
of procuring a new records management system
that will consolidate multiple legacy police reporting
systems into a single modern reporting platform.
This integration will enable officers
to complete more reports efficiently, allowing them
to spend more valuable time protecting
and serving Chicago residents.
On the fire side, we've outfitted several
of their conference rooms with technology
that enables their leadership
to meet regularly without the need
to drive from various locations throughout the city.
And just as we're improving how agencies meet
and collaborate, we're also transforming
how employees across essential supports
access essential support services.
Our new payroll ServiceNow portal replaces the old
paper-based system that required public safety employees
to travel to the public safety headquarters
building for payroll help.
Employees can now submit and track payroll questions online
from anywhere cutting walk-ins by more than 50%,
and giving our team more time to resolve issues quickly
and with more accountability.
These are not just abstract IT investments
or backend technology projects.
They represent tangible improvements
that modernize operations to enable first responders
to do their jobs more efficiently
while saving taxpayer dollars.
Beyond cost savings,
opsa is constantly exploring o opportunities
to generate new revenue streams through innovation
and technology implementation.
For example, we have created an event check-in app
that enables CPD
to accurately track special event deployments,
which CPD estimates will have the potential
to help them recover approximately $3 million in
reimbursements from large venues
that benefit from police presence.
We're currently rolling out a mobile ticket printing
initiative to replace
what historically have all often been illegible handwritten
citations with digital entries, improving accuracy
and compliance, while generating an estimated 5 million in
potential new annual revenue.
These tools exemplify opss comprehensive approach
to modernization, leveraging data
and innovation, not merely to save money,
but to also think creatively about leveraging underutilized
revenue opportunities.
In addition to delivering core shared services,
OPSA is committed to advancing equity both in how we operate
and in how we invest in public dollars.
As part of that work, we've made structural human resources
improvements to embed equity into our systems.
For example, OPSA supported the Chicago Fire Department in
hiring its first ever senior equity officer,
a dedicated leadership role focused on building a more
racially diverse and inclusive fire department.
We've also removed outdated employment barriers
that disproportionately impact applicants of color, creating
pathways for qualified candidates
who were previously excluded from careers in public safety.
Additionally, we launched the Salesforce Applicant
engagement portal, a technology advancement
that has cut applicant processing times by 34%
for CPD and 50% for CFD paramedics,
while improving transparency in the overall
applicant experience.
Finally, we opened the public safety employee help center,
providing public safety employees
and retirees with faster, more direct access to HR
and payroll services.
In conjunction with these HR changes,
we have renewed our commitment to community engagement,
making sure residents know about public safety career
opportunities, and have support to pursue them.
This fall, we partnered with multiple departments
to host a public safety community fair
where residents learn about current job openings
and were able to apply for them onsite using tablets.
We also joined Alderman Hall's Hope Huddle Center Fair
to present on becoming an outstanding city employee,
offering practical guidance
for Chicagoans interested in public service.
We are also helping open doors for small, local,
and diverse businesses, ensuring that minority
and women owned vendors have access to public safety
contracting opportunities and the support needed to compete.
On June 3rd, we participated in the annual Public Safety
Vendor outreach event
where more than 100 businesses connected
with current contractors learned about upcoming
opportunities and participated in workshops focused on
navigating the procurement process.
We also participated in the city's 2025 M-B-E-W-B-E
procurement symposium at Malcolm X College in September.
Whether it's jobs
or vendor opportunities, our goal is the same
to remove barriers, expand access,
and ensure chicagoans across all neighborhoods have a fair
chance to participate in
and benefit from public safety services and investments.
In conclusion, as we look ahead to FY 26,
our focus remains on modernizing
and improving efficiency in building a public safety
infrastructure that serves every Chicagoan.
We are proud of the progress that we've made,
and we know there's more work ahead
and challenges to overcome,
but we're moving with clear purpose, we're gaining momentum
with each initiative,
and we're on the right path forward
as we continue this work.
I want to reaffirm the value of OPSA.
As a shared service agency,
Chicago's public safety system is stronger
with one coordinated administrative backbone.
Centralizing functions such as human resources, procurement,
technology, and finance promotes consistency,
speeds up services and strengthens accountability.
It allows police, fire and OMC to stay focused on serving
and protecting while we provide the infrastructure
and support that make their work possible.
Thank you for the opportunity
to share our progress and our vision.
I'm excited for what's ahead
and I'm happy to answer whatever questions
you may have at this time.
Thank you. Uh, director Patterson.
Uh, we will start with, uh,
chairman do followed by Altman Riley.
I,
Uh, thank you, Mr.
Chairman. Good morning, director Patterson. Good morning.
Um, I will say the first thing I'm, uh, excited to see,
because this was something that was a concern
to me last year, was your focus on the, uh, medical section
of your department.
Um, I'm glad to see the change in the, uh, uh,
medical director.
Um, I think that was warranted
and, uh, I believe that the current changes you're,
you've discussed here on the implementation of that division
of your department are good steps.
Would you take about a minute or so
and just elaborate a little bit more about
how you're thinking about that division?
Certainly. So we're trying
to think comprehensively about this division
really towards the focus of, of helping to ensure
that our first responders return to their, their
public safety roles in a really healthy way that
pre prohibits like unnecessary harm for them
or for the public that they encounter.
So to do that, we're, we're working comprehensively
with the police department and the fire department.
We have already set up monthly, uh, meetings with them, um,
as a part of a new work group that is really aimed
to address every single concern
that was raised in the medical audit, as well
as really looking internally at our operations
and making sure that we are streamlining those operations,
whether they're more efficient, so that we can help
do better case management
and have a better opportunity to, uh, coordinate
with those departments to return officers
and firefighters, uh, sooner.
There's also a steering committee that we have established,
um, that it will be compromised
of department heads from impacted departments such
as the police department, the fire department, um,
the budget office, so that, that those two working groups
that we have formed with the police department
and the fire department, that kind
of holds us accountable when we report up to
that steering committee on our progress towards addressing
those issues raised in the audit.
Um, we are really thinking about this in terms of,
you know, what it looks like to have a more comprehensive
experience across the board so that the fire department
and the police department can equally benefit
from that coordination.
All right, thank you for that. The, um,
police department was here yesterday
and they mentioned that there was a reduction in the number
of, uh, staffers from the police department
who were on medical leave.
Uh, what is that number?
The current number for individuals
who were on medical leave for the police department from
The police department? I'm
gonna ask Claire Sanchez our medical administrative
to provide that number
Being Clara Sanchez Medical Administrator.
As of today, there's 778 police officers on medical leave.
Okay. A little bit of a difference in number,
but, uh, still in the same ballpark.
Okay. Um, and what is that number for the fire department
As of today? There's
249 members
of the fire department on a medical leave.
Okay. And in both cases,
those numbers are down from last year at this
time, accurate?
That's correct. Okay. So I think
Before you continue, uh,
will you say we're talking about medically, uh, does
that include injured on duty or not?
Injured on duty?
It would include both. It would, it includes both.
Uh, that is different than what we heard yesterday.
Okay. Well, how many are IOD versus, uh,
non IOD in both police and fire?
I can, we don't have that data today,
So we don't have the specific breakdown
of the IOD versus non IOD as it relates
to today's population.
But generally, as the medical audit indicated, the majority
of leaves are for, um, non IOD
for both departments.
Yeah. That we, that we understand.
We're just trying to get some numbers because if you can
provide that, uh, through the chair, the number that are
IOD medically off,
and those that are non IOD off,
uh, that would be appreciated. Chairman? Uh,
Yes. So the,
on the first number on the police department,
that includes both categories as well.
Okay. I'll take that through the chair. Right.
Um, you mentioned in your remarks, uh, director
that you were removing outdated employment barriers for
qualified candidates for the police and fire department.
Can you be more specific on what those
outdated employment barriers are?
Sure. So that would be, um, related to the, uh,
in part the background investigations
that our office conducted.
I think historically the parameters, uh, were, um,
such that it was preventing a larger disproportionate number
of otherwise qualified applicants
from being able to move forward.
So we've looked at modernizing kind of how we look at
that look back period to make sure
that it's more relevant and appropriate.
Um, and it also has a benefit of, uh, allowing folks
who previously would not have been able to move forward in
that position to be able to do so.
And then I'm gonna ask Joy Brown if there's any other
specific information she wanted to share,
And if she can give an example of what a look, an example
of the look back period, what that
Sure. So I think
what, uh, thank you. Uh, good morning.
Alderman Joy Brown, director of hr,
I think the executive director of Patterson was referring to
that look back, that look back window related to, uh,
criminal convictions and shortening
that time from seven years to five years.
Okay. Now,
when this department was created in, uh, 2001,
I believe the goal was to, it
Was FY 2020, I believe.
2021, right? Right. 2020, what
Did I say? 21, you
Said? 2001
Senioritis.
Um, the goal was to, uh,
bring together the functions of both departments
and to make those, uh, the positions in that department, uh,
civilian positions.
I don't think that that has been achieved a hundred percent.
So can you tell me how many sworn
positions there are in the department?
You mentioned your total department was what, four?
Uh, I believe we have 3 83 right now.
Uh, but that's budgeted
and we've got just under 300 that of, that are filled.
Um, of that number, I believe we have a 65
sworn police officers.
That's gonna be a combination of officers
who are on full duty and limited duty.
Uh, that's a combination of police and fire.
Can I get more slate? I,
I stand corrected. Those are
the, those folks as a, just a clarification,
are detailed to ops A, they are not on ops a's head count,
but there are 65 sworn police officers
who are detailed to OPSA.
Okay. Can I get through the chair a, uh, breakdown of
what those positions are
and how long those positions have been, uh, filled
by those sworn officers?
Sure. Yeah.
Um, I noticed that you are, um,
you're shifting emergency communications funds from OPSA
to OEMC.
Um, what services is OEMC gonna provide, uh,
that you used to provide?
I wanna ask, uh, ante Smith to take the budgeting
question, and then if we need other information
that Dan to step in
Ante Smith, deputy Director of Finance.
Quick question. Um, alderman Alderwoman Dow, you said
that there were money that shifted from OPSA to OMC
Right, and the emergency communication fund dollars.
So OMC has their own budget
for the emergency communication fund,
and so does PSA,
no money has been shifted from one budget to another.
Okay. Thought I saw that.
Uh, can you speak to the status, uh,
give us an update on the hiring
of mental health professionals
for the police department and the fire department?
Sure. I'm gonna ask, uh,
joy Brown provide some insight on that.
I'm sorry, alderman, can you repeat
Your question?
Can you give me, uh, some information on the status
of hiring mental health professionals
for the police department and the fire department?
Sure. So as far as, um,
the fire department, we hired a,
sorry, my binder is pretty big.
Uh, we'll start with police.
So as far as police, mental health clinicians, um,
they are staffed with 16.
Currently, they're six, uh, vacant.
And so they are going undergoing the hiring process for, uh,
additional police mental health clinicians.
And they're not, uh, subject to the limited hiring freeze.
They're under the consent decree. So, no, no.
And for the police fire department,
Those were the, that was the police department.
So as far as the fire department is concerned, they have
clinical therapists that work for their department already.
All right. And on that question I had about the sworn
officers, I just wanted to be clear.
I want a breakdown of what positions are occupied
by the sworn officers.
I want to know if they're limited duty, um,
if they're on limited duty,
and how long that position has been held by
that particular officer.
Okay. Uh,
I have some other questions, uh, chairman,
but I'll come back for a round.
Two wraps.
Very well. Alderman Reilly, followed by,
um, alderman Quinn.
Anything. Oh, good. Alderman, uh, osha, you have anything?
Vote? PSA? No. No. Yes. No, no. You, you're after.
I was just letting you know you're
after, uh, alderman Riley.
Thank you chairman. Uh, and good morning.
Uh, appreciate you, um, getting, uh, the answers to my,
my memo, my budget memo, uh, to us before the hearing today.
Thank you. Um,
and I wanted to pick up, um, just briefly on
where my colleague Alderman, um, Dowell left off, um,
specifically talking about the timekeeper positions.
Um, in past budget hearings, say, you know, back in 2023,
there were 79, uh, sworn officers doing timekeeping duties.
Um, and it's my understanding that
of the 45 pos in 2024 doing timekeeper duties, nine
of the police officers performing timekeeping functions
were in limited duty status.
Uh, none on administrative duty for non-medical reasons, uh,
which could mean something like desk duty due
to COPA investigation, et cetera.
Comparing the March, 2025 data to the October, 2024 data,
42 out of the 45 pos are the same people.
To me, that indicates
that timekeeper duties is not a short term stopover.
When someone is getting over a temporary injury,
um, a number of the vacancies being, uh, removed
are related to timekeeping.
Is that reflecting the new system
you plan to bring in place?
Uh, and with these changes, would the number
of sworn officers in the position be reduced?
Thank you. So, yes, when making the determination of, uh,
eliminating several of the timekeeping duties, it is
because we are trying to think strategically about
how timekeeping is done in the police department.
We are working with Nicks from DTI, um,
to think strategically about implementing a timekeeping
system across public safety,
including the police department.
So thinking long term, um,
when we're looking at hiring people to do
what is an antiquated job, um, just
to roll out a new timekeeping system, shortly thereafter,
it made more sense
to really focus our investment in really launching
that timekeeping system
and prioritizing that, um, in lieu
of hiring new timekeepers who might not really have anything
to do in the next couple of years.
And so, so how many sworn officers are cont are,
are currently performing,
or will be in the, in next year's budget performing
timekeeping duties? So
In ops a's budget,
those timekeepers are civilian hires that we are doing.
Um, I believe there are officers throughout the Chicago
Police Department, and again, all police officers are going
to be within the Chicago Police Department's budget,
not ops a's budget.
Um, I don't know that we have the total number of, uh,
officers throughout CPD who have timekeeping
responsibilities, either as a full-time
or part-time responsibility.
I'm gonna ask Joy Brown if she has any,
any additional insight on that.
Joy Brown, director of hr.
So currently we have 36 officers, uh,
primarily performing timekeeping duties for their unit
with 39, uh, backup.
How many backup? 39. 39.
So 75 in total, correct. Between, okay.
I mean, isn't the goal here
to make these civilian positions?
I'm sorry, can you repeat that? Isn't
Our, our, our ultimate goal here
to make those timekeeping positions civilian positions?
Yes. That's the ultimate goal.
And I guess, and I don't wanna belabor the point, um,
but it seems to me that we,
this is a conversation we have each year at budget time,
and it's a laudable goal when I support, um,
yet every year we talk about between 60
and 75 sworn officers performing timekeeping duties.
Um, so at what point in time will we see those be covered
by only civilian positions?
Again, my priority is on implementing a timekeeping system
so that the conversation around, um,
ization is very limited
because we will have a limited number of people that will be
required to do that function.
And I understand the frustration.
I know this is something that we talk about every year,
and we're still talking about it this year.
So I, I hear you.
Um, and I understand the, the need
to prioritize really freeing up police officers to be able
to do more public safety,
keeping roles and responsibilities.
And we have prioritized trying
to fill those timekeeper positions,
but the reality is it's a very difficult position
to fill one, to get somebody who wants to do that job.
Two, there is a testing component,
which does limit our ability
to onboard people to do that job.
And three, it is a bit antiquated.
And so, you know, I get the frustrations.
They're all warranted, which is why we are really trying
to think more about prioritizing that system,
which has already been procured.
So really is just a matter of us as leaders
prioritizing that.
Um, as we have continued to try to fill that timekeeper's
position repeatedly.
It just has proven to be a very difficult job to fill. Well,
Godspeed on, on the technology improvement.
'cause we, we do see, we need to see that.
I hope it's not Tyler Technologies.
I'm sorry, what was that? It's, uh, Don, Don on
Go. All right. But,
but,
but my, my overall point is this, you lead the department.
Now, I know you're relatively new there. Welcome.
Um, but we need this to be a top priority.
I know that there will be a technology solution
for us in the future, and that's great.
Uh, but in the meantime, a lot of us here
see red when we understand
that these positions should clearly be civilian.
And we've got sworn officers sitting at desks,
and we could have them out there protecting neighborhoods.
And so, um, thank you for, for making that a priority.
I think that's very important.
Um, I also wanted to give you a little bit
of credit here as well.
Um, you do note, unlike almost every other department
that's been in front of us that you did implement zero based
budgeting in, in managing your budget submission,
um, thank you.
Uh, I don't know what's wrong with your,
your colleagues in the other departments
that they can't find a way to make that work.
But through your diligence
and your, your efforts in zero based budgeting,
you identified a 3.76% reduction in your costs.
Hallelujah. Right?
Uh, imagine if we could apply a 3.76% reduction in cost
across a $17 billion budget.
Wouldn't that be amazing?
We'd have a much smaller revenue problem. Chairman.
Um, so thank you. I want to give you credit
where credit is due.
I do have a, a question related to, um,
the physical fitness test at, at, at CPD for, for the folks
that are trying to join the department, I'm aware of a, a,
a couple of different anecdotal examples
where we have had highly qualified applicants who have,
with flying colors,
passed all the various testing requirements,
but then they come to the, the running test,
and we're having folks that, that are missing the
required time limit by 20 or 30 seconds.
Okay. Um, and are then being told, sorry, um,
you fail out, you gotta go back to the back of the line
and reapply and go through all
of the testing again next year.
Um, and some of these candidates, by the way, are
incredibly physically fit.
Some of them have, you know, some issues
that make them not the greatest runners.
Um, I have a lot of friends
who serve in the police department.
Not all of them could probably
complete this running test under time.
Um, who administers that portion of the testing,
because it seems counterproductive to nitpick
over a handful of seconds whether
or not someone can become a police officer at a time when we
are desperate to get talented,
dedicated people into that department.
Um, and again, I know some of these folks
who have barely failed this test, um, despite trying
to become better runners, um,
who would be excellent police officers, we'd be so lucky
to have them, who, who's in charge of that piece.
Um, so I'm gonna ask Joy Brown to respond
to that specific piece.
But I will note that, um, I think we are aware that the,
I think you're referring to the power test,
the physical test is very requirement, rigorous.
We want rigorous, maybe a little flexibility though when
it comes to, you know, running time.
Yes. Our cops aren't running a lot
of miles every single day. Yeah.
I will note that OPSA has, uh, created
what we call a pre power test, where applicants can actually
take a pre-test for the power test.
And they can take that several times
to help them better prepare
before they go to the power test.
And the pre power test is pass fail.
They can take that as many times as they want in order
to get comfortable going into that rigorous power test.
But in terms of whose decision it is on
that specific component,
I'm gonna ask Joy Brown provide more insight there.
Uh, joy Brown, director of hr, good morning Alderman.
Uh, so the power test is administered, administered
by the academy staff.
Um, I will say folks that kind of, uh,
missed the mark on the, if it's their final power, uh,
before they enter the academy,
they are afforded the opportunity
to retest at whichever component that they may have failed.
Uh, so that being said, the standards for the power
exam are a state standard.
Understood. And again, I, I would just,
and I know my time is up, I I would just ask that, um, you,
you consider reviewing that
and allowing some buffer
of flexibility specific to the running.
Um, again, I, I've seen a lot of our, our,
our new probationary officers,
and God bless 'em for committing that, you know, for getting
through that, that, that running test.
Um, but some of the folks I'm talking about are
pretty strong in-shape folks who just happen
to have a bad knee or,
or, you know, an ankle issue, um, who've taken advantage
of the pretests and have done the retest and barely,
and I'm talking seconds failed.
I hate seeing those folks excluded from a program
where we're so desperate to try
and keep pace with, um, with attrition rates at, at CPD.
So I just flagged that for you
as something to consider in the future.
Um, but thank you, chairman.
I, I appreciate the time and thank you to, um, everyone for,
for all the good work you do.
Thank you, autumn. Uh, just to keep in mind, that is a,
uh, that's a state matter.
Um, and I, I, we would state, yeah, we'd have to work
with them, uh, on that through the, uh, I think
that's the training standards board through, uh,
through the, um, through the,
through the state that administers that.
So, so, uh, actually, you, you're doing
what you gotta compliment from Alderman Riley.
So you, you have to write that down. So.
Alright. Alderman Oay, followed
by Alderman Alden Conway.
Thank you, chairman. Good morning, director. Good
Morning.
Um, it's been covered by a couple of my colleagues,
but I think it's worth noting this department was created
five years ago to save money
to bring some functions from OEMC, fire
and Police together, civilianized to save dollars.
Here we are almost five years later,
and we still have this issue of police officers
doing the work that civilians should be doing.
I can't stress enough how we have
to get this addressed this year.
You know, last night, s and p downgraded us.
We're getting closer to junk status.
We've got a horrible budget
with incredibly difficult decisions
to make in the coming weeks
and next year's budget's going to be even more painful.
There's an argument by some in this building, in this room
that maybe we don't need OPSA, maybe we get rid
of the department long term to save money.
We've gotta get this right.
This is four budget hearings in a row
that we're still talking about officers behind desks
where they should be civilian positions.
I'm glad to hear that we finally got the technology side
addressed, but we can't keep coming back
and having these same conversations.
Uh, I wanna switch gears.
How many pod cameras,
police observation devices do we have citywide?
So citywide, we have a total of 6,794 cameras
that OPSA is responsible for maintaining.
And how about, uh, how many, uh, license plate readers,
LPRs do we have Citywide?
Uh, so we have, uh, 600 vehicle LPRs
and 840 fixed LPRs.
How many pods are we,
uh, bringing online this year?
In 2026? How many are we adding?
I'm sorry, for the end of this year
or for Ffy 26. I couldn't hear you.
For FY 2026.
Will we be adding how many, um,
additional pod cameras citywide?
I'm gonna ask Dan Casey to address this.
Unless you want Leon. We'll have Leon, Leon do this one.
Leon Lee.
Good morning. Al. Uh, Leon Lee, deputy Director, uh,
cybersecurity Analytics, uh, this year so far,
we have actually, uh, uh, brought on more, almost 200.
I mean, almost 400, 400 is usually our, um,
number that we do annually.
We're already at that point right now,
so we're looking at projecting possibly, uh, 500
by the time we get to the end of the year
between pods and LPR, sir.
And how many for 2026 are we planning on adding,
Uh, the addition? It,
it is probably gonna be somewhere along those same lines
of, uh, four to 500.
Okay. Once
the budget is, once the budget is approved,
Dan Casey managed Deputy Public Safety, it,
once the budget is approved, we'll sit down with CPD
and the vendor to create, uh,
that list on priorities for CPD.
So those cameras will be determined here shortly.
As we continue to see technology advance in this field,
um, will we start to rotate out some of the older cameras
with new modern cameras
that can be much more helpful to law enforcement?
Absolutely. Uh, it's a constant
battle to update these cameras.
Um, we try to get as much out of them as we can.
Um, many of them are extended life.
There's a high cost replacing them, so we try to get as much
as we can out of them, but we're replacing cameras
and they have more
capabilities as we're bringing the new ones. Thank
You. Um,
it came up yesterday, uh, I wanted to bring it up again.
Uh, ShotSpotter is out and we've been talking about,
and we have an RFP out there for a replacement.
Um, what's the best,
most recent update we have on the status of that?
Sure, you can go ahead. Uh, Dan Casey
and managing Deputy for Public Safety IT, office
of Public Safety Administration.
Uh, right now we have to be somewhat careful
with this alderman because it is an active procurement.
Um, the RFP has gone through several stages at this point.
There have been, uh, several stages including very rigorous
testing, and we're very confident
that it'll be a successful RFP
with a a, a great product for the city.
Would we think possibly in the next several months we
could have something out on the street.
Uh, so something is out on the street in terms
of like the RFP was published, people responded, we tested.
So in terms of like selecting a vendor
and going through, uh, contract negotiations with
that vendor, that's a process
with DPS and with Department of Law.
That's sometimes a lengthy process,
but our goal is to make it as fast as possible.
Thank you. Um, I wanted to switch gears.
Uh, I have a particular issue in my community, uh, a lack
of underground fiber optic wiring.
Um, we've been in discussions for a couple years.
A plan we thought we might be able
to execute was cost prohibitive.
Do we have an update on where we're at with the, we,
where we're talking about a pilot with at and t?
Sure. I'm gonna ask Dennis Bega to take this one for us.
Yes. Good morning. Dennis Bega,
deputy Director of IT Infrastructure.
Uh, good morning. The, um,
couple different option we've explored
for your ward in particular was the tower at the
agricultural high school.
Um, we did all the engineering work and, uh, worked with CPS
and got to the point where
that proposal was cost prohibitive for the amount of radios
or access points we would put up for, uh, back call
for, for pod cameras.
Um, the fiber issue, um, there was
investigations into getting fiber to some of the cameras.
Um, and I'd, I'd have to go back
and look at the exact street,
but it's a, it's a couple hundred thousand dollars just
to get cameras potentially to two to three,
or excuse me, to get fiber to two to three cameras.
Um, the stage that we're at now is
that we're exploring other cellular backhaul options.
So right now we have, Verizon is the only carrier
that we use for cellular cameras.
We're looking at at and t
and piloting that by the end of the year, um, in your ward
to try to solve some of the, the cellular backhaul issues.
Thank you. Um, when we talk about
cameras, uh, that are down, how many
of, of those several thousand we have, whether they be pods
or LPRs, how many are currently, um,
offline now in need of repair?
As of yesterday afternoon, there were 352 cameras
that were offline representing, um, just about 5%.
And is that typically more pod
or more l typically more pod than the LPRs?
Uh, yes. Do we find
that oftentimes it's just wear and tear and,
and we've gotta get a new camera?
So that's a big, that's the heart of it. Yes.
Um, especially as time goes on, that certainly is a, a,
a ongoing issue that we're constantly
trying to stay on top of,
Uh, through the chair.
Could I get, um, of those 3 52, the locations by, by ward?
Uh, how many are, um, in need of repair?
I believe that figures down significantly from where it was,
uh, last year.
I think we're well over 400. Yes.
We'll get that information to you. Okay.
Um, appreciate,
uh, the work of your team.
I work with many of these folks, uh, frequently.
Um, appreciate all your hard work.
Um, but we just stress, we, we've gotta get this situation
with timekeepers addressed
and get those police officers back out.
Thank you. Appreciate it, director. Thanks Chairman.
Thank You. Thank you.
Uh, alderman, osha, uh, we'll have Alderman Conway, uh,
follow Alderman pdo.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, to, to follow on, uh,
alderman OSHA's comments regarding, uh,
acoustic gunshot recognition technology.
Uh, I remember at the mid-year hearing, you seemed
to indicate it was gonna take 18 months
to get this back online.
And then, uh, uh, yesterday managing director, uh, uh, Casey
estimated hopefully early 26.
What, what changed, uh, what changed in that time?
So, just to clarify, yesterday I was
talking about the contract.
So when we would have the contract hopefully finalized,
we'd still need to implement so
that the director's point we would need to implement
and build that system out.
But a goal, a hopeful goal, would be to have the contracts
finalized if we can get additional help from Department
of Law, department of Procurement Services to get it done
by sometime next year.
So is this, does this contract currently
sit with the Department of Law?
No, we have not finalized a vendor at this point.
So we would go into contract negotiations.
Those can be quite lengthy,
as the director said can be up to 18 months.
But we hope that we could shorten that timeline.
Now is, is this, um,
is acoustic gunshot recognition technology in this budget?
Yes. Yes it is. Do you know, do you know where it is?
I'm, I was trying to find it.
Um, it's not clear which line item it's part.
I'm gonna have ante to direct us to
where we can find that in our budget.
Ante Smith, deputy Director of Finance
and Accounting, it is on page 3 0 5 in the
mayor's recommendation book.
It is under fund 3 53.
Account code 0 1 4 9 3 53
You said page 3 0 5.
3 0 5, yes.
Un Under Contractual services. I see three. Oh, I see. Uh,
Yes. It's under
Contractual Services. Account code
0 1 4 9 0 1 4 9 software maintenance and licensing.
Okay, I see that for $5 million on there.
Um, um, great. Thank you.
Um, you know, I, I would say on this technology,
when it was in the process of being shut off, you know,
you had 30 plus alders that were in support of it
because frankly, the vast majority of our constituents do,
because people want, you know, people want more tools to,
to keep them safe.
And, and it seems as though
their voice through the voice of their,
of their elected officials is being ignored under the guise
of a complicated RFP process.
I mean, this is technology that the University
of Chicago Crime Lab, uh, said,
very likely saves 85 lives a year.
Superintendent Snelling reiterated his support
for this yesterday, and we had this technology
until September of, of 24.
And in the time it's in inexplicably taken
OPSA or the Department of Law in that time, if,
if you think the University of Chicago number is roughly
right, we could have saved a hundred lives
and a hundred lives by having a tool
that will potentially dispatch an ambulance
to a gunshot victim more quickly.
So I would say, please do what you can to get this,
get this technology online as fast as you can.
I don't know if the holdup is you, the department of law,
we're just getting stonewalled by the mayor,
but, um, you know, please get this lifesaving technology on
as, as fast as you can.
You're welcome to respond to any of that if you Thank
You. So,
yeah, so it did go offline September of last year.
And in that one year time,
we have already issued the new request for proposals.
We've already vetted those requests for proposals.
We've already tested the technology capabilities
of those finalists.
We've already submitted our proposal in terms
of those recommendations to the chief procurement officer.
And we have constantly raised our desire to ensure
that once assigned the contract, once the, uh,
procurement is awarded, that we do expedite
the legal negotiations of that contract.
Um, and so we, we hear you
and we are prioritizing this.
And we also have, in the meantime,
piloted another technology that we hope to procure
that is providing officers in real time information
about, um, gun detection via our cameras.
So we are moving on a parallel path to ensure
that we are getting the most comprehensive technology
in the most efficient way.
Yeah, I, I, I mean, I, I would simply think
that I don't think getting all that done in 14 months, is
that impressive, um, considering, heck, I mean, we were able
to get a contract with Ernst
and Young to do a re review
of our whole budget in just a few weeks.
So getting all that done in 14 months doesn't seem,
doesn't seem all that, all that, uh, all that impressive.
But I, I, I will say, I suspect the problem is not you.
Um, but please do what you can to,
to get this lifesaving technology back
online as fast as you can.
That's all I have. Thank you.
Thank you, alderman Conway.
Uh, next we have Alderman Bedo, followed by Alderman Viegas,
Morning Director.
Morning. Thank you for that very thorough
and efficient, uh, uh, uh, report.
It was, uh, quite long, but appreciate it.
Um, one question, uh, maybe a couple questions.
I don't know. And it, it's really not a budget question,
but on page five of your report,
and you're referring to the fire department, I believe
you've, uh, you, you stated here, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
looks like the seventh paragraph.
We've also removed outdated employment barriers
that disproportionately impact applicants
of color rating pathways for qualified candidates
who were previously excluded from careers and public safety.
I believe you're referring to fire over here.
I don't know how familiar you are
with the application process for fire.
I mean, it couldn't, it couldn't be much simpler.
I mean, it's basically, you sign up, you take it, you,
you sign up for the test, then you have to show up
to take the test, and you'd have a
basic physical fitness test.
What I believe is the state, uh, test minimum, uh,
what the qualifications are.
So I'm just curious. My question is,
what, what have you excluded?
What have you changed on the next,
I guess you're talking about it for the next test
that created some sort of barriers for people.
What have, what have, what have you changed?
What are you, what are you doing? What
are you talking about for the next test? So,
Um, again, that was referring to the look back period
for the criminal investigation backgrounds.
Um, I'll let Joy Brown provide any additional specific
information regarding, uh, the fire department hiring
Good Morning Alderman.
Um, so there has not been a change
to the fire department's process.
Um, what I can say is that we do realize that the CPA, uh,
has been, you know,
an issue in terms of passage right there.
And I know the fire department has been working, uh, with
colleges and others to maybe get testing in the city.
So that's in relation to the fire department.
That's what we're kind of working on in terms
of eliminating barriers.
But nothing's changed for the standards. So
It's more of a background thing, not a, not a correct,
not a, not a not, you have to sign up, you have to show up
to take the test because the written test is pretty,
a pretty basic read comprehension test.
Exactly. So just to let you know, well,
Joy's about the only one I talked to in your office.
So she wears four hats I find out now.
Yesterday she was in the back row,
now she's in the second seat in the front row.
So I dunno where you're gonna be for, uh,
OEMC and, and fire, I don't know.
So we're gonna be in that lineup.
Um, but in 1978, and, and,
and the test I took in 1985, it was basically everybody knew
what the test, and I'm just referring to fire in this one.
So it was just the basic test that you,
you let everybody know it's
gonna be a physical fitness test.
Everything's based off of physical fitness.
Here's what you have to train for. You did the training.
There was a reading comprehension test that was pretty easy.
I have to admit I'm not the most studious person,
but it was a basic
elementary school of reading comprehension.
And then from that, they based you off of how you scored
and the physical fitness test that you knew all about.
You knew what the test was gonna be.
Now we changed to a system of, if you take a reading test
and everything's a luck of a draw lottery.
Uh, this past test,
they didn't even let everybody take the test,
which we, we really didn't need to.
'cause we're not gonna hire everybody. So I believe they,
uh, uh, somewhere around 5,000 people were
allowed to take the test.
5,000 didn't show up, but that's unfortunate.
Um, so that's kind of how it's been done.
So I, I'm willing to, I, I can't help you
with the police part, but the fire apart, I'm willing
to sit down and help you if you're working
on something for the next test.
I don't, I don't think we need
another test for about five years.
But, um, um, you know, I, I mean, people need, do, need
to be rewarded for working hard and training
and, and really wanting a job.
I know there's my one colleague brought up about, you know,
people just missing physical fitness stuff.
I, I don't know where we draw the line when it comes
to physical fitness for jobs.
We, we have standards.
It kind of stinks when somebody just barely misses it.
I believe Joy, maybe you could answer this.
Do they get like three tries
to take these tests? It, it, uh,
With, uh, good morning with related to CPD or CFD? Uh,
Both of them. So
with CPD, they,
So I, I know CP you get three tries in a year or so.
Exactly. And with, uh, CPD with relation to the pre power
or the power exam, you do get a chance to retake the part
that you may have failed.
So, so, so the pre-test, you could take as much
as you want, but once you actually say, I'm ready
for the test, if you fail it, do you get a second
and third try by the da?
Or you gotta go back to the
back of the line and go through everything.
You don't have to go to the back of the line.
If you're on a current eligibility list
or a recent test taker, uh, you can just go back in terms
of we'll keep reinviting you to power until you pass.
Got it. And, and then that, and that's when you have 'em
or, uh, they, they, you know, or,
or do they just come randomly
or is it you have it like once a month?
We, we have them, we have a final power once
a month, so yes. All
Right. And
basically, um, I guess it directed the joy again,
as far as investigating, uh,
police do their own investigating.
Right? Uh, PSA doesn't, you, you do fire not police.
We conduct, uh, background investigations for, uh,
police officer candidates.
Uh, and then, uh, CFDs,
IAD does their background investigation
for their entry level candidates. Mm-hmm.
Okay. All right. Thank you. Um, thanks the record.
That was about it. You pretty much covered everything.
So if I think of anything,
I know I could pick up the phone and call you.
I appreciate it. Um, I know you're new to the position.
Um, I appreciate you stepping up.
I, I know there is the controversy,
and I have to say, I, I, I, I, I'm torn about this,
whether you're it's a redundant office
or not if we really need it or not.
So I'm, I'm, I'm still, uh, still torn on that one,
but, uh, appreciate the, appreciate the thorough report
and, uh, best to everybody.
And, uh, like I say, I only call one person
and, um, I haven't been calling you much lately,
but you know, like I told you, joy, my,
my colleagues call me to call you to ask you a question.
So
Anytime, alderman. All right.
Thank you. Thanks, director.
Appreciate it. Thank you, chairman.
Thank you. Alam. Rosado.
Uh, next we have Altman, Viegas, follow Altman La Spotter.
Thank you. Thank you, chairman. Commissioner.
Uh, good morning, still. Good morning.
Um, couple of, couple of questions.
Um, as it relates
to the hr are,
is your HR department also involved in discussions
around the ERP system
that the city's talking about implementing?
Yes. Our offices, our HR
and our office generally is a part of that.
Perfect. Thank you. And I'm, I appreciate all the, um,
discussion about implementing technology.
Um, I think that's something that the city needs to do more,
so I appreciate you guys leading on that.
Um, does your per,
does your department do procurement as well?
Yes, we are responsible
for procurement across public safety.
Across what? Across public safety.
Okay. And, um, what does that budget look like
as it relates to procurement?
Like, how much do you guys spend?
I'm gonna let Sarant, are you asking
how much we have spent this fiscal year, uh, in terms
of new procurements, or you
Clarify your question? Yeah. And talk and talk about
some of the
procurement that you like.
What are some of the items or services that you procure?
We, we procure everything from the beds
and furniture that go on the firehouses to the feed
for the horses for CFD to, um,
the new record management system
for the Chicago Police Department.
We do all of the procurements for the police department,
the fire department, um, 9 1 1 operations and OPSA
Do. And do you work with the
Department
of Procurement Services as well?
Yes, we work very closely with that department.
So is, so is there a duplicative of services there?
I mean, like, like does the DPS,
does your staff are like detailed from
DPS or how does that work?
No, our staff is not detailed from DPS.
Our staff, um, all
of our staff originated from the public safety agencies
and our, all of our staff were centralized so
that we could provide that one kind
of centralized function across all of public safety
to reduce the redundancies, increase our buying power.
Since we are now buying on behalf of all of public safety,
we're able to negotiate better rates.
Our role really is to do all of that kind
of initial procurement processing and management,
and then we send recommendations to the procurement office
for the CPO's final approval.
Gotcha. And do you also do compliance as well?
Compliance for compliance
Of the procurement opportunities or services?
I'll ask, uh, Kevin, Daniel to answer that question.
I'm sorry. Kevin Payter, we have two
Kevins, I get them confused.
Hi, Kevin Payter, uh, deputy Director
for Public Safety Contracts.
Uh, we do a comprehensive analysis, uh, for each contract
that we send out and recommend compliance to, uh, DPS.
And then we work closely with DPS
on putting those goals out.
So the contracts, so the contract will, uh,
originate from your office, you work with DPS
to finalize it, and then while the contract is being
implemented, um, there's compliance that DPS does or does?
No. So we canvas, um, we do a recommendation
to DPS per project, uh, what the compliance should be,
and then it will be advertised with goals, um, based on the
participation with various communities
or with participation we previously had in
that contract. So,
Um, when those goals are advertised, a vendor selected,
who's ensuring that throughout the course of the contract
that those goals are being adhered to?
Is it your department or DPS?
So that is actually D-P-S-D-P-S has a whole compliance
division that makes sure that those goals are adhered to.
Okay. Uh, alderman, um,
alderman Taylor, you have a point
Yes. Chairman, through,
uh, point of information,
can you all give us the list of vendors
that you all actually use at O-E-M-B-O-E?
Uh, OEMC?
Yes. We can provide that list.
Thank you. Thank you, chairman.
Alright, and then related to the, the cat, so just
so I'm sure, just so I'm, I I put a fine,
uh, fine point on this.
You guys work with procurement,
DPS actually does the compliance portion of it,
and then when they report out as to what's attained,
those are DPS numbers or OPSA numbers.
I'm gonna ask Kevin to take this one.
Kevin Pater, deputy Director public safety contracts.
So when the contract's awarded,
those goals are within the contract.
So DPS, uh, we work
with D-P-S-D-P-S collects all the forms prior
to the contract being signed, that the vendor commits
to those goals for those specific vendors.
Um, then DPS closely monitors those contracts, uh,
once they are awarded to make sure that the vendor, uh,
is adhering to, uh, paying their subs, um, with,
with the guidelines specified in the contract. And,
And, but are you also reporting
what your goals were the attainment
for your, for your contracts?
Are you, are you doing that today at this hearing? Um,
Correct. Uh, we
do have goals, um, that we have, uh, the, the goals
that we've collected and the goals
that we process in our contracts.
If you could send that through the chair, if that,
if I'm not sure.
I haven't seen it, but, um, yes. Thank you.
And then, um, around the, the CAD system, um,
could you explain a little bit more?
'cause we paid millions for an outdated CAD system,
and it looks like the vendor's been
let off the hook a couple of times.
Um, and I'm wondering what type
of accountability the department has done.
Um,
Yes. So
the CAT system, um, was procured,
um, six years ago.
And my understanding is, uh, there are a lot of factors
that have contributed to a delay in our implementation.
A significant one being time delays related to the fact
that, um, the pandemic happened right after that.
So there was a very, uh, delayed start,
um, due to that.
And I will say that there have been, um,
some additional challenges working with this vendor, um,
that have delayed implementation.
And I think things have kind of gotten compounded. Who,
Who, who's the, who's the vendor, who's the vendor?
Central Square is the vendor.
Um, but there have been a,
there's have been significant developments this year
that have changed the posture of this, uh, contract.
So, uh, when I came in in June,
I was notified that a Notice to Cure had been issued
to the vendor, um, for their failure to prove, uh,
to meet certain milestones under the contract.
Uh, we had a meeting with the vendor, uh,
after that to really try to get a handle on what the heart
of the issues were.
Uh, we've worked very closely.
They brought in a new project manager. I was a new leader.
We also had a new leader from OEMC.
And I think with new leadership at the table, we felt
that it was paramount to take a fresh look as new leaders
to really work together to, to get ahead of all
of these years of delay.
And so we agreed to do a very rigorous round
of functionality demonstrations so that we could,
uh, get some sound understanding
of this particular CAD's ability to serve, uh,
our first responder needs.
I personally have participated in several hours of
functionality demonstrations
and, um, conversations between our subject matter experts
and their subject matter efforts to really come to
a middle ground regarding functionality needs
and subsequent engineering fixes to help ensure that the CAD
functions in the way that we need it to.
And we have extended that cure notice a couple of times
because of the progress that we have made via
that very intense, rigorous schedule that we have,
where we have dedicated significant resources in terms
of man hours for our subject matter experts,
both on the technology side, the operations side on behalf
of O-E-M-C-O-P-S-A Fire
and police, as well as increased resources and engineers
and subject matter experts on the vendor side.
And we feel very confident at this juncture based on
the very intensive working relationship
that we have developed
with a vendor over the last five months that we are on track
to launch the CAD system before summer of 2026.
Training has, has already started.
Um, and as we are making sure
that we are training our employees across OEMC, the police
and fireside, we also are still working with their engineers
to ensure that they are, um, fixing the technology issues
that were addressed during those several hours
of functionality demonstrations.
And we will be doing stress testing as well.
And then we will be doing additional training on the back
end as a refresher.
Prior to, um, launching the new CAD
Alderman, uh, chairman dial point of information,
Does that include, does your budget include,
this was costing us about 6 million a year,
I think, on this system.
Is there a budget line item for the work
that you just mentioned in this upcoming budget?
So the work that I just mentioned is not associated
with a particular line item, this contract, uh,
because of the failure to meet the milestones in the past,
we have not paid on this contract in the last two years.
And, um, until they reach all of the milestones,
to be very frank with you,
we do not anticipate paying anything
until we reach that point.
And are they meeting the deadlines
that you're setting for them?
So for the most part, yes.
With respect to, um, the technology fixes,
we're working very collaboratively with any kind of
new implementation of a technology on this scale.
You have to be a bit nimble in terms
of your working relationship
because as you, um, design new, uh,
software fixes, you have to test them.
And then, so it's been an iterative process,
but I would say we feel satisfied based on their ability to
show progress, uh, through those continued demonstrations
that we are, are on track.
Thank you, miss.
Yeah. Um, thank you.
Uh, it seems like it's been a,
a rocky start from the GetGo and here we are.
And so at some point, maybe we have to cut to ice.
There's all types of technology companies out there that,
um, potentially do, do this type of work.
And, and does this company have a, a, a track record
of working with large cities like Chicago?
Yes, they do have a large track, our track record
of working with large cities across the company.
And the reality is like in looking at where we are
and looking at what's in the best interest for the city, um,
both in terms of our first responders ability
to respond in a timely, efficient manner
and in our ability to procure a new system, the reality is
if we decide to move forward with another vendor, one,
we would still have to build a system probably from scratch.
So we'd have to procure it, we'd have to negotiate it.
Then once a contract was awarded, we would still have to go
through a lengthy process with
whatever vendor in order to customize it to meet our needs.
And so when you're thinking about the investment
that we've already made,
this system cost us $75 million six years ago.
If we wanted to procure a similar system next year,
it would likely cost a lot more than that,
and it would take us probably another six to 10 years to get
to where we are today.
So in balancing all these competing interests, I felt
that it was in the best, uh, best, uh, posture
for the city to really take our time
to have a clean slate with our current vendor
who is in several cities across the country,
who is the leader in developing a CAD on this scale,
and really utilize the new leaders at the table to work
together to ensure that we have fresh eyes to make this CAD
work and make this CAD the best CAD for the city of Chicago,
rather than starting from scratch
and putting us down another 10 years down the road. Gotcha.
And then just a statement then, my last question, Mr.
Chairman. Sometimes with technology, the, when you,
when you begin to, uh,
customize it is when you lose the efficiencies.
Sometimes it's about government having to change the process
in order to fit the technology,
to minimize the customization
and realize the greater efficiency.
So that's my statement. My last question would be
around the 80 vacancies that you talked about approximately,
um, per time for whatever positions.
Um, why are you having,
why are you having a hard time filling those positions?
Uh, and if, if you can, you can send the job openings to our
alderman and we'll help put it out there to try
to see if we can help try to, um, identify some folks
that might wanna, uh, work for the city.
Absolutely. So, um, as I mentioned earlier, we like,
you know, we added a lot of timekeepers
to our headcount in an attempt to civilize, uh, civilianized
that role within the police department.
We've had a very hard time getting people to fill
that position, right?
So, um, there's a testing component, I think,
across the board as it relates to like filling vacancies.
It does take time, it does take a lot of time.
And when you have multiple bites at, you know,
posting a position
and then you ultimately end up not being able
to fill those positions, you,
you're putting yourself right back at the very beginning
of the process and you have to repost it again.
You have to go through the vetting again.
So it is a long process
and we, um, we are bound by all of the HR rules and policies
and procedures of the city.
And so we do prioritize hiring
and doing it in the most efficient manner,
but it is a long process.
Okay. Well, again, if you need help getting the word
out, please let us know.
Yes, we absolutely will. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
Uh, Alman Viegas, uh, Ottoman Lesa, followed by Al Lopez.
You have questions? Alman Lopez.
Thank you, commissioner. I, I will try to be
given the time I, I'll try
to be like quick with the questions.
Um, li under contractual services
0 1 4 9, software maintenance
and licensing, you might have talked about this already,
but can you explain to us the,
the million dollar reduction in that particular line item?
Sure. I'm gonna ask ante Smith to answer that
Ante Smith, deputy Director of Finance.
Quick question, just to make sure.
Are you on page 3 0 5 or are
I am on page 2, 9 8.
Yes. So from here, the reduction is a result of it.
And the services is column and license upgrade.
So it was a, it, it's an under PSIT
and a portion of this was moved to bond.
So portion, it's not
that we're particularly doing less in terms
of our software maintenance.
It was moved to the bond. It was
Moved to bond. We worked
with OBM to determine whether
or not it was eligible for Bond and ob.
We decided to move it to bond.
Which particular bond did we move it to?
I will have to, I will have to reach out
and get that information through the chair from OBM
'cause I don't have the particular bond that we moved it to.
Okay. Um, I
Don't have the bond, but there is, uh, Dan Casey,
manager, deputy of Public Safety.
It, we're rolling out new systems.
So the expectation with the new record management system
for police, this
Is the IT bond?
Yes, yes. Okay.
For hard, certain hardware might go to the bond,
but for certain licenses, which is would be the majority
of this with, uh, some of the things we do for, uh, BIA
with, uh, column technologies is what we use right now for
that, we, uh, expectation is that that will move, uh,
to benchmark analytics.
And so we're gonna consolidate quite a few costs
because that will consolidate, uh, several functions
that are now under different applications.
Duly noted. Similar answer
for 0 1 8 1 mobile communication services
or different, same page.
So, no, the Ante Smith Deputy Dev, the finance and County.
So this is a little bit different.
So a few years back we, we had new phones for all the, the,
the public safety officers.
And this is a reduction in
that I believe the project was complete.
And this is why we see a million
dollar reduction in that line.
Okay. Who is our vendor for those telephones?
For our public safety officers,
Dan Casey, public Safety, it, we use all of the above.
We don't wanna pull our eggs in one basket.
So the city has contracts with at
and t, Verizon and T-Mobile.
Uh, we use all three of them
and we take advantage of, uh, T-Mobile has, you know,
uh, 5G for good.
Um, it's, it allows us to have, uh, services there
that are un uh, are free to first responders.
Um, so we're taking full advantage of that,
but we have to pay for the devices.
So there's an ROI there at when those times come across.
So we're hitting some of those ROIs now
and getting efficiencies as
Well. Appreciate it.
Uh, looking at P eight,
page 2 99, 9200 purposes
as specified 92 95 consent decree.
Can you help me understand the reduction in that line item?
So I was started off Ante Smith,
deputy Director of Finance and Accounting.
This is for case and talent management under PSIT.
And this was also moved upon.
Dan would like to elaborate on it,
Not some of the hard, that again, just goes back with, uh,
benchmark analytics, the new system we're bringing in there.
So that's part of that.
Um, some hardware moved bond,
but in this case, the licensing
and the majority of this is getting consolidated
with one application.
I appreciate it. Uh, going to page 300.
Hate to keep beating the timekeeping drum,
but hopefully ask a different question in a different way.
I'm curious, like if we look at peer cities
or the private sector, are we paying,
the mic keeps getting louder.
Um, you can turn down my gain just a little bit.
Um, are we paying, offering a wage that would be viewed
as competitive either across peer cities
or on the private sector?
Are you asking about the timekeeper salary and whether
or not it's competitive?
It is a union position, so that salary's gonna be based on,
um, that pay scale in terms of have we done a,
a review of timekeeper salaries across the country?
I'm not aware of that. But again, it is a bit
of an antiquated job, right?
Because most employers don't rely on
people to keep their time.
They rely on systems.
And so we are shifting our focus to prioritize
onboarding a timekeeping system, um,
as quickly as we can.
Let the record request my thumbs up
towards you on that item.
Is that a current software RFP
or what, what's the process looking like on that?
So, um, this is a, uh, so there's Workday
and workforce are two products
that we already have procured.
And so, um, it's just a matter
of thinking strategically about
how we roll out those two systems.
One would be based on my limited understanding,
'cause I'm not a tech person, but one would be a
traditional, like swipe in, swipe out capability,
which we have today, which we can do.
A lot of folks use it. It's just a matter of, of,
of rolling that out
and implementing it across public safety.
The other component of that is tracking all
of the different leave and PTO that employees have
and, and managing that in a system.
So that would be managing like their medical leave
and their furlough days and their over time
and being able to calculate that as it relates to payroll,
which is another system that we have.
So it's just a matter of really like
focusing on the implementation.
Uh, that is great news to be hearing.
Um, I had a question
'cause some folks mentioned the procurement
of gunshot detection technology.
Where would I find that in the budget?
I'm gonna ask ante Smith to direct you to that.
We already did that one. Go to the next
Question. If that can be,
if then I'll, I'll rephrase the question.
If the RFP for that can be
provided through the chair as well as
how we will be evaluating the effectiveness of
that technology, I'd appreciate it.
Certainly. Thank you.
My last, I suppose this is all closed with more
of a point than a question.
Well, I'll ask it as a question first.
For the timekeeper positions, are they required the testing
that you talked about, are they also required
to fulfill the power test if it's a no.
Okay. That's what I kind
of figured it was confusing
based off of the line of question.
I'll just close by saying any Chicagoan can look it up.
By Googling Illinois power test,
not only was it not a high standard,
but the standards across all
of those tests were reduced in 2022.
I think the majority of members
of this council could pass them
with a month or two of training.
If you're, if you're really talking about
how do you pass the test,
that's the one word answer is training.
Um, so just wanted to, to share that out.
It's worth Googling.
Thank you Commissioner. Thank you Chair.
Thank you.
We, we got a small audible she's gotta take off
and had two small questions and I'll come to you.
Go ahead, chairman.
Uh, thank you Director.
I wanted to come back to the emergency communications fund,
um, on page 26 of the budget.
Um, it looks like you've lost about eight
and a half million dollars
of which $10 million is now going into OEMC.
So that's what I meant by, um,
maybe you all are losing some functions in that area
that are being picked up by OEMC.
And are you aware of what those functions are?
I mean, you gave me a technical answer about
no money being shifted.
I'm gonna ask ante sniff to try
to provide some clarification on that.
C ante Smith, deputy Director of Finance, um,
and in the county, so I'm not sure what you're referring to
because when we build a,
can I see that page? I'm sorry.
That's the, the revenue, um, that's in the revenue section
of the, uh, budget
and what she's showing is a, a decrease in anticipated, uh,
revenue from, uh, the fund.
Absolutely. So the revenue portion is not, lemme say this
OBM actually manages the revenue portion.
So this can be the anticipated revenue going down,
but it's not a transfer from one department to another.
No, no.
All the function will remain in OPSA
and OMC has their functions.
Thank you. Um, the second question is,
there's a data analyst, um, that's needed in the Department
of Fire, I believe.
What's the status of that?
Yes. So, um, OPSA
has the capability to, uh, help provide data
analysis on behalf of the Chicago Fire Department in order
to enhance that ability.
We are currently in the process of reclassifying one
of our positions, um, to ensure
that person has the appropriate technical background
and skills, um, who will come on board at OPSA
to primarily service
the Chicago Fire Department's data analytics needs.
In addition to that, there is a University
of Chicago data analytics volunteer who is scheduled
to go through their background check this week.
And once they clear, they will be able to start, uh,
servicing the Chicago Fire Department in that way, way.
But in the meantime, we are working closely
with the commissioner
and her team to, uh, you know, help ensure
that if they have data questions,
if they need assistance analyzing that data,
my team is here and happy to do so.
Thank you for that. And, uh, chairman, thank you
for your flexibility.
No problem. Alright, M Lopez, uh, followed by,
uh, Alder.
Donna Howorth.
Thank you chairman and
good morning members of the committee.
Good morning director to you and to your team.
Uh, it is great to see you.
I first want to just touch on a couple things
and then expand on something one
of my colleagues mentioned earlier.
Um, first
and foremost, do we have a compiled list of all of the,
uh, positions that are
duplicitous across
C-P-D-C-F-D-O-E-M-C and OPSA?
I'm sure we could probably get a list of their, uh,
positions and highlight which ones are
duplicative within those agencies,
but I'm not sure if we have a Yeah,
I, I, I wouldn't expect you to know that right off the top
of your head, but I'm just curious if we,
if we have an ability to see
where across the four departments, we still have, um,
multiple jobs doing the same function
across the four departments.
So yes, if you could provide that through the chair as well
as with their salaries, uh, totals,
that would be appreciated.
We'll provide you something to the chair. Okay.
Um, in your opening statement, it said, uh, with regards
to the medical section, um, OPSA, uh,
houses responsibility for CPD and CFD applicants and,
and, uh, current members for, to ensure
that they're medically qualified.
Does that include when people are applying to be, uh, A CPD
and have to go through their psychological exams, does
that fall under your jurisdiction or CPDs?
So that would be A-O-P-S-A medical section, um, function.
We do help, um, manage that.
Okay. Do you pick the,
Hold on, you guys are shaking your heads No.
The psych, the psychological, uh, vendor.
Good afternoon, uh, alderman,
the psychological vendor is a third party vendor,
but that's as part of our background, uh, process
for po. So that's under
Hr. Okay.
Uh, under you guys,
It's, it is under us, but it's not
under our medical section.
It's a part of our HR section.
Understood. Appreciate that.
What section is that under,
under your OPSA Human resource section work?
Yes, correct. Uh,
and do you administer that contract yourself
or is that something that's done through procurement?
How, how do you figure out
who your third party vendor is? So
I'll ask Kevin Peter to answer that.
I'd imagine it'd be a part of the procurement process,
but he can provide more insight.
And then as well, to add to that, who is the
third party appeal vendor as well?
So that's, uh, um, Kevin Pater, deputy Director
of Contracts Public Safety, um, that, um,
contract was competitive, a bid, it was awarded a caps, um,
caps and laps, uh, about a year and a half ago,
and they were the incumbent also.
Um, as far as the appeal goes, joy,
So as far as the appeal process is concerned, um,
essentially if you are seen by one vendor
and you fail that process, you can appeal
and you'll be seen by the other vendor.
Hmm. And you also administer the,
the competitive bid contract for the appeals vendor as well?
Both vendors are employed
or are contracted under their separate contracts,
but we, we handle their contract.
Do we monitor how applicants are,
are received by the first vendor?
Because it's come to my attention
that overwhelmingly we have a lot of individuals who are
rejected just to be sent
to the appeal process only to be approved.
Um, are we keeping track to make sure that this is not a,
a self-feeding racket that's going on over there
for CPD applicants?
Well, thanks for flagging that.
That's, this is the first time that I'm hearing it,
but we are in the process of doing a comprehensive review of
all of our medical function, even the ones
that overlap with hr.
So that is definitely something that, uh, we will look into
as a part of that process.
I, I would like to make sure that we are aware
of this both for C I'm sure for CFD,
but I've, I've heard it mainly
through CPD applicants who've been, uh, put through
the psychological exam, failed their initial only to be
found a hundred percent qualified upon appeal.
But my concern is obviously that if we have
two different vendors who are probably getting paid
by the amount of individuals we see
that if the first one says no,
that guarantees income for the second.
So I would, uh, thankful if you can refer back to that
and get back to us on, uh, through the chair
what the results are of all of the applicants
that they've seen, whether or not they've been given up
or down, and if they've been referred
to the secondary appeal process, what their subsequent up
or down, uh, status has been.
Um, I don't wanna beat
the gunshot detection technology question
any more than my colleagues have.
Um, but your budget in 2025 was almost
$9 million for this technology,
which was never applied, correct?
No vendor was paid through this amount.
No vendor was paid, uh,
for gunshot detection this year, no.
So the 9 million that was appropriated in fiscal year
2025, uh, there goes to back
to OBM is a unspecified or specified, uh, fund surplus,
I believe That is correct, aren't they?
Is that correct? That is correct.
So if it, it would be considered unspent dollars.
Okay. Um,
and the reason that we have a $5 million as opposed
to a $9 million this year is
because we anticipate not having anything in
Right. That's, that's because
we know
it would be a full fiscal year.
So it's prorated to acknowledge that.
So we are acknowledging
that we have intentionally chosen not
to have any gunshot detection
technology for a year and a half.
I think we're acknowledging that
because of the rigorous procurement process
and then the subsequent contract negotiation process,
the likelihood that we will have a gunshot detection system
up and running January 1st is non-existent.
It will take time to continue to work
through those processes.
On average. Do most of your contracts take
a year and a half to get through?
I think historically it has taken a bit longer
for the city to do a contract negotiations
for these highly technical types of contracts.
Okay. Um, lastly, chairman, um,
I will say director, when we spoke, I had raised a number
of my concerns about, as I stated with my first question,
the duplicity across departments.
Uh, the goals of the OPSA with regards
to saving money, I don't think we feel
as though we are saving money,
even though you are responsible for $3 billion in, in
collective, uh, public safety spending, um,
we're still seeing where all three of the departments
that make up your, that are under your umbrella are still
spending, even though you are building the framework
to help take and alleviate those positions,
they continue to do that.
Um, would it be fair to say then,
as my colleague from the 19th Ward said that this would be,
uh, the year that we either make or break this department?
I don't think that is a fair statement,
uh, at all actually.
So then at what point in a five year span,
not withstanding, you haven't been here for five years,
but as a department for five years, we've been waiting
to see some efficiencies, streamlining
and some cohesive rebranding, if you will,
of those departments under the umbrella
of the Office of Public Safety.
If we are not meeting those metrics
and haven't met them for years under your leadership,
if we're not able to see them
matriculate within the next year,
should we begin looking at possibly reverting back?
Because that would be an easy way for us
to save $135 million from the taxpayers if we're not having
to spend for a another layer of bureaucracy
when this layer was meant to alleviate so many others.
So we're gonna continue to do our
part to meet our mission.
Um, I've highlighted a lot of the progress we've made
to date in my speech, um, and we'll continue to do that.
Um, my goal, as I've stated several times today, is
to help fulfill our mission
to make O-P-S-A-A much more efficient cost savings,
uh, shared service agency.
We are, are doing that.
We will continue to do that for as long as there is an OPSA.
No, I, I, and I know that's what you've said,
and I know that there are a lot of things
that predate your arrival as executive director.
So I'm not laying them all at your feet,
but you are the head of the department now.
And even as we talked about
with my colleague from the 36th Ward, we have CAD systems
that are behind and falling behind.
We have, I think all
of us would have questions about the risk management part
because we bring that up all the time with everything
that we're doing in terms of the amount of lawsuits
and whether or not there's a coordination there
with the law department.
I just feel as though if this is to be a functional
and effective department, then the roadblocks need
to be addressed early
and loudly with us moving forward if we're
to keep the department intact
and moving in the right direction.
I think a lot of people like to keep things
behind closed doors and hope that everything works out,
but we're not in an environment
that, that makes sense anymore.
So I believe that you have it in your heart
and in your mind how to make this work, but
unless we are all aware of whatever the roadblocks are,
I don't think you're gonna get to that point.
So I'll just end with, if, if you are trying
to make this vision a reality, let's do it together
because I know exactly what many
of us are gonna say come next year's budget if we
haven't meet met that Martin.
Thank you Chairman.
Thank you. Uh, Alman Lopez, uh,
we're gonna have alderman manna hopping worth
followed by Alderman Taylor.
Good morning, executive director. Good morning. Good
Care. Uh, hello
to your team.
I, I wanna thank you for, for your help.
I know you've only been here for five months,
but you've already been very helpful to me
and, um, in one constituent, um, issue,
so I appreciate that very much.
Um, I want to to continue along the lines of
previous alder and I'm curious to know if you are willing
to provide reports well
before next year's budget to, to let us know
how progress has been going?
Oh, absolutely. Oh, absolutely.
Um, you know, my goal really is
to be a more collaborative leader at OPSA.
Um, you know, I'd like, as I said earlier today,
you all have provided really invaluable feedback to me,
which we take seriously
and which, you know, I've utilized to help drive
kind of priorities.
Um, we definitely don't wanna do this in a vacuum
and, you know, we definitely do plan to reach back out
and make sure that you guys are kept up
to date on our progress
because it is hopefully a collaborative effort.
And I I do benefit from the wisdom
and insight that each of you provide. So, absolutely.
Thank you. Uh, yesterday we talked a lot about overtime
and I was curious to know what your department,
what's your role in collaborating with OIG
and CPD in identifying
possible misuse of overtime?
Is that something that you do?
So in terms of identifying, uh, misuse of overtime
that would fall with under the respective departments
operations, um, their own internal investigations.
Uh, our, our job is
to help support whatever goals they identify, um,
as it relates to, you know, procuring technology
that might help make the officer's jobs more efficient
to help cut down on some of the need for overtime
as it relates to, um, matters that relate to, you know,
just the amount of time it takes 'em to do their duties.
But in terms of, of what you're asking,
that will fall within the purview of
that respective department.
Okay. So you,
you wouldn't have any role in verifying the legitimacy
of any overtime asks or anything like that?
No,
All of that would be wholly within the, the department.
Um, that, that's just not something
that falls under an OPSA purview.
We're here to provide them support,
but they're responsible for their own operations.
Okay. Thank you. Um, so,
so this department has been around since 2021.
2020 technically, yes.
2020. And then, and,
and then the idea is to, um, make everything more efficient,
but bring so so the idea around the timekeeper system, each
of those departments did that themselves
and then your department is doing, is trying
to modernize it. Is that right?
We are trying to modernize the timekeeping across
all of public safety.
Yes. Um, through the procurement
and kind of implementation of, of those systems, um,
at each one of the agencies
To, to make it more, um,
less reliant on manual, make
It less manual. Right.
To make it a more of an automated, uh, process, um,
than what it is right now.
And then, and then you probably stated it earlier,
how many, how many, how many
sworn officers are doing timekeeper positions right now?
Uh, I believe Joy Brown has that specific number.
I'm gonna ask her to answer that. Good afternoon.
Alder Alderman. Currently there are 36 officers performing
that in their various units with 39 officers backup.
I, can you explain that backup to me? What is that? I,
I assume when the primary, uh,
timekeepers are not available or on furlough or
or whatnot other, uh,
officers supplement those, those duties.
How, how many total timekeepers? 75. 75.
So half of them are, um, sworn officers. So,
So how many timekeeper of civilians do we have?
Is that what you asked? Yeah. How many timekeeper
positions, and then how many of those are sworn officers?
Okay. So as a function of OPSA, we have 35 timekeepers
that we employ as OPSA employees.
Uh, but there are 75 total officers
that perform timekeeping duties within their own,
within their districts.
Okay. And then what, uh, executive director,
what's your goal in, um, making those civilianized?
That was the purpose of the office
when it was created, right?
To have a CIVILIANIZED department, right. Yeah,
That's certainly a, a, a big part
and a really important part of our office.
And my goal is to bring
us into the 21st century
and have business practices that are, um, that make
more sense based on the technology that is available to us.
And so my goal is to really work closely
with the departments and with DTI to prioritize, you know,
implementing our timekeeping systems.
Um, I don't know that it makes a lot of sense that we use
people to manually track time when we have systems
that are designed to do that. Um,
Yeah, and I, I, I appreciate all that.
I, I appreciate all the things that you're trying to do
around technology, including, um, you know, use
of cell phones and things like that.
It's, that's radical.
Um, but the reason why I'm asking is
because I would, my ward in the 48th ward, we would love
to see those officers actually on the street, you know,
walking, um, or bike patrols.
You know, we, we would like to see that more instead of, um,
behind a desk that that's what we would like to see.
Um, we would, we would like to see more, um, you know, um,
in regarding technology an, an upgrade to our,
our pod cameras.
I'm not convinced that the pod cameras
that we have right now are really helpful in actually
solving crimes, especially when I'm hearing
that they were not pointed in the right direction, you know,
during, in which a crime was happening, or it was too glory.
You know, I would, I would like
to have a better conversation about where,
where we are spending our dollars in equipment
and maintaining those, those pieces of equipment that I,
I'm not convinced are actually helping solve crimes.
And then I, you know, my, my ward
has like the second highest in, uh, revenue generation
because of speed cameras, um, right now.
And, and that use of technology is really helpful versus
shot spotter, my ward does not want shot spotter.
Um, so I just wanna put that out there that we, we want
to use technology, but we want use it to solve crime.
We want officers to, um, actually be on the streets.
And, um, and, and really that's it.
I I just wanted to say, you know, thank you
for, for your work.
Um, I would, I would like to see this,
this department succeed.
I would like to not have the same conversation next year.
Um, I, I would love for it to be, um, about
how we've already changed so much, um,
and maybe, um, a midyear
or quarterly, I don't know what it, what it's gonna take,
but, um, working all together so that we can,
we can figure it out.
Technology is really the way.
And, um, and then in terms of the, the, the first thing
that I said, um, you know, I, I came to you
because there was, I felt like a, an issue with, um,
automation, right?
Something, something was automated
and it, there was a mistake.
We need people to have oversight of the systems
that we have in place.
So there has to be a good balance.
And, um, I hope that you can bring that to us,
um, the next time we meet.
Thank you. Thanks,
Chair. Thank you.
Thank you Alderman. Uh, alderman Taylor.
Thank you, chairman. Good
morning, commissioner. How are you?
Good morning. Good, thank you.
I'm back here. Um, you talked about the technology.
Hold on, I wanna go, 'cause I said the question to you.
So you talked about cities that the technology
that you said we're using are in, what city are they in?
They're on numerous cities.
Alderman, we can provide, uh, a list of,
of cities if you'd like, through the chair.
And I wanna know if they're like Chicago.
'cause a lot of times people do other work in other cities,
but they're not a metropolis
or they only have the amount of folks that we're dealing
with in the city of Chicago.
And so, commissioner, I've had this conversation with you
before, but I wanna say it publicly.
This was a office that I couldn't figure out really
what y'all do until probably my second turn.
And while I'm still a little confused, what I don't want you
to do is not feel like you have the power to create change.
Um, I know there are a bunch of systems that were giving
to you and,
and some cards you were dealt
that you might not necessarily agree with.
This is your time to say, this doesn't work
or we need to change.
And you made the statement earlier about the contracts.
We've had them for years.
We've had a lot of things for years and it has not worked.
And so I, I want you to take that out of the,
the conversation altogether
and take it outta your mind that you gotta use
what doesn't work for the city.
Because now we're in a billion dollar budget deficit
and we're talking about how do we, um, rightsize government.
And so there have been conversations with a couple of us,
and I've said it to you this personally,
we don't know why we got OPSA
and like, the more that I listen to you talk, the more
that I listen to the feed people that work in your office.
This is something we need.
But I also, uh, you can't throw out the,
the baby with the bath water.
That's something ultimate IRV will say
that, that ain't really my saying.
But what I will say to you is, please talk to us and use us
and, and, and be an advocate for OPSA to say what is it
that you all are supposed to be doing?
What systems are not working?
What is really needed to make this office really work?
And so what, the more I talk to you, and I, I appreciate you
and I having a conversation.
I see the need for it,
but I also don't see the need
to waste taxpayers money and I don't wanna do that.
And so can you for me, I entertain me for a few minute,
um, have the discussion of what your office actually does.
So, and it, it, it's for new alderman,
but it's for people, um, who are listening
to kinda hear like, what is your job and responsibility?
And that is my only question
because you've reached out to me, we've talked
and anything I've had, you've answered it,
I'd appreciate that from you.
So can you do that for me?
Sure. I'd be happy to.
Um, you know, as I, I referenced earlier, like OPSA,
we do a lot of those kind of back office
functions on behalf of all of the public safety agencies.
So we help manage the budgets
of the Chicago Police Department, the fire department,
and OEMC.
We help, um, vet the candidates of employees
for the police department, the fire department.
We are responsible for managing the procurement.
So that means anything that our goods
and services that the Chicago Police Department may need
or the Chicago Fire Department may need, we are responsible
for going through that really complicated lengthy
procurement process to ensure that that is done thoroughly.
That it's done in compliance with all
of the procurement regulations, including meeting our
minority business owners
and women business owner, um, goals.
We help maintain the facilities across, uh,
the Chicago public safety agencies.
Um, that includes the, the police stations
that includes the, the fire departments.
We, we do a lot of that nitty gritty kind of back office
paperwork and manage those functions.
And really the goal is to allow our public safety agencies
to really prioritize their resources
and their time to fulfilling their missions
of keeping us all safe.
So you weren't here for this catastrophe,
but there were candidates who were for CFD
who were sent letters to say they were disqualified when
they hadn't even taken the test.
And we figured out what that glitch was
and made sure that we reengaged with those folks
who actually got their letter to see if they,
and this was prior to you.
And so I don't know if somebody in your department can
answer, or it's something you can get through the chair so
that we rectify that that problem never happens again.
So, 'cause people seem to think
that people just didn't show up
to take the test when they were told they failed
the test that they didn't take.
And we found out two budgets ago
that it was OPSA that made the mistake.
And so have we rectified that to make sure that
that does not happen again.
So we are a aware of, um, instances in the past
where communication may have been erroneously sent
to applicants, and we, we were able to correct
that communication.
Um, but I'm gonna ask Joy Brown
to provide any additional insight into
what those corrective measures look like.
Sure. Um, good afternoon, joy Brown, director of hr.
So, alderman Taylor, we caught it at the time when it
occurred and we rectified the situation, um, as soon
as we realized what occurred.
Um, so that was two, I think two years ago now.
Um, and so that was caught.
And again, we contacted those affected candidates.
Um, so in relation to what we're doing now,
we certainly strengthened our protocols internally prior
to communications going out.
And we also have a new system for applicant tracking, um,
in terms of allowing our candidates to get direct
communication, specifically from their investigators
and our background team in terms of the information
that they're getting in real time.
Were we able to meet, to make sure
that we were got in contact with all of those candidates?
Yes, ma'am. They were, uh, I believe 96 of them,
and we contacted them immediately.
I think the incident occurred on a Friday,
and they were contacted that following Monday.
I appreciate that. Um, commissioner,
that's all I really have.
I'll reinstate again.
Um, when it comes to vacancies
and positions, you all need to reach out to us as well.
We do hiring affairs, we do social media.
We got newsletters that go out.
And so, and I'm saying this to every
commissioner and everybody.
We are supposed to be a team.
And the thought that we worked this, this office was built,
this kind, all agreed to get it built
but did not know its function.
And it's not a communication with
what you all need when it comes to hiring is a problem,
and I don't want it to be one.
And so Alderman Viega said it.
You, we are a resource to you.
We just like, we call you with our issues, you all need
to be able to call us and say, Hey,
this is something we need.
Can we coordinate? Can you throw a hiring fair for us?
We will be willing to. Um, thanks Commissioner.
Thanks Chairman.
Thank you. Thank you.
Uh, alderman, any other questions? Any other items?
Okay. Um, I, I think you, uh, from today's conversation
and the previous conversation, um, during our, uh,
your first, uh, midyear, um, hearing, uh,
you can tell the level of frustration that, uh, we all feel,
uh, with the department, uh, as I said then,
and I believe today, you are probably their last hope of,
uh, maintaining, um, a stabilized existence.
Um, I think when the department was brought to fruition, uh,
with the goal of streamlining
and saving, uh, resources for all
of our public safety measures.
'cause keep in mind that public safety comprises an
extraordinary amount of our budget between police, fire,
OEMC and, and the like.
So, um, we wish you the best.
Uh, you've got all of the resources that we believe
that you need in order to be successful.
Um, I think at this point in time, we're just
as a council looking for delivery.
Um, I do believe
that you had the capacity and the ability to do it.
And, uh, when you return next year, we hope
that you continue down the line with, uh,
positive information, uh, for us to prove us that this was,
this decision that was made back in 2020.
2021 was the right decision on behalf
of not only the taxpayers,
but for the departments, as you stated earlier, for them
to focus on their core, uh, missions
of delivering public safety services, uh, to the citizens
of our city, while others that have a little more, uh,
administrative, uh, background
and clarity are able to do things.
Glad to see that you're moving, uh, on some of the items
that have been proposed in the medical, uh, audit.
And I'm sure there'll be other items that will, um,
that will need to, uh, work toward know.
It's not the best position to be in,
but I, I think you have, uh, nothing but, uh, potential.
I mean, the expectation, the bar is not very high,
but I believe that, uh, with your capacity
and your ability that you will blow it out of the water.
So again, when we see you next year, we hope to have a, a,
a great conversation, even though there is a lot
of frustration around the inability of the department to,
uh, to deliver on the key components
that we believe are in the best interest of the city.
Uh, but again, I, I do believe that you have the capacity
and ability to get this stuff done,
and we look forward to you, um, getting it done.
So with that, uh, the committee will stand at ease, uh,
while we bring in our next department.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, uh, committee come back to order.
We have before us the Office
of Emergency Management and Communications.
Uh, we will start with a brief overview from Kofa, uh, given
to us by, uh, Katie O'Toole, followed by, uh,
opening statement by Director Veles
and an introduction of the members of his team
with us on the DAAs, as well as those
that are in the well. Katie.
Alright, thank you.
Um, good afternoon, um, chairman
and members of the City Council.
My name is Katie O'Toole. I'm with kofa.
I'll provide a brief overview of the proposed budget
for the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
The recommended budget for fiscal year 2026 is
99.94 million.
This is 2 million less,
or about a 2% decrease from the revised appropriations
for fiscal year 2025.
OEMC receives both local
and grant funding with about 10%
of appropriations coming from the corporate fund.
Out of the proposed funding for next year,
the majority 87 million is allocated to personnel.
OEMC is budgeted 970 full-time equivalents for FY 2026.
This is 13, um, positions less than 2025.
Here you can see the breakdown
of the recommended budget for next year.
The percentage change, like I noted, between 2026
and 2025 is compared to the revised appropriations.
Um, spending on personnel for next year makes up the largest
increase, uh, with over 12% increase, um,
despite losing positions.
The biggest decreases in spending categories are
for contractual services with over 40, 40, 40 4% decline
and the 9,000 category with 32% decline.
This reflects a, um,
decrease in the professional technical services
and other third party benefit agreements that were supported
by UI and Federal Emergency Management grants.
In the 9,000 category, it is affecting the reserve balance,
um, by lower federal grants in including ui.
The bulk of the department
appropriations come from local funds.
Um, 2026 sees a decrease in corporate fund appropriations,
but higher funds from the, um, emergency communications fund
and airport enterprise funds.
Um, and as noted,
OEMC will see decline in federal grant SUP grant support
to the tune of around, um, 8 million reducing federal grants
by over 50%.
Looking at historical trends,
we see year over year decreased funding for the department.
Though the corporate fund appropriations have remained
relatively stable since 2021, um,
we've seen declining grants year over year.
And for FTEs, the staffing levels reflect trends
and appropriations with a significant drop in 2021,
but relatively stable in the year since.
Um, that concludes COFA summary. Thank you.
Thank you Katie. Uh, director Veles.
Uh, good afternoon. Uh, chairman Irving, vice Chair Lee
and members of City Council.
I'm Frank Veles, the Executive Director of the Office
of Emergency Management and Communications.
It is my honor to be here today
to answer any questions you may have
regarding omcs operations and accomplishments.
The city of Chicago is home
of 2.7 million residents across 237 square miles,
which include over 5,000 miles of streets, 19 miles
of lakefront, 150 mile rivers and tributaries.
We also have two major airports, which one being O'Hare
that sees well over 33 million people a year
and a little bit under 800,000 flights.
We work closely with city, county, state,
and federal partners to plan
and coordinate throughout the year, including lollapaloozas,
the Chicago Marathon Pride Parade, Suenos Fest, nascar,
our Emergency Operations Center activations,
and our daily citywide coordination calls, excuse me,
public safety exercises
and two annual weather preparedness workshops.
We also receive well over 20,000 calls per day
through our 9 1 1 and 3 1 1 system.
By the end of 2025,
OMC will have hosted well over 730 wide
citywide coordination calls that are held twice a day
to ensure seamless communications
and preparedness across the department.
This is just a snapshot of the scope
of omcs work in supporting public safety
and serving residents
and visitors 24 7 365 days a year.
In 2025, we expanded our employee assistance program
to our critical 9 1 1 workforce.
We now have two onsite clinician therapists
who provide wellness training, check-in appointments,
counseling sessions,
and informational materials, a decompression room
that was put in in 2024.
We also host wellness fairs and additional resources.
I'm proud of this initiative
and the support it offers to our dedicated staff.
We also continue to strengthen our partners
with the city colleges
and our introduction to emergency management courses,
which are now offered through our community colleges,
Malcolm X, Kennedy King, and all of Harvey.
Through these programs, we've hired 15 students into rows
on the 9 1 1 Operation Floors,
and within the Traffic Management Authority,
helping us diversify and grow our applicant pool.
Om c has also expanded the Safe Chicago program since it
launched in 2021.
We've installed well over 2,500 Safe Chicago kits at
800 locations citywide.
Our emergency managers have trained well over 5,000 city
employees and partners to use these kits
to provide life safe aid before first responders arrive.
As you're all aware, in July
and August of this year alone, OMC led the city's response
to severe flooding that caused significant flooding
to homes and businesses.
We are actively working with the state
and the county partners
to appeal the federal disaster declaration
and pursue all avenues for financial relief.
Joint teams are currently, as you're aware,
conducting site visits to collect an, uh, additional data,
and we'll continue to work with the city council members
to keep you informed on that and updates.
Finally, I'm pleased to report that we're finalizing
our upgrade on our next Gen nine one one phone private
network and phone system.
This adjustment will allow us to receive text messaging
to 9 1 1 while also personal training is underway,
and we expect to announce a launching date
in the next coming weeks.
On September 25th, we proudly celebrated
omcs 30 year anniversary, a milestone that reflects on
how far this department has come in three decades
to serve the city of Chicago.
I wanna thank this entire OMC workforce for their own w
and dedication and commitment.
Their tireless efforts ensure the safety
and wellbeing of our cities every single day.
I'd like to introduce my staff to my right,
I have Anna Tatum, my Chief of Staff,
Deon Tate, my director of 3 1 1.
And you're absolutely correct.
I have the best chief of staff.
I don't care what anybody says.
I also have my new first Deputy Joe Bird. I have Dr.
Nitara Washington, my Deputy Director of 9 1 1 operations,
Marianne Kavi McKeever to the right of her,
the Assistant Director of 9 1 1 Operations.
I'm also proud to have a new member, Michelle,
my new Deputy Director of Traffic Management and Authority.
My general counsel, Ryan Neligan, he doesn't gonna applaud
Mary May, the world's best.
PIO, Glenn Lyman, my Deputy Director
of Emergency Management, Chris Patino,
my Deputy Director of Special Events.
Matt Dowdy, my manager of emergency services.
And we also have with us in the box ante Smith from OPSA,
the Deputy Director of Finance.
We also have Dan Casey o PSA's, managing deputy
Natalie Gutierrez o PSA's, managing deputy.
And we also have Joy Brown from OPSA Director
of Human Resources.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Uh, we'll start with, uh,
alderman Riley, followed by Alderman Quinn.
Thank you Chairman. Uh, good afternoon yet.
Good afternoon. Um, just a couple of questions for you
and I want to thank you and your staff for, um, submitting,
uh, responses to my budget questions memo.
That is a, an annual event around here. Thank you for that.
Um, I wanted to zero in on, on, um, your response to one
of my questions, which was I, I, I requested
that you list your savings
and cost efficiencies due to zero based budgeting.
Um, and while you did not engage in that exercise, um,
you do take some credit for, um, going
through cost savings lens
to ensure every budget line is justified
and aligned based on actual spending and need.
And you highlight a few of the savings
for the proposed 2026 budget.
Uh, one is a reduction in TCA hours to align with staffing
in per Ann's 28,000 hours.
Could, could you explain what that response means in,
in 45 seconds or less?
Sure. Each account is reviewed through a cost saving lens
to ensure that the budget in align
with justifying alignment based on the
actual spending and needs of it.
Yeah. So that reduction there of the 28,000 is just hours,
uh, that we did on reduction of TCAs.
Right. From from what to what?
Pardon Me, sir? From how many hours to how many hours?
So we went from 150,000 hours to I think
122,000, And we reduced that by 28,000 hours.
Okay. And so that's a
what percent reduction are we talking?
Correct. No, that was a question.
What percent reduction in TCA hours?
Good morning Alderman Anna Stadium, chief of Staff.
Um, so the hours previously in our budget
represented when we had closer
to 500 part-time TCAs on our book these days since COVID
were closer to 150 TCAs.
So the hours needed to support these part-time
employees have reduced due to
that historical trend in staffing.
Um, and so we saw a little bit
of an opportunity there to, uh,
Understood these are important TCAs, you know,
the traffic control aids, um,
and, you know, we rely upon them heavily
around special events
and major construction projects, et cetera.
Um, why do we have so few of them now?
It's just lack of interest in, in having that job.
No, you know, alderman, that being a part-time job,
we're trying to promote the job.
We continue to come to the automatic offices
and constituents to help us push out the notifications
of these jobs opportunities.
We're also engaging in, uh, community events
so we can promote these.
Well, I understand. Yeah. I don't wanna cut you off.
I don't mean to be rude. Uh,
I just have a limited amount of time here.
Um, I'm confused
because you have a projected headcount of zero new personnel
and zero vacancies being eliminated.
How many vacancies do you have in the TCA position
Specifically? Yeah,
So our part-time TCAs
and a stadium, uh, chief staff, um,
our part-time TCAs are not budgeted by vacancies.
They're budgeted by our, so there's not a firm number
of vacancies on the books as it relates to our part-timers.
Um, you know, they, they, um, spend down on the hours
that they work throughout the year.
I see. Okay. Um, that's a bit of a concern for me.
Um, and it probably should be for Alderman Conway
and a few other of my colleagues who
have pretty impactful major, uh,
development projects in our ward,
at least when the economy's in good shape.
Um, but also the special events.
Um, we rely heavily on these folks.
Uh, likewise, um, you point
to a reduction in TMA over time at airports
to align with historical trends.
And you point out a savings
of roughly $200,000 in the grand scheme
of a $17 billion budget.
It's not much, but, um, certainly it's, it's money found.
Um, again, 30 seconds
or less, what can you attribute that to?
Do we need fewer of them at the airports?
What's the your better managing overtime?
You have more full-timers, you don't have
to worry about overtime as much.
What's the,
Um, and state? I'm
chief of staff. Um, so we again,
looked at historical trends in staffing.
Um, overtime worked based off of, uh,
budgeted personnel at the airport for those,
those are actually full-time positions.
Um, so those are a little bit different than the part-time
TMAs that we just talked about that are budgeted by ours.
Um, so looking at the historical trends of overtime,
based off those positions, we were able to find
that cost savings that you identified.
Very good. And,
and so, you know, I just wanna make sure I'm clear based on
what you've highlighted here in your response to me,
I'm seeing about $240,000 in,
in cost savings achieved in your budget.
Um, I'm hoping that's an incomplete number.
Do you have a total number for the amount of costs
and efficiencies that you've, you've been able to realize
to help, um, save the taxpayers money? Yeah,
I guess just to provide a little bit more context,
we are a very personnel heavy department.
About 95% of our budget is personnel.
Um, our non-personnel number is very small.
Um, and much of it is budgeted on 3 53, which is funded
by the 9 1 1 surcharge.
So our corporate non-personnel, um, is,
is a very small number.
Understood. The reason I ask the question is, is
because while you are a, a personnel heavy budget, um,
the intent of zero based budgeting is
to also throw into the mix all of your personnel.
Uh, the idea is that you're rebuilding your budget from $0
to whatever that number is at the end of your process.
You know, these are the positions we absolutely
justify and need.
Right. Um,
and usually the chunk of, of savings that can be achieved
through zero based budgeting, um, strategies is,
is typically found in personnel lines.
Um, so I just wanted to raise that for, for you guys
to consider heading into your fiscal year 2027 budget,
which I'm sure based on the condition
of the current proposed budget,
it's gonna be a whopper as well.
Um, but I would, I would just politely ask that you consider
applying that to that practice
to your personnel management, um, as well.
I, I just have, uh, two more questions.
Um, and one is a bit operational, um, with,
with the larger sporting events, um, that your staff manage
for us, um, around soldier field or the United Center
or Wrigley, or down at, uh,
whatever we're calling Comiskey these days, um, are,
are those TCAs required to go through, uh,
the city's ethics training program?
So these are, these are part-timers, right?
Yes, sir. So our TCAs, they do 35 hours.
So they do complete policies
and procedures, uh, traffic control, uh,
inter personnel communications, uh, traffic with law,
uh, employee relations.
So they do go through all these training.
But do they go through ethics training?
Uh, yeah, they do They understand when training?
Do they understand that soliciting a bribe, for example,
is against the rules around here?
Yes, they do. They do professional ethics,
drug testing, all of that, sir.
Very good. And during these events,
how many supervisors do you have on site
to be monitoring the behavior
and actions of these part-time TCA people?
Sure. I, I'll give that over to, is
There a ratio? There's
one supervisor to so many TCAs?
Sure. I'll give that over to my deputy director,
uh, Michelle Dela.
Thank you, alderman. That was a great question.
Michelle De, deputy Director
of Traffic Management Authority.
Ultimately, we would like to have
one supervisor per every 10 to 12 traffic control aids.
However, as of late, with the shortage in staff, um,
at events, our supervisors are jumping into the traffic
control aid role when they are out there.
Um, at the larger scale events, we try to, um,
put our supervisors where needed.
However, when there are multiple events in one day, we have
to stretch them very thin across the city.
And I understand that, and I know there's a tremendous
stress that's placed on, on your system
because we do have a lot of things going on.
I mean, any given day, especially during the summer months.
So I'm, I'm sympathetic.
Um, that's of concern
because I would argue there is a great demand for
supervisory roles at these venues.
Um, and I will talk about this at greater length
with you offline, but, uh, I have been disturbed by
what I have witnessed with my own eyes,
but also what has been reported to me personally
and also through my office, related to the conduct
of these TCAs
and the way they are interacting with a number of, um,
modes of transportation that tend to frequent these events,
looking for fares, whether they are taxi
and livery, TNP, even petty cab drivers.
We have these, these buffer zones around Wrigley Field
and Soldier Field, et cetera.
And we have very clearly demarked areas where you can
and can't do these types of businesses yet.
I often see cozy relationships between TCAs
and certain livery drivers and certain taxis
and certain unlicensed liveries, uh,
very close relationships.
And, um, I want to make sure that all
of your TCAs are properly trained on the city's ethics laws.
Uh, but in order for us
to make sure these employees are behaving,
we need supervisors there.
Right? And if the supervisors are plugging holes
with the front line, they're not free
to go about doing their professional duty as a supervisor.
And so I would argue, um, there is a great need there,
and we can talk about this offline
and perhaps with some other folks in the city, uh,
that needs to be buttoned up very quickly. Okay.
We would love to sit down with you Alderman,
and discuss those issues.
Thank you very much. If I, if I may also say, um,
that conduct and behavior was not tolerated on their OMC
under my administration at all.
You know, we're willing to sit down with you
and look at issues that we have,
and we can come up with some
solutions and work on these matters.
But I also do welcome you to please give us a call,
Wendy's incidences to happen
so we can address them accordingly. Yeah,
And I've, I've, I've mentioned to the folks in the past,
and I've certainly had conversations
with the Inspector General, uh,
but there is a great need for, for you
to impress upon these folks the importance
of our ethics code.
Absolutely. And, and that, um,
they also are representatives of the city of Chicago.
Yes. Alright, thank you very much. Thank you, chairman.
Thank Alderman, uh, alderman, um,
Quinn, followed by Alderman, osha.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Uh, director first, I wanted to offer compliments on,
on your collaboration with the, the,
the recent floods on the, in the Southwest side.
I, I appreciate, um, all of your hard work, um,
your willingness to, uh, take calls at all hours of the day.
Um, work really hard to,
to get the cleanup kits available to my residents.
So I'm, I'm grateful for,
for your hard work and, and your staff.
Um, my question actually, um, has
to do with crossing guards.
And I know it's been a couple of years since
crossing guards have been under, under Omcs direction.
Um, I'd like to make a recommendation that they come back.
Um, the idea of CPS, uh, handling crossing guards,
and then, and then actually cutting crossing guards when
CDOT was here last week, um,
talking about record low pedestrian accidents.
Um, it's just, it's absolutely ridiculous.
Um, it's aggravated my residents to no end, uh, taxpayers
who, um, had their crossing guard cut without any
explanation, without any coordination.
Uh, there was no communication to alderman's offices.
Um, there's no communication to, uh, the crossing guards
and no interviews of, of who is, who is getting cut, uh,
and why, uh, so it's real pathetic, um, by CPS to do this.
And so I would like to see those,
those crossing guards fall back, uh, under your watch.
Uh, do you have the bandwidth for that?
Um, so as you stated, alderman, you know,
this is currently under CPS
and under their budget, uh,
currently we don't have the manpower to support it
with the TCAs, but we're always willing to sit down with you
and look at issues so we can address them accordingly.
Uh, but one thing we do request is
that when this does happen, is
that we have a seat at the table so we can sit down
and discuss this a little bit further.
And we're looking forward to collaborating with you
and this body to get that dust.
So let me give you an example. At 62nd Austin,
which is an artery Street,
they cut the crossing guard there,
and I interviewed the crossing guard,
and he said 60, 60 out
of the 80 kids I crossed there are CPS kids.
Yeah. Someone's gonna get hurt there.
And I wanna put that on the record right now, uh,
because it's pathetic and no call to my office, um,
no call to, uh, the, uh, the, the residents,
um, really pathetic.
So I, I would like
to see all the crossing guards come back under your
direction and, and for this body
to figure out a way to pay for it.
So, thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, director.
Thank you. Alderman Quinn, uh, alderman. O uh,
Thanks, chairman.
Good afternoon, director.
Good afternoon. Uh, Frank, I'd just like to start out
by complimenting you and your staff, both those, uh,
up there next to you, those in the box, uh,
and everybody, um, over at the, uh,
9 1 1 Center doing the important work.
Um, I'd like to follow up on my, uh,
my colleague, the gentleman from the 13th Ward
several years ago, crossing Guards did come under OEMC.
I'm well aware right now, you don't have the personnel, um,
or the finances,
but I think it is important that we have a discussion.
Um, the way that the Chicago Public Schools
and the Mayor's office handled this, um,
is extremely frustrating to me.
It puts thousands of children in our city,
and I think we need to be clear,
I don't care where you go to school.
I don't care what neighborhood you live in, every child
who lives in this city who attends school should be
crossing on arterial streets
with a crossing guard based on the speed
of traffic we have on so many streets in our neighborhoods.
Um, despicable the way
Chicago Public Schools handled this,
they didn't reach out to any of us.
We all found out on our own.
We, and then when we were made aware, we got the run around,
we got evasive answers, we got Happy talk.
Um, and we're gonna remember that.
So after this budget session, um, in the coming weeks,
perhaps Alderman Quinn
and some of my other colleagues
that this has had a disproportionate effect on,
could maybe sit down with your staff to see is there a path
where we could examine this?
Um, appreciate any consideration.
Um, again, thanks to you and your team.
Thanks, chairman. Thank you.
And, uh, alderman, uh, and I'm gonna continue to say this.
We look forward to working with your office
and this body to come up
with some solution across the board.
Thank you. Thanks.
Thank you. Uh, uh, chairman Dow, followed by Ottoman Podo.
Yes. Thank you. Uh, commissioner.
Um, you know, I'm usually mild-mannered,
but I am not happy with the, uh,
soldier field, TMA plan.
Uh, we have 10 sites that are supposed to be covered, um,
during soldier field and concerts and things.
And I find that, uh,
sometimes these sites are not fully covered.
Uh, the TMAs, uh, are
standing on the side looking, letting people through.
Um, and I'm not sure about the level of coordination
between OEMC and the first district.
Now, I understand that Mr. Leki is not here anymore.
Um, but my expectation is that the person
that took his place would come in and be on it.
And I haven't found that to be the case.
Um, I don't know what this 5 0 5 number is,
uh, but if that's not your cell number, uh,
I don't know why you would give it to me.
I would want somebody that I can reach on site
when I have issues that rise up in that area.
Last week, I believe we had a concert at Wintrust,
and it was just crazy down there.
And so, I don't know the level of communication between
OEMC, the police department, the Soldier Field, Wintrust.
So I would like to get a full briefing about that,
because things have to improve down there.
Petty cabs are going through alleys,
but you have someone at, uh,
21st in the alley east of Indiana.
Those petty cabs should not be going down that alley.
Um, we, I, I need something better.
So I would like to sit with you and, uh, Ms.
Cola to talk about how to make some improvements down there
to tighten this thing up.
Um, do you train, how many TMAs do we have across the city?
Um, currently I have 159, uh,
traffic control hours hour lease.
And how many supervisors, if I was to divide that
by 10, that would be what,
how many supervisors do you have, Michelle? 10 to 12,
Uh, 30 at this moment.
But I, I do wanna address something. Uh, do one, please.
Excuse me. And I apologize if you do have my wrong phone
number, I assure you, you Okay.
You got
Mr. Cola's number,
a 5 0 5
Number, I assure you, I will get those appropriate numbers
to you, and I look forward to sitting down with you
and making some corrective measures.
Alright. Which emails responded to.
Okay. I'm really frustrated about
that, but I've said enough.
Um, I noticed that you got a, uh,
basically what amounts to a $10 million
increase in the emergency communication fund?
Uh, yes. Our overall budget for 2026, uh, increase,
uh, salary for our 9 1 1, our TMA personnel, uh,
for their new contracts.
Okay. So that's what that's for? Yes. All right.
Um, I don't have any other questions.
Uh, commissioner, you know, I think the world of you,
but I really would like to get my situation
as Soldier Field straightened out.
Um, I also wanna acknowledge, uh, Dionne Tate,
whenever I call her, she is, uh,
Johnny on the spot. Thank you.
Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Uh, alderman Spto.
Thank you, chairman. Uh, good afternoon, director.
Thank you. Good to see.
We're keeping the, uh, director
of OEMC in the 38th Ward for the fourth time in a row.
I believe so. Um,
Frank's been a long time friend of mine, everybody.
So, uh, um, just wanna say, I appreciate everything you do.
I only have one budget question for you,
and something I don't quite understand.
I know you talked, we talked about it a little bit,
and that's getting new employees.
Why, why would that be such a, such a, such an issue,
which you, I know you, they make a ton of money.
I know they're making a ton of overtime.
I know it's blood money, but, um,
are we still having problem getting
people to come in the OMC?
Is it, is it
because of the, I don't know, the, the, um, um,
the EMT thing, uh, what would be the problem?
I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's a pretty good living.
J uh, you make a pretty good living doing that job.
And I'm just a little baffled why we're having problems.
Can anybody, your HR person, anybody talk about that?
Well, thank you.
Alder Municipal, you know, we found inclusive difficult
to fill these positions
and competitive, you know, job landscapes
and including the shorter work weeks
and the option to work remote, which we don't offer.
Emergency management doesn't have remote working.
So it's not uncommon for MC to end up, you know, just
hiring shorter groups, which we're working with DHR
and OPSA.
Um, we're also partnering with city colleges
to develop some classes, uh, for job postings
and making this job application streamlining much easier.
Um, Dr. Washington,
Good afternoon. Dr.
Wa, Dr. SRA Washington, uh, deputy director
for 9 1 1 operations.
So that's a great question.
When it comes down to hiring,
and we have been discussing this, uh,
because a couple of nuggets, if you will.
Um, one, we hiring masses at OEMC, which means
that we have a lot of persons that
come in the door at one time.
Um, another part of it is the extensive training
that the pcos, the telecommunicators, um, have to endure
for the telecommunicators, the call takers that take off
of the incoming and calls of 9 1 1.
Their training is three months long.
And then for the dispatchers, that training is six months
because they're cross-trained to do both functions.
So with the, the timeframe that it takes to actually train
and onboard a telecommunicator,
that's a long a sense of time.
And then also, we have to remember that
after the classroom, we have application, the application
of the classroom materials is gruesome, right?
Because we have those, uh, simulated exercises
that turn into real world or real life situations.
And sometimes those are difficult for those, um,
from the classroom to, uh, kind of bridge that gap.
And then the last hurdle, I think, too,
is the actual retention and or the, uh, retirement,
because we hiring groups, uh, we have a lot
of retirements at the same time, in June of this year,
we had about 14, uh, of our employees core at the same time.
So those vacancies are fluctuating.
And, uh, yes, we are having those, uh, community efforts
and engagements to promote the vacancies.
But a lot of it is based off of, you know, hiring,
onboarding, onboarding, excuse me.
And then actual training, and then the retention.
It's just baffling because they make a good living.
I mean, this is a job. You make a good living.
And certainly with overtime,
you mean you get all the overtime you want, pretty much.
So I'm just a little baffled by that.
Um, I know the people that work there work
really hard and do a great job.
I, I know they get, most of the time,
they get people under their, well,
it depends on if you're 3 1, 1 or 9 1 1.
But I know they're getting people on some
of the people on their worst days of their life.
But that's all just, there's anything we could do,
help get the word out for you for hiring or, or whatever.
I mean, it's just, it's a good job and a good living.
That, that's all I have. But thanks au. If
I may say, alderman, thank you very much.
You, you're absolutely correct.
And we look forward to yourself
and this body to help us promote these jobs out there,
pushing it out to your constituents.
We're also working closely on a recruitment team
to help us augment some of these positions.
Thank you, director. Thank you, chairman.
Thank you, autumn. And, uh,
Auman Vie is followed by Auman Lopez.
Thank you, uh, Mr. Chairman and executive Director Valez.
Um, please make sure we do get those job postings.
We'll love to help you guys get the word
out, uh, around that.
Um, my questions is kind
of a follow up from PSA's discussion around the CAD system.
Wanted to kind of find out, get your input,
your department's input as to how
that implementation's going.
Uh, and um, yeah, just get your insight.
Um, thank you Alderman.
And that's near and dear to our heart, especially.
That's our core of our job is this CAD system
and our dispatch system, you know, getting this new system
and running it has been a priority
of mine since I came to OMC.
Um, we are working closely with OPSA
and Department of Procurement.
Um, as you heard earlier, they've been, uh,
this company was placed in a letter to ki uh,
but we are having,
and we have been working closely with them,
and we've developed working groups that meet weekly,
if not daily, to address, uh,
some corrective measures in this area
for improvement of need.
Uh, we've also, in the past several months, uh, been,
uh, having, like I said, these working groups.
Uh, we currently are doing preliminary training,
which we've started through our 9 1 1 floor.
Um, this is still a lot of work to be done.
Uh, we anticipate, uh, go live date sometime
next year, April of 2026.
But as I stated, this is a huge project
and we knew that it would take, you know,
the right way to do this.
And this is the first time
that we're getting a new system in decades.
So, Chicago, and you said it eloquently earlier,
that we're we're specific way of doing business, uh,
for public safety.
So we have been working a great deal with this
to get this right, the correct way and the right way.
Yeah, it's just, uh, frustrating that these type
of implementations, which do take a long time,
um, to get right.
And then there's so much reverse engineering, um,
that, or, or adjustments that need
to be me made throughout this process that just cause delays
and costs money to that point around, uh, the funding
of this, uh, how much increase, how much more are we paying
for this system than originally budgeted for
or advertised for?
Um, I'll have to, uh, as you know,
OPSC oversees the IT administrative aspect
component of this contract.
Uh, ante
Ante Smith, deputy Director of Finance
and accounting for OPSA.
As my executive director mentioned beforehand,
we are not paying anything to the vendor at this point.
Yeah. But to this point.
But there was a solicitation
and there's a, a price that this cost initially.
When it's all said and done, uh, how much more
will we have paid for this, for this, uh, for this program?
So I believe the contract is 75 million over six years.
So I can get you through the chair
how much we have paid year to date.
But right now, far as this year in the last couple of years,
we have not, we have not paid this vendor.
But you haven't paid them yet,
but I, I suspect that, right.
You're gonna pay them at some point.
Yes. But at this, I'll have to get that information
through your, through the chair.
Because, because they are, this is still, they just started
the work and there's training.
We have, I, I have to say it again, we have not paid them
yet, but we can't get that information as
what we paid them in the past
and how much we pay total when the project is completed.
Yeah, that's important. 'cause what I don't want to see
as, um, a system that's, you know, 75 million as you stated
and then end up paying, having to pay double, uh,
for a system that, that, um, we originally advertised or,
or agreed upon at 75 million.
So you can provide that information through the chair.
I know the old system, um, was a lot less expensive,
but obviously we need to upgrade these systems.
But it seems like this has been taking a long time.
There's just been a lot of hurdles, um,
and a lot of barriers that have been put in place.
So yeah, if you can provide that information
through the chair so that way we can, um, kind of determine,
uh, whether or not this was a good investment.
Absolutely. Thank you.
I wanna go back to item, um, related to, um,
the TSAs.
A question that come to mind regarding the hiring plan.
What are you all from a hiring perspective doing?
Or are you working with hr?
Are you guys handling it,
handling this internally as it relates?
'cause it seems as if you have a lot of vacancies.
I know you have the one class over at city colleges
that pretty much guarantees, uh, a person that goes to
that class, uh, a job.
Uh, what are you guys doing on recruitment
and hiring, uh, planning wise for those spots?
So I'll pass that over to DHR Joy.
Oh, good afternoon, joy Brown, director of hr.
Uh, so Alderman, in relation to your question in terms of
what we're doing, I think one of the biggest, um, kind
of issues tagged here is with the TCI hiring.
So, um, while that is kind of a willing and able title,
and I think we, for 2026, we are doing more, um,
we're gonna focus on more, uh, a streamlined approach
to hiring and doing more kind of community events,
but also doing, uh, hiring fairs where folks can fill out,
uh, the basic information on site
and hopefully we can get them processed a little sooner
with working with DHRI.
I know we used to do that in the past, so I think
that's something that, you know, we can obviously examine
with our partners in going back to.
Okay. But if I can also add something. Sure.
Uh, if I may, sir, we also have a, a rolling hiring process,
which that application stays open.
So we look forward to working with this body
to help us augment those operations
and push out these job postings.
And we'll continue to work through your offices.
Alright, thank you much,
Alderman. Thank you.
Uh, uh, um, as it relates to that, uh, vendor
that's implementing the cad, are there any penalties, um,
that we can impose, you know, besides not paying them?
So that way we're not if, if, if,
if there are cost overruns, at least we try to find a way
to recoup some of that.
Uh, I'll have to get that back ante.
I'm going to pass this along
to deputy managing deputy director Natalie Gure
to answer in regards to the contract.
Thank you. Hi, alderman. Natalie Gutierrez.
Um, yes, there are mechanisms, um, to impose fines
and we are pursuing all avenues
as we're working with the vendor.
So our first mission is to get it online
and then, uh, we are working with the Department
of Law on those, um, elements of the contract.
Okay, thank you. Well, um,
chief esque, you know, keep up the great work.
Your whole team does a great job.
And so Conti looking forward to continuing
to, to work with you all. So
Thank You, sir. Great job.
Thank you Alderman. Um, alderman, uh, Lopez, uh, followed
by Alderman, uh, Taylor.
Thank you chairman. And good a, uh,
good afternoon, members of the committee.
Good morning, good afternoon, director to you and your team.
Uh, a couple things I wanna touch base on.
Um, first
and foremost, uh, I wish to join my colleagues
who have concerns about the crossing guard situation,
that the safety of our children is paramount
and we must do everything that we can
to address this one way or another.
Um, I look forward to future conversations.
I don't wanna beat this to death,
but I also want to join them in recognizing
that many communities like Brighton Park, for example,
are now engaging in,
or are now creating very confusing traffic
patterns around our schools.
When I think of Kelly High School, for example,
which is not in the 15th ward,
but it is in the Brighton Park community, you know,
as we put new bike lanes,
new traffic islands knew everything.
It's confusing motorists, it's confusing children,
and it's gonna create a, a very dangerous situation if we
don't have the physical bodies there to support it.
So I wanna make sure that, um, we are also being in, uh,
including you and CPS and CDOT in these conversations
because when we have traffic pattern studies,
I don't necessarily think
that they're taking into account the traffic patterns
of children, and that's very dangerous.
Um, smart 3 1 1, 1 of my favorite topics,
which I have not seen any discussion on in
two years from OEMC.
Can you provide us an update on where we're at
with SMART 3 1 1 with its participation rates
and how we're doing in terms
of getting our residents engaged in this program?
Thank you Alderman. Uh, smart one, one, as you know,
allows us to create profiles for their families
and homes to include information that helped
for first responders.
Can you pull the mic? Uh, can you hear me? I'm sorry.
As you're aware, the SMART 9 1 1 allowed people to create,
uh, profiles for their family
and homes to include information to help first responders,
uh, when they come from their medications.
So their pills, the family members, uh,
building codes and vehicles.
And one of the challenges is subscriptions.
You have to renew this profile every six
months or it's removed.
Uh, so that's why we promote this program
and we ask this body to help us promote this, uh, program,
uh, bring it across all city agencies
and within your communities to help bring this up.
Uh, currently we have about 62,000 subscribers,
but we're looking forward with your assistance
and this body to promote this.
So we have roughly 1.3 million adults in the city
of Chicago and we have a 67,000
participation person participation rate.
So I think there's definitely some room for improvement
and I would like to see what we can do
to legislatively make sure that we are making this
as robust a program as possible, particularly if we're going
to be targeting like seniors, for example, where most
of those categories would apply.
Um, because I think that even hearing
that your profile expires in six months when your city key
lasts forever, basically doesn't make sense,
especially if you're a homeowner.
Odds are you're not going anywhere.
If we could tie that to some of the other things,
because I think that, um, we are working against ourselves
and what could be a very beneficial program for our city
as well as to my colleague from the 36th Ward who's always
looking for ways to data mine
and, um, monetize information.
If we're erasing information
after six months, then we've got nothing to work with.
So I think that's definitely something
that we should be moving forward with.
With regards to smart 3 1 1, um, language access.
How are we doing with regards to language access,
both at the 3 1 1 and 9 1 1 levels? So
Currently we have 298 language, uh, bank that we use
through our 9 1 1 and 3 1 1.
That's 291 employees, No, uh, languages.
Okay. That you can use when you call 9 1 1
or three one one that they can transfer to.
So that's a third party vendor that handles our
any necessary language issues we may have.
Yes. And can you provide through the chair who that is
and what the duration of their contract is?
Yes, we can provide that through the chair.
Okay. Um, in
not the main budget book, but this one that was
provided by the budget committee on budget.
Um, when we look at ethnicity
and race of your management team,
I've applauded departments that have created
with some intentionality, the, the
management teams that are reflective of our city.
And I find it remarkable that what is published here shows
that the ethnicity, uh, and
or race of your management team is 73% white
and 27% African American. Is that correct?
Well, as you know, I, I'm a Hispanic
Excluding yourself of course.
Okay. Is your 0.1%.
I'm a Hispanic and diversity is a priority of mine
to reflect the demographics of the city.
That's why I find this remarkable.
So is this information correct?
I mean representative of 11 employees?
Yeah. You want to Ara does it need an update
that you'd like to share through the chair?
Because I'm, I, I whatever you,
however you'd like to answer that.
Um, as you've acknowledged,
it does not include Director Valez.
Um, it is represented of 11 employees who are here.
We have one vacancy amongst, um,
the titles that are included here.
So, uh, there certainly is room for improvement here.
So notwithstanding the boss, I think that all
of us would like to see some greater
intentionality in this regard.
I think it is very difficult for us to say that, uh,
even when you are dealing with, whether it's the team
as a whole or, well, yeah.
Even when we look at, for example,
the overall even
by your union employees, it is not reflective.
Um, 'cause we are a 21% wide, 61% black,
15%, uh, Hispanics.
And in a city that's a third, a third, a third,
though I know it's more challenging even from the union per,
uh, from a CBA perspective, that's not reflective.
So I'd like to see some greater, um,
intentionality in recruitment as well to ensure
that we are getting a workforce that is re uh,
reflective of our city.
And that's important to me, both in terms of ethnicity
as well as geography.
Because as you know, director last week we had a
conversation the other day about, um,
9 1 1 calls in the neighborhood.
And I brought this up to the superintendent yesterday,
excuse me, with regards to calls that are dispatched
with police, um, whether
or not they are sent, if there's no gun
or no body on the ground.
We had an individual business where
a shoplifting event occurred
with $3,000 in damages in one day,
and it was referred to as a non-emergency
to the 3 1 1 system.
We talked about this, we talked about this yesterday,
and I think I would love to give you the opportunity
to explain a little bit better to the public as to
how we get to this point where when we're trying to show
that we are standing for our businesses and standing up
and understanding and appreciating the circumstance,
they find themselves when individuals choose to engage in
reckless and dangerous criminal activity,
when they call 9 1 1, to hear that what they're going
through is not as big of a priority, uh,
can be very disheartening.
So however you'd wish to answer that. So we, we
Do follow the policies and procedures
by the Chicago Police Department,
but I can have Dr. Washington
expound on that a little bit more.
Dr. Isha Washington, deputy Director of 9 1 1 operations.
Thank you, uh, alderman Lopez.
So a little bit about CPD response.
Um, we are definitely trying to make sure
that our policies are aligned with CPD of course,
as you know, that that's the way that we, you know, monitor
and, and uh, deal with priority levels.
Right. But for that particular situation,
I think we had conversations about it as well.
'cause I talked to executive director Valez
after you spoke with them about it.
And, um, a couple of different things that happened with
that situation, which we don't want,
we don't really wanna go into
the particulars, you know? No,
I'm not trying to get just on that, but it's
Yeah, just as a whole.
So generally speaking, um, one thing that we have
to remember, if the offender is not on scene,
then it becomes a, a issue that is not as emergent.
And then when there are no weapons involved,
that's another parameter of it too.
Right? And then one thing we
also wanna talk about is the lab.
So if I may, I just wanna Absolutely.
I just wanna jump in Oh yeah.
Because I appreciate that comment. Yes.
But when it was brought up yesterday,
the superintendent looked at me like I grown in three
heads when I said that.
So my confusion as I'm bringing it up again today is
what, where is the consistency
and what do we need to do to ensure that the answer
that I'm getting from one department matches the answer I'm
getting from another because I can't have the superintendent
telling me that I'm going to be there to protect person
and property when that's not the case. Yeah,
That's a great, that's a great point.
And not to cut you off, I think too, that, um,
it all depends on what the information
that's obtained from the caller, right?
Because we wanna make sure that, is it okay to continue? You
Can keep talking. I'm
like, Ooh, I might not be able
to, but you can go right on.
Absolutely. We wanna make sure
that the information from the caller is received in the
correct manner, and
that also dictates whether the police will respond
or not based off the information that's provided.
Um, so we wanna make sure that too, that something
that we should highlight is the difference
between alternate response and that a 3 1 1.
Because even if a caller is, uh, transferred over
to alternate response, those are sworn officers on the other
end of that line that make those reports
and make sure that they're getting the, um, the citizen,
the resident of Chicago, the proper,
uh, the proper response.
So for that particular situation,
that was the alternate response and not 3 1 1. So
I think as a whole, we need to better explore
and explain what the alternative response system is
because again, if you are being robbed
and your offender leaves you
and someone tells you that this is not a priority,
this is a a, a 3 1 1 matter,
the victim is going
to feel like they've been victimized again now by the city
of Chicago who in, in that moment, they feel
as though they're now being dismissed
as not being a priority.
So I think that we need to figure out a way to better
articulate this and be consistent with this and address this
because nobody should feel in that moment
as though we are not making their situation a priority.
Um, chairman, I will be providing through the chair
as well some questions, uh, following up
with the CAD system as well.
I know that we talked about this again,
but I have a few others that I wanted to wait,
but I, I want to thank our other team back there.
Uh, and I would also encourage, um, as I mentioned to the
OPSA earlier, uh, the duplicity across the four departments
of public safety, um, I think is something that we have
to be more intentional and direct about, um,
because it's definitely something
that I think is not necessarily proving our ability to show
that we are caught cutting costs where we need them.
And then chairman, um, just lastly, as a,
as a per a point of, uh, being here way too long,
um, your, there's so much your department does
that you can expand on.
You could talk about all the great work you've been doing on
the Southwest side to try
and help us with the flooding situations from July
and from August and, and everything
that you've been doing for our residents.
Um, I wish you would've included more of
that in your speech, um,
because I feel like this is a one third
of Toronto speech from last year.
Um, but I know that you have done so much more since.
So I would've loved for you to articulate
that when you were here
because now's the perfect
time to show what you've been doing.
Great for the city of Chicago.
It wasn't for me being here.
I would've been boots on the ground out with my members as
We're doing here. I know campus right
now. I'm trying to get you
done before 1230.
I got you. Thank you.
Thank you Alderman. Uh, Altman Taylor,
uh, followed by Alderman Fuss.
Thank you, chairman. Hey Commissioner, how are you?
Good, ma'am. How are you? We
Work for the city.
Can you tell me what is under OEMC when it
comes to staffing.
I'm sorry. I couldn't hear you too well, ma'am. Sorry.
Can you tell me what employees are under OMC?
I know 9 1 1.
Can you talk about all of the employees
that are kinda under OEMC?
So we have four divisions.
We have our 9 1 1, we have our 3 1 1.
We have our TMAs, and we also have our emergency managers.
You all are required to do training with staffing.
How often?
I'm sorry, what was the question?
So let's say you got an employee,
what does retraining happen?
Do you all do any of that?
Yeah, we, we constantly have retraining for each
of our divisions, ma'am.
Uh, specifically, I don't have the timeline for each.
And I can get that through the chair for you. The chair.
Can you gimme that Through the chair,
what the training component is for each section?
Okay. And so when sending that information, wanna know,
so let's say an employee is there every year.
Do they get training or do they get
every training every two years?
My point is leading to some of the frustration
that we get when we're using these services.
So calling 9 1 1,
and of course you are in a state of panic
and they're their attitude on the other end.
And so, is there some training or,
and I know you all monitor those calls,
but talk about the training that you give for these folks.
'cause some of them seem to be frustrated, some of them seem
to, not that they give the wrong information,
but they sometimes they're not understanding to
what the caller is talking about.
Yeah. So let me pass this over to Dr. Washington.
She can talk about some of our training. Okay.
Dr. Washington, uh, director of nine, deputy Director
of nine one one Operations.
Yes. The call takers and dispatchers undergo a training
before they become independent on the operations floor.
They go through an extensive training,
call takers three months, six dispatchers for six months.
Professional call taking, uh, traits are a part
of the initial training.
Also, professional courtesy
is outlined in the training as well.
Um, those policies
and procedures are something that we implement.
And I also have conversations in our roll call settings.
Roll call settings are 30 minutes, uh, before every shift.
And they're a reminder for the call takers
and dispatchers about the way that they
should, they should be behave.
I like to reiterate that there are specific instances
where we're having issues with the call takers who forget
and or need reminders, gentle reminders about policy
and procedure and the way they should behave.
I would like for everyone to please make us aware so
that way we can address those one by one.
Sometimes we, uh, have 'em as teachable moments,
but it's also important to make sure that we wanna make sure
that all of the call takers
and dispatchers across the board are reminded of the policy
and that they adhere to it.
Because we know that those calls are recorded.
But that's besides the point
because we wanna make sure that regardless of it's recorded
or not, that they behave in a professional
manner that they were hired to do.
Are you all supporting them with PTO
and mental health services as well?
Say that one more time for me please.
Are you all providing them with PTO
and with mental health training or support?
So yes, we do.
Uh, we just onboarded two new clinicians
and we're working closely with them with that.
Also with the new contractors, there's been additional days
that have given to them.
For PTO,
Is that same thing given with, um, the people
who do traffic control?
Uh, yes.
What does that look like for them?
Oh, they, they also are under the same contract,
so they still, they get the, the, uh, PT, DPTO,
uh, time off also.
What does retraining them look like?
Uh, Michelle. Thank you. Alderman.
Deputy Director Michelle Cola Traffic Management Authority.
So, uh, the training for the traffic control aides, um,
in their first week of training, it's a 35 hour course,
and customer service is part of their training.
Uh, the mission for OEMC.
Hello. How are you? Can you gimme me? Go ahead. I'm sorry.
The mission for the Traffic Management Authority
is customer service.
First and foremost.
They are the first people seen going into,
and the last people seen going out of an event,
especially at Midway and Chicago.
Uh, O'Hare Airport.
Their training is ongoing on a daily basis.
After roll call, they receive a 15 minute training
on any statistics that need to be brought to them,
and especially customer service.
Yeah. And if I, and as every day,
Yes.
I, I also wanted to add other women that, uh, in 2024,
we implemented the new decompression room.
We also have a wellness grant that we're working with, uh,
for mental health training, onsite appointments, uh,
enrolling trainings that we're doing
with informational center, uh, sessions, uh, onsite programs
that aid employees with wellness and engagements.
Thank you for that. Just want to make sure
that we're supporting folks who gotta deal
with the public every day.
Especially, um, the traffic and control people.
Some of them are very angry and rightfully so,
'cause drivers don't listen.
Um, but wanted to make sure
that they're receiving the support that they need
from when they we are, when they're having moments.
'cause we all have 'em. We're all human.
Um, and I wanna appreciate, say thank you
for making sure you took every incident
that I had at the airport.
Um, I am also concerned about these crossing guards as well
because we, the city was not honest with us about
who did what happened.
And so, um, through the chair, can you send us,
um, actually the numbers per ward, how many we had
and how many we lost.
And to reinstate some of those, especially in wards
where it's very unstable.
What does that cost look like?
I, I can get that through the chair,
but can I, I also wanted to say another thing to you,
alderman, uh, you know, concern of the wellbeing
of my employees is my number one priority.
I call these my heroes under the headsets,
and I understand the difficulties that they go
through on a day-to-day basis.
And I'm with them to make sure that their wellbeing.
And I assure you that I take that serious
and I look turning every rock that I can
to help them out in any way I can.
Because sometimes even when you call in three one one
to put in reports and folks are calling
and they're frustrated,
the call doesn't always go well as far as concerned.
And of course, I'm hearing that on the, the
constituent side, not necessarily on the person
at 3 1, 1 side
and just wanna make sure that there's some balance to say,
Hey, maybe you need a break.
Or maybe that wasn't the way to handle the calls.
And so that was the reason that for my questioning.
Um, commissioner, I appreciate the work
that your office does,
but my last question is,
what happens when a 9 1 1 dispatcher is in,
is in a conversation around a shooting?
Is that person taken off the floor?
What type of supports is in place for
that person in the nine one one call that seems to be fatal
or suicide or any of that?
Uh, I'll give that to Dr. Washington.
Dr. Washington for the
Deputy Director of nine one operations.
Uh, yes. A part of the clinicians
or the, the, uh, employee wellness over at OEMC,
we are proud to report that a part of their training deals
with telephonic strategies for calls in crisis.
We also talk about personal stress and mental wellbeing
and also resilience.
Our call takers and dispatchers are super
resilient in the thick of it.
In the moment when there are things
that are happening, you'll be surprised.
Some of them do not wanna even pull away from the,
the headsets because they're wanting to see out that event
of the end when, if they need, if they need
to remove themselves, we do take them off the floor
and take 'em to our new decompression room.
We also have a quiet room there.
There's also peer support on site.
We also have comfort dogs that come there.
We've also incorporated a morale committee.
They even had massage chairs the other day there for persons
that, that needed a massage you like during the shift.
So what we're having all
of these wellness initiatives there
is super important to us too.
That we make sure that we incorporate the wellbeing, um,
of our employees with everything that we do.
But yes, they get training, uh, in the classroom,
but it's nothing like hearing that emergency in your ear.
And we have to make sure that when that emergency happens,
that we can pull them if need be, and they can be replaced.
Some of them do, but some of them don't.
Until that emergency is actually over.
Seem like I'm working in the wrong place.
'cause y'all taking care of y'all people.
That's not what happens with the rest of us.
Um, I just wanna say thank you all for the work
and the support that you all have for the city.
I don't think people realize how important that information
that you get from 9 1 1
and 3 1 1 to make sure
that our constituents are getting the help.
And so I appreciate you.
That's all I got. Thanks, commissioner. Thanks.
Thank you. And like I said, I look forward to sitting down
with you and look forward to addressing some of these issues
so we can come up with some solutions across the board.
Thanks, commissioner. Thank you. Thank,
Thank you.
Um, alderman Taylor, next we're gonna have Alderman.
Alderman Fuentes followed Alderman Walker,
my bad.
Alderman Beck, followed by Alderman.
Uh, man, Howorth Altmore, you have something?
Want to go? Thank you Chairman.
Uh, good, a good afternoon.
Um, on the, uh, on the issue of crossing guards, uh,
I just want to weigh on then on that briefly as well.
Um, I think like your staff, you know,
getting top priority in terms of their health
and safety, um, that should be the same thing for our kids.
And I know that you don't have a direct task on that,
but, um, I think it just behooves us
as a city when we don't have CDOT proactively doing safety
of, uh, you know, for traffic concerns
and everything proactively going out there
around every single school
and saying, adjacent to the school
and that surrounding area, what do we need to do
to protect our kids?
Um, I think it's just a, all, all departments inclusive, uh,
job to start looking at that.
And I just hope that, um, the information
that you get back is helpful to all of us too.
Um, you know, with crossing guards
and with safety issues around our schools, that
that's our top priority too.
Um, the, uh, one
of the things I've been looking at is the, um,
this issue of special events.
And you have a, a limited, uh, task there of trying
to organize different departments.
Um, could you give us some insight into
how you've been tasked with improving special event
management and especially, uh,
coordinating all the departments on that issue?
Well, I'm gonna give that to my deputy director,
Chris Patino, that works on the special
groups for special events.
Chris Patino, deputy Director, citywide Operations.
Yes, alderman, thank you for that question.
So overall, it starts with the permitting process,
and we personally review over 1000 permits
for traffic mitigation plans, overall transportation plans,
and then of course, their emergency response plans.
Obviously, weather is the biggest threat
for any outdoor event.
We wanna make sure that the organizers of these events
are planning accordingly.
So once we go through the permitting process,
then OEMC is the coordinating agency
brings all relevant departments in,
including sister agencies, perhaps county
or state agencies, depending on the scope of the event.
And we host a series of planning meetings based on the size,
scope, and complexity of the event.
There could be anywhere from one to over 20 meetings
with all planning agencies.
For instance, pride Parade this year 17
on the books meetings, just for Pride Parade alone.
Chicago Marathon has similar numbers,
but essentially it's a cycle of cycles.
So the planning never ends. We have a heads up.
Some of these events do have multi-year contracts,
and we ensure that we are holding not only ourselves,
but the event organizer to Chicago standards.
Okay. Glad to hear you're doing all that.
And I think a lot of us assume that that is happening.
But, um, amidst all these issues of, you know,
how much we're, um, getting in return for the, uh,
effect an event has on our streets, the side streets,
not necessarily the, the streets that say a parade is on
or a 5K or a race or whatever it might be,
but what's the overall impact to our bottom line?
I, I appreciate that you guys are looking at all these
things now, and hopefully over the next couple years we can
really focus in on, you know,
what is the o what's the broader cost to all these events
and how can we retrieve that, um, for taxpayers.
So I appreciate that, Chris. Well done.
Um, going over to the Ernst
and Young report, um, the, what did you think
of the recommendations in the report?
Primarily around two issues.
Um, one, the FMLA usage at the nine one one call center
and two, uh, the TMA and parking enforcement combination or,
or being combined to, uh, basically save millions
of dollars this year and over a 10 year period
in tens of millions.
Hannah, I don't know if you had discussions
with the administration on that,
but, um, you know, the first one with the TMA, uh,
looking at, um, you know, we,
we incur about 17 million in costs for CPD overtime
to fill those vacancies for TMAs.
And, um, could save about $82 million there if we
fully replace that CPD overtime with full-time hybrid TMA
or parking enforcement roles.
And that's on, um, page 8 93 of the EY report.
I don't think you have that in front of you,
but yeah, go ahead.
Good afternoon. Alderman and Stadium Chief of Staff.
Um, so a few things.
We were very embedded in those working groups
with Ernst and Young.
I think we had actually informed them
about the FMLA situation down at the 9 1 1 Center
to help us kind of look at that.
Um, on that front, we are in the process of interviewing
for A-F-M-L-A analyst
that will help us track this more closely at OEMC,
looking at trends in coordination with OPSA to make sure
that, you know, um, you know, we recognize that's the right
of all employees, but just to look for any, you know,
patterns that might look outta line for us.
And then as for the cross training of traffic control aids
with parking enforcement aids,
we have been pulled into those conversations.
Um, I think there's a lot to be considered there, um,
in coordination with finance.
Um, I know that they had some thoughts as well.
So those conversations are happening.
Yeah, I guess there's contract issues there too.
A lot of things that are kind of multi-layered.
Um, but you did, you did have those discussions.
Um, you think there's some
fruitful opportunities here for that.
We do see some opportunities in some
of the suggestions that were brought forth.
Was there anything in the report that you felt could be,
uh, a more immediate win?
Um, in the report it says, um, for instance,
the call center issues that came up on, um,
let's see, I believe it was cost savings
of 13 mil million maybe achieved through imp implementation
of, this one was very interesting chat box, uh,
chatbots for standard services to reduce needed personnel.
Now that sounds kind of funky.
Um, I don't know if you wanna replace humans with a chatbot,
but, um, they did say that that would be a quick win
if the city moved on that, um, opportunity.
Sure. Um, I think a lot
of their research looked at what other cities were doing.
So obviously, um, the City
of Chicago does things in their very specific way.
Uh, they did have some recommendations for us as it related
to three on one operations
that we weren't totally aligned with.
Um, we look at our three on one center as, um, you know,
our main intake center as it relates
to when we have flooding incidents, for example.
That's real-time information that's coming our way
that we act on immediately.
And so reducing capacity at three on one is, um, something
that we would definitely ask to take a second look at
because we see the value of having them, uh, there
to support our operations as it relates to response
and 9 1 1 and emergency management. Okay.
And, uh, finally, you, you touched on it
I think a little bit here, but, um, one of the things
that has been brought up in this body before, um,
and, uh, you just kind of, you didn't say it out loud,
but I think the, this issue
of instituting a pull a part-time 9 1 1 dispatchers,
a former police
or former firemen who know to generally know what the
situation is on the ground, um, is
that something over the next few years that could be
a strong possibility for us
to implement bringing people back that
could work part-time in that, in that, um,
as 9 1 1 dispatchers?
Yeah, sure. Um, that one will take, you know, a lot of,
uh, we'll have to give a hard look to that one.
There are some union considerations, obviously, first
and foremost, um, that we would look at.
But, uh, we are open to anything
that would help us improve staffing on the 9 1 1 floor, um,
in line with contracts that exist
for our current employees who do that work.
Okay. All right.
Well, I appreciate, um, you being open about, you know,
looking at this report possibilities
and other possibilities that exist here.
So, um, I just wanna say, uh, thank you to all your staff
and thank you to the dispatchers who really, um, listening
to how they handle many different situations,
it's pretty incredible that they're able to, uh,
maintain composure in many
of the extremely intense situations that they go through.
But, um, I think all of us in here appreciate as,
as our constituents do the effort they, uh,
put in every single day and want to thank them for that.
So thank you very much,
director. Thank you. Thank you, chairman.
Thank you. Alder Alderman, uh, manna Howorth followed
by Alderman Moore.
Thank you Chair. Hi, executive director.
Hello to your team. I, I'm glad to know that you have, um,
because your dispatchers are not therapists, right?
They're not trained therapist. I'm
Sorry, other One. Your
dispatchers are not trained to be therapists, right?
The operators that answer the phone.
Yeah. Uh, Shara, can you or articulate on that
Deputy, deputy director out Dr. Washington here?
Yeah, no, they're not trained.
They're not clinical therapists.
No. Yeah. Well, I'm glad then that you,
that you have two onsite therapists now to, to take care
of your, your employees.
It's, it's very important.
Um, I wanted to know about the, the smart 9 1 1.
Is it possible to get through the chair?
How many of our constituents
have signed up for that program?
I think that's great. I think that, uh,
for our SMART nine one, we have a little bit under 62,000.
But yeah, we can get that number through the chair for you.
Terrific. And then I wanted to ask, I
again, uh, very much appreciate the work that you do.
Um, I was able to go visit the, uh, call center
and very impressed with, with all of your, all
of your team, so thank you.
But, um, we did have a instance where somebody called 3 1 1
and was told to call a three one two number,
and then the officer told them
that they were supposed to call 9 1 1.
Where where are we supposed to report those instances
where somebody got the wrong information?
Um, if you can just let me know, uh,
I welcome for you to get that information over to me
with the appropriate information for me
to look into it a little bit deeper for you
and give you an answer on that.
Thank you. And then we had a,
we had a major construction, um, with a water, uh,
main replacement this summer from May.
And, and now we're, we're finishing it up,
but it was, it, it felt like an emergency to us where
thousands of cars, because we are the cut
through neighborhood between Saba Lakeshore Drive
and the expressway on the west.
Um, were cutting
through our neighborhoods going the wrong way,
cutting down alleys.
Um, and every day felt like, um, a it was, it was terrible.
And so I wanna know, um, how,
how do you prioritize, um, projects like that,
like our own projects?
I, I was a bit shocked to feel like they were ask,
they were asking us in the office, you know, basically,
which, which roads do we need to address, um,
based on complaints and, and, and,
and it felt like an emergency.
So I wanna firstly, thank you, Mary, for helping us with,
uh, with the alert that that helped a lot.
I, I feel like that texting system could have,
is there a way to expand that texting system so
that we can localize it?
Because it was hard for us, is what I'm saying.
Like, we have a newsletter, we have thousands
of people signed up for that,
but our neighbors know how to navigate construction.
It's the people who don't live in our neighborhoods
who are cutting through our neighborhoods to get to work
that don't understand how
to behave when construction is going on.
And we felt like it was really helpful,
but, um, I don't, I don't know.
I don't know the answer. Um, I know that I was out there
with our, um, you know, in front of our schools
managing traffic with the, with the traffic, um,
control person, you know, 'cause
'cause we had instances where, um, uh, uh, uh, uh,
one of our, um, traffic aids were, were, um, hit
by a car on Bryn Maw and Clark Street.
We don't want that to happen again,
especially during construction.
Um, so is there a way to
help us locally when major construction happens using the
technology that we currently have?
Michelle, do you wanna answer that please?
So, uh, deputy Director Michelle,
traffic management authority.
So Alderman, can you reiterate what you just asked?
So ca I can better, uh, understand
how to explain that to you? I,
I felt like we had to come up with creative solutions to
educate all of Chicagoland how to drive
through my neighborhoods while we were
replacing water Maine.
And that did not feel like something I was qualified to do.
And also I felt like there needed to be coordination between
the project, um, which was a water project
and, um, cdot and we brought people together
and you all were there also on the calls,
but that felt like something that, that, that feeling
of crisis every day since May up until just recently,
until they finished, um,
felt like it could have been avoided if there was a little
bit more coordination.
I'm going to pass this to My counterpart, Maryanne,
Actually, I think I can touch a little bit on it.
Uh, deputy Director, Dr. RA Washington.
Um, I know that we have, I'm gonna do a,
a shameless plug here for the OMC app.
And, and Mary May here,
she can definitely speak to it a little bit.
But that app is, is, is essential
because what it does is it allows us
to put those updates on there for road closures
and alternate routes and things of that nature.
Or when we have like, um, Chris here who has, um, all
of the information about our upcoming events.
So Mary, did you wanna
talk a little bit about the application?
And, and, and before you do that, I just,
I wanna say thank you for that too.
'cause that was something that we did share,
but I also want to, again, somehow the city needs
to have better coordination with, uh,
traffic applications like Google and Waze.
And, you know, apple tho those were not helpful, um,
during the project because they did not
update in a timely way.
So I, I hope that we can figure out a way
to have better relationships with them.
We, we can sit down Alderwoman
and we can discuss this a little bit further
at later time if you'd like.
Make sure that we address these concerns
and that see some corrective measures working with some
of the agencies from CDOs Streets and Sanitation.
Thank you.
Um, thank, thanks for that.
Can, can you, um,
executive director give me any updates about the CARE
program, um, if there are any?
So as you understand
that the CARES program is under A-C-D-P-H initiative.
Uh, so we work closely with CDPH when it comes to that.
Uh, OMC follows the directives of CDPH
and on the current model, I'll have, uh,
Maryanne McKeever discuss on that a little bit further.
Thank you. Maryanne McKeever,
assistant Director 9 1 1 Operations.
Um, as the executive director said, we are working, um,
it's A-C-D-P-H program, but OEMC does support.
So currently all calls
that come into the 9 1 1 system are first answered
by a civilian call taker for the police.
Um, this call taker will ask clarifying questions
and determine an event type based on the information
given by the caller.
There are five event types that we currently have
that have potential eligibility for care.
If the call is classified as one
of those event types based on the information given
by the caller, um,
and is occurring in the geographical area that care serves
during the time that care serves further questions,
triage questions are, um, asked
to determine eligibility for a care response.
These questions include indicators about behavior,
mental health, condition, violence, weapons
that might be present, um,
and the presence of a mental health
component, if that's known.
If it's not known, that doesn't stop the process.
If the information given by the caller indicates, um,
initial eligibility for a care response
that calls then conference with a civilian call taker
for the fire department who's gonna ask additional questions
regarding medical, um, symptoms and
or substance use.
Um, those questions are actually determined by region 11.
And, um, the eligibility
after those questions are asked will result in, um, as long
as there's not a situation that will require an ambulance
response, that's gonna result in the dispatch
of the care team if they're available.
So that's our current procedure
that we're working with, with CDP,
But I wanna let you know Alder more
that OMC meets regularly with CDPH to ensure that we're able
to support their program and continue
because this program is evolved under CDPH.
Thank you. And then the care program,
it doesn't run every day, right?
Um, Marianne currently
Is, currently it's Monday through Friday, um,
10:00 AM to four 30.
And then those calls
that you get on the weekends when care is not like,
what's the backup plan for those calls?
So any call that, um, has a mental health component to it
that falls into, um, the time outside of the operation
of the care hours is handled by a certified CIT officer
and prioritize for dispatch in that fashion.
Can do we have data on the number of calls that go
to care versus CIT?
We, I can get you that through the chair.
Okay, thank you. I, I also wanted to say
that we also have a robust quality assurance program
that we work on to review to these CARES related, uh,
calls into the 9 1 1 to ensure proper handling.
Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate that.
I remember during the pandemic, I had a, a friend who went
through, um, a, a crisis
and it was when we are not supposed to even be together.
It was on a Sunday.
Um, it felt like there were, there were very few resources.
So I would, I would like to see
that program extended through the weekend.
And, um, and the could
because she did not need a police officer.
You know, she needed, she needed, um, something
an alternative to that.
Thank you. Thank you. Executive Director. Thank
You. Uh, thank you
au Amanda Harper with Ottman Moore.
Um, thank you chairman, director. So good to see you.
Um, I know I wasn't here to start,
but I think I've, I heard some things online
and I gotta have to chime in.
First of all, I appreciate you, your entire teams
and for the teams that do well,
I always tell people it start, well, even the ones
that do bad, it starts at the top
and it's a reflection of their leadership.
And so, um, your leadership is impeccable, um, in terms of
how you communicate, um, with the, um, alderman
and I, and I, and I can speak for myself,
but I think you do it with everyone.
And that means a lot
because it gives our ability to communicate
with our residents in a, in a timely manner
and, um, with some knowledge.
And so what you did during the, um, floods, um, as,
um, alderman Lopez stated, um,
and you're not a person that pat yourself on the back,
but, um, people have to know what, what you're doing
and it's important and what you did, um,
to get us the information.
And, and well, some people think a bucket is small.
When somebody is going through a life changing experience.
I mean, I had one constituent, you know,
they converted their basement into a house
and a nice one where they're living,
but for your whole house to be now underwater
and somebody to show up
and saying, um, somebody care, some type of help is coming.
Um, and I,
and she posted it on Facebook actually, um,
with her bucket and stuff like that.
And she shared it. So I, I shared it,
but that's what it meant to her and her family.
And to just see all those rugs thrown out, um, um,
things that are important to you
and your family having to go
or get damaged, the impact of that was just devastating.
And, and, and what somebody else would think is a little
bucket meant the world, um, to someone.
Now that was, that was, that's one thing.
The second thing is, Hey, y'all gonna help me?
That's the thing comes with the communication.
And you laid that out so clear for us that we were able
to effectively, um, communicate that to the residents.
And without trying to, you know,
piecemeal our own message together to comfort them
and everything, and,
and it, it, it, it was extremely helpful.
And for, um, just for the record, so the, you know,
federal administration to deny them that.
And then you all come back now appealing it again,
communication, letting the people
know, this is what we're doing.
We haven't forgotten about you.
Uh, not only the, um, mayor's office.
I want to thank for doing that,
but your office taking a lead on
making sure that this happened.
It means the world, um, to me as an alderman,
but definitely to my constituents who, um, were impacted.
So I want to thank you
and your staff, um, who have,
I probably spent countless hours during that time, um,
and some sleepless hours.
I have no doubt. Um, trying to, um, make sure
that calls got, um, fielded and, and,
and the information got out there.
So I want to commend you on that. Thank you so much.
Um, my, uh, first question,
and this happened a couple of times,
and I just want to know for the record,
'cause I, I think I'm telling the truth,
but I want to know it for the record.
If a person calls 9 1 1, they, they're never put on hold,
are they, in terms of that initial call, uh, Dr. Washington,
Dr. Washington for the deputy director
of nine one operations?
No sir. There is no whole, uh, policy for o for
9 1 1. Okay.
So I, I didn't think so.
I had, you know, again, two residents out
of 50 something thousand.
I really say 15, unless kids are calling too,
which they sometimes probably do.
Um, you know, sometimes people they,
maybe they call 3 1 1, I don't know.
But I know 9 1 1 and I wanted to make sure I was speak.
I was say, no, 9 1 1,
do not put you on hold if you doing it
immediately, call there.
So I just wanted to, um, state that, um, for the, put
that on the record, uh, if any
of those constituents are listening.
Um, my second, um, question came, uh, I was,
um, brought it up at the police,
but I want to make sure the money that from the sales,
telephone sales texts that we use for, um,
police technology, how much is, um, left and that,
and that's the part of the money they got the RFP out for.
So from the time they stopped ShotSpotter, how much money
is in that, uh, account And, and,
and has that any of that money been diverted anywhere else?
Anna? Hi Alderman, Anna Stadium, chief of staff.
Um, so the fund is about $170 million O
70 million For the entire fund.
OEMC is a portion of that.
The technology you're referencing does not
fall under our department.
It falls under OPSA, uh, they manage that technology piece.
So that funding would be in their budget within 3 53.
Okay, so let me, let me walk that through now.
So $170 million in total from that fund, right?
So that's about the total amount
that the city gets, right?
OEMC is a portion of that overall fund.
So when you say about
what they get per year, you're saying
Annually, correct. Annually.
And so, so that was that.
So we should have a little, depending on what we had
to pay out, uh, in that fund,
then the budget director would have that total amount of
what is in that fund right now.
So the overall fund is administered
by the budget department.
It does fund operations out of OEMC, out of PSA
and um, I think there's the general finance, um,
that's also some of the money goes to that as well.
Okay. When you say, okay, so you say operations
and I can have that, I guess conversation
with the budget department.
'cause I thought all of that money was towards technology.
So I wanna be clear when I'm, when we say,
'cause I don't wanna be spreading false information.
'cause my, when I'm talking about it, I say, well all
that money we get has to go towards, um, police technology.
I, I say, or public safety technology.
That's the right term. The public safety technology.
So you're saying that's not the case for those that that
Yeah, partially for OEMC.
So we're about 74 million of the fund,
but we're, that's 95% just our personnel.
So it funds our 9 1 1 operators and dispatchers.
Okay. But technology is a piece
of the overall fund as well.
It's just on budgeted under OPSA.
Okay. You know, what percentage you said you, you know,
you said what about what percentage of, um,
that technology is funded under OPSA?
I'm gonna tip that over to ante.
I don't know if you might have that info.
See. Okay. Ante Smith, deputy Director of Finance
and Accounting for OPSA, I don't have that number
re available at this moment,
but I will get that to you through the chair.
And just for clarification, you'll like the num the amount
that is budgeted for technology under the surcharge fund
3 53, is that correct?
For technology? But now because of my lack of knowledge
or understanding, should I say, I thought all
of it was going through as technology, so
No, just as, Right.
So I need to know stated.
So I guess that's why my question,
unless you know it, what
can get it from me through the chair?
I, I have to ask the budget director,
unless you can help get through the chair
that total dollar amount since we ended, you know,
um, um, shot spotter, how much is in the, on
that budget line then what?
Then the second part of that question is now then
what percentage of that goes to the technology?
So I believe you're referencing two different things.
So gunshot detection, that is one line
that is when within fund 3 53 and not the overall budget.
So if the amount that we budgeted for in FY
2025 is, I believe is a little more than 8 million.
But that is not the overall budget.
The overall amount for fund 3 53, which is a surcharge,
is the 170 million that chief of staff mentioned.
Right. Per year.
But just to be clear,
'cause I was saying that that whole thing goes towards
public safety technology,
but that whole 170 million does not,
It goes to anything that is MER
emergency management related.
Oh, always within three budgets, which is finance,
general Office of Mercy Management and OPSA
And then just a percentage goes
towards the technology piece.
Absolutely. And then, and, and then pull
that out for me if you will.
Okay. That, that will percentage will do. Thank you.
Um, my next, um,
question is, um, when we was talking about jobs and
and positions that are opened, are any of those positions
and if you could provide through the chair
that you would hire returning citizens for.
So you got a lot of positions.
If you can provide me those positions that you are looking
for someone, if you would hire any returning citizens,
there has none any return.
What alderman? Any returning citizens? We don't call him.
Um, he, he's an ex-offender. They returning citizens.
I'm sorry, excuse. I don't mean to laugh.
I apologize for that. Excuse me. Um, you,
You got it.
So everybody know what return is? Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
He's an ex-offender, but they,
the other ones are returning citizens.
That's a conversation that we'll have to have
with DHR and and OV.
Right. So those po I'm just, I, I just need
to know those positions that you're trying to fill.
I need a list of those positions if so that you hire
for returning citizens.
If you can provide that through the chair.
Alright, that's all I have, chairman.
Thank you. Um, alderman Moore.
Um, you had a quick question. Uh, alderman Lopez, go ahead.
Thank you chairman, and uh, appreciate your indulgence.
I just have one quick question.
Uh, director, you are listed on page
365 of the, uh, appropriations ordinance, your position.
Correct?
Um, Or I could I should say three page 365, uh,
executive administration.
9, 9, 5, 8.
Executive director Emergency management communications.
That is your position, correct? Yes.
If I were to look on page 3 77
of the same book in the Chicago Fire Department,
it says Deputy Fire Commissioner,
executive Director Emergency Management, uh,
for fiscal year 2026.
The previous, uh, position mentioned, which was in reference
to you is for fiscal year 2026.
So how is it we have two executive director,
uh, management, emergency management
and communication positions within this budget.
Uh, from my understanding,
this is in the city looking into more
into a personnel matter.
Uh, but if you'd like, I can get that
through the chair once we get an answer for you.
Okay. I would, I appreciate your answer
'cause I'm gonna ask the fire department the same question
because we are charging taxpayers for two of you
and I only get one of you.
So unless there's another, uh, version
of Frank Les floating out there somewhere we don't know
about God only know I'd only one,
I'd like to know why we're paying for double.
Thank you Chairman.
Thank you. Uh, alderman, now Vice Chili. Thank you
Chair. Hello
director. Um, thanks for being here.
I know, I think I'm gonna be the last person, so I try to
keep my questions brief.
Um, I mentioned yesterday, um, during the police hearing,
uh, about a couple of instances recently
where I've had residents call, um,
and complain about dialing 9 1 1 and not getting an answer
and calling multiple times, um, when they were in need
of emergency assistance.
Um, I know that your team reached out to me yesterday, um,
when they heard that on the budget call.
So I, I just wanna acknowledge that
and I know we're kinda tracking that down.
Um, I hear it once it's, it sounds like something
that is uh, maybe a fluke,
but I got it twice within about a 10 day period,
which was really disconcerting to me.
We are constantly asking for the public to engage
with calling 9 1 1 if they see something.
And to, to hear that, um, people aren't getting through
or having to call multiple times is pretty, um, unnerving.
Can, do we have any statistics at all about like when I
don't know what's happening, if it's we're understaffed
or there's too many calls coming in, uh,
do we have tracking information at all about like when
9 1 1 is dialed and no one picks up the phone whether
or not someone has hung up the phone or not?
'cause I know sometimes people will call nine one
by accident and then they hang up the phone
and then nine one one actually act calls you right back
'cause I've done that before and they call back
to make sure you're okay, can someone address this issue?
You know, uh, great concern to yourself
and anyone in this body and,
and all the constituents out there.
If you face any of these issues,
please call me directly so we can address this.
'cause as soon as possible we can provide,
we would need the cell phone number, uh, the carrier
and the time of date of the incident for us
to look a bit further into it.
Okay.
Uh, I will do that and I'll have
my staff follow up with yours.
Absolutely. I've already connected them.
Um, and while we're on the, the subject,
it's 9 1 1 versus 3 1 1 calls.
Um, you know, I, again,
I'm like a broken record in my ward asking
people to call 9 1 1.
Um, and especially in an age
where we don't have shot spotter anymore, we need,
we need human shot spotters.
Um, in addition to people, just when they see something,
to say something, um, if something is, uh,
I get, I get conflicts about
where people should be directed 3 1 1 versus 9 1 1.
Um, can you, just so that everybody hears it,
when should you call 9 1 1 versus three one one? Well,
9 1 1 is an emergency for any services
that are needed from police and fire.
And importantly 3 1 1, uh, is a non-emergency,
but it is an emergency.
We call that that's three one one is more
than just a call center.
Uh, we utilize three one one as one of our warning systems,
uh, becomes our data point when it comes to that
for large scale incidents to help us identify any type
of patterns in order for us to mobilize resources.
So when it comes to 9 1 1, any police or fire that is needed
or for any city services, we, we ask that you call 3 1 1.
Uh, in order for us, uh, to be able
to get the appropriate assets out there in regards
to flooding, uh, from getting streets
and sanitation out there to Department of Water Management
and any other C city department, uh, that response
on both sides saves lives as well
as property and infrastructure.
No, I appreciate that. I'm just really gonna center my,
my questions today.
Um, and comments around, um, activity that is
of a non-emergency nature, no one's life is in danger
or anything like that, but if neighbors are observing
and they have suspicions that's, let's say, um,
drugs are being sold out of a particular house
or corner address
or anything like that, uh,
if they're suspected human trafficking
or prostitution going on at an address, um, how is
that information then if they're calling 3 1 1 2 report it.
How, how do my constituents know
that something's being done with that information?
I'm gonna pass that over to my director of 3 1 1 Deion.
Hi, lemme screwed up. Hi Alderwoman.
Um, thanks for the question.
Deontay Director of 3 1 1 City Services.
So in an instance like that, um,
that's the 3 1 1 9 1 1 version
that would actually be a 9 1 1 call.
Those would be 9 1 1 call. That
Would be a 9 1 1 call.
I'm going to just make sure that we're
directing people to the right place.
'cause one of the biggest frustrations that I think
what makes people not call 9 1 1
and three one one is this feeling
that nothing is going to happen.
Um, and I know that with limited resources across the city,
your call takers are the ones that are in the position
to sort of dispatch, uh, according to the, the, the process
that you already have set up.
And then we've had your folks come out to, um, caps meetings
and town halls and, and the like.
Um, I would love to be able to just continue to share
that information so people understand
how calls are routed at the end of the day.
Uh, but I think that we've had people that have been bounced
between 3 1 1 and 9 1 1 in the past.
So I, I will direct them to continuously when it is
with regards to something, some sort of criminal activity.
Even if it's not someone is like holding me up right now,
but I'm calling to report criminal activity.
It should be to 9 1 1. That's what I'm hearing.
That's correct. But I just wanna just, uh,
explain or expound on Sure, please.
Just a little bit more because,
so 3 1 1 is city services, right?
And oftentimes they, you know, say
that it's non-emergency, right?
There is a non-emergency
and an emergency component to 3 1 1.
Oftentimes people get transferred to 3 1 1
for a non-emergency report police report.
But that's actually CPD sworn officers taking
those calls, right?
Taking the reports and it's being approved
by an actual CPD sergeant.
Um, but so 3 1 1 more of the city services, like I said, um,
with the non-emergency and emergency component.
So if your, your constituents need new garbage cart,
you will call 3 1 1.
If there's water in the basement, you will call 3 1 1.
But that's also sort of an emergency, right?
Well, not sort of, if you wake up during the middle
of the night and your basement is full of water
or you need, um, housing, right?
If you're calling for shelter request, that's 3 1 1.
So just if you think along those lines,
sometimes people do say, I am gonna call 3 1 1
for a non-emergency, but emergency Yeah.
If there's an imminent threat to life mm-hmm.
Of course if there's even some people think
that loud music disturbance is not a 9 1 1 issue,
but it technically is you would call 9 1 1.
So I hope that kind of explains a little bit better the
difference between the two that
Does. So
I call 9 1 1 to report that I see a, a line of men
outside of an address that I suspect is a brothel.
Um, and my neighbors all call for this as well.
Um, what's happening with the,
and I I'm giving you some examples here just
because these are real life calls
that I'm getting in my office.
Um, and I we're, we're working with the police
and all of the other agencies you live next
door to a place like this.
It's very disconcerting when you, when
you guys are before us now.
So I don't want you to take it like this.
It really is, I'm trying to educate everybody on
what is the best way and how do we all work together
to solve these problems in the
community. 'cause they're real issues.
I'm gonna give you to my deputy director from 9 1 1
to be able to give you an answer on that.
Dr. Isha Washington from
a deputy director from nine one one.
Yes. Whenever you call 9 1 1 for that type of situation,
I think the biggest thing that we wanna make sure
that we reiterate to the constituents is
that you can't remain anonymous in those cases.
So you call 9 1 1, you want something to be done about it,
but you don't necessarily wanna speak
to the police when they get there,
nor do you want the
offenders to know that you actually called.
Right? So just make sure that they're aware that as long
as they're not the victim, they can be totally anonymous.
And what happens is, even though we get, receive
that information on our system, when they call 9 1 1,
when we make them anonymous in our cad,
it blocks out the information when it hits the
officer's, uh, portable devices.
So they won't know who actually called,
but um, be mindful that we need all of the descriptions
as possible so when they get there, they know exactly
who they're, who, who they're looking for the, um,
that's causing a nuisance or the problem.
And what would the priority be for a call like that
With Dr. Washington? Yeah,
So it depends on what the, what the caller's giving us.
So if there are no weapons involved
and there's no imminent danger,
then if they're just on the corner kind
of just like hanging out so to speak,
then it will be a priority three.
Um, which is a 60 minute dispatch.
But if there's something along the lines of that, oh,
they have a gun or they have something different like that,
it becomes a priority one
because of course lives are in danger
and we wanna make sure that we get the
police there as quick as possible.
I get it. I mean, oftentimes these are not,
guns aren't visible or anything like that.
Um, and,
and this might be an offline question for like a, a group
of people from different departments.
Um, let's say it gets lodged as a, uh, entered
as a priority three, it's a lower priority
and there's lots of other things going on.
There's a shooting going on someplace else in the district,
other resources are.
So I hear very often, um, that, you know,
I'm not gonna call the police because they're not gonna come
anyway or that it takes them forever to come.
I, and this goes to I think just the general trust
that the public has that that resources are going to be
directed towards where these problem areas are.
Um, I'm assuming that
because you have all of the data,
it piles up eventually, right?
Which is why I tell constituents we need all of your calls
because as you said, director, it helps to build data points
for, for building cases as well, right?
So I'm assuming that the police would then the appropriate,
uh, departments and the police would, uh,
would get this information presumably be taking actions
commensurate with how to respond to this.
Yes, ma'am. And that's why it's important
to reiterate the fact that, hey,
I know this is a little nerve wracking
that you won't get the response time
as you would get if a person was shot, you know, right away.
But the response does still happen.
And all those calls that come in the center, they're track
and they have an event number associated with them.
So there's a record of that call every single time they
call, whether they wanna be anonymous or not.
So keep pushing for us, help keep pushing for us
to call 9 1 1
and we'll make sure on our end
that we are getting the police out
there as quickly as possible.
Thank you. You're Welcome. Like Dr. Washington
that stated, we don't want
to deter anyone from not calling 9 1 1.
If they need to be anonymous, they will be. Yeah.
Chair, I just have one last thing and I'll be quick.
Um, TMAs, um,
are is the FTE change in your, um, budget this year?
Is it all TMAs?
I'm sorry, What? Traffic management?
Uh, the, the loss in, uh, the reduction in, um,
full-time employees, is that all traffic management? It,
It wasn't lost, uh, employees, it was hours
that we reduced.
Okay. So it was hours reduction, not
Manpower? Not, not,
not manpower. Okay.
Um, I think it was at the mid-year I,
I mentioned just an idea, right?
So I, and I know I feel like tm uh, traffic management,
it's a hard position to keep filled, right?
Uh, it's hard work, especially during the,
the summertime when we've got multiple events going on.
Um, I I mean, I hear that we're sort
of routinely short on people versus what,
what folks would expect to have in the neighborhood.
I, I heard some of my colleagues speaking earlier,
obviously I've got SOX Park in the ward.
Um, I mentioned the, the idea about, um,
potentially empowering the TMAs to do some other,
let's call it side work.
If you've ever been a, a waitress
or a server, you know that when you, your tables are eating
or there's nobody there, you have side work to do.
Um, because during the course of an event, the busiest times
for TMA is right before and right after the event.
So on the, on the entry
and on the exit, um, is there anything
that we can look at in terms of, um, parking enforcement?
Because I hear from my residents also,
and I, I'm on the phone
with Chuck Billows and his team all the time.
Uh, but protecting residential permit parking, especially
around the ballpark is, is really important to my community.
So I, I'd love to be able
to have further conversations about whether
or not we can, you know, deputize them
to be parking enforcement
and their, during their, uh, non-traffic time.
And I'm gonna echo the sentiment
of many of my colleagues today.
Um, wishing for your group to have,
um, crossing guards back.
Um, you know, I think TMAs are a great substitute for that.
They, they have all of the skills already
as they're managing traffic in these areas.
Um, and crossing guards are really there to manage the,
the children and the people
that are crossing the street not to actually manage traffic.
They stop traffic when someone's, uh,
when someone's crossing, but they're not actually managing
the, the traffic at the end of the day.
And I think that that is something that we need more of.
Um, you know, uh, alderman wa spec mentioned earlier about
CDOT and not having enough flaggers on, I, I saw
that firsthand in Chinatown
where we're doing major work on Wentworth Avenue
and within a one and a half block radius,
I have three schools and there was only
one flagger out on the street.
So, you know, I think that this is a place
that we can explore potentially,
and I know you, you had to cut the hours
because of the budget, but these are really important
positions, um,
and it's really important for the safety of the public for,
for us to be able to have you be fully staffed and,
and have enough folks doing that.
More of a comment than a question. Thank you. Thank you.
But thank you. I I really do appreciate all of the work
that you and your team do.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Uh, vice Chair Lee.
Uh, next, uh, we're gonna have, uh, alderman,
uh, Mitchell. Thank
You Chairman. Good
afternoon, executive director. Good afternoon, sir.
And team, um, actually, my, my first question actually
piggybacks on what, um, Ottoman Lee was talking about.
Uh, and the first question is,
does OEMC currently have the capacity in terms
of both personnel
and vehicles to assist the Chicago Police Department
with the emergency traffic control citywide?
As an example, incidents involving down power lines,
large trees blocking major streets, traffic
and accidents, uh, or extra alarm fires?
Um, we raised this question, uh,
because we are exploring ways throughout our community,
our conversations, uh, of other,
other city agencies might supplement police duties,
allowing our office to remain focused on crime prevention
and respondent to calls rather than being tied up on
extended traffic control assignments for hours at a time,
And I don't wanna sound like a broken record mm-hmm.
On the Mitchell, respectfully. Mm-hmm.
Um, we don't have the manpower mm-hmm.
To be able to self sustain that. Well,
Let's talk about it in terms of, uh, uh, a plan for,
for future talk
Talk, future talk.
Absolutely. We look forward to, as long as we have a seat at
that table, for us to bring that up collectively to come up
with some solutions, possibly
to look at increase in hours or probably full-time.
I mean, we're always open for discussion when it comes to
that, as long as that we have a seat at that table. Yeah,
Yeah. No, that's
good to hear. Be, uh,
because, you know, from, from our standpoint, uh,
when you say we don't have the manpower, that, uh,
respectfully, that's, that to me is a cop out
because we can help you with the manpower, you know?
Uh, so we want, we want to have those, those conversations.
Um, with respect to this particular question,
and I know other, other areas of Chicago,
we want our police policing.
We want our police in our neighborhoods.
I mean, if, if my constituents had their way,
they want a police car on every block sitting there
for eight hours on rotation.
Um, and it's disheartening for them to see cars,
police cars tied up with things that are not police.
So I appreciate that you're saying long
as you have a seat at the table,
but we wanna work with you guys to, to improve conditions,
improve situations.
So you have to bring that to our attention as well.
Absolutely, sir. Um, my last,
it's only one more, I only have one more question.
Um, this is, this is more specific, um,
to, and, and it also piggyback on,
on something Auman Lee said, uh, throughout Chicago,
we have very challenged neighborhoods in my neighborhood.
My, my ward is no different.
There is a specific area in my ward, um,
where there's a, a, a certain element, um,
that we're dealing with from a public safety standpoint.
And we get a lot of calls to my office.
9 1 1 gets a lot of calls about the activity
that goes on in this, this neighborhood.
Young people literally brandishing firearms.
Uh, you see 'em visible on their person,
open their drug cells.
I mean, really, for those of you, it's seen new Jack City.
It's like the Carter. They've,
they've taken over certain blocks in certain buildings.
We encourage our constituents, our residents to call.
'cause we need those calls for service.
A lot of times they don't know what to say.
They get pushed back, for lack of a better way to phrase it,
about what do you see?
What color shirt do they have
on, what do, what are they doing?
And it gets frustrating for them
because I've had situations while they're on the phone,
they're witnessing shootings.
They're, they're witnessing someone
that actually got shot while they're on the phone.
Um, I, I'm looking for some direction that I can
offer my constituents, particularly in those areas
when we tell them to call, how to call, what to say, what
to already have potentially something
written down, a cheat sheet.
These are the things I've already told.
Now I'm calling, now I'm on a call with nine one.
He has, he's this, he's this, she's that.
And that would, that would help. Um, I'm assuming Dr.
Washer, you ready to be filed? You see her face?
She's doing, she like double just ready to jump in the road.
But ultimate we encourage everyone to call 9 1 1. Yeah.
We don't wanna discourage anyone.
As I said, we wanna make sure
that we make this anonymous and I'll give it over to
Dr. Washington.
Ready? Yeah.
Okay. Dr. Washington, deputy director of 9 1 1 operations.
No, seriously. I think for a quick overview, uh,
really quickly, um, as a former, uh, supervisor
of the training department, there are five things
that I think real quick that all of the constituents need
to know that they're gonna get asked when they call 9 1 1.
And we gonna come out to the community engagements to kind
of reiterate this, but we call 'em the
five W's, if you will.
The who, what, when, where, and weapons.
So the most important of it, of course, is gonna be
Alderman Lopez is laughing here,
but the most important of it is gonna be the where,
because we can't send the resources, right?
If we don't know exactly where we're coming close.
Second is the weapons because we wanna make sure that
everyone is safe in the, is
including our first responders, right?
When they get to the situation,
when we talk about descriptions, the who, right?
We encourage the
descriptions to be given from top to bottom.
It doesn't make a difference. The call takers are trained
to kind of jot the information down.
And when it talks about the win, when is important too,
because it determines the, the quickness
of, of the response, right?
If it happened last week, of course we're not gonna come
lights and sirens, but if it's in progress right now,
we gonna definitely make it, you know, as quick as we can.
And then, uh, who, well, when, where weapons? Yeah.
So that's all of the five W So no matter what kind
of call it is, if that's something that they,
the constituents should be aware
that they're gonna get at least five questions
when they call 9 1 1.
So, but we, we definitely would like to work together
to make sure that when we have these community engagements,
'cause we come out and I, you might see my face here
and there too, but when we actually come out
to the community, we wanna make sure that, uh,
everyone is aware of what to expect when they call.
And we do have booklets that we can probably pass out to
or leave in your offices just to make sure
that everyone is aware of what I said today.
Okay. Now, the, the five Ws. Thank you for that.
Yeah, no problem. Having that written, I would disseminate,
um, the areas I'm, I'm talking about, I'm, I'm really trying
to focus with C-P-D-B-A-C-P
and other departments buildings
to really hone in on these issues.
So not just to, to, to, to, to address
one little situation and then they're back.
Mm-hmm. But to really eradicated, I'm, I'm asking you guys
to put some thought behind in, in,
in the situation I'm describing,
to go a little step further than the, than the, the five Ws
to say, okay, because we are targeting this area, and
because the alderman is saying, and he's working with CPD
and every, every other law enforcement
to really try to clean up this neighborhood.
What else can we ask our constituents
to do from a nine one one perspective when they call in?
What, what else can we ask them to do
or what this they could do?
So the information they gives us aids in,
in eradicating this problem, I don't expect you to answer
that now, but to give, please give that some thought.
My thinking with several departments is that a lot
of our current present, our present day policy procedures
and protocols have not ke have not kept up
with present day situ and realities.
Um, so
We've been looking at, you know,
functionalities and improvements.
Mm-hmm. And this is a perfect tool
that we discuss about our next gen 9 1 1.
Mm-hmm. And that enhancement is the 9 1 1 functionality from
a landline to be able to have a smartphone
to better GPS location, uh,
upgrading our infrastructure aspect of it,
and then enhance sharing from texting to videos to photos.
I think that this is also going to, you know, and,
And you're saying that's, that's
something you guys are working it. So
Yes, we are looking, and formally we're looking that, uh,
this should go live sometime in 2026.
And I think that tool is also going to be able to enhance
and comfortability for people to feel comfortable enough
to send these photos and, okay. Attack things.
People love photos nowadays. And
We'll, we'll keep you abreast on as,
as the progression goes.
Yeah. And feel free to invite me to the table
because these, this, this particular area in my ward, I'm,
I'm, I'm, I'm asking all hands on deck.
I have to this, this, it is a huge problem.
I mean, beyond, it's just gotten worse over the years
and it's, I mean, these, these young people are functioning
with impunity in these, in the streets.
And it's, it's, it's, it's, it's disheartening, you know,
but it, it's also gonna with so much also for
You guys as a body and, and alderman
and to push out to the constituents
to help us get this functionality
and improvement out there also.
And, you know, change management for people out there
to know that these resources out there for them.
Okay. Okay. Um, well, I got a one minute left.
Um, as, speak to me about an example I'm about to give,
I'm a 9 1 1 caller.
Uh, and I tell you that I'm looking at,
and I hate to say it, but it's the reality that I,
I'm looking at a young black male hoodie dreads,
and he's, he's in his hand.
He has two guns.
I'm on the phone with the nine one one operator explaining
this, and, and you are asking me more and more questions
and, and I'm starting to get frustrated.
I'm looking right at 'em.
Send somebody, I'm looking right at 'em.
Send somebody how,
go ahead. You already hear me.
I feel like you're in my lane. So,
Um, For that instance right there,
there's never a delay in dispatch.
So we have a feature on our CAD called details to follow.
Right? So what it does is it allows, uh, the call taker
and the caller to stay on the phone at the same time,
but there, when we press that details to follow feature,
then it sends that call over to the dispatch side.
So the dispatchers can then send the officers while we're
still on the phone, actively engaged while you're
getting those five Ws.
Right. Answered. But it, it will never bless you. Sure.
It will never delay dispatch just
because, um, we are asking those questions.
Okay. So that the operator,
the operator would initiate that second step.
Absolutely. Okay. And I'm pretty sure there's triggers
that all everybody would be trained that step.
Yes. Because we have to. So
I know that that second step is triggered as a caller.
Will you tell me that or no,
We don't read, we don't say it on the phone actually,
to say like, Hey, we using details to follow,
but it, it is something that we're sending resources, right.
You know, as soon as resources permit, that's something
that we would say, but all the time just know
that if it's something that we're asking questions,
we'll say the officers are route,
but we need, you know, the address
or we need the description, or we
need, you know, things of that nature.
That's kind of like a key that we're sending the officers
because we already didn't send that,
that event over to dispatch.
Um, but it won't be like, Hey, we use some details
to follow, uh, Al Demand.
And you know, Mitchell, we won't say that,
but we would definitely, uh, use that feature
because it's something that we have to get those
questions answered, not only for citizen safety,
but for first responder safety.
Okay. All right. Um, I, I need more conversation, so
I'll set up in a point where we can sit down.
Okay. And I look forward to working
out some questions with you. Likewise, likewise.
Thank you, chairman. Thank you.
Um, looks like, um, those are all the questions
that we have just to, uh, just with my observation, um,
looks like, uh, we need to make sure that A, getting this,
uh, 9 1 1 system up in operation
and functional, uh, it looks like there's a lot
of technology that could be, uh, implemented
that we need to be implementing.
Uh, and to work with PSA, uh,
to make sure we're doing this in the most cost effective
and, uh, manner as possible.
Um, as we continue to work
around the OEMC work on the flooding
and on the Southwest side, um, I know
that's near and dear to people.
We thank you for the assistance that you
provided on the West Side Chicago,
and we've subsequently been able to see some, uh,
funding related to, to that.
Um, so again, uh, you guys keep doing what you're doing.
Uh, I do appreciate, uh, the work with, uh, 3 1 1.
And the only real question I had, when are we looking
to do an upgrade on our 3 1 1 system
Director?
Thanks for the question. Dion.
A Tate Director 3 1 1 City Services.
So, um, alderman currently, we just recently signed, um,
a task order request.
So we do have a vendor now that we are closely working with
to try to upgrade like our, um, apps,
A 3 1 1 App Shy, 3 1 1.
Hope everyone has downloaded that.
Um, so that we can enhance that feature, um, as well as all
of the technology that we have within the center.
So we just recently, like I stated, um,
started working closely with them.
So we hope to see some improvements in 2026.
I'm glad to hear that. I know last year we were still kind
of in a funk, uh,
'cause the app wasn't working, at least on the Android,
it wasn't working or something like that.
I wasn't able to access it as I use it in the community.
Um, but I'm glad to hear
that we are moving in a better direction, uh, with 3 1 1.
I know that, um, the EY report talked about making some, um,
adjustments in how we, how we do things.
I know that have been some suggestions that, uh,
3 1 1 not be 24 7, 365, uh,
and how we potentially could utilize some technology to, um,
you know, reduce, uh, cost over there.
What has, what has been you all's take on that
and what has, um, what has the department done to either a
analyze that and
or prepare for that, if
that is the direction you may be moving in?
You know, as I stated,
3 1 1 is more than just a call center.
OMC relies on 3 1 1
because it's an early trigger system for us in order
to be able to identify any type of sudden spikes
for flooding, for trees down for heat cold, the numbers
that are coming in and the requests, uh, in order for us
to make those corrective measures.
Uh, Dion,
Thank you Dion. A
Tate director of 3 1 1 City Services.
So as I stated before, 3 1 1 is oftentimes looked at
as non-emergency, and we are technically city services.
We have a non-emergency and an emergency component.
So speaking to that not being 24 7, what happens
or where do the calls go
or how do constituents your constituents get information
during those midnight hours, say midnight
to seven in the morning?
How do they report that they have water in the basement
or there is a tree down or that a shelter request is needed?
Where does that, where do those calls go
and who handles that information?
And during that time, if someone's calling in
that is an emergency, while it does not constitute a police
or fire response at that given moment, that is an emergency
for that individual that is going through that.
So 3 1 1 is very important
to all the residents within the city of Chicago
and should be 24 7.
And I will say that to the end of time
because city services is very important to the residents
of the city of Chicago.
Alright, well, uh, I appreciate your, uh, response.
And again, um, thank you for, uh, the work that you all do.
We know that you guys get some stressful people in stressful
situations, especially our, our,
our TCOs over at in the 9 1 1 Center.
Uh, but it sounds like you guys got, got a few jobs
to hand out and, uh, I've never seen a
remember this body not want to hand out a job.
So that's ought to be interesting.
But, uh, it helps us, let me rephrase
that helps someone get a job, uh,
and, uh, work through that.
So, uh, but again,
we thank you for your work and your service.
Our committee will stand at ease until, uh,
3:00 PM we'll come back
with the fire department. Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
Welcome back. Uh, we are going to start our next hearing
for the Chicago Fire Department.
We're going to start with, uh, an overview from our, uh,
Kofa and Chloe, you are on.
Thank you Vice Chair.
Afternoon, vice Chair Lee, and members of the city council.
This is Chloe uti, Maine West Kofa.
I'm here to give a brief summary for Chicago Fire Department
for fiscal year 2026.
The Chicago Fire Department's proposed budget is
$796.95 million compared
to the fiscal year 2025 revised appropriation.
This where presents an increase of $43.31 million
or 5.75% increase within the department's budget.
89.1% of the funding comes from the corporate fund in terms
of spending the majority,
which is $726.42 million is
allocated to personnel services.
While the remaining $70.53 million covers
non-personnel expenses.
The department has budgeted 5,141 full-time equivalent
positions for FO 2026,
which is four fewer than previous year.
Now this slide provides a more detailed breakdown
by category and fund in the first table.
The increase in spending is mainly driven
by higher personnel and contractual service costs.
In the second table, we can see that corporate funding grows
by $118 million up about 20% from last year.
While grant funding declines by roughly $80 million,
a 67% decrease following by the phase out of ARPA
and other grants.
Looking at the 10 year trend,
the fire department's funding has remained relatively stable
overall from FY 2025 to FY 2026.
There's a clear increase in corporate fund appropriations
and a drop in grant funding, specifically the ARPA fund.
Finally, the FTE chart shows
that the staffing levels have remained steady at
around 5,000
and a hundred positions over the past decade
with the vast majority funded through the corporate fund.
This concludes COFA summary. Thank you.
Thank you, Chloe. Uh, next we're going
to have Commissioner Annette Nance Holt, um, do her
statement as well as introduce, uh,
her colleagues here in the box, please. Commissioner,
Good afternoon.
Chairman, members of the city council
and colleagues, thank you for the opportunity
to present the Chicago Fire Department's fiscal year
to 26 budget.
The Chicago Fire Department's core mission has not changed
to protect life and property, to respond
to emergency swiftly and effectively,
and to serve our residents
with professionalism and compassion.
Our proposed FY 2026 budget totaling
796.9 million across all funds,
reflects our committed commit, continue commitment
to our mission while demonstrating fiscal
restraint and efficiency.
The department's corporate fund appropriation supports 4,816
uniform and civilian positions, a workforce
that operates engine companies, truck companies, ambulances,
and serving every neighborhood across the city of Chicago.
The department responds
to more than 500,000 emergency incidents annually,
ranging from structured fires
and hazardous materials costs
to advanced life support responses.
Fiscal responsibility cannot come at the expense
of service equity.
Every neighborhood in Chicago deserves the same level
of rapid response and professional care.
We continue to assess deployment patterns to align resources
with community risk, ensuring that high need
and historically underserved areas reserve receive
equitable protection.
CFD has continued and expanded its community outreach
and education efforts.
This past summer CFD hosted the first annual camp Courage
running from June 23rd to July, July 30th, 2025.
Camp Courage was held at six locations across Chicago.
This free three day program serve to educate and empower
and inspire Chicago's youth.
Ages 13 to 18 participants
explored careers in firefighting
and emergency medical services
through hands-on activities including fire safety,
EMS procedures, CPR fitness training
and team building exercises,
and also mentorship from professionals from CFD.
The camp concluded with the graduation ceremony,
recognizing their accomplishment.
A total of 207 campers participated from 46 wards.
One participant Leslie stated before Camp Courage.
I honestly thought there were only fire men.
I didn't know that there were fire women too.
Meeting you and seeing how strong, smart,
and brave you have showed me
that girls can be firefighters too.
That really inspired me.
Thank you for teaching us about teamwork, courage,
and never giving up.
You may be want to work hard
and to be brave just like you camp Courage was one
of the best things I've ever done and I'll never forget it.
CFD is also expanding its community outreach.
Following fatal Fires, CFDs public education section
and court unit will work together
to conduct comprehensive outreach
to affected communities following fire fatalities
that involve children and in multiple unit buildings.
This coordinated approach will include visiting automatic
offices to deliver fire safety literature
and coordinate with other community representatives.
We also will visit grammar
and high schools in a vicinity
to deliver fire safety materials, meet with principals
and counselors, and discuss implementing fire safety
education classes for students.
Additionally, we will distribute fire safety materials
and Chicago Seniors at Risk program flyers at community
centers in the area to ensure we reach
residents of all ages.
This initiative is essential
because it reminds the community.
CFD is present and engaged in our communities, not only
during emergencies, but also in connecting with them
and ensuring they are supported during tragic situations.
By engaging with communities in this way,
we will build meaningful relationships, foster trust,
and reinforce our ongoing commitment to all
of Chicago's communities we serve.
In 2026,
CFD will be replacing bunker gear issued to the members.
The emergency response standards have undergone its first
major revision in the past 20 years.
OSHA will now adopt NFPA regulations
as the mandatory acceptable standard
for the emergency response industry.
NFPA requires that bunker gear be replaced within 10 years
of its manufacturer.
Date. Bunker gear manufacturers recommend mandatory
replacement after 10 years as a performance
and thermal protection degrade over time
and cannot guarantee performance ratings Beyond 10 years,
this $10 million investment in purchasing 4,400 sets
of bunker gear is a critical component
of the personnel protective equipment worn by firefighters.
And it is a critical component in keeping the members safe
during firefighting and rescue activities.
CFD will continue to work closely with two fm
with the procurement of CFD vehicles and apparatus.
Over the next four years, two FM has committed
to purchasing almost 300 vehicles per CFD spanning from
engines to ambulances affecting a,
reflecting a much needed investment by the city
of over $200 million.
CFD will meet the challenge
of maintaining operational excellence
in a constrained fiscal environment.
This budget does just that.
It funds critical positions prioritize the safety equipment
and sustains training programs
that directly impact firefighter readiness
and public safety outcomes.
At the same time, it reflects discipline approach
to spending, prioritizing needs over want,
and focusing on research resources
where they have the greatest effect.
On behalf of CFDs dedicated firefighters, paramedics,
and civilian employees, I thank the council
for your continued support.
Together we can ensure that Chicago remains one
of the safest, most resilient cities in the nation,
where every resident knows that when they call for help,
we will be there.
So now I will introduce those, appear with me.
I have Cynthia Rivera, my Deputy commissioner.
I have Brandon Keller, my first Deputy Fire Commissioner,
and Mike Devita, my, uh, chief of Staff.
Over in the box I have Donald Walker,
deputy Fire Commissioner, operations, Cynthia Herring,
deputy Fire Commissioner, fire Prevention Bureau,
Brian Himmel, deputy Fire Commissioner,
administrative Services.
And let me say this, uh, Brian is retiring
after 35 years of service.
So I just want to publicly say thank you, Brian,
for your sacrifice in stepping up
to help us in the city of Chicago.
Juan Hernandez, assistant Deputy Fire Commissioner,
EMS Jamar Sullivan, district Chief Special Operations.
Michael Kendall, district Chief Logistics.
Jonathan Saints, district Chief Special Projects.
Ryan Rivera, commanding Fire Marshal.
Evan Ham, general Counsel.
Betty Ortiz, ambulance Commander Courty unit.
Jasmine Guy, senior Equity Officer.
Bethany Hand, assistant Commissioner, Homeland
Joy Brown De uh, director of Human Resources, OPSA.
Natalie Gutierrez, managing Deputy Director OPSA,
ante Smith, deputy Director, OPSA.
And in the gallery I have a few more guests.
We have Larry Merrit, our Assistant Director of media.
We have Jen Schultz, uh, assistant Deputy Chief Paramedic.
Uh, we have Deputy chief, uh,
district Chief Deb Summer, who retired yesterday.
'cause she didn't wanna do budget. No, she retired yesterday
after 35 years of serving us in the Courty unit.
So thank you so much for everything you do.
And, uh, firefighter paramedic, uh,
Dwayne Washington, my assistant.
So we're ready.
Thank you, commissioner. Okay.
Alderman Lopez, get you get
to do the honors of kicking us off.
Oh, All righty. Thank you Chairman.
And uh, members of the committee. Good afternoon.
Good afternoon. Commissioner to you
and to all the members of the fire department.
Uh, couple things I would just want to touch base on.
And if you were listening earlier, we had the great mystery
of the two Frank Velez,
where he appears both in the fire department as well
as in the OEMC budget as Executive Director
for OEMC.
Can you explain to me your understanding as to why that is?
Uh, it was showed up in my budget when I got my budget
and um, I think that should be directed
to the Department of Budget.
I'm sorry, I can't answer that.
Okay. Um, I would just point out chair that
twice the salary is being charged
to the taxpayers for the first person.
Um, and since it's in one of the departments,
somebody needs to be responsible.
I don't care the reason, but if whoever's responsible,
then we can eliminate 200 plus thousand from the other
department and save taxpayers dollars.
So, uh, we will take that up with OBM. We later point we'll
Pick up OBM and we'll, um, we'll officially ask for that
through the chair, but
Unless there's another Frank Veles,
'cause I will take two Frank Velas and that's fine.
But you know, we'll see.
Um, the wellness program, can you explain what the, uh,
$5.7 million carryover is in, in your grants
for the uh, CFD wellness program?
Okay. So, uh, we had, uh,
a grant from the state, uh, representative Lepont,
she gave us a grant.
And so with that grant we're issued so much every year.
So with our wellness grant, what we decided
to do was staff it up at first with clinicians, because
before we only had one, then we had two.
So after that we ended up with five clinicians, one director
of clinical services and one project person.
And then under that, all the programs
that they will provide under that grant.
But the last time we got the grant,
it was such a short period of time,
we weren't able to use it.
It was probably issued one month and then within a month
and a half or two months it was taken down.
So we just finally got the grant up again.
And I think Natalie or Bethany can explain a little bit more
about that grant process.
Thank you. Uh, Bethany Hand Assistant Commissioner
for the fire department.
Yeah, as the commissioner mentioned, um, that was given
to us from the state as appropriation.
We finally were able to receive that money in May
of 2025, uh, leaving us, uh, as you know, the state,
state budget seasons
or state budgets end June 31st of each year.
So we were given approximately
two months to spend that money.
We were able to spend down $400,000 of that $5.7 million
that showed up in the state's budget again this year
as carryover funding.
So we have $5.3 million remaining as the CFD portion
of the citywide appropriation.
So we have, again, a, we have to apply for
that money each year through the state
that has just gone in.
And the state is hoping
to streamline that process this year.
So we'll be granted the money much sooner than May.
Right. And also that grant was shared by, uh,
C-P-D-O-E-M-C and CFD.
So they took care of all first responders.
So that wellness grant is
for all of the,
That amount is, or Is it just for your amount?
That's how I amount, but it's, I just want you to know
that they took care of all of the public ser safety
when they did give us the grant, so, okay.
Thank you. Uh, the Foreign fire Fund,
uh, we have 6.3 million for equipment, 15.1 million
for permanent improvements
and 3.8 for items and contingencies.
Can you excuse me, can you provide through the chair
what exactly those are?
Um, okay, I'm gonna give that
to Evan Hay General Counsel.
Hi Alderman. Uh, Evan Hay, the General Counsel.
Uh, I'm also serve as the appointed counsel for the FFIB.
The FFIB is a separate quasi-governmental entity
that does not fall under the fire department.
They manage their own budget.
They make their own determinations
on how the monies are spent.
Um, they are a FOIA responsive entity.
Um, so I don't know that they, it is appropriate
to pass those through the department to the chair,
I believe, uh, in, uh, in December.
I think they show up and they have a hearing in December.
And that's what I remember previously.
So my understanding is that it's been hit
or miss on whether or not they actually use this money
for the betterment of the department. They
Okay. So they
they actually do,
even though it's not in this hearing.
I will answer that question because I sit on that, uh,
committee or board.
And yes, they actually do spend the money on bettering, uh,
facilities, apparatus and firefighter safety and innovation
and technology, even health.
And the most important thing I think I really love about it
is the segment of health.
How we do pretesting for cancer screenings
and lungs and everything else.
So, um, it's really,
they do spend the money exactly what it's for.
So if they are spending money on the department,
I would assume that, uh, whether they are
separate entity unto themselves
or working in coordination with the department,
they still have to report exactly what they're doing.
Well, actually, since I sit there with them
And accept it, right, We sit there, right.
We sit there and we discuss it and we vote on it.
And they also confer with me
and they confer with a lot of the individuals over there as
to what they need to make sure that they could probably try
to supply it if it meets the needs of the grant.
So they work very closely. We all do.
So how are we able then, as a bo, as this body, to see
what exactly they've been providing
to the department through these funds? It's,
I think it's, you can foy it.
It is transparent. Evan can answer that too.
Well, I mean, with respect Commissioner. Mm-hmm.
The city council shouldn't have to FOIA to see
what we're getting for our department.
So I would imagine that as, as a department. Mm-hmm.
You have a list of things that
they've provided to you. Correct.
That's separate. I have a list,
but you would have to go through, they have a board
and on the board you have a recording secretary.
I can get you the information to that person so
that you can reach out directly to that person.
It's separate from the fire department.
It's not the fire department,
But the fire department. I understand.
I just sit on the understand the rest
of the members are local two members.
I got I understand that. Okay.
But what, but what I'm trying to ascertain is
that if you have, for example,
I'll use a different department.
I have Animal Care and control, I also have Friends
of Animal Care and Control, which donate
and provide things for the department.
If I ask the executive director, what has Friends
of Animal Care and Control given you to do your job,
I can get a spreadsheet of what was given.
Mm-hmm. I'd like the same for what has been given
to the Chicago Fire Department by this fund.
Okay. Evan. And that should not have to be a foia
because if you've accepted it as a department, then
that should be something readily available. Correct.
I ly with your clarification.
Yes, I understand your question better now.
And I think we can coordinate with the Office
of Public Safety Administration as the purchases go
through them because as the,
the procurement process is necessary,
and I think we can coordinate
and get through the chair the things that they've purchased
that the department has utilized within, uh,
in this fiscal year.
Fair enough. Thank you. We
Could also, we have ante, uh,
Smith who's over there from OPSA
and she's actually the keeper of our records
as far as the finances.
If she would like to add something today.
She's so excited to hear from me again.
We love it. Ante Smith, deputy Director of, uh, uh,
finance and accounting at OPSA.
Um, like the commissioner stated,
we do process all the procurement requests
and we can get that information to you through the chair.
Thank you. Uh, lastly, um, I do have
to commend your department.
Um, I know it's been a rough couple years,
but all of your members from Leadership on Down have had
their held high in the
neighborhoods doing what they do best.
So congratulations to you all.
We wanna make sure that we're doing everything we can
to be supportive of the department.
Um, but as I was listening to your statement about
how we build community and trust
and engagement, you know, I know we used to do a lot like
with the smoke truck
and do a lot of those other great events.
Um, and many of those still continue to this day
and some new ones have arisen.
Um, but I'd also like to throw out there, um,
a better notification process from the department.
As you may or may not be aware, when we have major events
or newsworthy events, CPD informs us, um,
I know that has not traditionally been the role played
by the fire department or the local firehouses.
Um, but I do think that there is value to members
of this body knowing when there's a significant event
or something that displaces people.
Um, I know in the past when we've had major, uh, fatalities
or when we've had the Red Cross, Wally
and the team would come out and we do the walk bys,
but I think there's been other instances
where we've seen events happen
that aldermen are caught by surprise.
Um, so I would just put that on your radar to see if
that's something that we could start coordinating,
whether it's at the district level,
at the house level, what have you.
I don't expect the firemen to pick up to drop the hose
and pick up the cell phone to call me.
But I think somewhere in, in that chain of, um, command,
we could find someone who could just shoot an email
as we see through our departments to say, Hey,
there was an event at this location,
people displaced, whatever, whatever.
'cause then if we have the ability to connect resources
and help locally, um, it'd be much easier if we could do
that with, with the knowledge of what exactly transpired.
Okay. So we try our very best
and, uh, we might fall short sometimes,
but we do reach out to Alders
to let them know when there is something significant.
It really depends on
how significant not being weird like that.
Okay, I got you. Because I could call you at
two, three, four, five in the morning 'cause I get the call
and just say, this is going on, if you're okay with that.
But we, we do try our very best to reach out,
especially if we have like fatalities.
But we have so many like hazmats in the city.
'cause that was one of the conversations you
and I had recently.
And the reason why you're not notified,
because there are so many things going on
that are not to that level.
But when we have, like I said, a fatality, um,
we have Red Cross come out, we still canvas the communities
and we do try to reach out.
Some alderman do show up when we do the canvas in
the residential neighborhoods.
We just added additional, um,
resources now in the multi-unit buildings,
which we didn't do before, but we will
see if we can do better.
But we are open to letting you know.
But we try our very best.
And the chiefs who are in the box,
they're busy working the events, so they can't,
they just can't stop.
And safety is paramount for us.
You know, that that's my main driving force on fire ground,
on any emergency scene.
So for them, they barely,
they don't call me all the time right away.
They wait until they can get a moment to call me.
And my first question, and uh, commander Rivera, uh,
or Rivera, the deputy District chief, he'll tell you,
I said, did you call the Alder?
Am I right when they have something,
Ryan Rivera, the commanding fire Marshal Alder,
without a doubt, the Commissioner ensures
that any fire fatality, the alders notified, uh uh,
thankfully I've never called you direct,
but there's other alders in the room that I have.
Um, and we make every attempt on the fire department
if the situation dictates calling her, we,
we try to get with the Alderman.
So without a doubt, we'll try harder.
Well, I, I would probably offer two
recommendations if I may.
One, if an alderman wants to get the notification,
they should reach out to you so
that you're not notifying people who are not
appreciative, for lack of a better term.
But two, I think also,
and again, a hundred percent I understand,
I don't want anyone fighting a fire thinking
that they have to stop and let me know.
But I've also seen time
and again where I get better notifications from Twitter
and whoever's handling Chicago Fire media
than I do from the situation.
So whomever is kind of in that, if we could beef that person
or that department up to handle those communications
or shoot like an email as well, I think
that would probably solve our issues.
'cause if you have someone who's got the time
to tweet about it, then you've got someone who's got time to
shoot out an email about it too.
All alder to that respect.
The commissioner wants that information vetted out.
And oftentimes that stuff you're getting on Twitter,
you could ask other s is inaccurate.
So we do our best make speak is Chicago Fire Media.
Your to your fic, your guy's official,
All of them aren't.
Uh, Mike Devita can talk on that. Speak on that.
Yes. Alderman Mike devita, commissioner's Chief of Staff.
Yes. The c uh, at CFD media is managed by the Chicago Fire
Department. That's exactly
who I'm talking a couple.
So that's something that is vetted by the department. Yes.
It's already it's your guys' universe, so it's not like it's
somebody else on Twitter posting an, an ambulance chasing,
for lack of a better term.
But if it's, if you're able to put that out on Twitter,
then the local alderman should be able
to get notified at the same time. Yes. Agreed.
And we will work much harder to, to make those
Notifications. Right. Thank you. Yeah,
Thank you Alderman Lopez, we're gonna go
to Alderman Waga pack.
Thanks, chairwoman. Uh, good afternoon, commissioner.
Good. Lucky you didn't have the pasta.
That was a joke from back there earlier.
Um, yeah, well,
uh, I, I'll be quick.
I just, um, you know,
we've been talking a lot about the Ernst
and Young report that recently was released
and, uh, within this report there are several, uh, items
that they reviewed with the fire department,
and a couple of 'em I understand would be extremely
difficult, uh, to take on the feasibility, uh,
aspect of it was low.
Uh, for instance, the minimum manning, which have been,
there's been policy discussions about it,
but no one's ever really looked at the, uh,
practical implications of that until part
of this report came out.
The second one I was looking at was the, uh, changing
a LS ambulances to BLS, which, you know, years ago we pushed
to get to a LS because we needed them throughout the city.
So I don't see that one as a, a viable option.
Um, however, there were some other ones that, uh, just in,
in broad strokes, could you tell us, did you see these,
did you look at them and say, these are good ideas,
for instance, new fees on the false fire alarm,
new fees on the fire alarm inspections,
hazmat material fees, and high rises.
Um, and I'll throw a couple other ones in there.
The light duty positions
and, uh, diverting 9 1 1 calls
to hospital based telehealth as well as the existing fees
for the sprinkler review.
Um, those were, I know there are some other ones in there,
but, um, my general question is, were you able
to get your hands on this, uh, report
after you went through these things, assuming you went
through these things with, uh, Ernst and Young or ey
and what is your response to being able to implement some
of these low hanging fruit, um, quick items
as they call them in quick fix items,
as they call them in the document?
So we were able to review the report.
We did meet with Ernest and Young.
We did suggest like some of the fee increases,
however, some of 'em that you spoke
of would require ordinance change
and it might require any, uh, for the state to step in
and get some legislation downstate as well.
Um, a lot of that stuff we are not doing, but
however, the low hanging fruit is,
like the Fire Prevention Bureau,
those fees haven't been changed.
And I can't tell you how long.
So those fees are, are valid
and we can get something done right away.
Diverting calls to, uh, telehealth
that's done on another level.
That's, uh, it has to be done something with the region,
with the state, with Illinois Department of Public Health.
There are a lot of hoops that you have to jump
through to get that done.
So some of these sound really good,
but it's gonna take some time to get 'em done if you can.
Uh, like right now, uh, we do civilian assist.
I think that was one of the ones they talked about
probably trying to charge people,
but are we impacting people
who have nothing at all when we try to help them?
I don't know. You know, some of that has
to be taken into concern, taken into consideration as far as
before we decide or they decide on that.
But a lot of this is gonna involve, involve you working
with the group to try to get the ordinances
and coming up with common sense things
that make sense and people can afford.
And we not running people outta here either.
And so on some of those more common sense ones, uh,
you wouldn't put up a, a, a roadblock
and say, look, you know, we need more discussion.
Um, I'm assuming that most of these, you're able to kind
of work through with them and say, this,
this is stuff that we can definitely do. Well, there's
Still there. They have,
uh, committee meetings, so they have
to form the committees to sit down and meet
and see what can be done right now,
what can be done down the road.
And if there's somebody who's gonna take the legislative
lead on this or somebody in the city council
that's gonna take the lead on some of these things.
So it needs to be a lot more discussion on this
and a lot more thought.
And then invite the experts in so that they can share
with you what they think might work.
You know, uh, fire prevention was the lowest hanging fruit,
like I said, for me, like alarm fees
or exit fee, whatever the, uh, recheck fees are,
those were easier things
to accomplish because they're already there.
It's just that they haven't been changed in a lot of years.
Um, are we talking 10, 20 years? I can't
Recall if we, uh, how many years?
Cynthia Herring?
Right. Minimum a minimum of 20 years. Right.
Okay. And those are the low hanging fruit ones?
I, I would say those are the lower hanging fruit ones
that they're already there
and that they could probably just make the change in the
ordinance to increase the fees. Okay.
Yeah. Excellent. Thank you very much. Okay.
Uh, that's all I had for the moment, chairwoman.
Thank you for letting me jump in there
and I'll do any follow-ups through the chair.
Thank you, commissioner. Thank you.
Uh, and I apologize, thank you also to,
you know, everyone in the department.
Um, we appreciate everything every day, everything
that every, uh, firefighter does in our communities
and, um, always there to support you
where we need to. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Thank you Alderman.
Um, alderman Conway,
do you have any questions for the fire department?
You do not. Okay, great.
Um, anybody else? I check online.
Hey, appreciate.
Um, I, well, I have a couple I was just gonna ask,
but I, I'm gonna, because Alderman Spto wants to close.
I'll just ask mine now if that's all right. Okay.
I mean, you know, so, so many people here.
Um, so I'm always interested in language accessibility.
I, I had, uh, occasion I,
within the last year actually while I was driving
through the ward, um, uh, a woman,
an elderly woman, had slipped on the ice.
Mm-hmm. She spoke no English.
Thankfully there was a, a good Samaritan
who was standing with her when I pulled up.
Then I, I chatted with her, but in my broken Cantonese.
Um, and, uh, I know that, uh, I understand
that there have been some progress made on
the language access front.
Can you talk a little bit about that?
Sure. So we have something called language line solutions,
and it was placed into use, uh, June, 2025.
And it's continually used by e uh, fire suppression
and EMS crews daily.
Every tablet or phone
that we have in chief officer's phones,
it has the app on it.
And it, they use it on the scene of emergencies
to treat patients, gain vital information
and share education with them.
So, heavy usage for the most,
I will tell you the five most spoken languages
that we utilize for is Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Mandarin,
and polish with over 54 different languages requested.
Um, and we also have American Sign Language capabilities,
which is amazing with this app
and has been used successively to treat, uh,
several patient dispersed fire safety information.
So we use it on both sides of this, not just
for emergency calls, but fire safety
or just information as whole.
And, um, so it continues to grow
as they become more familiar with it.
We had a training on it.
Um, so we've done, I think, what, 300,
3000 year to date right now.
600 calls per service. We've used it 3000 times.
That's great progress. I really wanna thank you for that.
'cause it, it makes all the difference in the world.
It does, especially in these emergency situations.
Um, I want to thank you
and your team, uh, y'all are great about coming
to my community events, especially
for seniors when we talk about fire safety, uh,
especially in some of these, um, high-rise buildings
that we have, uh, where, where it's just really important
that people understand that the little things that they do
like cooking, uh,
and making sure that, uh, we've, we've got
as much information about safety as possible.
Then, uh, the EMS uh, folks, the, um, the paramedics
that are coming along, uh, with the, with those trainings
as well, and the, the programs for just sort
of ongoing chronic health issue.
Mm-hmm. Uh, those visits.
I, I think that's a really wonderful program
that we continue to promote.
Um, and I'm still trying to get, um, a partnership
with the local Chinese school to be able to do a little bit
of just basic training so that, um, firefighters
who work in the area who, who service, uh, many of the areas
where, uh, where there are non-native English speakers,
even if it's as basic as do you,
can you tell us who we should call?
Or is your heart racing? Whatever those common things are.
But, um, I, I'd love to work with you to get that done.
Um, related to, um, to budget questions though, um,
I see that there's been a,
an overtime increase in medical payouts
where both were overspent last year, um,
but not settlements where you also did, is that reflective
of cases, um, of what cases you have in the pipeline
or, uh, is it like CPD where, um,
we should expect the number is not really accurate?
Okay, so I'm gonna turn that to Evan Hayne. Evan,
Really?
Do you need me to repeat the question? Yeah, he did.
Okay, no problem. Um,
there was an increase in overtime in medical payouts.
Uh, were you overspent last year,
but, uh, not settlements where you also did,
is this reflective of the cases
that you have in the pipeline
or is this a little bit more like CPD where we should expect
that the number is really not as accurate?
Uh, Evan Ham, general Counsel for the fire department, um,
thank you for repeating the question, Erwin.
Uh, no problem. As with all litigation, it's very hard
to predict the pacing of when cases come
and get to the point of resolution.
Um, I know that historically we have underspent that budget
that is set for us this past year.
It caught up with us a bit.
Um, there were a number of cases that were, um,
a bit more significant that came to their natural ends,
and as a result we spent more time in briefings
with the Committee on Finance than even I would prefer.
Um, I don't know that that necessarily is a predictor
for the immediate future.
I don't, given the litigation that I'm aware of,
I don't anticipate it remaining where it was.
But there is no telling just because of the pacing.
I mean, sometimes the case takes six months,
sometimes it takes six years. Sure.
Um, I've got a, so maybe perhaps through the chair, um,
if we can get a, a list
and I, for whatever privacy reasons,
I think we're interested in the aggregate of the number
of cases that are still pending in the pipeline.
Um, I know you probably don't have dollar amounts attached
to those, but I, I think it would be great for us just
to have a, a general understanding of how many more cases
are, are in the works right now.
I can de we can definitely get
that for you for the number of cases.
Now are you asking about torts cases or just all litigation?
Um, all. And if you can just do that
by category, that'd be great.
Uh, alderman Lopez can do thank, got a point of information.
Thank you. Yes, chairman. As a point of information,
this is something that I've raised the issue on several
times with, with the Committee on Finance,
and that is, as we see our police
misconduct and settlements decreasing,
the newest target has been for lawyers, our EMTs,
our ambulances, and our fire departments.
So are we actually adjusting accordingly and planning
and as well as doing the risk mitigation necessary
to prevent the fire department from being the next cash cow
for unscrupulous lawyers?
And I put that as politely as I know how
You did. Pretty good.
Thanks. I did Evan Ham, general counsel
and as a, as a counsel, I will not take offense
to the unscrupulous lawyer's comment.
Um, I can say that the fire department works
vigorously whenever there are any incidents that do result
in, um, where there's room for improvement,
that there are education
and opportunities to train
that both come from within the department as well
as from our EMS region.
And toward that end, um, we work towards making sure
that if things come to the point where we have litigation
that results in payouts, that we take note
and adjust where possible
to make sure that it doesn't happen again.
Well, and I wanna make sure, chairman, that I'm not
implying that our necessarily,
that our firefighters are doing something wrong,
but we know that we are in a very litigious environment.
We've already set precedent, I think on three
or four lawsuits, if I'm not mistaken, where individuals
who are high drunk, what have you, got a bruise
and sued us in some cases,
Uh, and, and, And are taking full advantage
of our willingness to settle.
So I just wanna make sure that we're not gonna see
the burden shift from CPD to CFD
and having to have a hundred million dollars settlement
funds in your department as well.
I alderman, if, if I may, I tore that, I would suggest
that that's less likely, although as you well know,
there's nothing stopping anyone from suing
for nothing or something.
But I would, um, give a nod to our law department, uh,
and particularly the TOR division
when it comes to the MSS cases.
They are very good at what they do in, um,
addressing these cases before they get to the point
of payout and making assessments as
to the risk versus reward of pursuing with litigation.
And they have, there are many, many cases that never make it
to city council, not
because it didn't reach the city council limit
because it was, uh, it was, um,
successfully litigated by our law department. Okay,
Thank you.
No problem. Um, then I've got one other one.
Um, most of the changes in your budget this year are
around EMTs, and it's been an area
where you've had some persistent vacancies,
but it looks like you're, you're increasing the number
of EMT recruits.
Can you talk about what,
what's happening here that's driving that change?
So as far as the positions you're talking about,
are you speaking of our firefighter vacancies?
Are you looking at that? Um, firefighter EMTs,
then you have paramedics, single role medics.
Um, so are you speaking specifically about vacancies? Yes.
Okay. So as far as, uh, November
for the fire department is like the clearing house.
A lot of people retire in November, um,
because they get to cash in their furloughs
and they get the cola and everything else.
So a lot of firefighters
and paramedics, well some paramedics retire in November, so
therefore we have the vacancies
because as people retire throughout the year
or resign, we can only have our classes twice a year.
So we make it more cost effective to just wait
and to put on one class
because we have to detail instructors in
and staff to help us run those classes from out the field,
which causes time and a half.
And it drives overtime.
So we have a class in now
that will be graduating in December,
and then we have a new class starting
hopefully December 2nd.
So, um, we have a higher plan
that Chief Hamel has been doing throughout the years
that helps us try to effectively manage our overtime
by hiring twice a year
and scheduling our promotions around that so
that we have the vacancies available
to fill the classes up when we do twice a year.
So we hope or anticipate December
to have a class of about a hundred.
Okay. And then you'll have some crossover
medics in that class as well. That's the whole,
That's great. I wasn't
sure if there was any con,
because we got a new contract and everything, what we would
Clarify, well, we don't know how many are gonna vacate.
Okay. Right now we're looking at about, I think two,
about
two hundred and forty eight, two hundred forty six, two hundred forty eight,
who have said they're gonna leave,
but people can leave at any time.
Okay. So we're gonna be prepared once those
vacancies become available.
Great. Um, okay.
Well, that's all I had, uh, just looking
around the room. Alderman, SPTO,
SPTO. A wrap.
Yep. Thank you. Thank you, commissioner.
Always a pleasure to see you and your team.
Uh, appreciate Alia.
Um, just wanna start off by saying, uh,
best wishes to Brian and Deb.
I thought there was a third person.
I, I, did I miss the third person that was
Retiring? Mm-hmm. Somebody I don't
know about.
I thought I saw the memo on her.
The, the, uh, that there was three people that stepped down
to retires, but I guess it was just Brian and, oh,
Furman retired, but Furman Furman was official. Now,
He, yesterday I just,
I was informed yesterday, but he was on layup.
Okay. So yesterday was his last day official.
Okay. Or Deputy Fireman
Operation. So,
just wanna thank both of you. Brian.
Can't thank you enough. Buck has even
called me and told me to thank you.
I mean, know, I, I know you two butted heads a lot,
but he really respected and appreciated for everything.
And Brian and me would always joke about,
I always would call him bad cops.
So, uh, uh, Brian was, uh, is is is the,
the fire department always accused of, of being a bad cop.
They never say anything about the
good things he did, but mm-hmm.
I appreciate you, Brian. We had a great relationship
and you always return my calls and answer my questions
and help me, uh, answer questions
for people that would call me.
Um, just to let you all know something so that I know
that people are, people in the box have called me.
People exempt have called me.
My colleagues have called me about what's going on
with the next, the next this list.
Um, I told Joy four hat, joy. Joy, I told you that.
Uh, HR told me they're gonna be referring another 300,
uh, coming up.
So right now we're up to, right
around a thousand are gonna be up to 1300.
So anybody who's wondering, we're at on a list.
We're up to about a thousand now.
We're gonna be up to 1300, uh, for these upcoming classes.
Uh, something you said
that almost had me jumping outta my seat for Joy early,
and I, and I kind of missed something,
but I, if I heard you right, did you say 300 new vehicles
Close to 300 new vehicles? How
Many years? I missed how many years?
Uh, it's gonna be over four year period.
There was a bond
or an amendment to the, uh, the budget last year in January,
and they floated a bond to get that done.
So, um, special thank you to, uh, two FM and to budget
and the council, of course, for getting that done for us,
because I know Pat's sitting back there.
We have been fighting to get this
for a long time every year.
And finally, uh, this administration has gotten that done,
thanks to all the parties involved.
We're there. So the only thing it's
gonna, it is gonna take time.
We already have, uh, some vehicles that were ordered
and that are coming soon.
And if you wanna know what those are, um,
I can let o Kendall talk about those.
I think we're off to a great start. I'll call Mike and get
Across the board. It's
going to be an amazing four years. You may not be here.
I may not be amazing.
Four years for the fire department as a whole to get.
All I can say was I was driving a truck
and we had to go swap out res man.
I was one nervous dude, so
I know, I know, I know.
But let me in, in all honesty, let me say this,
about two fm, two fm, despite us not having enough spares,
they have stepped up and they have increased our spares.
I have to send emails and say, thank you so much.
Because what we used to, we used
to have like one truck, one engine.
They have stepped it up. You'll have times
where you have seven avail available trucks.
I'm not saying they brand new,
'cause they, not that they older than me,
but you have something to put companies into.
So this is great. Stop it. It's a joke. I'm,
I'm sure, I'm sure Julie Hernand, she heard you laughing.
I'm sure Julie Hernandez Tomlin is listening.
So, Julie, thank you very much, uh, right on behalf
of myself and all my firefighter
and paramedic friends. Thank you. And
The commissioner. She is so
happy. She'll never have to say those words again.
We do not have vehicles that are new.
All right. Well, she didn't text me yet,
so maybe she's not listening.
So, uh, do we have a grant writer?
I, I, I, I'm just was thinking
That Yes, we have Bethany Hand, who works very closely
with OPSA
and Bethany is, uh, watching over all our grants, UIC,
uh, securing the cities.
Uh, we have a, uh, training grant.
We have a, a a lot of grants.
So, um, you're interested in hearing what,
uh, yeah, just Bethany,
There's a 32nd exactly what you're doing.
Who do, who do you get it from? Is it mostly federal
grants or is it,
Yeah. Okay.
Yes. Uh, well, historically we've,
we've typically received federal grants,
and that still remains the bulk of our funding source.
We are of course, in these, in these times, looking
for additional sources of, of funding.
Um, we are working with our, our Congress people for
appropriations as well as state grants
and private foundations for any grants that we can,
we can get, um,
because we recognize their importance for the department.
Um, is there specific questions I can No,
I'm just curious how to go about it.
If there's anything that we could do to help out, you know,
Or Yes, actually anything you can do, um,
with any contacts at the federal level
would be much appreciated.
Um, as you know, with,
I don't know about the federal level for us,
but certainly the, the state level. So, all
Right. As you saw with,
with the presentation that COFA did, um,
our, our anticipated grants for 2026 is looking bleak.
Um, our grants are going to be down due to, you know,
administration changes and, and changes in policy.
Um, and our grants fund almost, I don't,
I'm not sure the percentage, but it funds a vast portion
of our special operations budgets, uh, providing equipment
and over time, as well as training
for our special operations forces.
Um, as well as some
of our grants provide our frontline firefighters
with much needed PPE and equipment from our A FT grants.
Those are all in question for this coming year.
And so that will leave a big gap for the fire department.
We're doing what we can
to enhance our capabilities right now
to put us in good shape for the next couple years.
Uh, but if the grant cycles continue
as they're going on the downward trend, we will be looking
to fill those grants in other ways. Okay.
All right. Thank you. Let me,
Let me add one thing, uh, alderman also.
So our nine personnel percentage is 9% of the budget,
which is, uh, 70 million, uh, 534,000.
51% of that is funded through our grants.
That is significant. So every opportunity that we have,
when I see a grant, and Bethany will tell you,
I'll be sending the emails, look into this, look into that.
So knowing that we are actively pursuing grants,
and then only 48% is from the corporate fund.
So we're gonna continue to keep doing that,
and hopefully our funds will be released soon so we can,
you know, do a little bit more with it. All right.
Uh, this isn't a budget thing.
I just wanna give some advice to some of my colleagues here.
I know we're talking about the
communications level and everything.
I mean, sometimes we forget,
but I would, I would rec recommend all of you
or all five of you that are here to, uh,
build a relationship with your local firehouse.
Find out who the chief is, find out who the captain is,
and they'll certainly keep you updated on what's going on
or things that have happened in the community.
So it might be, might be, you might wanna reach out
to them just so you don't miss out on anything, uh,
public re who took over for Frank.
Do we have anybody yet? We, I heard the, the two Frank EZs.
So can we not put anybody in there yet? Or
That spot is, that spot is still tied up.
We have someone acting in that spot.
Chris Sutherland, ambulance commander.
He has been assisting
and helping us out with the numerous
special events that we have.
So until we have a spot, he's just assisting me. What,
What do you mean? A spot? A spot
on in the budget, in
The budget for him, you had to release one to put a
Person, kill him.
Okay. Uh, director of public Safety. I know.
Is, is Jonathan, are you acting or are you the guy now?
I wasn't sure on that. Jonathan
still acting or is he the guy? Jonathan
Zane's, district chief, still acting within that
Position. He does a very
good job at acting. Alright.
Very good Job. Uh, because of, because of, uh,
The compliment. The,
And alderman, let me say this,
because of salary compression, it is very difficult
to get people to wanna do jobs, don't pay as much as jobs,
and we do not have a salary schedule,
which would increase their salaries or a pension benefit.
So thank you, Jonathan.
You, you could be a battalion chief
and make 250 grand a year.
You could be a district chief and make, you know, 175
And have me call you all night long, alderman Lopez,
and you all night long, and come to work the next day
and sit in your office and do your job as well.
So it's, it's a very, uh, so speak.
Speaking of Alderman Lopez, I just wanna say I agree
with my esteemed colleague and, and close ally
and friend about the cash cow we're turning out to be.
So we, we, uh, uh, Ray
and me are two of the few people that go to these, um,
settlement briefings.
And, uh, it seems,
it seems like we're we're the new cash cow for, uh,
I don't know what to refer to these people as,
but ambulance chasers
or, uh, you know, it's, it's frustrating.
I don't know what we can do in this
litigious world we live in.
Um, and I think I have one last question,
and that's this, uh,
and this is, um, your, your issue with my what?
My pals at Local tool with this, this Health Fair thing
that we're partnering on, right?
Are we still partnering? Are are, are,
are we at a city paying or are they paying?
How, how's this working out? Or do we owe them money?
Did do. What's the deal? So,
I'm sorry. We, we owe
'em money. We owe you money. No, the health fair.
Huh? The Health Fair Money. Uh,
Don't we Who is that?
Brian? Is that for you? Brian?
That's on you. We're
Working through that right now.
I actually, we received the invoice actually yesterday
from Local two.
Yes. Got it. We are, we are in the process,
Man. Can you talk into the mic?
Into
The mic? Into the mic?
Yeah. We received the invoice yesterday
for the health fair.
We are working through that. We've been, uh,
we we're gonna reconcile the books,
contract negotiations over, now we can focus on this.
It has been a goal. Yes, we are supportive of the, uh,
And the healthcare fair.
That's really about it. Um,
I'll see you on graduation day on the second.
Always look forward to the graduations.
It's a, it's a great day.
Um, every, everybody here, I mean,
tell your friends about this job.
It's an awesome job. But pretty much nowadays all you have
to do is sign up and show up, uh, and,
and pass a physical fitness test and,
and then get lucky with a lottery number.
So, uh, um, it changed my life.
I'm sure it changed your life. Comm commissioner
and a lot of people in the boxes.
So, uh, with that right under my 10 minutes.
Thanks Commissioner. Thank you everybody.
Appreciate all you. Thank you, chairman. Thank Madam Chair.
Um, closing remarks from you.
Well, I was just gonna say, just so all of you know,
our paramedic list is opened up.
So if you know any individuals that would like
to serve the city, um, they can apply online
to be a paramedic if they already have their license.
So all the information is listed there.
So we, we are actively recruiting.
Um, and that's the other thing that we do.
Even though we don't have a recruitment unit,
we actively recruit year round to try to increase diversity
and expose this community, different communities
who have no knowledge of what the fire department is about.
Uh, like me, I never knew
what the fire department was about,
but I was willing to find out without knowing people
who were firefighters.
So we're going across the whole city
and exposing all our young people, not just black,
not just Hispanic, not just white, but everybody.
And two, paramedic being a paramedic or being a firefighter,
because it is an awesome career to serve your communities.
Public safety. Now, who's our public safety guy? Or Gail,
Who's in charge of,
uh, Director? I'm sorry. Oh, you mean
Who's gonna take the courty unit?
Community outreach?
No, at at the, at the, at the, at at at the guy
that's at the scenes and make sure everybody's doing,
going to the firehouses.
You're, it used to be a model.
I remember a while ago it was, um, director
of public safety Public.
Okay. Public education. Yeah.
Not safety. Okay.
Fire safety and the firehouses on the scenes.
That guy used to be Donnie Romo was Jerry Knapp in the past?
I'm just trying to think who it was recently.
Who's, I'm trying to figure out who you re
Don was sitting in that to.
Jonathan is the safety hat.
He's, he's the chief of safety. He does all the safety.
Oh, okay. Right. But I thought you were
talking about public education.
'cause all we have now, there is a commander
and, uh, Betty Ortiz is overseeing that and the Cordy unit.
So she took two hats and put 'em on too. Okay,
Well you got two hats less than joy, so, uh, yep.
Joy's not forehand. So,
Uh, alderman Lopez, you've got a point of information.
I just wanna know what job actually Alderman SDOs trying
to get for himself right now, because he's asked, uh,
seven different applications he's gonna
put in after he leaves here.
Well, listen, I, I wanna just echo everybody's, uh,
sentiments about the thanks for all
that you all do in your department.
Um, I, I hope camp Courage continues to go and grow.
I heard many wonderful things about it, so I'm excited
to make sure that I can be there, um, next time around.
Yes. Um, and I know how much you do with so very little.
Um, I think that, uh, very few people understand, uh,
the restraints or constraints that you all operate under.
And I think you do an incredible job, um, doing with
what you have and then going above and beyond,
because you spend so much time, all of you, um,
especially all of you that are here in the box, um,
that is not lost on us.
So please know that we appreciate it, uh, very much.
And, uh, thank you for, for being here today
and hope everybody stay safe.
Thank you. Um, thank you.
With that, we're going to be recessed
until Monday at 2:00 PM We, we will pick.
No, no,
No. I've
never had tape. I've never had. We're
Gonna, we're gonna stand at ease for a moment.
I, oh, oh,
okay.
I'll go. Lindsay's coming. Thank you, Lindsay.
So we got a lot of different ones.
So we put it off, I got that wrong.
I'm so sorry. No. Wednesday at nine 30.
It's a separate.
Okay. The committee is, uh, reconvening here.
We are going to be recessed
until Wednesday morning at nine 30
for the next budget hearings Wednesday 9:30 AM Thank you.