Test, test, test one, two, three. Test, test.
Special service.
Well, Mr. Blakemore, do you know what
a special service area is?
Well, would you like to explain that to you?
How
you doing?
It
ain't
in the
schedule
yet, but it'll be up, yeah.
When it opens, but it's
going to
be fireworks. So what is it?
President's cover without disability from the sun.
Mm-hmm.
And we can't make-
Mm-hmm.
Some cautious.
Oh, actually, I've got-
From this as far as the...
Right.
Why? How are you doing? Good, how are you?
I agree with you.
Because I think I factor into, but I think there's-- But if that's why maybe I'm
not. Oh, so you guys...
I'm open.
So, um...
I did just to mess with y'all.
But you went into this. You were just going to.
He
was like, "Do you have it?" Do you have it yet?
Let's get-- Look at that.
It's an Etch A Sketch.
Look at the first idea.
Do they-- They still make those, too.
It's a Etch A Sketch.
Iron.
Ooh. What'd you say about B?
Anthony Mann.
What y'all say about B?
There's like two of them.
Man, what y'all doing with this?
Ask what's the... No, I'd rather include a year.
Whatever for like, kind of the like-
Everything that go there is a snatch back.
George.
Okay. No, that's something, we discussed that before.
To his committee and it went to bike meet and I'm like, "How did I have?"
And I know they're not going to bring it out.
Yeah.
That's right. So,
but--
And so I think it prints simpler
than that. It goes out.
That curve.
And the sticker printer. You give Mosley, but it print. Again.
How was it at the beach?
Damn, what's up, Pete? You look good, man. What you doing?
Speaking to-
Oh, okay. Oh, s**t. Pete don't even talk like that, so I look good every day.
At the Illinois Chamber of
Commerce for the Spanish.
What you got to do?
They had a breakfast there.
I was going, but I had a mission.
What's my password?
No, yeah. She wants to have something bad.
Don't you have it on your phone?
I got it, sure.
I pride myself on having a good memory. I have a photogenic memory.
You back out?
Yeah. It didn't work out when I was on the trading floor.
I didn't even know I had it until I got on the trading floor. My father had mine.
I didn't know my father had one.
That's amazing.
He had passed away, so he didn't tell me. I didn't know.
I literally can do--
You might catch me sometimes. I try to remember something, I do this.
I literally take a sniff.
Yeah.
I got little quirks, man. I got ADHD, all that s**t.
Well, I do too.
I'm all f****d up.
So
I got ADHD, but my memory sucks. I can't remember
anything. Where you
been? You haven't talked to Paul.
He has to say something.
We ain't saying nothing bad, guys.
That's okay.
We online.
Er.
Yeah.
Good
morning. The meeting of the Committee on Economic Capital Technology
Development is called to order. We will now have a roll call to establish quorum.
Please use the iPads provided to you and mark yourself present.
Note that your present response will be deemed a yes vote when this quorum call is
used as a reference vote for later.
Mr. Banegas, please open the vote.
Refresh.
All right.
Where's this thing at?
He's got it on his.
There
they
are.
Right.
Yep.
Alderman Waggepack.
That's the one.
Not showing? Okay. You're present, though, right?
Halfway.
All right.
Let's see, who do we have that's not?
Alderwoman Lenny Monahoppenworth.
Alderman, we have quorum.
Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a quorum.
Alderwoman Cruz, Alderman Lospada, Alderman Lee, Alderwoman Metz have
requested to participate in today's meeting remotely under Rule 59.
May I get a motion to allow them to participate remotely?
Vice Chair Mosley motions to allow Alderwoman Cruz, Alderman Lospada, Alderman
Lee, Alderwoman Metz to participate remotely. All those in favor, please say aye.
Any opposed, say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The other persons mentioned are permitted to participate remotely today.
They'll be marked as a present on the quorum call.
For today's meeting, we did not receive written public comments.
At this time, we will begin the public comment period.Public comments are
limited to 30 minutes. Out of respect for everyone's time, each speaker is limited
to three minutes. We have our speaker, which is Mr. George Blakemore.
I guess here, you could just listen to me for 30 minutes.
No. Anyway,
I'm glad to be here, and I'm recording this
with my Facebook friends. These SSAs,
Mr. Blakemore,
you don't see anybody here? No. But when they get ready to vote for
these
mayor's
sponsors for a position on this
board, SSA, everybody going to say, "I."
Nobody's going to object.
Every one of these will be passed. Mr.
Blakemore, have you educated the public the purpose of the
SSA?
I sure have. And really the purpose of the SSA is
where the alderman can control a certain body of money.
What?
You heard me. The alderman is a special tax
in the business area. Well, who's going to select the people that
will be on this sponsors on this SSA?
The
ones who are allied to the alderman.
Well, what is their job? To clean up
and to assist streets and sand. We have our streets and sanitation.
Well, what do they do? They are independent company, then they put on a little
neon vest,
and that company will be paid. And that
company is connected to these aldermen.
Another pocket of money.
That's right. They looking up at the clock.
They want me to kick real fast. Are you all understanding what
I'm saying going on here?
Nothing but a game.
And when they get ready to vote, they have three people down here,
Mayor Johnson is
sponsoring, and they're all hooked up,
and they're going to all say, "I, I, I." No
objection.
Just like this is a one-party
system here.
A racist system here.
Don't talk about Trump.
I'm talking about right here.
So again, it's very important for me to come to these meetings.
I hope I've educated you, I hope I've informed you, and I
hope that you get engaged. And we have to clean this
swamp up.
We got to clean it up. Now, you don't believe me?
All of them will be appointed. Now I got to
run over to another meeting. May God bless each one of you, and in
return, bless somebody else. And you know we Black people, we got to
bless ourself. Thank you.
I can finish this one and go over to this other office.
Thank
you, Mr. Blakemore. I've been informed that no other public
participants have signed up for public comment within the provisions of the
sergeant-at-arms protocol. That concludes
the public comment portion of our meeting.
The first order of business of approval of the March 26 monthly report, which all
members of the committee should have received via the shared drive.
Are there any questions or comments from the committee members regarding the
report?
May I have a motion to recommend approval of the March 2026 monthly report by the
same roll call vote as was applied to determine quorum?
Alderman Mitchell so moves. Hearing no objection, so ordered.
Item one through three on the agenda are appointment and reappointments to the
special service areas. The following individuals are being considered before the
committee. Appointment of Mary Tobias as a member of Special Service Area Number
38, North Center. Reappointment of Dorothy Hudson as a member of
Special Service Area Number 5, Commercial Avenue.
And reappointment of Anthony Kayem as a member of Special Service
Area Number 21-2016.
Strike that.
As a member of the Special Service Area Number 21-2016,
Lincoln Square. Mark Roschen, Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Planning
and Development, is available to answer any questions on these appointments and
reappointments. The ECTD team has confirmed the support or
non-objection from the following council members with appointment and reappointment
within their respective wards: Alderman Chico, Alderman
Martin, Alderman Mitchell, Alderman
Vasquez, and Alderman Waguespack.
At this time, I'll ask the appointees that are present to introduce themselves. Ms.
Hudson.
And we have two virtual participants, Mary Tobias, as well as Anthony
Kayem, that are on today's Zoom.
Chair Alderman Lee is on as well.
Thank you. We have you for quorum, Alderman Lee.
Great. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Hudson. Would any of the members of the committee or council members
like to make a statement or ask any questions?
Ms. Hudson?
No, I don't have any questions. I'm here to reapply
for the,
I guess, about the fifth term of my--
as the SSA5 commissioner,
and I don't have any questions.
Okay.
Well, thank you for your service. We appreciate the fact that you're looking to get
reappointed, and the SSAs commissioners play an
important role in these business corridors, and so we're excited to have you
reappointed. And then also, thank you for your service, to the city,
especially as we continue to make these business corridors thrive for
our communities.
Okay.
Thank you.
I thank you for allowing me to apply again, and I thank my alderman
and the City of Chicago to allow me to work in my community.
Appreciate that.
Thank you, Ms. Hudson.
Okay.
Mary Tobias or Anthony, do you have any comments?
I don't have any comment other than I feel grateful to get to participate in
the community, and,
it's been really nice to see the improvements in our area
over the past years when I've been a commissioner. So thank you.
Thank you, Anthony. Mary?
Hi there. I am also looking forward to
participating in the SSA 38. This will be
my first year, and I look forward to it,
so thank you.
Thank you.
And again, we look forward to working with you and continuing to build a
relationship. Like, as I stated, the commissioners are very important to
the city council, and if you have any ideas or any recommendations
on how
these SSAs can be approved, please feel free to reach out to us, or your local
alderman as well. So thank you.
Okay. Thank you.
May I have a motion to recommend approval of the appointment and reappointments by
the same roll call vote that was applied to determine quorum?
Alderman Napolitano so moves. Hearing no objections, so ordered.
The due pass recommendation for the appointment and reappointments will be reported
out at the next city council meeting.
Appointees, congratulations on your confirmation.
From the committee in partnership with the City of Chicago, we look forward to
working with you. Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen-
Thank you
... item four of the agenda is an ordinance establishing an interactive digital
wayfinder pilot program. Per the request of the sponsor, Alderman Burnett
has asked to defer this ordinance. May I have a motion to defer this item?
Vice Chair Moseley so moves. Hearing no objections, so ordered.
The motion passes, and the item is deferred.
Are there any questions or comments from members of the committee? Seeing none.
The due pass recommendation will be reported out at the next city council meeting.
Item five on the agenda is the ordinance for the Commissioner of Fleet
and Facility Management to identify a suitable location for a new satellite police
station within the 12th District. This item is also being deferred.
May I have a motion to defer this item?
Alderman Napolitano so moves. Hearing no objections, so ordered.
The motion passes, and the item is deferred.
Item six on the agenda is an ordinance directing the Commissioner of
Transportation to identify information technology companies to provide asset
management software for the City of Chicago.
There has been a substitute ordinance that has been distributed
to the members of the committee. May I have a motion to accept a substitute?
Alderman Cardona makes a motion to accept the substitute.
Hearing no objections, so ordered.
We are joined today by CDOT
Assistant Commissioner William Higgins, Commissioner of Department of Innovation
Technology, Nick Lucius, Department of Law Assistant Corporation Counsel, Justin
Edge. And in the audience, we also want to acknowledge our Deputy
Mayor for Infrastructure, Ms. Lori Lipson.
Sorry, Lori, we got to
give you that shout-out.
Can you-- So, ladies and gentlemen, this
ordinance that was introduced and now substituted,
basically what it does is, having discussions with the
law department as we're talking about settlements,
it has come to our attention that,
in some instances, there have been cases where there have been assets that
are owned by the city that have actually caused the damage.
And so, for example, whether it's sidewalks, whether it's light
poles, whether it's streets, whether it's manhole covers, whether it's the
ADA plates, these are all assets that are
responsibility of the city. And so, given the fact that
there's some liability
that's out there, we thought that it would be important to
direct CDOT and DTI to put forward a solution
to help identify what some of these assets are, along with the
shelf life of these assets, so that way we could do a couple of things.
Number one, identify what the risks are to the City of
Chicago, but also it allows us the ability to budget correctly
to find out what are the true assets that need repairs, and
for future years, how we can budget accordingly.
And so, in consultation with the Department of Law, meeting
with DTI as well as
CDOT,
we came up with this substitute.
And so this substitute, again, begins to take a look at addressing the issues
of addressing risk, so that way we can be responsible and
minimize the risk to the city as we're starting to see that there
just isn't a system in place that is robust enough
to deal with these issues. And so, if there are any questions from
members of the committee, would welcome any questions.
But this is something that-DTI, as well as
CDOT, are working on and trying to get
through quickly, given the fact that we have some issues. Mr.
Justin, would you like to comment on this ordinance since you helped with
the substitute?
Absolutely. Justin Edge, assistant corporation counsel with the
Department of Law.
First of all, I apologize that the substitute came to the committee so late.
And I appreciate the work and flexibility that
the chair and his staff put into working on this with
the departments here.
All that I'll say is, in comparison to the introduction,
this clarifies that the procurement process would go
through the chief procurement officer's standard process
rather than the
DTI specialized authorization for technology
pilots, which is what it read as before.
This would allow for a
future
exploration and procurement process if necessary, but it also allows
us to meet the need that the alderman has
identified through a procurement process that's already
going on right now, which I'll let CDOT speak to.
And so it just adds in that flexibility,
and additionally has a written report
after 12 months of the effective date
back to this committee.
Those are the changes from the introduction, and
I think that this allows the flexibility that we need to meet it, the
need either way. And
I think that it just helps that we have clarity that we're all on the same page
about specifically what we need, and good to know that we're already in the process
of doing it.
Perfect. Thank you. Mr. Higgins, would you like to comment?
Yes. William Higgins, assistant commissioner of Intergovernmental Affairs at CDOT.
As mentioned, we have an RFQ, request for qualifications, that was
released last summer for quality program
management consultant services.
This includes, in a broader scope,
asset management software to both tie in what we already have.
Things like streetlight poles
has an asset management system that's been in effect ever since the smart lighting
program went forward.
Whereas pavement condition has been tracked in other
means in
GIS, geographical imaging systems,
and some that has not been tracked as well in the past, such as sidewalks.
We,
as part of this RFQ,
request that the applicant provide a
system that can integrate all of these things, both the current and the
desired future
assessment. We've been working on this for some time.
Back in 2023, we conducted a pilot
to look at pavement condition and survey of
sidewalk and ADA ramps that was successful.
It was a proof of concept to move forward with this.
We expect to award this within the next couple of months.
It's just wrapping up the term on the posting.
For RFQs, once we get the review of all the
proposals received and an award is given, then there
will be some negotiation as to the specifics, and at that time, we can get into the
details of the scope of the software that's part of this package.
So, we're excited about this, and we think the substitute
ordinance will allow us to move forward in the process we already have had
going with procurement for some time, and we look forward to working with you all
and updating you as we move forward.
Thank you.
Commissioner DTI?
Good morning, Chairman. Thank you. Good morning, everyone.
So we support CDOT in this effort. We at DTI
regularly research technologies and make sure
we're aware of what's out there in the market.
As CDOT goes through this process of the procurement, this is
the way that we typically support our
departments. We ensure that what they need operationally and
what they're going to use and what their
staff and the needs of people are, that we meet that with
technology,
and we start with those needs. So,
we
support this, and we're here to support CDOT in this effort.
And regarding the procurement, we do usually use
that pilot authority for more experimental technology,
technology that you're not sure if you're going to keep after a
period, where you need to test it out and see if it works.
CDOT's plan is to move forward with something and
to work it into a procurement they already have.
So, we think this is the right way forward.
Thank you.
Any questions from Alderman Napolitano?
Thank you, Chairman.
I'm glad we're covering this. This is a really quick question.
Technology-wise, is this set up where complaint comes in
and
it's directed towards
a break and fix process? You know what I'm
saying? Because as far as when we're talking about light poles and sidewalks and
stuff like that, there's
a cachet of these things in a system already.
I'm just asking how is this technology actually going to
work, or what's the end goal?
That's a good question.
As you know, we already have the 311 system-
Yeah
... tracking complaints-
Yep
... and responding to them, and it does get
robust
Yes
... with a lot of data, a lot of complaints, and we're working through those.
And there gets to be duplicates that get marked closed while there's still
open items that need to be addressed.
I think this is more about the current conditions and
tracking our assets as we know them today,
and at that point in time that an assessment can be made.
There's a number of different ways that we can go about that with a
physical survey, LIDAR.
There
are other technologies that are being developed with
imagery and AI to assess
conditions as we go.
So,
to answer your question, I don't think this is so much about the
one-off issues and response to it, but
knowing what our whole universe of materials is like
right now, and then so that we can more proactively-
Okay
... address them.
Okay.
Yeah.
I appreciate that. Thank you very much.
You're welcome.
Thank you. Alderman Mitchell, then Vice Chair Moseley.
All right. Thanks, Chairman.
I'm sorry.
Got a couple of clarifying questions.
And
Chairman, thank you for doing this.
I know you to be a very thoughtful person, so I think this doesn't surprise me that
you champion around things like this.
Hey, Bill, can you give me a couple of clarifying questions?
Number one,
you said there's already an RFQ that was put out.
What prompted the RFQ?
I'm
not sure exactly what prompted it.
I mean-
There were some issues identified that led you to say, "This is
something we need to do"?
It's a partnership with, my team and the Division of
Engineering's-
Mm-hmm
... Quality Assurance team.
Mm-hmm.
Quality assurance is something we take very seriously at CDOT.
We want to make sure that when we do a project, the materials are up to
high quality, and that they'll be maintained for a long period of
time. So this is part of that
larger scope
of the RFQ that it makes sense to track our assets
and know what we have out there.
Mm-hmm.
So
when
infrastructure
is being installed, let's use
alleys and asphalt of streets.
Sure.
Is there a warranty associated with that work from...
I know a lot of our work is done through in-house.
But particularly with vendors, with-
With a contract
... with contractors.
Yeah.
Now, isn't there warranties associated with-
Sure.
Okay.
Yeah.
And does that extend to
the lights?
Continental installs them, I mean, parts of...
Do we, all the-
I'm pretty sure there is. I don't know the details of all the warranties across all
our contracts right now.
Mm-hmm.
But I know there are usually within the first
few years of the installation.
Okay. Then, what is already in place
that
within that warranty period,
we have a mechanism in place to say, "You know what?
We need to go out there and visit these assets to ensure or to check
the,"
I won't say the progress, but to check the longevity or the life of
these assets?
Yeah. Yeah, we do that currently.
Okay.
Yeah. And
for instance, there was some cases last year where
some sidewalk was installed too late in the season, and the temperature
was a little too cold for it to set properly.
Mm-hmm.
We did core samples, and it wasn't up to our standards.
It was on the responsibility of our contractor to go out and replace them
fully.
Okay.
And they did so.
Yeah. Okay, because I'm just trying to tie these two together.
Sure.
Obviously, if assets do have a life, and
if we're
looking at our sidewalks, our lights, our ADA plates, all of
which
has a shelf life-
Sure
... how is the information we're going to
get from this
tool, how are we going to respond
accordingly to that information?
And with that information, does it put us in any
liability? How does that affect us from a liability standpoint?
Um-
Because right now, with the sidewalks and stuff, based on the language,
we
enjoy limited liability because of the way it's written. We start out then...
Which is a great thing. Don't get me wrong.
Yeah.
Now we have something that says, "This should've been done.
This has been degradating over time.
This should've been addressed." That could potentially open us up for
lawsuits.
That's a fair point. To split that into the two parts-
Mm-hmm
...
certainly quality assurance is part of this.
That's why it's part of this RFQ we have right now.
Mm-hmm.
So, tracking it will help in that regard.
As far as liability, we'll be moving forward once we see the technology
and see what's being proposed and what type of tracking and
how frequently it will be updated.
That will all lead to how we use that information in the future.
We don't really have that answer right now-
Mm-hmm
... but that'll be part of the process as we get the
RFQs proposals together-
Okay
... and move forward.
Okay.
As far as liability, we are working closely with the law department-
Mm-hmm
... on both language and just making sure whatever system
we put into place doesn't put the city at any additional risk.
Okay. Okay. I'll leave it right there, because I know that I can
reach out to you guys anytime.
Sure.
But
could you
provide through the
chair-Try
to forward the warranties information.
Sure.
Because
since I've been, I've always worked with
your department. And
when it comes to new installation and things, we always talked about, "Well, we
have two years to come back." We
even say that for our streets,
we have a four to seven-year shelf life for our streets.
Everybody in here knows that's
not true.
Mm-hmm.
Some of my streets are two years,
which there's another issue about the quality of the asphalt.
But I would like to know what our true warranties are.
Sure.
And
then we'll go from there.
Yeah. That's good.
But that information will help us make some decisions.
I'll get that to the chair.
Yeah. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman Metro.
Vice Chair Mosley, then Alderman Waguespack.
Thank you so much, Chair, and I hope you all have me as a co-sponsor on
this.
Absolutely.
This is something that definitely impacts the 21st Ward with
256 total mileage-
Different
... of streets, sidewalks, and alleys.
So
I want to ask
about... Well, I'm glad to hear about the liability.
When we talk about sidewalks, I have to bring up trees.
Are we counting trees as city assets since they're trees that are
in the public way?
Yes, certainly. We currently track them
internally at CDOT, our
Parkway Tree Program.
And particularly,
CDOT handles arterial trees, the Department of Streets and Sanitation handles
residential areas. But yeah, we'll work with them on that as well.
And with the residential ones in particular, talk to me
about that tracking. As I understand it, and I
could be wrong or misinformed,
we track them based off of residents
requesting tree removal inspections.
Is that the only way that we know how much life is in a
tree? And then beyond that,
tree roots, trees that were planted some times ago
oftentimes buckle up sidewalks. They oftentimes buckle
up the private property driveways of residents and so forth.
To be honest.
Are we thinking in that matter when we start repairing sidewalks?
Are we also looking at
solving for what was the
cause of the problem, which may have been a tree root that has caused a trip
hazard?
Absolutely. CDOT works fairly closely with Department of
Streets and Sanitation on their tree trimming, and
in cases where we inspect a sidewalk and find it buckled up from a
tree root, we often work with them on either
carefully and selectively pruning the root system so that when we replace
the sidewalk, it won't happen again, or as quickly.
In some cases, we will
recommend removing a tree entirely if
it's at the right point in its age and to make the sidewalk
work. So we're certainly working with them on that.
I can't really speak to Department of Streets and Sanitation and their operations
with certainty, but I know that they trim trees on a
grid basis now. And as they do that, they take notes
of
conditions of trees. If a tree is obviously dying or something like that, they-
Understood
... address that.
Thank you for that. I would love to know just more.
It doesn't need to be through the Chair, but just follow up with me
about-
Sure
... that process when a sidewalk is being a
trip hazard due to a tree. Sometimes, I use my
automatic discretionaries-
Mm-hmm
... if I know there's going to be a partnership with CDOT to repair that
sidewalk so that we have some longevity to that repair.
When we talk about longevity to repairs, can you also share with
me more about the warranties? Is it inclusive
of
maybe some of the damage that may come from the public, such as if we
install a new streetlight and there's a
traffic accident or a car veers off and takes out that
light, what's the process of repairing it?
Mm-hmm.
Is there a discount for the restoration as opposed to the full
cost of replacement? And how do we go after insurance
companies of the automobile from
accidents to repair? Sometimes we see accidents, and
it damages the curb, it damages the sidewalks, and sometimes
those repairs don't happen.
Sure. I know with our lighting systems, both traffic light and
streetlights and crosswalk lights and whatnot,
the warranties are only really for their own
installation and maintenance. So if a
light is not working properly or if it was not installed properly,
then we can tap the warranty to get it repaired.
If it gets hit by a car, that is not
on the
contractor to repair, and in some cases, we have to find
funding to get that fixed.
I would have to defer to law in terms of going after
insurance companies and whatnot.
CDOT doesn't do that directly.
Right. And then lastly, I would just say the traffic signs, whether they're
stop signs, I know there is a priority for stop signs when they are taken out,
but we oftentimes see some of the no
parking or
the pedestrian crossing signs that are taken
out from traffic accidents or minor or major,
that often still are on the ground or not going replaced.
Will this monitoring also include that so that
we can have those traffic signs reinstated?
I don't know that this program will address live
monitoring in that way. It would inventory our
assets and know what signs are out there so we can more quickly
respond when we get reports from 311 or from your offices.
I will say, in those situations, don't hesitate to reach out to your CDOT
public way inspector if you see a sign down, and they'll connect with our
sign shop to get it addressed immediately.
Great. Thank you so much, and thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Vice Chair. Alderman Waguespack, followed by Alderman Cardona.
Alderman Waguespack, before you begin, I'd like to
account Alderman Guiterrez for purposes of quorum.
Alderman Waguespack.
Thanks, Chairman.
Thank you all for being here today, and I won't go too much down
that path either of all the issues that we have with our
assets.
And it ranges from our trees to our streets, our ADA
ramps, which I know we have lawsuits and all sorts of things out
there. So I'm glad that we're moving in this direction,
and really focused as well on the
maintenance side of things, so that we're going back to the contractors and saying
that the warranties have to be enforced.
But
I think my question is more around the type of
database that we're looking at here. Maybe the CTO could get into this.
But have you started looking at what other cities have
globally, what they use in Asia, Europe for these types of
databases, and how well they work?
Thank you, Alderman. So we haven't started, at DTI, the
process of evaluating what the technologies for
CDOT's needs are,
as they're in the RFQ process for
bringing in help to be able to determine
what meets their operational capacity, what kinds of
technologies meet the tasks of what they're looking to do.
And we typically ensure that we engage in
research connected to what the department wants.
And so while at the same time, we do make sure we're aware of
everything that's happening that's out there and bring them to our departments, but
we don't go too far down into what
is out there that we wouldn't do in the first place.
So we kind of have to balance that.
Okay.
I don't know if you had any ideas there too.
I just look at what other cities do when you're traveling and you
see how they're managing their
assets, and it just seems like a lot of them are on top
of that. Maybe not-
Sure
... nationally, but other places in the world that really kind of
stay on top of that. So I was just curious if
you guys are out there when you go to conferences or you're speaking to
peers in other cities, what they're doing.
I think the short answer is yes, that everyone at
CDOT's interested in this kind of thing, and we are keeping eyes
out on those things globally.
I myself am just interested in it, and have tracked
some really innovative things that they've done in
some other countries to track
every aspect of city data, really.
I don't have an exact answer
for this RFQ if the engineering quality assurance team
has been kind of managing it. So I could check back with them to see how much that
was done in the preliminary steps of developing the scope for the
RFQ. I do know that, like I said, once we get the responses back from it,
that will be part of the process in negotiating the award.
Yeah. I was just looking more for your own personal-
Yeah. Absolutely
... I know when we get ideas like this, we all start looking to see what others are
doing. We speak to our
colleagues or peers in other cities to see what they're doing that we can improve
on. So I just assumed you were-
Yeah. Absolutely
... along the same lines, constantly trying to improve the assets or
the types of databases or software we're
using.
Yeah.
So I appreciate it.
Yeah.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Alderman.
Dustin, I want to ask you the same question.
Oh, sorry.
All good.
Thank you, Alderman Waguespack. Alderman Cardona?
Thank you, Chairman. Thank you all for being here.
I appreciate you coming in the morning.
I know we're talking about assets, but I have a question for Bill, CDOT.
I know you mentioned software.
So the information that you're getting for the
assets and things like that, are you going to be able to share it with us as
alders so that we could basically help
you or help CDOT try and fix these assets that
have to be replaced?
I'm sure we would, yes.
Okay. Would it be part of the CIP meeting, or would it be
separately? You don't have to answer that, because I know
down the road how that will... Do you-
Yeah
... kind of figure how it will work?
It's going to depend on what it looks like once we're through that RFP process
or RFQ process,
and the negotiation and what they're proposing.
Certainly, I would hope that it's something that is
advantageous to work with you during the CIP process to
help determine things, like we do now with
the pavement condition map that we provide.
Yeah.
That was done in
2023. We did that survey, and it was just road surfaces, but
that's kind of the same type of thing that we'd be doing, it's just we could expand
that to other assets as well.
And then when we're talking about protecting our assets, how is this going to be
paid out? Is it going to go through the bonds,
or are we going to have to take it out of our personal menu money?
Don't think this would be any menu money.
Are you asking about repairs?
Well, because we have to protect our assets, right?
So sometimes, an example, we have
certain sidewalks that are just terrible.
There's no sidewalk. And they go into the system
repair sidewalk program to do in-house.
Mm-hmm.
Two to three years later, still there kind of thing.
Unless we use our menu money to repair that.
So,
that's why I'm asking, where would this money-
I see
... this repair would come from? From our menu money, if we want it done fast,
or would it be done in-house, which takes a whole longer
process? Because we could put it in the system, and
again, it depends on where it's at.
It could take two to three years for it to get done, and by that time, someone
already tripped or fall, or something happens-
Right
... with the asset itself. So that's why I'm asking.
Well, I think the asset management
that this ordinance speaks to is the tool and the
database to
make those decisions and make them more quickly.
Mm-hmm.
Both so in-house construction can utilize any
bond funding that's
provided for hazardous sidewalks,
to
expedite that process that has dragged in the past.
And it's been hard to prioritize projects when we don't have
a firm grasp on all the assets across the city, right?
So it should help with that. Certainly, it would also help
in selecting menu projects, the same way we do, as I
said, with the pavement condition map now.
Can see where there is a larger area that
might benefit from a larger project.
Okay. Well, thank you.
Thank you, Alderman Cardona.
And so just so my colleagues know, in
the management ordinance that passed,
the Economic Capital and Technology
Development Committee is in charge of the capital bill.
And that's in our rules, but now it's codified into management ordinances.
So we'll be having more discussions around capital, so that way, we can have
that discussion up front before it goes to finance to get funding.
So we can get members' input
as to what it is, the assets and the capital that we're trying to address
in the city.
And then I would also just, with CDOT and DTI,
just
please try to avoid as much customization as possible.
The customization, I think loses the efficiency.
And in some cases, it's not the software that needs to change, but more
the way we do things that need to change in order to fit the technology, in order
to maximize the efficiency. So I would hope that that would be
the case. And again, when you guys put out these RFIs and
RFQs, there's tons of response, and we get to see what other
cities, states are doing around this issue.
And I
glad to hear the fact on LIDAR, because as this technology continues to evolve,
it's just going to make our job easier in identifying what the conditions are
within the City of Chicago. And we know that infrastructure and assets are a
potential liability for the city, and so we want to make sure that we're arming
ourselves with that. So, thank you so much for being here.
Alderman Mitchell?
Yeah. As you put out the RFs,
we've only been mentioning stationary assets.
I did.
Would bridges
be a
requirement
to be a part of this?
I believe so.
And if so,
would it be more prudent to have it separate?
Because this is a mechanical asset that has a lot more
riding on it than a regular street.
I'd have to get back to you on that.
Okay. Yeah. And then my last question, it piggybacks, I forgot who
asked this.
Oh, it was Alderman Waguespack asking, have you looked in
what other cities are doing?
What about also looking at what utilities company
uses, engineering companies that are responsible for the management
of other assets like-
Oh, absolutely.
Yeah.
We look industry-wide.
Because I know you guys-
Yeah
... you got a lot that you work with. Okay, sure.
And all that'll be taken in consideration. Okay.
And Alderman, I'll also say,
when you mentioned
assets beyond just physical, fixed assets, it reminded me
of mobility assets,
Divvy, scooters, even
Uber and Lyft cars. We
have a asset management system around all of those vehicles
that we manage at DTI with coordination with CDOT.
And it speaks to a lot of that larger, more
national, and global collaboration, where we connect with
cities across the world through organizations like the Open
Mobility Foundation to learn about best practices.
And that's where a lot of the mobility data standards have come
from that have allowed us to collect that data and use it to understand
congestion, to understand
asset management. So I just wanted to,
Alderman Waguespack's question and your question reminded me of that.
And I think that as we do this for physical assets and bridges, it
was worth mentioning for a lot of the assets out there we do as well.
All right. Thank you for that. Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Alderman Mitchell. Alderman Napolitano?
Thank you, Chair. I just have one more really quick statement that Chairman
Villegas had mentioned, and I think it's a valid point.
I have the utmost confidence in this panel,
in what your goal is. I just ask that, and this is kind of a
no-brainer statement, but still has to be made, that in
this development and where we go with this, that on the technology side and the
legal side, if it doesn't wash down to the boots on the ground or to
the remedy side, we're just having a conversation
here. And I think that's
something that I think has built frustration with myself and many of my
colleagues, and
can't blame anybody for this. This is a big city.
There's a lot going on, and there's a lot of issues that happen constantly.
But I think the onus is on us to come out or to figure
out how on the bottom side of this,
there's actually a remedy for it.
Yeah.
So that's all I ask for. Appreciate what you're doing. I think it's a good thing.
Thank you, Alderman Napolitano. Seeing no further
questions, may I have a motion to recommend a pass of this ordinance by the same
roll call vote that was applied to establish quorum?
Alderman Cardona so moves. Hearing no objections, so ordered.
The due pass recommendation will be reported out at the next city council meeting.
Since there's no further business, may I have a motion to adjourn by the same roll
call vote that was applied to determine quorum?
Alderman Mitchell so moves. Hearing no objections, so ordered.
The meeting of the Committee on Economic, Capital, and Technology Development is
adjourned. Thank you.