Good morning, and thank you for joining us for this Committee on Health and Human
Relations meeting.
It is 12:49 on June 11 of
2026, and this meeting is now called to order.
On today's agenda, we will consider one direct introduction from the mayor's
office for the appointment of the chair of the Chicago Commission on Human
Relations. And before we begin, I will call the roll to establish
quorum. Vice Chair Ramirez.
Alderman Robinson.
Alderman Yancy. Alderman Gutierrez.
Alderman Lopez.
Alderman Sigcho-Lopez.
Alderwoman Fuentes. Alderwoman Cruz.
Alderman Quezada.
Alderman Lawson.
Alderwoman Mana Hoppenworth. Alderwoman Hadden.
And Chair Rodriguez Sanchez is here.
We have seven members present.
We have a quorum.
We have a request for remote participation citing Rule 59 from
Alderman Sigcho-Lopez and Alderman Quezada.
Can I get a motion to approve the remote participation of Alders Quezada and
Sigcho-Lopez?
So moved by Alderwoman Mana Hoppenworth.
All those in favor signify by saying "I."
Opposed say "Nay." In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Before we begin public comment, I would like to offer
some brief remarks regarding public comment,
and I think that we
should have started doing this a while ago.
As the chair of the Committee on Health and Human Relations, my priority is
ensuring this chamber remains a space where every Chicagoan, regardless of
their race, gender identity, immigration status,
ability, or religious beliefs, feels welcome, respected, and
safe.
To maintain the integrity of our proceedings, please keep the following in
mind. While we uphold the constitutional right to freedom of
speech,
please be aware that the statements made during public comment are the
opinions of the speakers alone. They do not represent the
views of this committee.
Please remember that under the City Council rules of conduct for public meetings,
profane, threatening, harassing, abusive, or defamatory behavior or
speech,
which in the judgment of the meeting's chair or sergeant-at-arms
may lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct of the
meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or destructive
actions, such as the stomping of feet, waving of arms, throwing any
item, whistling, booing, shouting, or other loud utterances, are
not permitted when, in the judgment of the meeting's chair or the sergeant at arms,
such actions are disrupting or impeding the orderly conduct of
this meeting.
I invite anyone listening, especially those joining us for the first time, to
exercise critical thinking. If you hear a claim that sounds doubtful or
inflammatory, I encourage you to seek out trusted sources and do your own
research. I also encourage that if any comments feel
personally triggering, dysregulating, or inflammatory, that you take the space you
need. You're able to leave these chambers and return or take a few deep breaths to
calm yourself down. Our goal is to foster an environment of robust
civic engagement that remains rooted in
common good.
We will now begin the public comment period.
This period is limited to 30 minutes, and each speaker is limited to
three minutes. We have seven
public speakers signed up, and we did not get any virtual
public speakers. And I'm going to start public comment
period now with Sensei Bamboo Yanni.
You can head to the microphone, sir.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, everybody.
Good afternoon.
Committee chair
and member of committeeGood afternoon to you,
and thank you for the opportunity to
express my pleasant experience of working for a long
time
with a good friend
and truly a public
servant,
Kenneth
Gunn.
My name is
Sensei Mahmoud Bambuyane.
I'm the chairman, chief instructor for the
International Traditional Karate Association.
And not only I work here and also
across
around the globe,
I go to teach.
I also
had an opportunity to work with Kenneth
while I was working as the
chairman of Northside Task Force,
liaison for Chicago Commission on Human Relations.
What truly
he left
me for many years to remember him always
in a very positive way
was his character,
his knowledge,
his care for the people.
He listened attentively
and acted promptly
and unified
the city
while he was working as a deputy
commission
of the
Chicago Commission on Human Relations.
I cannot think of a better person
who can do the job,
never mind better or
nearly as good as he is.
He's a person of character,
person of integrity.
He's a servant leader
and a great man.
I would love to
urge the committee
to consider him
strongly
as a commissioner
for the
human relations.
I truly believe
not only he will live
and lead by example,
but also he work hard,
as he always has. He cares, he listens,
and he make the city of Chicago
a safer, stronger, and more unified city.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for your comments. Our next speaker is Taiwan
Sims.
Is he just for that nominee today? Hello.
I don't know who the gentleman is who's being nominated today.
However,
when we talk about human rights, does that include everybody in the city of Chicago
to make it a safer, stronger city?
Because for the last, since 2024, I realized that if you're a
foundational Black American here in Chicago, then you have no human rights.
And don't dare speak about it, right?
I've come to this council, whether it be housing,
whether it be human rights,
whatever, technologies.
To what avail? Where has it gotten me as a
foundational Black American and also as a 46-year resident,
not resident, citizen
here in Chicago? You all just passed a vote, and I would like to understand that
vote, so I'll follow up.
But as I seen the chambers empty and I read the
agenda, it said that you wanted to have the city council push it
through a vote unanimously. However, that isn't how it works.
But you all passed this resolution, Andre Vasquez did.
There's no equity in there. And I realized that this is the
agenda,
where if you all invoke President Trump or you all invoke
Republican, then you can get everybody to fall in line.
And how divisive is that?
City government, the United States Constitution is the overarching law
of the land.
That way we keep our humanities. That way we're not treated like those other
countries who are not governed under the Constitution.
And yet we see it acted out in this chamber just now,
and you say y'all against fascism.
That was fascist,
where you utilize your power to push your agenda, right?
If I'm not mistaken, isn't that how fascism works?
Because that's the argument right now.
But the American people, and there were no other
elders in this room to make that vote, and yet it passed. How?
And you all want me to, what, be disruptive?
I won't, because we have to get to the bottom of this, and we have to get to the
bottom of this intelligently and also in an American way.
And we have parameters, oversights to check things like this so where it won't
happen again. I don't know what Andre Vasquez just pulled or thought he was
pulling, but I'm glad that I was in the room just then.
I'm glad that I was in the room to hear you say that we should
have an inclusive or all of Chicago should be
involved. But was all of Chicago involved?
I seen simply Hispanics. I didn't even see a host of different immigrants in the
room.
So what are we pushing DACA for? Because DACA recipients, I remember, are
Afghanis,
Hispanics, Colombians, Cubans, Venezuelans,
Nicaraguans. These are all the kids that I grew up with in Rogers Park.
Indians,
Nigerians, Europeans, Ethiopians, all these people
were the DACA recipients through the '90s, through the conflicts that they had to
experience
Thank you for your comments. Our next speaker is Ilana Kahn.
Good afternoon,
Chair Rodriguez and esteemed members of the Committee on Health and Human
Relations. I'm Ilana Kahn. I'm Executive Director of the Illinois Commission on
Discrimination and Hate Crimes, which is a governor's
commission within the Illinois Department of Human Rights.
Ken Gunn is a consistent and reliable partner to the Department of Human
Rights. He's a steadfast public servant and a champion of civil
rights. Where is he? He's extremely
knowledgeable. I keep wanting to look at him.
Extremely knowledgeable attorney with extensive experience in human and civil
rights, in hate crimes, disability law, and board management.
Our team at the department often consults with him on issues that impact our
respective agencies.
Hate is most effectively addressed and prevented at the local level,
and the Chicago Commission on Human Relations provides critical public safety
work through their direct advocacy, education, mediation,
and direct intervention in community tensions.
This work is a model for human relations commissions and
municipalities across the state.
Acting Commissioner Gunn is the right person for this moment.
He's built a career fighting for the rights of all Chicagoans, regardless of
race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other
differences that too often divide us.
For more than 30 years, he's been at the forefront of the Chicago Commission on
Human Relations' essential work, and throughout those years, he's earned a
reputation for working with government officials and community leaders to
effectively address discrimination and hate.
He's able to get real, practical work done.
He's a thoughtful, sincere, compassionate, and practical leader,
who navigates conflict with care and sophistication.
His nuance and thoughtfulness and skillful community relations
are what's most needed now. On behalf of the
Illinois Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes and the Illinois Department
of Human Rights, I encourage you to confirm Ken Gunn as the next chair and
commissioner of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations. Thank you.
Thank you for your comments.
Our next speaker is Hope Pavich.
Great.
Hello.
Dear Chair Rodriguez Sanchez and esteemed members of the Committee on Health and
Human Relations, my name is Hope Pavich, and I serve as the
executive director of the Center for Conflict Resolution, Chicago.
It's a community mediation center that partners with the courts, the county, the
city organizations, and individuals to resolve conflict
peacefully through facilitative mediation.
I'm in strong support of Mayor Johnson's appointment of Kenneth Gunn
as commissioner of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, and I urge this
committee to approve his appointment without hesitation.
CCR and CCHR share a longstanding relationship
spanning more than 30 years, rooted in a common commitment to
resolving conflict, promoting thoughtful dialogue, and helping
people work together before disputes escalate into more
serious matters.
As a recognized leader in conflict resolution and mediation training,
CCR has provided both on-site and individualized
training to CCHR staff throughout this
partnership.
Over the years, nearly all employees of CCHR's Intergroup Relations
Unit have completed CCR's 40-hour mediation training, and a number
of staff members, including Ken, have gone on to complete CCR's
Mediation Mentorship Program, or the MMP, to become
certified CCR mediators.
Ken's involvement with CCR spans more than two decades.
He was first invited to serve on CCR's Community Mediation Pilot
Program committee over 20 years ago.
In 2018, he completed the 40-hour mediation training and the MMP
program, and joined the CCR Board of Directors in 2019.
He has served in progressively senior leadership roles, from secretary from
2020 to 2022, vice president from 2022 to
2024, and most recently as president from 2024 to
2026.
I've had the privilege of working closely with Ken and witnessing
firsthand his integrity, collaborative spirit, and deep
commitment to the communities we serve.
Beyond his work with the
CCHR, building a distinguished career in advancing the civil rights of
all Chicagoans.
For all of these reasons, I ask the committee to confirm Kenneth
Gunn as the next chair and commissioner of the Chicago Commission on
Human Relations. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of this appointment.
Thank you for your comments.
Our next speaker is Michael Tsang.
Thank you, Madam Chairman, and members of the committee.
It's a great honor to be here to support
the
appointment of Kenneth Gunn
as chair and commissioner of the Chicago Commission on
Human Relations. I'm a professor at
the UIC Law School, formerly the John Marshall Law
School.
I head our Fair Housing Legal Support Center,
and for many years headed our Fair Housing Legal Clinic.
So I have worked with Ken Gunn almost since
his start with the Chicago
Commission on fair housing matters in
Chicago.During that period, Mr.
Gunn has built a solid reputation for working
with government officials and people in the community to
address
discrimination,
intimidation, and hate in the city of Chicago.
Early on, many years ago, I was part of a
committee that was appointed to address the
backlog of cases before the commission.
And I worked closely with Kenneth Gunn on those issues.
I found him to be very compassionate and
very sensitive to the needs of complainants before the
commission, while also advancing the needs
of the commission to work efficiently
and in a timely manner. I respect
Mr. Gunn's knowledge and skills as an attorney,
and know that he will provide good and solid
leadership for the commission.
I've seen him interact with his employees.
He has their respect and is a
superb manager.
I have also observed Mr. Gunn before national and
international organizations and meetings where
he is a very distinguished representative of the
City of Chicago and works well nationally with people
in the human relations area. I don't think there's
anyone in the City of Chicago who knows the commission
better, knows the work of the commission, knows the
law, and I can speak personally on fair housing law.
He's an expert in that area, and I strongly
recommend his appointment to this post.
Thank you.
Thank you for your comments.
Our next speaker is Joseph Herrington.
Well, I'm here as a friend and colleague of Ken Gunn's.
I've known him for probably 15 or 20 years.
I met him actually when I was working for the
city a couple of times. I worked for the city three different times.
I was a community mental health worker.
I was also the director
of chronic disease for the health department.
I retired,
or worked also as an assistant commissioner of the Chicago
Department of Public Health. But my work with Ken has basically been at a
community level. That's where he is best, when he's working with members of
the community.
He's a likable person to work with. He understands community.
He has an open and honest discussion with people.
He engages people in a way that many other people don't.
I think one of his biggest talents and skills, he is an extremely
excellent listener. He listens rather than talks, and he
actually takes into heart what people say.
So I'm here to support him in this position.
He's already doing the work, and he deserves to be
named permanently as the leader of the office.
And so that's really why I'm here, just support him as a
friend and colleague and let you know that he's the best person for the job and the
only person you should consider.
Thank you for your comments. Our next speaker is Roy Shalabi.
Good afternoon.
Honorable committee members. It's with great pleasure to appear before
you here today to testify and speak on behalf of Kenneth Gunn.
My name is Roy Shalabi. I'm a judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County.
I've known Ken for 36 years, beginning in 1990 when I
was appointed to the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, where I
served for 25 years.
Throughout that time, Kenneth served as an assistant to the
commissioner and then as first deputy commissioner.
As commissioners, we were responsible to the City of Chicago as the City of
Chicago's civil rights agency responsible for investigating and
adjudicating complaints of discrimination,
aiding hate crime victims, mediating racial and ethnic
tensions, providing anti-bias training, and reviewing and approving
administrative hearing decisions.
As a first deputy, he was responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the
agency under the directions of the commissioner.
He was involved in all aspects of the Commission on Human Relations' work,
including reviewing complaints of discrimination,
strategizing to address hate crimes and community tensions, and directing
personnel and fiscal operations.
There would be times where we would have to go out to the public, to communities,
and speak to address certain issues, and Ken was always very
informative and knowledgeable and ready to answer any and all
questions. On a personal note, I've worked with him and watched him
grow into a person of outstanding character and integrity.
He has an excellent work ethic, temperament, knowledge, and perseverance that'll
make him an excellent commissioner to lead the agency and represent the
city. He possesses outstanding leadership and service skills.
In addition, he exhibits quiet but strong leadership traits that'll be
assets in the future. In my opinion, he's the ultimate
professional, a person who is friendly, approachable, and will work well
with others. He's well-mannered, respectful, and always has a smile and
warm greetings.
There's no doubt in my mind that he possesses the right knowledge, character,
ability, leadership, and experience skills to be Commissioner of the City of
Chicago Commission on Human Relations.
Furthermore, his sincere interest in the welfare of citizens and others
demonstrates to me someone who will lead with integrity.
He has my highest recommendation for appointment. Thank you.
Thank you for your comments. And our last speaker is Mona
Noriega.
Good afternoon-
Good afternoon
... Chair Rodriguez Sanchez and esteemed members of the Committee on
Health and Human Relations.
I'm here to sing the praises of Mayor Brandon's appointment of current acting
commissioner of the City of Chicago's Commission on Human Relations, Kenneth Gunn.
My name is Mona Noriega, and I had the great privilege of serving the
residents of the city of Chicago when I served as board chair and commissioner of
the Human Relations Commission in 2011 until 2020.
I was incredibly fortunate to have, as First Deputy Commissioner, Kenneth
Gunn, who was and is committed to enforcing the City of Chicago civil
rights, and to have his expertise and experience at my
side. We made a great team, and I look back fondly upon the
opportunity to have worked with him.
While sometimes people may want to denigrate long-serving public servants,
those of us who know the richness of being able to effect change in a meaningful
way understand that Ken's 30-plus years dedicated to
enhancing and growing the commission is invaluable.
He's an African American man who has served four mayors and
four human relations commissioners.
He is an esteemed civil rights attorney and expert in enforcing civil
rights. Within his tenure, the civil rights protections enumerated
have expanded protections based on gender identity, criminal history,
credit history, and military status.
He has spoken to and partnered with numerous communities and advised many of
those who feel like the law does not serve them, to educate them on
their civil rights and how to file complaints of
discrimination. He has written the legislation that has expanded
the protections we all live under.
He has advised mayors, city personnel, and community leaders on the
best ways to access and expand civil rights.
While he is recognized as a kind and an empathetic gentleman,
do not let that facade fool you. He is a passionate advocate when
it comes to enforcing our civil rights.
I applaud Mayor Johnson's appointment of Kenneth Gunn to serve as commissioner
of the City of Chicago's Commission on Human Relations, and I hope you
recognize the value he brings to city government in general, and
in particular to the City of Chicago's Commission on Human Relations.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for your comments.
There being no further speakers, we conclude the public comment period.
I want the record to reflect that we actually had eight
public speakers and one written comment that was sent to all
members via email. Our first item of
business is the approval of the Rule 45 report.
Can I get a motion to approve the May 2026 monthly Rule 45
report?
So moved by Alderwoman Gutierrez.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
Opposed, say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Yes, Alderman Lopez?
Just wish to be recognized for the purposes of quorum.
You are recognized for the purposes of quorum, sir.
Next, we will consider the appointment of Kenneth Gunn as commissioner of the
Chicago Commission of Human Relations.
I want to say that
at some point in my life, I hope that people show up for me
as people have shown up today for Mr.
Gunn. It is really an incredible testament to your
history and the body of work
in this city
to hear so many wonderful
things said about your career in so many different
spaces.
We are very grateful for your service.
We are very grateful that you have said yes to this position.
We are living in a moment where perhaps the
work of the Commission of Human Relations is more important than
ever,
at least in contemporary history.
And we need people here that not only have the
experience, but the commitment to
navigate this moment
from this seat, doing this very important work.
So,
I thank you for saying yes to this
appointment, and
if you would please share your remarks with us today.
First of all, thank you all for being here today.
Thank you for the support. I want to thank
Chair Rodriguez Sanchez and the members of the committee, and good afternoon.
My name again is Kenneth Gunn. I am currently the acting
commissioner of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations.
It is indeed an honor to appear before you today to discuss
my candidacy and my qualifications to serve as the
chair and commissioner of the Commission on Human Relations.
First, I want to thank Mayor Johnson for this tremendous
opportunity.
The commission
has been a part of my life for many years.
I love the work, I love the city,
and I love this team we have assembled at the commission.
To begin, I think it very important to tell you a little bit about
myself and how my life experiences have
influenced my career goals.
I am a lifelong Chicagoan.
I grew up in a racially changing Englewood, where I
attended the Earl Elementary School on the white
side... attended Earl
Elementary on the white side
of the neighborhood where I grew up.
I attended that school from kindergarten to sixth
grade.
Those of us on the east side of Ashland Avenue, the Black side,
were allowed to attend school on the west side of Ashland,
but it was made clear to us to come straight home
right after school,
or you might run into a little trouble.
Just ask my oldest brother,
who was beaten by the neighborhood bullies.
That was my first introduction to hate crimes.
For seventh and eighth grade, we were transferred to Copernicus,
an all-Black school on the east side of Ashland,
where somehow the school's boundaries
changed.
Many of our parents believed that the Earl school was becoming too
Black, which wasn't sitting right with some of the folks on the
west side of Ashland.
But I was just a kid. What did I know?
I do know that it hurt like hell to leave
my friends, just like it did when my white friends moved away
a few years earlier.
After graduation, I attended Lindblom High School and went on to
the University of Illinois in Champaign, where I attended,
and received my bachelor's degree in history, with an emphasis on
African American studies, and my law degree.
As an undergraduate, my study of the civil rights movement
ultimately led to my career choice as a civil rights
lawyer.
However, my first job as an attorney was working for
the Cook County Office of the Public Guardian,
where I represented abused and neglected children.
It was truly the toughest job you'll ever love.
Still looking to practice civil rights law, in 1990, I
joined the commission as the executive assistant to Clarence Wood.
I progressed in the department, assuming greater responsibilities,
ultimately taking on the role as the first deputy in the year
2000. Since that time, have served as the acting
commissioner, formally and informally, on several
occasions. As the first deputy, I have provided
seamless leadership and oversight over all aspects of the
department,
including budget, personnel, and our program areas.
I have developed and implemented new policies and work
closely with our board, community leaders, and elected
officials. Additionally, I continue to provide legal
guidance on fair housing, employment, hate crimes, and
disability law. I have served as a subject matter
expert on human and civil rights ordinances from cities across the
country.
Similarly, I have been a speaker at conferences and other programs
on topics including fair housing, housing choice voucher discrimination,
and hate crimes. I have built a solid reputation as
a thoughtful and selfless leader who gets things done.
My leadership principles embody collaboration,
respect, fairness, and integrity.
I have a strong history of service and being accessible to all
communities across the spectrums of race, religion,
national origin, sexual orientation, and others.
My passion for this role is not just a mere statement, but a
driving force that has fueled my success.
It would indeed be an honor to lead this tremendous
commission team
into the future.
To work thoughtfully and strategically to address the
discrimination and hate that continues to marginalize
too many in our city. Thank you.
Thank you so much for your remarks.
I want to
reference that in the box, we also have Joann Newsome, who is
deputy commissioner with the commission, and Daniel Serrano, director of Intergroup
Relations and Outreach, and they will be here to help answer any questions
as well.
I have Alderman Lopez first for questions.
Thank you, Chairman, and good afternoon, members of the committee, and good
afternoon to all that are here.
Mr. Gunn, I'm going to be just straight to the point.
July 1st, 2025, the Commission on Human Relations issued
its
hate crimes and incidents report. You are familiar with-- God bless you.
Yes, sir.
You are familiar with this report, correct?
Yes, sir.
Okay.
This report has come under fire because of the
administration's attempts to diminish some of the
information that is in it. Yes?
The administration had some recommendations on how we can
better implement what we provided in the report. Yes.
And that includes the fact that
despite showing
decreases in anti-American Indian, Alaskan
Native hate crimes,
anti-Islamic Muslim hate crimes,
anti-Black African American hate crimes, a decrease in
anti-white, anti-lesbian, anti-Asian,
anti-transgender,
anti-Latino,
and
anti-LGBT mixed group.
The two categories that were rising
were hate crimes against
gay males, which rose 25% year over year,
and hate crimes
againstJews or people
perceived to be Jews, which rose 58%.
Yes.
The administration wanted to
dilute
that,
correct?
"Dilute" is your choice of words. Again-
How would you describe it, sir?
The recommendation from the mayor's office was for us to look at a
broader spectrum in terms of how we respond to hate.
Okay? As we know in Chicago, when you look at hate crimes,
the numbers fluctuate.
In 2024, the numbers against the Jewish community were
intolerable, going through the roof.
Last year they went down, they're continuing to go down, but it's still a
problem.
It's still a problem because the Jewish community only makes up 3%
of the city. So if we just have a handful of hate
crimes against the Jewish community, it sounds an alarm to us,
we have to act. But we know
during COVID-19, for instance, Asians were
attacked because of our president making racist statements.
We know in 9/11 our Arab neighbors were
being beaten. Typically, we have four
to five hate crimes against Arabs and Muslims a year.
Two weeks, for the two-week period following 9/11, we had 50 hate
crimes.
50 hate crimes against the Arab and Muslim community.
Judge Shalaby testified earlier.
I'll never forget, because we talked about this at that
time. He said, "You know, Ken,
I can't let my wife go to the store right now because of what might happen to her.
I have to keep my kids home from school because of what might happen."
So we see hate impact all these communities.
And with the report, what the mayor's office is
suggesting is if instead of just looking at it
narrowly,
let's get a group of the community to work on
it together.
And we saw a great incident the other day,
unfortunately, in Chicago in Grant Park.
Some person decides to burn a cross in Grant
Park.
People are alarmed, like, "Hate crime! Hate crime!" Right?
Now, at the commission, of course, we have to look at it through a legal lens.
Does it fit the parameters of a hate crime?
You have to have the act,
and you also have to have a victim based on race,
sex, sexual orientation, other protected classes.
We have an act,
but we do not know who the victim was.
Nevertheless,
if the police department and the state attorney decide to make it a hate crime
later, that's fine. For us, it's still a community,
it's a hate incident that we have to address with the community.
And not just one community. We have to work with the African American
community, the Jewish community, and other communities to address hate.
Now, ideally,
this task force, the way the mayor's office has envisioned it, will include
those voices. So for instance, it's not just the
Jewish voices saying, "This is just happening and we have to address it."
You have all these people around you to help do it.
You can get the best of the best to help address these.
And I have to bring up one other incident.
After
9/11,
our commissioner, Clarence Ward, was in Washington, DC.
His plane was stuck there.
I let him know what was going on in the city. I said, "How about this?
Why don't we have a press conference at the commission
calling together all the communities to address this hate,
not just the Arab community or the Muslim community?" And we did that.
We held a press conference in
the lobby of our office. Many of the people in the chairs
back here were there. We had a wide breadth
of people
from all communities talking about hate and why it's important that
we address it. And that's the same thing we need to do now.
We can't allow anybody, any
community to suffer hate by themselves.
We have to work with them and surround them with our support.
Do you think that
referring to...
I believe the outbursts were
as not to happen, correct, Chairman?
The ombudsman?
Go ahead, Alderman.
Thank you.
Mm-hmm.
No.
So the idea,
as the mayor has espoused, that all hate is hate and must be
treated accordingly,
would elevate
the severity
of some hate crimes while diminishing the hate crimes of others.
Do you think that's correct?
Well, it's not what the mayor said.
He didn't say all hate is the same and all we see is-
He has said that.
Well, okay. Well, that-
So do you think that if you have a situation
where
a particular group has five hate crimes
committed against them-
Excuse me
... in the category that we have, compared to a group that
has 79-
Right
... that those are equal in mass
and importance?
There's a lot of things about hate crime numbers. A lot of things.
One, yes, you point out, it's definitely an issue.
But we also know at the commission, some communities are better about reporting
hate crime than others. So we don't rest on those
numbers. We still try to do the outreach and the education to all the
communities.
So-
We know for different reasons, people do not report hate crimes.
So your... exertion is that it's
not that there are fewer crimes, it's just certain communities won't report them as
other communities will.
Yeah. We know the numbers are not exact, for sure.
So then what do you think the true numbers are?
I-
Because now that's completely speculative.
Yes.
And-
You can look at different studies from around the country, different
universities study these numbers, and no one can tell you
exactly, but we know what's happening in those
communities, and we know how people feel and the fear people are going through.
And often, right, it does not translate into police
reports. People are afraid because of different
cultural issues, because
they're just not comfortable with the police because of a history with the
police department. There are language issues.
There are a multitude of issues why people don't report hate crimes.
Again, some communities, it's more of a problem than others,
and again, that's why we have to work with all the communities.
Norman White is our hate crime specialist, one of our two.
He's a very seasoned guy. He's out in the streets all the time
talking to the community about hate crimes.
Our whole Inter-Group Relations team is always out
there educating the community about hate crimes and the importance of
reporting them.
It's
one of those things that's going to keep continuing.
We're not going to solve it overnight, and we have to look in new and better ways
that we educate and do the outreach to inform people of their rights.
I find that to be a
false equivalence,
that
by creating a broad category
and following the logic of this administration,
that
all of these are of equal value even though their
numbers are outsized, that all of these
are bad. And they are bad, but the
incidents that they're being reported is wildly different.
Mm.
And to say that something that is in the single digits is-
Mm
... should be looked at and viewed from the same lens,
at a time when
we know that particular community has been completely
ostracized, demonized from this building and beyond,
it makes me wonder,
because we've had your predecessor refuse to violate
an oath to follow what this administration wanted her to do,
which was to diminish what has been going on in the Jewish community,
to strike language in reference to antisemitism,
and even to go so far as to try to repeal
the newest addition to the municipal code, which is the
IHRA definition of antisemitism, which this
body passed.
So
I have a hard time, Mr. Gunn, understanding
how someone of your pedigree
can sit here and tell me, as we had on the conversation
on the phone, that you support the efforts of what this administration is
doing, when what I know it's doing is trying to dilute the
impact of the Jewish hate that is running rabbit in this
city and in government, while also trying
to elevate
numbers to a level of
questionable comparison as it relates to other issues that you're dealing with as
a commission.
That bothers me greatly
because, yes, per your history lesson,
9/11, the Arab community was absolutely targeted,
and we also did a lot to identify the fact that they were
specifically being targeted because of what was going on
after September 11th.
We didn't brush it all together and say, "Well, that's no different
than what the gays are going through," or, "No different than what the African
American community's going through, or what Latinos go through." No, we said
exactly what it was.
Mm-hmm.
Communities said exactly what it was, that it was racist and it was
targeted, and it was going after people simply because of what
happened by the perpetrators,
and it was wrong. You have to send that solid message, and if we're not
doing that now,
then
what games are we playing here? So
I know there are plenty of others that want to have time with you.
I have
expressed my concerns to you on the phone, and I, in good
conscience, will not be able to support you in this role.
Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Thank you, Alderman.
Do I have... Alderman Lawson.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Good afternoon-
Good afternoon
... Commissioner.
Good afternoon.
I want to give a shout-out to our former commissioner, Mona
Noriega, who was here. She is one of the grand marshals of the Pride
Parade at the end of the month, along with her wife, Yvette.
And so happy Pride to you and everyone else in the room, and congrats to
Mona and Yvette. I have a couple of things that I want to just
ask. I think obviously we've talked about antisemitism being a huge problem, and
I'm going to get back to that. But as far as what we're seeing in other
trends, in the volume of reporting or the
types
from just, let's say, the first four or five months of this year-
Mm-hmm
... what are we seeing as maybe
an emerging issue or an issue that's resolving itself?
Yeah.
There hasn't been a lot of change. Nothing's really standing
out more than like we had in 2024, where we had those
extreme numbers. Right now,
we have
nine reported hate crimes.
I'm sorry.
Those are nine Jewish hate crimes.
But this year, we have a total of 56 hate crimes.
Okay.
At this rate,
we will end up with about 168 for the year,
which is about 9% lower than what we've been having in the
last few years. So the hate crime numbers are
slowly going down, but again,
we don't rest on just looking at those numbers.
I appreciate hearing that, because I know when we talked about the
increases against gay men specifically.
Right.
Are we seeing any improvements this year over last
year?
Thus far, we've had reports of seven hate
crimes against gay males.
Wow.
As compared to a total of 35 last year.
Well, let's hope for a good summer all around then.
Because I have a feeling that a lot of these incidents do take place in the warmer
months, just like every other incident goes up in the summer, correct?
I think so.
So you and I had a conversation about this.
I have a large Jewish community in my ward that has real fears of
safety,
and
you talked to us on time about it as well.
I want to give you an opportunity to talk about the relationship with the Jewish
community as you see it, and the things that we can do to help strengthen that and-
Mm-hmm
... help to address the concerns of safety and the antisemitism that
we continue to see is far too high.
Thank you.
Yes.
The commission has,
for a long time, had a great relationship with the Jewish community.
There are leaders in the Jewish community I've worked with for decades.
Many I've recently spoken to, very supportive of me and the work
of our office, and we want to continue to work together.
And we realize there may be some differences of opinion on how we
address
the report that was recently released.
But again, one thing that we all agree on, the first focus,
based on the report, was to address anti-Jewish hate.
Now, the report had mentioned that initially it should be an
anti-Jewish task force to do it. And of course-
Anti-hate.
Thank you.
Not anti-Jewish. I know what you meant.
All right.
But again, the mayor's recommendation was for a
broader one, so more communities involved.
But whatever comes out, the first task of that
committee, that task force, will be to address anti-Jewish
hate, and he's made that clear. That's job one. We have to do that first.
Yeah.
I think we also have talked about an anti-Jewish hate advisory council or
something-
Yes
... specific.
Mm-hmm.
Is that in the works so far? What does that look like?
What's sort of the-
Yeah
... timing like for that?
Yeah. Actually,
there are two bodies, again, that the mayor is putting together, the
Interconnection Council. We call it ICC, Interconnection
Chicago Council. Interconnected Chicago Council, which
would be a diverse
group of city leaders. And then there will be a Jewish
Engagement Council
for issues that will come up during the course of the year so the mayor
can have immediate access to leadership in the community to address those
things.
And are those councils under your purview or out of the mayor's office
specifically?
For now, they're under the mayor's office.
Okay.
Mm-hmm.
But I would imagine you're going to have regular engagement.
I'm sure we'll be involved. I'm sure we'll be.
Who's staffing it?
Yeah.
That'll tell you who's doing the work.
Yeah.
All right. And will those councils
interact with the committee or the individual alders?
I'm sure they will.
Okay.
I'm sure.
They haven't been set up yet, though, right?
No.
Do we have a timeframe on when that's expected?
I can find out. I know the mayor's office is already
compiling names and getting information from the community for
potential folks to sit on those committees.
Okay. And how big is each one? How many people?
The engagement councils, I think, are about 25 people.
Okay.
About that.
And that's the Jewish Engagement Council?
Yes.
The Interconnected Council, is that a little bigger, or about the same?
I don't have a hard and fast number on that, but I would think it would be about
the same.
Okay. Ballpark's fine.
Mm-hmm.
And then, yeah, I guess if we have any updates on the timing, that would be helpful
to know. I think that's it. I appreciate
that you've been a lifer in the city. I've been a lifer in the city.
I've been acting. You've been acting. So I get that.
And I don't have any other questions. Good luck with everything. Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Alderman. I have Alderman Robinson next.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Let me also
recognize a stalwart, not only
in Chicago but in the state.
Kenneth, you having Mona here
is a testament to who you are
and your character.
There are also some other folks that are here today that
I have been knowing for quite some time in my role as alderman,
but more importantly,
as a member of the Illinois General Assembly.
And again, it goes back to the testament to
who you are.
If you could share, I was looking at your resume,
how
all of the things you've done,
even having a JD, Kenneth, how has it prepared
you for this role in the midst
of all the things that we have going on in
Chicago? It was in the 4th Ward
that a cross was burned,
and you referenced that today. So we're still
seeing hate and racism. However you
want to categorize it,
I'm just curious, again, your experience, how does it
prepare you for today's job?
Because this job is differentIn 2025.
It's different in 2020. It's different in the '90s,
right? So I'm just curious of the culmination of your experiences, how has
it prepared you for the job today, Kenneth?
That is so interesting. You're right.
The times are different. Unfortunately, hate and discrimination
don't change a whole heck of a lot, just the way they do it and the way they
manifest themselves.
I think back on how
did I get to this point.
I went to law school to do civil rights, and
many of you have heard my story. I remember meeting with the dean at the law
school, and he says, "Yeah, what do you want to do with your degree?" I said, "I
want to do civil rights, sir." He said, "Well, you know you're going to be broke
the rest of your life."
I said, "Well, that's a chance I'm going to have to take."
And when I got out of law school,
I really didn't know other than like, "Oh, maybe I'll work for the
NAACP or something." But they don't have a pretty
sizable chapter here. So
I kind of floated around a little bit.
Ended up working for the Public Guardian's Office representing abused
kids, and that's when I heard about the commission.
My courtroom partner at the time
knew of somebody who worked at the commission,
and heard that the commissioner wanted an assistant
who was an attorney.
His name happened to be Clarence Wood.
Very good friend,
colleague, mentor, big brother.
That's what he said. I said, "You're old enough to be my dad, but that's okay."
But he said, "Look, this ordinance just passed. It's 1990.
We have all these powers." The commission didn't have enforcement
powers before that.
All we could do with these great investigators we have out
here, we can get parties together to try to settle cases, but
then that was about it. We could refer things to the law
department, and they may or may not pick them up. Right?
So we had all these new enforcement powers, and he said, "I need an attorney
who can help me shape this thing." I'm like, "Wow, ground floor opportunity.
Sounds great." And if you ever met Mr.
Wood, he was so passionate about the work.
He grew up in the civil rights era. He worked for the Urban
League. He was working closely with Whitney Young.
So, of course, he has stories for days, and many of us have heard
many of those. So he was truly a mentor, and just
watching how he worked in communities,
and he respected everybody, and he listened
to every voice.
The lady cleaning the room to the
mayors and all the high officials that came
through. So I learned so much from him, and the main
thing was
the communication,
and he was very
purposeful about
meeting people. I used to tease him.
He started his days at 7:00 with a breakfast meeting and ended with a
7:00 dinner meeting, but he had to see you, and that's rubbed
off on me. I have to see you. I have to be in the community.
I have to know you.
The days of now a lot of Zoom calls, they're nice.
They're efficient. I always say I used to be at City Hall three times a week.
Now I'm here once a month, maybe.
We don't touch each other like we used to.
So now it's helped me to understand the importance of
being in community and learning and talking to people and
understanding what their issues are.
Then we come to the commission, we talk about, "Okay, guys, how are we going to
address this?"
So watching that over the years and years and years,
and listening to great staff who give great input.
We have a great team, and I learn a lot from our
staff, and we figure out the best way to get it done.
What we do in this community may not work in that community. Right?
So we have that great input, and we share with each other, and it's
just grown. And hopefully, I've grown with the job.
I've grown with the commission. There is a lot of new things we want to
do. Like you said, times have changed, right?
One of my main things I want to do.
Right now, I always say
we
have to be more proactive in our work.
Right now, in terms of our discrimination complaints, basically, people come to our
door, and they file a complaint, or they do it online.
Unfortunately, some people aren't going to take the time, or they're a
little intimidated by that. So we have to do
something to be more aggressive to address discrimination.
And one thing I'll note, and many folks don't even know, under our
ordinance, we have the authority to issue our own complaints.
We can initiate our own complaints.
We don't have to wait for Joe or Jane to come file a
complaint. We can go out there and do it ourselves.
So when we see
discrimination happening on a larger front, we can
address those with those
businesses, those landlords,
those folks who are discriminating against people who are maybe
reluctant to come file a complaint. So that's one thing we want to do.
Kenneth, thank you very much.
Thank you for
making reference to
Clarence Wood, who
was a resident in the Fourth Ward,
and such a great example
to the work of why this role is
so important. He set the foundation.
Thank you for sharing that history.
Commissioner, as the chair of the LGBTQ community--
Caucus, excuse me.
We're a community.
I don't want to give myself any more jobs than I already
haveAs the chair of the LGBTQ Caucus,
and meeting with organizations like Brave Space Alliance, it's in the
fourth Ward, Quality Illinois,
we're still seeing high rates
of hate crimes to our trans brothers and sisters,
particularly those that are African American.
I'm curious to know
how your office can work
to figure out how we can set the example in the country
of solving
a lot of the murders
that go unsolved.
How do we
educate
the community?
How do we educate this body?
How can I educate my colleagues
that still don't understand
50 wards,
77 neighborhoods, and guess what?
You and I both know, Kenneth,
there are LGBTQ plus folk
in all 77 neighborhoods. So
my question, I've tied in probably a couple
questions to you, but again, how do we educate this body?
First, let me pause there because that's such a great question.
Let me pause there and let you answer.
We've been doing a lot of work in the trans community over the last year or so,
and we ourselves are learning a heck of a lot.
And then it gets to my point about the hate crime numbers.
If you look at the numbers against the trans community, they're very low.
But we've recently had those community hearings with the
community,
and people came out and told us why they don't
report, why they don't access city services.
A lot of it is just lack of knowledge, a lot of it is fear, a
lot of it is feel like they're being disrespected when they try to.
We've learned so much,
and our Intergroup Relations staff has been just tremendous going out
there, not just for those hearings, but afterwards.
Going back to those communities, working with them, doing
workshops,
helping them know more about not just our work, but what the city has to offer.
So a lot of the things we're learning from the community, we should be able to
share with the council,
so
everyone knows about their own communities, who those people are in their
communities, and how they can better serve them.
Because again, it's not a one-size-fit-all thing.
You have to serve people differently, and we have to figure out
better ways to reach to the trans community where they will avail
themselves of our city services. Because when we had those meetings,
they were telling us, "We need this, we need this, we need that." And we're sitting
there thinking, "Well, we do have this, and we do have that,"
but it's not getting to them.
Mm-hmm.
So how do we get it to them? That's what we have to work on.
Kenneth, thank you. Thank you for answering the call.
One of my colleagues mentioned your pedigree.
Your pedigree is what we
need in this role in
2026 for all 77
communities. And so no matter
who is on the fifth floor, you have a job to do,
and the residents of the city of Chicago deserve you, and we need you here
today. So thank you for, again, answering the call.
You have my full support.
Thank you, Alderman.
Thank you, Alderman Yancy. I wanted to add to that.
I want to give a shout-out to my former colleague, Alderman Carlos
Ramirez Rosa, who
worked really hard in introducing the Trans Femicide Working
Group that was passed by this committee.
The work has been carried out by the Commission on Human Relations, and I'm really
grateful for the work that all of you have done across
the city to listen to the trans community and figure out
how we can develop policies that are going to keep trans people
protected, particularly trans women, and particularly Black
trans women, who are the most impacted.
So I'm just deeply grateful for how you have carried that
work.
Alderwoman Anna Hoppenworth, I have you next.
Thank you, Chair.
So much that I wanted to say has already been said,
including comments from all of your
supporters in the gallery. I appreciate
the reputation that precedes you.
As Chair Robinson says, this kind of leadership
is absolutely needed now. I represent the
48th Ward, and
I'm excited to
remind you about the
groundbreaking that we're going to have that's on the border of the
40th and the 48th Ward for Elise Mallory Plaza on
Catalpa, and that's June 18th at noon.
It's an important
event for me. Elise was not only a
law student, a member of Equality Illinois, a
board member of Chicago Therapy Collective, who's worked with the city on
more transparent and accessible hiring practices,
especially for trans folks,
and she was my friend. And we lost her,
a beautiful trans
woman activist,
and her life ended too soon, and we're going to honor
her on that day. So I hope that you can join us then.
I was going to mention thatThe
anti-femicide working group, this is important work that you are
partnering with the city on, and I would
love to get more. We just need more of that
work and more updates to us because
I believe that
60640 and 60660 has the highest
concentration of trans folks living in
Chicago.
Hmm.
And
we're working really hard to keep our city
affordable for people to stay and also to
come. But also
they need to know,
how are we, as a city, working
with CPS? Because as you know,
our CEO was called to Congress to
speak on what we're doing, not only for the
Black Student Success Plan, but also
our policies around protecting trans
students' rights. So can you speak more on
how we are working together with our sister
agencies to
not only educate adults, but also our
students on-
Yeah
... our values?
Yeah. One of the things we had to do with the commission, first of all, is
take the temperature and seeing what's out there.
What does CPS offer? What do the city colleges offer?
Before we say, "You need X number of training.
You need this kind of training. You need this and that,"
we're trying to find that out. We did have a good conversation with city
colleges a couple of months back, who did mention
they do have some programs around transgendered
issues,
but I'm not so sure about CPS at this point.
I'll have to have a conversation
with the
CEO to find out what they're doing.
But we will put that definitely higher on our list.
Thank you.
I'm a mom of three kids, and when they were looking at high
schools, they looked
to Jones and Lane Tech because they saw that it was
very diverse and welcoming, and we want that
for all of our schools.
I want to thank you,
Commissioner, for helping with an issue that we had in our
ward.
We have a print newspaper, Inside
Publications, and Bob Zilly wrote in his
June edition about a development that's
happening
proposed by a synagogue, our one synagogue on Sheridan Road,
and he wrote that they are money changers in
the temple, hellbent on monetizing their sacred
space. And we talked a little bit about how
hurtful that is, and damaging to our Jewish community and
to all of us. It's very offensive. And we spoke
about, and I appreciate the conversation about how
hard it is, because
we're talking about press, and we're talking about
journalists, and we're talking about free speech.
This is very frustrating for me. I would like the
city to
continue to work on ways that we can hold
folks accountable at that level.
Those that have that platform should not be allowed to use it
to weaponize against us. And,
I support local press. I support local media.
It's very important for us to have community newspapers,
but also, we have to hold them accountable.
So, I just want to mention that. I also want to mention
that you have a terrific team.
Mr. White, Mr. Serrano,
and
Deputy Commissioner, too.
I know that we're going to work together, and I appreciate your
willingness to step into this role. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you, Alderwoman. Do I have any more questions?
Alderwoman Ramirez.
Well, love your cheering crowd here today. I want to hear how loud they can get.
I'm just like...
We have our own World Cup here happening right now.
But I did want to talk about something, and I actually hadn't brought
it up prior to the Commissioner, but specifically on the
southwest side, when we had new neighbors in the beginning of my term, and there
were a lot of Venezuelans moving in all across the city, but
particularly on the southwest side.
Speaking of the language that we use and
within council chambers, but especially on social media,
I think it's important for us to, myself included and my
colleagues, to learn etiquette and the way that we need to
respect others online. But that hate was
transferred in our community towards our new neighbors.
And then,
shortly after, when ICE was in the neighborhood, you've seen those
attacks come to undocumented people, especially
at work. And, literally this morning, my staff has on their
Mexico jerseys because they're playing today for the World Cup.
And a resident came in after all the trees and all the things that
happened yesterday after the storm, and she said, "You better do it, or I'll send
you back to Mexico." And
those sort of things happen more now.
And it's not just here in city council, but
the ways in which people speak on the state level, federal level.
And so, I thinkA lot of the things stem from this very
place, as mentioned before, and so hopefully we can work together
on minimizing that or having that conversation with people here in this chamber
and how that reflects out in the community.
So I wanted to mention those two things because I don't think that we talk about
that enough.
But thank you, and
you have my full support,
as the people that are sitting here today with you, and excited to work on these
things with you. So thank you.
Thank you.
Alderwoman Gutierrez.
Thank you, Chairwoman, and also, as my colleague just mentioned,
you all know I'm an immigrant myself.
And we've always said
that we just moved to this country for a better life for our own
and our own families.
And when we listen to all of these
bad comments in this floor,
people that come in, also, we know they have the right to
speak about how they feel, but we need to be
reminding them that we need to be
careful on how we express our own thoughts.
And it's also a big opportunity to reflect, and also as
a mom of three,
on the work we're doing at home,
and how are we talking to our kids, and how are we
teaching them
to be good neighbors and good stewards
of what we think out there.
Bullying, it's not okay,
and we need to continue to teach them from home, at school,
and everywhere we go,
that it's not okay to be
molesting and making comments of people out there.
We are all different, and it is what make us stronger.
That diversity is what unite us,
and how we could continue to work towards that because we are in
a country of immigrants, a country that immigrants make us
stronger, and how we need to unite to continue to work
together to have a good country, a good city, and a good
state.
I want to congratulate you for stepping up and taking this
position.
I want to thank you for all the work you've done throughout the years and the
experience that you have, and I know
that under your leadership, we will continue to address all of these
issues in all of our communities
to have a better city.
But it's up on us to start
on making the difference. It's up on us on teaching our little
ones to be good out there. It's up on us
on teaching and bringing us to be united
and leave that hate aside and understand how different we
are and how that difference unite us and make us stronger.
So thank you for stepping up in this leadership role.
I want to continue to work with you all and continue to push
legislation to protect our communities and to keep understanding
how different we all are. Thank you.
Thank you, Alderwoman Gutierrez.
I have Alderman Lopez, and then I will be closing.
Thank you again, Chairman. I just have two more follow-ups, if you don't mind.
The November 2025 report
that was entitled "Confronting the Rise of Anti-Jewish Hate Crimes,"
you are familiar with that, correct, Mr. Chairman?
Yes. Yes, sir.
The commission voted
not
to include the mayor's
edits, correct?
Yes, sir.
The edits on a report
dealing specifically with the rise in
anti-Jewish hate
sought to remove mention of Jews or the Jewish
community over two dozen times, correct?
As part of its
policy initiatives
recommendations at the end. Correct?
There was some rewording, Alderman.
There was some rewording.
Over two dozen
red line removals that were proposed, removing the
word Jew, Jewish, or Jewish community from a report
about anti-Jewish hate.
This report
is what led your predecessor,
in part, to quit because she did not want to be
forced to violate what she felt was her oath and obligation and duty to the
role that she was given
with regards to this.
Correct?
I can't speak to why.
I will speak to that. Yes.
So my question is twofold. One,
if you were
chairman and commissioner at the time,
would you have acquiesced to the will of the mayor to
do what he was proposing?
I would listen to the mayor, and I would listen to his staff to see
why they wanted to do it and see if it
will still reach the objective that we want in that report.
What is the outcome? And that's what we really have to focus on.
What is the outcome?
So the outcome was to remove the-
No, the outcome-
... the word Jew-
... is to address hate
... from the report.
The outcome is to address hate.
So in a report that deals with addressing the rise of anti-Jewish hate,
do you feel that
removing the word Jew or Jewish achieves that goal?
Depending on how it's worded, where it's worded, what section you're looking at.
Again-
Pages 50 through 58, where every-
If you allow me
... conclusion was there
The object, the objective is to address
Jewish hate,
right?
Yes.
That has never changed. That has never changed.
So are you able to address Jewish hateBy
taking out the word Jew or Jewish from a report that asked
for conclusions on how you do that.
It was not removed-
Would you have stayed in that role and done what the mayor's office had
asked?
I'm going to always work with the mayor, and I'm always going to work with his
staff, and I'm going to always work with you all-
Okay. So then-
... to meet the objective of addressing hate.
But you keep saying that.
And in this and the news-
That is not what's going-
Mr. Gunn, can you let him answer the question, please? Thank you.
In this report, again, all of it kept referencing-- What did I
mention? The very first thing the mayor said, "You
address anti-Jewish hate." That is in the report.
That's what he told us. That is paramount, number one.
So no, we did not take that out of the report.
That is what we're going to do. That's the first charge.
So to say it's been totally removed is not accurate.
It wasn't removed. You voted to keep it.
But my question is, would you have acquiesced to what he wanted taken out?
I'll continue to work with the mayor's office as I need to.
I-
Thank you.
It's a circular response, but I appreciate it.
The other question with regards to that report then is, what is the purpose,
then?
Because clearly the mayor does not support what is in that report, that he's
going a very different direction for what the commission took a
stand with the community and said that they would not accept the
edits, would not accept removing the word Jew or Jewish from the report,
and the mayor then subsequently decided to do his own thing,
disregarding what the commission said.
How would you address the mayor then when he is, in fact,
stating that the mission of the commission is no longer
something that he has to, as mayor, abide by?
If you give me a second, Alderwoman Gutierrez has a point of information.
I think we are discussing today the appointment of
our chair of the commission. I would ask if we can host
a hearing or a separate meeting to discuss all these items for
respect to the people present. We all need to go back to our wards
to attend emergencies that we have in our own wards.
We're here to affirm and confirm your appointment,
so I will suggest that we have a separate meeting to discuss all of these
items, please.
Thank you, Alderwoman Gutierrez. I will allow Mr.
Gunn to answer the question, and then we have to move on.
We have other things that we need to do.
Again, I just want to reiterate the mayor's charge for us
right now.
First charge, first thing, address anti-Jewish hate.
So to say that it's been diluted, that it's been removed-
That wasn't the question, sir
... it's not accurate.
If I may-
Yes, sir
... because the chair has asked that we answer the question and move on.
The question is:
how do you respond to the administration
that will look at what you and the commission voted for,
disregard it,
and do his own thing? How do you, as
the chair, the presumptive chair of the Commission on Human
Relations, deal with an administration that will
disregard the votes and the sentiment of your
institution
for his own purpose?
Okay.
That was the question.
First of all,
you have to understand also, the commission, under the Chicago
Human Rights Ordinance,
we have the responsibility only,
right, to recommend, to provide advice,
to counsel. But ultimately, whatever decision is
up to the mayor. But we're going to try to give him good counsel
on how to address these issues of hate and discrimination. Right?
He may decide, "Well, I think I want to go with it another
way." But we think, and we have been
working together, and we think we can work together to
address this issue.
So
again.
Thank you for your answer. I am going to
do a closing statement, and then we will vote.
Mr. Gunn, you said something really important
when you were answering the question from Alderman Robinson.
You talked about relational work.
And I think this moment in history requires
that we are so surgical with it. Relationships
are fragile.
Relationships are so deeply necessary
in order for us as a humanity to get to where we
need to go,
to make sure that everybody's safe, to make sure that
everybody has what they need.
It is all about relationships, and I don't mean
transactional relationships. I mean relationships that
humanize us.
And in everything that you have said today, that is exactly
how I have felt. I feel like the work that you
have done over decades
has been about digging into our
humanity and making sure that we're able to see each
other as such. So I want to thank you for that
legacy. I am very excited to support your
appointment, and I am also looking forward to working with you
in this very challenging moment to chart the path that we need to
walk in order to get to the city that we all deserve.
And with that,
can I get a motion to approve the appointment of Kenneth Gunn?
Alderwoman Mana Hoppenworth so moved.
All those in favor of accepting this?
A roll call has been called.
Let's go back.
We are going to vote on the appointment of Mr.
Kenneth Gunn as Commissioner of the Commission of
Human Relations, and I'm going to call the roll.
Vice Chair Ramirez? Yes. Alderman
Robinson?
Alderwoman Gutierrez.
Yes.
Alderman Lopez.
Alderman Lawson.
Yes.
Alderwoman Mana Hoppenworth.
Yes. And Chair Rodriguez Sanchez is a yes.
I have six yeses and one no.
This item passes.
Congratulations, Mr. Gunn.
I will report this item as a do pass recommendation at the
upcoming city council meeting. Thank you,
everybody, for being here today.
With there being no further business before the committee, can I get a motion to
adjourn?
Alderman Lawson so moved. Hear no objections, so order the
meeting of the Committee on Health and Human Relations is now adjourned.