Thank you.
Everybody take your seats.
Okay.
Hi, everybody. Thanks for coming. Sorry we're a few minutes late.
I'd have bet anything, I know we're not supposed to be betting anymore, but I
would've bet anything we'd have started on time today so...
Get what?
Nope.
Okay, let's start the roll call.
Chairman Sposato is here. Vice Chair Scott is here. Hold a minute.
Okay, I'm sorry, folks. Before we do that, I got to call the meeting to order.
So,
good afternoon, everybody. Today is Tuesday, July 7, 2026.
This is meeting of the Committee of Special Events, Cultural Affairs, and
Recreation is now called to order.
We'll now have a roll call. Alderman Sposato here.
Vice Chair Scott here. Alderman Hopkins. Did I see him? Nope.
No Hopkins. Alderman Robinson here. I saw him. There he is.
Alderman Hall. I don't see him. Is he here? Nope.
Alderwoman Coleman, not here. Alderman Curtis, not here.
Alderman O'Shea here. There he is. Alderman Mosley here.
Alderman Rodriguez here. Saw him, there he is.
Alderman Conway.
Here. Alderman Hopkins is now here.
Alderman Waguespack. Here.
Alderwoman Nugent.
Okay.
Lawson here. Gardner here. Silverstein, I do
not see her.
Okay, what do we got? Like 12?
12.
Okay, the roll is tallied. There are 12 members present. We have a quorum.
I don't think we have anybody that's Rule 59'd now, do we?
No.
Okay, no Rule 59s. Public comment, we have
five, starting off with Mr. George Blakemore.
Good afternoon.
I'm looking at empty
seats.
Empty seats.
I bet you it's not 20 people here,
and why at this time? You want the people to be involved, you
should have it in the afternoon, and you-
Right
... you should educate the public.
On your agenda-
Mr. Blakemore, can you speak in the mic, please?
You should educate the public, all of you. You too.
I
asked Ms. Megan, she say neighbor space. Neighbor space.
Why wasn't that on the agenda? And
there's no free land in the city of Chicago
of land grab. There's no free land.
She said too, years ago,
she said, "No dollar lot."
But this is just another scheme, neighbor space,
these little gardens. And then sometime when they go out of that business,
then whoever that was given to, that's their land.
It's another scheme for land grab.
And the way they can get away with that, you see these
empty seats?
Are you blind? Are you stupid? Are you crazy?
You see these damn empty seats?
The people don't know, and you don't educate the people, you don't inform
the people, you don't enlighten the people.
And all day long, why would you have it at this time?
And most municipalities have their meetings in the afternoon
when working poor can attend these meetings.
It's nothing but another damn dog and pony show with neighbor
space.
Nothing but land. Ms. Megan told me years ago,
"We don't have free lots."
And who controls neighbor space?
Who is neighbor space?
Now, with this little community garden, they let that go on a little
while, and then after the community garden go, then the
developers come in
and get that land. It's just another
scheme.
Everything is a scheme down here.
And the way you can get away with it because you have no
citizen participation.
And you're all Democrat hacks.
All of you.
So again, why wasn't neighbor space... "Mr.
Blakemore, that's a scheme." Oh,
getting free land.
Politically
connected.
The games are being played here
And you want to continue
to play this game. Either you're a player, citizen, or you're
being played on.
You're being played on by the system
Thank you, Mr. Blakemore. Following Mr.
Blakemore is Diane Poindexter and Zoe Lee after
Diane. I just want to recognize a few people.
Alderman Cruz is here. Alderman non-member Vasquez is here.
And Riley, I guess we lost him. Silverstein is also here.
I lost Riley. I know Riley was here. Okay.
Diane, you ready to roll?
Go ahead, Diane.
Hi, my name is Diane Nicole Poindexter.
I represent Sol De Chicago Farm. We are
affiliated with Neighbor Space, FarmWorks, Heartland.
Last year, I decided to go back to school to learn
how to grow food.
COVID life. I grew up with a vegan father,
and everything in me wanted to figure out how to
sustain myself. So I left corporate America
and decided to completely go left,
or right, whatever you want to call it, and
I've been on a journey. After I finished that program
and learned soil structure and how to properly
plant plants and care for them,
I decided to partner with a group of guys who love
what we do. And if you get the chance, drive
past 407 North Kedzie. It's beautiful.
Not only do we have flowers and
beautiful landscaping, we have food for sale.
And when my refrigerator is full because
we take so much stuff home, I'm able to give stuff away,
and that is the most heartfelt
act of service that I've been able to do in my life.
I'm almost 40 years old. I don't have children yet.
So to be able to care for plants and in turn feed the community
is really, I'm lost for words.
It's the most
best thing that I've ever chosen to do in my years of
life. This money, the Open Space
Impact Funds, will allow us to increase our
infrastructure, which in turn will allow us as young
entrepreneurs to keep some of that revenue in the house.
We want to build some greenhouses. We want to do hoop houses.
We want to increase our production, and this money will allow us
to do that. It will allow us to pocket a little bit more of that money instead of
having to outsource some of what we do.
So, if you have Instagram, check us out, Sol De
Chicago Farm. That's S-O-L D-E Chicago
Farm. And you can see exactly how we work
and what we do.
We'd like to show you pictures, and that's the best way. If not, pull up.
We're there, especially on Saturdays.
We have a
small little farm stand that we do. But we want it to be bigger.
So with your support, that can get bigger.
They say it takes money to make money, so we need that money.
It doesn't take money necessarily to create community, but with those funds, we
can continue to grow that community, support that community, feed that
community, and keep that community vibrant and
just growing for time to come. Ten years, I'll be a
farmer, not just a baby gardener. So please,
I would appreciate it, and the rest of the community would as well.
Thank you, Diane. Next up, Zoe Lee, followed by Samuel
Davis.
Yeah. You're right, it doesn't take money to create
community. That's why I've dedicated
myself to come down here to make sure
that the people who can't come down here and watch all of the
things that you guys pass without their knowledge
not know. I remember the
first time I went to-- I don't think,
Sosato, you were here. But in 2023 when I
realized that
you weren't at-- I came to this meeting.
And I said-- Because I even reached out to you, Monique, when I was talking
to you at that time, and I was saying that I wanted to
do things with the kids.
I said that. And
the teen takeover thing is out of control.
Now, anything that I've suggested,
even before I started going in,
because I started going in once I realized that nobody was going to help, once I
realized that, dang, it doesn't matter.
But not one person has
came to me and said, "Hey, Zoe, what
suggestion do you have for the teen takeover?
What suggestion do you have?" I built my own
community.
A community in three years,
and not one person has offered me a sit
down to see how can we collaborate.
But the issue is y'all get upset and mad when I
go in online
about
the corruption because nobody doesn't want to change.
The teen takeovers, y'all care more about that
terrible Taste over there. The Taste of Chicago should be bankrupt.
I don't even know what that is anymore. It's not even the same.
However, when it comes to the teen takeovers, y'all don't
have no money to figure that out?
Y'all know where it's coming from. Y'all know when it's about to happen.
Are these the summer jobs that Brandon Johnson
has you... Is this where the money going to?
Because I haven't seen one
summer job yet.
I got a couple for Kenwood. He going to take care of them Kenwood kids.
He ain't going to take care of no other kids.
He going to take care of them Kenwood kids.
So I'm just trying to figure out,
maybe I can get a sit down, maybe we can start.
Because as we start coming for some of these seats in here,
maybe we can start collaborating.
Because I'm going to start bringing up the numbers of how much you guys are
spending, and it's not going on these kids.
Thank you.
I want to recognize Alderman Curtis for the purpose of the quorum.
Next up, Samuel Davis, followed lastly by Robin Klein.
Good afternoon. My name is Samuel Davis,
and I serve as the interim director for Heartland Human Care Services,
where I have the privilege of working with Chicago Farm Works, Neighbor
Space,
and the wonderful and talented crew of
farmers that we have at the Kedzie site.
I'm here today to express
my strong support for the open space impact fee investment in Chicago Farm
Works at 409 North Albany and 409
North Kedzie.
The investment is about much more than
expanding and starting a new farm or
garden.
It is about, to your point, establishing and
holding and having community.
The infrastructure and the new projects that will happen there we can talk
about for days.
The most important thing, though, is what you spoke about.
And that is making sure that we have folks there in the space that people can come
together in that community through that corridor there on the West Side
and be able to
commune
and have conversations about how we effectively change
ourselves and our communities for the folks that follow us.
What I've seen working with Heartland Human Care Services in the community violence
intervention space for the last four years is that
when you have spaces where folks can come to, where they feel
safe and they feel whole,
one of the things that happens is that they feel like they are loved, they feel
like they are seen, and they get a chance to see who they really
are.
And they get a chance to have opportunity to understand the potential that they
have inside of them.
And so at the spaces that we have
and the space that you hold,
we hope to be able to bring everyone together,
not divide people.
So when you talk about the teen takeovers and wanting to have a space for them,
let's connect. Let's have a conversation about how we can help.
Heartland has a number of different programs that are looking to
serve folks in the Austin community, the West Garfield Park community.
We want to be on the front lines to serve the community and those
at much
risk.
We would love to have your support.
The dollars go a long way.
My colleague spoke about that.
But the one thing that is most important is that we want to be able to create a
greater community for all Chicagoans, to your point.
And so with that, I think we can
sit back and have a conversation about how we can do that collectively together,
leverage the dollars that hopefully that will be awarded to do some of the things
that you spoke about.
And so with that time, thank you all,
and have a great afternoon.
Thank you, sir. Our final speaker is Robin Klein.
Good afternoon, council members.
I'm here representing Neighbor Space.
We are excited today to present projects that are
setting the conditions for community members across the city
to do as exactly what Samuel said, which is come
together and be reminded that we're better together.
There's three different projects.
I'm not going to take any more time, but please feel free to ask questions later.
The project that we're talking about first is the project Chicago Farm
Works, a very exciting urban agriculture project
in West Humboldt Park.
Five farmers are farming on land. I
know you probably all know that it's hard to get land to farm on.
This land that they're farming on is available
for them to create community,
offer
vegetables and produce to walkers and people
coming by, and also providing the context for
future transitional job training.
So feel free to ask any questions, but we'll be here afterwards, too.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
The committee also received one written
public comment in support of the Montrose Metro Community Garden
from garden leader Michael Sewall.
That comment was provided to the members in attendance.
Items before the committee today, we have nine members-- I'm sorry, nine
items on the agenda today. The first item on the agenda is the
approval of the April 2026 monthly Rule
45 report. All members of the committee should have received a copy of
this report. I don't know if there's any questions.
Anybody have any questions about it? No.
Recognizing no questions, motion by Alderman Lawson to approve.
All those in favor signify by aye. Aye. Opposed, say nay.
On the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Second item on the agenda is an ordinance
O2026-0026340,
expenditure of open space impact fee funds for
development of Chicago Farm Works at
409 North Albany and
411-419 Kedzie. Here today
to present our project is our good friend, Meg Gustafson from the Department of
Planning and Development. Meg, go on ahead and give us your
presentation.
Thank you so much. Meg Gustafson, Department of Planning and Development.
As you heard from our speakers today, they were speaking about this
Chicago Farm Works open space impact fee expenditure request
for up to $216,000. Impact fees are
collected from developers at the time of permit when there's new
residential development going in.
These funds are collected and put into one of the 77 community areas from
where the address is, and then we have to spend it in that same
community area.
So this community area, this is in Humboldt Park.
Here is a map.
Morton School of Excellence is in between the two sites.
We have Kedzie West and Albany Farm Works East.
As you heard from our speakers, Heartland Health, Human Care
Services, and Sol Day Chicago Farm are
all involved. Here is a detailed site plan
for the Kedzie side. You can see it's
got
30-inch mound style beds and then
paths.
There's an existing yard hydrant
and a canopy, among other things, like compost bins.
Here is the site plan for Albany Farm Works
East. This one has a similar layout with
the
mound beds.
Here is their budget. So, the
216,000 in impact fees will go towards this
$318,000 budget. We plan
to
put in an updated water and irrigation system,
new beds, compost, soil, a new shade structure,
and then project management fees for Neighbor Space,
and then a future land purchase for
$93,000. So the total budget is 318,
but the ask for impact fees is 216.
And one reason for that is that's all that we have left in the Humboldt Park
community area.
Here's my support letter. That concludes my presentation for Farm
Works. I can take any questions you may have.
Thank you, Meg. I did want to add that we did get a letter of support from
Alderman Burnett. Does anybody have any questions for Meg about this project?
Vice Chair Scott, I'm sorry.
So, I
guess I want to ask a question to them.
Sure.
Or maybe you.
Okay. Robin, let's see who the question's for first, but Robin's
representing Neighbor Space.
I always have concerns about gardens because it's
always the money that you get up front, but who's going to do the upkeep,
and how long is the
upkeep?
Yeah, I know that that's a really important issue for you.
I've worked in some of the other spaces across Lawndale, and
one kind of amazing and
really powerful piece of this project is that these are farmers who are
working to become farmers. The average farmer
in training takes about 10 years. So this is a little bit
different than a community gardening project.
And I really do invite you, Alderwoman Scott, to come on
Franklin and Kedzie to see it, because I think it might be inspiring for some of
your other projects.
I'll also add real quick that Neighbor Space owns
over 100 gardens in the city
limits. And the
buck stops with them if there is an issue with their community group that they
partner with. And that they're a robust organization that takes on the
technical assistance and management at the end of the day.
But they don't take on any gardens or farms unless they have a dedicated
group. So, there's a
real vetting process.
And if there are any issues, it goes directly back.
We will bring it up with Neighbor Space, and they will remedy
the situation in those cases, if that ever happens.
Thank you.
Okay. Vice Chair, anybody else?
Okay.
Motion by Alderman Gardner to approve.
All those in favor, signify by eye.
Aye. Any opposed? No nays. In the opinion of the Chair, the eyes have it.
I just want to add Alderman Hall and Alderwoman Coleman
to the quorum.
Third.
Okay.
All right.
Okay, third item on our agenda is an ordinance
O2026-006341,
expenditure of open space impact fee funds for the development
of Montrose Metra Garden at
4350 North Ravenswood. Meg is here
once again to let us know about this development.
Thank you. Meg Gustafson, Department of Planning and Development.
This is another request by Neighbor Space for
impact fees from the North Center community area.
The request amount is $79,200,
which is the price for water
installation.
Here, I'll go to the budget real quick.
Hydrant installation is typically between 30,000 and
$72,000.
This one has two hoses, so it
is a little bit more expensive than a typical one.
For some context, Ravenswood Greenway is
a
We just expanded this part of it
from Montrose to Sunnyside on the west side of Ravenswood,
and Montrose Metro Garden just to the south from Montrose
to Cullom. Here's some other photos of how the garden's looking
now.
For context also, in 2020,
we spent $91,000 to do the expansion to
build this out, and then in 2022, we spent
$38,155 as an
expansion.
So, the garden expansion happened in
2022, and this ask here is for the
water hydrant. That concludes my
presentation. If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them.
We also have Robin from Neighbor Space.
Thank you, Meg. Anybody have any questions for Meg or Robin about this
project? We do have a letter of support from Alderman Martin on this project.
Okay. Motion by Alderwoman Silverstein to approve.
All those in favor signify by aye. Aye.
All those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Okay, the do pass recommendation of this ordinance will be reported out
at our next city council meeting on July 15th.
The fourth item on the agenda is an ordinance
02026-0026343,
expenditure of open space impact fee funds for development
of Goose Island Overlook at 1111 North
Elston Avenue. Meg from the Department of Planning and Development will
present once again.
Thank you.
Meg Gustafson, Department of Planning and Development.
This is a large project that the department's been working on for
many years. It's located at 111 North
Elston.
It is just south of Division Street on the Chicago River.
The city acquired this lot about a decade ago.
I'm going to go to this history slide real quick.
This used to be owned by People's Gas Light and Coke
Company from 1929 to 1962.
In 2003,
the Department of Planning had started working on a plan to create open
space here. The long-term plan remains to give it to the Chicago
Park District
to create new open space. Between 2003 and
now, the city worked with People's Gas on
a remediation plan.
People's Gas gave the city $1 million to remediate this
site.
A few years later, we realized that it's going to be closer to $5
million. We're here before you to--
We have renegotiated the settlement agreement.
So now the settlement agreement will return the million
dollars back to
People's Gas so that they can then do the full remediation.
We don't have an exact cost for that yet, but we expect it to be in the $5 million
range.
I just wanted to flag here that this was part of the North Branch Framework
Plan,
and the long-term goal is to go to the Chicago Park District.
So, the ask today is for up to $800,000.
400 would be refunded to People's Gas,
and DPD would receive the other 400
for site prep in the future if needed.
So, the ask is up to $800,000.
I know this is a little bit of a complicated one,
but I'm happy to take your questions. Thank you.
I also have Mort Ames here from the law department, who drafted the
resettlement agreement.
Okay. Does anybody have questions for Meg or Mort from the law
department?
All right. No questions. We're doing pretty good.
Motion by Vice Chair Scott to approve.
All those in favor signify by aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The do pass recommendation of this
item will be reported out in the next city council meeting on July 15th.
The fifth item on the agenda is an ordinance
02026-0026346,
expenditure of open space impact fee funds for the development
of Garfield Park community orchards at
3001 West 5th Avenue. Meg, once again,
you're up.
Great. Thanks. Meg Gustafson, Department of Planning and Development.
This one may be familiar to some of you because it's also been in the works for
quite some time. It used to be called the Eco Orchard.
It is now the Garfield Park Community Orchards.
We're very excited to be moving forward.
There was a groundbreaking on the south site, there's two sites,
last month.
And we're here before you to ask for up to
$411,000 in impact fees from the East Garfield
Park community area to complete this project.
Here is the site. It's at 5th Avenue and Sacramento.
The sites on the north have been transferred to Neighbor Space
about two years ago, and the groundbreaking and construction of that site,
it's a community orchard, that is underway.
The two in red, parcels in red below, are owned by the
city still.
We would like to transfer those to Neighbor Space, and Neighbor Space
already acquired the one in the green hatch.
Here's the lovely plan.
You'll see active space plazas and the
orchard. It also features storm water detention,
retention, and rain gardens. The
striping on the sidewalk will be a future CDOT project.
Here are some of the working plans.
And this is the north site,
what's being built right now as we speak
And some pretty
renderings.
So the total budget for both sites is about $1.7
million. The impact fees that we're asking for today
total $411,000. That's the remaining funds in the East
Garfield Park community area.
Other funding sources include CRP funds.
And then Neighbor Space has fundraised for the
remaining amount.
And I believe that concludes my-- oh, wait.
Here are some photos of the groundbreaking
from June.
And that concludes my presentation. I'm happy to answer any questions.
Thank you, Meg. Who's that guy that looks so happy at the- ... on the left?
That's Ben Halpin. He's the director of Neighbor Space.
Oh, I didn't even recognize Ben.
And Alderman Irvin.
Thank you, Ben, for everything. I recognize Alderman Irvin, who by the way, is here
remotely. And Alderman Irvin, you want to weigh in on this project?
Thank you, Chairman Sposato.
Yes, this has been a long time in the making.
I think we started this conversation, I think, two or three administrations
ago. And to see this come to fruition of a site that
will be
a self-contained site, and the fact that we're planting fruit-bearing trees
on the West Side of Chicago, is a feat unto itself.
So, great work with the Garfield Park Community Council,
Angela Taylor, Mike Tomas, and the team.
Glad to get this to the finish line.
So appreciate the committee's support on this.
And once it's up and going, I will invite everyone out to such a
great, beautiful spot on the West Side of Chicago. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mm-hmm. Thank you, Alderman. Congratulations on a nice project.
Well, we didn't approve it yet, but I'm sure it will be.
Anybody have any questions on this?
Okay. Motion by Alderwoman Cruz
recommending passage of this item. All in favor signify by aye.
Aye. All opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The do pass recommendation on this item will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on July 15. The seventh item on the agenda is an
ordinance
O2026-0026348,
expenditure of open space impact fee funds for the development
of...
Did we skip one?
Is this Circus Steam?
Oh, well, I- You mixed up page. You might have a page switched I got them mixed up
here? All right. Am I giving the right one here, then?
Okay. All right, the sixth item then, I'm sorry, is an ordinance
O2026-0026347,
expenditure of open space impact fee funds for the development of
Circus Steam Plaza at 4730 North
Sheridan. Meg is here once again to
present.
Great. Thank you very much. Meg Gustafson, Department of Planning and Development.
Circus Steam Plaza is requesting up to
$575,000, and these funds will go directly to
CDOT to build out this plaza. It's 2,900
square feet, and it's in Alderman Clays' ward.
The
location is at Lakeside Place and Sheridan Road.
And the plan is to remove some
of the street
and create an open space. So there'll be benches
and landscaping, new bike racks, and ADA ramps.
We can't use the impact fees for street
improvements, but we can use them for plazas and closing streets.
So the total budget, I'll just go through this real
quick. Here are some renderings and decorative pavers that
are part of this plan.
The $575,000 is only going to the
plaza itself. So as you can see here, the pavers and the
furniture are about $157,000. The
construction costs are $263,000, design
$65,000,
and the landscaping is about $18,000.
So these funds are for use by CDOT.
They will
do the build-out, and Circus Steam, who is the
business adjacent behind it, if you can see here in this photo.
They've partnered with the city before.
They do circus education arts.
They will be signing a memorandum of
understanding for the maintenance.
And I'm not sure if we have anyone from Circus Steam here today.
But if we do, they could answer some questions, or I can try.
Anyway, that concludes my presentation.
Thank you, Meg. We do have a letter of support from Alderwoman Clay and a staff
member here. I don't think he needs to speak, but does anybody have any questions
that Meg or the staffer could possibly answer for you?
No? Okay. So
motion by Alderwoman Nugent to recommend the
passage of this item.
All in favor signify by aye. Aye. All opposed say nay.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The do pass recommendation of this appoint-- this item, keep saying appointment-
Yeah, it was my bad ... will be reported out at the next city council meeting on
July 15. The seventh item on this agenda, I think we
set a record today, is an ordinance
O2026-0026348,
expenditure of open space impact fee funds for the development of
Kimball and Wellington Plaza at the intersection of North Kimball
and West Wellington. Meg is here once again.
Great. Thank you very much. Meg Gustafson, Department of Planning and Development.
I also have Jamie Osborne here from CDOT, who's the project manager for
this
plaza. This plaza's located at Kimball and Wellington.
It is in the Avondale community area, but it borders Logan
Square. The plaza size is about 3,900
square feet.
And the total ask of impact fees is $400,000.
Here is the existing condition. In 2023,
CDOT did a test run and closed off this slip lane here,
and the neighbors all agreed that it would be a great plaza
instead of a slip lane that didn't really save
much time or was not a great use of
space.
A total budget here is $600,000. The 400 will come
from OSIF,
and then CDOT has other funds from the state
and Cook County.
As you can see in this plan, there'll be seating
and landscaping.
If anyone would like to ask any questions about this one, that concludes my
presentation. Thank you very much.
Thank you once again, Meg.
This is in the 35th Ward, and we do have a letter of support from Alderman Anthony
Casada.
Does anybody have any questions or comments about this project? Okay.
Recommended to do pass this item by Alderman Rodriguez.
All in favor signify by aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay.
On opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The do pass recommendation of this item will be reported out at the next city
council meeting on July 15th, 2026. Thank you, Meg.
We really appreciate you, as always.
Okay. Eighth item
on the agenda is an ordinance.
O2026-0026272,
the establishment of People Plaza Pilot Program, an
amendment of municipal code section
7-38-117, establishing
mobile food vendor stand on 2400 West
Gunnison Street.
We got a substitute ordinance on this.
Alderman Vasquez is here to sponsor this ordinance, and we'll give him the
opportunity to present. Alderman?
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
So yeah, as stated, we'll be introducing substitute
S02026-0026272.
A copy has been placed on each of the members'
seats.
This initially started as a pilot program that we're
looking to establish for the Ainsley Arts Plaza, located at Western
and Lincoln, roughly. What it would do would be
allow for
basically more activity to happen.
So when you create a new plaza, people don't necessarily know that it's a plaza.
You want to create more programming to make it a destination, which is the intent
for the Ainsley Arts Plaza. So what we're looking to do is to
create a
lower threshold for those who want to be vendors in that
area or do performances in a way that it wouldn't
need them to get a license or a permit every single time you do an
event. If you want to do multiple events during a week, you wouldn't want
them to have a particular permit every single time.
In conversations with DCASE, CDOT, and
BACP, we are looking to find other ways to go about
doing it. So basically,
in the Ainsley Arts Plaza, our office is the one that's created the calendar to get
the programming to go. Turns out that there's not a model for a city
department or an office to actually be the one organizing these things.
So we're looking to create that. As we're still in conversation with the
departments to get that done, what we've done is removed all of that
language from the substitute which we are introducing, to only focus on the
establishment of a food truck area located on
2400 Gunnison block. So we will be
introducing legislation to accomplish the larger goal going
forward. But this one that's before you now only deals with the food truck
establishment that would be on the 2400 block of Gunnison, which
would be right adjacent to the Ainsley Arts Plaza, so that food trucks could
set up there and basically
run their business as we're having events going forward.
So we would just ask for the committee to
have a very favorable consideration on establishing the food truck area.
And when we do want to do the larger
goal, we'll have legislation for that instead.
So that would be it, just the food truck.
Happy to answer any questions that our colleagues and committee members would have.
Thank you, Alderman. Before we vote on this, I forgot to introduce...
We have a substitute ordinance on that, what he just said.
So, a motion to introduce a substitute ordinance.
So moved by Alderman Conway. All in favor signify aye. Aye.
Opposed say nay. On opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Now we have to vote on the item. So,
once again.
Okay. There we go.
The substitute is the entirety of it in Alderman Vasquez's
ward, and how much is it going to cost?
Yeah.
Sorry.
So what the substitute is would literally only be establishing a food truck area.
So this wouldn't be the larger thing.
What we're looking to do going forward doesn't have a cost either.
So basically, for example, this past Thursday, we had a
40th Ward neighbor that wanted to do a yoga class at the Ainsley Arts Plaza.
So instead of having them needing to get a permit to do so, they would reach out
to our office, we'd establish a calendar of events and be able to go do
it. So if anything, it's eliminating costs.
It's trying to make sure that folks could do so without having to get a permit for
every little thing. But that's not the matter currently.
Right now, it's just the food truck.
Okay. So it sounds like at this point, this is only going to affect the
40th Ward, and it's going to be of no cost to the taxpayers. Is that fair?
Yeah. What we're looking to do in the long run is basically kind of empower each
office, so if they've got plazas in their ward where they want to do something,
they'd be able to, rather than having a blanket rule for the
whole city.
Great. Move to pass.
Okay. Before that, I just have a question.
So all of this goes through your office then to reserve a spot here?
Is that what you said?
When we do the longer one. So again, I don't want to conflate it so people think
we're doing a larger thing. But what we want to do is basically have a
ward office establish that. So rather than going through five different
departments, having to pay for a permit just to do a yoga
event, they would just come to our office, we'd book it, then have the
documentation for the city to have there on record, and then just go,
"Cool. On Thursdays at 5:00 PM, go downward dog or whatever you want to
do. Knock yourselves out. Happy to do it."
Okay. Thank you. Alderman Rodriguez?
Question was answered. Move to pass.
Okay. Alderman Rodriguez moves to pass.
All in favor signify by "Aye." Aye.
All opposed
say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
The do pass recommendation on this
item will be reported out on the next city council meeting on July
15th.
Thank you very much.
The ninth and final item on the agenda is a resolution,
R2026-0026134,
support for Chicago Park District designation of Northerly Island
as Pope Leo...
Boy
I forget.
Roman numerals, I'm not the greatest.
Yeah, X is 10, I, 14.
Pope Leo Northerly Island. Alderman Raymond Lopez
is here
to speak on this
resolution. Alderman, where'd he go? There he is. Okay.
Thank you, Chairman, and good morning. Good afternoon, members of the committee.
Actually, I think before I begin, this is the very first time I've ever appeared
before this committee, so thank you for allowing me to speak before the
council's happy committee.
On May 8th, 2025, the words "Habemus
Papam" were said and announced,
declaring that we had a new pope following the
death of Pope Francis.
Some of us in this room today were in Daley Plaza
when we turned behind us and saw on the screens
that Robert Cardinal Prevost, an American,
had been elevated
to be
pope,
the head of the Catholic Church, the successor of Peter.
Only twice in the Catholic Church's
2,000-year history has someone from this
side of the planet
been elevated to that position,
and only once was it an American.
And not only any American,
but a White Sox-loving Chicagoland native.
Many of you
have had the honor and privilege
of going to Rome
to meet His Holiness,
to speak on
what your encounter was like.
The mayor said he was incredibly elated and proud of
him and thanked the Pope for his
courage and his strength,
and particularly his moral stance
dealing with civic leadership and authority.
Alderman Robinson
met him,
and I will quote, and I'm sure our colleague could speak to it
on his own,
but stated that he understands the issues affecting not only
Chicagoans, but folks around the country.
Alderman Conway, a member, and I will again defer to his experience,
but said that,
"What stuck with me about meeting the Pope is
what a humbling experience it was to meet the leader of the Catholic
faith,
as well as someone with a Chicago accent."
And since all of these interactions have taken place,
the conversation
regionally has been how do we honor
the man who means so much, not only to the church,
but to people of faith and to this region?
The mayor came back from Rome stating that we could look at a street naming
or something along those lines, and I know that
elected officials far and wide have been dealing with this very
issue.
Proud and humbled to have someone so close to us
in such an extraordinary
position.
Our counterparts to the south in Dalton and other are
working to ensure that his home is landmarked,
that the church where he was pastored
or attended is preserved.
But Chicago
can do better, can do bigger.
It's in our blood to go big or go home.
And that is what brings us to this moment today.
This resolution would
basically work
with the Park District should they decide as their
own unit of government
to rename Northerly Island
Pope Leo XIV Northerly Island.
And I welcome all of my colleagues' comments as I've
reached out to all of you with regards to this.
But I need to also share what we're looking at,
because this resolution in and of itself doesn't change the name.
It simply states, as the resolution mentions,
that all appropriate city departments will work with the Park
District to undertake all necessary studies, consultations, and
actions required to implement such a designation.
Period.
This puts the ball in the Park District's court,
every pun intended.
But let's get to what that brings us to as well, the functionality of
this, which is chapter seven of the Park
District Code,
which deals with, in part,
naming of parks and facilities.
There are two parts to that code which deal with the naming of parks and park
features, and the criterias for renaming parks and park features.
And many of you have questioned
if this is possible, considering that Pope Leo is still alive.
And while the Park District Code references that you
have to wait a year prior in event,
that it can't duplicate another park
or have any kind of religious connotation, or that a
person must be deceased.
Both of the clauses
mentioned in their own code, as passed by their own board,
give exceptions
to all of those criterias.
It says, "Exceptions to the above criteria," and I'm happy to pass
out these two sections, Chairman, so everyone can see
them. "Exceptions to the above criteria shall be made
only upon a finding of an extraordinary circumstance by the
general superintendent." Which means if we have
a extraordinary event, all can be waived at the
direction of the superintendent.
Ladies and gentlemen, having an American, having a
Chicagoan elected and elevated to the papacy,
in my opinion, is an extraordinary event.
But we leave that to the Park District.
This resolution simply states that
we will work with the Park District if they are going to go down this path,
and I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have at
this time.
Thank you, Alderman.
And I'm sorry, do you want this passed around?
Is it the resolution itself? No, it's the Park District...
Thank you, Alderman. This is something that I'm a little familiar with, that I've
been familiar with this for a long time.
With Alder.
And like you said, they do have a policy
that not only do you have to not be alive, you can't be alive for a
year. So, just want to make sure everybody knows that.
We're not demanding anything, I don't think. I talked to the alderman about this.
It's just a suggestion. Try to get the ball rolling.
We do have Ismael Cuevas here. I know I said your last name wrong,
buddy. But are you here to opine on this or have some
comments about it, or?
Thank you, Chairman. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Ismael Cuevas.
My name is Ismael Cuevas, Director of Legislative Affairs for the Chicago Park
District.
Just want to answer the alderman's
request on this resolution.
Currently, the Chicago Park District is not taking a position on this resolution.
Rather, I can answer any questions or share information about our
park and park naming feature process.
We do have the ability to rename parks, un-name parks, and also
park features like playgrounds, fountains, et cetera, within the
parks.
We will evaluate this request and other naming request upon officially
receiving them, if so submitted by the alderman or
any other body.
All right. Well, thank you for that insight.
Okay. Yes.
I also just want to add that this was also shared after speaking
with our former colleague, the CEO and superintendent.
This was shared with the Board of Commissioners
the other day, this week.
And...
Did you share it with them at a meeting or you just emailed them?
Via email.
Just email, okay. All right. Thank you.
Anybody have-- Okay, first hand, Conway, followed by Robinson.
Question for Mr. Cuevas.
Does the
rules regarding park naming,
as the chairman said, do they also
subscribe to that
policy of has to have been deceased for a year
unless there's extraordinary circumstance?
Like does that apply to parks as well, I guess, is the first question.
And the second question, which may be the Fourth Ward alderman,
is the reason he's raising his hand, but I was curious on his stance on this noting
that Northerly Island is in his ward. So those are the two questions I have, Mr.
Chairman. Thank you.
So in terms of the first que-
Okay. All right. Get there.
Go ahead.
So in terms of the first question, Alderman, there is upon
finding an extraordinary circumstance by the general
superintendent is when we can make those modifications, regardless of
where the park naming criteria meets.
So it's up to the superintendent if it's an extraordinary circumstance?
That's correct.
Okay. Thank you, sir. And obviously a question for my colleague, if...
But that may be why. I deferred to Alderman Robinson on this.
All right. Thank you. Next up, Alderman Robinson, followed by Vice Chair
Scott.
Chairman, thank you very much.
I am about three and a half years in this body as
alderman. But in my previous role as a member of the Illinois
General Assembly,
from my understanding, and I asked my colleague who
sent this ordinance or this resolution to me via text
message asking me to co-sponsor,
that my thought was
when you represent a ward or a district,
that
out of respect for your colleague,
you would
reach out
prior to filing a bill, a resolution.
That didn't happen.
And I just want to be on the record to show how disrespectful that is, that a
colleague, no matter what the circumstance is, this is
certainly something that we should be
honoring the Pope. I went to meet with the Pope and had a great
conversation with him, and absolutely we need to
honor the Pope.
But how this was set up
is not in the spirit
of how things should happen in this body or
any other body.
So,
with that said, and I know, Chairman, this is the happy committee, and I want to
keep it happy.
I will be a no on this,
and I have no problem working with the sponsor, but there's a couple of
things that we should do. Number one, we need to reach out to
the archdiocese and work with
them and find out if this is something that they would be willing
to work with the city of Chicago on.
Also, the community
where Northerly Island sits, which is in the 4th Ward,
there are residents that have worked to make sure
that we have a beautiful lakefront.
There's a PAC that's there that was not
reached out to.
Certainly, we need to work with the Park District, and there might be
other
council members in this body that also might want to have ideas.
My colleague mentioned we can do better and we can do bigger,
but we should do that together.
We should not just do this solely. And so again, I will be no on
this, and hopefully my colleague
will come back with the ideas that I've expressed
here today and that he will do better
in this
resolution and other resolutions that he might bring in front of this
body. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Alderman. I certainly don't consider a no vote anything
unhappy, but I appreciate your comments.
Next up, what do I have up? Vice Chair Scott.
Thank you, Chair.
I just have one question,
because I didn't
tell my colleague if I approved or disapproved, but with such a
high honor as the Pope, did anyone consult if this is
something that he wanted in his name?
And so, for me, that's an issue, because it's something that we
want, but does he want this to represent him, Northerly Island?
So,
I think that those are things that we need to think about.
Just my thought.
Yeah. Well, thank you, Vice Chair. Your thoughts are the same as mine.
This is a very complicated thing. And being a
non-Catholic, I didn't want to rain on anybody's parade or step on anybody's toes,
I'll tell you that, so.
Well, I am Catholic, but I still want to-
Yeah, right. I'm just telling you my opinion.
Are you?
Alderman Rodriguez.
I'm not a Catholic. I'm a Christian. I'm not a Catholic, so.
I'm a strong Christian. Order out of order.
Alderman Rodriguez.
Yeah. Look, I assume
best intentions of all of our
colleagues.
However,
I think this wasn't done as ideal as it should've
been, hearing from the 4th Ward alderman.
Look, I don't want to vote against anything that has the Pope's name on it.
I am a Catholic as well.
But given the prerogative of the 4th Ward alderman,
I would ask Alderman Lopez to hold this to work maybe in
collaboration with other interested individuals, myself included,
because I do think this is an extraordinary moment.
We have a Pope.
This might be the only time, not just the first time there's a
Chicago Pope, it's probably going to be the only time in the world's
history into the future where a Chicagoan may be the Pope. This is a big deal.
This is an extraordinary circumstance.
However, it's got to be done right.
It's got to be done right with people, with community.
Was there a petition gathered by residents
to make this happen? Were we reached out to by the archdiocese to do this,
or some group of Catholics? I just think we should hold this and
make it a better process, more inclusive, and heck,
maybe get the local alder on board beforehand.
And it's not a sign of disrespect, and forgive me if it came off that way.
I don't want to be that way, but I know my colleague took it that way,
and I don't blame you.
So let's do this right. That's all I'm saying.
I agree with you, Alderman. It's a very complicated thing, and there's a lot
involved in this. And I don't know if people are looking at us and saying, "What
the heck are you guys doing? You didn't confer us," or whatever.
And certainly, the alderman of the 4th Ward felt slighted a
little. I certainly know talking to Alderman Lopez
that it wasn't his intent, but.
Alderman O'Shea.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
We have very serious problems in our city.
This parking meter crisis.
Issues funding our schools.
Hell, we should be here talking about the condition of 300 of our
600 parks. That's what we should be talking to this gentleman over there in the box
about.
I was raised a practicing Catholic.
I'm raising my kids as practicing Catholics.
I'm very involved with the Catholic Church.
I think there's things we should be working on here
as a body, not naming
a facility after the Pope.
I think we have more important pressing issues that the people of our
respective communities... And I've got more Catholics than anybody in this room
that I represent. This isn't something we should be talking
about haphazardly.
There's some people in the city working to get the Pope here next summer, and
wouldn't that be something special?
And then maybe we ask him, "Is this something
we should be talking about?"
But the fact that we're sitting here today, and the alderman of
the fourth ward wasn't even consulted, come on, folks.
Okay, alderman. Thank you. I concur with you.
Does anybody else have anything to say? Alderwoman Coleman.
Thank you,
Chairman.
I really appreciate Alderman Lopez's sentiment for
bringing this forth to the committee.
And out of respect for Alderman Robinson,
no one can come in 16 and do anything without...
You can't come to my house unannounced.
But I do have a question, perhaps to Chicago Park District.
Now, Northerly Island, from my understanding, has an
exclusive contract with Live Nation.
Does this stand correct?
Hello. Yes. Exclusive contract for Live Nation?
Yes.
In terms of-
I believe Live Nation has exclusivity rights at
Northerly Island for concerts, events, et cetera, et cetera-
I would have to ask-
... any other promoters
I would have to ask our legal and revenue team who has the exclusive rights.
Okay.
There's different, obviously, events, and they get put on by different
organizations, but let me check on that.
Okay. Considering this is a music
venue, I do think that it would behoove this committee as
well as the local alderman leadership, as well as those
sponsors of this particular
agenda item to kind of dot our I's and cross our
T's with knowing
perhaps there could be some conflicts with some of the musical artists,
some of the themes that if Live Nation...
From my understanding, Live Nation does have kind of exclusive right.
Chief Keef is coming next month. I don't know if this is aligned with
the Pope or with the church. I do believe that we need all of the
religious covering as we can, but I think that there needs to
be some due diligence to align to make sure that the Pope
really gives the blessing of this, considering
this particular venue.
I-
Thank you, Chairman
Once again, I agree. So Alderman Rodriguez.
I move to table the matter. I don't-
Yeah, we're going to hold it. I think I got my finger on the
pulse. I was going to say, I
know nobody wants to be mean about this. Nobody wants to be disrespectful.
This is a very complicated, big thing, so we are not going to vote on this.
I'm just going to hold it, and we'll continue to try to work in the future
and get things straight, and hopefully
we could make-- I'm sorry.
I couldn't hear him. You got to convert him. I got to convert? Okay.
Well, I'm a Christian. But you Catholics don't accept that, I guess.
But with that,
Alderman Lopez, we're just going to hold this, and
that's pretty much about it. So hopefully nobody's feelings are hurt, but I think
it's the right thing to do. I'm not going to ask for a motion to hold it.
I'm just going to hold it. I don't think I have to ask for a motion, do I?
Mike, do I? Okay.
Motion. Motion by everyone to hold this
item.
All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed say nay.
Opinion chair, the ayes have it. This item, this resolution, will be
held. Once again, thanks everybody for coming.
I really appreciate everybody trying their best to be here on time and start on
time. So,
the meeting of Committee on Special Events, Cultural Affairs, and Recreation, also
known as the Happy Committee, still the Happy Committee, is now adjourned.
Thank you, everybody.