conduct of the meeting is not permitted.
Disruptive or distracting 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 the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazard, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags,
and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color,
that do not exceed 12 inches by six inches by 12
are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, Mace pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in a
manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these rules
will be subject to removal from the remainder of the meeting
by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or
any of its committees. All individuals and their belongings are
subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose. Or three, when
asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
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 the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazard, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags,
and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color,
that do not exceed 12 inches by six inches by 12
are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, Mace pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in
a manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these rules
will be subject to removal from the remainder of the meeting by
the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council
or any of its committees. All individuals and their
belongings are subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose.
Or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
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 the meeting
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or metal
canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags, and
sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color, that do
not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 12 are
permitted and subject to search. And five, firearms,
ammunition, fireworks, laser pointers, stun guns,
tasers, mace pepper spray, and toy weapons.
Cell phones and other small handheld recording devices must be
placed in silent mode, can only be used while seated,
and can only be used in a manner that does not interfere
with the ability of other individuals to view or hear the
proceedings. Individuals or groups failing to
adhere to these rules will be subject to removal from the
remainder of the meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or
any of its committees. All individuals and their belongings are
subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose. Or three, when
asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly
conduct of the meeting, is not permitted.
Disruptive or distracting 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 the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags,
and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color,
that do not exceed 12 inches by 6 inches by 12
are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in a
manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these
rules will be subject to removal from the remainder of the
meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council
or any of its committees. All individuals and their
belongings are subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery.
Two, when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting
set aside for that purpose. Or three, when asked
to rise and be acknowledged by a member of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
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 the meeting.
Any item that poses a potential safety hazards, as determined by the
Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or
metal canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags,
and sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color,
that do not exceed 12 inches by
12 are permitted and subject to search.
And five, firearms, ammunition, fireworks,
laser pointers, stun guns, tasers, mace pepper
spray, and toy weapons. Cell phones and other small
handheld recording devices must be placed in silent mode,
can only be used while seated, and can only be used in a
manner that does not interfere with the ability of other
individuals to view or hear the proceedings.
Individuals or groups failing to adhere to these
rules will be subject to removal from the remainder of the
meeting by the Sergeant at Arms.
City of Chicago City Council Rules of Conduct for Public
Meetings, 2023 to 2027.
Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Chicago City Council Rules of
Order and Procedure, the Sergeant at Arms sets forth the
following rules of conduct for members of the public.
These rules shall be in effect at all times that a viewing
gallery or room is open for a meeting of the City Council or
any of its committees. All individuals and their belongings are
subject to search at entry or upon request.
Individuals must remain seated at all times except,
one, when entering or exiting the gallery, two,
when providing public comment during the portion of a meeting set
aside for that purpose,
or three, when asked to rise and be acknowledged by a member
of the City Council.
Profane, threatening, harassing, abusive,
or defamatory behavior or speech, which, in the
judgment of the meeting's chair or the Sergeant at Arms, may
lead to a breach of the peace or disrupt the orderly conduct
of the meeting, is not permitted. Disruptive or distracting
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 the
meeting. Any item that poses a potential safety
hazard, as determined by the Sergeant at Arms, is prohibited
in the gallery.
Such items include, but are not limited to, one, any
pointed objects, including knives of any kind.
Two, banners, flyers, or other forms of signage.
Three, food and beverages, including in glass or metal
canisters. Four, backpacks, large bags, and
sealed packages. Clear bags, not tinted in color, that do
not exceed 12 inches by
12 are permitted and subject to search.
And five, fi-
Good morning. The Committee on Government and Budget Operations will come to
order. We'll begin with roll call.
Alderman Gaspada.
Alderman Dow. Alderman Robinson. Alderman Yancey.
Alderman Mitchell. Alderman Harris. Alderman Beal.
Alderman Ramirez. Alderman Quinn. Alderman Lopez.
Alderman Moore. Alderman O'Shea. Alderman Mosley.
Alderman Rodriguez.
Alderman Scott. Alderman Sitcha Lopez. Alderman Burnett.
Alderman Tulia Farrow. Alderman Cardona.
Alderman Rodriguez Sanchez. Alderman Conway.
Alderman Quezada.
Alderman Villegas.
Alderman Mitts. Alderman Sposato.
Alderman Nugent. Alderman Vasquez.
Alderman Napolitano. Alderman Riley.
Alderman Knutson.
Alderman Martin.
Alderman Hadden. Alderman Silverstein.
Chair Irvin makes 15. Oh, okay,
Alderman Harris, thank you for joining.
Alderman, who was it? Mosley.
Hold on. I'll make sure I'm safe.
Alderman Moore
online.
Got you, Alderman O'Shea. All right.
Number 17.
Okay, so we do have a quorum. We've got
a few members who are requesting
participation under the Sposato
rule. Those would be Alders Moore, Scott,
Rodriguez Sanchez, Riley, and Hadden.
Is there a motion to accept those members into committee?
Okay. All right. We have a motion. All in favor, signify by
saying aye.
Aye.
Any opposed? One opposed. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Chairman Irvin. Chairman Irvin, Alderman Tulia Farrow is Rule 59 as well.
Okay. Also, we'll add Alderman Tulia
Farrow-
And Chairman, excuse me, and Alderman Quezada. Thank you so much.
Okay. Tulia Farrow
and Quezada.
Would you amend your motion to include those individuals?
So moved, Alderman Harris. All in favor, signify by saying aye.
Any opposed? In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, and Alders Tulia
Farrow and Quezada will be added to Moore, Scott, Rodriguez Sanchez, Riley,
and Hadden. So we confirm, I heard Alderman
Tulia Farrow, you're on.
Alderman Quezada, you're on. Alderman Moore?
Yes, sir.
Pre- Present, Chairman.
Alderman Moore is present. Alderman Scott?
Alderman Scott is present.
Okay. Alderman Rodriguez Sanchez?
I'm here, Chair.
Okay. Alderman Riley?
Alderman Riley is present.
Alderman Hadden
Alderman Hatton?
Okay.
Vice Chair Lee, we have you.
Is anyone that came in after
that? Okay. All right. We're ready to
roll. We will begin with public comment.
First person for public comment, Mr.
George Blakemore,
followed by Zoe Lee.
Reading is fundamental, sir. I've
talked about having these meetings at the same time.
Mm-hmm.
And say I can't read, I can't write.
Where are the people? Two, four, six,
eight,
10, 12, and some of these people work here.
So, I don't know the purpose of how do you
market, or advertise, or let the people know
about this budget hearing.
Why didn't you do this? And why would you have it in the morning where the
working poor people
can't attend this meeting? And I hear something about
entrepreneurship.
In your area,
sir, the 28th Ward, right at Madison Pulaski,
these people are making money. These Arabs, or Jews,
or whoever's selling, it's busy as a bee.
What are the Black people doing there? Spending money.
They're not selling, they're buying, they're consumers.
And I can't put that responsibility on you, sir.
It's been happening with Ed Smith. It's been happening.
Doo-doo just didn't start happening with you.
It's a culture of corruption.
It's a culture out there, abandoned buildings, high
crime, poor schools.
So you did not bring this doo-doo here,
but you're not doing anything to get rid of it.
And it's something wrong with the whole system.
It's broken. Entrepreneurship, that means business.
How are you going to empower your Black people to
open up business? Why don't you do that?
You're not motivated because each one of these Arabs or Jews that have
these shops, they're paying you.
It's a pay to play here.
And that's the reason why we've
abandoned buildings on Madison.
Gang bangers and shooting and high crime on
Madison. How can you
say, "I'm Black and proud"?
How can you do this? Why wouldn't you? Don't you want to be Black and proud?
Well, I'm going to tell you how to empower your community.
Ed Smith put you there, and before Ed Smith, it's
just a generation of rejects in the 28th Ward,
and we can't blame it on you, Mr. Irvin.
It's been that way.
Poor leadership. No leadership.
It's a culture of corruption
in your ward.
Thank.
Thank you for your comment. Our
second and final speaker is Zoe Lee, but also want to
recognize Alderman Conway and Alderman
Burnett for the purposes of quorum. You may proceed, ma'am.
Yeah, it is a culture of corruption.
And
it's so bad that y'all have normalized it, that he
knows all of y'all business even before.
Some of the stuff I learned from him.
But then I've been here for three years, and I've personally seen the new aldermen,
the new cycle, the new generation of corruption that's trying to come
in here about to do the same thing now. Not this generation.
But since we are here for the Committee on Budget and Government Operations,
I feel like
we can't discuss anything when it
comes to the shortfall of this budget that
Brandon Johnson continues to act like
he's not one of the reasons. We have to discuss this
migrant crisis, this $2.2 billion
that you guys spent on the migrant crisis.
We need to talk about the $725 to
$750,000 a day shelters
that we were paying for. Andre Vasquez, who is
thinking that he's getting back in in the 40th Ward, has a
kickoff campaign at
Fireside, July 16th. Well, I will be there
outside protesting it because he led
two shelter franchises, the Inner Chicago
and Standard.
That's why downtown looks like that, and that's why Streeterville went ghost.
All the millionaires and billionaires got up out of there
because they saw all the Modelo bottles,
all of the prostitution,
all of the pit bulls and strays. It was
out of control in Streeterville. I was living down there at that time.
Michael Brian Hopkins wasn't doing anything.
So we can't discuss
anything about operating anything in this
government until we discuss the crisis that I
started with when I first came down here about something that was totally
different. If you guys took notice on what I
came down here for, knocking down my
godfather's building
That my mom put in a nonprofit, just like Stephanie
Coleman's mom does with her buildings, and
don't pay any taxes.
I wouldn't had followed all of the money
that y'all, which words do y'all say? Misallocated?
Not-
We got to talk about that first,
that 135 million shortfall.
Thank you.
Thank you for your comment. We're going to go out of order as we're waiting on one
party for the 925. I'm going to move to item number three, and as
I do that,
Mr. Bumpers, if you can make your way up here so we can do item number
two. Item number three is a transfer of funds within the 30th Ward
wage allowance and automatic expense account for year
2026.
Is there a motion?
So moved by Chair Dowell. All in favor signify by saying aye.
Any opposed? Chair to ayes have it, and this ordinance will be
reported out at our next city council meeting on
Wednesday, July 15th. We're going to go to item number two, which
is a
redevelopment agreement with True Delta LLC to provide neighborhood opportunity
fund assistance for development of the K Entrepreneurship
and Hub project. Wow, it's in the 4400 block of
Madison.
Okay, you may proceed, Mr. Bumpers.
We'll leave that alone for now. Go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning, Sharon Irvin and members of the Committee on Budget and
Government Operations. For the record, my name is Robert Bumpers, Financial
Planning Analyst in the Department of Planning and Development.
I am here today to request your approval of a redevelopment agreement between the
city and True Delta LLC for the purpose of authorizing
$3.8 million in NOF funding for the K
Entrepreneurship Hub project.
The NOF grant will be used to redevelop the subject property into a
13,100 square foot office, advisory
services, cafe, and event space development containing the
economic wellness component of the Sankofa Wellness Village,
winner of the Chicago Prize.
The subject property is located at 4400 West Madison Street within the West
Garfield Park community area in the 28th Ward,
West Planning Region. Alderman Irvin supports the project.
Property is located on the northwest corner of West Madison Street and South
Kostner Avenue, shown here.
This is the property in its current condition. The property is currently vacant.
Interior photos as well.
The project team is led by James Webb, founder of True Delta.
The team also includes GC National Builders Construction Group,
Beehive Architects, and EGO Design.
True Delta is proposing to redevelop the property into offices, advisory
services, a cafe, and event space, as well as economic wellness component of
Sankofa Village. The hub is designed to incubate and accelerate the
scaling of local entrepreneurs until they are ready to expand their business
along the Madison and Pulaski corridor, or within the broader
West Side region.
Total cost of the project is approximately $8.3 million, which will be
financed with a combination of equity, debt, grants, subsidies, and the
requested NOF grant of
$3,769,642.
This
is the project shown in an orthographic perspective.
Here is a rendering of the completed project.
If approved, the redevelopment agreement will reimburse the developer for up to
$3.8 million in NOF-eligible construction costs.
The construction reimbursement will be provided as three progress
payments during construction, and a final payment upon the
issuance of the certificate of completion.
The city's investment will be protected by provisions in the RDA that require the
project to be occupied and operated for no less than five years.
If these conditions are not met, the city has the right to recapture previously
disbursed funds. Additionally, the developer must achieve the
typical construction compliance requirements for prevailing wage,
MBE/WBE, and city residency.
Overall, DPD is highly supportive of the proposed project.
The grant will aid in the reactivation of a vacant building in the West Garfield
Park community area, job creation, increased property taxes, and
provide much needed retail in the area.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
I am joined here by James Webb and Kristen Freeman of the K Hub development
team, and we are happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Thank you, Mr. Bumpers. Any questions from the body?
Alderman Villegas.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I've driven past this parcel for a long time,
so glad something's happening here.
The gentleman from DPD, could you talk
about the other grants and
funding? I think it was $1.5 million.
They have--
Sorry.
They have other state grants, and they are taking on $3 million in debt for the
project.
I'm sorry?
State grants.
State grants?
Yes.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Any other questions?
Motion to move to pass by Alderman Lopez.
All in favor signify by saying aye.
Aye.
Any opposed?
All right. Hearing the chair to ayes have it, this matter will be reported out at
our next city council meeting on Wednesday, July 15th.
I also want to thank, I know I saw Jim Webb here.
I didn't see Kristen, but thank them for the-- Oh, wow.
Good to-- Oh, you got different, never mind then. I'll leave you alone today.
But thank you guys for continuing to work on this project.
I know it's been a long time coming, and that corner continues
its transformation. We appreciate you all and the work that you all are doing along
with the Garfield Park, Right to Wellness along the Madison Corridor.
So thank you very much.
Our next item is item number
four,
which is an amendment of Municipal Code section,
chapter 2-74 by adding new section
2-74-076 to establish Department of Human
Resources hiring preferences for children and spouses of
Chicago's first responders killed in the line of duty.
There's been a substitute that has been
circulated. Is there a motion to accept the substitute?
So moved by Alderman Mosley.
All in favor signify by saying aye.
Any opposed? Any opinion chairs? Ayes have it, and the substitute is now
before us.
This is a ordinance that is brought to us from our colleague from the
15th Ward, and I'll turn the floor over to him to explain what
he is working to do.
Thank you.
Excuse me. Before you go, let me recognize Alderman Condona for the purpose of the
record. I'm sorry. Proceed.
Thank you, Chairman, and good morning, members of the committee.
Before you today is a substitute that the
committee and I worked on with regards to creating a
hiring preference for
Gold Star families,
those
individuals whose loved one gave the ultimate sacrifice for the
city of Chicago. Could be police, could be fire,
could be anyone that meets the qualifications set in
this substitute. It's a
practice that we
currently engage in but have never really
codified in the law, and this ordinance seeks to do exactly
that. And I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have.
All right. Any questions for the alderman?
All right. We'll start with Alderman Conway, followed by Alderman Espada, followed
by Chair Dowell.
Thank you for your work on this, Alderman
Lopez. Do we know how this
fits in vis-a-vis the other hiring preferences that
exist in the city of Chicago? Or we have some more clarity
on that?
Good morning, City Council. Mark Pando, Deputy Commissioner over Employment
Policy for DHR.
When hiring preferences are applied,
there is the CETA preference, there is the veterans preference, and the
CPS preference.
The employment services team at DHR would
manually screen for all those preferences,
and
certain percentages have to be applied for the referral list.
So each preference, if there's applicants for each
preference,
those individuals who meet the min quals would be placed on that
referral list.
There's percentages. I believe for CPS, it's a 20%
percentage. For CETA under the MCC,
it's a 25%,
and for the veterans, it's a 20%
application of that preference to the referral list.
So will
there be a certain percentage with regard...
Because you mentioned veterans separately.
Will there be a separate percentage for a line-of-duty hiring
preference, or the preferences you're talking about just talk about MBE and
WBE and veterans?
Yeah. For the line of duty, I don't know that there's going to be a specific
percentage. But we don't get a lot of
applications for line-of-duty death candidates.
Will this
preference then kind of be considered of equal weight to the others?
Is that-
Yes. It would be reviewed. If there are candidates who
are families, members of Gold Star,
they would be equal in weight.
Great. Thank you, Mr. Pando. Mr. Chairman, that's all I have.
Thank you. Generally, what we find is that, and you can correct me if I'm wrong,
Deputy, is that the Gold Star family preference generally
goes pretty much to the top because it's such a limited number of
people.
Especially police and fire, they generally land right at the top just
based on that singular preference.
Alderman Espada, followed by Chairman Dowell.
Thank you very much, Chair. I really appreciate
the ordinance and what it's trying to accomplish, and I'm supportive.
I had one question around the phrase "minimally
qualified."
I'm curious if this is the term that we use
in all of our hiring preferences,
because I
feel like we come under scrutiny when we hire people who we define as
minimally qualified. Is this just the general term?
It is a general term, and it's not just for preferences, but to
be placed on the referral list, you need to meet the minimum qualifications.
Outside of the preferences,
they would be randomized and then placed on the
referral list.
Okay.
Curious, at some point I feel like we might want to update that to
adequately qualified just so it sounds like how we want it to sound, but
I'm fine with it for today. Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Alderman Espada. Chair Dowell?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank the sponsor for putting
this forward. I wanted to be a co-sponsor and probably still
will be.
But I did have a question on the definition of
line of duty,
died in the line of duty, because the federal
government and the state government have different definitions for what
that means. And so I wanted just to hear what our definition
is at the city.
Unfortunately, I would have to go back and
get that for you, Councilwoman.
That's a very key point.
As I understand it, the line of duty definition is generated by the respective
department if that individual whose
death resulted from their
work. So that's a departmental definition.
I don't know if it's specifically codified per
the MCC, but my understanding is that that is something that's
designated by the superintendent or the commissioner of the fire
department.
I still would like to know what that is, though.
Does it, for example, cover a suicide?
Does it cover
someone who
might be sitting at their desk and dies
of
a heart attack?
Does it cover someone who has
cancer and
may be away from the job, but
doing something related to what they normally do?
I just wanted to know.
Yeah.
I don't know what his legal training
is. I can't answer that.
Go ahead.
Point of clarification here. Is it your opinion that we
would need to define what line of duty is by
department in order to have-- And to
be clear, I like the idea of this. We just want to make sure that the I's are
dotted and the T's are crossed.
Well, it's our practice. It's currently the practice.
We're just codifying a practice that already exists.
Secondly, also part of the ordinance, the commissioner, which is
the Commissioner of
DHR, is
authorized to adopt the rules for this so that all of those things could be
defined in the rules as it relates to how this preference is
dealt with.
And so
as it stands today, it's a departmental decision as to who dies
in the line of duty. Now, this theoretically is shifting
that ability to make the designation and the rules to the Department of Human
Resources. So just keep that in mind as well.
So hold on, let me go back to
Chairman Dial, then I'll add the two of you into the conversation.
I don't want to belabor the point. I think I would like more
definition on how the Department of Human
Relations, who has to implement this,
defines died in the line of duty.
Respect.
Thank you.
Alderman Vasquez, then Alderman Sposato.
Thank you very much, Chairman. I do appreciate,
generally, the thought behind this.
As folks who die in the line of duty at the city,
I think there should be some consideration for family members interested in
applying. So I just have a through-the-chair question.
Trying to get understanding through all departments what it looks like and how many
people have died in the line of duty in the different departments over the last
five years.
Because I don't think it affects a terribly large number of people, and I'm just
kind of curious at what that is.
Okay. That's fair. We'll ask the Department of Human Resources to compile that
information.
Okay. Thank you.
Alderman Sposato.
Thank you, Chairman. Just a point of information.
We already have that with police and fire, but the departments determine if it's
a line of duty or not, not HR. And I'm going to give you a perfect
example because things could change.
My grandfather was killed in the line of duty in 1953, but they never
called it a duty death. Fifty years later, they deemed it a duty death.
He was involved in a police chase, and in the '50s, '60s, they didn't
consider a police chase a duty death, where we do now,
but they only considered if you were stabbed or beaten to death or shot a
duty death. And then it gives you preference.
So a perfect example is police and fire.
You move to the top of the list to be hired.
They're pretty much used up in police and fire.
I'm sure it'll build up a little bit throughout the years, but when they first
started that, it just opened the floodgates to that.
But by floodgates, I think there was like 40 or 50
individuals that were eligible to move to the top of the list, so.
Thank you. Any other questions?
Can I just make a comment since we have HR here?
Go ahead.
I just want to let everybody know, I'm sure he knows,
our awesome commissioner,
Sandra Blakemore, no relation to George, is retiring on the
15th. So I just want to publicly say, I will say it again on city council, I
appreciate her. She was a lovely lady, and was very helpful to me, and I wish
her the best. So I just want to make sure everybody knows that Sandra Blakemore,
last day, along with Larry Snelling, is July the 15th.
Thank you, Chairman.
Thank you, Alderman Sposato, and I'm sure the next commissioner will become
intimately familiar with you as well.
So,
also we want to recognize Alderman Silverstein, who has joined us
and will be counted towards quorum.
Alderman Robinson, I see you've joined us virtually.
Are you there, sir?
Alderman Beal is also virtual.
Alderman Beal, hold on. We got to add you.
He was already in? Okay.
Okay, got it. All right, so we have Alderman Robinson,
who's now with us, Alderman Silverstein, who is
now with us, and I need a motion to add Alderman
Beal.
So moved by-- Well,
Alderman Harrison's amending her motion to include Alderman Beal.
All in favor signify by saying aye.
Any opposed? Any opinion, the chairs and ayes have it.
Alderman Beal is
added virtually Okay. All right. Any other questions
on the
motion for the substitute ordinance regarding line of duty
preference?
Chairman, if I may?
Alderman Lopez.
Just for all of our clarifications, if we could just have through the chair the
line of duty death
policies for both departments. I checked in the municipal code, it just simply
references line of duty as being killed.
But I think so that people are comfortable, if we could just ask the departments to
provide their-
No, that's fair. And I think with the codification of
this, and also understanding what rules will be implemented
related to this as well. So we'll get both of those items through the chair
to members as they become available to us. Okay?
All right.
All in favor of the motion, signify by saying aye.
Any opposed? Any opinion it says ayes have it, and this will be
reported out at our city council meeting on July
15th. Okay.
All right. We're going to go back to item number one, which is
our 925 amendment. I see that our deputy
director is here,
Chloe.
Item number one is a communication recommending the adoption of the annual
appropriation year 2026 amendment within Fund 925,
which is a direct introduction.
Presenting today is Chloe Belczyk
from the
budget department. You may proceed.
Good morning.
Today we are introducing the mayor's annual appropriation ordinance for
year 2026, amendment within Fund 925, for the
Chicago Department of Public Health, the Department of Family and Support Services,
the Chicago Police Department, the Department of Environment, the Chicago
Department of Transportation, and the Chicago Public Library.
The total appropriation request is for
$4,526,000. Federal funds in the amount of
$4,056,000, state funds in the amount of
$460,000, and local private grants in the amount of
$10,000.
And the individual items are as follows.
The city, through the Department of Public Health, has been awarded additional
federal grant funds in the amount of $745,000
by the United States Department of Health and Human Services for the
HRSA Ending HIV Epidemic program.
CDBH has been awarded additional federal grant funds in the amount of
$872,000 by HHS for the National
Bioterrorism Hospital Preparedness program.
CDBH has been awarded additional federal pass-through grant funds in the amount of
$250,000 by the Illinois Department of Human Services
for the social service block grant Family Connects program.
CDBH has been awarded
additional federal pass-through funds in the amount of
$88,000 by IDHS for the Women, Infant, and Children
WIC nutrition program.
CDBH has been awarded additional federal grant funds in the amount of
$885,000 by the United States Department of Housing and
Urban Development for the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS program,
HOPWA. The city, through the Department of Family and Support Services, has been
awarded additional federal pass-through grant funds in the amount of
$30,000 by the Illinois Department on Aging for the Medicare
Enrollment Assistance Program.
DFSS has been awarded additional state grant funds in the amount
of $48,000 by IDOA for the long-term care
bed sum service program.
The city, through the Department of Police, CPD, has been awarded private grant
funds in the amount of $10,000 by the Ultra Client Service, Inc.
for the CPD private grant funding program.
CPD has been awarded state grant funds in the amount of
$313,000 by the Illinois State Police for the
State Police Revocation Enforcement grant program.
The city through the
Department of Environment, has been awarded federal pass-through grant funds in the
amount of $198,000 by the Illinois Finance
Authority in its capacity as the Illinois Climate Bank for the
IFA Stretch Building Code Adoption grant program.
The city, through the Department of Transportation, has been awarded additional
pass-through grant funds in the amount of $32,000 by the Illinois
Department of Transportation for the State Community Highway Safety program.
The city through the
Chicago Public Library, has been awarded state grant funds in the amount of
$99,000 by the Illinois Secretary of State for the Security
Grant for Public Libraries program.
And lastly, the city through CPL, has been awarded federal pass-through grant
funds in the amount of $956,000 by the Illinois
Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for the Digital Equity grant
program. Thank you.
Thank you. We also need to amend the
motion for our Rule
59 to add Alder Robinson to that
request.
So moved by Vice Chair Lee.
All in favor, signify by saying aye.
Any opposed? All right. In the opinion that says aye, as Alderman
Robinson is added to our virtual participation.
Also want to recognize Alderman Hopkins, who's also joined
us. Any questions on the 925?
Alderman Conway.
Yes.
Thank you very much for the recitation there.
Noting that
CDPH gets the bulk of its budget from the federal
government, and it looks like all of the
federal grant funds are all increased.
Have you all seen a reduction
in grants to CDPH from the federal government, which was
something that we have
been long fearing?
Bakerti Wagao, acting commissioner at CDPH.
We have not seen a reduction overall in our federal
grants other than the ending of one-time grants.
When
you say the ending of one-time grants, but you said the overall amount
hasn't decreased, does that overall number
include
the decrease in the one-time grants?
Yes.
Okay. That's all I have, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman Conway. Any other questions on the 925?
Vice Chair Lee.
Thank you, Chair.
On the Department of Public Health
increase of $745,000 for this perm, does
the funding apply to personnel or is
this just for programmatic stuff?
I'm just curious as to whether or not this is about adding headcount or not.
Again, Bakerti Wagao, acting commissioner.
I will start and maybe ask
our deputy to weigh in.
We got a lower amount than we anticipated, and these additional
funds makes us whole. The intent is
to
use these additional funds to make our delegate agencies whole.
Okay.
So it's not adding headcount at the department.
Correct.
It's just, okay, grant funding. That was my only question.
All right. Thank you, Vice Chair Lee. Alderman Mosley.
Chair, this is for CDPH. Can you talk
more about,
I see there's funding here for specifically AIDS program
and the more equitable distribution throughout our city.
I have organizations like South Side Help Center in my ward that has
advocated and said that they are seeing reductions in
funding at times where folks are impacted or
aren't being reached.
So Alderman, I can't speak to any pending
litigation, but can say that the additional funds are
intended to go out to serve the most impacted communities in
Chicago, which are Latino and Black communities.
That is how it'll be distributed.
Got it. Would love to follow up with that
offline. Additionally, any of these grants here,
do they support our efforts around gun violence reduction?
No, none of these funds are related to violence reduction.
Thank you so much. Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Alderman Mosley.
Chair Dowell.
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The
$250,000 increase to the
Department of Public Health, I believe this is for.
Is this for the existing doula program that...
It is for our Family Connects, the nurse home visiting program for
those with new babies.
And who runs that program now?
Do you mean the individual who leads it at the health department?
Yes.
Deputy Commissioner Jen Vitis.
Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. Any other questions on the 925?
Also would like to recognize Alderman Cecilia Lopez for the purposes of
quorum. Any other questions? All right.
Seeing none, is there a motion?
Moved to pass by Chair Dowell. All in favor signify by saying "aye."
Any opposed? Any opinion chairs? Ayes have it, and this will be reported out at our
next meeting on the 15th. Our last and
final item is kind of a little bit of housekeeping.
I did it already. As we move into the
2027 budget season,
we have our mid-year hearing is going to be on Thursday following
council.
That day will be pretty much an all-day affair.
We will have our finance team
in, as well as we look at the mid-year of
2026 and also begin conversations toward the
2027 allocations. I'm sure there'll be
additional discussions around that.
Ultimately, at the end of the day, we've got to make some decisions as to
how we intend to deal with our
difference between our anticipated revenues and our expenses.
So, let's all get our thinking caps on and
get at it. So,
we're halfway through the year. We still got a little more time to
go, but at the end of the day, if you'll see from the ACFR, we do
not have a whole lot of room in our fund balance to
really be coming up short. So, look forward to the discussion.
Anyone have any questions so far? And
any questions on what we're doing going forward?
And our regular schedule will probably be October-ish, November,
as we go into our regular mainstay of the budget, but from
our 2024
management note, we're going to do our mid-year budget hearing.
So,
any questions?
So we'll expect everybody to be voting yes, and we'll
move the ball forward. If there are no other questions or any other business before
the committee, is there a motion to adjourn?
So moved by Alderman Martin. All in favor signify by saying "aye." Any
opposed? Any opinion chairs? Ayes have it, and we are adjourned.