Excuse me, everyone.
We're going to be relocating to city
council chambers.
We have more people than expected.
So
I'll see you guys over there.
Go ahead. Speak into the mic.
Reiterating, the appointment stays here.
Good morning, everyone. The Committee on Transportation and Public
Way is now called to order.
We will now have a roll call to establish a quorum.
Will the aldermen please make sure their microphones are unmuted?
Please note that your yes or present response will be deemed to be a
yes vote when the quorum roll call is used as a reference vote for later
items. Thank you.
Chairman Mitchell present.
Vice Chair Vasquez.
Alderman Conway.
Alderman Irving.
Alderman Fuentes.
Alderman Gutierrez. Alderman Harris. Alderman Hopkins.
Alderman Moore. Alderman Mosley. Alderman Nugent.
Alderman Rodriguez.
Alderman Waguespack. Alderman Yancy.
There are nine members present. We have a quorum.
Alderman Fuentes has requested remote participation under Rule
59. Can I get a motion to allow remote participation for Alderman
Fuentes and Alderman Rodriguez?
Alderman Mosley so moves on the motion. All in favor say aye.
Opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
At this time, we will begin the public comment period.
Out of respect for everybody's time, public comment will be limited to 30
minutes, and each speaker is limited to three minutes.
Speakers, in accordance with Rule 58 of the City Council Rules
of Order, please refrain from profane language,
obscene conduct, or disruptive comments. Thank you.
At this time, before proceeding, I want to add Alderman Irving to the roll
for purposes of quorum.
Our first speaker
is Emmanuel Garcia.
Followed by W. Robert Schultz III.
Good afternoon. My name is Emmanuel Garcia, and I'm 18 years old.
I just graduated high school, and am an incoming student at UIC's College of
Urban Planning.
I'm also a Belmont Cragin resident and a youth coordinator at Grassroots
Empowerment Mission. Our mission at GEM is to empower our communities to
tackle systemic issues and to help young people with recreational activities.
As a youth leader, I have been involved with a transit
equity network with Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, and I
also have served for two years at Chicago Transit Authority's
Citizens Advisory group.
I'm here to give my full support to appoint Christian Diaz to the Metro board as
well as in support of the slate, especially Oswaldo Alvarez as
well.
Christian Diaz comes with amazing and useful background knowledge of our
communities in Chicago and their systemic issues.
I care about the accessibility and transport all around Chicago and the Chicagoland
area, as it is essential, and it connects jobs and our small
businesses. Transit is essential to move those who don't have the
access to a motor vehicle or access to some type of micro-mobility.
Transit, as we know, is not perfect and needs a lot of work to make it the
option that people can rely on, knowing they will get to their destination on
time and not have to wonder how early they should leave their house just in
case if the bus or train decides to ghost.
Christian Diaz is a perfect candidate as he worries not just about the community
he is from, but across the whole city, which is something a
transit leader needs in their heart.
He has experience in transportation planning, in managing large capital
projects, and deep networks with labor and community-based organizations.
Christian cares about workers, students, and riders.
His parents and brother are dues-paying members of SEIU Local 1.
He's also a leader in Elevated Chicago.
I want to thank the Transportation Committee for approving Christian Diaz's
appointment to the Metro board a few months ago, and I urge them to
approve Christian's appointment today. Thank you.
Is this Mr. Schultz?
Yes, that's me.
Okay, and followed by Leslie Honoree.
Good afternoon, everyone. Pleased to be here. My name is W.
Robert Schultz III. I am the campaign organizer
at the Active Transportation Alliance, and I also co-chair
the advocacy committee of the Transportation Equity Network, a
coalition of community organizations from Black and
brown communities on Chicago's South and West
Sides. I am here today because your committee
is reviewing nominees for several transportation service
boards, including Pace, CTA, Metra,
and the Northern Illinois Transportation Authority.
My message is simple. Chicago and the
broader Chicagoland region have the foundation
of a great transportation system.
The challenge before us is to ensure that the structure,
leadership, and funding are in place to put our
region on the path towards the most robust, world-class
transportation system possible.
Advocates have spent the past two or three years working towards this
moment. The opportunity created through the NITA
legislation must be matched by appointing the
strongest possible champions for public
transportation to these boards. By strong champions,
we mean nominees who promote public
transportation and understand its importance across the
region.
Champions who are there for the one in four Chicagoans
who are people with disabilities and need access to
transportation. We need champions who use
public transportation and understand the rider experience.
We need champions that know how transportation is funded,
what sustainable investment requires, and pay
attention to the metrics of a functioning system.
Lastly, we need advocates or board members who
bring a clear vision for the
future of transportation in Chicago and
Chicagoland. We need champion board members who
put riders first, especially those in communities
that rely most on transportation
access.
Name is Leslie Honoree. I'm the CEO of Urban Gateways.
I serve on the city's Women's and Arts and Cultural Advisory
Councils. This is my third term as co-chair of Elevated Chicago, where we
focus on equitable transit-oriented development, and this is my third
time proudly speaking on behalf of Cristian Diaz.
I first met Cristian through Elevated Chicago, and to say
that his advocacy is inspiring and that he has helped shape Chicago's
housing, voting, and transportation, and with an unwavering
commitment to equity is putting it mildly.
Cristian is a bridge between our city's marginalized communities that are its
foundation of this 189-year-old city.
Cristian is a collaborator and educator and a hand that stretches across all
77 communities with a consistent echo.
We all have the right for education, affordable housing, and
especially equitable transportation.
It is what moves our city from home to school to opportunity.
Cristian's commitment to our city goes beyond words and policy.
It goes to its heart and its residents.
It is a commitment that he has given every part of his life to, and I cannot
imagine a better appointment to the Metra board. Thank you.
Nikos Hunter? Hunter.
Yeah.
Okay.
Good afternoon.
Followed by
Nico Lehmann.
Yeah. Good afternoon. I want to expand on what W.
Robert Schultz had just said, mostly stressing the importance of people who ride
the system and can understand what the challenges and successes that it
has. And I think unfortunately for the mayor's two
appointments, both Lester Barclay and Michael
Eady, those are two people who don't ride the system, and it's been that way for
years. So,
I pull those numbers every year through a FOIA because
the CTA board members are afforded a Ventra card
that gives them free rides. It's something they don't have to pay for.
They can use it as much as they want, as frequently as they want, but we see that
that doesn't happen. So, for example, Lester Barclay only rode the train
49 times last year, and that only includes three bus
trips. So he's only got experience on half the system, when actually the most
amount of people or the most rides we do in a system are accomplished via
bus. So that's a huge gap in knowledge when it comes to understanding the
system.
For Michael Eady, it's even worse.
He rode 36 times, and those numbers aren't growing or increasing.
They're very flat. It's pretty obvious that that's not even
once per week, which seems like a very low bar to even
get on the train, go 30 minutes. It's not great.
Specifically to Barclay, I'm pretty convinced that he is pro-CTA only.
So NITA passed, and the first public comments from him
were along the lines of, "This bill diminishes my oversight power on the
CTA board," which he wrote in a Chicago Tribune op-ed.
I find this concern pretty rich because I've attended 15 of
CTA's board meetings, and that's over the past three years.
I've never seen Lester Barclay cast an opposing vote
once. He's kind of a will check off on anything, and I just don't think that's a
very good characteristic of somebody, especially with the size of NITA and how
it's going to be looking at the other three boards.
If you're just going to check off a box every time, I don't see how we're doing
very good oversight. I also doesn't see how it
expands ideas on how to improve a system.
I just find it very disappointing.
So I just wonder, why should somebody who doesn't really seem to like the
system that he oversees sort of be rewarded with an even greater board appointment?
I feel like it just requires some mental gymnastics to sort of be convinced that
he's changed, because again, if you go to last month's board meeting and
then you look at a board meeting from three years ago, it's the same
behavior. So I just don't think this is a very inspiring choice.
I hope we can find somebody who is a lot more active.
And just one example of who that could be is somebody who rides the system and is
very active is Roberto Requeno, also a mayoral appointee,
but yet he seems to have been a little bit stumped here.
I think we have better options on the board.
Thank you.
Michael Lehmann?
Hello, everyone. My name is Michael Lehmann,
and I am a lifelong non-driver. I am reliant
on the CTA, and it is what makes it possible for me to live in Chicago.
I have,
along with my block club and various other organizations I belong,
campaigned hard last year to save the CTA from the fiscal cliff
all last summer, including local activism and also lobbying in
Springfield. You might have seen me on the front page of the Chicago
Tribune. I was dressed up as a train and went and lobbied around
the Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois.
And I also was out at the RPM station's opening,
trying to say that, "Yeah,
you guys opened up the nice stations.
Now we need to run the system." So I'm super thrilled
that NITA passed,
and I'm a little bit worried, though, that the mayor's picks are not taking
advantage of this moment.
I want to second what others have observed, that the current people
proposed for it
are not necessarily users of the system.
I want to see people who actually ride the system, who know what it is that we deal
with, especially after COVID. We need to be looking
forward. The one guy who does at
least have a transit background, they say, is Lester Barclay, but he's skeptical of
NITA, as the other guy has pointed out here.
And then we have
Michael Eady. He's a pastor and community activist, which is great.
I like community activism. I'm big in community activism.
But these kind of picks, it makes it seem like the mayor is still thinking of the
CTA as a social services agency, and it's not. It's a transit agency.
We need to have people who know the nuts and bolts of a transit
system, who can look to the future
and build that out. My entire adult life is here, and I'm
able to live here because of the CTA. But you know what? I grew up in Tokyo, Japan.
I know that transit can be a lot better than what it is, and we need
people who ride the system, who are willing to
put the money and the activism in there.
And I think if we're talking equity, we really need to get equity by
extending the service as a transit system to currently underserved
communities. I would like to see at least bus rapid transit all up and down Western
Avenue. That's maybe a pipe dream, but I think extending actual transit services is
what's going to help our underserved communities right here.
And finally, I also want to second that the one guy who seemed to have
ETOD, transit-oriented development experience, which I also think we really
need,
is Roberto Requeno, and he did not get picked, so I kind of wonder,
why not? Because for me, the place to make neighborhoods that are going to
attract people to move to Chicago so that we can build the tax base and
start looking to the future, because our best days are ahead of us, is to get
transit-oriented development where we have daily shopping next to the
transit in all of our communities.
We can build up the housing, the other thing I'm a big activist on, and we can
start growing the city and growing the transit because the best days of CTA have to
be ahead of us, not behind us. Thank you very much.
Thank you. And our next speaker is Ellen Steinke.
Hi, my name is Ellen Steinke, and I've also fought
super hard for rescuing transit last summer.
I canvassed, I wrote articles, I even put on a
comedy show at Second City. And
I also want to recognize, since we don't have enough time for all the people who
came today to come testify, I just want to have everyone respectfully and quickly
stand up if you came here to testify and you can't testify today.
And with respect, we're all very concerned about the
NITA
appointees because with-- You can sit down now. Thank you.
We're concerned about these NITA appointees, and we came here in person today.
We took off work, we took off lunches,
because NITA is a chance to start
anew and to have new
reforms. And unfortunately,
the reforms are only as good as the people who are appointed, and the people that
the mayor appointed are unfortunately pretty much exactly the
same and
with the exception of someone who has transit experience, which is
Requeno. So with Barclay, we're concerned
because
he oversaw the decline of CTA over the
pandemic and their service losses.
He doesn't ride the system, and he was also critical of the NITA
reforms, specifically because it would inhibit his
power or CTA's power or whatever. So to me, for
him being reappointed and being appointed to the NITA board for all
of us, that's extremely concerning because we want NITA to be
successful, and having someone on the board who is critical of NITA
just doesn't really seem to have it be starting off on the right foot.
And then also, just having people who have transit experience is really important
to us. We have one of the best transit systems in the country,
and yet some of the appointees from the mayor,
Barclay doesn't have transit experience. He doesn't ride it.
And then instead of For appointing Requijo again.
He appointed Edie, who is a pastor, and I went to seminary.
Bless his heart, pastors are great, but
that's not who we need on a transit board.
And so I respectfully ask that the city council
not just rubber stamp all of these choices, because if we
choose the same people, we're just going to get more of the same.
And again, if you could picture the people who are standing up today and who took
off work, took off lunch to come speak, we want change.
We love the system. We believe in the system, and we believe that the mayor and
the city council need to appoint leaders who see that future and not just more of
the same. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next speaker is Laura
Garip. Garra.
Good afternoon, members of the Transportation Committee.
My name is Laura Garza, the executive director of Arise Chicago.
It's my honor to speak in strong support of the nomination of Oswaldo Alvarez
to the Northern Illinois and the Chicago Transit Authority.
I've had the privilege of knowing Oswaldo throughout our shared commitment to
advancing opportunities for working people and strengthening our communities.
Throughout his career, he has demonstrated thoughtful leadership, integrity,
and deep understanding of how public policy can improve people's
lives. Throughout his career, Oswaldo has been a champion for working
people. He understands that transportation is not just about roads
and infrastructure, but it's also about making sure workers can get
safely and reliably to their jobs to support their
families. From developing workforce programs at the Erie House Neighborhood
House, to leading the Chicago's Workers Collaborative, and now serving as
executive director of the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus
Foundation, Oswaldo has consistently brought
together labor, employers, educators,
government, and community organizations to create solutions that
improve the lives of workers. He has spent his career
listening to working families, building partnerships, and advancing
policies that expand economic opportunity.
He knows that when workers succeed,
our communities and our economy are stronger.
Oswaldo is collaborative, thoughtful leader who will bring the voices and
experiences of working people to the Northern Illinois and Chicago Transit
Authority. I have every confidence that he will serve with integrity,
fairness, and a deep commitment to the public good of all workers and of
all communities. I respectfully ask for your support of his
nomination, and thank you so much for your consideration.
Thank you. Our next speaker is Laura Donaldson.
Good afternoon. As you said, my name is Laura Donaldson, and I've
been a rider of Pace
for
35 years.
Yes, we have work to do, but
we need people
that have
and continue to ride the service.
And I nominate Karen Tamley.
And I'm hoping with all the other nominations
that we can start working
on better Pace,
Metra, and CTA. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Donaldson. Our next speaker is Ria Yap.
Good afternoon, esteemed alderpeople.
Thank you for this opportunity to express my support of the slate of board of
directors for the newly formed Northern Illinois Transit Authority.
My name is Ria Yap. I'm the executive director of Chinese Mutual Aid
Association. We're located on the north side, and we were founded
45 years ago, right in the heart of Argyle.
Some of you may know it as Asia Argyle.
In fact, I took the red line today to make sure
that I came here on public transit.
Each year, CMA serves 5,000 youth,
families, working adults, elders,
and people running and working in small businesses.
Our community members speak over 40 languages and have made Chicago and
the nearby suburbs their home.
Our organization has offices next to the Argyle Red Line, the Western and
Peterson bus stops, and the Metro Station in Elgin, Illinois.
Our 5,000 clients and additional 400 staff rely
on public transit every day to and from.
So the recent incremental changes and improvements to our transit
system, we see some of it, and we appreciate it because we
want to make sure that our transit system has strong and wide
geographic reach,
frequency, reliability, and safety.
These are all in responses to riders' needs.
And I believe that the past board has made some
accomplishments through the leadership, governance, and implementation.
And as a community-based leader,
of course, we always have more things to do, improve, and achieve.
So yes, I agree with many of the comments today.
We want to continue to make change and have board members who are going to lead
that change.
So please take the whole slate into consideration.
I personally work directly alongside two of the candidates,
namely Oswaldo Alvarez and Dennis Madero.
Oswaldo, I met him at Erie Neighborhood House.
He has built programs from the ground up, such as a workforce bridge program.
And then because he was a rising star, because of his
accomplishments, he moved on to work at Cook County and lead workforce
initiatives. He was recruited by foundations, and today, it's
so awesome to see him leading the Illinois
Hispanic Legislative Caucus Foundation, which not just takes care of us
in the city, but also the region across the state.
Dennis Montero is actually my predecessor, so everyone will know that,
but
he is the perfect candidate for NITA.
Just like others, Dennis works with a lot of integrity, and he
has the unique and outstanding transit,
executive, legal, and operational experience that is
going to be essential for the future of NITA in this newly
formed
authority.
He grew the organization, Chinese Mutual Aid Association, from $4 million to
$15 million in agency budget. And it's not just the
budget, also infrastructure.
Thank you. Our next speaker is Mawuli
Abefe.
Did I get it?
Yep.
I have no personal animus against Michael Eady or Lester Barclay, I want to be very
clear, but NITA looks to the future, and in the past we see their
CTA leadership has not been the best.
The minimum for someone on this NITA board should be riding the system regularly.
I'm an avid library-goer, and I wouldn't want anyone on the Chicago Public Library
board that didn't read books, that didn't attend library boards
or library regularly. I think that's just
common sense.
Moving forward, the mayor isn't going to have these appointee
powers, and as the city council, it's your responsibility to
safeguard and check the appointees that
we make to this board. I ride the CTA regularly.
You can see certain things like people smoking
or people selling stuff on the train.
I think some things like the county sheriffs or the police have made me feel a
little safer. There's been less chaos on the trains.
But going forward, we're going to need these board members to be part of a
transformation
for NITA going into the future.
And so I would urge you to vote
against the nominees of Lester Barclay and
Michael Eady for the NITA board. Thank you.
Our last speaker is Isabel Cabrera.
Hello. Good afternoon,
members of this committee. My name is Isabel Cabrera, current resident of the
7th Ward. I am parent and LSC member in
Avondale-Logandale, and Child R parent and part of the advocacy committee.
I'm also a former parent mentor. I am here to
support of Cristian Diaz leadership.
I met Cristian in 2018 when I started my journey as a
parent mentor in Avondale-Logandale school.
By that time,
we were experienced a decrease in student in Avondale-Logandale school base, and
the increasing property taxes and rent in our area.
Cristian, then director of housing with Palenke SNRA, came to our
school to create awareness that where we were living in our neighborhood had a
name, and it was a norm to experience high rent prices, and
inviting us to take action. He invite us to march for the Emmett
Street project, 100 units of affordable housing, and login
square next to the Blue Line station, now known as Lucy Gonzalez
Parks apartment. Cristian provide me and my community the
opportunity of knowledge by educating us in the things that mattered the
most to family like mine, in topics like affordable housing,
education, transportation, property taxes, and more.
I want to take this moment, Cristian, to thank you
for your leadership, for the work, passion, and creativity you put in everything
you do. Thank you.
This concludes the public comment period.
At this time, I move to approve the Rule 5.45 report for the Committee on
Transportation and Public Way meeting held on July 8th,
2026.
Can I get a motion from Alderman Harris to recommend approval of this item?
Alderman Harris so moves on the motion. All in favor say aye.
Opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Before
I proceed,
Alderman
Irvin has requested remote participation via Rule 59.
Can I get a motion to allow remote participation for Alderman Irvin?
Alderman Harris so moves on the motion. All those in favor say aye.
Opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
All right. So today, we have five items on the agenda.
I'm sorry, 10. Sorry about that, guys. 10 items on the agenda.
Can you guys please mute?
All right.
So we're going to start off with the appointment.
I want to hear
the five NITA appointments together.
All right.
So page three, item one, appointment of Oswaldo Alvarez
The appointment of Oswaldo Alvarez as a member of the Northern Illinois Transit
Authority Board and the Chicago Transit Board
for a term effective September 1st through 2026, and expiring
September 1st,
2031.
Page three, item two, appointment of Lester Barclay.
The appointment of Lester Barclay as a member of the Northern Illinois Transit
Authority Board and the Chicago Transit Board for a term effective September
1st, 2026, and expiring September 1st,
2029.
Page three, item three, appointment of Dennis Mondero.
The appointment of Dennis Mondero as a member of the
Northern Illinois Transit Authority Board and the
Metra Commuter Rail Board for a term effective September
1st, 2026, and expiring September 1st,
2029. Page three, item four, appointment of
Natasha Jenkins. The appointment of Natasha Jenkins as a member
of the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Board and the Pace
Board for a term effective September 1st, 2026, and
expiring September 1st, 2031.
Page three, item five, appointment of Dee
Atkins as a member of the Northern Illinois Transit Authority
Board for a term effective September 1st, 2026, and
expiring September 1st, 2031.
Page three, items...
Nope, that's it. Those are my NITA appointments. All right.
Okay, so at this point,
I will start off with Oswaldo. You
will lead us off.
You have the mic.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman.
So good morning or good afternoon, Chairman Mitchell, Vice Chair Vazquez, members
of the committee. And thank you once again for the opportunity to appear before you
today for consideration to serve on both the Northern Illinois Transit Authority
Board and the Chicago Transit Authority Board. My name is Oswaldo Alvarez.
I was born and raised in Logan Square, attended Chicago Public Schools at
Mozart Elementary and Kelvin Park High School, where my mom served as a lunch
attendant for over 20 years and was a proud member of Local 1.
And I currently serve as the executive director of the Illinois Legislative Latino
Caucus Foundation, the public policy arm of the Illinois Legislative Latino
Caucus. When I appeared before this committee last October, I spoke about my
experience building public policy, managing complex public
budgets, and bringing together government researchers and community stakeholders to
develop practical solutions. I am grateful for the confidence you placed in me,
because over the past several months, I have had the privilege of putting that
experience into practice as a member of the Regional Transportation
Authority Board. As you all know, I joined the RTA board at a
pivotal moment. At that moment, we were confronted with the region's fiscal cliff
and the difficult work of ensuring that Northeastern Illinois could continue moving
towards a reliable, integrated, and financially sustainable transit system.
During that time, I worked alongside my fellow board members, transit leadership,
and members of the general assembly throughout the negotiations that ultimately
resulted in the passage of NITA. That legislation not only addressed the
immediate funding needs, but also established a more sustainable financial
framework for the state for our transit system.
Throughout that transition, I have remained focused on helping ensure governance,
oversight, and operational systems are in place to support successful
implementation. My work outside of the board continues to
strengthen that perspective. At the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation,
transportation remains one of our priority policy areas.
As you may all know, it was one of our leaders, actually, who championed NITA.
We continue to convene legislators, regional planning
organizations, transit stakeholders, researchers, and community members
to better understand how transit impacts economic opportunity, workforce
participation, and quality of life.
That work has reinforced my belief, then and now, that our region needs a transit
system that is reliable, safe, and integrated across service providers, and
supported by long-term sustainable funding.
My experience managing public resources also continues to inform my service.
Throughout my career, I have overseen significant public and private investments
for managing multimillion-dollar philanthropic grant portfolios to directing the
Illinois Inaugural Census Office, where I administered more than $50
million in public funding while coordinating over 500 nonprofit
organizations, local governments, and state agencies, helping the state of
Illinois reaching number one in the nation in self-response rates, and all
without one administrative finding.
Those experiences taught me the importance of fiscal stewardship, accountability,
and building partnerships that produce measurable results.
Now, transit is also deeply personal to me.
My grandfather was actually the one who came to Chicago in the 1960s and worked on
the Blue Line expansion from Logan Square to Jefferson Park.
We actually have pictures where Milwaukee is all turned up to build a subway system
underneath at home.
I have lived along the Blue Line my entire life, relying on public transit to get
to school, work, and throughout the city.
Just like I am a proud product of CPS, I too claim to be a proud
product of the CTA. Like so many Chicago residents, I understand
firsthand that transit is not simply about moving people, it is about connecting
communities to opportunity. If confirmed, I look forward to continuing to work with
my fellow board members, our transit partners, and this committee as we implement
these reforms, strengthen regional coordination, and continue building
transit systems that is financially sustainable, operationally
integrated, and worthy of the people who depend on it every
day. Thank you for your consideration.
Lester Barclay.
Good afternoon, Chairman Mitchell,
members of the committee, and members of the public.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today
as you consider my reappointment to the Chicago Transit Board
and my appointment to the newly established Northern Illinois Transit Authority
Board.
I currently serve as chairman of the CTA board, having been
appointed in 2021
My relationship with the CTA, however, began more than 45 years
ago when I walked through its doors as a summer intern
and worked as a rail conductor on the
train.
I still remember one of the longtime employees saying to me, "If you
get here
every day on time, work hard, you could be chairman of the board."
At that time, it seemed like an impossible thought.
Looking back now, it's a reminder that public service has been a way
of bringing us all full circle.
Over the course of my legal career, I had an opportunity to return to
the CTA as a young lawyer, where I helped to draft the first
iteration of the reduced transit fare program for people with
disabilities.
I also served 10 years as a labor lawyer for the
CTA in labor arbitration work.
Years later, I served as chair of the Citizens Advisory
Board before ultimately being appointed chairman of the
board.
These experiences have given me not only a deep appreciation for this agency's
mission, but also a profound respect for the responsibility
entrusted to its board.
Serving as chairman during this period has been one of the greatest honors of
my career because it has also been one of the most consequential
periods in CTA's history. Together as a
board, we have guided the agency through the post-pandemic
recovery,
unprecedented fiscal uncertainty,
major governance reform, and transformative
capital investments, all while remaining focused on providing safe,
reliable and accessible service to the people of Chicago.
I'm proud of what the CTA board has
accomplished. Today, ridership continues to grow
and to recover, with overall ridership at approximately
70% of pre-pandemic levels and weekend
ridership recently more than 90% of
2019 levels.
These numbers represent more than a recovery in ridership.
They represent a recovery in public confidence.
Supporting that recovery has been a historic
investment in our workforce.
Over the past three years, CTA has achieved record hiring levels,
allowing us to restore service, strengthen operations, and better meet the
needs of our riders.
Safety has also remained a top priority of the board
under my leadership. Security and police deployment throughout the
system has increased, an initiative I strongly advocated for
because our riders and employees deserve to feel
safe every time they use our system.
While we're seeing encouraging early indicators,
I have consistently said that statistics alone are not
enough.
Our success will ultimately be measured by whether people feel safe
and choose CTA with confidence.
Financial stewardship has been equally important.
During my tenure, the board has unanimously adopted a balanced
operating budget every year.
I want to acknowledge the Illinois General Assembly and Governor Pritzker
for their leadership in approving the funding that allowed CTA to
avoid a devastating fiscal cliff.
That critical funding has enabled CTA to maintain service while
continuing to plan responsibly for the future.
Under my leadership, the board has also advanced the most
significant capital investment in our agency's
history, the Red Line Extension.
From improving the design build contract in
2024 to celebrating the recent
groundbreaking, we have reached milestone after
milestone on a project that has been decades in the making.
For the residents of the far South Side, this project represents more
than new infrastructure. It represents greater access to
jobs, education, healthcare, and economic
opportunity.
On the governance front, under my leadership, for the first time in several years,
all three statutory advisory committees actively engaged in supporting
the board's work.
In 2025, we held the board's first strategic retreat
to better align governance priorities with CTA's long-term
strategic plan. The agency has also received
clean financial audits each year, reflecting our
commitment to transparency, accountability, and sound
fiscal oversight.
Throughout my service on the board, I have worked to foster productive
relationships with agency leaders, employees, labor
partners, community stakeholders, and our sister transit
agencies.
I believe good governance requires both collaboration and
accountability.
I know that there have been questions regarding my views on the region's new
governance structure under the NIDA law.
Let me be clear.
I support the reforms enacted by the new law
and fully embrace the spirit of regional coordination that they
represent.
At the same time,
I believe successful regional governance depends on strong
service boards faithfully carrying out the responsibilities
assigned to them under the law.
Regional coordination and independent board governance are not
competing ideas. They simply reinforce one
another.
We can build a stronger regional transit network while
remaining
accountable for delivering safe, reliable, and accessible
services to the communities each of us are charged to
serve.
That has been my approach throughout this transition, and it will continue
to be my approach if I'm given the privilege of serving another term.
I've always believed that the public trust is earned through steady
leadership, sound judgment, and a commitment to doing what
is in the best interest of the people we serve.
If appointed,
I will continue to lead with integrity,
independence, collaboration,
and an unwavering focus on our riders, employees,
and most importantly, our taxpayers.
Thank you again for your consideration.
It has been an honor to serve, and I would be grateful for the opportunity to
continue serving the people of Chicago. Thank you.
Thank you. Now hear from Dennis Mondero.
Good afternoon, Chairman Mitchell, Vice Chairman Vasquez,
and members of the Transportation Committee.
I'm truly honored to be with all of you today.
I'm Dennis Mondero, and I ask for your consideration to be
appointed to the board of directors for NITA, the Northern Illinois Transit
Authority, and for METRA.
For those of you who voted to appoint me to the RTA two years ago,
thank you for your past support,
and for any of you who I am meeting for the first time,
I appreciate meeting you, and I thank all of you for your consideration.
As some of you are aware, I used to be the executive director for Chinese Mutual
Aid Association, a nonprofit that assists immigrants and
refugees. I transitioned back to practicing law as the
general counsel for Akira, a Chicago-based women's fashion
apparel retailer.
I'm proud to say we've grown from our first retail store in Bucktown to
over 40 locations in 19 states, and we have a
robust national e-commerce presence.
In a city that birthed Marshall Fields, Sears Roebuck, and
Montgomery Ward, I'm proud to be part of Akira as we strive to
become the next national retailer, proudly headquartered in Chicago.
But my great love has been in public transit, as I previously
served as deputy chief of staff, then chief administrative officer
for the Chicago Transit Authority.
In those roles, I managed multiple departments at the CTA, including
human resources, procurement,
warehouse, and strategic planning.
So I'm intimately familiar with how one of the largest transit agencies in
the country is successfully run, and I'm intimately
familiar with the 24-hour, 365-day
nature of the responsibility.
Serving on the RTA board these past two years, I've been very
involved in effectuating policy for our region's overall Transit
Oversight Board, and I also had the opportunity to be involved in the
passage of NITA, infusing an additional $1.5 billion
annually into our region's public transit system.
I've been in Springfield multiple times, along with representatives from the
mayor's office, meeting with state legislators and advocating
to them to fund transit, along with many esteemed council members who
also went to Springfield.
I'm a regular weekly CTA rider, taking it to work, play,
the airport, really everywhere.
While I take METRA less often, I do take it regularly, using it for my
doctor's visits to Evanston and for taking it to Ravinia, as
my wife and I find it can often be faster than traveling by
car. I would be honored to be appointed to NITA and
METRA's board of directors, and pledge to be a thoughtful advocate for
Chicago riders in both roles. I am happy to answer any
of your questions.
Thank you. Now we hear from Natasha Jenkins.
Thank you. Good afternoon, Chairman Mitchell,
Vice Chair Vasquez, as well as committee members.
My name is Natasha Jenkins, and I thank you for the opportunity to speak
with you today.
My nomination to the Northern Illinois Transit Authority and Pace boards
reflect both my professional experience and my lifelong connection
to Chicago's communities and transit systems.
I was born here in Chicago. It's my hometown.
My family has deep roots in Englewood, where I
lived for most of my childhood life.
At one point, my family moved over to Bronzeville.
However, I'll never forget those many, many years during high
school where I was tasked with taking multiple buses and
trains to the north side of Chicago to get to a school that I won a
scholarship to.
I've commuted on multiple buses and trains throughout my life.
Even today, I've recently moved from the Bronzeville area with
my fiancé, to Beverly and Morgan
Park, where the Rock Island
line will become one of my new modes of public transit into downtown.
Chicago's transit system is not abstract to me.
It is a part of my family's history, my neighborhood's identity, and
my own lived experience as a rider.
Professionally, I have spent over a decade working
at the intersection of transportation, labor relations, and
public sector law. My resume reflects that commitment.
At the Chicago Transit Authority, I served as a senior attorney, where I handled
complex federal and
state employment litigation and worked on workforce
compliance matters,
ensuring safe, reliable operations for both employees
and riders. At United Airlines,
I worked on administrating the rules and policies under the
Railway Labor Act while managing grievance proceedings,
handling mediations, and contract disputes that
directly impacted transportation, community, and labor stability.
As a labor attorney,
I have negotiated collective bargaining agreements and resolved
workplace issues for public sector workers, including
first responders, whose work is intertwined with regional
mobility.
My prior and current role as an attorney at Clark Hill, I have
advised government agencies and transportation adjacent
employers on compliance, risk management, and operational
integrity.
I also bring board governments. As you may know, this is a
reappointment for me. I served on the Regional Transit Authority
for almost two years during the fiscal crisis.
Additionally, I have served as a board member and a past
president of the Cook County Bar Association, which
advocates for equity and justice in our community.
These experiences, combined with my personal connection to Chicago's
neighborhoods and my reliance on public transportation, shape
how I approach transportation governments.
I understand the operational, legal, labor, and community
dimensions of these systems,
and I have a track record of resolving complex challenges in the
way that protects both employers, the workforce,
and public service.
I am an advocate. I am a collaborator.
If confirmed, I will focus on strengthening service reliability,
improving coordination across agencies, and ensuring that NITA
and Pace operate with accountability, equity, and
professionalism that the public deserves.
I am committed to working collaboratively with City Council,
with our regional partners and community stakeholders to
advance transportation systems that are safe, accessible,
and sustainable for every single neighborhood.
Thank you for your consideration and for the trust
in this nomination. I am prepared to serve with
integrity, diligence, and deep respect for the
responsibility this board role carries. Thank you.
Now we hear from Dee Atkins.
Good afternoon, Chairman Mitchell and members of the Transportation Committee.
It's an honor to sit before you this afternoon in consideration of this
appointment. My name is Dee Atkins, and I am a proud
Chicago native who has lived on all sides of our city.
From Lawndale in Austin to Roseland and Woodlawn,
Chatham, Auburn Gresham, and even in Uptown.
I've had my share of experiences in communities and using
public transportation to get around.
One of my earliest memories is riding with my family from the West
Side to the South Side to church about four to five
days a week. We were pretty devout.
I am the oldest of six children from a family that had no car for many
years. We'd take the green line, transfer to the red line,
and then catch the 79th Street bus.
Being so young, I did not realize it, but I know now that
riding public transit was more than just the way we traveled to the city.
It was a lifeline that connected us to our faith.
My direct work in community engagement has also given me a
unique perspective on public transportation itself.
Currently, I am the chief of community engagement and equity at
Thresholds. Thresholds is one of Illinois's largest
organizations in behavioral health care, and we partner
directly with CTA and other public agencies to reach
individuals with severe mental illness who rely on transit
and the systems every single day. Our outreach teams
engage with people who ride trains, are at stations, and go
throughout the system, and we connect them to behavioral health care,
housing, and other critical services.
I know because I have gone with them on the blue line and
rendered services to individuals in crisis.
Now, while it might not be apparent at first glance, in my
experience as someone who uses public transit,
namely the Metra Rock Island and the red line, I've
certainly seen great improvements and opportunities to make things
better.
While I appreciate the transition to Ventra cards and the
integration of fares, I get flustered because depending on the
time, I may have to pay again when transferring from the Metra to the
L. Arrival times are published so I can plan when to walk to
my station, but that doesn't help when there's a service delay.
Nevertheless, I commend our transit systems for its continued
efforts to enhance the rider experience and for
considering me to govern its regional board.
For more than 20 years, I've led organizations
and initiatives that require executive decision-making,
financial stewardship, and cross-sector collaboration.
So, if confirmed to serve on this board, I will bring that
same strategic guidance, deep commitment to community
that has aided in my success over all these years.
I believe public transportation should not only move people from point
A to B, but it should also give them confidence that they will
arrive safely, reliably, and with dignity.
And with that, I am ready to serve. Thank you.
All right. So,
before I proceed with questions from the body, I want to, for purpose of
quorum, acknowledge
Alderman Rodriguez, who's pursuant to World 59, Alderman
Fuentes, and I think we already
acknowledged Alderman Irving. All right. Mm-hmm.
Thank you, Chair.
And non-member Alderman Mitts.
All right. I will start off questions
for the five nominees to NITA with Alderman
Waguespack.
No, that's fine. I'll hold it there.
Thank you, Chairman.
I want to thank all of you for
your comments about what you're planning to do with each
one of the agencies here.
I had a couple of questions, but first,
I really just want to
mention, and this isn't really for the candidates, but my
expressed disappointment again
in the administration's abuse of the city council rules of order.
We saw it this morning,
where in the housing committee,
several appointees had to be held up because of the
inconsistent and unfair and non-transparent abuse
of the democratic process that comes through our rules of
order in the city council.
I know that we are in a situation here with Nita, where we are
at a deadline situation, September 1st.
And we have to do this without delay because the administration waited until the
last possible minute to put the appointees forward.
And
so our backs are up against the wall to make sure that
out of the box, the people that are being appointed
here today can
get to work
with Nita. But again, I just want to say that
I find it
disheartening that this pattern of abuse of the city council rules of
order on direct introductions, which are very clear in our
rules of order,
continues to be abused by the Johnson administration.
So, thank you, Chairman, for letting me start off with that.
But
I worked with several of the appointees here over the last several years.
I think the work that they've been doing in many different aspects of governing
local government has been excellent.
When we look at the whole list of people,
there are questions that have arisen
from a lot of our constituents, but also from a lot of aldermen.
And if I could ask just a couple of those, Chairman, I would appreciate it.
Okay.
So for Mr. Barclay and Mr. Ade,
what is your position on the temporary law enforcement task force,
and how will you improve it
in your positions to make sure that the increase in public
safety and the decrease in crime on the
CTA, for instance, continues to take that
trajectory?
How specifically have you thought about improving it as you're appointed to these
new positions?
Thank you, Alderman, for that question.
The safety of the CTA's riders and employees
is a number one priority.
And it's not simply just vital statistics,
but it's the peace of mind that our riders should enjoy.
I support any effort,
any collaborative effort that is going to improve the
quality of safety and security for our commuters.
If that is the Chicago Police,
if that is the Cook County Sheriff's Police,
if it's any other entity that is going to associate
or collaborate to bring that into
fruition, I support that 100%. I like the
results that we're getting right now with the sheriff's police
assisting.
I think that it's long overdue. We all recognize that CPD
has been down a couple thousand officers,
and so they can only give us what they actually would
have. And so I think that we're moving
in the right direction with this collaborative effort, and I support that
100%.
As you look for those collaborative efforts, they have a
report that's coming out. Have you been in contact with those
agencies as they're working through that report to
see where those improvements can be made?
Are they saying, "This looks good, but we need to
improve in one or two aspects of it," preliminarily to the report coming
out?
I have gone to the transitional meetings.
I have listened to the reports that have come through those efforts.
I know it's early on, but I know it's moving in the right
direction.
Okay.
Chairman, I would ask if anyone else would like to answer that
through the chair, I would appreciate it, so they don't have to answer it at the
moment, because I know we're looking at Metra, Pace-
Okay
... varying agencies.
Will do.
The
other issue here is
the tax set up, the sales taxes. I wonder if you could give, each one
of you could discuss that briefly about how you think that
will
satisfy the needs of the Nita as a whole, or if
we need to look to something else to build
on the sales tax, which is a portion
more for Cook County and the city than it is in the suburbs.
What will you do to continue to improve the finances of the
Nita organization?
All right.
Anyone.
So I'll go in order.
Alderman?
Oh, is it on? Yeah. Thank you for that question.
For us, having a sustainable funding
structure for both NITA and CTA is
very important. I think that one of the things that is exciting with the
new NITA law is to be able to work among both NITA and
CTA to not only oversee the fiduciary side, but then also on the
operating and service side. So I am very excited to be able to now be on
that
dual capacity role, to be able to do that.
And I'm just excited that we are going to be able to have a sustainable funding
source now in the state, right? That it's no longer just reliant on, let's
say, a COVID grant or a what have you grant, right?
That now we will have something in the state that will continue to fund transit.
Lester Barclay.
I support the increase in the sales tax to support public
transportation. I think in Illinois, public
transportation had not been properly funded,
and I think this is a great opportunity to see what we can do with
resources that the state has entrusted with us,
and so that we can be guardians of those resources and do the best
job we can to provide safe and reliable
transportation
for the taxpayers.
All right. Dennis Majora.
Hi, Alderman Raggsback. On
June 1st, when the legislation passed for
NITA, I probably, as an RTA board member, voted
to increase the RTA tax. I say that generally,
questions of tax are above my pay grade.
But
I did advocate that the region will really benefit
from that $1.5 billion annually, and that's the
starting point, right? And can we have a world-class system
that you see in some parts of Europe and Asia?
I think that this is a really great step in terms of NITA to
having the best regional transportation
system in the United States.
Natasha Jenkins.
Thank you. So sales tax has long been
a part of how we look to fund transit.
I think in this case, with a fiscal cliff looming,
I, as well, was in support of a slight increase, but
not in a silo. The NITA
legislation actually requires for us to find
efficiencies. I think it's about $46 billion in efficiencies the
service boards have to look for. So we can't just
increase tax without looking at other measures to fund
transit to make it effective and sufficient.
Also, fare caps, that is another area we need to look
at. While we're taxing people, we need to make sure that we are also being
fair as we look at how much it
costs to ride the system.
Thank you.
Dee Atkins.
Thank you for that question, Alderman Raggsback.
I also agree in the sales tax, and also the
need to explore options that ensure financial
sustainability, and so I look forward to working with my colleagues across
this
desk to ensure that that happens. Thank you.
Thank you. And Chairman,
I'll let you jump back into the others here, but
the only other issue that I have here, I think, is for the first
time since the Harold Washington administration, we're not seeing a disability
advocate on the CTA side of
the ledger here. And I am very appreciative that
Karen Tamley, our former commissioner, is being appointed for
Pace.
So hopefully can bring that experience that she has shared with us
for over two decades,
probably three decades, sorry,
that
many of us have learned from her over the years as a commissioner in
different aspects of what it takes for people with
disabilities to
get around Chicago, and in this case, Pace.
But,
again, I was hoping to see someone on the CTA side that
had that experience, since this is the first time in decades that we will not have
that. So,
thank you very much for your time, each one of you, and I'll give it
back to you, Chairman. Thank you.
Okay.
Alderman, you know I work with you on that.
Come up with somebody next time around. All right.
Vice Chair Vasquez.
Thank you, Chairman.
I
may ask for a round two. I'll try not to. All right.
It'll be round two.
I'm going to work on it. I'll ask everyone first that's a nominee
kind of the same questions to kind of get quick answers across the board.
Number one,
when was the last time, and how frequently have you
ridden or ride the public transit system?
If you guys say today, I'm not going to count it, so I'd like to see where else.
Start wherever and go down the whole list. Thank you.
Who did you direct that at?
All of them.
Oh.
Yeah.
All right. Starting order.
All right. Oswaldo Alvarez.
Thank you. Thank you, Vice Chair. I take it regularly.
I just took it, of course, today. I take it to go to the airport.
I live in the northwest side. For me, there's no way I'm driving to O'Hare, for
example, or there's no way I'm driving to downtown.
Okay.
All right.
Lester Barclay.
Of course, I took it today. But I take it at least,
I make it a point to get on it at least once a week. At least once a week.
Okay.
Dennis Majora.
And I took it, apart from today, I took it Friday to go to work.
So
the Damen Bus to the Green Line, most people take it eastbound to
go to the Loop. I took it west to California, where our office is.
Today, I went back to my old neighborhood and took the Metra Electric
from Hyde Park. But I'm getting used to taking the Rock
Island train as I move into my new neighborhood on Beverly and
Morgan Park area.
Thank you for that question. I did not take public transit today.
However, I live in walking distance of the
Metra Rock Island. I'm a Beverly resident
now, and took it to the Pride
parade and also to the Taste of Chicago.
Thank you.
Go ahead. We only deal with NITA at this time.
Huh?
We only deal with the NITA guys.
Okay.
The NITA appointments.
We're good on those.
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Okay. Next question for, again, all the above.
Given, obviously, the new world we're living in with NITA in existence,
from each of you, what do you believe to be the most exciting
opportunity that NITA presents? And what do you see as
the biggest challenge going forward with it and any of
the associated transit boards?
Oswaldo.
Thank you for that question. The most exciting part of
it is actually the integration part of it, I would say, and
also on my capacity to be able to serve on both.
So not just on the part of the fiduciary and awarding and what have you, but then
also on the operating side and making sure things are executed.
And then vice versa, being able to take that over to NITA and advocate for
CTA inside of that board. So for me, that's the exciting part of being
able to do both of those things. And I think that that's the challenge because what
we're talking is new, right? And so integration is going to be new, but
I know that that's going to be the focus, so...
Thank you.
Next, Mark Lane.
I think it's two points. First is the collaboration.
I think sitting down with other agencies under an umbrella
and sharing information, I think is critical to the success
of regional transportation. So the regionalization of
transit is going to have a
great impact on local transit agencies as well.
The second thing that I see are economies of scales.
There are things that we can purchase together through the procurement
process that we've been purchasing independently.
And I think that the taxpayers can save money by us basically working
together collaboratively to procure
services and goods that are needed by all of the systems as well.
Dennis Mondiro.
Vice Chairman Vasquez, I will echo what my colleague
Oswaldo Alvarez talked about, the collaboration on
different boards. NITA having you
consider appointing us to multiple boards is actually a direct
response to the Eno Center report out of Washington, DC.
They looked at other transit systems, including New York MTA,
and when we ride New York MTA, I didn't realize until I read that Eno
report that it's actually multiple different agencies, public and
private, that are all under the MTA umbrella, which is kind of like what
NITA is designed to do. And
I think that having worked at CTA, having been on the RTA board,
people are siloed in the different service boards and even at
the RTA. The left hand doesn't often talk to the right hand.
And I think integrating different people of the NITA board
into the
service boards, I think will really help
that collaboration and that ongoing
continuity that, hey, the strategic initiatives that we're thinking about
as a region, are
they being carried out at the day-to-day service level?
And if not, is there a good reason that the service boards can
inform the people
in strategy, "Hey, you guys are flawed in your reasoning." Right?
So I think that there'll be a lot more integration vertically on that, as well
as horizontally between the service boards.
And obviously, the legislature's
commitment that post-COVID, we live in a world
where people are Zooming, and so there's a lot
less ridership that came off because of COVID.
And so having this infusion of funding to make sure that it's not
only that we could sustain the ridership, but then grow
it, I think that that's also going to be very monumental.
Natasha Jenkins.
Mr. Mondiro stole most of my answer.
But I too,
being both of us new to the RTA board, we
saw a lot of the service boards working in silos.
And sometimes when you put a fresh set of eyes on things, you can
identify where we can improve.
I had a conversation with Pace not too long ago
about some of the cool technology that they're using, how they're
collaborating with CDOT, how they're looking at traffic
signal priorities in order to speed up
transit. And I had to ponder the question, all
the service boards should be working together and learning from each other so that
we can provide faster and more sustainable transit.
So I am looking forward to that collaboration in areas where
the service boards can learn from each other and pushing that.
Thank you. Dee Atkins.
Thank you for that question.
I am excited because I am
alongside individuals who are
either up for reappointment or have some
former engagement with one of the transit systems.
And so I look forward to working alongside them.
As someone who's coming in, when Natasha talked about fresh set of
eyes, someone who's touched communities, is an active
listener, who's able to look at data and be able to draw
conclusions accordingly. I'm looking forward to
building those relationships and enhancing the infrastructures
across our systems. So, thank you.
Thank you very much.
Bye.
Is that everybody?
Yep.
Okay.
Next question,
it's more specifically for certain members.
So, Ms. Atkins,
given that Thresholds is a contractor with transit agencies such as
CTA, do you envision there being any instances in which this will require you to
recuse yourself on any matters, leaving the city potentially less
represented in discussions?
Thank you for that question, and I understand where that is coming from.
I will say that my appointment to the NITA
board, if there are any conflicts of
interest associated with the work that I do as an employee of Thresholds,
I don't consider that there will be very many.
But if any of those matters arise, that I would then
recuse myself. But I want to make note that I
recognize my position as a board member
of NITA and what that entails. Thank you.
Yeah. No, I appreciate that because I think I can see both sides of the equation.
When we look at how we're addressing some of the populations that are currently
living in the system, we want to be informed by subject
matter experts. And also when it comes to contracting, there might be a conflict
there. So I think being able to be transparent and having full candor on the front
end is probably the best way to move forward, so I appreciate the answer.
My next question is for Mr. Barclay.
So as was made mention multiple times in public
comment,
there's reference to your editorial in the Tribune.
In reading it,
I can fairly say I understand the take, that there might be
some level of exchange and a concern about what you lose in that
exchange when you're getting the funding in a system, but not necessarily
having the same amount of weight
as a city might have had but for that.
I think in your introductory comment, it felt a little bit
less like the statement in the editorial.
It felt a little more like, hey, there's a spirit of collaboration, and we can all
work together, in a way that, to me, felt a little bit like there's a
dissonance between that and the editorial.
So
can you articulate more about your concern about the power the city
loses in NITA, as someone who's being nominated to serve?
Thank you for that question, Alderman.
The editorial or the op-ed, however you want to describe it,
basically outlined concerns that I expressed
that there's going to be a change,
and
the cost that's going
to be incurred as a result of that change.
It wasn't in opposition of reform.
It wasn't in opposition of collaboration.
It was basically to say that
one has to look and ask
if someone who, let's say, is in an adjoining county,
has a realistic understanding of what it's like to be a rider on
the Red Line or the Green Line.
And so what I simply said, or attempted to say
in the statement to the Tribune, was basically
sometimes we give up things in order to receive certain things.
But I support collaboration. I support working with
other agencies under one umbrella to make sure that we deliver the best service
that we can for the citizens of Chicago and the region.
I appreciate that. So just to understand it correctly,
I understand the general point, but you mentioned
somebody else on the board may not know the exact experience of riding on
the Red Line or riding on the train, and you think that something
might be lost in the translation by someone who's not riding it that often to then
be able to inform the direction CTA could go in, for
example.
Exactly.
Would that be the standard that you apply to Dorval Carter?
Well, I can't speak for Dorval Carter.
No, meaning-
I can speak for myself
... to your point, if the concern is that somebody who's serving in the role may
not ride the train or bus or any system at all, to then help
direct that system, then when you see someone who was the president of CTA, who
himself was not riding it at all, and when many of the public had concerns about
ghost buses, a lack of reliability, a lack of safety,
did that not same threshold apply?
Yes, it did. And so,
it's the same yardstick that we would use across the board.
People should understand what it's like to have to hop on the Green
Line or wait for your train a little bit longer than you anticipated on the
Red Line, or your bus is late. Everybody needs to experience
that. I've experienced it. I waited, and I think
that, like I said, I can't speak for former President
Dorval Carter, but I can speak for myself.
It's frustrating when you basically don't fully
understand the dynamics that go into that.
CTA is complex and so there are a lot of moving parts
there.
Yeah.
But I think that anybody who leads should basically understand.
I appreciate that, and like I said, I understand the take in the op-ed.
I think so
part of my not being clear on articulating my pivot,
we had a whole two years where members
of this council and members of the public wanted to see the
CTA president removed because of a lack of safety and
reliability, ghost buses that weren't being improved.
And when this council asked for that CTA president to come before us, he
denied wanting to do so, to the point that I had to write legislation and pass
it through this council through two terms to finally get him to come appear
before us. So my concern is more in your role on the
CTA board, not having that same level of accountability and
transparency for someone who didn't have the respect of the actual riders of the
transit system when they were articulating concerns and none of them were
addressed. So I think my question is What
was accountability supposed to look like when it wasn't occurring on the CTA board,
given President Dorval Carter's inability to take seriously the
safety and reliability being expressed by the people who ride it?
Thank you, Alderman.
I understand your frustration and your concern.
I can tell you that when you reached out to me,
I engaged with you. We've talked before,
and we've had dialogue, as well as me with other members of city council.
I respect this institution, and I respect the members that make this body
up. And so all we do is encourage leadership
to meet with the city council.
There was no restraints on Mr. Carter for meeting with the city council at all.
We encouraged him to meet with the city council.
So I can't take full responsibility for his actions,
but I can tell you that there were no restraints on him at all.
Yeah, I appreciate that. And for clarity,
my assertion isn't that you were holding him back from appearing.
It was in the conversations you and I had, in other conversations with
other alders. They may have occurred behind closed doors, but none of that was
being held to the public, who is expecting a level of transparency, and we're not
receiving it. And so rather than not restraining
President Carter at the time, it's more about putting him on blast publicly if
there is that concern and not seeing that happen at the board.
And so I think that, for me, is a much larger concern in any board
because,
to what my colleagues brought up earlier, we have enough concerns about appointees
being directly introduced rather than a fulsome conversation or any kind
of heads-up. And that's not you at all, right?
That's actually the administration and their process, which I have a concern about.
But in your role at the CTA board, not seeing a level of
transparency and accountability related to President Dorval Carter and how
hard we as a council had to push as elected officials to
get him to come into the room was a problem.
And so I
don't want to belabor the point because I think it's pretty clear.
I won't be supportive of
Mr. Barclay's appointment only because of past history.
I have two larger questions for everybody here.
One, what does accountability and transparency look like to each of you
if you're to serve on this board?
And that's to everyone.
Oswaldo Aviles.
Thank you for that.
Accountability,
serving on this board is, as I'm saying, this will be a dual appointment,
and for me, and it's related to my answer earlier
about why I'm excited about it and that what it would look
like is that now that I'm in the NITA board and then CTA, I will be able to see
if CTA is truly delivering on what they promised, if you
will. And then also on the NITA side of it,
for us to, once we do evaluations or what have you, to be able to
see as a whole, what are the gaps that need to be filled
so that CTA can be the best system ever.
Mr. Barclay. Yes. So Alderman,
transparency is very important.
And
it is something that I've
tried to do all of my life to basically be supportive in
ways that basically maintain integrity,
and I'm an open book. I've always been an open book.
And so I support any process that is going to
enhance the visibility of leadership and hold leadership
accountable.
Dennis Mondero.
Vice Chairman Vasquez, when I am thinking of how to answer your
question, it actually brings me back to my former
work experience, having been deputy buildings commissioner.
And every year,
all the city departments come before the city council for budget hearings.
And my experience back then was that if you were
doing a decent job as a deputy commissioner, you'll get a lot of
compliments, and if you were not being
transparent and accountable,
all the alders would gang up on you.
And I would see many a colleague within my department or
in other departments that would get beat up a bit because they weren't
doing the work on the daily. I pride myself that
during those years when I was the
deputy commissioner,
eventually, I was first the new guy, wasn't allowed to speak, and by the end of it,
I was often when there was a new commissioner, they'd be like,
"No, Commissioner, we're going to have Dennis speak to the city council," because
they knew that I gave that daily
trust and credit, and that my word is my bond, and that I would deliver
because at the end of the day, all of us are doing this for the citizens of
Chicago. And that love for our city and that passion
to do what's right, I think, for me, is how I
define my personal
accountability and transparency for you.
Thank you.
Natasha Jenkins.
Yes.
Accountability and transparency.
In the law, one thing that lawyers do often is discovery,
and I think that it requires to do a diligent amount of discovery.
Being new to the NITA board over the last two years, we were often
faced with facts, data,
but it requires pushing back and asking questions so that you can really
not just look at a number, but really understand the basis behind the
number. And so, during my time, I took time to meet with
staff when I had questions and to do my homework or to do discovery,
and that's what it's going to take so that you can be able to
make decisions based on your integrity and understanding of
the problem.
Thank you.
Dee Atkins?
Thank you for that question. I realize that we're working
across systems where there are diverse
stakeholders, and I have a lot of
experience in bringing people together, having
conversations,
and being a
key listener during those conversations.
And so when I think about transparency, it really
is sort of being open, honest,
having integrity, but also sort of laying it all out there.
And though sometimes it's difficult in various situations,
there is a way for accountability to surface,
even during those challenging situations across systems where
there are diverse stakeholders
involved. And so I look forward to, again, working
alongside my colleagues on this board to
ensure that there is fair
and adequate transparency and accountability for all of us
and for the riders across the systems. Thank you.
Thank you. Chairman, one last question. Yes or no.
There might be multiple iterations of it. It's a two-parter.
Yes, no is all I need.
Part one, do you commit to report back to this council on a regular basis as
ANITA and its updates? And two, do you commit to meeting with the advocates on a
regular basis as well?
Yes.
Is that one yes or two yeses? I want them on the record.
Yes to both.
Was that-
Yes
to both.
Okay. Sorry. Thank you.
Are there any nos?
Absolutely.
Same for me. Yes. Thank you, Alderman.
You all on the record. I don't got a Bible or nothing, but fair enough. Okay.
All right.
Thank you very much. Those are all the questions I have.
All right.
Thank you.
All right. So at this time, I will move
past each item separately. So on the appointment of Oswaldo
Alvarez, can I get a motion to recommend approval?
Alderman Moore so moves. On the motion, all in favor say aye. Opposed, no.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
On the appointment of Lester Barclay, can I get a motion to recommend approval of
this item? Alderman Moore so moves. On the motion, all in favor say aye.
Opposed, no.
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Vice Chair Vasquez will be noted as a no.
On the appointment of Dennis Mondero,
can I get a motion to recommend approval of this item?
Alderman
Gutierrez so moves. On the motion, all in favor say aye.
Opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
On the appointment of Natasha Jenkins, can I get a motion from Alderman Moore to
recommend approval? Alderman Moore so moves.
On the motion, all in favor say aye. Opposed, no.
On the motion,
the ayes have it. On the appointment of Dee Atkins,
can I get a motion from Alderman Yancy to recommend approval?
Alderman Yancy so moves. On the motion, all in favor say aye.
Opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Congratulations to the five new appointees to the ANITA board.
Barclay, I know you have to go, so...
No, that's right. I was checking that.
I'm checking. Got it. All right.
Move down.
There we
are. Okay, so we'll proceed with the
next three appointees.
So page three, item six, appointment
of Christian Diaz
as member of the Metra Commuter Rail Board for a term effective September 1st,
2026 and expiring September 1st,
2031.
I'm going to
do it this-- You know what? No, I'll handle them individually.
So,
Christian, I'll let you make your statement this time.
Thank you, Chair.
Good afternoon, Chairman Mitchell, Vice Chairman Vasquez,
and members of the Transportation Committee.
It's great to see you again today.
Thank you for the honor of making me the first openly LGBTQ+
person appointed to the Metra board when you approved my nomination in April.
I am here today as you consider my reappointment to Metra.
My name is Christian Diaz. I believe everyone, no matter their race,
income, immigration status, disability, and gender
expression deserves safe, reliable, and affordable transportation.
My parents are SEIU Local 1 members who work downtown, and my
family has relied on public transit all my life.
Like many Chicagoans, I have depended on transit to get to school and to work,
and I know what it's like to not be able to afford a car.
Active Transportation Alliance, who endorsed my
appointment, note that one in four Chicagoans do not drive because of age,
disability, or choice.
In the brief time since my appointment, I have worked to lift up community
voices. Recently, I joined a call with Metra leadership,
Alderman Yancy, and the South Shore Chamber of Commerce to support their
request to rename Metra stations near the Obama
Presidential Center.
I personally invited other stakeholders to join this call as well.
I was also honored to speak recently at Metra's first ever Pride Alliance
event for LGBTQIA+ staff. I am the only
Latinx and the only LGBTQ+ person on the Metra
board, and I do not take that responsibility lightly.
Our mandate is clear. Integrate service and fares across CTA,
Metra, and Pace. Improve safety and accessibility, and
expand frequent all-day service.
Metra is key to this vision, especially for workers, students,
caregivers, and seniors who travel outside traditional peak hours.
I want to speak to three of my qualifications.
I have significant experience in transportation planning and community
engagement, leading several award-winning plans that center racial equity,
transit, and affordable housing.
In my role at Lucha, I help lead major projects in transit-served
locations, such as La Herencia Apartments, an equitable
transit-oriented development near the California Blue Line
station. As a co-chair with Elevated Chicago, I have been
a champion for equitable transit-oriented development for a decade.
Lastly, I have 15 years experience working closely with
community-based organizations.
These are core qualifications highlighted for transit board members under the
NITA Act. Thank you again for your consideration.
If I earn your support, I would be honored to continue to serve and collaborate
with the members of this body, and I welcome your questions.
All right. Thank you.
Any questions for Cristian Diaz from the members of the body?
Vice Chair Vasquez?
Thank you very much, Chairman.
Yeah, I think I'll
ask same questions I asked generally of the folks before.
When was the last time, and how frequently
have you ridden or ride the public transit system?
Thank you for that question, Alderman Vasquez.
I take the Metra in to every Metra board meeting.
I've only been to two officially so far.
But that is my commitment, and I frequently ride the CTA,
especially the Blue Line and the Diversity bus.
I live a couple blocks from my mom, but because
it's been so hot,
I'll take the bus a couple blocks.
That's real.
Especially now that I have the privilege of having this fancy Metra pass or a CTA
pass, so quite frequently.
Okay. Thank you.
What do you view as a way to improve transparency and accountability as it
relates to Metra?
Transparency and accountability, I really like your suggestion, Alderman
Vasquez, of meeting regularly with advocates.
I have existing relationships with some of the folks on the other side of this
room. I'm actually more used to being on that side than on this side.
So I think accountability and transparency to me means keeping
my decisions public and in conversation with the
people who are most directly impacted.
I have 15 years experience in community organizing, bringing people together.
So I'm quite confident in my ability to do that.
Sure. How many months since you weren't on that side of the
board?
My appointment was approved in April.
When's the last time you met with them?
With Kyle? We actually just did a walkthrough about a month ago for the Logan
Square traffic circle redesign,
to kind of assess bike lanes and how helpful or not
helpful they are. And, I'm actually very interested in continuing
that conversation as a Logan Square resident to improve the bike lane
infrastructure.
I appreciate the answer on multiple counts.
One, that you guys have talked, but now you got me thinking about local.
So as it pertains to Metra, Union Pacific, our viaducts, the
inability to clean those viaducts, to maintain the viaducts.
You're watching cement literally in our ward coming off the top of
the viaduct in a tunnel that's all related to Union Pacific.
When you go to Union Pacific, they're not really doing much to address it.
What role do you think Metra can play to make sure that we have better
accountability as it relates to that?
Because I live by the Peterson Metra station,
and it needs some cleaning. It's brand new, and needs cleaning, and
needs loving, and it doesn't have the upkeep that even I see on just
regular viaducts. So
does that come up in the conversations? What does accountability look like there?
Thank you, Alderman, for that question.
We also have public comment monthly at the Metra board meetings.
I pay careful attention to those. I care a lot about what constituents have to
say and
I've only been on the Metra board for a few months, but I do
appreciate the South Shore Chamber of Commerce, for example,
providing public comment at the Metra board meeting and requesting a follow-up
meeting with Metra leadership to discuss exactly what you just described,
which is viaducts and infrastructure that's aging, that's falling apart, that's
unclean, that lends itself to
a perception that the neighborhood is unsafe.
And,
just those simple public comments followed by
some follow-up calls with Metra leadership. Alderman Yancy was there.
I was able to invite Center for Neighborhood Technology.
Emerald South was also able to participate.
I was really happy that even before the meeting took place, I started getting
messages that the stations were being improved already.
And so I think collaboration, especially with advocates and community-based
organizations, is key.
No, I appreciate that. I'm glad this came up because I apologize for not
reaching out to you sooner because we're about to be best buddies while we fix
stuff in your ward.
In a few months.
Yeah.
I hope we can work together.
So definitely, and meeting other folks on the board and kind of-- It's been a
challenge because Union Pacific isn't Metra, but obviously there's the inherent
relationship. So I think
that's in my interest. And then, yes, I'll formally ask the question you alluded
to. Do you commit to reporting back to this council, and do you commit
to meeting regularly with the advocates?
Yes and yes.
Okay. That's all I got, Chairman.
All right.
Do we have any more questions from members of the body?
All right.
On the appointment of Cristian Diaz, can I get a motion to recommend approval of
this item?
Alderman Gutierrez so moves. On the motion, all in favor say aye.
Opposed, no. In the opinion of Chair, the ayes have it.
Congratulations, Cristian.
Oh, I apologize.
The objections of S- To this
appointment by Alderman Scott Waguespack and Alderman Sam
Whitcomb, the news then will be noted.
Okay. So the next two appointments I'll take together because they're both for
appointments for the Chicago Transit Board.
Yes. Page four, item seven, appointment of Michael
Eady as a member of the Chicago Transit Board for a term effective
September 1st, 2026, and expiring September 1st,
2029. And page four, item eight,
appointment of Karen Tamley
as a member
of the Chicago Transit Board for a term effective September 1st, 2026, and
expiring September 1st, 2029.
At this time, an opportunity for Michael Eady.
One second.
Oh.
One second, think I have a mistake.
Okay.
All right.
Had a
slight error. So page four, item
seven, that is correct, the appointment of Michael Eady to the Chicago
Transit Board. But page four, item eight,
the appointment of Karen Tamley is as a member of the
Chicago Pace Board for a term effective September 1st, 2026,
and expiring September 1st, 2029.
All right. This time, Michael Eady, your remarks?
Yes.
Good afternoon, Chairman Greg Mitchell, and members of the
Transportation and Public Works Committee.
My name is Michael Eady, a Chicago native.
I was raised primarily on the west side
of the city of Chicago. I currently serve as
member of the Chicago Transit Board.
But I'm also the president of the People's Community Development
Association, an organization founded in
1999, that focuses
primarily threefold.
We have extended programs of job
training and placement for the reentry
population
of some 4,400 individuals
that have gone through that program.
We also
initiate, over the years, violence prevention
initiatives, targeting at-risk youth.
And then thirdly,
we are an affordable housing development.
We have a portfolio present and
future of $53 million, an
equitable transit-oriented development.
It has been my good fortune
over these past many years to serve with and encounter
conscientious individuals, board members, and
operators, and outstanding transit
professionals at CTA, staff, and
administrators. We're passionate about providing transit
services to accommodate the travel needs of Chicagoans
to attend school, go to work, for full medical and business
appointments, attend church, concerts, theaters,
sports events, or to take public transportation to save
money and time as well as wear and tear
on their personal vehicles. This has heightened my views
on how important it is for individuals to have safe
and positive ridership experiences on
buses and trains that are clean, a transit
system that serves their travel schedules
in a timely and an efficient manner and grants them
access to far-reaching communities at an affordable
cost. My transit experience has not only been
impacted by my lifelong travels on public
transportation from childhood, middle age, and now
my senior years, but has been expanded through the
monthly briefings I participated in at
CTA. The board updates from the CTA
staff, exposure to the operational
costs that are often associated,
budgetary constraints and decisions,
ridership complaints and improvements,
security deficiencies and enhancements,
legislative impact and challenges,
federal funding encumbrances but also
advantages, community feedback, both positive
and negative, from residents, parishioners,
students, and personnel. In addition,
I've gained greater insight into the interrelated
service groups of Metra, Pace, and CTA, and the
proposed benefits to be enjoyed of more security,
expanded services, an improved fare program,
better customer and ridership services, and increased
infrastructure investments that are being
proposed through NIDA. I welcome
another opportunity, if afforded to do
so by this committee, to participate in the
next dimension of upgraded transit
service in the city of Chicago, bringing about improvements,
expanded services, like the Red Purple
modernization, all-station
accessibility plan, and the Red Line extension,
which will directly impact and improve
improve service to a community where I have
lived, my father operated a business, and my
children attended school. Thank you again,
Mr. Mitchell, and those of the committee for affording me
opportunity to come before you. I'm now prepared to
answer any questions you have of me.
All right. Well, before we get into questions, I'm going to let Karen Tamley
give your remarks.
Oh, sorry.
Good afternoon, Chairman Mitchell, and Vice Chairman
Vasquez, and esteemed members of the committee.
I'm Karen Tamley, and I come before you regarding my appointment
to the Pace Board of Directors.
Okay, thank you. Thank you. Great.
As a person with a disability who's used a wheelchair all of my life,
I've dedicated my career to advancing accessibility and
opportunity for people with disabilities to participate in
all aspects of life. My work spans over three decades
in government and non-profit sectors.
Many of you may remember me during my 14 years of service as commissioner
of the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities, where I served three
administrations, advising city mayors on disability
policy matters. In this role, I worked hard to advance
accessibility and inclusion in the areas of transportation,
public rights of way, education, emergency preparedness,
recreation, employment, housing, and city
infrastructure. I prioritized the concerns and needs of
people with disabilities and worked to ensure that they were being met in
city policies and legislation. Throughout my career,
the ability of disabled people to access public transportation has
been my passion. In my role as
MOPD commissioner and per 2006 authorizing
legislation, I served on the Pace Board of Directors for 12
years as the sole board member representing the transit needs of
Chicagoans.
I was proud of the accomplishments achieved during my previous terms
of service, most notably the launch of Bus on Shoulder,
transit signal priority, Pulse rapid transit up
Milwaukee Avenue, the development of plans for a 95th
Street rapid transit corridor, the purchase of new
electric buses, regional routing improvements, and
enhancements to Pace paratransit operations and services.
In this role, I attended all ADA advisory committees,
listening to and working to address the concerns of thousands
of paratransit riders in Chicago.
If confirmed, I would bring years of service on the RTA ADA
Advisory Committee, the Citizens Advisory Committee,
responsible for transit issues across the region, two
decades of work with CTA leadership on rail station
accessibility and service improvements, and as an
advisor on the 2023 Plan of
Action for Regional Transportation, or PART, which delivered
recommendations to the Illinois General Assembly on transit
funding, governance structure, and service improvements.
Disability representation on our service boards is
critically important to our disability
community, who disproportionately relies on public
transit and paratransit and has faced a very long history of
exclusion. Growing up, I watched my friends get on
a city bus to go get ice cream and to go shopping, but I could never
join them because the buses did not yet have wheelchair lifts.
In 2005, I witnessed the last inaccessible CTA bus
coming offline. Disabled people across this nation still
struggle to get access to timely, accessible, and quality
transit options to carry out their basic lives.
To go to work, to shop, to worship,
to go to the doctor, and to be active members of their community.
And whenever I board an accessible bus or train, I
don't take for granted the decades that disabled people fought to
make this basic right to transit a reality.
If appointed, I will be honored to dedicate my service
to ensure that Pace's transportation system truly meets
the needs of everyone living in our great city and across
this region. Thank you.
All right. Thank you. Opening it up for questions. Vice Chair Vasquez.
Questions?
Thank you.
I think I'll start kind of asking the same question I've asked a number of folks.
So when was the last time, and how frequently
do you ride public transit system? That's for both folks.
Okay.
That you said we cannot count today. All right?
Yeah. Yeah.
Get that part.
Yep.
Well, I
have to ride it often. I travel quite a bit.
And so for me to go to O'Hare Airport
via public transportation is quite convenient for
me. Many times my trips are overnight,
so it's more economical for me to jump on the
train, get to the airport,
travel, come right back, jump on the train, and come home.
Then I also am a pastor on the west side of the city,
and so it is also convenient for me to ride Red Line,
connect with the Blue Line. My church is four blocks
away from the stop at Holman, so it's quite
convenient for me. So I do it as
often as are needed, and I have quite a few
demands that are often made on me.
Sure.
I'm a frequent CTA rider. I rode the bus and the train
multiple times this weekend,
took it from O'Hare back from vacation two
weekends ago, and I'm a very frequent bus and
CTA rail rider.
Sure. Thank you. I guess I have a follow-up to that question, because I have
advocates who've given me information related to how often
records show folks are riding public transit.
And so
according to what I'm hearing, in 2025, Mr.
Eadie, it says he rode CTA 36 times,
which
sounds to me inconsistent to how often you're saying it.
So I'm just curious,
one, as to how it's recorded, so if through the chair we could find out how CTA
records how often they're using
it. I
need more specifics on that.
All right.
And
I just want to put that out there, but I just want to get a chance for 2025, does
that kind of line up to how often
you're riding it or you see it?
No. That is
very inaccurate in terms of how often I ride.
You have to understand that I come from a background in a
community that believes in investing in itself,
so I don't really take liberty to utilize
the pass. I have a pass, I just don't choose to use it.
Even coming here today.
Whatever I'm a part of, I invest into it.
All right? I understand how the CTA operates.
So no, I don't take the liberty to use the
card. So if that's the measurement, it's an
inaccurate measurement.
Yeah, I got it. And I think that's kind of why I had the question first, because I
think trying to get a better understanding as to how it's tracked when the
public has an interest in identifying the regular usage.
It's definitely something that I imagine
before this term wasn't being asked as much, but I think
former President Carter became a focal point where now we're asking
everyone. So I think getting a better understanding would be helpful.
Okay.
So I appreciate that. I think
I want to apologize about something, and so I want to take a little bit of time
here, because I think in past hearings
what's come up, and maybe I
don't want to sound too political.
I've not been as articulate as I needed to be about my concerns related to who gets
appointed to the board. I think I've been short in ways that I would ask
forgiveness for in saying that I have a concern about
pastors serving on the board. To be more clear, I don't have a concern about
a pastor serving on the board. My concern is more about the
process itself with which an administration appoints somebody to a board.
Because I'm cynical enough, because I was also born and raised in
Chicago, that someone would appoint someone, not necessarily because
of expertise or anything, but for the fact that they have a
large following that they can then try to tap into when it comes to campaigning for
elections. That is a much larger concern, regardless of
someone's faith or how they worship.
And what I appreciate about your statement is how it's
grounded in the population you serve through a number of different ways.
And I think it is important to make sure that we're hearing the challenges of those
communities. So I wanted to be a lot more clear on
what my concern is, because I think I've been asked about this in the past.
But as someone who is such a leader in the community, speaking for the
populations of due that we know may be of less
means, are in transportation deserts and aren't able to
utilize the system as well. They sometimes may feel like they're not getting the
best service. As we all know,
the workforce at CTA is largely Black and
largely Brown and working class. And so from talking
to
the different folks that you serve,
what are the challenges you see that you can best address now having had
multiple years on the board?
And that is exactly
what I even almost call as a calling, in the sense
that I am hearing firsthand,
almost on a daily basis, week by week.
I have students, I have parents, I have
personnel, and there are all sorts of concerns.
Certainly at the top of the list, it's
always safety. People are concerned
about them being able to get from one place to
the other. We're hearing it, we see it, we know all
about it. I'm even in touch with the
community violence interrupters.
Many of them,
interact with them on an ongoing basis.
We discuss and talk about what is going on on the
platforms. They are there.
I'm like a community advisor,
overseer. They're talking to me all the time.
So I know transit from that
level experientially. I know
transit by lived experience, and I have had the
good fortune of being exposed to what, in my
opinion, some of the finest
transit professionals.
I've been like
an intern in that regard, that they have been
pouring into me, giving me to well
understand the needs of the transit
system and industry. And
I appreciate that.
Thank you for that. I think
I've gotten a larger appreciation because I think sometimes depending on,
I'll say my position as vice chair of the committee, I hear a lot
from the advocates, subject matter experts, and it's a lot
of
technical improvements and system improvements that I believe are absolutely valid
to make sure we uplift. And also, there's a reality that
sometimes the voices that are removed from the conversation are the
ones on the ground that are impacted, that don't have a luxury to be able to have
those conversations. And so, I have a greater
appreciation, especially to your point, now having the
access
to the larger world of transit to say,
"Hey, you know something? Our people are missing out."
And being able to raise that and center it and bring those voices is important.
So, I do thank you for it, and I will be supportive of this appointment.
I think for,
Ms. Tamley, my questions for you,
I feel like I was reiterating what
I always have questions, especially on Disability Pride Month, of what we can do
better. I'd ask you to challenge us.
I think something that, because we're talking about Pace in particular,
that I think about in my role as alder, is that we don't really
interface with Pace that much at all.
Mm-hmm.
Our senior homes do, and they'll have the conversation, and we might touch base
with them to see, "Hey, how are things going?" But there really
isn't the kind of relationship that I think is necessary so that we can
advocate as best as possible for the constituents that are served there.
And so, how would you propose to maybe improve that dynamic and
conversation? Because I
don't want to speak for the whole council, but I would imagine more often than not,
that might be the case, where we're just checking in with our senior homes.
"How's that going?" "Great," without really digging in to see where we can improve.
Yeah, of course. So, a majority of the paratransit ridership is
in Chicago, right?
So, I would make it my mission to make sure that I'm in communication with
aldermen whose constituents are paratransit riders.
About 80% of the ridership is in the city,
and that's thousands of rides.
It's hundreds of thousands of rides
every single month. So, Pace serves our city in that way,
obviously also in fixed route, too.
So definitely would interface with aldermen.
I really made it my mission when I was previously on the Pace board to attend
every single ADA advisory committee meeting.
I would continue to do the same, continue to meet with
riders, both fixed route and
paratransit riders as well.
And always open to any kind of feedback or
complaints that people might have.
I always felt I was very responsive in handling those complaints
myself, taking them personally to Pace staff,
and really attempting to resolve issues.
And then, also looking for ways that there might be more systemic issues
that could be addressed
at a higher level.
Sure. Thank you. A second question I have is related to your
role at Access Living. I think
it might seem easy or simple for us to ask questions about
folks who have mobility issues.
Mm-hmm.
But we all know there are folks with disabilities that are not visible, that are
affected differently, in ways that we might not even
consider for folks who have to ride transit.
And so, are there things that, when you look at it through that lens, you think
about that we could be more mindful of or work to improve?
Definitely. Thank you for that question.
I think that's a really important point because a majority of people who have
disabilities have non-apparent disabilities.
It's not a wheelchair user like myself.
And so, I think we really have to understand the different
needs that different segments of the
disability community have. We are a very diverse community.
Non-apparent
chronic conditions,
people who are blind or low vision certainly have a lot of
barriers to
transit, deaf and hard of hearing,
people with intellectual disabilities.
And so, I think it's really, really important to be listening to all
aspects of the disability community and making sure that any
decision-making policies are reflective of the needs
of really everyone.
Yeah. Thank you for that. I think something that
I'm really grateful for my opportunity of serving council that really got me to
learn in talking to so many advocates is,
disability is something we're all going to get to.
Yes.
It's about when we get there, whether it's in our older age or something might
happen to us in life. But ultimately, the body is the body,
and-
Yeah
... there are things that we're all going to experience.
And so, to have those who are currently experiencing it, to kind
of lead us to make those improvements in ways that really help
us help ourselves, I think-
Yeah
... is key. And so, I appreciate
your leadership as well as Mr. Edy's.
And so, my last question will be the same one I have for everybody else.
One, do you all commit to reporting back to this council
and committee as to updates to each of your respective boards?
And two, would you make the same commitment to meet with advocates?
Yes, I commit to both.
Thank you.
I commit to both as well. Thank you.
Yeah. Thank you very much. That's all I have, Chairman.
All right. Thank you, Vice Chair. Alderman Waguespack?
Just one question for
Mr. Edy.
You mentioned rider safety is a huge priority for your
constituency, your
residents around you.
Do you support all the efforts of the Cook County Sheriff, the State
Police, and Chicago Police in their enforcing
of the state laws that exist,
and as they're enforcing that on the CTA, especially the violent
crimes? As well as the State's Attorney
to
essentially adjudicate those crimes that we've
seen happening.
Well, I'll say this. The CTA certainly has engaged
the Cook County Sheriff's Department and
those from the
Chicago Police Department. And certainly,
I believe it makes everyone feel better.
Everyone is safer, feels safer.
And it's a pilot program, so have you thought about,
after that pilot program ends, how you could continue to
improve that or sustain that
safety increase that we've seen?
Well, I would say this. Safety is going to be the focus, and
we're going to have to commit to whatever it takes
to make sure that our riders are safe.
Okay. All right. Well, thank you for your service on the board, and
hope that you do very well on it as you continue this work.
And then, Commissioner Tamley,
I just want to thank you for your years of unparalleled
service to the city.
I think we had a lot of conversations during budget hearings about
many different aspects of
disability issues, and not just how they affect housing
and
everything from our sidewalks, our infrastructure, to the CTA, but I just
want to say thank you again. And I imagine that you're going to
continue to share all those experiences.
Even though you're on the Pace board, I know you'll share it
with the entire NITA board to look for ways to
improve access for those 80% of the people, as you mentioned, who
live in the city, and the other 20% throughout the whole system.
So I think with my colleagues, we want to make sure that you
continue that great work, and thank you again for your years of service.
Thank you, Alderman.
Thank you, Chair. That's all I have.
Thank you, Alderman.
Alderman Hopkins?
Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My question is for Mr.
Eddy. Mr. Eddy, are you familiar with what is known as grade
four automation technology on transit systems?
And if so, is that something that the CTA should undertake a study?
Well, I'll just say this. I can't say I'm familiar with that
exact
technology that you just mentioned, but there has been
technology that has been presented to us,
and we have cited it to be very valuable
in ensuring safety of the ridership.
And so,
technology is certainly
a central part of the CTA's
efforts to keep the riders safe.
And what are your thoughts about the barriers
that are now being implemented in the Bay Area, and the BART system in
particular, to prevent turnstile jumping and fare
evasion?
Well,
when there is a turnstile jumping, that means that
certain revenues are not being
taken advantage of. And so, what measures that have
to be in place
to ensure
that that is guarded, I think is adequate.
Is that something you would support in Chicago?
I'll say this. I would be prepared to entertain
that with the
entire board and get continued input from
fellow board members and come to a final conclusion.
Okay. Thank you. No more questions, Mr. Chairman.
Okay. Thank you, Alderman.
All right. At this time, I'll take a vote
on the appointment of Michael Eddy as member of the Chicago
Transit Board for a term effective September 1st, 2026, and
expiring September 1st, 2029. Can I get a motion from Alderman
Vasquez to recommend approval of this item?
On the motion, all in favor say aye.
Aye.
Opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
On the appointment of Karen Tamley
as a member of the
Pace Transit Board for a term effective September 1st, 2026
and expiring September 1st, 2029, can I get a motion from Alderman
Waguespack to recommend approval of this item?
Alderman Waguespack so moves. On the motion, all in favor say aye.
Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Congratulations on your appointment.
Thank you.
Okay.
Mr. Chairman?
Alderman Irvin.
Yeah, I had my hand up, but never mind.
You already
did the vote. Just wanted to speak in support of
Chairman Eddy, who's been a real star on the West Side of
Chicago, advocating for folks on the regular basis.
So appreciate the committee supporting that appointment.
All right. Apologize, Alderman Irvin. I didn't notice it.
All right.
Moving along. Page six, item one. Hub 32 LLC Ordinance
2026-0026797.
At our meeting on July 8th, the committee discussed and recommended for
approval ordinance number
2026-0026121.
It was subsequently determined that this item had inadvertently been
omitted from the published agenda for that meeting.
To ensure full compliance with the Open Meetings Act and to provide
proper notice and opportunity for public comment, this item has been placed on
today's agenda.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, right here.
Gotcha.
All right. I made an error while correcting an error.
So let me repeat for the record. At our meeting on July 8th, the
committee discussed and recommended for approval ordinance number
02626-0026797.
It was subsequently determined that this item had inadvertently been
omitted from the published agenda for the meeting.
To ensure full compliance with the Open Meetings Act and to provide
proper notice and an opportunity for public comment, this item
has been placed on today's agenda.
Can I get a motion to reaffirm the committee's recommendation to approve this
item?
Alderman Hopkins so moves. On the motion, all in favor say aye.
Opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Our last item, page five, item one, Amendment of
Municipal Code Chapter 9-64: Establishing
Electric Vehicle Curbside Charging Pilot Program.
Ordinance
2026-0025394.
Here to speak, we have Samantha Bingham, the project manager for
CDOT, and Mary Nickel, Deputy Commissioner of
CDOT.
Yes. Thank you, Chair. Hi, council members.
We're here excited to talk about a grant-funded program
to test out curbside EV
charging in the city. So my colleague, our head
of our Clean Transportation program, Samantha Bingham, will
talk you through a few of the elements of the pilot.
Great. Thank you, Mary. Samantha Bingham, program director
for Clean Transportation at CDOT.
EV charging on the curb is something cities across the
world are pursuing to provide more public access to
more charging in their communities.
We're introducing this proposed ordinance today, and the
proposed curbside charging pilot, because many Chicago residents lack
access to charging, either at home or in their communities.
Public engagement that we've conducted so far has identified that
communities are very supportive of encouraging
us to get more active in making more public charging
available in more communities. It supports the Chicago
Climate Action Plan's transportation electrification goals, and
this will help us evaluate a measured strategic approach to
providing more access to charging at the curb, a demand that we are
seeing more and more of.
The ordinance supports the authorization for
CDOT to be able to implement the pilot.
It creates the enforcement mechanisms to ensure that the
stations are made available and reserved for EV charging only.
It allows us to collect fees for the use of the chargers, and it
establishes a term for the pilot to expire on June of
2030. The next steps are today's committee hearing today.
The RFP for a turnkey vendor to provide
the services to the city to administer the chargers
themselves. That closes next month in August.
Then vendor selection will take place in fall.
From then, once we have pricing and
more
information on the feasibility of sites, we will start conducting
aldermanic and community outreach for sites to move forward and be
finalized, and then from there, we will start implementing the pilot
sometime in 2027. So we're pleased to be here with you today and answer any
questions you have.
All right.
Members, do we have any questions? Alderman Waguespack?
Thank you. First question is, have you
estimated any kind of cost for this program?
Yes, thank you for that question. We have used a
lot of case studies across the country and some
local case studies and two FM's actual costs for some of their
chargers to inform what we can anticipate as far as
costs. But the RFP itself,
the vendor that is selected will give us firm pricing to be
able to understand what the cost of the pilot will be
and what the pricing should be set at.
So we don't know a general sense of
you're going to put in X amount, and we don't know, is it
half a million, a million?
Yeah, sorry. The pilot is funded 100% by a
federal grant.
Okay.
So the federal grant is determining how many
chargers and locations we can install.
Okay. There's no matching from the city.
It's around 600K. This is a unicorn of a grant where there's no local
match needed.
Okay. The grant, you say, is 600, 600,000? Okay.
Have you
already started to look at
where you expect these to be put in?
We identified seven,
I would say, exemplary locations through the
site selection process we are piloting for the pilot.
It is data-driven and community-informed.
It is prioritizing communities that we identified in
CDOT's electric vehicle and charging infrastructure framework, which
prioritizes communities that are underserved by the current public
charging network, overburdened by air pollution,
and have limited transit access.
So which
general areas are those according to your data?
We
would be happy to share the map and the locations from the RFP through the chair.
Sure. Yeah, through the chair would be fine, I think. Chairman?
Is that all right?
I can add, Deputy Commissioner Mary Nichol, that in order to
get accurate pricing for the RFP we put on the street, we did
have to give specific curb locations.
But again, want to stress that it's very much written in pencil.
We just did that exercise to get accurate pricing back from the vendor.
And those potential community areas would be Auburn
Gresham, Austin, Englewood, Gage Park,
Riverdale, Rogers Park, and South Lawndale.
Okay.
When you're looking at the existing
city system and then these locations,
as we're looking at changing the EV code, are you
expecting
any type of the private entities
that are now doing it across the United States to invest in these areas
based on the pilot? Or is it just
we're focused just on the
pilot program itself? Are we going to try to drive those companies to
these areas and say, "Here's where we'd like you to build"?
Instead of just
the north side, where everybody wants to build everything,
let's push it out into those other communities.
How are you going to drive those companies to push it out there?
Sure. Deputy Commissioner Mary Nichol. Thanks for your questions.
Those are the exact type of questions that we've been exploring ourselves.
Okay.
So the map that we can share with you will show you
the most need is in areas where the private market hasn't invested yet.
And so
there, we do think that the private market will continue to invest and
continue to invest where they see the highest demand.
But we have seen that there are EVs registered in
every community area in the City of Chicago.
So in areas where there particularly are lots of multifamily
housing, where people don't have garages that they can charge overnight,
that's the type of typology that we think we should
test out and see if this is a service that the City of Chicago should
provide for our residents.
Okay. Thank you very much. Appreciate that.
And then whatever you can share with the chair would be helpful. Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman. Alderman Hopkins, do you have any questions?
Anybody else from the panel? Bill, you have anything?
Okay. All right.
Can I get a... Hold on.
Yep. So can I get a motion record approval of this item?
Alderman Waguespack so moves on the motion. All in favor say aye.
Those opposed, no. In the opinion of chair, the ayes have it.
The meeting of the Committee on Transportation and Public Way is adjourned.
Thank you.
That was interesting.