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City of Chicago, City Council, Rules of Conduct for Public Meetings, 2023.
Good morning.
Committee will now come to order.
We do have eight members present.
We have enough for a public meeting, so we will begin.
We'll begin this morning's session with public comment, beginning with Laura Saltzman.
We're going to start with Laura Saltzman, followed by Tom Ebeling.
Thank you. My name is Laura Saltzman. I'm a senior policy analyst for the disability justice organization Access Living.
and i'm here oh sorry is that better um thank you my name is laura saltzman and i'm a senior
policy analyst for the disability justice organization access living and here to speak
once again about accessibility mostly sidewalks and curb ramps our least glamorous mode of
transportation but one that everyone especially disabled people relies on for some part of their
trip i'm here every few months as conditions for disabled people mostly do not change and while i
glad that cdoth has evaluated sidewalk and curb ramp procedures it is and it is a genuinely welcome
improvement it is also insufficient for one we need to stop relying on residential complaints
to assess where the problems are a report by the office of the inspector general in march of 2024
confirmed this detailing how it is an inefficient inequitable and reactive way to handle service
provision we need to proactively plan because weather is spending millions of dollars each
year defending and settling triple fall cases or spending millions of dollars defending itself from
blind people and wheelchair users who would like to be able to use the sidewalk and then safely
like to be able to use the sidewalk and then safely cross the street the city cannot outrun
its responsibility nor its legal liability forever it didn't in the 2010 class action
curb ramp case it lost it didn't in the accessible pedestrian case the city recently lost and it
most likely won't in the case filed last year by dra chicago yet again because of bad sidewalks
and curb ramps it is time to be proactive rather than reactive not dealing with these issues on
a proactive systemic basis is why sidewalks and curb ramps installation come out of your menu
budget it is why the city asks residents to voluntarily spend thousands of dollars to
repair sidewalks we do not go around bragging about our 50 50 street program people are not
required to rely on the charity and wealth of their neighbor to make sure their car gets down
the block access living hears complaints from disabled people about sidewalks and curb ramps
in every ward because there is nowhere sidewalks are good only places where they are better we need
to more seriously invest in accessible infrastructure and the staff that requires
we need CDOT to have at least one entire person dedicated to ADA planning full-time
we need sidewalks and car ramps benches and accessible bus stops and we need you to not
assume everyone can drive or afford an accessible vehicle we're entering an era of expanded transit
funding let's make the most of it everyone fortunate to live long enough is going to
develop a disability age comes for us all some of us sooner rather some of us sooner rather
earlier rather than later. I hope if you get there, it does not mean you are locked in your
house, unable to see friends and family. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Next, we have
Tom Ebeling followed by Alma Oliveira Gallegos. Good morning. My name is Tom Ebeling. I'm the
director of forestry with Open Lands. I'm also an ISA certified arborist and a trained forester.
As you have all likely heard, the city of Chicago is currently undergoing its first
ever complete public tree inventory i cannot stress enough how momentous this occasion is
enough how momentous this occasion is and the great potential for budget savings that it
represents, if it is properly utilized. A complete tree inventory is the most fundamental and
important tool that a community must have to manage its tree resource in an efficient and
responsible manner. As with any system of infrastructure, knowing exactly what you have
and what condition it's in is essential for system improvement and fiscally responsible
management. This is especially true with living critical infrastructure like our public trees.
In a letter to this committee sent by members of the Chicago Urban Forestry Advisory Board,
a request was made that the city immediately fill an existing senior city forester vacancy
and, if possible, add back a senior city forester position that was lost after retirement in 2024.
As this momentous inventory is completed and we enter this new era of fully informed urban forest management in our city,
it is absolutely critical that the Bureau of Forestry is staffed in a way that allows full utilization of this new tool.
We at Open Lands fear that a perpetually underfunded BOF, led by the bare minimum of senior city foresters, will not be able to fully utilize this resource that the city has now spent $3 million to achieve.
Without supporting our senior city foresters, those system-level thinkers who can ensure a functioning and equitable tree canopy,
we fear that this will become another wildly expensive tool and plan that is set on the shelf to gather dust.
If the city brings the senior city forester staffing back up to the level of four people,
we believe that this inventory could be the beginning of a golden new era of resource management
that exposes inefficiencies and liabilities,
improves the lives of citizens in a very tangible way,
in a very tangible way and will put Chicago on par with every other truly global city
that respects its tree resource as critical infrastructure. Thank you very much.
Thank you for your comments. Next, Alma Olavarria Gallegos, followed by Zoe Lee.
Good morning. My name is Alma Olavarria Gallegos, and I'm the policy specialist at Open Lands.
I want to first congratulate Bureau of Forestry.
Over the past several years, Bureau of Forestry has made system changes to run more efficiently
and safely.
They have moved to a grid pruning program that addresses critical trees.
Trees that have been neglected for years are finally being trimmed and can grow healthier,
and the new systems keep our neighborhoods safe in an equitable and strategic way.
Through our roots and interdepartmental public initiative, the Bureau has more than doubled
tree planting in Chicago over the past four years.
with a focus on historically under-invested communities that suffer the greatest heat and health disparities.
This matters.
A recent study in Chicago has found that each percent increase in canopy is associated with a 10% reduction in mortality.
And the Bureau secured a $3 million federal urban forestry grant to conduct Chicago's first-ever public tree inventory.
But all of this progress depends on people.
Right now, the Bureau doesn't have enough city foresters to protect what the city has invested in.
For the past two years, the Urban Forestry Advisory Board of the City of Chicago has recommended increasing Bureau of Forestry staff size to expand permit review, training, and inspections.
For those same two years, staff has remained stretched incredibly thin.
We have a wave of work coming.
About 75,000 new trees have been planted in the last four years through our roots and the capital bond.
Young trees need care in their first years to survive and establish.
first years to survive and establish without foresters to inspect and protect them many will
die and will have spent public dollars on trees that never deliver the benefits we paid for
in the communities that most need it at the same time our large mature heritage trees provide most
of the canopy we already have they take decades to replace protecting them during construction
utility work and permitting takes trained foresters reviewing plans and enforcing our tree policies
And once the tree inventory is done next year, the Bureau will need capacity to act on what
it finds.
With more foresters, the Bureau can review permit fasters, so lead service line replacements
and construction projects keep moving and Chicagoans get clean drinking water sooner.
It can keep grid pruning on track, making our trees more structurally sound, and it
can care for our newest trees so they grow in to replace the canopy we're losing, not
just as older trees age out, but also as construction and service line work force more
trees to be removed.
We need the canopy. Trees protect residents from climate change by slowing stormwater and cooling neighborhoods during extreme heat.
Without more foresters, the Bureau won't just be stretched too thin. Chicago's canopy will go down, not up.
We urge City Council to add senior city forester positions, restoring the four senior city foresters in place two years ago,
and to add one city forester position for proactive inspections and enforcement. Thank you.
Thank you for your comments. Next, we have Zoe Lee, followed by George Blakemore.
I want to know why is Chicago proposing to collect another $234 million through the cloud tax while reducing its technology department budget by nearly 55 percent? And are technology expenses being transferred into finance general where taxpayers need to look elsewhere?
where taxpayers need to look elsewhere to track them so yeah budgets of course don't make any
sense but he's trying to pay off the whole city so he can get this seat again Brandon ain't getting
back in all right so the streets and sanitation y'all went up plus nine two right and everywhere
where I go on the south side
when me and Danielle was getting her signatures.
I had to literally
walk to find a
trash can so I didn't throw
it on the ground. So I'm not
understanding why the
streets look dirty as hell. I'm
from New York, so I know how streets
look.
It's starting to look like little
New York. The immigrants,
everything. Y'all really bringing in
New York. And y'all from
the city, the Chicago.
Some of y'all, Pat Dow from New York, so she know how New York look.
Y'all do not, oh yeah, he from Jersey, La Spada.
That's why he don't care about all these bicycle lanes all over the place.
You from the East Coast too, baby.
You know they don't have this type.
First of all, New York is larger than the city of Chicago.
So things that you do in New York, you can't do in the city of Chicago.
like bring
57,000
illegal aliens and then dump
22,000 on the south
side and the west side and then expect
us to pay for it while y'all raise this
while y'all all collect the raises
the alderman collect the raises
all y'all collect the raises
while our property taxes go up
22,438
kids are
unhoused
CPS kids
But Brandon Johnson, he champions him being a teacher.
this generation ain't going and you white boys are stealing that tiff money downtown
10.5 billion dollars you know damn well didn't come downtown
danielle carter walters for mayor thank you for your comments next up mr george blakemore followed
by a w robert schultz i'm not here to beat up on the mayor i'm not black people
are great people
somewhere
something where and somehow
we have a slain mentality
a slain mentality
and we have fallen
or fell in love with our enemy
we are a tribe
we are a family
Trump didn't have a thing
to do with this here
you can't blame that
on Brandon Johnson. Blame it
on yourself.
Look in the mirror. These
black Altman
voted for these
illegals to come here.
Why would they do this?
Why would
tell
somebody else?
Why would he do that?
Self-preservation
is the first law of nature.
You got to focus on you, and you
got to be a selfish people.
You it's just human. That's a human trait. You got to be a selfish people. Trump didn't have a thing to do with this. And, and Brandon Johnson didn't have a thing to do with this. We had something to do with it. Our mentality, our ultimate, our ultimate men and women voted for sanctuary. Now this is a budget.
Now this is a budget hearing.
It's just so much money.
How is this money going to be spent?
Why would you vote for somebody else
and share something that you're not getting?
Make it make sense.
Racism is very alive.
And Brandon Johnson didn't bring it here.
No, he didn't.
And Trump didn't bring it here.
This is homegrown racism.
Black people hating black people.
We had business, we had banks, we had everything, but we didn't have all these black males in certain cities, and we didn't have all these black altcoins, but we still had Black Wall Street.
We still, the song, say, I rise without all these elected officials.
And people get up here and talk about stealing property.
You're a family.
You got sisters.
You got brothers.
You got aunties.
I'm going to say aunts and family.
Y'all work together.
When you can't get along with your own mama, your own sister, your own cousin, your own auntie, there's something wrong with you.
and you're going to blame it on the court
system. You're going to blame
it on somebody else
stealing your property.
You are the cause
of this. We
are the cause of this. And the song
says we shall overcome.
We have to overcome
the legacy of slavery.
I don't want to hear nothing negative
about Brandon Johnson.
Thank you for your comment.
Thank you for your comments,
Mr. Blakemore. Next we have
W. Robert Schultz, followed by our final speaker, Miriam Salute.
Good morning, Chairman Irvin and Councilmembers.
I am W. Robert Schultz III, the campaign organizer at the Active Transportation Alliance.
The physical condition and design of Chicago streets are
and design of Chicago streets are among the chief factors that impact the lives of our residents.
Active Transportation Alliance applauded for recent projects by the Transportation Department
that have increased safety and sped up buses. According to the annual 2026 traffic crashes
report published this fall, there has been a 35 percent decrease in fatalities since a 2021 peak.
To continue to meet the goals of zero traffic fatalities, more bike infrastructure, and improving bus speeds through dedicated bus lanes like on North Michigan Avenue or Chicago Avenue.
Therefore, Chicago CDOT planning staff should not be reduced but increased.
increased. Infrastructure improvements can't be made without staff managing the process from
concept to concrete. We would like to highlight some of the recent CDOT projects that we think
have improved safety. Archer Avenue from 47th to Western, Clark Street from Montrose to Winnemac,
Grand Avenue from Chicago to Ogden, 79th Street from State Street to Cottage Grove.
Lastly, as someone who is 71 and frequently bikes, this summer I had a chance to enjoy the improvements mentioned in the CDOT report along Humboldt Boulevard while biking and running errands.
Active transportation points to projects such as that one as a prime example for continued momentum and financial support.
Thank you.
Thank you for your comments.
And our final speaker is Miriam Salud.
Good morning.
Good morning. I'm Miriam Savid. I'm with the Center for Neighborhood Technology, or C&T.
We are a Chicago-based nonprofit, and we've worked on urban flooding since 2009.
We're an active member of the Flooding and Sewage Coalition.
We led community engagement on the city's flood sensor pilot this year.
We also work closely on issues related to transportation equity.
I just want to support the comments from our partners that I heard this morning,
Access Living and Active Transportation Alliance.
but today i'm going to focus on some ways to expand and improve the city's work to address
urban flooding there must be a change from reacting to flooding after the fact towards
systematically identifying vulnerability and investing before disaster occurs the city's
2026 community development block grant program disaster recovery substantial amendment action
plan itself clearly states that the most severe impacts from the recent storms stemmed from the
city's stormwater infrastructure failure to function rainfall is becoming more intense
communities on south and west side neighborhoods have experienced chronic repetitive flooding
even during light rains these communities are at higher risk of flooding areas since the gravity
fed sewer systems flow south and west and these communities face particular challenges to recovery
and loss of generational wealth leaving families recovering financially and emotionally for years
cnt recently developed a flooding and sewage vulnerability tool to identify communities
experiencing overlapping environmental and socioeconomic burdens this tool is a necessary
companion to current basement risk model systems that only focus on engineering calculations and
3-1-1 calls to inform prioritization of investments to address the disparities of flooding experience
across the city we're asking the city to take three particular actions first use vulnerability
to guide infrastructure investment. This vulnerability index should help DWM
prioritize ongoing maintenance, innovative storage, and reservoir projects.
maintenance, innovative storage, and reservoir projects, and inform the city's capital improvement
plan so that resources are directed towards communities facing the greatest risks and
deepest history of underinvestment. The Economic Capital and Technology Development Committee
now has an opportunity to review the capital improvement plan with this lens now that the
CIP needs to be approved by this committee. Second, strengthen coordination across government
and with directly impacted communities. As we know, flooding does not follow jurisdictional
boundaries. Different city agencies, DOT, DOH, DFSS, DOE, they all have varied programming and
policies to address flooding. But it's not clear how DWM's risk models and expertise are shared
across agencies. These agencies need formal mechanisms for sharing data, coordinating
investments, and implementing solutions to this growing problem. An urban flooding task force
would help support this need. And third, build a collaborative, comprehensive system of prevention
and recovery. Chicagoans need infrastructure maintenance and mitigation, but they also need
early warning systems. Home level improvement. Thank you for your comments. Okay, today we have
before us the departments, we actually have four departments today, four I'll say fairly heavy
departments, our infrastructure departments today. Today we're going to have to implement a hard TN
today because yesterday we were rolling to get out at almost 8 o'clock.
So I'm going to ask the timekeeper to put up two five-minute sessions.
So the first five minutes, you'll get the beep.
The second five minutes, it'll go off, and we're going to have to kind of,
you know, cut it because we've got – I know everybody wants to speak today.
I know everybody got the greatest war superintendent and all that stuff.
So get that stuff out the way on the front end so you won't be on the back end
looking sad.
So, like I said, put up five minutes.
When the second five minutes, you know, just so you'll know where you are on the time clock,
just so that we can try to keep things moving.
Welcome, Mr. Stallard, so we can.
so we can get rolling and get everything moving.
Thank you for joining us, Mr. Stallard, today.
I'm going to have a brief overview from our director
for Council Office of Financial Analysis, Director Oda Gray,
after which, if you would give your brief statement
and introduce the members of your team that are here with us in the well
as well as those that are in the box, and we will begin from there.
Director.
Good morning, Chairman Irvin, Vice Chairman Lee, members of City Council, and guests.
Today, COFO will provide an overview of the proposed FY 2027 budget for the Department of Streets and Sanitation.
The proposed FY 2027 budget for streets and sand is $381.9 million, an increase of 32 million or 9.15% over the FY 2026 revised budget.
what stands out is that the proposed budget is increasing faster than the department's
personnel cost personnel services increased by approximately 5.88 percent
for a planned spend of 233.64 million while non-personnel cost of 148.28 million increased by
14.74 percent the department has 2 298 budgeted full-time equivalents an increase of 84 fte
positions or 3.72 percent its reported vacancy rate as of october 21st 2026 was 6.28 percent
this slide gives us a more detailed look at where the money is going and which funds support the
department on the spending side contractual services increased by approximately 12.3 million
or 11.34 percent commodities and materials increased by approximately 6.7 million or 38.
6.7 million or 38.3 percent equipment also increased by approximately 180 000 on the funding
side the corporate fund increased by approximately 33.5 million at the same time the garbage
collection fund decreased by approximately 4.2 million vehicle tax fund decreased by approximately
5.5 million. The motor fuel tax fund increased by 3 million. The federal grant fund also increased
by approximately 4.8 million. When we look at the historical trend, the department's proposed budget
reaches approximately 381.9 million in the FY27 proposed budget. We can also see that the budget
is not increased at the same rate every year. There are periods of more moderate growth followed
by more noticeable increases. The proposed FY27, 381.9 million is the highest total shown
on this chart. The grant's others line edged up in 2025 and 2026 at 3 million and increased in
26 and 27. Local others remain relatively stable with a spike in 2024 and 2025. Local corporate
increased modestly every year except 2025. There was a slight decrease. The proposed FY27 budget
includes again 2,298 FTEs compared with 2,214 in FY26 revised appropriations. This is an increase
again of 84 FTE. Looking at the longer term trend, staffing declined from 2,278 FTEs in FY2018
to 2189 in FY 2021 before increasing again in subsequent years.
The proposed staffing level is now close to higher levels shown earlier in the historical period.
The distribution of budgeted FTEs across the funds was also changing.
The chart shows corporate fund-supported FTEs increased from $11.47 in FY26 to $13.77 in FY2027,
while FTEs categorized as local others decreased from $1,065 to $907.
Grant-supported FTEs increased from $2 to $14.
This concludes my overview of Streets and Sand.
thank you director commissioner um welcome and uh you may proceed with your uh introductions as well
as uh he he has to read it i i ask each of them if they want to read it or not then he chose he
wants to read it so that's all right everybody okay with me reading all right great uh first
deputy luis cepeda managing deputy tommy johnson deputy solvay deputy deb lopez deputy gloria pitman
deputy mike lo coco deputy courtney bryson deputy jimmy sheehan deputy kelly berry
deputy mike saracola and managing deputy monica next to me in the audience to the right stage
right we brought in some people from upstairs those are people that range from to our labor
relations folks to our hearings to our collections for our employees for
tickets for over the 400 foyers that we received to contracts to people that
keep things going out in the field to my two folks that answer the calls from
everybody to make sure they get to the appropriate place to our person that
does all the 700 plus special events and that's included in the 2000 that
lococo partakes in there's just a group of special folks out there that I just
wanted to acknowledge that I wanted to hear it and get it on the record that
on the record that uh they're behind all of us and uh they help us do what we do so i just wanted
to thank them on the record and say appreciate what they do i'll read my statement now if that's
okay honorable chair irvin vice chair lee and members of chicago city council good morning
i'm cole stollard commissioner department streets and sanitation i continue to be grateful for the
opportunity to serve chicago residents mayor brandon johnson and the members of chicago city
council in delivery of vital services that keep our great city operating including but not limited
to sanitation recycling forestry street operations graffiti removal road and control and traffic
services i'd also like to acknowledge the dedicated streets and sand leadership team for their efforts
in helping us achieve the accomplishments we're highlighting for you today the unprecedented
and storms in mid-June through early August resulted in more than 43,000 tree emergencies
this year that affected every ward in the city. Our Bureau of Forestry led a full force of
government response, working long hours to open roadways, clear debris, assist residents whose
homes were impacted by down and damaged trees. This would not have been possible without the
help of the mayor's office the office of emergency management and communications department of
transportation water management private sector partners community partners council members
and your offices through the our roots chicago initiative the bureau of forestry and the
department of transportation planted 4144 new trees this year bringing the total number of
new trees planted to 73,155 since the program began in 2022. We are weeks away from meeting
our overall project goal of 75,000 new trees planted. Through this transformational project,
we are reducing pollution and flooding, improving air quality, and creating healthier communities.
We continue to make progress implementing our area.
We continue to make progress implementing our Area Trim Initiative, with more than 285,000 trees trimmed citywide since April of 2023.
The Area Trim Initiative provides a more efficient and equitable process for Chicago residents and allows for the proper maintenance of the city's overall urban tree canopy.
We expect to reach our next milestone of 360,000 trees trimmed by April of 2027.
looking ahead to 2027 the bureau of forestry will work to develop our tree inventory and management
plan which will provide a snapshot of the tree size species location and condition the data
obtained will proactively inform our area tree pro will proactively inform our area tree program
priorities prioritize removal of dead trees and aid in the reduction of tree risk by removing or
trimming high-risk trees it will also enable the bureau to better meet the urban forest maintenance
needs and ensure that the benefits provided by a healthy tree canopy can be enjoyed by all
the heavy rainfall this summer also contributed to a busier than usual weed cutting season
our crews completed more than 88 000 weed cutting jobs this year helping to alleviate debris rodent
mosquito activity and maintain the beauty of our neighborhoods.
With the support of Alderman David Moore, we worked with the Department of Environment
to launch Keep Chicago Clean, a summer-long public awareness campaign that engaged residents
and visitors in a collaborative effort to reduce littering, improve waste management,
and enhance the city's natural beauty.
The campaign featured public service announcements on CTA buses and trains, Divi bike stations,
City's digital billboard network and in a baggage claim areas at O'Hara Midway Airport our efforts
our efforts resulted in more than 100 million impressions across the campaign our sanitation
crews have worked very hard and collected 2.4 million pounds more of garbage than we did last
year at this time and we picked up more than 50 000 tires throughout the city additionally i like
to add that we've collected 78 000 bags of litter and that excludes litter from the 88 000
lots that were cut because they also pick up bags and we're going to put that in the
contract for next year to get track of keeping track of those bags as well but 78 000 bags of
litter as always we are grateful to our citywide partners for their collaboration in facilitating
operation clean events in priority neighborhoods this initiative is the essential tool in the
city's public safety and community engagement efforts and we are happy to have that role
Our food scrap drop-off program continues to expand. With more than 9,500 residents currently
registered to participate through this program, we have diverted more than 2 million pounds of
food waste that would otherwise end up in landfills. And thanks to our partnership with the
Chicago Public Library, we just announced seven new drop-off locations, bringing the total
sites to 40 across the city. The Road and Control Bureau continues to respond to 311 requests and
proactively address rodent baiting through door-to-door abatement face-to-face engagement
with residents and outreach material we are closely anticipating results from the rodent
contraceptive study being conducted by lincoln park zoo chicago bird alliance and the 43rd ward
office additionally in 2027 we'll begin a pilot program using carbon dioxide technology in green
spaces to evaluate alternative rodent control methods enhance abatement effectiveness and
advance environmentally responsible pest management practices our traffic services bureau posted more
our traffic services bureau posted more than 203 signs provided 31 000 cpd blue barricades 39 000
iron barricades and 204 000 traffic cones and assisted with more than 2 000 special events and
movie set projects in terms of winter preparedness we have more than 400 000 tons of salt on the
ground placed strategically at locations throughout the city and we're working closely with the
Department of Fleet and Facility Management to ensure our fleet of salt spreaders is ready
to deploy for snow season. We are also coordinating with Departments of Human Resources and Aviation
in the process of hiring our seasonal drivers. While we have been able to accomplish a tremendous
amount of work over this past year, the investments made in our department in the 27 budget will
enable us to go above and beyond in terms of our delivery of service to the people of
Chicago. We anticipate additional enhancements to our quality of life,
forestry, and rodent control operations by expanding staffing, equipment, and
neighborhood coverage. This will enable streets and sand to strengthen storm
response, improve cleanup, and address overgrowth vegetation, illegal dumping,
debris, neglected public spaces. With these investments, we will be able to
trim 15,000 more trees proactively, address rodent infestations, and double
the teams who are out every day cleaning and beautifying our communities in closing i'd like
to acknowledge the entire streets and sands staff for their commitment to our great city i thank the
city council members and staff for your continued partnership and support and our efforts to help
make the physical environment safer healthier and more equitable for all chicago residents
my staff that sits before you in the box and next to me as i said last year we have over 350 years
of government experience we're here to answer any questions or address any concerns you may have
thank you thank you commissioner
We'll begin today with the dean.
He's here early.
Welcome.
All right, good morning.
Commissioner.
Morning, sir.
Let me just start by thanking you and the entire department.
You have always been an outstanding commissioner, very responsive,
and you and your entire team are to be commended for the job you all do
every single day.
you guys know that you're the lifeline of the city of Chicago.
And without, you know, streets and sand, we'd be lost.
But you are one of the best of the best, in my opinion, and have always been.
So I want to thank you and your team once again.
Thank you.
Got just a couple of questions.
Where are we at with the stump removals?
Because I know that's a huge problem that we have right now.
We worked with budget and the mayor's office on that.
We heard the concerns.
We saw the concerns.
We put in this budget $1.7 million into this budget
to be able to take care of those starting next year.
Okay, so did we run out of money,
or what happened that was just so far behind?
That was not in the budget last year.
That was removed from the budget last year as a cost savings.
Did we know that?
It was.
I'm saying it was in the budget.
But, I mean, was it highlighted that we weren't going to be removing stumps all year?
So, you know, I put it up.
Well, we've addressed some stumps.
We did address some stumps.
But we put that back in the.
What's your backlog right now of tree stumps?
We're at about 4,000.
4,000.
4,000, right, Jimmy?
4,000.
Wow.
Okay.
Are they going to be able to get to.
Yes.
Okay.
All right. Um, let me ask you, uh, just a quality of life, um, question. Uh, what can
we as a city do better to address these vacant houses with the high weeds and not only the high
weeds, but all these cars parked in people's lots, backyards and things like that. Um,
what enforcement can we do to just, you know, go get these cars?
The, well, you talked about the vacant houses, the vacant houses, as I've discussed many times,
if we can get help from this body, from the state, hold these banks accountable.
It just falls on deaf ears.
You know, we write a ticket, we clean it.
It's just the cost of doing business for them.
So that would help us in that regard.
We've made strides.
lococo has worked with some of your colleagues in regards to the vacant cars parking on city
lots and so forth we've made strides in that the curb stoning is another thing we've over
2200 vehicles through that ordinance so there are steps and we we do hear those concerns of people
working on cars using them as as parking locations and and working on them we we hear you loud and
clear and we're going to continue to work with you on those, but we have made some strides
towards that. What about people who just decide to, you know, I got
an old car, I'm going to just keep it in my backyard and get it fenced in
and, you know, what can we do with that? If they're living there
and I'm just, as I tell my staff every year, I don't want to be
fact-checked by AI, I'd like to be fact-checked by them, but if they're
living there, they have the right to have the
car in the backyard they have the car if it's fenced in according to ordinance
right now unless it's a hazard unless all the windows are busted out you know
the gas caps off the tires are flattened and it's sitting on
off the tires are flattened and it's sitting on so can we check um well let's check with outside
sources to try to figure out if there's a way that we can change the ordinance
uh and we'll check with mike howlett to see if there's something that we can do
to make it illegal to just store cars in in your backyard so i'm speaking that'd be great
because we hear that all over the city because if it's not a concrete pad and i mean it's just
in the backyard of course everything is going to grow and grow so so technically and we went over
this with uh mike lo coco um if it's on what's called an unapproved surface then there is action
that can be taken the biggest challenges if the if it's fenced in or locked is physically breaking
into the property to enforce that is where we get into some gray area now if it's open we can go
uh but if it's fenced in it's got to be open for them now high gets open and whatever but that's
that's been the rule that we've been following so so but i'm saying even if it's fenced in
um if it's a hazard if it's not on a pad or something like that even if it's fenced in
we should be able to ticket them for you know something you know because it's a huge problem
that we're dealing with we're open to working with everybody on that because we know it's a
quality of life it's a true quality of life issue that we're aware of no doubt okay um
um well and let me i want to thank you for um the communication yesterday uh because i had a
town hall meeting tuesday and the biggest complaint i was i mean i absolutely got killed
with forestry complaints um and you know and i want to thank you for reminding me uh that you
know we did have those two big storms uh because i'm gonna tell you i was not to correct you but
three that's three big storms i missed one vacation for that one of those three and and i i think the
south side got hit extremely hard and so sometimes we forget that um you know when we get the backlog
You know, when we get the backlog of complaints and the ongoing,
now the tree trims are getting pushed back.
Everything is being pushed back.
You know, so I was extremely upset.
But thank you for the reminder that we did get killed.
So I'm going to, you know, apologize for.
Never needed, man.
So thank you.
And again, thank you for that.
That's 26 years of history back and forth.
No doubt about it.
And I pride myself on being fair, and so thank you for that reminder.
So other than that, you know, again, the department is great.
I love all you guys.
You do a wonderful job, and thank you for what you do.
Appreciate you.
Thank you.
Chairman, this is Alderman Moore.
I have a point of information.
Alderman Moore, Alderman Moore, Alderman Moore.
Alderman Moore, can you turn your mic off, sir?
No, I'm saying I have a point of order, but I was saying you have to do a Rule 59 for me.
I got you, man.
We got you.
Michael, I didn't want you to say something
that you may regret, that's all.
Okay, is there a motion to allow
Alderman Moore to participate remotely
by via Rule 59?
So move for Alderman Hatton.
All in favor signify by saying aye.
Any opposed?
One opposed.
It appeared in the chairs that the aye is savage.
Rough crowd.
It's rough right here.
Okay, so...
No, my point of order.
My point of order.
That's what I was...
What's up? You got a point?
Yeah, on Automobile's discussion about the cars in the backyard,
we would have to pass an ordinance,
and we could pass an ordinance that say that cars,
if cars are back there, that they have to have a slab.
So we could, as a body, we could pass that ordinance.
Isn't that correct?
That already exists.
That already exists.
Yeah, that's one that's already on the books.
Actually, Alderman Mitchell and I have been through this extensively with Deputy Lococo in dealing with this.
and trying to create more
options for streets and sanitation
to do enforcement related to removing
these vehicles. So definitely
on the way. So if it's
on the books, then they can be fine, right?
I mean, yes,
it's ticketable, but
tickets and enforcement are two different things.
I got you. Thank you. Okay.
Not a problem. All right. If I may,
go ahead. And Alderman, you said
if it was closed in, that was the
original ask. Like if it's benched in, right.
Okay, I just want to be clear. Thanks. Thank you. Alderman Harris, Alderman Dow, you be ready after that?
Do you want to wait after her? Okay, followed by Alderman Dow. Thank you.
Most of, we all had the same issues, so it doesn't matter. So I think that I want to start off there saying that we all share the same issues.
The storm was, the storms were unbearable for my community who will have 100-year-old
trees.
And so it's been a tough, tough couple of months only because the public doesn't see
it unless it happened to them.
And so we were overwhelmed.
You all did a fabulous job and working with us to get those trees down.
Shout out to Jimmy for working with our office to make sure that the hundreds of trees that
fell on houses and fell on a public way were cleared in a very timely fashion. So I'm grateful
for that. So like I said, we all, streets and stances are bread and butter. I am so fortunate
that I talked to many of your staff sitting over on a daily basis about something. So I'm grateful
for all the partnerships that I have with everybody in the box who is just, everybody in the box is
amazing and wonderful. So I won't start naming names, but I want to say a big shout out and say
thank you to you guys for everything that you do to help the A4 move forward. And Commissioner,
thank you for the interaction and for allowing me to vent to you about all the problems I have in A4.
Thank you, and a big shout out to my ward superintendent,
Bakari Myers, who is out there right now,
probably doing 20 things that I asked him to do today.
So thank you.
Thank you, guys, for everything that you do.
You are greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Thank you for the kind words.
Thank you, Alderman Harris.
Next, Alderman Dow, follow Alderman Riley.
Thank you.
Put the other one on the floor.
There we go.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning, Commissioner.
Good morning.
I, too, am extremely thankful for the work that you and your team performs in the third ward.
I want to say a shout out to everyone in the box.
I want you to know that.
But there are a few people that are not here that I want to acknowledge.
uh uh noelle valoenza um john gavin and uh john lowe and my ward suit mariah gray thank you
uh just a few questions you mentioned enhancements to quality of life what what does that mean
specifically so right now we have five crews uh citywide for quality of life and those people
that are have been trained at the liuna 1001 training center um with special equipment meaning
they can operate chainsaws weed whips blowers it's it's just an extensive training that we have with
a partnership at the training center and what they do is they go out and i'm going to say this to
everybody, if you have those
have those heavily, whether it's non-used or it is used, where you have a lot of seniors in your
community, and those alleys have just nothing but overgrowth, this is the team that we would send
in there. And they would be able to knock that alley out and clean that alley. They do a lot of
heavy lifting for us. They've done over 3,000 jobs this season, this year. So with the doubling of
that we're hoping with we we open up an office on the south side just so there's less windshield
time we're hoping with that we can see that number with working with your ward soops because
your ward soops have the ability to put that in on an app for work being done and we do track that
and we do have conversation with them of put this in the app so we can get it on the schedule
um it's been very successful um people see an immediate impact and um we can hit those vacant
houses um with you know with the overgrowth on those so that was a huge huge lift uh for us to
be able to develop those teams okay that's that sounds uh very promising can i get through the
chair how many have been requested by our ward this year just so i can gauge i have that i have
that if you'd like it it's 700 about 700 out of the 3 000 and i'm not going to put any ward
superintendent on blast on the record but we do have that record by ward by ward um one through
50 of who puts in quality of life we do have that all right um we have it right here and that is
who is the the um deputy commissioner over that between debbie and michael coco okay i'm sorry
for the record uh debbie and mike circle all right um i've noticed that uh idot the highway maintenance
The highway maintenance has been uneven.
How is that conversation going with IDOT?
Well, hopefully you're seeing a big improvement.
I know it on 290.
I know 290 looks like Oak Brook right now,
and they're out there working.
But I take the Dan Ryan Southsider.
But hopefully you're seeing improvement there.
We've worked with Secretary Biagi and Tom Carney over there.
We've built on those relationships over there now, and we literally worked with OEMC,
had off to the 3-1-1 group, Frank's group over at OEMC, along with the state and DTI
to create a 3-1-1 where it goes, where the state gets notified.
So if there's litter on the ramps, the state can get that 3-1-1.
If there's snow, I get, hey man, the expressways are all messed up for snow.
you can
I get that request I get that call
that can be in 3-1-1 now
that will go to the state
the embankments
the mess on the embankments
the high weeds on the embankments
that all now can go into our 3-1-1
system and it can get pushed to the
state for notification so hopefully
with this
great working relationship
you're seeing a positive change on those
expressways. Yeah I have seen some
improvement i was it's not quite even but i i have seen some improvement i will admit there
um do they have like a schedule or i could i could work with uh carney i could work with
carney and get that to you so um deb take that note please um i'll get that to you from carney
okay and would it be helpful to maybe send the alderman a notice that now you can do these
reports to 311 because I would like to be able to tell my constituents that call me about
that call me about idot uh that they can now put it in 3-1-1 it automatically goes to
i'll have our press person uh put that out to all 50 of you all right um thanks for that idea
um weed whacking around the fence lines is that something that can be we can ask those uh
contractors to do when they come in that are supposed to do that that's that's part of the
requirement already picking garbage weed whacking around poles cutting the grass and uh bagging the
debris what i what i want to do is um again for the next contract because that contract's up
and it's going to go out for bid um is put where they actually put a number on those bags just
just so we get an idea of of uh if things are getting better okay and if you could just uh
re-underscore with these contractors that they're supposed to do those things just so
yeah and so you know the ward troop or the person checking just for knowledge just putting it out
there for knowledge the ward troop or the person checking that location if you had a constant
problem there they can reject the job to where we're not paying for it okay um two people i
I forgot, James Sheehan and LaDiva.
Thank you.
All right.
How many of your Department of Streets and Sanitation staff
are on medical leave?
Medical leave?
I'll get you that due to chair.
Okay.
And how many of those can return to work on limited duty,
if I could get that due to chair?
I'll get that due to chair.
Okay.
That's it for me.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I also want to recognize Alderman Ramirez for the purposes of quorum.
um we have um alderman riley who is next thank you chairman uh good morning commissioner morning
uh first i wanted to i guess pick up where some of my other colleagues have left off and i just
wanted to say that um streets of sanitation is by far the most responsive department that my office
deals with day in and day out um we deal with a lot of city departments so i want to make sure
before I get into a few questions
that I recognize the great work that you do, Commissioner,
and the equally good work that is provided
by the folks here in the box
and their direct reports underneath them.
And I know that representing the Central Business District,
along with Alderman Dowell and Conway and Hopkins,
we keep you very, very busy.
So thank you for always being responsive
to our needs and requests.
I do know that there, from time to time,
our resource issues with regard to manpower, equipment, etc.
But all of your efforts are appreciated.
Like Alderwoman Dowell, I would also like to learn more about how we can help you promote
this hybrid program that you developed on 311 to make sure that IDOT is being made aware
of unacceptable conditions on the expressways,
especially the ramps, feeder ramps, and the embankments.
I also have a fair amount of that territory
in or near my ward,
notably the Ohio-Ontario feeder ramp,
which has been, you know, a going concern.
So we'd love to help promote that program
so my constituents know
where they can properly lodge those complaints.
Yeah, we'll get that out.
Like I said, that was, Chairman Dowell,
Thank you for that suggestion.
We have our PIO in the office in the audience right now.
He'll definitely be sending that out to all 50.
who all 50 will work with the state,
I'll work with Carney and Secretary Biagi,
but know that they now have sweepers
that they do have on the expressways now,
hitting those, they've definitely stepped up,
they've definitely stepped up,
and we have a great working relationship.
Well, I'm glad to hear that, as you know,
for many years it deteriorated to a point
where it was horrible.
And we're having to constantly remind my constituents
that they assume it's a city issue, right,
because it's property within the physical boundaries
of the city of Chicago.
It's our problem.
And having to explain jurisdiction is sometimes confusing.
So thank you for that.
One other thing, well, a few other things,
but so power washing is an issue of late in my ward.
And I assume probably in other neighboring wards as well,
where we have frontage right-of-way
in front of the frontages of major businesses,
hotels, et cetera.
The list is long.
And we have a pigeon poop issue.
They roost on pipes, on superstructure,
and they go to the bathroom all day.
And it piles up in big piles.
And we're constantly having to ask
these private property owners
to properly clean and maintain their frontage.
and we have repeat offenders who just simply don't want to put in the effort and power wash
this stuff, despite having the equipment, et cetera. I know that we have a program when we
have to go and send a crew to clean up a privately owned vacant lot. We do that work,
and then we issue a citation, essentially a bill to that property owner for the work that's been
completed. Do we have a similar program for power washing? Long and short of it, we've got a couple
power washers um i know we have the equipment commissioner i i guess the question is can we
ticket somebody yes we can ticket somebody um are we in the power washing business as we are
No.
Landscaping business?
No.
We do have two of them.
Vidocs, whether it be on Lakeshore Drive or on the south side to west side,
Vidocs get loaded with, I'll use your word, pigeon poop.
Yeah.
But long and short of it, we really rely on the businesses downtown to do that.
And, Commissioner, I'm not suggesting you get into that business.
In fact, I suggest you don't.
But what I want to do is be able to compel certain bad actors,
and the list is relatively short, thank goodness,
to properly and regularly maintain their frontage.
And if we have to send in to crew from time to time to do that work
and send them a stiff fine for it, maybe that behavior will change.
Again, the idea is to get you out of the power washing business altogether
and put that really on the folks who are responsible for it.
so maybe we could work together on that
to establish a higher fine for that
lack of care
and maintenance
one
question, one thing I wanted to bring up with you
is the auto pound
which is in the lowest level of
lacquer drive along the river walk
and frankly
at the garage entrance for nearly
20,000 of my constituents
again
I understand there's a lot of complications
around the auto pound
but I wanted to remind you
that we have tens of thousands of visitors
to Chicago on a weekend
walking literally by the auto pound
and that level of whacker
and every single week
we have demolished vehicles
stacked and piled in the medians
in that area
we have built a children's playground
literally at the portal
that runs between field drive
and the riverfront, and thousands of families and kids are witnessing this every day.
The Autopound, times have changed.
That area is very different than it was
when the Autopound was first established there.
But now it's incredibly dense
and it's literally a tourism destination.
I'm not expecting it to look like the Emerald City,
but it currently looks like a dumping ground, literally.
And it's frustrating to me that it's in that condition.
and I would ask that we do a much better job
getting all that crap out of there.
Hear you loud and clear.
You're right.
It is a dumping ground.
Those are cars that were in accidents
on Lakeshore Drive
and there are some pretty serious accidents there.
So the cars, it does.
So Mike, I'd really like you to look.
We'll look at that.
We hear you
and thanks for bringing that to our attention.
Okay, and I appreciate that.
That's something we'd really have to get addressed.
I've literally just finished a round of homeowners association meetings in
Lakeshore East.
Those are all the folks that live upstairs and each building I visited with,
this was the number two issue.
Again, I'm glad you shared.
I'm glad you shared just like everybody that shares things that we can do
better. Yeah. Because that's what we strive to do.
And you do a great job commissioner.
And in no way is this meant to be an ambush or a gotcha.
It's just,
it's front of mind because I've literally just heard this from my
constituents.
I'm certainly not picking on Mr. LoCoco or the folks with the towing program,
but I need to bring up one more thing about towing.
And again, none of this is personal.
And I feel bad because the only times I ever have to bring up an issue,
it seems somehow it intersects with Mr. LoCoco, who I think is a great guy.
Because of where the auto pound is located,
the tow trucks have a couple of ways to get there, ingress and egress.
Just a couple.
Lower Wacker, or through Lakeshore East Park,
the ring road that goes around a very busy and very pedestrian-heavy park,
filled with children and babies and strollers and doggies.
babies and strollers and doggies. And over the years, we've interacted with your office to ask
for the trucks to use Lower Wacker. And that is a truly neighborhood park with incredible density.
And I've had to go through extraordinary steps to install extra speed humps there. We've had a lot
of near misses through passenger vehicles, other types of delivery vehicles, and also tow trucks.
and i can't really control where the passenger vehicles and and and to which degree we can with
the deliveries i'm i'm asking if if you could please uh redouble your efforts to direct your
tow drivers to take a different path um and i know we do a lot of tow activity on upper randolph and
that's also at my request hold on one second please if i may yeah lococo that's possible
correct i like like look like loco deputy commissioner of traffic service yes we have
in the past told our tow drivers not to use that only during emergencies to use that so within the
last couple events that have been going on i'm sure they've used this several times but we
reiterated to them not to use that path but like i said during some of the events with the marathon
and stuff where downstairs is closed we have to use that no no yeah and to be very clear special
events are special events right uh and i'm completely sympathetic on that i do think it'd
be really helpful if you could with some firmness reinforced with the tow drivers this is not the
route no it'll be reinforced and what i ask is if your office does continue to get those calls
please let anthony know let downstairs know and that will be addressed absolutely and again i have
nothing but kudos and praise for the folks that are running the program thank you um but i wanted
to highlight that that one piece. The last question I have for you is related to the
homeless intervention missions that we do on a weekly basis in conjunction with family
services. And by the way, your team does phenomenal.
And by the way, your team does a phenomenal job,
and I really do thank them for their hard work week in, week out.
I know Ellen Conway does as well.
By your estimation, we have the same camps in place every week.
We go in and we intervene and ask these folks if they want services.
We try to find ways to rehouse them, et cetera.
But then once the site is cleaned, they immediately return.
Do you have any suggestions on how to better get at that issue?
Is there a way to move the needle?
I'm going to ask the same thing of the other partners in these missions.
I get it.
Right now, we're at 495 cleanups.
Last year, we were a little over 500.
These are people that are in need.
We understand that.
There are people with issues.
We understand that.
It's a much bigger conversation.
but know that we're pretty much at the same amount of cleanups uh it hasn't gone down it
hasn't gone up literally right now if i were to look through the book and debbie will be shaking
her head she can fact check me but i think we're at 495 right now and we're over a little over 500
so we understand it's a problem we understand there's you know there's a problem on you know
garvey and lake you know i i i see that problem you know where you talk about pigeons a lot of
pigeons there yes sir and so we're aware of those situations and we're we talked to superintendent
waller in regards to uh you know garvey and lake um but we we know we gotta we gotta come come
together as a team okay we can take that offline for sure that's a longer conversation chairman
thank you for your indulgence let me ask that last question uh thank you commissioner again um for
the great working partnership that we have. I value it very much. And I'll hope, Chairman,
that Alderman Knudsen comes to ask questions about feeding squirrels in Lincoln Park,
feeding squirrels in lincoln park because i want to hear more about that thank you chairman very
well uh thank you uh alderman lopez followed by alderman viegas thank you chairman and good
morning members of the committee good morning commissioner to your you and your team um wanted
to start out with a few things yeah you all right you do good i was hoping i'd get a bigger laugh
out of your group, but apparently not. They're all terrified of whatever's coming next out of me.
But no, you and your team have been incredibly responsive, despite the challenges in the 15th
Ward, and I want to thank you personally for all of that. But I do have a couple questions with
regards to some of the things that we're reading. First off, one of the departments that we saw
the other day, questions about raises, and raises has been a continuous issue for me,
particularly as we're seeing some eye-popping raises in some of the departments in your
department there are individuals who are getting 20 30 000 raises was that your recommendation or
obms i wasn't my recommendation so i'd have to uh look at the folks that you're talking about
and get you that through the chair okay um with regards to the uh what you've referenced in your
tires comments 50 000 tires 50 000 our budget book says that's 431 requests is that the four
did those 431 requests generate 50 000 tires that's just requests i know you're you yourself
probably generated about
2,000 of those 50,000
driving around picking those
they're all over
I heard in public comments
about cans with litter
litter um that's why i try to pound that point home so i the one of the things and and i get
that and i appreciate because i was going to say that's roughly a hundred tires a call that we're
picking up um you are working with bacp to identify some of these individuals but that also gets to
the the larger question of the illegal back alley mechanics that we're seeing grow exponentially
here in the city of Chicago.
Did you want to touch briefly as to what you, BACP, and CPD are doing to address that?
Because I think that's something that impacts all of our wards.
We know that they are finding ways to avoid citation or violations by stating that they're
working on their cousin's car or neighbor's car, when we know that there's no way that
you've got that many cousins in need of cars that need repair.
And at the same time, there's a cost with that.
because we have to foot the bill for the proper disposal of 50,000 hazards.
Would you care to expound on that briefly?
I can remember Chairman Irvin years ago brought up the fact that on the vacant lots,
you know, right next to the auto zones and stuff like that, that was a huge problem.
So we worked towards that ordinance.
Worked side by side with Ivan Cabofale before he left in regards to these same situations
And just know that from feeding the pigeons, you know, from people sitting there feeding the pigeons, you know, in the cab stand in front of, in front of the cultural center, you know, we worked on something to that level of detail.
So we have to continue to work.
People are going to continue to try to figure out how to feed their family at the cost of others.
You discussed vacant lots and properties, and it's falling on deaf ears in the court.
department of buildings was here this week and mentioned that we actually are fighting with
fighting with the courts and our own law department because while we know that there are buildings
that we should be demolishing, garages that we should be demolishing, which your department
handles, oftentimes we're stemmed by the effort to conserve them. Do you find our own internal
efforts here to be more confounding than the judicial process or is the judicial process the
part that's more confounding than City Hall? Oh, we work with buildings. I mean, we used to do a
lot more garages um we probably only did about 75 so far this year uh as far as demo you know
dilapidated and and uh so there is a system there but to we're really not in that business like we
were years ago and why is that because they just contracted out um we again we do maybe 75 and
we're hitting the ones where it's an emergency emergency where it's like hey let's let's get
out there and let's try to let's try to get that thing down so there's not a conscientious effort
to slow down no because it appears that buildings is having a conscientious effort to slow down in
the name of conservancy i would just say no okay don't have to speculate i got it um with regards
to seniors and some of the issues that uh we know that we deal a lot with our trees and kudos to
the entire Bureau of Forestry, but we also know that trees on private lots remain an issue.
Trees on private vacant lots remain an issue. We've suggested before looking at the possibility
of helping seniors with private property issues by putting liens on their property to recover
the costs. Has there been any discussion with OBM as to how we can use the department to assist
seniors in those predicaments i've never had a conversation with uh that a department in
regards to putting a lean on somebody's property to try to help somebody okay
lean on somebody's property to try to help somebody okay um i am also sending you about
two dozen through the chairs i won't get into them but there are two other things that i want
to just bring up briefly um our ward yard and 52nd street you are familiar 52nd street itself
the 22 2300 blocks are horrendous is c dot going to repair that street at all so that
the potholes and all of that can be dealt with accordingly or replaced or rebuilt because of the
high volume of traffic with all the trucks and salt spreaders that come through that location
i'll talk to commissioner cheeks on that i know he's coming up after after us um and then i'll
i'll talk to me because again they do have effect on our truck pulling it out but i'll have that
conversation with commissioner cheeks and if there's any other locations that are similar
to that because I think that having a truck leave a location and having to vibrate relentlessly for
two blocks before it starts picking up garbage is probably also contributing to the leaks that
we have and the deferred maintenance that we're seeing. And then also, and this is something
that's relative just for me, we have WPA streets that have recently been built by the PBC and CDOT
on 55th and Oakley.
New streets, new curbs,
new alley aprons and what have you.
And
in areas where the trucks
have to back in or back out,
this is one of those locations.
It's a very tight T alley.
They're not driving over the corner of that alley.
They've already destroyed my brand new
alley
apron.
With the grass, the truck, he's got a hole?
And this and this is not the first time we've seen this, but this is the most recent time. So what can we do? Because what I'll be told is that it won't be a contractor issue. There's no way for me to have DSS pay for it. And it often.
for me to have dss pay for it and it oftentimes comes back to the local alderman to repair what
they just paid for again that's one of our i'm looking at tommy and saracola because that's one
of our frustrations and chris solvay because we deal with the private vendors on that too you
know and we've and we had that one in west englewood where they drove right through the
alley apron we had one in the 21st ward where it didn't stop where we're literally like finally we
worked with CDOT and they
because it was so tight we concreted
that corner that corner right
there
just because we got tired of putting dirt in there and it wasn't
fair to the homeowner it was a tripping hazard it was
a whole thing there's some areas
that are tight but
there's some new drivers there
and we definitely hear you
loud and clear so if you have that issue
please bring that to us
we'll get that filled up with dirt
we'll get that filled up with dirt and
we'll address that
happily thank you and and on some of these but it just seems that it's among those recurring
things and especially in like finance when we look at settlements there are a number of things
that are recurring when it comes to our drivers clipping garbage uh garages and things of that
nature all of that adds up and i think if uh commissioner cheeks is listening um we also know
there's an issue when it comes to trying to install bollards that also make it more difficult
for trucks but are also leaving people's private property at risk of being hit so i'd like to see
if there's some sort of dual uh dual department coordination that we could look at when it comes
to how do we protect private property in the alleys but also not overly burden crews who are
trying to do their job um with the infrastructure that's in place no cheek's been a commissioner
cheek's been a great partner you know we we've worked together many many years and literally
to address again i'll bring up the 21st ward because it was so frustrating
um there was one on the north side that we kept hitting too so
your your complaint is heard loud and clear okay thank you commissioner
Thank you to your concern.
Suggestions.
Thank you, Commissioner, to all your team.
Thank you, Chairman.
Thank you, Alderman.
Alderman Villegas, followed by Alderman Tullioferro.
Thank you.
Thank you, Chairman.
Commissioner, over here.
First of all, thank you and your team for the great work that you do.
I sent you an email this morning because we started talking about tow trucks
I wanted to thank you and Lococo for participating in that road towing task force, and you'll
be interested to see that as a result of some of the efforts that we're taking, it's being
replicated across the country, and as a result of our collaboration, they don't mention Streets
of Sand in the report, but I want to make sure that you guys get your due here because
of the fact that you were part of it.
But nationally, we've seen an 89% decrease in these rogue towers based on the legislation that this city has passed, starting in 21 and then again in 24.
So I wanted to make sure that I gave you your kudos for helping us with that issue.
God bless you.
You mentioned also something about banks, assistance with banks.
And I wanted to ask you, what type of assistance are you looking for?
Are these foreclosed properties?
Are these properties that are just bank-owned vacant land combination?
The vacant land, I wouldn't even go.
It's the properties.
It's whether they're foreclosed or they're in that limbo status
where it's a danger because someone's living next to them.
You know, there's a senior next to them.
There's kids next to them.
Somebody's living next to that house.
And we can't put it on the homeowners that live on both sides and be like, hey, Chip, it'll grow to where it becomes an unsafe issue.
So we try to reach out to banks.
You try to get and it's just a runner.
try to get, and it's just a runner. So, so I, so I appreciate that because right now I have an
ordinance that we're going to go ahead and amend to, to about a foreclosure registry. So that way
you, you all will know kind of where and who you need to talk to specifically around dealing with
these issues. And I think that would be something that potentially could help, um, hold people
accountable, hold the banks accountable, but then also get someone that would be able, that you
would be able to communicate, you're also be able to communicate with to make sure that their
property managers are doing their their work so so we're working on that right now uh and would
love to have your uh your person your you or your your staff members input as to what is it that
they specifically need from the banks in order to make it easier for for us to police them for us
it's as simple as if that building's registered where we can look up and call the property owner
and say perfect when we have issues i don't want to be a property manager for the property manager
but it's maintain your sight you know it's it's between them and the railroads it's a coin toss
on on where the challenges are to get them to just do maintenance yeah so that's perfect so
we're in the process of amending it i'll i'll shoot it to you so you can let your team review
it and make sure that it captures uh some of the information that you need and then again if you
need to add to it let me know i'd be more happy to help with that thank you um the the uh birth
control for rodents pilot program i saw that you you noted that and and i've heard nothing but good
things um when should we when should we expect the full results of that uh let me just say spring of
spring of 27. right right gloria fact check me on that spring of 27. deputy commissioner gloria
pitman that is correct commissioner and all indications are that it's working then i also
saw you talked about the uh the other process for for eliminating rodents as well yeah again
we got audited from the inspector general we agreed with their recommendations
we agreed with their recommendations we asked for additional crews because i promised this
body two years ago that we'll get up to 25 crews and just with people taking off vacations
people just not being at work yeah i could never really get to that number so that's why we asked
for these additional crews this year to try to get to that number of 25 to 28 crews
so we can get out there.
The contraceptive is something we're continuing at Wicker Park's doing the same thing.
We're continuing to work with other organizations that can just offer great suggestions on,
you know, here at New Orleans, everybody would compare to New Orleans
because after Hurricane Katrina, they said they never want that to happen again.
Gloria's been to New Orleans twice to try to get the lay of the land,
and what we found out, it's really heavily federally funded.
Okay.
So that's kind of the difference there.
Our budget for Rodin is $14 million.
What was that number?
It's a little over $14 million.
Okay.
So have you made a request, a federal request,
to our Illinois delegation to try to get some funds or no?
No, we have not.
No, we have not.
And just,
I was anticipating
some of the Northside aldermen
to be here, aldermen to be here
in regards to talking about the
rodent
contraceptive, but if they
don't show up, I wanted to, since you brought
it up, I wanted to talk to you about it.
It's about $5,000 a block.
You know, that's what
it is, and that's with volunteers.
So you have volunteers and people
that are really focused to the
trying to get there it's 5 000 a block so if you just google how many blocks are in the city of
chicago and how many alleys are in the city of chicago it's over a hundred million dollars
dollars well i mean we don't need it all at one time no i get it but i'm saying it's it's a it's
an expensive alternative is all i'm saying yeah yeah no i agree with you but it's very based on
the initial it looks like it's effective so that'd be yes yeah yeah 100 okay well i i think this i
think this i'm not speaking for the whole body but i think this body would love to support that
requested illinois delegation to see if there's a way that we can try to put in a a multi-year
request to at least help
offset some of the costs with that.
Gloria, you got that?
Yes, I do. Thank you.
And I'll help generate the letter so that way we can get
to our Illinois delegation.
Yeah, you know,
trying to work with them on Senate Bill 1555
for the recycling.
That's another $25 million that
can hopefully help us out.
Is that a Senate bill
in the House, in the General Assembly
or in the federal government? Chris Solvay?
Chris Solvay, Deputy
commissioner the the bill that the commissioner's referencing uh was uh passed in july of 2024
uh the epr in illinois uh is now in a status that has an advisory group the commissioner
sits on this advisory group there is a report due to the governor's office in december
and the goal would be to introduce uh extended producer responsibility in the state for packaging
products products um for recyclables it would help offset the cost of our municipal operations
other states have passed it um minnesota oregon california colorado gotcha cool so that's a
state bill then correct yeah okay cool thank you thank you commissioner again uh you and your team
do great work very responsive so love to continue supporting your organization so thank you thank
you on Lopez I would I would be remiss if I didn't remind everyone that while
Gloria Pittman is taking all this information it is her birthday today as
as well every birthday gloria all right happy birthday we got cake upstairs if anyone wants
cake all right uh alderman tullia feral followed by alderman la spota thank you mr chairman and
happy birthday gloria uh commissioner um i just want to really take um some time and say thank
you um for you and your your leadership team um for their responsiveness and the great work that
you're doing particularly on the west side of chicago and in the 29th ward as well i just
really have one question regarding our roots program the our root chicago initiative i know
there was a goal of 75 000 trees but given the fact we've had some significant storms
lead service line replacements and water main replacements projects going on throughout the
city, how many trees are we losing and compared to how many are being planted? Well, we took down
about 5,000 this year. That's what we took down. And that was from the 2025. And that is, is that
5,000 as a result of the, um, the water main replacement and lead surface line replacement?
No, that number 700. That's about seven. We're about 700 on that. Okay. And so we've, we'll,
hit the 75,000 next month. And then, um, we have money for, we have about 4.6 million CPI funds for
that'll get us about 7,000 trees for next year. Because my, my biggest fear was to sit in front
of his body and go, yeah, great. You did the 75,000. What are you doing for me next year?
And I didn't want your constituents in certain, uh, times to say, well, what are they planting
next year so we work with budget um and we have we have 4.6 million to where we'll be able to
plant 7 000 trees next year and then there's a plan moving forward
trees next year and then there's a plan moving forward uh in each year coming okay and given
given the uh the storms i know this took you guys off schedule quite a bit i can only imagine that
it did um given those storms that we've had um how far well how backlogged are we now if i were
to put in a tree to be trimmed or to be cut um how long would it take me approximately to get
that done now well here we're just a non-emergency tree no we're just getting into um tree trimming
again we from june 10th till about the third week in august we were cleaning up the tree debris as
i've mentioned 56 000 piles of uh tree debris that was all over the city 44 000 tree emergencies
that were all over the city.
We just cleaned up our 2025 dead tree requests
that was about 5,000 plus the 700 from the water department.
So this past week, we just got back into tree trimming
where in the wintertime when there's no leaves on the tree,
we can get about 3,500 on a great week
with 4,000 trees trimmed in that week.
um so we're we're pretty confident that we'll get to 360 000 by april 17th and then we got two more
years to finish up the city but to answer your question if you if you give us that those issues
that you have because the last thing we want is trees damaging people's roofs the last thing we
want is damaging someone's house affecting their insurance uh we want to hear from that and we
want to address that so we can take care of those uh rather quickly quickly um we have a
We have an organization that has gone out and threw a grant
that is serving every tree,
a parkway tree in the city.
and they're telling us the species, the size, the condition.
So we have that.
They've gotten, and the hope is to be done in fall of 2027.
So we'll have that documentation.
We know in the past, large trees have been planted
that have damaged people's sidewalks.
You know, they become tripping hazards.
So we've made adjustments in the trees that we order
to try, because we do know they just did a,
and it was unprompted by us, but Channel 9 did a news story last night
from a Northwestern professor that just shared the benefits of trees,
the impact, and over the winter, I mean, over the summer,
I was in the, it could have been the Sixth Ward, I believe it was,
and it was one of those really warm days.
It was about 90 degrees, and it was blazing sun,
and this woman literally said, hey, can we get that tree cut down right there?
and we're standing on the street
and I said
after about three minutes of talking
it was so warm
I said hey come on let's go stand over here
and we stood underneath the tree
and she's asking me to cut down the tree in front of her house
and she
stopped fanning herself
I stopped sweating
and I said you just see the benefit of this tree
and we've only been standing here
for about four minutes
notice the difference that the effect has
I know there's that conception out there
that trees destroy the pipes it contributes it it just that that that root system is going to find
that crack um but know that we're a partner in trying to get the tree canopy good for all
well your forestry team has been um um superb and and very responsive uh and and especially
when we have emergencies i oftentimes i see them out there within hours so i i certainly think i
And I really want to commend your quality of life team, your road and abatement team.
the Bateman team. It's just every aspect of your operation has done a fantastic job. Without your
quality of life team, a lot of issues that we've experienced in the past, we'd still be having
issues with them. But over the past several years, the quality of life team has been, I'd say, one of
the standout aspects of your department. And I'm very hopeful and thankful that this is something
that your department will be expanding so that we could get even more services.
And so let me thank your team one last time for the great work that they're doing
and the work of my ward superintendent who's doing a great job as well.
So I appreciate it, Cole, and keep up the good work.
Thank you.
And know that I just want everybody to know we heard you loud and clear.
I mean, five years ago before I got this job when I met with everybody, it was carts.
I heard about carts.
We worked together as a group.
It was a $983,000 problem.
We got 918, and we went from six to eight months to six to eight weeks.
This time, work with this mayor, work with the mayor's office,
and it was literally like, what are the issues that you're hearing?
It was forestry.
It was road and control.
And it was like, how do we get better with quality of life,
vacant lots for weed cutting?
And so we addressed those issues in this budget.
I just want everybody to know that we hear you loud and clear,
and we know what you're facing out in your constituency,
and we hear the people.
I mean, I was listening backstage to everybody talk.
These are all things that we can get better on,
and I'm just not talking just to talk.
It's what we believe.
I've got 350 years with me.
I've got people in the audience with probably another couple hundred.
We care, and we want to hear how we can get better for everybody.
I certainly appreciate it.
And I appreciate the 25 carts that you're going to get me tomorrow.
Hey, have them delivered.
I appreciate the 30 cards.
You'll give me the money.
But no, I say that in jest.
But thank you so much for all the work.
And I really appreciate it.
And Mr. Chairman, that's all I have.
Thank you.
Thank you.
30.
That's all you need.
Yeah, that's the other part of me.
Got to drop them off somewhere, too.
But, no, really, that quality of life, I think, has been very key in helping.
I know that's a brainchild of managing deputy Tommy Johnson,
and it's something that's been very helpful to the communities,
especially on the west side.
I'm glad to see that it's getting replicated across our city.
Even though he never gave credit to where it came from,
I'm going to let him bask with that one for a minute.
I'm going with Tommy.
I'm going with Tommy all day long.
Very good, Tommy.
He got that idea from the 28th Ward.
I just didn't know that, but it's all good.
Alderman LaSpada.
Thank you so much, sir.
And I'll just piggyback right off of Alderman Telly O'Farrell's points.
It'd be one thing for you to come up and say the things you're saying,
but if the evidence wasn't there in our wards,
you'd get a much different reaction.
The fact that you're a person of your word,
your whole team are people of their word, means a lot to me.
and it means a lot to my constituents.
I'll shout out just a couple of points
that were already brought up.
The fact that we're 2 million pounds of trash
diverted from pounds of food waste,
diverted from our landfills, fantastic.
I can guarantee about...
Like this?
Yeah, like the kids do, like the kids do.
I'll guarantee...
I'll guarantee...
I have plenty of areas of the city.
I'll guarantee that about 200 pounds of that
came from the La Spada household.
that were up to 40 different locations fantastic um i will say off of ottoman teller fails
I will say, off of Alderman Telly Farrell's question, it'd be one thing to plant 75,000
trees, that we are so net positive on our trees at the same time, fantastic, because
it actually speaks to the fact that we're building an urban forestry canopy in the
city of Chicago.
So thank you for all of that.
The budget in terms of the trimming positions, the removal positions, fantastic to see and
hear.
I had a couple quick questions.
So there's a number of positions that were like net neutral on them, but we're moving them from the vehicle tax fund to the corporate fund.
I'm wondering if folks could speak to that budgeting decision.
Ask that question again.
So I'm looking at like the vacant lot cleaning positions, the field operating positions.
They're not disappearing.
They're just moving from the vehicle tax fund to the corporate fund.
And I'm wondering why OBM or the department are doing that.
They just balance, OBM balance, I'm being told, OBM balance the 300 fund, correct?
It was out of balance, so they balance it.
Okay, okay.
I might follow up offline on that.
Page 467, 4025, refuse collection.
I did see a decrease in that budget.
I'm wondering if somebody could speak to that.
Can you repeat that?
So I'm looking at page 467.
It's under solid waste collection.
We're going from 675 in that department to 618.
I'm curious why the loss of headcount there.
Let me get you that through the chair, okay?
Okay.
I guess the overall point that I'm driving at,
so we are very good at putting out the metal baskets
along our commercial corridors.
I know that we started to have challenges
with not the placement of the baskets,
but being able to pick up and dispose of that trash
on a regular basis.
Do you feel good about this budget,
being able to restore those services?
so we can proliferate those baskets again?
That's literally just, you got large, the weather's beautiful,
large special events.
It's just, I'll put it on the ward superintendent's just got to be more
diligent with that because all these ward troops have pickup trucks.
They all have a laborer, a sign hanger.
You see an overflowing basket, drive down Milwaukee Avenue and just hit those.
So there's nothing to do with the budget on wide baskets.
I know in the 8th Ward, for example, Jeffrey, we got to work on Jeffrey
to do better on those.
King Drive in the 3rd Ward.
We know where all our hotspots are.
Ward Soup just has to focus on that because there's zero excuse
to have overflowing baskets.
Go ahead.
No, Chairman Dow had a point.
I just wanted Alderman Lespada to know that it's not a loss of positions.
you're just moving positions
and the money
actually is going to
finance
general
so we're not losing positions
that's the point
are we speaking about the positions on 467
the
the 57 positions
yes ma'am
on page 467
it moved from the
garbage fund
to the corporate fund
fund. There we go. Sorry, there's a lot of... This budget features a lot of shuffling from
fund to fund, so it has made some of that a little confusing, but that is very helpful
to hear. Thank you so much. I think those are the major points for me. The other item
that comes to mind, I'll follow up with you offline. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Alderman Laspata, Alderman Hatton, followed by Alderman Scott.
Thank you, Chair and Commissioner.
Good morning.
It's always good to see you.
Kudos to everyone in the box, all the team.
I really appreciate you and everything that your department does.
I get the pleasure of working with your team, not just in the ward, but of course, as we
intersect with Committee on Environment Issues and our Urban Forestry Advisory Board.
um i i think you're putting forth a great uh proposal here and look forward to supporting
this um thank you for um bringing to our attention um i'll say thanks jim uh around the the stump
removal piece um your team's always really good at communicating um so i just will say keep doing
that um uh you guys keep calling or letting us know things that are up and and i'll keep answering
in the phone. And I appreciate that you always do that for us as well. A couple questions. I will
plus one on the rack control piece. I know that we had a preliminary hearing in my committee
on the first six months of Alderman Knudsen's, the pilot and his ward. I look forward, we're
going to bring him back. So I look forward in the new year for us to be able to share more
about that so for all the colleagues who are interested we'll again be working with
with you and your team to bring that info um i know that we are
I know that we are struggling and adapting to the rats, and it's not a lack of effort,
so, you know, Gloria, happy birthday, and thank you guys, like, the effort is there,
the responsiveness is there, and the kind of the climate, whether it's the warmer weather
or the different things, we're just seeing that behavior change, um, and grow in ways that are
going, um, that are just harder and harder for, for your team to manage. And so I am interested
in the, in the pilot with the carbon, um, dioxide that you're thinking and look forward to learning
more. So also please let me know is as, as we prepare in the new year to have another hearing
about, about this, if there are other ways that we could be looking at resources or if I or other
alders can be partners in broadening that scope or talking to other cities so just let us know
you guys are the experts but if you need us to do any additional legwork or kind of reach out to
other um other peers in different cities that we have contacts with um i would love to be a part
of you know bringing more solutions to the table and options for us because i think just like what
we're seeing with the um the poison um rats are clever and they adapt right and they're just
adapting um faster than our technology um and methods can keep up with them so um just a an
ask there for the new year to you know i'd love to work with you on that um uh also i'm really glad
to see the additional forester position um make it in here and just wondering if there's been any
progress on filling that vacant senior forester position left by joe mccarthy's retirement
we're going to fill those spots um know that the additional spots are in there
that's going to be um when we put our hiring
going to be when we put our hiring plan together that's going to be our top priority again this
weather's changing we see it we've had the worst summer i recall in the last 30 years
it's for real you know i think the two million pounds of garbage that we picked up more this
summer, tells it too.
Semi-loads of debris that was hauled out from the trees.
It's here, so we have to adjust. We have to pivot.
We have to figure out how to get it done. Like someone
said, we didn't cause the problem, but we're here to fix it.
So we've got to fix it. We've got to figure that out.
We've talked to New Orleans. Gloria's been to New Orleans twice.
um new york she came here their rats are and a couple weeks ago we had the pleasure of having
philadelphia's commissioner along with all her leaders come and we sat for about three hours
and she said we're coming to talk trash but we'll talk rats too so we do reach out and try to work
with other cities with similar problems and they all we all sound the same you get us all in the
room we're all sounding the same yeah um thank you for that continued work and the the work of
your team um one thing i know we brought up last year and i was looking at some weather reports
this is around our um street sweeping and snow removal um just wondering if you could speak to
um what you need from us what kind of information is helpful and what are some
um whether it's a budgetary uh piece i know with with 2fm a couple days ago we were talking about
challenges with managing the fleet but i'm thinking about this this issue as we're seeing
shifts in the seasons where the leaves are dropping later and then we're running into this so just
So just, I think we might luck out
with a cold snap next week
that hopefully will bring down those leaves sooner.
And you've already done such a great job at adjusting.
But if you could speak a little bit more
as to what could we be doing
and what you need from us in council
to help manage these types of changes as well.
Just, if we can get people to understand that,
which is difficult, I get it.
But out of the winter season, you know, that we're working, it could be 90.
I'm just going to use from December 1st to April 1st, 90-something days.
You know, you take out the holidays, the weekends, 90-something days.
Of those, we swept 41.
We swept 41 of those days.
We swept over 13,000 miles in that time period, which is the most we've done in the last five years.
We had 25 weather days.
15 days below freezing, and four holidays.
So I say that to say we hear everybody.
I met with Alderman Martin in regards to this.
It's an issue for them.
It's we're there, we sweep, but this is a piece of equipment that has water.
So just because it's 33, 34 degrees, especially when you get later in the season,
that ground temp could be 25 degrees.
There's a big variance there, and you're adding water to that,
it'll be a skating rink.
We want to get the leaves up just as bad as that homeowner does
because we have to plow those streets.
So know that I have a catch basin in front of my house
that was pouring the other day, pouring.
And I have a tree that kicks off leaves about this big.
They're yellow leaves about this big.
I pull up, my wife's out there, clearing the catch basin.
basin, because the
street's starting to flood, because
of those leaves. And it's just
again,
I say, you know,
78,000 bags
of debris we pick up. We cut
88,000 lots.
This, if
everybody just chipped in
to Alderman Riley's point earlier about
businesses not power washing
pigeon poop, if
everybody just chipped in a little bit
it would make our job to where we can do more of the heavy lifting
and just come together like Chicago does.
You know, just take care in front of your house.
You got that senior over there, take care of that senior's house.
Look out.
But we're there for you.
You know, if you have hot areas where leaves do fall later
because I can clean in front of my house today
and three days from now it may not look like I ever did it
because the leaves, it just is what it is.
so know that we do sweep year round
we try to put out
25 to 30 sweepers a day
when weather permits
others are getting
maintained and getting overhauled
but know that the least
amount when we can put out is
19 and that tends to be more in
March because we're trying to get ready for April
1st but we've
had as high as 30 out
in the day so know
that that's another thing that we've heard loud
and clear and
15 years ago
November 15th
it was done
so we heard so we made those adjustments
it's not a problem
and I told this to Alderman Martin
and I'll tell that to everybody
if you have an area that needs to be swept
over the winter time
and it's in the residential area
we'll go and post it
to hope that people move
they just won't enforce it
they just won't enforce it
After the posting's done, we won't enforce it.
But we have the labor, we have the resources now to be able to help in those.
to be able to help in those situations
so I just want to throw that out to the group
no I think that's a good idea and
I appreciate
the adjustments you've been making and
I'll close in saying
I feel like
maybe more than any
department that's been
the type of adjustments that your team
on every level right that we're all
talking about the changing
temperatures climates
conditions
um i i see it because it's it's the thing that we probably as alder people interact with one of our
top priorities as well and um i appreciate uh i appreciate the the intelligence and the
proactive nature of you and every member of your team and really problem solving on this so
thank you and thank you chair thanks for the kind words thank you alderman hadden alderman scott
followed by Alderman Mosley. Thank you, Chairman. Good morning, Commissioner. My sentiments are like
my colleagues. The 24th Ward appreciates you. We appreciate everybody in that box. You all work
really hard for me. I know I have some unusual and circumstances always, but thank you. Your
work doesn't go unnoticed with me at all um i don't have much i just i have a question so the
stump removal was removed out of the budget are there anything is there anything else like the
stump removal that will be removed from this 2027 budget that we need to know about as chairman and
i talked the other day we were talking about something and he says man you got two loaves
of bread under each arm with this budget.
And I said, nah, I got
Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas. I don't need nothing
for New Year's.
We're full.
I'm telling you, we had an issue with carts, work with budget in the mayor's office.
That was addressed.
Stumps, that was addressed.
This is the most back and forth we went to try to see what is needed and how we can make things better.
We tried zero-based budgeting last year.
That's one of Alderman Riley's favorite things.
We tried it.
I asked him four years ago, I said, hey, man, after the thing, I said, could you explain zero-based budgeting to me?
And so last year we tried it, and we came up short a couple million dollars.
We came up short a couple million dollars on our guesses, and we tried.
Just because I wanted to be able to say one day on the record, hey, we tried that zero-based budgeting just to see if we can do better.
But we worked with this team, with this budget team.
We worked with IGA.
We worked with the mayor's office.
Lori Lipson, you know, I know she's out here
watching all of us like a mom would
but she helped us facilitate this and get what we need
and I truly feel with what's presented to everybody
we'll be able to make things better.
Good. To put on, I don't, I have
some concerns about will we have more additional supplies
for like our sign hangers because you know we run out of those signs a lot and i have an amazing
sign hanger brian who goes above and beyond will sweep uh prior to the uh the sweeper coming i mean
he does a phenomenal job and i have to give him his kudos today uh but we do run out of the signs
a lot in our ward and so is there something that yeah um we know the mondays monday signs are tough
You know, people tear them down because we're posting, you know, Thursday, Friday.
Thursday, Friday, we know we've had a lot of storms, they disappear there too, but just
talking about looking at ways to make things better, Deputy Kelly Berry came to us a couple
years ago and said, hey, we're losing too many signs, this is too expensive, we're losing
too many signs, so she took it upon herself and came and brought us a sign that's coded
that last much longer than those signs we had.
They were a little more money, and they last much longer.
But if your word soup has issues, you got the biggest Westside champion
sitting in the box over there, Tommy Johnson, that, believe me,
it's my job to take care of the Southside because Tommy's taking care of the Westside.
Northsiders, I got a couple in the box there for you too.
But it's literally you got a champion right there on the Westside.
So if you need that issue, know that he's there for you.
Do we have issues with safety with some of our, like our tow drivers?
Does safety ever come up?
100%.
We're constantly, again, I'll throw a shout out to my deputy mayor.
The minute she gets something from the police, whether it be a building,
We had a gas leak at 52nd and Oakley the other day.
She's sharing it.
Frank from OEMC, sharing it.
CPD, sharing it.
Fire commissioner, sharing it.
Our people are out there.
You know, we hit 625,000 households every week.
We're hitting an alley.
We're in some challenged areas.
Our people have gotten robbed.
Our people have gotten punched, hit, cars driving by them, you know, worrying about getting their kid to school and we're on a curb route and they're clipping one of our people, our laborers out there.
out there. So yeah, it is a concern
and
I wish I could say
it wasn't, but it is.
Again, I just want to thank
everyone in that box.
Cole,
Tommy,
Gloria, James,
Derwin,
my
ward superintendent, Anthony Braw,
Lococo, Excel.
I mean, so many people
um if i forgot don't don't forget debbie she'll she won't be able to sleep tonight
oh my god debbie's waiting debbie's waiting for somebody to say her name
debbie is you know i have her on speed dial i thank you um right and i don't even know you know
i look at the work that's in one ward and you have 49 others and so kudos because this is uh
Your job is not easy, and you get calls from all of us.
So I appreciate you, and thank you for making the 24th Ward look better.
Thank you.
Thanks for the kind words.
Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman Scott.
Alderman Conway?
Yes.
Thank you.
All about Vice Chile.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Well, my commissioner, I think you're doing a fantastic job.
My staff gave me 15 people to thank.
I'll spare you the list, but they put John Gavin on here three times,
so I will say that one name. Beyond that, pretty disturbing what you just said about what some of
your employees are going through out in the streets. I know as a former prosecutor that
people that batter an identifiable city employee can be prosecuted as an aggravated battery at the
felony level, and we need to make sure that's happening. As a question, as you mentioned,
You know, we're getting warmer weather here later into the year and obviously a lot more weather patterns as a result of that.
a result of that um how possible would be to extend street sweeping uh on the calendar which
i know is something that's asked every year but it seems like we're getting more of it
no again i mean i'm going to say you in a loop you're all right um but more in the neighborhoods
yeah yeah i mean in a loop you're all right but i'm saying um we do we we've heard it it
It used to be a hard shutoff.
You know, November 15th, stuff's changing.
We've swept 41 times this past winter.
We've done over 13,000 miles this past winter.
We're definitely here, everybody, loud and clear.
I tell Fleet, hey, once you get us up for our spreaders for snow,
we got to keep these.
Our garbage trucks tend to be okay then,
but then we got to get these sweepers ready
because they want us to sweep year round.
we literally try to put up 25 to 30 sweepers a day when weather allows year round so again
you're in a pretty good place because we do have winter operations we're going to take this
we're going to work with the union and train some folks on that go to winter operations for the
afternoons to get in those sweepers we have a night shift where we have sweeper drivers on that
So, again, I hear, we listen, we try to solve the problem.
That's what it is.
Very much appreciated.
Since COFA brought it up, and, you know,
obviously you're adding a significant amount of full-time employees,
and that seems justified considering additional rains and graffiti
and weed cutting and litter that comes with that.
But, you know, what broadly would you say is really driving the increase
in full-time employees after years of declines, to your credit?
What's the question?
Well, it looks like you're adding 84 full-time employees here for staffing
after years of it going the other way.
I didn't know if there was something in particular that's driving that.
It seems justified based on services.
If you look at the trend from 2018, you'll see it's pretty level.
I mean, we're at 2298, and I'm looking at the form that is bigger.
We're at $22.98, and in 2018, we're at $22.78.
And when I sit there and I say, I look back and I say,
we're in the best position we've ever been in,
it's when we lose positions, we looked at it,
and there are some management positions where people have stepped up and done more.
But we've gotten more towards the workforce.
You know, the 94% of this department is union represented.
And we see that that's the backbone of this department.
And now we've been able, again, we have a lot of experience sitting up here,
and we're trying to bring that next generation up to go,
hey, understand you're going to work with about 5% to 6% managers.
You have to learn to work with 94% of the union because that's what gets this job done,
and that's what does the job day to day.
So as far as like driving up costs, we saw, and I'm just looking at, you know, where you
got like personnel services, rodent, we added 1.4 million, quality of life was 2.8 million,
forestry was 3.8 million, we got a grant money in there, it was 1.2, in regards to contractual
services, you got, and I'll just, I'll name the big ones if you want, you got waste disposal
at 1.5 we got blue cards cards 1.2 that was through our zero base budgeting last year we thought we
We thought we'd be able to make magic happen,
and we're $800 short for this year that we worked with Blue Carts and got.
But you got stumps, $1.7 we got in there again,
recycling $2 million, and the towing contract.
So it's pretty broad-based and seems completely justified.
It was more of just an obvious question based on the COFA report.
Looking at it, yes.
um frankly the rest of my questions have been have been asked so i'll just put a few things
on your on your radar screen while i got you one is i brought up with some some members of your
team and have some ideas there we could certainly use a recycling center downtown um i have some
ideas from that which i will put on your radar at a more appropriate time um the second thing is
you guys are doing a great job but we're seeing a significant rise in graffiti tags downtown you
guys are keeping up with it but uh which my constituents and i greatly appreciate uh really
echo alderman riley's comments on on how on homeless outreach and appreciate the way you
all are working with dfss uh in concert on that um uh what was the what was the day you said you'll
come back to us on the road to control pilot program i just didn't hear 2027 spring you know
that's the goal that's hope right glow uh um come back with data from lincoln park in regards to
the rodent uh spring 2027 right deputy deputy gloria pitman uh yes that's great and then the
last thing was i was i appreciate you were able to put stump removals uh back in the budget after
last year like i said i think you're doing a doing a great job and uh uh i think all of us
in here really appreciate and thank you to all you in the box and everyone that works for you all
thank you thanks a lot thank you alderman advice totally thank you chair hi commissioner hello
Hello, DSS team, fabulous team that you are, everybody. I will save my big thanks for the
end here. And I know I'm kind of coming to the party late, so I won't belabor half of the points
that I know my colleagues have already made. I've got a question about when Mr. Blakemore actually
just asked me, and I was going to ask you about this anyway. He takes the train to Chinatown
sometimes and it gets off the red line um right there and the the homeless encampment that is uh
chronic there for us i know you and your team and debbie and others and our ward superintendent
um are working very diligently with our partners at dfss and cpd and cdph um
you have any new ideas or just stood up so he's all ears he's listening this was he called me
over i was going to talk about it but like you know i thought i'd ask a pressure right now hold
on no you are that it is a lot of pressure he's he's staring you down right now got his camera
yeah um you know that that area in particular is uh is acute for us uh and we post for cleanups
um we we get it cleaned up for a couple of days and then everybody's back um i think you know
we're challenged by, you know, we have trash cans there in the house, um, are regularly taking
trash bins from residences to put things in or to carry things around. Um, and it is just an
ongoing challenge. And I feel like we're, we're on this big hamster wheel. Uh, any new ideas about
other things that we can do in areas like these to, to discourage people kind of camping out
in these areas?
I'm going to have Debbie.
She can meet with Mr. Blakemore if she'd like out on location.
But no, from your team, I want to have Debbie out there with the team.
I want to really look at it so we're getting eyes on it so we see.
want to really look at it. So we're getting eyes on it. So we see exactly what the issue is. So we
can come up with a plan to be better for not only Mr. Blakemore, but everybody that does do that.
Yeah. And it's like, and it's not an issue that's unique to the 11th ward at all. You know, it's,
it's, I think a little bit more concerning in that particular area because it is within the
proximity of a school, national teachers Academy is right there. Kids who are coming with their
parents off of the red line have to walk by there um and it's also sort of the the go-between between
the convention center and you know chinatown which is a big tourist destination so it it is a concern
for everybody that's around there from business owners to residents and we have not had a really
good answer for it um hear you loud and clear on that one no thank you uh with uh with garbage
carts what are we running these days with carts i know we're doing a lot better but what's the
oh we had a rough summer i i can't i can't we had a rough summer we were grabbing from everywhere
just to try to keep forestry afloat and being able to do those things um we were micromanaging
it because we were short about 850 000 so we worked with the mayor's office and budget and
said for this year i need this 850 000 because the last thing we're going to have is running out
of carts come november right um so we've made that adjustment right now we're about six weeks out
um we will catch up relatively quickly because i don't need my words right now are going to
generate three when ones to go up if anyone's listening um but they tend to go down after
or summer. So those requests
will go down. So we'll catch up. We'll catch up
quick. So that six to eight weeks
will go down to definitely within 30 days
within
the next three to four weeks.
What's the average
shelf life of a cart?
a cart like how are you for 10 oh really it's warranty it's warranty for 10 years so when i
five years ago when i talked about when i met with all the alders and literally
walking through the door it was carts cart everything was carts because it was literally
six to eight months to get a cart and so we just dug deep into it and it wasn't a manpower problem
it was a $983,000 problem. That's what it was. It was, we were short carts. So what we were doing
is we had to wait till January one to get that money to fill that last quarter.
So this year, last year for this year, there was a cut in carts, uh, in the budget. They put that
back in because we had to go back with and make the plea to budget that carts can't be an issue
for anybody. This is, you got rats, you got garbage, you got, we can't make an issue of
carts again. We worked, that's a 2000 and late problem, you know? So they gave us $800,000
to get us back from the 1.2 that we're out. So we're back into good places. I say all that to
say we're back in we're back that's great and you said they're they're warrantied for 10 years so
when we're getting rats chewing through trash bins now carts are we are we filing a claim
with the company and any of those i mean do we send any of those back we sent 20 what 20 000
we get something for them i mean i don't think a warranty issue is going to cover
rats chewing through but it's more the tires the you know okay wheel yeah i just wasn't sure what
the what the warranty covers at the end of the day um i i know i'm out of time and we we sort
of shorten the time today um but i want to i want to say thank you for the yeoman's work that you
and your teams you know jimmy sheehan and forestry with the storms that we had this summer um you know
with the storms that we had this summer um you know i think a lot of different wards got hit i
had a lot of trees down on several occasions um and you know jimmy was right out there you know
i don't think he slept much i don't think you did either none of your teams really did um but i
thought you guys did a great job um triaging the things that need to be prioritized clearing
streets and then getting to the rest of it um so really appreciate all of the all of the hard work
on that front um and the the teams that work so quickly to like respond to things i i'll i'll go
ahead and name names because debbie is my favorite debbie wants to hear it debbie wants to
debbie wants to hear it and might be marking on a piece of paper right now so literally uh there
there's not one person on your team who i call that doesn't call me right back um they're not
not one um and i do kind of burn a hole in certain people's phones debbie's probably the one i call
most regularly um next to mike sarah cole but uh um debbie's fantastic and she's got so much on her
plate street ops the the viaducts that we get tagged constantly with uh with graffiti um she's
always willing and the teams are always so quick to respond and then she's got to deal with the
railroads which you know i have an acute railroad problem right now but she's not involved with
that thankfully she doesn't need to be i probably should pull you in because maybe you can strong
arm a few more people um but but your staff's incredible with with events and mike lococo and
the season that the white socks had this year everything that had to be done are you rich
poor bears yeah i heard that one today it's for another meeting um listen i we got a lot of stuff
going on in the 11th ward between the white socks and events going on in chinatown and and the like
um and your team's fantastic we've had an acting ward soup now for uh most of this year and he's
been incredible um thank you for the gift that is dan gonzalez uh and
thank you for the gift that is dan gonzalez uh and i want to also just give a shout out to our
sign hanger mark who was part of the the program where we recruited him out of high school and he's
been such a great addition to the team um i think that those programs have been invaluable and i i
see i see the work product directly so um so thank you for that and well thanks for bringing that up
we haven't talked about that thanks for bringing that up it's over 150 i appreciate that um 100
it was 167 you know that are here with us it's been a wonderful program to give these young
folks this opportunity and we're seeing great things so thanks for bringing that up you're
welcome and to your point earlier and I think that you know it becomes a recurring theme when
we talk in budget hearings about the institutional knowledge that lives within the city currently
and the need to make sure that we are bringing in a new crop of folks so that all of the knowledge
just doesn't walk out when people are ready to retire we definitely need to make sure that
they're being trained up properly um and and understand the role that they play and really
helping to make the lives of every single resident of the city better and and a lot of that falls on
your department's shoulder so thanks for all you do um that's all i have i i i went to my page i
was waiting for it the dog poop no do you have it i got the info how many tickets 24 dog 24
fines assessed $6,400
fines collected
on these dockets
$4,946.61
I'm going to have to talk to Pat Jachowiak
about why we're not collecting more of it, right?
It's not bad. It's not a bad rate right there.
No, no, it's not bad.
Listen, I haven't had
as many problems with that recently.
I still think that
there's work to be done there
because I know that contributes to the rat problem, right, Gloria?
people not picking up after their dogs um i'd love to to talk about piloting some initiatives around
you know parks and things i know that's going to cost some money and i'm willing to
dig into the menu to do that um especially if if we can you know kind of
Especially if we can, you know, kind of pair that up with some of these other new initiatives, potentially with the birth control stuff, too.
I just say that to let this body understand that from what may be the smallest of things to the largest of things, we do listen.
And we want to be prepared for everybody.
And we want to give you answers that you can take back to your constituencies to try to make things better for everybody.
Well, I'll remember to ask it again this time around, but I was going to give you a pass on that this year.
Thank you for having the answers.
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you.
I want to recognize former member Daley Thompson has joined us today.
Welcome to the chamber, sir.
He's still talking.
He ain't heard nothing, man.
He's just talking, talking, talking away, man.
Welcome.
That's all.
Just welcome.
We're going to have Alderman Sposato followed by Alderman Vasquez.
Thank you, Chairman.
Commissioner, five years.
I didn't realize it's been five years already.
Wow.
How time flies when you're having fun, huh?
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Just a couple questions that I've just been feeding off of other people's questions and some comments.
And hopefully in 2027, we don't have three of those once every hundred year storms, that's for sure.
So as far as a budget question, it's kind of a budget question.
So do we get, do you get interns for the summer or do we get any one summer Chicago kids because I'm program I'm not the most thrilled about, but I'm, I don't know if, I don't know if the union would allow that if we have to have an agreement or something, but that'd be a great job for kids to learn how to work hard and we certainly could use them for the summer.
So do you get any summer interns?
100%.
You do?
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
We had them working on boulevards.
And you got one summer Chicago kids?
Oh yeah.
That's awesome to hear.
Great.
Yeah.
We had working with Jimmy Shea.
We were treating him out of mulch around trees.
We bring out heavy equipment, let him see what the heavy equipment is.
Give those explanations out.
We have them picking up litter on boulevards.
Oh, yeah, it's been a great resource for us.
Speaking of trees and Jim Sheehan, is there any money, Jim,
is there any money, or do we sell those chunks of wood trees
that when we cut them down, or do we just throw them in the dump?
Is there any money?
No, no, it's recycled.
It's recycled?
Yeah.
Yeah, over the summer we were off for, you know,
you want to come get some wood chips.
Well, I know the wood chips, but the big branches or whatever,
do we sell that for anybody for firewood or anything?
Or a market for it?
No, we have a couple machines that we call it the beast
that you can literally drop a cottonwood in there
and it'll make it look like Parmesan cheese.
so it's
we break it up
you don't have room
you were losing capacity
this summer
so without that type of machinery
and those operators loading that stuff up
you lose capacity real fast
I spent a lot of time talking with
the state
you literally have to find areas
to put that on
with any kind of storm
a blizzard we're looking for areas
is to drop snow, you know, so.
Well, I'm happy to say that I never call you
because I have a problem, as you know.
I only call you just a social call,
so I appreciate that.
Your staff is awesome.
Always fearful of mentioning names and forgetting somebody,
but some of your people,
certainly one of your guys in the back over there,
I always tell them one of these days,
I'm going to call you and just say,
hi, how you doing?
I don't have an emergency for you.
He's smiling now.
He knows what I'm talking about.
So I always call him, you know, when I need something.
So it's never as like, what can I do for your alderman?
So, but yeah, just appreciate all you guys do.
Certainly, you know, my word soup is awesome.
We all have 50 awesome ward soups, so we'd be nowhere without our ward soups.
And that's about it.
So thanks for everything, Commissioner.
Appreciate you.
Thank you.
Thanks, Alderman Sposado.
Next, we have Alderman Vasquez, followed by Alderman Ramirez.
Thank you very much, Irwin.
And first off, greatly appreciate the work all of you all do.
Everyone's saying it, but it's not only the actual need of what you do,
but you guys execute well and you guys execute with the budget that you have and so the first
question is actually it's appeared that for the last couple of years it's been a little bit um
you're kind of exceeding the budget which to me says more about the actual need you all have to
exceed our budget is that what you said yeah like it tends to be a little bit over budget
but i just think that you guys are doing your best to keep it low knowing the actual use that
you all have so i think you know what would you say what would you say is causing a little bit of
that budget being a little too all weather it's weather it's events you know um as i mentioned
earlier lococo's been part of over 2 000 events his team this year uh street apps you know kind
of the other group where we're doing like major major events we're over 700 uh so those are good
problems to have um unprecedented winter i mean summer i'm sorry we had a great winter but
unprecedented summer i had we had to tap into the privates um to help us out and it was 1.7 million
to haul away, we literally hauled away 1,500, 1,550-yard semis, 424 20-yard semis.
On Saturdays, we were putting garbage trucks out.
We filled 614 garbage trucks out and a couple hundred clams full of tree debris.
Those all are associated to the cost that went into this summer.
It was the first time in 25 years I actually said I can't wait for winter.
Literally, can't wait for winter because it just didn't stop.
It was one after the other, after the other, after the other.
And then you had your, I had family.
My mother lives out in Indiana in Cherville.
She didn't have power for 13 days.
So this was real stuff.
You know, people experienced real stuff on the south side all over.
It was all over.
It wasn't, this was the first time.
Usually it's in concentrated areas.
This was all over.
And this could be the new norm.
So we have to be prepared because people have to still get their medicine.
They still have to get places.
And there's a cost to it.
No, and I know, you know, we're adding like 10 more crews, I think, in the proposed budget.
I think it's still not enough.
Exactly your point.
I mean, you know, we've talked to our neighbors because, you know, the neighbors are complaining about the tree debris on the parkway.
And what I tell them is it should be indicative of how much work is going on elsewhere in the city that you're going to wait till the debris.
Everything else is so much of the trees are getting knocked down.
And the amount that you've got to fix to even get to the debris, to me, just says you guys need more capacity.
It was 56,000 piles of debris we picked up,
and that's not including the family members
that were cleaning people's backyards
and putting them behind their garage.
So it was a daunting task,
but I'm continuing to be impressed
by the level of tolerance that Jimmy has
for me putting the pressure on him.
Jimmy Sheehan in Florida.
He's a rock star, 100%.
And I know he takes a lot of calls from a lot of people.
of people and um my hat's off to them because it was getting a little tense this summer it was it
was tense so staying on the on the the trees i know that there were there was funding for like
like a tree survey and a portal and i'm just curious as to like where that's currently yet
who the best point person is because if there's an opportunity like to create the portal there's
opportunity to include the grid and everything else in there just want to make sure yeah we're
We're at, they've surveyed a little over 130,000 trees.
They're a little bit behind.
We're hoping that they get through the whole city end of fall so they can present this data.
Got it.
So they're going to give us the species, the condition.
But as it comes in, I told Jimmy, I don't want to wait for the 590,000 trees come in.
At the 50,000, if something's crazy, we need to know immediately.
if there's something laying on somebody's house
because a lot of people just don't understand
that that's a free service
if you got tree debris
I mean tree branches growing over your house
banging off your roof and your insurance company's
calling you and saying I can't insure you
look it's damaged
those are the ones we need to hear about
and that's where we need these partnerships with the alders
with the alders to take care of those issues
on that too when DTI comes up
like
I might have to ask for round two
okay
oh thank you
Oh, thank you.
As you know, sometimes the neighbors think everything's a tree emergency,
and now you're throwing off the numbers where the teams are going to go address it.
So I think some of it is also a communication thing with the neighbors to know
what is an emergency compared to like, hey, you got a little bit of a limb out there,
but it's not a leader, for example.
We get – I'm not talking about emergencies, but dead tree,
where people will say it's a dead tree.
we might get and Jimmy
I'm looking at you for a fact check
we get maybe
15,000 of those calls a year
for a dead tree from people
saying hey I got a dead tree
We're sending people out there to look at those dead trees.
If we get 2,000 out of the 130,000 that they looked at,
there might be 1,600 actual dead trees.
Well, you know, then the amount of time that takes to go over there
and check it out, it could have been better.
So it's going to be nice to have an outside source
that, you know, where if people don't believe in us,
that an outside source is literally saying, here it is.
Just like, you know, EY.
EY, you know, people bring up EY,
and EY last year said that this department runs lean.
You know, so they didn't choose to look at our department
thinking they were going to hear the department runs lean, I'm guessing,
because if that was the case they may have looked somewhere else yeah so to have that to be able to
say something like that just like me being able to say hey we had an outside vendor that we got
a grant for said this this and this it's going to be helpful yeah absolutely um separately so um
in the opening statement you mentioned the weed cutting operational budget and so our team has
been talking to the native pollinator garden registry advisory panel which um miss gloria
pitman sits on uh to pitch a sustainable parkways idea so basically more native species in there
that you don't have to keep coming back to cut all the time that would be better for like storm
water treatment and everything else um if anyone could ask like what the steps you think we would
need to take to get to that point to change it from the current grass that we have and the stuff
where the vacant lots are just growing to just using native native species replanting that
and saving us money in the long run how could we help to get that done
we're all ears again glorious sits on that board i don't know if my wife's watching
i don't know if my wife's watching or not you know i don't know if she follows this stuff but
she literally literally was determined to figure out how to get grass to grow on our front lawn
because we have a huge tree that just absorbs everything she researched and researched and got
no more grass it's it's literally no more grass where you really don't have to mow it and it gets
to a certain length and just falls over it doesn't get to the 10 inches for the record right and it
so there are things out and it doesn't take much it doesn't take much water so there are things
out there for people that are really interested in in stuff like that there are because it might
there might be a little more upfront cost but in the long run you don't have to keep coming back
and have people cutting it down which saves us money to kind of get it going so 88 000 cuts we
did this year yeah how much does that add up to what we're we're at like 3.8 million here when i
when I used to deal with this
20 years ago weeds
it was
Memorial Day to Labor Day
it was $700,000
if you could do the chair
show us the cost of all that kind of work
that if we did the better native species
you'd save on
that'd be helpful for us
we're at $3.8 million
we probably go to $4 million
that's why we ask for additional funds
because we start cutting now
in April
and we go to about October
15th. So
we're continuing to cut and
cut. Alderman
in the
Alderman Coleman, we cut almost
17,000 times in her ward. She's
got the most city lots
and people are
getting accustomed to wanting to see these city
lots maintained.
They're not interested in hearing over. And the same thing, the capacity
could be used elsewhere if you get that managed
to then be able to handle more stuff. So that's the
things I want to figure out.
All right. The amount of stuff that I've learned in government that I've become now passionate about that I didn't prior to getting elected is crazy.
So I'm going to ask a real quick question. Would you all be for or against?
Would you all be for or against banning leaf blowers?
Because we're seeing all those leaves end up in the street
that end up getting swept.
We just...
Because the neighbors are going to neighbor.
Just don't go out on the street.
I don't trust them.
No, again, then they're going to rake it on the street.
So just keep it off the street
so you can get that catch basins clean.
It's just...
Okay.
And then, yeah, the last thing I'm sure everybody asked about is
what else do y'all need from us
to get rid of these damn rats
and I know I've heard mixed reviews about
the sterilization so I'm just
trying to figure out do you guys need more money
that's just expensive
it's an expensive
proposal and as I mentioned earlier
it's about $5,000 a block
no I'm sorry
$5,000 a mile
no a block
$5,000 a block
I can't believe the cost of it
our budget's $14 and change million
if you do 5,000 a block
and you just google how many blocks in the city
of Chicago you're going to come up with about 22,000
blocks plus X amount of alleys
you're getting into 100 million dollars
yeah my guess is climate change and after COVID
just the amount of complaints we get about
how many more rats are showing up
and they feel like they're comfortable owning the block
instead of just kind of scaring
Villegas I'm sorry
Villegas brought up a thing of us
looking at the state
you know um which was a great thing that we're going to do in regards to some funding for that
because i mentioned earlier you know the senate bill 1555 1555 it's it's 25 30 million dollars
for recycling you know i've said this now for probably three four years and it's coming to an
end to where we're gonna so if we can try to get help from the state in regards to rodent because
As I mentioned earlier, New Orleans is federally funded after Hurricane Katrina.
and glory's been out to new orleans twice um because just trying to learn sure and it's a
money thing yeah no i i look at it i think the neighbors appreciate what you all do especially
with the taxes rise they want to see the services and you guys deliver so i think whatever you all
need because to your point you're running lean we should be working to provide i'm grateful for
all the work that you do thank all y'all and debbie as always get all the shout outs because
the viaducts in 40 thumbs up thank you very much thank you thank you um i just got up here so
alderman tabaris i'm going to acknowledge you as a non-member just for um from here and i've got
you down as well um we're going to go to alderwoman ramirez next followed by alderman more if he's
awesome good afternoon thanks cole um so with the storm being super unprecedented is there something
in the budget now you know that you kind of set up for yourself for next year if we see storms
that are similar? What was the first part of your question? I missed that. No. So with
unprecedented storms this year, how have you readjusted or is there something in the budget
in case that we see more of that come next year? 100%. We added 10 forestry, we put in 10 forestry
crews here. So we'll be up. And so everybody knows, we also filled three forestry crews
this October so I know we're talking about next year but we just added three
forestry crews so we'll have 13 additional crews so we're gonna go from
30 crews to about 43 44 crews five years ago six years ago Alderman Vasquez we
were at about 14 14 15 crews working together with this body everybody knows
the need everybody hears the need here's what we're doing and not only do we do that but what
we found out was that our quality of life team because they are trained on chainsaws
Because they are trained on chainsaws, because they are used to dealing with heavy-type cleaning situations,
we really tapped into that resource this summer to assist with these crews.
We worked with the unions, and we all came to a happy agreement that it's going to work out.
And so we doubled that.
So we're going from five crews to ten crews if this budget passes, if this request is made.
So we've heard it, we've seen it, and we know what we've got to do.
as somebody mentioned i don't think that's enough but again we do have private vendors that we
leaned on we spent 1.7 million just in trucks to haul all this stuff away yeah so we've we've
heard everybody loud and nice so you readjusted that way um so i have a question a few questions
about trees um for tree trimming what happens is you guys go out whether you're on schedule for
the street um or we put in a special request for a house but then they call us back and they say
we tried talking to them, we wanted this branch, not that branch, etc.
What's the best way to communicate with you? Because then we're having to reissue
another team over and over. No, just we discourage
people, crews, especially from talking to residents. Right.
Because they're there to do the job. And
they might not have that touch that's needed to have that
conversation. So in any situation, if you
ran into it, I would just say, hey, can you call
a supervisor for me? Can you just get a supervisor?
But if your office is getting those kind of
issues brought to you, or complaints brought
to you, reach out to me, reach out to
Jimmy. Yeah, like, should I send a word
to? I mean, this happens pretty often.
Here, if it happens often,
we'll correct that problem from happening, first of all,
because that's not going to happen often.
Thanks for bringing that to our attention.
Jimmy, please note that.
They're not there
to debate with the residents. Somebody's saying,
A lot of times, though, if they're like, hey, we want to cut that one back,
Yeah. You need it for the balance of the tree. Okay. So I don't want something growing towards
my house. We don't want it to get within a certain amount of feet, but I can't lop off one side of a
tree because they don't want it growing. There is a balance mechanism that goes into place too
in the theory. Got you. We've also had complaints about trees disrupting pipes,
the structure of homes. I know you mentioned it a little bit over someone else's question.
Is there something that we share with residents about the fact that it doesn't or, you know, how is that information shared?
No, it's, there's an issue there.
You know, the pipe, it's a clay tile pipe.
More than likely, it's a clay tile pipe.
That could be 100 years old, you know, and they're put, I worked in, 26 plus years ago, I worked in a sewer department.
I was a laborer in the sewer department.
So it's work I've seen, it's work I've done.
and you literally have a clay tile
and it's put together
with cement
and over time
it can crack
it can just literally go like this
and that
tree root
is going to find a water source
and it's going to go there
and it's going to go to that water source
and it's going to fill that
6 inch clay tile
up with roots
and then you can see it on a camera it'll literally the the camera will run through
and you'll see the roots and it'll there'll be a counter in the top left hand corner of the screen
that says 120 feet so then you know when you're going out where that problem is
so can some the trees cause some of the issues of course there's huge trees out there so we've made
we've made um uh suggestions to get trees that don't grow to that size with purchasing these 75
to that size with purchasing these 75,000 trees.
Okay.
But know that it's an existing problem that's there.
Once they get that fixed, it should resolve the problem.
Okay.
But if there are issues out there,
I'm not going to speak for Commissioner Conner,
but we can work together and try to see what the true issue is there.
and just help out yeah i mean you know i get people wish their tree was dead almost
because they want it removed and so i'm wondering you know how we support people
with other grounds of needing their tree removed so not only affecting their house but then
sometimes we see um how the sidewalk is elevated and um you know i talked to jimmy a little bit
about it but there's not really a coherent plan of getting both things fixed like if we remove
the tree doesn't mean that we fix the sidewalk right away any suggestions about that because
overall it's really about safety and you know people not tripping up on the again i'm gonna
i'm gonna say out of deputy mayor blipson's portfolio with infrastructure you have between
marlene and frank aviation and randy and cheeks we all work very well together and we're on the
same team so we can probably come together and have a a unified because you mentioned water you
mentioned sidewalks you mentioned trees so there's no problem and I'm I'm sure nobody would I'm not
speaking for them but we can probably coordinate that through deputy commissioner our deputy uh
mayor Lipson she'd get us all in a room and force us to figure something out and try to help a
situation yeah and lastly about the trees um so when you guys go out and evaluate a tree
do you leave a notice with the resident do they get an update
do you leave a notice with the resident do they get an update or is that something that you guys
just send to us that we have to communicate with them as like a follow-up of like we checked your
tree it's not dead you know no grounds for removal you know i'm jimmy what happens is you guys go out
and then they don't think you come out and i just feel like there's a missing piece there and i think
it's important for them to see the evaluation that was done and that that homeowner knows that it was
done uh I'm gonna throw it to he's saying no but I'm gonna as I mentioned earlier of people saying
dead trees 15,000 yeah we get I get it out of the 15,000 if we're taking down 2,000 2,500
because the other ones aren't dead that people just want them down um I don't I don't think we
to jimmy there's do we get back to him or what do we do jimmy sheehan uh james sheehan deputy
commissioner bureau forestry uh the 311 complaint when when we close it out they'll get notified
but no we don't notify we don't notify the resident yeah i only bring it up because it
feels really redundant over and over i mean this is like one of the biggest requests that comes
into the ward is tree removal and then you know you guys go out you do the work and they're
checking back in and they claim that it's a dead tree and so just curious if you guys can leave a
note at any point um i'm going to move on to a couple more questions um asset etching do you
have any um no no money to support we don't deal with asset etching okay we are has that ever come
up or and oh it comes up all the time because we we can't do it we don't have the we don't have the
resources the we don't we don't do that that's on the that's on the building owner got you and then
um i wanted to bring up the cleanup of bike lanes what is the schedule like uh for the smaller
machine you know how often are you guys going through we're all in this together um but i'm
gonna let commissioner cheeks answer
Commissioner Cheeks answer that question for you.
We actually
for the
marathon this year
he put out
his smaller machines for the
bike lanes because they handle the bike lanes, the cleanliness
of the bike lanes. We're all in this together.
Okay, so it's a CDOT machine.
They have those machines. We don't have those machines
but again
we're all in this together.
So we have sweepers.
we blow stuff out of the bike lanes when we're cleaning them and you know have our big machine
but the smaller machines that you're referencing that's a c dot uh piece of equipment got you and
last question so since i have so many on a big corridor i what would you advise businesses to
do as it entraps the garbage in such a small area if you're it's like i've mentioned before
Or if you're in front of your business from the Alderman Riley pigeon poop to stuff in
front of your house, if you can just help the city help you and just clean up in front
of your business, clean up in front of your house, clean up in front.
It's helpful.
It's helpful.
Okay.
All right.
Appreciate it.
Thank you, Commissioner.
Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman Ramirez.
I do not see Alderman Morris.
So we're going to go to Alderman Nugent.
Perfect.
Alderman Moore is here.
I'm sorry, Alderman Moore.
I apologize.
I thought you were in the room.
Sorry, Alderman Nugent.
Alderman Moore, your next fellow by Alderman Nugent.
No, and I won't be long, only because of the fact that this department, my office, and myself talk continuously.
And anything that would be said has been addressed by all of my colleagues.
And all I can do is start at the leadership and say thank you, Commissioner Stoller, not only for taking my calls, but even being proactive to see if I.
active to see if I need anything in my ward, as you do with probably every other alderman.
And anything that we ask for, and you make sure we get it in the 17th ward.
There's things we got to step up on on our end, and we're going to get better at that.
But you've been totally responsible along with your team, Tommy Johnson, Gloria Pittman,
anytime I give them a call.
I know Sharon just, you know, she has a great partnership with Debbie DeLopez and Jim Sheehan.
They, I mean, they all hook that ship and just totally responsible.
And I can't say enough about them as well as Katrina McLean.
All you all, I'm just, you know, let's just keep, as long as we keep that open communication open.
And I think we will always do that.
We're going to be effective for our residents.
All I want to do is highlight. I think this is something the mayor started and I want to just hear your thoughts on it and putting it out for CPS students to have an opportunity to work at streets and sanitation.
There have been a couple of guys that reached out to me and just so grateful. Can you speak up on that and how you think that program is running, Commissioner?
Alderman Moore, it's a little hard to hear you. Can you repeat the program that you would like for Commissioner Stoller to speak about?
yes it's the um program i think it started under the mayor where we started to hire um
or reach out and give cps opportunity cps students an opportunity to um work at streets and sanitation
got it we got it thank you yeah all right all right yeah no it was um it's been a hundred
170 plus people have taken us up on that opportunity we have a 167 currently with us
and what was pretty cool to hear was
What was pretty cool to hear was they had different opportunities.
You got a young person that went to 150.
You know, some saw that, hey, I want to be a mechanic.
And so it wasn't all for disciplinary reasons.
So it was just that opportunity to see these young folks getting this opportunity
was really a great moment for this department
and I think for this city
because we've gotten really good results
out of these young folks.
It's been really a work of CPS,
our team, mayor's office,
just the union, hats off to the union,
opening their house and training these folks
and fully buying in, it was an all-around effort.
And I think when everybody's sitting around that same table
and everybody's doing good things and coming up with good things,
everybody leaves from that table full.
There's nobody hungry at that table.
And that's what I think we saw with that program,
of the benefit of working together.
That's awesome.
Thank you so much, Commissioner.
And, again, thank you and your entire team for what you're doing.
I appreciate you all so much.
Thanks.
thank you thank you alderman moore and next up we're going to have alderman nugent followed by
alderman sexual lopez perfect thank you thank you chairwoman um first uh commissioner thanks
to you and your team you guys are the most responsive team in the city and um i do want
to thank jimmy sheehan and greg and ladiva all of you guys that deal with um our tree requests and
i want to remind folks um think of how many horrific storms we had this summer and i
I thought something poignant that I had heard from you and your team this
summer was we've been working 24 seven for over a week.
working 24 seven for over a week, we're going to take father's day off. Like, I just think that
that is a kudos to your team for putting all that time and effort in. And I, you are dealing with
something so unprecedented right now in your department with all these hundred year storms.
So, um, big thanks to you guys for, for that work. Um, and as some of my colleagues said,
I know all the help you guys are doing with, um, the viaducts. Uh, I know you help us with
viaducts all the time and debbie and others and um the rodent work and the and the traffic um
the work with the abandoned vehicles i i want to bring something up a little quasi off topic um
i did a rough tally in 39 i think you guys come out and help us clean the encampments
i think 20 times last year what does it cost every time you guys come out to clean up an
encampment from tagging to coming out to the claw to cleaning like what does that look like
again it's it's worked in through our budget we can give you a breakdown of i can tell you we put
x amount of laborers on that um a supervisor x amount of laborers i can get you that exact number
through the chair but know that we've done 495 um unhoused cleanups uh this year and what would
a rough estimate be for all those folks coming to to clean up roughly deb what do we have going
out there on a on a on a crew how many laborers we have a supervisor wdl lopez deputy commissioner
um it depends on the encampment and how big it is if we need the heavy equipment or if we're just
going to send our regular crew with um three laborers and then we would send another team of
six of our clean slate laborers to clean so the cost of a labor whatever they make per hour and
and then however long it takes us so if a laborer is made and i'm just gonna use round
is going to use around the laborers using $40 and you know you get in the fringe and all that stuff
that number is much bigger but it is a it is a cost so if we're putting three laborers out there
you're paying you know $120 plus an hour plus the piece of equipment out there plus the supervisor
out there you know it's not a not a cheap cleanup but it's it's what we do you know wherever the
problem is, or the issue is,
we have to find a solution for it.
You know
what we did in your ward
with the high lifts and the semis
on that one encampment.
And I want to bring that up
because it's high lifts,
semis, claws,
a boat. It was such
a horrific encampment. We had to pull a boat
in from MWRD
to clean under a viaduct.
um that's what my answer is a little lacking because there's so many variations of of you
know type of cleanup and i i guess what i what i would say is i um i'm not sure that's the best
use for streets and say i i need you guys and i need your help um i will continue to advocate for
um the encampments to not be in the parks and to push for accelerated moving events and housing
but we're entering a precarious time of year where the temperatures are only going to get colder
but i don't think it's safe um i also i worry about your crew um and you know we have propane
takes we have rodents we have drugs um we have violence in these encampments and i'd have to
think that the resources it would be better to use these resources into into housing and
decommissioning these encampments than having your folks go out there time and time again can you
just when you go out to do these cleanups like can you kind of talk us through like what that
actually looks like do you guys go out and tag that is it your crew that goes we post we post
We post seven days later, kind of assess the situation at the time of posting,
assess what's needed, assess what supervision's out there,
and I'm going to reference the one that you saw me out there many times.
I had deputies out at that one, along with myself, along with heavy equipment,
because there were safety issues out there.
We had the police out there.
um so it depends on the level of cleanup i mean i don't think i ever spent more time in your ward
other than that that time yeah um because that what was needed because there was this
real-time decisions that had to be made at that point and i didn't want to delay that cleanup
because we knew what the mission was so i hear your point loud and clear um we've done 500 last
year 495 so far this year so the number stayed where we're at we heard from mr blakemore and
his issue with all the woman lee so there's just different variations that we're in that business
yeah right now and i i don't want to downplay this like i'm eternally grateful to you and your
colleagues and um you know some folks have gotten hurt on these sites and and i i mean i don't know
what i'd do without you guys but i i have to think and i i beg of my colleagues to think about this
too we these parks and these sites it's not safe for the unhoused and we have to do some i i truly
believe we have to do something different um in how we handle this because i i'm not sure that
this is the appropriate way to keep spending resources.
But I do thank you and your team for your work.
As always, we would definitely be part of the conversation.
We would definitely offer our experience of what we see
of what we see to try to make things better you know i i think that's what our goal is here
and uh we'd be willing to partake and our team uh in that situation to try to come up with a
better solution does the park district reimburse you at all for any of this we work well with the
park district and uh but did they financially reimburse you for all this work well with the
park district they're a good uh partner um going back to the days when all the women scott was
there. Understood, Commissioner. They're a good working
partner. Just remember, friends,
that we have a TIFF circle. You know,
we're going to be losing our TIFFs this year, and TIFFs
go into the Park District as well,
and we're all asking
all of our constituents'
quality of life depends on this team
and this Commissioner, and asking for
things like work on streets and
forestry, and they're doing a ton of
work in the parks, and I think that's a
conversation we need to have, too, so I thank
you very much. Thank you, Chair. Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman Nugent.
i think you raised really great points about homeless encampments as i was saying earlier
i i absolutely agree with you we've got to do something different because uh what we're doing
right now isn't bad but it's not actually moving the needle um and i think that there is an
inordinate amount of cost um that comes in especially with resources from your team
commissioner um next uh i don't see alderman cicho lopez we'll go to alderman quinn followed by
Alderman Napolitano. Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon, Commissioner.
Commissioner, these are some routine questions I've been asking you for the last several years.
I'm sure no softballs. Our salt inventory? Yeah, we're at right now we're at 400,000.
um we hold 8 000 for december so we don't have to move that again we don't want to move it so
on our lakeshore piles that tend to be smaller um we just keep that in the bank because if we
run out of salt on lakeshore drive i don't want to have to move it
of salt on lake shore drive i don't want to have to move it so yeah we're good with salt our fleet
for the snow season is ready we're back we're back in business um i know fleet fleet was up
yesterday and i listened to the commissioner talk but i can definitely um stamp what he said
and we're finally getting equipment i mean six years ago you know during covid i was
really nervous um but we're back on the track to getting those you know 14 15 year turns versus the
17 18 19 20 year turns that i was getting worried about so we are we are doing better with our fleet
yeah and on that subject just switching gears slightly um our garbage trucks that are leaking
um we've had a couple of issues this year this summer in particular with irate
Again, it's a seal on the bottom.
We've had a lot of rain this summer,
and those bellies of the truck tend to fill up with water.
And if that drain or a rust hole is there, they tend to leak all over.
So we hear that one loud and clear.
We try to down those trucks and get those things fixed,
but we know it's a problem for the constituents.
They don't want to smell it.
They don't want to see it.
They don't even know what it is.
So we hear you.
Right.
Commissioner, I think you mentioned earlier in the conversation
we're closing in on having every tree trimmed.
I don't want to mislead that.
I hope I didn't mislead anybody, but we're feeling confident.
we've met our goal the first year I sat here and said you give us this amount of crews we'll get
this amount run we're at 90,000 we've averaged we hit our 90,000 the last three years for a total
a total of 200. It was actually 272,000 trees that we planted in our first three years. We feel
confident that we're going to be able to get to our 360 this year. And so we're saying from April
of this year, we're saying we're going to need two more years and every tree in the parkway
will be trimmed. And that's about a five year time period. Jimmy, what am I saying? Three,
four, six years. Six years. And with the addition of 10 new crews, that should...
With the addition of 10 crews, I put out in my statement that she'd get us 15,000 more tree trims, but a crew of 10 that's trained up can do about 30,000 trims.
So I said 15 because we have to onboard them, and it's going to be our top priority to onboard forestry, and then we have to get them trained up.
So I'm saying that net right there will get us about the 15,000.
So that's why I can really speak with confidence
of being able to meet that number two years from April.
Yeah, and it should cut it in half the second time around.
Oh, yeah.
Come close to it, right, with 30.
That's where we're going,
and that's where these additional crews will help
because we had a huge disruption.
I mean, I can't tell you how many others I heard about,
hey, I'm hearing from my constituents about forestry,
about forestry, about forestry.
And I said, well, I'm going to have to get on there
and talk about what forestry did
because it's only as good as what you did yesterday.
Yeah, tell me about it.
August, and I don't have to tell everybody who knows that,
August is like three years ago in city time.
so I want to just relive when we're standing out there June 10th and kind of looking at each other
going how are you going to pull this off and get this cleaned up
and get this cleaned up forestry was the greatest thing coming i thought i was going to walk in here
with confidence hearing nothing but praise about forestry then i started hearing from everybody
hey man they're mad because they've been hearing from their constituents that they haven't gotten
a tree trim since may and it's like now we probably got a weekend in june but we've been doing all
this so i hear you loud and clear so i think with this additional funding we'll be able to do better
Yeah, I think that's important to point out that the second time around, people should
be satisfied.
We are satisfied.
Speaking of the summer, I think you and your team did a fantastic job actually sort of
going into snow removal program in the summer, right?
Having garbage trucks up and down side streets around the clock was a really smart move on
your part.
So congratulations to you and your team.
Jimmy Sheehan, as mentioned in past remarks, has been fantastic.
His patience has been great.
My award superintendent, Mo Zadan, I don't think slept for two weeks straight.
It was fantastic.
And the people in the 13th Ward really appreciate it.
So I'm grateful, Commissioner.
I'm grateful for our partnership and the collaboration and everyone in the box.
The last thing I'll say, and I bring this up since you've started,
and i don't i don't think i don't think it gets enough credit is is the uh the labor program the
apprentice labor program i mean that that's the that's a pathway to the middle class and we should
really be lifting that up as a city um to talk more about that and to replicate it because that's
a fantastic program and and again i i offer compliments on that so commissioner uh thank you
for the work that you've done um and more importantly thank you for the work that you
will continue to do as we head into the winter season thank you madam chair thank you much
thank you alderman quentin next up is alderman napolitano
thank you alderman quentin next up is alderman napolitano thank you madam chair uh good
afternoon commissioner how are you sir good afternoon uh first and foremost huge fan of you
huge fan of your department i think you do an incredible job in this position i think everyone
you have sitting in that box there does 150 every time that we call with what you guys have to work
with um and we appreciate them and i want them to know from our ward office to your office to
your departments that we appreciate them to the utmost capabilities that i can explain right now
and i appreciate it thank you um i have to point out one thing forestry um and i know this keeps
coming up coming up coming up i gotta go and start right off the bat with uh james i i think
this guy is absolutely incredible um i know our office contacts him on a regular basis
his professionalism um his ability to work with what he's got is second to none um so what i'm
going to say going forward is in no way shape or form a slight to you your department or the
incredible job that he does it's absolutely awesome my job is only to see if there's different
ways that we can do this or am i am i missing something is is can we bring more resources to
you are we talking about these things which i'm sure you are but when it comes to forestry on
the northwest side um and like i reiterate it's it's you're working with what you got and i get
it but as far as that the grid system i i i can't defend the grid system on the northwest side of
chicago and and the reason being is if you were to give us if we got the forestry for one day and
that one day you guys hit one block and hit 20 trees of those 20 trees 15 of them nobody cared
about on that block but that's your job to trim them we i get that and that's my thing i'm like
i get that and that's my thing i'm like well it's preventative five of those trees of the of the
2015 people didn't care about five of them are going to tell us that you guys did it wrong or
tell you that you did it wrong and once again we're like this is just preventative their objective is
to go out there and make sure that these trees don't become a bigger deal later uh and then the
one last tree on that block of the 20 trim that person's mad that you guys even trimmed it and why
i bring something up like this up is because in the time we're spending on that 20 those 20 trees
that we got you for that day there's 20 trees somewhere else that are a complaint
that are not getting touched and every day that we get you guys there's another 20 trees that now
we're 20 to 40 40 to 60 60 80 that aren't being trimmed or touched because they're not on that
grim that grid schedule and by the time that does get to that schedule it's a very long period of
time and right back to it it's no offense to you guys because you're working with what you got
is there any way that we can hybrid this grid system and go with a i i brought this up with
with the with garbage crews years ago put a garbage one garbage truck in a ward yard
and and all five and and add five to that ward yard and those five wards could pick hey i got
that garbage truck today to do to do bulk pickups which bulk pickups are going great
great job is there any way we can add this concept to forestry so we have a rover
that can rover around to our major complaint points each you know one one day besides the
going on i got a roving truck for one day to hit my complaints because my complaints
are outweighing the success that you guys are really doing because you're getting a lot more
trees done instead of jumping around for 50,000 different spots you're going systematically and
getting them but when it comes to complaints
complaints we're not winning this war and the problem is now with the new grid system there's
nowhere to complain to because there's no system the only complaint comes back to our office and
it just it looks like we don't care as an alderman's office and we're not doing our due
diligence and we're not going to throw you guys under the bus and i know you guys don't throw us
under the bus but that that i've got a lot of trees i just i can't get past this point is there
any way that we can do this better all right sorry for the long-winded question i don't want to chew
up all your time with my long-winded answer but to put it in perspective three previous years
in your ward, we did 2,690 trees.
Since then, we've done 43-40.
43-40? 43-40.
So I say that to say, before we started this,
if you called in for a tree trim,
it could be two to three years before that tree got trimmed,
if they had the 3-1-1 system.
I'm saying we made it over that hump.
That first year is the year where you guys took the phone calls
and took a lot of phone calls, I'm sure.
Now, you're saying you're continuing to get these phone calls,
but I'm saying we literally, the three years prior to that,
we trimmed 93,000 trees.
Three years since then, it was 270,000 trees.
Okay?
so I had less equipment at that time.
But even if you paired equipment to equipment,
equipment, I'd be at $60,000 versus the $90,000 per year.
So I'm saying if you have those issues, and if you're getting those phone calls, and I'm
not trying to put more work on your office, but if they write them down, if they write
them down, and you give them to your ward superintendent, and have them go look, and
if it's laying in on the house, laying on the house, blocking a stop sign, causing problems
for somebody banging on their siding those are the ones we want to hear about and those are the
ones that we can address and and that's that's kind of that's kind of my my point so when we
went up from 2800 to 4350 that that's kind of my point your numbers and grew because you're on a
grid and you're just rocking and rolling right but the problem is on that grid when you're rocking
and rolling you're not hitting the complaint spots so besides so you're on a grid you're on
a 7,700 block of Thorndale, I've got them somewhere else where that grid might not get
to the complaint spots or might not get to when we can, because every one we get, we
send you guys.
Yeah, but if you have a certain area in your ward where you know, we're running across
places in this city where the tree was planted 70 years ago, it's never been trimmed because
people didn't know it was a free service.
So we're literally seeing what people think needs to be trimmed.
It's they want to look like a bonsai plant, you know, and I'm not minimizing.
Oh, no, no, I know that.
I'm not minimizing this.
But what our concern is, is to get through the whole city, the whole city.
And I'm saying we're going to be at the 360 of this January.
I'm sorry, this April.
we'll get through to 360 we got to get to 590 and we trimmed every tree in the
city in six years that would have taken us 25 years if we're chasing and again
chasing. And again, I say this, if you have issues, like right now, if you're sitting there
in your head going, I got 200 issues, have Mikey go look at the 200 issues and go out of these 200
issues, how many are true issues? Now I get it. It's an issue for everybody. And you're not a
heavily dependent streets and sand ward. You're just not. Yeah. So everybody has certain issues
in their ward that we want to try to help you out with. I don't want you to walk away here
feeling like I'm just giving you I'm just
feeling air right now we're here to
work with you oh I know that we're here to work
with you and know that I know
that if we went back to that
way people be
what they were accustomed to was
waiting two years so if I said
hey okay open up 3-1-1
right now people could start calling in
we'll be done with the whole city
is there a way to hybrid it though like
keep the if it's that
successful on the grid
keep the grid going but have
something where each ward has the
ability to have somebody that they can
we're in the ward
once a week we're in everybody's ward
once a week so
I'll say this
I know in certain areas
in the neighborhood that I live in
versus other areas
the need's there
and so you try to go
where the need is you know
and so if you have a need and you want
to share it with Jimmy I'll send Jimmy to your office
he'll be there tomorrow
No, like I want to make sure, like I reiterate, that guy's awesome.
He's absolutely awesome.
I just feel like we're giving him so much because we have so much.
We're in the business of taking so much.
Nobody could throw us too much.
Let me then change the direction with this, too,
as far as getting to these trees and getting them done.
Everything comes down to budget and how much money the city is going to give you,
but when it comes to new equipment,
are we moving towards the future with tree trimming as well?
like with articulating uh uh trimmers and and a big problem up north too is when we
is when we bring in our stumpers
are we looking at like the corkscrew stumpers
and stuff like that
when we went with these
additional 10 crews
we said we got to make sure we got equipment
you know I can't just sit there and sit in front of Alders
and go yeah we got 10 more crews
because what about the equipment
so we do have equipment
we are putting in
in the budget is going to be
for the tree stumps because
we know that's an issue
So those are things, and just to kind of shorten up my answer,
love to work with your office.
Anything you're getting, again, I don't want to come.
There are a few people listening,
and I just don't want your office to turn into the new 3-1-1 system for that.
But if you do get those issues, give them to Mikey, have Mikey go run them,
and just be like, hey, man, are these true issues?
And just prioritize them.
Prioritize them, and we'll get to them.
i i i hope that you know i looked at a couple other municipalities as far as what they do for
for for issues like this in tree trimming and like i said a lot of them are moving into the
new articulating system articulating arms that are chainsaws and so you're not losing crew members
because they can still use and operate these things but it's a lot faster than the bucket
because it's actually it's it's done all mechanical which i hope we can kind of look
towards that in the future just for speeding the process up um i'm going to say our tree trimmers
do a uh our 1001 tree trimmer members do a heck of a job they're outstanding and they would still
be 1001 guys that would use the articulating arm so you wouldn't lose any union guys we'd still be
working operating but it actually goes a little bit quicker that this system that they have now
is outstanding and it's all still the same operators that are doing it same person that
would go up in the bucket and operate that chainsaw would use that articulating arm as well
or even the stumper. So even if we had the stumpers that were the corkscrews in some cases were
stumpers that were the corkscrews in some cases where we're contracting it out we can do that
here in house too which would be it's it's half the time that it takes for the the actual grinder
that we use um do you have much more i got well two more questions if that's possible man
you're standing between everybody and lunch so i'm just letting you know go ahead
everybody can everybody can wait wow please give me a break we're gonna break for we're
going to break for lunch after you're done go ahead okay my last question
uh i got a question we can talk over lunch if you'd like uh about the auto pound it's come up
a little bit before but um we've heard from some people just as far as looking at the pound itself
and and if we can look at setting some um guardrails for for safety issues i i don't know if
you've guys gotten complaints if you heard them yourself of what we can do a little bit different
um as far as possibly adding panic buttons to these safety uh is a safety issue yep we actually
have one in our office too which is it's it's pretty cool it works it works well um and and
maybe even setting up a system where um it's an informational system because as as as a person
tries to explain the reason why a person's not getting their car out of out of the pound
um it elevates quickly to what would be probably a supervisor's gig like maybe something that
generates no like it love the idea yeah love the idea we're getting some complaints about that
any way we can get to that would be would be awesome as well um that's my last question um
i appreciate your time i appreciate your effort and i want to finish with even though we can wait
another minute i think you guys do a great job i'm not here at all to put you on the spot it's
never a gotcha moment because i i where i'm at i can't survive without you and you've done everything
survive without you and you've done everything you can to help us every time we've asked and
everyone in that box has i'm just looking for different ways that maybe we haven't looked at
that we can make it better because we appreciate half of your department lives in my ward anyway
so we appreciate all for it man all for air just so you know this is this is what the city's now
looking like trim wise so you can see it's throughout the whole city it's not on one
three three four years ago it was northwest side southwest side that's that's where the majority
of those cuts were and now you see that it's hit everybody so that's that's the goal got it but i
hear i hear your message loud and clear and uh look forward to working with you thank you boss
yeah thank you alderman napolitan i'll just add uh before we break here the not having an option
for regular tree trim or in the in 311 is problematic because we do get all those calls
um and i know that we make the calls and it gets done it just i think there's still a little
smoothing out on the technology side that needs to happen um so that we can just be a little bit
more efficient about it but i know you guys are are all over the place um when it comes to tree
trims so for everybody else i just walked into the room if you came into the room newly i got you
down um if you don't want to ask questions just tell us when we get to you we're going to break
for lunch we're going to come back at 1 35 um i i got us an extra five minutes chairman wanted us
back at 1 30 but we'll go 1 35 um so we'll we'll stand at ease until then everybody come upstairs
and join us for lunch
Good afternoon and welcome back. We're back in session here.
Before we continue, Commissioner has one item he wants to clarify from earlier.
When talking about the 3-1-1 system, how we work with the state in regards to complaints coming in to where folks can call,
I want you to know that they can call, but it's the work that's done on the back end by the 3-1-1 system
that if they called in and said there's graffiti on the Kennedy right now,
it will go to our 3-1-1 system and then we'll kick that information to the state,
just for a point of clarification.
Okay, thank you for that point of clarification. We will start back with Alderman Quezada,
followed by Alderman O'Shea. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you, Commissioner and team for being here.
Hope you all enjoyed our lunch. Again, just as all my colleagues will stand here and say,
we can sing your praises all day. Thank you for the great work that you do for our wards,
for the people of Chicago. Your work does not go unrecognized. I'm very excited about the
potential investment in forestry services. I know that's been a conversation that we've been having
throughout the day. I may have missed some of the dialogue that happened earlier, but I'm wondering
if you could just talk through the breakdown of the increase in the crews. Is it just tree
trimming crews across the board? Are there different positions? And then if so, or in addition
to that, how long would it take to onboard if we have the great wisdom of accepting the budget
proposal as is how long would it take to onboard those crews and uh how soon could they be activated
next year yeah thanks for the question as far as our uh onboarding we all put in for
our hiring plan that will be at the top of our hiring plan um because we know it's going to
take a minute to onboard tree trimmers uh drivers will be fine we're going to have a couple more
supervisors for that but that is our top priority going into the hiring season because as I mentioned
those 10 crews can probably net us the first year 15,000 trims but once they're fully trained up
and ready to go that that number will jump to about 30,000 trees trims along with the work
that they do there so um know that's a top top priority and we definitely want that ready for
storm season thank you yeah i agree i mean i knock on doors in my ward every single week
and throughout this year the number one priority I've heard from my residents
has been tree trimming so you know this is a conversation that we've had in the
past I've had with the administration that I'm having with my colleagues and I
think many of us would like to see this go through so again want to thank you
for the work that you all do around our maintaining our tree canopy in regard to
returning to tree stump removal I know if I my memory serves me correctly I
believe there are certain limitations to the tree stump diameter like if it's less than i think like
a foot or 12 inches are there any limitations to tree stump removal can you clarify that
and would returning back to the service allow us to remove some of the smaller tree stumps that
still remain in our residence parkways yeah the smaller ones aren't a problem but i'm gonna look
to jimmy jimmy sheehan uh is there if we got a big old oak tree or james sheehan deputy commissioner
in Bureau of Forestry so uh the only thing that the contractor doesn't do it's like four inch or
under stumps but we could do those in-house but as far as like a bigger stump there's no limitation
so four inch or under is in in-house and is that something that is currently done right now
is that by request or is it like how do we go about that so like the tree planning contractor
if we're replacing a tree it's in his contract to stump the stump before he plants the tree
so usually the smaller stumps come from like where a small dead tree was right so the contractor
uh will go right out stump and replant the tree absolutely to better clarify if there are currently
existing small tree stumps that are in a parkway um that have no plan to be removed through you
know a tree planting service but just need to be removed currently what is the process for removing
those that are just existing four inch stumps that exist in parkway currently you can send
those to me we know we're at 4 000 plus tree stumps right now yeah that we're going to chip
away at and and work that number down uh next year with the passage of this uh
next year with the passage of this, this request. Got it. And I also know that as part of, or a
concern that I've heard from some residents is that, you know, when stumps are moved, the parkway
itself is not necessarily restored with, you know, soil and sod and everything. Is that just standard
practice? Is that something that you all considered to, you know, restore or kind of what's the line
of thinking behind that um that service that's that's not a service it's we we get rid of stump
and then leave some of the chips so there's not a gaping hole in there but that's the level of
service that they get okay we don't do sad we don't do seed we don't we don't do anything we
leave some of the chips there so there's not a gaping hole understood a question that my staff
has is regarding overnight parking bans um which at times sometimes can seem like there's no
operational safety benefits um you know in the 35th ward on milwaukee avenue for example in the
overnight parking ban is installed you know that impacts uh parking availability um and it restricts
our access to streets um at times when there's not a lot of snowfall um so a question is why
can't it be replaced with signage just prohibiting parking if there's two inches or more snow
instead of just having a blanket you know a parking ban um we feel this has been something
that's talked about in length so it's 107 miles of busways um one thing that this city is very
confident on since 1980 is snow removal this was put into place after 1979 blizzard where the city
was gridlocked. We got over 20 inches of snow in the 2014-2015 Super Bowl blizzard and those
main streets. People were able to get to where they had to go on.
people were able to get to where they had to go on Monday.
So that's a tool we need,
and we keep it consistent from the December 1st to April 1st
to let people know.
So help us out, because it's coming in a month.
Put it out on newsletters, any newsletter you have,
any kind of messaging.
Your platforms are a lot bigger than mine.
If Alderman Lopez can put it on with his 48,000 Twitter followers,
shout out, that would be great.
Just letting people know that it's on bus routes.
And we need that consistency.
We need that consistency so there is no questions.
Oh, well, is it two inches on the grass?
Is it two inches?
It's here it is.
Don't park there.
People rely on transportation.
They rely on the CTA.
They need to get there.
And I say this, and I'll end with this in regards to that,
unless you have more questions, of course.
If you see a lot of snow, we had a lot of snow maybe about seven years ago
where we got about 30 inches of snow in three weeks.
The side streets start to shrink where two cars can go back and forth.
You get that, and where one car can barely get through.
It's because nobody moves their car.
We cannot have that on the 107 bus miles in the city.
I've been interviewed for half hour sitting there answering questions on that,
and that's just a tool that we beg for support to keep
because 75 degrees out a couple days.
You just don't know what this weather is going to do.
And so we feel, because we average about, so you know,
we average about 65 toes a night throughout the season.
In the beginning, it'll be 300, 300, 300,
But our average is about 65 toes a night, and it's people from the suburbs.
people from the suburbs it's my kids that go downtown and want to hang out and my car got
towed we try to work with the restaurants the bars hey tell everybody you know we've done
things to try to get that message out so it's a tool that i always ask for support
if we can keep that just based on what we've seen and we don't want to go back to thank you
Commissioner. I appreciate the context and perspective. No more questions. Thank you,
Alderman. We've got Alderman O'Shea followed by Alderman Martin. Thanks, Chairman. Good afternoon,
Commissioner. Good afternoon. I know there's been a lot of talk today about trees, and
And obviously, it's based on the sheer volume, and many of us in going door-to-door, communicating
with the neighborhood, are getting a lot of complaints.
I think it's important to point out that over the last 10 years or so, in budget season,
when all of us had an opportunity to advocate for more tree trimmers more staff based on our
budget constraints we pulled back and now this has become a problem um that's no fault of the
department of streets and sanitation certainly not the bureau of forestry within the department
of streets and sanitation i think it's important to point out this is another example
of how crucial it is that every alderman select a ward superintendent that works as hard as they do
as they do. And what I've seen over the years time and time again is aldermen selecting a ward
superintendent that isn't organized, that doesn't have a strong work ethic, that doesn't communicate.
I talk to my ward superintendent three times a day. I text him late at night. I'm out on the
street with them during the snowstorms and the rain events, the most important hire you can have
as an alderman is a competent, hardworking ward superintendent. And a lot of these problems
can be avoided if you've got a strong ward superintendent who's executing the job.
Would you agree with that? Well, seeing that, I lasted two and a half years being your ward
superintendent and in our 45 years of on life on this planet together at the time you brought it
to my attention that in our 45 years there's only been three ward superintendents in the 19th ward
and you only lasted two and a half years so I don't know if that's a shot at me on your way
out the door but I'll take it but all kidding aside I can't agree with you more the Tommy
Johnson's been a ward superintendent, managing deputy. Luis Cepeda has been a ward superintendent,
first deputy. Gloria Pittman has been a ward superintendent. Courtney Bryson has acted in
every capacity there is in this department, but would fill in for a ward superintendent.
If there's a bad relationship between this department and an alderman,
I just quietly look at them
and we look at their ward superintendent.
Because if you got a good ward superintendent,
you really don't have a problem with this department.
So that, to your point, that key role of ward,
we were all there.
We were there.
We've been there.
And it is a key role
because they got to get the message to us.
And if we don't hear the message,
I think everything's fine.
Everything's fine.
They're the eyes and ears out there.
So it is key to have a good, responsible ward superintendent.
Wasn't that lady that sits in the front row over there,
wasn't she a ward superintendent too?
Oh, I know Alderman Harris was,
and Alderman Curtis.
We worked alongside each other.
and then I know
Alderman Mitch
worked in the
Department of Streets and Sanitation
and that's why I always
kind of look to
them and go
just kind of understand
some of the Alderman's language
of what they're actually looking for
from us as a department
and to try to make things better
and they've always been a good voice of reason for us
in the department
because this department needs to be for real
for the people of the city
in order to continue to get, hey, we're a clean city,
contrary to what some people may say.
You know, that's the echoes I hear
from people all over the world
and the accolades this department gets.
So I thank you, and it's a big part
of our successes with the war soup.
And that applies to every part.
That applies to snow events, rain events, quality of life, vacant lots, rats.
of life, vacant lots, rats, uh, distribution of, uh, black carts, blue carts. Um, water
department, CDOT. I mean, if they're seeing something, they got to say something. That's
what they're directed to do. You should be communicating, uh, every aldermanic office,
every alderman should be communicating with their ward soup every day, multiple times a day.
go by and check on this follow up on that get get eyes on this um and unfortunately many people
don't realize it until they're in a campaign and and we're seeing that now um i can't stress
enough how important it is that you've got a quality ward superintendent with a strong work
ethic um how many trees how much longer do we think we can go with tree plantings this season
this season i mean we've had good weather but we're going to stop right around the 75 000 mark
because the money's uh been uh allocated and spent and then we'll go back into it
next season i call it wrong what is it cip or cpi what is it lou
what is it cpi uh he's not good with acronyms i want to i want to speak right on the record
uh cpi uh what is cip we know what you mean i told him yesterday i'm not going to remember that
i was calling it bond forever um but it was um 4.6 million and that'll get us about 7 000 trees
for next year because we had such a backlog before that 75 million came in that we didn't
want to go backwards so um the administration just made that investment and uh we feel we're
in a good place with the uh passage of this so we have a home every tree we have now is
over the next couple weeks until we can't plan anymore we've got a home for that we have
a home for them. We have no issue of
those trees sitting in a lot somewhere that we...
No, it's accounted for. And then we're going
to send out... We send
out someone to the... It's basically a tree farm
and we go and tag
7,000 trees
at our tree farm. So
then the vendor goes... And we don't pay for those trees
until they're in the ground. And then
the vendor goes and picks them up and they start
planting them next year.
Is our fleet
ready for
the winter that's coming
we don't know what kind of winter we're going to have
but are our spreaders
is
fleet ready with our fleet to hit
the street God willing we get a
Halloween storm or a storm next week
we're good
we've been working with fleet
new commissioner came in
sat down chatted
told them what our cadence is
right now it's going to be
spreaders
and it's going to be sweepers
continue to be sweepers
then it's going to be garbage trucks
and then we're going to be talking about spreaders again
that's how this kind of sequence goes
his team has
definitely shown up for him
and have definitely outperformed
and we're
in a real good place
and we have 400,000 plus tons of salt
on the ground right now
so they've made that
investment here in this department
and so
we're prepared for snow
Is it true that we have more of a problem now than in recent years with rodents, rats?
Nobody wants to hear this, but the numbers are trending down.
We're about 4% lower.
Gloria Pittman, Deputy Commissioner, yes, we are.
We're 4% lower.
that's not a victory lap um by no means um it continues to be a hot button issue for alders
what's the biggest cause for when you see a rat issue in a community in a residential area you
just want me to say dog poop on the record i guess uh but dog poop people not i'm gonna do
it every year it's great i'm surprised they figured out that i get them to do it like that
what is it again come on move along you guys are gonna miss me in these hearings
um chairman's about to cut me off um please i'm sorry i didn't mean to say that
uh commissioner i've appreciated working with you all these years
uh to you and your wonderful dedicated staff um appreciate all the hard work
um since trees are uh such an issue that's been talked about today and in recent weeks
um i just want to be one of many uh to point out what a great job mr sheehan does
um i also want to thank uh gloria uh who has been out to my neighborhood uh when we've had
uh issues um but everybody in the box and more importantly the men and women out there every day
picking up our garbage and working hard to keep our neighborhoods clean uh appreciate you appreciate
the department of streets and sanitation thank you thank you thank you alderman um alderman martin
followed by alderman burnett thank you chairman and good afternoon commissioner i want to start
by briefly echoing the thanks that Alderman O'Shea eloquently shared to you and the staff.
shared to you and the staff. I don't want to name people individually. I remember Chairwoman Dow
admonished us for doing that last term, especially as newbies, but each and every one of you, I want
to express my thanks on behalf of the 47th Ward. I want to both plus one what people have shared
about trees and how we desperately need more resources going to your department and the
Bureau, but also kind of add something to that that I think has been under discussed today,
but really important. And you and Kelly have been particularly helpful with me around street
sweeping. We know that we have a very mature tree canopy in 47. That's great. But with that comes
leaf debris and it falls later and later in the year now due in part to climate change.
And while it would be great if people do what I did do and so many others of just raking the
leaves with some frequency in front of their homes and buildings, that just doesn't happen
in practice. And so even if it's something that we aren't able to prioritize as much as I would
like in this budget season, I think that this is an area where your department is under-resourced.
I think that we ask you and your team to operate street sweepers that are past their useful life.
And you and I have looked into the data and seen that we're just not, we're not giving you
as many street sweepers as you need that are in good working condition and that are reliable
because as hard as the sweeper drivers are working, as hard as the 2FM people are working,
I don't think we're doing our part. So I would ask through the chair if you can share what the
currently, what the anticipated replacement schedule is over the next five years for sweepers
because even if we can't do it with this budget cycle, I'm hopeful that in coming budget cycles,
we can uh ramp up the number of sweepers that are purchased because i think that will pay dividends
and that will help people better understand the work that we're doing and how we're committed
to making their days just a little bit easier um so that's that's
easier um so that's that's one um and then second i was hoping through the chair you could just call
our attention to the line items in terms of um how many sweeper drivers we've been giving you both
this the current up uh proposed budget as well as the four prior years just to see are we doing our
part to give you the resources so that you can do the work that's needed you get this body did that
at the mid-year
budget hearing
so I will thank you for that
and I want to go on the record for thanking you for that
because we were short drivers
and again
through the mid-year budget
when they're talking about billions and billions of dollars
I think it was
Alderman Harris that may have
started it and they brought up
the concern for drivers
and we got those drivers
so I appreciate
the effort that was put in there
because our sweeper drivers come from our drivers.
It's just a matter of training them.
We're working with the union right now to try to train folks that go to afternoons.
We get about 30 folks that go to afternoons for winter operations.
We want you to sweep.
So we're looking at every angle.
The other question you had in regards to the five-year plan for the sweeper,
I believe Kelly has that.
Do you have that, Kel?
did we work on a five-year plan for the sweeper so if you want that on the record she can give
that to you now if you'd like or through the record through the chair i'm fine with either
kelly very kelly very deputy commissioner uh our plan is 12 per year for the next five years
and we do actually have five pre-ordered for 2027 already that's great and that's a ramp up from
prior years if memory serves is that right correct yeah um so i want to make sure that we we stick
with that because I think it's easy to say that right now but a year or two from now
when we continue to have austere budget times maybe when people aren't looking
austere budget times maybe when people aren't looking we're not getting you those 12 every
single year so i want to make sure that we get that on the record that that's what we're committed
to doing and that we stick with that every single year over the next five years thank you thank you
thank you alderman martin uh alderman burnett uh followed by alderman uh tabaris so thank you
chairman uh i first want to say thank you to everyone in streets and sand um a team desperately
and has demanded that i specifically call out a few people obviously mr sheen and mrs young
and forestry we thank you i know we've had a few issues in our ward over the last couple weeks that
you all have handled quite delicately so i i deeply appreciate that debbie uh as well as
xl brown vernon bush sean smith uh thank you all for filling in when we had a change in ward soups
uh you know those two months were pretty hectic for us and i know there was a delay dealing with
the department of hr um but since then with our new ward soup myra you all have been excellent at
coaching her up and getting her to the standard that the 27 ward deserves and so the guidance
has been tremendous and deeply appreciated.
I take the wisdom from Alderman O'Shea quite seriously
on communicating with the war soup
and having somebody in a place that is organized
and willing to talk and be that bridge
between your department and ours.
So I don't have much complaints at this moment.
No, you picked a great war soup.
My hat's off to you.
She's fit right in.
We brought her on with the marathon
because we're trying to get everybody accustomed to dealing with larger events.
But she definitely has shown up and showed out.
I told you since day one, man, but I'm glad that it's all been fitting well.
And we really do appreciate it.
As you know, our ward is a very wonky size.
We stretch far, but it's a weird shape.
One of the things I know this has been mentioned before,
Alderman Apollon-Tano mentioned it,
the grid system is not perfect for us,
both in terms of getting the hands out there
for the way the grid works and for us going west to east
because our neighborhoods are so vastly different
and miles apart.
So there is some concerns about how that works,
but I understand the way
and how we have to dedicate it throughout the city.
So I just want to say thank you all for everything
and appreciate the guidance and the communication
and looking forward to making it through this busy winter season.
Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman Burnett.
Alderman Tabares, followed by Alderman Lawson.
Yes, thank you.
Commissioner, Commissioner Steyler, thank you for,
I want to start by saying thank you for your leadership
and thank you to everybody, every single person in the box
for all of your hard work and everything that you do for our ward
and for the entire city.
It doesn't go unnoticed.
really appreciate everything that you do for the department of streets and sanitation
i also want to thank the forestry crews who were out non-stop working overtime working long hours
during the tornado that passed through the southwest side on june 11th that big tornado
our ward office received over 500 calls in just a matter of a couple of days and our ward soup
and all of the forestry crews were out there cleaning up all the tree debris and the residents
really appreciated that initial response i want to gather some stuff through the chair
if i may of the current number of open tree related service requests in the 23rd ward
specifically tree debris tree emergencies tree removal inspections and stump removals if i can
get that through the chair not a problem um i want to also mention that our office and our ward
superintendent um george who's the best he has tried to help with the triage of the most
to help with the triage of the most hazardous situations during that June 11th tornado.
What is the best way for us to partner up with forestry so that we can give residents
accurate updates and flag the highest priority public safety issues without overwhelming your
system? After this summer, I think it'd be pretty tough to overwhelm us. I've never seen anything
like it. I mean, I've said it
to nauseam today, but
56,000 piles,
44,000
tree emergencies versus
22. We
know people
are frustrated because they haven't
seen a trim tree since the
first week of June.
We get it. We're back
at it again.
With the investments that
the budget and mayor and
the administration has put in here,
with the 10 additional crews.
And I can't stop and mention the quality of life
because we really tapped into those quality of life crews
during this storm because they have training with chainsaws.
And we literally looked at a union and said,
we need anybody with a chainsaw.
I mean, I'm not going to talk about other ward troops,
but I'm sure there was ward troops out there with chainsaws.
Aldermen were out there with chainsaws.
Staff was out there with chainsaws.
Residents were out there with chainsaws.
Everybody was out there just trying to get it done and coming together as what we do in Chicago in those kind of situations.
Something had to give.
Rodent gave a little bit.
Carts gave a little bit.
Quality of Life gave a little bit.
Everybody gave at the cost of trying to get this thing under control.
And as you mentioned, I'm glad you said it, because I was, you saw a tornado on the south.
You saw a tornado on the southwest side.
I felt it run through my neighborhood.
It hit my backyard.
I felt it, too.
That went right to Indiana.
And I'm not going to bash another state,
but people didn't have power for 13 to 15 days.
And I'm going to say our department, along with OEMC,
along with CDOT, along with the
Water Department, the Mayor's Office, the
Alderman's Office, we all came together
and showed Indiana
what we do, because we
got the same storms. We got the
same storms. And this isn't
a minimize, but it's that coordination
effort that we have with OEMC
that that ComEd person
is sitting right next to
our phone takers.
So when Jimmy Sheehan's getting a call
from ComEd going, hey,
go open up this street because we can get
10,000 people's electricity turned on by opening up the street,
those people are conversing with each other. So we learned a lot. So
just, I know everybody's getting
beat up on the tree trim. And you touched on the mayor's
10 additional forestry crews to trim roughly
the 10,000 more trees. Do we know if those resources
are going to be deployed in areas that were hardest hit
during this June 11 tornado, like the southwest side?
I mean, are we going to see any accelerated attention
as those crews come online?
Well, we're hoping with those 10,000,
we get 15,000 trims out of that,
which turns into 30,000 trims once they're trained up.
Again, we know that there's need,
and we're going in and we're putting people in the wards every every week you know you have that
so if you have areas that you know are real issues for us
that you know are real issues for us work with the ward soup and we'll work with jimmy and we'll
get people in those areas to assist okay well again commissioner thank you for everything that
you do with this department it's been great working with you the past five years as as
commissioner and and i just want to thank everybody again the men and the women of
streets and sanitation for all their hard work it doesn't go unnoticed in the 23rd ward we
appreciate you thank you thank you thank you alderman tabaris alderman lawson follow alderman
gardener thank you chair good afternoon commissioner good afternoon good to see you uh i'm the north
sider so i'm going to talk about rats and trees for just a minute um that's all i heard all summer
was rats and trees right and we've talked enough about trees i think the extra crews make a
difference um i'm really happy to hear that we're looking into new innovative things to do with rats
because i don't know that more crews will help solve our problem um even your own turnaround
on time on on rodent baiting is for four and a half days so it's not like people are waiting
even a week or two weeks for that so i would like us if we can if we're going to put more money into
rodent baiting or rodent control that it be in a more innovative way whether that's a birth control
or co2 or uh whatever it is um i have a pilot on halstead uh between grace and belmont doing the
birth control um i think it's costing them about thirty thousand dollars for six months um what
What's that one called?
Hi, Alabama.
Hi, Deputy Commissioner.
Good morning. I mean, good afternoon.
So we were not aware of that
pilot that you're talking about.
If there's a pilot out there, we want to know.
Okay. I thought we had all connected you.
I apologize for that.
I was not aware of it until they had the money spent and they said it was going to come
in the next week. I said, okay, well, let me know.
Anything else? I mean, you mentioned
Halstead. Just the North
Halstead Business Alliance is the one doing it.
It's SSA
17?
do we need animal control in the house
or are we just
Alan Lopez's newest
Lopez's newest acquisition.
Deputy Commissioner Gloria Pittman.
So, Alderman, if you can connect us,
but we're not connected with that pilot.
I will have staff follow-up right now.
I also think we need a dumpster.
So when North Halston said they were doing this,
I said it's not going to work unless you actually do something about the dumpsters.
If the dumpsters are overflowing or leaking, they're going to be bad.
And I think that's something that when we look at rodent baiting,
that's not part of it right now.
You know, when the crews come out and bait, they're not inspecting cans.
And we really need to have that in dense areas like mine and others where we're all on top of each other.
We've got to do more about the cans and beyond just what the ward soup does when we get a call or other stuff we see.
So I just want to add that on the wrap piece and then talk about other things.
Merlot Library, my ward, is a food scrap donation site.
We're messaging that. Thank you.
It's important that we have that because we have a lot of waste not in my ward right now.
And this will help take that and bring it in-house.
I want to ask about propane.
This has come up a few times with my colleagues who have encampments.
But then also for me, I have people who set up and illegally cook on the sidewalks late night.
And the police will try and shoo them away.
But if there's ever any issue where someone needs a ticket or they're impounding anything, the propane tank is always a problem.
um we are the mayor has proposed to legalize this very same activity and i want to make sure
there's a plan because i think it involves multiple departments of how we are going to
handle propane tanks which are going to be need to be confiscated when these guys operate and i
think the peak hour is midnight um but at what level have you been involved in those conversations
and do we have a plan for propane confiscation storage removal?
Well, when we run into non-housed folks in areas where there's a bunch of propane, that's something.
That's something that's outsourced.
They come and pick those up.
We don't deal with those.
We used to have a large encampment,
I think right on the expressway between Taylor and Roosevelt on Des Plaines.
There used to be a lot of propane tanks there,
and when we would do that cleanup,
there was a group that came in and took care of those propane tanks for us okay have you been
dialed in on this proposal from the administration on allowing basically propane in carts on the
sidewalks I'd have to I'd have to look at me personally no I'd have to I'd have to it's not
to say one of the great folks over there haven't but I'd have to I'd have to look at that with the
team sure and I it's just different for me than in a moving event where you have you know several
things happening several crews there this is again it's always late night none of it starts
until after nine ten o'clock um it's a mess right i've got grease on the sidewalks and then i get
more rats um but specifically on the tank which police won't touch you know i mean we need to
have a plan if we're gonna even come close to legalizing these things which i have a lot of
other questions about so i just wanted to put that on your radar um as well um pride parade i always
have to say thank you to everyone uh the biggest compliment i get all year is how great the
neighborhood looks the next day um like nothing ever happened um and we know a lot happens that
sunday and on the front end all of the folks who work with us on towing and posting and comms and
then clean up um i think about half the department is in my ward between the two days and i appreciate
it um as do my ward soup joe and my district guy tommy k who's killing it um in that role so um
And I think the one thing that still comes, though, is we've got a lot of toes.
Our toe number really hasn't come down, and it's from the front end.
It's people who are parked in the lineup areas,
and um we just got to find a better way to message it because we're over 400 toes each
pride sunday yeah and there's just got to be a way to get that down somehow so i want to put
that on your radar yeah we love that i mean that's a there in the marathon we see those big
numbers yeah huge um i was actually you know marathon i have as well and the cleanup is
better for the pride parade than the marathon but then i realized that the marathon is 26 miles and
the pride parade's only three. So, you know, a little different. Same effort. I know. Right.
Probably the same crews. Uh, but you guys do a great job with large events, obviously working
around Wrigley Lakefront. It's really important for us. Um, so let's follow up. Uh, we'll talk
about, uh, uh, our North Halstead program and propane and, uh, we'll talk several times before
pride. Thank you, chair. Yep. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Alderman Lawson,
Alderman Gardner, Fottoball and Cruz. Thank you, chairman. Uh, thank you, commissioner.
um i i am going to keep this brief and in doing so i am going to extend my gratitude
uh to street and sanitation the department as a whole um i think any every single alderman in
here could agree besides maybe the fire department and police department street and sanitation c dot
are two of the most important departments in this city having a good relationship with the members
of your department is uh crucial in order to run a well-run award so i most importantly i'm going
to ask you a question at the end but i wanted to uh make sure that i gave thanks to some of
the people obviously you is the commissioner christina ituna your assistant gloria pitman
tonette dugar lewis cepeda who's helped us repeatedly with issues that we've had with
getting superintendents on board, James Sheehan, Greg Wagner, two individuals that have helped us
repeatedly. I can't even tell you. I'm almost humbled to be in their presence the amount of
times that they've helped me with tree trims.
with tree trims um al kopiak george negrette wilson mora with recycling debbie de lopez with
all the help that you give us as well with cleanups guys on the street like mike snow
mike shaft raft bruce principato for towing and then just the good old-fashioned blue collar
people you got on the street like tommy o'reilly david beardrin avery sanchez domo tomo leary
uh two gentlemen i met recently you may have heard commissioner i'm often on the streets and
i talk to your tree trimmers they may have told you that maybe of concern who's this guy walking
around with a chainsaw um but fireman yep 100 uh frank roland aj rodriguez two gentlemen that did
an excellent job recently of trimming a block uh near where i live i was very important
it was very important to me and my community um so my question basically is what can we do
as a as a city council to help you and and i say this very humbly um i was driving around the
the community and i seen this these two young gentlemen coming out of um mayfair and and they
were coming out of a rig and they look like two hard-working guys they come on come out and this
rig is about as old and rusty as you could possibly imagine this thing. And I only imagine
the juice this thing is dripping. And just like the fire department, I know that you have a huge
need to upgrade the equipment that you have. That was just black and white when I seen this rig
coming out of the Mayfair. What can we do as a city council to help assist you or help get you
what you need to be successful in your
endeavors
I think this
body
has done more
for this department than
we ever anticipated as a
a group. We've gotten a whole lot under this administration with this body. We're back
on track now with the vehicles. It was rough. I'm going to mention him. His name is Nicky
Mungary. He had 57 years with this department, and he lived through the storm of 79 as an
employee here. I said to him, I said, man, I remember 99, I remember, you know, 2011,
what happened in 79? And he said it wasn't manpower, it was the equipment. He said we
had junk equipment. And so I brought it up with the last administration and said, I remember
telling Richie Guidus and he caught wind of it that it was a problem because we weren't getting
equipment and then COVID hit and we weren't getting equipment and I said hey man equipment
should be on a 14-15 year turn when I started that's how it was with the snow plows it started
growing and we just weren't getting anything through COVID well now as Kelly recited
Martin about sweepers
of 12, 12, 12. We're back
on that pace of turning that
equipment over and we're trying to work that number
down from the 17, the 16
down back into that comfort zone of 12
and 14.
Never would I say we do
the work of the firemen or the police
but we're in those
alleys every week. Absolutely.
We're picking up households, 625,000
households a week
and nothing worse than that trail of a belly the stuff that falls out of the belly you're
they don't even know what it is yeah the juice we all know exactly yeah and it smells and kids are
And it smells and kids are, you know, still playing basketball on the alley.
Absolutely.
So I just, I know my time's up, but I just want to express my sincere gratitude, not
only from me, but from the residents of the 45th Ward for all the work that you guys do.
I know it goes on song.
I probably left out a couple names.
And if I did, I apologize.
But all the help that you give me and my community is very much appreciated and recognized.
So thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman Gardner, Alderman Cruz, followed by Alderman Curtis.
Thank you, Chairman.
I also want to praise the commissioner for his leadership and his entire team in the box
for everything you all do.
We wouldn't be able to do this job without your department.
But I also wanted to thank my word superintendent, Peter Gonzalez, who is an outstanding word
soup and has helped me so much as well.
And other people in the box I do want to highlight. Some people in the box, Debbie, thank you so much for all helping with the pigeon poop. Also, Mr. Lococo. And of course, someone who answers me, it doesn't matter the time of the day, doesn't matter if it's on a Sunday.
somebody who is very responsive who has helped me so much um that's jimmy sheen i appreciate his
leadership i do have some questions and i what i'm hearing from my colleagues um commissioner is
how do we create systems so that we do not overwhelm um some of your staff members um so
you don't get emails and emails and and i'll just use an example jimmy sheen like will respond to
every single email, but I do feel bad
at times sending him so many
emails. But I know
probably this is not the way right now
to have an answer because we've got to look into that.
But I do want to... I got an answer.
I have an answer.
He's telling me a short one.
It's what we signed
up for.
Like I said, we've got 350
years of experience up here, government experience.
up here government experience this is a seven day 24 hour a day while you're on vacation department
the leaders of this department understand that so you can't overwhelm us this this we are humans
and no understand but this department we've had that ingrained in us and that's why i say it takes
a special person to work in this department
as it does in the other
I'm not slamming any other department
but our phones are always on
our phones are always on
they have to be on
and that's just the way we go
this whole
there's no such thing as an 8 hour day
in the department of streets
we're open 24 hours
just like police firing
I'm not comparing myself to no other department
or this department to any other department
but it's just what we signed up for
so if it's not working for you
if the system that you have right now isn't working for you to where we're not responding
then it needs to be corrected but you cannot overwhelm us nobody nobody in that box is
sitting there going i wish you know they wouldn't call me no not not on one person
all looking at me no i'm kidding i'm like they're all looking at me
blink ones if you need help uh right team right team there you go
i just again i think that's what we're hearing across the board and we may not but i think
this is what i keep hearing from other colleagues but moving on to road and control um we have
received a lot of the you know we receive a lot of complaints about road and control my question
to the deputy is have you visited some of these locations have you had people inspect that these
workers are doing their best and actually doing what they're supposed to do any type of oversight
um have you visited any of these
um have you visited any of these locations glow she's asking you that question deputy commissioner
gloria pittman uh yes so our work when we find an infestation involves the cooperation of
several parts of our department so yes when we see an issue we use our quality of life teams
our regular sanitation teams which involves our war superintendent in addition to our teams that
are out there baiting right and if we have to issue enforcement we do so at that time as well
but an infestation requires a collaborative effort by our entire department or parts of
and so yes so we hit it hard if you have any space that you need us to visit and you don't
have many in your ward uh as the records show uh we're happy to do the same for you and i only say
that because sometimes our residents will call us back and they're like hey they were came here
um but they did not do a good job they didn't really pour in as many um again what they had
to do or some of the boroughs wasn't really filled in like so we have concerns that sometimes could
is just be going out there just you know throwing some of the things and not really doing it right
way so that's where we get a lot of concerns like they were here but perhaps they didn't do a good
job so we'll send you some of those locations i just want to make sure that we as leaders we are
going and monitoring that our staff is doing on the job to the best of their ability and not just
being there because they had to close a ticket or 3-1-1 thank you for that understood
um when it comes to pigeons and i know debbie this is something that you and i have worked and
i feel like we clean one week and then a couple days later it's back at it again
have we thought about like what what can we do as a
about like what what can we do as a long-term initiative not being reactive but rather being
proactive when it comes to some of these areas that we do have a lot of problems with pigeon
poop I want to tell you one part of my ward they even have a grant that they pay through and they
also do power washing us your department does it as well but have we thought about what else can
we do to ensure that, again, we're not being reactive, but rather being proactive to pigeon
poop?
No, we're, I never really think I'd say pigeon poop so much time during a hearing, but we're
going to look at that, because it's been brought up all day, so we'll work with each other
and try to address that concern.
thank you um also when it comes to tree trimming and i have said this the first time that was here
my first year and i'm going to continue saying we have to really think about this tree
at true and grid i can personally say it's not really working for us and where jim jimmy does
an outstanding job addressing all the issues i just think again because of so many requests that
we have i believe uh alderman apolitano say you can still continue to do it but can we build on
another crew for the regular requests that we have because again we have so many different requests
at times are not within the grid that it's really hard to balance it based on what you're hearing
and what you're hearing today commissioner with some people not expressing support or saying you
know things that is not working do you really again we talked about numbers and say yes tree
trim is up we have more numbers yes because we're in a grid but based on the concerns that you hear
on a daily basis from us do you think this program is working when it comes to addressing
residents calling that they want the tree trimming,
but because we're in a grid, it can take longer to get there?
To answer that, I'm going to say I hear everybody loud and clear.
I think the addition of the 10 additional crews
is going to get us where we need to go quicker
to satisfy those needs.
I said it used to take two to three years
to get a tree trimmed prior to grid
because we didn't have that manpower, okay?
we're going to be on track
to trim 360,000
trees by April 17th
if you have concerns
if you have concerns because
out of
the 270,000
trees that we've trimmed
if we've had
3,000
Jimmy would you say
like special requests
do you know that number
we're going to try to address those
But what would help us is because we get 15,000,
oh, I got a dead tree in front of my house.
We got to inspect it.
That number comes back real light.
So people just, they don't want the tree.
So what I'm saying, if your office is getting calls,
give those locations to your ward superintendent,
have your ward superintendent look at those locations
and go, this one's on the house, this one's laying on her siding,
this one's a problem, this one's a problem, and prioritize them.
And as I've said, we're still in a position to where we can go
and hit that whole block, and we can take care of those.
We can do that at the beginning of the shift or the end of the shift.
Know that it's there.
But as far as working, I think I held up a picture earlier.
all the tree trimming
prior to grid trimming
if we did it by CSR
was on the southwest side
and the northwest side
this is what it looks like now
you can see it's disseminated
equally throughout the city
and we're just
we're trying to get through the whole city
so if you have areas
where the trees are worse than
others give us those areas
and we can attack those areas
so it's two-part you get calls give it to your ward soup have them look at it we're there for
you and know that the addition of crews along with the re uh along with the quality of life
crews that'll help out too i have one more question but i'll send it through the chair i just
again i don't think overall you have addressed and again you have been great and your department's
great but we're just trying to be better with some of this request but thank you okay thank
Thank you, Alderman Cruz, and Alderman Curtis, do you have something?
I do.
Thanks, Cher.
Streets of sanitation.
First, I wanted to thank everyone at this department
for always keeping my wards super clean.
It's clean.
And many of you know that.
Thank you so much.
One, you know, I can't, it's hard for me to turn off being a war of soup.
So I boss my war of soup around all the time, making sure he do what he do.
But he's great.
I know we talked about this before.
The waste, the waste that we get after we go and dump.
Like, have there been any more technology or initiatives of saving money at the dump?
I know, remember we had, we talked about this group that came in
that want to do something with the garbage that you currently have
to recycle it some kind of way.
Oh, to answer your question, no.
To answer your question, no, but I know what you're talking about.
I know what you're talking about.
That's a company in the city.
Yeah.
I know Chris and I
talked about it
they wanted to
they had some invention that would help
save money on recycling I guess
second thing I have
is Christy Webber
again I can't turn it off
I stopped Christy Webber
twice
one at a school
and one in the center of
the street
I know they have to get the memo, don't blow anything off into the streets
because you're going to clog up the sewers.
They're doing it every single day.
I don't know how we even beef that up, but I see it all over the city.
No, it's not a...
I'm sure if Christy heard that right now.
I wish they were here.
I'm sure she would be addressing that right now.
because I've been a business owner in this department,
I mean, in this city for a long time, business owner.
But we try to get that message out again.
We're coming into that season where if you can use your platforms to,
hey, don't blow the leaves in the street, that just helps us all.
It just helps us all.
And again, I can say it until the cows come home.
It's just we need help from everybody.
It's a, it's a, you know, you say your ward's clean, you know, and I'm sure you think your residents, it's we got to do better, you know, picking up 78,000 bags of debris is, all we're asking is people just don't litter, just don't litter.
We're not asking you to go clean it up.
We're just saying, please don't litter.
I mean, we spent $100,000 on a campaign and I went from 60,000 to 78,000 bags.
So we're going to continue on, and I brought a prop,
but I know we're running late on time, and I said this before.
I'm 6'2", 285 pounds.
I got a bag down here.
I hold the bag up.
I say, I could fit in a bag.
We picked up 78,000 of those.
We cut 88,000 vacant parcels.
We cut them, and that number's not included of the garbage they picked up
off those lots, if people just would, I'm not saying people go out and pick it up, I'm just
saying don't throw it out. It would just be a help because it's a lot of garbage that's out there,
a lot of litter that's out there. And I can clean up 99th and I-57. I can clean that up today.
And I got to take pictures of it because within three days, it'll look like we never touched it.
Alderman Mosley's got signs up
we tried everything
and it's like please just don't toss it out the window
so we need that help
from our residents
and we love quality of life
but do you think that we'll ever see
the sheriff's department out again
no they're here
Sheriff Dart
been a great partner
after COVID we're back
on track we got SWAP
and last but not least
is uh i i wanna i don't know who do we start with but you know
who do we start with but you know ever since we got the 311 app more and more people are watching
that app and they're monitoring it because they want to see where their complaint goes right
and they'll call the office and say hey my uh my my my complaint was closed but nothing was ever
done is it a way that and and and me uh again being more super and and and and also being a part of
that um things that is is it a way where we could instead of just write complete because that's what
they're looking at they're looking at the word complete some that complete just doesn't mean
that that job is done it could mean that we just went to go look at it but we
need we need things other things in the system that are back that complete up
mayor's office sat with us pretty much all summer and not only with this
department with other departments on how we could make this better because we
We don't have somebody sitting in a room just going complete, complete, complete, complete.
We knew there was issues in there.
Frank's team over at OEMC, along with the mayor's office, it was this woman came in from the mayor's office,
and she was remarkable to work with to come up with ways to make this better.
So between us, DTI, C.W., it was all hands on deck.
We spent the summer, this past summer, working on that.
so we're trying to get better
and we understand that issue
yeah because people are looking at it
every day and that's the complaint
it was
I could use this for an example
use this for an example. Hey, there's graffiti on City Hall on LaSalle, 121 North LaSalle.
Someone puts it in on that app, it can show on Clark. And our crew would pull up and be
like, all right, I'm at 121 North LaSalle, and it's on the other side of the building.
So there's those things that we know. Again, the mayor's office came in, brought us all
together. How can we make this better? What are your main concerns? What are your issues?
So acknowledging what you're saying is an issue.
Thanks again.
Kudos to the entire department.
It's my favorite department.
I have to definitely give you and Tommy kudos because you're one of the few departments that bring people up from the ground up.
I mean, I remember half of those people were puppies when I was around.
If you keep going, they're going to grow up and die, man.
No, we all wear glasses except for you.
I got contact you.
I got contact you.
I really appreciate that because we have to bring the people along
and teach them the job, and that's institutional knowledge.
So that's great.
All right.
I appreciate that.
Both of y'all.
Y'all having a personal conversation?
Southside.
Southside.
Okay.
Southside.
All right.
Okay.
Very well.
All right.
I think that we've got everybody that's said something, raised something.
I pray we have no round twos.
I think you got a round two, really, man?
Come on, man.
All right.
Go ahead, Alderman.
Go ahead.
Yeah.
Hold on.
Okay.
Well, you all do know we got some other departments today.
So Alderman Coleman followed by Alderman Mannerhopperworth.
um man of hopping work okay let's start let's start all right alderman walkers back you were
were here i i thought she had marked you off on the list when i had left we'll go we'll go walkers
back um uh uh what's her name cita lopez hoppingworth coleman all right since you got a bunch
of people i'll try to go fast um me too all right i just sent a list of questions through the chair
that can be answered separately um the uh just to comment on the graffiti
cruise use of the mobile application you can't attach photos to that i don't know if you knew
that say that again you cannot attach photos for graffiti cruise to pick that up on the mobile app
unless that's been changed uh there's a first i thought you can i think you can go ahead on
add a file picture but you can take a picture at real time so what what my colleague is saying is
you can't add one from your own cache of pictures but if you're there in the moment you could take
it and add it to it so i was going to ask that that's a great question that could be added
back to it just sorry about that yeah it's something that needs to be upgraded on the
mobile app no we're we got a long list of technology that we're we're uh working through
okay we come from paper like four years ago so we're getting there okay um winter parking signs
um we have a lot that are faded that we've put in for the sign um group to get done is there a way
with those parking bands that we can um really work to get coordinate to get those replaced
when any of them are completely faded yeah 100 percent lococo we'll work with next we'll work
could see that on that um landscaping companies i heard it just came
on that um landscaping companies i heard it just came up and i you know i go out there too and i
see them blowing stuff into the street right after it's been swept and you don't want to get a fight
with them but you know you have choice words for doing that is there a way we can coordinate with
the landscaping companies that bacp has listed as companies in the city to get um psas out to them
not to do that we just go take it take it usually works you know um the ward soup can write a ticket
for that yeah um so if you're getting it and we know it i mean here we're in the season where you
know these landscaping companies want to leave their bags all over god's green earth take your
bags with you you know that's that's the that's the rule okay um quick things thanks uh basically
everybody's already said it but thanks for the work on the leaky trucks or the seals
dedicated ward soup is an incredible person to have I mean they're picking up everything from
dirty diapers dog poop to all the other dirty deeds that get left in the alley
and also I know a lot of ward soups buy their own tools or we buy them for them so
um one thing i see is do we provide any ppe type equipment to workers when they are out there doing
a homeless camp and cleanup or viaduct cleanup yes okay like heavy duty rubber gloves because
i see some of these folks doing that work we're i go out and i speak um tommy will go i don't ever
want to see anybody taking their hands and going into a pile rake that stuff because you know you
get you poked with a needle you're you're looking at a year of uh year of testing so that's that's
paramount okay um well thanks for everything on the homeless cleanups the psas on recycling
composting one thing if we could oh go ahead no no uh if we could upgrade the winter
upgrade the winter PSAs on the website. I think that document on there is about 15 years old,
maybe freshened it up a little bit. Again, just thanks to everybody in the box for all the work
that they do, and really all the workers who do the graffiti cleanup, picking up the trash, you
know, with the rubber gloves, the graffiti busting, obviously, that's a ton of stuff. I've never seen
so much over the last few years as you know that we're seeing in some areas so every individual in
the box and all the staff that are out there and especially all the workers that are doing the deep
down dirty work of picking up other people's trash that is so important to i for me to recognize them
when we're out there in the alleys and see the work that they do it's it's incredible work and
And I know they go underrated in the amount of effort that they put in in this city.
So I just want to make sure that they know all of us here support them.
Appreciate it.
We'll make sure that 2,300 employees at this department hear everyone's praises.
Thank you.
Thank you, Chairman.
Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman.
Alderman Cito-Lopez.
Thank you, Chairman.
And I'll be brief.
I want to just first thank you.
I know that we had a really bad flooding in our ward,
and your team was very expedient in responding
and helped a lot in clearing those homes that were damaged.
I want to just thank you on behalf of our community.
Your quick response was appreciated.
Just a quick, I know that you talk about already the tree trimming
as well as the road in control, and I don't want to repeat that.
My question, and I think I was already repeated,
but I want to be more specific around some of the cleanup trucks.
I know sometimes we have to share between words whether the cleanup
or the, let me make sure, the snow plows and also the street.
snow plows, and also the street cleaning trucks.
Sometimes we have to share it, as well as the machines that go in between bike lanes.
So I just want to make sure that within the budget, we have enough to make sure that
I understand sometimes we have to share between wars, but that we have
the ability to respond a little quicker.
It's what we do. You mentioned snow. I heard you mention
snow. We looked at it about eight years ago
and we noticed that some wards just took longer than others and it was no fault of the ward
superintendent it was just and i'm just using your ward for example the 25th ward had
six miles per truck and another ward had 35 miles per truck so we looked at it and we spread it
across to where each truck does between 16 and 18 miles now everybody's kind of finishing at the
same time you mentioned breakdowns a truck is going to break down every day during snow programs
sometimes if you have five trucks in your ward two of them may break down and that's where the help
comes from other wards so um we're conscious of what you're saying is basically what i'm saying
and you know times with street sweeping you know we have to what we call a blitz you know we have
to do a blitz to make sure that the area, the postage gets completed.
So that's where the sharing of resources comes into play.
Thank you, Commissioner.
Lastly, I know that in the Inspector General report,
it has been some recommendations around,
especially road and control is one of the things that has come up,
because we oftentimes rely on the 311 calls
that are already after the fact in a way.
so I think like whatever can be done in terms of proactive approach you know we
don't superintendent and you respond very quickly when when things come up it
come up. It has come up in, you know, 311 in generally, but specifically around, for instance,
the towing system. You know, I know that a few times I had to contact you, and you are,
I'll say the commissioner respond the quickest, you know, and no complaints whatsoever. Just in
terms of systemic, you know, I know that we relied on the 311 system, but I do like, you know,
the ability to talk to the superintendent with you and proactively address. I mentioned in general
One of them is the towing system.
I know sometimes in the schools, we've got cars that are just left out there and block the drop-off zones and so far.
So anything that can be done around that and a proactive way, especially with road and control?
Road and control, they provided us with, I think it was seven recommendations.
We agreed with all seven of the recommendations.
We're thankful for the funding, the additional funding that was put into this budget for that.
We're excited about the possibility of carbon dioxide being added to our toolbox.
We're excited to work with the group here.
We found out today Alderman Lawson has a group on Halstead that we weren't aware of.
So if there's SSAs out there or groups out there, community groups that are out there that are trying alternative to that,
we'd love to know because we've partnered with Lincoln Park.
That's kind of everybody knows.
um but there's we know wicker park's doing something you know so there are people that are
there to help and and and get that documentation so we can present it to the group and say
here you go alderman here's what here's what our findings are here's the cost of this here's what
it's going to be let's make a decision thank you commissioner i appreciate your efforts i'm looking
forward to keep partnering with you thank you thank you alderman cita lopez alderman manor
Harperworth. Thank you, Chairman. Hi, Commissioner. Hello. Hi, everyone in the box. Thank you so much.
everyone in the box thank you so much for your work i wanted to give a shout out to our recently
retired superintendent conrad seworth who's been around for 23 years and we were very sad to see
him go but also he needs the rest and also excited to have jimmy diaz or jimbo on our team and
it's been terrific so very much appreciate all the on-ground work i wanted to also shout out to
um debbie debbie de lopez for all the work that you're doing with angel especially around our
encampments on the lakefront and it's it's hard work and i appreciate your attention and and
meeting with us regularly because it is an ongoing collaborative effort um i wanted to
well speaking on that it's um unfortunately with the numbers not going down we have had
many reports of human excrement and you know this is this is something that we don't want to see
but also my team wanted to know what is the best way to who is supposed to be responsible for
for that we're all working together to make sure that people are housed that would be the number
one thing but since we don't have public bathrooms open especially along the lakefront
they close at a certain time of the year um and we have encampments um this is just one of the
the things that we're dealing with and we're getting complaints about.
So do you have anything that you might share today?
I'm going to, again, Deb deals with 495 cleanups so far this year of unhoused locations.
There's a little over 500 last year.
um so i'm gonna give deb the opportunity to um try to address that and if she doesn't have the
answer i'll get you that answer through the chair wd lopez deputy commissioner yeah so alderman we
typically we work closely with parks and dfss as you know um it's usually our team or the parks
team that would clean that up we tend to put sand on it or we try to work with parks to get them
somewhere close that they can go sometimes dfss you know also has other alternatives to help them
so we're aware of it but that is our team that cleans it up yeah i appreciate that um and it's
of course not just along the lakefront it's we have many business corridors so i'm thinking of
andersonville where we have you know the the um the chamber of commerce spends money to power wash
because it happens all over um so i just wanted to put that out there that it's something that
i would like help with um i i know that alderman curtis already touched on uh the 3-1-1 app and
how some things are closed when they're still ongoing so i would like to work on that more with
you also with dti um regarding trees and we talked about that a lot um thank you so much for the
communication around the special tree trims i know there's it's happening all over the city i was
curious um are you planning on bringing back quarterly reports around trees um it's also
something that we i know that happened before but we i don't think that we have quarterly reports
anymore let's say i failed as a commissioner because i haven't heard about a tree quarterly
report um i don't know if that's something your ward troop uh provided with jimmy is that
something malcolm did or are you aware of a quarterly report for that james sheehan
quarterly report for that? James Sheehan, Deputy Commissioner of Bureau of Forestry. No, I have no idea. I don't know if it's something that was done in the past, but I've never heard. I'll forward some stuff. That'd be great. Yeah, thank you. I guess also regarding the trees, we have a ward that loves their trees and loves to see new trees planted. Is there a way for us to know how the trees are doing?
like the survival rates with the trees because i know a lot a lot of people adopt them they water
them and make sure that they're they survive but we know that some trees don't survive yeah
no we we um i mentioned earlier that there's somebody going and i'm questioning are you
talking about the 45 000 or the 75 000 that we planted over the last five years is that what
you're talking about yeah we can definitely give you that breakdown of um survival rate on that one
that's not a problem
because they're under warranty so you know they're under warranty
and so you know
for your constituents
you mentioned love trees
we had a grant where we're going
through the whole city and we should be done
by the end of fall next
year that's going to give us the size
the species the condition
of that tree so now
we have something that you can
that's tangible that you can actually look
at and go let's address
these let's get to that
and know that the investment is going to pay dividends long down the road.
Thank you. I appreciate that.
That's really it for me.
I appreciate all the work that you do with our team
to improve quality of life on the ground.
It's very much appreciated.
I know that Jimmy is very excited to continue the work,
and also he does deserve days off.
he's saying to please reach out to me on his vacation days and he said no take your vacation
his vacation days and they said no take your vacation yeah he booked his vacation when he
wasn't a ward so yeah he planned his vacation we'll say well thank thank you all i appreciate it
thank you alderman uh alderman coleman thank you chairman uh commissioner the third week of august
i will never forget and you and the entire department was in the 16th ward to ensure that
the hundreds of folks that came over to the community, uh, was pleased. So thank you. Thank
you. Thank you. Um, I want to get right into the discussion. We cutting program. Thank you for the
shout out of the 17,000 lots. I did. Uh, that's not a number. Yes. It's not a number that I'm
proud of, but it's also a number that, you know, I realized that, you know, having the most vacant
lots in the city of chicago requires the cut cleaning and maintenance of those lots
so to the weed cutting lady to courtney thank you so much um but this vendor has got to go
first time shame on me once second time shame on you third time let's not be a fool again
and go with this particular vendor name on me shame on y'all for this bad vendor
cole so we cannot go in as the rfp i believe is up so can you tell us about this weed cutting
contract that will be up again and i want to make sure that my ward courtney has the same vendor
because it is unfair when 51st to 59th is well maintained however in the heart of inglewood the
59th well 60th to 71st we're not getting the same service we documented courtney as you mentioned
oversees that program
and has done a great work at documenting
work all year.
All year we get emails
on what's done, what's not done
done at time so we have those documentation when it comes time to discussion you are correct it
court fact check me here it's going out at the end of november so we'll be ready am i
getting my contracts confused i'm getting them confused um it will be um we'll be working with
procurement um in order for us to have it out on over in order for the uh season to start next
year so when will the contract go out no the contracts november or may lou lou lou lou lou
louisa paid a first deputy um so we are currently working on revising that document so it will go
up by the end of november so that the contract that's currently in place ends in may of 2027
so we plan on this contract then taking over immediately at that time okay so there will be
new vendors because we cutting starts i feel like normally we start in april okay so will there be a
delay next year no we're gonna no no no as she she kept saying may may and i i'm getting my i got
two contracts confused in my head so this contract's good through may to may and so we're
going to be working over the winter in order to get with procurement in order to get that get a
contract out um for next season so commissioner i want on the record that we cannot make the same
mistake a third time okay i don't want to call you in the summer and you turn red every time you see
me because i'm complaining about this particular vendor okay i hear you thank you um vehicles on
Thank you. Vehicles on vacant lots, there seems to be a disconnect. I asked this to
Superintendent Waller yesterday. Where are we on policy-wise for city-owned lots versus
properly-owned lots, you know, having to wait the seven days, you know, folks are getting
smart and they're learning the game and they'll move the vehicle to the street and then right back,
you know as soon as you look the other way they're back on the lots can you share how we're firming
so we're talking strictly lots city lot versus private lot correct correct lococo can you answer
that question yeah mike lococo deputy commissioner if it's a city-owned lot we could write up the car
and put a seven-day sticker on and it could be told if it's a vacant lot as long as we go through
judification for the vacant lot that is i do believe five years so if a car's back on there
we could go back and tow the car immediately so after it's been adjudicated though
After it's been adjudicated, correct.
A lot.
So it will take seven days for a city-owned lot?
Yeah, a city-owned lot, if there's proper registration on it, it takes seven days.
We have to put a seven-day notice on it legally.
And so that's become, because I have so many lots, so those seven days, you know, folks will then move it on the street, and then they'll move it right back to the lot.
Correct.
Then we would have to start the seven-day process all over again for a city-owned lot.
Okay.
As long as there's proper registration on the vehicle.
and that's a problem okay um thank you to my ward superintendent Darius Jones uh the D7
supervisor uh Sanchez Mr. Young Jimmy you know how to make me smile and not and he knows he's a smart
man because he knows that no woman wants to be told no and commissioner deputy commissioner
You have never told me no or have used the law department as your shield of not giving me the right answer.
Deb, the cleanup woman,
thank you for telling these boys what to do.
The weed lady,
Courtney, thank you. To the rat
lady, happy birthday, Soror.
And Tommy Johnson,
I promise I'm going to call you some more.
And Commissioner, you are the best,
although I love to make you turn red.
I don't want to make you turn
red, okay?
I'll call it
tan.
you're brutal
but thank you
it's been great working with you
we know you're a high demand ward
of Streets and Sand
I mentioned earlier there's wards out here that
aren't a heavy demand for Streets and Sand
we understand you are
so hopefully you feel
and your constituency feels that we're there for them
and we're not going to give up
all right
thank you Alderman Coleman
Alderman Bill
Mr. Chairman
Just two real quick, and I'll let you guys get out of here.
The mega recycling rate, what are you guys going to do about that?
One more time?
I guess there's a mega recycling rate that's out there.
Mega recycling rate?
Chris, have you heard of that one?
Deputy Commissioner Chris Silvey.
I have not.
I'll get some more information on that, but I think this is coming out of Washington.
Okay.
So there's something about recycling that's going to cause rates to go up,
and I'm trying to see if that.
And lastly.
Oh, MAGA.
Okay, I understand what you're saying now.
Okay, all right, MAGA.
Okay, understood.
And lastly, can we please work with the state
and get into a governmental agreement for the city to take care of the expressways?
Our expressways are the worst in the country, okay?
I mean, just the only nice expressways on the Dan Ryan.
Just the only nice expressways on the Dan Ryan is when you get to 35th Street because the White Sox are taking care of those particular, you know, sides of the expressway.
Let's figure it out.
Talk to the state where we can take that over and hire some landscapers to get out there and keep our expressways clean and cut.
I think that would be beneficial to the health and the well-being of people going to work every day.
Because who wants to look at four feet, five feet of grass, dirt, grass, trash, going back and forth to work?
I'm going to say we have two real good friends over there with Secretary Biagi and Tom Carney.
I hope people can say they've seen a difference in the last year on the expressways.
I tend to take the neighborhood streets home because I want to check the neighborhoods.
but I do, hopefully
it's, here, I know
I-57 down by us is rough
I'm acknowledging that
but hopefully people on the Dan Ryan
have seen
because they do have
and I'm sure I can get numbers
from Secretary Biagi and Carney
on the manpower and the efforts they put
in there
because I'll say right now
290 I know is definitely cleaner
and
And the times I've been on the Dan Ryan, I've seen improvement.
Not to say we can't do better, and I will acknowledge with you,
I-57 is where – I-57 and actually –
Mr. Ford, Dan Ryan.
Right, and they've got construction going on down toward Dalton.
But I hear you.
I hear you, and I'll work with them.
All right, well, do me a favor.
Don't take the streets.
Take the expressway home today, and then let me know what it looks like.
I hear you.
I hear you.
All right.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Alderman Bill
had to let you ride on 290
and see the
I will say
that I mean
they do have some crews out there cleaning and some
have some crews out there cleaning and some cutting so it is definitely an improvement
I've seen over the last couple of years than what it has been definitely for sure on that
level so all minds clear let me just say this we appreciate the work that you're
and your department do you are the backbone of a lot of the stuff that we deal with on a daily
basis personally I probably talk to at least one person in that box over there on a daily basis
for everything that we have going on.
I do know that you guys are getting the additional sets of resources,
and every time we've given you all additional resources,
you all have risen to the challenge and gotten things done.
So I truly have no complaints.
And let me just say this.
You guys have made miracles happen.
I actually – I'm going to strike that.
I'll tell you this one on the side.
But the ward is doing well with the leadership that you all sent
and the work that you all are doing to make sure things move properly.
So I appreciate that our team is functioning and working well,
even though we had to get folks in shape, but it's rolling.
So just thank you and Kelly for the expansion of the street sweeping.
I know we pushed on that to get that done,
but I appreciate everything that you all have done to make that happen.
Debbie, as always, with these fly dumps, you know, as they say,
the cleanup woman.
Mike and Higginbottom over there, I mean, as in the car,
I don't think that we've tried to tow
that we haven't been able to figure out how to tow.
So, again, thank you guys for everything that you all are doing.
And Tommy, of course, keeps us all in line on the west side.
I know he drives mildly sometimes more than I do.
So we really appreciate everything that you guys are over there doing.
Chris, I'm not a recycling guy.
Maybe I'll become one in the near future, but you keep doing what you're doing.
what you're doing, and I see you've got some
grants coming through to help in that
respect. So, again, thank you
all. Gloria,
I don't have to call you
that much, as long as we're
getting containers and everything. And then Courtney,
I had the pleasure of working with this
my first round with her
being over the weeds, but she's done a great job
as well. So, great job to the
team. And last but not least,
Jimmy Sheehan. Let me
just say this, under your leadership that
That group has moved mounds, and we appreciate you stepping up to the task
and getting things done over there.
Again, you've got a great team.
You've got great leadership.
And, hey, you guys keep up the good work.
And, again, we thank you.
I didn't think you guys were going to be here this long,
but I think when you guys are doing good work,
people want to acknowledge what you're doing.
And, again, thank you all for everything that you're doing.
At this point, we'll stand at ease while we bring in our next department.
Thank you.
This is the dog.
Good afternoon.
We are back in session.
We have before us the Chicago Department of Transportation,
represented by Commissioner Cheeks.
We will waive the reading of the opening statement.
Alderman Bill, you had a motion to waive that?
So moved.
All in favor, signify by saying aye.
Any opposed?
And depending on the chairs, I will not need to read the opening statement.
We'll have a brief overview by COFA, followed by introductions by the commissioner of the members of his team that are with him.
And after which we're going to open with Chair Dow.
You may proceed, Commissioner. I'm sorry, Katie.
All right. Thank you, Chairman. And good afternoon, members of the City Council.
My name is Katie O'Toole. I'm with COFA.
I'll provide a brief summary of the Department of Transportation's budget request.
For 2027, the proposed budget is $1,997.39 million, a $157-ish million or 8.7% increase compared to 2027.
8.7 percent increase compared to 2026. The corporate fund supports less than three percent
of CDOT's appropriations. Non-personnel expenses make up the largest part of the proposal at
$1,816 million, an approximate nine percent increase. The department requests 1,500 full-time
equivalent positions for 2027, 12 more than this year. As of last week, the department had a vacancy
rate of around 14 percent the next two slides compare proposed proposed appropriations by
category and fund against the 2026 budget ordinance so looking at categories the largest
dollar and percent change is reflected in the permanent improvements appropriation category
increasing by 155 million or nearly 23 percent this is related to construction of buildings
and other structures with increased funding from state grants looking closer at funding sources
local funds increase by 7.5 million in 2027 corporate funding remains fairly consistent
with an additional 1.6 million for a total of 52 million the motor fuel fund also increases by
approximately 7 million which is the largest increase in local funding grant funding also
increases in 2027 up 152 million or 9.5 percent while covid funding is eliminated in 2027
and local and private grants are down the additional 106 million in federal and 72
million in state funds result in a net increase for cdot grant funding looking at historical
overviews for appropriations cdot funding has generally increased over the years 2025 was
the highest, followed by a decline in 26. And lastly, looking at full-time equivalents,
stopping levels at CDOT have been more consistent than overall appropriations over time,
And this is because local funds overwhelmingly support FTE positions at CDOT.
Only five out of the 1,500 in 2027 are supported by grants.
The corporate fund supports 221 positions, while the rest are supported by local funds.
This concludes COFA's overview of the proposed 2027 budget for CDOT.
Thank you.
Audemann Oso-Yeson?
Yes, point of information, Chairman.
Yesterday was Ms. O'Toole's birthday.
so i think this would be a good time for us to wish her a happy birthday
happy birthday happy birthday katie all right so katie's part of the team we we call the mean
girls they're these women and uh kofa i mean they they they are really into it they i'm just
telling you this just our conversations i mean these guys are really working and working to
pull this stuff together for us so um sometimes we we have some very interesting conversations
But again, all of them, all four of them that are working are doing great work, the yeoman's job of pulling all this information together for us.
So we appreciate that. And also happy birthday. And hey, you guys keep up the work that you're doing.
So thank you, Alderman O'Shea. Commissioner, you may proceed if you can introduce the members that are here with you, as well as those that are in the box.
And after which we'll go to Chairman Dow with first round. May proceed.
you thank you chairman and thank you to the city council for having us today with me today i have
my staff next to me to my right is first deputy craig turner next to craig is managing deputy sam
alexander and next to sam is john jersenko director of finance in the box in the box i have
Managing Deputy Vig Krishnamurthy.
Managing Deputy Ann Zhang.
Deputy Commissioner Molly Samadhi.
Deputy Commissioner Jameela Curry.
Deputy Commissioner Sean Guzik.
Deputy Commissioner Mary Nicole.
Deputy Commissioner Toval Frazier.
Deputy Commissioner Chia Kohai.
Deputy Commissioner Abraham Emanuel.
Deputy Commissioner Sean Weidel.
Weidel, sorry.
Deputy Commissioner May Lamb.
And Director of Grants, Grant Davis.
Thank you.
Chairman.
Thank you, Chairman. Good afternoon, Commissioner. You know, I have so many names down here. I want to thank Sam Alexander, Frank Arullo, Tovo Frazier, Anthony Pendozo, Arturo Rodriguez, Ambrosio Medrano, Craig Turner, Bidge, and Molly.
I just want to say you've got a great team, and I enjoy working with CDOT.
I do have some questions.
My questions are, the first one is through the chair.
I would like to get a copy of the five-year arterial resurfacing schedule.
My second question relates to bike lanes.
I've had bike lanes, protected bike lanes
added on Indiana, Wabash
18th Street, I also have
bike lanes that were added on Pershing
and while I think
the community for the most part
are happy about the additions
I do get a lot of complaints about
cleaning and maintaining of them during
the summer and fall
and also during the winter.
in the winter i wondered if you could speak to what kind of equipment you have how many pieces
of this equipment you have and whether or not you have any schedules for cleaning and maintaining
these bike lanes snow removal so that i'm able to tell my constituents when it's going to happen
Thank you for the question, Chairman. CDOT is proud that we've been installing bike lanes. This year, we anticipate installing 26 miles of bike lanes. To further answer your question about maintenance, I have eight sweepers for the summer.
and I have eight pieces of equipment for snow removal in the winter.
There is a schedule for the frequency of our cleaning
and it is posted online on CDOT's website.
So we could send you the link.
I didn't know that.
Okay, so there is a schedule posted.
Is eight sweepers and snow removals enough for what I see to be a lot of bike lanes
in the city of Chicago?
How many miles of bike lanes do we have?
Oh, I have to get...
Too many.
That's fine.
I don't have that off the top of my head, but...
Molly, you raised her hand.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Okay.
Deputy Commissioner, Molly, somebody here.
Total network so far, we have 522 miles.
Okay, and dividing that by eight sweepers...
Okay.
Do you need more?
well right now it's working um so and and this is kind of like what i'm doing department-wide
um i i came here in may my confirmation was uh in may and i'm going through each division um
through each division, kind of digging into them and see where our efficiencies are, where we're
good, where we're lacking. Right now, I'm doing an evaluation department-wide, basically letting
the program run as it is now, so I can start to pick it apart later on this season. We are keeping
up, so I can't answer to your question right now to say that it is enough because it's being
evaluate it right now. But I plan that I should have those numbers later on this year. All right.
And I noticed that your budget has increased by, I mean, it's a significant increase. Would you say
that's because of the impact of the increased materials that are necessary to do the job of
the department? Yes. And have you thought about, I would like you to expound on that. And then if
Have you thought about, are you able to hedge these costs?
So there was, so materials have gone up, and what was the second part of your?
What are you doing to hedge these costs?
You know, is there a way to make the impact, lessen the impact on us?
Well, so.
I would like to use more money, more of my menu money.
And I understand it, and I would like you to as well.
so what I'm trying to do is material costs are going to be what they're going to be so I need
to find efficiencies somewhere else because this for me materials is a fixed cost but when I look
at the labor and how we go out and do work and assign crews that is what I'm trying to dig into
so basically you can't get not necessarily more bang for your buck but at least for us to maintain
until I figure all of this out so mainly I'm trying to work on getting more out of my crews
and figuring out where we're lacking.
Okay.
Thank you for that. And this came up from some of my staff people. They're saying that the
enforcement or permit fees for projects on the moratorium streets is lacking. Too many contractors
are digging into moratorium streets. Is that something you're aware of? I am not, but it's
something i will look look into because the purpose of the moratorium is to so here's the
thing so so we pave a street contractor goes out sometimes we cannot prevent well we could but
it's not beneficial to stop them from doing some work so the moratorium and the degradation fee
is supposed to be theoretically a penalty so we use uh higher fees expanded restoration areas
to disincentivize them cutting into work.
But to improve, I mean, if there's, say we pave a street
and then there's a new development,
you really can't stop them from digging into,
you might need a telecom, sewer, water.
So those kind of projects have to go forward
for the project to continue.
So sometimes they're just unavoidable.
Okay, well, anything that we can do
to reduce that impact on our streets would be very helpful.
Just in closing, I just want to thank your department
for the work that you did around the Chicago Fire
review. I also want to thank you for the work
that you did on trying to curb
speeding and the crashes that we have on Indiana.
That work has been very impactful
in the community. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Chairman Dowell. Quickly,
degradation fee. It's my understanding that
the moratorium street,
Your moratorium street, if they cut the street, the degradation fee kicks in, and that there's also supposed to be not just a patch, Don, but it should be curb-to-curb replacement in a fashion that is more reminiscent of a full resurfacing versus just that patch or whatever they broke up.
Is that correct?
That is correct.
That is correct.
Yes.
Okay. And that's on the public way, Inspector, to make sure that that is occurring the way it needs to?
That's correct.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
Alderman Dow followed by—I'm sorry, Alderman Beal followed by Alderman Riley.
Good afternoon, Commissioner.
Good afternoon.
I'm going to be pretty brief.
At your confirmation, I asked you a couple of questions.
And the biggest question I asked you was, were you going to be fair?
Okay.
Do you think you've been fair?
Yes.
Okay.
Well, let me just say, I think we have a difference of opinion.
Okay.
And, you know, I asked you if my collective streets would get done,
because I have not had collective streets done in six years.
still have no collective streets getting done.
Everybody's getting collective streets but me.
Can you explain that to me?
So thank you for the question, Alderman.
The projects that you've put in that we can complete
have been completed.
There are some projects that you have submitted
that we have conflicts on them,
and until the conflicts, meaning water, gas, maybe ComEd,
And until those conflicts get worked out or they do their work first, I really don't want to go in and do those because then we get back in.
don't want to go in and do those because then we get back into we're not doing the coordination
thing but we do have your projects and we're waiting for those conflicts to clear and we will
perform the work well let me just say i don't i mean that's a good answer um but it doesn't cut
the mustard um there's no reason why the majority of my collective streets have not been done
there's just no reason whatsoever I put them in I put them in I've talked to everybody until I'm
blue in the face we're gonna get to him we're gonna get to him and you know when we met I
asked you point blank well my collective streets gonna get done and you know to put it off on you
know um other people that's um that you don't want to reopen those streets you know that's a good
answer but it's not it's not cutting it and i believe it you know in my heart of hearts i you
know i believe you're a good guy and we've shared a good relationship for a long time okay but i
still believe that there are games being played with certain people's wards who don't agree with
the administration and you know i don't want you to answer it okay i don't even want you to go into
it because I'm talking to the people who know that they're directing you to hold up my projects
and I know they listening because I know they holding up my stuff just like they holding up
everything else on people who don't agree with the administration these are critical services that
the people deserve people elected me to fix they streets sidewalk curves and gutters they elected
me to be their voice and when you play games with my people's resources that they're entitled to
i take total exception to that okay and again i'm not talking to you
I'm talking to the people that's listening, okay?
And I want them to listen real good, that I guarantee you the day going to come,
I'm going to get mine, and they're going to be on the outside looking in.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Alderman.
Okay, Alderman.
All right, thank you, sir.
You got to do what you got to do.
Alderman Riley.
Thank you, Chairman, and good afternoon, Commissioner.
First, I want to thank you for the work you're doing since you've taken over the reins at
CDOT.
I know you've inherited quite a department with a lot of challenges, and I wish you the
very best in tackling those.
I have a few questions.
Some of them line up with Alderwoman Dowells.
We both are downtown alder people.
But I'm just going to kind of start with one big headache that you inherited and certainly
did not create um but we do need updates and that is related to our bridge closures as you know
i am not a a huge fan of how that was scheduled um and the lack of coordination with aldermanic
offices who represent constituencies that depend on those bridges um and i can tell you that at
every community meeting and every homeowners association presentation that i make the bridge
closures are listed in the top three frustrations and concerns that my constituents are reporting
to me, and I know that that is generally the case with my other downtown colleagues.
Again, I don't fault you for this.
However, members of your team are absolutely responsible for it, and I'd like to start
with the Chicago Avenue Bridge.
That was scheduled to be reopened this December, when the project was initially announced and commenced.
When will that bridge be reopened?
Thank you for the question, Alderman.
Currently, Halstead Street is slated to open at the end of this year,
and Chicago Avenue west of Halstead is supposed to be open December of this year.
So the Chicago Avenue Bridge will be completely open to traffic and functioning by the end of this calendar year?
No, only west of Halstead will be open.
And what about east of Halstead, where the bridge is?
Spring of 27.
Spring of when?
27, next year.
So we have a six-month delay.
I wouldn't necessarily say it's a delay, but that's the schedule we have right now.
I could provide you more information through the chair, but right now those are the dates that we've gotten from our contractor.
Okay, and that is a date that is later than was originally promised.
Is there a reason for that?
I would defer to Managing Deputy Ann Zhang from Engineering.
Great.
Good afternoon, Alderman.
Good afternoon.
Thank you for your question, Managing Deputy Ann Zhang.
as far as chicago avenue uh the bridge um it was a really aggressive schedule to begin with it's uh
basically two major projects combined into one uh a halstead viaduct project as well as
the chicago avenue bridge project we did run into um agreement issues with the uh
uh railroad adjacent to the property as well as um working through uh easement agreements
temporary easement agreements uh with adjacent uh property owners who are the adjacent property
owners uh the their property owners uh all along the corridor um at hall which which
um at hall which which particular ones are we having a difficulty with i'm more than happy
to provide that information like it on actually on the public record since you know the answer
to the question so do i my understanding is uh there there are numerous uh businesses in the
area uh can you say the name of the businesses you're you're here before a public body and
you're asking for us to approve your departmental budget we are working with uh numerous businesses
included. Okay, so you're not going to answer my question. Thank you. We'll move on. Commissioner,
you have a lot of work to do. When will, I'm not even going to ask the question about any of the
other bridges. I guess I'll give a little editorial. Completely and totally irresponsible
and a massive bureaucratic failure are the words I would use to describe your department's
mishandling of the bridge repair project and staging. This administration has demonstrated
an inability to properly collaborate or communicate with stakeholders, and most notably aldermen.
And what we have now is a traffic disaster that your department has created.
And it's awfully ironic that your department is in charge of ensuring traffic moves safely
and efficiently through this city.
And so the fact that your department decided to close down a number of bridges all at once,
knowing schedules would be missed, not communicating with constituents, forcing aldermen to coordinate
with the CTA and other agencies to adjust for traffic patterns and to ease people's commuting
difficulties, and placing this burden on OEMC and CPD and other agencies was completely and
totally unacceptable. And then for me to ask your office to give me an honest accounting of why
we're missing deadlines on delivering bridges and your own bureaucrats not answering questions
truthfully on the record is infuriating. I was going to ask you a whole bunch of other
complimentary questions today, but this is the kind of treatment this body receives.
But this is the kind of treatment this body receives from your department, totally unacceptable.
In complete and total contrast with the conversation we just had with streets and sanitation.
So you and your team would learn from the streets and sanitation folks on customer service and being honest with this body.
But to get that kind of lack of response and that evasiveness from your staff, first question in, beyond infuriating.
and it really does degrade my faith
in your office
and I got a whole list of problems
with your department at this point
bridges is just one of them
the fact that these utility cuts
that are being done throughout the downtown area
we used to get curb to curb restorations
now we get tiny little patches
that fail within a year or two
and then we have to go and waste our menu money
to resurface streets
to hear in your testimony to Alderwoman Dow
that we're tearing up brand new resurfaced streets
to accommodate construction projects and new development,
not that long ago, we had an outside consultant
that coordinated all of our right-of-way work
ahead of those projects,
where a moratorium would be placed on a street
knowing a development was pending a PD review.
You don't even do that.
And so lots of money is being wasted.
When utility companies pay to open up our right-of-way,
we should be getting a full restoration,
as we did two administrations ago.
Even the last administration that I fought with,
they did that.
And so I don't know what's going on with your department,
but the amount of backsliding and lack of progress
that I've seen during this administration
has been inexcusable.
Basic processes have been thrown out the window
that saved money and frankly put a lot more burden
on the private sector to restore our streets
when they're making money off of them.
So my demeanor has changed dramatically here
because of the first response out of that box.
box unacceptable how many machines do we have clearing our bike lanes of snow and
debris how many are actually functioning in the city of Chicago currently they
all work so I have a congratulations how many do we have eight sweepers for
the to do the sweeping and eight for a snow removal 16 total and how much do
those pieces of equipment cost it's my understanding they they're out of
service on the regular I'm not familiar with that John do you have a cost for
our equipment each so approximately 400 apiece okay the I want to thank your
department I guess a couple of nice words for you here for the sign
replacement that you've been doing we have a lot of signs downtown that have
been filled with stickers and stolen and turned upside down thank you very much
for working aggressively on the sign replacement program when it comes to the
lakefront bike bike and pedestrian trail I know that that parks is required to
maintain that and clear it of debris etc who actually does the painting of the
lines is that CDOT or is that the park district it's a park district park
district and I have another question like Alderwoman Dow I'd like a schedule of
the arterial resurfacing that you have planned for the central business district
that would be incredibly helpful to me.
One other area of concern,
and I don't know, this may impact Alderman Conway as well.
I have a lot of superstructure in my ward, as you know,
beyond my favorite subject, bridges.
With the multiple levels of Randolph Street and Wacker Drive,
we recently resurfaced one half of Wacker Drive
heading westbound on Upper Wacker,
east of Michigan Avenue.
But now I've been handed a bill for a quarter of a million dollars to do the other lanes heading eastbound.
do the other lanes heading eastbound it seems that maintaining Wacker Drive
given that that is a major arterial for all commuters and not just to the
benefit of my word seems that that should be on the department's budget and
not on an automatic menu especially because it is a superstructure is there
a reason why I'm being told that that menu must pay for this obviously a lot
of commercial properties depend on that road um i won't defer to hopefully it'll be someone who
can answer the question first deputy craig turner the area that you're probably that you're speaking
of west of i mean east of michigan uh we can look into the area but it's i believe that's
residential area that's probably why it's coming out of your menu so the hyatt the swiss hotel
St. Regis
It's residential in the area.
No.
Sorry?
Hold on, hold on.
I'm being told that
Upper Wacker Drive, Eastern Michigan Avenue
is a residential neighborhood, which is laughable.
Okay, so
you're saying, could you
finish what you're saying because you guys are talking over each other?
Right, because I was saying
it is residential
in the area, but we can look into that area
get you the answer through the chair related to that answer to that um was residential
you use the term superstructure to help us to understand what that is so technically upper
randolph middle randolph lower randolph and likewise whacker drives are considered bridges
oh because they're in the air okay and unfortunately i've learned the hard way
that it costs four to five times more for any project you do on superstructure
and so what's frustrating is that I have a lot of this
and while it does impact my residence
it serves the entire city
and I get the same menu that everyone else does
and so having cost quadruple or five times X
Drupal or five times X make it nearly impossible to repair these things, and they degrade rather
quickly. Most of Randolph Street is spalling and literally falling onto cars and people below.
CDOT's been doing emergency repairs there for months, and it's because of the lack of regular
maintenance because my menu can't afford it, and the city's deprioritized it, and that's why I
wanted to raise it here. No, that's fair. That's fair. You good? I'm not good, Chairman. I know
you're not good, but I mean. I'm really, really, really not good with this department, and I will
stop, and I will not go to round two, Chairman, if you just let me 30 seconds. I'm frustrated with
the burden that's being placed on all of our respective menus. The price, the inflation to
repair a basic street, whether it's in one of my colleagues' wards or my own, has skyrocketed over
the course of a decade. And I keep an eye on our personnel line items. It's not because
of personnel. And I do understand the cost of goods and materials has increased, not
nearly double, which is close to what our costs to menu have. They have increased and
I'll acknowledge that. But this is a game that this particular department plays with
our infrastructure money to force us to pick up costs that honestly they should be carrying
on their budget, not ours, and it's a way to defer critical maintenance that costs us
ten times more to fix when it's literally falling down like Randolph Street is today.
And so I think we have to have an honest conversation here. If these truly are the costs that CDOT
believes they are, then all of our menu must increase and we need to then reduce from the
CDOT line item their discretionary infrastructure money. It's not taxing and creating new pools
of revenue is pulling from their budget and putting it in ours because someone needs to
make these repairs. And so that is my frustration generally with this program. And again, I'm
this program and again I'm concerned that we're going to have some major major bills coming due
when we allow these things to deteriorate to a certain point they have to be completely and
totally replaced so that's just good fiscal planning uh chairman no I I understand your
point and uh and I can see I know we all have uh we all I mean menu modification is probably
something I think we're all long overdue for based just on the geography of various wards.
I mean, curb costs the same as it does on the west side, downtown, 10 feet of curb costs
the same all over the city, but in some cases it goes a lot further.
So I do believe that Chairman Mitchell has, you know, put some thought to this.
I've had conversations with him.
I know Alderman Mosley, especially those members that have larger wards geographically that just can't, you know, manage.
And it's a fair statement that you're making.
It's probably something that we probably need to tackle over the course of our next term to just get the level of equity, I think, that's needed across the board.
Because, again, some of our colleagues got – I feel for them.
And I won't wrestle over more menu money, Chairman.
I mean, if the department will pick up these costs
out of their budget, that's fine.
But someone needs to make these repairs.
Agreed, agreed.
Thank you.
All right.
Next up, Alderman is going to Viegas,
but he's allowing Alderman Burnett to move forward.
Alderman Burnett, followed by Alderman Viegas.
Thank you.
I'll be very quick because I share a lot of the same concerns
as my colleague in the 42nd Ward.
First of all, thank you to everyone who is here in the box.
Particularly, I want to give a shout out to all the sign folks over at the Department of Transportation.
Victor Morales, Sam Alexander, and Toval.
We really appreciate the effort that you all have been doing with this over there.
But look, last year this time we had a very candid...
last year this time we had a very candid briefing about communication and making sure that we are
constantly in communication so we can tell our residents what's happening, especially with these
larger projects. And we had a meeting this summer where we talked about the progress in getting
those things done. And yet come this month, I find out from my community group that we're even
further delayed on the Chicago and Halsted Bridge. That's just not acceptable. It's unfair for us to
hear from our community what's happening with the city and I understand there's delays we want to
give you all credence and understanding of what's happening with the process but we have to be in
communication about everything that's happening in our ward we're responsible for it not only
with the budget but we're responsible when our community members reach out to us and have a lot
of questions and concerns and so it's frustrating to hear from my community member first and then
to hear about the delay second at this hearing when this is directly impacting my ward longer
than it was expected to and so I really do hope that we can try to fix this communication because
another year of this is just going to be impossible and we want to make sure that we're
doing the right thing but as it currently stands this is just really difficult for us and so I'm
giving you all the benefit of the doubt but I would appreciate if we can improve the communication
going forward thank you i appreciate that alderman and um i will have me or my staff will reach out
to you and we'll set up a meeting and we can further delve into the issues thank you alderman
viegas thank you thank you mr chairman um commissioner uh welcome this afternoon um
you know not too long last week a couple weeks ago we talked about power we talked about how
we general i mean city council we do have the power it's called line item and every time there's
a bond we should be line item the capital bill in order to make sure that we know exactly where
the projects are going so that way we're not voting on appropriation and then having to beg
to beg the departments and the administration to get projects. So I want to start off by saying
that because my frustration is that I want to know, I've been asking for a list of road projects
and projects that are being done with TIF, capital, bond money, federal money, state money,
and I want it broken down by award. I want to see that. I've been unable to get that information
from you, and I'm not sure if it's how, if it's too, if you don't have a mechanism to
collect it, but the reason why I'm asking is because I want to see where the money is
going, because I have not seen the investments in my ward, and as someone who championed
the capital bill under the prior administration, someone who has a professional background
in infrastructure, and who loves CDOT and all the infrastructure agencies, because you
guys, you men and women make these investments. I hate to see that I have to sit here and beg for
infrastructure projects in my ward. So I want to know where the money is going. Of the $1.997
billion, almost $2 billion that's in that budget, is that inclusive of the bond,
the capital bond money that's part of the appropriation? Thank you for the question,
Alderman. I will defer to Grant Davis, our director of grants. Could you repeat your
question, please. Yes. Of the 1.997 proposed budget, is the capital bond money part of that
budget? I do not believe that is part of that budget. That budget does include grant funding
from us, so all the federal, state, county, and private funding that we have. I'm not talking
about the feds, the state, the county. I'm talking about the geo bonds that we vote on.
bonds that we vote on, that we appropriate, where is it noted in your capital spend in that $1.997
billion? I believe, that I don't know the answer. I'll have to provide that through the chair. I
apologize. I need to know what that number is because that's, we've bonded hundreds of millions
if not over a billion dollars for capital. And the fact that it's not being noted here, that it's
just a number that's floating around um is troubling do you have an answer does anyone
have an answer for that um i believe we're trying to understand you talking about the cip
and the geo bond right yes that the grants that we have listed in this here are from
other sources not that that's totally different conversation uh we're working with the uh office
the OBM. It should be a report coming out later this year, and it should cover everything that
you're looking for. All right. Well, through the chair, if I can get that information.
Just recently this summer, I had a constituent come with an issue that I thought was water,
turned out to be CDOT, and then it was a sewer issue in the back or some flooding in the back,
and he sent the email to the Commissioner of Water,
forwarded to CDOT, got the response from you guys.
The response I got back, it's $250,000 repair.
The response I got back was I need to fix it through the menu.
And my question is,
who makes that determination
as to whether or not it's a menu item
or it's an item that needs to be fixed by the department?
well we use different we use different sources to for picking up projects so depending on the
picking up projects. So depending on the type of project it is, determines what bucket the funding
comes out of. So we had our staff look at it, and it was determined that for us to do that work
would best be suited coming from your menu. No, best suited because you guys don't want to spend
your money. You want us to spend our money. So I was told that if I wanted to get it done outside
menu that I needed to call the mayor's office. My question, Commissioner, when you're the
Commissioner of Transportation and Capital Projects, do you have some discussions with
the mayor's office around projects that need to be approved outside of menu or maybe outside
of your schedule that come up? Maybe an alderman comes and says, hey, I need a project. Does the
mayor's office intervene and say, yeah, we can go ahead and do that project or not? Or how does
that work? I have not had that conversation. Well, I'm going to be, I'm going to be foiling
some of these, um, uh, people because, um, I've heard from people that, that capital is very
important in the mayor's office and, and whether or not you're a good alderman, according to them
is when you can get some capital and when you're not, that's when you don't get any capital. Um,
So I'm going to be, our office is going to be foyering on that stuff because, again, we're the ones who are voting for the geo bonds and the capital.
And yet the irony is that we give you this lump sum of money and then and then we have to beg you to get projects back.
And so you want power, colleagues? You want power?
Line item the budget so that way we know where the projects are so that we want our constituents say, hey, our property taxes are going up.
you can point to the projects that you're actually getting back in turn for paying the
bonds back that are covered by property taxes.
taxes so you know as someone who again I said earlier I really have I really like
CDOT but the frustration that I'm having here with with infrastructure and and
the fact that we're not seeing the improvements that are necessary despite
the fact that we're providing and voting on billions of dollars of bond money is
very frustrating because we're not getting our fair share right we're not
getting our fair share out of this fair share budget. I want to make sure that we're getting
our fair share of investments because I'm not seeing it. So Mr. Chairman, you know, I hope that
moving forward that on the bond votes that we have and capital bonds that we take really take
a serious look at line item line iteming the budget of the capital budget so that we know
exactly what it is we're getting instead of the departments telling us what we're going to get.
The $1.5 million in menu that continues to stay stagnant, despite the fact the prices of supply go up, labor, doesn't make sense for us.
And we're the appropriating authority.
We're the ones that pay for these projects.
So, Mr. Chairman, that's my rant here.
And I hope that the next term we have a department administration that's going to work with us.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Alderman Villegas.
Alderman Harris, I guess?
All right. Alderman Harris.
Okay. Alderman Tully-Farrow.
Mr. Chairman, I don't have any questions. I just wanted
to thank the
commissioner and his team for the hard
work that they've done up in the 29th Ward.
You guys have done a
fantastic job and been very responsive
to the needs of my constituents.
And so I thank
you very much for the work that you've been
doing and keep up the great
work. Appreciate it. Thank you,
Thank you.
Thank you, Autumn Sully Farrell.
Autumn Harris.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I have to say that all mine is really just an acknowledgment of how well your office is working with me and my staff.
And they didn't give me a list today, but I know that Barbara Williams would say thank you to everybody over in that box.
And everybody is just fabulous in following up with my chief of staff.
And I am grateful for all of that.
And I'm grateful for the new partnership with you being there, Commissioner.
So grateful to have you there, to have the back and forth and the conversations that
go on and the honest dialogue.
So thank you for everything that you do.
I appreciate you all in ways you just do not know and for always being honest with me.
Sam is particularly honest with me about telling me I can't have a world.
I can have a part, but I can't have a world.
But I am grateful for, again, for that relationship that we all have.
And I want to thank everybody in the box.
Y'all hear that?
Everybody over there, y'all cool.
Y'all work in ways that you, I'm just being so honest because it has been a lovely working
with you all.
And again, I can't say thank you enough for the back and forth that happens between
transportation and my office.
So thank you.
Thank you, Chairman.
Thank you, Audemann Harris.
Alderman Lopez followed by Alderman Quinn. Thank you, Chairman, and good evening, members of the
committee. Good evening, Commissioner, to you and your team. I, too, have to join the chorus
of frustration with your department. You got that when you came out to visit me, and I thank you for
that. I held you hostage in my truck for an hour, but you saw it for two hours.
didn't even feed you but i kept you hostage yeah true um i wish
that i could sing the praises of this department because i have no
that i could sing the praises of this department because i know how valuable what we do through
cdot is but more often than not projects that should have turned out well have caused more
consternation frustration and aggravation throughout the communities i represent and
as you're hearing so far as i'm sure you're going to continue to hear throughout the entire city of
Chicago. Off the bat, as I've been asking all the departments, I'm looking at non-CBA related
personnel costs, and I've seen that there are raises from $13,000, $14,000, $15,000 to $23,000
throughout your department. Who requested those salary adjustments of that caliber? Because you
have two or three individuals who are now on the verge of making more than the mayor of
chicago one second please and while you look for that i'll continue on if you want to provide i
mean the lack of consistent communication is something that we've all discussed um
i will add my two cents on this as well your departmental liaisons need a swift kick in the
rear they need to know that there are real world implications for what we're dealing with
And as my colleague from the 9th Ward was referencing, the fact that not all wards are getting what are owed to them is very, very concerning.
Our colleague from the 36th Ward, I don't believe, was referring to the CIP bond.
He was referring to the $1.2 billion infrastructure bond, which guarantees alleys, lights, and resurfacing in all 50 wards.
guarantees it by your department's own admission only 21 alleys from the 2023 submission have been
done what year are we in 46 we are in 2026 over 40 of those alleys 40 war of the 2024
four submission have not been done i believe i finally just got one in my ward but we've had
our original submission from the lightfoot administration has been surveyed resurveyed
and it's probably out to be surveyed again all the while what i said to you in my truck i'll
repeat here today it feels as though this department is hoping that either we won't be here
or we won't remember and the money and projects that were targeted by aldermen will go unanswered
that is very problematic for me sir very problematic because we have seen where
infrastructure is not a luxury in many of our wards it's a necessity enhanced lighting in
communities like chicago lawn and gauge park where we've had officers killed because the street lights
are too dim remain an issue. And yet we are still fighting with this department over what's been
submitted, where it's gone, who didn't follow up, this, that, and the other. Following CDOT is now
becoming a full-time job for people in ward offices across the city of Chicago. And it shouldn't be
that way. When we submit something as innocuous as a pothole, I don't think any member of this
body expects a four month delay in getting that speed in that pothole filled or seeing that that
request has been closed even though we keep hitting it with our own cars
even though we keep hitting it with our own cars this department is 1.9 billion
in total correct yes now my colleagues like pointing to another department which is
nearly two billion dollars strong and the lawsuits that it inquires for the city of chicago
How much have CDOT lawsuits cost us?
In lawsuits?
Mm-hmm.
In settlements?
I don't have that number, but I can get it to you.
So I pulled up the Committee on Finances, Settlements and Judgments report.
The most recent one that I could find briefly is the August 2026 report.
And now I am going line by line looking to see when I see Department of Transportation.
and I am barely on page 5 of 13, and I'm already at $1.26 million your department has cost us
predominantly from fall downs, trip hazards, and sidewalks. How much money is in the trip hazard
budget for this department? Well, so in my opening statement, I was going to mention that
during my confirmation hearing, one of the issues that came up from you as well as chairman
Mitchell was the hazardous sidewalk. I am proud to say that since July, so what we did is we
whiteboarded the process, tried to figure out what's going on, where the inefficiencies are.
So after going through that process, turning the crews around, doing some more things,
what we have been able to do is reduce the number of open inspections by 37 percent,
And we've also addressed 20, we've made 2,400 repairs to sidewalks to start to bring that
number down to fight those lawsuits or.
lawsuit or so when you say 2400 repairs is that 24 sites or 24 2400 squares sites and how many
total squares if you could provide that through the chair I would appreciate it what's the
outstanding number of trip hazard requests you could provide that through the chair by ward
I'd appreciate it but what is the budget for these repairs I'll allow you to provide that
through the chair as well because I don't want to use my time and Chairman Urban give me dirty
looks because he knows I'm going to ask for a round two anyway. I think where we see the biggest
amount of waste, fraud, and abuse in this department is this over-reliance on these
outside engineers and surveyors who have now started to be required for everything that this
body does. A four-way intersection with no stop sign now requires a traffic survey from your
department to determine whether a stop sign is needed. That is a no-brainer for most of us
because someone's got to stop. How many millions does your department spend on these outside
third-party survey engineers or what have you? I don't have that number, but I can get it to you
through the chair i will actually have that in i have a through the chair email i'll be sending
that's going to be one of my requests but i also want to put on there that you know our menu has
66 million dollars i believe incorporating surveys correct engineering's something along those lines
roughly okay um why is it when to my colleague from the 42nd wards point why is it when we have
a menu request. We have to pay for surveying that we already pay for in the bond.
Because survey costs aren't attached to menu requests.
We're told that you can only get X amount of things in your menu surveyed before you have to add that or get charged back or charged to you.
But if our menu is $77 million, which is 1.5 times 50 roughly, the bond for that also has 77 for us and 66 for you.
so where does that 66 go to if you could provide that accounting through the chair i would appreciate
um lastly i know i've got a minute left one of my recent favorite topics of conversation
are now community engagement and the delegate partners that the department contracts out
hires works with whatever you want to call it to promote the initiatives that you all are doing
namely bike lanes and other things.
We know that there are people that we use,
like the bike ambassadors,
that are actually department-specific,
but we also know there's a whole host of other groups
and entities that are out there that get city money
to help promote what we do.
Oftentimes, those same groups that we pay
are fighting with local aldermen
to try to convince communities
of what your people proposing is a good thing.
how much money do we spend on that by the board who are those delegate partners and what's the
review plan for those organizations because it seems very unseemly to literally have departments
funding people to argue with aldermen to promote your department's agendas in neighborhoods
and I appreciate that
and I'll share that in my
through the chair as well
thank you all
you got any other through the chairs you want to add
By the rate you're going, we're going to have no chair.
All right.
We're going to move.
That was Alderman Lopez.
We had Alderman Quinn up, who will be followed by Chairman LaSpada.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
As I prepare for menu 2027, can you, Commissioner?
Oh, I'm sorry.
As I prepare for menu 2027, how much should we anticipate the cost of projects going up?
That cost hasn't been, we haven't looked at that yet, but we're actually after the hearing is going to sit down and start to look at where our anticipated costs are.
Okay. We should anticipate some sort of increase in construction costs.
I would say it's reasonable cost. Well, you have labor.
sure right if it's asphalt in there's probably going to be an increase for oil so and um when
when do you anticipate having those the menu packet out um the goal is december okay right
um i have a i have a bit of a conundrum um on a restoration item on pulaski avenue that involves
a water project that just got completed um so it's it's pulaski from 63rd street to 66th street
it would be the southbound lane closest to the curb is hasn't been restored there seems to be
some confusion as to who's responsible for the restoration i could tell you unequivocally that
it needs to get done before the weather breaks because it's dangerous it's it's dangerous
breaks because it's dangerous it's it's dangerous and so my hope is that an answer could be provided
on the record as to when the residents of the southwest side will see the restoration
um is that possible i can get a an answer to that um unfortunately i can't give you that but
um what i will do is um i will i will have my staff go out take some pictures uh then i will
communicate with Commissioner Conner and we'll come up with some. This is a conversation that's
been going on for about two months now. Okay. So I don't want to think it's intentional because my
office is right on 65th and Pulaski, but it's starting to feel that way. Again, I don't want
to feel like this conundrum is done intentionally to me because I don't carry the mayor's water on
issues, but it's starting to feel that way. So anything short of anything short of getting this
done this year would be really problematic and frankly dangerous so if we're going to talk about
protecting the the taxpayers here on future litigation i want to put it on the record now
that pelaskey southbound lane from 63rd to 66th street is dangerous hasn't been restored properly
and the way the way it is now is is is going to cause a really really uh serious car accident
And we all know, your department in particular, knows how dangerous Pulaski is from I-55 to the city limits.
This is only contributing to that danger.
And so please don't take this lightly.
I don't want to believe this is intentional, again, but it's starting to feel that way.
I want to, on the record, renew my request.
I did this in the CPI briefings.
The 13th Ward is not interested in bike lanes anywhere.
so I want to make sure that is understood on the record today no bike lanes the last thing I'll say
The last thing I'll say is, Commissioner, I'm grateful for the work of Jim Bolster.
Jim does fantastic work.
Art Rodriguez was an absolute rock star during the storms that came through in June and July of this year.
Toval Frazier, Sam Alexander, Molly, and your whole team does fantastic work.
So I'm grateful for their hard work.
I would just reiterate how important the Pulaski restoration is, and anything short of getting it done this year would be a complete failure. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Alderman. Alderman Laspata, are you ready?
Hey, Commissioner, thank you so much to yourself, to your whole team for being with us today.
There's a lot of invaluable partners over there at CDOT in the work that we're doing, particularly around traffic safety.
I am going to start off by asking a question that piggybacks off of one of Alderman Lopez's questions,
Because through the chair last year, I actually asked about locations determined to be hazardous, particularly sidewalk locations.
And the response that I received through the chair was, and I'm reading it right now, just so I'm clear.
To quote, CDOT does not have hazardous determination types.
Inspected sidewalks are evaluated for presence of defects and which program is best suited to address these defects.
For this reason, CDOT does not have access to data concerning a number of hazardous determinations or hazardous sidewalks repaired.
I'm curious if that has changed in the past year.
My concern is that if we don't have objective data on the condition of sidewalks, then we don't actually know if our budget for sidewalk repairs is adequate.
budget for sidewalk repairs is adequate so thank you for that question alderman so the way we
handle the hazardous sidewalk program is they come into 311 and we decide which bucket it goes into
and we go out and make those repairs so how are we tracking i feel like i asked the question wrong
my my question is how are we objectively tracking the condition of sidewalks like i i ask this
because we have sidewalks that I have seen that have lips that are three, four, five inches high
that for whatever reason were not determined to be in need of repair.
So this is my concern when we have subjective rather than objective determinations of sidewalk quality.
so we don't address excuse me we don't address hazardous sidewalks based on uh differentials
so you're saying four inches one inch we we go in first in first out that's the easiest way to
be equitable about the repairs so we don't take that determination we just address them so that
has been the uh task to the my staff is to just go in and the oldest ones handle those figure out
where they need to go, and we just proceed down the line. It also helps us to get our numbers down
for response times. Okay, I find that interesting. Hold up, hold up, hold up, stop this time.
So, like, help us to understand the efficiency of that. I mean, like, for example, if you have,
let's just use a one block, if you have a sidewalk issue on one block, and there's another issue on
the same block, you'll skip that issue to go to whatever is next on the list?
that issue to go to whatever is next on the list? Well, so no, so maybe I misspoke, but for efficiency
purposes, if we go to a block and there is more than one location on that block, we will tackle
that. Or even in that general vicinity or, you know, like even on a grid basis, even though
I understand your point around response time via 3-1-1, but isn't there some cost efficiency with
being in a general area if it's a four by four block area tackling all of the trip hazards in
that area now you may grid the city in fours and you know say hey well this four blocks four block
square has 100 and this one only has 10 so I'm going to do the one with 100 to you know try to
get as much done but what you're describing is like hopping all over the city and my question
to that is what is the efficiency of hopping around like that if you have a, for lack of a
better term, some type of a grid-based thinking as I know that this stuff exists somewhere in the
city to tackle them in that fashion. So thank you. We do look at efficiencies, but our primary
goal is to tackle the oldest one. What I was trying to get across to the alderman is that
we don't look at locations based on differentials so if someone says i got a four inch i got a one
inch that's not in our criteria i understand that and i and i respect that i mean anything
over i think is uh two inches is oh it's not de minimis so i know it doesn't matter at that point
but you gotta think about like hey if we're in an area that it may be more efficient to
tackle more than some in an area and again i can understand you you know trying to get as much done
in the time factors but i think that if we see that we're getting these things done in a more
efficient manner we can live with some time if we're trying to get efficient and get more done
fishing and get more done because i would argue that you could get more done if you looked at it
that way versus one trying to tackle them in the order that they came in that that's all um uh
the spot you're on i i would second uh all of the points that alderman irvin just made uh my next
couple questions are related to accessibility so there's been a few cases that i've seen both in
the first ward and outside of the ward that we had put in for uh ada pad replacements what are
technically known as tactile dome pads i believe and the the ada pads were removed but they were
replaced with smooth flat concrete rather than the new cast iron pads i'm i'm curious why that
would be, because I've seen it enough times now that it's giving me genuine concerns about
accessibility for sidewalks. Thank you for that question, Alderman. That is not our policy to
put a skim code or something to that effect, but if you give me those locations,
I would gladly send a team out and we can investigate. I will make sure to send you some
of those locations. My next question would be, so in June, the city council passed an order
mandating the city to create an ADA transition plan. I'm curious how CDOT, since an ADA transition
plan is most related to the public way, how CDOT is collaborating with MOPD on that transition plan?
thank you for the question i will defer to managing deputy and zhang good afternoon thank
you for the question alderman managing deputy and zhang
question Alderman, Managing Deputy Ann Zhang. We are working collaboratively with MOPD on the
transition plan. We're in the beginning steps of doing the review of all the requirements as well
as doing the interviews with stakeholders both within CDOT and MOPD. Thank you. I'll ask more
off the line. I know that we're due for, in the next couple months, a six-month update as mandated
by the council order. So we'll touch base more then. My last question, then I'll hand back over
the mic. I see that I'm going to ask about two traffic engineer questions. Number one is that
I see about 40 roles in the division of engineering that are being moved from the vehicle tax fund
to the motor fuel tax fund. I'm curious why that would be. I also see on page 493 of the budget,
There's a number of engineering positions where a title is listed and a salary is listed, and then no headcount is listed related to that position.
And I'm trying to understand that math in the budget, if somebody can talk me through it.
Thank you for that question, Alderman.
I will have our Director of Finance, John Jersenko, speak to that.
John Jersenko, Director of Finance.
Thank you, Alderman.
The movement was done for budget balancing by OBM.
We moved 42 positions, but the dollars should be reflected in the budget there.
So I've now heard this a lot over the past week.
OBM asking folks to move positions from one non-property tax revenue source to another.
What is the philosophy behind that?
Because it's not – I know the what of what is happening.
It's the why that I'm curious about.
if you can share why we're seeing movement of positions from one stable revenue source to
another, if that makes sense. Well, I mean, that's decided by OBM, but it's based on the way the
funds are collecting the revenue and what positions are eligible to be in which funds.
so the positions moved can sit in both funds i believe motor fuel tax fund was in a better
position than the vehicle tax fund okay thank you um all right we're going to take a short recess
uh give us uh give us about two three minutes
Okay, we're back rolling.
Alderman Conway.
Was the person before me finished?
Yeah, he's done.
Oh, great.
Okay.
Thank you.
Commissioner.
Yes.
Over here.
Over here.
There we go.
All right.
So, you know, I certainly echo the concerns that Alderman Riley and Alderman Burnett brought
up on the on the bridges and perhaps it could explain a little bit of how this went went awry
i'll do it without the anger but that's just you kind of can see it from our perspective
uh you know i i will say uran's department communicated with my office about the the narrow
communicated with my office about the the narrow pinhole of the lake street bridge but myself and
and i think that and my colleagues were left in the dark with regard to the other bridge closures
at the same at the same time which has created all kinds of issues on the streets just to the
east and west of uh of the river downtown and into west loop which is why it affected myself
and Alderman Riley and Alderman Burnett as well.
And then this issue's been compounded by sometimes teams a few weeks ago,
some updates were provided regarding the Chicago Avenue Bridge
to the casino committee or something like that that we weren't aware of,
at least my office wasn't.
So myself and Alderman Burnett and maybe Alderman Riley too
were blindsided by the delay on the east side of the Chicago River
that you've mentioned that.
So we get, so, you know, seeing that, that we get, so I'm not going to say you don't communicate.
I've been getting regular updates on the Lake Street Bridge, but when it's ones that are just outside of our ward,
the issue that at Kinsey Bridge, for example, gets a lot more traffic now, and it's a tiny little bridge,
and I need to be able to communicate that to my constituents.
So the extent that there are updates on Chicago Avenue or Grand or Kinsey or Lake or those bridges downtown
to the extent that they could be changes could be communicated with the adjoining alderman there
because it's such a high traffic area of the city anyway i think it would it would significantly help
all of us which i know the message has been received that there's some anger about that but
i want to put a little more meat on it sure so thank you for that um there is a monthly
communique that goes out um we'll just make sure we'll add you to the distribution to make sure
that would that would be great thank you okay um sticking with uh asking a question about lake
street i know that there's been a dish there was an additional allocation of 25 million dollars for
future uh for the lake street bridge is there
future uh for the lake street bridge is there um is there any further anticipated uh over budgeting
with regard to that bridge that we know about at this point thank you for that question alderman
i will defer to anzing and i and i ask you because that tiff's getting raided this year so
if that's going to come around i just you know want to have some heads up uh thank you for your
question alderman uh and zane managing deputy um as with all construction projects uh there will
there are um unexpected conditions that are found uh things that uh are not exactly uh by design so
um there will be some cost increase uh as the project progresses um i'm going to defer to uh
grant davis uh regarding the allocation information good afternoon grant davis director of grants
management. So we work closely with OBM and DPD, especially on TIF funded projects to ensure that
we have enough contingency to move forward with these projects. I'm assuming you may have seen
something on the TIF report with that. And this is just us doing our due diligence to make sure
that we do not run into issues in the future before that project gets closed out. So do you
anticipate any further requests or not yet allocated out of that TIF for the Lake Street
bridge at this point as we sit here in budget season 2026 um thank you for the question uh no
at this time we do not anticipate another request okay thank you um pivoting to light
poles on michigan and van buren uh you know the the i don't know what you call them the ceremonial
light poles on those streets
light poles on those streets have been out for many years, and a lot of them are kind of covered
in black boxes and things. Do we have an idea when those are going to be coming back?
What was the location of that again? All the light poles on Michigan Avenue,
I mean, ornamental, thank you, the ornamental light poles along Michigan Avenue that are there
that have been that have been out for a long time and i think they're difficult to replace
i don't know if we had an idea i know there's at least more than a dozen of them are out
so didn't know if we had an idea when when we'll be able to repair those well i do know that like
our division electrical operations do their best to keep them lit um we do go i don't you i think
you're referring to like the six globes yeah you're right so we're you know we're gonna look
at those um look at that stretch but we are looking at different ways to maintain them and
and also keep them up and running until a permanent solution is developed.
Yeah, I think it was more than that, but these have been difficult to replace,
and this has been a continuing and compounding problem.
I thought I'd received word that we thought they'd be up sometime in spring of 27.
Is that not necessarily the case?
I'm not sure where you got that information from, but that didn't come from the department.
Okay. If I have a clarifying question, I'll reach out directly. And sticking with that, a lot of times the doors will get stolen off all those light poles, and they expose wires, and it's obviously a high tourist area with a lot of kids walking around.
is there's is there a plan to either deter that behavior or prevent it in the future as we as we
repair those just for the safety of safety of uh those high traffic areas yeah we we do go out and
Yeah, we do go out and replace the pole doors on a regular basis because that is an SR or 311 request.
So if you see any, please report them in, and then we can definitely get them scheduled.
Yeah, we try and put them in as fast as we can, and you do all repair them.
I just hope perhaps we can do some investigation so it seems like we're repairing them very often
as to what there might be a better solution as we're as you as you said in your previous answer
you're investigating how we can better maintain those perhaps what we can do with those specific
door park and be part of that investigation well our division electrical operations they
have come up with some pretty creative solutions to kind of deter vandalism and vandalism to our
polls so we're still working i mean we you know we do the best we can we're trying to deter and
also prevent uh access to the polls because as you stated it is a public safety issue so we're
definitely working on it and we're you know looking at different solutions right you know
yeah please please and so that's all i have mr chairman if you could just please keep us all
updated on the on the bridge ramifications and i appreciate you looking at those polls that have
been in disrepair for for a while thank thank you very much mr chairman and thank you gentlemen
Thank you, Alderman Conway, Alderman Spizzato, followed by Alderman Vascuas.
Thank you, Chairman.
Hey, Commissioner.
How you got this?
Thank you, Chairman.
Good afternoon, Commissioner and friends.
I feel like I'm in Bizarro world today.
I don't know what's going on.
So I don't have anything to gripe about.
So not that I'm knocking on anybody who has some issues.
We have 50 wards.
We have 50 different issues.
So I just want to say my experience with CDOT has been pretty good so far.
um you've been in for like six months now roughly five five okay five but who's counting uh you know
how many you know how many times i've called you in five months a big bird you have any idea how
how many times i've called you in five months um i want to say we spoke once zero well i called you
when you came in so zero that's because i never had to so so that's a good thing i call the guy
on your right mainly so uh i dump on him and the guy to his right is a guy i used to lean on in the
past so um i don't like mentioning names and certainly the guy in the back over there uh
sitting down the short guy with the tall guy standing behind him we won't mention his name
meaner but he always comes through for me so um so um yeah i mean uh i i thought of a couple
questions what questions that were asked so i just wanted to uh relay them to you um so i know
we were talking about the trip hazards which i streets and sand mentioned that they had like
15 000 requests for dead trees and of those 15 000 there was maybe 2 000 that were really dead
trees and i feel these trip hazards they're a problem but i feel a lot of these trip hazards
really aren't trip hazards and i know my office puts them in even though we inspect them we know
they're not trip hazards but what are you supposed to do when the people are saying it's a trip
hazard and then if they find out you didn't put it in you know we're in a trick bag so
we actually put in trip hazards that we know aren't trip hazards according to our rules
which is what an inch and seven eights i believe inch and three quarters there are there are several
numbers that are floating out there okay several things okay i thought it was i had to be at like
an inch and three quarters so so we put them in no matter what and i'm sure a lot of wild goose
chases um and just lastly kind of a in the past molly might remember this um we gave out some
recycling bags and i don't know why c dot gave them out but i thought it was a great idea because
i i felt it helped people to recycle so molly you remember that we gave out recycling bags that was
under you right are we considering doing that again because i i felt and i don't know why or
did we get it uh do we get a grantford or something because i thought it was a great
thing because i thought it helps people recycle so i know i know you're not streets and sand but
streets and sand, but is that anything we
could look at to do in the future again?
Good afternoon, Alderman.
I would look into it.
All right. Thank you, sir.
That's all I'm asking. I just thought of it
when we had streets and sand today, how
recycling is doing so great. And I just felt
when we put it out there, we had them. People were
flocking to our office to get them.
And just always, I can never
not mention my CDAT liaison.
I don't know what his title is, and that's Len Eloise.
And Len's always pushing us on the northwest
side and helping us out and getting things
done for us. So, like I say, Commissioner, hopefully next year we're here. And the same
thing I say, I called you zero times in the last year or so. But, you know, thank you all for
everything. I appreciate you. And that's it, Chairman. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,
Alderman Sposato, Alderman Vasquez, followed by Alderman Ramirez. Thank you, Chairman. I just
want to go straight to the questions. I think there's things that have gone well, but there's
a lot that haven't. And so, um, I'll start with just regular questions. So we've got, uh, 3.825
million, uh, $300.825 million from a diesel emission reduction act federal grant that shows
up in the budget book and grant detail supplement as just purposes as specified. Where will we find
out what those purposes are for that grant? And really for any of the appropriations that use
that specific phrase. I don't specifically have that right now, but we can provide that
information through the chair. Okay, thank you. I appreciate my colleague bringing up our,
oh, sorry, sorry. There currently isn't a CTA liaison with CDOT, so I know there is when
there's infrastructure being built, but not transportation-wise, and we're talking better
bus streets, things like that. What would be the cost of a person to be a dedicated CTA liaison
and as any like that anything of that sort been considered in the budget we
have not discussed that but it would depend on the knowledge
on the um knowledge level required for interaction between the two departments so yeah i think it's
something that um we're advocating for in the budget with the administration to kind of have
a cta liaison and kind of help there um so earlier this year i had to go out here in the streets
directing traffic on western and argyle because between dwm c dot oemc and cpd there isn't any
dedicated traffic control. Now, I recognize that there's a lot of traffic issues with
added cars on the road, but when it's related to infrastructure improvements, you're blocking
certain streets, whether it's CDOT or DWM or anybody else, there isn't anyone directing traffic
except for flaggers that are located on the area. I think it would be a struggle for me to think
the Department of Water Management would be in charge of the traffic as opposed to the Department
of Transportation, why isn't there any kind of team or staff at all that does any of the traffic
direction? And if we're not going to get any, can I get a line item transfer so I get covered for my
hours out there? So thank you for that question. I understand that, and I believe we had a,
we had a Teams call referencing that location, and that was a water management project, and
where you were asking for the traffic control was a block away from that intersection.
So what we did do is, um, I sent my team out. We did, um, Molly can elaborate, but we did
make some adjustments, uh, for, because you were talking about turns.
Yeah. We added a paint and post a bump out to make it more visible. But I guess what I'm asking
for, what I'm asking is what, which I was puzzled by that. There's no one in city government that
could actually direct traffic in a circumstance like that, that OEMC only has traffic people to
direct traffic if it's a sporting event or a larger event but there's nothing for a particular case
or a larger event, but there's nothing for a particular case like this when a lot of it is
because of infrastructure work. It's something that I will have to look into. We don't have
traffic aids or anything like that. And if a contractor is doing work, then the contractor
is responsible for providing flaggers. So outside of that is, and I understand your issue.
Would you be in support of changing the contract language? So if you've got people that are
working and contracted that it won't be just hey on site any other traffic that gets thrown off
because of that work so that the contractors would then have somebody because on that call
i had 20 different people from the city of chicago different departments and it felt like everyone
was pointing fingers at each other and nobody knew who could direct the traffic um it's something we
can look at okay um what are the staffing needs to fully staff complete streets versus what's
budgeted for 2027 currently it's my understanding that we are staffed for um what'd you say smart
streets complete street complete streets and um we're doing an evaluation to see where our
efficiencies are um this year i'm fine um not to say that after an evaluation maybe next year i
might come back to this body and say you know after evaluation and talking with my team we need x okay
if we get through the chair kind of get like what the current breakdown of the team is and maybe
if you're going to add what those would be um one that i'm i'm frustrated and we'll be asking for
round two one that i'm frustrated by is paint we resurface things we get told greenways or bike
lanes are going to be created or stop bars they get resurfaced and we wait forever to get the
paint put up after we've been waiting over a year just to get some of the paint done and every time
we go back to to complete trees or somebody else they tell us some of it is because of cost but
But ultimately, why does it take so long after you research?
why does it take so long after you resurface something to get the right
paint when it comes to the bike lane or stop bars and such?
I'm surprised at that, but if you could give me that,
give me those locations, we'll have them.
And the challenge is we do. We send it via email.
We follow up. We send multiple ones. We talk to the menu liaison.
So we'll CC all of y'all, but again, like.
Send it to me.
We'll do.
Okay.
All right. And yeah, I'll take a round to you. Thank you.
Thank you, Sharon.
What do you, what do you have?
Vasquez, what do you have?
I got another six.
Six questions?
Yeah.
That's light, actually.
Yeah, for you it is.
Can I keep going?
45 through the chairs.
I'll come back to you.
Maybe you'll go.
I don't know.
I'll come back.
All right.
We had, who did I say was next?
Ramirez followed by D would be Moore.
Okay, great.
commissioner hey everybody c. team um again about sidewalks and i apologize i was kind of in and out
so do you guys have a set plan for the amount of sidewalks that you guys want to address
any particular areas or regions in the city of chicago so our plan is to we go through the csr
system and again we try to do oldest and newest and that way it is addressed equitably across the
city, but if there are some problem areas, we would ask that you would send it to us so we can
evaluate. Yeah, I think this was mentioned maybe a couple times, just sort of the inequity of,
you know, people accessing 311, making the formal request. You know, we've seen in the short amount
of time that I've been in office, a need, a lot of need to fix sidewalks, so much so that we've
used a lot of our menu money this past year to do so. And so I'm just curious about how we work
together and sort of addressing the major need and whether that's a goal or if that's sort of
and whether that's a goal or if that's sort of reflected in the budget for next year.
So we could sit down with you and actually we will be sitting down with you as part of the CIP
and we can look at some of those areas. Yeah and actually that was thanks for bringing that up
because I am curious you know you guys do give us you know our map and we kind of see what's
been done what hasn't been done do we talk about sidewalks at all is that do we okay oh we do okay
Okay. So maybe that's something that we have to concentrate on during our briefings and just kind
of looking over, because we have had a long list. And like I said, we've tried to prioritize that
through our menu. And then I brought this up with the Department of Streets and Sanitation.
But, you know, we're trying to figure out the grounds of having to take a tree out.
And a lot of times what we're seeing is that we're seeing the sidewalks lifted. And so have you guys
talked about working together as a department and whether that's like a means of taking out
a tree. I mean, sometimes we're seeing some pretty high elevation on some of these sidewalks. Is there
something, a protocol that you guys follow as of now or something that we can work on?
So, and thank you. Because I'm like revamping the program for hazardous sidewalks. So we are
meeting with Streets and Sand to try and figure out how that's going to work. Because a lot of
times you, you take out the root to alleviate the problem, but you don't want to kill the tree. So
there's a lot of nuances to that, but that is something that we're involved in to see how we
can address those. Okay, great. And then this came up quite a bit with so much work that's being done
alongside DWM around like curb cuts, you know, other concrete barriers that are put out and then
seemingly have to be taken out. Just wondering if that's sort of a trend that you're seeing
and i just wanted to bring it up to sort of like minimize some of the work that gets done and then
has to be taken out without that communication being had before um we do
had before um we do so water management and i we talk regular randy and i are very good friends
and actually i used to work for him so the communication between us is very good so but
if there's some locations that yeah i mean has been addressed but it came up you know sure a few
times so just wanted to bring it up if that's something that we see um throughout the city
and that there isn't that communication there um i had a question about the smart streets funding
and and i actually weren't weren't in those committee meetings but where does that revenue
go now that we've expanded that program thank you for that question alderman i will defer to
sean weidel deputy commissioner thank you for your question hi sean weidel deputy commissioner for
citywide services um the revenue for the smart switch program like all ticketing programs goes
to the general fund in the general fund okay oh i thought somebody said something um and then
sorry just three more um around bus lanes uh dedicated bus lanes what are what are the amount
of miles that you guys are planning in dedicated bus lanes um for next year we yeah we will we
will provide that information through the chair great and then i brought this up with streets and
sand um and they said that they work with you all around uh sweeping schedule for bike lanes can you
guys give me a rundown of what to expect and so um we currently have eight sweepers for spring and
summer and then we have eight uh pieces of equipment for plowing we do have a um a schedule
for sweeping is posted online on c dot's website so we could i can send you the amount of machines
we have you know because i know you guys have been adding more infrastructure um for this season it
works. We will be evaluating as we continue to add more bike. Okay. Just wanted to put that out
there because I would hate for you guys to continue adding more without having the machines to help us
without having the machines to help us out
to make sure that we keep the cleanliness.
And just a suggestion, I was really curious.
I have an SSA along Archer Avenue
and wondering if there's a way to work with them
to provide additional support
with some of the cleanliness inside the bike lanes
with a short amount of time that I've had.
I mean, it's an ongoing issue.
We're always emailing you guys.
So if it could be more consecutive, that would be great.
Absolutely.
So thank you so much.
Thank you, Alderman Ramirez, Alderman Moore, followed by Alderman Dugent.
Thank you, Chairman.
First of all, Commissioner Cheeks, I want to thank you for being responsive and meeting with me and my staff,
along with some of your staff members.
And it's good when we're able to address some things before the budget.
But I do, for the record, want to go over some of those things.
But before I get started on there, as you all know, my director of infrastructure, Sharon McCoy, works closely with your office.
And she told me I better thank Craig Turner, Wiki Williams, and Toval Frazier.
And I just wanted to, when she said I better do something, it's like she's my boss sometimes.
So I better do it.
So thank you all for responding to her, because you know she's out there, boots on the ground all the time.
And I appreciate you all being responsive to her and just your entire team.
For the record, one of the things we talked about, and you talked about improving on this
and putting something together in terms of project managers holding them responsible and stuff like that.
Can you just talk about that for the record or how you plan on doing that so that project managers will be responsible for, you know.
for signing off, not only signing off,
but making sure that before they sign off on things
that these projects are completed in the right way.
Sure, and thank you for the opportunity.
So as in our discussion,
and you're not the only alderman
who voiced some concerns about the quality of work.
So we have inspectors on site,
and but what seems something has fallen off so what we have instituted now is there should be
a punch list uh where and um whoever is the inspector on that job should uh sign off on it
so if if there's some outside issues behind that we're able to go back and find out what happened
because they all keep diaries so those are things that we are actively looking at
okay thank you for that and um as we're talking about with the strategy for sidewalks do we have
a uh we're thinking about a strategy for and i think this goes to what alderman rally was talking
about uh this could happen like uh as we discussed in situations where you have remap situations and
i can remap the next year somebody else can remap but we're dealing with some streets and
some alleys that like got major craters in them and in them instead of um being impacted by our
menu are we looking at a strategy for um streets like that versus you know just potholes when i'm
talking about these major craters and i i think people have seen them across the city so do we
have are we trying to put a strategy together for that so we're not dealing with that from our menu
standpoint? So we are looking at a strategy. When I came on in May, we were already in a full-blown
CIP program. So what I'm doing is letting the program run its course. We are pushing to get
to get streets and sidewalks and everything done, but I'm collecting a lot of data, and we're going
to sit down and go over the data so we can come up with a more comprehensive plan, which we will
be able to share with you during the CIP. Thank you, and talking about the $1.2 billion
infrastructure bond that we passed, I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, Audemont Lopez, I think
it was in 2023 um and we were that's when we were dealing with i think green alleys connect the
streets and lighting uh which i thought was supposed to happen each year um to my recollection
are we still doing those i just i just can't recall and i had him touch bases with sharon on
that because i think each alderman was supposed to get one or two a year or something like that
Thank you for the question, Alderman. This is Craig Turner, First Deputy Commissioner. We do, we're still doing the allocations per ward, and it's two blocks of lights, and I believe one green alley, correct me if I'm wrong, team, and those are the two items that we, that you guys can pick and select from.
And the Connector Street, right?
Say that again?
And the Connector Street, right?
The Collective Street is a CDOT program that we control.
Okay.
And we probably got one this year.
I got to go back because we did a lot of stuff, and I want to thank you all.
We did a lot of stuff this year.
So how are we then picking those connected streets again?
I'm sure.
We're using data.
We're actually using, like, the MOBEC numbers, the PCI numbers, which is a payment index.
we're using the csr numbers and we're also using uh you know um you know for as far as like other
projects maybe bridges inspections and everything like that so we take all that data and then we
re-rank them, and then we put them in a
system, in a
priority list. Okay.
And so it's all based off of information
and data. And so when
we sit down for CIP, we'll know whether or not
our wards at that time are
getting any of those connected streets
done. Those collected streets, yes. Okay.
I mean, I say connected, but you're right, collector.
I'm sorry about that.
And I think
those are the questions
I have. I just appreciate
the fact that, again,
I can pick up the phone and we can have those
conversations before because it's
all about working together for the city
and I look
forward to the programs you're
laying out, Commissioner Cheeks, that next year
we're talking about the positives of
those and how well
they're turning out to be. So, thank
you so much. That's all I have, Chairman.
I appreciate it. Thank you.
We've got Alderman Napolitano.
Thank you, Chairman.
Appreciate the opportunity.
uh commissioner welcome uh thank you for all you do thank you to your crew in the box as well
i just have a couple of questions more towards how we can maybe do things a little bit better
or look to doing things better in the future uh my one of my main concerns is it's been brought
up a couple of times but kind of on a breakdown point of where i see it um in my this is my 11th
budget or i'm sorry this is going into the 12th budget um and in the past our menus have seen a
three to five percent increase yearly to how much things cost last year we were at about eight
as far as at eight percent it where are we going to be at as of the increase for this next menu
do you know that offhand by chance sir we have not uh we're in the process of finishing up the
season but we don't know what that number is yet fair enough the only reason why i bring that up is
11 years ago i was paying about 48 000 for a
I was paying about $48,000 for a street on average.
Sometimes it's higher, sometimes it's lower.
That's curb to curb, corner to corner.
Today's date, I'm at about $78,000 on average.
Could be a little bit lower, could be a little bit higher.
It's been brought up by my colleague as well.
I don't see a big explosion with this cost going towards people that we've hired into the department for work.
And my fear is that a lot of this is going more, I mean, I could see that for equipment.
I could totally see that.
for materials but i think we need a little bit stronger of a justification of this major increase
because even though our at one point our our menu budget got a little bit bigger
to date we're not getting is getting more streets done so all i'm asking for us for us as a body and
for you guys is if we could look at where these numbers are and where they're going and how we can
find a way to bring some of this costs down and the ability for us to get more streets done i mean
it's it's a benefit to you as a department it's a benefit for us as as alderman because it's in my
ward it's infrastructure infrastructure infrastructure and i want to celebrate your
department which is loved by our ward but when i'm getting less streets done each year um because
the price keeps going up it's it's a it's it's it's aggravating and i don't blame you guys i
don't i'm just wondering collectively can we figure this out and find a way to bring this
cost down like where where is this going wrong that this price difference is so drastically
different 11 years later you know what i'm saying so collectively i'm hoping that's something we can
do together and make this a little bit better we'd be happy to sit down and meet with you absolutely
okay um i have an ask here i've asked this probably eight years in a row
um can we can we start putting curbs into the shared cost program and the reason why i say that
and the reason why i say that is you guys do a great job at the shared cost it is awesome
it's a great thing my community loves it but because the curb's not put in there you might
cover about 12 squares but the curb which might need about four or five spaces isn't included in
that and our our residents are willing to pay it hey we'll pay the half for it we'll we include
this in it i don't know what the reason is that we can't get that included into it and i'm not
talking on a reverse parkway you guys pretty much knock that out every time it's some usually it'll
get done but my neighborhood the majority is in a reverse parkway we have the parkway then sidewalk
and so it's just not added in there and these curbs are just destroyed and it'd be great and
hey if they're willing to help pay for it can we get that added into the shared cost program
we can look into that okay i would love to get like some sort of answer back on that because
that would be a huge benefit to to all of us uh a big pat on the back to you guys for years i've
been saying i've in the suburbs i see the seaming process that is done on a lot of our streets where
we're resurfacing where two seams meet each other um we would have a drastic seam down the middle
now you guys have kind of overlapped the seams so it's actually getting better uh in some cases i'm
actually seeing a synthetic seam being put in there as well uh on a new construction not not
on an old one i i think doing that is absolutely incredible i think that's a benefit to our city
because we're not losing we're not losing that area quicker due to the snow and the ice because
the water getting in there and where my ask is on that is if we can incorporate that into demanding
any pd that is done that seems that pd because every time i get a street resurface within one
year someone's pd gets ruined they end up boxing it out now i have four seams that end up getting
destroyed within one year compared to the five-year life of that street so my ask is if if cdoc can
can demand that these pds are seamed there is a membrane put around the four in some cases it's
two that goes all the way across street because we're getting five or six more years out of that
street than just possibly two because it's not being seen so yeah we'll look at adding that to
the enforcement okay awesome um um pothole and crews um i know you guys are working with what
you got and on the northwest side it it is a major issue we put every every single pothole in
if we can find a way to get more crews out there um it would be not just in my word i think city
wide it's one of the things that people notice most and i don't want that to be the badge that
you guys wear because you guys do a hell of a job everywhere else and it's hard to get ahead of so
many potholes because of our climate but if we can find a way in this budget is there any more
allocation towards manpower towards potholing crews and well so and thank you for asking that
so what we're what we're looking at so the way the program works is during the winter i have 30
35 pothole crews then when the construction season starts we transition those crews off
and we to do paving and milling and grinding okay mill and pave yeah so then i end up with about
five crews to do potholes citywide the one of the problems is is when someone calls in sick
on the paving oh yeah we pull from so there are some days that i have three crews up so
i'm not happy with that so again i inherited the program as it is and i'm i want to be done
but I'm going to look at changing a few things next year
so I can maintain more pothole crews through the summer
because it's definitely, they're not going away,
but there needs to be a look at the allocation of.
a look at the allocation of how we do things and how we program those crews so we are looking at
i am so glad that you said that because that was going to be my next response back is the call-off
kind of decimates the program so if there's a way and it's the right i get it but if there's
a way that we can figure out to get ahead of that or to get around that and to to maintain
more crews because um it is it's one of the most noticeable things and one of the highest calls for
complaints i know probably citywide would be that and i know you guys are doing your doing everything
you can yeah i'm just if we could find a way to fix this problem would be sure and then to piggyback
on that um again it's it's more about the data so um what i've asked the team to do is collect data
in any locations that have 50 or more potholes on it,
we will be showing you that at the CIP briefing.
So we would strongly suggest that those blocks
be put on your menu so we can reduce those accounts
because there are some blocks we've gone to
four, five, six times,
and that really doesn't solve the problem.
So we have the information and the data
we want to show it to you
so that way we can act on it
and come to some mutual decision.
absolutely um i appreciate your responsiveness um your whole entire crew to my office um i know we
we call a lot and the way you guys respond is is absolutely incredible so i want to make sure you
know that i appreciate all you guys do i want to finish with my last thing here i'm going to
kind of piggyback on my good friend from the 13th ward
the 41st ward wants nothing to do with bike lanes give them to someone else that wants them
um if if it's utilized and appreciated more in a different ward please sir go ahead and
go ahead and give my bike lanes to somebody else but our ward does not want or need bike lanes
and i mean that in in the fashion of the vast majority of my ward is single family homes
which would you would see these roads that would be a a perfect spot for bike lanes it turns out
those are parking spots or areas that people utilize as parking so our ward is okay if you
never bring a bike lane to us and i'll take the i'll take the calls for the the three people that
I call my office to complain about it, and I'll be okay with that in the end.
And for me to you, I would say we don't want any in the 41st Ward as well.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you, Chairman.
Thank you. We're going to go.
I think we've got one member left before we hit the nine members of Vice Chair Lee.
Thank you, Chair. Hi, Commissioner. Hello, everybody.
So many friends here today.
um i'll uh i'll i'll start with the with the suite um we have great working relationship with
with cdot um in particular i was starting to write down all the names um you know jim bolster
uh bill higgins big and his team dave louisa amanda carl um molly ann may toval i know i
missed a few other people here um there's not one person in your department who we reach out to who
doesn't get back to us. So I appreciate the responsiveness. I think that what I've been
kind of chewing on and just kind of listening to my colleagues and sharing some of the frustration
about just coordination. I don't think it's always just you guys. I think it's coordination between
departments too, whether, you know, there's a project that we're just starting and we have
not coordinated with, let's say, the water department. And I don't know who's who at the
end of the day but when we have multiple projects going on we don't have good line of sight as to
when something is starting we're the ones getting the calls and getting chewed out about like why
don't why don't we know what's going on in our own words um we are
on in our own wards. We are at your mercy when it comes to the timing. And I know sometimes that
comes down to my rep might not know when a project is starting because that is, you know,
weather dependent or other circumstances. It just really helps all of us to work better together
when we have good communication. I know that, you know, and I try not, I try not to call these
audibles, right? I know you just, Commissioner, you said somebody just give it to me or call Sam.
um always happy to do that i try to do that as sparingly as possible because you got 50 of us
um so you know we try to work through things sort of at the uh the more local level but i've got a
lot of concerns about how how we're working with contractors and the quality of the contractors
i don't know if this was an in-house project or a contractor project but i got a call from a
constituent that was actually a text message thanking me for the new sidewalk that was right
in front of their home, except they couldn't open their gate. That's a problem. Like, I don't know
who missed that. I mean, we've since sent it through to CDOT, but if we're paying a contractor
to do that, then that's a very challenging thing. We should be looking at these contractors to see
what their track records are, because surely we have to make every penny work as effectively as
possible. And I know that these contractors have within their contracts, they have to do quality
work. And if they need to come and do it over, they do. That also comes at a cost to the city
as well, though, right? Because if they have to come back and redo a project, that might delay
them working on another one. So I just, I'd like to know, and through the chair is fine, unless you
can answer it here. What's the breakdown between what is contracted out versus what is done by
in-house construction? If you can give me just in the aggregate, like how much we spend on contract.
in the aggregate, like how much we spend on contractors versus in-house construction.
I'm interested in the number of employees we have, too, in in-house construction.
More broadly, as we sit through these budget conversations, you know, what's always looming
over our heads is our pension debt and our obligation, right? And just like Social Security,
we need people paying into it. So the more we're using contractors, the less we have people paying
into the pension and helping on that front i don't know at what point we we made the shift to um
more um contractors or contract i don't know the the breakdown so but i know that um using
contractors also means that we don't we don't have these individuals paying into our pension
so that means just fewer people paying in as people are retiring i'm just i'm hearing that
as a theme play out in other conversations um that we're having uh through the budget but if
can provide me with that information i'd be interested in seeing that um you know and i'll
echo some of the what my colleagues have said just around the skyrocketing costs i know that the cost
of materials is through the roof um when i started and i just looked at a a green alley now it's
called alley reconstruction because we call it different things now it's 250 000 now it is 480
80 um for what I'm assuming is the same thing uh and a lot of that is cost of materials I know
um we can only ever afford to do one of these and as someone rightly pointed out I have not seen an
increase in the in our menu since I've been in office I've only been here five years but I've
I've never actually had the experience of even getting an adjustment on that um I don't know
when the last time menu budgets were raised and I don't know necessarily how much influence you
have on that sir um but this is uh we essentially are um we have far less buying power at the end
of the day so we can do less with our menu uh and i know that through the c i
with our menu uh and i know that through the cip we get the benefit of you know uh an alley a street
you know some lights and that's great um i'm interested also knowing how we're what the plans
are for the um unused bond authorization i do share some of those concerns you know we we keep
bonding out money but we're not actually using it all up um and if we have authority already
what's the harm in waiting i guess uh last sort of point i'd like to make
um is just with the timing of everything i know that the weather has not been cooperative
especially in this last year the amount of rain we got wait look we had just repaved the whole
street after it wasn't you guys it was water because they were replacing the sewer but um
They had just poured the concrete, and I think probably six or seven hours later, I was out pulling branches out of the concrete with plastic in between it.
That's it.
It's a head scratcher, right?
If we're watching the weather, I know we want to get stuff done, but if there's a risk that there's going to be damage done to the work that we're doing, we should be taking a look at that.
I totally just derailed my whole train of thought.
wheelchair contractors um i already asked that question menu prices yeah the the timing of
these things and alderman lopez did mention um earlier just how long it's taking to get certain
things done you know commissioner you and i had the experience right when you first started i
come to you and ask you to try to to fix something um because as projects are not completed they sit
the menu and then time is money and everything so the delay is also costing more money down the other
end um and it seems like we're more often than not being asked to then shoulder the the
not being asked to then shoulder the cost of the price differential when we approved it at a
different price previously. I know sometimes projects change. You don't necessarily know
what you're going to get up under the ground until you pick it up. But the delays cost us
time and money at the end of the day. I know that we are also responsible in that. If we don't get
our menu done and designated early enough, there's no way you can start these projects.
uh it just makes me wonder you know in in my frustration and in my staff's frustration
when we're when we're uh approving things on the menu and we're saying to constituents hey we
approve that you know and then a year and a half two years later it's still not done
our reputations are on the line and we look like we we're lying to people because the work still
isn't done so I don't know what the what the answer to that is is it a catch-up year where
we don't approve anything else until we're all caught up that might even save us money who knows
But I think more than anything, we need honest communication about when we think things are
going to be done so that we can manage expectations on the part of our constituents, too.
So that what we've told people is, you know, based on our experience, this is probably
going to be a year and a half, two years before it's actually done, because we can see how
many more projects are in the queue that we've already approved that haven't come through
yet.
So anything that we can do to help in that process and make us accountable, too, because
i know we've been guilty of it not getting our menu selections until later um that doesn't help
with the timing but i i hope that we can work towards better communication at the end of the
day just all around especially from a timing perspective no no one likes to see you know
work being redone on a street i know you guys don't want it i mean that that hurts you know
nobody looks good with all of that uh but we got to get the communication down uh the last thing
that i want to uh just mention um i know you guys had a had a really rough year this year
not just with weather and everything going on but with the with the loss of your colleague riley o'neill
with the with the loss of your colleague riley o'neill um you know he was a resident in my ward
um he was killed on the on the street just down the street from my office i've been working with
your team with bigs team very closely um i know bike lanes are very controversial uh you've heard
some of the comments here today and i think everybody's got some different views on it
um i think i just want to say out loud i know we're all committed to safety
to the ability to travel safely in and around this city no matter how you travel whether you're
walking driving cycling um that is something I know every single one of your employees is
committed to I can see that with with every interaction that we have um you know we've
been working through a process in the 11th Ward that we're going to be hopefully kicking off soon
with with the team um I just want to say how much I appreciate um the the heart and the work and
passion that your team puts into the work that they do um there's no perfect systems and i think
that we uh we've got room for improvement here but i i do appreciate all the hard work that your
teams do thank you thank you alderman thank you vice chair uh honorable wagerspeck thank you
chairman uh good evening commissioner um i know most of the stuff you kind of been through the
bridges issue not my favorite topic that's a real disaster i know but the menu also a lot of my
colleagues mentioned the menu that we're not getting the same bang for the buck that we did
before and i think part of that is yes some of the cost increases but um i think a lot of what
we get kicked back to us is something that c dot should be considering as maintenance issues and
instead it comes into the menu so I just want to make that point first. I want to thank you for
some of the bike lanes that are going in that we've been working on for some time.
in that we've been working on for some time. And then into questions, a couple of us have about
20 questions that we will put through the chair for your staff to answer. But a couple of them
I want to hammer out first. In terms of penalties for contracts, have we rebid contracts that
expired this year, or are we preparing to re-bid any contracts
that expired this year for the upcoming year of
long-standing contracts? Thank you for that question,
Alderman. I would defer to Deputy Chia Kohai. Good evening.
Chia Kohai, Deputy Commissioner.
We work with the Department of Procurement Services,
and we update any, we re-bid
any we track expiring contracts so right now we have 47 contracts that will be expiring in 12
months or less and we have roughly 86 contracts that will be expiring within 13 to 18 months
an additional 20 contracts that we will be rebidding because they will be expiring in 19 to
24 months. So this is a monthly exercise that we take with the Department of Procurement Services.
Excellent. Would you be able to provide that information through the chair just in written
format just for my colleagues? Sure. And for the ones that are 12...
for the ones that are 12 months and below how many uh contract vendors is that or is it the same
pardon me is it 47 unique vendors the 47 contracts that will be expiring in 12 months or less
are as followed for professional services is 25 commodities 3 construction 17 and facility
maintenance too. Great. Thank you very much. That's actually very good that you had that
handy. Thank you. For contract penalties, Commissioner, were there any payments withheld
for unrestored sidewalks, anything with streets? And if there were penalties assessed this past
year how much did we actually collect or do you have to work with department of finance to do
those collections i don't have that number but i can get that to you through the chair sure no
problem um same thing for moratoriums i think alderman riley might have brought it up early on
um can we get how many violations were cited in 26 and what the fines were
and get that to you as well okay um in the ey report this past year uh there were three or
there were several opportunities for c dot to make some efficiency changes including the
vehicle tax fund shift shared labor pool and the third one um and i'll provide these through the
chair but the third one was ey counted 41 c dot supervisors with one to three uh direct reports
and then about 21 with 10 or more reports that was on page um 64 of the ey report um has cdot tried
um has CDOT tried to rebalance those reports it's something we're evaluating right now and
we will as as I kind of go through everything we we are looking how we can create a new balance
okay um if you could provide a more substantive answer through the chair that would be helpful
another one on ey was the the issue of billing for athletic events for barricades and other costs
in part this hasn't happened because other departments were not submitting their costs
do you foresee c dot being able to bill for those parades public assembly permits
barricades or anything else that should be in the d case portal thank you for the question
alderman uh we're working with the uh the working group on those uh items um and you know it's a
it's a group of among all the departments so we're working through that to see um how we can recover
costs okay um just two more chairman um ey found that about a quarter of this quarter of the city's
concentrated construction spend is on transportation um the deputy just mentioned
And over 100 of these, I think, contracts within the next year, some that already expired.
Follow up on that, I appreciate.
When it comes to prime, let me see, I don't want to address that.
When it comes to primes, what is the turnaround for making those payments to some of our prime
contractors especially women owned or
especially women-owned or minority-owned businesses,
many of whom we've seen over the last few years
have their payments held up for months,
if not more than a year,
which in some cases has put some people out of business
or at least out of business with the city.
Thank you for the question.
I'll have Deputy High answer.
Chief High, Deputy Commissioner.
Commissioner, we are very serious about paying our vendors in a timely fashion.
In fact, we meet with the commissioner's office on a monthly basis just to make sure that we're on point of doing so.
But more so, in alignment with the city's prompt payment initiative, once CDOT has a complete, accurate invoice, a check is cut in less than 20 days.
So maybe it's for other departments, but I've been hearing something different from a lot of our women-owned businesses that they are not getting paid for contracts that they've completed the work on.
So maybe this is something we can follow up on, Commissioner, but it's an issue that we brought up with finance as well and procurement to make sure that we're moving on these contract payments.
So I'll follow up on that.
And then my last question in person is, we've had advocacy groups asking to fund more engineers
for CDOT studies. And when I asked what the bottlenecks were, where the information came
from, it was through CDOT that they were asking for this. So could you provide us with information
on what these bottlenecks are for traffic studies
and if we do need to hire 10 more people
to get those done.
get those done um and while we see that can we also get the traffic studies um by ward for the
past year actually the past two years and then outstanding requests for the past two years for
traffic studies because i i think that your people are getting them done in a fairly timely fashion
for us but um apparently there's some type of bottleneck and i i think these take time
you and i have talked about doing a better job around all of our schools and parks and how we
reduce traffic speeds and accidents and really focus on pedestrians in these areas but um
i'm i had not heard that there was a bottleneck until more recently so thank you for all your
questions but this particular one i would like to have deputy commissioner molly samadi provide a
response thank you good afternoon alderman thank you for the question molly samadi deputy commissioner
of project development alderman at current level the staffing that we have and the
requests that we receive um i'm not sure if you're aware i was promoted to this position so my
position was vacated this year we are filling that position which we think
that is going to help with the management management and work workflow
and efficiency and all that now we are also using in our traffic we are kind
of streamlining our processes for traffic studies and pre-screen them
basically and we also have a form for traffic studies so we ask that all
alderman please provide more information detailed information in that
form so we can you know it can help us to the processes in the direction that
is supposed to be done
supposed to be done at the request that we receive,
what we do is that we, again,
I said that we pre-screened them and accordingly,
if there are things that needs to be done quick,
we respond to those via email sometimes,
not even starting with a study.
Sometimes you ask for crash information.
We provide that stop signs that there is
that they're done actually I do it sometimes you know just via email so we
look at the request you know like for instance the school studies take longer
time neighborhood traffic calming major projects they talk take time so those
are the ones that a little longer than so but then as I said we are looking at
efficiency working really more efficient by using leveraging our cameras also we
have a speed camera red light camera OEMC's camera that we look at the
intersection sometimes you don't need to go to the site we see the backups what
we need to do and all that between between the cameras and also some of
these crash information internally that we gather we come up with the solutions
for your traffic studies.
Okay.
All right.
Thank you very much for that.
Commissioner, thank you and your staff
for everything that you do.
And I know we have our battles sometimes,
but we just, I think no matter where we go as aldermen,
we're getting those constant questions
and we're pretty much the first people
that people reach out to.
So it's important for us to get these things done
in a timely manner
and make sure that you have the resources that you need as well to get the work done.
So I appreciate everybody in the box and all the staff that we work with on an annual basis.
and like I said, I'll throw all those questions through the chair for you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Alderman.
Thank you, Chairman.
Alderman Manner-Hoppenworth?
Oh, okay.
Give me one more little quick recess.
Thank you.
all right we're back ready ultimate gutierrez you got one i know you got a meeting to get to
so go ahead thank you chairman thank you commissioner and team for being here with us
tonight bearing with all this amount of questions that many of them could be just an email or a
phone call to you all but i appreciate you standing alone late with us i just have a question regarding
the green alleys i know my colleagues have also talked about it and asked i think that's the only
thing that i understand it takes a little bit longer because of how green alleys are but i
just wanted to hear from you all what can be instituted or bettered in order for not to be a
two-year because i know we approved them for example 2024 and the one that it was approved
for 2024 it has not been done yet i know it takes some time on surveying on doing the
with the engineers the architects and all of that so what can we do better in order for us
to shorten that time because of course as we mentioned sometimes we tell our
constituents yeah it's been approved it's coming and then people
approved is coming and then people is waiting and waiting we try to patch it we try to clean it we
try to do whatever it's in our power your power and the team in the different departments to
better that ali but still not good so just wondering if there's any way we can at least
shorten that time and what can we also do as alderman to to get that done
thank you for that question alderman i will have first deputy craig turner take the question
thank you for the question first deputy craig turner um the process is the process because
it takes a lot you have to survey it you have to do your design and you have to do your coordination
i think we probably need to do a better job of communicating explaining the whole process that
it does take longer because it is a lot of coordination that needs to happen so it's kind
of like managing expectations because it's not like a simple resurfacing of an alley where that
can be you know done relatively quickly but this here is this major reconstruction where we're
digging down we're putting in new pipes and you know if necessary and building the alley up and
And also explaining this, you know, sometimes it's a narrow way.
I mean, you're talking some alleys are only like 16 feet to 20 feet wide.
So it's not a lot you can do in that small amount of space.
So it's more managing expectations and giving you the information you need
so you can communicate it back to your constituents.
I just wanted to reiterate that if it's anything in the 14th Ward that I can do
in order for it to be expedited, not expedited,
but if i need to talk to my constituents or or with any liaisons and comment people's guests or
you name it for it to be sooner please let me know because that way hopefully they can get done
before the two-year mark that we're seeing right now because you know as i said and explained
and explained our constituents are constantly calling and we explain them the process and
everything but sometimes it's like why is it taking so long you know and I tell them it's
also the system the bureaucracy you know some other projects before yours you know we just
need to be patient and I think they've learned the process now more than I've been in office
because I get the time to explain to them and also in Spanish meet with them in the alley or
at the gazebo of the nearest park
that I had last week for example
we had a community meeting
so I think it's the best thing right
communication and thank you
for you commissioner
deputies and everyone in the box
because I know it's a tough job
but I know communication is key
and I'm proud to say that I've been working
with you all and understand the processes
and the times it takes
and I just want to thank you all
Thank you Alderman
Thank you Alderman Gutierrez
Alderman Hoffman Ward, followed by Alderman Coleman. Thank you, Chair. Hi, Commissioner.
I want to thank you for visiting the 48th Ward. We've done a lot to make our streets safer,
and I'm glad that you were there to see our pedestrian refuge islands that were in the works.
Those were a decade in the making because of coordination that was needed with IDOT.
As you know, Edgewater and Uptown were at the end of DuSable Lakeshore Drive,
So we're a cut-through community, and we're also the start of the lakefront trail.
And so we have a lot of folks driving and also biking, but at the end of the day, everybody
is a pedestrian, so we want to make every intersection safe for folks.
I wanted to start by saying that the Complete Streets teams and the Divvy teams, we're very
grateful to them you have helped us make the 48th war
You have helped us make the 48th Ward one of the most bike-friendly wards
and one of the safest wards to walk out of all 50 wards.
And we want to continue that trend.
We believe in the Vision Zero plan where we don't want any traffic fatalities,
and we're going on three and a half years now towards that end.
But people are still getting hurt.
So we want to continue to work on that with you.
um we are excited to get more divvy stations we know that um people want people move into
my neighborhood because they want to be car free or car light they're 40 percent of us are
car free or car light and uh having a divvy membership is one way to help them do that
um so we are one of the fastest growing divvy riderships in the in the city very grateful for
that um we're also looking forward to the installation of the pedestrian hybrid beacon
on ridge which is another decades-long project because of the coordination that we needed with
idot and this is going to help students get to school easier and people feel like they're not
trapped on one side of the street or the other because they can't cross safely we're also very
happy about the improvements that we made around our schools including the race crosswalks around
sen and also of our green alleys that are coming in i'm still floored about the expense of these
green alleys you were mentioning how different they are depending on how long the street is we
we have one right in in my neighborhood and the alley has not been reconstructed in
decades like literal decades um so it's very disruptive so thank you for coming to the ward
to help us notify people uh towards that but this green
people uh towards that but this green alley is over eight hundred thousand dollars you know and
we're having a lot of trouble of course with the the rains we need more of the green alleys to
happen all over the ward and the city of chicago um so one question that i have relates to the
conversation we were having around sidewalks and the oig report that came out in 2024
that talked about the inequities of our systems because we rely heavily on 3-1-1
to for you to know where we need to fix our sidewalks and you mentioned a sidewalk strategy
that's in the works can you just tell us when that strategy is coming forward or when we
hope to hear from that plan so alderman um we're i'm kind right now i am looking at the oig report
because it affects that program and several others so um i haven't quite implemented that yet but
when i meet with you for your cip i will have an answer for you thank you we have asked multiple
times about the criteria that needs to be in place to have a sidewalk fixed and we haven't had
clear answers we want to instead of waiting for a whole year from the department to understand
what what can we do to help you make a preliminary assessment how is it that we can help how is it
we can cut the time down so that we can get back to constituents faster so is there someone that
is there someone that we can work on this together who is it that we can work on this with
we'll start with sam uh managing deputy sam alexander and then we'll transition to
down the line but sam could at least get the thank you make it quick whatever it is okay
we'll work with you alderman thank you yeah that's all i need to hear okay um i i want to
i want to say that we are we are very bike friendly in the 48th ward but i use divvy to
get to city hall like today i would love to be able to use lower wacker and i understand it's
under construction um the part that i am most scared about is going up the ramp because there
is a steel plate there are potholes is there a way that we can it's not in my ward but i just
want to address that as we are adding more divvy stations we want to be able to use all of our
bike lanes and um throughout all of the neighborhoods is there somebody that i could
talk to about just fixing that little piece that would be really helpful so you're speaking about
lower whacker when you're coming up from the drive so yes yes it's not a protected bike lane
and people still use it but because there's a steel plate and many potholes people have to go
into the traffic to get around those potholes to go up to the ramp, to get to upper ramp.
It's kind of a combination. So the potholes would be in-house construction, but the plate on the
bridge would belong to Ann. So we'll work that together and we'll come up with a solution for
you. Thank you. I'd appreciate that. I want to say thank you to Ivan, our public way inspector,
um the signs team anthony and toval and osvaldo um the divvy team david smith kyle peppen
um we're really excited about all the stations um the complete streets
team and the leadership david poe carl molly
david poe carl molly big and chuck billows who came to the ward um and we are just we we want
all of the ward to be safe um we're really proud of our status but um it shouldn't matter where you
are in the city of chicago if there is a bike lane we want it to be connected it's weird when
it just ends so um connecting the bike grid is really important to me and um and we want our
for streets to be efficient for our buses as well we are a city that prides itself on our
transit um i i support the smart streets program i don't know how that's going to work on sheridan
road where we don't have bike lanes and we also don't have an alley there on the east side of
sheridan road so we have a lot of trucks that double park and they double park in the in the
driveways. That road hasn't been looked at in a very long time. We have geofenced the sidewalks,
and so we have a lot of students coming from Loyola to the lakefront trail, and they are
actually on Sheridan Road. This is a road that's also on the high crash report. This is a road that
two Loyola students were hit by CTA buses, so I would like help in trying to figure out how to
make that part of Chicago a little bit safer for everyone, no matter how you get around.
We'll have the team meet with you. Thank you so much, Commissioner. Thank you to your team,
and thank you, Chair. Thank you, Alderman. Alderman Coleman. Thank you, Chairman. Commissioner
Cheats, I cannot say that I've had the pleasure of you coming to my ward, but Deputy Commissioner
Samuel Alexander definitely is the best. So he has saved you a trip or two. I want to talk about
resurfacing and the quality of work. I have noticed, I can tell between vendors
of who's doing the work and who isn't.
For example, Garfield Boulevard compared to 59th Street
and now Halsted.
Thank you, by the way, Deputy Commissioner.
We finally, after three years, have been able to repaid that.
But who is, which contractors perform street and alley
resurfacing in my ward?
And also who's verifying the proper grading, drainage,
quality before final payment?
Thank you for that question, Aldo. Sam, can you take that?
Thank you, Sam Alexander, Deputy Commissioner, Alderwoman. We do have a list of the contractors. They're listed by their areas, and yours is south, so I can get you the names of those different contractors that are doing the work in your ward.
That would be great. And, you know, we won't know the quality of work until it's ultimately completed. However, who's actually inspecting to make sure that, you know, curbs and streets, you know, are done properly and cement isn't getting into gutters?
and there's a there's a couple of ways we look at we look at that we have our project managers
as well as our uh cm members that uh that are out uh resident engineers are out as well
they are supposed to and then as the commissioner mentioned earlier today that there's a punch list
that they are supposed to be adhering to when the work is being done.
We're reevaluating that list on how they view the work
so we can make sure all the areas of the city of Chicago
are getting the quality work equally.
Are those PMs and CMs, are they consistent?
Are they assigned by ward or is it by project?
It's a by project.
by project by project um commissioner it'll be helpful to have maybe some consistency
especially on some of the projects that we know that are happening um in the war because i do
notice the difference in quality and we've seen it together as well okay on the corrective x
actions when residents report poor workmanship uh flooding property damage after resurfacing
is that the same PM and CMs that are investigating these corrective actions or these mistakes?
Are you speaking in terms of once the work is done?
Yes, sir.
So once the work is done, if there's an issue, we do have a team that go out and investigate,
starting with our inspectors.
And once we identify if this is the work that's being done
by a given contractor,
then we hold them responsible for making those corrective actions.
Okay.
I have no complaints with CDOT.
I don't know what the narrative here today,
but Samuel Alexander, Samuel Alexander III,
Third, Toval, as well as Howard Davis, has been absolutely exemplary in the 16th Ward.
Sam comes to our office at least two or three times a week just to check on.
I know TJ and I are very appreciative.
My office is very appreciative of the consistent communication.
And between CDOT and Streets and Sand, I'm probably talking to you all the most.
So thank you, and thank you.
Thank you, Alderman.
Thank you, Alderman Coleman.
Alderman Cruz.
No bike lanes.
you can give them to Alderman
Manah Hoppenworth and her ward
and Andre
y'all can have them
no bike lanes
these three words
thank you
what's wrong with bikes
everybody like the bike lanes
okay
all right
Alderman Cruz go ahead
all right thank you chairman
Commissioner before I have my questions
for you I do want to thank some of
your team members who do an outstanding job at CDOT starting with my menu
liaison Jerry and then also my public way inspector Kevin Cartwright and Randy
they're always in the office they're always checking up on me what a great
gentleman Kevin Cartwright always attending to all my requests that I have
but also to complete streets when it comes to bike lanes thank you for the
work that you all do Dave Smith Deputy Commissioner Vicks thank you for the
work that you do also angel montalvo who has done a lot of great things in the ward and
one that i really want to focus commissioner and what a stellar worker you have is art rodriguez
i wish that the department of electric electrical we mirror the work that they do how well they
communicate how fast they respond how fast they fix the problems that we send them his communication
is just outstanding i get a report every single time from him regarding my request um how fast
again they respond so thank you art i mean i always say and i say that to him all the time
we need to be mirroring what he's doing in his department because it's definitely working and
that's the type of service that we would like to see in the city of chicago across all departments
so thank you um some of the questions that i have for you commissioner and i believe that you
know where I stand with a lot of different things but one of the things here is I'm looking at the
2026 department 311 requests and it says for potholes in street complaint it takes about 13
14 days to complete Ali pothole complaints takes about 26 days I just would like to know how because
in the 30th Ward it takes weeks and weeks for my Pajos to be done to the point that I have to
escalate some of these Pajos to be done. I have to get IGA to come in to help me. I have to send
lists of Pajos for that to be done. Why is that, Commissioner? So the number that you see there
is an average. So some are longer, some are shorter. So that number that you're seeing is
an average but even it was an average it's still pretty low average so it means that it wouldn't
be a big weight across the board because then the number would have been a little higher
um i feel that i beg for potholes to be done and that is extremely disappointing because if we
cannot do potholes then what else and it's every single time that i sent let when i send them they
take care of them but my point is i shouldn't have to get to that point to escalate potholes
to be done it should be automatically something that is done in 3-1-1 again i want to know why
is this something that is just happening in my ward is this something that is happening across
the board is this a pattern or it's just a 30th ward pattern so we it's not a 30th ward pattern
As I stated before, my cruise, my pothole cruise in the summer are down to five, so our response time does get extended, and then some of those cruise are used to fill in for my major mill and pave cruise, so your ward is not being single.
crews. So your ward is not being singled out. I've asked you to send me potholes list. You've
sent some to Sam. We send crews out. You've been part of the blitz. And then also I've sent
supervisors behind those crews to make sure that those potholes, they spot check to make sure that
they're being addressed. So we are addressing your issues. There are 50 wards. I can't say that
and maybe your constituents aren't happy with the overall response time but you're not being
neglected okay and that's why i said once that we're sent we send the list they'll take care
but for me it's like we shouldn't get to do this if we were just to follow the 3-1-1 system
my next thing here commission is have you ever done any spot checks on either job sites or even
at the yard and i'll tell you this because i know a couple people that work in in house construction
and some of them are like we're done really early we're done you know by this time we go back to the
yard we just finished our date and it's like why when we have all these potholes and all these
projects that we have i don't know i cannot verify that information because i'm just hearing that
from people that actually work there um so have you done any spot checks having shown up to the
job sites are we monitoring the work that they're doing and ensuring that we're giving it
our all to these um again projects that we have and the work hours that they have so um myself
first deputy craig turner and managing deputy sam alexander uh fridays is field day sam kind of goes
out during the middle of the week. But on Fridays, we go out in the field to check crews. Now, me
personally, I don't ride behind pothole crews. I go check job sites because I'm trying to look at
the productivity for the paving and grinding crews. So, but to answer your question, yes,
we do go out. And since you've said that about the crews pulling in early, I will have
about the crews pulling in early i will have the deputy commissioner of in-house construction take
take a deeper dive when we're talking about better communication with your department
um something that we have noticed and we know what is the difference between a sinkhole and a pothole
but some of our residents don't right so they call and they do 3-1-1 when it is a sinkhole
there is no communication between 3-1-1 and adding notes to say hey this is not a sinkhole this is
the pothole they just close the ticket without any follow-up and then what happens is then they
will call eventually call my office and say hey they closed it they said it's completed but it's
not then we explain to them more likely it's not a pothole and rather it's a sinkhole but how can
we work with 3-1-1 in your department to ensure that those reports are being closed because
they're just wrong come back to our office so and thank you for that question so um your public
way inspector has the ability to transfer from should go out check it uh and then has the ability
to refer it and transfer it to a sinkhole my pothole crews have that ability as well so i'm
not quite sure where the breakdown is but it's something we can look into and i'll say you some
examples too so that you can get to see another my questions is once a street is repaved so let's
say prior to the repaving of a street there were speed bumps already there they get removed of
course because of the repaving once it is done it takes a very long time for those speed bumps to go
back in it as you can imagine a brand new repaved street everybody's going to drive even faster
through the street why does it take so long to get speed bumps installed after repaving because
and thank you for that question as well so the way it works is i have so wintertime i have 30
35 pothole crews then they transition to do
crews then they transition to do um milling and paving and then on the downside of the of the
season we trans um transmits not transmit but transfer detransition some of those to do speed
humps so we do play catch up but as i stated earlier there's some some different measures
in the department that i don't like the way the sequence is going so that is something that
we're going to evaluate because i do realize that speed humps especially on in locations where they
used to be and people they're not there anymore so it becomes a raceway so it is something that
we're looking to address so how many employees within that department they do the pajo they can
do the speed bumps like and other things how many employees do you have within that the part of that
section so i can get you that number through the chair but it's it's the same local 1001
so and they cross train so it's we they're interchangeable only ones that
can interchange are the operating engineers because we need them to run
the equipment and a laborer can't do that how many concrete alleys typically
you're you're averaging what about this year what is your projected green
concrete alleys will be completed this year have been number I'll have Sean
Sean? Deputy Commissioner Sean? No alleys this year? Yeah. That would be engineering. Oh, engineering. Sorry. Ann? Thank you. Thank you for the question, Managing Deputy Ann Zhang. We average around the 50 mark every year. That's our target for alleys. I think we're closer to 60 this year, but I can provide a more solid number through the chair.
okay so you said between 50 and 60 a year yes okay um i do have more questions but
questions, but I'll do it through the chair. So I appreciate the time. Thank you. Okay. Thank you
much. Uh, chairman Mitchell, you have anything, this transportation, you're good. Okay. All right.
Um, all right. We'll look like, uh, you all, you all have a little work to do around efficiency
and sequence. And I know you've, I know you've only been here a few months. Uh, however, uh,
We definitely need to work on the efficiency aspect.
Just one question from these speed humps,
and the question that on the Cruz raises,
is there anything operationally that says that you cannot install a speed hump
when you're doing the actual installation of the street itself?
What would prevent you all from just adding that speed hump in
why you're actually resurfacing that specific street.
So we paved the street,
and then there's actually a cut that comes down.
We have to come back and cut in two trenches
because what happens is, say it's an inch down,
so the speed hump gets locked into the pavement
so it doesn't move.
So we can't do it at that time.
We have to come back and cut it,
and then put the hump in.
But one might argue that if we're using a hot mix, I'm assuming,
that it would bond all together at one time if it was just put in that way.
Or am I wrong in my assumption of that?
It's an assumption.
I don't know.
I'm the accountant.
I'm not an incident.
But that's not the current practice.
I mean, it's something we can look into.
but we've been putting them in with a...
Yeah, I totally understand.
I'm just asking, right, like, can we do them?
Because, I mean, sometimes it goes, it'd be a while, you know.
it goes it'd be a while you know it could be you can you can hit a street in april or may and not
get back to the speed hump until september october and therein you know creates that challenge that
a lot of residents talk about what happened to the speed hump and like um i don't know the timing or
how long it takes to do a speed hump but i'm assuming that with the number of paving crews
that we have, having a team or two dedicated to putting speed humps in as we're paving
may give us a better outcome as far as our constituents and people are looking for.
So that's the only reason I raised the point, because sometimes they get missed
even toward the end of the season because we're rushing to get paving.
But then we get cold and the speed hump isn't done.
So now we're looking at almost a whole season without that specific speed
hump when it was one that was already there.
So that's the only thing.
I know you had a round two, man.
All right, two.
I shaved it down.
Not multi-layered ones.
It's two.
I shaved it down.
All right, thank you, sir.
We've had a horrible experience with GNV as far as, like,
the menu subcontracting and just wanted to know if there are other options
or what's the lay of the land if, like, you're having –
if we're having a bad experience with a subcontractor and think it should
just go somewhere else.
Can you,
can you send me those locations that you've had GNV?
Yeah.
Yeah,
we can.
Yeah.
So we can do that and then follow up.
That's fine.
And then the last question I have is related.
So in the 40th,
we have Ravenswood and Ridge,
which is right by a Metro station.
And so it's an intersection.
And it's actually pretty scary.
And what it led to somebody literally getting forcefully hit with a car to
the point that they had brain damage.
and they're currently still not where obviously there's it was horrible a situation like that
requires a lot more infrastructure in place raised crosswalks more signage and all of it
place race crosswalks more signage and all of it but we end up being relying on menu to try to fill
that gap as opposed to like it's a larger expenditure to make those changes how do you
how do we get funds because if we're voting for like larger infrastructure funding but then we're
trying to make those kind of improvements and we're being told hey you got to go in the menu
to do it piece by piece it's just not a way to solve it and it's actually going to lead somebody
getting hurt further or killed like so i'm curious what the solution for something like that is
So thank you for that question, Alderman. I want to give that to Vig.
Vig Krishnamurthy, Managing Deputy Commissioner. Thank you, Alderman. I'm quite familiar with
the location, and we came out and looked at it with you and your team. Generally, we're looking
very broadly at all the available funding sources, federal, state, and local, for comprehensive
safety improvement, which is our commitment, and trying to match the most efficient funding
sources available to the type of improvement so for these types of spot improvements there is of
course our complete streets citywide program we try to prioritize areas like transit stations
or major schools areas of citywide significance we're also looking to strengthen increase what
we expect of private development because that's a time when the public way is being either cut into
or reconstructed, and therefore the extra incremental cost of baking in some of those
safety improvements isn't, you know, as much as us having to come back and do them later.
So the department have strengthened our TDM, Transportation Demand Management Guidelines
and Rules for New Developments, and even sometimes our agency partner projects are considered
a new development.
So through that, there's a scoring system now where infrastructure enhancements like
raised crosswalks, pump-outs, refuge islands can help them meet the score they need to
achieve to satisfy the CDAS-TDM rules.
Then, of course, you know, there's earmarks and things like that, right, working with other layers of governance to try to find, you know, one-off solutions to very unique problems.
But we're happy to discuss with you more, you know, that specific location and some of the recommendations Molly and our team are developing.
And the reason to say, like, we've definitely been talking about the specifics, but I think the largest thing is we as alders don't have an understanding on the funding, what happens to the funding we ultimately vote for, what part of it's going to the projects, what ward those are going in.
So I think in the absence of it, we're left a big question mark when we have situations like that.
So trying to get more transparency is paramount.
And again, that's all I've got.
But it's something that when a situation like that occurs, it's like we need to move in a lot quicker and the neighbors are scared.
So thank you, Chairman.
All right. Thank you much.
Uh, again, um, I think that, um, CDOT's got to get a attitude of a lack of a better term
efficiency.
Um, I think that we look at stuff, um, and, and, and we think that with the level of resources
that are going in, that we should be able to get more done.
And the reason I say this is because I think if this was Cheeks Construction Company, when it really is Cheeks Construction Company, let's think about it.
You're the managing director at Cheeks.
We're the boards.
You're the managing director.
We think that we can get more done without adding additional resources.
We might have to buy some more concrete, may need to buy some more asphalt.
But we think that we should be able to get more things done.
You know, we got crews coming in early, stuff taking forever.
Those are the things I think that we get frustrated by because we know that if this were, for lack of a better term, if this was a side job.
For lack of a better term, if this was a side job, this stuff would have been long done.
And I think that we want to see that same level of effort and efficiency that we're seeing on the private side.
We need to see that same level of efficiency in the work that you guys are doing.
And I think that's where a lot of the frustration is coming from.
and people's dollars could go a lot further if we got a better sense
of a better level of efficiency because we see what you guys are doing
and we also see what others are doing.
And that's where I think the disconnect may be.
So I know you're new.
I know this is, you know, you've been here a few months,
but those are some things I think that we would all like to see get better
on that efficiency side and getting things done.
I know we may not have the proper matrices in place to do that,
but I'm hopeful that whomever – I know that Lori Lipson is you guys' deputy.
But we really need to start looking at how efficient the operation is,
how many potholes you guys are getting done, how many miles
or how many feet of concrete are being poured, how many squares.
These are the types of things.
And I think if you incorporate some of the other thoughts,
like, for example, doing grid-based concrete work versus running around the city trying
to tackle days outstanding, we may be able to see some of the things that many of us
are speaking of.
So know you, again, I know this has just been in a few months, but we all need to get better
at becoming more efficient so that we can produce more on behalf of the city residents.
So, okay.
Anything else?
All right.
Thank you.
All my eyes clear.
All right.
With that, you all are askew's and, as they say, subject to recall.
All right.
Subject to recall.
All right.
We'll let this committee stand at ease while we bring in our next department.
i had to save her you had oh good all right uh we have now before us the department of you
gotta change your name okay do it now you're dti okay all right uh department of technology
and innovation uh we're joined by uh director lucius um and his team we're gonna have a brief
overview by our council office of financial analysis after which i will go if you introduce
to staff and go directly into questions go ahead thank you chairman good evening chairman urban
vice chair lee and the members of city council this is chloe tumain with kofa i'll be presenting
a brief overview of department of technology and innovations fy 2027 proposed budget for fy
proposed budget. For FY 2027, DTI has a proposed budget of $34.41 million, representing a decrease
of approximately $42 million or a 55% compared to FY 2026 ordinance. Approximately 70% of the
proposed budget is funded through the Corporate Fund. Across all funds, personnel expenditures
increased by 34 percent and non-personnel expenditures decreased by around 77 percent.
In terms of staffing, the department has 144 budgeted full-time equivalent positions,
unchanged from FY2026. As of October 21, 2026, the department had a vacancy rate of 24 percent.
Moving on to the spending breakdown, the largest reduction comes from the contractual services, which decreased by $42.81 million, or an 85% decrease.
Meanwhile, personnel services increased by $5 million, or a 34% increase.
Looking at the funding sources, the Corporate Fund Remains Department's largest funding source
was $24.1 million proposed for FY2027. One notable change is that all the other local
funds that supported DTI and FY2026 have no appropriations under DTI and FY2027 proposal.
This slide provides a historical overview of DTI's appropriation by funding source,
For context, DTI was merged with Department of Fleet and Facility Management in 2019
to form Department of Assets, Information, and Services.
Departments were separated again in 2024, which explains the gap in the graph.
Finally, this slide shows DTI's historical budgeted full-time equivalent positions.
For FY2027, staffing remains unchanged as 144 FTEs, including 140 positions funded through
Corporate Fund and four supported by grants.
This concludes COFA's overview of DTI.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Chloe.
We will go, after you do your introduction of the team that's here with you and those in the box, we'll move into questions, beginning with, you want to jump in?
Go ahead. Go ahead, Director.
Good evening, everyone. My name's Nick Lucius, and I'm Chief Information Officer of the Department of Technology and Innovation.
Seated next to me is Melissa Clark, DTI's Head of Planning.
And in the box, we have Roderick Warren, Head of Delivery, Kevin Kirby, Head of Support, Bruce Coffing, Chief Information Security Officer, Isaac Ferrer, Network and Telecom Lead, Andre Johnson, Senior Policy Analyst.
Thank you. Just in general, and I know that if Audubon Villegas was with us this evening, what's going on with the ERP system?
sure thank you for the question chairman we broke out ground on our construction of the system this
summer with our with our partner who's doing the implementation of that and so we've finished the
first phase of that project and we're moving into more of the development cycles as we speak and we
We are planning on a September, I'm sorry, a summer 2027 rollout of the time and attendance
modules of that software that will roll out to city employees.
software that will roll out to city employees across all departments, so that's how we track
time. Okay, so all right, we've got the time and attendance model. You said we're constructing
this system. Who's actually helping with the implementation of this, of the system? How many
modules will there be? And is there like a timeline or a, I forget one of those, was it a
Gantt chart that kind of tells us these points and what the expectation could be through completion
and installation of the system in its entirety? Thank you for the question, Chairman. Sure. So
as a clarification, is it the vendor you're asking? Who's the vendor with who's helping us
with that? Yeah, who's actually helping on the implementation, and we haven't gotten a cost yet,
but I want to get to that, but I just wanted to get the first piece of it out. So the system
integrator is GuideHouse, and the program manager is the William Everett Group. Those are, the
GuideHouse is the firm that's building it, and William Everett Group is the firm that's helping
us program manage ERP altogether. And beyond the time and attendance modules, the other modules are
human resources in finance and budgeting. Those aren't on a schedule yet. We're planning those
ones out. We know they're coming after time in attendance. Some of the HR module will be stood up
toward the end of the year next year. And then the exact timelines beyond that are all subject
to things like the organizational analysis going on with those departments right now.
the technology we could flip on anytime so it won't be a question of when the tech is ready
it's a question of when the operations are are ready for supporting the new workflows
so you're doing a time and attendance module and
So you're doing a time and attendance module, and help me to understand, what about the basic
financial model? Because wouldn't the time and attendance feed into finance?
So the way that it feeds in, all the payroll costing is being set up to be an integration
with the old finance system. And then when we get-
whole why would why would we do that why would we do that well because the um we have to do things
in pieces you can't do it all at once um and so as we um as we brought in our vendor partner and
as we've looked at how everyone's done this you you do them in pieces um i mean we'll we'll we'll
do them one after the other no i understand it but why wouldn't you do the gl first i mean like
Like the GL is almost like the spine of the organization.
And then otherwise you're going to be making a bunch of journal entries into a legacy system.
And we've got a system that should be our basic financial system that our time and attendance should be feeding into that,
seeming that probably, I don't know, 80% of our spend is centered around time and attendance.
So help me to understand why the financial model, the GL, isn't done first, then the pieces that support the GL, like time and attendance, purchasing, budgeting, after you get the basics of the GL in place.
Chairman, so the way I'd answer the question is, I mean, I'll tell you what I think now and what I remember about a years-long process behind lots of people making these decisions that came to this point.
um but is essentially about money it was about that the time in attendance um was
was it's the one of all the modules that is most believed to save money.
It's most believed to, of all the efficiencies that we're going to achieve,
it's where most of the inefficiencies are today.
And it's also, the underlying system is the oldest
and the one that's at the most severe risk of breaking down,
the CATA system, the underlying time and attendance systems.
So between it being functionally the most in need of help
and also the area where we're going to achieve the most cost savings,
I think those were the biggest reasons around why it was put first.
That I can understand, but how hard is it to put a GL in?
I mean, it's like we have a chart of accounts.
I'm just a little baffled that we don't have a GL system in place
before time and attendance.
And we talk about the efficiency of the system
and we talk about the cost savings of doing this.
And part of me is baffled by what creates the cost savings
from this system that we may not achieve now.
Maybe it's a few timekeepers that we don't have,
but help me to understand the cost of savings versus the logical sequencing of financial statements.
Sure. So it's the tracking of city time is one of the big ones.
Better overtime tracking and better overall accurate tracking of city swipe ins and swipe outs.
that's where a lot of the cost savings expected to be on top of the timekeeping functions that
you mentioned and i do remember i mean a lot of discussions with um we at dti don't make
we at DTI don't make these decisions in a vacuum.
We, in fact, are not the main decision makers
of the operations of city departments
like Department of Finance, OBM, DHR,
all of who are at the table in ERP sequencing
and operational decision making.
And I know that when we first sat down
to talk about doing an ERP,
everybody was talking about doing everything all at once.
um and all of the advice that we got from implementers who do this cities who've done
this companies who've done this we're like you can't do it all at once that's the shock to the
system of the operations of of i mean all the people who are involved in rolling out the software
are the deputies across the city and all their teams who will be involved with testing it uh
validating it um spending some people are going to be spending more than half of their jobs just
working on um on this and so um um you know that was a lot of what was behind the way we're doing
it all the best guys uh yeah and i appreciate the line of questioning um director lucius you
mentioned not just the cost savings part but there's a cost differential in implementing or
actually building out the gl versus time and attendance would you be able either now through
the chair like um clarify what the cost of doing each one like if it was more expensive to do the
gl first what's the cost difference in that and the other because i think that's kind of what the
answer was as well um so alderman um we we know what the estimated cost of doing time and attendance
is because we've received um you know a bid and went with the contractor on it the other modules
we could provide estimates based on what you know industry benchmarks show um we'd be happy to
provide the chair just to get understanding thank you thank you um autumn lopez thank
you chairman and good evening uh commissioner to you and your team um anytime you get to
Any time you get to keep Isaac out of the house,
that's always a good thing, so thank you.
A couple questions, if I may.
There's about a $50 million change in your budget.
Aside from some of the personnel increases,
where did that budget evaporate?
Why did that part of your budget evaporate?
Thank you for the question.
Alderman. So that was the result of what we've done over the last few years at DTI is we inherited
a budget with IT line items and they were quite outdated. We spent a lot of time going through
our budget and modernizing just the way that we track our expensive and aligning them to the way
that we spend today. When we were done with that exercise in full this year, another thing that we
did in partnership with ovm is identify the impact of that spending and when we completed identifying
here's the spending and a lot of it's city-wide right a lot of it when we go we say this spending
this the microsoft give us an example that's a very vague sure we saved money yeah we the uh
every all our microsoft services um you know we we make email available to all city staff we make
file storage teams things like that all of our licenses and services that are for the whole city
were properly tagged and when we finished that with OBM identified that a lot of what was in
DTI's budget was more properly in finance general and more properly in citywide enterprise funds
so is that so that's technically not savings in this budget that's just being
rerouted to its more appropriate location correct
appropriate location correct can you provide through a chair what exact where exactly those
dollars went to went to and to which department yes we can do that thank you um 34 percent increase
in personnel costs um from 15 million to 20 million dollars um i've been a stickler on
raises for the past few days your department i've seen about four people who are now making on par
or more than the mayor of the city of Chicago.
I've found several raises that are in the $13,000, $17,000, $20,000 range,
a couple in the $25,000 range, one in the $46,000 range.
Who decided on those salary wage increases?
Allerman, thank you for the question.
All of the salaries reflected in this budget are according to OBM's salary schedules.
So we have a salary schedule that has a $46,000 jump?
No, we do not. And I'll explain what that is. When you see that in our budget, and I believe
this is true across departments, that is a position that was vacant last year. And so no one was in
that role. And the number that you see is the lowest range for the salary schedule. Then when
someone comes into that role, if they're a city employee in another city department and the way
that they transfer over they keep the same grade they're put in um the it grade at the closest
salary to the salary that they currently make so we have salary schedules where an incoming
chief information officer would be at 234 000 i'm i'm sorry i don't the question that's where our
that's where your department's it salary schedule is at yes okay yeah and we
yes yeah and we um again if if you when you see a jump like that that's not a person that got an
increase in their salary that is a vacant position where someone came in and is at a rate comparable
to what they were at somewhere else in the city so go ahead uh alderman just a question for alderman
Lopez. Did you ask where that particular position came from originally? Was it which department it
was in? So I have not asked that publicly, but that was going to be a through the chair waiting
for you at the end of this, because we're finding that many departments, to your point,
Alderman, are saying that these are just people who've been transferred from one department to
the next without showing us what their salary was in their old department what the previous year
salary adjustment was if there was one which there likely was because we saw raises last and
i will say preface this commissioner it's not just a u problem this is a city-wide problem
so we're going to be asking that through the chair that you provide and if an employee was
doing a transfer into your department from a different department what their salary was in
that previous location and what their adjustment was in the last budget before that while they were
in that other department um because again as i said previously it's hard for us to explain
to people when they see a position go from a hundred and nineteen thousand dollars in your
budget for a solutions architect to $165,000. That's almost unconscionable. It's, and I'm
all for getting raises. I mean, if that's Isaac's raise, it'll be it. If it's your raise,
it was, I appreciate when you guys fixed my office. So, you know, that's fine. But I think
fine but i think that we have a an issue here because the optics of this is that cpi is 2.29
barely two and a half percent the mayor's raise is capped at five percent and yet we're seeing
positions where people are walking in five digit raises so um i think that's going to be something
that we look forward to looking at and seeing what they have existed previously in this budget.
That aside, I also want to look at what you said last year,
which was you were talking about modernizing the Department of Law's case management system.
Has that happened?
Yes.
Is it finished?
the main project is finished and they continue to enhance it and probably will
always continue to enhance it yes does that include troubled buildings
in their case management i don't know um i'm gonna pass it over to melissa
thank you i believe that um and i'm sorry you are oh i'm sorry melissa clark head of planning
Thank you. All the divisions in the Department of Law were migrated into the new case management
system. So then it should be fairly easy and shareable for the Department of Law to provide
to members of the city council monthly reports of troubled buildings, where they're at, and however
else they track those cases? Alderman, I'll say, no, this has nothing to do with my position today.
I used to work in the law department. I used to work on troubled buildings.
I would imagine that there's activities that happen with the tracking of that work
that would never be in a case management system.
They may be in the courts. They may be in administrative hearing systems.
of hearing systems they may well the activity that i'm referencing commissioner is when's the
court date i would imagine that is something that's public who's the judge who's the attorney
and all of that has subsequently stopped flowing from the law department so i'm just trying to get
a sense of where that is we could get that to you through the chair thank you um ai and workflow
and productivity um we were just on the cusp of having this conversation last year um this was
before um skynet went into full effect here on planet earth and everyone got paranoid about the
use of ai but where are we with using ai to track productivity within our departments you know we
get lost in the conversation about swiping in swiping out tracking sick time tracking payroll
all of that which is important absolutely but i've seen technology out in the real world in
the universe that says that we could track what someone is doing how much time they're spending
on a project on their company computer are they getting tasks are they acknowledging tasks are
they working on tasks? How much of their eight-hour shift is spent on that task? Are they
multitask? All kinds of things that you could quantify and lead to more productive outcomes,
and especially after the conversation we just had with the last department, we'd like to know,
are we able or are we looking at technology such as that to assist our departments? Because I
think there's various levels of program usage for tracking spend and efficacy but I don't think we
have a universal application of that as a as a citywide corporation so what are your thoughts
so I'm happy to give you my thoughts on what are you doing
you my thoughts on how we're making AI available to city departments. So we have a new AI policy
that we rolled out to city departments to give them guidance and an understanding of how they
can incorporate AI into the work that they do. And along with that, we've purchased AI licenses
and made them available to city departments as well. Including city council? Because I've never
heard of that i'm sorry including to city council because i don't think i or any of my colleagues
ever heard that we have licensed our ai so you should have in your um in your licenses that you
have you should already have co-pilot chat available um for your use um and so we'd be
happy to um have we've we've been happy to have sessions and sit down with your office and show
you all the features of um what you have available to you all our offices please all right yeah and
then if you could provide us also through the chair um again going back to what i asked with
regards to what are we looking at in terms of scalable use of ai for employee productivity
through the chair absolutely thank you sorry andre thank you alderman lopez um alderman vasquez
back to back thank you for that uh yeah so while somebody wants to open the door for ai while
everyone else is concerned about actually people's identity you're watching banks where they're
getting raided by ai and taking everyone's identity we're government where we're supposed
to be protecting it can you share through the chair those guidelines and like i appreciate that
there's a want to try to do things in a quicker manner sometimes it feels like it's 1980 when it
comes to government um everything that my colleague mentioned as far as tracking systems you could do
without ai it's just automating things um but yeah how do you think through the protections in place
How do you think through the protections in place when you have something that's as concerning as AI is potentially coming into government?
Thank you for the question, Alderman.
There's a couple of ways I think about that question.
One is how we protect the city from the outside and then how we responsibly use technologies on the inside.
How we protect the city on the outside is, I can't overstate how important it is and how much attention we place on continually monitoring and protecting the city from cyber threats.
Cyber attacks are happening across the world.
Every organization is facing them.
And it's a full-time job for many people.
I think there's 20-ish, more than 20 people in the information security team that we have here in our team
who are keeping the city safe from the outside world.
On the inside, our AI policy contains guidelines and help for people on how to responsibly use AI.
um you know everything from um making sure that um you have accurate and um uh that that you have
people are responsible for the output of ai um and so making sure that we have a human in the
loop and that we always have someone reviewing the outputs um and that at the end of the day
um it's still this the workers of city government that are responsible for what we do sure um if
If you could, through the chair, share those guidelines with us similarly.
I appreciate protecting from the outside and how we look at it internal,
but I would say there's also a third one, how we govern it, period, as a city.
And I think what I've seen, not just in city government,
but you can go to federal government, it's a bunch of folks who have no idea
what AI is, couldn't tell you the difference between that
and a Texas instrument calculator, and then they've got to craft legislation
legislation for this stuff so through the chair would you be able to send recommendations of what
law needs to be written and what we should be taking on to make sure we're regulating as much
as possible what our city is going to be operating in you know not just government itself being
protected if you could share kind of what we should be working on you know like i we asked
this is a different department so i asked board of ethics what recommendations you have that we
should be doing you guys are the tech guys and so i think getting a recommendation from y'all
would be paramount sure we'd be happy to put something together okay thank you um in the past
year it has been clear the department of homeland security is accessing resident data despite
boilerplate language we have in place to prevent data sharing um we have concerns about our lpr
cameras everything that's in government and how the federal government can access it especially
when we are a welcoming city um how can we protect our residents data as well as the data we collect
here from being misused by the federal government um and actually larger corporations is there
different language you need we need to be integrating into contracts alderman we work
um really closely with the law department um when we um work on a contract um you know whether it's
dps um doing a procurement that leads to a contract or um you know sometimes we sign data
sharing agreements with other entities um we always work with the law department we always
work with the same group at the law department and we've developed over the years um a standard
template data protection rider that we um when we sit down with any organization it's the basis of
all negotiations and there's things that we won't um budge on and there's data protection items that
we require and so in those um in those terms are where all the protections are all the um requirements
of how they handle the data, delete data when they're done using it,
not sharing the data with any third parties.
I would defer to the law department any questions on the legality of requests that come in from third parties and how those are handled.
The law department would be responsible for any of that.
But as far as the contract and the agreements goes, they're very regimented and tight to make sure that the data is safe and confidential.
Okay, and I imagine as things are changing, updating with that language looks like to make sure it's catching up to everything.
Correct.
Okay. You mentioned earlier, I was really concerned because I think it's alarming when any budget gets cut by half or more. So I do understand that some of it is just moving to different departments. But I got kind of a two-parter. One, we also have multiple agreements. Like I remember Salesforce, we have like five different agreements rather than one consolidated one that might be a better way to move forward.
Has there been anything as far as progress related to things like that?
Yes, Alderman.
We've consolidated the Salesforce agreement into a single enterprise agreement.
And with all of the funds that are moving, the effect remains the same.
We have access to those funds through OBM.
And we have what you see in the budget and those differences, they don't affect our day-to-day
management.
And so that's not going to change how we do things.
And in fact, that makes it easier for us to combine a lot of these contracts into single contracts when we get our funding all in one place.
And then what we do is we work with those vendors to say, all right, this time around, everything's got to end on the same day so that we can have that be the first day of our new single agreement.
Yeah, because also related to Salesforce, all our different offices have different CRM still, as opposed to just one standardized system where you're paying for the bulk rate for everybody. So we're coming out of our own expense budgets to using Airtable or whatever systems we have. And I'm trying to figure out when we get to the point that we're all just using the same one.
Yeah, Alderman, I think so. I've thought about that a lot. We've talked about that.
We've talked about that in this setting and outside this many times.
I think that, so in years past, what were some of the things that we, I said, sitting
right here?
We're bringing in, so we've got resources, right?
First, we got a budget and then we got a vendor in place and then we have staff now who help
us out with this.
I think the next step is really a coordination with OEMC, that this technology is, it's their tech, right? We create the system and make it available for them, but decisions on what are on those screens, what would a CRM look like for you, that's going to really require them at the table.
and i'm not bucking responsibility we bill right there with them um and it's but it's got to be
something that we do in concert because we can't change their technology without them at the
driver's seat for clarity i kind of meant our ward offices are you saying like oemc has to be tied
into that or when we're actively using our ward office ones well it might be independent no i hear
what you're saying um and i think it's the question is to the extent it's an extension of the 311
system and part of the 311 system we you know there's it's like where does one end and the
other begin sure and actually that was leads into my final one which is how are we looking as far
as 311 and like modernizing we did a whole lot of work to get like um uh established times to get a
little bit up to speed to get more of the information there's the the difference between uh closing a
ticket and it being transferred over and the neighbors not having an understanding of that
Like, so where are we at on progress and like continuing to improve 3-1-1?
Alderman, we've been working all year with OEMC on a lot of those.
They're just really nuts and bolts fixes of integrations and making more information accessible to residents.
But I will say that the mayor's office is leading a kind of a whole of city approach to better resident.
of city approach to better resident delivery of services um and that um we've been really excited
to work with them i heard the streets and sand commissioner talking about earlier today um and i
have the same things to say um which is that they're really um i i think they're looking at
this the same way we do which is resident experience first um and that the technology um
All it is is supporting the residents' transparency of the services they're getting.
I would say, and it's not a question or a point, as I've seen with multiple administrations, including this one, putting that whole government there and not having any of the alders in the table misses a huge part of the equation because we are the front-facing part.
We have the complaint department through the front door, so if we're not a part of that conversation and there aren't any alders walking through what our experiences are like, it's going to be a big, gaping hole, even as good as everything else.
else might get updated so that's all i got thank you yeah thank you um travesquez i i'll echo that
i mean we we today and i think every single older person here would we we take we take in all of the
requests that walk in the door um look some some folks use 3-1-1 a little bit more than than others
do we log everything into 3-1-1 even if we get it as a phone call right because it is just like
calling 9-1-1 when you to report something if it doesn't exist in the data it it may as well not
exist um because we need to be counting everything um so yeah i would just encourage you yeah please
go ahead chair harris it's the also the reverse that the system sucks because if i'm gonna get
blamed for you putting something in 3-1-1 and it's not done then i should on the reverse end
be able to see that complaint when he comes in in real time.
So I think that there's something really horrible, and I've been saying this leading
all the way back to the Rahm administration, that 311 does not talk to us.
that 311 does not talk to us, and it's egregious, and it's criminal, and I still stand on the fact
that I think 311, if it's going to be effective, it has to work in partnership with us, and not
work just for the administration and the department heads, who many times do not even handle those
concerns, and they're canceled out. So again, if I'm going to be on a receiving end, and I'm saying
this because I'm pretty, I tell my community that 311 sucks. I have no idea unless I look
through a dictionary full of complaints to suffer through and to figure out who called 311 from the
8th Ward on a daily basis. So we have to find a way to make it talk to us. Other than that,
I could care less what happens to 311. It could burn up tomorrow. Thank you, Chair.
um alderman more did you have any questions
oh let me get these questions go ahead thank you i didn't know i was next
so you want a minute yeah give me a minute all right that's fine i'll ask a couple questions
i'm gonna fill the time hi nick um how are we uh you know just i know part of this is not you
it's the the 3-1-1 system and i think talking to um when he's here for oemc is the other
the other part of the equation because i think an ongoing frustration of all of us uh alders is
when 3-1-1s get put in and then they're closed without any real explanation and then the the
service is not completed so uh maybe you can talk about how how that how you're working with them
in terms of you know enhancements or you know rejiggering data mapping um and options uh within
the 3-1-1 system to try to address that that is a big frustration point for constituents especially
if they've put in a request for a pothole
if they've put in a request for a pothole something that they believe is a pothole
someone goes out and they uh they they survey it and then it surveyed oh it's not a pothole it's
actually a cave-in now it's transferred over to the water department but it's closed out
as if the work is done so then the constituent is just like this keeps getting closed out but
none of the work is getting done i don't understand and i'm why that is fundamentally
so hard to do in terms of if it's changing hands.
I know it's assigned to CDOT for an inspector.
The inspector sees it instead of being able
to close it completely, close it on your end,
but like reassign, that it's reassigned.
The closing action is not a completed assignment.
It is, I completed the review.
This is a water department issue.
Now it's been referred to the water department.
And you should, as a user at the end of the day,
you're the one placing the request.
You should be able to see that.
Thank you for the question. I will say as I've jumped in and gone into the rabbit hole with the departments of, you know, just sitting down with people and saying, what do you do on your end? Where do you put the information in? And what do you do on your end? Where do you put the information in?
And what I found is across the board in the departments that everybody has a step they
take and types things in.
And the challenge is standardizing the way that people do that and then working with
them to make, because not everything that goes in that system should show up on the
public portal for residents.
And so figuring out what those processes are and what does go out there and getting everybody
to do it the same way. That's the challenge. And everybody wants to figure it out. And the
mayor's office, their work right now is on a 90-day plan. This is one of the main things
that they're tackling. And they did ride-alongs over the summer. I wasn't there, but the way that
over the summer I wasn't there but the way that I heard about it was very much this question it
was like okay so you just to use your example like let's say you just finished this service
request and you put it in as completed but you didn't fix the issue and what are you doing what
are you putting in here and where's it going next I know that's what they're working on I don't have
the answer for you here today as to like how we solve that but I know that that's the example you
that's what everybody is working on trying to and it's the technology's there it's not a question
of whether it's possible it's more a question of how can you make it's got to be useful for people
and so if we just turn it on and then everything every residents just get a bunch of texts that
they can't make heads or tails of that wouldn't be good either so that's the the what they're trying
to do is do it right i excuse me i think that there's a there's a place for ai um in in the
conversation on this just with uh with a chat bot at the end of the day which is you know is this
complete and on both ends i hear what you're saying about you know not all of the information
should be view uh should be available to the to the public because there might be i mean to be
honest with you if you create the right pathways you you you're directing the traffic right on how
the responses go if you have your only options are to close this out transfer to another department
and then you leave a space for a note that says, okay, we've inspected this.
This is not a pothole.
We believe that this is something in water, transfer to water,
and then the next step goes over there.
So, I mean, it sounds very simple in our minds here.
I know that, you know, technology is one thing,
but it's also getting people to adjust to new technology as well, right?
so that's that is not lost on me is the the people who are on the on the other end of it
it takes training and it takes people buying in and and that's hard um you know it's the who
moved my cheese uh that sort of mentality we've got to we've got to find a way um to to show people
we've got to find a way um to to show people the advantages uh of doing that because i think once
we get rolling out we're going to save a lot of time ultimately um i had a i had a question for
budget uh that i was waiting for for you to come up um alderman moore when you're ready just give
me a wave otherwise i'm gonna keep going here for a second uh and then i'll jump over to somebody
else you ready you sure all right go ahead no problem uh all right all right right bring your
sleeping bag uh so um thank you all um definitely for appearing today and uh thank you for your team
and the work that they do uh special shout out to isaac and rogerick for um you know always being
there when we reach out and even when we don't um just helping our staff and i appreciate them so
much so thank you guys so much um one of the questions that alderman ervin had asked and
maybe you answered it and i didn't hear but i start i thought you i heard you started naming
the different modules he asked how many different modules are there and i didn't hear the answer to
that i just want to know the number sure thank you alderman for the question um there's the
time and attendance module. No, you don't have the name. I'm just talking about
the number of them. Right, right. Naming them was part of me helping
count them. Oh, okay. Okay, go ahead then if that helps.
Should we get it to you through the chair? Would that be okay? Yeah, you can get it through the chair
with the names. That'll probably be helpful.
And then my next question is, is I'm looking at these contracts
through July 31st,
2026 163 million and of that about 2 million black majority on which is less than 2% around
one and a half percent.
percent uh are we expecting more what's going on with that yes allerman thank you for the question
um that we we believe there's just lagging um payments that account for um why that would be
different from prior years we haven't made changes to our contracting structures that would lead to
that being so low so um and then i'll pat um listen do we have updated numbers that change
that percentage yeah because we're in what october and i'm at one and a half percent in october and
we're so yes and and we we do uh because of the way that our um just our payments are structured
sometimes things do come in at the end of the year and change everything um but i will pass it
to melissa for more details that's right so we do have some updated information um that brings us
through october it doesn't change it significantly overall in any of the particular categories
But to Commissioner's earlier point, we still do have over nearly $6.5 million worth of payments that are processing across all of our contracts right now, all of which align to the compliance standards that we have.
So, again, the contracting approach hasn't changed, and we are still processing a fair amount of payments at the moment that we do expect to impact the numbers in a positive way.
What's our targeted number for professional services like this?
It's a standard of 25% minority-owned and 5% women-owned.
Right, and we're not even going to hit near double digits in your time, correct?
So we're running as a total right now of over 30%.
So if we combine 25% and 5%.
Over 30% of, where are my calculations?
If we combine all of the diversity spend or the total inclusion purchases bring us
over 30% total when we combine minority-owned business
and women-owned business spend together.
Oh, in total, but...
Oh, in total, but so that African-American span, which is not really representative of what the city is,
and I know all the time we're not going to hit it, but less than 1%,
is there something that somebody's not reaching out to, or is there something nobody's bidding for?
Help me understand, because that just seems extremely low to me.
yeah all our minutes it's the the way that we um so from just a procurement aspect um
when we put it out for bid with the target market um everyone in the target market is mbe or wbe
um and then the um the it's a competitive bid right and it goes to the um things are scored
and they're done in evaluation panel um and so um but what we do is we use the target market and
then we use the um the sub the subcontractor goals to um incentivize mbe participation and
wbrbe participation um there's not things we can do within that um on individual um race
ownership and so what we we just use the this system with procurement to the best of our
abilities to get as much participation as we can are you is it is it coming through the procurement
department or is it coming through your department everything we do we do through procurement um and
then we may be the ones that do the actual evaluation um but we every package for every
procurement we does we do is um goes through procurement is approved by the cpo all right
can you provide through the chair um because you're saying we still got some your projected
that span through the end of the year,
you know, if you can provide that through the chat,
that'll be helpful.
Sure thing.
All right.
Thank you.
Good.
alderman O'Shea you have anything nope alderman wag is back yes but I think I
can get most of these through the chair one second please as I'm looking for my
questions here first of all I just want to say the city security team does a
great job having had some recent issues really had a great team coming in even
working on the weekend to try to fix some problems that we were having with some of the security
issues and the people that come out to the office as well just a good team there seems to be a lot
of coordination so i want to thank you for that looking at payments for vendors on technology
um do you have any issues with uh day-to-day payments for technology vendors and are we in
any position to be at risk for non-payment do we ever run late on some of the contracts that we
have alderman thank you for the question um sometimes we what sometimes when a vendor submits
an invoice we might not see anything everything in that invoice we want to see um and so our
contracts do allow us to um request supporting information and so i mean sometimes someone may
say you're behind on the number of days but when you look at the contract it says that we're allowed
to ask for this information and then the clock restarts um so we think we're within our our
contracts um when we do that um and but most of the time the vast majority of the time um we
we get the information we need in the first round and pay it right away okay
in the first round and pay it right away okay um when we're looking at it outside of do it and i
know we've had this discussion over over many years um do you now have approval authority over
those outside contracts where so for instance um buildings wants to replace hansen they go to the
ips 2 or ips 11 contract are you overseeing their contract and or are you participating in that
contract most of the time we oversee the contracts um and there are times that we um almost like
sublet out our contract for lack of a better word um and but it's still our contract and when
there's an issue we're at the table and um you know we make sure that the tech goes through our
security there are um a handful of instances where a department might have authority to enter into
their own contract um but for the most part we we do it for the whole city okay so um
i think i think the rest of this i can get in there do you um actually i think alderman moore
might have asked this but um as a side note did you guys work on the gunshot technology
that's being bantied about the pilots yes
so yes thanks alderman o'shea yes what i'll say on that is it's um departments often do pilots
of technologies um to try things out we um we are always involved when they go to do permanent
long-term contracts we'll do the cyber security review we'll do a lot of technical reviews
and a lot of times departments try out technologies before we get to that point
okay um chairman i think i have a bunch of other questions but i think they're better
off through the chair they're they're more detailed things about um the types of systems
the types of systems that we're using and some of the other vendors, so don't need to have them
answered now. We'll put those through the chair, make it easy on you. Great. Appreciate the time
tonight. I know you guys have been here a long time, so one more department to go, though. Yes,
and I promise not to ask too many more questions. I just have a couple. The Ernst & Young report,
Or, you know, we read that half of the city's spend is miscoded in the current financial system.
Can you talk about progress that's been made towards improving the IT around procurement data and spending?
Absolutely. Thanks for the question.
I read the report and saw that and have met with the procurement department, with CPO, and with Comptroller, as well as their teams.
team as well we have a data team we have teams who know the financial system as well too and i think
that um there's what i learned through that process is that um we have the systems in place
to tag all this spending it's not a pro it's not a situation as like hey we don't have the system
for it or we don't have the um the process for it what we have is um an old but workable financial
system that can capture the coding that you need to be able to track all the spending in the proper
way. Over time, out of necessity, departments and finance and everyone has had to tweak those
fields in order to track many different things that they have to track. And it's resulted in
what you saw on the Ernst & Young report, which is that, okay, well, now the standard ways to
track expenses that all organizations use, it's not the way the city does it because the city has
all these different things that it's been trying to track. Everything from, you know, grant projects
or like the, you know, the big COVID recovery, everyone was asking that, how can we track these
Um, everyone was asking that, how can we track these funds across all of the spending?
So anyway, I know there's a lot in the, into the weeds there, but, um, we've made a lot
of headway and understanding, uh, the, in diagnosing what the issue is and understanding
what needs to be put in place to, um, better track the spending over time.
And I think, I think that those departments have something in place now that they can
do this a lot more than they could before.
and we we have a pathway to be able to really fix that in the long term and it just really requires
I'll just say this last thing that like everything the technology fix is easy and then there's
another piece where every finance person in every department has to do something maybe a little
differently than they did it before and has to read through invoices and then understand what
is the code for this and put those practices in place and that's changed and it's it's not the
easiest thing but I that's what I can say about what we've learned about this um thanks for the
update I think the the last thing that I'll end with here is just sort of uh the wish list right
of like if you were a genie Nick Lucius an IT genie which I believe that you have the potential
for here believe in your team um you know when we're going out and looking for information from
the aldermanic side and that's you know where all of us are coming from um having the ability to
have everything that has been tagged to an address or a person right this is what erps are supposed
to do high in the sky um to make all these systems talk to each other but um if i want to see what
what the history of permits has been or violations for one address i know you can go to the city's
data portal um that's a lot harder to navigate if you are not accustomed to navigating the data
portal and then you don't know how to write reports and and um and run the the the queries
the the way that you need to um it would be great to have a system where you know we try
to create that in our offices uh where everything is
that in our offices uh where everything is to either an address or a person's name and every
address that's affiliated with that with that person um you know i hope long term that's what
we're working towards because that that level of uh accessibility of information i think will go a
long way to really cutting through a lot of the the red tape we put in our own way um but noting
completely that um change management should probably also be a position someplace um in the
city to uh to really uh what's the right term it's not just train people but it really is to
socialize um how the tools are actually going to enhance someone's day-to-day work at the end of
the day you you can have a solution to where you don't have to have the have to give the same
answer 20 different times because the technology that you have been using has caused this issue
um but i do want to do a couple of acknowledgments as well obviously we you know we love we love
isaac uh the the sdi teams that come out and do all the field work are great you know jimmy and
alex supports us here as well um there hasn't been a time where we at least in the 11th ward
have had an issue and we haven't had service come out um very quickly to do that and i know that
you've got a lot of pieces of equipment to keep track of um here at the city so really thanks for
your continued work um and you know keep keep erping thank you um with that we're going to
if there are no other questions we'll we'll uh stand at ease while we bring in our final
act of the night department of water management
order. Welcome, everybody, to the final hearing of the evening. Thanks for hanging with us. It
is officially 726, and we have with us the Department of Water Management. Before we
dive in there, we are going to have a presentation by our Council Office for Financial Analysis.
Adrienne Ruschel, over to you. Thank you. Good evening. Thanks for being here still.
my name is adrian russell they them and i am a data analyst with the council office
of financial analysis and i'm going to do a very brief overview of the department of water management
overview of the department of water management's budget for the fiscal year of 2027. so as you can
see the proposed budget is 783.35 million dollars 315.88 million dollars of that is for personnel
costs which had an increase of about 2.24 percent from the prior year the other 467.47 million dollars
is for non-personnel costs, which also had a slight increase of 0.08% from prior year.
This is 0% corporate funded. It is all funded by the sewer and water funds. For 2027, there are
recommended 2,501 FTE budgeted positions, which is nine more from last year. And as of October 21st,
2026 the vacancy rate was 16.83 percent on this slide we see both the appropriation and fund
breakdown for the appropriation categories you can see the biggest chunk is in the personnel
services followed by permanent improvements those are the two largest appropriation categories
for funds you can see that water and sewer fund make up most of the funding for this
and at 446.95 million dollars the rest coming from grants this slide shows the appropriations
over time starting in 2018 the largest jump you can see from 2025 to 2026 is in the community
development block grants and then lastly here are the FTEs over time as you can see just a slight
increase and all of that is coming from the local water and sewer funds none of it is from
the corporate fund as i stated previously and this wraps up kofa's brief overview
of the department of water management thank you uh next we're gonna
Next, we're going to introduce our Commissioner, Randy Connor.
He's got a...
Alderman Mitchell.
Go ahead.
I moved that we forgot a reading of...
Of a statement.
Oh.
I didn't say your...
I'll read it for you.
Okay.
Well, we'll go ahead and have you read your statement,
then you can introduce your staff, who you have in the box.
We'll read it by Sharon.
Yep.
So, good evening.
chairwoman lee and members of the committee on budget and government operations and members of
the city council again i'm randy connor commissioner of the chicago department of water management and
i am pleased to present our 2027 budget proposal in my time leading dwm i have seen the work of
this department change in ways i could not have predicted our mission remains the same providing
safe reliable drinking water maintaining the infrastructure chicago's depend on every day
but the challenges facing our city have changed and the way we do our work must change with them
Climate change, aging infrastructure, evolving water quality requirements, and the historic effort to replace lead service lines demand new approaches, strong partnerships, and careful management of public resources.
Our 2027 budget supports that work while ensuring we continue to deliver the essential services residents count on.
Water quality remains our highest priority.
DWM distributes approximately 750 million gallons of drinking water daily to 5.1 million people
through more than 4,300 miles of water main. We conduct more than 600,000 water quality analysis
annually and continuously monitor our treatment system in Lake Michigan to identify and address
potential concerns. Following years of research and consultation with the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, we completed our transition to an increased dosage of orthophosphate for
corrosion control in April 2025. Since that change, we have observed an average 40% decrease
in lead concentrations throughout the city.
lead concentrations throughout the city. This progress demonstrates why we must continually
evaluate our practices and be prepared to improve them as science and standards evolve.
We are also adapting to climate change creating increasingly intense storms that place tremendous
pressure on Chicago's century-old sewer system. When heavy rainfall overwhelms portions of that
system, the consequences for residents can be devastating. DWM is expanding its toolbox to
address flooding through targeted investments innovative engineering and partnerships
in partnership with the mwrd we are piloting two underground wing storage projects on the west side
together these facilities will provide nearly 1.7 million gallons of additional storm water
storage and are expected to provide flood protection for more than 2 600 homes businesses
and other properties during heavy rainfall the structures temporarily temporarily hold storm
water until the surrounding sewer system can accommodate its gradual release we are also
implementing our downspout disconnection program on the south side directing clean rain water toward
lawns and green infrastructure rather than the sewer system our citywide rain blocker and low
flow catch basin lid programs slow the rate at which water enters sewers during storms
while these measures may mean water remains on the streets longer keeping that water out of
overloaded sewers can help prevent basement backups no single solution will eliminate flooding
but these efforts allow us to test and expand approaches that can make a meaningful difference
for communities less service line replacement represents another fundamental shift in our work
with more than 400 000 lead service lines across chicago removing them as a massive multi-year
multi-billion dollar infrastructure undertaking we have modified two of our lead line programs
to accelerate replacement now under leaks and brakes program when crews determine that a led
service line break is minor and his initial repair can be avoided they can expedite homeowner outreach
and move directly to a full lead line replacement this approach eliminates the cost of an interim
This approach eliminates the cost of an interim repair while advancing our replacement goals.
With the goal of replacing led service lines at every licensed daycare in Chicago,
our daycare program prioritizes those in lower-income census
but will perform replacements for any qualified operator that requests one.
Committed to equity, we have worked with the Department of Procurement Services
to divide larger contracts into opportunities that are more accessible to minority
and women-owned businesses through the Small Business Initiative.
With most of our programs replacing both public and private portions of eligible-led service lines at no cost to property owners, sustained funding is essential.
We will continue working with our federal and state partners to leverage available resources and move this work forward as efficiently and equitably as possible.
Adapting to new challenges also means improving how we maintain our existing infrastructure.
Last year, I discussed pilot projects designed to improve our operational efficiency while delivering services cost-effectively.
Those pilots are now becoming established programs.
DWM's responsibility extends beyond maintaining today's infrastructure.
We must prepare for tomorrow's challenges while managing the costs and competing demands facing a major urban water utility.
Our 2027 budget advances public health, strengthens flood mitigation, improves operational efficiency, and modernizes the infrastructure Chicago will pass on to future generations,
building on the dedication of our employees and strong partnerships with the city council, community stakeholders, and other levels of government.
By investing strategically and remaining vigilant, responsive, and willing to adapt, DWM will continue to deliver the safe, reliable water and sewer services the Chicagos deserve.
thank you would you like to introduce your team in the box absolutely I'm
sitting next to me is a Marisol Santiago managing deputy commissioner of
administration and in the box we have Joe Vieira first deputy commissioner
John Gallagher, Managing Deputy Commissioner of Operations and Maintenance, Michael Grillo,
Managing Deputy Commissioner of Water Supply, John Williams, Deputy Commissioner of Contracts
and Procurement, Anthony Folata, Deputy Commissioner of Lead Service Lab Replacement
and Construction Services, Angel Hawthorne, Director of Public Affairs, Rachel Pimson,
Deputy Commissioner of Finance, and Brendan Schreiber, Deputy Commissioner of Sewer Engineering.
Thanks. And with that, we will open up the floor to questions. Chair Harris, did you want to go
first? I'm going first. Okay. I'm the oldest person here today. First, I want to start off
with thank yous. You all are one of our big, big users, if I could say, in the community because
I represent a couple of hundred-year-old communities. So I want to say thank you to
the commissioner for always taking my call at crazy hours, Joe, John Gallagher, Angel Perez,
Anthony Falala, and I got one more person, and I don't remember the names because I'm getting
horrible at remembering mentioning names, but I'll just say Barbara Williams wants me to tell you
thank you, everybody, for taking her calls in my absence and for taking great care of the
residents of the 8th Ward and Angel
Perez. I don't mention you Angel because Angel is
my ride or die. She'd be around the ward with me
all the time.
Angel Hawthorne.
Angel Hawthorne. I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. Angel, please forgive
me. Angel Hawthorne. I know your
last name. I'm sorry.
It's been a long day.
You know, long, long day.
So I thank you, Angel,
for hanging out with me all
the time.
I'm concerned about our
meters, the age of our meters, the fact that so many of our meters aren't functioning. Can you
kind of talk me through what's happening with our meter program?
what's happening with our meter program, the reliability of our meter program, how many
we have, we feel that we need to repair, how many we feel aren't functioning. It becomes a really
great concern. I'm having more than normal amounts of pop-up about oversized bills. So when somebody
goes from wow my bill's five hundred dollars now all of a sudden it's five thousand so uh that was
one of my latest conundrums with one of my residents yeah um absolutely chairman so first
of all thank you for that question and um i just want to start out by saying that um the inspector
general did an audit of our meters um and it was said that if the meters are reading the correctly
the way they're supposed to be reading um they're reading at about 85 right now um the part one of
the primary causes of the of these readings is that some of the the battery life from these
meters are just starting to go out okay and so it ends and we have so it's time to change the
batteries out as well as the transponders and the transmitters we're currently in the process of
putting out an rfp to change out the meters as well as the read system and that's currently in
procurement right now um in the event so that should be coming out relatively relatively soon
to be able to replace those meters and the as well as the transponders and try to figure out
what the new read system will be. Yeah, that's it. So, so have we determined where the 15%
of the meters that are there a smart meter now? I mean, so that you all would kind of know,
or have we determined where the 15% are? So we just know that it's citywide and that we are
trying to you know just we understand that these meters at the well that the batteries and the
transponders are starting to go out again the meters are fine right right it's just again the
batteries and the transponders they've reached the end of their useful life um so it's a city-wide
issue it's not just relegated to one part of the city it's one of the issues that we're having
citywide and i say that on the back
And I say that on the back end, because finance tends to not, although I don't see it's your issue, where finance tends to say, well, you got to pay this bill. This is what they say you have to pay.
So it becomes a real time issue for us in terms of figuring out with water and figuring out where the problem is, that it's actually something wrong with that or is it something wrong in the person's home?
it's just a lot for us to manage now so and it's it's I used to have one-offs but now again and I
want to say it's probably the age of some of the metered accounts in our community when we started
giving everybody meters I think we were the pilot program for that so so I hope that we become the
pilot program when we start replacing some of these the systems with the batteries absolutely
odd woman point of information alderman mitchell thank you i'm sorry um clarify the uh the the
the 85 is it 85 accurate reading or is it 85 of the total amount of meters it's 85 of accurate
readings so of all the meters we have in the city they're reading accurately at 85 85 of those
meters are reading accurately okay from the 15 have you guys determined what i know you mentioned
battery life and everything any more potential uh issues causing outside of the battery and some
that are estimated bills right and then once we um then once it's it's able to system is able to
read it you know then we get a true reading um but we work with the department of finance well
on those to go out and we inspect the meter change out the meter and whatever we have to do
to make sure that the meter is reading correctly and we take the other meter back and test it or
whatever the case may be and then we work with finance on what that bill adjustment may be
be okay thank you do the newer meters um flag abnormalities like all of a sudden there's a
toilet that doesn't have the the flow thing going right now that's now they're they're going through
a lot more water than they typically do so i think one of the the biggest frustrations i have
with water issues is when when we get a constituent that comes in and like they've got a bill now for
like you know ten twelve thousand dollars when they were paying uh some much smaller amount and
you know the the gallon the number of gallons of water that the bill says that they've gone through
would have completely flooded their home um to so sort of to no fault of their own or
or you know needing to establish where in the line uh there might be a leak it doesn't seem
like we have much relief for people um in those cases i know alderman lopez is probably gonna
have some questions about this um but that that is something that you know because you you
sympathize uh for the constituents at the end of the day um it just seems to me that as we're
getting smarter meters there should be some way to signal to somebody that something something is
going wrong here before all of that is sort of built out or some grace be extended there alderman
lopez go ahead why thank you chair and good evening committee and commissioner and members
of the department i can't imagine what i'd have to say about water meters with this department um
but i do know that there is such a thing as faulty water meters it's undeniable
as much as the department denies it and hearing even tonight that we have an 85 accuracy with
water meters that really opens the door the floodgates if you will to the question thank
you i've been holding on to that one all day um hey i got the environment with the go green paychecks
at the environment with the go green paychecks the other day um but the issue that we have is that
what used to be a rarity is now becoming more and more frequent with the department its readings and
the mystery billing of what we allege is as what the law says if it flows through the meter you
have to pay and we have example after example after example uh from wards all throughout the
city where you have meters connected to nothing vacant buildings that have meters where bills are
being accrued where no water possibly could have gone through them and to my colleagues
who've asked about the red flags yes they're supposed to be flags they're supposed to be
notifications sometimes it's on a bill sometimes the bill goes to the wrong location it becomes a
fight between water and finance comptroller versus commissioner and all the while the ones caught in
the midst of all this madness are our seniors our homeowners and property owners people on fixed
income who are literally having strokes at the hands of the city of chicago when they get a
quarter of a million dollar bill still increasing penalties every month on something that all
parties agree couldn't possibly exist so i would hope commissioner as you're getting ready to issue
an rfp for battery life that we're also thinking about what do we do to ensure that we're actually
getting the truth from our billing um we've seen where both the water and sewer funds
are growing are making more money probably the most profitable enterprise funds that we have
second maybe to the airports um but i want to make sure that that money that we're generating
is real it's legitimate and it's for actual water being used um a couple things i want to touch on
first off i want to thank your department for returning to the back of the yards community for
the block level lslr replacement we had issues during the height of some of the immigration
fears where people didn't want to participate and you could very easily have just moved on
but we came back and i think uh your teams have been doing uh a great job to ensure that we're
participating and getting that participation um as well as in canaryville where we're doing
multiple things um and i'm i and my residents are grateful a few hiccups but to be expected
i could live with that but they're all going to be happy in the end um we were promised
10,000 replacements this year.
We're roughly at eight?
That's about right.
We're about 8,000.
Why the disparity?
What's the issue preventing us from hitting the mark
that was promised last year?
I think that what has happened
is there's a couple of things.
One is weather.
During the winter, we can't install them
unless the temperature is a lot higher.
I think it's 19 degrees.
then the other thing is we're also trying to figure out how to bring on more contractors
and try to get more work done but then also we're also looking at how we're doing our work and how
we're doing our installations to try to to ramp that up we're on track to hit our 10,000 by the
end of the year so we're still pushing with that being said the plan is 12,000 for next year
I do believe so 12,000 or 15,000 I can't remember off the top okay we could go with 15,000 we can
over 12 how about 12 500. compromise with the difference um do you anticipate being able to
Do you anticipate being able to onboard more of those contractors to do that work, one?
And two, are you allowing for waivers or anything in order to get people onboarded to avoid any kind of MBE, WBE issues?
So we are looking forward to onboarding more contractors.
As you know, in the past, we've reduced the insurance and the bonding requirement from 100% to 33%.
we're doing our outreach especially to the african-american community because we've heard
their cry about um about them not being about them being blocked from doing work because
requirements are too high so we're still working with them um we're also looking at increasing our
mileage on our water main on the water main side because the more mileage we do the more led service
lines that we're able to do same thing on the sewer side and same thing with the with the block
levels um we don't anticipate having to give waivers that's something that we work with the
department of procurement services on so i i don't anticipate giving waivers um but again that's a
conversation for the department of procurement services i think i would also make a greater
emphasis at this point not just ensuring that we are incorporating african-american contractors but
quite literally all hands on deck not losing absolutely i know we have a number of both
latino as well as asian contractors who kind of been squeezed out yes or have stopped doing city
work so i think we need to also aggressively go after some of those folks as well to bring them
back in the fold um notwithstanding the equity of the situation but the fact that we are in a time
crunch absolutely i agree with that and i apologize i should have said we've reached out to everybody
it's just that we've just had more meetings with the african-american contractors um so we're i i
will take fred flintstone and barney at this point as long as they're licensed plumbers to be able
to do this work because we understand the mandate that's out there just to be able to get this work
done. When we look at the department.
the department as a whole aside from the work that's going on we can um one of the issues that
i've been bringing up through all departments and i'm sure if you've been watching you've seen me
bring it up uh the amount of salary and wage increases that we're seeing the personnel
increases um particularly for non-covered employees um all of us here are capped at 2.29
percent the mayor's capped at five percent and we're seeing uh for some of those individuals
and those classifications raises raises ranging from 13 000 18 000 18 000 22 000 25 000 um with
a number of employees now almost giving the mayor of the city of chicago a run for his money
equaling or surpassing him were though were those your recommendations or were those the
recommendations of OBM? So DWM did not request any unscheduled salary
increases for 2027. The salary increases that you sort of reflected in the book
are generally a combination of the COLA that the employers receive along with
scheduled step increases and the infrastructure departments such as DWM,
CDOT, and DSS on an adjusted schedule previously established by DHR that more
appropriately accommodate the management responsibilities of that portfolio. And the
other thing is, if you take a look, the 2026 rates noted in the book in the appropriation
is actually the January 1, 2026, rather than the updated adjusted rates that went into effect in
June of 2026. So what you're looking at is two COLAs and two step increases, and that's what
that that big difference is along with everything else that all the other departments have said
well i think after about 13 hours of me that's asking this question they finally gave you
they finally gave you the prepared answer
to be ready for it.
Because that was such a spontaneous answer, Commissioner.
I appreciate that.
I want to actually, if I may,
recently had conversations with your staff,
where she is.
Jessica and company came to the office,
got to play with my dogs,
But they highlighted a system where your department is able to track job costs very specifically.
And I was very intrigued by this because that's been something that I, as you probably remember throughout the years,
have always asked, how do you quantify the cost of delivering various city services to the taxpayers?
taxpayers have this myth that things just magically happen but there's no talk costs
associated with that um can you one can you explain that system and two is the systems
that you use both in terms of that but also in terms of communicating between departments when
it's not a dwm job but a c dot job or something else are those various systems and applications
transferable between departments? Because your department could actually teach a few others
how to manage their costs effectively, responsibly, and identify when there's
unexpected price increases for whatever reason. And a couple departments today couldn't answer
that question. Thank you for that question, Ottoman. So we have the EAM system where we
actually track our actual costs, whether it's manpower, commodities, whatever that may be,
overtime with the amount of fuel that we use the trucks all of that um and then that is derived and
goes into the system it gives us our exact cost so pretty close
or pretty close what the cost of that job would be.
Right now, currently, we
do share that system and we're working
with 2FM
and I think we're going to, with CDOT as
well, on how to use those, use
the EAM system.
So there's a way for us to be able to
put that into play with them. And what does EAM
stand for?
I'll ask you through
the chair. I'll get it.
And then, I'm sorry, I lied. I have one more.
The list of
3-1-1 requests and fulfillment times that you provided this year.
A number of, quite a few of the categories, the average days is growing.
Whether it's service cleanings, things of that nature.
What's driving that increased time in service delivery?
So it's a few things.
So every day we look at our manpower.
And so, as you know, the trades get six call-in days.
I'm sorry, you get a total of 12 call-in days now,
plus the balance for their vacation days.
So we have to balance that.
People there on FMLA, things of that nature.
But one of the other things that's really driving this
is when you look at the system itself, these are the CSRs.
We work off the work orders.
And these tickets, as we can take, if you can think about it like this,
the ticket that you see in 311 is the parent ticket, right?
So when that parent ticket is opened, we go out and do all of our work and then that ticket does not get closed until our work orders are finished.
So that means that if it goes from a parent and it touches four other hands, that parent ticket does not close until that last ticket is closed.
But wasn't that always the case?
It's possible. That part I'm not sure of. I just understand how the system works now.
It's very possible that I can get you that information through the chair.
Thank you.
thanks very much uh alderman moore did you have anything
How are you doing, Commissioner?
I'm good, Audiman. How are you?
Thank you.
I'll work my way over.
Let me start out by thanking Sherron told me to put at the top of the list, John Gallagher.
But I thank you because Sherron is like, she does and handles infrastructure.
I know she calls on you all a lot.
And I just want to say thank you so much for always responding to her needs.
She's definitely a workhorse, and she, you know, really rely on you as well as the 17th Ward and myself.
So I appreciate you all so much.
I want to thank Joe Vieira, Angel Hawthorne, and Anthony Fulada.
We've been doing a lot of, as you know, lead pipe replacement.
And when they come out to the community, they really explain and help our constituents understand and are patient with them in answering their questions.
And I just want to say thank you all so tremendously for doing that and making sure that, you know, we're able to do that.
Because it also helped us get some additional streets when we get the residents involved.
So your team has been great with that.
I want to touch on it
but touching on that and then you sort of
answered it I think
with I think it was
Alderman Harris who talked
about it because not a lot
but I did get a couple of calls after some
meters were
replaced after some
after some replacements
but then we also told people go ahead and get it
make sure you get a meter and about
a couple of people because I always
would tell them that I promise you your rates are
going to go down. You're going to see a difference. A couple of people said they went up.
A couple of people said they went up, and again, not a lot,
but I think you explained it here, but I just wanted to be sure
so I can understand how you are working that 85% accuracy rate,
and so there's a 15% discrepancy.
How are we working that through again so I can fully understand?
I'm going to hear the last part one more time.
The 15% that's not reading accurate from what I'm understanding.
How are we working that through?
I mean, so again, it's a matter of trying to figure out exactly what needs to be done from this point, right?
And we recognize that there is an issue, and we're working through it by trying to put this RFP out so we can get a new read system as well as metering.
and just and as uh vice chairwoman asked said to make that question about what kind of indicators
would be in there we want them to put everything in there that could possibly make this the most
robust system that we could possibly have after talking to different cities and what they use
different companies um they've given us ideas on exactly what they use and how they use their system
from from leak detection to being able to actually shut people's water off from a button a push of a
button to slowing down the flow just all of those different things so we want to make sure that the
system is is that robust so that way if there's an issue people can actually go in and into their
own account and say yes I can see where my water bill went up because I watered my grass more on
this day or whatever the case may be they'll be able to look at that and whatever parameters we
set it at whether it's every three minutes every three seconds every 30 minutes whatever however
they want to look at it they'll be able to tell whether where their bill spikes are okay and in
the meantime where we're seeing them spikes especially after a new water meter is installed
and if they send those spikes uh how are we communicating with the water department on
the revenue side the collection side if you will and your department versus when we send somebody
in your department versus when we send somebody down there and them not hearing well it it had
to be your usage so how how we're working with is there communication yes so that you know so
every resident um should be getting in some type of alert in their bill to say if there's a running
continual code or whatever the case may be um our communication with the department of finance is
um we work with them if there's a the bill is high and we go out and change the meter test the
or do whatever we do the department of finance they know that we're doing that because generally
it's a conversation between finance and water about what we're going to do and it's part of
that inspection and then from that point it's it's kind of determine what the next steps would be
through the department of finance okay and then and then when we're doing those replacements the um
re re re restoring storing their grass and stuff like that um so we can't keep coming out is that
on our side or are we hiring somebody private to do that so for the meters themselves if they're
inside there is no restoration if we're going to no no for the layer pipe oh i'm sorry i apologize
um so the restoration itself is all it's contracted out it's contracted out how many
different people do we use do we use one contractor for that or i would have to get you that through
the chair okay and and who's going through someone on our team supposed to go behind that contractor
and check off before we close it out who's responsible for doing that yes um so you know
one of the things that i think i mean you i talked about this in 2024 when i came back by creating
this division of restoration um so we have city people who are actually out there doing restoration
and people that are actually overseeing the contractors doing it,
but we also have resident engineers as well as project managers
that oversee and sign off to ensure that the work has been completed.
Okay, yeah, because I'm seeing several callbacks on that,
and either they didn't put enough dirt rock or something.
and either they didn't put enough dirt rock or something to raise it up.
And then what type of grass seeds are we using?
We are using hydro seed.
Hydro seed?
Hydro seed.
I'm sorry?
Bird seed?
Because they were saying that type of seed, whatever it is,
are you hearing that there's a lot of weeds in there?
Are you getting that feedback?
We've heard that.
this is a design it's the state design that we use um so it's it's whatever that design mix is
but we always tell people though if it's just like anything right usually you get the weeds when you
don't water it properly right but when you water it correctly and actually take care of it the
grass actually grows back relatively thick all right well thank you and i appreciate all the
work you guys do and um thank you all all of you all for always being responsive um to our war so
that we can you know get on top of things um quickly so i truly appreciate it did you have
a point of information yes if i may with a point of information with regards to what my colleague
just mentioned about restoration municipal code says that we have to restore the parkways to
whatever they were. So if there was Parkway grass, why do our departments not return it with
grass seed and not hydro seed? You would rather have the hydro seed instead of grass seed because
the hydro seed actually has fertilizer in it as well as the mulch to actually hold it down
and hold it in place. Regular seed won't stay in place. Grass seed, generally speaking,
is 85% grass seed,
where hydro seed is 15% grass seed.
And reading the label, again,
it's the mix that's designed by the state of Alabama.
It's also part of the whole procurement process.
it's a lot there's a law trump procurement process so i am not a lawyer as well i don't
work in procurement they only tell me what the contract should be so i would have to defer to
procurement office as well as the lawyers here in city hall we'll save that for her okay uh i'm
gonna go over to vasquez next and i'll come back to mitchell after that thank you thank you very
much uh joan um okay uh how dare you you guys are great trying to get to the questions or else i'll
give you the whole accolades um but thank you for the work uh last year we saw a large budget
increase driven by federal disaster relief funds for stormwater infrastructure construction and
maintenance and it looks like this year's budget proposal largely maintains those levels uh how
much of that federal money was actually spent last year and how many years do we expect to see these
projects continuing. Is that the CDBG money? I believe so. I'm going to refer to Joel Vieira
to answer that question. Thank you, Alderman Joel Vieira, first deputy here in the water
department. So we received a substantial sum of money in CDBGDR money for basically five
buckets of programs. One is the biggest component is sewer main replacement with
lead service side replacement. We're also doing sewer cleaning. In addition, we're
also doing wing storage projects and we're developing a west side tunnel. That
funding just became available because the grant with HUD was executed just
earlier this year our work can't start till we actually start the designs so we've already
started the procurement for that we're doing it kind of in two phases we're doing our traditional
doing our traditional procurement, which we've already, we already have three of those projects
with procurement. In addition, we're also working on a pre-qualification that is going to streamline
the procurement process across the board. And we're starting with the sewer projects.
And that's because this funding must be used up by June of 2031. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very
much for that um next uh there's a new 3.4 million dollar appropriation this year for msd user
charges is that something we were not paying before and if so what changed so that is actually
for our combined sewer overflows is something that is uh that's mandated by the state as well
as part of an agreement between friends of the river and some other agreements um it's something
that was added this year so we'd be able to keep up with those permits okay thank you um i'm not
trying to bring out a prop but i will for my next question so earlier in the year i had to go direct
traffic at argyle and western due to water main work which is necessary work absolutely necessary
work as a lead service line replacement but it impacted the traffic in such a way that i had to
go out there in the middle of the street to direct traffic myself because uh the contracts
related to what the contractors are able to do only allows them to be on site to address something
with flaggers but not anything else that might be impacted by that work if it's not on the site
so it's unacceptable i think you know most city council members are not going to be on the middle
of traffic especially on western trying to direct it what's a better solution for that is it changing
the contracts so that the contractors do have flaggers that are further out is it hiring staff
to just direct traffic in those instances where the construction is leading to that
what would be a proposed solution because it was extremely frustrating not exclusively with
this department but multiple departments pointing fingers at each other and no one taking the
pointing fingers at each other and no one taking the accountability on how to address the issue?
So I think that, thank you for that question. I think that it's a conglomerate of a little bit
of everything, right? I think the one thing I do want to caution is that certain contracts don't
allow for that, as well as certain funding does not allow for that, right? So we have to be very
careful about that. I think that, again, that we can have conversations about what it looks like.
so for instance how like the um the traffic control things of that nature you know we can
all of our traffic control everybody's traffic control is approved by cdot right so it's and
it's also a part of a bigger uh state um approval process depending on where it's at so i think that
you have to get a lot more people involved to really talk about how to work through that problem
yeah if you could do the chair kind of um send a list of like a recommendation of what that group
should be like which members from departments should be the ones kind of at the table or in
an email chain and like start those conversations because it's not like i think anyone's trying to
avoid the solution more than to your point multiple departments and there needs to be a
little more cohesion there um so yeah i appreciate that absolutely um similarly uh or not similarly
but interdepartmental question so the bureau of forestry right now is being used uh you know to
take down trees potentially when water main or sewer work is being done what's the cost of that
labor and who's ultimately paying for it um i can get you the ultimate the cost of it um but it's
anything that's water related we have set up funding for them to be able to use it so is that
as a follow-up you're paying for the funding even though like my understanding is some of those
folks are now working overtime to do the work and the reason why i ask that is i wonder if it might
be a better uh use of funds or process to just have your own tree trim crew that water would
just pay for because then bureau forestry could have more capacity as we know they need on their
And as you also know, y'all tend to be better with money
than the rest of the city is.
So maybe y'all could put up some bank for that.
I can just kind of adjust it.
That's something we can,
so I know there have been conversations regarding that.
So I can definitely keep you in the loop
as that develops more.
Yeah, like I said,
I think it kind of solves two problems at once.
That way you guys have a dedicated team to do that.
And then Bureau can kind of have some more of their folks back
and kind of like figure out how to address
the overwhelming amount they got to deal with.
um uh last question i have is related to sustainable parkways so not an 85 to 15 percent
grassy question loosely but more we all know that storms are getting worse you all know it
more than most because you guys have to address the pressure that affects all the pipes that
continually are breaking because they're old um and yet there's opportunity for us to have more
green infrastructure right bioswales but to have sustainable parkways to just replace the seeds
that we have now for parkways and make them native species that don't need to be cut as regularly but
also have deeper roots that can retain water makes sense um in talking to i think with cdot earlier
um it seemed to be like there's a cost differential of maybe like four to six million dollars that
might be the cost to pay up front to get better seed but then you end up saving so much more in
the long run so how do you all view that because ultimately my guess is if we're trying to put it
together similarly we'll go back to y'all and go y'all have a little more funds to work with
so can you put in on some of this to make sure we can get a better solution in the long run that
hopefully makes it somewhat more bearable with all the storms that are happening yeah so also
that's a great question um again i think we have to look at a lot of different ways to be able to
deal with the storm water right um green infrastructure is something that is it's it's
a great idea in theory and because you unless you have somebody to be able to sustain it and
sustain it and maintain it right no matter what you put in is going to have to be maintained by
somebody and that's we're not a parkway maintenance department right right so i think that you have
to figure out who that would be who's got skin in the game who's going to put up the seed money you
know funny but but we just have to figure out what that's going to look like because the reality is
that even if you go and do some some work in the parkway you have departments come through and be
and try and do work and then you have to replace that what is the cost you know that that's going
to go and be added to the program as we see that cost of everything is starting to go up well and
that's that's part of what the conversation is similarly it'd be c dot y'all maybe department
of environment because when looking at the vacant lots for example using more native species there
that are kind of more maintainable then you're not paying for people to cut it down on a regular so
you could figure out costs it's just figuring out where the funding could all be cobbled together
to make that work, but also the case of how much
you save in the long run by doing it.
So trying to figure out
who all needs to get together so that we can
make that a priority
because I think y'all know
the storms ain't going to get lighter going forward.
I agree. And so anything that we can do to help
like we're more than willing to is just trying to get
everyone on the same page to focus.
So thank you for that. Those are all the questions
I have. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you, Alderman.
All right.
Thanks, Alderman Vasquez.
Alderman Mitchell.
all right um clarification on something earlier you mean you were talking about the barriers to
entry for minority contractors i'm sorry i'm sorry barriers to entry for minority contractors
um you one of the things i was looking for you did not mention lowering the the bid packages
is that part of the strategy um absolutely so we've actually debundled a lot of our um
uh our contracts to be where it is like for instance um i am a firm believer in if you
are good at coring apples you should be core apples and not pill an orange right so if you're if you're
pill and orange right so if you're if you're good at plumbing work you should do plumbing work not
restoration so we've actually been able to debundle that and be able to say hey you know what um abc
plumbing you go in and do the the the plumbing work and then we'll take care of the restoration
okay all right good um you can provide through the chair the current breakup of the contractors
right now the current makeup of mb contractors okay yeah get you that um lead service pipe
replacement uh you guys we're talking to you and talking to joe we've had a lot of our constituents
report leaks um and you guys have responded to them can you talk give me a little indication
if not we'll continue conversations um that why i mean are we seeing just shoddy craftsmanship
What are we seeing so far?
So I think that it's a combination of a few things, right?
It could be shoddy craftsmanship.
It could be just be the material itself.
It could be a bunch of things.
It could be where they're just rushing and missing some things.
We've had conversations with these contractors about that.
And to the letter of the contract, we have ways of being able to hold them accountable.
And I think we've started doing that to ensure that they're actually doing the work they're supposed to be doing.
Because it's a two-year warranty, right?
Joel, I think there's one.
There's one-year warranty.
Okay.
And then, of course, the one-year warranty resets if you have to go back.
Okay.
I wanted to make sure I was clear.
Are the same repeat offenders?
Contractors?
I mean, they're all the same contractors everywhere.
So, yes.
Okay.
Okay.
We might, because a lot of these properties, particularly in my ward,
are owned by seniors,
they don't go it's very rare to look into the crawl space or in anywhere like that so it could
may very well go past one year so i think we might want to look at something a little longer
a little longer than a year for them to to realize that there may be a leak or something
because both my constituents didn't find out because they found a mold they can't sign them all
so i want to make sure they're protected um with respect to that um okay um want to put on the
record we we uh ottoman lopez bought up the the uh what's it called the hydro c all right
i had already done some work on this so the hydro c is classified as idot class 1a and they refer
to it as the salt tolerant lawn mixture and it's supposed and they put it on the side of highways
because it withstand the salt that's not necessary for for uh our parkways and i think i might have
had this conversation i've already done we did we talked about this yeah we talked about this now
and I think my pushback was
as much salt as Streets of Sand puts down
in the wintertime, you need
that type of seating in the parkway.
The problem is when we
have the people with these manicured lawns,
they want, you know, and I've done
it, we picked out the Field of Dreams
for one particular contract that we
work with, and it's absolutely beautiful.
And they were happy about it.
So, yeah.
Joe,
because we had this conversation,
can you
refresh my memory when we when the the with with with the loan came through finance committee
did we have stipulations built in to our support of it with respect to making it more uh having a
bigger effort for minority contractors and things like that was that part of what we were talking
uh thank you for the question alderman so the wiffy alone uh was executed in 2024
it's 336 million dollars technically under the contract we have to spend all the money by march
31st because it is federal government march 31st what year mark sorry march 31st 2027
sorry, March 31st, 2027. So because it's federal funding, we're kind of limited in terms of like
what participation we can include in those contracts. Okay. Are we going to make it for the
27th date? So we actually have a working group, myself and Rachel, who's right behind me. We have
a working group that meets every 30 days, every 40 days to check on the spend. So we are, I think
the spend is 280 million so far, so we're close. We'll be able to meet that threshold. If we don't
meet it, the US EPA gives us a one-year extension. You have to fill out some paperwork, but we should
be okay. WIFIA is just one of the assets we use in our arsenal. We, through the CFO team, have
already started discussions with US EPA on potentially the next round of WIFIA. Okay, okay.
all right well that's really odd but you get i talk to you guys all the time so
but budget hearing is not a big deal to me thank you guys for work with my staff i know they have
good relationships with you guys and um let's continue to do good work thank you thank you
thank you chairman alderman wag is back oh did you have a point of information alderman cruz
you just want to you're on the list go ahead alderman no go ahead all right uh good evening
everyone um just some quick questions and the rest i'll send through the chair what is the
estimated total cost of the 10-year condition assessments for the two purification plants
and the pumping stations i can get you that through the chair okay um something that we've
seen a few times uh does who signs off on the water department requests for permits to do work
We'll say it one more time.
I'm sorry.
Which department signs off on water department requests for permits to do work?
permits to do work? So our permits, it depends on what work you're talking about. So if you're
talking about just regular work in a public way, it will be CDOT. Okay. Is there a gap in the time
that they are taking to sign off on these permits? Because it seems sometimes that
we get an email back and somebody says, we're waiting for CDOT to give us the permit.
So is there ever any delay there that you're seeing from CDOT? So I do know that they have
changed their permitting process a little bit and so we're trying to work through the bumps
um of that so um we are having conversations with them to try to to try to make that transition a
little bit smoother okay could you um uh i think if there's room for us to help with that it would
be helpful to know when we're having those issues more often um you know we'll get a information
from somebody in the department that says, well, we've been waiting for CDOT to complete the permit
review, and it just seems like it takes for weeks, if not months sometimes, and unnecessary delays.
So any way we can help with that, let us know. On contractor oversight, when you monitor private
sewer cleaning or main replacement contractors, how do you rate them and what penalties are applied
if they are um and collected by the way for late or poor restoration um year to year so um the
resident engineer or the project manager or the inspector that's that's that's with them all the
time um they make note of that and that's something that we do through liquidated damages
and it's and it's and it's cumulative um but usually by the end of the contract is when they
settle up so if they have a three-year contract we wait until if it's 25 through 27 we have to
wait till the end of the contract yes sir okay well what happens in between when they're not
um are they are they all paying for those penalties are they trying to go to
those penalties are they trying to go to some type of appeals process or what happens there
so it's it what it does is that when once they're they're assessed the liquidated damages they do
have the right to take a look at it and come back and say that this is not what it was but it's a
process that goes through uh department of procurement through procurement yes okay and
just prepare procurement follow-up on these issues as well or um they generally they do when it's
a contract closeout time to make sure that um they can't close the contract or and go and
yeah they just can't close the contract until everything is signed off on okay um switching
over to well on the contractor invoices what is your average um days to pay on a contract
i'll have to get you that through the chair okay and then finally um well actually one more question
The DuPage water contract is an important issue here.
We finished up the Joliet and Five Suburban water one deal,
but the deal there three years ago now, I think, a little over three years ago.
And seeing a lot of issues with this DuPage water contract,
um they it sounds like they want to have a say in how the pipelines are maintained and
and the infrastructure what are we doing to keep dupage within our water system because it's my
understanding that 10 years out if we lose this contract now we're losing 130 million or more
per year in revenue water revenues that would come to the city otherwise to help maintain our
own system and to put money back into your water enterprise fund absolutely
thank you for that question so it's a an ongoing conversation and meetings this
back and forth with the Department of Water Management Department of Law
uh the department of water management department of law um the mayor's office dupage um and the
attorneys just kind of trying to figure out what this looks like and how we can keep them as as um
as one of our most valued customers um have there been some bumps in the road yes but i think we're
in a place where we're again we're continuing conversations to make sure that we can be able
to keep them on i hope so because that's a it was sort of like with the joliet deal i know
you know they want to have the right type of water billing that you know is more modernized and
um i just hope that we're able to keep that because that is a significant amount of revenue
every year absolutely um all right with that i just want to uh say thank you to everyone in the
box you got great staff there that literally come out and deal with some of the not just the
infrastructure issues but the resident issues in terms of how they perceive a project has been
done or not in their eyes talking about Mr. Falada there he's been out to quite a few meetings
Joel as well to deal with a lot of these issues Chris May and many other people that have helped
us work through some difficult moments and just want to thank everyone on the staff for their
continued efforts, especially during emergencies. You know, the guys who are out there in the middle
of winter and you see them working in a snowstorm, you know, a foot of ice, digging down, doing all
that stuff. I mean, it's absolutely incredible. And just want to thank all the workers on the
ground level for the things that they do to keep the water flowing at all your, well, the sewage
to but um preferably the water so thank you very much thank you ottoman thanks alderman
we'll go to alderman cruz followed by alderman coleman oh and uh and gutierrez i i i see i see
I see. I see. I mean, you did tell me you were coming back. You absolutely did. Alderman Cruz, please go ahead.
All right. Thank you, Chairman. I want to start off with thanking your leadership, Commissioner, and also your department.
You have an outstanding crew there, starting with Marisol Santiago, who is very responsive, who follows up to all of our requests.
So we're able to inform all of our residents because we receive, again, updates from your team.
But also, Angel Hathorin, love her.
Also, same thing, very responsive.
But also, I want to give a shout-out to Joel Vieira for always being there for us.
But also, Anthony Felita.
And also, between Anthony and John Gallagher, I have to say that I have learned so much from the water department.
department and I can explain a lot of things and understand a lot of things is because
they have been there for me and guide me through the whole process I do ask a lot of questions but
I think they know that by now but John has been there late hours you know looking at some sewers
look at some water issues so you have an outstanding team so I just want to make sure I
highlight that I do have several questions so I'll get started one of the first questions that I have
is why is why is it so expensive to replace the lead pipes in Chicago um that's a that's a great
question Ottoman so we've been looking at this um so our infrastructure in Chicago is totally
different than anywhere else right and when you start talking about the cost of things it's mainly
because of uh commodities and it's also labor right we have some of the most expensive labor
here in Chicago because of the unions um not knocking union because I agree with that but
that's one of the driving forces that as well as because of how tight our infrastructure is here in
the city of chicago as far as everything is on the ground there's you have to understand what
have to understand what method what methodology to use to be able to install the service line
itself so with that um commissioner so what is the cost between a contractor versus an employee
um like in-house sort of construction for for the line for the line itself yes um so the contract so
The contractor itself is probably, I can't remember off the top of my head.
I used to know.
I'll get you that through the chair.
So will you say that it's cheaper when it's done through city employees rather than contractors?
We're learning that it is.
It's starting to become cheaper.
Okay.
Will you say that if that is the case, then we will use more of our city employees to do this?
So I think that with the workforce that we have, it's difficult to go to more lead service line replacement because we still have such a massive system to maintain.
Now, we are doing it on our capital projects where we replace our sewer main and our water main, but everything else, our block level.
And we're also doing it on some of our one-off leaks and breaks.
But when you talk about block level and things of that nature,
we're giving those to contractors because they're able to get it done a lot faster.
So it has to be a balance.
Does that mean that we'll never get there where the city crews are doing block level?
No, that's not what I'm saying.
But right now, with what I have, with the employees that I have,
the number of employees I have and the amount of work that we do,
it's just a lot easier and a lot quicker to be able to get it done through contractors.
not only say that because it's like why wouldn't you know we hire more chicago citizens to do the
job and just give them the opportunity but you don't have to answer that that's why i'm kind of
going like how do we can leverage this opportunity to again hire more um more of our own residents
to do the work um the next question that i have is related
have is related to the, hold on, the apprentice program. So how many construction labor apprentices
are planned to be hired in 2026 and additionally in 2027? So we average about 25 per year.
And that will be the same for next year? It'll be about 25 per year, but over the life of the
program we've hired about approximately 450 laborers okay perfect the other question that i have and we
see a lot of frustration with our residents is the way the system that we have to get their bills
their water bills and it's on an estimate estimate and then there's a time where the meter gets run
and then now we have residents come in with high bills at times where like you might have a leaky
toilet we were trying to find like what could be the reason that but at times they're like well
why did it take so long for me to find out and now i have a huge bill that they need to pay are you
considering uh changing some of the systems how do we prevent from our residents getting this
estimates but then later having higher bills for them to pay so we actually have an rfp in
procurement right now uh to change out the uh the meters as well as the read system and within that
We are asking for all the bells and whistles of what it would look like to do leak detection.
So the residents can actually get alerts that they will be able to go into their own account
and actually kind of see where and pinpoint where the high usage was,
and they'll be able to know.
Okay, that will be greatly appreciated.
During your open statement, you talked about that we're adapting to new challenges,
which also means improving how we maintain our existing infrastructure.
and you talked about that there's two pilot programs
or those pilot programs are becoming established programs.
Can you talk about what are those pilot programs?
So one of the ones that have become a program is our catch basin replacement program where we're no longer rebuilding them in brick.
We're actually doing it where we are installing precast catch basins as well as manholes.
That's actually allowing us to shave about two and a half days worth of time and labor off of each location, which allows us to dedicate that labor and time to another project.
And that ties into my next question when we talk about scenting holes.
how do you connect with C-DOT in your department?
Because I just brought up this question to C-DOT.
Sometimes, you know, we know what is a sinkhole and what is a pothole,
but when our residents use 3-1-1, they just assume that it is a pothole,
and then it gets closed, nothing gets done, nobody gets notified.
But how do you work with C-DOT to ensure that we're picking up some of those per se potholes,
but they're not potholes, they're actually sinkholes?
So generally, so if you send a public way inspector out,
they'll go and say well it's a sinkhole right it's not a pothole and then it gets transferred
to the department and at that point we go out and we make our repair um i think that what it's
important to understand is that we know that the 311 system is not um it's not perfect um and we
have a working group and that we're actually working with um dti to actually come up with a
different and better plan to actually understand how to make the system better okay i have two more
questions but i'll send them through the chair it's okay i just want to say that i look forward
to all the water projects coming to the ward i know in the upcoming years we'll see more so i
really look forward to it one request for your department when it comes to all these projects
please have more water trucks um i'm getting killed when it comes to water trucks but
um i'll send the other questions through through the chair but thank you absolutely
Thank you, Alderman.
Thank you.
Alderman Coleman.
Thank you, Vice Chair, Commissioner.
It is always good to see you, Alfonso.
Thank you.
And to Angel and to Tony, the entire team, but especially Angel and Tony, you all, every time you come to the 16th Ward, we know that it is some good news and new sidewalks and new streets are coming.
Very quickly on the water project tracking, you all used to have an online project map similar to CDOTs with the upcoming water projects.
Next, is this tool still available?
I do believe that all of our projects still go into .maps.
I'm sorry?
They still go into .maps.
.maps?
Yes.
Okay.
With the private drain program, in response to the repeated flooding in basements,
how are we in coordination with what has happened with the storms for us on the southwest side
last July and even this this summer are we coordinating with not only CDOT but with the
private drain program on how we can best accommodate residents especially with the flooding
so I want to make sure that you understand that just because your basement flooded does not mean
that you have a private drain issue it just means that the system had a was had a surge in it and
that's water finds the place the easiest place for it to go and usually that's where it goes
it goes through the pd but if there's an actual repair that has to be made um we try to make sure
that we make those repairs as timely as possible with the recent floods and the storms um can we
coordinate some kind of uh being proactive versus reactive and what we should kind of be promoting
to residents, specifically homeowners, whether that's, you know, special insurance.
A lot of folks were denied via insurance.
Of course, FEMA has denied multiple, multiple times, have not declared both storms as a natural.
cleared both storms as a natural disaster. However, what are ways that we can educate
Chicagoans regarding the flooding and have you all thought future for, we never know,
this winter or, you know, upcoming spring? You know, I think that that's something we think
about every day. That's one of the things that kind of keeps me up at night is the constant
flooding. I think it's at this point, it's an education, it's an educational piece to this,
right? We have to make sure that the residents are educated to understand the things that they
need to do, like disconnect your downspouts, right? All that water that's coming off of your
roof when it rains is going into the system when it can actually naturally go someplace where it
can be absorbed into the ground. Again, don't wash your clothes when it's pouring rain outside. Again,
that's all water that's going in, you know, into the system itself. And I think you have to start
educating people i think that when you get to our age right yes some people get it but they really
don't get it they really don't care i think what we have to do is start at the at their with their
children or their grandchildren just so they can start bringing that message home whether that
means that we start in the grammar schools or the high schools and start having those conversations
early you said our age or your age oh i'm sorry i apologize my age my age my age i'm sorry
could be your daughter it fell out i'm sorry it fell out i'll put it back in i'm sorry
no that's great i think that um maybe a quick fact sheet uh for to disseminate this spring
uh to residents will be very very helpful i didn't know i knew not to wash clothes during
the storms but perhaps that should be promoted and just as a reminder don't wash during the
storms and absolutely um we actually have those flyers and we can make sure the angel gets you
those flyers for your office absolutely thank you angel thank you angel i have um really nothing but
gratitude uh of course my only it's not even complaint but just concern
It's not even complaint, but just concern were the floods when I text you at 1 a.m. down Garfield Boulevard, because I was concerned, of course, for the residents, but we had just gotten Garfield Boulevard repaved after probably 30 years.
And so I was gravely concerned about, you know, the weight of the storm and the weight of the water on this newly beautiful paved street.
But I am appreciative. I'm grateful. Thank you for everything you do. And thank you for coming back.
Absolutely.
Thank you, Alderman.
Thank you, Alderman Coleman.
Alderman Gutierrez?
Thank you.
Commissioner.
Alderman.
How are you?
All the way back for you.
Good night.
First of all, I just would like to thank you, and I had to make the trip back, even though
I had to go back to the community for a commitment.
I could not miss, even though you and I and your team are always in constant communication,
I could not take the opportunity to personally during budget to thank you and your staff for
all the great work that you've done for 14 Ward. I know there's been amazing projects, big projects,
right, that sometimes our constituents are upset because they take a little bit of time. But we
understand that always communication has been the key. And thank you for all the feedback,
the follow-ups, and the questions being answered for me and my staff to be able to go back
and tell our constituents what is exactly what is happening.
Absolutely.
Thank you for allowing us to communicate the in and out of the project.
And as my colleague Ruth Cruz mentioned,
we have learned so much during these three and a half years.
Thank you to your leadership and your team.
Coel, I know I try not to bother you much,
just when it's an emergency or when really I need an answer.
And thank you all, Anthony.
You guys roll like no other department.
Thank you so much.
I know we have deficiencies.
have deficiencies i know we could do better i know sometimes you guys get the blame for stuff
that also some contractors are doing but always a response as a commissioner and the deputies
has always been the best owning right that it's again even though it's a contractor you never
blame any any other party but you always try to resolve and at your best capacity and as fast as
you can with that said I know we have a big project on 45th 46th 47th and 48th of Harding
I know it's taking a little bit longer but it's going to be a great project we're down the line
hopefully for the what it takes right now because I know it's certain steps I just wanted for my
constituents to remember we've talked to them with some letters and everything that it's taking some
time but the end result is going to be great they're going to have their new water main their
lead services replaced and with that gathers to my next question that I know a lot of people
sometimes are hesitant to to really replace their lead services sometimes they are afraid because
they have already their finished basement they sometimes think that the city or the contractor
is not going to do a good job. What can you tell to those constituents that are afraid of getting
that line replacement? And also, how much would it cost for them to do it if they don't take
advantage of this? I would just tell them just that. You're getting a $30,000 upgrade to your
home for free. And it's something that if you don't invest in it now, eventually you're going
to have to invest in it. So as long as the money is there and it's free, you should take advantage
of it. One of the things we also talk about
is that even if they ever go to sell
their home or something like that, they're going to
have to disclose it.
And somebody's going to have to change that
service line out. So
our position is always
take the $30,000 investment
take the $30,000 investment now and something that you can, you know, that you won't have to
worry about later. There you go. I also wanted to, and I know I mentioned this, I think on my first
budget when I took office a couple years ago already, time flies, those inspections, remember,
I don't know if you may remember my remarks, but unfortunately sometimes when we submit a 3-1-1
request for inspection sometimes DWM crews come in and unfortunately they just it's a quick
inspection right sometimes I've been told that because water is not sitting on the street and
the curb I would always tell my constituents it's better to have water in the street than in your
basement but we were also told that if water is drained by the 24-hour mark then there's not an
issue. I just wanted to ask because we've had plenty of and with these thunderstorms and these
flooding that we've had recently just wanted to ask what improvements have you done in the
department in order for have more sewers being cleaned and how can we continue to do that
being a better job because unfortunately we keep having a lot of constituents requesting
for inspections, requesting for cleanup. We send it a 311
and I hate to follow, had to follow up with Joel
or Anthony for them. So if you can expand on that, please. So I think
that one is an educational piece because everything that you did, just
a sewer inspection is not necessarily what that means, right? It could be
if you're looking for a catch basin cleaning, are you looking for actual sewer inspection?
So we have to make sure people understand what that actually means.
So we're looking at more of a citywide type of program for cleaning.
We're just trying to put it together now so that we can understand what that cost is going to be like,
because the reality is that somebody's got to pay for it, and we have to make sure that it makes sense.
make sense we're actually looking at possibly piggybacking off of streets and
sand street sweeping schedule to try to clean as much as we can at least and in
those areas that we can't we've got to try to figure out what that's going to
look like and then now into something different but water department of course
related there's been some understanding that supposedly water management I would
love to to know the exact information about this as well as my constituents that the water department
needs to pay for sweeping of the streets after the program with street incense in order for those
leaves not to be in the public way is that something that you guys take care of after the
street incense cleaning so i just want to so we fund the street sweeping program okay so whatever
their sweeping program is that's their program but we fund it so as far as something we take
care we already take care of it because we fund the sweepers and the drivers sure is there any
opportunity for us to to fund a little because with this weather that we're having it's beautiful
right i think in my 15 years here in chicago i have never seen this type of great weather in
october is there any way that we can continue to have a little bit extra money and extra sweeping
or it's all because the weather you don't know chicago weather what's coming up is there an
opportunity for us to fund a little bit more sweeping after what we have um i will say this
that i am not looking to spend any more money on another department okay um because i already spent
a lot of money on a lot of departments sure um but i will say this that i think that it's a
conversation for streets of sand to understand what your needs are as far as for sweeping in
itself and always shout out to my superintendent we're always last thing um shout out to my
superintendent he he does a really good job I just had one superintendent in my
tenure as other women and it's great how we've been trying to work as
as hard as we can and best
as we could in order to
have more sweeping if needed
while the weather changes.
But if there's an opportunity for us to be
at the table of these discussions, I think it's
something that the Southwest side will appreciate.
And again, everyone, thank you so much
for the hard work you guys are doing.
If I have any other questions, I'll send it
over to you. Absolutely. Thank you, Audemont.
Have a good night. Thank you. Thank you.
Chair Irvin, you are up.
Thank you.
madam chair uh again uh just uh thanks to the department for all the stuff that you guys are
doing i actually like that the suit you got on i like the red you know button hooks you got
going on there thank you chairman i appreciate that well see where the money had in the water
department i see but uh you know uh where's ray at ray still you already talked about it you got
him got him on okay i know you i know you was gonna do that but no uh one one question i do
want to ask i don't know if it's been asked if it has been you can let me know where are we at
with the jock program we had talked about this um generating the opportunity for some of these
small contractors especially around this uh led service line replacement default the small stuff
you know hey guy can do two jobs let him do two jobs in a month if he can do five do five i know
that there's opportunity there know it's something that we talked about with procurement uh where
are we at with that um so it's actually in procurement right now so hopefully we'll be
it'll be coming out uh relatively soon um so as you know the municipal code was it was amended
in january 2026 right so we've been working through it um so we're starting with um initial
three pools with dps um sewer construction services block level lslr and uh the sbi block level lslr
so those are there so and so we're looking waiting for those to come out now so what about the um
like um what about like the onesies and twosies that you guys get like with the daycare centers
get like with the daycare centers or the um you know just the one-offs that you got to deal with
so those are actually done through the equity program so we actually have a contract for that
okay for uh for those for the equity as well as the daycare um and i and we think that i mean
there's always an opportunity to look at it right but that's but those are already contracted out
because the block level stuff those contracts were like a million or two million dollars ish
Yeah. And so, I mean, just from a job level perspective, like if you can do a $40,000, you know, I view this as a $40,000 job that gets repeated a thousand times and not necessarily, you know, a $40 million job. And that's how I kind of look at it.
then if we have the ability to create that type of a program
where we are essentially getting that done
and building the capacity for not only contractors
but small businesses that allow them to grow,
that is what we'll really get because, I mean,
a million-dollar, $2 million deal,
you need to have your ducks really lined up in a row.
Exactly.
We can't grow.
The guy could, a contractor may could do the $40,000 job
They can grow into that million dollar contractor. And that seems to be a path. Because I know this work isn't, we're going to be doing this for the next 20, 30 years. So there is an opportunity. And I understand, you know, we got to maybe start this thing off small and then give those smaller companies an opportunity to grow with it.
And, again, if you can do one or two a month, I mean, that's meaningful things.
And I don't know if we have the – I know we have the work.
I know it may not be as efficient to break it down a way,
but I know you guys have those onesies and twosies that you have to get done.
And, you know, again, that was the thought of when we had the conversation
around creating that jock program.
So right now you're at the block level on our contracts.
You have the equity programs that's doing the smaller contracts.
How are those contractors selected in that space?
It's the same thing, low bid.
So is it like
a 2FM
how you bid against the book, the job
is $30,000
and you say you'll do it for 85%
of that?
It's the same.
It's a low bid contract where
it's quantity based and then
it's just paid for
for whatever quantities that they use.
When you say that,
uh is it time of materials or it's not time of material so how do you so if i'm not aware you
know i it's i'm not aware of thinking where this time i will have johnna to kind of answer that
question so there are standard low bid contracts so johnna williams deputy commissioner standard
low bid contracts where we have line items and the contractors bid based upon our line items
so how to so my assumption is this and correct me if i'm wrong
you don't know when this service is going to be needed but you already have it priced
if it happens is that a fair statement yes okay so is there a is there an average or a standard
for a residential led service replacement that you all know contractor x does it is going to be
this number because that's the standard that he or she has agreed to yes okay all right and then
how many how many contractors do you have in that in it i'll call a cadre of contractors like that
we'll have to get that to you but there's not a large pool of contractors that work with us
okay we have a small pool of contractors and that's in the you call that the equity program
Now, are these small businesses or MBEs?
What are these?
Yes, there's a combination of large contractors and then certified firms, MBEs, WBEs, BBE firms.
VBE firms. And if you guys could provide us the ethnicity and breakdown of those contractors
and how much work they've done in the last 24 months related to this, I'd appreciate that.
That was, that's all I have, man. My toilet flush, so I'm cool. I get water, you know,
the house I'm fine I'm good so um you know my house is uh built after 1978 or whatever it was
I don't have a lead service line so um you know I have no complaints I think you guys are doing
uh great work and same thing I talked to uh CDOT about uh we've got to you know work on that
efficiency right um and and moving some of these uh projects forward as best we can the last thing
going to talk about, and this is a little out there, I've had conversations with people around
predictive analytics, and how can we utilize statistical models to help us do things before
the inevitable happens, you know, water main replacements, fire hydrant maintenance repairs,
because it's easier to deal with some of these things, A, when the weather's better,
and B, when it's not on overtime in the middle of the night,
are you guys looking at ways to do a little more,
be a little more predictive so you can be proactive
instead of reactive to situations in the department?
So yeah, so that's, it's a two-part answer to that.
Yes, we are.
We've been having conversations with different companies
trying to really understand what that would look like.
But we're also talking to AWWA,
which is the American Water Works Association,
Water Research Foundation,
to really see what that looks like across the country and what other utilities are using it for
and how we can not just use it for predictive analytics just for pipe but what else can we
use it for and understand how these other utilities are using it so those conversations
So those conversations are, we are having those conversations.
So we're looking to try to get into that really, really soon.
Okay.
All right.
Thank you.
That's all I have.
All right.
Well, we're almost there.
Alderman Vasquez.
I never left, sir.
I never left.
He's got one more.
I just moved.
I never left.
All right.
Yes.
uh first plus one uh to alderman gutierrez as far as like if there are funds to get more street
sweepers i think they're necessary i know you don't want to necessarily fund it but i'm gonna
be a plus one on that one um but the question i had was different um we've heard from uh
firefighters that for the training center at 701 north kilbourne they've got this burn tower where
they can actually train for it but they're at the point where they don't have enough water supply
for the firefighters to even train and use it and so i'm wondering what conversations are happening
there to address that um so i'm not i don't think we've started having conversations there because
that was a design uh flaw that they that they did when they when they built it you're like yo that's
that's on y'all firefighters is that all right yeah that they there was a design flaw so i don't
know what conversations we can have for that design flaw but we're willing to kind of try to
to help to help them figure it out yeah and i'd say thank you for that that second part because
ultimately the neighbors view us as the same logo right right it's like the city of chicago
y'all have to figure it out so i do think that um whatever i can do or anybody here can do to
kind of help facilitate those conversations to figure out what's needed to to solve it like
we're more than happy to if they have money we'll build it they're gonna be looking at job for the
money yeah look it's gonna be a nice why i got the money you know um but like i said i i do think
for the neighbors out there who want to make sure that they're protected when things go down and
you've got a fire department looking to train and build these it's not an acceptable answer
build these it's not an acceptable answer and you know obviously we're all we understand the
levity of the conversation but i'm sure the neighbors on the ground don't feel that and so
i do think we need to figure out what that answer is absolutely and the parties need to come to the
table to get it done so thank you that's all i got all right i know we're almost at nine o'clock
i actually have a couple of questions i won't ask all of them but just to pick up oh i'm
two you have two you have a round two sorry i have two questions oh you have two questions
then then you go ahead and go and then i will back clean up and no it's not the rodney danger
field two questions in 98 parts just two questions um when cpd was here yesterday
and this is i think an issue of concern for your teams that work in our neighborhoods that are
criminally challenged. Do you keep track as a department of how many times crews have had to
ask for CPD support to do repairs, to turn off hydrants or any of those things? I'm quite sure
that we do, or we can get you a close number of what that looks like. If you could provide that
through the chair and by district, if possible, police district. Okay. We'll take a look at it
see if we can um and then on the topic of of private issues we talk about private drain
one of the issues that also has come up is when uh drain issues are a commercial responsibility um
as i said earlier we know that the water fund is making more money literally than it's spending um
Are there avenues or opportunities where we can assist homeowners?
You know, we have an ordinance with Backflow that was introduced, talking about doing something like that, but also with commercial properties where the department can proactively...
after all appropriate citations
have potentially been issued,
do the work to address and remedy the situation
and then put a lien on said property
to eventually recoup that cost?
It's my understanding that the law department
does not put liens on properties.
Because we've tried to go that route before
as it relates to putting liens,
and we've been shot down several times.
By this administration or just historically?
Historically.
So, and is that because it's not in the code
or is it in the code
and they just choose not to effectuate the municipal code?
I'm going to assume that it's in the municipal code
if we're asking for it.
I'm not sure I have to really research that,
but I would assume that if we talked to the law department
about it and they would usually tell us
that it's not in the code or it's in the code,
but just historically they've just shot it down because they look in their minds
from what i understand is that we never get that money back so they don't even they just don't do
the liens so that's fine for them to have an opinion on the subject um but as the ones who
make the laws for this city and provide the resources for departments to take action um i
would like i would love to know through the chair um what are legal restraints for your department
from actually engaging in that kind of activity if you have the ability to once cite a property
for failure to take care of its commercial responsibilities how do we actually what do
we need to do from a policy standpoint to move forward and if that's a legislative fix if we
can discuss that so the one thing that we do do and i'm sorry i should have said this earlier is
that if there is an issue with their pd and they do not fix it we give them a 10-day notice and
we will shut their water off yes so but if there's a collapse or everything's falling apart
then that hole remains until they, the non-responsive commercial owner, does something.
So I'm looking at this from the standpoint of understanding that we're not in the business of fixing private property,
but we're also not in the business of ignoring problems in our neighborhoods.
Absolutely. And what are the other things? I'm sorry to cut you off.
The other thing that we do is, depending on, we have fixed some in the past, and we've done what we call an 803 damage, where we go after them for, you know, and get them in administrative hearings to get our money back.
So, whatever route we have to do to go after getting our money, I would just assume that AH ultimately will lead to a lien anyway, if they're not responsive.
but i'd love to see what we can do um what currently exists as i said through the chair
so that we can make any kind of corrections particularly this season love to see this
included in the management ordinance at some point um to give you the tools to help us make
repairs when you have non-responsive commercial in particular in this instance non-responsive
commercial property owners who are not addressing the the pd issues that they have absolutely thank
thank you ottoman okay looking around there and there's nobody else i'm gonna go um so that we
can all go um i'll dispense with all the thank yous you guys are all great um angel tony joel
everybody uh we we've got uh we've had great experiences with everyone um two questions that
i just wanted to sort of weigh in on um i know folks are asking for more uh for sweeping up
leaves i think we just need everybody to do their part in sweeping up the leaves in front of their
houses um uh if we had more people do that and i think keeping up a campaign uh to to get residents
and property owners to clear the leaves would go a long way to help with the flooding um we can't
get all of the leaves when we're never going to be able to get enough um but what might be helpful
helpful as a suggestion for you is if you guys did a little video, and I feel like Angel could
do this with a cell phone, but after a storm, to just understand what the difference is between
a catch basin and a sewer, because I think sometimes people will call in a problem, and then
they won't actually call in something accurate, and then we're wasting people's time. Unless you
have this already, and if you do, send me a link, because I will send it out to my constituent.
No, I thought we did one, Madam Chairman, but I think we just did a billboard to kind of talk
about cleaning up leaves, but that's something we can look into. Yeah, no, I mean, that goes for
everything, not just sweeping up the leaves, but picking up the garbage. When it comes to repairs
or just restoration after a project is done, whether that's a contractor or that's somehow
in-house what's the standard time for um turnaround on repairs barring any weather related delays
um i do believe it's 30 days 30 days okay 30 days got it okay i'll move on to the next question
um i'll put most of the other stuff through the chair but um i did have one you you talked a lot
about capital improvements in your opening statements uh and and you talked about how
that's going to be funded through grants and loans and bonds. Is there a person attached to
that? Is there a deputy that's going to be in charge of infrastructure planning? I know we've
got Anthony that is over, what is it, capital construction. But for the planning piece of this,
or is this going to be tied to loans and grants if those things come through?
So it's a combination of both. So what we do is our engineering division, they go through a whole process of trying to figure out what locations to be done every year.
And then we sit and talk about, understand what that is, what that's going to look like for the totality of the system.
And then at that point, we take that and we fit it into whatever funding we have to ensure.
we take that and we fit it into whatever funding we have to ensure that we're able and we're using
those those dollars most efficiently and in the right place okay so it's more of like a group
effort then okay yes um so you're you're spreading that around okay um i got that i think that was my
um oh no it's not my last question my my staff will kill me if i don't ask this question
um I um I appreciate when we get calls from the water department um in emergency situation
um it works best when we have good communication because we can send a notice out over social media
and say hey there's going to be a shut off um is there a standard for people for teams to go
knock on all of the doors that are affected um when there is a shut off that has to happen on
an emergency basis I know when it's planned work that's actually part of the protocol but
an emergency. Absolutely. That's actually part of the protocol. If there's going to,
there's an emergency shutdown that there should be somebody on the street knocking on the door
saying, Hey, just letting you know, we're going to be shutting the main down or there's some type
of emergency work. Yeah. I I'd like to make a request just to, to call the office and not just
send an email to the general inbox. That's like the, you, if you don't want an email to be read
for a while, you send it to the general inbox. That that's not an excuse. It's just a reality.
We get lots of emails in those boxes, but it would be great to get a direct contact on that.
It just seems to be a little sporadic, you know, especially the ones that are in the middle of the night or like in the middle of the day when someone is, you know, a third shift worker in their home trying to do laundry or just live their lives.
It's very difficult when there's a water shutdown.
um so we definitely want our our offices to be um to be notified uh and with that i'll send
everything else through the chair thank you so much for hanging out as long as you have i'm
pretty sure i've gone over 12 and a half hours on my parking now it's gonna be a very expensive
parking bill uh with that and no more questions what the
bill uh with that and no more questions what the committee is going to stand at ease until
we reconvene on wednesday at 9 30. thanks have a great weekend everybody thank you shannon