Good morning council members.
The meeting will begin shortly.
Please log into your devices.
The council will come to order.
Mr. Clark, please make a, uh, take a quorum roll call.
The quorum roll call vote is now open.
If you have any difficulty, please raise your hand
and we'll give you assistance.
I will now call out the names of members
who have not registered.
Alderperson LaSpata. Alderperson LaSpata is present.
Alderperson Hopkins. Alderperson Robinson.
Alderperson Robinson is present. Alderperson
Mitchell. Alderperson Ramirez.
Alderperson Ramirez is present. Alderperson
Gutierrez. Alderperson
Curtis. Alderperson
Mosley.
Alderperson
Burnett. Alderperson Burnett is present.
Alderperson Ramirez
Rosa. Alderperson
Vasquez. Alderperson Vasquez is present.
Are there any other members who wish to register?
The Quorum Roll call vote is now closed.
Thank you very much. There are 45 members
that are present, five that are absent.
Uh, we do have a quorum. Thank you very much.
Let's stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the republic for which it stands,
one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty
and justice for all.
Please remain standing for the invocation,
which will be delivered by
Bishop David Todd Whitley from the Corinthian
Temple Church of God in Christ.
Thank you, mayor. Good morning. Good
Morning. Let us
pray. Dear wise and loving
Father, first let me say thank you on behalf of all
who I gathered here today.
Thank you for your many and wonderful
and abundant blessings.
For all of our blessings come from thee.
Thank you, father, for life itself
and the measure of strength and health.
We need to fulfill our calling, our purpose,
and our occupations.
Thank you for the ability
and opportunity to be involved in useful work
and bearing important and impactful responsibilities.
Thank you for the gift of Agape, the gift of love
that we have for you and our fellow man.
Thank you Father for our city, our honorable mayor,
Brandon Johnson, the esteemed city council
alderpersons, city officials, staff
and those assembled here this morning.
We pray for a special blessing
for the agenda set before this body today
in the atmosphere of peace
and harmony, give both assurance
and agreement of what would please you
and what would benefit those who live and serve and work
and worship in our beloved city, our Father and our God.
In the name of Jesus Christ, your dear son,
let us all say amen.
Amen. You may be seated.
Thank you very much. The chair recognizes
Alderwoman Sam Nugent.
Mr. President, I move to suspend the rules to introduce
the student council and faculty
from Northside Learning Center.
There's a motion on the floor
to recognize students, to suspend the rules
All those in favor signify by saying I
Any opposed, say nay. This motion carries.
Chair recognizes Alderwoman Sam Nugent.
Thank you. Northside Learning Center is a specialty
school in the 39th Ward serving freshmen to students age 22
through significantly modified curriculum
and transition services for students
with intellectual disabilities
and impaired adaptive functioning.
Please join me in extending a warm welcome to students,
Isaiah Angel, Anthony, Noah, Leonardo, Aiden,
Valeria Canyon, and Mateo,
and of course, staff members Lisa Jean
and Neil for making this trip possible.
Thank you so much.
Thank you very much.
Uh, thank you. Uh, sir,
just the team at North Side's pretty exceptional.
We wanna give a big shout out to Principal Morta Cocus,
assistant principal Copkey as they're committed
to the academic, vocational
and socio-emotional needs of every student
through community-based curriculum.
I also wanna take a moment to thank you Mayor
for visiting the school with your deputy mayor Jen Johnson.
And also for those of you who don't know,
the mayor can play a mean bass guitar as he performed
with the students at the school.
While NLC is located in the 39th Ward, it's,
it's reached stretches far across the city,
and today our students are representing the 26th, 31st,
33rd, 38th 40th, and 48th ward.
So thank you for having them here today, sir.
Thank you very much and welcome to City Council
Chair recognizes Alderwoman Pat Dowell.
Mr. President,
I too ask to suspend the rules to
give recognition
to the students from Ray Graham Center High School,
which is located in the third ward on 2347 South
Wabash. The
Rules are suspended.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I wanna acknowledge their principal, Ms.
Kassan Thomas, also Ms.
Vicki Lynch, who brought them down today.
Mr. Payne
and all of the other teachers that gives so lovingly
to the students of Ray Graham Training Center,
which is a school dedicated to serving students
with a wide range
of special abilities in a caring environment
which is responsive to their individual needs.
Mr. President, I wanna thank you also
and Jen Johnson for visiting Ray Graham Technical School
Transition Center about a month ago where you
spent a lot of time with these young people
and I wanna acknowledge
and ask them to stand, the students to stand
Rayshan, Jeremy, Jose, Andrew, Annabel, Elijah,
Jose, Darrell, Samaje, Shivern, David,
David, Webster, Ergel, Cabral, Moy,
Anthony, Marcus, Eric and Davion, Adam, Diego
and Edgar Sanchez, if they would stand today
so we could recognize you,
Give them a nice round of applause.
Where are you guys at?
Thank you so much Alderwoman Dowell. The chair recognizes
Alderman Nick Sposato.
Stand in front of me. Anybody
who wants to stand in front of me now. Thank you.
thank you, Mr. President.
I just wanna thank my colleague Samantha Nugent,
for inviting these fine students here.
One of these fine students lives in my ward, Aiden,
so feel free to stop at the office one day and,
and spend the day with us and see how city government works.
So, thank you very much, Mr. President. Thank
you very much Alderman
Sposato.
What I will say before we get back to the
the chair recognizes Alderman Derek Curtis. Thank
You, Mr. President. I would just
like to be added to the quorum
today. Thank you. Oh, please
add Alderman Derek
Curtis to the quorum.
Before we move back to the regular order of business
for public comments, the chair recognizes Alderwoman
Jeylu Gutierrez. Thank you
Mr. President. I also would like to
be recorded as
present, please add Alderwoman Jeylu
Gutierrez to the quorum.
Thank you very much. Are there any other members
that wish should be added to the quorum?
Thank you very much. I would just say thank you
to Alderwoman Sam Nugent and
and Pat Dowell for bringing these students
to city council today.
As many of you know, I've spent, part
of my professional career as a public school teacher
advocating for neighborhood schools
and public accommodations as a whole.
It is so critically important,
particularly at a time in which there is,
there are efforts to continue to divide our country,
that we make sure that public accommodations,
particularly public education, which of course the words
of WEB Du Bois at the expense of the state
after all, is a negro idea.
And so I commend both of you, um, for lifting up
an accommodation that is very much tethered
to the aspirations of those who are descendants of slaves.
So thank you to all of our public education teachers
and principals and staff, and our families
and our students for
participating in today's city council.
And know that this body is very much committed
to making sure that we're investing in our young people
and recognize the importance of public education.
So congratulations to all of you all. Thank you very much.
Alderwoman Dowell, may I have a motion from you to return
to the regular order of business?
Yes, Mr. President, can we
return to the regular order
Of business? There's a motion on the
floor to return
to the regular order of business
All those in favor signify by saying I
Any opposed, say nay
In the opinion of the chair, the I's have it.
This is the portion of the meeting for public comments.
Mr. Clerk.
The council will now begin the public comment period,
which is limited to a maximum of 30 minutes.
Each speaker is limited to three minutes.
Speakers cannot yield
or transfer their time to another speaker.
Any written comments that have been submitted will be posted
and made available for automatic review.
Our first speaker today is Abraham Nasser.
Atlanta, Detroit, Providence, Oakland and Richmond.
These cities, along
with many others, have one thing in common.
All of their city councils have done the bare minimum
by calling for a ceasefire in Palestine,
condemning the genocide that's killed thousands
of innocent Palestinian men, women, and especially children.
And still there's so much more that should be said.
Yet in Chicago, its own city council hides from the
realities of its this crisis.
The most disappointing part is
that the Chicago City Council should have been
the first to speak up.
Our county is home
to the largest Palestinian community in America.
This will at least show that the people responsible
to represent Chicago are actually doing their job
and listening to the community.
Something every single member on this council is
miserably failing at.
There are countless reasons why these violations against
humanity are unjust, but the most blatant statistic is
that 40% of the innocent Palestinians
that have been killed in Gaza in the last two
months have been children.
So out of the 18,000 Palestinians
that have been unjustly murdered, 7,400 were children.
This number only rises day by day.
And I want to give everyone,
especially the council members attached tonight,
when you all go to sleep peacefully in your beds,
just remember that there are over 120 families mourning the
death of their child in Gaza at the same time.
And tomorrow, there'll be another 120
plus families doing the same.
Until we all stand up
and unite against these senseless murders.
This atrocity is having a real
impact on the people of Chicago.
Thousands of people you claim to represent like Wadea Al-Foyume,
a 6-year-old boy that lived not too far away from here,
who was unjustly killed after being stabbed 21 times, all
because of his ethnicity.
There are many who have lost lives,
loved ones in this crisis,
and if they haven't, they worry every day that they might.
These are our neighbors friends and coworkers.
Yet their voices and their voices
of thousands upon thousands
of Chicagoans from every background fall on deaf ears.
You see the people of Chicago marching, protesting,
making their voices heard nonstop,
yet you don't even bother to acknowledge it.
Ignorance is one thing, but purposely keeping silent
and hiding away from talking about it,
this horrific is mind blowing.
The fact of the matter is, when I shout free Palestine,
I already have spoken more words about these injustices than
all the council members combined.
If you truly represent the people as you claim to do
and spoke the same words that people are saying,
you too would be shouting
Free Palestine till is backwards.
We demand the council to do
what you should have done months ago.
Stand against the murder of thousands
of Palestinians, against restricting millions
of people in Gaza from essential resources, against
countless human right abuses, against robbing thousands
of children from a future
and standing against genocide, which just means we ask you
to stand for humanity and do what is right.
Free Palestine. Free Palestine Free
Palestine. Free Palestine.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for your comments.
Our next speaker is Jody Whitaker.
Good morning. Can you hear me?
Good morning. We can. Thank
You.
Good morning City Council.
I am calling today to urge you to please support
and co-sponsor 2023-2983, the bill
to ban the sale of new fur in Chicago.
I unfortunately can't give a a long
or well drafted presentation
because I'm driving right now to take my mother
to a doctor's appointment.
But there are many people who support this humane
and common sense measure.
One of the reasons is
because there is a real link between fur farming
and covid virus, covid and coronaviruses.
So  it's very important to protect the human public,
but also the animals who are suffering in cages.
So I hope you will definitely support
and co-sponsor this bill as soon as possible
and see that it passes through City Council.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration
and have a happy holiday season.
Thank you very much for your comments.
Our next speaker this morning is David Melton.
David press star six to unmute.
Hello, can you hear me? Now we can. Good morning.
Uh, good morning. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
Thank you members of the council
for this privilege of testifying today.
My name is David Melton.
I am a member of the Coalition
for Police Accountability and Transparency.
I'm also co-chair of the Chicago Council
of Lawyers Civil Liberties Committee.
Our coalition has submitted written comments to all members
of the city council, and if anyone has not received them,
please feel free to contact me for a copy.
What I'd like to address today is the recommendation from
the Committee on Workforce Development
to reject the arbitrator's award, allowing police members
to arbitrate the most serious disciplinary cases
in private arbitration.
For the past 60 years, the most serious disciplinary cases
evolving police, including death cases, have been submitted
to the exclusive jurisdiction
of the police Board of Chicago.
For resolution, police board was established pursuant
to a scandal in the sixties in which civil service members
were not dismissing members of the police board
of the police department who had abused their powers.
This, for the past 40 years, the FOP
and the city have agreed that the police board is the
appropriate place to resolve these disputes.
However, this summer in the continuing negotiations
between the FOP
and the city, the arbitrator ruled
that these cases can now be submitted to private arbitration
for resolution by private arbitrators
who are not representatives of the comm of the community,
and who make their decisions
behind closed doors without public scrutiny
and without necessarily issuing any reasons
for the decisions, as well as
with very limited judicial review.
With all due respect,
we believe the arbitrator's decision was erroneous
and failed to consider both the precedent and the practical
and the, and the important public policy issues
that are implicated by his decision.
I will not attempt to restate all
of the issues covered in our written submission,
but I'll say that the fops primary response
to this has been that officers should have the same rights
to arbitration as other public employees,
to which we say other public employees do not have the right
to use deadly force in carrying out their decisions.
The privilege that the police have to use such force
and the duty that they have to minimize the use
of such force mandates that we have public involvement
and greater public scrutiny when they abuse those actions.
There are many other problematic provisions in the
renewed contract.
The FOP did not agree to many of the reforms
that the the city's commission
recommended following the death of Laquan McDonald.
However, we at least we ask that the city council at least
join the Committee on Workforce Development in urging the,
the rejection of the arbitrator's decision,
allowing private arbitration
of these serious disciplinary cases.
So for the reasons set forth in those written materials
and stated here, we ask at the city council,
reject the arbitrator's decision
that such cases can be resolved in private arbitration.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for your comments. Our next speaker is Ilir Sulijani.
City Council of Chicago
I'm speaking today in support
of ordinance 02023-
002983, the ordinance to Ban Fur in Chicago.
First, I wanna thank the city council
for their previous work in supporting the more
humane treatment of animals.
In recent years, the city of Chicago has banned the sale
of dogs, cats,
and rabbits protecting them from the cruel exploitation
of the pet industry.
You've also banned the use of horse carriages,
protecting horses from overwork and danger on the road.
And these decisions are commendable.
They take steps toward a world
where animals can live the peaceful free lives
that everyone deserves.
However, there's still more work
to do if we want create a Chicago
that treats animals ethically.
That's why the fur ban ordinance is so important.
Fur can only be obtained from slaughtering animals.
And of course, this is inherently violent,
but the actual practices
of the fur industry are especially brutal.
The fur industry operates in one of two ways.
Sometimes animals are bred on farms
and confined to dingy filthy cages
where they stir in distress
and panic until they are anally, electrocuted and skinned.
Sometimes while they're still alive.
Other times they are trapped in the wild
where the contraptions dig into their lens
and restrain them until trappers return
to bash their skulls or shoot them dead.
All this injury, distress, suffering
and death is inflicted just for clothing items
that could be made with other materials.
It is needless violence,
and as if that isn't awful enough, the traps
that catch animals in the wild are damaging to ecosystems.
And fur farms are often origin sites
for zoonatic pandemics like COVID-19.
When we allow the sale of fur products in this city,
we allow more funding and support to go to these practices.
The ban on puppy mills
and horse carriages show
that Chicagoans do not support this violence.
We want a city that lives up to its values
and shuts the door to animal abusing industries like fur.
The state of California has already banned fir entirely,
and many countries like Serbia, Belgium,
and North Macedonia have banned fur farming.
It's time for us to join the right side of history,
so please help us make Chicago a more humane, sustainable,
and sanitary place by supporting the Fur Van Ordinance.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for your comments.
Our next speaker is Muriel Jones.
Good morning, my name is Good morning, Muriel Jones.
Good morning. My name is Muriel Jones. I'm a stop member.
I'm a a resident of the Sixth Ward
and I'm coming to you.
I'm standing here against referendum
of questions being forced for our vote by
Alderman Beale, Moore
and Lopez at the Thursday Special
City Council meeting.
Let me be clear about what's the group
of the aldermans are doing.
They are trying to force through
a, I'm sorry, I'm kind of nervous.
zonafonic revolution
that will be threading the Chicago Center
City status.
When they're doing more, they're doing nothing
to address the current crisis facing our city.
The Chicago, the Chicago stand status
of the sanctuary city has nothing to do with,
with the amount of money that the city spends to care
for the legal protection of asylum seekers
and being sent to Chicago,
I'm simply protecting the undocument
and which is not simply is protecting the undocument
Chicagoans
for Deportion,
The city current crisis is not caused by the cities,
by the, caused by the city new arrivals
It's been caused by decades
of disinvestments in the black and brown communities.
The decade of the decision to the, to get the public
instruction to the benefits
of the private entities.
If Alderman Beale, Moore
and Lopez are serious about addressing the crisis
and facing our city, they would support the measurements
to raise the progressive revenue and,
and create more affordable housing,
afford housing and expanding public mental health
and protecting the community from pollute
for pollution and more.
The revolution is to repeal the Chicago status
of the sanctuary city only
to serve to forward.
Thank you very much. Thank you, Ms. Jones. Thank you
Very much for your comments.
Our next speaker is Shantanay Ellison.
Okay. Hello? Hello.
Oh, thank you. Perfect. Um, hi. Hi.
My name is Shantanay Ellison.
I am a representative of Healthy Hood Chicago.
I'm here to advocate for work permits
for the undocumented who have been living in the shadows
for generations contributing to the economy.
We know that this is possible
because they are extending work permits
to the migrants coming here.
We want them to continue to do this,
but we want them to extend this to the undocumented workers
who have been here and mistreated under the constant threat
of family separation for generations.
These are our neighbors, our family members.
These, this is our community.
You know, our kids go here, they,
our kids go to school together.
You know, we're in, we're a community.
We have been promised some kind of
temporary legal status for decades
and continue to be put in the back burner while the fear
of deportation wages
and a psychological warfare on their children,
on, on the US citizen children as well.
When you destabilize the families in our neighborhood,
you destabilize our community.
We know these tactics.
They are the same tactics exerted from the times of slavery,
and that has been transformed into the present day
criminal legal system separating black families
through mass incarceration and many other things.
Please stop the families separation,
especially with like the police doing this as well.
and please give worker
permits for all people.
All people. Doesn't matter. It doesn't matter.
Your skin color, excuse me,
Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me.
Like, it doesn't matter like where you come from,
you know, people from Venezuela, people who've been here
for generations, can we just allow people
to work for their, their living?
Like, yeah, everybody wants to work.
Everybody wants to work for, you know,
I feel like we can give people grace
and give people money for free sometimes
to get on their feet for foundation, but
after a while, it would be helpful to just have permits so
that people aren't scared about being sent away.
You know, because this land is for humans,
you know, stolen
here, there, wherever.
Please stop war. It's all ours.
We're all on the earth, please.
So just help the community.
And I wanna say last thing, excuse me.
The people United will never be defeated.
We're all united. Thank
You.
Alright, thank you. Thank you very much.
I just wanna remind, just wanna remind this body
and those who are in the gallery,
let's please make sure we give the individuals
who are speaking their, their courtesy.
If you wish to express some agreement,
let's do it subtly.
Let's hold your applause for the very end.
And then I would respectfully ask you to not interrupt
or to disrupt why individuals are speaking.
If you do that, I'm gonna ask that you,
be removed from the body.
Thank you very much. Please call the next speaker.
Our next speaker this morning is Deisha Devalle.
Good morning. My name is Deisha Devalle.
I'm a representative of Healthy Hood Chicago, as well
as a representative for my black community,
my Latino community,
and in support of the resolution for workers' permits.
Thank you for bringing this resolution to this committee
and taking the time to hear the testimonies of our families.
We represent the 11 million,
11 million undocumented essential workers,
2 million Dreamers, 6 million US citizen, children
of undocumented parents, 2 million deportees, thousands
of deported and Green card veterans,
and 50 million US citizen Latinos
with undocumented family members.
We represent the resilience of
and faith of our Mexican community.
We have welcomed the refugee families from Latin America
and supported the Biden's administration actions
to provide them parole
and work permits, even though he continues
to deny those same basic protections to our families.
We have been here for decades raising our US citizen,
killed kids, working and paying taxes.
Why does Biden continue to disrespect Mexican families?
Chicago has the second largest Mexican
population in the country.
26th Street in Little Village
is the second highest grossing economic corridor in the
city, second only to the magnificent mile.
Our labor is the backbone to our economy.
We work in every major economic sector
and many of us are union members
during the peak of the pandemic.
Our families work the most dangerous jobs without proper
protection and without government aid.
Now that hundreds
and thousands of new migrants have been issued work permits
11 million, most mostly Mexican undocumented workers are
being terminated and replaced
because big businesses want to cut labor costs.
The 11 million are the moms, dads, spouses, cousins, aunts
and uncles, neighbors
and friends of 50 million US citizen Latinos
who have proven time
and time again that we are formidable
political voting block.
In fact, Biden and the Democratic Party have depended on our
vote for political wins across the country.
Most importantly in 2008 when he
and Barack Obama won the White House
and secured a super majority in in the Congress.
Our contributions to society are enormous,
and our story is essential to the history of Chicago
and the United States.
It is clear President Biden has the broad authority
to keep families together.
He says he supports immigrants.
He says he supports labor,
but until he offers the simple protection of parole
and work permits to our families,
he is a delinquent in his obligation
to fulfill the promise he made with Obama
to stop the deportations.
He broke his promise
and denied us protection that he clearly has the power
to grant all power to the people free Palestine.
Thank you very much for your comments.
Our next speaker is Husam Murajadan.
Good morning. Good morning. My name is Husam Murajda.
I'm with the US Palestinian Community Network in the Chicago
Alliance against racism and political repression.
I'm a Palestinian immigrant
that has been a resident in the 45th Ward for over 15 years.
I'm here to speak on two things.
One, we are demanding all aldermen
and alderwomen vote no on arbitration.
The city of Chicago, democratically elected a body
that is in charge of making decisions
and changes to police conduct issues.
And this is an attempt to undermine it.
The fraternal order of police
and arbitration clause in the union contract are a threat
to democracy and go against the people's demand in the city.
We call on all alders. Two,
We call on all alders in this council to sign onto
and co-sponsor the ceasefire resolution
that is put forward by Alderwoman
Rossana Rodriguez, the city
of Chicago must stand on the right side of history.
Follow the examples of Detroit, Oakland, Seattle,
and even the United Nations.
The overwhelmingly passed resolutions calling for the end
of the Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people.
Chicago's home to the largest
Palestinian concentration in this country,
the second largest in the world outside of the Arab world,
only second to Chile.
We demand that you all do the right thing.
20,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli
war machine, and this city must stand on
the right side of history.
20,000 people.
That's the least you could do is vote on a resolution
that says Stop the violence.
Stop the Israeli bombing. It's very, very, very simple.
20,000 people, seven of them, 7,000
of them are kids.
Children. Sign onto the bill.
Sign onto the resolution, the ceasefire resolution.
Sign onto it. Co-sponsor it, and then vote yes on it.
Thank you. No to arbitration.
Keep Chicago a sanctuary city, free, free Palestine,
all power to the people.
Thank you for your comments. Our next speaker is
Annie Huamani.
Good morning. Good morning.
Good morning. My name is Annie Humani.
I am with the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council,
but I am also a mother and former undocumented person.
Me and my family moved here from Peru in 2001.
However, not my whole family has had the privilege
as I've had to obtain a status.
Part of my family directly
benefits from the welcoming city ordinance, thanks
to this ordinance, they don't have to live in fear
that police can stop them and hand them over to ICE.
My family's basic rights
and dignity should not be put up for a vote.
The fear in the community is real and genuine.
Family's fear being separated.
The effects of removing this ordinance are heavy.
My family and others in the immigrant community will be
afraid to call 911.
They will be afraid to call for help to get medical care
or even take their children to school.
They'll be afraid to call
for a mental health crisis team when they're in distress.
Right now, one of the biggest barriers
to care in the Latino community is immigration status.
If the welcoming city ordinance is revoked,
many will continue to be without care.
This budget passed massive wins for mental health
that everyone, regardless of their age, background,
or immigration status, should be able
to receive without fear.
City Council Raymond Lopez
and others should stop any further attacks on immigrants in
Chicago immediately.
So let's hold dear to the welcoming city ordinance
and work together to invest in our communities
and build a city where everyone can feel safe
and get the protections and services we need.
And as a mother of two boys, a 1-year-old
and a 4-year-old, it is not fair that I get to put my voice
to sleep every night.
And the mother is mourning there the death
of theirs in Palestine by the murders of Israel.
It's not fair. And I call
and urge the city council to support Alderwoman Rossana
Rodriguez Sanchez resolution
to cease fire. Free Palestine.
Thank you very much for your comments.
Our next speaker is Candace Evasita.
Good morning everyone. My name is Candace Evasita
and I'm with Palenque LSNA.
The pain in black communities is real.
The pain in brown communities is real.
The anger in our disinvested communities is
real and justified.
For decades, our city has actively disinvested funding
resources and solution to preventable community issues
that have an impact on us.
All these intentional disinvestments have caused a lack
of affordable housing, childcare, the mistreatment
of migrants and immigrants, underfunded schools,
closed mental health clinics over police communities, lack
of resource for people impacted
by the broken criminal law system, and a city divided.
This is what brought us to this point
where we have babies sleeping in police stations
and families left out in the cold.
As winter approaches through the city budget,
you all have chosen to make real investments in mental
health, violence prevention, and other key issues.
We need to be unified
and focus in continuing this work
to make our city better for all its people.
Division and xenophobia don't serve anyone
but those who are seeking to promote a political brand
that embraces those things.
Instead, this council should reaffirm its support
for welcoming city ordinance
and reject any attempt to repeal or undermine it.
It should rereport to support new for new arrivals,
and it should afford to support four
investments in our community.
To Alderman Lopez, you constantly vote
to oppose investments in our black and brown communities.
So let's quit the theatrics
and maybe focus on other things like fixing
potholes in your ward.
Instead, instead of dividing, instead
of dividing our disinvested communities
and pitting our black
and brown communities against each other,
we also stand in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers
and sisters and we agree to ceasefire.
We look to the council in the mayor's office for leadership
to carry this vision forward.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you very much for your comments, your Honor,
there are no further speakers who have timely signed up
for the public comment period.
Thank you Mr. Clerk. Thank you for the public comments.
We'll go directly to committee reports.
The chair recognizes Chairman Hopkins.
Thank you Mr. President.
Our first committee report for the day reporting
for your committee on public safety,
which held a meeting pursuant
to notice on December 8th, 2023 at City Hall.
There were two items on the agenda.
Item one was approval of the Rule 45 report for November.
Item two, a substitute ordinance 3932 amending the
municipal code section 2120, establishing reporting
and tracking procedures regarding hate incidents.
If no one wishes to speak, I move passage
of this item by roll call vote.
There's a motion on the floor to pass these items.
The chair recognizes Alderwoman Silverstein.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I'll wait for the, I'll wait for the decorum.
Alderwoman Silverstein, please proceed.
I stand in support of this resolution of this ordinance.
Sorry. This ordinance is coming up
for a vote at a very auspicious time.
As Jews around the world celebrate Hanukkah,
a yearly testament to my people's struggle with antisemitism
and anti-Jewish decrees as we stand here,
hate against our cities',
diverse communities is at an all-time.
High recent data shows a yearly 400% increase
in anti-Semitic incidents,
and a more than 200% increase in anti-Arab
and anti-Muslim incidents.
In the last few months across our nation, hate is reported
by all of our diverse communities,
including our city's black, Latino, Jewish, Arab,
and L-G-B-T-Q communities.
Since introducing this ordinance,
people from all over the city have been calling me
to share their stories and it has been heartbreaking.
I've heard reports of anti anti-trans stickers
pasted on light poles, of swastika,
of swastikas etched into electrical boxes, of racist slurs
hurled against our Asian neighbors
and our immigrant community of Nazi salutes at our schools.
And white supremacist flyers, littering neighborhoods.
The problem is pervasive
and it affects every community in the city of Chicago.
CHI versus hate will make Chicago a leader
in the fight against hate.
And as one of our nation's largest
and most diverse cities, we have an obligation
to set an example to the rest of the world.
And this legislation does just that.
The ordinance will add for the first time ever
a formal definition of hate incidents
to the Chicago Municipal Code.
These non-criminal acts often serve as precursors
to more dangerous hate crimes and need to be addressed
before they escalate.
CHI versus hate will also make it easier for residents
to report hate through 311 as well
as via the 311 mobile and online applications.
Feedback I heard from our partners in the Chinese American
Service League Equality Illinois
and other vital agencies is that many
of our city's most vulnerable populations are distrustful of
distrustful of law enforcement.
CHI versus hate allows victims to report hate
to 311 instead of the police
And to ask help for help from civilian agencies such
as the Chicago Commission on Human Relations through 311.
Victims can also access translators
who speak more than a hundred languages,
making sure every Chicago resident can ask
for help in their preferred language
and removing barriers for access.
The original CHI VS HATE ordinance was co-sponsored
by all 50 Alderman.
It also garnered the support of a growing coalition
of human rights organizations,
including the Chinese American Service League, Howard Brown,
health Equality, Illinois Pride Action Tank,
brave Space Alliance Center on Halstead
Affinity Community Services, Chicago Urban League,
the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish United Fund,
American Jewish Committee,
and the Simon Weal Center in 2022,
hate crimes numbers in Chicago were the highest they've been
in the last 28 years,
and so far this year they are trending 25% higher.
We are facing a crisis and we need to take action.
This initiative is a city's first comprehensive effort in
more than 30 years to combat the growing epidemic of hate.
I ask for your favorable consideration.
Together we can make Chicago a national leader
in the fight against hate.
We can stop hate at its roots
and connect our citizens
with the tools they need to stay safe.
Thank you and happy Hanukkah to everyone.
May the Menorahs lights may, may the Menorahs light cut
through all the darkness
and leave us hopeful for a better new year
and a brighter new world.
Thank you. Thank
You. Alderwoman, the
chair recognizes Alderwoman Hadden.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I too rise to support this ordinance
and just want to thank my colleague Alderwoman
Silverstein for bringing it forth.
We're neighboring wards
and, back here in this back row, I'd say
we're some of, we represent some
of the most diverse communities in the city of Chicago.
And I know through this, this year
and even through the last term, 49th ward,
residents have experienced the rise in hate crimes as well.
And there are challenges in
how we report hate crimes versus hate incidents.
So I appreciate the work
that she did on this Alderwoman
And hope that we'll also get the support
of all 50 alders in supporting this.
Our city needs us to stand as an example for the type
of values and behaviors that we want to see.
and I also know I want to thank our
Commissioner Andrade
and know that we're going to need to work with her
department to make sure
that they have the resources they need in order to be able
to provide these additional services,
for our constituents. Well, thank you.
Thank you very much. The chair recognizes
Alder Manaa Hoppenworth.
Thank you Mr. President.
I too stand in support of this resolution.
I wanna thank Alder Silverstein
for your incredible work coalition work,
the community that, that you're building.
and we need to continue this, this tone
to not only hold our residents accountable
for what's acceptable behavior,
but how we as council members,
as public servants, every single one of us,
how we also behave towards each other.
and I also stand with Alder Hadden to say that,
it's not just one department
that needs resources towards this end,
but we also need support for the Commission
for Human Relations
and OEMC who's gonna be gathering this data.
So I hope that all committees, including public safety
and our Economic Development Committee is listening
and hopefully we can move forward,
with this 'cause.
I feel like this is a start of something really great.
So thank you. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Are there any other alders
that wish to speak to these items?
Seeing no other hands,
there's a motion on the floor for the roll call
vote for these two items out
of our public safety committee.
Madam, Madam Clerk, please
take a roll call.
Motion for both of them.
I believe he did motion for both. Thank you. Can we,
My apologies.
It's just one item. My apologies. So, thank you Madam Clerk.
please take a roll call on the
one item out of this committee
Refresh.
The item is now open. The voting is now open.
Please use your device. Hit refresh. Use your device.
The voting is now open.
I now will call for a voice vote.
If you have not used your E-device.
Alderwoman Rodriguez Sanchez? Not
present in chambers.
All right, that is it. The voting is now closed.
There are 49 yays, zero nays. This item passes.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Yeah, thank you Mr. President.
Since this was the first roll call today,
I will make the motion to reconsider
so we could use it throughout.
But before I do that I believe
Alderwoman Silverstein did want the option to close,
if you can recognize her.
Sure. Thank you. To close
the chair recognizes Alderwoman Silverstein.
Thank you again.
and I, I did just wanna thank all of my colleagues
who supported this ordinance.
This is a great moment for our city.
I just wanted to take a moment
to dedicate this ordinance in memory
of my dear father Marvin Lasko,
who passed away just a little over a month ago.
He, together with my mother,
have always been my biggest supporter.
He taught me to stand up for what is right,
and I can't think of a more fitting tribute to his memory
than legislation that will give a voice
to the disenfranchised
and render aid to those who need protection.
I love you, my father. Thank you all.
Thank you very much. On the motion
to reconsider the chair recognizes Chairman Hopkins. Thank
You, Mr. President. Having
voted on the prevailing sod, I move
to reconsider the vote by which ordinance number 3932 was
approved and ask for a leave to reverse the roll call.
Leave is granted, on the motion to reconsider.
All those in favor signify by saying I
I supposed to vote No.
All those who do not wish to reconsider signify by saying,
no, no, this motion has failed.
Thank you very much. Here we go.
Thank you. Anything else? Chairman? Thank.
Yes. Two, two things. Thank you, Mr. President.
I move approval of the remaining item,
which was the Rule 45 report in the Committee on Public
Finance report, by the previous successful motion
and unsuccessful motion to reconsider with leave
Hearing no objections
Seeing no hands, this motion passes.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. One more. Yeah.
Thank you. Do you have another?
Chair recognizes Chairman Hopkins. This
concludes my report, but while I have the floor,
if I may take just a very brief
moment of personal privilege.
We're talking about the topic of immigration today
as if it were brand new.
But actually the first immigrants that we know of
to this area were 350 years ago.
Ladies and gentlemen, 350 years ago, French migrants
explored this area in their birch bark canoes.
It is 350 years since that moment in history.
And to commemorate that I have a resolution
that I've introduced on the consent calendar.
And we have members from the French Heritage Society here
today to mark that historic journey of Pierre Marquette
and Louise Joliet.
They're in the gallery today,
and I would simply ask that they rise and be recognized.
Alright, so leave to recognize these individuals.
They're in the, the, the upper chambers of the chamber.
Let's please recognize these individuals
by giving 'em a nice Chicago round of applause.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. President. This concludes my
Report. Thank you very much. The
chair recognizes Chairman LaSpata
for pedestrian and traffic.
Thank you Mr. President.
Reporting for your committee on pedestrian
and traffic safety for whats a meeting was held on Friday,
December 8th, 2023.
Before the committee, there were 106 items.
Two routine traffic items were held in committee,
and 103 routine traffic items passed.
We also passed oh 2023-0062.
An ordinance amending municipal code section 9-8
and associated municipal code provisions
regarding requirements for intercity buses
and penalties for non-compliance.
If there are no objections, I move passage of these items
by the first most favorable roll call vote from the
Committee on Public Safety
and the associated unsuccessful
motion to reconsider the vote.
Seeing no hands, hearing, no objections. So ordered.
That concludes my report. Thank you.
Thank you very much for the committee on financing.
The chair recognizes Chairwoman Dowell.
Thank you Mr. President
and members of the city council reporting
for the City Council's Committee on Finance,
which held a committee meeting on December 11th, 2023.
The following items received a due pass
recommendation from the committee.
Item number one is an ordinance
concerning amendment number one
to the Lincoln Avenue Tax Increment Finance
Area redevelopment plan in the 40th and 50th ward.
Mr. President, unless someone wishes to speak on this item,
I move passage of this item by,
by the first most favorable roll call vote
of the committee on public safety
and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
Seeing no hands, hearing no objections. So ordered.
Item number two is an ordinance
concerning amendment number two
to the greater Southwest Industrial Corridor East
redevelopment area Plan in the 17th
and 18th Ward, I move passage
of this item by the same motion
Hearing no objection
So ordered
Item number three is an ordinance
concerning an amended TIFF redevelopment agreement
with 4300 Roosevelt LLC
for the construction project at 4300 West Roosevelt Road
and 4301 West fifth Avenue in the 24th ward
because Mr. President, this is
a historic moment for my colleague, Alderman
Monique Scott, she wishes to speak on this matter.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
The chair recognizes Alderwoman Scott.
Thank you Chair. Mr.
President, this is not, this is in fact a monumental moment.
This is the Roosevelt and Costner, innovation Center.
This land has laid dormant my entire life.
I've lived in my community for the 52 years, um, 52.
So I've been in my same community for 52 years.
And this was a site that we called Mount Henry
because construction would come,
construction companies would come and dump on this site.
And as of today, we still get some dumping.
But because the work that I do, I make sure
that I get it removed.
But this is monumental
because this is gonna bring workforce
development to Lawndale.
This is gonna bring over 250 jobs to Lawndale.
This is gonna impact economic development in Lawndale.
This will give us the face that we need in this ward
to move disenfranchise, disinvested community.
Since 1968,
there has been nothing on Roosevelt Road since 1968 when it
was burned down from the MLK riots.
I am proud, I am thankful that my
colleagues supported this and made this happen.
The administration made this happen.
It couldn't have been done without the past
and previous past and present administration.
So I thank you because this is a $63 million project
that came into fruition and I am proud.
Thank you very much. And thank you for the breaking news,
of you being in the community for 52 years now.
No one knew that, by the way. You look very, very much.
There very goes. All right. Thank you.
Oh, the, the chair recognizes 52 years in the neighborhood.
Alderwoman Scott.
So I could not be remiss if I did not give the formal
alderman Michael Scott Jr.
Who actually paved the way for this project
and we sealed the deal, so I appreciate him.
He started this and we finished it.
And how many years has he been in the neighborhood? Uh,
48.
Yeah. Okay. Thank you very much.
Chair recognizes Chairwoman Dowell.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I had no idea that she was a older sister.
I move passage of this item by the same motion.
Yeah. The chair recognizes Alderman
Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez.
Just wanna be recorded
as a yes vote on the first roll call vote please,
Please add Alderwoman Rosanna Rodriguez Sanchez
as a yes vote with the most favorable roll call.
Thank you very much. In the motion again, chairwoman.
Yes. Item number four, I move passage
of this item by the same motion.
Very good. Hearing no objection. Seeing no hands. So ordered.
Item number four is an ordinance
concerning multifamily housing, revenue, bonds,
and other financial assistance to New City
redevelopment limited partnership for the rehabilitation
and development of United Yards 1A at 1515 West
47th Street,
and 1635 through 1643
West 47th Street in the 20th Ward.
I move passage of this item by the same motion.
Hearing no objection.
So ordered.
Item number five is an ordinance
concerning a loan modification agreement
with Revive Cresty Center for Housing
and Healing at 1660
through 1674 West Ogden Avenue in the 27th Ward.
I move passage of this item by the same motion,
with the exception of Alderman Conway who wishes
to be recorded as voting no.
Okay. The chair recognizes Alderman Conway.
Uh, yeah. Yes, Mr. Chairman.
I had voted no in committee
'cause there was a bit of a clerical
issue that has been resolved.
So I actually like to be recorded as a yes.
Thank you very much.
I move passage of this item by the same motion
Hearing no objection.
So ordered
Items number six
and seven consist of orders of authorization for the payment
of various small claims against the city of Chicago
and the denials of payments
of various small claims against the city of Chicago.
If there are no objections, I move
that these items be placed in the passage in in the omnibus
Hearing no objection.
So ordered
Item number eight is an order authorizing two applications
for the City of Chicago charitable solicitation tag day
permits for the Nature Conservancy Conservancy
and the American Civil Liberties Union.
If there are no objections, I move passage of these items
to be placed for passage in the omnibus
Hearing no objection.
So ordered
Item number nine is the report of cases in which verdicts,
judgements and settlements were entered into for the month
of November, 2023.
These items will be placed on file with our clerk.
Thank you. Item number 10A is an order
authorizing corporation counsel to enter into
and execute a settlement order in the case
of James Mundo versus City of Chicago at all in the amount
of $515,000.
I move passage of, of this item
by the most favorable roll call vote on the committee on
public safety and the unsuccessful motion to reconsider
Hearing no objection. So ordered.
Item number 10B is an order authorizing corporation
counsel to enter into
and execute a settlement order in the case
of Garrett Etal versus City
of Chicago in the amount of 2 million.
I know Mr. President, there are people
who would like to speak to this.
I reserve the right to close
and I'm asking for a roll call vote.
Very well. Are there any individuals that wish to speak
to this particular item?
This settlement chair recognizes Alderman Conway.
Um, thank you. Thank you, Mr. President.
This is a, this case is a close call,
and I know that we have had settlement briefings on it
three or four times, so I certainly won't, uh,
belabor the facts on it.
You may recall that
police officers said a plaintiff pointed a gun at them.
They indicate they were in imminent danger.
Most of the bullets hit the, were generally
to the front of the plaintiff.
A semi-automatic handgun was required that was
recovered at the scene that, that most of you may know.
A semi-automatic handgun means
that multiple bullets can be fired with one trigger pull.
IFRA did clear the officers in this case and
and just to not leave out anything you,
there was also testimony indicating an earlier encounter
between officers and the plaintiff.
My analysis
and vote on this hasn't changed since, since July.
I'm still a no, but I acknowledge this is a, a close case
and no one can tell what a jury will do.
As someone who spent seven years as a prosecutor here,
I can tell you that I've seen juries do
very unexpected things.
Now, there's you know, we all have to think about our
fiduciary duty here.
Before we rejected this settlement by a vote
of 26, 22 in July, I was told
that city council hadn't rejected a settlement
in over 12 years.
Now, being a rubber stamp is not doing our fiduciary duty.
And with that in mind, I certainly wanna recognize the
leadership of Chairwoman Dowell who has fostered
an environment that creates, allows us a space
for debate and democracy.
It allows us to do our fiduciary duty.
And I say that even though my vote has not changed,
if you have done more homework
and you have changed your vote
and changed your mind, I applaud that
that is you doing your, your fiduciary duty.
And one thing I will say is
that since we initially rejected this settlement,
we've seen an uptick in members of city council coming to
law settlement briefings which I consider a win.
And I hope that with that in mind we continue
to do our fiduciary duty on these cases going forward.
So thank you very much. Thank you much very much.
Chairwoman and Mr. President,
Thank you very much. Are
there any other members that wish
to speak to this particular item?
Seeing no hands chair recognizes again, chairwoman Dowell.
Yes. Thank you, Mr. President.
I appreciate the words of my colleague Alderman,
Vicechair Conway.
I think that this is a case that is not black and white
and is not clear that the city would actually win this case.
And there are a lot of factors on both sides of the equation
that would point in favor of a case
and against the case for the city.
So I think we are doing our fiduciary duties by
spending as much as we have to on this case
and so that we are not subjected to a judgment
that might come back 2, 3, 4 times as much
as we're being asked to spend today.
So with that, Mr. President, I ask
that we take a roll call vote.
Thank you very much. There's a motion on
the floor for a roll call.
Vote for the settlement.
The item case number 2016 CV 73 19.
Madam Clerk, please take a roll call Vote.
The voting is now open. The voting is now open.
Please use your E-device,
hit refresh and submit your vote.
The voting is now open.
I will now call on anyone that has not voted
by voice vote.
Alderman Burnett? Not in chambers.
Alderwoman Cruz? Not in chambers.
The voting is now closed. Oh, hold on.
Saved by the bell. Alder Burnett votes yes.
I will have record you Alderman Burnett. And
the voting is now closed.
There are 31 yays 18 nays. This motion passes.
The chair recognizes Chairwoman Dowell.
Item number 10C is an order
authorizing corporation counsel to enter into
and execute a settlement order in the case
of Patrick Jenkins versus City of Chicago in the amount
of $8,750,000.
I know that my colleague, Alderman LaSpata wishes
to speak briefly to this matter.
Thank you. Before we move forward with this last item,
we do need a motion to reconsider the last item
that was just passed, passed
Chairwoman Dowell on a motion to reconsider?
Yes. Mr. President, I make a motion
that we could reconsider this ordinance or this vote
On the motion to reconsider signify if you wish
to reconsider that last passage
of the last item signify by saying I.
Any opposed say no.
That this motion fails again,
Chair recognizes Alderwoman Dowell again on that final item.
Yes. I just read item number 10C,
which is an order authorizing corporation counsel
to enter into and execute as settlement order in the case
of Patrick Jenkins versus City of Chicago in the amount
of $8.75 million.
Alderman LaSpata wishes to speak to this matter.
The chair recognizes Alderman LaSpata.
Thank you Mr. President.
I, I want to speak to this not on the facts
and evidence of the case because they are grim and tragic
and I believe the justice of this settlement
is unimpeachable.
I wanted to speak to this
because this is our second police settlement related
to domestic and gender-based violence in
the past three months.
And a fact that I want to add to the table is
that Mr. Craig should be alive today.
It profoundly saddens me that
he's not with us.
It speaks to deep seated, deep rooted challenges
that this city has in addressing domestic
and gender-based violence adequately.
I speak to this because it reminds us that
although predominantly this is an issue with victims
or women, that is not always the case.
I wanna say to this that while I believe for example,
and I won't speak to this later, that our signing bonuses,
our retention bonuses are well deserved.
And I will vote to that effect later.
What we are spending next year on retention bonuses is more
than double what we have ever spent in this city
and gender-based violence on any given year.
And that can never be right.
And I will finally say
that four years ago I walked into this chamber
and was told that whether it is a non-law enforcement model
or a coss responder model, that is how we should be engaging
with victims of gender-based violence.
I have been waiting four years for that
and I am hoping so deeply that that is something that comes
to pass in 2024.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Any other individuals, members
of this body wish to speak to this item.
Chair recognizes Chairwoman Dowell on a motion.
Thank you Mr. President.
I move passage of this item
by the first most favorable roll call vote on the committee
on public safety
and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider
Hearing no objections.
Seeing no hands. So ordered.
Thank you. That concludes my report.
Thank you very much. Workforce Development.
The chair recognizes Chairman Mike Rodriguez.
Mr. President and
members of the city council reporting
for the Committee on Workforce Development,
which held a meeting on Thursday, December 7th.
There were three items on the agenda.
The first item, an ordinance,
SO2023-005883,
and amendments of the municipal codes
chapter 6130 regarding information requirements to employers
of proposed civil action for alleged violations
of the paid leave and paid sick and safe time ordinance.
The substitute ordinance received a favorable vote in the
Committee on Workforce Developments.
And I move passage of
SO20230005883
by the first most favorable roll call
of the public safety committee
And the subsequent motion to. To
reconsider, yes
Sir. Thank you very much. Hearing
no objections, seeing no hands
So ordered.
The second item on the agenda is an ordinance
O20230006333
adopting agreed upon changes
to the collective bargain agreement
between the Fraternal Order of Police
and the City of Chicago.
The ordinance received the favorable vote
and the Committee on Workforce Development
and I move for adoption of the ordinance
by the first most favorable roll call of the committee.
I think a roll call was actually asked for,
so by roll call vote, sir.
Very good. Thank you very much.
There's a motion for a roll call vote on the ordinance item
02023-
0006333.
Sorry, there's a correction here.
The item, this is an ordinance for item number 02023
which is 0006332.
Madam Clerk, when you are ready,
please take a roll call though
again just for clarity, this is the changes
to the collective bargaining agreement.
The voting is now open. The voting is now open.
Please refresh your device and hit submit.
The voting is now open.
I will now take a voice vote for those who have not
submitted their, their vote.
Alderman Robinson. Alderman Robinson is a yes.
Alderman Ruth Alderman Cruz is not in chambers.
The voting is now closed.
There are 42 yays seven nays.
This motion passes on the motion to reconsider
On the motion to reconsider the chair
recognizes Chairman Rodriguez,
Move to reconsider the vote, on the motion to reconsider.
All those in favor signify by saying Aye.
All those opposed say no. This motion fails.
The chair recognizes Chairman Rodriguez.
Thank you Mr. President.
The next item to report is an ordinance implementing an
arbitration option for CPD disciplinary actions
in excess of 365 days
and separations. The item
received a do not pass recommendation in committee.
Our Rule 44 provides that when a do not pass
recommendation is made to the city council,
the item is automatically tabled.
Unless a member successfully overrides the committee's
recommendation by a motion
and subsequent vote under the pertinent CBA collective
bargaining agreement, the arbitration option will fail if it
is firmly rejected by three fifths of city council.
Accordingly, I move on the Rule 44
to disapprove the committee's recommendation.
I encourage a yes vote on my motion
to disapprove the committee's recommendation.
We'll place this which would place this item
before city council
and then a subsequent motion I will make will urge a no vote
on the ordinance itself.
And before we take votes on this Mr.
Chair I reserve my right
to close debate at the appropriate time.
Okay. There is a motion on the floor.
Are there any individuals that wish to speak this motion?
Chair recognizes Alderwoman Tabares.
I like to lay out three important facts
that we learned in workforce committee,
workforce Development Committee last week.
Three important facts.
Number one, the Illinois Public Relations Act
of 1984 guarantees
guarantees Chicago police the right to arbitration
in exchange for the right to strike.
Number two, that same state law states any
local ordinance that attempts to infringe on
that right shall be considered illegal.
And number three, the city's attorney omitted,
they omitted that they are likely
to be unsuccessful in court
defending the blatant disregard the city has shown
to the state law when it comes to how it treats
Chicago police officers.
Let me repeat. The state law
already gives Chicago police officers the
right to arbitration.
Regardless, the city has been doing it wrong,
disregarding the due process of police officers.
The arbitration award makes it clear as day
and even our city attorneys know it's an open and shut case.
If this goes to court,
my fellow colleagues, we
therefore have two options.
Option one, we as a council could vote
to reject the ruling
and defy the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act
and be just like the right wing activist that pushed right
to work laws to infringe on the rights
of public sector employees.
We, we thereby kick off a chain of events which will lead
to a court ruling in favor of arbitration anyway
and open the floodgates to further litigation.
These cases will last years
and could cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars.
Those are dollars. Excuse
Me for a second.
Please allow Alderwoman Tabares to get
through her presentation.
Thank you.
Those are dollars that
will go into the pockets of police officers
who were rightfully suspended or terminated.
None of us, I'm sure none of us want public dollars
to be awarded in court to bad cops as opposed
to being used to fund mental health clinics
or homeless services.
Further, this option will also send a strong message
to all other labor unions
that we do not respect their legal rights.
We do not respect their due process.
And we are willing to break the law when it comes
to infringing on the rights
of their members when it is politically expedient.
All the unions are watching today
because they know it starts with one and will lead to more.
Or we can choose option two.
That option two is that the city
and the union representing rank
and file police officers have forged a historic contract.
They have worked in good faith
and participated in a process that was fair
with neither side walking away
with everything that they wanted.
We must acknowledge
what the law says about police arbitration rights
and pass this contract
and continue to use the momentum to forge a path forward
of collaboration between officers
and the city worker and employer.
The union has put forward items
to increase transparency in the arbitration process,
acknowledging that no officer should be above the law,
but neither should they be below it.
We can seize on that offer
or close the door by passing this contract in its entirety.
We are sending a message that we
as a city know we can fix problems by bringing people
to the table, not shutting them out.
If we institute a police accountability process that is fair
to community members and police officers as well as open
and transparent, it can only be done
as a collaborative effort.
I know CPD, FOP, the CCPSA
and community members can get it done.
Passage of this contract will start that process
forcing the union to win in court disincentivizes
collaboration and will lead to the same results
as those against arbitration are opposing.
If those who make the law decide to break the law,
to punish those who enforce the law,
we do not deserve the right to make decisions.
Running a government transparency
and accountability will only be achieved
through collaboration.
We can achieve great things when everybody is at the table.
That is the central belief that is the foundation
of collective bargaining.
Let's pass this contract
and show that we still believe
that in Chicago. Thank you.
Thank you very much. All right.
Thank you. The chair. Alright. Thank you.
Your expression has been heard.
The chair recognizes Alderman Napolitano.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I'll make mine extremely short.
I believe my colleague covered the topic eloquently
and to the best of anyone's ability.
but what I'll cover is in the last nine years in this,
these chambers every time we go through a a briefing
for a settlement, the same
sentiment comes out in these chambers, which is,
if this goes to court, it's gonna end up costing
us a lot more money in the end.
So if you feel like paying for it, put your money
where your mouth is and you pay for it
because this is gonna go back to court.
The FOP is going to to push it.
And what we're gonna end up doing is we're gonna end up
costing the city a hell of a lot more money instead
of just settling this right now.
As well as putting our
officers through this anguish as well.
So you're gonna get all angry. You're gonna get mad.
I, I wish, I wish that passion was there for the,
for the 25,000 people shot in
the city for the last five years.
I wish that passion was there. I truly do.
I wish it was, I wish people were fighting
for those 25,000 people that have been shot.
I wish those, that passion was there
for the almost 5,000 homicides in the last five years.
I wish we were fighting to make our, our,
our civilians a little bit more connected with,
with what's going on in our communities.
Because we have a crime issue
that is way out of hand right now.
We need, we need our officers on the street.
We need their mental and their psychological abilities
to be there to answer these calls,
to answer the 25,000 people shot. So
Please, If we're gonna end up putting our money
where our mouth is and this comes back to us
and we're end up going back to court
and this is gonna cost the city a hell of a lot more money,
I think the last nine years
of us bringing these terms up should be,
should be pursued right now.
It's coming right back to us. The same exact way.
If you're in here today, just to say no so
that when it comes back, you could say you said no,
but we worked it out and it didn't get there.
So you'll be a a yes the next time.
It's not the way it has to be.
It is not the way that it has to be.
I I don't think I could put it any better than,
than my colleague put it.
This, this needs to be settled.
This needs to be finished right now.
These officers gave up the right
to strike their union gave up the right to strike in hopes
that arbitration was the agreement given to them
to settle their contracts.
If you're in favor of labor,
which the vast majority say you are,
this is labor at its finest right now.
This is the contract agreement.
So I think you should make the right decision right now
because if you give up on this arbitration right now,
maybe they should be allowed to strike
or maybe the blue flu should happen.
Something needs to happen to protect their rights.
Thank you Mr. President. Thank
You very much. The chair
recognizes Alderwoman Hadden.
Thank you Mr. President.
Excuse me just for a second. Sergeant at arms.
Listen, this is my warning. This is my warning.
If we, if you are disruptive,
I'm gonna ask the sergeant at arms
to remove you from this gallery.
Wanna make sure that every thought is heard
and expressed Chair recognizes Alderwoman Hadden.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna
pat on the back to everybody in the public gallery, second
and third floor so far today.
Um, 'cause Pat on the back in general,
in general, I, I'm feeling a lot better about our
relationship today than I have
for the last couple council meetings.
So I'm glad folks are in here
and I appreciate folks following the rules
and listening to our chair.
And so let's keep it up. Say that.
I appreciate my colleagues' comments on
the arbitration piece
and understand the logic of what people are presenting.
But if you're concerned about us spending hundreds
of millions of dollars on a lawsuit,
then maybe you would agree that we need
to hold bad police officers
accountable publicly.
We just approved millions of dollars in lawsuits
and we do it every month.
It is disgusting to sit in this body
and to approve millions of dollars every month.
And I'll say before even running for office,
I will never forget going to monthly police board hearings
to get justice for Rekia Boyd
You guys remember that? Yes.
Public accountability
for the highest misconduct violations is key
to us having an honest
and healthy relationship with our police department.
We do have a strained relationship.
I don't FOP is a labor union
They're gonna fight for the rights of their members
and we as government are gonna fight
for the rights of our citizens.
We may have a disagreement on this, right?
And also there's no one right path,
but this one is the wrong one.
Obscuring what happens should not be in the best interest
of your membership 'cause it's not in the
best interest of the city.
If someone is at that threshold
of having reasonable misconduct charges
that could get them fired
or suspended, we need to know about it
because already, already we have too many people
and too many failed processes that don't let you process
through people and get rid of them soon enough.
Too many times we have people
with serious misconduct charges that are allowed to offend
and offend and it listen to the public.
Don't you want people who support police officers?
Don't you want people who feel good about those public
safety officers when they show up in the neighborhood?
It is really difficult.
And I say this as a member of Chicago City Council
and nobody likes alderman.
Nobody trusts alderpeople.
So I say this pot kettle, I'm just saying, right,
like we want to raise accountability in this body.
I know I do. I want higher standards,
accountability and transparency.
I want City of Chicago residents
to trust their elected representatives.
I would love City of Chicago residents
to trust our police officers, but we're not going to get it.
If you hide, if you hide the people who are doing wrong
and you keep them out of public accountability.
So I urge my colleagues, we can spend hundreds of millions
of dollars challenging this
or we can spend hundreds of millions of dollars paying
for bad police behavior.
We're paying for it either way.
I would prefer to pay for it with public accountability
and work towards the city of Chicago
that our residents deserve.
So please vote no on the arbitration piece.
It's worth the fight.
It's worth the fight that people have spent decades fighting
for and to not support.
This is moving us backwards. What good is the police board?
What good is the Community Safety
and Public Accountability Board?
If you could do something so egregious that you have
to hide, right, that you have to hide, there are already
so many protections
for our public employees as there should be.
'cause everyone should be given due process.
But due process happens in the public.
If you can't stand
and face the public, you should not be in a public role.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
The chair recognizes Alderman Beale.
Thank you Mr. President.
Thank you. Sergeant at Arms.
Mr. President. Just a second Alderman. Just a second.
As the Sergeant at Arms restores order
in the upper gallery, I would ask this body
to remain focused.
I would ask the Sergeant at Arms
to restore order in the upper gallery.
Individuals continue to bang
we'll have to ask them to to be removed.
Thank you. The chair recognizes Alderman Beale. Thank
You Mr. President.
Some of those people need
to be arrested like they arrested George Blakemore the other
day for just having free speech.
When you have people banging on walls
and bringing on glass, those are the people that need
to be arrested in this body.
Oh, Mr.
President, just a second.
Alderman Beale, I would ask
that the Sergeant at Arms please restore order.
Those who are disruptive, please remove them.
Sergeant at arms, please remove those
who are being disruptive.
Sergeant at Arms, please remove the individuals
that are being disruptive.
Please on both levels.
Those who are banging on the windows, please remove them.
Those that are shouting in this chamber, please remove them.
They arrested George Blakemore lock they ass up.
As a sergeant in arms restores order,
this body was stand in recess for the next 10 minutes.
Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats.
The meeting will reconvene momentarily.
Please take your seats at this time. Please take your seats.
We appreciate your continued cooperation.
Please take your seats
and remember, if you must talk, use your inside voices.
Thank you.
Please take your seats.
Gentlemen, please take your seats.
The meeting will convene momentarily.
Please take your seats at this time.
Please take your seats.
The meeting will convene momentarily.
Please take your seats.
Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats.
The meeting will convene momentarily. Please have a seat.
Thank you.
One.
Thank you. The city council
meeting will come back to the order.
The chair recognizes Alderman Beale.
Thank you Mr. President. Mr. President
In my 24 years, we have never
split a question on a contract such as this.
I don't think anybody is a hundred percent comfortable
and likes any contract.
But when we look at a contract that was negotiated,
that was agreed upon through an arbitrator sent to us to
for ratification, nobody
that's voting on this issue was in the room
during negotiations.
We don't negotiate contracts,
we don't negotiate law settlements,
but we ratify when they are brought before us.
Now, I, trust me, I understand people's frustration not
liking this arbitration piece,
but when our own lawyers set in that box
and told us it will be an uphill battle,
basically slim to none, that we will get this reversed.
That's what he said, an uphill battle.
So what's gonna happen if this is rejected?
It's gonna be sent back to the arbitrator.
The arbitrator's gonna tell us, I said what I said,
and it's gonna come back to us.
If we vote against it, then it's gonna go to court
and possibly cost us more and more and more and more.
Now, the same people that are talking about,
we're concerned about spending money.
Well this is another example that we're about
to spend more money if we don't ratify this contract.
Now, let me just say, nobody
supports bad officers.
Nobody supports bad officers.
However, sometimes officers make
mistakes just like everybody else.
And what we have to do is we have to understand,
put yourself in the police's shoes
when they're out there fighting to save lives,
to make our community safe.
Sometimes they make split second decisions
that can cost them or other people their lives.
Nobody in this position, in this body is willing
to put themselves in those shoes.
But they do it day in
and they do it day out when there's a problem,
you all call the police, don't you Look around this body
and look at all the police that are around.
When something happens, we call the police.
We're asking the police to clear the gallery.
We're asking the police to make us feel safe
here in this body.
We're asking the police to patrol our communities.
But yet time and time again, y'all,
we don't give the police the respect, the dignity
and the res, the respect
that they do every single day in our community.
And again, let me just say,
I'm not talking about the bad officers,
but I'm talking about the 99.9% of that are out there trying
to make our communities a better place.
Those are the ones that we have to support.
Those are the ones that we have
to let them know that you know what?
We do have your back. Those are the ones that we have
to support you all.
Because day in and day out, they're on the streets.
They're doing the job that nobody else wants to do.
They're called to do these jobs just like us.
We're called to be legislators.
But I just believe that police get a bad rap all the time
for the job that they do.
We have to support them, y'all.
And when our own lawyers are telling us that we don't
feel good about this, winning this, you know,
sometimes we have to make tough decisions
and we have to make decisions, which some
of we all do all the time.
We make decisions that we don't like.
Well think about it that way.
Think about it as this is just one of those that
I may not like, but it's the right thing to do.
So I just want to say,
which I hope nobody is ever in this position, that you need
to call the police and you say, you know what?
Call the arbitrator. Call the arbitrator
before they come to your aid
and assist that we need all the time.
So again, we don't have the right to reject this.
It's an uphill battle you all.
So just do the right thing
and let's ratify this piece
that should have never been broke out.
And it should have been voted in the last ordinance
that we've voted on overwhelmingly in this body.
And we should do the same thing with the arbitration.
Thank you Mr. President. Thank you.
Thank you. The chair recognizes. Thank you very much.
The chair recognizes Alderman Sigcho-Lopez.
Thank you Mr. President and members of the city council.
First and foremost, let me request
of the council a moment of silence
for the innocent victims of violence.
Many here mourn the victims on the streets.
I'll expect that we all care about the violence that
continue to be perpetrated on children and families.
I, for one, find it atrocious was happening in Gaza,
but also whats happening in [inaudible] streets.
So before I start my remarks chair, I would like
to request a moment of silence for all the victims so
that we honor
and acknowledge the suffering on this room
that is expressed in the frustration with residents.
So I'll request just a moment of silence.
Motion of silence. Moment of silence.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. President.
And I think that what we have in front of us is very simple.
And I think, and I will take on the word of some
of my colleagues to get it done today.
We have two options, very simple in front of us.
We either goal and continue on the ride, on the route
of lack of accountability, millions
and millions of dollars,
almost a billion dollars in the last decade on
police misconduct cases.
We either continue to allow
a broken system to fear monger
because are some of the same people
talking about the issues of police accountability
that object, the settlements, the millionaire settlements,
and the hypocrisy on all that.
When that can be done,
when we'll put better systems in place, that's
what I would like to make sure that Chicago has something
that is remarkable, the resiliency of our community.
And I will recognize Angenette Young who's here
with us in the audience.
So thank you for being here.
Because we do not forget,
we do not forget some of these same
comments that protect our residents,
that demand of credibility, that wanna build trust.
How do we build trust without accountability?
How do we build a better system when we are now trying
to take decisions away from the public?
That is what is the option that we have in front of us.
And lemme tell you, because I think it's important
to look at the numbers even with the current system.
And I'm grateful that today we have a civilian
oversight commission.
When we have more oversight, more participation,
and we are not going to back decades.
I'm not talking about going backwards.
This decision to put these kind of decisions
outside the due process behind scenes
are not going to build trust if anything are going to
erode the real little that is left.
And I hear the concerns
and I hear the outrage
that Israeli saw express in these chambers.
So when he talks about the politics of ols
and the politics of new, I do think it's important
to recognize that every single public servant
must behold to the highest standard.
What we're talking about here,
and I will be clear to make sure
that we dispel the fear mongering.
We're talking about those cases when officers are suspended
for over a year for serious misconduct.
Misconduct that should never belong to public service
misconduct that continue to allow white supremacists groups
inside of the Chicago Police Department.
And that must be addressed in the eyes of the public.
That is the only way to start building some
trust in a broken system.
So today in front of us, we have the ability
to do right by Chicagoans who are demanding accountability.
I hear everybody wanting to talk about trust.
There will not be trust without accountability.
And trust is built in the eyes of the public, for the public
to see, for the totally police board that has been assigned
for that, for the Chicago police commissioners
who are empowered and voted to do that.
And to have city council members
that look at their fiduciary responsibility to make sure
that we stop this broken system now today
so that we have a system
that actually protects our residents no matter
what the zip code is.
We do not have that today. So Mr.
Chairman, I tell you that it is imperative
that city council members understand
and act with integrity with facts.
Even right now, with the little accountability that we have,
that in the last five years
or so, the 370 cases in front of the, in front
of the police board, having favorable even
to the FOP appeals 78%.
So we want less accountability,
less accountability than that.
I am, for one, tired of coming in front of city council
to pay for, for mis, police misconduct.
That should never occur to begin with.
And today we have an opportunity to change those data.
Lastly, I would like to say that it is imperative
that we do not allow the same interest to divide us,
to pitch us against each other, to pander in a time
where we need to act as legislators propose
that we follow indeed the legacy of Mayor Washington.
To build the coalition in our communities, we have
to be mindful of the history of repression
and lack of accountability that we inheriting.
The time is today to settle that
and build a new future for our children.
And I tell you that today the city council has a choice
to listen to the same interests.
They're trying to divide us, the strike,
even the central city, the mayor of Washington,
as a visionary implemented in 1995,
we have a responsibility to protect
our most vulnerable.
We have the opportunity to vote no in the
and build a better future with more accountability
where trust can be built.
And finally, we have a responsibility no matter
where we see injustices, to make sure
that we demand better.
Today in another shameful, vicious, I saw
daughters, daughters in Gaza seeing
how their father was born alive.
That and here when we have a 6-year-old Palestinian
kid stabbed 26 times.
I do think that we deserve better in the city of Chicago
and we should be an example of justice so
that we say today also for those who came here,
solidarity locally, internationally.
And we say to the, again, for those of us who fight
for justice ceasefire now, Free Palestine.
Thank you so much.
Thank you very much. The chair,
the chair recognizes Alderwoman Ruth Cruz.
Thank You Mr. President.
This might be a little too late,
but I wanna be recorded as a yes
for item number three and workforce.
Yeah, the voting has been closed
on that Alderwoman Cruz.
Thank you. So my understanding is
that you can submit a letter to the, to the clerk
stating your case or your intentions.
My apologies. Thank you. With that, the chair
recognizes Alderman Jason Irvin.
Thank you Mr. President.
I tell people this all the time.
Fair exchange is, is not robbery.
But in some respects on this deal,
I feel like my pocket's been picked.
We talk about
what is legal, what the process is.
We're only here out of process
and process dictates either we accept
or reject what is been brought before us.
We talk about the law, we
talk about everything else.
Let's keep in mind sometimes the law
doesn't quite get it right.
Slavery was the law of this
land. Wasn't right.
Separate but equal was the law of the land
Again, wasn't right.
Women didn't have a right to vote.
Hell, I didn't have a right to vote again, it wasn't right.
While we are in this moment to deal
with this matter, I think we have
to in some respects recognize when this is not
in the public interest.
Again, as Alderman Tabares has told us
and laid out for us from what the State Act says,
there is precedent
I think the corporation Council has given us some same
ideals and ideology.
But in this moment, this just is not right.
And I think that we as a body have
to make a decision on what we believe on behalf
of our residents and our constituents to be what is right.
And we believe that what is being put before us is not right
or just, and again, if our rejection leads
to additional back and forth, then so be it.
It's not the first fight. Won't be the last fight.
But again, I, I think that in this case, and,
and I'm not against the FOP, I'm not against the leadership,
not against the police officers.
However, we have to be for what the public is calling for.
And it's right for us to do or not to do.
So while we may get marred in the back
and forth of the conversation, I think that we have to land
in a sense of what is right and what is just,
and what's being put before us today is not right.
It is not just for the constituents that we serve.
And so it's in accordance with the chairman.
I would ask that we all reject this and,
and hopefully come back, get something better,
out of this conversation.
Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you.
Thank you very much. The chair recognizes
Alderwoman Nicole Lee.
Thank you Mr. President.
You know, I've gotten up here a lot of times
to talk about my own personal struggles with
what weigh on each of us as alderpeople.
This by far has been the hardest.
I've thought long and hard.
I'm still thinking as I stand here
about what's been put before us
and I've got, I've got concerns.
I had concerns about what we just said yes to.
And the, the fact that we didn't get that contract
to review until the day of the the committee hearing.
I think we need to be able, as a body to have
as much information as possible
to consider when we're looking at something as significant
as police contract.
I've had conversations with constituents as well
as members on both sides of the bargaining table.
And I still have questions, right?
And then look, let me be clear.
I do not want there to be a lack of transparency
because I agree we need that for trust.
And the transition from a public process,
from the police board to arbitration does threaten to erode
that trust between the community and the police.
But trust is built one-on-one too.
It's built by the officers that are in our community
patrolling our streets, attending caps events, talking
to our seniors, responding where they are at night.
Look, I've heard lots of things in this room today
about them not showing up or there's not trust there.
The fact is, I live in a community where
we feel like we need police very desperately.
In the year 2022, beat 914 in the city
of Chicago's Chinatown.
We have the highest level
of robberies in the entire city of Chicago.
And when people call the police, they want them
to be there to respond.
And we need to support them on that,
which is why I was happy to vote yes on, on the contract,
on the other piece of the, the contract.
And we know how big an issue public safety is in this city
and that there's a lot more that we need to do.
And when I look at misconduct
by some police officers
and not having that be the representative of everybody,
I know that we have a lot of work to do all around.
This is not something that's going to be solved
by this contract alone either,
that we even have to resort
to arbitration in the first place
for the very first time to settle our contract,
is pretty symbolic.
And I think everything that we've done today
around this contract has been precedent setting
and that's not lost on me.
And the, the weight of it absolutely
kinda makes me wanna throw up right now
Um, because this is the decision that we have to make here.
What I've gotten from all of the, the work that I've done
in this process to make the determination on
where I stand on, the arbitration piece is
that we are a labor city.
The state statute is clear that there is the right
to arbitration that is not in question.
And it also is true that I don't believe
that arbitration as it exists today leads
to any real public trust in the police officers
or with the police, excuse me.
And with this process. And I think the place
that we should be focusing on,
on changing the state statute, changing the state laws
that govern this laws are meant to be amended.
Folks, we can't look at everything that we're doing,
set a law and it's not a set it and forget it.
This is not like a George Foreman girl.
We have to keep going back
and looking at where we need to make changes and tweaks.
And for that reason, I'm going to be in support
of the contract as it is today with the arbitration
and I will work fervently with my colleagues
to make the changes that are necessary
at the state level and throughout
and to continue to build trust.
But we need to, to, we need to get this done. Thank you.
Thank you. The chair recognizes Alderwoman Angela Clay.
I'm sorry. I thought we had- Other than Happy
Holidays Mayor. Very
Good. Thank you very much.
The chair
recognizes Alderwoman Fuentes.
Thank you Mr. President.
I think often we conflate narratives
that are not interconnected
and do not impact one another to instill fear
and cause confusion.
There is comments made on this floor today
that one would wish that we care more about the thousands
of young people who have died from gun
violence in the city of Chicago.
How many of us care about the violence
that's happening in our communities that show up every day
to build a more peaceful and safe community?
We care. I think that when we worked
through the budget cycle, we talked about doubling the
money and violence prevention.
We talked about mental health clinics,
we talked about housing our folks so
that violence is not an option
for the residents of the city of Chicago.
Look, gun violence has robbed some of our colleagues
of siblings, me of a best friend and hundreds of students.
When I spent 10 years as a school administrator,
can't tell you how many funerals I had to go to.
We care about the violence
that's happening in the city of Chicago.
Voting no on arbitration doesn't mean the opposite.
So let's not conflate narratives
that do not relate to one another.
Someone said on this floor that we hope
that one would not have
to dial 911 if we voted no on arbitration.
Our ability to dial 911
and get first responder support has nothing to do
with us voting no on arbitration.
That's not conflate narratives to instill fear
and cause confusion.
This arbitration vote is talking about holding
the most egregious behavior, the most egregious, which
by the way, by the way, would not impact a majority
of the officers that are sworn.
Let's not cause confusion or instill fear.
This arbitration vote is
talking about transparency.
It's talking about restoring trust with our officers.
Something our officers also wants.
Our officers want to walk into our communities
and not feel like the folks don't trust them,
not feel like they're, they're not able
to build relationships.
This is a step in the right direction.
It's something we should all want.
So I want us to be careful that when we try
to confuse our colleagues or, and still fear
or we repeat punchlines that folks gave us,
that we do it when it's factual and when it's relevant.
And we don't just say things to say things
because when I vote no today,
I will still have the right to dial 911.
When I vote no today,
I still care about violence in my community
and I will vote no today while going back to my community
and ensuring every young person
that they're gonna have a safe
and alternative space so they don't have
to think about robbing anybody.
When I vote no today, I go back to my community
and I re-strategize about how are we going
to take guns off of our streets.
You see, my vote has nothing to do with the other.
It is just about asking for transparency
and holding the most egregious behavior accountable
because that's what our people deserve.
That is also what good police officers deserve.
And we should all want that.
And so let's not, let's not be fearful.
Let's not allow folks to cause confusion.
Let's not allow people to cause the vision,
because we must do what's right for our constituents.
We must do what's right for the city of Chicago.
And today we are going to elevate all of the lives lost,
both by officers
and by guns that have been transported in our city.
We deserve a safer city.
And this is one way, just one that we get
that path in the right direction.
Thank you Mr. President. Thank you.
The
chair recognizes Alderman Chico.
Thank you Mr. President. Uh, it's no secret to this body
I'm a proud Chicago police officer,
but I'm also a prouder grandson
of the union President US Steel in 1970s.
And my grandfather fought
for worker rights every single time,
every single day at a time or was more difficult
and that legacy is passed on through me.
And that's what I see myself doing here today is
fighting for worker rights.
I think about the police officers I work midnights
with in the fourth district, the fifth district,
the sixth district, or the ones I see here today,
guarding us, protecting us.
I think about the things we've seen.
Babies, children harmed, the mass shootings,
car wrecks that have killed a mother and a father.
Seeing all that going into the station, doing paperwork,
going to bed, waking up
and seeing the same things the next day.
The toll it takes on us mentally, physically,
many of us will never know.
And the ability,
we can't go on strike seeing all these things.
We can't form a picket line and say, enough is enough.
We go to work every single day.
So yes, I support this
because I'm advocating for worker rights, worker rights
that we all in this body should be advocating for.
Thank you. Thank you.
The chair recognizes Alderwoman Taylor.
There's a saying that says forward ever backwards never.
And we're, we, we love throwing around the word trust.
Trust is a two-way.
street. Angenette Young trusted you all.
Rekia Boyd trusted you all.
Miracle boy trusted you all and their trust was betrayed.
Our coworkers are quick to say they are nine bodies
of accountability, but we are about
to pay $11 million in lawsuits for bad behavior.
Where is the trust and the protection for us?
Now, I named these black women intentionally
'cause I'm a black woman and I wanna be able
to pick up the call and 911
and not be worried if you are gonna shoot me, shoot,
because I'm black, asking it
to Jenkins whose family we're about to pay $8 million to
that won't bring him back.
We have all these levels accountability.
But every month you ask us to pay families money
because of mistakes.
And I ain't gonna, I sometimes I
don't think they're mistakes.
I think they're intentional. Why?
I agree that the police do get don't get there.
Just doing should be at the table when decisions about their
jobs should be made.
We're not going behind closed door.
We're still paying lawsuits for John Burge victims.
Why? Why?
Why does he, when you look at
what the police looks like now,
there are not a lot of black police.
Nobody wants to be the police. They don't.
We are at a time where we gotta hold each other accountable
and going behind closed doors
to decide fate ain't holding people accountable.
The gentleman who hit miracle board in
her mouth, guess what?
He retired but he gonna get his pension.
I asked this body a long time ago,
should they have their own insurance?
I was laughed at. I was ridiculed for asking the question
because we continue to pay for bad behavior
'cause that's what this is. And trust.
I want to trust if I call 911, you are gonna come
and do what I need you to do and not shoot and kill me.
We were just in finance
and I was more confused than anybody sitting in here on why
Mr. Jenkins called the police to say he was being stabbed.
And within two minutes he was killed.
Where's the accountability for his kids?
Where's the counter? And we could throw
around money all day long.
Y'all love talking about we gonna spend
more money on arbitration.
We spend $167,000 a month on rent for certain spaces.
Come on, stop it.
I am tired of y'all acting like the
sky's falling when it ain't.
It's when it's convenient for you all.
At the end of the day, it is our responsibility
to build trust among everybody.
And don't get me wrong, I don't know
who I'm calling when something happened.
And by calling the boys on the block of the police,
I don't know who I got a better chance with.
And that's on y'all. That's on how we've been treated.
We love, love, love talking about money.
We throw away more money than any city council I've ever
seen in the country on bs.
So stop it. I am not voting to have nothing
behind no closed doors.
This is not what the, this is not
what the community asked us to do.
And this wasn't just about black and brown people.
You had white people talking about police brutality.
So let's make it real around here. We gonna talk about it?
Y'all, y'all irritating y'all.
Y'all really are, because at the end of the day, y'all love.
Now y'all wanna talk about workers' rights.
We just, we just passed fight for 15. Stop it.
We just made sure the tip workers got their fair share.
Stop it. Just stop it. Enough is enough.
Y'all wonder why the people come here on the city
council and act a fool?
'cause we acting a fool. I tell people every time when I
come here, I'm going to the universal soul.
So, 'cause this is clown this. Thank you Mr. President.
Thank you. The chair recognizes Alderman Waguespack.
Gee, thanks.
I'll let it settle in for a second. Thank you Mr.
President. Yeah, today is
today has been a bit
of a difficult vote on both of these items.
You know, the first thing, there were a lot
of discussions going on between colleagues
and I see how there becomes a rift in between
what people wanna see in the first part of the contract
and in the second part of the contract as well.
And there's people on both sides of this issue
that I think have made some very good points.
One of the points that I think the better part
of me wanted to see more of was transparency
and accountability In the first part of this contract
as was already stated, this contract was put
to the committee and it was not transparent at all.
It was not put put out there to the public for them
to see, for them to look at.
But I think that we, we know that, you know,
we're in a bind here.
We have a, a position that the FOP staked out
and a position that the city staked out
and our lawyers reopened the contract.
They went back, you looked at it
and you decided that this was the contract
that we should move forward on.
And I think with the way things are going in the city and,
and the fact that
crime has been outta control in many places,
we're not getting the assistant from the prosecutors
and the the judges who should be helping out as part
of this three legged stool of law enforcement, the judiciary
and the prosecutors working together
to make this city safer, then we have
to look at this contract as part of the way to move forward
and at least one of those things.
But as was also mentioned,
splitting up these two things has not been done since the
1980s and the 1980s is way back in the rear view mirror.
So far back you can't see it.
And I think that when we're looking at these kind
of contracts, it behooves the administration to keep them
to together and negotiate from a stronger position if we're
gonna go in with any union, with this union
or the ones who were also at the table
before the alderman were.
And that means staking out a position on the city side
to make sure that we're not just saying these are the kind
of non-transparent labor contracts
that we're gonna see in the future.
Now, yes, I did vote for it
because I believe that the officers
that have been doing the job the right way deserve it.
They deserve to make sure they have a contract
that they haven't had in many years, just like all
of our other labor organizations they're gonna ask for.
But we're abrogating our financial, financial duty,
our fiduciary duty when we don't have these contracts in
front of us as a body, not just in the one committee
but days or weeks before.
So we can really read through 'em.
And part of that goes to the lack of a balance budget
that we're gonna have next year.
We barely got a budget that was balanced this year
and we heard it in the budget session at multiple points
where we knew we're gonna, we know we're gonna have
to come back and find ways to pay for this contract
and other ones that are on the table along
with the migrant issue
and along with the other issues
that are gonna come forward in the next few months.
And how are we gonna get that money?
There's only one way, ladies
and gentlemen, that's property tax hikes
because we don't have a plan to go to Springfield to pass
different revenue options.
Springfield doesn't have an appetite for it.
They've shown us that as well. So we better start thinking
about how we're gonna pay for these contracts as time comes.
I think my constituents
on the arbitration part of this really push back.
They had the explanation for me about the state law.
I don't think they comprehend it in some cases
or they just don't want to think through the process of
what it's gonna take to push back on this, Alderwoman Tabares
brought up that it could cost hundreds of millions.
Is that what you said? Well, I disagree with you on that.
I think the saving grace on this item is that
when it goes back to arbitration, regardless of what we say,
and it goes to the circuit court,
the city's probably gonna lose on the first motion.
So it probably won't cost hundreds of millions,
but it'll cost us Mr.
President. I think again, reopening the deal like this,
splitting the baby is the wrong way to go about it.
Basically, what you've handed us is a half eaten cake
and it's not the way to go forward on the future contracts.
I think everybody here has been put in
a very difficult position.
We're gonna say yes or no,
and I think each one of us can live with the position
that we take, but I think we're gonna be back here in a
short time and we're gonna be looking at, based on state law
as has been stated, we're gonna be back in the
same position that we were before.
I'm gonna vote no,
but against the better part
of my ideas on transparency and accountability.
I'll stand on that. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank
You. The chair
recognizes Alder Vazquez.
Thank you, Mr. President.
First I, I wanna acknowledge something I think
we all know to be true here.
Regardless of where somebody stands on this vote, regardless
of what debate they're having, all of us
want a safer city.
We want to not have the concerns
that we all have on the ground.
Each one of us has communications
and relationships with our commanders.
So as much as people wanna turn up on one side
or the other, we have a job to do.
We make sure that we work with our police officers
and there's a role to make sure
that we all make the city better.
I will agree with the number of points
that our colleagues have stated.
I wanna give credit to Alderman Beale.
We weren't at the negotiating table to see
how it was negotiated and how things landed.
I think that is something we need
to improve on as a body.
We need to know before people go to the table
what the city's goals are at the table.
Because if we don't know what we're looking to improve,
what we're looking to negotiate to gain,
we don't know whether we won or lost.
We're at the mercy of the lawyers to then talk
to us at a briefing and frame everything as a win,
even if it may not have been based on
how you're going into the room.
And I think that is a, something we need
to improve under the council so we can have a better
understanding on what we were trying
to gain in these agreements
and really have a better judgment on
how we feel about where things ended up.
I also share
to Alderwoman Lee's point
and Alderman Waguespack's point that there was a lack
of transparency as it relates
to the other part of the contract.
And I think because there was
so much focus on the arbitration piece, rightfully so,
there were things that were not covered
because we didn't receive.
It wasn't introduced
unless, until it was a day it came to workforce committee,
which led to groups that actually would do the work
to check accountability, like better government association
to actually be able to access the documents
and point out what the concerns are.
And because that wasn't done sooner, it wasn't
until last night that we saw the article from Better
Government Association highlighting concerns about the
contract itself, that when you're looking at body-worn
cameras and their usage, there's things
that lack even more accountability in this regular contract
agreement that actually just got voted and passed.
When it pertains to investigations by COPA
that last longer than 18 months, those could be reversed
or dismissed by an arbiter as well.
That is in that first contract that we all passed
through committee and,
and kept moving here without the proper
daylight to vet that.
In talking to COPA to find out how many of those
investigations are over 18 months,
rather than get a specific number
and a ballpark, 60% of the stuff
that we're talking about is over 18 months.
And an arbitrary has the ability to then dismiss
or reverse those decisions based on that contract alone.
The fact that we didn't talk through some of
that matter is a concern,
but I, I do believe it to be a process
that needs to be improved.
There are so many things flying through this council
and not the ability to really take the time to look at it,
that we find ourselves in positions
to make difficult decisions.
So we need to improve that for our, to our, do our job
and responsibility to our constituents and the city
and the public in their concerns about accountability in the
contract and the arbitration.
But let's move to our arbitration piece.
I fully respect that there are labor laws
and labor rights for every union.
Arbitration is a right, uh, in those unions, uh,
negotiations, uh, to alderman Chico's point
CPD doesn't get the opportunity or right to strike.
They don't because safety is paramount
and they're not given that ability.
There are things where we should be supporting the officers
as it relates to their own mental health support
that the city does not do well.
That we learned last term.
That after an officer has 10 sessions with a therapist,
they have to prove that they need more.
You tell me a job where you don't
need to prove that you need more.
It is CPD because of what they have
to face every single day.
We have to improve that.
But when we talk about all the different labor unions,
there's a fundamental difference between every union
and the FOP respectfully.
And, and, and it isn't about hate or love
or how we view it is fundamental to the role itself.
A plumber doesn't have the ability to arrest anybody.
A pipe fitter doesn't have the ability
to shoot anyone, right?
These things that are enshrined as part
of the role are fundamentally different
than every other union.
So when we talk about changes, I also would agree
with Alderwoman Lee.
We need to talk at the state
and in Springfield about changing those laws
'cause that is really where some of this
needs to be sorted out.
Where is the city facing the rest of it? Now
to Alderperson
Fuentes' point, the amount of officers we're talking about
that would be suspended 365 days
or separated is less than 1%
of the officers in CPD.
The vast majority of officers risk their lives.
They take on the job because they care.
They wanna make their city better
and they should be applauded
and commended for taking on that risk and doing that work.
We are talking about less than 1% of those officers
who shouldn't be officers to begin with.
And so when we talk about trust between
CPD and the public
and vice versa, you know what I've never heard?
I've never heard an officer say
that person shouldn't be a cop.
I've never heard that.
No matter what the, what the misconduct settlement,
what the issue, what the details of the matter is,
I've never heard an officer say
that one right there does not represent us
and shouldn't be an officer.
That would help and instill trust.
And so I'm, I'm just saying we need to hear more of that
so we can build that bridge
because we have to work together.
Now as it relates to a police board,
we want those conversations to be made public.
And here's why. It's not to villainize on you.
Officers have to make very difficult
and nuanced calls in situations none
of us would ever wanna be in or even watch in a simulation.
They have to make tough calls every single day.
These are matters that involve nuance
and involve understanding.
So even to the, to the benefit of FOP
and the CPD, we should hear it publicly
because there are times where officers are making the right
call that we need to know the details
to have a better understanding on the other side
of the equation, not having a public transparent
process limits that.
So we don't have an understanding about the tough cause they
have to make in make every single day in and out.
I think lastly, I'll say to,
to President Catanzara's credit. Last night, emailed members
of the council to say, you know,
when we were talking about negotiations,
we offered a different arbitration process
or offered to be open to this.
The administration said, no,
I understand why they would say no,
because the stance is we want a police board,
which would be gutted to non-existence if we move this way.
So we're not having that. So I responded to President Catanzara,
if, if you're saying this
and we all know this might cost everything to go to court,
would you then be open to
renegotiate and figuring out what that looks like?
He said, you know what, that's already been settled.
Let's figure out the vote.
That is why we are all putting in a difficult decision now,
looking at the arbitration to other people's point.
We take on a bunch of these cases when it comes
to these settlements or when it comes to misconduct,
where our members go, take that case on, it's gonna cost us.
So what, let's take it on.
We pay so much in misconduct,
a hundred million dollars every year average on misconduct.
So yes, I believe we need to take it on.
I will be voting to also reject the arbitration, not
because I'm trying to look and love or hate the police, but
because it's the right matter to have transparency
and accountability, to understand the decisions,
how difficult they are, and to actually build the kind
of trust we need to have a functioning public safety system.
Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you
Very much. The
chair recognizes Alderman David Moore.
Thank you. Mr.
President, before I get started with my full comments,
I want to, and I don't want to be long
I just want people to pay attention to what both Alderman
Waguespack said
and what Alderman Lee said, I had to just go back
and just erase some of my things
because there's no need to repeat
and just stay repetitive and listen to what they said.
And those two, those things that they said
are very critical.
And so the state definitely has a responsibility here.
The other part is
that police do always recognize that police do have powers,
and responsibilities that other workers don't.
That put us in both life and death situations.
The other part of this is, and,
and saying that we shouldn't be here.
There are people at the table that's smarter than
all of us when it comes to arbitration.
You have accountants here, you have teachers here,
but you don't have experts here on arbitration.
This sometimes you just gotta stay in that room
and work it out and fight it out, and,
and that's, I think that's what should have happened.
But since that didn't happen, now we are here
and it's brought to us where we have to make,
a tough choice.
And when I get into tough choices like this,
and I'm not a subject matter expert,
one thing I do is I reach out to subject matter experts
and I reach out to people that it impacts.
With that, let me say this, A lot
of people are missing a lot on this
or are scared to talk about it.
And that's the black and white issue.
That's the bottom line. That's what this all boils down to,
a black and white issue.
And and part of that is becoming, is a trust
amongst the people that are policed
and the people that do the policing.
And part of that is not so much all the time,
just those individuals,
but leadership people look at the leadership of the FOP
and then there's people that's not comfortable with that
because they say they feel they're not represented,
including rank and file members.
People look at the arbitrators,
I think there's five of them.
I think I know four out of five are white.
I don't know about the fifth one. I don't know.
Somebody can clarify that.
And then that becomes that trust factor.
And so when people are, when we're starting at a level
of when things deal with race, you have to understand that
and you have to deal with that.
And so as I have
to represent the 17th war constituents, I go talk to them.
I go talk to subject matter experts,
and I go talk to the rank and file.
Now, let me be honest here of the rank
and file that I spoke to.
I think I spoke to three right? Majority black.
You can say that's fair and unfair,
however you want to look at it,
but it's the people that I represent.
They say, David, we need transparency.
I'm not making this up. If they would've told me the other
way, I'll be, I'll be voting the other way.
Those subject matter experts would've told me the other way,
I would've vote the other way.
But I'll start, I start with what I said at the beginning
that shouldn't have got to us in the first place.
You gotta stand in there and fight.
But now that it's with us, now you put us in a position
to make, and it is a tough decision.
But that tough decision is based on race.
Also, let me tell you about arbitration
and the arbitrators that, um, um, some of the arbitrators
that are there and the positions that you gotta take,
arbitrators gotta,
and a lot of times use what historical context
based on decisions.
They go look at it and say, Hey, we didn't fire Joe Blow
10 years ago because of that
And so why should we firing him today?
We gotta stay consistent.
Where if you look at back in, I think in 1992,
somebody didn't get fired for going up the side
of the head of Rodney King.
Should that person do the same thing today
and not get fired because of precedent?
But that's what arbitrators do.
They look at historical context.
And so you all have to really,
really look at this in both black and white
and in the people who are doing it.
And at, and anytime we are at this position,
when we gotta make a decision, when we have
to make a decision, transparency is always best.
Transparency is always best. And like I said, go back.
Listen to all the Milwaukee PAC speech.
It's a tough decision. We gotta lean of transparency,
but at the end of the day, you've gotta stick it through
and fight these things through.
I wish it wasn't separated out
so you all end up where you all end up at.=
But when you put it at our doorstep,
then we gotta make those decisions based
some on emotion, some based on flash and dash.
What I did, I based it on what I feel are factual
information from subject matter experts
and also talking to the men and women that impact.
And so I'll be voting no on this.
And I'll encourage my colleagues to do
so as well. Thank you.
Thank you very much. The chair recognizes Alderman Yancy.
Good afternoon chairman. Good afternoon everybody.
I stand here. As
the grandson of a union leader, son of a police officer,
and a former union organizer.
I believe in unions. I'm a trade unionist, right?
Oftentimes the argument against unions say that,
unions protect bad workers.
And I think that this arbitration award does just that.
You know, not all police officers will be affected by this,
only the ones who do the worst
and have done the worst to erode public trust.
My colleague talked about the 1980s
being in the rear view mirror.
1980s was the first time I had a contact
with a police officer, I feel was unjust.
I'm still affected by it. A senior, senior in high school
And, you know, I'm not a senior in high school anymore
I'm almost a senior citizen. And
you know, the, we talked,
John Burges name has been brought
up a couple times in this room.
And you know, John Burge also happened in the eighties.
And if you've ever had an opportunity to speak
with the John Burge victim, they would also tell you
that the eighties is not in the rear view.
So, you know, we all deserve a public safety system
that supports all of us, keeps all of us safe, including
police officers and civilians
and bad cops have destroyed public trust
and have contributed to the lack of safety in this city.
It makes all of us unsafe.
It makes our officers unsafe too,
because the tension that exists in the community
between the police and the and
and community residents aren't
because of the majority of police officers
who are serving honorably,
protecting our community and doing the right thing.
It's because of those few, the few who have sought
to do harm in our communities with malice and with judgment.
And so we've got a moment here.
I understand there's a lot about precedent,
but you know, there's a point that was made by a couple
of my colleagues about how precedent
and law have not always served the public
body in the right way.
And so I stand here to vote no for the arbitration award.
But more importantly, I think it's important that
as we look at the role of this body particularly
as it exists today, that we have an opportunity
to work and fight.
And not just the folks who have been elected in this
chamber, but the people who sit in the gallery to work
and fight to make sure
that we are creating this public safety
system that keeps us all safe.
You know, it's my work that created the community Commission
on public safety and accountability
that I did before I got here.
And so I'm gonna ask to make sure
that the community also continues to keep the pressure on
as we're looking to make sure that we are all safe civilians
and police officers.
Thank you. The chair recognizes Alderman Sposato.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Believe it or not, I didn't plan on speaking,
but since we're starting off at moment of silences,
if we can have a moment of silence for our Israelis
that were murdered, raped, and tortured are still hostages
and for end to this conflict, I'd appreciate that.
Let's take a moment of silence.
Thank you, Mr. Thank you. So I'm not gonna change anybody.
Nobody in here is gonna change anybody.
I just wanna start off by saying, I, I, I respect
and appreciate everybody and I, I don't usually like
to call people out by name, but I, I consider her a friend.
And that's you, Jeanette.
Jeanette Taylor and me are about as opposite
as opposite could be.
But I, I believe she has a true liking
for me as I do for her.
So  we certainly respect each other. She's way, way out.
One way. I'm way, another way.
But I really love you, Jeanette.
So if, if I can say that, if that, okay. Is that I love you.
You've already said it. So I already
Said that.
Thank you. But thank you for addressing me,
expressing your love for your colleague.
I'm sorry. You are within the rules. Thank you. Thank you.
So once again, I know everybody's said this about the,
you know, I'm, I'm, I'm also looking where's
all the pro-labor people?
You know, we're fighting for workers rights.
I don't think we're conflating anything wrong about this
or whatever, but I stand up for labor rights, all labor.
This could be, this could open a floodgate for labor
to lose, possibly, I don't know.
I mean, like you say, a lot of times arbitrators,
people look at things, what happen
in the past, I don't know.
We certainly were told by our counsel
that this is a very steep hill to climb.
Very unlikely we could win this. I'm not an attorney.
I know we have a few attorneys in here.
I don't know where the attorneys are voting.
I know it's a difficult task. I did do my research.
I did talk to some labor attorneys about this.
I don't think we could win.
Bottom line is if you
and me can't agree about something, Mr.
President, we go to an arbitrator.
What he decides, that's the law.
So once again, the fiduciary responsibility,
I just wish, and I know my one colleague said,
and I've been going to the briefings,
police settlement briefings.
It's not just police people.
So everybody keeps saying it's police settlement briefings.
It's not. So I certainly wish more people would go,
certainly more ever go now than I've seen ever.
So we gotta be up
to about 20 people now going to the settlement briefing.
So I'd like to see us get up to the 40 to 45.
So let's all try to, it's been made pretty easy from
corporation council to thank you corp Council on that.
So let's try to do that.
I understand the political votes here for people.
I'm not gonna change anybody. You're not gonna change me.
You're not gonna change me. I didn't change you.
We, I understand.
You know, so just people wanna have their say.
So I appreciate people having their say,
but there's one thing that really bothered me
that I just wanna bring up since we're, well, I, I,
I also would like to see everybody take the shoot down shoe
class because nobody understands
what a split the sec split second decision is like
with the exception of maybe Chico and Napolitano.
and Taliofero. Oddly Garner
and myself understand split the sections
as far split second decisions as firemen,
but it's kind of a different thing.
It's a life, life and death matter situation.
But there's one comment that I'm not gonna mention any names
or anything, but in committee that police were called out
as murderers and so on and so forth.
But I just wanna bring a few names to people to wrap up
with a few names that maybe people have forgotten about.
Okay? Maybe you forgot
because maybe you didn't go to the wake of the funeral.
Maybe you forgot it on purpose, but I'm gonna mention names
and hopefully FOP's not mad at me about this.
But we're gonna mention some of these bad police officers.
And that's Ella French, Ariana Preston.
If you go, I could look him up.
Paul Bauer, Michael Fliss, Thor Soderberg,
Thomas Worthham, Clifton Lewis, Brian Strauss,
Michael Siriyali, Andress Vasques
Lasso, Sam Jimenez.
And of course, I can't forget my grandfather,
Anthony Canata, who was killed the about a couple days
before my mother's graduation in nine high grammar school
graduation in 1953.
I certainly don't wanna fit you grandpa.
So I hope you're up there and I hope you're listening.
and lastly, yeah, lastly,
we have an officer here today.
I believe he is here. I hope he could stand up.
This guy made the ultimate sacrifice. Carlos Yanes.
Carlos, I don't know if you're here today or not.
Wow. Thank you everybody. I wasn't expecting that.
And thank you all. That was real nice.
But I can't imagine what Carlos goes through day
after day, uh, wondering why it wasn't him and Ella lived,
or he'll never be the same.
He'll never live a normal life.
What his family's going through day in
and day out, making the ultimate sacrifice.
I, I had some fire brothers that can, were never able
to go back to work 'cause what happened to them in fires.
But Carlos, thank you, thank everybody.
Like I say, once again, my prediction is it's gonna be 32
to 33 against the arbitration.
I think it's a big mistake.
So I know I'm not gonna change you.
None of you are gonna change me, but I do respect you.
I do respect what you had to say,
but obviously I will be
supporting the arbitrator's decision.
Thank you very much, Mr. President. Thank you
Chair
Thank you very much. The chair recognizes Alderman
Raymond Lopez.
Thank you Mr. President
and good afternoon members of the city council.
Before I begin, I need
to correct one inaccuracy from the,
from my colleague from the 11th Ward.
It was not George Foreman, it was Ron Poppe who said it
and forget it with his showtime food dehydrator.
But to this item, sir, colleagues, let me just say
that the level of hypocrisy coming out of this room today
has reached an all time high, has become an Olympic level
event, listening to each
and every one of you who are sitting here right now saying,
we need to challenge the courts even though
we know we're going to lose.
How many times have I stood right here trying to fight
to protect taxpayer dollars from going
to gang banger families, terrorizing neighborhoods?
And every single one of you
who said the same thing have stood in this room saying,
no, we have to do it.
It's our responsibility.
It's our duty to pay these settlements.
Even when we know that as we just saw,
we approve a settlement where IR said our police,
were in the right, we are cutting our losses at every turn
because we don't wanna fight.
But now all of a sudden, the chamber has grown a set.
Now all of a sudden, this body is willing
to completely reject the fact that
not just the FOP,
but that the pipe fitters,
ATU,
IBW134, local 150, the plumbers,
firefighters local two and the teamsters all support
this effort not to separate
this contract because they know what that will mean
for them down the road.
But we also know Mr.
President, is that
all of these calls for public accountability are not
for transparency, but they're to continue the agenda
of political assassination of our police department
by individuals who are committed
to not reforming the police department but abolishing it.
We talk about we need to bring light
to the most egregious behavior that people with
such power and authority over our lives need
to be held accountable by the public eye.
You know, what's interesting is
that while we talk about less than 1%
of our officers would be impacted, there's another
group with collective bargaining rights
that has an inordinate amount
of control over our lives.
It impacts our children. And it's the CTU.
And as I look, as I look, Mr.
President right here, CTU'S contract, I can go
through the grievance and arbitration procedure
and I guarantee you it is not the same.
Even though the Annual Inspector General's report
highlights the fact that especially 30 pages,
30 out of nearly 112 pages deal with sexually inappropriate
behavior by people covered
by a collective bargaining agreement.
20 22, 1800 reported cases
of which 725 were investigated
by the Inspector General's Office of Sexual Allegations.
But I don't hear a single call
for public oversight or accountability.
We talk about lawsuits. I've got pages and pages of CPS two.
Please settle down please. Just a second.
Please continue hold pages
and pages of CPS lawsuits.
But we're not talking about that.
We're not talking about public accountability
or transparency therein.
Why? 'cause the agenda is not the same,
but their impact is no less felt on our communities.
'cause if you're not concerned, ladies
and gentlemen, about 1800 children being preyed upon
by their teachers, worrying about less than 1%
should not be the same.
Now, you can boo all you want, ladies and gentlemen,
but I'm here to tell you this.
This is about what is right in this room.
This is about what I've hear time
and time again from my colleagues who say,
everyone's entitled to their opinion,
but they're not entitled to their own facts.
And the facts is very simple.
We have a responsibility to pass
what the was agreed upon and not separate it.
We have a responsibility to show that we can lead
this city because I will tell you this, Mr.
President, I personally believe that all of the calls
for public access and accountability are misguided.
They're misguided.
Misguided, excuse me,
because this very body approved
a mechanism from which
the public could have oversight over the police department.
The anger about that is
because those individuals
who were elected at the district level, who are part
to be a part of the commission
and all of that have not been a part of the process
of which the ordinance was designed.
An ordinance by the way I voted for,
and now question why this
level of political doublespeak would
make Orwell proud today.
It is very clear what we need to do in this body.
But the narrative, the performance,
and the politics of it won't allow many of you to do that
because we're picking and choosing the winners we want
for the agendas we have.
I'm not a lawyer, I'm just blue collar kid.
But I know having been raised on the southwest side how
to call a spade a spade.
And what we're doing here is not right.
It's hypocritical of everything that all
of you have talked about when you argue against
what we talked about, settlements and things of that nature.
And it's not coming from a place of truth,
it's not coming from a place of reason.
It's political, it's ambitious, and it's wrong.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you. Seeing no other hands.
Thank you. Seeing no other hands,
the chair recognizes Chairman Rodriguez.
So here's why I'll be urging this body to reject
the ordinance that contains the arbitration option.
The city's chief labor negotiator has stated
that this award, which gives officers a choice
between arbitration
and the police board, is not justified by the record
or the party's history is likely
to frustrate the city's effort to bring about fundamental
and necessary reforms to the police department.
This will take away the public's confidence
and disciplinary process applicable
to police officers will ultimately work to the detriment
of police officers covered by their CBA.
And at bottom is inconsistent with the interests
and welfare of the public, which is required
by the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act.
Please note, this is not so much a question
of arbitration versus the police board.
This is the specific manner
in which the arbitrator fame the choice
between the two forums the city proposed
and the arbitrator rejected an arbitration option
that would be open to the public
in the same way the police board
hearings are open to the public.
That would ensure that arbitrators possess the necessary
familiarity with the consent decree
and policies specific to the CPD, such as
use of force policies.
And that would be in line with the manner in which the city
handles discharge appeal arbitration
for other union represented employees.
I'll close with one key point.
City of Chicago has an obvious demonstrable need
for a disciplinary appeal process in which the residents
of Chicago, who are the fundamental stakeholders,
can be confident that the ultimate results
of a disciplinary appeal is justified by the evidence
and is consistent with our insistence upon transparency
of our policies
and procedures relating to the police department.
I now renew my motion for a voice vote
to disapprove the committee report,
which I have noted will place the ordinance
before the city council.
I'm urging you to vote yes on this motion.
Thank you very much. There's a motion on the
floor to be clear.
There's a vote, a motion on the floor for this report.
This committee report, uh, to be brought
before this body so that
a, a full vote could be
made on this particular portion of the contract.
So a yes vote allows this particular portion
of the contract to be voted
before this body a no vote results in this item being
tabled in committee.
So a yes vote allows us to take up this particular portion,
a no of the contract, a no vote places this item
tabled in committee.
There's a motion on the floor for a voice vote.
I just heard that there's a motion on the
floor for a roll call.
Madam Clerk,
The voting is now open. Please refresh your device.
The voting is now open.
please raise your hand if you need assistance.
I will now take a voice vote for those who did not,
cast their votes.
Alderman Chico.
Alderman Chico is a no. Alderwoman Lee.
Alderwoman Lee is a no. Alderman Curtis.
Alderman Curtis is a no. Alderman Tabares.
Alderwoman Tabares is a no.
Alderman Sposato? Alderman Sposato is a no.
Alderwoman Nugent Alderwoman Nugent is a no.
Alderman Napolitano. Alderman Napolitano is a no.
Alderman Gardner. Alderman Gardner is a no.
Alderwoman Silverstein.
Alderwoman Silverstein is a no. The voting is now closed.
There are 34 yays. There are 16 nays. This motion passes.
The chair recognizes Chairman Rodriguez.
Thank you Mr. President.
I now call for a roll call vote on the ordinance
that provides for a closed room arbitration option
for certain CPD disciplinary actions
And I am urging a no vote on this matter.
Thank you very much. Just to be clear, a no vote is a vote
to reject this ordinance
that includes the arbitration provision of the contract
to establish a closed room arbitration option for certain
CPD disciplinary actions.
A yes vote is a vote to accept the arbitration award.
Just as a note, a three fifth vote
to reject this ordinance is required to reject the matter.
Madam Clerk, please take a roll call vote.
The voting is now open. The voting is now open.
Please use your E-device, hit refresh
and submit your vote.
If you need help, please raise your hand.
I will now call a voice vote If you have not voted.
Alderman Chico. Alderman Chico is a yes.
Alderman Sposato. Alderman Sposato is a yes.
Alderman Napolitano. Napolitano is a yes. Alderman Gardner.
Gardner is a yes. All right.
The voting is now closed.
Thank you. There are 33. There are 33 nays.
There are 17 yays there. Motion fails.
Alderman Mitchell on the motion to reconsider.
I'm sorry. Yes. Alderman Mitchell on the motion
to reconsider. Mr.
President, move to reconsider the vote. On the motion
to reconsider, all those in favor
to reconsider this vote signify by saying Aye.
All those opposed say no. Motion fails. Thank you very much.
Alderman Rodriguez,
the chair recognizes Chairman Rodriguez.
Mr. President, this concludes
the Report of the Committee on Workforce Development.
Thank you very much. The chair recognizes
At this point we're now gonna take up resolutions.
Thank you for being patient. There are a number
of resolutions that we wish to address today,
and those who are being honored
and recognized today have been incredibly patient.
We do appreciate that.
We have three resolutions today celebrating the 40th
anniversary of the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus,
the 20th anniversary
of the Chicago Dragons Rugby Football Club
and HIV AIDS Awareness Month. Chair recognizes.
Just a second. Just a second.
There's a meeting still going on
as those of you who are exiting, please exit
with some decorum and quieter please.
Those of you who are exiting,
please exit a little quieter, please.
Thank you very much. The chair
recognizes just, just a second.
Those of you who are exiting, could you please exit quicker
and a little quieter, please.
Just a second.
I would ask the City Council members to please come back
to order if you wish to celebrate individuals.
Could you just hold off for a second so that the order
of business can continue?
Chair recognizes Alderman Mitchell.
Mr. President, I move
for the temporary suspension of the rules.
For the immediate consideration of these resolutions,
There's an motion on the floor
to temporary suspend the rules so
that we can take up these resolution resolutions.
All those in favor of the suspension
of the rules signify by saying Aye.
All those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair,
the ayes have it. Thank you. No objections.
So ordered. In the interest of time,
we will forego the reading of these resolutions
and go straight to comments.
The first resolution, again,
celebrating the 40th anniversary
of the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus.
Are there any members that wish to speak to this resolution?
Thank you. The chair recognizes Alderman Lawson.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I rise to, uh, congratulate the Gay Men's Chorus,
which is more than just gay men.
For 40 years of excellent service,
representing the North Halstead community.
I have the opportunity to see the chorus a lot
and I hope most of you do too.
But I, I feel like they have since taken up residency
at Gallagher Way on Wrigley Field.
They've become regulars there, regulars at the ballpark
and it really going a long way in, uh, helping
communities all across Chicago understand communities like
mine and to bring joy and a little fun.
Certainly a little sparkle wherever they go.
And so I'm happy to be here
to support this. Congrats on 40 years.
Thank you very much. The chair
recognizes Alderman Knudsen.
Thank you, Mr. President. I also rise in support.
Sorry we made y'all wait so long.
I am sure it's busy season too with performances.
Thank you for the work you do.
I mean, the arts across the board can be the most incredible
place for acceptance, for self-realization,
and I know all of you resonate with that.
I'd love to have you come perform in the 43rd Ward
and again, just congratulations.
Thank you very much. The chair recognizes
Alder Manaa Hoppenworth.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I rise in support of this resolution.
I'm so happy to see you today, has been a really tough day.
And we just want to thank you for all your work.
You know, you're, you have touched so many lives.
Your history is, is really grounded in community.
And when you all started some
of your members couldn't even say that you were part
of the chorus because of discrimination
and, you know about the fear from getting fired.
And you, your group also came to many of our awards,
including in Edgewater the former Alderwoman
Kathy Osman, you know and she has since passed
'cause of, um, cancer.
But you were, you were there to seranade her.
So you have been there, um,
through the AIDS epidemic when people have been dying.
And you have brought so much solace for people
and you bring it to us today and city council.
So I stand to celebrate you
and thank you for your work.
And we can't wait to continue doing the thing
of, of shining a light on Chicago as, as the center
of the arts because institutions like yours
and your inclusivity means a lot to us.
So thank you so much.
Thank you very much. Are there any other alders that wish
to speak to this resolution?
Oh, my apologies. The chair recognizes Alderwoman Hadden.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I can't be more eloquent than Alder Manna Hoppenworth,
but I will say happy anniversary.
And I am particularly on the day where we got
to pass the
Alderman Silverstein CHI versus hate ordinance,
as we've talked about, about the rise in hate crimes
and hate incidents that we've seen.
I just really want appreciate the chorus
and continuing to show up for representation.
And I think everyone else said it very well
and just kind of bringing light levity
and creating spaces that we still
very desperately need.
So thank you.
Thank you. Did I miss anyone else? Any other alders
wish to speak to this resolution?
Let me just thank the individuals
who are here today in the box.
As a city you know,
it's a remarkable testament, to who we are to not just,
you know, recognize the incredible contributions
that you all have made to the city,
but really the contributions that this city has made
to the entire country particularly as we work
to make sure that our rights are protected
and that everyone is, is seen and heard and valued.
And so from the bottom of our heart, on behalf of the city
of Chicago, celebrate not just this particularly
milestone, but we celebrate the work that you will continue
to do on behalf of all of the people of Chicago.
Thank you very much. We please give them a
nice warm round of applause.
Now for the 20th anniversary
of the Chicago Dragons Rugby Football Club.
I'm sorry, did we lose the rest of the team?
Well, thank you for being so patient with us today.
And are there any alders that wish
to speak to this resolution?
Thank you. The chair recognizes Alderman Lawson.
Thank you Mr. President.
I'm honored to rise in support of this resolution.
Thank you for being here, and thank you for
your patience today.
More than 10 years ago, I was the regular bartender
for the Chicago Dragons
and if you've ever been to a Post-match, drink up,
you have some idea of what I went through with these guys.
but it was amazing to see as
so many people in our community do they find their,
their peers, their friends through sport.
and the the comradery that comes from being part
of a team, from working together, from traveling
to God knows where in the middle of the night
and then coming back to the north end
and getting blotto, uh, was great.
And so I was honored to be there and support the team.
I'm honored to have you guys be here for 20 years.
I would love to see a Bingham Cup in Chicago
which is an international, gay rugby, tournament,
which brings thousands in.
I know we've bid on it in the past.
I think we're a city of big shoulders
and we, we would wear it
well, so thank you for 20 years.
Thank you for all you do, and thank you, Mr. President
Very much. The chair
recognizes Alderman Sposato.
Do we get that right? Sposato?
Correct. Yeah. Excuse me. Thank you guys.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I'm a huge, I don't know anything about the Dragons
guys, so I'm a huge sports fan.
I gotta tell you, I don't get rugby, man.
You guys got, as my colleague said, all
of a sudden everybody's got a chance to grow a pair of cahoonas.
Well, I guess you guys got 'em every day, man.
That is one crazy sport.
So, just wanna congratulate you guys
on your 20th anniversary.
So thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you very much. Are there any
other members that wish to speak?
The chair recognizes Alder Manaa Hoppenworth.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I stand to congratulate you on 20 years
and thank you for your patience
for being here this long.
I wanna, I don't know much about rugby either.
I know that there's no blocking, right?
And so one person has a ball
and then your teammates kind of are around you
and they, they say, I'm with you, I'm with you, you know,
all, all the way as the ball advances.
And, and I love that. I love that spirit.
And I, that's the kind of thing
that we need right now is to tell each other
and our teammates that we're with them no matter what,
you know, especially in the hardest moments.
and you, you've done that, you know,
over the past years.
you did that during the aftermath
of the George Floyd murder, you said that you're, you're
with your teammates, you're with your, your black teammates,
you're with your black spectators and your black community
and you said that you were with them too.
And when transphobia was on the rise and,
and there were proposals to limit
who could actually join your team, you said no,
you, you said, I'm with you.
I'm, I'm with my trans siblings and,
and it's a very inclusive sport.
And so I, I wanna thank you for that.
I want to congratulate you
and I, I wanna continue to, to root for you,
and congratulate you for 20 years.
Thank you. Thank you for being here.
Thank you very much. Are there any other alders that wish
to speak to this resolution?
Thank you. The chair recognizes Alderwoman Lee.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I too rise in support of this resolution.
I wanna congratulate the
the Dragons rugby team on celebrating
their 20th anniversary.
When I read the, when I read
what was on the docket, I did a double take
'cause, uh, there's an organization in Chinatown called the
Chicago Dragons Athletic Association
and I've been a part of that
for as long as I've been alive.
And what I wanna say to you is thank you, thank you,
and congratulations to your organization
because 20 years is a long time.
20 years is a lot of community building.
20 years is a couple of generations
of people coming through.
and I wish you 20, 40, 60, a hundred more for
what you're doing, what you're continuing
to do in your community.
So congratulations.
Thank you very much. Are there any other alders that wish
to speak to this resolution?
Okay, again, I stand with this body, this council
to speak to this resolution
as we celebrate the Chicago Dragons Rugby Football Club.
I know for many people in the city might be surprised
to learn that we actually have a rugby team here in Chicago
but they should be pleased to learn that.
Just like any other Chicago sports team
they are great and we are certainly rooting for you,
the dragons work to increase awareness about the sport
of rugby in the Midwest,
but they also work to increase diversity
within the, the sport.
So we appreciate that.
And notably, the Chicago Dragons are the first team
to accept an openly gay men in the Midwest
and the first team to formally join the
International gay Rugby.
So thank you for that. And this team demonstrates,
the inclusive values that our city is known for
making Chicago a much richer
and a much more exciting place to live.
Creating a, a welcoming
and encouraging learning environment for all
of your players, regardless of their background.
On the home field at the Montrose Turf Field,
where they host teams from across the
Midwest, our entire city.
We continue to cheer you of the dragons
as you prepare to play
I understand for the
Bingham Cup in Rome next year.
So I would imagine that if there are alders that are not
familiar with the game of rugby,
they might just become more curious.
That was a joke.
I'm honored to congratulate the Dragons your many successful
years of competition.
And as a sports team in Chicago, we love you.
We appreciate you particularly with the vast diversity
that makes up your organization and your sport.
So again, on behalf of the city of Chicago, we thank you.
And again, we appreciate you being patient with us today.
Mark is the last person standing
but that is the true spirit of the, the sport of rugby.
As long as we're still standing, we got a fighting chance.
Congratulations.
And finally, our final resolution today,
is our recognition of HIV AIDS month.
Are there any alders that wish to speak
to the HIV AIDS Awareness Month?
This is your opportunity to do that.
Now you're on a roll.
The chair recognizes Alderman Lawson.
My day, Mr. President.
Thank you. Uh, happy to lead off
as we talk about HIV aids
and talk about this month.
You know, December 1st Mark's World AIDS Day,
and I was honored to attend a remembrance ceremony
that was very meaningful at AIDS Garden Chicago,
which if you have not been there, I invite you all to join,
an event or just to come
and view the beautiful space
that we've created on the lakefront just
south of Belmont Harbor.
If you've been on the drive
and seen the incredibly large Keith Herring green sculpture
that is AIDS Garden Chicago
and it's dedicated to the people who fought this fight
for over 40 years, who lost their lives, who continue
to live, and continue to fight
and I think it's important
that we know our history here, that we know how
our government failed us because we, it was gay men dying
and junkies who caress about them.
And how public health has taken on new meaning
for the L-G-B-T-Q community when it comes to access
to resources, not just for HIV,
but for, if it's impacts, if it's syphilis,
if it's covid, right?
I mean, we, we know that what an important role
that public health and government can play
in this terrible epidemic
and others that, that come to impact our community.
I did ask during the budget hearings though
about prep pre-exposure prophylaxis,
which is a prescription that you take prior to being exposed
to HIV that will prevent a new HIV infection.
This is huge. It's been around about five years or more.
I don't wanna, I'm not a medical expert,
but this is huge when it comes to treating this disease.
It means that if you are undetectable,
you are untransmittable.
That's for people who are currently HIV positive
and those who are not, if we could,
and the stat that public health gave us in October was
that new HIV infections are the lowest they've been
since the late eighties.
And that is something
that usually we don't always have a lot of good news
to celebrate on World AIDS Day
or on HIV AIDS Awareness Month
but we have to celebrate that
and we have to learn that there are still barriers
to access accessing care, to accessing prep,
to accessing housing and,
and the resources that we need to do to recommit ourselves
to ending this epidemic once and for all.
And so make sure your friends are on prep,
make sure they know about prep.
It's a conversation we all need to have regardless
of our age and our status.
and it's gonna change the way
this disease progresses for the next 40 years.
So thank you for the work that we we're doing here.
The work of all of our great partner organizations, many
of whom have a home in the 44th ward,
but serve the entire city.
Thank you, Mr. President. Thank
You very much.
The chair recognizes Alder Vasquez. Huh?
Did you, did you not wish to speak? No,
I, I did. I apologize. I didn't know
that I was next, but it's,
No, I got you. If you want
wait, we can go to someone else, uh,
Maria.
Okay. Okay. Thank you. Sorry, Mr. President.
Yeah, I rise in association
with this resolution
as we think about HIV and AIDS awareness month.
Thank you Alderman Lawson
in talking about what this experience has been.
I think some of us are old enough,
even if we were children in the eighties, to recognize
really what a horrible, horrible time it was
as the AIDS epidemic
was becoming known in widespread through the public.
Not only horrible because of what the disease,
disease itself did, the people's bodies at a time where
the medical community didn't have an understanding of how
to address it, but equally as horrible in
how much homophobia was propagated during that time.
Thinking about people who were afflicted
and what the narratives looked like to your point,
not just in the public, but from government itself in a way
that didn't protect members
of its own public when it was necessary to do so.
I do feel heartened that since that time,
which feels like a long time ago,
but wasn't terribly long since that time, we've improved
and have been able to address a lot of the fear
and the hatred and the ignorance that led
to more people passing away than ever needed to,
and none of them needed to.
As we move forward and,
and learn more about how we address things and how to prep
and prepare for things, we wanna make sure that folks
who currently are, are living with HIV aids know
we are siblings, we are family.
We wanna make sure that no one
and nowhere does that same level of, of propagation,
of ignorance continues
because lives are very much on the line.
And I think there's lessons to be learned about
what happened in that time as we look forward to our future.
I mean, we've had a pandemic
where we were concerned about covid and how that looked out.
We don't know what's around the corner as it relates
to the health of our family and our community members.
And so we should never, ever, ever forget
how ignorant we were as a public,
how ignorant government was,
and never seek to duplicate that ignorance going forward.
So I thank you, I thank all of our, our family
and friends out there living with it
and for their courage, shout out to Tpan for a lot
of the work they do, in fundraising
as well, towards the cause
and thank you so much for the
ability to speak on this matter. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you. Chair recognizes Alderman Raymond Lopez.
Again. Good afternoon, Mr. President and City Council.
I rise in support of this resolution as a member
of the LGBT community,
but also as somebody who represents African American
and Latinos, who combined as
of 2021 represented nearly two thirds
of all individuals living with HIV
or AIDS in the city of Chicago.
As of last year, 13,000 individuals living in the city
of Chicago with HIV 11, over 11,000 at aids.
I must respectfully disagree with my colleagues
encouraging things like prep.
Well, I do know that they are beneficial
because our goal has to be bringing that number to zero,
bringing new cases to zero.
And I feel that our Department of Public Health, as I stated
during pride months, several months, several months ago,
has taken its eye off the ball on that we are looking
for ways to live with when we should be focusing on
eradicating it, eradicating this virus
across all demographics in the city of Chicago.
We must recommit ourselves to ensuring that not just
with the LGBTQ plus community,
but even with the heterosexual community as well,
that we are doing everything we can to ensure
that we are bringing new cases of HIV and AIDS to zero.
That we are helping individuals,
particularly in the African American community,
which accounts for 47% of the HIV cases in Chicago,
that we are doing everything we can to ensure
that simple programs like the distribution
of free condoms in our community are available.
Something Mr.
President, that CDPH discontinued just
before covid, those are the things that work,
those are the things that are true to science
that we know are the best ways outside of abstinence,
driving down these numbers.
And that is what we must commit to as a community
and as a council to ensure that this
virus meets its end in our lifetime.
So, Mr. President, I thank you
for acknowledging the significance of this month
and of this day, of this day,
and look forward to working with all of our colleagues
to ensuring that one day HIV and AIDS will be a memory
and not a condition with which we are forced to live with.
Thank you. Thank
You. The
chair recognizes Alderwoman Hadden.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I too rise to be associated with this resolution.
Thank you for being here.
I appreciate everyone's comments
and I'm gonna kind of pick up where Alderman Lopez left off.
As he shared, we know that here in Chicago,
black Chicagoans are disproportionately impacted
by HIV and aids.
We make most, we make up most of the new infections.
And in this body, in previous years,
we've actually spent a lot of time trying
to get our Department of Public Health
challenging them on the way they distribute funds
and funding into which organizations.
So I think with this awareness month
that's something that I want to
raise awareness for, for us.
While we are seeing the lowest infection rates of,
cases of aids, right?
Because there are good medicines, there is better education.
We know that this does not just affect, right, the
gay male community, right?
This affects the heterosexual community,
it affects everybody.
And when we look at Black Chicagoans
and our Latina Chicagoans too, this affects a lot of women.
So we have a lot of women living with HIV and aids, right?
A lot of folks with children.
And we do not have a funding structure that currently helps
to get the messaging out to the communities
that are most impacted by this.
And that's something we need to shift. So Mr.
President, I hope that you, I hope our new,
very excited about our new nominated
commissioner for the Department
of Public Health will be open to having that conversation
with our community leaders, our organizations and providers,
and of course our residents.
Because we should be able to approach
next December when we are having our HIV
and AIDS awareness with better numbers for Chicagoans,
especially our most impacted Chicagoans.
And to keep seeing that number decrease. Thank you.
Thank you. Finally,
unless someone else wishes to speak,
the chair recognizes Alderman Robinson.
I rise Mr. President to thank you
for allowing me the opportunity
to work on this very important resolution with you.
As my colleagues mentioned, yes,
we are seeing the rates of HIV decrease,
and in some instances we can applaud ourselves.
Unfortunately, we still see high rates of HIV
in the African-American community, Mr.
Mayor, for a mere different reasons.
One is access to health.
One is that we still, unfortunately,
are not supporting our black led organizations
that have been fighting this fight for several years.
Also, we need to make sure that we're building
capacity in our African American organizations
that have been fighting this illness,
this epidemic for several years.
And so, mayor, I look forward to working with you
and the Chicago Department of Health
for really setting the example for United States on
how we can get to zero.
I believe the will is there, Mr.
Mayor, for us to be able to do this.
I believe that we have the capacity with the colleagues
that I have in this body to finally do right
by HIV, finally do right
around the African American community as we relate,
as it relates to getting to zero. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. I stand with this body, speak
to this resolution, designating December 2023
as HIV AIDS Awareness Month in the City of Chicago.
You know, as we take this time
to acknowledge the ongoing fight against HIV aids, let's
certainly remember those who have gone on,
who have been tremendous leaders in this fight
for not just awareness, but to eradicate this disease.
And for decades, this disease has posed an incredible
challenge to public health worldwide and countless lives
and communities are impacted across the globe.
22,000 residents
currently, the city of Chicago is estimated live with HIV.
So we have come a long way this fight against the stigma
surrounding an HIV diagnosis.
But of course, the work has to continue.
And this month, as we recognize this work,
let us educate one another.
Let's break down the misconceptions that perpetuate the fear
that ultimately leads to discrimination.
And also in the month of December,
let's spread awareness about the tools that are available
to prevent HIV,
including HIV prevention medicines like prep.
There's more support than ever available residents
who are living with HIV.
So through the Chicago Department of Public Health
residents have access to HIV testing, prep support,
mental health counseling, medical transportation,
primary care housing, and more.
We stand in solidarity with the state
as it has embarked upon in a very ambitious program
called Getting to Zero.
This plan is to end the HIV epidemic of the year 2030.
I'm grateful that we are adopting this resolution
and making December hiv aids Awareness month in Chicago
so that we can reinvigorate our efforts
to prevent the spread of this disease
and demonstrate our care for those who are affected.
And so, let's remember those again,
who have lost this fight.
Let's build a more comprehensive, resilient,
much healthier future for everyone.
Thank you again, and thank you Luke,
for hanging around with us today.
Let's give Luke a nice round of applause.
And so just leave from this body,
another incredibly patient group
that has been with us today.
Very proud that our high school football team,
our state champions, Mt. Carmel's in the house.
So if we could, I, I would like to just grant leave.
Since the rules have been suspended,
the chair recognizes Alderman Yancy.
Folks, good Afternoon.
I'm here to recognize Mount Carmel football
for not only becoming state champions in 2023
winning in back to back state championships
and also record tying their 15th championship the most in
Illinois state history
for one high school.
Mount Carmel High School was founded in 1900
as a Fifth ward institution
that is focused on educating young men.
And these men have done the best as student athletes.
And I just want to acknowledge, Sun Times player
of the year, uh, I'm gonna screw the name up.
Darien Dupree, who
first Mount Carmel player since 1981 to be
voted as Sun Times player of the year.
This year he had 151 carries, 1100 yards, 16 touchdowns,
20 receptions, 764 yards, eight receiving touchdowns,
and had 155 yards in, in the championship game,
leading the caravan to a 35-10 win.
There he is. There he is.
I myself, am a proud Cuon alum,
but will always recognize young
our young people in their pursuits going forward.
So I yield time to
anyone else who'd like to speak. Thank you
Very much.
The chair recognizes Alderman O'Shea.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I too rise in support of this important recognition.
My colleague put it so well know. Mr.
President Mount Carmel opened its doors in 1900.
For 123 years
they have been educating young men
from across our great city.
And if everyone here remembers, back in the, in the sixties
and seventies when we saw great turmoil in neighborhoods on
the south and west sides, it was Mount Carmel
that stayed entrenched in an anchor
in the Woodlawn community.
And they're still there today.
With us, along with these wonderful student athletes
is our principal, Mr. Scott Tabernacle,
a 2002 graduate of Mount Carmel.
Mr. Tabernacle, please,
Phil Segro who serves as athletic director
and also the head coach of the Mount Carmel football team,
2009 graduate Jordan?
and a 2013 Heisman Trophy finalist.
You know, we could talk about 15 straight
15 state championships back to back in three
and four years, three and five years.
But I think the most important thing to note is
what these leaders in the school do,
preparing these young men to be leaders in the world.
I'm a proud graduate of Mount Carmel High School,
as are a few people here in this body.
These young student athletes, you guys stand up again,
Their parents made great sacrifices
to send them to Mount Carmel.
And we have a saying at Mount Carmel and
and I think these guys could probably recite it,
but I'm not gonna make them do it.
You came to Mount Carmel as a boy.
If you care to struggle and work at it,
you will leave as a man.
These young men are our future
and what a great diverse group we have here today.
You know, we singled out a few of these guys,
but these guys are all leaders.
These guys are all our future leaders.
I just wanna say I'm proud
to be a Mount Carmel High School alum,
and I'm very proud of these young men
and the men that do the leading in the building.
Thanks for your patience today.
This is, this is quite a field trip for 'em.
Six hours at a Chicago City Council meeting.
Yeah. Yeah. We're working on that.
Thank you all very much.
The chair
recognizes Alderman Chico.
Thank you. As a [inaudible]
alumni, it's gonna be difficult.
I first wanna recognize my childhood friend,
Principal Tabernacle,
and the work he's done there
to lead these young men every day.
It's a journey, and we've talked about it.
When I see him and I,
I wanna compliment him on a great job that he's done.
So please,
Coach Lynch, thank you for leading this program.
And these young men, great young men here,
thank you for what you do.
Thank you for taking a role at Mount Carmel.
And I just wanna say thank you.
Mount Carmel is such an important
institution in the city of Chicago. Thank you.
Thank you, alderman.
The chair recognizes Alderman Napolitano.
Thank you, Mr. President. I too rise in support of this,
As a far Northwest sider graduate of
Notre Dame High School,
Not quite a rival of, of Mount Carmel,
but one that has always has the last, God, I don't know
how many years watched the success story of Mount Carmel.
The best part about it is it's constant
and it's a strength of growing strong men.
You know, it, it's, it's building a philosophy
through hard work, dedication towards a sport
that builds you and makes you a stronger person in life.
And you've done that for so many years at that school.
Unfortunately, I had to watch from the Far Northwest side
your success in championships.
It was not the happiest of times growing up,
but at the, when you grow up
and get to a certain point, you appreciate it more,
especially to you coaches, sacrificing and,
and dedicating your time.
As a coach myself, I know how much you give.
And, and you don't do it for the accolades.
You do it because it's better than everything else.
It's the worst day you could be having at work or,
or at home when you get on the
field with those football players.
In my case, it's hockey players.
There's no other place you'd rather be
and it makes it so, so worth it.
Mount Carmel is
a name synonymous with the city of Chicago
and I say that with love
for my own high school on the northwest side,
which isn't quite in Chicago,
but it's filled with Chicagoans.
Keep up the great work. Make us proud. You.
You're not just known on, on the Southwest side.
You're known throughout the entire country
for being a powerhouse in football.
And God bless you. Godspeed. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, alderman. The chair
recognizes Alderman David Moore.
Well, I'm only standing up
because my godson, Alan McCoy,
who's not here, is on the squad.
'cause y'all be whipping up on my
wolverines, and I don't like that.
But I am just so proud of you all.
I, I normally don't watch a lot
of high school football games on television,
but when you, all on the other week, you all made me watch
because you all was doing such an outstanding job.
And I want to commend you young men and the coaches.
I had to stand up because we deal with
so much in this council from a
challenging standpoint, son, from a negative standpoint
but there's nothing like our youth and,
and you all have deserved the right
to be down here, to be recognized.
If people don't understand,
it's, it's bigger than sports for people
who are athletes or people
who are involved in it in a major way.
All the training you all do
and still have to go to class, keep up your grades.
You, you, you all deal with
so much stuff in terms of what you have to do in order
to be a good team to win a championship
and it, and it, and that doesn't come easy.
And so I wanna just congratulate you all.
Keep winning. I was there the other day for
a basketball game and I saw some jerseys in the rafters.
I didn't see McNabb's jersey up there,
so somebody don't have to explain that one to me.
Mm-Hmm. And, but, it's, it's, it's good.
And I want, hopefully some
of you all's jerseys whose broken records,
who've done some good things will be up in those
raptors real soon.
And for, for seniors,
how many seniors are on this squad?
Raise your hand. Seniors.
You all are going on to bigger and better things,
but learn and keep those values that you learned
out at Mount Carmel
and that toughness that you learned in Chicago
especially for the you all
that's going away and leaving here.
Keep that with you and it's gonna carry you through.
And so I wish you much success.
Enjoy, enjoy the rest of your senior year.
Enjoy high school, have fun.
Go out with a bang along with this championship,
and I wish all of you all the best
as you go in the future. God bless you.
Thank you Alderman. Chair recognizes Alderman
Lamont Robinson.
Mr. President, I rise to
give a big congratulations to
Mount Carmel High School.
I am a 2000 graduate, believe it
or not, of Mount Carmel High School.
And in 2000, we won the championship.
But I really want to speak today, Mr.
President, about what Mount Carmel did for me
as a young black boy on the south side of Chicago.
Mr. Mayor, my political career started out at Mount Carmel
as the Vice President of the Student Government Association.
I lost my father when I was at Mount Carmel,
who was a city worker building inspector in 1999.
It was Mount Carmel that wrapped their arms around me
and made sure that I stayed on track,
graduated from Mount Carmel,
and then going on to Clark Land University.
I appreciate Mount Carmel
because it was the exposure that I got to again,
keep me on the right track.
You see, a lot
of times when we look at our young men in the city
of Chicago, particularly our young black men, Mr.
Mayor, it is exposure.
The reason that they go down the road of gangs and drugs
and violence is because of exposure.
And I believe for certain
that it wasn't for Mount Carmel, Mr.
Mayor, that I would've gone down that road.
And so I owe a lot to this great institution.
Young men keep striving,
keep making us proud, and God bless.
Thank you very much. The chair recognizes Alderman Sposato.
Thank you, Mr. President. I too wanna jump on the caravan.
No pun intended. Thanks guys. Very
Good. Very
Good. That's good. You liked that one,
huh? Yeah. Thank you.
Congratulations guys.
As an outsider,
a northwest sider who's a huge sports fan
and follows high school sports
the accomplishments that that school has had in
not only football, also basketball.
Um, pros that many pros have come out of that school
So I just wanna say like my colleague here says such an
awesome foundation for you.
I also went to private high school.
My school didn't last since 1900.
It, it didn't even make it for 50 years.
So, but once again, just wanna congratulate everybody.
Keep your eye on the prize.
As most of you know, your football career, I'm sure is over.
And now it's time to get down to the nitty gritty
and start learning
and being successful individuals in life.
So, congratulations everybody.
Thank you, Mr. President. Thank
You very much. The
chair recognizes Alderwoman, Sam Nugent,
Mr. President
I too rise and support of this resolution
and wish to extend my congratulations to Mount Carmel.
I too watched a lot of your games
and as my colleague was reading the records,
that was impressive.
Those were a lot of tudies. So congratulations.
And you know, several of my colleagues
and I catch up here in between meetings
and talk about high school football.
It's incredibly important.
And when we as a council talk about opportunities for youth
and things to do, I don't know
what you guys do on a Friday night,
but Friday night Lights is a big deal in my family,
and it is exciting to go watch football games
and share on different schools and high schools
and reach out to different aldermen
and alderwoman when I'm in their ward
to chair on the high schools in their communities.
And so, thank you for providing a heck of a season
and what an, what a thrill
for me to watch you guys.
So congratulations. Go do great things.
When you excel in the field, you excel in life.
So go do it. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank
You very much. Are there any
other alders that wish
to celebrate this incredible accomplishment?
Yes, the chair recognizes Alderman Will Hall.
Thank you Mr. President to Mount Carmel as a
former [inaudible] student,
You all used to embarrass us every Friday night,
but nevertheless, the other mic, oh, the other mic
oh my bad, I'm talking now, it's him.
Yeah, every Friday night you all used to
put on the greatest show on turf.
And one Friday night, myself
and Jim Sheen from Dealer Sale went to go witness greatness.
You all put on an example of both hospitality and love
and to the Men's Club and the Father's Club.
You all set a standard of manhood.
And so to Mr. Michael Smith,
who's always bringing out Carmel boys around men, thank you
for being that example into the leadership
that doesn't get paid to match your sacrifice.
Thank you for keeping that sacrifice
and setting an example for all of us in the city of Chicago.
So God bless you Mount Carmel.
Thank you very much. Are there any other alders?
I like how Alderman Hall was starting
to negotiate someone else's
union contract right on the floor.
All right, that's how much we believe in workers.
Anyone else? Again, congratulations. Well done.
And of course we're looking forward to the one person
who is not a senior in that particular bunch.
Come to hang out and see you all play.
So congratulations again, Mount Carmel.
Well we okay, Alderman Mitchell
for the passage of all three
of these resolutions,
Mr. President, I move passage
in the Omnibus
All three resolutions, hearing no objections.
So ordered. Alderman Mitchell
to return back to the regular order
of business. Mr. President,
I move that return to the regular order of business
Hearing no objections.
So ordered. Communications.
Communications from his honor of the mayor
to the Honorable the City Council of the City of Chicago.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request
of the Chief Financial Officer, I transmitted
with an ordinance authorizing the issuance
of the city's second lien wastewater transmission revenue
bonds series 2024 in the aggregate principle amount not
to exceed $500 million.
Your favorable consideration
of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours, signed Brendan Johnson
Mayor. Referred to the Committee on Finance.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the controller,
I transmitted with an ordinance designating the 2024
municipal deposit depositories.
Your favorable consideration
of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours, signed Brandon Johnson Mayor. Referred
to the Committee on Finance.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request
of the budget director I transmitted
with a fund 925 amendment, your favorable consideration
of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours, signed Brandon Johnson Mayor. Referred
to the committee on the budget and Government Operations.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request
of the Chief Procurement Officer, I transmitted
with an ordinance amending section 2-92-340
of the municipal code regarding pre-qualified
contractors for city projects.
Your favorable consideration
of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours, signed Brandon Johnson Mayor. Referred
to the Committee on Contracting Oversight and Equity.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner
of Planning and Development, I transmitted
with an ordinance authorizing the 2024 service provider
agreement with the Belmont Central Chamber of Commerce
for special service area number two.
Your fable consideration
of this ordinance will be appreciated. Very truly yours, signed
Brandon Johnson Mayor. Refer
to the Committee on Economic Capital
and Technology Development.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner
of Planning and Development, I transmitted
with an ordinance authorizing the 2024 service provider
agreement with South Chicago Parents
and Friends Incorporated
for special service area number five.
Your favorable consideration
of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours signed, Brandon Johnson Mayor. Referred
to Committee on Economic Capital and Technology Development.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner
of Planning and Development, I transmitted
with an ordinance authorizing the sale
of city owned properties located at 4337 South Lake Park
Avenue, 34 35 West 23rd Street,
and 31 0 9 East 92nd Street.
Your favorable consideration
of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours, signed Brendan Johnson Mayor. Referred
to the Committee on Housing and Real Estate.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner
of Planning and Development I transmitted
with ordinances authorizing the negotiated sale
of city owned properties.
Your favorable consideration
of these ordinances will be appreciated.
Very truly yours, signed Brandon Johnson Mayor. Refer
to the Committee on Housing and Real Estate.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request
of the commissioner planning and development I transmitted
with ordinances authorizing the sale
of city owned properties for adjacent neighbors under the
City Block Builder Land Sale Program.
Your favorable consideration of this
or these ordinances will be appreciated.
Very truly yours, signed Brandon Johnson Mayor. Referred
to Committee on Housing and Real Estate.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner
of Housing, I transmitted
with an ordinance authorizing the issuance
of financial assistance and loan restructuring
for Brainer Senior Preservation lp.
Your favorable consideration
of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours, signed Brandon Johnson Mayor. Referred
to Committee of Housing and Real Estate.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner
of Housing, I transmitted
with an ordinance authorizing the issuance
of financial assistance to do all development corporation
for acquisition of three buildings
through the preserving existing affordable Rentals program.
Your favorable consideration
of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours, signed Brandon Johnson Mayor. Referred
to the Committee on Housing and Real Estate.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner
of the Mayor's Office of People with Disabilities,
I transmitted with an ordinance authorizing the execution
of an intergovernmental agreement
with the Chicago Housing Authority
regarding accessibility home modification program.
Your favorable consideration
of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours, signed Brandon Johnson Mayor. Referred
to the Committee on Housing and Real Estate.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner
of buildings I transmitted
with an ordinance amending municipal code
to make technical corrections
and adjustments to the Chicago Construction Codes.
Your favorable consideration
of this ordinance will be appreciated,
Very truly yours, signed Brandon Johnson Mayor. Referred
to the committee on zoning landmarks and building standards.
Ladies and gentlemen, at the request of the Commissioner
of buildings I transmitted
with an ordinance amending the municipal code
regarding the licensing of apprentice plumbers, plumbers
and plumbing contractors.
Your favorable consideration
of this ordinance will be appreciated.
Very truly yours, signed Brandon Johnson Mayor. Referred
to the committee as zoning landmarks and building standards.
Ladies and gentlemen, I transmitted with appointments
to various special service areas.
Your favorable consideration
of these appointments will be appreciated,
Very truly yours, signed Brandon Johnson Mayor. Referred
to command on economic capital and technology development.
City Clerk Anna Valencia hereby informs the city council
that the following documents were filed in her office
relating to the respective subjects designated as follows.
Executive order number 2023-20 Establishing the Chief
Homelessness Officer, Executive Order number 2023-21
regarding extreme lining city development processes,
the determination certificate of City of Chicago
regarding First Amendment to resolve line
of credit agreement with RBC Capital Net Markets, LLC
and Royal Bank of Canada
as a financial note of December 29th, 2021,
aggregate outstanding amount not to exceed $225 million.
The Office of Inspector General's follow-up audit report
concerning city's compliance with tax increment financing
sunshine Ordinance and tax increment finance surplus
executive order, and the expression
of opposition to propose zoning
reclassification of property at 2907
through 2923 West Irving Park Road.
City Clerk Valencia also informs the city council
that all those matters, which were considered
by the city council at the regular meeting held on
November 9th, 2023
and which were required to be published in book
or pamphlet form in one
or more newspapers were published in pamphlet form on
December 13th, 2023 by being printed in full text
and printed packet, copies of the Journal of Proceedings
of the City of Chicago. City Clerk Valencia also informs the
city council that all those matters, which were considered
by the city council at the regular meeting held on
November 15th and which were required by statute
to be published in book or pamphlet form or in one
or more newspapers were published in pamphlet form on
December 13th, 2023 by being printed in full text
and printed pamphlet, copies of the Journal of Proceedings
of the City of Chicago. City Clerk Valencia also informs the
city council that the following ordinances,
which were passed by the city council in November 15th, 2023
and which were requested to be published in special
pamphlets were published in special pamphlets on
December 5th, 2023, the imposition
of tax levies approving the amendments of budgets, amendment
of certain boundaries
and execution of service provider
agreements for special service areas
numbered
2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27,
28-2014, 29-2014, 31, 33, 34, 35-2015
38, 39, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48, 50, 51,
52-2021, 54, 56-2022, 59-2022
60, 61-2023
62, 63, 69, 71, 72, 73, 76, 77,
and 80. City Clerk Valencia also transmits here
with the following miscellaneous communications reports
requiring city council action zoning classifications
of particular areas which are referred
to the Committee on zoning landmarks
and building standards claims against the city of Chicago,
which are referred to the Committee on Finance Establishment
of a Gun Violence Reduction and
and Regulation ordinance, which is referred
to the Committee on Public Safety
and Correction of the November 7th, 2023 City Council
Journal of Proceedings, which is referred
to the Committee on Committees and Rules.
Your Honor, that concludes the report of
communications from
the mayor and city officers.
Thank you very much. We will now complete our committee
committee reports, the Committee on budget
and Government Operations.
The chair recognizes Chairman Ervin
At 2:20,
Members of the council reported for the committee on budget
and government operations held,
held a committee on December 8th.
Committee has a series
of reports recommending passage of the following items.
Item number one is a communication
regarding the proposal ordinance concerning redevelopment
with A NOF grant
to Ellen Alderman in the Rebuild Foundation,
to repurpose St.
Lawrence School at 1341-53
East 72nd Street into residencies, tech
and Fab labs promoting art, music,
writing craftsman disciplines for emerging artists.
Alderman Harris. Oh, okay.
Well I thought Alderman Harris had had something on that.
Go ahead. Alright,
Chair recognizes Alderwoman Harris.
Thank you. Today I'm a proud mom
and I tell this little story that I went to St.
Lawrence as a preschooler
and I had my first cut there on a little red
wagon in the play lot.
And so subsequently,
I've never forgotten going to school at St.
Lawrence. But now that the Astro Gate is coming
and doing this amazing investment in
that property to create the a, the artist lofts
and incubator it will be wonderful to help start,
the type of catalyst that we need in
that particular part of South Shore to regenerate it,
to bring the economic vibrancy that
that part of the ward needs.
I am happy
and pleased to support this project
is truly gonna be a life changer again for our South Shore
for, Alderman Yancy and I part of the universe
And not to mention we forget
Alderman Greg Mitchell's down in
there part of the world too.
So thrilled to have that program
and thrilled for all the, the, the changes,
the positive changes that will happen
because of that investment in that project.
Thank you so much, Mr. President.
Thank you. The chair recognizes Chairman Ervin. Thank
You, Mr. President. I move
passage of this item
by the first favorable roll call
of the Committee on Public Safety
in the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider hearing.
No objection. So ordered.
Thank you. Item number two is a communication
regarding the proposed ordinance concerning an annual
appropriation ordinance year 2023 amendment within
fund 925.
I make the same motion if there's no objection
Hearing no objection. So ordered.
Item number three is the communication
regarding the proposed ordinance
concerning the fund transfer within the Committee on Public
Safety for year 2023.
I make the same motion if there's no objection, hearing
None so ordered.
Item number four is the communication
regarding the proposed ordinance concerning the transfer
of funds within the Committee on Economic Capital
and Technology Development for year 2023.
I make the same motion if there is no objection, hearing
none so ordered.
Item number five is a communication
recommending a proposed ordinance concerning the transfer
of funds within the Committee on Workforce Development
for year 2023.
I make the same objection.
I make the same motion. If there's no objection,
Hearing none so ordered.
Mr. President, that concludes my report.
Thank you very much. Committee on Contracting Oversight
and equity. Chair recognizes Chairwoman Mitts.
Mr. President, members
of the City council reporting
for the Committee on Contracts Oversight and Equity.
We held a meeting on December 5, 2023 to consider.
Item number 02023-
002891.
A re-referral of an amendment of municipal code
section 2-74-2
regarding a veteran HIN preference initiative
and requirements to the Committee on Workforce Development
sponsoring Autumn with Alderman Viegas, Mr.
President, I moved that the city counseling
and current recommendation of the Contracts and Oversight
and Equity Committee by the same roll call
vote is item number one on the Committee on Public Safety
and the unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
Anyone wish to speak to this hearing?
No objections, no hands. So ordered.
Thank you, Mr. President. That concludes my report
Very well. Thank you very
much. The Committee on
Economic Capital and Tech Technology Development,
the chair recognizes Chairman Viegas.
Thank you Mr. President
and members of the city council reporting
for the Committee on Economic Capital
and Technology Development.
Held a meeting on Tuesday, December 5th.
Committee held a meeting
and recommends passive the following items.
Item one on the report is an approval for issuance
of a Class six B tax incentive
for 328 West 40th place located in the third ward.
I move for passes of this item
by the first favorable roll call
of the committee on public safety
and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider
Hearing no objection,
So ordered. Item
Two on the report is the ordinance on tax levy scope
of services, budget, and the management
and management agreements to a special service area,
which was collectively voted on by the committee members,
introduced by Mayor Johnson
during November 1st, 2023
City Council meeting SSA number 10.
I move for pass of this item by the same motion.
Hearing no
objection, so ordered.
Chairman, Mr.
President. Additionally, Mr. President
and members of the city council on Wednesday, December 6th,
the Committee on Economic Capital Technology Development
and the Committee on Environment Protection and Energy met
and jointly passed the resolution
to hold subject matter hearing in the city's LED service
line replacement programs.
At this hearing, the joint committee addressed the public
health crisis caused by lead and waters
and water service lines.
The Commissioner of Water Management
provided testimony regarding the comm current state
of lead service line replacement programs in Chicago.
The joint Committee also heard from city public health
and public finance officials, officials
water safety experts
and environmental justice advocates, union leaders,
and from officials of other municipalities
that have successfully implemented lead service
line programs.
I'm my, I and my many fellow committee members look forward
to working with you to expeditiously implement an aggressive
lead service line replacement program
that will effectively address the public health threat holds
by hundreds of thousands
of toxic water service lines still being used
by Chicago residents.
Thank you, Mr. President. And that concludes my report.
Thank you very much for the Committee on Ethics
and Government Oversight.
The chair recognizes Chairman Martin.
Thank you Mr. President
and members of the City council reporting
for your committee on Ethics
and Government Oversight,
which held a committee meeting on Monday,
December 11th, 2023.
The committee represent recommends passage
of the following two items.
Item number one is a substitute
to ordinance 2023-0002937
amending municipal code regarding registration of lobbyists
and regulations pertaining thereto.
The substitute was circulated and accepted by the committee.
This item passed unanimously among all members present.
I move passage of this item
by the first favorable roll call vote
of the Committee on Public Safety
and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
Thank you very much. Hearing no objections, so ordered.
Item number two is Ordinance 2023-
05983, which is the second amendment
to the intergovernmental agreement
with the Public Building Commission of Chicago, providing
for the city's Inspector General to serve
as the Commission's Inspector General.
This item passed unanimously amongst all members present.
I move passage of this item
by the first favorable roll call vote of,
of the Committee on Public Safety
and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider
Hearing no objection,
So ordered.
Thank you, Mr. President. That concludes my report.
Thank you very much. The Committee on Housing
and Real Estate Chair recognizes Chairman
SigCho-Lopez. Thank
You, Mr.
President and members of the City council reporting
for your committee on Housing
and Real estate, which held in-person meetings on
November 29th, 2023 and December 5th, 2023.
The committee has a series of reports recommending passage
of four ordinances.
This include various licensing, lease
and miscellaneous agreements.
One item was deferred in committee.
The following items from the Department
of Housing are grouped for convenience item number one,
item 02023-0005797
Authorization of multifamily programs, funds,
or secure land sale Securitization corporation bonds
to Lakeview Landing LP for construction
or permanent supported housing on property donated
by Lakeview Lutheran Church at
835 West Addison Street in the 44th ward.
Item number 202023-
0005948.
License subscription services agreement
with ProLink Solutions Inc.
for the Department of Housing Data Management Management.
I move passage of these items
by the first most favorable roll code vote on the Committee
on Finance and Associated
and successful Motion to reconsider
Hearing no objections,
So ordered.
Thank you, Mr. President.
The following is from the Department of Family
and Support Services
Item number 302023-005793
Authorization for flexible housing pool program
with initial grant funding
and maximum five-year extension
of landlord rental subsidy program by the Department
of Family and Support Services as administrator.
Move passages of this item by the same motion
Hearing no objection,
So ordered.
Thank you. And finally, from December 5th, 2023 meeting.
Item four is from the Department
of Assets Information Services, items
02023-005731
The third amendment to lease agreement with Nor Less
Financial Associates, LLC
for additional lease space at Suite 1600
to service the Community Commission for Public Safety
and Accountability and the Office of Climate
and Environmental Equity
during build out on the ninth floor at
two nor LA South Street.
A move passage of this item by the same motion.
Hearing, no objections, seeing no hands. So ordered.
Thank you Mr. President. This concludes my report.
Thank you very much for the Committee on Immigrant
and Refugee Rights Chairman,
chair recognizes Chairman Vasquez.
Thank you Mr. President
and members of the City council reporting
for your committee on, on Immigrant
and Refugee Rights, which held a committee meeting on
December 7th, 2023.
During the meeting, a subject matter hearing was held
to discuss the African diaspora experience
through immigration to discuss the Haitian experience,
immigration, and discuss the history
of the welcoming city ordinance.
The United African Organization, the Coalition
of Haitian American Organizations in the Chicago Land area,
the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant Refugee Rights,
and the National Immigrant Justice Center.
all provided testimony.
I may mention in that to invite all members
of the council to join us at the committee
as we plan on having more focus on the experience
of the African diaspora as it relates to immigrant
experience as well as our other communities.
We will be doing regular report outs.
Additionally, the committee has a report recommending
passage of a resolution which asks President Biden
to expand parole and work permits to both new migrants
and long-term contributing immigrant workers,
which passed out the committee.
That ordinance was SR 2023-
0005289.
Iff members wish to speak, some, articulated
that they were interested in doing so,
and I'd like to request that the sponsor,
Alderperson Fuentes close us out to speak.
Individuals who wish to speak to this
these items, the chair recognizes Alderman Moore.
Thank you. And as always, I'll take responsibility first.
And I know it's just seems like maybe a resolution,
but I wasn't aware of the resolution.
I didn't attend the committee. 'Cause I did
I wasn't aware of this item on the committee.
Therefore, just as a blanket statement, it,
it sounds good on the surface,
but sometimes I have deeper questions
that may get me to a yes or that may get me to a no.
And so therefore since I wasn't in that hearing
to ask, ask those questions I cannot support this.
Today I would like to have
more information, a general blanket.
It sounds great on the surface,
but I gotta understand what that means.
And I, and I'm, I'm just not clear on that to be able
to vote intelligently yes.
on it. So I'm gonna have to vote no.
Thank you very much.
So the record will reflect that Alderman Moore wishes
to be recorded as a no
once the motion is made. For passage,
the chair recognizes Alderman Sichigo-Lopez.
Thank you. Thank you Mr.
President and I appreciate Alderman Moore's comments in
terms of making sure that we discuss these proposals
and we discuss it in council.
This particular proposal,
it comes from our community, an immigrant community
that's looking at solutions
and not to continue to fuel divisions
or misunderstandings of misinformation.
These important resolution, I wanna thank,
I think we have in the audience here some members
who have been from the get go, making sure that we put VIS
to make visible these solutions that are within reach
and that we need to discuss
as we see a serious attack on our
city that we should all see.
But what it is we see human trafficking.
We see the buses of
asylum seekers inhumanely to our city.
A 5-year-old little girl died in transit
because of these inhumane policies
as we see the dehumanization
and the of course political experiencing of those
who will have an obsession with the city of Chicago.
Yet I, I yet to see some of these same interests to come
and actually walk and talk to our communities.
But I'll tell you that I would like to thank, in particular
a very important part of our history which is
related to our great beloved leader Rudy Lozano.
And I tell you that I'm not surprised
that his family actually here with us today,
we have Tanya Lozano
and members of Healthy Hood, our young people, as well as
of course, Lincoln Methodist Church Pastor Emma Lozano,
the sister or of beloved leader Rudy Lozano, fundamental part
of the Coalition of Black
and Brown Unity with Mayor Howard Washington.
This coalition is proposing solutions to the crisis.
This proposal is very simple.
This proposal, what intends is to make sure
that President Biden actually uses executive power
when it is important.
We have seen a president that bypasses Congress to sell ar
to continue to sell arms and bombing innocent children,
but yet we don't see the same executive power to help
with solutions in our community.
This is a very simple resolution urging President Biden
and federal government to take action
and bring solutions to the table.
While we are asking of President Biden is actually
to use his executive power to expand something
that has already been done, which is
to provide work permits.
And we have a lot of experience with that.
We're talking about those farm workers.
We're talking about people
who are providing our food in front of a table.
We talk about essential workers who are right now suffering
for family separations.
We're talking about the 2 million
people who have seen
a crisis in their families because of separation.
We talk about 11 million people who are looking for dignity
and respect and are providing essential
services to our community.
That's what this executive power is so important
because we need to continue to talk about solutions
and not pitching one against each other.
That is only fueling fires in our community.
This, this important resolution, it does just that
and it's critical that our colleagues
learn about these solutions.
I, for one, I wanna also also thank our colleagues that came
to the Border, Alderman Hall, Alderman Robinson.
And it's important that we talk about these solutions
that we provide and we have sent to federal authorities.
We need solutions. We cannot continue
to operate the way we are.
This simple resolution is calling on the federal government
to take executive power when an executive orders when is
important for our communities to do so.
And finally, we gotta make sure that we understand really
what a Sanctuary City does.
What we are asking our colleagues,
I'm really concerned about some of these agendas, is
to punish undocumented residents that have no fault
of irresponsible federal policies
and economic sanctions that are driving millions
of people out of their homes here in our country.
We wanna make sure that we talk about these atrocities
and these injustices that attract with data
and attract with evidence that three, number three,
the main nationalities coming to the US right now,
Venezuelan, Cubans, and Nicuraguans, among other Haitians
and many other countries tied completely
and related to economic sanctions.
And I know many people wanna blame
our undocumented community,
but I'll tell you here, where we gotta sanction us
is the economic policies
that are creating tremendous suffering at home
and providing no solutions.
This is a step forward in the right direction,
and it should be a unanimous vote.
And I hope that my colleagues talk about unity,
talk about solutions and call of federal
and the state governments accountable.
The same federal and state governments that have done little
for Chicagoans, very little for Chicagoans.
And what we talk about is making sure
that we bring attention to
what is actually happening instead of dehumanizing
and blaming innocent people who are just the backbone
of our economy, the backbone of our economy.
But yet when it comes to supporting these initiatives,
we see people who will continue to demonize us.
So again, I wanna finally just thank,
our colleague Alderperson Jesse Fuentes for making eco
of this important cause.
And I hope that we get more solutions
that are really gonna address the issue
and not continue to fuel the divisions
and pitches against each other.
Thank you, Mr. President. Thank
You very much.
Are there any other members that wish to speak to this item?
The chair recognizes Alderman Raymond Lopez.
I know they love me. Good afternoon again.
Members of Mr. President. Good afternoon.
I rise in support
of those undocumented individuals who have been waiting
for resolution from the federal government for them
to come be able to come out of the shadows.
But I cannot and will not support this resolution,
which openly acknowledges the fact that
and according to one of the recitals, states
well then don't get upset 'cause I nope.
Oh, I can.
Whereas amid a protracted stalemate in Congress over
immigration, President Biden has opened a back door
to allow hundreds of thousands
of new immigrants into the country,
significantly expanding the use of humanitarian pro programs
for people escaping war
and political turmoil around the world.
Mr. President, to be clear, what we are seeing at the border
and in our backyard isn't a back door
to a broken immigration system.
It is the manipulation of the asylum seeker laws
of this country where we are now allowing millions
of individuals to come to this country under false pretenses
with no immediate hearing set to determine whether
or not their claim for asylum has grounds in the city,
in the United States.
These individuals are yes, using a backdoor
to get into this country
because yes, the federal government has failed
to fix the front door since 1987.
What we cannot allow is for that continual use
of the manipulation of the processes at hand for individuals
to come here if we ever expect to be able
to move forward as a country.
Now, I understand that when we look at some
of the other recitals here, we say that by the end
of 2023, as my colleague stated,
we expect 360,000 individuals of Venezuelan, Cuban,
Nicaragua, and Haitian descent to gain admission
into this country through this process.
360,000 individuals is barely 10%
of the individuals who've crossed this border in
the last 14 months.
There are literally millions of individuals
who are coming into this country granted
because they believe in what they, what our country has
to offer, but they're doing it in all the wrong ways.
And to be perfectly honest, Mr.
President, when I look in the eyes of my residents,
when I talk to my community,
you may be surprised to know our undocumented,
our immigrants themselves, our children of immigrants,
they too are frustrated.
They too want to know why.
The impetus is now when for so many in millions
of individuals, there was no concern,
there was no immediacy.
We allowed DACA to expire.
We've allowed immigration paths never to be realized.
And yet we are moving now leapfrogging all over all the
individuals in our communities who've been
waiting for that path forward.
I would be remiss if I did not speak out for them
and say that it is not fair
and not right, that we try to lump everyone together
because of the fact that we are not all the same.
Our paths are not all the same,
and our goals are not all the same.
When you look at the individuals who've come here,
particularly those brave men
and women from Mexico, like my great-grandfather,
like my husband's parents who came here for a better life.
They were respectful
and kept moving forward in the hopes
that one day they would have a true path
to become citizens of the United States.
But that is not what we're talking about here.
What we are talking about is, again, mixing apples
and oranges when that is not an argument to be made.
And then what we are saying here now is that it's okay
because you're all here
and now for some reason,
we're gonna conflate different experiences, different,
different purposes as one and the same.
They are not the same.
Anyone who will talk to any individual
from Brighton Park Little Village
or back of the yards will tell you
our experiences are not the same.
And before anyone gets it twisted in the back
that I somehow don't care about our migrants.
Let's not forget I opened my doors to the migrants
six months ago, more so than two thirds
of the council in this room.
We know exactly what we're talking about when we say we're
trying to help individuals find their path.
But at the same time, you cannot leapfrog over those who've
been waiting for a lifetime for
that path to be given to them.
It is two different issues.
It is two different issues Mr. President. If you
have an outburst,
you'll be asked to be removed.
These are two different issues, Mr.
President, and they should be treated accordingly.
We should deal with our 11 million undocumented, our daca,
those who've been waiting for decades for help.
And we should also be calling on the federal government,
on Joe Biden, on your members of Congress
to actually stand up, secure the border
and focus on the merit hearings for those
who are assigned asylum cases.
That is how we move forward. Not in this manner. Thank you.
Thank you very much. The chair
recognizes Alderman Rodriguez.
Crabs in a box, crabs in a
barrel, crabs in a box.
You got crabs at the bottom of a barrel.
One of 'em is trying to get out. He's almost out.
He almost got that opportunity.
But you got somebody bringing 'em down.
You got someone pulling them back.
Now let's,
let's, let's be straight here.
The fact is, the fact is is
that we've had migrants in this country
undocumented for decades.
There are brothers and sisters
and they deserve a pathway to citizenship too.
Every day. Those migrants deserve a pathway to citizenship
because that's what those folks are keeping our social
security system solvent in this country.
Those folks are paying taxes every day when they purchase
goods, when they buy a home at second federal savings on
ITIN loans, they deserve.
And this resolution speaks to them
and their ability to gain legal lawful status,
like my family members who are in this country
and not citizens,
but not one of my family members
that has come here over the decades,
will look upon our recent migrants who happen
to have an opportunity to work status
and say that they shouldn't have
that. We need to live in abundance
and not in scarcity.
We've got too many who are painting a false narrative here
and be clear about those false narratives.
They come from a scarcity mindset.
They come from a mindset that doesn't believe in the power
of all of us and all of us being able to come together.
That's what I'm here to say by migrants moving forward.
It doesn't mean anybody else is moving back.
By one of us moving forward, we all move forward.
That's what this resolution states.
And that's why I'm very proud, Jesse,
to support this resolution.
The president has an obligation. I agree.
The craziness is happening here as far
as migrants being sent here, many of which not on their own.
Volition is insanity.
It's coming from people with perverse
political intentions.
Let us not fall into that trap.
I pray that we as a city will remember our roots
and the legions of people who have come here
in multiple ways, but have come here
to make this great city even better.
And that's what this resolution speaks to.
So thank you for presenting this.
You have my a hundred percent support.
Thank you. The chair recognizes chairman,
chair recognizes alderman LaSpata. Thank
you very much Mr. President.
To quote a famous Italian American,
I wasn't planning to speak on this item today, but,
but it, it's amazing where, where we're at
and we're actually having to talk at length about this.
I, for the last several months, we've had dozens of people
sleeping at the 14th District police
station up until recently.
And less than a quarter mile away from them.
We have businesses up
and down Milwaukee Avenue throughout Logan Square saying all
we want is to be able to hire these folks.
And then a quarter mile away, we have people saying,
all we wanna be able to do is work.
The fact that we have a continuing roadblock on
that matter is sad and depressing and disheartening.
And it says grim things about
a political landscape far above this city.
But to, for us to at least be able to send the right message
to through this resolution is very encouraging
to those, again, who just want the opportunity
to work in this city.
Thank you very much, Mr. President. Thank you.
The chair recognizes Chairman Vasquez.
Thank you Mr. President.
Krabs in a barrel.
Just wanna make sure I get that right. So as we,
as we think about our nation
and to address some of the build a wall contingent here in
the, in the city council there are three groups
that we should think about when we think about this nation.
There are the indigenous Native Americans who are here
and had their lands stolen from them.
Last time I checked they didn't require
papers of the pilgrims.
They weren't giving speeches about who was led in or not.
So that's one group. The second group are descendants
of slavery who were forced here from another
country to be dead.
No, no question about it.
Were forced, brought here and mistreated.
As we all know, we wanna make sure that
space to actually allow that.
'cause sometimes people don't say
that we should say it every single time.
Then you have everybody else. Whether your last name is LaSpata,
no disrespect to our colleagues, Lopez, pick a name.
They all come from immigrants that came to this country
to add something to it.
Although people wanna frame it as different experiences.
It's not the same. It is a falsehood.
When the Italians came to this country,
they received the same narrative.
They're not bringing their best.
What are they doing to this country?
When the Polish came, the same thing.
Mexican, Asian, every single person from any other country
that's come the same narrative continues.
The fact that some here are willing to regurgitate this.
I'm concerned. I don't know how many sides
of somebody's neck some people have.
They're willing to say that they strand for migrant rights.
And look at our experience and look at us.
We opened our doors a day
after they send a letter asking to close those same doors.
If I were being nice, I'd say that's cognitive dissonance.
If I were being honest, I'd call it hypocrisy to say
that you're some hero that you went through this experience.
And my parents went through the same experience.
Yeah, we've all gone through that.
I'm the son of immigrants.
My parents had to go through decades of me as a kid trying
to teach them the laws of citizenship
and the constitution as a kid to get them ready
to get their citizenship or any level of residency.
It took forever as a kid trying to teach my parents to go
through this stuff with little VHS tapes, the rules.
That's how far back it goes.
And because they went through it, it like any other
generation to then say, well,
my parents went through all that.
So everyone else should also go through the same
BS, is also a level of hypocrisy.
We talk about how we want to grow our tax base,
how we wanna make the city thrive,
how we know we've been losing tax base for,
for a decade now, if we wanna solve the problem,
rather than divide ourselves amongst ourselves, these folks
that wanna work, that want to contribute,
like my parents did, to the point
that they got social security,
that still couldn't even pay them enough to afford rent.
So they had to move back. They want to work.
That's everybody. The new arrivals, the ones
that have been here for decades and haven't gotten it.
And if you wanna make a nation great
and a city even greater, you give 'em the right to work.
So you add to your tax base and we all win.
So when we have members out here who wanna fuel
congressional runs or otherwise
because they want people to turn out based on their anger
and fear rather than what they believe in information,
we should reject that as a council
'cause we see it for what it is more bs.
And I apologize for even going that far.
I should curtail that a little bit. Hypocrisy.
So we want to make sure we solve this problem.
You guys are tired of having
government pay for all this stuff.
You're tired of city funds paying for it.
You're tired of the state having to figure out solutions,
then give these folks the right to work that have been here.
You don't have to pony up on the other end.
This is something this council should be 100% behind,
that the president and the federal government have failed
And we have to shoulder the burden.
So to call them out and ask them to put their,
not even their money up to change the legislation
so folks can contribute to this country
as everyone else has in every generation, just
as we welcome our Italian, our Polish, our German,
our Asian folks, that is what makes our country great.
Any hesitance to do that makes our country worse.
So I don't care what red hat people have on,
believe yourselves that you're not making the country
better by saying it.
Thank you Mr. President.
Thank you. Thank you.
Before we have the motion,
there's another alder that wishes to speak.
Chair recognizes Alderwoman Ruth Cruz.
Thank you Mr. President. And
In my understanding, thank you.
Please. The chair recognizes Alderwoman Ruth Cruz.
Thank you Mr. President.
I stand in solidarity with million
of undocumented residents living in the shadows.
These are beloved residents, neighbors
and friends who contribute to our economy, culture,
and community. Work permits are proper
and just for those already contributing in all levels
of workforce in a country. There are with us often,
quite literally besides us beautifying our communities
so through landscaping.
So you all know who, uh, are the ones doing the hard work,
building homes and constructions, serving in restaurants,
and even keeping our business going through the pandemic.
These are our medical, they're medical facilities.
These are sons
and daughters of many immigrants who I'd rather say
that work in some of the corporate America.
We're, we are lawyers, we're doctors.
We're first responders in other careers,
but we're also elected officials.
As a proud immigrant, I have the privilege to experience,
embrace, and cherish the American dream.
And I believe many others deserve the same opportunity.
I call, I call upon the government to provide work permits
for undocumented residents.
I think we have proven ourselves for many, many years.
We have been doing the hard work.
We have been able to accomplish a lot of things.
So what I, like I said, I think it's just right
and just that our undocumented
families also have the opportunity to have work permits.
And I think this
ordinance in calling the federal government does that.
So I hope you know, our federal government is listening
to us and making sure this has happened
because we all re deserve respect.
And again, i I am standing out for all
of our documented families that have been here in the state.
Thank you so much.
Thank you. All right.
To close the chair recognizes Alder Fuentes.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I wanna be clear.
This resolution is not just
for the diaspora of Latin America.
This resolution is for every diaspora across the globe.
There are Caribbeans that live in the city of Chicago.
There are Africans that live in the city of Chicago.
There are folks from the Middle East that live in the city
of Chicago that make up our economy.
The backbone of the city have quite literally
built this city.
And they don't have the right to work.
They have not been granted parole.
We have many families who are living in fear
because they are parents to citizen children
and do not have the legal right to stay
with their family members.
We have watched the separation of families,
not just here in the city of Chicago
You could go to the red state of this country in Florida,
and there are undocumented families today being separated
who have built the state of Florida.
This resolution is asking us to demand
for President Biden to fulfill the promise
that he made on the campaign trail.
And that was to provide parole
and workers' permits to everyone
that has built this country.
This is not just a Latino problem.
I want folks to understand that.
I think that often the narrative
that wins is the Latino one,
but we have Italians, we have Polish,
we have Russian undocumented
and migrant families that too deserve the right to parole
and workers' permits.
Often the folks
that live in this country without workers' permits
are the ones with the lowest paying jobs, are the ones
that enter the workforce
and have to deal with the most abusive work conditions.
And when they're, when they ask to be treated better
or when they ask for a raise,
they're told you deal with what you get.
And if you don't like it, then you can leave.
You wanna know why? Because they don't have workers' permits
because they don't have the rights to work in this country.
But yet the hay taxes,
they fulfill our social security obligation
and they continue to be the backbone
of the very infrastructure
and the city that we are proud to live in.
These are folks that have been here for decades.
People that a lot of us call friends, some
of them may be our aunts, uncles, even parents.
This is not, again, don't let the narrative be
that this is a Latino issue.
It is not. Every undocumented
and migrant individual that lives in this city
that has been working for decades
also deserve the right of parole and workers' permits.
That's all this resolution is asking for.
It's asking for President Biden to make good on his promise
to be the president of everybody.
And so I asked for my colleagues to vote in favor
of this resolution
because this is, this is a resolution based on our humanity,
our shared humanity, to want to see all
of our neighbors win and thrive.
They have been here and they deserve to truly live
and thrive in the city that they have helped us build.
And so I look forward to your support on this resolution
and combating all of the false narratives
that folks like to make headlines.
Thank you, Mr. President. Thank
You. The chair
recognizes Chairperson Vazquez.
Thank you Mr. President.
I move passage of this item
by the first favorable roll call vote
of the Committee on Finance
as an associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
With the exception of two individuals that wish
to be recorded as No, I have Alderman Moore
and Alderman Lopez.
Uh, sorry. Let me reiterate.
I moved to passage item by the first favorite roll call
voted of the Committee on Public Safety
an associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider. Thank
you very much. Thank you for that
clarification.
With the exception of Alderman Lopez
and Alderman Moore, despite the division
hearing, no other objections.
Seeing no other hands, so ordered.
Mr. President, this concludes my
report. Thank you very much.
The chair recognizes for clarity
we will go back for just a quick second
to the Committee on Housing
and Real Estate. Chair recognizes
Chairperson Sichigo Lopez. Thank
You Mr. President. This is
just a, just for the record,
because of the change in order the first motion was
a vote, a roll call vote on the committee on public
public safety, not finance, just for
Record. Very welcome. Thank you for that
clarification.
The clerk will make that friendly amendment
that the first favorable roll call from public safety.
Thank you very much. We're almost there, y'all.
Two more committees here. The chair recognizes
for our committee on police and fire chair
recognizes Chairman Taliafarro.
Thank you Mr. President.
Members of the city council reported
for your committee on police
and fire for which a meeting was held December 12th, 2023.
There was one item before the committee,
which the committee recommended.
Do pass the appointment of Kyle Cooper
as a member of the police board.
Mr. President, if there's no objection,
I move the passage of this item
by the first most favorable vote.
Vote in the Committee on Public Safety and its unsuccessful.
Motion to reconsider hearing.
No objection. Seeing no hands, so ordered.
Thank you Mr. President. That concludes my
report. Thank you very much.
And finally,
the committee on zoning chair recognizes Chairperson Lawson,
vice Chairperson Lawson.
Thank you Mr. President.
Members of the city council presenting a series
of reports for the committee on zoning landmarks
and building standards, which held a meeting on
November 30th, 2023.
These reports are grouped for convenience.
The following items were passed
by a majority of the members present.
Pages one through eight contain various map amendments in
the second seventh, 10th, 13th, 21st, 23rd, 25th,
26th, 27th, 28th, 32nd, 33rd, 36th,
37th, 38th, 43rd, 44th, and 47th wards.
I move passage of these items by the first most favorable,
favorable roll call vote
of the public safety committee report and, I'm sorry
and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider.
Thank you very much. Hearing no objection, so ordered.
Page nine contains various large signs over 100 square
feet in area 24 feet above grade in the sixth, seventh,
11th, 12th, 22nd, 25th, 27th, 32nd,
42nd, 45th, and 50th wards.
I move passage of these items by the same motion.
If there is no objection,
Hearing none, so ordered.
Thank you Mr. President. That includes my first report,
presenting a series of reports
for the committee on zoning landmarks
and building standards, which held the meeting on
December 12th, 2023.
These reports are grouped for convenience.
The following items were passed
by majority of members Present.
Page one contains document number O2023-
0005763.
The amendment of the municipal code
17-5-O217-5
-O207
regarding standards for rooftop
and grade outdoor dining, I move passage of this item
by the first most favorable roll call vote
of the public safety committee
and an associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider
Hearing no objection,
So ordered
Page one also contains document number O2023-
0005759.
The amendment of the municipal code
by adding section 17-13-O-303-D
optional administrative adjustment
and variation to applications.
I move passage of this item by the same motion.
If there is no objection,
Hearing none, so ordered.
Page one also contains document number
O20230005896,
the historical landmark designation
for the 2678 West Washington Boulevard
Building located in the 27th Ward.
I move passage of this item by the same notion.
If there is no objection, hearing
None so ordered.
Lastly, pages one
through three contain various map amendments in the ninth,
10th, 13th, 24th, 26th, 36th, and 37th wards.
I move passage of these items
by the same motion if there is no objection, noting
that Alder LaSpata would like to be recorded
as voting no on document number O2023
-1732
Hearing no objection,
So ordered.
Thank you Mr. President. That concludes my
Report. Thank you very much on
the Committee on
Transportation and Public Way.
My apologies. The chair recognizes Chairman Mitchell.
No worries, Mr. President, Mr.
President members of city council reporting
for your committee on transportation
and Public Way, which held a meeting on December 7th, 2023.
The following items passed
by the majority of the members present.
Pages two through four includes 24 ordinances from
miscellaneous for miscellaneous items introduced
by the local alderman from Wards
1, 6, 11, 17, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 40
and 50.
Page five includes items ordinance
20235908
a sub subdivision ordinance
for a property located in the 26th Ward.
Page six includes items
substitute ordinance 20230005959,
a vacation ordinance
for a property located in the 29th Ward.
If there is no objection, I move passage of these items
by the first most favorable roll call vote of
of the committee on public safety
and the associated unsuccessful motion
to reconsider hearing.
No objection, so ordered.
Mr. President, that concludes my report.
Thank you very much for the agreed upon calendar.
Chair recognizes Alderwoman Harris.
Thank you Mr. President.
I received from the clerk Anna
Valencia told of 124 items proposed
Proposed for the agreed calendar consisting
of congratulatory, commemorative, preparatory resolutions
from Clerk Valencia
and the following Alderpersons: Alderperson Hopkins
Alderperson Harris, Alderperson Lee, Alderperson
Quinn, Alderperson
Lopez, Alderperson Coleman, Alderperson Curtis
Alderperson Avaris, Alderperson Fuentes, Alderperson Ervin,
Alderperson Nugent, Alderperson Lawson
and Alderperson Gardner.
I move these in the omnibus
Hearing no objection,
So
ordered. For new business,
the clerk will call the Wards I believe
beginning with the 50th ward.
The zoning amendments which are referred
to the Committee on zoning landmarks
and building standards, traffic regulations,
traffic control signals and traffic signs,
which are referred to the Committee on Pedestrian
and Traffic Safety Grants of privilege on
and over the public way, which are referred
to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
An exception from physical barrier requirement
for commercial driveway alley access for parking facilities,
which are referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Public Way.
Alman Silverstein has a proposed order for the issuance
of permits for signed sign boards at 64 50 North California
Avenue, which is referred
to the Committee on zoning landmarks and billing standards.
Alderman Hadden has a proposed ordinance for amendment
of municipal code section 4-60-023
to disallow additional package
'cause licenses on portions of West L Avenue,
which is referred to the Committee
on Licensed and Consumer Protection.
Alderman Hadden, Alderman Robinson
and Alderman Rodriguez have proposed resolution
for expression of support
and solidarity with Columbia College Faculty Union,
which is referred to the Committee on Workforce Development.
Alderperson Manna Hoppenworth has a proposed ordinance
for amendment of municipal code section 4-60-22
to disallow additional alcoholic liquor licenses on portion
of North Clark Street, which is referred
to the Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
Alderperson Martin has a proposed ordinance for amendment
of municipal code section 4-6-230
allowing booting operations in the 47th ward,
which is referred to the Committee on
License and Consumer Protection.
Alderperson Martin also has proposed ordinance
for amendment of municipal code chapter 2-84
by adding a new section 2-84-50 establishing
comprehensive staffing analysis for Department of Police,
which is referred to the Committee on Police
and Fire. Alderperson
Martin also has proposed ordinance for amendment
of municipal code section 4-60-022
to allow additional alcoholic liquor licenses on portion
of North Damon Avenue, which is referred
to the committee on License and Consumable Protection.
Alderperson Riley has proposed ordinance
for an honorary street designation as Rose Faye Thomas Way,
which is referred to Committee on
Transportation and Public Way.
Alderperson Napolitano
and others have proposed ordinance for amendment
of municipal code chapter 2-36
by adding a new section 2-36-762 establishing
policy and procedures for leave following death
of uniform service members, which is referred
to the Committee on Police and Fire.
Alderperson Vasquez
and Alderperson Manna Hoppenworth have a proposed ordinance
for an honorary street designation as Elise Mallory Way,
which is referred to the Committee on Transportation
and Public Way. Alderperson Vasquez has a proposed
ordinance for a transfer of funds within the committee on
immigrant and refugee rights for the year 2023,
which is referred to the committee on the budget
and government Operations.
Alderperson Sposato has proposed orders for the issuance
of permits for signed sign boards at various locations,
which will refer to the committee on zoning
landmarks and building standards.
Alderpersons Viegas
and LaSpata have proposed resolution to call for hearings
to discuss report entitled Wrongful Conviction Litigation
Database Chicago, which
is referred to the Committee on Finance.
Alderperson Viegas has a proposed ordinance for amendment
of municipal code chapter 2-32
by inserting a new section 2-32-165
creating grant recipient information database,
which is referred to the committee on the budget
and government operations.
Alderperson Viegas and Alderperson Coleman have proposed order
for the call for gender-based task force the study levels
of violence affecting black women
and to formulate strategic response which is referred
to the Committee on Public Safety.
Alderperson Viegas has proposed ordinance
for establishment of project labor agreement process
between the city and city
and contractors perform demolition remediation,
construction, and other site work on city property,
which is referred to the committee as workforce development.
Alderperson Ramirez Rosa has proposed ordinance
for an honorary street designation as Alderman Robert
and Eugene Brantway, which is referred
to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alderman Ramirez Rosa has proposed ordinance
for honorary street designation as Miguel Nini Padilla Jr.
which is referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Public Way.
Alderperson Cruz has proposed ordinance for approval
of nine of central resubdivision, which is referred
to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alderperson Ervin has proposed resolution to call
for removal of city council Office
of financial analysis director Kenneth P. Williams,
which is referred to the committee on the budget
and government operations. Alderperson
Ervin also has proposed orders for the issuance of permits
for signed sign boards at various locations which are
referred to the committee on zoning
landmarks and building standards.
Alderperson Ervin
and others have proposed ordinance for amendment
of municipal code chapter 2-74
by adding new sections 2-74-75 establishing
hiring preferences for residents
of socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, which is referred
to the committee on budget and Government Operations.
Alderperson Burnett has proposed resolution
for amendment of rule 36 of the city Council's Rules
of order and Procedure by establishing vice mayor
as ex-official member of all standing committees,
which is referred to the Committee on Committees
and rules. Alderperson
Burnett also has proposed orders for the issuance of permits
for signed sign boards at various locations which are
referred to the committee on zoning landmarks
and building standards. Alderperson Fuentes has a proposed
resolution to call on US President Biden
to facilitate deescalation
of ongoing violence in Middle East
and to allow for humanitarian assistance which is referred
to the Committee on Health. Two committees call the Committee
on Health and the Committee on Rules,
The matter is referred to the Committee on rules.
Alderperson Tabares has a proposed order for the issue
of permit for signed signed boards at 5417 South Pulaski
Road, which is referred to the Committee on Zoning
and Landmarks and building standards.
Alderperson Moore has proposed ordinance for amendment
of municipal code section 4-60-023
to disallow additional packages licenses on portions
of South Ashland Avenue, which is referred to command,
license and consumer protection.
Alderperson Lopez and others have opposed order to call
for chief procurement Officer Elaine Velazquez to file
quarter two and 32023 fiscal contract awards
and modification related to emergency declaration
regarding ongoing migrant asylum seeker crisis,
which is referred to the committee on the budget
and government operations.
Two committees having been called the committee on the
budget and the committee on contracts,
The committee matters referred
to the committee on Committees and Rules.
Alderperson Quinn has proposed ordinance for designation
of the 21st precinct of the 13th ward
as restricted residential zone prohibiting additional shared
housing units and vacation rentals, which is referred
to the committee on licensed consumer
protection.
Alderperson Mitchell has proposed ordinance with hope for withholding
of funds from yellow banana LLC due to lack of compliance
with redevelopment agreement,
which is referred to Committee on Finance.
Alderperson Robinson has proposed ordinance for amendment
of municipal code section 17-4-404
regarding MLA reduction for downtown floor area bonuses,
which is referred to committee on
zoning landmarks and billing standards.
Alderperson Robinson also has proposed ordinance
for honorary street designation
as President Barack Obama Way, which is referred
to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alderperson Robinson also has proposed ordinance
for honorary street designation
as honorary Yolanda Travis Mack Way, which is referred
to the Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alderperson Robinson also has proposed ordinance
for vacation the public alley in the area of Bomba
by South Lake Park Avenue, east 29th Street,
south Ellis Avenue and East 30th Street, which is referred
to Committee on Transportation and Public Way.
Alderperson Dowell
and others have proposed resolution to call
for hearings on the city's response
to immigrant populations being marginalized,
which is referred to committee on
immigrant and Refugee Rights.
Alderperson LaSpata has proposed resolution
for expression of support for United Nations resolution
377, known as Uniting for Peace,
which is referred to the Committee on Health.
Alderperson LaSpata also has proposed orders
for the issuance of permits for signed sign boards,
which are referred to the committee on
zoning landmarks and billing standards.
Alderperson LaSpata
and others have proposed resolution to call for hearings
to assess matters relating to
socioeconomically disadvantaged areas which is referred
to command economic capital and dis and economic capital
and technology development.
Your Honor, that concludes the presentation
of aldermanic introductions.
Approval of the journals. Alderman Mitchell
for approval of the journals.
Madam President Proton, I am not aware of any corrections
to the journals from the November 9th, 2023 regular meeting
or the November 15th, 2023 meeting, regular meeting
and move that they be approved.
Hearing no objections, so ordered. Unfinished business.
I am not aware of any unfinished business.
There is one more item under Clerk's Communications. Mr.
Clerk, please, please proceed. Madam Clerk, please proceed.
Want me to read it? This following matter is also placed
in on filing of the Office of City Clerk
Determination Certificate of City Chicago
regarding Wells Fargo Bank National Association.
As to Second Amendment to revolving line
of credit agreement on December 1st, 2023.
Aggregate outstanding amount not to exceed $225 million
in miscellaneous business.
Oh, aware miscellaneous, oh,
you just finished mis miscellaneous business.
Okay, I'm all caught up now. Thank you.
All right, so date and time for the next meeting.
Chair recognizes Alderman Mitchell,
President except for the ordinance setting.
The date and time of the next meeting.
I am not aware of any miscellaneous business.
Oh, thank you. The chair recognizes Alderman Beale.
President, Mr.
President. I would like to suspend the rules to go out
of the regular order business for an immediate consideration
for a resolution to put
a referendum question on the ballot.
And the reason I'm asking to do that is
because my mother just had a procedure
and I'm probably going to have to take care of her tomorrow,
and I would like to see if this body would adopt the
substitute ordinance as a olive branch of
what we talked about, about putting the resolution on the
ballot, to fill that last ballot position.
And if we can just vote on that today,
then we won't have to come back tomorrow, Mr.
President, if the body so chooses.
Okay, so there's a motion on the floor for
to suspend the rules to take up for immediate consideration
of resolutions, okay.
For immediate consideration of
olive branch resolution.
Okay. And there's been a request for a roll call,
A substitute ordinance.
He wants to substitute ordinance onto the ballot section.
You wanna do substitute ordinance?
Is that what you're talking about?
Thank you. The body. We'll come back to order.
Thank you very much, much. The chair
recognizes Alderman Beale.
Mr. President, I withdraw
my motion and I will
see you tomorrow at 10 o'clock.
Very well, thank you. Alderman Mitchell,
you were about to say that you,
Uh, Mr.
President before
I hand up the date and time ordinance.
I want to acknowledge something today.
Today is Chairman Michelle Harris' birthday.
Huh? What'd I say?
What'd I say? So I just wanted
to wish her a happy birthday.
We love you. Thank
You. Oh, we do.
Happy birthday. All right,
Mr. President, I handed up
an ordinance
to the clerk setting the date and time of the next meeting.
Madam Clerk, please read the ordinance being
Ordained by the City Council of City
of Chicago, section one.
The next meeting, the City Council of the City
of Chicago shall be held on Wednesday, January 24th, 2024,
beginning at 10:00 AM in the Council chamber on the second
floor in City Hall 121 North
Lasalle Street, Chicago, Illinois.
This ordinance shall take effect
and be enforced from an after its passage.
Gregory Mitchell, Alderman Seventh Ward.
I move passage in the omnibus.
Hearing
There's a point of clarification.
The chair recognizes Alderwoman Hadden.
One I don't think anybody had said
point of clarification.
so that's for your bingo cards for all
of you playing Festivus
Bingo. Two, what just happened?
Because there was a, there was a motion
and I did not hear if you could repeat
where we landed on that.
Thank you very much. So,
Alderman Beale withdrew his motion,
for the immediate consideration
to suspend the rules, to take up this item.
And we are gonna return tomorrow.
And that's what happened. Okay. You're welcome.
And now it has been, there's a, there's been a motion
to pass this in the omnibus. Hearing no objection,
So ordered. I also want
to give a shout out today is Jamila McMillan's.
last day here.
Who is that? Oh, oh, Jamila.
So thank you Jamila, for your, your work
and your commitment to this body and to the city of Chicago,
and that we congratulate you on your years of service.
And we look forward to your continuous work
and your new capacity
And congratulations on all the wonderful things
that have happened since I've been in office.
Several celebrations. So one more time for Jamila.
So hearing no objections
Again, so ordered. And then before the Omnibus,
Yes. Thank you. The Omnibus, Alderman Mitchell.
I move that matters in the omnibus be passed
by The first most favorable roll call vote
by the Committee on Public Safety
and the associated unsuccessful motion to reconsider
Hearing no objection,
So ordered.
And before we adjourn I know you all were enjoying,
the musical selection this morning
and in celebration of Alderwoman Harris's birthday,
I have the last
and final copy of our Vice Mayor's album
that he recorded back in.
Are we serious? Yeah. This was, are we
serious? This is
in 2001.
And so I just want you to know on behalf of the Vice Mayor
to all of you Sucka MCs,
the Vice Mayor, please do not raise your end sucka MCs.
This is a celebration of our wonderful Vice Mayor
and if you want this last
and final copy, you're gonna have to fight me over it.
Okay. Alderman Vazquez, don't
One mc left in council right now.
Oh, any day of the week. All right, fair enough.
Alderman Mitchell on a motion to adjourn.
Now I see why Vice Mail wore his Ascot today.
There being no further business
before this body, I move that we adjourn
Hearing no objection,
So ordered. Mr. DJ.