Committee on Committees and Rules meeting, November 7, 2023
- When: Tue, Nov 7, 2023, 10:30 AM (Chicago time)
- Where: City Council Chamber, 2nd Floor, City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street - Chicago, IL 60602
- Status: Recessed
- Committee: Committee on Committees and Rules
- Video: https://vimeo.com/showcase/8928500/video/881817248
- Transcript: full text (3,001 words, official captions)
Meeting notes
AI-written from the transcript. Speakers are inferred from cues in the recording, so treat names as estimates and check the video at the linked time.
The Committee on Committees and Rules, chaired by Alderperson Michelle A. Harris, met on a single item: a resolution proposing a referendum question originally concerning public mental health clinics. Over an objection from Alderperson Raymond A. Lopez, the committee accepted a substitute by roll call, read as 28 yeas and 18 nays; the substitute question asks whether the city should impose reasonable limits on resources for migrant sheltering, such as funding caps and shelter time limits. Alderpersons Beale, Lopez and Napolitano spoke against the substitute and called for a referendum asking whether Chicago should remain a sanctuary city, and Alderperson Anthony Beale asked about counting remote members toward quorum. After repeated disruptions from the gallery and a recess to clear the room, the chair recessed the meeting until Thursday the 16th at noon without a vote on the resolution itself.
Topics: referendum question, sanctuary city, migrant shelter funding, remote participation and quorum, meeting decorum
Agenda items discussed
- 24:33 Resolution placing a referendum question on the ballot (originally regarding public mental health clinics); substitute on limits to migrant sheltering resources (R2023-0005108): discussed
Alderpersons who spoke
- Michelle A. Harris (chair): Said she could speak only to this meeting and that remote members may participate once a quorum is reached, and asked the Law Department to clarify. (32:26); Recessed the meeting until Thursday the 16th at noon after repeated disruptions. (1:08:04)
- Anthony Beale (alderperson): Said there had been an effort to prevent discussion of the ordinance putting the sanctuary city question on the ballot and that no one had called him to negotiate before a substitute was raised the night before. (33:29); Said residents have never had a voice on sanctuary city policy while the city spends heavily on migrants, and that the referendum is non-binding. (36:03); Asked colleagues to vote the substitute down and bring the sanctuary city question forward so voters can decide. (38:14)
- Raymond A. Lopez (alderperson): Said the original mental health clinic question was unnecessary given the mayor's commitment to open clinics and read the substitute question on limits to migrant sheltering. (39:27); Argued the substitute does not address what happens when limits are reached or why migrants continue to be sent to Chicago. (40:59); Said he does not support the resolution and called for a clean referendum on whether Chicago should remain a sanctuary city. (41:43)
- Anthony V. Napolitano (alderperson): Said a simple sanctuary city referendum question was proposed weeks earlier but kept from a vote, while a substitute question was created in three days. (43:47); Said council members should answer to residents who want to be heard on the question. (47:06)
Exchanges between members
- 31:58 Alderperson Anthony Beale asked the chair whether remote members count toward quorum.
- 32:26 The chair answered Alderperson Anthony Beale and referred the question to the Law Department.
- 39:46 Alderperson Raymond A. Lopez echoed his colleague's description of the original question as a tactic to displace the sanctuary city question.
- 42:40 Alderperson Raymond A. Lopez told the chair that allowing remote participation requires a motion by members present.
- 43:31 The chair told Alderperson Raymond A. Lopez that remote participation had already been granted.