Cook County Board Meeting September 7, 2011

The meeting was called to order at 10:10 a.m. by President Toni Preckwinkle. Finance Chair, John Daley, immediately requested that #8 on the Agenda be removed from active discussion and read into the record. This was a Resolution calling for the joining of the national moment of remembrance of the 10th Anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks beginning at 1:00 p.m. The resolution was unanimously sponsored, and Chair Daley's request was passed and read into the record without discussion.  Several Commissioners spoke to the approved resolution and the national tragedy.

The following major issues were discussed and voted upon:

1. Procurement Code Changes
2. Vehicle Policy
3. Dental and Medical Plans
4. Budget Review
5. Cannabis possession
6. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detainees

 
Procurement Code Changes: The Board unanimously sponsored changes that would centralize much of the purchasing authority under the President's offices. Starting in 30 days, the office will have the sole power to oversee all contract approvals up to $150,000. Anything over that will still need Board approval. Under the old rules, the Board's approval was required each step of the way, including permission to advertise and open bids. Now they will sign off only at the end and then only for deals worth more than $150,000. The Purchasing Agent promised to make the process more transparent by putting the information on line for the public. The goal of the change is to clarify, centralize, ensure best practices, use more consistent terminology, and to modernize the code.

The Board's role will change from management and control to oversight. Commissioner Collins offered that the Procurement Dept. is seriously understaffed. Others reminded the Administration that preferences such as Veterans, minority, female, etc. must be maintained. The Purchasing Agent said that in the future the preference goals will change from a percentage to a dollar amount. All contracts over $1 million must be reviewed by the Legal Dept. There will be a prohibition on the same company providing both auditing and consulting services. 

The Ordinance change passed unanimously. 

Vehicle Policy: A proposal was offered and passed to establish an interdepartmental Vehicle Steering Committee to work closely with the Finance Committee. The major change is that the Committee will fall under the auspices of the Chief Administrative Officer rather than the Chief Finance Officer, which is now the case. Eleven department heads including the Sheriff, the Supt. of Highways, Budget, Environmental Control, and CFO will be on the Committee. Commissioner Gainer offered that there needs to be a holistic approach and review of the vehicles policy - particularly the buy versus lease issue.

      Dental and Medical Plans: Currently the County is self insured for Dental coverage capped at $1,500 per employee per year. The HR Department has negotiated with an insurance company to take over the dental plan at a cost of $350 per year per employee. The projected savings is $93,000. The insurance will offer a PPO coverage [currently HMO].

  

      The new negotiated rate for the medical plan is .2% over the County's current aggregate cost. Commissioner Schneider made a motion to defer the Medical ordinance change but the plan passed as did the Dental plan.

 

      Budget Review: There continues to be a deficit of $67 million [4.9%]. All of this is attributed to

      Medicaid Reimbursement from the State. During this discussion it was also revealed that a new Chief Exec. Officer for the County's Health System will start on October 1. He will have to deal with the Medicaid reimbursement issue plus increased staff turnover including the Health System’s budget director who resigned on Sept. 6. The Board also approved increasing the amount of a previously approved bond to cover a shortfall in the self insurance fund which emanated from the failure to pass bonds in 2007 and 2008. The purpose of this increased bond is to clear up the longstanding debt, help with the County's bond ratings, and avoid having to increase property or sales taxes or reduce spending even more. 

      Cannabis Possession:  Although the County Commissioners previously passed an ordinance declaring that individuals caught with small amounts of marijuana would be fined rather than jailed, the Sheriff’s office had not enforced the ordinance stating that they needed a change in language to ensure that all areas of the County will be covered under this ordinance. This is expected to bring a savings for the budget.  The ordinance passed after an amendment to remove any reference to minimum age [previously 17] was approved.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detainees:  After lengthy and animated discussion, the Board passed a new ordinance stating that the Sheriff of Cook County shall decline ICE detainer requests unless there is a written agreement with the federal government by which all compliance costs incurred by Cook County are reimbursed. There was further language clarifying the scope of the County’s involvement.  Again, this was presented as a Budget savings ordinance but also a civil rights issue.  Currently it costs the County $15 million a year to house ICE detainees [$143 per day].  The vote was 10-5.

The Observer left at 2:15, prior to adjournment of the meeting.

--Submitted by Diane M. Edmundson, LWV Chicago