Cook County Committee & Board of Commissioners’ Meeting
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
The Board meeting was called to order at 11:15 a.m. and the conduct of business started at 12:40 p.m. as public speakers and the consent calendar took up almost 90 minutes. Absent from the meeting were Commissioners Goslin and Tobolski.
Major Discussions/Decisions of Note are:
Resolutions #15-4291-92,93: President Preckwinkle’s proposal to raise the sales tax by 1% was sent to the Finance Committee but with five dissenting Commissioner votes out of the 15 present. Those in dissent believed that this revenue and public hearing proposal should wait until the budget review process with more discussion and to include other options.
Resolution 15-3649 – a new economic package retroactive to 2012 including wage increases and health care for Health & Hospital System employees was approved in the Labor Committee and by the Board.
Ordinance #15-3362, establishing a Commission on Cook County Youth, was passed in the Human Relations Committee and at the full Board Meeting. The purpose is to draft a set of policy recommendations to improve economic and social outcomes for youth in Cook County [A 2014 Harvard Study ranked Cook 96th of the 100 largest counties in the U.S. when it comes to raising successful children].
The Criminal Justice Committee and the Board passed Resolution #15-3794 urging police departments in municipalities throughout the county to communicate with the CC Sheriff’s Policy to review best practices regarding “Stop and Frisk” actions by police officers.
The Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee hosted one of the County’s lobbyists to discuss pending legislation before the IL General Assembly and asked pointed questions about the status of President Preckwinkle’s Pension Bill. It seems likely that the specifics of the bill will be taken up piecemeal to try to get movement on pension reform which requires the General Assembly’s and Governor’s approval.
Resolution #15-3912: Lawyer and long time Ethics expert, Peggy Daley [no relationship to Commissioner Daley], was appointed to the CC Board of the Ethics.
Resolution # 15-3923. Passed in the L & IGR Committee and by the Board encourages CC to develop its own Census outreach strategy for 2020 to ensure all eligible citizens are counted in order for County programs to qualify for more Federal funding. Commissioner Moore was the original sponsor, but all present board members asked leave to join as there is belief that a 200,000 undercount occurred in the 2010 CC census data.
Other Board Business:
Resolution 15-4077: Authorizes a pre-apprenticeship program within the Department of Facilities Mgmt and with several unions for qualified residents of the County’s Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. Disposition: Sent to the Workforce Committee.
Resolution 15-4126: Proposed appointment of Tanya S. Anthony as the Director of Budget and Management Services. Disposition: Moved to the Leg. & Intergov. Relations Committee.
Resolution # 15-4084: CC Justice Advisory Council contract awards for violence prevention, intervention, and reduction services. Disposition: The resolution passed but several Commissioners asked why the communities with the higher gun violence crime and the highest poverty levels did not rise to the top of the list. They asked to review the approval parameters for future awards as the original intended mission of these contracts was to help address gun violence.
Resolutions #15-4287,88,89: Changes to the Curfew laws for youth; drinking age; and an amendment to the current ordinance to, in the future, hold parents more accountable for children’s actions was referred to the Law Enforcement Committee.
Consent Calendar Highlights:
1) Honoring victims in the attack on the Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC. Several Commissioners took this opportunity to ask citizens to call all their Legislators and say “this is not the country we want – get rid of hand guns and assault weapons.”
2) Recognition of the 20th Anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disability Act.
3) In Celebration of Marriage Equality. A representative of the Latino LGBT community spoke and thanked the county for its early and strong support.
4) Recognition of the Arts & Essay Competition promoting the Importance of Voting.
Submitted by: Diane Edmundson, Observer
