12 Committee
Meetings and a Board Meeting
Make for a
Long Day Prior to the August “Recess”
Citizen George Blakemore, who speaks during the public
comment period of almost all committee and board meetings, pointed out that
having so many meetings on one day did not make sense. He urged that the committee meetings be held
on a separate day or days so that the Commissioners and the public would not be
so tired and have time to consider the items on the agendas. Meetings ran from 8:45 am to 3:10 pm that day
with no break.
The newly appointed Commissioner for the 17th
District, Sean Morrison, who replaced Comm. Gorman who announced her
resignation at the July 15 Board Meeting, was at the meetings.
Following are a few items of interest from this marathon
day. Note that all reports referred
to are available on the Cook County web site; go to http://cook-county.legistar.com and
click on “Meeting Details” for the appropriate Committee on July 29 to gain
access to the report. The Board and Committees are not scheduled to meet again
until September.
Contract
Compliance Committee: Received
the 2014 Cook County Annual Business Diversity Report detailing the different
County departments’ compliance with including minority and women-owned
businesses (“MBEs” and “WBEs”) in contracts awarded by the County. Comm. Sims asked what the Health &
Hospitals System was planning to do so
that more MBEs and WBEs would have the opportunity to get contracts. The HHS representative said that HHS was
having a vendor fair in September for both their large suppliers and MBEs and
WBEs to help them network and for them to learn what contracts are expected to
be awarded in the 2016 fiscal year.
Workforce,
Housing, & Community Development Committee: Met to hear speakers on various viewpoints to
discuss the issue of paid leave. Mr.
Blakemore pointed out that the notice for this Committee meeting did not
specify that this topic was going to be the focus, and he urged that in the
future that the notice should be include this information. The Committee recommended (which the Board
later approved) a pre-apprentice program for inmates at the Juvenile
Temporary Detention Center, with thanks to the painters’ union.
Audit Committee: Received several department audits by the
County Auditor, as well as the 2014 Audits of the HHS and the County performed
by outside auditors. In response to a question by Chair Daley, the County
Auditor said that none of the other County Elected Officials have raised any
questions about the right of the County Auditor to audit their
departments. The Independent Auditors
mentioned that they were pleased that the deadline of May 31 for the 2014
audits was met; and that HHS had net income for the first time, but also stated
that some of the costs attributable to HHS are not included, and if they were,
then HHS would have had a loss.
Legislation &
Intergovernmental Relations:
Recommended the appointment of Tanya Anthony as Director of
Budget & Mgt. Services, which the Board subsequently approved.
Finance Committee: Received the Revenue Report through May 31,
2015, the HHS Monthly Report for June, and the Projected 2015 Year-End Revenues
and Expenditures Report. There was
concern about the Clerk of the Court’s revenues being down below those budgeted. The CFO for the Clerk of the Court stated
that this was partly due to fewer court filings (which is out of the control of
the Clerk) and partly due to amounts due but not yet collected. Some of the receivables have been assigned to
a second collection agency.
Human Relations
Committee: The proposed
amendment to the Human Rights Ordinance (15-4214) that would prohibit employers and the County from
inquiring about a candidate for employment’s past criminal record until after
the candidate has been found to be qualified for the position was recommended
(and later passed by the Board).
The amendment includes exceptions for positions for which there is an
occupational requirement for a clean criminal record. However, this was first amended to eliminate
the requirement that employers must provide a written explanation as to why the
candidate was not hired.
The proposed ordinance to prohibit a company that has been found
guilty or has settled a claim of discrimination or sexual harassment from
receiving a “Cook County economic incentive” was “received and filed.” From the discussion, it appears that this
proposal as written is dead, but Chair Boykin stated that he looks forward to
working with the Assessor’s and President’s offices to craft a new proposed
ordinance. Comm. Fritchey mentioned his
concern over including companies when there was a settlement, as opposed to an
actual finding of guilt.
Board Meeting:
15-4648 (Proposal by Comm. Boykin to create a Gun Violence
Czar and Committee to make recommendations to the County in 6 months) was
referred to the Criminal Justice Committee.
15-4318 (Proposed contract for an Enterprise Resource
Planning, ”ERP,” system that will allow for process
improvements, best practices, streamlined and automated workflows, and real
time reporting and analytics for finance and human resources functions across
the County) was referred to Technology Committee. Comm. Fritchey urged all Commissioners to
attend this Committee meeting to learn more about this. Total cost is listed as $66 million.
15-4067 (Proposed contract for a new Integrated Property Tax & Mass Appraisal System) was referred
to Technology. Total cost is $30
million.
15-4713 (Proposed ordinance amendment to require any
increase in sales occupational tax, i.e., sales tax, to require 2/3’s approval
by Board) and 15-4716 (Proposed ordinance amendment to require any increase in
the retailer’s occupation tax to require 2/3’s approval by Board) were referred
to Finance Committee. Commissioner
Fritchey’s proposed ordinance amendments to reduce the recently passed increase
in the sales tax in 2017 to 1.25% (from 1/75%) and back to .75% in 2018 failed
for lack of a second to the motion to refer these to Finance.
Submitted by Priscilla
Mims, League Observer
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