The Committee meetings for Wednesday, September 9 were as
follows: Labor Committee, Rules
Committee, Finance Committee, Zoning and Building Committee, and Criminal
Justice Committee.
Criminal Justice
Committee:
Proposed Ordinance
15-4648 sponsored by Commissioner Boykin, this ordinance is to appoint a
Cook County Gun Violence Czar to lead a Cook County Gun Violence Task Force. The Task Force, made up of representatives
from other County officials, such as the Chief Judge and Sheriff, along with
Commissioner Boykin and another representative appointed by President
Preckwinkle, would be charged with holding hearings and gathering information
in order to submit recommendations to the Board within 6 months. Boykin withdrew this ordinance and plans to
work on it further with the support of other commissioners.
There were two speakers who spoke in favor of this
ordinance. Commissioner Boykin reiterated the fact that there is too much violence. He stated that 80% of
African Americans are victims of gun violence even though they make up 25% of
the population. He also stated that
there could be an allocation in the budget of $200,000 to finance the Task
Force.
There was much discussion as most of the
Commissioners had reservations concerning this ordinance. Many questioned whether the money could be
found within this fiscal year. In addition, they felt that more community
support, education, parental support and jobs are needed to control violence.
Zelda Whittler, Undersheriff, was asked to comment. She stated that they are
working with many law enforcement agencies including law officials from the
city and suburban areas to address this issue. She stated the Sheriff would participate
in the Task Force.
Proposed Resolution
15-4728, sponsored by Commissioner Boykin, calling upon the Justice Advisory
Council and the Department of Procurement to report to the Cook County Board of
Commissioner on the scoring criteria for the Justice Advisory Council’s Violence Prevention Grant Awards and the role
played by community violence levels in determining violence prevention grant
recipients. Resolution was approved.
Please note all reports referred to are available on the
Cook County web site. Go to http://cook-county.legistar.com
and click on “meeting details”.
General Meeting:
Public Testimony:
Reference to item 155308 and 15-5311 (proposed ordinance on Cook County Service
Occupation Tax). Speakers stated they were opposed to a tax increase stating
that $10 an hour is too little to live on making this tax increase difficult for
them. They want a fair wage of $15 an hour.
The following were items of interest:
15-5141, proposed
by Commissioner Boykin, calls upon the Cook County Medical Examiner to modify
its reporting of Gunshot homicides to include specific classifications of
victims as to Hispanic, Latino or
Spanish origin. In other words not just
list them as Spanish but their origin. This was withdrawn because the medical examiner already has the software to
do this.
15-5308 and 15-3011, proposed
by Commissioners Fritchey, Boykin, Schneider and Suffredin to roll back the
newly approved sales and service tax of 1.75% after 1 year to 1.25% on Jan. 1,
2017, and back to 0.75% on Jan. 1, 2018. Was
referred
to the Finance Committee.
15-5262 presented
by John Jay Shannon, MD, Chief Executive Officer. Cook County Health and Hospitals System (HHS), proposed HHS preliminary budget for 2016 fiscal year. During
the Public Testimony portion of the meeting, there were many speakers, doctors
and nurses who spoke in support of retaining the
in-services Pediatric Unit at Stroger Hospital.
Dr. Shannon stated that there has been no decision to close the
Pediatric In-Services Unit at Stroger, but a consolidation of services, such as
combining the Pediatric Emergency Room with the regular emergency room, will
happen. He stated that with advancements
of care and access to ambulatory care such as “Kid Care,” there are
opportunities for patients receiving care closer to home. Dr. Shannon stated that there is constant
review as to whether the services being offered throughout HHS are what are
needed or whether other services would better fit the needs of those needing
care.
Commissioners Gainer and Sims had concerns about the cancellation
this summer of the contract with the current administrator of Medicaid
eligibility for HHS. The current
administrator is Illinicare, which has its own managed-care program and which
is in competition with HHS and its managed-care program, County Care, for
Medicaid recipients. Dr. Shannon said
that while there was no evidence of impropriety on the part of Illinicare,
there was concern for the future. Dr.
Shannon said that Illinicare will stay on through early 2016, providing
sufficient time to find a replacement and transition smoothly. This
item was referred to the Cook County Board’s HHS Committee.
15-5225, submitted by Clerk David Orr, seeking approval to eliminate 74 voting
precincts in suburban Cook County, changing the number from 1,673 to 1,599 a
reduction of 4%. The estimated savings
in 2016 is $200,000. This was approved.
Also approved at
the Board Meeting were the following items that the Board’s Technology
Committee, which met the day before, had voted to recommend to the Board:
15-4067, a contract for $30 million for an Integrated Tax &
Mass Appraisal System, to integrate the functions of the Recorder of Deeds,
Assessor, Board of Review, Clerk, and Treasurer relating to the property tax
system.
15-4318, a $66 million contract for an E-Business Suite platform to
allow for process improvements and analytics for finance and human resource
functions across the County.
15-4488, which amends the
contract with the existing provider of telephone service at the County Jail to
lower the costs for detainees to make calls.
The meeting ended
around 3:30
Respectfully submitted
Nancy Marcus and Priscilla Mims.
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