Cook County Board Meeting - November 15, 2011

The meeting was called to order at 10:20am by President Preckwinkle and the first item on the agenda was the appointment/reappointment of the individuals to the CC Commission on Women's Issues. There is a representative from each district and they were recognized by the board for their work on women's issues.

The rules were then suspended to consider 4 items from the New Items agenda which the observer had not been able to access on the website the previous evening. Hard copies were not available at the meeting either but by checking the website after the meeting the items were identified as 2 items that were amendments to the CC Tobacco Tax, Commercial Cigarette Manufacturing Machine Tax, and an Amendment to the CC Alcohol Beverage Tax. These items were all referred to the Finance Committee without discussion and will be considered at the Finance Committee meeting scheduled for Nov. 18 as they all deal with revenue for the 2012 Budget.

Chairman Peterson and CEO Claypool from the CTA presented a written report and gave a brief oral summary of their 2012 budget which they stated does not include fare increases or service cuts. Work force cuts and fundamental changes in operations were cited as the ways that the $277m budget gap would be addressed. They stated that support from the county is critical to their budget. Several of the commissioners made statements praising the CTA for their capital investments and the good job they are doing despite their budget challenges. They voted to receive and file the report. (An item on the New Items agenda for reducing the amount of money the county would provide to the CTA was withdrawn from consideration.)

During the Finance Committee meeting the Mortgage Foreclosure Program that is sponsored by the Chief Judge was again under scrutiny as there were approximately $600,000 in bills for approval. Comm. Gainer continues to ask the representatives from the Chief Judge's office to provide her with the performance metrics that are being used to evaluate the program. They stated they would provide the information to the Chief Judge who would provide the information to the commissioner. Comm. Collins continues to ask how the money is being used. The women in charge of the program explained that the money is used to pay legal aide services for the legal assistance and mediation services provided to clients free of charge. They stated that there are still 77,000 foreclosures pending in the courts.

Comm. Fritchey introduced a request from Matt DeLeon, Secretary to the Board, and Gregg Wass, Chief Information Officer, for $243,000 for the purchase of cameras and related equipment to be installed in the board room so that the board meetings can be broadcast live for improved public access to proceedings. These cameras would replace the present rental system of camera equipment and with the new cameras one person will be able to run the operation. Comm. Tobolski asked about having screens and projectors installed as well. Matt said that is part of the plan for the room but not included in this request. Comm. Butler wanted to know how the viewers were going to know what was going on when items being discussed were referred to as "agenda item #1" and President Preckwinkle stated that whoever was making a motion would have to summarize the item in one sentence. Comm. Butler pointed out that this was not a group that was inclined to make 1 sentence statements. The motion was approved.

The Clerk of the Circuit Court requested a contract extension for the rental of shelving for storage of documents from her office. The extension is for another year - until December 2012 - and for $125,796. This provoked discussion of lack of progress on the completion of the Hawthorn Warehouse which is where these documents are supposed to ultimately be stored permanently. John Cook, Deputy Director of Bureau of Economic Development, reported that the Hawthorne facility is now scheduled for completion in September of 2012. An update on the cost and progress of the renovation was requested. A roll call vote was taken on approval of this contract and it was approved 10-7. (Ayes - Beavers, Butler, Collins, Daley, Murphy, Reyes, Sims, Steele, Suffredin, Tobolski) (Nays - Fritchey, Gainer, Garcia, Gorman, Goslin, Schneider, Silvestri)

Among the new items that were addressed and referred to the Finance Committee:

1. A proposal that the office of Recorder of Deeds be abolished and the duties consolidated into the office of the County Clerk and this would appear on the ballot in November 2012 for the voters to vote on.
2. Compensation for members of the Employee Appeals Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals be changed to $500/meeting.
3. A Vacant Building Ordinance for the county.
4. An amendment to the Vacation Leave Ordinance
5. An Ordinance to Centralize Banking Functions for invested funds for all county offices and officials.

The appointment of Ruth Rothstein to the vacant position on the HHS Board was referred to the Legislative Comm.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:35pm.

Cynthia Schilsky

LWVCC Observer

Cook County Board Meeting --November 3, 2010

BUDGET REPORTS BEGIN

Starting the meeting were budget reports from the three transit agencies that receive some funding from Cook County or have board members appointed by Cook County Board. The audience did not have access to the actual budget numbers.

Terry Peterson, chair of the CTA Board stated there would be no fare increases and no service reductions for 2011 and that the budget was lower than in 2008. His concern was that the state of Illinois is late on payments to the CTA. The inspector general office of the CTA costs about $2 million per year, but is considered a good example for transportation oversight. In the future, the CTA and other transportation agencies would like to get away from fare cards and instead have customers use credit or debit cards.

Jim Dodge of the Metra Board presented a $1 billion balanced budget. They will need to move money from capital funds to operating funds this year. There was a concern that lower sales taxes and late funding from the state would impact the operations. There will be no fare increases in 2011 and there will be electric line improvements this year. Dodge stated the Metra Board is "resetting" after the scandals of administration payment irregularities. There is some concern over the type of inspector general office needed for Metra. Commissioner

Suffredin questioned Metra's plans regarding the replacement of 22 bridges and the ensuing disruption for North Shore riders. Dodge indicated the project will be re-planned to possibly cost less and cause less disruption.

PACE also indicated no fare increases or service reductions , but services cannot be expanded at this time. Ridership is down, probably due to higher unemployment. New buses will be hybrids and be smaller, since many buses are now half-empty. ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance is a large portion of the budget.

The RTA, which is the overriding agency of CTA, METRA, and PACE had concerns about the $300 million that the state of Illinois is behind in paying these agencies. All boards are having to dip into capital funds for operations. Commissioner Peraica expressed concern that the agencies have an alternate budget ready in case the state doesn't come through with the money. He also stated that employee pensions, salary, etc. will doom these transportation agencies.

During the Finance meeting, the revenue report for the last 10 months was presented by the Comptroller, Connie Kravitz. Revenues are currently ahead of budget projections by $4.7 million. However, by the end of the fiscal year it will come out even. Concern was shown about the reduction in sales tax rate, which began July 1st, and that the Health System is still behind in its collections. The county is also receiving more money due to increased foreclosures (fees) and late property tax payment penalties. The next (late) property tax bill will be mailed the week of Nov. 13th and will be due Dec. 15th.

The Board then went into executive session to discuss a lawsuit and this League member left. I missed the discussion on unemployment benefits for recently arrested staff member, Carla Oglesby.