2010 Redistricting Committee Meeting on June 15, 2012

Redistricting Committee Approves New Map

The 2010 Redistricting Committee, composed of all 17 Commissioners, approved the proposed map submitted by the appointed Staff, as amended by technical amendments also proposed by the Staff, at the June 15 meeting.  The vote was 14 yea – 1 no (Commissioner Collins) – 2 absent (Commissioners Beavers and Schneider).  The next step is for the Board to approve the recommended map at the next Board Meeting on June 19. 

While the proposed ordinance containing the map by reference will be effective immediately, Commissioners will continue to serve their currently drawn districts.  Further, should there be any Board vacancies before the 2014 election, the person appointed will come from the current districts.  For those running in the 2014 primary and November election for a Board position, they will be running to serve the new districts as drawn by this new map. This new map will only be used for the 2014 and 2018 elections.  A new map will be needed for the 2022 election, and will be based on the 2020 census.

The map approved by the Committee has 5 districts with African-American majorities, 3 districts with Hispanic majorities, and 9 districts with Non-Hispanic White majorities.  This represents 1 additional Hispanic majority district and one less Non-Hispanic White majority district, while retaining 5 districts with African-American majorities.  There is up to almost a 10% disparity in the size of the districts, meaning that there are differences in population among the districts of up to about 30,000 people.  This is within the tolerances that Courts have approved according to the consultants to the Committee.  Essentially, the new map started with the existing districts and added and subtracted territory as necessary to comport with the 2010 census, keeping in mind the Voting Rights Act.  Maintaining people in their current district to the extent possible was one of the goals stated by the Committee’s consultant.  But as a result, most of the newly-drawn districts can hardly be said to be “compact.”

Prior to voting on the new map, the Commissioners considered and rejected a proposed amendment submitted by Commissioner Earlean Collins that would have substituted a different map.  The “Collins Protected Class Map 6/12/12” would have increased the majorities in the African-American and Hispanic majority districts, as compared to the approved map.  Further, the districts under this map would have been almost equal in population (less than a 1% deviation).  This proposed map on its face appeared to have more compact districts.  The information provided was not sufficient, however, to determine whether towns and wards or other communities of interest would have been divided more often than under the approved map.    The proposed amendment was defeated with only Commissioner Suffredin joining Commissioner Collins in voting to approve it, and with Commissioner Fritchey voting “present.”

-- submitted by Priscilla Mims

Nov. 9, 2009 Finance Committee Meeting to Review the Proposed Budget--Juvenile Temporary Detention Center

Earl Dunlap, Transitional Administrator, Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC) of Cook County, provided an overview of the Detention Center.  The average daily population from 7/1/08 to 6/30/09 was 390.59 detainees.  The adult transfer population (included in total pop) was 94.78.  The racial breakdown of the population was 84.3% African American, 10.2% Hispanic, 2.6% White. 

There has been a rush of hiring in the last 10 months – 260 total new hires including 130 counselors and 20 team leaders.  Staff received 37,000 hours of training.  New staff gets 6 weeks of training before they begin.  Staff training complies with the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts (AOIC).

Reports on staffing have gone to the federal court in charge of the consent decree, which mandates the changes in the JTDC, Office of the Chief Judge of Cook County (newly made the administrator

of the JTDC) as per the federal court decree.

A dramatic upgrade is being made in the staffing at the Center. It will eliminate the current Juvenile Detention Counselor position and replace it with a Youth Development Specialist.  Making this change will provide more highly skilled workers available to the detention center population. It will also put the JTDC in compliance with the AOIC, permitting the JTDC to qualify for more State of Illinois dollars for costs, reducing its reliance on Cook County revenues. The Juvenile Detention Counselor position has traditionally been a position where only a high school diploma and no specialized training has been needed for direct work with the detainees in the living units. The Youth Development Specialist (YDS) position requires a college degree in an appropriate field.  A Youth Development Specialist Associate position will be available to those who

pass the hiring test for the YDS, get re-hired and are working to complete a college degree. All current Counselors will be welcome to go through the hiring process for the YDS Associate.

In the past year, there have been 88 investigations of instances involving the counselors done by the investigators newly hired by Office of Transitional Administrator (OTA). Of the 88 investigations, 33 involved physical abuse, 9 were substantiated, and employment terminated on that staffer.

Five of nine anticipated living centers are now open.

On Tuesday, November 17th there will be a federal court hearing regarding employees affected by the

recommendations to eliminate the counselor positions and the replacement of those workers by Youth Development Specialists with higher educational requirements.

The JTDC has not exceeded budgetary limits for FY 08-09. In fact, expenses have been below those limits.  There will be a reduction of overtime by 2011. 

Glass doors in the detainees rooms will be replaced by steel doors so that they have more privacy and detainees cannot break the doors as easily.  Safety rooms (padded) will be installed for detainees who need them.  Staff will get 2 way radios with direct contact with detainees.  Time clocks are being installed and activated for all staff. 

JD Counselor position will be upgraded to the YDSpecialist, which has essentially the same qualifications as an entry level Probation Officer.  The job reclassification will cost the JTDC $1.11 million. 

Currently there are 20 staff members in mental health positions, currently paid by the Cermak Health services. Many experts / standards say there should be 44 staff members in MH positions at JTDC. However Dunlap himself recommends a total of 30 MH workers. 

In response to questions from Commissioner Schneider, Dunlap answered that he, his assistant, and the consultants they hire submit itemized expenditures that are paid through funds from the State’s Attorney.  Dunlap works 2 1/2 to 3 days a week only.  There is a full time administrator who comes in on Monday around noon. He works Monday afternoon and into the night; all day Tuesday and Wednesday, including the night; all day Wednesday; and all day Thursday, taking the Thursday train at 4 or 8 p.m. to get back home. He puts in a 40 – 50 hour week at the DC, and works on the weekend at his home.

Regarding expenses, Dunlap said, the JTDC has been greatly ‘underresourced’ for a very long time. Much of the dollar expenditure is to close the gap from what was deplorable to what is proper.  The physical plant itself makes expenses higher than necessary. A more efficient facility could be 30% cheaper.  Just processing the detainees into the facility is expensive, but 26% of all those detained are released in 96 hours or less. Ways to reduce that have been brought to the attention of the Chief Judge of the circuit.

any alternatives to detention already in place should be increased, including electronic monitoring. Weekend courts and/or Saturday court calls would cut down on JTDC population. Evening and weekend court calls mean parents could be there with their kids. Kids on psychotropics now end up in JTDC, though it is not a proper treatment place for them. If the population is reduced, staff can be reduced, and expenses would be reduced. Juvenile crime rates are lower than they have been in 40 years, yet the population of the DC has not fallen by the same proportion.

Commissioner Collins stated that kids are now being punished twice: once by the situation that brought them to do illegal things, once by the very fact of being in the JTDC. It is important to keep the kids out who don’t belong there, and to appropriately assess and treat those who do belong there.

Collins asked why Dunlap thinks he only needs 30 and not 44 Mental Health staff at the DC. He responded that many of the mental health problems detainees have are not treated appropriately at the JTDC. They should have access to detox and other similar services in more appropriate settings. Collins also asked if the court could give a waiver to workers whose jobs will be terminated – there is value in having the good workers who have been with the DC for years stay there. Dunlap stated that the employees will all have a chance to apply for the newly created position.

Commissioner Sims stated that there should have been a way to work things out with the 200 plus workers who are being laid off.  She also said that the Chief Judge will hire a superintendent; after the Transitional Administrator will be out, the court can / will still be monitoring the situation.  Currently there is no superintendent of the JTDC. The office has remained vacant while Dunlap has been TA. Dunlap expects to be gone by the end of summer. 

In his concluding statement, Dunlap noted that Cook County locks up more kids than New York City does – and NYC has four times as many juveniles.  You can educate someone for six years at Harvard for what it costs to keep a youth for one year in the JTDC.

--Submitted by Observer Millie Juskevice, with assistance from Observer Ruby Donahue

Cook County Board Once Again Approves Reduction in Sales Tax

November 17 at 10:30am

The Cook County Board met in Special Session to consider 2 amendments to the Home Rule Sales Taxes in the county. The amendments called for a decrease from 1.75% to 1.25% in both the County Retailer's Occupation Tax and the County Service Occupation Tax. The meeting was called to order by President Stroger at 10:50am and Comm. Suffredin moved the approval of the 2 amendments.

After establishing that public notification of the meeting met the Open Meetings Act requirements, Comm. Schneider introduced amendments to the amendments that changed the percentage reduction of the tax from 1.75% to 0.75%. This provoked discussion of whether such amendments were in order and after establishing that they were Comm. Schneider stated that his amendments were intended to get rid of the tax which is driving business out of the county and look to other ways to broaden the tax base to produce revenue if it is needed.

Debate ensued with nearly all commissioners having their say about the taxes once again. The roll call vote to accept the substitute amendments was as follows: Yes(6): Claypool, Gorman, Goslin, Peraica, Schneider, Silvestri No(10): Beavers, Butler, Collins, Daley, Gainer, Murphy, Reyes, Sims, Steele, Suffredin Absent(1): Moreno

Then the original amendments were brought back to the floor for action. Again there was debate. Comm. Collins stated that Cook County was "the worst structured and run government in the country" and it needs to be restructured since so many departments have strayed from their core mission. Comm. Daley stated that Cook County goverment will change in 2011 and agencies will have to combine. He further stated that the Board needs the power to make changes. Comm. Peraica apparently insulted a relative of Comm. Daley, that resulted in accusations of politicking, looking out only for one's constituents not the county as a whole, looking to doing what was politically expedient rather than what is good for the people.

After all the Commissioners who wanted to were able to speak, President Stroger then made his speech saying this was a battle of the haves and the have nots, and again stating that the poor will suffer with a lack of health care. He accused the Unions of having done nothing - just standing on the side lines. He stated that he is there to represent all of Cook County and to remind people of what really matters. Then he called for the roll call vote.

The vote on the amendments changing the tax from 1.75% to 1.25% was done on each amendment separately. The vote was the same for each. Yes(12): Claypool, Collins, Daley, Gainer, Gorman, Goslin, Peraica, Reyes, Schneider, Silvestri, Steel, Suffredin No(5): Beavers, Butler, Moreno, Murphy, Sims

A move to reconsider each was made and another roll call was done. It was not approved. The meeting was adjourned at 12:40pm.

CC Board Finance Committee, Budget Review of Recorder of Deeds, November 3, 2009

Gene Moore, the Recorder of Deeds, stated that his budget request reflects a 5% reduction from 2009. The proposed budget shows a $425,000 decrease and a reduction of 10 employees from 2009 in the account which is part of the corporate (or general operating) fund. However, a review of the budget also shows that he is seeking a $400,000 increase in expenditures from an account that is funded by a special purpose fund, which in turn is funded by a portion of the fees charged by his office. This special purpose fund is limited to funding technology and employees related to technology, said the deputy recorder. This money will be used to pay the salaries of 5 employees being added to this account who will be part of a new fraud prevention effort involved in reviewing computer data. Commissioner Collins expressed concern over the Recorder undertaking this initiative that is not mandated, but said she would support it.

Commissioner Peraica questioned why the Recorder has not been able to reduce his staff by more since in 2003 the office handled 1.9 million recordings (the peak) while in 2009 it is expected that there will be only 800,000 processed due to the downturn in property sales. In addition, there have been significant expenditures for computer support and automation. The deputy recorder said that there are more and more unfunded state mandates that the office has to comply with, and that the office has assumed some of the work previously done by a few employees in the Assessor’s and Treasurer’s office, thereby allowing their offices to reduce the number of employees. Commissioner Collins requested a list of all the unfunded mandates.
--Submitted by Observer Pris Mims

CC Finance Committee Budget Review – Risk Management, Nov. 2, 2009

Because of Comm. Gainer’s questions regarding employee absences and because Lisa Wallach, the Director of Risk Management, had been ill the day that the Finance Department had appeared for the budget review, Ms. Wallach was asked to attend the hearing today.  Risk Management only administers workers’ compensation claims and absences, however.  Comm. Collins was surprised to find out that the County self insures workers’ comp claims.  It appeared that there has been little review and analysis of whether certain employees and certain departments have more claims than others.  Comm. Steele brought up the fact that he had brought a potential vendor in who would do such analysis, but there had been no follow-up by Risk Management to issue a request for proposal.  Ms. Wallach was encouraged to consider this.

--Submitted by Observer Pris Mims

Cook County Board Meeting July 21, 2009

The Board passed an amendment which waives the death certificate fee for the family and friends of desecrated grave victims of Burr Oak Cemetery. Commissioner Daley stated that this gesture would help provide closure for the families and friends affected by this tragedy. One issue of concern with recovering the graves at Burr Oak is the cost to the county. Commissioner Peraica offered that the State of Illinois has a responsibility to pay for incurring costs—not just Cook County. Sheriff Dart spoke on behalf of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, recalling the 55,000 phone calls his office has received, and his hope that the county will recover some of the $326,000 dollars it has spent to investigate and repair the fallout from the grave crimes.

The Board then paid tribute to Officer Williams, a former employee with the sheriff’s department, who was recently killed in battle in Afghanistan, as well as Frederick Douglass Sengstacke of the Chicago Defender, recently deceased. Rising votes were taken for both of these noble men. Finally, condolences were expressed to the family and friends of Dempsey Travis, whose name remains highly respected for his multiple roles as Civil Rights activist and contributor to the real estate profession.

The financial state of the county, particularly the implementation of the sales tax, was also brought to the table at the meeting. Commissioner Peraica stated that Cook County is running behind on its projected increase in revenue, while Commissioner Suffredin was more optimistic about the financial condition of the county. He argued that Cook County is not in a financial crisis.

Discussion concerning the new budget –to be made public in September—followed. At this time, the Board plans to hold forums in which elected officials will debate budget requests. As discussion of the budget continued, the announcement that the current reduced allocations in the budget will be the starting point for next year’s budget was made.

The Board discussed cutting the sales tax by .25 per cent and the question of how much this reduction will affect health care was debated. Commissioner Sims reiterated her position that she will not support any reduction of the sales tax if reducing the tax means compromising health care. She also encouraged a climate of trust and compromise among Board members.
The sales tax has had the unintended effect of reducing revenue in Cook County instead of increasing it, as residents are now shopping in counties which have lower sales taxes. The Board reminded one another and the audience that there is no Cook County sales tax on food. Commissioner Collins offered that the Board only receives one penny out of the 9 pennies that is charged on sales in Cook County. She also expressed her hope that the Press and the people of Cook County will stop vilifying the Board for the tax increase.

A substitute ordinance that reduces the sales tax to 1.25 percent beginning January 1 was presented. Finally, Commissioner Butler emphasized that attempts to replenish peoples’ pocketbooks is only “feel good” rhetoric: the county still needs to retain any monies it may have acquired to pay venders who have remained unpaid for significant periods of time.

Cook County Board Meeting 6/16/09

Finance Committee [a committee of the whole]

There was some discussion regarding the transfer of $15,114.83 to the Assistant State's Attorney's Office, specifically the expense incurred by Stuart Nudelman, Special Prosecutor, to investigate the remaining cases of Police brutality filed against John Burge. Commissioner Peraica stated that the expenses were merely for storage of the case files. ASA Driscoll stated that Presiding Judge Biebel had appointed former Judge Nudelman to determine if any of the remaining cases had merit. In the event that Judge Nudelman would need to prosecute the cases, and as there were no funds to handle the cases, the Chief Judge's Office was requesting a transfer from his account. Commissioner Suffredin requested seeking State funds. Commissioner Peraicea protested the use of County funds for the Special Prosecutor. The item was passed.

There was discussion of special meals provided by Aramark Correctional Services for pregnant women in the Juvenile Detention Center. The item passed.

Contract Compliance was discussed. There is a need for greater monitoring and accountability.

All Zoning and Building and Roads and Bridges agenda items were passed without discussion.

Board Meeting

Commissioner Peraica protested about the management of the County Building at 69 W. Washington, because, he said, the contract never went out to bid. A representative from the Bureau of Capital, Planning and Facilities Management said that other rates were "looked at", and that their rates were "much more" than the current management company,"69 WWMC". Apparently this was good enough for the rest of the commissioners as they all voted "aye", but Commissioner Peraica stuck to his guns and voted "no".

Agenda Item 47, reducing the number of election precincts, was moved to the Veterans Affairs Committee. There was some discussion regarding the elimination and combining of precincts, but Commissioner Silvestri said that voters would not have to go to another polling place as currently there were multiple precincts in the same location, and that this was a cost cutting measure. This item was slated to be discussed further at the second meeting in July.

Commissioner Collins spoke up and complained that the people of Oak Park should come to the meetings, implying that citizens could see her at work at the board meeting. Collins said that an Oak Park and River Forest-based newspaper had printed an article saying that she doesn't do anything.

A "new" list of agenda items was passed out to the commissioners, but to no one else. The Board discussed School Superintendent Flowers and the Regional Board of Education. Specifically, Dr. Flowers had borrowed $190,000 from Cook County and failed to pay it back. There were various comments of outrage by the commissioners who had been "sidetracked and buffaloed" and called Dr. Flowers' behavior "a disgrace and an insult".

--Submitted by Observer Beverly Graham