[remote or in person, 9am-12:30pm] MORNING 2025 Chicago Budget Hearing: administrative/oversight agencies

Chicago City Council

Finance

Politics

Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024
9:00 a.m. — 12:30 p.m. CST

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121 N LaSalle St Chicago, IL 60602 (Directions)

City Hall, 2nd floor, Council Chambers

This is an assignment to document a portion of Chicago City Council’s 2025 budget process.

Roles & Scheduling New this year, we are capping departmental budget hearing assignments at 3.5 hours (plus 2 hours outside work). Please take note of the time slot indicated in the assignment title. You will be paid for the full 3.5 hours regardless of whether the meeting starts late or a break occurs, but you should conclude your coverage when the end of your shift arrives.

Weekdays

Morning shift: 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Live reporting (Twitter)
Notes

Afternoon shift: 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Live reporting (Twitter)
Notes
Special assignment*

Saturday, Nov. 9 & 19

Morning shift: 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Live reporting (Twitter)
Notes

Afternoon shift: 12:30 p.m. to 4 pm

Live reporting (Twitter)
Notes
Special assignment*

*In the event that a hearing extends past the end of the afternoon shift, on the subsequent weekday morning we will assign someone to take notes on the remaining portion of the meeting using the video recording. This assignment will be due by noon the next day and paid according to the regular formula (meeting duration + 2 hours). To indicate your interest, apply to the “special assignment” role.

For example, if a Monday meeting adjourns at 6:42 p.m., on Tuesday morning we will assign someone who has applied to the “special assignment” role to take notes on the portion that took place after 5 p.m., or the last hour and 42 minutes. The assignment will be due by noon on Wednesday.

Applicants who completed 2025 budget season training on Oct. 21 or 22 will receive an extra hour of pay on each assignment they submit.

Assignment instructions This is an assignment to document a 3.5-hour portion of Chicago City Council’s 2025 budget process.

You have the option of documenting this meeting in person or remotely.

If you choose to attend in person, an additional hour will be added to your total assignment hours. Please note that there may be increased security and restrictions; use a clear bag if possible and leave large water bottles, thermoses and pepper spray at home. If you choose to document remotely, the meeting will be live-streamed at https://www.chicityclerk.com/.

At this link, scroll down to “Meeting Notices.” Look for “Watch now” and click on the link with the meeting title to go to a livestream page. If you don’t see a link for the meeting, you may be early or the meeting may be starting late. Wait a few moments and try refreshing your Internet tab.

Other notes and pre-research resources

For more info and resources, see our Chicago Documenters Guide to the City’s 2025 Budget Process (in 2024).
Chicago Councilmatic: This civic data org’s website has a lot of the information that can be found on the city’s database in a more user-friendly format, as well as context on City Council and alders.

Check the source website for additional information

Reporting

Edited and summarized by the Chicago - IL Documenters Team

Live reporting by Ebony Ellis

Meeting attendees discussed the FY2025 proposed budget including changes in parking fees and their long term impacts.

Ebony Ellis @Eb_Writes26

Hello, I’ll be covering this morning’s 2025 Chicago Budget Hearing for administrative/oversight agencies hosted by the Chicago City Council. This meeting is taking place at city hall (121 N. LaSalle St.) starting at 9am @CHIdocumenters #CHIDocumenters

09:05 AM Nov 9, 2024 CST

Ebony Ellis @Eb_Writes26 2/39

To watch the meeting, visit chicityclerk.com/committee-budg…

chicityclerk.com/committee-budg…

Ebony Ellis @Eb_Writes26 3/39

We are now in the public comment portion. Each speaker is given three minutes. Due to the previous speaker's disruptive outbursts, security is working on having him removed from the room.

Ebony Ellis @Eb_Writes26 4/39

Here is the most updated agenda for today's meeting. …storagev1.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/meetingattachm…

…storagev1.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/meetingattachm…

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The next public commenter is Lisa Bowden, a resident from the 40th ward, supportive funding for protective equipment for the Chicago Police Department (CPD). "I urge you to protect our workforce. At the end of the day, we all want our loved ones to come home," Bowden says.

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The next speaker is Janice Gray, Chief Administrative Officer for Chicago City Council's Office of Financial Analysis (COFA). The proposed budget for FY25 s 15.1 million dollars

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Anna Valencia, Chicago City Clerk, briefly introduces some other staff.

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Alderman Marty Quinn mentions that people complain about city stickers. He asks "Can you speak to some of the things you do to curb that activity?" Valencia responds, "we hear that folks only writing city sticker tickets are police." She goes on to mention some sort of reform.

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Another alderman speaks. He asks for a refresher on "the fee increase piece." Valencia responds, "transfer city sticker to another car increasing that from $5 to $20. Annual parking permit will freeze for senior citizens. She also mentions a few other increases.

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Alderman Samantha Nugent thanks the council for their responsiveness.

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Alderman Andre Vasquez asks Valencia if there are opportunities for a city key? Valencia: "We can talk offline to get into more of what you're envisioning."

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Alderman Vasquez asks as a steward of data how would you feel if the data was sent to the clerk office Valencia responds, "a budget impact on an ordinance. That is a lot of data processing."

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Committee chairman Alderman Jason Ervin asks Alderman Vasquez for clarification on his previous question to Valencia. Alderman Vasquez confirms that he wants access to the data for the budgets of various departments before the budget is officially released.

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Alderman Byron Lopez asks about having appointments at city council. Valencia responds that a platform will be released in the next couple of weeks. "We want it to be more accessible to people who cannot get to our mobile events."

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Alderman Lopez also asks about the allocation of revenue from the city clerk's office. Valencia mentions that daily parking passes are being raised from $8 to $15. Transfer reissue is going from $5 to $20. $4 million dollars in revenue by the second year.

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Valencia goes on to mention reform around the fee increases.

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Alderman Lopez also asks what kind of things are being envisioned from the finances department. Valencia responds mentioning what hours that people are being sent, contacting people from evening hours to early morning hours and making sure that people are being cross-trained.

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Alderman Conway asks how many RPP's (residential permit passes) are sold each year? Valencia provides an answer and says that 215,000 passes are projected to be sold.

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An alderman asks if rpp's for students, are issued with out of state plates? Someone responds that stickers are issued to anyone [students or otherwise] with a registered vehicle.

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Chairman Ervin asks about what happened to RPP's for certain industries, such as real estate. Kathryn O'Connell, Chief Of Staff and First Deputy City Clerk, responds, that after only selling three, the program was undone.

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At 10:40, Chairman Ervin calls for a short break.

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Alderman are asking questions to Deborah Witzburg, Inspector General

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An alderman asks Witzburg why the ethics enforcement were under enforced Witzburg responds that it is a more complicated process

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Alderman Vasquez asks to break down the budget, specifically the "fringe" part. Witzburg: "the fringe is part of the expenses that is below the floor."

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Alderman Vasquez mentions that releasing the budget on Halloween and needing to have it finalized by the end of the year is "pretty abysmal."

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Alderman Pat Dowell asks Witzburg about the kind of training and credentialing the office of inspector general staff require

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Witzburg responds that this is to bring oversight. The Association of Inspectors General (a national organization) getting people certified is the national professional standard. She also mentions getting people certified as soon as they are eligible.

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Alderman Lopez asks about the budget. What other departments have their own HR departments? Witzburg: "We have done some project planning around the efficiencies."

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Alderman Lopez asks about the parking meter contract. Witzburg: Everything that went wrong is at stake when talking about transparency and data oversight.

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Alderman Matthew O’Shea asks about the extremism. Witzburg responds the inspector general office has had extensive engagement with CPD. Alderman O'Shea suggests a taskforce.

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Ald. O'Shea asks there an opportunity to apply for grants that would help in the form of technology Witzburg responds that awareness building is being done.

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Chairman Ervin asks about the Diversity Equity & Inclusion position and what is being done to increase diversity in the inspector general office staff Witzburg says the position is not new but it has received a new title. Also efforts are being made to increase staff diversity

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Chairman Ervin also asks how the inspector general office is progressing to get to the civilization and the next steps to complete that Witzburg responds that CPD is slow in the process i civilization positions. She says reasons are collective bargaining agreement constraints

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There are no more questions for Witzburg, so the inspector general staff are dismissed. At 12:09pm, Chairman Ervin announces a short break.

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Kyle Cooper, President of the Chicago Police Board, is now speaking.

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President Cooper: Currently 13 cases are on hold Last month, 4 new disciplinary cases were filed with Chicago police department

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A representative from the Chicago Board of Ethics is now speaking.

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According to the representative, in May 2024, in person classes have resumed, after being discontinued during the pandemic. 1,975 (to date) have been attended. He says that seeking confidential ethics advice before action is the way to encourage good ethics.

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Currently there are 88 viewers of the live viewing of this meeting. Be sure to tune into @CHIdocumenters for further coverage of this meeting!

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Agency Information

Chicago City Council

chicityclerkelms.chicago.gov

(312) 744-3166

@ChiCouncil

See Documenters reporting

The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago and consists of the Mayor and Aldermen elected from each of the City’s fifty wards. Source

If you attend a meeting in person, be prepared to go through a security checkpoint and show photo ID.

Meetings are also livestreamed at https://www.chicityclerk.com/.

Recordings of past City Council meetings may be found here: https://vimeo.com/user100351763/videos/sort:date.

See also: “What to Expect at a Meeting of Chicago’s City Council” via the Better Government Association.