All of Professor Black’s grandparents, including the grandmother who helped raise him, had been enslaved. His father, known as Dixie, worked as a sharecropper in the South and at steel mills and stockyards in Chicago until the Great Depression, when he did odd jobs for neighbors. Professor Black’s mother, Mattie (McConner) Black, was a homemaker.

Professor Black was drafted into the Army in 1943 and fought on D-Day and in the Battle of the Bulge. Before his honorable discharge, he also visited the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, Germany.

“This is what happened to my ancestors,” Professor Black recalled thinking at the time. “I made an emotional decision that when I returned from the Army, that most of the rest of my life would be spent trying to make where I live, and the bigger world, a place where all people could have peace and justice.”

After he returned home, Professor Black graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Roosevelt University in Chicago. He went on to study sociology and history at the University of Chicago and received a master’s degree there in 1954.

Professor Black’s first two marriages ended in divorce. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his daughter, Ermetra Black Thomas. His son, Timuel Kerrigan Black, died of AIDS in 1993, and his stepson, Anthony Said Johnson, was fatally shot in a robbery in 2002.

During his final decades, Professor Black was largely engaged in producing two volumes of “Bridges of Memory,” an oral history on the migration of Black people to Chicago, and his memoir, which was itself a kind of oral history, assembled with the help of the Chicago community activist Susan Klonsky. These accounts might not have been verified through archival research, but Professor Black argued that his memories, and those of his fellow Black Chicagoans, had a value of their own.

“This process of personal evaluation may serve to help the present and future generations understand the distinctive qualities of the individual lives as well as the collective life of Black folk in Chicago,” he wrote in his memoir. “They might get this or that fact wrong, but this is how they remembered it.”

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Originally Appeared Here

Show your support for local, independent media by joining us for our Fall 2021 House Parties as we celebrate 50 years!

House Parties are part of the Chicago Reader‘s 50th Anniversary celebration. Proceeds will go toward the Reader‘s Century Fund which aims to ensure another 50 years of groundbreaking, award-winning, culture-defining journalism and reporting as we transition to a fully nonprofit newsroom. The fund will ensure that future generations of Reader leadership and staff are prepared to weather whatever comes our way, while providing the investigative and cultural journalism the Reader has been known for during its first five decades.

Learn more about the Chicago Reader‘s Century Fund (PDF).

Fall 2021 Reader50 House Parties

Wednesday, October 20

6 p.m., virtual discussion

Online event hosted by Haymarket Books

Panel discussion on Chicago politics/fighting for a better Chicago for all — moderated by Kim L. Hunt with Ben Joravsky, Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, and Stacy Davis Gates. 

Saturday, October 23

2:30-5 p.m., open to the public

Hosted by Venu Gupta

Zins Flower Shop, 1800 S. Morgan, Chicago — outdoor with food, wine, and a fire pit

Let’s Get Personal: a theatrical performance of Chicago Reader personals and missed connections by Sheri and Josh Flanders, a romance sparked in Reader personals.

Monday, October 25

5:30-7 p.m., private house party

Private event hosted by Leonard C. Goodman, Christie Hefner, and Michael Leppen with Janice Feinberg, Kim L. Hunt, Jackie Kaplans-Perkin, Hon. Larry Rogers, Jr., Jane Saks, Charles Smith, Julia Stasch, and Lilly Wachowski. 

Special discussion with Reader food critic Mike Sula about current Chicago culinary trends.

Saturday, November 6

4-6 p.m., open to the public

South Side Soiree at Blanc Gallery, 4445 S. Martin Luther King Drive

Hosted by Tracy Baim, Marcia Festen, Kim L. Hunt, Eileen Rhodes, Kelly Saulsberry, and Dr. Traci Beck.

Literary theme: Authors Dawn Turner and K. Ancrum discuss their recent books.

:: Past House Parties ::

Thursday, October 7
6 to 8 p.m., open to the public
Hosted by Lola Wright and Reader Board President Eileen Rhodes

Related

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Originally Appeared Here

The Chicago Park District, with its abundance of park space and programming abilities, should be a well-run agency that provides respite, activities and benefits for residents — particularly during these tough times for Chicagoans.

But too often the district has fallen down on its duties, dating back to the horrible days of parks boss Ed Kelly, who spent the 1970s and 1980s delivering the spoils to parks in white communities at the expense of Black and Hispanic neighborhoods and was sued by the federal government because of it, to recently-resigned Supt. Mike Kelly, who had to walk the plank this month after doing next to nothing to address a lifeguard sexual abuse scandal at the district.

The city deserves better than this from its park district. And now with Kelly gone, the agency and Mayor Lori Lightfoot must find a superintendent who can turn the district into the proud agency its creators and designers intended more than a century ago.

We’re not talking just about properly maintaining and building beautiful park spaces, although that is needed. But also creating robust, visionary and community-focused programming and parks activities in every neighborhood.

As Friends of the Parks Executive Director Juanita Irizarry told us, the new leader must be “someone who can really see with a different set of eyes what is broken.”

Yes. And fix it.

Park District housecleaning needed

The lifeguard sexual abuse scandal, currently under investigation by the Cook County state’s attorney, threw light on an appalling atmosphere in which district supervisors allegedly preyed upon the female lifeguards in their charge.

“The culture of sexual abuse, harassment and coercion that has become pervasive within the district’s Aquatics Department lifeguard program under his leadership, combined with the superintendent’s lack of urgency or accountability as new facts have come to light, is unacceptable,” Lightfoot said in a statement issued last week just before Kelly resigned.

But the matter also allegedly shows how old-school Chicago politics instinctively kicked into action to impede the initial investigation into the matter, with Kelly sitting on the complaint for months, then later forcing out the park district deputy inspector general in charge of the probe.

Kelly now is being held accountable as he should be, but he didn’t act alone. All this tells us the park district needs a house-cleaning from top to bottom, and a new leader with the power to do it — while making sure the agency cooperates fully with the investigation.

The park district’s sloppiness, stonewalling and obfuscation of the scandal is a hallmark of how the district often does business in general, another reason why a proper fumigation is needed.

For instance, last year the agency changed the name of the West Side’s Douglas Park to Douglass Park, honoring orator and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. But in taking the vote, the district totally ignored the work of students from Village Leadership Academy, 800 S. Wells St., who had been petitioning the district since 2016 to rename the park.

The students weren’t allowed to speak at the park district board meeting or given any notice that the renaming would be on the agenda. Senseless, but typical.

And the district has generally supported a group’s $30 million plan to turn the Jackson Park and South Shore Cultural Center golf courses into a combined and upgraded Tiger Woods branded PGA level facility. But despite acres of public land at play, the park district has been stingy with key details about the proposal, including ways the agency would keep the course affordable for everyday golfers — and exactly how the new facility would be an economic boon for the nearby South Side neighborhoods, as promised.

“We have real concern over whether a PGA golf course makes sense,” Irizarry said. “Do we think golf courses are a good economic model anywhere? No. Golf courses are struggling.”

This golf supercourse is a bad idea. And though the organization behind it is looking to raise the $30 million construction cost, combining the courses would require the construction of bridges and underpasses. This smacks of the $172 million state taxpayers quietly got saddled with to rework the roadways around the north end of Jackson Park to accommodate the Obama Presidential Center.

The park district’s next superintendent, given the charge of fairness, transparency and openness, should either hold public meetings fully explaining the golf course proposal or ditch the plan entirely and improve the existing courses in ways they’ve needed for decades.

The courses would bring greater enjoyment to ordinary Chicagoans, which beats catering to tournaments and golf pros.

An important pick

The mayor’s office hasn’t stated how she will approach finding the next parks boss.

But late Wednesday she made a solid choice by picking as interim superintendent Rosa Escareno, the recently-retired commissioner of the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. Escareno ran a tight shop at Business Affairs. At a minimum she can hold down the fort during the search for a permanent successor.

Finding that replacement won’t be an easy task nor should it be. And it shouldn’t be rushed.

We encourage Lightfoot to take her time and do it right. The pick is just that important.

Send letters to letters@suntimes.com.

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Originally Appeared Here

Alexis Wilson was killed by Dolton, Illinois, police on July 27. More than two months later, the only people facing charges related to this case in the Chicago suburbs are activists arrested for speaking out at a protest against racist police terror.

Wilson was killed by Dolton police late at night when she was in the drive-through of a fast food restaurant. There was a disagreement between her and the workers, and someone in the restaurant called the police and reported she had a gun. After police arrived, they assaulted Wilson without warning when she was hesitant to leave the car, and then shot her.

The three activists facing charges had their first hearing in the Dolton Municipal Building on Oct. 7. Around 20 people came out to show their support. 

The next day, 50 people came out in Dolton for a candlelight vigil to commemorate what should have been the 20th birthday of Wilson.

Court hearing

Carlos West, Rabbi Michael Ben Yosef, and Party for Socialism and Liberation member Shabbir Manjee face a misdemeanor charge of “disrupting a public meeting.” The bogus charges stem from a Sept. 1 peaceful protest outside the Dolton Village Hall. That day, police targeted the most outspoken and recognizable protesters in the small crowd that was on a public sidewalk.

At the hearing, a few supporters were initially denied entry by police, who cut off access when they realized a majority of people in the room were supporters of the arrested activists. When the judge noticed that people were standing outside in the rain, he asked the police officers why people were waiting outside. An officer responded that they did not have any citations so they could stay outside. The judge overruled the police decision and the supporters were allowed inside. 

The hearing resulted in a continuance as lawyers for the activists requested police body camera footage of the event and time to present other video evidence. The next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 4.

The arrested activists and their supporters gathered for a press conference and rally following the hearing. Here, each of the activists charged promised to continue fighting for justice for Alexis Wilson.

‘We will not be intimidated or silenced’

Shabbir Manjee explained why he came out to protest Dolton officials. “I was absolutely horrified, the very next day, after Alexis Wilson’s death, that Mayor Tiffany Henyard came out to back killer cops,” he said. “We will not be intimidated by any cop, we will not be silenced by any mayor. No politician will stand in our way because we fight for a just cause.”

Cameilla Williams, an adult advisor to Good Kids Mad City, was also arrested on Sept. 4, but village officials did not formally charge her. She said, “When our Black girls and Black women are murdered, period, but specifically by the police, it goes unnoticed and untalked about, and no justice is received.” She also called out the arrests as scare tactics by Dolton officials.

The charging of anti-police terror activists with misdemeanors is a tactic that allows police to arrest protesters and intimidate the movement while likely avoiding the media and public scrutiny that more serious charges can bring. Activists charged with misdemeanors still must take time off from work or school and face court hearings and serious fines. In Saratoga Springs, New York, police have targeted and arrested 12 Black Lives Matters activists who are facing similar charges in an attempt to suppress the anti-racist movement there.

Vigil

The next day, Oct. 8, a vigil was held by family and friends of Wilson to commemorate what should have been her 20th birthday. Around 50 people gathered with candles and balloons outside Baba’s in Dolton, the fast food restaurant where Wilson was gunned down by Dolton police.

The crowd listened as family members and close friends wished Wilson happy birthday and spoke about how much she is missed. They also promised to continue fighting for justice. 

Wilson’s older sister said, “I think about her everyday. I go to school and can’t even think because I’m thinking about her, because [the police] took her from us.” She related Wilson’s murder to the wider struggle against racist police terror. “I was just protesting last year so something like this would never happen to my family.” 

A great aunt of Wilson said she is determined to keep the struggle alive promising, “that every foul creature involved in taking my niece’s life will be in prison.”

Alonzo Wilson, the father of Alexis, then led the crowd in singing happy birthday for Alexis. The vigil ended with a release of balloons and the lighting of sparklers for the children in the crowd.

After the hearing and during the vigil, people reiterated their intention to continue fighting to hold the cops responsible for killing Wilson accountable. Activists particularly have called for officers Jared Carlton and Ryan Perez to be charged with the murder of Wilson. Perez assaulted Wilson and Carlton shot her after.

The next hearing for the arrested activists is Nov. 4. Allies and supporters will be there in solidarity, to support the right to protest and to continue the fight for justice for Wilson. 

Dolton and Chicago politics

While Dolton can seem like a small suburb on the edge of Chicago, elected officials in the village have deep connections to politics across Cook County. Mayor Henyard has hired Dorothy Brown to be the administrator of the village. Brown was the Cook County Circuit Court Clerk for 20 years before choosing not to run in 2020. The Chicago Reader notes that her term was notable for dysfunction in the court system, which made it harder for incarcerated people to appeal their cases. She is the target of federal corruption investigations.

The one Dolton trustee who still publicly supports Mayor Henyard is Andrew Holmes, who was elected in 2021. Holmes has a long history of working alongside Chicago Police. Before being elected, Holmes was honored by the notorious former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanual, who declared Feb. 26 as “Andrew Holmes Day” in 2014. In 2016, selected by local FBI officials, Holmes received a Director’s Community Leadership Award from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Holmes frequently works with the Chicago Police Department and joins them for press conferences.

The struggle for Wilson and all victims of racist police terror continues. Justice for Alexis Wilson!

Feature photo: On Oct. 7, marchers rallied in support of activists arrested while protesting the police killing of Alexis Wilson in Dolton, Illinois. Liberation photo.

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Originally Appeared Here

“Love, Charlie”/Photo: CIFF

Five documentaries in the fifty-seventh Chicago International Film Festival are products of Chicago and Chicagoans: “Love, Charlie,” by Rebecca Halpern; “Punch 9 For Harold Washington,” by Joe Winston (“What’s The Matter With Kansas?”); “Any Given Day,” by Margaret Byrne (“Raising Bertie”); and “Exposure,” by Holly Morris (“The Babushkas of Chernobyl”). (We talked with the filmmakers of “For the Left Hand”—Gordon Quinn, Leslie Simmer, Diane Quon and Howard Reich—in last week’s film column.) We asked each filmmaker to tell us about their movie and to put it into a Chicago context, in terms of their subjects, as well as production and post-production, which always takes longer than with fiction features.

Rebecca Halpern’s “Love, Charlie” is a portrait of Chicago chef Charlie Trotter. 

If there is such a thing as a “Chicago” film, how does yours typify or exemplify it? In subject matter, subjects and in the style you tell your story, especially editing?

Rebecca Halpern: Google “What is Chicago known for?” and you get two answers: food and architecture. Chef Charlie Trotter singlehandedly put Chicago on the map for food. “Love, Charlie” follows Trotter’s epic life story, from his childhood in Wilmette, when he was called “Chuck”; through his work at Chicago institutions like the Ground Round in Wilmette’s Plaza del Lago and legendary restaurateur Gordon Sinclair’s American Grill in Lake Forest; then, to his own meteoric rise during Chicago’s heyday. In the 1990s, Chicago felt like the center of the universe with Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan and the World Champion Chicago Bulls, and Charlie Trotter, the hottest, most innovative chef in the country, if not the world. But for Trotter, being on top meant someone was always gunning for his spot, and he often made front-page news for gossipy spats, many of his own making, and embarrassing incidents that undermined his legacy.

“Purity of product” drove Trotter’s cooking, and that same approach drove the filmmaking of “Love, Charlie.” Footage of Chicago from the 1960s-2000s is peppered throughout. We deliberately feature classic Chicago public art installations, like the Miro sculpture, that have been upstaged by contemporary masterpieces, a metaphor for lost legacy. We also gained exclusive access to the long-shuttered Lincoln Park restaurant, which stands as a hollow reminder of what Trotter’s relentless pursuit of excellence had wrought.

Renee Frigo, Producer: Chicago will always be an important part of who I am. I grew up on the Northwest Side of the city in Old Edgebrook, with dreams of working in the entertainment business. My first internship in the music business was with the Music of the Baroque orchestra, and my first job was with Alligator Records before heading out to Los Angeles. After ten years in music I returned to Chicago to build the business of Lucini Italia, best-known for our extra virgin olive oil. Charlie Trotter was the first celebrity chef to champion Lucini, which had many positive effects on my life. Several years after Charlie’s death, I realized his legacy was on the verge of being forgotten, or worse, unknown if you weren’t from Chicago. I knew I had to take this project on to seal his place in culinary history. So, I founded Oak Street Pictures named after my favorite street in Chicago and started to work on the Charlie documentary.

Did your film rely on Chicago post-production, collaborators, community? Could you have or would you have embarked on or completed your picture without the Chicago community?

Halpern: Our producer, Renee Frigo, who put the project together, grew up in Chicago, and she came to know Trotter through her olive oil company, Lucini, which he used in his kitchen. I got my start in documentary television in Chicago, working for legendary producers Jonathan Towers and Bill Kurtis on hit true crime series like “Gangland” and “American Greed” and it was on these early gigs that I met many of the extremely talented individuals who make up our Chicago-based crew, including one of our DPs and drone operator, our animator, our audio engineers, Steadicam operators, our grips and gaffers. And through my volunteer work as an alumni mentor at Northwestern, we hired recent NU grads as production assistants and interns. We began production on day one of the COVID quarantine, and while we had to pivot a lot on our shoots, we never wavered from our commitment to using local crews in Chicago.

What does it mean for your film, and for yourself, to be showcased in CIFF, which, in recent years has become more visible and influential, especially in local programming and documentary work?

Halpern: I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, and moved to Los Angeles from Old Town six years ago. Ever since, I’ve been looking for a project that pays homage to the city that I love. My mother was a food writer in Chicago in the nineties, and my father was in construction in Chicago, so when I was approached to direct “Love, Charlie,” it just felt like kismet. Funnily enough, there’s a lot of overlap between Charlie Trotter and my life, though we never met. I never ate in his restaurant, only took out from Trotter’s To Go. Charlie’s sister lives in my mother’s best friend’s old house; my high school homeroom teacher’s husband designed two of Charlie’s cookbooks; one of my best friends did an internship at Charlie Trotter’s; and my mother even cooked in Charlie’s kitchen for a night!

“Punch 9 For Harold Washington”/Photo: Mark PoKempner

Joe Winston’s “Punch 9 for Harold Washington” revisits an era of Chicago politics the importance of which is in danger of being forgotten.

If there is such a thing as a “Chicago” film, how does yours typify or exemplify it? In subject matter, subjects and in the style you tell your story, especially editing?

“Punch 9 for Harold Washington” is a pure Chicago film from beginning to end. The story is about a key moment in the transformation of Chicago into a modern city. As far as style goes, this film is quite emotional, but it’s also fast-paced and we trust our audience to follow along without spoon-feeding them. We found a ton of archival film and video from the 1980s, so the audience is immersed in the grit, the texture, the neighborhoods, the accents of this city. It’s like entering a time machine. Best of all, it’s one-hundred-percent accurate: DuSable Lake Shore Drive does not lead directly to New York City, or anything like that.

Did your film rely on Chicago post-production, collaborators, community? Could you have or would you have embarked on or completed your picture without the Chicago community?

“Punch 9” is a Chicago production. The producers and director are all Chicagoans, we filmed everything here, using Chicago crew, post-production, graphics, sound. We didn’t have to explain to folks here why Harold’s story is so powerful.

What does it mean for your film, and for yourself, to be showcased in CIFF?

As a native Chicagoan who never moved away, premiering at CIFF is a dream come true. I thought our New York-based sales agent would be skeptical, but CIFF completely won them over. My last movie premiered in Chicago at the Gene Siskel, and this town and the late, great Roger Ebert launched it to nationwide distribution. We should never underestimate the power of Chicago.

“Any Given Day”/Photo: CIFF

Margaret Byrne’s “Any Given Day” is a portrait of recovery.

If there is such a thing as a “Chicago” film, how does yours typify or exemplify it? In subject matter, subjects and in the style you tell your story, especially editing?

“Any Given Day” follows three Chicagoans as they work through recovery after being jailed because of crimes they committed as a result of their mental illness. The film is rooted in cinema vérité, an approach to filmmaking well-known in the Chicago documentary scene, particularly because of so many wonderful projects produced by Kartemquin Films. Filmed in Chicago over five years, “Any Given Day” looks at the longterm effects of criminalizing individuals with mental illness. The film opens in 2015 after half of the city’s mental health clinics were closed and the Cook County Jail was considered the largest single-site mental health facility in the country. Now, as we face compounded challenges addressing mental health care and the effects of COVID, we hope the film will ignite important discussions around mental health care and criminal justice in Chicago and throughout the country.

Did your film rely on Chicago post-production, collaborators, community? Could you have or would you have embarked on or completed your picture without the Chicago community?

If you’re going to tell a Chicago story, you should work with Chicago crew. All our production and post-production was completed in Chicago. When you live in the place where you are making your film, not only will you tell a more authentic, nuanced story, but you can develop deeper relationships and be more present in the lives of the people you are filming. Some of the key scenes I filmed for “Any Given Day” happened very last-minute. I could show up within the hour all while wrangling school pick-up and making dinner. I couldn’t imagine a more supportive film community than the one we have here. I’m in production on a doc series, another Chicago story, revealing dozens of alleged murder frame-ups tied to one retired detective. We plan to complete production and post-production entirely in Chicago. Although there’s sometimes an expectation to work with editors on the coasts, I know we have the talent and experience to achieve all our goals here. Over the last ten years I’ve seen the Chicago film scene flourish, especially in documentary. I’m excited for what’s to come.

What does it mean for your film, and for yourself, to be showcased in CIFF?

Having our U.S. premiere at the fifty-seventh Chicago International Film Festival is not only an honor for the whole team, but will also officially kick off our two-year impact and engagement campaign for the film. Along with our partner organizations, we will be screening the film throughout Chicago and Illinois and holding panels and discussions exploring alternatives to law enforcement intervention during mental health crisis calls. For myself, this premiere is particularly special, because it’s the most personal film I’ve made and it is so fitting to get to share it in my hometown first. Telling Chicago stories and having the support of such an iconic and important festival like Chicago International, helps to elevate these stories nationally in a way that I hope will lead to systemic change in Chicago and beyond.

“Exposure”/Photo: CIFF

Holly Morris’ “Exposure” takes place during one of the most chaotic polar seasons in history, with eleven women from the Arab World and the West struggling together to reach climate change ground zero: the North Pole.

If there is such a thing as a “Chicago” film, how does yours typify or exemplify it? In subject matter, subjects and in the style you tell your story, especially editing?

I’ve always thought of the character of Chicago, and Chicagoans, as muscular, audacious, with a tendency to lock eyes with adversity and remain positive. And funny! Chicagoans roll up their sleeves and get the hard job done, even when, especially when the windchill is forty below! The values of this city, and this expedition are certainly kindred. (And my Monsters of the Midway grit held me in good stead throughout a harrowing production, that is for sure.)

Did your film rely on Chicago post-production, collaborators, community? Could you have or would you have embarked on or completed your picture without the Chicago community? 

Digital artist Evan Halleck and graphic designer Linda Kane are both Chicagoans, and I, director and producer, grew up here. This was the most difficult project of my career and my Chicago family and friends fed, housed and cheered me along the way.

What does it mean for your film, and for yourself, to be showcased in CIFF?

I’m super-honored and proud to have the world-premiere of my new film in Chicago and at CIFF, a prestigious festival I’ve long admired. Also, having grown up here in a media family (my parents, Jeannie and Johnny Morris, were longtime CBS sportscasters), it’s a meaningful, emotional, professional homecoming of sorts. Fingers crossed Chicago likes the film, they don’t suffer fools!

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Originally Appeared Here

Get more in-depth, daily coverage of Chicago politics at The Daily Line.

CHICAGO — It now takes city workers a full year to respond to requests for trees to be trimmed, but a near-doubling of crews the city sends out to do the work is expected to shrink that lag time, leaders of the city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation told aldermen on Tuesday.  

Tree trimming, planting and removal took the spotlight during the Department of Streets and Sanitation budget hearing Tuesday as acting Comm. Cole Stallard, who is expected to be confirmed this month, fielded aldermen’s questions on a range of issues that affect residents daily. The department also oversees street sweeping, garbage pickup and rodent control. 

Streets and Sanitation is set to see its budget boosted by $24 million next year, bringing its total spending allocation past $307 million. The department’s Bureau of Forestry is set to see its budget grow, in part to account for 11 new tree-trimming crews, Stallard told aldermen on Tuesday. 

The city currently sends out 14 tree-trimming crews per day, and the additional workers are “going to be a substantial help” in getting the department back on track and shrinking the year-long wait time it takes to get a tree trimmed in the city, according to Stallard. 

Aldermen repeatedly urged Stallard and Malcolm Whiteside, head of the forestry bureau, to prioritize the tree trimming and removal requests, citing concerns that damaged trees and dangling limbs and branches pose safety hazards. 

Stallard told Ald. James Cappleman (46th) that he could “say with confidence” the department will have the 2020 tree trimming backlog done by the end of this year.  

“So, we’ll be attacking the 2021 backlog Jan. 1,” Stallard said, adding that the 11 additional crews will help in clearing this year’s buildup of requests. 

Credit: Erin Hegarty/ The Daily LineDepartment of Streets and Sanitation acting Comm. Cole Stallard answered questions during a budget hearing on Tuesday.

While the department is working to reduce the amount of time it takes to get trees trimmed, Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th) said “it’s still at a level that is unacceptable for folks that…when they get their tax bill in the mail, and they open it up and they see another increase, they look and say, ‘I’m paying for services, but I’m not getting them, at least in a reasonable manner.’” 

Taliaferro said he thinks forestry workers are “are doing a fantastic job,” but they need more employees. “And it’s disappointing to see only a $633,000 increase in personnel, and I’m not even sure that’s to hire additional people,” he said. 

“I can’t say it enough — forestry, forestry, forestry,” Taliaferro added. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed 2022 budget book lists an overall drop in the forestry bureau’s full-time equivalent positions next year, but Deputy Comm. Jim Crocker said that is an error.   

Crocker told Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) the error stems from “a number of Motor Truck drivers that were moved as part of the budget process incorrectly…so that number will change as part of the final budget process.” 

Tunney and several other aldermen suggested changing the way the city responds to tree trimming requests, suggesting going back to the geography-based grid system instead of a complaint-based system. 

“Why don’t we get back to the grid in terms of tree trimming?” Tunney said to applause in the chamber. “Constituent request isn’t the best way to address and manage the system of…100,000 trees that we have.” 

Near the end of the three-hour hearing, Whiteside told Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) the bureau would need 30 crews dedicated to tree trimming in order to properly staff a grid-based system. 

Lightfoot’s Chicago Recovery Plan sets aside $46 million in federal American Rescue Plan dollars for city workers to add 15,000 trees annually and create jobs for tree planting and maintenance. 

Whiteside has told aldermen during the past year that forestry workers are removing trees faster than they can be planted, due in-part to a lack in funding and a shortage of employees. 

Related: Composting could help improve Chicago low-performing recycling program, officials say 

Stallard on Tuesday told aldermen his department was still in discussions with city budget officials about Lightfoot’s “very robust” plan to plant 75,000 trees over the next five years “because we see that there’s maybe some additional need out there.” 

Some conservationists have raised concerns over who would plant the trees and who would be responsible for maintaining them. 

Related: Lightfoot says neighborhoods ‘desperately need’ her plan for 75K new trees — but keeping them alive is just as hard, conservationists say. 

Responding to advocates who urged city leaders during Tuesday’s public comment period to include $2.7 million in next year’s budget to inoculate trees against Emerald Ash Borer parasites, , Whiteside said he “applaud[s] the organizations that are trying to save” the ash trees but their cost estimates are “really misleading” and don’t include consideration like personnel and equipment costs.  

Additionally, Whiteside said the trees have already been pumped with chemicals to stave off the need to remove all remaining ash trees at once. “There’s enough chemicals in those trees to last for another 10 years,” as the city works to replace them, Whiteside said. 

The city once had 96,000 ash trees and in 2008 began pumping chemicals into the infested trees as a way to buy time before they would need to be removed. The treatment was not intended to save the trees indefinitely, according to Whiteside. 

Whiteside said his department plans to remove the remaining trees during the next 10 years. 

Garbage carts and a dismal recycling rate 

While Stallard only took over as acting commissioner in July, he said on Tuesday the “number one thing” he has heard on aldermen’s agenda has been replacing trash carts.   

Stallard told aldermen that for the first time in three or four years, the department’s cart program is fully funded “to become current” this year, meaning the department won’t have to borrow from next year’s budget to fund carts for this year. 

The additional $918,000 in funding means “the carts are on the way, we’re taking deliveries,” Stallard said.  

“We’re using other resources to help us get these carts out,” Stallard said. “We’re fully funded for this year, and we got additional funding for next year.” 

But while the fully funded cart program was good news, Deputy Comm. Chris Sauve told aldermen the city’s recycling rate remains flat between 8 percent and 9 percent.  

The city over the past year saw “an uptick in the amount of recycling tonnage,” which “surpassed 86,000 tons,” Sauve said. But the diversion rate, or the amount of material that is recycled or composted, which was a hot topic during last year’s budget hearing, remains the same, according to Sauve. 

Related: Composting could help improve Chicago low-performing recycling program, officials say 

Streets and Sanitation staffing 

Some aldermen, including Ald. Greg Mitchell (7th) pressed Stallard on how he plans to organize staffing in his department after he is confirmed later this month. 

Stallard said aldermen will have to wait until his confirmation hearing for that information.  

But the streets and sanitation department, like many other city departments, is aging, and Stallard said he is hoping to help guide the next generation of leadership just as those prior had done for him. 

Responding to a question from Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11th), Stallard said 54 percent of the department’s workers are 50 years or older, adding that the department’s “main person that gives us the weather” during snow season has “been around for 51 years on this job.” 

COVID-19 has also taken a hit on the department’s more than 2,000 workers, as Stallard told alderman that 426 employees have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic last year. Those cases have touched a total 974 workers who at the beginning of the pandemic were required to quarantine for 10-14 days upon contact.  

Stallard said the department has seen six employee deaths due to COVID-19. 

“If you do the calculation of those hours…the effect it had on our department was approximately 28 people a day” out in the department, Stallard said.

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CHICAGO — Chicago’s top building regulator mulled a series of strategies on Tuesday to crack down on dangerous “problem properties,” including by barraging by deadbeat landlords with fines and working with the city’s housing department on a new program to put buildings in more responsible hands.

The issue came up repeatedly during the council’s more than three-hour hearing with the Chicago Department of Buildings, which is responsible for enforcing structural safety regulations across the city’s built landscape. Multiple aldermen, including Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd), pressed buildings department Comm. Matthew Beaudet on whether the city has recourse to “really stick it to these out-of-state, out-of-sight property owners” whose buildings become magnets for crime.  

Waguespack said he tells property owners who live outside the city that illegal businesses like “restaurants that turn into nightclubs at night” are “your problem, and I’m going to make it your problem.”

“If we have to nitpick the heck out of a property to put an end to what’s going on, we have to be doing that,” the Northwest Side alderman said. “All of it has to be within legal bounds…but we have to make sure we’re doing everything in our toolbox to drop the hammer on these buildings that are having gunfights in the middle of the street.” 

He was one of multiple City Council members, including Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th), Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) and Ald. Marty Quinn (13th), who voiced frustration on Tuesday with how long it can take to legally drive off scofflaw property owners — especially when the city is relying on glacial court processes to unfold.

“I have a problem building like that too, where we take them to court and we just continually get court continuances,” Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38th) said.

Beaudet gave credence to Waguespack’s strategy of burying property owners in tickets, saying buildings inspectors will sometimes join police officers and Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection officials to cite businesses on weekends. But even the toughest enforcement has its limits when each case gets to court, he said. 

“It’s unfortunate, but if you want to fight a nuisance, sometimes you have to be a bigger nuisance,” the commissioner said. “And we can shut them down for a little bit, but then they can lawyer up and try to get back online.” 

The City Council this year passed an ordinance (O2021-1193) to expand the reach of the city’s Building Code Scofflaw Ordinance, which draws up a public list of properties the city has taken to court and renders them ineligible for zoning changes, tax-increment financing assistance or land deals with the city. 

Related: Crackdown on scofflaw building owners advances as aldermen press officials over tech upgrades

But more can be done, Beaudet said — including by working with the Chicago Department of Housing and Department of Planning and Development to build out programs that envision an “endgame” for nuisance properties.

“If the city can work with a nonprofit or a reputable owner who wants to come in and turn that property around, that’s where we need to be, because we need to get those properties out of those folks’ hands,” Beaudet said. “We need to bring some of the economic-based departments into the mix to have an endgame, so it’s not just enforcement action after enforcement action and getting the same results.”

Ald. Greg Mitchell (7th) said he is working with the housing department on an ordinance “to get a program going that will do just that” by turning over new properties to developers with “specific instructions” on how they should be redeveloped. Mitchell said after the hearing that he has been working on the proposal for more than two years but declined to offer more details, telling The Daily Line that the ordinance is still a work in progress.

A spokesperson for the housing department wrote in a statement Tuesday that the department is “working to create a program that, similar to the Troubled Buildings Initiative, collaborates with other City Departments to identify nuisance, vacant and abandoned single family one- to four-unit unit buildings.”

“Once buildings are identified, the goal is acquisition, rehabilitation through local developers and reoccupation by interested homeowners,” department spokesperson Eugenia Orr wrote in the statement. “The department is in the process of researching the hurdles associated with the acquisition and rehabilitation of vacant and abandoned buildings to adequately address blight in affected low to mod income communities including the 7th ward.”

“Alderman Mitchell has led efforts to move this initiative forward and the Department is excited about future opportunities to better communities as a result,” Orr added.

Ald. Michael Scott (24th) chimed in to say he would like the city to “set up a land bank” that could “take 20 of those properties and put them back on the rolls at the same time.

City leaders could also attack the issue by lobbying county or state legislators to pass legislation that makes it harder for landlords to hold onto vacant properties, Beaudet said. He held up a printed copy of a Block Club article about a South Shore business group pushing to rein in a county property tax incentive available to owners of vacant storefronts.

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi includes a “vacancy adjustment factor” when calculating properties’ taxable value so his office can adjust for landlords who have less income due to a lack of tenants.

“We need to attack these buildings that are quote- vacant, but we know they’re party venues, we know they’re a business, and at the same time they’re going under the radar and the property owner who may live out in California or New York is getting a tax break,” Beaudet said. 

Beaudet said he would rather lean on city-led redevelopment initiatives than “go to the court system,” which he called “very, very challenging.” He added that he sympathized with aldermen who are “frustrated” with the slow pace of legal proceedings. 

Hairston said the court delays can also hurt small property owners, like a condo association in her ward that recently “managed to cobble together a way to come into compliance” after the city took them to court — only for the judge to kick the case months into the future on a continuance. 

“There needs to be some kind of monitoring of what’s going on, because this is really unfair,” Hairston said. “This was a tremendous burden to them.”

Beaudet said his department can work to make sure that a coming multi-year revamp of the city’s information technology landscape includes the creation of a public database showing when each property owner is next due for a court appearance. And at the urging of Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), the commissioner said the tech upgrade would also open the department’s best opportunity to create a long-promised public registry of lobbyists and consultants who work to expedite building permits on behalf of property owners.

Related: Put the gas on $400M overhaul of city IT infrastructure, aldermen urge assets department

In response to prodding from Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), Beaudet said his department will begin next year to update its “outdated” software system used to track building permits but declined to set an end date on the project.

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Aldermen used the city’s Department of Housing budget hearing to prod housing officials on how new initiatives, like the legalization of coach houses, and ongoing recovery efforts are helping grow affordable housing and ensure Chicago residents can stay in their homes. 

The Department of Housing under Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed budget would see its spending grow by nearly $33.9 million next year, bringing its budget to about $395.6 million. The funding increase is driven largely by a $46 million spike in federally sourced Community Development Block Grant money, evened out by a $6.2 million decrease in funding from the Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund and a drop in other grant funding. 

Related: Housing, planning departments and Inspector General set to detail budgets as hearings near a close 

Additionally, Lightfoot’s Chicago Recovery Plan sets aside two pots of money for supportive housing and for the acquisition of former hotels to be converted to single-room occupancy-style buildings. 

Housing department Comm. Marisa Novara told aldermen that as of Wednesday, the city through its Emergency Rental Assistance Program had allocated 70 percent of the first $80 million tranche of federal rental assistance dollars it received — approving about $1 million in grants per day and having helped about 5,500 households.  

Between the first $80 million and another $102 million tranche, the federal funding is “more dollars than we might have ever contemplated” to help with housing stability, Novara said. 

But after the state’s moratorium on evictions lifted this week, and Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) asked what the city is doing to address a potentially large wave of evictions. 

“We don’t know what we’re going to see when it comes to evictions,” Novara said, in part because the city’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program allowed rent payments to be accepted three months in advance. Coupled with eviction notification requirements, it could be six months from now “someone might receive an eviction notice that they’re not receiving now because of our assistance.” 

Sigcho-Lopez asked the broader question of how the city creates enough affordable housing to “bridge the gap” between what it currently has and what is needed. 

Novara has estimated the city’s affordable housing supply is about 120,000 units short of what is needed to keep Chicagoans stably housed. 

“That’s basically why I get out of bed every morning is to answer that question,” Novara said Thursday, adding that “there’s no one thing” that gets the city to the number of affordable housing units it needs, but rather a combination of initiatives like rental assistance and funding from the Chicago Recovery Plan. 

As an example, Novara pointed to the city’s work on an ordinance (O2020-2850) the City Council approved in December that legalizes new Additional Dwelling Units (ADUs) in basements, attics and coach houses in five pilot zones. The housing department backed the idea “not because we thought we could subsidize every unit that would come out of that,” Novara said. 

“In fact part of the goal there was to say ‘what are the ways we can create more rental’” without having to subsidize the units,” she added. 

Related: Aldermen approve coach house ordinance; skirmish breaks out over police settlements 

The department’s Policy Director Daniel Hertz told aldermen that since the pilot took effect in May, the city has received more than 300 applications for additional units. Of the applications from the five pilot zones, two-thirds are for owner-occupied properties and 85 percent are single-family homes or two- to four-unit buildings.  

Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30th) said his Northwest Side ward does not fall in one of the pilot zones, but that he is seeing interest in the program among his residents.  

Ald. Michael Rodriguez (22nd) suggested city officials consider expanding the program citywide, as “more and more folks will see the value” in legalizing existing units that may otherwise be illegal. The new program could help seniors stay in their homes, he said. 

None of the accessory dwelling units that have been applied for are built yet, but Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11th) asked about the affordability of ADUs that have been applied for.  

Thompson vocally opposed the citywide ADU proposal that housing officials initially rolled out last year, saying it would challenge community control of new development. 

Related: Coach house ordinance stalls as aldermen pile on fears of a ‘free up-zoning’ 

Fourteen of the 300 applications for accessory dwelling units would be “legally restricted affordable,” which kicks in only when a property owner is requesting two or more new accessory units, Hertz said.  

Still, “many, if not most” of the accessory units in attics, basements and coach houses “will be lower- to moderate-cost housing,” he added. 

Thompson said he is concerned about housing costs going up in his ward and urged housing officials to take each community into account as far as the ADU program is concerned, as “one size doesn’t fit all.” 

Responding to a question from Ald. Jeannette Taylor (20th) on the number of ADU applications from her ward, Hertz told her the department has received 11 applications for 13 units, including one that would be affordable.  

Hotel acquisitions for SROs 

Lightfoot’s Chicago Recovery Plan sets aside $35 million to add new units of “supportive housing” in rehabbed buildings and $30 million for a “non-congregate housing program” that would allow the city to expand its use of former hotels for “permanent supportive housing.” The initiative is designed to help Chicago residents who do not have permanent living situations. 

When it comes to acquiring and developing the hotels or other lodging buildings, Novara told Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) the city is considering mainly “SRO-type” developments.  

If the Chicago Recovery Plan, funded with a combination of federal stimulus dollars and new debt, is approved, “we would want to move very quickly in acquiring at least one of [the hotel buildings],” Novara said, adding that it is something the city has not done before. 

”I think that’s a good start,” Ramirez-Rosa said. “I think we definitely need more to support SROs….200 is good, but as you know, it’s not enough. 

Novara also pointed to work the city’s Department of Family and Support Services could do with the approval of the Chicago Recovery Plan in helping the city’s homeless population. 

Related: Aldermen push for continuation of expanded resources for Chicago’s homeless residents 

Funding in the recovery plan for the housing initiatives would not come from federal American Rescue Plan dollars but rather from the issuance of new bonds, officials said. 

Deputy Comm. Jim Horan told aldermen that housing is an eligible use for federal American Rescue Plan funds, but “it’s very restricting.”  

Real Estate Transfer Tax  

Housing coalitions held a press conference outside City Hall before Thursday’s housing department budget hearing and called for city officials to change the Real Estate Transfer Tax in order to create a long-term revenue stream for affordable housing. 

Lightfoot included a plan in her 2020 budget proposal to lobby Springfield to allow the city to impose graduated tax rates on real estate sales. The proposal fizzled, and city finance officials have suggested this year that they have no appetite to retry. 

Related: Lightfoot rejects push to include homeless funding in real estate transfer tax plan 

Still, some aldermen called during Thursday’s hearing to renew the push to open up new revenue for city housing initiatives.  

“We need to think about taxing real estate transactions progressively,” Rodriguez said. “Let’s go into areas that are growing, that are stable…that market is doing relatively well right now.”  

Supporting people who are experiencing homelessness improves everyone’s quality of life, Rodriguez added. 

Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th), Ald. Maria Hadden (49th) and Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) also said they support a graduated real estate transfer tax. Money from a graduated tax would generate “revenue that we could be putting in place to ensure we’ve got more dedicated long-term sustainable funds,” Hadden said. 

Housing advocates outside City Hall on Thursday morning and public commenters during Thursday’s hearing also urged City Council to pass the Just Cause of Eviction ordinance (O2020-3449), which would aim to clamp down on “no-cause, no-fault” evictions but has yet to reach a vote more than a year after it was introduced.  

John Bartlett, executive director of Metropolitan Tenants Organization, said the average Chicago renter has $6,000 in wealth, compared to the more than $200,000 in wealth held by the average homeowner, “and who’s asked to move?” 

Bartlett said the ordinance is about protecting tenants “who have done nothing wrong.” 

The City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate held a subject matter hearing on the proposal last month. City housing officials and housing committee chair Ald. Harry Osterman (48th) have committed to keeping a dialog open with activists on the ordinance, but they have not come out in support of any version of the proposal. 

Related:  ‘Predictability and stability’ vs. ‘non-starter:’ Advocates, aldermen spar over Just Cause Eviction proposal 

Housing officials have instead touted the Fair Notice Eviction ordinance (SO2020-2862), which passed the City Council last year and requires landlords to give their tenants between 30 and 90 days’ advance notice of their intention to not renew a lease. Novara said at the time that it was “the most balanced outcome we can achieve at this time” following months of talks with housing activists, real estate groups and aldermen. 

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CHICAGO — The Chicago Fire Department is dominated by white men — but the department’s first-ever Black woman leader vowed on Wednesday to change that, thanks in part to a long-awaited new opportunity to bring on fresh recruits. 

Fire department Comm. Annette Nance-Holt kicked off her more than three-hour budget hearing on Wednesday by ticking through the “main goals” she has charted since being confirmed to her job in May, including advancing “diversity, equity and inclusion” in the department. She pointed to the gaggle of top department officials surrounding her at the City Council dais, saying aldermen “can see how I have assembled a leadership team that mirrors the communities we serve.” 

The approximately 5,000 firefighters, medical responders and support staffers who make up the fire department are together about 64 percent white and 90 percent male, Nance-Holt said. The racial disparity has long been a source of agitation among aldermen, and the department has repeatedly had to fight off accusations of sexual harassment and misogyny — including in court. 

Related: Fire Department budget hearing erupts with allegations of racial insensitivity 

The department was required in 2018 to retrofit its station bathrooms to accommodate nursing mothers as part of a settlement brought by a female paramedic. And earlier this year, the City Council approved a more than $1.8 million payout to settle a lawsuit brought by multiple women who alleged the department worked to protect serial sexual abusers while rebuffing their victims. 

Related: 

Nance-Holt pointed on Wednesday to a new program called the “Honor Our House” initiative, which she said “promotes inclusivity and strives to eliminate discrimination, harassment and retaliation within the fire department.” 

She also pointed to a new firefighter entrance exam set for early next year — the department’s first since 2014 — as an opportunity to imbue recruitment with “an even greater commitment toward outreach and inclusion.” The topic of the exam consumed last year’s fire department budget hearing, when previous Comm. Richard Ford II warned the years-long delay would hobble the department’s efforts to diversify. 

Related: Pass an ordinance on recruitment exams to help diversify fire department, commissioner tells aldermen 

The department has been pulling recruits every year from the same “rather old list” of approximately 20,000 people who passed the 7-year-old test, Nance-Holt said Wednesday. But the new exam opens a new opportunity to guide women and people of color to the doorway, she said. Nance-Holt pointed next to her to Mary Sheridan, whom she elevated to the role of deputy commissioner this year. 

“You see two women leading the second-largest department in the U.S. — so girls can do this,” Nance-Holt said, calling on aldermen to “help spread the message within their wards so that we can reach as many people as possible.” 

“I need diversity greatly in my entry ranks and up through,” she said. “Because the only way to get people to this position [is for them] to walk in the door. If we can’t get them in the door, we can’t make them engineers, lieutenants, captains…on up the ranks.” 

She added that she intends to work with the city’s Department of Human Resources to “have testing more frequently,” including for internal promotions, to keep the pipeline fresh. 

The department as of Wednesday had about 260 vacancies across its 5,124 full-time equivalent positions, officials said. All remaining paramedic vacancies are on the verge of being filled with a graduating class, and the department expects to recruit 200 new firefigthers next year. 

And unlike the Chicago Police Department, which is hurting for new recruits as it looks to plug nearly 1,000 vacancies, the fire department has “no problem” attracting new blood, Nance-Holt said. 

“We have so many people waiting to get this job,” Nance-Holt said — including “quite a few” police who are “changing careers.” 

Office of Public Safety Administration  

One of the city’s newest offices, tasked with finding efficiencies among the fire department and other public safety agencies, has saved the city less than $1 million, leaders told aldermen on Wednesday.  

The Office of Public Safety Administration was created 19 months ago and is helmed by Executive Director Annastasia Walker, who told aldermen during a later budget hearing on Wednesday that her department has “a lot of room for growth and innovation” but that she is “very pleased with what we’ve accomplished in this very short period of time.” 

Walker defended her office’s anticipated $37 million hike in funding, set to bring its proposed 2022 spending to $172.9 million. The proposed budget also grows the office’s full-time equivalent employee count by four, to 354 positions.   

Since its inception, the public safety administration office has saved the city $720,000 by canceling “redundant contractual costs,” Walker said. The office has also “eliminated 500 unused mobile lines” representing $60,000 in monthly savings and “cancelled over 400 Beta circuits” for $40,000 in monthly savings, she added. 

Additionally, the office has returned 67 police officers who were working in administration positions back to duty and plans to return an additional 83 by the end of the year, Walker told aldermen. 

Responding to a question from Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11th) about the savings, Walker said there has been “a lot of cross-training in finance” among the public safety departments. And having all public safety contracts in one location gives the city “leverage in buying power.” 

Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) asked about the city’s controversial contract with gunshot detection technology company ShotSpotter, which has come under scrutiny in recent months for its effectiveness. 

The city in December extended its up to $33 million contract with ShotSpotter, Block Club reported in August. The agreement was extended through August 2023.  

Additionally, a report published in August by the Office of Inspector General’s Public Safety section found that the ShotSpotter technology is not “effective” in “developing evidence of gun-related crime.”  

Related: ShotSpotter ‘seldom’ detects gun-related crimes for investigation, watchdog report shows  

Walker told Vasquez Wednesday that the line item for the ShotSpotter contract in the 2022 budget totals $8.9 million. 

“What is the department’s justification for spending $8.9 million on a tool with [an] over 90 percent failure rate?” Vasquez said.  

Walker told aldermen that ShotSpotter is meeting its contractual requirements, which include pinpointing the location of gunshots within 25 meters, sending an alert within 60 seconds of an incident and that the system needs to be up 99.9 percent of the time. 

Vasquez further asked why the contractual metrics are not related to whether ShotSpotter “actually detects gunshots or not” or measures “actual crime fighting effectiveness.” 

A spokesperson for ShotSpotter wrote in a statement to The Daily Line Thursday that the technology is “highly accurate” and “has earned trust and high renewal rates from many police departments” in the 120-plus cities where it is used “because the system is effective in helping to save lives, reduce gun violence, and make communities safer.”

“Our service-level agreement guarantees that 90% of unsuppressed, outdoor gunfire incidents, using standard, commercially available rounds greater than .25 caliber, inside the coverage area, will be detected and located within 85 feet of the actual gunshot,” the statement continued. “We know from our customers that the ShotSpotter system exceeds our guarantee of at least 90% detection accuracy because customers report false positives or negatives directly to the company. This enables us to track and honor our service-level guarantee – and continuously improve the system.”

Officials from the public safety administration office said Vasquez’s questions on the technology’s effectiveness should be directed to the Chicago Police Department. Police Supt. David Brown was also grilled on ShotSpotter during his department’s budget hearing on Monday. 

Related: ShotSpotter contract, officer shortages come under microscope during 9-hour CPD budget hearing 

Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd), who chairs the budget committee, told Vasquez he could pose his questions about ShotSpotter’s “effectiveness” during a hearing on the technology scheduled for next Wednesday in the City Council Committee on Public Safety. 

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President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Chicago Thursday as he plans to highlight vaccine mandates and companies implementing them, but where will he go and when?

Here’s what we know so far about the president’s visit:

President Biden’s Schedule

The president is set to arrive at O’Hare International Airport around 1 p.m. and will meet with several officials before traveling to Elk Grove Village.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker are both expected to meet the president around 1 p.m. at O’Hare Airport.

Biden is also slated to meet with United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby.

The president is then expected to attend an event in Elk Grove Village around 2:45 p.m.

There, Biden will visit a construction site being built by Clayco, one of the largest construction companies in the Midwest. The company is taking action weeks ahead of a forthcoming rule by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that will require all employers with more than 100 employees to require that their staffs be vaccinated or face weekly testing for the coronavirus.

Why is the president visiting the Chicago area?

In Elk Grove Village, White House officials said Biden will encourage other businesses to follow suit, by taking action ahead of the OSHA rule and to go even further by requiring shots for their employees without offering a test-out option.

The latter request is one that was already implemented by United Airlines. The Chicago-based airline has one of the strictest vaccine mandate policies of any U.S. airline, with no testing option for employees.

Lightfoot and Pritzker have both praised area businesses requiring vaccinations for customers in both the city and state, though they have stopped short of issuing mandates citywide or statewide. Certain groups are required to get vaccinated in the state, however, including health care workers, teachers and higher education students.

“I applaud those venues requiring vaccination proof or a negative test to get admittance,” Lightfoot said in September. “I think we’ll see more of that. This is a conversation happening across every industry sector, and we support it.”

New York City, San Francisco and New Orleans are among the cities that have started requiring proof of vaccination for public indoor spaces. This week, Los Angeles city leaders adopted one of the nation’s strictest vaccine mandates, a sweeping measure requiring the shots for everyone entering a bar, restaurant, nail salon, gym or basketball game at Staples Center.

Biden’s Chicago visit comes as the White House releases a new report stating vaccine requirements are helping to drive up vaccination rates across the country.

“The president’s message will be clear: Vaccination requirements work. Vaccination requirements get more people vaccinated, helping to end the pandemic and strengthen the economy,” the White House said in a statement. “That’s why he’s leading on implementing vaccination requirements for 100 million workers – two-thirds of all workers in the U.S. And that’s why we’re seeing growing momentum for vaccination requirements across sectors and across the country.”

Why now?

The president had been slated to visit the city last Wednesday, but the trip was canceled one day before his scheduled visit as negotiations over key legislation were underway.

Biden last month month unveiled a so-called “action plan” aimed at confronting the COVID-19 surge being driven by the spread of the delta variant, which will require vaccinations for millions of workers across the country.

The expansive rules mandate that all employers with more than 100 workers require them to be vaccinated or test for the virus weekly, affecting about 80 million Americans. And the roughly 17 million workers at health facilities that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid also will have to be fully vaccinated.

Biden is also requiring vaccination for employees of the executive branch and contractors who do business with the federal government — with no option to test out. That covers several million more workers.

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