Council delays votes on migrant funding, $1.25 billion bond issue, ShotSpotter

Two of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s most powerful allies on Wednesday used a parliamentary maneuver to defer consideration of two controversial and costly items with heavy potential to impact city finances: a $1.25 billion borrowing to bankroll economic development and housing projects and $70 million in surplus spending to fund the migrant crisis.

The parliamentary maneuver by Finance Chair Pat Dowell (3rd) and Budget Chair Jason Ervin (28th) sets the stage for both items to be considered at another City Council meeting on Friday.

Also put off until then is a vote on an order tying the mayor’s hands on canceling the ShotSpotter contract. Championed by South Side Ald. David Moore (17th), it would empower local alderpersons to decide whether to keep ShotSpotter in their wards. It also would prohibit the mayor from eliminating the technology in a ward where the local alderperson supports it, without first notifying and getting approval from the full Council.

The order mandates the Chicago Police Department to collect more specific data to justify signing a new long-term contract with ShotSpotter instead of terminating the agreement on Nov. 22, as called for under the nine-month extension Johnson negotiated.

Johnson said the order stripping him of the power to cancel the ShotSpotter contract has no “legal standing.”

“There’s no process by which you could govern through a la carte,” Johnson said at a news conference after Wednesday’s Council meeting, adding that there’s no way “to do that type of ward-by-ward contracting.”

The mayor said he extended the contract to give Council members “time to think through other technologies” but won’t change his mind about canceling it.

“People who voted for me knew what my position was,” he said. “This didn’t just pop up.”

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

The massive borrowing, meanwhile, marks a fundamental shift from Chicago’s longstanding dependence on tax-increment-financing (TIF). It cleared the Finance Committee by a 20-to-9 vote earlier Wednesday after the mayor’s forces squelched the second attempt this week to reduce the threshold for City Council approval of individuals projects from $5 million to $1 million.

Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) tried again — and failed — to lower the bar just as Ald. Bill Conway (34th) had Monday. Conway also tried and failed to shrink the borrowing from $1.25 billion to $350 million.

“There are a number of projects that will fall within the $1 million-to-$5 million range and … it’s our duty to provide legislative oversight on the expenditure of these monies,” Reilly said Wednesday.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

The $70 million in migrant funding will be drawn from the city’s assigned fund balance from 2022.

In a text message to the Sun-Times, former Chief Financial Officer Dana Levenson branded the mayor’s latest migrant funding plan “outrageous” and warned tapping reserve funds would “put the city’s bond ratings in jeopardy.”

The Council did, however, approve an ordinance requiring reports to the Council on exits from city migrant shelters be more frequent, and more detailed.

Electric scooter hours extended

The Council voted to allow scooters to be rented around-the-clock to boost overall ridership and provide commuting options for those working late or starting early. Currently, electric scooters can be rented only from 5 a.m. to midnight.

The ordinance also adjusts licensing fees, and adds a new service fee based on how many scooters are rented. Officials estimate the changes could bring the city $3 million to $3.2 million over the next two years, compared to about $2.8 million under the old system.

Democratic National Convention security measures

Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling and the U.S. Secret Service were given sweeping authority to establish and enforce a still-undefined security footprint around the United Center and part of McCormick Place before, during and after the Democratic National Convention. The convention will be held Aug. 19-22. The security zone will remain from Aug. 17-26.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Protesters, residents and other onlookers would be prohibited from bringing laptops, large bags, scooters, animals except for service dogs, unmanned aircraft systems and other items into certain areas closest to convention attendees under the ordinance.

The restrictions are expected to be implemented in roughly a two-block radius around both main convention sites, though the Secret Service likely won’t publicly map out the high-security bubble until early July, police department counterterrorism Chief Duane DeVries said last week.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois has questioned the “extraordinarily long time” the restrictions will remain in place and the “overly expansive” zone they cover.

Wrigleyville signs approved

Council members allowed the Cubs to install two rooftop signs on buildings adjacent to Wrigley Field owned by the billionaire Ricketts family that also owns the team.

Championed by local Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th), the ordinance paves the way for a Coca-Cola sign atop 1040 W. Waveland Ave. and a Benjamin Moore paint sign on the roof of 3623 N. Sheffield Ave.

Other action

Alderpersons increased the mandatory retirement age for CPD officers from 63 to 65, a move intended to reduce financial strain on depleted police pension funds and chip away at an officer shortage.

They also approved two ordinances backed by Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th) giving veterans preference in city hiring and affordable housing set-asides.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Appointments include official tied to Little Village smokestack implosion

Johnson’s appointments of Buildings Commissioner Marlene Hopkins and Cultural Affairs and Special Events Commissioner Clinee Hedspeth also were approved Wednesday.

Four years ago, Hopkins was responsible for making sure the implosion of an almost 400-foot smokestack at the former Crawford coal-fired power plant on Pulaski Road north of the Stevenson Expressway would be performed in a safe and environmentally friendly way. When the stack came crashing down that Saturday of Easter weekend 2020, there was not enough water used to suppress the dust that created a severe public nuisance and threat to health. A giant cloud covered homes and other property with the dust.

There is a proposed settlement for $12.25 million in a class action brought by Little Village residents against developer Hilco Redevelopment, which owned the former coal plant, tore it down and built a more than 1 million-square-foot warehouse being leased to retailer Target. A report from Chicago’s former Inspector General Joe Ferguson recommended Hopkins be disciplined for her role in the dust storm, a recommendation ignored by then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot. The report was never officially released but was made public by the Sun-Times last year.

But Hopkins heard nothing but kind words Wednesday, as one Council member after another lined up to praise her. The only mention of Hilco was when Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th) said Hopkins was made “the fall guy” for the implosion.