A leading civil rights group wants Chicago to stop expanding its network of thousands of cameras covering the city because of privacy issues, First Amendment concerns and a lack of regulation, according to a report released Tuesday.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois called for a full review of the cameras — which number at least 10,000 and are at locations from skyscrapers to utility poles — saying city officials won’t release basic information like the exact number, cost and any incidents of misuse. […]
“Chicago’s camera network invades the freedom to be anonymous in public places, a key aspect of the fundamental American right to be left alone,” the report states. “Each of us then will wonder whether the government is watching and recording us when we walk into a psychiatrist’s office, a reproductive health care center, a political meeting, a theater performance, or a book store.”
On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union in a new report on Chicago’s cameras called for a moratorium on additional cameras. We are not so sure a moratorium is necessary, but we absolutely agree with the ACLU that new guidelines should be put into place to protect citizens against abuse from these powerful tools. […]
Mayor Daley long has championed the cameras as crime-fighting tools and has said he’d like to see one on every corner. The ACLU report casts doubt on their effectiveness and says the $60 million price tag would be better spent on hiring more police.
The ACLU is calling for restricting zooming, facial recognition and tracking to instances when crime is suspected; banning surveillance of homes or businesses; prohibiting the retention of images unless criminal activity is suspected; banning the unwarranted distribution of images; annually auditing the system and releasing the results of those audits; investigating all rules violations; disciplining transgressors and banning traffic photos if no violation is occurring.
* The Question: Are these reasonable demands by the ACLU? Do they want too much, or would you go even further? Explain.
*** UPDATE *** Unsurprisingly, Mayor Daley has rejected the ACLU’s demands…
If wealthier Chicagoans can enjoy the protection of private security cameras around their buildings, then other citizens should have that same type of protection on the streets in their neighborhoods, he said.
It isn’t practical to require probable cause before zooming in, following somebody’s movements with a camera or using facial recognition technology, Daley said, because that would require an OK from a judge.
“Ask a judge who’s sleeping tonight, at 2 o’clock in the morning, and say ‘Judge, we have probable cause, the person is walking down 22nd Street.’ By the time we get there the person’s already at Halsted Street,” Daley said.
“He’s rolled out a proposal which is $8.7 billion,” Radogno said. “It’s structured in a way that’s pretty significantly back loaded which means the payments will escalate after the first few years. That’s a problem.”
Next fiscal year’s bond payment will be $100 million. By Fiscal Year 15, the payment rises to $450 million. The income tax hike expires during the middle of that fiscal year, but money is allocated to the bond payment. By the next fiscal year, however, annual bond payments rise to $750 million and continue that way through FY 25. The payback schedule is on page 17 of the bill.
However, Leader Radogno doesn’t quite grasp the rest of it…
“Well it is borrowing and the fact of the matter is we will have, by their own estimates, probably about $7 billion in new revenue coming into the state from the tax increase,” Radogno said. “It seems to me that some of that revenue ought to be used to pay existing bills because frankly it would be less expensive to just pay those bills off using our Prompt Payment Act, even if we have penalties, than to borrow the way he’s proposed.”
You could use the new tax money to pay past due bills, but then you’d be creating more past due bills because the state couldn’t pay current vouchers. That’s the whole reason for the borrowing: Pay it off using a portion of the income tax over time. You could pay it down a little bit at a time without bonding, but it would be at least June of 2026 before it was all done with. That’s a heckuva long time to string out vendors and providers.
* Meanwhile, the tax amnesty program was projected to bring in $250 million for the state. The final total was $314 million. From a press release…
More than 78,000 taxpayers sent payments to the Illinois Department of Revenue during the state’s tax amnesty program that concluded last November. The program exceeded its budgetary goal, adding $314 million to the general revenue fund for FY 2011.
“This program’s success is good news as we work to stabilize state finances and to maintain vital public services,” Governor Pat Quinn said. “This much-needed revenue will help our state to meet its obligations and is another important step towards making Illinois fiscally sound.”
The FY 2011 budget estimated that tax amnesty would infuse $250 million into state government coffers during this fiscal year. The state received a total of $717 million in tax payments; $314 million went to the general revenue fund, with the balance going to local governments and the state’s income tax refunds. […]
In addition to the immediate cash infusion, tax amnesty broadened the tax base. Non-filers accounted for $12 million of state receipts, and will be easier for the state to track in future years. Additionally, improved tax tracking software and enhanced audit and collection capabilities will further assist the state in monitoring filers who came forward under amnesty for future compliance.
* Speaker Madigan unexpectedly showed up at the House Rules Committee yesterday. Not many reporters were there…
The powerful Southwest Side Democrat said lawmakers need to address a series of issues, including proposals for “new revenue for the capital program.” […]
Madigan ticked off a series of additional items that need to be addressed, ranging from reining in workers’ compensation costs for businesses to finding ways to cut spending. The speaker also said the state must find ways to finance the state unemployment insurance program, the insurance program for retired Downstate public school teachers and health insurance for community college teachers.
* Related…
* A Seer on Banks Raises a Furor on Bonds: “I’ve seen a copy of the report, and frankly, I’ve seen better papers from graduate students in finance,” said Richard P. Larkin, director of credit analysis at Herbert J. Sims & Company, a municipal bond broker and underwriter. “It’s ludicrous, reckless and irresponsible, and it’s being done without any regard for the consequences.”
* Quinn to feds: No thanks on any bankruptcy bailout: “We believe that the states have an obligation to pay their bills and to meet the demands they have put upon themselves,” [Brie Callahan, spokeswoman for the governor’s office] said. “We don’t want any federal assistance in terms of bankruptcy.”
* Child care advocates fight back against cuts nearing $100 million: “As we look at the budget hole that exists right now, every single dime of the solution is coming out of the Department of Human Services,” Whalen said. “And this means further cuts to developmental disabled, to the poorest of the poor, to basic human service needs, and of course it means drastic cuts to the child care program in our state… “And I think that it’s pretty amazing that when we look to make these terrible choices, we look first at those who have the least.”
* Appeals Court backs state casino tax: Previously, the Illinois Supreme Court had upheld the constitutionality of the tax after the casinos argued that it violated the U.S. Constitution’s “takings” clause. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of that decision in late 2009.
* Press Release: Governor Quinn Announces Second Round of Top Administration Appointments - Names Two Senior Advisors and Five Agency Heads [Fixed link]
* Illinois fiscal officers look beyond party lines
* Former Ill. comptroller Hynes gets new job with US government as observer to Ireland fund: Former Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes has a new job with the federal government. Hynes has been appointed as the U.S. government’s observer to the International Fund for Ireland. In his new job, Hynes will serve as the official observer at all meetings of the fund’s board of directors. The International Fund for Ireland is an independent organization with the aim of fostering peace in Northern Ireland and bordering countries. It’s financed, in part, by the U.S. government.
Tuesday, Feb 8, 2011 - Posted by Advertising Department
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* The Sun-Times takes a closer look at how Rahm Emanuel made his millions. ComEd was at the center of much of that cash…
Is there anything wrong with mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel making $18.5 million dollars as an investment banker in the 2 ½ years after he got out of the Clinton White House – much of it from Clinton donors?
“I defy you to tell me anybody you know who jumped out of government into a business for which he had no credentials or background, made $18.5 million in two years and then jumped back into government,” said Gery Chico, Emanuel’s rival for the mayor’s office. […]
That $8.2 billion merger created Exelon, parent company of Commonwealth Edison. The Obama White House tapped Exelon CEO John Rowe to lobby lawmakers to support the administration’s greenhouse gas-reducing legislation. Obama senior adviser David Axelrod has worked for Exelon.
“John Rowe and I had known each other, and when I came out of the White House, he called me and said, ‘We’re looking at doing a merger, would you guys be willing to be our banker?’ Wasserstein, Perella, we had expertise in that area,” Emanuel said.
The newly merged utility ended up laying off 3,350 workers, or 10 percent of its work force.
* Speaking of Exelon and ComEd, are rate hikes on the way? We’ve talked about this before, but could be…
Commonwealth Edison and other state utilities would be able to lock in profit margins above 10 percent under a bill to be introduced Tuesday in the General Assembly.
The legislation also proposes that rate hikes for consumers, which typically undergo an 11-month regulatory review, could be decided in as little as 45 days.
ComEd, which helped write the legislation, is pitching the regulatory changes as a better, more streamlined process that would allow utilities to reliably plan for capital investments aimed at modernizing the electrical grid. […]
“At the end of the day, it really is a recipe for automatic rate increases,” said David Kolata, CUB executive director. “It essentially guts our traditional regulatory framework that’s been in place for 100 years and replaces it with an automatic formula. This bill is not what we hoped it would be.” […]
Kolata said the watchdog group is cautiously optimistic about the potential of smart-grid technology to reduce costs for consumers. While he could not support the bill as written, he said he hoped to work with ComEd to improve it in a way that would protect consumers.
Something tells me not to expect Rahm Emanuel’s campaign to decry these proposed rate increases.
Attorneys for Rod Blagojevich filed a pretrial motion Tuesday seeking what they claimed was missing evidence in the impeached Illinois governor’s corruption trial, including records of a phone call between a Blagojevich aide and then White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.
The motion claims the telephone conversation took place just a day before Blagojevich’s December 2008 arrest on charges that include allegations he sought to sell or trade the appointment to President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat for personal gain. The motion says details of that conversation could bolster a defense contention that Emanuel, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, was willing to help with a political deal in which Blagojevich would have named Illinois’ attorney general to the seat.
But the call between Emanuel and then Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris is not among hundreds of transcripts of secret FBI wiretaps recorded before Blagojevich’s arrest. The defense motion points only to circumstantial evidence that it even happened, including a reference in a White House transition-team report from after the arrest that said Emanuel had “about four” conversations with Harris. The defense was given records of only three conversations, according to the motion.
“The fourth and final phone call is the call that is mysteriously missing,” it adds. “Piecing together multiple documents after the first trial, Blagojevich uncovered the fact that the December 8th phone call … took place.”
As I’ve said many times before, by that late in the game I believe that Blagojevich was looking to create an alibi. He knew the feds had tapped his phones, so he started moving ahead with this fantasy of appointing Lisa Madigan to the Obama Senate seat to get the heat off his alleged attempts to auction the seat off.
The West Side alderman who chaired one of the committees seeking a “consensus” mayoral candidate for African-Americans told Fox Chicago News Monday that he will now endorse no one in the contest.
Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) also singled out for the first time what he believes was the biggest mistake made by the search committee: the decision to bar non-black candidates from appearing before the panel. […]
Burnett spoke to us hours after his longtime mentor, Secretary of State Jesse White, Illinois’s senior African-American politician, endorsed Rahm Emanuel for Chicago Mayor on Monday.
* School Sends Teachers To Vegas Resort On Taxpayers’ Dime
* Emanuel defends city worker ‘mindset’ ad: “Let me set something straight right now. Rahm Emanuel is sticking it to the working class of this city,” Gery Chico, mayoral candidate, said.
* Exelon switches over to LDI - Change made to reduce volatility in the portfolio and in the funded status
* Electrify Your Portfolio With Utilities: Exelon’s capital and cost structure are the most efficient in the industry. You can see their 69.5% gross margin flow into their attractive 15.6% profit margin. Exelon is more profitable and efficient then its peers because of the low costs of operating nuclear plants.
* Most of the attention has been focused on Mayor Daley’s failures during last week’s blizzard. But lots of Chicago aldermen have contested races this month and they’ve been scrambling to soothe constituents’ anger. Ald. Sandi Jackson is up against the daugher of Cook County Commissioner Bill Beavers. The day after the storm, Jackson did a robocall complaining about unfair snow removal priorities by the city. She also called for an inspector general investigation of the distribution of snow plows during the blizzard.
Yesterday, Jackson’s 7th Ward sanitation superintendent was essentially sacked…
Wendell Upton, the city’s 7th Ward sanitation superintendent, has been stripped of his responsibilities and reassigned to administrative duties for allegedly failing to adequately deliver snow removal to residents of the South Side ward.
Streets and Sanitation spokesman Matt Smith refused to specify just how Upton fell down on the job. He would only say that Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Tom Byrne made the decision and that incumbent Ald. Sandi Jackson (7th) concurred.
A temporary replacement for Upton will “continue to address the effects of the blizzard” until a permanent replacement is named, Smith said.
“The 7th Ward superintendent was removed from duty last week based on performance issues. His removal was a joint decision by Commissioner Byrne and Alderman Jackson,” Smith said.
Alderman George Cardenas (12th Ward) said he had spent $10,000 from his campaign account to hire private plows and considered it a smarter use of the money than sending political mail or buying doughnuts for volunteers.
“Not cheap, but it was worth it,” said Mr. Cardenas, who has represented the Southwest Side ward since 2003. “I never had to do that. Then again, storms like this don’t come every year.”
Alderman John Rice (36th) estimated that he had spent $4,000 to $5,000 out of his own pocket to employ 10 workers and put fuel in two of his personal trucks that he committed to snow removal. Mr. Rice said he had driven one of the trucks down snow-clogged side streets in his far Northwest Side ward.
Ald. Leslie Hairston, 5th, said her ward has not gotten as many city plows and other pieces of snow removal equipment as she was promised. So, like others, she’s turning to private contractors to clear away alleys.
“We can’t keep waiting for (the city),” Hairston said Saturday.
* Even candidates are getting into the act. From a press release…
During a weekend in which many people were preparing seven-layer bean dip and icing their beers for Super Bowl parties, aldermanic candidate Michael Fitzgerald Ward was busy clearing out snow drifts in 45th Ward alleys that had remained blocked since last week’s historic blizzard.
Ward and his campaign staff spent most of the day on Saturday and Sunday coordinating with more than a dozen hired snow-plow drivers, almost as many bobcat bulldozers, and a team of dump trucks to help “rescue” dozens of 45th Ward residents who had called Ward’s campaign office asking if he could help dig them out from the record snowfall piled on top of their cars and blocking their garages.
“I’ve had to remind people who are calling in that I’m not yet their alderman – I don’t work for the city and I can’t send any city crews to their block,” Ward said. Although not yet an alderman, Ward donated some of his campaign funds along with money from his own pocket to hire a fleet of professional snow-removal contractors to assist the city with its efforts in the 45th Ward.
* Medill Reports called every aldermanic office last Wednesday to see if they’d added special info about the weather emergency. Just a few had…
Everything OK in your area?
* Related…
* The precedent Chicago ignored: Twelve years ago, city workers heaped 65,000 sandbags into piles creating walls to prevent high winds from spilling Lake Michigan onto the Drive. They did this three days before the storm hit. Last week’s blizzard came with even earlier warnings.
