Afternoon roundup
Friday, Oct 13, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* More back and forth…
* Speaking of Congress…
Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin is running for Congress against longtime U.S. Rep. Danny Davis while she continues to face fallout from recently revealed allegations of unethical conduct in her administration from two former top aides.
A former state representative first elected city treasurer in 2019, Conyears-Ervin was a prominent Davis supporter in 2022 when the incumbent faced a strong challenge from anti-violence activist Kina Collins. This time, Conyears-Ervin is challenging Davis, currently in his 14th term in Congress, and Collins, who is running again. […]
In a letter to the city from the former employees’ lawyers, the two alleged Conyears-Ervin had used government workers to plan her daughter’s birthday party, repeatedly misused taxpayer resources and attempted to force BMO Harris — one of the banks where city money is deposited — to issue a mortgage tied to the building that houses the aldermanic office for the treasurer’s husband, Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th.
Investigators with Chicago’s inspector general last month seized computers from the treasurer’s City Hall offices. The move by Inspector General Deborah Witzburg’s staff came after the release of the letter. It also came after the head of the Chicago Board of Ethics said the agency referred the letter to the inspector general’s office years ago but said the board couldn’t do more unless it received detailed findings from the IG.
* Press release…
Today, Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) launched $2.5 million in funding for the new Illinois Economic Empowerment Centers Program (EEC). Eligible career education agencies and non-profit organizations can now apply to serve as EECs to provide entrepreneurship training to prepare individuals from historically marginalized communities to pursue business opportunities in a more inclusive business ecosystem. EECs will be selected through a competitive Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) process. […]
EECs will provide business advice, technical assistance, education, and cohort training, including resources and training tailored toward start-ups, existing businesses, and dislocated workers. Selected EECs will provide a variety of services, including management analysis and counseling, business planning and financial planning assistance, market analysis, referrals to educational programs and more.
* I asked Mark Denzler with the IMA if he rode the bus for this entire 8-day, 2,000-mile trip. Yep, he said. Mad props to him and everyone else…
* Hope this doesn’t happen in Illinois with the dreaded Copi…
* Isabel’s afternoon roundup…
* ABC Chicago | AJ Freund case LIVE: Judge makes decision in ex-DCFS workers’ child endangerment trial: UPDATE: A judge found found one of two former DCFS employees guilty of ignoring warning signs in the child abuse case of 5-year-old A.J. Freund on Friday. … During the trial, witnesses testified they believed A.J. would still be alive if the employees, Carlos Acosta and Andrew Polovin, had done their jobs properly. The judge found former DCFS case worker Acosta guilty, but found ex-supervisor Polovin not guilty. The judge said he could not determine what Polovin knew and when he knew it.
* WTWO | How a rural Illinois town is growing through diversity: “When we moved in years ago from Mexico, [it was for] only one reason, to bring family and get a better life and we make it, we [made] it happen,” Jesus Garza, Mayor of Arcola, said. Garza has been the Mayor of Arcola for 2 1/2 years and is the first immigrant to lead the city.
* Daily Herald | How Kane County is helping the public track cashless bail: The circuit court this month debuted a daily updated dashboard, showing how many cases police departments have sent to first-appearance court, the charges involved, how many petitions for pretrial detention prosecutors have filed, and whether those petitions were granted or denied.
* WCBU | ‘How can I tell if these books are good or bad?’: New Moms for Liberty chapter starts in Tazewell County: Virg Cihla, Dee Fogal and Suzette Swift make up the board of the new chapter in Central Illinois. […] None of them have children currently in school, though Cihla does have a granddaughter in a Tazewell County district and Fogal grew up in Pekin.
* WTVO | Illinois State Police releases response to homelessness guidebook: “Law enforcement officers respond to all types of emergencies and social-service related calls among all populations, including people experiencing homelessness,” said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly. “Because of these interactions, officers are in a position to provide information about resources and programs available in communities, and help connect individuals to longer-term solutions to prevent and end homelessness.”
* Shaw Local | La Salle County Jail to house Cook County inmates for $70 per inmate per day: Thursday, the La Salle County Board approved an intergovernmental agreement with Cook County that permits inmate transfers (no more than 50) from Chicago to be housed at the jail in Ottawa. Cook County will pay $70 per inmate per day. Worried about the county taking high-risk transfers from Chicago? Sheriff Adam Diss said there is no cause for concern.
* WCIA | Flex-N-Gate workers stunned as Effingham plant lays off employees: The company announced it is shutting its doors in Effingham because of the United Auto Workers strike in Kentucky. Nearly 9,000 employees left their jobs at Ford’s Kentucky truck plant in Louisville Wednesday night. The news came nearly four weeks after the union began walkouts against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis on Sept. 15.
* WTTW | Chicago Police Officer Who Threatened to Kill Romantic Partner and Their Family Won’t Be Fired: Watchdog: Instead, the officer, who was not identified in the report released by Inspector General Deborah Witzburg in keeping with the city’s rules, was suspended for two months, according to the watchdog’s quarterly report.
* Tribune | Chicago Fire Department’s 2nd-ranking official gets mild punishment after sexual harassment violations: In addition to violating sexual harassment policies, Sheridan failed to cooperate with the investigation, according to the memo. It stated that Sheridan refused to sign a document prepared by human resources summarizing their interview and instead submitted her own statement. She also left a second interview with her lawyer and declined to answer more questions.
* Les Winkeler | IDNR deserves increased funding: As a young adult, I was vaguely aware of what was then the Illinois Department of Conservation. I knew the agency had game wardens to enforce hunting and fishing regulations. I knew the department was responsible for the operation of state parks. However, until I assumed the role as the outdoors writer for The Southern Illinoisan in the late 1980s, I was woefully under-informed about the breadth and scope of the agency.
* NBC Chicago | Synagogues, schools, daycares increase security Friday in Chicago area as precautions: Synagogues, schools and daycares in parts of the Chicago area increased security measures Friday amid reports of “increased threats of violence,” and though officials said no credible threats have been identified, authorities are paying “special attention.”
* Daily Herald | Two years after public uproar, Mount Prospect police choose new patch: The village board voted 4-3 in August 2021 the remove the previous patch over its “thin blue line” imagery. During several board meetings and hours of public comment, along with protests and counter-protests outside village hall, critics of the patch said the imagery had been co-opted by extremist groups and its use was intimidating to people of color.
* Sun-Times | More than 1,000 COVID relief loans went to city of Chicago employees — and many look fraudulent, watchdog says: Deborah Witzburg, inspector general for the city, said her office examined more than 350,000 federal COVID loans approved in the Chicago area. Of them, she found more than 1,000 loans that city employees got from the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.
* Daily Southtown | Spiders get some love and a temporary zoo at Will County program designed to demystify arachnids: A group of youngsters ages 3 to 5 used headlamps and flashlights one evening last week during a free Nature Play Day After Hours to spot the reflections from spiders’ eyes on the grounds outside of the nature center in Crete Township. Occasionally, a parent offered a caution not to get so close, but most simply embraced the excitement instilled by Heather Van Zyl, an interpretive naturalist for the Forest Preserve District of Will County, who enjoyed the outing just as much as the kids.
* WCIA | A brief history of Champaign on its birthday: Champaign was founded in 1855 when the Illinois Central Railroad placed its tracks two miles west of downtown Urbana. The town was initially named “West Urbana” before adopting its permanent name five years later with the acquisition of a city charter. The document provided rights and privileges to create a new governance system.
* Crain’s | Professional cricket has come to the U.S. and Chicago is ready to host a team: “There are definitely some really strong markets for cricket in the U.S. that we don’t currently have a team for, and Chicago is certainly high on that list given the size of the market and the demographics,” said Tom Dunmore, MLC’s vice president of marketing. “Chicago certainly has a lot of the strong characteristics for a major-league cricket team in the future. It’s a really good potential market; all the metrics support it.”
* Block Club | Could The Douglas Neighborhood Get A New Name — Douglass?: The area is named for Democratic senator Stephen Douglas, who had a complicated stance on slavery. Ald. Lamont Robinson wants to rename it in honor of abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
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*** UPDATED x2 *** No way to run a railroad
Friday, Oct 13, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
Johnson’s deputy chief of staff, Cristina Pacione-Zayas, acknowledged the lack of buy-in from many aldermen who were asked to find locations to house migrants in the administration’s race against time before winter.
In September, Johnson rolled out his plan to house new migrants in winterized base camps rather than the Chicago police stations and airports where many are currently huddled. He tasked all 50 aldermen to help scout suitable locations. Pacione-Zayas told reporters Thursday only “about 25%” of them have fulfilled that request.
“We’ve had some of them that understood the assignment,” Pacione-Zayas said. “We’ve had others that, with their back against the wall, have now offered up things, but it’s a work in progress.” […]
She added that she doesn’t see [House Speaker Chris] Welch’s denial of migrant funding in the veto session as a closed door, and said the city appropriating only $150 million in next year’s budget for migrants is “an acknowledgment that this is a shared responsibility.”
1) Their “assignment”? That’s an interesting choice of words, particularly after what we discussed here yesterday.
2) CPZ, who I had great respect for when she was in the Senate, basically acknowledged that the city is reducing its appropriation by $50 million to put pressure on the state. I just don’t see how that’s gonna do anything but backfire.
I went through some other aspects of the Trib story with subscribers earlier today, so I’ll just leave it at that.
*** UPDATE 1 *** It’s actually worse than we thought…
Mayor Brandon Johnson set aside $150 million to cover the cost of housing, feeding and caring for the men, women and children sent to Chicago from the southern border in 2024, even though that is less than half of what the city will have spent to care for Chicago’s newest arrivals through the end of 2023. […]
The migrant crisis is likely to cost taxpayers $361 million between January and December 2023, an increase of more than 4% in the past week, according to updated financial projections released Thursday by the mayor’s office.
*** UPDATE 2 *** At least they finally got the message. Maybe they can figure out an actual ask by next May…
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* Michael Loria at the Sun-Times…
Many, like Davila, told the Sun-Times they came to Chicago at the recommendation of Catholic Charities in San Antonio. […]
Leaders at Catholic Charities in San Antonio have said sending migrants via plane [to Chicago] is more humane than busing them, which can be a lengthy journey, during which one migrant toddler died in August.
“How would you feel about being in a bus for two days without knowing the language?” asked Antonio Fernandez, CEO of the San Antonio nonprofit. […]
The plane tickets are paid for using funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Fernandez said. The nonprofit has been awarded $48 million through FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program since December. That’s compared to about $7 million awarded to Chicago, according to FEMA.
Those funds are spent on staffing the welcoming center to ensure they deliver “trauma-informed care,” according to Fernandez, but most is spent on transportation.
So, they’re using most of their federal funding to send people to Chicago, while Chicago receives a pittance out of that same federal pot.
That’s gotta be the dumbest thing I’ve yet seen about this entire mess.
…Adding… To be clear here, since some of y’all are getting off on tangents in comments, the federal government needs to stop funding the uncoordinated shipping of asylum-seekers to other states.
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* Normally, I would praise something like this. Crain’s…
Johnson is proposing contributing $307 million in advance pension payments on top of the actuarially required amount
But here’s Fox 32…
Outlined in his 2024 budget proposal, Mayor Brandon Johnson wants to spend at least $150 million for what he’s calling “new arrivals services.”
That’s it?
* More from Crain’s…
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s $16.6 billion budget allocates $150 million for the city’s ongoing migrant response, down over $50 million from the city’s estimate released a month ago even as city officials expect an increase to the number of daily buses arriving in the city. […]
The city currently estimates it is spending more than $31 million a month on its migrant mission and has struggled to receive its full funding requests from the state or federal government. […]
The move, which also helped the city close its $538 million budget gap, also ramps up the pressure on Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the federal government to provide additional funding to the city in 2024.
Um, the city cuts its anticipated new arrivals spending, which was woefully inadequate to begin with, while spending $307 million on advance pension payments? And that’s supposed to somehow put pressure on the state?
Sure, Jan.
*** UPDATE *** House Speaker Chris Welch was asked about his meeting with Mayor Johnson last week. Speaker Welch said they talked about the migrant situation and how the federal government needed to step up. Asked about whether he was asked about a supplemental budget to help the city, Welch said…
At that time, there was no request made specifically because I think I made it clear that we were not expecting to do a supplemental budget in the veto session.
…Adding… Yes, he’s reading it right. The mayor proposes cutting the budget to the committee overseeing this issue…
You gotta wonder what signal he’s trying to send here.
…Adding… From Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa…
The 2024 budget proposal reduces the budget for the committee by $10,000, all in “contractual services,” which can go towards things like part-time contractors or newspaper subscriptions. I haven’t looked into it, but my guess is the committee didn’t make use of the $10,000 for “contractual services” in the prior year, hence why that line item was zeroed out. […]
I don’t think it sends any message because the committee isn’t involved in direct services, just oversight of the city’s migrant mission. And the committee is currently fulfilling that oversight role without making use of the funds allocated for contractual services.
Also, the city is creating an Office of New Arrivals within DFSS — the city is beefing up personnel where it’s needed. What message does it send that the city is creating a dedicated team of people within DFSS to support the migrant mission?
The Latino Caucus and Immigration Committee members advocated for additional staffing to assist with the migrant mission. We didn’t advocate for additional committee funding because we know that’s not where the funding is needed.
…Adding… Ald. Andre Vasquez just called. He said he caught that budget number the night before the budget was released and was told the appropriation was in error and he’s now in talks with the city on a revised number that isn’t a cut.
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* Chicago’s constant flailing is quite evident to anyone half paying attention, so people see that and understandably fear that it will happen to their communities. But there are ways of getting things done and there are ways that make things worse. Joliet Township’s leadership essentially killed what could’ve been a decent idea…
Residents of Joliet Township packed Tuesday night’s board meeting after the township received the State of Illinois Asylum Seeker Grant.
Some of the residents were outraged and angered over what some said was a lack of involvement.
The $8.6 million grant issued to Joliet Township helps fund municipalities that are welcoming asylum seekers.
* If this truly was about helping people who were already there, then the township should’ve made that clear from the get-go. Instead, they tried to sneak it into existence and spectacularly failed…
Attendees did not mince words as they addressed concerns over the money.
“I don’t believe you’re fixing a problem, you’re creating a problem,” one speaker said.
“We need to take care of our own. We have issues here. We need to strengthen our foundation,” said another.
“The purpose of this grant was to help our community partners who serve individuals beyond the county township and city boundaries,” said Supervisor Angel Contreras. “This is a reactive request grant to address current issues, it was not intended to bring more people to our areas.”
* Rarely do you see such a total botch…
Some speakers supported the township on the grant and supported assistance for asylum seekers.
“Give them a chance to be part of your community, and you’d be surprised,” one said.
Another was virtually booed away from the microphone as she spoke in support of the grant. […]
The Joliet Park District rescinded a pending lease with the township for its Hartman Recreation Center located at 511 Collins St. after learning last week that the building had been proposed as a welcome center. A park official said the township had indicated it planned to use the space for office space and community activities.
Likewise, a spokeswoman for Duly Health & Care said the medical group did not know that its medical office building had been included as a potential welcome center or clinic in the grant application.
* Yeah, this is how to speak to people. Right…
Township Clerk Alicia Morales has claimed “the process was handled in the appropriate manner, nothing was violated.”
“People just don’t understand how government works,” Morales added.
*Facepalm*
* But some of the comments were just so over the top…
During nearly three hours of public comment, hundreds of people showed up both in support and opposition to the proposal, with township officials warning people would be asked to leave if they were disruptive during the meeting.
“We are seeking asylum from crime, from drugs, from gang activity, from homelessness. We have been asylum seekers,” one woman said. […]
The controversy has become so intense, a Joliet City Council member said there has been a threat made against a local social service agency that supports migrants.
And…
Joliet resident Brian Beck said that if the township wanted to come up with solutions, it needed to find solutions of “how to move these people out of here.” […]
Other residents said township officials had gone “out of their bounds” to invite asylum-seekers to Joliet and said that township trustees have no right to dictate where taxpayer money is spent.
Rev. Larry Ellis, a retired deacon from St. Mark CME Church, told trustees that residents were misled about the intentions surrounding the purchase of the Peter Claver Center. He said that he understood the meeting was for community outreach programs but that the “whispers in the neighborhood” said it was instead being used by asylum seekers.
“I’m upset, I’m p*ssed off simply because we have not been told – first of all, we weren’t told about the grant,” he said. “Second of all, we weren’t told about who was coming into our neighborhoods, and I think that’s disgraceful.”
Thanks, reverend.
…Adding… A buddy of mine took a photo outside the event yesterday…
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* The governor was asked today if he thought a supplemental appropriations bill would be introduced during the upcoming veto session. The City of Chicago is hoping to use such a bill to pry loose more state dollars for new arrivals, which isn’t exactly receiving a hearty welcome. Here’s Gov. Pritzker’s response…
I have not heard of a supplemental that will be introduced. That’s certainly something the legislature might think about doing. But there are plenty of other things to consider, including, as you know, looking at a better nuclear moratorium removal, and a few other things that are, you know, the purpose of a veto session.
Doesn’t sound promising. The governor’s office usually is closely tied to any supplemental. They administer the budget, so they know if they need any additional authority.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
* My associate Isabel Miller was also at the press conference…
Q: Governor, how many asylum-seekers are in the suburbs? And is there any word of the state taking control the situation through IEMA or any other state agency?
A: Let me be clear that the asylum-seekers are not required to tell us where they are moving to. They might choose to go to a suburb or anywhere Downstate, and some have without us even knowing. And so you would find out only if they’re applying for certain kinds of services, where they are. For us, in order to manage the major services that people need, working with the City of Chicago, we need to have them in locations where we can serve a number of people all at once, and not one family here, one family there, because there just aren’t too many services that many people need.
Sounds like he prefers to have them in Chicago. Also, they can track some of those folks who are being sent to the suburbs. [The governor’s office says that if the asylum-seekers leave the city it’s totally on their own volition, so they cannot track them.]
Isabel tried to ask a follow-up because he didn’t address the second part of her question, but got big-footed by a TV reporter. It happens.
* Asked if there was any news this week about the federal government cooperating on the migrant situation, Pritzker said…
A: I will say that they have moved quickly on a number of items. I think you saw that, shortly after our letter went to the White House, that the determination was made to expand the return of refugees who no do not qualify for refugee status. So that’s one thing. Another is very, very close to discussion about buses that are coming here, whether some of those buses are potentially breaking the law along the way, and working with the government about the logistics of those buses. Where would they go? Is Chicago the only place they can go? New York the only place they can go? And so those conversations are going, and the White House is taking action in a way that they didn’t before. So I’m very pleased about that.
Q: Were they breaking that midnight curfew? Is that the law you’re talking about?
A: No, no, no. This is just folks who do not qualify for refugee status. So remember, when they come here, they get temporary asylum status, they’re seeking asylum. And they have to go through a process. If they don’t meet the requirements for someone who could stay, we’re making sure, the federal government anyway is making sure those folks are returned.
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