2023 City Budget Hearing [Administrative Hearings; Elections; License Appeal Commission; Department of Family and Support Services] MORNING

Chicago City Council

Elections

Finance

Politics

Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022
9:00 a.m. — 1:00 p.m. CDT

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121 N LaSalle St Chicago, IL 60602 (Directions)

Most days of budget hearings are expected to run all day, with an hour-long lunch break somewhere in the middle.

We are splitting each day up into morning and afternoon assignments (9am-1pm and 1pm to end). If you are available for the whole day, feel free to apply to both morning and afternoon assignments.

You have the option of documenting this meeting in person or remotely. If you choose to attend in person, an additional hour will be added to your total assignment hours.

If you choose to document remotely, the meeting will be live-streamed at https://www.chicityclerk.com/.

At this link, scroll down to “Meeting Notices.” Look for “Watch now” and click on the link with the meeting title to go to a livestream page.

If you don’t see a link for the meeting, you may be early or the meeting may be starting late. Wait a few moments and try refreshing your Internet tab.

This is the first of 12 days of departmental budget hearings. It will feature overview presentations from the following city departments:

Check the source website for additional information

Reporting

Edited and summarized by the Chicago - IL Documenters Team

Live reporting by Ahmad Sayles

Polling places; Election day; Vote by mail; Vehicular fines and fees

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles

Good Morning! I’ll be live-tweeting the Chicago City Council’s 2023 City Budget (Administrative Hearings; Elections; License Appeal Commission; Department of Family and Support Services) hearings for @CHIdocumenters #CHIdocumenters. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m.

08:52 AM Oct 13, 2022 CDT

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 2/25

Watch along with me here: livestream.com/accounts/28669…

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 3/25

Chairperson Dowell calls the hearing to order. The public comments session begins.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 4/25

Kristen Emmanuel from the organization Start Early is asking the council for an additional 9 million in funding for the early childhood education program line. To fully fund the Chicago Early Learning Workforce Scholarship.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 5/25

The next speaker, Dr. Nancy H. speaks about the health effects on children born to homeless parents. These children experience high-stress levels, low birth rates, and developmental delays. She wants the city council and Mayor to fund rapid rehousing programs.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 6/25

Patricia Jackowiak, Director/Chief Administrative Law Judge of the city of Chicago's Department of Administrative Hearings begins the hearing with an opening statement.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 7/25

Director Jackowiak wants the department to increase the diversity of administrative law judges to reflect the city’s current demographics. And reaffirms the department's mission to be fair and impartial.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 8/25

The department currently has 69 administrative law judges. 35 White, 26 Black, and 8 Latinx judges. And promises targeted recruitment for these positions.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 9/25

The director is now fielding questions and comments from the city council.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 10/25

The director is being commended for the department’s work and for keeping their budget consistent with last year's budget.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 11/25

The Administrative Hearing is over. Next up is the Board of Elections hearing.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 12/25

Chicago Board of Elections Executive Director Holiday Jr. opens the hearing with an opening statement.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 13/25

Director Holiday Jr. says the department’s budget will expand early voting, modernize the election system with a new website, update the E-poll books, equipment and IT.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 14/25

Director Holiday Jr. says the primary election earlier this year was the second-lowest turnout in Chicago’s history.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 15/25

Exec Director Holiday Jr. says staffing shortages, increased vendor pricing, and mail delays have made voting more expensive.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 16/25

Increased candidate filings and postage for mail-in ballots have increased the Board of Elections Department budget.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 17/25

Board of Elections leaders is being questioned about voter outreach. Council members want increased mass texting, signage, and polling information to increase voter turnout.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 18/25

There are 52 early-voting sites in the city.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 19/25

There are polling locations that aren't ADA accessible. City council members want to know which wards these locations are.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 20/25

Early-voting locations which are all ADA-accessible will remain open on Election Day. But that law expires on January 1, 2023.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 21/25

This year 172k mail-in ballot applications have been requested. In the recent election 140k, mail-in applications were requested. At the height of the pandemic in November 2020, 400k mail-in ballot applications were requested.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 22/25

20th ward Alderperson Taylor says that mail delays equate to voter suppression. Says many residents have been angry with slow mail delivery.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 23/25

City Council members want the Board of Elections department to use increased funding to target younger Chicagoans thru social media advertising.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 24/25

The 2023 City Budget Board of Elections hearing ends. The License Appeal Commission budget hearing is next. After an hour-long lunch break.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 25/25

The 2023 city budget hearings will resume at 1:30 p.m. This ends my coverage for @CHIdocumenters find more information through @_deiisiiB Deisi Ballesteros's notes at documenters.org

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Attachments

Video link

By Sky Patterson 10/13/2022

Agency Information

Chicago City Council

chicityclerkelms.chicago.gov

(312) 744-3166

@ChiCouncil

See Documenters reporting

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

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

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

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

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

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