Hi, I’ll be live-tweeting today's Cook County Board of Commissioners Executive Budget Public Hearing for #ChiDocumenters @ChiDocumenters! The meeting is scheduled to begin in an hour, at 5:30. You can follow along and watch the remote hearing here: https://www.cookcountyil.gov/service/watch-live-board-proceedings

@city_bureau's reporting fellows put together a beautiful + informative guide about how Chicago's budget process works: https://www.citybureau.org/newswire/2020/10/16/how-does-the-city-budget-work

The hearing has begun! All 17 Commissioners are in attendance (though they're not all shown in the picture).

Commissioner Bill Lowry tells listeners that Debra Carey, the CEO of Cook County Health, will speak during next Wednesday's (Nov 4) budget hearing at 10 am.

Commissioner Frank Aguilar has tested positive for coronavirus, but participated in this morning's hearing and will also be taking part in tonight's hearing.

Thirty-one people have signed up to speak at tonight's hearing. Matthew DeLeon (Secretary to the Board) informs listeners that if they require the services of a Spanish or ASL interpreter, they can let the Board know. An interpreter delivers the message in Spanish.

Members of the public have 3 minutes to deliver remarks and will be removed from the Teams meting after they have spoken.

Amy Laboy, Senior Director of Programs at the Chicago Directory, is the first speaker.

* correction: that should read "Senior Director of Programs at the Greater Chicago Food Depository"

“While it is too soon to understand the economic impacts of COVID-19," Laboy says, there has been an "unprecedented need" for the food distribution and other services of the Depository.

Rev. Phyllis Harrell (who is also the COO of the Alliance for Community Peace) says that the South Side is becoming a "hospital desert," referring to the impending closing of Mercy Hospital.

"Folks are hurting. And not only are they hurting, they're dying."

Rev. Harrell says that the South Side needs a hospital where people can receive quality care and be treated with dignity.

Calumet City Mayor Michelle Qualkenbush is the third speaker and asks for Cook County's support with a new development initiative in Calumet City.

Elizabeth Lalasz, a registered nurse, says that Cook County Health and especially the mental health services need more funding. She says she's in favor of the Budget for Black Lives, and believes the City should invest in mental health services to prevent incarceration.

Lalasz says "we can't continue to overfund the Sheriff's budget" and that we can't keep underfunding Provident Hospital.

Jeremy Rosen from the Shriver Center on Poverty Law thanks the Board for passing the "Justice for Black Lives" Resolution. Rosen says resolutions are important, but budgets are important too: "Budgets are our true moral documents."

Mentioning SOUL, the Chicago Community Bond Fund ( @ChiBondFund), and the People's Lobby, Rosen says we should divest from the Sheriff's office and move it towards community services.

Commissioner Bridget Degnen thanks Rosen for his testimony.

Athena Williams, Executive Director of the Oak Park Regional Housing Center, speaks about the importance of the services her organization provides. The Center helps people with homeownership; they also help people with foreclosure issues.

Williams says these services are "vitally needed." She says people need equity for affordable housing during this time, especially in the Oak Park area.

Charisse Conanan Johnson, Managing Partner at Next Street, says that small businesses are the "key driver" to economic growth. She says Next Street has brought "needed capital and services" to small businesses in Cook County during the COVID-19 crisis.

Conanan Johnson says she's excited that the budget includes a $5 million Equity Fund for small businesses.

Mike McGillicuddy, LCSW, of the Kolbe House Jail Ministry, speaks about the importance of jail programming and how it occurs at a "teachable moment" in people's lives. It reduces problematic behavior and recidivism, he says.

He urges the Board to refrain from cutting funding for programming. McGillicuddy says it would be “a wise investment in human capital” to increase funding for programming.

David Thornton, pastor at Sixth Grace Presbyterian Church, says that there needs to be more funding for physical and mental health services in the Bronzeville community, and for Black and Brown communities.

Rev. Nicolette Peñaranda, pastor at First Lutheran Church in Bridgeport, also says funding for mental health services is key.

She says that right now, because of social distancing brought on by COVID-19 "we are in a major state of trauma" and that her community needs more resources. "We're investing in the wrong side of this, is what I really want to say," referring to funding incarceration.

Ronald Johnson of AFSCME Local 3486, who is an Adult Probation Officer, says that officer caseloads are expanding. He himself has 4 times as many cases compared to pre-COVID.

Johnson says Probation Officer vacancies need to be filled so that these cases can be taken on.

"We need staff. Period."

Dr. Claudia Fegan of Cook County Health is having some technical difficulties...the Board says they’ll come back to her.

Next speaker: Claudia Martin, President of AFSCME Local 3486. She says she’s been a Probation Officer for 20 years, and tries to “build a rapport” with every person she’s had on her caseload.

She says when POs have high caseloads, people on probation tend to slip through the cracks because there’s less time for POs to care for people’s individual needs. The new budget cuts 98 PO positions (the positions are currently vacant) and Martin is opposed to that.

Commissioner Johnson says before he became a teacher, he considered becoming an adult probation officer, and thanks Martin for her testimony. Commissioner Sims says the Board needs to pay attention to who’s retiring before they make decisions on funding for POs.

Dr. Claudia Fegan of Cook County Health is back; her audio’s working now, yay! She speaks about how 8 pediatric hospitals in Illinois have closed in recent years, and how pediatric hospitals (rather than specialized pediatric units) are crucial for certain treatments.

Rolanda Watson, a RN at Cook County Health, asks the Board to think about the closing of essential services (like the ER) at Provident.

Watson: The ER is not only a place where people go to get medical services, but it also serves as a warming center, and a warming center will be greatly needed this December.

Next speaker: Bo Kemp of the Southland Development Authority. This year was meant to be a “startup year” for the Authority, but the pandemic changed that. Kemp says many of the businesses the Authority has helped would not have survived without the funding the Board gave them.

In between speakers...Commissioner Daley shows the Board members his phone, because Commissioner Aguilar is now in the hospital getting treated for COVID-19!

Daley: "He's being taken care of and we wish him the best."

Abby Pierce of EPIC Theatre is the next speaker. Pierce helps run arts programming for women at Cook County Jail, and says that “play is a radical act” that can help people through the trauma of their incarceration.

Pierce: play should not be viewed as “frivolous or unnecessary,” and can help people be rehabilitated.

She says immediately following this meeting, she’s going to a rehearsal featuring one of her students named Jordan, who’s now out and participating in a three person play featuring two Academy Award nominees(!), Ed Asner and Michael Shannon.

Martese Chism, who’s been a registered nurse for 29 years in Cook County Hospital and Stroger Hospital, condemns the “austerity measures” that Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has taken.

She slams the cuts to medical services and says they’re “immoral.”

“Cutting services at this time amounts to a death sentence for Black and Brown communities.”

Calvin Holmes, President of the Chicago Community Loan Fund is next. He speaks about administering the Cook County Community Recovery Fund.

Holmes thanks Preckwinkle, the Cook County Bureau of Economic Development, and the Housing Authority of Cook County for creating a plan that focuses on the most economically vulnerable.

Next speaker: Deidre Jackson from the People’s Lobby. She speaks on behalf of the Budget for Black Lives, and says the proposed budget doesn’t go far enough in creating a 911 alternative.

Jackson says her brother Derek had a mental health crisis nearly 20 years ago. When she reached out to the Police Department and Loyola Hospital for help, they said there was nothing they could do.

She says Derek was trapped in the criminal system for over 20 years, and had to register as a sex offender even though he was not convicted of any sexual crime. She says the sex registry has an “extreme margin of error” and can have a huge impact on people’s lives.

Antoinette Golden from the Illinois Department of Employment speaks in support of programming at Cook County Jail, especially the Sheriff’s Anti-Violence Effort.

Megan Alderden speaks about the results of a research study. She says agency officials were deeply concerned about the long-term impact of the coronavirus on the communities they serve.

Commissioner Sims: how long should grants run for juvenile justice programs?

Alderden: Grants currently run on a 2 year cycle; juv. justice officials said they liked having that space to plan their funding.

Comm. Anaya: what's the best way to quantify how much a grant improves communities?

Alderden: Funding program evaluations are one of the many ways to do so

Next speaker: Rev. Otis Monroe. He says there's almost 15,000 petitions to get hearings to seal and expunge eligible offenses—and there's only one judge to hear these cases.

Monroe wants the Board to ask Chief Judge Evans what his plan to unclog the backlog is. Currently, it takes almost 1.5 years to 2 years to get an expungement hearing date, according to Monroe.

Next speaker: Michael Hampton from the UIC Center for Literacy. He speaks about his experiences partnering with the Sheriff’s Anti-Violence program.

Hampton says he ran a program to teach fathers five important skills: self-awareness, caring for self, fathering skills, parenting skills, and relationship skills. He wants to see more programs that give young fathers a chance the second time around.

Next speaker: Fasika Alem with the United African Organization, which advocates for the rights and empowerment of African immigrants. She speaks in support of funding an Immigration Unit within the Cook County Public Defender’s Office, to protect immigrants from deportation.

All immigrants deserve equal protection under the law, Alem says. Black immigrants are disproportionately impacted by deportation: 4% of immigrants detained are Black, but more than 20% facing deportation are Black.

Alem reads testimony from an undocumented community member born in Sierra Leone. According to the community member, if she had proper legal representation, she would not be undocumented.

J. Minor Allen from Get Cleared Illinois echoes what Rev. Otis Monroe said. He says that the wait for an expungement hearing is too long.

“Justice can’t wait. We’ve got to work on unclogging this backlog.”

Rebecca McNamara from Piven Theatre explains why arts programming in places is so important.

Embodying, questioning, making connections, exhibiting empathy, living with empathy, reflecting, assessing—these are just a few skills that arts programming helps people learn.

McNamara: These skills create “infrastructure and scaffolding” for other re-entry programs, and help people succeed.

McNamara was the last public speaker; the other people who signed up to speak did not show up.

The public hearing ended at 7:40 pm. The Board of Commissioners’ next meeting is on Monday, Nov. 2 at 9 a.m.

This ends my coverage for @CHIDocumenters. #CHIDocumenters Please check out the Board of Commissioners’ website for more information, and feel free to reply to this thread or DM me with any questions.

Good night, all!