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Record of Proceedings

Technology and Innovation Committee Meeting - March 11, 2026

Board of Commissioners — Wednesday, March 11, 2026
BodyCook County, Illinois
SessionBoard of Commissioners
DateWednesday, March 11, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 20:32

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it
0:02

The hour having reached one p.m.

0:04

I would like to call to order the technology and innovation committee.

0:07

Madam Secretary, will you please take the roll call?

0:08

Thank you, sir.

0:09

Commissioner Aguilar is absent.

0:11

Commissioner Degnan.

0:14

Commissioner Degnan isn't interrupting.

0:16

Commissioner McCaskill.

0:18

Thank you.

0:18

Commissioner Miller.

0:20

Commissioner Kevin Morrison is excused.

0:23

Commissioner Scott.

0:26

Commissioner Scott is present.

0:28

Thank you, sir.

0:28

Commissioner Trevor.

0:29

Here.

0:30

Thank you.

0:30

Commissioner Vasquez.

0:32

Thank you, ma'am.

0:34

And uh Mr.

0:35

Chairman is present.

0:37

You do have a quorum.

0:38

Let me revisit your attendance.

0:41

We have absent for Commissioner Aguilar.

0:45

Commissioner Dagnan.

0:47

She will be in shortly.

0:49

And excuse for Commissioner Kevin Morrison.

0:52

We will add Commissioner Dagnan when she arrives.

0:54

You do have a quorum, sir.

0:56

Thank you very much.

0:58

Are there any public speakers or changes in the agenda?

1:00

Let me just make sure nobody is participating remotely, correct?

1:05

Right.

1:05

Yes.

1:06

No changes to your RATA.

1:10

And it is for item number 260034, which is on page two of the agenda, and it is changing the contract period, sir.

1:22

And then for speakers, you have four still in the room.

1:26

Please come to the public speaking mic.

1:28

George Blakemore, Dennis White, Jessica Jackson, Zoe Lee in that order.

1:32

And please be reminded of the public speaking rules.

1:35

Mr.

1:36

Blakemore.

1:37

Thank you, sir.

1:38

We go back a long time with Pareko and all.

1:42

I I don't know what happened.

1:45

You the only one left.

1:46

Now you retire.

1:48

So I guess they'll be all Democrats will be here.

1:53

So it's no check and balance.

1:56

Technology.

1:58

The new technology.

2:00

That's why I was saying our people was enslaved because they did not embrace the new technology.

2:07

When the whites came, they had the guns and the gun power.

2:11

So however, with this technology here, with all the millions of dollars that being spent with with technology, uh access for the county.

2:23

What what happened to those taxes?

2:27

With Kala, Kellogg, so many million dollars, they didn't get them on time.

2:33

And and those people are mostly white.

2:38

Educated people with technology.

2:42

So evidently, uh you can be very smart and be crooked.

2:50

Uh-huh.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Technology and Innovation█████████████████████████████████████████████59%
Procedural█████████████17%
Legal Access██████8%
Historic Preservation██████8%
Procurement██████8%
Summary of Proceedings

Technology and Innovation Committee Meeting - March 11, 2026

The Technology and Innovation Committee of Cook County convened on March 11, 2026, at 1:00 PM. The meeting was called to order by the Chair with a quorum present. Commissioners absent included Aguilar and Kevin Morrison (excused); Commissioner Degnan arrived later. The committee approved three contracts and deferred two reports after hearing four public speakers.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • George Blakemore expressed concerns about technology spending, referencing past issues with tax collection (Kellogg) and alleged that county leaders, including the President, have failed to address problems. He stated that all officials—Black, white, Hispanic, Asian—are part of the problem.
  • Dennis White criticized technology for enabling destructive behavior among youth (e.g., teen takeovers) and alleged that Mark Zuckerberg used technology to censor President Trump in the 2020 election. He called for better cybersecurity and technology education in schools.
  • Jessica Jackson alleged that fraudulent court documents are being filed using technology, citing an example from the public administrator's office. She argued that technology is used to cheat seniors by imposing tight deadlines for property tax appeals.
  • Zoe Lee lamented the decline of South Side communities, asserting that despite IT budget spending, systems are slow and contribute to property loss. She urged the committee to use technology more effectively to serve underserved areas.

Discussion Items

  • Item 26-034 (as amended in errata): Proposed contract with various law firms for technology-related legal services. Matt Hilteran, Senior Legal Counsel for the Bureau of Technology, explained that the contract results from an RFQ issued in 2025. Two law firms will provide services in four categories: data breach management, technology contract drafting/negotiation, tech-related regulatory compliance, and privacy/data protection. Total program spend authority is $97,731. The contract has a three-year initial term with two one-year renewal options. Approved.
  • Item 26-0602: Proposed contract with Microsoft Corporation for 24/7 technical support for Microsoft software (end-user, servers, cloud products) used by the President's office and separately elected officials. Heyman Sundaram (Bureau of Technology) presented a three-year contract from April 2026 to March 2029 for $4.76 million. Approved.
  • Item 26-0614: Proposed contract amendment with IBM Corporation (formerly AST). Derek Thomas, Deputy CIO, stated the amendment reflects a change in ownership and exercises two optional years for continued management of the enterprise service bus, which securely transmits data among criminal justice partners. Amendment amount: $2,131,044 over two years. The contract is expected to be competitively procured via RFP once this extension ends. Approved.
  • Deferred Items: Items 26-0644 (Chief Information Security Officer report for 2025) and 26-0645 (major information technologies report) were deferred on a motion by Commissioner Trevor, seconded by Commissioner Vasquez, without discussion.

Key Outcomes

  • All three contracts (law firms, Microsoft, IBM) were approved unanimously on voice votes.
  • The two information reports were deferred to a future meeting.
  • The meeting adjourned after all business was concluded.

Meeting Transcript

The hour having reached one p.m. I would like to call to order the technology and innovation committee. Madam Secretary, will you please take the roll call? Thank you, sir. Commissioner Aguilar is absent. Commissioner Degnan. Commissioner Degnan isn't interrupting. Commissioner McCaskill. Thank you. Commissioner Miller. Commissioner Kevin Morrison is excused. Commissioner Scott. Commissioner Scott is present. Thank you, sir. Commissioner Trevor. Here. Thank you. Commissioner Vasquez. Thank you, ma'am. And uh Mr. Chairman is present. You do have a quorum. Let me revisit your attendance. We have absent for Commissioner Aguilar. Commissioner Dagnan. She will be in shortly. And excuse for Commissioner Kevin Morrison. We will add Commissioner Dagnan when she arrives. You do have a quorum, sir. Thank you very much. Are there any public speakers or changes in the agenda? Let me just make sure nobody is participating remotely, correct? Right. Yes. No changes to your RATA. And it is for item number 260034, which is on page two of the agenda, and it is changing the contract period, sir. And then for speakers, you have four still in the room. Please come to the public speaking mic. George Blakemore, Dennis White, Jessica Jackson, Zoe Lee in that order. And please be reminded of the public speaking rules. Mr. Blakemore. Thank you, sir. We go back a long time with Pareko and all. I I don't know what happened. You the only one left. Now you retire. So I guess they'll be all Democrats will be here. So it's no check and balance. Technology.

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