Debating the Cook County Board of Commissioners will come to order.

And the clerk please call the role.

Commissioner Aguilar.

Commissioner Anaya.

Commissioner Naya absent.

Commissioner Britton.

Here.

Commissioner Britain, present.

Commissioner Daly.

Here.

Commissioner Degnan.

Commissioner Gainer.

Present.

Commissioner Lowry.

Present.

Commissioner McCaskill.

Commissioner Miller.

Commissioner Moore.

Commissioner Moore absent.

Commissioner Marita.

Commissioner Kevin Morrison excused absence.

Commissioner Sean Morrison.

No Morrison present.

Commissioner Scott.

Present.

Commissioner Stamps.

Commissioner Stamps absent.

Commissioner Trevor.

Rever here.

Commissioner Vasquez.

You have a quorum, sir.

Mayor Secret Secretary.

We'll begin Bill.

I mean, I'm sorry, Commissioner Laura for remote participation.

Is there been a request?

We have not had the request for it, so if we can add it at that time, I'll keep the meeting going, please, sir.

Commissioner Degnan.

With pledge of religions, please.

I think it's a good question.

Under God and individual with liberty and justice for all Commissioner Trevor.

Cook County resides on lands that have been home to indigenous people for thousands of years.

The Pottawatomi, the Ojibwe, Odawa, and dozens of nations were the custodians and caretakers of this land for centuries before European colonization.

Truth and acknowledgement are critical to building understanding and mutual respect across all cultures, traditions, and heritages.

By reading the statement, Cook County recognizes the past wrongdoings as well as present harm upon people.

Tribal lands and governments.

We honor the indigenous people, past and present, and pause to remember the acts of violence, displacement, colonization, and removal of the original inhabitants of this land.

With this land acknowledgement, Cook County commits to learning more about and doing better to support the county's native and indigenous residents as we work towards equity for all of Cook County.

Thank you.

We will get begin with public speakers and the Secretary will outline the procedure for public speakers.

Thank you, Chairman.

Members of the public who wish to testify have up until 24 hours before the scheduled start of the meeting.

Speakers will have three minutes to address the board and will be alerted when they have one time remaining, 30 seconds remaining when time has expired.

Translation services are available for this meeting.

If you need assistance, please put forward the request in a teams chat or see a staff member in the boardroom.

Persons authorized to provide public testimony shall not use vulgar, abusive, discriminatory, profane, or otherwise inappropriate language when addressing the body.

Failure to act appropriately or failure to adhere to the time requirements may result in expulsion from the meeting and or disqualify the person from providing future testimony.

Written-only comments will be added to the meeting record.

We're going to ask these uh speakers to come line up at the public speaking mic.

Uh Lisa Julian, Elder Deborah White, Tom Shepherd, Jennifer Hill.

If you're in the room, please come to the mic now.

Chairman, if it's okay, we're going to uh allow them to round line up and Senate.

Senator uh Guzman is connected remotely.

Can we do her first, please, sir?

Yes.

Senator.

And then in a room, please line up.

Lisa, Elder Deborah White, Tom Shepherd, Jennifer Hill, and Rodney Harrington.

Senator, go ahead.

Jennifer.

Okay.

She disconnected.

We'll go back to her.

Please state your name and begin.

Good morning, Commissioners.

My name is Lisa.

I'm a protective mother from Cook County.

I'm here today because the family court system that was supposed to protect my child instead empowered the very abuse we were trying to escape.

In 2019, I left an abusive marriage and obtained an order for protection for myself and my child.

My ex violated that order, took our belongings, and began years of relentless litigation.

Instead of stopping the abuse, the court enabled it.

The judge presiding over my case ordered me, a stay-at-home mother, to pay nearly 200,000 towards my abusers' attorneys and court appointed professionals.

I was stripped of marital assets while the person who violated the court orders was rewarded with more litigation.

But the financial destruction is only part of the story.

My judge repeatedly denied me hearings, including an order of protection filed over a year ago.

I have been blocked from participating in my own hearings.

Evidence of domestic violence has been refused.

Court watchers and advocates were mocked and excluded.

Critical rulings affecting my child were made without any evidentiary hearing at all.

At one emergency hearing, I requested a court reporter as an ADA accommodation.

Instead, the judge conducted the hearing off the record in chambers.

There is no transcript of what occurred.

That is not a procedural issue.

That is the removal of due process.

When I asked, when I raised documented abuse in court, the judge responded, I don't care about past abuse.

When I said I had written evidence, the response was I don't care.

In another hearing, before any discovery or evidence, the judge openly asked how many assets of leases are left for us to take.

Even more disturbing are the safety issues involving my child.

My daughter once sent me a photo of a firearm left in a car while she was alone.

When I saw it in emergency protection, the judge argued that it was not that bad because the father might have been putting air in his tires.

It takes seconds for a child to pick up a gun.

But the court did nothing.

Meanwhile, I've had parenting time taken away during routine status hearings, while my ex's violations were ignored, and his parenting time increased.

My child has repeatedly reported fear and emotional harm.

Yet the judge refuses even a private in-camera conversation with her.

So the message from this courtroom has been clear.

This is a profit machine built on conflict, a system where abusive litigation and concrete perjury is rewarded.

Abuse will be ignored, the protective parent will be punished, children become leveraged, and the abuser will be funded with the victim's assets.

This is not justice.

It is the misuse of judicial power.

When a judge openly states they do not care about abuse, refuses evidence, blocks hearings, and financially devastates the victim while rewarding the abuser.

That is not a mistake.

That is bias.

And when that bias exists in family court, the people who suffer most of the children.

My child deserves protection.

Families in Cook County deserve a court system that follows the law.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, come to the mic, introduce yourself.

Tell us Chine.

You may begin.

Tell us your name.

Good morning.

My name is Elder Deborah White.

I am the chaplain from the village of Dalton.

On behalf of Dalton Mayor Jason House and the clergy's office, we extend our sincere gratitude to Cook County Board President Tommy Pratwinkle for her continued support and commitment to the residents of the village of Dalton.

Your leadership and your partnership have played a meaningful role in strengthening our community and advancing opportunities for our residents.

We are truly grateful for the CDBG grant funding that have allowed our community to rebuild critical infrastructure, repairs that have assisted in stabilizing the roads for our residents.

May we continue working together to create a brighter future for the people of Dalton.

And I personally thank Cook County Board President Tony Pretwinkle for all that she's doing, not just for the village of Dalton, but for the entire Cook County suburban land area.

I am grateful to know this woman, and I look forward to four more years of working with her and seeing her being a servant.

God bless you.

Next speaker, please tell us your name.

Good morning.

I'm Jennifer Hill, executive director of the Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County.

I'm here to speak in favor of items 260762 and 260763 for TIFF funds for homeless services.

As the federal government threatens to dismantle decades of progress on housing programs for people experiencing homelessness.

We look to Cook County to protect our social safety net programs.

These and other TIFF investments that were considered at the Finance Committee yesterday, do just that, including the Cook County Finance Committee approved a 4.1 million dollar investment in homeless services, including a problem-solving fund, which I'll explain briefly briefly.

Our purpose is to help people avoid homelessness altogether, but for the people who do become homeless, our aim is to move as many people as quickly as possible into safe and stable housing of their own.

The problem solving fund will offer the services and flexible funding to help a family or individual in a housing crisis to resolve that crisis.

Even among people who self-report that they need shelter tonight or tomorrow night, our shelter diversion partners are able to find a safe alternative to shelter 43 percent of the time.

The problem solving fund and related shelter services that will be funded through the TIFF funding gets our community closer to the goal of meeting everyone at the front door of our homeless system, offering better alternatives so more people can avoid the trauma of homelessness altogether.

The components that will be funded by the problem solving fund include homelessness prevention, shelter diversion, and rapid resolution.

Homelessness prevention catches people up on their rent if they are just a few weeks from homelessness so that they can stay in their homes.

Shelter diversion is for people who like I say, uh one minute asking uh for who are seeking shelter now because they project they will be homeless tonight or tomorrow night.

In the next 48 hours.

Shelter diversion allows us to have a housing-focused problem-solving conversation with some flexible funds to resolve that issue, and like I say, 43% of the time we can.

Uh Rapid Resolution is continuing that conversation.

So this housing problem solving fund as well as the related shelter services will make a big difference to our community, and I thank the commissioners for your support.

Please tell us your name.

Good morning.

My name is Tom Shepherd.

I'm with the Midwest Underground Railroad Network.

And uh I'm here to share some good news with the board regarding the Cook County Forest Preserve.

Uh the Forest Preserves have been invited by the National Park Service to put one of their sites, a little portion of their sites on the national network to freedom, which uh would it would join six or seven hundred other sites around the country that have a significant role in the Underground Railroad.

Uh this designation would cost the county nothing, wouldn't put any kind of uh uh obligations on the county or anything whatsoever except for your permission, and it would be uh spread throughout the United States along with the hundreds of other uh designated sites.

So we respect respectfully request your commitment to the continued maintenance and long-term preservation of the prairie boat at Bobian Woods on the far south side.

Prairie Boat is an installation that the county and several organizations came together.

It's a gathering spot.

Uh, spent thousands of dollars to put this together.

It's a beautiful little place in a nice corner of the county forest preserve system.

Uh we are asking you to designate the prairie boat for inclusion in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom as an important interpretive site.

The prairie boat is far more than a temporary installation.

It is a powerful and meaningful interpretive site that helps tell the story of the Underground Railroad through thoughtfully designed signage, imagery, and artistic elements that engage visitors of all ages.

It serves an educational, cultural, and historical asset to Bobian Woods and to the entire county and the surrounding communities, the broader public.

We understand that according to the Forest Preserves, the Prairie Boat may be eligible for dismantling in 2027, which would really be a shame.

Our sincere hope is that it remains in place for many years beyond that date, as long as it continues to be useful, safe, and attractive to the public.

The prairie boat was constructed with sturdiness and longevity as the primary design concerns with proper maintenance.

It can have a long and productive life as a valued feature of the preserve.

I'm going to wrap it up.

I have more here, but I know we're short on time.

Uh this wouldn't require nothing more than a one a signature from either the county, the president, the uh or the Cook County Forest Preserve, uh, stating that as the manager owner of this property, I consent to its inclusion in the National Park Service National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

Simple as that.

And it would bring people from all around as part, it's uh joining another site that we have on the network to freedom, which is known as the Ton Firm, and it's one of those uh that are listed on the national registry today.

My uh colleague is not here to talk, so that's my story.

Uh right now the application is in the hands of Commissioner Donna Miller, whose uh district this lies in.

Thank you very much.

And we asked for your support on that.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you for your hard work.

Chairman, Commissioner Miller.

Yeah, thank you, Chairman.

I just want to thank Tom and uh for all of his work on this issue, and this will be a National Historic Landmark.

And there's also a National Historic Landmark designation at the boat launch.

So thank you for your tireless work to make sure that the connection between the Underground Railroad and the Forest Preserve is made known and connects us with all the other sites across the country.

Thanks so much.

Mr.

Brent.

Uh I just also want to uh lift up Commissioner Miller on this particular issue.

Uh I had, I think the best attended event I have had uh in my district on the eastern part was in Glencoe, specifically on the Underground Railroad and the connections between Northern Illinois and the and the groups that then went to Canada to escape slavery.

Um I believe that uh Commissioner Miller has been an instrumental in making this happen, and I just want to thank her for her partnership on this.

And anything we can do, we will support you, and thank you, Tom.

Tim, have you been in conversation with the Forest Preserve?

Uh yes, we have.

Uh they currently seem to be busy.

I will I will let's we'll urge the I know uh the president and her uh uh legislative team will be this is so simple that probably a phone call to someone there, and and you have a new new uh superintendent.

Yes, we do.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

Thank you, Chairman.

Our next group group of speakers, please come stand at the public speaking mic, George Blake Moore, Jessica Jackson, Zoe Lee, Jackie Sampo, Eileen uh Cryley.

If you're in the room, please come to the public speaking mic, Mr.

Blake Moore, you're first Blake Moore, Jackson, the Zoe Lee, Jackie Sampo, Arlena Criley.

You may begin.

Good morning to the citizen of the city of Chicago and the of Cook County.

I use the word citizen.

Citizen.

It's the difference between a resident and citizen.

A legal influence.

Um here at this uh dog and pony show.

Why did you come to the dog and pony show, Mr.

Blake Moore?

To be seen, to be heard, and the ancestors appreciate me.

What are you going to say your three minutes about fit of shift?

And illegal residents, Madame Prentwick ahead, the uh gas, the tail sheriff died.

Uh when the uh illegal uh uh get out of uh burn out.

Don't call out.

Do not illegal.

That means you're not legally here, and you cannot get the jobs, the good, the contract, and the service of a fit of sum.

You're not entitled to this.

No, you're not.

But why are they doing that?

Especially for this unique citizen.

The gentleman was thinking about the underground railroad.

Come on with it now, the underground railroad.

Well, what the flay with civil son.

Being here born here, a freeman here.

One minute.

So, Citizen Joy Blake Moore.

And well, you've got fine ass committee right over here, Mr.

Daly.

Right over here.

Well, what what do you think about all these elected officials?

What can you do to improve this?

You're getting out of the citizenship right quick.

Some of them have been in these offices too long.

Turn liberation.

Eight years and get out.

30 seconds.

Anyway, citizens.

And when they talk about food patriot and everything, I revent.

Illegal or resident getting in front of me.

And I'm hungry here in the America.

I was born here in America.

And when you got something to give up.

30 seconds.

And food and everything.

Why do I have to wait when a non-fellow or resident can't get ahead of me?

My name is Philip, George Blake Moore.

And if you don't know how to treat me, I'm gonna teach you how to treat me.

And time is expired.

I'm gonna speak.

Just right now.

I came to be thanked, not to see.

Next speaker, please begin.

I can't believe what I just witnessed.

But what I just witnessed and what I just heard is the explanation of how it is that slavely slavery worked as long as it did.

The fact that Britain could get up and say anything about the Underground Railroad out of his mouth.

The fact that Donna Miller would play the part of yes, that House Negro.

Yes, you just did it.

And this man who have sat here knowing that they're still in our property, he's over litigation, y'all.

Every single document in my hand is a fraudulent document that has been found in the court system by a Cook County official.

Either it's a crooked judge, who is that, or the public administrators who are appointed by Judge J Governor JB Prisoner.

This is not about me having an attorney.

This is not about anybody having an attorney.

This is about corruption and the fact that you all sit here and allow it.

When as commissioners, you all are supposed to be working on our behalf.

So if we come here and tell you all that your judges are corrupt, and that the public administrators are corrupt, it is you all's duty to say something to them.

To approach them, to stand for us.

We're paying you all salary, not the other way around.

And you all do it over and over and over again, and to the point where you will even lie.

I have heard people come to me and tell me that they were told that I was offered what is it, 60 million, no, no, 60,000 or 80,000.

And that I didn't take it.

They say it came from the Mop Williams.

Now, if it didn't, it didn't.

But you know, ain't nobody offered me no money, and if they did, probably got to take something that's meansly as $80,000.

One minute.

For a building that's paid for.

That's mine.

That's been my since my mother, since I turned 15 years old when my mother paid that last mortgage on it.

I dare to be insulted with such a small amount like that.

I'm a working woman.

This act of fake concern for black people, keep our name and our legacy out of your white mouth.

30 seconds.

Out of your white mouth for a bunch of illegal immigrants.

Next speaker, please, Zoe Lee.

Yeah, that's that was kind of disrespectful how y'all just talk all over us and then talk about the Underground Railroad.

But the Democratic Party is the most racist party.

Y'all are the reason why we are still held back because of reverends and preachers and elders who big up Tony Preckwinkle, who's a million-dollar Tony, who just bought a million-dollar home.

Come on.

Why property taxes is through the roof?

But you're gonna say thank you because she got you because you get because you got your grant.

As long as you get the grant, as long as you get grant, you good.

That's how y'all do.

Y'all steal all the money.

The housing thing, again, the housing crisis, y'all never gonna find anything for it because y'all keep getting money for it.

Cook County allocated 167 million dollars for homeless prevention.

At the same time, many homes across Cook County have been taken through the property tax foreclosure system.

Well, homeowners losing not only their homes, but also the equity they built over years underground railroad.

Taking someone's equity after a tax foreclosure is unconstitutional, but you should know that, Scott Britain, right?

Then you take the bar, then you pass it, but half of y'all didn't take the bar.

Y'all just paid somebody to give it to you because none of y'all know the law.

None of them.

Taking someone's equity after tax foreclosures unconstitutional.

But I'm sure if y'all were all to give a U.S.

constitution test today, you all would fail.

Yet, none of the Cook County commissioners, including board president Tony Preckwinkle, whose last term is this time.

Yes, it is.

This time.

I don't like the Democrats at all.

But we're gonna have to go with Brendan Riley, y'all.

We're gonna have to go with Brendan Riley.

Yet many residents feel the county continues to benefit from property seizures while struggling home our own homeowners receive little help.

If elected officials won't address it, voters will.

I don't care how many cemeteries y'all go to get all your votes.

It's over.

It's done.

Like I said, I will go down to DC myself and protest in front of the white house until the Save America Act is passed, and until the feds come here to come and get each and every one of y'all.

Y'all steal TIFF money, y'all steal homeless money, y'all still use prevention money, y'all still all of the money that's supposed to go to our communities, and now y'all think y'all gonna give it to some illegals?

Watch this.

Alina Criley.

Alina Cryley, please.

You may begin.

Good morning, everyone.

Uh my name is Aliana Criley, and I've been coming to the public hearings since summer 2025.

Um what I observed that people, and I'm here to speak about family courts and the impact on families, on parents and children.

A lot of people come with what happened to them, what's done to them by family courts.

And uh majority of people speak exactly about that, about institutional violence by family courts in the circuit court of Cook County.

It's not just any more domestic violence or intimate partner violence, it's it goes way further.

The victims of domestic violence are allowed and uh to be abused in courts and are abused by courts.

Again, I have not seen my son since 2020.

And people here come with their complaints of violations, but it's since no one hears them.

Based on what people reported to you, you create task force on gender-based violence.

But and you allocate a lot of money to that task force, but unless the goals and what this task force is supposed to do will be expanded to combat the judicial corruption in Cook County, then those money are misappropriated.

I'm asking you actually on on my own behalf and on behalf of people to create a task force that will address the root issue, judicial corruption and corruption of the other state actors and private attorneys.

There are enough good law in place created by legislature to address domestic violence.

The problem is that judges and attorneys do not follow that law.

They monetize that law, they extort people, and no one is blind, no one is stupid here.

We need to get to the root cause.

I'm asking you to create task force to combat judicial corruption.

Two changes needs to be done.

Judicial immunity, artificially created doctrine by judges, must be blocked by Illinois law clearly stating that there is no immunity from civil lawsuits, and second, it's either uh court reporters should be enough funding given that there would be court reporters available, or if there is no money, public should be available to record public proceedings.

As other states, other counties allow, but somehow cook county is the most secretive county because the secret is the crimes committed by judges, by attorneys, by public actors, and it needs to be stopped.

Again, I'm asking every present commissioner to initiate a task force to come to combat and time is expired.

Judicial corruption.

Thank you.

Chairman, our next speakers if you're in the room, Rodney Harrington.

Good morning.

My name is Bob Jackson, executive director of Rosal Ceasefire.

Today I'm not coming to complain or ask for money.

Sir bringing your report on the violence.

Sir.

Not your turn yet.

I've got speakers in front of you.

Please, sir.

I've got speakers in front of you.

Rodney Harrington.

Are you in the room?

Rodney.

Yeah, come on up, please.

Jackie Sample, are you in the room?

Thank you.

Stand by the mic.

Thomas Savalkas.

Thomas, are you in the room?

Thomas?

Thomas, are you in the room?

If not, we're going to go past you.

Okay.

No Thomas, Jill Raman.

Jill, are you in the room?

All right.

I need everybody at the public speaking mic.

Sir, please begin.

Tell us your name.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Rodney Harrington.

I am the I serve as the president of the Midwest Underground Railroad Network.

We are here to say thank you to the board for the work that you have been doing to assist us in telling this incredible story about Illinois.

We have as significant an underground railroad story to tell as the mid-Atlantic area.

And we are hoping that through our tours through the forest preserve that we are able to do more of this teaching of this history.

So we are here to say thank you and uh hope that everyone learns more about the Underground Railroad Initiative here in Chicago.

Thank you.

Jackie Sample.

Good morning, everyone.

Um thank you for having you know this public speaking.

Um around May 2025, a judge dismissed my divorce case against my wishes, forcing me to remain married.

What occurred is a coordinated pattern of corruption, deprivation of rights, and an organized scheme that obstructed my right to honest services from the judicial system.

These actions deprived me of my property rights and millions of dollars, including cryptocurrency investments and other assets.

At the same time, judges and lawyers aided and abetted my spouse in uh domestic and financial abuse against me, taking my share of our assets and leaving me penniless.

For example, my spouse abruptly locked me out of all of our investment accounts in violation of a valid court order.

He closed joint accounts and then opened new ones in his name alone.

Although his actions involved wire fraud and dissipating well over 700,000 within months of taking unilateral control of our finances, none of the judges assigned to my case enforced their own court orders or prevented him from dissipating our accounts.

At the behest of my spouse, every judge refused to restore the financial status quo.

Another example is that judges and lawyers assigned to our case knowingly accepted his fraudulent financial affidavits, reducing our marital assets by more than 75%.

As a result, my businesses that I've spent more than 25 years building have been forced to close, and all of my real estate properties are now in foreclosure.

Another troubling commonality across DuPage County, Cook County, and the federal court system is that none of these courts have upheld my constitutional rights, nor have they upheld my rights under the Americans with Disability Act.

In each of my cases, there have been a coordinated pattern of deprivation of rights to the same outcome, keeping me from my assets and my properties and uh and finances that DuPage County judges helped my spouse to take.

When people come to uh our country and our city, there's often an entire community openly advocating for them.

As an American Illinois, when I ask legal questions, I am often told privately, I don't want to lose my license, I have a family to take care of, or I don't want to jeopardize my other clients.

I'm prepared to provide supporting documentation and testimony as I've been doing for the last two years.

So I'm asking you, every elected official, will you please encourage the FBI, the DOJ, uh, the Illinois Attorney General, the U.S.

Attorney General, to please get involved and look into this.

Thank you.

Jill, you next.

Good morning.

My name is Jill Rockman.

I'm the Chief Operating Officer of the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

I'm here today to speak in support of expanding food access in Cook County, which is item 260761.

I first just want to thank the board the board uh for your interest and support and willingness to take action on the issue of food insecurity, not just today but throughout the years.

And today is particularly important because we're expecting uh a spike and increase.

Because we are expecting uh a spike and increase.

The request for $10 million is to meet simply two objectives.

The first one is to spend money to expand food access to all of Cook County to address the need.

The second is to expand capacity building funding.

If the pantries do not have storage, cold storage, the ability to procure uh pull food, distribute food, uh they cannot serve the need.

And so our request is the passage of this of this request.

I want to provide just a little bit of context on why we anticipate the need is gonna spike.

Um, with the passage of HR 1, the big beautiful bill.

200 billion dollars of SNAP was cut.

And what we know, because we saw this in November, is with those cuts, there will be a spike in the need, and a spike really in our need to respond.

In November, as you may remember, um, there was a government shutdown, and SNAP benefits were frozen.

In that month of November.

The Greater Chicago Food Depository and its network of partners saw the highest level of household visits in our 47-year history.

We served 226,000 household visits in that month alone.

We know that that was a dress rehearsal for what we will see if the benefits uh are cut and our and our neighbors are removed from the roles.

And so we ask for support because of what we know will happen.

The two-phase strategy, as I said, the two objectives that we're trying to meet.

Um, emergency food access is the majority of the funding.

It is what the food depository does well, just for a little bit on process.

Last year we distributed 116 million pounds of food.

We distribute all of that food across Cook County at no cost to our partners, and we will continue to do that with the funding that we receive for food today.

The second phase of the structure of the idea is to build capacity, whether it's cold storage or shelving, but to ensure that our partners are able to provide the services that they need.

I thank you for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh quick change.

Mayor uh Maywood is in the House.

Mayor George Booker.

Thank you.

After the Mayor, we're going to call Thomas Savakis, followed by Taiwan Sims.

Go ahead, Mayor.

All right, thank you.

Good morning, everyone.

Good morning.

It is truly an honor and uh to stand before you today as Mayor Nathaniel George Booker for the Village of Maywood, and take a moment to recognize the incredible work and partnership that we've had with President Tony Preckwinkle, specifically my commissioner Tara Stamps, and Frank Aguilar, along with all of the Board of Commissioners, for the great work that we've been able to accomplish with the Village of Maywood.

Uh President Preckwood and the commissioners have demonstrated what real partnership looks like through thoughtful leadership, equitable investment, and deep understanding of the needs of our communities like Maywood.

So to go over a few different things that you all might know that you've helped with, but you have.

A lot of our street water sewer separation and our led service line replacement has been thanks to the money that we've received from Cook County.

They have been donated over a million dollars over the past two years, and I really appreciate that.

With the partnership with Build Up Cook, we've received water system upgrades, new generators, uh public work organizational structure planning, and then also feasibility and work to be done for the Maywood Masonic Temple third and fourth floor that has not been touched in over 50 years.

You've helped with remediation land of our properties that have had old gas tanks, old things of over six different properties that have been done.

Through our strong communities project, you've helped with over $675,000 in regards to clear blighted properties to get those properties reinstated.

Through the Cook County Land Bank Partnership, you've helped bring in new restaurants and other new businesses, along with getting our golf range that has been closed for nearly two decades that will be opening this summer.

Through your build-up healthier communities, you've worked with us through the Cook County Department of Public Health to open our crisis response management hub, focusing on mental health, behavioral health, substance use, and domestic violence.

Through our School District 89 partnership with positive behavior intervention supports, you've been able to help us get four of our schools that were in the bottom five percent of the state out of the bottom five percent.

You've been able to help with School District 209's proviso east become not only out of the bottom 5 percent, but to move from targeted to commendable to from comprehensive targeted to commendable, uh now within the top 50 percent of the state, no longer the bottom five percent, and that's through the funding that we've received for our monte-tiered support systems.

One minute.

You've helped with the after-school programming, taking our youth on field trips.

You've helped with our youth delegation that has exposed our youth to National League of Cities Youth Delegation in Tampa, Atlanta, D.C., and this summer we're going to Nashville.

You've helped with Dream Vault, provide over 125 families with food access each week.

You've helped us build a new podcast and recording studio, and thank you for bringing new 12 new townhomes that'll be coming soon, as well as new commercial and apartment development.

So no more time is running up.

But also thank you all for the economic empowerment center that'll be opening this June.

You'll all receive an invitation too.

Our Food is Medicine Center that opens in the third quarter of this year.

Our grocery store that's been blighted for over 15 years that'll be opening the third quarter of this year, as well as our business incubation and workforce development center that we just closed on that'll be opening in the fourth quarter of this year.

So on behalf of the residents, our families and future generations, we appreciate you for your continued partnership, unwavering commitment to build stronger communities and moving our communities forward.

Thank you so much.

Commissioner Edgar, Commissioner Doubless.

Commission Mayor.

Commissioner Mayor.

Mayor Mayor.

Commissioner Aguilar.

Yes.

Mayor.

I just want to welcome Mayor Booker, and I just want to see your great partner.

You tremendous work in Maywood ever since I've met you and you took office.

I don't recognize Maywood.

New businesses, the people are very happy.

So congratulations.

You're really a go-getter.

It's just an example of what the American do, you know, turning a whole turn around.

So welcome.

You know, and uh thank you for coming.

Let me just thank you very much.

Sheriff, if I can have your attention to the right side of the room.

I'm sorry, my left side of the room.

Yes.

Uh Thomas, before you begin, I know you're ready.

Come to the mic.

Uh, Mayor, excuse me.

Okay.

Commissioner Gaynor, I'm sorry.

Mayor Booker.

Okay.

Let's calm down everyone in this room.

When an individual is here as a member of the audience, he or she should not be disrespected.

So there's an individual if someone's bothering you.

So we're we're get giving a warning.

We are not going to allow any other individual in the room to be threatened.

Commissioner Gaynor.

I just wanted to make a comment to Mayor Booker.

Mayor?

Mayor Booker Booker.

You could approach the Zayas for what just one moment, sir.

Mayor Booker.

Um Thomas, would you let Mayor Booker back to the podium, please?

I'm gonna call you as soon as they're done.

Please, sir.

I just wanted to um second on what my colleague, Commissioner Aguilar said at our recent land bank luncheon just about a month ago.

We give out awards for the most innovative developments.

Um the you know the most kind of transformative partnerships.

And I think Mayor Booker had to come up to the stage like three times because there were multiple um winners in Maywood, including the um economic development team at Maywood, who had facilitated some of the developments that you spoke about.

And so um you're really having, in addition to all the single family home development that's happening, which is obviously the key to life, um, all of that commercial development is only happens with the uh the partnership at your team.

So thanks very much and congratulations for all the good things that are happening.

Then just one to her, Mayor.

The Cook County Land Bank also in regards to our 34,000 square foot expansion for the AV equipment facility, as well as the 22,000 square foot expansion for national cycles.

So thank you for that too.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Thomas, I need you to line up, followed by Taiwan.

The Senator has reconnected.

We're gonna go to Senator Guzman.

Senator, are you connected?

Yes, hi.

Yes, I'm connected.

Hi, good morning.

I'm State Senator Grasse.

I probably represent Illinois 20th district, and I want to thank Commissioner Dugman, Micah County Commissioner Jessica Vasquez, and the Cook County Board for bringing forward resolution item number 26-097 in support of the climate change superfund act.

Um, Cook County is already experiencing the real cost of climate crisis, extreme rainstorms are becoming more frequent, overwhelming our aging infrastructure, and flooding neighborhoods across our region.

Today, more than 170,000 properties in Cook County face substantial flood risk, and that number is projected to grow as climate impacts accelerate.

We have seen the consequences of these just recently.

In 2023, severe storms drafts historic rainfall across the Chicago region, causing an estimated 500 million in damages across northeastern Illinois.

For many families, that meant flooded basements, destroyed belongings, and repair bills that they just simply could not afford.

At the same time, the fossil fuel corporations, most responsible for climate pollution, continue to post enormous profits.

They know the risks, they fool the fuel the crisis, and now local governments and working families are being asked to cover the costs.

That is why I introduced the Climate Change Super Fund Act in Illinois.

This legislation would require the largest fossil fuel companies to contribute to a state fund dedicated to climate resilience and recovery, helping communities repair damage, strengthen infrastructure, and prepare for the impacts that are already here.

Because the reality is that cook counties like Cook are already investing millions to manage flooding, repair infrastructure, and protect residents.

Local taxpayers should not be left carrying this burden alone.

This resolution sends a powerful message that Cook County understands what is at stake and that it is ready to stand with communities across our state demanding that polluters pay.

Our neighborhoods are not disposable.

Our communities just deserve protection.

And the constant black climate crisis should not fall on the people who did the least to cause it.

Thank you for the leadership that is here.

Thank you, Commissioner Dugnan, um, Cook County Board.

Together we can make polluters pay and build a safer, more resilient future for Cook County and for Illinois.

Thank you.

Thank you, Senator Thomas.

You may begin and uh thank you for your patience.

Uh good morning, Cook County Commissioners.

Uh my name is Tomas Saveskis.

Uh I served in the United States Marine Corps a couple of tours overseas.

Um, you know, I'm I'm lawful age, competent, testify, declare under uh penalty of perjury.

Uh the following is true and correct based on personal knowledge and records in my possession.

You know, there's a serious issue with these circuit court judges that's happening, and people are like myself that have done nothing to my children, nothing to my spouse.

You know, they're putting orders of protection, protecting them without any reason.

Um especially, you know, uh Mitchell by the name of Mitchell Goldberg in Cook County, Illinois, as a party acting under color of law.

Uh there are other officers and agents uh of the state.

Uh in in similar violations, I declare that violations of the constitutional United States and applicable federal statutes have occurred have been violated.

The constitutional provisions implicate include Article Six Supremacy Clause Four Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, protection against reasonable search and seizures, Fifth Amendment guarantee of due process, seventh amendment, right to trial by jury in civil matters exceeding of $20, 14th Amendment of equal protection, and due process guarantees, statutory provisions implicated include 18 USC 241 and 242 criminal deprivation of rights and conspiracy to deprive of rights, traffic children for profit under Title 4D, child abuse, false claims for profit of Title 4D, obstruction of justice, fraudulent concealment, and falsifying official court records.

So on January thirtieth, 2024.

Excuse me.

One minute, sir.

Take your time, sorry.

Take your time.

Sorry, but take your time.

Without lawful warrant, without jury determination or proper due process of law under completely false and frivolous allegation by Mitchell B.

Goldberg, and then later on by Bradley or Trowbridge, who continued the abuse, the the you know, the the attack on familial unit, uh acting judges acting under criminal law.

Uh issued an enforced orders to deprive me and my parental rights.

This is a legal and public notice.

I filed federal lawsuit deprivation.

I've recently withdrawed.

I'm sorry.

You've got 30 seconds, sir.

Okay.

I recently withdrawed that lawsuit to refile that lawsuit.

State of Illinois is included as well as circuit court of Cook County at Richard Daly is included.

They dismiss my counterclaim unlawfully.

The same judge that's identified in the counterclaim in the divorce.

They've stolen over a million dollars.

They're creating up to thin air.

What's that?

Wrap your statement up.

Time is expired.

But essentially, they're there are you know, they don't have underlying debt to create debt obligations such as child support, which we all know it's not child support, it's state support.

And they're putting fathers and mothers in in in jail unlawfully, illegally, unconstitutionally.

So, sir, let me recommend something.

If you want to and you guys are paying those individuals, sir, your time has expired.

If you want the to leave your statement, you're welcome to do that, and we'll circulate it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So here's our next speaker's chairman.

Taiwan Sins, Dennis White, followed by Mr.

Bob Jackson from Ceasefire.

Taiwan, come on up.

Dennis, where are you?

Are you in the room?

Thank you.

Please line up.

And then Mr.

Jackson is next.

Cease fire.

Go ahead, please start.

Um good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning, Commissioner Daly.

This morning, once again, I'm back here, and the commissioners speaking about the issue, which Lamont, we I gave you a packet of information concerning the charge of JG 194392.

This charge is from what March 2000, March 23rd, 2023, my child was removed from me.

I've not seen my child since.

The same judge, the criminal judge Trowbridge, Boyd, all of these individuals over there in domestic relations.

I have here a police report, which I have not.

So this is a deprivation of rights.

This has not been honored.

And now I have an order of protection, a criminal order of protection that has been allowed against me.

Not one order protection from domestic relations, but there's a Deanna Williamson, the manager of the of domestic relations, who also attacked me and has been attacking me.

This is three years now.

Commissioner Steele has heard me, gave Lamont the packet.

The president of the county board.

Tony Pratwinkle heard this testimony also.

But there has been nothing done.

And now, instead of helping me, I was given an order because when you can make sense of things, I guess, they're gonna make you crazy.

So instead of helping me, I'm giving a appointed examination.

Yes.

Forensic clinical service, appointment for court ordered examination to check my competency.

To check my competency.

They say that I can't help them in the case.

I don't have the information, I don't have the will or the wherefore.

I'm not competent enough.

I'm black, I'm American.

I'm stupid, I guess.

Uneducated.

But I'm a father, a desperate father, the same as the soldiers that just left this podium.

And I can't believe that a marina go through it.

But imagine what a civilian might.

Y'all got the ads to attack a civil boy.

It's amazing.

However, yesterday I bought also.

One minute, sir.

Y'all attention the case where, once again, these two charges, 2512, 458, 301, 2512, 869, 201.

Illegal charges, false arrests, specifically advocating about my child.

Case 23D 79597.

I've been at this since 2024.

And if y'all think that's not illegal, then any individual, hey sir, y'all two down there speaking.

While I'm testifying, excuse me, black man.

While I'm testifying.

No, you're not.

And sir, you've got listening while you're chuckling in her face.

Well I'm still daily.

You've got 30 seconds.

I'm experiencing this, sir.

I'm experiencing this, sir.

And I've come and spoke about this countless times.

And excuse me, Jessica Saxon.

What is that?

How do you say emolument violation, sir?

That's what it is.

A charge against his kind for violating us as citizens.

As American citizens, constitutionally.

Your time has expired, please.

Dennis White is next, followed by Mr.

Bob Jackson.

Please begin.

We I got this hat on right here.

Just say veteran.

And when I 40 years ago, I raised my right hand to defend the Constitution, both foreign and domestically.

That's the flag right there.

But when you are when you have people that burn the flag, the Democrats don't say nothing.

When you have people who don't understand the Constitution, the Democrats don't say nothing.

When you have black politicians that's in this thief who defend illegal aliens and then twist the Constitution to make us more ignorant, like Jasper Crockett over there is talking.

And she don't pay attention.

It really makes me sick, Ralph Hane.

And you all, it's like this here.

The Democrat Party.

You got white corrupt democ politician under the Democratic Party.

Then you because they love power.

But when you have black politician under Democratic policy, what do they love?

Money.

That's what they love.

And then when you over here going against the federal government that's in the white house right now, like Donald Trump, and then you call him a racist, a Hitler.

You call ICE Gustavo.

Nazism.

But the word racism is them.

That's who they are.

I don't care how you could smile and think it's funny.

But here's the reality right here.

We are sick of you all.

And you don't know how sick we are of you all.

Especially the black politician.

And I'm coming, I'm gonna I'm now I'm in an attack mode because you all are worse than slaves.

And when you are worse than slave, you'll do anything for the masters.

So the master is not only that's in spring running Springfield, he was running the white house, and that was Joe Biden.

So what y'all gonna do now?

Y'all gonna do anything you can to keep those seats.

But guess what?

When you got black politicians that say ICE is disrupting the black and brown community and stuff, that not the blacks.

No, no, no, no.

No.

So when you got so you not only incompetent, you beyond stupidity.

You your brain's level of policy are like a disease.

So you've got 30 seconds.

It's called coonism.

Oh, I'm gonna go.

Chairman, our next set of speakers.

Yeah, please have Commissioner Murder the roll call.

Thank you, sir.

Next set of speakers, Jessica Saxon.

Please come to the podium.

Mr.

Uh-huh, he's next.

Come on.

Mr.

Brown, come on.

After Mr.

Brown, Jessica Saxon.

Good morning again.

I'm back.

Okay.

Uh I'm representing Rosency, a non-biased action group.

I came to here to thank the Board of Commissioners, President Poor Winkle, Chairman Daley, and everyone who was involved, Commissioner Miller, Commissioner McCasco, thank you guys for allowing us.

Once you look at our statistics, you see that your money was not wasted on our company.

You see that the statistics from 2000 to currently 2025.

Violence is going down in South Suburban West Pullman area.

This is documented.

This information is coming from your Cook Round coroner's office.

So this is, and we've been around the last 20 years doing the same work in the same neighborhoods, and now we're starting to see fruition of our work.

They're putting us out of business, which is a good thing.

Stop killing people.

This is our message.

Come save the community one block at a time with boots on the ground.

I just want to say thank you guys for Commissioner Miller, Commissioner Casco, and all the distinguished board members, thank you for supporting our cause.

Thank you.

All right, Jessica Saxon, if you're in the room, please come to the mic.

Followed by uh Samana George and Dr.

Sandy Norman, if you're in the room, please come to the mic.

Then we're gonna take Bob Glaives.

Uh-huh.

Sasonate George.

We'll move past Dr.

Sandra Norman.

Norman, come on.

Okay.

Good morning, um, Commissioner Daly.

Honor to you and all our commissioners and respectable organizations.

I'm gonna be real brief because I know that we don't have a lot of time.

I just want to say that um as I come, you know, to these meetings, I don't come here because I necessarily want to be here, but I come here because I I have to be here.

And the people that come here, you know, you guys do have a job and you get paid to be here, but I hope that everybody realizes that people take time out of their you know, schedules, and it cost us money to come and to advocate on behalf of our communities.

I'm a young lady, I have a degree, of course, in criminal justice.

My organization is Life Beyond Limits Inc.

And so I worked my way through school, I had a job 5300 North Sheridan.

And this job, I had a man that befriended me, who became like a best friend to me, an older gentleman that I had coffee with every single morning.

Well, when this gentleman died, he would tell me stories about the mob.

He taught me about Columbia neck ties for those of you that don't know what that is.

When that gentleman passed away, I thought all those stories that he told me that they were not real.

But how many of y'all know that when I came back to work, the news was out there at Metropolitan Park sharing it?

I say that to say that as I worked as a security guard, and when I hear the complaints of people like Flip Red, I hear Miss Jessica, I hear Zoe, I hear this brother, and even the uh Marine that you know cried about his children.

These are things that you know that we should not just brush off, but we should look for solutions to try to help people.

And so what I saw was I saw doctors, I saw lawyers as a security guard, people that I had a lot of relationships with, the very people as they talked about that were those judges.

Well, they were doing crack, they were doing drugs, they had drug addictions, they had on, you know, three piece suits, just like you guys here.

And so when we talk about corruption, it exists.

You know, let's not act like these things are not, you know, that they're not happening, you guys, because they are.

But the thing to do is we need to acknowledge that people are hurting, the taxes are going up.

I do violence prevention.

I don't talk violence prevention, I'm out there 12 months a year, documented.

And so I don't I've never gotten any funding from anyone.

I fund it myself.

But I find that when I become to come into these systems, it's so much gatekeeping, money only go to the same organizations, and when you're out there actually doing the work, I had an award from the AFT caucus where they were gonna honor me as a black woman doing the work of saving communities, not just black.

I love my black community 100%, but I'm in other communities also as well.

It was a slap in my face to have the AFT CTU to say we're gonna give you an award and then abruptly just take it back for no reason.

I don't have to agree with the Democrat side all the time, the Republican side, but as an American citizen, I have a right to believe for what I stand in, and it should not be political retribution just because you may have a different opinion.

And your time is expired, ma'am.

Thank you.

Jessica Saxon, followed by Sosama George, then Bob Glaze.

Sorry, you may begin.

Thank you so much.

My name is Jessica Saxon.

I was here last year, and we provided notice to all of you that was in accordance with I think it is it is it on now?

Mike is on.

Uh that was in accordance with Rule 17 and Rule 20 of the United States Supreme Court.

I have not seen any action, nor have I heard from any one of you, so I'm back again.

In March of uh March 15th of 1984, the federal government, what they did was um they exposed one of the most successful corruptions in America, and that was called Operation Greylord.

We actually have a citizen-led investigative team that has for the last couple of years, especially the last couple of months.

We've been extracting information from public records regarding your judges.

All that information is being deposited into repositories across the United States.

These are encrypted, so they cannot be destroyed.

Most of you would not be able to find them.

What I'm here to tell you today is that we have the evidence against your judges.

We have the evidence against your guardian enlightenment, we have the evidence against many of your social workers, CPS workers, your attorneys.

We have the evidence against many of you that are right here, sitting here watching, acting like you don't know what the hell's going on.

But guess what?

We've already established that many of you do.

Many of you look at me like I maybe don't know what I'm talking about.

But I know.

We know, and the evidence is already in our possession.

Deprivation of rights under the color of law.

That's 18 USC 242.

When two or more people conspire to deprive citizens of their rights that are secured and protected by the Constitution, that is 18 USC 241.

In the event that kidnapping occurs, in the event that kidnapping occurs.

While depriving citizens, families, parents, and children of their rights that are secured and protected by the Constitution, there are three punishments that come with that.

It's fines, prison, and death.

Yes, that is a capital punishment.

When you deprive people of their rights and kidnapping occurs, there is a capital punishment that comes with that.

That's not for us to decide, that is for a grand jury to decide.

Nonetheless, it is there.

I'm serving you guys today with affidavits of criminal conspiracy.

Many of these are signed according to 28 USC 1746.

This is prima Fashi evidence against judges in this county.

I would encourage all of you to report these crimes to the FBI.

And that would be pursuant to USC.

Umsection 4, which is misprison of felony that states that if you conceal crimes and you do not report those crimes to some civil or military authority as soon as possible that you and yourself, even if you are not complicit.

I may not have evidence against you now, but if you do not report these crimes, that is a crime in itself.

Please direct me to the clerk so that I can make sure that this gets gets into the leave it with the sheriff.

The next speaker.

Please begin.

Good morning.

My name is Sosama George, and I'm here to request the board's health regarding judicial review board and IDFR.

Both of them are located in your county.

I am requesting a thorough and accurate investigation into the state actors who entrap families in what I would describe as legal slavery.

Some of my case details can be easily accessed through public records, which is the U.S.

Supreme Court.

I have two writs filed in the U.S.

Supreme Court, and they could be easily accessed by just Googling my name.

In November of 2023, my two minor children were completely and traumatically separated from me.

And you would ask why.

That was a day which was supposed to be a pretrial day, but all of a sudden that pretrial day was turned into an emergency hearing because a sealed report from a custody evaluator who was handpicked by the opposing party, accused that there is a medical condition that can only be treated by a therapist, handpicked by the very accusing custody evaluator.

And in fact, the medical records say that I am the fit, loving, and healthy parent.

And on top of it, the medical reports actually point fingers at the opposing party.

Now you would ask with no evidence to support this.

Why didn't I get my children back?

Here's why.

Every source of truth was barred from the trial.

18, I repeat, 18 medical professionals of my children were barred from testifying.

My own psychologist was not allowed to testify.

My rebuttal expert was not allowed to complete a report, forget about testifying in the trial.

And to top it all out, my soon-to-be 16-year-old was not allowed to testify.

And that is awful because the entire case hinged on her facts.

I want to repeat that.

She was not allowed to be interviewed by the judge.

So you would ask what was allowed?

Well, I can tell you what was allowed.

Perjury was allowed, fraud was allowed, due process violations were allowed, and violations of constitutional rights.

And if you want to see some of those examples, please go to the U.S.

Supreme Court website, Google my name, and you will find some of those details.

Lastly, I want to conclude by saying that the family court was not designed to be a trading floor.

Children are real human beings and not commodities to be traded in the family court to maximize profits.

We have federal funding and attorney fees.

The Illinois families, they do not deserve their constitutional rights to the presentation.

Please wrap up your statement.

Time has expired.

Yes.

So that's all I want to say.

Please help us for protection of our constitutional rights.

And thank you for listening.

Bob Blaze is next.

Bob is next, followed by Bob Glaives from the Chicago Bar Foundation.

I want to thank our the entire board and the Bureau of Economic Development and the Circuit Court for your continuing commitment to homelessness prevention, specifically around helping to prevent avoidable evictions in the eviction process.

I'm usually here to talk to you about Cook County legal aid for housing and debt, which, as you've heard from me in the past, has become a national model for improving the process.

A difficult process for everybody.

But today I'm here to speak to line 762, I believe it is, which is a specific request from the Bureau to fund the Illinois Housing and Development.

I can never say Ida for short, uh for uh court-based rental assistance, which is an important compliment to that program.

Uh rental assistance is particularly uh important in the process when we've got people going through temporary uh difficulties where they get behind on rent and end up in eviction court, but they're otherwise good tenants, good relationships with their landlords and stably housed, but for this situation.

Temporary rental assistance that comes through this program makes a huge difference both for the tenants and the landlords, and our entire community is better off when we do not have people go through eviction for that reason.

The state is the primary funder for the rental assistance program through IDA, and they um are projected to run out of money before the end of their fiscal year.

So this grant here that uh is before you today to Ida will allow that program to continue for Cook County residents through most of the rest of the fiscal year for the state, and that's gonna keep literally hundreds of people who otherwise might be in otherwise completely preventable eviction situation from having to go through that.

So uh thank you again for all of your support of the program uh and uh and for this consideration today, too.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Our next set of speakers, please come to the public speaking mic is Jack Solomon, uh Dr.

Kendo, Shirley Dorinsky.

If you're in the room, please come.

Please come.

Jack Solomon, Dr.

Kendall, Shirley Jarinsky, Rod Cheney.

Come to the mic, please begin.

Uh good morning.

Uh my name is Dr.

Jack Solomon.

I'm CEO of organization developing our youth.

Um I've been in education for over 30 years.

I'm here to speak about um the impact of Cook County and education.

Um people are speaking about uh certain funding that's tailored to education and not being appropriately uh put in spaces, but I'm applauding the Cook County Board and the Commissioners for supporting education in the way of mental health.

Um education um resources surrounding education are what's needed.

Um tax bases are heavy when it comes to school districts, so the weight should really be on the school districts for the educational piece and the county for the resources surrounded around education.

I think um pointing the finger to the board um to combat education and the funding, and that way is not appropriate.

I think we should be working together to um service our students in correct in the correct way with resources, excuse me, with resources surrounding education.

The county provides resources to surround education and the educational system.

Um that's what I'm here to speak about and just um applaud the county as a whole.

Um my family has been in education um for over a hundred years.

So I understand this process and need that students need uh and the resources that students need for education to be effective.

School districts cannot do it alone, communities can't do it alone.

We have to be a consortium of resources and um services to make education work correctly.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, next speaker.

Come to the mic, any order and tell us your name.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Shirile Drawinski, and I am the mayor of the city of Harvey.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Today I'm here to express my appreciation to President Prequinkle, Commissioner Keeshev McCasco, and everyone who has assisted us with funding.

We know Harvey is going through a challenging time.

I was so excited to hear from the mayor of uh Melrose.

Because that is our Harvey.

That is going to be our next Harvey.

Um I want to say thank you for your leadership, for your commitment.

You have made a difference in the South suburbs in not only in these towns, but most importantly, to the residents.

And I happen to be a resident of Harvey, so I am very grateful.

So I am very grateful.

The dollars are just not paper.

These are really impacting the services that you are applying are applying to the South suburbs are beneficial, beneficial to the people's lives.

I'm a little nervous here.

So I I just want to say thank you.

I want to say that I'm truly grateful for the partnership.

I want to continue that partnership.

And your investment in the Southland.

We together, not one individual.

I hear a lot of people here, and a lot of people have concerns.

It's not one, it's all of us.

We have to work together.

And in order for us to work together, we need to communicate.

And it sounds that you are allowing everyone a right to voice their concerns.

So I thank you for that.

Now I want to say thank you to President Frankwinkle to the board.

And God bless.

And congratulations.

And Harvey's gonna be the next Melrose, right?

Congratulations, Mayor.

Maybe thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Have a great day.

Dr.

Kendall from Robins Park District.

Is Dr.

Kendall in the room?

Robins Park District.

Rod Cheney.

Kendall Parrott.

Tell us your name.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is uh Kendall Parrott.

Uh thank you for allowing me to be here this morning.

I'd like to say uh on behalf of the Village of Robbins and the Southland, I'd like to thank uh President Preckwinkle.

My commissioner, Commissioner McCaskill, for the outstanding services in investing in Cook in the Southland to minimize food deserts throughout the Southland, especially in those communities where there is no grocery store, no sustainable place for individuals in the community to shop, and also to continue to invest those dollars in those communities for children for economic development, for workforce development, and to make the Southland a much better and brighter area for people to live, serve, and get an education.

Thank you so much.

Rod Cheney.

Good morning, everybody.

Morning, commissioners, morning everybody.

I got some good news.

Okay, can we can we get some good news in here?

Yes.

Okay.

They call me Coach Cheney.

Okay.

You know, you see, I'm out there with the kids.

I'm wearing boots on the ground for real.

Okay.

Okay.

Uh I'm part of the executive director of developing our youth uh NFP.

Uh I'd like to thank very much, very much.

Uh let me give you a little history.

Last year, this time, we were in some dire straits.

Okay, we were working, we have programs as far west as Maywood, and as far east and northwest as Gary.

We touch, and this is annually, over 3,000 kids.

It's not including the family, the parents.

We we affect over 3,000 kids.

We can't do this without you.

There's no way this is gonna happen.

I didn't come here to ask for money.

What I did is come here to ask for your collaboration, your partnership.

Okay.

I would like to thank.

Last year, last year.

One copy.

Last year, we almost closed our doors.

We almost closed our doors last year in Maywood.

You saw the mayor that just came up here.

Okay.

We're doing some fantastic things with the kids, not just in Maywood, the whole surrounding community, Bellwood, Broadview, okay.

Oak Parking.

We go far south as Harvey, South Holland, Calumet City, Calumet Park, Dixmoor, Chicago Heights, Ford Heights.

We can't do this without you.

I like to thank today.

Person has been in office probably less than a year, I think.

Dr.

Keisha McCaskill.

I've been knowing Keisha McCaskill probably for what almost two decades.

She got into this position, and she didn't waver at all.

She came and helped.

She said, What can I do?

And what and what can we do for the kids?

Also, I'd like to thank President Tony Pritwinkle.

Without the bridge loan program, we would have closed our doors in Maywood.

I thank Dr.

Adolphus Kendall for helping me to facilitate it.

And he walked me through.

We were two weeks away from closing our doors.

Two weeks.

I mean no staff.

No, we do the senior program.

30 seconds.

We have over we have over 120 something kids in that Maywood program alone with after school, boxing, sports, and so on and so forth.

During the holiday, we would have closed our doors.

Dr.

Kendall, thank you.

And thank President Preckwinkle for providing the opportunity for the Bridgelow program to keep our doors open.

So during the holidays, them kids have somewhere to go.

We facilitated over 1,200 kids from October to December during that critical time where they have haunted houses and Thanksgivings and Christmas parties.

We were there for them.

We did over 24 repair.

So I'd like to thank really President Prickwinkle.

Dr.

Keisha McCaskill on the South Side, thank you so much.

Dr.

Kendall, thank you so much for helping me facilitate.

Thank you very much.

And very much thank you, sir.

Commissioner I'm Mr.

Cheney.

I want to thank you.

You got wonderful kids that have been there a couple of times.

And you know, you those are future leaders, and I want to thank you for the work that you've been doing in Maywood and the Riso area.

Thank you.

Commissioner McClask.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Commissioner McCaskill.

Um I just wanted to make one comment.

Thank you.

Okay, for going on.

When someone is speaking, we're going to give them the same respect you had.

I wanted to acknowledge Shirley Jwensky, our new um interim mayor in the village of Harvey in the city of Harvey.

Um we have had a huge transition, as many of the board members know.

I typically come and say things about Harvey or getting things together in the Southland.

She stepped right in and she immediately reached out to find out what services and resources were available through the county.

I think most of the issue is that a lot of people don't know exactly what we offer.

So as commissioners, we've been really trying to be as diligent as possible about all of us getting out more in our communities to make sure that information is available.

So I just want to extend that to you again, and we'll continue to work in partnership to make sure we bring Harvey back.

I know there's a lot of concern about Harvey, but I agree with you.

It's going to be like Maywood and what's happening in Provisal and all of the other counties.

So we're all working as commissioners to bring our cities up.

But I want you to know that it's not just me.

All 17 commissioners are just as concerned about Harvey as we are about other areas.

So please know that we are working together.

Thank you.

Somebody of importance said, keep the hope alive.

So we're keeping the hope alive in Harvey.

Thank you.

Thank you guys so much, Toby.

Thank you.

Jennifer Baron.

And as a coach, don't stop fighting.

Thank you.

Jennifer Barron is next, followed by Carl Malcott, and then Danielle Anarati.

Jennifer, are you here?

Jennifer Barron.

Come on.

Carl, are you here?

Yes.

Okay, you're after Jennifer.

Danielle, where are you?

Amorati.

Please stand.

Go ahead.

Jennifer.

Go ahead, Jennifer.

Good morning, Commissioners.

My name is Jennifer Barron, and I am an Illinois protective parent who has been involved in family court proceedings since 2017.

I am here today because my experience has revealed serious concerns about the lack of oversight and accountability for professionals whose opinions can influence custody decisions affecting children.

These circumstances culminated in a situation where my fundamental parental rights were effectively suspended when I was placed on a no contact order with my child, despite previously obtaining an emergency order of protection for both myself and my child.

These restrictions were imposed without due process of law, without an evidentiary hearing, and without findings of fact and conclusions of law that I had harmed neglected or seriously endangered my child.

Following this, a hearing was not held for approximately eight months.

And the same restrictions were continued despite the absence of clear and convincing evidence that my child was at risk of harm in my care.

Throughout my case, several professionals played significant roles in the outcome of my family court matter.

For example, a pediatrician provided custody recommendations despite not being appointed by the court and outside the normal scope of pediatric medical practice.

Those recommendations were submitted in unsworn letters, and the pediatrician never testified in open court regarding those opinions.

Similarly, a child therapist involved in the matter has never testified in open court regarding concerns raised in the case, including disclosures of abuse that were not fully documented or properly reported, which raises serious concerns about whether mandatory reporting obligations were fulfilled.

At the same time, the guardian enlightened to the case conducted an investigation that did not include interviews with my witnesses and consideration of all documented evidence.

These experiences also raise serious questions about whether clear standards for guarding ad lightum investigations may be warranted, including trauma-informed training and qualifications and clear investigative standards when child safety concerns are involved.

These concerns extend beyond my individual case and raise broader questions about oversight systems affecting families across Illinois.

I have pursued multiple oversight channels.

I filed a complaint with the Illinois Attorney General Civil Rights Division and was referred to the Judicial Inquiry Board with my case number.

I also filed complaints with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation regarding licensed professionals involved in the matter.

Those complaints were open but remain unresolved, and I was informed that progress on at least one of these investigations appeared to depend on the developments and the family court case.

This raises serious questions about whether families have meanings, meaningful access to independent oversight.

When licensed professionals influence custody outcomes, and I would welcome any board assistance or guidance the board may be able to provide in addressing this gap.

I have exhausted appellate remedies and am preparing to seek review before the Illinois Supreme Court.

My purpose in speaking today is to highlight a broader issue affecting families navigating the family court system.

Families depend on these systems to protect children and in terms of the question.

Wrap up your statement time is expired.

When oversight systems fail to respond or quickly or transparently, children can remain in harmful situations while families wait months, sometimes years for account accountability.

I personally have not seen my daughter in going on a year and a half now.

Thank you for your statement, Carl.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you, Madam Clerk, Vice Chair.

Um I come here today to talk about something that is going on that is not getting that much awareness about.

And I have a feeling that as great as I think you are, Clerk Monica Gordon, I think Chappelle Hooks might be doing this to you, and you're not being open about it.

Um there is this on set of AI audio hallucinations.

I was admitted on January 28 to Lyndon Oaks with an unknown psychosis.

The psychosis was an auditory hallucination from my roommate.

I also had other things, an unexplained migraine from wave abuse.

It would sound like I'm schizophrenic, but I know that my executive function is there.

Me and the vice chair have had many phone conversations.

I miss our phone conversations.

But there is this thing, this epidemic going on that we're not talking about.

And it is AI audio hallucinations and wave violence.

I would like to ask the board today if I am one of those weighty and honorable Cook County residents, that they take action over AI audio hallucinations and wave violence now.

AI is not getting any kind of regulatory management right now, but we are the premier county within the country to actually do stuff first.

We do things far beyond Los Angeles, far beyond just our little towns.

And I know that I could be in Springfield and think that I am around some of the most powerful people in the room in Springfield, but the most powerful people in the room in Springfield are here right now.

So I call upon you both the Democratic Party of Cook County and sorry, just a little stressed.

It's a hard thing to talk about.

Okay.

And to take action over these AI audio hallucinations and wave violence.

It's happening in our cities, and right now, Northeastern Illinois University, where I am a student at is being targeted very highly by it.

And I feel um that the clerk is being targeted by it by Chappelle Hooks and Harvey, and I feel that now that needs to go before the ethics board because compromise.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Daniela Anarati.

Daniela.

Okay, we're gonna give respect to the individual who's speaking like you respect respect.

Go ahead.

Hello, my name is Daniel Nerati, and I am here speaking against injustices in CPS and DCFS.

Family court system on the behalf of my son, myself, and the people of Illinois.

On September 30th, 2020, during COVID, my son was removed from me by an investigator named Blake Box and two police officers.

They came to my house to remove my child without providing me any court order warrant or paperwork explaining why they were taking him.

I was threatened with an arrest and told I would be charged with kidnapping if I did not give him over.

He was my only child after constant miscarriages and 14 years of infertility.

He's my only child.

My son was ripped from my arms as he cried and screamed for me, but I could not do anything about it.

I wasn't allowed to see my son for several weeks and found out it was due to multiple hotline calls that were never properly investigated.

There are many services that are offered through the state and through CPS that should have been first before making a decision to remove my son, which I have was never offered.

No safety plan and no alternative ways to work through the accusations while my son stayed in the home.

From my hearing, I had to go through evaluation after evaluation while they kept my son for me.

I lost so much time with my son, they forced excessive drug drops and alcohol tests.

Yet my child wasn't taken for these reasons.

All because of how excessive it was.

I lost my job.

The system is made made it unbearable.

They canceled visits with my son, or they would arrive at the visit spot and they just didn't show up.

I would ask for holidays and birthdays with my son, and they wouldn't even allow me the chance.

I asked them not to cut his hair due to the religious reasons, and they discarded just disregarded my request.

They coached my family members, Corey and Blanca Bender to turn against me.

They would cancel family team meetings, which were supposed to be done every three months.

The foster parents accused me of coaching my son, yet I barely ever had time with him, which that makes no sense.

They lied about service repli providers.

One minute and notes and notes.

I've endured constant harassment through this six-year process.

At my last hearing, my case worker, Albanio Perry Burks laughs miled and stuck her tongue out at me.

She was accusatory and also accused me of being pregnant.

My son was not hurt and uh was not hurt with me more in foster care.

He had bumps, bruises, scratches, and scars.

Yet every time I asked these things happen, I was always left in the dark.

When my son was in my care, the only time he went to the doctor was for his shots.

Um they cause mental, emotional, and mental emotional harm, and they put parents through.

I have been dealing with this for going on six years now.

I got sick and tired, so I went back to school, became a dental assistant and a CNA.

I have no felonies, but yet they put my son with the known felon.

I work 16 hours a day to prov to be able to provide myself with an attorney.

And didn't know.

Thank you.

Our next list of speakers.

If you are in the room, please come to the mic.

Aaron Murphy.

Aaron Murphy, Dr.

Nicole Scott, Mary Gore, Sharon Brown, I'm sorry, Sarah Brown, and Diane Brown.

If you're in the room, please, in whatever order you get to the mic, please announce yourself.

Thank you.

My name is Aaron Murphy.

I'm the superintendent of West Northfield School District 31, serving Glenview and Northbrook.

I'm here today with my colleague, uh Mary Gore, superintendent at Mount Prospect District 57.

We represent a coalition of super suburban superintendents impacted by the delayed tax bills that led to delayed tax receipts, and frankly, a season of inconsistent and incomplete communication.

Our coalition has since been joined by our suburban library partners who have echoed our same concerns.

When districts asked why this happened, the explanation ranged from the treasurer's office to Tyler Technologies.

What appeared to be missing was clear and countywide oversight and coordination.

Even now, as the spring collection has begun, the fall distribution is still not fully reconciled.

Some taxing bodies have not received their full funds, while others have received more than anticipated.

Because there is no visible reconciliation, serious questions remain about the accuracy of the distributions already made and the overall integrity of the system that manages these funds.

For districts like ours, the impact has been real and it impacts kids.

We lost money through broken investments, lost investment opportunities, and the interest costs associated with tax anticipation warrants.

This situation forced us to ask questions about accountability, restitution, and accurate financial accounting of taxpayer dollars.

While these concerns remain, I do want to acknowledge and celebrate that in recent days we have begun to see movement towards solutions.

We also thank her for the recent communication outlining an action plan.

Specifically, we appreciate the commitment to hold a public hearing that brings together the various property tax offices and bodies and Tyler Technology so that the process can be discussed open and transparently.

We also support the plan for a thorough audit of the 2024 property tax collections and distributions with particular attention on the technology system involved.

And finally, we welcome the President's Office's commitment to improve communication, including updates at key milestones in the property tax cycle.

While we still need some clarity on the hearing timeline and the audit scope, this is the first time many of us have felt that our concerns are being taken seriously, and that the stewardship of taxpayer taxpayer dollars is receiving the attention it deserves.

We are not ready to let go of this issue, but we are willing to engage constructively, learn about the timeline and next steps, and remain part of the communication loop as solutions develop.

Our hope is that this effort represents a genuine commitment to improve the system for the students and communities we serve.

The educators and librarians we represent are hopeful because of this recent outreach, but we will remain diligent.

Um, and if there is one thing to know about educators and librarians working together, is that we are a formidable force when we are advocating for our communities.

We look forward to seeing this plan in action.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Ma'am, tell me your name.

Who's behind you, Aaron?

Thank you.

That was Aaron speaking, right?

And Mary Gore, thank you.

Dr.

Nikelo Scott.

Good morning, members of Cook County Board.

Thank you for this opportunity to speak with you today.

My name is Dr.

Nicole Scott, founder and executive director of American Association of Single Parents, the organization that's behind Free Indeed Market located in the Southland community of Dalton.

I am here today with a clear and urgent message.

More investment is needed in the Southland, and we need it now.

Communities in the Southland have done more with less.

We have strong residents, dedicated leaders, and organizations working every single day to help stabilize families.

But far too often, when resources are distributed, those dollars return to the same organizations outside of the Southland.

While many of the organizations doing the daily work in our communities continue to operate with extremely limited financial support.

Since opening Free Indeed Market, we have served more than 50,000 households across Cook County.

Families come to our market, not just from the Southland, but throughout Cook County.

We regularly see residents traveling from Chicago all the way to Dalton because they literally get to grocery shop 100% free.

Free Indeed Market has become a staple in the community.

A place families depend on week after week to help keep food on their tables.

What started as a local response to food insecurity has grown into a Cook County resource located in the Southland.

And that work is now part of something even bigger.

The development of the ABBA Recreation and Resource Center, a community hub connecting food access with workforce development, youth programming, and family supportive services.

But the truth is simple.

Investment, more investment is needed, and investment is needed now in organizations that are boots on the ground.

Investment is needed in the solutions that are already working because when you invest in the Southland, you are not just funding programs.

You are strengthening families and you are stabilizing communities.

The Southland has never lacked commitment or solutions.

What it has lacked is investment.

Today is an opportunity to change that.

The work is already happening in the Southland.

What we need now is the investment to match it.

Please choose to invest in the Southland.

Thank you for your time and your leadership.

Is Sarah Brown?

Diane Brown.

Laura Dirks.

Any of you in the room, please come to the mic.

Victoria Rakowski.

Zoe Phillips.

Joshua Bancock.

Please start.

If you're if I called your name, you're in the room.

Please come line up.

Introduce yourself.

Good morning.

Laura Dirks.

Good morning, President Preckwinkle and Board of Commissioners.

I thank you, Commissioner Degnan, for your outstanding leadership on climate action and specifically on your introduction of these three resolutions today.

All of them take a stand on ways we can hold the fossil fuel industry accountable to our planet and to our communities.

My name is Laura Dirks.

I live in Oak Park and facilitate the Oak Park Climate Action Network.

I'm also coordinating the Illinois campaign opposing big oils push for legal immunity.

I speak this morning in strong support for resolution number 260978, a resolution directed to our U.S.

Congress and its Illinois delegation to oppose the push by the fossil fuel industry for legal immunity at the national level.

As we are all acutely aware, Chicagoans and nearby suburban communities must fiercely protect our rights from federal overreach, intrusion, and violation of rights.

In addition to these ongoing threats, the very real threat we face as a nation are corporations grabbing as much power as possible.

Right now, the fossil fuel industry is urging Congress to take away our right to hold them accountable by giving them legal immunity.

The tobacco industry and the opioid industry cause billions in damage to our health and well-being until they were charged, tried, and proven guilty.

Billions in settlement funds have been and are continuing to support Illinois programs, including Medicaid to help pay for health care services.

These harmful industries were not above the law.

The fossil fuel industry is asking to be above the law.

For decades, they have known and deceived us about the impact of greenhouse gas emissions from burning coal, methane, gas, and oil.

Our state has experienced firsthand the detrimental impacts of climate change.

Flooding, extreme heat, polluted air, intensified tornadoes, wildfire smoke from the north and the west, all affecting our health and well-being, especially those communities closest to industrial areas.

In 2024, the city of Chicago has shown its commitment to climate action by taking legal action to make big oil pay for its role in climate change.

Additionally, new legislation in Springfield, also honored here today, will set up a climate superfund that Senator Guzman spoke about that will support communities most affected by climate change and asks fossil fuels to pay for it.

Both of these methods, legislation, and lawsuits would be null and void in perpetuity if this industry gains legal immunity.

In fact, any opportunity to ask big oil to pay for its share of climate mitigation and resilience would be eliminated at all levels of government with legal immunity.

Congress is working on legislation right now that will provide this privilege and power to this trillion dollar industry.

The climate crisis is exacerbating the affordability crisis by driving up costs for taxpayers and local governments.

We can't let massive fossil fuel companies eliminate our ability to make them pay their fair share.

Thank you, Commissioner Dugnan, for introducing this resolution that urges Congress to reject this dangerous idea of giving legal immunity to industries that cause harm in our state, our county, our city.

Resolution and appreciate the opportunity to voice my opinion.

Come to the mic, introduce yourself.

Hi.

Good morning.

My name is Sarah Brown.

I am gonna first lead with I do appreciate the opportunity to stand before these amazing uh commissioners.

Uh I am uh not only a resident of the Southland, but also a business owner.

Uh I am here to um definitely extend my heartfelt gratitude uh to Commissioner Donna Miller for um sponsoring a resolution and for her years of steadfast work to improve maternal health in Cook County.

Um today is uh it uh do a day, and so doas are more than just birth support professionals, they are advocates, educators, and emotional pillars for families during one of the most transformative times in their lives.

Their presence helps ensure their expectant parents feel empowered, informed, and supported as they navigate prenatal care, prenatal care, labor, and postpartum adjustments.

Research consistently shows that the involvement of doulas can lead to improved health outcomes, reduced rates of um cesarean sections, and cesareans.

Yeah, know what I'm saying.

And more positive work experiences.

As we uh commemorate this day, let us reflect on the work that lies ahead.

I'm gonna end there because I'm more of a um just kind of natural, and I just want to address everyone that's in a room.

Uh the amazing work is not just because I support on other things that she does, um, but I personally just had a met with a client last night, it's tax time, uh, and she's the nurse, and so in the South Land region, if anyone knows, um, is desolate with um uh affordable health care, efficient health care that is.

Um, and this is a constant issue when it comes down to um minority women having um appropriate health care.

Um, and so this program has definitely helped.

Um I was definitely excited to hear just before my efforts to come here this morning that how impactful this is, um and it can be with more investment, of course, in the Southland.

Um, but just want to thank you guys for your time today.

Thank you.

Is Diane Brown here?

Diane, is she here?

Diane Brown?

Is she speaking or not?

Thank you.

Please come to the mic, tell us who's next.

Any order?

It's okay.

Tell us your name.

Hi, um, thank you so much for letting me be here today.

Um, my name is Vicky Rukowski.

I'm the director of the Forest Park Public Library.

It's really an honor to be able to address you all and to be able to speak on behalf of the 52 um suburban Cook County libraries that were impacted by the tax bill delays.

Um, you know, I'm not here today to yell or scream, so everybody can relax.

Um I'm here to tell you about the roof over my romance section at Forest Park Public Library.

So for about three years now I've been dealing with a persistent leak above romance, which is super unromantic.

Um our warranty company just can't seem to isolate the source of the leak.

So every time it rains, we hope the patch holds, and sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.

So it's an understatement to say that these systems are on their last legs.

And replacement for our HVAC and our roof, which need to happen like yesterday, would conservatively cost about 1.3 million dollars or 55% of my annual budget.

Our plan for the next fiscal year was to issue a debt certificate and fund the repairs through a combination of modest capital savings and a structured 10-year repayment plan.

However, going six months without tax revenue means we've decimated the six months of general operating reserves we typically maintain.

So that leaves us without the cushion that we need to make these crucial repairs or the opportunity to transfer funds to capital savings.

So I'm resigning myself to another year of coming in after every storm to see if we made it through without disaster striking until we can build our reserves back up again.

So while my roof and my romance section are specific to me, there are a lot of stories we directors could tell you about the impact of this situation.

Some libraries were looking at closing their doors because they literally couldn't afford to pay staff.

This wasn't poor stewardship.

This was a lack of delivery of funds to which we are legally entitled to provide services to our taxpayers in our communities.

We can't make insurance premiums, electric bills, or building repairs magically disappear, or just ask people to wait for payment while we shake the couch cushions for change.

If you walk away remembering anything I said today, I hope it will be this.

Many of your Cook County libraries were weeks, not months, away from disaster.

And the danger is not over for us until we are made whole.

And I did just learn about the audit.

I really want to say thank you for doing that, and um, we're fully behind and support that.

Um, on behalf of my colleagues and myself, I'm asking you to please distribute the remainder of the second installment payments.

They are crucial for us to be able to run our organizations.

I promise you that if libraries disappear tomorrow, much of what we all enjoy about a democratic society would also disappear.

And I want you to know it was an uncomfortably near thing for several of us, and our confidence in the system is shaken.

I do want to thank you, commissioners, because you have been most responsive to our struggles, and I think you've done the most to actually help us get our funding back and in order.

Thank you very much.

I know everybody wants to focus on the future, and for all of our sakes, I hope the system that we've been upgrading is fixed.

And I can stop worrying about this, and I can get back to my roof.

Um, in the future, we hope to see an effective line of communication between the treasurer's office, the county, and the taxing bodies, all of the taxing bodies.

Thank you.

Who's next?

Is Zoe in the room?

Zoe Phillips, followed by Joshua Bandel.

May I just interrupt for just one moment if the speaker will indulge me?

Um this particular issue.

Yes, Commissioner Britt.

Thank you, Madam President.

Um, and thank you to the librarians and the superintendents of people who are very close to my heart in my district, many of whom I know very well, who just came and uh either spoke or was present here today.

I certainly understand the continuing problem that has been created by this system.

And I'm not going to go through all of the different reasons why we are here where we are.

I'll just make two quick observations.

One, I do think that the system is now going to be working.

We did get the bills out for this next installment.

And I do think that the money is going to be able to flow in in the expected way, which you know only has been done on time since President Preckwinkle has been president of the Cook County Board.

And secondly, I have now grown as disgusted as I can be by the fact that I feel that another separately elected official has both treated our libraries and our superintendents rudely with obscene language and in a way that was completely unprofessional.

And if you want to talk to them after this, you can find out exactly what happened.

It is not acceptable to me that this happens.

I do not supervise the other elected officials in this county, but I am the chairman of the legislation and intergovernmental relations committee of this board, and I will call a hearing with a resolution next month to have the treasurer come in and answer the questions that have been raised by Tyler Technology, which are profoundly disturbing.

And a letter that in my 25 years as an elected official, I've never seen anything like it.

And we're going to get those answers.

We're going to make sure that the remainder of this money is distributed, and this board will continue to commit itself to bring to light everything that's going on in a separately elected official who we cannot control, but who, I believe, has created perhaps intentionally, issues that do not need to exist.

And those hearings will happen, that audit will happen, and I hope that you will all come and ask your questions then as well.

Thank you.

So you are next.

Zoe?

Yes, thank you.

Uh good morning.

I hi, hello.

My name is Zoe Phillips.

I'm reading testimony from someone who has been incarcerated in Cook County jail for more than two years.

So this is what this is what this individual said.

Because this judge is a belligerent judge, he's literally stood up and told the bailiff to take the pen out of my hand because I could use it as a weapon.

And I literally picked it up, I showed it to him.

I said, This is a flex pen that Cook County Jail sells on their commissary.

I meant it.

I said, how can I use this as a weapon?

He didn't say anything, but he wanted the bailiff to take it out of my hand.

I had to give it to the bailiff because I take notes in here.

That's why everything he does and everything that they say, I pay close attention to it and I take my notes.

Because when I went to court for my crend's cousin, the state's attorney came up to me and asked me, Who are you?

I told the state's attorney.

I said, I'm here to advise, I'm here to monitor the court.

I'm a constitutional monitor, and I belong to the National Lawyers Guild.

I'm an international member.

I'm not a member of just one chapter.

And they got so scared.

You could see the state attorney went and whispered something into the judge's ear, and she popped her head up and looked at me.

And I could read her lips because one of my childhood friends was deaf.

So I had to learn how to read lips and do sign language.

And she whispered, she didn't cover her mouth, so I was able to read her lips.

She goes, I want him out of the courtroom as soon as possible.

So they pleaded my friend out to one year that day.

It's like they just they don't want people observing what's going on in the courtroom.

Um that was uh that was testimony from someone in Co County jail.

In 2026, the Cook County Board approved 12 new positions for the state's attorney's office and a budget increase.

According to Cook County 2026 approved appropriations, the Strait's Attorney Office currently has a 2 uh 20 uh 253 million dollar budget, more than double the 117 dollar million dollar public defender budget.

There are dozens and dozens of people inside county jail who have been on um pretrial for more than several years.

I I urge you to um reconsider the budget appropriations and devote more to public defense and less to the state's attorney.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Joshua's next, followed by Grishia Garcia.

Good morning, everyone.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak here today.

We have a remarkable opportunity to promote equity and bring much needed money to our public schools before us.

We can bring precious resources to our students to help them thrive and unleash their potential.

That's why it's imperative that the Cook County Board pass resolution 26-0974 and encourage the state to opt into the federal scholarship tax credit program.

Last summer, Congress created this program whereby anyone can donate up to $1,700 to public or private schools and receive a federal tax credit.

This money can support a wide range of educational services, including tutoring, supplemental instruction, instructional materials, online coursework, educational therapies for students with disabilities, standardized testing and college admissions fees exam fees, and dual course enrollment.

Scholarship money does not replace or divert local, state, or federal education funding.

It adds to it through private funding from members of our community.

This program will be fueled by the generosity of our neighbors and their passion for investing in our schools.

Illinoisans are generous, and we should support this generosity.

Illinois residents support this program by wide margins.

Support for the scholarship program is bipartisan too.

Recently, Illinois State Comptroller Susan Mendoza spoke out in favor of Illinois opting in.

A majority of states, 27 thus far, including Colorado, Nevada, and Virginia, have already opted into the program, and more undoubtedly will follow.

If Illinois decides not to opt in, our students will lose.

That's because Illinois residents can still donate money to students in other states, since this is a federal, not state tax credit.

Rejecting free money for students is simply inequitable.

We know our students are struggling.

They need resources.

Illinoisans stand ready to provide these resources.

Rejecting this federal program only hurts the people who need opportunity most.

Students, our future leaders, and workers.

Support equity, support opportunity, and empowerment.

Support this resolution.

Thank you.

Grishia Garcia, are you in the room?

Come on to the mic.

After that will be Gwen Sampson.

My name is Graciela Garcia.

Give me one moment.

I am visually impaired, so let me get my statement.

So I am reading testimony for a gentleman, uh an inmate at Cook County Jail, that uh February 28th, he made 15 years pretrial.

He's at Discovery right now.

He says, I am not a convicted man, but I live in a cell where I'm forced to sleep on a top bunk despite suffering from seizures.

And when I put in a crust a request for a bottom bunk, my for my safety, I am not helped.

I'm accused of medical manipulation.

Meanwhile, I stand and I watch two to three times a week as I see other men who are denied medication and mental health services they desperately need.

The neglect here isn't an accident, it is the policy.

And why am I still waiting?

Because the delays are still the same that in their plate between the district attorney's office and the state's attorney's office.

And even with my own lawyer, they combine to push my case back.

And when I try to fight back by using the law library, which he was allowed to allow to represent himself pro se, the judge admonished him that he was not going to have access to the law library, that he could access it through the tablet.

On my deck of 48 of us, we are forced to share just four tablets.

We need these tablets to complete programs, and most importantly, to stay in touch with our families.

But because there aren't enough, I'm often left unable to call home, unable to see my children.

And when my family manages to come here or to schedule a video visit, I am forced to see them with my hands cuffed behind my back and video visitations.

I'm unable to hear or see the screen properly.

I'm not asking for luxury.

I am asking for medical care for a safe bunk and for a trial.

After 15 years, I am asking for due process to be treated as a human being.

What I'm going to show here today is what women and men who are incarcerated are fed every day.

This is three slices of bread, a tablespoon of peanut butter, two teaspoons of jelly, uh drink mix, and uh and uh uh grown olive bar.

This is their lunch.

Three slices of bread, one slice of bologna, and a drink packet.

This is their dinner.

Three slices of bread, one cup of rice, three meatballs, and a snack pack of cookie.

I was unable to find a um container of milk small enough to display, but it is what a child a child is served at lunch.

And that is what our money is going for the for the women and men that are incarcerated in Cook County Jail today.

Gwen Sampson is next.

Gwyn, are you in the room?

Gwen Sampson.

If not, we're gonna go to the virtual speakers.

Thank you.

Romisha Tucker.

Oh, Gwen.

Please begin.

Thank you.

Good morning.

My name is Reverend Gwen Sampson, and I serve as director of All Things Through Christ Outreach Ministries and its food pantry in Inglewood.

We are a legacy partner of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, who stood here today advocating for hunger and uh capacity building for the partners who helped to serve uh the low-income and marginalized and individuals needing food.

Although I'm retired from federal service in 2017, I stepped fully into this work after the passing of my mother in 2020.

She founded this organization, and continuing this mission has become a calling for me.

Altogether, I've spent more than 35 years supporting this work and the neighbors who rely on organizations like us to help them receive the benefits and the services that are not necessarily equal across all regions.

What began as a small church-based pantry has grown into a community food access network.

Today we operate a client choice pantry, allowing families to select foods that meet their needs while preserving dignity.

We also collaborate with other pantries and work to raise the root causes of hunger through food rescue, community gardening, and partnerships.

Through their support, we have improved food storage and distribution, expanded volunteer engagement, and helped neighbors enroll in programs that are totally under fire today, including the SNAP program and the public health insurance of Medicaid.

Today we are preparing for one minute.

The next step in our growth.

We own land where we hope to build a new pantry facility that reflects the scale of need in our community.

After more than 30 years of operating from our church, we are truly bursting at the seams with people with food and with the desire to serve more who are in need today.

What we have accomplished is the result of sustained investment and partnership.

And with continued support, organizations like ours can do even more to strengthen food security in communities like Inglewood.

Investments in the Greater Chicago Food Depository are investments in community partners like us.

Organizations rooted in the neighborhoods and committed to ensuring that no family has no face, has to face, I'm sorry, hunger alone.

Thank you so much for this opportunity and your time.

Ramesha Tucker, followed by Adrian Bobot, then Mark Armstrong.

If you are connected, turn on your camera so that we can see you.

Romisha Tucker.

Adrian Bobot, Mark Armstrong.

Are any of you there?

Turn on your own.

I'm here.

Romesha.

Ramisha, please begin.

I don't see you, but go ahead.

There you go.

Go ahead and start.

Oh, yeah, my camera.

Sorry.

Okay.

Um, my name is Romisha Tucker, um, and I am the director of prevention diversion and street outreach at Housing Forward.

My programs are um homeless prevention services, shelter services, um, and diversion.

Um, and I am in I am here to speak in support of prevention funds and the housing problem, problem solving solution funds for diversion and rapid resolution.

Um, we uh use those funds when um shelter is not a safe option um for um for families and uh and single uh individuals.

Um those funds allow us uh to rapidly be able um to have a safe alternative um for um individuals.

Um couple examples.

Um we had a mom who was fleeing DV and her um significant other or ex um significant other abuser.

Um he had placed a tracking device um on our car and vehicle, and we didn't know about it.

Um, and so she had she couldn't get into a DV shelter.

Um shelter at the time was at capacity.

She went um to stay at a family member's house.

Um, and he tracked her at that family member's house.

Um, and um he ended up um he attacking her.

Um, and so we she re-established uh communication um with us um and with those funds.

Um, we were able to um safely send her um out of state uh to another family member.

Uh we have had other instances uh where again uh chat shelter is just at capacity.

Um, and the alternative to um being able to have those funds and send some uh and send uh um individual someplace else is them staying um on this uh on the street.

Uh and within the last two years, our agencies specifically, we've um used uh about uh sixty thousand dollars uh in uh in uh in funds um and assisting um households.

Um so I just wanted to speak to the importance of those uh those funding sources uh specifically and just uh the the safe shelter alternative um that they um that they provide.

And um that's that's all I have to say.

Thank you for your testimony.

Blair Janice and Aiden Morando.

Are you connected, Blair and Aiden?

We are connected, and uh Blair is taking care of uh a baby at the moment, so I'm going to give her comment, and then I can go into mine if that's all right.

Yeah, go ahead, please.

Okay.

Uh forgive me, let me pull it up.

Okay.

On behalf of Blair Janice, she is a volunteer of the or an organizer of the 19th District Mutual Aid, a fully volunteer-run group that is was founded in the spring of 2023 in response to the influx of new arrivals being busted from Texas to Chicago.

Our work is fully supported by individual charity and those with a willingness to support those in need and continue to operate in support of these new arrivals and residents across the county.

For 110 days, while folks were at the police station, we provided food, showers, clothing, and helped identify and escalate medical needs with local officials as people awaited shelter placement.

Every time somebody needed advanced or urgent medical care, we were grateful for President Preckwinkle's leadership, as well as the medical staff and doctors and nurses at Cook County Health who provided exceptional care.

Cook County Health accepts and provides access to care for everyone who comes through their door, including our new neighbors.

In these challenging times, as much as we remain appreciative of the generosity of Cook County residents and mutual, the mutual aid just simply isn't enough.

And we feel that across the county.

Our systems have to work for all of us.

New arrivals, unhouse Chicagoans, uninsured, uninsured children and families need health care they can count on.

And county care is that safety net for all of us.

This was critical in welcoming our new neighbors, most of whom had walked nearly 3,000 miles to the US with chronic health conditions, carrying children, some were expecting mothers.

And we, when they arrived here, were able to provide them with dignity and safety that they sought.

Another systems level support that has been critical to the safety and well-being of our neighbors has been the welcoming county ordinance, strengthening protections for our immigrants by restricting local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration agents who oftentimes aren't using the proper channels or providing due process.

At every turn, President Preckwinkle leverages the capabilities of the county to care for our residents, from new arrivals to lifelong Chicagoans.

She has supported local school patrols, convened with teachers, neighbors, and organizers to encourage our efforts and recognize leadership in protecting children and families.

President Preckwinkle and many of you on this board came together to urge Cook County State's attorney to investigate crimes by ICE agents to the maximum extent within the law.

I encourage the commissioners to vote yes on 260798 to continue Cook County's record of standing with protecting all the rights of residents.

Thank you on behalf of Blair.

And now for mine.

So good morning, President Preckwinkle and Commissioners.

My name is Adon Miranda, and I'm also with the 19th District Mutual Aid, a woman-owned or women-led organization.

I'm proud, I'm also a proud son of immigrants, a product of our family's American dream.

Through our self-funded multi-denominational mutual aid work, as noted in Blair's testimony, we feed, clothe, and provide legal services in partnerships with organizations such as Nourishing Hope and Roa Immigration.

I see families that mirror my own.

They are hardworking people desperately searching for a safe place to lay down roots, not too different than many Chicagoids.

This is why I urge you to vote yes on 2607 98.

I want to explicitly thank President Preckwinkle and each of the supportive members of the board for your steadfast leadership.

While federal government creates chaos for attention, you have consistently shown the courage to protect all Cook County residents so that we can go about our lives and build community in the process.

Through the Cook County Health System, we continue to demonstrate our country's values, that they are alive and they are practiced here within our communities.

However, these values, our collective dream for America, are being suffocated by a climate of fear.

The administration's impossible math of targeting a hundred million deportations when only 76 million immigrants have entered the US since 1965 proves that the net is being cast on everyone.

We are already seeing the fallout.

A federal hiring surge that prioritizes speed over safety, putting 12,000 new DHS officers on the streets with lower standards, hiring 18-year-olds and cutting training times in half.

Let me be clear.

No one across the county, none of us are safety, none of our county's residents' safety is being prioritized with these practices, especially when they focus on unconstitutional stops and destroying community trust from Sauk Village to Glencoe.

Cook County under Tony Pres Tony Preckwinkle's leadership passed the first welcoming county ordinance in the country, setting the gold standard for nationwide for what it means to be a government that truly reflects its community values.

I thank the county for bringing this to the board today, and I urge everyone to vote yes because ultimately a community that creates unsafety for one child, right?

Leads to a community that's unsafe for all children.

And we continue to experience this and see this.

So thank you very much for your attention and for being a welcoming county.

Okay, we're wrapping up our virtual speakers.

Thank you for that for representing um Blair as well.

Adrian Bobat is not connected.

Mark Armstrong, are you connected?

I'm here.

I am here.

Adrian's here.

Yeah, please begin.

Let me call two more names though.

Mark Armstrong, if you connect it, we need to see your camera.

Then Kimberly Marshall.

Please begin.

Hello, my name is Adrian Balbett, and I serve as the director of Faith Feeds Food Pantry in Palatine.

People don't usually think of Northwest Suburban Palatine as a place facing food insecurity.

But our pantry alone serves nearly 400 families a week, approximately 1,600 unique families a month.

And that number continues to grow.

We operate out of community resource building that houses 16 different social service agencies, and together we support an increasingly diverse community.

We serve Spanish-speaking families, Eastern European migrants, longtime older white neighbors, and now more often African American and Southeast Asian neighbors as well.

We work hard to make sure that the food that we provide is culturally appropriate for every group we serve.

And we're extremely fortunate to have volunteers who pay close attention to the specific needs of our neighbors.

With sustained and increased investment in our pantry and in others across Cook County, we can continually welcome every neighbor with the same level of care and attention.

At the heart of our work is a simple goal.

We want everyone who walks through our doors to feel seen, supported, and cared for.

Many of our neighbors are rushing from their jobs just to make it to the pantry on time.

It's a tough reality that someone working full-time can still struggle to put food on the table.

But we are committed to offering a full range of food choices and ensuring that every person receives a dignified, respected experience.

Thank you for your time and your continued support of our neighbors in Cook County.

Thank you.

Mark Armstrong, are you connected?

Followed by Kimberly Marshall.

Let's see you.

Please begin.

Okay.

Um I rise today to stand up against the bullying on uh between uh the two uh uh the two sections of the civic complex and in Springfield on the use of illegal alien, which is not a xenophobic term and also is not a dehumanizing term.

Alien entered the English language in the 14th century as a uh reference to foreign and foreign nationals.

Illegal entered the English language in the 1600s, early 1600s, as a reference to something that's illicit and not within the law.

Fast forward, alien has been used as early as the 1790s in the US statutes, including the uh surviving alien and uh sedition acts of which uh the only surviving law from that is the um alien enemies act.

Fast forward, newspapers began using the term illegal alien as early as 1924, which is the same year that indigenous tribes were recognized as citizens, and uh the founding of the border patrol.

There's a 1976 case uh uh for the U.S.

Supreme Court that used the legal alien, and on top of that, the term was codified under the Reagan presidency in 1986.

So, you know, uh we're gonna use the language that we want to use because it is not Brandon Johnson's English or Chris Welch's English or the English of Jamila uh uh Premilla Jarpal.

It is the King's English.

And by watering down the language, it only enables people to thumb their nose at our naturalization immigration laws, and it also betrays, as Tory leader Kimmy Baitana points out, uh, the failings of multicultural separatism versus multi-ethnic pluralism.

And while instead of bullying us on this language, what all three of those people need to do as long uh along with the do nothing congressional black caucus is the fight for reparations as much as they fight for illegal aliens and potential immigrants.

And that's my word for the day.

Our next speaker, Kimberly Marshall.

Are you connected?

Kimberly Marshall.

If not, we're gonna move to just patel.

Turn your camera on, Giselle.

Jasil, are you there?

Can you hear me?

Please turn the camera on, but you can begin.

My camera is on and I can you hear me?

We can hear you.

Please continue.

Good morning.

Thank you to the Cook County Board President and Commissioners for allowing me time to speak this morning.

As you said, my name is Jasil Patel.

I'm the mayor of the village of Lincolnwood.

I'm here today to strongly support the continuation and expansion of the Invest in Cook program, which has been a game changer for our community and many others across Cook County since its launch in 2017.

The village of Lincolnwood has directly benefited from investing cook funds, receiving a total of 287,000 to support early phase preliminary engineering on three critical transportation and safety projects.

In 2017, improvements to the intersection of Tui and Cicero Avenues.

The improvement these improvements address a critical traffic choke point at the two exit of the Eden's Expressway, causing regular expressway backups and a generally unsafe condition.

In 2020, bike lanes and pedestrian safety enhancements along Pratt Avenue from Cicero to Lawndale were supported to connect multiple existing bike trails and provide another connection from Chicago's Lakefront Trail to the Forest Preserve Trail system to the west.

And then also in 2021, planning assistance for a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over the North Shore Channel on Pratt Avenue was approved.

This is currently the longest impassable section of the North Branch of the Chicago River and adds greatly to the safety and connectivity of the trail systems.

These early investments in planning and engineering were essential.

Without the county's support for this preliminary work, Lincolnwood would simply not have been positioned to complete successfully for these larger construction grants these projects required.

The results speak for themselves.

For example, the Pratt Avenue Bike Pedestrian Bridge Project enabled that by that initial invest in cook uh funding, secured three million dollars from the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program, also known as ITEC in 2025, plus an additional 2.864 million from the congestion mitigation and air quality CMAC program.

That kind of leverage turns modest seed butter into major infrastructure wins.

Beyond preliminary engineering, invest in cook, including its one-time ARPA funded expansion has helped us advance to detailed uh design and actual construction.

Between 2023 and 24, we received 100,000 for design engineering on Pratt Avenue Bridge and 900,000 to support construction or our engineered stormwater storage program.

This stormwater initiative, which we pursued since 2007, protects homes from basement backups during storms up to a 10-year storm event.

The Rosted Funds were critical to implementing the third phase of this important program.

These projects deliver tangible benefits aligned with Cook County's priorities of safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists, better connections to trails uh like the the Scope Valley Trail and Santamial Park Trail, reduce congestion at key intersections, improve multimodal access between Lincoln and neighboring communities and stronger stormwater resilience.

In short, invest in Cook doesn't just fund studies, it catalyzes real progress, leverages millions of additional dollars and builds safer, more connected and more resilient communities.

I, along with the 13,463 residents of the village of Oklahoma pedestrians and cyclists throughout the Cook County, urge the board to continue investing in the successful program.

It is a smart high impact way to support local governments and delivering the projects our residents need to deserve.

Thank you for your time and your ongoing commitments to the county Cook County communities.

That's my three minutes.

Have a great day.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Kimberly Marshall did not respond.

Let's move to Rosemary Dominique, followed by Julie Schaefer and Ronald Roberts.

If you heard your name, Toner, your camera, and you may begin.

Rosemary, are you here?

Please begin.

Yes, I am here.

Um I'm sorry, I was just wrapping up with the meeting.

I found that I need to be on video.

Uh we don't see your camera, but at this point, just please start with your testimony.

Rosemary, please begin.

All right, Rosemary might be having some difficulty.

Is Julie Schaefer connected?

How about Ronald Roberts?

This is Rosemary Dominguez.

Can you all hear me?

We can.

Please begin.

Okay, thank you.

Do I need to be on camera as well?

Yeah, just go ahead with your statement now, ma'am.

Okay, thank you.

Uh hi everyone.

My name is Rosemary Dominguez, and I am a 10th district council member.

And I will actually be um with the on behalf of the community commission for public safety and accountability.

I'm gonna be reading testimony a word for word from someone who has been incarcerated with Cook on Jail for eight years, and so I ask that you all please listen with empathy.

I got handcuffed before the before with the cane.

I say I'm supposed to have a cane with, I'm not supposed to have my handcuffs on with the cane walking this far.

That's what my supervisor made me do.

I wrote a grievance, and the director told the grievance and the appeal, nobody wear handcuffs.

I'm meeting nobody's supposed to be handcuffed with crutches, wheelchairs, or a walker going to a issue.

It's awkward, you know.

My hip is already bothering me, and I'm handcuffed and trying to balance myself, walking with my feet around around the cane.

And you know, I can't, I can't lean on the wall.

The officer scenes like, yeah, we have we need to go somewhere.

Yes, excuse me.

Uh, can you get my cane?

Cane, you don't need a cane.

There's nothing wrong with you.

They make faces like I'm lying.

I don't know, but they but they making faces at me like you don't need no cane.

And they smack their lips and roll their eyes.

Sir or ma'am, that's my cane with the elastic at the bottom, so it can be easily picked out because maybe there's two or three canes in the office where the police where the CEOs are at.

So when they get the cane, when they get the cane, oh you do got a cane.

I say, why would I lie about that?

You know, I get my cane and get going, you know, the cane's is too short for you.

You don't need that cane.

I keep in mind that some days my hips, my hip doesn't bother me.

Some days it does.

Some days it doesn't.

Some days it bothers me just a little bit.

But either way, you look at the system.

My name is in the system for the cane.

It seems like a lot of these officers, not all of them, but a lot of these officers want to try to make it hard, and they keep us uncomfortable.

Experiences like this highlight the gap between written policy and daily practice inside correctional facilities, reflecting a broader pattern reported by incarcerated people with medical needs, being questioned, dismissed, or forced to navigate basic movement while restrained even when accommodations are documented in the system.

What should be straightforward?

Medical accommodation instead becomes another site of humiliation, risk, and control for people already living with pain or mobility limitations.

These practices can turn into a simple walk down the hallway into a dangerous and degrading experience.

Okay, wrap your stake.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Uh let me revisit the ones that did not respond.

Last call for Julie Schaefer.

Ronald Roberts.

Julie Schaefer, Ronald Roberts.

Ma'am, the others did not respond.

That concludes your list of speakers for this meeting.

All right.

Thank you very much for your attention to our public speakers.

Um we're going to take a moment now to acknowledge a delegation from Cork.

You want to come up, folks?

We have a sister county relationship with Cork County in Ireland.

And they are with us today in anticipation of all of the weekend events around St.

Patrick's Day.

Thank you.

You want to move down?

Mayor, you would like to say a few more.

Thank you.

President Prequinka.

It's a pleasure to be here with you all to celebrate the 27th anniversary of the sister county agreement between Cork County and Cook County.

This meeting comes every March and it allows us a chance to take a moment to truly appreciate and reflect on a rewarding relationship that has brought considerable benefits to our two local authorities.

It has opened doors to meaningful opportunities, fostered economic growth, and built strong cultural and educational bridges.

The bonds we share is based in a commodity between two places that reflect one another in character and spurs.

So Mary Robinson and now Catherine O'Connell.

So I could congratulate you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

And thank you for the reminder of Bill Gaynor's role.

I I am remiss in not acknowledging him.

All right.

Thank you.

Madam Mayor, I have a gift for you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And I have a gift for you.

All right.

And this gift is from my hometown.

Oh, my name is OT Cork.

Okay.

And I'm in East Cork, a place called Yol.

Y'all?

Y'all.

It's pronounced Y A W L, but it's spelled Y-O-U-G-H-A-L.

So it's very east.

And this is a clock age, a tower that is in the center of our town.

And if you're ever in our county, I'd love you to come and visit.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

And thank you for receiving us today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Madam President, we're going to take one picture really quickly.

All right.

Okay.

Can we stand in the middle here?

Everybody turn toward the middle.

Commissioners, you want to stand?

Since there's so many of us up here, why don't we take two rows of commissioners?

Women in the middle.

Maggie, you've got to come to the middle.

All right, are we ready?

Wait, wait.

Okay.

There you go.

There we go.

Can you actually do that?

Great smile.

One, two, a couple more.

Here we go.

One more time over here.

All right.

All right, thank you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Chair Daly.

All right.

We're going to take a real uh a short recess from the regular order of business.

Chair Daly?

Yes.

Call consent into order.

Call consent into order, please.

And we'll take the roll.

Okay.

Second.

Motion is made by the chair, seconded by the vice chair.

Roll call on cons uh roll call to pardon me?

Attendance.

Thank you.

Commissioner Aguil Aguilar.

Commissioner Anaya.

Commissioner Britton.

Here.

Commissioner Daly.

Commissioner Degnan.

Commissioner Gaynor.

Commissioner Lowry?

Present.

Commissioner McCaskill.

Commissioner Miller.

Commissioner Miller, absent.

Commissioner Moore.

Present.

Commissioner Marita.

Commissioner Kevin Morrison, excused absence.

Commissioner Sean Morrison.

Sean Morrison present.

Commissioner Scott.

Present.

Commissioner Stamps.

Commissioner Stamps absent.

Commissioner Trevor.

Commissioner Vasquez.

Madam President, you have a quorum.

Thank you.

We're going to take one item out of the regular order, and that is a resolution honoring women in ministry.

Thank you.

Second.

Motion is made and seconded.

All right, we're going to take out of the regular order.

Can you tell us what the resolution number is?

Give us a minute now.

Okay, we'll take just a minute.

We can have all of the honorees, women in ministry, please come to the podium.

Women in ministry.

In women's history month, it's been our pattern and practice to honor the women in clergy who are often uh unrecognized and unacknowledged.

And so we want to celebrate them today.

We'll ask all the women in ministry to come up for a photograph.

As we thank them, as we thank them for their service to their congregations and to their communities.

A couple rows, there we go.

There we go.

All right.

A little bit more down that way.

Okay.

There we go.

Turn toward the middle.

Oh, take the photo.

Yes, please.

Let's everybody get the back of your eyes to see.

All right.

Okay.

Maybe it's moving out.

There we go.

Okay.

I'm good.

I'm good.

Open up a little more in the back.

Thank you.

Thank you, everybody.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So man, we can go back to regular bullets.

Recess this and we'll go back to regular bullets.

All right, we're going to recess the consent calendar to go back to the regular order of business.

Thank you so much.

Women and clergy who have joined us.

We are grateful to you.

Yes.

If we do well thoughts.

Okay.

Thank you.

Taylor?

Taylor.

All right, we're returning to the regular order of business.

Vice Chair Lowry.

Thank you, Madam President.

On pages two and three, I make the following motions on items in the President and Secretary to the Board categories.

Ma'am.

I'm sorry to interrupt.

Commissioner Stamps has connected remotely, so we do require a remote roll call.

I move to allow remote participation, Madam President.

Motions made and seconded.

Roll call.

Commissioner Aguilar.

Absent.

Commissioner Anaya.

Aye, and can I please be added to the roll?

Thank you.

Commissioner Britton.

Aye.

Commissioner Daly.

Commissioner Degnan.

Commissioner Degnan absent.

Commissioner Gaynor.

Present.

Commissioner Lowry.

Present.

Commissioner McCaskill.

So these are so this is roll call.

Aye.

Yay.

Nay.

Aye.

Right.

So don't say present.

So anyone who gave you present, please let's go back to the beginning.

Okay, I'll start at the top, please.

Thank you.

Commissioner Aguilar is absent.

Commissioner Anaya.

Aye.

Commissioner Britton.

Aye.

Commissioner Daly.

Aye.

Commissioner Degnan.

Absent.

Commissioner Gaynor.

Aye.

Commissioner Lowry.

Lowry's aye.

Commissioner McCaskill.

Commissioner Miller.

Commissioner Miller absent.

Commissioner Moore.

Aye.

Commissioner Marita.

Commissioner Kevin Morrison.

Excused absence.

Commissioner Sean Morrison.

John Morrison, aye.

Commissioner Scott, excused absence.

Commissioner Stamps.

Aye.

Commissioner Stamps I.

Commissioner Trevor.

Aye.

Commissioner Vasquez.

Aye.

We've got 12 times.

Yes.

You have 12 A's.

Motion carries.

All right.

Now.

Thank you.

On pages two and three.

I make the following motions on the items in the President and Secretary to the board categories.

I move to refer to finance.

Item number two six-0552.

Proposed resolution.

It's a renewal and increase to the subrecipient agreement between Cook County's Justice Advisory Council and Heartland Human Care Services for the Supporting Education and Employment Development Seed Program.

And I move to approve item 26-0882, a proposed transfer of funds to the Department Secretary to the Board of Commissioners.

It is a request for direct approval.

Written seconds.

Motion is made in second discussion.

Roll call.

Commissioner Aguilar.

Absent.

Commissioner Anaya.

Aye.

Commissioner Britton.

Aye.

Commissioner Daly.

Aye.

Commissioner Dugnan.

Dugnan's aye.

Can you please add me to the last roll call, please?

Thanks.

Commissioner Gaynor.

Aye.

Commissioner Lowry.

Aye.

Commissioner McCaskill.

Commissioner Miller.

Commissioner Miller is absent.

Commissioner Moore.

Aye.

Commissioner Marita.

Commissioner Kevin Morrison.

Excused absence.

Commissioner Sean Morrison.

Sean Morrison, aye.

Commissioner Scott, excused absence.

Commissioner Stamps.

Stamps, aye.

Commissioner Trevor's aye.

I'm sorry, Commissioner Stamps is aye.

Commissioner Trevor?

Aye.

Commissioner Vasquez.

Aye.

Madam President, you have 13 yes.

And four absent.

Chair Chair Daly.

Thank you, Madam President.

On pages four through eight, I make the following motion for the Bureau of Finance and Cook County Health Haspost Systems.

All these items will be received and filed.

260639, the taxpayers interest assurance ordinance report for the depository account of fiscal year 2025.

260808, the Bureau of Finance, COVID Finance Report for February 6, 2026.

260872.

The first quarter report grants from December 1, 2025 through February 28, 2026.

260883.

The control is those and frames report for January 13th, 2026 through February 16th.

Approve the following items 260839.

Approve proposed grant award amendment for Cook County Health.

Grantor is the eighth foundation in the amount of 1.17 million.

260873.

Proposed grant amendment aboard for Cook County Health.

Grantor is the Department of Health Human Services Resources and Services.

Second.

Is there any discussion?

Roll call.

Commissioner Aguilar.

Commissioner Aguilar absent.

Commissioner Anaya.

Aye.

Commissioner Anaya I.

Commissioner Britton.

Aye.

Commissioner Britton I.

Commissioner Daly.

Aye.

Commissioner Daly.

I Commissioner Degnan.

Aye.

Commissioner Degnan.

I Commissioner Gaynor.

Aye.

Commissioner Gaynor.

I Commissioner Lowry.

Larry's I, all items.

Commissioner Laurie I.

Commissioner McCaskill.

Commissioner McCaskill I.

Commissioner Miller.

Commissioner Miller's absent.

Commissioner Moore.

All right.

Commissioner Moore, I.

Commissioner Marita.

Commissioner Marita I.

Commissioner Kevin Morrison, excused absent.

Commit Commissioner Sean Morrison.

Sean Morrison, aye.

Commissioner Sean Morrison's aye.

Commissioner Scott, excused absence.

Commissioner Stamps.

Stamps, aye.

Commissioner Stamps is aye.

Commissioner Trevor?

Aye.

Commissioner Trevor's I.

Commissioner Vasquez.

Aye.

Commissioner Vasquez is aye.

Madam President, you have 13 y's and four absence.

Pender the chair of the ayes have it.

Commissioner Moore.

Thank you, Madam President.

Pages nine.

Madam President, on pages nine through 28, make the following motions on the items in the Bureau of Administration to receive and file 260788.

This item is to receive and file the 2025 annual countywide fleet report.

It's been moved by you've heard the motion by uh Chairman Moore, second by Commissioner Anaya.

All those in favor, say roll call.

Do you have a presentation?

No.

They wanted to take it out of order, so leave to take it out of order.

Move by Commissioner Moore, second by Commissioner Anaye.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Oppose the motion.

Now you've approved.

Move by Commissioner Moore, said goodbye, Commissioner.

The receiving file.

Roll call roll call.

Yes.

We're doing a roll call in the receiving file.

I'm sorry.

Just one item.

26078.

The item.

Yes, thank you.

Good afternoon, Siskill and Superintendent Transportation and Highways.

260504 refer to committee a new contract request with strand associates for preliminary engineering and environmental studies for the replacement of three bridge decks.

No, no.

So the chair the chairman asks for one item to roll call.

And confirm that item number again, sir.

260788.

So let's do a roll call on that.

Is there a presentation on it or discussion at all?

You know, actually, why don't I just go through read the rest of the items and then I'll throw it in.

You're okay doing them all together.

Okay.

So withdraw the motion that was on the floor.

Whoever made it.

So I'll withdraw the motion of receiving file.

260788.

Thank you.

So chairman, we're back at you.

Clerk no roll call is due right now.

Let him finish all the items.

Okay.

So back to you, sir.

Now I'd like to make the following motions on the items in the Bureau of Administration.

Receive and file 2670788.

Refer to transportation 260504.

Move to approve 260537.

Refer to transportation 260671, 260702, 260703, 26, refer to transportation, 260704, 260705, 260706, 260707, 260708, 260709, 260710, 260711.

Receive and file 260716, refer to transportation 260771, 260800.

Move to approve 260801.

Refer to transportation, 260802, 260813, 260820.

Chair Anaya, you want to second the motion?

Thank you.

Yes, please.

Start with Zara.

Okay.

Good morning.

Um first item is 260788, which is the county 2025 annual countywide fleet report to receive and file.

Just a couple of key highlights.

I would like to note that the county fleet consists of $1,989 vehicles across 29 departments with an average model year of 2016 and an average age of nine years.

I do want to say note that the county continues to advance our sustainability goals with 29% of our fleet consisting of hybrid or electric vehicles.

Also, law enforcement vehicles represent approximately 69.5% of our fleet.

Light duties, which are approximately 234 vehicles, are the newest fleet categories, both averaging 2021 model year.

Medium duty fleet, which is approximately a smaller portion of our fleet 56.

We're continuing to look at the upcoming replacement considerations.

So working with the Cook County's vehicle committee, we've made great strides in improving our fleet compliance over the past couple of years.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I would ask the superintendent of transportation and highways to address these matters.

Thank you, Madam President.

Good afternoon again.

Ciskill and Transportation.

Item 26, excuse me, 260504 is a new contract with Strand Associates for Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Services for three bridge deck replacements.

260537 is a contract amendment with GFT infrastructure.

New contract amendment in the amount of $650,678 for additional professional services required during the construction management and oversight.

260761 is a contract amendment with RW Dunteman Company of Addison, Illinois for Lake Hook Road patching.

This amendment increases the contract by $1,106,860.

$106,860.72 cents to account for additional work performed in the field.

$260702 is a new contract with Hay and Associates Illinois for drainage engineering services to provide the department with supplemental services and the completion of plans and studies.

$260706 is a 1.2 million dollar grant award to fund the improvement of 171st Street between Ashland Avenue and Halstead.

260707 is a new grant in the amount of 1.27 million dollars to fund the improvement of Burnham Avenue between Steger Road and 223rd Street.

260708 is a grant award in the amount of 1.6 million dollars to fund the improvement of Michigan City Road from 154th Street to State Line Road.

260709 is a grant awarding the amount of 2.5 million dollars to fund improvements along Ridgeland Avenue, near Agansett Avenue, Nagel Avenue between Sauk Trail and Lincoln Highway.

Item 260710 is a grant award in the amount of 1.7 million dollars for an improvement along State Street between East Joral Road and Main Street.

260711 is a new grant award in the amount of $5,232,000 to remove and replace the Sock Trail Bridge over Thorn Creek as part of a planned reconstruction.

260716 is receiving and file the construction status report for the month of January 2026.

260800 is a 1917 dollar intergovernmental agreement with the village of Palatine, where the village will serve as the lead agency for design and construction to fill sidewalk gaps.

260801 is a 2,135,523 joint funding agreement with the state of Illinois and the Federal Highway Administration for grant funds in the amount of 1.68 million dollars to apply toward the Butler Road reconstruction in the Illinois Port District.

260802 is a $3,944,409 joint funding agreement between the county and the state of Illinois.

This is for replacement of traffic signal equipment at four locations, and the amount of the grant amount here 1.528 million dollars with the balance being paid by the department.

260813 is a supplemental funding resolution in the amount of 150 150,000 dollars to fund crack ceiling services on our roadways.

And finally, 260820 is an improvement resolution to appropriate $6.184 million in funding to replace all traffic signal equipment at the locations of Lake Cook Road and Old Hicks, Rosel Road and Hartford, Volmer Road and Ridgeland Avenue, and Roberts Road at 103rd Street.

Happy to take any questions.

Thank you.

Are there any questions on any of these matters?

Hearing non-roll call.

Commissioner Aguilar.

Commissioner Aguilar, absent.

Commissioner Anaya.

Aye.

Commissioner Anaya.

Commissioner Britton.

Aye.

Commissioner Brinton.

I Commissioner Daly.

Commissioner Daly, I.

Commissioner Degnan.

Aye.

Commissioner Degnan.

I Commissioner Gaynor.

Gainer's I.

Commissioner Gaynor Gaynor, I.

Commissioner Lowry.

Aye.

Commissioner Lowry, I.

Commissioner McCaskill.

Aye.

Commissioner McCaskill.

I.

Commissioner Miller.

Commissioner Miller, absent.

Commissioner Moore.

Aye.

Commissioner Moore.

I.

Commissioner Marita.

Aye.

Commissioner Marita I.

Commissioner Kevin Morrison.

Excused absence.

Commissioner Sean Morrison.

Morsen, aye.

Commissioner Sean Morrison, aye.

Commissioner Scott, excused absence.

Commissioner Stamps.

Commissioner Stamps absent.

Commissioner Trevor.

Aye.

Commissioner Trevor.

Aye.

Commissioner Vasquez.

Aye.

Commissioner Vasquez.

Aye.

Madam President, you have 12 years for absence.

I'm sorry, five absent.

Opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it.

Commissioner Gaynor is recognized.

Sorry.

Madam President, on page 29 through 38, I made the following uh motions in the Bureau of Asset Management, Economic Development, Human Resources, and Technology.

I'd like to approve item number 26-0600, which is the previously approved item and amendment providing ARPA funds to support electric vehicle charging station program of the Department of Environment and Sustainability and the Bureau of Asset Management.

This continues on with asset management, so I'm going to continue on and we can bundle these.

Okay.

I'd like to approve as amended item number 26-0222, which is a proposed contract amendment for the authorization of the Chief Procurement Officer to increase the contract with Lincoln Security Services LLC of Chicago.

Moving on to the Bureau of Economic Development, I'd like to refer to zoning and Board of Appeals.

Item number 26, Zoning Board of Appeals, rather.

Item number 26-0768, which is a new application for referral to zoning board of appeals for the property located at 2012 and 20124 Crawford Avenue in Madison.

I'd like to refer to business and economic development.

Item number 26-0914, which is a resolution for 6P property tax incentive requests for Shanley Pummon Equipment in Arlington Heights.

Item number 29-0915, which is a 6-b property tax incentive request for 1090 Pratt LLC in Elkgrove Village.

For the Bureau of Human Resources.

Given that Commissioner Stamps has joined us in the in the chamber.

I think we can dispense with roll calls.

All in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Commissioner Britton.

Thank you, Madam President, members of the board.

On pages 38 through 45, and make the following motions on the items of the Office of the Chief Judge, County Clerk and Independent Inspector General and Sheriff Categories.

In the Office of the Chief Judge to approve item 260825, authorization for the Chief Procurement Officer to renew and increase a contract with language line services for telephonic language interpretation.

260928, authorization for the chief procurement officer to renew and increase a contract with Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists for Victim Impact Panels.

Under the clerk of the circuit court to approve item 260538, authorization for the Chief Procurement Officer to renew and increase a contract with Davis Bancorp for armored car services.

And the Office of the Sheriff to approve item 2600 two eight authorization for the Chief Procurement Officer to enter into and execute a contract with Lexapol for policy dissemination management systems.

260810 authorization to enter into and execute an eighth amendment to an intergovernmental agreement between the Cook County Sheriff's Office and MWRD for expansion and maintenance of the prescription drug take back program to refer to technology and innovation 260816 authorization for the Chief Procurement Officer to enter into and execute a contract with Safeware Inc.

to provide video analytics platforms.

And then that's it.

Second.

Commissioner Naya.

Thank you, Madam President.

Have a question for the Sheriff's Office in regards to item 26-0028.

This is the contract with Lexipol.

Just wanted to uh so it says that the contract period begins um the 27th of this month, but it is uh it it does seem like there is a renewal, so just wanted to know what was the original contract period.

Um and then if we can um get some information regarding which policies are going to be a part of the system that will be reviewed and um so not sure if anybody from the sheriff's office is here to explain.

Is anyone from the sheriff's office with us, either in the chamber or remotely?

Yes, madam president.

Thank you, could you identify yourself, please?

Yes, ma'am.

Uh Jason Hernandez, executive director.

Um Commissioner Naya, thank you for the question.

Your first part, um I have our team looking into to make sure I get you a good answer on that.

Um as for your second question, um, all of our policies within the office are housed in this lexipoll system.

So they are ongoing, and each member of our staff uh is tasked with getting refreshers on an annual basis.

So everything from guiding our policies within the Department of Corrections, Cook County Sheriff's Police, our administration, this is uh where all of our internal policies are housed.

Okay.

So there it's not like there certain policies are housed here, but then there's some somewhere else.

Those are all in one place.

Is what I'm driving?

Okay.

Um yeah, let me know if you got an answer to the original or the first question, I should say.

Could you repeat the question?

Sure.

My question was uh it says on on here that the contract period starts uh the 27th of this month until the uh 2028, but under the contract value, there was an initial contract term amount, and then there was a renewal period amount.

So I'm just a little confused on what the what we mean by renewal period.

It's a new contract, and the dollar amount is listed there for our renewal period.

Which is the 491,000.

Right.

But what is the initial do you mean the initial contract, the one we are approving today is 9505,000?

And if we and if we renew, then it would be an additional 491.

That's correct, Commissioner.

Um usually we, if there are renewals, they come before us.

So um are we going to be able to vote on those?

Or are we saying that we're um kind of allowing for what the one-year renewal automatically?

Commissioner, I'm gonna defer to Rafi on this particular question.

Okay.

Uh good morning, Commissioner uh Rafi Sarafi and Chief Procurement Officer, and thank you for your question.

Commissioner, this ties into uh one of the uh code provisions that the board approved uh in November of uh 24.

So uh where at the uh as in this case where there is an original uh initial contract award and the the item before the board includes the uh allocations, fund allocations for the renewal option years, then a time only uh or exercise of time only for the renewal would not come before the board.

It could be it could come directly to the CPO because the board approved at the initial award the funding for that option year.

So if this so in other words, if the Sheriff's Office desires to exercise that renewal option, just time not adding any money, then that that amendment would come directly to the CPO Correct.

So why is there a renewal period amount?

That's that's that's my real question.

Or for that, right, for the for this reason, because the they they the board would be approving not just the uh the funding for the initial term, but also for the option year.

Right.

So so that was my question.

We are approving not only the initial contract, but we're also allowing the extension with the amount attached at this point.

You're proven right.

Correct.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Madam President.

Yes.

Commissioner Vasquez.

Thank you.

I I have concern in pro in approving a renewal for this contract.

If it's a new contractor, especially since it is my understanding that there was some issue with this vendor in the past, specifically in the State of Washington.

And I don't know if the Sheriff's Office had a conversation around some of those issues before selecting this vendor.

This is not a new thank you, Commissioner.

This is not a new vendor.

Um I'm not sure what issues you are referencing in the State of Washington.

Um, but this has gone through all of our you know approvals, and they are a long-standing vendor in this space with us.

So I'm happy to look into those um concerns you have articulated a little bit more deeply.

I just am not aware of them at this moment.

Uh thank you, Jason.

I'll follow up with you offline.

I think I may be looking at another vendor that perhaps has business with the sheriff.

Thank you.

All right, are there any further questions?

Yes, Commissioner Morrison.

Thank you.

Rafi, if you could just to clarify what what you mentioned, the question asked was whether or not this was this dollar value was for the initial term of the contract from 26 to 28.

Um then it sounded like it will also include funding a renewal year.

Is that right or did I not hear that right?

No, no, you heard that correctly, Commissioner.

So uh what's before you is the amount for the initial term and then the amount for the renewal.

We have not done that before.

Is this is this a new approach to how we're we're doing it?

Typically, we just approve an RFP for the initial term of the contract, and then it comes back before the board uh to take up the consideration for renewals when that happens.

Uh Commissioner, the uh this is this is uh flows from one of the code revisions that the board adopted in November of 2024.

So pursuant to to the code now, when at as in this case, where there is a contract award before the board, if the if the contract and if the award uh includes the allocation for the initial term and for the renewal option years, then if we're going to do a excuse me.

That's all right.

Please continue.

Oh, if we're it if we're going to do a time, if we want to exercise the renewal option and just the time, uh we're not adding any money, then that renewal option just for time would come directly to the CPO.

However, if in this case the Sheriff's Office in uh in desiring to exercise the renewal option would want to increase the amount uh of that option year.

That so right now it's 491,000 uh uh 263.20 cents.

If if they want to add more money on top of that at the time that they want to exercise the renewal option, then they would come back to the board for authority to add more money to that option year.

The interest here, it's it's it's inefficiency.

And that's why we did the coach uh that the code change.

That's interesting.

Uh I'll just speak for myself and say that that one obviously slipped past me in 2024.

Because I I just don't think that's the right way to do it.

I mean, we're taking away, we're we're eliminating two things.

We're eliminating, we're eliminating fiduciary oversight by the commissioners, especially those that will be here in 2028, uh, to review whether or not that's a you know that's a best standard.

Um is that rate then going to be locked in?

Is the vendor is the vendor going to be held to to this particular rate then for the next all the way through in theory then 2029, or will they be able to come back in the last year and raise the rate?

If if if if again that would be a conversation between the vendor and the sheriff's office, and if they decided they needed to add more money, then the sheriff's office would come back to the board with a request to add more money to whatever option year they're they are looking at.

I like to uh just as a reminder, uh when we when we present uh uh contract awards to the board, you're we're presenting the initial term with the uh well, prior to the code change, uh the initial term plus the number of renewal option years.

What's added here is the allocation of funds for the option years.

Okay.

All right, well, that's all I have.

You asked the uh question I answered.

I thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Are there any further questions?

Yes, just a question.

Yes, I know, Madam President, this was discussed, you know, in finance when we had the change.

And uh I think there was a higher amount at one time.

And then the government brought it down.

So we looked at this.

I mean, there was a heated discussion, a very lengthy and heated discussion on this.

And I remember that there was a higher amount than them that number is escaping me.

And then the suggestion is what it is that we adapted in the code.

Thank you.

Uh Commissioner Dagnan.

Thank you, uh, President Prequinkle.

So, Rafi, why isn't this just a three-year contract?

I mean, two, you know, if it's a two-year contract, 954,000 divided by two is 477 each of the first two years, then it increases up to 491 on that third year.

So if the Sheriff's Office needs a policy dissemination management system, which they do need, why isn't it just a three-year contract?

Well, that the there are renewal options uh they they might need to continue beyond that.

So that's why we have a renewal option of the code.

No, no, I'm saying it's a two-year initial contract term.

If it's like a baseline thing that they need, why didn't we just make it a three-year contract?

Why is it a two-year contract with a renewal with an increase in the third year?

And then we're voting on all three years right now.

That that's I will defer to the sheriff's office for for that uh for the with that question.

I know, but no, I'm asking you because you are in procurement and you're over contracts.

If they say they need the system, they do the scope of work, they do all that admin stuff.

But can't you just say this would be better just to be a three-year contract to give you predictability?

Well, it if if they get what they need in the first two years, then maybe the renewal option year uh might not be something that they want to uh that that they will need.

But if they need if they desire services be beyond those two years, then that's why there's there's the option here.

Okay, but as I understand it, it's a policy dissemination management system that manages the policies in their office, and then make sure that each one of their employees maintains compliance with their policies and procedures.

It doesn't seem to be a thing that wouldn't be needed in year three.

So I guess my question is if they didn't need it in year three, they could just terminate the contract or under any of our boilerplate clauses.

Why won't we just have it be a three-year contract?

I you know, I think what you're hearing from the board is the fact that a contract is intended to be a reviewed by the board and approved, and if there's an additional work that's done in year three or four or five, and we've had a problem with that contractor, we can cut that contract.

Having additional years now and tacking them on three years from now doesn't sit well with this board.

But if uh again, if if the sheriff's office decides that they don't need any services beyond year two, and there haven't been any issues relative to their performance, which would put us into the space of default or breach uh uh then the contract would just terminate at the end of that second, you know, initial term the second uh term year, and we wouldn't need to then exercise the renewal option.

It's an option, the renewal.

It's not a guarantee.

And so if if they receive the services and everything went well, then the contract that then would end at the end of that second year of that of the initial term.

I understand the contract terminology, Rafi.

Thank you very much.

My point is that a two-year contract has a time limitation where this board agrees to it, and then there is a renewal period after that to give us time to see how that contractor is behaving if they're maintaining the terms and compliance of that contract.

Just like I said, a policy dissemination management system isn't super complicated.

So if they need it, they need it.

Uh I'm not against this agenda item for the sheriff's office.

What I'm against is attacking on renewal periods, whether or not it's in the code.

I don't like it, and so maybe we need to relook at the code to see whether or not CPO does this in the future.

I can just speak for myself.

I have a problem with it.

So I would be inclined to vote no on this.

I will vote yes because the sheriff obviously needs it, but if I see this again, I will vote no on it.

Thank you.

If there are no further questions or comments, roll all in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed opinion.

Yes.

May I please be recorded present on that item?

260028.

Thank you.

Madam President, may I also be present?

Commissioner Dagnan?

As well.

Thank you.

Present.

Anaya Degnan Vasquez and Stamps.

Same for me, Madam President.

Again, not the item, not the dollar value, but the layout of how the RFP was conducted.

Sean Morrison, Anaya Dagnan.

Vasquez and stamps.

Did I miss anybody?

Notwithstanding the division, the motion carries.

Committee items requiring board action.

Commissioner Britt.

Thank you, Madam President, members of the board.

Firstly, I move to suspend the rules to take out of order item.

I don't know.

The following items.

Proposed appointment of William Little, Housing Authority of Cook County, and 260430.

Appointment of Zenobia Johnson Black as a commissioner of the Housing Authority of Cook County.

Second.

All right.

This is the motion to suspend the rules.

All in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed opinion of the Chair of the Ayes have it.

Now the main motion.

Thank you, Madam President, members of the board.

I now move to approve those appointments as outlined in the motion to suspend the rules, 260418, 260429, and 260430.

All in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed opinion of the chair of the ayes have it.

Vice Chair Lowry.

Thank you.

I now move to suspend the rules to accept two substituted items under Health and Hospitals.

Motion is ma'am, we've got it accept the substitute for everything in Health and Hospital.

Oh, I move to accept the substitution for two items coming under the Health and Hospitals Committee.

All right.

So this is a motion to substitute them?

All in favor of the motion to substitute, signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed, opinion of the chair of the ayes have it.

All right, now the motion to suspend the rules.

Now I now move to suspend the rules.

Second, to take up the items.

Take up the substitute items.

All in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Opposed.

Opinion of the chair of the ayes have it.

Main motion.

Thank you.

I now move to concur with the recommendation of Health and Hospitals Committee to approve a substitute at item 26-073.

Report titled Cook County Department of Public Health.

Reporting period Q1 2026.

And I move to defer as substituted item 23-0202.

Proposed resolution requesting a hearing of the Health and Hospitals Committee for report from the senior staff of Cook County Health and Hospital System.

Motion is made and seconded.

All in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed, opinion of the Chair of the Ayes have it.

Again, Vice Chair Lowry.

Thank you.

I now move to concur with the recommendation of rules and administration committee to approve as substituted item 26-0784, Journal of Proceedings for the regular meeting held on January 15, 2026.

Item 26-0785, Journal of Proceedings for the regular consent calendar meeting held on January 15, 2026.

Item 26-0933, Journal of Proceedings for the regular meeting held on February 5, 2026.

And item 26-0934, Journal of Proceedings for the regular consent calendar meeting held on February 5, 2026.

Motion is made and second.

Is there any discussion?

All in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed opinion of the Chair of the Ayes have it.

Commissioner Sean Morrison.

Yes.

And item 260735.

Recommendations of the zoning boards of appeals.

Second.

All in favor signify by saying aye.

Opposed opinion of the Chair of the Ayes have it.

Finance committee.

Thank you, Madam President.

Move to concur with the recommendation at the Finance Committee of 311 to receive and file is substituted.

A report titled the legal and expert witness phase from January 9th through February 16, 2026.

Approved is substituted the following.

From 121725 through 310, 2026.

260839, a report, title worker camp claims from 1126 through 131, 2026.

260871, worker camp payments, management report from 31 through 331, 2026.

Report uh 260835 and report title, patient arrest ye claims from 1211 26 through the end of uh the uh 131.

Report 260835 and report title patient arrested claims from 1211 26 through the end of uh the uh 131 260836 a report title self-insurance claims from 21 through 228 2026.

Receive and file is substitute 260926, uh revenue report and expert report uh expenses report for a two-month period ending January 31, 2026.

260935, the Cook County Health title report title cook county monthly report for the month of February 2025.

Approve is substituted 260727, a proposed intergovernment deal with the Ellis Housing and Development Authority for Rental Assistance, 260761, a proposed resolution for our providal communities.

Uh approve as amended 260762, a proposed resolution for vital communities, uh initiatives and approve as substituted 260763, uh also vital uh communities from the Bureau of Economic.

Madam President, all of the the last four represented Dallas in the amount of I believe I have one more.

I'm sorry.

No, I don't.

All of these represent it another commitment from you and this board, and whether it be the homeless, the bone for the homeless, rental re assistance, as well as food pantry.

And uh all of these never say are we needed, and uh I commend the presentation that was done and those individuals who were helping.

Thank those in the individuals who are putting this into the into works.

Thank you.

Second.

Second, is there any discussion?

All in favor signify by saying aye.

Commissioner Moore.

Thank you, Madam President.

I'd like to concur with the recommendation of the Transportation Committee to receive and to file as substituted, 260329.

This is the Cook County Safety Action Plan Report.

Uh I also would like to approve as substituted 26036, 26037, 26038, 260454, 260407, 260493, 260501, 260502, 260503, 2650505, 260521, 260522.

Uh you'd like me to read each one of these.

Yes, please.

Proposed 26036.

260366 is uh Illinois Department of Transportation to prepare detailed design engineering plans for the Burnham Multimotor Connector Bridge, a grade separated pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the multi railroad tracks in the village of Burnham.

26037 is the Illinois Department of Transportation for 2E Avenue from Elmhurst Road to Mount Prospect Road and Village of Elk Grove Village, City of Displains.

260338 is the Illinois Department of Transportation's preliminary environmental phase one study to extend to the Displains River Trail between CTA Forest Park Blue Line Station and Salt Creek Trail.

260454, the Illinois Department of Transportation Improvement of Tui Avenue from Elmhose Road to Mount Prospect Road in the village of Elk Grove Village, City of Displaying, City of Chicago.

260407, proposed intergovernment agreement for the village of Bedford Park, Illinois Construction and Construction Engineering, District 6 and 16.

260493, proposed improvement resolution, motor fuel tax funds, project, lower displays river, trail study extension, village of Brookfield, Village of LaGrange Park, Village of Lyons, Village of Riverside, Riverside Township, Illinois, and the Forest Preserve of Cook County District 16 and 17.

260501 is HR Green Inc.

Aurora, Illinois, Preliminary Engineering Services, Preparation of Phase 1 Studies Countywide.

260502 is Kimley Horn and Associates Inc.

It's the preliminary engineering services and preparation of phase one countywide 260503 proposed contract for Perth Clark LLC Arlington Heights Preliminary Engineering Services and Preparation of Phase 1.

260505 is G GFT Infrastructure, Chicago, Illinois Professional Engineering Services and Preparation of Phase 1 Study, Village of Riverside.

260521 is Motor Fuel Tax Project, Barrie Point Road Bridge over the Displains River, Village of Riverside.

260522, Motor Fuel Tax Project, Lake Cook Road Bridge, Deck Replacements, Village of Deerfield, Village of Northbrook, and Village of Palatine, District 14.

Motion is made and second.

Is there any discussion?

Hearing none.

All in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed opinion of the chair of the aye seven it.

Commissioner Britton.

Thank you, Madam President, members of the board.

I move to concur with the recommendation of the legislation and intergovernmental relations committee to approve as substituted item 260798.

A proposed resolution urging Congress not to allocate additional funding for U.S.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement or U.S.

Border Patrol, given the aggressive and dangerous tactics by federal agents.

Second.

Motion is made and seconded.

Is there any discussion?

All in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Oppose.

Yes.

No on 0798.

Notwithstanding the division, the motion carries.

Commissioner Reton.

Thank you, Madam President.

I'll be nimble.

Concur with the I move to concur the recommendation of the Asset Management Committee to approve a substitute of 260636, the proposed contract with MRESCO for energy consulting services, and 260677, proposed contract amendment with training for HVAC design and product services.

Thank you.

Discussion?

All in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed opinion of the Chair of the I Sabbath Gainer.

Commissioner Gaynor.

Thank you, Madam President.

I'd like to concur with the recommendation of the Business and Economic Development Committee to approve as substituted.

Item number 26-0712, which is a six-speed property tax incentive request for Silbow Glass, LLC in Chicago Ridge.

Item number 26-0714, which is a six-b property tax incentive request for C4T properties in Elk Grove Village.

Item number 26-0715, which is the 6 feet property tax and incentive request for SFG ISF, TP, and Chicago Ridge.

That is all the items.

Motion is made in second discussion.

All in favor, signify by saying aye.

Oppose opinion of the chair of the ayes 7.

Again, Commissioner Gainer.

Madam President, I believe this item of this meeting was recessed to the call of the chair.

Madam Secretary.

Correct.

Correct.

So we will, there's not there's no action.

Okay.

Thank you.

Commissioner Sean Morrison.

Madam Chairman, I uh move to concur with the recommendation of Technology and Innovation Committee to approve as substituted.

Items number 26-0034, proposed contract with various law firms.

Item number 26-0602, proposed contract with Microsoft Corporation.

And item 26-0614, proposed contract amendment with International Business Machines Corporation, DBA IBM.

I also move to defer as substituted item number 26-0644, a report titled Chief Information Security.

Oh, those were actually deferred.

So it will end at 0614.

I think the motion should include deferred substance.

Yes, please.

Okay.

So we will include the uh items as uh deferred.

Those were items 26-0644, a report uh from the Chief Information Security Officer for the fiscal year 2025, as well as a report titled Information Technologies Projects Report from uh September 25th of 2025 to March of 2026.

And Trevor seconds the motion.

Thank you.

Discussion?

All in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed, opinion of the chair of the aye sabotage.

New items.

Move to spend the rules to take up all new items.

Second.

All in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Oppose, opinion of the chair of the I seven.

And the first set of items.

So all these will be going to uh legislation, referred to legislation and government.

26260977, approved resolution from Commissioner Degnan, urgent passage of the climate change, superfund act, Senate Bill 2981 and House Bill 4773.

260979, proposed resolution urging the passage of Senate Bill 1531, the disposable food service container act.

260871, a proposed resolution, uh urging members of Congress to reject a legal I'm sorry, illegal immunity for big oil.

260978, proposed resolution for Commissioner Dagnan.

A proposed resolution urging members of Congress to reject legal immunity for big oil and fossil fuel companies.

260979, approved resolution urging the state of Illinois to act into the Federal Legislation Scholarship Tax Credit.

260979.

74, I'm sorry.

Yes, sir.

From Commissioner Sean Morrison, a proposed resolution urging the State of Illinois to the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit Program.

Receive and file the following items.

260906 from the Department of Management and Service Report.

First quarter possession classifications.

260919 from the Department of Management Report.

Transfer of phones under a 50,000.

260913 from the Department of Services of Department of Management Services as well.

Linda's that date correct.

Could we double check that report?

Approve the following item 260944, the Cook County State's Attorney Transfer Funds in the amount of $1 million for the JAC.

I believe the following items were handled by Commissioner Brittan in legislation.

Correct.

Yes, that is correct.

Okay.

And the second report said refer to finance 2608, a proposed resolution for our Procure County Behavioral Health Fund programs of reallocations.

Approve as amended 260879, a proposed interagency agreement with the Sheriff of Cook County, transfer interns interagency agreement with the University of Chicago Police Department.

And the third set for approval, 260738, a proposed proposed contract with the Bureau of Administration Countywide in the amount of 1.2 million for 2026 or of newer of newer for the newer Ford vehicles.

260819, a proposed contract amendment to renew and increase the amount of 350,000 for voter registration system.

And the fourth set, refer to business and economic 260936 in order in this amendment concerning the Cook County Real Property Assessment Classification.

And the fifth set, refer to legislation intergovernment, 261017, a proposed resolution from Commissioner Lowry recognizing the importance of engaging youth to shape policy and building opportunity in honor the Cook County Health, Cook County Youth Day, and refer to veterans 261013, the first quarter report for the period of December 2525 through February 26, 2026.

Second.

All right, motions made and seconded.

Commissioner Dagnan.

Thank you.

I just wanted to really quickly talk about the three resolutions that we put in today and that there's a few public speakers here.

I think we all recognize that I believe and a lot of environmentalists believe that our climate is in class climate is in crisis.