ANY COST CUTTING IDEAS?

Chicago facing $654.7 budget shortfall, aldermen told

And things could get even worse to pay for firefighter claims

By FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter

SUNTIMES

Mayor Daley has ruled out a pre-election property tax hike — but other tax increases, layoffs and a raid on previously sacred economic development funds are “on the table” — to erase a record $654.7 million budget shortfall that could rise considerably.
"There's nothing off the table, other than the property tax increase," Budget Director Gene Munin said Friday, insisting that spending cuts would come first.
After unveiling the city's $6.3 billion preliminary budget, Munin acknowledged that another raid on parking meter and Chicago Skyway reserves was "not a long-term solution" because revenues generated by the sale of those assets are "finite." But he didn't rule it out.
"We will take a look at that after we look at the expense side, just like we would look at other revenue items," he said.
Under pressure from aldermen, Munin also opened the door to a possibility that Daley had previously foreclosed: declaring a surplus in tax-increment-financing districts — known as TIF districts and used for economic development — and distributing the unallocated revenue to the city and other local government agencies.
That would have the added advantage of easing the budget crisis at the Chicago Public Schools, since schools get 53.5 percent of that money. The city gets just over 20 percent.
Year-end audits show Chicago’s 159 tax-increment financing districts had a collective balance of $1.2 billion on Dec. 31, with all but $37.1 million of that money uncommitted. But Munin insisted that the unallocated figure is more like $700 million.
"There's obviously a price to be paid if you do that," Munin said. "That's an economic development tool. To declare a surplus, distribute it, get the city's share back in a much smaller amount and not be able to build police stations, firehouses and public libraries ... is a serious policy discussion we're gonna have to have."
Ald. Tom Allen (38th) countered, "That's the only logical place to find revenue. There's nowhere else to go. It's a recurring revenue stream. If that causes us to hold off on spending TIF money on building projects, we have to take that step."
Ald. Pat O'Connor (40th), the mayor's unofficial City Council floor leader, agreed that it's time to talk about raiding Daley's favorite piggy bank for economic development projects.
With the February 2011 election fast approaching, the only thing O'Connor would rule out is turning to Chicago taxpayers.
"My belief is that a tax increase [of any kind] would not be entertained under anybody's scenario. People can't afford it," he said.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported last week that the 2011 budget shortfall would approach a record $700 million when the cost of police and fire contracts are factored in, setting the stage for another raid on the parking meter and Skyway reserves.
On Friday, Munin confirmed that grim news during closed-door aldermanic briefings, citing a continuing decline in the real estate transfer tax and other “economically sensitive” revenues.
The shortfall is the highest in Chicago history. But it could rise considerably to expand curbside recycling and resolve claims tied to a landmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on the city's discriminatory handling of a 1995 firefighters entrance exam. The preliminary budget merely anticipates that 130 bypassed black firefighters will be hired. It does not include back pay and benefits for those plaintiffs.
During Friday’s briefings, aldermen also demanded that the city hire more police officers — beyond the 100 new officers the mayor promised.
“This budget is an absolute nightmare. We have a massive structural deficit,” Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) said.
“Borrowing [from reserves] and future asset leases are not going to get us out of this problem. We need to make some deep painful cuts this year. We can't afford a 36,000-strong workforce with dramatically declining revenues.”
Reilly suggested something unheard of for City Hall: “zero-based” budgeting. That would force every city department to justify each and every position.
“We’re gonna need to look at getting out of certain types of businesses and focusing on the city's core mission: public safety, infrastructure and economic development. If a department doesn't fit into one of those three boxes, we need to talk about eliminating it,” Reilly said.
Munin acknowledged that the city has reopened discussions with union leaders about another round of furlough days, comp time instead of cash overtime and other concessions. Those agreements, which require the equivalent of 24 annual unpaid furlough days, expire on June 30, 2011.
Over the years, TIFs have become Daley's favorite — and he says only — economic development tool, diverting tens of millions of dollars from the city, Chicago Public Schools and other local taxing districts.
Within the boundaries of a TIF, property taxes are frozen at their current levels for 23 years.
When the value of property increases, the added tax revenue is set aside for infrastructure improvements needed to lure businesses to the area and subsidies for those that agree to come.

I suggest we start cutting at City Hall on the 5th floor. City workers and tax payers have done enough. This ship is top heavy.

NEW LAW

Prank 911 calls to carry stiffer penalty
by Monique Garcia CHICAGO TRIBUNE 
People found guilty of making a false 911 call to an emergency response center soon will face up to three years in prison.
Gov. Pat Quinn today signed into a law a measure he said is aimed at properly punishing those who put law enforcement officers' lives in danger by placing prank emergency calls.
The legislation was crafted after Kankakee County Sheriff's Deputy Dave Stukenborg was severely injured when his squad car blew a tire and flipped several times while responding to a false call reporting five dead bodies in November 2009.
Because of a loophole in state law, the woman who placed the call could only be charged with a misdemeanor because the call was made to an emergency call center, not a law enforcement office. Quinn's signature closes that loophole, making it a felony that could result in three years in prison and a $25,000 fine. The law goes into effect on Jan. 1.
"What we're trying to say is that our police officers and our law enforcement are very, very dear to all of us in this state," said Rep. Lisa Dugan, a Kankakee Democrat who sponsored the legislation. "There are consequences to those who believe that it's in anybody's best interest to make a false 911 call which will put people in to even more danger."
Stukenborg has spent the past several months recuperating at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, where Quinn signed the bill.
"Hopefully it will be a deterrent so that in the future no family has to go through what my family has been through due to a false 911 call ever again," Stukenborg said.

I don't think it will make much difference. If someone is willing to make a false report to 911, they are not worried about a misdemeanor.

CHICAGO GUN VIOLENCE

Why they won't stop shooting in Chicago

BY MARK J. KONKOL AND FRANK MAIN Staff Reporters

SUNTIMES

This is the story of why they won’t stop shooting in Chicago.

It’s told by the wounded, the accused and the officers who were on the street during a weekend in April 2008 when 40 people were shot, seven fatally.
Two years later, the grim reality is this: Nearly all of the shooters from that weekend have escaped charges.
“You don’t go to jail for shooting people,” says Dontae Gamble, who took six bullets that weekend, only to see his alleged shooter walk free.
“That’s why m------------- think they can get back on the streets and kill again. You feel me?”
So far, not one accused shooter has been convicted of pulling the trigger during those deadly 59 hours from April 18-20 of that year, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found.
Only one suspected triggerman — a convicted armed robber caught with the AK-47 he allegedly used to blow away his boss — is in jail awaiting trial.
Three other victims said they know who shot them but refused to testify. And after Gamble took the witness stand against the guy who he says shot him, a judge ruled Gamble wasn’t credible because of his criminal record and found the suspect not guilty.
Six murders from that 2008 weekend remain unsolved. And time’s running out to catch the bad guys who shot 29 other people that weekend because there’s a three-year statute of limitations on aggravated batteries with firearms.
Odds are, most of those cases will remain unsolved. The Chicago Police Department’s batting average for catching shooters has fallen to an alarmingly low level.
Detectives cleared 18 percent of the 1,812 non-fatal shootings last year. They were slightly better in catching killers — 30 percent of murders were cleared in 2009.
But here’s the catch: When police “clear” a case, that doesn’t always mean a suspect got convicted — or even charged.
Sometimes police seek charges against a suspect, but the state’s attorney won’t prosecute without more evidence. Other times, the shooter is dead, or the victim refuses to testify after identifying the shooter. Cops call those “exceptional” clearances.
Police don’t include the number of exceptional clearances in their annual report to the FBI. The Sun-Times obtained the data through the Freedom of Information Act.
Even though detectives cleared 18 percent of non-fatal shootings last year, almost half of those were cleared exceptionally, the records show. That means more than 90 percent of those gunmen weren’t charged.
And that has a real impact on street violence.
“The certainty of punishment is very, very low in Chicago, and that’s going to embolden people,” said defense attorney Thomas Needham, who was a top legal adviser to former police Supt. Terry Hillard. “It’s going to lead to less fear by the people who are going to consider shooting. That’s very alarming.”
Jose Bravo, Willie Brown and Dontae Gamble — all men who survived bullets during this one violent weekend in Chicago — are faces of a real problem.
When victims won’t cooperate or have shaky credibility on the witness stand, the overwhelming odds are the people who shot them won’t go to prison.

It's outrageous that our legal system cannot lock up these vermin who are terrorizing our city. Every time an officer or citizen is killed we read about how often the offender was arrested for gun crimes and other despicable acts. When are we going to hold the people who run this city accountable? The politicians and reverends get in front of the camera and talk about gun laws and saving the children. Then they pass laws that allow judges to set these animals free and help hide the same cowards who are doing the shooting. You can't have it both ways. If you want safe neighborhoods you have to elect tough leaders who are willing to put the murderers in jail and you have to turn in the people in your neighborhoods who are committing the crimes. Once the people see that the gang bangers and hoodlums are going away for long sentences, they will be more willing to come forward and testify. It starts at the top. We need tough new leaders in Chicago.

DETROIT FIRES

There are a huge number of abandoned properties in Detroit. A sad statement for a once great city. Let's hope Chicago can avoid this fate.

WILL DALEY RUN AGAIN?

• Can you imagine Chicago without a Mayor Daley in charge? It could happen sooner than you think. It may be time for the mayor to move on, and not run for re-election.
• The heat is not all that's hot in Chicago. There is anger burning the police department over the murder of another cop, and fear and tension sizzling the streets.
• And in response to that weekend public opinion poll showing Mayor Daley's popularity under 50 percent, the wards and precincts are on fire with speculation.
• Every politician in town -- aldermen, congressmen, assemblymen, committeemen, you name him or her -- all of them trying to find out if the mayor's planning to run for re-election.
• The only way to know if he is or isn't, is to know one of three people: the mayor himself, his wife Maggie or his brother Bill, who is the only person in politics who is in on every move the mayor makes.
• Bill's been saying in public that he doesn't know what his brother's planning to do. In private, he's been saying the mayor intends not to run again - because he wants more time to spend with Maggie, and the job isn't fun anymore.
• Not enough money in the budget, and too much hostility in the press.
• Bill Daley saying that Rich Daley is thinking 'no' is a big shift in the gusty winds of Chicago politics, and a big story to begin to tell.

Could it be true? Could he step down? Who would step up? This could get interesting. I don't really trust Walter's information. But you never know.

OFFICER DOWN

Officer Mike Bailey

• A police officer coming home after an overnight shift guarding Mayor Richard Daley's home was shot and killed this morning in the South Side's Park Manor neighborhood by men apparently trying to steal his car or rob him, police said.
• Ald. Freddrenna Lyle, whose ward includes the officer's home, identified him as Michael R. Bailey. The 62-year-old officer, a 20-year veteran due to retire in weeks, was shot at about 6:20 a.m. in the 7400 block of South Evans Avenue and pronounced dead at 6:41 a.m. at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, police said.
• A detective on the scene said Bailey was assigned to the Central District and had been stationed overnight at the mayor's home.
• The incident marked the third shooting death of an off-duty Chicago police officer in the last two months. On July 7, Officer Thor Soderberg had just gotten off work and was heading to a volleyball game when he got into a struggle with a man who took his gun and shot him. On May 19, Officer Thomas Wortham IV was shot outside his parents' home in Chatham.
• Like Wortham, Bailey was killed when assailants tried to rob him. Wortham's killers tried to steal his motorcycle, while the assailants in today's crime may have tried to steal the officer's car.
• Relatives of the officers also came to their aid when the shootings occurred; Wortham's father, a retired Chicago police officer, came out of his home and opened fire on his son's assailants, while the son of the officer killed today tried to go after his father's assailants with one of his father's guns.
• Reached this morning, Daley spokeswoman Jacquelyn Heard said that the mayor was familiar with the officer.
• "The mayor is stunned like the rest of us -- another uniformed officer needlessly gunned down," she said.
• Beatrice Cuello, assistant superintendent for administration for the Police Department, spoke this morning outside Northwestern Memorial Hospital before a police motorcade took the officer's body to the medical examiner's office.
• "Words cannot express the shock, sorrow and outrage we feel at the loss of a Chicago police officer; this is the third brave officer killed since May," she said. "The job of being a police officer is incredibly rewarding each day we have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others. At the same time, being a Chicago police officer is incredibly dangerous and it is the risk we accept without hesitation because of the overwhelming commitment to public service."
• She said the latest officers killed, "embodied the commitment to public service and the willingness to sacrifice their lives protecting all of us." (Click HERE to listen to an audio recording.)
• Mark Donahue, president of the police union, called the officer's death a "great loss."
• "The frequency which we are experiencing this is extremely disturbing, but it does go along with what's happening in our communities," Donahue said. "It's unfortunate. Times have come where we have to readjust with how we police, to bring situations like this to an end.
• "It's time to let the police be the police and take the handcuffs off the police ... tighten up the rules and regulations in our court system. We need to do something." (Click HERE to listen to an audio recording.)
• At the scene this morning, a black Buick with a bullet hole in the windshield. Near the car were up to 17 police evidence markers, apparently showing the locations of shell casings and what appeared to be a handgun.
• Bailey, who had just gotten home and was still in his uniform, was cleaning the glass of his recently purchased 2010 black Buick when up to three men approached to steal his car, a source said. The officer identified himself and there was an exchange of gunfire between the officer and at least one of the men, the source said.
• The officer was struck multiple times by gunfire, and the men fled and were being sought this morning, the source said. Three handguns, including one belonging to the officer and another believed to belong to the assailants, were found at the scene.
• The source added that the officer's son, who was home at the time, grabbed his father's gun and ran outside after he saw his father on the ground. It was unclear if the son fired any shots at the attackers.
• According to police communications, officers are seeking a older model tan Ford pickup truck that may have bullet holes in one door. It was last seen heading south on Evans.
• Police are also looking for a black male in his late teens or early 20s, with a tall, slim build and very short hair. He was wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans with a long brown belt and was last seen running east across a vacant lot near the scene.
• At the scene, neighbor Ericka White, 14, said she was sitting on her porch shortly after 6 a.m. when she heard several gunshots.
• "We just heard it. Shots went off three times, stopped and went off two more times," she said. "We ran inside the house when we heard the shooting."
• Another neighbor, Aleiya Harrington, 14, said she saw the officer putting things in the car every morning around 6 a.m.
• Estephanie Tatum said she received a phone call from the officer's wife at 6:11 a.m. who told Tatum that he was shot.
• Tatum, who said the officer was godfather to her two sons, said she met him when they were classmates at Chicago State University.
• "In college he was free spirit. When he told me he wanted to be a cop, I was shocked. I said, 'They gonna let us be a police?' "
• She described him as a "great Zen master," saying he did Tai Chi.
• Vincent Dove, 32, of Dolton knew Bailey's children and grew up a few houses away from the officer's home. A relative called him this morning to let him know about the shooting in his old neighborhood.
• He said the officer served as an inspiration in the community, Dove said, adding that he graduated high school and college thanks to the officer's urging.
• "Back in high school, I could have gone two different ways," said Dove."He'd tell me that my mom worked too hard for me not to go to school."
• Investigators from the Independent Police Review Authority, the agency that investigates police-involved shootings, were on the scene.

Another terrible loss. May he rest in peace. God bless his family.

OPEN POST - HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND

IG QUARTERLY REPORT

IGO Case # 08-0574
An IGO investigation revealed that an Office of Emergency Management (OEMC) employee,
Employee A, knew or should have known that an OEMC filing to the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) by a supervisor was false. The false filing was made to obtain new radio
channels.
Page 10 of 20
During its investigation, the IGO discovered that a firm OEMC hired as a consultant for FCC
issues did not have a contract with the City. Instead OEMC paid the firm by routing payments
through unrelated contracts with other vendors who did have City contracts, effectively serving
as pass-throughs, and charging the City an additional premium for doing so, all in clear violation
of the City’s procurement policies and procedures. The investigation found that Employee B
failed to ensure that the contractual payments OEMC made to the firm were appropriate. In
addition, the firm failed to fully cooperate with the IGO’s investigation.
The IGO recommended that: (i) Employee A be suspended for 30 days, (ii) Employee B be
suspended for 14 days, (iii) the firm be permanently debarred, and (iv) the pass-through contract
vendors be required to return their mark-up premiums to the City.
OEMC suspended Employee A for 30 days as recommended, Employee B for 5 days, less than
recommended, and debarment proceedings against the firm have been initiated. The City did not
seek the return of the mark-up premiums from the pass-through vendors.

Maybe this will keep some people honest around here.

FIRE VIDEO

FROM THE EMAIL

Hey, quick question and I am sure you get lots of there:


A friend of a friend took the test for OEMC and they said they were number 40 on the list and they hired 31. Do you know how often they hire or if they plan on hiring again soon? I am just amazed they hired 31 like they say! Anyway I appreciate any info you have. Normally I would of just told the person who asked me "how the hell would I know?" but this guy is so nice I could not give him the "business"

I appreciate any info you may have...

Have a great day!

RIP OFFICER SODERBERG

• CHICAGO (CBS)
• A veteran Chicago police officer was killed with his own weapon in a shooting just outside a police building on the South Side.
• Thor Soderberg, 43, was shot in the chest and killed at 3:48 p.m. at 61st and Racine, in a parking lot filled with police cars, which is across the street from the old Englewood 7th District police station now used by the department's Targeted Response Unit.
• Chicago Police Asst. Supt. James B. Jackson says Soderberg, who was working Operation Protect Youth, returned to his vehicle in the parking lot at the end of his tour of duty.
• "While in the parking lot, the uniformed officer became involved in a struggle with a 24-year old male individual," said Jackson. "During the struggle, the offender disarmed the officer. The offender then shot the officer, fatally wounding him."
• Jackson said after the shooting, the offender fled and is believed to have committed an armed robbery a short distance away.
• "The offender fired additional shots, which were heard by officers inside the police facility," Jackson said. "Several officers quickly responded and there was an exchange of gunfire with the offender."
• The offender was shot and wounded by police. He was transported to Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn with non life-threatening injuries.
• Over 100 officers converged on the area to investigate. Soderberg died at the scene and his body was taken to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
• Jackson says Soderberg was an 11-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department, most recently assigned to the Education and Training Division at the police academy.
• As part of Operation Protect Youth, a crime-fighting initiative unveiled in April by the police department, Soderberg was working the streets one week per month.
• Now with his death in the line of duty, another name will soon be added to the Chicago Police Memorial near Soldier Field.
• "Talking to the friends, colleagues, partners of this officer, it's quite apparent that not only have we lost a brother in arms, but the entire population of this city has lost someone that, had you known him, you'd be very proud to call him one of your own as well," said Mark Donohue, Fraternal Order of Police President.
• CBS 2 spoke with one of the Soderberg's friends who knew him as a dedicated volunteer. She said he was selfless, always doing whatever he could to protect others.
• "You couldn't find a better person to represent the force," she said. "Because he was the epitome of what our police should be in terms of service. He wasn't aggressive. He believed in talking it out, working it out, avoiding confliction and violence. And for this to happen to a person like that, it's just heartbreaking."

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.

 

TEXT-A-TIP

• Alderman Danny Solis (25th Ward) called on Friday for an ordinance that would enlist Internet technology to protect the anonymity of witnesses who report crimes to the police.
• As Mr. Solis stood in a group of about 30 residents and officials who had gathered in Pilsen — less than a week after one man was killed and another was badly injured in a shooting in the neighborhood — he urged those in the crowd to “break the code of silence,” and pick up the phone when a crime had been committed.
• Cecily Arroyo, one of the event’s organizers, said, “The silence is deafening, and we must come together as a community.”
• The group included a small girl who held a sign that read, “I want to grow up peacefully in Pilsen.”
• The event was held after the City Council voted to impose new restrictions on gun owners in response to Monday’s Supreme Court ruling that effectively ended the city’s ban on handguns.
• After his news conference, Mr. Solis said his plan would involve third parties like Google, Bing or Yahoo as filters for information sent by residents, via text or photo messaging, who might not otherwise trust the police to protect their identities.
• Chicago has used technology before for anonymous tips. Text-a-Tip, developed by Crime Stoppers and implemented in 2008, is a text message tip line for residents who might otherwise be afraid to come forward.
• Compared with Boston, where Text-a-Tip made its debut in 2007, Chicago got off to a slow start. While Boston’s crime rate is significantly lower than Chicago’s, its texting hot line received 694 messages in its first year alone, while Chicago’s received only 36 in its first six months. Experts attribute the disparity to a forceful marketing push by Crime Stoppers in Boston.
• “I want to use the technology of the day to provide extra eyes and ears for the community,” Mr. Solis said.
• He also proposed that the companies, in exchange for the promotional benefit the service would bring, should contribute to a fund that would reward people who provided information that helped solve a crime.
• Robert Rocha, 31, a “violence interrupter” with Ceasefire Chicago, said he was skeptical that the service would get to the root of the problem. Families are often in denial about their children’s possible involvement with gangs, Mr. Rocha said.
• “It goes way back in history,” he said. “A lot of it is Hispanic culture — the not talking.”
• People also fear being deemed a “rata,” or rat, he said.
• “To break the code of silence, we must educate the community about laws and gangs,” Mr. Rocha said. “It’s through this that we can take the streets back.”

Will this help? NBD TTLY FWM TUI TMOT TBD SFAIK PROLLY NW

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY - STAY SAFE