Alderman Moore’s City Council Report

One potentially controversial ordinance did come up for a vote, however, but was rescheduled for the September meeting by a procedure called “defer and publish” (where any two aldermen can ask for a one-meeting continuation). The legislation is a much-needed update of the City’s “Air Pollution Control” Ordinance, covering everything from demolitions to motor vehicle exhaust.

At an earlier City Council Energy and Environment Committee meeting, two of my colleagues introduced a problematic amendment to the ordinance that severely limited “controlled burns” in forest preserves within the city limits. These burns are absolutely necessary to keep out invasive plants, help geminate seeds, and basically keep our woodlands and savannah areas healthy. Burns have also created zero problems in over 30 years.

Yet the amendment requires such a huge buffer zone around the burn (200 yards or the length of two football fields), and creates such unrealistic notification requirements, that essentially controlled burns would end and our forests would literally “suffocate” with overgrowth.

The “Air Pollution Control” ordinance is also conspicuously silent on the two biggest causes of air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions in Chicago—the Fisk and Crawford coal fired power plants, located on the city’s southwest side. I have long joined environmentalists in calling for the closing of those two ancient relics, and in fact a lawsuit recently has been filed, alleging that continued operation of the plants violate the Clean Air Act.

Needless to say, I will be watching this legislation carefully as it returns to the Council this week.

Also in September, the most consequential issue that will be facing us will be the Olympic bid. After the Mayor surprised us all earlier this summer with his statement that he would sign an Olympic Agreement that left the city and its taxpayers with an open-ended liability for cost overruns, I called for an independent analysis of the Olympic Committee’s revenue and construction cost estimates, and its insurance policies. As a result, the City Council in June passed an ordinance that asked the Chicago Civic Federation to conduct such an analysis.

The Civic Federation issued its report late last month.  For a copy of the report and a summary, CLICK HERE .  The report concluded that the proposed budget and insurance coverage for the 2016 Olympics provides adequate protection for the taxpayers. But the report also called for “increased public transparency about Olympic finances” to safeguard the taxpayers, noting that many areas of the Olympic plan are subject to change in the years leading up to the games. The Civic Federation called upon the City Council to exercise its oversight role and require regular reporting on the Games’ status, including public disclosure of budgets, contracts and construction updates.

I took that call for greater transparency seriously, and joined my colleague Alderman Manny Flores in sponsoring an “Olympics Oversight Ordinance.”  A copy of the ordinance is attached below:

OlympicsOversightOrdinance[1].pdf (82 KB) 

i Recognizing that many members of the public simply don’t trust the City Council to exercise effective oversight on its own, the ordinance establishes three layers of oversight: the City Council, the Office of the Chicago Inspector General to audit and monitor the Olympic Chicago Organizing Committee (OCOG), and a public interest group, such as the Better Government Association, to serve as an independent advisor to the City Council.

The ordinance also mandates comprehensive quarterly financial reporting from the Chicago Organizing Committee, which must be posted on OCOG’s website for public scrutiny. The ordinance requires updates on construction budgets, schedules and progress and regular reporting on the use of minority and women-owned business enterprises. Finally, the ordinance codifies the Olympic Committee’s agreement to purchase of insurance policies to protect against natural disasters, event cancellation and the loss of development financing.

While the Olympic Games carry with them enormous economic development potential, including the creation of tens of thousands of jobs, there is also enormous risk entailed in hosting an event of this magnitude. Given Chicago’s undeniable history of construction cost overruns and corruption, full transparency and independent oversight of the Olympics are absolute musts.

The next few days will be critical. Later today (Tuesday), the City Council Committee on Finance will vote on our ordinance. And tomorrow, the full City Council will vote on whether to authorize the Mayor to enter into the Olympic Agreement. I look forward to hearing your views on the Olympic bid and of course will continue to keep you informed.

Sincerely,

Joe Moore

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