2023 City Budget Hearing [Animal Care & Control; Procurement; Assets, Information & Services] MORNING
Chicago City Council
Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022
9:00 a.m. — 1:00 p.m. CDT
121 N LaSalle St Chicago, IL 60602 (Directions)
Most days of budget hearings are expected to run all day, with an hour-long lunch break somewhere in the middle.
We are splitting each day up into morning and afternoon assignments (9am-1pm and 1pm to end). If you are available for the whole day, feel free to apply to both morning and afternoon assignments.
You have the option of documenting this meeting in person or remotely. If you choose to attend in person, an additional hour will be added to your total assignment hours.
If you choose to document remotely, the meeting will be live-streamed at https://www.chicityclerk.com/.
At this link, scroll down to “Meeting Notices.” Look for “Watch now” and click on the link with the meeting title to go to a livestream page.
If you don’t see a link for the meeting, you may be early or the meeting may be starting late. Wait a few moments and try refreshing your Internet tab.
This is the first of 12 days of departmental budget hearings. It will feature overview presentations from the following city departments:
- Animal Care and Control
- Department of Procurement Services
- Department of Assets, Information and Services
See also: Our guide to navigating the city budget process.
Check the source website for additional information
Reporting
Edited and summarized by the Chicago - IL Documenters Team
Pet adoptions, Dogs off leashes, M/WBEs,
Good Morning! I’ll be live-tweeting the Chicago City Council’s 2023 City Budget (Animal Care & Control; Procurement; Assets, Information & Services) hearings for @CHIdocumenters #CHIdocumenters. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m.
08:56 AM Oct 12, 2022 CDT
Chairperson Dowell begins the meeting with the public comments session. George Blakemore is the only speaker.
The public comments session ends. Executive Director of the CACC Mamadou Diakhate begins with an opening statement outlining the department’s budget.
CACC Executive Director is now fielding questions from city council members.
CACC helps to rescue and vaccinate thousands of cats, dogs, and other wildlife. Most of the questions from the city council pertain to dog owners not having their pets on a leash in public.
Multiple city council members have commended the CACC’s work and listed problems with wildlife in their wards.
Animal Care and Control budget hearing ends. 5 min recess until the Department of Procurement Service hearing begins.
Chief Procurement Officer Aileen Velazquez begins the hearing with an opening statement.
CPO Velasquez promises the city will provide contracting opportunities to diverse vendors and firms.
CPO Velazquez is fielding questions from the city council members. Most of the questions are about how the department picks the vendors the city chooses to give contracts from the lens of equity.
Chairperson Dowell questions CPO Velazquez about the certification fee to do business with the city. Says the fee is a barrier to the goal of equity. Certification takes 90 days.
City Council members Dowell and Hairston want the fee structure changed. And are upset about the decline in procurement contracts given to Black contractors, vendors, and firms.
City Council members are growing frustrated that the Department of Procurement Services can’t provide data on the spot during the hearing.
CPO Velazquez says the department’s vacancies can be contributed to workforce shrinkage and salary issues.
The 2023 City Budget Hearing (Animal Care & Control; Procurement; Assets, Information & Services) is taking an hour-long break for lunch.
Agency Information
Chicago City Council
The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago and consists of the Mayor and Aldermen elected from each of the City’s fifty wards. Source
If you attend a meeting in person, be prepared to go through a security checkpoint and show photo ID.
Meetings are also livestreamed at https://www.chicityclerk.com/.
At this link, scroll down to “Meeting Notices.” Look for “Watch now” and click on the link with the meeting title to go to a livestream page. If you don’t see a link for the meeting, you may be early or the meeting may be starting late. Wait a few moments and try refreshing your Internet tab.
Recordings of past City Council meetings may be found here: https://vimeo.com/user100351763/videos/sort:date.
See also: “What to Expect at a Meeting of Chicago’s City Council” via the Better Government Association.
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