Editor’s Note

Welcome to Newswire — your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what action we can take to make our city great, featuring public meeting coverage by City Bureau’s Documenters.

Quote of the Week

“Imagine for a moment your daughter, your sister or friend just disappears, and the silence that follows is deafening. That is the reality for far too many Black and Brown families here in our city. When our girls go missing, their stories don’t make the headlines.”

— Jaribu Lee, deputy director at Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO), calling for a response to the crisis of missing women and girls

[Chicago City Council Committee on Public Safety, Oct. 23, 2024]

Still missing

Alders invited families, advocates and police to speak at a City Council hearing on the crisis of missing Black women and girls, and how the Chicago Police Department is doing little to solve the issue. More in “The Issue” below.

Bush picked for parks board

Sharon Bush, a seasoned nonprofit leader, is the mayor’s pick to fill an open seat on the Chicago Park District’s board of commissioners. At a meeting of the “happy committee,” as Chair Nicholas Sposato (38th Ward) calls it, alders asked Bush how she’d handle the tent city in Gompers Park, decreased TIF funding and dogs roaming off leash. 

Bush, who grew up playing at Garfield Park, currently helms Grand Victoria Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Elgin riverboat casino of the same name. If the appointment is confirmed by a full City Council vote, Bush would fill the vacancy left by former board chair Myetie Hamilton, who abruptly resigned over the summer.

  • City Council Committee on Special Events, Cultural Affairs and Recreation by Maureen Dunne

Through the grapeVINE

Cook County commissioners voted to renew a victim notification technology (VINE) contract, despite persistent concerns about reliability and privacy. In cases of assault, stalking and other forms of violence, VINE notifies the survivor of the alleged or convicted abuser’s court hearings and release dates. 

Several public commenters voiced opposition to sharing personal data with VINE, as its parent company is one of several data brokers that has sold information to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE can use this data to target and deport undocumented residents in spite of local sanctuary laws, critics say, and Cook County Board members raised the concern in 2022. Other communities have also noticed recurring outages, resulting in missing or delayed notifications.

Circle ‘round

Last week’s meeting of the 24th Police District Council adjourned as soon as it started due to lack of quorum, but attendees stayed to learn about Cook County’s restorative justice court system.

Guest presenter Margaret Kulujian, a psychologist and coordinator for the program, gave an overview of how community peace circles work through the lens of harm and repair.

Since the program’s start in 2017, restorative justice courts have launched in Avondale, Englewood, North Lawndale and suburban Sauk Village.The focus is on individuals ages 18-26 who have not been charged or convicted of a violent crime. Early results have been promising, advocates say, with just 13% of restorative justice court participants committing a subsequent offense within one year, compared to 65% of a comparable control group sent to Cook County Jail.

Kulujian advised attendees to reach out to their Cook County commissioner if they want to bring this work to their community, and invited them to attend the graduation of current court participants in November.

For more on the beginnings of restorative justice courts in Chicago, see past City Bureau reporting.

At City Bureau

Our biweekly look at what’s happening within our own programs, events and other work at City Bureau. This week, we’re sharing the latest impact from “Missing in Chicago,” City Bureau and Invisible Institute’s Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation of how the Chicago Police Department has failed Black women who go missing

Screen capture of City Bureau Senior Reporter Sarah Conway and Invisible Institute Data Director Trina Reynolds-Tyler testifying before the Chicago City Council Committee on Public Safety on October 23, 2024.

Teresa Smith and her family never got justice after her mother disappeared six years ago.

Smith was one of several speakers at a City Council hearing last week on the crisis of missing Black women and girls, and how the Chicago Police Department is doing little to solve the issue. The hearing, proposed by Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16th Ward) earlier this year, was in large part spurred by a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation published by City Bureau and Invisible Institute, “Missing In Chicago.”

Smith spoke for 10 minutes about her mother Daisy Hayes, 65, who went missing in 2018. When she turned to the police for help, she was met with dismissive questions and bureaucratic inaction, Smith said.

Her mother’s boyfriend was charged with murder but acquitted in a 2022 trial. Hayes’ body was never recovered.

“Everybody failed my mother,” Smith told City Council members. “Every last one of y’all. I’m so serious. Everybody failed my mother. She got nothing.” 

Read on for a recap of the hearing.

A version of this story was first published in the October 30, 2024 issue of the Newswire, an email newsletter that is your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what we can do to make our city great. You can sign up for the weekly newsletter here.

Have thoughts on what you'd like to see in this feature? Email Editorial Director Ariel Cheung at ariel@citybureau.org.