6 Things to Know About Chicago Budget Season Before You Play #ChiBudgetBingo

If spending $1.9 billion in city funds doesn’t get you excited, maybe a bingo prize will!

By Nalani Saito & India Daniels

Get your very own bingo board and play along! Instructions at the bottom of the page.

Chicago Documenters is thrilled to bring you our second annual round of Chicago City Council Budget Bingo. Tune in Wednesday at 10 a.m. on Twitter for #ChiBudgetBingo, where we’re taking our watchdog ways and enthusiasm for public meetings to bring you commentary throughout the official City Council vote to approve—or not approve—the fiscal year 2022 budget. We’ll tell you how to play at the end of this blog, but first, here’s what you need to know about where Chicago will spend its money next year, whether you’re playing bingo or not.

This year’s budget process, taking place a month earlier than previous years, kicked off on Sept. 24. Over the subsequent two weeks, Chicago City Council members have questioned government agency representatives (from the Chicago Police Department to the Department of Administrative Hearings) about their budget proposals during hearings covered by your very own Chicago Documenters. At each hearing, the departments review their past years’ successes and failures and set the stage for what they want to fund in the next year.

The Chicago Police Department wants more money

CPD’s proposed FY2022 budget is nearly $1.9 billion. To put that in context, as Alder Andre Vasquez (40th) pointed out, that’s nearly the same amount of federal pandemic relief American Rescue Plan funding and about one-fifth of the budget for 37 departments.

But also, citing negative public image and a need to fill vacancies, CPD proposed a $230,000 advertising budget for 2022, a nearly 100-fold increase over last year. Alder Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) proposed an amendment to keep it at $2,400. Despite the huge hiring push, Police Superintendent David Brown admitted that CPD will not be able to fill all sworn officer vacancies next year, and in response, Alder Maria Hadden (49th) proposed an amendment cutting 300 of those positions from the budget, shaving $44 million off CPD’s budget. 

Some officers accused of misconduct are still receiving checks

Alder Vasquez asked Supt. Brown a question he’d previously presented to the Police Board: How many officers accused of wrongdoing are still receiving pay? Dana O’Malley, CPD’s lawyer, said that officers have due process rights, and some allegations are still being investigated and have not yet led to officers being taken off the job. “To take every officer and relieve them of power based on allegations ...would leave us with a manpower issue,” O’Malley said.

As Documenter Chloe Vitale pointed out, “If CPD’s general counsel admits that taking every officer who has allegations of misconduct filed against them off the streets would leave CPD with a manpower shortage, what does that say about the sheer volume of Chicago police officers with complaints lodged against them?” 


Requests for more police accountability

Along those lines, COPA, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, is requesting $14.7 million for 2022, up from $13.3 million the previous year. A substantial chunk of that funding is to hire personnel, including staff for their video unit and three Freedom of Information Act officers. 

This year, City Council passed an ordinance approving an elected police accountability commission. Spearheaded by the Empowering Communities for Public Safety coalition, the ordinance creates a board that would wield power in hiring, firing and approving policy across the Police Board, CPD and COPA. The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability has a proposed budget of $3.4 million, though it doesn’t look like they were part of a budget hearing. 

The end of ShotSpotter?

ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection software currently used by CPD whose $33 million contract was renewed in December 2020, came up quite a bit in the CPD hearing, including in many of the 150 written public comments. Alders questioned the decision to renew the contract despite evidence from several sources, including the Office of the Inspector General, that indicates the tool is not helping CPD gather evidence on gun-related crimes. 

In fact, during the CPD budget hearing, a group of alders questioned Brown about the contract renewal and whether there were other technologies that could replace it. Brown insisted that the decision around the contract lay with the Office of Public Safety Administration, which Alder Vasquez called “CPD lite.” It looks like Alder Carlos Ramirez-Rosa took that redirect to heart because he introduced an ordinance that would cut a $8,967,998 line item for software maintenance and licensing (read: kill the ShotSpotter contract) from the budget of the Office of Public Safety Administration.  


How to spend federal COVID relief funds

There are differing opinions on how to spend American Rescue Plan funding. What Lightfoot proposes is to use a chunk to pay off the city’s $733 million debt. But some alders have different ideas.

Alder Hadden has proposed putting $70 million of ARP funds toward preservation of single-room occupancy projects, a critical source of low-income housing. For context, the budget proposal currently dedicates $32 million of ARP funding for homelessness support services generally. 

While Alder Hadden’s plan focuses on housing, Alder Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez (33rd) has proposed earmarking $10 million of the Department of Public Health’s ARP funds for reinvestment in city-run mental health clinics. Twenty-five other alders have signed on to co-sponsor this ordinance.

And some 🔥 music

Last, but certainly not least, we will say the Committee on Budget and Government Operations supplied a fire playlist while waiting to meet quorum. Hits included “You’re the Only One” by Eric Benet, “You Make Me Feel Brand New” by The Stylistics, “ABC 123” by Tune-Yards and “Who Let the Dogs Out?” by Baha Men. Alder Pat Dowell (3rd) gave a shout out to the elusive DJ: “I specifically want to thank my man Michael Smith up there and his great music,” and despite our preliminary digging, we have not found the Michael Smith to appropriately credit. Michael, if you’re out there, thank you and we hope to see you at the City Council meeting. 

Will the alders’ proposed amendments make it through? Will the budget pass? Will sparks fly? Tune into Budget Bingo on Wednesday, Oct. 27th at 10 a.m. to see how it shakes out.

Here’s how to play:

  1. Pull up your bingo board—this link will give you your very own randomized bingo board, with squares thought up by City Bureau’s staff. 

  2. Tune into the @ChiDocumenters live-tweet thread for updates and follow along with the City Council live-stream. Let us know you’re playing by tagging us on Twitter and using the hashtag, #ChiBudgetBingo.

  3. Mark off boxes as they happen (click on a square to check it off or download your card). The ChiDocumenters Twitter account will have the official say on which boxes you get to check, so keep refreshing. 

  4. Win the #ChiBudgetBingo prize–a $30 gift card to Build Coffee–and bragging rights by being the first to email us your winning board at documenters@citybureau.org

Special thanks to The Daily Line for this helpful budget recap!

Read more on the budget from City Bureau here:

Chicago City Council - 2022 City Budget Hearing [Police Board, Chicago Police Department] 10/04/2021

Chicago City Council - Committee on Budget and Government Operations 09/30/2021

https://www.citybureau.org/newswire/2020/11/3/how-did-chicagos-aldermen-vote-on-the-2021-budget

Support City Bureau’s workshops and events by becoming a recurring donor today.

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What to Know When Hosting a People’s Budget Event in Your Own Neighborhood

Our September Public Newsroom highlighted the ways Chicagoans can push for a city budget that serves their needs

By Ebony Ellis

This September, our Public Newsroom focused on how community members can start a People’s Budget event in their own neighborhoods. The People’s Budget Chicago (PBC) is a series created by Chicago United for Equity (CUE) in order to change the fact that the budget-setting process is not very accessible to people outside of government. 

We were joined by folks who work with the People’s Budget: 

  • Paola Aguirre, founder of Borderless — a Chicago-based city design and research practice focused on cultivating collaborative design agency through interdisciplinary projects; she was also a 2019 CUE Fellow

  • Vanessa Dominguez, a PBC coordinator

  • Kiara Hardin, a PBC facilitator

  • Troy Gaston, a PBC facilitator

Here’s what we learned:

Understand Your Community

One cannot always assume that people who live in the same neighborhood have the exact same ideas on how the neighborhood can be improved. “What do our communities need to be safe and thriving?” is the question that is PBC’s main focus. At the beginning of each of the pop up events (whether in-person or virtual), this question is asked before the main activity. This question is important because it encourages participants to start thinking about the changes they would like to see in their communities.

“I’d say—I’m still trying to find my community. Chicago has been a really big part of how I see the world,” a participant said.

The Importance of Consensus

The truth is we all may have different ideas about how we think resources should be allocated around the city. But we all have to live and work together. In the breakout groups, participants were given a particular amount of money and had to decide how each of them would allocate their funds. This involves a lot of thought and conversation between participants. There is a set amount of time for this activity, but ultimately it seems like there is never enough time. In one of the groups, members were deciding on placing some of the funds either in housing or infrastructure. Out of $100, the group decided that $24 would go towards housing and $19 would go towards infrastructure.

We Need Resources, Not Just Cops

This may sound self explanatory. Or maybe not. For one of the breakout groups, as a result of the activity, groups allocated funds to every section of the budget—except for the carceral system, which involves the police. The city of Chicago spends the most amount of money on policing. When the question was asked, a participant responded with her experiences of contacting the 311 non-emergency service for individuals seeking mental health assistance.

“One of the things that stood out to me was the amount of times I called 311 trying to get someone who is not a police officer to help someone who is in need of mental health services and how I get laughed at,” the participant said. “I think that’s absolutely ridiculous and we can do so much better.”

Want to learn more or get involved?

Check out some of the take-aways for this month’s workshop.

Next steps

  • Attend the People’s Policy School: Who decides how Chicago spends our tax dollars? Join CUE in launching our new public program, The People's Policy School! This event will be online on September 23rd, 6-8pm.  

  • Take action: more you can do to help us create an equitable budget

Further reading

Support City Bureau’s workshops and events by becoming a recurring donor today.

To get biweekly emails about Chicago news and events, sign up for City Bureau’s Chicago newsletter.

How Should We Tell Queer Stories in Chicago?

Our latest Public Newsroom offered ways local media can tell better stories about queer Chicago.

By Justin Agrelo

Aside from Pride month, queer stories rarely take precedent in Chicago’s local news coverage. When queer stories are told, they typically center white, cisgender, affluent gay men on the North Side, failing to capture the diversity of the city’s many queer communities. So what would a local media landscape that serves queer people year-round look like?

Last week, City Bureau brought together journalist Adam Rhodes and interdisciplinary artist Ireashia Bennett to explore how local media can tell better queer stories. The panelists and attendees discussed present-day shortcomings in the local coverage of Chicago’s queer communities as well as practical ways newsrooms can better serve queer Chicagoans.

Here’s what we learned:

Move beyond the national story 

Chicago media has a tendency to cover queer issues that are also playing out at the national level. Consider the amount of coverage the fight for marriage equality received from national and local outlets. This tendency to focus on national stories leaves many queer Chicago stories untold and information needs unmet.

Rhodes believes this tendency also leads to superficial coverage of Chicago’s queer communities.

“Reporting that serves queer Chicago well is nuanced and more revelatory than a localized national story,” Rhodes says. 

Both Bennett and Rhodes suggest reporters allow queer people the agency to decide what issues are important to them and what stories get told about their communities. This move starts by simply listening to queer folks so that local coverage can move beyond what’s playing out on the national stage.

The need to de-center Northalsted 

To better serve queer Chicago, local media outlets need to break out of the habit of centering the Northalsted community—a community that is largely white and affluent. Treating the Northalsted community as a stand-in for all queer Chicagoans has created an overrepresentation of white, cisgender, gay men’s perspectives in media about queer Chicago. This further marginalizes queer folks of color who are consistently underrepresented in news media and who have different information needs.

The consistent centering of Northalsted also creates barriers for queer folks on the South and West sides to access information that is relevant to their lives and their interests. To tell better stories about queer Chicago, reporters need to engage communities outside of Northalsted, and be intentional about centering a diverse set of experiences and perspectives. Queer folks are not a monolith, and their stories should not be either. 

Queer people are telling their own stories in their own ways

Whether on Instagram or through public art installation, Bennett highlights the many ways queer folks of color on the South and West sides are telling their own stories outside of traditional media. Bennett was recently inspired by the use of virtual reality by artists to reimagine history and time in relation to queerness, Blackness, and disability. Bennett says they aspire to that level of storytelling and wants to move beyond traditional mediums to tell queer stories.

“How can queer folks be at the forefront of shaping our own narratives?” Bennett asks. “How are we already documenting and archiving our personal histories?” 

In many ways, queer people using alternative mediums to tell queer stories is a direct result of traditional newsrooms failing to cover queer Chicagoans in a way that’s meaningful and nuanced. Rhodes says many queer folks who have been left out of editorial decision-making are now creating spaces where their perspectives and experiences can be shared in a media landscape that consistently fails to meet our needs.

“If these traditional outlets are going to continue to either not report on issues that matter to us or poorly report them,” Rhodes says, “then we’re going to tell our stories on our own.”

Want to learn more?

Check out some of the take-aways for this month’s workshop.

Adam’s recs

Ireashia’s picks

More

  • TransIt Productions, a trans-led production company 

  • OTV, is a non-profit platform for intersectional series, pilots and video art, supporting chicago artists in producing and exhibiting indie media, film and tv

  • Brave Space Alliance

  • Molasses, a Black trans-led artist collective

  • Black Drag Council, a Black, LGBTQ+ led organization that intends to connect and support not only drag performers, but all parts of the community

  • An Interrogation, short audio piece on race, queerness and desire by Erisa Apantaku

  • Somebody I Love is Nonbinary, an 101-level workshop on how to support nonbinary people around you.

Support City Bureau’s workshops and events by becoming a recurring donor today.

To get biweekly emails about Chicago news and events, sign up for City Bureau’s Chicago newsletter.

5 Lessons from Chicago's Community Healers

How individual healing relates to community care, the power of apologizing and more thoughtful takeaways from our Public Newsroom: How a Community Heals.