Honoring Dr. Ngozi Ezike and Dr. Allison Arwady On Wednesday, February 10, 2021 the Motorola Solutions Foundation and the Civic Federation honored the outstanding public service contributions of Dr. Ngozi Ezike and Dr. Allison Arwady. Dr. Ezike serves as the Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. Dr. Arwady serves as the Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health. The…
At a meeting on September 24, the Cook County Board approved changes in the operations of the County’s Inspector General’s Office, including recommendations made by the Civic Federation to improve public understanding of the office’s reports. Among other changes, the amendments to the ordinance governing the Office of the Independent Inspector General require that responses from agencies be…
In advance of November 3 election, organizations urge reforms in transparency and provision of services COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS–Chicago Appleseed, the Civic Federation, and the Chicago Council of Lawyers today released New Directions for the Office of the Clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court: Recommendations for Planning and Transitioning to New Leadership. In advance of the inauguration of a…
UPDATE: READ THE 100-DAY PROGRESS REPORT HERE UPDATE: READ THE ONE YEAR PROGRESS REPORT HERE Cick here to read the full report. Click here to read the press release. Click here for an Executive Summary one-pager. INTRODUCTION The Circuit Court of Cook County is the largest of the 24 judicial circuits in Illinois and the second largest unified court system in the United States. The…
Changes could be coming to Cook County’s pretrial electronic monitoring program as the Cook County President’s Office looks to hire a consultant to examine best practices and potential alternatives to the way the Sheriff’s electronic monitoring program is currently run. While the number of people detained in the Cook County Jail has decreased significantly since pretrial reform efforts in Cook…
The spread of the COVID-19 virus and the measures put in place to reduce the transmission of the virus have forced states and localities across the country to quickly adjust to a new way of governing. Either through executive-branch action or legislative changes to statutes, states have altered their laws surrounding open meetings in an effort to allow state and local governments to continue to…
2020 Civic Federation Legislative Priorities The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2020 include public employee pension reforms, consolidation of local government units in Illinois, enacting policies to rationalize the property tax system, creation of a Local Government Protection Authority, requiring the State of Illinois to…
The newly appointed Chicago Public Schools Board of Education has made several changes to the meeting structure at the monthly board meetings and, for the first time, livestreamed the board meeting held on July 24, 2019. This was the second board meeting for the seven new board members appointed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot. The new board has expressed its commitment to making Board of Education…
A Commission created to analyze an annual five-year forecast of Cook County revenues held its first meeting in early July. The Cook County Board of Commissioners approved an ordinance establishing an Independent Revenue Forecasting Commission on October 17, 2018. The Commission is intended to help the Board of Commissioners make informed budgetary decisions by evaluating long-term revenue…
The Cook County Chief Judge’s Office recently released a report and accompanying data assessing the effectiveness of a 2017 reform of bond court practices. The report increases transparency and allows for additional public analysis of pretrial justice in Cook County. The analysis in turn raises concerns about racial disparities and additional questions about bond court outcomes. General Order 18…
