Committee on Committees and Rules

The meeting was called to order at 1:05 p.m. and will be conducted fully by video conference.

Alderman Matt O’Shea, 19th Ward, is chairing the meeting due to a death in Ald. Harris’ family.

A quorum is present and the meeting can proceed.

Upcoming hearings scheduled are as follows:
Thursday Jan. 6, 2022 at 10 a.m.
Tuesday Jan. 11, 2022 at 1 p.m.
Thursday Jan. 13, 2022 at 10 a.m.
Friday Jan. 21, 2022 at 10 a.m.

The pubic speaker component has begun. Because there are so many speakers, everyone is allotted two minutes instead of three.
Natasha Brown Castro speaks first on behalf of the Puerto Rican population in the city, the second largest Hispanic community in the city.

Ms. Vargas of Logan Square says the current map proposal by the Committee looks like a “jigsaw puzzle” and will make it difficult for constituents to understand who to call for city services.

C. W. Chan speaks on behalf of the Chinese American community, and says a map done correctly can bring uplift and hope. He hopes for more inclusion of the Asian American community in dialogue.

Shannon Glass of Canaryville says splitting her small neighborhood into several wards will negatively impact the community.

Mr. Vernon Broders, immediate past president of the Gold Coast Neighbors Association, laments the challenges of the four-ward split of his neighborhood. He urges that the map reflect natural community boundaries.

Ms. Williams is concerned that Englewood will be split in a way that will negatively impact residents, based on the currently proposed map.

Rev. Randall Blakey is concerned the Cabrini Green “footprint” will be lost from the 27th Ward. He is concerned about the potential for “greed-stricken” Chicagoans capitalizing on the “last, least, and left out” under the current proposal.

Miguel Bautista of the 25th Ward wants an open forum for the public to participate in drawing the map, but hasn’t heard from his alderman about his requests. He wants the Barbara Jean Wright Court residence to be unified in one ward–under the current proposal, it will be split.

Phyllis Logan speaks on behalf of the NAACP in Chicago. Bringing the number of Black majority wards from 18 to 16 is an “insult,” she says, and she laments what she sees as a lack of fairness in the map redrawing process.

A fifth resident of Canaryville, Mr. John Clemens, urges elected officials to keep the neighborhood in the 11th ward. He says the way it’s currently proposed will split families.

The next three speakers also want Canaryville to remain in the 11th ward.

One of them, Adam Campbell, says living in Canaryville is like living in a “small town within a big city.”

Jessie Johnson, resident of Barbara Jean Wright Court, says Byron Sigcho Lopez has been the “greatest” alderman she’s ever known. She says, “Byron has truly built a rainbow coalition over here!” She urges the inclusion of the BJW residence in the 25th Ward led by Lopez.

“The map room is not closed for aldermen,” according to Matt O’Shea. He urges his colleagues to schedule a date to look at the map.

Anne Schaeffer outlines the upcoming meeting dates once again (listed in previous tweet above), and shares how to access the city’s redistricting tool. https://t.co/MfebDSCn0r

Schaeffer also shares links to the proposed map. https://t.co/HPTLRpBwd0

Ald. O’Shea adjourned the meeting at 1:59 p.m.