Alderman O'Connor Introduces A Resolution Asking Rahm to "Bargain in Good Faith" Which is His Legal Obligation

'Alderman urges mayor not to use FOP president’s mistake to deny police officers a retro pay hike BY Fran Spielman, Chicago Sun-times

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A Northwest Side alderman whose ward is home to scores of Chicago Police officers urged Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday not to use a paperwork mistake made by the police union president to deny rank-and-file police officers their automatic right to a retroactive pay raise in 2012. Ald. Mary O’Connor (41st) said she introduced the Continue reading →

A Northwest Side alderman whose ward is home to scores of Chicago Police officers urged Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday not to use a paperwork mistake made by the police union president to deny rank-and-file police officers their automatic right to a retroactive pay raise in 2012.
Ald. Mary O’Connor (41st) said she introduced the resolution at a City Council meeting in response to concerns voiced by police officers who have called her office and stopped her on the street.
“People feel there’s a rift between the mayor and the FOP president and they’re caught in the crossfire,” O’Connor said Wednesday.
“The perception out there is that they are going to lose income because of a deadline that was missed. That should not be the case. It’s a clerical error made by their representative, but it impacts 10,000 police officers. It has an impact on their livelihood and their families. That would not be fair to the police.”
O’Connor said she talked to Emanuel about stalled negotiations with the Fraternal Order of Police and, “The mayor has not implied to me that he wasn’t going to bargain in good faith.” But, that hasn’t stopped police officers in her ward from feeling “a little lost” and a lot concerned.
“The city is strapped. Concessions have to be made both ways. I’m just asking that it be fair. Be respectful of work the officers have done. It’s unfortunate President [Mike] Shields did not abide by the deadline. But, I don’t want that mistake to impact their ability to get their retroactive paycheck.”
Shields, who recently apologized to his membership for his mistake, was uncharacteristically tight-lipped about the resolution.
He would only say, “Chicago Police officers, whom the FOP negotiates for, are very grateful to those aldermen who signed on to this resolution.”
Last year, Shields failed to notify the city between Feb. 1 and March 1 that he intended to terminate the police contract and commence negotiations on a new agreement. If that notice is not given within the one-month window, the contract automatically rolls over for another year.
When the same one-month window rolled around this year, Shields acknowledged his earlier mistake by sending the city the required notice to avoid having the old contract roll over for a second straight year.
That gave Emanuel an opening to declare that, if the FOP wants a pay raise retroactive to June 30, 2012, they’ll have to give up something to get it. It will no longer be automatic.
The move was widely viewed as the mayor’s attempt to get even with Shields for working to torpedo a four-year contract with police sergeants — tied to pension and retiree health-care reform — that Emanuel had hoped to use a road map to solve the city’s pension crisis.
Last month, Shields suffered a major blow in his effort to recoup from the paperwork mistake that threatens to cost the average police officer anywhere from $1,400 for a back pay raise of two percent to $2,100 if it’s three percent.
The executive director of the Il. Labor Relations Board dismissed Shields’ unfair labor practices complaint against the city.
Unfair labor practices complaints must be filed within six months of the alleged unlawful conduct. Like the contract termination letter, the complaint was filed too late. Shields has appealed the ruling.
Shields angrily accused Emanuel of unfairly punishing rank-and-file police officers in an effort to silence their feisty union president.
“It’s personal against me because I’m one of two people in the city of Chicago who has spoken out against Mayor Emanuel and his administration,” Shields said then, identifying Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis as the other mayoral critic.
Shields said the same oversight was made by CTA ironworkers, but Emanuel “did not stick it to them.”
He added, “This is a very vicious and vindictive move by the mayor and it comes at a time when police officers are being faced with greater challenges on the streets of Chicago and they think the mayor is gonna screw them.”

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Our Lady of Resurrection, Alleged "Not for Profit" Hosptal, Threatens to Close Units Even Though Their System Operates at a Profit.

Can you believe this?  Increased dollars coming their way as early as January through ACA, and they are pulling this stunt? 

	Print Story	Printed from ChicagoBusiness.com

Memo: Our Lady of the Resurrection losses 'unsustainable' By Kristen Schorsch September 19, 2013 The board of Presence Health is expected to make a decision in October on whether to close Our Lady of the Resurrection Medical Center, according to a memo sent yesterday to employees at the Northwest Side community hospital. The memo by John Baird, who is CEO of the hospital and nearby Resurrection Medical Center, paints a grim financial picture. (More: Presence Health mulls shuttering Northwest Side hospital) “The losses experienced at (Our Lady of the Resurrection) in particular are unsustainable and the projections for continued losses are greater,” according to the memo, which was obtained by Crain's. “In fact, declining volumes, unfavorable payer mix, and case mix are all contributing negatively to the current situation.” Mr. Baird warned of possible layoffs, saying, “There are not long-term guarantees for employment opportunities.” How many people work at the 269-bed hospital could not immediately be determined. Presence, a Chicago-based 12-hospital system, has about 22,000 employees and is cutting 700 full-time employees, either through layoffs, reducing hours or not filling vacant positions, to create efficiency and reduce costs as part of the 2011 merger that created the system. Dr. David Fishman, director of the cardiology department at Our Lady of the Resurrection, said Presence Health seems to be abandoning the working-class Portage Park neighborhood. “We all sort of feel a kinship and a loyalty to this place,” said Dr. Fishman, a former medical staff president at the hospital who has worked there for 35 years. “It's not beautiful, but it's really essential to the neighborhood.” The hospital, 5645 W. Addison St., is projected to finish the year with a $20.7 million loss, the memo says. Because of a continued decline in patient volume and revenue, the hospital is projecting an additional $5.7 million loss in 2014, the memo says. “There is an imperative for change and (Our Lady of the Resurrection) cannot maintain the status quo,” Mr. Baird's memo says. In an interview with Crain's earlier today, Presence Health CEO Sandra Bruce confirmed that the hospital network was considering closing inpatient care at Our Lady of the Resurrection but keeping open the emergency department. Patients who would need to be admitted overnight would be sent to Resurrection Medical Center, 7435 W. Talcott Ave. But one obstacle to that plan is an Illinois requirement that an emergency department must be accompanied by a 100-bed hospital, Mr. Baird's memo notes. The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board, which regulates the health care industry, would have to approve any change to Our Lady of the Resurrection. Only about 20 percent of the hospital's patients were privately insured in 2011, according to the most recent hospital report to the Illinois Department of Public Health. The remaining patients were insured by the government through Medicare or Medicaid, or paid out of pocket. Presence lost $28.9 million during the first half of the year. In 2012, the system posted an operating profit of $47.6 million on $2.74 billion in revenue. The system will help employees who lose jobs transition into new ones or find them employment within Presence, the memo said.

New O'Hare Routes: More Noise for the 41st Ward

Sound off here:  How did this happen? How do you think this will work?  Starts Thursday.

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New runway, new noise worries at O’Hare

By ROSALiND ROSSI

and MAX RUST

Staff Reporters

Last Modified: Oct 13, 2013 02:33AM

From his screened-in porch on the city’s Northwest Side, 7.5 miles east of O’Hare International Airport, Don Walsh can’t help but comment on the eight planes that rumble overhead within a mere eight minutes.

“This one is huge. It’s an Airbus,’’ says Walsh, 58, a retired city deputy fire commissioner.

“Here comes the next one — imagine having a barbecue with this.” And again. “This is one where you have to stop talking.’’

With plane noise and frequency already reaching what Walsh calls “obnoxious” levels, like many city residents east of O’Hare, he is bracing for Thursday.

That’s when a new runway opens at O’Hare, creating more arrivals on another runway whose traffic already irritates some residents of the 39th, 41st and 45th wards on the Northwest Side. Average annual arrivals on that runway, 27L, will jump more than 50 percent by day and nearly fourfold at night, an analysis of city data predictions indicate.

Worse yet to Walsh, during about 70 percent of the year all night arrivals will roll into O’Hare on 27L, city officials recently conceded. Meanwhile, the new runway will largely sit unused at night, city data predictions indicate.

“That’s insane. That’s absolutely insane,’’ said Walsh, of the Indian Woods community in the 39th Ward. “Why aren’t they equally breaking up the runways?”

On Thursday, runway 10C/28C debuts as part of the massive O’Hare Modernization Program, which is an effort to wind down use of crisscrossing runways in favor of new, parallel ones. The move should decrease O’Hare delays and increase capacity because planes will no longer face interference from intersecting runway traffic, city officials say.

In this dramatic shift, 70 percent of O’Hare planes will fly from east to west on those parallel runways.

Environmental impact maps predict 15,991 people will be newly exposed to a “significant” level of plane noise, normally disruptive enough to qualify for sound insulation. That includes new portions of the 41st Ward’s Norwood Park; slivers of the 36th and 45th wards; and parts of Park Ridge, Des Plaines, Wood Dale, Itasca and Bensenville.

Getting relief from the same noise level should be 12,254 others, including sections of Des Plaines, Elk Grove Village, Bensenville, North Lake, Franklin Park, Rosemont, Norridge and Harwood Heights.

After the winners and losers shake out, 3,737 additional city and suburban dwellers will be hit with “significant” plane noise, although the affected land area will shrink with the runway switch, environmental impact maps indicate.

City officials note that almost all recent city O’Hare noise complaints have come from the 41st Ward, where some homes have received subsidized soundproofing. Only a handful hail from the further east 39th and 45th wards, which don’t qualify, they say.

Walsh, a member of the Fair Allocation in Runways coalition, lives outside the area predicted for significant noise. He says the level he lives with now is annoying to him and many other Northwest Siders. By Thursday, he’s predicting it will be worse.

“They [officials] can talk all the numbers they want,” Walsh said. “We are here. We live it.’’

For years, suburbanites who don’t vote in the city have tackled airport noise from O’Hare, but the issue threatens to spread to more city residents who do vote in Chicago.

The new, $1.28 billion 10C/28C runway will be used largely for day arrivals. It is one of three parallel runways absorbing just under a quarter of all daytime landings averaged annually, city predictions indicate. That move alone will increase day arrivals on 27L to 327 from 213, or by 53.5 percent on average annually, a Sun-Times analysis of city predictions shows.

At night, when O’Hare usually consolidates arrivals and departures onto one runway each, all planes will land on 27L about 70 percent of the year, city officials told the Chicago Sun-Times.

During that time, 27L — the closest runway to airport terminals — will absorb, on average, slightly more than 100 flights over nine hours, city data predictions indicate. The bulk will land from 10 p.m. to midnight and from 5 to 7 a.m., city aviation department documents indicate.

“In west flow, which is expected to occur about 70 percent of the time during the year, Runway 27L would most likely be getting all nighttime arrivals,’’ Greg Cunningham, a city Department of Aviation spokesman, told the Chicago Sun-Times in an email.

“I’m stunned. It’s the worst nightmare I could ever think of,’’ said Walsh. Cargo planes between 5:20 and 6 a.m. already wake him regularly.

“Our houses are rumbling, they are literally shaking now at night,’’ Walsh said. “They need to equally distribute traffic when a runway goes in.’’

Cunningham noted that the Kennedy Expy. and I-294 interchange are “directly under the flight path” of 27L, so using it is in line with the “Fly Quiet” program that encourages flights over less-populated areas, including highways.

“Spreading air traffic around the airport by utilizing multiple runways would impact more residents,’’ Cunningham said.

Jac Charlier, a leader of the Fair Allocation in Runways coalition, said he has been expecting increased air traffic during the day and especially at night in at least three Northwest Side wards, but no public data so far has explicitly stated that runway 27L would absorb all night arrivals 70 percent of the year.

In the last month, the coalition has left door hangers at 8,000 homes, mostly in the three Northwest Side wards, saying “kiss your property values goodbye” and that “you can hear the planes, but you were not heard’’ before decisions were made on O’Hare runway use.

The new information is “gonna fire people up,’’ Charlier said. “This is a game changer.’’

U.S. Reps. Mike Quigley and Jan Schakowsky (both D-Ill.) last week wrote city aviation officials, saying “changes must be explored” to planned flight patterns.

Quigley told the Sun-Times he recognizes O’Hare as an economic engine whose east-to-west routes will “dramatically improve the flow of air traffic across the country’’ and save millions in reduced delays and cancellations.

However, Quigley said, he has asked the City Aviation Department to “re-evaluate” and “try to use as many runways as possible at all times, including nights. I’m trying to spread the burden out as much as possible.’’

In addition, the lawmakers have asked the Federal Aviation Administration to re-evaluate the level of noise that qualifies homes for sound insulation.

“I think they should reduce it significantly,’’ Quigley said. “It was an arbitrary figure.’’

“We appreciate the role the new runway plays in safe and efficient flight operations,’’ Quigley and Schakowsky wrote. But “we don’t believe that vibrant neighborhoods and stable property values should be sacrificed solely in the name of airport efficiency and economic growth.’’

Charlier and others say they can’t understand why some city neighborhoods will be forced to shoulder the bulk of night-time O’Hare traffic and why daytime traffic can’t be split equally among all four existing parallel runways instead of mostly three.

Lisa Ziems, who helped the Fair Allocation in Runways coalition distribute door hangers, said she and her husband bought their home in the Hollywood-North Park area seven years ago to enjoy the quiet of the North Park Village Nature Center across the street. Now she can’t walk through it without planes overhead.

Currently, she said, her family sleeps with the windows closed, the air conditioning on and a sound machine running to keep out flight noise. But other neighbors sleep with windows open and hear flight noise, she said.

“It’s not fair that one community bears the biggest brunt,’’ Ziems said.

Ald. Mary O’Connor (41st) said she inherited the O’Hare Modernization deal, and “stopping a multi-billion dollar plan at the zero hour is not realistic.’’ However, she said she will continue to seek noise monitors and sound insulation “and any other resource that will help limit the impact.’’

With O’Hare located in the 41st Ward, residents “are used to having planes fly over their heads” and “our property values continue to be some of the strongest in the city ,’’ O’Connor said.

The good news on the Northwest Side, said Ald. John Arena (45th), is that by the time the Modernization Program fully expands to include a total of four parallel runways and two runway extensions, day arrivals on 27L should shrink to near nothing, so residents in his ward can eventually enjoy a peaceful outdoor barbecue or a glass of wine on their patios.

As a result, Arena said, FAiR’s door hangers warning of plummeting property values amount to “screaming fire in a theater.’’ However, Arena conceded, he had not been told that all night arrivals would enter through 27L roughly 70 percent of the year.

Arena, a member of the city aviation committee and the O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission, said city aviation officials told him using 27L allowed them to shut down a control tower at night and efficiently concentrate arrivals on the closest runway to terminals.

“Let’s see what the real numbers are,’’ Arena said. “What are the costs of having two [arrival] runways at night and splitting it up a bit?’

However, Walsh noted that completion isn’t due until 2020, and funding for the next runway is still uncertain. “Why would you spend millions on O’Hare and build a runway that you can’t open [at night] because the tower is not open?’’ Walsh said.

He hears “double the noise’’ he encountered when he bought his home 22 years ago and expects things to only get worse. “If I wanted to buy a home by the airport for half of my property value, I would have done that,’’ Walsh said. “But I bought a house 7.5 miles from the airport, and now I might as well live next door to the airport.”

Email: rrossi@suntimes.com

Twitter: @rosalindrossi

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Copyright © 2013 — Sun-Times Media, LLC

State Representative Mike McAuliffe, 20th District (includes 41st Ward), Challenged in the General Election!

It looks like we have a fresh face in the General Election for State Representative.

 

 

Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from HuffPost's signature lineup of contributers

David Ormsby

 

Lone Chicago GOP Lawmaker Draws Young Democratic Challenger     

Posted: 10/05/2013 5:09 am                                                    

 

Chicago Republican State Rep. Mike McAuliffe has drawn a general election opponent, though it remains to be seen if the upstart challenger will draw any enthusiasm from Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Mohamed "Mo" Kahn, 28, a Park Ridge-based accountant and law school student, is hoping to take out the only Illinois Republican House seat with Chicago territory. He previously volunteered for Hillary Clinton's presidential primary in 2008 and worked for former Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias.

First elected in 1997, McAuliffe hasn't been challenged in 10 years. He had a couple close calls in 2002 and 2004, which were expensive contests against credible Democratic candidates, but McAuliffe proved to be a solid campaigner who appealed to both moderate Republicans and conservative Democratic voters. Since, he has been able to solidify his hold on the seat.

Partisan lines tend to blur on the northwest side where both voters and power-brokers alike have a habit of putting results ahead of ideology. McAuliffe's father served in the House prior to him; so, voters have been seeing his family name on a ballot since the 1970's. The name is a known and trusted commodity. In past campaigns, McAuliffe has even enjoyed endorsements from local Democratic mayors and has been able to convince powerful Democratic Committeeman to stay neutral in his campaigns.

McAuliffe has also benefited from a détente between Northwest Suburban Republicans and the Democratic Party of Illinois campaign operation. Rather than spend a lot of money in expensive districts only to defeat mostly friendly and cooperative elements of the Republican caucus, the Democrats have generally left legislators like McAuliffe alone, often in exchange for one of their own getting a pass.

Some insiders wondered, after the House Democrats beat neighboring State Rep. Skip Saviano (R-Elmwood Park) in the last cycle, if the peace agreement had broken down. The remap process loaded up Saviano's district with Latino voters, but map makers gave McAuliffe a safer district in the suburbs and let him keep his Chicago 41st ward base.

Clearly, during the remap, Madigan placed no target on McAuliffe's back as was placed on Saviano's.

Kahn wasn't recruited by the House Democratic operation and is unlikely to get staff support or other resources from the party - at least until he can show that he can be competitive, insiders say. It's the Catch-22 faced by all candidates not recruited by Madigan.

On his own, Kahn has been able to raise $23,500 so far, including $1,000 from Elizabeth Tisdahl, Evanston's mayor. And while it appears some of the money is coming from family and friends, that's a respectable cash pile this early in the game. In contrast, at the end of the second quarter, McAuliffe had just $26,458 in the bank. He has reported $29,000 in large contributions during the second quarter, but he has a burn rate of about $18,000 per quarter, leaving McAuliffe a negligible financial edge. And at the moment, the House GOP operation is in no position to immediately bolster the 17-year veteran.

If Kahn is willing to stake out some liberal positions on social issues, there is money to be had on the left wing of the party. Simultaneously, if Kahn wants to win in this centrist district, he needs to avoid alienating the more conservative suburban and 41st Ward voters.

McAuliffe generally has the support of labor and talks little about sensitive social issues. However, the incumbent is on record against same sex marriage. If Kahn pledges to be a "yes" vote, he may find an opportunity there. Pro-marriage equality interests have deep pocketed backers - Republican and Democratic alike - and if there is still no favorable resolution on this issue by the general election, Kahn, if he backs marriage equality, could find himself well-funded.

Kahn, who is backing 8-year term limits on lawmakers, is likely calculating that McAuliffe has become so entrenched and comfortable that he can convince enough Democrats and independents to make a change. He may translate McAuliffe's longevity into votes if he's willing to outwork the long-seated incumbent.

McAuliffe has been able to fend off previous challenges with heavy negative attacks and a lot of shoe leather on the street. But it has been 10 years since his last challenge and candidates have a tendency to let the rust build and spread when left uncontested for a while.

Kahn also presents a blank slate and probably provides little in the way of opposition research, save the Giannoulias connection. McAuliffe, on the other hand, has pages upon pages of potentially bad votes to use against him.

The odds are tilted against Kahn, but he is showing just enough early promise that some insiders are now paying attention to this race's early stages.

DavidOrmsby@DavidOrmsby.com