1. law, govt and politics
2. legal issues
3. legislation

STATE STREET COMMISSION
State Street Commission Meeting
Tuesday, January 20, 2015, 2:00 PM
ABC 7
190 North State Street, 10th Floor
MINUTES
ATTENDANCE
AFFILIATION
Commission Members Present
Commissioner Paul Fitzpatrick
Commissioner Ralph Hughes
Commissioner John Idler
Chairman Lou Raizin
Commissioner Anne Voshel
Commissioner Charles Williams
Joseph Freed & Associates
Macy’s
ABC 7
Broadway in Chicago
AVA Consultants
Department of Streets and Sanitation
Commission Members Absent
Commissioner Michelle Boone
Commissioner Greg Cameron
Commissioner Dean Lane
Commissioner Andrew Mooney
Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld
Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events
Joffrey Ballet
Palmer House
Department of Planning and Development
Chicago Department of Transportation
Others Present
Michael Edwards
Kenneth Gilkes Jr.
Laura Jones
Monika Lotter
Robert McKenna
Abel Rodriguez
John Sadler
Cole Stallard
Martin Stern
Vicki Williams
Jeff Wilson
Chicago Loop Alliance
Department of Planning and Development
Chicago Loop Alliance
Alderman Reilly’s Office/42nd Ward
Department of Planning and Development
Chicago Loop Alliance
Chicago Department of Transportation
Department of Streets and Sanitation
CBRE/U.S. Equities Realty/ CLA Chair
General Services Administration
Chicago Transit Authority
I.
Chairman Lou Raizin
Call to Order & Introductions
The State Street Commission meeting was called to order by Chairman Lou Raizin at 2:03 pm. All present introduced
themselves. Kenneth Gilkes Jr. was welcomed as SSA#1’s new project manager.
II.
Public Input/New Business
There was no public comment. In the absence of a quorum being present, the 2015 meeting schedule in the packets was
pointed out and emphasized. The agenda was taken out of order.
III.
Financial Statements as of December 31, 2014
Abel Rodriguez
The year-end statement contained in the meeting packets is accurate to the best of our knowledge, pending the unlikely
receipt of any belated stray invoice. A question was raised about the budget line “allowance for loss collection”. The answer is
that it is normally anticipated that people will go to the city and dispute their tax bills or ask for rebates, thereby reducing their
taxes and the SSA portion that we receive. In 2014, this occurred less than expected. This is where the majority ($111,000) of the
$284,000 carry-over is coming in (the rest is from lower final costs in a variety of line items, no bills are due). We likely have to
do an amended budget and to avoid doing this in the future we are discussing lowering our loss collection estimate going forward.
IV.
Status Reports
1. Transportation & Infrastructure
John Sadler
Department of Transportation
CDOT is in the process of awarding both the BRT and Washington/Wabash El station contracts. Construction schedules will
be issued subsequently.
2. Sole Service Provider Report
Michael Edwards
Chicago Loop Alliance
Michael Edwards walked meeting attendees through an overview of the 2014 SSA Work Plan & Assessment, a city form that
requires Commission approval. Highlights included 350,000 website hits a year; special events such as the Memorial Day Parade;
infrastructure repairs like sidewalk replacement, caulking, and the painting of all CTA kiosks; 8 change-outs of State Street
banners and the production of “evergreen” banners for State Street; 4 landscaping installations; 7,000 Street Team interactions
with panhandlers; an update to the Higher Education Study; SSA Renewal activities; the addition of leased wreaths to holiday
decorations; 6 ACTIVATE alley activations; and 11 change-outs of Lightscape.
Commissioners discussed various aspects of Lightscape ranging from carrying costs, the possibility of Columbia College
programming the system, the original intention and impact of synchronizing lights and music, sponsorships, the life of the system
and the possibility that there may be another solution for the space Lightscape takes up. Chairman Raizin suggested that the
Commission might want to table this discussion to a later date since the city has an RFP out for lighting. Another brief discussion
centered on the holiday landscaping. The comment was made that the wreaths were an excellent addition to the streetscape,
however this year’s pine filled planters and CTA kiosk garland and bows were underwhelming. (Note: the ground froze too early
this year so the usual pine branches stuck upright in the soil had to be laid flat.)
Still lacking one person for a quorum, instead of calling a special meeting to vote on approval of the 2014 SSA Work Plan &
Assessment, it was determined that the Commissioners present would go through the rest of the agenda, make motions on any
necessary business including approving minutes, and via an email with attachments poll all of the absent Commissioners for their
votes in time to submit the necessary documents to the city by January 30 th. Abel Rodriguez commented that under DPD’s new
reporting system, the Commission will now need to vote to approve the work plan and assessment quarterly.
Proceeding, Edwards asked Commissioners to consider adding clean and safe services only around the State Street buildings
that pay into the SSA, but extend all the way through to Wabash. These are located between Randolph and Adams (Macy’s, 17
North State, 1 North State, the Sullivan Center, and the Palmer House). There is a minor impact on the budget. The Safer
Foundation contract would increase by $6,000; there would be no cost increase for the Street Team but service would be reduced
slightly on State Street. Services would not include pressure washing sidewalks. The consensus of present Commissioners was
why wouldn’t we want to do this for buildings paying into the SSA if the financial impact was only $6,000?
The final issue for Commissioners to consider was a recommendation by the CLA Board that the Springboard test pedestrian
counter technology (currently only installed at Block 37) be implemented all along the length of the State Street SSA. The
counters can also capture vehicular and bike traffic. If possible, to provide context to Loop traffic, counters should also be
installed in several outside locations. The cost of the 3-year Springboard contract would be $65,000 in 2015 for installation,
maintenance, and monitoring; and then $51,000 in 2016 and 2017 for maintenance and monitoring. The majority of the money to
pay for the program would come from the $111,000 in 2014’s “increased fund balance” (more taxes collected last year than
anticipated that wasn’t budgeted). Information would be shared with SSA taxpayers. Anyone other than SSA tax payers should
have to pay for the information. It is CLA’s hope to get financial partners for the project, such as CDOT, Active Transportation,
and University of Chicago. It was suggested that DeCaux might also be interested in buying this information from us.
Partnerships would reduce our costs and allow us to expand to outside areas.
A summary of the motions made at the meeting and subsequent email vote follows:
1. Commissioner Anne Voshel made a motion to approve the 2014 SSA#1 Work Plan and Budget, which was seconded by
Commissioner John Idler. All other Commissioners present (Raizin, Fitzpatrick, Williams, and Hughes) voted in favor of
the motion. Commissioners Boone, Cameron, Lane, Mooney and Scheinfeld also voted affirmatively by email. The
motion passed unanimously.
2. Commissioner Ralph Hughes made a motion that we add a level of Safer Foundation and StreetPlus SSA services (clean
and safe) to extend around buildings that front State Street and go through all the way to Wabash. This would increase
the Safer Foundation’s 2015 contract amount by $6,000 but there would be no monetary change to the StreetPlus contract,
simply a slight reduction of time spent on State Street. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Anne Voshel. All
other Commissioners present (Raizin, Fitzpatrick, Williams, and Idler) voted in favor of the motion. Commissioners
Boone, Cameron, Lane, Mooney and Scheinfeld also voted affirmatively by email. The motion passed unanimously.
3.
4.
Commissioner John Idler made a motion to accept the Tuesday, December 16, 2014 State Street Commission minutes.
The motion was seconded by Ralph Hughes. All other Commissioners present (Raizin, Voshel, Fitzpatrick, and
Williams) voted in favor of the motion. Commissioners Boone, Cameron, Lane, Mooney and Scheinfeld also voted
affirmatively by email. The motion passed unanimously.
Commissioner Paul Fitzpatrick made a motion that the SSA#1 Commission approve up to $65,000 in 2015 for the
installation and maintenance of Springboard pedestrian counters, as well as allocate $51,000 per year from the 2016 and
2017 SSA#1 budgets for ongoing service and maintenance. The motion was seconded by Commissioner John Idler. All
other Commissioners present (Raizin, Voshel, Williams, and Hughes) voted in favor of the motion. Commissioners
Boone, Cameron, Lane, Mooney and Scheinfeld also voted affirmatively by email. The motion passed unanimously.
Before proceeding to the next agenda item, Michael Edwards pointed out the CLA Business Plan in meeting packets (which
goes out to the CLA Board and staff, State Street Commission, Aldermen, and others) along with Brickman’s proposal for the
2015 summer planting. He asked Commissioners to contact him with any questions or comments.
3. Security
Commander Al Nagode
Chicago Police Department
No one from the police department was in attendance. Michael Edwards mentioned that the Street Team would be
getting more aggressive about panhandling in 2015.
4. DCASE
Commissioner Michelle Boone
Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events
No one from DCASE was in attendance.
5. Streets & Sanitation
Commissioner Charles Williams
Department of Streets and Sanitation
Commissioner Williams reported there were no major changes. The forecast for that evening was rain and snow with
little accumulation, but it will be slippery. 202 trucks will be deployed (there are over 300 trucks in total, and hitches could
be added to other vehicles.) ABC7 meteorologist Jerry Taft predicted that it would be a colder winter with not as much
snow, and it appears he was right.
6. CTA
Jeff Wilson
Chicago Transit Authority
Jeff Wilson stated that the CTA is doing aggressive graffiti and trash abatement in the State Street subway. If you have
any issues, please call him. (Michael Edwards asked him if it would be possible to replace old images used in the subway;
Chairman Raizin suggested thinking about the stations in their entirety. Wilson said get him the images and locations, and he
would get on it.)
7. Loop Development Report
Commissioner Andrew Mooney
Department of Planning and Development
In the absence of Commissioner Mooney, Robert McKenna reported that DPD is finalizing the contract to offer Pritzker
Park and the city garage behind it for sale. Some groups may not know this yet. The Chicago Park District said that they
would handle any repercussions. The site is 48,000 square feet altogether and is zoned DX12.
V.
VI.
Other Business
 Monika Lotter announced that her last day with Alderman Reilly’s office is January 30 th. She will be
heading back to the private sector and Madeleine Hill will be back in a consulting role.
 Next meeting: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 at 2:00 PM at ABC7.
Adjournment
.
The meeting adjourned at 3:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted
Anne Voshel, Secretary
Chairman Lou Raizin