Thomas Weisner Mayor, City of Aurora Executive Board Chairman Rahm Emanuel Mayor, City of Chicago Executive Board Vice Chairman Daniel J. McLaughlin President, Village of Orland Park Executive Board Secretary MINUTES Monday, I. Call to Order and Welcome Aurora Mayor and Executive Board Chairman Thomas Weisner, representing the Metro West Council of Governments, called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. at the offices of the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference, 1220 Oakbrook Road, Oak Brook, Illinois. Others in attendance included: Directors Mayor Gerald R. Bennett, Palos Hills (representing the Southwest Conference of Mayors) President Karen Darch, Barrington (representing the Northwest Municipal Conference) (via speaker phone) President Sandra E. Frum, Northbrook (representing the Northwest Municipal Conference) Mayor Jim Holland, Frankfort (representing the Will County Governmental League) Mayor Daniel J. McLaughlin, Orland Park (representing the Southwest Conference of Mayors) Mayor John A. Ostenburg, Park Forest (representing the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association) Mayor Jeffery D. Schielke, Batavia (representing the Metro West Council of Governments) Mayor Jeffrey T. Sherwin, Northlake (representing the West Central Municipal Conference) Mayor Gayle A. Smolinski, Roselle (representing the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference) Claudia Chavez, Assistant to the Mayor, City of Chicago Others Mark A. Baloga, Executive Director, DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference Larry Bury, Associate Director, Northwest Municipal Conference Mark L. Fowler, Executive Director, Northwest Municipal Conference Jill Hodge, Special Projects Assistant, Orland Park Edward Paesel, Executive Director, South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association Steven A. Quigley, Executive Director, Will County Governmental League Mary Randle, Executive Director, Metro West Council of Governments Vicky Smith, Executive Director, Southwest Conference of Mayors David Bennett, Executive Director, Metropolitan Mayors Caucus Edith Makra, Director of Environmental Initiatives, Metropolitan Mayors Caucus Jeffrey Walter, Project Coordinator, Environmental Initiatives, Metropolitan Mayors Caucus II. III. Approval of Minutes: July 14, 2014 Meeting Mayor Jeffery Schielke of Batavia moved the approval of the minutes of the July 14, 2014 Board meeting. Mayor Gerald Bennett of Palos Hills seconded and the motion was unanimously adopted. Moving Toward Consensus on Statewide Pension Reform Legislation Chairman Weisner reported that discussions have begun on building statewide consensus on proposed legislation which will reform the Chicago and downstate police and fire pension systems. An initial City of Chicago DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference Lake County Municipal League McHenry County Council of Governments Metro West Council of Governments Northwest Municipal Conference South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association Southwest Conference of Mayors West Central Municipal Conference Will County Governmental League 233 South Wacker Drive, Suite 800, Chicago, Illinois 60606 Tel: 312.201.4505 Fax: 312.258.1851 www.mayorscaucus.org
Page 2 meeting of a small group of Mayors from across the State was hosted by Mayor Rahm Emanuel on August 25 at Chicago s City Hall. Several Mayors from the Chicago region participated in the meeting. Mayor Weisner said that it did not take much to convince everyone that it would be best if the Mayors Caucus, the City, the suburban COGs, the Pension Fairness Coalition and the Illinois Municipal League collaborate on drafting a single piece of legislation. A follow up meeting was held with COG and IML staff on September 4 to enlist their support as the technical advisors who will be relied on to draft the bill. Chairman Weisner indicated that the intent initially is to have the bill drafted by mid-november so municipal interests would be ready for any action as early as the fall veto session. The veto session this year begins in mid-november. Mayor Weisner noted that whether a pension bill is considered then or even in the lame duck session or in the spring 2015 will likely be impacted by the outcome of the November gubernatorial election. IV. September 26 Mayors Caucus Meeting: Rosemont Convention Center Executive Director Dave Bennett was asked to provide details on the next quarterly business meeting to be held on September 26 and hosted by Mayor Bradley Stephens at the Rosemont Convention Center. He noted that Rosemont was pulling out all the stops with the arrangements for the meeting including lunch to be served afterwards at the Hofbrauhaus Restaurant in the Rosemont Entertainment Complex. A. Gubernatorial Candidate Forum: Format, Questions The Caucus special guests at the September 26 meeting will be the two major candidates, Governor Pat Quinn and Mr. Bruce Rauner. Each candidate will appear separately. They will be given five minutes for an opening statement followed by a period of questions and answers facilitated by Caucus Legislative Chairman, Mayor Bennett of Palos Hills. A few minutes would be allocated at the end of the facilitated Q & A for questions from the audience. Director Bennett circulated a draft of the questions to be posed to the candidates. Mayor Gayle Smolinski of Roselle offered the opinion that they appeared to address issues that are most important to municipalities. The rest of the Board concurred. B. Other Agenda Topics In addition to the candidates for Governor, Director Bennett proposed that other topics that could be covered at the September 26 meeting were: a continued dialogue on public safety pension reform; a panel discussion with the Class I railroads in the region on tank car safety and an update on the work of the Caucus Regional Economic Development Committee which is chaired by President Karen Darch of Barrington. Board members agreed that these would be appropriate topics. V. Policy Area: Transportation A. CMAP s Regional Infrastructure Fund Proposal Mayor Schielke reviewed the initial draft of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning s conceptual outline of a regional infrastructure fund. The revenue source for the fund would be a quarter-cent sales tax levied within the Regional Transportation Authority s service area. The tax would generate approximately $300 million which could be used for various local government capital improvements. Mayor Bennett, who also serves as Chairman of CMAP, stated that the infrastructure fund is a work in progress which will first be introduced to the CMAP Board at its meeting on Wednesday. Mayor Schielke
Page 3 stated that he is confident CMAP will do its due diligence as it always does on the concept and that it will be well thought out and planned before it is implemented. He suggested, however, that one issue that ought to be considered as the concept is being developed is whether this is the time at which the RTA s service area should be redrawn to include the newest parts of CMAP s service area in Kendall, Grundy and DeKalb Counties. Other members of the Board agreed that this idea had some merit. VI. Policy Area: Legislative A. Sales Tax Sourcing Rules Update Mr. Bennett reported on the conversations the Caucus has facilitated between its member municipalities and the Illinois Department of Revenue on addressing municipal concerns with the sourcing rules the Department adopted in June. The Caucus submitted some draft changes to the Department following recent conference call and expects a reply soon. A copy was included in the agenda packet as Attachment 2. President Sandra Frum of Northbrook stated that Governor Quinn is now accepting nominations for a Sales Tax Task Force which has been charged with recommending reforms of the State s sales tax system including looking at the feasibility of destination sourcing. She stated that she has submitted her name for the Task Force and has been endorsed by the Northwest Municipal Conference. Mayor Bennett made a motion that the Caucus Executive Board endorse President Frum s application as well. Mayor Schielke seconded and the motion was unanimously approved. Chairman Weisner directed Mr. Bennett to prepare a letter endorsing President Frum. He also mentioned that he had been approached by the Governor s office about possibly serving on the Task Force, but will tell them that he supports President Frum. B. Municipal Aggregation Rulemaking Update Mr. Bennett reported that the Illinois Commerce Commission recently adopted a final proposed rule on electric aggregation. The rule has now been sent to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules for final review. JCAR is expected to take action to either not object or object to the rule at a meeting in October. Caucus staff and Barbara Adams of Holland & Knight will continue to represent municipal interests through the JCAR process. VII. Policy Area: Environmental A. Solar Power Opportunity with IL Power Agency Director of Environmental Initiatives, Edith Makra, informed the Board of a grant opportunity for municipalities interested in pursuing solar energy projects. $30 million is available through the Illinois Power Agency for local governments. Much as it has done with the Public Sector Energy Efficiency Grant Program, the Mayors Caucus could possibly administer a program to provide technical assistance on and line up funding for municipal projects.. The general reaction to the feasibility of this possible program was positive. Ms. Makra stated that she will return with details on how a program could be structured at a later date B. Citizen Commissions Study Ms. Makra briefed the Board on the Citizen Commission Study the Caucus did over the summer months. It was done with the assistance of a student intern from the Roosevelt Institute and DePaul University, Libby Stoffel.
Page 4 The Study inventoried nearly 2400 commissions and advisory groups in the Chicago region. They range from arts and culture commissions to various operations and finance groups. The Study clearly demonstrates that citizens commissions are used by local Mayors and their Boards and Councils to provide advice on important local issues. VIII. Gala Committee Report One of the directions identified in the Board s strategic plan was that a committee be established to plan the Caucus next Gala and consider ways of improving its fundraising capacity. Chairman Weisner reported on the recent meeting of the Committee. The group agreed to investigate the possibility of scheduling this year s event for some time in November before the major holidays hit. Various venues, exhibits and shows throughout the region are being explored. As for fundraising, the Committee agreed that while the list of possible sponsors the Caucus has developed over the years is fairly large, it would be beneficial for the Executive Board to review it and make suggestions on additions or deletions. Mayor Weisner asked Board members to review the Caucus current list which was included in the agenda packet as Attachment 3 and offer changes. He also asked that they include the names of key individuals to whom sponsorship request could be sent. Mayor Weisner thanked the Board for their assistance with identifying new Gala sponsors. He noted that increasing the Caucus fundraising efforts will pay dividends by generating revenues needed to fund things the organization wants to do, but cannot right now because it is overly reliant on grant funding and the restrictions that come with them. IX. Policy Area: Administration A. FY 2015 Budget Approval Postponed Mayor Smolinski informed the Board that Director Bennett has requested that approval of the Caucus FY 2015 budget be postponed. She said that the Caucus Officers agree with the request and asked Mr. Bennett to elaborate on why this was necessary. He stated that there are several grants for which the Caucus has applied that have not yet received final approval. One grant in particular, the Public Sector Energy Efficiency grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, is for $3.7 million. The outcomes of several smaller Housing grants are also yet to be determined. The combination of all of these grants will have a significant impact on the new budget. Mr. Bennett indicated that he expects to hear final word on each of these grants by mid-october. Mayor Smolinski noted that there is precedence for delaying action on a budget. This occurred five years ago in order to accommodate negotiations on a lease agreement with CMAP. Mayor Sherwin moved that approval of the FY 2015 budget be postponed until the November Board Meeting. The motion was seconded by Mayor Schielke. Mayor Smolinski clarified that the FY 2014 budget would remain in place until the November meeting. There being no other comments, the motion was unanimously approved. B. Strategic Plan Implementation Mayor McLaughlin reported that no comments or changes have been offered to the strategic plan outline since the Board s July meeting. He stated that he interprets this as the Board being in agreement with the directions identified in the outline.
Page 5 Mayor McLaughlin also said that the strategic plan calls for the Mayors Caucus to review its dues structure and look into the possibility of hiring a lobbyist and public relations consultant. He asked Mr. Bennett to explain the dues analysis included in the packet as Attachment 4. Director Bennett stated that the Caucus has had the same dues structure since it was put in place in 2005-2006. Attachment 4 provides data on several potential increases in the dues rate. Mr. Bennett noted that that increasing the rate one-cent would adjust the current rate of 3.5 cents per capita for inflation. This increase would provide an additional $57,000 in revenue. Chairman Weisner said that the Caucus Officers will consider this information and include a recommendation on how to proceed in the proposed budget in November. He stressed, however, the importance of the flexibility the increased revenues would provide to the organization. It could fund priorities like a lobbyist or public relations firm or other activities which would not be bound by grant restrictions as they are today. As for the hiring of a lobbyist and public relations consultant, Mayor McLaughlin asked for volunteers to serve on a committee that will investigate the idea. He said they should let Mr. Bennett know if they are interested. X. Other Business A. Tank Car Safety Session Mark Baloga, Executive Director of the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference, invited all to an upcoming workshop on tank car safety that his organization is hosting. B. Medical Marijuana Mayor Schielke suggested that the Caucus plan to have a discussion at a future meeting on the siting of facilities that grow and dispense medical marijuana. XI. XII. Next Board Meeting Mayor Weisner announced that the next Executive Board meeting will be held on Monday, November 10, 2014, at the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning in downtown Chicago at 9:30 a.m. Adjournment Mayor Smolinski moved that the meeting be adjourned. The motion was seconded by Mayor McLaughlin and unanimously adopted. Respectfully submitted, Daniel J. McLaughlin Executive Board Secretary and President, Village of Orland Park