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Somewhere in there aldermen also found time to sign off on the mayor’s appointments for police superintendent, chief procurement officer, and director of administrative hearings; and to approve more than $21 million to settle several police torture and misconduct cases, including four from the Burge era. Lots of aldermen had lots to say about all of these things, but that didn’t translate into much dissension on the record, since all these items received a grand total of one nay vote—from the Third Ward’s Pat Dowell, who gave a thumbs-down to the confirmation of new police chief Jody Weis because she was underwhelmed by his performance during a Q & A with aldermen on Monday. (Several others, including 20th Ward alderman Willie Cochran, a former cop, had vowed to oppose Weis until receiving a visit from Daley’s council lobbyist, John Dunn, shortly before the vote.)
Tops on the committee’s agenda was a Daley administration initiative creating a licensing process for food and drink concessionaires along the Chicago River downtown. While aldermen on the committee were excited about further developing the “Riverwalk” as an entertainment and tourist area, they were confused and even skeptical about certain parts of the city’s plan, including an unusual arrangement that would use the Chicago Park District to award the concession spots—it’s not Park District property, but according to city officials the city’s own procurement office doesn’t have experience in selecting concessionaires.
“For the total project?” Carothers asked.
“No.”
The city and Park District officials in the room promised that the Riverwalk would be eventually be fully accessible, even if it isn’t now and won’t be this coming summer. And they told him three of the ten current vendors on the riverfront are minority owned.
And so it passed—unanimously.
