CITY HALL — Ten Chicagoans would have three minutes each to have their say at the start of City Council meetings under a proposal authored by allies of Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
A judge ruled in December that city officials must allow members of the public to weigh in at Council meetings. Initially, city officials vowed to appeal the decision by Judge Diane Joan Larsen, saying it was "contrary to the language and the intent of the Open Meetings Act."
However, city officials dropped their appeal in March, and promised to put new rules in place by this summer.
But the new proposal — authored by six of Emanuel's staunchest allies on the Council — may not end the court fight.
Andy Thayer, of Uptown Tent City Organizers, who sued the city for violating the Open Meetings Act, said the proposal amounted to nothing more than "token" public participation.
"I understand the three-minute limit, but allowing 10 people to speak from a city of 2.7 million people is not in the spirit of the Open Meetings Act," Thayer said.
Thayer said he planned to consult with his attorneys before deciding whether to challenge the new proposal, which could be approved as soon as June 28 and would allow those who live in Chicago to speak.
Thayer and activist Rick Garcia filed a lawsuit that claimed that the city violated the Illinois Open Meetings Act on May 22 and June 22 of last year by not allowing them — and other members of the public — to speak before the Council voted to approve a $15.8 million tax increment financing deal for developer Montrose Clarendon Partners.
The project includes a 26-story mixed-use building with 381 residential units, a grocery store and 278 parking spaces.
Larsen has not ruled on another claim in the suit — that city officials had improperly blocked Thayer and other opponents of the deal from entering the Council chamber by filling its seats with City Hall interns.
Neither has Larsen ruled on whether the actions taken by the Council at the disputed meetings should be voided, as Thayer and Garcia have asked.
Chicago City Council Public Comment by Heather Cherone on Scribd
