A City Council committee agreed Monday to expand protections for hospital quiet zones after softening language that would have chipped away at aldermanic prerogative.
Instead of requiring that aldermen seeking to designate additional quiet zones receive the “approval of the Departments of Police, Public Health and Transportation,” the revised ordinance merely requires new zones be developed “in consultation with” those departments.
That was enough to satisfy aldermen concerned about setting a “dangerous precedent” and abdicating even more of their authority. Days after stalling the quiet zone ordinance, the Committee on Public Safety approved it.
“It doesn’t make us beholden to the departments,” said Ald. Ray Lopez (15th), Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s most outspoken City Council critic.
“We can still reach out, as we always have done to see what a department has to say — but we’re not beholden to their opinion. We’re not beholden for them to come up with a decision in order to proceed. Whether they support us or don’t support us, we still retain that right.”
Ald. Jason Ervin (28th), chairman of the City Council’s Black Caucus, said requiring the three departments’ approval would have hindered the legislative process.
“That’s not proper for them to even be able to stop the initiation of legislation,” Ervin said Monday.
“This language clarifies that and does give the legislative branch the ability to introduce the ordinance and let it be discussed on its merits.”
Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11th) said aldermen “should always consult with departments” about decisions on planning, transportation, streets and sanitation or law.
“They’re our experts … who work for all the residents of Chicago,” he said, but requiring those departments’ approval went too far.
“The departments were making the decision, versus the legislative body. And since it’s a legislative act, the legislators should do it,” Daley Thompson said.
For years, Lurie Children’s and Northwestern Memorial Hospitals have been protected by a so-called quiet zone to avoid disturbing patients.
Local Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) convinced the Committee on Public Safety to create sign requirements and expand the definition of excessive noise to include “use of a bullhorn or loud and raucous electronic amplification” or use of “an object … struck manually or with a stick or similar item to produce a sharp percussive noise.”
That created a back-door ban on street musicians, whom Hopkins and downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) have tried and failed to silence.
In another indication of aldermanic push-back, the Budget Committee amended a sweeping management ordinance tied to Lightfoot’s 2020 budget to maintain City Council approval of signs along the public way.
Reilly said some check-and-balance is needed to prevent “nameless, faceless bureaucrats” from approving flashing neon signs that shine into the windows of local residents, preventing a decent night’s sleep.
Hours after taking office, Lightfoot signed an executive order stripping aldermen of their unbridled control over licensing and permitting in their wards.
The mayor has also promised to end aldermanic prerogative over zoning. But that will require council approval — no sure thing.
That’s apparently why the mayor has put off that fight until after her 2020 budget, which cleared its first legislative hurdle on Monday, is approved by the full Council next week.
“One thing at a time. We’ve got a lot of things on our plate,” the mayor said told the Sun-Times editorial board the day she delivered her budget address.
“The executive order was a big shock to the system of many of our aldermen who really enjoyed and fully exercised aldermanic prerogative. We’re building relationships with them.”
