PDF. Proposed in 2018 from Principles, proposed in 2016.
WHEREAS the Obama Presidential Center has been granted full access by the City of Chicago to develop more than twenty acres of public park land;
WHEREAS millions of local and state taxpayer dollars will be used to pay for initial infrastructure and road changes in the area surrounding the Obama Presidential Center and the University of Chicago;
WHEREAS millions of additional local and state taxpayer dollars will be used to pay for ongoing maintenance to infrastructure and roads in the area surrounding the Obama Presidential Center and the University of Chicago for years to come; now, therefore
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO:
SECTION 1. Economic Development
SUPPORT LOCAL HIRING INITIATIVES, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING EFFORTS THROUGH THE CREATION OF A COMMUNITY TRUST FUND.
A) The City of Chicago, University of Chicago, and Barack Obama Foundation shall partner to leverage private/corporate support to provide broader long-term investment opportunities for the communities within a five-mile radius of the Barack H. Obama Presidential Center:
INVEST RESOURCES IN QUALITY PUBLIC EDUCATION FOR ALL YOUNG PEOPLE.
A) The City of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools will make the following investments in public schools within a five-mile radius of the Barack H. Obama Presidential Center in the following manner:
PRIORITIZE TRAINING, HIRING AND ADVANCEMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR LOCAL RESIDENTS.
A) The City of Chicago, University of Chicago, and Barack Obama Foundation shall partner to establish a first-source employment hiring center, to include the following:
D) The Community Trust Fund created pursuant to Section 1A of this Ordinance shall support an independent monitoring organization, to include representatives from the Obama Library Community Benefits Agreement Coalition, that will monitor and track employment and retention figures (including but not limited to race, income, gender, ethnicity, justice system involvement, address, unemployment history, residence in public housing, and age) on a weekly and quarterly basis;
E) The City of Chicago shall empower the City Colleges of Chicago to create a pipeline of residents for construction and permanent jobs related to the Obama Presidential Center and University of Chicago Hotel, Dorm, and Conference center and other downstream projects.
PREVENT DISPLACEMENT OF LONG-TIME RESIDENTS BY PRESERVING EXISITING AFFORDABLE HOUSING OPTIONS AND CREATING ADDITIONAL UNITS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
A) The City of Chicago, University of Chicago, and Barack Obama Foundation shall partner to leverage private/corporate support to preserve existing affordable housing, provide additional affordable housing options and prevent displacement of long-term residents from within a five-mile radius of the Obama Presidential Center through the following initiatives:
PROMOTE TRANSPARENCY AND PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE PLANNING PROCESS AND ONGOING OPERATIONS OF THE OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER, AND REPLACE ALL LAND USED FOR THE OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER.
A) The City of Chicago, University of Chicago, Barack Obama Foundation, and other developers within the Obama Presidential District shall partner to provide leveraged public/private resources to comprehensive and neighbor-driven sustainability measures for all development related to or downstream to the Obama Presidential Center:
INVEST IN ROBUST PUBLIC TRANSIT OPTIONS AND PEDESTRIAN-FRIENDLY ROADS, AND MINIMIZE TRAFFIC DISRUPTIONS.
A) The City of Chicago, University of Chicago, and Barack Obama Foundation shall partner to leverage private/corporate support to provide enhanced public, vehicular, and pedestrian transportation options for access to and from the communities immediately surrounding the Obama Presidential Center:
WHEREAS the Obama Presidential Center has been granted full access by the City of Chicago to develop more than twenty acres of public park land;
WHEREAS millions of local and state taxpayer dollars will be used to pay for initial infrastructure and road changes in the area surrounding the Obama Presidential Center and the University of Chicago;
WHEREAS millions of additional local and state taxpayer dollars will be used to pay for ongoing maintenance to infrastructure and roads in the area surrounding the Obama Presidential Center and the University of Chicago for years to come; now, therefore
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO:
SECTION 1. Economic Development
SUPPORT LOCAL HIRING INITIATIVES, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING EFFORTS THROUGH THE CREATION OF A COMMUNITY TRUST FUND.
A) The City of Chicago, University of Chicago, and Barack Obama Foundation shall partner to leverage private/corporate support to provide broader long-term investment opportunities for the communities within a five-mile radius of the Barack H. Obama Presidential Center:
- Seven percent of development costs (of the Obama Presidential Center, the University of Chicago Hotel, Dorm, and Conference Center, and City of Chicago Infrastructure Projects related to the Presidential Center) be placed in a community trust fund to support the first source employment center, business development center, affordable housing and related initiatives;
- Five percent of revenue generated from downstream enterprises be placed in a community trust fund to support community development initiatives;
- The business development center will target South Side residents to assist them with a menu of options (e.g. business plan development, low-interest loans, free leases, business coaching) to aid in the development of small businesses on designated corridors along 61st and 63rd Streets, and Stony Island Avenue.
INVEST RESOURCES IN QUALITY PUBLIC EDUCATION FOR ALL YOUNG PEOPLE.
A) The City of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools will make the following investments in public schools within a five-mile radius of the Barack H. Obama Presidential Center in the following manner:
- Maintain a school library with a full-time librarian every day school is in session;
- Provide adequate heating and cooling systems to maintain a comfortable learning environment every day school is in session;
- Offer bus service to and from school for special needs students, and students who live 1 mile or more from the school they attend;
- Enhance the curricula to provide STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) programming;
- Upgrade textbooks with the most recent editions, and ensure each student has access to their own upgraded textbooks;
- Provide full-day, fully-funded pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classrooms with no more than 24 students in each classroom;
- Ensure Hyde Park Academy remains an open enrollment neighborhood high school with a maximum class size of 24 students, and the closed school buildings re-opened and utilized per a community engagement process;
- Provide comprehensive health services including a health center, full-time nurse, and/or health classes that address physical and mental health;
- Provide teacher aides for each elementary-level classroom; and
- Embrace sustainable neighborhood community schools as the standard school model and support meaningful parent and community involvement through direct engagement.
- Offer performing/fine arts space that is accessible to public schools and community organizations at a discount rate;
- Partner with public schools within a 5-mile radius of the Barack H. Obama Presidential Center to offer civics/political education and leadership development to the students;
- Offer monthly public seminars/workshops that address topics related to health and safety, housing, business development, etc.;
- Offer an exhibit that shares the political legacy of Chicago's Southside as a continuum that includes Barack Obama's political legacy;
- Offer an internship/docent program for students and volunteers of any age;
- Partner with public schools and community organizations to offer tutoring and mentorship programming, as well as afterschool and summer programming, and specialized programming for teens and young adults;
- Partner with public schools and community organizations to provide financial assistance for graduating seniors attending post-secondary institutions (e.g. matching gifts);
- Support book acquisition efforts of public school libraries;
- Offer free admission family days, discount admission rates for students and seniors, and special access for public schools at the Obama Presidential Center;
- Provide private individual and small group study spaces; and
- Link with the college and university library system to provide increased access to source material.
- Increased financial and volunteer support of public schools within a five-mile radius of the Barack H. Obama Presidential Center;
- Support to public schools without libraries and/or librarians to bring that resource into those buildings;
- Support to re-open closed schools to be utilized according to a community engagement plan to allows community residents to determine the best use for the building;
- Support to engage youth in the development of the CIWP at the public schools within a five-mile radius of the Barack H. Obama Presidential Center; and
- Support to recruit membership-based organizations (e.g. sororities/fraternities, labor unions) to adopt public schools within a 5-mile radius to add additional resources.
PRIORITIZE TRAINING, HIRING AND ADVANCEMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR LOCAL RESIDENTS.
A) The City of Chicago, University of Chicago, and Barack Obama Foundation shall partner to establish a first-source employment hiring center, to include the following:
- Recruit South Side job-seekers and maintain a database of South Side residents who meet the qualifications for positions in order to facilitate hiring;
- Refer local residents to workforce development programs;
- Partner with workforce development programs to fill gaps in the training system, aimed at all positions entry-level through management; and,
- Provide career ladder counseling for all new employees.
- 35% of the apprenticeships and 20% of journey workers, across all trades, hired by the contractors must come from the southside and their demographics must reflect southside communities;
- General and sub-contractors and trade unions will partner with local technical training institutes to fill apprenticeship positions;
- Wages should not go below Chicago’s living wage and/or the federal government standard per the respective field, including, but not limited to Davis & Bacon prevailing wages.
- Prioritize and monitor hiring of hard-to-employ demographics (e.g. long term unemployed, low-income, ex-offenders, public housing residents, youth, senior citizens);
- 10% of the jobs should be designated for young adults between 16 and 30 years of age;
- 35% of sub-contracts should go to southside residents and reflect the demographics of the southside.
- Employers must agree to not block unionization of employees; and
- Create summer employment opportunities for youth.
D) The Community Trust Fund created pursuant to Section 1A of this Ordinance shall support an independent monitoring organization, to include representatives from the Obama Library Community Benefits Agreement Coalition, that will monitor and track employment and retention figures (including but not limited to race, income, gender, ethnicity, justice system involvement, address, unemployment history, residence in public housing, and age) on a weekly and quarterly basis;
E) The City of Chicago shall empower the City Colleges of Chicago to create a pipeline of residents for construction and permanent jobs related to the Obama Presidential Center and University of Chicago Hotel, Dorm, and Conference center and other downstream projects.
- The pipeline program for southside residents will increase enrollment in vocational and technical training programs by addressing gaps in the training system, which may include but are not limited to a tuition reimbursement program and a deferred, subsidized below-market student loan program.
PREVENT DISPLACEMENT OF LONG-TIME RESIDENTS BY PRESERVING EXISITING AFFORDABLE HOUSING OPTIONS AND CREATING ADDITIONAL UNITS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
A) The City of Chicago, University of Chicago, and Barack Obama Foundation shall partner to leverage private/corporate support to preserve existing affordable housing, provide additional affordable housing options and prevent displacement of long-term residents from within a five-mile radius of the Obama Presidential Center through the following initiatives:
- For all newly-constructed and redeveloped/rehabilitated housing of three or more units, except for owner-occupied buildings, 30% of on-site housing units, or at least one unit, whichever is greater, shall be set aside for households earning between 0-50% of the AMI.
i. The option to pay a fee in lieu of the establishment of affordable units is not permitted. However, for up to 25% of the required affordable units, an existing unit in another building owned by the same developer within a one-mile radius may be donated to the Community Land Trust in lieu of building a new unit on-site.
ii. Create a density bonus for developers who commit to building family-sized units of at least three bedrooms, with all bedrooms sized to Chicago building code standards for individuals 12 years of age or older.
iii. Create a density bonus for developers who commit to setting aside units for families at 0-30% of the AMI. - Coordinate with Cook County to create a property tax freeze or exemption for existing dwellings within a two-mile radius of the Obama Presidential Center for residents who can verify ten years of residency within a five-mile radius.
- Funds from the Community Trust Fund created pursuant to Section 1A of this Ordinance shall support
i. the creation of a Rental Assistance Program for residents who have lived in the designated area for at least 5 years to pay incremental increases in rent for the next 25 years;
ii. the creation of a Community Land Trust to hold properties and keep them affordable for not less than 99 years; - Create a right-of-first-refusal for tenants in private-market multi-family buildings to purchase the properties they live in when owners sell their buildings.
- Create a special counseling program for Housing Choice Voucher-holders who must move and wish to continue renting within the designated area
i. Encourage home purchase opportunities within the designated area through programs such as the Chicago Housing Authority’s Choose-to-Own program for families with incomes at 50% or higher AMI - Require landlords to cover moving costs of residents who must move due to rents being raised higher than area median rental rate increase.
- Encourage HUD to increase the availability of assisted living facilities in this designated area for families and individuals of all ages.
PROMOTE TRANSPARENCY AND PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE PLANNING PROCESS AND ONGOING OPERATIONS OF THE OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER, AND REPLACE ALL LAND USED FOR THE OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER.
A) The City of Chicago, University of Chicago, Barack Obama Foundation, and other developers within the Obama Presidential District shall partner to provide leveraged public/private resources to comprehensive and neighbor-driven sustainability measures for all development related to or downstream to the Obama Presidential Center:
- Provide one-to-one replacement of open parkland and other activity space nearby for all South Parks acres to be occupied by Obama Presidential Center facilities. Replacement spaces to include a state-of-the-art athletic facility; replacement of track, football field and softball fields; Jackson Bark; trees, other plants and ecological elements removed replaced in equivalent size/maturity.
- Commit to principles of community-controlled development and schedule ample time for participatory democracy before legislative applications and votes, such as submissions to the Chicago Plan Commission.
- Maintain a community-controlled process for authorizing the sale of all city-owned land in a five-mile radius of the Obama Presidential Center.
- Provide timely written answers to open questions about shoreline modifications and restoration, tree cutting, natural habitat relocation, water retention ponds, chemical fertilizers, public access points/acreage and open space, built structures such as fieldhouse and commercial concessions, replacement of sports fields.
INVEST IN ROBUST PUBLIC TRANSIT OPTIONS AND PEDESTRIAN-FRIENDLY ROADS, AND MINIMIZE TRAFFIC DISRUPTIONS.
A) The City of Chicago, University of Chicago, and Barack Obama Foundation shall partner to leverage private/corporate support to provide enhanced public, vehicular, and pedestrian transportation options for access to and from the communities immediately surrounding the Obama Presidential Center:
- Restore the extended, original route of the #1 Indiana/Hyde Park bus route between 64th Street and Union Station.
- Support and consult new Community Transportation Advisory Council using participatory democracy guidelines, with community-selected delegates who vote before any road changes are submitted to the Chicago Plan Commission or City Council.
- Convene the community for debate and input on transportation plans, including plans to close or expand roads.
- Structure parking amenities to ensure ample free parking to neighbors and opportunities for local companies to participate in profits.
- Outline proposed changes for all public transit, including bus, subway, Metra, and bike lanes, in a one-stop reference location. Improve safety, service and commercial opportunities related to transit and transportation with input from community stakeholders and subject to the recommendations of the Community Transportation Advisory Council.
- Provide opportunities for local vendors to establish contracts for services associated with all transit portals.
- Establish and fund employment training programs and local hiring targets for all transportation-related projects, including Department of Transportation and Chicago Park District projects. Establish and regulate standards and opportunities for African American business participation
- Add a commemorative marker at the 63rd Street Metra Station as the departure location for Emmett Till before traveling to his death in Mississippi.