My vote on the CPD extremist-activity ordinance

I voted no on this ordinance because I believe it should cover all City departments and elected officials, not only the police. We know extremists are trying to take over libraries, school boards, and other agencies throughout the United States. An all-encompassing ordinance would have done more to rein that activity in.

The ordinance to ban extremists in the police department originally was a ban on all City employees in any department. I supported that ordinance because of its broad reach.

The original ordinance was then completely watered down to exclude aldermen, other city employees, or any appointed or elected officials on any board, leaving only the police department on the list; that is not good enough. If we’re fighting extremist groups, then why not cover all the other tax-funded roles in the city? A majority of Aldermen, including me, wanted the original ordinance that covered anyone employed by the City.

The administration said that they didn’t want to be challenged by employees accused of extremism or for being part of a group that fell into that category. Many Aldermen were rightly upset and voted against the weakened version of the ordinance. An additional substitute ordinance was again entered into the debate that again included all departments in hopes of getting the City Council on board. The substitute was opposed by the administration and blocked by a handful of Aldermen.

There is ample evidence that there are City employees, who are not police, who have been let off the hook for extremist activities over the years. Death threats, assaults on staff, and other extreme activities have been allowed without consequences. The original, more wide-ranging ordinance covering all employees would have helped root them out and ban them in the same way as the police. 

I support legislation that allows a stronger path for the Law Department, HR, Board of Ethics, and Inspector General to take action against any City employees who are participating in extremist groups. I believe most residents of Chicago would support this as well.

I voted on the principle that all employees and appointed/elected officials should be held accountable for extremist activities. Voting for this ordinance weakened our ability to hold all employees accountable. The hope of the no vote message was to force the Council to negotiate to include a new ordinance that includes all employees citywide.

Despite that setback, trying to hold everyone accountable, I continue to fight against racism and hate across the whole city -not only the police department, but all departments and employees, and hope you would join in that effort.