Page 1 1 THE CITY COUNCIL OF CHICAGO 2 COMMITTEE ON FINANCE 3 SPECIAL SERVICE AREA NO. 73 4 5 6 ALDERMAN EDWARD M. BURKE - CHAIRMAN 7 ALDERMAN PATRICK THOMPSON 8 ALDERMAN DANIEL SOLIS ALDERMAN WALTER BURNETT 9 ALDERMAN ARIEL E. REBOYRAS ALDERMAN BRENDAN REILLY 10 11 ALSO PRESENT: 12 ALDERMAN SOPHIA KING 13 ALDERMAN GILBERT VILLEGAS 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 City Hall 21 Room 201-A 22 November 16, 2017 10:51 a.m. 23 24 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 2 1 2 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Now we will convene with regard to Special Service Area No. 73. 3 Madam Reporter, please let the 4 record reflect that this is a public being hearing 5 held pursuant to the requirements of the State of 6 Illinois Special Service Area Tax Law, 35 ILCS 7 200/27-5, as amended from time to time, Special 8 Service Area Tax Law, and Section 27-35 of the 9 Special Service Tax Law, as amended. 10 Notice of this public hearing was 11 published on October 23rd, 2017, in the Chicago 12 Sun-Times, a newspaper of general circulation 13 within the City, and notice was additionally mailed 14 to the people and according to the schedule 15 required by the applicable law. 16 Madam Reporter, please mark the 17 notice as Committee's Exhibit No. 1 for 18 identification and include a copy of the notice in 19 the record. 20 This is a hearing to consider the 21 establishment of Special Service Area No. 73, now 22 known as the Area, and the authorization of the 23 levy of the special annual services tax for the 24 provision of certain special services. Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 3 1 The approximate street location of 2 the proposed area would consist of the territory on 3 both sides of South Wentworth Avenue from West 24th 4 Place to South Archer Avenue, the east side of 5 South Wentworth Avenue from South Archer Avenue to 6 West Cullerton Street, both sides of West Cermak 7 Road from the railroad tracks west of South Clark 8 Street to the railroad tracks just west of South 9 Stewart Street; the north side of South Archer 10 Avenue from the railroad tracks just west of South 11 Stewart Street to the South Princeton Avenue; the 12 south side of South Archer Avenue from south 13 Princeton Avenue to South Wentworth Avenue; both 14 sides of South Archer Avenue from South Wentworth 15 Avenue to South LaSalle Street. 16 The purpose of establishing the Area 17 would be to provide special services within the 18 Area. 19 within the area include, but are not limited to, 20 customer attraction, public way aesthetics, 21 sustainability and public place enhancements, 22 economic business development, safety programs and 23 other activities to promote commercial and economic 24 development, which will be hereinafter referred to The proposed special services to be provided Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 4 1 collectively as Special Services. 2 The Special Services may include new 3 construction or maintenance. Some or all of the 4 proceeds of the proposed Services Tax are 5 anticipated to be used by an entity other than the 6 City of Chicago to provide the Special Services to 7 the Area, which such entity shall be a service 8 provider pursuant to a services contract, each as 9 defined in the Special Services Area Tax Law. The 10 Special Services would be in addition to the 11 services provided to and by the City of Chicago 12 generally. 13 The services tax under consideration 14 would not exceed the annual sum of 0.800 percent of 15 the equalized assessed value of the taxable 16 property within the Area. 17 be authorized to commence in tax year 2017 and to 18 be levied annually until and including tax year 19 2026. 20 The services tax would The services tax would be in 21 addition to all other taxes provided by law and 22 would be levied pursuant to the provisions of the 23 Property Tax Code, 35 ILCS 200/1-1 et seq., as 24 amended from time to time Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 5 1 If anyone wishes to submit written 2 comments on the proposed establishment of Special 3 Service Area No. 73, please submit those comments 4 to the Sergeant-at-Arms so they can be made a part 5 of the record. 6 7 Is there anyone who wishes to submit written comments or objections? 8 9 Madam Reporter, please note that I have written comments from Simon Dusan Comdic, 321 10 West 28th Place with respect to Special Service 11 Area 73. 12 document entitled Chinatown Property Owners, 13 Residents and Voters Opposed to the Special Service 14 Tax (SSA) proposed by the Chinatown Chamber of 15 Commerce. 16 record, Madam Reporter. 17 And we have also received a copy of a Those matters will be included in the That second document is signed by 18 Ernest C. Wong, IASLA, APA with copies to 19 Commissioner Reifman, Alderman Solis and Mayor 20 Emanuel. 21 22 Is there anyone else who wishes to submit written comments? 23 (No response.) 24 Is there a statement from the Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 6 1 alderman of the area? 2 ALDERMAN SOLIS: Mr. Chairman, I would 3 like to hold my comments until after the people 4 that are coming up for witnesses. 5 CHAIRMAN BURKE: 6 Very good. Is there a statement from the 7 Department of Planning and Development? 8 state your name, sir, and your title. 9 MR. HASTINGS: Please Again good morning, 10 Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. 11 record, my name is Chip Hastings, Managing Deputy 12 Commissioner in the Department of Planning and 13 Development. 14 For the The proposed Special Service Area 15 No. 73 is located in the Chinatown community along 16 Cermak Road, Archer Avenue and Wentworth Avenue and 17 is entirely within the 25th Ward. 18 A total of four community meetings 19 were conducted over the past 18 months to inform 20 the public and gather feedback regarding the 21 proposed SSA. 22 Since the community meetings, our 23 department was informed that an outstanding real 24 estate tax liability exists for the common area of Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 7 1 the Chinatown Square development located north of 2 Archer Avenue. 3 agency and Alderman Solis, the Department of 4 Planning and Development is hereby submitting an 5 amended legal boundary for description -- legal 6 boundary description for SSA No. 73. 7 SSA boundary removes the block north of Archer 8 Avenue between Princeton Avenue and Wentworth 9 Avenue just commonly known as Chinatown Square. 10 In conjunction with the sponsoring This amended The ordinance would establish a new 11 Special Service Area for an initial ten-year term 12 with a levy cap rate of .8 percent. 13 2018 budget for SSA No. 73 is $93,605. 14 proposed SSA includes 170 -- roughly 170 PINs which 15 means an average of about $500 per year per PIN 16 although significantly less for the handful of 17 residential units included. 18 The proposed The This budget has been reduced based 19 on the smaller revised SSA boundaries. 20 rate has not changed, and the levy amount assessed 21 to each property remains the same as what was 22 presented at the community meetings. 23 24 The levy The special services to be authorized include, but are not limited to, Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 8 1 customer attraction, public way aesthetics and 2 other activities to promote commercial and economic 3 development. 4 The recommended service provider for 5 SSA 73 is the Chicago Chinatown Chamber of Commerce 6 which has promoted economic development activities 7 in the Chinatown community since 1983. 8 ordinance is also supported by Alderman Solis. 9 ask for the Committee's support in approving the 10 ordinance. 11 The We Thank you. CHAIRMAN BURKE: Deputy Commissioner, has 12 the Law Department reviewed this action and is 13 there any implications with regard to notice 14 because of the changes in the legal description? 15 MR. HASTINGS: They have reviewed the 16 action and we're not aware of any issues that are 17 created by the change to the boundary. 18 19 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Very good. any questions of this witness? Are there Alderman Solis? 20 ALDERMAN SOLIS: No. 21 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Any other Members of the 22 Committee have questions of this witness? 23 (No response.) 24 Very good. Then we will proceed to Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 9 1 public testimony. 2 Is there any resident, taxpayer or 3 other interested person attending the hearing who 4 desires an opportunity to express views for or 5 against the proposed establishment of Special 6 Service Area No. 73? 7 And in connection therewith, I have 8 received a series of witness slips that relate to 9 the names of persons wishing to be heard with 10 regard to this matter. 11 Unless there's objection from the 12 Committee, we will proceed by entertaining, first 13 of all, those who are in favor of the proposal and 14 then when they are concluded, we'll hear from those 15 who are opposed. 16 17 The first witness will be Bernie Wong. Are you present, Bernie? 18 MS. WONG: Yes. 19 CHAIRMAN BURKE: 20 MS. WONG: 21 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Good morning, Bernie. Good morning. State your name and your 22 organization, please, not that you need any 23 introduction to the audience in this building. 24 MS. WONG: Good morning, Chairman Burke, Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 10 1 and Members of the Finance Committee. 2 year, I retired as the founder and CEO of the 3 Chinese American Service League, commonly known as 4 CASL. 5 6 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Early this Bernie, you are too young to retire. 7 ALDERMAN SOLIS: 8 MS. WONG: 9 I agree. I just look young, Alderman. I have held this position for the 10 last 39 years. 11 advocate to speak in favor of the SSA for the 12 Chinese community, SSA 73. 13 I am here today as a long time As a professional social worker, I 14 have dedicated myself for the last 40 years to 15 improve the lives of the thousands of families in 16 the Chinese community from little infants, to 17 youth, to seniors past their 100th birthday. 18 I lead my former agency to provide 19 crucial human services to our community while 20 working in partnership with the city and other 21 organizations to improve the living conditions in 22 Chinatown. 23 24 I want to take this opportunity to thank Mayor Emanuel, Alderman Solis and Alderman Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 11 1 Balcer -- Alderman Thompson. 2 was -- I'm not sure why I was thinking that, and 3 other members of the City Council for the 4 wonderful -- for supporting the wonderful projects 5 in Chinatown such as the library and the Ping Tom 6 Park and the street expansion. 7 grateful for the fieldhouse since I'm almost a 8 daily user now that I'm enjoying my retirement. 9 I'm sorry. That I am particularly While the City is providing the 10 resources for the big projects, I feel the 11 establishment of a Chinatown SSA can greatly 12 enhance the quality of life for our residents, 13 particularly our seniors, many of them are here 14 today, and the parents of little children. 15 They worry about slippery sidewalks, 16 uneven pavements, not sufficient lighting, garbage 17 in the streets, safety in the streets crossing, 18 daily security, et cetera, et cetera. 19 could directly address many of these issues based 20 on the decisions of the community themselves 21 represented by their own commissioners. 22 The SSA The SSA can also create new projects 23 that can raise visibility and bring more visitors 24 to frequent our businesses and institutions, and I Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 12 1 really feel excited hearing from the last group of 2 speakers for their SSA how that has helped their 3 community. 4 I hope you can join -- we can join 5 the other 52 SSAs across the city in improving our 6 growing community. 7 Council and this Committee to approve the creation 8 of an SSA in Chinatown. 9 10 So I respectfully urge the City Thank you very much. CHAIRMAN BURKE: questions of the witness? 11 ALDERMAN SOLIS: Thank you, Bernie. Any Alderman Solis. Bernie, you just took my 12 presentation after this is over. 13 for your service, Bernie, and I really appreciate 14 you coming down and bringing the seniors that you 15 did today to support it. 16 MS. WONG: 17 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Thank you so much Thank you. Thank you, Alderman. Let me echo what 18 Alderman Solis said. 19 across Chicago were as capable and dedicated and 20 committed as Bernie has been over the 39 years that 21 she's served in Chicago, indeed we would have a 22 much better place in which to live and work and 23 raise families. 24 If community leaders all Thank you for all you have done and Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 13 1 continue to do to make sure Chicago the most 2 American of American cities. 3 MS. WONG: 4 CHAIRMAN BURKE: 5 Thank you, Alderman. Helen Lee? Thank you, Bernie. Please state your name 6 and your affiliation, Ms. Lee. 7 MS. LEE: Good morning, Chairman and 8 Members of the Finance Committee. 9 Lee, and I'm a PIN owner within the boundaries of 10 SSA 73. My name is Helen I'm in favor of the application. 11 The Lee family has operated a 12 business in Chinatown through the years until we 13 all retired. 14 turns out from Chinatown indicates all of us care 15 about the community. 16 concerns. 17 Today in the hearing we see all this We are expressing our I'm a native of Hong Kong. I came 18 to work in Chicago after college in the 60s. By 19 then Chinatown was only a couple blocks of gift 20 shops and restaurants, and through the efforts -- 21 and when I came, the first stop I called Chinatown 22 my home, so you can imagine it's important for 23 immigrants to be in a place they are accustomed 24 to. Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 14 1 Through the efforts and dedication 2 of many individuals and businesses, today Chinatown 3 is one of the most densely populated little gems in 4 the city. 5 boom in real estate. 6 far as west of Canal Street. For the last few years, we experienced a 7 Developments are in sight as We have diversities in businesses, 8 including Korean, Vietnamese and Japanese. 9 a 600 space parking lot and it's operated as a 10 social enterprise. 11 town investors. 12 especially in the heart of Chinatown. 13 We have We have an influx of out of Properties are in demand, We are located in the proximity of 14 McCormick Place, South Loop, Greektown, Pilsen, 15 Bronzeville and Bridgeport. 16 location, we benefit from investments from the city 17 with new roads, new park, fieldhouse, school 18 library and access to CTA red and green lines, bus 19 No. 24 and No. 62. 20 Chinatown potentials in North America. 21 Because of the Chinatown being known as -- Now we have seen the deterioration 22 due to back up maintenance. We cannot afford the 23 perception of becoming a slum neighborhood. 24 obligations as residents is to maintain safety and Our Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 15 1 cleanliness of the area as a tourist destination of 2 which will be helpful and beneficial to our 3 businesses. 4 initiatives and maintenance. 5 SSA can help to fund some of the As PIN owner, I see the little .8 6 percent tax levy as investment. 7 for everything we do, but we hope to benefit from 8 the result of which will exceed our expectations. 9 I also like to ask the City to consider granting 10 the application of SSA No. 73. 11 12 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Thank you, Ms. Lee. (No response.) 14 Thank you very much for your presence here today, Ms. Lee. 16 17 Thank you. Any questions of the witness? 13 15 There is a price David Wu. Please state your name and your affiliation, sir. 18 MR. WU: My name is David Wu. I've lived 19 on 22nd Place in Chinatown for over 20 years. Why 20 I'm testifying as an individual, I know the 21 community well as I serve as the executive director 22 of the Pui Tak Center, a church based community 23 center which is within the proposed SSA district. 24 I also serve as the chair of the Ping Tom Park Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 16 1 Advisory Council. 2 express my support for the Chinatown SSA. 3 Thank you for the opportunity to Chinatown is a vibrant community 4 with passionate residents, businesses and 5 organizations that care deeply about our future. 6 The City of Chicago, through the support of the 7 mayor and our aldermen, have invested significantly 8 in Chinatown. 9 We appreciate the recent city 10 projects that have included the Leonard Louie 11 Fieldhouse, Chinatown Branch Library and Wells 12 Wentworth Connector Project that will make it safer 13 for drivers, bikers and pedestrians. 14 In addition to large investments, 15 there are small items that a visitor or resident 16 notices on Archer, Cermak and Wentworth that makes 17 them feel comfortable or uncomfortable and safe or 18 unsafe. 19 This includes unshoveled snow that 20 turns into icy sidewalks, drink and dessert cups 21 litter the sidewalks and lack of signs to direct 22 people to the most interesting places in the 23 community, particularly the hard to find Ping Tom 24 Park. Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 17 1 Taxes are never popular. They 2 always seem to be in the future, probably more 3 frustrating that individuals don't have a say in 4 how the funds are used. 5 Local people can suggest needs. 6 are engaged in the community will consider how best 7 to spend the limited budget, and these discussions 8 will be transparent to the community who can 9 suggest changes in the future. 10 SSA funds are different. Commissioners who The SSA doesn't mean that we'll stop 11 asking the City to invest in Chinatown or that 12 we'll stop asking the aldermen for more services or 13 stop asking the police to provide more officers, 14 but it shows our partnership in ensuring that our 15 community is attractive to both tourists and 16 residents in the future. 17 18 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Any (No response.) 20 Thank you. 21 Paul Foy. Please state your name and your affiliation. 23 24 Thank you, Mr. Wu. questions? 19 22 Thank you. MR. FOY: My name is Paul Foy. I'm a shareholder of one of the buildings and the Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 18 1 businesses at 2323 South Wentworth. 2 3 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Thank you, sir. Proceed. 4 MR. FOY: I'm going to discuss four ideas 5 to support having a Chinatown SSA. The first idea 6 answers the question why would some of the 7 Chinatown community advocate for a Chinatown SSA. 8 It's really simple. 9 the long-term. We are looking to invest for We're looking forward to having 10 multiple mechanisms that enable the long-term 11 vitality of Chinatown. 12 The second idea goes like this. In 13 life there are few things that we know for sure and 14 there is an area called known and unknowns where we 15 only have some partial knowledge, what we do not 16 know. 17 category of known and unknowns because most of us 18 don't have any experience with the concept of a 19 self tax for self benefit, but if we are humble and 20 willing to learn, which I think many of us are, 21 then we can confidently handle what we do not know. I think the SSA for us fits into that 22 The third idea in this analogy, the 23 business community will have both a cart and a 24 horse to get Chinatown to the next step of growth. Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 19 1 The SSA will provide both planning and finances, 2 the cart and the horse, to implement a list of 3 projects. 4 execute on those ideas. You get both ideas and the ability to 5 The fourth and final idea is this, 6 the SSA can serve as catalyst for business to build 7 itself up. 8 finance necessary to build a sustainable business 9 because it's really a new tax for us. A business can learn about the role of Businesses 10 together can become experienced with both capital 11 formation and capital allocation to develop a 12 thriving business community. 13 So in conclusion, I would like to 14 say an idea will work if you work it. 15 I've heard said, and I would personally say let's 16 work the SSA. 17 community development and improvement. This SSA can be a tool to further 18 CHAIRMAN BURKE: 19 questions for the witness? 20 Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Any Thank you for your presence here today. 23 24 Thank you. (No response.) 21 22 That's what Raymond Lee? Welcome, Mr. Lee. Please state your name and your affiliation. Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 20 1 MR. LEE: My name is Raymond Lee and I am 2 the chairman of the Chinatown Parking Corporation 3 and also the property owner of the SSA proposal in 4 the area. 5 I'd like to -- Chicago's Chinatown 6 is a tourist destination. 7 restaurants which is in a four square block. 8 includes Cantonese, Szechwan and northern Chinese 9 cuisine. 10 We own close to 100 This They also include Vietnamese and Korean and Japanese cuisine. 11 Each week thousands of tourists come 12 to Chinatown to visit, to shop and to dine at the 13 restaurants. 14 overcrowded restaurants, the average per person 15 meal price is comparable to a fast food restaurant 16 price in Chicago. 17 Because of the competition among In addition, for that restaurant, we 18 have two parking lots that provide three hour 19 parking for two dollar. 20 parking you can find in the city. 21 This is the cheapest City's Chinatown is a tourist 22 destination. We must make it attractive. We must 23 provide a clean and safe environment. 24 critical to both tourists and the residents, but Security is Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 21 1 Chicago city police does not have the resources to 2 provide enhanced security. 3 also does have -- does not have the resource to 4 provide garbage cans, daily garbage pick up in the 5 main street. 6 The City of Chicago That's where the SSA comes in. We 7 have said eight tenths of one percent of equalized 8 assessed value of taxable property in the area to 9 provide money for enhanced service, like street 10 cleaning, snow removal and security. 11 possibly 500 for each property. 12 This is There are 53 SSAs in the City of 13 Chicago. 14 property, and as landlord you will get better 15 rental rate. 16 bring more tourists to Chinatown and provide a safe 17 environment for the visitors and the residents. 18 Also, SSA will help increase your business. 19 a win/win situation for all. 20 21 SSA helps to keep up the value of the As far as the business, SSA will CHAIRMAN BURKE: It is Thank you. Thank you, sir. Any questions of the witness? 22 (No response.) 23 Thank you, Mr. Lee. 24 MR. LEE: Thank you. Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 22 1 CHAIRMAN BURKE: 2 MR. WONG: 3 Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Members of the Finance Committee. 4 5 Ernest Wong. CHAIRMAN BURKE: Tell us your name and your affiliation. 6 MR. WONG: My name is Ernest Wong. I am 7 the owner and founder of a company called Site 8 Design Group which has done public design work 9 throughout the entire City of Chicago and have 10 spent the last 25 years of my life doing design 11 work throughout the Chinatown area. 12 13 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Thank you, sir. Proceed. 14 MR. WONG: Thank you. Mr. Chairman and 15 Members of the Finance Committee, I appreciate this 16 opportunity to come here and speak with you. 17 As I had mentioned before, I have 18 done work over the last 30 years throughout the 19 entire City of Chicago, but my heart is really 20 legally with this particular community. 21 I'm not from this community. I'm not a resident. I'm 22 not a property owner. But 23 this is the community that embraced our work when 24 we started to do Wentworth Avenue before, actually Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 23 1 preceding Alderman Solis. We designed the Ping Tom 2 Memorial Park. 3 currently doing the Wentworth Street Scape 4 Connector and continue to work with other 5 architects to bring forth such outstanding projects 6 such as the fieldhouse, the library, et cetera. 7 I consistently bring tourists to We designed Wentworth where you are 8 Chinatown, touting it as an architectural mecca of 9 Chicago, a city which is known for its 10 architecture. 11 When you have buildings that have 12 been designed by international stars such as Jeanne 13 Gang, such as Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, such as 14 Landon Bone & Baker, this is a huge, huge asset not 15 only to the City but to this community. 16 amazing way to bring more and more people. 17 seen what has happened with architecture over the 18 last four years. 19 It's an You've I'm actually quite jealous of the 20 SSA 47 hearing inspiring people talking about the 21 success of this. 22 this community needs to continue its growth, to 23 continue its ability to bring in the investment 24 that it needs, the SSA is essential to that drive. When I start to think about what Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 24 1 At a rate of, and I just did the 2 calculation, of $500 per year, that comes out to 3 $1.36, maybe 37 per day. 4 be able to get snow shoveling, some landscape 5 services of that sort for $1.37 a day, that's a 6 deal. 7 property. That is an incredible investment in my own 8 9 If I were in my house to And so I'm urging this Committee and this community to embrace the idea of an SSA 10 which I have seen all over the City work so well. 11 Thank you. 12 13 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Any questions of the witness? 14 (No response.) 15 16 Thank you, sir. Thank you very much for your presence here today. 17 Is there anyone else that wishes to 18 be heard with respect to the approval of this 19 matter, in other words, you're supporting this 20 proposal? 21 (No response.) 22 23 Madam Reporter, let the record reflect that no one has responded. 24 Now we are going to move to those Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 25 1 who are opposed to the issue, and the first witness 2 will be Robert Hoy of the United Chinatown 3 Organization. 4 affiliation. 5 6 Please tell us your name and your MR. HOY: My name is Robert Hoy, and I'm with the United Chinatown Organization. 7 Good morning, Aldermen -- Chairman 8 Burke and Alderman Solis and the rest of the 9 Committee. 10 I object to this SSA 73 for many, 11 many reasons. 12 this broad language, there's nothing that they have 13 said that is concrete and measurable. 14 milestones. 15 For one, what you've heard today, There's no The only thing you're going to get 16 from this SSA is language. 17 and we're not getting that, and that's one of the 18 reasons why I object and many of the other people 19 are objecting to this SSA. 20 We need accountability, Historically Chinatown has grown all 21 by itself. 22 say that the SSA is necessary for the future growth 23 of Chinatown is misleading. 24 It did not need the SSA to grow, and to The chamber of commerce existed Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 26 1 prior to any discussion about this SSA. 2 that they wanted to do, they could have done under 3 the guise of the chamber of commerce, but at this 4 juncture, they want the SSA for another reason. 5 believe it's an ulterior reason, and it was stated 6 in what I read in some of the information about 7 this SSA. 8 Anything I Somebody wants to develop the 9 parking lot at Cermak and Wentworth, and they're 10 looking, this SSA and the chamber of commerce is 11 looking to replace the revenue lost by that 12 development of the parking lot. 13 If that parking lot gets developed, 14 the old part of Chinatown, South Wentworth Avenue, 15 Cermak, those businesses will be directly affected 16 because they will lose the parking. 17 juncture, that parking lot allows many businesses 18 to survive. 19 At this As Raymond Lee said, $2 to park 20 there. That attracts people to park there, and if 21 you take that away, even for a period of time, it 22 will interfere drastically with the business. 23 24 Two examples, when the truck ran into the parking -- the business, the bus Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 27 1 structure, bus shelter at the red line at Cermak, 2 the businesses were interrupted for a very long 3 time in order to repair that. 4 period of time, the next year they decided to 5 remodel the red line and that closed off the exits 6 to Cermak again. 7 because they did not have access to the red line. 8 9 Then after that The business people hurt greatly So what I want to make a point is this parking lot, the income from that parking lot 10 is the ulterior motive behind this SSA. 11 didn't talk about this before. 12 commerce could have done what they have said, what 13 they claimed to do that the SSA could do. 14 could have done this without the SSA. 15 They The chamber of They The Chinatown Parking Corporation 16 could raise revenue in an alternate way to do what 17 they want to do. 18 members had mentioned why don't we increase that 19 parking fee from $2 up, and Raymond Lee had 20 responded to me in an open forum if that was the 21 case, the business owners would complain. 22 would not want to be paying more to support 23 customers parking in that lot at a discount. 24 Give you an example. One of the They But I will say this, I think that Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 28 1 the business owners would object even more if you 2 put this tax into place and instead of -- you put 3 this tax into place, deprive them of the parking 4 lot in the future and they're paying all this extra 5 money for nothing. 6 At this juncture they pay about 90¢ 7 per ticket. 8 give that ticket to a customer so that a customer 9 gets a discounted parking. 10 That's what the businesses pay. They So my suggestion or I should say 11 another person's suggestion that I made to Raymond, 12 why don't we just increase that. 13 that fee by a dollar instead of $2, pay $3, you 14 could get your budget. 15 proposed budget. 16 of the neighborhood. 17 If we increase $150,000 was the original You can get it from there instead But he says we would have to pay tax 18 on that. If we go over $2, we have to pay tax on 19 that. 20 is aside from the point. 21 three-hour period in that lot, you pay $15 or $14. 22 So why can't you add the extra dollar there? 23 that tells me these guys want to become a quasi 24 government, a tax supported quasi government. The owners are going to complain. But that When you go over a So Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 29 1 And the beautification idea, 2 cleaning the streets, putting up foliage, putting 3 up pretty lights, beautification, sustainability, 4 what is this for? 5 generate more business. 6 point. 7 The whole point of this is to Right? That's the whole Chinatown is a destination. We need 8 to bring in more business. Making something 9 pretty, doing maintenance is a round about way to 10 get there, and probably a good illustration of how 11 making everything pretty and thinking business is 12 going to follow is going to be Water Tower Place. 13 Look at the vacancies in that place. 14 They are one of the prettiest malls around. 15 Everything is fixed, gorgeous, professionally 16 maintained. 17 They don't have business. So I had mentioned to some of the 18 members that support the creation of the SSA if you 19 did things that the community wanted that can 20 generate business, you might get more support. 21 Now, Ernest spoke about some of the 22 landscaping, and I agree, Ping Tom Park is a 23 beautiful park, but how much does that cost the 24 City to maintain? How much income does that park Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 30 1 generate? 2 He talks about Cermak and Wentworth. 3 Well, let me tell you about Cermak and Wentworth. 4 The foliage there is a bum magnet. 5 planters. 6 use drugs there. 7 They store their junk inside the center median 8 where all the foliage is at. They eat there. They sit around They drink there. They They use the place like a toilet. 9 So when I hear that one of the ideas 10 that the SSA 73 wants to do is create more foliage, 11 I'm saying that is not going to bring us business, 12 that's going to bring us more bums. 13 So the SSA wants to say something, 14 that we're going to do something, do something 15 measurable. 16 Get rid of the bums. Now, fortunately and thanks to 17 Alderman Solis, we got rid of some of those 18 benches, those benches over on Cermak Road and that 19 helped a lot because just having those bums is not 20 by itself very revealing. 21 But let me say this, those of you 22 that are familiar with the old Chinatown, there 23 used to be -- there still is a little Three 24 Happiness across from the firehouse. That guy used Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 31 1 to have business 24 hours a day, people coming 2 doing take outs. 3 You can find parking anywhere because the streets 4 are vacant. 5 reputation, you park your car and the bums are 6 going to say hey, let me help you park your car. 7 So when you see that, you just want to drive away. 8 9 Now you look down the street. Why? Because it's gotten the So now Three Happiness has virtually no business. Why? The planters attracted all the 10 bums, and those planters are expensive to maintain. 11 I don't know how much it cost to maintain the 12 foliage in the center of Cermak Road. 13 it's very expensive. 14 costing the city money to maintain that. 15 And when we hear the word I'm sure But the point is this, it's 16 sustainability, you want to pass that cost onto the 17 Chinatown people, the Chinatown businessmen, the 18 Chinatown land owner, the commercial land owners? 19 That's very unfair. 20 If you told the Chinatown people 21 that we're going to pass the cost of maintaining 22 this planter and this foliage onto you, they would 23 have said we don't want it, we don't need it, it's 24 not going to help us generate any income. Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 32 1 So I've shared some ideas with the 2 proponents, and they said we're going to spend 3 let's say $20,000 on advertising. 4 to accountability, based upon what I've seen, I 5 believe the accountability is to show the City 6 office how I spend $20,000 on advertising, but 7 there's no results. 8 the SSA doing its job? 9 Now, according So if there's no results, is Sure, I spent $20,000. I told the 10 budget office I'm going to spend 20,000. 11 spent 20,000. 12 job. 13 are not doing what the community needs. 14 not asking the right questions. 15 the right things. I got zero results, but I did my And that's what I'm objecting to. 16 Here, I These guys They are They are not doing Now, the statute says 17 sustainability. All right. You pass this -- that 18 word is very confusing. 19 told the general public in Chinatown, this project 20 needs sustainability, they wouldn't understand that 21 word. 22 itself. 23 taxpayers, have to keep this thing sustained. To say it this way, if you They would think well, it's going to sustain 24 It's not. It means you guys, the So some of the points that I said is Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 33 1 this maintaining the foliage. That's not bringing 2 in any business. 3 customers, so why do this? 4 That is not the point. 5 Why do you go somewhere for the attractions? That's not bringing in any To make it pretty? The point is attractions. 6 So, for example, I had mentioned to 7 the SSA proponents, I think particularly to Darryl 8 Tom, if you take that $20,000 in advertising and 9 let's say you created a rickshaw service between 10 McCormick Place and Chinatown, you would probably 11 get more press with that than you could with 12 $20,000, and it would probably be an attraction 13 that would generate some income and be sustainable. 14 That's for the foliage in the middle 15 of Cermak, if that was replaced with something that 16 was attractive then people would come there and 17 take pictures there. 18 there. 19 They would want to come Here is an idea, just an idea, what 20 if all the trees and the foliage was removed from 21 the center area? 22 hide their stuff. 23 attraction. 24 be statuary, the war years and the carts like they The bums would have nowhere to Replace it with something of an Let's just say, for example, it could Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 34 1 found in China, something that people would say I 2 want to take a -- 3 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Mr. Hoy, I don't -- I 4 hate to interrupt you, but we've got a lot of other 5 witnesses that wish to be heard, so can you wrap up 6 your testimony? 7 MR. HOY: 8 CHAIRMAN BURKE: 9 10 All right. I know you're very passionate about the subject but we need to move ahead. 11 MR. HOY: Okay. We don't need the SSA 12 because it's not accountable. 13 transparent. 14 information. 15 It's not They're not going to provide the I requested information before I 16 even came here to learn more about the SSA. 17 denied that. 18 on deaf ears. 19 to be helpful or listened to by somebody outside 20 the SSA ranks, I don't believe that's going to be 21 an accurate thing. 22 I was I proposed various things that fell To say that anything else is going So I would like to say with the 23 confusion the last time we were here, you had 24 mentioned people were confused, there was Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 35 1 misinformation, and that's why part of the hearing 2 was continued. 3 initial application was obtained with 4 misinformation, so some of those signatures should 5 be invalidated on that application because it was 6 obtained with misinformation or insufficient 7 information. 8 9 I want to say this, the SSA 73 So I ask this panel, this Committee to consider whether or not there has been accurate, 10 true information to get those signatures on the 11 2016 application. 12 13 CHAIRMAN BURKE: MR. HOY: 15 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Thank you. Do you have a question, Alderman Burnett? 17 ALDERMAN BURNETT: 18 CHAIRMAN BURKE: 19 ALDERMAN BURNETT: 20 CHAIRMAN BURKE: 21 you have a question for this witness? 22 come back? 23 24 Thank you very much. 14 16 Thank you, sir. Not for him but -You are excused then. Actually I wanted -Alderman Thompson, do Would you Alderman Thompson has a question. ALDERMAN THOMPSON: A question and then a comment. Thank you, Mr. Hoy. You were talking Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 36 1 about the closure of the red line. 2 talking about the parking but then referencing when 3 the red line was closed that hurt businesses. 4 MR. HOY: 5 ALDERMAN THOMPSON: So you're Right. Have you done a 6 study to determine how many people take the red 7 line to Chinatown? 8 stop. I know there's now a green line Public transportation versus driving? 9 MR. HOY: No, I have not done any 10 studies, but I know the convenience of the red 11 line. 12 whether you want to go to the ballparks, north side 13 or south side baseball, football -- It's like a main line through Chicago. 14 15 ALDERMAN THOMPSON: So I prefer the south side ballparks. 16 MR. HOY: So would I, but the point I 17 was making is that Chinatown suffered a great deal 18 when we lost the Cermak entrance to the red line. 19 ALDERMAN THOMPSON: What was confusing, 20 you were talking about the parking and increasing 21 the fee. 22 public transportation as the route that people come 23 to, and so I was just confused. 24 study on that? It sounded like there was more of the You don't have a Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 37 1 MR. HOY: No. 2 ALDERMAN THOMPSON: Okay. Just on a 3 personal note, a comment. 4 passionate and everyone here is, but I don't think 5 it's very becoming to, you know -- the individuals 6 who we know to be homeless, oftentimes they have 7 mental illness, they have addiction. 8 we need to call them names. 9 I know you're very I don't think Those are our brothers, our sisters, 10 our sons and daughters. 11 refraining from calling them names because I think 12 there's a negative connotation and we're trying to 13 help everyone here. 14 comment that's personal for me, so I just ask -- I 15 know you're passionate and I appreciate that but -- 16 MR. HOY: So I just appreciate We're all one city. That's a The reason I use that term is 17 because these guys are spotters. 18 when you want to come and buy drugs, and I've seen 19 those guys come, sell their drugs to people, and 20 then these people beat up the guy that they -- to 21 get the drugs that he just bought. 22 ALDERMAN THOMPSON: They call people I understand. 23 Alderman Solis and I have worked very closely on 24 additional police resources. I think that's part Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 38 1 of what the goal of this SSA is to have additional 2 security potentially to address some of those 3 concerns. 4 passionate, but it's just a personal issue for me. 5 Thank you. 6 So I hear it, but I understand you're MR. HOY: Well, to answer the part about 7 security, they spent $150,000 a year so far, the 8 chamber of commerce, on security, and they have a 9 car that drives around that has zero or less than 10 zero participation in arrests because they have no 11 authority. 12 ALDERMAN THOMPSON: Right. Security 13 companies are not the police, but they do, and I 14 can tell you because we meet on a monthly basis, 15 they do have a positive impact on the community, 16 both in Chinatown, and as it comes into my 17 community into Bridgeport. 18 So I do think it's very positive and 19 this could be an enhancement of that. 20 we're all concerned about security for our 21 residents that live there, for our tourists to come 22 and visit. So from that perspective, no further 23 questions. Thank you. 24 MR. HOY: I understand Could you -- Just a response. Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 39 1 Can you identify what circumstances and situations 2 that they were a part of the influence? 3 4 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Mr. Hoy, thank you very much for your presence here today. 5 MR. HOY: 6 ALDERMAN THOMPSON: 7 All right. line. 8 MR. HOY: 9 CHAIRMAN BURKE: 10 Okay. Peter Huey. Alderman Burnett? 11 12 I can talk to you off ALDERMAN BURNETT: Mr. Chairman. Thank you, No questions for you, sir. 13 I just want to comment on a couple 14 of things. One, I have several -- three SSAs in my 15 ward. 16 in West Town. 17 They clean up the area. 18 do decorations. One in Old Town, one in Greektown, and one 19 Both of them are doing fantastic. They bring security. They They bring folks together. You know, as matter of fact, the one 20 in Old Town is residents and merchants and it's 21 really good. 22 festivals and actually indirectly help with 23 advertisement for the real estate in the community, 24 right, because people come to the neighborhood and It helps with advertisement for the Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 40 1 everything. 2 But I just had a thing that happened 3 in Greektown. In Greektown my SSA -- my TIF 4 expired, right? 5 We had to go through a process where we can either 6 choose for money to go to the SSA, they get a 7 higher amount of money because when the TIF 8 expired, they get a higher amount of money in the 9 SSA for which they chose and now they're using it It was in a TIF. The TIF expired. 10 for security and/or they could have lowered the 11 amount of money, if I'm not mistaken, that everyone 12 pays into the SSA. 13 Can you confirm that or explain 14 that? Can somebody explain that? 15 is this SSA in a TIF area and does it have the 16 potential for the TIF to expire in these 17 communities? 18 MS. BARES: I wanted to know Kimberly Bares, PLACE 19 Consulting, the consulting firm that worked on this 20 project. 21 Thank you, Alderman, for that 22 question. Yes, there are two TIF districts in the 23 proposed boundaries, Archer Courts and 24th and 24 Michigan. Archer Courts would expire in 2023. Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 41 1 24th and Michigan, that TIF would expire in 2022. 2 So you're correct, the interplay 3 between a TIF district and an SSA is such that a 4 portion of the equalized assessed value is frozen 5 and so only the portion of tax that's applied 6 toward the frozen base is available for use by the 7 SSA. 8 9 Once a TIF expires, the full value of the property, the full EAV is then made 10 available for the SSA, and any SSA in the course of 11 a given year, when a TIF expires, has the choice of 12 either requesting that DPD allow them to access the 13 full view of the EAV or they can instead reduce 14 their budget and reduce the impact. 15 It does involve additional budget 16 meetings that are provided for or required by the 17 statute. 18 year to the next by more than 5 percent, an 19 additional budget meeting is required. 20 Whenever an SSA budget increases from one ALDERMAN BURNETT: So whatever this SSA 21 is, let's say every property puts in about $1.10 22 into the SSA and let's say it comes out to 10 23 million a year or something, so when the TIF 24 expires, they end up getting the full value -- Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 42 1 instead of the frozen value, they get the other 2 increment that they weren't getting, so it may go 3 up to 20 million, let's say 20 million or 40 4 million or whatever the case may be. 5 MS. BARES: Correct. 6 ALDERMAN BURNETT: Then they can take 7 that and either put it in the SSA, use it for more 8 things in the SSA, or they can take that money and 9 instead of paying $1.10, they may be able to pay a 10 dollar or they may be able to pay less depending on 11 how much money is in that SSA. 12 this is 20 -- 13 MS. BARES: 14 ALDERMAN BURNETT: So we're saying 2022 and 2023. This is 2017. In five 15 or six years if this SSA is -- you know, depending 16 on what they want, if they want to do more with the 17 SSA, they can choose to get more money and put it 18 in the SSA, use it for more things, or they can 19 choose to pay less money and lower their commitment 20 or taxes or whatever the case may be in this SSA in 21 five years? 22 MS. BARES: 23 ALDERMAN BURNETT: 24 Yes. Okay. I just wanted to know because I know I've been through this and Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 43 1 my folks chose -- actually they chose to, because 2 they feel like it wasn't a loss, right, because 3 they already chose to put the percentage on there, 4 and they just got extra money, so they chose to 5 take the extra money and now they're paying for 6 more things. 7 They're paying for security. 8 They're paying for more things, more 9 beautification. If you go in Greektown, you see 10 the little boat statues up and all these other 11 things that's happening in the community. 12 benefit to the neighborhood without costing the 13 neighborhood anymore money at that time. 14 right. It's a All Thank you. 15 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Would you please see the 16 Sergeant-at-Arms and fill out a slip so we make 17 sure we have your proper spelling and the 18 organization you represent? 19 20 Peter Huey, H-u-e-y? Are you present, sir? 21 MR. HOY: Excuse me for the interruption. 22 Peter Huey is my uncle and I wanted him to speak, 23 and he's got a sudden shy streak and doesn't want 24 to speak. Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 44 1 CHAIRMAN BURKE: So we'll note that 2 Mr. Huey is present here this morning but chooses 3 not to speak, and he's listed as being opposed to 4 this. 5 6 MR. HOY: What I was trying to say, he was going to stand up -- 7 CHAIRMAN BURKE: I think you've already 8 had your opportunity. 9 Chow, C-h-o-w, Gee Tuck, Sam Tuck Association. 10 MR. CHOW: Now we have is it Lorae My name is Lorae Chow. I 11 represent Gee Tuck, Sam Tuck Association at 2222 on 12 South Wentworth. 13 Actually, you know, previously we 14 had many speakers that agreed to this SSA like 15 Helen, Raymond, Bernie Wong and David Wu, they are 16 my friends of many, many years, but this time I 17 have to disagree with them. 18 SSA. 19 I'm opposed to this The simple reason is Chicago already 20 has the second highest tax rate in the whole 21 country, and also we all know in the next year, the 22 coming year we will have property tax increase, and 23 all this tax, we're simply paying too much tax. 24 And when we talk about Chinatown, Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 45 1 and I think actually most of the activities are 2 really in the Chinatown Square, and if you look at 3 Chinatown south of Cermak along Wentworth, after 4 6:00 p.m., after 7:00 p.m. the street is so empty. 5 The business is hardly good. 6 So especially at this time, the 7 taxes really levied on all those properties really 8 give a burden to the property owner and to the 9 business owner. 10 So also I think a lot of the work 11 that proposed to do for the SSA is supposed to be 12 performed or done by the City, and we have a City 13 that really has very poor management. 14 have one of the worst managed cities in Chicago. 15 Thank you. 16 CHAIRMAN BURKE: 17 Leslie Moy. 18 Thank you, sir. Tell us your name and the organization you represent. 19 20 I think we MR. MOY: Leslie Moy. I'm with United Chinatown. 21 Good morning, Alderman Burke. Good 22 morning, Alderman Solis and other Members of the 23 Council, as well as the Planning Department. 24 I first would like to begin by Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 46 1 saying that I am sincerely confident that everyone 2 here today has the same goals and aspirations for 3 the Chinese community. 4 agree to that. 5 this will be accomplished and who will manage this 6 process. I'm sure everyone will The only difference we have is how That's where the problem is. 7 A number of people who are 8 proposing -- who are proponents of this had gotten 9 up and said something. I know most of these 10 people. I respect most of these people, but most 11 of these people may have another ulterior motive. 12 I don't. 13 do not have a financial interest in this. I will categorically state that here. 14 I I sold my last piece of real estate 15 on July 31st in Chinatown. 16 aspirations. 17 I'm here because I am a very concerned citizen and 18 because of my roots to this community. 19 I have no political I have no social ladder to climb. You may not know and I would like to 20 tell you that my grandfather came to this country 21 in 1876. 22 became one of the pioneers to the Chinese 23 community. 24 and lived their entire lives in Chinatown until In 1978 he relocated to Chicago and Both my parents were born in Chicago Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 47 1 their passing in recent years. 2 first 30 years in Chinatown, but I was always there 3 to visit friends and certainly to visit my family. 4 I myself lived my In the last ten years, I'm in 5 Chinatown five days a week, so I really know what 6 is going on. 7 Chinatown and the evolution that it's gone through 8 these many years. I have seen what has happened to 9 It is our contention that the 10 chamber has had a very poor roll out of this SSA. 11 They could have done so many things differently and 12 gathered the support of all the people, but they 13 just didn't. 14 Let me say one thing. The chamber 15 of commerce was not elected by the people of 16 Chinatown. 17 from some individuals, and they are supported by 18 donations, by fundraising and asking for 19 volunteers. 20 around. 21 yet they're trying to impose a tax on the 22 80 percent of the people who are disagreeing with 23 the 20 percent. 24 They have a limited source of support But you know what? Let's not kid They're not elected by the people, and Also when you review the Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 48 1 documentation, the limited amount of documentation 2 that we have, you will notice that some of those 3 advisors who are on the board who are seeking to 4 approve this, they don't live in Chinatown. 5 don't own anything in Chinatown. 6 risk to them? 7 your taxes. 8 9 They So what is the It's easy to say yeah, let's raise By the way, you don't have to pay it. The (unintelligible) commenced in 2016, and I was told, I wasn't there, but I was 10 told by several sources that although the Chinatown 11 chamber followed the regulations as specified in 12 the affidavit, very few people showed up to the 13 hearings. 14 the chamber represented than people from the 15 community. 16 In fact, there were more people from At the second meeting, there's a 17 little more balance of people, but there still 18 existed so much confusion that no one knew what was 19 going on. 20 last year, it was acknowledged by Alderman Burke 21 there was still so much confusion going on that 22 perhaps we should do something so everyone knows 23 what is going on, and that included the 24 December 9th letter that Alderman solis issued, And, in fact, at the public hearing here Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 49 1 let's defer this thing because of misunderstanding. 2 Throughout 2017 now, very little -- 3 other than the mandatory two additional public 4 hearings that were required for them, the chamber 5 did very little to assuage or explain the 6 differences in the confusion that existed with 7 this. 8 9 On top of that, instead of taking the time and resubmitting a brand new application 10 with updated information, they didn't. 11 submitted the old application which contained 12 misinformation. 13 They Now, I allege that there are many 14 things that they -- that the chamber could have 15 done before taking this draconian step of taxing 16 people. 17 myself, my mother owning a little store on 18 Wentworth Avenue and when the senior elders 19 recognized that the streets were dirty, what did 20 they do? 21 said -- they walked through all the establishments 22 and says, you know, before you open up the store, 23 can you come out and sweep the front of the store. 24 That's a great idea. I recall growing up in the community They didn't say we'll pay a tax. They That's what Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 50 1 I'm trying to get to. 2 that could have been tried first before asking for 3 this tax levy. 4 tried all these other things first and maybe they 5 didn't work, then maybe they would have more 6 support for this SSA. 7 There are so many things They didn't. Now, if they had To this very day I'm very confused 8 at what is going on because I get questions all the 9 time, for example, simple question, what is the tax 10 increase going to be. 11 $830 to over $2,000. 12 I've heard 350 to 680 to I don't know what it is. I also have been asked what are the 13 terms of this SSA. 14 heard 15 years. 15 I've heard 10 years. I've I've heard 25 years. Also, I was asked, and we had to go 16 back and do some checking, someone said why is 17 there a 34 percent -- will our taxes goes up 18 34 percent. 19 it's true. 20 34 percent. 21 ask me a question. 22 So I went back and looked at it and This SSA is guaranteed to go up by I will explain it now if you wish to The last thing I want to bring up, 23 and I am very conflicted about bringing it up, and 24 I take no pride in bringing it up because it is Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 51 1 serious. On three occasions they reported back to 2 us, senior chamber members have approached 3 opposition members on a quid pro quo basis. 4 is that? 5 something for you. 6 we'll give you a commissioner's seat. What Well, if you do something for me, I'll do 7 What is that? You vote for us, I don't know what you call it. 8 it political malfeasance? 9 word bribe, but it stinks. Is I don't want to use the Why does it stink? 10 Because the commissioners are supposed to be the 11 eyes and ears and watchdog over what's going on. 12 Okay? 13 So whoever takes that position now 14 as a commissioner, there's always going to be a 15 question mark over them because whose interests are 16 they really looking out after? 17 interest or someone who they are beholden to in the 18 chamber? 19 The public's I started this out by saying that 20 it's been a horrible roll out, and it has, and it 21 made me think about a quote or a thing that I heard 22 in the past. 23 a very difficult situation in Britain, he said "the 24 beginning is the end and the end is the beginning." In 1932 Sir Winston Churchill facing Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 52 1 What does that mean? If you have a 2 good start, you have a good ending. If you have a 3 good ending, you probably had a very good start. 4 assert that the roll out has been terrible. 5 There's so much confusion even as we sit here today 6 after 18, 19 or 20 months. 7 So what do we have? I We have an 8 organization that's not -- we have an organization 9 that was not elected by the majority of the people. 10 We have an organization that will be opposed by a 11 majority of the people. 12 recommending a tax increase that they will not be 13 burdened with themselves. 14 confusion on simple things; how much, how long, and 15 why is there a 34 percent increase. 16 We have advisors who are And there's mass Also on top of that, you look at 17 where the board -- the actions with the board of 18 commissioners. 19 integrity in the process? 20 Who do we look to to maintain some Alderman Solis, I respectfully 21 submit to you that the chamber has placed you in a 22 very bad position. 23 process, and they have disrespected you and your 24 office because they have placed you in this awkward They have disrespected the Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 53 1 position. 2 I know you are in an unenviable 3 position because you have to make a decision, okay, 4 and that decision will be based on an application 5 that we assert is fraught with questions, 6 misleading and improprieties. 7 I thank you for your time. I thank 8 you on behalf of the majority of the Chinese 9 community who will not support this. 10 CHAIRMAN BURKE: 11 MS. MOY: Hello. Thank you. Joane Moy? My name is Joane Moy 12 speaking on behalf of the United Chinatown 13 Organization. 14 We're grass roots. 15 and talk with them about issues of interest that 16 will be concerning them. 17 We are an outreach organization. We reach out to the community Regarding SSA 73, we communicated 18 information about the program to the property 19 owners first and discovered that many of them were 20 unclear about details, so they didn't really 21 understand what this program was. 22 it's beautification. 23 about? 24 will that be a return on their investment? They say okay, Well, what are we talking Stringing lights across Wentworth? How Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 54 1 Helen Lee says, you know, the tax is 2 going to be a small tax. Essentially according to 3 Ernest Wong, it's going to be $1.50 a day. 4 if we're investing that $1.50 a day, what is the 5 return on the investment? Well, 6 So are we just blindly giving money 7 away just because somebody says okay, I'm going to 8 tax you and we're going to put lights out in front 9 of your store? 10 This is what some of the business owners are thinking. 11 So they have objected, and the 12 reason for the objection was because they don't 13 feel enough details were presented about how the 14 money would be used. 15 are being demanded to pay for services with no 16 means of accountability. 17 Taxpayers are demanding -- The explanations that were presented 18 at the public hearings were too broad. 19 give details about what was going to happen, who 20 was going to do anything, what the responsibilities 21 were. 22 You know, my parents and 23 grandparents were here since the 1890s. 24 initially where Cantonese is. They didn't We were So when we got up in Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 55 1 the morning, before the store ever opened, our 2 first duty was to sweep the front so nobody wanted 3 to come into your house and have it look like a 4 mess. 5 Well, nowadays, it seems like there 6 are homeless people that are on Cermak, homeless 7 people that are on Wentworth and they have rights; 8 however, they contribute to the extra debris on the 9 street. So you can't throw away their belongings 10 because their carts and whatnot, those are their 11 belongings. 12 So what's happening is that we're 13 leaving their things there for respect, but it's 14 also making it appear dirty, so people don't want 15 to come into our businesses. 16 So Sakura is another one of our 17 properties. The issue we have at Sakura is that 18 some of the homeless people, they walk in the 19 doorway and they urinate in our hallway. 20 defecate on the stairs. 21 what? 22 street doing it again. They So arrest them and then A couple hours later they are back on the 23 So in short, the problems that we 24 are having as a grass roots organization is that Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 56 1 when misinformation is delivered to the community, 2 they can consider it deceptive and misleading. 3 During the 2017 public hearing 4 meetings we were given information that was going 5 to be supposedly for this year and because there 6 was so much confusion back then, we had two more 7 public meetings in 2017 of this year, and questions 8 that were raised that the community is how was the 9 money going to be used, how were we going to be 10 assured that we were getting something in return 11 for the money that we're giving because this is 12 supposed to be a self imposed tax. 13 Essentially are we giving away 14 money? If that's the case, if it's self imposed, a 15 lot of people in the community don't approve simply 16 because a majority of the people in Chinatown are 17 semi skilled, low income workers. 18 feet 12, 14 hours a day. 19 is like that. 20 They're on their The restaurant community Eventually the burden is going to 21 fall on them because the property owners are going 22 to raise the rent. 23 to pass it along in their services and goods sold, 24 and then you and I as consumers are the ones that Then the businesses are going Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 57 1 end up footing the bill. 2 Well, it's hard on the community. 3 These people are really hard working. 4 have a problem supporting it if it's something they 5 feel there is a mutual benefit. 6 about something that makes them feel safe, 7 something that makes them feel good? 8 to build a working relationship and help everybody 9 to understand what's going on. 10 They don't Are we talking We're hoping Alderman Thompson, Chairman Burke, 11 Alderman Solis, Members of the Finance Committee, I 12 ask you compel the proponents of the SSA to 13 articulate details of what this SSA involves. 14 There's just way too much confusion out here. 15 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Thank you. 16 ALDERMAN SOLIS: I wanted to know whether 17 you had a business or whether you lived in 18 Chinatown. 19 MS. MOY: I do not have a business in 20 Chinatown. 21 family still owns property, the building where 22 Sukara is and the Chinatown Market belong to my 23 family. 24 I translate for the community. ALDERMAN SOLIS: My In Chinatown Square? Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 58 1 MS. MOY: 2 behind the library. Chinatown Market, the one 3 ALDERMAN SOLIS: Thank you. 4 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Margaret Chang. 5 morning, Ms. Chang. 6 affiliation. 7 Good Please state your name and the MS. CHANG: Hi, I'm Margaret Chang with a 8 G, and I am not a business owner, but I am a 9 resident of Chinatown on 24th and Princeton. I'm a 10 mom of a six month old baby, and I was born and 11 raised in Chinatown, and I love the neighborhood, 12 and it's always been very affordable, you know. 13 think it's probably the most affordable 14 neighborhood in all of Chicago. 15 keep it that way for my baby and my future babies 16 and all of her friends. 17 I I would like to So I oppose this SSA tax because I 18 feel that it will impact the residents of 19 Chinatown, not just for the future generation, but 20 even the elderly people who live there right now 21 because it's true that if you increase the SSA tax, 22 it's going to cause property owners to, you know, 23 charge their tenants more, and then the tenants are 24 obviously going to charge the people coming into Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 59 1 their businesses and then those people are us, the 2 local people. 3 And, yes, I understand that you guys 4 are trying to increase tourist attractions and 5 bring in more people, but one of the key things is 6 keeping prices low. 7 go grab dinner in Chinatown because it's 8 affordable. 9 You know, people say oh, let's So, yeah, I don't really like public 10 speaking. 11 want to be the voice for the future generation 12 because my baby cannot speak yet. 13 your time, and in all due respect, I oppose the SSA 14 tax. 15 16 This is not my forte, but I just really CHAIRMAN BURKE: So thank you for Thank you. I beg to differ with you, you did a very good job. 17 MS. CHANG: 18 CHAIRMAN BURKE: 19 Thank you. Rita Pun? Thank you very much. Rita, are you present? 20 Please state your name and your affiliation, 21 please. 22 MS. PUN: Good morning, Chairman Burke, 23 Alderman Solis and community members and others of 24 the Planning Department. Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 60 1 I am not a speaker also. I just 2 object to the SSA 73. I'm a resident of Chinatown, 3 and also the reason I'm objecting to it because 4 already -- taxes already covers the education, 5 safety. 6 also the people in the Chinese community are semi 7 skilled and they have very minimum wage living, so 8 if the unit owners -- also I'm one of the unit 9 owners too. We are paying it in our property tax. And 10 If the unit owners will have to -- 11 if you levy the SSA tax, the unit owner will have 12 to charge more rent, and then when they charge more 13 rent, it's going to also impact on the customers, 14 and that will also impact that you will have not as 15 much business because people don't like to spend a 16 lot of money. 17 the Chinese culture is brought up. 18 They like to save money. That's how Also other suburbs and other areas, 19 they don't charge these kind of tax and the rent 20 may be lower, so it could be challenging that 21 people will move out of the community also. 22 have to look into that too. 23 24 You And also I understand that you say to make the place more beautified. It does help a Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 61 1 little, but then you have to understand that where 2 does the money come from? 3 unit owners who pay taxes because people who 4 agreeing to this SSA 73, they are not the one who 5 is paying the tax. 6 that, yes, it's beautifying, but we have to 7 understand not everybody is making -- is skilled 8 and making a high income. 9 It's coming from basic So they probably don't know So lots of people are just, you 10 know, making -- we just make median wage or median 11 income or something like that. 12 for giving me a chance to speak. 13 CHAIRMAN BURKE: 14 15 Pat Jan? I want to thank you Thank you very much. Please state your name and the affiliation. 16 MS. JAN: My name is Pat Chan, I 17 represent some of the retail owners in the 18 Chinatown area. 19 Good afternoon, Alderman Burke, 20 Alderman Solis and the Committee Members here. 21 Thank you for allowing me to speak at this public 22 forum in opposition of the SSA. 23 24 I want to talk about what the effect and the burdens and the hardships that are facing Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 62 1 the small business owners in the Chinatown 2 community. 3 burdens that already been levied against us and how 4 that's already affecting our ability to run our 5 business on a day-to-day basis. 6 First I want to talk about the tax We are already know that Obamacare 7 is set to go up. All the 2018 prices are going to 8 be increasing dramatically, especially in Illinois. 9 They have already projected a 16 to maybe 10 37 percent increase in the prices, and that's even 11 the lowest basic plan. 12 I went online just to look at the 13 lowest plan for just healthy person in theirs 30s, 14 and even if they pay $300 a month with an average 15 deductible of 6,000, then added their out-of-pocket 16 expense, they're looking at almost $17,000 a year 17 for just preventative care that they have even 18 before the insurance companies kick in. 19 a healthy person age 30. 20 That's for We're talking about other people not 21 even considering their medicine costs that's going 22 to go up. 23 even $17,000 set aside just to cover medical 24 expenses that they don't know if they're going to The drug prices are going up. Who has Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 63 1 be able to use or rarely afford later on? 2 In addition, the property taxes went 3 up last year and they are set most likely to go up 4 again this year. 5 already went up and is going up another $115 next 6 year. 7 4.95 percent. Our state income tax this year went up to 8 9 In addition, water and sewage tax Sales tax, Illinois has the highest sales tax. The City of Chicago is 10.25. Our 10 neighboring states where we're losing our tourism 11 and losing our customers to Indiana, 7 percent 12 sales tax. 13 percent sales tax. 14 than us, 8.875 percent sales tax. 15 Wisconsin, 5.5 sales tax. Michigan, 6 Even New York, a bigger city This is where us, the small 16 businesses, not only Chinatown area, but the entire 17 State of Illinois are losing our customers to out 18 of state, our neighboring states with lower sales 19 tax. 20 This is even before we talk about 21 online sales, okay? Online we're using the lower 22 rate of maybe 6.75 percent or even don't charge tax 23 at all. 24 Chicago from 2017 and went to $11 an hour. In addition, wages increase in the City of 2018 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 64 1 it's going to go up to $12 an hour. 2 taxes that we have to pay even before you even talk 3 about any profits that we even have a chance of 4 making for our independent small stores. 5 These are all Now I want to talk to you about 6 what's been in the news. Almost every week nonstop 7 you hear about brick and mortar stores closing 8 because of online sales. 9 dollars was spent online for this upcoming Last year over a billion 10 Thanksgiving holiday that's coming up. 11 dollars of online sales that were lost to 12 independent small business owners across the 13 country. 14 A billion Toys-R-Us this year filed for 15 bankruptcy closing for 1600 stores. Macy's closed 16 68 stores. 17 250. 18 bankruptcy. 19 than 6,400 retail stores across the country, 20 including malls, are closing this year. Limited closed all of their stores, Payless closed 800 stores, filed for 21 Sears and Kmart, 300 stores. How are we going to survive? More We 22 are like a pebble, a drop of water in an ocean of 23 large department stores and businesses that are 24 closing. How are we going to afford another layer Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 65 1 of tax? All the taxes now and you add this tax. 2 How can we survive when they can't even survive, 3 when they are closing their doors? 4 You go anywhere, any community in 5 the United States or anywhere in Illinois, in the 6 suburbs, anywhere, strip malls are all emptying 7 out. 8 all I see constantly in the newspaper, pictures of 9 malls completely empty. 10 Empty store fronts everywhere. You see -- Malls that used to house 200 stores, completely empty. 11 This is what we are afraid of. This 12 is -- we are already at war with the online -- the 13 shift of the consumers to online stopping. 14 small independent stores do not have the resources 15 that the big department stores have where they can 16 shift the cost. 17 they can shift the cost to another department. 18 Us If one department does poorly, We can't. We're a small business. 19 We only have a limited amount of inventory. 20 can't raise prices because for most of us who are 21 franchises, our price is preset by the company. 22 can't even raise a penny money. 23 24 We We A restaurant may be able to raise their price but then they lose because then the Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 66 1 consumer will not go -- maybe used to go five days 2 a week to that restaurant but will cut it by 3 50 percent and they only go twice a week. 4 the community as a hole. 5 It hurts Even right now, the online retail 6 stores or even the big department stores, Macy's, 7 Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus are all discounting their 8 products by up to 50 percent. 9 owner can discount their product at 50 percent? What small business 10 The minute we discount 10 percent, we're almost in 11 the red. 12 You know, we cannot afford -- we 13 don't have the resources that they have to shift 14 costs. 15 their physical stores and then make up the 16 differences online. 17 do an online presence because there's already an 18 online independent store front. They can even shift their -- they can close 19 We don't have the ability to They don't have the overhead that we 20 have. We are even having competition from other 21 states reaching into Illinois taking our customer 22 base and then don't pay taxes. 23 taxes. 24 online retailers who are taking our business. We're paying the We're paying all the taxes for all the Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 67 1 Where is the tax on the online 2 retailers? How can you help us by taxing them for 3 reaching into Illinois and taking the money from 4 our customer base? 5 the online and there's nothing that's being done 6 about it. 7 We're losing market share to We're talking about beautification? 8 That's fine. But where is the money coming from? 9 It's coming from the small businesses who have 10 nowhere to offset the cost. 11 going to have to close. 12 small the same -- because you know why, because 13 people are looking for a sale. 14 Eventually we're all We will be an empty strip Why is the Thanksgiving sales now 15 online at 20 to 50 percent off ahead of 16 Thanksgiving? 17 Because the department stores, they hope to be in 18 the black. 19 are looking for bargains. 20 Why was there even a Black Friday? They want to make money because people Even Neiman Marcus CEO, one of the 21 biggest department stores, luxury brands even said 22 that they're losing their own customer base, 23 wealthy customer base because why, what was his one 24 word as to why he was losing his customer, because Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 68 1 people are looking for a bargain. 2 save money. 3 this for $50, this place is for $40, no one -- 4 everyone in this room will go the one that's $40 5 for exactly the same item. 6 People want to They want -- if this place offered So what's going to happen? We have 7 this layer of tax that you are going to impose on 8 us and we have no way to shift the cost. 9 to absorb the cost. 10 We have The only way to absorb cost is then we lose all the customers. 11 We are already losing tourism and 12 local customer base within our area because of the 13 online sales. 14 we are going to drive our own customer base to the 15 suburbs to buy things in the suburbs. 16 The more that our prices increase, Look at what happened with the soda 17 tax. The minute the soda tax went into effect, all 18 the restaurants and retailers lost double digits in 19 the revenue because everyone went outside of Cook 20 County to buy all their sweetened beverages. 21 Look at what happened with the bag 22 tax. Although that has good environmental 23 benefits, but even that first month when we 24 instituted the bag tax of seven cents, for us the Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 69 1 amount of people who came to the store were willing 2 to pay the bag tax dropped by 80 percent. 3 just seven cents increase on the bag tax that was 4 discretionary, that they don't actually have to pay 5 for. 6 That's So what's going to happen when we 7 have this tax on this community and we have to pass 8 it onto the consumer? 9 leave. The consumer is going to They're not even willing to pay seven cents 10 bag tax. 11 customers dropped 80 percent over a seven cents 12 bag tax. 13 that we pass over to the consumer in our little 14 community? 15 One month our bags that we gave out to What does that say about any increases We're just shipping them, 16 encouraging even more online shopping. 17 actually discouraging them to ever come to 18 Chinatown to buy anything. 19 Chicago is too expensive. 20 You charge a seven cent bag tax and now you're 21 going to raise taxes by how much. 22 We're It's too expensive. The taxes are too high. I don't even have to come to you. 23 just go online to buy. 24 are going to go online. I The majority of the people They said -- they already Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 70 1 said that Amazon is going to be taking 45 percent 2 of the market share for this holiday season. 3 already freaking out all the other department 4 stores who are already worrying. 5 projections are dropping. 6 It's All their But these are big department stores, 7 big companies, you know, billion dollar companies. 8 We have no way to shift any of this. 9 I want to mention that I used to go 10 to this one restaurant for takeout every now and 11 then back when it was $7 for a really nice take 12 out. 13 over there, the price went to $11. 14 almost 50 percent. 15 was because of their SSA. 16 is going to happen to Chinatown. That was in Greektown. 17 The last time I went It went up by I don't go there anymore. That That's what we're afraid Alderman Solis, please support small 18 businesses. We understand you want to beautify 19 Chinatown. 20 development, but there's got to be another way 21 because us retailers are already hurting with the 22 online competition, department stores competing 23 against us. 24 burden. We understand you want to encourage They can afford to shift their tax We cannot. We have no way to shift it. Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 71 1 And the consumers with all their 2 smart phones who can look at different prices in an 3 instant from this retailer to this retailer, this 4 retailer, everyone wants a bargain. 5 of giving them that bargain and still be able to 6 survive. 7 going to have our own living wages. We're getting to a point where we're not 8 9 We have no way So, please, Alderman Solis, please help us. We need your support to find another way 10 to do this without imposing this tax on the 11 Chinatown community. 12 time. 13 14 Thank you very much for your ALDERMAN SOLIS: Ms. Chang, you spoke very passionately. 15 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Alderman Solis. 16 ALDERMAN SOLIS: You spoke very 17 passionately. It seemed like you were 18 personalizing a lot of the impact that is to your 19 store. What kind of store do you have? 20 MS. JAN: 21 ALDERMAN SOLIS: 22 MS. JAN: 23 ALDERMAN SOLIS: 24 A cosmetic store in Chinatown. Where is it? It's in Chinatown Square. You know that Chinatown Square is not going to be a part of this. Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 72 1 MS. JAN: It eventually will be if the 2 tax from your letter -- once the tax is corrected, 3 it's going to be included in it, so it's still -- 4 but it's still impacting, and I speak on behalf of 5 the other store owners who don't have the ability 6 to articulate their feelings in English. 7 ALDERMAN SOLIS: That's not necessarily 8 the case, but I just wanted to let you know 9 Chinatown Square is not part of it. 10 MS. JAN: I understand that. From what I 11 understand, it will eventually from what the letter 12 said. 13 ALDERMAN SOLIS: 14 MS. JAN: 15 No. Your letter said that once the tax issue is resolved, it's going to be included. 16 ALDERMAN SOLIS: We will consider it 17 then, but if people feel like you do in Chinatown 18 Square, I doubt it. 19 MS. JAN: I also speak for those who are 20 unable to speak, are unable to speak in English. 21 Thank you very much for your time. 22 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Is there anyone else 23 who wishes to be heard with regard to this matter? 24 I don't have anymore witness slips. Is there Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 73 1 anyone else who wishes to be heard? 2 (No response.) 3 Very good. Then, Ladies and 4 Gentlemen, if there is no one else who wishes to be 5 heard, that concludes the public hearing on the 6 proposed establishment -- before we go, I would 7 like to recognize Alderman Solis. 8 9 10 ALDERMAN SOLIS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I had said that I wanted to speak after everybody, all the witnesses spoke. 11 Let me thank all the witnesses that 12 spoke today, both in favor and in opposition. 13 so you understand, I'll do the same thing that all 14 of the witnesses did. 15 very proud alderman of Chinatown, and it's been a 16 great 22 years in March. 17 Just I'm the very fortunate and We have done some great development, 18 and when I say we, I'm not saying me, I'm saying 19 that all of the community organizations, all the 20 leaders and all the residents of Chinatown have 21 made Chinatown the best Chinese, Chinese American 22 community in the country. 23 24 I used to think I was going to be able to do that for the midwest, but right now it's Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 74 1 been in the media that Chinatown is doing great, 2 and I think we're going to continue to do great. 3 The rerouting of Wentworth on Cermak 4 is going to cause even more I think tourists to 5 come into Chinatown. 6 Connector, that goes all the way up to downtown and 7 Roosevelt, that's going to cause more people to 8 come down. 9 east of Chinatown, we're going to start seeing an 10 When we do the Wells Street The DePaul Center that's just to the impact there. 11 So we have got a new hotel in 12 Chinatown. 13 one or two more that are going to be built. 14 think we're going to have a tremendous impact on 15 Wentworth. 16 I think there's going to be at least I I know one of the speakers spoke 17 about the Chinatown Square was getting all the 18 business compared to south of Cermak on Wentworth. 19 The library is a world class library. 20 fieldhouse, the Ping Tom Park which is one of the 21 gems in the City. 22 We have the We're going to continue to prosper. 23 I'm about bringing more (unintelligible) to the 24 Chinese that live in Chicago with one of the best Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 75 1 neighborhoods. 2 I think more businesses are going to be very 3 successful, not just restaurants but also Chinese 4 stores, and so I'm going to support this. 5 We're going to bring more business. The last time I deferred it, I 6 deferred it because there was such misconceptions 7 like, for instance, the gentleman that spoke that 8 we're going to have a 34 percent increase. 9 not the case. It's less than 1 percent. It's It's less 10 than $1.40 a day, and we're going to provide some 11 needed services. 12 It's not indefinite. It's going to 13 be for ten years, but every year we can renew and 14 evaluate whether this is what we want to continue 15 to do. 16 So with that, Mr. Chairman, again 17 thank you for your chairing this meeting today, and 18 thank you, all the residents that took the time on 19 a business day to come down and have your voices 20 heard. Thank you very much. 21 CHAIRMAN BURKE: 22 Solis. 23 Alderman Thompson. Thank you, Alderman Anyone else that wishes to be heard? 24 ALDERMAN THOMPSON: Thank you, Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 76 1 Mr. Chairman. 2 with Alderman Solis on ensuring that Chinatown 3 continues to be such a vibrant and growing 4 community, and I think that the passion, just 5 listening to both sides of this issue, whether you 6 are for or against it, I think it was mentioned 7 earlier everyone wants the same thing, everyone 8 wants to see Chinatown continue to be such a 9 vibrant center, tourist attraction and a great 10 I too, I know I work very closely place to also live. 11 And so I think that SSAs continue to 12 grow throughout the City. 13 that are used to not only help grow but also 14 sustain great communities like this. 15 appreciate everyone's again passion and commitment 16 to come down here on a day, as Chairman Solis 17 mentioned, to come down here and talk and express 18 your interest, whether you are for or against it. 19 They are great tools So I I just want to make sure we continue 20 to make Chinatown the greatest Chinese American 21 community in the United States. 22 23 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Alderman Reboyras, anything you care to add? 24 ALDERMAN REBOYRAS: No, sir. Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 77 1 CHAIRMAN BURKE: Well, Ladies and 2 Gentlemen, that concludes the public hearing on the 3 proposed establishment of Special Service Area 4 No. 73 and the authorization of the levy of the 5 services tax for the provision of the special 6 services. 7 Madam Reporter, please let the 8 record reflect that the public hearing on this 9 matter was concluded at the hour of 12:29 p.m. this 10 date, November 16th, 2017. 11 Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you very 12 much for your attendance here today and that 13 concludes the public hearing. 14 Thank you. Alderman Thompson moves we adjourn. 15 All those in favor of adjournment, signify by the 16 usual sign of aye. 17 (A chorus of ayes.) 18 The meeting is adjourned. 19 (Which were all the proceedings 20 had in the above-entitled 21 cause.) 22 23 24 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 Page 78 1 STATE OF ILLINOIS ) ) SS: 2 COUNTY OF COOK ) 3 4 I, MARI BETH KAWULIA, a Certified 5 Shorthand Reporter of the State of Illinois, do 6 hereby certify that I reported in shorthand the 7 proceedings had at the meeting aforesaid, and that 8 the foregoing is a true, complete and correct 9 transcript of the proceedings of said meeting as 10 appears from my stenographic notes so taken and 11 transcribed under my personal direction. 12 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I do hereunto set my 13 hand at Chicago, Illinois, this 30th day of 14 November, 2017. 15 16 17 <%Signature%> MARI BETH KAWULIA 18 C.S.R. No. 084-002873 19 20 21 22 23 24 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 [& - acknowledged] & & 23:14 0 0.800 4:14 084-002873 78:18 1 1 2:17 75:9 1.10 41:21 42:9 1.36 24:3 1.37 24:5 1.40 75:10 1.50 54:3,4 10 41:22 50:13 66:10 10.25. 63:9 100 20:6 100th 10:17 10:51 1:22 11 63:24 70:13 115 63:5 12 56:18 64:1 12:29 77:9 14 28:21 56:18 15 28:21 50:14 150,000 28:14 38:7 16 1:22 62:9 1600 64:15 16th 77:10 17,000 62:16,23 170 7:14,14 18 6:19 52:6 1876 46:21 1890s 54:23 19 52:6 1932 51:22 1978 46:21 1983 8:7 Page 1 2 2 26:19 27:19 28:13,18 2,000 50:11 20 15:19 42:3,3,12 47:23 52:6 67:15 20,000 32:3,6,9,10 32:11 33:8,12 200 65:10 200/1-1 4:23 200/27-5 2:7 201 1:21 2016 35:11 48:9 2017 1:22 2:11 4:17 42:14 49:2 56:3,7 63:24 77:10 78:14 2018 7:13 62:7 63:24 2022 41:1 42:13 2023 40:24 42:13 2026 4:19 22 73:16 2222 44:11 22nd 15:19 2323 18:1 23rd 2:11 24 14:19 31:1 24th 3:3 40:23 41:1 58:9 25 22:10 50:14 250 64:17 25th 6:17 27-35 2:8 28th 5:10 3 3 28:13 30 22:18 47:2 62:19 300 62:14 64:18 30s 62:13 30th 78:13 31st 46:15 321 5:9 34 50:17,18,20 52:15 75:8 35 2:6 4:23 350 50:10 37 24:3 62:10 39 10:10 12:20 4 4.95 63:7 40 10:14 42:3 68:3 68:4 45 70:1 47 23:20 5 5 41:18 5.5 63:12 50 66:3,8,9 67:15 68:3 70:14 500 7:15 21:11 24:2 52 12:5 53 21:12 6 6 63:12 6,000 62:15 6,400 64:19 6.75 63:22 600 14:9 60s 13:18 62 14:19 68 64:16 680 50:10 6:00 45:4 7 7 63:11 70:11 73 1:3 2:2,21 5:3 5:11 6:15 7:6,13 8:5 9:6 10:12 13:10 15:10 25:10 30:10 35:2 53:17 60:2 61:4 77:4 7:00 45:4 8 8 7:12 15:5 8.875 63:14 80 47:22 69:2,11 800 64:17 830 50:11 9 90¢ 28:6 93,605 7:13 9th 48:24 a a.m. 1:22 ability 19:3 23:23 62:4 66:16 72:5 able 24:4 42:9,10 63:1 65:23 71:5 73:24 absorb 68:9,9 access 14:18 27:7 41:12 accomplished 46:5 accountability 25:16 32:4,5 54:16 accountable 34:12 accurate 34:21 35:9 accustomed 13:23 acknowledged 48:20 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 [action - attractive] action 8:12,16 actions 52:17 activities 3:23 8:2 8:6 45:1 add 28:22 65:1 76:23 added 62:15 addiction 37:7 addition 4:10,21 16:14 20:17 63:2 63:4,23 additional 37:24 38:1 41:15,19 49:3 additionally 2:13 address 11:19 38:2 adjourn 77:14 adjourned 77:18 adjournment 77:15 advertisement 39:21,23 advertising 32:3,6 33:8 advisors 48:3 52:11 advisory 16:1 advocate 10:11 18:7 aesthetics 3:20 8:1 affidavit 48:12 affiliation 13:6 15:17 17:22 19:24 22:5 25:4 58:6 59:20 61:15 afford 14:22 63:1 64:24 66:12 70:23 affordable 58:12 58:13 59:8 Page 2 aforesaid 78:7 afraid 65:11 70:15 afternoon 61:19 age 62:19 agency 7:3 10:18 agree 10:7 29:22 46:4 agreed 44:14 agreeing 61:4 ahead 34:10 67:15 alderman 1:6,7,8 1:8,9,9,12,13 5:19 6:1,2 7:3 8:8,19 8:20 10:7,8,24,24 11:1 12:10,11,16 12:18 13:3 23:1 25:8 30:17 35:16 35:17,19,20,22,23 36:5,14,19 37:2,22 37:23 38:12 39:6 39:9,11 40:21 41:20 42:6,14,23 45:21,22 48:20,24 52:20 57:10,11,16 57:24 58:3 59:23 61:19,20 70:17 71:8,13,15,16,21 71:23 72:7,13,16 73:7,8,15 75:21,23 75:24 76:2,22,24 77:14 aldermen 16:7 17:12 25:7 allege 49:13 allocation 19:11 allow 41:12 allowing 61:21 allows 26:17 alternate 27:16 amazing 23:16 amazon 70:1 amended 2:7,9 4:24 7:5,6 america 14:20 american 10:3 13:2,2 73:21 76:20 amount 7:20 40:7 40:8,11 48:1 65:19 69:1 analogy 18:22 annual 2:23 4:14 annually 4:18 answer 38:6 answers 18:6 anticipated 4:5 anymore 43:13 70:14 72:24 apa 5:18 appear 55:14 appears 78:10 applicable 2:15 application 13:10 15:10 35:3,5,11 49:9,11 53:4 applied 41:5 appreciate 12:13 16:9 22:15 37:10 37:15 76:15 approached 51:2 approval 24:18 approve 12:7 48:4 56:15 approving 8:9 approximate 3:1 archer 3:4,5,9,12 3:14 6:16 7:2,7 16:16 40:23,24 architects 23:5 architectural 23:8 architecture 23:10 23:17 area 1:3 2:2,6,8,21 2:22 3:2,16,18,19 4:7,9,16 5:3,11 6:1,14,24 7:11 9:6 15:1 18:14 20:4 21:8 22:11 33:21 39:17 40:15 61:18 63:16 68:12 77:3 areas 60:18 ariel 1:9 arms 5:4 43:16 arrest 55:20 arrests 38:10 articulate 57:13 72:6 aside 28:20 62:23 asked 50:12,15 asking 17:11,12,13 32:14 47:18 50:2 aspirations 46:2 46:16 assert 52:4 53:5 assessed 4:15 7:20 21:8 41:4 asset 23:14 association 44:9 44:11 assuage 49:5 assured 56:10 attendance 77:12 attending 9:3 attracted 31:9 attraction 3:20 8:1 33:12,23 76:9 attractions 33:4,5 59:4 attractive 17:15 20:22 33:16 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 [attracts - burnett] attracts 26:20 audience 9:23 authority 38:11 authorization 2:22 77:4 authorized 4:17 7:24 available 41:6,10 avenue 3:3,4,5,5 3:10,11,12,13,13 3:14,15 6:16,16 7:2,8,8,9 22:24 26:14 49:18 average 7:15 20:14 62:14 aware 8:16 awkward 52:24 aye 77:16 ayes 77:17 b babies 58:15 baby 58:10,15 59:12 back 14:22 35:22 50:16,18 51:1 55:21 56:6 70:11 bad 52:22 bag 68:21,24 69:2 69:3,10,12,20 bags 69:10 baker 23:14 balance 48:17 balcer 11:1 ballparks 36:12 36:15 bankruptcy 64:15 64:18 bares 40:18,18 42:5,13,22 bargain 68:1 71:4 71:5 Page 3 bargains 67:19 base 41:6 66:22 67:4,22,23 68:12 68:14 baseball 36:13 based 7:18 11:19 15:22 32:4 53:4 basic 61:2 62:11 basis 38:14 51:3 62:5 beat 37:20 beautification 29:1,3 43:9 53:22 67:7 beautified 60:24 beautiful 29:23 beautify 70:18 beautifying 61:6 becoming 14:23 37:5 beg 59:15 beginning 51:24 51:24 behalf 53:8,12 72:4 beholden 51:17 believe 26:5 32:5 34:20 belong 57:22 belongings 55:9 55:11 benches 30:18,18 beneficial 15:2 benefit 14:16 15:7 18:19 43:12 57:5 benefits 68:23 bernie 9:16,17,19 10:5 12:9,11,13,20 13:4 44:15 best 17:6 73:21 74:24 beth 78:4,17 better 12:22 21:14 beverages 68:20 big 11:10 65:15 66:6 70:6,7 bigger 63:13 biggest 67:21 bikers 16:13 bill 57:1 billion 64:8,10 70:7 birthday 10:17 black 67:16,18 blindly 54:6 block 7:7 20:7 blocks 13:19 board 48:3 52:17 52:17 boat 43:10 bone 23:14 boom 14:5 born 46:23 58:10 bought 37:21 boundaries 7:19 13:9 40:23 boundary 7:5,6,7 8:17 branch 16:11 brand 49:9 brands 67:21 brendan 1:9 bribe 51:9 brick 64:7 bridgeport 14:15 38:17 bring 11:23 21:16 23:5,7,16,23 29:8 30:11,12 39:17,18 50:22 59:5 75:1 bringing 12:14 33:1,2 50:23,24 74:23 britain 51:23 broad 25:12 54:18 bronzeville 14:15 brothers 37:9 brought 60:17 budget 7:13,18 17:7 28:14,15 32:10 41:14,15,17 41:19 build 19:6,8 57:8 building 9:23 57:21 buildings 17:24 23:11 built 74:13 bum 30:4 bums 30:12,15,19 31:5,10 33:21 burden 45:8 56:20 70:24 burdened 52:13 burdens 61:24 62:3 burke 1:6 2:1 6:5 8:11,18,21 9:19,21 9:24 10:5 12:9,17 13:4 15:11 17:17 18:2 19:18 21:20 22:1,4,12 24:12 25:8 34:3,8 35:12 35:15,18,20 39:3,9 43:15 44:1,7 45:16,21 48:20 53:10 57:10,15 58:4 59:15,18,22 61:13,19 71:15 72:22 75:21 76:22 77:1 burnett 1:8 35:16 35:17,19 39:10,11 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 [burnett - chose] 41:20 42:6,14,23 bus 14:18 26:24 27:1 business 3:22 13:12 18:23 19:6 19:7,8,12 21:15,18 26:22,24 27:6,21 28:1 29:5,8,11,16 29:20 30:11 31:1 31:9 33:2 45:5,9 54:9 57:17,19 58:8 60:15 62:1,5 64:12 65:18 66:8 66:24 74:18 75:1 75:19 businesses 11:24 14:2,7 15:3 16:4 18:1 19:9 26:15 26:17 27:2 28:7 36:3 55:15 56:22 59:1 63:16 64:23 67:9 70:18 75:2 businessmen 31:17 buy 37:18 68:15 68:20 69:18,23 c c 5:18 44:9 c.s.r. 78:18 calculation 24:2 call 37:8,17 51:7 called 13:21 18:14 22:7 calling 37:11 canal 14:6 cans 21:4 cantonese 20:8 54:24 cap 7:12 capable 12:19 Page 4 capital 19:10,11 car 31:5,6 38:9 care 13:14 16:5 62:17 76:23 cart 18:23 19:2 carts 33:24 55:10 case 27:21 42:4,20 56:14 72:8 75:9 casl 10:4 catalyst 19:6 categorically 46:12 category 18:17 cause 58:22 74:4,7 77:21 cent 69:20 center 15:22,23 30:7 31:12 33:21 74:8 76:9 cents 68:24 69:3,9 69:11 ceo 10:2 67:20 cermak 3:6 6:16 16:16 26:9,15 27:1,6 30:2,3,18 31:12 33:15 36:18 45:3 55:6 74:3,18 certain 2:24 certainly 47:3 certified 78:4 certify 78:6 cetera 11:18,18 23:6 chair 15:24 chairing 75:17 chairman 1:6 2:1 6:2,5,10 8:11,18 8:21 9:19,21,24 10:5 12:9,17 13:4 13:7 15:11 17:17 18:2 19:18 20:2 21:20 22:1,2,4,12 22:14 24:12 25:7 34:3,8 35:12,15,18 35:20 39:3,9,12 43:15 44:1,7 45:16 53:10 57:10 57:15 58:4 59:15 59:18,22 61:13 71:15 72:22 73:8 75:16,21 76:1,16 76:22 77:1 challenging 60:20 chamber 5:14 8:5 25:24 26:3,10 27:11 38:8 47:10 47:14 48:11,14 49:4,14 51:2,18 52:21 chan 61:16 chance 61:12 64:3 chang 58:4,5,7,7 59:17 71:13 change 8:17 changed 7:20 changes 8:14 17:9 charge 58:23,24 60:12,12,19 63:22 69:20 cheapest 20:19 checking 50:16 chicago 1:1 2:11 4:6,11 8:5 12:19 12:21 13:1,18 16:6 20:16 21:1,2 21:13 22:9,19 23:9 36:11 44:19 45:14 46:21,23 58:14 63:9,24 69:19 74:24 78:13 chicago's 20:5 children 11:14 china 34:1 chinatown 5:12,14 6:15 7:1,9 8:5,7 10:22 11:5,11 12:8 13:12,14,19 13:21 14:2,12,19 14:20 15:19 16:2 16:3,8,11 17:11 18:5,7,7,11,24 20:2,5,12,21 21:16 22:11 23:8 25:2,6 25:20,23 26:14 27:15 29:7 30:22 31:17,17,18,20 32:19 33:10 36:7 36:17 38:16 44:24 45:2,3,20 46:15,24 47:2,5,7,16 48:4,5 48:10 53:12 56:16 57:18,20,22,24 58:1,9,11,19 59:7 60:2 61:18 62:1 63:16 69:18 70:16 70:19 71:11,20,22 71:23 72:9,17 73:15,20,21 74:1,5 74:9,12,17 76:2,8 76:20 chinese 10:3,12,16 20:8 46:3,22 53:8 60:6,17 73:21,21 74:24 75:3 76:20 chip 6:11 choice 41:11 choose 40:6 42:17 42:19 chooses 44:2 chorus 77:17 chose 40:9 43:1,1 43:3,4 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 [chow - consistently] chow 44:9,10,10 church 15:22 churchill 51:22 circulation 2:12 circumstances 39:1 cities 13:2 45:14 citizen 46:17 city 1:1,20 2:13 4:6,11 10:20 11:3 11:9 12:5,6 14:4 14:16 15:9 16:6,9 17:11 20:20 21:1 21:2,12 22:9,19 23:9,15 24:10 29:24 31:14 32:5 37:13 45:12,12 63:9,13,23 74:21 76:12 city's 20:21 claimed 27:13 clark 3:7 class 74:19 clean 20:23 39:17 cleaning 21:10 29:2 cleanliness 15:1 climb 46:16 close 20:6 66:14 67:11 closed 27:5 36:3 64:15,16,17 closely 37:23 76:1 closing 64:7,15,20 64:24 65:3 closure 36:1 code 4:23 collectively 4:1 college 13:18 comdic 5:9 Page 5 come 20:11 22:16 33:16,17 35:22 36:22 37:18,19 38:21 39:24 49:23 55:3,15 61:2 69:17,22 74:5,8 75:19 76:16,17 comes 21:6 24:2 38:16 41:22 comfortable 16:17 coming 6:4 12:14 31:1 44:22 58:24 61:2 64:10 67:8,9 commence 4:17 commenced 48:8 comment 35:24 37:3,14 39:13 comments 5:2,3,7 5:9,22 6:3 commerce 5:15 8:5 25:24 26:3,10 27:12 38:8 47:15 commercial 3:23 8:2 31:18 commissioner 5:19 6:12 8:11 51:14 commissioner's 51:6 commissioners 11:21 17:5 51:10 52:18 commitment 42:19 76:15 committed 12:20 committee 1:2 6:10 8:22 9:12 10:1 12:7 13:8 22:3,15 24:8 25:9 35:8 57:11 61:20 committee's 2:17 8:9 common 6:24 commonly 7:9 10:3 communicated 53:17 communities 40:17 76:14 community 6:15 6:18,22 7:22 8:7 10:12,16,19 11:20 12:3,6,18 13:15 15:21,22 16:3,23 17:6,8,15 18:7,23 19:12,17 22:20,21 22:23 23:15,22 24:9 29:19 32:13 38:15,17 39:23 43:11 46:3,18,23 48:15 49:16 53:9 53:14 56:1,8,15,18 57:2,20 59:23 60:6,21 62:2 65:4 66:4 69:7,14 71:11 73:19,22 76:4,21 companies 38:13 62:18 70:7,7 company 22:7 65:21 comparable 20:15 compared 74:18 compel 57:12 competing 70:22 competition 20:13 66:20 70:22 complain 27:21 28:19 complete 78:8 completely 65:9 65:10 concept 18:18 concerned 38:20 46:17 concerning 53:16 concerns 13:16 38:3 concluded 9:14 77:9 concludes 73:5 77:2,13 conclusion 19:13 concrete 25:13 conditions 10:21 conducted 6:19 confident 46:1 confidently 18:21 confirm 40:13 conflicted 50:23 confused 34:24 36:23 50:7 confusing 32:18 36:19 confusion 34:23 48:18,21 49:6 52:5,14 56:6 57:14 conjunction 7:2 connection 9:7 connector 16:12 23:4 74:6 connotation 37:12 consider 2:20 15:9 17:6 35:9 56:2 72:16 consideration 4:13 considering 62:21 consist 3:2 consistently 23:7 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 [constantly - discouraging] constantly 65:8 construction 4:3 consulting 40:19 40:19 consumer 66:1 69:8,8,13 consumers 56:24 65:13 71:1 contained 49:11 contention 47:9 continue 13:1 23:4 23:22,23 74:2,22 75:14 76:8,11,19 continued 35:2 continues 76:3 contract 4:8 contribute 55:8 convene 2:1 convenience 36:10 cook 68:19 78:2 copies 5:18 copy 2:18 5:11 corporation 20:2 27:15 correct 41:2 42:5 78:8 corrected 72:2 cosmetic 71:20 cost 29:23 31:11 31:16,21 65:16,17 67:10 68:8,9,9 costing 31:14 43:12 costs 62:21 66:14 council 1:1 11:3 12:7 16:1 45:23 country 44:21 46:20 64:13,19 73:22 county 68:20 78:2 Page 6 couple 13:19 39:13 55:21 course 41:10 courts 40:23,24 cover 62:23 covers 60:4 create 11:22 30:10 created 8:17 33:9 creation 12:7 29:18 critical 20:24 crossing 11:17 crucial 10:19 cta 14:18 cuisine 20:9,10 cullerton 3:6 culture 60:17 cups 16:20 currently 23:3 customer 3:20 8:1 28:8,8 66:21 67:4 67:22,23,24 68:12 68:14 customers 27:23 33:3 60:13 63:11 63:17 68:10 69:11 cut 66:2 d daily 11:8,18 21:4 daniel 1:8 darryl 33:7 date 77:10 daughters 37:10 david 15:16,18 44:15 day 24:3,5 31:1 50:7 54:3,4 56:18 62:5,5 75:10,19 76:16 78:13 days 47:5 66:1 deaf 34:18 deal 24:6 36:17 debris 55:8 december 48:24 deceptive 56:2 decided 27:4 decision 53:3,4 decisions 11:20 decorations 39:18 dedicated 10:14 12:19 dedication 14:1 deductible 62:15 deeply 16:5 defecate 55:20 defer 49:1 deferred 75:5,6 defined 4:9 delivered 56:1 demand 14:11 demanded 54:15 demanding 54:14 denied 34:17 densely 14:3 department 6:7,12 6:23 7:3 8:12 45:23 59:24 64:23 65:15,16,17 66:6 67:17,21 70:3,6,22 depaul 74:8 depending 42:10 42:15 deprive 28:3 deputy 6:11 8:11 description 7:5,6 8:14 design 22:8,8,10 designed 23:1,2,12 desires 9:4 dessert 16:20 destination 15:1 20:6,22 29:7 details 53:20 54:13,19 57:13 deterioration 14:21 determine 36:6 develop 19:11 26:8 developed 26:13 development 3:22 3:24 6:7,13 7:1,4 8:3,6 19:17 26:12 70:20 73:17 developments 14:5 differ 59:16 difference 46:4 differences 49:6 66:16 different 17:4 71:2 differently 47:11 difficult 51:23 digits 68:18 dine 20:12 dinner 59:7 direct 16:21 direction 78:11 directly 11:19 26:15 director 15:21 dirty 49:19 55:14 disagree 44:17 disagreeing 47:22 discount 27:23 66:9,10 discounted 28:9 discounting 66:7 discouraging 69:17 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 [discovered - express] discovered 53:19 discretionary 69:4 discuss 18:4 discussion 26:1 discussions 17:7 disrespected 52:22 52:23 district 15:23 41:3 districts 40:22 diversities 14:7 document 5:12,17 documentation 48:1,1 doing 22:10 23:3 29:9 31:2 32:8,13 32:14 39:16 55:22 74:1 dollar 20:19 28:13 28:22 42:10 70:7 dollars 64:9,11 donations 47:18 doors 65:3 doorway 55:19 double 68:18 doubt 72:18 downtown 74:6 dpd 41:12 draconian 49:15 dramatically 62:8 drastically 26:22 drink 16:20 30:5 drive 23:24 31:7 68:14 drivers 16:13 drives 38:9 driving 36:8 drop 64:22 dropped 69:2,11 dropping 70:5 drug 62:22 Page 7 drugs 30:6 37:18 37:19,21 due 14:22 59:13 dusan 5:9 duty 55:2 e e 1:9 43:19 earlier 76:7 early 10:1 ears 34:18 51:11 east 3:4 74:9 easy 48:6 eat 30:5 eav 41:9,13 echo 12:17 economic 3:22,23 8:2,6 education 60:4 edward 1:6 effect 61:23 68:17 efforts 13:20 14:1 eight 21:7 either 40:5 41:12 42:7 elderly 58:20 elders 49:18 elected 47:15,20 52:9 emanuel 5:20 10:24 embrace 24:9 embraced 22:23 empty 45:4 65:7,9 65:10 67:11 emptying 65:6 enable 18:10 encourage 70:19 encouraging 69:16 engaged 17:6 english 72:6,20 enhance 11:12 enhanced 21:2,9 enhancement 38:19 enhancements 3:21 enjoying 11:8 ensuring 17:14 76:2 enterprise 14:10 entertaining 9:12 entire 22:9,19 46:24 63:16 entirely 6:17 entitled 5:12 77:20 entity 4:5,7 entrance 36:18 environment 20:23 21:17 environmental 68:22 equalized 4:15 21:7 41:4 ernest 5:18 22:1,6 29:21 54:3 especially 14:12 45:6 62:8 essential 23:24 essentially 54:2 56:13 establish 7:10 establishing 3:16 establishment 2:21 5:2 9:5 11:11 73:6 77:3 establishments 49:21 estate 6:24 14:5 39:23 46:14 et 4:23 11:18,18 23:6 evaluate 75:14 eventually 56:20 67:10 72:1,11 everybody 57:8 61:7 73:9 everyone's 76:15 evolution 47:7 exactly 68:5 example 27:17 33:6,23 50:9 examples 26:23 exceed 4:14 15:8 excited 12:1 excuse 43:21 excused 35:18 execute 19:4 executive 15:21 exhibit 2:17 existed 25:24 48:18 49:6 exists 6:24 exits 27:5 expansion 11:6 expectations 15:8 expense 62:16 expenses 62:24 expensive 31:10 31:13 69:18,19 experience 18:18 experienced 14:4 19:10 expire 40:16,24 41:1 expired 40:4,4,8 expires 41:8,11,24 explain 40:13,14 49:5 50:20 explanations 54:17 express 9:4 16:2 76:17 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 [expressing - good] expressing 13:15 extra 28:4,22 43:4 43:5 55:8 eyes 51:11 f facing 51:22 61:24 fact 39:19 48:13 48:19 fall 56:21 familiar 30:22 families 10:15 12:23 family 13:11 47:3 57:21,23 fantastic 39:16 far 14:6 21:15 38:7 fast 20:15 favor 9:13 10:11 13:10 73:12 77:15 fee 27:19 28:13 36:21 feedback 6:20 feel 11:10 12:1 16:17 43:2 54:13 57:5,6,7 58:18 72:17 feelings 72:6 feet 56:18 fell 34:17 festivals 39:22 fieldhouse 11:7 14:17 16:11 23:6 74:20 filed 64:14,17 fill 43:16 final 19:5 finance 1:2 10:1 13:8 19:8 22:3,15 57:11 Page 8 finances 19:1 financial 46:13 find 16:23 20:20 31:3 71:9 fine 67:8 firehouse 30:24 firm 40:19 first 9:12,16 13:21 18:5 25:1 45:24 47:2 50:2,4 53:19 55:2 62:2 68:23 fits 18:16 five 42:14,21 47:5 66:1 fixed 29:15 foliage 29:2 30:4,8 30:10 31:12,22 33:1,14,20 folks 39:18 43:1 follow 29:12 followed 48:11 food 20:15 football 36:13 footing 57:1 foregoing 78:8 formation 19:11 former 10:18 forte 59:10 forth 23:5 fortunate 73:14 fortunately 30:16 forum 27:20 61:22 forward 18:9 found 34:1 founder 10:2 22:7 four 6:18 18:4 20:7 23:18 fourth 19:5 foy 17:21,23,23 18:4 franchises 65:21 fraught 53:5 freaking 70:3 frequent 11:24 friday 67:16 friends 44:16 47:3 58:16 front 49:23 54:8 55:2 66:18 fronts 65:7 frozen 41:4,6 42:1 frustrating 17:3 full 41:8,9,13,24 fund 15:3 fundraising 47:18 funds 17:4,4 further 19:16 38:22 future 16:5 17:2,9 17:16 25:22 28:4 58:15,19 59:11 g g 58:8 gang 23:13 garbage 11:16 21:4,4 gather 6:20 gathered 47:12 gee 44:9,11 gems 14:3 74:21 general 2:12 32:19 generally 4:12 generate 29:5,20 30:1 31:24 33:13 generation 58:19 59:11 gentleman 75:7 gentlemen 73:4 77:2,11 getting 25:17 41:24 42:2 56:10 71:6 74:17 gift 13:19 gilbert 1:13 give 27:17 28:8 45:8 51:6 54:19 given 41:11 56:4 giving 54:6 56:11 56:13 61:12 71:5 go 28:18,20 33:5 36:12 40:5,6 42:2 43:9 50:15,19 59:7 62:7,22 63:3 64:1 65:4 66:1,1,3 68:4 69:23,24 70:9,14 73:6 goal 38:1 goals 46:2 goes 18:12 50:17 74:6 going 18:4 24:24 25:15 28:19 29:12 29:12 30:11,12,14 31:6,21,24 32:2,10 32:21 34:13,18,20 44:6 47:6 48:19 48:21,23 50:8,10 51:11,14 54:2,3,7 54:8,19,20 56:4,9 56:9,20,21,22 57:9 58:22,24 60:13 62:7,21,22,24 63:5 64:1,21,24 67:11 68:6,7,14 69:6,8 69:21,24 70:1,16 71:7,24 72:3,15 73:23 74:2,4,7,9 74:12,13,14,22 75:1,2,4,8,10,12 good 6:5,9 8:18,24 9:19,20,24 13:7 25:7 29:10 39:21 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 [good - improve] 45:5,21,21 52:2,2 52:3,3 57:7 58:4 59:16,22 61:19 68:22 73:3 goods 56:23 gorgeous 29:15 gotten 31:4 46:8 government 28:24 28:24 grab 59:7 grandfather 46:20 grandparents 54:23 granting 15:9 grass 53:14 55:24 grateful 11:7 great 36:17 49:24 73:16,17 74:1,2 76:9,12,14 greatest 76:20 greatly 11:11 27:6 greektown 14:14 39:15 40:3,3 43:9 70:12 green 14:18 36:7 group 12:1 22:8 grow 25:21 76:12 76:13 growing 12:6 49:16 76:3 grown 25:20 growth 18:24 23:22 25:22 guaranteed 50:19 guise 26:3 guy 30:24 37:20 guys 28:23 32:12 32:22 37:17,19 59:3 Page 9 h h 43:19 44:9 hall 1:20 hallway 55:19 hand 78:13 handful 7:16 handle 18:21 happen 54:19 68:6 69:6 70:16 happened 23:17 40:2 47:6 68:16 68:21 happening 43:11 55:12 happiness 30:24 31:8 hard 16:23 57:2,3 hardships 61:24 hastings 6:9,11 8:15 hate 34:4 healthy 62:13,19 hear 9:14 30:9 31:15 38:3 64:7 heard 9:9 19:15 24:18 25:11 34:5 50:10,13,14,14 51:21 72:23 73:1 73:5 75:20,22 hearing 2:4,10,20 9:3 12:1 13:13 23:20 35:1 48:19 56:3 73:5 77:2,8 77:13 hearings 48:13 49:4 54:18 heart 14:12 22:19 held 2:5 10:9 helen 13:5,8 44:15 54:1 hello 53:11 help 15:3 21:18 31:6,24 37:13 39:22 57:8 60:24 67:2 71:9 76:13 helped 12:2 30:19 helpful 15:2 34:19 helps 21:13 39:21 hereinafter 3:24 hereunto 78:12 hey 31:6 hi 58:7 hide 33:22 high 61:8 69:19 higher 40:7,8 highest 44:20 63:8 historically 25:20 hold 6:3 hole 66:4 holiday 64:10 70:2 home 13:22 homeless 37:6 55:6,6,18 hong 13:17 hope 12:4 15:7 67:17 hoping 57:7 horrible 51:20 horse 18:24 19:2 hotel 74:11 hour 20:18 28:21 63:24 64:1 77:9 hours 31:1 55:21 56:18 house 24:3 55:3 65:9 hoy 25:2,5,5 34:3 34:7,11 35:14,23 36:4,9,16 37:1,16 38:6,24 39:3,5,8 43:21 44:5 huey 39:9 43:19 43:22 44:2 huge 23:14,14 human 10:19 humble 18:19 hurt 27:6 36:3 hurting 70:21 hurts 66:3 i iasla 5:18 icy 16:20 idea 18:5,12,22 19:5,14 24:9 29:1 33:19,19 49:24 ideas 18:4 19:3,4 30:9 32:1 identification 2:18 identify 39:1 ilcs 2:6 4:23 illinois 2:6 62:8 63:8,17 65:5 66:21 67:3 78:1,5 78:13 illness 37:7 illustration 29:10 imagine 13:22 immigrants 13:23 impact 38:15 41:14 58:18 60:13 60:14 71:18 74:10 74:14 impacting 72:4 implement 19:2 implications 8:13 important 13:22 impose 47:21 68:7 imposed 56:12,14 imposing 71:10 improprieties 53:6 improve 10:15,21 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 [improvement - leave] improvement 19:17 improving 12:5 include 2:18 3:19 4:2 7:24 20:9 included 5:15 7:17 16:10 48:23 72:3 72:15 includes 7:14 16:19 20:8 including 4:18 14:8 64:20 income 27:9 29:24 31:24 33:13 56:17 61:8,11 63:6 increase 21:18 27:18 28:12,12 44:22 50:10 52:12 52:15 58:21 59:4 62:10 63:23 68:13 69:3 75:8 increases 41:17 69:12 increasing 36:20 62:8 incredible 24:6 increment 42:2 indefinite 75:12 independent 64:4 64:12 65:14 66:18 indiana 63:11 indicates 13:14 indirectly 39:22 individual 15:20 individuals 14:2 17:3 37:5 47:17 infants 10:16 influence 39:2 influx 14:10 inform 6:19 Page 10 information 26:6 34:14,15 35:7,10 49:10 53:18 56:4 informed 6:23 initial 7:11 35:3 initially 54:24 initiatives 15:4 inside 30:7 inspiring 23:20 instance 75:7 instant 71:3 instituted 68:24 institutions 11:24 insufficient 35:6 insurance 62:18 integrity 52:19 interest 46:13 51:17 53:15 76:18 interested 9:3 interesting 16:22 interests 51:15 interfere 26:22 international 23:12 interplay 41:2 interrupt 34:4 interrupted 27:2 interruption 43:21 introduction 9:23 invalidated 35:5 inventory 65:19 invest 17:11 18:8 invested 16:7 investing 54:4 investment 15:6 23:23 24:6 53:24 54:5 investments 14:16 16:14 investors 14:11 involve 41:15 involves 57:13 issue 25:1 38:4 55:17 72:15 76:5 issued 48:24 issues 8:16 11:19 53:15 item 68:5 items 16:15 j jan 61:14,16 71:20 71:22 72:1,10,14 72:19 japanese 14:8 20:10 jealous 23:19 jeanne 23:12 joane 53:10,11 job 32:8,12 59:16 join 12:4,4 july 46:15 juncture 26:4,17 28:6 junk 30:7 k kawulia 78:4,17 keep 21:13 32:23 58:15 keeping 59:6 key 59:5 kick 62:18 kid 47:19 kimberly 40:18 kind 60:19 71:19 king 1:12 kmart 64:18 knew 48:18 know 15:20 18:13 18:16,21 31:11 34:8 36:7,10 37:3 37:5,6,15 39:19 40:14 42:15,24,24 44:13,21 46:9,19 47:5,19 49:22 50:11 51:7 53:2 54:1,22 57:16 58:12,22 59:6 61:5,10 62:6,24 66:12 67:12 70:7 71:23 72:8 74:16 76:1 knowledge 18:15 known 2:22 7:9 10:3 14:19 18:14 18:17 23:9 knows 48:22 kong 13:17 korean 14:8 20:9 l lack 16:21 ladder 46:16 ladies 73:3 77:1,11 land 31:18,18 landlord 21:14 landon 23:14 landscape 24:4 landscaping 29:22 language 25:12,16 large 16:14 64:23 lasalle 3:15 law 2:6,8,9,15 4:9 4:21 8:12 layer 64:24 68:7 lead 10:18 leaders 12:18 73:20 league 10:3 learn 18:20 19:7 34:16 leave 69:9 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 [leaving - memorial] leaving 55:13 lee 13:5,6,7,9,11 15:11,15 19:23,23 20:1,1 21:23,24 26:19 27:19 54:1 legal 7:5,5 8:14 legally 22:20 leonard 16:10 leslie 45:17,19 letter 48:24 72:2 72:11,14 levied 4:18,22 45:7 62:3 levy 2:23 7:12,19 7:20 15:6 50:3 60:11 77:4 liability 6:24 library 11:5 14:18 16:11 23:6 58:2 74:19,19 life 11:12 18:13 22:10 lighting 11:16 lights 29:3 53:23 54:8 limited 3:19 7:24 17:7 47:16 48:1 64:16 65:19 line 27:1,5,7 36:1 36:3,7,7,11,11,18 39:7 lines 14:18 list 19:2 listed 44:3 listened 34:19 listening 76:5 litter 16:21 little 10:16 11:14 14:3 15:5 30:23 43:10 48:17 49:2 49:5,17 61:1 Page 11 69:13 live 12:22 38:21 48:4 58:20 74:24 76:10 lived 15:18 46:24 47:1 57:17 lives 10:15 46:24 living 10:21 60:7 71:7 local 17:5 59:2 68:12 located 6:15 7:1 14:13 location 3:1 14:16 long 10:10 18:9,10 27:2 52:14 look 10:8 29:13 31:2 45:2 52:16 52:18 55:3 60:22 62:12 68:16,21 71:2 looked 50:18 looking 18:8,9 26:10,11 51:16 62:16 67:13,19 68:1 loop 14:14 lorae 44:8,10 lose 26:16 65:24 68:10 losing 63:10,11,17 67:4,22,24 68:11 loss 43:2 lost 26:11 36:18 64:11 68:18 lot 14:9 26:9,12,13 26:17 27:9,9,23 28:4,21 30:19 34:4 45:10 56:15 60:16 71:18 lots 20:18 61:9 louie 16:10 love 58:11 low 56:17 59:6 lower 42:19 60:20 63:18,21 lowered 40:10 lowest 62:11,13 luxury 67:21 m m 1:6 macy's 64:15 66:6 madam 2:3,16 5:8 5:16 24:22 77:7 magnet 30:4 mailed 2:13 main 21:5 36:11 maintain 14:24 29:24 31:10,11,14 52:18 maintained 29:16 maintaining 31:21 33:1 maintenance 4:3 14:22 15:4 29:9 majority 52:9,11 53:8 56:16 69:23 making 29:8,11 36:17 55:14 61:7 61:8,10 64:4 malfeasance 51:8 malls 29:14 64:20 65:6,9,9 manage 46:5 managed 45:14 management 45:13 managing 6:11 mandatory 49:3 march 73:16 marcus 66:7 67:20 margaret 58:4,7 mari 78:4,17 mark 2:16 51:15 market 57:22 58:1 67:4 70:2 mass 52:13 matter 9:10 24:19 39:19 72:23 77:9 matters 5:15 mayor 5:19 10:24 16:7 mccormick 14:14 33:10 meal 20:15 mean 17:10 52:1 means 7:15 32:22 54:16 measurable 25:13 30:15 mecca 23:8 mechanisms 18:10 media 74:1 median 30:7 61:10 61:10 medical 62:23 medicine 62:21 meet 38:14 meeting 41:19 48:16 75:17 77:18 78:7,9 meetings 6:18,22 7:22 41:16 56:4,7 members 6:10 8:21 10:1 11:3 13:8 22:3,15 27:18 29:18 45:22 51:2,3 57:11 59:23 61:20 memorial 23:2 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 [mental - order] mental 37:7 mention 70:9 mentioned 22:17 27:18 29:17 33:6 34:24 76:6,17 merchants 39:20 merrill 23:13 mess 55:4 michigan 40:24 41:1 63:12 middle 33:14 midwest 73:24 milestones 25:14 million 41:23 42:3 42:3,4 minimum 60:7 minute 66:10 68:17 misconceptions 75:6 misinformation 35:1,4,6 49:12 56:1 misleading 25:23 53:6 56:2 mistaken 40:11 misunderstanding 49:1 mom 58:10 money 21:9 28:5 31:14 40:6,7,8,11 42:8,11,17,19 43:4 43:5,13 54:6,14 56:9,11,14 60:16 60:16 61:2 65:22 67:3,8,18 68:2 month 58:10 62:14 68:23 69:10 monthly 38:14 months 6:19 52:6 Page 12 morning 6:9 9:19 9:20,24 13:7 25:7 44:2 45:21,22 55:1 58:5 59:22 mortar 64:7 mother 49:17 motive 27:10 46:11 move 24:24 34:9 60:21 moves 77:14 moy 45:17,19,19 53:10,11,11 57:19 58:1 multiple 18:10 mutual 57:5 n name 6:8,11 9:21 13:5,8 15:16,18 17:21,23 19:24 20:1 22:4,6 25:3,5 44:10 45:17 53:11 58:5 59:20 61:15 61:16 names 9:9 37:8,11 native 13:17 necessarily 72:7 necessary 19:8 25:22 need 9:22 25:16,21 29:7 31:23 34:9 34:11 37:8 71:9 needed 75:11 needs 17:5 23:22 23:24 32:13,20 negative 37:12 neighborhood 14:23 28:16 39:24 43:12,13 58:11,14 neighborhoods 75:1 neighboring 63:10 63:18 neiman 66:7 67:20 never 17:1 new 4:2 7:10 11:22 14:17,17 19:9 49:9 63:13 74:11 news 64:6 newspaper 2:12 65:8 nice 70:11 nonstop 64:6 nordstrom 66:7 north 3:9 7:1,7 14:20 36:12 northern 20:8 note 5:8 37:3 44:1 notes 78:10 notice 2:10,13,17 2:18 8:13 48:2 notices 16:16 november 1:22 77:10 78:14 nowadays 55:5 number 46:7 o o 44:9 obamacare 62:6 object 25:10,18 28:1 60:2 objected 54:11 objecting 25:19 32:12 60:3 objection 9:11 54:12 objections 5:7 obligations 14:24 obtained 35:3,6 obviously 58:24 occasions 51:1 ocean 64:22 october 2:11 offered 68:2 office 32:6,10 52:24 officers 17:13 offset 67:10 oftentimes 37:6 oh 59:6 okay 34:11 37:2 39:8 42:23 51:12 53:3,21 54:7 63:21 old 26:14 30:22 39:15,20 49:11 58:10 once 41:8 72:2,14 ones 56:24 online 62:12 63:21 63:21 64:8,9,11 65:12,13 66:5,16 66:17,18,24 67:1,5 67:15 68:13 69:16 69:23,24 70:22 open 27:20 49:22 opened 55:1 operated 13:11 14:9 opportunity 9:4 10:23 16:1 22:16 44:8 oppose 58:17 59:13 opposed 5:13 9:15 25:1 44:3,17 52:10 opposition 51:3 61:22 73:12 order 27:3 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 [ordinance - please] ordinance 7:10 8:8,10 organization 9:22 25:3,6 43:18 45:18 52:8,8,10 53:13,13 55:24 organizations 10:21 16:5 73:19 original 28:14 outreach 53:13 outs 31:2 outside 34:19 68:19 outstanding 6:23 23:5 overcrowded 20:14 overhead 66:19 owings 23:13 owner 13:9 15:5 20:3 22:7,22 31:18 45:8,9 58:8 60:11 66:9 owners 5:12 27:21 28:1,19 31:18 53:19 54:10 56:21 58:22 60:8,9,10 61:3,17 62:1 64:12 72:5 owning 49:17 owns 57:21 p p.m. 45:4,4 77:9 panel 35:8 parents 11:14 46:23 54:22 park 11:6 14:17 15:24 16:24 23:2 26:19,20 29:22,23 29:24 31:5,6 74:20 Page 13 parking 14:9 20:2 20:18,19,20 26:9 26:12,13,16,17,24 27:9,9,15,19,23 28:3,9 31:3 36:2 36:20 part 5:4 26:14 35:1 37:24 38:6 39:2 71:24 72:9 partial 18:15 participation 38:10 particular 22:20 particularly 11:6 11:13 16:23 33:7 partnership 10:20 17:14 pass 31:16,21 32:17 56:23 69:7 69:13 passing 47:1 passion 76:4,15 passionate 16:4 34:9 37:4,15 38:4 passionately 71:14 71:17 pat 61:14,16 patrick 1:7 paul 17:21,23 pavements 11:16 pay 28:6,7,13,17 28:18,21 42:9,10 42:19 48:7 49:20 54:15 61:3 62:14 64:2 66:22 69:2,4 69:9 paying 27:22 28:4 42:9 43:5,7,8 44:23 60:5 61:5 66:22,23 payless 64:17 pays 40:12 pebble 64:22 pedestrians 16:13 penny 65:22 people 2:14 6:3 16:22 17:5 23:16 23:20 25:18 26:20 27:6 31:1,17,20 33:16 34:1,24 36:6,22 37:17,19 37:20 39:24 46:7 46:10,10,11 47:12 47:15,20,22 48:12 48:13,14,17 49:16 52:9,11 55:6,7,14 55:18 56:15,16 57:3 58:20,24 59:1,2,5,6 60:6,15 60:21 61:3,9 62:20 67:13,18 68:1,1 69:1,23 72:17 74:7 percent 4:14 7:12 15:6 21:7 41:18 47:22,23 50:17,18 50:20 52:15 62:10 63:7,11,13,14,22 66:3,8,9,10 67:15 69:2,11 70:1,14 75:8,9 percentage 43:3 perception 14:23 performed 45:12 period 26:21 27:4 28:21 person 9:3 20:14 62:13,19 person's 28:11 personal 37:3,14 38:4 78:11 personalizing 71:18 personally 19:15 persons 9:9 perspective 38:22 peter 39:9 43:19 43:22 phones 71:2 physical 66:15 pick 21:4 pictures 33:17 65:8 piece 46:14 pilsen 14:14 pin 7:15 13:9 15:5 ping 11:5 15:24 16:23 23:1 29:22 74:20 pins 7:14 pioneers 46:22 place 3:4,21 5:10 12:22 13:23 14:14 15:19 28:2,3 29:12,13 30:6 33:10 40:18 60:24 68:2,3 76:10 placed 52:21,24 places 16:22 plan 62:11,13 planning 6:7,12 7:4 19:1 45:23 59:24 planter 31:22 planters 30:5 31:9 31:10 please 2:3,16 5:3,8 6:7 9:22 13:5 15:16 17:21 19:24 25:3 43:15 58:5 59:20,21 61:14 70:17 71:8,8 77:7 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 [pocket - rate] pocket 62:15 point 27:8 28:20 29:4,6 31:13 33:4 33:4 36:16 71:6 points 32:24 police 17:13 21:1 37:24 38:13 political 46:15 51:8 poor 45:13 47:10 poorly 65:16 popular 17:1 populated 14:3 portion 41:4,5 position 10:9 51:13 52:22 53:1 53:3 positive 38:15,18 possibly 21:11 potential 40:16 potentially 38:2 potentials 14:20 preceding 23:1 prefer 36:14 presence 15:15 19:22 24:16 39:4 66:17 present 1:11 9:17 43:20 44:2 59:19 presentation 12:12 presented 7:22 54:13,17 preset 65:21 press 33:11 prettiest 29:14 pretty 29:3,9,11 33:3 preventative 62:17 Page 14 previously 44:13 price 15:6 20:15 20:16 65:21,24 70:13 prices 59:6 62:7 62:10,22 65:20 68:13 71:2 pride 50:24 princeton 3:11,13 7:8 58:9 prior 26:1 pro 51:3 probably 17:2 29:10 33:10,12 52:3 58:13 61:5 problem 46:6 57:4 problems 55:23 proceed 8:24 9:12 18:3 22:13 proceedings 77:19 78:7,9 proceeds 4:4 process 40:5 46:6 52:19,23 product 66:9 products 66:8 professional 10:13 professionally 29:15 profits 64:3 program 53:18,21 programs 3:22 project 16:12 32:19 40:20 projected 62:9 projections 70:5 projects 11:4,10 11:22 16:10 19:3 23:5 promote 3:23 8:2 promoted 8:6 proper 43:17 properties 14:11 45:7 55:17 property 4:16,23 5:12 7:21 20:3 21:8,11,14 22:22 24:7 41:9,21 44:22 45:8 53:18 56:21 57:21 58:22 60:5 63:2 proponents 32:2 33:7 46:8 57:12 proposal 9:13 20:3 24:20 proposed 3:2,18 4:4 5:2,14 6:14,21 7:12,14 9:5 15:23 28:15 34:17 40:23 45:11 73:6 77:3 proposing 46:8 prosper 74:22 proud 73:15 provide 3:17 4:6 10:18 17:13 19:1 20:18,23 21:2,4,9 21:16 34:13 75:10 provided 3:18 4:11,21 41:16 provider 4:8 8:4 providing 11:9 provision 2:24 77:5 provisions 4:22 proximity 14:13 public 2:4,10 3:20 3:21 6:20 8:1 9:1 22:8 32:19 36:8 36:22 48:19 49:3 54:18 56:3,7 59:9 61:21 73:5 77:2,8 77:13 public's 51:16 published 2:11 pui 15:22 pun 59:19,22 purpose 3:16 pursuant 2:5 4:8 4:22 put 28:2,2 42:7,17 43:3 54:8 puts 41:21 putting 29:2,2 q quality 11:12 quasi 28:23,24 question 18:6 35:15,21,22,24 40:22 50:9,21 51:15 questions 8:19,22 12:10 15:12 17:18 19:19 21:21 24:13 32:14 38:23 39:12 50:8 53:5 56:7 quid 51:3 quite 23:19 quo 51:3 quote 51:21 r r 64:14 railroad 3:7,8,10 raise 11:23 12:23 27:16 48:6 56:22 65:20,22,23 69:21 raised 56:8 58:11 ran 26:23 ranks 34:20 rarely 63:1 rate 7:12,20 21:15 24:1 44:20 63:22 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 [raymond - safety] raymond 19:23 20:1 26:19 27:19 28:11 44:15 reach 53:14 reaching 66:21 67:3 read 26:6 real 6:23 14:5 39:23 46:14 really 12:1,13 18:8 19:9 22:19 39:21 45:2,7,7,13 47:5 51:16 53:20 57:3 59:9,10 70:11 reason 26:4,5 37:16 44:19 54:12 60:3 reasons 25:11,18 reboyras 1:9 76:22,24 recall 49:16 received 5:11 9:8 recognize 73:7 recognized 49:19 recommended 8:4 recommending 52:12 record 2:4,19 5:5 5:16 6:11 24:22 77:8 red 14:18 27:1,5,7 36:1,3,6,10,18 66:11 reduce 41:13,14 reduced 7:18 referencing 36:2 referred 3:24 reflect 2:4 24:23 77:8 refraining 37:11 Page 15 regard 2:2 8:13 9:10 72:23 regarding 6:20 53:17 regulations 48:11 reifman 5:19 reilly 1:9 relate 9:8 relationship 57:8 relocated 46:21 remains 7:21 remodel 27:5 removal 21:10 removed 33:20 removes 7:7 renew 75:13 rent 56:22 60:12 60:13,19 rental 21:15 repair 27:3 replace 26:11 33:22 replaced 33:15 reported 51:1 78:6 reporter 2:3,16 5:8,16 24:22 77:7 78:5 represent 43:18 44:11 45:18 61:17 represented 11:21 48:14 reputation 31:5 requested 34:15 requesting 41:12 required 2:15 41:16,19 49:4 requirements 2:5 rerouting 74:3 resident 9:2 16:15 22:22 58:9 60:2 residential 7:17 residents 5:13 11:12 14:24 16:4 17:16 20:24 21:17 38:21 39:20 58:18 73:20 75:18 resolved 72:15 resource 21:3 resources 11:10 21:1 37:24 65:14 66:13 respect 5:10 24:18 46:10 55:13 59:13 respectfully 12:6 52:20 responded 24:23 27:20 response 5:23 8:23 15:13 17:19 19:20 21:22 24:14,21 38:24 73:2 responsibilities 54:20 rest 25:8 restaurant 20:15 20:17 56:18 65:23 66:2 70:10 restaurants 13:20 20:7,13,14 68:18 75:3 resubmitting 49:9 result 15:8 results 32:7,7,11 retail 61:17 64:19 66:5 retailer 71:3,3,4 retailers 66:24 67:2 68:18 70:21 retire 10:6 retired 10:2 13:13 retirement 11:8 return 53:24 54:5 56:10 revealing 30:20 revenue 26:11 27:16 68:19 review 47:24 reviewed 8:12,15 revised 7:19 rickshaw 33:9 rid 30:15,17 right 29:5 32:14 32:15,17 34:7 36:4 38:12 39:5 39:24 40:4 43:2 43:14 58:20 66:5 73:24 rights 55:7 risk 48:6 rita 59:19,19 road 3:7 6:16 30:18 31:12 roads 14:17 robert 25:2,5 role 19:7 roll 47:10 51:20 52:4 room 1:21 68:4 roosevelt 74:7 roots 46:18 53:14 55:24 roughly 7:14 round 29:9 route 36:22 run 62:4 s safe 16:17 20:23 21:16 57:6 safer 16:12 safety 3:22 11:17 14:24 60:5 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 [sakura - space] sakura 55:16,17 sale 67:13 sales 63:8,9,12,12 63:13,14,18,21 64:8,11 67:14 68:13 sam 44:9,11 save 60:16 68:2 saying 30:11 42:11 46:1 51:19 73:18 73:18 says 28:17 32:16 49:22 54:1,7 scape 23:3 schedule 2:14 school 14:17 sears 64:18 season 70:2 seat 51:6 second 5:17 18:12 44:20 48:16 section 2:8 security 11:18 20:23 21:2,10 38:2,7,8,12,20 39:17 40:10 43:7 see 13:13 15:5 31:7 43:9,15 65:7 65:8 76:8 seeing 74:9 seeking 48:3 seen 14:21 23:17 24:10 32:4 37:18 47:6 self 18:19,19 56:12 56:14 sell 37:19 semi 56:17 60:6 senior 49:18 51:2 seniors 10:17 11:13 12:14 Page 16 seq 4:23 sergeant 5:4 43:16 series 9:8 serious 51:1 serve 15:21,24 19:6 served 12:21 service 1:3 2:2,6,8 2:9,21 4:7 5:3,10 5:13 6:14 7:11 8:4 9:6 10:3 12:13 21:9 33:9 77:3 services 2:23,24 3:17,18 4:1,2,4,6,8 4:9,10,11,13,16,20 7:23 10:19 17:12 24:5 54:15 56:23 75:11 77:5,6 set 62:7,23 63:3 78:12 seven 68:24 69:3,9 69:11,20 sewage 63:4 share 67:4 70:2 shared 32:1 shareholder 17:24 shelter 27:1 shift 65:13,16,17 66:13,14 68:8 70:8,23,24 shipping 69:15 shop 20:12 shopping 69:16 shops 13:20 short 55:23 shorthand 78:5,6 shoveling 24:4 show 32:5 showed 48:12 shows 17:14 shy 43:23 side 3:4,9,12 36:12 36:13,15 sides 3:3,6,14 76:5 sidewalks 11:15 16:20,21 sight 14:5 sign 77:16 signature 78:17 signatures 35:4,10 signed 5:17 significantly 7:16 16:7 signify 77:15 signs 16:21 simon 5:9 simple 18:8 44:19 50:9 52:14 simply 44:23 56:15 sincerely 46:1 sir 6:8 15:17 18:2 19:18,21 21:20 22:12 24:12 35:12 39:12 43:20 45:16 51:22 76:24 sisters 37:9 sit 30:4 52:5 site 22:7 situation 21:19 51:23 situations 39:1 six 42:15 58:10 skidmore 23:13 skilled 56:17 60:7 61:7 slip 43:16 slippery 11:15 slips 9:8 72:24 slum 14:23 small 16:15 54:2 62:1 63:15 64:4 64:12 65:14,18 66:8 67:9,12 70:17 smaller 7:19 smart 71:2 snow 16:19 21:10 24:4 social 10:13 14:10 46:16 soda 68:16,17 sold 46:14 56:23 solis 1:8 5:19 6:2 7:3 8:8,19,20 10:7 10:24 12:10,11,18 23:1 25:8 30:17 37:23 45:22 48:24 52:20 57:11,16,24 58:3 59:23 61:20 70:17 71:8,13,15 71:16,21,23 72:7 72:13,16 73:7,8 75:22 76:2,16 somebody 26:8 34:19 40:14 54:7 sons 37:10 sophia 1:12 sorry 11:1 sort 24:5 sounded 36:21 source 47:16 sources 48:10 south 3:3,4,5,5,7,8 3:9,10,11,12,12,12 3:13,14,14,15 14:14 18:1 26:14 36:13,14 44:12 45:3 74:18 space 14:9 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 [speak - take] speak 10:11 22:16 43:22,24 44:3 59:12 61:12,21 72:4,19,20,20 73:9 speaker 60:1 speakers 12:2 44:14 74:16 speaking 53:12 59:10 special 1:3 2:2,6,7 2:9,21,23,24 3:17 3:18 4:1,2,6,9,10 5:2,10,13 6:14 7:11,23 9:5 77:3,5 specified 48:11 spelling 43:17 spend 17:7 32:2,6 32:10 60:15 spent 22:10 32:9 32:11 38:7 64:9 spoke 29:21 71:13 71:16 73:10,12 74:16 75:7 sponsoring 7:2 spotters 37:17 square 7:1,9 20:7 45:2 57:24 71:22 71:24 72:9,18 74:17 ss 78:1 ssa 5:14 6:21 7:6,7 7:13,14,19 8:5 10:11,12 11:11,18 11:22 12:2,8 13:10 15:3,10,23 16:2 17:4,10 18:5 18:7,16 19:1,6,16 19:16 20:3 21:6 21:13,15,18 23:20 23:24 24:9 25:10 25:16,19,21,22 Page 17 26:1,4,7,10 27:10 27:13,14 29:18 30:10,13 32:8 33:7 34:11,16,20 35:2 38:1 40:3,6,9 40:12,15 41:3,7,10 41:10,17,20,22 42:7,8,11,15,17,18 42:20 44:14,18 45:11 47:10 50:6 50:13,19 53:17 57:12,13 58:17,21 59:13 60:2,11 61:4,22 70:15 ssas 12:5 21:12 39:14 76:11 stairs 55:20 stand 44:6 stars 23:12 start 23:21 52:2,3 74:9 started 22:24 51:19 state 2:5 6:8 9:21 13:5 15:16 17:21 19:24 46:12 58:5 59:20 61:14 63:6 63:17,18 78:1,5 stated 26:5 statement 5:24 6:6 states 63:10,18 65:5 66:21 76:21 statuary 33:24 statues 43:10 statute 32:16 41:17 stenographic 78:10 step 18:24 49:15 stewart 3:9,11 stink 51:9 stinks 51:9 stop 13:21 17:10 17:12,13 36:8 stopping 65:13 store 30:7 49:17 49:22,23 54:9 55:1 65:7 66:18 69:1 71:19,19,20 72:5 stores 64:4,7,15,16 64:16,17,18,19,23 65:10,14,15 66:6,6 66:15 67:17,21 70:4,6,22 75:4 streak 43:23 street 3:1,6,8,9,11 3:15 11:6 14:6 21:5,9 23:3 31:2 45:4 55:9,22 74:5 streets 11:17,17 29:2 31:3 49:19 stringing 53:23 strip 65:6 67:11 structure 27:1 studies 36:10 study 36:6,24 stuff 33:22 subject 34:9 submit 5:1,3,6,22 52:21 submitted 49:11 submitting 7:4 suburbs 60:18 65:6 68:15,15 success 23:21 successful 75:3 sudden 43:23 suffered 36:17 sufficient 11:16 suggest 17:5,9 suggestion 28:10 28:11 sukara 57:22 sum 4:14 sun 2:12 support 8:9 12:15 16:2,6 18:5 27:22 29:18,20 47:12,16 50:6 53:9 70:17 71:9 75:4 supported 8:8 28:24 47:17 supporting 11:4 24:19 57:4 supposed 45:11 51:10 56:12 supposedly 56:5 sure 11:2 13:1 18:13 31:12 32:9 43:17 46:3 76:19 survive 26:18 64:21 65:2,2 71:6 sustain 32:21 76:14 sustainability 3:21 29:3 31:16 32:17 32:20 sustainable 19:8 33:13 sustained 32:23 sweep 49:23 55:2 sweetened 68:20 szechwan 20:8 t tak 15:22 take 10:23 26:21 31:2 33:8,17 34:2 36:6 42:6,8 43:5 50:24 70:11 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 [taken - tremendous] taken 78:10 takeout 70:10 takes 51:13 talk 27:11 39:6 44:24 53:15 61:23 62:2 63:20 64:2,5 76:17 talking 23:20 35:24 36:2,20 53:22 57:5 62:20 67:7 talks 30:2 tax 2:6,8,9,23 4:4 4:9,13,16,17,18,20 4:23 5:14 6:24 15:6 18:19 19:9 28:2,3,17,18,24 41:5 44:20,22,23 44:23 47:21 49:20 50:3,9 52:12 54:1 54:2,8 56:12 58:17,21 59:14 60:5,11,19 61:5 62:2 63:4,6,8,9,12 63:12,13,14,19,22 65:1,1 67:1 68:7 68:17,17,22,24 69:2,3,7,10,12,20 70:23 71:10 72:2 72:2,15 77:5 taxable 4:15 21:8 taxes 4:21 17:1 42:20 45:7 48:7 50:17 60:4 61:3 63:2 64:2 65:1 66:22,23,23 69:19 69:21 taxing 49:15 67:2 taxpayer 9:2 taxpayers 32:23 54:14 Page 18 tell 22:4 25:3 30:3 38:14 45:17 46:20 tells 28:23 ten 7:11 47:4 75:13 tenants 58:23,23 tenths 21:7 term 7:11 18:9,10 37:16 terms 50:13 terrible 52:4 territory 3:2 testifying 15:20 testimony 9:1 34:6 thank 8:10 10:24 12:8,9,12,15,16,24 13:3,4 15:10,11,14 16:1 17:16,17,20 18:2 19:17,18,21 19:21 21:19,20,23 21:24 22:2,12,14 24:11,12,15 35:12 35:12,14,23 38:5 38:23 39:3,11 40:21 43:14 45:15 45:16 53:7,7,10 57:15 58:3 59:12 59:15,17,18 61:11 61:13,21 71:11 72:21 73:8,11 75:17,18,20,21,24 77:11,13 thanks 30:16 thanksgiving 64:10 67:14,16 theirs 62:13 therewith 9:7 thing 25:15 32:23 34:21 40:2 47:14 49:1 50:22 51:21 73:13 76:7 things 18:13 29:19 32:15 34:17 39:14 42:8,18 43:6,8,11 47:11 49:14 50:1 50:4 52:14 55:13 59:5 68:15 think 18:16,20 23:21 27:24 32:21 33:7 37:4,7,11,24 38:18 44:7 45:1 45:10,13 51:21 58:13 73:23 74:2 74:4,12,14 75:2 76:4,6,11 thinking 11:2 29:11 54:10 third 18:22 thompson 1:7 11:1 35:20,22,23 36:5 36:14,19 37:2,22 38:12 39:6 57:10 75:23,24 77:14 thousands 10:15 20:11 three 20:18 28:21 30:23 31:8 39:14 51:1 thriving 19:12 throw 55:9 ticket 28:7,8 tif 40:3,4,4,7,15,16 40:22 41:1,3,8,11 41:23 time 2:7,7 4:24,24 10:10 26:21 27:3 27:4 34:23 43:13 44:16 45:6 49:9 50:9 53:7 59:13 70:12 71:12 72:21 75:5,18 times 2:12 title 6:8 today 10:10 11:14 12:15 13:13 14:2 15:15 19:22 24:16 25:11 39:4 46:2 52:5 73:12 75:17 77:12 toilet 30:6 told 31:20 32:9,19 48:9,10 tom 11:5 15:24 16:23 23:1 29:22 33:8 74:20 tool 19:16 tools 76:12 top 49:8 52:16 total 6:18 tourism 63:10 68:11 tourist 15:1 20:6 20:21 59:4 76:9 tourists 17:15 20:11,24 21:16 23:7 38:21 74:4 touting 23:8 tower 29:12 town 14:11 39:15 39:16,20 toys 64:14 tracks 3:7,8,10 transcribed 78:11 transcript 78:9 translate 57:20 transparent 17:8 34:13 transportation 36:8,22 trees 33:20 tremendous 74:14 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 [tried - word] tried 50:2,4 truck 26:23 true 35:10 50:19 58:21 78:8 trying 37:12 44:5 47:21 50:1 59:4 tuck 44:9,9,11,11 turns 13:14 16:20 twice 66:3 two 20:18,19 26:23 40:22 49:3 56:6 74:13 u u 43:19 ulterior 26:5 27:10 46:11 unable 72:20,20 uncle 43:22 unclear 53:20 uncomfortable 16:17 understand 32:20 37:22 38:3,19 53:21 57:9 59:3 60:23 61:1,7 70:18,19 72:10,11 73:13 unenviable 53:2 uneven 11:16 unfair 31:19 unintelligible 48:8 74:23 unit 60:8,8,10,11 61:3 united 25:2,6 45:19 53:12 65:5 76:21 units 7:17 unknowns 18:14 18:17 Page 19 unsafe 16:18 unshoveled 16:19 upcoming 64:9 updated 49:10 urge 12:6 urging 24:8 urinate 55:19 use 30:6,6 37:16 41:6 42:7,18 51:8 63:1 user 11:8 usual 77:16 v vacancies 29:13 vacant 31:4 value 4:15 21:8,13 41:4,8,24 42:1 various 34:17 versus 36:8 vibrant 16:3 76:3 76:9 vietnamese 14:8 20:9 view 41:13 views 9:4 villegas 1:13 virtually 31:8 visibility 11:23 visit 20:12 38:22 47:3,3 visitor 16:15 visitors 11:23 21:17 vitality 18:11 voice 59:11 voices 75:19 volunteers 47:19 vote 51:5 voters 5:13 w w 44:9 wage 60:7 61:10 wages 63:23 71:7 walk 55:18 walked 49:21 walter 1:8 want 10:23 26:4 27:8,17,22 28:23 31:7,16,23 33:17 34:2 35:2 36:12 37:18 39:13 42:16 42:16 43:23 50:22 51:8 55:14 59:11 61:11,23 62:2 64:5 67:18 68:1,2 70:9,18,19 75:14 76:19 wanted 26:2 29:19 35:19 40:14 42:23 43:22 55:2 57:16 72:8 73:9 wants 26:8 30:10 30:13 71:4 76:7,8 war 33:24 65:12 ward 6:17 39:15 watchdog 51:11 water 29:12 63:4 64:22 way 3:20 8:1 23:16 27:16 29:9 32:18 48:7 57:14 58:15 68:8,9 70:8 70:20,24 71:4,9 74:6 we've 34:4 wealthy 67:23 week 20:11 47:5 64:6 66:2,3 welcome 19:23 wells 16:11 74:5 went 50:18 62:12 63:2,5,6,24 68:17 68:19 70:12,13,13 wentworth 3:3,5 3:13,14 6:16 7:8 16:12,16 18:1 22:24 23:2,3 26:9 26:14 30:2,3 44:12 45:3 49:18 53:23 55:7 74:3 74:15,18 west 3:3,6,6,7,8,10 5:10 14:6 39:16 whatnot 55:10 whereof 78:12 willing 18:20 69:1 69:9 win 21:19,19 winston 51:22 wisconsin 63:12 wish 34:5 50:20 wishes 5:1,6,21 24:17 72:23 73:1 73:4 75:22 wishing 9:9 witness 8:19,22 9:8,16 12:10 15:12 19:19 21:21 24:13 25:1 35:21 72:24 78:12 witnesses 6:4 34:5 73:10,11,14 wonderful 11:4,4 wong 5:18 9:17,18 9:20,24 10:8 12:16 13:3 22:1,2 22:6,6,14 44:15 54:3 word 31:15 32:18 32:21 51:9 67:24 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376 [words - zero] words 24:19 work 12:22 13:18 19:14,14,16 22:8 22:11,18,23 23:4 24:10 45:10 50:5 76:1 worked 37:23 40:19 worker 10:13 workers 56:17 working 10:20 57:3,8 world 74:19 worry 11:15 worrying 70:4 worst 45:14 wrap 34:5 written 5:1,7,9,22 wu 15:16,18,18 17:17 44:15 y y 43:19 yeah 48:6 59:9 year 4:17,18 7:11 7:15 10:2 24:2 27:4 38:7 41:11 41:18,23 44:21,22 48:20 56:5,7 62:16 63:3,4,6,6 64:8,14,20 75:13 years 10:10,14 12:20 13:12 14:4 15:19 22:10,18 23:18 33:24 42:15 42:21 44:16 47:1 47:2,4,8 50:13,14 50:14 73:16 75:13 york 63:13 young 10:6,8 youth 10:17 Page 20 z zero 32:11 38:9,10 Veritext Legal Solutions www.veritext.com 888-391-3376