🚨 CFR CITY COUNCIL WATCH: HOW WAS THIS VOTED OUT OF COMMITTEE? Chicago Flips Red was inside City Hall today, September 17, for the Chicago City Council Committee on Workforce Development meeting. On the agenda was O2026-0027470, an ordinance establishing bid incentives for companies making a Chicago Jobs Plan commitment. The agenda also stated that a substitute version, SO2026-0027470, drafted by the sponsor, would be introduced in committee. The committee proceeded with the meeting and voted to advance the measure toward the full City Council. But CFR has a procedural question: HOW WAS QUORUM ESTABLISHED? We were physically sitting in the chamber. Most of the aldermanic seats were empty. Some alderpersons appeared on the screens through Webex. Chicago City Council Rule 39 says one-half of the total membership of a standing committee constitutes a quorum. It also says that when a committee cannot proceed because it lacks a quorum, the remaining members may adjourn or recess the meeting. And the Council’s rules on remote participation are important: outside the separate emergency/disaster procedure, an alderperson may participate remotely if a quorum of the committee is already physically present. The physically present quorum may then permit remote participation for specified reasons such as illness, public-body business or an emergency. So CFR wants to see the receipts: Who was physically present when the roll was called? Who participated remotely? How many committee members constituted the required quorum? Who was counted toward that quorum? And what was the recorded vote on the substitute ordinance? Rule 45 requires committees to maintain records of their proceedings and attendance, and when a roll call occurs, the record must show each member’s vote. Those committee records are required to be filed with and posted by the City Clerk. We’re not claiming a quorum violation until we see that official record. But we were in the room. And when legislation involving City contracting and bid incentives is being advanced toward the full Chicago City Council, asking how quorum was established is a legitimate public-record question. CFR CITY COUNCIL WATCH — WE WERE IN THE ROOM. Flipsred.com #ChicagoFlipsRed #CFRCityCouncilWatch #ChicagoCityCouncil #ChicagoJobsPlan #Quorum #WorkforceDevelopment