On November 16th, Rahm Emanuel announced that the City had chosen AECOM, a multi-billion dollar design firm to build the Cop Academy. AECOM has a history of over-spending on public infrastructure projects, and has even been sued by the US and Australian governments for fraud. You can read more about them here or watch a short video here.
Then, on January 23rd, Rahm Emanuel introduced an ordinance to approve the design/build contract with AECOM to City Council (O2019-1154). It was then referred to the BUDGET COMMITTEE, where it must be approved, then sent back to full City Council for a final vote.
On January 23rd, a zoning change ordinance (O2019-374) was also introduced to City Council, which must be approved before they can begin construction. That was referred to the ZONING COMMITTEE, where it must be approved, then sent back to full City Council for a final vote.
No Committee meetings have yet been scheduled for February or March, and the next full City Council meeting is not until March 13th, 2019. This means the FINAL votes can happen on March 13th at the earliest.
We will update this page if/when any committee meetings are scheduled.
In the meantime, we encourage all supporters to continue to engage current aldermen to agree to stall any votes (committee or full City Council) on the cop academy until after the new Mayor and Council are sworn in. Especially incumbents who sit on the Budget or Zoning committees. We offer a packet of resources with different ways to approach and engage aldermen to anyone who signs up here.
More soon,
#NOCOPACADEMY
