Board of Commissioners [in person or remote]

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago

Environment

Utilities

Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022
10:30 a.m. — 12:30 p.m. CST

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100 East Erie Street Chicago, IL 60611 (Directions)

You have the option to document this meeting in person or remotely, via live stream.

If you attend the meeting in person, an additional hour will be added to your pay for this assignment. Take a photo to let us know you were there. You will be required to go through a metal detector and show government-issued photo ID. More details on attending public meetings of the MWRDGC Board of Commissioners can be found here, starting on pp. 13.

If you choose to document this meeting remotely, visit/refresh https://mwrd.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx at the scheduled meeting time. A link labeled “In Progress” will appear under the Video column for the corresponding meeting (though it may not be until at or a little after the scheduled start time).

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Reporting

Edited and summarized by the Chicago - IL Documenters Team

Note-taking by Ryland Pietras

Affirmative Action Ordinance

View notes

Live reporting by Will Reynolds

Affirmative Action Ordinance

Will Reynolds @willinois

Good morning! I'm live tweeting today's 10:30 meeting of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District board of commissioners for @CHIdocumenters #CHIdocumenters

10:28 AM Nov 17, 2022 CST

Will Reynolds @willinois 2/20

@CHIdocumenters I'm watching remotely. The meeting agenda and video can be found here: mwrd.legistar.com/DepartmentDeta…

Will Reynolds @willinois 3/20

WTTW recently did a good summary of what MWRD does. @wttw
news.wttw.com/2022/11/02/wha…

Will Reynolds @willinois 4/20

Board president Kari Steele starts the meeting and goes to public comments. Someone representing women construction owners and executives asks for changes to a proposal on selecting contractors.

Will Reynolds @willinois 5/20

A frequent commenter at these meetings wearing camouflage today talks about getting more contracts for black people.

An attorney representing a company also suggests changes to proposed amendments for selecting contractors.

Will Reynolds @willinois 6/20

The next public speaker is the Executive Director of the Federation of Women Contractors. She also speaks about the process for certifying and hiring women and minority owned contractors.

Will Reynolds @willinois 7/20

The MWRD twitter account posts cool historical photos.
twitter.com/MWRDGC/status/…

Will Reynolds @willinois 8/20

The board recognizes the retiring MWRD inspector general, Patrick Blanchard. He held similar positions at other agencies. chicago.suntimes.com/politics/2020/…

Will Reynolds @willinois 9/20

A resolution recognizes departing board member Josina Morita, who was elected to the Cook County Board. @JosinaMorita talks about her accomplishments and thanks her staff.

Will Reynolds @willinois 10/20

This is also the final meeting for board vice-president Barbara J. McGowan. She's the third longest-serving board member and has a long list of accomplishments and awards. She thanks many people. Other board members all heap praises on her.

Will Reynolds @willinois 11/20

After a short break to take photos, the board presents a resolution honoring Joe Podlasek and the Trickster Cultural Center. tricksterculturalcenter.org/documents/02-0…

Will Reynolds @willinois 12/20

Commissioner Cameron Davis asks staff about why costs went up and timing of a contract.

Commissioner Marcelino Garcia asks for more details but staff doesn't have much to say publicly.

Will Reynolds @willinois 13/20

Commissioners discuss changes to affirmative action policy, including for contractors. Corral Sepúlveda explains they'll accept contractor certification by other government agencies. But they'll still be able to certify on their own.

Will Reynolds @willinois 14/20

President Steele says the vote they're making now is to continue the discussion and study the issue. Corral Speulveda passes out a memo that will be distributed to everyone before the next meeting.
They talk about study session discussions.

Will Reynolds @willinois 15/20

Commissioners keep debating the affirmative action ordinance but it's not clear what, if anything, they disagree on. Garcia wants to make sure this is done with new board members and not wait another 7 years to revise their procedures.

Will Reynolds @willinois 16/20

Corral Sepúlveda confirms there's board consensus on key issues regarding certification.
Steele explains next steps for study groups. Commissioners will get another chance to review changes.

Will Reynolds @willinois 17/20

They discuss having another study session and including new commissioners before voting on changes. They move the issue back onto the consent agenda, meaning they'll continue working on it.

Will Reynolds @willinois 18/20

The board concludes their committee of the whole. After a break, the clerk reads consent items into the agenda. Everything passes without debate.

Will Reynolds @willinois 19/20

Under new business, Spyropoulos announces a new staff member. Unrelated, Nov 19 is world toilet day. She encourages people to post about it on social media.
worldtoiletday.info

Will Reynolds @willinois 20/20

A frequent public commenter repeats similar comments from the start of the meeting.

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District adjourns. That concludes my live tweeting for #CHIdocumenters.

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Attachments

Video link

By Sky Patterson 11/17/2022

Agency Information

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago

mwrd.org

(312) 751-6633

public.affairs@mwrd.org

@MWRDGC

See Documenters reporting

Created in 1889 as the Sanitary District of Chicago, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) today is a special-purpose district responsible for treating wastewater and providing stormwater management for residents and businesses in its service area, which encompasses 882.1 square miles and includes Chicago and 128 suburban communities throughout Cook County.

The MWRD serves approximately 10.35 million people each day, including 5.25 million residents of Chicago and 128 suburban communities. To learn more about the agency’s management structure and departments, click here.