Cook County Board suspends rules, approves consent calendar and nine new item sets

On Sept. 18, 2024, the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted to suspend the rules and take the consent calendar out of order, then approved the consent calendar and nine subsequent sets of new items and referrals.

The motion to suspend the rules was made by Commissioner Kevin Morrison. "At this time, I would like to make a motion to suspend the rules to take consent out of order," Morrison said, and the chair called the motion and recorded the ayes. Morrison then moved to approve all items on the consent calendar; the motion was seconded by Commissioner Aguilar and the chair declared the ayes carried.

The consent and ensuing votes covered dozens of routine and substantive items: appointments and referrals to the Commission on Human Rights and the Board of Ethics, multiple procurement contracts and contract amendments (including technology and justice-related vendor agreements), grant awards for Cook County Health, and ARPA-related items. Chair Daly highlighted a Guidehouse contract amendment of $10,400,000 to assist with ARPA reporting. Daly also presented preliminary Cook County Health budget items and several grant awards for public-health programming.

Later in the meeting the board considered eight sets of new items and a ninth set that included a substitute motion for item 245414. The board accepted the substitute for 245414 and voted to refer the substitute to the finance committee. After that referral, commissioners approved all nine sets of new items by voice vote.

Because most approvals were taken by voice vote with the chair noting the ayes carried, the transcript does not record individual roll-call tallies for each item. Where specific items were identified during the motions, commissioners asked that summaries be brief given the length of the agenda. The meeting record shows the board moved many matters to more specific committees (finance, transportation, human relations, technology) for follow-up and implementation.

The board also paused for ceremonial recognitions and took photos with honorees following several resolutions. The chair did not indicate plans for a subsequent substantive hearing on the substituted item beyond referral to finance.

Next steps: referred items will be considered in committee (for example, the substitute for 245414 was sent to finance) and sponsors or committee chairs will bring back motions or reports as required by committee rules.