ORDER
WHEREAS, On April 11, 2020, HILCO Redevelopment Partners, owner of the Crawford Power Plant in Little Village, and their general contractors, MCM Management Corporation and Controlled Demolition, failed to protect residents of the neighborhood when they demolished a smokestack and sent a plume of dust into the air, blanketing multiple residential blocks during the early days,of the COVID-19 pandemic; and
WHEREAS, The Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigated the City's part in the botched demolition and found numerous deficiencies with the permitting process, including the failure of the Department of Buildings to follow its own regulations for demolitions involving explosives, and the Chicago Department of Public Health's failure to elevate concerns about the potential environmental implications of the implosion; and
WHEREAS, On July 20, 2022, the City Council unanimously adopted a resolution calling upon the Corporation Counsel to immediately release the OIG's report to the public, which has been ignored by both the Corporation Counsel and the Mayor; and
WHEREAS, While the OIG's report was published by several news outlets since the City Council adopted the resolution, the City still has not fully acknowledged its role in the event by officially releasing the report, particularly in the most common language used in La Villita, the Mexico of the Midwest; and
WHEREAS, Good government requires not only transparency, but also accountability and a recognition that government must constantly work to reform and improve the systems and processes that protect the health, safety, and welfare of our residents; by failing to officially release the OIG report, the City is not living up to its own values; now, therefore
BE IT ORDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO:
SECTION 1. Notwithstanding any provision of the Municipal Code to the contrary, within 30 days after of the effective date of this order, the Corporation Counsel shall: (1) translate the report...
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