RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Lincoln Towing, located at 4601 West Armitage Street and 4882 North Clark Street, has operated as a towing relocation service in Chicago for over sixty years; and
WHEREAS, for many years Lincoln Towing has taken unfair advantage of countless Chicago motorists, conducting illegal tows and operating without appropriate permits, and damaging vehicles in the process; and
WHEREAS, in the last decade alone Lincoln Towing has been the subject of over seventy complaints to the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection and has been referred to the Department of Administrative Hearings sixteen times; and
WHEREAS, state law primarily governs the operations of Lincoln Towing, and the City Council has also taken action where possible to'protect Chicago motorists; and
WHEREAS, on June 22, 2016, the City Council adopted the "Towing Bill of Rights" Ordinance, requiring towing companies like Lincoln Towing to provide transparency to the City of Chicago and motorists they affect; and
WHEREAS, under the Illinois Commercial Relocation of Trespassing Vehicles Law, primary oversight ■ authority over Lincoln Towing is vested in the Illinois Commerce Commission; and
WHEREAS, on February 24, 2016 the Illinois Commerce Commission initiated a proceeding to investigate Lincoln Towing's fitness to hold an operating license; and
WHEREAS, on May 2, 2018 the Staff of the Illinois Commerce Commission, in their Post-Hearing Brief, recommended that the Commission find Lincoln Towing unfit to hold a Relocator's License in the State of Illinois, in effect closing down their business; and
WHEREAS, ICC Staff's position is based on overwhelming evidence supporting license revocation, including an investigation that identified 462 occurrences of illegal towing between July 24, 2015 and March 23, 2016; and
WHEREAS, it is imperative that the Illinois Commerce Commission, given its primary jurisdiction here, take swift and strong action, after it receives a Proposed Order from the Administrative Law Judge in this matter, to adopt the Staff recommendation; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and Members of the City Council of the City of Chicago, assembled this twenty-third day of May, 2018, do hereby commend the efforts of the Illinois Commerce Commission to date to protect motorists; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we call upon the Illinois Commerce Commission to heed the call of Commission Staff and use every available tool to put a stop to the gross negligence and misdeeds being carried out by Lincoln Towing; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to each member of the Illinois Commerce Commission as a sign of our serious concerns regarding this important issue.