Harold Richardson, from left, Vincent Thames, Terrill Swift and Michael Saunders were convicted of a 1994 rape and murder but later were cleared.
The City Council easily approved a $31 million payment Wednesday to four African-American men whose murder and rape convictions were overturned, though the debate on the major settlement revealed fissures between aldermen on the innocence of the “Englewood Four.”
Alderman voted 44-2 to pay the men rather than risk an even bigger finding against the city at trial. The four spent about 15 years each behind bars for a 1994 slaying before a forensic test revealed DNA from another man on the victim. A judge threw out their convictions.
The two votes against the settlement came from Northwest Side aldermen — one a former firefighter, the other a onetime firefighter and onetime cop — who said they have doubts about whether the four deserved to be exonerated in the death of Nina Glover.
“We’re giving $31 million to four individuals I feel were somewhat, somehow, some way part of this,” said Ald. Nick Sposato, 38th.
And Ald. Anthony Napolitano, 41st, said the city was “opening a gateway for settlements like this in the future, over and over again.”
That drew a rebuke from Ald. Leslie Hairston, 5th. “What we’re doing here with a Police Department that has a history of abusing black males in the city of Chicago, we’re not talking about opening a gateway for settlements,” she said. “The gateway for settlements was opened when they started shooting black men in the back.”
Ald. Howard Brookins, 21st, said Chicago’s taxpayers shouldn’t have to keep footing the bill for police misconduct settlements when the city’s contract with the Police Department makes it too difficult to discipline officers. Noting that Mayor Rahm Emanuel is currently in contract negotiations with the Fraternal Order of Police, Brookins called for rules allowing bad cops to be held accountable.
“I hope my colleagues voting no on this will stand with us when we are being strong to negotiate that police contract so that this doesn’t happen again,” Brookins said. “So the taxpayers are not stuck with this bill for their behavior.”
In other action at the City Council on Wednesday:
*Aldermen introduced a measure to try to once again have security personnel at Chicago airports designated as “police” on their uniforms. City Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans stripped them of that title earlier this year after the officers drew international scrutiny in April for their part in dragging a passenger from a United Airlines flight at O’Hare.
*Northwest Side Ald. Proco “Joe” Moreno, 1st, introduced a plan to allow a company to offer a trial curbside “free-floating vehicle” car rental program on parts of the North and Near South sides close to the lake.
The idea would be that people who want to rent a car could use a phone app to see if any vehicles from the company “Car2Go” are nearby, Moreno said. They could then pay a fee to drive the car where they want to go, then park and leave it in approved neighborhoods. Similar deals are in place in Seattle and elsewhere, according to Moreno.
He acknowledged there will be hurdles to making the program work here, especially since a private firm controls Chicago’s parking meters and many residential streets have permit parking restrictions. The ordinance is set to get a hearing at a joint meeting of the Economic Development and Traffic Safety committees.
*Emanuel announced his administration has told the Environmental Protection Agency it wants to be a party to any discussions about a consent decree with U.S. Steel Corp. to try to ensure the company complies with the Clean Water Act and takes steps to prevent future dumping of harmful chemicals into Lake Michigan.
This comes amid reports the steel company twice this year spilled chromium into Burns Waterway, which flows into the lake near a complex of steel mills dividing the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
The University of Chicago’s environmental law clinic is preparing a lawsuit that will accuse U.S. Steel of repeatedly violating the federal Clean Water Act since 2011. Emanuel announced last month that the city is drafting its own lawsuit, citing the steel mill's close proximity to a Lake Michigan drinking water intake off 68th Street.
*Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, a former Marine, introduced an ordinance to give city employees who are veterans a paid day off each year on Veterans Day.
They was somehow, SOMEWAY responsible.... Even tho they was exonerated...