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PROPOSED ORDINANCE
OFFICE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
BE IT ORDAINED, by the Cook County Board of Commissioners, that Chapter 38, Article VII, Sec. 38-165 of the Cook County Code is hereby enacted as follows:
ARTICLE VII. OFFICE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Sec. 38-165. Office for People with Disabilities
(a) Title. This division shall be known and may be cited as the “Office for People with Disabilities Ordinance” of Cook County, Illinois.
(b) Purpose and Policy. Cook County is a place where your future is not limited by your race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, income, where you were born or where you live. Equity exists when everyone has access to opportunities necessary to satisfy essential needs, advance their well-being, and achieve their full potential. Equity is both the means to healthy communities and an end that benefits us all.
People who have disabilities are entitled to full inclusion as equal citizens in society and the opportunity to achieve their full economic, social, cultural, civic, and political potential. People who have disabilities are entitled to the freedom to experience environments without discriminatory barriers that prevent people who have disabilities from participating in the decisions that affect them.
It is the policy of Cook County to resist and remove such barriers, to promote the full integration and participation of people with disabilities into all areas of economic, political, and community life, and to make it possible for them to realize their full potential and contribute to the common good.
(c) Creation. There is hereby created and established the Office for People with Disabilities. The Office for People with Disabilities will coordinate all activities, plans, and programs including, but not limited to providing assistance to the problems, concerns, and issues of people with disabilities.
(d) Duties.The Office for People with Disabilities shall:
(1) Provide information to the Board of Commissioners concerning issues of importance to people with disabilities;
(2) Assist in addressing fairly the concerns of people with disabilities, individually and as a protected class, under Cook County ordinances and other applicable laws;
(3) Carry on research or otherwise obtain factual data, issue publications, and make recommendations that implement the policy of the Office;
(4) Recommend policies and practices to all departments and offices of the County in matters affecting concerns of people with disabilities;
(5) Encourage understanding between the community of people with disabilities and the larger Cook County Community through long-range projects;
(6) Cooperate with the Board of Commissioners in formulating and executing comprehensive programs that enhance the opportunities for people with disabilities;
(7) Recommend such legislative action as he or she may deem appropriate to implement the
policy of the Office for People with Disabilities;
(8) Enlist and encourage the cooperation of all public and voluntary agencies, racial, religious, and ethnic groups, community organizations, fraternal and benevolent societies, veteran organizations, professional and technical organizations, and other groups in Cook County working to implement the policy of the Office;
(9) Report on a semi-annual basis to the Board of Commissioners. Such reports shall include an annual or semi-annual work plan, a briefing on the Office's public involvement process for soliciting community and citizen input in framing their annual work plans, and updates on the work plans.
(e) Composition. The Office for People with Disabilities shall be staffed with an affairs officer, a permanent position, who shall head the office, and two other personnel. Employees of the department shall receive such compensation as may be fixed by the Board of Commissioners, from the proceeds of the Special Use Gasoline and Fuel Tax.
(f) Gifts. The Office may accept offers of gifts or grants, including equipment, supplies, materials or funds, from the United States, the State of Illinois, their agencies or officers, or from any person, firm, or corporation. The Office may expend such receipts on projects that implement the policy of the Office.
(g) Funds. The Office for People with Disabilities shall be annually appropriated a total amount of $1,147,191 for its administrative and operational requirements on the basis of the approved work and financial plans. The breakdown of the appropriated amount is $1,042,707 for personnel services, $82,542 for contractual services, $12,403 for travel, and $9,539 for commodities. With the exception of the funds described in paragraph (f) of this ordinance, funds appropriated for the Office for People with disabilities shall be derived from the proceeds of the Special Use Gasoline and Fuel Tax.
Effective date: This ordinance shall be in effect June 1, 2016 or upon passage and publication, whichever date is later.
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