Some background on the 1st District Council (1st DC) while we wait: - Part of a 2-prong public safety reform effort established under Lightfoot and actively meeting since May 2023 - Elected members commit 20 hrs/mo for a $500 stipend to address public safety issues in community

- In its 1st yr, council focused on vacancies & establishing policies for how it will operate - in 2024, they transitioned to an information gathering phase; regularly attending public meetings, meeting with the community, alders, the mayor, and police

There have been noted challenges with promoting community awareness of the new DC. Appears no proposals or tentative solutions have been put forward yet. 1st DC still meeting with the community & gathering input and concerns.

At the time of this reporting, I noted difficulty in locating DC's presence on social media:  facebook.com/DistrictCounci… Not sure if you're in the 1st District? Learn about the DCs and find your local here:  chicago.gov/city/en/depts/…

Meeting started at 6:04 pm Council members Kammerer, Brown, and Johnson were all present. Ald. Pat Dowell was also in attendance.

No public comment today. Council person Kammerer introduced the function of the council and the work they do in the community. "We need your help. A lot of people don't know that we exist. We have been doing this for 18th months. We are new....We welcome any introductions."

Council person Brown addressed received feedback concerns: "quality of life, street safety." She flagged festival season as a major concern both for the council and the community.

Councilperson Johnson provided updates on nominations and upcoming CCPSA meeting where the new COPA chief will be nominated. Sat March 8 Quarterly meeting - all district council will discuss transit concerns across the city and the strategic plan developed by the police.

Kammerer mentioned the police district meetings info gathering of district concerns from constituents. They listed 3 main priorities: quality of life, car theft, and robberies.

She is asking for folks to submit the feedback form about these priorities and whether they feel these match their experiences or any additional input to help the council advocate on behalf of the district.

Discussion has opened. First speaker is thanking the council for their work so far. "I did see a change in the neighborhood." They no longer find themselves running to group chats asking about gun shots.

The atmosphere is very gracious. Nods of acknowledgement and personal stories from the attendees about council members participating in neighborhood parties and holidays.

A second speaker echoed these sentiments and asked that members can help the community stay ahead of the anticipated changes in public safety as the weather changed. Next meeting will be Tuesday at 12 pm. The council is still testing different times and locations.

Ald Dowell asked about how the issues raised have varied across districts. Kammerer said the issues are themselves the same but they are described somewhat differently by different folks -- eg: quality of life issues.

Brown has flagged another consistency in complaints, the people causing issues are not from the district. Ald. Dowell asked about things like package theft. An attendee from the district added, "Amazon thought I was lying about how often packages were being stolen."

Meeting ended at early at 6:29 pm.