The Rundown on the Vote for a New Chief Lobbyist

Chicago Public Schools officially hired a new chief lobbyist yesterday. But not before some members of the school board tried to postpone the vote. They failed. And the actual vote to appoint the new chief broke apart the usual governing majority of mayor-appointed and CTU-supported board members.

Here's a screenshot of the vote to appoint Iris Millán chief of intergovernmental affairs:

Now let's get into the story.

WTF Just Happened Yesterday?

It all looked so simple on paper. According to the published board agenda, four chiefs were to be appointed during yesterday's Chicago school board meeting.

The first sign of trouble surfaced when one chief appointment was separated from the others. The other three chiefs were appointed unanimously.

The board then returned to the separate appointment, which turned out to be for the chief of the office of intergovernmental affairs, also known as IGA. That's the school district's chief lobbyist. Chicago Public Schools hasn't had a chief of IGA for at least two years. (If there's a Board Rule reader who knows exactly how long it has been, email me at maureen.boardrule@gmail.com and let me know.)

As Board Rule noted in debriefing the recent, unprecedented CPS budget vote intended to pressure the state into quickly putting more money into schools, the new chief lobbyist has one tough job. Millán will be quarterbacking the school district's efforts to persuade the state legislature to deliver more money before the end of the calendar year. If that money doesn't come through and no other resources are found, CPS will be facing midyear cuts and layoffs.

So, no pressure.

The most likely opportunity to make the state pony up more money comes in the brief fall veto session. In Illinois, legislators use the veto session to review bills the governor vetoed and decide whether to override. It's also a chance to pass bills that didn't make it through the previous spring's regular session. This year's veto session spans a mere six days, three before Thanksgiving and three after.

Again, no pressure.

In an ideal world, the IGA chief would also work closely with the whole school board, since many board members already have relationships with state legislators and are lobbying for more state funds. But an awkward vote to appoint Millán could have set her at odds with some board members from the get-go. Here's what happened.

The Vote to Appoint a New Chief Lobbyist Hit A Speed Bump Before Passing

When the board turned to the vote on the chief of IGA, it became clear the proposed appointee was Iris Millán, the associate vice chancellor of government affairs and civic engagement for City Colleges of Chicago.

Before a vote could be taken, Board Member Anusha Thotakura (6a) moved to table the item and postpone the vote until the regular board meeting on August 27. Board Member Karen Zaccor (4a) seconded. A most interesting discussion followed. You can hear the whole 20-minute conversation on the meeting video, from 40:24 to 1:03. Highly recommended!

But of course, here are some key bits:

Thotakura opened the discussion, saying she still had outstanding questions and wanted more information and a chance for further discussion in closed session before voting.

Board Member Carlos Rivas (3b) noted that Millán had been interviewed back in February. He expressed frustration that the board had waited "a whole legislative session" before bringing a candidate to a vote. "I was really hopeful to be able to have this person hit the ground running, because they have a monumental task of finding in Springfield $150 million that the majority of this board believes is coming," he said.

"I, too, share Member Rivas' concerns about making sure this position is filled," said Board Member Michilla Blaise (5b). "This is a critical position at this moment. We are looking for $150 million in our budget. So we need to be assured that the IG person has the relationships and the wherewithal to know how to get us over the finish line." Blaise later added that it will take "an incredible leader to herd all the cats," including labor partners.

An aside: Here's a possible magic decoder ring for what Blaise said about relationships and labor partners. In 2018, Millán lost a primary race against Delia Ramirez for 4th District state representative. Ramirez now represents Illinois in Congress (District 3). She has longstanding, close ties with the Chicago Teachers Union. A quick check on the Illinois Sunshine campaign finance database shows Millán has longstanding ties with Ald. Gilbert Villegas. Her early career included a stint as a staffer for disgraced former First Ward Ald. Proco Joe Moreno. Those aren't alders friendly with CTU.

"We have not a moment to waste to get an IGA chief in place," said Board Member Jessica Biggs (6b). "I don't know what else there would be to learn that would cause us to delay this vote any longer."

"I think I have an idea of what else there is to learn," said Board Member Che "Rhymefest" Smith (10a). "I have been lobbied actively by another candidate who has called me and told me to vote no on the superintendent's pick for IGA. As we speak, this person is still texting me, asking me to vote no on this. Not only has this person lobbied me, this person is lobbying other board members."

Another aside: After the meeting, Board Rule confirmed with two people who had knowledge of the situation that the other candidate was Adrienne Irmer, associate vice president for external affairs at Illinois Tech. Irmer's earlier career includes unsuccessful runs for state representative and alder, when she was knocked off the ballot over a residency issue. Her Illinois Sunshine history includes a $1000 payment for consulting work with Jesus Garcia's 2015 mayoral campaign and a a $5000 donation from the Illinois Federation of Teachers PAC to her 2018 campaign for 25th District state representative. In that race, she lost in a crowded primary. Curtis Tarver ultimately won the seat. Going back to 2010, Irmer served as a strategist on Board Member Smith's unsuccessful campaign for 20th Ward alder.

The discussion went on, and as it wound down, Thotakura asked to take the floor again. Then came...

The Make It Make Sense Part

"I didn't want to get into personnel details unnecessarily, but I want to be very specific about what questions I had asked in closed session," Thotakura said. "I had asked in the previous closed session, 'Does this candidate have experience as a registered lobbyist?'"

She said her main concern was to know whether the candidate (Millán) had experience "beyond an occasional meeting with a legislator, that that's someone's significant job duties." When she asked in closed session, she was told she would get an answer later, but she didn't. So she looked it up herself and didn't find Millán registered. She also acknowledged "there are some exemptions" to the requirement.

Here's the twist. Millán's work for City Colleges of Chicago falls into one of those exemptions: state law says that local government employees whose job is to lobby are not required to register.

This was not publicly discussed during the meeting. Superintendent/CEO Macquline King simply noted that being a registered lobbyist was not part of the job description.

What remains unclear: why would Thotakura, who leads Citizen Action Illinois, a lobbying organization, be unaware of this very relevant exemption? Board Rule reached out to Thotakura last night for comment, but didn't get a response before publishing this morning.

When the motion to postpone the appointment went to a vote, it was rejected. Here are the votes on the motion to postpone:

Then the vote on the appointment itself was taken, with the yes vote shown at the top of this story.