New regulations governing electronic paging devices, lead testing in Chicago buildings and waste recycling were quickly passed with nearly no comment by the City Council on Friday.
Aldermen then spent nearly two hours in heated and often personal debate about a symbolic lifting of a 1990 ordinance imposing economic sanctions on South Africa, finally agreeing to do so by a 38-8 vote.
The fight against lifting the sanctions, a measure already adopted by dozens of major American cities at the request of South African civil rights leader Nelson Mandela was led by Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3rd).
Although Tillman’s rhetoric was loud and challenging to other minority members of the council, she managed to sway only seven of the council’s 18 black aldermen, with the remainder joining in a vote to lift the sanctions.
At the debate’s conclusion, Ald. Edward Burke (14th), a sponsor of the ordinance, read a lengthy statement made by U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun (D-Ill.) on the Senate floor calling for lifting sanctions.
“Take your pick, ladies and gentleman,” Burke said with rhetorical flourish. “Choose between Carol Moseley-Braun or the alderman of the 3rd Ward.”
Before the South African debate, however, aldermen sped through their agenda, passing new ordinances in blinks of time.
The measures included:
– An ordinance that will give the city’s Health and Building Departments the right to inspect buildings and residences if they suspect high levels of lead are present, especially in old paint. Under the current law, such inspections are conducted only after a case of lead poisoning is reported. The new law is intended to prevent lead poisoning before it can happen.
– An ordinance requiring companies or businesses that sell, maintain or repair electronic paging devices to keep detailed records of all transactions, subject to periodic inspection by the Chicago Police Department and the Department of Consumer Services.
The ordinance, sponsored by Ald. Ginger Rugai (19th), is designed to keep track of the burgeoning business of beepers, often used by drug dealers or street gang members.
– An ordinance to require all Chicago businesses and apartment buildings serviced by private scavenger services to set up a recycling program for at least two recyclable materials by Jan. 1, 1995. By Jan. 1, 1996, a third recyclable material must be added to the recycling programs maintained by the property owners and private scavenger services.
The recycling ordinance was sponsored by Burke and Ald. Bernard Hansen (44th), but it was hailed by aldermen as a salute to Ald. Edwin Eisendrath (43rd), chairman of the Environmental Control Committee.
Friday was Eisendrath’s final council meeting because he has accepted an appointment by President Clinton to serve as regional administrator for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The appointment of a successor to Eisendrath, an alderman since 1987, is pending as Mayor Richard Daley ponders whom to appoint. Daley said after the council meeting he was still considering several choices for the lakefront ward post.
After the regular business Friday, the council moved into its annual public hearing on Daley’s proposed annual budget, this one calling for $3.4 billion in 1994.
But, because Daley is asking for no property tax increases, relying instead on a series of smaller license and inspection fee boosts, a liquor tax increase, and a 1 percent hike in the electricity tax, public comment was generally good.
