Mayor's Open Notes To The Community: Second Chance Program+

Ken Bennett, First Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Public Engagement
Published: January 6, 2016

Dear Friends:

On behalf of the Mayor, I wanted to update you on a few recent developments.

First, yesterday the Mayor joined leaders from the CTA, the Chicago City Colleges, as well as Representatives Bobby Rush and Danny Davis, to announce a new partnership to expand the CTA’s Second Chance program. This initiative is one of the largest and most successful programs of its kind in the nation. It offers ex-offenders job training and career opportunities through the CTA to provide them with a second chance at success. Through this new partnership with the Chicago City Colleges, the program will expand to offer even more career training and opportunities to learn new skills for those who are participating in it.

Also yesterday the City announced that victims of the disgraced former Chicago police commander Jon Burge began receiving financial reparations. It is part of an agreement that was approved last May by the City Council. These incidents which occurred more than 20 years ago marked a dark chapter in the City’s history. The Mayor has made it a priority to bring closure and compensation to Mr. Burge’s victims so they can move forward and continue their healing process.

I have attached more information on both of these important developments for your review.

Finally, I wanted to also provide an update on an incident regarding the actions by two members of the City’s Law Department. This week a judge ruled that last year, two attorneys for the city concealed evidence in a civil case against two Chicago police officers who were found to be justified in killing Darius Pinex in a traffic stop. That case will now be retried.

The Mayor and the City’s Law Department take this incident very seriously and have taken steps to ensure that this does not happen again. The City has zero tolerance for any action that would compromise the integrity of the City’s Law Department. Both of the attorneys in question have since resigned from the City.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. And on behalf of the Mayor, I want to thank you again for your leadership and partnership in our communities.

Sincerely,
Ken Bennett
First Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Public Engagement

Click links below to read both memos from the Office of the Mayor.

Mayor update memo Mayor update memo 2