The meeting has been called to order.

It will begin with 10 public commenters.

Sam Mulroe, Vice President of Clinical Services at A Safe Haven, spoke in favor of a municipal code amendment that he believed would increase jobs.

Zoe (missed their last name) spoke against the Democratic Party and claimed that technology job salaries are decreasing as a result of Indian immigrants.

Jessica Jackson: "My concern is to make sure, through all the changes that are being made, are that Black people are getting their jobs. I'm not talking about Black and brown. Brown is getting theirs."

Brad Tietz, Vice President of Government Relations at the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, spoke against the data residency ordinance. "Data residency is a fundamentally flawed concept, especially for a jurisdiction as small as a city."

A speaker from an environmental organization opposed the ordinance and called instead for mandatory energy and water efficiency forecasting, anual reporting, standards for new construction, and participation in demand-response programs

Keith Allen of Black Men United spoke in favor of the data residency ordinance because it would create jobs and generate revenue. "New developments like this are essential. We can lower the tax burden on small businesses and working people."

Craig Huffman, CEO of Metro Edge Development Partners, said he was the only African-American developing a data center in Chicago. He compared the data residency ordinance to the positive effects of 25 and 5.

Alderman Ray Lopez called for a moment of silence to honor victims of the 9/11 attacks.

The committee approved the reappointments of Laurentino Ramirez, Alex Alemis, Jose Chavez, William Shepherd, and Christopher Murphy, and the appointments of Richard Buckwalter, Daniel Ehle, and Brandy’An Amafala-Marquad “Katiana Shavonte."

@ChicagoDPD Financial Planning Analyst Antoinette Maxwell spoke in support of a tax incentive for a Hubbard Street property in the Kinzie industrial corridor. The incentive would mitigate costs to renovate the building, which would be used for landscaping and decor assembly.

The estimated tax abatement is about $100,000, of which the City would be responsible for about $24,000.

Alderman Daniel La Spata: "It takes creativity" to make manufacturing work in the Kinzie corridor. "I'm really proud of what's happening here today."

The committee recommended the passing of the tax incentive.

Robert Bumpers, @ChicagoDPD Financial Planning Analyst, presented a request for a tax incentive for a 24th St. property, which would compensate the applicant for remediating the abandoned property.

The estimated tax abatement is about $423,000. The City's share would be about $98,000.

The committee recommended passing the item.

Aaron Fogo, @ChicagoDPD Financial Planning Analyst, requested the approval of a tax incentive for an 87th St property. It is the first 7D tax incentive application, a category used to encourage the operation of grocery stories in food deserts.

The estimated tax abatement is $4.6 mil.

The committee voted to approve the passing of the incentive.

Patrick Hall, General Counsel & Managing Deputy Procurement Officer, stated that the Department of Procurement Services is officially neutral on the data residency ordinance.

Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth raised concerns about the environmental impact of the ordinance. A working group will discuss it, but it is not directly addressed in the text of the ordinance.

Alderman Gilbert Villegas: "We can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." Prioritizing a revenue generator, even if it may have some negative impacts, is important, he said.

Alderperson Nicole Lee, to Alderperson Villegas: "I don't understand why there's been such a lopsided number of data centers built in the suburbs vs the city. We need to pull levers to make building data centers in the city more attractive."

Clarifying his statement of neutrality, Hall said, "the edits allowed us to say, can we achieve best technology practices? We determined that we could." However, many other aspects of the ordinance were outside of the organization's area of expertise.

The committee voted to pass the motion to amend. The meeting is adjourned.