Chicago City Council panel OKs $15M settlement with parking meter company
CHICAGO - The Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee on Monday approved a $15.5 million settlement with Chicago Parking Meters, LLC, ending years of legal disputes over its controversial parking meter lease agreement.
The committee also approved a little over $62 million in settlements for police misconduct cases, including $48 million for three men who spent decades in prison after being wrongfully convicted in a 1986 arson that killed two people.
The full City Council will have to approve the settlements and can do so as soon as Wednesday.
Parking company settlement
The backstory:
Chicago officials said the $15.5 million reached after extensive negotiations with Chicago Parking Meters LLC is significantly lower than the $322 million originally sought by the company.
The dispute stemmed from claims that the city didn’t enforce meter violations, stopped giving out tickets during the COVID-19 pandemic, and mishandled the distribution of revenue with the company.
In addition to the payout, the city agreed to a year of enhanced parking enforcement, while Chicago Parking Meters agreed to begin sharing meter data with the city. The city agreed to hire 10 full-time parking enforcement officers at a salary of $52,000 a year, but are each expected to produce about $490,000 in ticket revenue for the city.
Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th Ward) said during Monday's meeting it was "a bit frustrating" that the city had to get sued to hire more parking enforcement personnel when doing so could generate more revenue from tickets.
The parking meter company also claimed the city owed it $2 million because it stopped enforcing parking violations in parts of the city during the COVID-19 pandemic when the state implemented stay-at-home orders. A city attorney said an arbitrator agreed the city should pay the company the money, but the city appealed that decision. Under the proposed settlement, the city agreed to drop its appeal.
Mary B. Richardson, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s corporate counsel, said the agreement was meant to bring "an end to years of costly litigation at a fraction of the potential financial exposure." The city has spent about $7 million in legal fees on the parking meter cases, according to the city's Law Department.
City officials noted the revenue from the disputed metered spaces exceeds the settlement cost by more than $10 million.
Police misconduct settlements
The backstory:
Of the more than $62 million designated for police misconduct settlements, $48 million would go to three men wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for a 1986 arson that killed two brothers.
Arthur Almendarez, John Galvan, and Francisco Nañez were convicted of the deadly arson, but said the convictions were based on fabricated evidence after they were coerced during their interrogations.
The men claimed police used physical torture and mental abuse to get a confession from them. They’ve all maintained they were innocent of the crime.
They each spent about 35 years in prison.
A judge overturned their convictions due to insufficient evidence. The charges were dropped, and they were released in 2022.
The committee also approved another $5 million payment to a woman who claimed Chicago police officers refused to help her when she was outside for hours in the cold after being accidentally locked out of her home in February 2021.
Briana Keys, the plaintiff, was wearing a bathrobe and experiencing a mental health crisis at the time, although that was unknown to the officers. Keys was later diagnosed with frostbite, and as a result, both of her legs were amputated below the knees.
A city attorney said there was conflicting testimony over whether the officers declined to help Keys.