# Pan-African Roots — 2022-12-29T00:00:00.000 (On 9 June 2022, the Subcommittee on Reparations of the Committee on Health and Human Relations of the City Council held a meeting. Heather Cherone, a journalist with WTTW.com, wrote an article about that meeting titled “Chicago Failed to Enforce Law Requi

**Score:** 62/100

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Organization | Pan-African Roots |
| Filing Date | 2023-01-17 |
| Jurisdiction | IL |
| Locality | On 9 June 2022, the Subcommittee on Reparations of the Committee on Health and Human Relations of the City Council held a meeting. Heather Cherone, a journalist with WTTW.com, wrote an article about that meeting titled “Chicago Failed to Enforce Law Requiring City Contractors to Disclose Links to Slavery."  According to Ms. Cherone, Chief Procurement Officer Aileen Velaquez “told members of the Subcommittee that her office did not have the annual reports required by the slavery-era disclosure ordinance and could not provide them to the subcommittee. The 2021 report will be complete by June [2022] and submitted to the City Council, Velaquez said.”  For almost two decades, I have submitted a litany of FOI and Open Records requests, made numerous administrative appeals, and filed 2 lawsuits requesting copies of these Annual Reports and access to the Economic Disclosure Statements and Affidavits, pursuit to city, state and federal FOI and Open Records laws. I have also asked to be informed of the date that the City Council will hold a public hearing, as also required by the Slavery-era Disclosure Ordinance.   The Mayor of all administrations since 2003, the Procurement Department, and the City Council have repeatedly failed and refused to enforce this Ordinance and positively respond to my FOIA request. At any point in the process, the then Mayor, the then Chief Procurement Officer, and the City Council "did not have the annual reports required by the slavery-era disclosure ordinance and could not provide them" to me or other FOIA requesters, several of whom I know.  I request once again, pursuant to all relevant laws, a copy of the 2021 Annual Report which the Mayor of the City of Chicago and the Chief Procurement Officer are required by the Chicago Slavery Era Disclosure Ordinance to submit to the City Council.   I also would like to be informed of the date that the City Council will convene a public hearing regarding this Annual Report, as required by law.  A copy of this FOIA request will be published on our website and sent to the media and interested groups and individuals, worldwide. We want our copy, or at least the courtesy to tell us that the Ordinance was not enforced, and the responsible City officials willfully and repeatedly failed to do what they are required to do by law. We will exhaust all remedies, as we have done for the past almost two decades.  Thank You!  Bob Brown, Director Pan-African Roots. |
| Classification | 2022-12-29T00:00:00.000 |
| Reported Metric | Bob Brown |
| Dataset Source | Chicago Data Portal (bcyv-67qk) |

## Why this score
- Official Chicago Data Portal commercial filing (bcyv-67qk)
- Verified organizational registry record
- Jurisdiction: IL

Source: Chicago Data Portal — FOIA Request Log (bcyv-67qk) (https://data.cityofchicago.org/d/bcyv-67qk). Last refreshed: 2026-11-04T06:11:34.675Z.
Source: Chicago Data Portal (data.cityofchicago.org, dataset bcyv-67qk). Public registry publication is a routine administrative record and is not a finding of fault, violation, or noncompliance. Individual and sole-proprietor records are excluded; verify directly with the issuing agency before taking action.