Mayor Brandon Johnson has appointed seven finalists to serve permanently on the Chicago Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, the civilian agency responsible for police oversight.
Anthony Driver Jr., president of the interim Commission, and interim vice-president Remel Terry were chosen to serve on a permanent basis.
Also appointed was Attorney Sandra Wortham, the sister of slain Chicago Police Officer Thomas Wortham Jr. She now serves as executive board president of the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation.
The mayor’s other choices include Aaron Gottlieb, Abierre Minor, Angel Rubi Navarijo and Kelly Presley.
Gottlieb is an assistant professor at the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice, and a member of the Consent Decree Use of Force Working Group.
Minor serves as the chief fiscal officer of the Progressive Minds Show and was the former chief of staff for State Senator Mattie Hunter.
Navarijo is the director of constituent services for 48th Ward Alderman Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth and a member of the CCSPA’s Non-Citizen Advisory Council.
Presley is the associate general counsel of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago. He is a former attorney for the Illinois Department of Corrections, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, and the Office of the Public Guardian.
Driver led the nationwide search that ended with the appointment of Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling.
The seven mayoral nominees were among 14 chosen by a 22-member commission. The members represent each of the 22 District Councils.
Four of the seven Commission members will serve for four years. The other three will serve two-year terms. The length will be decided by a random drawing conducted by Adam Gross, executive director of the Chicago Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability.
All Commission members will receive a $12,000 annual stipend. Driver, the commission president, will be paid $15,000 a year.
To qualify for membership on the Commission, applicants must have had lived in Chicago for the last five years. They also cannot have worked for the Chicago Police Department, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability or the Chicago Police Board during that period.
According to the city’s website, applicants also must have “at least five years combined experience in one or more of the following fields: law, public policy, social work, psychology, mental health, public safety, community organizing, civil rights or advocacy on behalf of marginalized communities.”
Applicants on the Commission must submit a resumé and three letters of support. As an option, applicants can also submit a written statement detailing their “experience with policing and the criminal legal system.”
