Meetings & Agendas
- Chicago
- Springfield
A plan to revitalize downtown’s LaSalle Street Corridor and add virtually nonexistent affordable housing to the city’s center took one step closer to reality Tuesday as city officials unveiled three proposals as finalists to add more than 1,000 mixed-income apartments to the downtown corridor.
Ald. Sophia King (4), chair of the City Council Progressive Caucus who ran as a mayoral candidate in the Feb. 28 election, endorsed former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas in the mayoral runoff. But a group of nine aldermen who are members of the Progressive Caucus issued a statement saying King’s endorsement doesn’t speak for the caucus.
The Chicago Police Department on Friday enacted two new hiring programs meant to appeal to officers who left the department in the past few years to come back and to bring sworn officers from other law enforcement agencies to Chicago on an expedited basis.
Candidates in multiple aldermanic runoffs are using red boxes on their campaign websites often used to highlight approved ad messaging to independent political action committees, a strategy that — while not explicitly banned in Illinois — some election experts say essentially skirts legal prohibitions on coordination between campaigns and outside PACs.
Joe Dunne, an affordable housing developer competing in the 48th Ward, and Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36), who is defending his City Council seat in the April runoff, both have red boxes on their websites. The boxed text includes messaging about both the candidates and their opponents.
With less than two weeks until the April 4 runoff election, a candidate running for alderman in the 46th Ward has accused her opponent of using a tactic to indirectly influence ads produced by independent political committees.
The open race to replace retiring Ald. James Cappleman (46) also intensified last week as it became the first aldermanic contest to see contribution caps blown. The ward covers Uptown and parts of Lakeview.
A group of aldermen is pushing to hold a special City Council meeting next week to vote on changes to the council’s Rules of Order that they say would help make the legislative body more independent. But even if aldermen approve the rule changes next week, the new City Council will still have to vote on its own set of rules after being sworn in on May 15.
An appointment has been made to replace former Democratic Rep. Fran Hurley of Chicago to represent the 35th House District in the General Assembly. Last month Hurley stepped down to accept a gubernatorial appointment to the Illinois Labor Relations Board after serving for 10 years.
All six members of a selection committee — made up of local Democratic committeepersons — voted to appoint Mary Gill, executive director of the Mt. Greenwood Community and Business Association.
Driver’s licenses for undocumented Illinois residents could soon look more standard after the House passed a bill that would remove a purple line identifying the person’s temporary status.
The House concluded its deadline week to pass bills on to the Senate abruptly Friday night after a procedural error over debate rules angered Republicans and a growing number of Democrats left session for the night.