Cook County Board of Review Comm. Tammy Wendt is opposed a bill backed by her fellow commissioners Larry Rogers and Michael Cabonargi.

Members of the Cook County Board of Review are divided over a proposed state House bill that would bar candidates from running for the elected tax office unless they’re licensed to practice law in Illinois.

The two senior members of the three-member board are promoting the bill as a way to ensure its leaders are held to a higher professional standard in their work reviewing thousands of tax assessment appeals each year. But the newest member of the group has joined the ranks of critics who call the bill a ploy to thin the political field before all three commissioners run for reelection next year.

City leaders expect to pick a winning casino proposal early next year.

The word “neighborhood” is mentioned 12 times in the Request for Proposals issued to would-be Chicago casino operators, but the document issued by Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office on Thursday provided the strongest evidence yet that city leaders are eyeing a site in or around downtown.

The 86-page open-call invites developers to pitch their ideas for a “world-class entertainment destination” with an “iconic outdoor public space,” a five-star hotel and a meeting space of up to 60,000 square feet. The new “live-work-play district” should embed gambling within a larger constellation of shops, restaurants and performance venues, and it should integrate with a “multi-modal” transportation fabric that emphasizes walkability, according to the plan.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot during a Wednesday news conference; Ald. Daniel La Spata (1) during a Thursday news conference hosted by the Right to Recovery coalition

Mayor Lori Lightfoot is holding her cards close as debate heats up over how Chicago should spend the $1.8 billion it’s on track to receive through the American Rescue Plan Act signed by President Joe Biden earlier this month.

But aldermen and other stakeholders are not waiting.

News in brief:  State leaders to testify at Cook County Cannabis commission; Advocates call on aldermen to consider COVID-related housing proposal

Cook County Independent Inspector General Patrick Blanchard and county Board of Review commissioners Larry Rogers and Michael Cabonargi during a meeting of the Board of Commissioners’ Finance Subcommittee on Litigation on Tuesday

Leaders of the Cook County Board of Review have one month to produce a point-by-point response to a watchdog’s finding of clout-based hiring in their office, county commissioners declared on Tuesday.

Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the order at the end of an hour-plus meeting of the county Board of Commissioners’ Finance Subcommittee on Litigation, which met Tuesday in an attempt to unlock a months-long stalemate between the Board of Review and county Independent Inspector General Patrick Blanchard over the board’s hiring policies.

The Morton Salt shed at 1357 N. Elston Ave. would be turned into a concert venue with space for up to 4,000 people under a plan approved Thursday.

A $30 million plan to transform the Morton Salt industrial shed in West Town into a concert venue and dining destination took a leap forward Thursday after earning a unanimous endorsement from the Chicago Plan Commission.

Chicago-based Blue Star Properties and prolific Goose Island developer R2 Companies are proposing to redevelop (O2019-7968) the four-acre site at 1357 N. Elston Ave. along the Chicago River North Branch while keeping the iconic exterior structure intact, even landmarking the building so that the “Morton Salt” logo and umbrella girl illustration remain to greet concertgoers.

Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) during a City Council meeting on Wednesday. Villegas’ proposal to use federal stimulus money to fund a basic income program was sabotaged by Ald. Jason Ervin (28). [Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times/Pool]

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s long-promised overhaul of the city’s highest-profile affordable housing policy cleared the City Council in a 42-8 vote on Wednesday, setting it up to guide most new residential construction proposed after Oct. 1.

The ordinance was the most controversial of dozens of measures approved during the City Council’s first in-person meeting since February 2020.

News in brief: Cook County launches ‘My Shot’ vaccine campaign; Chicago Department of Housing releases Racial Equity Impact Assessment; Mendoza announces tax relief

An ordinance up for consideration Tuesday is designed to extend the life on affordability covenants tied to homes sold through city housing programs.

Affordable housing covenants imposed by city programs would renew more frequently under a measure set for consideration by aldermen on Tuesday.

The ordinance (O2021-446), introduced last month by Mayor Lori Lightfoot on behalf of the Chicago Department of Housing, is scheduled for a vote by the City Council’s Committee on Housing and Real Estate during its 10 a.m. meeting.

Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough has been under the microscope of a court-appointed monitor since last April.

A legal spat is intensifying between Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough and a court-appointed monitor who found that her office is struggling to put in place some federally mandated reforms designed to prevent political insiders from being hired to government posts.

Cardelle Spangler, the “compliance administrator” assigned last year by U.S. Magistrate Judge Sidney Schenkier to keep tabs on Yarbrough’s office as part of the decades-old lawsuit brought by anti-patronage attorney Michael Shakman, wrote in her latest public report on Feb. 16 that Yarbrough’s office has made “significant progress” on revamping some hiring policies. And the monitor has not unearthed any fresh allegations of clout-based hiring in the office, a point repeatedly emphasized by Yarbrough’s team.

State Rep. Sonya Harper (D-Chicago) speaks at an Illinois Legislative Black Caucus press conference [Illinois House Democratic Caucus]

State regulators and lawmakers are vowing to charge ahead with a fresh round of pot dispensary licenses this year, even as disagreements remain over how to revive the state’s beleaguered efforts to ensure equity in the approval process.

Chicago Department of Buildings Comm. Matthew Beaudet and Infortmation Technology Director Eric Tenfelde during a zoning committee on Tuesday

Aldermen unanimously advanced a proposal on Tuesday to crack down on “problem” building owners but grilled city officials over the long-promised technology upgrades needed to bring the measure to life.

The council’s Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards voted to endorse an ordinance (O2021-1193) sponsored by Mayor Lori Lightfoot that would widen the criteria used by the city’s Department of Buildings to add properties to the city’s “Building Code Scofflaw List.” Properties on the list are rendered ineligible for zoning changes, tax-increment financing assistance or land deals with the city.

A years-in-the-making push to rewrite Chicago’s highest-profile affordable housing policy cleared a key hurdle on Tuesday, setting up Mayor Lori Lightfoot for a significant victory as she faces mounting headwinds across a range of other issues.

Aldermen on the City Council’s Committee on Housing and Real Estate voted 14-3 to advance Lightfoot’s proposed overhaul (SO2021-1226) of the Affordable Requirements Ordinance. If approved by the full council on Wednesday, the update will go into effect on Oct. 1, ushering in the third iteration of the policy created in 2007 and updated in 2015.

A graphic rendering of the Bronzeville Lakefront mega-development proposed on the site of the Michael Reese Hospital campus

A years-in-the-making plan to build a new mini-neighborhood on a 71-acre swath of the city’s Near South lakefront is set to clear a major hurdle on Thursday as the Chicago Plan Commission considers plans for the “Bronzeville Lakefront” mega-development on the site of the former Michael Reese Hospital.

When completed in approximately 2041, the Bronzeville Lakefront campus is planned to include nearly 7,000 units of new homes, plus millions of square feet of office, retail and research space. The plan is one of seven applications set for consideration by the plan commission during its 10 a.m. meeting on Thursday.

A page from a presentation on the updated Fulton Innovation District plan, projecting new development north of Lake Street [Department of Planning and Development]

A decades-old ban on residential development is set to be reversed this week for a 63-acre swath of Fulton Market, widening the spigot on the gush of development already pouring into the red-hot neighborhood.

Aldermen are scheduled during a 10 a.m. meeting of the City Council Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards on Tuesday to consider lifting the prohibition on residential development in the Kinzie Corridor Overlay District along the north edge of Fulton Market, fulfilling a longtime request of developers and some neighborhood groups. The district is roughly bounded by Carroll Avenue, Ogden Avenue, Hubbard Street and Halsted Street.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle during a monthly Board of Commissioners meeting on Thursday

It will likely be another several months before Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is ready to relinquish pandemic-related emergency powers, she and other county leaders said Thursday.

The Cook County Board of Commissioners voted 15-2 on Thursday to extend (21-2068) through April 30 the county’s COVID-19 disaster proclamation by an additional month, empowering Preckwinkle to issue executive orders and procure contracts without board approval. It was the sixth time the board has approved an extension to the disaster declaration, which will now be extended into a 13^th month.

Sharone Mitchell, Jr. during a meeting of the Cook County Board of Commissioners’ Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee on Wednesday.

Sharone Mitchell, Jr. will use his six-year term as the next Cook County Public Defender to help “actualize” the county’s phase-out of cash bail, he told commissioners during a confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

Mitchell’s appointment is set for a final vote during Thursday’s regular meeting of the county Board of Commissioners, priming him to take over as the county’s top defense lawyer on April 1. Commissioners voted unanimously on Wednesday to advance his appointment out of the board’s Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee.

Ald. Daniel La Spata (1) and Ald. Nicholas Sposato sparred over booting during a meeting of the City Council Committee on License and Consumer Protection on Wednesday.

Two aldermen called on Tuesday for a citywide reassessment of regulations around car booting, but they faced pushback from colleagues who defended the controversial practice used to punish parking violators.

The debate unfolded during a meeting of the City Council’s Committee on License and Consumer Protection before members of the committee unanimously approved an ordinance (O2021-735) by Ald. Daniel La Spata (1) to abolish the practice of booting in his Northwest Side ward. If approved by the full City Council next week, the 1^st Ward will join 17 other wards in which it is illegal for companies to attach wheel locks to cars.

Chicago Chief Financial Officer Jennie Bennett [left] and Budget Director Susie Park during a Novermber budget hearing

Chicago’s Department of Finance would be required to publish monthly reports on the city’s cash intake under a proposal set for consideration on Monday.

The one-page ordinance (SO2020-5902), introduced by Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) last December, is set for consideration by the City Council’s Committee on Finance during its 10 a.m. meeting on Monday. If approved, city finance and budget officials will be legally bound to publish “monthly reports” on the department’s website that detail the city’s “total collections for each revenue category” from the previous month, plus the “variance” between actual revenues and those anticipated under the annual budget.

Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson and Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson during a committee hearing on Friday.

Aldermen will wait at least one more week before voting whether to stand up a city-run digital “library” of police misconduct records stretching back nearly three decades, a system watchdogs call a necessary first step toward repairing the city’s frayed trust of its police department.