Ald. Bennett Lawson (44) is pictured at a City Council meeting on June 12, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council on Wednesday could approve the appointment of a permanent chair of the zoning committee and confirm the mayor’s acting arts and cultural affairs commissioner. It will also have an opportunity to try to nix the mayor’s veto of an ordinance halting the phase-out of the tipped wage. The council will meet at 10 a.m.

After Mayor Brandon Johnson vetoed an ordinance (SO2025-0017549) passed by the council in March freezing the five-year phase-out of the subminimum wage for tipped workers, such as bartenders and wait staff, the council will get an opportunity to try to overturn it Wednesday. 

Johnson’s veto of the measure is the third of his term, and the council has failed to overturn two previous vetoes. The council voted 30-18 to pass the ordinance, meaning they will need to pick up four additional votes to overturn the latest veto if that initial margin holds. 

Under the One Fair Wage ordinance approved in 2023, the gap between the tipped wage and minimum wage is intended to shrink by eight percent every July until it becomes equal to Chicago’s minimum wage on July 1, 2028. Since the phase-out began in 2024, some local restaurants and hospitality businesses have said it has led to closures. The ordinance Johnson vetoed would freeze the current tipped wage ratio at 76 percent of the city’s minimum wage.  

Related: Mayor vetoes ordinance freezing annual tipped wage phase-out 

A group of council members have filed a Rule 41 notice of their intent to call a vote on the appointment of new Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards leadership at the council meeting as well.  

Ald. Bennett Lawson (44), the committee’s vice chair and longtime acting chair over most of the mayor’s term, has opted to not hold most monthly zoning meetings this year until a permanent chair is named.  

But the council has not been able to agree on who should lead the powerful committee, leading to a canceled vote at the February council meeting.  

Lawson introduced a measure (R2026-0022537) in January that would name him as the permanent chair and would designate Alds. Ruth Cruz (30) and Walter “Red” Burnett (27) as vice chairs. The Rule 41 notice refers to the resolution, but a substitute is expected. 

Related: Measure would name Lawson as zoning chair, Burnett, Cruz as dual vice chairs  

Committee items 

The council is slated to take final action on a resolution approved earlier this month by the budget committee that calls on Johnson and his budget team to work faster to implement various components of the 2026 budget, including some that the annual management ordinance mandates specific deadlines for.  

The resolution was approved despite concerns the passage might violate the Open Meetings Act, as the item was removed from the committee agenda the day before the meeting, and Chair Jason Ervin (28) had not planned a vote on it. But the chair was outnumbered, and the item was approved.   

Related: Budget committee advances measure calling for quicker implementation of council-driven plan  

Alderpeople will also consider final confirmation of the mayor’s appointment of Kenya Merritt as commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, whose appointment was approved by the arts and culture committee by a 12-4 vote last week despite concerns about a pending whistleblower lawsuit against her. 

Related: New DCASE commissioner appointment advances through committee despite concerns about lawsuit 

The council will consider the items passed Monday by the finance committee, including a more than $1 billion bond authorization for water department projects, a $9.5 million wrongful conviction settlement and a $100 million bond issuance to help finance the construction of the Lathrop Homes redevelopment. 

Related: Finance committee advances hundreds of millions in new borrowing for water department projects  

Alderpeople will also consider an ordinance that would allow the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection to grant conditional city license approval to businesses seeking state video gambling licenses, which was approved by the license and consumer protection committee Monday.  

Related: License committee advances conditional approval process for city video gambling applicants  

The council will also consider the items approved by the housing committee last week, including an ordinance to protect tenants from wrongful evictions after landlords fail to give them proper notice of lease non-renewal, a property tax break for the Foundry Park development and multiple city land sales for housing projects. 

Related: Housing committee approves ordinance to shield tenants from evictions following improper notice of lease non-renewal 

The council will also consider an ordinance that would aim to crack down on squatters by redefining trespassing from merely entering and remaining on a property when it’s prohibited to knowingly entering and remaining on a property and establishing enhanced penalties for using false documentation, fraudulently obtained documents or a false identity to trespass and squat.  

The ordinance was approved by the Committee on Public Safety last week. 

Related: Public safety committee approves ordinance to categorize squatters as trespassers  

Finally, alderpeople will consider the mayor’s appointments of Christian Diaz, real estate project manager with the Latin United Community Housing Association, to the Metra Board of Directors, disability advocate and psychotherapist Lily-Diego Johnson to the Chicago Transit Board and Marcus Jordan, a diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility outreach coordinator for the Indiana-Illinois-Iowa Foundation for Fair Contracting and IUOE Local 150, to the Illinois International Port District Board.   

Their appointments were approved by the transportation committee last week.  

Related: Transportation committee approves mayoral appointments to CTA, Metra, Port District boards