On Wednesday, a Cook County Board of Commissioners committee will consider a measure to call on state lawmakers to eliminate the tipped minimum wage, and the City Council’s housing committee will tweak language in the Affordable Requirements Ordinance.

Ald. Pat Dowell (3), chair of the finance committee, is pictured. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Alderpeople on the finance committee approved the creation of a relief program for residents who have received sky-high water bills after underground leaks, but some implored the city to look at ways to expand program eligibility following a pilot period.

On Monday, the committee approved an ordinance (O2024-0008889) creating a two-year pilot program that will provide financial assistance to property owners whose water and sewer bills jumped as a result of a leak in their metered water service line.

The Chicago Police emblem is pictured.

The City Council Committee on Police and Fire will vote Tuesday on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s nominees to the city’s civilian police oversight board.

The slate of seven candidates up for consideration to serve four-year terms on the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA) are the first batch chosen through a nominating committee process. The police and fire committee will meet at noon in council chambers.

City Hall is pictured in this file photo.

The City Council Committee on Finance will meet Monday and consider a measure to create a pilot program to help customers that have experienced spiking water and sewer bills after leaks. The finance committee will also consider a legal settlement related to a woman’s death in police custody, the issuance of housing bonds to help build a new affordable development in Humboldt Park and multiple allocations of tax increment financing (TIF) dollars. 

The finance committee will meet at 9:30 a.m. in council chambers at City Hall.

DSS Comm. Cole Stallard speaks a Committee on Public Safety hearing Tuesday. [Livestream]

Despite steps taken by the city a few years ago to crack down on so-called “rogue towers,” consumers continue to be preyed upon by unlicensed tow truck companies or those that charge sky-high rates, alderpeople heard during a hearing at the Committee on Public Safety on Tuesday.

While the hearing was light on specific legislative steps the City Council would take next, Ald. Brian Hopkins (2), who chairs the public safety committee, said the information presented served as a wake-up call about the seriousness of the problem.

Rev. Ira Acree, right, speaks to Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29) after his appointment to the RTA Board was approved by the transportation committee Wednesday. [Michael McDevitt/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Transportation and Public Way voted Wednesday to approve the appointment of a West Side pastor to the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) Board after a hearing during which the pastor said he was unaware of a looming multi-million budget shortfall facing the agency he is seeking to help oversee. 

The RTA oversees the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra and Pace and is tasked with allocating funding to the three agencies’ service boards, capital planning, monitoring service performance and coordinating system-wide service and standards. 

Just two alderpeople voted against the appointment, Alds. Scott Waguespack (32) and Andre Vasquez (40). The appointment goes to the City Council for final approval later this month.

Ald. Bill Conway (34) is pictured in October 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council’s public safety committee Tuesday approved an ordinance that designates the area around a West Loop abortion clinic as a noise-sensitive zone, similar to noise sensitivity regulations placed around Chicago hospitals.

The proposal, which will go to the City Council for final approval later this month, is aimed at addressing frequent protests around the clinic that interfere with patients’ ability to access care and clinic operations.

Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) is pictured at a May 2023 council meeting. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development on Tuesday held an ordinance (O2024-0008201) requiring city data to “be processed, stored, transmitted and disposed of” within United States jurisdiction.

Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36), the sponsor of the measure and chair of the committee, said the proposal would be held after he received memos from the mayor’s office, sister agencies and from some city vendors such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon concerned about the proposal.

Alderpeople on Wednesday will consider a new transit board appointment that has drawn some questions, and the license committee will consider a measure to align a longstanding ban on peddlers within the 23rd Ward with the new ward boundaries.

Ald. Matt Martin (47) is pictured in September 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The chair of the City Council ethics committee is calling on the mayor to fill two open seats on the Chicago Board of Ethics before two more potential vacancies become effective.

The City Council’s technology committee on Tuesday will take up a data storage ordinance, and the public safety committee will consider a measure to address frequent protesters outside a city abortion clinic.

Rebecca Glenberg, senior supervising attorney for the ACLU of Illinois, speaks during a news conference May 2, 2024. [Provided]

A coalition of reproductive and LGBTQ rights organizations has become the latest group to sue the city after it denied the groups a permit to march downtown just before the Democratic National Convention (DNC) this summer.

Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26) attends Mayor Brandon Johnson's 2024 budget address in October 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

A City Council subcommittee will meet Monday afternoon for a subject matter hearing on citywide strategies for youth employment as the city prepares for summer, when shootings and violence typically increase and teens have tended to gather downtown in large crowds that can often become unruly.

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi is pictured at an event with Board President Toni Preckwinkle in 2022. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

As part of the ongoing reassessment of Chicago, Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s office has reclassified numerous mixed-use properties as it works to address a loophole that the county inspector general said was allowing some commercial properties to unfairly get tax breaks. 

While the affected properties were previously assessed as Class 3-18 multifamily properties, their commercial components are being assessed separately after a definition in the property tax classification code was revised — causing their total assessed values to skyrocket in many cases.

The Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety meets on May 1, 2024. [Michael McDevitt/The Daily Line]

Alderpeople on the City Council’s pedestrian and traffic safety committee held a hearing Wednesday on the possibility of lowering the default speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph citywide with the goal of reducing traffic crashes, serious injuries and deaths.  

It’s a measure that advocates say has been a success in other cities and stems from the recognition that even slight decreases in speed can drastically improve someone’s chances of survival in a traffic accident.