A measure from Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) designed to increase the penalties for those who advertise in the public way is on the agenda of the City Council’s Committee on License and Consumer Protection set for 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The massive Lincoln Yards development will advance to the City Council’s Zoning Committee on Thursday after aldermen, planning officials and developer Sterling Bay announced an agreement to double the amount of housing for poor and low-income Chicagoans built as part of the development.

The deal, announced Tuesday, would require 600 units of affordable housing to be built on site, according to the deal announced by 2nd Ward Ald. Brian Hopkins. Originally, the plan called for only 300 units to be built on site, a plan criticized by several alderman as insufficient.

"This is a huge gain," Hopkins said at a City Hall news conference to announce the plan.

Although the $6 billion development has consistently been supported by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Hopkins, new Zoning Committee Chairman Ald. James Cappleman (46) said he wanted the proposal to be revised to provide housing those making no more than 30 percent of the area’s median income, or $25,450 for a family of four.

The Uptown alderman replaced disgraced Ald. Danny Solis (25) as chairman of the Zoning Committee in January. Cappleman faces scientist Marianne Lalonde in the April 2 runoff to win a third term on the City Council.

Mayoral candidates Toni Preckwinkle and Lori Lightfoot have called on aldermen to halt consideration of the project, which could be approved by the time the next mayor takes office in May, tying her hands.

Eleven aldermen told The Daily Line in January and February they would vote against the project unless it included more affordable housing than originally proposed.

Although the 55-acre development is in the 2nd Ward, it is sandwiched between the 43rd Ward and 32nd Ward. Ald. Michele Smith (43) and Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) vehemently oppose the project, and have been urging its delay.

However, under aldermanic prerogative — the city’s unwritten policy of giving aldermen the ultimate authority over projects in their own wards — the project only needs the support of the mayor and Hopkins.

Hopkins has said the new roads, bridges and sidewalks set to be built as part of the Lincoln Yards development are urgently needed.

Department of Planning and Development Commissioner David Reifman said the approval of Lincoln Yards is critical to ensure Chicago’s economy remains robust as the city transitions from its industrial past into the future.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for jobs and economic growth,” said Reifman, who briefed aldermen Tuesday on the revised proposal. “I don’t know any other way to develop this site and have it come close to its potential.”

Reifman rejected concerns that the project has been rushed — but said time was of the essence.

“If they don’t get out of the box, we might be waiting an inordinately long time to develop this land,” Reifman said.

The development is expected to create 10,000 construction jobs and 24,000 permanent jobs, according to city officials. Under the city’s rules, $1.9 billion of the project’s cost will be set side for women, African American and Latino owned firms.

If approved by the Zoning Committee, the full City Council could act on the proposal March 13.

Cappleman could not immediately be reached for comment. Hopkins said he could not say whether Cappleman supports the revised plan.

The project relies on a $900 million subsidy, set to be generated by the 168-acre Cortland and Chicago River Redevelopment Area (F2018-72), which could also be approved by the City Council on March 13 if it is endorsed by the Finance Committee on March 11.

TIF districts capture all growth in the property tax base in a designated area for a set period of time, usually 20 years or more, and divert it into a special fund for projects designed to spur redevelopment and eradicate blight.

Of the 6,000 apartments, condominiums and townhomes planned for Lincoln Yards, 1,200 must be set aside for low- and moderate-income Chicagoans. The total number of affordable homes will not increase under the revised proposal — only their location will change.

That is an “outstanding commitment” by a private developer, Reifman said.

Sterling Bay also plans to pay $39 million into the city’s housing trust fund. Half of the trust is earmarked to subsidize individuals’ rent in existing buildings, and the other half is set aside to build new homes for the poorest Chicagoans.

Another 300 units would be allowed to be built outside the development, but within three miles, according to the revised plan. Sterling Bay would also have the option to pay into the trust fund instead of building some of those remaining units, or including them as part of Lincoln Yards.

The 600 affordable units built as part of Lincoln Yards would be earmarked for low- and moderate-income Chicagoans making no more than 60 percent of the area’s median income, or $47,400 for a family of four, according to city data.

Ald. Walter Burnett (27) and Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) praised Hopkins for increasing the number of on-site affordable homes.

“This is a great development,” Burnett said.

With more ballots cast in the Feb. 26 election set to be counted Tuesday, early voting will start March 15 in the Loop and on March 18 in all 50 wards.

A suit brought by a group of producers, suppliers and contractors that challenged Cook County’s compliance with the so-called Illinois lockbox amendment has been tossed out of court.

Aldermen will consider Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s pick to lead the Office of Emergency Management and Communications at the meeting of the City Council’s Committee on Public Safety set for 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

A former prosecutor, investigator and former inspector general often called upon by city and state officials in the wake of scandal will monitor the effort to reform the Chicago Police Department, a federal judge decided Friday.

The runoff between Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle is in full swing, with the rivals already trading rhetorical blows. The man whom both hope to replace — Mayor Rahm Emanuel — released a spot of his own taking aim at President Donald Trump’s promise that Mexico would pay for a border wall.

Ald. Ricardo Muñoz (22) returned to City Hall Friday to back a 12-year, $19.7 million tax break for Hilco Development’s planned distribution center in Little Village.

Muñoz had been absent since Dec. 31, when he was arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic violence after his wife said he struck her while intoxicated. Muñoz declined to answer questions from reporters about the incident.

“I’m not having this conversation in the press,” Muñoz said.

The development would replace the Crawford coal-burning power plant and create hundreds of jobs, but environmental activists told committee members they were allowing one kind of pollution to be replaced with another.

Attendance – Vice Chairman Leslie Hairston (5), Greg Mitchell (7), Patrick D. Thompson (11), Raymond Lopez (15), Willie Cochran (20), Howard Brookins (21), Ricardo Muñoz (22), Jason Ervin (28), Milly Santiago (31), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), Gilbert Villegas (36), John Arena, Ameya Pawar (47)

“Hilco has identified a project that is seeking to invest $300 million in construction, $150 million in demolition,” and add 300-400 jobs to the neighborhood, Muñoz said. “I’d hope that this 6b application (R2018-1394) be considered as a local matter in the 22nd Ward where we’ve taken this debate at heart and decided that the investment and the repurposing of this vacant site to a site that will be creating these jobs is a much better use than just leaving it vacant.”

Once applied, the property would be assessed at 10 percent of its market value for the first 10 years, 15 percent in the 11th year and 20 percent in the 12th year. That could save Hilco $19.7 million over the life of the agreement, officials said

Committee chair Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1), who lost his bid for another term Tuesday, was not present.

After roughly an hour of questioning from aldermen about the project, Muñoz grew frustrated.

“I don’t mean to cut anybody off, but for crying out loud, people, this is a local matter,” Muñoz said, becoming the second alderman in as many days to deliver a pithy defense of aldermanic privilege, which gives each alderman the final decision over projects in his or her ward.

Activists with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, the Sierra Club and others testified Friday and at previous meetings that increased particulate matter from the trucks traveling to and from the 1 million-square-foot facility would exacerbate existing health problems in the neighborhood.

A spokesperson for the Sierra Club said the project is “a step backwards” for Little Village and that City Council should take environmental issues more seriously, not reward potential polluters with tax breaks.

Another compared the Hilco Development to Lincoln Yards or The 78 – two developments that would reshape their respective neighborhoods along the North Branch of the Chicago River and the South Loop.

Hilco Development Partners Director of Development Jeremy Gray has described the project as one designed to fuel economic development throughout Little Village and the entire West Side, bringing both construction and likely e-commerce warehousing jobs to the 100 million square foot facility.

The proposal has the support of the Little Village Chamber of Commerce and construction trade groups, and has already won approval for construction from the City Council.

The project’s community benefit agreement will require Hilco to set aside space on the facilities’ roof for solar panels and provide electric charging stations to reduce the use of diesel trucks.

Hilco will be required to meet city regulations regarding the use of firms owned by black and Latinos and to hire local residents. The company plans to recycle more than 90 percent of the demolition debris and plant 600 trees.

The committee delayed a vote last month after aldermen heard complaints about the community engagement process, in addition to pollution concerns.

Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) attempted to delay the vote again by making a quorum call. Staff from the mayor’s office nabbed Ald. Jason Ervin (28) from the cloak room and brought the committee's attendance up to the minimum requirement of 10 members, and the meeting continued.

Rosa, Ald. Milly Santiago (31), and Ald. Ameya Pawar (47) voted no.

Pawar has been critical of Amazon’s workplace conditions for warehouse workers and the potential for jobs to be easily automated.

Muñoz dismissed concerns that the already high rates of asthma would rise after the facility is built with a shrug.

“The Stevenson is not but 1,500 feet away from here,” he said. “Diesel is everywhere. It’s not making it worse, it’s just moving it to 35th and Pulaski.”

When reminded of testifier’s comments on asthma rates in the community, Muñoz shrugged.

Muñoz did not run for re-election, and will be replaced by 22nd Ward Democratic Committeeperson Mike Rodriguez, who had been endorsed by Muñoz. Rodriguez called for Muñoz to resign after he was charged.

The committee also approved the appointment of Christopher Wheat as member of Community Development Commission (A2019-5).

In other action, the City Council’s Aviation Committee approved an agreement (O2019-1152) with UST to lease a hangar at O’Hare Airport. The firm, which provides aircraft maintenance and re-positioning services for various airlines at the O'Hare, sub-leased the 126,518-square-foot hangar from Delta Airlines, but will now lease it directly from the city.

Attendance: Chairman Matt O’Shea (19); Raymond Lopez (15); Derrick Curtis (18); Willie Cochran (20); Gilbert Villegas (36); Anthony Napolitano (41); John Arena (45)

The committee also approved a measure introduced on the floor of the committee to revise the 10-year agreement the City Council approved Nov. 14 tapping Hilton to manage the 860-room hotel on the grounds of O’Hare International Airport near Terminal 2.

The deal also calls for Hyde Park Hospitality to provide food and beverages to the hotel, but that part of the agreement needed to be revised because it contained an outdated fee structure. It needed to be revised because it was based on the management of two hotels. Plans for a second hotel to be built near Terminal 5 have been scrapped, officials said.

Thousands of late arriving ballots cast in Tuesday’s election will be processed Friday, perhaps changing the outcome of four aldermanic races that are teetering on a razor’s edge. Groups hoping to push state lawmakers to end Illinois’ more than two-decade-old ban on rent control will rally Downtown after an advisory referendum on the issue found deep support.

Cook County commissioners backed Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s first attempt to reform the county’s property tax system to require commercial property owners hand over more data.

Mauricio Peña, of Block Club Chicago, contributed to this report.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to build a $95 million training facility for Chicago police and fire departments advanced Thursday, as aldermen disregarded calls from mayoral candidates Toni Preckwinkle and Lori Lightfoot to delay the project.

With the endorsement of the City Council’s Committee on Zoning, the project heads to a vote by the full City Council March 13. A separate proposal to award AECOM the contract to build the facility (O2019-1154) is awaiting a hearing in the City Council’s Budget Committee, which could consider the matter next week.

Ald. Ameya Pawar (47) and Ald. Deb Mell (33) voted no. In the April 2 runoff for treasurer, Pawar faces state Rep. Melissa Conyears-Ervin, while Mell will take on Rossana Rodríguez-Sánchez to hang on to her North Side City Council seat.

Ald. Emma Mitts (37) said she considered delaying plans (O2019-374) to build a 500,000-square-foot training facility in West Garfield Park because of Preckwinkle and Lightfoot’s opposition.

"I'm not one to back down," Mitts said, adding she decided to move forward because of the project’s significant benefits for her ward. "I'm not willing to wait another second."

Building the training facility on the long vacant 30-acre site at 4301 W. Chicago Ave. will breathe new life and bring “jobs, additional resources and hope” to West Garfield Park, Mitts said.

“I want the mayoral candidates to know long before they decided to run for mayor, I was working on this project and my community doesn’t want to wait,” Mitts said.

Mell attempted to delay the vote on the training facility by forcing a quorum vote to determine whether a majority of aldermen were present at the Zoning Committee meeting, the first to be led by Ald. James Cappleman (46) after 25th Ward Ald. Danny Solis resigned as chair.

Solis has not been seen at City Hall since the Sun-Times reported he received sex acts at massage parlors, the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra and campaign contributions in exchange for ushering deals through City Council.

However, a majority of committee members were present: Mell, Pawar, Cappleman, Michelle Harris (8); Raymond Lopez (15); David Moore (18); Matt O'Shea (19); Margaret Laurino (39) Brendan Reilly (42); and Tom Tunney (44).

Mell said she voted against the training facility because of Lightfoot and Preckwinkle’s opposition.

The “next mayor must have confidence in the process,” Mell tweeted after the vote.

Pawar said he could not vote for the proposal because Emanuel has tapped AECOM to build the facility. The Los Angeles-based firm has built prisons and faced allegations of wrongdoing, as detailed by the Chicago Reporter.

Mitts addressed her colleagues who oppose the training facility directly before the vote.

"You take care of your business, and I'll take care of mine," Mitts said, delivering a succinct defense of aldermanic privilege, which gives each alderman the final decision over projects in his or her ward.

“And I hope that each and every one of you look in your own wards, see what you got,” Mitts said. “And then just take a look in the 37th Ward. Don’t you think we want the same thing? Don’t you think we deserve the same thing?”

Moore said members of the City Council should follow the lead of voters in the 37th Ward, who re-elected Mitts Tuesday with more than 54 percent of the vote, according to early returns.

If residents of the 37th Ward opposed the training facility, Mitts would not have won without facing a runoff.

"The community's vote is their voice," Moore said.

However, one of many opponents of the training facility who were removed from the City Council Chambers during Thursday’s meeting yelled out that Mitts would not have been re-elected had Emanuel not contributed $30,000 to her campaign.

Cappleman said he agreed with Emanuel that the new, state-of-the-art facility is needed to address serious concerns outlined by the U.S. Justice Department in its 2016 investigation of the Chicago Police Department. It found officers that graduate from the five-month academy were “unprepared to police lawfully and effectively.”

Cappleman faces a runoff April 2 against scientist Marianne Lalonde, who opposes the project.

The facility would replace the police training academy at 1300 W. Jackson Blvd., built in 1976; the fire prevention training facility at 1010 S. Clinton St., built in 1950; and the Fire Academy South at 1338 S. Clinton St., built in 1965, officials said.

However, members of the No Cop Academy coalition said the money would be better spent on restoring cuts made to Chicago Public Schools’ budgets or reopening mental health clinics shuttered by Emanuel.

“My wish is that as the police and those in the community they serve have more opportunity to interact with one another, possibly some healing can begin,” Cappleman said, acknowledging the deep distrust between black and Latino Chicagoans and members of the Chicago Police Department.

The training facility will include two buildings, including one for classrooms, labs, simulators, conference rooms, an auditorium and offices.

The other building is slated to include a shooting range and space for “active scenario training and a dive training pool” for teams to practice rescues from submerged vehicles in daylight or dark.

The campus will also include a driving course, skid pad and and a place for “hands-on practice in real-world situations.”

In May 2018, the City Council earmarked $20 million from the sale of the city’s largest maintenance garage and yard along the North Branch of the Chicago River — now slated to be part of the Lincoln Yards development — for the construction of the training facility. The city bought the land for the training facility for $9.6 million.

City officials have not identified how they plan to cover the remaining cost of the training facility. The Chicago Infrastructure Trust is overseeing the project.

Only two aldermen voted to block that move at the time — Ald. Carlos Ramirez Rosa (35) and Ald. Ricardo Muñoz (22).

Plans call for the training facility to include a Culver’s and a Peach’s restaurant.

"These restaurants may not be what you want," Mitts said. "But right now we have nothing. And something is better than nothing."

Harris and Scott said the training facility would have a catalytic effect on the West Side, and spur private development.

"Our communities need this kind of development,” Harris said. “We start with this, and other things will come.”

The Zoning Committee approved the other items outlined in our preview, with the exception of a proposal to build a four-story, 20-unit building (O2019-322) with four parking spaces at 2135 W. Cermak Road in the 25th Ward.

In the 45th Ward, aldermen gave the green light to plans (O2019-333) for a four-story, 31-unit building with nine parking spaces at 4900-08 N. Milwaukee Ave. across the street from the Jefferson Park Transit Center.

The development includes six units set aside for low- and moderate-income residents, which Ald. John Arena (45) said was “much needed” and in a perfect location.

Arena lost his seat on the City Council after drawing fierce criticism for aggressively advocating for affordable housing.

Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle will be able to accept unlimited contributions during the mayoral runoff, after Lightfoot blew the caps in the second round of voting. Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Chicago should be proud two African American women are vying to replace him — but don’t expect him to endorse either candidate.

Aldermen are set to weigh Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to build a $95 million training facility for Chicago police and fire departments Thursday, as Ald. James Cappleman (46) takes over the Zoning Committee.

The scene hardly had the look of history being made. On an Election Day with low turnout, the voting booths stood empty. Outside, the surrounding blocks in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood were mostly quiet except for the sound of the bitterly cold wind.

On a nearby corner, Maria Hadden, the challenger for alderman of the city’s 49th Ward, waited to greet voters. Finally, a compact man in a heavy coat approached. He proudly told Hadden he had lived in Rogers Park for 30 years and was going to vote for her. They shook gloved hands.

In Hadden’s view, the race came down to whether residents felt their neighborhood would remain vibrant and affordable.

“Will we keep our economic and racial diversity?” she said. “Is the current leadership able to maintain that, or do we need new leadership?”

That evening, as totals streamed in, it became clear that voters demanded a change. Hadden overwhelmed Joe Moore, a 28-year incumbent, with 64 percent of the vote. She became the first openly queer black woman elected to the City Council, and one of the first black aldermen ever to come from the North Side.

Hadden’s victory was widely seen as one of the biggest upsets in Tuesday’s elections. But it actually reflects broader local and national political trends in the battle over the future of the Democratic Party.

Residents across Chicago worry they can no longer afford to live or invest in the city. As Mayor Rahm Emanuel tries to win approval for several massive new development projects before he leaves office in May, many voters are outraged at the idea of using public money to subsidize them. At the same time, residents in some neighborhoods remain desperate for development. Organizers north and south are campaigning to lift a state ban on rent control and build more affordable housing.

The 14 candidates for mayor all agreed on one point: To confront these challenges, Chicago didn’t need anyone like Emanuel. Most tried to distance themselves from his record of school closings, Wall Street campaign contributions and insider ties, touting themselves as progressives.

Of course, the two top finishers have their own ties to the political establishment. Toni Preckwinkle is the Cook County Board president and chair of the county Democratic Party. She also accepted fundraising help from 50-year Alderman Ed Burke, of the 14th Ward, who’s facing federal extortion charges. Preckwinkle has since repudiated Burke, who was re-elected despite his legal problems. Lightfoot, meanwhile, served in the mayoral administrations of Emanuel and his predecessor, Richard M. Daley.

Still, Preckwinkle and Lightfoot both tout their work on criminal justice reform, and they vow to pay attention to long-neglected parts of the city.

And as black women, they offer an obvious, visible break from the past. Chicago has elected one woman and one black man as mayor, but it has never been led by a woman of color. That 182-year streak is about to end.

Months ago, Moore sensed that his re-election bid in the city’s far northeast corner could be tough. He watched from afar as 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez toppled another Joe, longtime U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley, in a diverse, liberal New York City district not unlike the 49th Ward. In the age of President Donald Trump, Democrats seen as compromising or shopworn are sometimes viewed as part of the problem.

Moore first won office in a runoff in 1991. For the next 20 years, he was one of the City Council’s leading critics of Daley. From 2007 to 2011, Moore sided with the mayor on just 51 percent of divided roll-call votes, the lowest rate in the council, according to an analysis by Professor Dick Simpson and other researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

But when Daley retired and Emanuel took the reins, Moore became one of his closest council allies and his reputation as an independent withered. From 2017 to 2018, Moore voted with the mayor 98 percent of the time.

As Tuesday’s election neared, Moore reminded constituents of his progressive accomplishments: He helped bring community policing to Chicago; pioneered participatory budgeting, in which residents get to vote on how to spend infrastructure funds; and added affordable and public housing to the ward.

Hadden criticized Moore’s alliance with Emanuel. She targeted him for accepting campaign contributions from developers and landlords while many residents struggled to remain in the gentrifying area.

By Tuesday afternoon, Hadden thought she had a chance.

“But if nothing else, we’ve got new people voting, new people involved in the campaign, and we’re going to keep organizing,” she said. “In some ways, we’ve already won by putting the community’s vision first.”

Within a few hours, she had won the election, too

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