Concept art for the Encuentro Square affordable housing development in Logan Square. [Courtesy of Canopy / architecture + design]

The City Council Committee on Transportation and the Public Way again referred to a new committee a measure that would require the city transportation department to study fatal traffic crashes and approved a proposed subdivision request to accommodate a Logan Square affordable housing development.

Aldermen and advocates for a municipal sidewalk plow program held a news conference in March. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line] 

Four months after alderpersons and advocates unveiled a proposal for a city-run pilot program to clear some of Chicago’s sidewalks of snow and ice, the ordinance (O2023-2104) will get an initial committee vote on Friday. 

Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) first formally introduced the proposal for the city to “plow the sidewalks” earlier this year under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, but after seeing delays under the former administration, sponsors decided to delay a vote on the measure until Mayor Brandon Johnson took office. 

Related: Hearing on municipal sidewalk snow plow program delayed, sponsor says they’ll wait for new administration to call the ordinance again 

The mayor announced a special budget-related discussion to gather input from the city’s youth, and the City Council contracting committee will consider extending a pilot program that ensures veteran-owned small businesses have an equitable place in city contracting.

Chief Sustainability Officer Angela Tovar speaks during a committee meeting Wednesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

An ongoing assessment of the effects environmental, health and social stressors, including pollution, have on Chicago neighborhoods is expected to shape the policy of at least one ordinance related to how the city plans and approves zoning for developments.

A proposal up for consideration in committee Thursday would change several aspects of the appointment process for the city’s inspector general and deputy inspector general for public safety.   

In addition to tweaking the appointment process, the proposed ordinance from Ald. Matt Martin (47) would limit the number of four-year terms anyone can serve as inspector general to two terms. 

Ald. Debra Silverstein (50) is seen during a City Council meeting in July 2022. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Transportation and Public Way will consider an ordinance Thursday that would require the city’s transportation department to analyze fatal crashes to identify trends and suggest solutions.

The city’s housing commissioner will soon vacate her post, and the state and Cook County have declared disasters in response to recent storms affecting the area.

Ald. Brian Hopkins (2) chaired the meeting of the Committee on Public Safety Tuesday. [City of Chicago livestream]

Alderpersons gave an initial OK to an ordinance clarifying that candidates for Police District Councils can run as slates and setting new parameters around the number of signatures each candidate needs to get on the ballot.

The Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy will meet Wednesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line] 

Officials from Chicago’s Department of Public Health on Wednesday will update alderpersons on an ongoing study assessing the effects of exposure to environmental, health and social stressors across Chicago’s various communities. 

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle speaks during a virtual preliminary budget hearing on July 11, 2023. [Office of the President livestream]

The mood was mostly warm and grateful during a virtualy and livestreamed public hearing Tuesday night on the preliminary Cook County budget forecast for 2024, but advocates still asked the county to keep their organizations in mind when crafting the annual spending plan. 

Cook County is anticipating an $85.6 million budget gap for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2024 budget, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and county officials said last month.

Members of the City Council Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development met Monday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

A proposal introduced last month calling on state lawmakers to allow alderpersons to hold hybrid meetings failed a critical committee vote Monday after alderpersons said they were concerned the resolution didn’t have strict enough parameters for attending meetings virtually.

Members of the City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate met Monday. [City of Chicago livestream] 

Plans to establish a pilot program for housing stabilization at a former motel on Chicago’s North Side took a step forward Monday after a City Council committee unanimously approved the city’s purchase of the former motel. 

The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability will meet Thursday to vote on a list of three names they will send to Mayor Brandon Johnson as candidates for the new superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. The City Council Committee on Public Safety will meet Tuesday for the first time under its new leadership of Ald. Brian Hopkins (2). 

Two City Council committees will meet at City Hall Monday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line] 

Chicago alderpersons are asking state lawmakers to consider expanding opportunities for members of the City Council to attend meetings virtually, harkening back to what was allowed during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A decades-old anti-patronage case concluded last week when the final government body bound by a consent decree was freed from monitoring, and the governor made a historic appointment to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago’s governing body.