With only a single dissenting vote, Chicago aldermen Wednesday approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s $10.67 billion 2019 spending plan, which contains no new taxes or fees.

But as aldermen rose one by one on the floor of the City Council to celebrate the millions of dollars included in the budget for expanded mentoring services, rodent control, summer jobs and tutoring programs, several sounded the alarm about issues facing the city that the budget does not address, including the looming pension crisis and the demand for affordable housing.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel once again claimed credit for bringing the city back from the edge of a fiscal cliff during his nearly complete two terms in office.

“We can say with confidence that Chicago is back on solid ground,” Emanuel said. “We have refused to allow the city’s past mistakes to rob us of the future we are trying to build. We have rejected the old way of doing business. We have replaced instability with stability, wishful thinking with honest accounting and broken budgets with balanced budgets.”

Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) cast the lone vote against the budget, while Ald. Derrick Curtis (18) was absent. Waguespack said he was disappointed that the budget did not address pensions or “devastating crime driven by poverty and disinvestment in mental health.”

“Perhaps most concerning of all, we are missing a funding mechanism to address the abatement of lead that pervades the pipes in our homes, daycares, schools, parks and businesses,” said Waguespack, who considered running for mayor before deciding to run for re-election. He is currently unopposed.

Emanuel said he would deliver a speech before the next City Council meeting, set for Dec. 12 to lay out how he plans to staunch the red ink set to flow from the city’s pension funds. The pension bill is set to jump 31 percent in 2020, and officials have yet to propose a way to cover that expense.

“Our work is not done,” Emanuel said. “But we have laid a foundation.”

In that speech, Emanuel vowed to “be honest with the public” about not only the costs of employee pensions, but also what benefits retirees get for their decades of service.

Nonpartisan watchdog group the Civic Federation called the jusbudget “a reasonable one-year financial plan that does not include any new taxes or fees [and] makes important public safety investments.”

Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) said the budget should have done more to confront pension funding.

"No one should kick this any further than it needs to be,” Lopez said. “More has to be done to address the financial crisis that's on the horizon."

But most aldermen used their time to praise Emanuel’s leadership for helping the city navigate rough financial waters.

Read all of The Daily Line’s coverage of Chicago’s 2019 budget here.

Budget Committee Chairwoman Ald. Carrie Austin (34) said she wished Emanuel had run for a third term.

“Mr. Mayor, you truly are a visionary,” Austin said.

Ald. Joe Moore (49) was one of several aldermen who praised Emanuel for re-establishing the Department of Housing, which was disbanded before he took office. The new department will have $1.4 million in additional funding, and a mandate to expand affordable housing.

Moore, the chairman of the Housing Committee, said the department will work to ensure "every neighborhood has its share of affordable housing."

Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30) lauded the mayor for including $27.5 million for police reform, including cost of the monitoring team that will be charged with ensuring the city and Police Department comply with the changes ordered by Judge Robert M. Dow.

But among the backslapping, several aldermen publicly contemplated what life would be like next spring under Emanuel’s successor.

Ald. Danny Solis (25) said he was "concerned about a future" without Emanuel, adding that the mayor’s stellar legacy "won't be recognized for three to five years, but it will be recognized" eventually.

Ald. Ed Burke (14) likened the aldermen to “lost sheep” in the wake of Emanuel’s departure. After the final vote, aldermen gave the mayor a standing ovation.

At his post-meeting news conference, Emanuel said he was proud of his work not only to establish “greater fiscal discipline and certainty” but also to redirect spending to focus on areas that improve the quality of life in Chicago.

“That is a peace of mind legacy,” Emanuel said. “I never, ever once punted on a tough decision. I may not have done everything you thought I should do, but you do not solve decades-old problems in one step. Every time there was a problem, I met it head on, was honest about it and addressed it.”

Chicago voters will go to the polls Feb. 26 to elect a new shepherd.

In other action, aldermen approved all of the other items outlined in our preview, including confirming the appointment of Richard C. Ford II as commissioner of the Chicago Fire Department.

Emanuel praised him as the “right man for the right job at the right time,” and aldermen followed their vote with a standing ovation.

Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) moved to kill once and for all three competing proposals to hike real estate taxes. He deferred and published Tuesday’s Rules Committee action, which meant the three proposals could not be referred to committee for another month.

One proposal would hike the city’s Real Estate Transfer Tax to fund police and fire pensions, the other would hike the same tax to expand efforts to end homelessness in Chicago and the third would raise taxes to replace lead service lines in Chicago’s homes.

The Rules Committee will not be able to schedule a hearing on the merits of those proposals before Dec. 10, the deadline for final City Council action to put the measures on the February ballot.

After the meeting, Reilly said he agreed with Emanuel that the city should not “treat homeowners as an ATM machine.”

The proposals are “irresponsible” but “well intentioned,” Reilly said.

“If all three passed … that would be a disaster for homeowners,” Reilly said. “It is best left for the next administration to address.”

Ordinances introduced Wednesday

Among the ordinances introduced Wednesday is a proposal from Mayor Rahm Emanuel to launch a new pilot program (O2018-9030) that would increase the city’s affordable housing requirement from 10 percent to 20 percent within large-scale, market-rate housing developments in a 7.2-mile area in Pilsen and Little Village. City officials said the measure was designed to keep Mexican and Mexican-American families in Pilsen and Little Village, according to Block Club Chicago.

In addition, Emanuel proposed a grant of $1 million (O2018-9197) to Catalyst Circle Rock Elementary School to rehab a vacant auditorium into a performing arts center and a grant of $720,000 (O2018-9196) Bronzeville Salon Suites to construct a three-story, 6,500-square-foot building with 18 fully equipped salon suites to enable established beauty professionals to become independent business owners. Both projects would be funded by the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund grant program.

Emanuel also proposed to terminate five tax-increment financing districts on Dec. 31. None of the TIF districts have pending obligations or ongoing projects, officials said.

Other proposals include:

• A measure (O2018-9195) from City Clerk Anna Valencia to waive the fee for veterans to obtain city stickers.


• A measure (R2018-1243) from Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) to require all committees to have a majority of members present to act on legislation.


• A measure (O2018-9080) from Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) to ban the sale of menthol cigarettes and menthol-flavored liquid nicotine.


• A measure (O2018-9033) from Ald. Ed Burke (14) and Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) to ban all single-use plastic straws and drink stirrers. An advisory referendum passed in the Nov. 6 general election, winning more than 50 percent support from voters.


• A measure (O2018-9107) from Ald. Brian Hopkins (2) to change the zoning of the Hideout, in order to protect it from the adjacent Lincoln Yards development.


• A call for a hearing (R2018-1242) from Ald. George Cardenas (12) and Ald. Matt O’Shea (19) on the discovery that the water Chicagoans drink and bathe in might be tainted with lead. A similar request from Ald. Pat Dowell (3) and nine members of the City Council’s Progressive Caucus has been languishing since April.

Commissioners previously wary of overly generous union contracts unanimously agreed to approve dozens of new collective bargaining agreements Wednesday, to the applause of the rest of the board room.

Commissioners meet for the last regular board meeting of the 2014-2018 term Wednesday, and are expected to consider a series of union and non-union labor contracts that will cost the county $29 million through 2020, $6.7 million in settlements and bid goodbyes to exiting colleagues.  

Eight days after winning re-election, Comptroller Susana Mendoza will jump into the mayoral race. Out of money and without enough signatures, Troy LaRaviere — one of the first to declare his candidacy for mayor – became one of the first to drop out of the crowded race. The SEIU Illinois State Council backed Jessica Washington Gutierrez in her bid to unseat 30th Ward Ald. Ariel Reboyras, a close ally of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Three competing proposals to hike real estate taxes advanced Tuesday, but they still face an uphill battle.

Chicago drivers with a large number of tickets would get more time to pay off their debt to the city before losing their licenses under a measure introduced Tuesday by Ald. Ed Burke (14.)

As Chicago aldermen prepare to approve Mayor Rahm Emanuel's $10.67 billion 2019 spending plan, many are breathing a sigh of relief.

The budget — expected to sail through the City Council on Wednesday — contains no new taxes or fee hikes. It’s an election year gift to aldermen, whose campaigns for re-election are now running full speed ahead.

But the new fiscal year won’t be entirely painless for Chicago taxpayers, thanks to tax hikes approved by aldermen in years past. Included in the budget are a second 5 cent-per-ride increase on all trips via ride-hailing services such as Uber or Lyft to help modernize the CTA, the third installment of a 29.5 percent hike in water and sewer bills, and a $63 million property tax increase to help fund police and fire pensions.

But some relief is in sight for motorists. As part of the budget, aldermen are set to approve City Clerk Anna Valencia’s proposal to create a $29.28 four-month city sticker, a 15-day grace period to purchase it and a month-long amnesty for those in debt. In addition, aldermen are set to forgive ticket debt for some city motorists, but only those who file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Nonpartisan watchdog group the Civic Federation called the budget “a reasonable one-year financial plan that does not include any new taxes or fees [and] makes important public safety investments.”

Read all of The Daily Line’s coverage of Chicago’s 2019 budget here.

But before the rubber stamp aldermen are expected to apply to Emanuel’s final budget even dries, the focus will shift to how the city will staunch the red ink set to flow from the city’s pension funds. The pension bill is set to jump 31 percent in 2020, and officials have yet to propose a way to cover that expense.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan could come at the next City Council meeting, expected to take place Dec. 12.

According to the city’s annual financial analysis, Chicago’s structural deficit —  the imbalance between revenues and expenditures — is set to balloon in 2020 to $251.7 million and then in 2021 to $362.2 million, based on an outlook that assumes the economy does not get significantly better — or worse.

The 2019 budget includes the following:

• Chicago Public Schools officials will pick up half of the $33 million tab racked up by assigning 211 Chicago Police officers to patrol public schools, and cover the $14 million cost of the Safe Passages program. Both line items were paid in full by the city last year.


• A new Department of Housing to focus on affordability issues — and a $1.4 million boost for the new department’s operations over its last incarnation. The city is in the midst of drafting its next five-year housing plan.


• $2.07 million to hire formerly incarcerated men and women in three programs. Eighty people would be hired to clean and beautify vacant lots in high-crime neighborhoods; 34 people would be hired as part of the CTA’s Second Chance Program and another 25 would be hired by the Department of Transportation’s Greencorps programs.


• $27.5 million for police reform, including cost of the monitoring team that will be charged with ensuring the city and Police Department comply with the changes ordered by Judge Robert M. Dow.


• $1.3 million more to buy garbage and recycling bins in an effort to get new trash cans to residents faster.


• $500,000 more for rat abatement that would allow crews to go into yards to search for and close rat holes rather than responding to complaints.


• $3.5 million more to expand and sustain youth mentoring programs to universally cover seventh grade boys.

Aldermen are also set to approve a number of items:

• Seven measures allowing the sale of packaged liquor throughout the city.


• Landmark designations for the Tribune Tower and the historic YMCA/YWCA building on the city’s West Side


• O2018-7766 — which is designed to prevent pricey three-story condominiums from replacing two-flats and pricing out renters in Andersonville


• O2018-8112 — A proposal to use $350,000 in funds from the 43rd and Cottage Grove tax increment financing district to add a walking path, landscaping, drinking fountain, workout stations and benches to Sumac Park, 4201 S. Champlain Ave.


• O2018-8114 — A proposal to use $10 million from the North Pullman TIF to construct an indoor track and field facility in Gately Park, 810 E. 103rd St.


• O2018-8116 — A proposal to use $400,000 from the Archer/Western TIF to develop a dog park at McKinley Park, 22l0 W. Pershing Road.


• O2018-8117 — A proposal to use $3 million from the Clark/Montrose TIF to renovate the fieldhouse and athletic center at Chase Park, 4701 N. Ashland Ave.


• O2018-8119 — A proposal to use $6 million from the Western Avenue South TIF to renovate the field house at Revere Park, 2509 W. Irving Park Road.


• O2018-8859 — to preserve and renovate the 122-unit Greenwood Park Apartments in Kenwood with a $2.5 million loan.


• O2018-8860 — A new 10-year management agreement with Hilton Hotels to manage the 860-room hotel on the grounds of O’Hare International Airport near Terminal 2.


• Two agreements to restructure its loan agreements (O2018-8763) with Montclare Englewood, LLC and (O2018-8238) Midwest Limited Partnership.


• O2018-8103 — A proposal to donate an obsolete city vehicle to Chicago African American Firefighters Museum.


• A2018-116 — The appointment of Richard C. Ford II as commissioner of the Chicago Fire Department


• A2015-103 — Three re-appointments to the Chicago Infrastructure Trust: Ventas CEO Debra A. Cafaro, Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services Chief Administration Officer Carl G. Lingenfelter and Miguel Zarate, a managing partner for Marquette Associates.

Julia Kuo, for Pro Publica Illinois

After he was charged in January with burglary, D’Angelo Springer had a decision to make.

Springer, 24, had been pulled over after running a stop sign in Kankakee County. He was giving a ride to an acquaintance, who had an arrest warrant in a neighboring county. When officers searched the car, according to police reports, they found a checkbook behind the passenger seat that had been taken in a car break-in. Springer denied he was involved, but he was charged with felony burglary, which could have sent him to prison.

Victims of domestic violence, identity theft and other hardships would get a 50 percent break on the additional costs city officials add to city debt, including for parking tickets and sticker violations.

A lack of quorum in the Rules Committee Friday afternoon prevented three competing ballot referenda from advancing Friday, making a hearing and vote in time to make it on February ballots unlikely.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel continued his fight to reduce the number of teens vaping, announcing a new round of legal action. The Chicago Teachers Union will hold its first mayoral candidate forum Nov. 19 — but don’t expect to see nearly two dozen candidates at the forum. Aldermen have a full slate of committees set for Tuesday, and will consider a new management agreement for the hotel on the grounds of O’Hare International Airport.

Landmark designations for Tribune Tower and the historic YMCA/YWCA building on the city’s West Side both easily passed the Zoning Committee Friday, as did a zoning change in East Andersonville designed to prevent pricey three-story condominiums from replacing two-flats and pricing out renters.

Cook County commissioners will start an extended business week by honoring several of their own during Tuesday’s meeting, including Medical Examiner Dr. Ponni Arunkumar and retiring county fixtures — Assessor Joe Berrios, Deputy Assessor Thomas Jaconetty and Clerk David Orr.

Two female volunteers collecting signatures outside a West Side polling place Friday accused a man associated with 28th Ward Ald. Jason Ervin’s organization of assaulting them on Election Day and stealing signed nominating petitions for one of the alderman’s challengers.

At a City Hall news conference, Loukessa Hawkins said she was collecting signatures for 28th Ward aldermanic candidate Justina L. Winfrey outside Spencer Technology Academy, 214 N. Lavergne Ave., when a man grabbed a half-filled petition sheet from her and several completed sheets and pamphlets from another volunteer.

“I put my clipboard and things I was holding to my chest and he began to snatch them out of my hand,” Hawkins said. “So, we were wrestling and I was like you’re not going to take my stuff and he said, ‘Gimme this ‘s’ and he snatched it down, hurting my thumb, and took it.”

Hawkins filed a police report after the incident that took place at noon on Tuesday.

“This was a direct violation of my rights,” Hawkins said, adding that she wants to see the man who assaulted her charged with a crime — as well as anyone who directed him to interfere with her efforts to get Winfrey on the ballot. “This is not how politics in Chicago should work.”

Everyone who works for Ervin’s “organization is routinely directed to be respectful and dignified in their dealings with the community,” said Tom Bowen, a spokesman for Ervin’s campaign. "We have no idea what happened here, we do not condone any violence of any sort in politics."

Hawkins posted pictures of the man who assaulted her on her Facebook page, and Bowen said the man worked for Ervin’s organization more than two years ago.

“He has not [worked for the Ervin organization] since and won't be in the future," Ervin said.

Hawkins and the other volunteer called police and filed a report, which alleges “that as they were getting petitions signed for candidates, an unknown male offender took their petitions from them and fled scene,” according to a statement from Chicago Police Department spokeswoman Laura Amezaga. “Officers toured the area to locate the offender with negative results.”

Winfrey said she was appalled that her volunteers were assaulted.

“This was a violent act toward two women in front of a school while students were in the building,” Winfrey said. “I want justice to be served.”Also running for 28th Ward alderman are Beverly Miles and Miguel Bautista. Bautista joined Winfrey at Friday’s news conference to decry all forms of political intimidation.

Aldermen will consider a measure that would allow the new owner of the Tribune Tower to alter the exterior elevations and rooflines of the first-floor lobby, while affirming the Michigan Avenue building’s landmark designation.

State Rep. LaShawn Ford  — who just won re-election to represent the West Side of Chicago in the Illinois House — announced he will run for mayor. Already announced mayoral candidate Gery Chico marked the start of the municipal election campaign in earnest, with the cycle’s first ad. In addition, the Rules Committee will try again to find a home for three questions aldermen would like to see on February ballots. With Judge