Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) speaks during Wednesday’s City Council meeting. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]
 

Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) and Ald. Anthony Beale (9) on Wednesday renewed their push to give the City Council its own legal counsel separate from the city’s top attorney. 

Ald. Michael Rodriguez (22) (right, foreground) and Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) both stand during Wednesday’s City Council meeting [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

As was expected, the City Council vote on the proposal to phase out Chicago’s subminimum wage for tipped workers was delayed from Wednesday to Friday due to an error by the City Clerk’s office. But the work done by alderpeople to reschedule the vote for Friday and the attempts to block the rescheduled vote harkened back to the parliamentary maneuvering often seen under Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration. 

Cook County officials answer budget questions during a media briefing Wednesday. [Livestream]

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is expected to unveil a $9.14 billion spending proposal for 2024 during her annual budget address Thursday before the Cook County Board of Commissioners. 

During a presentation to reporters Wednesday, county budget officials revealed the budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year — consisting of a proposed $7.63 billion operating budget and a $1.51 billion proposed capital budget for debt service and pension obligations.

County officials also laid out a plan to temporarily sustain and assess long-term funding for programs that are currently being funded by one-time allocations of federal pandemic relief money. 

Mayor Brandon Johnson announced new conditions for NASCAR’s race series next summer. Johnson also told reporters on Wednesday he plans to travel to the country’s southern border to see firsthand what the migrant crisis looks like, and the county has released a digital accessibility plan.

Proponents of eliminating the tipped minimum wage during a September news conference. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

The City Council was supposed to vote on the proposal to eliminate the so-called subminimum wage for tipped workers during Wednesday’s meeting but an error in posting a portion of the agenda by the City Clerk’s office means the final vote will be delayed until Friday.  

The council’s Committee on Workforce Development approved a modified version of the ordinance to phase out the subminimum wage over five years last month. 

Related: Committee sends proposal to eliminate tipped minimum wage to City Council for final vote in October

15th Ward Ald. Raymond Lopez announces his candidacy for Congress on Oct. 3, 2023 in Berwyn. [Provided photo]

Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) announced Tuesday he will challenge U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” García (D-Ill.) in the Democratic primary election this spring in Illinois’ 4th Congressional District.

Lopez, who was recently re-elected to the Chicago City Council after toying with a run for mayor, announced his congressional candidacy at Jardin Restaurant in Berwyn. 

Chicago’s Chief Sustainability Officer Angela Tovar speaks during a meeting Tuesday. [City of Chicago livestream]

While several people were critical of a study that examined how different areas of the city are affected by environmental, health and social factors because of how the study uses census tracts to determine which areas face the heaviest burdens, city officials and alderpeople said the analysis is just the first step in ensuring environmental justice for all Chicagoans.   

Officials stressed the importance of working with community organizations and individuals who are disproportionately affected by pollution and other social issues and allowing them to help find solutions. 

Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order creating a new Chief Homelessness Officer position. A proposal to require permits for new Little Free Libraries passed a key committee Tuesday. A separate council committee approved an ordinance that in part accepts a $50 million grant for the police department related to the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

The finance committee during the September meeting. [City of Chicago livestream]

A new City Council subcommittee, if approved Wednesday, would be chaired by a first-term alderperson and tasked with helping the city find new revenue sources. The City Council will vote on creating the subcommittee just one week before Mayor Brandon Johnson is set to formally introduce his first budget proposal. 

Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks during a news conference on the Cumulative Impact Assessment in September 2023. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

The City Council will hold a joint committee Tuesday on the city’s Cumulative Impact Assessment, a report which last month concluded pollution disproportionately impacts the South and West sides, and polluter industries are moving from the city’s white neighborhoods to Black and Latinx communities.

The Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy and Committee on Health and Human Relations will meet at 8 a.m. for a subject matter hearing on the assessment report.

Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) speaks with Mayor Brandon Johnson during the September 2023 City Council meeting. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Transportation and Public Way will meet Tuesday to consider a substitute proposal for limiting the installation of public bookcases, colloquially known as Little Free Libraries, on the public right of way. Also, the committee will consider a measure to make the forestry bureau trim or remove hazardous trees.

Alderpersons gave initial approval to a $1.8 million tax incentive for Revolution Brewing. The City Council budget committee on Tuesday will vote on a measure to allocate millions in new grant funding to various city departments.

The Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights, chaired by Ald. Andre Vasquez (40) met Friday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Friday’s hearing on the city’s response to the more than 15,000 migrants who have been sent to Chicago in the past year turned tense at multiple points as alderpeople acknowledged the crisis is pitting the Black community against the Latino community and later in the meeting as Mayor Brandon Johnson’s floor leader hammered at Gov. JB Pritzker and state officials for not doing enough to help Chicago.

Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29), chair of the police and fire committee, speaks during a City Council meeting in May 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Inspector General Deborah Witzburg and Tobara Richardson, deputy inspector general for public safety, answered alderpersons’ questions about the Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) annual public safety report for 2022 during a joint City Council hearing of the Committee on Police and Fire and the Committee on Public Safety Friday.

The annual report was released in June. OIG’s Public Safety section is required to publish an annual report detailing its work from the previous year and the previous year’s data. 

The finance committee will meet Monday.

The City Council Committee on Finance is set to meet at 10 a.m. Monday to vote on various proposals including the creation of a new subcommittee and three ordinances that would grant a combined $15.4 million in tax-increment finance (TIF) dollars to various developments