Ward Reports

• Ald. Rod Sawyer's (6) quarterly meeting is tonight. 


• Ald. George Cardenas (12) tweeted in response to news of CPS budget cuts at predominantly Hispanic schools: "Maybe it is time for an elected school board." He also tweeted some words of wisdom: "Life, you got 2 squeeze it like a dry lemon trying to make a margarita. #resist"


• Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) shared a survey from the Chicago Reporter on minimum wage enforcement.


• Ald. David Moore (17) thanked Facebook friends for the birthday wishes: "May the Lord take a liking to each of you and bless you real good."


• Ald. Howard Brookins (21), Comm. Stanley Moore, and State Rep. Justin Slaughter are hosting a Night at the Oscars on Sunday. 


• Ald. Rick Muñoz (22) estimates "it's going down" today over dueling property tax rebate plans. 


• Ald Anthony Napolitano (41) is taking his participatory budgeting to the streets, offering mobile voting. 


• Ald. John Arena (45) has an important reminder: we're nearing Paczki Day.  


• Ald. Ameya Pawar (47) wrote on Facebook: "My wife and I worry about rising #AntiSemitism and what it means for our daughter, our family, our neighbors, our community, and our country. The disgusting online attacks, cemetery vandalism, and #JCC bomb threats are a direct result of @POTUS and his ugly rhetoric, his policies, and continued pandering to the alt-right and anti-Semites like Steve Bannon who work in the highest capacities of our government."


• Ald. Harry Osterman (48) posted info for a Women's Day fundraiser to raise money for GirlForward, which supports teen refugee girls. 


• City Treasurer Kurt Summers has pics from this weekend's Black Table event. Spot the elected official. 

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• Comm. Sean Morrison (R-17) shared info on the next Palos/Orland GOP monthly meeting. Comm. Tim Schneider (R-15) will be there. 

City Council meets today after a recessed meeting of the Committee on Budget and Government Operations to consider a relatively short list of major ordinances and appointments. Here’s our roundup of the most important items, with links to our coverage and the corresponding legislation.

President Barack Obama’s former Deputy White House Counsel Ed Siskel received unanimous approval from the Council’s Budget Committee to replace Steve Patton as the city’s next top lawyer. Siskel, who started on the job last week, will take over as the city’s Corporation Counsel at a turbulent time for the city as it confronts ongoing reform efforts at the Chicago Police Department.

The City Council’s Finance Committee approved $773,000 in police-related settlements, but held one $250,000 payout involving the department’s second highest in command, First Deputy Superintendent Kevin Navarro. The committee also held an amendment to the city’s amusement tax introduced by the budget department, while approving a direct introduction from Ald. Matt O’Shea (19) that aims to make it easier for small businesses to remit taxes to the city.

Aldermen on the Council’s Budget Committee are scheduled to reconvene at 8:45 this morning to consider a contentious list of initiatives the mayor plans to fund with nearly $15 million in leftover property tax rebate dollars. Budget Chair Carrie Austin (34) held the item yesterday, telling reporters after the meeting that she wasn’t completely sold on the list of incentives, especially a $500,000 appropriation to plant a thousand trees across the city.

Warning of the “chaos” a repeal of the Affordable Care Act would create on local health systems, about 100 county health workers and officials rallied in front of Stroger Hospital Tuesday holding signs addressed to Congress: “What’s your plan for healthcare”? Advocates plan to press members of the Illinois delegation on the point as they return home for recess, arguing they must stand up against cuts or provide a realistic alternative.

Aldermen met for a brief (and slightly delayed) Housing Committee meeting to approve temporary space to train Chicago Police Officers and to use the Health Department’s Englewood Clinic to provide community counseling services for Burge torture victims.

A pair of new guidance letters from the Chicago Board of Ethics clarifies for city and City Council employees limitations on lobbying work following their employment with the city.

Aldermen on City Council’s Housing and Real Estate Committee will consider a longer-term agreement for the Chicago Police Department to use classrooms at DeVry University’s campus in Roscoe Village. The arrangement helps alleviate overcrowding at CPD’s training academy during an influx of new recruits. Aldermen will also vote on a land transfer to expand or create more than a dozen new parks on the city’s South Side as part of the Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago Plays! program.

Four settlements, including one against the second highest ranking officer at the Chicago Police Department, First Deputy Superintendent Kevin Navarro, and two changes to the city’s tax code are up for consideration by the Council’s Finance Committee.

The Council’s Budget Committee will consider the appointment of Edward Siskel as the city’s top lawyer. It is also expected to vote on a group of projects Mayor Rahm Emanuel plans to pay for with $15 million of leftover property tax rebate program money.

Ward Reports

• Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1) is "not having" graffiti in the ward. "If you see any more of this garbage please contact Orlando at my office or CPD, especially if you see it happening in progress." On Friday, he challenged those who criticized a gentrification dinner he attended: "If you don't think there are affordable apartments left in the 1st Ward, come to my office tomorrow at 10AM to hear about some."


• Ald. Brian Hopkins (2) has info on the next meeting to discuss the Industrial Corridor Modernization Initiative in the North Branch Industrial Corridor: it's tonight from 6pm to 8pm on at UI Labs.


• Ald. Sophia King (4) shared a press release from Dick Simpson's UIC study of her voting record. 


• Ald. George Cardenas (12) hosted a clean and green event this weekend, and "collected over 100 bags of garbage and leaves from around the south satellite campus located in Little Village."


• Ald. Matt O'Shea (19) is going hard recruiting for the Polar Plunge. 


• Ald. Michael Scott Jr. (24) attended North Lawndale Employment Network's 12th Annual Sweet Beginnings Tea, posing with Deputy Mayor Andrea Zopp and Comm. Robert Steele (D-2). 


• Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26) joined the Logan Square Neighborhood Association Friday "to declare schools in the 26th Ward "Sanctuary Zones"... We want to let our immigrant families know that they are safe and not alone. Next week, I will be introducing a resolution to City Council calling on Chicago Public Schools to pass an official policy on Sanctuary Schools."


• Ald. Jason Ervin's (28) baby Jeneva is nine months old (and sporting some amazing footwear). Both of them, with his wife State Rep. Melissa Conyears-Ervin, went out to support Congressman Danny Davis "in his efforts to save Obamacare." 


• Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) is holding a public safety community meeting with Cmdr. Buslik March 1. 


• Ald. Deb Mell (33) made the rounds to neighborhood groups to talk menu funds. 


• 39th Ward Committeeman Robert Murphy, the 39th Ward Democratic Organization, Ald. John Arena (45), and 33rd Ward Committeeman Aaron Goldstein are hosting an event on Thursday called "Immigration, Refugees and the State of our Union." Comm. Bridget Gainer (D-10) Human Services Commissioner Mona Noriega, and several others will attend. 


• Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) called out to ward HS seniors and college students. "The Chicago Latino Caucus Foundation is offering a $5,000 scholarship. Please apply asap."


• Ald. Pat O'Connor (40) is ready for compromise on a possible ACA repeal: "We should be prepared to make the case for those provisions of the Affordable Care Act that are critical to various city and county residents and hospitals, to their health needs, and to the jobs that have been created by the Act as well."


• Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41) is a St. Baldrick's participant for the 7th time, "raising money and shaving my head for childhood cancer research. Cancer has personally affected my immediate family as well as the families of my friends and loved ones."


• Ald. Brendan Reilly's (42) new Twitter avatar is a crying George Washington. He spent the weekend tweeting about President Trump but took a break to say "150 N. Riverside is one of the best results" of his 10 years of negotiating zoning deals. The site will soon be home to a Small Cheval. 


• Ald. Tom Tunney (44) says the annual Wrigley Field Community Meeting is March 20. 


• Ald. Ameya Pawar (47) plans to introduce an abortion sanctuary ordinance at the next City Council meeting, similar to one recently passed in St. Louis. 


• Ald. Harry Osterman (48) hosted a community meeting about a pilot dog park in the ward, and laid out his priorities for spending property tax rebate money: "for after school, youth mentoring, and public safety programs, in an effort to address and prevent the violence that is plaguing our city. Locally, I am working with community partners to create a teen center in the Broadway Armory, in order to provide a safe and productive space for our youth to spend time. I will share more information about this project as it develops."


• City Treasurer Kurt Summers had an "amazing time at ABC 7 Chicago's Black Table event... in celebration of #BlackHistoryMonth!"

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• Comm. Richard Boykin (D-1) wrote "4 dead and 25 shot in Chicago since Friday-- the crisis continues to rage while the silence of leaders is deafening. We need federal action to help secure endangered communities."


• Comm. Bridget Gainer (D-10) talked "politics, life & Chicago" on Becky Carroll's podcast, #TheBroadCast "w @annavalenciaIL @toiHutchinson@cstrategiesllc."


• Comm. John Fritchey (D-12) has info on "bills filed in Springfield HB2824 (Costello) + SB1822 (Hastings) that would preclude home rule municipalities like Cook County from regulating where pet stores get their animals from. In other words, these bills would not allow ANY government in Illinois to ban puppy mill puppies. If you care about animal welfare, call your legislators and urge them to vote NO on these bills."


• Comm. Sean Morrison (R-17) tweeted a pic from President Trump's rally this weekend: "Perspective; so the rest of the country seems more than few presidential supporters do exist despite the media narrative. Can this be ????"

A $75 million contract for Midway Airport advances out of Council Committee. But if you look at the small print, it appears to be a sweet deal for one Mayoral ally. The City’s Transportation Department cracks down the number of honorary street signs for each ward. Downtown residents bemoan the “maddening” noise by the “bucket boys” of Michigan Avenue and State Street. And we preview a key showdown vote expected for next week.

Ward Reports

• Ald. Leslie Hairston (5) shared her open letter on the Obama Presidential Library.


• Ald. Greg Mitchell (7) collaborated with the young people from the Rebecca K. Crown Youth Center, Powell Elementary School, and Olive-Harvey College make hundreds of Valentine's Day cards for the senior citizens at Symphony of South Shore and Villa at Windsor Park. 


• Ald. Patrick D. Thompson's (11) next quarterly meeting is March 7.


• Ald. George Cardenas (12) says the mayor's reported use of the f word in a discussion with Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) is "not appreciated". He says he'll urge the Latino Caucus to vote no to the mayor's proposed property tax rebate money plans.  


• Ald. Ed Burke (14) will join Mayor Emanuel "and members of the O’Hare family to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Lt. Commander Edward “Butch” O’Hare’s heroic WWII Mission."


• Ald. Raymond Lopez (15) spoke to the Chicago Bar Association "about the importance of 'No Kill' policies in Chicago."


• Ald. Danny Solis (25) participated in #DayWithoutImmigrants, standing in solidarity with organizations in Pilsen. 


• Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26) says he's "proud of the 26th Ward businesses closed in solidarity for today's #DayWithoutImmigrants protest. You make Chgo stronger."


• Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) issued some warnings to his friend Ald. John Arena (45) about his line of questioning on the Midway contract. Waguespack has a fundraiser on March 30. 


• Ald. Deb Mell (33) will participate in this year's Polar Plunge. 


• Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) tweeted from yesterday's Health Committee hearing on the Dakota Access Pipeline. 


• Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) recognized the "Love Ambassadors" at Reinberg School.


• Ald. Anthony Napolitano's (41) participatory budgeting program starts today. 


• Ald. Michele Smith (43) says she'll be hosting public safety meetings throughout March. We'd like to extend our well wishes to the alderman, who we've learned recently got engaged. Congratulations, Ald. Smith! 


• Ald. John Arena (45) tweeted about a plan that passed the Plan Commission yesterday. "This is the first piece of the plan to revitalize the Jefferson Park gateway, and the entire neighborhood."


• Ald. Ameya Pawar (47) says "Immigrants make Illinois and our country great. I am the son of immigrants and I will always stand #InSolidarity with our immigrant neighbors. No human being is illegal and we will never be Trump's America.#WeMustResist #DayWithoutImmigrants


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  Comm. Bridget Gainer (D-10) gave a "Shout out to @rlopez15thward for standing up to the acts of violence in our city and proposing solutions. #StopTheViolence" She also shared stats from a recent hearing on the ACA. 

After more than a year of negotiations, a handful of private briefings, and close to three hours of debate, aldermen on the Aviation Committee signed off on a 15 year, $75 million concession redevelopment and management lease agreement at Midway Airport with Midway Partnership, LLC. The concessions RFP was first issued in September of 2015, and negotiations with the respondents went on for ten months. The deal will move to the full City Council for approval next Wednesday. If approved, construction would begin in May.