Mayor Rahm Emanuel will unveil his FY 2017 budget this morning in the City Council Chambers, which will likely include provisions of a tentative agreement reached with the Chicago Teachers Union late last night. Few other details of the mayor’s budget plan have been revealed, other than the idea of adding a 7-cent tax on plastic bags, according to the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune. This added tax would, in theory, add teeth to the existing plastic bag ban by providing an incentive for customers to bring a reusable bag.

On Saturday morning, Cook County Democratic committeemen unanimously selected Ed Moody to succeed the late 6th District Commissioner Joan Murphy, who passed away on September 18. Moody is the current Worth Township Highway Commissioner and a more than 25 year "active member" of House Speaker Mike Madigan's 13th Ward Democratic Organization, according to his resume. Moody was the presumed top pick by county stakeholders ahead of Saturday's selection meeting. 

After nearly a year of community meetings, hearings, and private briefings, the City Council approved a police reform package that will dissolve the Independent Police Review Authority, the agency in charge of investigating cases of police misconduct, and replace it with a newer agency with a larger budget and stronger authority. While few were fully satisfied with the legislation, the full City Council approved the ordinance at their monthly meeting Wednesday, along with new public decorum rules for council committee meetings. Those rules seemed aimed squarely at concerned citizen George Blakemore.

Meanwhile, as the city prepared for budget season, the Chicago Teachers’ Union is gearing up to strike, prompting renewed efforts by aldermen and education advocacy groups to pressure the Emanuel administration to surplus extra tax increment financing (TIF) money. But not everyone on the City Council is on board with the plan, as TIF dollars are largely used to support economic development in blighted neighborhoods. And some aldermen who represent those areas of the city say they don’t want to hand over their pot of property tax money for what they call a “one-time” fix for CPS.

Nine candidates have thrown their names into the ring to succeed the late Southland Cook County Comm. Joan Murphy, the Daily Southtown reports, but only a handful of real contenders will make their case to Democratic Committeemen in the 6th District. The group will select her replacement at an open meeting Saturday morning (weighted votes of each committeeman below). While the top contender, according to county staffers and stakeholders, appears to be Worth Township Highway Commissioner and Chicago Ridge resident Ed Moody, another challenger, Donna Miller, believes she can drive voter turnout in 2018.

Other candidates have emerged in the past week, as well. Murphy’s daughter, Tricia Murphy, has joined the fray. She was spotted at Wednesday’s meeting of the Cook County Board, and has been reaching out to committeemen. She was often at her mother’s side on political trips, including to the DNC this year, and on National Association of Counties (NACo) conferences.

Crestwood Mayor Lou Presta has also put his name in for the spot. He described the late commissioner as “a good friend” in an interview with The Daily Line shortly after Murphy’s death, and suggested together they put the Village of Crestwood on the rebound after a water contamination scandal. He could not be immediately reached for comment Thursday, but told the Daily Southtown he didn’t think he’d win.

Brian Bernardoni, a lobbyist with the Chicago Association of Realtors and a resident of suburban Justice, also submitted his credentials, but told The Daily Line he’s withdrawing. “In the future, should an opportunity arise, I’d take advantage,” district native Bernardoni said, “But the weight of the township committeemen are clearly outside areas that I’ve lobbied in or had relationships in.”

Asked who committeemen did seem to favor, Bernardoni only said “Moody.” His is the first name County Board staffers will drop when asked who seems to be in the lead with committeemen, and was the first mentioned to succeed Comm. Murphy in the days after her death. Capitol Fax first reported the rumor last month, describing him as “part of a legendary two-man team along with his twin brother Fred... known for tirelessly walking precincts for [House Speaker Mike] Madigan's most vulnerable candidates (among other things),” including a strong local organization around Worth Township. Moody did not respond to a request for comment.

Rich Township Committeeman Tim Bradford, the chairman of the selection committee, is reviewing resumes and background information other candidates, and is winnowing the large field down ahead of Saturday’s vote, Orland Committeeman Michael Carroll told The Daily Line yesterday. Each is assigned a weighted vote based on the number ballots cast for Murphy in the 2014 election:

• Rich (Tim Bradford) = 22.0%


• Thornton (Frank Zuccarelli) = 19.5%


• Bloom (Terry Matthews) = 17.1%


• Worth (John O’Sullivan) = 16.5%  


• Bremen (Maggie Crotty) = 15.3%


• Lyons (Steven Landek) = 4.7%


• Orland (Michael Carroll) = 3.2%


• Palos (Robert Maloney) = 1.3%

The townships with the biggest turnout in previous elections are predominantly black, according to census data, and have slightly more women, something Donna Miller says she intends to play up in her sit-down with committeemen Saturday.

“I think [Ed Moody] has a lot of connections over on the west side of the district, but most of the votes come from east of [Interstate 57]... At one time, the larger voter turnout was west of 57th, and that’s where [Comm. Murphy’s] base was [...] but that’s shifted now,” Miller said in an interview with The Daily Line.

She plans to tout her 30 years of organizing Southland voters, particularly women. She was President of the Democratic Women of the South Suburbs, and served on the League of Women Voters, Planned Parenthood of Illinois, and Illinois Democratic Women. Name recognition is on her side, too, she says. Miller ran for the open 15th District State Senate seat in 2012, but lost to Napoleon Harris by more than eight points–garnering roughly 8,200 votes to Harris' 10,100. Her husband, Dr. David Miller, is also a former State Representative.

Sitdowns begin at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow at the Rich Township Family Service Center, 22013 Governors Highway in Richton Park, Illinois.

Aldermen will be briefed on Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s budget plans–including hiring plans for the Chicago Police Department–ahead of his scheduled October 11th address, according to an internal administration communication email obtained by The Daily Line. The Budget Department will email budget information to aldermen on the Columbus Day holiday.

With a potential teacher strike scheduled for Tuesday, a coalition of elected officials and parents groups will hold a press conference at 9:00 a.m. on the second floor of City Hall to demand passage of an ordinance that would direct surplus TIF money to Chicago Public Schools.

LISTEN TO OUR PODCAST: Should TIFS support CPS? (July 29, 2016)

Ald. George Cardenas (12) and Ald. Sue Sadlowski-Garza (9), the main sponsors of the ordinance, will be joined by Cook County Clerk David Orr, State Rep. Will Guzzardi, and State Rep. Ann Williams. Aldermen Scott Waguespack (32), Matt O’Shea (19), and Ald. Harry Osterman (48) are also expected to attend.

The Finance Committee has already held two subject matter hearings on the so-called Chicago Public Education Revitalization Ordinance, which would create an official mechanism for the city to direct all surplus TIF money to CPS. Debate at those meetings highlighted a clear divide among aldermen: Supporters framed the ordinance as a way to come together as a city to the support the financially distressed school system, while opponents said “their” TIF money, which has taken years to build up, is too valuable to hand over for a “one-time” fix for CPS.

The Cook County Board approved a sweeping paid sick leave mandate yesterday, despite a divided party vote, dueling State’s Attorney memos on legality and some business opposition. Two commissioners doubled down on pro-worker reforms by introducing a mirror ordinance to Chicago’s minimum wage requirements that would bring the county up to a $13 per hour wage by the summer of 2019. A new tax on Uber and Lyft rides, extra procurement disclosure requirements, and a sales and property tax freeze were also introduced.

Snuck in as a late-day addition to the Board of Commissioners’ new items Wednesday was an ordinance hiking Cook County’s minimum wage. The ordinance (16-5768) calls for a hike to $13 per hour by July 1, 2019. It is co-sponsored by Finance Chairman John Daley and Comm. Larry Suffredin.  

“I realized that the city of Chicago has already raised it to $10.50. So if you are working on the Evanston side of Howard Street, you’re making $9.50. You get a dollar more on the other side. It seemed to me, crazy,” Comm. Suffredin told The Daily Line. “The business community has not challenged the City of Chicago’s ordinance, we might as well have the same minimum wage for everybody.”

While an audit function in the Inspector General’s office and expanded police oversight powers as part of a new Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) were passed at the end of Tuesday’s lengthy committee hearing, a civilian oversight board was not included in the new legislation. As Council pushed through the first two components of police reform, confusion and opposition over why civilian oversight was not included, as well as the proper pace of establishing the reform is beginning to form.

The Cook County Board meets today to vote on items approved in committee (previewed here), as well as new spending outlined below and a referral of new items to committee–including a new proposed tax on Lyft and Uber rides, a property and sales tax freeze, and adding a POW/MIA chair to the Board Room.

Committee Chairman John Fritchey and Republican commissioners had pointed questions for department heads on two contracts up for committee approval: one for software to track rabies vaccinations, and another for properties at the Recorder of Deeds office. A third contract for data sharing between the Chicago Police Department and the Cook County Sheriff’s Department was deferred.

Cook County Commissioners will meet today at 8:45 a.m. for six committee meetings ahead of today’s full Board of Commissioners meeting. They are scheduled to vote on paid sick leave for employees across the county, changes to the consent calendar that could make board meeting days much shorter, a revamped Ethics Ordinance, and a drug disposal program that has been on hold for months.

Aldermen approved “a matter of housekeeping” during a brief Workforce Committee meeting in the middle of Tuesday's police oversight hearing. The substitute makes some corrections to the three parts of the Chicago-Cook Workforce Partnership agreement. Jim McDonald, Deputy Corporation Counsel explained that the initial federal department that funded the Chicago-Cook Partnership has changed.

In a divided 39-8 vote Wednesday, City Council approved the Emanuel Administration's plan to dissolve the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) and replace it with two new police oversight agencies: a Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) and a new Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety.

A proposed pilot program aimed at spurring stagnant retail corridors in some of the city’s struggling communities was called “politically motivated” by some aldermen yesterday because the pilot left out several neighborhoods in need. The program was the subject of two ordinances before the Budget Committee Tuesday.