Alderpeople on Wednesday will consider a new transit board appointment that has drawn some questions, and the license committee will consider a measure to align a longstanding ban on peddlers within the 23rd Ward with the new ward boundaries.

Ald. Matt Martin (47) is pictured in September 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The chair of the City Council ethics committee is calling on the mayor to fill two open seats on the Chicago Board of Ethics before two more potential vacancies become effective.

The City Council’s technology committee on Tuesday will take up a data storage ordinance, and the public safety committee will consider a measure to address frequent protesters outside a city abortion clinic.

Rebecca Glenberg, senior supervising attorney for the ACLU of Illinois, speaks during a news conference May 2, 2024. [Provided]

A coalition of reproductive and LGBTQ rights organizations has become the latest group to sue the city after it denied the groups a permit to march downtown just before the Democratic National Convention (DNC) this summer.

Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26) attends Mayor Brandon Johnson's 2024 budget address in October 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

A City Council subcommittee will meet Monday afternoon for a subject matter hearing on citywide strategies for youth employment as the city prepares for summer, when shootings and violence typically increase and teens have tended to gather downtown in large crowds that can often become unruly.

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi is pictured at an event with Board President Toni Preckwinkle in 2022. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

As part of the ongoing reassessment of Chicago, Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s office has reclassified numerous mixed-use properties as it works to address a loophole that the county inspector general said was allowing some commercial properties to unfairly get tax breaks. 

While the affected properties were previously assessed as Class 3-18 multifamily properties, their commercial components are being assessed separately after a definition in the property tax classification code was revised — causing their total assessed values to skyrocket in many cases.

The Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety meets on May 1, 2024. [Michael McDevitt/The Daily Line]

Alderpeople on the City Council’s pedestrian and traffic safety committee held a hearing Wednesday on the possibility of lowering the default speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph citywide with the goal of reducing traffic crashes, serious injuries and deaths.  

It’s a measure that advocates say has been a success in other cities and stems from the recognition that even slight decreases in speed can drastically improve someone’s chances of survival in a traffic accident.

CPD Supt. Larry Snelling is pictured at a council meeting in September 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Public Safety held a hearing Wednesday on the city and Chicago Police Department’s (CPD) plans to keep the public safe this summer, with everything from the Democratic National Convention (DNC), large teen gatherings and the typical concerts, festivals and park district events to handle.

Ald. Brian Hopkins (2), who chairs the public safety committee, is pictured at an April 17, 2024 City Council meeting. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Public Safety will meet Wednesday to discuss public safety and emergency preparedness plans for the coming summer, and the council’s pedestrian and traffic safety committee will hold a subject matter hearing on lowering the city’s default speed limit, a discussion postponed a few weeks ago.

The public safety committee will meet at noon in council chambers following the pedestrian and traffic safety committee meeting.

A CTA logo and train are pictured.

State lawmakers are proposing to consolidate the region’s four mass transit agencies into a single entity. 

The push comes after the Civic Federation released a report last week that calls on the state to tie future financial support for the northeastern Illinois transit agencies — the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra and Pace — to reforms of the agencies’ structure and governance, specifically their centralization into one agency. 

Members of the Cook County Democratic party voted on Friday to select Cook County Comm. Monica Gordon (D-5) to be the party’s nominee for Cook County Clerk election in November after a single round of voting at IBEW Local 134. 

She will face a Republican candidate to be determined by the Cook County Republican Party. 

Current Chief Deputy Clerk Cedric Giles will fill the position through December.

“Public funding of healthcare coverage for the uninsured pays for itself in a panoply of benefits that reach well beyond the individuals who receive such assistance.” 

So says the “The Benefits of Health Coverage for Immigrants in Illinois” report conducted by the Great Cities Institute (CGI) at the University of Illinois Chicago, commissioned by the Healthy Illinois Campaign and released Friday at a symposium at the North Lawndale Employment Network offices. 

Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) is pictured at a May 2023 council meeting. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

A Northwest Side alderperson is asking the city to take advantage of emerging artificial intelligence (AI) advancements to improve departmental productivity and make services more efficient but also to adopt AI systems in a thoughtful and responsible manner.

Ald. Bennett Lawson (44) is pictured during a City Council meeting in October 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The interim chair of the City Council zoning committee re-introduced legislation last week to allow attic and basement conversions and coach houses citywide.

Ald. Timmy Knudsen (43) is pictured at a City Council meeting in November 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

A Lincoln Park alderperson is pushing legislation that would impose fines for those who print and distribute hateful and bigoted literature in response to what he said is “an alarming increase” of hate flyering instances in his ward.