Brandon Johnson beat fellow candidate Paul Vallas for Mayor of Chicago. Johnson, seen here during a rally with Sen. Bernie Sanders at the UIC Pavilion [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Survey results taken just before the mayoral runoff showed Cook County Comm. Brandon Johnson (D-1), now mayor-elect, with a lead over former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas as well as differences in the issues which united the supporters of each campaign.

Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson on Thursday announced his picks for chief of staff and deputy chief of staff. Chicago Police Department Interim Supt. Eric Carter announced he will retire May 15.

The Cook County flag is pictured outside the county government building in downtown Chicago. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The Cook County Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC), county Commission on Women’s Issues and Commission on Human Rights met in recent days and have all touched on a common theme. 

All three county meetings, the EDAC meeting on Wednesday and the other two Thursday, featured discussion of an impending return to in-person meetings as the declared emergencies related to COVID-19 come to a close.

The William E. Denver water crib housing one of Chicago's water intakes.

On Monday, the Chicago City Council Committee on Finance passed an ordinance (O2023-1333) recommending the approval of a key agreement with the city of Joliet that will see Chicago supply Lake Michigan water to Joliet for at least the next 100 years. The City Council then passed it as a part of the omnibus on Wednesday. 

Joliet has been up against a deadline, as city wells are expected to run dry by 2030. The nature of Joliet's geology means that surface water doesn’t refill the aquifers, leaving the city increasingly in need of water.

Wednesday marked Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s final City Council meeting as mayor. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line] 

Aldermen spent two hours Wednesday heaping praise on their retiring colleagues and outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who presided over her final City Council meeting before Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson is sworn in May 15. 

Concept art showing a new set of stairs and elevators at the Van Buren Metra station, part of myriad ADA accessibility improvements proposed under consideration by the Chicago Plan Commission Thursday. [Chicago Department of Planning and Development]

The Chicago Plan Commission will consider a proposal to rehabilitate a commuter rail station, improvements to a local magnet high school and several new residential building proposals during its meeting that begins at 10 a.m. Thursday.

The zoning committee met in the council chambers on Tuesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line] 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot will preside over her final City Council meeting Wednesday as the day also marks the final meeting for aldermen who are retiring or did not win their election earlier this year. 

Inspector General Deborah Witzburg speaks during a committee meeting Tuesday. [City of Chicago livestream]

Some aldermen want shift control over who decides which reports from the Office of the Inspector General are made public from the city’s law department to the inspector’s office. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Tuesday announced a projected $85 million budget gap for 2024. And CPD is enforcing a teen curfew in Millennium Park.

The flag of Cook County is pictured outside the county government building in downtown Chicago. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The Cook County Economic Development Advisory Committee will hold a public hearing on a substantial amendment to the 2020 Annual Action Plan during its Wednesday morning meeting, and on Thursday, the Cook County Commission on Women’s Issues and County Commission on Human Rights will meet.

The finance committee met in council chambers Monday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line] 

The City Council Committee on Finance on Monday approved $74 million in TIF assistance for various developments across the city.

A rendering of the proposal for 1200-1234 W. Randolph St. [City of Chicago presentation] 

The City Council Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards will meet for its final regularly scheduled meeting under its current chair, Ald. Tom Tunney (44), Tuesday at 10 a.m. 

Aldermen will vote on a nearly 400-unit residential building on the Near West Side and a coffee roastery and brewery in Pullman that will employ veterans, among other proposals. 

The City Council’s ethics committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight on Tuesday will hold two separate hearings on the process of publishing reports by the Office of Inspector General and on the city’s lack of a chief administrative officer.

The City Council’s budget committee approved more than $12.8 million in grant allocations. The proposal to use TIF funding to help rehab the Congress Theatre could move a small step forward Tuesday.

BUDGET COMMITTEE — The City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations during its meeting Monday approved a substitute ordinance (O2023-1387) that if approved by the City Council on Wednesday would appropriate $12.8 million in grant money within Fund No. 925 for the city’s Department of Housing, Department of Public Health and Office of Public Safety Administration. Under the ordinance, the housing department would accept $4 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the CDBG program, $2 million from HUD for the South Shore Homeownership Preservation program and another $2 million from HUD for the Prairie District Affordable Housing program. The public health department would allocate $133,000 from the Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation for its Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement — Behavioral Health program and another $200,000 from the National Football League Foundation for its Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement — Social Justice program. The public health department also stands to allocate $199,000 from the Illinois Department of Public Health for the Tobacco Free Communities program and nearly $1.7 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for the Public Health Crisis Response Program.  Additionally, the city’s Department of Family and Support Services is accepting $1.2 million from the Illinois Department on Aging for the Area Plan on Aging program. The Office of Public Safety Administration was awarded $702,000 by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency for the Emergency Management Assistance program. 

CONGRESS THEATER TIF — After facing an initial delay, the ordinance (02023-1340) allocating $27 million in tax-increment financing dollars to redevelop the Congress Theater in Logan Square is set to take a step forward Tuesday. The City Council Committee on Committees and Rules will meet at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday to consider rereferring the proposal to the proper committee after Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza (10) banished it to the rules committee in March citing concerns about whether the development would bring quality jobs, according to reporting from Block Club. The developer plans to renovate the building at 2135 N. Milwaukee Ave. in the 1st Ward as a live performance venue with affordable residential units, retail and restaurants space and office space. According to the ordinance, 14 of the proposed 16 residential units will be built to be affordable.

Aja Favors and Andreas Safakas [City of Chicago livestream] 

Two new nominees for the Chicago Police Board selected under a new process that begins with the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability are one step closer to officially becoming members of the board.