Mayor Brandon Johnson presides over a City Council meeting on June 12, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office on Thursday announced the creation of a nine-member co-governance steering committee to help city government make decisions more collaboratively with community members.

Ald. Matt Martin is pictured at a council meeting June 12, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Ald. Matt Martin (47) was joined by several City Council colleagues and a coalition of progressive and good government organizations Tuesday to call for passage of his ordinance to allow for public financing of aldermanic campaigns.

“Our current campaign finance system is broken,” said Martin during a news conference at City Hall Tuesday. “Too often it forces candidates to rely heavily on a few big special interest donors on their campaigns.”

The ordinance (O2024-0010156) was introduced at last week’s City Council meeting and referred to the Committee on Committees and Rules.

Mayor Brandon Johnson presides over a City Council meeting June 12, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order Monday that establishes a task force to study reparations for Black Chicagoans and recommend policies to carry out a “Black Reparations Agenda.”

The announcement follows the allocation of $500,000 in the 2024 city budget to study reparations.

Tirrell Paxton speaks during a county Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee meeting on June 12, 2024. [Livestream] 

The Cook County Board of Commissioners approved the appointment of a new independent inspector general Thursday, the first permanent inspector general since Pat Blanchard, who retired in 2022.

Mayor Brandon Johnson announces 10 Community Development Grant awardees at Parkway Ballroom in Bronzeville on June 13, 2024. [Livestream]

The mayor announced the first recipients of his signature Housing and Economic Development Bond program on Thursday. A community farm in West Englewood and an Austin health center are each set to receive $5 million to assist with construction costs, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced at a news conference.

The mayor told reporters Wednesday he continues to support the appointment of a current aldermanic staff member to the civilian police oversight commission, and the commissioner for the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection is retiring.

Ald. Bill Conway (34) embraces a volunteer clinic escort on June 12, 2024 after his ordinance to designate the area around an abortion clinic in his ward as a quiet zone was approved. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Two alderpeople postponed a vote on a measure to codify prohibitions on lobbyist donations to mayoral campaigns at City Council Wednesday, and the council also approved a measure that places noise regulations around a West Loop abortion clinic after it faced its own delay last month.

The Chicago City Council holds a meeting in May 2024. [Michael McDevitt/The Daily Line]

The City Council on Wednesday will consider bond issuances for LaSalle office conversion projects, appointments to the human resources, ethics and police boards and a measure to bar lobbyists from giving to mayoral campaigns.

The council could also approve noise regulations for the area around a West Loop abortion clinic that draws frequent protests. The ordinance was deferred and published at the May council meeting. The council meets at 10 a.m.

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

The Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards held a subject matter hearing Tuesday on the proposal from Ald. Bennett Lawson (44), the acting zoning chair, to expand the allowance of additional dwelling units (ADUs) citywide while adding and changing some rules in response to things learned during a pilot period.

No vote was taken on the ordinance (SO2024-0008918), but Lawson has said the committee could hold a vote on the measure later this month or next month. The 44th Ward alderperson said he believes he has the votes to pass it.

Ald. Pat Dowell, who chairs the Finance Committee, is seen in March 2023 at a council meeting. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Finance Monday approved various measures allocating tax increment financing (TIF) dollars to citywide projects and bond issuances for office space-to-housing conversions downtown.

The City Council’s zoning committee will hold a hearing on an ordinance to allow attic and basement conversion residences and coach houses citywide, and the police and fire committee will consider three appointments to the Police Board.

Finance Chair Pat Dowell is pictured in March 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Finance will meet Monday and hold two public hearings plus a regular meeting to consider its routine matters. 

The regular agenda includes various measures allocating tax increment financing (TIF) dollars to citywide projects, bond issuances for office space-to-housing conversions and millions of dollars in proposed settlement agreements in police misconduct cases. Finance committee business begins at 10 a.m. in council chambers.

Hatem Abudayyeh, national chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, speaks during a news conference following a hearing on the March on the DNC Coalition's lawsuit on June 6, 2024. [Michael McDevitt/The Daily Line]

An attorney representing three groups suing the city after they were denied permits to protest the Democratic National Convention said the city seems open to negotiating a resolution to the lawsuit. 

The city is being sued by the Chicago Alliance against Racist and Political Repression, Anti-War Committee-Chicago and Students for a Democratic Society at UIC — three groups from the Coalition to March on the DNC that were denied permits to march to the United Center this August. The city suggested an alternate route through Grant Park, which the groups oppose as it isn’t “within sight and sound” of the convention attendees and media covering the event.

City Hall is pictured in this file photo.

The City Council Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight approved a measure Thursday codifying an existing executive order that bans lobbyist campaign donations to the mayor, and the committee approved the appointment of two ethics board members.

The City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate meets June 5, 2024. [Livestream]

The City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate on Wednesday approved a measure to continue to allow the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) to use city hearing officers for its tenant grievance process after the measure was held last month.