Mayor Brandon Johnson presides over a City Council meeting on April 15, 2026. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council could soon take up its latest sweeping update to the city’s construction code that aims to alleviate the burden on building residential developments, update outdated safety and technical standards and make the city's buildings more energy-efficient.

Mayor Brandon Johnson announced the appointment of a former federal prosecutor and utility company audit compliance officer pick to succeed former Inspector General Deborah Witzburg Monday.

City Budget Director Annette Guzman is pictured at a press conference on April 1, 2025. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Alderpeople at a budget committee hearing Monday heard updates on the status of new revenue tools and cost-saving and efficiency initiatives included in the 2026 city budget. They also learned that the firm that issued a report recommending various cost-saving and revenue-generating measures has been retained to implement many of the report’s policies.

City Budget Director Annette Guzman is pictured at a press conference on April 1, 2025. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council’s budget committee on Monday will hold a hearing on the administration’s progress implementing various efficiencies, cost-recovery measures and savings strategies that are called for in the 2026 budget.

The Committee on Budget and Government Operations is slated to meet at 10 a.m. in council chambers.

Ald. Walter "Red" Burnett (27) speaks with Ald. Andre Vasquez (40) during a City Council meeting on April 15, 2026. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line] 

Despite the City Council’s failure to override Mayor Brandon Johnson’s veto of a measure that would halt the One Fair Wage Ordinance, the council is still pondering a temporary freeze in the five-year escalator that will close the gap between the tipped and minimum wage. 

Drake Warren is the Democrats' nominee for Cook County Board of Commissioners in District 10. [Campaign]

The likely next Cook County commissioner to represent District 10 hopes that his recent victory opens the door for more urbanists and candidates from non-traditional backgrounds to pursue politics.

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

A Lincoln Park alderman last week introduced an ordinance that would give religious assemblies, like churches and synagogues, permission to rent out their parking lot space during off-hours when there aren’t services and the lots sit empty.

The proposal is pitched as a way to help the houses of worship add an extra stream of revenue by taking advantage of scarce parking.

The City Council meets on April 15, 2026. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

An overwhelming majority of City Council members signed on to a resolution introduced last week that calls for a hearing next month on the status of implementing various efficiencies, cuts and cost recovery measures included in the Ernst and Young (EY) city budget report.

The two-building affordable development planned for 7605 and 7615 N. Paulina St. in Rogers Park is pictured. [Chicago Department of Planning and Development]

The Chicago Plan Commission last week approved plans for development near the Howard CTA Red Line station in Rogers Park that will feature two entirely affordable residential buildings. 

Outgoing Chicago Inspector General Deborah Witzburg appears for the final time before the Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight on April 16, 2026. [Livestream]

Inspector General Deborah Witzburg told the City Council Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight Thursday that as she prepares to exit office, she remains concerned about top law department leadership’s adherence to oversight, including ongoing non-compliance with a recent reform ordinance that she said constitutes “clearly illegal” behavior. 

The comments came during Witzburg’s final quarterly report on the Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) activities to the ethics committee. Witzburg will leave office next week after one term.

Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26) is pictured during a City Council meeting on April 15, 2026. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The Chicago City Council on Wednesday fell short of the votes necessary to prevent a mayoral veto of a measure freezing the tip credit phase-out, approved the mayor’s pick to lead the arts and cultural affairs department and approved a measure to protect tenants from wrongful evictions following improper notice of lease non-renewal.

Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36), the council's new zoning chair, is pictured at a City Council meeting on April 15, 2026. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

In a last-minute surprise Wednesday, the City Council voted to appoint Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) as the permanent chair of the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards, ending a more than eight-month vacancy in leadership and striking a compromise between the Black and Latino caucuses on the council.

Ald. Bennett Lawson (44) is pictured at a City Council meeting on June 12, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council on Wednesday could approve the appointment of a permanent chair of the zoning committee and confirm the mayor’s acting arts and cultural affairs commissioner. It will also have an opportunity to try to nix the mayor’s veto of an ordinance halting the phase-out of the tipped wage. The council will meet at 10 a.m.

Ald. Matt Martin (47) is pictured during a City Council meeting on Oct. 9, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Workforce Development on Monday approved an ordinance that prohibits members of the Chicago Police Department (CPD) from advocating for or providing support to extremist groups.

Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) speaks with Ald. Bill Conway (34) during a City Council meeting on Feb. 19, 2025. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

A measure to allow Chicago businesses to receive conditional approval to operate video gambling machines pending their state license approval was advanced Monday by the City Council Committee on License and Consumer Protection.