Mayor Lori Lightfoot teased a potential Chicago budget surplus during a speech on Tuesday. And a City Council committee is set on Wednesday to take up the latest in a series of new appointments to the Chicago Park District Board following the resignation of one of its commissioners.

A new state tax assessment program is set to benefit a planned apartment complex near the Cumberland Blue Line station. [Glenstar/Department of Planning and Development]

A plan to kick-start a state-enabled tax break for affordable apartments on the city’s Far Northwest Side, a pair of land seizures to advance city-backed development initiatives and a bundle of appointments to city-backed housing boards are among the top items on the crowded agenda for a meeting of the City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate on Tuesday.

Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) speaks during a City Council meeting. [Ashlee Rezin-Garcia/Sun-Times/pool]

Aldermen are set on Tuesday to probe the city’s internal data sharing practices and the tools officials use to share data.

Ald. Pat Dowell (3) said Monday that she does not support Hard Rock's casino proposal. [City of Chicago; Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Ald. Pat Dowell (3) “cannot support” Hard Rock International’s plan to open a casino as part of a proposed mega-development in her ward, she announced Monday, citing neighbors’ fears of crime and overcrowding.

Her position leaves just one casino proposal — Rhode Island-based Bally’s plan to build a resort in River West — whose local alderman has not come out against a gambling site in their own ward.

Ald. Jason Ervin (28) speaks during a news conference celebrating the passage of a civilian oversight ordinance. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Aldermen are on track to send their recommendations for members of the city’s first civilian commission to oversee the Chicago Police Department to Mayor Lori Lightfoot this month, the chair of the City Council Committee on Public Safety told The Daily Line on Friday.

The Clear Path Relief program allows income-qualifying drivers to wipe away parking ticket debt that is more than three years old. [DNAinfo file photo]

The latest effort by Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration to offer an off-ramp for drivers who are mired in ticket debt has already wiped away more than $1 million in collective fines owed by about 1,100 Chicagoans, officials said.

More than a dozen aldermen who also serve as Democratic committeepeople saw a cash infusion from Gov. JB Pritzker during the first three months of this year. [Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash]

Several Chicago aldermen who also serve as their ward’s Democratic committeeperson saw donations ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 from Gov. JB Pritzker during the first quarter of this year.

Julian "Jumpin" Perez (left) intends to challenge Ald. Roberto Maldonado in the race for 26th Ward alderman. [Facebook; Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago]

Popular Chicago DJ and producer Julian “Jumpin” Perez has leaped into the race for 26th Ward alderman, signaling a possible challenge for Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26), who has held the seat for more than a decade.

Ald. Tom Tunney (44) grills Chicago Commission on Human Relations Comm. Nancy Andrade on a proposed measure to toughen the city’s sexual harassment rules.

A legislative push to firm up the city’s guardrails against workplace sexual harassment cleared a key committee hurdle in a unanimous vote on Wednesday, even as some aldermen — including the newest member of the City Council — aired reservations over the toll a punitive plank of the ordinance could take on businesses.

Deborah Witzburg and Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25) speak during a committee meeting on Wednesday.

With a key committee’s unanimous approval, Deborah Witzburg is on track to become Chicago’s next inspector general.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot is looking to intervene in a federal corruption case in an attempt to keep a former alderman from escaping consequences. And the application window for the city’s guaranteed income pilot program is set to open later this month.

All Chicago employers would be required by July to develop sexual harassment policies under an ordinance set for committee approval on Wednesday. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

An ordinance designed to crack down on sexual harassment across Chicago’s workplaces and a proposal to mandate salary disclosures in job postings are both due for discussion in a City Council committee on Wednesday. But only the former appears ready to move forward.

Deborah Witzburg served as Chicago Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety between May 2020 and November 2021.

Aldermen are set on Wednesday to take an initial vote on whether to confirm Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s pick of Deborah Witzburg as the city’s next Inspector General.

Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38) poses in his Chicago Fire Department uniform in a photo posted on his political Facebook page.

Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38) has run afoul of city ethics rules by posting images of official city property on his political social media channels, putting him on the hook for at least a $5,000 fine, the Chicago Board of Ethics ruled on Monday.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and candidate Willie Wilson speak at news events on Monday. [City of Chicago; YouTube/WGN News]

Mayor Lori Lightfoot stepped closer than ever to the precipice of a reelection campaign plunge on Monday, announcing a trio of high-level hires her political team said will help her “gear up” for an announcement. And while the mayor once again demurred when asked to make the news official, she did not pass up the chance to implicitly knock philanthropist Willie Wilson hours after he announced a bid to unseat her.