Chicago Chief Financial Officer Jennie Bennett [left] and Budget Director Susie Park during a Novermber budget hearing

Chicago’s Department of Finance would be required to publish monthly reports on the city’s cash intake under a proposal set for consideration on Monday.

The one-page ordinance (SO2020-5902), introduced by Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) last December, is set for consideration by the City Council’s Committee on Finance during its 10 a.m. meeting on Monday. If approved, city finance and budget officials will be legally bound to publish “monthly reports” on the department’s website that detail the city’s “total collections for each revenue category” from the previous month, plus the “variance” between actual revenues and those anticipated under the annual budget.

Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson and Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson during a committee hearing on Friday.

Aldermen will wait at least one more week before voting whether to stand up a city-run digital “library” of police misconduct records stretching back nearly three decades, a system watchdogs call a necessary first step toward repairing the city’s frayed trust of its police department.

Ald. Chris Taliaferro chairs the committee on public safety.

The City Council Committee on Public Safety is scheduled to review police use-of-force policies, condemn hate crimes against Asian Americans and crack down on drag racing when they meet for the first time in three months at 10 a.m. Friday. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks during a news conference on Thursday

Mayor Lori Lightfoot staked her opposition on Thursday to an ordinance that would require the city to compile a public database of closed complaints against Chicago Police officers, a longtime demand of good government advocates and critics of the department.

The City Council’s committees on Finance and Public Safety are scheduled to convene together at 2 p.m. Friday to consider an ordinance (SO2020-3999) proposed by Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) and Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29) directing Inspector General Joseph Ferguson to publish a “searchable, downloadable digital repository” of closed misconduct complaints filed against sworn Chicago officers going back 27 years.

Members of the Plan Commission on Thursday heard a presentation on the first building proposed for the massive Lincoln Yards development.

Chicago Department of Planning and Development Comm. Maurice Cox commended developer Sterling Bay’s plans for an office building and riverfront features in the first phase of the 55-acre Lincoln Yards development as an example of “how you meet the water's edge."

Developer Sterling Bay unveiled plans for the nine-story building and adjacent riverwalk in a “courtesy” presentation during the Plan Commission’s Thursday meeting. No vote was taken on the development, and commissioners largely withheld any questions or comments. 

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle praised Jennifer “Sis” Killen’s appointment as the new superintendent of the Cook County Department of Transportation and Highway at the board’s Thursday meeting.

The county has only put about 2 percent of the federal money it has received related to the COVID-19 pandemic toward administrative costs, county Chief Financial Officer Ammar Rizki told commissioners during a Thursday board meeting.

Commissioners peppered county with questions regarding administrative costs that could soak up money from the March 2020 CARES Act before Rizki assured the board that only 2 percent of its CARES money had gone toward administrative line items, well under its 5 percent threshold for that kind of spending.

Ald. Harry Osterman (48) and Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25) during a housing committee meeting on Thursday

The graphic video of a Chicago police officer fatally shooting 13-year-old Adam Toledo sent shockwaves of grief and anger through the city on Thursday — including among aldermen, who froze their discussion of a high-profile housing ordinance with plans to return next week.

The City Council’s Committee on Housing and Real Estate was part-way through its meeting to consider Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed overhaul (O2021-1226) of the city’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance when committee chair Ald. Harry Osterman (48) gaveled the meeting out for a 30-minute break timed with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability’s release of videos related to the shooting.

Cook County Board President joined leaders of the Cook County Land Bank Authority on Saturday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at an Englewood home

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is set to introduce a measure on Thursday that would tighten her administration’s oversight of the Cook County Land Bank Authority, which is in search of a new executive director following the departure of Rob Rose last month.

The ordinance (21-2677) would empower Preckwinkle to appoint Rose’s successor, whose confirmation would still be subject to a vote by the land bank’s board. Existing rules say the director should be appointed by the land bank board, whose members are appointed by Preckwinkle.

Chicago Housing Initiative executive director during a virtual news conference on Wednesday; Chicago Department of Housing Comm. Marisa Novara during a virtual committee hearing

A long-promised bid by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to overhaul one of the city’s signature affordable housing policies is set to meet its fate on Thursday, as stakeholders on all sides press to finesse last-minute concessions.

A rendering of the first building proposed as part of the planned Lincoln Yards megadevelopment, viewed from the west. [Chicago Department of Planning and Development]

City planning officials are scheduled on Thursday to review plans for the first phase of construction at the 55-acre Lincoln Yards site, two years after the City Council blessed the overall project amid a storm of controversy and criticism.

Representatives of developer Sterling Bay will make a “courtesy presentation" to the Chicago Plan Commission during a 10 p.m. meeting on their plan to build a 9-story office building on “Parcel G.1” of the campus, but the commission will not take a vote on the matter. Department of Planning and Development staffers will decide whether to approve the sub-site plan after taking “comments from plan commissioners and the public into consideration,” a department spokesperson wrote in an email on Tuesday.

Ald. Gilbert Villegas’ proposal to license tow truck operators stalled in committee Wednesday.

A proposal from Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) to license towing companies in the city will sit in committee for at least one more month to allow for more discussion after the measure hit a wall on Wednesday.

Villegas told members of the City Council Committee on License and Consumer Protection during its Wednesday meeting that the ordinance (O2020-4817) he introduced last October to combat “rogue towers” has been “a labor of love.”

City finance officials briefed aldermen on Wednesday on revenues and spending for the first two months of 2021.

Repaying more than $900 million in debt will likely be city budget and finance officials’ first priority for the estimated $1.9 billion in federal stimulus dollars Chicago stands to get from the American Rescue Plan, they said Wednesday.

Chicago Budget Director Susie Park and Chief Financial Officer Jennie Bennett briefed aldermen Wednesday on revenues and spending for the first two months of 2021 during a City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations meeting. The presentation was described as the first quarterly report on the current year budget, but Park and Bennett only included data for January and February.

Lincoln Towing, based at 4882 N. Clark St. in the 47th Ward, has kept its business license despite attempts by state regulators to shut it down.

Aldermen are poised on Wednesday to consider an ordinance designed to rein in towing companies that have long been accused of predatory or duplicitous behavior against drivers.

The City Council’s Committee on License and Consumer Protection is scheduled during its 2 p.m. meeting on Wednesday to consider an ordinance (O2020-4817) introduced late last year by Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) that would require towing companies to apply for licenses with the city.

People gather to receive vaccines at the COVID-19 mass vaccination site at Chicago State University on April 7 [Colin Boyle/Block Club]

Aldermen swiftly and unanimously advanced a proposal by Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Tuesday designed to prevent workers from having to choose whether to keep their jobs or get a COVID-19 vaccine.

In addition to making it illegal for employers to punish workers who get shots during work hours, the ordinance (02021-1219) that cleared the City Council’s Committee on Workforce Development includes a handful of late revisions designed to sharpen the measure’s teeth.

Aldermen approved an ordinance loosening restrictions on home businesses.

Aldermen gave unanimous support Tuesday to an ordinance designed to make it easier for entrepreneurs, many of whom have been hard-hit by the pandemic, to operate their business out of their homes.

The City Council Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development also approved three Class 6(b) tax incentive deals and nine reappointments to various Special Service Areas  during its Tuesday meeting.