O’Hare, Midway in line for $87M in federal grants set for appropriation Wednesday 

Aldermen are set Wednesday to consider designating more than $100 million in new and carried-over federal COVID-19 grants to the city’s airports and to three city departments.  

The City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations is scheduled to consider the appropriations (O2021-747) ordinance during its meeting scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. 

County must step up efforts to vaccinate nonwhite suburbanites: commissioners 

Cook County health officials vowed on Tuesday to expand access to COVID-19 vaccinations among Black and Latino suburbanites amid prodding from commissioners who said those efforts have so far fallen short. 

About 21 percent of residents in the county’s north and northwest suburbs have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to data presented Tuesday by leaders of the Cook County Department of Public Health. But just 13.7 percent and 16.2 percent of residents have respectively been vaccinated in the county’s more diverse south and west suburbs. 

News in brief: Cook County launches ‘My Shot’ vaccine campaign; Chicago Department of Housing releases Racial Equity Impact Assessment; Mendoza announces tax relief

Aldermen to consider loosening restrictions on home businesses 

Aldermen are scheduled Tuesday take up a proposed ordinance that would make it easier for solo entrepreneurs to run their businesses out of their homes.  

The City Council Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development will consider the ordinance (O2021-332) proposed by Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36), who chairs the committee. The committee will also consider approving new property tax incentives for two businesses.  

Affordable homeownership renewal ordinance set for reconsideration Tuesday 

Aldermen are scheduled Tuesday to take a second pass at a measure designed to stretch the longevity of a city-backed affordable homeownership program.  

The ordinance (O2021-446), introduced in January by Mayor Lori Lightfoot on behalf of the Chicago Department of Housing, would restart the clock on city-imposed 30-year affordable housing covenants every time each home changes hands. It only applies to for-sale homes administered through the Chicago Community Land Trust, a city-backed nonprofit designed to forge a path to homeownership for low- and middle-income residents. 

News in brief: Cook County launches ‘My Shot’ vaccine campaign; Chicago Department of Housing releases Racial Equity Impact Assessment; Mendoza announces tax relief 

Industrial zoning ordinance passes committee after fresh concessions to industry 

Aldermen on Monday overwhelmingly advanced a proposal by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to tie more regulations around new industrial development, breaking a five-month stalemate following multiple revisions aimed at softening the measure’s impact on developers. 

Aldermen passed the “Industrial Air Quality and Zoning” ordinance (O2020-4590) out of the City Council’s Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards in a 14-4 vote, with opposition from Ald. Anthony Beale (9), Ald. Michael Rodriguez (22), Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25) and Ald. Maria Hadden (49).  

Cook County in line for nearly $1B in federal stimulus, putting Preckwinkle’s equity goals to the test 

The federal government is about to rain $998 million in direct aid on Cook County, facing county leaders with immense questions about the region’s priorities as they look to unwind the county’s mammoth criminal justice infrastructure and build an economic recovery centered on racial equity. 

The staggering aid package is more than double what the county received in federal aid last year and represents almost 15 percent of the entire budget county leaders allotted for 2021. It stands apart from about $1.8 billion coming to the city of Chicago and $7.5 billion headed to Springfield, plus billions more headed to Chicago-area schools and public health agencies. 

Lightfoot’s revised ‘clean air’ ordinance resurfaces for committee consideration Monday 

Changes to Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s long-stalled “clean air” ordinance mean certain industrial developments would be required to go through tougher reviews by the city’s transportation and public health departments instead having to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals or the Chicago Plan Commission.  

The substitute ordinance allows shipping and logistics warehouses to open by right instead of requiring a special-use permit, as a previous draft of the ordinance laid out. 

Aldermen line up behind guaranteed income: ‘2021 is our New Deal moment’  

A growing group of aldermen led by Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) are calling on city finance officials to set aside a piece of the forthcoming federal rescue package for direct cash payments to struggling Chicagoans. 

Villegas wants to peel off up to $50 million from the $1.8 billion due to the city from the American Rescue Plan Act to pilot a “guaranteed income program for those who need help the most,” he said during a meeting of the City Council Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development Thursday. Villegas, who chairs the committee, used the two-hour meeting to showcase support for direct-payment programs among policy researchers and officials from other cities. 

Chicago, Evanston aldermen press reparations subcommittee to begin work immediately 

Aldermen and other advocates urged members of the City Council Committee on Health and Human Relations Subcommittee on Reparations not to delay work on implementing reparations initiatives in Chicago. 

The subcommittee, tasked with exploring reparations for Black residents, held its inaugural meeting on Thursday after a previously scheduled February meeting was canceled.  

News in brief: Preckwinkle announces $72.8M rent relief program; Lightfoot proposes tougher rules for scofflaw building owners 

Lightfoot launches fund, working group aimed at helping small and diverse companies working with the city 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot introduced a series of measures on Wednesday aiming to help support small minority- and women-owned companies that contract with the city. 

The three new initiatives include a $25 million Vendor Impact Fund through which minority- and women-owned businesses will get preferential access to Paycheck Protection Program and Small Business Administration loans. Businesses owned by veterans or people with disabilities will also get priority in the fund. 

Reform advocate tapped to succeed Campanelli as next Cook County Public Defender 

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle tapped Illinois Justice Project director Sharone Mitchell, Jr. to be the county’s top defense lawyer, replacing current Public Defender Amy Campanelli with a like-minded advocate for decarceration and criminal justice reform. 

Mitchell is set on April 1 to begin a six-year term at the helm of the $81 million office charged with representing most defendants in the county’s sprawling court system. County commissioners scheduled a special meeting for 10 a.m. Friday to confirm the appointment. 

Commissioner vows ‘ambitious’ arts and culture agenda as funding lacks for Taste of Chicago 

Chicagoans still should not expect big-ticket events like Taste of Chicago and the Air and Water Show to run their typical course this year, but city leaders are still a long way from any official decisions about this year’s slate of summer events, officials told aldermen Wednesday. 

Aldermen in the City Council Committee on Special Events, Cultural Affairs and Recreation unanimously approved an ordinance (O2021-781) on Wednesday granting the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events legal authority to partner with vendors and sell tickets to dozens of major festivals and other summer events. The ordinance is a routine annual legal checklist item, but this year is far from typical, facing department leaders with a set of hard choices.