Chicago News
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DEC 09, 2020
Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29) is chair of the City Council Committee on Public Safety.
Aldermen will modify language of a proposal designed to protect arrestees but will return with an updated version next week, they said Monday.
The measure (O2019-3873), which would require Chicago Police to give arrestees a list of free legal service providers and access to a phone within an hour of being taken into custody, had been scheduled to be taken up on Tuesday by the City Council Committee on Public Safety. However, committee chair Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29) recessed the meeting almost as quickly as it began. -
DEC 09, 2020
Chicago Department of Housing policy director Daniel Hertz shows a map of results from the Affordable Requirements Ordinance pilot areas.
Aldermen on the City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve a six-month extension (O2020-5750) for a 3-year-old program that attaches special affordable housing rules to new apartment developments in parts of the city’s Near West and Northwest sides. -
DEC 08, 2020
Aldermen are scheduled Tuesday to consider a proposal by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to extend the life of three affordable housing “pilot areas” while officials continue to work on an overhaul of the city’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance.
A map of the three Affordable Requirements Ordinance “pilot areas” created in 2017 [Chicago Cityscape] -
DEC 08, 2020
Cook County Public Defender Amy Campanelli has advocated for ensuring arresstees have a understand they have a right to a lawyer.
Aldermen on Tuesday will consider a proposal requiring the Chicago Police Department to provide arrestees with a list of legal service providers and another laying the groundwork for the department to establish a new gang database. -
The proposal to create a new Special Service Area on Michigan Avenue between the Chicago River and Oak Street was held in committee on Monday but could be considered again next week.
A controversial proposal to create a new short-term Special Service Area (SSA) along the Magnificent Mile retail strip was held in committee Monday after facing scrutiny, but the proposal could be considered again next week. -
DEC 07, 2020
Many details of mental health response pilot programs included in the city’s 2021 budget are still being worked out, and proponents of a non-law enforcement model want to be involved in the process.
The Chicago Department of Public Health next year will launch pilot programs for two different models for responding to people experiencing a mental health crisis. While money has been allocated for the programs, the city is still figuring out what shape they will take and exactly which sections of the city will be served. -
DEC 04, 2020
Dr. Cristina Pacione-Zayas speaks during a virtual event hosted by six Northwest Side independent political organizations on Wednesday.
Days after she was sworn in as Cook County’s first new clerk of the circuit court in 20 years, Iris Martinez faces a daunting list of challenges, including overhauling the office’s electronic records system and navigating a federal hiring monitor.
But first, Martinez has to help find someone to take her old job in the Illinois State Senate, and she believes she has already found her choice in Cristina Pacione-Zayas, she told The Daily Line on Thursday. Pacione-Zayas has spent nearly five years overseeing policy for the Erikson Institute, a graduate school and community service provider focused on early childhood education, and in 2019 she was appointed by Gov. JB Pritzker to serve on the Illinois State Board of Education. -
DEC 03, 2020
City officials say they plan to issue a Request for Proposals for a casino operator early next year.
An eventual Chicago casino should take up at least 10 acres downtown and include a hotel, restaurants and hundreds of above-ground parking spaces, according to nearly a dozen developers and gambling industry leaders. -
DEC 02, 2020
UNLOCKED
A proposed ordinance aims to slow the conversion of small Chicago apartment buildings into single-family homes. [photo via reallyboring on Flickr]City planning and housing officials are looking to introduce an ordinance this month to make it harder to convert some small apartment buildings into single-family homes, a process blamed for the loss of affordable housing in gentrifying areas.
Speaking during a meeting of the City Council Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards on Tuesday, Chicago Department of Housing Comm. Marisa Novara said the ordinance will require property owners to apply for a zoning change before converting two- to six-unit apartment buildings into single-family homes in some multifamily residential zones.
