Suffredin to air out proposed county ethics overhaul Monday ahead of potential April vote 

More than a year after a proposed update to Cook County’s Code of Ethics emerged in a cloud of controversy, commissioners are preparing to adopt a version of the changes as soon as next month.  

Cook County Comm. Larry Suffredin (D-13) is set to convene a hearing of the county Board of Commissioners’ Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee at 1:30 p.m. Monday for a public hearing on his proposed suite of updates (20-4404) to the county’s ethics rules. The commissioner is inviting leaders from a panoply of good government watchdog groups, plus current and past members of the county’s Board of Ethics, to testify with their thoughts. 

‘Long overdue’ committee would demand ‘design excellence’ from major Chicago developments 

An advisory committee being assembled under the city’s Department of Planning and Development will add a “peer review” component to the development process and ensure “design excellence” in some Chicago developments, planning officials announced this month. 

The Chicago Plan Commission discussed the new advisory Committee on Design during its March 18 meeting, and the city has created a website where those interested can learn more about becoming one of 15 members, all of whom will be appointed by planning department Comm. Maurice Cox. 

Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Allison Arwady addresses aldermen on Thursday.

Aldermen tore into Chicago Department of Public Health Comm. Allison Arwady on Thursday, saying city health officials were doing enough to work with ward offices in getting COVID-19 vaccinations out to their areas of the city. 

Arwady addressed aldermen during the City Council Committee on Health and Human Relations meeting to provide an update on how the city is responding to the pandemic. The health commissioner’s testimony came as the city sees an uptick in COVID-19 cases and as the city prepares to widen vaccinations to people eligible under Phase 1C.

Aldermen tore into Chicago Department of Public Health Comm. Allison Arwady on Thursday, saying city health officials were doing enough to work with ward offices in getting COVID-19 vaccinations out to their areas of the city. 

Arwady addressed aldermen during the City Council Committee on Health and Human Relations meeting to provide an update on how the city is responding to the pandemic. The health commissioner’s testimony came as the city sees an uptick in COVID-19 cases and as the city prepares to widen vaccinations to people eligible under Phase 1C.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot during a Wednesday news conference; Ald. Daniel La Spata (1) during a Thursday news conference hosted by the Right to Recovery coalition

Mayor Lori Lightfoot is holding her cards close as debate heats up over how Chicago should spend the $1.8 billion it’s on track to receive through the American Rescue Plan Act signed by President Joe Biden earlier this month.

But aldermen and other stakeholders are not waiting.

The City Council on Wednesday approved Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s industrial zoning ordinance and denied Ald. Maria Hadden’s resolution condemning religious violence in India.

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During what may have been the Chicago City Council’s last all-remote meeting, aldermen approved a sweeping crackdown on new industrial development, voted down a non-binding resolution condemning religious violence in India and approved a demolition surcharge fee for some residential areas of the city.

Just before the meeting ended, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said it is her "sincere hope" the City Council will be back to meeting in person at the April meeting. The mayor said aldermen will "receive a briefing in the coming days" and their feedback is welcome.

Chicago Department of Public Health Comm. Allison Arwady is set to address aldermen during a committee subject matter hearing on Thursday.

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Chicago Department of Public Health Comm. Alison Arwady is scheduled to appear before the City Council’s Committee on Health and Human Relations at 2 p.m. Thursday to discuss recent developments in Chicago’s COVID-19 pandemic.

Arwady last appeared before the committee on March 3, as Chicago’s United Center vaccine administration site prepared to open and bars and restaurants began operating at half capacity following a dip in Chicago’s caseload.

Dozens of new ordinances introduced Wednesday include a measure aimed at preventing employers from retaliating against workers who take time off to get a COVID-19 vaccine. [Colin Boyle/Block Club]

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A measure aimed at protecting workers who take time off to pursue vaccinations and a tougher set of rules for “scofflaw” building owners were among dozens of new ordinances and resolutions introduced to the City Council on Wednesday.

The measures join Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s long-awaited proposal (O2021-1226) to revamp the city’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance by cranking up requirements for many developers while offering them more ways to satisfy city affordable housing rules.

Industrial zoning ordinance up approval Wednesday; Hadden to force vote on India resolution  

Aldermen are set to approve a proposal from Mayor Lori Lightfoot to tack on more regulations on industrial development after months of deadlock and revisions to the ordinance to aimed at softening the measure’s impact on developers.  

The ordinance (O2020-4590) will be considered by aldermen during the Wednesday City Council meeting set to begin at 10 a.m., along with an ordinance (O2021-746) that would tack on a surcharge to residential demolitions in Pilsen and near the 606 trail. Another measure (O2021-446) up for consideration would restart the clock on city-backed affordable housing covenants each time a home changes hands.  

Ald. Sophia King (4) and Michele Smith (43) got into a heated exchange during a February zoning committee meeting over King’s proposal to tighten regulations on “house museums.”

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Ald. Sophia King (4) withdrew her proposal on Tuesday to tighten restrictions around residential museums and cultural sites, blasting Mayor Lori Lightfoot and other high-profile critics whom she said conspired to sink the citywide measure.

The latest draft of King’s ordinance (O2020-6185) would ban “cultural exhibit” uses in residential single-family zoning districts, and it would require new “house museum” applicants in other residential zones to get a special permit from the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot will oversee the City Council meeting Wednesday.

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Aldermen are set to approve a proposal from Mayor Lori Lightfoot to tack on more regulations on industrial development after months of deadlock and revisions to the ordinance to aimed at softening the measure’s impact on developers.

The ordinance (O2020-4590) will be considered by aldermen during the Wednesday City Council meeting set to begin at 10 a.m., along with an ordinance (O2021-746) that would tack on a surcharge to residential demolitions in Pilsen and near the 606 trail. Another measure (O2021-446) up for consideration would restart the clock on city-backed affordable housing covenants each time a home changes hands.

A new proposed ordinance would fulfil Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s campaign promise to revamp the city’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance

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A years-in-the-making plan by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to revamp one of the city’s signature affordable housing policies would crank up requirements for many developers while offering them more ways to satisfy city rules. 

The top-to-bottom rewrite of the city’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance, set for introduction by Lightfoot during Wednesday’s City Council meeting, would fulfil one of Lightfoot’s key campaign promises. The ordinance has been a source of debate since its 2007 inception between housing activists, who say the policy has not done enough to spur new affordable homes in wealthy neighborhoods, and many developers, who have decried the rules as overly restrictive. 

News in brief: New mass vaccination site launched in Forest Park; land bank director resigns to “pursue other opportunities” 

A controversial proposal by Ald. Sophia King (4) to tighten regulations around house-based museums and cultural sites is set to meet its fate on Tuesday as King steps up her defense against critics — who on Monday included Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

The ordinance (O2020-6185), as introduced by King last December, would have banned property owners from opening “libraries or cultural exhibits” in most residential zoning districts. She softened her proposal ahead of last month’s meeting of the council’s Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards by limiting the ban to single-family residential districts, while applicants would need permission from the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals to open the so-called “home museums” in multi-unit zoning districts.

Aldermen on the City Council Committee on Finance approved $17.6 million in tax-increment financing payments (TIF) for Chicago parks on Monday, including $10 million for Riis Park at 6100 W. Fullerton Ave. in the 30th Ward.

Most of the Riis Park funding will go toward “major design and reconstruction” for the park’s fieldhouse (O2021-766), which will be adjacent to Chicago Public Schools’ new Belmont Cragin Elementary school. Construction is set to get underway on the school later this year in advance of opening in fall 2022.