Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) during a City Council meeting on Wednesday. Villegas’ proposal to use federal stimulus money to fund a basic income program was sabotaged by Ald. Jason Ervin (28). [Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times/Pool]

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s long-promised overhaul of the city’s highest-profile affordable housing policy cleared the City Council in a 42-8 vote on Wednesday, setting it up to guide most new residential construction proposed after Oct. 1.

The ordinance was the most controversial of dozens of measures approved during the City Council’s first in-person meeting since February 2020.

Cook County Health CEO Israel Rocha explains the rollout of open access vaccine clinics in Cook County.

Two Cook County mass vaccination sites will be open for walk-in appointments through Saturday, County officials announced Wednesday.

“Open access means open access — come on down,” Cook County Health CEO Israel Rocha said during a news conference.

News in brief: Discover opening call center in shuttered Chatham Target store; Commission takes step to landmark Morton Salt shed

Aldermen have the option to attend Wednesday’s City Council meeting in person.

When Mayor Lori Lightfoot gavels in the City Council at 10 a.m. Wednesday, things will look different than they have for the past year, but they still won’t be completely back to normal.

For the first time since last March, aldermen have the option to attend Wednesday’s City Council in person, though it is still classified as a virtual meeting under the Open Meetings Act, according to a news release from the mayor’s office.

A years-in-the-making push to rewrite Chicago’s highest-profile affordable housing policy cleared a key hurdle on Tuesday, setting up Mayor Lori Lightfoot for a significant victory as she faces mounting headwinds across a range of other issues.

Aldermen on the City Council’s Committee on Housing and Real Estate voted 14-3 to advance Lightfoot’s proposed overhaul (SO2021-1226) of the Affordable Requirements Ordinance. If approved by the full council on Wednesday, the update will go into effect on Oct. 1, ushering in the third iteration of the policy created in 2007 and updated in 2015.

Chicago Department of Buildings Comm. Matthew Beaudet and Infortmation Technology Director Eric Tenfelde during a zoning committee on Tuesday

Aldermen unanimously advanced a proposal on Tuesday to crack down on “problem” building owners but grilled city officials over the long-promised technology upgrades needed to bring the measure to life.

The council’s Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards voted to endorse an ordinance (O2021-1193) sponsored by Mayor Lori Lightfoot that would widen the criteria used by the city’s Department of Buildings to add properties to the city’s “Building Code Scofflaw List.” Properties on the list are rendered ineligible for zoning changes, tax-increment financing assistance or land deals with the city.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot defended her request to call up the National Guard and issued a warning to would-be looters. And Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle hit back at Lightfoot after the mayor blamed the county courts for contributing to crime.

Ald. David Moore’s (17) proposal to rename Lake Shore Drive after Jean Baptiste Point DuSable is set for a hearing on April 29.

The proposal to rename Outer Lake Shore Drive after Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, Chicago’s first permanent resident, won’t be on this month’s City Council agenda. The ordinance is due for a hearing later this month, but sponsor Ald. David Moore (17) on Monday warned against “any games” to further keep it from a vote.

Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) chairs the City Council Committee on Finance.

City finance and budget officials would be required to publish monthly revenue reports under a measure that advanced to the full City Council floor Monday.

A page from a presentation on the updated Fulton Innovation District plan, projecting new development north of Lake Street [Department of Planning and Development]

A decades-old ban on residential development is set to be reversed this week for a 63-acre swath of Fulton Market, widening the spigot on the gush of development already pouring into the red-hot neighborhood.

Aldermen are scheduled during a 10 a.m. meeting of the City Council Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards on Tuesday to consider lifting the prohibition on residential development in the Kinzie Corridor Overlay District along the north edge of Fulton Market, fulfilling a longtime request of developers and some neighborhood groups. The district is roughly bounded by Carroll Avenue, Ogden Avenue, Hubbard Street and Halsted Street.

Aldermen on Friday advanced a proposal targeting ‘recklessly driven’ motorcycles.

Aldermen gave unanimous approval Friday to an ordinance aimed at deterring motorcyclists from “recklessly” driving up and down Chicago streets, particularly downtown and along the lakefront.

Members of the City Council Committee on Public Safety approved the ordinance introduced by Ald. Pat Dowell (3) during the Friday meeting, during which aldermen also held a short discussion of Anti-Asian hate crimes and approved an ordinance adding gender identity to the protected classes covered under the city’s hate crime ordinance. 

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.

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.

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.