Fundraising in the race for 1st Ward alderman is already heating up. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Four candidates for 1st Ward alderman raised a combined nearly $277,000 during the fundraising quarter ending Sept. 30, state campaign finance records show.

Three city departments will defend their proposed budgets on Wednesday.

Leaders of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, Office of Public Safety Administration and the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection will detail their 2023 budget proposals Wednesday during a 9 a.m. meeting of the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations.

Public Health Comm. Allison Arwady speaks before the City Council budget committee Monday. [City Council Livestream]

The City Council questioned the city’s health department about its mental health crisis response pilot program during a Committee on Budget and Government Operations hearing Monday.

One year into the launch of the Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement (CARE) program, aldermen pressed Public Health Comm. Allison Arwady to expand the services citywide and said the department is too slow in its work to scale up the program. At the same time, Arwady expressed concern over securing more permanent funding sources for when grant funds run out in the future.

COPA Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten (second from left) speaks during a budget hearing Monday. [City of Chicago livestream]

During her first official budget hearing as chief administrator of the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability, Andrea Kersten touted her office’s progress on helping to bring more accountability to the police department and serve as a national example for civilian oversight.

DCASE Comm. Erin Harkey will defend her department’s proposed budget Tuesday.

Leaders of the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Office of Inspector General and Department of Aviation will detail and defend their 2023 budget proposals during a hearing of the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Department of Housing Comm. Marisa Novara speaks during a budget hearing Friday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Chicago’s Department of Housing was created less than four years ago, but aldermen on Friday pushed forward questions about a variety of programs the department has since launched to bring new accessory dwelling units to the city, help renters through the COVID-19 pandemic and a start new program to bring tiny homes to Chicago.

Chicago Department of Planning and Development Comm. Maurice Cox (second from left) speaks during a budget hearing Friday. [City of Chicago livestream]

Aldermen used a budget hearing for the Department of Planning and Development to voice their displeasure with CTA President Dorval Carter as aldermen will be expected this year to vote on a proposal to create a new TIF district to fund the transit system’s extension of the Red Line to the city’s southern edge.

Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation Comm. Cole Stallard speaks to the City Council budget committee on Friday. [City Council Livestream]

Aldermen pressed Department of Streets and Sanitation Comm. Cole Stallard and staff on continuing to improve tree maintenance efforts during a late Friday hearing before the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations.

Under Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed 2023 budget, the Streets and Sanitation budget is set to rise to more than $310.6 million next year from more than $308 million in 2022. The department is responsible for tree maintenance, street cleaning, garbage collection, graffiti removal, towing and rodent control.

In 2023, the department’s number of full-time equivalent positions is proposed to rise to 2,258 from 2,234, according to budget documents.

COPA Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten will defend her office’s budget on Monday. [City of Chicago livestream]

The Chicago Police Board, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability and the Chicago Department of Public Health will defend their budgets to aldermen on Monday to kick off the second full week of departmental budget hearings.

Aldermen are seated in Council Chambers during a Thursday budget hearing. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Aldermen during Thursday’s budget hearing with the city’s Department of Family and Support Services learned more information about the city’s $31.5 million guaranteed income pilot program and how Chicago is helping the more than 3,000 asylum seekers who have been bused to the city from Texas.

Max Bever (first from left) and Charles Holiday (second from left), both with Chicago’s Board of Election Commissioners, during a Thursday budget hearing. [City of Chicago livestream]

Aldermen used Thursday’s budget hearing for the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners to needle election officials about a reduction in the number of voter precincts for the upcoming General Election and next year’s Municipal Election.

Nolan Downey speaks before the Cook County Finance Committee’s public hearing on the 2023 budget Thursday. [Cook County Government Livestream]

The Cook County Board of Commissioners Finance Committee convened for two public hearings Thursday on Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s proposed 2023 spending plan.

During the first hearing Thursday morning, funding to support health care access and equity and the county’s guaranteed basic income pilot program were two dominant topics among public speakers.

Department of Procurement Services staff speak before the City Council budget committee on Wednesday. [City Council Livestream]

The city’s Department of Procurement Services faced questions from aldermen on the City Council budget committee Wednesday, with a focus on boosting the number of minority groups awarded city contracts. Chief Procurement Officer Aileen Velazquez was joined by staff for the hearing before the Committee on Budget and Government Operations.

Aldermen sit in Council Chambers during a budget hearing Wednesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Chicago’s Department of Assets, Information and Services plans to add 182 new electric vehicles to the city’s fleet next year as part of the effort to ensure 25 percent of the city’s light-duty vehicles are electric by the end of 2023.

Chicago Animal Care and Control Executive Director Mamadou Diakhate (second from left) speaks during a budget hearing Wednesday. [City of Chicago livestream]

Aldermen again called for more funding for Chicago Animal Care and Control following the department’s first-ever ad campaign on CTA buses and trains.