Chicago Board of Ethics Executive Director Steve Berlin will lead an international organization devoted to ethics in government, while the Civic Federation honored Aviation Commissioner Jamie Rhee for her “inspirational” career. On the trail, a group dedicated to electing gay men and women to office endorsed Lori Lightfoot for mayor and five aldermanic candidates.

• Berlin to lead COGEL — Chicago Board of Ethics Executive Director Steve Berlin was elected president of the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws at the group’s annual meeting. Berlin will serve as president-elect until December 2019, and become president at the international group’s 2019 meeting, set to be held in Chicago. Berlin has been executive director of the Board of Ethics since 2008, and oversaw the overhaul of the city’s ethics laws in 2012. Ethics Board Chairman William Conlon said he was delighted by Berlin’s appointment. “Steve is a person dedicated to the service of the public; we are very fortunate to have him serving the citizens of Chicago.”


• Rhee honored — The Civic Federation, a nonpartisan budget watchdog group mostly funded by corporate interests, honored Aviation Commissioner Jamie Rhee with the 2018 Motorola Solutions Foundation Excellence in Public Service Award. Rhee replaced Ginger Evans as aviation commissioner earlier this year, after serving as the head of the city’s Department of Procurement Services. “Ms. Rhee’s 25-year career in public service is truly an inspiration,” the federation said in a statement.


• Trail notes — Mayoral candidate Lori Lightfoot trumpeted Thursday the endorsement of the Victory Fund, which is devoted to electing LGBTQ women and men to elected office. Lightfoot, who is the only openly gay candidate in the mayoral race, has a 10-year-old daughter with her wife, Amy Eshleman. “As someone who grew up in a small town and didn’t know any openly LGBTQ+ people, much less role models or elected officials, I know that representation matters,” Lightfoot said. “I hope that as the first LGBTQ+ mayor of Chicago I can expand opportunities for equity and inclusion — and for increased representation in government for decades to come. Victory Fund also endorsed 49th Ward candidate Maria Hadden, who is running to unseat Ald. Joe Moore, as well as 15th Ward Raymond Lopez, 33rd Ward Ald. Deb Mell, 44th Ward Ald. Tom Tunney and 46th Ward Ald. James Cappleman. In the treasurer’s race, Peter Gariepy won the backing of Northside Democracy for Action, his campaign announced in a statement.

County commissioners took a simple voice vote and did not debate a convoluted change to the rate the county charges parking apps like SpotHero and ParkWhiz.

Amidst re-election campaigns, potential federal investigations and looming development booms on the Near North and South Sides, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and aldermen introduced a slate of noteworthy items at the last full City Council meeting of 2018.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel Wednesday laid out a four-part plan to keep the city’s four pension funds in the black — and avoid another series of tax hikes on Chicagoans.

Blocked by allies of Mayor Rahm Emanuel from pushing through an reform the city’s use of tax-increment financing, members of the Progressive Caucus blinked on Tuesday, agreeing to try to craft a compromise with members of the administration.

Flanked by a bevy of suburban mayors, Mayor Rahm Emanuel called Tuesday for the General Assembly to pass a capital bill — and fund those infrastructure projects with a gas tax hike of at least 20 cents and as much as 30 cents. Former Ald. Dick Simpson is set to unveil his latest report on the City Council’s support of Emanuel’s initiatives. On the campaign trail, mayoral candidate Amara Enyia announced the endorsement of former journalist Charles Thomas.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel will propose a number of sweeping proposals Wednesday including a city casino, legalized marijuana and an amendment to the state’s constitution to stanch the flow of red ink from the city’s pensions funds that threatens to swamp the city’s finances.

Emanuel, who will leave office in May, will have turned over the office on the fifth floor of City Hall by the time the additional $276 million bill comes due in 2020 for the city’s police and fire pensions — and the additional $310 million bill for the city’s municipal and laborers pension funds arrives in 2022.

In all, the shortfall could top $1 billion by 2023, according to the city’s annual financial analysis.

In what could be Emanuel’s last major policy address before the Chicago City Council, the mayor will attempt to not only burnish his legacy but also to lay out a road map for the next mayor and the next City Council. That includes pushing lawmakers to legalize marijuana and create a Chicago casino.

“We can not allow the boulder we pushed up the hill to roll back down,” Emanuel will say, as he attempts to frame the debate with a recipe of equal parts diagnosis and prescription.

The mayor often lists putting the city’s four pension grounds on more solid ground among his top accomplishments.

But with a state law set to go into effect in 2020 that will tie payments to actuarial estimates, rather than fixed amounts, that ground has shifted, even after Emanuel pushed through the largest property tax increase in Chicago history along with dozens of other tax and fee hikes.

“These contributions must be made,” Emanuel will say. “There are no ifs, ands or buts about it.”

Emanuel will call for solutions based on “progressive principles,” according to sources in the mayor’s office. That includes earmarking all revenue from legalized marijuana and a casino for pension payments, sources said.

In addition, Emanuel will breathe new life into to his proposal to borrow as much as $10 billion to pay down the city’s pension debt. The mayor first floated that plan this summer, but then announced he would not run for a third term, scrambling those efforts.

The mayor will also call on the General Assembly to amend state’s constitution to eliminate the provision that prohibits lawmakers from changing pension payments because those contracts “shall not be diminished or impaired.”

Emanuel will take specific aim at the requirement that retirees in the labor fund get 3 percent annual compounded cost of living adjustments.

“The fact is, a 3 percent compounded COLA in an era of low inflation is not progressive

and not sustainable,” Emanuel will say. “It made sense in 1970 when we had more workers than retirees and high inflation, but it does not make sense today.”

Once the City Council meeting begins in earnest, aldermen are set to approve a five-year housing plan (O2018-9199) that calls for Chicago officials to spend $1.4 billion to build or preserve 40,000 homes.

However, that is essentially flat as compared with the previous five-year plan, and has been criticized as insufficient to tackle the city’s growing affordable housing crisis as well as rising concerns about gentrification, displacement, the continuing decline in Chicago’s African American population as well as rising inequality and instability.

Aldermen could also approve a new pilot program for Pilsen and Little Village under the city’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance, even though it was approved by the Housing Committee in an apparent violation of the City Council’s rules of procedure after Ald. Raymond Lopez’ (15) quorum call was ignored.

The proposal (O2018-9030) would increase the city’s affordable housing requirement from 10 percent to 20 percent in a 7.2-mile area in Pilsen and Little Village. It has the support of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and retiring Alds. Ricardo Muñoz (22) and Danny Solis (25).

Critics say it does not address those who have already been displaced by the forces of gentrification in Pilsen and surrounding neighborhoods.

After the quorum call, the committee also approved a measure (O2018-9027) to acquire four miles of abandoned railroad tracks from BNSF Railway to make way for the Paseo Trail from 16th Street in Pilsen to 31st Street in Little Village. Some residents there worry developers will flock to that trail as well and fuel further gentrification. Housing prices have soared near The 606 trail, pushing out some longtime residents.

Aldermen are also set to approve a number of items:

• O2018-4455 — The $7 billion mixed-use project from Related Midwest dubbed The 78, which would create a new neighborhood along the Chicago River between the South Loop and Chinatown that could feature 10,000 units and create 24,000 jobs. [Related coverage]


• O2018-4966; O2018-4967 — A proposal for new West Loop towers from developer Tandem Partners featuring 401 apartments and 80 parking spaces, as allowed by the city’s transit-oriented development ordinance. [Related coverage]


• O2018-3797 — A proposal to transform eight acres of long-vacant land in Douglas Park owned by the Chicago Housing Authority into a new complex with a hotel, 384 apartments, 547 parking spaces as well as shops and stores. [Related coverage]


• O2018-8394 — A proposal for a new Green Line stop at Lake and Damen in Ald. Walter Burnett’s 27th Ward. [Related coverage]


• O2018-8400 — An agreement to acquire abandoned railroad tracks near the proposed Lincoln Yards development to allow The 606 trail to be extended and permit a light rail line to be built as part of the massive development along the North Branch of the Chicago River. [Related coverage]


• O2018-8076 — Changes to the city’s Human Rights Ordinance and Fair Housing Ordinance designed to expand protections for individuals who complain about unlawful discrimination and harassment. [Related coverage]


• O2018-9196; O2018-9197 — Two high-dollar grants from the city’s Neighborhood Opportunity Fund. One grant of $720,000 would help build a 6,500 square building to house “18 fully equipped salon suites for independent beauty professionals” at 80 E. Pershing Road. The other project is a $1 million grant to Kehrein Center for the Arts “to rehab and modernize a vacant auditorium into a 1,000 seat performing arts center.” [Related coverage]


• O2018-9200; O2018-9198 —Two proposals to use Open Space Impact Fees to expand the Chicago Park District’s West Ridge Nature Preserve and a new a multi-use artificial turf field and playground at LaSalle Language Academy, at 1734 N. Orleans St. [Related coverage]


• Five measures regarding the sale of packaged liquor. [Related coverage]


• Payments totaling $11.7 million to settle police misconduct lawsuits. [Related coverage]


• O2018-9203 — A measure giving the Chicago Park District a green light to move its headquarters from Streeterville to Brighton Park with $8.65 million in TIF fund.  [Related coverage]


• A2018-119 — The appointment of former city Budget Director Alexandra Holt to the Regional Transit Authority Board of Directors. [Related coverage]


• A2018-117 — The appointment of Cory Thames, the deputy director for community engagement at the Obama Foundation, to Metra’s board of directors. [Related coverage]


• A2018-135 — The re-appointment of Michael K. Forde, former Ald. Ray Suarez (31) and Henry Wisniewski to the Illinois International Port District board of directors. [Related coverage]

Developer Related Midwest won committee approval to rezone 62 acres along the Chicago River between Chinatown and the South Loop to DX-5, Downtown Mixed Use District. The change allows as many as 10,000 apartments and condominiums to be built in what they anticipate will become Chicago’s 78th neighborhood.

The $7 billion mixed-use project (O2018-4455) is expected to create 24,000 jobs.

Two projects will receive $1.72 million in city funding from the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund to rehab a school auditorium and build a salon suite.

New commissioners step into a sticky situation Wednesday morning, as some parking apps seek to put them on the spot for what they describe as a tax hike on tech-friendly drivers.

The fight over a proposed new TIF that could reshape the area long the will move to the Community Development Commission Tuesday, while an effort to give veterans free city stickers stalled in committee, while the 2019 municipal races continued fast and furious.

Plans to create a new neighborhood along the Chicago River between the South Loop and Chinatown are at the top of Tuesday’s agenda for the City Council Zoning Committee.

Aldermen will weigh a new five-year deal with the Teamsters Local 700, which represents 5,000 city workers. Under the deal, those workers will get an average annual raise of 2.1 percent, but will have to pay a health insurance premium for the first time.

City Council’s budget committee will vote on the first batch of Neighborhood Opportunity grants worth more than $250,000 — a salon in Bronzeville and an arts center in South Austin. Together, if approved, the projects will receive $1.72 million in city funds.