A coalition of community groups rallied Friday at Daley Plaza to mark the first anniversary of the expiration of Chicago’s labor agreement with the police union that represents most rank-and-file officers and to push elected officials to ink a new deal that holds officers guilty of misconduct accountable.

With the city’s contract with the union that represents most rank-and-file officers hitting the first anniversary of its expiration, groups will rally at the Daley Center to press for a new agreement that holds officers accountable for misconduct. Chicago Police First Deputy Supt. Anthony Riccio implored the Rev. Michael Pfleger to change his plans to shut down the Dan Ryan Expressway to protest gun violence.

The oldest son of President Donald Trump took time out of his busy schedule campaigning for Republican candidates in the looming midterm elections to travel to Chicago City Hall Thursday morning to meet with Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42.)

Affordable housing advocates rallied Thursday at City Hall in support of a pair of ordinances that would limit aldermen’s ability to block projects that have apartments set aside for low- and moderate-income Chicagoans.

Police have solved 47 percent of the homicides committed this year, Chicago Police First Deputy Supt. Anthony Riccio told aldermen Thursday at a meeting of the Public Safety Committee, a boost to an often-criticized clearance rate.

Mayor Rahm Emanueland Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle slammed the 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Janus v. AFSCME Council 31 case, and criticized Gov. Bruce Rauner for celebrating a ruling the mayor called “an attack on working families.”

Union officials said they anticipated no changes to current negotiations.

No longer do government employees have to pay fees to the labor unions that represent them in contract negotiations. Those requirements violate workers’ First Amendment free-speech rights, according to the decision.

“I strongly disagree” with the court ruling, Emanuel said. “It is not a victory for taxpayers.”

Emanuel said about 900 of the city’s 33,000 workers pay fair-share fees to unions that represent them but to which they do not belong. Emanuel said he would only be “guessing” when asked how the city will implement the decision, which he noted was “hours old.”

However, Emanuel said he would continue to partner with the city’s 35 unions.

Preckwinkle also blasted the decision.

“This is the culmination of yet another partisan effort to weaken and undercut public employee unions,”  Preckwinkle said. “Janus was funded and supported by corporate interest groups that want to make it harder for workers to stand united, among them our own problematic governor. Collective bargaining remains an important part of the fabric of our country… I’ll continue to support unions and efforts they’re undertaking to protect working families.”

Approximately 82 percent of the county’s workforce belongs to a union or pays fair share fees.

At the county, fair share fees and union dues are withheld from employee paychecks by the comptroller and remitted to unions during the payroll process. Cook County will stop collecting fair share dues effective Wednesday, spokeswoman Becky Schlikerman said. Asked if the county will ask union members to opt-in to paying dues, as the state is reportedly doing, she said their legal department is reviewing the issue.

Velisha Haddox, the head of the county’s Bureau of Human Relations, said the decision would not effect ongoing collective bargaining negotiations. One third of the county’s labor agreements up for negotiation have been confirmed by the board.

“At this point, bargaining continues and we’re not anticipating any impact, but we continue to work with the unions to the extent they raise issues, new issues on the table that we need to help them resolve,” Haddox said.

Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter said he expected the city and county to begin complying with the ruling immediately.

The decision will likely not have an impact on future contract negotiations, Reiter said. Anders Lindall, a spokesman for AFSCME Council 31, agreed.

“We believe that both the city and the county understand the depth of labor’s collective strength in the Chicago, as well as the rest of the state,” Reiter said.

Several aldermen condemned the decision, which was announced just before the City Council’s June meeting.

Ald. George Cardenas (12) said unions had made it possible for thousands of Chicagoans to live middle-class lives. He pledged to fight the impact of the decisions, which could cost unions millions of dollars the groups have used to support candidates and campaign for issues such as a $15 minimum wage.

“Chicagoans, pull up your sleeves and get ready to fight for progress, equality and the American Dream, one union at a time," Cardenas said.

Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) also struck a defiant tone.

“The labor movement is bigger than any right-wing court decision, bigger than any billionaire, or corporation,” Ramirez-Rosa said. “Our labor movement will never die because it is reborn every time a woman says no to sexual harassment in the workplace, every time a worker goes on strike, every time a worker demands dignity in the workplace and stands up for their rights.”

The City Council’s Progressive Caucus called the decision “radical.”

“We will always stand with the public employees keep our communities safe and healthy — and we will continue to defend workers’ right to organize, bargain collectively, and stand up to right wing attacks," the group said in a statement.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel backs a plan to rename Congress Parkway, but there is a catch in the proposal. Gov. Pat Quinn brings his effort to limit Chicago mayors to two terms to City Hall, and is ignored. Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa was out, but now he’s back in — and aldermen will return to City Hall for a rare committee meeting scheduled for the day after a full council meeting.

The Chicago City Council is back at full strength after a nearly six-hour meeting. [Follow our minute-by-minute account via our Twitter feed: @TheDailyLineChi.]

A resolution from Comm. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-7) that decried President Donald Trump’s policy of child separation brought impassioned testimony from public health advocates and elected officials Wednesday.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s appointment of former Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (A2018-53) to the Chicago Public Library board sailed through the City Council’s Budget Committee, and is set for final approval by the full City Council Wednesday.

Aldermen on the Rules Committee approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s appointee to fill the 23rd Ward vacancy left by retiring Ald. Mike Zalewski. Silvana Tabares has represented the city’s Southwest Side 21st House District in the general assembly since 2013 and is cleared for a vote from the full City Council Wednesday.

The City Council will gather Wednesday for its June meeting, where aldermen are expected to ratify Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s appointment of Silvana Tabares to replace retired 23rd Ward Ald. Mike Zalewski and amend the city’s anti-loitering ordinance for the first time in approximately 20 years as part of a crackdown on prostitution.

Aldermen are also set to scale back their recently adopted “Hands Off Pants On” ordinance (O2018-173) to only require hotels to provide employees who work in guest rooms with panic buttons to protect them from being sexually assaulted or harassed.

The City Council is also expected to act to approve higher limits on raffles to clear the way for the 40th drawing in the raffle at McNally’s on Western Avenue in Morgan Park, where the jackpot in a raffle benefiting St. Cajetan School has reached $1 million.

The proposal would increase grand prize in a raffle from $500,000 to $2 million and the total value of all prizes in a raffle from $1 million to $4 million at the request of Ald. Matt O’Shea (19.)

In addition, aldermen are expected to agree to put three non-binding resolutions before voters on the November ballot:

• ln the event marijuana is legalized, should the City of Chicago appropriate revenue from the sale of marijuana to increase funding for Chicago Public Schools or mental health services?


• Should the City of Chicago ban the use of plastic straws within the corporate city limits?


• Should the City of Chicago seek that the State of Illinois create a homeowners property tax exemption for families in municipalities of over 500,000 that have lived in their home for over 10 years and whose income is under $100,000?

The Finance Committee is set to meet before the full City Council meeting to consider two largely symbolic resolutions condemning President Donald Trump’s immigration policy that resulted in the separation of children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Other Items Slated for Approval:

• 606 Trail grants — (O2018-4109) A mayoral initiative would offer those who own single-family homes and apartment buildings of up to four units near the trail grants of up to $25,000 for masonry repairs, porch and roof improvements, tuckpointing, door and window repairs and other exterior upgrades. [Our coverage.]


• Police Misconduct Settlements – Aldermen are set to settle two lawsuits alleging police misconduct totaling $6 million. [Our coverage]


• Water, wastewater improvement bonds (O2018-4641; O2018-4552) — $900 million in bonds to fund ongoing work.


• Year-round sidewalk cafes (O2018-4138) — Backed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, sidewalk cafes could operate during December, January and February as long as they provide city officials with proof of insurance coverage. [Our coverage.]


• Police Board appointment (A2018-40) — Paula Wolff, the director of the Illinois Justice Project, will fill the seat let vacant on the board by former Police Board President Lori Lightfoot’s resignation to run for mayor.  [Our coverage.]


• Chicago Housing Authority board appointments — Three new members are set to join the Chicago Housing Authority board: Bill Thanoukos (A2018-49); Debra Parker (A2018-50) and James E. Matanky (A2018-51.) [Our coverage.]


• City Colleges of Chicago board appointments — Three appointments cleared the committee for the City Colleges board: the reappointments of Clarisol Duque and Elizabeth F. Swanson (A2018-44), and a new appointee, Rebeca Nieves Huffman (A2018-44.)


• Chicago Park Board appointments —  Two new members are set to join the Chicago Park Board: Avis LaVelle (A2018-47) and Donald J. Edwards (A2018-48.)


• Library board appointments — Alexi Giannoulias (A2018-53) is set to join the Chicago Public Library board, while Denise Gardner, Linda Johnson Rice and Lynn Lockwood (A2018-54) have been reappointed by the mayor. [Our coverage.]


• Bid incentives for diverse workforces — (O2018-4173) Championed by Ald. Sophia King (4,) the new rules would give companies with diverse management teams a boost when bidding for city contracts.


• Road widening for The 78 — (O2018-4151) A plan for a road and pedestrian connection between the South Loop and Chinatown “to extend Wells Street south from Roosevelt Road through the recently announced ‘The 78’ project and connect to a new section of Wentworth at 16th Street on the north side of Chinatown.”


• Chicago River bridge — (O2018-4620) A new easement agreement to allow improvements along the Chicago River near the Lathrop Homes.


• Special Olympics Drive — (O2018-4791) An agreement to change the name of Museum Campus Drive near Soldier Field to Special Olympics Drive between 18th Street/Burnham Harbor Drive to McFetridge Drive.


• Nurses contract — (O2018-4148) An agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union No. 743, which represents nurses employed by the Chicago Department of Public Health through 2022. [Our coverage.]


• Tax breaks — Paasche Airbrush Co. (R2018-36); Phoenix Bean Tofu (R2018-498) and Meeting Tomorrow Properties (R2017-118) are all set to get breaks on their property taxes, pending approval from the Cook County Assessor. [Our coverage.]


• TIF for Edens Collection —  O2018-4527) – The $58 million Edens Collection project in Mayfair is set to get a $13 million from the city’s newest tax increment financing district.


• Goodbye Wrigleyville Taco Bell — (O2018-1003) The haven for some Cubs fans would be transformed into a new climbing gym at 1101 W. Addison St.


• West Side affordable housing — (O2017-3807) Heartland Alliance plans to build a 78-unit supportive and affordable housing development at 1519 W. Warren Blvd. [Plan Commission coverage]


• More Development Near North and Clybourn — (O2018-3787) A $27 million development at 750 W. North Ave. that will feature 92 units and just 10 parking spaces would reshape the area around the famed Steppenwolf theater. [Plan Commission coverage]


• New life for former West Side YMCA — (O2017-7019) — The old Salvation Army Freedom Center would be transformed into 260 units as part of a $30 million redevelopment at 1515 W. Monroe St. in the 28th Ward. [Plan Commission coverage]


• 13th Ward home-sharing bans (O2018-4030, O2018-4031 and O2018-4759) — From Ald. Marty Quinn (13), the trio of measures would ban new Airbnb or home-sharing services in the 5th, 19th and 9th precincts of this Southwest Side ward, where 90 percent of residents live in single-family homes.


• Two transit-oriented developments — (O2018-3987, O2018-1885) in the 40th and 47th wards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The City Council’s Zoning Committee voted 7-5 Tuesday to kill a seven-story, 297-unit luxury apartment complex near the Cumberland CTA Blue Line station.

Cook County commissioners meet bright and early for a finance- and contract-heavy day. A smaller subset of commissioners will vote to appoint new and recurring faces to two of the county’s transit boards, and will take on a resolution condemning President Donald Trump’s immigration policy.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel tapped an alderman without an airport in his ward to oversee the city’s Aviation Department, and aldermen brokered a deal to honor a Civil Rights icon by renaming a street that now honors the U.S. Congress. Chicagoans who earn the minimum wage will get a raise starting Sunday.