Ald. Sophia King (4) speaks during Wednesday’s education committee meeting. [City of Chicago livestream]

Aldermen during a committee meeting Wednesday scuttled a colleague’s proposal to require the head of Chicago Public Schools to attend quarterly hearings in front of aldermen.

From left, Comm. Sean Morrison (R-17), Matt Podgorski and Josina Morita. [Courtesy photos]

While almost all Democratic incumbents on the Cook County Board of Commissioners won reelection Tuesday, the board’s two Republican-held seats had close races to retain the small sliver of conservative representation on the board.

Aldermen are set to hold four committee meetings Thursday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

Aldermen will convene for four committee meetings Thursday with a vote on proposed new rules for residential search warrants and a long-awaited hearing with CTA President Dorval Carter scheduled for morning meetings.

Voters approved a tax increase for the Cook County Forest Preserve District this election to shore up the district’s finances. [Facebook/Cook County Forest Preserve District]

Voters have elected to raise their own taxes to shore up funds for the Forest Preserve District of Cook County and ease the district’s reliance on its reserves and reduce the likelihood of future budget holes.

The Clean Air, Clean Water, and Wildlife Habitat Protection Referendum, which raises the property tax rate for the forest preserves by one quarter of one tenth of a percent, or 0.025 percent, was approved Nov. 8 with about 67.6 percent of the voters voting “yes” as of 10:34 p.m. Tuesday.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is seen on Election Day during the 2022 primaries. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle declared victory Tuesday night in her campaign for a fourth term as the top executive in county government. By securing a fourth term, Preckwinkle is on track to become the longest serving board president since George Dunne, who served from 1969 to 1990.

In a statement issued Tuesday night, Preckwinkle said “I extend my deepest gratitude to the voters of Cook County and I’m grateful they have entrusted me to run the nation’s second-largest county in the country for the past twelve years, and look forward to all the good work that lies ahead.”

Ald. Sophia King (4) during Monday’s City Council meeting. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Education and Child Development is set to meet for the second time this year on Wednesday.

Members of the City Council during Monday’s meeting. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Aldermen during a City Council meeting Monday voted 32-18 to approve Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s 2023 spending plan. The vote occurred less than four months before the February municipal election where at least three aldermen are planning to challenge Lightfoot and all 50 City Council seats are up for election.

The official Cook County seal [file]

Will Cook County voters choose to raise their own taxes to help shore up funds for the county Forest Preserve District or decide instead to let it risk disrepair and budget tightness? Will county voters elect a predictably Democratic slate of candidates, or will any county races see shake-ups or surprises? Here’s a primer on what’s on the ballot in Cook County this Tuesday.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot during her budget proposal speech in October. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s fourth and final budget of her first term in office will face a vote from the City Council on Monday.

The mayor introduced her $16.4 billion spending proposal last month and aldermen have spent the weeks since then grilling commissioners on their departments’ budget proposals and making their own proposed tweaks to the budget.

A new commission tasked with oversight of the Chicago Police Department issued its review of the department’s proposed budget Thursday.

The city’s new interim commission tasked with providing oversight of the Chicago Police Department on Thursday released a scathing review of the police department’s budget citing concerns that the department is not using its workforce to meet Chicago’s public safety needs.

The report also calls for more transparency in the budgeting process and raises concern over “untenable and unacceptable work conditions for Chicago police officers.”

Members of the City Council will meet at City Hall Friday but a final vote on the budget is not expected until Monday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]

The City Council will meet Friday for a meeting that is expected to be short as aldermen plan to delay a vote on budget-related ordinances until Monday.

The Board of Commissioners for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago convenes for a meeting Nov. 3. [MWRD Livestream]

Four seats on the nine-member Board of Commissioners for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) are up for election Nov. 8. The board members serve staggered six-year terms and are elected at-large, meaning they represent the area as a whole and not specific districts within the MWRD.

Interim Inspector General Steven E. Cyranoski speaks to Comm. Sean Morrison (R-17) during a hearing Oct. 25. [Cook County Finance Committee Livestream]

During an Oct. 25 budget hearing before the Cook County Board of Commissioners Finance Committee, Interim Inspector General Steven E. Cyranoski told commissioners the number of complaints received by the Office of the Independent Inspector General continues to increase each year as the number of staff in the office is proposed to stay flat in 2023.

Chief Sustainability Officer Angela Tovar (upper right) speaks during a committee meeting Wednesday. [City of Chicago livestream]

The spending portions of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed 2023 budget gained key committee support on Wednesday, but some of the votes were close, potentially signaling a tight vote when the full City Council votes on the budget on Monday.

The City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations met Wednesday to give initial approval to the annual appropriation ordinance (O2022-3025) which sets spending for the next year, and the 2023 management ordinance (O2022-3580). And aldermen continued pressing city officials to reestablish the Department of Environment.

Voters could approve a tax increase for the Cook County Forest Preserve District this election to shore up the district’s finances. [Facebook/Cook County Forest Preserve District]

Advocates spent more than $1.5 million in the final months leading up to the midterm elections to promote a ballot question which aims to raise taxes and bring in more revenue for the Cook County Forest Preserve District.