Chicago News
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DEC 02, 2019
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s $11.65 billion spending plan for 2020 may have sailed through the Chicago City Council Tuesday, but its passage highlighted the deep rift between the mayor who promised to end business as usual at City Hall and energized progressive groups that are demanding structural change.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she plans to celebrate her victory with a cigar, a glass of scotch and a Thanksgiving dinner with her family. [Heather Cherone/The Daily Line]
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NOV 26, 2019
Dr. Jay Shannon performed a balancing act during his more than five years at the helm of the Cook County Health and Hospitals system, whose nearly 6,600 full-time employees run the county’s two public hospitals and manage its growing Medicaid managed care program.
The CEO was forced to make several rounds of deep budget cuts while keeping the system’s services competitive enough to attract insured patients. Shannon was tasked with scoping out new revenues while relying on a shrinking pool of taxpayer dollars. And he oversaw a more than three-fold expansion of the county’s Medicaid services amid federal efforts to roll back the Affordable Care Act.
But by Friday, when the health system’s independent board voted unanimously not to renew Shannon’s contract, the $2.8 billion health system also faced mounting financial and political pressures. Skyrocketing costs from unpaid debt and the county’s provision of care to uninsured patients, plus a contentious report on the health system’s fiscal stewardship, meant county officials peppered Shannon with tough questions this year.
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Ald. Ed Burke (14) [Heather Cherone/The Daily Line]
Ald. Ed Burke (14) thumbed his nose Monday at the leaders of the Cook County Democratic Party, defying their calls to step down from his post as 14th Ward Democratic committeeperson by filing to run for a record-extending 14th term.
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NOV 25, 2019
UNLOCKED
Lori Lightfoot may have campaigned on ending business as usual to become Chicago’s 56th mayor, but her first budget season is set to end Tuesday in the same way city budgets have ended for decades: with a quick and decisive rubber stamp.
Even without help from state lawmakers, aldermen are set to approve Lightfoot’s plan to close an $838 million budget by finding savings and efficiencies, while raising some taxes and fees to avoid a large property tax increase. -
NOV 25, 2019
A database of suspected gang members kept by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office lacked oversight, skirted federal guidelines and was used for “unauthorized purposes” before its 25,000-plus names were taken offline earlier this year, according to the county’s watchdog.
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Monday marks the first day of the week-long candidate filing period, in which the petitions passed to get on the March primary ballot must be turned in to elections officials. In addition, aldermen will gather to weigh Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposal to stop the Chicago Police from impounding cars with marijuana inside and significantly lower fines for those caught blazing in public.
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NOV 25, 2019
A coalition of housing activists on Friday called on city leaders to change the city’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance to keep “scofflaw” developers from skirting their commitments to build affordable housing.
Members of the Our Home Chicago coalition rallied outside of the New City apartment and entertainment complex Friday. [Alex Nitkin/The Daily Line]
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan to create two new departments in an effort to streamline the city’s operations and save money is “unproven” and may not pay off, according to an analysis of the Lightfoot’s $11.9 billion 2020 budget proposal, according to the City Council Office of Financial Analysis.
