The City Council is poised to take aim Wednesday at the Chicago nonprofit organization holding children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border as part of Chicago’s continuing effort to push back against President Donald Trump.

The measure from Aldermen Ed Burke (14) and Ald. Danny Solis (25) would require Heartland Alliance’s nine Chicago-area shelters to be licensed by the city as day-care facilities. The Finance Committee will meet at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday to consider approving the proposal — which is expected to be revised — before sending it to the full City Council for a vote.

The measure is designed to give city officials greater access to the Chicago shelters, where officials have denied aldermen’s requests for visits — as well as more information about how many children are being held after being separated from their families. [Aldermen grill organization sheltering children taken from parents at U.S.-Mexico border in Chicago]

In addition, aldermen are expected rename (O2018-5017) a portion of Congress Parkway from Columbus Drive to the point where it merges with the Eisenhower Expressway as lda B. Wells Drive to honor the Civil Rights icon. The change requires state approval as well. [Plan to rename Congress Parkway for Ida B. Wells advances]

Also up for a vote are nearly $8.5 million in settlements, including $4.5 million to end three lawsuits that alleged police misconduct

Five appointments are also up for approval:

• A2018-62 — Jamiee Rhee as aviation commissioner [Aldermen lavish praise on mayor’s pick to lead Aviation Department]


• A2018-61 — Shannon Andrews as chief procurement officer [Do more to boost contracts, jobs for blacks, Latinos and women, Aldermen tell mayoral appointee]


• Joseph Lipari as deputy public safety inspector general [Chicago at ‘historic crossroads’ over issues of public safety, police trust, deputy inspector nominee tells aldermen; NYPD assistant inspector general named new watchdog overseeing police misconduct probes]


• A2018-63 — Ald. Jason Ervin (28) to the board of the Chicago Infrastructure Trust


• A2018-56 — Salvador A. Cicero as a member and chairman of the Chicago Human Resources Board.

The City Council is also set to approve two West Loop projects that will continue to reshape the area near the Kennedy Expressway.

The first proposal (O2017-8997) to build a new 12-story building at 310 N. Sangamon St. with 7,800 square feet of ground floor retail and office space on the upper floors.

The second proposal (O2017-7018) would build an Equinox hotel with 165 rooms as well as a 30,000-square-foot sports club, 370 apartments and restaurant space at 725 W. Randolph St.

Wednesday’s session is the last meeting of the City Council until after Labor Day and the council’s traditional August recess.

Other Items Slated for Approval:

• O2018-5387 — To transform historic St. Boniface Church into market-rate condominiums


• O2018-5858 — To sell three parcels at 4317 S. Calumet Ave. for $23,500; 4512 S. Indiana Ave. for $30,500 and 4412 S. Calumet Ave. for $37,500 as part of the Parade of Homes project in Ald. Pat Dowell’s ward


• O2018-5476 — To construct an outdoor recycling center in the 24th Ward


• O2018-5018 — To prohibit parking on city-owned vacant lots even if no parking signs are not posted


• O2018-5090 — To establish the Opportunity Investment Fund, which would set aside $30 million to provide low-cost financing to help people buy multi-family housing in gentrifying areas.


• O2018-5091 —  A $30 million pilot program that would provide financial assistance for the purchase or refinance of multi-family residential buildings


• O2018-4988 — To impose an additional 2 percent tax on short-term rental guests in Chicago to help fund housing for victims of domestic violence [Aldermen agree to tack on 2% surcharge to home-sharing services to fund domestic violence services]


• Or2018-304 — To close the Chicago underpass at Lake Shore Drive between midnight and 5 a.m. from July through October.


• O2018-5012 — To impose a 30-minute time limit for pickup deliveries by commercial vehicles within curb loading zones.


• R2018-677; R2018-680; R2018-682; O2018-5002; O2018-4997 —  Five property tax breaks for firms across the city


• O2018-2516 — To approve a Garfield Ridge development set to feature 62 independent senior living units.

The Zoning Committee endorsed two West Loop projects Tuesday that will continue to reshape the area near the Kennedy Expressway.

Revenue from tax increment financing in Cook County topped $1 billion for the first time in TIF history, according to Clerk David Orr’s latest report released Tuesday.

A group of commissioners and the president’s office squared off Tuesday amidst mid-year budget hearings over a new oversight body.

As the deadline approaches for city officials and Attorney General Lisa Madigan to agree on how the Chicago Police Department should be reformed in the wake of the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald, lawyers will head back to court Wednesday morning.

The two sides are likely to update Judge Robert Dow Jr. on the only remaining area of disagreement between attorneys representing the city and the attorney general’s office, which centers on a the attorney general’s insistence that officers should be required to document every time he or she points a gun at a person.

Eileen Boyce, a spokeswoman for Madigan, confirmed Tuesday that the attorney general continues to support such a requirement in the consent decree which tops 200 pages and covers a host of topics, including when officers can use force, how they are supervised and held accountable for misconduct.

A spokesman for the city’s Law Department did not return a message from The Daily Line.

Under the department’s general orders, officers do not currently have to file a report if they point a gun at a person, officials said.

Karen Sheley, the director of the ACLU of Illinois’ Police Practice Project, said it was “shocking” that the department’s current rules do not require officers to file a report every time they point their weapon at a member of the public.

“Having a gun pointed at you by an officer is a serious thing,” Sheley said. “It should be documented. Don’t we want to know if officers are pulling guns on people?”

In addition, similar provisions are included in 10 of 12 consent decrees and are in place in New York and Los Angeles, Sheley said.

Past coverage

• Justice Delayed: On the first anniversary of the DOJ’s investigation into Chicago police, the fight for reform is mired in bureaucracy


• ACLU, Black Lives Matter Reach Agreement With City, Attorney General Over Demands For Chicago Police Department Reform


• Black Lives Matter Unveils 10-point Plan To Be Included in Chicago Police Department Reform Package

After insisting for months that there was no need for a federal judge to oversee reforms at the CPD, Emanuel reversed course 11 months ago, sparking the negotiations that are almost complete in advance of a Sept. 1 deadline.

Madigan’s insistence that a federal judge oversee efforts to reforms were prompted by a U.S  Justice Department finding that Chicago police officers routinely violated the civil rights of residents by using excessive force. It also found that officers were poorly trained and lacked supervision.

Last month, the City Council agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of a 3-year-old girl who was traumatized after officers pointed a gun at her during a raid of her family’s home.

As part of the reforms already announced by Emanuel and department brass, officers have received additional training on how to de-escalate tense situations in an effort to reduce the number of violent encounters between police and Chicagoans.

It will be impossible to assess the impact of that training unless the number of times officers use their weapons is documented, Sheley said.

ACLU officials have not yet seen the draft consent decree, and the fact that this issue remains a sticking point is concerning, Sheley said.

“I’m worried about what the rest of the consent decree looks like,” Sheley said.

Fraternal Order of Police President Kevin Graham has called the prospect of his officers working under the rules set by a federal judge "a potential catastrophe for Chicago."

A spokesman for the police union did did not return a message from The Daily Line. Dow, the judge overseeing the case, has not ruled on the police union’s request to intervene in the case.

In a statement on its blog, the union vowed to “fight the creation of this consent decree, which, we believe, will have a devastating impact on the ability of our members to protect the public.”

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s pick to lead the city’s Procurement Department got an earful of advice from aldermen Tuesday about how to increase the number of contracts awarded to firms owned by Blacks, Latinos and women.

Ald. Walter Burnett (27) joked Monday that his years-long effort to save St. Boniface church from the wrecking ball was a solid argument against term limits.

The Zoning Committee will consider two West Loop projects that will continue to reshape the area near the Kennedy Expressway at its meeting set to start at noon Tuesday.

The Budget Committee is also set to meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday to consider Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s appointment of Shannon Andrews (A2018-61) to lead the Procurement Department.

A veteran alderman shocked City Hall with an announcement that his tenure on the City Council would end in May, while county officials kicked off mid-year budget hearings with a civil — and short — session. The Democrat running for the Cook County Board's 15th District seat notched another high-profile endorsement.

Aldermen interrogated Heartland Alliance Executive Director David Sinski Monday over a report in the Washington Post that detailed allegations of physical and emotional abuse made by children who were held in Heartland Alliance’s Casa Guadalupe shelter in Chicago.

An effort to ease Chicago’s nearly quarter-century old ban on the sale of spray paint is back in limbo — where it has lingered for more than two years — in the face of opposition from aldermen reluctant to allow the sale of taggers’ favorite tool.

The City Council’s Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development unanimously endorsed five property tax breaks with no debate. The tax breaks are:

• R2018-677 — The tax break would benefit RLS, LLC, which plans to build a 75,000-square-foot industrial cold storage warehouse at 2639-59 S. Damen Ave. in the 25th Ward. The break would save the firm $1.16 million over 12 years and allow it to add 20 new employees to its 45-person staff, officials said.


• R2018-680 — The tax break would benefit Brite Logistics, Inc., which plans to operate a transportation and warehousing logistics business in a formerly vacant building at 5000 S. Homan Ave. in the 11th Ward. The break would save the firm $1.3 million over 12 years and allow it to hire 15 new employees to its 100-person staff, Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11) said.


• R2018-682 — A renewal of a tax break benefitting Van Meter, Inc., a wholesale electrical supply distributor at 217 S. Western Ave. in the 27th Ward. The break would save the firm $422,500 over 12 years.


• O2018-5002 — The tax break would benefit TVB, LLC, which plans to renovate an abandoned building at 5214-32 S. Archer Ave. into a restaurant and banquet hall in the 14th Ward. The break would save the firm $94,000 over five years and allow it to add 10 full-time and part-time employees, officials said.


• O2018-4997 — The tax break would benefit Luigis Paisans Pizza Pulaski, Inc., which plans to build a new commercial building of approximately 7,253 square feet that will include a restaurant at 6535 S. Pulaski Road in the 13th Ward. The break would save the firm $782,000 over 12 years and allow them to hire 45 new full-time employees and 15 part-time.

In other action, the council’s Workforce Development Committee approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s reappointment (A2018-56) of Salvador A. Cicero as a member and chairman of the Chicago Human Resources Board. An attorney, Cicero was first appointed to the board by Emanuel in 2014.

 

The City Council Committee on Finance will consider adding $4.45 million to the city’s tab of police-related settlements at its meeting set to take place at 10 a.m. Monday — as well as legalizing pigeon racing.

The measure (O2018-4988) introduced by Aldermen Gilbert Villegas (36), Ariel Reboyras (30) and Nicholas Sposato (38) would legalize the sport beloved in Poland, but banned here in Chicago.

The move is opposed by bird rescue groups, whose leaders told Block Club Chicago they are concerned they’d be deluged with requests to help abandoned and abused birds.

The families of an 88-year-old woman and a 66-year-old man killed by a car fleeing Chicago Police during a 2015 pursuit through Greater Grand Crossing would get $3 million under a settlement set to be considered by the finance committee, as first reported by the Sun-Times.

Aldermen will also consider paying $950,000 the family of a man shot to death by an off-duty Chicago Police sergeant in 2013. The sergeant told investigators he thought the man was armed and burglarizing his home when he shot him. No weapon was recovered, officials said.

In addition, aldermen will consider settling a lawsuit filed by the daughter of a man who died while being held in the Jefferson Park Police District lock-up in 2015 for $500,000. The suit claimed officers ignored 41-year-old Johnny Lopez’ cries for help.

Aldermen will weigh whether to pay $4 million to the family of a Romeoville man who died after the motorcycle he was riding hit a pothole. The man was thrown to the ground, and killed by the vehicle behind him, according to the Tribune.

In all, the committee will consider paying out nearly $8.5 million in settlements.

The committee will also consider two affordable housing proposals from Mayor Rahm Emanuel:

• O2018-5090 — The Opportunity Investment Fund, which would set aside $30 million to provide low-cost financing to help people buy multi-family housing in gentrifying or high-cost areas in return for an agreement to set aside 20 percent of each complex’s units for low- and moderate-income residents for 15 years.


• O2018-5091 —  Another $30 million pilot program that would provide financial assistance for the purchase or refinance of multi-family residential buildings in exchange for an agreement to set aside the units for low- and moderate-income residents for 30 years.

Two redevelopment agreements are up for a vote, as well:

• O2018-5022 — An agreement with the Chicago Family Health Center to construct and operate school-based health center at Chicago Vocational Career Academy High School.


• O2018-5827 — An agreement with Montclare Calumet Heights LLC to build a controversial 134-unit senior housing complex in Ald. Michelle Harris’ 8th Ward.


• O2018-5051 — An agreement to restructure the city’s loan to the developer of the 50-unit St. Edmunds Corners affordable housing community.

Other items set to be considered:

• O2018-5052 — Authored by Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11), the measure would prohibit the use of plywood or wood-based material for securing vacant buildings and instead require that polycarbonate material be used. In 2016, Ald. Ed Burke (14) sponsored an ordinance changing the city’s Municipal Code to allow “the use of polycarbonate clear boarding to secure vacant residential buildings.” This type of transparent plastic is advertised as a way to board up homes as not to attract vandals or squatters, because the material makes it indiscernible that the home is closed off.


• A2018-63 — The mayor’s appointment of Ald. Jason Ervin (28) to the board of the Chicago Infrastructure Trust. He replaces Ald. Matt O’Shea (19) in the shuffle following O’Shea’s appointment to chair the Aviation Committee.

The City Council’s Committee on Housing and Real Estate will consider selling three vacant parcels as part of the next round of 3rd Ward Ald. Pat Dowell’s Parade of Homes.