South Side Alderman Willie Cochran was indicted on federal corruption charges–right in the middle of a City Council meeting. Accused of pocketing money from a charitable ward fund to pay his daughter’s college tuition and feed his gambling habit, Cochran bolted out of the council chambers, and refused to comment on the merits of the allegations. The Council’s Progressive Caucus, often known for butting heads with the Emanuel Administration, is down a member: Ald. Nick Sposato (38), citing health reasons, resigned from the group this week. Ideology played a role, too. And the City Clerk vacancy is no more: Mayor Emanuel has appointed Anna Valencia, his 31-year-old director of legislative affairs, to the seat. We’ll discuss what the mayor’s expectations are for his new appointee, and some new programs she’ll have to handle.

The Chicago Plan Commission approved all items on their December agenda with minimal public opposition. Only one project, a proposal to construct a 252-unit apartment building in Old Town sparked opposition, albeit with only five witnesses. The projects now advance to the Council’s Zoning Committee, followed by the full City Council.

252-Unit Mid-Rise Building In Old Town

1415 N. Sedgwick (27th Ward)

The oldest application on the agenda, and the only one to receive opposing public testimony, advanced out of the Plan Commission, giving LG Development the zoning change they need to build a seven-story residential building with 252 units and 89 parking spaces at the corner of Orleans and Schiller.

It was a relatively quick and low-key Cook County Board meeting yesterday, the final one of the year. Board President Toni Preckwinkle was absent, away to attend a National Association of Counties-related event. President pro tempore Robert Steele (D-2), still recovering from surgery that sidelined him a month ago, was absent as well. Finance Chair John Daley (D-11) presided over the full board meeting, which attracted a sparse audience and had no major divided votes, but a few highlights of things to watch for in the new year.

The Chicago Plan Commission is finishing off the year with a slate of highly contentious zoning projects, including a huge residential development in Old Town that has gone through at least three revisions since it was first introduced in January.

Lathrop Protest

An hour before the meeting, a coalition of community, housing and social service organizations will hold a press conference outside the Council Chambers to protest the redevelopment plan for the Julia C. Lathrop Homes–a project the Plan Commission approved in February.

The 525 Task Force, named after the 525 public housing units that’ll be eliminated from the northwest side public housing complex as part of a massive redevelopment initiative, is requesting the city replace all lost public housing units. Of the 1,208 units planned by Related Midwest for the 30 acre site, only 400 will be public housing. Former Plan Commissioner Juan Linares, the Executive Director of LUCHA, is part of the task force, even though he voted in favor of the planned development application during his short nine-month stint on the board. One of the most vocal proponents of affordable housing on the Plan Commission, he resigned April.

38th Ward Alderman Nick Sposato is stepping down from the Progressive Caucus, Sposato and fellow members told The Daily Line this week, claiming that the groups intensive meeting schedule is too much for him to handle. Sposato suffers from multiple sclerosis and has been strictly wheelchair-bound for the past few months.

The last full City Council meeting of the year was likely one of the most eventful ones of 2016: A federal indictment accusing Ald. Willie Cochran (20) of using a special ward fund to pay his daughter's college tuition and gambling habit was filed in federal court and made public less than an hour into the meeting as aldermen were in the midst of praising the Cubs. Mayor Rahm Emanuel officially announced the city’s new Clerk: Anna Valencia, his Director of Legislative Counsel and Government Affairs (LCGA). And aldermen spent hours discussing–and at times arguing over–two contentious ordinances that ultimately passed: a rollback of the city’s flavored tobacco rules and the formation of a $1.3 million legal defense fund aimed at protecting undocumented residents from the threat of deportation.

Commissioners approved a new health plan, a new Metra Board member, and an agreement moving oversight of the county’s Veterans Affairs Commission, but delayed consideration of some costly technology contracts because by the time the meeting was set to start, most of the commissioners left.  

Cook County commissioners meet starting at 9:15 a.m. today for committee meetings to vote on a $600,000 settlement to a man accidentally locked up at the Cook County Jail, a new agreement for the county to contribute sales tax revenue to the pension fund, and eight property tax breaks. A shuffle in committee leadership, an overhaul of the county's tax break system, and a new report on gun violence in the county will be referred to committee at the full board meeting later today. 

The Council Committee on Cultural Affairs and Special Events approved an ordinance Tuesday giving the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) the authority to produce public events and festivals for next year, such as the Taste of Chicago, an action the committee must take every year. Updated language concerning public art displays is expected to land next Spring.

A proposal to allocate $1.3 million in unspent money from the city’s property tax rebate program to establish a new legal defense fund for immigrants in Chicago advanced out of the Council’s Budget Committee. One alderman, Nick Sposato (38), voted against the plan, while some members of the Council’s Black Caucus urged the Administration to set up a similar fund for organizations that focus on anti-violence or legal services in predominantly African-American neighborhoods.

These are some of the items that’ll be up for consideration at today’s meeting:

• $9M in four legal settlements. The largest payout ($3.8M) settles a class action lawsuit brought by female Chicago firefighters in 2012. Another $3M settlement with the family of Cedric Chatman, a teenager shot dead by Chicago Police Officer Kevin Fry while fleeing an alleged car theft.

• $1.3M appropriation for a new Legal Defense Fund for Immigrants (Revenue Source: leftovers from the property tax rebate program)

• Resolution from Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) condemning hateful speech and violent actions directed toward Muslims, those perceived to be Muslims, immigrants, and people of color  

• Resolution from Mayor Rahm Emanuel reaffirming Chicago as a Welcoming City.

• Rollback of flavored tobacco rules from Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11) that would lift the ban on selling flavored tobacco (including menthol) within 500 feet of elementary and middle schools. That 500 foot measurement is taken from the property line of the school to the property line of the retailer (not from door to door, as retailers would have preferred).

• New efficiency Rules for downtown development an ordinance that would eliminate the maximum allowable number of studio apartments (called “efficiency units” in the zoning code) within the Downtown (D-district) for projects located within 600-feet of a CTA or Metra train station. The city’s zoning code currently limits these efficiency units, ranging from from 50% of total units in a D-16 zone to 20% in a D-3 zone (the corresponding numbers provide for allowable density).

• Termination of three TIFs: the Calumet River TIF (established in 2010), Addison Corridor North (established in 1997) and the 69th/Ashland TIF (created in 2004).

• 2017 Special Events Ordinance for DCASE

• Class L designation for Tucker Development, which is rehabbing 11 buildings in Fulton Market to construct a commercial retail complex in the historic Fulton-Randolph Market area. The incentive will offset some of the $21M in rehabilitation costs needed for the project (The leasing plan and renderings of the planned upgrades.)

• The designation of Enterprise Zone 6, one of several city zones created to “stimulate economic growth and neighborhood revitalization by offering state and local tax incentives to companies expanding or relocating within depressed areas.” This special zone includes wards 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, and a portion of 4. View the boundaries here.  

• A bond inducement ordinance for $16 million for the John Pennycuff affordable housing project.

• Intergovernmental agreement with the CTA to disperse TIF funds for Ventra Machines. TIF revenue from two downtown TIF districts–Canal/Congress and LaSalle Central– will pay for 20% of the approximately $814,500 project. Most of the budget, $500,000, will pay for fare equipment along the new rapid bus route around the Loop.

• Appointment of Simon Gordon, a pastor at Triedstone Full Gospel Baptist Church in Roseland, to the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, a board created in 2012 to enforce Chicago’s Human Rights Ordinance and the Chicago Fair Housing Ordinance. (Gordon’s Resume)

• Appointment of Cristina Matos, a CHA resident of the Southeast Scattered Site, to the ten-member Chicago Housing Authority Board.

• Three Class 6(b) property tax incentives for industrial properties in the 12th, 27th and 35th Wards. Companies that will get a reduced tax bill over the next 12-year incentive period include: Pioneer Engineering & Environmental Services (3101 S. California Ave.), Chicago Flyhouse Inc. (317 N Francisco Ave & 335 N Francisco Ave.), and H.M. Witt & Co. (3313 W. Newport Ave.).

• An ordinance adding the Uptown Square District to the city’s list of historical landmark districts. (Department of Planning And Development staff report.)

• Sale of city-owned land in Humboldt Park (1345 N. Rockwell St.) to The Puerto Rican Cultural Center. The property is valued at $1.53M and will be sold for $1.

• Sale of city-owned land in Chinatown to Sea Dog Ventures, Inc., a subsidiary of Entertainment Cruises for duck boat tours along the Chicago River. (Price: $191,000)

• The $1 sale of 32 city-owned vacant lots in the 6th, 17th, 20th, and 21st Wards in the Auburn, Gresham, and Woodlawn neighborhoods under the city’s Large Lots Program.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is expected to announce his the appointment of his Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Anna Valencia as City Clerk Wednesday, possibly during the City Council meeting. Word spread late last night that Mayor Emanuel was calling City Clerk contenders to inform them of his appointment decision. Multiple sources confirmed Valencia’s appointment. Valencia would replace Susana Mendoza who was sworn in last week as State Comptroller.

A largely muted Finance Committee meeting saw passage of more than $9 million in legal settlements, termination of three TIFs, and a pause in consideration of an overhaul of the city’s TIF system for private development. Proposed changes to the city’s regulations on the sale of flavored tobacco near schools were tinkered with for several hours before making it to the floor, and passed with only five aldermen present.  

A proposal to designate a commercial strip in Uptown as a historic landmark district advanced out of Zoning Committee Monday. It was one of a few applications that moved out of the quick, hour long meeting, as nearly a third of the items on the agenda were deferred at the request of the local alderman or zoning attorney.

The Council’s Committee on Special Events, Cultural Affairs and Recreation meets Tuesday at noon to consider the 2017 Special Events Ordinance, which details contracting requirements and caps on ticket prices for next year’s public events, like the Taste of Chicago.