Chicago News
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New COPA head announced – Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced late Tuesday that he planned to name Sydney Roberts to lead the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. Roberts, the director of Secretary of State Department of Police, was the unanimous choice of the search committee formed by Emanuel after Sharon Fairley resigned to run for Illinois Attorney General, according to a statement from the mayor’s office.
Roberts’ appointment came the same day as the Tribune and Sun-Times reported that Police Supt. Eddie Johnson disagreed with COPA’s finding that officer who shot and killed Bettie Jones and Quintonio LeGrier in December 2015 should be fired. Johnson found shooting was justified and consistent with department policy, the newspapers reported. Also being introduced today: the ordinance sponsored by Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6) and Harry Osterman (48) establishing a civilian oversight body with the power to appoint COPA’s next head. -
MAR 27, 2018
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Heralding it as the “largest projection installation of its kind in the world,” aldermen unanimously approved the new public art project “Art on theMART” Monday, as well as changes to how much personal information condo board members would have to disclose to unit owners, and a land sale in the city’s 18th Ward that was amended behind the scenes.
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City Council’s budget committee meets at 10 a.m. Tuesday to increase the limit of Neighborhood Opportunity funds available to be disbursed to $12.5 million (O2018-1032). Mayor Rahm Emanuel has so far doled out $6.4 million to businesses on the city’s South, Southwest and West sides. There’s millions more available – the fund has received $76 million in density bonus payments since July 2016.
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Aldermen gave the green light Monday to $4 billion in borrowing (O2018-1104) to get the $8.5 billion expansion of O’Hare Airport project off the ground — but not before nearly a dozen aldermen expressed displeasure with the amount of work going to firms owned by blacks, Latinos and women.
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The City Council’s Zoning Committee has a packed agenda for its meeting set to start at 11 a.m. Thursday.
The “Edens Collection” retail center proposed in Mayfair near I-97 and the Weber Spur Trail project will be considered by the Zoning Committee. Credit: Chicago Department of Planning and Development -
MAR 27, 2018
Aldermen on the Special Events and Cultural Affairs committee held a rare meeting in the cloak room off of City Council Chambers Monday. Both the chambers and Room 201A were booked. That didn’t stop them from approving the city’s special events ordinance, O2018-1139, and three open space projects.
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Aldermen will vote on the city’s annual special events ordinance, which gives the commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events the ability to manage and execute the city’s biggest events, O2018-1139.
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Aldermen on the Housing Committee will consider a 30-year deal to project art on the side of the Merchandise Mart, a $1 million land sale to a well-known South Side church to build a family center, and a lease agreement with the group Mothers Against Senseless Killings.
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Ward organizations, once vaunted powerhouses to turn out votes for endorsed candidates, have lost some of their shine since patronage reforms took effect. Now, get out the vote efforts require a mix of a charismatic figure, union backing or cash from a candidate who needs help. Here’s a glimpse at which ward and township committeeman delivered for their candidates (or themselves) in the March 20 primary. Take these all with a grain of salt, as all candidates and wards are different, and candidates had other institutional backing or neighborhood advantages.
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City Council's Finance Committee is set to put the final pieces of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposed $8.5 billion airport expansion, O2018-1124, in place before a final vote on Wednesday by the full council.
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Several weeks after the departure of its leader, Laura Kunard, the Public Safety division within the Chicago Office of the Inspector General released its first list of initiated projects. Those projects include closer looks at CPD’s gang database and strategic subject list, whether the city is complying with its video release and body camera policies, and officers’ “secondary employment.”
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Aldermen on a Joint Committee of Economic, Capital and Technology Development and Pedestrian and Traffic Safety approved a scaled down pilot program for free floating cars spearheaded by Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1), O2017-8622. The pilot will bring 400 of the cars to Chicago streets. While the hope is to reduce congestion and private car ownership over time, two North Side aldermen suggested it would be a “nightmare” on already-crowded residential streets.
