A full, early day for Cook County Commissioners includes introduction of a plan to overhaul the county's transportation systems, a $33 million contract from the county's Homeland Security department, an audit of several county agencies, and new appointments to the Cook County Health and Hospitals System. Here are some of today's highlights:

A proposed ballot question on infrastructure spending ended in a rare tie roll call vote, leaving aldermen unsure if the motion carried or failed. The stymied motion called for creating a referendum to ask Chicago voters this November whether state and federal government should invest more money in local road repairs and new infrastructure projects.

After months of considering contested regulations, from Uber to Airbnb, the Council’s License Committee has a fairly light agenda for today. Most of the items are related to expanding liquor licenses and booting of vehicles on private property.

An ordinance up for consideration today by Chair Emma Mitts (37) would let booting companies charge an additional convenience fee to remove boots from vehicles when those car owners pay with credit or debit card.

Despite its quick introduction, consideration of a paid sick leave ordinance at the Cook County Board will be put on hold for at least a month, sponsors and interested parties tell The Daily Line. Two competing ordinances were introduced last month–one from Comm. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, co-sponsored by Luis Arroyo Jr., Deborah Sims, and Richard Boykin; the other from Comm. Bridget Gainer–but neither are a finished product.

The Council’s Rules Committee meets this morning in the Council Chambers to consider an appointment to the Board of Ethics and two potential ballot referenda for Chicago voters this November, although one of those ballot questions had yet to be drafted as of yesterday afternoon.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has appointed Nancy Andrade, legal counsel for the Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities, to finish out the unexpired term of Judge Julia M. Nowicki to the Board of Ethics. First appointed in 2012 by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Nowicki has since resigned. Her term, which Andrade will complete, is set to expire on July 31, 2017.

The Council’s Public Safety Committee approved a new Executive Director for the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC), even as several aldermen raised concerns about long 911 response times and the proliferation of illegal guns on city streets.

The ban on chewing tobacco and other smokeless tobacco products at Chicago ballparks takes effect today. The ban includes players on the field. The City Council approved the the ordinance championed by Ald. Ed Burke (14) and Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11), whose ward includes U.S. Cellular Field, in March. Violators will face a minimum $250 fine for the first violation, a $500 fine for the second violation, and a $2,500 fine for each additional violation that occurs within one year of the first offense.

A roll call vote on a proposed ballot question on infrastructure spending ended in a rare tie roll call vote, leaving aldermen unsure if the motion carried or failed. The stymied motion called for creating a referendum to ask Chicago voters this November whether state and federal government should invest more money in local road repairs and new infrastructure projects.

Attendance: Chair Michelle Harris (8), Brian Hopkins (2),  Sophia King (4), Rod Sawyer (6), Sue Sadlowski Garza (9), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), Mary Quinn (13), David Moore (17),  Michael Scott, Jr. (24), Walter Burnett, Jr. (27), Ariel Reboyras (30), Scott Waguespack (32), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), Anthony Napolitano (41), Michele Smith (43), Deb Silverstein (50)

Aldermen on the Rules Committee were sharply divided on the last-minute proposed ballot question from Ald. Walter Burnett (27). Most committee members had not seen the ordinance language until the morning of the meeting, which convened 30 minutes behind schedule.

Aldermen were originally slated to consider a referendum question from Ald. Joe Moore (49) asking voters if the city of Chicago should divest in fossil fuel companies. But environmental groups opposed the ballot question, saying that putting it to the voters as a non-binding referendum would delay their efforts.

“In Chicago, there is an active campaign for municipal divestment from fossil fuels,” the group Chicago 350 said in a letter addressed to aldermen and Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “But the proposed referendum could have the effect of delaying this important effort. The nature of climate change and the science behind it are no longer a matter of debate, and thus divestment is not an issue to take to the electorate. The power to divest lies in the executive and the legislative branches.”

In explaining the reason behind his new ordinance, Ald. Burnett said that he has been trying to get the city’s Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) to invest in new L stops in his Near West Side ward.

“CTA is [trying] to get me to use TIF money to do it, instead of the federal government and the state government [trying] put cash on it,” said Ald. Burnett. “We need our TIF dollars for something else. And I feel as though everybody else should pitch in. It should not just be burden upon the city and the TIF dollars in those communities.”

But the question Ald. Burnett wants to pose to Chicago voters is vague, a point that Ald. David Moore (17) was quick to point out. “I don’t know what all of that means. It’s all words to me,” said Ald. Moore, adding that the city has “always been pushing for new funds” and that a ballot question on the matter was redundant.

A proposal by the Emanuel Administration to eliminate the $30 fee for the police exam easily advanced out of the Council’s Workforce Development and Audit Committee on Friday. While only four aldermen on the committee were present, which is below the ten needed for a quorum, the group approved a substitute ordinance that would also eliminate the $30 fee for the fire exam, as well.

Aldermen on the Council’s Public Safety Committee will meet back in the Council Chambers today to take care of some regular business: the appointment of Alicia Tate-Nadeau as the Executive Director of the Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC).

Tate-Nadeau was appointed to the position in March. In addition to serving as an Assistant Adjutant General of the Illinois National Guard, Tate-Nadeau made history in 2015 by becoming the first female in Illinois history to be promoted to the position of General. More recently, Tate-Nadeau served on FEMA’s regional team in Flint, Michigan to help address the ongoing crisis with the city’s water system.

The elimination of a $30 fee for the preparation, administration and processing of entry level police exams is the only agenda item for today’s Workforce Development and Audit meeting. The ordinance was introduced by Mayor Rahm Emanuel at the request of the Commissioner of Human Resources, Soo Choi.

Responding to criticisms that their public hearings on police accountability were a “sham”, the two chairmen of the Council’s Public Safety Committee and Budget Committee announced a plan to create “at least three subcommittees” to organize additional public forums on police reform across the city.

Nearly eight months after the death of Laquan McDonald and few structural reforms to show for it, police reform advocates call back-to-back City Council hearings on police reform a “sham”. Meanwhile, another Council Committee approves a plan from the Human Resources Department that would eliminate the $30 fee for the police and fire exam as a way to increase minority participation. 

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has appointed Mark Kelly to head the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Kelly, who is set to begin at the new position in about a month, has been Vice President for Student Success at Columbia College Chicago for more than 30 years. He will replace Michelle T. Boone, DCASE Commissioner since 2011, and the architect of the 2012 Chicago Cultural Plan. The Plan meant “to elevate the City as a global destination for creativity, innovation and excellence in the arts,” but has been criticized as “an expensively out-sourced and pretty much useless epic of self-congratulation.”

As expected, few expert witnesses and no one from the Chicago Police Department showed up to testify at a nearly two hour long joint committee hearing on police reform held at City Hall yesterday, leaving the two chairmen to rethink their strategy to overhaul the department and the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA).

After sitting through more than a dozen witnesses, many of whom testified about the poor decision to hold only two public meetings at City Hall during business hours with limited public notice, Budget Chair Carrie Austin (34) and Public Safety Chair Ariel Reboyras (30) suggested they’d be open to extending the timeline for reform. They said they may hold additional meetings at public venues across the city.