Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi speaks to the County Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee Monday. [Livestream]

Cook County commissioners during a committee meeting Monday asked the county assessor for his rationale behind the process for closing a loophole in the county property tax ordinance that allowed mostly commercial buildings to be assessed like mixed-use buildings and receive a significant tax reduction.

Ald. Andre Vasquez (40), chair of the immigration committee, is pictured at a City Council meeting in June 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights will hold a subject matter hearing on Tuesday on an ordinance that would eliminate the city’s 60-day shelter stay limit for migrants that have arrived in the city after crossing the southern border.

Ald. Maria Hadden (49) speaks about the Clean and Affordable Buildings Ordinance during a news conference in January. [Michael McDevitt/The Daily Line]

Advocates of the mayor-backed plan to effectively ban natural gas in most cases in new construction are pushing back at the notion the legislation is dead after it has lingered in the City Council’s rules committee this year. 

The Sun-Times reported last week that overwhelming City Council opposition to the legislation has effectively killed it, but proponents said they don’t believe the fight is over.

The Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight meets on July 16, 2024. [Livestream]

The Department of Buildings (DOB) has done little to correct lackluster and unsafe permit inspection practices since the inspector general issued recommendations in an audit report two years ago, City Council Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight heard on Tuesday.

The City Council’s health committee will hold a hearing on the expansion of mental and behavioral health services, and an alderperson believes confusion over rules at last week’s council meeting demonstrates a need to revisit his stalled proposal.

Renderings for the proposed 37-story development to replace the vacant bank building at 1555-1569 N. Clybourn Ave. [Department of Planning and Development]

The Chicago Plan Commission on Thursday gave approval to a new residential development planned for the edge of Lincoln Park and Old Town and new residential developments in Fulton Market.

Mayor Brandon Johnson presides over a City Council meeting June 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council on Wednesday approved a measure to penalize groups that distribute hateful literature and similar materials, appointments to fill the vacancies on the Zoning Board of Appeals and an ordinance that could make it more difficult for the proposed Chicago River swim to be permitted. 

Additionally, Ald. Michelle Harris (8), chair of the Committee on Committees and Rules, declined to call for a vote on installing Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25) as the new zoning committee chair. There hasn’t been a permanent chair since Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) resigned last fall.

Kyle Lucas, of Better Streets Chicago, speaks at a news conference for a package of Vision Zero proposals on July 17, 2024. [Michael McDevitt/The Daily Line]

A coalition of alderpeople introduced a legislative package to City Council this week that includes a reduction in Chicago’s default speed limit, a working group to suggest equitable enforcement measures and a measure enacting residential reporting of parking violations. The package of proposals is geared toward reducing pedestrian and cyclist deaths from traffic crashes to zero.

Ald. Jason Ervin addresses the City Council on July 17, 2024. [Livestream]

The City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a severance package (O2024-0010131) for outgoing Chief Procurement Officer Aileen Velazquez, who the mayor had wanted to get rid of before the end of her term next September.

Mayor Brandon Johnson presides over a June 12, 2024 City Council meeting. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council will vote Wednesday on an ordinance to crack down on the mass distribution of hateful flyers and similar materials, an ordinance allowing the city to prohibit athletic events deemed unsafe and an ordinance to extend the window for a pilot program for automatic enforcement of parking violations.

The chair of the ethics committee also plans to call for a vote on a measure that bans lobbyists from donating to mayoral campaigns.

Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) speaks about the proposed Milwaukee Avenue Special Character Overlay District at a zoning committee meeting on July 16, 2024. [Livestream]

A vote on a measure to repeal the city’s longstanding ban on additional dwelling units (ADUs) was delayed at Tuesday’s zoning committee meeting, but the committee approved two appointments to the Zoning Board of Appeals and a measure to upzone portions of Western Avenue.

The police and fire committee meets Monday. [Livestream]

The City Council Committee on Police and Fire on Monday held for the second time the remaining mayoral appointment to the civilian police oversight commission over perceived conflict of interest concerns after the item stalled in committee two months ago.

Ald. Bennett Lawson (44) is pictured during a City Council meeting in October 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council zoning committee will consider a measure Tuesday that would repeal the citywide ban on additional dwelling units (ADUs) following a pilot program that saw mixed success. The zoning committee will also consider two mayoral appointments to the Zoning Board of Appeals, a landmark designation for a church and an ordinance regulating indoor event venues. 

The Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards will meet at 10 a.m. in council chambers.

The finance committee meets in council chambers on Monday. [Michael McDevitt/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Finance met Monday and approved legal settlements related to a paramedic exam and a deadly 2019 police pursuit but declined to approve a settlement related to a vacated murder conviction. The committee also approved an allocation of tax increment financing (TIF) funds and changes to the city’s administration of neighborhood opportunity fund grants.

Ald. Timmy Knudsen (43) is pictured at a City Council meeting in November 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council’s health and human relations committee on Friday approved an ordinance that imposes fines for those who print and distribute hateful and bigoted literature and other materials on private and personal property, sending the measure to the full City Council this week.