Mayor Brandon Johnson delivers his 2025 budget address before the City Council on Oct. 30, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Earlier this week Mayor Brandon Johnson expressed his support for trying again to convince voters to approve raising taxes on high-value property sales to create a revenue stream to combat homelessness.

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

The mayor’s office as soon as next week plans to publish a log of gifts it has accepted on behalf of the city and post a video tour of the room in which the gifted city inventory is stored. 

Speaking at a news conference Tuesday, Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson-Lowry said that the office plans to post the contents of the logbook online for the public to view. The log will include a detailed list of items received, the dates received and — when possible — who gave the gift. 

“Those logs are going to be posted publicly,” Richardson-Lowry said. “It’s not going to be a question of individual departments or those who feign a version of investigation having access to it.”

County Assessor Fritz Kaegi speaks at a press conference on Jan. 29, 2025. [Livestream]

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi said state legislation to provide property tax bill relief to the most burdened homeowners is coming.

Ald. Nick Sposato (38), chair of the Committee on Special Events, Cultural Affairs and Recreation, is pictured at a council meeting on Oct. 11, 2023. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Special Events, Cultural Affairs and Recreation on Tuesday will hold two subject matter hearings, including one about a controversial piece of artwork that more than half of alderpeople have deemed offensive.

The committee will meet at 10 a.m. in council chambers.

Ald. William Hall (6), the revenue subcommittee chair, is pictured at a hemp regulation press conference on Jan. 30, 2025. [Michael McDevitt/The Daily Line]

Alderpeople heard from experts about how the city might regulate the sale of intoxicating hemp products during a joint hearing of the City Council Finance Subcommittee on Revenue and Committee on Health and Human Relations on Thursday.

Ald. William Hall (6), revenue subcommittee chair, is pushing for the city to regulate and tax the sale of hemp-derived products, specifically those made with delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or similar products that give the user a high. Hall’s push has come as lawmakers locally and statewide try to rein in their proliferation.

Mayor Brandon Johnson presides over a City Council meeting Dec. 16, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office failed to make a record of gifts the office has accepted publicly available and denied the Chicago Office of the Inspector General (OIG) access to a “gift room” where items such as luxury handbags and nice shoes were being stored, the OIG alleged in an advisory issued Wednesday. 

As a result, the OIG and Board of Ethics have advised the mayor’s office to no longer follow an “unwritten agreement” with the ethics board that has allowed the mayor’s office to skirt government transparency rules for decades.

Asked about the report Wednesday, the mayor told reporters the advisory mischaracterized his office’s conduct, insisted he had nothing to hide and promised that anyone who wants to view the gift log is welcome to do so.

An aerial view of Evanston. [City of Evanston]

The Evanston City Council on Monday night delayed by two weeks a vote on a measure to require large buildings to become more energy efficient and eliminate their carbon emissions by 2050, with some council members citing too many unknowns about the effects of the ordinance. 

Some also took issue with last-minute tweaks to the legislation proposed by sponsor Councilmember Jonathan Nieuwsma.

Budget Director Annette Guzman speaks at a press conference Jan. 28, 2025. [Livestream]

Chicago budget office and law department officials were analyzing Tuesday just how much of the city’s $4.7 billion in grant funding would be affected by an order from the Trump administration to halt the spending of federal assistance for myriad purposes nationwide — if upheld by the courts.

Ethics Committee Chair Matt Martin is pictured during a council meeting on Oct. 9, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council’s Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight on Tuesday heard from the head of the human resources department about the city’s ineligibility for rehire policy, which is also colloquially known as the “do not hire” list.

Ald. William Hall (6), the revenue subcommittee chair, is pictured after a council meeting Dec. 16, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council’s revenue subcommittee will hold a joint meeting with the health and human relations committee on Thursday on how the city should handle hemp products. The hearing will occur as lawmakers locally and statewide try to rein in the proliferation of unregulated, intoxicating hemp-derived products that mimic the effects of cannabis.

The hearing will occur at 12:30 p.m. in council chambers.

An aerial view of Evanston. [City of Evanston]

Chicago’s neighbor to the north, Evanston, could vote on Monday to approve an ordinance that would require all large buildings to reduce their carbon emissions to zero by 2050. The action comes as an effort to increase building electrification in Chicago has stalled for over a year.

Ethics Committee Chair Matt Martin is pictured during a council meeting on Oct. 9, 2024. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council’s ethics committee on Tuesday will hear from the human resources department about the city’s ineligibility for rehire policy, which is also colloquially known as the “do not hire” list. The Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight will meet at 10:30 a.m. in council chambers.

Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) is pictured during an April 2024 council meeting. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Health and Human Relations on Wednesday approved an ordinance creating a working group to study the murder of transgender people and other violence against transgender people, nonbinary people and others across the gender identity spectrum in the city and Cook County.

Renderings of the 1901 Project show an elevated pedestrian plaza and park space outside the United Center. [RIOS]

Plans to transform the area around the United Center into a massive mixed-use development will now need to be taken up by the City Council after receiving approval from the Chicago Plan Commission last week.

Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35) is pictured during an April 2024 council meeting. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The City Council Committee on Health and Human Relations will meet Wednesday and consider the establishment of a working group to study the murder of transgender people and other violence against transgender people, nonbinary people and others across the gender identity spectrum in the city and Cook County, with specific focuses on the murder of trans women and the experiences of non-white transgender people. The committee will meet at 10:30 a.m.