A rezone to facilitate construction of a new medical marijuana dispensary in Rogers Park, a proposal to eliminate restrictions on the number of studio apartments allowed in downtown projects near public transit, and four Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) projects are on tap for the Council’s Zoning Committee this morning.

As the city rushes to establish a matching local revenue source to receive a nearly $1 billion federal grant by the end of the year, administration officials briefed aldermen on the City Council’s Finance Committee on the financing plan for the first phase of the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) Red and Purple Line Modernization (RPM) Plan.

A subject matter hearing on the city’s plan to designate new transit-oriented TIFs along the northern portion of the CTA’s Red and Purple Line, from the Belmont to Howard stops, is on tap for the Council’s Finance Committee today. It’s one of two subject matter hearings on city’s effort to create new transit-oriented TIFs, which the state approved this summer, to help the city secure a federal grant to fund phase one of the Red and Purple Line Modernization (RPM) Plan.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office released a progress report Monday afternoon on the city’s police reform efforts in the past year, the same day the Chicago Police Department closed out a public comment period on its newly proposed use of force guidelines.

The Chicago City Council and Cook County Board both approved their respective budgets for next year. Chicago’s $8.2 billion plan passed without a peep of dissent or debate, while Cook County’s $4.4 billion budget passage was a bit more… dramatic. We’ve got the highlights from both in this week’s episode.

The Chicago Plan Commission approved all items on their agenda Thursday with minimal public comment. The largest project approved is a new industrial retail complex Clarius Partners will undertake in the North Lawndale community on the city’s West Side. The smallest project is a gas station on the South Side.

Without debate, and with minimal discussion, the City Council unanimously approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s $8.2 billion spending plan for next year. Three Progressive Caucus aldermen voted against the revenue ordinance, citing concerns over the new Community Catalyst Fund, a new financial board aimed at spurring private equity in blighted neighborhoods. Often referred to as a “fund of funds”, its overall purpose is to invest in funds that will in turn, invest their funds in businesses or organizations to stimulate job growth and support public infrastructure improvements, among other goals.  

A multi-building industrial and commercial complex developer Clarius Partners has planned for a 21 acre site in North Lawndale is on the agenda for the Chicago Plan Commission Thursday.

Registered sex offenders would be barred from specially designated child and teen areas in city libraries under an ordinance the Council’s Public Safety Committee approved Tuesday.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposed $8.33 billion 2017 budget ($9.81 billion counting grant funds) faces its final hurdle today with a vote by the full City Council. And it’s likely to be an easy one: no major fees or taxes are included in this budget, and unlike last year, there weren’t any last minute meetings to hash out contentious issues or amendments tacked on to the spending plan.

The City Council’s Zoning Committee met for more than four hours Tuesday, approving nearly 50 zoning applications, five landmark designations, and one city-wide ordinance regarding corporate building signs on high-rise buildings.

In each of the past three years, Ald. Marty Quinn (13) has introduced an ordinance to bar registered sex offenders from the city’s libraries. Today, his most recent ordinance, introduced in September, has finally made it on the Public Safety Committee agenda, along with two appointments to the Emergency Telephone System Board

The Council’s Finance Committee held a proposed ordinance on Monday to authorize a Class L Real Estate Incentive for Tucker Development, which would help offset some of the $21 million in expected rehabilitation costs. The proposed commercial retail development is in the historic Fulton-Randolph area.

The Council’s Zoning Committee is scheduled to consider designating three shuttered Chicago Public School buildings as official city landmarks as developers seek to transition the historic buildings into residential uses. Two other former CPS schools, also shuttered in 2013, are the subject of zoning applications to facilitate new uses: one would become a meeting hall for a local union, the other would become a Chicago Housing Authority-owned mixed office and residential building.

A renewed collective bargaining agreement for the city’s non-emergency public safety personnel is on the agenda for the Council’s Committee on Workforce Development and Audit.

A tax break for a private developer building a commercial retail complex in the historic Fulton-Randolph area is on tap for Finance Committee today, and is one of a few non-routine items listed on the agenda.

Donald Trump’s presidential win has confounded elected officials in Chicago and Cook County, and raised serious questions about potential local impacts to County medical care and the federal probe into the Chicago Police Department. Tuesday’s election had other big impacts, including the elimination of a county office and new control of hundreds of millions in transportation dollars.

We’ve included an extended interview with Cook County Recorder of Deeds Karen Yarbrough, whose office will fold its duties under the jurisdiction of the County Clerk. The County has until 2020 to figure out how to merge the two offices, and Yarbrough, who opposed the binding referendum, says no one has reached out to her to talk about it.

And roughly 78% of Illinois voters advanced an amendment to the state constitution, dubbed the “Lockbox Amendment.” It would force the state and local municipalities to direct transportation-related tax dollars to roads, highways, bridges and other transportation infrastructure. In theory, it’s a laudatory goal, in practice, there are serious consequences. The Civic Federation’s Laurence Msall explains why.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle also cast the deciding vote on a controversial plan to slap a penny-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages, making Cook largest county in America to impose such a tax. Democratic commissioners who voted no invoked the wrath of Trump voters who might strike back when the board’s up for election in 2018.

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Only one alderman, Scott Waguespack (32), introduced formal amendments to the annual revenue and management ordinances for the 2017 budget at Wednesday’s full City Council meeting.

The City Council’s Latino Caucus is sending a letter to Mayor Rahm Emanuel formally requesting that he select one of five Latino aldermen vying to replace Susana Mendoza as City Clerk, following her win Tuesday night in the heated state Comptroller race.

For months, members of the Latino Caucus have been quietly discussing the issue of who should replace Mendoza as Clerk. Those discussions picked up again Wednesday.

The full City Council meets today for a quick routine meeting to defer and publish the various 2017 budget ordinances.