A months-long plot to force a vote on an ordinance that would increase oversight of the Chicago Housing Authority and set specific, annual benchmarks for required public housing units and vouchers fizzled ahead of Wednesday’s full City Council meeting. While the details of why it waned are murky–did the sponsors fumble on purpose or was it poor planning–the timing is not in doubt.

After sitting in Rules Committee for nearly a year, an ordinance reinstating the city’s head tax was sent to Finance on Monday morning. The ordinance’s sponsor, Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), intended to bring the ordinance directly to the floor for a vote at Wednesday’s full City Council meeting. He filed the Rule 41 request with the City Clerk as is required under the Council’s Rules of Procedures.

The Council’s Health Committee has two resolutions on its 11:00 a.m. Tuesday agenda: one calls on aldermen to re-enforce the city’s litter laws and combat “filthy neighborhoods”, the other requests members of the Urban Wildlife institute brief aldermen on the state of urban wildlife in Chicago.

The Council’s Zoning Committee on Monday morning approved a new member for the Zoning Board of Appeals and a seven-story, 111-unit mixed-use development for Rogers Park that includes a new Target store and 65 units reserved for Chicago Housing Authority voucher holders.

High recidivism rates in Chicago and Cook County will be the topic of discussion of today’s 11:00 a.m. Public Safety Committee hearing.

The Council’s Budget Committee meets briefly this morning at 10:00 a.m. to approve a $186,000 federal grant for the Department of Transportation. The grant from the National Safety Council as part of its national Road to Zero initiative–a goal to eradicate traffic fatalities across the country. 

The city’s year-long endeavor to overhaul the strict manufacturing boundaries of the North Branch Industrial Corridor faces its first legislative hurdle Thursday in a Plan Commission vote.

Plan Commissioners will also be greeted this morning by a neighborhood group in Jefferson Park that has been vocal in its opposition to an item not on today’s agenda.

At 10 am, members of Northwest Side Unite plan to hold a press conference where they plan to hand out copies of a petition that’s received more than 5,000 signatures against the rezone for 5150 N. Northwest Highway.

For the second year in a row, Chicago Public Schools has found itself in the direst of financial positions. Having built a budget on expectations of state funding and then spending a year blaming Springfield, CPS is once again faced with with the challenge of finding enough cash to make its annual pension payment while keeping schools open. When the clock ran out last year and the pension bill came due on June 30th, CPS was forced to borrow $200 million from banks.