The city’s Budget Office on Friday created a new webpage to guide residents through the city’s property tax rebate program that the City Council approved to help alleviate the burden of the Mayor’s property tax hike for the police and fire pension funds.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel detailed his plans to reduce violence in Chicago to an invite-only audience of about 400 people at Malcolm X college Thursday evening. {Credit: Aaron Cynic)

In a gymnasium packed with city employees and invited community leaders at Malcolm X College Thursday night, Mayor Rahm Emanuel unveiled his three-part strategy to address gun violence in Chicago, leaving out one critical issue facing the city: police reform.

“Today I am calling on all Chicagoans to join in a comprehensive plan, a blueprint, to confront gun violence,” the Mayor told an audience of about 400 invited guests. Outside, a couple dozen protesters with CPAC, a Civilian Police Accountability Council, handed out fliers and picketed at the entrance of the gym. They were flanked by police who used their bikes as a barricade. “No matter who you are, what your background is, where you live in Chicago, this fight belongs to all of us.”

[Full text of the speech prepared for delivery, and an outline on the Comprehensive Public Safety Plan]

The speech had been announced a couple weeks prior, with minor details trickling out over the past few days, like the hiring of 970 police officers over the next two years and bolstering existing youth programs to the stymie the prevalence of gang violence among Chicago youth.

Emanuel expanded on those details in his speech: every Chicago police officer will have a body-worn camera and be equipped with a taser, all 8th-10th grade male

students enrolled in Chicago Public Schools who live in one of the city’s 20 highest crime neighborhoods will be connected with a mentor. There was no mention of how much the cameras and tasers will cost. The three-year mentoring program will cost the city $36 million, supported by public and private dollars.

But of all the topics the mayor addressed in his 11-page speech on combating gun violence, few words were uttered on the issue of the police reform. He mentioned it in passing, mostly highlighting reforms that the city has already implemented, such as new protocols for the timely release of police videos. Those release changes were originally drafted by the Police Accountability Task Force in the wake of the public outcry over the handling of the Laquan McDonald shooting video.

Emanuel said he was “fully committed to adopting a citizen oversight board that will provide a strong and active voice for the community,” but never mentioned when exactly that plan will be rolled out. He noted that he and the City Council are working on replacing the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) with a new organization, COPA, which “will have the tools to ensure real accountability when wrongdoing occurs.” But he didn’t expand upon that point, even as the City Council is expected to take up his police reform package in two weeks without knowing key details.

Ald. Scott Waguespack (32), Chairman of the Council’s Progressive Caucus, said that disappointed him. “We’ve spent many months trying to work on the police reform issues, you know, we spent years trying to dig up different ways to work on discipline within the department. You have the new COPA and [Public Saftey Inspector General] ordinance, and that was brushed over here with no commitment to funding, no commitment to the independent counsel, and no commitment to transparency on that,” said Ald. Waguespack. “And to just brush it off tonight, I think, just undervalued it greatly.”

The same sentiment was raised by Rev. Marshall Hatch, the Senior Pastor of the New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church of West Garfield and an organizer with Cure Violence. “It’s a glaring omission in that respect, because people are really concerned. Is the police department going to look different with these new recruits? And that really needs to happen. Otherwise we’re going to get more of the same kind of dysfunctional relation with the community, unless we change the culture of the new department.”

The speech was divided into three parts for the three-prong approach Mayor Emanuel plans to implement to address the recent surge in gun violence in Chicago: enforcement, prevention, and intervention.

The enforcement section focused heavily on the planned new hires: 516 police officers on city streets, 92 field training officers to improve individualized training; 112 sergeants and 50 lieutenants whom Police Supt. Eddie Johnson will promote; 200 detectives to expedite investigations; and 200 more civilian personnel staff.

He also spoke of implementing new “gunshot-tracing cameras” in the city’s most violent police districts. “These cameras will help our officers respond more quickly to shootings while providing evidence to help identify and convict violent offenders,” he said.

Legislation to impose stricter penalties for repeat gun offenders and and stronger regulations on gun dealers will be part of the Mayor’s legislative agenda in Springfield.

“We need to stop the revolving door for repeat gun offenders,” he explained, arguing the shooting death last month of Nykea Aldridge, Dwyane Wade’s cousin, could have been prevented if the “alleged perpetrators had been given the sentences they deserved for previous crimes.” While walking down the street to register her children at Dulles Elementary School, Aldridge was gunned down by two brothers, both had priors.

(Although, when he delivered his remarks he repeatedly replaced “violent offenders”, the phrase used in his prepared remarks, with “gun offenders”.)

Emanuel called the the final element of his speech, intervention, the “most important.” Here he outlined plans to improve social service programs for youth in the city’s most violence  prone neighborhoods. At this point he also went off script, decrying, and naming, the major gangs that take over neighborhoods and serve as the “role models, mentors, and the families for these young men.”

Also name-checked were Exelon, Peoples Gas, Bank of America, Get in Chicago, and Jimmy Johns. All are putting up part of the cash needed to fund the mentorship programs. (On Wednesday The Daily Line reported that Mayor Emanuel received $15,000 in donations from the chairman of the Jimmy John’s franchise, James Liautaud, his wife, Leslie, and the president and CEO of the sandwich franchise, James North.)

As the Mayor’s new Chief Neighborhood Development Officer, Andrea Zopp will be tasked with leading up some of the new neighborhood investments and job programs. “[Mayor Emanuel] made it clear that this issue of gun violence is an issue for our whole city, that we have to come together,” she said after the speech. “He made it very clear that we can’t fix this just with more police, and more support of the police.”

“There is obviously much work to be done,” said Police Board President and Chair of the Mayor’s Task Force on Police Accountability, Lori Lightfoot, in an email to The Daily Line adding that it was “important and indeed essential” that the mayor used his leadership post to address an issue that plagues so many communities. “Aside from making sure that all of our law enforcement partners - local, county, state and federal are using every tool in their tools kits, we know that the root causes of the violence cannot be addressed by law enforcement alone. We have to come up with a comprehensive plan to create opportunity and hope.”

But Englewood Ald. David Moore (17), a frequent critic of Emanuel, said the mayor’s focus on economic development “was not enough.” He said he wants specific large scale development projects, like the new Whole Foods in Englewood, on a regular basis, not just the promise of job fairs and mentoring programs.

“When he went out there,” said Ald. Moore of the Whole Foods project, “he put a full court press on, he did everything he had to do to get into Englewood. We just can’t have one thing every so many years. He has to do that all the time.”

Tracy Siska, the Executive Director of Chicago Justice Project and a long time police reform advocate, argued the speech showed that Mayor Emanuel “has learned nothing."

“The Mayor fails to understand that all the social realities he begged us to find a cure for tonight existed on his first day in office and he has done nothing in the way of meaningful solutions. We heard nothing tonight about his closing of 50 schools or half the city’s mental health clinics,” said Siska. “He did little but dodge responsibility for his choices which is right in line with his actions regarding the faux police accountability he is trying to install in Chicago.”

Asked if the Mayor has the credibility and trust within the African-American community to achieve the goals that he outlined in Thursday night’s speech, especially at a time when his approval rating is at an all time low since the McDonald release, Rev. Hatch said the effort won’t go unnoticed. “We’re pulling for him, because we’re pulling for ourselves. And so it’s not going to do us any good to simply throw cold water on what is probably a heartfelt effort to address the crisis here in the city.”

Mike Fourcher contributed to this report.

The recently beefed up Affordable Housing Requirements ordinance that took effect last fall has resulted in only 11 new on-site affordable housing units in market-rate development projects, according the the Department of Planning and Development’s second quarter report of its affordable housing goals for 2016. The progress report for the months of April-June was the subject of a Wednesday morning meeting of the City Council’s Committee on Housing.

Attendance: Chair Joe Moore (49), Pat Dowell (3), Sophia King (4), Gregory Mitchell (7), Sue Sadlowski-Garza (9), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Michael Scott, Jr. (24), Walter Burnett (27), Deb Mell (33),

Since January 2016, developers have agreed to include a mere 11 units of affordable housing for residents 60% below area median income (AMI). All of those units were added in the first quarter of 2016, none were added in the second.

According to Anthony Simpkins, a new managing deputy with the Department of Planning and Development, the strengthened Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO) is expected to generate 1,200 new units and $90 million in affordable housing funds over the next five years.

*Updated at 6:24pm 

Thursday morning, Corporation Counsel Steve Patton and city Law Department attorney Katie Hill are expected to meet privately with police reform advocacy groups and stakeholders to discuss progress on the Emanuel Administration’s police reform plans, according to those invited to the meeting.

Paul Strauss with the Chicago Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights and David Melton from the Chicago Civil Rights Collaborative for Police Reform confirmed for The Daily Line Wednesday that they will be briefed on the administration’s reform plans at a private briefing scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Thursday.

Multiple organizations The Daily Line contacted Wednesday reported they have not seen an updated police reform ordinance since a day-long joint Council Budget-Public Safety Committee hearing September 13. Aldermen, stakeholders and community organizers The Daily Line spoke to say they  have yet to see new language that defines the budget for the new oversight agencies, a specific mechanism for appointing agency leadership, or whether the new agencies will be allowed to hire counsel without approval of the Law Department.

The Council’s Housing Committee meets today for its quarterly review of the Department of Planning and Development's’ progress on its annual affordable housing goals. For 2016, DPD is projected to spend roughly $250 million to bring online more than 8,000 units of housing. 

Mayor Rahm Emanuel raised about $58,200 in August, mostly from donors outside the Chicago area. The same goes for the biggest aldermanic fundraiser for August, Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36), who reported 18 contributions totalling $30,500, several from suburban companies.

Northbrook-based Middletown Management Company, which also goes by the name of ASA Properties/Middleton Partners, donated $10,000 to the Mayor. It is a private real estate investment firm that acquires, develops, leases and manages commercial real estate, and wrote the largest check the mayor received for the month. Emanuel also received $5,000 donations from a Zurich-IL-based roofing contractor, All American Exterior Solutions; a Champaign, IL-based home building contractor, Second Executive Park; and RVV Medical Services, whose president, according to state business records, is Dr. Roman Voytsekhovskiy, a surgeon in Arlington Heights, IL who is affiliated with Presence St. Joseph Hospital.

Another series of $5,000 checks came from the chairman of the Jimmy John’s franchise, James Liautaud, his wife, Leslie, and the president and CEO of the sandwich franchise, James North.

Matthew Jaffee, an analyst with Grosvenor Capital, also contributed $5,000 to the mayor’s personal campaign fund, Chicago for Rahm Emanuel. The maximum contribution from an individual to a candidate is $5,400.

Those who contributed the maximum to the mayor were: Lee Miller, an attorney for DLA Piper; Desiree Rodgers, an Executive at Johnson Publishing, Company; and Jeffrey Wampler, an attorney for the Champaign-based law firm Erwin, Martinkus & Cole. Wampler, who specializes in business and real estate law, reported a Florida address.

Meanwhile, Ald. Villegas’s largest check, $5,000, came from Cook County Democratic Party Chairman Joe Berrios’ personal campaign fund. The freshman alderman from the 36th Ward also reported a $3,000 check from the 31st Ward Democratic Committee, which is controlled by Berrios, as the ward’s Democratic committeeman.  

Villegas defeated Berrios’ candidate, Omar Aquino, in his run for alderman in 2015.

Most of Ald. Villegas’ donors for August are construction-related. Prior to becoming alderman, Villegas worked in Illinois government, including at the Illinois Capital Development Board, the Illinois Department of Transportation, and later as a lobbyist for the Hispanic American Construction Industry Association.

A ban on driverless cars, TIF restrictions, and several procurement changes were introduced at the full City Council meeting in September. Here are some of the highlights:

The Graeme Stewart Elementary School building will be turned into apartments by developer Morningside. Actor Harrison Ford was a once a student in the school. (Credit: DPD)

There was only one public witness, few commissioners, and a virtually empty gallery at the Chicago Plan Commission’s short September meeting. Even Department of Planning and Development Commissioner David Reifman was absent. The meeting wrapped up in a little over an hour, including a brief remembrance for the late Doris Holleb, who was first appointed to the land use board by Mayor Harold Washington. Holleb was the oldest serving commissioner.

Applications to convert a vacant elementary school in Uptown into apartments and a plan to add four more stories to the new Nobu Hotel in Fulton Market are on tap for the city’s Plan Commission today, as well as a new townhome development for the Galewood neighborhood on the city’s West Side.

Developer Morningside Equities Group is behind a plan to rehabilitate and convert the five-story Graeme Stewart Elementary School into a 64-unit residential building with 100 off-street parking spots. Located at 4525 North Kenmore Ave., the school is in Ald. James Cappleman’s 46th Ward. The school was one of 50 Chicago Public Schools closed in 2013. Built in 1906, the school was recently proposed as a Chicago landmark.

Morningside's David M. Strosberg and Mary Ellen Martin are seeking to establish a planned development, because the unit count exceeds the threshold allowed in an RT-4 district. Morningside bought the school in January 2016.

The developer behind a Nobu Hotel in Fulton Market will return back to the Plan Commission to amend their existing planned development, first approved by the land-use body and subsequently the City Council in June 2015. The hotel is currently under construction. Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Ald. Walter Burnett (27) attended a groundbreaking ceremony on June 20, 2016. Two days later, at the June monthly City Council meeting, Mark Hunt filed an application for an amended PD to add four stories to the building for a total of 11-stories.

The Nobu Hospitality Group, started by famed Japanese Chef Nobu Matsuhisa, operates hotels and restaurants across the country, all located in refurbished buildings. Chicago’s is the only one that’s new construction.

In June of 2015, commissioners approved a scaled down redesign for a proposed Nobu Hotel and restaurant for a vacant lot in the West Loop. The original plan called for 155 hotel rooms, 65 parking spaces and a 10,000 square foot restaurant. The truncated size of the building was due not to concerns by local residents, but rather from concerns raised by Ald. Burnett and the city’s Department of Planning and Development. Ald. Burnett testified that he and the city were concerned a taller building would go against the character of the neighborhood, which at the time was being considered for landmark status.

The project, as approved by the Plan Commission last year, was seven stories with 83 hotel rooms and 35 off-site parking spots. Plans also included an amenity level, rooftop penthouse, and outdoor seating for the restaurant. Since the project qualifies as Transit Oriented Development–the new Morgan St. CTA station is within 600 ft. of the site–developers weren’t required to build on-site parking, but purchased a building on Mason and Randolph St. as a backup lot, according to the developer’s legal counsel, Rolando Acosta, with law firm Ginsberg Jacobs.

At that June meeting, Zoning Administrator Patti Scudiero said she never thought the day would come when the project would finally reach the Plan Commission. When the project first reached her desk in 2012, Scudiero recalled, developers had requested that the site be rezoned as a Downtown district, which would have removed height restrictions. She said it was a big ask, especially as the Department was developing the Fulton Market Innovation District Plan. She thanked the applicant for being “more than patient with the City.”

And rarely is there an application for a large scale housing development outside the city’s central business district or north side, but today the Plan Commission will consider a zoning application from Mia Property Acquisitions (NOAH Properties) to build 14 three-story homes, for a total of 84-units in the city’s Glenwood neighborhood. The housing development is planned for a large vacant lot that spans the 2100 block of North Natchez, next to Roberto Clemente School. The project triggers the city’s affordable housing requirements (ARO), but the zoning application doesn’t detail if the developer is paying the in-lieu fee or providing on-site affordable units.  

Other Map Amendment/Planned Development Applications on the Plan Commission Agenda:

• 57-61 W. Erie Street (42nd) - LG Development Group (Brian Goldberg, Barry Howard, Marc Lifshin) are seeking to establish a planned development to build a 12-story, 10-unit condo-building with a ground floor lobby and 10 parking spaces. The project is divided into two sub-areas. The new construction will be located in Sub-Area A; Sub-Area B is currently a four-story residential building with no changes proposed. The city’s ARO is triggered, and requires one affordable unit or an in-lieu fee.

• 46 East Oak Street. (42nd Ward) - Since this is a Lake Michigan and Chicago Lakefront Protection Application, there’s no corresponding ordinance for this development plan. Plans call for a four-story commercial retail building with office space. According to the Plan Commission agenda, the developer is “STRS L3 ACQ4, LLC” (Thor Equities, according to Crain’s Chicago.)


• 1760 W. Wrightwood Avenue (32nd Ward) This is another application to amend an existing planned development first approved in 2001. Hartland Park Master Homeowners Association wants to amend PD # 797 “to allow the applicant to retain as private all streets within the Planned Development and allow the applicant to continue to be responsible for and regulate the streets” according to the letter filed by their attorney, Thomas S. Moore.  

An incomplete, early draft of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s police reform ordinance was the subject of a day-long hearing held by a joint Council Committee on Budget and Public Safety. Several key questions remain unanswered, like how much the city plans to appropriate for the new oversight agencies, if they will be allowed to hire outside counsel, and when exactly part two of the reform process, the community oversight portion, will be taken up.

Today will be the first of two full City Council meetings this month where aldermen will take up some big ticket items like Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s new water-sewer tax, a significant redesign plan for Navy Pier, and the authority for the city to issue up to $3.5 billion dollars in bonds for O’Hare Airport. This month’s second meeting, on September 29, is expected to address police reform measures only.

The Council will also welcome a special guest. At 9:30 a.m., there’ll be a special meeting to award the Chicago Medal of Merit to the former President of Ireland, Mary Therese Winfred Robinson.

“Don’t wear orange!” Ald. Patrick Thompson (11) somewhat jokingly reminded his colleagues when Ald. Ed Burke (14) made the announcement about the special guest at Monday’s Finance Meeting. 

Planned Pressers:

• Supporters for CPAC (a Civilian Police Accountability Council) will hold a press conference at 9:00 a.m. on the second floor of City Hall to demand a vote on their ordinance.

• Ald. Joe Moreno (1) and Ald. Ameya Pawar (47) have scheduled a presser at 9:30 a.m. on the second floor of City Hall to announce the introduction of an amendment to the city’s Affordable Housing Requirements Ordinance (ARO) “that would require developers who receive tax increment financing assistance (TIF) under the ARO, to build affordable housing units on site.”

• The Community Renewal Society will take over the 4th floor of City Hall to demand “the City Council not accept police reforms that lack teeth.” Their presser is scheduled for 9:30 a.m.

Items Slated for a Vote (Highlights)

• The Mayor’s new water-sewer tax, which will be phased in over four years to shore up revenue for the Municipal Pension Fund, the city’s largest retirement fund for city employees.

• Authority for the city to issue up to $3.5 billion dollars in bonds for O’Hare Airport. Part of the offering will pay off existing debt, the new money portion will help with Terminal 5 upgrades and the construction of a new runway. (Bond Package Briefing Docs.)

The City Council’s Zoning Committee approved an ordinance that would allow medical marijuana dispensaries in the Elston Corridor, and a massive redevelopment plan for Navy Pier, among more than 50 other map amendment changes. And in a rare move, Ald. George Cardenas (12) bended to community concerns raised against two zoning changes he proposed for his ward and agreed to have the items deferred to October.

Despite a setback last week, a proposed $3.5 billion dollar bond offering for O’Hare Airport was approved by the Finance Committee without any debate or discussion. Only two aldermen–Leslie Hairston (5) and Pat Dowell (3)–asked to be recorded as no votes.

Attendance (includes non-members): Chair Ed Burke (14), Joe Moreno (1), Pat Dowell (3), Sophia King (4), Leslie Hairston (5), Rod Sawyer (6),  Gregory Mitchell (7), Michelle Harris (8), Anthony Beale (9), Sue Sadlowski-Garza (10), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), George Cardenas (12), Marty Quinn (13), Raymond Lopez (15), David Moore (17), Derrick Curtis (18), Matt O’Shea (19), Willie Cochran (20) Rick Munoz (22), Michael Scott, Jr. (24), Danny Solis (25), Walter Burnett (27), Jason Ervin (28) Ariel Reboyras (30), Scott Waguespack (32), Gilbert Villegas (36), Nick Sposato (38), Brendan Reilly (42), Tom Tunney (44), Harry Osterman (48), Deb Silverstein (50)

O’Hare Bonds

The swift approval of the bond deal was a surprising turn of events following Friday’s marathon meeting, where the Council’s Black Caucus successfully led the charge to temporarily block a vote on the item, essentially deferring it to Monday. Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans and Chief Financial Officer Carole Brown were in attendance for the vote, but did not testify because no questions were asked of them.

Ahead of the vote, the Council’s Black Caucus reached an agreement with Commissioner Evans that includes quarterly briefings on minority hiring and contracts for projects at O’Hare and Midway Airport. The agreement was made in response to a letter Ald. Dowell sent the Commissioner following Friday’s Finance Committee meeting.

Red Light Camera, Speed Ticket Ordinance

The O’Hare bonds were one of three items slated for the Finance Committee Monday. The committee also unanimously approved an ordinance from the city’s Law Department that authorizes the city to send out old red light and speed camera tickets to more than a million Chicagoans who never received second notice of a violation.

Ordinance from Law Department

The move is in response to a lawsuit filed against the city by two motorists who claimed the city failed to properly notify them of their ticket, because they only got one notice, not two.

The Council’s Zoning Committee will take up a substitute ordinance from Ald. Brian Hopkins (2) that would enable medical marijuana dispensaries or cultivation centers to set up shop in the Elston Corridor (Planned Manufacturing District # 2b).

A proposed ordinance to direct all of the city’s surplus Tax Increment Financing (TIF) revenue to Chicago Public Schools finally got a hearing in the Council Chamber on Friday, sparking a heated debate among aldermen that pitted the importance of needed local development against the needs of Chicago Public Schools.

No vote was taken on Ald. George Cardenas’ (12) Chicago Public Education Revitalization Ordinance, which would create an official mechanism for when the city would be required to direct all surplus TIF money to CPS. It was the last item considered during a nearly six-hour meeting, and most aldermen had left the chamber by the time it was called.

Members of the Council’s Black Caucus at Friday’s Finance Committee meeting successfully deferred a vote on a $3.5 billion bond offering for O’Hare Airport amid concerns over minority hiring and participation within the Department of Aviation and its outside contractors.

The motion to defer the bond offering to Monday’s Finance Committee meeting, called by Ald. Leslie Hairston (5), prevailed in 14 to 11 vote with two abstentions, following a long and heated debate over the Department of Aviation’s history of minority participation that Ald. Pat Dowell (3) on multiple occasions described as “appalling.”

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to establish and hike up over the next four years a new water-sewer tax to shore up revenue for the city’s largest pension fund advanced out of Finance Committee yesterday in a divided 26-6 roll call vote.

No Votes: Ald. Leslie Hairston (5), Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11), Ald. Willie Cochran (20), Ald. Rick Munoz (22), Ald. Scott Waguespack (32), and Ald. John Arena (45).

The new tax’s passage was despite vocal concerns from aldermen, and confirmation from the city’s finance team, that the new tax won’t be enough to fully cover pension payments required to the get the Municipal pension fund on a path to financial stability. With liabilities hovering around $18.6 billion, the MEABF pension fund is currently only 20% funded.

Attendance (includes non-members): Chairman Ed Burke (14), Joe Moreno (1), Pat Dowell (3), Sophia King (4), Leslie Hairston (5), Rod Sawyer (6), Michelle Harris (8), Anthony Beale (9), Patrick Daley Thompson (11), George Cardenas (12), Marty Quinn (13), Raymond Lopez (15), Toni Foulkes (16), David Moore (17), Derrick Curtis (18), Matt O’Shea (19), Willie Cochran (20), Howard Brookins, Jr. (21), Rick Munoz (22), Mike Zalewski (23), Michael Scott, Jr. (24), Danny Solis (25), Roberto Maldonado (26), Walter Burnett (27), Jason Ervin (28), Ariel Reboyras (30), Scott Waguespack (32), Deb Mell (33), Carrie Austin (34), Gilbert Villegas (36), Emma Mitts (37), Nick Sposato (38), Pat O’Connor (40), Brendan Reilly (42), Michele Smith (43), Tom Tunney (44), John Arena (45), James Cappleman (46), Harry Osterman (48), Joe Moore (49), Deb Silverstein (50)

An ordinance that would create an official mechanism to annually provide surplus Tax Increment Financing (TIF) revenue to Chicago Public Schools is on the Finance Committee agenda today. Although, according to Finance Chair Ed Burke (14), there will be only a subject matter hearing, no vote. It’s one of two controversial plans that will finally get their day in the chambers. The committee also is scheduled to take up a year-old ordinance from City Treasurer Kurt Summers that would require banks that hold the city’s money provide annual reports on their neighborhood lending and investment practices. There’s also approximately $2.7 million in legal settlements and up to $3.5 billion in new bonds for O’Hare Airport slated for committee approval.

The Council’s License Committee meets at 1:00 p.m. today to consider a clean-up ordinance for the recently approved Wrigley Field Sports Plaza and a plan by Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) to crack down on operators of charter and sightseeing vehicles that serve alcohol.

City Clerk Susana Mendoza also has an ordinance that would reduce the fee for a replacement or transfer of a current city vehicle sticker from $30 to $5, allow residents to buy a sheet of 15 one-day residential parking permits for $8 (the current rate is $16 for 30 stickers), and adds a $5 fee for residents who seek to change the parking zone on their annual residential parking permit.