Wednesday’s Cook County Board meeting promises to be dominated by talk of a proposed compost facility in the 9th District, where the presiding commissioner, citing conflict, has recused himself from proceedings and quit his side law job over a proposed composting facility. About 40 people have signed up to testify on the item, which is on the agenda in the normally uneventful zoning committee.

Commissioners are also being asked to approve payments for the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. DHSEM, which is in the middle of an overhaul, misspent more than $1 million without getting prior approval, and has lost its executive director. A code change to put the department under oversight of the Bureau of Administration and give the board more oversight of memoranda of understanding is one of the new agenda items. President Preckwinkle has also introduced a new member for the board that oversees the county’s health and hospitals system: Bob Reiter, a public face of the Chicago Federation of Labor.