Erin Hegarty has covered City Hall for The Daily Line since September 2020. She previously covered the City of Naperville for the Naperville Sun/Chicago Tribune for four years, and prior to that covered the northwest suburbs for the Daily Herald. Erin enjoys biking around the city and eating her way through different neighborhoods.
Contact Erin at [email protected]
Bio
Covering Chicago City Hall for @thedailylinechi. Send tips to [email protected]. More coffee, always.The City Council rules committee is planning a hearing to consider overhauling the City Council's decennial remap process, but this year’s process is already well underway.
The City Council had been poised during a Friday afternoon hearing to consider pitches for an overhaul of the council’s once-in-a-decade remap — even as aldermen are already waist-deep in this year’s redrawing process. But the meeting was abruptly canceled on Thursday.
Hearing on remap reform delayed as aldermen dive into redrawing their own ward boundaries
A Lime worker places scooters during the city's 2019 scooter pilot. [Hannah Alani/Block Club Chicago]
Up to 6,000 e-scooters will be scattered across the city next spring, potentially more than doubling soon thereafter, under an ordinance set for final approval by the City Council on Thursday.
E-scooters set to return to Chicago streets next year with ‘sidewalk detection’ controls
Chicago Fire Department Comm. Annette Nance-Holt answered questions during a more than three-hour budget hearing on Wednesday.
Updated 4:24 p.m. Oct. 7 The Chicago Fire Department is dominated by white men — but the department’s first-ever Black woman leader vowed on Wednesday to change that, thanks in part to a long-awaited new opportunity to bring on fresh recruits.
Fire department chief vows diversity push timed with first new recruitment test in 7 years
Clerk Anna Valencia and Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin are set to face questions during budget hearings on Monday.
Following the City Council’s all-day grilling of city budget officials on Friday, aldermen are set to begin drilling down into the city’s individual departments Monday morning as they quiz Clerk Anna Valencia and Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin about their expanded budgets for the 2022 budget year. And in the afternoon, the Committee on Budget and Government Operations will hear from the leader of the city’s License Appeal Commission and the chief of the Department of Family and Support Services.
Valencia, Conyears-Ervin, DFSS to defend growing budgets as departmental budget hearings kick off
Ald. Scott Waguespack (32) used a committee meeting Thursday to ask whether Chicago Board of Ethics members think the city should be involved in the Chicago Park District’s probe into sexual abuse among its lifeguards. Aldermen advanced an update to the city’s excavation rules. A group of aldermen sent a letter to city health officials asking them to impose a requirement for proof of vaccination in indoor spaces. And the City Council Committee on Contract Oversight and Equity is set to advance an extension of the city’s minority hiring program, weeks before the program is set to expire.
News in brief: Ethics board pressed on Park District scandal; minority contracting rules set for extension
DCA Developments received approval from the Plan Commission Thursday for a 213-foot building with 288 apartments at 1217 W. Washington Blvd. [Department of Planning and Development]
The West Loop building boom is not slowing down.
DAC Developments received approval from the city’s Plan Commission Thursday for a 213-foot, 19-story building at 1227 W. Washington Blvd.
West Loop apartment tower plan moves forward, would bring 288 units to area
Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a vaccine mandate for city workers, but some of the city's largest labor unions are resisting. And the city's mental health emergency response system is set to launch Monday.
News in brief: Lightfoot imposes vaccine mandate as ‘starting point;’ city to launch mental health emergency response system
Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks in a news conference after Wednesday's City Council meeting. [Alex Nitkin/The Daily Line]
A series of key legal restrictions designed to control the proliferation of new pot dispensaries in Chicago would be lifted under a new ordinance proposed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday, one of dozens of new ordinances and resolutions tossed into consideration in advance of the City Council’s August recess.
Loosening of pot rules, legalized sports betting, grant database among new ordinances introduced
The City Council finance committee approved a $60 million infrastructure deal surrounding the Michael Reese site on Monday, priming it for zoning and land acquisition approval on Tuesday.
A five-year back-and-forth over how to reactivate one of Chicago’s most prized slices of publicly-owned property is on track to culminate on Tuesday, as City Council committees consider zoning approval and a redevelopment agreement for the sprawling “Bronzeville Lakefront” mega-development on the former site of Michael Reese Hospital.
Reese site redevelopment plan set for final test after years of city-led negotiations
Aldermen are scheduled Tuesday to advance a pair of tax incentives and probe World Business Chicago leaders on how they’re marketing the city. Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced on Monday the recipients of Neighborhood Opportunity Fund grants. And the Chicago Board of Ethics issued a new round of advisory opinions.
News in brief: Hearing set on Chicago tech industry; Lightfoot announced NOF grant recipients; Board of Ethics restricts personal favors
Chicago Corporation Counsel Celia Meza (third from left) speaks during a budget hearing Monday. [City of Chicago livestream]
Leaders of the city’s Department of Law explained why they need to hike pay for attorneys within the department and aldermen probed vacancies within the Chicago Public Library during the final day of departmental budget hearings Monday.
Meza defends law department pay hikes to make positions ‘marketable and competitive’
Four City Council committees are scheduled to meet Tuesday.
Aldermen are scheduled to hold four regular committee meetings Tuesday in preparation for Wednesday’s City Council meeting. The string of meetings comes just one day after departmental budget hearings wrapped up on Monday.
Zoning, rules, housing and license committees set to Tuesday ahead of City Council meeting
CPD Supt. David Brown answers questions during a budget hearing Friday. [City of Chicago livestream]
Aldermen used a 7-hour hearing on the Chicago Police Department’s proposed budget for 2023 to grill Supt. David Brown on overtime pay and staffing for large special events, mental health clinicians for officers and how police are working with the CTA.
Aldermen grill CPD on mental health clinicians for officers, overtime spending for special events
Chicago’s Corporation Counsel Celia Meza (second from left) speaks during the law department’s 2021 budget hearing. (City of Chicago livestream)
Departmental budget hearings are set to wrap up Monday with leaders from the Chicago Public Library, Department of Law and Department of Transportation set to detail their proposed spending plans during a 9 a.m. meeting of the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Oversight.
Chicago Public Library, law department, CDOT to present budget proposal on final day of hearings
Tim Jeffries speaks during a finance committee meeting Thursday. [City of Chicago livestream]
With no discussion and quick votes, aldermen during a Thursday committee approved extensions of six tax-increment financing (TIF) districts throughout the city. Aldermen also approved the early termination of four TIF districts.
Aldermen approve extending six TIF districts through 2034, terminate four early
Chief Fire Department Comm. Annette Nance-Holt (third from left) answers questions during a budget hearing Thursday. [City of Chicago livestream]
The Chicago Fire Department is preparing to hold its first firefighter exam in nearly 10 years, and fire department Comm. Annette Nance-Holt told aldermen that ensuring diversity in the testing class will allow the department to grow more diverse in years to come.
Nance-Holt reassures aldermen she’s committed to bringing diversity to the fire department: ‘I'm very passionate about this’
Chicago Police Department Supt. David Brown answers questions during the 2021 budget hearing. [City of Chicago livestream]
The city’s Board of Ethics and the Chicago Police Department will defend their 2023 budget proposals during a meeting of the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations set to begin at 9 a.m. Friday.
CPD, Board of Ethics to defend budget proposals Friday
Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) held a news conference on Wednesday heralding his proposal to bring back the Chicago Office of Veterans Affairs under the Mayor's Office. The City Council Committee on Finance is scheduled to meet on Thursday to consider various proposals related to the Department of Housing, the Department of Planning and Development and various settlements.
News in brief: Villegas proposes reestablishing Chicago Office of Veterans Affairs; Finance committee to vote on TIF district terminations
Chicago Fire Department Comm. Annette Nance-Holt answered questions during a more than three-hour budget hearing in 2021. [City of Chicago livestream]
Leaders of the Chicago Fire Department, Commission on Human Relations and Office of Emergency Management and Communications on Thursday will appear before aldermen to defend their 2023 budget proposals during a 9 a.m. meeting of the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations.
Chicago Fire Department, Commission on Human Relations, OEMC to detail budget proposals Thursday
BACP Comm. Ken Meyer speaks during a budget hearing Wednesday. [City of Chicago livestream]
The leader of Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection explained the proposed expansion of the department’s Office of Labor Standards and fielded questions from aldermen on ride share cost regulation during a budget hearing Wednesday.
Expanded Office of Labor Standards proposed under BACP as aldermen press for cap on rideshare costs
Office of Public Safety Administration Executive Director Anastasia Walker speaks during a budget hearing Wednesday. [City of Chicago livestream]
Next year’s budget for the city’s Office of Public Safety Administration is proposed to grow by $13.5 million and aldermen on Wednesday pressed the executive director on camera and gunshot technology and whether the office is actually saving the city the money it is supposed to.
Aldermen probe Public Safety Administration budget, propose separate menu program for public safety
Fundraising in the race for 1st Ward alderman is already heating up. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]
Four candidates for 1st Ward alderman raised a combined nearly $277,000 during the fundraising quarter ending Sept. 30, state campaign finance records show.
Fundraising in race for 1st Ward alderman tops $277K during most recent fundraising quarter
Chicago Inspector General Deborah Witzburg answers questions during a budget hearing Tuesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]
While next year’s budget for Chicago’s Office of Inspector General is proposed to drop by 13 percent compared to 2022, the office plans to add 10 positions and restructure its division of employees working on information technology and analytics.
Witzburg details OIG budget with 10 new positions, calls lack of ethics committee chair an ‘obstacle’
Three city departments will defend their proposed budgets on Wednesday.
Leaders of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, Office of Public Safety Administration and the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection will detail their 2023 budget proposals Wednesday during a 9 a.m. meeting of the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations.
Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, Public Safety Administration, BACP to defend budgets Wednesday
COPA Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten (second from left) speaks during a budget hearing Monday. [City of Chicago livestream]
During her first official budget hearing as chief administrator of the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability, Andrea Kersten touted her office’s progress on helping to bring more accountability to the police department and serve as a national example for civilian oversight.
COPA, civilian oversight in Chicago setting example for others nationwide: chief administrator
DCASE Comm. Erin Harkey will defend her department’s proposed budget Tuesday.
Leaders of the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Office of Inspector General and Department of Aviation will detail and defend their 2023 budget proposals during a hearing of the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
DCASE, OIG, Department of Aviation on tap to defend budget proposals Tuesday
Chicago Department of Planning and Development Comm. Maurice Cox (second from left) speaks during a budget hearing Friday. [City of Chicago livestream]
Aldermen used a budget hearing for the Department of Planning and Development to voice their displeasure with CTA President Dorval Carter as aldermen will be expected this year to vote on a proposal to create a new TIF district to fund the transit system’s extension of the Red Line to the city’s southern edge.
Aldermen want CTA’s Carter to answer questions before they vote on new TIF district to extend Red Line south
Department of Housing Comm. Marisa Novara speaks during a budget hearing Friday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]
Chicago’s Department of Housing was created less than four years ago, but aldermen on Friday pushed forward questions about a variety of programs the department has since launched to bring new accessory dwelling units to the city, help renters through the COVID-19 pandemic and a start new program to bring tiny homes to Chicago.
Aldermen call for expanded ADU program, seek answers on Lightfoot’s tiny home program
COPA Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten will defend her office’s budget on Monday. [City of Chicago livestream]
The Chicago Police Board, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability and the Chicago Department of Public Health will defend their budgets to aldermen on Monday to kick off the second full week of departmental budget hearings.
Police board, COPA and CDPH officials set to defend budget proposals Monday
Max Bever (first from left) and Charles Holiday (second from left), both with Chicago’s Board of Election Commissioners, during a Thursday budget hearing. [City of Chicago livestream]
Aldermen used Thursday’s budget hearing for the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners to needle election officials about a reduction in the number of voter precincts for the upcoming General Election and next year’s Municipal Election.
Aldermen rail against voter precinct consolidation
Bio
Covering Chicago City Hall for @thedailylinechi. Send tips to [email protected]. More coffee, always.
