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.Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson is set to step down in October, capping three four-year terms in office. [Heather Cherone/The Daily Line]
Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson will step down from his post this fall after 12 eventful years overseeing investigations of waste, fraud and abuse in city government, he informed Mayor Lori Lightfoot in a letter Thursday evening.
Ferguson to step down in October after 12 years as city’s top watchdog
Aldermen will gather virtually for a special City Council meeting Friday to probe Chicago Police Department leaders on their summer anti-violence strategy. Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle made a rare joint appearance to unveil a new monument to journalist Ida B. Wells. And a trio of freshman alderman emphasized their support for efforts to create a citywide network of bike lanes.
News in brief: Special City Council meeting set; Aldermen push for citywide bike lane network; Lightfoot, Preckwinkle join to unveil Wells statue
Up to three companies would be allowed to operate e-scooters in Chicago under an ordinance set to be proposed by an alderman and city transportation officials on Friday. [Hannah Alani/Block Club Chicago]
Reinstated renter protections, a permanent citywide e-scooter program and two proposals meant to combat systemic racism in home lending are among the dozens of new measures set for introduction at Friday’s City Council meeting. The raft of new legislation was set to be rolled out on Wednesday, until the meeting abruptly adjourned following a dispute over the appointment of Corporation Counsel Celia Meza.
City banking reforms, permanent e-scooter program among new ordinances set for introduction
Aldermen advanced a measure to expedite fire code enforcement at the city’s airports. Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she supports making Juneteenth an official city holiday, and she once again called on state lawmakers to pause their push to create an elected Chicago school board. And the Cook County Democratic Party’s semi-annual slating session, usually a summer affair, will take place in August this year.
News in brief: Airport citation measure advances; Lightfoot supports Juneteenth city holiday, calls on lawmakers to slow down on school board; party slating delayed
Ordinances in the City Council Rules Committee remain stuck for the time being. Aldermen will participate in a hearing on e-scooters on Thursday. Mayor Lori Lightfoot enlisted a “working group” to reduce carbon emissions from buildings. And the Chicago Cultural Center reopened.
News in brief: Rules committee meeting canceled; Hearing set for e-scooters; Chicago Cultural Center reopens
Lightfoot, Pritzker expressed optimism about full reopening by July 4. A House committee anticipates holding a hearing on a recent audit about the LaSalle Veterans’ Home. And Catholic bishops expressed concern about one of Pritzker’s proposed tax changes.
News in brief: Lightfoot wants Chicago fully reopened by July 4, Pritzker ‘optimistic’ state is on a similar timeline
City health officials will update aldermen on city’s pandemic response as COVID-19 case numbers decline. Mayor Lori Lightfoot joined other Great Lakes mayors in calling for federal dollars to help replace lead water pipes. And Senate President Don Harmon weighed in on elected school board negotiations.
News in brief: Arwady to face questions on pandemic response; Lightfoot joins mayors in call for federal lead replacement funding; Harmon weighs in on school board talks
Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) during a City Council meeting on Wednesday. Villegas’ proposal to use federal stimulus money to fund a basic income program was sabotaged by Ald. Jason Ervin (28). [Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times/Pool]
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s long-promised overhaul of the city’s highest-profile affordable housing policy cleared the City Council in a 42-8 vote on Wednesday, setting it up to guide most new residential construction proposed after Oct. 1.
The ordinance was the most controversial of dozens of measures approved during the City Council’s first in-person meeting since February 2020.
Affordable housing overhaul clears City Council; Basic income proposal knocked off track
Chicago Chief Financial Officer Jennie Bennett [left] and Budget Director Susie Park during a Novermber budget hearing
Chicago’s Department of Finance would be required to publish monthly reports on the city’s cash intake under a proposal set for consideration on Monday.
The one-page ordinance (SO2020-5902), introduced by Ald. Brendan Reilly (42) last December, is set for consideration by the City Council’s Committee on Finance during its 10 a.m. meeting on Monday. If approved, city finance and budget officials will be legally bound to publish “monthly reports” on the department’s website that detail the city’s “total collections for each revenue category” from the previous month, plus the “variance” between actual revenues and those anticipated under the annual budget.
Aldermen to consider forcing monthly budget reports from city finance officials
Ald. Gilbert Villegas’ proposal to license tow truck operators stalled in committee Wednesday.
A proposal from Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) to license towing companies in the city will sit in committee for at least one more month to allow for more discussion after the measure hit a wall on Wednesday.
Villegas told members of the City Council Committee on License and Consumer Protection during its Wednesday meeting that the ordinance (O2020-4817) he introduced last October to combat “rogue towers” has been “a labor of love.”
Proposal to license ‘unscrupulous’ tow truck operators stalls in committee
Aldermen are seated in Council Chambers during a Thursday budget hearing. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]
Aldermen during Thursday’s budget hearing with the city’s Department of Family and Support Services learned more information about the city’s $31.5 million guaranteed income pilot program and how Chicago is helping the more than 3,000 asylum seekers who have been bused to the city from Texas.
Aldermen press DFSS on whether guaranteed income pilot will become permanent, how the city is helping asylum seekers
Chicago Animal Care and Control Executive Director Mamadou Diakhate (second from left) speaks during a budget hearing Wednesday. [City of Chicago livestream]
Aldermen again called for more funding for Chicago Animal Care and Control following the department’s first-ever ad campaign on CTA buses and trains.
Animal Care and Control launches first CTA ad campaign, but aldermen push for more funding, better volunteer process
Aldermen sit in Council Chambers during a budget hearing Wednesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]
Chicago’s Department of Assets, Information and Services plans to add 182 new electric vehicles to the city’s fleet next year as part of the effort to ensure 25 percent of the city’s light-duty vehicles are electric by the end of 2023.
City plans to add 182 new electric vehicles next year, no signs on movement for ComEd franchise agreement
The Board of Election Commissioners will detail its budget on Thursday. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]
Leaders of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, Department of Family and Support Services, Department of Administrative Hearings and the License Board of Appeals are set to defend their 2023 budget requests Thursday during a 9 a.m. meeting of the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations.
Board of elections, DFSS set to defend budget increases Thursday
Chicago has replaced only a little more than 200 of nearly 400,000 lead service lines. [Pexels]
Chicago has replaced only more than 200 of the nearly 400,000 lead service lines that could contaminate tap water, the department’s commissioner told aldermen on Tuesday.
Chicago lags on lead pipe replacement as commissioner calls it a ‘multi-billion-dollar lift over the next 50 years’
City Council chambers during a committee hearing Tuesday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]
Department of Buildings Comm. Matthew Beaudet told aldermen his department supports the $3 million tiny home pilot program proposed in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s 2023 budget and responded to questions from aldermen on a flurry of topics during a budget hearing Tuesday.
Buildings commissioner on board with Lightfoot’s tiny homes program, says ‘there’s no reason not’ to build them
Mamadou Diakhate, executive director of Chicago Animal Care and Control (second from left), answers questions during a budget hearing in 2021. [City of Chicago livestream]
Leaders of Chicago Animal Care and Control, the Department of Procurement Services and the Department of Assets, Information and Services are set on Wednesday to take their turns detailing their 2023 budget proposals.
The three departments will appear in front of aldermen in council chambers beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday for the fourth day of hearings on Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed spending plan for 2023.
Related: Lightfoot details $16.4B spending plan that closes projected budget gap without property tax hike
Animal Care and Control, Procurement Services and AIS set to detail 2023 budget proposals Wednesday
City leaders present during Friday’s budget hearing. [City of Chicago livestream]
The city’s Department of Human Resources has sliced the average amount of time it takes to fill an open position from 120 days to 80 days. But while aldermen acknowledged the progress, they still pushed the department to improve hiring for city positions.
Time to fill open city jobs down to 80 days from last year’s 120, but aldermen press for more progress in hiring
Adam Gross, executive director of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, speaks during a news conference in August. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]
Aldermen are set to come back to City Hall at 9 a.m. Tuesday for the third day of budget hearings when the city’s new Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, the Department of Buildings and the Department of Water Management detail their proposed 2023 budgets.
New civilian oversight commission, departments of buildings and water management set to detail budgets Tuesday
The City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations held its first budget hearing Thursday. [Erin Hegarty/The Daily Line]
Aldermen used their first day of hearings on the 2023 budget to urge the city to fulfill a mayoral campaign promise by bringing back a Department of Environment and called for more resources for their offices.
Aldermen push for Department of Environment, ask for more staff and discretionary menu dollars
City Clerk Anna Valencia and Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin during Monday’s budget address [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]
Leaders of the City Clerk and Treasurer’s offices and the Department of Human Resources are set to defend their budget proposals for next year during a Friday hearing in front of aldermen.
City clerk, treasurer and human resources department set to defend budget proposals Friday
City Department leaders during Monday’s budget address [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]
The City Council’s 12 days of budget hearings spanning a little more than two weeks kicks off Thursday with an overview of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed $16.4 billion spending plan from city budget and finance officials.
Twelve days of budget hearings kick off Thursday as aldermen grill city leaders on 2023 spending plan
Chicago aldermen during a City Council meeting [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]
Chicago City Council committees, including those that have met only once or not at all this year, are set to see across-the-board boosts to their budgets under Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposed budget.
City Council committees including those that rarely meet in line for budget hikes in 2023
Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks during a City Council meeting Monday. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday unveiled her $16.4 billion spending plan for 2023, dubbing it her “stability budget” and touting a positive financial outlook as she and members of the City Council gear up for election season.
Lightfoot details $16.4B spending plan that closes projected budget gap without property tax hike
Lightfoot speaks during her budget forecast address in August. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]
Mayor Lori Lightfoot will kick off this year’s budget season on Monday when she introduces her proposed 2023 spending plan in front of aldermen at City Hall.
Lighfoot set to introduce 2023 budget proposal without property tax hike
Imperial Zinc Corporation's new building in Pullman. [City of Chicago livestream]
Aldermen sent a pair of property tax incentives for a Pullman zinc manufacturing company to the City Council for final approval but delayed a vote on another tax incentive until the local alderman can learn more about the proposal.
Committee approves tax incentives for Pullman zinc company, delays vote on incentive for scaffolding business in North Lawndale
Chicago Inspector General Deborah Witzburg speaks during a committee meeting in April. [City of Chicago livestream]
Chicago’s Inspector General found “shortcomings” in the city’s data collection on legal claims against the Chicago Police Department and its employees that resulted in more than $250 million in payments from 2017 through 2020.
City’s top watchdog finds ‘shortcomings’ in law department, CPD data collection on litigation
The above map shows locations of the city’s current special service areas. [City of Chicago]
A City Council committee on Thursday will hear proposals for three new special service areas across the city and consider a property tax incentive for a company that manufactures zinc in Pullman.
The council’s Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development will consider the proposals and appointments to existing special service areas (SSAs) during its 2 p.m. meeting Thursday.
Aldermen set to consider proposals for three new SSAs, tax incentive for zinc manufacturer in Pullman
A car booting company has donated more than $11,000 to aldermen this year. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]
Aldermen last week delayed a proposal to legalize private car booting citywide but the only private booting company in the city has spent more than $11,000 on donations to aldermen and their campaign committees.
Car booting company has donated more than $11K to aldermen this year as measure to expand private booting citywide stalls
A map of the new 34th Ward [Chris Kanich]
The Chicago municipal election is five months away and the race for the city’s new 34th Ward is already expensive with two candidates making large donations — $50,0000 and $12,000 — to their own campaigns.
Race for the new 34th Ward already pricey with Conway pumping $50K into his own campaign, netting out-of-state dollars
Bio
Covering Chicago City Hall for @thedailylinechi. Send tips to [email protected]. More coffee, always.
