City Council
Is the fiscal tide finally turning for Chicago? The mayor lays out the coming year's spending plan.
It's official: The Independent Police Review Authority will now become the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, or COPA. We'll tell you what the next steps are in the process to reform police oversight, and what action City Council is proposing against Donald Trump.
Who will police the Chicago police? Plans to clean house and overhaul the police accountability process face a crucial City Council vote.
The former Chicago City Council watchdog is back on the investigative beat. Faisal Khan, who served as City Council's Legislative Inspector General, is heading up a new government watchdog organization.
The Police Accountability Task Force released its report Wednesday on the Chicago Police Department, saying the CPD is broken and has a “history of racial disparity and discrimination.” Will the City Council move to abolish IPRA?
A City Council committee on Tuesday gave a thumbs-up to an ordinance that will temporarily suspend the legally required process for selecting a police superintendent, and make the mayor's pick permanent.
Aldermen on Tuesday are widely expected to approve a one-time change to city law to name Eddie Johnson the permanent Chicago Police Department superintendent. The move comes on the heels of a committee vote Monday to approve another $6.5 million in payouts to victims of police misconduct.
In a surprise end-run, Mayor Emanuel shuns the recommendations of his police board and makes it known he wants Eddie Johnson to be police superintendent.
Efforts to pass a stronger plan making the City Council more accountable were sidelined yesterday. Aldermen tells us what happened behind the scenes.
City Council today proved that it is ready for reform – just not very much reform. It was a tense debate over which reform measure to support: one that would give Inspector General Joe Ferguson broad, sweeping powers to investigate and audit aldermen, or a more hands-off approach favored by powerful Ald. Ed Burke (14th Ward). Paris Schutz has the story.
The City Council is expected to vote this week on whether to extend the powers of city Inspector General Joe Ferguson to cover the activities of the City Council itself. More than 30 aldermen are said to be supportive of the measure, but key alderman are trying to dilute the powers that Ferguson may be given. A panel of aldermen tells us what they think will happen.
Actions Wednesday by powerful aldermen Ed Burke and Carrie Austin signal City Council might not yet be ready for reform. Paris Schutz has the latest on that and how aldermen have watered-down the mayor’s borrowing plan – for now.
Who is going to make sure Chicago aldermen play by the rules? A major step forward Monday in determining the answer to that – a sign that City Council could finally be ready for real reform and transparency. But will powerful forces derail this latest effort? Paris Schutz has details.
Is City Council becoming more independent in the wake of Mayor Emanuel’s unpopularity? A pair of City Council votes next week – one on ethics oversight and one on a $3 billion borrowing plan – may go a long way toward answering that question.
Joel Weisman and his panel of guests discuss the top stories of the week, including a Cook County judge's order that the city release a controversial police shooting video, and Gov. Bruce Rauner's announcement to temporarily halt Syrian refugees from resettling in Illinois.
Now that controversial Legislative Inspector General Faisal Khan is out, what will aldermen do with the watchdog office? We speak to three aldermen about whether the future should be in the hands of Chicago's Inspector General Joe Ferguson or if there's another way to investigate City Council.