Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez. (WTTW News)
,

Pedro Martinez, appointed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot in September 2021 to lead the Chicago Public Schools, has never answered questions during a City Council meeting.

Chicago City Hall. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

At least 13 Chicago wards are set for new City Council leadership come next year due to an exodus of alderpeople. And while a few of those existing City Council members are leaving their seats to run for higher office, many are saying they’re opting out simply because it’s time to move on.

Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza (10th Ward) appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Sept. 2, 2022. (WTTW News)

Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza, 62, the first member of the Chicago Teachers Union to be elected to the City Council, said in a statement released on Labor Day that she wanted to start the “next chapter” of her life.

Jim Gardiner appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Feb. 27, 2019, a day after ousting two-term incumbent Ald. John Arena (45th Ward) in the municipal election. (WTTW News)

Ald. Jim Gardiner (45th Ward) on Tuesday apologized on the floor of the Chicago City Council chambers for sending profane and misogynistic texts to a former aide about Ald. Tom Tunney (44th Ward) and two women who work at City Hall. 

(WTTW News)
,

A joint session of the City Council’s Public Safety and Finance committees declined to advance the measure backed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot and blasted by Inspector General Joseph Ferguson and other transparency advocates as nothing more than “smoke and mirrors.”

Protesters gather near the Logan Square home of Mayor Lori Lightfoot to voice their opposition to General Iron’s plans to move to the Southeast Side on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020. (Annemarie Mannion / WTTW News)

The revised measure is designed to tighten regulations on recycling centers and industrial operations in an effort to reduce air pollution on the South and West sides. A final vote is scheduled for the full City Council meeting on March 24.

South Deering (WTTW News)

Protesters are urging the city to stop a metal-scrapping company from opening on the Southeast Side. What both sides have to say.

(WTTW News)
,

The industrial community once marked by steel mills is now lined with other plants, and the proposed opening of a metal scrapping company has become a point of controversy on the Southeast Side and across the city.

(WTTW News)

Commercial Avenue has long been the main business corridor in South Chicago, but in recent years the strip has struggled to fill vacant storefronts – a trend that was seriously exacerbated by civil unrest and looting this summer.

General Iron’s metal-shredding operation in Lincoln Park. (WTTW News)
,

General Iron’s parent company has applied for its final permit to operate its metal-shredding operation on the Southeast Side, but federal officials have asked the city to hold off on making a decision.

General Iron's Lincoln Park facility. (WTTW News)
, , ,

Opponents of the Lincoln Park metal shredder want General Iron closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, but if the facility checks all the right boxes, it could eventually restart operations, officials said. 

General Iron is planning to move its metal shredding operation from Lincoln Park to the Southeast Side. (WTTW News)

Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza is joining the chorus of 10th Ward neighbors calling for the Illinois EPA to delay consideration of General Iron’s permit to move from Lincoln Park to the Southeast Side. 

Retail businesses in South Chicago sustained property damage during recent incidents of looting. (WTTW News)
,

On the Southeast Side, a community deals with the aftermath of property damage and looting against the backdrop of ongoing concerns over COVID-19 and environmental pollution.

In this file photo, 28th Ward Ald. Jason Ervin speaks with “Chicago Tonight.”

The different caucuses of aldermen that make up the council play a big role in shaping its direction. Their leaders join us for a conversation about their priorities and vision for Chicago.

Several advocacy groups are calling on Chicago to ban storage of materials containing manganese in residential areas following a 2016 study that revealed potentially harmful levels of manganese dust on the city’s Southeast Side.

We get reaction from aldermen to the eleventh hour deal that averted a Chicago teachers strike, as well as the mayor’s budget, police oversight reform and more.