September 10
What is the City planning for the Pilsen Industrial Redevelopment Project area? The Chicago Community Development Commission learned more about the City’s goals in negotiating an agreement. The redevelopment would include a new eight-story building with ninety-eight units of only affordable multifamily housing called Casa Yucatan. The development qualifies for equitable transit-oriented development regulation because it’s near a CTA Pink Line stop and two major bus routes. The site is currently a vacant lot at 21st Street and Ashland Avenue with an adjacent gas station. The proposal would be headed by The Resurrection Project, a major Latinx Southwest Side community development organization. The development would cost $69.1 million with IDOT providing $6.1 million and TIF funding $23 million. A key responsibility of the Committee, according to its website, is to “assist private redevelopment projects” by reviewing and recommending action based on tax increment financing. Its fifteen members are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council.
September 11
The Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners at its meeting voted to keep Riot Fest in North Lawndale’s Douglass Park. Council Member Monique Scott (24th Ward) supported that position, despite strong and persistent pushback demanding community input when large festivals are under consideration. Previously reported to be leaving Douglass Park for suburban Bridgeview, Riot Fest can now remain in Douglass Park. Public comments before the vote were both pro and con. On the plus side, proponents touted the fest as an opportunity for the area to be connected to the Chicago art scene. Among the problems, some attendees maintained, are noise violations, lack of community input, and poor treatment of the park. A letter-writing campaign demanding transparency and accountability from Mayor Brandon Johnson and the park district garnered more than 1,400 signatures, opponents reported. “Douglass Park has deep problems of soil compaction, yet continues to be damaged each year by festival-goers and heavy equipment in exchange for money,” said Karina Solano, who was opposed to keeping Riot Fest in Douglas Park. “The park needs repair; not for the soil, the trees and the plants to be sacrificed.”
September 16
At its meeting, the Chicago City Council Committee on Finance approved settlement amounts for five wrongful convictions. Alvin Waddy, for example, had alleged malicious prosecution and conspiracy in connection with a CPD tactical team arrest in 2007. Wrongfully convicted for possessing cocaine with intent to deliver, Waddy spent 394 days in prison. Paroled and released in May 2008, he received a certificate of innocence in 2019. To reduce the city’s ongoing financial liability for police misconduct and abuse, City attorneys generally attempt to make final settlements out of court. In Waddy’s case, they recommended $500,000.
September 18
During a highly charged meeting, the Chicago City Council voted to give CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling the power to extend a contract with the controversial gunshot detection company ShotSpotter or sign a new one for similar technology. The ShotSpotter contract was to run out four days later, on September 22, and had been deployed in twelve of twenty-two police districts. Mayor Brandon Johnson announced he would veto the move, which attempted to circumvent a rule that gives contracting power to the Mayor. City attorneys have said that a law requiring “separation of powers” does not allow the Council to compel mayoral actions. The controversy revolves around whether the technology is effective in reducing crime or disrupting neighborhoods in a negative way. An investigation the Weekly published this week found that ShotSpotter failed to alert CPD to more than 20 percent of reported shootings over a twenty-month period. Said one public commenter: “Don’t do ShotSpotter, don’t throw that money away.” Since August 2018, the city has spent more than $53 million on contracts with ShotSpotter.
At its meeting, the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA) conducted a 2025 CPD Budget Town Hall. Commission President Anthony Driver explained that the commissioners plan to prioritize budget transparency in connection with CPD’s budget, especially with workforce allocations, officer training, and wellness and civil litigations. The commission is preparing for the City Council’s budget process, which normally takes place in October and November after the mayor has presented a proposed budget. City Council members and the public can then weigh in on the budget, in particular how much money is allocated toward things like public safety, public health and city services, including police. Though CCPSA is not in charge of the Chicago Police Department budget, council members are allowed to voice opinions. In the 2024 fiscal year. CPD made up slightly less than forty percent of the city’s workforce and accounted for nearly twelve percent of the city budget.
September 19
At a meeting of the Chicago Police Board, CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling applauded officers for their behavior during the recent Democratic National Convention (DNC). Several community members from neighborhoods near the DNC’s location, the United Center, said they are grateful for CPD’s work. Seventeen complaints were reportedly filed against CPD officers related to the DNC, including several for use of excessive force. The CPD used mass arrests to break up a West Loop protest, a tactic that was strongly criticized by legal groups. Fifty-six people, including three journalists, were arrested. The Chicago Police Board, by law, is “an independent civilian body that decides disciplinary cases involving Chicago police officers,” according to its website. Additional responsibilities are set out in the City’s Municipal Code.
September 25
This meeting of the Chicago Board of Health coincided with the City’s announcement that police officers and fire department paramedics would no longer be included in the Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement (CARE) pilot program. Launched in 2021, the pilot was funded with $3.5 million from the City, and CARE employees have since responded to 1,500 calls. The City reported that the calls haven’t led to any arrests and have resulted in the use of force in less than 0.1 percent of incidents. A mental health crisis intervention effort, the original CARE teams consisted of a police officer, a Chicago Fire Department paramedic, and Chicago Department of Public Health (CPHD) crisis clinician. Now, the program will be completely under CPD. A response team is to include a clinician and an EMT from CDPH. The non-police response model is in line with the Treatment Not Trauma ordinance passed in 2023. That model calls for the reopening of public mental health clinics shuttered by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel. It also authorizes further investment in additional clinics and a non-police crisis response team. Under Mayor Brandon Johnson, the City has reopened a mental health center in Roseland and additional mental health service sites in West Garfield Park and Pilsen.
September 26
The Chicago Board of Education at its meeting voted to retain district CEO Pedro Martinez and to place a moratorium on school closures until 2027. “Black leaders and parents have been vocal about the need for improving Black student outcomes,” said a public commenter and a CPS parent since 2006. “Pedro Martinez, despite his faults, has ensured that Black student success has been prioritized in the strategic plan.” Commenters spoke both for and against Martinez. Mayor Brandon Johnson has asked Martinez to resign amid disagreements over school policies. Martinez has said he will not resign and has denied rumors that he’s looking to close and consolidate schools considered to be under-enrolled. (Under Mayor Rahm Emanuel, fifty schools were shuttered in 2013, mostly on the South and West sides, causing some 17,000 students and 1,500 staff to switch CPS schools or leave the school district.) On October 4, all seven members of the Board resigned, and Johnson announced their replacements on October 7.
This information was collected and curated by the Weekly in large part using reporting from City Bureau’s Documenters at documenters.org.