Editor’s Note

Welcome to Newswire — your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what action we can take to make our city great, featuring public meeting coverage by City Bureau’s Documenters.

Quote of the Week

“The public needs to be aware and assist us in participating in lobbying and advocating... because it is going to affect ridership and service.”

— Chicago Transit Authority Board member Dr. L. Bernard Jakes speaking about CTA’s anticipated budget gap.

[Regular Board Meeting of Chicago Transit Board, Feb. 12, 2025]

Mind the budget gap

The Chicago Transit Authority board may implement a pilot program that uses AI to detect when people or large objects fall onto train tracks. Nineteen people were hit by CTA trains in 2024. “Saving one life using this pilot program would be worthwhile,” said CTA Chair Lester L. Barclay.  The program is expected to improve staff response times, prevent injuries and address safety issues while reducing service delays. 

The CTA also faces a major budget shortfall in the next few years that could lead to a significant decline in service. The 2024 operating reserve balance will sufficiently sustain current funding, but the projected gap between operating costs and revenue needs to be filled. Otherwise, CTA services may need to be adjusted to account for the budget decrease. The CTA has struggled to provide adequate service for years, which they've primarily blamed on staffing shortages and other issues.

Gun violence in Illinois

Since 2022, there has been a decrease in overall domestic-violence-related shootings, injuries and deaths in Chicago, according to the Missing and Murdered Chicago Women Task Force. However, lethal domestic gun violence at the statewide level has increased, largely due to the rise of firearm purchases during the pandemic.

 Last week, the taskforce reviewed the Measuring Safety Annual Data Report, a comprehensive overview of the statewide response to gender-based violence in 2022. The report found that domestic violence drives firearm-faciliated murder suicides in Illinois and across the country. Lethal domestic violence also disproportionately affects people of color. 

Last week, Gov. JB Pritzker signed Karina’s Law, which allows state police departments to seize guns from anyone whose FOID card was revoked because of an order of protection. Proponents say the legislation will help better protect survivors of domestic violence.

  • Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority Missing and Murdered Chicago Women Task Force by Cynthis Salgado

Building representation

Nominations for a city board that helps low-income Chicagoans find housing were put on pause after some alders said the candidate pool isn’t diverse enough to equitably represent the city. The Chicago Low-Income Housing Trust Fund board was formed under Mayor Harold Washington in 1989 and works with landlords to provide rental assistance for low income families through programs such as the Rental Subsidy Program. The 15-member board has 10 open spots and nine nominees up for consideration.

Alders voiced concern over lack of representation of South and West Side communities and questioned the city’s outreach efforts. Out of the nine nominations, only one person self identifies as Afro-Latina. The rest of the nominees come from various organizational backgrounds. Chief Homelessness  Officer Sendy Soto said city leaders reached out to organizations citywide and received nominations from Black- led organizations such as the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Illinois Justice Project. 

“It ain’t enough to say that y’all want representation from our ward and y’all have one person,” said Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th Ward) who successfully motioned to hold nominations for the board. “This work is urgent and we need to fill these vacancies, but we want to do it intentionally and mindfully especially when it comes to representation,” Chair Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) said.

Moving forward on mediation

The Community-Police Mediation Pilot Program was launched in October 2022 under Lori Lightfoot’s administration and began in response to a consent decree requirement. It served as a means to resolve citizens’ police complaints through a third-party mediator. After a six-month pilot, the mediation program resolved six cases, according to a 2023  Office of Inspector General report. Daisha Muhammed, director of mediation with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, said the program needs to establish more community engagement, policies and training in order to move forward. 

A version of this story was first published in the February 19, 2025 issue of the Newswire, an email newsletter that is your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what we can do to make our city great. You can sign up for the weekly newsletter here.

Have thoughts on what you'd like to see in this feature? Email Civic Editor Dawn Rhodes at dawn@citybureau.org.