CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Friday’s are rarely busy for the Chicago City Council. But, today the Aldermen are slated to consider hot issues involving an earlier curfew for young people and ordinances advancing plans for a Chicago Casino.
The ACLU suggested Mayor Lightfoot over-stepped when she unilaterally tightened the curfew after crowds of rowdy young people caused chaos at Millennium Park and elsewhere downtown.
The Law Department has said she used emergency powers, always intending to ask the City Council to act. Today, she’s asking the Public Safety Committee to ratify her actions.
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An hour later, the Mayor’s special Committee on the Chicago Casino will meet, and she’s asked for a vote on an ordinance authorizing Bally’s plan for a Chicago casino and the host agreement with Bally’s as the developer.
This handpicked committee thought it would decide on a developer, and issues like zoning contracts and the like. Now, the plans seem to be on a fast-track. There’s a full city council meeting scheduled for Monday.
Casino Committee chair Alderman Tom Tunney, a strong ally of Mayor Lightfoot, said he’s not sure the votes are there to move this quickly.
Aldermen Brian Hopkins and Brendan Reilly, whose wards are nearby, oppose the plan. And Reilly especially opposes the proposed temporary casino site at the Medinah Temple in his ward.
He suggested this is akin to the parking meter deal, when the council was rushed into a bad financial arrangement by the Daley administration. That kind of talk can sometimes prompt aldermen to slow down.
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