Category: News

Estimated: 7 minute read

Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights Report: March 2025

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On March 18th, the Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights (CIRR) held a meeting to report on the Committee’s work supporting immigrants and refugees. The hearing also featured testimony from the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) on federal immigration updates. The Committee also requested that the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant, Migrant, and Refugee Rights (IMRR), […]

Estimated: 2 minute read

City Council Round-up: March 2025

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At the latest City Council meeting on March 12th, members of City Council discussed a potential fur ban, voted on a settlement from a police misconduct case from 2020, and passed several resolutions, including one for Women’s History Month. Find out more below: Fur Ban We had several neighbors reach out asking Alder Vasquez to […]

Estimated: 4 minute read

City Council Round-up: February 2025

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February was a busy month in City Council! At the City Council meeting on February 20th, members of City Council discussed the Mayor’s proposed capital bond (though ultimately, the vote was postponed until the following Wednesday), as well as several key legislative items that Ald. Vasquez lead or sponsored, including: Curbstoning Ordinance Last week, the […]

Estimated: 5 minute read

Know Your Rights

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Chicago’s Welcoming City ordinance ensures that all Chicagoans can access essential services without fear of that accessing those services will trigger deportation. Under the ordinance, city employees—including the Chicago Police Department—are prohibited from inquiring about a person’s immigration status or coordinating with federal civil immigration enforcement unless required to do so by statute, federal regulation, […]

Estimated: 3 minute read

2025 Budget Update: Management Ordinance

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Budget Hearings concluded this week! You can visit the City Clerk’s Vimeo page if you want to catch up on any of the hearings you missed, or visit our Instagram page for daily debriefs on what we learned in the hearings. While budget hearings have concluded, negotiations are still very much ongoing. Ald. Vasquez and […]

Estimated: 4 minute read

40th Ward Gift Guide

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Welcome to our inaugural 40th Ward Gift Guide! See below for all of our recommendations for where to shop local this holiday season. Where to Shop Local Below our some of our favorite places to shop in the 40th Ward: Food & Drinks Arts & Crafts Home Goods Clothing Activity Holiday Events There are also […]

Estimated: 2 minute read

40th Ward Budget Briefing

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Missed yesterday’s budget briefing? We’ve got you covered! Check out a video of the briefing and read through the presentation below. Special thanks to Geoffrey Cubbage from the Better Government Association for presenting BGA’s analysis of this year’s budget, and digging into the budgets for two of the departments that 40th Ward neighbors most wanted […]

Estimated: 6 minute read

2025 City Budget Update: City Council Votes Down Property Tax Increase

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Last week, Ald. Vasquez and 29 other City Council members signed a letter calling for a vote on the Mayor’s proposed $300 million property tax increase. Yesterday, in a special meeting of City Council, all 50 alders voted against the increase. This unprecedented unanimous vote regarding a proposed revenue ordinance was a clear rejection of […]

Estimated: 4 minute read

Announcing the 2025 People’s Budget!

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Voting for the 2025 People’s Budget is open! Vote by December 31st, 2024. From now until the end of December, 40th Ward residents ages 14+ can vote on how we should spend one million dollars in infrastructure funds, including: To learn more about how participatory budgeting works, including details like how much repairs cost and […]

Estimated: 3 minute read

7 Major Arterial Street Resurfacing Projects Coming to the 40th Ward!

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In 2024, the 40th Ward will see some major street infrastructure improvements on some of our busiest corridors. In addition to two major streetscape projects on Lincoln and Lawrence Avenues, there are also seven arterial resurfacing projects, each of which will also include bike and pedestrian safety upgrades.