Chicago City Council, demystified


Search Chicago legislation

Chicago City Council consists of 50 elected alders and meets monthly to shape the city. The council works with Brandon Johnson, the Mayor, and Anna Valencia, the City Clerk.

Chicago Councilmatic tracks all things related to Chicago City Council:

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Note that while the official term for a City Council member is “alderman,” Councilmatic uses “alder” for both brevity and gender neutrality.

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Citywide issues

The Mayor proposes most city-wide policies. These include business transactions, changes to the municipal code, bond issuance and appointments.

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Local issues

At the local level, matters like land use, signs, street parking, business permits, and other residents issues require the local Alder's support.

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Upcoming Meetings


Next City Council meeting

Thu 9/25/2025
10:00a.m.
Council Chambers, City Hall 121 N LaSalle St, Chicago, IL

Details

Committee meetings

Mon 07/21 - Committee on Finance: Subcommittee on Revenue

Mon 07/21 - Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety

Tue 07/22 - Committee on Health and Human Relations


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Latest Council Meeting

At the latest City Council meeting on Jul 16th, council members took action on 1019 pieces of legislation, including 185 that are non-routine.

One of the more unusual aspects of Chicago City Council is the volume of ordinances that are introduced and passed every month. Most of these are routine items like sign permits, damaged vehicle claims, sidewalk cafe approvals and honorifics.

To help sort through all of this, we classify all legislation and tag it appropriately. If something doesn’t look like a routine piece of legislation, we tag it as Non-Routine to make it easier to discover.

Non-Routine Activity

Communication F2025-0018230 None

Determination Certificate regarding issuance of up to $40,000,000 water system line of credit notes on City revolving line of credit with PNC Bank, National Association, dated as of June 18, ...

7/16/2025 - Introduced
Non-Routine Unclassified

Report F2025-0018293 Active

City funding requirement for Retirement Board of Policemen's Annuity and Benefit Fund City of Chicago (2026)

7/16/2025 - Introduced
Non-Routine Unclassified

Executive Order F2025-0018224 Active

Executive Order No. 2025-2 Procurement and Payment for Contracted Vendors and Development Projects (EO 2023-14 as amended)

7/16/2025 - Introduced
Non-Routine Unclassified

Report F2025-0018342 Active

Firemen's Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago annual report to City Council (2025)

7/16/2025 - Introduced
Non-Routine Unclassified

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Since the last council meeting

After Jul 16th, City Council introduced 7 new pieces of legislation, including 1 that are non-routine.

Non-routine legislation introduced

Ordinance O2024-0010070 Passed

Collective Bargaining Agreement with International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 700 (Supervising Police Communication Operators/SPCSOs) and City of Chicago

12/27/2030 - Signed
Non-Routine City Matters Labor Agreement