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January 25, 2025
Dear neighbors,
The weather this last week has been brutally cold and 24 hours of snowfall. Hats off to all of the workers who brave the cold to keep our city moving and to all of the neighbors who have shown up to help neighbors shovel snow. I’m particularly grateful for all of the volunteers who have signed up to be on our snow team. We offer to match volunteers with our senior and disabled neighbors who need help with snow removal. We do our best to get to as many of the requests as possible but we still need volunteers. If you’re interested in volunteering or if you know someone who could use some help, please complete this form.
Please allow me a moment to celebrate the incredible perfect season that my alma mater, Indiana University, had. It was capped off by a history-making win over the University of Miami in the College Football National Championship on Monday. 30 years ago when I was at IU, Bobby Knight and basketball were everything, and an undefeated football season was unfathomable. Congrats to Coach Cignetti, Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza and the entire team for an unforgettable season!
By now you may have heard the news that the Archdiocese is planning to close St. Jerome’s school at the end of the school year. We have always had such strong parish families—obitelji—and Croatian and Italian legacy in the ward and at the school for over 100 years, and this is a heartbreaking update. Sadly, St. Jerome is one among six Catholic schools in the Chicago area that are slated for closure. Our ward has seen more than its fair share of parish consolidations and it is especially hard to stomach as a community which has had such a rich history with Catholic school education.
I would like more direct financial answers on why our school was chosen to close. I am beginning the exploratory process to get more financial information regarding this process as I believe the school, parish and broader community deserve transparency given the announcement of the school’s closure.
This week is Holocaust Remembrance Day, a day to remember the millions of lives lost in the Holocaust. We were joined by Holocaust survivor Yvonne Aronson in City Council this week. I also joined members of the city council last week when we visited the Illinois Holocaust and Education Center 360 Experience in their new temporary location in the Loop.
Public Safety
According to figures put out by the CPD 9th District and summarized by the McKinley Park News, annual index crimes fell by almost 10 percent across the 9th District, which includes Bridgeport, Armour Square and other neighboring areas in 2025 versus 2024. This is good news, but of course there is more work to do to keep our communities safe and secure.
This week in City Council
This week in the Committee on Aviation, we passed an ordinance that would expand which employees at the airport can be fined for security infractions while employed in business with the airport. We have lots of business at the airport, and there has been a huge increase in violations.
If you ever have issues with noise coming from the airport, you can submit aircraft noise complaints here.
On Wednesday, the City Council passed a hemp ordinance that immediately prohibits the sale of hemp products to anyone under the age of 21. It also regulates the sale of hemp products including packaged beverages, topicals such as ointments and lotions and dog food. What started as a complete ban of all hemp products became a better, albeit imperfect, piece of legislation. I supported the ordinance, despite concerns I still have regarding the impact on small businesses that are good, responsible operators. I will continue to work with my colleagues on future amendments. I am glad that the ordinance that passed now makes it illegal to sell these products to minors. I have had many conversations with parents who have been concerned about safety with the availability of these products in the ward and with no regulation.
The vote on a measure to modify the city’s curfew policy was held by the chair of the Committee on Public Safety after last minute changes were made to the ordinance. My colleagues and I needed time to review the changes and discuss the impact. There will be more to come on this in the near future. I voted to pass the “snap curfew” previously, which would have given the Police Superintendent the authority to call a curfew with 30 minutes notice if there was cause to think that a mass gathering would be taking place. That measure passed with a majority of Council, however the Mayor vetoed it.
The other notable items passed by City Council were lawsuit settlements for two cases totaling $22.9 million. The case of a 25-year old man who was killed in a car crash that was the result of the police chasing someone else. You can read about both cases here.
Upcoming in City Council
On 1/27/26 at 1:00 p.m., I will be part of the Joint Committee Meeting of the Police and Fire Committee and the Immigrant and Refugee Rights Committee. On the agenda is an amendment to modify powers and duties of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability to include conducting investigations into complaints made against members of the Police Department, which is an issue related to the Welcoming City Ordinance.
The next full City Council meeting is on February 10, 2026 at 10 a.m.
Around the Ward
Our 11th Ward Blood Drive is March 9th.
Please sign up here: https://donateblood.versiti.org/.../drive_schedule/11633971
The drive is at the 9th District Police Station, and everything counts!
Did you know that kids can get a City Key through the Chicago City Clerk? It’s a useful tool with lots of benefits!
You may not know that our Fleets and Facility Department conducts auctions with the city’s surplus supplies. You can access the web portal to make bids here.
We have a major improvement project coming to Cermak Rd., which is a $6 million development that was selected by the Department of Planning and Development through an RFP process with the City. This was the only project presented that did not request City funds to complete their project. The project still needs to be approved by City Council, and does not include public project feedback steps anymore at this stage, besides at City Council.
These temperatures are reaching dangerously cold levels. If you are having problems with maintaining City-mandated minimum temperature levels in your rental property, please call 311 and make a report so they can begin the process to assist you.
Have a great week!
Alderwoman Nicole Lee
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