Your city council is your legislature – they set policies and budgets that impact your daily life. They also approve major projects and infrastructure improvements. Your council members might decide to sell a city-owned building, increase funding for the police department or change trash collection days. They might also vote to raise or lower taxes based on your community’s priorities.
Your council members, or aldermen, may have a variety of backgrounds and political views, but all are elected to represent the entire city. They can work together in groups called caucuses, which allow them to discuss issues in a more focused way. The caucuses help ensure that the concerns of specific communities are heard. There are currently seven caucuses: Black, Latino and Asian (BLA); Common Sense Caucus; Jewish Caucus; Irish Caucus; LGBTQ Caucus; and Progressive Caucus.
The majority of legislative work happens in committee meetings and hearings. Every council member is assigned – through a voting process by all of the Council Members – to one or more standing committees and subcommittees, which oversee different functions of the city government. The Council Speaker and the Majority and Minority Leader are ex officio members of all committees.
Once a bill has been passed through the committee, it goes back to the full Council for debate and a vote. Before the Council votes, the chair allows citizens to present ideas and ask questions. This is known as “new business” and can be planned or spontaneous. Citizens are encouraged to participate, but must fill out a speaker card and wait for the chair to call on them.