The Spin: Chicago police civilian oversight panel proposals stall | Lightfoot swats away Bears bid for move to the suburbs | Pritzker pushes back 2022 primary election

A yearslong political battle between Mayor Lori Lightfoot and progressive aldermen over policing came to a boil today when a grassroots civilian oversight plan for Chicago police was blocked by a faction of pro-police aldermen and mayoral allies.

During an extraordinary Public Safety Committee meeting, Lightfoot withdrew her own plan for an oversight board while a competing proposal supported by activists failed because Northwest Side Ald. Nicholas Sposato motioned to table a revised ordinance and the committee agreed in a 10-9 vote. That led to the ordinance’s backers withdrawing their plan altogether.

The latest stalemate comes as Lightfoot has weathered attacks from progressive critics after failing to meet a pledge to present a civilian oversight plan within 100 days of taking office in 2019, saying more time is needed to get it right. Backers of the grassroots plan say they have alternative avenues to pass their proposal, while Sposato, who is staunchly pro-police, maintains “way, way, way too much” reform is already taking place.

Yesterday, Lightfoot swatted away news that the Chicago Bears were exploring a move to Arlington Heights, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law moving next year’s primary election from March to June due to federal census delays.

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Move to civilian oversight of Chicago police stalls, with competing proposals from Lightfoot and grassroots groups both pulled before a committee vote

At the start of today’s Public Safety Committee’s hearing, there were two competing pieces of legislation for civilian oversight of Chicago police on the table: Lightfoot’s proposal, which would give her administration the final say on many decisions, and a grassroots plan that would grant the commission more authority, my colleagues John Byrne and Annie Sweeney report.

By the end of the hearing, neither proposal made it out of committee. The mayor’s office pulled her plan before a vote, and the grassroots ordinance got withdrawn after Northwest Side Ald. Nick Sposato motioned to table a revised version. A bloc of Lightfoot allies and pro-police aldermen helped that motion pass in a 10-9 vote.

Both measures were already in danger of failing to pass out of committee because the pro-police aldermen were prepared to vote against them. But the lack of even a vote sparked outrage among progressive aldermen and activists, who blamed Lightfoot for the stalling.

What’s next for the grassroots plan? Getting the legislation to the floor will hinge on either Ald. Chris Taliaferro, the Public Safety Committee chairman, scheduling another hearing before Wednesday’s council meeting or sponsors of the grassroots plan using a parliamentary maneuver to force the revised ordinance to the floor for an up-or-down vote — a move that Lightfoot would surely oppose.

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Lightfoot calls Bears’ interest in Arlington Heights move a ‘negotiation tactic’

Lightfoot yesterday implied the Chicago Bears were bluffing after news broke that the team submitted a bid to purchase the property at Arlington International Racecourse in the suburbs, my colleagues Dan Wiederer and Colleen Kane report.

“This is clearly a negotiating tactic that the Bears have used before,” the mayor wrote in a statement on Twitter.

She said she expects the Bears to stay in Chicago as the city recovers and the team negotiates for improvements to its current home in Soldier Field. But earlier yesterday, Chicago Bears President and CEO Ted Phillips tweeted that the team was simply exploring the best option for its future and will indeed evaluate the move if the bid gets selected.

The mayor has swatted away the idea of the Bears moving to Arlington Heights before. In April, she warned the team would run into difficulties with the National Football League if they tried to break their lease on Soldier Field, which runs through 2033.

The Bears have played at Soldier Field, owned by the Chicago Park District, since 1971.

The Chicago Bears have called Soldier Field home since 1971 — but they have flirted with leaving the downtown stadium several times since, my colleague Kori Rumore writes.

Pritzker signs election package that moves 2022 primary to June, makes fixtures of curbside and mail-in voting

The 2022 primary election is officially moved from March 15 to June 28 under a law Pritzker signed yesterday that also designates next year’s general election day in November a state holiday and makes permanent mail-in and curbside voting, my colleagues Rick Pearson and Dan Petrella report.

Democrats sought the primary date change because federal census data to draw new congressional boundaries won’t arrive until mid-August. Candidates can now begin circulating petitions on Jan. 13 and file them with the State Board of Elections between March 7 and 14.

And Pritzker signed measures to implement a new $42 billion state spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1. The package includes the state paying off a $2 billion coronavirus relief loan from the Federal Reserve, making the full contribution of $9.8 billion to the underfunded state pension plan and increasing state spending for K to 12 education by over $360 million from the current year.

It also allocates $2.8 billion from Illinois’ $8.1 billion in federal relief from President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan into infrastructure, housing, anti-violence and business projects.

Part of reason why the spending plan was balanced was the $655 million in anticipated new revenue from tax law changes that the Democrats said will close corporate loopholes. But Republicans said those hikes would slow businesses during a recovery period from the pandemic.

Southwest suburban Democratic state Sen. Michael Hastings drops bid for secretary of state, Pearson reports. The move leaves four announced contenders vying to replace longtime Secretary of State Jesse White: former state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia and Chicago Alds. Pat Dowell, 3rd, and David Moore, 17th.

Toxic ‘forever chemicals’ were used to fight Rockton factory fire, causing concern from EPA, the Associated Press reports.

Police Board votes to fire Officer Patrick Kelly, the cop involved in controversial shooting of his friend

My colleagues Stacy St. Clair and Jeremy Gorner report a disciplinary panel voted to fire a veteran Chicago police patrol officer yesterday after finding he shot a friend with his service weapon and lied about it for years.

In an 8-0 vote, the Police Board ruled Officer Patrick Kelly should be terminated for firing the bullet that pierced Michael LaPorta’s skull, ricocheted around his brain and left him with catastrophic injuries that require round-the-clock care.

The board also ruled Kelly, who was off-duty at the time of the shooting, should be fired for lying to investigators about how the incident unfolded. The officer repeatedly has said LaPorta pulled the trigger and shot himself in the back of the head, but now even the city’s Law Department says it was Kelly who fired the bullet.

LaPorta was shot in the head at Kelly’s home during the early morning hours of Jan. 12, 2010, after the two had been out drinking at two bars on Chicago’s Far Southwest Side. In light of Kelly’s firing, LaPorta’s attorney Antonio Romanucci praised the decision as a “small measure of justice” but blamed Chicago police for allowing him to remain on the force for so long.

O’Hare’s newest runway hasn’t significantly changed traffic patterns — or quieted jet noise for many residents, Byrne reports.

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Have a tip? Email host Lisa Donovan at ldonovan@chicagotribune.com .