The Spin: City Council poised to vote on Lake Shore Drive name change tomorrow | More on yesterday’s council vs. Lightfoot chaos | FEC delays ruling on Robin Kelly fundraising

OK, political observers, get a good night’s sleep, plan to eat a healthy breakfast and take your vitamins. Tomorrow, Chicago City Council will return action and just might take a vote on the controversial plan to rename Lake Shore Drive in honor of the city’s Black founder, Jean Baptiste Point DuSable.

It appears a compromise has been reached that for now, activists, the mayor and alderman can agree on. If the measure passes, the lakefront highway would be christened DuSable Lake Shore Drive.

The issue was supposed to be voted on at yesterday’s regular City Council meeting, but it ended abruptly after a squabble over Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s pick to be the next top city lawyer.

Peeling back the layers, it’s clear the political fallout for the Lightfoot administration over how City Hall — specifically the city Law Department — handled the aftermath of the botched Chicago police raid on social worker Anjanette Young’s home isn’t going away.

On yesterday’s agenda was a seemingly perfunctory confirmation vote on Lightfoot’s choice for top city lawyer, Celia Meza. But Meza’s input on a public statement issued last year after the mayor and Young met has drawn criticism that she was downplaying the problems that led to the wrongful raid. Meza’s confirmation is expected to be voted on Friday.

And speaking of delays, the Federal Election Commission has put off until next month a ruling sought by Illinois Democrats over how their party’s new leader, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, could engage in campaigning without violating federal fundraising regulations that are stricter than state law, the Tribune’s Rick Pearson reports.

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Going deeper on what prompted spat between Lightfoot, aldermen at City Council meeting

Yesterday’s heated City Council meeting at first blush may have seemed like some score-settling between Mayor Lightfoot and some of her aldermanic rivals.

The City Council was set to approve Lightfoot’s pick to lead the city Law Department, which among other things is responsible for defending the city government against lawsuits. It was to be a perfunctory vote, but the conversation turned to the city law department’s treatment of Chicago social worker Anjanette Young, who is now suing the city after police raided her home in error.

Last year, the Law Department made an unsuccessful attempt to block WBBM-Ch. 2 from airing police body camera footage that captured the raid, including Young standing naked, handcuffed and crying as officers — mostly men — swarmed the residence. The office also did not give Young’s attorney all of the body camera footage.

Much blame for the city’s treatment of Young in December fell on Mark Flessner, Lightfoot’s first corporation counsel, who resigned amid the controversy. But Lightfoot’s pick to replace him — Celia Meza — worked in the office and helped handle the scandal’s fallout, including reviewing a draft statement Lightfoot and Young put out after meeting in December.

There, Meza revised a statement to say “problematic” issues led to the wrong raid, rather than “systemic” programs, as Young’s attorney proposed. The one-word change is subtle, but it carries a lot of weight in downplaying the scope of the problem, as ace Tribune reporter Gregory Pratt noted in this thread on Twitter.

DuSable LSD supporters back Friday council vote on ‘DuSable Lake Shore Drive’ compromise

The Tribune’s John Byrne writes: A compromise to christen Lake Shore Drive “DuSable Lake Shore Drive” for Chicago’s Black founder would be acceptable to supporters of honoring him, as long as aldermen vote on the proposal this week.

Backers held a news conference Thursday, to say that while they would prefer to simply redub the outer drive “DuSable Drive,” they’re worried Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and other opponents of the change will keep blocking an up-or-down council vote on that controversial idea.

Ald. David Moore, 17th, who co-sponsored the proposed DuSable ordinance that has turned into a major council fight, has said he too would be OK with DuSable Lake Shore Drive.

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Nurses at Chicago’s main safety-net hospital strike over staffing levels, say they’re stretched to the limit

“More than 900 nurses at Cook County Health went on strike Thursday morning, forcing the health system to postpone some appointments and surgeries and send ambulances to other hospitals,” the Tribune’s Lisa Schencker reports.

“The nurses walked off the job for the one-day strike after their last contract expired in November,” Schencker writes. “The nurses work at Stroger and Provident hospitals, the system’s clinics and Cermak Health Services, which provides health care to the detainees at the Cook County Department of Corrections.”

“The nurses union ... says a major sticking point in negotiations has been staffing,” Schencker writes. “The union says the hospital system is short hundreds of nurses, which has led to delays in patient care and burnout among nurses. The health system, however, has said it is continually recruiting nurses and hired nearly 800 in the past year.” More here.

Cook County officials project $121 million shortfall in 2022, casting a more hopeful outlook on coronavirus recovery

From the Tribune’s Alice Yin: “A year ago, as the U.S.’ coronavirus pandemic-spurred recession seemingly spared no local government, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle warned ‘everything is on the table’ when she laid out a $410 million budget gap for the 2021 fiscal year.

“On Wednesday, Preckwinkle’s administration forecast much sunnier days ahead, projecting a $121 million budget deficit for next year that she said would be far easier to plug — and likely without requiring new levies, tax hikes, layoffs or fees.”

The pandemic made dire fiscal projections but there’s also an old political game that may be at play here: Overstate the problem and take credit for saving the day.

Yin writes: “The projected $121.4 million budget deficit for 2022 comes from a gap of about $60.3 million in the general fund, which consists of the criminal justice and administrative offices, and pension obligations, and another shortfall of $61.1 million from the health fund, which goes toward the county’s health care program and hospital system.”

She also notes, “Cook County Chief Financial Officer Ammar Rizki said it’s possible some of that deficit could be offset by tapping into the approximately $1 billion allocated to the county under Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act passed in March.” Full story here.

FEC puts off ruling on U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly’s role as new Illinois Democratic chair amid conflicts with federal fundraising rules

The Tribune’s Rick Pearson writes: “The Federal Election Commission on Thursday delayed until next month a ruling sought by Illinois Democrats over how its new leader, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, could engage in campaigning without violating federal fundraising regulations that are stricter than state law.

“Kelly was elected by top state Democrats on March 3 to replace embattled former House Speaker Michael Madigan as party chair amid questions about how she could engage in state fundraising activities for the party with higher dollar limits as a federal officeholder.”

Pearson writes. “Democrats sought an expedited advisory opinion from the FEC by July 6 but agreed to an extension until the commission’s next meeting July 15 after it appeared commissioners wanted to find a compromise that would allow Kelly to be party chair but be walled off from nonfederal fundraising activities — the bulk of the party’s fundraising operation.

“Kelly would be able to raise money for the state party for federal campaigns under the stricter limits, a much smaller part of the party operation,” Pearson continues. “The federal campaign rules’ dilemma underscores the limited symbolic role as chair that she would hold.” Full story here.

Thanks for reading The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Have a tip? Email host Lisa Donovan at ldonovan@chicagotribune.com.

Twitter @byldonovan