The Latest Breaking News from City Council

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to censure three current and former council members for their part in an incendiary conversation that contained racist remarks.

NEW YORK — New York City is set to expand its war on rats.

Chief sponsor Ald. Ariel Reboyras is retiring from the City Council, but his colleagues who want to stick around may have cold feet, he told the Sun-Times, because “they’re running for re-election. They don’t want this to hurt ’em.”

They're among three lawmakers who were recorded talking in racist terms. And though they've been stripped of assignments and haven't been attending meetings, they're still collecting hefty paychecks.

In early 2020, City Council declared a state of climate emergency. Hiring a few people in the mayor’s office is not enough to tackle the crisis.

Today’s update is a 5-minute read that will brief you on the day’s biggest stories.

Ald. Brendan Reilly is proposing that legislation introduced directly to committee be sent to alderpersons and publicly posted at least 48 hours before a hearing, along with an “unbiased summary” and a “statement explaining the urgency.”

The Transportation Committee has repeatedly summoned transit agency leader Dorval Carter Jr., but he has ignored them, sending underlings instead.

For almost 250 years, white men have led the design, implementation and reform of American democracy, and, frankly, it is not working well for many of us. Women represent a slight majority of the U.S. population, and, according to the Brookings Institution, people of color will constitute a majority of…