The Chicago Police Dept. (CPD) will reveal parts of its plan to rework the deployment of police personnel citywide. But the revelation comes late—and critics deride CPD's lack of transparency.

Inside Chicago Government received this from a Chicago resident:

Just wondering what you know about Chicago Councilmatic.

 And why there may be two versions of a City Council resolution, "Call for hearings on strengthening animal welfare services and community engagement," one by Ald. Jessie Fuentes and one by Ald. Gil Villegas. When I searched to find news, the link to the Villegas version is what came up, while the Fuentes version seems to have more legs.

 Is she working across the aisle? The resolutions were introduced on the same day, but to be before different council committees. Is that intentional, to involve more alders, and indicative that it would be a joint hearing? Fuentes's version will go before Health and Human Relations, while Gilbert's version will go before Public Safety.

 —Mike S.

The Fuentes version with more legs? We see what you did there.

The Councilmatic site aggregates data from the Chicago City Council. But in terms of legislation and resolutions, Councilmatic's source is the city clerk (the council's record-keeper)—so we generally look to the latter for council actions.

Anyway, you can find the Fuentes resolution and the Villegas resolution about animal welfare hearings—both introduced on July 16, 2025—on the clerk's site.

Notice first that Ald. Villegas (36) appears as a co-sponsor of the Ald. Fuentes (26) resolution. Ald. Kundson (43) and Ald. Lawson (44), the only two co-sponsors on the Villegas resolution, also appear as co-sponsors on the Fuentes resolution.

Without sniffing around, we'll guess that (a) Fuentes & Villegas have collaborated in some way; and (b) Villegas has rolled over on this one.

Notice further that the Villegas resolution went to the Committee on Public Safety, chaired by Ald. Hopkins (2). Hopkins appears as a co-sponsor on the Fuentes resolution, but not on the Villegas resolution.

So, will a joint committee convene? The above points give us pause.

In a discussion by journalists Dave Glowacz and Ben Joravsky, Dave and Ben probed an ongoing investigation into police workforce allocation.

The city of Chicago has signed a contract for a study that aims to conclusively determine where, when, and how to deploy all employees of the Chicago Police Department.

The city of Chicago announced last week that it's about to launch a thorough study of police staffing, resulting in department-wide recommendations to be shared publicly. Aldermen and the public have been kept mostly in the dark.

Fifteen City Council members called a special April 1 meeting to oust Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez as housing committee chair. In a discussion by journalists Dave Glowacz and Ben Joravsky, Dave and Ben analyzed the raucous gathering.

Audio from a public meeting of the Chicago Police Board on Feb. 22 2024, which featured a clash between the heads of the Chicago Police Dept. and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.

Inside Chicago Government has published the City Council's little-known implementation plan for the Bring Chicago Home Fund.

In a discussion by journalists Dave Glowacz and Ben Joravsky, Dave and Ben listened to and evaluated meetings of the Chicago City Council from November 2023.

In a discussion by journalists Dave Glowacz and Ben Joravsky, Dave and Ben evaluated audio from September, 2023 meetings of the Chicago City Council.

At a public meeting, prospective Chicago police superintendent Larry Snelling hinted at where and how he'd allocate and deploy cops.

In a discussion by journalists Dave Glowacz and Ben Joravsky, Dave and Ben probed audio from 2023's May meetings of the full Chicago City Council.

The Chicago Headline Club has bestowed a coveted journalism award to Inside Chicago Government reporter Dave Glowacz and the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky for their 2022 coverage of the Chicago City Council.

In its 46th Annual Peter Lisagor Awards event held on May 12, the Headline Club honored Glowacz and Joravsky for having the year's "Best Feature Reporting Series" in an audio format.

Throughout 2022, Glowacz distilled recordings of countless council proceedings into a handful of tightly curated audio capsules. He then sat down with Joravsky to listen and react to the most revealing City Council moments. The result: a monthly audio collage that gave Chicago residents unique samplings of their legislators at work.

Glowacz and Joravsky previously won a Lisagor for uncovering a secret "do not hire" list used by Chicago Public Schools.

The Chicago Headline Club is the local chapter of the national, 114-year-old Society of Professional Journalists.

The Chicago City Council still doesn’t officially onboard and transition its members, despite efforts to do so.

In an audio interview, former Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson described an effort to formalize the training of new aldermen, and gave insights into why it failed.

The Chicago  City Council's meeting on Apr. 19, 2023 had some poignant, laudatory moments—captured in photographs by Inside Chicago Government.

In a discussion by journalists Dave Glowacz and Ben Joravsky, Dave and Ben listened to audio from a special meeting of the full Chicago City Council on March 30, 2023.

In a discussion by journalists Dave Glowacz and Ben Joravsky, Dave and Ben heard and weighed parts of the March 15, 2023 meeting of the full Chicago City Council.

In a discussion by journalists Dave Glowacz and Ben Joravsky, Dave and Ben listened to audio from 2023's February meeting of the full Chicago City Council.

In an audio interview, First Ward Ald. Daniel La Spata described the training needs of newly-elected City Council members.