Chairwoman Gong Gershowitz, Spokesperson Ugaste, My name is Bryan Zarou, and I am the Vice President of Policy at the Better Government Association. The Better Government Association strongly supports ...

In a 2019 survey, municipal clerks in Maine were asked about the cost and administrative burden of running an RCV election; voter education efforts and voter competence with new rules; and how ranked ...

Our Mapping Team Dr. James Lewis Jim Lewis Dr. James Lewis worked with members of the Chicago City Council, Cook County Board and Illinois congressional delegation on remap proposals during the 1990s.

Those honorary speeches can add unscheduled hours to a meeting – a BGA analysis found that on average, City Council spends one-third of its floor time discussing non-binding matters under suspension ...

We looked at 2017 student population sizes at all 852 school districts in Illinois. On average, Illinois districts have 2,345 students. As many as 40 districts are made up of only one school with less ...

The police department exceeded its judgments and settlements budget by $17.8 million in 2021, and the department is already over-budget for 2022 as of a set of settlements approved at the September ...

Chicago’s City Council allows public comment at all of its meetings, including meetings of its committees. There are multiple ways to submit public comment, but each has a specific application process ...

A BGA Policy analysis of the 16 county detention centers across Illinois has found that only three successfully have completed audits mandated by federal law to enforce protections against sexual ...

Department of Procurement Services DPS is the contracting, certification and compliance authority for the City of Chicago. An ordinance that took effect on Jan. 26, 2022 and that currently sunsets at ...

Brandon Johnson is the newly elected mayor of Chicago, succeeding Lori Lightfoot. Prior to his election, Johnson served as a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners and as a community ...

Salaries and bonuses for Chicago police officers represented by the Fraternal Order of Police in 2024 could exceed the budgeted position costs approved by City Council by $76.8 million or more, ...

Dear Mayor Johnson: In recent weeks, members of the public—including representatives of the Better Government Association—have been denied access to the second floor of the City Council chambers and ...