Many Chicagoans can now start applying for either a $150 gas card or $50 public transit credits after a proposal from Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot overcame several speed bumps at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

The taxpayer-funded program passed by a hair — 26 to 23 — after it narrowly passed out of committee last week. It will distribute 50,000 prepaid gas cards, and 100,000 prepaid CTA cards, mostly to qualifying residents in so-called “high mobility hardship areas” — primarily on the city’s South and West sides.

Several aldermen who voted against the giveaway called it an election year stunt by the mayor, alleging it was a clapback to Chicago mayoral candidate Willie Wilson, who has spent more than $2 million of his own money on gas giveaways.

• RELATED STORY

Mayor Lori Lightfoot is ‘diligently’ working on a plan to address the city’s gas tax

read more

“This is 100% the wrong way to go,” Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th Ward, who is also running to replace Lightfoot. “Gift cards, Ventra cards do not solve any issues that are facing our residents. To say it was a gimmick would be an understatement.”

Other opponents, including some of the mayor’s close allies on the City Council, complained the program does not go far enough — and that the $12.5 million giveaway could be better spent on mental health, affordable housing or other support services for low-income residents.

“I might get two full tanks of gas and then what?” said Ald. Leslie Hairston, 5th Ward.

“We can do more with this money than just pour it into gas tanks,” Ald. Maria Hadden, 49th Ward, said, adding that everything from rent to food is getting more expensive.

Several aldermen also took issue with the city supporting the fossil fuel industry, and urged the city instead to find ways to get people back on the CTA since ridership has taken a hit during the pandemic.

Before the vote, Lightfoot urged aldermen to prioritize the entire city over their individual wards. The plea proved to be rather ironic after the 26 to 23 vote came down and two aldermen who voted against the measure in committee — Ald. Deb Silverstein, 50th Ward, and Ald. Derrick Curtis, 18th Ward — voted yes Wednesday after the mayor expanded the neighborhoods considered to be “high mobility hardship” areas to include their wards.

According to the ordinance, Chicagoans can’t earn more than 100% of the median area income to qualify for the gas relief program. That translates to making no more than $65,300 for an individual or $93,200 for a family of four. Both the prepaid gas cards and the prepaid CTA cards will be geared largely toward residents on the South and West sides.

Proponents of the ordinance say they’ve been flooded with calls from constituents interested in benefiting from the program. Eligible Chicagoans can apply online at this link, or by calling (312) 742-3317.

Aldermen also took up several other big ticket items Wednesday.

For months, Chicago has been without a permanent top watchdog to lead the office in charge of “ensuring honesty and integrity in City government by rooting out corruption, fraud, other misconduct, and waste.” But on Wednesday, the City Council officially hired Deborah Witzburg to be the new inspector general.

Witzburg previously worked as a top official in the inspector general’s office as the deputy inspector general for public safety, a position created after the police killing of Black Chicago teenager Laquan McDonald. Witzburg replaces Joe Ferguson, who held the position for 12 years.

Also on Wednesday, an ordinance from Lightfoot to ban the privatization of Chicago’s waterworks, and to ban water shutoffs due to nonpayment, was sent to the Rules Committee, where legislation can languish.

Some community organizations expressed disappointment in the mayor’s proposal because it doesn’t include an expansion of the city’s Utility Billing Relief program. They’re instead advocating for a Water For All ordinance introduced last year by Ald. Daniel La Spata, 1st Ward.

And even though thousands of lucky residents will soon win $150 gas cards, they’ll have to keep driving slowly near parks and schools. That’s because a proposal from Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th Ward, to repeal the $35 speed camera tickets for driving between 6 and 10 mph over the limit failed to get a vote, despite his attempt to call for one.

Mariah Woelfel and Becky Vevea cover Chicago city government at WBEZ. You can follow them @MariahWoelfel and @BeckyVevea.