Brendan Reilly

Alderperson, Ward 42, Chicago City Council

Raised head tax and budget revenue at seven meetings.

3 of 19transcribed meetings with their voice identified

0.2min a meeting at the City Council, at least

67questions at the Committee on Budget and Government Operations

19 of 20present at roll calls, from the clerk

Also sits on 6 committees

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Next City Council meeting: Mon, Nov 2, 10:00 am · Agenda

Seven clips, newest first

Pensions and the CPS loanBrendan ReillyMember · Committee on Finance · Feb 9, 2026 · 3:27:31They had to take out a $1.8 billion short-term loan. They’re paying over $220,000 a day in interest, and I think their running total now is up to over $62 million, um, in, in borrowing costs.Open the meeting at 3:27:31

Casino“As you do know, the Gaming Board has issued some licenses, but the city has refused to issue permits locally. So there are none. So I’ll bring you up to speed on that. The, the, the issue here, why did you halt construction on everything other than the gaming floor?”Brendan ReillyMember · Committee on License and Consumer Protection · Sep 9, 2026 · 1:07:20 Inspector general“I understand that Department of Law, for example, did not want to allow the OIG investigators into that room unaccompanied.”Brendan ReillyMember · Committee on Budget and Government Operations · Nov 13, 2025 · 6:58:20 “I, I assumed it was the mayor’s office who sent you. Um, and who in the mayor’s office asked you to be here, Commissioner?”Brendan ReillyMember · Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards · Sep 17, 2026 · 2:02:12 “Do you know how many police officers have been shot in the last 2 years in the city of Chicago?”Brendan ReillyMember · Committee on Finance · Sep 14, 2026 · 33:24 “You’re saying the total amount of uncollected debt from employees to the city and sister agencies is only $5 million?”Brendan ReillyMember · Committee on Budget and Government Operations · Dec 17, 2025 · 2:08:07 “How many tickets have you written to, um, taxicab medallion owners in the last 12 months?”Brendan ReillyMember · Committee on License and Consumer Protection · Apr 13, 2026 · 51:43

Officials only. Public speakers are counted, never named.

Issues Reilly raised, by number of meetings

We count who raised an issue, not which side they took.

Every roll call, and Reilly’s other bodies

Present at 19 of 20 roll calls at the City Council

From the clerk’s own record. We don’t compare members on it.

PresentAbsentOldest first, 1 square per roll call

Absent 1. Nov 14, 2025 to Oct 14, 2026. The clerk’s record covers 20 of the 22 meetings we hold, through Oct 14, 2026.

Official roll call, from the clerk →

Committee on Finance: 2.2 min of speech a meeting, range 1.1–3.6. In the same range as 28 other members.
Committee on Budget and Government Operations: 3.2 min of speech a meeting, range 1.7–5.5. In the same range as 28 other members.
Committee on License and Consumer Protection: 2.7 min of speech a meeting, range 0.7–5.3. In the same range as 10 other members.
Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards: talk time not compared. On a random sample of meeting time, between 51% and 66% of members' speech here carries a name; we rank when the low end reaches 60%.
Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight: talk time not compared. Seated for only 6 meetings in 12 months.
Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy: talk time not compared. Seated for only 6 meetings in 12 months.
Committee on License and Consumer Protection: present at 10 of 10 roll calls. Official roll call, from the clerk
Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development: present at 9 of 13 roll calls. Official roll call, from the clerk

Questions

Reilly asked 67 questions at the nine Committee on Budget and Government Operations meetings where we identified them

At least this many: direct questions only.

Of Reilly’s 53 questions to city departments at the Committee on Budget and Government Operations, 17 went to budget, finance and controller.

Who they question: 103 questions to a department, 4 bodies · Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.

Committee on Budget and Government Operations53 questions to city departments

Committee on Budget and Government Operations: questions by department
Department	Share	Questions
Budget, finance and controller		1732%
Emergency management and 911		917%
City attorney / law department		713%
Administration, HR, contracts and facilities		611%
Planning and zoning		611%
2 other departments		815%

Committee on Finance29 questions to city departments

Committee on Finance: questions by department
Department	Share	Questions
Budget, finance and controller		1345%
City attorney / law department		828%
Housing		414%
Administration, HR, contracts and facilities		27%
Schools / school district		27%

Committee on License and Consumer Protection15 questions to city departments

Committee on License and Consumer Protection: questions by department
Department	Share	Questions
Economic development, business and licensing		15100%

Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards6 questions to city departments

Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards: questions by department
Department	Share	Questions
Building permits and inspection		350%
Housing		350%

Neighborhoods Reilly named

2 places Reilly named in meetings

Lines where Reilly named the place, read by two AI readers that both agree it means that place. Each dot plays the newest one; brighter means named more often.

Chicago

Near North Side 1 time
Uptown 1 time

Places are drawn at the centre of their own boundary in the city’s Boundaries - Community Areas file (City of Chicago Data Portal). A dot says the place was named, not where Reilly was or what was said about it.

Meetings

Every meeting where we identified Reilly’s voice

33, newest first. The date opens the meeting; the time plays the video at Reilly’s first remark.

Sep 23, 2026City Council1.7 min3:03:28
Sep 22, 2026Committee on Finance0.9 min3:01:45
Sep 17, 2026Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards13.9 min2:01:41
Sep 14, 2026Committee on Finance8.8 min47:28
Sep 9, 2026Committee on License and Consumer Protection12.6 min1:07:19
Jul 16, 2026Committee on Budget and Government Operations5.7 min1:13:23
Jul 14, 2026Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards1.2 min53:27
Jul 13, 2026Committee on Finance4.0 min2:11:55
Jun 15, 2026Committee on Budget and Government Operations0.9 min31:40
Jun 15, 2026Committee on Finance1.9 min1:02:16

Show all 33Show fewer

Jun 9, 2026Committee on License and Consumer Protection1.2 min25:16
Jun 4, 2026Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards4.3 min1:21:58
May 20, 2026City Council0.3 min4:23:02
May 6, 2026Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards1.3 min1:08:36
May 5, 2026Committee on License and Consumer Protection0.3 min1:22:11
Apr 13, 2026Committee on Finance4.7 min1:40:25
Apr 13, 2026Committee on License and Consumer Protection5.6 min52:24
Mar 16, 2026Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight2.4 min39:23
Feb 9, 2026Committee on Finance6.5 min3:22:32
Feb 3, 2026Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy1.0 min30:26
Jan 21, 2026City Council1.5 min2:53:35
Jan 14, 2026Committee on Finance2.4 min2:22:45
Dec 17, 2025Committee on Budget and Government Operations7.8 min1:16:48
Dec 4, 2025Committee on Finance2.6 min2:15:07
Dec 3, 2025Committee on License and Consumer Protection6.9 min1:15:45
Nov 17, 2025Committee on Finance8.9 min1:33:30
Nov 13, 2025Committee on Budget and Government Operations14.6 min6:45:12
Nov 10, 2025Committee on Budget and Government Operations11.0 min1:56:57
Nov 10, 2025Committee on Finance0.7 min1:56:56
Nov 6, 2025Committee on Budget and Government Operations11.0 min58:09
Nov 5, 2025Committee on Budget and Government Operations3.4 min53:33
Oct 30, 2025Committee on Budget and Government Operations2.6 min1:15:10
Oct 29, 2025Committee on Budget and Government Operations10.9 min46:49

How we identify who is speaking · blind check, pooled across five cities: of 410 council lines drawn, 352 right, 0 wrong, 1 unclear, 57 couldn’t be judged

We identified Reilly’s voice at 33 meetings across seven bodies. A meeting missing here means we couldn’t attribute the voice, not that Reilly was absent. Claude and Gemini each read every transcript with that day’s roster. A voice gets Brendan Reilly’s name only when both agree and a code check finds the name said on, or just before, their turn. Voices our transcripts merge with someone else’s are never attributed, so every count here undercounts what Reilly said. For councils and their committees, of 410 lines drawn, 352 were right, 0 wrong and 1 unclear, and the checkers couldn’t judge 57. We have since removed the voices behind 110 of those lines (0 wrong, 1 unclear, the rest we had already held for other reasons). Of the 300 lines we still publish, the checkers could judge 268: all 268 right (90% lower bound 0.99). They couldn’t judge the other 32. The check is one sample pooled across the five cities, not of Reilly or of Chicago alone.