Michelle Harris

Alderperson, Ward 8, Chicago City Council

We identified Harris’ voice at 35 meetings across seven bodies.

12 of 19transcribed meetings with their voice identified

1.7min a meeting at the City Council, at least

28questions at the Committee on Budget and Government Operations

19 of 20present at roll calls, from the clerk

Also sits on 6 other bodies

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

Four clips, newest first

Officials only. Public speakers are counted, never named.

Issues Harris raised, by number of meetings

Inspector general1 meeting

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

Every roll call, and Harris’ 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 Budget and Government Operations: 0.7 min of speech a meeting, range 0.3–1.6. In the same range as 27 other members.
Committee on Transportation and Public Way: 0.4 min of speech a meeting, range 0.1–1.2. In the same range as nine other members.
Committee on Housing and Real Estate: 0.3 min of speech a meeting, range 0.0–1.1. In the same range as 17 other members.
Chicago Housing Authority Board of Commissioners: talk time not compared. Seated for only 5 meetings in 12 months.
Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards: talk time not compared. We could name only 27% of the speech they may have given; we compare members at 30%.
Committee on Finance: talk time not compared. We could name only 21% of the speech they may have given; we compare members at 30%.

What they talk about

Commendations, ceremonies and memorials took 27% of Harris’ speech with a checked topic

By the topic two AI readers agree on for each stretch of their talk, at the City Council and its committees. 44 of 60 minutes of their speech have a checked topic. How much they talk about it, not which side they take.

Commendations, ceremonies and memorials27%

Development and land use6.0%

Housing and tenants5.9%

Questions

Harris asked 28 questions at the seven Committee on Budget and Government Operations meetings where we identified them

At least this many: direct questions only.

Of Harris’ 21 questions to city departments at the Committee on Budget and Government Operations, 7 went to budget, finance and controller.

Who they question: 23 questions to a department, 2 bodies · Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.

Committee on Budget and Government Operations21 questions to city departments

Committee on Budget and Government Operations: questions by department
Department	Share	Questions
Budget, finance and controller		733%
Economic development, business and licensing		524%
Police		314%
Administration, HR, contracts and facilities		210%
Housing		210%
Clerk and legislative staff		210%

Committee on Transportation and Public Way2 questions to city departments

Committee on Transportation and Public Way: questions by department
Department	Share	Questions
Public works, streets and sanitation		2

Neighborhoods Harris named

2 places Harris named in meetings

Lines where Harris 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

Burnside 1 time
Greater Grand Crossing 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 Harris was or what was said about it.

Meetings

Every meeting where we identified Harris’ voice

35, newest first. The date opens the meeting; the time plays the video at Harris’ first remark.

Sep 29, 2026City Council2.2 min1:03:42
Sep 23, 2026City Council2.6 min2:41:07
Sep 16, 2026Committee on Housing and Real Estate2.8 min1:16:49
Sep 15, 2026Chicago Housing Authority Board of Commissioners9.8 min1:11:07
Sep 9, 2026Committee on Transportation and Public Way1.4 min21:45
Jul 22, 2026City Council1.2 min41:54
Jul 21, 2026Chicago Housing Authority Board of Commissioners2.2 min19:36
Jul 16, 2026Committee on Budget and Government Operations4.6 min57:46
Jul 15, 2026City Council7.1 min3:08:58
Jul 14, 2026Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards1.1 min39:54

Show all 35Show fewer

Jul 8, 2026Committee on Transportation and Public Way1.7 min1:53:53
Jun 17, 2026City Council5.5 min2:02:03
Jun 10, 2026Committee on Transportation and Public Way1.4 min55:26
Jun 10, 2026Committee on Housing and Real Estate1.4 min1:57:11
May 26, 2026Chicago Housing Authority Board of Commissioners5.7 min1:37:50
May 20, 2026City Council4.8 min1:09:42
May 13, 2026Committee on Transportation and Public Way0.8 min1:26:58
May 6, 2026Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards0.2 min1:37:37
Apr 27, 2026Committee on Budget and Government Operations1.5 min1:20:54
Apr 15, 2026City Council1.7 min3:21:38
Mar 18, 2026City Council2.2 min57:20
Mar 17, 2026Chicago Housing Authority Board of Commissioners6.2 min2:00:31
Mar 13, 2026Committee on Finance1.2 min1:12:59
Feb 18, 2026City Council4.0 min1:13:52
Feb 17, 2026Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards0.5 min2:52:57
Jan 21, 2026City Council0.6 min2:31:42
Dec 29, 2025City Council0.2 min1:26:52
Dec 17, 2025Committee on Budget and Government Operations0.0 min15:38
Dec 10, 2025City Council0.6 min1:42:48
Dec 3, 2025Committee on Housing and Real Estate0.1 min2:09:12
Nov 25, 2025Chicago Housing Authority Board of Commissioners4.5 min19:41
Nov 12, 2025Committee on Budget and Government Operations2.3 min40:38
Nov 10, 2025Committee on Budget and Government Operations0.2 min1:35:40
Nov 5, 2025Committee on Budget and Government Operations2.4 min47:24
Nov 4, 2025Committee on Budget and Government Operations3.8 min1:33:57

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

A meeting missing here means we couldn’t attribute the voice, not that Harris was absent. Claude and Gemini each read every transcript with that day’s roster. A voice gets Michelle Harris’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 Harris 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 Harris or of Chicago alone.