Welcome to Newswire — your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what action we can take to make our city great, featuring public meeting coverage by City Bureau’s Documenters.

Quote/Term of the Week

Censure / noun, verb

A formal and public statement used to condemn or reprimand an individual’s or governing body’s actions. While a censure has no legal repercussions, it’s a symbolic measure most commonly used in legal, political or official contexts.

The girls are fighting (again)...

New conflicts have split a Northwest Side Police Council that previously moved to oust one of its members. 

Last week, 14th District council members Ashley Vargas and David Orlikoff voted to formally censure chairperson Christopher Laurent. 

In a six-page statement read aloud at the meeting, Vargas and Orlikoff accused Laurent of unprofessional and biased conduct in his official capacity as chair and council member since the start of his term in May 2023. That includes allegations that he physically accosted a constituent while trying to take away their microphone during public comment at  a June 4 meeting, has posted derogatory comments to official communication channels, has willfully violated bylaws, and undermined the council’s work by posting and removing information from official channels without consulting other members. . They also accused Laurent of improperly creating a spinoff group with a similar name — without the involvement of the rest of the council — then promoted that group’s work as being part of the district council when it wasn’t.  

While Laurent did not attend the meeting, he issued his own statement in response in which he said the censure “presents disputed allegations as established facts, attributes intent with evidence, and reaches legal conclusions that are beyond the authority of this Council to make.”

Vargas and Orlikoff also voted to change roles within the council, with Vargas taking over as chair and Orlikoff taking over as nominating committee member. Laurent was shifted to  community engagement coordinator.

Since its members took office in 2023, various conflicts among  the council members and with neighbors have  made headlines. 

In December 2024, 19 council members representing 13 of the city’s 22 police districts signed a letter asking Orlikoff to resign by the end of that year. When he did not, several called for his resignation at a January 2025 district council meeting. Over 10 community members gave public comments accusing Orlikoff of racist and aggressive behavior, and abuse. 

Vargas, who was among the 19 members to sign the letter, read it aloud at that meeting. 

“Your role on the District Council places you at the forefront of accountability and safety efforts. It is therefore critical that you reflect the values of restorative justice and community trust,” she said. 

Orlikoff rebuffed calls for him to step down, saying “[T]his is definitely not what accountability looks like. In terms of the movement versus me, I would love to step down if any of you are interested in taking my position.” 

Now, less than two years later, a different member is facing the hot seat. 

What you can do:

Find your Police District Council and attend a meeting:

1. Find your local police district here.

2. Head to chicago.gov and select your district’s specific page and attend an upcoming meeting.

3. Get acquainted with your district council members. Check out the Chicago Reader’s deep dive into each of the police district council candidates.

Attend a CCPSA meeting: Check for upcoming CCPSA meetings here at the City of Chicago website. Anyone may submit a written  public comment by delivering it to the public meeting or by emailing it to CommunityCommissionPublicComment@cityofchicago.org.

Do you want to run for a Police District Council?

Chicago’s municipal elections are right around the corner, which means the seats across Chicago’s 22 Police District Councils are up for grabs. 

But first, a quick refresh: 

Police District Councils are the result of the Empower Communities for Public Safety (ECPS) ordinance, passed by City Council in July 2021. It created two types of bodies: a citywide Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability and District Councils, which are elected in each of Chicago’s 22 police districts.

While the citywide commission can hire or fire public safety officials and oversees policy issues affecting the entire department — such as discussions around CPD’s use of traffic stops — the district councils discuss policing issues specific to their area, inform the community about what the citywide commission does, gather input from neighbors about public safety and develop community policing initiatives. For example, Chicago Documenters have covered District Council meetings that tackled issues of migrants sheltering inside stations, opened discussions about public safety goals and resulted in a no-confidence vote in a high-ranking police official. 

​​The goal of both the CCPSA and the district councils was to give Chicagoans a meaningful new role in police oversight, and explore and advance alternative effective approaches to public safety. The 2027 elections open the door for more residents to throw their names into the mix.

What you can do:

Have any interest in running for your local Police District Council? Organizers who helped create these positions are looking for potential candidates who want to ensure that community priorities drive policing initiatives in their neighborhoods. If this could be you, fill out the interest form here. 

Attend a teach-in: Head to an upcoming information session to learn more about how you could represent your neighbors on policing and public safety issues. Sessions are taking place through October on Wednesdays and Saturdays, register now.

A version of this story was first published in the August 12, 2026 issue of the Newswire, an email newsletter that is your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what we can do to make our city great. You can sign up for the weekly newsletter here.

Have thoughts on what you'd like to see in this feature? Email Civic Editor Dawn Rhodes at dawn@citybureau.org.