On this week’s Mayor Monday, the show’s tearing its eyes off the big prize to take a look at the men and women of Chicago’s city council. Mayor Daley may have a lock on colorful turns of phrase. But the council has its own cast of characters: The 50 city council members of Chicago meet once a month and vote on everything from municipal money matters to zoning issues. They also approve some of the Mayor’s major appointees. Under Daley, some say the council has been pretty much a big old rubber stamp of approval. But this spring could bring the biggest city council turnover in decades.

To find out what that means for city politics, “Eight Forty-Eight” gathered WBEZ’s bureau reporters to discuss the races they’re following in and around their communities: Chip Mitchell reports out of the West Side bureau, Natalie Moore heads up the South Side bureau in Englewood and Odette Yousef keeps an eye on the North Side in WBEZ’s Devon Ave. location.

A correction has been made to this story:

One of our guests mistakenly referred to a 2007 municipal runoff in the 46th Ward race in Chicago. Actually, the current alderman, Helen Shiller garnered 53 percent of the vote, enough to make a runoff for the seat unnecessary.

Music Button: Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra, “Dirty Birdy”, from the CD Music and Rhythm, (Ubiquity)