Chicago aldermen finally did the right thing today.

All it took was three meetings of the City Council Committee on Zoning, a Plan Commission session, a media spotlight, a push by Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office, a final deadline and a fawning final presentation that lacked only a mariachi band.

But, hey, welcome to Chicago, Fox Motors. Better late than never for the city's business reputation. Let's pop some Champagne corks.

Readers of this website or the Chicago Tribune's editorial page ought to know the story by now.

Michigan-based FMG Holdings LLC, which runs auto dealerships under the Fox Motors brand, wants to expand here. It bought a defunct dealership on South Michigan Avenue as a temporary measure before moving the business to a spanking-new, $57 million, 100,000-square-foot complex on North Elston Avenue a block north of Diversey Avenue, an investment the firm says will create 200 construction jobs and 135 permanent full-time jobs paying an average of $65,000 a year and generate $200 million in sales taxes for local government over the next 20 years.

With the full support of the local alderman, Scott Waguespack, 32nd, all it needed was routine approval of a needed rezoning. Piece of cake, right?

But then Fox ran into the City Council's Latino caucus, specifically into Zoning Committee Chairman Danny Solis, 25th, whose panel twice sat on the rezoning, failing to call it for a vote.

Mr. Solis said he was concerned that Ford Motor Co., on whose behalf Fox would operate the 32nd Ward dealership, doesn't have enough Latino franchisees. That's a legitimate concern, given that only about 5 percent of Ford's dealerships nationally are minority-owned.

THERE WAS MORE TO IT

But, in the Chicago way, there was more to it. Mr. Solis was interested not just in helping Latinos but also in having a particular Latino associate get a dealership, an associate who just by coincidence had donated $6,800 to Mr. Solis' political organization in the past two and a half years.

That's what I reported in recent weeks and, even in Chicago, that's a bit much. It set off a stink.

So, today, Mr. Solis called a committee meeting. And not only Fox but a ranking Ford executive, Director of Market Representation David Kelleher, showed up to testify.

Mr. Kelleher spoke eloquently about how Ford is trying to line up more minority partners, even though it nationally has been cutting dealerships. It now has twice as many African-American franchises as any other auto company, he said, and 163 minority-owned franchises nationally.

Mr. Kelleher didn't promise to do anything for Mr. Solis' pal. And, indeed, a Ford spokesman tells me he'll be treated exactly the same as any other applicant. But the point was clear: Ford cares.

Presenters for Fox made the same point. They had a Latino employee testify, and a black executive. They promised to give extensive construction work to minority contractors and arranged for the head of a Hispanic contractors group to testify on their behalf. And they retained attorney Gery Chico, one of Chicago's cloutiest Latinos, to massage the aldermen.

Like I said, everything but a mariachi band.

In the end, the committee vote was unanimous. Mr. Solis congratulated Fox for a project "that will really benefit the Chicago community," and even thanked folks in the media like me who had dinged him. Without all the publicity, "maybe the point about (Ford's lack of) minority representation would not have been made."

The final vote by the full City Council is expected Sept. 11. God bless Chicago, city of business.

Update — Mr. Emanuel is out with some thoughts. From a statement: “I am committed to fostering economic opportunity and job creation in our neighborhoods, as I have been since the first minute of my administration. I am pleased that this important project passed the zoning committee and I will work to ensure that every viable project has a smooth path to fruition in this city.”