Chicago aldermen reject proposed lobbying ordinance
Aldermen on Tuesday rejected a Mayor Lori Lightfoot-introduced ordinance that would have rolled back part of tougher City Hall lobbying rules for elected officials that the City Council passed late last year.
The City Council Ethics Committee voted 16-0 not to send the measure brought forward by Lightfoot months ago to the full council. It would have once again allowed elected officials from outside Chicago to lobby the mayor, aldermen and other city government agencies on behalf of private clients, as long as the public body they represent doesn’t have pending or recurring legislative or contractual matters involving the city of Chicago.
When she introduced the ordinance back in April, Lightfoot argued the tighter lobbying standards passed by the council went too far by applying to elected officials in other jurisdictions.
But with federal investigators probing lobbying practices in Springfield and past City Hall scandals tied to lobbying infractions, aldermen on Tuesday said this is no time for Chicago officials to walk back the stricter requirements.
“Many of us have worked for our entire careers as aldermen to try to bring more transparency to our city government, to eliminate conflicts of interest to the extent that we can and to remake the image of City Council,” saidEthics Committee Chair Ald. Michele Smith, 43rd.
And Southwest Side Ald. Matt O’Shea, 19th, said aldermen can’t expect residents to trust aldermen if theyweaken ethics rules.
“I recognize that the amendment before this body today may seem like a small change to some people, but oncewe carve out this exception, what will come next?”
he asked. “If we start watering down this regulation, it will be rendered totally irrelevant.”
Tuesday’s vote came after the city Board of Ethics announced last month that it would finally start enforcing the prohibition on lobbying by elected officials from outside Chicago.
According to the board, thenew standards would only bring into conflict one city lobbyist, Gyata Kimmons, who serves as a trustee in south suburban Flossmoor while also lobbying themayor and aldermen on behalf of Walmart, McDonald’s, the United Center Joint Venture and other clients.
WhenLightfoot introduced her plan inApril to rollback part of the rules, Smith said she opposed the idea, and the mayor appeared to drop it.
The mayor’s ordinance got new life in late September, whenWest Side Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th, used a parliamentary procedure to try to force an up-or-down vote on it by the full council. Smith agreed to instead hold a hearing on it in her committee.
Ervin on Tuesday said if the
City Council wants to enact true lobbying reform, officials appointed by the mayor to bodies such as the city Zoning Board of Appeals, who he said often have more real power than elected officials, also should be covered by the ban. “In for a penny, in for a pound,” Ervin said.
Later Tuesday, the mayor tried to distance herself from the ordinance she introduced after its resounding defeat in the Ethics Committee.
Lightfoot said shewas trying to address “unintended consequences” in the council rules, but aldermen who supported the tougher restrictions didn’twant to consider her proposed change. Ervin decided to push ahead with trying to pass it, Lightfoot said.
“I said (to Ervin), ‘You can do what youwant, but you’re going to have to build a coalition for this change,’” Lightfoot said. “Hewent forward, I think fully understanding the difficult terrain, and the council voted howit voted.”