Stalemate over Council reform
The City Council is proving again that legendary Ald. Paddy Bauler was right to say, “Chicago ain’t ready for reform.”
The City Council is proving once again that legendary Ald. Paddy Bauler was right when he said, “Chicago ain’t ready for reform.”
In 2009, aldermen balked at then- Mayor Richard M. Daley’s plan to give Inspector General Joe Ferguson the power to investigate them.
Instead, they created their own inspector general, tied his hands into a pretzel and waited 18 months — until after the February 2011 aldermanic election — to fill the job with Faisal Khan.
Now, they’re following the familiar stalling pattern with two other pivotal reforms: Replacing Khan with Ferguson and creating an independent budget office.
The $ 485,000- a- year independent budget office was created a year ago to provide aldermen with expert advice on mayoral spending, programs and privatization and guide them through the painful choices that will be required to solve Chicago’s $ 20 billion pension crisis.
But nothing has happened because of a protracted stalemate over whether former Ald. Helen Shiller ( 46th) has the independence and policy expertise to lead the office as the first- ever, $ 107,000- a- year City Council financial analyst.
Ald. Ameya Pawar ( 47th), the prime mover behind the independent budget office, has waged a behind- thescenes lobbying campaign to block Shiller because he thinks other candidates interviewed were more qualified and independent.
Budget Committee Chairman Carrie Austin ( 34th) is equally determined to engineer the appointment of Shiller and furious about Pawar’s efforts to undermine Shiller’s candidacy and impugn her integrity.
When the seven- member selection committee deadlocked in late July, Austin said the panel would take another crack at finding what she called an “agreed candidate” in September.
That still hasn’t happened. Mayor Rahm Emanuel is scheduled to unveil his 2015 budget on Wednesday.
Pawar and Austin also are protagonists in the inspector general controversy.
Pawar helped Ald. Pat O’Connor ( 40th), the mayor’s City Council floor leader, convince 35 aldermen to cosign an ordinance shifting the power to investigate aldermen and their employees to Ferguson provided the IG is prohibited from launching investigations based on anonymous complaints.
Austin and Finance Committee Chairman Edward Burke ( 14th) are lobbying their colleagues to sit on the ordinance on grounds that it’s not a priority with voters and that aldermen would be making a grave mistake by empowering Ferguson.
The lobbying campaign by the two power players appears to be working.
One month after the ordinance was introduced, the Rules Committee has yet to hold or schedule a hearing on it.
Rules Committee Chairman Michelle Harris ( 8th) cut off the conversation when asked whether she intends to hold the hearing before the Feb. 24 aldermanic election.
O’Connor could not be reached for comment on the behind- the- scenes lobbying campaign that threatens to stall an ordinance crafted with a powerful assist from Emanuel.
Pawar bemoaned both stalemates.
“I know Chairman O’Connor is working to maintain the coalition we’ve built, and I’m doing the same,” Pawar said.
“One thing I’ve learned is, reform is also about having stamina. We’ve just got the keep plugging away. We know the mayor is supportive. I hope that he weighs in at some point. The will is there in the City Council. We just need to get a hearing and move the process along so we can get a vote.”
As for the prospect of slogging through yet another budget season without an independent budget office, Pawar said, “I’m frustrated that we don’t have consensus around a candidate, but I’m gonna keep working on it. I respect Chairman Austin, but we need to find a way to move this office forward and find the best person to run this office.”
Burke has sparred with Ferguson over the inspector general’s demands to investigate workmen’s compensation claims administered by the Finance Committee.
The alderman also handpicked Khan and referred him to then- Rules Committee Chairman Richard Mell ( 33rd), who sold Khan as the “nobody nobody sent.”
Last month, Burke went public with his reservations about empowering Ferguson to investigate aldermen.
“There’s already an inspector general for the City Council. I’m not saying that. That’s what the law is . . . Is somebody suggesting that he be removed?” Burke said, referring to Khan.
“If you don’t like what he’s doing, there’s a procedure to remove him. Have they done that? . . . That requires [ aldermen] to file charges. He’s entitled to a hearing. . . . There’s gonna be two inspectors general that have jurisdiction over the City Council?”
Austin wants to let Khan serve out the year remaining on his four- year term, then find a replacement who won’t overstep his bounds. She doesn’t trust Ferguson with the power to investigate aldermen and City Council employees.
“We made a decision to have a separate entity. I think we should still keep a separate entity,” Austin said on the day the ordinance was introduced.
“I don’t necessarily have to be afraid of [ Ferguson] not to trust him. . . . He’s mellowed out. It’s not a gotcha. It’s a correction.”