Emanuel Taps Foundations for Transition Cash

By Prescott Carlson in News on Mar 26, 2011 4:00PM

Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel is going a decidedly different route to pay for his transition into City Hall by asking some of the city's nonprofit foundations to help foot the bill.

"It's novel. I haven't heard of any other transition funded that way," deputy director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform David Morrison tells the Tribune. "There's no reason that they couldn't use campaign money for this." Emanuel is reportedly receiving $200,000 from four foundations.

The Trib reports Emanuel still had over $2 million in his war chest after the February election, and he's also set up two other campaign funds to support aldermen in the upcoming runoff elections as well as to raise funds for his inauguration in May.

One of the foundations pitching in is the MacArthur Foundation, who's stated mission is to support "creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world" and to "make cities better places." Another is the Spencer Foundation, which normally awards research grants and fellowships to "strengthen the connections among education research."

A spokesman told the Trib that Emanuel went to the nonprofits because he "did not want to solicit contributions from private donors."

Emanuel currently has eight transition committees: Government Reinvention and Budget, Education, Economic Development & Planning, Public Safety, Transportation and Infrastructure, Social Services & Healthcare, Energy Environment & Public Space, and Arts & Culture. Five representatives from two of the foundations contributing funds sit on several committees.