Aldermen Delay The Inspector General's Effort To Investigate City Council
By aaroncynic in News on Jan 13, 2016 9:28PM
Chicago's aldermen will be safe from the threat of being investigated, at least for a little while, after two powerful aldermen temporarily postponed a vote on an ordinance that would’ve given the Office of the Inspector General authority to investigate City Council members.
Ald. Ed Burke, chairman of the Finance Committee and ALd. Carrie Austin, chair of the budget committee, used a procedural move in a City Council meeting on Wednesday that delayed a vote on the legislation for at least one meeting, according to the Sun-Times.
The ordinance, sponsored by Ald. Michelle Smith, would transfer the responsibilities of the empty Legislative Inspector General position to the Office of the Inspector General, and allow for full investigations of the City Council. The OIG currently is the City Hall watchdog, and the LIG post is empty after the departure of Faisal Khan late last year. While he was on his way out after a tumultuous four years of having his hands tied by the aldermen, the FBI paid a visit and scooped up documents and computers related to several investigations. Critics of the way the LIG was run pointed to its inability to launch independent investigations, along with the fact that they needed approval from the Board of Ethics to proceed.
Opponents of the move to give investigatory power of City Council to Inspector Joe Ferguson, rather than having a separate office for it, are concerned about fake complaints from political rivals or disgruntled citizens. On Monday, Ald. Will Burns told the Tribune “There is a political benefit from filing complaints against members of the City Council and having that information in the ether.”
Until something changes, Harris and others say the aldermen are nearly free to operate without worrying about investigations.
“This ordinance was drafted with an eye to bringing equity to ethical oversight of City Council,” Harris said.
In fact, it’s no surprise that Burke and Austin are the two leading the charge to derail the ordinance. According to the Chicago Tribune, Burke refused to let Ferguson audit a program the Finance Committee administered, and Austin’s son resigned his position in the Department of Streets and Sanitation after an investigation, launched because of an anonymous complaint, revealed he covered up crashing a city vehicle.