Jan. 14--For at least one more day the Chicago City Council wasn't ready for reform, as two old-guard aldermen blocked a measure Wednesday to allow the city watchdog to investigate members of the body.
Supporters of an ordinance giving Inspector General Joseph Ferguson council oversight said they had enough votes to pass the proposal. Before they could put that backing to the test on the council floor, however, Ald. Edward Burke and Ald. Carrie Austin used a procedural move to delay the roll call for a month.
That will give them additional time to try to weaken support for the plan or to craft changes to the ordinance to rein in Ferguson's power to probe aldermanic offices. Immediately after the vote was delayed, aldermen announced the creation of a six-member "working group" to address concerns about the exact scope of Ferguson's authority.
The proposal almost certainly will get voted on at the next council meeting unless sponsors believe they no longer can count on a majority of the 50 aldermen to back it.
Burke, 14th, and Austin, 34th, have been two of the staunchest opponents of giving the inspector general's office the same ability to look into allegations of fraud and waste in the City Council that it enjoys in the rest of city government, including the mayor's office.
Austin, the longtime alderman of a Far South Side ward that includes parts of Roseland, Morgan Park and West Pullman, said she simply wants to retain the "separation of powers" between the council and the mayor, who appoints the inspector general.
"That's the label that you all want to say, that we're not ready for reform," Austin said when asked about the delay tactic. "Why do you think we're doing all these adjustments? We're trying to make it stronger so the public will be satisfied. We don't mind being investigated, at least I don't, because I don't have anything to hide. Neither do my employees. So why would we not want to have our separatism in investigative generals? That's all."
Burke, the council's longest-serving member who represents part of the Southwest Side, did not respond to questions about his reasons for joining Austin.
Ald. Michele Smith, 43rd, who has been campaigning for more than a year to give Ferguson council oversight, said she is confident the measure will pass in February.
"Good government should not fear good oversight, and so we're still committed to getting us there, and I believe we will," Smith said. "There is overwhelming support in the City Council for this change to be made at a time when our city is facing an unprecedented crisis of confidence."
Latino Caucus Chairman Ald. George Cardenas, 12th, who has emerged as another backer of the bill, said 39 aldermen have signed on to support it.
"There's a game of cat-and-mouse being played. We were assured this was going to be voted on today, but apparently the political gods were not all the way with us," Cardenas said. "This only hardens our position to get reform done in this council."
The ethics overhaul delay came the same day Mayor Rahm Emanuel pulled back part of a massive city borrowing package amid concerns from aldermen that taxpayers will end up taking a heavy financial hit under his package.
At issue is about $100 million in bonds Emanuel wants to use to terminate a complex agreement called a swap contract as part of the process to convert $500 million in variable-rate debt to fixed-rate debt.
Ald. John Arena, 45th, said aldermen only received the Emanuel administration's analysis of why the deal makes sense late Tuesday and want more time to consider it. "If their case is proven, I'll be the first one to vote yes," Arena said.
Emanuel laughed when asked whether he's facing some kind of insurrection from newly emboldened aldermen who sense his weakness in the fallout from the Laquan McDonald shooting video.
"Before, you all said they were too much of a rubber stamp and we should have them express themselves," Emanuel said. "You let them work through issues -- whether it's inspector general or bond stuff -- then you say, 'Oh, it's a reflection you don't have the political leadership.'"
The mayor then told his oft-repeated parable about a mother who gives her son a blue sweater and a green sweater: "He goes upstairs, puts on the blue sweater and she says, 'What's wrong with the green sweater?'"
Also Wednesday, Emanuel defended his proposal to raise the age to legally buy cigarettes in Chicago from 18 to 21. And he introduced a package of tax increases on cigars and smokeless tobacco to raise $6 million for summer programs for students.
"I think we'll not only get our kids' health right, but we'll also invest in educational gains and outcomes," he said.
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