Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday abruptly adjourned a virtual City Council meeting after a pair of aldermen used a parliamentary maneuver to delay consideration of an ordinance that would grant her expanded spending and contracting authority for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic.
The theatrics started when Aldermen Ray Lopez (15th) and Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) moved to defer and publish the emergency powers ordinance, which would put off the vote until the next council meeting.
Lightfoot responded by declaring her intention to end the meeting after only two substantive votes — to confirm David Brown as police superintendent and increase penalties for cyber-stalking — and meet again at 1 p.m. Friday.
That was followed by a series of procedural votes to suspend the rules and consider those motions that left several aldermen confused about what they were voting on. At one point, indicted Ald. Edward Burke (14th), an expert on Roberts Rules of Order, offered his nemesis, the mayor, advice on Council procedure.
During several of the virtual roll calls, dogs could be heard barking in the background.
“I’m a bit confused, but I believe ‘aye,’” Ald. Sophia King (4th) said at one point.
Lopez answered one of the procedural roll calls with a, “Hell, no.”
Lightfoot said she knows that some aldermen “like the sport of this,” but said it is highly inappropriate to “use profanity” during a City Council meeting.
When the meeting was over, Ramirez-Rosa essentially accused the mayor of punishing aldermen because she didn’t get her way.
“This underscores why this power grab is not an appropriate step for this Council to approve at this time. We need level-headed leaders that, when they don’t get their way, are willing to compromise and work with the City Council,” Ramirez-Rosa said.
“There was no reason to adjourn the rest of the meeting today. We could have continued on with the regular order of business. But also, this underscores that we have the ability to meet virtually in rather quick order, so why is the Council giving up its oversight powers to the executive branch when we can do what we just did: Set a meeting for 48 hours and continue on with the business of the people.”
The mayor’s decision to expand and extend the emergency powers she granted herself by executive order has triggered a backlash from aldermen reluctant to relinquish any more power than Lightfoot has already stripped away.
To avoid a City Council rebellion in the middle of a pandemic, Lightfoot agreed to put a $1 million limit on the emergency contracting authority and give the Council’s Budget Committee weekly summaries of emergency spending and contracting activity.
She agreed not to waive the required economic disclosure statement, but gave contractors a 60-day grace period to submit those statements.
Most important, she agreed to let the extraordinary emergency spending and contracting powers expire on June 30 — or sooner, if Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady makes a “written determination that the threat to public health posed by COVID-19 has diminished to the point that this ordinance can be safely repealed.”
The mayor also agreed to stipulate that “any and all” monies spent, borrowed or transferred under the ordinance would be used only for the city’s response to COVID-19.
