Jan. 13--Welcome to Clout Street: Morning Spin, our weekday feature to catch you up with what's going on in government and politics from Chicago to Springfield.
Topspin
It's Wednesday, Jan. 13, and it's the first Chicago City Council meeting of the new year.
Aldermen could agree to end their opposition to giving city Inspector General Joseph Ferguson the power to investigate fraud and waste in the council.
The move to bring themselves in line with the rest of city government that's already under Ferguson's oversight would mark a sharp change for aldermen, who have argued for years that they need their own watchdog in recognition of their separate status from the mayor's office.
That a majority of the council's 50 members seem poised to turn over the reins to Ferguson shows in part that they recognize it looks bad to try to hold themselves to different ethical standards than other city workers. It also indicates City Council Inspector General Faisal Khan's recently-ended, contentious four-year term convinced some aldermen who had resisted Ferguson that giving him control might not be such a bad deal.
Council power brokers Ald. Edward Burke, 14th, and Ald. Carrie Austin, 34th, have been among the staunchest members of the anti-Ferguson bloc, but 27 other aldermen sponsored a measure recently to give him oversight. Sponsorship does not always translate to a vote on the council floor, however, and it remains a possibility that opponents of the plan could peel off enough of their colleagues to scuttle it.
Also Wednesday, the council is set to grant Mayor Rahm Emanuel just part of the massive borrowing package he asked for. The mayor reduced the overall size of his request this week amid questions from aldermen about how the city would spend the money and how much interest taxpayers would have to cover.
Emanuel wanted to borrow $2.65 billion, but aldermen removed $650 million for construction projects and legal settlements that had yet to be detailed.
Members of the council's progressive caucus said Tuesday they will nonetheless vote against the borrowing measure because it still includes about $100 million in bonds 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.
The aldermen said at news conference that the Emanuel administration should wait to see if they can get a better deal rather than paying such heavy penalties now.
The administration defended the plan in a conference call.
Jim McDonald, an attorney for the city, said Tuesday that two outside firms in 2014 reviewed numerous documents and talked to those involved in the original deals but concluded the city had no claim against the banks involved in the swap contracts. "If we thought there was a valid claim that we could pursue against the swap counterparties, please be assured that we would review it," he said.
Chief Financial Officer Carole Brown also defended converting the debt and ending the swaps, saying it was in keeping with a pledge Emanuel made last spring and was a sound financial move for the city. (John Byrne, Hal Dardick)
What's on tap
*Mayor Emanuel will preside over the City Council meeting (see above) and take reporters' questions afterward.
*Gov. Bruce Rauner has no public schedule.
*The Cook County Board meets at 11 a.m., and Board President Toni Preckwinkle says she'll address the state budget impasse impact on the county following the meeting. She'll also take reporters' questions.
*There's the usual news conferences at City Hall before the council meeting, including some ministers who will talk about their boycott of the mayor's annual Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast on Friday.
From the notebook
*Senate's back: Legislators will return to the Capitol for the beginning of the spring legislative session, but don't expect any urgency to finally get a budget deal done.
Democratic Speaker Michael Madigan canceled this week's House schedule altogether. That means the House won't be back in Springfield until Jan. 27 -- the day Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner is scheduled to give his annual State of the State address.
The Senate will convene Wednesday, but the agenda is relatively light. Senators will take up numerous board and agency appointments made by Rauner, though none are expected to be controversial. In fact, most of those up for confirmation have been performing their duties for much of the last year.
That includes Edward McMillan, a downstate Republican who has served on the University of Illinois Board since 2009 and was re-appointed by Rauner before being elected chairman last year, and Springfield attorney Don Tracy, nominated by Rauner to serve as chairman of the Illinois Gaming Board. McMillan served on Rauner's transition team as he prepared to take office, while Tracy formed an independent expenditure committee that supported Rauner's election efforts. (Celeste Bott)
*Fairley in the cool seat: Mayor Emanuel's pick to run the city's Independent Police Review Authority that investigates police misconduct had a much easier time of it Tuesday during her second appearance at a City Council committee hearing.
Sharon Fairley easily won the support of the council's Public Safety Committee, setting the stage for her to get final approval to head up IPRA from the full council Wednesday.
The congenial tone of the meeting was in contrast to the tension and hostility Fairley faced from aldermen during a marathon committee hearing in mid-December, when she had just been appointed by the mayor and council members were keen to publicly show they were taking a hard line on police misconduct as the city seethed after the release of the video showing Laquan McDonald being shot by a police officer.
In part, Fairley was able to win plaudits Tuesday by telling aldermen she was making changes at IPRA like replacing top officials at the agency, which has taken heat since the McDonald video came out for rarely finding fault with officers accused of misconduct.
And she said she plans to act independently of Emanuel's office, welcome news to aldermen after emails released by the mayor's office in response to an open records request showed the head of IPRA sent a message to the administration with status updates on the McDonald situation.
Fairley also told aldermen Tuesday that she believes IPRA should play a role in enacting policy changes at the Chicago Police Department, but acknowledged she's not sure the agency has the power to enforce such changes. "That's a question that I've been asking, so one of the things we'll be reviewing in the weeks to come is whether or not our power in statute provides enough teeth to have an impact on those policies," she said. (John Byrne)
*Duckworth's dollars: U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, seeking the Democratic nomination for the Senate, will report raising $1.6 million in the last quarter of 2015, her campaign says.
Duckworth, of Hoffman Estates, will report having $3.65 million in cash available for the start of this year and has raised more than $4.7 million in the current campaign cycle.
Duckworth is facing former Chicago Urban League President Andrea Zopp and state Sen. Napoleon Harris of Harvey for the March 15 nomination for the seat held by re-election seeking Republican Sen. Mark Kirk. (Rick Pearson)
*CFL endorses Duckworth: The Chicago Federation of Labor endorsed Duckworth's bid for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination.
But the labor group said it would remain neutral in two major Cook County races -- state's attorney and recorder of deeds. Incumbent State's Attorney Anita Alvarez and court Clerk Dorothy Brown are facing strong primary challenges.
The group also endorsed Brad Schneider for the Democratic nomination in the North Shore 10th Congressional District. But in the suburban 8th District the group announced it had endorsed Duckworth, even though she is giving up the seat for her Senate bid. (Rick Pearson)
*AFSCME for Noland in IL-8: State Sen. Mike Noland has gotten the endorsement of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 in his bid for the Democratic nomination in the 8th Congressional District.
"(Gov.) Bruce Rauner has made AFSCME and public employees his No. 1 scapegoat. I've stood up against his turnaround agenda, and when I go to Congress I will continue to stand up for policies that support working families," Noland said.
The Elgin Democrat is vying for the March 15 nomination against Schaumburg businessman Raja Krishnamoorthi and Villa Park Village President Deb Bullwinkel in the northwest and west suburban district. U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth is giving up the seat to run for U.S. Senate. (Rick Pearson)
What we're writing
*Cook commissioners want special prosecutor, not Alvarez, in Laquan McDonald case.
*Coming soon in Chicago: Curbside dining.
*Emanuel counterprogramming: He's looking at raising tobacco buying age to 21.
*Who's the Chicago cop who fatally shot two?
Follow the money
*Track campaign contribution reports in real time with this Tribune Twitter account: https://twitter.com/ILCampaignCash
Beyond Chicago
*Obama made his last State of the Union address last night.
*Presidential race, Republican side: Cruz's New Hampshire strategy.
*Presidential race, Democratic side: Clinton shrugs off Sanders surge.
*Sailors expected to be released by Iran soon.
