Chicago City Council
The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 aldermen elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms.[1] The Chicago City Council is gaveled into session regularly (usually monthly) to consider ordinances, orders, and resolutions whose subject matter includes traffic code changes, utilities, taxes, and many other issues. The presiding officer of the Chicago City Council is the Mayor of Chicago. The secretary is the City Clerk of Chicago. Both positions are popularly elected offices.
The Chicago City Council Chambers are located in Chicago City Hall. Also located in the building are the downtown offices of the individual aldermen and staff.
History
Chicago has been divided into wards since 1837, beginning with 6 wards. Until 1923, each ward elected two members to the city council. In 1923, the system that exists today was adopted with 50 wards, each with one council member elected by the ward. In accordance with Illinois state law, ward borders must be shifted after every federal census. This law is intended to give the population of the ward equal representation based by the size of the population of Chicago.[2]
Chicago is unusual among major United States cities in the number of wards and representative aldermen that it maintains. It has been noted that the current ward system promotes diverse ethnic and cultural representation on the city council.[3]
Corruption
Chicago City Council Chambers has long been the center of public corruption in Chicago.[4][5] The first conviction of Chicago aldermen and Cook County Commissioners for accepting bribes to rig a crooked contract occurred in 1869.[4] Between 1972 and 1999, 26 current or former Chicago aldermen were convicted for official corruption.[6][7][8] Between 1973 and 2012, 31 aldermen were convicted of corruption. Approximately 100 aldermen served in that period, which is a conviction rate of about one-third.[4][9]
Fourteen of the Chicago's City Council's nineteen committees routinely violated the Illinois Open Meetings Act during the last four months of 2007 by not keeping adequate written records of their meetings.[10] Chicago City Council committees violated the Illinois Open Meetings Act and their own rules by meeting and taking actions without a quorum at least four times over the same four-month span.[11]
Less than half of the Council's 28 committees met more than six times in 1986. The budget for Council committees was $5.3 million in 1986.[12]
Over half of elected Chicago aldermen took illegal campaign contributions totalling $282,000 in 2013.[13][14][15]
Authority
The council, in conjunction with the Mayor of Chicago, hears recommendations from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks and then may grant individual properties Chicago Landmark status.
Chicago's aldermen are generally given exceptional deference, called "aldermanic privilege," to control city decisions and services within their ward.[16][17] Aldermanic privilege includes "zoning, licenses, permits, property-tax reductions, city contracts and patronage jobs"; political scientists have suggested that this facilitates corruption.[18] The system has been described as "50 aldermen serving essentially as mayors of 50 wards."[19]
Law
The Journal of the Proceedings of the City Council of the City of Chicago is the official publication of the acts of the City Council.[20] The Municipal Code of Chicago is the codification of Chicago's local ordinances of a general and permanent nature.[20][21] Between May 18, 2011 and August, 2012, the first 100 days of the first term of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, 2,845 ordinances and orders were introduced to the Council.[22]
Chicago aldermen
Below is a list of current Chicago aldermen.[23] The last election was held on February 24, 2015.
Aldermanic elections are officially nonpartisan; party affiliations below are informational only.
Ward | Name | Took Office | Party |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Proco Joe Moreno | 2010* | Dem |
2 | Brian Hopkins | 2015 | Dem |
3 | Pat Dowell | 2007 | Dem |
4 | Sophia King | 2016* | Dem |
5 | Leslie Hairston | 1999 | Dem |
6 | Roderick Sawyer | 2011 | Dem |
7 | Gregory Mitchell | 2015 | Dem |
8 | Michelle A. Harris | 2006* | Dem |
9 | Anthony Beale | 1999 | Dem |
10 | Susie Sadlowski Garza | 2015 | Dem |
11 | Patrick Daley Thompson | 2015 | Dem |
12 | George Cardenas | 2003 | Dem |
13 | Marty Quinn | 2011 | Dem |
14 | Edward M. Burke | 1969 | Dem |
15 | Raymond Lopez | 2015 | Dem |
16 | Toni Foulkes | 2007 | Dem |
17 | David Moore | 2015 | Dem |
18 | Derrick Curtis | 2015 | Dem |
19 | Matthew O'Shea | 2011 | Dem |
20 | Willie Cochran | 2007 | Dem |
21 | Howard Brookins Jr. | 2003 | Dem |
22 | Ricardo Muñoz | 1993* | Dem |
23 | Michael Zalewski | 1995 | Dem |
24 | Michael Scott, Jr. | 2015 | Dem |
25 | Daniel Solis | 1996* | Dem |
26 | Roberto Maldonado | 2009* | Dem |
27 | Walter Burnett, Jr. | 1995 | Dem |
28 | Jason Ervin | 2011* | Dem |
29 | Chris Taliaferro | 2015 | Dem |
30 | Ariel Reboyras | 2003 | Dem |
31 | Milly Santiago | 2015 | Dem |
32 | Scott Waguespack | 2007 | Dem |
33 | Deb Mell | 2013* | Dem |
34 | Carrie Austin | 1994* | Dem |
35 | Carlos Ramirez-Rosa | 2015 | Dem |
36 | Gilbert Villegas | 2015 | Dem |
37 | Emma Mitts | 2000* | Dem |
38 | Nicholas Sposato | 2011 | Dem |
39 | Margaret Laurino | 1994* | Dem |
40 | Patrick J. O'Connor | 1983 | Dem |
41 | Anthony Napolitano | 2015 | Rep |
42 | Brendan Reilly | 2007 | Dem |
43 | Michele Smith | 2011 | Dem |
44 | Thomas M. Tunney | 2002* | Dem |
45 | John Arena | 2011 | Dem |
46 | James Cappleman | 2011 | Dem |
47 | Ameya Pawar | 2011 | Dem |
48 | Harry Osterman | 2011 | Dem |
49 | Joe Moore | 1991 | Dem |
50 | Debra Silverstein | 2011 | Dem |
* Year of appointment, not first election
See also
- Council Wars, a period of conflict within the City Council
- Cook County Board of Commissioners
References
- ↑ "65 ILCS 20/ Revised Cities and Villages Act of 1941.". Illinois General Assembly – Illinois Compiled Statutes. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
- ↑ "Ward System". www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
- ↑ "Why Chicago Has 50 Aldermen". NBC Chicago. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
- 1 2 3 Simpson, Dick; Nowlan, James; Gradel, Thomas J.; Mouritsen Zmuda, Melissa; Sterrett, David; Cantor, Douglas (2012-02-15). "Chicago and Illinois, Leading the Pack in Corruption; Anti-Corruption Report Number 5" (PDF). University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Political Science. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
- ↑ http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-07-31/news/ct-per-flash-aldermen-0728-20130728_1_chicago-alderman-deb-mell-city-council. Missing or empty
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(help) - ↑ Reardon, Patrick T. (1999-01-31). "Aldermen Rogues' Gallery Opens '99 Wing; Jones Is 25th City Council Member Convicted Since 1972". Chicago Tribune.
- ↑ Gradel, Thomas J.; Simpson, Dick; Zimelis, Andris (2009-02-03). "Curing Corruption In Illinois: Anti-Corruption Report #1" (PDF). University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Political Science. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
- ↑ Bogira, Steve (2012-01-27). "Aldermanic rap sheet". Chicago Reader.
- ↑ "Chicago's 'hall of shame'". Chicago Tribune. 2012-02-24.
- ↑ Christoffer, Erica; Schlikerman, Becky (2008-05-19). "Off the Record: Chicago City Council Committees Evade The Law, Experts Say". Chicagotalks.
- ↑ Christoffer, Erica; Schlikerman, Becky (2008-05-19). "Out of Order: Council Committees Evade The Law". The Beachwood Reporter.
- ↑ Lipinski, Ann Marie; Baquet, Dean (1987-10-05). "Committees Work A Little And Spend A Lot". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2012-10-06.
- ↑ https://www.illinoispolicy.org/fbi-seizes-files-as-chicago-aldermen-oust-oversight/
- ↑ http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2015/11/13/report-aldermen-got-282000-illegal-campaign-contributions-2013
- ↑ http://www.chicagonow.com/city-limits/2015/11/more-than-half-of-chicago-aldermen-took-illegal-campaign-cash-in-2013/
- ↑ "Curious City: What duties Chicago alderman are responsible for – WBEZ 91.5 Chicago". wbez.org.
- ↑ Aldermanic Privilege. Christopher Thale, Encyclopedia of Chicago.
- ↑ "Crony chronicles: Aldermanic privilege – Prohibition, prostitution and Chicago's mini-fiefdoms". Illinois Policy – An independent government watchdog.
- ↑ "Chicago City Council; budget; parking meters". tribunedigital-chicagotribune.
- 1 2 Julia Ellis, Chicago City Clerk Legislative Counsel (20 November 2013). The Making of Chicago City Law – How It Works. OpenGov Foundation / YouTube. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- ↑ Chicago City Council Journal of 27 June 1990, p. 17764
- ↑ Dumke, Mick (2011-08-30). "New City Council, just about the same as the old City Council". Retrieved 2-12-10-08. Check date values in:
|access-date=
(help) - ↑ http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/about/wards.html
External links
- Chicago City Council
- Chicago City Council legislation from the City Clerk of Chicago
- Chicago City Council calendar from the City Clerk of Chicago
- Journal of the Proceedings (c. 1981–present) from the City Clerk of Chicago
- Journal of the Proceedings (c. 1908) from Google Books
- Chicago City Council meeting reports from the City Clerk of Chicago
- Map of Chicago Wards
- Your City Council: Who's who and what they can do from the Chicago Reader
- The Untold Stories of Alderman Don Parrillo by Anthony DeBartolo, Hyde Park Media
- Chicago City Council archive at the Chicago Reader