Resolution Calling for Transparency and Review Process of Appointing Members of City of Chicago Boards and Sister Agencies

Last week at the City Council, City Clerk Anna Valencia and I submitted a resolution for the creation of a subcommittee within the Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight to analyze and improve the transparency and democratic processes involved in appointing members to various key boards and commissions in Chicago.

The resolution calls for the Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight to establish a subcommittee to look at the process for appointing board members at sister agencies and establish best practices relating to transparency and the democratic process. Sister agencies receive millions of taxpayer funds through the City budget each year and are rarely required to account for all funds or testify before the Council as to the use of those funds. The subcommittee would establish periodic reporting requirements to the City Council for each sister agency outlining their work and financial status, as well as determining whether earlier notice should be required when board appointments are being considered. This falls in line with many years of efforts by our ward office to bring transparency and openness to the decades sister agency/City commingling of funds and borrowing.

Decision-making between sister agencies and City Hall requires full openness and transparency by appointed and elected government officials. This subcommittee would be another step toward making the governing process open to all Chicago taxpayers and I look forward to seeing it move forward. Clerk Valencia commented that “As the current landscape of our federal government raises questions about checks and balances, it’s important to revisit the processes our City follows and reinforce the public’s right to know what their government is doing.” 

Unfortunately, the resolution was immediately sent to the Rules Committee by Alderman Dowell using Rule 41 of the Council to block a hearing date for at least 60 days.