Ram is up to something not good

Some aldermen raising concerns as hearing set on mayor's trust plan

The proposed expansion of public-private partnerships to rebuild Chicago would give a board dominated by corporate financiers handpicked by Mayor Rahm Emanuel the power to hammer out multimillion-dollar deals without many of the checks and balances meant to keep City Hall in line.

Even after the mayor revised his plan to try to win over aldermen ahead of a key City Council hearing Monday, the ordinance still does not provide for oversight by the inspector general, guarantee compliance with state transparency laws or prevent board members from leaving and immediately joining companies they just helped win lucrative contracts.

Emanuel is now offering to explicitly give aldermen the power to vote on projects financed by the Chicago Infrastructure Trust that involve city money, assets or land. But the measure does not extend that authority to the CTA, Chicago Public Schools and Chicago Park District. Even if those sister agencies are allowed to weigh in, their boards are all appointed by the mayor.

"The whole ordinance reeks of 'trust us, trust me — I'll do the right thing,'" said Julie Roin, a University of Chicago Law School professor with expertise in local government. "But there aren't any controls. Maybe he is to be trusted and the people he appoints are to be trusted, but how do we know?"

Barely a month after he unveiled it, Emanuel is pressing aldermen to approve a major piece of legislation that could have profound impact on city finances for decades to come. At the full City Council meeting Wednesday, the mayor also is asking aldermen to pass a controversial speed-camera ticketing ordinance that could spur lengthy debate.

The timing of the vote is key because the ordinance is the City Council's one shot at setting the rules by which the trust operates. Once the trust is set up, it becomes much more difficult for aldermen to put more checks and balances in place.

Last week, 10 aldermen asked Emanuel to delay seeking a vote on his infrastructure plan until at least next month, saying there are too many unanswered questions. On Friday afternoon, the administration released a revised version of the measure. That won over the leader of the group, Ald. Michele Smith, 43rd, who days earlier sent out a 32-question memo demanding clarity.

Other aldermen have yet to be convinced.

"We appreciate that the mayor has addressed concerns of the aldermen, but the fundamental shortcoming still exists even in the revised ordinance because it marginalizes the City Council's essential role in safeguarding the short- and long-term financial interests of the city's taxpayers," said Ald. John Arena, 45th.

The mayor's staff has insisted all along that the ordinance is in no way intended to usurp council authority. Rather, they say, it's a way to pay for major public works projects aimed at creating a better future for the city — in cooperation with the council and city agencies.

"I don't want to take away the discretion of the governing body," said Lois Scott, the mayor's chief financial officer who came to City Hall from the private finance sector.

Some aldermen remain concerned that the ordinance won't allow Inspector General Joseph Ferguson to probe the trust and its members. Although Ferguson will be able to look at city projects financed by the trust, his authority will not extend to the trust itself, said Emanuel spokesman Tom Alexander.

Ferguson wants to extend his authority to the City Council, the Park District and the Public Building Commission, an idea the mayor backed during his campaign for office.

Another concern is whether the trust, a nonprofit agency, would have to comply with the state sunshine laws that give the public and media wide access to documents and meetings.

Transparency, Roin noted, can prevent troubling actions. "You want there to be enough transparency and openness that they will be embarrassed to do anything bad because people will find out about it," she said.

Terry Pastika, executive director of the Citizen Advocacy Center, lauded Emanuel for including language calling on the trust to conduct open meetings and provide access to documents "in accordance with" the state's government sunshine laws. That's not usually done in such ordinances, she said.

But she also noted that the ordinance includes no enforcement mechanism, and unless the city exerts day-to-day control of the trust, state sunshine laws — and the ability to appeal decisions to close meetings or deny documents — don't have any real teeth.

"Government transparency is great, but if you don't have an accountability mechanism to enforce it, these provisions are meaningless," Pastika said, adding that other states, unlike Illinois, do subject nonprofit agencies with government ties to sunshine laws.

The mayor did adopt a suggestion from aldermen that a City Council member serve on the five-member voting board of directors. That appeased some council members, but Ald. Scott Waguespack noted that the aldermen will still be chosen by Emanuel and will be outnumbered on the board.

"There are a lot of pitfalls here," said Waguespack, 32nd, who nevertheless predicted the revised ordinance would easily win approval. "And the mayor stripped the ordinance of all oversight and is throwing a bone to a couple of aldermen."