O'Shea Joins Colleagues in Support of Dedicated Watchdog for City Council

Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th) joined 29 other Chicago alderman in forcing a vote that would merge the inspector general offices and hold City Council members accountable to the same ethical oversight as city employees.

O’Shea was one of the co-sponsors of an ordinance granting the city’s Inspector General oversight of the City Council.

The office of the Inspector General, currently helmed by Joe Ferguson, oversees city employees in the performance of their duties, and lends scrutiny to contractors and subcontractors seeking to do business with the city. When called upon the Inspector General also investigates city employees in cases of possible misconduct.

The City Council currently has its dedicated inspector general, although the first and only person appointed to the position was almost powerless, and frequently complained that the office was underfunded, CBS Chicago reported in a news report.

According to the TV news station, most of the city’s alderman want Ferguson to be the City Council watchdog.

O’Shea explained In an email blast to 19th Ward constituents that he had signed on to a parliamentary procedure that would mandate a vote at the City Council’s next meeting this Wednesday.

“I believe it is fundamentally unfair to treat Aldermen differently from other municipal employees,” O’Shea said. “The Chicago City Council needs genuine oversight; the best and most efficient way to accomplish that is to extend the purview of the Inspector General. It is my hope that we can vote on this ordinance at our upcoming City Council meeting, and that we can take this meaningful step towards reform.”

Aldermen Michele Smith (43rd), Ameya Pawar (47th) and George Cardenas (12th) penned an op-ed published by the Chicago Tribune, calling upon their colleagues to invoke the rarely used “Rule 41” to unlock the proposal from committee and put it before the full council for a vote.

Also, by combining the offices of the legislative inspector general with that of the city inspector general, the aldermen argue that it would save taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Read the aldermen’s full commentary in the Chicago Tribune.