Another City Council Stealth Budget?

By HUGH DEVLIN
Contributing Writer

An ongoing, well documented investigative series by the Chicago Tribune into various City Council expense accounts turned up numerous instances of city taxpayers’ largesse to the friends and family members of Chicago aldermen.

In November 2009, Lake Effect News filed a freedom of information request with the Chicago Office of Budget and Management inquiring into the expenditures of the Vice Mayor of Chicago, a position currently held by Ald. Bernard L. Stone of the 50th Ward.

Although our original purpose for requesting these expenditures was not fulfilled, the information that Lake Effect News did receive revealed what may be another overlooked fund being used by Chicago aldermen further enrich friends and relatives already being paid for out of their aldermanic expense accounts as well as the city’s “regular payroll” and the recently-revealed Finance committee chair-controlled expense account. (Better Government Associate Payroll Database).