Making Chicago City Government More Transparent
LWV Chicago’s City Government Committee (CGC) had a busy and productive 2023 as it sought to fulfill its mission of making city government more transparent.
Among its most significant accomplishments, Committee members wrote and maintained the City Government web pages that have information about key players in city government: Chicago residents, Community Police District Councils, the City Council, the mayor, the treasurer and the clerk.
"A primary League function is to educate, and reading these pages provides a quick way to learn about Chicago government," says Margaret Herring, CGC chair.
The CGC also prepared materials that the League sent to the new and returning City Council members last May. In particular, the Committee has led the charge on behalf of the League to make the proposed text of all legislation available to the public at least 4 business days before a meeting of the City Council or one of its committees when there will be a vote on those items.
“This often fails to happen when the mayor or a city department utilizes the ‘direct introduction’ exception under the Council’s Rule 41 to bypass the normal process,” says Margaret. “Practicing transparency is a critical element in fighting government corruption. It also fosters trust and ultimately, strengthens our democracy.”
Among its activities, CGC members have volunteered to follow the workings of City Council committees such as identifying key items that have been referred to committees by the City Council so that the League will have a heads-up on items that may appear on committee agendas (which often are not posted until two days before the meeting).
“Following a committee is an excellent way to learn about city government, as well as become more familiar with the alders themselves and their positions,” says Pris Mims, who developed a concise, written guide for volunteers.
The dates and agendas for the meetings are posted on the City Clerk's eLMS system, but the new system still isn’t sending out notices about all meetings and other postings, and there are issues with the “search” function for legislation, according to Pris. Rochelle Riffer, Abigail Drumm and Pris are on the Clerk’s Citizens Advisory Committee and are working to resolve this matter. Once the system is functioning correctly, the Citizens Advisory Committee plans to produce short videos on how to use it.
Brenda Calfin, a retired scientist, calls the Chicago League an “amazing group.” Since joining last year, she has covered and written reports on two City Council committee meetings and is involved in advocacy issues. “The CGC is a phenomenal way to learn what’s going on in our city government,” she affirms.
The CGC still needs followers for the City Council’s Transportation and Zoning committees. If you’re interested or want to help in other ways, send an email to league@lwvchicago.org. Monthly meetings are held on Zoom at 7 pm the first Wednesday of each month.