Posted by Tribune staff at 3:15 p.m.
While Chicago government and many of its residents struggled with a
tough economy, Chicago aldermen continued to pay relatives, public
relations consultants and expensive car leases with their city expense
accounts, according to a Tribune examination of 2009 records.
One alderman highlighted
last year by the Tribune for paying rent to his family for a ward
office said he is still looking for an alternate location. In the
meantime, his family’s firm continues to receive taxpayer money.
In another case, more than $40,000 in rent payments was directed by a
now convicted and ousted alderman to a company owned by a businessman
charged with trying to bribe him.
Although the city is trimming personnel and services to cope with
declining revenue, aldermen say they rely on the beefed-up expense
accounts to tend to ward needs. The accounts were more than doubled to
$73,280 per ward by Mayor Richard Daley and the City Council in 2008.
To read more of the story, please click here.
To peruse the aldermanic database, please click here.