Politics
Chicago City Council Bans Lobbyists From Giving Campaign Cash to Mayors
(WTTW News)
The Chicago City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to tighten Chicago’s ethics ordinance to ban registered lobbyists from sending campaign cash to Chicago mayors — and those running to be the city’s chief executive.
A vote on the package crafted by Ald. Matt Martin (47th Ward) had been stymied for three months, lacking the support of Mayor Brandon Johnson.
After a vote by the full City Council was blocked, Johnson told reporters the City Council should pass a comprehensive package of ethics reforms that included public financing of municipal races.
It was not clear why Johnson dropped his opposition to the plan, which was based on a unanimous recommendation by the Chicago Board of Ethics.
The revised governmental ethics ordinance prevents what Board of Ethics Chair Steve Berlin called the “erasure of 13 years of reform.”
A 2011 executive order issued by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel that sought to ban lobbyists from contributing to his campaign committee is now law. Emanuel sought to ban those found to have violated it from re-registering as a lobbyist, preventing them from pressing city officials on behalf of their clients.
The measure approved Wednesday not only bans registered lobbyists from contributing campaign cash to the mayor of Chicago, but also bans them from financially supporting any candidate for mayor.
In addition, businesses that are at least 7.5% owned by lobbyists are banned from contributing to the mayor or candidates for the top job.
Those who violate the ban could be fined three times the amount of the improper contribution — regardless of whether it was returned — for a first violation. Additional violations could also result in a 90-day ban from lobbying city officials, according to the measure.
The Ethics Board determined unanimously in April that it had no choice but to dismiss enforcement actions against City Hall lobbyists who donated to Johnson’s campaign fund.
Four lobbyists — former Ald. Joe Moore (49th Ward); John Dunn, a former aide to former Mayor Richard M. Daley; Michael Cassidy; and Anthony B. Bruno — contributed a combined $2,200 to Johnson’s campaign account, Friends of Brandon Johnson. Those contributions were first reported by the Chicago Tribune.
Johnson has returned all of those contributions, said Christian Perry, the spokesperson for his political committee.
An attorney for the lobbyist found to have violated the executive order challenged the board’s determination, arguing that it was no longer in effect — or if it was, the Ethics Board had no authority to enforce the ban on registered lobbyists contributing to candidates for mayor.
That prompted the Ethics Board to ask the city’s Law Department to weigh in on the dispute, which asked Chicago-based law firm Jones Day to decide the issue.
In that opinion, Jones Day attorney Bethany Biesenthal determined that executive orders remain in effect even after the mayor who issued them leaves office, but found that it would require a change in city law for the Ethics Board to have the authority to hold lobbyists accountable for it by banning them from working as a lobbyist at City Hall.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]