Politics

Chicago Ethics Board Hits 1 Year Without a Leader, as Executive Director Retires and Election Season Begins

As the Chicago Board of Ethics prepares to enforce the city’s ethics laws during the 2027 municipal election, it has been without a permanent leader for more than a year, and its longtime executive director will retire at the end of the month.

In addition, the terms of two members of the board expired last month, including Vice Chair Ryan Cortazar, who has led the board since former Chair William Conlon stepped down in July 2025, and Board Member Sarah Jin.

The last day for Chicago Board of Ethics Executive Director Steve Berlin will be Monday, which will mark the end of his 33rd year as an employee with the Chicago Board of Ethics. Berlin served as Chicago’s chief ethics enforcer for 18 years, records show.

Berlin told the board on Aug. 10 that he was “honored and fortunate” to have served the seven-member board and Chicago.

“I hope the contributions that I made to the government of the city of Chicago will long outlast me,” Berlin said. “I love this complex, sprawling, brawling city and hope to continue to serve as a member of an appropriate board or commission.”

Berlin said he had urged Johnson to name the deputy director of the Ethics Board, Lauren Maniatis, as his replacement.

Johnson’s failure to name a new Ethics Board chair for 13 months has infuriated good-government advocates who are again demanding that he do more to combat Chicago’s reputation as the most corrupt of corrupt American cities.

Cortazar was first appointed by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, while Jin was appointed by Johnson in 2024.

Because Johnson “takes ethics and accountability extremely seriously” appointments to the Ethics Board must undergo “an especially rigorous vetting process and are selected from a more limited pool of qualified candidates due to stricter regulations” and to ensure there are no potential conflicts of interest, according to a spokesperson for the mayor.

Ald. Matt Martin (47th Ward) called Johnson’s failure to act “unacceptable.”

“The mayor could install a permanent chair today if he wanted to,” Martin said.

Persistent vacancies on the Ethics Board have meant “transparency and accountability have been delayed for too many critical ethics matters,” Martin said.

“Over the past term, it’s taken the Johnson administration an average of nine months to fill vacant board seats,” Martin said. “It’s disappointing that ethics is not a priority for the administration.” 

Bryan Zarou, vice president of the Better Government Association, said it was “disrespectful” for Johnson not to reappoint the board members, who are unpaid, or replace them.

“People are not going to want to serve if this is how they are treated,” Zarou said.

Alisa Kaplan, executive director of Reform for Illinois, a group that tracks campaign contributions and lobbies for increased transparency in government, called Johnson’s failure to name a new chair “ridiculous.”

“It is clear evidence that the mayor has not made ethics a priority, which is especially outrageous in a city with such clear ethics challenges,” Kaplan said.

Despite the repeated delays in appointing members of the Ethics Board, Johnson quickly tapped a new watchdog, picking David Glockner to replace Inspector General Deborah Witzburg, who did not seek a second term.

After former Mayor Lori Lightfoot declined to reappoint Inspector General Joseph Ferguson, Martin championed changes to city ordinance to set firm deadlines for the mayor to meet during the selection process, including requiring the mayor to decide 180 days before the expiration of the inspector general’s term whether to reappoint them — or launch a national search for their replacement.

Similar deadlines should be written into city ordinance to prevent future vacancies from stymying the work of the Ethics Board, Zarou said.

Martin called on the mayor to swiftly name a permanent replacement for Berlin and avoid the board’s work from being delayed after his departure.

“His leadership has helped right the ship after decades of unethical government conduct and a lack of transparency,” Martin said. “His wealth of knowledge, reliability, and dedication to public service will be sorely missed.”

It will be up to Berlin’s successor to enforce the city’s Governmental Ethics Ordinance during the 2027 elections for mayor, alderperson, clerk and treasurer.

Allowing the Ethics Board to operate without a permanent executive director would be a recipe for disaster, Zarou said.

The administration plans to address expired appointments in September and is “moving carefully to select the next executive director of the Board of Ethics,” according to a spokesperson for Johnson.

During the 2023 election, the Ethics Board repeatedly punished candidates for elected office for using city property in their campaign advertisements. It is already probing three since-deleted videos posted by mayoral hopeful John Kelly.

The City Council has yet to take up a series of proposed amendments to Chicago’s Governmental Ethics Ordinance crafted by the Ethics Board “in response to multiple incidents of problematic behavior.”

Those changes, introduced in May 2024, would expand the ban on the use of city property for political purposes and impose new regulations on independent contractors that work for City Council members, records show.

“Passing the amendments would be fitting way to honor one of Chicago’s most dedicated public servants,” Martin said.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]

---