Aldermen propose lobbying ban for City Council

Chicago aldermen would be prohibited from lobbying state and local government — and their counterparts at those other levels would be barred from doing the same at City Hall —under a crackdown proposed Wednesday by a pair of influential aldermen.

Aviation Committee Chairman Matt O’Shea (19^th) and Ethics Chairman Michele Smith (43^rd) are trying to stay one step ahead of the lobbying scandal swirling around Commonwealth Edison and video gaming interests pushing to legalize sweepstakes machines.

“We’ve seen multiple ethical scandals across the state at multiple levels of government…If it continues, it’s not a question of if, but when” the City Council is dragged in, said O’Shea, one of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s staunchest City Council supporters.

“We want to get ahead of that. We have to restore the public’s trust …We are supposed to be working for constituents we represent. We shouldn’t be...advocating for taxpayers and, on the other hand, receiving payment from private entities. It’s a blurred line.”

The ordinance championed by O’Shea and Smith and introduced at Wednesday’s City Council meeting states: “No elected official or employee may lobby the state, the county or any other unit of government in the state or derive any income or compensation from lobbying” those units of government.

It also states: “No elected official of a unit of government in the state may lobby the city, the City Council or any city agency, department, board or commission.”

Attorneys seeking “administrative or legislative action in connection with any zoning matter” before the city, county, state or other units of local government would be exempt.

Among 27 aldermen co-signing the proposed lobbying ban was Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36^th), Lightfoot’s City Council floor leader.

Last year, Villegas introduced an ordinance that went nowhere that would have legalized sweepstakes machines in Chicago after being lobbied by James T. Weiss, a son-in-law of former Cook County Assessor and Democratic Party Chairman Joe Berrios.

Weiss owns and operates sweepstakes machines. His lobbying efforts are part of the federal criminal case against now former state Rep. Luis Arroyo.

Last month, Commonwealth Edison cut ties with a lobbying firm co-owned by Villegas.

On Wednesday, Villegas insisted he never lobbied anybody, did no work for ComEd and started “making moves to divest” himself from Stratagem, the company he formed with Elgin City Council member Baldemar Lopez, when the Chicago City Council voted in July to impose new restrictions on outside employment by aldermen.

“As leadership in the mayor’s team, I thought it was important for me to divest. Unfortunately, it takes a while to divest,” Villegas said Wednesday.

“I was never in the lobbying business. We did consulting strategy. The actual lobbying occurred with my partner in Springfield...I’m sure my partner did everything above board. I’m not concerned about it.”

O’Shea recalled having attended a City Hall meeting last year where Weiss tried to convince aldermen to legalize sweepstakes machines. The alderman said he was uncomfortable when Weiss told those in attendance that Berrios was his father-in-law.

“I didn’t feel that was something I wanted to be a part of. And it wasn’t something I was prepared to support,” O’Shea said.

Lightfoot owes her landslide victory to the corruption scandal that culminated in the sweeping indictment of Ald. Edward Burke (14^th).

How does she feel about prohibiting aldermen from serving as lobbyists?

“Obviously, there’s a concern in light of recent circumstances about that. I think where we need to start is around disclosure….People take on lobbying projects. But there’s very little disclosure that’s being done. That’s an issue we have to address,” the mayor said.

“We’ve got it right here in the city. But that’s an issue that’s gonna be debated at the state level.”

Also at Wednesday’s Council meeting, Finance Committee Chairman Scott Waguespack (32^nd) introduced an ordinance that would require ride-hailing drivers in Chicago to have an Illinois drivers license.

Lightfoot said she is “looking at this issue of drivers coming in from out of Chicago and out of state on Uber who pay no taxes or any kind of licensing fees in the city.” But she acknowledged that there are “constitutionality issues we have to address.”

Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42^nd) proposed a minimum $10,000 fine and up to six months in jail for anyone who poses as a ride-hailing driver in response to “a rash” of recent attacks on intoxicated passengers coming out of bars or restaurants.”

“Typically it’s a young woman. The phone is out looking for a car. The car pulls up: ‘Hey, I’m your ride. Jump in the back.’ Before the person knows it, they’re being mugged or sexually assaulted in an alley,” Reilly said.