Two weeks after winning test of legislative muscle, Lightfoot’s relationship with City Council could be headed for early turbulence

Two weeks after winning the first test of her legislative muscle by a voice vote on her committee chairmen, there were signs Monday that Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s relationship with the City Council may be headed for some early turbulence.

Lightfoot’s plan to cut the budgets of four of the council’s 18 committees ran into trouble from an unexpected source. One of the mayor’s handpicked committee chairmen accused the new administration of reneging on an agreement to give her more money.

The surprise hold-out was Ald. Susan Sadlowski-Garza (10^th), Lightfoot’s choice to chair a Committee on Workforce Development that will consider a predictable scheduling ordinance and an accelerated plan to raise Chicago’s minimum wage to $15-an-hour.

The committee that also ratifies union contracts was previously chaired by recently-defeated Ald. Pat O’Connor (40^th), former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s City Council floor leader.

On Monday, the Budget Committee was scheduled to vote on Lightfoot’s ordinance reducing the annual budgets of four council committees, including Workforce Development.

But Garza wasn’t having it. She argued that her revised, $265,000 budget was $55,000 short of the amount she was promised.

“I’ve already made [job] offers. Ald. O’Connor worked with a staff of nine. I’m down to four. The number that’s here was not the amount that was given to me….This is not the number that we negotiated,” Sadlowski-Garza said.

Newly-appointed Budget Director Susie Park offered to discuss “talk off-line about what that number” should be. But that was not enough to satisfy Sadlowski-Garza.

“I already made offers to a staff, who have been here for three weeks,” she said.

Budget Committee Chairman Pat Dowell (3^rd) initially offered to recess the meeting until 9 a.m. Wednesday to get the problem ironed out.

But Sadlowski-Garza said that wouldn’t be necessary.

“There is a typo that I’ve asked to be corrected. They’ve assured me that they will correct it. I have it in writing. I’m comfortable [voting] if you’re comfortable,” Sadlowski-Garza told Dowell.

After a five-minute recess that turned into fifteen minutes, Sadlowski-Garza said she would go along with the vote on an ordinance dramatically reducing the annual appropriations for four council committees: Finance, Budget, Transportation and Workforce Development.

She was taking Park at her word that an amendment restoring the $55,000 would be approved at a later date.

“I have it in writing. And I’m hoping that we’re gonna keep our word because all we have is our word,” Sadlowski-Garza said.

Sadlowski-Garza wasn’t the only one creating waves.

Fran Spielman for the Sun-Times

Ald. Leslie Hairston (5^th) demanded to know how the revised budgets for council committees had been determined. Was there an analysis done of each committee’s workload?

“If we’re talking about transparency, I would think that you would want to look at the committees as they existed before, what they were doing, whether they were being efficient in having the staff numbers, looking at the salaries,” Hairston said.

“I know you looked at the dollars. But did you actually look at the work that takes place in the committee?”

Park replied, “An analysis? Not at that level. We have a ballpark idea. But this is a starting point.”

Hairston countered, “If we are voting on it today, it is not a starting point.”

In spite of the controversy, the Budget Committee confirmed the mayor’s appointment of Park as budget director and Mark Flessner as corporation counsel.

Afterwards, Park told reporters she’s awaiting results of the annual city audit before pinpointing the size of the massive budget shortfall that Lightfoot inherited and identifying possible solutions.

“It is important for us to get that number to see how revenues did for year ending 2018 to make some smart revenue estimates and assumptions before we come out with a number,” Park said.

Park said declaring bankruptcy is not an option. She refused to comment when asked whether a property tax increase can be avoided.

The new budget director invited aldermen to submit their own cost-cutting and revenue-raising ideas.

“They’re in their wards. They will see things that maybe I don’t see from where I am or even the department doesn’t see. I’m open to those ideas,” she said.

Indicted Ald. Edward Burke (14th), the deposed Finance Committee chairman, was one of nearly two dozen aldermen to attend Monday’s meeting. He left the City Council chambers without commenting on either his recent indictment or on Lightfoot’s repeated demand for his resignation.