Comptroller candidate grilled, then approved, by City Council committee

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s choice to serve as city comptroller survived his confirmation hearing Monday, but not before facing tough questions about a background heavy on public policy — not accounting — and the fact that he spent the weekend campaigning with candidates who favor cutting police funding.

Exhibit “A” for Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) were comptroller-designate Chasse Rehwinkel’s own social media posts after campaigning for three candidates who want to reduce the Chicago Police Department’s $1.94 billion-a-year budget: U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill.; Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd), running for ward committeeperson; and state Sen. Graciela Guzman.

One of Rehwinkel’s posts on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, included a picture of the inside of the offices of 33rd Ward Working Families. On the wall were photographs of demonstrations after the murder of George Floyd that devolved into two rounds of looting in Chicago. One photo appeared to show a squad car on fire with the words, “F--k 12,” which Lopez called code for the police.

Another one of the photos showed demonstrators holding an “Abolish the Police” sign.

During Monday’s confirmation hearing before the City Council’s Finance Committee, Lopez said it raises serious concerns when “the man with the checkbook” chooses to spend his weekend “hanging out in offices” with those “radical” photographs.

X, formerly known as Twitter

“You’re no longer John Q. Citizen. You are now a department head engaging in politics with individuals who are in direct contradiction to our city, who are damaging the reputation by promoting images of police cars on fire and rioting and looting. That matters. Do you believe in all of those slogans?” Lopez asked.

Rehwinkel replied, “I do not believe in those slogans. And I understand. It’s a fair question to ask. We’re gonna be paying out [for] all of the different mechanisms in the city. Part of that is the police and other areas that have come under fire in different areas,” Rehwinkel said.

“I believe in the candidates that I was collecting [signatures] for. Do I believe in every single idea that they have espoused? Probably not. … I feel very strongly that it is important for our police department to be supported financially and otherwise. … The photo that you have from Saturday — that is the area that I live in. Those are candidates that represent me directly. And I have appreciated [them] in other areas around housing, social services.”

Lopez, one of the police union’s staunchest Council supporters, was not satisfied with Rehwinkel’s response. Not when the comptroller-designate also talks about being more “fair and equal” in the way the office he now leads collects the city’s myriad fines and fees.

The Finance Committee chair, Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd), tried to cut the line of questioning short, but Lopez forged ahead.

“When we look at things like the enforcement of our parking, our booting — when we see ... a precipitous drop in enforcement in areas or certain areas altogether blocked out from enforcement actions — that should raise concerns from us,” Lopez said.

“It is not equal when some neighborhoods get zero enforcement in the name of ‘equity’ and that backfires on communities, particularly on the South and West sides, where they’re asking for enforcement and get nothing because a policy decision has been made not to enforce the laws in the name of ‘equity,’” he said.

Rehwinkel said he has no intention of playing favorites or going easy on certain communities when it comes to collecting fines and fees.

“We are going to enforce the rules of the road when it comes to our revenue collection. If you get booted in the city, we’re gonna collect on that. ... I will follow our ordinances to a `T’ on collecting revenue. That is my job,” Rehwinkel said.

When he talked about being “more equitable,” Rehwinkel said he was referring to water bills that skyrocket because of a “leak or an accident” that the home or business owner did not cause or even know about.

“Their bill goes from $70 to $40,000, and I still have to collect on it. That, I don’t think, is fair or equitable,” he said.

That wasn’t the only line of critical questioning.

Ald. Jason Ervin (28th), chairman of the Budget Committee and husband of City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, poked at Rehwinkel’s resume.

It’s loaded with policymaking jobs at the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, the state comptroller’s office and the state treasurer’s office — but, Ervin noted, there is no “financial certification” or accounting degree.

“I am personally concerned about an individual that doesn’t have a straight-up finance ... background being comptroller because that person is the city’s chief fiscal accounting officer. It’s like the corporation counsel not being a lawyer or the superintendent not being a police officer,” Ervin said.

Rehwinkel said he “totally understands” the concern, but added: “I believe I do have that nuts-and-bolts background from working in the state comptroller’s office on those issues.”