Mayor Rahm Emanuel orders changes to program that allows aldermen to make neighborhood improvements

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Updated: March 15, 2012 8:14AM

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Monday ordered dramatic changes to a treasured, $66 million-a-year program that has allowed Chicago aldermen to choose from a menu of neighborhood improvements.

To stretch precious capital dollars further, the Emanuel administration will present each alderman with a “recommended list” of projects the city considers “most urgent” in hopes that aldermen will choose to spend their $1.32 million-a-year allotment on those projects.

To prevent the same streets from being torn up repeatedly, aldermen will receive a “comprehensive map of all planned projects” on the drawing board for their wards by the city Departments of Transportation and Water Management, public utilities and by other government agencies, including the Chicago Park District, Chicago Public Schools, City Colleges, the CTA and CHA.

In a letter to aldermen outlining the changes, Emanuel noted that the massive rebuilding of the city’s water system bankrolled by doubling water and sewer rates over the next four years demands a coordinated approach to capital spending.

“It is imperative that we share with you where streets will be replaced over the next several years so we don’t waste resources paving a street twice over a short period of time,” the mayor wrote.

From now on, aldermen will be required to program 80 percent of their “menu money” by June 30 of each year and spend the remaining 20 percent before Dec. 31 of each calendar year.

Until now, they were free to make requests throughout the year and undesignated funds were carried over from year-to-year.

Aldermen reacted coolly to the mayor’s mandate. Some feared the changes would be the first step toward eliminating a program that was on the chopping block during budget negotiations before aldermen demanded that it be saved.

Others wondered aloud how the mayor can prohibit menu money carry over from year-to-year when City Hall has been notoriously slow to complete the work.

They further warned that aldermen should be free to make their own decisions — not have their menu choices dictated to them from on high.

“If we’re gonna have bureaucrats telling us, `No. You need to pave this street and not that one,’ what is it based on? Is it solely based on the condition of the street? That’s not my only criteria. I have to take into consideration whether there are children living on that street and whether it is near a school,” said Ald. “Proco” Joe Moreno (1st). “Don’t take that discretion away from an alderman. If an alderman doesn’t spend his or her money wisely, there’s a recourse called an election. Commissioners and deputy commissioners don’t have to be elected.”

Ald. George Cardenas (12th) said he is all for better coordination to avoid tearing up the same street twice in a short time, a pet peeve of many homeowners and businesses.

But, he said, “I don’t want them to tie my hands. That wouldn’t be appropriate. We are in direct communication with the community about what needs to be done. If we can accomplish better coordination and better use of resources, I’m okay with it. But, only if the aldermen is the final decision maker and all the old choices are still available to us.”

Kathleen Strand, a spokesperson for the city’s Office of Budget and Management, stressed that aldermen will not be required to choose from the administration’s “recommended list” of projects.

“While it is not mandatory, we hope this new information will be helpful to aldermen as they make choices to best benefit their constitutions…Aldermen already utilize menu funds on critical infrastructure items in their wards. This new process just makes sure they have the information necessary to make informed choices.”

Aldermen have had a smorgasbord on how they could use the program, everything from street, sidewalk and alley repairs to new street lights, speed bumps and surveillance cameras.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported in 2010 that 13 aldermen had left at least $500,000 of their $1.32 million-a-year allotment on the table and that four closed the books on 2009 with more than $1 million unspent. Nine others failed to use between $250,000 and $500,000, records showed.

Until now, unspent money has remained in an alderman’s account for future use.

During the 2007 aldermanic campaign she subsequently lost, then- Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3rd) angrily defended her decision to use more than $200,000 of her menu money for street, alley and sidewalk improvements on four bronze statutes of musicians heralding the Chicago Blues District.