CITY HALL — With Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s push to end aldermanic prerogative in full swing, Inspector General Joseph Ferguson renewed his assault on Tuesday on one of the most beloved perks of Chicago aldermen — the $1.3 million each gets every year to spend as they see fit to fix up roads, sidewalks or other projects designed to spruce up their wards.
The current rules have created an unequal system where some wards aren’t as well-funded as others, Ferguson said in a report released Tuesday that reinforced the findings of a 2017 audit. The decision-making authority should be taken from aldermen and given to engineers at the Chicago Department of Transportation, Ferguson said.