thics .cede takes aim at aldermen,.

lobbyists
By Ann Marie Lipinski and James Strong ~ The ethics code that battled its way through two years of enemy . sniping at City Hall emerged last week with its guns poised largely on two sometimes cozy groups: aldermen and lobbyists. Though the ordinances I regulating professional b'ehavior also apply to the 9,000 city workers making more than $40,000 a year, the code breaks little new ground on that score, city officials said. -lt will, however, invite increased . scrutiny of the city's 50 council members and the men and women who make their living trying to influence government action. , "There are certain people whose behavior you will not change with any kind of ethics 'code," said Michael Holewinski, the aide to Mayor Harold Washington who led the administration's successful efforts to pass the legislation. "There are, after all, state and federal regulations that people break all the time. "But I think this code will provide a real eye-opener for a lot of ctivity. . It will pur lot of
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were not." The ordinance, which goes into effect July 1 but does not require the first disclosure filing until May 1, 1988, affects aldermen on several fronts. Among other things, it prohibits them from accepting gifts valued at more than $50 and restricts them from taking campaign contributions that exceed :$1,500. . , . It also outlaws a common aldermanic practice known as "wifeswapping" at City Hall by prohib iting council members from hiring relatives .onto the city payroll except for those employed on an alderman's' personal staff. In the past" aldermen have skirted nepotism charges by a quid-pro-quo process ?f employi,ng one. anoth-

tions with the corporation counsel's office they're going to be treated differently," Holewinski said.' . But a potential weakness in the ordinance is an amendment worked out hours before the code's passage last Wednesday that, in effect, allows aldermen to mind their own' store. Though , other city workers will be governed by a seven-member ethics board appointed by the mayor, aldermen will name their own committee to police the council. . That concession was a result of charges from some aldermen that a mayor could use the ethics board as a witch-hunting arm to punish political foes. Orr, who fought against -this change, said it 'could turn out to be the Code's weakest,link. "No one in the real world would expect the city council to investigate itself," Orr said. He added, however, that vigorous oversight of council members' financial dis-' closures by the Cook County state's attorney and federal law enforcement officials would compensate for that loophole, _ _ " mvestigati<1'J'I&,Je~!mI~ 49-0 . .anything like indictments be ne by rosecutors," Orr said. "The key, though, is that this ormittees. dinance provides them with some ''You can no longer hire tit for clear-cut guidelines on what is and tat," said Ald. David Orr [49th], isn't legal." . one of the measure's proponents. Holewinski said that the council "Under this code, you would have committee, which will probably' a strong legal case for going after not be formed until after the April that kind of thing." . election, will be able to investigate The code may take its greatest charges of wrongdoing by an financial toll on those council alderman but will not be emmembers who are attorneys. powered to remove anyone from Under the ethics ordinance, those office. That .action would have to lawyers will no longer be per- be taken by the courts, he said. mitted ~o represent clients suing Asked if the committee's memthe c 1 t y, a p r act ice t hat bers would be likely to pursue inHolewinski said has resulted in vestigations 'of their colleagues specialized treatment for alder- Holewinski said: "They'd be hard~ men's clients. ' , pressed not to. If you were chair"Y~u can say what you want, m~n of the Committee OIr Ethics, b if the 're 1Q [legal negotiaContinued on page 2

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would you sit on your hands for a I' year and take the heat for some- ~ ~~one else? Who's going to ~~, the brave alderman who Will wear"the!: 'jacket and kill every investigation r that comes down the pike?" , Under the new code, the mayor;. ' city clerk arid treasurer could be" . ousted from office for ethics viola- : " tions, but investigations of top city, I officials would' be conducted by i the mayor's ethics board, members ' I' .of which must be approved by' a . city council vote. Moves to oust I them would have to be carried out through the courts in the absence of any state recall provisions. , Washiagton 'was the target of an )msuccessful effort by opposition aldermen to force him out of office for being i5 days tardy in filing his 1983 statement of economic interest under state statutes. II The disclosures required' of lobbyists in the code could turn 'out to be the most revealing. Lobbyists are among the most influential but anonymous of City Hall's habitues and have long gone unregulated. The ordinance. will change that by mandating" lobbyists to file a report of "lobbying activities" and a list of expenses with the ethics board twice a year. Lobbyists also will have to make annual disclosures of their clients' identities and the people or ageneies they have sought to influence. Ii Failure to file could result in penalties of up to $100 a day. In addition, lobbyists will be prohibited from ,accepting fees tied to the outcome of legislative' or ~ administrative action. "Lobbying is a legitimate function in the sphere of government activity," Holewinski said, "but in Chicago it's been totally unregu: .!I!ed an5!iha~.resulted !n" a lo~ of '1 -afto(lrn'.m,011s".m-fl\Jence,"p~e9dJjllg ~ I ~'~ donti nave the "fai~test"'idea r ~ho these people right now. V ou see them hanging around the i city council and don't know what l they're up to. It's been a very mys- l: terious activity." , Detractors of the ethics measure insisted that mayoral appointees to other governmental posts who hold city 'contracts will be forced by the code to make a choice be-:' tween doing city business orsit~J:' ting on boards and commissions. " Ald. Edward Burke [14th], coun-, -:-~', 'cil Finance Committee chairman, i said, "If you want to, have city contracts, good. If you want to sit on a board, fine. But you can't have both." , .Burke's criticisms point, up' one I of the measure's murkiest areas, and- one that Ald., Martin Ober-j man [43d], among the measure's \ , main proponents, predicted will be settled in the courts. "It's just ,not perfectly clear yet - how this will. shake out for commission and board appointees," -Oberrnan said. '!
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_ "It's just not perfectly clear yet - how this wilt shake out for commission and board appointees," -Oberman said. 'j Even those who served on the team that wrote the ordinance disagree about this 'provision. ; According to Holewinski, people sitting on the Chicago Transit Authority and the Chicago Housing Ii Authority boards and the Board of ' Education will be bound by the I code and forced to disclose such Ii things as outside clients. If they re- I signed, they would be excluded for) a year from participating as a law<j' yer or consultant in any matter , that had come before them as a" board member. Though some appointees have ' said privately that they are consid- ' ering stepping down before the ordinance becomes law to avoidthose provisions, attorney Robert I Howard, chairman of the board of I ethics and one of the code's main I authors, said his, interpretation of, the ordinance/is that it applies to, only future board appointees, not those already sitting. ' Some Washington administration officials said they may lobby , the city's various boards and agen- , cies to pass ethics codes similar 'to Chicago's, a step that could clear ' 'up some (if the uncertainties about , \yho is included in the city's or- \ ~dinance. ' While city workers earning more I tpan$40,000 fall within the code's ! purview, the measure-does little to expand on an existing executive i order issued by Washington last year that outlines standards of conduct and economic disclosure for those employees: ' ) -' The' ethics code builds on that , .order only in that it outlines' :'~penalties for violations-up to "])500 or firing-and requires de. 'partment heads to notify the ,~ ethics committee of the disci- , plinary action taken. Holewinski : 'said this will prevent officials from ~PfQtectp favored employees.

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