Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has appointed a task force charged with reviewing the city’s existing ethics ordinance and recommending changes aimed at strengthening it and giving it teeth.
The panel has a four-month deadline to provide suggestions on the existing law that governs conflicts of interest among city officials and employees.
Emanuel said the ordinance “is vague and lacks the mechanisms to deter abuse. The task force will work to recommend reforms that ensure government is honest and accountable to the taxpayers.”
The task force will be led by Cynthia Canary and includes members Sergio Acosta, Alderman Will Burns, and Dawn Clark Netsch. Jones Day will provide pro bono advice through the Civic Consulting Alliance.
Canary is the former director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. Acosta is a partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson and a former supervisor in the U.S. Attorney’s office. Netsch is a law professor at Northwestern University and a former Illinois state senator and comptroller.
