Top Alderman Mocks Inspector General For Suing Council; 'He's Just Full Of Molasses'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A key alderman on Wednesday scoffed at Legislative Inspector General Faisal Khan's lawsuit against the mayor, the City Council, and several committee chairs, seeking to force them to better fund his office.
WBBM Newsradio Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports Budget Committee Chairwoman Carrie Austin (34th) said she doesn't understand how Khan can even sue the city for more money in his budget.
Austin said the council has already given him money.
"Where do he think the money falls from? Out of a cherry tree or something?" she said. "You know, it's like, come on. Our budget is tight. He just wants to be able to spend willy nilly."
Khan regularly has clashed with the aldermen he's tasked with investigating, and has said he ran out of funds to pay staff. Austin said Khan has no one to blame for that but himself.
"That was his mismanagement, not mine. No, and not the council's," she said.
Austin acknowledged Khan and aldermen have clashed over his investigations.
"I'm not a fan of his, because of the way he came into our council … 'I'm going to do what I want to do, abiding by rules and regulations that we never approved,'" she said.
Khan has said he's just trying to root out corruption and fraud, but Austin rolled her eyes at that.
"Oh, he's just full of molasses," she said, accusing Khan of being on a power trip.
The mayor has proposed empowering Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson to investigate aldermen and their staffs instead, but Austin said she opposes that. She said there should be separate inspectors for the City Council and other city departments and agencies run by the mayor.
"I think it should be separate, because we are two separate entities: the executive branch and the legislative branch," she said.
Austin just wants a Legislative Inspector General other than Khan.