City’s top watchdog would have two-term limit under proposed ordinance

Chicago’s inspector general would be limited to two, four-year terms, with rigid time-lines for choosing a replacement, under reforms championed by a mayoral ally to avoid a repeat of the “slow-rolling” that occurred under Lori Lightfoot.

Lightfoot clashed openly and repeatedly with longtime Inspector General Joe Ferguson and, ultimately forced him out after a record twelve years in office.

She then waited nearly eight months before reluctantly choosing Ferguson’s top deputy Deborah Witzburg as his replacement and only after a selection committee twice recommended Witzburg.

Ald. Matt Martin (47th), Mayor Brandon Johnson’s hand-picked chair of the City Council’s Ethics Committee, wants to ensure history is not repeated.

The ordinance he introduced at Wednesday’s City Council meeting would start by limiting future watchdogs to no more than eight years in office.

Martin noted Boston’s inspector general has a two-term limit, while the FBI director is limited to 10 years.

“It would prevent people from staying in the office for too long and having either too close or too adversarial a relationship with any city leader,” Martin said.

“To make sure that we’re getting the very best out of that critical position and that we’re protecting against the possibility of anyone accusing them of not taking the job seriously, using it for political purposes — it’s a good backstop to have for that position that should be apolitical, non-partisan. Just about bringing to light the most problematic aspects of city governmental operations.”

Ferguson was lukewarm about an eight-year limit.

“A term limit on the IG, but no term limit on the elected officials. That’s a curious play,” Ferguson said Thursday.

“Goose/gander. That’s all I’m gonna say. That literally becomes the only position in city government subject to term limits. That warrants some further inquiry.”

Witzburg said she considers term limits an “important measure” from a “good governance perspective.”

“Those of us who are privileged to serve in these roles — we don’t own these institutions. We are stewards of them. Term limits ensure independence and orderly transition,” she said.

The eight-month gap between Ferguson’s departure and Witzburg’s appointment can hardly be characterized as an “orderly transition.” To prevent it from happening again, Martin’s ordinance includes strict timelines.

The mayor would be required to decide whether to re-appoint an incumbent inspector general no later than 180 days before the watchdog’s term expires.

If the answer is “no,” the mayor would be required to nominate a three-member selection committee within seven days and have 30 days to choose from among the finalists they recommend. If all those names are rejected, a written explanation would be required. A public hearing could also be held.

Deadlines for round two would shorten to 14 days. The general counsel would serve as interim inspector general.

Ferguson said rigid timelines are essential to prevent the kind of vacuum a city like Chicago, with a sordid history of corruption, cannot afford.

He noted Witzburg took over “only in the last year” of Lightfoot’s four-year term.

“A new person, even if they’re experienced, needs time to … establish priorities and really begin to understand the landscape from a leadership position. That takes a year at least. It actually takes more than that,” he said.

“So what essentially you’ve done is, you’ve quieted that function for a year and a half that coincides with your electoral political objectives. That can’t be allowed.”

Ferguson noted that six to eight weeks after he left, a selection committee gave Lightfoot a first round of names to replace him. She nevertheless waited for months after that before choosing Witzburg — and only after “political pressure began to mount and the appearance was terrible,” he said.

Witzburg had been picked by Ferguson and worked together with him to produce reports highly critical of the Lightfoot administration in general and the Chicago Police Department in particular. 

During the delay, Ferguson accused Lightfoot of having “buried” his full reports on the botched police raid on the home of social worker Anjanette Young (officers had the wrong address) as well as his report about the city’s “negligence and incompetence” leading up to the 2020 smokestack implosion at the old Crawford coal-fired power plant. The implosion created a dust cloud that blanketed Little Village.

“We can only assume that that was a very, very intentional slow-rolling of the process,” he said.