Outgoing Alderman Shiller Closes Ward Office
CHICAGO (WBBM) -- Some outgoing aldermen may be forced to cut back on their spending for the next two weeks, and some are scaling back operations.
As WBBM Newsradio 780 Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports, because Ald. Helen Shiller (46th) is retiring and leaving office next month, she understands why she didn't get her full budget this year.
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But she says that means she has to close her ward office after Friday, because her lease is up.
"We're no longer budgeted for our ward offices as of May 1. We will all continue to have our downtown offices, and in our case – we, and I'm assuming others – but in our case, we have arranged for all of our phones and faxes to be call-forwarded," Shiller said.
A spokesman for the city budget office says departing aldermen were allocated only a third of their usual budget. But he says there is no specific date when money runs out, so if aldermen want to keep their ward offices open two weeks longer, they may do so.
