Posted inInvestigating Responses

Amid Budget Tensions, City Council Members Push to Bring Some Sunshine to City Spending

Other big city governments have robust watchdogs, paid for by taxpayers, to analyze city budgets and financial deals. The City Council’s anemic office could use some brawn, some alderpeople argue.

by Alex Nitkin May 6, 2025May 6, 2025

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

When republishing or co-publishing our stories, please copy and paste our tracking code (found at the bottom of the copy below - it includes the words "republication-tracker-tool") anywhere in the body of this article in your website’s content management system. This will let us know how much traffic our story has received. Find our content republishing guidelines here.

Amid Budget Tensions, City Council Members Push to Bring Some Sunshine to City Spending

by Alex Nitkin, Illinois Answers Project
May 6, 2025

<h1>Amid Budget Tensions, City Council Members Push to Bring Some Sunshine to City Spending</h1>
<p class="byline">by Alex Nitkin, Illinois Answers Project <br />May 6, 2025</p>
<div class="newspack-content-gate__gate newspack-content-gate__inline-gate">
<div style="clear:both;display:table"></div>
<div class="wp-block-group alignwide has-border-color has-base-3-border-color has-white-color has-primary-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-1" style="border-width:1px;border-top-left-radius:8px;border-top-right-radius:8px;border-bottom-left-radius:8px;border-bottom-right-radius:8px;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80)">
<div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-0cefa6ed wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained">
<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-center" id="h-this-story-is-free-we-just-need-your-email"><strong>This story is <span style="text-decoration: underline">free</span>. We just need your email.</strong></h3>
<div class="wp-block-group">
<div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-d055b032 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained">
<p class="has-text-align-center halyard wp-block-paragraph">We don’t put our investigations behind a paywall. But we do ask readers to sign up for our newsletter before reading, so we can stay connected and keep you informed about our latest reporting.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph">
</div>
</div>
<div class="wp-block-group">
<div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-d055b032 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained">
<div class="newspack-registration newspack-ui ">
<p class="newspack-registration__description">By entering my email I consent to receiving additional emails from Illinois Answers Project, such as newsletters, event invitations, and occasional opportunities to support our work. I understand I can unsubscribe at any time.</p>
<p>Have questions or experiencing an issue? Contact us at <a href="mailto:info@bettergov.org">info@bettergov.org</a>.</p>
<div class="newspack-registration__form-content">
<div class="newspack-registration__main">
<div>
<div class="newspack-ui">
			<button type="button" class="newspack-ui__button newspack-ui__button--wide newspack-ui__button--secondary newspack-ui__button--google-oauth"></p>
<p>							Continue with Google			</button></p>
<div class="newspack-ui__word-divider">
				Or			</div>
</p></div>
<div class="newspack-registration__inputs">
<p>																<button type="submit" class="newspack-ui__button newspack-ui__button--primary"><br />
									<span class="submit">Continue</span><br />
								</button>
							</div>
<div class="newspack-registration__response newspack-registration--hidden">
															</div>
</p></div>
</p></div>
</p></div>
<div class="newspack-registration__help-text">
<p>
													<a href="https://illinoisanswers.org/privacy-policy-2/"><br />
							I agree to the <a href="https://www.bettergov.org/better-government-association-privacy-policy/">Terms of Service</a> and <a href="https://www.bettergov.org/terms-of-service/">Privacy Policy</a>.												</a>
											</p>
</p></div>
<div class="newspack-registration__registration-success newspack-registration--hidden newspack-ui__box newspack-ui__box--x-large newspack-ui__box--success newspack-ui__box--text-center">
				<span class="newspack-ui__icon newspack-ui__icon--success"></p>
<p>							</span></p>
<div class="wp-block-newspack-reader-registration">
<p class="has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph">Success! Your account was created and you’re signed in.</p>
</div></div>
</p></div>
</p></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://illinoisanswers.org/2025/05/06/amid-budget-tensions-city-council-members-push-to-bring-some-sunshine-to-city-spending/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://illinoisanswers.org&quot;&gt;Illinois Answers Project&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/illinoisanswers.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p>
&lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://illinoisanswers.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=22613&amp;amp;ga4=G-3GC466Z1PL&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://illinoisanswers.org/2025/05/06/amid-budget-tensions-city-council-members-push-to-bring-some-sunshine-to-city-spending/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/illinoisanswers.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;script&gt;
(function () {
  &quot;use strict&quot;;

  const postId = 22613;

  const endpoint =
    &quot;https://d92l5yv8og.execute-api.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod/trackingpixel&quot;;

  const sessionId =
    &quot;test-&quot; +
    Date.now() +
    &quot;-&quot; +
    Math.random().toString(36).slice(2);

  const source = window.location.hostname;
  const pagePath = window.location.pathname;
  const screenWidth = window.innerWidth;

  let title = &quot;unknown&quot;;
  let engagedSeconds = 0;

  const pendingPixels = new Set();

  function sendPixel(eventType) {
    const query = new URLSearchParams({
      post: title,
      title: title,
      source: source,
      path: pagePath,
      width: String(screenWidth),
      session_id: sessionId,
      event_type: eventType,
      engaged_seconds: String(engagedSeconds),
      test: &quot;staging&quot;,
      cache_bust: String(Date.now())
    });

    const requestUrl =
      endpoint + &quot;?&quot; + query.toString();

    const pixel = new Image();

    pendingPixels.add(pixel);

    pixel.onload = function () {
      pendingPixels.delete(pixel);

      console.log(&quot;Republication pixel completed:&quot;, {
        eventType: eventType,
        engagedSeconds: engagedSeconds,
        sessionId: sessionId
      });
    };

    pixel.onerror = function () {
      pendingPixels.delete(pixel);

      console.error(
        &quot;Republication pixel failed:&quot;,
        requestUrl
      );
    };

    pixel.src = requestUrl;

    console.log(&quot;Republication pixel requested:&quot;, {
      eventType: eventType,
      engagedSeconds: engagedSeconds,
      sessionId: sessionId,
      url: requestUrl
    });
  }

  fetch(
    &quot;https://illinoisanswers.org/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/&quot; +
      postId +
      &quot;?_fields=id,title&quot;
  )
    .then(function (response) {
      if (!response.ok) {
        throw new Error(
          &quot;WordPress API returned &quot; +
          response.status
        );
      }

      return response.json();
    })
    .then(function (data) {
      title = &quot;unknown&quot;;

      if (data) {
        if (data.title) {
          if (data.title.rendered) {
            title = data.title.rendered;
          }
        }
      }

      console.log(&quot;Republication tracker started:&quot;, {
        postId: postId,
        title: title,
        sessionId: sessionId
      });

      sendPixel(&quot;page_view&quot;);

      window.setInterval(function () {
        if (document.visibilityState !== &quot;visible&quot;) {
          console.log(
            &quot;Heartbeat skipped: tab hidden&quot;
          );
          return;
        }

        if (!document.hasFocus()) {
          console.log(
            &quot;Heartbeat skipped: window not focused&quot;
          );
          return;
        }

        engagedSeconds += 5;

        sendPixel(&quot;heartbeat&quot;);
      }, 5000);
    })
    .catch(function (error) {
      console.error(
        &quot;Republication tracker failed:&quot;,
        error
      );
    });

  window.addEventListener(
    &quot;pagehide&quot;,
    function () {
      sendPixel(&quot;session_end&quot;);
    }
  );
})();
&lt;/script&gt;

Janice Oda-Gray, chief administrative officer of the City Council Office of Financial Analysis (COFA) is hiring three staffers to help beef up the office. (Credit: Talia Sprague/For Illinois Answers Project) — Janice Oda-Gray, chief administrative officer of the City Council Office of Financial Analysis (COFA), is hiring three staffers to help beef up the office, which is supposed to help alderpeople navigate the complexities of the city's budget and financial deals. (Credit: Talia Sprague/For Illinois Answers Project)

This story is free. We just need your email.

We don’t put our investigations behind a paywall. But we do ask readers to sign up for our newsletter before reading, so we can stay connected and keep you informed about our latest reporting.

By entering my email I consent to receiving additional emails from Illinois Answers Project, such as newsletters, event invitations, and occasional opportunities to support our work. I understand I can unsubscribe at any time.

Have questions or experiencing an issue? Contact us at info@bettergov.org.

I agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Success! Your account was created and you’re signed in.

Alex NitkinGovernment Finance and Accountability Reporter

anitkin@illinoisanswers.org

Alex Nitkin is a government finance and accountability reporter conducting investigations on systemic problems and the public policies that are meant to fix them in Chicago, Cook County and Illinois government. Before joining Illinois Answers, he worked as a reporter and editor for The Daily Line covering Cook County and Chicago government. He previously worked at The Real Deal Chicago, where he covered local real estate news, and DNAinfo Chicago, where he worked as a breaking news reporter and then as a neighborhood reporter covering the city's Northwest Side. A New York native who grew up in Connecticut, Alex graduated Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism with a bachelor’s degree.

More by Alex Nitkin