Editorial: The pesky problems of independent consultants and aldermanic expense accounts

The municipal code of Chicago is notably explicit when it comes to aldermanic expense accounts, detailing 28 allowable categories from "holding a paper shredder event" to newspaper subscriptions to the acquisition of rain barrels.One of those permissive categories, No. 18, though, is proving dangerously vague: "Consultants or professional services incurred in connection with the performance of an alderman's official duties."

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