Disclosures/Notifications of abstentions filed by Council members pursuant to Section 2-156-080 of the Ethics Ordinance

What can you view on this website?
This site allows you to view written disclosures filed with the Board of Ethics or City Clerk by Chicago City Council members or other elected officials pursuant to §2-156-080 of the Governmental Ethics Ordinance.  Except for the identifying information added by the Board of Ethics in the bottom right corner of each page of the disclosures, all posted materials are scanned, unmodified copies of the documents as received by the Board of Ethics. The Board of Ethics posts all disclosures immediately upon receiving them

Note: until October 1, 2022, these disclosures generally did NOT include “Rule 14” disclosures filed by City Council members with the City Clerk’s Office.  Most of those disclosures were not required by Ethics Ordinance but were filed by City Council members wishing to recuse from matters for various reasons in order to avoid even the appearance of impropriety, or go above and beyond what the Ethics Ordinance requires. Sometimes recusing City Council members sent the Board these non-required disclosures, and we have always posted them. However, as of October 1, 2022, all such non-required Rule 14 disclosures, whether filed with the Board directly, or with the City Clerk (which will then forward them to the Board), will be posted here.  

To view older non-required “Rule 14” disclosures filed with the City Clerk, please see the Journal of Council Proceedings

What must be disclosed?

If a City Council member (or their spouse or domestic partner) has an interest in a matter pending before the City Council or one of its committees: As to any matter pending before the City Council or any Council committee, under §2-156-080(b)(1) of the Governmental Ethics Ordinance, any member of City Council who has any financial interest that is either (i) distinguishable from the general public or all aldermen in the matter, or (ii) from which matter they or their spouse, or any business in which either of them has a financial interest, has derived any income or compensation during the preceding 12 months, or from which they reasonably expect to derive compensation in the next 12 months, shall:

1. publicly disclose the nature and extent of such interest on the record of Council proceedings;
2. notify the Board of Ethics of such interest within 96 hours of delivery by the City Clerk to the member, of the introduction of any ordinance, resolution, order or other matter in the City Council, or as soon thereafter as the member is or should be aware of such potential conflict of interest; and
3. abstain from voting on the matter, but be counted present for quorum purposes. The Board must make these disclosures available for public inspection and copying immediately upon receipt.

If a City Council member (or their spouse or domestic partner) has an interest in a person with a matter pending before the City Council or one of its committees: Under §2-156-080(b)(2) of the Governmental Ethics Ordinance, to avoid even an appearance of impropriety, any member of City Council who has a business relationship with a person or entity with a matter pending before City Council or any Council Committee that (i) creates a financial interest on the part of the member the member’s spouse, or (ii) from which the member or spouse has derived any income or compensation during the preceding 12 months or from whom they reasonably expects to derive any income or compensation in the next 12 months, shall:

1. publicly disclose the nature of such business relationship on the record of Council proceedings;
2. notify the Board of Ethics of such relationship within 96 hours of delivery by the City Clerk to the member, of the introduction of any ordinance, resolution, order or other matter in the City Council, or as soon thereafter as the member is or should be aware of such potential conflict; and
3. abstain from voting on the matter, but be counted present for quorum purposes. The Board must make these disclosures available for public inspection and copying immediately upon receipt.

Disclosures filed in months prior to those on this page may be obtained by contacting the Board of Ethics. The Board has all filed disclosures going back to December 1998, when the Ordinance provision requiring written disclosure of such conflicts to the Board first took effect.