Emanuel's Winter of Discontent Chills $3 Billion Bond Plan
- Rubber-stamp approval no longer assured from restive council
- Probe into police misbehavior undermines mayor's power
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks on Dec. 30, 2015.
Photographer: Scott Olson/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The Chicago way of borrowing works like this: The mayor asks city council members for bonding authority, and they give it to him.
That’s changing now that Mayor Rahm Emanuel is under siege from a federal investigation into the misconduct of his police department. A sign of just how much the scandal has undermined the mayor’s influence came this week when the council trimmed a $3.2 billion bonding plan by $600 million and delayed voting on another $200 million.