The Chicago City Council on Wednesday extended protection to all city residents facing retaliation for exposing the city’s misuse of power. The original Whistleblower Protection Act, first introduced in 2004, only protected city employees against retaliation.
The ordinance now protects all residents who are denied permits, licenses, tax credits and other financial subsidies based on retaliation from city officials.
The act’s two-tiered process states that complaints must be made within six months of the retaliation. Complainants must provide the city with a 30-day notice to investigate the case.
The ordinance provides a platform and the protection for people to come forward, said Ald. Richard F. Mell (33rd), chairman of the Chicago Committee on Committees, Rules and Ethics.
The amendments were made as part of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s goal to raise Chicago’s ethical standards. Chicago is the first major city to have this kind of protection, Emanuel told reporters after the ordinance was approved.
In another ethics reform move, the mayor nominated an entirely new ethics board. The new members have the “type of professionalism and commitment to raise the ethical standards, conduct and oversight in the city government,” Emanuel said.