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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">FOR RELEASE</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">:
<br>
January 29, 2025 <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">PRESS CONTACT</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">:
<br>
Deanna Shoss, Communications, 773.478.8417 <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">Mayor’s Office Accepted
<a name="_Hlk188976457">Gifts Including Jewelry, Handbags, and Alcohol “On Behalf of the City” Without Public Reporting, Declined to Make Mayor’s “Gift Room” Available for Inspection</a>, OIG Finds<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released an advisory with recommendations to the Mayor’s Office to improve transparency
and accountability around gifts accepted “on behalf of the City.” As a general rule, gifts accepted on behalf of the City must be reported to the Board of Ethics (BOE) and the City’s Comptroller, and those reports are publicly available. Pursuant to a long-running,
unwritten arrangement dating back to the administration of Mayor Eugene Sawyer, gifts accepted by the Mayor’s Office on behalf of the City were not reported in this way, but rather were to be logged in a book which would be available for public viewing on
the Fifth Floor of City Hall. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">OIG visited the Fifth Floor in a covert capacity and asked to see this logbook; that request was denied and undercover OIG personnel were directed
to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the log. OIG did so, again in a covert capacity; the Mayor’s Office failed to timely respond, constituting a denial of the FOIA request. Thereafter, OIG sent an official document request for the log,
and received a spreadsheet detailing gifts accepted by the Mayor’s Office on behalf of the City. The log identified many of those gifts—including Hugo Boss cufflinks; Givenchy, Gucci, and Kate Spade handbags; a personalized Mont Blanc pen; and size 14 men’s
shoes—as being stored in a “Gift Room,” and others in the Mayor’s personal office in City Hall. OIG subsequently visited the Fifth Floor to conduct an unannounced inspection of the Gift Room, and was denied access.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">“When gifts are changing hands—perhaps literally—in a windowless room in City Hall, there is no opportunity for oversight and public scrutiny of the
propriety of such gifts, the identities or intentions of the gift-givers, or what it means for gifts like whiskey, jewelry, handbags, and size 14 men’s shoes to be accepted ‘on behalf of the City,’” says Deborah Witzburg, Inspector General for the City of
Chicago. “It is perhaps more important than ever that Chicagoans can trust their City government, and for decades we have given people no reason at all to trust what goes on in the dark. These gifts are, by definition, City property; if they are squirreled
away and hidden from view, people are only left to assume the worst about how they are being handled. If we do not govern responsibly on the small things, we cannot ask people to trust the government on the big ones.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">OIG recommended that the Mayor’s Office comply with the generally applicable rules for public reporting of gifts accepted on behalf of the City, and
that the Gift Room be made available for announced or unannounced inspection by OIG. In its response, the Mayor’s Office indicates that it would allow OIG access to the Gift Room, but only with “a properly scheduled appointment.” Their response further attaches
a letter from BOE in which BOE “concurs” with OIG’s recommendation on public reporting; the Mayor’s Office says it will “work closely with [BOE] to transition to this new guidance.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal;text-autospace:none">
<b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal;text-autospace:none">
<b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">Read the Advisory<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif;color:black"><a href="https://igchicago.org/2025/01/29/mayors-office-accepted-gifts-including-jewelry-handbags-and-alcohol-on-behalf-of-the-city-without-public-reporting-declined-to-make-mayors-gift-room/">Read
the full advisory, released on January 29, 2025.</a></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">Deanna Shoss</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">(She/Her)</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">Director of Communications and Outreach</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">Office of Inspector General</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">231 S. LaSalle Street, 12th Floor<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">Chicago, IL 60604<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif"><a href="mailto:dshoss@igchicago.org"><span style="color:#0563C1">dshoss@igchicago.org</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">(773) 478-8417</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">You know your city. Talk to us about making Chicago government better.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">(833) TALK-2-IG |
<a href="mailto:talk2ig@igchicago.org"><span style="color:blue">talk2ig@igchicago.org</span></a> |
<a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.igchicago.org/__;!!B24N9PvjPQId!Z_DAkp5uIQ4eGvUpxbN8y5bUuGNlV1b3QitWrOOQyjEHq2l7tR02zPFHS7bNjaNVKW7DTIdKU-n24pDdDQthXfZHp3E$">
<span style="color:blue">igchicago.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial Nova Light",sans-serif">Share your feedback! Help shape OIG’s project priorities by taking the 2025 DRAFT Annual Plan Community Feedback Survey
by January 31, 2025: <a href="https://igchicago.org/2025draftplan/"><span style="color:blue">https://igchicago.org/2025draftplan/</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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