Politics & Government
What Do Alderman Actually Do? WBEZ Explains
Listen to this explanation on how the office functions.
It can be a bit difficult to capture the exact the responsibilities of Chicago's 50 alderman. In part, that's because those responsibilities are not clearly defined. This WBEZ piece does a nice job of explaining the duality of the post.
On one hand, alderman are legislators responsible for passing ordinances and budgets. At the same time they works as a sort of community liaison to advocate for their particluar ward needs with various city agencies.
Then there is the uniquely Chicago power of having veto power over practically all development in their ward. Listen to this WBEZ story by Alex Keefe, part of the station's Curious City series, to get a glimpse inside the nebulous world of Chicago aldermanic duties.
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