The Chicago Board of Ethics on Tuesday fined an alderman and published the names of six others who, according to the board, failed to file their financial interest statements in time.
Ald. Lamont Robinson, 4th, faces a $250 fine for not turning in the annual form, which is required of most city officials and employees, according to the ethics board. The other City Council members who were called out — but not fined — for blowing past the May 1 deadline were Aldermen Stephanie Coleman, Derrick Curtis, Jim Gardiner, William Hall, Julia Ramirez and Monique Scott.
Robinson was fined because the board said he still hadn’t turned in the paperwork, while the others have turned it in but didn’t do so by the May 1 deadline.
Asked about the violation Tuesday afternoon, Robinson told the Tribune in a text message that his financial interest form “has been completed and turned in,” and that he was waiting to hear back from the ethics board “to determine what will happen” with the fine. Hall, Ramirez and Gardiner also said Tuesday they have filed their statements, with Gardiner sharing a copy of a May 15 letter he sent to Ethics Board Executive Director Steve Berlin that said he had encountered a snafu with the website’s online portal.
The ethics board publishes an annual list of scofflaws who don’t meet the May 1 deadline to submit the form, even if they’ve since complied. The body notifies those who don’t file in time within three business days, then grants them seven more business days to file without incurring a fine, which is $250 a day.
The statement itself discloses information on the individual’s financial interests, including outside income, business investments and involvement in other boards or organizations.
About 100 city officials or staffers were dinged by the ethics board this year over not submitting the form on time, up from last year’s total of 72 city employees, including two aldermen: Coleman and Scott.
