BGA: Chicago City Council should name its own committee leadership, not mayor

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A potential change could be coming to a long standing precedent in Chicago City Council.

For decades the city's mayor has been allowed to pick committee chairs, giving the administration greater power over the council.

"City Council rules actually say that the city council gets to select their chairs," said Brian Zarou of the Better Government Association. "But over time, it started with the first Mayor Daley, many, many years ago where he kind of took the budget process away from that council, and over decades and decades they've been advocating more power and sucking up power more council from council."

Now there's a push for Chicago's City Council to operate more independently.

"Alderman Matt Martin courageously put together a resolution, calling for himself to be the next ethics chair," said Zarou, "Although that's one department, one committee, this opens up the conversation more fully. Why isn't the council picking their own chairs?"

The BGA 's policy team said urges City Council to take this opportunity to act as an independent, co-equal branch of government.

"It's not become law or rules, it's become more tradition, and it's time to break that tradition," Zarou said.