Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office has ordered Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley to release records of applicants for the city’s two vacant alderman positions.
Earlier this week, the city denied a Freedom of Information request from the Chicago Current seeking the names of candidates who nominated themselves for the open 1st and 29th Ward alderman positions.
The city’s law department said doing so would violate the applicants’ right to privacy, potentially jeopardizing their current jobs.
The attorney general's memo, sent to the city's law department, says that the city failed to establish that disclosing the information in the job packes would be "highly personal or objectionable to a reasonable person."
The applicants' right to privacy does not outweigh the public interest, wrote Cara Smith, a public-access counselor in the attorney general's office.
“When this public office becomes vacant, it follows that the public has a legitimate interest in knowing who has applied for the position," she wrote, adding that it's important for people to weigh candidates against each other and scrutinize the appointee.
Transparency watchdogs condemned the city’s interpretation of the Freedom of Information law, calling it undemocratic to keep the names of aldmeranic candidates under wraps.
Windy Citizen 