The Mayor of the City of Chicago is responsible for:
- Approving / vetoing city council ordinances and has a line item veto power over appropriations bills.
- Since he's responsible for submitting a budget and has line item power, the Mayor has the power of the purse.
- The Mayor is also responsible for appointments to City Boards:
- Education
- City Colleges of Chicago
- Chicago Housing Authority
- Park District
- Public Library
- CTA (4 of 7 members)- uncertain but he may pick the chairman
- RTA (5 of 16 members)
- Public Building Commission (6 of 11 members) - he himself is currently the Chairman, not sure if that belings to the Mayor or he appointed himself Chairman
- *International Port District (4 or 5 of 9 members) - Mayor's site says 4, IL Port Site says 5. The balance are appointed by the Governor.
- Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (7 of 13 members)
- The Mayor is responsible for picking the Police Superintendent and the Fire Commissioner.
My sources for the above (and I have to admit that some of these sources are severely lacking):
So to boil down what the Mayor is responsible for and has his hands in, he must:
- Be a good competent manager and delegate well. He has to be able to pick managers who can drive results. But he is ultimately responsible because he puts them in their jobs.
- He is responsible for city ordinances - he vetoes or approves them. And it requires the city council to override with a 2/3 majority. Short of that condition, he's responsible.
- He "controls" outright the CPS, City Colleges, CHA, Park District, Public Library.
- He "controls" through majority appointment CTA, PBC (he's chairman), MPEA, and possibly IIPD.
If any of the above are deficient in the city of Chicago, Mayor Daley is responsible for not replacing the heads or providing new direction after a certain period of time.
The most straightforward approach this is to go through these different areas, plus understand certain city ordinances and render a judgement.
