FOR RELEASE:
March 6, 2024
PRESS CONTACT:
Deanna Shoss, Communications, 773-478-8417
The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) has published an Advisory concerning the City’s complaint-based approach to providing services. Specifically, OIG has encountered multiple instances across different inquiries of inefficiencies resulting from the City’s reliance on complaints as its principal basis for determining when, where, and to whom to provide services. While a complaint-based approach can address emergencies and provide direct solutions to individual concerns, a reactive approach at the expense of routine, proactive work can increase costs, impede the full provision of public services, and create or magnify inequities in service delivery.
“Primary reliance on complaints to prompt City service response is a reactive strategy that can increase long-term costs, prevent the optimal provision of public services, and neglect people and communities less likely to register complaints. By relying on complaints to allocate resources, the City delivers less comprehensive services to fewer Chicagoans,” said Deborah Witzburg, Inspector General for the City of Chicago.
In a letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson dated December 18, 2023, OIG urged the City to implement proactive measures for service provision, citing multi-year budget planning and departmental strategic planning as options to incorporate proactive service delivery into the City’s existing processes. Multiple OIG inquiries, from the 2015 Chicago Department of Transportation Pavement Management Audit, to the 2019 Chicago Department of Public Health Air Pollution Enforcement Audit and more, found that City departments may not define the underlying issues facing communities or consider long-term costs when making decisions about the most effective way to deliver City services.
The Mayor’s Office responded on February 2, 2024, agreeing that more can be done to ensure a systemic approach to service provision. The response highlighted examples of how the City is striving to achieve a balance of proactive and reactive service administration.
Read the Advisory
Read the full advisory, including the December 18, 2023, IG letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Mayor’s Office response on February 2, 2024.
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The mission of the independent and non-partisan City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) is to promote economy, effectiveness, efficiency, and integrity by identifying corruption, waste, and mismanagement in City government. OIG is a watchdog for the taxpayers of the City and has jurisdiction to conduct inquiries into most aspects of City government. If you see misconduct, mismanagement, ineffectiveness, or inefficiency, we need to hear from you. For more information, visit our website at igchicago.org.
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About the Office of Inspector General
The mission of the independent and nonpartisan City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) is to promote economy, effectiveness, efficiency, and integrity by identifying corruption, waste, and mismanagement in City government. OIG is a watchdog for the taxpayers of the City and has jurisdiction to conduct inquiries into most aspects of City government.
If you see misconduct, mismanagement, ineffectiveness, or inefficiency, we need to hear from you.
Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for the latest information on how OIG continues to fight fraud, abuse, and inefficiency in Chicago government.