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Filed Under:aldermen, Craig Dellimore, Politics, Rahm Emanuel
Mayor Rahm Emanuel (Photo by Joshua Lott/Getty Images)

(CBS) — Even with a tight budget, Mayor Rahm Emanuel seems willing to let Chicago aldermen continue to each control more than a million dollars a year to be spent in their neighborhoods, reports WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore.

If you didn’t know, every year each ward receives $1.3 million to address what aldermen feel are needs in their communities. It is called the aldermanic menu and Mayor Emanuel is comfortable with it.
“You call it menu money, I see this is aldermen meeting the needs of their community and residents,” Emanuel said.

Asked if his new budget to be unveiled later this month will keep the menu at the same level, the mayor noted his administration did make some changes years ago.

“We set up a structure, where there’s some standards so, I’m doing this by memory, but I think about 50 to 60 percent of the alderman’s menu resources of a million has to go into road paving,” Emanuel said.

He seems satisfied with that. The mayor spoke with reporters at a street paving site that was not paid for with menu money but with general funds.