Mayor of Chicago - Appointment Powers

Appointment Powers

The Mayor appoints the Commissioner of the Chicago Fire Department and Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. He or she is also responsible for appointing the heads of city departments, the largest of which are the Water Management Department (formed by the consolidation of the former Water Department and Sewer Department under Richard M. Daley) and the Streets & Sanitation Department. He or she additionally appoints members to the boards of several special purpose municipalities including the Chicago Park District, Chicago Public Library, Chicago Housing Authority, Chicago Transit Authority, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, et al. Under Richard M. Daley, the Illinois legislature granted the mayor power to appoint the Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Public Schools and subordinated the district under the mayor's authority; the district had long been an independent political field.

The Chicago City Clerk and City Treasurer are elected separately, as are the fifty aldermen who form the City Council. The mayor is empowered, however, to fill vacancies in any of these fifty-two elected offices by appointment. In turn, the City Council elect one of their own in the event the mayor's office is vacated.