Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has nominated Deborah Witzburg, a former high-ranking leader in the inspector general’s office, to be the city’s top watchdog.
At an unrelated news conference, Lightfoot said she has “every confidence” in Witzburg’s ability and said, if the office is working right, “the IG helps city government get better.” Audits by the agency, she said, are important ways to improve government functions.
The mayor also indirectly alluded to her recurring criticisms of former inspector general Joe Ferguson’s office, which she’s made by saying the IG needs to stay in “their lane.”
“As I expressed to her, the work needs to speak for itself,” Lightfoot said. “I think she gets that.”
Lightfoot’s choice follows a slow process to replace Ferguson, who announced he would not seek reappointment in a July 2021 letter urging Lightfoot and aldermen to begin the search process.
Ferguson said he was giving the city more than 100 days’ notice so that officials could perform a legally mandated national search and make the hire before his term expired in mid-October.
City officials were slow to move forward, however, leading to criticism from some good government advocates and city leaders who expressed concern over the office being without a permanent leader at a time of high public mistrust.
Aldermen will need to approve Witzburg’s nomination.
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Witzburg, 38, joined the inspector general’s office in May 2016 and rose to become the deputy inspector general for public safety. She resigned the position in November to pursue the inspector general job.
“I’m honored to be appointed and anxious to get to work,” Witzburg said in a statement. “I’m a true believer in the work of OIG, and I’m committed to carrying it forward with independence and integrity.”
Witzburg has a law degree from Northwestern University and worked for the Cook County state’s attorney for nearly eight years, according to her LinkedIn page.
The inspector general is the city’s internal watchdog tasked with investigating corruption and malfeasance, which have been plentiful in Chicago. Under the law, city employees, contractors and vendors have a duty to cooperate with IG investigations, empowering the office to pursue detailed audits of government programs and alleged misconduct.
Lightfoot’s selection of the next inspector general generated significant political intrigue. The mayor has feuded publicly with Ferguson in the months since his departure, drawing into question whether she would be willing to appoint one of his top deputies.
Lightfoot also criticized Witzburg’s public safety qualifications, emails reported by the Tribune show.
In October, Lightfoot exchanged contentious emails with Northwest Side Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, 33rd, after the first-term City Council member argued with the mayor over public safety.
Lightfoot held a community event on public safety in Rodriguez Sanchez’s ward without notifying her.
The failure to communicate “shows a lack of respect for me as the Alderperson of this area and for the neighbors who wanted to have an opportunity to speak with (police) Supt. (David) Brown in the wake of a wave of gun violence that has impacted our community,” Rodriguez Sanchez wrote to the mayor and other officials.
Lightfoot responded in part by criticizing Rodriguez Sanchez for having held a community forum on crime where Ferguson and Witzburg spoke.
“People were mystified that you featured the IG and the PSIG on these fundamental crime issues about which neither are qualified to opine,” Lightfoot wrote.
But Lightfoot selected Witzburg after a committee appointed partly by her and aldermen screened her and other candidates for the job.