Budget director defends spending federal dollars on CPD as aldermen approve new COVID-related grants 

Aldermen on Friday approved carrying over $68 million in federal COVID-19 grant funds from 2020 and allocating additional coronavirus-related federal grant money to be used this year for rental assistance and vaccination programs. 

But prior to the unanimous approval of the ordinance that would allocate $309 million that not previously been designated, the city’s Budget Director Susie Park spent much of the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations meeting explaining to aldermen why and how a significant portion of the city’s $1.2 billion in federal CARES Act funding was spent on Chicago Police Department personnel costs.