Kenneth Williams has been chief administrative officer of the City Council Office of Financial Analysis since 2020. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line; City of Chicago]

A City Council office designed to give aldermen an unclouded lens into the city’s finances is falling short of its mandate, according to a former employee and a city watchdog agency.

The council’s Office of Financial Analysis, which is housed under the Committee on Budget and Government Operations, has failed to file multiple mandated reports, and the work it has produced has been met with allegations of sloppiness and even plagiarism. Critics say the result is that aldermen must rely on Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration for guidance and information.