Austin Berg:
The answers reveal how a hollow office wreaks havoc on the health of Chicago’s finances.
Chicago’s treasurer
The city’s current treasurer has made herself unusually vulnerable to criticism. Melissa Conyears-Ervin has been the subject of multiple ethics investigations and scandals since taking office in 2019.
Here are the toplines:
- Security detail controversy: Conyears-Ervin briefly received a Chicago police security detail upon taking office. After a security assessment concluded neither the treasurer nor the city clerk required ongoing police protection, CPD withdrew that detail. Conyears-Ervin then hired private security guards using public funds. No previous Chicago treasurer is known to have received a CPD security detail. The controversy resurfaced in 2024 when Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson attempted to bankroll the treasurer’s security team using the city’s water fund.
- Asking banks for personal help: While overseeing deposits of city funds with BMO Harris and other banks, Conyears-Ervin acknowledged asking BMO to provide a loan to her husband’s landlord. Two former employees alleged she tried to “force” the bank to issue a mortgage on the building that houses the aldermanic office of Conyears-Ervin’s husband, 28th Ward Ald. Jason Ervin, who also serves as Johnson’s hand-picked chairman of the Budget Committee.
- Repeated ethics violations: The Chicago Board of Ethics found in April 2024 that Conyears-Ervin committed 12 violations of the city’s Governmental Ethics Ordinance and moved to impose $60,000 in fines. In a separate probe, involving misuse of city resources and the firing of whistleblowers, she agreed to a $30,000 settlement to resolve those charges.