Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot proposed an ordinance giving the office of the mayor an annual inflation raise capped at 5% on Wednesday.
Lightfoot currently takes in an annual salary of $209,915, a sum that would rise to $216,210 as of May 22, 2023, according to the ordinance. The proposal would allow the mayor’s salary to rise up to 5% each year, with a stipulation that the mayor could opt out of the raise.
The proposed raise comes as Lightfoot has faced a stream of heated criticism for her handling of violent crime in her city, which has increased 37% compared to 2021.
The number of motor vehicle thefts so far in 2022 is up 74% compared to the same period in 2021.
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot, shown at City Hall on April 15, 2021.
(Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The rising crime and homelessness has led several major companies to flee the city. Tyson Foods announced its departure from the Windy City on October 10. The company is headed to Arkansas instead.
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McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski also took a shot at the city during a speech in September.
“We have violent crime that’s happening in our restaurants … we’re seeing homelessness issues in our restaurants. We’re having drug overdoses that are happening in our restaurants,” Kempczinski said at the time. “So we see in our restaurants, every single day, what’s happening in society at large.”
Chicago police officers guard a crime scene after a shooting at the CTA Red Line station at 79th Street on Aug. 8, 2022.
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Mayor Lightfoot’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.