Top public safety adviser for Chicago mayor resigned amid concerns about city’s ability to ‘keep moving ... forward’ on crime prevention and consent decree

CHICAGO — A top adviser to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot resigned in August while raising concerns about the city’s ability to “keep moving the ball forward” on its violence prevention efforts and Police Department consent decree implementation, records obtained by the Chicago Tribune show.

Lightfoot’s one-time deputy mayor for public safety, Susan Lee, left that post in fall 2020 but remained involved at City Hall as an unpaid consultant on public safety issues, according to a contract between Lee and the city.

Part of her adviser role included consent decree implementation, according to the agreement.

Lee sent Lightfoot chief of staff Sybil Madison and current Deputy Mayor for Public Safety John O’Malley an email Aug. 2 seeking to “clarify” her role as senior Lightfoot, Lee said she’d been trying to “connect” with the mayor “for weeks” but had been unsuccessful.