(Bloomberg) -- Corruption is as synonymous with Chicago as deep-dish pizza. Lori Lightfoot, who becomes the city’s mayor on Monday, vows to change the political menu.

After winning election last month by one of the widest margins in Chicago history, the former federal prosecutor takes office armed with a mandate to clean up City Hall. As one of her first acts, she’ll take aim at the Chicago tradition of “aldermanic privilege,” which gives city council members veto power over building permits, licensing and other matters.

Some aldermen say eliminating that authority would render them powerless. Critics note it has fueled Chicago’s reputation for political corruption: One reason Lightfoot trounced Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle with 74 percent of the vote is Preckwinkle had been tied to an alderman accused of pressuring Burger King franchisees to become his tax clients in exchange for a remodeling permit in his ward.

The push by Lightfoot, 56, has set the stage for clashes that could derail her reformist agenda and stymie the city’s ability to deal with $28 billion of pension debt and projected deficits. Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who chose not to run for re-election, left residents with tax-hike fatigue as he boosted levies to start addressing those deficits.

With Emanuel gone, “everybody is trying to jockey for position,” said Susan Sadlowski Garza, an alderman from the city’s Southeast Side and member of the council’s Progressive Caucus. “There are a lot of people who want to make their voice heard and say, ‘We aren’t going to do what she says. We are going to do what we want.”’

Lightfoot, set to become Chicago’s first openly gay black female mayor, was a political unknown before she sprinted past rivals who included Bill Daley -- son of former Mayor Richard J. Daley and brother of former Mayor Richard M. Daley -- and Preckwinkle, who was forced during the campaign to defend her connections to embattled Alderman Ed Burke.

Burke, who has been charged but not yet indicted, easily won re-election in the first round of voting in February, despite the allegations. While he resigned his chairmanship of the council’s Finance Committee, Burke remains a powerful figure.

Burke in January denied any wrongdoing. "What can I say. I’ve done nothing wrong," he told reporters at the time. "I’ve always cooperated with investigations in the past and I’ll continue to do so."

At least four other current or former aldermen are facing legal woes, including outgoing Alderman Daniel Solis, who has acknowledged being a government informant in the case against Burke.

Felonious Council

Since 1976, about 16 percent of City Council members have been convicted of crimes, with most of them going to jail, according to Dick Simpson, a former alderman and a University of Illinois-Chicago political science professor.

“Every week as the mayor race heated up, there was a new story out about corruption,” said Simpson, who cites U.S. Justice Department conviction data in deeming Chicago the country’s most corrupt city. “That’s why Lightfoot won. The Burke accusations caused the election to pivot on the question of reform and not the question of experience.”

Lightfoot quickly put aldermen on notice that their traditional privileges should take a backseat to citywide issues such as affordable housing.

“It doesn’t make sense to me that we are going to have 50 separate fiefdoms making decisions that may or may not be in the best interest of the entire city,” she said on a local radio show last week. “If you look back at the history of all alderman who have been charged with crimes, the one unifying theme is consistently the exercise of aldermanic prerogative.”

Her plan so far would take away their authority over permits and licensing, and would seek to curb their ability to dictate zoning decisions in their wards.

“The most powerful alderman in the City of Chicago ... allegedly extorted a Burger King,” said Alderman-elect Michael Rodriguez, referring to Burke. “This kind of thing has to stop. It creates a toxic environment for businesses to expand in our city, and there is a cost to the average citizen for that kind of corruption.”

New Council Wars?

Lightfoot could meet resistance not only from the city’s old guard but from a newly energized progressive wing that might try to push her further than she’s willing or able to go.

“The culture, the processes and history of Chicago aren’t set up and are not geared toward actual regime change,” Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson said in an interview.

Some City Hall observers say they will be looking for signs as to whether Lightfoot might experience opposition similar to that endured by the late Harold Washington, Chicago’s first black mayor.

Washington, who died in office in 1987, has been cited as one of the people who inspired former President Barack Obama to enter politics. He faced the so-called Council Wars, an era when Chicago was known as “Beirut on the Lake” as white aldermen partly led by Burke hampered his ability to govern.

Lightfoot’s apparent comfort with both change and dealing with Chicago’s corporate elite could make her a potent force, said David Greising, president of the Better Government Association, a non-partisan Illinois watchdog.

She was reform-minded as head of a city police task force. “She’s also very comfortable in the board rooms of the city,” Greising said. “That combination of someone who knows how to get reform but can work with the existing power structure could be of significant benefit to the city.”

--With assistance from Elizabeth Campbell.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kim Chipman in Chicago at kchipman@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kasia Klimasinska at kklimasinska@bloomberg.net, Flynn McRoberts, Michael B. Marois

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