Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson will depart his position at the end of his current term, which concludes on Oct. 15, according to a copy of a resignation letter sent to NBC 5.
The letter, dated Thursday, did not explain Ferguson's reason for stepping down. A former federal prosecutor, he was first named the city's Inspector General by Mayor Richard M. Daley in 2009.
In October of 2020, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot hinted she would not reappoint Ferguson following the expiration of his term, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter here.
"Joe Ferguson has been in office for a really long time.... He’s to be commended for the really good and hard work that he and his team have done on investigations, but particularly on the auditing work," Lightfoot told the newspaper at the time. "But you know I’m somebody who favors term limits. And I don’t think people should stay in office indefinitely. I don’t think it’s good for them. And I don’t think it’s good for the organization that they lead."
In his resignation letter, Ferguson explained he decided to provide advance notice of his decision to "allow the ordinance-mandated search and appointment process to be conducted with time for due deliberation for all parties in interest."
