It's a page out of the City Hall playbook, where former Mayor Richard M. Daley popularized the practice of giving the city's 50 aldermen control over $1.3 million in spending on ward projects each year. Mayor Rahm Emanuel continues doling out that so-called menu money, so named because aldermen choose from a menu of potential projects outlined by the city Department of Transportation, albeit with a few more restrictions on how it can be spent.