Johnson hopes to tap progressive Southwest Side alderman as next Zoning chair
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Mayor Brandon Johnson is attempting to shore up support for two allies from different schools of political thought to run the City Council Zoning and Housing committees, in a bid to end a monthslong dance over who will hold the powerful chairmanships.
Johnson and his administration recently began calling around to see whether aldermen would be on board with Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, chairing the Zoning Committee, and Vice Mayor Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th, leading the Housing Committee, the Tribune has learned from sources familiar with deliberations. Johnson spokesman Ronnie Reese declined to comment Monday.
The news follows eight months of uncertainty and behind-the-scenes posturing inside City Hall after a top Johnson ally, Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th, resigned from his Zoning chair and floor leader posts amid allegations of bullying from four of his colleagues. Ramirez-Rosa, who has denied that he intimidated those aldermen while also apologizing for his behavior from November, did not immediately return a request for comment.
Sigcho-Lopez said “conversations are ongoing” Monday morning and added that he did not want to “get ahead” of his potential appointment by discussing it further, while Burnett told the Tribune the administration is “still working on that” and “looking at votes” regarding his potential leadership post.
Placing Sigcho-Lopez in Zoning would be a signal from Johnson to his base that he intends to keep the influential chairmanship with a progressive ally who has supported his push to invest in Black and Latino neighborhoods and the homeless — an agenda that has been without a permanent leader within the committee for eight months.
Also, assigning the more moderate Burnett to helm Housing could help Johnson secure wider council support for both assignments. Burnett is the council’s longest-tenured Black alderman, while Sigcho-Lopez is a somewhat polarizing figure on the body for his outspoken progressive views.
Ald. Bennett Lawson, 44th, a political moderate, has been interim chair of Zoning since Ramirez-Rosa stepped down. Lawson is currently trying to push through a major zoning change as soon as Wednesday that could allow the owners of many Chicago homes to easily build additional dwelling units and carriage houses. Johnson has repeatedly argued the lack of a permanent chair has not slowed the city’s zoning work or his own agenda.
The planned move will likely anger critics of Sigcho-Lopez, who has been alderman of Pilsen since 2019. The Southwest Side alderman is well-known for his fierce advocacy for progressive causes and impassioned speeches that often target conservatives and business interests.
The Black Caucus has also sought for the Zoning chair to go to a member of its body, as Ramirez-Rosa’s most serious accusation of intimidation came from a Black female alderman, but that’s where Burnett’s advancement to Housing committee could serve as an olive branch.
Sigcho-Lopez’s colleagues sought to strip him of his current Housing Committee chairmanship this April after a protest speech he made in front of a burnt American flag the previous month. Some critics charged he was unfit for leadership, while Sigcho-Lopez maintained he never saw the flag that was burnt by a veteran in protest of the federal government’s support of Israel’s war in Gaza. His council colleagues voted 29-16 to not punish him.
Burnett, meanwhile, would take over Sigcho-Lopez’s Housing Committee post, if confirmed under Johnson’s preliminary plans. The West Side-to-River West alderman did not endorse Johnson’s mayoral campaign but has proven to be a loyal ally of the progressive chief executive. Cracks formed in the relationship when he and other Black aldermen bucked the mayor in a May vote in favor of a resolution to preserve ShotSpotter on a ward-by-ward basis.
The council musical chairs was precipitated last fall, as aldermen were set to consider a ballot referendum question on the city’s sanctuary status. Ramirez-Rosa was accused of “manhandling” Ald. Emma Mitts, 37th, in an attempt to keep her from entering council chambers.
She eventually got in, and the meeting ended without aldermen voting on the proposed referendum, but not without the Black Caucus later accusing Ramirez-Rosa of “physical and verbal harassment” against the most senior Black woman in the council. Three aldermen also said Ramirez-Rosa threatened to use his position as Zoning Committee chair to scuttle projects in their wards if they went against him in the council meeting, saddling the mayor with a key council ally now alleged to have engaged in the kind of old-school City Hall strong-arm tactics Johnson’s grassroots supporters often rail against.
While denying those specifics, Ramirez-Rosa later survived a censure attempt, with Johnson himself casting the tiebreaking vote.
Johnson also moved ahead Monday with an effort to oust Lightfoot appointee Aileen Velazquez as the city’s chief procurement officer. Aldermen and mayoral staff have grumbled about Velazquez’s work for months.
On Monday, the council’s Budget Committee discussed an ordinance that would clear the way for the city to execute a severance agreement with Velazquez. The ordinance would also remove the position’s four-year term limit. The committee did not vote on the proposal, but a city attorney said the mayor is asking aldermen to suspend the rules at Wednesday’s full council meeting to quickly pass the measure.
Chicago Tribune’s Gregory Royal Pratt contributed.
