The reorganization of the City Council that got underway in March, not long after Lori Lightfoot lost her bid for reelection in the mayoral primary, was a hot mess.
Under the guise of seeking greater independence from the next mayor — a laudable, good-government objective — three Lightfoot allies sought to lock in leadership positions before the new mayor was even elected. To get the votes needed, they expanded council committees to 28 from 19, a costly and cumbersome addition to the council structure.
But the usurpers never did get their hold on power. New councils elect their leadership, and this week, Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson and his allies unveiled the result of weeks of behind-the-scenes effort: After City Council members are sworn in May 15, the mayor will make committee appointments after all.
Johnson in one stroke this week punished the prime actors behind the move for council independence and rewarded those who stood with him during the election or helped advance his effort to exert control before inauguration day.
The whole process was fraught with disunity, but Johnson couldn’t care. He labeled his slate the “Unity Plan.” And he sought to draw public support for the plan by eliminating nine of the planned new committees while also adding one — Police and Fire.
The upshot is that Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd, a Lightfoot endorser, is out as chair of the Finance Committee and Johnson stalwart Ald. Pat Dowell, 3rd, is in. Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th, endorsed Lightfoot during the primary but switched to Johnson for the general election. Just in time: Chairmanship of the Budget Committee will be his reward.
Johnson placed Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th, in charge of the powerful Zoning Committee. That apparently was a reward for Ramirez-Rosa’s behind-the-scenes maneuvering on behalf of Johnson’s Unity Plan. And it also marked the rise of the Democratic Socialist Caucus, as Ramirez-Rosa also was anointed Johnson’s floor leader, a first for the five-member caucus.
Unity sounds good, but unity behind what? Behind the idea of a less costly City Council, because of fewer committees? That’s good.
But unity behind the outdated notion that Chicago’s mayor should be allowed to hand-select committee chairs, thereby emasculating a legislative body that has the right to behave as a separate branch of government? That’s a step backward.
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My organization, the Better Government Association, has pushed for a more independent City Council for some time. As bitter as council politics sometimes were under Lightfoot, even that poisoned atmosphere and its divided votes were an improvement over the rubber-stamp approvals under Mayors Rahm Emanuel and Richard M. Daley.
When unanimous attaboys in the form of roll call votes are common in the council, the people of the city aren’t getting their say.
Under Lightfoot, the City Council began to exercise a modicum of independence. There even was talk about appointing a parliamentarian to help the council further assert autonomy. Or perhaps a legislative counsel might supplant the city’s corporation counsel — a mayoral appointee — in ruling on legal matters before the body.
Such talk has mostly gone silent — at least for now. Waguespack was banished to the backbenches, and in case the point wasn’t made, Lightfoot-era heavyweights Aldermen Anthony Beale, 9th; Brendan Reilly, 42nd; and Walter Burnett Jr., 27th, were sent there too. They hold not a single committee chairmanship among them.
The process by which Waguespack, Ervin and Ald. Michelle Harris, 8th, led the council toward its ultimately unsuccessful independence bid was self-serving and deeply flawed. But the core objective — to establish a precedent that the appointment of committee chairs is the council’s prerogative, not the mayor’s — was long overdue.
The politics of the matter are easy to grasp. Johnson is the most powerful politician in city government at the moment. He hasn’t needed to make any policy decisions yet, so his popularity has only grown. But it’s also a wasting asset: His popularity with voters likely will diminish once he starts making decisions and carrying all the burdens of office.
Of course, it made sense, out of Johnson’s own political self-interest, to act now. Grabbing the appointment power was a first step toward imposing his agenda on the council. And a majority of members are willing to go along with the person whom voters just sent to the mayor’s office.
Politics are only part of the picture. Policymaking also needs to be taken into consideration. And just as clearly as the Unity Plan was in Johnson’s political self-interest, the aldermen elected to the council owe it to their voters to think and act on their own.
Mayors have a right to push their agendas through the council. But in the interest of good government, the council should act as a counterweight to one-person rule. Scrutinizing policy initiatives; double-checking the budget; weighing competing interests among the neighborhoods, ethnic groups, institutions and political interests at play; and ultimately deliberating and deciding what’s best for the city — such should be their duties as elected representatives.
The candidates who convinced people to vote for them promise to represent their wards. And each of the city’s 50 wards has its own nuances and needs. The candidates would not have won, could not have won, simply by pledging an oath of loyalty to whomever won the mayor’s vote.
Yet, before they’re even sworn in, many leading City Council members have signaled that they’re ready to line up behind Johnson, few questions asked.
*Editor’s note: An earlier version misstated Ald. Brian Hopkins’ committee status. He will chair the public safety committee under the current plan.
David Greising is president and CEO of the Better Government Association.
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