Chicago developers and property owners — from major construction firms to homeowners seeking routine zoning changes — will again face delays as a monthslong City Council feud over who should lead the influential Zoning Committee drags into spring.
But the alderman who has tentatively led the committee says he’s got a political maneuver of his own that could end the political impasse.
Interim Chair Ald. Bennett Lawson, 44th, told the Tribune on Wednesday he will not hold a Zoning Committee meeting in April, the third month this year without one. He said he will continue to refuse to convene the committee until aldermen select a permanent chair.
The standoff has paralyzed one of the council’s most consequential bodies and left a growing backlog of zoning proposals in limbo as the committee reviews zoning changes required to begin construction projects of all kinds across the city. Without its approval, projects cannot move forward. A backlog grew when Lawson skipped January’s meeting, grew further when he skipped March’s, and will grow again next month.
But the increasingly impactful holdup could end soon, as Lawson said he and allies plan to use a procedural maneuver next week to force a vote that could make him the permanent chair and end an eight-month power struggle rooted in ideological divisions and jockeying between the Black and Latino caucuses.
“Everyone is anxious to get moving,” Lawson said. “The longer we go, the harder it is.”
The first-term North Side alderman has now served two stints as interim chair — first for 10 months after former Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa vacated the position, and now eight months into a second stint following former Ald. Walter Burnett Jr.’s retirement. He has said for months that he will not continue as a fill-in.
The committee is too difficult to run without the perks and titles only available to permanent chairs, he said. The permanent chair controls a $468,000 committee budget, the second-largest of any City Council committee, and holds a seat on the Chicago Plan Commission, which gives initial approval to major developments.
Lawson said the chair handles many of the City Council’s toughest agendas, longest meetings, trickiest technical rules and busiest briefing schedules. He previously worked as the committee’s chief of staff before being elected.
Amid the political gridlock, Mayor Brandon Johnson has softly supported Lawson as chair, but largely stayed out of the debate. The hands-off approach is a sharp departure from the tactics of past mayors who forcefully interceded amid such disputes.
In February, Johnson acknowledged efforts by ethnic caucuses to push for greater diversity in council leadership but characterized the infighting as “not so much a hang-up,” but rather a “great” debate.
Amid the political gridlock, the decision to skip zoning meetings “has forced the issue … forced people to have conversations,” Lawson said of his fellow council members.
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce CEO Jack Lavin said the canceled meetings have led to a backlog in project approvals that has increasingly troubled developers.
“Time is money … It’s messing with their developments,” Lavin said. “We can’t grow unless we have decisions on zoning and let developers move forward.”
Lavin praised Lawson’s work as interim chair and called on Johnson to land a permanent chair. The feud and delays harm Chicago’s reputation as a place to do business, he said.
“It sends a message: We’re not open for business,” Lavin said.
Among other aldermen frustrated with the mounting delays, Ald. Nick Sposato, 38th, said he previously opposed Lawson’s appointment because he “didn’t think freshmen deserve anything.”
But his tone has changed now.
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“At this point, we have got to do something, we just got to do something. This is an embarrassment,” he said, adding he would vote for Lawson.
“Under normal circumstances, he’s right,” Lawson said of Sposato’s old-school position. “The circumstances have led us to a situation where, obviously, I’m someone who has a great deal of experience on the subject matter.”
Sposato, a 15-year City Council veteran known for lighthearted off-the-cuff remarks and close relationships with colleagues, has himself been rumored as a potential candidate for the chairmanship, but he said he is not actively seeking the role.
Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, who has pushed to be made chair, declined to answer on Wednesday when asked whether he would continue to seek the position.
“Whatever the body wants to do, I’m fine with,” Villegas said. “The reality is that this has been chaos from the beginning.”
Lawson previously expected to win the seat in February, when he needed a 34-vote supermajority to be made chair. He was confident enough to hold a committee meeting that month, despite foregoing the January meeting. But he ultimately did not move forward with a vote that month as the needed supermajority appeared unlikely to materialize.
He had previously needed the 34-vote supermajority to suspend the City Council’s rules to force the vote. But because 60 days have passed since the proposal was first introduced, he can now spur a vote on his own and win with only a simple majority. Also, as a part of the proposal, aldermen would vote on the appointments of Aldermen Walter “Red” Burnett and Ruth Cruz as co-vice chairs.