Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th), the city’s acting Zoning Committee chair, said Tuesday he has given Mayor Brandon Johnson a year-end ultimatum: Make his committee post permanent with control over his own staff or he’s done with the time-consuming job.
Lawson disclosed the Dec. 31 deadline he gave the mayor minutes after two of his allies in the City Council’s pro-business “Common Sense Caucus” tried and failed to seize control over the issue themselves — by handing Lawson the permanent job.
The surprise maneuver by Alds. Anthony Beale (9th) and Ray Lopez (15th) was thwarted when their motion to suspend the rules for immediate consideration of their resolution attracted just 18 votes. That was eight votes short of the 26 that Beale says he needed, and 16 votes short of the two-thirds vote that the mayor claimed was required.
Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th) complicated the issue by arguing there was “not enough diversity” in City Council leadership and staking his own claim to the Zoning chair post. But when the minor skirmish was over, Lawson made it clear that he was tired of being a good soldier.
He wants the permanent job with freedom to hire his own staff after holding down the fort twice — once after after Zoning Chair Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) was forced out over allegations of manhandling an aldermanic colleague and again after the retirement of City Council dean Walter Burnett.
“When I came back into the acting role, I said it would be for a limited time. I’ve been more than generous. I am interested in taking it on full time, but only with all of the resources that come with the job,” Lawson said. “I did it for a solid 10 meetings and it’s a lot of work for anyone. To not have full access to the staff — all of the resources that go with it — and the recognition that you are not an acting chair, you’re a permanent chair, makes a difference.”
The mayor’s office said the administration is “in constant communication with aldermen” about committee assignments and would “continue to engage” with members “throughout the year about this issue.”
Johnson had hoped to use Burnett’s resignation to appease critics and shore up his base in the progressive and African American communities.
His plan called for Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) to become the new Zoning chair; Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) to replace Burnett as vice mayor; Progressive Caucus co-chair Andre Vasquez (40th) to fill La Spata’s job as chair of the Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety; Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th) to inherit the Vasquez-chaired Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights; and Ald. David Moore (17th) to replace Mitts as chair of the Committee on Contracting Oversight and Equity.
But in late September, the mayor’s reorganization was derailed in yet another act of defiance by a City Council emboldened by Johnson’s political unpopularity.
Lawson said he had been “asked to do more than any other acting or vice chair has” on a committee he called one of the most complicated to navigate. It has required him to preside over complex negotiations with colleagues and developers with four staffers inherited from Burnett. He has not been allowed to hire his own people.
“I don’t think it’s fair to ask somebody to do that in an acting capacity when we’re not working toward a resolution long term,” Lawson said. “I believe in development. I believe in the growth of our city. And this is the most important committee to make sure that happens. But when push comes to shove, we have to make some decisions here.”
Lawson acknowledged that Johnson may be reluctant to give him the permanent job because he’s a first-term City Council member who is “white and not part of the mayor’s coalition.” But, he said, “My goal was to do a really good job and have that be qualification enough.”
He pointed to the painstaking negotiations with Southwest Side Ald. Marty Quinn (13th) to craft a compromise accessory dwelling unit ordinance.
Beale thinks he knows why Johnson has left Lawson in charge of the powerful Zoning Committee indefinitely.
“He can’t make decisions,” Beale said. Pointing to other acting leaders, Beale said, “CTA is vacant. CHA is vacant. Animal Care and Control has been vacant. When does the city move forward?”