The Chicago Housing Authority is back at the drawing board: One of its top CEO candidates withdrew from consideration last month.
Candidate Jillian Baldwin decided to remain as the CEO of a housing authority in Bridgeport, Connecticut, after negotiations with Bridgeport city leaders, according to The Connecticut Post.
Baldwin declined to comment Monday, when reached via phone by the Sun-Times.
Baldwin makes $300,000, The Connecticut Post reported, a figure she likely would have earned at the CHA. Tracey Scott, the Chicago authority’s last permanent CEO, made around $311,000 at the time of her departure.
“The CEO position remains open and the selection process is ongoing. CHA is continuing to consider numerous candidates for the position,” CHA spokesperson Matthew Aguilar said in a statement.
Baldwin was one of six finalists, including retired Ald. Walter Burnett, for the CHA position. After Scott resigned Nov. 1, 2024, the housing authority launched a national search to find its next chief executive, saying it would appoint a new leader come summer 2025 but the role remains unfilled.
CHA board member and resident Francine Washington said Baldwin had been the agency’s No. 1 candidate.
Matthew Brewer, the CHA board chair and temporary operating chairman, had said in October that he expected a permanent CEO to be appointed by the end of 2025.
Mayor Brandon Johnson and the embattled agency have found themselves in a clash with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development over the appointment of the mayor’s candidate of choice, Burnett, who is unlikely to land the job.
The mayor’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The board is unable to consider Burnett as a candidate until the agency receives HUD-approved conflict waivers — a process that was derailed due to last year’s government shutdown.
Burnett’s apparent conflicts of interest, according to the CHA and HUD, lie with his 30-year record as alderman and longtime ownership of properties rented to housing voucher holders. Burnett and his wife have collected more than $260,000 since 2007 as CHA voucher landlords.
The waiver request is waiting on a final determination from staff in HUD’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., now that it has been reviewed by the Chicago office, according to a HUD official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
CHA resident leaders have said they don’t want Burnett as the next CEO because he doesn’t care about public housing residents. Burnett, who grew up in public housing, has disagreed with those sentiments.
Burnett took to Facebook in December seeking assistance in his bid for “a potential
opportunity connected to HUD,” he said in the post. He asked his social media followers to send pre-written letters — that he said they could “personalize and sign” — to HUD Secretary Scott Turner.
“I have known Mr. Burnett for many years and have observed his work firsthand during a period of significant growth and transition in Chicago. His perspective on housing policy is informed not only by decades of public service, but by lived experience,” the pre-written letter said. “… What distinguishes Walter Burnett Jr. is not only his experience, but his temperament. He is a consensus builder, a listener, and a leader who understands that durable public policy depends on trust between communities, institutions, and government.”
Burnett’s wife, Darlena Williams-Burnett, commented on the Facebook post, saying, “His dedication to housing and community development is inspiring and has made a real difference in so many lives. This attempt, by some to tarnish his reputation is unfounded & unacceptable.”
Williams-Burnett previously worked for the CHA as deputy chief of fleet and facilities in the general services department and was found to have violated the agency’s ethics policy in 2022, the year she resigned, the Chicago Tribune previously reported.
The other CEO candidates, as of October 2025, were Gregg Fortner, formerly of the Anniston Housing Authority in Alabama; Keith Pettigrew, of the District of Columbia Housing Authority, who later said he withdrew his application; and Eugene Jones Jr., currently at the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority and who was the CHA’s CEO until 2019.
The CEO would be responsible for 65,000 households and oversee more than 21,000 housing units in Chicago. The housing authority, which has a $1.4 billion budget, is the largest single owner of rental housing in the city.
“We residents are tired. We can’t wait no longer,” Washington said. “It’s time for change.”
The housing authority board is scheduled to meet on Jan. 20.