The interim chair of the Chicago City Council’s Zoning Committee is halting its meetings to try to force Mayor Brandon Johnson to appoint a permanent head of the critical committee.
North Side Ald. Bennett Lawson, who has led the committee since August, said Monday he is no longer willing to serve as its interim chief. He has not called a Zoning Committee meeting for January and said Monday was the last possible day to do so.
The decision stalls progress on potentially dozens of developments that will not be able to come before the City Council for final approval votes next month.
“If I continue to be in the acting role, it kicks the can down the road,” Lawson, whose 44th Ward includes Lincoln Park, told the Tribune. “I think it’s going to force the issue and bring about a quick resolution.”
Appointing a chairperson for the committee has proven politically difficult for Johnson. It has been complicated by a tangled mix of competing political interests, including the aldermanic Black and Latino caucuses and progressive and moderate council members, all vying for control of additional City Council committees.
The mayor’s initial pick, former Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, resigned while facing bullying allegations from fellow aldermen. It was then left open in November 2023 before Johnson tapped former Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. in September 2024. But Burnett stepped down from the council in July.
While the chairmanship has remained unfilled since, Lawson has filled the interim role — first for nine months when Johnson and aldermen failed to select a successor after Ramirez-Rosa’s resignation, and then again after Burnett stepped down. When Burnett resigned, Lawson publicly stated he was unwilling to remain in the interim chairman role indefinitely.
Johnson said Monday he plans to share a proposal to reorganize the City Council chairmanships.
“I’m confident we’ll be able to land an agreement where people will understand the configuration,” he said. “Am I worried about any sort of delay? I don’t have any reason to be worried about that.”
Asked when he would make his proposal, Johnson only said, “Soon.”
In addition to addressing complex issues related to development, the Zoning Committee also has meetings that typically last at least three hours. With an hourlong pre-meeting and the thorny issues it deliberates — gentrification, landmarking, design restrictions and more — the chairmanship adds a great deal of work for whoever holds it, Lawson said.
“If there isn’t a decision made, I get stuck with the responsibility, which is not insignificant,” he said. “There’s a reason that it comes with a larger staff and a different office space and a seat at the Planning Commission, and, you know, a different seat at the table. That just isn’t happening right now.”
Lawson said he hopes to be selected by Johnson and aldermen to lead the committee. It would be a rare plum role for a City Council freshman, though Lawson previously served as the committee’s chief of staff for four years before becoming its vice chair once he was elected as an alderman.
Johnson sought in September to install as chairman Northwest Side Ald. Daniel La Spata, 1st. But aldermen rejected the mayor’s shakeup and did not place the progressive who leads the Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee in the role.
Complicating the matter: Picking many aldermen would pull them away from other leadership positions and require even more reshuffling.
Ald. Gilbert Villegas has also floated himself as a potential candidate for the role. His ambition became clearer in November when Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th, called for a vote that would have suddenly landed Lawson the seat.
“There’s not enough diversity within the most important chairmanships,” Villegas told colleagues. “I’d like to make a motion to strike and insert Ald. Villegas as the Zoning chairman so that way we can move forward.”
But instead of selecting Villegas or Lawson, aldermen decided not to vote for a chair.
