Today’s Chicago City Council was a marathon meeting; alders worked through a busy agenda. They swore in new 27th Ward alder Walter “Red” Burnett III, approved a $90 million global settlement to resolve lawsuits tied to corrupt ex-police sergeant Ronald Watts, and passed a modified affordable housing proposal for South Side residents who live near the forthcoming Obama Presidential Center. It’s the first full council meeting since July 16.
The meeting was temporarily suspended to confirm Burnett III, the son of Walter Burnett, Jr. Mayor Brandon Johnson selected Burnett III to replace his father earlier this month after he resigned from his 27th Ward alderman post in July. The elder Burnett served in the City Council for 30 years.
“I appreciate the opportunity to serve this council. I’m a native son of Chicago, born and raised, a CPS [Chicago Public Schools] graduate,” 29-year-old Burnett III said. He is now the youngest alder in the Chicago City Council. Previously, Burnett III spent five years at Goldman Sachs as an investment banker and Acquisition Associate. When he returned to Chicago in 2022, he served as principal of Hannibal Valley Company, consulting on real estate, hospitality, and entertainment projects. In 2024, he was part of the Black Bench, a leadership development initiative that cultivates Black civic leaders in Chicago.
His aldermanic peers overwhelmingly approved his appointment in a 47-0 vote. He received a standing ovation from his new colleagues during today’s rules committee meeting.
“I grew up roaming the halls of this building, learning a lot about what it means to be a public servant, and what it really means to be of service in our community,” Burnett III said during the meeting. “Now is an even more important time to make sure that we have a true understanding of what we’re doing here in City Hall and on a national level.”
Illinois Appellate Court Justice Carl Walker administered the swearing-in ceremony. Burnett III took the oath on his family’s bible; his father, mother Darlena Williams-Burnett, and his brother were present for the ceremony. As 27th Ward alder, Burnett III will manage parts of East Garfield Park, Garfield Park, Near West Side, West Town, Lincoln Park, Humboldt Park and the Near North Side.
After being sworn in, Anthony Harper, the assistant sergeant at arms, escorted Burnett III to his seat in the chamber.
Before resigning, Burnett, Jr. was Johnson’s vice mayor and chair of the City Council’s zoning committee. Johnson tapped Burnett Jr. to lead the Chicago Housing Authority, but his appointment has been delayed.
At the moment, it’s unclear which alders will be selected to fill Burnett’s leadership roles during today’s rules committee meeting, Ald. Michelle Harris (8th Ward) called off the vote on new committee assignments.
The $90-million settlement resolved
Alders voted without opposition to approve the $90 million global settlement offer to resolve 176 police misconduct lawsuits tied to Watts. There were 180 plaintiffs who filed suits against the city.
During a brief discussion on the settlement offer, alders Pat Dowell (3rd Ward), Gil Villegas (36th Ward), Nicholas Sposato (38th Ward), Raymond Lopez (15th Ward) and Jason Ervin (28th Ward) praised Mary Richardson-Lowry, the city’s corporation counsel, for her leadership on the settlement offer. It’s the first time the city has reached a comprehensive settlement to resolve wrongful convictions, Johnson said previously.
“Hopefully, we will continue to use this methodology on outstanding lawsuits. While this closes a nasty and ugly chapter that many young men on the South Side endured, we know we need to settle these things,” Ervin said.
Watts is a former Chicago Police Department (CPD) sergeant who resigned from the department in 2012 before he pleaded guilty to extortion. Watts and another former CPD officer, Kallatt Mohammed, were accused of stealing money during an FBI sting operation. In 2013, Watts was sentenced to 22 months in prison.
“We are happy that the City was willing to engage in a meaningful settlement process to resolve the problem globally, providing long overdue compensation to the victims, saving taxpayers money, and putting this unfortunate era behind us once and for all,” Jon Loevy of the law firm Loevy + Loevy, which represents the majority of the plaintiffs, said in a statement. “We are hopeful that this settlement can serve as a model in the future.”
Richardson-Lowry previously stated that the total costs of continuing to litigate the Watts cases for the next five years were estimated to be between $350 million and $500 million.
Jackson Park Housing Pilot approved
Alders passed the Jackson Park Housing Pilot Ordinance, a modified housing ordinance which establishes housing affordability protections in the Jackson Park community as the neighborhood braces for the forthcoming Obama Presidential Center (OPC). Organizers have been advocating for more than a decade to protect residents from displacement due to the OPC in Jackson Park. The Jackson Park Housing Pilot passed without any opposition or discussion.
It’s been more than a decade since organizers from various community organizations under the Obama Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) Coalition joined forces to demand a community benefits agreement that called for housing protections, jobs, strengthening neighborhood schools and supporting and creating Black businesses.
In 2023, Ald. Desmon Yancy introduced the South Shore Housing Preservation Ordinance, which included a package of policies aimed at preventing displacement in South Shore. However, that ordinance has been stalled in the City Council’s housing committee since then.
This week, Yancy, William Hall (6th Ward) and Jeanette Taylor (20th) introduced the Jackson Park Housing Pilot. The ordinance includes Woodlawn, parts of South Shore and Greater Grand Crossing.
The Jackson Park Pilot is bounded by 60th Street, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Chicago Avenue, 71st Street and South DuSable Lake Shore Drive.
The previous proposal, introduced in 2023, encompassed all of South Shore.
“It was a long council meeting, but this whole fight has been long. It was never going to be easy. We’re not done,” Dixon Romeo, Southside Together’s executive director, told The TRiiBE following the vote.
The Jackson Park Pilot calls for reserving city-owned vacant lots at 63rd Street and Blackstone Avenue, 69th Street and Stony Island Avenue, 67th Street and Dorchester Avenue, 71st Street and Paxton Avenue and 1708 E. 71st Street for affordable housing.
Seventy-five percent of units within any development would be affordable to households with an income of no more than 60% of the area median income.
Other items included in the Jackson Park Pilot include:
- Devoting up to $3 million for a property tax debt relief grant pilot program for property owners in communities, including the lower West Side, Englewood and South Shore.
- Devoting up to $3 million to rehabilitate vacant and abandoned residential housing and turning them into affordable for-sale homes for households earning up to 120% of the area median income and sold to eligible households earning at or below 120% of the area median income.
- Reserving 25 City-owned vacant lots in the Jackson Park Pilot Area for the development of affordable homeownership under the City Lots for Working Families program.
- Empowers tenants to “buy multi-family rental properties, at market prices, within a reasonable period of time and to thereby minimize tenant displacement, stabilize households facing displacement pressures and promote the preservation of affordable rental housing in neighborhoods at risk of gentrification.”
In a fact sheet emailed from the Mayor’s Office, Jackson Park Pilot Area residents experienced the highest rate of eviction filings in 2019, the same year that OPC groundbreaking was scheduled to begin.
The fact sheet also states that median rents in the Pilot area have increased by 43% since 2015, while home values have risen by 130%.
Though organizers secured a long-fought win, Romeo said their work continues. They want South Shore, from 71st Street to 79th Street, to also be included in the housing protections that they’ve achieved for other parts of South Shore.
Southside Together will share more details about their win with community members on Sept. 27 during their CBA forum at Parkside Elementary from noon to 2:00 p.m. Details about the CBA forum can be found here.
