Chaos is back in Chicago city politics
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
As the City Council convenes its first full meeting of 2024 today, all eyes are on whether this year will be less chaotic than last.
Why it matters: Mayor Brandon Johnson and the council promised a more transparent and democratic government but instead brought backroom infighting and bad manners into plain view.
Catch up fast: Johnson's floor leader, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, physically bullied colleagues to stop the council on a sanctuary city vote late last year.
- Divided council members then needed a tie-breaker vote from the mayor to avoid censuring their colleague.
- And that was after a wild and raucous council meeting the likes of which we haven't seen since the Council Wars of the 1980s.
How it used to work: Former mayors like Richard M. Daley and Rahm Emanuel presided over rubber-stamp councils that included less drama, where most deals were done behind closed doors. Everything ran through the mayor or the Council's floor leader.
- Ald. Ed Burke, known as dean of the council, was a steadying force. (He retired in 2023 before being convicted of corruption.)
What's happening now: This council features 13 new faces, after a record number of alders chose not to run for reelection in 2023.
"I think what's driving the chaos is fear," Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) tells Axios. He blames social media — lawmakers are playing "gotcha games" with each other, knowing they can flip sound bites from the council floor to their feeds.
- "They're doing stupid stuff just to get attention and making ordinances sit back. That ain't gonna help nobody. It affects the whole city in an indirect way, but it affects the whole city."
Another explanation: "We haven't been in government long enough to know how government really runs," as Ald. Jeannette Taylor (20th) recently said about her fellow progressives.
Reality check: This isn't the first time in council history when chaos reigned. We've seen hostile takeovers, desk-jumping and mic-muting.
- "Mayor Richard J. Daley asked the sergeant of arms to silence me on a number of occasions," says former Ald. Dick Simpson, who served the 44th ward from 1971-79. "I think the 'Council War' era (1980s) was much worse, and the city came to the edge of bankruptcy several times."
The big picture: Major challenges face the council, including a growing migrant crisis and balancing next year's budget.
What we're watching: "It's just growing pains," Burnett tells Axios. "It's growing pains for the new alderman and for the old ones who never had power before."