Mayor Brandon Johnson oversees his first City Council meeting
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A big day and some big changes in City Council chambers on Wednesday as new Mayor Brandon Johnson presided over his first full council meeting.
A smile, a show of relief, some business, and a little humor were all part of Johnson's first City Council meeting.
"That was quite the new experience for me," Johnson said after his first batch of proposed legislation was formally introduced at Wednesday's meeting.
A big issue was tabled during the meeting, as three conservative aldermen delayed a final vote on $51 million in funding to help cover the costs of housing asylum seekers in Chicago, one of Johnson's most pressing issues right now.
The council was expected to approve using $51 million in surplus funds from 2021 to help with the migrant crisis in Chicago, but Ald. Ray Lopez (15th), Ald. Anthony Beale (9th), and Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41st) delayed that vote, and Johnson and his allies arranged for another council meeting in one week to take up the vote.
Despite that roadblock for the migrant funding, the tone of Wednesday's meeting was very different from many meetings past in the prior four years under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
"I want to thank this body for its welcoming spirit, or as I like to call it 'the soul of Chicago,'" Johnson said.
Johnson talked unity, even as he doled out new committee chairman assignments.
"Our committee chair appointments include some historic firsts, including the appointment of the first woman Finance Committee chair, which is Alderwoman Pat Dowell, and for the first time the Budget, Rules, and Finance committees are all led by black alderpersons," Johnson said after the meeting.
The assignments come less than two months after the previous City Council voted to become more independent from the mayor by having aldermen choose their own committee chairs. So Wednesday's move didn't sit well with some aldermen.
"What I didn't like today was the fact all of this was done under the cover of darkness, in secret, and away from all the members who it's going to impact," said Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th), one of only nine aldermen to vote against Johnson's committee reorganization plan.
While business was underway inside City Council chambers, outside dozens of people were upset about being denied access to the meeting, despite an empty balcony, and even City Hall's second floor.
"They held everybody down here. It just, it was totally ridiculous. It's about 100 people down here, just trying to sign up," housing activist Derric Price said.
Johnson said he was unaware anyone was denied access to the council chambers on the second floor.
"I'm committed to figuring out where the breakdown happen, and to make sure that the people who actually belong in this building have complete access," Johnson said.
At the end of the meeting, Ald. Brian Hopkins noted not only does the council have 13 new members, but is historically diverse.
"This is literally, today, this new City Council is the most diverse council in the history of the city of Chicago, by any measurement. By any yardstick you would choose to measure diversity, we are the most diverse," he said.
Hopkins also proposed having all council members sign a civility pledge, calling for a better sense of decorum, respect, and friendship than was often seen over the past four years. Most aldermen agreed to sign the pledge.
"When you look at what happened the last four years, it was very uncomfortable for a lot of us, some of the confrontations that we've seen, some of the language, the rhetoric; and it wasn't just during the meeting, it would spill over among discussions between colleagues outside of the City Council. It created a feeling of bad blood and ill-will. We need to put a stop to that. We can't function as a government if we're going to be angry at each other all the time," Hopkins said.
But times and the City Council makeup have changed. Some alderpersons said they expect less rancor now, and Johnson expressed the same sentiments after the meeting wrapped up.
"I'm confident and optimistic about this City Council makeup, and the journey we'll embark on together," Johnson said.
The mayor was also asked how he plans to make sure City Council committees actually meet and do work, amid criticism that many committees failed to meet regularly in the past, including the Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights, which has met only three times since it was created in 2021, and held no meetings at all last year, even as thousands of asylum seekers began arriving in Chicago from Texas.
Johnson said he's confident committees will meet regularly to discuss and pass legislation. If not, they will be held accountable by voters.
