Chicago teens will not have to worry about a “snap curfew” this summer, after City Council members upheld Mayor Brandon Johnson’s veto of the controversial public safety proposal on Wednesday.
During the July 16 Council meeting, a motion to override Johnson’s veto on the snap curfew measure failed by a vote of 28–22, falling six votes short of the thirty-four needed to override the veto. The ordinance would have given Chicago’s police superintendent the power to call a curfew and order minors to disperse from an area within thirty minutes.
Johnson’s rebuke marks the first mayoral veto since 2006, when then-Mayor Richard M. Daley nixed a “big box law” that would have forced large retailers like Walmart to pay their workers higher wages. Though Public Safety Committee Chair Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward) attempted to shore up more votes to overcome the mayor’s veto, the Progressive Caucus stayed together, he said.
“I’ll wait for them to provide an alternative suggestion since they don’t think it’s appropriate for police to use this tool to quell violent riots when they erupt,” Hopkins told the Weekly. “My question to them is: what can the police do? Do they support allowing it to continue happening or is there any intervention that they would support?”
Progressive Caucus members Mike Rodríguez (22nd), Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez (33rd) and Andre Vasquez (40th) all scoffed at Hopkins’ comment.
“I really wish that we could have had that conversation in his [Hopkins’] committee because we talked about having experts come in and talk about curfews, how they work and what works and what doesn’t work,” Rodríguez Sánchez said. “But he didn’t allow anybody to come testify except for the police. So if we are going to have that conversation, maybe we should start bringing experts in.”
Multimillion-dollar settlements related to two notorious officers, former Detective Reynaldo Guevara and former Commander Jon Burge, continue to mount. Jackie Wilson, a Chicago man who was exonerated after spending thirty-six years in prison for the murder of two CPD officers, will receive a $12.7 million settlement, WTTW reported. Wilson, like more than 100 others in Chicago, said Burge tortured him. Roberto Almodovar will receive a $17 million settlement after he was framed by Guevara for a double murder in 1994, according to CBS.
Granny-flat and Immigration Ordinances Stall; Ethics and Contracts Pass
A South Side alderperson stalled an effort to revive the construction of additional dwelling units (ADU) in Chicago. Ald. Marty Quinn (13th), who has argued the “granny flat” ordinance would damage the character of the bungalow belt in his ward, and Ald. Greg Mitchell (7th) used a parliamentary move known as “defer and publish” to delay the measure until the next City Council meeting. The two councilmen punted the proposal despite efforts from Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th) to make it more palatable for single-family neighborhoods.
Lawson’s amendment would have given adjacent neighbors and the alderperson notice of any proposed ADU construction. Those groups would then give their feedback to the city’s zoning administrator, but the process would not go to the level of a zoning change or the Zoning Board of Appeals, Lawson said.
That concession wasn’t enough for Quinn, who doesn’t want ADUs built in single-family districts at all.
“But if someone came with an appealing proposal, then you can at least have a block conversation,” Quinn added. “As opposed to it being by right, right now, no automatic oversight, no community input.”
Chicago’s housing stock has not kept pace with its population growth, particularly when it comes to housing for low-income families, according to a 2024 study from the Urban Institute. Between 2010 and 2022, the number of households in Chicago grew by 14 percent. Yet the city’s housing stock grew by only 6 percent during that time.
Housing advocates point to the ADU measure as one way to expand the city’s housing supply. The Metropolitan Planning Council, a nonprofit policy group focused on growth in Chicago, noted that “granny flats” were common across the city until they were banned in 1957. At that time, council members were concerned about overcrowding and only allowed existing ADUs to be grandfathered in.
“Ultimately, the deferral is disappointing because this ordinance is such a clear opportunity to expand housing options, support economic stability and help families stay in their communities,” Emily Bloom-Carlin, director of Housing and Community Development at the Metropolitan Planning Council, said in an email to the Weekly. “That said, I’m still very optimistic. This is a practical, proven solution that aligns with Chicago’s housing, equity and investment goals, and I believe City Council will get it across the finish line.”
An ordinance sponsored by Ald. Vasquez that would compel the Chicago Police Department (CPD) to turn over records to the Council related to a June 4 incident that saw police responding to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility was also deferred and published by Alds. Ray Lopez (15th) and Anthony Napolitano (41st).
The Council’s Committee on Immigration and Refugee Rights, which Vasquez chairs, is investigating whether CPD violated prohibitions against police helping ICE in the Welcoming City Ordinance, a charge CPD representatives deny.
On Tuesday, the Weekly published Office of Emergency Management call recordings that indicate police brass were aware federal immigration agents were at the facility before CPD officers arrived.
Asked at a press conference after the meeting why he couldn’t simply direct CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling to release the records to the Council, Mayor Johnson deflected.
“City Council made that decision to move forward.” Johnson said. “That’s not a requirement, but I’m glad that they did weigh in. This is under review, and that process is still ongoing, and the expectation is that we get to the bottom of what happened on June 4.”
The Council also passed an ordinance that restricts the city’s Law Department from attending investigative interviews and extends attorney-client privilege to city attorneys to shield them from records requests by the Office of Inspector General. And it authorized a contract for workers in the Service Employees International Union Local 7 and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 21.
Walter Burnett Jr. Says Farewell after Thirty Years in Council
Vice Mayor and Zoning Committee Chair Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. felt overcome with emotion as he gave his last report to the Council. After thirty years of serving the 27th Ward, Burnett is retiring from the City Council. Hiding tears behind sunglasses, the veteran alderperson received a standing ovation from his colleagues.
The vice mayor followed an unusual path to his ward seat, one that wound through stints as a boxer, rap promoter, county bureaucrat, and at one time, a bank robber. In 1981, he took part in an armed robbery in Kankakee and served two years in prison, the Tribune reported. Burnett ran despite a 1993 Illinois law barring felons from seeking local office in the state. That law remains on the books, though Congressman Danny Davis (IL-7) and Illinois state Rep. La Shawn Ford (8th District) have argued for its repeal following President Donald Trump’s felony conviction.
Ald. Jesse Fuentes (26th) nodded to that chapter in Burnett’s journey as she honored the long-serving politician.
“It’s not talked about a lot today the way it was when you first ran for office, but your lived experience, your ability to come into an elected office as a young Black man with an encounter in the justice system gave someone like me hope to be able to do the same,” said Fuentes, who similarly turned her life around after a few arrests as a teenager.
Fuentes also added humor to her tribute. She recalled how during her first year as an alderperson, Burnett showed up to her ward office disguised as a “disgruntled constituent” so he could test her staff.
Ald. Anthony Beale, who stands at 6’2”, took time to land one final joke about the alder’s 5’9” stature. “I can honestly say that I looked up to you,” Beale joked.
Burnett’s retirement from City Council might not mean the end of his career in public service, with Crain’s Chicago Business reporting that he’s in the running for the top job at the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) and mulling a campaign for Illinois’ 7th congressional district seat if sitting Rep. Danny Davis retires. At sixty-one, Burnett would replace the eighty-three-year-old Davis, who has served in the U.S. House since 1997.
The CHA Board will determine its next CEO at its Aug. 4 meeting. That’s his first post-retirement choice, followed by a Congressional seat and then three private sector offers, Burnett said, adding that constituents don’t call on their House representatives as often as their alders.
“They don’t call anybody else like they call [us],” Burnett said. “People be literally driving up while I’m sitting on my front porch and stopping, ‘Alderman Burnett, I need your help.’ And I was like, man, can you get me at the office?”
Council members honored another retiring City Hall veteran: WBBM Newsradio political reporter Craig Dellimore. For forty-two years, Dellimore’s mellifluous voice flowed from radios across Chicago. From his perch in the City Hall press room, he was a warm and inviting presence who offered lessons in political history to reporters and alderpersons alike.
“You are our resident encyclopedia,” said Ald. Jason Ervin (28th). “You have been honest and…someone who I think has been fair to all of us.”
Leigh Giangreco is a freelance reporter based in Chicago. You can follow her work on Twitter/X @LeighGiangreco and at leighgiangreco.com.
