Mayor Brandon Johnson’s innovative plan to confront Chicago’s affordable housing crisis hit a roadblock Wednesday, despite frenzied negotiations that satisfied one of the mayor’s powerful union allies.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 embraced the so-called “green social housing” ordinance after Johnson agreed to job protections for AFSCME members concerned that their jobs could be privatized.
But the City Council’s Housing and Finance Committees nevertheless voted 19-17 to hold the measure in committee.
This time the issue was ethics, transparency and oversight of the city-owned nonprofit housing developer that would be created to issue $135 million in loans to developers who build affordable housing and sell their environmentally-friendly buildings back to the city.
An eleventh-hour amendment to the measure declared that the “Residential Investment Corporation” be regarded as a contractor compelled to cooperate with the city’s inspector general’s office, and respond to the watchdog’s subpoenas. But critics said that did not go far enough.
“Who do you have a fiduciary duty to — the nonprofit or the city or both? And which one wins the jump ball?” said Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), one of Johnson’s most outspoken Council critics.
Reilly said the green social housing ordinance is “something I would love to support,” but it should not be a “rush job.”
“Whenever this body rushes something, we get it wrong. We owe it to the public to take more time,” Reilly said.
“I’m glad you worked out your differences with AFSCME, but that’s only half the job. Call us back when the good work has been done.”
Inspector General Deborah Witzburg has been at loggerheads with the Johnson administration on a wide range of ethics issues. She said the decision to characterize the nonprofit as a contractor “solves one set of problems” by clarifying her “ability to issue subpoenas.”
But compliance with the city’s ethics ordinance is murkier.
“I’m not sure how we would go about enforcing fiduciary duty on both sides of the transaction,” Witzburg said, questioning whether nonprofit board members are “contractors or officials or employees.”
Johnson made no apologies for trying to rush the complex housing ordinance through a somewhat skeptical City Council.
“I’ve made a commitment to repopulate the city of Chicago with working people,” Johnson said. “I’ve also made a commitment to make sure that the people who love this city don’t get priced out. That’s the goal here.”
Although the ordinance is likely to pass after a few more tweaks, the delay was a blow to Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th), a prime mover behind the proposal to speed construction of housing with “a minimum 30% of income-restricted affordable units.”
Rent paid on units and loans being paid back to the city would help the program become self-sustaining.
“We have to move forward to help our housing crisis now. We can’t wait. We have too many people who have been struggling — not just today, but for many years — and we don’t see a future in sight in which my own kids can afford to live in the neighborhood they grew up in,” Manaa-Hoppenworth said.
Noting that 51% of Chicagoans are spending more than 30% of their income on housing, Manaa-Hoppenworth said, “This is a new way to unlock an abundance of housing. It’s what we want. It’s what we need.”
Ald. Mike Rodriguez, (22nd), chair of the Council’s Committee on Workforce Development, said the slash-and-burn budget-cutting led by President Donald Trump’s senior adviser Elon Musk makes it imperative for Chicago to go it alone.
Time is of the essence, in part because of Trump’s on-again-off-again tariffs and the potential impact that could have on the price of construction materials, Rodriguez said.
“I don’t know how many times I’ve heard from my colleagues that their projects are slowed up or in a bureaucratic mess. I would hope that this entity would help to fast-track things, streamline affordable housing developments,” Rodriguez said.
In other action, the City Council:
- Ruled out giving city jobs to Jan. 6 rioters who broke into the U.S. Capitol in a failed attempt to overturn results of the 2020 presidential election.
- Signed off on a $32 million settlement for the family of Bryce Summary, a St. Louis man who lost his legs when he was struck downtown by a vehicle being chased by police officers in 2022.
- Approved yet another crackdown on rogue towing operators who prowl for Chicago crash scenes, exploit rattled drivers and shake them down for massive fees to retrieve their vehicles. Rogue towing companies will get a taste of their own medicine, with Chicago police empowered to impound and tow bad actors in the industry. The Illinois Commerce Commission regulates towing operators but doesn’t have the capacity “to put enough actual boots on the ground throughout the state,” according to Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th), chief sponsor of the crackdown.
- Authorized a combined $65 million in city subsidies to help transform two more La Salle Street office buildings to residential use.
- Added the Far South Side’s 9th and 10th Wards to the ban on hemp products that already exists in the 13th and 23rd Wards.
