Bond Rules Fight Leaves City Debt Power Unchanged

Chicago aldermen fell one vote short Wednesday of overriding Mayor Brandon Johnson’s veto of bond rules, keeping the simple-majority requirement for city debt issuance. The 33-17 vote missed the 34 votes needed. Most City Council members had backed a requirement that 30 aldermen approve future bond issuances, a change supporters said would give the council more control over the city’s financial future.

Who Controls the Borrowing

The ordinance passed 32-15 in late September. Johnson vetoed it several days later, arguing the higher threshold could delay infrastructure investment in poor neighborhoods. In his rejection letter, he wrote that “neighborhoods with the greatest infrastructure needs should not face additional barriers to securing essential public investment.” He said delays could raise construction costs, worsen deterioration and cost taxpayers more.

Ald. Jason Ervin, Johnson’s floor leader, said the proposal would take power from City Council majorities as Black and Latino aldermen gained stronger control of the body. Bonds pay for libraries, streets, affordable housing and small-business support, he said. “For as long as I can remember, 26 votes ruled the day in this body. That’s how democracy works: You win with the majority,” Ervin said. “It’s ironic that we only talk about independence and executive oversight when the person sitting up there looks like me.”

Ervin represents the mayor’s West Side 28th Ward. He called the ordinance an effort to rob minorities of City Hall strength. “If you can’t beat people at their own game, you just change the rules,” he said. “We see that happening all over the country.” Several white aldermen made exasperated faces. Some muttered as he spoke.

Ald. Brendan Reilly said most major cities require a supermajority to authorize bond sales and that Chicago’s debt load required “fiscal discipline.” “This isn’t about power, this is about good governance,” Reilly said. “No one here is going to hold up good community investment in anybody’s ward.” Ald. Raymond Lopez said Ervin was trying to “blame the evil white people who are not going to let African Americans and Latinos put sidewalks in their neighborhoods.”

Campaign Pressure and City Costs

One Future Illinois, an anti-Johnson political group, paid for a publicity campaign urging aldermen to override Johnson’s veto. Residents who received automated texts called Ald. David Moore, urging him to vote against the veto. Moore said he warned them of unintended consequences. Asked how much the group spent, One Future president Mike Ruemmler said he wasn’t immediately sure. Then he texted a meme of Dr. Evil making his “one million dollars” gesture.

Johnson said after the vote that some council members were “still adjusting to a bold progressive agenda.” He said he remained open to talks with the aldermanic bloc routinely aligned against him, and that members were “conflating what could further democratize our city.” “Relationships have been hard... because I have asked people to do hard things,” he said. The article said no record exists of aldermen overriding a mayoral veto in recent decades.

Aldermen had earlier tried to limit Johnson’s borrowing. Those efforts included attempts to water down his $1.25 billion Housing and Economic Development bond in 2024 and stall infrastructure borrowing in February 2025. Ald. Daniel La Spata, a Johnson ally, said criticism of the mayor’s borrowing “just does not have merit in reality.” He called the claim of “out-of-control general obligation spending” a “false narrative.”

The council also approved a $261 million police misconduct settlement proposed by Johnson’s administration. The deal resolves 16 lawsuits alleging disgraced Chicago Police Department Detective Reynaldo Guevara framed men for murder. City lawyers said settling the cases together could save as much as $400 million by avoiding costly verdicts, reducing legal costs and attorney fees, and limiting payouts for each year plaintiffs spent behind bars. Guevara-related lawsuits have already cost Chicago around $160 million. Twenty-three cases remain pending.

Other Council Decisions

Aldermen made the Smart Streets program permanent and approved its phased citywide expansion. Automated cameras on city vehicles and CTA buses catch drivers blocking bus stops, bus lanes and bike lanes. Drivers first get warnings; tickets can then cost up to $250 for a bike-lane violation. Bike and pedestrian safety activists had long sought the policy. It had operated as a pilot in only part of the city and was due to expire in December.

The council approved Johnson’s appointments of Tiheta Hinton as Human Resources commissioner and JuanPablo Prieto as Fleet and Facilities Management commissioner. It rejected his appointments of Ramona Westbrook and John Bartlett as Chicago Housing Authority commissioners. The dispute over the CHA board’s makeup continued, with Johnson opponents saying it concerns whether CHA CEO Keith Pettigrew should remain in office.