Chicago Council Falls Short on Bond-Control Veto

Chicago aldermen fell one vote short Wednesday of overriding Mayor Brandon Johnson’s veto of an ordinance requiring 30 aldermen to approve future city bond issuances, instead of the current simple majority. The 33-17 vote missed the 34-vote supermajority threshold. Johnson’s veto stands, and the existing approval rule remains unchanged.

A Dispute Over City Hall Power

The floor debate centered on who should control Chicago’s borrowing decisions. Ald. Jason Ervin, Johnson’s floor leader, argued the proposal would curb City Council majorities’ authority as Black and Latino aldermen gained greater control of the body. He said bonds pay for libraries, streets, affordable housing and small-business support.

“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 said the measure aimed to weaken minority influence at City Hall. “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 defended the supermajority requirement, saying most major cities require one to authorize bond sales and Chicago’s debt load demanded “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 rejected Ervin’s argument. He 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.” Lopez added: “Come out and say it, because that is the stupidest argument I think I’ve ever heard of anything in this room.”

The Vote and the Campaign

Ald. David Moore, 17th, urged his Black Caucus colleagues to oppose the ordinance. “You’ll break my heart if you vote for this,” he said, describing access to city infrastructure money in Black neighborhoods as an even-playing-field issue. “I’ll never vote against my constituents,” he said.

One Future Illinois, an anti-Johnson political group, paid for a publicity campaign seeking an override. Residents who received automated texts called Moore, urging him to vote against the mayor’s veto. Moore said he told them there would be unintentional consequences. Asked Wednesday how much the group spent, One Future president Mike Ruemmler said he wasn’t immediately sure. He then texted a meme of Dr. Evil making his “one million dollars” gesture.

Aldermen passed the ordinance 32-15 in late September, and Johnson vetoed it several days later. It was his fourth veto; the city’s previous two mayors never used a veto. The dispute exposed both the council’s growing independence and its limits when it clashes with the Fifth Floor. The article said no record exists of aldermen overriding a mayoral veto in recent decades.

Other Decisions at the Meeting

Johnson said the ordinance threatened infrastructure investment in poor neighborhoods. In his rejection letter, he wrote that neighborhoods with the greatest infrastructure needs shouldn’t face additional barriers to public investment. Delaying projects, he said, could increase construction costs, worsen deterioration and cost taxpayers more. After the vote, he said some council members were “still adjusting to a bold progressive agenda.”

The council approved a $261 million police misconduct settlement resolving 16 lawsuits that allege Detective Reynaldo Guevara framed men for murder. Chicago still faces 23 pending Guevara cases, and lawsuits tied to him have cost the city around $160 million. City lawyers said settling the cases together could save as much as $400 million.

Aldermen also made the Smart Streets camera program permanent and approved appointments of Tiheta Hinton and JuanPablo Prieto. They rejected Johnson’s appointments of Ramona Westbrook and John Bartlett to the Chicago Housing Authority board.