ALL EYES ARE on members of the Chicago City Council as votes on migrant proposals are considered.
It was time to take the vote. On October 30, four Black aldermen, members of the city’s 20-member Housing and Real Estate Committee, were present to vote on a controversial proposal allowing the city to purchase property on which it plans to build a migrant shelter, at 115th and Halsted in Alderman Ronnie Mosley’s 21st Ward.
Two of the four Black aldermen are Mayor Brandon Johnson’s allies. They include Aldermen Pat Dowell (3rd) and Jeanette Taylor (20th).
A video recording of the meeting shows they, along with Alderman Greg Mitchell (3rd), did not voice their opposition to the proposal as the committee advanced it to the City Council for final approval.
That vote was a critical step in making the controversial proposed ordinance a reality, but instead of helping to kill the proposal, Dowell, Taylor and Mitchell helped push it through to the City Council.
They and seven other aldermen who supported the proposal benefitted from the absence of four Black aldermen who did not attend the committee meeting that day to show whether they opposed or supported the proposal. The absent aldermen were Michelle Harris (8th), Monique Scott (24th), Walter Burnett (27th) and Emma Mitts (37th).
Of a total of eight Black aldermen on the Housing and Real Estate Committee, only one, Alderman David Moore (17th), voted against the proposal during the meeting.
Two days later, at a November 1 meeting, the City Council delayed the vote after a 30-minute heated debate on the floor where Aldermen Mosley, Scott and Chris Taliaferro (29th) said they would vote against the proposal. But during that meeting most of the Black aldermen, including those on the Housing and Real Estate Committee, did not speak and to this day remain silent on where they stand on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s controversial proposal.
Sources told the Crusader that Mosley held a private closed-door meeting with about eight community leaders in his ward to see how they feel about having the migrant shelter in the parking lot of the vacant Jewel-Osco supermarket. Most of the attendees reaffirmed their opposition to the proposal during that meeting, the Crusader has learned.
The next day, one of Mayor Johnson’s deputy mayors held a separate meeting at City Hall, sources told the Crusader. Those sources said some alternatives were discussed, but concerns remained that Mosley would support an amended proposal that would include the city providing funding and more resources to his ward.
Meanwhile, Mayor Johnson is making behind-the-scenes moves to get the required 26 votes needed to pass his proposal. How many votes Mayor Johnson will receive from the 20-member Black Caucus is uncertain. Most of the Black aldermen remain tight-lipped on the proposal.
A video of the October 30 Housing and Real Estate Committee meeting provides a glimpse of where two of his biggest allies, Aldermen Dowell and Taylor, stand. Both publicly endorsed Johnson during the mayoral election, and he in turn appointed Dowell as chair of the powerful Finance Committee and Taylor as chair of the Education Committee.
The video shows during the roll call, Dowell, Taylor, Mitchell and Moore were present at the meeting.
The first order of business on the day’s agenda was item O2023-0005042, which allows the city to purchase 6.5 acres of land at 115th and Halsted to build a winterized migrant tent shelter on the site, initially intended to house the mixed-used Morgan Park Commons affordable housing development.
Led by committee chair Alderman Byron Sigcho Lopez (25th), the eight-minute debate began with a two-minute presentation from Michelle Woods of Chicago’s Department of Assets Information Services, who said, “Alderman Mosley understands that this item will move forward in the meeting today. The alderman supports the Morgan Park Commons development and supports the city acquiring the site for Morgan Commons. I respectfully request your favorable consideration of the acquisition.”
Lopez then opened the floor for questions or comments. The first to speak was Dowell who asked, “Can I get an understanding of what the property tax liability is on this property now?”
Woods said she didn’t have that information at the time and said she would find out. Lopez said he would make sure that information is available before the City Council meeting on November 1, fueling speculation that the proposal’s passage was already a done deal.
Dowell responds with a faint “hmm” and remains quiet during the rest of the debate on the item.
After Lopez resumes asking for more comments and questions, the video records Moore as saying, “So we’ll have that answer before the City Council meeting. I’m kind of confused that we don’t have that, we wouldn’t have that number now.”
Woods says, “Yes I’ll do my best to get the past records of taxes so we’ll know what the past records [of this property] have been.
A video of the City Council meeting that took place two days later doesn’t mention anything about the property taxes on the site. During that meeting, Mayor Johnson gave Alderman Moore the floor to speak, but he simply said, “Nothing from me.”
To find out whether Woods provided Moore with the property tax records as promised, the Crusader reached out to Moore through his spokesperson Del Marie Cobb; Cobb did not respond to a text message and email by press time Wednesday, November 8, for the Crusader’s print edition.
During the committee meeting Moore asked Woods when the Morgan Park Commons development first got to the City Council. Woods said it was in 2003 but wasn’t sure if that proposal had since been amended. After Moore was told the Far South Development Corporation was the developer he reacted with astonishment and said loudly “2003!”
After a few more comments from Alderman Daniel La Spada (1st), and assurances from Lopez and Woods to provide Moore with property tax information before the November 1 City Council meeting, Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) says, “I renew my motion to pass [the item]”
That’s when Lopez takes a voice vote from the 11 members present.
“So those in favor say aye,” Lopez said. “All those opposed say nay.”
Moore then said, “Nay by Alderman Moore.”
Lopez responded, “Alderman Moore was recorded as a no.”
There were no other “no” votes from the other aldermen.
Dowell, Mitchell and Taylor were silent during the voice vote, which was taken as a yes vote in favor of the migrant proposal.
Lopez then officially announced that the committee approved the proposal to send to the City Council.
For this story, the Crusader reached out to Aldermen Dowell, Mitchell and Taylor. Taylor and Mitchell did not respond by press time. In a text message, Dowell said she voted no and was one of five aldermen to do so.
The Crusader viewed the recording again and confirmed that Moore, during the voice vote, was the only one to vote against the proposal.
Dowell then said via text, “We do electronic voting. No voice votes are taken anymore. I’m talking about the City Council vote where the vote counts.”
The video of the November 1 City Council meeting shows that statement is also incorrect.
The video shows there was no actual vote taken on the item during the City Council meeting. However, during that meeting, the final vote was delayed after many outspoken aldermen against the proposal forced Lopez to recommend that the migrant proposal be deferred and published before Mayor Johnson agreed to delay it. The video does not show a vote breakdown screen of aldermen that usually pops up when there is electronic voting.
In another text message Dowell said during the City Council meeting, she “cast her vote” after Mosley told the Council that he would vote no on the proposal. But there was no electronic voting during the City Council meeting, and like the committee meeting two days earlier, Dowell did not say anything as the final decision was made on the proposal.
Diana Martinez, the director of communications for City Clerk Anna Valencia, confirmed that the migrant proposal that went before the City Council and Housing and Real Estate Committee was taken by voice vote.
“We didn’t do electronic voting during those meetings. Those were voice votes,” Martinez told the Crusader.
Martinez told the Crusader that a record of the vote taken during the Housing and Real Estate Committee is usually available a month later. However, Martinez said the record can be obtained by Alderman Lopez, who chairs the committee. The Crusader contacted Lopez’s office, which did not respond by press time Wednesday.
