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Lightfoot ally turned foe is latest to leave Chicago City Council

Susan Sadlowski Garza represented the 10th ward

Southeast Side Alderman Susan Sadlowski Garza
Southeast Side Alderman Susan Sadlowski Garza (ALDSSG, Getty)

The Chicago City Council’s mass exodus continues.

Southeast Side Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza, a one-time ally of Mayor Lightfoot and the first member of the Chicago Teachers Union elected to the City Council, said she will retire at the end of her second term, the Chicago Tribune reported. Garza, the daughter of famous labor leader Eddie “Oil Can” Sadlowski, served as chair of the City Council’s labor committee, where she helped pass a number of union-supported measures.

Garza faced criticism in recent years due to the way she handled a potential move by a scrap metal company into her ward. While she spent her eights years trying to revitalize the area, progressive activists weren’t happy with Garza’s decision to support General Iron’s plan to relocate to the 10th ward.

Garza and Lightfoot had a public falling-out when, earlier this year, Garza said she wouldn’t support the mayor’s reelection campaign because she was “tired of being ignored.”

Garza joins the growing number of aldermen leaving the City Council.

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Last week, Ald. Tom Tunney, the chair of the Chicago Zoning Committee, announced that he was retiring from the Council as it was “not a good place to work these days.”

Mayor Lightfoot already filled two vacant council seats after convicted Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson and Ald. Michael Scott Jr. resigned. Nicole Lee, the Council’s first Chinese American representative replaced Thompson and Scott’s sister Monique took his seat. Ald. Michelle Smith also resigned earlier this month, which offered Lightfoot the rare opportunity to appoint a third Council member.

In addition to the three seats Lightfoot filled in earnest, four alderpersons said they won’t seek reelection, and three intend to challenge the mayor for her seat.
Ald. Howard Brookins may be another that won’t seek reelection, depending on the results of an ethics board hearing about his law practice. Lightfoot’s deputy leader, Ald. George Cardenas is also likely to leave the council, as he is working toward winning a seat on the Cook County Board of Review.

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— Victoria Pruitt

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Chicago City CouncilLori Lightfoot