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Chicago

Howard Brookins joins wave of Chicago City Council departures

Far South Side alderman is 14th to leave the council

Ald. Howard Brookins (Getty)
Ald. Howard Brookins (Getty)

In what has become a regular occurance, another Chicago alderman announced they are leaving Chicago’s City Council.

Ald. Howard Brookins, who has represented the Far South Side’s 21st Ward since 2003, said he would retire at the end of his term instead of seeking reelection, Crain’s reported.

He will become the 14th alderperson exiting the council this year.

Brookins, who owns a law firm and unsuccessfully ran for Cook County Circuit Court judge this year, told Politico that he’s stepping aside because “the Black movement works best when the new generation takes over at the right time.”

Yesterday, Southeast Side Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza, who was the first member of the Chicago Teachers Union elected to the City Council, said she will retire at the end of her second term. She was also a former ally of Lori Lightfoot’s until she publicly expressed her disappointment in the mayoral administration.

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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.

Lightfoot addressed that the city council will look very different next term at an unrelated press conference. “The Great Resignation didn’t pass us by,” she said. “This is a tough environment to be a public servant, and many people are making a decision that it’s time for them to move on and do something else.”

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— Victoria Pruitt

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Chicago City CouncilLori Lightfoot