Chicago Mayor Mulls Candidates for Housing Authority Chief

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is “seriously considering” Alderman Walter Burnett Jr. to lead the embattled Chicago Housing Authority.

Burnett, who represents the 27th Ward and chairs the City Council’s powerful Zoning Committee, said he’s in the running for the job but weighing other options, including a possible run for Congress if Rep. Danny Davis retires.

Johnson praised Burnett’s long record and personal history with public housing, calling him “an incredible asset to the people of Chicago,” Crain’s reported.

“His lived experience around public housing is the type of experience that is rare,” Johnson said, referencing Burnett’s childhood in the notorious Cabrini-Green Homes. “You very rarely find someone who has that type of compassion and understanding.”

Burnett has served on the City Council since 1995 and currently doubles as the city’s ceremonial vice mayor, a role Johnson enhanced by giving him a budget and staff pools across multiple departments. Though Burnett backed Johnson’s opponent Paul Vallas in last year’s runoff, the two have since grown close, with Burnett acting as a key ally in shaping housing and development policy.

The CHA has been without a permanent CEO since November, when Tracey Scott, a Lori Lightfoot appointee, stepped down. Board chair Angela Hurlock has served in the interim. Johnson’s administration has conducted a national search for a replacement, considering at least one outside candidate as well as former CHA chief Eugene Jones Jr.

Burnett said his decision to run for office in the 1990s was shaped in part by the demolition of Cabrini-Green. If he leaves office, Johnson would appoint his successor in the ward — a potential flashpoint. Burnett has indicated he’d like the job to stay in the family, with one his sons, state Rep. Jawaharial “Omar” Williams or Walter Burnett III, a former banker who recently moved back to Chicago, taking over.

— Judah Duke