HUD’s Probe of Chicago’s Aldermanic Veto Power Sputters

A federal investigation into Chicago’s “aldermanic prerogative” is being shelved, despite earlier findings that the practice has contributed to discriminatory housing outcomes.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development sided with a coalition of housing advocates in late 2023, saying the city’s unwritten use of veto power by aldermen helped block low-income housing developments in majority-white neighborhoods, especially on the Northwest Side.

The complaint, filed in 2018 by the Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance and nine other organizations, accused the city of violating federal civil rights laws by allowing aldermen to kill affordable rental projects without oversight.

But nearly two years after HUD’s ruling, and with no agreement in sight, the complainants say they’re abandoning the federal process and instead hope to negotiate a solution directly with City Hall, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

“This has been decades and decades in the making. The local-level control over land use and zoning has quite literally reshaped our city and decided who lives where,” said Patricia Fron, executive director of the alliance. “We’re hoping this mayor and this administration gets it.”

City Council members from white neighborhoods have resisted racially integrated public housing since the 1930s, the complaint said. Developers still rely heavily on blessings by the local alderman to secure zoning changes and city subsidies for affordable projects, a system critics say reinforces segregation.

“The city’s use of the local veto despite understanding its effects raises concerns about the city’s compliance” with federal law, HUD officials warned two years ago.

HUD officials did not respond to requests for comment; there’s no formal indication yet that the case has been closed. But advocates say they doubt the Trump administration has any interest in advancing civil rights enforcement.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration has not publicly committed to ending the practice, though a City Hall spokesperson said discussions with HUD and the advocacy groups were ongoing as recently as May.

Chicago is under pressure to add affordable units citywide, especially in areas that have historically kept them out. Johnson’s “Cut the Tape” initiative to streamline affordable housing development has ultimately fallen flat, developers have said, while options for challenging local government denials have rarely been practicable. Illinois’ latest budget reduced housing-related funding by more than $26 million, or 9 percent.

— Judah Duke