Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson asserts authority in first City Council meeting.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson successfully reshaped the City Council in his progressive image by reducing the number of committees from 28 to 20 and replacing Finance Committee Chairman Scott Waguespack with Ald. Pat Dowell. The vote was 41-9. The new lineup anoints Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, head of the Council’s Democratic Socialists Caucus, as Zoning chair. All five members of the old Democratic Socialists Caucus were rewarded with committee chairmanships in the new lineup. The objective was to ensure the new mayor’s legislative agenda is not sabotaged or slow-walked.