Chicago City Council. (WTTW News)
Revised rules designed to limit access to where members of the public can sit during meetings of the Chicago City Council will not be implemented Wednesday after an outcry by good government advocates and warnings that the rules were likely illegal.
Those rules would have required members of the public to make reservations and show government-issued identification to sit in the main, second-floor gallery in the Council Chambers during meetings.
The Better Government Association, a 100-year-old group that advocates for good government and transparency, warned Mayor Brandon Johnson Monday that the new rules “violate the spirit and likely the letter” of state law.
Johnson reversed course Tuesday, averting a showdown at Wednesday’s City Council meeting. No new rules will be implemented or enforced, spokesperson Ronnie Reese said.
“We appreciate the feedback provided by various stakeholders, and we will work with them, the Rules Committee and the City Council sergeant-at-arms to address concerns around decorum and safety that allow the Council to best conduct the business of the people,” Reese said.
Bryan Zarou, of the BGA, said the organization was pleased by the mayor’s decision.
“Open access to government proceedings are essential here in Chicago,” Zarou said.
Alderpeople have been repeatedly heckled and harassed by members of the public, many of whom have made explicitly racist statements, while debating efforts by the city to care for the more than 25,600 migrants sent to Chicago on buses paid for by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
As the intense debate over the migrant crisis escalated, Johnson broke from the pattern set by former Mayors Rahm Emanuel and Lori Lightfoot, who frequently had people they deemed disruptive removed from the chambers, even if they had not interrupted the meeting.
Johnson campaigned on a platform that vowed to expand transparency and public access to City Hall.
“Our administration is also mindful of the very real concerns that alderpeople have regarding their safety and the ability to conduct meetings without disruption,” Johnson said. “That is the balance we must strike — the balance between democracy and decorum — and it is imperative that we have a policy that accommodates both.”
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
