Ousted Chicago City Council Finance Committee Chair Says He’s ‘Disappointed’


The ousted chair of Chicago City Council’s powerful Finance Committee is speaking out.

Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd Ward) was an early supporter of Mayor Lori Lightfoot in 2019 and got the coveted position to lead the committee, taking over from then-indicted Ald. Ed Burke (14th Ward). Burke had helmed the post for more than 30 years.

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Under Burke, the committee had dozens of employees and a nearly $2 million per year budget. The committee also administered the city’s troubled workers compensation program.

Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson has reportedly told Waguespack that he will be removed from the post in favor of Johnson campaign supporter Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd Ward). Waguespack had championed City Council selecting its own committee chairs rather than the mayor. In a published interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Waguespack implored the incoming mayor to stay out of the City Council reorganization process. Waguespack said he believes the comments drew Johnson’s ire, and said the two had a heated phone call over those comments Wednesday night. Waguespack said he still had more work to do reforming the committee after Burke’s tenure.

“Kinda swooping in and making changes to that at the last minute wasn’t the way we’d hoped that would go,” Waguespack said. “In reality, we were really focused on making sure that it was an open and transparent process.”

A spokesperson for Johnson did not return phone calls or texts seeking comment, and Dowell did not offer comment on the reported plan. Waguespack said his relationship with the mayor has gotten off to an inauspicious start, and said he will continue to be a fiscal watchdog and vet proposals brought forth by the new mayor.

“I was a little bit disappointed, but the mayor has an opposite direction he wants to go,” Waguespack said. “We’re gonna work to make sure the city moves forward despite not having that position.”

Johnson will be sworn in to office Monday. City Council will have to vote on Johnson’s selected committee chairs at some point after that.

Follow Paris Schutz on Twitter: @paschutz


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