Politics
New CEO Takes Over Chicago Housing Agency Despite Mayor’s Objections
Keith Pettigrew is pictured in a file photo. (Courtesy of the Chicago Housing Authority)
For the first time in a year and a half, the Chicago Housing Authority has a permanent leader, as Keith Pettigrew took over the third largest public housing agency in the nation on Monday, a spokesperson for the agency said.
However, the agency that provides more than 65,000 low-income households with public housing, rental vouchers and homeownership programs remains mired in uncertainty and at odds with Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Pettigrew, the former head of Washington, D.C.’s Housing Authority, made no mention of the controversy in a statement celebrating his new position.
“It is an honor to step into this role and serve the people of Chicago,” Pettigrew said. “I grew up in public housing, so I know what access to safe and stable housing can mean for people. Chicago has a lot of work ahead, but there’s also a tremendous amount of opportunity right now, especially when it comes to strengthening core operations and investing in development on the South Side.”
More than two weeks ago, Johnson called the decision by the CHA to appoint Pettigrew over Johnson’s objections “an action fully inconsistent with the Housing Authorities Act and Bylaws of the CHA Board of Commissioners.”
Johnson also moved to oust CHA Operating Chairman Matthew Brewer, who spearheaded Pettigrew’s selection. Brewer refused to step down.
“We’re excited to turn the page and begin the Keith Pettigrew era at CHA,” Brewer said in a statement. “Keith is a results-driven leader who knows how to step into complex systems and make them work for people.”
Johnson told reporters on Wednesday that he still has “deep concerns” about Pettigrew’s appointment, which he called “not transparent.”
The CHA is facing a lawsuit filed by residents that accuses the agency of violating the state Open Meetings Act when it voted 7-2 on March 17 to appoint Pettigrew. The meeting’s agenda included an item that indicated the board would consider the “approval of personnel matters,” but did not indicate that it planned to hire a CEO or identify Pettigrew.
A spokesperson for the mayor said Monday his office remains “focused on addressing stakeholders concerns with regards to governance and due process, expanding affordable and public housing and ensuring the CHA serves its residents to the best of its ability.”
Johnson pushed for nearly a year to name former Ald. Walter Burnett (27th Ward) to lead the CHA, only to run into a brick wall of opposition from board members and federal officials.
In a letter sent to Brewer dated Wednesday, Todd Thomas, the acting deputy assistant secretary for public housing and voucher programs for the U.S. Department Housing and Urban Development, said federal officials had determined Burnett was not eligible to lead the CHA.
Burnett is not eligible to lead the CHA because he and his wife have an “ownership interest” in three properties that are occupied by CHA housing voucher holders, according to the letter.
In addition, since Burnett resigned from the Chicago City Council in July, he is not allowed to take over the agency that he once oversaw until this September, according to the letter.
Burnett declined to comment on HUD’s determination, which was first reported by the Chicago Tribune.
Pettigrew can only be removed from his new position during the next year if eight of the board’s 10 members agree he is responsible for “misconduct, neglect of duty, or material breach,” according to the resolution that appointed Pettigrew.
Pettigrew comes to Chicago with more than 20 years of experience leading public housing agencies, including in the nation’s capital and New Orleans. He replaces Tracey Scott, who resigned in October 2024.
Pettigrew inherits the agency’s two-decade-old Plan for Transformation, which promised to remake public housing in Chicago by replacing the high-rise projects knocked down by former Mayor Richard M. Daley for becoming magnets for violent crime that preyed on lower-income Chicagoans.
Those buildings were supposed to be replaced with mixed-income apartment complexes, but all of those units have yet to be built, preventing residents from returning to the neighborhoods they called home. Between 2020 and 2024, 3,000 new mixed-income units were built on CHA land and in private developments across the city, a CHA spokesperson said.
Pettigrew must also renovate thousands of CHA properties that have deteriorated after being allowed to sit empty, even as more than 120,000 Chicagoans spend years on the agency’s waiting lists.
Johnson repeatedly promises to expand the number of homes available for longtime Chicagoans and often vows to make Chicago the most affordable big city in America.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
