As the Chicago Housing Authority nears month nine without a permanent CEO, numerous resident leaders said Tuesday that the mayor’s likely candidate is the wrong choice for the position and does not respect resident leadership.
The residents — 14 people who make up CHA’s Central Advisory Council, an elected resident board — said Ald. Walter Burnett is not fit to lead the nation’s third-largest public housing authority and will sell off CHA’s land for non-public housing purposes.
“It doesn’t matter that he grew up in Cabrini-Green,” said Mary Baggett, who represents the CHA’s Near West Side community on the resident council. “He never helps public housing residents ever.”
Aldermen and city staff clap for Ald. Walter Burnett, Jr., 27th, during a Chicago City Council meeting at City Hall on July 16, 2025. Burnett is stepping down from the City Council at the end of this month. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Burnett says otherwise.
“I always stand up and fight for the residents,” Burnett, who said he lives near CHA housing, told the Tribune. “I sit in the shadows of public housing because I know the culture, I grew up in the culture and I respect the culture.”
Burnett, 27th, will resign from the City Council — where he represents a West Side ward spanning some of the richest and poorest neighborhoods — at the end of the month. He has expressed deep interest in taking the helm at CHA. The Tribune first reported June 28 that Burnett was a reputed candidate for the position.
Mayor Brandon Johnson has yet to officially announce the next CEO, with the housing authority expecting a new leader by summer’s end. Burnett is still meeting with CHA board members, having said this month that he was “hustling votes.” The CHA board, which has to vote to approve the mayor’s CEO choice, was scheduled to meet July 15 but postponed its meeting to July 29, a potential indication that the mayor had still not made up his mind.
CHA launched a national search for a new CEO this year after the Nov. 1 departure of former CEO Tracey Scott. CHA board Chair Angela Hurlock has been serving as interim CEO since Scott’s resignation.
The CHA resident leaders said they sent two letters to the mayor’s office in June, with one in support of Eugene Jones Jr., Scott’s predecessor who is also being considered for the top role again, and one opposing Burnett. The residents said they haven’t received a response.
They said they are “very disappointed” with the mayor, in addition to CHA. One resident emphasized that they are CHA’s “partners,” not their “stepchildren.” The residents said that while Johnson met with them once prior to being elected mayor and once after, he has not met with them to hear their thoughts on the next CHA CEO.
The mayor’s office and CHA declined to comment.
Vernell Givens, right, answers questions from reporters as members of the Chicago Housing Authority Central Advisory Council talk about the search for a new CEO at a CHA complex on July 22, 2025. At left is Charnae Harmon. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Vernell Givens, a representative on the council for CHA’s buildings with senior residents, said the mayor came to her building July 18 for her annual luau, and she shared her concerns about Burnett with Johnson.
“His response was ‘I’m sorry,’” Givens told the Tribune. Her response: “Sorry is not going to cut it.”
The new CEO will take over the embattled agency as it is going through a significant period of transition. The housing authority has seen eight high-ranking officials leave in the last year, including three who were fired.
The agency head will be tasked with rebuilding residents’ trust, boosting staff morale and addressing safety and environmental concerns at its properties while shepherding more housing developments in a city where housing has become increasingly less affordable.
The agency shared publicly that it has a “diverse and inclusive” CEO search committee, with “resident leaders” included. But, as the Tribune reported June 28, Francine Washington, a CHA board member, is the only resident on the committee.
The rest of the committee includes interim CEO Hurlock, Chicago Department of Housing Commissioner Lissette Castañeda, Chicago Department of Planning and Development Commissioner Ciere Boatright, CHA board member James Matanky and CHA interim board Chair Matthew Brewer.
Notably present in the group of residents Tuesday was Washington, who also sits on the resident board. She said the CEO search committee recommended three candidates to the mayor, and didn’t include Burnett. Burnett was thrown in a month later, she said, with the rest of the candidates living out of state. She declined to share their names.
Mary Baggett, left, speaks with other CHA resident board members at a CHA complex on July 22, 2025. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
“We don’t need a politician running our authority,” Washington said. “Then all our land will be sold off.”
If appointed to the role, Burnett said he would not sell off CHA land for non-public housing purposes.
“My goal first and foremost is to get things built on CHA’s property,” Burnett said. “My other goal is to try and see if CHA can acquire other property in the community to expand CHA’s footprint so we can build more CHA housing and affordable housing” by leveraging existing city resources such as those available through the mayor’s “green social housing” program.
Asked if he is willing to meet with the residents, Burnett said: “Any time, any day, anywhere, no problem” — with the caveat that CHA has not made that a part of the hiring process. He said he does not want to go around the board. The first people he would meet with if appointed would be the Central Advisory Council and residents, followed by visiting every CHA property, Burnett said.
Residents shared Tuesday that a meeting with Burnett prior to his appointment would not change their minds.
Burnett offered to meet with Baggett, he said, to discuss CHA resident concerns about the United Center’s $7 billion 1901 Project, which sits in his ward. Charnae Harmon — the resident board member representing CHA’s Henry Horner Homes and its surrounding scattered sites, all of which are near the United Center — had previously expressed concerns about the project to Burnett in a September 2024 email, a copy of which was shared with the Tribune. The concerns center on the lack of public housing residents’ involvement in the project.
She received a voicemail from Burnett in response, which was played at the Tuesday meeting.
“I don’t know what you thinking, Charnae, but you don’t run the resident property in the ward. You run Henry Horner,” Burnett said in the voicemail. “We can talk about it. Thank you.”
Mary Baggett answers questions from reporters at a CHA complex on July 22, 2025. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Burnett confirmed to the Tribune on Tuesday that he spoke with Harmon, saying he told her that the 1901 Project is “bigger than you” and did not involve CHA property.
“If it was CHA, I would listen to you on that,” Burnett said, “but I got a whole other community to listen to around there that owns homes, and I can’t take direction from you. … I have no idea why they think I don’t listen to them.”
Johnson told reporters in recent weeks that he is looking for someone “who has real, lived experience. Someone who understands the value of public housing.”
Burnett, 61, grew up at Rockwell Gardens and Cabrini-Green. He served two years in prison for his role in a 1981 armed robbery in Kankakee. He was just 17 when he was convicted. In the years since, Burnett has been outspoken in support of second chances for people who have made mistakes.
He has also been a key ally for Johnson at City Hall, helping him bridge conflicts despite being more moderate politically than the first-term mayor. Johnson chose Burnett to replace Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th, as Zoning Committee chair after months of conflict between moderate members of the council and the mayor’s progressive allies.
Burnett’s wife, Darlena Williams-Burnett, previously worked for CHA as a senior director of general services, according to 2018 annual payroll data obtained by the Tribune. She now works as a real estate agent, according to her LinkedIn profile.
The housing authority told the Tribune previously that 107 candidates applied for the role and that it was “grateful for the strong level of interest.” It did not answer questions in June related to how this level of interest compares to past searches.
If Burnett does get appointed as the new CHA top dog, the road ahead with resident relations will likely be bumpy. The resident leaders are fed up.
“Nobody cares about us but us,” Washington said.
“We are tired of being used; we are tired of being neglected; we are tired period as human beings,” said Robert Scott, a council board member representing buildings housing senior residents. “We are not pawns, not to be bargained with, not to be bargained over.”
Originally Published: July 22, 2025 at 3:50 PM CDT