{"id":53400,"date":"2025-07-10T06:22:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T06:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/53400\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T06:22:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T06:22:15","slug":"ald-walter-burnett-to-leave-city-council-wants-son-to-succeed-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/53400\/","title":{"rendered":"Ald. Walter Burnett to leave City Council, wants son to succeed him"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vice Mayor Ald. Walter Burnett, Chicago\u2019s longest-serving current alderman, plans to step down from the City Council at the end of this month, he told the Tribune.<\/p>\n

Burnett, 27th, confirmed his exit, first reported by Block Club Chicago<\/a>, on Wednesday as speculation mounts over Mayor Brandon Johnson tapping him to lead the Chicago Housing Authority. Johnson has not yet announced his choice for the next CEO of the CHA but on Tuesday praised Burnett, one of his most critical City Council allies.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou very rarely find someone who has that type of compassion and understanding around the value of building more affordable housing, particularly public housing,\u201d Johnson said at a City Hall news conference.<\/p>\n

The outgoing alderman hopes his son, Walter R. Burnett, 29, will be appointed by Johnson to take over representing the ward, which includes the booming West Loop and stretches into the West Side. He added that he also hopes Johnson will pick him as the CHA\u2019s new leader.<\/p>\n

He cited the March death of his mother, who often pointed out the stressfulness of his work, as a turning point that led him to realize it was time to call it quits on a 30-year City Council career.<\/p>\n

And Burnett said he want to spend more time with his wife \u201cas we get in our later years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time,\u201d Burnett said. \u201cIt\u2019s time to step away and give other people an opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burnett grew up in public housing and has represented a West Side ward spanning some of the city\u2019s richest and poorest neighborhoods since 1995. Among his colleagues, he is known as the \u201cdean\u201d of the council and praised for the rapid development in his ward, which also includes the incoming permanent Bally\u2019s casino in River West.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking for someone who has real, lived experience. Someone who understands the value of public housing,\u201d Johnson told reporters at a Tuesday news conference when asked about the status of the CHA CEO search.<\/p>\n

Burnett has been a close ally for each mayor in his three decades as alderman, despite the wide difference in political ideologies between Richard M. Daley and Brandon Johnson. In 2023, he was tapped by Johnson to serve as vice mayor despite endorsing his opponent, Paul Vallas, in the April runoff.<\/p>\n

\"SooSoo Kim, the chair of Bally’s Corp., talks with the news media beside Ald. Walter Burnett Jr., 27th, as Bally’s Chicago Casino hosts a demolition event at the former Chicago Tribune Freedom Center on Aug. 27, 2024, to mark a major construction milestone. (Antonio Perez\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

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 made mistakes and broke the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how to say it, but it just touches me how folks supported me even when they knew about my past,\u201d Burnett said Wednesday. \u201cI love them. I love everybody in my ward, my constituents, they\u2019re like my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burnett worked in Cook County government under then-Board President George Dunne and got involved with politics. He is known as an affable, old-school political dealmaker who has been closely aligned with former Secretary of State Jesse White\u2019s political organization.<\/p>\n

During an interview for \u201cThe City Is Up for Grabs,\u201d a book by Tribune reporter Gregory Royal Pratt about Mayor Lori Lightfoot\u2019s tenure, Burnett recounted Lightfoot criticizing him for his support of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle in the 2019 mayor\u2019s race.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Jesse White supports Preckwinkle, I support Preckwinkle,\u201d Burnett told her. \u201cJesse White supports Bozo, I support Bozo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CaseyCasey Neeley, left, and LaShawn Hudson, center, say goodbye to Ald. Walter Burnett Jr., 27th, after stopping to chat on June 2, 2004, outside the Cabrini rowhouses in Cabrini. Burnett grew up in the Cabrini rowhouses on Cambridge Avenue. (Nancy Stone\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Burnett has 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<\/a> to replace Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th, as Zoning Committee chair after months of conflict between moderate members of the council and the mayor\u2019s progressive allies.<\/p>\n

Burnett said he had considered becoming an affordable housing developer after resigning from the council, and described the potential opportunity to lead the CHA as a blessing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess God heard my prayer, and he put forward this opportunity for me,\u201d Burnett said. \u201cI still want to help people, still want to be engaged. I can\u2019t just sit in a recliner chair all day and watch TV. \u2026 It\u2019d be a great way to top it off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burnett\u2019s son, Walter R. Burnett, was born a year after the alderman took office. Jesse White is his godfather. The elder Burnett praised his son\u2019s work ethic, citing his Goldman Sachs experience.<\/p>\n

\"MayoralCook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle speaks at a news conference at her campaign headquarters in Chicago on March 6, 2019, when she was running for Chicago mayor. Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, right, and Ald. Walter Burnett Jr., 27th, left, endorsed her run for mayor. (Jos\u00e9 M. Osorio\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very attentive, he\u2019s very well-read,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not about money for him, because he gave up a lot of money to come back home and be connected with his neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

The close Johnson ally expects the mayor to give his son consideration as an appointee. Johnson had already considered hiring the younger Burnett for another position, he added.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Johnson did not immediately respond to request for comment on the next steps to replace Burnett, whose resignation will allow the mayor his second aldermanic appointment of his term. Johnson replaced Ramirez-Rosa after selecting the close ally to helm the Park District in February.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: July 9, 2025 at 4:21 PM CDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vice Mayor Ald. Walter Burnett, Chicago\u2019s longest-serving current alderman, plans to step down from the City Council at…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":53401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,5404,5386,1818,1370,728,50,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-53400","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-cook-county","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-illinois","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-local-news","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-politics"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114827503460653348","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}