John Catanzara defends proposal to add 2 years to his term as police union president

Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara wants rank-and-file Chicago police officers to extend his term as president — from three to five years — in a move condemned by his predecessor as a “power grab.”

Catanzara has said he is mulling a race for mayor against incumbent Lori Lightfoot, with whom he has been at odds over all things law enforcement, including the mayor’s vaccine mandate.

At a general membership meeting on April 20, Catanzara wants his members to approve several changes to the police union’s bylaws with potential to consolidate his powers and lengthen his term.

Chief among them is a proposal to extend the FOP president’s term to five years.

That would allow Catanzara to remain in office until 2025, instead of facing reelection two years earlier — while the campaign for mayor is also taking place.

In a YouTube video posted on the FOP’s Facebook page, Catanzara noted that the “previous election cycle” cost $242,000. He called that amount a “giant chunk of money” to spend every three years.

He also said the three-year term is not long enough to accomplish major goals while also having to campaign for reelection.

“There’s many things every administration wants to get done. ... The thought was to put it off to five years and give administrations the ability to get things done,” he said.

Catanzara said his goal is to relocate the union’s headquarters to replace a building that is “too small” in a location with “no parking.” He also wants to provide “free health care for active and retired members,” which is currently done in Philadelphia.

“To make that kind of health benefits office a reality, it’s gonna take a heavy lift and a lot of time and manpower. In order to even get it started, we need the security of … knowing we’ve got several years to get it done,” he said.

Former FOP President Kevin Graham, Catanzara’s predecessor, branded the proposed five-year term a power grab.

Graham is now appealing Catanzara’s decision to remove him from the FOP board after Catanzara accused him of leaving behind a camera in the president’s office that, Catanzara contends, was used to spy on him after he took office.

“He wants to be in there for as long as possible. It’s not in the best interest of our members,” Graham said.

“If you’re constantly worried about getting reelected, then maybe you shouldn’t be in that job. That was not what I worried about. I worried about our members. I worried about a contract. I worried about the pandemic. I worried about whether our officers were being treated fairly, whether the discipline was fair.”

Yet another proposed bylaw change would eliminate a spot reserved for the past president on the FOP’s board of directors.

“It never made sense to me. ... The membership votes you out. They don’t want to hear what you have to say. You should not have a vote,” Catanzara says in the video.

Catanzara noted that Graham has been “suspended from the lodge” for three years and that the suspension has one year to go. A move to end that suspension early was voted down at the last board meeting.

“If the board of directors decides that they’re going to reduce the suspension by a year, that would give Kevin Graham the ability to run for office next term if he saw fit. Well, then, so be it. But there were steps to be followed before that would even become a reality and this bylaw proposal was one of ’em,” Catanzara said.

Graham said that change was “clearly aimed at me.” He said he has not yet decided whether to challenge Catanzara.

“I was very vocal about some of the things that he was doing. He didn’t appreciate it. And he brought ridiculous charges, false charges against me and got me off the board. I’m waiting until the national hears my case, which won’t be until the end of this year,” Graham said.

He urged rank-and-file police officers and retirees to reject all of the proposed bylaws changes, including elimination of what Catanzara calls the “pension penalty” so “his people get more pay.”

“They’re not in the best interest of the current membership. They’re in the best interest of the current administration,” he said.

Catanzara has been at the center of controversy from the moment he was elected union president.

Last month, he demanded that three of the FOP’s strongest City Council supporters choose between their loyalties to his group and their allegiance to the firefighters union.