Mayor Brandon Johnson will ask his City Council allies on Wednesday to reaffirm their symbolic commitment to police reform and accountability, even though he may not have the votes.
At issue is an arbitrator’s ruling that would allow police officers recommended for firings or suspensions over one year to bypass the Police board and take their cases to arbitration.
The Council voted 33 to 16 in December to reject that ruling, and arbitrator Edwin Benn on Jan. 4 decision reaffirmed it. That sent the matter back to the Council for a second vote, but the Police Committee never held a meeting on it.
Now, Johnson wants the Council to reject that ruling again — but a two-thirds vote is needed to immediately consider any matter that has not been before a committee.
“You need 34 votes to suspend the rules … and 30 votes for the actual rejection of the arbitrator’s ruling,” senior mayoral adviser Jason Lee told the Sun-Times Tuesday. “You make the case for the votes that you need. So, we’ll continue to do so.”
Lee said the mayor’s position has not changed.
He is asking the Council to reject Benn’s ruling for a second time on grounds that allowing an arbitrator to decide punishment behind closed doors for officers accused of the most serious wrongdoing would undermine the public trust the Chicago Police Department desperately needs to rebuild.
Never mind Benn’s warning that the city has “no possibility of prevailing” in litigation already filed by the Fraternal Order of Police.
“We know a little bit about chances being small, yet here we are,” Lee said, pointing to Johnson’s improbable rise from single-digit obscurity to the mayor’s office.
“This arbitrator’s ruling does not meet the standard of transparency and accountability that the people of Chicago have demanded,” Lee added. “So we need to work towards a better outcome. That doesn’t always mean that things always work out exactly how you want. But, you have to make the effort to protect the interests of the people of Chicago.”
Police Committee Chair Chris Taliaferro (29th) was among the 33 voting to reject the arbitrator’s ruling on Dec. 13. But he may not do it again.
“I’m concerned that we will lose this in court and have to pay some exorbitant fees,” Taliaferro said. “I don’t think the folks who supported the arbitration award are going to move off of that. If anything, there may be a loss of votes on the other side.”
In reaffirming his ruling for a second time, Benn accused Johnson’s 33-vote majority of violating their sworn oath to uphold the Illinois Constitution and the Worker’s Rights Amendment. He described the amendment as a “Constitutional protection of the statutory right to final and binding arbitration.”
Emboldened by the harsh tone of Benn’s second ruling, Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara went to court to request a summary judgment immediately enforcing the arbitrator’s ruling, and a temporary restraining order to suspend roughly 26 Police Board cases impacted by the ruling.
Circuit Court Judge Michael Mullen is waiting to see what the City Council does on Wednesday.
Falling short of the 34 votes needed to suspend the rules would, in some ways, be the best possible outcome for Johnson politically.
The mayor and his allies could say they tried to reaffirm their commitment to transparency and police accountability without risking a protracted court battle the city is destined to lose, a battle that could cost Chicago taxpayers millions.
If Johnson somehow manages to suspend the rules and his allies reject the ruling a second time, there will be a “price to pay,” Catanzara said.
“Our board of directors will authorize legal action on behalf of all affected officers,” Catanzara said. “And I don’t just mean for their discipline cases pending before the Police Board. I’m talking civil litigation for the...willful misconduct of Council members. We will take the whole City Council and the mayor into civil court on behalf of every affected single officer.”
There’s also a political pressure point: The Democratic National Convention in August in Chicago, where the FOP president threatened to set up picket lines.
“The whole Democratic Party will wear this like a scarlet letter around their neck,” Catanzara said. “The party of labor is challenging arbitration awards. A bedrock foundation principle in this state and labor law in general. And here they are thumbing their noses at it.”
