Johnson calls off 2nd vote to reject police arbitration

Mayor Brandon Johnson dodged what might have been an embarrassing defeat by opting Wednesday not to ask his City Council allies to reaffirm their symbolic commitment to police reform and accountability.

At issue was an arbitrator’s ruling allowing police officers recommended for firings or suspensions over one year to bypass the Police Board and take their cases to arbitration.

The Council voted 33-16 in December to reject that ruling, and arbitrator Edwin Benn on Jan. 4 reaffirmed it. That sent the matter back to the Council for a second vote, but the Police Committee never held a meeting on it.

Johnson wanted the Council to reject that ruling again. His allies filed notice of their intention to seek that vote with the city clerk’s office. The city’s longtime labor negotiator Jim Franczek even told a Circuit judge hearing a lawsuit filed by the Fraternal Order of Police that the second vote would be held at Wednesday’s Council meeting.

But Johnson had a problem. He needed two-thirds of the Council — 34 members — to vote to immediately consider the matter because it had not been before a committee.

Apparently unsure he could meet that high hurdle, Johnson pulled the plug Wednesday to avoid what would have been his first major legislative defeat.

The police union’s staunchest Council supporters tried to use a parliamentary maneuver to force the issue, but fell short, 27-20.

“He knew there were defectors out of the first group, and he didn’t want to risk it ... so he pulled a parliamentary move and lied to the judge,” Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara told the Sun-Times.

“He’s a coward,” Catanzara said of Johnson. “You had your attorney tell the judge you’re calling the vote. Call the vote. But he didn’t do it.”

Another court hearing is next week, and “I would hope the judge issues a temporary restraining order on all Police Board cases and a summary judgment right on the spot,” Catanzara said.

The FOP president advised city officials to “get your checkbooks ready.”

“We’re gonna sue the --— out of ’em civilly for damages for not allowing due process for these members since 2019. That’s a lot of officers. That’s a lot of money,” Catanzara said.

“It’s not just a message to cops. It’s a message to basically all unions [that] your contract doesn’t matter if we decide it doesn’t,” he said.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

The vote to reconsider the arbitrator’s ruling will now go before the Committee on Workforce Development chaired by 22nd Ward Ald. Mike Rodriguez, a mayoral ally.

Rodriguez acknowledged the mayor pulled the plug because he wasn’t sure he had the votes.

“It’s going to go to committee. That’s a more surefire way of getting this done,” Rodriguez told the Sun-Times after Wednesday’s meeting.

Rodriguez said he plans to vote to reject Benn’s ruling for a second time, even though the arbitrator has warned that the city has “no possibility of prevailing” in litigation already filed by the FOP.

“I support the people of Chicago who are demanding accountability, particularly of officers that are up for discipline over 365 days or more. These are a very small percentage of the biggest potential offenders in the police force,” Rodriguez said.

Why risk what could be a multimillion dollar expense that Chicago taxpayers cannot afford?

“Anything can happen in court, and the fact is, we’re on the side of the people of Chicago who are demanding more accountability,” Rodriguez said.

During a news conference after Wednesday’s meeting, Johnson referred to the damage done when Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s refused to release the Laquan McDonald shooting video until a judge ordered him to do so.

“A couple of administrations ago, you had information that was not made available in the Laquan McDonald shooting and that caused tremendous strain on police and community relationships,” the mayor said.

“I’ve worked very hard to try and repair and rebuild. Anything short of our work to repair, to rebuild and have constitutional policing is a step in the wrong direction. So this is going to go through the committee process like most legislation does,” he said.

Johnson said the people of Chicago “didn’t elect me to behave like other administrations have behaved. They wanted something different, and they got something different.”