Chicago Mayor Pushes Marxist Zealot for Influential City Council Committee Chairmanship
Mayor Johnson's choice as Zoning Committee chair sees city’s future as “barbarism or socialism”
Mayor Brandon Johnson is arm-twisting members of the Chicago City Council to choose a far-left alderman, Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25), as the chairman of that body's Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards. As told by Chicago media outlets, Johnson backed off, temporarily as it turns out, because Sigcho-Lopez was not able to muster the necessary 34 votes to have him confirmed as chair of the committee.
Initial reaction from the Chicago business community was not favorable to Johnson’s choice of Sigcho-Lopez to helm the committee.
Sigcho-Lopez is one of six members of the Democratic Socialist Caucus in the Chicago City Council. The Zoning Committee, one of the most powerful committees in the city’s legislative chamber, has been without a chairman since Johnson's previous choice to lead that body, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa(35), was accused last year of physically blocking Alderman Emma Mitts (37) from entering the floor of the Council prior to a vote on adding an advisory referendum to the spring primary ballot that would have called on Chicago to drop its sanctuary city status.
Ramirez-Rosa, who resigned his post as Johnson's Floor Leader as well, is the dean of the Democratic Socialist Caucus.
Sigcho-Lopez gained national attention in March for speaking at a pro-Hamas rally in the Loop in front of a burned American flag. Apparently, the torching of the flag occurred shortly before the alderman arrived to deliver his remarks.
Mr. Sigcho-Lopez is currently chairman of the Housing Committee and there were calls after the flag burning incident in the Council for Sigcho-Lopez to resign his committee chairmanship. As with Ramirez-Rosa after the Mitts encounter, Sigcho-Lopez, too, survived a censure vote. However, unlike Ramirez-Rosa, who was ousted from the Zoning Committee, Sigcho-Lopez retained his committee chairmanship.
Now Johnson, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, is renewing his drive to install Sigcho-Lopez as Zoning Committee chairman. A special session of the City Council may be called to do so quickly — the Council is currently in its summer recess.
While Sigcho-Lopez does have stiff competition, he is arguably the most far-left City Council member. Chicago Reader columnist Ben Joravsky all but said as much on the June 13, 2023, installment of his podcast.
"Boy, are they gonna go after you, Byron, because you are even leftier than Carlos, in my humble opinion. I've had you both on the show."
As Dan Bongino says about information given on his show, "I’ve brought the receipts." There are links in this piece to all the Sigcho-Lopez quotes, and his spotty grammar has not been corrected.
Sigcho-Lopez regularly hurls inflammatory rhetoric. There are just a few examples noted in this article.
It's certainly fair to label the alderman as anti-police. Not even a year ago, on the October 24, 2023, Joravsky podcast, the alderman spoke about "a history of the Chicago Police Department, that is was always — it was not here to keep people safe — right? It was to enslave and to keep enslaving, and to keep exploiting, and to serve cap."
"Cap?" Was Sigcho-Lopez referring to capitalism? In all likelihood, yes.
After a riff about Donald Trump, fascism, and white supremacy in Chicago, during a 2021 appearance on the Joravsky show, Sigcho-Lopez quoted an obscure Polish-German communist who attempted to overthrow the socialist government in post-World War I Germany.
"I really have to quote again, the work of Rosa Luxemburg, 'It is going to be barbarism or socialism.' If you see here in the city of Chicago, what we see is barbarism."
Shortly afterwards, Sigcho-Lopez doubled down about his view of the future, "It is not going to be capitalism, it is not going to be the racist institutions."
Which institutions in Chicago are racist, alderman?
Chicagoans to the political right of Comrade Sigcho-Lopez — who almost comprise an overwhelming majority of the populace — undoubtedly favor a better way. Capitalism or "cap" as the 25th Ward alderman appears to call it, specifically a free and open version of it where everyone has a stake and everyone has a chance to participate, has performed well for America over the last 250 years.
As is the case with most wards in Chicago, crime is a serious problem in the 25th. Two years ago, during the annual Chicago Police Department's budget hearing, Ald. Matt O'Shea (19th) asked his fellow City Council members if any of them wanted fewer cops in their wards. Of the 50 aldermen in the City Council, Sigcho-Lopez was the lone alderman to raise his hand.
Several of his colleagues said they would happily accept those unwanted officers in their wards. Not even a month later, CWB Chicago reported that Sigcho-Lopez "asked his ward’s residents to refrain from shooting and killing each other for 48 hours because too many people had been injured in a flurry of violence." Mr. Sigcho-Lopez’s call for gang members to agree to a ceasefire occurred amid the revelation the alderman’s ward had experienced a shocking 191 percent rise in shootings in comparison to the period before he took office.
But this discussion began with Johnson working the City Council to install Sigcho-Lopez as Zoning chairman. The Zoning Committee has long been regarded as a tit-for-tat and you-scratch-my-back-I'll-scratch-yours office, or worse.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, as it reported on the censure push last fall, Ramirez-Rosa ruled the Zoning Committee in that appalling manner.
“Alds. Nicole Lee (11th) and Felix Cardona (31st) led the charge for the censure.
They described how intimidated and infuriated they felt after Ramirez-Rosa threatened to withhold zoning approval from projects in their wards after they both refused to leave the special meeting on the sanctuary city resolution.
I’m not making this up. It’s on video. He grabs my shoulder. …I was hurt. My peace was gone. … I’m a victim here. Ald. Lee is a victim. Alderman [Chris] Taliaferro is a victim,” Cardona said.
This is not the first time. He did it before. Ald. [Jeanette] Taylor was bullied by Carlos. … The difference [this time] is, he got caught,” Cardona told Johnson.
Considering the shady practices of the Zoning Committee in the past, it is fair to inquire of Mr. Sigcho-Lopez how differently he would lead the panel should he be confirmed. Would Sigcho-Lopez run the Zoning Committee differently than fellow socialist Ramirez-Rosa did? What reforms would Sigcho-Lopez apply to avert the underhanded schemes that ran through the committee in the past?
Has anyone asked Sigcho-Lopez, or will he breeze through a Council vote without having to have his feet held to the fire and answer these pertinent questions?
Chicago's business community values predictability in its government leaders. It also wants them to be level-headed. Setting aside, momentarily, his far-left political stances, Sigcho-Lopez comes across as someone who is completely bonkers.
The city's business leaders believe this month's Democratic National Convention is an opportunity to attract tourists and other businesses to Chicago. Sigcho-Lopez, however, is on record calling for its cancellation.
And of course he sees only two choices for Chicago: "Barbarism or socialism." Sigcho-Lopez is who he is. So is Mayor Johnson for supporting him — and not giving up on him — to be the next Zoning Committee chair.
Chicagoans deserve much better.
