City Council meeting, April 1, 2024
- When: Mon, Apr 1, 2024, 2:00 PM (Chicago time)
- Where: .
- Status: Scheduled & Published
- Body: full City Council
- Video: https://vimeo.com/showcase/6277394/video/926440196
- Transcript: full text (20,901 words, automatic captions)
Meeting notes
AI-written from the transcript. Speakers are inferred from cues in the recording, so treat names as estimates and check the video at the linked time.
The City Council held a special meeting on April 1, 2024, called by 15 alderpersons to consider a resolution removing Alderperson Byron Sigcho-López as chair of the Committee on Housing and Real Estate after he spoke at a March 22 rally where a veteran burned an American flag. Ten public commenters spoke, most of them addressing the resolution, and the chair had the sergeant at arms restore order several times. Sigcho-López said he would not condemn a veteran's exercise of First Amendment rights, apologized if his actions offended anyone, and described threats against his family. Supporters of the resolution cited judgment, accountability and the organizers of the rally, while opponents cited free speech, said the matter should have been handled privately, and urged the council to focus on city issues. The resolution failed on a roll call vote of 16 yeas to 29 nays, and a motion to reconsider also failed.
Topics: committee chair removal, Housing and Real Estate Committee, First Amendment, flag burning, Democratic National Convention, council civility, public comment, veterans
Agenda items discussed
- 32:30 Reading of the call for the special meeting
- 34:30 Public comment period: discussed
- 1:13:34 Resolution to remove Alderperson Byron Sigcho-López as chair of the Committee on Housing and Real Estate: failed
Alderpersons who spoke
- Byron Sigcho-López (alderperson): Said the council should ground the discussion in facts and that removing someone over First Amendment activity would be wrong. (1:15:02); Said he had reached out to Alderpersons Conway and Villegas to discuss the matter and had apologized for how his actions may have been presented. (1:17:32); Said he would take full accountability if his actions offended anyone, especially veterans, but would not condemn a veteran for exercising First Amendment rights. (1:20:55)
- Chris Taliaferro (alderperson): Said the issue was never about First Amendment rights, which he supports, including the right to burn a flag. (1:25:41); Said his concern was the organization his colleague stood with, which he described as calling for overthrowing what it calls the US empire. (1:26:45); Said officials who take on certain positions must recognize that exercising some rights may not be best for the people they serve. (1:31:39)
- David H. Moore (alderperson): Said the reason for the removal was unclear, listing four different reasons he had heard. (1:36:19); Said he was near Sigcho-López at the rally, heard him speak about a ceasefire, and saw no flag or fire. (1:37:18); Said the apology people wanted had been given and the council should move on to issues such as Ogden Park. (1:39:11)
- Monique L. Scott (alderperson): Said signing the call was not easy and that elected officials should be held to standards of integrity. (1:39:55); Said her concern was not the flag burning but whom elected officials align themselves with. (1:41:08); Said there is little outcry over shootings in her ward and called for focus on housing, vacant lots, grocery access and gun violence. (1:43:32)
- Raymond A. Lopez (alderperson): Said flag burning is a guaranteed right that most members find repulsive, and that the issue was character and judgment. (1:46:48); Said there was no immediate apology and that colleagues instead received accusations of racism and fascism. (1:48:55); Said the council holds employees to standards of judgment and the same should apply to its own members. (1:49:52)
- Maria E. Hadden (alderperson): Said she opposes the resolution and that the flag burning had been wrongly attributed to Sigcho-López. (1:53:56); Said a special meeting was not needed and offered, as a Progressive Caucus leader, to meet with colleagues who have concerns about caucus members. (1:56:42); Asked colleagues to think before name-calling on social media and to hold more private conversations about accountability. (1:57:45)
- William Conway (alderperson): Said he had asked Sigcho-López to apologize days earlier so the council could move on. (2:01:13); Said it strained credulity that Sigcho-López did not know about the flag, and raised concerns about the organization that invited him. (2:01:45); As a Navy veteran, said he supports the right to burn a flag but that there is no First Amendment right to chair a committee. (2:02:13)
- Brian Hopkins (alderperson): Thanked veterans, including Alderperson William Conway, and described the flag as a symbol of the nation. (2:04:32); Said he was offended by the flag burning and called Sigcho-López for a direct conversation, which he said is how such matters should be handled. (2:05:57); Said escalating divisions threaten the council's ability to function. (2:07:17)
- Scott Waguespack (alderperson): Said anyone has the right to burn the flag and apologized if his comments offended a colleague. (2:08:57); Said his concern was an elected official advocating what he viewed as more violence, and asked the mayor to lead a return to practical issues. (2:09:45)
- Jessica L. Fuentes (alderperson): Said Sigcho-López's rally remarks addressed the DNC, a ceasefire and the migrant mission and did not seek to incite violence. (2:11:14); Said disagreements should be handled by calling colleagues in, citing private conversations other members had held. (2:12:29); Said Sigcho-López's office was broken into and his family received death threats, and warned against calling colleagues out publicly. (2:13:00)
- Nicholas Sposato (alderperson): Said he had texted the mayor's office that Sigcho-López should be removed and felt the council had to act. (2:15:28); Said he accepts that Sigcho-López did not know about the flag burning but objected to his opposition to the DNC, which he said will benefit workers. (2:16:42); Described threats he has received, including a message referencing guns, and said threats against officials are common. (2:18:10)
- Gilbert Villegas (alderperson): Said the council must stand against extremism on both the right and the left. (2:21:53); Read passages he attributed to the rally organizers and said legitimizing such groups is dangerous ahead of the DNC. (2:22:19); Said no one claims Sigcho-López burned a flag, but he chose to speak in front of it. (2:23:13)
- Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez (alderperson): Said the resolution would punish speech the majority dislikes and set a dangerous precedent, noting no removal meeting was held for members who attended a rally with Proud Boys. (2:26:51)
- Jason C. Ervin (alderperson): Said the council has become a circular firing squad and that disagreements should be resolved internally and amicably. (2:31:44)
Exchanges between members
- 1:17:32 Sigcho-López said Conway had not yet had a conversation with him despite his outreach.
- 1:17:32 Sigcho-López said Villegas had not yet had a conversation with him despite his outreach.
- 1:25:36 Taliaferro thanked Sigcho-López for his remarks and for meeting with him.
- 1:34:03 Taliaferro condemned threats against Sigcho-López and said he accepted his apology.
- 1:36:07 Moore thanked Taliaferro and later credited him for accepting the apology.
- 1:40:37 Scott addressed Sigcho-López directly, saying she likes him but expects elected officials to hold themselves to a standard of integrity.
- 1:47:33 Lopez responded to Moore's question about the reason for removal, saying it was character and judgment.
- 1:59:16 Hadden referenced Moore's points in arguing against the resolution.
- 2:03:20 Conway said he and Villegas had been in the meeting with Sigcho-López and the mayor, responding to Sigcho-López's account.
- 2:04:32 Hopkins thanked Conway for his military service.
- 2:12:33 Fuentes cited Hopkins's phone call to Sigcho-López as the way to resolve disagreements.
- 2:15:20 Sposato commented to Villegas about the order of the remaining speakers.
- 2:18:37 Sposato told Martin he was not accusing him regarding a threatening message from a 47th Ward resident.
- 2:19:59 Sposato said he hoped he and Sigcho-López could move forward and work together.
- 2:20:30 Sposato yielded the floor, noting Villegas was the next speaker.
- 2:25:53 Villegas referenced Conway's account of their meeting with Sigcho-López and the mayor.