(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – The Chicago City Council under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot voted more independently than any other in recent memory, a study by the University of Illinois at Chicago shows.
In UIC's annual report on the council, researcher Tom Gradel says he and co-author Marco Rosaire Rossi found that an influx of 12 new alderpersons in 2019 produced tumultuous meetings that forced Lightfoot to compromise more.
The era of the “rubber stamp” council was truly over, but Gradel admits it was part of a trend. Gradel adds there are more factions than ever, with Democratic Socialists, the LGBTQ Caucus and more.
The UIC team is watching to see how all this plays out under Mayor Brandon Johnson.
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