Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36), the council's new zoning chair, is pictured at a City Council meeting on April 15, 2026. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

In a last-minute surprise Wednesday, the City Council voted to appoint Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) as the permanent chair of the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards, ending a more than eight-month vacancy in leadership and striking a compromise between the Black and Latino caucuses on the council.

Ald. Bennett Lawson (44), who has served as acting chair for about half of the mayor’s term, had hoped to ascend to the position from the vice chair post, but the Aldermanic Black Caucus’ leader, Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16), introduced a rival substitute naming Villegas the chair and keeping Lawson as vice chair, which was accepted on thin margins. 

Lawson introduced a measure (R2026-0022537) in January naming him as the permanent chair and designating Alds. Ruth Cruz (30), a Latina alderwoman, and Walter “Red” Burnett (27), a Black alderman, as vice chairs.  

But before Ald. Bill Conway (34) had a chance to put forward a vote on a substitute Wednesday naming Lawson chair and Cruz vice chair, Coleman pounced on the opportunity to substitute in her own resolution, which was backed by many of her Black Caucus colleagues and members of the so-called Budget Accountability Coalition, which crafted and passed the 2026 budget. 

The substitute was accepted 27-20 and passed via voice vote. The tally is below. 

 

The vote solved a stalemate that has stalled more than 100 items in the zoning committee that have been introduced since Dec. 1. 

“There's a lot of people that want to build in this city, and I think we have to put the shingle out there that Chicago is open for business, and you have my commitment that we'll work together to make sure that projects in everyone's ward [are] getting done expeditiously,” Villegas said on the council floor after the vote.  

He said he plans to hold two meetings ahead of next month’s council meeting on May 20 to try to dig out from the backlog. 

The outcome also reflected a compromise between the Black and Latino caucuses, which had both wanted their caucuses represented in committee leadership. 

“It is only fair that leadership reflects what the council reflects,” Coleman said. 

Coleman told reporters Wednesday the Black caucus determined zoning leadership should be a member of the Latino caucus, as the first chair under Mayor Brandon Johnson was former Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35), who was forced to resign from the chairperson role months into the mayor’s term amid bullying allegations.  

Related: Ramirez-Rosa resigns leadership positions, alderpeople say he threatened them with blocking zoning decisions   

But she added that the caucus also wanted to use the opportunity to elevate one of their caucus members with seniority to a leadership role. 

The substitute also named Ald. Derrick Curtis (18) as the next leader of the Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development, replacing Villegas with a member of the Black caucus. Ald. Ronnie Mosley (21) remains vice chair.  

“I didn't see this coming, but I'm looking forward to working with everyone here,” Curtis said on the floor Wednesday. “I will not let you down.” 

The caucuses also seemed to find agreement in preventing first-term alderpeople from occupying the chair and vice chair positions of the powerful zoning committee. 

“That was the consensus of … a majority of the council whose votes were either solidified or not solidified,” Coleman said. “I am a sophomore alderman. Of my class, I'm the only member without a leadership role in committee, and I'm okay with that because I respect seniority.” 

Curtis and Villegas both took office in 2015.

“We want to make sure that we're not setting the precedent moving forward [of not respecting seniority],” Villegas said. “As I explained to some of the freshmen, that at some point … you'll be senior as well, and so you want to make sure that you have the ability to have that respect.” 

The mayor, who took the atypical move of letting the council sort out the zoning chairpersonship, said in a press conference that he can “work with anyone” who shares his goals of building a safe and affordable city, even someone like Villegas who has been a critic. 

Late last year, Lawson put his foot down on holding monthly zoning meetings until a permanent chair was named, save for holding one in February when there appeared to be a solution on the table. 

Related: Lawson to not hold zoning committee meetings until permanent chair picked    

In a statement issued after the council meeting, Lawson thanked the alderpeople who had supported him for chair and congratulated Villegas. He also said he was happy the impasse had ended. 

“For months, I’ve made clear this committee needs a permanent chair with the staff, resources and authority that the people of Chicago deserve from this position,” Lawson said. “As vice chair, I look forward to working closely with Alderman Villegas to advance developments that create affordable housing, drive economic opportunity and move our city forward.”