Former Ald. Walter Burnett (27) is pictured at a City Council meeting on Jan. 15, 2025. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

Mayor Brandon Johnson defended the change in one specific qualification standard for applicants to fill former 27th Ward Ald. Walter Burnett, Jr.’s seat on the City Council — a change that has been criticized as seeming to pave the way for Burnett’s son, Red Burnett, to be picked for the job.

Last week, the mayor announced the application and vetting process to select the nominee to fill the vacant 27th Ward spot. The process includes a selection committee made up of prominent community leaders in the ward. 

Burnett, who left his post at the end of July, has been pushing for his son to succeed him.

The committee includes Neighbors of River West President Emeritus John Bosca, Greater West Town Project Community Engagement Coordinator Keith D. Muhammad and West Central Association President Armando Chacon. The ex-officio chair of the committee is Ald. Michelle Harris (8), as she chairs the council’s rules committee. 

The application window opened Aug. 8 and will close this Friday at 5 p.m., giving interested candidates just a week to assemble materials and submit them. 

It’s keeping with a trend of Johnson’s administration having shorter application windows for aldermanic replacements than what existed under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot. 

Lightfoot appointed four alderpeople to vacant seats during her term, and during each of those times, the application window lasted at least two weeks or a little over that. Johnson has filled just one vacancy during his tenure so far — the 35th Ward slot now occupied by Ald. Anthony Quezada — and the 27th Ward seat will be his second.  

In both cases under Johnson, the application window has been open for just a week. However, the mayor said during the 35th Ward selection process that he believed that length of time was sufficient for “serious” applicants to submit their materials and wouldn’t deter or prevent anyone from qualifying. 

Still, during the 35th Ward selection process, four of the six applicants for the job were disqualified for failing to submit all of the required application materials. 

Related: Quezada, Tobon considered in selection process to appoint next 35th Ward alderperson as four other applicants disqualified 

For the latest vacancy, the committee is requiring the same application materials as before — a cover letter, resume and at least three letters of recommendation from community leaders, business leaders or ward residents. 

Last time, one of the disqualified applicants told The Daily Line that she was knocked out of the running because she was short on letters of recommendation and blamed the week-long timetable. 

Under Johnson, the committee has also chosen for both vacancies to forgo a public survey component of the appointment processes that was used under Lightfoot. 

For the latest vacancy, qualified applicants for the position must meet several criteria, including having at least a year of residency in the ward, having the ability to passionately advocate for 27th Ward residents and being a “valued, public servant who has demonstrated their commitment to their community,” according to the mayor’s office. 

When Johnson announced the 35th Ward selection process, the news release asked for applicants to have a “minimum of 5 years of experience in government or public service, with a strong understanding of city departments, municipal operations, and the City Council process.” That same request was not present this time around. 

Quezada has that experience. He served as a constituent services director for former 35th Ward Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa from 2016, until his election to the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 2022, according to his resume. In 2020, Quezada also was elected as the 35th Ward Democratic committeeperson, a position he held until 2022. 

The former 27th Ward alderperson’s son has no government experience and would thus not qualify if the same criteria were present this time. But when asked about the change, the mayor on Tuesday dismissed the accusation that it was rigging the process for Red, saying instead that every ward has different needs because the communities being served vary across the city. 

For instance, Johnson pointed to the 35th Ward selection process favoring candidates that were bilingual in Spanish due to the ward’s makeup. 

The mayor also said that he simply forms the selection committee, which then decides for itself what qualifications the next alderperson should possess. 

“The committee will establish criteria based upon the needs of those communities that are reflected in those particular wards,” Johnson said. “I don’t micromanage to that extent where I put forth a blanket, uniform requirement because the city of Chicago is far more diverse.” 

Bryan Zarou, vice president of policy for the Better Government Association, told The Daily Line he’s disappointed with how Johnson has handled vacancies since then-candidate Johnson told the BGA during the 2023 campaign that he believed a uniform process should exist for filling open seats. 

“This is yet again another promise that was not kept,” Zarou said.  

Zarou said the ideal process for filling vacancies would be a special election held within 60 days of the vacancy coming about, but he also conceded there could be cost concerns. If that isn’t feasible, Zarou said a uniform process would be one that gives everyone who lives in the ward and would be eligible to run for the seat the ability to apply. 

Additionally, the process should remain the same for each vacancy. Zarou said it may be best for the City Council to codify the process into law so that it isn’t subject to change each time a seat opens.

While things like government experience and bilingualism may be important in certain wards, Zarou said it should be voters who determine who best represents a ward and that the current way of doing things only seems to give the impression that the process is “tailored” to the mayor’s favorite for the job.