For the second time in his long political career, Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. is maneuvering to find employment for one of his grown children in the “family business.”
Burnett has been in the news lately as Mayor Brandon Johnson’s preferred choice to lead the Chicago Housing Authority. The 27th Ward alderman, 61, who serves as Johnson’s vice mayor and Zoning Committee chairman, has said he will resign his aldermanic seat at the end of this month whether he gets the CHA job or not.
And, in true Chicago political tradition, he has someone in mind to succeed him as alderman following his 30 years in that post: That person, naturally, just happens to be a blood relative. Burnett wants his 29-year-old son, Walter Burnett III, appointed, and Johnson has signaled he plans to follow Burnett’s wishes.
If all goes as expected, Walter Burnett III will be the second of Burnett’s grown children to be appointed to elected office without first winning an election. In 2019, Burnett worked to get his stepson, Jawaharial “Omar” Williams, appointed as Illinois House representative for the West Side’s 10th District, succeeding Melissa Conyears-Ervin when she won election as Chicago treasurer.
Back then, in justifying his push for his stepson, Burnett let forth one of the Freudian slips for the ages when it comes to Chicago politics: “I don’t know of any other family business — I shouldn’t say family business — but if your kids work hard … that’s what I work for, to promote my kids, help my kids if they do well.”
“I shouldn’t say family business.”
No, Ald. Burnett, you shouldn’t. And you knew at the time that wasn’t the right thing to say, even though it revealed precisely how you and so many others (as you repeatedly emphasize) who’ve won elected office in this city view what’s supposed to be a public trust — as an enterprise transferable by birth or family relation. Like some kind of medieval baron.
The effectiveness of appointing people to open seats (in this case, left open deliberately by Burnett to pass onto his son) is undeniable. Williams, Burnett’s stepson, faced opposition in the first Democratic primary following his 2019 appointment. But he ran unopposed in both primaries after that. The seat presumably is his as long as he wants it.
Assuming he’s appointed 27th Ward alderman, Walter Burnett III will be in an even better position than his stepbrother. He’ll have the same name as the guy who preceded him for three decades.
By all means, we’d have no problem with Burnett’s son running on his own for the seat, and his name likely would give him a distinct advantage in that scenario. But handing the post to him in this fashion would confer an almost insurmountable edge. That’s by design.
We should say here that we believe Walter Burnett Jr. has served the city well over his three decades. He’s a voice of reason on the City Council and someone who has earned respect from people on both the left and right. We don’t agree with him on everything, of course, but we consider him an asset to the council.
We strongly disagree with his views on the divine right of family members to enter the “family business,” however. Burnett naturally references families with names like Daley to justify his unapologetic nepotism. Fair enough. There are plenty of other families that have done the same — the name Jackson comes to mind. So does the name Stroger.
Burnett points, too, to the same dynamic in private enterprise. Certainly in family-owned businesses, preference given to the next generation for leadership is a feature. But here’s the difference: Those businesses are owned by the families. As in any other line of work, the owners are the ultimate decision-makers.
In politics, officeholders are supposed to be strictly occupants of a seat. They aren’t owners of their offices, instead owing their professional allegiances to taxpayers and constituents, even over and above their families. At least that’s how it’s supposed to work.
That brings us to Burnett’s namesake son. What are his qualifications? His father points to experience with Goldman Sachs. According to the LinkedIn profile for Walter Burnett III, he worked at Goldman for four years in New York but left the company nearly three years ago. There is no professional experience listed on his profile since then. Ald. Burnett put us in touch with his son, who tells us he’s been consulting for developers in the hospitality and retail worlds, as well as rap artists, and has done some consulting work for nonprofits.
Walter Burnett III says he wants to give back to the community and sees a role for younger people like himself to get involved in politics. And, confirming our misgivings about this whole affair, he said of politics, “That’s my family’s business.”
“He’s very attentive, he’s very well-read,” the elder Burnett told Tribune reporters, referring to his son. “It’s not about money for him, because he gave up a lot of money to come back home and be connected to his neighborhood.”
We understand both Burnetts’ arguments, but these are not compelling qualifications to be appointed to the City Council. Let’s be honest: The younger Burnett’s qualifications to be alderman are his first and last names.
That’s not sufficient for this plum. The old school of Chicago politics has gotten a well-deserved drubbing of late, with powerhouses like former Ald. Ed Burke and House Speaker Michael Madigan, once viewed as untouchable, convicted of felonies in the conduct of their offices.
Read the room, Ald. Burnett and Mayor Johnson. It’s no longer appropriate — if it ever was — for influential local pols to treat their offices like personal heirlooms to bestow.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
