Howard Brookins joins retirement parade from Chicago City Council

Transportation Committee Chairman Howard Brookins (21st) on Wednesday joined the parade of alderpersons retiring from the Chicago City Council.

After five terms and 20 years in politics, Brookins, 59, will be eligible for a maximum pension of 80% of his highest salary over a five-year period.

That means that, had he continued as an alderperson, he would have been working for an extra $20,000 or $30,000 a year.

Instead of doing that, Brookins chose to retire after serving out the remainder of his aldermanic term.

“For the 19 years that I have served [as] alderman of the 21st Ward, I have walked in the footsteps of my father and I took pride in modeling servant leadership for our beautiful communities,” Brookins was quoted as saying in a statement.

“I am thankful for having the trust of my community as we worked to provide greater economic opportunity and prosperity for our people.”

The statement goes on to cite what Brookins called “major wins” for his South Side ward, which includes Auburn Gresham and Washington Heights.

They include affordable housing, Starbucks and other “new retail options and a new charter school.” A criminal defense attorney on the side, Brookins was also instrumental in securing reparations for the torture victims of disgraced and convicted former Area 2 Chicago Police commander John Burge.

Brookins also waged a marathon quest for a Walmart supercenter at 83rd and Stewart Avenue in Chatham, only to be leapfrogged by Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) in the Walmart sweepstakes.

In 2004, a bitterly divided City Council gave Walmart zoning approval to build its first Chicago store in Austin — and handed the retailer a one-vote defeat in Chatham.

The controversy gave birth to the big-box minimum-wage ordinance aborted by then-Mayor Richard M. Daley’s 2006 veto. Organized labor subsequently spent millions to elect a more union-friendly City Council.

The political donnybrook did not end until 2010, when the City Council approved a second Walmart in the Far South Side’s Pullman Park community, paving the way for a $1 billion Walmart expansion that changed the face of retailing in Chicago.

It happened after Walmart and organized labor cut an unprecedented deal that called for the world’s largest retailer to pay its starting Chicago employees at least $8.75-an-hour — 50 cents above Illinois’ minimum wage.

All of the bitterness was finally forgotten when the Chatham store finally opened in January, 2012. Then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel did not attend the grand opening due to a scheduling conflict.

“If he came, he might have stolen some of my thunder,” Brookins said on that day, predicting that the store would be an “overwhelming” success.

“Most of what I went through, he wasn’t the mayor. And when I was going through this thing with Walmart, it seems like I was going it alone anyway, so you could say it’s fitting.”

Reflecting back on the political odyssey and what turned the tide, Brookins said then, “As the economy tanked and jobs got tighter, peoples’ attitudes changed. Instead of saying that no job was better than working at Walmart, they came around to my way of thinking.”

Earlier this year, Brookins was instrumental in convincing Mayor Lori Lightfoot to scrap plans to forfeit $18 million in revenue by offering a temporary reprieve from her own gas tax hike in favor of doling out gas cards and Ventra cards to Chicagoans squeezed by skyrocketing prices at the pump.

Brookins said he understood the mayor’s motives in trying to match the giveaways that millionaire businessman and mayoral challenger Willie Wilson has bankrolled out of his own personal fortune.

But, Brookins argued — successfully — that that motorists needed “significant relief,” and that “cynics” would slam the idea.

“If it was me, I would probably not do it to not feed into the cynicism of the public that you’re just doing something as a political stunt,” he said at the time.

Other alderpersons and union leaders also urged the mayor to steer clear of the temporary tax waiver, fearing it would deprive the city of sorely-needed revenue and, potentially, delay capital projects bankrolled by the gas tax.

Brookins has been trying for years to get out of the City Council. He ran unsuccessfully for state’s attorney in 2008, for Congress in 2016, and for judge earlier this year.

He is the son and namesake of Howard Brookins Sr., a mortician, former state representative and state senator who chaired the Illinois Senate’s Transportation Committee.

One of the elder Brookins’ signature achievements was championing legislation that allowed voters to register anywhere in Illinois, paving the way for what he claimed was a “record” surge in Black registrations.

A slew of other members of the City Council elected in 2019 have departed or are not seeking reelection. Here’s the current list:

City Council members not seeking reelection: Leslie Hairston (5^th); Susan Sadlowski Garza (10^th); Howard Brookins (21^st); Carrie Austin (34^th); Ald. Tom Tunney (44^th); James Cappleman (46^th); Harry Osterman (48^th).

Already resigned: Convicted Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11^th); Michael Scott Jr. (24^th) and Michele Smith (43^rd).

Giving up Council seats to run for mayor: Sophia King (4^th); Roderick Sawyer (6^th) and Ray Lopez (15^th).

Also, George Cardenas (12^th), is all but assured of winning a seat on the Cook County Board of Review after winning the Democratic Party nomination for that seat.