Chicago city council buries people’s referendum measures despite public wishes
Chicago, IL – On Wednesday morning, July 22, Chicago’s City Council voted to place five referendums on the ballot for the November 2026 and February 2027 elections. Only three referendums can be on a single ballot. Two referendums, the Community Power Over Policing (CPOP) ordinance and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed referendum to tax the rich, are now ineligible for the February 2027 ballot.
“This is a setback for the movement,” said Frank Chapman, field organizer for the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), which is leading the CPOP campaign.
CPOP, if the majority of voters mark “yes”, would make the citywide Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA) directly elected and give it power over the police budget and contract negotiations, among other powers.
“But we brought three rows of people here at a moment’s notice,” Chapman continued. “We will find a way to get this referendum on the ballot because the power of the people is stronger than the people in power.”
“Certain alders are trying to keep the people of Chicago from having the power to hold police accountable,” CAARPR member Gabriel Miller said during public comments. “This is happening at a time when the Trump administration is inflicting the biggest attacks on Black political power since Reconstruction.”
“It’s insulting when you don’t listen to the people of this city when they tell you what they need,” said Jake Hanawalt, a high school special education teacher and a member of the Chicago Teachers Union, in the public comments section.
“The people put together referendums about taxing the rich and holding police accountable, and you all don’t want to hear that. Instead you want to talk about a monument,” Hanawalt added.
In spite of the public comments, the majority of city council members voted to pass all three referendums for the February 2027 ballot. The referendums will ask voters if they want a monument to celebrate Chicago’s cultural influence, if city council should have a legal office separate from the city’s Law Department, and if the city should collect debts from its sister agencies such as the Public Schools, the Transit Authority, the Housing Authority and the Parks District.