CHICAGO — Three Chicago aldermen are calling for the immediate resignation of the leaders responsible for the failed Brighton Park migrant camp site.
In a letter sent to Mayor Brandon Johnson on Wednesday, Ald. Anthony Beale (9th), Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th), and Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41st) demanded the resignations of Garien Gatewood, Beatriz Ponce de Leon, Lori Lypson, Alyxandra Goodwin, Cristina Pacione-Zayas, Maura McCauley and Matthew Richards.
The letter comes a day after the governor’s office announced the state would not proceed with the migrant base camp at the 38th Street and California Avenue site. The decision was made after the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) review.
The site could have housed up to 2,000 migrants. The migrant camp was going to be funded by the state but run by the city.
The full letter to the mayor reads:
Mayor Johnson:
The City of Chicago needs individuals who are serious, deliberative and collaborative in addressing the ongoing migrant asylum-seeker crisis that began in August 2022 and continues to this day. Members of the City Council, philanthropic community, and every day Chicagoans want efforts that are respectful of their taxpayer dollars being spent by your administration to address this humanitarian crisis.
What we have seen in Brighton Park, however, does not show members of your administration as being either serious, deliberative or collaborative in addressing this issue. Taxpayer funds are now wasted after a failed attempt to build on highly cancerous soil, without permits, without true community engagement, without a plan that is respectful to those whom so many performatively articulate sanctuary for in our city.
Therefore, we demand the resignation of all involved in this process, including:
- Garien Gatewood
- Beatriz Ponce de Leon
- Lori Lypson
- Alyxandra Goodwin
- Cristina Pacione-Zayas
- Maura McCauley
- Matthew Richards
Chicago taxpayers cannot afford the mistakes being made by these members of your team failing to meet this moment. We look forward to your swift response on this request.
Ald. Beale, Ald. Lopez, Ald. Napolitano
Speaking with WGN News, Lopez addressed the tipping point.
“The very notion that we have a team of individuals who saw no problem using a cancerous brownfield to house 2,000 Venezuelan migrants is astonishing to me, it’s astounding and it’s really setting up, not only this policy directive by the mayor for failure, but also setting up the city for failure and future litigation,” Lopez said.
Yesterday, Governor Pritzker pulled the plug on the Johnson administration’s plan to build a winterized migrant base camp in Brighton Park after traces of toxic chemicals were discovered at the site.
Lopez and his colleagues say they’re worried two other temporary housing locations might also be contaminated.
“How many more sites are the mayor going to use?”Lopez asked. “Is his team going to use sites that are contaminated? What do we know about 115 and Halsted? What do we know about the CVS in Little Village? Nothing.”
A spokesperson for Mayor Johnson dismissed the letter saying, “This is not serious correspondence, yet the individuals it attacks are doing very serious work in addressing the urgency of a humanitarian crisis that has brought nearly 25,000 new arrivals to our city.”
This week, the administration defended itself, noting that at the height of the challenge, 5,000 migrants flooded police stations and airports.
As of Dec. 6, the number is roughly 600.
As for Brighton Park, the state is supposed to foot the bill for construction work, but the contractor might have to eat the cost now that the site has been found uninhabitable.
As for the $91,400 a month lease, an official tells WGN-TV that money is no longer due.
Additionally, the Archdioceses of Chicago said it has identified potential sites that could be used to house migrants. The Johnson team is leaning on churches while it waits for more brick-and-mortar housing.
Watch the entire press conference in the video player below:
