The City Council’s black caucus has elected Ald. Howard Brookins (21st Ward) as its new leader. The caucus met after Wednesday’s council meeting and unanimously selected Brookins, said Ald. Walter Burnett (27th), the former chairman of the group who stepped down in March.
Brookins was chosen over Ald. Latasha Thomas (17th), who was reportedly considered the front-runner. Thomas did not immediately return calls for comment.
Brookins said his goals as caucus chairman include increasing the number of black-owned businesses that receive city contracts, preventing a loss of African-American representation on the council as a result of the remapping of the city’s wards, and pushing for a plan to reallocate police resources from low-crime areas to high-crime areas.
Another member of the black caucus, Ald. Anthony Beale (9th), had advocated for such a redeployment of police when he chaired the council’s Committee on Police and Fire. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has said he favors adding more cops to the street.
“He’s said he wants our neighborhoods and kids safe,” Brookins said of Emanuel. “If he’s not going to put police in areas where there are a significant number of crimes, then how is he going to redeploy our resources?”
A spokeswoman for Emanuel did not immediately return requests for comment.
Brookins said he will reach out to the council’s Latino caucus for support on the police reallocation effort.
The caucus played a central role in the attemps to unify African-Americans around a consensus mayoral candidate to replace retiring Mayor Richard M. Daley. After a fractured process, a coalition made up of caucus members, black business leaders and community activists endorsed U.S. Rep. Danny Davis. The unity effort fizzled when Davis dropped out of the race and backed former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, who finished a distant fourth in the race won by Emanuel.