Chicago aldermen take steps to repeal COVID vaccine mandate

CHICAGO - A group of Chicago aldermen are backing a newly-drafted ordinance which would reallocate power from the mayor to the 50-member City Council.

Ald. Silvana Tabares of the 23rd Ward drafted an ordinance that would repeal the city's vaccine mandate, and pave the way for any future mandates to require a vote by the City Council to go into effect.

Not surprisingly, Mayor Lori Lightfoot came out fiercely against it. 

"It's foolishness, and I am going to do everything I can to stop it," said Lightfoot.

Mayor Lightfoot tore into Tabares, who filed the ordinance this morning.

"The mayor does not get to pass laws on her own," said Tabares. "That is why we have the City Council."

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"I would like to give a huge shout out to Alderman Silvana Tabares," said FOP President John Catanzara via the union's YouTube Channel. "This is not government control right now; it is dictator control. When one person is putting forth city policy and it is a golden edict that can't be challenged, that is a major problem."

Lightfoot accused Tabares of abandoning the priorities of her 23rd Ward constituents and said she was "stunned" that Tabares would "carry the water of a guy like [Catanzara.]"

Tabares called the mayor's remarks "divisive," saying the ordinance is about good policy, not "personality conflicts."

"She's the mayor," said Tabares. "But these are our constituents, and they deserve our respect because they have been working throughout this pandemic."

Tabares still needs the support of at least a dozen more aldermen for that ordinance to move forward in the council. 

The FOP has filed a temporary restraining order asking a judge to block the vaccine mandate and order negotiations into arbitration. 

That effort is right now pending.