Chicago only big city where mayor presides over City Council and has veto power

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is a national outlier in the power he has compared to mayors in other big cities.

Chicago is the only big city giving its mayor power to oversee city council and veto legislation.

Among the top 15 biggest U.S. cities by population, Chicago is the only one where the mayor presides over City Council and has the power to veto legislation.

When asked about Chicago’s governance structure, Johnson said Chicago “is unique in that the mayor, the executive, also presides over the legislative branch,” in an interview with Twitch streamer Hasan Piker.

“Don’t get any ideas, you all. It’s working well for me,” Johnson said.

Whether it works well is up for debate, but Chicago as an outlier among big cities is not.

In cities where the mayor holds significant executive authority, it is common for the council to elect its own Speaker or Council President. This position typically rivals the mayor’s influence over city government and helps function as an independent legislative body.

Houston is the exception, but it does not grant its mayor veto powers.

Cities with a council-manager governance structure, it is common for the mayor to preside over the council. But it is important to note that mayors in this system typically have little executive authority beyond presiding over council meetings. Rather, that authority rests with the appointed city manager.

The Chicago mayor’s office holds significant legislative powers as head of the City Council.

If Chicagoans want to strengthen its checks and balances on the executive, two paths to reform worth considering include letting the Council elect its own presiding officer and the mayor not appointing vacancies in the Council:

1) Council elects presiding officer

Chicago is a home rule municipality that can exercise broad powers unless explicitly preempted by state law.

The most effective route would be granting the council the power to elect its own presiding officer, independent of the mayor, as in New York City or Los Angeles. This allows the City Council to shift authority internally by increasing legislative institutional power without eliminating veto.

2) The mayor does not appoint Council vacancies

State law grants the mayor the ability to fill Council vacancies via direct appointment, which severely undermines the council’s independence.

Illinois state lawmakers should introduce and pass a bill that ends the mayor’s ability to appoint allies, placing Chicago on the same playing field as its peer cities.

Legislative amendment in Springfield is ultimately the most politically difficult, but also the most direct way to provide Chicagoans with a better-structured city government that offers healthy checks and balances.

As it stands, the Chicago mayor’s presiding and veto powers reduce the institutional separation between the executive and legislative branches, undermining the council’s ability to check the executive.

Meaningful reform would rebalance toward deliberative legislative governance by considering both council independence and executive efficiency.