A divided City Council let the fur fly on Wednesday before deciding not to make Chicago a fur-free city.
Facing opposition from the Black clergy and the Black Caucus, the Council voted 26 to 19 to reject a citywide ban on the sale of new fur products championed by Ald. Ray Lopez (15th).
Black Caucus Chair Stephanie Coleman (16th) led the charge against the ban in defense of Island Furs, a Black-owned furrier at 1827 W. 103rd St. in Beverly.
Island Furs owner Gerard Brown was in the Council chambers as the City Council decided not to sign what he said would have amounted to a death warrant for his business.
“Colleagues, I urge you to reject this ordinance and let’s support policies that uplift businesses rather than shut them down,” Coleman implored her colleagues before the final vote.
“Let’s respect consumer choice rather than dictate personal decisions. And let us protect Chicago’s rich retail and fashion industries rather than dismantle it. And let’s focus on policies that actually matter to people.”
Budget Chair Jason Ervin (28th) noted Chicago was “founded by a Black man who is a fur trader” — Jean Baptiste Point du Sable.
“I don’t think historically this makes a lot of sense,” Ervin said.
Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th), whose Far Southwest Side ward includes Island Furs and Adriana Furs, 2201 W. 95th St., joined Coleman in warning of the “devastating economic consequences” from the latest animal cruelty crusade by a Council that also passed the much-ridiculed — and ultimately-repealed — ban on foie gras.
Lopez, the Council’s most outspoken animal-rights advocate, made no apologies for the failed attempt to make Chicago the nation’s 17th city to go fur-free.
He argued there was more behind the opposition than defending two-Beverly-based furriers.
“The Black Caucus is rallying about this because many in clergy as a whole — not just in the Black community — find furs to be a status symbol. They are trying to ensure that they have access to that status symbol,” Lopez said. “The majority of these businesses are not Black-owned businesses. This is just about who’s able to buy fur products and wear them in church.”
Coleman has insisted her opposition has nothing to do with the “love of fur coats” in her “entire family.”
With “so many businesses leaving our city, I don’t think that we, as a City Council, should punish those businesses that have committed to our city,” Coleman told the Sun-Times last week.
“When there is below-zero weather, historically among, not just the African American community, but those who have lived in Chicago — they wear mink coats. ”
During a City Hall news conference before Wednesday’s meeting, Black clergy joined the Black Caucus in arguing that closing businesses like Island Furs would diminish the “cultural landscape” in African American neighborhoods and eliminate a “gathering place” that has been a “source of pride.”
The ordinance shot down Wednesday would have made it a crime to “sell, offer for sale, trade or otherwise distribute for monetary or non-monetary consideration a fur product in the city.”
Lopez called it “a matter of compassion and empathy for animals. When people say there are much more pressing issues going on in our communities, they’re absolutely right and most of them stem from the fact that we have a whole generation of young people who don’t understand compassion or empathy, Lopez said.
Budget and Education chairs demand CPS cover pension payment
Two Council committee chairs have fired off a letter to embattled Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez demanding that he “follow through on his commitment” to reimburse the city for a $175 million pension payment for non-teaching school employees.
The letter from Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) of the Budget committee and Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th) of the Education Committee notes the city declared an “unprecedented” $300 million TIF surplus with the “full expectation” that CPS would reimburse the city for the pension payment.
Martinez “committed unequivocally” to covering the obligation during an appearance before the Education Committee in mid-October, the letter states.
“We are deeply concerned with CEO Martinez reversal on this critical payment, as evidenced by his email to CPS parents on March 6, 2025,” the letter states.
“We reject any attempts to pass the responsibility of balancing his budget onto the Council or the taxpayers of Chicago, who we represent. Finally, we reject any attempt to pressure the city into taking out a loan or taking on debt on behalf of CPS.”
Though City Hall used to cover that payment, it was shifted to the schools a few years ago under then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Settlements, landmark status for Loop office building also approved
• By a vote of 34 to 15, the Council agreed to pay anti-police activist Miracle Boyd $280,000 to compensate her for being roughed up and having her front tooth knocked out by a police officer during a 2020 protest at the Christopher Columbus statute in Grant Park.
• Alderpersons also signed off on nearly $3 million in settlements for the families of two people killed in high-speed police chases and a third person seriously injured when a Chicago Police officer ran a red light.
• Members confirmed Mayor Brandon Johnson’s appointment of Ivan Capifali to serve as commissioner of the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. Capifali has been serving as acting commissioner since the resignation of longtime City Hall veteran Ken Meyer.
• And the Council granted landmark designation to one of four downtown office buildings chosen to be converted to residential use as part of the so-called “LaSalle Street Reimagined” plan championed by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot and embraced by Johnson.
The designation goes to the century-old Rector Building, 79 W. Monroe. Eight floors of the building will be converted into 117 residential units, with help from a city subsidy. Together, the four buildings chosen by the city are in line to receive $151 million in tax-increment-financing subsidies.
Johnson also introduced TIF subsidy agreements for two other LaSalle Street Imagined projects — at 208 S. LaSalle and 111 W. Monroe.