The Chicago Housing Authority board voted Tuesday to appoint the leader of the public housing agency in Washington, D.C., as its new CEO, a major loss for Mayor Brandon Johnson after he tried for months to install a close ally to the post.
The CHA Board of Commissioners approved Keith Pettigrew, executive director of the DC Housing Authority, to be the next permanent leader of America’s third-largest public housing agency. His appointment comes after a long-running search process that sparked months of conflict across governmental bodies when Johnson made clear he wanted ex-Ald. Walter Burnett for the job.
Asked Tuesday about Pettigrew’s appointment, mayoral spokesperson Griffin Krueger released a statement that Johnson’s office “is reviewing the resolution passed today by the CHA board. There were a number of irregularities in the lead up to the vote which require further evaluation.”
Pettigrew has led the D.C. public housing agency since 2023. He follows Tracey Scott who resigned from the top spot at the CHA in late 2024.
A Washington native who grew up in that city’s public housing himself, Pettigrew was previously CEO of the Alexandria Development and Housing Authority in the Virginia suburb, The Washington Post reported.
The resolution appointing Pettigrew to the CHA did not reveal his salary, but he reportedly made $325,000 a year at the DC Housing Authority. Scott made about $311,250 when she left.
With DCHA facing a smattering of financial and organizational troubles upon Pettigrew assuming leadership there, he released a three-year recovery plan to turn the agency around and said, “This is not my first rodeo with that one,” the Post reported in 2024. Later that year, local outlet Washington City Paper also reported on allegations of a hostile work environment under Pettigrew.
Two interim CEOs have led CHA operations as the search process for the permanent leader stalled. CHA maintained that it has made progress on capital improvement plans, including new construction, though in that duration there were also internal concerns that the housing authority’s rudderless state made it difficult to set a long-term agenda.
Burnett stepped down from the City Council last July with the expectation of being appointed to lead the CHA but has faced steady resistance from the Board of Commissioners. Board chair Matthew Brewer told the federal government last fall the mayor was pressuring the agency behind the scenes even though the body never seriously considered Burnett.
“We informed the Mayor that we do not recommend him as CEO,” Brewer wrote at the time, noting Burnett lacked management experience and saying the board only interviewed him as a courtesy.
After the Tribune reported on the letter, Johnson didn’t back down and defended Burnett as “the strongest candidate” in December, pointing out he grew up in the Cabrini-Green housing complex and that CHA should be led by someone with that lived experience.
That is despite the fact that Burnett’s appointment would have also required a pending waiver from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The federal agency has been reviewing Burnett’s potential conflicts of interest due to the fact he and his wife own property in which CHA voucher recipients live.
The freshman progressive mayor began 2026 with all three of the city’s sister agencies lacking permanent heads for at least a year amid political turmoil at City Hall. Johnson’s critics have pointed to these vacancies as a weakness of his administration, but he’s defended the pace as a sign he’s being deliberate about vetting for the right candidate.
The mayor has also hinted that he’s frustrated at the challenges to his authority, especially given that his predecessors did not face nearly as much pushback. He said on WBEZ Reset on Monday that “I actually get to make the recommendation” on appointing the next Chicago Public Schools CEO. And last month, Johnson moved on CHA leadership vacancies by introducing new board members that would have presumably backed Burnett.
But amid an increasingly obstinate City Council, opponent Ald. Anthony Beale stalled the legislation, which could have otherwise come up to a floor vote this month. The CHA board moved in the meanwhile.
“The mayor is trying to force people out in order to get more people in his favor to support Walter Burnett,” Beale said at the time. “And that’s a power play by the administration.”
