As Mayor Brandon Johnson continues to get rid of Lightfoot administration appointees at City Hall, he’s selected as interim head of the Chicago’s Department of Buildings a city official who was found negligent for her role in the botched 2020 implosion of a massive smokestack in Little Village that caused dust and debris to cover much of the neighborhood.
Johnson promoted Marlene Hopkins, who has been a first deputy in the Buildings Department, to be the department’s interim commissioner, a city official said Friday. Hopkins replaces Matthew Beaudet, whom Johnson fired last week. Beaudet had headed the department since 2020, when then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot appointed him to the role.
Hopkins is one of three city bureaucrats tasked at the time with overseeing building safety who were criticized by former Inspector General Joe Ferguson as part of an investigation into the April 2020 implosion of the old Crawford coal-fired power plant’s smokestack.
The mismanaged implosion caused a massive dust cloud to envelope the Little Village neighborhood, drawing criticism from elected officials and outcries from residents, raising accusations of environmental racism. The company that carried out the ill-dated demolition, Northbrook-based Hilco Redevelopment Partners, is set to pay $12.25 million as part of a settlement to residents whose health and property was affected that day. The settlement was approved last month by a federal court.
A Department of Buildings spokesperson confirmed Hopkins’ appointment, but declined to comment further. Mayoral spokesperson Ronnie Reese said the administration does not comment on personnel matters. Hopkins did also immediately reply to requests for comment.
In his report, Ferguson stated that Hopkins oversaw the demolition as a managing deputy commissioner with the Buildings Department without adequately following department regulations that required applicants to share details about the use of explosives and the experience of its contractors.
Hopkins’ failure to sufficiently review the planned demolition “constituted poor public administration and a negligent dereliction of regulatory responsibility,” Ferguson wrote. The Buildings Department then attempted to shift blame and responsibility after the demolition, the report said. Ferguson recommended Hopkins be disciplined.
Hopkins, a longtime city bureaucrat who had worked for almost 15 years in the role at the time, was made first deputy commissioner seven months after the demolition under Lightfoot, before the inspector general’s report was written.
The inspector general’s report was completed in September 2021, but Lightfoot’s administration refused calls from the community, a City Council resolution and Ferguson to make the report public. It was finally made public last February after it was obtained and published by news outlets.
Ald. Michael Rodriguez, 22nd, whose ward includes Little Village, said Friday he supports the continued community calls for the city to officially release the report.
“If this candidate should become the Commissioner of Buildings I will work to continue to hold them accountable,” he said in a statement.
Hopkins’ appointment was unwelcome news to the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, which has led the pushback against the city and Hilco. The group criticized Johnson for not releasing Ferguson’s report or explaining how Hopkins was disciplined.
“It’s incredibly disrespectful for Marlene Hopkins to be promoted,” LVEJO spokesperson Edith Tovar said in a statement. “How can we have confidence in this administration if they continue to show us that the health of La Villita does not matter to them.”