In late May, Rev. Ira Acree, lead pastor at Greater St. John Bible Church in Austin, withdrew his name from consideration for the Regional Transportation Authority board, the oversight body for Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace services.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson nominated Acree for the RTA board in March, Acree said. But about two months later, the pastor rescinded his nomination amid opposition by two aldermen during the interview process.
Now, Acree, a seasoned activist, is setting his journey into politics aside for the moment to continue living his faith and speaking truth to power, he said.
“I’m just more determined to do the work. I will continue doing what I’ve always done: pastor and advocate for human rights,” Acree told the Austin Weekly News. “Any role or any task that comes my way will be just an extension of my work.”
He would have considered the RTA board as one such extension. Other areas of his work that he will focus on include opening Austin’s first credit union in a neighborhood that has been historically underbanked.
“I will continue to do my part in trying to change lives, whether it’s via financially empowering families or providing hope by the light of my faith, by showing people a better way to live,” Acree said.
The road to the RTA board
The RTA board is composed of 15 directors from six counties. Five are appointed by Chicago’s mayor, four by the suburban Cook County Board and one by the board’s president, plus five by county chairmen.
Whoever is appointed to the RTA board serves for five years with a $25,000 annual salary. Board members attend monthly meetings and approve RTA budgets.
When he applied to sit on the RTA board, Acree, who supports Mayor Johnson, said he submitted his resume to the mayor’s office and talked with someone on his staff.
The mayor’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Acree said he wanted to be on the RTA board to help improve quality of service and capital projects on Chicago’s West Side.
“In the midst of a grueling and challenging role as pastor and civil rights advocate in this tale of two cities, Ira Acree willingly accepted this assignment because it would amplify the voices of many who have been left out and left behind,” Acree told the Austin Weekly News.
But some aldermen, and members of the public, started questioning Acree’s chops following a preliminary hearing with the City Council’s Transportation and Public Way Committee.
At the May 8 hearing to approve Johnson’s appointment of Acree, the pastor answered nearly an hour of questions, and some of his responses faced backlash.
For example, when Acree was asked how the RTA will address a $730 million shortfall after federal funding for COVID-19 relief runs out at the end of next year, he responded, “This is my first time hearing about a $735 million shortfall. So, I wouldn’t want to respond to that today without doing the research.”
Acree also said he doesn’t often use the CTA: “I’m fortunate to have a car. But I use the CTA often when I come downtown.”
During the press conference May 24 when he withdrew his nomination, Acree said he knew there was a significant RTA shortfall, he just didn’t know the exact number.
And as for criticisms about him not riding the CTA, Acree told the Austin Weekly News: “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he transformed the Montgomery transit system, and he was never a regular rider. What the city needed at that time was leadership and someone who could organize, advocate and speak up for the public good.”
Though Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th Ward) and Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd Ward) opposed Acree’s nomination — citing the pastor’s lack of experience with public transit and preparation on the RTA’s agenda and finances — the committee passed his appointment to the RTA board, and the vote went to city council.
“It was surprising and disappointing to me that a couple of aldermen turned this appointment into a politically divisive issue,” Acree said. “It’s just unfortunate to me that, in 2024, some on the city council, opponents of African-American empowerment camouflaged as our allies, are determined to deny individuals like me the chance to fight for the men, women and children who rely on public transit every day.”
When he withdrew his nomination, Acree said the aldermen held him to a higher standard than previous board appointees who came from backgrounds different than the board they served on.
There are many examples of this on the city’s transit boards. Block Club reported that, over the last 40 years, out of more than 50 CTA board appointments, only three have been transportation experts.
Vasquez said that his dissenting vote wasn’t racially motivated, but rather because of Acree’s lack of transit experience. Waguespack said his vote was due to wanting to see more about Acree’s plans for Chicago’s public transportation system, which has faced scrutiny in recent years.
In April, Illinois lawmakers proposed merging CTA, Metra and Pace services, aiming to improve the effectiveness and financial stability of Chicago’s public transit. And in May, a majority of the city’s aldermen called for CTA President Dorval Carter’s resignation, since he hasn’t restored CTA’s staffing or services since COVID.
At the council meeting May 22, when Acree was set to be appointed, the mayor’s office postponed the vote. After the meeting, Johnson said he wanted to “give people more time to have inquiry,” according to CBS News.
But there wasn’t an opportunity to reschedule the vote before Acree withdrew his nomination two days later.
“Initially, I believed it would be strategically advantageous for the community to have a leader from the West Side on the board,” Acree told the Austin Weekly News. “But not if it meant silencing my voice.”
The comment largely stems from a question Acree was asked during the May 8 hearing about whether or not he would fire Carter from his position as CTA president.
“I would never betray him or my community to secure a political position,” Acree said. “I would not want to silence my voice to be a part of some political puppeteering.”
“I’m not going to be sitting on the sideline while you have these opponents of African- American empowerment trying to sabotage any kind of movement that we make in our community,” Acree added during the press conference May 24, when he withdrew his nomination.
While Acree said he doesn’t know who Johnson’s next nomination will be for the RTA board, he said he trusts the mayor’s judgment.
“He should continue to look for someone who’s deeply rooted in the community, someone who understands the pulse of the people, someone who represents the working class and the voiceless,” Acree said. “And most importantly, it should be someone with a proven track record of speaking truth to power.”