Chicago Ald. Will Burns ( 4th Ward ) will leave his post on City Council to join the private sector and work for rental service Airbnb.
Founded in San Francisco in 2008, the service has listings in almost 200 countries.
Burns previously represented the 26th District in the Illinois House of Representatives ( 2008-11 ).
Interestingly, two aldermen ( Brendan Reilly and Michele Smith ) recently demanded that Mayor Rahm Emanuel ditch his plan to regulate and tax the home-sharing industry in favor of enforcing the stricter vacation rental ordinance they spent two years negotiating, The Chicago Sun-Times noted.
Six years after the ordinance took effect, City Hall has licensed 200 vacation rental units; however, Airbnb, VRBO and other companies that facilitate home rentals are currently marketing more than 4,000 units.
Emanuel said he will use an open and transparent process to select a replacement for Burns, according to ABC7Chicago.com . The mayor's office said any resident of the ward may apply and a commission of local leaders will select the finalists. Once Burns leaves his post, Emanuel will have 60 days to appoint a replacement.
The Sun-Times article is at chicago.suntimes.com/news/7/71/1268312/aldermen-want-emanuel-scrap-airbnb-ordinance-start-enforcing-tougher-vacation-rental-regulations .