Austin was appointed by Richard M. Daley to the seat of her late husband Lemuel Austin. She officially took office on July 13, 1994.[1] She has been reelected in 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019.
As a member of the Chicago City Council, she serves on six committees: Budget and Government operations; Energy, Environmental Protection and Public Utilities; Finance; Health; Housing and Real Estate; and Zoning.
Austin served as a delegate to the 2012 Democratic National Convention.[2]
Austin was an ally of mayors Richard M. Daley and Rahm Emanuel.[3]
In 2016, Austin was a presidential elector from Illinois.[4]
In the runoff of the 2019 Chicago mayoral election, Austin endorsed Lori Lightfoot.[5]
On May 17, 2019, Austin publicly admitted that she had hired family members as interns on her committee payroll, refusing to apologize for it.[3] The same day, mayor-elect Lightfoot announced that she would be naming Pat Dowell to supplant Austin as the City Council's budget chairman.[3] Austin publicly took offense to this move by Lightfoot.[3]
On July 1, 2021, Austin was indicted for allegedly taking bribes from a private development firm.[6]
Austin previously served as the Democratic Committeewoman for the 34th ward.[7] In late 2019, she withdrew from the race to remain the ward's committeewoman.[8]
Austin's tenure on the Chicago City Council ended when she resigned from office effective March 1, 2023.[9]
