Chicago’s city commissioner of the Department of Planning & Development, Maurice Cox, resigned last week. In an email to staff and he said his time as commissioner “has been among the most rewarding years of my career.”

In stepping down, Cox follows on the heels of two other high-profile resignations of members of former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s cabinet. Hired in 2019, Cox was tapped to lead the Invest South/West initiative and oversee projects to revitalize older buildings and bolster city planning efforts. Cox had served in a top Detroit planning role with a long career as an architect and urban design professor.

During his tenure, he faced criticism from aldermen and developers for not seeking their input and for delaying projects through an overly complex design approval process. Several projects begun by Lightfoot and developed by Cox are now under the umbrella of Mayor Johnson, such as LaSalle Street Reimagined.