The departure of Nancy Andrade comes on the heels of a report done by the commission on how to address anti-Jewish hate crimes. There has been reaction and frustration about a lack of action on that report.
Wednesday was Andrade's last day as Commissioner of Human Relations for the City of Chicago.
Leaders in the Jewish community are saying she will be missed as a City Hall ally.
"She has truly been a friend, not just to the Jewish community, but I would say any communities in Chicago that feel threatened," said Dan Goldwin, chief public affairs officer of the Jewish United Fund.
Some suspect Andrade's departure may be related to what happened with a report commissioned last summer, that Andrade held a public hearing about, stemming from concerns about a 58% increase in anti-Jewish hate crimes.
In February, the Human Relations Commission issued a report with recommendations for how the city could best respond.
"The Commission did draft a report, and they submitted it to the mayor's office, and then an outside consulting agency edited it, whitewashed it," 50th Ward Ald. Debra Silverstein said.
The highly revised report removed specific references to antisemitic crimes.
"So as the commission, we were specifically tasked with one simple thing, address anti Jewish hate crimes," Goldwin said. "So the report we generated was how should the mayor's office address anti Jewish hate crimes? The edited version came back off, how do we address all hate crimes?"
Mayor Brandon Johnson, at an unrelated event, said Andrade was not pushed out. He did not address questions about why his office tried unsuccessfully to get the report changed, nor why it remains stalled on his desk.
"We're going to take all of those recommendations under consideration. Because, as I've said from the very beginning, not only do we have to root out hate, but we have to hold people accountable," Johnson said.
The mayor is suggesting all hate crimes have to be addressed equally, even when anti-Jewish crimes have seen the biggest spike.
"When harm happens to one particular group, it happens to all of us," Johnson said. "I am not going to accept the politics of segregation and separation. I'm not."
"I think this is a crisis," Ald. Silverstein said. "I think that the Jewish community has not felt protected in the last few years, and the mayor has done nothing to make us feel like he's got our back."
"Somebody doesn't care," Goldwin said. "That's the only thing we can draw from it, because the facts are the facts."
Andrade declined ABC7's request for an interview Wednesday. The only hint she gave of any frustrations was in a written statement where she said her resignation relates to the oath she took as an attorney and as commission to uphold the values of the office as well as a strict code of ethics.
Andrade issued a statement to ABC7 Tuesday evening, saying, "I applaud the phenomenal CCHR team for their tireless work. CCHR is a beacon of light that gives hope to all Chicagoans who have experienced the darkness of hate. It offers justice to all who have experienced the humiliation and trauma of discrimination. As the head of the CCHR, but also as a licensed attorney. I took an oath to uphold these values, as well as a strict code of ethics. My resignation is in service of that oath. The CCHR is the civil rights agency for ALL of Chicago. It is my sincere hope that the CCHR and its Board continue to focus on addressing the impact of antisemitism as well as all other forms of discrimination in our city."
The resignation comes after Johnson fired his deputy for public safety last week.