Frustrated alderpersons planned to hold a special meeting this week to discuss Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Board of Education appointments. The mayor unveiled the new picks Monday, after the entire school board announced last week that it intends to resign at the end of the month rather than step into a fight between Johnson and CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, who has refused to take out a $300 million loan to cover pension obligations and the cost of new teachers union contracts. But none of the board members came to City Council Wednesday, and alderpersons ultimately postponed that hearing to next week. It remains unclear whether the council has the power to haul in the board members for questioning.
The acrimonious battle between the mayor and Martinez stands in stark contrast to the Johnson of the campaign trail, who often parried attacks that he would favor his former employer, the CTU, during contract negotiations with the union.
By Sunday, forty-one of fifty alders, including a majority of the progressive caucus, had signed a statement decrying both the recent instability of the school board and the high-interest loan. The letter also called for a hearing to vet board appointees by the end of the month before the next school board meeting in late October and Chicago’s first school board election on Nov. 5. That election will create a hybrid school board, with ten elected members and eleven chosen by the mayor.
“Taking out a $300 million, high-interest payday loan is not a smart decision when CPS is already facing a massive deficit and the City an almost $1 billion deficit,” the letter stated. “CEO Pedro Martinez and the members of the School Board, who have announced their resignation, understood the reality of that situation by passing a budget that did not include this loan. There is extreme cause for concern now that those voices have been diminished.”
On Monday, Johnson appointed six members to the school board. During a heated news conference that day, the mayor would not allow reporters to ask his appointees, who had joined him onstage, whether they would support the proposed loan.
“We’re not doing that. If you have a question for the mayor of Chicago, you can ask me a question,” Johnson told reporters. “What you are not going to do is litigate what the board has the authority to do once they’re appointed.”
Given the potential conflicts of interest surrounding the CTU’s contract negotiations, alders should be able to ask the board questions, 36th ward Alderperson Gil Villegas said on Wednesday. Villegas plans to probe board members on their vision for the district and their plans around taking on the $300 million loan.
While alders are hoping that the former and current board members will show up to the special hearing next week, some say they’re prepared to subpoena them if necessary.
“If they don’t come to the hearing, then we’ll have to explore what the state statute talks about around subpoena,” Villegas said.
Education Committee Chair Jeanette Taylor (20th Ward) said that she wants both the board members and Martinez at the hearing to discuss the budget. She added a stern warning to board members if they didn’t show up.
“Then we’re going to have a real problem,” Taylor said. “What is the purpose of being the education chair? I don’t know if this is a seat that I will continue to keep.”
But the city’s corporation counsel, Mary Richardson Lowry, told reporters that the City Council has no subpoena rights over Chicago Public Schools, which she characterized as a separate agency from the city.
When asked whether he would urge board members to attend the hearing, Johnson was dismissive of the alders’ pleas.
“They should be able to ask some questions. You know where they should do it? They should do it at CPS board meetings,” Johnson said. “They’re actually a body of government. City council members can actually show up to the democratic space of our public school system and ask them questions.”
Alds. Raymond Lopez (15th Ward) and Silvana Tabares (23rd Ward) used a parliamentary maneuver known as “defer-and-publish” to delay consideration of Johnson’s plan to refinance $1.5 billion in debt obligations until the next City Council meeting. The refinancing could save the city about $100 million, but Lopez raised concerns about reducing associated fees.
Meanwhile, the mayor declined to veto an ordinance attempting to revive the controversial ShotSpotter contract, arguing that the proposal would have been illegal, WBEZ first reported. Last month, the City Council passed an ordinance that would have compelled CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling to renew or sign a new contract for acoustic gunshot technology. The Johnson administration has argued that the move would have violated the separation of powers. Shelving the veto also saved the mayor the potential embarrassment of City Council overriding his decision.
After the meeting, Johnson defended his decision to cancel the ShotSpotter contract and issue a new Request for Information (RFI) for “Law Enforcement Technology” despite saying he wouldn’t hire a new gunshot-detection vendor to replace the controversial company.
“I’m a collaborator; I listen to people. At the time, my position was very clear, it was about shot detection. What I have come to appreciate is that there are other forms of technology that we did not have at that time…where there could be more accurate data.” He added that technology does play “a small part” in his trademark People’s Plan for Community Safety.
Alders also canceled another special meeting to consider a separate ordinance that would require the executive director of the Public Safety Administration to renew or enter into a new contract for the technology. That didn’t stop some alders from expressing their frustration over the scuttled ShotSpotter contract. Alderperson Anthony Beale (9th Ward) retaliated against the mayor by sending several ordinances to the Rules Committee, a procedural move that delays legislation.
“You think I like it? You think I like deferring this stuff?” Beale said. “But you know what I don’t like? Canceling ShotSpotter when people are dying on the damn street.”
Leigh Giangreco is a freelance reporter based in Chicago. You can follow her work on Twitter @LeighGiangreco and at leighgiangreco.com.
