Last week, Mayor Brandon sat down with Weekly Investigations Editor Jim Daley to discuss his first two years in City Hall. This is the complete transcript of that conversation, edited lightly for clarity.
Jim Daley: What achievements in your first two years are you proudest of?
Mayor Johnson: The first thing is that, my top priority is to keep people safe in the city of Chicago, and historically, weāve been challenged with disinvestment that has, I believe, has played a part in violence. And violent crime has gone down significantly this year; we’re already seeing a 22% reduction, and that has a lot to do with the full-force-of-government approach, right? And as we build more affordable homes, Iām very proud of that ā with our $1.25 billion investment for housing and economic development, it’s the largest in the history of Chicago. That is transformative, right?
And, you know, I think that between violent crime going down and investments going up, particularly around affordable housing, it’s not lost on me that the city of Chicago is also responding to our investments in mental and behavioral health. As you may be aware, 40%, I believe, of 911 calls historically have been for mental-health crises. So, now that law enforcement is no longer responsible to show up to those interactions, it has freed law enforcement up to respond to the more violent crime. But we also reopened three mental health clinics.
I’m very proud of the fact that, you know, we’re going to hire up to 29,000 young people for summer jobs. That’s an incredible jump of 45 percent since taking office. So all of that has played a part in driving violence down in the city of Chicago. A lot of work to be done. But I am encouraged by the results that we’ve experienced so far.
Do you take credit for the violence drop? Do you think itās a direct result of the Peopleās Plan for Community Safety and these other initiatives?
I think itās important that we speak in terms of how we work collectively together. Look, I put forth a plan and a vision that didnāt need, necessarily, a bunch of timeā¦but it takes commitment more than anything, and thereās not one approach that I believe has helped us get these results.
Now, here’s the first thing that I did, though. A couple of years ago, when I was sworn in, I brought all of our stakeholders to the table: law enforcement business, the full force of my government, whether that was not just the Mayor’s Office of Community Safety, but all aspects, to begin to think strategically about how we can approach driving violence down.
One of the things that we did, we looked at thirty-five of the most violent beats in Chicago. We saw some similarities within those beats. These are places where schools were closed, where public housing was shuttered, where disinvestment was the prevailing form of governance.
And what my theory was, if we can reduce violence in the most violent sections of the city of Chicago, we could take that citywide. And that is starting to play out. I have a responsibility to bring everyone together to ensure that we’re showing up for the people of Chicago. And as a result of that convening, again, weāre seeing a reduction in robberies. That was a strategy that we put forth a year ago. Weāre taking guns off the street every single day. And we’re also showing up with economic opportunities as well. That all reflects my vision for the city of Chicago, and I’m grateful that that vision has been embraced, and we’re seeing the results of that vision play out as violence continues to go down. That’s the motivation that I believe that the people of Chicago need to get behind more investments in these critical spaces, so that the entire city benefits from that.
When you say itās more about commitment than time, what kind of commitment are you talking about?
Well, as I said, the thirty-five most violent beats, these are not places in the city of Chicago that have historically received attention. [Itās a commitment] to people. So, there has to be a commitment to making sure that we are providing opportunities for people, job opportunities, mental and behavioral health support, building more affordable homes. I mean, simple things like just trimming trees and boarding up abandoned buildings, those steps that require again, DFSS and require Street and Sanitation. And it requires all of us to have a commitment to these neighborhoods, and that’s how I’m leading, is with a commitment to the neighborhoods, and again, doing good responsible government in the most violent beats in Chicago. It gives me confidence, then that we can build it out citywide, and that’s essentially what we’re doing.
With regard to attacking the economic root causes of violence, how can a city undo decades of divestment, centuries of racial capitalism, these sorts of deeply embedded harms in these communities? How do you approach a problem thatās that big?
You donāt approach it in isolation. The public sector has a responsibility. That’s what I have control over. But I also have the responsibility to bring businesses to the table. And many of them have shown up to help us professionalize and grow the industry of community violence intervention workers. And it’s that type of public-private approach that really allows us to tackle these big problems. So when I think about youth employment, it’s not just the government ā and we’re going to do everything on our part to ensure that government does its part ā but it’s not just the government offering up youth employment.
There’s a program that I’m really proud of, though, is the pilot program that we started last year where we hired seventy-five graduating seniors from Chicago Public Schools to participate in a pilot program serving in our Streets and Sanitation department. Of those seventy-five, fifty-five of them stayed on. They’re now card carrying union members making $50,000 a year, and the next three years, they’re going to earn $90,000.
But we also have to build more affordable homes so that those same young people can afford to start a family in the city of Chicago, while also challenging our corporate leaders to invest in youth employment ā but also to think about how we come together collectively to alleviate the burden of taxation on working people. So all of that plays a part. The $1.25 billion investment for Housing and Economic Development, the $830 million for infrastructure. Government has to show up for the people, right, particularly working people, and we’re doing that, but partnering with our business community is something that’s also critical.
So: $11 billion of new investments last year. PSI Quantum is just the big one. 37,000 construction jobs. We’re at $8 billion already this year. Streamlining the process so that it’s easier and more productive to do business with the city of Chicago. All of that plays a part in driving violence down in the city, and it’s working so far, right? But we canāt let up yet, right? We have to ensure that all of our communities are experiencing maximum safety.
But iit’s the full force of policing and affordable homes, policing and youth employment, you know, policing and investing in our public education system, and working in tandem with our business community, that’s how we get at that systemic, structural damage that you’re speaking of that has been around for, unfortunately, way too long in this country.
Speaking of PSI Quantum, the city held a community meeting where there was significant pushback from the community. How are you bringing those voices into the room?
By having community meetings. I mean, we’re listening to people. I understand they’re, you know, some of the concerns that they have and even the trepidation around this. We’re going to do it together. Look, we haven’t had investment on the Southeast Side of Chicago in over thirty years, the first administration to bring that type of investment there, we don’t want the investment to be received with animus, right? You know, we want to ensure that these investments are really about the full development of that entire region that really is going to benefit the entire city of Chicago.
We’re going to continue to have these meetings and listen to the concerns that folks have. And thereās a concerted effort, as I’ve made very clear, something else that I’m very proud of, that I reinstituted the Department of the Environment. And we know the Southeast Side of Chicago historically has been mired in environmental injustice, but we’re changing that, and so listening to the community, listening to the concerns that they have, while also celebrating the fact that we have development on the Southeast Side of Chicago, I believe that both of those experiences can exist in one place, and I’m confident that will drive. economic development and community voices will be a part of that effort.
Both in terms of development and also affordable housing, can you expound a bit on your theory of change?
With regard to attacking the economic root causes of violence, how can a city undo decades of divestment, centuries of racial capitalism, these sorts of deeply embedded harms in these communities? How do you approach a problem thatās that big?
You donāt approach it in isolation. The public sector has a responsibility. That’s what I have control over. But I also have the responsibility to bring businesses to the table. And many of them have shown up to help us professionalize and grow the industry of community violence intervention workers. And it’s that type of public-private approach that really allows us to tackle these big problems. So when I think about youth employment, it’s not just the government ā and we’re going to do everything our part in our part to ensure that government does its part ā but it’s not just the government offering up youth employment.
There’s a program that I’m really proud of, though, is the pilot program that we started last year where we hired seventy-five graduating seniors from Chicago Public Schools to participate in a pilot program serving in our Streets and Sanitation department. Of those seventy-five, fifty-five of them stayed on. They’re now card carrying union members making $50,000 a year, and the next three years, they’re going to earn $90,000.
But we also have to build more affordable homes so that those same young people can afford to start a family in the city of Chicago, while also challenging our corporate leaders to invest in youth employment ā but also to think about how we come together collectively to alleviate the burden of taxation on working people. So all of that plays a part. The $1.25 billion investment for Housing and Economic Development, the $830 million for infrastructure. Government has to show up for the people, right, particularly working people, and we’re doing that, but partnering with our business community is something that’s also critical.
So: $11 billion of new investments last year. PSI Quantum is just the big one. 37,000 construction jobs. We’re at $8 billion already this year. Streamlining the process so that it’s easier and more productive to do business with the city of Chicago. All of that plays a part in driving violence down in the city, and it’s working so far, right? But we canāt let up yet, right? We have to ensure that all of our communities are experiencing maximum safety.
But it’s the full force of policing and affordable homes, policing and youth employment, you know, policing and investing in our public education system, and working in tandem with our business community, that’s how we get at that systemic, structural damage that you’re speaking of that has been around for, unfortunately, way too long in this country.
Your administration negotiated a very fair contract with the CTU, and the schools have a $500 million projected deficit. How are you going to pay for that contract?
Well, we negotiated a couple of contracts; we also negotiated a contract for [SEIU] Local 73; these are our SECA [Special Education Classroom Assistant] workers, our security guards. They received raises as well, and that was important for that local as well. So we did both. We still have to work through the principal’s contract as well.
Look, thereās no secret that we have financial challenges with bodies of government all over the country. We just saw the State of Illinois recently, I think just yesterday, I believe there was an announcement of potentially a $536 million revenue reduction, so they’re looking at potential cuts to services. And I know that the State of Illinois is working hard, just like city government, county government, weāre all working hard to maintain and protect the quality of services.
The Board of Education [is] working with my administration to be able to come up with tools that allow for that potential gap to be settled. It’s going to be critical, particularly because we don’t want to lose the gains that weāve made. There is just clear evidence that, as we reduce class sizes, add more teachersā assistants in our buildings, protect veteran workers, these are all a part of the overall recipe to have fully functioning, well-rounded public schools in our system. It’s not going to be easy, but we’re up for the challenge.
We’ll look at multiple different ways in which we can address it, but it’s really going to require all of us working together. And was the motivation behind the working group that I established through an executive order to help think through how we solve our challenges at the city level, all of it will work in tandem. Look, financial negligence and malfeasance has finally showed up; there’s no more kicking the can down the road. We have to address this in the short and long term. And I’m going to be working with the new leadership at Chicago Public Schools, along with the Board of Education, to come up with ideas and solutions that we can all get behind that don’t require us to withhold or to reduce the investments that we’ve already made.
Speaking of leadership in the Chicago Public Schools, installing your chief of staff as [interim CEO] seems like one of the biggest assertions of control since [Richard M. Daley] got rid of the school board and put Paul Vallas in as CEO. What do you say to people who see it as you ā and by extension the teachers union ā taking control of the schools?
I have not made a decision on the leadership for the Chicago Public Schools just yet. I will, and that person will reflect my values. Look, as the first mayor in the history of Chicago to actually send their children to the public schools, having served as a public school teacher, the benefit of public education ā you know, there’s alignment across the board, with board members, with labor, with the Mayor’s Office, we have not seen that type of triangulation. This is not about one entity having control over the other. This is about all of us working together, and that’s what my commitment is.
We don’t get a teacher’s contract that reflects the values that I have, that I ran on, that people voted for me to carry out ā you don’t get that if you’re working in isolation. So the board members, our labor partners, the Mayor’s Office, the public, all of us have a responsibility in ensuring that every single child across the city has a high quality public education. That is the goal. That’s what we’re going to achieve.
And you know, look, regardless of how people might feel, the most important thing is, even through those feelings, is that that the people of Chicago deserve a mayor who values the people you know in 77 percent-plus of the people of this city, overwhelmingly agree that we need to invest more in our public education system. I share that. People want smaller class sizes; we delivered that. People want to protect our immigrant community; we’ve done that. They want the LGBTQ+ community to be protected, special education students to be protected. That’s what this fight is about. Veteran educators to be protected, and these are overwhelmingly Black women. Where other consternations around our public education system ā say what you want, they certainly did not value the experience that Black women brought to our public education system. I do. And so that’s the effort that I put forward, and my leadership will reflect the hopes and aspirations of the people of Chicago who voted for me to actually transform this school district, and I’m going to do that.
Can we talk about DCASE a little bit: how are you going to ensure the artist community of Chicago is well-resourced, especially in a time of austere budgets?
Look, art is important to me. The preservation of art and culture is important to me. We have an incredible arts and culture apparatus in this city. This is why I was so adamant around pulling people together around how we respond to the budget looming deficit that we have to address. I prioritize investments in the arts. We’re working to make sure that individual artists can be supported and compensated for their work.
This is not something that I get to do by myself. That’s why having the entire community come together as we lay out our priorities, the art community, I’m going to, you know, stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them as we work through the budget. Look, I’m going to present a budget that reflects our values. At the end of the day, the City Council’s responsibility is to vote for that budget, and so itās gonna be a lot of hard work; it’s gonna be some tough decisions that we have to make.
But I do know this, that especially with all the attacks that are coming from the federal government, whenever there’s an oppressive regime that comes in in any time in our world’s history, they usually attack art, culture and history, and so protecting the art, the cultural, the historic vibrancy of our city, that is of most importance for me.
Regarding the budget, what are the top lessons that you learned last year that are informing how you approach your budget this year?
One of the top lessons that I did learn is that holding to your values and principles you know are critical and important. We did not have to cut services and lay people off, and I know that there were those who were pushing for those types of cuts. What I also learned is that it’s not enough just to do good work. You can’t assume that people understand and always know the good work that’s happening. That requires better and more frequent conversations, and that includes our City Council members, and I’m committed to that. People want to be engaged earlier and on a more frequent basis. We’re going to do more of that, and we’re going to do it better.
What regrets do you have from your first two years, and what lessons have you learned?
I do have some lessons that Iāve learned. There are some things that I do regret, and one of those things is ā it’s a lesson that I learned from my father when all of us as siblings confronted him one day and wanted to better understand how he showed up for us. And one thing that my father said that really resonates with me today, he just said, āLook, I work hard. I work double shifts, I tried my best to provide for you, and I thought that that was the best way to communicate how I felt about you. And so regardless of whether or not words were expressed, that my actions, I thought, were loud enough.ā And one of those real tough lessons that I learned is that just because you’re doing good stuff, it doesn’t mean that everybody knows that, or even if they know they may not know what, but they may not know why.
And so one of the things that I do regret is that at the time in which I was standing up government to bring about the transformation that we are experiencing now, bringing all of the different leaders together in the city of Chicago that would help me run this government, the coalition that elected me, I had a responsibility to make sure that that coalition was stood up as well.
And I do regret that you know, even with all of the crises that we experienced, whether it was the torrential rainfall and busses coming in and working to establish and build up, all of the different entities and divisions of government that I also had a responsibility to ensure that the coalition that elected me had all that it needed to help me govern.
And I regret that I didn’t do some of the things that I’m doing now. I should have done it earlier. So, the lakeside chats and the town halls that weāre hosting, and visiting different communities, and the faith community and round tables with business leaders, that I needed to do both, and we’re doing it. It’s a course correction now, and I do regret that in the midst of all of that, of standing up government to respond to community safety and housing, that I needed to ensure that the movement in the coalition that elected me, that that entity or institution in and of itself was affirmed and reassured and knew exactly what was needed in order to help me govern.
For your next two years, what do you most hope to achieve?
Look, I believe that the city of Chicago is well-positioned to be the safest, or one of the safest, most affordable big cities in America And within the next couple of years, weāre going to continue to double down on our work to drive violence down in the city. We’re going to build more affordable homes. We want to continue to expand opportunities for young people. The pilot programā¦for [high school] seniors with [the Department of] Streets and Sanitation, this year is 100, and I hope all 100 take us up on those job offersā¦in the summer. But again, a safe, affordable, well-resourced school district that Iām hopeful that as we are moving in that direction, that weāre able to see the full manifestation of the investments that weāve made so far.
The Pope is a Sox fan. How do you [a Cubs fan] feel about that?
Well, if anybody needed a pope to root for them, itās the White Sox.