The decisions Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson made during his 41-day transition offer a glimpse into how he seeks to govern Chicago during a generational shift at City Hall: as an unapologetically progressive politician with a practical streak.
Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson takes questions from the news media after meeting with Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday, April 6.
The clearest sign of the mayor-elect’s pragmatic streak was his decision to pick Rich Guidice, the former head of the Office of Emergency Management Communications under Lightfoot and former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, to serve as his chief of staff. That decision won acclaim from many of those who backed Johnson’s defeated rival, Paul Vallas, shortly after they warned Chicago was sure to descend into chaos on the mayor-elect's watch.
Johnson has said he is determined to unite Chicagoans around a “holistic” public safety plan that takes a new approach to the surge of crime and violence that began during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and has yet to fully recede.Many of the leaders of Chicago’s corporations lined up behind Vallas and contributed millions of dollars to his campaign, only to see him lose.
As the head of Office of Emergency Management Communications, Guidice stood alongside Lightfoot as she raised all but one of the bridges into and out of downtown for the first time in modern Chicago history during the unrest triggered by the police murder of George Floyd during the summer of 2020. Guidice will work with John Roberson, tapped by Johnson to serve as the city’s chief operating officer. Roberson held more than a half-dozen positions under former Mayor Richard M. Daley, and went on to work for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Johnson’s close ally.
A former vice president of the Erikson Institute, Pacione-Zayas helped push state lawmakers to increase funding for education before winning a seat in the Illinois Senate and joining the progressive caucus and becoming a reliable supporter of their initiatives. “He’s going to be the mayor for everyone, he is going to invite everyone to the table, the different perspectives, and work collaboratively,” Pacione-Zayas said.
“I understand those demands for change as evidence that the city’s political system has been a disappointment for some time,” Johnson said, acknowledging that many Chicagoans question whether true change is even achievable.Public Safety an Early Focuswho left during Lightfoot’s administration, also joined Johnson’s transition team: Brendan Deenihan, the former chief of detectives, and Robert Boik, the former head of the department’s Office of Constitutional Policing and Reform.
Johnson, a former history teacher at Lincoln Park High School, was Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates’ chief of staff and was on the front lines of the union’s bitter contract fights with Lightfoot. The current teachers’ contract expires in 2024. Whether the City Council continues to assert its independence after Johnson takes office is an open question, even though he has backed an effort to transform it into a legislative body responsible for setting policy for the entire city and not a rubber stamp.
Ald. Jason Ervin , who endorsed Johnson in the runoff after backing Lightfoot, will become chair of the Budget Committee. Including Ramirez Rosa, five Democratic Socialist members of the City Council are set to lead committees starting in May, a massive expansion of their power at City Hall. Under Lightfoot, no members of the Democratic Socialist Caucus served as committee chairs.Ald. Brian Hopkins , a prominent supporter of Vallas, will lead the City Council’s Public Safety Committee.
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