CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Next week will mark one year since Mayor Brandon Johnson was sworn into office. This week, he spoke with WBBM about how his progressive agenda has fared.
Johnson said his $1.25 billion borrowing plan — which was approved by city council in April — embodies some of the major progressive goals of his administration, and he's proud of that.
"I've said from the very beginning that we have to invest in people, and we've done that," he said. "What that has looked like, besides the bond deal, again, a quarter of a billion dollars into the unhoused, $100 million for violence prevention."
Crime rates, he added, are going down, but he also acknowledged that some progressives on the city council look at the failure of the Bring Chicago Home referendum and the proposed stadium deal with the Chicago Bears as evidence that his administration is going astray.
"When I wake up in the morning, if someone isn't mad at me, it probably means I'm no longer the mayor of Chicago," he said. "I understand that level of urgency to move with expediency."
Johnson calls his anti-violence initiatives the People's Plan for Community Safety. His words and actions suggest "people" and "community" are the most important words.
His administration has invited proposals from community based groups seeking funding for their public safety work.
"A lot of what we have done has been centering around engaging the community," Johnson said. "There's not one single thing that will ultimately create the safest environment. It's not policing alone. It has to be tethered to are commitment to creating jobs and opportunity for people."
The mayor said economic development in previously disinvested communities is one key to quelling violence.
If some reporters sometimes seemed frustrated with Brandon Johnson's earlier and infrequent news conferences and occasionally vague answers, the mayor expresses some frustration with the media.
He said both he and those who cover him have a desire to get the stories right. But, he said he wishes the media could appreciate his perspective as someone who did not come to this stage via traditional party politics.
"You're talking about a public school teacher who was an organizer who had no political ties to any type of machine or business operation…That expression of love is something that I would like to see that projected more," Johnson said.
For the record, he is talking with reporters a bit more frequently now, and gives more focused responses.
Johnson said there's a lot more work to do over the next three years but expressed hope that leaders will be able to build off a foundation laid in his first year in office. That foundation, he said, was about "creating real economic stability within our communities while also addressing root causes of trauma in this city."
The mayor added that he's giving voice to people who haven't been listened to before.
"There is a much bigger table on the fifth floor now," he said. "There are people who have access to me and to the office that have never had access before. That's a win for the people of Chicago."
You can listen live to Craig Dellimore's full interview with Mayor Johnson this Sunday, May 12, on At Issue, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
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