CHICAGO CITY HALL (WBBM Newsradio) -- Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson said the city will avoid a potential government shutdown at the end of the year, because he will allow a budget approved by City Council to go into effect without a veto or a signature.
During a campaign-style rally attended by progressive aldermen and allies outside his office on the Fifth Floor here Tuesday morning, the mayor applauded the initiatives included in the spending plan sponsored by moderate and conservative aldermen, many of which were part of his original budget.
"We secured 98.4% of what we wanted in this budget," said the mayor to applause from supporters. "We have a lot to be proud of and we still have a lot of work to do."
But he also criticized many of the revenue assumptions in the budget which he believed makes it imbalanced, and said the decision to step up collection of unpaid debt can potentially target poor and working-class people.
"It is immoral to send debt collectors after working people and poor people at a time when (President) Donald Trump is attacking poor people," Mayor Johnson said, in a return to a frequent theme of his public comments.
The mayor said his concerns about the budget led him to conclude he could not sign it, but he said a veto could force a shutdown of local government operations starting December 31st, which he said the city could not afford.
As a result, the budget will take effect automatically.
Mayor Johnson said he signed two executive orders he claims will shore up issues with the budget: one setting up new protocol for approving overtime spending by Chicago police, and one spelling out conduct for contractors who try to collect debts owed to the city.
Aldermen who sponsored the approved budget said the mayor's executive orders are not needed, and said they were left confused by his apparently contrary stance on the budget.
"On one hand, he's saying 'I got 98% of what I wanted, on the other hand, he's saying it's immoral and wicked," said Downtown Ald. Bill Conway (34rd Ward) of the mayor's feelings toward the budget. "Either signing it or vetoing it would have said a lot, but instead he chose a third option that showed even less leadership."
The mayor says he and his team are continuing to go through the budget plan, and expect to make more adjustments as the year progresses.