(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Mayor Brandon Johnson has the "help wanted" sign out at City Hall in the wake of a series of high-profile departures from some key departments in his administration.
And in his first comments since that house-cleaning, the Mayor would not say whether other department heads were next.
Mayor Johnson raised some eyebrows recently when he said that some officials who do not share his vision for Chicago's future would have to go, and within the week, the aviation commissioner, the director of OEMC, and COPA – the police accountability agency – had resigned.
Could more departures be ahead?
“I don't discuss personnel issues. I will just say this is the most important thing. We have rapidly shifted the political trajectory for people in the city who have longed for this type of leadership,” Johnson said.
And he shrugs off the criticisms harkening back to the late Harold Washington, the city's first African American mayor.
“The last time we've seen this type of response to a mayor was 40 years ago. We know that. And so there are individuals who have been stuck in the past who want to maintain the status quo.”
Mayor Johnson says he'll keep investing in people and in parts of the city that had been disinvested.
“I was elected to disrupt the status quo. That's why you are seeing greater investments in public support for housing. You're seeing greater investments in youth employment. As you continue to see violent crime go down in the city of Chicago is because the people of Chicago elected me to invest in people.”
Last week he suggested that people who don't share that vision should go.
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