CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Mayor Lori Lightfoot shrugged off criticisms that were aired during the passage of her $16.4 billion budget.
After decades of City Council Budget votes that were lopsided, under previous mayors, Lightfoot said she's not upset that her 2023 budget passed with a relatively narrow 32 to 18 vote. She said she doesn’t trade favors for votes and is happy to get at least 26 votes, the bare minimum.
During the budget debate, some City Council members faulted Mayor Lightfoot for allegedly not keeping promises on a Department of the Environment, police recruiting, and funding for homelessness.
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Alderman Tom Tunney, a potential candidate for Mayor, bemoaned what he called a lack of leadership. But afterwards, the Mayor dismissed such talk, pointing to the good things in the budget, and ongoing initiatives, like Invest South/ West.
“We’ve got a body of work over these last few years that put the lie to this notion that somehow we’re not collaborative, somehow we’re not doing the right thing, that’s just nonsense,” Lightfoot said.
She suggested some of her critics are writing fables.
“There’s this narrative out there, ‘oh Lightfoot’s this, Lightfoot’s that, and it should be more compromised, should be more collaboration.’ Well, what do you think we’ve been doing for the last four years? I just don’t sit on the fifth floor and decide to reign over the kingdom of Chicago,” Lightfoot said.
She pointed to a number of initiatives she said prove that she is getting things done like the budget.
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