Did voters do Brandon a disservice by electing him?
Be sure to read the guest column that follows this art
From every vantage point, Chicago is a disaster, and the future doesn’t look any brighter. Between the City of Chicago and the Chicago Public Schools, there is a total projected budget deficit of approximately $2 billion- the size of the entire budget of San Diego, CA.
To date, the bulk of the blame has been laid at the doorstep of Mayor Brandon Johnson. Chicago residents who have absolved themselves of any culpability actually should look inward.
Nearly 320,000 voted for a man who never received more than 10 0,00 votes in a brief political life and offered no indication of financial literacy. In fact, he rode into office joking about owing outstanding parking tickets and utility bills.
Somehow though, Chicagoans expected this was the one who would lead the City to fiscal solvency-to successfully manage billions of dollars as well provide direction to thousands of employees. There are 3 million public school teachers in the U.S. Was it fair to select this former teacher to be mayor of the nation’s third largest city? The lowest approval rating of any modern mayor suggests that might be the case. No, it wasn’t fair to him on the citizenry to hoist him to the big chair on the fifth floor.
Unfortunately for residents Johnson strode into office like so many rookie mayors do. And that is believing the office’s power also imbued him with a level of knowledge he didn’t have before taking office. More unfortunately, he surrounded himself with people who wouldn’t tell him the emperor has no clothes.
His minions and much of Chicago adopted the chorus line of “give him a chance.” Six months into his term people were still clamoring to give him a chance. However, to the trained political eye it was obvious Chicago was headed in the wrong direction under Team Johnson.
His lack of input or any input he was getting, resulted in the mayor staying on a path of stagnation that included not addressing the budget deficit; basically, ignoring the business community; downplaying the role of city council; well as charging ahead with an unrealistic revenue plan.
Whatever hope there was for reversing the tumultuous last two years in essence of turning things around walked out the door with John Roberson, chief of staff’s departure this week. Roberson is a city hall savant dating back to the former Mayor Richard M Daley days. He accurately can be described as somewhat of a fixer. His departure leaves a huge hole in Team Johnson’s institutional memory. Roberson is leaving to become the executive vice president of the Obama Foundation.
The Chicago Teachers Union urged the mayor to stay the course as its leaders saw a chance to get nearly everything, they wanted to feather their bed; and Johnson was its man- unilaterally providing additional paternity leave (while rejecting the same for the CPD); signing on to a $1.5 billion four-year contact, and myriad other goodies. The mayor has been at CTU’s beck and call his entire term. Johnson walked into office with golden CTU handcuffs and had no choice but unabashedly do its bidding; after the union poured $3 million into his campaign coffer. Because he has already given the union all it wants; it has no reason to back him in 2027. While he got hugs and kudos from the union; he was drawing the ire of the rest of Chicago.
With two years left in his term, Johnson is starting to do things he should have set in motion in the first couple of months of taking office. He recently called on one of Chicago’s leading financial experts, James Reynolds of Loop Capital, to lead a cohort of business, civic, and community leaders to discover efficiencies in the City’s finances, as well as identify new revenue streams. Then the City doubled down and brought in the accounting firm of Ernst & Young on a $3 million contract to find ways to lessen or eliminate the $1 billion deficit.
These financial problems were long in the making. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot when she was leaving office advised Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson he would be grappling with a budget deficit on Day One. Upon entering office, the Johnson Administration discovered the budget hole was deeper than first believed. Regardless though Johnson chose to ignore the problem by first having no one on his transition team with municipal government acumen; then making a slew of key appointments of individuals with no background in government.
Johnson’s recent steps toward financial corrections should have come early in the first half of his term-not now when it’s being disguised as re-election fodder.
Chicago voters should take a hard look at his record and pass on whatever Johnson has to say. For two years we have witnessed obfuscation in place of clear and direct answers, contentious behavior toward the news media, and a cursory attempt at best to increase revenue.
Johnson favors the double-edged sword of incumbency. Because he’s the incumbent in the 2027 mayoral race he enjoys name recognition, while simultaneously having a record he must defend. His administration needs a 180-degree turn to have a record that will stand up the intense scrutiny and assessments that are sure to come.
The impact of John Roberson
Guest opinion by Brian Bernardoni
John Roberson has been a one-phone-call performer since day one. Honed by his military service and decades of governmental experience, he is an elite government leader
With Roberson, the City of Chicago and its residents maintained their services in all fifty wards despite the political chaos around them. Not just under Mayor Johnson, but Mayor Richard M. Daley relied on Roberson throughout his whole administration.
Experience matters. Think about it. Over the past two turbulent years, there has been no drama regarding the daily services that residents and businesses in Chicago need. “The City that Works” worked. The garbage was picked up. Water came through the pipes. Streets were paved.
That’s because of Roberson and the teams he led.
Maybe that's why the 2024 DNC put Roberson in a critical leadership role with them—and again, it was a seamless execution on the biggest stage of politics. For many observers, the Convention would be a ticking time bomb—not with Roberson at the helm. There was no drama. Visitors not only felt safe but were safe—just competency. It was a complete win for Chicago.
Sadly, the CTA board never understood what the Obama Foundation now has in Roberson. While they clamored for a “transportation expert,” which is ironically what Roberson is in that he was Commissioner of Aviation, Roberson knows how to find and manage talent. You don't have to be the most intelligent person in the room when you are a leader - you have to be the person who gets the best out of a collection of the best and gets them to work as a team for a common goal. That's John Roberson. And to be candid - he is astute in many areas.
While we are all ultimately replaceable, it will take ten accomplished individuals to match Roberson’s output and experience at City Hall. Roberson's departure for one of the most significant legacy projects in Chicago of a generation is a massive loss for the Mayor’s leadership team. Still, the Obama Foundation picked the best person to ensure the Museum's impact on day one.
Congratulations to the Obama Foundation for picking a leader’s leader. John is the right person at the right time for this responsibility. He will not fail.