Involving youth is a cheap political stunt
The budget is the wrong place to introduce youngsters to city government
There is little doubt that Mayor Brandon Johnson sees his idea of involving youngsters ages 13-24 years old in the city’s budget process as an innovative and progressive move. The reality is that creating his so-called budget round table for those in that category at best is a cheap political stunt.
In one breath the mayor is saying the cohort should be comprised of the demographic mentioned above; yet later, it is stated only five students will get the perquisite of attending Lollapaloza. Think about that for a second. Is there even a tenuous association with a music festival and government?
Johnson clearly stated in announcing this red herring that it “allows our young people the opportunity to chart their own path in fulfilling that vision for hope, and become stewards for their own futures and eventual leadership of our city.”
It is typical “Brandonspeak” - pretty words and hollow meaning. He will sit down with the young people and in one week and supposedly that is a enough time to make a thorough assessment of their ideas. Meeting with the mayor is not advancing any sort of government education.
Let’s concede that a 13-year-old understands the structure of municipal government. That doesn’t translate in knowing the most complex part of the operation-the budget-which is what Johnson said he is seeking input on. People elected to city council often have to have prep sessions to understand the budget. Somehow the mayor wants us to believe that kids more interested in gaming can provide thoughts about how the budget should be spent and what it is a budget priority. That is insulting to our intelligence and a major disservice to the young people.
How can they give any meaningful input on that which they don’t understand? When we examine Johnson’s past comments about programs he wants to implement and how they will be financed; it is not clear he fully comprehends the budget process. Yet he wants high school students to chime in. That is a flawed thought process.
It would be more advantageous for everyone if Team Johnson presented a well thought-out plan that would engage young people over an extended period. Being able to intern in certain city departments, or shadow the mayor, or even have small group tutoring sessions on the nuances of city government would be immensely better than what is being offered now. Additionally, there is nothing in the mayor’s announcement about following up with these youngsters to assess how they felt about the process, and what if anything they got out of it.
The administration would do better by trying to fine-tune the youth commission plan developed by Johnson’s predecessor. At least in that scenario, the youngsters were paid and learned about city government, in an environment that wasn’t rushed. Just because Lori Lightfoot did it doesn’t make the idea a bad one.
The mayor’s attempt to get young folks involved in government should be applauded, but not if he sees this as the best way to attain that. If the Johnson Administration was genuine in its purported interest of youngsters having a seat at the table and a voice, this harebrained idea would never have materialized. He has enough people on staff to survey a sizeable group of young people to ask them how would they like to learn about and participate in city government. The Johnson top down approach is becoming an unpleasant trademark of his administration. As a first time mayor, he would serve himself and Chicago better if he would listen and ask first, rather than issue ineffectual directives.
I'm starting to really wonder about Chicago's new mayor...