It's time for Johnson to stop playing hero

Traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border was a good idea, until it wasn't

Initially the notion of Mayor Brandon Johnson traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border was a good idea, but not for any that were expressed by the mayor or Team Johnson. It was a good idea because it was becoming increasingly obvious the first-term mayor was starting to unravel. That was overtly evident as he snapped at news reporters and gave snarky answers at some innouous questions-questions that would have been asked of any mayor in Johnson’s situtation. However, Johnson seemed to take them personally - launching into a brief tirade about being a Black husband and father.

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Then, two weeks ago the mayor told reporters after a news conference that he was going to the U.S.-Mexico border to assess the situation first-hand. It was an odd statement as the conditions driving the men, women and children from Central America and Venezuevla originated in those countrries, not at the border.

Maybe the mayor felt his hand was forced as his counterpart 800 miles away, Mayor Eric Adams of New York City, only a week earlier said he was traveling to those countries, in part with an appeal to explain to would-be asylum-seekers how brutal New York winters can be, and how uncomfortable those South Americans would be. Adams’ message to them was stay put.

Just this week Johnson did an about face and said he would not be traveling to the border. His feeble explanation was the heightening of the migrant issue here. He didn’t say he was implementing a plan that he had to oversee, or anyting else that mandated his presence in Chicago.

His reversal likely stems from the reality that he realized his goof and concluded there was nothing he could do at the border. It is also possible it occured to him, unless he wanted to, he would never be out of touch with his people, wherever he was.

At best it would a chance for some footage for the Johnson Family video archives.

Johnson wants Chicagoans to do more composting

It is unfortunate he won’t make the trip. Had he elected to travel he would have had some time to reflect on his short tenure and hopefully come to the realization that he doesn’t have to play hero all the time. That self-reflection might help him see delegating could help him get a lot more done. That practice might also reduce the number of tertiary plans he proffers.

In the midst of a migrant and budget crisis, why would he spend any brain cells to introduce the notion of a city-owned grocery store? With those major issues at hand, announcing a city-wide composting initiative seems out of place. It certainly didn’t get the attention it deserved. Yet, here is another example of Hero Johnson-championing causes that could have been handled by any of his slew of deputies and other underlings.

About one month into his term, Johnson announced that 2t7h Ward Alderperson Walter Burnett would be the vice mayor. Part of the responsibilities of that role, supposedly, is to represent Johnson at various community events. Burnett apparently decided to fly under the radar until very recently when he suggested during a forum that some of the dollars being spent on migrants should be directed to services and programs for men and women being released from prison and returning to Chicago.

Maybe the two men worked out something beforehand, however; it was a horrible look for a mayoral appointee contradicting what his boss has been advocating for since day one.

Johnson can’t seem to let even a scintilia of an idea of a new policy or new product slide by without pouncing on it and championing it as his own-giving us the hero mayor. Chicago now needs problem-solving far more than whatever this mayor is giving residents.