Mayor Johnson, if you need any more ideas please advise

You can call them coincidences if you wish-I don't believe in such

Under other circumstances, it might be considered pretentious to claim some of the solutions to the problems Mayor Brandon Johnson is facing were first identified in this newsletter. Mr. Mayor, there were news reports on August 15 and 16 that you are looking to engage suburban communities to share the burden of housing asylum-seekers. Two months ago, on May 2, that identical strategy was the topic of that day’s newsletter -

I guess you and your people didn’t see it, but at least you don’t have to labor under the delusion it was an idea birthed in city hall.

Many, if not most city hall observers, know you rode into office with a faulty plan to raise approximately $800,000 in new taxes without raising property tax. It has gone from faulty to failed because neither you or your advisors who have not served in municipal or state government, and lack an abundance of political savvy; thought to quietly vet the idea with the Illinois General Assembly Leadership or the Chicago City Council leadership. The reason to do that was not only to test the viability of your idea but also to see if there was buy-in from those two entities.

So, in what has become the hallmark of the Johnson Administration, the idea was announced, repeated and defended and about six weeks will be put out its misery in the first budget hearing of your term.

Again, Mr. Mayor, this space was used to convey how more than $1.6 billion in new revenue could come your way. I don’t know if you or your people didn’t see that early June newsletter but it explicitly explained where the money could come from; and generating it would be painless.

Those kinds of dollars would not only fund the biggest plank it your campaign platform - reopening mental health centers - there would be even provided to develop one or two new ones.

Politically speaking, that would also endear you to residents who for the time would be spared the burden of no new property taxes; it would also signal to the business community you understand cost-saving. To date, the relationship with Chicago’s business and industry leaders has been tumultuous at best. Stop and consider how much smoother your ride would be by having them on board. It might feel advantageous these first three months to feel as though you can make it without them. The smart thing to do Mr. Mayor is ask yourself what mayor has succeeded without the strong backing, influence and advice from that cohort.

Mayor Johnson do you even listen to yourself?

Mayor Brandon Johnson seems confused about some of the things he’s said

One question for your Mr. Mayor. Has anyone informed you that just about everything you say is recorded for a news story or for opposition research down the road. Yes sir, that is a fact you should be aware of. Given that reality, for future use you might want to being consistent in what you say. Long before the first ballot was cast in the mayoral race, you were on record -repeatedly I might add- about your plan to fire Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwardy. The obvious basis for such a statement was she butted heads with your puppet masters - Chicago Teachers Union.

However, after all the bluster about her, this is what you said after you had one of her minions fire her last week.

“Here’s the last thing I’ll say on this: I don’t believe it’s right to discuss the termination of an employee publicly. Morally, I don’t subscribe to that,” he said.

“I get it. Some people have become accustomed to these combative, adversarial dynamics that play out in the public. I’m not gonna do that because that’s not what the people of Chicago want.”

So, you are telling us it is OK to speak publicly about firing her, but it must be crickets once the deed is done? That doesn’t cross the line of hypocricsy?

In that same interview with The Sun-Times you mentioned something a couple of times about “what the people want” yet you never revealed how you know what the people want. Surely, if you had anything empirical, your administration would have been waving it before us telling the world you are following the will of the people. Maybe the people you are referring to are made up of your appointees, kitchen cabinet, contractors and high school buddies.

In three months in office, the most critical issue in city government has been addressed by your administration. What are you plans for shaving even five percent off the budget deficit? The most grandiose and well-received plans cannot come to fruition if there is no money to pay for them.

I am pretty sure you know there is no municipal government tooth fairy and that when you wake up on the first day of the new fiscal year there is enough money under your pillow to significantly reduce the deficit. If that sounds absurd, think of how absurd it is to proffer plans on new programs or ways of doing things without discussing the budget.