Will Johnson serve the public or will he continue to be a marionette?
CTU's beef with Dr. Arwardy is not the public's
No one can really blame Mayor Brandon Johnson if he feels like a captain at sea whose ship is being tossed around by torrent after torrent.
What the mayor can be charged with is being a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chicago Teachers Union; and doing its bidding instead of the general public’s. That position isn’t helping him traverse the govermental waters compared to the political tides the union made smooth for him.
He also can be accused of creating the latest storm that falls in the political and governmental realms simultaneously. Someone apparently told the mayor it was wise to tell the voting public he would fire Dr. Allison Arwardy if elected. Politically, it was a kindergarten move. Prior to the pandemic, it is likely most residents would draw a blank when asked to name the person in that job. There was no reason to single her out at that point other than because of a rift with her and the CTU, and mostly on the union’s part.
If ever there was a silver lining in a dark cloud, it proved to be Arwardy. During the onset and throughout the pandemic, she was the face of the city that repeatedly and ably assured residents local government was addressing the issue in a consistent and effective way. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, in many instances seemed to the defer to the expertise of this health professional, instead of relying on the mayoral pulpit.
In his efforts to demonstrate he is not like his predecessor, Johnson has repeated his intention to relieve Arwardy of her job. That position hit a crescendo this week when the majority of the city’s board of public health members said they are forwarding a letter to the mayor requesting Arwardy continue in her commissioner role. One of Arwardy’s most ardent supporter is Rev. Dr. Horace E. Smith, a physician member of the commission,
Johnson is in the crosshairs of those who see the health commissioner as capable and doing a good job versus his bosses at CTU who railed against Arwardy when she deemed it was safe to bring Chicago Public Schools students back into the classrooms and end hybrid learning. The commissioner’s supporters point to the fact that Arwardy assured Chicagoans that the city’s Black and Brown communities were provided all necessary resources in a timely and ongoing way.
Arwardy, who was appointed by Lightfoot, has stated and sent strong signals she wants to remain commissioner. Johnson has shown no indications he is close to finding a replacement should he follow through on his comments.
This is not the first instance that Johnson acted as though the mayor’s chair endows him with new knowledge on all areas. The former teacher and organizer regularly and proudly hoists those accomplishements as his entire professional career. What makes him think his judgment after less than 90 days on the job is more informed than the nine members of the public health board? He has to be aware that five of those members have public health backgrounds, and one represents a federally funded health center. We are in more trouble than previously thought if he believes his credentials supersede the board’s.
The mayor understandably is still trying to find his footing and continues to opt for public-facing events as opposed to finding support and solutions to the city’s budget mess; along with its gargantuan pension problems. He also is often put on the defense regarding his feeble, at best, outreach to the Chicago business community.
While the Arwardy debacle is of his own doing, Johnson came into office nearly three months ago facing the unprecedented reality that thousands of men, women and children were being delivered here as though they were cargo from Texas, courtesy of that state’s governor Greg Abbott. The scale of the problem and questions on how to resolve it has grown every day. The administration still hasn’t devised a satisfactory resolution according to thousands of citizens, advocacy groups and the migrants themselves. The strong-armed tactics of placing asylum seekers in closed schools and police stations didn’t gain it any support.
In the midst of that storm, the new mayor found himself navigating another one as he needs to name a new superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. A decision on who that person will be is expected this weekend -three finalists-one from Madison, Wis.; and two others from the CPD ranks are up for consideration.
Johnson’s tumultous voyage continued with a strong slap in the face over the revenue generators he promised on the campaign trail. Within the last week, the mayor’s chief operating officer walked back Johnson’s promises about re-opening mental health clinics and a bevy of other social service-focused promises. The aide declared “everything can’t be done all at once.” Between his April 18 election and taking office May 15, there was a rash of commentary that to be fulfilled the mayor would need help from state legislators and the majority of the Chicago City Council.
It’s time for the mayor to echo his chief operating officer’s words and tell Chicago he simply didn’t know all of the governmental rigors his ideas would have to pass through before becoming reality. That should be followed immediately by a realistic timetable for trying to implement some. The step after that is to swallow his pride and admit some sounded great on paper but the financial and political realities mean they can’t happen.
His final step in this process should be a meeting with CTU leadership and reinforce to them what is best for the union is not necessarily best for the millions of others who call Chicago home. Of course, they will be upset their agenda isn’t being rolled out to the fullest; and unless they are resigned to a one-term mayor, they need to accept that.