Mayor Brandon Johnson's first year: Balancing progressivism with public pressure

CHICAGO - From public school teacher to Chicago Teachers Union organizer to Cook County Commissioner. Brandon Johnson the outsider has entrenched himself as Brandon Johnson the mayor. One year ago today, Johnson took the baton from former Mayor Lori Lightfoot – promising the most progressive agenda in Chicago history.

On that day, a packed UIC Arena witnessed Johnson take the oath of office and deliver a rousing address using lofty phrases to describe his vision for a compassionate and inclusive city.

"We can build a better, safer, stronger, Chicago," he said. "We just have to look deep into the soul of Chicago."

The ceremony capped off an unlikely meteoric rise. But Johnson’s vision for "the soul of Chicago," was tested early and often. First, on the migrant crisis inherited from his predecessor. Tens of thousands of asylum seekers had been arriving by bus, many sent by Republican Texas Governor Gregg Abbott in what could be construed as a political gimmick to stick the immigration problem on liberal sanctuary cities.

"What we have is a national and international crisis that local governments are being forced to subsidize," Johnson said on a national appearance for CBS Face the Nation. But Johnson’s own handling of the crisis was called into question.

Many African Americans stood up at community meetings opposing the creation of shelters in their neighborhoods. Migrant advocates were also upset at the conditions in some of those makeshift shelters. Johnson was roundly criticized for allowing plans for a tent encampment in Brighton Park to go forward late last year, despite concerns about ground contamination that could pose a health risk to people living there. Governor J.B. Pritzker stepped in and ultimately nixed the plan.

In December, the death of 5-year-old Jean Carlos Martinez Rivero – who had lived with his family at a troubled shelter in Pilsen – rocked the migrant community. A medical examiner's report later revealed the cause of death to be sepsis, among other illnesses. A WTTW Report found that Johnson was made aware of unsanitary and overcrowded conditions with the spread of communicable disease months before Martinez Rivero died.

The mayor also puzzled Governor Pritzker after reportedly agreeing to a deal to contribute $70 million to a joint state/Cook County/city effort to fund migrants, only to publicly go back on that, before eventually agreeing to the spending after all.

"Unreliability like that is one of the reasons Johnson’s had a difficult time working with Governor Pritzker and voters who have concern about his ability to get things done," says David Greising, President and CEO of the Better Government Association.

On Public Safety, Johnson drew fans across the political spectrum for his selection of longtime Chicago Police insider Larry Snelling to lead the Department, taking over from his oft-criticized predecessor, David Brown.

"It does appear we’re starting to see a more coordinated police effort, one that is more responsible than what happened under Brown," Greising said.

But Johnson publicly disagreed with his top cop over the use of the controversial ShotSpotter gun detection technology. Snelling said he believes it helps police solve crime, Johnson said he believes it rarely leads to arrests and contributes to overpolicing in black and brown communities. Snelling’s commitment to the police consent decree is also up for debate, as the department has failed to speed up its process of complying with reform benchmarks set forth in the agreement.

Johnson has also tried to fight the image that he’s not tough enough on lawbreakers. Early in his tenure, he received criticism for appearing to forcefully call out the behavior of groups of teens that were vandalizing and assaulting residents in the Loop. The perceived ‘soft on crime’ approach was the apparent reason behind the snub he received from the family of fallen Chicago Police Officer Luis Huesca. Huesca’s mother asked Johnson to stay away from Huesca’s funeral because of anger and disagreement over Johnson’s public safety priorities. At a May press conference announcing the arrest of a suspect in Huesca’s killing, Johnson sought to close any perceived distance between he and the police.

"We’re proud to stand by and support the Chicago Police Department," Johnson said.

On education – Johnson has appointed Chicago Public School board members molded in his image as a former CTU organizer, with proposals to de-emphasize top-performing selective enrollment schools in favor of neighborhood schools. But Johnson and CPS have a looming $400 million budget deficit and negotiations on a new teachers contract to contend with, where teachers have opened by asking for 9 percent raises.

On the fiscal front, Johnson kept campaign promises not to raise property taxes, passing a first year budget that closed a relatively small budget gap . But Johnson failed to win enough votes to pass his signature referendum to increase the sales tax on high-end real estate to fund homelessness, dubbed "Bring Chicago Home."

The mayor surprised some onlookers by getting behind the Chicago Bears plans to build a new domed stadium with the help of an estimated $2 billion in public subsidies – a plan that appears to be dead on arrival in Springfield.

Some of Johnson’s most heated moments have come as he’s carried out the important task of chairing each City Council meeting. At a raucous meeting in November, protesters eventually forced Johnson to shut down a public meeting where aldermen were debating a sanctuary city ordinance.

Also in November, Johnson cast the tiebreaking vote to protect top city council ally Ald. Carlos Ramirez Rosa (35th Ward) from a censure sought by some of his colleagues for an incident where he appeared to physically block and bully African American Ald. Emma Mitts. (37th Ward).

Johnson has also clashed with members of the City Hall Press Corps at times, at one contentious press conference, suggesting that he didn’t like the premise of some of their questions.

"He’s still learning what it means to be in the public eye and to be responsive to the very legitimate questions that are being asked of him in this important role in the city," Greising said.

Johnson continues to learn on the job, as he deals with citywide college protests over the war in Gaza while Chicago’s turn on the national stage looms – the weeklong Democratic National Convention in August. The pressure is on Johnson and CPD to ensure the event is safe and that the demonstrations in the streets don’t turn into a scene akin to the riots and clashes of 1968.