Today’s quotable
Friday, Sep 8, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Politico…
Two head-turning moments.
Along with goals to hire more detectives, pass “treatment not trauma” and address the “mental health crisis,” Johnson said he will consider his administration successful “when people are not living in tents.” It probably was a reference to the unhoused, but given a report just a few hours earlier about a plan to build tent cities for asylum seekers, his comment had us wondering.
And get this: Johnson took credit for bringing the 2024 Democratic Convention to Chicago. The decision was announced after his election, though it was well-known to Thursday night’s crowd that for two-plus years Sen. Tammy Duckworth, governor’s chief of staff Anne Caprara, Lightfoot and political consultant Kaitlin Fahey worked to land the 2024 event. If Johnson was being funny, the joke didn’t land with the crowd.
…Adding… Check this out from Block Club Chicago…
Alderpeople will be briefed on the city’s updated plans Friday, said [Ald. Andre Vasquez], who chairs the City Council’s Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights. […]
Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd) told Block Club that although she doesn’t know yet what Johnson’s plan is, she doesn’t think the tents are a permanent solution.
Giving a couple of reporters some insufficient details before briefing alderpeople and stakeholders is not the wisest move I’ve ever seen.
- 17% Solution - Friday, Sep 8, 23 @ 9:58 am:
So maybe his goal is to be successful next year, not this year?
- Jocko - Friday, Sep 8, 23 @ 10:09 am:
Brandon Johnson has yet to learn the meaning of ‘Campaign in poetry, govern in prose’.
Rich Guidice constant refrain should be “Then what?”
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Sep 8, 23 @ 10:11 am:
The best credit is the credit heaped upon you… when earned it and it’s organic. The worst lens for any elected is looking for praise when trying to seem engaged.
I guess I’ll leave it there.
- Gravitas - Friday, Sep 8, 23 @ 10:29 am:
Where will the tent cities be in 2024 so as not to alarm the visiting dignitaries and convention delegates? Before the 1996 Democrat National Convention, Mayor Daley rounded up many of the homeless and relocated them until after the big show was over.
- Rudy’s teeth - Friday, Sep 8, 23 @ 10:34 am:
Again, the teacher with no lesson plans fails to acknowledge the assistance of Sen. Duckworth, Anne Caprara, Lori Lightfoot, and Kaitlin Fahey in securing the Democratic Convention in 2024.
Such a rookie mistake by a union leader indicates more rhetoric from the empty suit Brandon Johnson.
- Tony T - Friday, Sep 8, 23 @ 11:01 am:
Still early, so I don’t wanna leap to any conclusion, but I’m starting to get the feeling that Mayor Johnson might not be all that *into* the job. I mean, he seems to like giving speeches and cutting ribbons and all, but big decisions are being put off and the next time he gives a detailed answer to a question will be the first.
From Washington to Daley to Rahm to Lightfoot, Chicago mayors have traditionally reveled in the details of the job. I dunno, as long as he has good top-level staff, a more hands-off delegator approach might not be a big deal.
- levivotedforjudy - Friday, Sep 8, 23 @ 11:22 am:
Man, he is scrambling to put one in the “W” column. Granted he is out and meeting constituency groups, but he needs more office time to you know - do some planning and executing. I think they call it governing.
- Politix - Friday, Sep 8, 23 @ 12:04 pm:
The fact that Johnson attempted to take credit of the work of four much-more established woman should get more attention.
- Friendly Bob Adams - Friday, Sep 8, 23 @ 12:16 pm:
I think you should give an elected official a year in office before reaching conclusions about his or her effectiveness. So let’s just say that Johnson has yet to make a positive impression.
- Overlooked news - Friday, Sep 8, 23 @ 1:02 pm:
Politico’s coverage earlier this week of a Johnson interview with Ben Joravsky highlighted some pretty remarkable thoughts from the mayor about the Shakman Decrees that probably deserve more attention than they got:
“My effort is to undo a system that has had a lot of rigidity for a very long time…(Shakman) undermined the Black middle class in the city of Chicago. Now, we have to undo a system that an entire generation of liberals said that they wanted, and then they’re asking me to hurry up and fix what they caused.”
Lots to unpack there. I think he’s probably right about political patronage helping to advance the Black middle class in Chicago during the Daley-Dawson machine days. And the attack on White liberal paternalism is fascinating. But the city was released from Shakman oversight at least in-part on the promise that they would maintain non-political hiring practices for rank-and-file city jobs. Is the mayor saying he’s not going to follow that?