Mayor Brandon Johnson unveils transition report to “transform” Chicago

Mayor Brandon Johnson on Thursday released a 223-page transition report that will serve as his road map over the next four years and a measuring stick for his critics if he gets lost along the way.

The title of the report is as lofty as the soaring rhetoric that comes from the preacher’s son now occupying the mayor’s office on the fifth floor of City Hall. It’s called, “Building Bridges and Growing the Soul of Chicago: A Blueprint for Creating a more Just and Vibrant City for All.”

Johnson accepted the report — with a “deep appreciation for the nearly 400 Chicagoans who served on eleven transition committees” — before a cheering cast of hundreds at the Greater Harvest Baptist Church, 5141 S. State St. He called the encyclopedic document the product of a “wealth of diverse perspectives and views” and a “foundation for how we will lead our city well into the future.”

“There are individuals, of course, that work hard to try to divide us. But clearly, the city of Chicago is not gonna stand for the division that is being promulgated all over the country. We are standing on the sands on righteousness and justice, and that requires all of us to come together for this moment because this blueprint represents the platform that I ran on,” the mayor said.

“It’s also a representation of how we will govern. It represents democracy where everyone literally has a seat at the table — no matter your community, how rich or how poor you are,” he said. “It also represents patience and perseverance, an openness to collaborate and critique. That’s not easy. But we have proven otherwise — that there’s not a task too big for the city of Chicago to face head-on. We don’t flinch under pressure. We take it straight on. And we’re gonna make sure that this city lives up to its promises.”

The report offers no recommendations on the new taxes Johnson says he needs to deliver Chicago from violent crime.

But it is loaded with ambitious and politically explosive ideas, including creating a public bank to spark development in predominantly Black and Brown neighborhoods; creating an Office of Freedom Bureau to handle reparations; pressing vacant and neglected buildings into service for crime victims; creating a guaranteed college fund for babies born in Chicago and mandating municipal snow removal on Chicago sidewalks.

Most mayors release their transition reports before taking office. Johnson released his blueprint nearly two months after his inauguration — with no apologies for the timing.

“For those who are asking why it took so long, I don’t think it needs an explanation. But it’s because the people of Chicago are worth the time, the effort and the deliberation to finally get it right. We have to get it right for no one else, but for our young people. And this platform speaks explicitly about how we invest in young people and we get to defend our young people and always have their backs,” the mayor said.

‘Did not reach consensus’ on taxes

The report is divided into 11 topic areas with “near- and long-term recommendations” for each. They include Arts & Culture; Economic Vitality & Equity; Education; Environmental Justice; Health & Human Services; Housing; Human Rights, Equity & Inclusion; Immigration; Public Safety; Transportation; and Workers’ Rights & Labor.

Johnson campaigned on a promise to impose $800 million worth of new and increased taxes and fees to bankroll $1 billion worth of “investments in people” that form the cornerstone of his anti-violence strategy.

But the Economic Vitality & Equity Report makes no specific recommendations on how the new mayor should proceed. It’s silent or whether he should forge ahead with reviving the $4-a-month employee head tax business leaders fought long and hard to eliminate, or raise Chicago’s hotel tax, or impose a financial transaction tax on exchanges that have threatened to leave if he does.

“We discussed specifics of the mayor’s tax policy and tax incentives for corporations, but did not reach consensus. Ultimately, we reached agreement that the mayor should work to grow the tax base and reduce reliance on property taxes,” the report states.

It also recommends that the city explore the possibility of issuing “social impact bonds” and creating a public bank to address lack of capital in Black and Brown neighborhoods; establish a Department of Neighborhood Equity and Repair and use the Public Building Commission to “advance more municipal developments beyond libraries and firehouses” such as “municipal markets that sell food” in disproportionately impacted communities.

There’s even talk of using the City Council’s Subcommittee on Reparations to “convene representative communities to create an Office of Freedom Bureau modeled after California’s” reparations plan and of retaining a portion of pension fund assets invested in Chicago real estate development “with a mandate to hire local resident from underserved communities.”

The city should “continue to assess and refine strategic investments before expanding the Invest South/West” initiative that was former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s pride and joy, the report states.

Public safety includes scrapping ShotSpotter, gang database

The public safety section of the report reinforces Johnson’s promise to eliminate the Chicago Police Department’s error-filled gang database and cancel the ShotSpotter contract — presumably after the $10 million extension of the controversial gunshot-detection software that he inadvertently authorized. That came when Procurement Services Commissioner Aileen Velasquez, a holdover from the Lightfoot administration, applied Johnson’s electronic signature without his knowledge.

The report also recommends hiring 50 detectives every quarter and conducting a workforce allocation study that develops a mathematical model for assigning officers after analyzing 911 calls and considering staffing requirements to speed compliance with a federal consent decree and identifying “opportunities for alternate civilian response that could relieve demands for police time and resources.”

The public safety section also recommends that the new superintendent develop “aggressive goals around shooting and homicide reduction” and that police supervisors “randomly review body cam footage” and other sources of video to evaluate community interactions.

It calls for Johnson to “end the practice of using arrests, stops, ticket citations and positive community interactions or investigatory stop reports to evaluate officer productivity.”

The practice was highlighted last week in the latest in a series of lawsuits filed by the ACLU of Illinois.

Shuttered and neglected buildings should be turned into “safe havens for survivors of violence,” the report states. Shuttered mental health clinics should be reopened and offer expanded access to trauma and mental health care, and “24-hour walk-in service” should be offered at the city’s three remaining mental health clinics until that happens, according to the report.

“Many people who commit violence are survivors of it. We offer strategies to help people in communities heal in the aftermath and build back stronger,” said public safety chair Kathryn Bocanegra.

CTA chief thrown under the bus?

There are tons of other politically explosive recommendations, including creating a guaranteed college fund for babies born in Chicago; offering housing incentives to lure graduates of historically Black colleges and universities to start their careers in Chicago; permanently removing statues of Christopher Columbus and “other monuments that reinforce white supremacy and stereotypes” of Native Americans; and launching yet another study to consider a municipal takeover of the now-expired electricity franchise held by Commonwealth Edison.

Embattled CTA President Dorval Carter Jr. might want to dust off his resume after reading the public transportation section.

It talks about “appointing CTA leadership ... committed to the administration’s policy priorities”; enhancing security on buses, trains and at stations with new programs and personnel, such as transit ambassadors; and making CTA leadership “more transparent and accountable” by establishing a “regular cadence of reports” to a City Council that Carter spent months ignoring. 

It also talks about mandating municipal snow removal on Chicago sidewalks; lowering the default citywide speed limit to 20 mph generally and 10 mph on residential streets; prioritizing development of a “citywide network of bus rapid transit lanes”; and enhancing CTA service outside rush hour to make the system more useful throughout the day, particularly for overnight shift workers. 

Meeting CPS students’ ‘academic, social and emotional needs’

The education section delivers for a mayor who is a former teacher-turned-paid organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union.

It recommends a “trauma-informed standard of care” that meets the “academic, social and emotional needs of students by default — not exception” with crisis intervention specialists in every school.

It talks about “expanding sustainable community schools” and about using “student- and school-level data to intervene with support — not punitively.”

It suggests using the Boston model to develop housing for unhoused students; creating a permanent youth commission; offering vocational trades at all schools as early as middle-school; bolstering certificate offerings; and about giving “full scholarships to local universities to CPS grads seeking to become teachers.”

Still more education goals call for developing curricula that “incorporates the history of struggles for justice in Chicago to lift up the work of [the late community activists] Rudy Lozano and Marion Stamps; diminishing contracts related to high-stakes testing” and identifying “progressive revenues like the cannabis tax and infrastructure dollars” after federal stimulus funds run out.

Transition co-chair Barbara Ransby said she was “excited and honored” to unveil a report produced by “400 strangers” who believe “we can transform this city into a place that is great for everyone who lives here — no matter their ZIP code, skin color, income, gender, immigration status, sexual orientation or incarceration status or ability.”

She highlighted two concepts in particular: “intersectionality and co-governance.”

Intersectionality means that “no neighborhood gets abandoned. No group gets left behind. No voices get silenced,” Ransby said.“We want to bring those who’ve been marginalized to the center. We want those who have been in the outside rooms where decisions were made to have a seat at the table.”

Co-governance, she said, means “front-line communities impacted by all of the issues outlined in the report become not only thought partners for elected officials, but co-decision-makers in mapping the way forward.”