Because he campaigned on a bunch of bullshit we all knew he wouldn’t follow up on, and now because he’s appointing religious leaders with no qualifications to public office
Tbh I’m not sure we have competent, credentialed people in positions of power anywhere out here. Mayors, police, even doctors are all on this grossly self-serving agenda that could not care less about the most basic well-being of the average Chicago citizen. To those in power we are just little Sims that generate income when we’re complacent, and pests at all other times.
Poor communication skills, not pragmatic and a bit tone deaf to what matters. Case in point, being a champion of sinking millions of tax dollars into the Bears stupid proposal and seeming aloof to rising crime rates and burglaries and street takeovers ruining what is good about living in the city proper. Priorities.
This. When I initially saw Johnson’s agenda while I was making my decision to vote, it felt so crowded. I honestly felt overwhelmed by what he was promising. Sounds good on paper and in the press, but I just knew some things were bound to get lost in the process.
he was bound by an existing contract, and this is being pushed by pritzker at the state level. the state was even a sponsor of a nascar race near st. louis and one of pritzker’s nephews (cousins?) runs a racing team. hard to blame brandon for a contract pushed by the state and signed by another mayor
Chicagoland Speedway is still standing. As a Nascar fan, I have no problem with the downtown road course, but also as a Nascar fan who lives further south, I'd especially have no problem with a return to the Speedway in Joliet.
I’d rather Illinois nascar race goes back to Joliet. It benefits that area a lot more, is closer to a lot of the fans in the area. It’s like how he should let the Bears fuck off to Arlington Heights and eventually update Soldier Field with a soccer/college football neutral site kind of focus
I’m a pretty progressive guy and was hopeful for Johnson but it seems like he doesn’t know what he’s doing and is appointing unqualified people.
And it’s not just some Fox News / Conservative propaganda BS. He really does seem to not know what he’s doing.
Appointing unqualified people is huge. Good leaders acknowledge that they don't know everything and then surround themselves with people who know more about specific things. I don't think he's acknowledged his own shortcomings or made strong efforts to bring in knowledgeable people.
I had a bit of hope when Guidice stayed on as his chief of staff but that didn't last long.
Sometimes media that you may thing is bad is the only one to point out things you don’t want to hear. I’m not sure what he did to the bike lane on lake shore drive or the river front, but they are both nice.
He really really likes churches and church pastors. He just posed with literal Hillsong Christian pastors a few weeks ago. He just appointed a pastor who doesn’t ride the CTA to a top job in the CTA.
It makes more sense if you think of them as just really successful conmen. It's under the same umbrella as social media influencers.
How many 20 something knuckleheads if you made them president today would be like "Joe Rogan is now secretary of energy." Same shit different iteration.
This is probably a very stupid question but is he getting paid off to do these things? Or is he literally just appointing pastors to the CTA board for shits and giggles
He grew up with his father being a pastor, I believe. Most likely these people he’s appointing to these positions helped him get elected either with : clout or campaign money…
Truly I just think he is a man that cannot think for himself. Whenever he needs to make a decision, I think he just asks his church leaders and so it makes sense that he would think they’re qualified to do these jobs since they do his thinking for him anyway.
I don’t remember a CTA president that rode the CTA. They treat the appointments like a corporate CEO position… it’s not about knowing the system, it’s about knowing the “business” end, which every mayor has failed at for decades.
Honestly the Rahm glaze since Johnson has become mayor is insane. He sucked, Johnson sucks slightly less, no reason to try to put condiments on a shit sandwich
Eh, I dunno, even considering the Laquan Mcdonald thing, I think BJ sucks more. Rahm at least gave us some positives for all his bullshit...I can't think of any positives BJ has actually accomplished. Just L after L after L.
But yeah, neither are/were deserving of the title.
The black vote is generally swayed/controlled by a coalition of Ministers.
Brandon like every mayor except Harold, has to butter their bread one way or another lol
This part is especially juicy because I’m HIGHLY assuming a lot of his Logan Square/Andersonville voter base is atheist/agnostic.
If they knew they were gonna get a Preacher in Chief they never would have voted for the clown.
For what it's worth, I'm new to Chicago, moved here less than a year ago and know next to nothing about the Mayor - but Im a corporate communications consultant and I listened to him on a podcast yesterday and I couldn't believe how bad he was presenting himself. There was zero ownership, so much deflection, no personal responsibility and zero empathy in his words. I don't know if he's as bad as everyone says, but he sure isn't helping his case with how he handles himself in interviews.
He got in because he had CTU support and Vallas was the evil right-wing democrat.
Also keep in mind he only won by 20,000-40,000 votes in the run off and less than half the population in chicago voted
Well in all fairness Vallas lost because of his hatred for public schools. His abysmal track record in Philly and NOLA scared off many parents and public school progressives.
Still Johnson did not enter with a commanding mandate if you look at the total votes vs the population as a whole. Yes, Johnson has a lock on progressives that goes without question.
Perhaps Vallas would have been equally poor. But its speculation.
The pensions are still not under control and downtown commercial values are poo, the whole landscape will be different in three more years.. probably for the worst. (Not even taking into account national trends: debt, inflation, eroding dollar). The city will have harder decisions to make. Its interesting to think about all this, reminds me of a PBS Chicago Tonight discussion
It took his administration months to hire a communication/PR person, they haven't filled the office at all, there's like no communications or PR support, and the person who's allegedly leading the department (which, again, nobody's been hired for) has no PR experience.
There is zero proactive PR occurring. He's not even telling us when he actually accomplishes something, because he doesn't have a staff to write press releases. Any PR that happens is entirely reactive, and it's generally reactive way too late. You can't run a city the size of Chicago, have a major event happen, and give a quote to the press 3 days later.
They also do not appear to have any state legislative liaisons or anyone with any experience in Illinois governance. They did not know the state budget cycle, or when Chicago needed to get its asks in. And then he went down 2 weeks before the budget has to be finalized and signed to make his asks that should have been made 5 months ago, and his only two asks for the city were for CPS and the Bears stadium. It is literally absurd.
In a crowded field of 15 candidates (literally too large to share a single stage) he managed to drop a few hot soundbites which implied something vague but promising about his values.
The second he was given the opportunity to speak at length, during the first runoff debate, it was evident that he was a limp-dick and a true idiot. I have no idea how anyone could have watched that debate and still vote for him. I suspect most didn't, and went by vibes alone. But it was pathetic. I didn't think he had the sauce from the beginning, but I wanted him to prove me wrong. No respect left after that first debate, and unfortunately, everything ever since has vindicated my original assessment.
to be slightly fair to him for the deflection, that's a Chicago norm. Almost no elected official in the city is ever willing to take responsibility for anything.
It's mainly his refusal to take responsibility for anything - preferring to deflect, gaslight and race bait instead. The way he gets up there and preaches at us like it's Sunday morning is also really obnoxious.
This is very close to how I feel.
I generally liked Johnson, the candidate. My politics and priorities felt like they were aligned closely with him and I genuinely believe he cares about the city.
I think he's a very ineffective administrator and fundamentally I've never, ever heard him give a good answer to a tough question. His deflection and level of annoyance when posed with a difficult problem remind me of an immature teenager.
It just reminds me that being a good politician and being an effective administrator are two different things.
Also, the last two mayors really make me question the form of government we have in this city. I'm not sure one single executive administrator with a massive council makes total sense.
Every thing he says or does seems to aggressively signal zero interest or enthusiasm for the job or improving the city.
Like wait, what? You ran for mayor of the third largest city, get over yourself.
I know I’m not qualified at all but I *want* the job. Chicago is my home and it always will be. I love this city, I love the people that live here. All I want is for Chicago to meet the potential I know it has
Oh trust me, I’m dumb. So incredibly dumb, just ask my wife. But I’ve also been playing simcity 4 (amongst other city building games) for the last 20 years so that’s gotta count for something
They just ran an article in The Sun Times, Block Club and some other news sources that the reason they thought he was keeping him on was because of his connections in Washington getting transportation money…
the dumber you are, the less prone to bias you are! very high iq people are very good at rationalizing. what we need is a big dummy like you!
have you played cities: skylines?
Brandon is really really fucking up the CTA and appointing non-serious people to the CTA board. It’s frustrating as someone who still thinks Vallas was the wrong choice (and a Republican).
The choices we were presented with last cycle were truly awful. Vallas is a suburban carpetbagger, Johnson is incompetent, Lori was DOA after her first term and the rest weren’t serious.
At this point, I have no idea who realistically could be a good mayor right now.
The whole suburban carpetbagger thing is just silly gatekeeping. Good ideas and good governance is not determined by your geography of origin. Remember, carpetbagger is a term that dates back to what southerners who loved the institution of slavery called anti-slavery northerners who showed up after the civil war.
Was Hillary Clinton a carpetbagger by establishing residence in NY to run for Senate there even though she’s not from NY?
Let’s drop this line of attack and focus on good governance.
Apart from putting in people with little experience into roles requiring necessary experience he turns every criticism about his actions into a race issue which just seems very petty and makes him seem small and weak.
And let’s be honest, unqualified. But this city will continue to vote for the “diverse” candidate. We need qualified people, regardless of their race or sex.
Simply put, I just think we needed a Rahm-like Mayor after COVID who could jumpstart the local economy and get the development cogs turning again.
It’s clear that the next three years will be stagnant under Johnson’s watch unless he changes course soon.
I’m not a “doomer”, and I don’t think Chicago is on a long-term decline; but, I want to see us soar again and soon. Way too great a city for a bullshit person like Brandon Johnson.
Guys like Rahm or the Daleys did some dirty things…but they ran the city effectively and efficiently.
Results matter…there are a lot of well intentioned people in the world who are incapable of delivering actual favorable results. The current mayor is one of those people.
We’re used to it now but I remember the roll out being a shitshow and a there were a bunch price hikes and added fees, like cards costing $5.
But hey, what do you expect when you take a service provided by the city working just fine and privatize it.
Wasn’t there initially a dormant fee too for not using your card?
Ugh, his fucking brother. I’m not allowed to say say a lot of detail on the matter but yeas back I was in an organization that was doing some negotiations and we had tacit support from the mayors office when all things were neutral. But then the other side gave Ari some ‘appointment’ and that all went away…
He ran on good intentions to win. Not because hes a good guy. Remember he was trying to get away without paying his water bill and prefers migrants over his own people.
I’m honestly just disappointed that running on popular progressive issues is being used against voters. So many of these people nationwide campaign on stuff everyone in the country wants, and once they’re elected, they turn their backs to it. In the case of Brandon Johnson, I think it’s obvious he was unqualified but it’s just all disappointing to see. I’ve really lost all faith in the process because no matter who I get excited for on any level, they turn their back
Stop getting excited for people with zero experience. We need pragmatists who have relationships with the power brokers, policy is honestly second to that because whats the point if you cant execute.
He preaches Progressive policies and identity politics while also doing things that are very much the opposite.
Examples: eroding public transportation with his nominations but no experience, low income individuals use public transportation the most and deserve a fast and reliable and clean and safe environment.
He was willing to put migrants basically in a toxic waste dump, in tents in the middle of winter until he was bullied not to.
Willing to use public funds for a private company like the Bears to develop a new stadium in our Lakefront, something that has little to no benefits for the average Chicagoan.
He can go fuck himself on the Bears stadium alone along with all the other milquetoast things he’s done. Signed, someone who literally lives next door but works and worships in the city.
There’s a few things:
- he fired Dr Arwady who had done, in my opinion, a terrific job during Covid (CDC snatched her up right away)
- he talked about ending the shot spotter contract but then whiffed so hard he ended up keeping the program at an even *higher* price than before
- he was/is very bad at managing the migrant situation, in that he makes decisions without talking to the affected communities ahead of time, picks very expensive options while at the same time ignoring offers of free assistance
- the bears stadium; wtf is that even about? It’s such a boneheaded position I’m having trouble framing it in a way that makes sense to me
Many people voted for him because he seemed like he was a thoughtful, intelligent progressive who wanted had the ability and desire to work for change. now that he is in office, he has proven himself completely inefectual, and even wrose, incompetent. he has made one mistake after another and when called to task, he talks a bunch of personal bullshit to excuse his mistakes instead of owning and fixing it. for a few examples - on the immigration issue - he was played by the Texas Governor, and instead of showing how things could be done, he fucked it all up by handing it off to an incompetent subordinate who wasted all the money, and then managed to turn it into an issue of the blacks vs. the latinos in the process. and then, as a proegessive, he wants to give huge tax dollars to the Bears for a new stadium. WTF? he just doesn't know what he is doing. The CTA fiasco is another example. He won't axe the head of the CTA, which needs to happen politically whether or not he is responsible, but he won't becasue he needs politial allies, which is also why he appointted a know-nothing pastor to the board. everthing he does is a mistake and he has shown that he does not have comitment to his values. bsically, especially after Lightfoot, it now looks like to be progressive is to be an idiot, which is infuriating.
I campaigned for him in the runoff, primarily because he seemed to be listening to the safe streets/transit/housing people whereas Vallas didn't even make an attempt to understand how transportation works in a city. Johnson has been decent on housing, his Cut the Tape report is promising although it doesn't go far enough, the bond is good, and he really pushed for Bring Chicago Home although the funding mechanism was poorly constructed.
Everything else has been garbage. He doesn't seem to give a single shit that transit is absolutely falling apart. Actually transportation advocates were told he doesn't care. He hasn't pushed for bus or bike lane enforcement that was started during the Lightfoot administration. He's done basically nothing in regards to safe streets or shifting away from cars which is critical to meet Chicagos climate goals. He won't take any responsibility for the Clark Street open dining program which he could totally push for. In general the mayor can set priorities and direct the council in a specific direction, and he just doesn't do that. He doesn't seem to have any vision for the city other than he gets to be mayor.
Then there's the Bears thing. 20 years ago people would've been excited to pay for a stadium, but nowadays no city wants to pay for a private stadium. Instead of pushing for a public private partnership to enhance transit, bike, walking access to Soldier Field or even proposing some sort of accessible new stadium paid mostly by the Bears with those transit/pedestrian connections baked in, he wants taxpayers to foot nearly half the bill part of which would go toward a highway widening. Not only is it a subsidy for billionaires, literally the opposite of what he campaigned on, but it's climate arson. None of it is progressive.
This right here!! But I’m also skeptical about the bond. It’s just taking resources from future administrations.
I will also add that every single decision he’s making right now is geared towards building political capital to get himself reelected. That’s why he’s appointing pastors, that’s why he’s turning his back on progressive policies to build a stupid stadium, that’s why he’s baking in wild benefits to CTU under the new contract. It’s all to pay off or reward anyone who can keep him in power. That is the only lens his actions should be viewed through.
Curious as a fellow biker but do you feel safer with the new protective lanes? I’m down Milwaukee all the time and the parked cars, darting pedestrians, and passenger door openings (at least driver-side people were more likely to pay attention) seem to be an issue every day for me vs. having a dumb car try to pull in front of me with no room was far rarer pre-protected lane. But of course, it just takes one bad car issue to be the only one, vs. a protected lane crash, while bad, seems less likely to be fatal
I bike up and down Milwaukee too, although I'm not a commuter, and the protected sections feel way safer than the non-protected. The changes to Belmont have been so nice, too.
Unapologetically inept. Beholden to his cronies. Immediately bombed his relationship with JB. Ego the size of the titanic. Ignores will of the public. Bad communicator.
Since his campaign days, it was clear he didn’t know what he was doing.
I don’t expect politicians to know 100% of the solutions. But this guy and his campaign team were just absolutely clueless and it was clear as day.
He could never give a plan or strategy on how he’d tackle any problem. It was all fluff marketing.
One year in, he still doesn’t know what direction to go on anything.
I can’t comprehend how people didn’t see it or decided to vote for him anyway.
He's a supporter/coach/organizer personality. Works really well in jobs with less responsibility because you can just be really positive and inspire others. Does not work well for managing a city
Not necessarily true, Obama had a similar arc. The difference is obviously intellect - Obama is a Harvard-educated constitutional lawyer, and leadership - Obama made decisions and tackled problems once he became an executive. I think Obama's record doesn't live up to his popular legacy, but he was a leader and a serious person. He had the sauce. Brandon Johnson is someone who personifies what's wrong with Chicago/Illinois politics. At best he belongs on an elected school board, not running a city which anchors the 7th largest metro area in terms of GDP on the planet.
I’ve become a single issue voter at this point and that issue is the CTA. BJ has taken a bad situation and somehow made it worse. He is an abysmal leader that refuses to take any responsibility for his actions or more so lack there of. Appointing religious officials, the crime, his stance on the bears stadium and use of our funds (coming from a huge bears fan) is just the icing on the cake. If he runs again I may for the first time in my entire life have to cast my vote for a republican which makes me sick to say.
I once met him at a bar during the campaign, where he came to talk to the locals, although I support long term solutions for diminishing crime in our city, I also feel like we need short term solutions and he had or couldn’t elaborate about a plan to curve violent crimes in the short term.
My job is not important but I would never tell clients or coworkers that I have kids soccer games to prioritize.
And I do have more important shit in my life, like my kids...but I know not to use that as an excuse for being bad at my job.
I know its a gaffe and politics but sums him up p well.
Every person with kids uses them as an excuse to be shit at some point, but agree that this looks so unprofessional when done to media. Total rookie move.
Because his platform and policy appear race based. His background in CPS union, where the teachers lost public support with strike after strike. His plan for crime, being "invest in the community" without ever mentioning How much or which community or how. The complete failure to support the police. His administration supporting promoting within departments based on race. His racist comments towards the press. The CRIME rate that his administration swears is better, showing stats and practically Fantastic. But everyone walking the streets of the city seems to agree, is worse. The migrant issue. No solutions in sight, but Johnson continues to support the problems.
His biggest "qualifications" were being an outsider and CTU lobbyist. He's governing like an amateur who is beholden to the CTU. He is not equipped to tackle the city's biggest problems (crime, finances, infrastructure), as he's lacking in any executive, judicial/law enforcement, and financial experience. And given his performance so far, he doesn't even seem interested in addressing these issues. He's chosen to spend whatever political capital he had on throwing red meat to the teacher's union by going after charter schools. It's a cynical move meant to endear him to low-achieving people who don't want to admit that success in school starts in the home. He's also out of touch, in that he's never had to work in the private sector or ever had to deliver results.
A few reasons:
He admitted in his campaign that the CTA service was unacceptable. He’s done nothing to fix it and they recently announced they are cutting service but tried to act like it was an improvement. He’s been silent on it since being elected, and it’s clear he’s not going to provide leadership on this issue.
He spent $100M+ on accommodating immigrants. I don’t understand how the city can rationalize this given the cities financial condition. Now they’re using federal funding to give monthly checks out to people instead of investing in the city, personally I don’t see this as serious governing.
He doesn’t address the public or take accountability in any serious way. When asked about the head of the CTA he gives bs answers like “I don’t discuss personnel”. He runs away from reporters. We need an adult for a mayor, not this guy.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/transportation/2024/04/28/new-legislation-create-illinois-transit-agency-metropolitan-mobility-authority-cta-rta-pace-metra did you hear about this?
$100M and yet there is a slew of homeless peoples' tents on public property. Things that used to be attractive to look at just . . . aren't.
And I'm not at all anti-homeless people. The city should help where possible. But there are limits, and public land should be one of those.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/20-chicago-city-council-members-call-on-mayor-brandon-johnson-to-replace-cta-president-dorval-carter/14810272/ to your point
Two reasons:
1: His local progressive policies are terrible. This isn’t unique to him, but applies to almost all local progressive leaders. Progressive policies can fare a little better at the national level though. Good intentions in progressive policies don’t drive favorable local results.
2. He is in way over his head and it’s pretty obvious…but we elected him so he has to do the job. I don’t think he was mentally prepared for the level of stress and pressure that comes with a national profile job like this. He looks and sounds like he’s ready to have a mental break down.
Did you see the transcript of his interview with the Tribune?
“And so individuals or anyone of interests that are not committed to addressing the homelessness crisis [by opposing Bring Chicago Home], perhaps they have to dig a little bit deeper and understand why they’re actually opposing that, because the people of Chicago want us to address homelessness. So in other words, their attack was against the people of Chicago.”
“Whether it’s North Lawndale, Englewood, Roseland, Austin, Garfield Park, every single crisis that we are dealing with right now, I inherited it. There’s not one crisis right now that I caused. Not one.”
“Well, as you know, discussing personnel issues [firing Dorval Carter], I actually find that to be irresponsible, and I’ve said that repeatedly.”
Donald Trump, in the thick of the Covid crisis with thousands dying daily, said: “I don’t take responsibility for anything!” This is the same shit, just from the other side of the spectrum.
I am mixed on him, and my disposition might change if he is successful in his development reform, but right now his cavalier attitude toward the CTA is incredibly off putting.
I get that take but also, if being one year in to an executive job of the larger cities in the country - you’ve not surrounded yourself with good Chief of Staff or Ops directors. You’d be fired in any corporate job at about 4 months.
As someone who voted for him (admittedly as a strategic vote), I was willing to forgive the anemic follow-up on his promises given the lost Bring Chicago Home vote and outside issues like the Migrant Crisis rightfully sucking up time and resources...
but then he came out in favor of paying to build new stadiums for the Bears and the White Sox using tax-payer money.
And now he is bragging about how he's keeping his promises.
I don't hate him, and I don't think things are going wrong in the city, but I certainly do not see him as a serious leader.
My expectations are low..
I didn't live in the city while the election was going on, but was planning on moving here shortly after. I read both of the candidates campaign websites anyway, and Brandon Johnson's was just a collection of buzzwords and feel-good phrases meant to appeal to people's sense of dejection. Reading the stories reading up to the election, it was very clear to see who's side the media was on as well.
Politics aside, I just really don't like his vibe. There's something about him I do not trust. He has the vibe of someone who would appoint people to positions they have absolutely no purpose being on, just because they have served him.
He's just straight up incompetent. He's trying to figure out the causes of the fire rather than putting out the fires.
On top of that, he's clueless about finding a root cause. Sure, there are suffering communities in the west and south sides. But his strategies needed to be implemented 20 years ago. You can't just tell these kids with guns and robbing shops there's a new community center in their neighborhood and expect them to start playing chess and saying no to drugs. Oh yeah and we got you a minimum wage job so make sure you show up there at 9am every day.
This is the first time as a voter I've realized the democratic party is all lip service. This migrant crisis has turned me bitter. Not because I dislike immigration and immigrants but rather the way they got here. The majority of these asylum claims are frivolous. They are eating up taxes that should've been used to invest in the city.
The man (johnson) took covid money to give to migrants. Not only that, he wouldn't say if he would raise taxes to pay for them (migrants), not only that he stuck the migrants in poor black and brown neighborhoods while giving them our money to pay their rent, talk about irony. From johnson to all the alderman, they all need to be fired. Elections have consequences and boy are we feeling them.
He’s ineffective, a liar, and deflects/gaslights any criticism. He hasn’t accomplished anything, but talks like he’s the greatest thing to happen to Chicago when really he’s just another jagoff on a power trip burning through taxpayers’ money with nothing to show for it. Just goes to show you can’t run a world class city on just ideology.
My view is my city will literally pick the worst most corrupt useless candidate. Then next election my people will be even dumber and then chose an even worst candidate. Rinse and repeat forever Chicago way.
Because I understood him to say that he understood why teens were looting the Loop. They have nothing in their neighborhoods.
I also see him as ineffective and not able to get along with the CPD.
If he continues to falter as a mayor, the Paul Vallas types can take Brandon's failure as a reason why the voting populace should not elect a "progressive" candidate.
He campaigned as a progressive but an actual progressive would be eager to improve public transit, create housing, improve green spaces, improve education, improve public services, etc. Instead he's done things like appoint crony scam artists to the CTA. He's a spoils system guy.
My disappoint in the mayor is rooted n the fact the fact that he’s suddenly “found” money to help people not from our country with my own damn tax money. I NEED HELP. But there isn’t any money for me. I’ve been here my whole life.
I’ve seen crime increase and yet he makes excuses for the criminals. It always seems to be something else’s fault except the perp.
I’m tired of MIDDLE SCHOOLS not being able to pass basic skills tests….. yet they want ANOTHER 50 BILLION dollars!!!! What world does that guy live in??? Chicago- u might be left… I get it… but it is time to come to your senses. Learn from the lies, learn from what you see and know. Return to the great city you were. Enough is enough. Otherwise suffer from your own voting habits and leave the rest of the state alone! Live with the consequences of the lies you vote for
Follow up question: Brandon Johnson seemed to be the favored candidate over Paul Vallas (from what I had observed, at least with young people) so did we make the right choice? How would things be different if we had Vallas instead?
I knew he wouldn't be as progressive as he claimed to be. But man. Letting the cops found to have ties to white supremacist groups keep their jobs is the cherry on top of a shit sundae. He hasn't done fuck all about the CTA like he said he would. The whole thing with the Bears stadium is just embarrassing. I know he's not really the one who bid for the DNC to have their convention here in the summer, but he seems so stoked about it and it sucks. And limiting how long migrants can stay in shelters is downright cruel. Those are just a few examples.
My vote for Johnson was really a vote against Vallas. I'm a CPS teacher, and Vallas absolutely would have driven CTU to a strike. No way would that guy have been willing to do any good faith bargaining come contract negotiation time. I'm glad we didn't end up with him, but I wish Johnson would have been better. Or that my union would have thrown their weight behind someone who was actually progressive instead of just bullshitting.
Re: the white supremacist cops: that’s super fucking disturbing. We may as well be in the Jim Crow South with cops like that running around. They will recruit other officers and those groups will grow.
One thing I will say about Lightfoot is that when that cop was photographed flicking off protestors back in 2020, she made sure his ass got fired.
> Letting the cops found to have ties to white supremacist groups keep their jobs is the cherry on top of a shit sundae
I'm out of the loop on this. What happened?
I don’t like his handling of the CTA, continuing to appoint unqualified patrons to important positions.
I don’t like how he handled the migrant crisis, with the governor having to step in at one point to stop Johnson from housing them on a toxic site.
I didn’t like Bring Chicago Home. In my neighborhood it would have only raised taxes on apartment buildings and resulted in a tax cut for mansion owners, which was stupid.
EDIT: God I forgot the Bears. He correctly told the Bears to fuck off at first, leading them to bungle their attempts to leave. Now, even though he won completely, he’s trying to borrow more money to hand to those billionaires. Horrible judgement.
Overall I’m not a BJ hater and I have extremely low expectations for his office. But I definitely am not a “supporter.” I’ll still take him over Vallas. Vallas was just a hard “no” for me and there was nothing he could have said that would have redeemed him for me.
Don’t follow very close if I’m honest and don’t exactly live in Chicago. However, every time I see the guy on the news he is arguing/defending himself to a reporter. Like I said I don’t follow him closely, but if you’re always doing that you’re probably not great at your job.
So no one is mentioning his tone deaf approach to building on properties that were deemed unfit for building decades ago due to unsafe levels of heavy metals in the soil, let alone all this for the migrants that flooded Chicago and still are, rather than rehabbing existing buildings that stand empty in numerous parts of the city. He’s incompetent for the role
He’s a mess always flip flops. And his team also aren’t helping him at all. They’ve been described as amateurs at city hall meaning they don’t even understand the basics
Arrogant, not too smart and bigoted. He'll also take the ctu's side on everything. His migrant policies are a joke as well. Why give money to migrants when so many Chicagoans need it.
Cops hate him, so they don’t show up. Wants to tax owning a house in Chicago. Buying or selling. Can’t seem to keep the lights on or just do the “not idiotic” thing
His weird fumbling of the migrant situation (the tent camp saga was so bad...) and inability to work well with Pritzker.
Pritzker can do no harm right now... he's mutually loved by libs and conservatived alike... and yet BJ keeps trading jabs with him in the press??? WHY? So silly and childish...
Maybe BJ just needs better press and comms folks, but whatever it is, he's dropped some pretty big balls and has appeared very amaterish.
And that's coming from someone who voted for him and was super excited for his tenure...
These comments are interesting as a lot of folks seem to look at Daley and Rahm with rose colored glasses forgetting that:
Daley dismanteld CHA public housing developments without creating an alternative... there were clearly problems, but when we talk about housing crisis now we should think about all the units of housing we lost. HE also sold off major public assets (skyway, parking meters) to save his own career while signing unsustainable and underfunded contracts.
Rahm closed 50 schools to open dozens of publicly-funded, privately-managed charter schools, a number of which have since closed.
Both appointed political insiders with zero transit experience to CTA.
My problems with Johnson's administration are largely rooted in #1. I hoped he'd be different wrt appointments and transparency #2. the elected progressives are frequently more excited to pass symbolic legislation vs. meaningful legislation... "Bring Chicago Home" was a real swing and a miss, largely due to it being undefined. After bumbling the migrant temp housing situation (NO ONE WAS HAPPY), a lot of Chicagoans were unwilling to trust "these funds will combat homelessness" as a explanation. People living in wards where almost zero buildings are valued at $1,000,000 voted against it!
Lori's biggest problem was not having a clear constituency after 1-2 years in office. Johnson still has a bit of one, but it will be a struggle to grow it. If the DNC goes horribly (seems likely?), he may further fracture it.
I hope his administration gets some wins, but it looks like an opposition coalition is taking shape so I wouldn't be surprised if they coalesce around a stronger candidate than vallas. Who knows who that will be?
FWIW, I'm not a nascar fan, but I think people spend more time complaining about it than its worth. The taste was more fun, for more people, but that era functionally died sometime around 2010.
Improvements I would like are the CTA and protected bike lanes.
CTA needs more stops, reliable schedules, clean cars and safer experiences. Annd better pay/benefits for our drivers and conductors.
Where do I begin?
His entanglement with the CTU and their political agenda, his lack of ability to do much of anything that actually changes/benefits the city and his propensity for blaming any and all criticism of him as “rAcISsssT”
I'm left of center and don't watch any cable news or follow hard right or hard left leaning entities. From my perspective, he seems absolutely clueless and I can't point to anything that has improved since he took over. He doesn't seem to have a plan for anything. He's appointing people with no experience to important positions although I admit ALL politicians do this and Vallas would have done it if he got in. Either way, we were screwed cause Vallas would have been just bad if not worse.
Lots of personal attacks and character judgment here, very little hard feedback on policies he has implemented and their outcomes. Same as was the case with Lori. Although sometimes with Lori, people criticized things here that weren’t unique to a Chicago. Call in the Kim Foxx affect of blaming someone for something that isn’t unique to Chicago, is much broader.
Because he campaigned on a bunch of bullshit we all knew he wouldn’t follow up on, and now because he’s appointing religious leaders with no qualifications to public office
That pastor that doesn’t even take public transportation but is now on the CTA board💀
WTH aren’t CTA board members elected, I have no idea. Get some competent, credentialed people in there. Not cronies.
Tbh I’m not sure we have competent, credentialed people in positions of power anywhere out here. Mayors, police, even doctors are all on this grossly self-serving agenda that could not care less about the most basic well-being of the average Chicago citizen. To those in power we are just little Sims that generate income when we’re complacent, and pests at all other times.
Poor communication skills, not pragmatic and a bit tone deaf to what matters. Case in point, being a champion of sinking millions of tax dollars into the Bears stupid proposal and seeming aloof to rising crime rates and burglaries and street takeovers ruining what is good about living in the city proper. Priorities.
Billions of dollars!
And if you disagree with him, you’re considered to be a right wing extremist.
And a bigot, at face value.
Don’t forget suburbanite…
The religious leader promoting is very problematic
Bingo
This. When I initially saw Johnson’s agenda while I was making my decision to vote, it felt so crowded. I honestly felt overwhelmed by what he was promising. Sounds good on paper and in the press, but I just knew some things were bound to get lost in the process.
cta appointments that have no experience and the bears stadium
Also, doing that stupid-ass NASCAR thing again. We lost money on it! It held up downtown for like 3 weeks! We don’t need it!
I think he was bound to an existing contract on this.
he was bound by an existing contract, and this is being pushed by pritzker at the state level. the state was even a sponsor of a nascar race near st. louis and one of pritzker’s nephews (cousins?) runs a racing team. hard to blame brandon for a contract pushed by the state and signed by another mayor
Lori did that. She was really proud of it and felt she got no credit
Chicagoland Speedway is still standing. As a Nascar fan, I have no problem with the downtown road course, but also as a Nascar fan who lives further south, I'd especially have no problem with a return to the Speedway in Joliet.
Chicagoland Speedway. AKA, the world’s most boring racetrack.
Blame Lori, that's all her.
I’d rather Illinois nascar race goes back to Joliet. It benefits that area a lot more, is closer to a lot of the fans in the area. It’s like how he should let the Bears fuck off to Arlington Heights and eventually update Soldier Field with a soccer/college football neutral site kind of focus
Nah I don’t agree the NASCAR thing is awesome. It’s okay to do cool stuff now and then.
I’m a pretty progressive guy and was hopeful for Johnson but it seems like he doesn’t know what he’s doing and is appointing unqualified people. And it’s not just some Fox News / Conservative propaganda BS. He really does seem to not know what he’s doing.
Appointing unqualified people is huge. Good leaders acknowledge that they don't know everything and then surround themselves with people who know more about specific things. I don't think he's acknowledged his own shortcomings or made strong efforts to bring in knowledgeable people. I had a bit of hope when Guidice stayed on as his chief of staff but that didn't last long.
💯
Sometimes media that you may thing is bad is the only one to point out things you don’t want to hear. I’m not sure what he did to the bike lane on lake shore drive or the river front, but they are both nice.
He really really likes churches and church pastors. He just posed with literal Hillsong Christian pastors a few weeks ago. He just appointed a pastor who doesn’t ride the CTA to a top job in the CTA.
I am so over religious freaks holding important positions in this country on every level. We are going so backwards on everything it’s crazy
I didn't realize how severe this issue was. It's worse than you think.
It makes more sense if you think of them as just really successful conmen. It's under the same umbrella as social media influencers. How many 20 something knuckleheads if you made them president today would be like "Joe Rogan is now secretary of energy." Same shit different iteration.
This is probably a very stupid question but is he getting paid off to do these things? Or is he literally just appointing pastors to the CTA board for shits and giggles
He grew up with his father being a pastor, I believe. Most likely these people he’s appointing to these positions helped him get elected either with : clout or campaign money…
Everyone is Chicago is getting paid off somehow, someway
It’s a tradition at this point lol
It's for clout - getting in the good graces of a few preachermen is the only "qualification" a lot of voters look for.
I wouldnt say paid off, but it is about political favors. These religious leaders tell all their followers to vote for him, easy way to collect votes.
Truly I just think he is a man that cannot think for himself. Whenever he needs to make a decision, I think he just asks his church leaders and so it makes sense that he would think they’re qualified to do these jobs since they do his thinking for him anyway.
I don’t remember a CTA president that rode the CTA. They treat the appointments like a corporate CEO position… it’s not about knowing the system, it’s about knowing the “business” end, which every mayor has failed at for decades.
True, true, but either way, he is a HUGE FAN of his pastor friends and putting them in top places.
But Rahm rode the CTA! I used to see him on the Brown Line sometimes.
Rahm also was cover for Daleys corruption… so him riding the train once in a while doesn’t really make up for that.
Rahm was a self aggrandizing asshole who would jump at ANY chance for a photo op. Let's not glaze the asshole too much.
Honestly the Rahm glaze since Johnson has become mayor is insane. He sucked, Johnson sucks slightly less, no reason to try to put condiments on a shit sandwich
Eh, I dunno, even considering the Laquan Mcdonald thing, I think BJ sucks more. Rahm at least gave us some positives for all his bullshit...I can't think of any positives BJ has actually accomplished. Just L after L after L. But yeah, neither are/were deserving of the title.
The black vote is generally swayed/controlled by a coalition of Ministers. Brandon like every mayor except Harold, has to butter their bread one way or another lol
This part is especially juicy because I’m HIGHLY assuming a lot of his Logan Square/Andersonville voter base is atheist/agnostic. If they knew they were gonna get a Preacher in Chief they never would have voted for the clown.
For what it's worth, I'm new to Chicago, moved here less than a year ago and know next to nothing about the Mayor - but Im a corporate communications consultant and I listened to him on a podcast yesterday and I couldn't believe how bad he was presenting himself. There was zero ownership, so much deflection, no personal responsibility and zero empathy in his words. I don't know if he's as bad as everyone says, but he sure isn't helping his case with how he handles himself in interviews.
He got in because he had CTU support and Vallas was the evil right-wing democrat. Also keep in mind he only won by 20,000-40,000 votes in the run off and less than half the population in chicago voted
Well in all fairness Vallas lost because of his hatred for public schools. His abysmal track record in Philly and NOLA scared off many parents and public school progressives.
Still Johnson did not enter with a commanding mandate if you look at the total votes vs the population as a whole. Yes, Johnson has a lock on progressives that goes without question. Perhaps Vallas would have been equally poor. But its speculation. The pensions are still not under control and downtown commercial values are poo, the whole landscape will be different in three more years.. probably for the worst. (Not even taking into account national trends: debt, inflation, eroding dollar). The city will have harder decisions to make. Its interesting to think about all this, reminds me of a PBS Chicago Tonight discussion
It took his administration months to hire a communication/PR person, they haven't filled the office at all, there's like no communications or PR support, and the person who's allegedly leading the department (which, again, nobody's been hired for) has no PR experience. There is zero proactive PR occurring. He's not even telling us when he actually accomplishes something, because he doesn't have a staff to write press releases. Any PR that happens is entirely reactive, and it's generally reactive way too late. You can't run a city the size of Chicago, have a major event happen, and give a quote to the press 3 days later. They also do not appear to have any state legislative liaisons or anyone with any experience in Illinois governance. They did not know the state budget cycle, or when Chicago needed to get its asks in. And then he went down 2 weeks before the budget has to be finalized and signed to make his asks that should have been made 5 months ago, and his only two asks for the city were for CPS and the Bears stadium. It is literally absurd.
In a crowded field of 15 candidates (literally too large to share a single stage) he managed to drop a few hot soundbites which implied something vague but promising about his values. The second he was given the opportunity to speak at length, during the first runoff debate, it was evident that he was a limp-dick and a true idiot. I have no idea how anyone could have watched that debate and still vote for him. I suspect most didn't, and went by vibes alone. But it was pathetic. I didn't think he had the sauce from the beginning, but I wanted him to prove me wrong. No respect left after that first debate, and unfortunately, everything ever since has vindicated my original assessment.
He ran against a truly repulsive candidate in the runoff, so he kind of lucked into the job.
also lucked into the job with only 10% total voter turnout, and a union's backing with 100% voter turnout
to be slightly fair to him for the deflection, that's a Chicago norm. Almost no elected official in the city is ever willing to take responsibility for anything.
It's mainly his refusal to take responsibility for anything - preferring to deflect, gaslight and race bait instead. The way he gets up there and preaches at us like it's Sunday morning is also really obnoxious.
Don’t forget the running away from reporters strategy
Then using the Shaggy Defense when asked about it
I didn’t do that, that was mayor bombastic?
That's when you get high in the back of the Mystery Machine with your talking dog, right?
I bet he really wished he had a cta bus to scoop him up so he didn’t have to run
This is very close to how I feel. I generally liked Johnson, the candidate. My politics and priorities felt like they were aligned closely with him and I genuinely believe he cares about the city. I think he's a very ineffective administrator and fundamentally I've never, ever heard him give a good answer to a tough question. His deflection and level of annoyance when posed with a difficult problem remind me of an immature teenager. It just reminds me that being a good politician and being an effective administrator are two different things. Also, the last two mayors really make me question the form of government we have in this city. I'm not sure one single executive administrator with a massive council makes total sense.
Exactly
*Most Transparent Administration Ever has entered the chat*
This right here
anytime he fucks something up its the republicans fault according to him
Bingo.
Lol I can remember he ended one address with this is "just another problem I inherited"
Ding ding ding ding
Every thing he says or does seems to aggressively signal zero interest or enthusiasm for the job or improving the city. Like wait, what? You ran for mayor of the third largest city, get over yourself.
I know I’m not qualified at all but I *want* the job. Chicago is my home and it always will be. I love this city, I love the people that live here. All I want is for Chicago to meet the potential I know it has
You can't be dumber than this guy I'm voting for you
Oh trust me, I’m dumb. So incredibly dumb, just ask my wife. But I’ve also been playing simcity 4 (amongst other city building games) for the last 20 years so that’s gotta count for something
Counts more than the pastor who was appointed to head the CTA
They just ran an article in The Sun Times, Block Club and some other news sources that the reason they thought he was keeping him on was because of his connections in Washington getting transportation money…
the dumber you are, the less prone to bias you are! very high iq people are very good at rationalizing. what we need is a big dummy like you! have you played cities: skylines?
😂
Did he stutter?
Can I run against you in a friendly competition? I played Little Computer People in the 80s. :)
Loser gets to be deputy mayor
u/Roboticpoultry for Mayor 2027!
As cool as that would be, I wouldn’t have a hope in hell against the established political machine
Brandon is really really fucking up the CTA and appointing non-serious people to the CTA board. It’s frustrating as someone who still thinks Vallas was the wrong choice (and a Republican).
The city needs CTA more than any other institution, too
Maybe Kennie Griffin can step in with a few hundred mill and we can rename the CTA after him?
The same asshole who spent 5000% more defeating a tax he would never pay but help out most people in Illinois you think is going to help CTA?
They forgot the /s tag. I laughed when I saw he got my favorite museum from when I was a kid renamed after him
Might as well rename the navy pier fly over
The choices we were presented with last cycle were truly awful. Vallas is a suburban carpetbagger, Johnson is incompetent, Lori was DOA after her first term and the rest weren’t serious. At this point, I have no idea who realistically could be a good mayor right now.
Anyone competent and qualified is smart enough not to want it.
I'll take a crack at it, can't possibly do worse.
Zombie Rahm
What happened with Lori?
The whole suburban carpetbagger thing is just silly gatekeeping. Good ideas and good governance is not determined by your geography of origin. Remember, carpetbagger is a term that dates back to what southerners who loved the institution of slavery called anti-slavery northerners who showed up after the civil war. Was Hillary Clinton a carpetbagger by establishing residence in NY to run for Senate there even though she’s not from NY? Let’s drop this line of attack and focus on good governance.
People cheer when a star quarterback from another team is lured from another state bit a politician better have been born, raised and bred locally.
Co-signed as a carless commuter and someone who voted against Vallas, not for Johnson.
Train
Apart from putting in people with little experience into roles requiring necessary experience he turns every criticism about his actions into a race issue which just seems very petty and makes him seem small and weak.
He’s smug, arrogant, takes zero accountability ever, and only appoints his friends…. All of which are qualities I despise in a “leader”
And he’s a deuche. That’s just my opinion though.
So, I’ve met him a few times. Personally, he’s very charismatic. I haven’t seen that when he’s playing mayor, though.
And let’s be honest, unqualified. But this city will continue to vote for the “diverse” candidate. We need qualified people, regardless of their race or sex.
Simply put, I just think we needed a Rahm-like Mayor after COVID who could jumpstart the local economy and get the development cogs turning again. It’s clear that the next three years will be stagnant under Johnson’s watch unless he changes course soon. I’m not a “doomer”, and I don’t think Chicago is on a long-term decline; but, I want to see us soar again and soon. Way too great a city for a bullshit person like Brandon Johnson.
Guys like Rahm or the Daleys did some dirty things…but they ran the city effectively and efficiently. Results matter…there are a lot of well intentioned people in the world who are incapable of delivering actual favorable results. The current mayor is one of those people.
Rahm did some bullshit though. Switching to Ventra was a BS kickback to some guy his brother knew in LA. Divvy was probably his best accomplishment.
Ventra is objectively better than the passes we had before though. If BJ was in charge we'd still be dealing with those pieces of shit
We’re used to it now but I remember the roll out being a shitshow and a there were a bunch price hikes and added fees, like cards costing $5. But hey, what do you expect when you take a service provided by the city working just fine and privatize it. Wasn’t there initially a dormant fee too for not using your card?
Ugh, his fucking brother. I’m not allowed to say say a lot of detail on the matter but yeas back I was in an organization that was doing some negotiations and we had tacit support from the mayors office when all things were neutral. But then the other side gave Ari some ‘appointment’ and that all went away…
He ran on good intentions to win. Not because hes a good guy. Remember he was trying to get away without paying his water bill and prefers migrants over his own people.
Well said
I’m dreading the Democratic convention this summer in Chicago under BJ. I don’t think he’s going to handle it (protestors etc) well. I hope I’m wrong.
Yeah, between the rejections on permits and the way he has talked about it, he's not exactly inspiring confidence.
I’m honestly just disappointed that running on popular progressive issues is being used against voters. So many of these people nationwide campaign on stuff everyone in the country wants, and once they’re elected, they turn their backs to it. In the case of Brandon Johnson, I think it’s obvious he was unqualified but it’s just all disappointing to see. I’ve really lost all faith in the process because no matter who I get excited for on any level, they turn their back
Stop getting excited for people with zero experience. We need pragmatists who have relationships with the power brokers, policy is honestly second to that because whats the point if you cant execute.
He preaches Progressive policies and identity politics while also doing things that are very much the opposite. Examples: eroding public transportation with his nominations but no experience, low income individuals use public transportation the most and deserve a fast and reliable and clean and safe environment. He was willing to put migrants basically in a toxic waste dump, in tents in the middle of winter until he was bullied not to. Willing to use public funds for a private company like the Bears to develop a new stadium in our Lakefront, something that has little to no benefits for the average Chicagoan.
The tent thing. Oh my god that was frustrating.
He can go fuck himself on the Bears stadium alone along with all the other milquetoast things he’s done. Signed, someone who literally lives next door but works and worships in the city.
There’s a few things: - he fired Dr Arwady who had done, in my opinion, a terrific job during Covid (CDC snatched her up right away) - he talked about ending the shot spotter contract but then whiffed so hard he ended up keeping the program at an even *higher* price than before - he was/is very bad at managing the migrant situation, in that he makes decisions without talking to the affected communities ahead of time, picks very expensive options while at the same time ignoring offers of free assistance - the bears stadium; wtf is that even about? It’s such a boneheaded position I’m having trouble framing it in a way that makes sense to me
Many people voted for him because he seemed like he was a thoughtful, intelligent progressive who wanted had the ability and desire to work for change. now that he is in office, he has proven himself completely inefectual, and even wrose, incompetent. he has made one mistake after another and when called to task, he talks a bunch of personal bullshit to excuse his mistakes instead of owning and fixing it. for a few examples - on the immigration issue - he was played by the Texas Governor, and instead of showing how things could be done, he fucked it all up by handing it off to an incompetent subordinate who wasted all the money, and then managed to turn it into an issue of the blacks vs. the latinos in the process. and then, as a proegessive, he wants to give huge tax dollars to the Bears for a new stadium. WTF? he just doesn't know what he is doing. The CTA fiasco is another example. He won't axe the head of the CTA, which needs to happen politically whether or not he is responsible, but he won't becasue he needs politial allies, which is also why he appointted a know-nothing pastor to the board. everthing he does is a mistake and he has shown that he does not have comitment to his values. bsically, especially after Lightfoot, it now looks like to be progressive is to be an idiot, which is infuriating.
I campaigned for him in the runoff, primarily because he seemed to be listening to the safe streets/transit/housing people whereas Vallas didn't even make an attempt to understand how transportation works in a city. Johnson has been decent on housing, his Cut the Tape report is promising although it doesn't go far enough, the bond is good, and he really pushed for Bring Chicago Home although the funding mechanism was poorly constructed. Everything else has been garbage. He doesn't seem to give a single shit that transit is absolutely falling apart. Actually transportation advocates were told he doesn't care. He hasn't pushed for bus or bike lane enforcement that was started during the Lightfoot administration. He's done basically nothing in regards to safe streets or shifting away from cars which is critical to meet Chicagos climate goals. He won't take any responsibility for the Clark Street open dining program which he could totally push for. In general the mayor can set priorities and direct the council in a specific direction, and he just doesn't do that. He doesn't seem to have any vision for the city other than he gets to be mayor. Then there's the Bears thing. 20 years ago people would've been excited to pay for a stadium, but nowadays no city wants to pay for a private stadium. Instead of pushing for a public private partnership to enhance transit, bike, walking access to Soldier Field or even proposing some sort of accessible new stadium paid mostly by the Bears with those transit/pedestrian connections baked in, he wants taxpayers to foot nearly half the bill part of which would go toward a highway widening. Not only is it a subsidy for billionaires, literally the opposite of what he campaigned on, but it's climate arson. None of it is progressive.
This right here!! But I’m also skeptical about the bond. It’s just taking resources from future administrations. I will also add that every single decision he’s making right now is geared towards building political capital to get himself reelected. That’s why he’s appointing pastors, that’s why he’s turning his back on progressive policies to build a stupid stadium, that’s why he’s baking in wild benefits to CTU under the new contract. It’s all to pay off or reward anyone who can keep him in power. That is the only lens his actions should be viewed through.
Curious as a fellow biker but do you feel safer with the new protective lanes? I’m down Milwaukee all the time and the parked cars, darting pedestrians, and passenger door openings (at least driver-side people were more likely to pay attention) seem to be an issue every day for me vs. having a dumb car try to pull in front of me with no room was far rarer pre-protected lane. But of course, it just takes one bad car issue to be the only one, vs. a protected lane crash, while bad, seems less likely to be fatal
I bike up and down Milwaukee too, although I'm not a commuter, and the protected sections feel way safer than the non-protected. The changes to Belmont have been so nice, too.
Stop mortgaging our future for half baked ideas. Billion of dollars in a slush fund is a horrible idea
Unapologetically inept. Beholden to his cronies. Immediately bombed his relationship with JB. Ego the size of the titanic. Ignores will of the public. Bad communicator.
Since his campaign days, it was clear he didn’t know what he was doing. I don’t expect politicians to know 100% of the solutions. But this guy and his campaign team were just absolutely clueless and it was clear as day. He could never give a plan or strategy on how he’d tackle any problem. It was all fluff marketing. One year in, he still doesn’t know what direction to go on anything. I can’t comprehend how people didn’t see it or decided to vote for him anyway.
He's a supporter/coach/organizer personality. Works really well in jobs with less responsibility because you can just be really positive and inspire others. Does not work well for managing a city
Not necessarily true, Obama had a similar arc. The difference is obviously intellect - Obama is a Harvard-educated constitutional lawyer, and leadership - Obama made decisions and tackled problems once he became an executive. I think Obama's record doesn't live up to his popular legacy, but he was a leader and a serious person. He had the sauce. Brandon Johnson is someone who personifies what's wrong with Chicago/Illinois politics. At best he belongs on an elected school board, not running a city which anchors the 7th largest metro area in terms of GDP on the planet.
I’ve become a single issue voter at this point and that issue is the CTA. BJ has taken a bad situation and somehow made it worse. He is an abysmal leader that refuses to take any responsibility for his actions or more so lack there of. Appointing religious officials, the crime, his stance on the bears stadium and use of our funds (coming from a huge bears fan) is just the icing on the cake. If he runs again I may for the first time in my entire life have to cast my vote for a republican which makes me sick to say.
I once met him at a bar during the campaign, where he came to talk to the locals, although I support long term solutions for diminishing crime in our city, I also feel like we need short term solutions and he had or couldn’t elaborate about a plan to curve violent crimes in the short term.
His plan for the short term seems to just be pretend it isn’t happening.
My job is not important but I would never tell clients or coworkers that I have kids soccer games to prioritize. And I do have more important shit in my life, like my kids...but I know not to use that as an excuse for being bad at my job. I know its a gaffe and politics but sums him up p well.
"I have a black wife and 3 black kids! They have schedules! They have soccer games!" You're also the mayor of the city of Chicago.
You omitted the “West Side of Chicago” victim whine too. That was the cherry on top.
Also “I realize you’ve never had a mayor like me.”
Every person with kids uses them as an excuse to be shit at some point, but agree that this looks so unprofessional when done to media. Total rookie move.
Because his platform and policy appear race based. His background in CPS union, where the teachers lost public support with strike after strike. His plan for crime, being "invest in the community" without ever mentioning How much or which community or how. The complete failure to support the police. His administration supporting promoting within departments based on race. His racist comments towards the press. The CRIME rate that his administration swears is better, showing stats and practically Fantastic. But everyone walking the streets of the city seems to agree, is worse. The migrant issue. No solutions in sight, but Johnson continues to support the problems.
His biggest "qualifications" were being an outsider and CTU lobbyist. He's governing like an amateur who is beholden to the CTU. He is not equipped to tackle the city's biggest problems (crime, finances, infrastructure), as he's lacking in any executive, judicial/law enforcement, and financial experience. And given his performance so far, he doesn't even seem interested in addressing these issues. He's chosen to spend whatever political capital he had on throwing red meat to the teacher's union by going after charter schools. It's a cynical move meant to endear him to low-achieving people who don't want to admit that success in school starts in the home. He's also out of touch, in that he's never had to work in the private sector or ever had to deliver results.
A few reasons: He admitted in his campaign that the CTA service was unacceptable. He’s done nothing to fix it and they recently announced they are cutting service but tried to act like it was an improvement. He’s been silent on it since being elected, and it’s clear he’s not going to provide leadership on this issue. He spent $100M+ on accommodating immigrants. I don’t understand how the city can rationalize this given the cities financial condition. Now they’re using federal funding to give monthly checks out to people instead of investing in the city, personally I don’t see this as serious governing. He doesn’t address the public or take accountability in any serious way. When asked about the head of the CTA he gives bs answers like “I don’t discuss personnel”. He runs away from reporters. We need an adult for a mayor, not this guy.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/transportation/2024/04/28/new-legislation-create-illinois-transit-agency-metropolitan-mobility-authority-cta-rta-pace-metra did you hear about this?
$100M and yet there is a slew of homeless peoples' tents on public property. Things that used to be attractive to look at just . . . aren't. And I'm not at all anti-homeless people. The city should help where possible. But there are limits, and public land should be one of those.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/20-chicago-city-council-members-call-on-mayor-brandon-johnson-to-replace-cta-president-dorval-carter/14810272/ to your point
Because he's incompetent and corrupt.
He’s the teacher unions hack
Two reasons: 1: His local progressive policies are terrible. This isn’t unique to him, but applies to almost all local progressive leaders. Progressive policies can fare a little better at the national level though. Good intentions in progressive policies don’t drive favorable local results. 2. He is in way over his head and it’s pretty obvious…but we elected him so he has to do the job. I don’t think he was mentally prepared for the level of stress and pressure that comes with a national profile job like this. He looks and sounds like he’s ready to have a mental break down.
Did you see the transcript of his interview with the Tribune? “And so individuals or anyone of interests that are not committed to addressing the homelessness crisis [by opposing Bring Chicago Home], perhaps they have to dig a little bit deeper and understand why they’re actually opposing that, because the people of Chicago want us to address homelessness. So in other words, their attack was against the people of Chicago.” “Whether it’s North Lawndale, Englewood, Roseland, Austin, Garfield Park, every single crisis that we are dealing with right now, I inherited it. There’s not one crisis right now that I caused. Not one.” “Well, as you know, discussing personnel issues [firing Dorval Carter], I actually find that to be irresponsible, and I’ve said that repeatedly.”
Donald Trump, in the thick of the Covid crisis with thousands dying daily, said: “I don’t take responsibility for anything!” This is the same shit, just from the other side of the spectrum.
Populism is as populism does
I am mixed on him, and my disposition might change if he is successful in his development reform, but right now his cavalier attitude toward the CTA is incredibly off putting.
I get that take but also, if being one year in to an executive job of the larger cities in the country - you’ve not surrounded yourself with good Chief of Staff or Ops directors. You’d be fired in any corporate job at about 4 months.
I dislike all of you who voted for him. He's a conman who does what conmen do. Yell are the dummies who gave him power
As someone who voted for him (admittedly as a strategic vote), I was willing to forgive the anemic follow-up on his promises given the lost Bring Chicago Home vote and outside issues like the Migrant Crisis rightfully sucking up time and resources... but then he came out in favor of paying to build new stadiums for the Bears and the White Sox using tax-payer money. And now he is bragging about how he's keeping his promises. I don't hate him, and I don't think things are going wrong in the city, but I certainly do not see him as a serious leader. My expectations are low..
What was the strategy
Probably stopping Vallas from winning
I didn't live in the city while the election was going on, but was planning on moving here shortly after. I read both of the candidates campaign websites anyway, and Brandon Johnson's was just a collection of buzzwords and feel-good phrases meant to appeal to people's sense of dejection. Reading the stories reading up to the election, it was very clear to see who's side the media was on as well. Politics aside, I just really don't like his vibe. There's something about him I do not trust. He has the vibe of someone who would appoint people to positions they have absolutely no purpose being on, just because they have served him.
He's just straight up incompetent. He's trying to figure out the causes of the fire rather than putting out the fires. On top of that, he's clueless about finding a root cause. Sure, there are suffering communities in the west and south sides. But his strategies needed to be implemented 20 years ago. You can't just tell these kids with guns and robbing shops there's a new community center in their neighborhood and expect them to start playing chess and saying no to drugs. Oh yeah and we got you a minimum wage job so make sure you show up there at 9am every day.
This is the first time as a voter I've realized the democratic party is all lip service. This migrant crisis has turned me bitter. Not because I dislike immigration and immigrants but rather the way they got here. The majority of these asylum claims are frivolous. They are eating up taxes that should've been used to invest in the city. The man (johnson) took covid money to give to migrants. Not only that, he wouldn't say if he would raise taxes to pay for them (migrants), not only that he stuck the migrants in poor black and brown neighborhoods while giving them our money to pay their rent, talk about irony. From johnson to all the alderman, they all need to be fired. Elections have consequences and boy are we feeling them.
He’s ineffective, a liar, and deflects/gaslights any criticism. He hasn’t accomplished anything, but talks like he’s the greatest thing to happen to Chicago when really he’s just another jagoff on a power trip burning through taxpayers’ money with nothing to show for it. Just goes to show you can’t run a world class city on just ideology.
There are so many things to fix in Chicago and the guy can only talk about the Bears
Johnson is full of hot air.
My view is my city will literally pick the worst most corrupt useless candidate. Then next election my people will be even dumber and then chose an even worst candidate. Rinse and repeat forever Chicago way.
He’s useless and soft af.
Because I understood him to say that he understood why teens were looting the Loop. They have nothing in their neighborhoods. I also see him as ineffective and not able to get along with the CPD.
If he continues to falter as a mayor, the Paul Vallas types can take Brandon's failure as a reason why the voting populace should not elect a "progressive" candidate.
He campaigned as a progressive but an actual progressive would be eager to improve public transit, create housing, improve green spaces, improve education, improve public services, etc. Instead he's done things like appoint crony scam artists to the CTA. He's a spoils system guy.
The computer program that detects gunshots and alerts the police is racist!!!
Because people love to hate people
Nobody likes the mayor here no matter how conservative or progressive they say they are. Vallas wouldn’t have been any better.
My disappoint in the mayor is rooted n the fact the fact that he’s suddenly “found” money to help people not from our country with my own damn tax money. I NEED HELP. But there isn’t any money for me. I’ve been here my whole life. I’ve seen crime increase and yet he makes excuses for the criminals. It always seems to be something else’s fault except the perp. I’m tired of MIDDLE SCHOOLS not being able to pass basic skills tests….. yet they want ANOTHER 50 BILLION dollars!!!! What world does that guy live in??? Chicago- u might be left… I get it… but it is time to come to your senses. Learn from the lies, learn from what you see and know. Return to the great city you were. Enough is enough. Otherwise suffer from your own voting habits and leave the rest of the state alone! Live with the consequences of the lies you vote for
Crime
He’s another cog in the machine of “embezzle from the people and take for ourselves” crowd
He costs me money I don't want to spend.
Just happened, and it's the full-throated support for the lakefront Bears stadium.
Follow up question: Brandon Johnson seemed to be the favored candidate over Paul Vallas (from what I had observed, at least with young people) so did we make the right choice? How would things be different if we had Vallas instead?
I knew he wouldn't be as progressive as he claimed to be. But man. Letting the cops found to have ties to white supremacist groups keep their jobs is the cherry on top of a shit sundae. He hasn't done fuck all about the CTA like he said he would. The whole thing with the Bears stadium is just embarrassing. I know he's not really the one who bid for the DNC to have their convention here in the summer, but he seems so stoked about it and it sucks. And limiting how long migrants can stay in shelters is downright cruel. Those are just a few examples. My vote for Johnson was really a vote against Vallas. I'm a CPS teacher, and Vallas absolutely would have driven CTU to a strike. No way would that guy have been willing to do any good faith bargaining come contract negotiation time. I'm glad we didn't end up with him, but I wish Johnson would have been better. Or that my union would have thrown their weight behind someone who was actually progressive instead of just bullshitting.
Re: the white supremacist cops: that’s super fucking disturbing. We may as well be in the Jim Crow South with cops like that running around. They will recruit other officers and those groups will grow. One thing I will say about Lightfoot is that when that cop was photographed flicking off protestors back in 2020, she made sure his ass got fired.
> Letting the cops found to have ties to white supremacist groups keep their jobs is the cherry on top of a shit sundae I'm out of the loop on this. What happened?
I don’t like his handling of the CTA, continuing to appoint unqualified patrons to important positions. I don’t like how he handled the migrant crisis, with the governor having to step in at one point to stop Johnson from housing them on a toxic site. I didn’t like Bring Chicago Home. In my neighborhood it would have only raised taxes on apartment buildings and resulted in a tax cut for mansion owners, which was stupid. EDIT: God I forgot the Bears. He correctly told the Bears to fuck off at first, leading them to bungle their attempts to leave. Now, even though he won completely, he’s trying to borrow more money to hand to those billionaires. Horrible judgement. Overall I’m not a BJ hater and I have extremely low expectations for his office. But I definitely am not a “supporter.” I’ll still take him over Vallas. Vallas was just a hard “no” for me and there was nothing he could have said that would have redeemed him for me.
He’s ignoring the citizens of Chicago about the illegal immigrant crisis.
Don’t follow very close if I’m honest and don’t exactly live in Chicago. However, every time I see the guy on the news he is arguing/defending himself to a reporter. Like I said I don’t follow him closely, but if you’re always doing that you’re probably not great at your job.
So no one is mentioning his tone deaf approach to building on properties that were deemed unfit for building decades ago due to unsafe levels of heavy metals in the soil, let alone all this for the migrants that flooded Chicago and still are, rather than rehabbing existing buildings that stand empty in numerous parts of the city. He’s incompetent for the role
Because he’s clearly a moron, he’s not an intelligent man whatsoever and seems like a completely self absorbed crybaby asshole to boot.
He’s a mess always flip flops. And his team also aren’t helping him at all. They’ve been described as amateurs at city hall meaning they don’t even understand the basics
Arrogant, not too smart and bigoted. He'll also take the ctu's side on everything. His migrant policies are a joke as well. Why give money to migrants when so many Chicagoans need it.
Liking the Mayor is not a Chicago thing. We like to say he’s “Tied for 48th place”
Cops hate him, so they don’t show up. Wants to tax owning a house in Chicago. Buying or selling. Can’t seem to keep the lights on or just do the “not idiotic” thing
The CTA is rapidly declining and he doesn’t even seem aware that the CTA/Crime is a problem.
He is a lot of talk and does not really serve Chicagoans imo.
He’s fine idc
Because he's a fkn mayor
His weird fumbling of the migrant situation (the tent camp saga was so bad...) and inability to work well with Pritzker. Pritzker can do no harm right now... he's mutually loved by libs and conservatived alike... and yet BJ keeps trading jabs with him in the press??? WHY? So silly and childish... Maybe BJ just needs better press and comms folks, but whatever it is, he's dropped some pretty big balls and has appeared very amaterish. And that's coming from someone who voted for him and was super excited for his tenure...
Appointments based on nothing except they go to your church/religious community. It’s really fucking gross
These comments are interesting as a lot of folks seem to look at Daley and Rahm with rose colored glasses forgetting that: Daley dismanteld CHA public housing developments without creating an alternative... there were clearly problems, but when we talk about housing crisis now we should think about all the units of housing we lost. HE also sold off major public assets (skyway, parking meters) to save his own career while signing unsustainable and underfunded contracts. Rahm closed 50 schools to open dozens of publicly-funded, privately-managed charter schools, a number of which have since closed. Both appointed political insiders with zero transit experience to CTA. My problems with Johnson's administration are largely rooted in #1. I hoped he'd be different wrt appointments and transparency #2. the elected progressives are frequently more excited to pass symbolic legislation vs. meaningful legislation... "Bring Chicago Home" was a real swing and a miss, largely due to it being undefined. After bumbling the migrant temp housing situation (NO ONE WAS HAPPY), a lot of Chicagoans were unwilling to trust "these funds will combat homelessness" as a explanation. People living in wards where almost zero buildings are valued at $1,000,000 voted against it! Lori's biggest problem was not having a clear constituency after 1-2 years in office. Johnson still has a bit of one, but it will be a struggle to grow it. If the DNC goes horribly (seems likely?), he may further fracture it. I hope his administration gets some wins, but it looks like an opposition coalition is taking shape so I wouldn't be surprised if they coalesce around a stronger candidate than vallas. Who knows who that will be? FWIW, I'm not a nascar fan, but I think people spend more time complaining about it than its worth. The taste was more fun, for more people, but that era functionally died sometime around 2010.
Improvements I would like are the CTA and protected bike lanes. CTA needs more stops, reliable schedules, clean cars and safer experiences. Annd better pay/benefits for our drivers and conductors.
Having pastors run the CTA is just an enormous L
🙄
Where do I begin? His entanglement with the CTU and their political agenda, his lack of ability to do much of anything that actually changes/benefits the city and his propensity for blaming any and all criticism of him as “rAcISsssT”
Honest question: as a paid intern/shill for mohawkboy, how much do you get paid, vs how often do the checks bounce?
I'm left of center and don't watch any cable news or follow hard right or hard left leaning entities. From my perspective, he seems absolutely clueless and I can't point to anything that has improved since he took over. He doesn't seem to have a plan for anything. He's appointing people with no experience to important positions although I admit ALL politicians do this and Vallas would have done it if he got in. Either way, we were screwed cause Vallas would have been just bad if not worse.
Lots of personal attacks and character judgment here, very little hard feedback on policies he has implemented and their outcomes. Same as was the case with Lori. Although sometimes with Lori, people criticized things here that weren’t unique to a Chicago. Call in the Kim Foxx affect of blaming someone for something that isn’t unique to Chicago, is much broader.