Two Chicago firefighters perished while fighting fires over the past two days. My condolences to their families and first responder families. It is a sad two days in the City of Chicago.
Yesterday was election day. According to various sources, only about 35% of eligible voters voted. That is disgusting. If you did not vote, you are a poor excuse for a human being. You do not deserve to live in Chicago.
Brandon Johnson won the mayoral race. Now he will have to perform. All the campaign bluster is in the past. He is walking into a storm of crises. People expect immediate change. That will be impossible. Johnson has four years to prove himself. That may not be enough time to undo the harm Lori Lightfoot caused.
Chicago is worse off than it was four years ago. Crime is still out of control, contrary to the lies coming from City Hall and the police department. Aside from crime, public transportation, once the shining star in this city, is failing. The trains and buses are filthy, crime is high, and they are not running on time or at all. The budget is a mess, as usual. The business community, both small and large, is still suffering and no longer trusts City Hall.
Lori Lightfoot fought legitimate criticism instead of solving problems. Her combative nature threw gasoline on the fire of failures during her administration. She angered everyone who counts in this city. As one alderman put it, “She managed to piss everyone off.”
No matter what Johnson claimed or promised during the campaign, do not expect him to do it. The job changes people. They realize they cannot keep the promises they made to the various constituencies that put them in office.
The Chicago City Council is showing independence by changing how things are done, taking power away from the mayor. Whoever wins will have to go along to get along if they want their agenda passed.
It is hoped that Lori Lightfoot will assist Brandon Johnson in his transition. He will need all the help he can get. When he is inaugurated in May, he will wear the hat for all the city’s problems. There will be no excuses. He cannot blame Lightfoot or anyone else. He will own all the failures. From day one, he will be the mayor.
Johnson will have to face the barbs of criticism. Hopefully, he will do so with more aplomb than his predecessor. Johnson will need all the help he can get. We owe it to him to see he does not fail. If he fails, we all do. We also owe it to ourselves to criticize him when his ideas conflict with what we want in this city. He claims to represent all of us, so he must listen to all of us.