The 8th Police District is the largest district in Chicago. It covers 23 square miles with a population of 250,000 people and quickly growing. There are only 9 police officers for every 10,000 citizens making the district the worst in the city.
There have been proposals to split the district. A former National Guard building became available. Rep. Angie Guerrero-Cuellar sponsored a law to transfer the building to the city to specifically be used as a police station for $1. The bill passed and was signed by the governor. If the building is not used as a police station, it will revert back to the state.
Mayor Brandon Johnson has other ideas. Johnson proposed an ordinance to use the building for storage, maintenance, and operation of police vehicles. Evidently Johnson believes he has the power to override state law. The districts two alders, 23rd Ward Ald. Silvana Tabares and 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn are not happy. Johnson also claimed, without proof, that the federal government must sign off on the deal.
It is clear that Brandon Johnson does not care about state laws. He believes he is omnipotent above the law and can do whatever he wants. It is also clear that he does not take public safety seriously, contrary to his word soup and salad claims. He is playing his agenda games with public safety and that is a prescription for disaster(s).
Johnson is also playing games with the Chicago Public School System. He wants Chicago School Board President, Pedro Martinez, out, though he has no power to fire him. The Chicago Teachers Union wants Martinez gone. They bought and paid for Johnson, and he is controlled by them when it comes to public education. It is an egregious conflict of interest, as Johnson is also a former organizer- whatever that means- for the union.
Only the Board can fire Martinez, and it must be for just cause. Refusing to do the mayor’s bidding is not just cause. Martinez and the Board refused to take out hundreds of millions of dollars in what are considered payday loans for pension payments. The mayor does not want that money coming out of his budget, which will be facing another huge shortfall.
Johnson seems or chooses to forget he is management. He proverbially sits across the table from the union not on the same side. He has a total lack of management, fiscal, and budgetary skills. All he knows is his agenda. All he gives the citizens in this city are meaningless platitudes. Chicago needs sensible intelligent leadership. It is not getting it from Johnson and his team. Instead, the city is getting a chaotic administration.
Some in the news media claim these continual missteps are self-inflicted. If Johnson was competent, they would be. Johnson is not competent, and his team of political hacks are not competent. Competent leaders pick or keep people who are smarter than they are or who have expertise in the areas they are responsible for. Johnson picks political hacks.