Chicago Politics

Update From City Hall 7.16.25

Chapters

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Mayor Johnson hosts a media availability.

Transcript

0:02 Thank you.

0:47 Thank you for being patient.

1:47 I know it's been a very long day, But I do appreciate you all being here. First, I want to acknowledge our vice mayor, Vice Mayor Burnett, for his leadership and his service to our city. I personally could not have asked for a better partner, a friend than our vice mayor. When you talk about someone who fights for affordable housing and you talk about someone who knows how to build, When you talk about someone who always puts the needs of their community first,

2:20 you're talking about Vice Mayor Walter Burnett. He has been on the front lines for decades advocating for the people of Chicago, and he will be missed, his voice as well as his personality in city council. Today, though, we were also able to do something that has been in the works for a very long time. We introduced the Anjanette Young ordinance with Alderwoman Haddon. This is a critical step towards making sure that what happened to Ms. Anjanette Young never happens again.

2:55 Through meeting with Ms. Young and advocates around this issue, we found that the vast majority of incidents are really around the knock and announce warrants. So we are putting some reforms as well as some guardrails around those to ensure the civil rights of all Chicagoans. This is certainly a new era of crime reduction in Chicago. And we are reducing violence in our city while upholding the value of constitutional policing. That's more than a slogan.

3:25 That's a commitment to rebuilding trust between law enforcement and all of our residents. That trust makes solving crimes easier, which makes our city safer. And that's why this ordinance is so critical. And we will work with our allies and council to finally pass this piece of legislation. In today's city council meeting, we took several steps to build the safest, most affordable big city in America. First, we passed the parking requirements reform ordinance to reduce construction costs for new housing development.

4:00 Chicago has a shortage of at least 100,000 housing units, and we need to grow our city's housing supply. And that is why my administration launched our Cut the Tape initiative to make it easier to build in Chicago and to spear the development, and particularly development of housing. The reforms passed today are a crucial step in this journey that will allow developers to more easily and efficiently build housing and to make our city more affordable for everyone.

4:32 Our proposed additional dwelling unit ordinance was deferred today, but my administration is looking forward to passing this measure in our next City Council meeting. ADUs would provide residents with more housing options, flexibility, and affordability. Passing this ordinance will be yet another crucial step in our cut-the-tape journey. I look forward to continued negotiations to get this done for the people of Chicago. Finally, I want to congratulate Mike Belsky, who was confirmed as our city's comptroller.

5:06 Michael has decades of experience in public finance, and he will be critical to building a more affordable city for the working people of Chicago. Thank you, Michael, for stepping into this role, especially in the crossroads that we are experiencing right now with our city's finances. I look forward to working with you to maintain our values of investing in our communities while building a resilient city for posterity. And so with that, thank you for being here, and I'm happy to answer any of your questions.

5:36 Okay, so we have time for one question each. We're going to do the TVs first, so we'll start with Mr. Craig. Good afternoon, Mayor. Good afternoon. Longest city council meeting I think I've ever experienced. Probably you have as well. I wanted to jump off topic right away, if I could. As you probably know, Susanna Mendoza, now she wasn't running for comptroller again, but was hedging on running for mayor in 2027. But she had some very critical comments about you, and I'm quoting here. She said, the state of Illinois cannot be successful when the city of Chicago is failing.

6:07 I think that Chicago is in dire need of competency, someone who understands the needs of the city. She said, I think we've had two very unsuccessful mayors in a row. Chicagoans deserve better. I wanted to give you an opportunity to respond to those comments. And if you could, as a follow-up, just, you know, do you even consider her a formidable threat in 2027? Well, I'm very proud of the investments that we've made as a city. As we continue to make critical investments in building more affordable homes, that certainly speaks to the success of our city. Our population continues to grow.

6:38 Economic development continues to move through our city at a pace that is unparalleled, quite frankly. And as a result of the investments that we've made and the hard work that we've done collectively, we are seeing and experiencing levels of violent crime decline that we haven't seen in decades. And so as we build the safest, most affordable big city in America, that's what my focus will always be. As far as whether or not I think much about our candidacy, I don't think much about our candidacy. In fact, she tried this already, and apparently Chicagoans did not think too much of her candidacy either.

7:17 Hello, Mayor. I was going to make a comment about the granny tax, but I'll let it go. I think come up with a better name, just one gritty. All right. I know it's been a long day. I guess I just had to say it. I actually want to ask you about the curfew. Alderman Hopkins said he sat across from you. He wrote the ordinance. You weighed in. And so he is frustrated, of course, that it didn't go through. You must be pleased, though, that you're veto. Could you react to what happened and give us some thoughts. Well, the first thing is, look, protecting our communities

7:51 all over the city of Chicago is my top priority. And I'm going to do all the things that are necessary and the things that actually work to drive violence down in the city of Chicago to protect all of our residents. And clearly, the work that we have put forward thus far has shown promise, right? There's certainly more work to be done. But again, homicides are down 32 percent shootings are down 38 percent shooting victims are down nearly 40 percent robberies are down i believe roughly 34 percent violent crime as a whole is down the city of chicago and as

8:23 we continue to make critical investments as we continue to make sure that we're sharpening and strengthening our detectives division so that we can solve crime and that serves as a deterrent that's the collective response it's policing and affordable homes policing and investing in our young people, policing, and expanding mental and behavioral health care services. But we can't go back to the things that have proven to be not only, you know, unsuccessful, but that could potentially move us back into a place of distrust.

8:54 And as we've entered into this new era of policing, constitutional policing, standing alongside of Ms. Anjanette Young, the city of Chicago will continue to be far more innovative and thoughtful of how we address crime in the city of Chicago, and clearly we are trending in the right direction. So there's no need to embrace anything that would do otherwise. Hi, Mayor. Hi. During the 2023 campaign, you promised to ban no-knock warrants. Your proposal today does not ban no-knock warrants.

9:25 Why did the Chicago Police Department need the ability to raid homes without any warning? Well, as I said, thank you for that question, as I said in my opening statement, After carefully looking into this ordinance, what we are ultimately solving for is to make sure that what happened to Ms. Anjanette Young never happens again. And what we have found is that the vast majority of these incidents do not necessarily speak to the initial language that we had initially put forward.

9:57 Here's the most important thing is we obviously. We have a champion in Ms. Anjanette Young. We also have a very strong champion with Alder Hatton, and we're going to continue to work collectively to make sure that we pass something that works for everyone and that it doesn't put anybody else in the position that Ms. Anjanette Young was in. Are those all the TVs? Mayor Johnson, real Chicagoans tell me that they don't believe you when you say the crime is down.

10:28 In July, we had five mass shootings alone. Only 6% of shootings are ever solved. Chicago is known as the murder capital. Crime is actually up. What do you say to real Chicagoans, you know, black and brown in particular, who tell me that they feel that the blood of their loved ones is on your hands? well you know there's not a mirror in this city in this city's history that has had to endure

11:02 the level of disinvestment and violence that i've experienced in austin and so this is always a top priority and one shooting one homicide is one too many and we are trending in the right direction Homicides are down. Shootings are down. Shooting victims are down. Robberies are down. Violent crime as a whole is actually down in the city of Chicago. So here's what I say to all Chicagoans. That let's continue to come together to work collectively to ensure that this trend that is moving in the right direction continues.

11:41 Hey, Mayor. Alderman Burnett, his last meeting, he's told us that he's lobbying CHA board members, hoping to get their support. there's an august 4th board meeting do you want the cha board to uh approve his appointment to lead the agency look i i can't you know tell you how you know proud and how humbling it is to having worked alongside of alderman burnett and you know over two decades ago he's a young guy

12:13 and i don't think either one of us had gray by the way in our hair but you know he embraced me as you know as a as a member of the cabrini green family and his story is is one that should be reveled quite frankly now as far as you know the consideration there's there's no secret that he is strong contention for this opportunity and there are of course a couple other candidates that are in consideration but alderman burnett is certainly at the top of that list hi mayor hi um so artist

12:48 restaurant and lounge the side of the mass shooting river north which occurred about two weeks ago they announced yesterday on their social media that they are permanently closing citing political hostility um a reminder artist is a black queer owned restaurant that had just recently opened alderman riley made some comments about the restaurant that people have called short-sighted and some people have referenced his statement specifically as being a dog whistle And I'm curious, what is your response to the permanent closure, and do you think that that's warranted?

13:21 Well, first of all, I think these two owners have an incredible mission in creating spaces where Chicagoans, but particularly those within the LGBTQ plus community, can go and can experience the fullness of themselves, as well as to build, quite frankly, greater support around a whole host of disciplines that the LGBTQ plus community contribute to. You know, look, I, you know, I can't speak to, you know, what the alderman said.

13:54 I'm not even aware of it. But what I can say is that, you know, I hope that these two owners don't give up on their mission. We need it. And it's not only sad and disheartening that this tragedy happened, but especially in a space that was designed to create safe spaces. So don't give up on Chicago, and I hope that they continue their mission because there's certainly a lot of support for them out there. Good evening. Oh, I hope he's all right. Good evening.

14:24 So this morning... Let me just say, Mark, you bring so much joy to my life. Go ahead. Really? You love me? I bring joy to your life? Wow. Yes. It was special. So anyway, this morning, the vice mayor said that him getting that CHA CEO job is not a done deal, although I've got a cauldron of sources who say otherwise to the point that he might even have some staff lined up. Nonetheless, since his retirement from city council is a done deal, are we now crossing?

15:00 That road of compiling a list of replacements for vice mayor, and if not, how long is that process going to take? Well, thank you for the question, and thank you for the joy. Alderman Burnett, first of all, has not officially stepped down. I think he's stepping down from his role as alderman at the end of this month. You know, as far as the process for, I'll start internally, finding a vice mayor that reflects my values, and as well as the expression that this vice mayor has brought to this office

15:30 because I'm not sure if most people knew that we had a vice mayor. And, you know, he helped, as he has done throughout his career, transform positions. And so we'll locate a couple of people and, you know, we'll make that decision internally. As far as, you know, his ward is concerned, you know, look, there will be a process. There will be a bunch of names I'm sure that will come forward. And if the alderman brings me a name, I'm going to take that name into serious consideration. If anybody knows the 27th Ward, it would be Alderman Burnett.

16:04 So there will be a process, and the community will be able to provide some input, but ultimately that decision will come down to mind. Good afternoon. Speaking of the artist's shooting, is there any update? Are there any suspects or any leads that you know of in that shooting? Thank you for that question. At this time, I don't have any updates. Are you surprised that there's nothing yet? Well, I mean, look, we're going to continue to go through the process, and, you know, the police department has done a really solid job this year.

16:35 I believe 81% of the cases that have been brought before the state's attorney, there's clearance there. So we're moving in the right direction, and we'll continue to support the police department so that they can move forward on this investigation. And the hope and the expectation is that someone or some persons are brought to justice. Hi, Mayor. How's it going? It's going very well. Thank you. Good. Awesome. Council tried to pass a resolution today to get CPD to hand over information regarding the June 4th incident with ICE. I'm curious, why does it take an entire ordinance to get this information?

17:10 Why can't you, as the mayor, simply tell Superintendent Snelling to just give that information to council members? Well, look, City Council made that decision to move forward. That's not a requirement, but I'm glad that they did weigh in. This is under review, and that process is still ongoing, and the expectation is that we get to the bottom of what happened on June 4th, but I don't want it to be lost, that we are living in unprecedented times. ICE and its budget, it's bigger than most militaries across this world.

17:44 We're talking about unprecedented times, So does that require us, like what we're doing in community safety and otherwise, to find more innovative approaches to address these circumstances? Of course it does. And we will do that. But it should not be lost that the President of the United States of America is using ICE as his own militarized force to engender and institute anxiety and fear. So that's going to require all of us around this country to make the necessary adjustments because these are unprecedented times and experiences.

18:16 So we'll continue to, as I've said, we'll do a complete review. There will be a full assessment of what happened on that day, and we'll make adjustments as we respond to the tyranny and the authoritarianism that's coming from the president of the United States of America. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor. Yes, it is. Ahead of zoning chair opening up again, do you think the spot should remain within the Black Caucus, and why or why not? Well, look, the most important thing here is that, you know, we have someone who chairs committees or all of our chairs that chair committees that reflect my values to build the safest, most affordable big city in America.

18:53 We'll go through a process like we have always gone through. And the person that best reflects our ability to build the safest, most affordable big city in America, particularly out of this committee, which has incredible consequence to us being able to deliver that. I feel very confident that we'll find the right person to feel the shoes and the expectations that I have. Hey, Mayor. Hey. Alderman Quinn told me today that he is still opposed and DMP'd the ADU ordinance because it doesn't give him control in neighborhoods like his with lots of detached single-family houses.

19:29 Why are you opposed to giving him that control? Because this is not about one individual, right? This is about the entire city of Chicago, right? Look, here's the thing. There are 100,000 units that we are short in building real affordability in this city. And that's what the focus is. That's what the focus always has to be. You know, it's a city, right? It's 50 wards, right? And it's a diverse city. And people want to be able to live and afford it.

20:00 and be able to afford to live here. And I'm going to do everything in my power to work with the entire city council to be able to accomplish that. Now, look, we have put some safeguards in place to be able to create a little bit more structure and stability so that when decisions are made, the community can have input. But I can tell you this, what people are most concerned about, and this is all over the city, is that if we don't build more affordability, that will change the culture of our communities. Where people cannot afford to live in this city, that is far more dangerous than some of the trepidations that might be coming from some alders.

20:32 Is that everybody? Good. All right. Thank you all very well. It's okay. It's just one day. Look, I just got home from Australia.

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