Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago appears to be tangled in a web of problems that would make even the most seasoned politician dizzy. As he embarks on his campaign for reelection, Hollywood might take notes because the drama playing out in Chicago is nothing short of cinematic, albeit in a tragicomic way. While Mayor Johnson is presumably focusing his energies on painting a rosy picture of his reign, he seems to have conveniently forgotten about the fiscal nightmares threatening to drown the city.
Chicago is staring down the barrel of a nearly billion-dollar budget deficit, which isn’t just a smudge on an otherwise clean sheet—it’s a glaring alarm bell. The Chicago Public Schools, too, are suffering financially, leaving one to wonder if they plan to teach math by using their own budget as an example of what not to do. The transit system is in a similar mess, and one can only imagine the state of public transportation when the coffers run dry. Is Mayor Johnson thinking about this looming apocalypse? It seems doubtful as he busies himself with critiquing former presidents.
Crime in Chicago reads like a never-ending sequel of a suspense thriller that nobody asked for. Despite the mayor’s claims of making the city safer, the numbers tell a different tale. Weekend headlines are peppered with grim statistics, and it gives Chicagoans a fresh case of heartburn every Monday morning. Mayor Johnson insists that crime is down. Perhaps he’s just promoting an alternative reality for the campaign trail, where statistics and reality have a loose relationship at best.
Citizens have had enough. A single-digit approval rating is a testament to the city’s mood, which is understandably sour and frustrated. Families are leaving. Businesses are finding it challenging to convince employees to move to a city that’s making headlines for the wrong reasons. Yet, the mayor carries on as if everything is dandy and, instead of addressing the cascade of issues, compares his political adversaries to the most extreme historical regimes. Bravo, Mr. Mayor, that ought to deflect attention from the sinkhole of problems right under your feet.
Meanwhile, there seems to be no shortage of indignation over the persistent attempts to rewrite historical narratives. Mayor Johnson appears to place responsibility for cultural representation squarely on political shoulders when perhaps the attention should focus more locally on the city’s failures to support its own. Investing in keeping neighborhoods safe and schools effective might do more for cultural preservation than political finger-pointing ever will.
It seems Chicago’s current administration is too busy casting villains in the wrong story. All the while, schools crumble, crime surges, and citizens deal with daily realities that the mayor paints over with strokes of negligent optimism. Mayor Johnson has his work cut out for him if he ever hopes to convince his constituents that he hasn’t piloted the city straight into a perfect storm of issues.
