Johnson running out of time for course correction with City Council, governor
With a rock-bottom public approval rating and a fast-approaching mid-term benchmark, Mayor Brandon Johnson is running out of time for a course correction.
But don't start writing his political obituary just yet.
An already contentious relationship with Gov. J.B. Pritzker — further frozen over by this week’s conflict over the governor’s stalled hemp regulations — can still be salvaged if a governor and mayor who need each other to solve their budget troubles start communicating frequently and privately instead of taking public shots at one another.
Communication is also key to easing the deep distrust between Johnson and the City Council showcased by the mayor’s own allies during the marathon budget stalemate.
Johnson needs earlier and more meaningful communication with a City Council that will only get bolder and more reluctant to raise taxes as the 2027 election draws near.
He needs to take a page from the Rahm Emanuel playbook by building personal relationships with the 50 alderpersons long before he asks for their votes on difficult issues.
That’s tough but not impossible, according to Ald. Walter Burnett (27th), dean of the Council and the mayor’s hand-picked Zoning Committee chair. Burnett pointed to the shifting political alliances during Mayor Richard M. Daley’s record 22-year reign.
“You’ve seen people flip. ... Dorothy Tillman was Daley’s arch-enemy. She became one of his best friends. Daley had a whole group against him at one time. Even [Luis] Gutierrez. And then, Gutierrez became one of his allies,” Burnett said.
“You can’t say 'never’ with these folks. People grow and they evolve. The mayor has just got to put in the work. This last budget sharpened him because he had to do so much in order to get those [27] votes. It gave him an opportunity see who people are, what they were interested in. And now he’s got to figure out, is there a way for him to be able to help people?”
New Council floor leader has work to do
The challenge of building trust between the Johnson administration and the Council will fall to Budget Committee Chair Jason Ervin (28th).
The mayor has chosen Ervin to double as his Council floor leader after limping along without a floor leader — and a depleted Mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs — since the November, 2023 resignation of Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th).
Why Ervin, who backed incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot in 2023, before pivoting to Johnson in the runoff?
“Chicago has led the way in some of the most transformational measures that this city has ever experienced — $20 billion in new investments," Johnson said this week. "He understands that. Making sure that the City Council understands that we have to continue to invest in workforce. He understands that. Ensuring that we continue to grow affordable housing.”
The mayor further noted there's “more economic development along Madison” Street in Ervin’s West Side ward “than we’ve seen since the King uprising,” referring to the destructive civil unrest after the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Johnson bristled when asked about Council complaints that he hasn't lived up to his self-declared title of “collaborator-in-chief."
He pointed to Council approval of his proposals for guaranteed paid leave and eliminating the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers.
“You can’t do that by yourself. … Everything that we’ve done on behalf of the people of Chicago, we’ve worked collaboratively with the City Council,” Johnson said.
“We need the City Council to pass budgets. They’ve done that. We need the City Council to pass ordinances the city is leading the way on. We’ve done that. … We have put forth the largest TIF surplus that the city of Chicago has seen, likely ever. ... Everything that we’ve done on behalf of the people of Chicago we’ve worked collaboratively with the City Council.”
Ervin said being floor leader is “not a major thing to me.”
“The goal is to try to help move things forward ... not only for the city, but members in their respective wards. Floor leader or not floor leader, I’m always gonna help my colleagues and try to help them accomplish what they need to get done,” Ervin told the Sun-Times.
“While there may be some disagreements on policy, we still have to get stuff done in our communities. And you can’t get that done by yourself.”
Communication key to next budget process
Ervin said he plans to start by communicating with the Council early and often about the city’s finances. Last fall, Johnson's two-week delay in unveiling his proposed budget put alderpersons behind the eight-ball.
“Last year was just too tight for people to get comfortable to be able to support a revenue package that was probably more equitable to all residents of the city. Starting those conversations earlier may yield a different result.”
Southwest Side Ald. Marty Quinn (13th) said Johnson “could bring in Barack Obama to be the floor leader” and it wouldn’t “make a darned bit of difference.”
The problem, Quinn said, is an inexperienced, unpopular and ultra-liberal mayor who is beholden to the Chicago Teachers Union, talks more than he listens and is in way over his head.
“The only thing he’s gotten right is working with [Chicago Police] Supt. Snelling and getting out of Supt. Snelling’s way on the convention,” said Quinn.
“Everything else, you can question. From the cohesiveness with staff and their relationships, to [canceling] ShotSpotter, to the unnecessary fight with the resolution on the [Gaza] cease-fire to the $300 million property tax increase ... to the fight with Pedro” Martinez, the Chicago Public Schools CEO.
Mayor, governor must ‘stop all this drama,’ Burnett says
The cold war with Pritzker could have a chilling effect on Johnson’s chances of getting the billions he needs to solve budget crises at the city, CPS and the CTA, let alone help the Bears build a new Chicago stadium, either on the lakefront or at the Michael Reese hospital site, to keep the team from moving to Arlington Heights.
Pritzker was embarrassed by Johnson's late opposition to hemp product restrictions. Normally risk-averse, Pritzker went public with his disdain for Johnson’s non-existent Springfield presence.
Pritzker said he's had probably only five conversations with the mayor in the nearly two years since Johnson took office — and none during Johnson’s budget struggles. In fact, the mayor’s team canceled scheduled calls with the state, setting the stage for a telephone tax snafu that denied the city $40 million in anticipated revenue.
“It seems they don’t have good relationships in Springfield, in part, because they don’t do the outreach that’s necessary,” the governor said Tuesday.
With a $1 billion-plus shortfall at the city and a $3.1 billion state budget gap, Burnett still hopes for a political détente between Pritzker and Johnson.
“Everybody’s got to be careful with these personal attacks on each other because Pritzker’s got to run, too. Does Pritzker want to lose all the Black votes by fighting a Black mayor? Does he want to look like this is selfish and not about government? Same thing, vice-versa, with the mayor,” Burnett said.
“Both of them have to be careful. Both are dealing with bad budgets now. Both will be dealing with worse budgets next year. If they don’t figure out how to work together and stop all this drama, we’re all gonna lose. Both of them have to get these chips off their shoulders and start working for the betterment of the state and city.”