Full interview: One-on-one with Mayor Brandon Johnson

all right mayor thank you so much for joining us you're welcome want to talk about this year new year same mayor new budget right but same Mission you talked a lot about treatment not trauma in your campaign and you're inching closer and closer to getting that done when do you expect crisis responders to be on 911 calls well as you've indicated the Mental Health crisis in this city um has unfortunately have not been you know met with real investment and what my budget does it speaks to investing in people and so it's not just about reopening two mental health clinics that were closed but it's also about providing care because 40% of the 911 calls that were coming through um really required a mental health care response and so this year's budget you know it's very intentional about rolling this out over the course of the next several months and and it's really about delivering services to the people of Chicago who have been calling for an alternative um to how we respond to crisis so this is no longer a pilot it's part of the permanent infrastructure of the city of Chicago and I've made a commitment to doing that as as a candidate and I've delivered on that as as a mayor of the city of Chicago you mentioned those two mental health clinics do you know where they'll be well that's um part of a a larger Community process one of the things that's important to me is is to establish real cold governance um my administration's been very clear about working with people and bringing government closer to the people and so what we've looked at though we've seen um a very hyperon concentration of disinvestment historically over the course of past administrations and so I'm very clear about making sure that those mental health clinics are also Tethered to larger government services so that we're not working in isolation or in silos but we're working collaboratively to Build a Better Stronger a safer and a much healthier Chicago so we talking about certain parts of the city do you have any neighborhoods in mind well if you look at my Public Safety plan we've identified 35 beats where the there's been a real hyper concentration again of disinvestment so you know we know historically the west and the South sides of Chicago um have been bered unfortunately with very very intentional um disinvestment and harsh policy so you know whether it's Austin or my family um where we're where my wife and I are raising our children or whether it's rosand um we're going to make sure that there's a real comprehensive Community process to ensure that we get the most out of this initial phase of reopening our mental health clinics okay but do we know which neighborhoods or well as I said whether it's Austin whether it's rosand whether it's North laale garford Park pick a side of the city of Chicago on the west or south side or pick a neighborhood where historical disinvestment has taking place just know as mayor of the city of Chicago I'm going to concentrate on those neighborhoods and people are very clear whether again North laale Garfield Park uh Austin where I'm raising my family um Rosland Inglewood the disinvestment that has taken place historically in this city that has has really been very harsh on black and brown families in particular I'm hyperfocused on investing in those neighborhoods you mentioned your Public Safety plan yeah and you unrolled that just before the new year but we've seen so many crash and grabs lately which is very concerning to business owners specifically we've talked in our reporting to some business owners that are saying they're going to leave because somebody's driven a car into their business multiple times you also appointed your first superintendent Snelling what are those conversations like with him about about figuring out how to stop people from smashing into a business and stealing everything inside yeah this is a a a a really serious matter here this is a concern that that I've I've had you know well before I was mayor of the city of Chicago these elements have certainly have have have caused tremendous turmoil and superintendent Snelling as you know son of ingga wood someone who has tremendous credibility in the city of Chicago and we are working collaboratively not just with the police department but with organizations and businesses is to come up with strategies that will not only alleviate and reduce these type of hideous acts but we also have to make sure that we're investing in communities right because look absent true investment um you're you're unfortunately going to continue to Foster environment you know where this type of behavior um becomes an act of desperation so you know we have to make sure that there's a strategy in place to ensure that these Smash and grabs um are not happening but we also have to think strategically about investing in neighborhoods so this does not become an enticing form of of of of of behavior so one second one second where where the mic is if you could just smooth that out just a little bit look a little weird on camera just smooth out where the mic see the little crinkle thank you very much thank you is that better yes good we're all getting our chest I know jeez they looking out for us the static the winter inter static good to go okay so aside from the investment the long-term plan of investing are there any strategies that you've talked about with this yes we have look you know this is an ongoing um um this is going to be an ongoing strategy right because you know the the again this heinous you know very desperate um form of violence is is is harming our our beautiful city and coming up with a strategic plan with our superintendent along with our businesses and Community organizations that will um reduce and alleviate and eliminate this form of violence is something that I'm very much committed to doing how do you work with businesses to help them keep their own storefront safe is it about putting barriers in front is there any sort of strategy that you've thought of in that realm to well I mean you yeah well you've seen this around the country you've seen it around the world right where there are barriers that are outside of um you know businesses but again and you know these are all resourc driven just know as mayor of the city of Chicago you I'm very much committed to making sure that we build a better stronger safer Chicago and that's why I've worked hard to reduce um violence in the city of Chicago homicides are down shootings are down over the course of the last couple of months uh of 2023 um um you also had a reduction and car jackings as well as robberies so the strategies that we have put in place thus far we're already seeing a return on that and we're going to double down on our efforts to ensure that a better stronger safer Chicago um can actually be realized so you talked about investing in communities that have historically seen disinvestment and that is great we've been on the street in those communities as well and when we talk to voters a lot of times they'll voice concerns about being frustrated that they don't think your Administration is hearing them because of the monies that are being spent on the migrant crisis that they are not seeing being it seems like this money just appears out of thin air but isn't being invested in their own communities why do you think they feel that way well because again black and brown neighborhoods and particularly black communities have been disinvested in you know we have past administrations that have shut down schools that have eliminated public housing that have shut down Departments of the environment for instance and so that historic disinvestment have left our communities dry and in fact I live in one of those communities so I know that frustration it's why I was part of an effort to organize people together to make sure that we're investing in our Public Schools we're invest investing in public transportation that's why in this budget I invested a quarter of a billion dollars into to homelessness we invested $100 million into violence reduction another $76 million for youth employment my Administration hired almost 25,000 young people in the summer of 2023 that's a 20% increase from the previous year and we're going to add 4,000 more positions on top of that and we're working with businesses and other corporations to hire young people as well we've eliminated paid time off I'm sorry we eliminated the subminimum wage um you know which tip workers have historically been attached uh to to to the system of slavery we've added PID time off for thousands of workers around the city of Chicago these are investments that I made in my first budget which just went into effect this year and we did all that without raising property taxes so not only have we his ially disin not only have administrations historically disinvested in these communities they made these very communities pay for Investments outside of their communities through property taxes so is the message wait for the money to take effect I mean what what is the immediate response to that feeling of just being left out so I know you're you're mentioning all the money that's been budgeted towards reinvesting in these communities but in the past year the city has spent you said they're spending around $40 million a month on this crisis 153 Plus on vendors in the past year or since December of 2022 and now but they're not they see the tents going up they see the migrants coming on buses but they're not feeling the investment yeah 25,000 young people of which 64% of them were black children had summer jobs say that to those families whether or not they're feeling the impact because they are feeling the impact of those Investments and here's the thing keep in mind that the migrant crisis this International Global crisis that really requires a federal resource response that you have a local government the city of Chicago subsidizing um the infrastructure of a crisis that's being caused by a governor in another state I'm frustrated as well the there over 600 buses have arrived in the city of Chicago since I've been mayor we didn't call for those buses and the governor of Texas sending buses to the city of Chicago to create chaos in this country and so our our effort here in the city of Chicago of course is to continue to call on Congress to do its part to do its job because we need real immigration reform policy to actually take full effect we have not had immigration reform policy in 30 years the last time something of substance happened I was in high school and the time before that our beloved bears were Super Bowl champions Congress has to act because it's causing the type of disruption and Chaos that the governor of Texas wants to create because keep in mind he's only sending those buses to democratically ran cities it's an intentional attack against the country and this is why I'm committed to bring in structure to bringing some coordination to this Mission I've gathered Mayors from around the state of Illinois to address this because it cannot just fall on the city of Chicago Congress has to do its job provide the resources and funding that's needed to bring a coordinated structure to this Mission what if the federal government doesn't help you well clearly they haven't thus far 27 shelters I've stood up 27 shelters we are educating 5,000 children in our Chicago Public Schools right now we are providing Health screenings Infectious Disease Control but is that sustainable cuz you've said it isn't sustainable well well I think you you've answered it no it's not sustainable the Congress does have to act and if they do not act this is going to continue to cause the type of chaos that the governor of Texas wants to do uh is committed to doing look leadership in this moment really requires building an operation that's centered around people's humanity and we have done that again 27 shelters 5,000 children in our Chicago public school system we're providing Health screenings Infectious Disease Control and and here's the thing though keep in mind a quarter of a billion dollars have been invested in the unhoused in my budget $100 million has been invested for violence prevention in my budget we're going to hire 30,000 young people this summer in my budget we have stood up a brand new office an office for the for for re-entry individuals who who are returning from jails and prison an entire office dedicated to make sure we're investing in those families so even with this crisis it never stopped me from fulfilling my mission and my vision in the city of Chicago and that's investing in people but you have said that this is not sustainable so in the event that the federal government doesn't give you any more money and the state doesn't seem to be able to do that either we heard from the governor yesterday and asked him about that and didn't really get an answer from him what will the city of Chicago do to pay for this because you've said it's not sustainable you said we've running out of space it's disrupting the very fabric of the city well it it let me just be very clear it did not stop my Administration from investing in the unhoused now there are other cities that have looked at making budget cuts we haven't gotten to that point will you be taxing adding a tax to help pay for this well you know I think people are clearly familiar with what my vision is for Revenue in this city and my revenue of course is committed to making sure that we are doing everything that we can to address the unhoused crisis in this city 70,000 people who are unhoused in this city are black families and that's why I invested a qut of a billion dollars in my budget to do just that but will a tax to help pay for the migrant crisis here's what I've said repeatedly this is an international crisis and we reques okay so so then then then then you know the answer then the federal government are you adding ax answer is the federal government has to do its job what if they don't well look there are 30,000 ukrainians in this city right now who sought Asylum who were refugees what's the difference between that crisis and the crisis that we're experiencing now so this is not an unprecedented demand there were services that were attached to individuals who were seeking Asylum from the Ukraine and the federal government acted and so my question is it's the question that everybody is Raising what's the difference between those who are seeking asylum in this country 30,000 of whom are in the city of Chicago what's the difference between Ukrainian refugees and those who are seeking Asylum from Central and South America right but that's not the question the people of Chicago are asking the people of Chicago want to know will you raise a tax whether it be property tax or Implement something else well that's interesting no one has ever asked me if I'm going to raise a tax in fact in fact I did not raise property taxes and still without raising property taxes a full investment in in homelessness a quarter of a billion dollars $100 million for violence prevention we're going to open up mental health clinics we've eliminated subminimum wage black and brown women who were tip workers we're talking about tip workers that's attached to slavery we abolish that in this in this city we've also added paid time off for thousands of workers we're investing the people my Administration has not missed a beat we have built an operation centered around people's Humanity to to respond to this International crisis that the federal government has been negligent in and while doing all of that I've still kept every single promise that I was going to invest in people so you can commit to you not raising property taxes regardless of how bad the situation gets my budget the 16.77% this this budget and we did all of that without raising property taxes the evidence is in what I passed we made all of these Investments without raising property taxes that's the commitment that I made when I ran that's the commitment that I kept and about four minutes okay thank you Ronnie so the DNC is the summer switching gear is kind of the DNC is the summer it is what are you going to do if buses of people are dropped off in front of the convention center you know look from the very beginning it's what I've said is that a coordinated consistent response from all levels of government is what's required here I've already demonstrated what I'm going to do 27 shelters count them but we're running out of space so where are these people going to go 27 shelters what I what I've built and they're all full and and and we have provided Education Health Care for these families and we did all of that without having to cut back on services to people as I've already expressed that have been set at the margins for generations and I understand we've gotten a lot of of sound on that we definitely know where your stance is and what you've done so far but in the summer when the governor of Texas inevitably sends more and more buses possibly hundreds planes Etc how will the city sustain something you have said is not sustainable without help from the federal government this moment really requires leadership at the Congressional level now okay now look the federal government has to act that's the bottom line and it's why my legal department put together an ordinance to provide some structure some competence and some coordination around this Mission we sent an entire delegation down down to the Border it's an absolute crisis it's a real crisis but it requires coordination and that's why I'm bringing together Mayors from all over the state working with the County Board president working with the governor look we've settled with the help of the state um over 10,000 families resettled 10,000 families with the support of the state providing Health Care with the support of President PRK winkl and the County Board of Commissioners but this effort requires Federal intervention and we also have to make sure that clear the governor of Texas is fully aware of the Investments that I'm committed to making sure are spread throughout communities that have been neglected in he wants to disrupt that right and he hasn't been able to disrupt that because leadership requires someone who was focused on investing in people and yes of course we have to make sure that there is far more coordination that has to take place because we can control what's going on at the border Congress has to act to provide real comprehensive immigration reform because that in of itself solves many of the problems that we're experiencing right now I want to hit one more topic because I know we're on limited time thank you so in this 20 minutes we've talked about Public Safety reopening mental health clinics but we haven't figured out we haven't said where those will be though we have a general idea treatment not trauma we talked a little bit about that but I asked when the first call would be answered we didn't necessarily get an answer to that either what if the federal government doesn't help on the migrant crisis we're still asking for help from the federal government and don't know what'll happen if we don't get that Aid so we've asked all these questions and we've talked to people people in your city council people on the street they're frustrated with a lack of transparency from your Administration they say shelters are opening up in my ward and I don't know they're opening until they're open or I I've reached out and I'm listening to the mayor's press conference and I feel like he isn't answering a question why do you feel like those who you're working with collaboratively and those who have voted for you feel you are not being transparent everything that I've done I've shared with the people of Chicago remember when the city council punted the 40 the $51 million appropriation from the previous city council that they punted it to my Administration what did I say at the very beginning I said that $47 million of the $51 million was going to1 agency I broke that news and then what did I do after that I renegotiated with favorite Staffing to make sure that they were actually hiring local right second thing there is a weekly um session with alers who have helped us with this crisis the third thing September 9th brief the alers around the crisis that we were experiencing because um police districts were being used as respit or temporary shelters of which I eliminated that remember there were almost 4,000 people on floors in police districts my Administration eliminated that that's no longer a practice we did all of that despite the fact that the previous city council did not budget for 2023 over this very crisis but why do you feel like they don't think you're transparent what is it that you believe that I'm leaving out what I believe okay I'm I'm reiterating what our reporting has shown and what voters have told us in the street so I don't I hope you're not blaming the media no first of all I never said that I I just asked a simple question because between the favorite Staffing between what we talked about back in the fall about the possibility of Base camps the fact that we actually shared with the public that all of the sites throughout the city of Chicago have a degree of toxic icity and that my Administration was committed to remediation now the question that I would ask is that despite the fact that I have said everything to everyone about the initial contract of favorite Staffing that I told everyone about everything regarding how we were going to decompress police districts despite the fact that we have put together an ordinance to put structure and guidance around how buses arrive in the city of Chicago despite the fact that I have renegotiated multiple con contracts that have responded to this Mission despite the fact that we put out an RFP to reduce costs particularly with food so that local businesses can actually participate in providing care despite the fact that we have been very clear about how many children we are educating in our in our school district despite all of that if people believe that there is more information information that's available then they're they're looking for nothing because I've been absolutely clear about this Mission now what I'm also taking away from all of this is that there is a great deal of fear and interpetation and that's being caused by the governor of Texas I've even directed my my legal team to look into these bus companies and to look at other violations that they could be could be breaking the entire country is now responding to the work that the city of Chicago is doing no one was looking into bus companies until the city of Chicago called it out no one was looking at airplanes until this bringing migrants to the city of Chicago until my Administration called it out the fact that we have told everybody about everything regarding this Mission while at the same time we've told people we're going to invest a quarter of a billion dollars into the UN house I did it $100 million for violence prevention I did it um eliminating the subminimum wage I said I was going to do it I did it paid time off for workers I said I was going to do it I did it hiring young people I said I was going to do it I did it reducing homicides reducing shootings I said I was going to do it I've done it now if there's something else that people believe that my Administration could accomplish in the first eight months I am open to that feedback but make no mistake about it my Administration is functional and we have led from the very beginning 41 people voted to support my budget $16.77 billion without raising property taxes everything that I ran on everything that I promis I've delivered it thus far and we're just getting started is there anything you want voters to know that we haven't talked about today um yeah um or there was that's no no that's that's a good question you know there's been a um there's been tension you know in this city for for some time you know that tension didn't start when I became mayor and I want the people of Chicago to know that every waking moment of my day I am focused and concentrating on bringing people together to have the opportunity to serve this city in this capacity it's a true Testament to who we are as a city that there's a generation that made my election possible the fact that we're going to celebrate the Life and Legacy of Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr who was invited to the city of Chicago by a high school history teacher on the west side of Chicago by the name of Al rapy to deal with the unhoused crisis from a generation ago and now you have a high school history teacher on the very floor the fifth floor where Dr Keen stood committed to making sure that affordable housing becomes a reality for the people of Chicago making sure that public accommodations as a whole become a reality for the people of Chicago and then the final thing is I've had tremendous conversations with um Kevin War the president and CEO of the Chicago Chicago Bears and our our two teams have have worked diligently and collaboratively um to make sure that there is um an opportunity for for real negotiations um we have settled contracts already with labor and and we've done all of that without raising property taxes fines fees to people in this city who have been dogged by those failed policies so know that a Brother's working incredibly hard to Build a Better Stronger safer so are de bear staying do we know well I'm certainly working hard to make sure that the story of Chicago is is is is is intact and the Chicago Bears are a part of that story okay thank you very much one question my fiance had actually are the Bears stay Thank You mayor you're welcome thank you this was very very very very exciting and I appreciate your energy yeah same

Channel: CBS Chicago

Views: 7,696

Keywords: CBS 2 News Evening, Brandon Johnson, Mayor Brandon Johnson, Migrants, Sabrina Franza

Id: 7zj4AP8fheo

Length: 27min 22sec (1642 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 12 2024