CITY HALL — Mayor Brandon Johnson is backing away from his earlier help to presumably launch a city-run grocery retailer, however is open to exploring the potential of bringing New York-style congestion pricing to Downtown Chicago, he mentioned Tuesday.
Throughout a short interview with Block Membership on Tuesday afternoon, Johnson additionally defended his dealing with of the protracted and infrequently bitter 2025 price range course of whereas waiting for what he hopes to perform this 12 months — if he can discover the mandatory backing from an more and more defiant Metropolis Council.
The mayor mentioned his objectives for 2025 embody increasing a signature youth hiring program, constructing extra reasonably priced housing and including public well being sources, together with boosting a 911 response mannequin the place psychological well being professionals reply to non-violent calls.
However implementing — and funding — the following steps of Johnson’s agenda might be troublesome with an emboldened Metropolis Council nonetheless licking its wounds from final 12 months’s price range season.
Talking on Tuesday, the mayor broadly dismissed criticisms over his administration and the price range, which handed by a 27-23 vote after six weeks of contentious debate, narrowly averting a metropolis authorities shutdown.
“You’re listening to extra voices come alive. That’s an excellent factor. And possibly there’s a good thing about rising up the center youngster. As a result of I don’t get overwhelmed when there are variant levels of expression in addition to needs,” Johnson mentioned.
“We didn’t lay anyone off, no furloughs, no cuts to companies. You realize, earlier administrations relied upon these sort of ways. We have been capable of keep away from that and keep on with our values.”
Mayor Backs Off Supporting Metropolis-Run Grocery Retailer
In September 2023, the Mayor’s Workplace introduced it was exploring the thought of launching a municipally run grocery retailer to handle meals inequity within the metropolis.
Stretches of the South and West sides have struggled with entry to contemporary groceries for many years, an issue that’s been exacerbated by quite a few grocery store closures lately.
A longstanding sample of disinvestment within the South and West sides has created “inequitable entry to meals retail throughout Chicago,” Johnson mentioned in an announcement. “All Chicagoans should stay close to handy, reasonably priced, wholesome grocery choices.”
If the thought is pursued, Chicago would change into the biggest metropolis within the nation to function a grocery retailer with public funds.
However in accordance with a report from the Tribune this week, Johnson’s administration failed to use for a state grant final 12 months that may have helped launch a grocery retailer, regardless of saying earlier it deliberate to take action.
On Tuesday, Johnson mentioned that’s as a result of his administration is now backing away from organising a publicly owned grocery retailer, no less than “presently.”
As a substitute, the mayor mentioned town will accomplice with native grocers to open shops in meals deserts, although he didn’t share specifics.
“Stakeholders got here to me and so they appreciated our initiative. They usually mentioned, ‘Look, you already know, Mayor, we would like you to think about doing it in a method that works with corporations who additionally share that imaginative and prescient.’ And in order that’s what we’re exploring,” he mentioned.
Congestion Pricing In Chicago?
On Sunday, New York Metropolis started its long-awaited congestion pricing program, which expenses an automated payment to drivers touring beneath sixtieth Road in Manhattan.
The controversial mannequin goals to cut back visitors in Downtown Manhattan whereas elevating funds for public transit companies.
Would the same program work in Chicago’s Loop? The thought has been floated earlier than, and on Tuesday Johnson mentioned he believes it’s one thing town “ought to discover” — particularly to gather charges on drivers who don’t stay within the metropolis.
“I feel with the ability to have sturdy conversations about how we reply to congestion, and naturally, how we generate income, notably from people that take full benefit of our metropolis sources, however don’t essentially stay right here … I’m all for that dialog,” he mentioned.
Johnson’s feedback come a day after a brand new research discovered that Chicago is tied with New York Metropolis for having the second-worst visitors of any metropolis on earth, behind solely Istanbul, Turkey. The typical Chicagoan spent 102 hours in visitors in 2024, in accordance with analysis printed by transportation analytics agency INRIX.
Mass Deportations Anticipated In Chicago Below Trump
Final month, President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming “border czar” Tom Homan promised that undocumented immigrants in Chicago and elsewhere would face mass deportations underneath the brand new presidential administration — and mentioned he would prosecute Johnson if the mayor continued to “harbor and conceal” asylum seekers.
“Due to [Johnson’s] actions, we’re going to be arresting a hell of much more individuals than our priorities,” Homan mentioned at a Dec. 9 occasion sponsored hosted by Chicago Republicans. He added that he’d sue sanctuary cities that don’t cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Chicago, Cook dinner County and the state of Illinois all have sanctuary legal guidelines in place, which means native regulation enforcement officers are usually not allowed to coordinate with federal immigration officers. That doesn’t imply ICE brokers can not enter and work within the metropolis, nevertheless.
On Tuesday, Johnson reiterated his help Chicago’s “welcoming metropolis” standing, and likewise urged Trump to cross an immigration reform invoice.
“Our native regulation enforcement isn’t going to take part in any method with federal brokers. We’re going to stick to the regulation right here in Chicago,” he mentioned. “You management the Home and the Senate and the judicial department in addition to the chief department. Go a regulation, proper? We haven’t had substantive immigration reform coverage in over 30 years.”
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