Chicago’s incoming liberal mayor has already raised eyebrows by blaming the city’s poverty problems and high crime rates on businesses that don’t pay taxes.
Brandon Johnson, a former union organizer who was elected Tuesday, said the city doesn’t have the money to solve its problem because “70 percent of big businesses in Illinois don’t pay corporate tax.”
“It’s the kind of restraint on our budget that has caused the kind of lack of investment that has led to poverty, of course that has led to violence,” said Johnson, who did not reveal the source of his allegations.
The Cook County commissioner, 47, beat candidate Paul Fallas, 69, who had the backing of the Chicago Police Union, by nearly 13,000 votes. Johnson will replace ousted Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has fallen out of favor after crime spirals under her leadership.
High on Johnson’s agenda will be reversing the city’s soaring crime rate and dealing with the out-of-control homelessness that has turned part of O’Hare International Airport into a shoddy makeshift shelter.
Brandon Johnson, a former union organizer elected Tuesday, said Chicago doesn’t have the money to solve its problem because “70 percent of large companies in Illinois don’t pay corporate tax.”
Johnson will replace outgoing mayor Lori Lightfoot, who fell out of favor after crime rose 47% on her watch.
A portion of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport has been converted into a homeless camp
During the campaign, Johnson advocated raising $80 million by taxing the wealthy. He also called for a freeze on real estate taxes.
Speaking on Thursday, he said CBS: “I will not increase taxes on property, for this has been the lazy form of government for so long in the city of Chicago and frankly throughout the country.”
After his election, Johnson recalls growing up in a poor family, teaching school in Cabrini Green, a notorious former public housing complex, and shielding his children from shootings in their western neighborhood.
He referred to civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Rev. Jesse Jackson and called his victory a continuation of their legacy. He also indicated that he was speaking on the anniversary of the king’s assassination.
Chicago has seen an increase in violent crime during the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching a 25-year high of 797 murders in 2021, though the number declined last year. Increases in robbery and sexual assault contributed to a 47 percent increase in total crime in the year to March 12, 2023.
Johnson says he will promote 200 new detectives from the current pool of police officers. He also wants to strengthen police accountability.
His other priorities include the struggling public school system, the city’s financial woes and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic that has closed many businesses and offices.
Images emerged in February of homeless camps popping up inside O’Hare International Airport, prompting some travelers to express concerns about their safety.
Ken Griffin, the richest person in Illinois, announced in 2022 that he is moving his family and hedge fund headquarters to Miami.
In 2021, Chicago becomes the first state in America to pay compensation to black residents after launching a scheme in the suburb of Evanston for people who have suffered permanent damage from decades of discriminatory practices.
Lori Lightfoot has been ousted as mayor of the Windy City after a dramatic rise in crime in her watch.
One grim image showed a collapsed man inside the entrance vestibule, and another showed a man hanging out without shoes. In another case, a group of six people took over an enclosed area next to a set of escalators.
The troubles in Chicago prompted some prominent residents to flee the city and the state.
Ken Griffin, the former richest man in Illinois, left last year and moved his billion-dollar companies Citadel and Citadel Securities with him to Florida.
The father of three, with a net worth of nearly $30 billion, also broke into the Chicago school system to push “vigilante ideology” on his children.
In 2021, Chicago becomes the first city in America to launch a compensation program for black residents whose families have been harmed by discriminatory policies.
The suburb of Evanston created its own compensation program in 2019, committing $10 million over a decade using funding from a 3 percent city tax on recreational marijuana sales.
