Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson defends budget, school board president candidate Dominguez

It has been a little over a month since Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson made his reelection bid official, and on Wednesday, he presented his fourth city budget to the City Council.

The mayor calls it "Chicago's Fair Share Budget," which includes investments in mental health services. But critics, like the Civic Federation, are denouncing the budget plan, calling it an unacceptable abdication of responsibility to meet the fiscal realities facing the city.

The mayor also brought back the proposal for a head tax in the $17.6 billion budget proposal he laid out on Wednesday. It would charge companies with 125 or more full-time employees $25 per worker per month.

Last month, 29 alders told the mayor in a letter that they would not support such a tax. Some critics also called Mayor Johnson's 2027 budget proposal a campaign budget that will not pass as proposed, highlighting his wish to borrow $480 million to help pay off police misconduct claims sooner, and to use all $75 million the city received from selling off its parking meter operation in one budget year.

The mayor said the bottom line was that "corporations and the ultra-wealthy" have to put more skin in the game for Chicago, and he said the vast majority of Chicagoans agree.

"That is hands-down what the people of Chicago are calling for. And so my fourth budget continues that effort to raise the necessary revenue to improve the quality of life for working people," said Johnson. "And what have we received as a result of that? More young people with paid summer jobs, reopening mental health clinics, right? Ensuring that our public schools are supported and funded, improving the quality of life — and with all those investments, we have seen a decline in violence. So even with those critics, what they cannot criticize are the actual results."

Borrowing hundreds of millions to address police misconduct settlements does not put more skin in the game for corporations or the very rich, and raises concerns among some given that there is an $882 million budget gap. But Mayor Johnson expressed hope that reforms to policing in Chicago will eventually mean less police misconduct and thus, fewer settlements being necessary.

"There's no secret that the police misconduct and settlement shave been a strain and a drain on our budget. What we have not heard from our critics is how we actually address legacy debt, as well as those challenges, of course, within our police department," he said. "Now here's how I've addressed it — moving forward, constitutional policing is the prevailing form of governance. And so over time, I fully anticipate that there will be less strain on our budget to respond to those unfortunate egregious acts of abuse of power."

Invoking a phrase he often used when he first ran for mayor, Johnson said his 2027 budget, and all three others before it, was designed to "invest in people."

"Again, these corporations have made $483 billion in profits just in the second quarter. These corporations are not hurting," Johnson said. "You know who is hurting? It's the working mother, it's the working father who works every single day in Chicago and still have to get in life for food."

Meanwhile, Mayor Johnson has called for a corporate head tax to help balance the budget for the second year in a row, and after it was blocked last year. The mayor said the head tax would generate $101 million to help close the budget gap.

Critics say the tax would hurt job growth and discourage companies from coming to Chicago. Some alders say the proposal won't pass.

When he was first running for his office, Mayor Johnson talked about the importance of collaboration. But now, the fact that an alternate budget plan passed last year, and that 29 alders have again said they would not support the mayor's budget with a head tax, stand as evidence of a fractured relationship between the mayor and the majority of the City Council.

Meanwhile, at an event in February, Mayor Johnson made headlines as he said, "If you're not with us, you just got to go." If he is reelected next year, will his approach change, and will he try to work more with alders who don't support him?

The mayor responded to that question by highlighting some of his achievements in that had the support and collaboration of the City Council.

"We have very limited options of what we can do as a city as it relates to generating revenue. But if you look at the revenue streams that we have generated, let's talk about the PPLT, Personal Property Lease Tax, right? We were able to get that done with the City Council. Let's talk about the Social Media Amusement Responsibility Tax — it's a tax on big tech companies. Both of those revenue streams are overperforming our conservative projections. You don't get that done without City Council," the mayor said. "The fact that we have hired more young people than any other administration. We have reopened mental health clinics. You don't get that done without working people."

Mayor Johnson also took aim at the administration of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, two administrations before his own, as he said a rubber-stamp City Council that does not challenge the mayor can lead to detrimental policy being approved without debate.

"You did have a City Council that did not fight the Emanuel administration, and what did you get? Closed schools, closed mental health clinics, you saw the dismantling of the Department of Environment, so you saw violence spike in this city," Johnson said. "That's not happening in Chicago. Schools are not closing. Mental health clinics are reopening. In fact, we have reopened closed schools and turned them into affordable housing. And so if it has to be a little bit noisy in order for working people to benefit, than I will take noise and progress than quiet and disruption."

The mayor also touted the groundbreaking on Wednesday for Foundry Park in the Clybourn Corridor area, "a brand-new development in a part of the city where it sat desolate for multiple generations," which involved a collaboration with Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd), one of his critics.

"We don't always agree, but somehow, we were able to break ground in his ward where no other administration has been able to accomplish that," said Mayor Johnson. "So I understand that people talk about my critics, but let's talk about the progress. The fact of the matter is our hotel occupancy rate is at 90%. There are more people visiting our city than any other time in the history of Chicago. Crime is down. More work to be done, but you can't argue the fact that we had the safest summer since 1965. That's progress. No one can do that by themselves."

The mayor then accused past administrations of failing to "invest in working people," and took aim at the values of his critics.

"Now we have individuals that want to coddle corporations at the expense of working people," Johnson said. "Not on my watch."

Mayor Johnson stands by Chicago school board president candidate Dominguez

Meanwhile, Mayor Johnson stands by his endorsement of Hilario Dominguez for president of the Chicago Board of Education, despite allegations of sexual harassment.

The investigation into Dominguez, a former political coordinator of the Chicago Teachers Union and the CTU's endorsed candidate in the race for school board president, stems from 2017 allegations of sexual harassment when he was working for The Resurrection Profit, an immigrant rights nonprofit.

The Chicago Tribune has reported that a former CPS student claims Dominguez asked her about her dating life and picked her up while they were alone in 2017 while she was volunteering with The Resurrection Project. She said she was 17 at the time, while Dominguez was 24 and working as a coordinator with the nonprofit.

The woman said Dominguez put his arms around her and picked her up to twirl her when no one else was around, the newspaper reported. She said her feet were off the ground and her breasts and legs were "pressed against [Dominguez's] body," the newspaper reported.

The woman, now 26, took issue with the handling of the investigation into her allegations and accused the Chicago Public Schools Office of Inspector General of failing to take action for five years, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The Chicago Public Schools Office of Inspector General recently reopened its investigation into the matter, only to close it again and clear Dominguez of any wrongdoing. But a group of 16 alders has now called on Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to open an investigation into Dominguez.

The woman who alleged the harassment has also asked for an investigation into the expedited closing of the case.

But Mayor Johnson has stood by Dominguez. The mayor noted Thursday morning that he has known Dominguez since the candidate ran unsuccessfully for alderman in 2019.

"When I first met Hilario Dominguez, he was running for alderman in the 25th Ward. He was supported by retiring Congressman Chuy García. He has been, you know, a strong leader in this city, and clearly, for the fourth time, his record has been cleared," Johnson said. "Here's what I will say — we should take allegations seriously, and any individual that believes that they have been harmed by anyone, they should come forward."

The mayor said Dominguez stands alone in standing up for Chicago's public schools.

"Listen, in terms of his ability to make sure that our schools are going to remain supported and fully funded. That is something that I will continue to support," Johnson said. "He's the only candidate in this race that is committed to making sure that we're keeping schools open, and that we're actually supporting children, and we're supporting working people."