Mayoral Candidate, Brandon Johnson Unveils Better Chicago Agenda

Danielle Sanders CNW Managing Editor

Cook County commissioner and candidate for mayor of Chicago Brandon Johnson unveiled the Better Chicago Agenda, a fully paid-for $1 billion plan to strengthen Chicago’s safety, schools, jobs, health, homes, and transportation.

“My Better Chicago Agenda is about building a stronger, safer city for all of us, and I’m launching my budget plan first because city finance drives everything we need to provide for our communities,” Commissioner Brandon Johnson said. “As mayor of Chicago, I will commit $1 billion in new investments to make Chicago safer, grow Chicago businesses, create good jobs, strengthen public schools for all of our children, protect our environment, improve mental health and fix our broken transportation system – and I am the only candidate who has a plan to pay for all of that without raising property taxes.”

The Better Chicago Agenda is composed of multiple plans to strengthen Chicago, including upcoming plans on public safety, transportation, housing, public education, childcare, job creation, mental health support and environmental justice. The first plan unveiled in the Better Chicago Agenda is the “How We Pay For That” plan, a detailed accounting of how a Johnson Administration will balance the budget while making $1 billion in new investments in Chicago.

Johnson discussed his plan in a Black Media Roundtable hosted by Chicago News Weekly. According to Johnson, his “Better Chicago Agenda” is funded by eliminating the deficit, auditing city government spending and adding a tax fairness plan that increases taxes for airlines, non-Chicagoans and the ultra-rich. He says by these actions would enable him to make the investments listed in his Chicago plan without raising income or property taxes.

Brandon Johnson says he supports a fully elected school board. “We are going to have an elected representative school board. The mayor is not going to have absolute control over the public schools anymore. You need someone who has the ability to organize and bring people together” says Johnson. He says those first 11 seats will reflect the community and the interests and values of the people.

Johnson says that his top three priorities for the Chicago budget are Youth Hiring, the “Treatment Not Trauma” ordinance and reopening mental health centers. He says he plans to initiate the “most robust youth hiring program” the city has seen because there is a direct correlation between youth employment and violence prevention. “All of the entities and agencies the fifth floor has jurisdiction over are going to hire our people. From parks to the schools, CTA and streets and sanitation.” He says passing the “treatment not trauma” ordinance would help law enforcement by having mental health professionals respond to calls otherwise diverted to law enforcement. He also says he doesn’t just want to re-open mental health centers but he wants them publicly funded. “They need to be public centers, so when my terms are up, it won’t matter who the next mayor is. They won’t be able to shut them down because of a different or illogical presentation on what type of health care services should be provided in our community”.

Commissioner Johnson plans to announce more details of each aspect of his “Better Chicago Agenda” in the coming days and weeks of the campaign.