It’s been an open secret for weeks that at least some members of
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s intergovernmental affairs staff would be
leaving after the Democratic National Convention, including its director,
Sydney Holman.
That happened last week. Holman quit and two others were forced
out of the IGA office, which liaisons with both the city council and the
Illinois General Assembly.
Holman is well-known to state legislators. She started on the
House Democratic staff and did a stint as Gov. JB Pritzker’s House liaison.
She’s well-liked, even though the mayor isn’t exactly popular at the
Statehouse.
Holman leaves as the city is gearing up to face what is estimated
as at least a $982.4 million budget deficit next fiscal year.
But the city has long known this massive deficit was coming.
Almost a year ago, the city released a two-year budget forecast with a “base
outlook” that projected a $986 million deficit in Fiscal Year 2025, which is
only a few million dollars away from the current city projection. The city’s 2023
budget report predicted a “negative outlook” of a $1.14 billion deficit by
2025.
And now the city is apparently hoping to convince the General
Assembly to help it out. One outlet reported the other day that city officials
are “talking to state lawmakers about its budget concerns,” although I
personally couldn’t find anyone who has had any serious talks with the city. Pritzker
said the city hasn’t spoken with him, either.
A Chicago-only bailout is just not in the cards, and a broader
bailout of municipalities would cost exponentially more than the billion
dollars that Chicago needs.
Chicago is already asking for an immediate increase of about $5 billion
for statewide and Chicago-specific school funding and $2.5 billion in state
help to build a new Chicago Bears Stadium. So, we’re talking about a total ask
of $8.5 billion, not including money for every other municipality, which would
have to be included if Chicago got any more cash, and not including the $730
million mass transit bailout for next year, which will eventually rise to $1.32
billion.
Good luck with all that.
Holman has been superseded by Kennedy Bartley, who was hired by
the mayor earlier this year as a liaison to progressive groups and unions. Crain’s
Chicago Business reported last week that the mayor’s office had circulated
an organizational chart showing that Holman and her staff would report to
Bartley. Holman, as long expected, did not want to work for Bartley, so she
left.
Bartley comes from United Working Families, a progressive group
that is closely allied with the Chicago Teachers Union.
Bartley spent quite a bit of time organizing on behalf of the
“defund the police” movement. Two days after the terror group Hamas attacked
Israel, Bartley tweeted, “From the river to the sea Palestine will be free.
Amen!” which is considered by many to be a call to eliminate Jews in Israel.
Bartley also called police “f-ing pigs” in a 2021 interview.
In other words, Bartley may have some problems lobbying the
Illinois state legislature.
While most of the people stepping up to criticize Mayor Johnson
for elevating Bartley are the usual Johnson critics, state Sen. Rob Martwick, D-Chicago,
is a longtime Johnson friend, is very tight with the Chicago Teachers Union
(where the mayor worked) and endorsed the mayor’s election last year. Sen.
Martwick sent out a critical press release last week which focused on the
“f-ing pigs” comment.
“The comments made by Kennedy Bartley serve only to disparage our
valued public servants and diminish the progress that we have made,” Martwick
said in the release. “Our government leaders should be working toward a greater
sense of safety through unity, not chaos through division and insults. I
condemn these comments, and I implore our mayor to ensure accountability for
the harm they have caused.”
That doesn’t portend well.
Johnson’s elevation of Bartley could also be seen as a sort of war
declaration. The CTU and the mayor have strongly indicated that they plan to
blame Pritzker and the General Assembly if they cannot achieve the union’s
contract goals. And Mayor Johnson, who comes from the CTU, may be wanting the
same bogeyman to justify his own deficit problems. Bartley would likely be a
good fit for that sort of role, even though that confrontational path will
undoubtedly lead to no good end.
