I have mixed feelings about Mayor Brandon Johnson. I voted for him, and if faced with the same choice against someone like Paul Vallas, I would likely do it again. But I will also say plainly that he is not what I had envisioned. That disappointment comes not from ideology, but from execution and experience.
What has always puzzled me about Chicago politics is that we rarely elevate leaders who come from the City Council and actually understand how things get done here. Governing Chicago is not theoretical. It requires fluency in budgets, departments, unions, zoning and the political tradeoffs that shape real outcomes.
Crime has become the shorthand criticism of this administration. Labeling Johnson as “soft on crime” because he acknowledges that environments shape criminal behavior ignores decades of data. I have lived in Baltimore, Atlanta, Washington and Orlando, Florida. Across cities, leaders routinely promise to revitalize economically challenged areas and then fail to deliver. Rhetoric without policy is the true failure.
I live in Bronzeville, which on paper should be thriving. It has lake access, transit and proximity to the Loop. Yet much of the development is organic, not driven by intentional city policy. Crime is down, but largely because rising costs have pushed poorer residents elsewhere, not because of smarter policing or thoughtful public safety strategies.
Race still shapes whose pain is visible. I grieve for the woman who was set on fire on the “L.” But I know that if the same tragedy happened on the South Side and the victim was Black, it would not receive the same attention. For decades, much of the North Side was willing to ignore crime as long as it stayed elsewhere.
Johnson is not a great mayor. Some of his policies, such as the head tax, are misguided. But so were policies under Mayor Richard M. Daley, who held office for more than 20 years and is still held up as a pillar of the city because many white Chicagoans felt he represented them.
What I want is simple. A mayor with experience who governs for everyone. Someone who prioritizes growing areas that still need incentives to thrive. Someone willing to say the city may not have a revenue problem, but a spending problem, with bloated departments, including the Police Department and Chicago Public Schools, that need audits and reform.
Chicago does not need ideology. It needs balance.
— Joseph Harrod, Chicago
Put layoffs on table
DePaul University recently announced that it was laying off more than 100 staff members because of financial pressures. Private companies frequently lay off employees for the same reason.
The city of Chicago recently experienced its nearly annual budget crisis, but I didn’t read anywhere that layoffs were being considered for city workers. Mayor Brandon Johnson has said that he opposes such layoffs.
Maybe it’s time to reduce some of the city’s workforce bloat by some substantial layoffs.
— Brian C. Owen, Chicago
Safety on the CTA
The headline and subheadline “High-profile incidents belie CTA crime rates: Riders rattled by violent events, but chances of becoming victim are very small” (Dec. 26) are insulting to anyone who uses public transportation.
Encouraging people to use the transit system because “most of the criminal activity that takes place on CTA trains, buses or system property is comparatively minor” does not reassure riders. One victim was described as being physically unharmed “besides a bloody nose and a bruised face.”
Of the 4,116 reported crimes on the CTA this year through Dec. 10, the most common was for unarmed batteries, which include “getting slapped, shoved, punched or otherwise hit in a way that doesn’t lead to serious injury.” These facts are not encouraging.
People expect to use public transportation and reach their destination unharmed. That is not asking too much.
— Cathleen Bylina, Chicago
Alienating experiences
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, I don’t use the CTA nearly as much as I used to. It’s not because I feel unsafe. It’s because there’s no more enforcement of rules to prevent common annoyances on the trains like smoking, people listening to music without headphones and people stretched out across seats taking naps. Riding the CTA is not fun anymore.
On a recent Red Line trip from North/Clybourn to Granville at approximately 9 p.m., I encountered many unpleasant things. Mind you, I rarely just sit there and take it. I’ll switch cars at the next stop.
When I boarded the train, the first car reeked of cigarette smoke. I switched cars at Fullerton, only to have another car smell of cigarette smoke. I switched again at Belmont. That car smelled of marijuana smoke. I switched again at Addison to find a car with three people stretched out sleeping, and at least one of them clearly needed a bath. Yet again, I switched at Sheridan. That car was fine until someone got on at Wilson having a loud phone conversation on speaker.
At this point, I finally gave in and stayed in the car. At Argyle, another person got on playing loud music on their phone, competing with the other person still screeching into their phone. Since Granville wasn’t too far away, I just sat there and swore I would never ride the CTA again.
I realize that some people might find the CTA unsafe, but personally, I just find it unmanned, extremely aggravating and out of control.
— Michael Dunghe, Chicago
What Old Town needs
The recent Business section front-page story from the Miami Herald about a Florida barrier island community that pushed back against overdevelopment (“Paradise not lost,” Dec. 25) struck a familiar chord here in Chicago.
The article does not describe angry neighbors, nor people opposed to change. It describes citizens who took the time to understand their zoning laws, attend hearings, request documents and ask hard but reasonable questions — especially when the pace of approvals seemed to outrun the public’s understanding of the consequences.
That lesson matters in Old Town today.
Our neighborhood is not fighting growth or progress. But when major projects — such as the Fern Hill Canvas proposal and the redevelopment around the former Treasure Island site — arrive with complex zoning, private parking arrangements and evolving retail promises, residents deserve clarity. Traffic impacts, access changes and long-term land use decisions should be openly examined before they reshape daily life.
The Florida residents discovered that patience, organization and respect for process can still improve outcomes. Development continued — but it did so more thoughtfully, with the community’s voice included instead of sidelined.
Old Town is asking for the same thing: transparency, accountability, and planning that strengthens, rather than overwhelms, the neighborhoods we love.
— Tim Carew, Chicago
Catholicism steadfast
Pope Leo XIV reminds me of why I became Catholic. When the Democrats and Republicans argue over issues such as immigration, assisted suicide, LGBTQ issues and abortion, the Catholic Church does not adjust its views to align with either. It is consistent from year to year rather than yielding to whichever party is in power.
— Phillip Seeberg, Naperville
Senate race is a yawn
The very simple reason that the race to replace U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin has started slow is that the candidates on offer are just not interesting. Yawn!
Candidates who garner attention are offering something beyond the same old rhetoric. Yes, prices are too high, immigration raids are terrible and President Donald Trump needs to be held accountable. But who are the people with new ideas to deal with these and all the other issues confronting our country?
Perhaps one of the reasons that a candidate such as Zohran Mamdani in New York was able to get national attention is the fact that he offered new solutions to old problems. Even if people didn’t always agree with his proposals, it gave us and the media something to discuss and consider.
— Carole Merl, Aurora
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