In the aftermath of presiding over his first City Council meeting, Mayor Brandon Johnson gave himself the highest grade possible.
“If you’re keeping score, I believe it was 41 alderpersons voted for it,” Johnson told reporters. “I would consider that an ‘A’ grade. I mean—I don’t know what a brother’s gotta do to get a high five around here, but we made history today.”
I must admit—I find Johnson’s wisecracks refreshing. We haven’t had a mayor with a sense of humor since Harold Washington. It’s probably only a matter of time, though, before the realities of life and politics grind Johnson into a snarling sneering sourpuss. Like the three mayors who came before him.
But that grade—the A? Is it accurate? Hmm . . .
Johnson gave himself an A because he convinced 41 of 50 alderpersons to vote for his council reorganization plan.
Well, not to get all technical and everything, but 41 out of 50 amounts to 82 percent. And most teachers would give that a B.
I’m reminded of Ms. Fountain, one of the greatest grammar school social studies teachers my kids ever had. She was tough. In her class, only 93 percent and above resulted in an A. Her grading policy led to the following exchange . . .
Me: You know, back in the day, anything above 90 percent was an A.
Ms. Fountain: Nobody asked you about back in the day.
I do get Johnson’s point. It was a lopsided win that showed he was in charge. And in this city, which has always had a weakness for gangsters, that’s what matters most.
That is, mayoral success is generally viewed as a mayor’s ability to steamroll or even humiliate their opposition. So if your model for great mayors is Rahm and Daley—and those are the two mainstream Chicago worships—Johnson’s off to a good start. No matter how much you may despise the lefties who elected him.
Not that crushing the opposition is healthy for the city. It’s overkill. It only takes 25 council votes to pass legislation (the mayor breaks ties). No need to run up a score. Apparently, Mayors Daley and Rahm had a hunger for big votes (50-0, 49-1, and so forth), as though lopsided majorities compensated for some hidden inadequacies.
Last week’s reorganization was actually the council’s second reorganization in the last two months. The other took place at a meeting a few days before Johnson’s April 4 runoff against Paul Vallas.
In that first reorganization, a handful of Mayor Lori Lightfoot allies forged a coalition that approved its council chairs.
I enjoyed that. I’m so sick and tired of mayors selecting council chairs. It’s antithetical to a healthy democracy; dysfunctional for the executive branch to dominate the legislative one, especially because one is supposed to be a check and balance on the other.
It also leads to really bad policies that never get adequately explained, because there is no need for a mayor to justify a deal that he or she knows the council will rubber-stamp. Like, to pick the most obvious, selling the parking meters for a fraction of their worth.
In that first reorganization, the alderpeople stitched together an interesting coalition of former adversaries, including alders who supported Vallas and alders who supported Johnson, and others, like Alderperson Scott Waguespack, who were neutral.
I didn’t think that reorganization would last once a new mayor took office. And sure enough, Mayor Johnson pushed through an ordinance that rearranged the chairs, replacing alders he didn’t trust with alders he did. Most notably, he ousted Waguespack as chair of finance in favor of Alderperson Pat Dowell.
A few words about Waguespack . . .
I’ve admired Waguespack since he first got elected alderperson of the 32nd Ward in 2007, beating what was left of the Dan Rostenkowski machine in and around Roscoe Village and Bucktown.
For the next 12 years, he was one of the only alders with the courage to consistently defy Mayors Daley and Rahm—even voted against the parking meter deal.
In 2019, he had the foresight to endorse Lightfoot early, when most Chicagoans didn’t even know her name.
In appreciation, Lightfoot designated Waguespack to chair finance, the important committee that oversees contracts, TIF deals, and budgets.
Waguespack was the best finance chair . . . well, ever. Or at least in my lifetime. Which isn’t saying much, since for almost 30 years, the finance chair was Alderperson Ed Burke. Who, as you probably know, is under federal indictment for allegedly using his influence as finance chair to strong-arm TIF vendors into hiring his law firm to handle their property tax appeals.
Waguespack hired a good staff that efficiently ran the committee with less of a budget and fewer employees than Burke employed. So he did more for less while managing to get through four years without shaking down city vendors. He doesn’t even have a property tax appeals business. Imagine that—a Chicago politician who didn’t use his influence to make money.
But Waguespack was not a Johnson ally. He supported Lightfoot in round one and remained neutral in the runoff, even though the choice, if that’s what you call it, was between Johnson, an Elizabeth Warren Democrat, and Vallas, a MAGA sympathizer.
When the election was over, Waguespack took things a step further, essentially warning Johnson not to replace him as finance chair. Pretty much guaranteeing Johnson would do just that.
At last week’s meeting, Waguespack took the high road, congratulating Dowell and saying, “I hope to forge a productive working relationship . . . with the new administration.”
He was one of the nine votes against the reorganization plan. So it looks as though he’s back to his days as a council independent. We can always use a few of those, no matter who’s the mayor.
Anyway, congratulations, Mayor Johnson on your A, which, back in the day, would constitute a B—though I got a feeling your response to that will be like the one I got from Ms. Fountain.
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