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First, the mayor’s office isn’t transparent. When the meeting was announced, I requested the agenda and presentation. His office refused to share them with me. What’s with the secrecy?
This immediately signaled that this meeting was designed to be a “gotcha” moment. Fortunately, I was able to get a sense of the discussion topics from media reports about a previous meeting.
For starters, the mayor said he got 98% of what he wanted in the budget that was passed by a majority of city council members. What he didn’t mention is that some of what was included in his own budget proposals were increases in rideshare fees—expanding the rideshare congestion zone to include Hyde Park and Kenwood, a 100% increase in business licensing fees, increased city debt collection, and increases in grocery bag fees.
Additionally, Mayor Johnson’s proposed budget proposed cuts to programs for youth mentoring, programs for survivors of gender-based violence, and drastic cuts to our libraries. The budget I voted for, the one that passed in December, restored funding to those programs, including $4.5 million dollars for in-school youth mentoring and $5 million dollars and 200 union jobs in our libraries, along with additional support for survivors of gender-based violence. I also voted for this budget to avoid an unprecedented government shutdown that would have impacted city workers and city services during one of the coldest times of the year.
The mayor also said the FY 2026 budget is $163 million out of balance and that we need to prepare for service cuts and layoffs. In December, Budget Director Annette Guzman shared that the 2026 budget had a $15 million surplus.
Mayor Johnson is obligated to pass a balanced budget. Did he allow an unbalanced budget to pass, or was it balanced? If it wasn’t balanced, why didn’t he use his mayoral veto power to send it back and work with the council to make sure it was balanced?
Pardon the pun, but something isn’t quite adding up. If the budget is, in fact, $163 million short, it would make more sense to work with the city council to resolve the issue rather than running around the city blaming city council members for his inability to gain support for his proposed budget. It’s also in bad taste to publicly discuss service cuts and layoffs without engaging the unions whose members will be affected.
In times of crisis, we need leadership that is credible and offers solutions rather than blame. Someone who works to bring people together to solve our problems, instead of claiming sole ownership of good ideas.
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