There has been a lot of hand-wringing lately about the testy relationship between Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Frankly, they can feud all they want — just so long as they get their jobs done.
If they’re feuding but still otherwise competent in their work, that’s mainly their problem, not ours. If they get along swimmingly but aren’t effective leaders, that’s not acceptable.
Johnson’s now-discredited plan to house up to 2,000 migrants at a time in a tent encampment in Brighton Park has cast the fraught relationship in sharp relief. It made clear that the governor and mayor sometimes just can’t get along — and the result can be tolerable despite their fractiousness.
For Johnson, just seven months into his term as mayor, this presents a question of whether working with the governor, instead of jousting with him, might be better for the city in the end. In the most public spat since Johnson took office, the mayor stumbled. Inexplicably, he bulled ahead with plans for the encampment in Brighton Park even after receiving evidence that this choice was a bad one.
This, in turn, handed Pritzker the opportunity, and the responsibility, to step in and do what was right: shutting down construction of the enclosure at 38th Street and California Avenue because, without costly remediation, it would put the health and safety of its temporary residents at risk.
[ Editorial: Brighton Park migrant tent site is too much of a problem. J.B. Pritzker should kill this plan. ]
Johnson’s tragicomedy of errors on this issue can be traced to his decision to set a ridiculously low budget for spending on the migrant problem this year. The $150 million in his 2024 budget is well below city resettlement and integration costs that are running at $40 million a month.
This left Pritzker no choice but to step up and cover the cost of the encampment. And the governor wisely insisted on approval rights for the site location and planning in exchange.
Good call, Governor.
Signs proclaiming environmental hazards are hung on a fence at the site of a proposed migrant camp in Brighton Park on Dec. 5, 2023. (Trent Sprague/Chicago Tribune)
It turned out Johnson could not be trusted to do this right. He continued to push for the encampment even after the city consultants found mercury, arsenic and other toxic leave-behinds on a site where a zinc smelter once operated.
Instead of immediately halting tent construction, Johnson moved to bury the report in the black hole of news: after dark on a Friday, with copies of the 800-page study going only to people who sought it through Freedom of Information Act requests. Even the governor’s office did not get an advance peek.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency read quickly, though. And by early this week, it revealed page after page of horrific detail. This left shame on Johnson, who was satisfied that 6 inches of compacted gravel would keep inhabitants safe, while the IEPA and anyone experienced with remediation knows it would take an impermeable barrier between the tainted soil and any living thing.
Pritzker pivoted quickly to a second good judgment call: turning to the Archdiocese of Chicago for housing alternatives. This appeared to bring in a source of new prospects after a search for appropriate sites was running out of options. The interim solution of a former CVS store won’t be able to meet the need should the number of migrants arriving by bus from the Texas border surge again.
Asylum-seekers who must shelter temporarily in Chicago — people who could one day become our colleagues, neighbors and friends — will benefit.
This, while Johnson compounded his errors by offering weak excuses for them.
As white-hot as the issues and their stakes seemed this week, it won’t be long before the details fade. And it’s not too late for Johnson to take away something useful from the experience too.
Chicago mayors when they first get elected understandably believe they’re in charge of their city and its future. Quite quickly, the smart ones learn differently. Unexpected events completely disrupt their agenda. And the power of the purse, they learn, rests as surely in Springfield as it does in Chicago. Many critical public services in Chicago are funded largely by the state: schools, roads and other infrastructure, tax incentives to lure business, environmental remediation. The list goes on.
The money is one of several factors that motivate most Chicago mayors to find ways to work with the governor. It’s the straightest line toward getting the resources they need to enact the policies they prize. Most mayors figure this out, make adjustments and accommodations, and eventually learn to work with the governor and legislature to get what they need.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel feuded furiously with Gov. Bruce Rauner over education but eventually got state money for Chicago Public Schools pensions in exchange for agreeing to a Rauner-supported tax break for people who donate money to private schools.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot just couldn’t find her way to “yes” with Pritzker, and it cost the city. A more effective Chicago mayor could have persuaded Pritzker to oppose an elected school board bill that even the governor said was flawed. But Lightfoot couldn’t, and the bill became law.
This was partly a reflection of the political and interpersonal relations between Chicago mayors and Illinois governors. Emanuel had a deeply respected intergovernmental affairs team, while Lightfoot’s group never found its footing.
The good news for Johnson is that it’s still the early days. He bungled the encampment, but there’s still time to learn.
Perhaps Johnson might even take time to consider how much better the city might fare if our mayor and governor could actually just get along.
David Greising is president and CEO of the Better Government Association.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
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