Chicago’s incoming liberal mayor has raised eyebrows by blaming the city’s poverty problems and surging crime rates on businesses that don’t pay tax.
Brandon Johnson, a former union organizer who was elected on Tuesday, said Chicago doesn’t have money to solve its problem because ’70 percent of large corporations in the state of Illinois don’t pay a corporate tax’.
‘It’s that type of restraint on our budget that has caused the type if disinvestment that has led to poverty, of course that has led to violence,’ said Johnson, who didn’t give the source for his claim.
The 47-year-old Cook County commissioner beat candidate Paul Vallas, 69, who had the backing of Chicago’s police union, by around 13,000 votes. Johnson will replace outgoing mayor Lori Lightfoot, who fell out of favor after crime surged under her watch.
Top of Johnson’s agenda will be reversing the city’s spiraling crime rate and dealing with out-of-control homelessness that’s transformed part of O’Hare International Airport into a grubby makeshift shelter.
Brandon Johnson, a former union organizer who was elected on Tuesday, said Chicago doesn’t have money to solve its problem because ’70 percent of large corporations in the state of Illinois don’t pay a corporate tax’
Johnson will replace outgoing mayor Lori Lightfoot, who fell out of favor after crime surged by 47% under her watch
Part of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport has been turned into a homeless camp
During the campaign, Johnson called for $80 million to be raised by taxing the wealthy. He has also called for a freeze in property taxes.
Speaking on Thursday, he told CBS: ‘I’m not going to raise property taxes, that’s been the lazy form of governance for a long time in the city of Chicago and quite frankly around the country.’
Following his election, Johnson recalled growing up in a poor family, teaching at a school in Cabrini Green, a notorious former public housing complex, and shielding his kids from gunfire in their west side neighborhood.
He referenced Civil Rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and the Rev. Jesse Jackson and called his victory a continuation of their legacies. He also noted that he was speaking on the anniversary of King’s assassination.
Chicago saw violent crime increase during the COVID-19 pandemic, hitting a 25-year high of 797 homicides in 2021, though the number decreased last year. Rises in robbery and sexual assault contributed to a 47 percent rise in overall crime in the year to March 12 2023.
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Johnson says he will promote 200 new detectives from the existing pool of police officers. He also wants to strengthen police accountability.
His other priorities include a struggling public school system, the city’s fiscal woes and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic that closed many businesses and offices.
Pictures emerged in February of homeless encampments that have sprung up inside O’Hare International Airport, leading some travelers to express concerns for their safety.
Ken Griffin, the wealthiest person in Illinois, announced in 2022 that he is moving his family and his hedge fund’s headquarters down to Miami
In 2021, Chicago became the first state in America to pay reparations to black residents after a scheme was launched in the suburb of Evanston for people who suffered lasting damage from decades of discriminatory practices
One grim photo showed a man collapsed inside an entrance vestibule, and another showed a man slumped over with no shoes on. In another, a group of half a dozen people had taken over an indoor area next to a set of escalators.
The issues in Chicago have led some high-profile residents to flee the city and the state.
Illinois’ richest man, Ken Griffin, left last year and moved his billion-dollar hedge firm Citadel Securities with him to Florida.
The father-of-three, who is worth around $30 billion, also tore into the Chicago schools’ system for pushing ‘woke ideology’ on his children.
In 2021, Chicago became the first city in America to launch a reparations program for black residents whose families suffered damage from discriminatory policies.
The suburb of Evanston established its reparations program in 2019, committing $10million over a decade using funding from the city’s three percent tax on recreational marijuana sales.
