There are a lot of elephants in the room in Chicago. The biggest elephant is “Da Mayor.” Brandon Johnson gives me the impression of a deer caught in the headlights. When he was running, he never had a concise answer to any question. Even more irksome was his responding “right?” to the interviewer as if that person should agree and therefore concur on whether Brandon’s replies were accurate and true.
He is totally out of his league when it comes to running a big city. His being a former Cook County Commissioner did not put him in charge of a budget; it only allowed him to vote on it. It’s very easy to spend taxpayer dollars. One would think he would be a little bit more fiscally responsible when spending other folks’ money, but he’s going through our money as if there’s no tomorrow.
Has he really been looking at this city? Look at Michigan Avenue and all the vacant storefronts. It no longer has the feel of shoppers spending their dollars. Take a look at downtown Chicago. Madison and Pulaski looks better.
At some point, the city of Chicago needs to have a class action lawsuit filed against it. For years, citizens were prevented from establishing any kind of businesses on the public way. Lord knows in the Black community, they made the people that had front-yard candy stands close up their entrepreneurial business on their personal property. Nowadays, start at 63rd Street and drive north on Kedzie. There are more folks establishing businesses on public sidewalks than ever. And they’re selling cooked food as well as fruit, vegetables and whatever else they can.
How much money is the city losing by not getting tax dollars on the transactions of those businesses? Why is it OK for some but not others? How can the city sidewalks, which are publicly owned, be turned into private entrepreneurial locations? There is a lot of basic unfairness occurring. Another elephant in the room.
Seeing that Brandon is willing to give away anything and everything in his quest to find his footing, the 100-ton elephant known as the Chicago Teachers Union has their hands out. Once they get their goodies under the current mayor, the next mayor is going to be stuck with the mess.
The proposed new Bears stadium is not a benefit to the average person. If the privately owned sports group want a stadium, let them pay for it! Where will the cars park? And most importantly, who will get to build it? The unemployment rate for Black men is still atrocious and how the city deals with that elephant is something we all should watch.
Pay attention, Chicago!
