A grassroots coalition of organizers and faith leaders who created traction for Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2023 election are evaluating his accomplishments and commitment to campaign promises as Johnson approaches his second anniversary in office.
For the most part, the organizations that got behind him prior to the election are still supporting him, though many say they are looking for additional political movement.
“We have faith in the Johnson administration,” said Cheryl Miller, with United Working Families (UWF), an independent political organization that was one of the first groups to endorse Johnson’s candidacy in the 2023 mayoral race. “And we also recognize that the Johnson administration represents more than the [interests of the] fifth floor – it represents community.”
Miller is among the grassroots organizers and elected officials speaking out about Johnson’s work ethic and progress on demands that include expanding youth jobs, reopening shuttered mental health clinics, ending the city’s ShotSpotter contract, and investing in housing and worker protections. Despite institutional constraints and pressure from Chicago’s business elite, many of Johnson’s allies say they have faith in his administration’s ability to bring the city together and implement the policies they’ve long championed.
“Right now, with the Trump administration trying to throw daggers at every Democratic city in the country, I think we need to come together and figure out ways to balance our budget and sustain our operations at the rate that we have had them,” said vice mayor and Ald. Walter Burnett (27th Ward), who is also the Council’s longest-serving member.
“This is a bad time today to be fighting each other,” said Burnett, referring to infighting within the City Council. “The fight should be against Washington, D.C., and we need to figure out a way to keep our city services the way that they are.”
Kofi Ademola, founder of the youth-led GoodKids MadCity (GKMC), echoed Burnett’s sentiments and called out far-right threats. While GKMC does not endorse political candidates, it is part of The People’s Unity Platform (PUP), a multiracial coalition of neighborhood organizations and labor unions. The PUP also didn’t endorse Johnson, but judging by the praise he received during a PUP mayoral candidate’s forum in 2023, it became evident that he was the crowd favorite.
“Our position was, no matter who was going to get elected, we wanted to push a people’s agenda, and that was with the idea of having certain policies like Treatment Not Trauma (TNT), the Peacebook and Bring Chicago Home,” Ademola said.
PUP also supported policies such as fair and equitable housing, free access to mental health care, violence prevention and restorative justice.
“You can pick any issue and there are so many people in Chicago that have been organizing around it, and Mayor Brandon Johnson comes from that movement,” said Diego Morales, who chairs the 25th Ward’s independent political organization (IPO). “We knew we would have a much better shot of accomplishing our goals, of helping [to make] our communities better with the Brandon Johnson administration.”
Since taking office, Johnson has implemented policies that align with the campaign wishes of the diverse coalition. Here’s a bulleted list of some of those wins:
- Worker protections: City Council passed measures to end the subminimum wage for tipped workers and guarantee 10 days of paid leave for all.
- Mental health care: The Roseland East 115th Street Health Hub opened in January 2025. City-sponsored mental health services have also expanded in Pilsen and Garfield Park. “Johnson picked up our talking points,” said Bettina Johnson, of the Treatment Not Trauma campaign. “That’s due to pressure from [our] campaign.”
- Youth jobs: The 2025 budget allocated $50 million to expand youth jobs through the One Summer Chicago program, which will increase from 28,000 in 2024 to 29,000 this summer. GKMC’s Peacekeepers program, under the city’s 2025 budget, will also expand from 101 jobs to 210 jobs.
- Housing and homelessness: A $1.25 billion housing and economic development bond passed in 2024, and the city merged homeless and migrant shelters into one system, doubling bed capacity to 6,800. New homeless shelters were opened in Rogers Park and Little Village.
- Sanctuary City protections: Johnson has resisted efforts to roll back Chicago’s sanctuary city status, despite backlash from local and national naysayers.
While progress has been made on several of the organizers’ demands and Johnson’s campaign promises, some constituents say there is still room for improvement on his political messages and on unresolved issues that are important to Johnson’s base.
Rogers Park resident Michael Harrington, who co-chairs independent grassroots political organization Network 49, says communication and messaging from the mayor is still a sore spot. Harrington’s group works to improve the 49th Ward, and it endorsed Johnson for mayor in 2023.
“Who is advising him?” Harrington said. “Who is communicating what he’s doing? That’s the weakness.”
Harrington suggested that Johnson conduct additional outreach across the city’s 50 wards through town hall-style meetings, where he could listen to residents and their concerns.
Bishop Larry Trotter, senior pastor at Sweet Holy Spirit Church, said that unbalanced media coverage has been unfair to Johnson, particularly when it comes to reporting on policies benefiting Black neighborhoods.
“There has not been enough positive media to show some of the things that he has done and is doing,” Trotter said. “We went through a summer where he hired more people than ever for these youth summer jobs, and it was never celebrated, never really applauded.”
This is why, in recent months, Johnson has been strategic about sharing his commitments to Black Chicago with the Black press and the faith community.
However, the goodwill information campaign doesn’t erase some feelings of betrayal, said Nat Palmer, a member of the #StopShotSpotter community campaign. In February 2024, after many protests, Johnson moved to end the city’s contract with ShotSpotter, a controversial gunshot detection technology. However, last month, the city requested proposals for a new gunshot detection technology.
“He ran [for mayor] on canceling ShotSpotter,” Palmer said. “He didn’t run on getting a new gunshot detection service. He ran on de-prioritizing policing.”
Palmer was also among 40 people arrested during a pro-Palestine protest that blocked the I-190 entrance to O’Hare Airport in April 2024. Though most of the group pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of obstructing traffic, two members are still fighting the charges in court. The case is being pursued by the city’s Law Department, which is led by Mary Richardson-Lowry, a Johnson appointee. Now known as the “O’Hare 40,” the group describes Johnson’s silence on the charges as a betrayal, especially given that some of them worked on his campaign as staffers and canvassers.
Still, Palmer continues to support Johnson and wants him to stand “ten toes down” on the policies he campaigned on and enact policies that directly give resources to Black Chicagoans.
“If he really wants to counter the right-wing attacks that are going to continue happening, he really needs to push farther left,” Palmer said.
Community organizers and City Council members alike want to see the Johnson administration prioritize additional policies, like fully implementing Treatment Not Trauma, the Peacebook Ordinance, and passing the Clean Affordable Building and Cumulative Impacts Ordinances. The latter was named as a first-quarter priority for Johnson.
In addition, Ald. Maria Hadden (49th Ward), who co-chairs the City Council’s Progressive Caucus, wants him to support policies introduced by Progressive alders.
“I do hear concerns from some of my constituents about the way the mayor has handled ethics reforms,” Hadden said. “He’s opposed almost every one of them, and that’s concerning [for] a progressive, independent ward.”
There’s also the desire, by some, for Johnson and City Council to lower the speed limit to 20 mph, according to Alex Perez, an advocacy manager at the Active Transportation Alliance.
Perez said Johnson had previously publicly supported lowering the speed limit, but now that the City Council voted the measure down, talk is diminishing.
The TRiiBE reached out to Mayor Johnson’s office for comment about the request for proposals for a new gunshot detection technology, the arrests and charges of organizers from the pro-Palestine movement, lowering the speed limit and backing ethics reforms.
Added Perez: “We’ll continue to work with the mayor and his office to pursue some of these recommendations that were put out, or just keep them accountable.”
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