CHICAGO—Today, flanked by hundreds of Transition Committee members, Mayor Brandon Johnson, heard testimony concerning the most pressing issues facing Chicago and received the 200-plus page report offered as a guide to his administration in building a better, stronger and safer Chicago.
Representatives from each of the 11 subcommittees, speaking on behalf of nearly 400 members who worked diligently to create robust, comprehensive recommendations presented brief summaries on each of the issue areas covered in the report. The report details ideas and solutions on a range of pressing challenges, from education to housing to public safety and more.
The event was kicked off by Congresswoman Delia Ramirez who welcomed Mayor Johnson and the crowd of her fellow committee members in both Spanish and English. “I want to extend my deepest gratitude to you, Mayor Johnson, for bringing together a truly diverse and deeply committed set of stakeholders. Together we have developed a historic blueprint for building a better, safer, and stronger Chicago for everyone,” she said.
She was followed by Dr. Barbara Ransby, who emphasized the collaborative nature of the committee members’ work. “It was intense, it was short, it was imperfect, but it was extremely important work. It was an exercise in democratic practice, truth telling and consensus building,” she said. “In 11 subcommittees nearly 400 strangers met, reflected, debated, and forged consensus about a set of critical issues facing this city.”
Business leader Charles Smith delivered the report to the mayor, saying “I am privileged, Mayor, to present you with this blueprint that captures the views, hopes, experiences and best thinking of all of us here today, and of many others with whom we consulted and encountered in this journey. May it help us work together as a city to grow the Soul of Chicago.”
Within the 11 subcommittee reports, recurring themes emerged reflecting the complex and layered issues that confront the city, including issues of community abandonment co-existing with inspiring narratives of community resilience; the need for greater transparency and accountability in government; the unequal access to power and decision making across race, class, age, and zip code co-exists with a new commitment to inclusive co-governance; and the crucial need to address race and economic disparity with an understanding of Chicago’s history and how this disparity impacts our communities differently and unevenly.
The final report is designed to serve as a blueprint, for building bridges between the city’s diverse communities and voices and between vision and action, so that every child, every family, and every neighborhood can experience the fully embodied Soul of Chicago that the Mayor invoked in his inauguration speech—so that all of our neighborhoods are safe, equitable and truly thriving.
The report can be downloaded at: http://bit.ly/chi23blueprint
It will be available in Spanish.
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