CHICAGO – Mayor Brandon Johnson joined CNN’s ‘The Assignment’ with Audie Cornish yesterday to discuss how Chicago is leading the way for working people through investing in people. Johnson emphasized his administration’s commitment to creating an economy that works for everyone, regardless of federal support. 

See excerpts from Mayor Johnson’s interview below:  

“For too long, our public accommodations have not been fully supported. And the wealth gap between those who have, get to have more, and those with less continue to lose. That is the economy that we have to disrupt. What we need is we need partners at the federal level to understand the impact that their decisions have on local economies.” 

“The city of Chicago is leading the way in this moment around the value system that the people of America want to see carried out in governance. It's why we put forth $830 million towards infrastructure, because we can't count on the federal government to respond to our infrastructure needs. And so we're going to pave streets. We're going to repair viaducts and bridges, and we're going to make sure that there's lighting and other infrastructure demands.” 

“I'm doing the spending, absolutely, where the people of this city can see the greatest impact, regardless of the federal government's inability to actually believe in the working people of Chicago and America. I have to do my part, regardless of who's in the White House and the White House’s failures won't stop me as mayor of the city of Chicago from investing in people.” 

“What I'm simply saying is, no matter who is telling us no or no matter who is discouraging us from organizing, we cannot allow individuals to dictate and determine how our democracy evolves. It's going to require us to knock on doors, to have organizing sessions, to have conversations with our faith communities, with labor. I mean, this is the pathway for to build an economy that works for everyone.” 

Listen to the full interview at this link. 

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