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experience. It’s the elephant in the Chicago mayoral election room, the canary in the coal mine.
We often hear that the runoff candidates, former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, are diametrically opposed on issues, policies and ideologies. But in the campaign debates, forums and press conferences over the last few months, experience matters less.
This campaign is a job interview. The first question voters should ask: Does the candidate have the skills and management capabilities to manage the third largest city in the United States, which is more “experienced”? Who has the “right” experience?
Recent history shows that these questions can be difficult to answer.
Take a look at the soon-to-be mayor of Chicago. In the 2019 mayoral election, Lori Lightfoot was a successful barrister, but he had no experience managing a large organization.
However, in the first round she defeated 13 other contenders. She defeated Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle in a hotly contested runoff ballot. A former alderman, Precwinkle ran the county’s large government for eight years and was chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party.
On policy, Lightfoot brings a rich and deep background in policing, having served as president of the Chicago Police Commission and chair of the Police Accountability Task Force. However, as mayor, she is incapable of dealing with crime, is despised by the police public, and wears a jacket for the failed leadership of a hand-picked police chief.
Chicago is now in a public safety crisis, which was a major factor leading to Lightfoot’s February 28 loss.
Paul Vallas appears to have a significant edge in management and government experience.In the early 1990s, he served as the city’s revenue and budget director under then-Mayor Richard M. Daly. . In 1995, Daley appointed Vallas as CEO of his CPS. He then ran public schools in Philadelphia, New Orleans and Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Valas has made policing and public safety central to his campaigns. He has very little of his experience in the field. he is a technocrat. Despite his many attempts, he was never elected to office. Johnson and his supporters are a keen reminder that Vallas’ career has been dogged by controversy and accusations of mismanagement.
Vallas certainly knows government, and can rattle off a dizzying array of public policy prescriptions and every acronym one knows. Can he lead and inspire?
When it comes to professional experience, 69-year-old Varras is 20 years behind Johnson, 46.
Johnson is a former CPS teacher, organizer of the Chicago Teachers Union, and Cook County Commissioner since 2018. Even less than the administrative experience Lightfoot brings to city hall.
Johnson talks about “investing in people,” claiming that his personal experience shows him to be a strong collaborator and negotiator.
“My father was a civil servant, retired, carpenter, and pastor. He raised all 10 of us in a house with one toilet. Yes, that leadership needs compassion,” he declared at the end. A week in televised debates.
Johnson doesn’t control many people, except for the kids in the classroom. And he risks falling into Jesús “Chuy” Garcia’s trap. In the 2015 mayoral runoff ballot, Mayor Rahm Emanuel successfully portrayed his opponent, then-Cook County Commissioner Garcia, as an inexperienced and unprepared person. When asked what he would do to solve the city’s myriad financial challenges, Garcia punted. I promised to appoint a meeting.
Johnson was also vague about financial matters. He’s trying to solve all the city’s problems, he claims.
Johnson must show voters that he can manage a corporate-sized government on a $16.7 billion budget.
The most vexing unanswered question is how both candidates will manage their relationships with their main patrons and supporters: the CTU for Johnson and the Fraternal Order of Police for Vallas.
Who has the most experience? Who has the right experience?He’s three weeks away from the April 4th election. We may not know the answer until it is too late.
Laura Washington is a political commentator and longtime Chicago journalist. Her column appears in The Tribune every Monday.write a letter to her LauraLauraWashington@gmail.com.
Submit a letter of no more than 400 words to the editor here or email letters@chicagoribune.com.
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