So Mayor Brandon Johnson, in that by-now-trademark fashion of his to deny everything he isn't taking credit for, says he first learned of the problems with his former communications director, Ronnie Reese, when allegations of bad behavior became public.
Which leads me to this question. Did he ever talk to the man?
Because I did, and was it memorable.
I shouldn't bother going into this. You don't care about the inner workings of city government, do you? Because I tend to bypass the gritty details. To me, politics is like sports: The same thing happening over and over.
But maybe I'm wrong. For instance, when our brittle mayor quietly jettisoned his communications director in October, I did notice. And set my hands on the keyboard. Then sighed, rolled my eyes and found another topic. It appeared to be just another spin of the revolving door in an administration that long ago assumed the quality of a crashing airplane in a Bugs Bunny cartoon: a higher and higher aerodynamic whine, leading to the inevitable splat.
But now the mayor appears shocked, shocked to be told there was trouble in the communications office. Well, while I have no knowledge of the specific misdeeds Reese is accused of committing — bullying, sexual harassment and such — I do have experience with him, interacting firsthand.
Return with me to the golden days of yesteryear — well, July anyway. Old Joe Biden finally permitted his fingers be pried off the steering wheel. Democratic hopes soared. The Democratic National Convention was coming up. I was tasked with writing an in-depth piece on how the event might affect the reputation of Chicago. It hadn't happened yet, and so we didn't know. Would it be a 1968-level disaster? A 1996-ish triumph?
I had my own operating theory — that it didn't matter. The city's reputation, after being abused by every right-wing aggrievance junkie who could fog a mirror, couldn't become worse. That said, the city also didn't have anything to gain. The people most vigorously using the city as a dog whistle really weren't into the whole reevaluating their opinions based on new data thing.
But I am, and didn't want to merely regurgitate my opinions. So I began contacting various Chicago boosters, PR pros and North Michigan Avenue Association sorts.
I thought I'd better reach out to the city. I approached the mayor's press office the way a person tosses a coin into a wishing well, a time-honored ritual without much expectation of actual return. With nothing to lose, I figured, do it with a little panache. I sent the following email:
Good morning! I'm writing a column on how the upcoming Democratic National Convention will affect the global reputation of the city. I'm assuming there is no one in your office who would offer comments for such a story, but want to ask anyway, just so I can, if I so desire, say I tried and got nothing. Thank you for considering my request, to the degree that you actually do.
Johnson is flat out lying as usual. He knew what Reese was doing & ignored it, probably on orders from the rotten teachers union people who ordered him to ignore it!
ReplyDeleteHe couldn't tell the truth even if he got a brain transplant from Diogenes!
I hesitate to call anyone a liar. I'm content with "over his head" or "incompetent": how did he not know? And if he did know (or at least hear of the rumors), how did he not consider those stories important enough to verify? How was he so incurious that he didn't investigate after two (or more?) employees from his staff were not just fired but added to the DNH list? I, too, want him to succeed -- for the health of our city -- but he makes it harder and harder to believe he will.
ReplyDeleteThornton quarry?
ReplyDeleteI guess this is tangential, but I have to say, I'm not very impressed by the quality of that assignment -- "go write about what effect the convention might have on Chicago's image." It's vague and invites the kind of anodyne, nothing answer that Neil eventually got from the city flack. If I were the supervisor of that assignment editor, I might very well tell them to start putting a little more thought into their story ideas.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Shermann Dilla Thomas has any connections in City Hall. Seems to me he's got a lot more diplomatic acumen than the people Neil has been talking to and about.
ReplyDeletejohn
Well, you have to admit (don't you?) that your email was snarky. No comparison to the response, of course, but still ...
ReplyDeleteHad the same thought. But the response was unnecessarily hostile and totally unprofessional.
Deletethe email was not near as snarky as this blog post / newspaper article.
DeleteYou're obviously new here. Stick around, and you'll see what snarky is. Or don't.
Deleteas a former teacher, you'd think landslide brandon would come up with a better canned response to everything than "the dog ate my homework"
ReplyDelete