Brandon Johnson, Paul Vallas go after each other for public safety, fiscal proposals at mayoral forum
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago mayoral finalists Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas reiterated their talking points in a forum Thursday evening, while taking shots at each other for issues ranging from their positions on public safety to their handling of municipal budgets.
ABC 7, Univision Chicago, and the League of Women Voters sponsored the forum. ABC 7 anchor Judy Hsu moderated, while ABC 7 Political Reporter Craig Wall and Univision Chicago reporter Alex Hernandez asked the candidates questions – along with an audience composed of representatives from numerous community groups.
The issue of public safety has been at the top of both Johnson and Vallas' campaigns, though they differ on how best to make the city safer. When asked about how they would handle crime – with violent crime up 47 percent in the last year – each reiterated the plans they have articulated several times.
Johnson called for hiring 200 more detectives, a greater effort to implement the federal consent decree mandating reforms in the Chicago Police Department, and ensuring the enforcement of laws now on the books such as red flag laws regarding gun possession. He also called for a long-term approach to addressing the root causes of crime – including youth employment and job creation.
Vallas called for a return to "community-based policing," rather than 911 calls that are answered in three hours instead of three minutes due to the lack of beat cars. He went on to accuse Johnson of "wanting to defund the police" as he claimed Johnson does not support his proposals for filling 1,100 vacancies in the CPD and bringing back retired officers and officers who have left the department.
"First of all, I'm not going to defund the police. I never said it," Johnson said. "But what we're going to do is train and promote 200 more detectives – because we're not solving crime in the city of Chicago – especially in Black and brown poor communities."
At a debate earlier this week at the UIC Forum, Johnson was asked about his past statement that defunding the police was "an actual, real political goal" – which dates back to 2020. He responded: "I said it was a political goal I never said it was mine."
Vallas was chief executive officer of the Chicago Public Schools from 1995 until 2001, while Johnson – now a Cook County commissioner – previously worked as a teacher and is still a registered lobbyist for the Chicago Teachers Union. Beginning with their responses to a question about crime committed by juvenile offenders, each accused the other of being in some way to blame for ruining schools.
Vallas took issue with Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union for the length of time schools were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Johnson took issue with Vallas' record as head of CPS and later as the head of schools in other cities – particularly with regard to privatization of schools – and also said Johnson's city budget policies were to blame for schools being shuttered.
Vallas said juvenile crime rose because of local schools being closed for 15 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, "long after the science had demonstrated that schools could reopen safely."
"My opponent talks about school closings – he set up the market for schools to be closed," Johnson fired back. "He got so good at it, he went all around the country doing it."
"The only one up there who's ever closed schools is my opponent. I opened 78 school buildings in six years because our enrollment was growing by 40,000 – 125,000 more kids today," Vallas retorted before going on to reference his term as head of schools in New Orleans from 2007 until 2011. "Have you ever been to New Orleans? Did you ever see New Orleans after Katrina? Eighty percent of those schools were destroyed. I actually had to build a school district out of nothing, from scratch."
Johnson called Vallas' term heading schools in New Orleans a failure, while defending the more recent school closures for the pandemic.
"People from New Orleans actually came here to Chicago today, Paul, to talk about your failures. The truth of the matter is you privatized two-thirds the district, which caused scores of Black women to be laid off because of your failures," Johnson said. "Look, the entire economy shut down from a 100-year pandemic. We did that because we had to save lives. So I know it's a fair Republican talking point because it's a part of your party."
The candidates also debated how long it takes to become a police officer. Johnson said if Vallas hired hundreds more police officers upon taking office, they would not be seen on the streets for two years because it would take that long for them to complete training.
"We cannot wait two years for police officer to show up in places like Pilsen, Little Village, or Austin, or Englewood," Johnson said. "It takes up to two years to become a police officer in the city of Chicago. We need safety right now."
Vallas said this estimate was not correct.
"It takes six months to put a new police officer on the street, not two years," he said. "Secondly, if you restore the morale in the Police Department, you won't have a thousand officers leaving a year."
Johnson said Vallas was wrong, and it takes at least 18 months to become a police officer. He said even the police for the Cook County Forest Preserve District need a year to complete training. Johnson went on to insinuate that Vallas would put officers on the streets without adequate training.
"If we reduce the standards of what it takes to become a police officer, we wouldn't have the best quality of officers on the front lines," he said.
Johnson also accused Vallas of mismanaging budgets, while Vallas took Johnson to task for his tax proposals.
"You are not going to promote businesses by reimposing the head tax, which taxes small businesses," Vallas said – adding that a hike in the hotel-motel tax, which Johnson has proposed, would put more strain on an industry that already has the highest taxes in the country in Chicago.
Johnson said the hotel-motel tax hike he has proposed would only amount to $1 more per hotel room. He said he is not considering a city income tax as Vallas claimed – but he did say the wealthy need to pay a greater share in taxes.
"Democrats all over country believe that the wealthy in this city, in this country, have to put more skin in the game," Johnson said.
To Vallas, Johnson added, "You clearly don't know much about budgets, because everywhere you've gone, you've failed."
As Johnson said Vallas' fiscal policies set the stage for current financial woes in Chicago, Vallas emphasized that his term as Mayor Richard M. Daley's budget director is 30 years in the past.
"I'm surprised he's not criticizing me for being behind the Grassy Knoll in Dallas," Vallas said.
The candidates were also permitted each to ask a question directly of one another. Johnson took issue with an incident involving some Vallas supporters earlier in the day.
Johnson said many of his own supporters had gathered on the city's South Side to talk about their negative experiences with Vallas leading school districts in Chicago, Philadelphia, and New Orleans. He said people with Vallas campaign signs "accosted seniors" right outside the event.
Johnson asked Vallas to commit to disavowing such behavior and challenging whoever had come with the campaign signs to "safe, healthy" discourse. Vallas replied that he has been heckled plenty of times himself and has not complained.
"I really don't quite know what he's talking about, but I'll tell you – at most of my forums, I've had people come to disrupt my forums. In fact, at the UIC Pavilion, I continually was disrupted – particularly during my closing comments. And I've said nothing about that," he said. "I don't expect any of the induvial that are supporting me to go in and n too be disruptive of other candidates. But the point is, I've been the constant victim of disruptions. But I basically weathered the storm and followed through. This is a rough-and-tumble campaign, and I'm sure we've got supporters on both sides who feel enthusiastic about their candidates."
Vallas stuck to policy issues on his question for Johnson – but Johnson was quick to say Vallas was misrepresenting his positions. He asked Johnson how the city and in particular its poorest communities would prosper if Johnson would raise taxes and "defund the police."
"First of all, Paul, I'm not going to defund the police, and you know that. You know that. I have passed multibillion-dollar budgets, over and over again. I'm not going to do that. But here's the reality – you can't' run a multibillion-dollar budget off of bake sales. The fact that we have property taxes that are forcing families out of the city of Chicago, and communities that are unsafe – you have to do what safe American cities do – invest in people. Look, Paul – if you don't like my ideas in terms of how to raise revenue, then come up with one. We can actually collaborate now. But you have refused to offer any real budget plan of how we're going to generate revenue to save lives."
The candidates were asked questions on a number of other subjects – including plans to ensure pension payments, ways to make home ownership more attainable for Chicagoans, the needs of Chicago's Asian American-Pacific Islander community, and how to make the City Council more independent, among other issues.
CBS 2 will be hosting a debate between Johnson and Vallas at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 28 – one week before Election Day.
The runoff election is Tuesday, April 4. Early voting begins this coming Monday, March 20.
