Mayor Johnson on the record: The full Tribune Q&A as he approaches 1 year in office

Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. J.B. Pritzker, left, before a press conference unveiling a new exhibit for the Archaeopteryx fossil at the Field Museum on May 6, 2024.

Mayor Brandon Johnson takes a shot of tequila prior to stepping off during the Mexican Independence Day parade in Little Village on Sept. 16, 2023. Mayor Brandon Johnson walks through pit road on Columbus Drive while the NASCAR Cup Series is delayed due to rain in Grant Park in Chicago on July 2, 2023.

Mayor Brandon Johnson presides over a Chicago City Council meeting at City Hall on Jan. 24, 2024. Mayor Brandon Johnson comforts Chicago Public Schools student Mouhamed Mbengue at Kenwood Academy High School on the first day of school on Aug. 21, 2023.Ahead of school starting, Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks at a rally celebrating Chicago Public Schools Safe Passage workers at Wintrust Arena, Aug. 15, 2023.

Mayor Brandon Johnson receives a high five from pre-kindergarten students during the first day of school at Brighton Park Elementary School in Chicago on Aug.21, 2023. We hired 20% more young people for summer jobs. We added an additional $76 million on top of that. So we’re in a position to hire 28,000 young people for summer jobs. First time in the history of Chicago where you have a community safety deputy mayor. It’s a big deal, particularly when it comes to how we address community safety in this city.

What we have done, though, as a result of that, there are no more people sleeping on floors in police districts. We’ve cleared out the airports. We’ve saved the taxpayers over $200 million through our work of renegotiating contracts that I inherited. These investments could have been made two administrations ago, it could have been three administrations ago. They didn’t do it. I did. And that’s why I’m optimistic in this moment, because everything that I said that we need to do as a city together, we are doing that. We’re investing in people. And we’re addressing age-old systems that have failed the people of Chicago for too long.

And so the work to de-escalate is work that is ongoing. The work to keep people safe, that’s the most important element here. And we’ve done both of those things. We’re keeping people safe. We’re protecting people’s First Amendment right. And when things get to be more intense, we’re pushing for greater de-escalation.A: Well, in some instances — and I’ve been a part of these demonstrations — in some instances, arrests are part of the objective. I’ll say it like that. I’ve taken arrest before.

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