Melba Lara: Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson is already laying out his immediate priorities for once he takes office. Johnson won 51%t of the vote, defeating rival Paul Vallas in yesterday’s (TUES) election to become the next mayor. WBEZ City Politics Reporter Mariah Woelfel sat down with Johnson today to discuss the whirlwind of the past 24 hours, how he will try to reduce crime in the city, and how he’ll select his administration.

Mariah Woelfel: Of the calls you've gotten since last night? What's the most surprising one.

Brandon Johnson: Oh, wow. It's been an outpour of people all over the city of Chicago who really want to see a united city. But I really appreciate the calls from my family, friends, of course elected officials, not just here in Illinois, but from around the country. It's been remarkable.

Mariah Woelfel: Have you gotten a call from Mr. Barack Obama at all?

Brandon Johnson: Not yet, but I'm hoping that I get a chance to talk to our dear brother, President Barack Obama.

Mariah Woelfel: All right, give me three by bullet point actions for your 1st 100 days in office.

Brandon Johnson: It's gonna be important that we double the amount of young people that we hire for the summer. Look, I've made this clear, public safety is top of mind for all residents of the city of Chicago. We want to prevent violence in the city of Chicago. So making sure that youth hiring doubles, so that it's not just for summer hiring, but it's year round. Of course, we want to make sure that we are addressing the transportation system along with our environment. And then of course, mental health care. In order for us to have a better, stronger and safer Chicago, we have to deal with the immediate crisis, but we also have to begin to look a long term in providing mental health support for the residents of the city of Chicago. And that includes our law enforcement, who walk upon trauma every single day. And I need to make sure that those who are serving to protect our city, a very dangerous job, that they have the support that they need. 

Mariah Woelfel: It wasn't part of your budget plan to slash the police department's budget or defund the police as you were accused of, you know, intending to do throughout the campaign. But regardless, I'm sure there are many police officers who voted for Vallas, who do believe that that's in your heart of hearts and that's your intention. How do you build a bridge with police officers who see you as the defund candidate?

Brandon Johnson: Well, look, I've served as a public school teacher in the city of Chicago. And when you serve in the city of Chicago, you see firsthand, the type of trauma that causes tremendous turmoil and police officers in many instances, like teachers are oftentimes asked to do their job and someone else's. I'm going to understand that better than any other person who was running for office. I'm gonna have a conversation with our police officers with our lieutenants, our sergeants to come up with a plan that ultimately places police officers in a position to do their job and not place them in a position where the strained and conflict that exists in communities have pulled us apart. My job and responsibilities to unite the city and bring people together. I'm going to do that as mayor of Chicago.

Mariah Woelfel: Do you plan to hire Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates or anyone from the CTU in your cabinet level positions, like Deputy of Education or anything like that?

Brandon Johnson: I believe that Stacy Davis Gates has already been elected, and I trust that she is comfortable with her position. We're gonna search for individuals who have expertise in violence prevention, who have expertise in healthcare, education, environment, transportation, all of it. I'm looking for the best possible people in the city of Chicago to help restore and unite this city.

Melba Lara: That was Chicago mayor elect Braden Johnson, speaking with WBEZ city politics reporter Mariah Woelfel. This is WBEZ.

WBEZ transcripts are generated by an automatic speech recognition service. We do our best to edit for misspellings and typos, but mistakes do come through.