Mayor Brandon Johnson attends slain CPD officer's visitation, speaks with migrants on 1st day
Johnson issues 4 executive orders hours after swearing in, aimed at tackling safety, youth employment, migrants and more
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Brandon Johnson arrived at City Hall Tuesday morning, for his first full day as Chicago mayor.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson's inauguration speech
Chicagoans from every corner of the city toasted the new mayor at his inauguration's final celebration, the People's Ball, capping off a very busy inauguration day
Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson sits down 1-on-1 with ABC7's Cheryl Burton
But Johnson acknowledged amid the party that the hard work begins Tuesday morning.
"I can't wait to see what we do together and if my day wasn't so long, I might just sing you a song tonight," Johnson said. "However, I got to get to work for the people of Chicago first thing in the morning. God bless you Chicago."
What do executive orders day about Mayor Brandon Johnson's plans for Chicago?
Johnson's chief of staff Rich Guidice arrived at City Hall Tuesday morning and stopped to speak about what is at the top of the agenda on day one.
"We're ready to go to work certainly rolling his sleeves up," Guidice said. "We've had conversations early this morning on a variety of subjects as you would expect...asylum seekers are certainly center of attention, certainly public safety is at the top of our agenda."
The new mayor's top priorities were laid out in a series of four executive orders he signed just hours after being sworn in Monday. They address youth employment, public safety, labor relations, and immigrations and migrants.
While he initially did not have a public agenda Tuesday, a quiet morning gave way to an extremely busy afternoon for the new mayor. First, he traveled to Oak Lawn for the visitation of slain CPD Officer Aréanah Preston, where he was joined by Interim Police Superintendent Fred Waller to pay their respects.
Johnson then headed down to the 12th District police station on the Near West Side, where asylum and migrants bussed to Chicago from the U.S.-Mexico border have been sleeping on the floor. He spoke to migrants and officers at the station.
He then moved onto a nearby migrant respite center. He said he wanted to get a firsthand look at where families were sleeping at respite centers and police stations.
Speaking after his visits, he did not reveal any new details of his plan to address the migrant crisis the city is facing, but did say his administration is coordinating with nonprofits and looking for more funding to help the situation, especially federal dollars.
His executive order, issued Monday, establishes a deputy mayor position specifically to focus on the needs of immigrants, migrants and asylum-seekers in Chicago.
Johnson signs first executive orders as mayor
Another executive order established a deputy mayor to address public safety, and while the job has not yet been filled, but new Public Safety Committee Chairman Alderman Brian Hopkins said he's looking forward to finding out who that will be and working closely with that person.
Hopkins said right now, they are looking ahead to the safety plan for Memorial Day Weekend.
"The mayor's transition team has been preparing a plan, a public safety plan," Alderman Hopkins said. "I don't think it's ready for release yet. I haven't seen it and again my new role as chairman of the public safety committee I assume I'll see it the minute that it is ready for public release but i know they've been working diligently."
