Chicago City Hall departures raise questions on Johnson administration: 'The problem is the mayor'

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The departure of a number of key leaders in Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration this week is raising questions about what's really behind all the shake-ups at Chicago City Hall.

Some political observers believe that more turnover could be coming.

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There are changes that happen anytime there is a new administration, sometimes it happens right away as it did when Mayor Johnson took over, but this week's departures could signal trouble at City Hall.

Mayor Johnson's leadership team experienced some significant turbulence this week. Most notably with the resignation of aviation commissioner Jamie Rhee, who reportedly was forced out.

"I mean, certainly I'm very concerned being in such a tumultuous time with all this important work going on, the modernization, the expansion at O'Hare International Airport," said 19th Ward Ald. Ald. Matthew O'Shea, Aviation Committee Chairman.

However, Johnson's administration has seen significant turnover, with a number of people leaving in the last eight months alone.

Besides Rhee, OEMC Executive Director Jose Tirado and Joe Calvello, the mayor's chief strategy officer, also left this week for other jobs.

Also departing on their own were Comptroller Chase Rehwinkel and former Chief of Staff Rich Guidice. Communications director Ronnie Reese was fired.

Guidice said he left eight months ago because it was time to go.

"The political atmosphere was a little charged, to say the least, with the other politicians in the city," Guidice said.

Monday night, the mayor made it clear he's shaking things up.

"If you ain't with us, you just gotta go," Johnson said Monday. "So, now I'm in a position now where where I'll be making some decisions in the days to come."

Democratic strategist Tom Bowen said the problem may not be the mayor's staff.

"The problem is the mayor, and the voters have clearly made the judgment about that. It's why he has a 15% approval rating," Bowen said. "Don't forget, he hired an entire school board, fired them all, and then still couldn't get the changes he wanted at Chicago Public Schools. So the problem isn't the staff, the problem is him."

Johnson's comments Monday have many observers expecting the City Hall could lose more good leadership at a time when it's really needed.

"When things aren't going well, they tend to get worse," Bowen said. "You really need strong leadership to arrest a decline like this and get things back going in the right direction."

Guidice said the mayor's progressive politics, the same ones that got him elected, are now a problem. He said his recommendation is for the mayor be more moderate in his policies.

"These first 21 months have been very tumultuous, and there's been a lot of uncertainty," Ald. O'Shea said. "We need stability."