Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson on Thursday fleshed out the senior staff who will accompany him into office in a way that shows the continued influence of County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and the Chicago Teachers Union.
Annette Guzman, Preckwinkle’s budget director for Cook County government, will be the city’s budget director under Johnson. She replaces Susie Park, who has spent the last four years as part of a triumvirate of women credited with engineering a financial turnaround under outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot. That turnaround includes a record-low, $85 million shortfall, a $272 million pension pre-payment and 13 bond rating upgrades.
Guzman’s resume also includes stints as deputy Cook County assessor; deputy chief administrator and chief of staff for the Civilian Office of Police Accountability and corporate attorney at Sidley Austin LLP.
“It’s not just, you get the budget done and that’s it. It’s the entire process of being sure that the budget numbers are met all the way through the process. She’s been very good at that,” Preckwinkle said of Guzman.
“I’m sorry to lose her, but I know that Brandon will definitely need her skills and talents on the city side. The city faces clearly a lot more challenges than the county at this point.”
Guzman will join a financial team under Johnson that also includes newly-appointed Chief Financial Officer Jill Jaworski, managing director and partner at PFM Financial Advisors.
Jaworski replaces Jennie Huang Bennett as the city’s CFO, who hailed her replacement as an “incredible” choice—a “well respected municipal finance professional with decades of experience.
“I expect her to continue on the path of fiscal discipline” and build upon the “financial turnaround” under Lightfoot, Bennett wrote in an email.
Preckwinkle’s behind-the-scenes influence is also reflected in Johnson’s choice for policy director.
She’s S. Mayumi “Umi” Grigsby, chair and commissioner of the Cook County Human Rights Commission. She formerly was chief of policy for City Clerk Anna Valencia and an assistant prosecutor under Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.
Jennifer Johnson, chief of staff to the CTU that employed Brandon Johnson as a paid organizer, will serve as deputy mayor for education. She is a former history teacher at Lincoln Park High School.
CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said she was “absolutely elated” about the appointment. She called Jennifer Johnson “a unifier, a bridge-builder” and the “best thing that ever happened to education in Chicago.”
“She is one of the smartest people in this entire ecosystem. She has a grasp of the broad framework and an eye for detail. She is relentless in getting it right. … I have depended on her totally in this first year of my administration. ... She exceeds any objective or expectation put before her,” the CTU president said.
“The children of Chicago will have the most fierce advocate. The parents of Chicago will have someone they can trust.”
Vanquished mayoral challenger Paul Vallas repeatedly questioned whether a paid organizer for the CTU whose mayoral campaign was bankrolled by the union and its affiliates could represent the interests of Chicago taxpayers in negotiations with the CTU.
The same question could be asked of Jennifer Johnson, the CTU’s “chief negotiator.”
But Davis Gates predicted Jennifer Johnson would create a “different type of negotiating dynamic” between City Hall and the CTU after “less than ideal” bargaining over the last three contracts.
“That perspective on negotiations was obviously broken. I foresee Jen Johnson creating a new table that speaks first to the sustainability of the Chicago Public Schools and the needs of every single family that brings their children into the Chicago Public Schools. I cannot wait for the innovations that the city receives as a result of her leadership,” Davis Gates said.
Pointing to Brandon Johnson’s roots as a middle-school teacher, Davis Gates said: “What once was is no longer. We do not have a mayor who has declared war on us. The previous two mayors were very clear about being adversaries. The mayor-elect and his team … will lead the transformation and sustainability of our public school system.”
Former CTU President Jesse Sharkey joined his successor in singing the praises of Jennifer Johnson. The new deputy mayor for education is a “remarkable human being who has a deep respect and admiration from anyone lucky enough to get to work with her,” Sharkey said.
“Jen is caring, pays attention to people on a personal level. Jen is brilliant — one of the best-informed, most thoughtful, smartest people I know. … She’s incredibly conscientious and hard-working. Everyone who works with her admires the hell out of her,” he added.
“She’s been really important to the CTU and all of the things that we’ve accomplished. ... It will be the city’s gain and it’ll definitely be the people in the union who experience a loss.”
Brandon Johnson’s senior staff will be particularly important since the new mayor is not ready to clean house. He has asked nearly all Lightfoot’s appointees, cabinet members and agency chiefs to stay for at least three months, giving them all a chance to prove themselves and the new boss an opportunity to assemble his own team if they don’t measure up.
