In 2019, Mayor Lori Lightfoot campaigned as a progressive reformer. In town halls and community meetings throughout the city, she promised to undo the harm caused by eight years of Rahm Emanuel. Lightfoot vowed to re-open the public mental health clinics Emanuel shuttered. She pledged to re-establish the Department of Environment, dismantled by Emanuel in 2012.
Now nearing the end of her first, and perhaps only, term, the mayor has yet to enact many, if not most, of her 2019 campaign promises. The few campaign promises Lightfoot has kept — like passing civilian oversight of the police or removing the carveouts from the city’s sanctuary ordinance — happened only after significant pressure from grassroots activists and community organizations.
