Austin Berg
@Austin__Berg • 18,273 subscribers
Co-founder @ironlightinc (2025 @C_and_E Public Affairs Firm of the Year) | Chicago Policy Center + @illinoispolicy | Co-author of “The New Chicago Way”
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Videos
WATCH: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson fails to name one other city where a head tax similar to what he’s proposing is working well. Q: Alright, so if the head tax is such a great idea, where is it working now? What cities? Where? Who do you turn to? Where are you looking at and saying, “Wow, wish we were doing what they’re doing”? Because I can’t find one. A: Well, look, if you’re asking me if I believe that there is a model that’s better than the City of Chicago right now, I’m going to tell you there isn’t. We are setting the trend.
Austin Berg1,679,328 görüntüleme • 11 ay önce
WATCH: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker heavily criticizes Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s team this morning for their handling of the Chicago Bears deal and lobbying state government in general. “I know that the mayor has no plan. He has come up with no plan at all about how the Bears would end up in the city of Chicago. So that’s problematic. I’d love them to be in the city but we are three years in now and he still has no plan.” “The mayor has shown up every spring at the end of session to pronounce what he would like to see happen. As you know the budget gets put together starting in November…I present that budget to the legislature in February. So that seems like a good time period to come talk to the governor’s office. Then there’s February to May. There’s all that time to come talk to the legislature, which has my budget in hand, or the governor’s office.” “Again, we’ve seen almost nothing out of the mayoral administration here on that subject or really any other. So to show up in May and have a bunch of demands seems like late in the game. And it’s unfortunate that’s happened most years.” Johnson’s chief of external affairs is Kennedy Bartley, who formerly worked as a Chicago Teachers Union-funded organizer for police and prison abolition. The mayor’s former top lobbyist, Sydney Holman, resigned in 2024 after Johnson elevated Bartley to oversee the mayor’s office of intergovernmental affairs.
Austin Berg653,351 görüntüleme • 5 ay önce
WATCH: Rahm Emanuel on what he would do to cut the cost of housing in Chicago. “I would say OK, I’m gonna put all our zoning laws, all our building laws, and all our permitting/planning laws, and I’m gonna measure them up against Dallas, Houston and Phoenix. You tell me what we have and why they don’t have it. And if you can’t justify it, get it the hell out of here.”
Austin Berg264,653 görüntüleme • 2 ay önce
![Food fight: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson fires back at Gov. JB Pritzker on WVON today. “The disconnect is we do come from different experiences. I’m not a billionaire. I’m not the heir to billions of dollars…the governor and I had different upbringings. He doesn’t know what it’s like to open up a refrigerator [and] ain’t no food in it.” Whatever you think of Pritzker, Johnson, or the Bears deal, this public escalation is bad for Chicagoans.](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2056917344346149301/amplify_video_thumb/2056917191547625472/img/1BlNEwc4StcBf2l0.jpg)
Food fight: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson fires back at Gov. JB Pritzker on WVON today. “The disconnect is we do come from different experiences. I’m not a billionaire. I’m not the heir to billions of dollars…the governor and I had different upbringings. He doesn’t know what it’s like to open up a refrigerator [and] ain’t no food in it.” Whatever you think of Pritzker, Johnson, or the Bears deal, this public escalation is bad for Chicagoans.
Austin Berg520,093 görüntüleme • 5 ay önce
WATCH: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson slams City Council’s passage of an ordinance requiring a three-fifths majority vote to approve new debt, referring to it as the “Three-Fifths Compromise.” Chicago has the lowest credit rating of any major city in the country in large part due to reckless borrowing. The city has been hit with three credit downgrades under the Johnson administration. A majority of the Council’s Black Caucus voted in favor of the measure to require a three-fifths vote for new borrowing, which is a common safeguard in other big cities.
Austin Berg109,291 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce
![WATCH: In an interview last night, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates says she would personally pass petitions for Mayor Brandon Johnson’s re-election. “Where the governor has failed to fund our schools, the mayor has given us a billion dollars…I don’t think we’ve done better at Chicago Public Schools than under [Johnson’s] leadership.”](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2082513134229544995/amplify_video_thumb/2082512787368988672/img/ZJBZXisy8A2mdabb.jpg)
WATCH: In an interview last night, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates says she would personally pass petitions for Mayor Brandon Johnson’s re-election. “Where the governor has failed to fund our schools, the mayor has given us a billion dollars…I don’t think we’ve done better at Chicago Public Schools than under [Johnson’s] leadership.”
Austin Berg124,155 görüntüleme • 3 ay önce
Chicago nonprofit executive Roderick Wilson claims “we can’t look at building more housing to get to affordability.” In 2025, no big city built less housing per capita than Chicago. Wilson is backing Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Protecting Renters Ordinance (PRO), which he says is “not about affordability.”
Austin Berg55,437 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce
WATCH: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks condescendingly to a reporter who asks him about a letter signed by nearly 700 principals and assistant principals opposing efforts from Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union to fire Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez.
Austin Berg699,621 görüntüleme • 1 yıl önce
WATCH: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson flips out at a reporter who asks whether it’s a good idea for him to travel to London for a Bears game this week. And whether he is currently on leave from his former employer and largest campaign donor, the Chicago Teachers Union.
Austin Berg720,021 görüntüleme • 2 yıl önce
WATCH: Fireworks immediately flying at the Chicago Public Schools board meeting. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson appointed new board member Angel Velez just hours before the district’s budget vote in order to secure more support for a $200 million high-interest loan. Fellow board member Che “Rhymefest” Smith asked if Velez would abstain from the budget vote, given his oath of office to respect taxpayer interests. Velez has not received board member briefings on the budget prior to this vote. Johnson-appointed Board President Sean Harden then steps in to stop Smith’s line of questioning.
Austin Berg299,499 görüntüleme • 1 yıl önce
Here’s a supercut of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson promising voters he would not raise their property taxes. Today he broke that promise under pressure from government unions, including the Chicago Teachers Union, Johnson’s largest donor and former employer.
Austin Berg478,560 görüntüleme • 2 yıl önce
BREAKING: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s hand-picked school board just voted unanimously to fire Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez without cause. Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union have been pushing for months to oust Martinez following his refusal to back Johnson’s demand for a $300M high-interest loan to pay for a new CTU contract. The CTU is Johnson’s largest campaign funder and former employer.
Austin Berg424,624 görüntüleme • 1 yıl önce
![NEW: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson says he is fighting to give new taxing powers to Springfield by changing the state constitution. “We’ve received clear indication from members of the General Assembly that they support this [millionaire tax] effort that I’m pushing.” But that would require a statewide referendum. And there is no path to passing a statewide constitutional amendment in Illinois with Johnson’s name attached. In 2020, the progressive tax constitutional amendment on the ballot won 71% support from Chicago voters and still lost statewide. In 2024, Johnson’s Bring Chicago Home referendum won just 48% from Chicago voters. When the mayor can’t win a simple majority in his own city, it’s difficult to believe state lawmakers would want a referendum on his leadership on every ballot in Illinois.](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2016162261799207012/amplify_video_thumb/2016162134229393409/img/epG0qoLioUOra1ye.jpg)
NEW: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson says he is fighting to give new taxing powers to Springfield by changing the state constitution. “We’ve received clear indication from members of the General Assembly that they support this [millionaire tax] effort that I’m pushing.” But that would require a statewide referendum. And there is no path to passing a statewide constitutional amendment in Illinois with Johnson’s name attached. In 2020, the progressive tax constitutional amendment on the ballot won 71% support from Chicago voters and still lost statewide. In 2024, Johnson’s Bring Chicago Home referendum won just 48% from Chicago voters. When the mayor can’t win a simple majority in his own city, it’s difficult to believe state lawmakers would want a referendum on his leadership on every ballot in Illinois.
Austin Berg193,556 görüntüleme • 9 ay önce
![WATCH: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker blasts Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for his failure to communicate with Pritzker’s office. “They don’t reach out very often and it seems like they don’t have good relationships in Springfield, in part because they don’t do the outreach that’s necessary…” “He’s called me perhaps five times [in] two years…the last call we got from them was in September. And then once in December. We, by the way, scheduled calls and then they didn’t show up.” Mayor Johnson has repeatedly claimed that he is working closely with the Pritzker administration to secure more tax revenue for Chicago Public Schools, among other things.](https://image.24vids.com/tw-1876723276107620366/amplify_video_thumb/1876723164438286339/img/4DVfQHVYjlscnlgT.jpg)
WATCH: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker blasts Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for his failure to communicate with Pritzker’s office. “They don’t reach out very often and it seems like they don’t have good relationships in Springfield, in part because they don’t do the outreach that’s necessary…” “He’s called me perhaps five times [in] two years…the last call we got from them was in September. And then once in December. We, by the way, scheduled calls and then they didn’t show up.” Mayor Johnson has repeatedly claimed that he is working closely with the Pritzker administration to secure more tax revenue for Chicago Public Schools, among other things.
Austin Berg409,756 görüntüleme • 1 yıl önce
BREAKING: The Chicago Board of Education votes 12-7 to pass a budget that does NOT include the $200M high-interest loan pushed by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union for more than a year. This is a HUGE win for Chicagoans. Thanks so much to the hundreds of voters who contacted their board member using our platform over the two weeks. You made a big difference! ROLL CALL ⬇️ *Appointed by Brandon Johnson **Elected by voters ***Ran unopposed 12 VOTING AYE (against the loan) Che "Rhymefest" Smith** Yesenia Lopez** Therese Boyle** Cydney Wallace* Jennifer Custer** Ellen Rosenfeld** Carlos Rivas** Angel Gutierrez** Jessica Biggs** Anusha Thotakura* Ebony DeBerry** Ed Bannon* 7 VOTING NO (for the loan) Emma Lozano* Angel Velez* Rios-Sierra* Jitu Brown*** Olga Bautista* Michilla Blaise* Karen Zaccor* 1 ABSTAIN Debby Pope*
Austin Berg277,342 görüntüleme • 1 yıl önce