When Brandon Johnson takes the oath as mayor of Chicago today, he’ll put his hand on a family Bible. His wife, Stacie, and three children will be nearby, and so will his 80-year-old father, Andrew, who as a pastor and mental health worker helped shape the new mayor’s view of the world. Special guests: Rev. Drew Sheard, the minister of Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ in Detroit. It’s the largest Pentecostal denomination in the country. Sheard’s wife is Karen Clark Sheard, of the famed Clark Sisters. So “of course” she’ll be singing, Johnson told Playbook in an interview Friday in his bustling transition office. Johnson's speech: It will address “uniting the city and how we have an incredible opportunity and, quite frankly, a responsibility to set a course for today that will lead to transformation 100 years from now,” he said. Relying on Stacie: Johnson’s wife, whom he described as “brilliant” and “an incredible writer,” will have had a hand in his speech. Once sworn in, Johnson will greet well-wishers at City Hall, then be feted at a private gala. When he gets to work: Tuesday, Johnson will meet with his senior leadership team, he said, “to develop a plan for asylum seekers and public safety, especially as we go into the summer. Those goals are top of mind.” His approach: Johnson wants to work with county, state and federal officials to “devise a plan.” As he’s said before, it needs to be “collaborative.” Holdover team members: We asked about Johnson giving three-month trials to commissioners from Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration. Johnson said he wouldn’t call it a trial, per se. “This three-month period is going to give me an opportunity, as well as these individuals, to get to know one another,” he said. He wants to make sure their vision aligns with his vision. On the bubble for three months: Allison Arwady, the Chicago Department of Public Health commissioner (who Johnson said during the campaign would be let go), and Chicago Transit Authority President Dorval Carter. Public safety and gun violence also a priority: “It does require us to move with urgency,” the mayor-elect said, pointing to gun manufacturers being the crux of the problem. “These manufacturers have been allowed to create a tool to execute on. So that, again, takes a lot of collaboration with every level of government [and with] businesses and corporations.” About mental health facilities: Johnson said he wants to “fully assess and evaluate” but that he’s committed to providing public health facilities that provide holistic health-care services. Public-run facilities were closed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The Lightfoot administration then pivoted to expand mental health-care through nonprofits. Johnson is considering reopening public health facilities, while also working with nonprofits. As we wrapped up, Johnson said he feels widespread “genuine excitement” about his administration. “People are rooting for the city of Chicago to win,” he asserted Case in point: Emanuel sent a message to Johnson, via Twitter. And as if on queue, transition-team members burst into the room as our interview wrapped up to give Johnson a box. Inside was a newly framed picture of the mayor-elect standing with President Joe Biden from a Selma, Ala., event two months ago. 100 years of mayoral inauguration speeches, by Tribune’s Kori Rumore MEANWHILE … A GRAND GOODBYE: Mayor Lori Lightfoot exited City Hall on Friday with hundreds of supporters, City Hall allies and bagpipers on hand. NBC 5 has the video. Leaving her mark: In her last hours on the Fifth Floor, Lightfoot issued 10 executive orders that further strengthen her policy agendas, including measures to shore up city finances, expand programs that help residents who struggle to pay fines and water bills and tighten the zoning process. The latter order goes to the heart of “aldermanic prerogative,” which has allowed City Council members to have control of zoning in their wards. It’s an issue she targeted on her first day in office. Here’s the executive order. What it means for Johnson: The executive orders can be rescinded by the incoming mayor, but doing so would put Johnson in a tricky spot as seeming to support some of the machine-style tradition of giving aldermen outsized power. Sun-Times’ Mitchell Armentrout has more. Tribune’s deep dive: Lightfoot was “a combative mayor who led Chicago through crises, some of her own making,” write Gregory Pratt, Alice Yin and A.D. Quig. SPEAKING OF RAHM | From Rahmbo to Rahm-bassador: How an unlikely diplomat has wooed Japan: Emanuel’s interpretation of his job as ambassador to Japan “is a signature mix of mayor, political operative, fundraiser and media hound,” according to The Washington Post.
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