Mayor Brandon Johnson establishes city’s first chief homelessness officer
The move comes a day before a public hearing before the City Council on the mayor’s proposal to raise the real estate transfer tax on high-end home sales to create dedicated funding to combat homelessness.
By Emmanuel Camarillo
The city’s new chief homelessness officer is tasked with finding solutions for the more than 68,000 unhoused in the city.
Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday signed an executive order creating Chicago’s first chief homelessness officer.
The person in the role will be tasked with providing solutions “for stable, permanent and affordable housing” for the unhoused in the city, Johnson said in a statement announcing the new position.
“By establishing a Chief Homelessness Officer for the City of Chicago, we will have a critical point of contact to coordinate efforts and leverage the full force of government to provide shelter for all people,” Johnson said.
The officer will be responsible for “fostering greater policy and operational coordination across city departments and sister agencies” to tackle the crisis, the mayor’s office said.
The move comes a day ahead of a public hearing before the City Council on the mayor’s proposal to raise the real estate transfer tax on high-end home sales to create dedicated funding to combat homelessness.
An estimated 68,440 Chicago residents were experiencing homelessness at the beginning of 2022, according to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. The city’s department of family and support services found 6,139 unhoused residents in homeless shelters, encampments and unsheltered areas during a single night in January.
Emily Krisciunas, executive director of Chicago Funders Together to End Homelessness, said the organization was pleased to partner with the mayor on the new position.
“A dedicated, senior-level role within the mayor’s office will help advance sustainable, long-term solutions to expand access to housing for all and help end homelessness in Chicago,” Krisciunas said in a statement.
The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, one of the organizations that advocated for the creation of the role, celebrated the announcement on X, formerly known asTwitter.
“The Chief Homelessness Officer is needed now more than ever. We look forward to working together to prevent and end homelessness,” the organization said in a post.
This lad is mush. Bigger than lori was. Sad so Sad.
ReplyDeleteHomelessness is usually caused by alcoholism , drug addiction, and mental illness. Therefore the focus should be to provide treatment to treat and cure the disease if possible.
ReplyDeleteReally? This is a priority? I’m all for Vets and psych pts. getting what’s due for them but ship the rest back.
ReplyDeleteI think its time for Chicago to go back to a partisan Mayoral election and get rid of the current "open primary". This is the result when you have a open primary for Mayor in Chicago. 50 people run, the qualified people get buried since they lose/divide the vote in the primary.
ReplyDeleteAs a result we get the last 2 mayor who haven't a clue how to manage a city and don't have the education qualifications to be Mayor. While other people in the 50 had qualifications but couldn't get elected.
Chicago is an exercise in democrat failure.
ReplyDeleteHomelessness is caused by many unfortunate problems and mainly by not having enough income to pay for shelter. I escaped homelessness during the great migration because my grandmother encouraged me to learn many different skills to become self-employed to keep the income coming in.
ReplyDeleteWe were taught to avoid alcohol, marijuana, street drugs, and all chemicals that harm the brain and causes mental illness that results in homelessness and other problems.
This clown is making citizens of Chicongo wish they were still living in the good ol' Beetlejuice days.
ReplyDelete