CHICAGO — There is more trouble on the 5th Floor at City Hall, as influential City Council members want the new head of the Mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs terminated.
A top aide to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is under fire for anti-police comments made on a podcast in 2021.
“I met Kennedy through a group working to defund the [expletive] police in Chicago,” said Dave Maher on his ‘This is Your Afterlife with David Maher’ podcast introducing Kennedy Bartley, who at the time was legislative director of United Working Families, a group affiliated with the Chicago Teachers Union.
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In the interview, first unearthed by WFLD-TV, Maher and Bartley discussed a fatal police shooting in Denver and possibly abolishing the police.
“If I die, especially at the hands of the [expletive] pigs, like don’t name [expletive] after me,” Bartley said. “I don’t want a piece of legislation named after me, a road, none of that [expletive]. I would be honored if that got more folks to abolition.”
On Wednesday, several City Council members called for Bartley’s resignation.
Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41st Ward): “Absolutely disgusting. You’re stoking the demonization of police officers.”
Ald. Peter Chico (10th Ward): “It’s indefensible. The men and women who protect us every day on the streets of Chicago, they understand what that means, and it’s hurtful and it’s indefensible.”
Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38th Ward): “Very disappointed that somebody like this who should have been vetted properly obviously was not vetted. She’s got to go, plain and simple.”
The controversy follows Sydney Holman’s abrupt resignation as the mayor’s chief liaison to the City Council. Holman was reportedly asked to report to Kennedy as part of administration consolidation. With budget season in full swing, key Council members say it’s awful timing for staff turmoil.
“Communication is so important and really where we’ve seen a deficit with this administration is regular dialogue, and so, I would say there is a need to really ramp that up and improve that operation,” said Ald. Brendan Reily (42nd Ward).
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Mayor Johnson’s allies have a different take; they say all is well on the 5th floor.
“Resignation doesn’t mean anything more than repositioning someone else to that assignment. I’m confident that he will surround himself with those that are needed to reach the goals he has for the city, which he has identified since Day One,” said Ald. William Hall (6th Ward).
WGN contacted the Mayor’s Office for comment but has not yet heard back.
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