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* Michael Loria at the Sun-Times…
While Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration scoured the city for sites to house newly arrived migrants over the past year, offers for rent-free space from one of the city’s largest private property owners went unheeded.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago has space in more than 60 shuttered churches, schools and other buildings listed for sale or for lease. The church also has other unused spaces from waves of closures in recent years.
Church officials offered up more than dozen of these locations to the city, emails reviewed by the Sun-Times show. […]
City Hall, on the other hand, has yet to agree on any such offers from the archdiocese, instead renting private shelter spaces at high costs. […]
As charges for privately owned shelters mount, the closest the city came to accepting the archdiocese’s free-rent offer was at St. Bartholomew’s, a Northwest Side parish that Wollan offered to the city in October.
A shelter was supposed to open there in January, but the deal never happened.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 7:51 am
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Does the City’s lack of engagement with the Catholic Church have anything to do with vouchers and Invest in Kids?
Comment by pragmatist Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 7:52 am
Johnson is running out of time to make a good first impression.
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 7:54 am
And the response to the measles outbreak at a migrant shelter is… scrounge up some Hispanic aldermen to talk to the migrants because you can’t find anyone in the health department who speaks Spanish?
Proving all his critics right with potentially dangerous consequences for the city in both the short and long term.
Comment by Roadrager Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 8:04 am
More progressive fail at governing.
Comment by Plano Pride Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 8:13 am
The CTU does not like private schools. The largest operator of private schools in Chicago is the Catholic Archdiocese. The Mayor is a product of CTU so he’s not going to take their help. Done.
Comment by Eire17 Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 8:19 am
Epic fail.
Words cannot begin to describe incompetence of this magnitude.
Comment by Gravitas Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 8:20 am
I heard about this months ago. can’t figure out why it did not happen but could be that Marilyn Katz was working on it even as she was quite ill and then passed away so the heavy work was gone.
Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 8:21 am
Just total incompetence on the part of the Johnson administration. And not sure I’d trust a company from Kentucky to handle anything.
Comment by West Side the Best Side Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 8:26 am
==The CTU does not like private schools. The largest operator of private schools in Chicago is the Catholic Archdiocese. The Mayor is a product of CTU so he’s not going to take their help. Done.==
Running out of yarn for your bulletin board, there.
Occam’s Razor: This administration has shown time and again it lacks the competence to address a number of the city’s problems, and seems incapable of even adequately staffing itself. Here is another example of said issue.
My personal odds on “Brandon Johnson bumbles his way into the most toxic CTU strike in a generation ” are improving.
Comment by Roadrager Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 8:30 am
From local experience, the diocese has not exactly kept their empty space in habitable or even livable condition.
Locally, instead of maintaining or repairing their vacant space, they ‘donated’ a building to Joliet after it had been left vacant. The city is now demolishing it because it is impossible to repair and is now going to cost the city approx 1.2M to demolish this donation.
Given that behavior, I wouldn’t accept any donations from the diocese either. Much less put any people in them.
On the other hand, Johnson has been pretty terrible at his job.
It’s quite possible everyone in this situation is incompetent.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 8:34 am
Has anybody thought about the cost of having to deliver food, medical care, social services, etc. to an additional 60 different locations all over the city ON TOP OF the city having to take on an additional 60 individual liabilities…compared to the current structure?
Just food for thought…not everything that shines is going to be gold.
Comment by Bloop. Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 8:37 am
I’ve been around the more progressive ward organizations, and my general take is the CTU and UWF world sees the world through the lens of oppressed versus oppressor and good versus bad. There’s no room for nuance. The Catholic Church is many things, and they do many great things. But because they operate private schools and are pro-vouchers, they are bad. On the other hand, when the mayor makes horrible mistakes, or when Stacey Davis Gates says something offensive or gets called out for duplicitous behavior, any talk of these things is seen as racist, sexist, anti-POC, etc., because that aligns with the oppressor v oppressed construct. It’s going to be a long and terrible three years.
Comment by pragmatist Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 8:40 am
I hope there are clear, demonstrable problems with those locations: lead paint on the walls, plumbing not up to code, something they can point to just as soon as their comms team is in place.
Comment by Socially DIstant watcher Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 8:42 am
Was there an estimate provided of the cost to upgrade/renovate all those locations? Noted the church was going to ask the city to foot the bill.
Comment by Buford Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 8:46 am
Free does not make anyone’s friends more wealthy.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 8:50 am
The City did not exactly “scour” Chicago looking for properties so much as it took up offers from private landlords.
This is an expression of a poor policy decision to create from whole cloth a new kind of shelter system only for asylees.
Poor policy decisions often also are bad taxpayer decisions but it’s the poor policy decision driving.
Comment by Chicago Voter Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 8:53 am
His people too.
Comment by Brandon gonna Brandon Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 8:59 am
MBJ’s incompetence is slowly creeping into malice. I’m picturing him crossing his arms and saying “Forget it.” after the Brighton Park camp debacle.
Comment by Jocko Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 9:05 am
Unfortunately Eire17 may be right because I don’t understand why this hasn’t been tried. Time for the new chief strategy officer and the new comms director to earn their pay and explain why this is happening.
Comment by levivotedforjudy Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 9:08 am
== Has anybody thought about the cost of having to deliver food, medical care, social services, etc. to an additional 60 different locations all over the city ON TOP OF the city having to take on an additional 60 individual liabilities ==
They offered 12 locations, not 60.
If that were the reason for taking a pass, a coms shop that was thinking would have acknowledged the offer publicly, thanked the archdiocese for the offer and used it as an opportunity to encourage others to offer up space for the city to use.
There is no advantage in either sitting on the offer saying nothing or declining the offer and saying nothing.
It would also seem that when the city was straining for space to house folks, inside of a building would have been better than a tent city.
Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 9:14 am
Their incompetence continues to cost taxpayers money.
Comment by Just a Citizen Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 9:56 am
Such incompetence. Will Mayor Johnson also follow through with upcoming shelter evictions and unleash the possibility of a severe measles outbreak in the city as well?
Comment by Charles Edward Cheese Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 10:02 am
Mayor Johnson - you are losing the support of progressives who put you in office. It wasn’t your friends who elected you… it was people like me who gave you a chance and saw Vallas as a terrible option. You will be a one term mayor unless you bring in people who can help you run the city. You aren’t hiring them, and you are losing those you inherited. You are also losing the support of those who put you in office at a rapid pace.
Comment by Lincoln Lad Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 10:04 am
A clear pattern of incompetence has emerged. Mayor Johnson isn’t growing into the job, he’s affirming that he’s overmatched by it.
Comment by Pundent Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 10:20 am
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 8:50 am:
Free does not make anyone’s friends more wealthy.
Bingo.
Comment by mrp Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 10:46 am
Seriously what is going on with this? If they have some sort of legit reasoning to turn down housing for migrants then they should come out and say that.
But, hey, I’m glad the “Progressive” won.
Comment by Wowie Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 10:48 am
“Bring Chicago Home”
LOL
Comment by Wowie Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 10:49 am
Turning down free housing from a charity so you can spend millions with private corporations? Hmm, doesn’t exactly instill confidence that the $100m from Bring Chicago Home that we’re told will “End Homelessness” will have the desired effect.
Comment by Under Dawg Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 10:54 am
== Noted the church was going to ask the city to foot the bill.==
Fair enough question to ask but my counter would be: The city is footing the bill at other locations as well. And if the Johnson team has legit reasons to turn down these offers maybe they should say that instead of “No commenting” on it.
Something is really fishy about this whole thing.
Comment by Under Dawg Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 10:56 am
=== “You will be a one term mayor unless …” ===
No buts about it. He’s overmatched and toast, period.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 11:08 am
Sorry, me above at 11:08
Comment by PublicServant Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 11:09 am
I can actually understand being wary about working with the Catholic church. They have a history of being an unreliable partner. Remember when they decided to get out of foster care because of gay couples causing a bit of a bramble to get replacements (shout out to the Lutherans here).
Who wants to worry that the Church may object to gay migrant couples being housed together? I know this is not likely under Cupich/Francis, but this is a risk of its own, neither of them are immortal.
Comment by cermak_rd Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 11:15 am
==If that were the reason for taking a pass, a coms shop that was thinking would have acknowledged the offer publicly, thanked the archdiocese for the offer and used it as an opportunity to encourage others to offer up space for the city to use.==
This administration is not playing offense with narratives.
Naivety aside, the political climate is brutal even when the intentions are good.
Comment by HarveyGuy Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 11:26 am
Cermak - that can be resolved with one question (if not already addressed by state or city law): “Hey, Cardinal, are you going to put any restrictions on who we house there based on sexual preference? No? Great - thank you then!”
Comment by lake county democrat Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 11:28 am
MBJ wanted to be in the mayor’s seat but he can’t or won’t do the work that this entails. His previous employment in no way prepared him for an office on the fifth floor. With each day and with each decision, his inexperience shows.
Bring Chicago Home should not be the mayor’s focus now. His inability to manage migrant housing and healthcare will follow him everywhere.
Comment by Rudy’s teeth Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 11:47 am
===Bring Chicago Home should not be the mayor’s focus now===
Meh. I don’t think that’s the problem.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 12:00 pm
This smells. I wonder who those higher rents went to and if they were a contributor or a friend of Johnson.
Comment by Boone's is Back Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 12:55 pm
== Who wants to worry that the Church may object to gay migrant couples being housed together?==
So because the Church MAY do that NOBODY gets housed? Don’t get the logic.
I’m not a Catholic and as Pro-LGBTQIA as it gets but using a potential hypothetical where the may deny housing to a gay couple as an excuse to not give any migrant housing is complete lunacy and the type of all-or-nothing thinking that is gonna leave people on the streets.
Comment by Under Dawg Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 12:58 pm
===Who wants to worry that the Church may object to===
Then the city should’ve never engaged with the Archdiocese in the first place.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 1:02 pm
“I asked for help and got none.” — Mayor Johnson
(Facepalming) — the Archdiocese
Comment by thisjustinagain Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 2:06 pm
There is no doubt that there was a price to fix up the buildings in order to use them as shelters.
Even if it was 10 shelters at 10 million (total) to put showers in and other fixes, to house 3K people, probably saves millions over the duration of this crisis.
Comment by 45thWard Wednesday, Mar 13, 24 @ 2:38 pm