Posted inOpinion

Greising: Brandon Johnson’s unprecedented spending means City Council is right to put away its rubber stamp

by David Greising December 6, 2024January 16, 2025

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

When republishing or co-publishing our stories, please copy and paste our tracking code (found at the bottom of the copy below - it includes the words "republication-tracker-tool") anywhere in the body of this article in your website’s content management system. This will let us know how much traffic our story has received. Find our content republishing guidelines here.

Greising: Brandon Johnson’s unprecedented spending means City Council is right to put away its rubber stamp

by David Greising, Illinois Answers Project
December 6, 2024

<h1>Greising: Brandon Johnson’s unprecedented spending means City Council is right to put away its rubber stamp</h1>
<p class="byline">by David Greising, Illinois Answers Project <br />December 6, 2024</p>
<div class="newspack-content-gate__gate newspack-content-gate__inline-gate">
<div style="clear:both;display:table"></div>
<div class="wp-block-group alignwide has-border-color has-base-3-border-color has-white-color has-primary-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-1" style="border-width:1px;border-top-left-radius:8px;border-top-right-radius:8px;border-bottom-left-radius:8px;border-bottom-right-radius:8px;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80)">
<div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-0cefa6ed wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained">
<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-center" id="h-this-story-is-free-we-just-need-your-email"><strong>This story is <span style="text-decoration: underline">free</span>. We just need your email.</strong></h3>
<div class="wp-block-group">
<div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-d055b032 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained">
<p class="has-text-align-center halyard wp-block-paragraph">We don’t put our investigations behind a paywall. But we do ask readers to sign up for our newsletter before reading, so we can stay connected and keep you informed about our latest reporting.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph">
</div>
</div>
<div class="wp-block-group">
<div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-d055b032 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained">
<div class="newspack-registration newspack-ui ">
<p class="newspack-registration__description">By entering my email I consent to receiving additional emails from Illinois Answers Project, such as newsletters, event invitations, and occasional opportunities to support our work. I understand I can unsubscribe at any time.</p>
<p>Have questions or experiencing an issue? Contact us at <a href="mailto:info@bettergov.org">info@bettergov.org</a>.</p>
<div class="newspack-registration__form-content">
<div class="newspack-registration__main">
<div>
<div class="newspack-ui">
			<button type="button" class="newspack-ui__button newspack-ui__button--wide newspack-ui__button--secondary newspack-ui__button--google-oauth"></p>
<p>							Continue with Google			</button></p>
<div class="newspack-ui__word-divider">
				Or			</div>
</p></div>
<div class="newspack-registration__inputs">
<p>																<button type="submit" class="newspack-ui__button newspack-ui__button--primary"><br />
									<span class="submit">Continue</span><br />
								</button>
							</div>
<div class="newspack-registration__response newspack-registration--hidden">
															</div>
</p></div>
</p></div>
</p></div>
<div class="newspack-registration__help-text">
<p>
													<a href="https://illinoisanswers.org/privacy-policy-2/"><br />
							I agree to the <a href="https://www.bettergov.org/better-government-association-privacy-policy/">Terms of Service</a> and <a href="https://www.bettergov.org/terms-of-service/">Privacy Policy</a>.												</a>
											</p>
</p></div>
<div class="newspack-registration__registration-success newspack-registration--hidden newspack-ui__box newspack-ui__box--x-large newspack-ui__box--success newspack-ui__box--text-center">
				<span class="newspack-ui__icon newspack-ui__icon--success"></p>
<p>							</span></p>
<div class="wp-block-newspack-reader-registration">
<p class="has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph">Success! Your account was created and you’re signed in.</p>
</div></div>
</p></div>
</p></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://illinoisanswers.org/2024/12/06/greising-brandon-johnsons-unprecedented-spending-means-city-council-is-right-to-put-away-its-rubber-stamp/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://illinoisanswers.org&quot;&gt;Illinois Answers Project&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/illinoisanswers.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p>
&lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://illinoisanswers.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=21632&amp;amp;ga4=G-3GC466Z1PL&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://illinoisanswers.org/2024/12/06/greising-brandon-johnsons-unprecedented-spending-means-city-council-is-right-to-put-away-its-rubber-stamp/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/illinoisanswers.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;script&gt;
(function () {
  &quot;use strict&quot;;

  const postId = 21632;

  const endpoint =
    &quot;https://d92l5yv8og.execute-api.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/prod/trackingpixel&quot;;

  const sessionId =
    &quot;test-&quot; +
    Date.now() +
    &quot;-&quot; +
    Math.random().toString(36).slice(2);

  const source = window.location.hostname;
  const pagePath = window.location.pathname;
  const screenWidth = window.innerWidth;

  let title = &quot;unknown&quot;;
  let engagedSeconds = 0;

  const pendingPixels = new Set();

  function sendPixel(eventType) {
    const query = new URLSearchParams({
      post: title,
      title: title,
      source: source,
      path: pagePath,
      width: String(screenWidth),
      session_id: sessionId,
      event_type: eventType,
      engaged_seconds: String(engagedSeconds),
      test: &quot;staging&quot;,
      cache_bust: String(Date.now())
    });

    const requestUrl =
      endpoint + &quot;?&quot; + query.toString();

    const pixel = new Image();

    pendingPixels.add(pixel);

    pixel.onload = function () {
      pendingPixels.delete(pixel);

      console.log(&quot;Republication pixel completed:&quot;, {
        eventType: eventType,
        engagedSeconds: engagedSeconds,
        sessionId: sessionId
      });
    };

    pixel.onerror = function () {
      pendingPixels.delete(pixel);

      console.error(
        &quot;Republication pixel failed:&quot;,
        requestUrl
      );
    };

    pixel.src = requestUrl;

    console.log(&quot;Republication pixel requested:&quot;, {
      eventType: eventType,
      engagedSeconds: engagedSeconds,
      sessionId: sessionId,
      url: requestUrl
    });
  }

  fetch(
    &quot;https://illinoisanswers.org/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/&quot; +
      postId +
      &quot;?_fields=id,title&quot;
  )
    .then(function (response) {
      if (!response.ok) {
        throw new Error(
          &quot;WordPress API returned &quot; +
          response.status
        );
      }

      return response.json();
    })
    .then(function (data) {
      title = &quot;unknown&quot;;

      if (data) {
        if (data.title) {
          if (data.title.rendered) {
            title = data.title.rendered;
          }
        }
      }

      console.log(&quot;Republication tracker started:&quot;, {
        postId: postId,
        title: title,
        sessionId: sessionId
      });

      sendPixel(&quot;page_view&quot;);

      window.setInterval(function () {
        if (document.visibilityState !== &quot;visible&quot;) {
          console.log(
            &quot;Heartbeat skipped: tab hidden&quot;
          );
          return;
        }

        if (!document.hasFocus()) {
          console.log(
            &quot;Heartbeat skipped: window not focused&quot;
          );
          return;
        }

        engagedSeconds += 5;

        sendPixel(&quot;heartbeat&quot;);
      }, 5000);
    })
    .catch(function (error) {
      console.error(
        &quot;Republication tracker failed:&quot;,
        error
      );
    });

  window.addEventListener(
    &quot;pagehide&quot;,
    function () {
      sendPixel(&quot;session_end&quot;);
    }
  );
})();
&lt;/script&gt;

Brandon Johnson punished the aldermen behind the move for council independence and rewarded those who stood by him during the election. — Union organizer and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson speaks after being projected winner as mayor on April 4, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images)

This story is free. We just need your email.

We don’t put our investigations behind a paywall. But we do ask readers to sign up for our newsletter before reading, so we can stay connected and keep you informed about our latest reporting.

By entering my email I consent to receiving additional emails from Illinois Answers Project, such as newsletters, event invitations, and occasional opportunities to support our work. I understand I can unsubscribe at any time.

Have questions or experiencing an issue? Contact us at info@bettergov.org.

I agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Success! Your account was created and you’re signed in.

David Greising

dgreising@bettergov.org

David Greising is the president and chief executive of the Better Government Association, joining the BGA in 2018. For nearly a century, the BGA has fought for honest and effective government through investigative journalism and policy advocacy.

More by David Greising