Brandon Johnson didn’t waste any time.
Hours after being sworn in as Chicago’s 57th Mayor, he signed executive orders to boost youth employment and establish three deputy mayor positions addressing community safety, labor relations, and immigrant, migrant and refugee rights.
“As your Mayor, it’s my duty to take bold, immediate action to build a better, stronger, safer Chicago,” said Mayor Johnson in a release.
The executive order to boost youth employment instructs the Office of Budget and Management to analyze the 2023 fiscal year budget to identify resources that can be used to fund employment and enrichment programs. It also directs the Deputy Mayor of Education and Health and Human Services to “lead all city departments and agencies in identifying entry-level jobs that would be suitable for young people.”
Additionally, it instructs the Mayor’s Office staff to coordinate year-round youth employment and enrichment programs through the city’s sister agencies and departments.
The order to establish a deputy mayor position for immigrant, migrant and refugee rights calls for that person to coordinate and communicate with city departments and officials to support immigrants, refugees and migrants. It also calls for all city department heads to take direction from this deputy mayor “to assist with efforts to address immediate needs and long-standing policy and programmatic goals to ensure the efficacy of Chicago’s status as a welcoming and sanctuary city.”
Under the order to establish a deputy mayor for community safety, the new office will focus on eradicating the root causes of crime and violence and advancing a “comprehensive, healing-centered approach to community safety.”
The executive order to establish a deputy mayor for labor relations will allow coordination to foster, promote and develop the welfare of Chicago’s wage earners, job seekers and retirees.
The order calls for this deputy mayor also to allow coordination to improve working conditions, advance new job opportunities for employment, and protect workers’ rights.