Chicago mayor defends shutdown of homeless site

(The Center Square) – The mayor of Chicago says his administration did not close a prominent homeless site in the city because of the upcoming Democratic National Convention.

Chicago Department of Family and Support Services Commissioner Brandie Knazze said earlier this month that the City acted proactively by closing the encampment near the Dan Ryan Expressway and Roosevelt Road.

Mayor Brandon Johnson said the site was not closed because of the DNC.

“First of all, it was not to response of the DNC. My goal is to transform our city so that we have a real response to homelessness in this city,” the mayor said.

Johnson said that under his administration, there is a Chief Homelessness Officer for the first time in the history of Chicago.

“So this was not a response to the DNC, because guess what? It’s not like because the DNC is here that there are not homeless people in the country,” Johnson said.

The mayor reiterated that people living at the encampment were not relocated because of the DNC.

“I’ve been telling you that (there are) 70,000 unhoused people in the city of Chicago. I don’t need a convention to lead,” Johnson said.

The mayor referred to a famous singer when he was asked if an alderman asked him to close the encampment.

“No one has to ask me to lead. I just do it. In the words of Chaka Khan, ‘I do it naturally.’ This has nothing to do with the DNC,” Johnson said.

The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to be in Chicago from Aug. 19-22.