Johnson’s mayoral inauguration today
Brandon Johnson officially becomes the mayor of Chicago Monday. The former Cook County commissioner, who defeated Paul Vallas in a runoff election earlier this year, will become the city’s 57th mayor.
Political insiders say Johnson, in his first speech as mayor, is expected to lay out goals for his administration and how he plans to achieve them.
Measure bars some from elected office
The Illinois House has passed a bill that would bar a public official convicted of a felony, bribery or of misusing funds from ever being elected to a state or local office again.
Current law bars anyone convicted of a felony from holding a state office until they’ve completed their sentence. The measure comes less than two weeks after the guilty verdicts in the “ComEd Four” trial in which former officials of utility Commonwealth Edison engaged with lobbyists in a scheme to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Chicago office space takes hit
Groupon is terminating its headquarters lease in Chicago early. The digital coupon company paid a $9.6 million termination fee and will end its lease in January 2024, two years earlier than expected.
The company, which laid off about 1,000 employees in recent months, disclosed the lease termination in a regulatory filing. The news is another blow to Chicago’s dwindling office market.
