Copyright Chicago Tribune
Pop quiz: Who said this? “For too long, we’ve allowed individuals like Elon Musk to pretend as if concerns of efficiency and waste are that of the right-wing, when in fact they should be the bedrock of any progressive politics.” You might logically answer former ambassador and now presidential hopeful Rahm Emanuel, or maybe Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who indeed spoke of the need to trim city budgets at the Economic Club of Chicago on Tuesday. But the surprising answer is that the line was spoken Tuesday by New York’s Democratic mayoral front-runner, Zohran Mamdani, a self-described “democratic socialist.” Moreover, Mamdani continued at some length about the need to cut costs in the New York public schools, which cost $41.2 billion, an eye-popping sum of money, to operate. Yes, Mamdani, the left-wing mayor who has been scaring business interests and moderates all over Gotham City, given how his ascendancy to mayor of the largest city in the nation looks unstoppable, at least if the current candidates all remain in the race. He says he is willing to make cuts in school budgets. It is telling of the price we’re paying for having a mayor so fully in bed with the Chicago Teachers Union that we cannot imagine Mayor Brandon Johnson delivering this kind of address on the need to deal with bloat and waste in massive school budgets. On the contrary, our mayor prefers either to demand, or brag about finding, more money, not seek to have fewer expenses. Granted, New York’s schools are organized differently than those in Chicago. And Mamdani was talking mostly about procurement rather than teachers or other union employees. Reforming purchasing is easier to do than cutting jobs. But in a system as massive as New York’s Department of Education, contracts with external vendors of all kinds are a $10 billion matter. “We will follow every single dollar,” Mamdani said, the New York Daily News reported, sounding like a DOGE enthusiast. “That means annual audits of the top 50 vendors and the 25 largest contracts, that means launching an initiative to review every single contract as it comes up for renewal.” Mamdani said this could save as much as $1 billion, especially if the department merges its two procurement offices into one. Obviously, all of this remains to be seen once inevitable pushback arrives. But at least he is talking about alleviating redundancies and thus having a conversation beyond raising taxes, although he surely has that in his sights, too. This board is no fan overall of Mamdani, readers will be unsurprised to hear, and we both fear for the impact of many of his high-tax and high-regulation policies on New York’s superstar economy and also see that as a potential opportunity for Chicago, or at least would be, if the current city government was not so focused on discouraging businesses and residents from making a commitment to our more affordable (and livable) city. Over the weekend, Johnson appeared to respond to the federal immigration incursions in this city by calling for a general strike, about the least helpful response imaginable. In contrast, we note an admirable flexibility in Mamdani and a willingness to listen to those outside his worldview. Cynics might say it’s all about tacking toward the center to get elected and that once he has power, the revolution will be televised. But we’re hopeful his genial personality and willingness to moderate his views as facts change on the ground might mitigate the worst-case scenarios, assuming the election goes as anticipated. Plenty of idealistic 33-year-old socialists become more complex thinkers once they see how things really work in big American cities. Already, Mamdani has told the New York business community, Politico reported, that he endorses a “‘team of rivals’-style approach” when it comes to hiring his inner circle. “We’re not looking for a litmus test that we feel the same way as we do on every single issue,” he has said to business leaders nervous that he would hire only socialists to do the day-to-day work of running a massive city. Few observers in the Second City look at the fifth floor of Chicago’s City Hall and see a team of ideological rivals. They see a team with the same defensive worldview. The Oct. 15 headline in Vanity Fair (“New York Business Leaders Shocked to Find Out They Actually Like Zohran Mamdani”) might well reflect wishful thinking on the part of the writer, but there’s also evidence of a kernel of truth there. “He doesn’t lecture the business leaders, instead absorbing their points of view and, at times, promising to think about their arguments,” one such leader apparently told the magazine. Have you heard a single major business leader in Chicago saying the same of our mayor? We haven’t either. Mamdani also has wisely focused on improving not just the affordability of, but also the quality of life in, affluent Manhattan. He says he will build up restaurants, as well as the often for-profit cultural attractions that represent New York’s big draws for tourists and new residents and are a big reason, along with slices of pizza on every corner, that New Yorkers put up with all the costs and hassles of life there. Shoebox apartments and all. We’ve heard nothing like that from the Johnson administration: Indeed, his recently departed commissioner for Cultural Affairs and Special Events, a crucial administrator when it comes to the major occasions in the city that are vital to both residents and visitors, seems to have pleased pretty much no one beyond her boss. Maybe Johnson can invite Mamdani, should he be elected, to town for coffee, a dog or a shot of Malört. And imbue some flexibility and independence.
