Nicole Johnson
Nicole Johnson ran for election to the Chicago City Council to represent Ward 20 in Illinois. She lost in the general runoff election on April 2, 2019.
Johnson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.
Johnson responded to Ballotpedia's unique candidate survey for 2019 Chicago candidates. The survey questions were developed with input from more than 100 Chicagoans in the months preceding the 2019 election. Here is one selected response:
"I am a proponent of restorative justice and reforms to a criminal justice system biased against the young black and brown people it disproportionately ensnares. We need a much better way to expunge records that prevent ex-cons from obtaining decent jobs, as well as programs like Clean Slate to train and employ them."
Click here to read more of Johnson's responses.
Biography
Johnson earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Michigan in 2012, a master's degree in teaching from National Louis University in 2013, and a master's degree in education policy from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016. Her professional experience includes working as an education and community development consultant. Johnson is affiliated with the Joshua D. Kershaw Magnet School Local School Council, the Kennedy King College President Selection Committee, the Metro Chicago YMCA Associate Board, the Metropolitan Board of Chicago Urban League, and the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.[1]
Elections
2019
See also: City elections in Chicago, Illinois (2019)
General runoff election
General runoff election for Chicago City Council Ward 20
Jeanette Taylor defeated Nicole Johnson in the general runoff election for Chicago City Council Ward 20 on April 2, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jeanette Taylor (Nonpartisan) | 59.7 | 4,557 |
 | Nicole Johnson (Nonpartisan)  | 40.3 | 3,075 | |
| Total votes: 7,632 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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General election
General election for Chicago City Council Ward 20
The following candidates ran in the general election for Chicago City Council Ward 20 on February 26, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jeanette Taylor (Nonpartisan) | 28.8 | 2,154 |
| ✔ | | Nicole Johnson (Nonpartisan) | 22.0 | 1,644 |
 | Kevin Bailey (Nonpartisan) | 16.2 | 1,211 | |
| Maya Hodari (Nonpartisan) | 9.4 | 701 | ||
 | Andre Smith (Nonpartisan) | 8.0 | 600 | |
| Anthony Driver Jr. (Nonpartisan) | 6.5 | 486 | ||
| Jennifer Maddox (Nonpartisan) | 6.1 | 460 | ||
| Quandra Speights (Nonpartisan) | 2.1 | 157 | ||
| Dernard Newell (Nonpartisan) | 0.9 | 71 | ||
| Total votes: 7,484 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Clifton Pierce (Nonpartisan)
- Cassius Rudolph (Nonpartisan)
- Matthew Johnson (Nonpartisan)
- Sheila Scott (Nonpartisan)
- Charles Hilliard (Nonpartisan)
- Kimetha Hill (Nonpartisan)
Campaign themes
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Chicago 2019 Candidate Survey
Nicole Johnson completed Ballotpedia's Chicago candidates survey for 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Johnson's responses.
Low-income families do not have the same choices, options, or alternatives when it comes to public school. How can this be addressed?
Education is my passion, the foundation for my professional and activist work. I grew up in my continuously disenfranchised, underserved ward, even coming into contact with open gunfire. I have personally experienced the different trajectories lives can take based on educational opportunities. I attended an excellent public neighborhood elementary school, then Whitney M. Young Magnet High School. Less fortunate friends got pulled into negative outcomes, while I went on to earn an M.S. ED. in Education Policy from the University of Pennsylvania, a M.A. in Teaching from National Louis University, and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan. Though I oppose opening more charter schools, I support schools doing good work, regardless of status. I will push charter schools to develop community school models. I will also pursue requirements that charter schools provide proof of their compliance of providing special education services to students with learning disabilities.
How would you address inequality within and between schools?
When I attended one of the Chicago Public School Area Regional Analysis meetings in Englewood to address shrinking enrollment, I proposed the Board provide such schools with a marketing expert to develop a custom marketing and outreach plan for the schools. Additionally, CPS should work with those schools and their respective PACs, PTAs, and LSCs to find local and regional non-profits to house within the schools to provide services to the students and their entire families. Those served by such “community” neighborhood schools will see the added value and have the connection to the school that not many of us are privileged to have. I also support an elected school board. I would advocate for a process that included developing community candidates, ways for the public to question all candidates and reasonable campaign financing guidelines. Otherwise, we could still end up with board members with the deepest pockets, usual political connections and little relationship to underserved neighborhoods.
How can public schools better support their teachers and work more productively with the teachers’ union, parents, and the community?
As a former member of the CTU as a public school teacher, this is at the core of my beliefs. I will cultivate school and community partnerships with local organizations and citywide institutions that provide specialized services for the needs of our families. Additionally, I will leverage the Chicago Public Schools Local School Councils, Parent Advisory Councils, Community Action Councils, and relevant advisory/governing bodies for charter schools, to help ensure that appropriate resources are provided to support schools in achieving their Continuous Improvement Work Plan goals and other metrics. We must also recognize educational disinvestment as a health issue, exacerbated by the privatization and reduction of healthcare services. I recently warned about the impact of that. [See https://southsideweekly.com/city-run-hiv-englewood-clinic-abruptly-shuttered/] Our young people in particular have experienced a lot of trauma. I published a peer reviewed journal article that discusses the importance of schools developing a trauma informed lens as they develop their school discipline policies [[https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1103874].
What do you believe are the greatest needs of kids in school today? How would you prioritize these needs and address them?
Violence, trauma and school-to-prison pipeline issues pervade black and brown communities. We must honestly deal with such environmental factors that studies show have a tremendous, inadequately recognized impact on children’s abilities to learn and successfully use knowledge for healthy outcomes. I will advocate for a comprehensive approach that includes quality schools, youth services and job opportunities, combined with reforms to a criminal justice system biased against the young people it mostly snares. Police reform, including a civilian board, is an important piece to addressing this. I will work closely with the Chicago Public School networks for my ward to ensure that their discipline policies are aligned with a trauma-informed perspective. I am an advocate for incorporating cognitive based therapy within our classroom and physical education curriculum to help students manage and regulate their emotions more appropriately and deal with their conflicts. This is aligned with the program curriculum of Becoming a Man.
Do you believe that there is corruption in Chicago politics, such as pay-to-play practices when the city awards bids? If so, how would you address it?
One of the first questions many people ask me when I’m campaigning is, “Will you be a crook too,” referring to criminal charges against the incumbent alderman and two of his predecessors. Sadly, corruption is considered “the Chicago Way.” It is systemic when you consider it has touched even the head of our schools, that people get put into high positions based on loyalty and “scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” over qualifications and ethics. Bottom line, we can’t simply elect someone, then walk away. Corruption feeds off a complacent electorate. Grassroots activism, especially among our young people, has had a big effect on issues and political careers during these last election cycles. My hope is that such resident engagement will grow and keep aldermen’s feet to the fire. If elected, I will certainly continue encouraging that among my residents, as well as in partnership with like-minded aldermen across the city. Money has become too big a factor in who can afford to run for office. I support the public financing of elections in Chicago – e.g., through a match by the city of small dollar contributions.
How would you handle the “recurrence of unaddressed racially discriminatory conduct by officers” identified in the U.S. Justice Department’s investigative report of the Chicago PD published in 2017?
I fully support the Justice Department’s report and recommendations. Last August, my campaign launched our “Let’s Get into It” civic engagement workshops. During our first edition, we provided constituents with a four-page summary of the consent decree for their discussion and recorded feedback. Additionally, as alderman I would vote for the community oversight ordinance proposed to the City Council by several community organizations.
What sort of proposals would help reduce police shootings and fatalities?
The city has done as much as possible in terms of legislation, though that has been weakened by the Illinois Assembly. City Council members should leverage their relationships with their state legislative representative to support a legislative agenda that fills the gaps in the constitution that allows the proliferation of illegal guns. This legislative agenda could include the following: keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, target bump stocks and other devices that increase firing speed, extreme risk protection orders in which firearms can be confiscated from at-risk individuals, increased background checks, and tightened concealed carry laws and provide funding to urban and rural gun violence prevention programs. While it is difficult to circumvent gun trafficking across neighboring municipalities and states, we can certainly focus more on the economic, social and mental health factors that cause people to abuse guns in the first place.
How will you help to rebuild trust in the police department and to encourage the community to work with police?
This is a key component embedded in proposals from community groups for a civilian police accountability board. That and consent decree reforms should help repair negative relationships between black and brown communities that regard police as “an occupying force” with the power to kill at will and officers who view those residents as “the enemy.”
How would you address criminal justice issues such as prison reform and the reintegration of formerly incarcerated persons into city life?
I am a proponent of restorative justice and reforms to a criminal justice system biased against the young black and brown people it disproportionately ensnares. We need a much better way to expunge records that prevent ex-cons from obtaining decent jobs, as well as programs like Clean Slate to train and employ them.
How would you address the displacement of people of color and long-term residents from their neighborhoods?
I see the 2019 municipal elections as a great chance for long neglected residents to reclaim their neighborhoods and wield equitable influence in Chicago as a whole. I see seldom appreciated connections between regional opportunities for the long term and current day-to-day challenges that threaten the very survival of wards like mine. This enables me to look beyond the usual “remedies” that rely on public programs or regressive revenue sources that make underserved areas more dependent and less viable. I will fight for truly progressive strategies that leave my neighbors stronger -- such as land trusts to mitigate the impact of potential gentrification, or programs that link local education institutions, youth, displaced and unemployed workers with the wealth of jobs created during and after construction of the South Suburban Airport.
How would you care for the most vulnerable Chicagoans?
We have media stories about the closing of health clinics, unemployment, food deserts, violence, police misconduct, arrests and several other ills disproportionately impacting Chicagoans on the south and west sides of Chicago. I will fight for a $15 minimum wage, equal access and quality of care to every resident, regardless of immigrant status, employment or income, including service through emergency departments and trauma centers. I will also support more housing and wrap-around programs for the homeless, especially youth and those diagnosed with mental illness. What’s less reported is how the city punishes these residents disproportionately with tickets, fines, fees, and penalties. Low-income individuals can see their whole lives spiral out of control simply because they cannot afford to pay $50, which then mushrooms into hundreds of dollars, inability to pay for basic necessities like housing or food, and even jail time. This is why I support the License to Work Act to ease this burden on Chicago’s low income drivers threatened with license suspension. This must be accompanied by other reforms to city-controlled predatory collections that overly target those least able to pay.
How would you ensure that development benefits residents in their neighborhoods and not solely the developers and other interests?
I will ensure constituent involvement in such key decisions as resource allocation, cooperative land solutions, and development. While working at Teamwork Englewood, I developed the Englewood Planning Advisory Council review process to improve communication between Englewood aldermen and the community. This committee hosts individuals from the urban planning, real estate, community development, civic and non-profit spaces to the table to support the alderman in evaluating new projects, zoning changes, etc. It makes the planning process more transparent and ensures the needs of the community are included. I will expand that Committee to address all ward based developments. Furthermore, I believe it is time aldermen begin working together and pursue regional plans and initiatives. If aldermen are incentivized to work together, they will more keenly analyze how a project will affect the economic welfare of their constituents and will proactively develop remedial steps.
How would you distribute revenue fairly between neighborhoods?
City officials tend to focus on already developed areas, as opposed to underserved communities. They traditionally view wards as separate fiefdoms, with little consideration of intersecting opportunities. I would advocate for a city-wide, researched-based process that involved all aldermen in identifying the strengths and needs of their wards, what kinds of services they wish to attract and an agreed upon way to determine priorities and work cooperatively toward choices beneficial to the city as a whole.
How do you propose to resolve the city’s underfunded pension plan for city employees?
The private sector is a largely untapped source of revenue, capable of contributing more with far less impact on them than constantly milking average citizens. For example, studies have shown a minimal tax on certain business financial transactions could bring in millions of dollars, as would cutting down on the “incentives” that give them a free pass. Completing the South Suburban Airport could also help generate new revenue streams.
What’s your opinion on tax increment financing (a program that funds development using any additional property tax revenue that results from an increase in appraised property values)? What, if any, changes would you make to the use of TIF?
Recent city administrations have abused and diverted the program to benefit already stable and thriving districts. I would support the Back to Basics TIF Ordinance that would increase transparency and utilize the program as intended to exclusively fund projects in underinvested neighborhoods. I would amend the ordinance such that there are racial empowerment and other demographic hiring quotas to be met by the employer within a certain time frame, and regular audits.
How would you assess the city's finances, and if your proposals would require new spending, how would you pay for them?
As mentioned elsewhere, we need the vision to treat Chicago as a whole, rather than privileging some parts, while allowing disinvestment in others, as if that doesn’t affect everyone. Recent events have shown you can no longer turn a blind eye to “troubled” neighborhoods. Violence, crime, drugs, higher taxes, etc. have spilled into downtown and “safe” areas across the city. Studies have shown these ills must be dealt with equitably, regionally and comprehensively. Hopefully the upcoming election will bring new people in office who are capable of seeing the bigger picture and leading efforts to lift the metropolitan area up to benefit everyone. In addition to proposals mentioned previously, I also support the concept of withholding subsidies, tax expenditures, and contracts to corporations if they do not provide sufficient percentage of their workforce with full-time, living wage jobs with benefits such as sick days and vacation days. However, no suggestion would top the South Suburban Airport – the single biggest economic engine for both Chicago and Illinois. The necessary property has been purchased and Federal requirements to date have been met. Completing, maintaining and expanding it will mean hundreds of construction jobs well into the future, as well as countless service, administrative, professional and small-business opportunities. On one hand, this would enhance tax revenues from new commercial enterprises, as well as previously unemployed or underemployed individuals. On the other, it would free up revenues previously allocated to public assistance programs and crime/policing issues.
Would you be in favor of freezing property taxes, at least for low-income households, so that people can stay where they are living?
Yes, as long as concrete measures were taken to replace that money through strategies to stabilize and increase the tax base– e.g., attraction of businesses and former/new residents.
How will you address public health concerns such as contaminated drinking water, rat infestation, and lead poisoning?
I have experienced what happens when a community loses “old energy” industries. We must do advanced planning tailored to an area’s ability to provide replacements with environmentally friendly enterprises. I support the Environmental Council’s recommendations for moving Chicago towards 100% clean energy by 2035. I consider lead a “silent killer” in wards like mine, particularly given studies showing the connection to increased violence, reductions in children’s mental capacities and other health issues. I would insist on the proper testing and making remedial funding a priority.
What would be your first steps for improving the transit system in terms of affordability, accessibility, and safety?
Chicago’s public transit system ranks in the top tier of comparable U.S. cities for accessibility and affordability. The biggest problem is passenger safety from crime. Recently, the mayor has boasted about the instillation of hundreds of new HD surveillance cameras throughout the system, but that’s after the fact. The biggest deterrent to crime is having conductors on subway trains, patrols and canine units in the stations and/or trains. We cannot be cheap with it comes to the safety of passengers from robbers, muggers and the mentally ill. Surveillance cameras are supposed to supplement security not replace actual security provided by humans and canines.
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Ballotpedia biographical submission form
The candidate completed Ballotpedia's biographical information submission form:
| “ | What is your political philosophy?
My life mantra is 'Lifting as I climb,' which I have done throughout my professional career as a public school teacher and policy/program manager/advisor with several community organizations. I believe in progressive strategies that leave people stronger, more independent and in control of their environment. I'm running because because my ward deserves better -- exceptional schools, economic empowerment and safe communities. Is there anything you would like to add? Our people are our greatest assets. I am proof that, with the right opportunities -- and willingness to give back -- we can all thrive.[2] |
” |
| —Nicole Johnson[1] | ||
See also
2019 Elections
External links
Footnotes
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