Johnson ally blasts city move to shut tent city as plan to 'hide Chicago’s homeless'

A progressive ally of Mayor Brandon Johnson is blasting the city’s decision to clear out its most prominent homeless encampment in time for the national spotlight of the Democratic National Convention, criticizing the move to “hide Chicago’s homeless” instead of providing actual help.

Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) had championed Johnson’s failed ballot initiative to boost revenue for homeless support and prevention known as “Bring Chicago Home,” and remains in his mayoral-appointed post as chair of a City Council committee.

But as news broke that the “tent city” between the Dan Ryan Expressway and the 1100 block of South Desplaines Street will be permanently cleared out and fenced off Wednesday, with only temporary shelter guaranteed for its former residents, Vasquez called out what he saw as a double standard.

“I didn’t think we would go from ‘Bring Chicago Home’ to ‘Hide Chicago’s Homeless’ but here we are,” he wrote on the social media platform X Thursday night. “Yall know if this happened under Lightfoot, movement would be moving.”

He added Friday morning “that it seemed simple to find housing when the city needs to hide people. There are thousands homeless across town, who also need help but they don’t receive the same support.”

Reached by phone, the Vasquez said Johnson’s focus on clearing out the encampment most visible to the tens of thousands of expected DNC visitors — when he had campaigned on actually helping them — falls flat.

“We had the same concerns and critiques when Mayor (Lori) Lightfoot was doing it, but when it’s Mayor Johnson, the standard still applies,” he said. “I would not be surprised if the (Democratic) party didn’t want people to see that, but it’s also a reality. To kind of put a band-aid over it, to hide it for a few weeks doesn’t solve the problem.”

Johnson’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

DFSS head Brandie Knazze previously told the Chicago Sun-Times that temporary housing has been offered to the 20-some residents of the Desplaines encampment at a city-operated shelter in the Gold Coast.

As of Friday, 23 residents had moved into shelters, 21 to the former Tremont Hotel, 100 E. Chestnut St., DFSS spokesman Brian Berg said. Thirteen tents remained out of the approximately 30 counted along Desplaines in late June.

The 60 beds inside the former Tremont Hotel, 100 E. Chestnut St., will be guaranteed through Aug. 31, the week after the DNC wraps up. That’s when current funding runs out, Knazze said, adding that staff will help the residents find permanent housing or another shelter placement.

In clearing the encampment of blue and orange tents that overlook the Dan Ryan Expressway, Knazze said she was anticipating a possible security request from federal officials to clear a likely route along Roosevelt Road between the two key DNC sites, McCormick Place and the United Center.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

The Secret Service charged with overseeing DNC security won’t issue final security zone maps until later this month. But its preliminary maps are limited to the areas immediately around the two sites and don’t include the Desplaines encampment.

DFSS’ Berg said again on Friday that clearing the encampments “has nothing to do with being asked by the DNC or the US Secret Service but only to give residents ample time to relocate and avoid scrambling if the need arises.”

Residents of two large camps — one at 19th Place and Canalport Avenue, under the Dan Ryan, and between Bryn Mawr and Foster avenues near the North Shore Channel — plus a few smaller ones also have been invited to the former Tremont shelter, Berg said. But those areas won’t be fenced off, according to the city.