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Dan Boland wants transparency and accountability from Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration. That’s why, after less than a year in office, he said he wants Johnson out.
"You have to make the mayor accountable," Boland told NBC Chicago, from park bench across from his Lakeview condo. "The mayor is accountable to all voters of Chicago, not just brown Chicago or Black Chicago or white Chicago."
Boland is the man behind "Recall This Fall," an initiative that would put a recall ordinance on the fall Chicago ballot. It will require 56,464 petition signatures to get there.
The mayor tried to laugh off the idea of a recall at a news conference Wednesday.
"It's some dude from the suburbs who is mad about the diversity and formation in which we have put forward," he told a group of reporters after the City Council meeting.
Boland bristled at the notion.
"First of all, he accused me of being from the suburbs, yesterday, which I took as a personal insult because I have lived here [in Chicago] 33 years," he said.
Johnson also attacked Boland's motives, saying, "apparently the extreme right wing in this country, they are not very pleased with the fact that 60 percent of my administration are women, 43 percent of those who make up my administration are Black."
"This isn't about being opposed to diversity," Boland said. "I am going to tell you straight out, I have six nieces and nephews who are bi-racial. I am proud of every single one of them."
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Boland lives in Lakeview, where he is currently unemployed. He said he doesn’t want the mayor’s 5th floor City Hall office, but he would consider it if no other opportunities materialize.
The idea of allowing a recall of Chicago’s mayor is not a new one. State Rep. LaShawn Ford, who supports the current mayor, first introduced it in Springfield back in 2016. He has re-introduced it three times since then, including while he was running for mayor himself.
"Sometimes things are so bad that voters have lost the confidence, and the trust in the elected official should not have to wait four years to deal with an elected official that has lost that trust," Ford said.
Boland will kick off his petition drive next week with a news conference. He said he is thinking about asking the mayor to attend.
"Mayor Johnson, come on down, you believe in transparency and accountability? Come on down and help us get this passed. We will see what happens," he said.
Even if the signatures are enough to put the measure on the fall ballot, it will not automatically trigger a recall. That would require another round of petitions and a vote conducted through a special election.
