Daily Herald Opinion: Mayor Johnson, don't forget where you came from

This editorial is a consensus opinion of the Daily Herald Editorial Board.

Dear Mayor Johnson,

All eyes in Illinois were on you Monday for your inauguration as Chicago's 57th mayor.

Indeed, the seats behind you were filled with Illinois and Chicago leaders, with Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle, Senate President Don Harmon and RTA Chairman Kirk Dillard being the closest thing to a suburban presence.

Save you, of course. And your father.

Never forget your suburban roots.

Hold close your upbringing in Elgin as the son of a preacher and your education in Aurora. You counted your time here as fruitful. Let it not die on the vine.

Never look upon us as the land beyond Harlem Avenue but as an organism that lives in symbiosis with the City of Broad Shoulders.

Be a good neighbor.

We know you have enormous challenges, which you delineated during your brilliant, inspiring inauguration speech: crime, fear, a lack of investment in the poorest of Chicago's 77 neighborhoods, inaccessibility to jobs and mental health services, a problematic public transportation network, substandard educational opportunities and more. It's dizzying. It's ominous. And it's endless.

Your speech was uplifting and wholly Chicagocentric, both of which were to be expected. But don't forget where you came from.

Thousands of suburbanites are part-time Chicago residents. We work in your high-rises, we eat in your restaurants, we drink in your bars, we buy tickets to sporting events, theater productions, concerts and museums.

You worry about the flight of Chicagoans to other places because of Chicago's violence. You well should.

But you also should be concerned about suburbanites deciding to stay away from the city as well.

Bolstering efforts to give young Chicagoans a purpose, things to do and goals to pursue will be an investment in their futures and pay dividends in terms of a more peaceful, safer city.

And when Chicagoans feel safer in their own city, those suburbanites who have decided Chicago is no longer safe enough for them will begin to come back.

During your campaign, you said you want to "make the suburbs, airlines and ultrarich pay their fair share" to generate "$800 million in new revenue."

And you said you want to reinstate a $4-per-month head tax on large companies that do most of their work in Chicago.

Remember, Mayor Johnson, that we are your neighbors.

Some of those things you mentioned sounded great to the people whose votes you were trying to win, but don't forget about us in the land beyond O'Hare.

We'll have plenty to squabble over as the Chicago Bears continue to investigate whether to move their storied franchise away from the lakefront to Arlington Heights, where, as a business venture, they'll have much more room to spread out.