Chicago Spends $80K to Renovate First Lady Johnson's Office as City Faces Billion-Dollar Budget Deficit

Invoices and receipts from By Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson The administration has raised new questions about overspending as the city faces a nearly billion-dollar budget deficit.

Documents exposed by local news station NBC 5 revealed that amid the financial crisis, the city spent more than $80,000 to redecorate and renovate an office at the Chicago Cultural Center for First Lady Stacy Johnson.

“Invoices and receipts obtained by NBC 5 Investigates through a series of Freedom of Information Act requests show that requests for work orders began in February and continued through August of this year to renovate and redecorate Room 306 of the Cultural Center of Chicago,” the report said.

According to an invoice from the city's Fleet and Facilities Management Department, city-paid electricians, carpenters and painters were hired for the project, also known as 2FM, NBC 5 reported. The workers logged more than 350 hours of work at a cost of more than $25,000.

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Another invoice allegedly shows the city paid more than $43,000 for furniture, including a $2,200 office chair and a $4,400 desk labeled “First Lady’s Desk” in the document. According to the outlet, the city spent another $4,600 on a desk for one employee and more than $8,300 on two armchairs.

NBC 5 reported the shipment was on August 13th with a due date of September 12th

Mayor Johnson's Office Fox News Digital did not respond to a request for comment.

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Under Johnson's administration, Chicago will face a budget deficit of nearly a billion dollars by 2025. (Vincent Alban/Getty Images)

Call to Handle and Secure Shipment City CostsJohnson told NBC 5, “So the cultural center has always been a place for dignitaries; every first lady has had an office there. Renovation is a standard approach for my office or any office. Our commitment to investing in people still exists Investing in people.” “

The mayor dismissed follow-up questions about the optics of the overspending, at a time when his government is considering layoffs across the city to cut costs.

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Johnson was elected the left's favorite candidate in 2023, on a platform of increased spending on municipal services. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

“Buying a table will not change the structural financial damage that has been occurring for so long. That's why we ask – and I mean respectfully – we ask a much deeper question than that. look at the structural damage that has occurred over the decades – we have redirected the rivers, so to speak, to get to where there is dry land and that is what we are doing,” he said.

When NBC 5 pressed the issue, Johnson criticized the channel's questions. “So, I've been mayor for 17 months and do you have any questions about how I feel about optics? Just go back to reviewing the tape. If I'm going to allow my leadership to be based on someone's opinion of me, that's it. I'm a sociable person. Don't question my investment position.

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The mayor said he is more focused on investing in Chicago's South and West Sides, as well as hiring young people for summer jobs, building affordable housing and ensuring schools have counselors and social workers.

But Johnson still has no plans to close the city's projected $982 million budget deficit.