Rosa Escareno, Superintendent of the Chicago Park District, is resigning. This is the latest change in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration after he promised to get rid of officials who don’t support him.
Escareno, who has worked in City Hall for a long time, turned in her letter of resignation on Wednesday, four years after taking over as CEO of the Park District, according to people who know about her choice.
Escareno’s departure is the latest high-profile person to leave city government since Johnson warned earlier this month of a firing spree that seemed to be targeting people who still work for the city after leaving previous mayoral administrations. March 31 is her last day.
It wasn’t clear right away who would take her place, but close ally Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th, is being considered by the Johnson administration. If approved, Ramirez-Rosa’s choice would add to the number of progressives on Johnson’s leadership team, which is what the mayor hinted at in his angry speech on February 10.
That night, Johnson spoke at a “Faith in Government Tour” event at New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church. He said he should have “cleaned house faster” when it came to City Hall employees who did not “agree with (him) 100%” when he first became mayor. A few days later, two members of his team told him they were leaving.
Johnson had told her, “If you’re not with us, you have to leave.” “I’m at a point where I need to make some choices soon, because being nice to people who don’t care about us is a waste of time.”
After Michael Kelly quit as superintendent because of the fallout from a lifeguard sexual abuse case in 2021, Johnson’s predecessor Lori Lightfoot chose Escareno to lead the Park District.
Escareno, who had been retired since the 1990s but had worked for the city of Chicago, came back to take the job. She was most recently the city’s commissioner for Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. Before that, she was Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s deputy chief operating officer.
It’s not clear what problems the Johnson administration had with Escareno’s time in office that might have caused her to leave the Park District.
As the next parks superintendent, you will be expected to help carry out the Johnson administration’s plan to increase the culture impact of the city. They will also have to deal with securing the district’s long-term financial stability and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Soldier Field’s future.
The Park District is like a sister organization to the city. It has its own $600 million budget that keeps parks, field houses, and other public buildings in good shape. It is this group’s job to handle permits and contracts for big events like the huge Lollapalooza music festival and the NASCAR street race in Grant Park. These events bring in money for the city’s parks and programs.
There are, however, bigger effects of some parts of the Park District’s work than others. Mayors are still having a hard time with Soldier Field and its two most famous renters, the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Fire.
The Bears’ current lease doesn’t end until 2033, but the team is still looking for a new home in Arlington Heights, a stronger dome near Soldier Field, or a place to set up shop where Michael Reese used to be. Johnson has said that it is important to keep the NFL team in Chicago.
This year, the Fire’s lease at Soldier Field ends. Joe Mansueto, the team’s owner, might choose either The 78 or Lincoln Yards to build a new soccer field with 25,000 seats.
Jamie Rhee, who was commissioner of the Department of Aviation, and Jose Tirado, who was head of the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, both quit two weeks ago. Both of them were holdovers from past mayoral administrations. However, Tirado had already planned to leave earlier this year to work as a prosecutor in Cook County, so he didn’t seem to be part of a Johnson administration purge.
It has been seven years since Rhee was in charge of the aviation department. Johnson can now shape the direction of the department that runs the two airports since the job opening has not been filled yet. Johnson has sometimes been at odds with the Illinois congressional delegation over the big, ongoing renovations to O’Hare International Airport’s terminals. Johnson’s replacement will take over the project.
