String of leadership changes rattles City Hall days after mayor reportedly warned of plans to clean house

CHICAGO — Only days after Mayor Brandon Johnson reportedly warned of plans to clean house, leaders of several Chicago agencies announced they would be stepping down.

On Thursday, the mayor’s press office announced that Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) Commissioner Jamie Rhee would be retiring in April and Jose Tirado, the Executive Director of the Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC), would be “transitioning out of his position.”

They were not the only changes to come Thursday, Andrea Kersten, Chief Administrator of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) also announced her resignation.

The news comes only days after the Chicago-Sun Times reported that Mayor Johnson had warned of plans to clean house during an appearance at New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church on Monday night.

During his remarks, Johnson had reportedly mentioned that he should have “cleaned house” faster while discussing what he would now do differently.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t have done that. If you ain’t with us, you just gotta go. So now I’m in a position now where I’ll be making some decisions in the days to come because playing nice with other people who ain’t about us, it’s just a waste of exercise,” Johnson said during his Monday remarks. “So there’s a whole bunch of people saying, ‘Oh, shoot. Who’s about to get fired?’ Well, you’re about to find out, stay tuned.”

The announcements regarding Rhee and Tirado came in statements shared by the mayor’s press office on Thursday.

Rhee, who has led Chicago’s airports since 2018 and has served with the city since the Daley years, said she would be retiring from her post effective April 15.

It was not immediately clear who would be taking her position.

“Throughout her decades-long career, Commissioner Rhee embodied the best of public service, and she has left an indelible mark on our airports and our city,” Mayor Johnson said in the statement. “Her work has improved the travel experience for hundreds of millions of visitors that will be felt for generations to come. Her unwavering commitment to diverse businesses of all types and sizes has opened countless doors for Chicagoans who have been shut out for far too long. I want to thank Commissioner Rhee for her tremendous service to our city and our people.” 

In the statement addressing Tirado’s transition, Johnson thanked him for his role in hosting the DNC last year.

“On behalf of our city, I want to thank Jose Tirado for his years of dedicated service and commitment to community safety,” Johnson said. “During his tenure, thanks to his leadership and our collaborative approaches, our city began to see reductions in crime across all categories and we successfully hosted the 2024 Democratic National Convention and several other large-scale events and conventions. I wish him all the best in this next chapter as we look forward to building upon the progress we have made together.”  

Tirado had served the OEMC for nearly three years after rising through the ranks of the Chicago Police Department.

Tirado denied that his transition was related to Johnson’s comments on Monday and said in a statement that his departure had been planned since early January.

“My departure from OEMC has been planned since early January and I want to thank Mayor Johnson and his administration, the staff at OEMC, the Chicago Police Department and the Chicago Fire Department for their commitment to our residents and the opportunity to serve alongside them during this summer’s Democratic Convention among many other events and missions,” Tirado said. “I especially want to thank the 911 and 311 operators at OEMC, who are the first line of response to every public safety incident called into the City of Chicago. The importance of the work that they do cannot be highlighted enough.” 

The mayor’s office said Francisco Velez, the Deputy District Chief and Special Events Liaison for the OEMC, will serve as Interim Executive Director.

Eileen O’Neill Burke later confirmed that Tirado would soon be leading the Cook County State’s Attorney Office’s gun crimes investigations unit.

“Jose Tirado is exactly the kind of accomplished and highly dedicated public servant we are recruiting to help rebuild the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. I was overjoyed when he accepted our job offer last month, and appreciated his professionalism in wanting to take appropriate time to transition responsibilities from OEMC. I am looking forward to Jose putting his substantial law enforcement and public safety background to work leading our gun crimes investigations unit, which will be so critical to our efforts to get machineguns, ‘switches,’ ghost guns, and other dangerous illegal firearms off the street.  Jose’s years of experience will prove to be an invaluable asset in our efforts to make Cook County safer and stronger,” Burke said.

The third big shakeup came when Andrea Kersten, the Chief Administrator of Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), announced that she would be stepping down after four years at the helm of the office that investigates alleged police misconduct.

“Over the last four years, it has been a privilege to lead this agency in the service of all Chicagoans and I am incredibly proud of the transformative work that has been accomplished during my tenure,” Kersten said in a statement.

While Kersten was appointed by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Johnson won’t be the one to appoint the next COPA head.

The decision is now in the hands of the Community Commission on Public Safety and Accountability, which did not exist at the time Kersten was brought on board.

In a statement shared Thursday, Cavello said that he was leaving to work “at the intersection of professional sports and organized labor.”

Working for Mayor Brandon Johnson and the City of Chicago has been an absolute privilege. It has been an honor to go to City Hall every day and fight for Chicago’s working class.  

I am especially proud of the work we did around the Democratic National Convention. When the world’s eyes were on Chicago, we showed it to be a world-class city.  

While it was not easy to make the decision to leave, I am excited to start my next chapter working at the intersection of professional sports and organized labor. 

I will forever be grateful for the opportunity I had to work for the great people of Chicago and Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Joseph Cavello

WGN-TV has reached out to the mayor’s office for comment on the leadership changes and whether they were tied to his Monday comments but has yet to hear back.