Calling police “f—ing pigs” and talking openly about abolishing police are not the only incendiary comments that have City Council members demanding that Mayor Brandon Johnson fire his chief lobbyist.
Kennedy Bartley, the former United Working Families director who serves as Johnson’ s managing deputy of external relations, is now being accused of antisemitic behavior.
The new charge originated Thursday with Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th) the Council’s only Jewish member.
Silverstein said on Oct. 9, 2023 — two days after Hamas launched a deadly attack that left about 1,200 people dead and some 250 others taken hostage — Bartley tweeted, “From the river to the sea. Palestine will be free. Amen!”
Palestinian supporters often use the phrase to advocate for the right for Palestinians to return to the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, where Israel is now located. Many Jews take it to mean the obliteration of Israel.
“To me and, I’m sure, to the majority of the mainstream Jewish community, it was similar to a congratulations to Hamas, an internationally-known terrorist organization,” Silverstein said Thursday.
Bartley did not return phone calls seeking comment.
In late January, at a raucous Council meeting, Johnson cast the tie-breaking vote for a resolution demanding a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.
Silverstein said Thursday that as she was speaking against that resolution, Bartley — who was still director of United Working Families at the time — was among those in the City Council gallery heckling her. After being ejected, Bartley was among a handful of protesters allowed to return to the gallery.
Hamas “broke an existing cease-fire, murdered 1,200 innocent people. And to be heckled while I was speaking about that and about the rape and mutilation that occurred is totally disrespectful,” Silverstein said.
Silverstein did not personally witness the heckling by Bartley. But Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) did.
“They were snapping and whistling and jeering. … That’s why I yelled. That was the first time I’ve sort of been like `Hey, be quiet and don’t be disrespectful.’ I thought it was extremely disrespectful and trying to shout her down,” Waguespack said.
Recently, Bartley has been calling alderpersons, hoping to mend fences and save her job.
Waguespack and Silverstein weren’t buying it.
“I’m not Jewish, but I don’t understand this. I would think that the community would see that behavior as deep behavior that’s not gonna go away with an apology,” Waguespack said.
Silverstein also got a call from Bartley. “I’m not forgiving that fast,” she said.
Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd), Finance Committee chair, said she’s still “grieving over the loss” of Intergovernmental Affairs Director Sydney Holman, who resigned earlier this week, angered by Johnson’s decision to give Bartley control of inter-governmental affairs.
“Sydney Holman was an asset to the administration. Somebody who … worked with the City Council, had integrity and was fair. … I’m not sure Kennedy has the ability to work with the City Council. We shall see,” Dowell said.
“She’s made calls and she’s made apologies to people. But I’m not buying it. Those seem to be hard-held positions. I haven’t seen any evidence that she has a different point of view.”
As for what she believes Johnson should do about Bartley, Dowell said: “That’s on him.”
At Senior Fest in Millennium Park earlier Thursday, Johnson told ABC7 that Bartley’s comments about the police were “not something I would ever say.”
But Johnson made clear he would not fire her, adding that “what I know about Kennedy is that she is a very competent individual.”