City Hall ouster of expert on air pollution, extreme heat was an unnecessary blunder

With so many personnel changes at City Hall, there seems to be a grueling game of musical chairs underway that has created instability and will likely result in serious setbacks down the road.

Some officials needed to go, including Mayor Brandon Johnson’s longtime communications director Ronnie Reese, who was shown the door amid sexual harassment allegations and complaints that he created a toxic workplace.

Then there are the staffers who step down by choice, as Brandie Knazze says she will do at the end of the month when she hangs up her hat as the commissioner for the Department of Family and Support Services.

Institutional knowledge and expertise are hard to come by. That's why the ouster of valued city staffers sometimes looks plain bad. That's the case in Raed Mansour's departure.

Mansour's days apparently were numbered the minute he dared to disagree with Dr. Horace Smith, a longtime member of the Chicago Board of Health and Johnson ally.

After Mansour pushed back on Smith's questioning of the necessity of an air monitoring program in late October, Mansour was pushed out, according to emails shown to Sun-Times reporter Brett Chase.

Mansour, the city’s top official investigating air pollution and extreme heat, was respected by community members who were looking forward to installing 140 air pollution sensors across the city.

The sensors, which detect fine particle pollution and nitrogen dioxide, could be key in identifying how air pollution can significantly fluctuate in low-income communities of color.

But because Mansour was forced out, the project has been put on hold. There are plans to move forward with the initiative, Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Olusimbo Ige told Chase. The question is when. The longer the delay, the longer Black and Brown communities will suffer the consequences of environmental injustice.

Mansour's resignation was an unnecessary blunder that has produced more mistrust. Parting ways with people who are dedicated to improving Chicago because of a minor beef won't clear the air but will only further muddy the administration's reputation and the future of many city residents.

Send letters to letters@suntimes.com

The Sun-Times welcomes letters to the editor and op-eds. See our guidelines.

Get Opinions content delivered to your inbox. Sign up for our weekly newsletter here.

More about the Sun-Times Editorial Board at chicago.suntimes.com/about/editorial-board