Mayor Brandon Johnson joined Budget Director Annette Guzman on Tuesday for what the city is calling the inaugural “Lakeside Chat” to discuss the budget. With the event, which also streamed online, Johnson hoped to create transparency behind the budget process and an understanding of how the community’s voice is reflected in the 2025 budget. The event took place at the Harold Washington Library, a backdrop symbolic for Johnson as just the second Black man — and third Black person — elected to sit in the mayor’s seat. About 50 people attended in person, and nearly 100 views were tallied from the online stream.“I think it is appropriate for me just to acknowledge the space that we’re in today as we celebrate the history of Black folks here in America,” Johnson said on the stage of the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium on Feb. 4. “As we fight the forces who clearly have not accepted the results of the Civil War, I’m grateful that we are standing on the shoulders of so many great leaders in the city of Chicago.”Investments for Black Chicagoans in the 2025 budget were at the center of the conversation. Johnson has focused on housing as a primary way to show investments in predominantly Black neighborhoods. An in-depth report on the 2025 budget engagement from the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Great Cities Institute can be read here.