McDonalds CEO to Lightfoot: "Our city is in crisis"

Crime is having a corrosive effect on Chicago, where McDonald’s is working to bring corporate employees back to its headquarters after the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr. Kempczinski said during a keynote speech Wednesday at the Economic Club of Chicago. The company is trying to convince employees that it is safe to return downtown and ride public transportation again, he said.

“Everywhere I go, I’m confronted by the same question. ‘What’s going on in Chicago?” Mr. Kempczinski said. “There is a general sense out there that our city is in crisis.” …

Crime overall is up 38% from last year’s period, according to the department, and 19% higher compared with the same stretch in 2019, before the pandemic.

“We see every single day in our restaurants what’s happening at society at large,” said Mr. Kempczinski, who said he and his family live in Chicago. “It’s not going to be something that McDonald’s can solve on its own. We need to be able to do it with the public sector as well.”