Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson sidesteps questions about city treasure…

Mayor Brandon Johnson said Thursday that elected officials should be held to a high standard even as he sidestepped a question about allegations of misconduct against Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin and declared that the claims against her were “settled” by the city.

Johnson’s administration late last month decided to end the city’s long legal fight to keep confidential a 2020 letter that laid out the accusations against Conyears-Ervin by an attorney for two former treasurer employees whom Conyears-Ervin fired.

[ Chicago treasurer accused of misconduct and ethical violations in letter city kept secret for years ]

Asked why his administration decided to release the letter after Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration fought those efforts for two years, Johnson said “we responded to the law.”

“As I understand it, the attorney general of the state of Illinois made very clear that this was an expectation that should have been fulfilled before I arrived so we just…