CHICAGO — Another senior official is leaving Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration, even as the mayor on Tuesday defended his recent decision to abruptly fire two top aides tasked with improving public safety.

Human Relations Commissioner Nancy Andrade will resign effective Wednesday from her role overseeing enforcement of the city’s human rights and fair housing laws, Johnson spokesperson Erin Connelly confirmed Tuesday.

Connelly did not offer a reason for the resignation. Andrade did not return requests for comment.

The resignation comes after Andrade approved a plan last month, co-signed by Johnson, to address antisemitism, according to Ald. Debra Silverstein, the City Council’s only Jewish member.

“He has not implemented any of the recommendations, so we are still waiting,” Silverstein said of the mayor. “(Andrade) has always been an ally to the mainstream Jewish community and we are going to miss her quite a bit and are concerned about who is going to take her place and what it’s going to mean.”

The report included recommendations such as establishing a task force to combat anti-Jewish hate, creating funding for security upgrades at Jewish institutions and implementing anti-hate curricula at city schools and colleges. Silverstein said the city’s Jewish community “does not feel that the city has their back.”

Earlier Tuesday, Johnson defended his firing of Garien Gatewood, who was deputy mayor for community safety, and Manny Whitfield, a top aide to Gatewood, while the mayor promised to “double down” on his approach to combating violence.

Gatewood and Whitfield played key roles in coordinating with police and community groups last year as Chicago saw a sharp drop in murders and shootings. Johnson said at a City Hall news conference that the administration would continue its violence reduction efforts despite the firings.

“I don’t believe we’ve ever just simply singled out one individual as responsible, right?” Johnson said. “Because that’s not my orientation. It’s a collective responsibility.”

Gatewood had been a regular presence at Johnson’s news conferences, where the mayor frequently treated him as a trusted leader who touted the city’s progress on violence reduction.

In an interview with the Tribune on Tuesday, Whitfield echoed Gatewood’s assertion that both men were told by top mayoral advisers that the administration would take the community safety office in a “different direction” when they were dismissed.

As Gatewood said in an interview on Thursday, Whitfield said his approach focused on in-person engagement throughout Chicago’s neighborhoods — working closely and preemptively with neighborhood groups, responding to high-profile crime and collaborating with police.

He said he believes his dismissal was tied in part to his on-the-ground work and his relationships with police. While he emphasized that violence prevention efforts are “not contingent on two people,” he warned that any substantive shift in strategy could jeopardize recent gains.

“I think that we might not see the ramifications of that decision right now, but we will see it later on down the line if not next year,” Whitfield said.

Whitfield credited the approach he shared with Gatewood with helping prevent violence, including de-escalating large gatherings and showdowns between police and crowds.

Ahead of an August mass shooting in the Austin neighborhood that left six wounded, one fatally, Whitfield said he pleaded with the event’s organizer to cancel.

“Had we not been on the ground, things could have been 10 times worse,” he said. “Residents needed to see that we were all out there responding. This work is not easy, but I can tell you that we have gotten where we have gotten because of the response, because we have been so accessible to the community.”

Pressed Tuesday on what change in direction he hoped to achieve with the firings, Johnson said he plans to continue and expand existing efforts. He cited city internships for Chicago Public Schools graduates, investment in community violence intervention and plans to address domestic violence as part of a broader strategy that moves away from “an oversimplified, misguided policy of locking people up.”

“Community safety is still my top priority, and my focus is going to be doubling down on the efforts that have proven to be strong strategies,” Johnson said.

Even as he did not outline specific changes, Johnson downplayed the firings.

“This is not about just simply personnel decisions,” he said. “We’re talking about people’s real lives here, and that’s what I’m going to continue to focus in on.”

Gatewood told the Tribune on Thursday that his firing “comes down to accountability.”

Whitfield said Gatewood had filed complaints with the city’s inspector general regarding two of Johnson’s closest advisers — and added that he believes his firing was collateral damage after Gatewood was fired in retaliation for the complaint.

“As somebody that’s in close proximity to senior leadership, I became a threat,” said Whitfield, who added that he had expected to be promoted this week while anticipating the departure of Jason Sanford, Gatewood’s former first deputy, who is the community safety office’s interim leader.

The Tribune has not yet obtained any inspector general complaints filed by Gatewood. Such complaints are typically not publicly available during ongoing investigations.

Whitfield also said he had planned to place an employee with close connections to top mayoral advisers on a performance improvement plan the day he was fired.

A source in Johnson’s administration argued Gatewood faced complaints about creating a hostile work environment. Gatewood has strongly rejected the charge, calling it “damage control” by the mayor’s office.

Asked Tuesday if his office foments a work culture where staffers are afraid of retaliation, Johnson retorted, “Clearly, they’re not. Right? I mean, think about how many times you’ve all covered this.”

“That noise speaks to, I believe, a couple of things. One, we have created an environment where those who have bossed this city for far too long are now screaming and yelling,” the mayor said, without elaborating on whom. “It’s almost like they don’t care who was in their seat. It’s just a different name they get the boss. Not Brandon Johnson.”

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(Chicago Tribune’s Alice Yin contributed.)

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