Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has appointed Ashlee Gabrysch, formerly senior director and mid-central region manager for government ratings at Fitch Ratings, to serve as the city's chief financial officer.
Sources said the move sends a reassuring signal to the muni market heading into the investor conference Thursday and following considerable churn in the Johnson administration's finance leadership.
Former CFO
Gabrysch "brings an extraordinary depth of knowledge of Chicago's finances and the fiscal challenges facing cities across Illinois and the country," Johnson said in a statement Monday. "Her experience inside government, in public finance research, and analyzing Chicago's credit gives her a unique perspective on the opportunities and challenges before our city."
"I am honored to join the city of Chicago and serve the city that has shaped my professional career in public finance," Gabrysch said in a statement. "I know the seriousness of the challenges before us, but I also know the strength and resilience of this city."
Gabrysch is a graduate of the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy, where she earned a Master of Public Policy, and the University of Chicago, where she received her bachelor's degree.
Her career began with an internship through the UChicago Mayor Daley Fellowship at the city of Gary, Indiana. She later served as a senior research associate at the Civic Federation, a Chicago-based fiscal watchdog, and as a financial research analyst in the Cook County Office of the CFO.
She also served as deputy director of secure choice at the Illinois State Treasurer's Office, where she worked directly with members of the Illinois General Assembly to advance legislation; briefed legislators and the press; and helped build out the infrastructure for Illinois' first statewide retirement savings mandate.
In addition to leading the Fitch Women's Network as its global chair, Gabrysch has won multiple professional honors, including the Bond Buyer
She has also served on the boards of the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation and the Chicago Summer Business Institute.
"She's a very well-respected analyst," said Justin Marlowe, research professor at the University of Chicago's Harris School and director of the Center for Municipal Finance. "Well known in the credit community for sure, and in the municipal finance community writ large, and so (it's a) really good pick in that respect. If the goal is to send a clear signal to the credit markets about stability and confidence, it definitely does that."
Some of Gabrysch's predecessors faced questions about whether they had the necessary support to succeed, but "she would not have gone into the job if she didn't think that she either had the support (of the mayor) or at least had the ability to earn that support and earn that trust," Marlowe added. "And I think that's exactly what she'll do."
Mohammed Murad, director of municipal credit research at PT Asset Management, said by email that Gabrysch has her work cut out for her.
"This is a role that, regardless of who fills it, needs to hit the ground sprinting on the city's fiscal issues," he said. "Getting the fiscal house in order and onto a sustainable path could potentially benefit the city, its creditworthiness, and its cost of borrowing."
Alderman Scott Waguespack, a member of the Budget Accountability Coalition and an occasional critic of the Johnson administration, voiced cautious optimism.
"I am sure she would look to take steps that prevent the further decline of our credit ratings," he said.
Marlowe said Gabrysch is someone "who everyone will be willing to give a chance to succeed," and her views on Chicago's credit are not a mystery.
In a
"These disagreements have impeded decision timeliness and the development of a credible and comprehensive plan to restore structural balance," raising "the likelihood that available reserves in the general fund and service concession and reserve fund will fall below 10% of spending," Fitch said.
Fitch warned the 2026 budget, passed over the mayor's objections, "relies on measures that Fitch considers less fiscally prudent or reliable. These include securitization of uncollected debt owed to the city, use of new bond proceeds to finance retroactive firefighter wage obligations, and reliance on new tax revenues subject to legal challenge."
The rating agency also warned the city's improved revenue projections might not materialize.
Those warnings now appear prescient as the mayor's team and aldermen trade barbs over who is to blame for the 2026 budget's shortcomings — aldermen for passing the alternative budget, or the mayor for failing to implement it energetically.
"Given Ashlee's background, the appointment sends a promising signal, but the proof will be in the actions that follow," the Civic Federation said in an emailed statement. "The Civic Federation will be watching closely to see how her experience translates into the city's financial management and decision-making."
Marlowe said Gabrysch will face her share of challenges, including playing an intermediary role between the mayor and the City Council in the upcoming budget season. There are also "some challenging transactions that they're going to need to execute in the market in the coming weeks and months," he said.
Fitch's perspective that "when it comes to Chicago's financial health, slow and steady wins the race," and its emphasis on the basic blocking and tackling of budgeting, will also be in tension with "how much of those sort of good governance things you can do on short notice," Marlowe said. "It'll be interesting to see how she works on two different time frames at the same time."
Gabrysch also enters city government amid a standoff, or at least considerable uncertainty, over when the city will make the second half of its advance pension payment, a key step for bond rating agencies. The Johnson administration has said it is waiting on Cook County to come through with delayed property tax revenue.
Johnson is nearing the end of his term, with the first round of the next mayoral election in February.
The Johnson administration will have to move fast in "acquainting her with the city council," whom Gabrysch dealt with less as an analyst than the mayor's finance team, Marlowe said.
"There is sometimes a sense among some city council members that the rating agencies are adversarial to the city — that they sort of sit on the sidelines and take a lot of cheap shots at the city. And Ashlee's clearly not that," he said, calling her a seasoned, balanced and respected operator.
Heading into budget negotiations, Johnson now has a very technocratic team — Gabrysch, Comptroller Mike Belsky and Acting Budget Director Jonathan Ernst — that, if not a total break with the past lineup, will at least "change the contours of the 2027 budget debate in a way that will be good for everyone," Marlowe said.
"I think there is the potential for some different types of ideas to make their way into the budget," he said.
Chicago's general obligation bonds are rated BBB-plus by KBRA, BBB-plus by Fitch Ratings and BBB by S&P Global Ratings, with negative outlooks, and Baa3 with a stable outlook by Moody's Ratings.
