CHICAGO (WLS) — Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is highlighting the city’s effort to address crime amid a drop in violent crime and homicide numbers.

His comments came during the city’s looming budget deficit and his efforts to defend Chicago’s sanctuary city status with a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration.

In an exclusive sit-down interview, the mayor spoke with ABC7 about multiple key city issues.

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After having a “lakeside chat” Sunday at New Life Covenant Church in Grand Crossing, Johnson spoke to ABC7 about how the city is addressing things from crime to its massive budget deficit.

“When Dr. King first came to Chicago, he said, ‘If you can figure it out in Chicago, you can do it anywhere in the world,'” Johnson said.

Nearly halfway through his term, Mayor Johnson continues to figure out the woes of Chicago, including crime.

“So, it’s policing and affordable housing. It’s policing and mental behavioral health services,” he said.

Even with violent crime and homicide numbers down, shootings during the most recent holiday weekend were marked on the heels of a deadly mass shooting in River North, injuring 14 and killing four.

“When you are experiencing progress, the last thing you want is a setback,” Johnson said. “Now look, Fourth of July, the same thing with Memorial Day weekend; both of those weekends were less violence than we saw in the previous year.”

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“If you really look at the gun issues in America, it’s not something that the city needs to deal with. It’s something that our federal and national government have to address,” said Pastor John Hannah with New Life Covenant Church Southeast.

Making Chicago safe and affordable is top of mind, despite the city grappling with a more than $1 billion anticipated budget deficit next year.

“I’m going to put forth a budget and a vision that reflects our investments and workforce, housing,” Johnson said.

The conversation came while some Latino festivals got underway this weekend as fears about possible immigration raids mount. It also comes days after the city joined a California lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration’s efforts on immigration enforcement and the president’s executive orders aimed to block federal funds to so-called sanctuary cities and states, like Chicago.

“To know that there are people coming together, whether it’s Los Angeles, Chicago and other places around the country, that are pushing back against this authoritarian government, there’s hope there,” Johnson said.

The mayor also touched on the future of the NASCAR Street Race, which recently wrapped up its three-year stint in Chicago. He said the city is still talking with NASCAR officials about that.

As far new interim Chicago Public Schools CEO Dr. Macqueline King goes, Johnson said he’s confident she’ll continue to work on the massive budget hole the school district is facing.

Johnson doubled down on calls for the state of Illinois to fund Chicago Public Schools during his chat at New Life Covenant Church.

The Chicago Teachers Union said it wants Governor JB Pritzker to allocate more than $1 billion to CPS. Mayor Johnson supported that move on Sunday during his church discussion.

“The city of Chicago and districts across the state are not fully funded by the state of Illinois,” Johnson said. “It’s one of those areas where I’m gonna need more people to get active, to challenge not just city government, but the state government as well to fully fund our schools, because the crisis that we are experiencing is a crisis of the result of failures of the past.”

CPS is facing a budget deficit of more than $730 million dollars.

Pritzker has previously said there’s no plan to boost funding for CPS.