I don't have anything bad to say about John. If you do your job, communicate with him and not allow the politics reach his ear before you do then you're fine. I highly recommend showing and communicating with John each day so that he hears you versus the filtered version. John is a great guy and will listen as long as you talk to him. If he needs to vent then let him (he has that right). John will go above and beyond for someone dedicated. It's all about how you approach him. You bring anger to him then hes gonna get angry in return, bring calm. Simply talk to the man with respect and he will do the same.
What you have here is a BlueJay Supervisor speaking for you and you never want to make that mistake.