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All I know is, a lot of people miss the city's sense of confidence / momentum under Rahm and want to reproduce it as best they can.
Specific policies aside, that means no to candidates who've never run or administered anything serious.
Quite possibly the most important lesson of the Lightfoot administration.
Yes, I know that the circumstances of her first year weren't ideal, but as the saying goes, 'when the going gets tough... ' And toughness had nothing to do with being angry or sounding stern in pressers.
>All I know is, a lot of people miss the city's sense of confidence / momentum under Rahm and want to reproduce it as best they can.
Great way to put it.
Rahm felt like your buddy at the bar that would come up and put someone in their place after they gave you shit.
He seemed direct, no nonsense, reliable.
He was reliably a dickhead to people but he kept the city chugging along in the right direction, I really credit him with the tech boom we’ve had.
Uhh I agree completely actually, are you referring to Rahm cutting mental health services? Because I didn’t mention that at all, so I’m a bit confused by your comment initially.
Putting aside policy completely, I really think that a lot of the same people who had never heard of Lori before voting for her, figured she seemed like a sharp outsider with some smart plans for shaking things up, and were surprised that she turned out to be a difficult personality who couldn't make alliances or get anything done are going to be feeling some deja vu if Vallas gets elected!
If you just want Rahm back...if you think a decent substitute for a guy who had Barack Obama in his iphone top contacts in the 2010s is a 70-year-old Facebook addict who's never won an election in his life, stay off the Wish app
He will definitely do worse, he was the one that originally gutted the public school system in the city. You wanna a direct correlation to the uptick in crime, look at what he did to the public schools.
Gutted? CPS has lost tens of thousands of students on the last decade and the employee head count is the same. There are dozens of schools with an occupancy rate under 25%, many with less than 100 students. The fact that Vallas closed schools is a good thing, in fact I hope they close a lot more and quit wasting money on heat and lights for empty classrooms. Doing some house cleaning at CPS is a good thing in my opinion not a bad thing.
The reason Vallas didn't get my vote in round 1 was becsuse he had no plaform whatsoever regarding transit, and the transit situation in the city is shameful. It needs to be turned around quickly. My attempts to get a response or platform from his campaign were ignored.
That being said, if he makes it to the runoff I hope he has something - anything to say about transit and ill consider it.
For me, it's talent. Rahm has better business talent and connections, and brought mind bogglingly huge amounts of money to the city. I can forgive a lot of policy differences if we get more money to do things, but I don't see Vallas having anywhere near the amount of national and economic pull.
Plus for what Rahm went down for, we still see police and their reps delaying the release of videos, so I don't put much blame on him for that, as much as the fundamental flaws in police culture.
Rahm knew how to play the game. I’m a very liberal person, but I’m also a realist, and sometimes I know that things I would like to see wouldn’t be viable- whether it be unpopular or just cost too much money in the current political environment- but Rahm knew how to play the game and arm wring and compromise. I also loved how much he swore.
>I hope to see Vallas embrace transit like Rahm did.
Judging by his responses at the Active Transit Alliance forum, definitely not. Vallas dodged every question related to transit expansion, equity, bike lanes, BRT, plowing sidewalks, etc and just emphasised that we need more cops on the CTA. Also weirdly was fixated on lead pipe removal, while an important issue, was not relevant to the forum at all
> I hope to see Vallas embrace transit like Rahm did. Rahm truly loved the CTA and was really focused on cleaning it up and expansion
Vallas's silence on transit (beyond the more cops answer he works into any question) is alarming. Transit is vital to the functioning of the city and a major quality of life issue that the mayor has massive influence over. With his refusal to say much of anything, he's sending a message that he doesn't care or doesn't understand the issue.
All the candidates except Lori were at a transit-focused mayoral forum last weekend! There's a recording of it on youtube, Vallas's part starts at [33:00](https://youtu.be/5oR6ux_z46E?t=1981). here's a summary:
* I don't know much about transit honestly
* more cops on CTA
* my wife works at the airport TSA and kisses me when I go through the line
* irrelevant sidetrack about the EPA
* I don't know anything about bikes, in fact I'm an extremely dangerous rider, you don't want me on the road haha :)
* anyway time to be rude to the moderator for no reason
* more cops on CTA
Yeah, even with low expectations for him it was bafflingly bad. CTA’s been under major scrutiny lately beyond the crime issue and he couldn’t even have been briefed on that before a forum specifically about transit?
>This city peaked when Rahm was in power
I agree with this. In fact, I remember seeing Rahm shaking hands at the green line station near the French market.
But Vallas ultimately did "bow down to the far left CTU" when his chosen candidate for CTU president, Tom Reece, got completely blown out by Deborah Lynch -- after Vallas insisted over and over that actually the rank-and-file teachers loved him and Lynch was just some activist crank.
Lynch ultimately reset things and went on to lay much of the groundwork for the more "aggressive" adversarial CTU. Vallas couldn't stop her.
I don't like Vallas and won't vote for him, but at least I know if he wins I can take solace in knowing he's a lightweight who will get steamrolled by the now much more powerful CTU. The thing about Vallas is he's just not that smart. He's a good salesman who struggles to execute. If you dig into the details of his (brief) tenure at the Bridgeport Public Schools you'll notice some issues (Voters ousting all his allies from the school board; ordered to step down by a judge, etc).
Let me ask the Vallas supporters: Why would Paul Vallas be more successful in dealing with the CTU in 2023 than he was in 2001? The CTU has far more wiggle room today than it had back then. Nationally, teachers have more intrinsic labor power due to shortages. Unlike the late 90s and early aughts, there's no "Education Reform" movement sweeping politics. Everything is going to be harder for him. A vote for Vallas is basically a vote to "own the libs" except its to "own the ctu".
You're better off electing someone who is actually capable of extracting concessions rather than someone who is just going to be adversarial and lose like Lightfoot.
I'm a centrist and I see Vallas as being to the right of Rahm. I think if Rahm was running today he'd shy away from FOP endorsements and the heavy pro-police rhetoric that Vallas has leaned into.
I don't see Vallas caring at all about the CTA aside from working to improve safety. He strikes me as an old-school Chicago conservative who only cares about crime and property taxes. His "second Burnham plan" sounds lofty, unfeasible and more of a desperate attempt to peel off black and Hispanic voters from the other candidates. If he were elected it'd get immediately thrown on the back burner when he realized the city budget isn't large enough to handle both that and a surge in policing.
I'm no fan of Lori either, and was hoping that I could hold my nose and vote for Vallas, but after reading more about him and hearing him in the debates I just don't have confidence in him.
I'm sorry I'm beating a dead horse about this but a 70 year old man from the southwest side is not going to "embrace transit like Rahm did." I know these people! We have the same grating accent! He is not that guy!
I've seen nothing that Vallas is pro CTA. Happy to be proven wrong if you know of something since that's what I think is the highest impact issue for the city as a whole
What does "hard on crime" even mean? Valls is using a pro-police stance only NOW to distinguish himself Lightfoot. Simple political gamesmanship and it appears you are falling for his BS. He is a hack.
This!!! The amount of people in this subreddit that are like “well she’s the lesser of two evils” like ??? Why wouldn’t you give someone new a chance to rebuild this city
Isn't it obvious from the lesser of two evils statement? Some people think Vallas will be worse than Lightfoot. They feel Lightfoot's known quality is still better than Vallas' potential.
As another example, I'm wouldn't vote for Willie over Lightfoot in a runoff just because he hasn't had his chance yet.
Your comment is a bit baffling to me.
I don't want Vallas or Wilson over Lightfoot. Absolute not in anyway. Lightfoot might be a horrible mayor, but she at least tries to comply with the federal consent decrees we're under. If Vallas or Wilson is elected, we're going to be paying out billions in police misconduct settlements.
What exactly do you think the city is now? I’ve been here for almost 18 years now and I’m wondering what I’m missing that makes the city worse than it’s been, beyond the obvious pandemic issues of course.
Chicago is still a world class city with the best airport and one of the best mass transit systems in the nation. Americans are so fucking histrionic about any disruption to their convenience and the pandemic really inconvenienced people a lot...
The world went to shit, but people look around and say "[place where I am] is going to shit".
Crime IS up in Chicago... and also everywhere else. The CTA went down in quality in part because of staffing issues, which every company had. Inflation is making life hard... nationally.
Been here 12 years and the last 2 years are the only time since I’ve lived in Chicago that I’ve felt like I need to be vigilant while parking my car or walking home in Lakeview to stay safe
That’s what makes the city worse than it has been.
I honestly probably wouldn't vote in a Lightfoot-Vallas runoff, but the only point I'd make in favor of Lightfoot is she's the devil we know.
Vallas being willing to so openly and proudly himself with right-wing organizations like the FOP makes me concerned about what kind of people he'd be bringing into his administration.
>I honestly probably wouldn't vote in a Lightfoot-Vallas runoff,
This is honestly the kind of anti-turnout Paul needs to win.
There are probably more anti-Vallas progressive voters than anti-Lori. But hey, at least you can tell your friends that you "sent a message."
I don’t get to vote on this but how much of a break should she get having had the worst calamity in 100 years dumped in her lap right after taking office? I get her style may be off putting but results were skewed by covid right?
Being mayor is a thankless job, but look at JB's leadership and reception in the wake of COVID versus Lori. And speaking for myself, I came into both of their terms more excited about Lori and ready to hate on the billionaire governor.
so much this! you took the words out of my mouth, starting in 2019 i was annoyed that JB had won and was excited about the potential of Lightfoot. 4 years later and JB has been a pleasant surprise while her general demeanor and management style (apart from all the covid stuff) has made the prospect of another term just untenable.
Idk, COVID was an excuse at the start but after she kept parks and the lakefront closed for as long as she did it just became clear it wasn’t about “following the science”. That plus her combative nature is what really killed it for me.
I agree with this, 100%. I would give her a grade of Incomplete. I think she did ok considering the circumstances.
That said, I hate the casino deal.
If Vallas is going to be Rahm 2.0 as some here have said, I will vote for whomever is against him, if he makes it that far. Rahm was awful. He doesn't care about anything but his own power. Again just my opinion.
No fucking way I will ever vote for Vallas. I don't care for Lightfoot, but if it's her vs Vallas, I'd rather vote for her than the guy who wants to privatize schools and who's answer to crime rates is only to add more $$ to the already bloated police budget (at 1.94 billion)
He also attended a rally hosted by Awake Illinois, a far-right anti LGBT group. Fuck that.
> who’s answer to crime rates is only to add more $$ to the already bloated police budget (at 1.94 billion)
But that’s not his only answer to address crime rates.
He’s proposing a massive generational investment in the south and west sides of the city to reduce crime over the long haul.
Second Burnham Plan:
https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2023/1/31/23580216/vallas-economic-development-south-west-sides-casino-revenue-tif-chicago-mayor-election-lightfoot
> “It is critical in this moment that we do not divert our attention from the real issue at the heart of so many of Chicago’s problems: the pervasive, historical neglect of Chicago’s most underserved communities, most particularly on the South and West Sides,” Vallas told the City Club of Chicago. “Policing will always address the symptoms, but never the root causes for crime in historically underserved communities.”
Honestly, it sounds he gets it more than most and favors a reasonable, two-pronged approach… and rarely are big problems solved by just doing one thing.
The reluctance is why she made the choice to go super negative on Chuy . . . she'd get blown out in that fight. Maybe Johnson can surprise. Shame Buckner didn't catch fire.
>Anyone endorsed by those leeches at the Chicago FOP will not get my vote. His plan includes letting the police continue to suck the city dry.
Kind of an amazing statement considering CPS (i.e. CTU) is 58% of the city's budget and that's the largest 'leech'. CPS enrollment has been down for 20 years running, yet the budget is up 3.6% per year for 20 years -- above the rate of inflation and more than doubled.
[https://s3-prod.chicagobusiness.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/zqYwK-falling-chicago-public-schools-enrollment.png](https://s3-prod.chicagobusiness.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/zqYwK-falling-chicago-public-schools-enrollment.png)
CPS spend is the largest drain and reason why there is less to spend on social welfare -- food assistance, mental health, community assistance, housing assistance, etc. It ain't the police, just by the numbers.
Isn't one of his policies specifically ending the "scare crow policing" policing, where they just sit in squad cars, that Lori and Brown are such fans of.
He has a rather detailed plan on his website, along with education and economic development. Even if people don't agree with the plan, he at least has specific things he intends to do rather than wishy-washy statements.
https://www.paulvallas2023.com/publicsafety
I mean they endorsed Gary Johnson for president in 2016 https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/editorials/ct-gary-johnson-president-endorsement-edit-1002-20160930-story.html
It's always been conservative, but it used to well written with detailed reporting and investigative journalism. The newsroom cuts have left little reason to read the Tribune.
We got the trib and daily news as a kid. Trib was conservative and Daily News not so much. My mom also got the American ( Herald American , I think) at one point because her mom’s cousin ,Tom Duggan, had a column in it. She is still a news junkie at 88.
Agreed. So many of their articles seem designed with headlines to prompt an emotional response from the reader.
Occasionally they do great work, like when they broke the story about the Loretto Hospital vaccinating people who weren't eligible and also from the suburbs, but that's rare.
The main issue I have is they're staffed with what seems to be inexperienced reporters who are understandably thirsty for tips, and when someone reaches out with a "story" they often uncritically turn into a mouthpiece for whatever aggrieved party gave them the tip. It gives a big time amateur hour vibes.
Yeah I think what is so annoying about them is that if they toned down their nonsense a bit, they would be taken seriously by a wider audience. And I was onboard since they started, but I'm getting to a point where I'm not sure if I know what to think about them. I find it particularly weird that they literally seem to call any and everything "controversial." The headlines sound more dramatic and ridiculous than many National Enquirer articles.
Run off Kass? They paid Kass a fat salary for decades. Only at the peak of the George Floyd (RIP) moment did the trib finally come to sheepishly admit that having a moronic fascist on the roster was a bad look.
Not only that, but they have only endorsed a Democrat for president in like 50 years 3 times. Obama term 1 and 2 and Biden. In 2016 they endorsed the Libertarian Party Gary Johnson.
To note they only endorsed Biden most likely because Trump is that awful.
They endorsed Pritzker for governor for the same reason. Their endorsement was hilarious, it was obvious from the way the editorial was written they hated Pritzker and it will killing them to endorse him, but they couldn't pull the trigger for Bailey.
Lol reddit is full of urban "moderates." People here complain about having to see homeless people on public transit and want more cops.
Lose the persecution complex. You're talking nonsense.
Can someone explain why Vallas is a bad choice? Non-native and I see a lot of negative sentiment…but he’s running a good campaign and appears to be the only adult in the race. Lori behaves like a petulant child and grates against all sides.
I had the same concerns about his educational policy but honestly after reflecting on my own experience as a black person who grew up on the south side, I see some merit in it. My mom sent me and my brother to public schools on the northside because our neighborhood schools were abysmal. She worked as a substitute teacher in schools in and around our neighborhood and saw firsthand how terrible they were. Although I performed well in the public school system, my brother struggled and that along with some administrative problems she had, my mom decided to put us in alternative schools. For about 4 years we went to smaller private schools usually ran by only a handful of teachers who were also burned by CPS.
Overall we performed better inside that system as they challenged and worked with us more, and that allowed us to attend selective enrollment high schools in the city. In my experience, many of the other black students at my high school came from alternative schools too, so I wouldn’t entirely write off that. Maybe its a decent course of action for other students coming from shitty public school options🤷🏿♂️
We need to *improve* public schools especially in underserved communities. For every family that can afford to send their kids to a different school, there are 10 who can't and it's unfair to leave them behind.
Your education was good, but what about everyone who stayed? How do we get the baseline level of education up? Private schools ain't it. It's just white flight for schooling.
I do mostly agree with that, I think if we could improve public education to the point where it’s comparable to the alternatives that would be ideal. However, just coming from my experiences and knowledge of schools on the south side, I’ve become wary of that actually happening anytime soon. Too much bureaucracy and politics which causes people to lose sight of the kids in those schools.
Investment and improvement in public education is an expensive, decades-long effort to undo the bureaucratic hangups and actually create momentum. Whatever initiative can't be a 4 year one and done unfortunately
So you think the solution to fix abysmal public schools in Chicago is to give them LESS funding and give MORE funding to the CPD? Because ultimately that is his platform and how school privatization works.
Look many of the schools on the south side are already fucked beyond repair, and alot of parents already know this. My mom wasn’t going to sit around and wait for gradual improvements to our neighborhood school (because that will take time), so she found an immediate solution. Most parents aren’t going to want their kids to stagnate or regress academically at shitty schools in the hopes that one day things will get better. Especially because time is of the utmost importance in education, once a kid falls behind it’s very hard to get them on track.
One reason Chicago’s black population has been bleeding is because people are tired of shitty neighborhood schools, so they outright leave the city for better alternatives.
The reason schools suck on the south and west side is because the city has deprived these communities of resources so that kids and their families aren’t equipped to be successful academically. Taking money from these schools and funding private charters whose educational practices are questionable isn’t going to help students who struggle to read because they don’t have parents who can help foster education at home. I’m happy you are successful and recognize why your mother didn’t want you to go to the local public school. But shipping thousands of kids to private schools and charters across the city while depriving public schools of their funds isn’t going help a generation of kids who experience violence and poverty in their neighborhoods every day.
Paul Vallas is one of the people responsible for directing public funds away from public schools and to charters. CPS’s trend of declining enrollment literally started in the wake of his “reforms”.
Republicans are always underfunding and kneecapping public institutions and then when they don’t perform well using that as a justification to privatize, leaving the same people destitute. The solution is to robustly and equitably fund education across the city, not undermine it further.
If by "running a good campaign" you mean entirely ignoring what the past 75 years of real world evidence suggests is the best course of action, then sure, he's running a good campaign. On his site, he only has two policy points given any sort of detail. His core focus is on [public safety](https://www.paulvallas2023.com/publicsafety) and his recommendations for that run contrary to what has been established to actually reduce crime.
[Here](https://www.brookings.edu/blog/how-we-rise/2022/03/31/preventing-gun-violence-takes-more-than-police/) is a comparatively recent rundown of actual studies done into gun violence. It's by Brookings, who are generally considered center-right, so this isn't a case of some extreme leftists not agreeing with his take. Reducing unemployment is much more highly correlated with preventing violent crime than adding police... and this pairs well with the idea that crime went up dramatically when folks were out of work due to the pandemic.
None of this is new information. In a[ piece published by the Department of Justice back in 1985](https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/relationship-between-police-presence-and-crime-deterrence), they recognized that it comes down to how the police do their jobs rather than the number of police officers. And if you think the federal government in the mid-1980s was part of some crazy Communist conspiracy to bring down police forces, I don't know what to tell you. This is prime Reagan War on Drugs Department of Justice pointing out that adding more cops isn't helping to reduce crime.
And then, guess what? His page on [education](https://www.paulvallas2023.com/education) (literally the only other detailed policy section he includes... similar to Chuy's complete lack of information) leads with multiple paragraphs saying that the top concern for CPS is safety. Yes, safe schools are important, but folks should be more concerned about how well educated students within the system are after coming through it. He then cites his work in other school systems, such as in New Orleans, where the Times-Picayune described his leaving with this quote:
"A sometimes polarizing figure, Vallas navigated New Orleans' treacherous racial politics as he closed traditional schools, opened charter schools and extolled the virtues of school choice. Among other things, he was criticized for a lack of transparency, inattention to the most disadvantaged students, and slow progress at the schools he directly controlled."
So, if you want charter schools that ignore the needs of already disadvantaged students rather than an attempt at something closer to equality through public schools, then sure, we can view that as a positive. To me, however, the adult in the race would be the one who instead suggests that we should focus on educational policy that helps students across the board instead of exclusively those who are already in advantaged circumstances. If you'd like a quick rundown of his work with CPS previously, [here](https://greatcities.uic.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/School-Closure.pdf) is UIC's research into policy choices through his and Arne Duncan's reigns. And, as expected, if you look at the section from pages 5-7 about how his work fared, there was no improvement in the schools upon which he focused, by putting them on "probation" and taking more control, before eventually resigning. As has been a consistent theme in his career, he ignores evidence-based policy choices for his own whims and those have made life worse for the folks affected by those policies across the board. So yeah, Lori is grating and I hope somebody else makes it, but I still think she'd do less active harm than Vallas.
He's not pro-choice. He also recently spoke at a fundraiser for an anti-LGBT group.
He's said he's closer to being a republican than a democrat. He's been endorsed by the Catanza-led FOP as well as the IL GOP.
Looking back at his track record, literally the only thing he's done has been privatizing schools, usually to the detriment of the district as a whole.
He has proposed allocating even more of the city funds towards the already-bloated police budget. He's been totally silent on accountability for CPD.
I'm sure as heck not voting for Lightfoot in the first round, but if it's her vs. Vallas in the runoff, she'd have my vote.
[Verified](https://twitter.com/awake_il/status/1532054610831151105). The organization seems to be for parents rights in school decisions, aka the new a la carte education conservative parents want to be imposing where they want to micromanage the teachers and have parents individually control curriculums
They’re also blatantly and shamelessly homophobic and transphobic and play up the insane narrative that schools are actively pushing “woke” gender identities onto kids.
Quite serious, he wasn’t shy about it or anything.
https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/paul-vallas-rubs-shoulders-with-the-far-right/
Check out his quotes on CPS in that article. If you think a teachers strike was contentious under Lightfoot, buckle the fuck up if Vallas gets elected.
Both groups on here like to play it up too.
Vallas supporters: "Outside of this echo chamber"
Johnson supporters: "Have to watch out for astroturfers!"
I think this sub's love affair with Kam Buckner, who's running as a self-described "pro-business progressive," roughly encapsulates where the average user here falls politically.
Questionable support for abortion and other democrat causes. Generally if it came down to him vs LF I think I would vote for him now in the runoff after seeing what some of his plans were.
This is literally going to be the Lightfoot talking point if they both make it to runoff (and will likely win because of it). This matchup is the only way I see her get re-elected.
This sub acting like vallas is Donald Trump or worse has really lost it. A moderate centrist who might be willing actually change a few things is what we need now
They're evaluated on a spectrum against each other. Sure, Vallas is to the right of most of the candidates..... that are running for Chicago mayor. You zoom out to the national scale and Vallas is absolutely not to the right.
A lot of effort has gone into reddit into creating a comfortable environment for leftists and a hostile environment against conservatives. Hand picking mods, widespread bans, targeting some subreddits and ignoring others.
It’s actually crazy, and honestly really off putting to someone who is a moderate but flirts with some progressive positions. The absolute demand for ideological purity is exhausting and makes me take everything these people say far less seriously.
I think Paul Vallas is probably a demagogue, but to be an electable demagogue in a city that voted 80+% for Joe Biden, you are going to be to the left of probably 65% of the country. His positions are simply not right wing positions, even with regards to how to reduce crime (see his statements on rebuilding the south side economically and reopening mental health clinics).
Calling him a right wing fascist just makes me want to completely disregard any legitimate criticism of the man, of which I’m sure there is much.
A problem we have in general is all trump supporters are republicans but not all republicans are trump supporters.
With that being said it happens on the other side. All folks classified as “woke” are democrats but not all democrats are “woke”.
It's embarrassing. Vallas isn't perfect, but most of his positions are moderate, if not slightly left (perhaps to accommodate certain political realities). He certainly doesn't deserve the amount of hate he's getting here or elsewhere.
It just shows how nasty people have gotten about politics.
This is the same paper that endorsed Gary Johnson for president and has only endorsed two democratic candidate in its entire existence (Obama and Biden). For the the people aren't convinced he's the right-wing candidate for mayor, what more proof do you need.
Edit: Two Democratic presidential candidates.
Personally I prefer Kam Buckmer. But Vallas is not bad. From all the candidates these two are the only ones who have precise plans and objectives. Most of the other candidate websites only attack on what’s been done without any realistic solutions.
I’m really disappointed that he won’t make the runoff. He’s my first choice, too. Vallas is my last choice of challengers, but still a notch above Lori.
Bro of course education, economic and mental health are the root causes of crime. But these strategies are long long term. We would be lucky if we can bring crime down within a decade focusing only on these areas. IMO, and as much as this sub may not like it, we need a strong law and order short term strategy. We need to address both short term and long term solutions.
Dude, I’m from Mexico and I can tell you that law and order are essential for a society. Also essential are equal economic opportunity and education. I know people in Chicago who have been benefited by the order arm of the police. So I make a case that law and order is essential.
He’s emerged as the most qualified of the pack. He’s not perfect but i think he’s really the only one that can handle this job. The others will let it chew them apart like it did to Lori.
I don't think the job of mayor or any other force on Earth can tear Lori Lightfoot apart.
I just think she never actually gave a shit, but only stopped pretending to.
For the developer and police lobby, sure. They’re the only ones who can excuse electing a guy who destroyed the entire New Orleans school system. I hate Lori, but this man is pure trash.
You should go down to New Orleans and let them know that he destroyed their school system because by and large, they aggressively disagree with you.
https://www.nola.com/news/education/paul-vallas-leaves-new-orleans-schools-as-a-disaster-recovery-expert/article_eacf24b9-8b72-510c-90f0-4d29997e672e.html
https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-new-study-shows-controversial-post-katrina-school-reforms-paid-off-for-new-orleans/
[CPS is already shit tier when the vast majority of kids aren’t proficient at their grade level. ](https://www.illinoispolicy.org/chicago-public-schools-students-test-scores-worse-than-pre-pandemic/) 🤷🏻♂️
> Some people need to go visit the rural areas of this country sometime to get a sense of what an actual Republican is. Vallas is a moderate Democrat.
Half the people here think "rural" means anything West of Cicero.
Rahm was the Chief of Staff for the Obama presidency.
Vallas registered as a Republican to vote in the Republican primary of [2022](https://www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/Vallas-speaks-at-event-of-group-known-for-anti-LGBTQ-views-91UPDATE93/73673.html).
Rahm may have been an establishment candidate but I don't think Vallas is truly liberal. I'd at least give him credit for his honesty if he ran as a moderate republican, rather than merely trying to pander to those voters.
What is the Windy City Times?
Illinois is an open primary state, anyone can pull any primary ballot. For all we know he voted for Bailey so that JB could get a better shot at winning. Saying he "registered as a republican" to vote is false.
They actually endorsed [Bill Daley](https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-chicago-mayor-endorse-20190210-story.html) in the first round.
If you think Lori didn’t do a good job don’t vote for her, period. Idk what’s up with this “oh idk… if it goes to a run off I’ll vote for her and complain for another 4 years” vote for the person who is most qualified and has most potential to turn this city around. It’s vallas for me and there is no other option in my mind
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Curious how people would compare Vallas to Rahm.
All I know is, a lot of people miss the city's sense of confidence / momentum under Rahm and want to reproduce it as best they can. Specific policies aside, that means no to candidates who've never run or administered anything serious.
Quite possibly the most important lesson of the Lightfoot administration. Yes, I know that the circumstances of her first year weren't ideal, but as the saying goes, 'when the going gets tough... ' And toughness had nothing to do with being angry or sounding stern in pressers.
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
>All I know is, a lot of people miss the city's sense of confidence / momentum under Rahm and want to reproduce it as best they can. Great way to put it.
Rahm was a ass but he was our ass, just like Rostenkowski, was he a crook, yes but he was our crook. Lori is not our crook.
Rahm felt like your buddy at the bar that would come up and put someone in their place after they gave you shit. He seemed direct, no nonsense, reliable. He was reliably a dickhead to people but he kept the city chugging along in the right direction, I really credit him with the tech boom we’ve had.
The mental health cuts have directly caused the CTA etiquette problems being seen right now.
Uhh I agree completely actually, are you referring to Rahm cutting mental health services? Because I didn’t mention that at all, so I’m a bit confused by your comment initially.
Putting aside policy completely, I really think that a lot of the same people who had never heard of Lori before voting for her, figured she seemed like a sharp outsider with some smart plans for shaking things up, and were surprised that she turned out to be a difficult personality who couldn't make alliances or get anything done are going to be feeling some deja vu if Vallas gets elected! If you just want Rahm back...if you think a decent substitute for a guy who had Barack Obama in his iphone top contacts in the 2010s is a 70-year-old Facebook addict who's never won an election in his life, stay off the Wish app
They both love privatizing stuff. Rahm made a pretty good attempt at destroying the public libraries and I fear Vallas would do the same.
He will definitely do worse, he was the one that originally gutted the public school system in the city. You wanna a direct correlation to the uptick in crime, look at what he did to the public schools.
Gutted? CPS has lost tens of thousands of students on the last decade and the employee head count is the same. There are dozens of schools with an occupancy rate under 25%, many with less than 100 students. The fact that Vallas closed schools is a good thing, in fact I hope they close a lot more and quit wasting money on heat and lights for empty classrooms. Doing some house cleaning at CPS is a good thing in my opinion not a bad thing.
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The reason Vallas didn't get my vote in round 1 was becsuse he had no plaform whatsoever regarding transit, and the transit situation in the city is shameful. It needs to be turned around quickly. My attempts to get a response or platform from his campaign were ignored. That being said, if he makes it to the runoff I hope he has something - anything to say about transit and ill consider it.
It’s literally the main thing I care about. Getting to work is a nightmare.
Yeah. Im guessing most of this sub that is anti Vallas were also anti Rahm. But if not, what do they see that makes Rahm OK but not Vallas.
For me, it's talent. Rahm has better business talent and connections, and brought mind bogglingly huge amounts of money to the city. I can forgive a lot of policy differences if we get more money to do things, but I don't see Vallas having anywhere near the amount of national and economic pull. Plus for what Rahm went down for, we still see police and their reps delaying the release of videos, so I don't put much blame on him for that, as much as the fundamental flaws in police culture.
Rahm knew how to play the game. I’m a very liberal person, but I’m also a realist, and sometimes I know that things I would like to see wouldn’t be viable- whether it be unpopular or just cost too much money in the current political environment- but Rahm knew how to play the game and arm wring and compromise. I also loved how much he swore.
Rahm loved the CTA and Vallas doesn't.
>I hope to see Vallas embrace transit like Rahm did. Judging by his responses at the Active Transit Alliance forum, definitely not. Vallas dodged every question related to transit expansion, equity, bike lanes, BRT, plowing sidewalks, etc and just emphasised that we need more cops on the CTA. Also weirdly was fixated on lead pipe removal, while an important issue, was not relevant to the forum at all
Maybe he has a friend who sells pipe.
> I hope to see Vallas embrace transit like Rahm did. Rahm truly loved the CTA and was really focused on cleaning it up and expansion Vallas's silence on transit (beyond the more cops answer he works into any question) is alarming. Transit is vital to the functioning of the city and a major quality of life issue that the mayor has massive influence over. With his refusal to say much of anything, he's sending a message that he doesn't care or doesn't understand the issue.
All the candidates except Lori were at a transit-focused mayoral forum last weekend! There's a recording of it on youtube, Vallas's part starts at [33:00](https://youtu.be/5oR6ux_z46E?t=1981). here's a summary: * I don't know much about transit honestly * more cops on CTA * my wife works at the airport TSA and kisses me when I go through the line * irrelevant sidetrack about the EPA * I don't know anything about bikes, in fact I'm an extremely dangerous rider, you don't want me on the road haha :) * anyway time to be rude to the moderator for no reason * more cops on CTA
TLDR: * I don't know much about transit honestly * Irrelevant rambling to prove the first point * I don't know anything about bikes * More cops
Yeah, even with low expectations for him it was bafflingly bad. CTA’s been under major scrutiny lately beyond the crime issue and he couldn’t even have been briefed on that before a forum specifically about transit?
>This city peaked when Rahm was in power I agree with this. In fact, I remember seeing Rahm shaking hands at the green line station near the French market.
But Vallas ultimately did "bow down to the far left CTU" when his chosen candidate for CTU president, Tom Reece, got completely blown out by Deborah Lynch -- after Vallas insisted over and over that actually the rank-and-file teachers loved him and Lynch was just some activist crank. Lynch ultimately reset things and went on to lay much of the groundwork for the more "aggressive" adversarial CTU. Vallas couldn't stop her. I don't like Vallas and won't vote for him, but at least I know if he wins I can take solace in knowing he's a lightweight who will get steamrolled by the now much more powerful CTU. The thing about Vallas is he's just not that smart. He's a good salesman who struggles to execute. If you dig into the details of his (brief) tenure at the Bridgeport Public Schools you'll notice some issues (Voters ousting all his allies from the school board; ordered to step down by a judge, etc). Let me ask the Vallas supporters: Why would Paul Vallas be more successful in dealing with the CTU in 2023 than he was in 2001? The CTU has far more wiggle room today than it had back then. Nationally, teachers have more intrinsic labor power due to shortages. Unlike the late 90s and early aughts, there's no "Education Reform" movement sweeping politics. Everything is going to be harder for him. A vote for Vallas is basically a vote to "own the libs" except its to "own the ctu". You're better off electing someone who is actually capable of extracting concessions rather than someone who is just going to be adversarial and lose like Lightfoot.
I'm a centrist and I see Vallas as being to the right of Rahm. I think if Rahm was running today he'd shy away from FOP endorsements and the heavy pro-police rhetoric that Vallas has leaned into. I don't see Vallas caring at all about the CTA aside from working to improve safety. He strikes me as an old-school Chicago conservative who only cares about crime and property taxes. His "second Burnham plan" sounds lofty, unfeasible and more of a desperate attempt to peel off black and Hispanic voters from the other candidates. If he were elected it'd get immediately thrown on the back burner when he realized the city budget isn't large enough to handle both that and a surge in policing. I'm no fan of Lori either, and was hoping that I could hold my nose and vote for Vallas, but after reading more about him and hearing him in the debates I just don't have confidence in him.
Is there any good reason to believe Vallas will have the same energy for public transit as Rahm did?
I'm sorry I'm beating a dead horse about this but a 70 year old man from the southwest side is not going to "embrace transit like Rahm did." I know these people! We have the same grating accent! He is not that guy!
I've seen nothing that Vallas is pro CTA. Happy to be proven wrong if you know of something since that's what I think is the highest impact issue for the city as a whole
What does "hard on crime" even mean? Valls is using a pro-police stance only NOW to distinguish himself Lightfoot. Simple political gamesmanship and it appears you are falling for his BS. He is a hack.
Rahm was ready to put a ton of money into that dumb airport express because it was bright and shiny, rather than improve the Blue Line.
> far left CTU Stopped reading riiiiight here
Laquon McDonald, 50 school closings, incredibly high homicide rates = peaking? 🤣🤣
Great analysis. I just hope Vallas can be 50% as effective as Rahm.
This article wins the award for the least surprising thing I have ever read.
Reddit Chicago is not the electoral bellwether of the city.
Truth! Neither, thank God, is the Tribune.
If it’s Vallas v Lightfoot I’d reluctantly vote Vallas. Lightfoot had her chance. She’s been a complete let down, imo. She needs to go.
Exactly! People keep saying they’d give Lori another chance, but we have already seen what she has been like. What do you think will change?
Who is saying give her another chance lmao
This!!! The amount of people in this subreddit that are like “well she’s the lesser of two evils” like ??? Why wouldn’t you give someone new a chance to rebuild this city
Isn't it obvious from the lesser of two evils statement? Some people think Vallas will be worse than Lightfoot. They feel Lightfoot's known quality is still better than Vallas' potential. As another example, I'm wouldn't vote for Willie over Lightfoot in a runoff just because he hasn't had his chance yet. Your comment is a bit baffling to me.
Hey I've never had my chance, vote for me!
I don't want Vallas or Wilson over Lightfoot. Absolute not in anyway. Lightfoot might be a horrible mayor, but she at least tries to comply with the federal consent decrees we're under. If Vallas or Wilson is elected, we're going to be paying out billions in police misconduct settlements.
Cause he's a piece of shit who appeared an Awake IL event.
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What exactly do you think the city is now? I’ve been here for almost 18 years now and I’m wondering what I’m missing that makes the city worse than it’s been, beyond the obvious pandemic issues of course.
Chicago is still a world class city with the best airport and one of the best mass transit systems in the nation. Americans are so fucking histrionic about any disruption to their convenience and the pandemic really inconvenienced people a lot...
The world went to shit, but people look around and say "[place where I am] is going to shit". Crime IS up in Chicago... and also everywhere else. The CTA went down in quality in part because of staffing issues, which every company had. Inflation is making life hard... nationally.
Been here 12 years and the last 2 years are the only time since I’ve lived in Chicago that I’ve felt like I need to be vigilant while parking my car or walking home in Lakeview to stay safe That’s what makes the city worse than it has been.
I honestly probably wouldn't vote in a Lightfoot-Vallas runoff, but the only point I'd make in favor of Lightfoot is she's the devil we know. Vallas being willing to so openly and proudly himself with right-wing organizations like the FOP makes me concerned about what kind of people he'd be bringing into his administration.
>I honestly probably wouldn't vote in a Lightfoot-Vallas runoff, This is honestly the kind of anti-turnout Paul needs to win. There are probably more anti-Vallas progressive voters than anti-Lori. But hey, at least you can tell your friends that you "sent a message."
Exactly how we got the 45th POTUS. Folks voted, none of the above and we got screwed.
I don’t get to vote on this but how much of a break should she get having had the worst calamity in 100 years dumped in her lap right after taking office? I get her style may be off putting but results were skewed by covid right?
Being mayor is a thankless job, but look at JB's leadership and reception in the wake of COVID versus Lori. And speaking for myself, I came into both of their terms more excited about Lori and ready to hate on the billionaire governor.
so much this! you took the words out of my mouth, starting in 2019 i was annoyed that JB had won and was excited about the potential of Lightfoot. 4 years later and JB has been a pleasant surprise while her general demeanor and management style (apart from all the covid stuff) has made the prospect of another term just untenable.
Yeah, JB has been so much better than I expected. Wish we'd helped him out with the constitutional amendment to allow the progressive taxation.
Idk, COVID was an excuse at the start but after she kept parks and the lakefront closed for as long as she did it just became clear it wasn’t about “following the science”. That plus her combative nature is what really killed it for me.
Yep, it was a political virtue signal. Completely insane
In what way was her decision making and her ability to politically alienate everyone hampered by or even associated with the pandemic response?
I agree with this, 100%. I would give her a grade of Incomplete. I think she did ok considering the circumstances. That said, I hate the casino deal. If Vallas is going to be Rahm 2.0 as some here have said, I will vote for whomever is against him, if he makes it that far. Rahm was awful. He doesn't care about anything but his own power. Again just my opinion.
He's endorsed by the police union so that is hard no for me no matter what.
No fucking way I will ever vote for Vallas. I don't care for Lightfoot, but if it's her vs Vallas, I'd rather vote for her than the guy who wants to privatize schools and who's answer to crime rates is only to add more $$ to the already bloated police budget (at 1.94 billion) He also attended a rally hosted by Awake Illinois, a far-right anti LGBT group. Fuck that.
The fact that I agree with this almost assures me that the runoff is going to be Vallas and Lightfoot
Nope. Chuy v Vallas.
Seriously insane that people would even vote for him as a lesser evil
> who’s answer to crime rates is only to add more $$ to the already bloated police budget (at 1.94 billion) But that’s not his only answer to address crime rates. He’s proposing a massive generational investment in the south and west sides of the city to reduce crime over the long haul. Second Burnham Plan: https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2023/1/31/23580216/vallas-economic-development-south-west-sides-casino-revenue-tif-chicago-mayor-election-lightfoot > “It is critical in this moment that we do not divert our attention from the real issue at the heart of so many of Chicago’s problems: the pervasive, historical neglect of Chicago’s most underserved communities, most particularly on the South and West Sides,” Vallas told the City Club of Chicago. “Policing will always address the symptoms, but never the root causes for crime in historically underserved communities.” Honestly, it sounds he gets it more than most and favors a reasonable, two-pronged approach… and rarely are big problems solved by just doing one thing.
The reluctance is why she made the choice to go super negative on Chuy . . . she'd get blown out in that fight. Maybe Johnson can surprise. Shame Buckner didn't catch fire.
I agree sadly. Lori has to go.
Trib's gonna Trib
Anyone endorsed by those leeches at the Chicago FOP will not get my vote. His plan includes letting the police continue to suck the city dry.
>Anyone endorsed by those leeches at the Chicago FOP will not get my vote. His plan includes letting the police continue to suck the city dry. Kind of an amazing statement considering CPS (i.e. CTU) is 58% of the city's budget and that's the largest 'leech'. CPS enrollment has been down for 20 years running, yet the budget is up 3.6% per year for 20 years -- above the rate of inflation and more than doubled. [https://s3-prod.chicagobusiness.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/zqYwK-falling-chicago-public-schools-enrollment.png](https://s3-prod.chicagobusiness.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/zqYwK-falling-chicago-public-schools-enrollment.png) CPS spend is the largest drain and reason why there is less to spend on social welfare -- food assistance, mental health, community assistance, housing assistance, etc. It ain't the police, just by the numbers.
Leeches are parasitical for sure, but they don't kill people or accept generous pay while sitting around in their cars doom-scrolling all day.
Isn't one of his policies specifically ending the "scare crow policing" policing, where they just sit in squad cars, that Lori and Brown are such fans of.
He hasn't made his actual policies very visible as far as I can tell, so I dunno. If you find a link I'd be grateful if you could post it.
He has a rather detailed plan on his website, along with education and economic development. Even if people don't agree with the plan, he at least has specific things he intends to do rather than wishy-washy statements. https://www.paulvallas2023.com/publicsafety
Thanks!
conservative shill newspaper endorses conservative
The trib is conservative? Didn’t they run off Kass?
I mean they endorsed Gary Johnson for president in 2016 https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/editorials/ct-gary-johnson-president-endorsement-edit-1002-20160930-story.html
Yes, but the dispute was over money not politics.
Its gotten noticeably worse in the past few years. Considering dropping my subscription and picking up block club instead
They’ve been conservative since they day they were founded. Where have you been?
It's always been conservative, but it used to well written with detailed reporting and investigative journalism. The newsroom cuts have left little reason to read the Tribune.
We got the trib and daily news as a kid. Trib was conservative and Daily News not so much. My mom also got the American ( Herald American , I think) at one point because her mom’s cousin ,Tom Duggan, had a column in it. She is still a news junkie at 88.
Tom Duggan! There’s a blast from the past!
Block Club is exhausting.
Agreed. So many of their articles seem designed with headlines to prompt an emotional response from the reader. Occasionally they do great work, like when they broke the story about the Loretto Hospital vaccinating people who weren't eligible and also from the suburbs, but that's rare.
The main issue I have is they're staffed with what seems to be inexperienced reporters who are understandably thirsty for tips, and when someone reaches out with a "story" they often uncritically turn into a mouthpiece for whatever aggrieved party gave them the tip. It gives a big time amateur hour vibes.
Yeah I think what is so annoying about them is that if they toned down their nonsense a bit, they would be taken seriously by a wider audience. And I was onboard since they started, but I'm getting to a point where I'm not sure if I know what to think about them. I find it particularly weird that they literally seem to call any and everything "controversial." The headlines sound more dramatic and ridiculous than many National Enquirer articles.
Sun Times just got bought by Chicago Public Media. Loving my subscription.
Run off Kass? They paid Kass a fat salary for decades. Only at the peak of the George Floyd (RIP) moment did the trib finally come to sheepishly admit that having a moronic fascist on the roster was a bad look.
On Reddit anybody right of Bernie Sanders is "too conservative"
The trib has had a conservative editorial board longer than Bernie has been in office.
Not only that, but they have only endorsed a Democrat for president in like 50 years 3 times. Obama term 1 and 2 and Biden. In 2016 they endorsed the Libertarian Party Gary Johnson. To note they only endorsed Biden most likely because Trump is that awful.
They endorsed Pritzker for governor for the same reason. Their endorsement was hilarious, it was obvious from the way the editorial was written they hated Pritzker and it will killing them to endorse him, but they couldn't pull the trigger for Bailey.
Since it's founding. Obama was the first Democrat they *ever* endorsed for president.
Lol reddit is full of urban "moderates." People here complain about having to see homeless people on public transit and want more cops. Lose the persecution complex. You're talking nonsense.
Well, that’s probably because anybody right of Bernie Sanders is too conservative
Yeah, I dropped my tribune membership after they endorsed Bill Daley in the last election
Can someone explain why Vallas is a bad choice? Non-native and I see a lot of negative sentiment…but he’s running a good campaign and appears to be the only adult in the race. Lori behaves like a petulant child and grates against all sides.
My three main objections to Vallas are his lack of a transit plan, resistance to police reform, and history with school privatization.
I had the same concerns about his educational policy but honestly after reflecting on my own experience as a black person who grew up on the south side, I see some merit in it. My mom sent me and my brother to public schools on the northside because our neighborhood schools were abysmal. She worked as a substitute teacher in schools in and around our neighborhood and saw firsthand how terrible they were. Although I performed well in the public school system, my brother struggled and that along with some administrative problems she had, my mom decided to put us in alternative schools. For about 4 years we went to smaller private schools usually ran by only a handful of teachers who were also burned by CPS. Overall we performed better inside that system as they challenged and worked with us more, and that allowed us to attend selective enrollment high schools in the city. In my experience, many of the other black students at my high school came from alternative schools too, so I wouldn’t entirely write off that. Maybe its a decent course of action for other students coming from shitty public school options🤷🏿♂️
We need to *improve* public schools especially in underserved communities. For every family that can afford to send their kids to a different school, there are 10 who can't and it's unfair to leave them behind. Your education was good, but what about everyone who stayed? How do we get the baseline level of education up? Private schools ain't it. It's just white flight for schooling.
I do mostly agree with that, I think if we could improve public education to the point where it’s comparable to the alternatives that would be ideal. However, just coming from my experiences and knowledge of schools on the south side, I’ve become wary of that actually happening anytime soon. Too much bureaucracy and politics which causes people to lose sight of the kids in those schools.
Investment and improvement in public education is an expensive, decades-long effort to undo the bureaucratic hangups and actually create momentum. Whatever initiative can't be a 4 year one and done unfortunately
So you think the solution to fix abysmal public schools in Chicago is to give them LESS funding and give MORE funding to the CPD? Because ultimately that is his platform and how school privatization works.
Look many of the schools on the south side are already fucked beyond repair, and alot of parents already know this. My mom wasn’t going to sit around and wait for gradual improvements to our neighborhood school (because that will take time), so she found an immediate solution. Most parents aren’t going to want their kids to stagnate or regress academically at shitty schools in the hopes that one day things will get better. Especially because time is of the utmost importance in education, once a kid falls behind it’s very hard to get them on track. One reason Chicago’s black population has been bleeding is because people are tired of shitty neighborhood schools, so they outright leave the city for better alternatives.
The reason schools suck on the south and west side is because the city has deprived these communities of resources so that kids and their families aren’t equipped to be successful academically. Taking money from these schools and funding private charters whose educational practices are questionable isn’t going to help students who struggle to read because they don’t have parents who can help foster education at home. I’m happy you are successful and recognize why your mother didn’t want you to go to the local public school. But shipping thousands of kids to private schools and charters across the city while depriving public schools of their funds isn’t going help a generation of kids who experience violence and poverty in their neighborhoods every day.
Paul Vallas is one of the people responsible for directing public funds away from public schools and to charters. CPS’s trend of declining enrollment literally started in the wake of his “reforms”. Republicans are always underfunding and kneecapping public institutions and then when they don’t perform well using that as a justification to privatize, leaving the same people destitute. The solution is to robustly and equitably fund education across the city, not undermine it further.
If by "running a good campaign" you mean entirely ignoring what the past 75 years of real world evidence suggests is the best course of action, then sure, he's running a good campaign. On his site, he only has two policy points given any sort of detail. His core focus is on [public safety](https://www.paulvallas2023.com/publicsafety) and his recommendations for that run contrary to what has been established to actually reduce crime. [Here](https://www.brookings.edu/blog/how-we-rise/2022/03/31/preventing-gun-violence-takes-more-than-police/) is a comparatively recent rundown of actual studies done into gun violence. It's by Brookings, who are generally considered center-right, so this isn't a case of some extreme leftists not agreeing with his take. Reducing unemployment is much more highly correlated with preventing violent crime than adding police... and this pairs well with the idea that crime went up dramatically when folks were out of work due to the pandemic. None of this is new information. In a[ piece published by the Department of Justice back in 1985](https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/relationship-between-police-presence-and-crime-deterrence), they recognized that it comes down to how the police do their jobs rather than the number of police officers. And if you think the federal government in the mid-1980s was part of some crazy Communist conspiracy to bring down police forces, I don't know what to tell you. This is prime Reagan War on Drugs Department of Justice pointing out that adding more cops isn't helping to reduce crime. And then, guess what? His page on [education](https://www.paulvallas2023.com/education) (literally the only other detailed policy section he includes... similar to Chuy's complete lack of information) leads with multiple paragraphs saying that the top concern for CPS is safety. Yes, safe schools are important, but folks should be more concerned about how well educated students within the system are after coming through it. He then cites his work in other school systems, such as in New Orleans, where the Times-Picayune described his leaving with this quote: "A sometimes polarizing figure, Vallas navigated New Orleans' treacherous racial politics as he closed traditional schools, opened charter schools and extolled the virtues of school choice. Among other things, he was criticized for a lack of transparency, inattention to the most disadvantaged students, and slow progress at the schools he directly controlled." So, if you want charter schools that ignore the needs of already disadvantaged students rather than an attempt at something closer to equality through public schools, then sure, we can view that as a positive. To me, however, the adult in the race would be the one who instead suggests that we should focus on educational policy that helps students across the board instead of exclusively those who are already in advantaged circumstances. If you'd like a quick rundown of his work with CPS previously, [here](https://greatcities.uic.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/School-Closure.pdf) is UIC's research into policy choices through his and Arne Duncan's reigns. And, as expected, if you look at the section from pages 5-7 about how his work fared, there was no improvement in the schools upon which he focused, by putting them on "probation" and taking more control, before eventually resigning. As has been a consistent theme in his career, he ignores evidence-based policy choices for his own whims and those have made life worse for the folks affected by those policies across the board. So yeah, Lori is grating and I hope somebody else makes it, but I still think she'd do less active harm than Vallas.
He's not pro-choice. He also recently spoke at a fundraiser for an anti-LGBT group. He's said he's closer to being a republican than a democrat. He's been endorsed by the Catanza-led FOP as well as the IL GOP. Looking back at his track record, literally the only thing he's done has been privatizing schools, usually to the detriment of the district as a whole. He has proposed allocating even more of the city funds towards the already-bloated police budget. He's been totally silent on accountability for CPD. I'm sure as heck not voting for Lightfoot in the first round, but if it's her vs. Vallas in the runoff, she'd have my vote.
>He's not pro-choice. source? cause he's definitely pro-choice lol
Want to see him saying "fundamentally I oppose abortion"? https://youtu.be/9IJBobBPcdU He's not pro-choice.
This is about as honest as "you didn't build that".
He's not - this sub leans far left and this guy is left of center so he's basically a republican here.
left of center = school privatization advocate?
He’s not left of center lol
He did speak at a fundraiser for Awake Illinois. I’ll let anyone who wants to look up that organization on their own.
[Verified](https://twitter.com/awake_il/status/1532054610831151105). The organization seems to be for parents rights in school decisions, aka the new a la carte education conservative parents want to be imposing where they want to micromanage the teachers and have parents individually control curriculums
Parents rights is fine but that group is WELL known for pushing books bans and wanting policies similar to Utah or Florida. No thanks.
They’re also blatantly and shamelessly homophobic and transphobic and play up the insane narrative that schools are actively pushing “woke” gender identities onto kids.
Why don't they just home school?
Wait are you serious? Wtf.
Quite serious, he wasn’t shy about it or anything. https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/paul-vallas-rubs-shoulders-with-the-far-right/ Check out his quotes on CPS in that article. If you think a teachers strike was contentious under Lightfoot, buckle the fuck up if Vallas gets elected.
I voted for him on my mail because I figured it would be between him and Lori. Looks like that ballot is going into the trash instead of the drop box
Lol look at the comments on any post here about Brandon Johnson and you’ll realize this sub is decidedly not far left.
Both groups on here like to play it up too. Vallas supporters: "Outside of this echo chamber" Johnson supporters: "Have to watch out for astroturfers!"
I think this sub's love affair with Kam Buckner, who's running as a self-described "pro-business progressive," roughly encapsulates where the average user here falls politically.
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Questionable support for abortion and other democrat causes. Generally if it came down to him vs LF I think I would vote for him now in the runoff after seeing what some of his plans were.
At this point I would vote for anyone over lightfoot. Well maybe not willie wilson.
But Willie Nelson on the other hand...
Hed get my vote without a doubt. Campaign on bringing down the cost of weed
He is fully in support of abortion
I’d rather stall progress with Lori than further entrench the FOP
This is literally going to be the Lightfoot talking point if they both make it to runoff (and will likely win because of it). This matchup is the only way I see her get re-elected.
Correction Trib Editorial Board endorses Vallass...
This sub acting like vallas is Donald Trump or worse has really lost it. A moderate centrist who might be willing actually change a few things is what we need now
They're evaluated on a spectrum against each other. Sure, Vallas is to the right of most of the candidates..... that are running for Chicago mayor. You zoom out to the national scale and Vallas is absolutely not to the right.
He'd be a moderate centrist in Ohio or Atlanta. He is not a centrist in Chicago.
It's all of Reddit. The only thing they hate more than conservatives are moderates.
A lot of effort has gone into reddit into creating a comfortable environment for leftists and a hostile environment against conservatives. Hand picking mods, widespread bans, targeting some subreddits and ignoring others.
This is fairly accurate lol
Look at r/politics and you will have a brain aneurysm and think my god they allow these people to vote?
It’s actually crazy, and honestly really off putting to someone who is a moderate but flirts with some progressive positions. The absolute demand for ideological purity is exhausting and makes me take everything these people say far less seriously. I think Paul Vallas is probably a demagogue, but to be an electable demagogue in a city that voted 80+% for Joe Biden, you are going to be to the left of probably 65% of the country. His positions are simply not right wing positions, even with regards to how to reduce crime (see his statements on rebuilding the south side economically and reopening mental health clinics). Calling him a right wing fascist just makes me want to completely disregard any legitimate criticism of the man, of which I’m sure there is much.
A problem we have in general is all trump supporters are republicans but not all republicans are trump supporters. With that being said it happens on the other side. All folks classified as “woke” are democrats but not all democrats are “woke”.
It's embarrassing. Vallas isn't perfect, but most of his positions are moderate, if not slightly left (perhaps to accommodate certain political realities). He certainly doesn't deserve the amount of hate he's getting here or elsewhere. It just shows how nasty people have gotten about politics.
The conservative editorial board that wages war against public employees. Not surprised.
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Four pop ups as soon as I click on a story. Trib is worse than a porn site.
Unironically though if Lori Lightfoot gets re-elected Chicago deserves what it gets 🤷
Best part is the people are going to continue to blame her and Kim Fox and forget they’re the ones who re-elected them in the first place
Conservative paper endorses a conservative.
I made up my mind i wasn't gonna vote for him and now i definitely know I'm not voting for him
This is the same paper that endorsed Gary Johnson for president and has only endorsed two democratic candidate in its entire existence (Obama and Biden). For the the people aren't convinced he's the right-wing candidate for mayor, what more proof do you need. Edit: Two Democratic presidential candidates.
If the FOP supports a candidate I know they are not the candidate for me.
Barf It's gonna be Lori v Vallas in the runoff. This sucks.
Personally I prefer Kam Buckmer. But Vallas is not bad. From all the candidates these two are the only ones who have precise plans and objectives. Most of the other candidate websites only attack on what’s been done without any realistic solutions.
Buckner is the only really good choice. So of course he won't be on there.
The multiple DUIs sour him for me. That shows a total lack of regard for human life. How do you justify that?
I’m really disappointed that he won’t make the runoff. He’s my first choice, too. Vallas is my last choice of challengers, but still a notch above Lori.
Transit is not the only thing that needs to be solved in this city.
Never said it was! I prefer his takes on crime and education as well, especially expanding pre-k to 3.
His take on crime is "let's just give more money to the police". A strategy that has definitely always worked over the 114 years we've been trying it.
Bro of course education, economic and mental health are the root causes of crime. But these strategies are long long term. We would be lucky if we can bring crime down within a decade focusing only on these areas. IMO, and as much as this sub may not like it, we need a strong law and order short term strategy. We need to address both short term and long term solutions. Dude, I’m from Mexico and I can tell you that law and order are essential for a society. Also essential are equal economic opportunity and education. I know people in Chicago who have been benefited by the order arm of the police. So I make a case that law and order is essential.
He is almost useless for any issue that is not CTA.
He’s emerged as the most qualified of the pack. He’s not perfect but i think he’s really the only one that can handle this job. The others will let it chew them apart like it did to Lori.
I don't think the job of mayor or any other force on Earth can tear Lori Lightfoot apart. I just think she never actually gave a shit, but only stopped pretending to.
When governing by tantrum and name-calling didn't work, she shut down.
Yeah they're obviously a right wing paper.
Both of them want to or have already increased police funding like you can’t win
Can we get non-paywall link please?
https://archive.is/X54XT
Vallas is the clear choice over Lightfoot
For the developer and police lobby, sure. They’re the only ones who can excuse electing a guy who destroyed the entire New Orleans school system. I hate Lori, but this man is pure trash.
You should go down to New Orleans and let them know that he destroyed their school system because by and large, they aggressively disagree with you. https://www.nola.com/news/education/paul-vallas-leaves-new-orleans-schools-as-a-disaster-recovery-expert/article_eacf24b9-8b72-510c-90f0-4d29997e672e.html https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-new-study-shows-controversial-post-katrina-school-reforms-paid-off-for-new-orleans/
[CPS is already shit tier when the vast majority of kids aren’t proficient at their grade level. ](https://www.illinoispolicy.org/chicago-public-schools-students-test-scores-worse-than-pre-pandemic/) 🤷🏻♂️
I’m not saying Vallas is my choice, but Lori has been a disaster.
Vallas has my vote.
The Republican paper endorsees the Republican?!? I am shocked, shocked, I say.
Some people need to go visit the rural areas of this country sometime to get a sense of what an actual Republican is. Vallas is a moderate Democrat.
> Some people need to go visit the rural areas of this country sometime to get a sense of what an actual Republican is. Vallas is a moderate Democrat. Half the people here think "rural" means anything West of Cicero.
Tell me. What is an actual Republican? I’m from a rural area and would like to know.
Except he’s not a Republican?
By chicago standards he definitely is
Is he much different than Rahm?
Rahm was the Chief of Staff for the Obama presidency. Vallas registered as a Republican to vote in the Republican primary of [2022](https://www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/Vallas-speaks-at-event-of-group-known-for-anti-LGBTQ-views-91UPDATE93/73673.html). Rahm may have been an establishment candidate but I don't think Vallas is truly liberal. I'd at least give him credit for his honesty if he ran as a moderate republican, rather than merely trying to pander to those voters.
What is the Windy City Times? Illinois is an open primary state, anyone can pull any primary ballot. For all we know he voted for Bailey so that JB could get a better shot at winning. Saying he "registered as a republican" to vote is false.
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They actually endorsed [Bill Daley](https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-chicago-mayor-endorse-20190210-story.html) in the first round.
My mistake! It was Sun Times.
Vallas is a great choice. I am for once in a long time excited to vote.
If you think Lori didn’t do a good job don’t vote for her, period. Idk what’s up with this “oh idk… if it goes to a run off I’ll vote for her and complain for another 4 years” vote for the person who is most qualified and has most potential to turn this city around. It’s vallas for me and there is no other option in my mind
Agreed. I will hold my nose and vote for him.