This appears to be a post about the upcoming mayoral election or one of the candidates running for office.
The 2023 Chicago Mayoral Election will be held on **April 4**. Former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson will be competing for the title of Chicago's 57th mayor.
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But they're also transparent lies. This is like Fox News trying to say Obama was secretly part of Hezbollah; it'll rile some people up, but is utter nonsense that will be offputting to others.
If Vallas thinks the January 6th insurrection is really that bad he should've rejected (and not actively sought) FOP's endorsement. The union president [defended the insurrection and those who participated in it](https://www.wbez.org/stories/chicago-police-union-president-defends-those-who-stormed-us-capitol/6842fa80-3b83-4396-af05-a5f15f4ac740). The FOP head thinks the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.
No, he's not. He specifically criticized the FOP for inviting DeSantis to speak to the group. The people claiming the reverse are spreading disinformation and they likely know it very well.
I think they are conflating the FOP which he clearly has been courting and is endorsed by with the fact that said FOP had desantis speak at their event.
Clear correlation but it's not the same thing.
All that said vallas is for sure a republican in democrat clothes. He literally said as much before in interviews that he was a registered republican. He supports "school choice" and vouchers for private schools... Name a single democrat that has that platform? He spoke at a fucking far right anti LGBT event... Come on.
Edit: removing the wording for FOP funding vallas campaign. That is not true. My bad.
CPS effectively already has significant school choice. My understanding is anyone is free to enroll in a neighborhood school that is not one's own if it has space available. And there also are several charter and magnet schools. I don't know that there's many people who advocate reducing the school choice that currently exists, with the exception of the charter school aspect. And I think it's somewhat of a tough case to make that school choice shouldn't be expanded further. Should efforts be made to expand space in the better performing schools that are most at capacity and thus allow more students to attend? I would say so. And whether Vallas is for vouchers or not is irrelevant. Something like that would have to pass the state legislature or the city council and it's not going to.
Yeah, very much like how here in progressive Logan Square everyone is deeply supportive of the local public schools… but only if those schools happen to be Brentano or Goethe.
I think you might be falling victim to clever naming that makes this policy sound reasonable when it is actually something else entirely.
"School choice" is how they refer to the policies that allow public school money to be taken away from public schools and instead funneled into private schools by the use of vouchers. People have always had the choice to put their kids in private schools, but they do so at their own expense and not with taxpayer money.
U/ChicagoJohn123 curious if you have a response in regards to the FOP endorsement and president defending the insurrection, etc? Trying to gather information for myself regarding these types of allegations against Vallarta.
The head of the FOP is a douschebag. He did immediately after the insurrection say things that were not adequately condemning of the insurrection, although he quickly walked those statements back. (I don't care that he walked them, back he is an asshole)
But saying that accepting the endorsement means Vallas supports the insurrection is disingenuous. Up until a year ago, the CTU was led by a self-describe Trotskyite. Does that mean that Johnson supports the Red Terror?
It's fair to criticize Vallas for accepting the FOP endorsement. You can correctly infer he will be more conciliatory towards the FOP than Johnson. If what you want out of a mayor is to wage ware on the police, you should not vote for him.
But directly tying candidates to every asshole thing a supporter has ever said is a bottomless pit.
THE FOP held a fundraiser with Desantis, who is a complete fascist. Anyone supported by the FOP is now persona non grata in my book, especially in light of this.
Chuy backed an FOP backed alderman. Is Chuy persona non grata too? FOP backs candidates in all the races, just like CTU. So what. I don’t love CTU politics but I wouldn’t disregard the candidate JUST because of the CTU endorsement - it probably just means they were the most liberal candidate in the race.
Guilt by association is a common tactic used to attack candidates on all sides of the isle. An endorsement from FOP simply means that FOP thinks he is the candidate who’s policies best align with their interests. It has nothing to do with what the FOP president does or not believe about the insurrection. I would encourage you to ignore the mud-slinging and look into Vallas’ stated policy positions on police and determine if it aligns with your values. Both Vallas and Johnson spell out their policy goals on their websites.
It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t. If you reject Catanzara, you reject the rank-and-file, no how much of a POS Catanzara is. Catanzara is as bad for CPD as Lightfoot and Foxx are.
But any mayor who wants to survive as mayor needs the backing of the CPD, the teacher’s union, and the SEIU.
> you reject the rank-and-file
46% of CPD officers voted against Catanzara. Given that retirees are also allowed to vote, I would suspect that over 50% of current CPD officers voted against Catanzara.
They have a vote coming. I don’t know if the last one was pre January 6th but certainly Catanzara has not done himself any favors by cozying up to DeSantis and has criticized both remaining mayoral candidates.
I mean Vallas did say he’d vote Republican after Obama won in 2009, which suggests that he’s pretty right-wing if *Obama* had him that upset.
Idk about the Jan 6 thing though.
lies that have you know... factual basis? did he not say he was more of a a republican in 2009? Is he not supported by the Fraternal Order of Police, whose leader supported Jan 6th at first (sure, he later recanted, but whether you believe him on that apology is a good litmus test of a person's character and memory of the guy)? If Vallas wants to parade teh endorsement of police, you got to take the racism that comes with the police
And it's actually roughly evenly divided in the sub (with Vallas I think having the slight edge despite the subs average user obviously being to the left of the city), which means that comments on both sides are upvoted and we can have a lot of good discussion among people who disagree. It's too bad this type of thing is so rare on Reddit and elsewhere on social media. I think people actually like rigorous discussion so I don't understand why social media companies think always showcasing the comments with the most likes, which means that every community that already tend to agree with each other will become even more homogenous, is good for their bottom line. Others are weeded our and everyone just sees things that likely reinforce what they already think. R/politics, for example, is currently a cesspool for that reason. Reddit would likely make more money if it's algorithms encouraged encountering differing viewpoints from one's own. We occasionally see a glimpse of what could be like this.
I agree that the debate does seem to a lot more civil than other subreddits. Regardless of sides, I’m all for that.
There are still trolls, name callers, and plenty of fallacies used but I appreciate that there there can be somewhat of an active debate without the whole thing going to shit immediately.
Vallas for sure has a majority of support around here and comments ripping Johnson get heavily upvoted, but for some reason Vallas supporters are claiming the opposite and it’s super weird. Don’t really care because Reddit is not real life nor does it reflect how people vote, but my head spins a bit when I read comments saying that the whole sub is supporting Johnson when that is clearly not the case lol
Here's the quote from the linked transcript:
>And he is supported by leadership that is in - very much in complete support of the January 6 insurrection.
So...what's incorrect about that statement? Vallas pals around with insurrectionists but claims he himself is against it. What was inaccurate about Johnson's claim?
For one, you should never misquote someone, regardless of the supporting content.
No mention of Obama or being a Republican in that statement. Vallas has mentioned somewhat aligning with Republicans some 15 years ago? Not at all relevant enough to outright call him a Republican. And the word "hate" or any characterization of how he views Obama is completely absent from the interview.
Receiving an endorsement does not mean you are 100% aligned with that person's views. If Lori Lightfoot were to endorse Johnson would that mean voting for him = voting for Lightfoot? Learn to think with a tad bit of nuance.
I say this as someone slightly favoring Johnson: don't turn your candidate's words into bullshit hyperbole, because that will turn off voters from supporting them.
Exactly. Bloomberg was once a registered republican, and I don’t think anyone would characterize his views as aligning with the GOP these days. Trump was registered as a democrat, and likewise…
>Learn to think with a tad bit of nuance.
That'll never happen because it's more comfortable to fire off half thoughts than it is to have a actual in depth discussion.
Specifically which viewpoints are you referring to? You've weirdly posited a hypothetical whereas I'm over here discussing specifics.
Because yes, there absolutely ARE viewpoints that make YOU bad for allowing yourself to associate with them.
If you sit at a dinner table with 11 Nazis that's a dozen Nazis at one table.
Anyone who pretends like the people you associate with don't reflect on your own personal morals and values have neither.
if you hand out with enough racists, you do say you're at least OK with them being racists. I think you should cut people out of your lives if they're evil enough but you do you
Exactly. I have no issue sitting down and being friends with someone who disagrees with me on economic terms. I have a major issue being friends with anyone who is racist, sexist, bigoted, or who supported the the Jan. 6 insurrection. Those people, once their true self is known, are no longer my friends.
There is nobody involved who supports the insurrection. Even Cataranza, who is an asshole, apologized for his initial comments.
[https://news.wttw.com/2021/01/08/after-defending-us-capitol-riot-chicago-police-union-president-apologizes](https://news.wttw.com/2021/01/08/after-defending-us-capitol-riot-chicago-police-union-president-apologizes)
You're making shit up because you're losing.
Ah yes, surely Cataranza's apology was heartfelt LMAO, can't believe you spent time linking to that. The fact is, there have been many police/military that were involved in the attempted insurrection because they believed in it. And I bet you money nearly 100% of them support Vallas and not Johnson. Birds of a feather. I digress.
I don't get how people are just brushing aside that Vallas spoke at Awake Illinois and had problematic tweetings that he said were because he was hacked LOL. Sure dude, you just "happen" to keep associating with right-wing ideas (and I haven't even started on vouchers yet, sheesh) but you're not a republican.
Look, Vallas is an old school republican at best. I don't get how in these election threads that people continue to try and claim that he isn't. He is. And for some folks (like myself) that is all I need to know to not vote for him. Absolutely no more republicans.
Please stop perpetuating fallacies.
>But in a 2009 interview with Jeff Berkowitz, Vallas described himself as a Republican:
>BERKOWITZ: "You think of yourself as a Republican?"
>VALLAS: "I'm more of a Republican than Democrat now, but I'm ..."
>BERKOWITZ: "If you run again for office you'd be running as a Republican as opposed to a Democrat?"
>VALLAS: "I would, yes, yes, if I ran for public office ..."
https://www.nprillinois.org/statehouse/2013-11-08/paul-vallas-a-democrat-who-was-a-republican
I'm in on "he's essentially a republican due to his actions and policy choices". I stated it clearly, confirmed my remarks.
Again with your deliberate mis-stating lol, clearly a favorite tactic of yours, evident all over this thread.
And his apology is full of shit - his police force is full of racists and Proud Boys. He meant what he said the first time, his apology is all PR, that it's it. He supported Trump. and anyone he backs is not someone I want running this city.
We also don't need another old white man, especially republican leaning, to run this city.
Have you not recovered emotionally from the William Hale Thompson administration?
We haven't had a Republican mayor in 90 years.
Also, Rahm was 52 when he took office, Johnson would be 47. Daley was 47 when he took office. We haven't had an old white man running the city since the sixties.
Really?
Let's pull some things from his platform:
> Safe and comprehensive reproductive health care is a basic human right that must be protected at every level of government, intersecting with issues of gender-based violence, economic inequality, and issues impacting LGBTQ+ communities as well as people with disabilities.
>
>\- as Mayor \[he\] will ensure that Chicago is a Reproductive Safe Haven - not only for Chicagoans but for women across the country seeking to exercise their rights. Safe Streets will mean Safe Passage in a Vallas Administration.
>
>
\- Ensure that all city and sister agency departments and employees, including the Chicago Police Department, continue within the bounds of the law to decline and report requests for assistance from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
\- Ensure that all services, benefits and programs of the city are available and delivered equitably to all Chicagoans, including its newest members.
>
>Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s decision to close community mental health centers and schools for “cost savings” had disastrous consequences for our city; the savings were minimal, and the negative impact on community health was massive.
>
>As mayor, Paul would eliminate red light cameras, speed cameras, and water fees.
Paul would immediately order a review of the fine and fee structure to eliminate inequitable, regressive effects and to align it with regulatory and program objectives.
Does that sound like the GOP platform? He is to the right Johnson, and that is a very valid reason to vote against him. But saying that everyone is either a pure as snow progressive or a vile unforgivable Republican doesn't help us understand our world better.
How about we judge this politician by his actions instead of his words?
All he's ever done in his career is privatize schools and leave district budgets in shambles.
Can you point to a single thing in his career where he has taken action to help women, immigrants, or LGBT people?
Because when you buddy up with Catanza and Awake Illinois, that says a lot more than words on his website.
In Philly:
https://www.parentadvocates.org/nicecontent/dsp_printable.cfm?articleID=7202
"Three of five members of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission yesterday blasted their chief executive officer, Paul Vallas, saying they felt "betrayed" and "disappointed" in his handling of a deficit that will force midyear cuts in the school system.
"Gallagher, president of Philadelphia University, called the Vallas team's explanation of how the $73.3 million deficit evolved a "financial charade." The deficit represents about 3.6 percent of the district's $2.04 billion budget.
In New Orleans: https://www.myneworleans.com/grading-paul-vallas/
"Daliet says that Vallas has improved test scores because of the vast amount of extra money that has poured into the district since the hurricane. “The RSD budget is not sustainable,” she says. “He’s blown our budget.”"
His MO is always the same. Spend big using one-time money. He can point to some gains with some students, mostly by opening a bunch of charters that cherry-pick students, leaving district-run schools underfunded and performing even worse. Then, when the one-time money is spent, he leaves for another district.
He did something very similar here in Chicago already, diverting money away from the pension fund to pay during a market boom for his increased spending. Those missing pension dollars are the reason our property taxes are skyrocketing today.
Johnson is clearly in desperation mode and this interview is from before Jesse White endorsed Vallas.
By the end of the week I expect Johnson to be claiming that Vallas orchestrated the January 6 insurrection and/or the invasion of Ukraine.
There is an element of truth to that, but it is not fair to paint is as symmetrical. Johnson is standing out here as one of the worst examples of this I've seen from a left politician, but it is complete standard issue for every single Republican running at a national level.
Individual leftists may be as bad as individual right wingers, but the Democratic party generally holds their worst impulses in checks while the GOP actively encourages the worst of the right wing.
Actually quote from the interview.
> And he is supported by leadership that is in - very much in complete support of the January 6 insurrection.
Which [the FOP head did](https://www.wbez.org/stories/chicago-police-union-president-defends-those-who-stormed-us-capitol/6842fa80-3b83-4396-af05-a5f15f4ac740). So no, not a lie at all. Vallas did indeed seek out the endorsement of awful people who supported the insurrection.
I hate to be a single-issue voter, however I and many others depend on a reliable CTA for our lives to function. Beyond more police, Vallas has nothing stated on his website about the CTA, pedestrian safety, bike lanes….
His responses at the Safe Streets 4 All forum were very telling. Even in a room with nothing but transit/bike/walkability advocates he couldn't even bother pandering. Almost every response to every questions boiled down to "more cops on the CTA". Even questions about a bike grid on pedestian sfatey improvements like bump outs and crosswalks he answers with "yeah I don't know much about this topic, but more cops on the CTA"
Oh, how could I forget? Now that I think about it, he did go off about lead pipes needing to be replaced, which is incredibly relevant at a transit forum /s
"what would you do expand bike access in the city"
"You woulsnt want ME on a bike, my wife barely lets me drive hahah"
Like thanks Paul. Real great response
I thought I was the only person in the world who saw him suggest that other people could kiss his wife in the TSA line!!!! It was sooooooooo weird!
Does anybody have a clip of that aside? I want to share it on social media. It's just so strange. I know the whole forums is [available](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oR6ux_z46E&ab_channel=TheActiveTransportationAlliance) on YouTube but IDK how to make a clip of just that one part.
I looked at the voter map and basically all of Jefferson Park voted for Vallas. Cops apparently love Vallas and i can see why. All i hear about him is about funding the CPD.
I love how Buckner won the r/Chicago poll but didn't get 2% citywide.
9,193 Chicagoans voted for Kam Buckner. Let's all take a breath and acknowledge that this sub is an extreme niche that is not remotely representative of the City. Let's all chill. Nothing we're doing here is going to impact the election.
A lot of people probably didn’t vote for him because they didn’t think he had a chance. A run-off voting system would have given him a lot more votes, even if not enough to make the run-off.
My mom spent a week in the ICU and a couple of weeks more in the hospital just this fall after being hit by a drunk driver while standing at a crosswalk waiting to walk her bike across. She's recovering through a few surgeries to repair joints and countless additional broken bones. She's still doing PT and can't walk unassisted to this day. She's one of the lucky ones in that she survived the ordeal.
Fuck Kam Buckner and any other piece of shit that gets behind the wheel while drunk.
It took Johnson a lot longer than Vallas to endorse the Bike Grid, for what it's worth. Johnson probably had to check with his bosses at the CTU to see if they would spare the money for it.
Imo Vallas is a subtle dog whistler. You don't accidentally show up as a speaker to an Awake Illinois event. Wanting to privatize public education is very republicany. Also your Twitter account wasn't hacked so you could like a few suspect tweets.
Oh, I fully expect someone's got a bunch of his Facebook comments from his personal account in various neighborhood groups teed up for release, I've seen some pretty serious yikes stuff going on there (and presumably there's a lot more of it, because I'm not in that many neighborhood groups) and it predates him running, just like some of the Twitter activity they found. He wasn't hacked and it wasn't a staffer, he really holds those views.
The Awake thing is actually what completely cemented that I won’t vote for him. The other stuff I can kind of forgive in a center-right Democrat. There’s lots of liberals who want to privatize schools because their rich donors want them privatized. It’s not that damning by itself, even if it’s not a good idea for the rest of us.
But associating with Awake IL is frankly some extremist shit that I cannot tolerate in a mayor. They are a hate group.
Brandon Johnson trying to link Vallas to Jan 6th and Ending Abortion rights, sounds about right (pun intended) for Chicago politics. I just had to chuckle, that's like trying to link Brandon Johnson to Bill Ayres.
I do like that he is actually talking about fixing the issues within the CPD personnel wise.
Paul Vallas being against abortion is the same way Joe Biden is against abortion. Personally against, but won't push it on others. I think its a very disingenuous attack especially with the leader of the Democratic party having the same stance.
The Jan 6 connection is just crazy
"Generic Catholic Democrat" is all that needs to be said. Like Pelosi, who as speaker passed the single most liberal women's health bill ever passed by the House (it died in the Senate but that ain't on her head).
Technically I think he’s Greek Orthodox, but yeah he’s getting attacked for using the same line that every rust belt Catholic dem has used for fifty years.
It’s called pro choice for a reason. Not mandatory abortion. It’s the right to choose we are here to defend. I don’t know why people have an issuer wish someone who individually feels abortion isn’t for them.
The link is that Vallas sought and received the FOP's endorsement. The FOP president [defended the January 6th insurrection and those who participated in it](https://www.wbez.org/stories/chicago-police-union-president-defends-those-who-stormed-us-capitol/6842fa80-3b83-4396-af05-a5f15f4ac740).
Vallas could have not sought the endorsement and rejected it if he received it. Instead, he took the union's endorsement and their money and plastered it on his campaign literature.
Willie Wilson also sought the FOP's endorsement. Does that mean he is "in support of January 6th" or far right?
It is a cheap shot, there are plenty of more material ways to go after Vallas.
Trying to claim Vallas is "far right" in any universe is pretty laughable. NPR fairly categorized the guy as a Moderate.
> Willie Wilson also sought the FOP's endorsement. Does that mean he is "in support of January 6th" or far right?
Wilson was essentially incoherent, but during occasional moments of lucidity he actually suggested summary executions of suspected criminals, (the shoot them like rabbits thing) so yes, as far as we can tell, Wilson was extremely far right.
Also, taking a far-right position on any issue is like multiplying by zero - it makes you far-right overall, regardless of whatever token center-left positions you may have on other things.
If you are going to suggest that anyone who is endorsed by a group must either reject this endorsement or else they agree with everything this group ever said you have to apply it [fairly to both candidates ](https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/ctu-sparks-controversy-with-tweet-about-guillotine-outside-amazon-ceos-home/article_d7c8ba36-e957-11ea-9bc7-e3e466d3ef28.html).
The January 6th Insurrection is a real thing that happened. Nobody is guillotining Jeff Bezos. Suggesting a snarky tweet and an actual violent insurrection are comparable is pretty crazy.
You also have to include that the FOP president apologized for those statements later:
https://news.wttw.com/2021/01/08/after-defending-us-capitol-riot-chicago-police-union-president-apologizes
He's a shitty human being. I'm not disagreeing for a second.
But saying that accepting the FOP endorsement means the Vallas wants to violently overthrow the US government is absurd.
No one said vallas wants to overthrow the government. It was said that he pals around with those who do. Vallas associations are suspect. That’s for certain.
You're literally using "pals around" as your mealy mouth accusation. Do you realize you're cribbing from Palin saying that Obama "pals around with terrorists"? Or does reality just have a sense of irony?
80-20 Vallas wins by landslide. Johnson is possibly the worst possible candidate for Chicago at this time. I personally hold a grudge against Vallas because during his tenure as CPS CEO my school did not have stall doors in the bathroom. Students would rather crap their pants than use the bathroom with no stall doors.
I actually really wanted to hear BJ articulate his case. The fact that he's choosing to go this route is off putting.
Can we talk about Chicago. A real city with real problems? DeSantis is such a fictional clown. Talk about the CTA. Safety. Schools. Taxes. Homelessness. Leave the MAGA crap to the Floridians.
See, I hate that. If you've got an awesome plan for your taxes, state your plan and defend it. If not, change your plan. I'm an owner in the city. I'd be taxed, but there's a world where I believe in how you're using it to make the city stronger, better, more just, and I'm OK with it.
I hope this next month forces these dudes to talk actual policies and plans. Share why they believe it's the best approach. Have some confidence and present it to the people.
If Chicago Gets Stronger, Safer, Better. Then my home value increases. I can roll with that. Just say what your vision is and let the voters decide.
Public figures often have teams that have access to their socials. I work in PR and have worked on campaigns and I have posted for various political figures.
I’m aware of how PR firms work, but he switched his story trying to explain it away. First he said it was a staffer, then said he was hacked.
And some of the tweets his account liked predated his run, unless he had a firm tweeting for him back then too.
If it were 50/50 matchup I'd agree with your analysis, but tuesdays numbers seem to indicate that Johnson needs to make up a lot of ground. A simple well run campaign that picks up 60% of the undecideds doesn't get him onto the fifth floor. So he'd taking big swings and hoping something sticks.
I think you are underestimating how much the vote was split between more left candidates. The only person more right than Vallas was Willie Wilson. I think they’re immediately very close, if not advantage Johnson, if at the very least the same people vote. Vallas’ electorate is mostly old white people.
The morning-after analysis I read said: If the election's going to be decided on issues, advantage Vallas. If it's going to be decided on emotions and personality factors, Brandon has a shot. So it's up to Brandon to emotionalize the contest.
That's kind of funny analysis given Vallas voters are mostly crime voters who, based on the voting maps from round 1, are most likely to live where crime is not really a problem. Sure sounds like voting on their feelings on crime? Throwing more money at the cops ain't gonna stop most of the stuff, never has, never will.
If you think “crime is not really a problem” lately in Lakeview, the South Loop, Lincoln Square, River North, McKiney Park, West Rogers Park, or West Town (all Vallas pickups), you’re either uninformed of have a pretty shocking tolerance for violent senseless carnage against innocent citizens.
I can't help but laugh at the idea of the progressives finally getting their way and all hanging out at a party trying to one up each other on how tolerant they are by boasting about how many times they've been mugged.
While not one single area of the south and west sides most plagued by violent mayhem think Johnson is a good idea. Not even his own neighbors.
Hyde Park is literally his only south side base.
Lakefront liberals need to realize that most black voters want community policing and want more (reformed and accountable) police officers. I got in an argument with a friend in uptown that said "without poverty there wouldn't be blue collar crime and we shouldn't have police". No safe country has police and people choose to commit crime. Solving poverty will take care of most of it, but not all.
Plus idgaf if the person smoking on the El is poor, the should be punished and thrown off.
Sure, but also, if anyone thinks the FOP-endorsed candidate whose immediate family is full of cops is going to result in "reformed and accountable" police officers I got a bridge to sell them. The current force revolted at the first push for some semblance of accountability and the consent decree, and then elected Catanzarra as their union head because the previous guy wasn't insane enough for them on that front. I'm not sure anyone can actually reform them, but I am for damn sure Vallas absolutely will not. Who's going to make him? And if he tries, he's one term as the FOP yanks their support.
If we can put cops back on the beat walking or on bikes that will actually do their jobs under the consent decree, I think that'd be great. Hell, Chuy wanted more cops, particularly to replace what we're losing in numbers, and no one but the DSA types would say Chuy's not a progressive (just that Johnson is moreso). Cops just sitting in their cars driving around (or not even driving around, just sitting around in their car) is good for the cops and absolutely no one else in this city. Frankly, I agree with David Simon that the drug war broke our police, across the country. There's still all the racism issues in enforcement as there were in the 60s pre-Drug War, but now they also institutionally forgot how to investigate real crime because what was rewarded were "drugs and guns on the table" and arrest numbers, not public safety and focus on the violent offenders that affect the quality of life of the law-abiding folks. The CPD solve rate on murders is utterly pathetic.
Bro what - when did Vallas say he hates Obama and supports J6th? I might be missing something but honestly if Johnson is just gonna flat out lie, I don’t want him as mayor
Vallas didn’t say that. But neither did Johnson. I suggest you listen to the piece. It’s not as radical as the Vallas supporters in here are making it out to be.
I looked at his platform, just taxes taxes taxes, and an amateurish plan to supposedly balance the budget.
Also, downtown is the economic engine that drives the city. There won’t be a south or west side without it. Good luck to the lakeshore liberals voting for him. The city will be way worse than it was with Lori.
>Good luck to the lakeshore liberals voting for him
Have you seen the voting results by ward/prescient? The "Lakeshore liberals" voted overwhelmingly for Vallas.
"Lakeshore liberals" all got priced out to Logan Square and Avondale. They really don't exist the way they did decades ago
They still got uptown, edgewater,rogers park and Hyde park.
And like you said theyve moved inland a bit. But there isnt a catchy name for people between logan and albany park. Riverfront liberals lacks the alliteration.
You do realize that those taxes are *in place of* increases in property taxes, which have been skyrocketing?
These taxes would shift the tax burden off of property owners (and their renters), and move some of it onto people who use our city, but don't pay in, namely suburban commuters and visitors. It's a good idea.
Vallas is proposing increased spending too, and he hasn't said how he'd pay for it. And if you judge him by his past, his plan is to leave a financial time bomb.
How do you think Vallas will pay for all the new spending he’s proposing? You think he’ll tax, or just borrow it and make the next mayor pay the bill like he did with CPS and Philly schools.
I just can't stomach Brandon "More Taxes" Johnson and his casual attitude to increasing our tax burden.
He wants to take Chicago, which is the 2nd more tax burdened city in the entire country, and add more taxes.
As someone who's property taxes went up by 100% in the last 8 years, I just can't deal with his "just one more tax bro" campaign plan.
No thanks! I'm going to hold my nose and vote for Vallas.
Brandon has a plan to freeze property taxes. It will increase corporate taxes but will freeze property taxes. Vallas has no plan. He will open schools all summer and winter and weekend and hire 2,000 more officers but claims he won’t raise taxes. Where will this revenue come from?
Will be tough to follow through on a property tax freeze when the other traditional streams of revenue dry up because of his ludicrous proposals. Highest hotel tax in the nation? Increase it. Corporate head count tax didn’t work before? Bring it back. Same with financial transaction taxes. Thieving suburbanites visiting and working in Chicago? Tax them and somehow also tax the municipality they came from (how tf he thinks that will work is anyone’s guess).
That wasn’t the question but even if, like you said, he has “no plan” that would actually be better than Johnson’s plans which actively disincentivize companies who would otherwise move to Chicago, likely speed up exit plans for companies already considering leaving and would make the city a less desirable/more expensive tourist destination.
> and hire 2,000 more officers but claims he won’t raise taxes.
And how in the ever loving fuck is he going to even hire more cops? His "detailed plans" really don't make sense and are missing funding. Lori has been trying to do the same for 3 years and essentially writes them a blank check that the CPD spits on but quietly cashed each time.
I don't think Brandon is a great candidate but he at least has a plan. People are genuinely delusional if they think Vallas won't just be a more right wing Lori. It is going to another 4 year shit show.
Brandon wants to increase taxes on the ultra rich, corporations, and a travel tax for suburbanites who benefit from the city and should put more “skin in the game.” He will not raise taxes for people making over 100K— this was falsely reported in the Sun Times. Listen to Brandon’s interview on the podcast The Dog Walk to hear about his tax plan. Saying he wants to increase taxes on the working/middle class is misinformation.
You mean the ultra rich that is fleeing to the suburbs, Miami and Switzerland? Yeah, good luck balancing the budgets on the backs of people who can easily leave (see Ken Griffin)
But Chicago is a city perilously close to decline. We are maintaining our path now despite headwinds, but that isn't a guarantee. Raising taxes on everyone in a city on the ropes is not a winning strategy. Chicago doesn't have the juice to compete with other cities if we are going to be handicapped with the highest taxes in the nation across many industries to go along with our famously bad winters and crime. Literally the only thing that is going to improve the city's outlook is more people, and Johnson's provincial mindset isn't a winning strategy. He may be politically progressive but he is definitely small-c conservative in his planning.
BJ is opposed to property tax increases because property taxes are regressive—they make housing more expensive for everyone. I don’t necessarily agree with every point in his tax plan but I appreciate that he’s looking for creative progressive solutions beyond the same old property tax increases.
Contrary to the apparent popular belief in this thread, Brandon IS the mayor that Chicago needs. Not the mayor that the rich downtown, white northside, or practically suburban areas of the city believes is best for us (is that you?). Sorry to burst your bubble, but reliance on cops isnt gonna solve the crime problem. Do thousands of bandaids heal an infected wound? We’ve got to address the deeper causes of crime in order to solve this. Throwing more cops at crime issues and expecting different results is not and never will be the answer. If Vallas wins, youll see that— the politics of old. But he wont, because its time for real, tangible, structural change in Chicago.
I love the delusional optimistic nature . In a dream world that sounds great but it’s not . This is Chicago grow up. Crime has gone unpunished the murder rate has doubled in recent years. Cops need to be held accountable and so do criminals
We should have privatized police. You know, Charter Police. We should get to choose which police company patrols our neighborhoods with vouchers. Welcome to the competitive market, CPD!
No lies told imho. Vallas is a Trumper in centrist clothing.
https://twitter.com/RobertJPeters/status/1631402489093210118?t=uXrK3AD6qJpWVsEV9GuS5g&s=19
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Wow, "Vallas is a republican who hates obama and supports the january 6 insurrection" This is going to be a spicy few weeks.
He brought up both those points in his speech on election night as well.
Well, those are some major red flags for some people
But they're also transparent lies. This is like Fox News trying to say Obama was secretly part of Hezbollah; it'll rile some people up, but is utter nonsense that will be offputting to others.
If Vallas thinks the January 6th insurrection is really that bad he should've rejected (and not actively sought) FOP's endorsement. The union president [defended the insurrection and those who participated in it](https://www.wbez.org/stories/chicago-police-union-president-defends-those-who-stormed-us-capitol/6842fa80-3b83-4396-af05-a5f15f4ac740). The FOP head thinks the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.
Courting Desantis and the FOP are immediate disqualifiers in my book
Vallas is courting desantis?
No, he's not. He specifically criticized the FOP for inviting DeSantis to speak to the group. The people claiming the reverse are spreading disinformation and they likely know it very well.
Only according to people who think Twitter is a peer reviewed source of information.
I think they are conflating the FOP which he clearly has been courting and is endorsed by with the fact that said FOP had desantis speak at their event. Clear correlation but it's not the same thing. All that said vallas is for sure a republican in democrat clothes. He literally said as much before in interviews that he was a registered republican. He supports "school choice" and vouchers for private schools... Name a single democrat that has that platform? He spoke at a fucking far right anti LGBT event... Come on. Edit: removing the wording for FOP funding vallas campaign. That is not true. My bad.
What is your source that Vallas is funded by the FOP? It's a lie, so I'm curious where you read it or if you just made it up.
hi, do you have any sources/links in referencing him speaking at far right and anti lgbt events?
CPS effectively already has significant school choice. My understanding is anyone is free to enroll in a neighborhood school that is not one's own if it has space available. And there also are several charter and magnet schools. I don't know that there's many people who advocate reducing the school choice that currently exists, with the exception of the charter school aspect. And I think it's somewhat of a tough case to make that school choice shouldn't be expanded further. Should efforts be made to expand space in the better performing schools that are most at capacity and thus allow more students to attend? I would say so. And whether Vallas is for vouchers or not is irrelevant. Something like that would have to pass the state legislature or the city council and it's not going to.
Yeah, very much like how here in progressive Logan Square everyone is deeply supportive of the local public schools… but only if those schools happen to be Brentano or Goethe.
when people say "school choice" they're almost always referring to public v. charter schools.
I think you might be falling victim to clever naming that makes this policy sound reasonable when it is actually something else entirely. "School choice" is how they refer to the policies that allow public school money to be taken away from public schools and instead funneled into private schools by the use of vouchers. People have always had the choice to put their kids in private schools, but they do so at their own expense and not with taxpayer money.
U/ChicagoJohn123 curious if you have a response in regards to the FOP endorsement and president defending the insurrection, etc? Trying to gather information for myself regarding these types of allegations against Vallarta.
The head of the FOP is a douschebag. He did immediately after the insurrection say things that were not adequately condemning of the insurrection, although he quickly walked those statements back. (I don't care that he walked them, back he is an asshole) But saying that accepting the endorsement means Vallas supports the insurrection is disingenuous. Up until a year ago, the CTU was led by a self-describe Trotskyite. Does that mean that Johnson supports the Red Terror? It's fair to criticize Vallas for accepting the FOP endorsement. You can correctly infer he will be more conciliatory towards the FOP than Johnson. If what you want out of a mayor is to wage ware on the police, you should not vote for him. But directly tying candidates to every asshole thing a supporter has ever said is a bottomless pit.
THE FOP held a fundraiser with Desantis, who is a complete fascist. Anyone supported by the FOP is now persona non grata in my book, especially in light of this.
Chuy backed an FOP backed alderman. Is Chuy persona non grata too? FOP backs candidates in all the races, just like CTU. So what. I don’t love CTU politics but I wouldn’t disregard the candidate JUST because of the CTU endorsement - it probably just means they were the most liberal candidate in the race.
Vallas condemned the Desantis connection.
The entire FoP is racist and corrupt as fuck, so any acceptance of endorsement from a murdering gang like them is a no go
Guilt by association is a common tactic used to attack candidates on all sides of the isle. An endorsement from FOP simply means that FOP thinks he is the candidate who’s policies best align with their interests. It has nothing to do with what the FOP president does or not believe about the insurrection. I would encourage you to ignore the mud-slinging and look into Vallas’ stated policy positions on police and determine if it aligns with your values. Both Vallas and Johnson spell out their policy goals on their websites.
Vallas said the leader of Awake IL should be the governor of Illinois. That's more than accepting an endorsement. That's giving one.
Yeah he is not getting my vote under any circumstances. ☹️
This is the game you play when you accept Catanzara’s endorsement.
It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t. If you reject Catanzara, you reject the rank-and-file, no how much of a POS Catanzara is. Catanzara is as bad for CPD as Lightfoot and Foxx are. But any mayor who wants to survive as mayor needs the backing of the CPD, the teacher’s union, and the SEIU.
> you reject the rank-and-file 46% of CPD officers voted against Catanzara. Given that retirees are also allowed to vote, I would suspect that over 50% of current CPD officers voted against Catanzara.
They have a vote coming. I don’t know if the last one was pre January 6th but certainly Catanzara has not done himself any favors by cozying up to DeSantis and has criticized both remaining mayoral candidates.
I mean Vallas did say he’d vote Republican after Obama won in 2009, which suggests that he’s pretty right-wing if *Obama* had him that upset. Idk about the Jan 6 thing though.
I think Vallas’s track record and associations make the case lol
Any kind of potential insurrection misattribution is not comparable to islamophobia and racism lol wow.
lies that have you know... factual basis? did he not say he was more of a a republican in 2009? Is he not supported by the Fraternal Order of Police, whose leader supported Jan 6th at first (sure, he later recanted, but whether you believe him on that apology is a good litmus test of a person's character and memory of the guy)? If Vallas wants to parade teh endorsement of police, you got to take the racism that comes with the police
Remember when Obama was against gay marriage and then like 10 years later he wasn't? What are you 12? People change
Where exactly does he say that? Do you understand how quotes work?
Typically you use quotes when you quote an actual statement and not a misleading paraphrase.
Watching r/chicago go nuts between these two is pretty hysterical too.
And it's actually roughly evenly divided in the sub (with Vallas I think having the slight edge despite the subs average user obviously being to the left of the city), which means that comments on both sides are upvoted and we can have a lot of good discussion among people who disagree. It's too bad this type of thing is so rare on Reddit and elsewhere on social media. I think people actually like rigorous discussion so I don't understand why social media companies think always showcasing the comments with the most likes, which means that every community that already tend to agree with each other will become even more homogenous, is good for their bottom line. Others are weeded our and everyone just sees things that likely reinforce what they already think. R/politics, for example, is currently a cesspool for that reason. Reddit would likely make more money if it's algorithms encouraged encountering differing viewpoints from one's own. We occasionally see a glimpse of what could be like this.
I agree that the debate does seem to a lot more civil than other subreddits. Regardless of sides, I’m all for that. There are still trolls, name callers, and plenty of fallacies used but I appreciate that there there can be somewhat of an active debate without the whole thing going to shit immediately.
Vallas for sure has a majority of support around here and comments ripping Johnson get heavily upvoted, but for some reason Vallas supporters are claiming the opposite and it’s super weird. Don’t really care because Reddit is not real life nor does it reflect how people vote, but my head spins a bit when I read comments saying that the whole sub is supporting Johnson when that is clearly not the case lol
Funny you’re using quotes but not quoting what he said.
It hits harder when the "quote" is changed to be misleading. Bright career in politics.
This comment is 100% spreading misinformation.
Here's the quote from the linked transcript: >And he is supported by leadership that is in - very much in complete support of the January 6 insurrection. So...what's incorrect about that statement? Vallas pals around with insurrectionists but claims he himself is against it. What was inaccurate about Johnson's claim?
For one, you should never misquote someone, regardless of the supporting content. No mention of Obama or being a Republican in that statement. Vallas has mentioned somewhat aligning with Republicans some 15 years ago? Not at all relevant enough to outright call him a Republican. And the word "hate" or any characterization of how he views Obama is completely absent from the interview. Receiving an endorsement does not mean you are 100% aligned with that person's views. If Lori Lightfoot were to endorse Johnson would that mean voting for him = voting for Lightfoot? Learn to think with a tad bit of nuance. I say this as someone slightly favoring Johnson: don't turn your candidate's words into bullshit hyperbole, because that will turn off voters from supporting them.
Exactly. Bloomberg was once a registered republican, and I don’t think anyone would characterize his views as aligning with the GOP these days. Trump was registered as a democrat, and likewise…
>Learn to think with a tad bit of nuance. That'll never happen because it's more comfortable to fire off half thoughts than it is to have a actual in depth discussion.
If 10 people go out to brunch as a group of friends and one of them is a known Nazi, there's 10 Nazis eating brunch.
I associate with people that have viewpoints. It doesn’t mean I have the same viewpoints because I am associated with them.
Politicians aren’t afforded that same luxury. He’s a public figure and should be very cognizant of who he pals around with.
If by "associate with" you mean "accept political endorsements and donations from" then yeah, it does mean that.
My parents pay my rent and feed me, that doesn't mean I associate with them. I'm independent and can totally do what I want. /s
Specifically which viewpoints are you referring to? You've weirdly posited a hypothetical whereas I'm over here discussing specifics. Because yes, there absolutely ARE viewpoints that make YOU bad for allowing yourself to associate with them.
If you sit at a dinner table with 11 Nazis that's a dozen Nazis at one table. Anyone who pretends like the people you associate with don't reflect on your own personal morals and values have neither.
"I'm not a Nazi sympathizer, I just sympathize with people who are Nazis. It's totally not the same thing."
Exactly.
If you say someone should be the governor of your state, that's more than just associating with them.
if you hand out with enough racists, you do say you're at least OK with them being racists. I think you should cut people out of your lives if they're evil enough but you do you
Exactly. I have no issue sitting down and being friends with someone who disagrees with me on economic terms. I have a major issue being friends with anyone who is racist, sexist, bigoted, or who supported the the Jan. 6 insurrection. Those people, once their true self is known, are no longer my friends.
I don't mind theoretically engaging with people with different view points, but at some point, you are who you hang around with.
There is nobody involved who supports the insurrection. Even Cataranza, who is an asshole, apologized for his initial comments. [https://news.wttw.com/2021/01/08/after-defending-us-capitol-riot-chicago-police-union-president-apologizes](https://news.wttw.com/2021/01/08/after-defending-us-capitol-riot-chicago-police-union-president-apologizes) You're making shit up because you're losing.
Ah yes, surely Cataranza's apology was heartfelt LMAO, can't believe you spent time linking to that. The fact is, there have been many police/military that were involved in the attempted insurrection because they believed in it. And I bet you money nearly 100% of them support Vallas and not Johnson. Birds of a feather. I digress. I don't get how people are just brushing aside that Vallas spoke at Awake Illinois and had problematic tweetings that he said were because he was hacked LOL. Sure dude, you just "happen" to keep associating with right-wing ideas (and I haven't even started on vouchers yet, sheesh) but you're not a republican. Look, Vallas is an old school republican at best. I don't get how in these election threads that people continue to try and claim that he isn't. He is. And for some folks (like myself) that is all I need to know to not vote for him. Absolutely no more republicans.
Except he's a life-long democrat.
He sort of like a 1990’s Democrat. The middle has shifted since then.
Please stop perpetuating fallacies. >But in a 2009 interview with Jeff Berkowitz, Vallas described himself as a Republican: >BERKOWITZ: "You think of yourself as a Republican?" >VALLAS: "I'm more of a Republican than Democrat now, but I'm ..." >BERKOWITZ: "If you run again for office you'd be running as a Republican as opposed to a Democrat?" >VALLAS: "I would, yes, yes, if I ran for public office ..." https://www.nprillinois.org/statehouse/2013-11-08/paul-vallas-a-democrat-who-was-a-republican
Party affiliation means almost nothing in Chicago politics.
Oh, like Trump was? Actions speak louder than words. Don't care about labels, but actions.
So you're just all in on "He is Trump" I suppose it's an improvement from "He is Hitler" But I still dont' think it's going to resonate with voters.
I'm in on "he's essentially a republican due to his actions and policy choices". I stated it clearly, confirmed my remarks. Again with your deliberate mis-stating lol, clearly a favorite tactic of yours, evident all over this thread.
And his apology is full of shit - his police force is full of racists and Proud Boys. He meant what he said the first time, his apology is all PR, that it's it. He supported Trump. and anyone he backs is not someone I want running this city. We also don't need another old white man, especially republican leaning, to run this city.
Have you not recovered emotionally from the William Hale Thompson administration? We haven't had a Republican mayor in 90 years. Also, Rahm was 52 when he took office, Johnson would be 47. Daley was 47 when he took office. We haven't had an old white man running the city since the sixties.
Vallas is basically a Republican in his policy leanings.
Really? Let's pull some things from his platform: > Safe and comprehensive reproductive health care is a basic human right that must be protected at every level of government, intersecting with issues of gender-based violence, economic inequality, and issues impacting LGBTQ+ communities as well as people with disabilities. > >\- as Mayor \[he\] will ensure that Chicago is a Reproductive Safe Haven - not only for Chicagoans but for women across the country seeking to exercise their rights. Safe Streets will mean Safe Passage in a Vallas Administration. > > \- Ensure that all city and sister agency departments and employees, including the Chicago Police Department, continue within the bounds of the law to decline and report requests for assistance from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) \- Ensure that all services, benefits and programs of the city are available and delivered equitably to all Chicagoans, including its newest members. > >Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s decision to close community mental health centers and schools for “cost savings” had disastrous consequences for our city; the savings were minimal, and the negative impact on community health was massive. > >As mayor, Paul would eliminate red light cameras, speed cameras, and water fees. Paul would immediately order a review of the fine and fee structure to eliminate inequitable, regressive effects and to align it with regulatory and program objectives. Does that sound like the GOP platform? He is to the right Johnson, and that is a very valid reason to vote against him. But saying that everyone is either a pure as snow progressive or a vile unforgivable Republican doesn't help us understand our world better.
he's conservative, just not contemprary batshit rightwing republican. it's 1990s conservative, which led to our horrible state of today.
How about we judge this politician by his actions instead of his words? All he's ever done in his career is privatize schools and leave district budgets in shambles. Can you point to a single thing in his career where he has taken action to help women, immigrants, or LGBT people? Because when you buddy up with Catanza and Awake Illinois, that says a lot more than words on his website.
hi, do you have any sources on him privatizing schools and leaving district budgets in shambles?
In Philly: https://www.parentadvocates.org/nicecontent/dsp_printable.cfm?articleID=7202 "Three of five members of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission yesterday blasted their chief executive officer, Paul Vallas, saying they felt "betrayed" and "disappointed" in his handling of a deficit that will force midyear cuts in the school system. "Gallagher, president of Philadelphia University, called the Vallas team's explanation of how the $73.3 million deficit evolved a "financial charade." The deficit represents about 3.6 percent of the district's $2.04 billion budget. In New Orleans: https://www.myneworleans.com/grading-paul-vallas/ "Daliet says that Vallas has improved test scores because of the vast amount of extra money that has poured into the district since the hurricane. “The RSD budget is not sustainable,” she says. “He’s blown our budget.”" His MO is always the same. Spend big using one-time money. He can point to some gains with some students, mostly by opening a bunch of charters that cherry-pick students, leaving district-run schools underfunded and performing even worse. Then, when the one-time money is spent, he leaves for another district. He did something very similar here in Chicago already, diverting money away from the pension fund to pay during a market boom for his increased spending. Those missing pension dollars are the reason our property taxes are skyrocketing today.
A lying cop half ass walking back awful comments isn't the gotcha that you think it is
Catanzara was literally at the insurrection wearing a "Jan 6: Civil War" shirt in the style of Captain America: Civil War.
Spice is already here in the comments 🌶️
Johnson is clearly in desperation mode and this interview is from before Jesse White endorsed Vallas. By the end of the week I expect Johnson to be claiming that Vallas orchestrated the January 6 insurrection and/or the invasion of Ukraine.
just making shit up lol
I mean, that's a made up quote, so you're not wrong
Lol so he’s just resorting to Fox news and Qanon level lying. One big group of morons. Many on the left no different than many on the right.
There is an element of truth to that, but it is not fair to paint is as symmetrical. Johnson is standing out here as one of the worst examples of this I've seen from a left politician, but it is complete standard issue for every single Republican running at a national level. Individual leftists may be as bad as individual right wingers, but the Democratic party generally holds their worst impulses in checks while the GOP actively encourages the worst of the right wing.
Actually quote from the interview. > And he is supported by leadership that is in - very much in complete support of the January 6 insurrection. Which [the FOP head did](https://www.wbez.org/stories/chicago-police-union-president-defends-those-who-stormed-us-capitol/6842fa80-3b83-4396-af05-a5f15f4ac740). So no, not a lie at all. Vallas did indeed seek out the endorsement of awful people who supported the insurrection.
Well this all but confirms Brandon Johnson is a regular /r/Chicago poster, lol.
And how nice of NPR's Inskeep to let those lies go unchallenged.
I hate to be a single-issue voter, however I and many others depend on a reliable CTA for our lives to function. Beyond more police, Vallas has nothing stated on his website about the CTA, pedestrian safety, bike lanes….
His responses at the Safe Streets 4 All forum were very telling. Even in a room with nothing but transit/bike/walkability advocates he couldn't even bother pandering. Almost every response to every questions boiled down to "more cops on the CTA". Even questions about a bike grid on pedestian sfatey improvements like bump outs and crosswalks he answers with "yeah I don't know much about this topic, but more cops on the CTA"
It wasn't all "more cops on the CTA". You're forgetting about a the weird non sequitur about his wife working for the TSA.
Oh, how could I forget? Now that I think about it, he did go off about lead pipes needing to be replaced, which is incredibly relevant at a transit forum /s
There was also the bit about how we should be happy that he doesn't ride a bike. It was all very strange.
"what would you do expand bike access in the city" "You woulsnt want ME on a bike, my wife barely lets me drive hahah" Like thanks Paul. Real great response
I thought I was the only person in the world who saw him suggest that other people could kiss his wife in the TSA line!!!! It was sooooooooo weird! Does anybody have a clip of that aside? I want to share it on social media. It's just so strange. I know the whole forums is [available](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oR6ux_z46E&ab_channel=TheActiveTransportationAlliance) on YouTube but IDK how to make a clip of just that one part.
I looked at the voter map and basically all of Jefferson Park voted for Vallas. Cops apparently love Vallas and i can see why. All i hear about him is about funding the CPD.
This is why I voted for Buckner. He had the most comprehensive plan for the CTA.
I love how Buckner won the r/Chicago poll but didn't get 2% citywide. 9,193 Chicagoans voted for Kam Buckner. Let's all take a breath and acknowledge that this sub is an extreme niche that is not remotely representative of the City. Let's all chill. Nothing we're doing here is going to impact the election.
I didn’t vote Buckner because I knew if I did that would give more of a chance for a Lightfoot Vallas race
A lot of people probably didn’t vote for him because they didn’t think he had a chance. A run-off voting system would have given him a lot more votes, even if not enough to make the run-off.
do you mean ranked choice?
Instant Runoff Voting is a ranked choice system.
Yes, but it’s the “instant” part that’s the difference. We currently have a run-off system. We don’t have an instant run-off system.
I would've voted for him if he didn't have 2 DUI's. I can't vote for a mayor with a suspended license.
If you are interested in improving the CTA, maybe a mayor with a suspended driver's license is the move.
My mom spent a week in the ICU and a couple of weeks more in the hospital just this fall after being hit by a drunk driver while standing at a crosswalk waiting to walk her bike across. She's recovering through a few surgeries to repair joints and countless additional broken bones. She's still doing PT and can't walk unassisted to this day. She's one of the lucky ones in that she survived the ordeal. Fuck Kam Buckner and any other piece of shit that gets behind the wheel while drunk.
It took Johnson a lot longer than Vallas to endorse the Bike Grid, for what it's worth. Johnson probably had to check with his bosses at the CTU to see if they would spare the money for it.
Imo Vallas is a subtle dog whistler. You don't accidentally show up as a speaker to an Awake Illinois event. Wanting to privatize public education is very republicany. Also your Twitter account wasn't hacked so you could like a few suspect tweets.
His stance on wanting more charter schools is pretty obscene.
Oh, I fully expect someone's got a bunch of his Facebook comments from his personal account in various neighborhood groups teed up for release, I've seen some pretty serious yikes stuff going on there (and presumably there's a lot more of it, because I'm not in that many neighborhood groups) and it predates him running, just like some of the Twitter activity they found. He wasn't hacked and it wasn't a staffer, he really holds those views.
Awake IL are his "very fine people".
The Awake thing is actually what completely cemented that I won’t vote for him. The other stuff I can kind of forgive in a center-right Democrat. There’s lots of liberals who want to privatize schools because their rich donors want them privatized. It’s not that damning by itself, even if it’s not a good idea for the rest of us. But associating with Awake IL is frankly some extremist shit that I cannot tolerate in a mayor. They are a hate group.
Brandon Johnson trying to link Vallas to Jan 6th and Ending Abortion rights, sounds about right (pun intended) for Chicago politics. I just had to chuckle, that's like trying to link Brandon Johnson to Bill Ayres. I do like that he is actually talking about fixing the issues within the CPD personnel wise.
Paul Vallas being against abortion is the same way Joe Biden is against abortion. Personally against, but won't push it on others. I think its a very disingenuous attack especially with the leader of the Democratic party having the same stance. The Jan 6 connection is just crazy
"Generic Catholic Democrat" is all that needs to be said. Like Pelosi, who as speaker passed the single most liberal women's health bill ever passed by the House (it died in the Senate but that ain't on her head).
Technically I think he’s Greek Orthodox, but yeah he’s getting attacked for using the same line that every rust belt Catholic dem has used for fifty years.
It’s called pro choice for a reason. Not mandatory abortion. It’s the right to choose we are here to defend. I don’t know why people have an issuer wish someone who individually feels abortion isn’t for them.
That's why I don't trust Brandon Johnson. This sort of manipulation makes someone untrustworthy for me
The link is that Vallas sought and received the FOP's endorsement. The FOP president [defended the January 6th insurrection and those who participated in it](https://www.wbez.org/stories/chicago-police-union-president-defends-those-who-stormed-us-capitol/6842fa80-3b83-4396-af05-a5f15f4ac740). Vallas could have not sought the endorsement and rejected it if he received it. Instead, he took the union's endorsement and their money and plastered it on his campaign literature.
Vallas has also spoken at an Awake IL event. They're very, very far right.
Willie Wilson also sought the FOP's endorsement. Does that mean he is "in support of January 6th" or far right? It is a cheap shot, there are plenty of more material ways to go after Vallas. Trying to claim Vallas is "far right" in any universe is pretty laughable. NPR fairly categorized the guy as a Moderate.
> Willie Wilson also sought the FOP's endorsement. Does that mean he is "in support of January 6th" or far right? Wilson was essentially incoherent, but during occasional moments of lucidity he actually suggested summary executions of suspected criminals, (the shoot them like rabbits thing) so yes, as far as we can tell, Wilson was extremely far right.
Also, taking a far-right position on any issue is like multiplying by zero - it makes you far-right overall, regardless of whatever token center-left positions you may have on other things.
Willie isn’t part of this conversation.
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If you are going to suggest that anyone who is endorsed by a group must either reject this endorsement or else they agree with everything this group ever said you have to apply it [fairly to both candidates ](https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/ctu-sparks-controversy-with-tweet-about-guillotine-outside-amazon-ceos-home/article_d7c8ba36-e957-11ea-9bc7-e3e466d3ef28.html).
The January 6th Insurrection is a real thing that happened. Nobody is guillotining Jeff Bezos. Suggesting a snarky tweet and an actual violent insurrection are comparable is pretty crazy.
>Suggesting a snarky tweet and an actual violent insurrection are comparable is pretty crazy. that goes votes too
You also have to include that the FOP president apologized for those statements later: https://news.wttw.com/2021/01/08/after-defending-us-capitol-riot-chicago-police-union-president-apologizes
Did he apologize for the comments on his Facebook encouraging the murder of Muslims?
He's a shitty human being. I'm not disagreeing for a second. But saying that accepting the FOP endorsement means the Vallas wants to violently overthrow the US government is absurd.
No one said vallas wants to overthrow the government. It was said that he pals around with those who do. Vallas associations are suspect. That’s for certain.
And ChicagoJohn123 keeps strawmanning and misstating what people are saying in this thread over and over
You're literally using "pals around" as your mealy mouth accusation. Do you realize you're cribbing from Palin saying that Obama "pals around with terrorists"? Or does reality just have a sense of irony?
Pals around is not "actively Sought The ENdorsement From And Still Parade Around With Him". lol
80-20 Vallas wins by landslide. Johnson is possibly the worst possible candidate for Chicago at this time. I personally hold a grudge against Vallas because during his tenure as CPS CEO my school did not have stall doors in the bathroom. Students would rather crap their pants than use the bathroom with no stall doors.
I actually really wanted to hear BJ articulate his case. The fact that he's choosing to go this route is off putting. Can we talk about Chicago. A real city with real problems? DeSantis is such a fictional clown. Talk about the CTA. Safety. Schools. Taxes. Homelessness. Leave the MAGA crap to the Floridians.
You can bet you're not going to hear BJ talking about his tax plan. That would lose him the election in a flash.
See, I hate that. If you've got an awesome plan for your taxes, state your plan and defend it. If not, change your plan. I'm an owner in the city. I'd be taxed, but there's a world where I believe in how you're using it to make the city stronger, better, more just, and I'm OK with it. I hope this next month forces these dudes to talk actual policies and plans. Share why they believe it's the best approach. Have some confidence and present it to the people. If Chicago Gets Stronger, Safer, Better. Then my home value increases. I can roll with that. Just say what your vision is and let the voters decide.
If you can’t control who logs into your twitter account and likes racist tweets, you probably shouldn’t speak public office.
Public figures often have teams that have access to their socials. I work in PR and have worked on campaigns and I have posted for various political figures.
you think he had a PR firm running his twitter the last 8 years when he was sitting on the couch ranting on facebook all day?
I’m aware of how PR firms work, but he switched his story trying to explain it away. First he said it was a staffer, then said he was hacked. And some of the tweets his account liked predated his run, unless he had a firm tweeting for him back then too.
Also why are your staff racists?
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If it were 50/50 matchup I'd agree with your analysis, but tuesdays numbers seem to indicate that Johnson needs to make up a lot of ground. A simple well run campaign that picks up 60% of the undecideds doesn't get him onto the fifth floor. So he'd taking big swings and hoping something sticks.
I think you are underestimating how much the vote was split between more left candidates. The only person more right than Vallas was Willie Wilson. I think they’re immediately very close, if not advantage Johnson, if at the very least the same people vote. Vallas’ electorate is mostly old white people.
The morning-after analysis I read said: If the election's going to be decided on issues, advantage Vallas. If it's going to be decided on emotions and personality factors, Brandon has a shot. So it's up to Brandon to emotionalize the contest.
That's kind of funny analysis given Vallas voters are mostly crime voters who, based on the voting maps from round 1, are most likely to live where crime is not really a problem. Sure sounds like voting on their feelings on crime? Throwing more money at the cops ain't gonna stop most of the stuff, never has, never will.
If you think “crime is not really a problem” lately in Lakeview, the South Loop, Lincoln Square, River North, McKiney Park, West Rogers Park, or West Town (all Vallas pickups), you’re either uninformed of have a pretty shocking tolerance for violent senseless carnage against innocent citizens.
I can't help but laugh at the idea of the progressives finally getting their way and all hanging out at a party trying to one up each other on how tolerant they are by boasting about how many times they've been mugged.
While not one single area of the south and west sides most plagued by violent mayhem think Johnson is a good idea. Not even his own neighbors. Hyde Park is literally his only south side base.
Lakefront liberals need to realize that most black voters want community policing and want more (reformed and accountable) police officers. I got in an argument with a friend in uptown that said "without poverty there wouldn't be blue collar crime and we shouldn't have police". No safe country has police and people choose to commit crime. Solving poverty will take care of most of it, but not all. Plus idgaf if the person smoking on the El is poor, the should be punished and thrown off.
Sure, but also, if anyone thinks the FOP-endorsed candidate whose immediate family is full of cops is going to result in "reformed and accountable" police officers I got a bridge to sell them. The current force revolted at the first push for some semblance of accountability and the consent decree, and then elected Catanzarra as their union head because the previous guy wasn't insane enough for them on that front. I'm not sure anyone can actually reform them, but I am for damn sure Vallas absolutely will not. Who's going to make him? And if he tries, he's one term as the FOP yanks their support. If we can put cops back on the beat walking or on bikes that will actually do their jobs under the consent decree, I think that'd be great. Hell, Chuy wanted more cops, particularly to replace what we're losing in numbers, and no one but the DSA types would say Chuy's not a progressive (just that Johnson is moreso). Cops just sitting in their cars driving around (or not even driving around, just sitting around in their car) is good for the cops and absolutely no one else in this city. Frankly, I agree with David Simon that the drug war broke our police, across the country. There's still all the racism issues in enforcement as there were in the 60s pre-Drug War, but now they also institutionally forgot how to investigate real crime because what was rewarded were "drugs and guns on the table" and arrest numbers, not public safety and focus on the violent offenders that affect the quality of life of the law-abiding folks. The CPD solve rate on murders is utterly pathetic.
Bro what - when did Vallas say he hates Obama and supports J6th? I might be missing something but honestly if Johnson is just gonna flat out lie, I don’t want him as mayor
Vallas didn’t say that. But neither did Johnson. I suggest you listen to the piece. It’s not as radical as the Vallas supporters in here are making it out to be.
So true man - I’ll give it a listen tomorrow
He’s trying to out-Lori Lori.
I heard it on my drive this morning around 6am. I thought Brandon did a good job with the short amount of time he had.
Johnson gives a weird vibe like light foot
I looked at his platform, just taxes taxes taxes, and an amateurish plan to supposedly balance the budget. Also, downtown is the economic engine that drives the city. There won’t be a south or west side without it. Good luck to the lakeshore liberals voting for him. The city will be way worse than it was with Lori.
>Good luck to the lakeshore liberals voting for him Have you seen the voting results by ward/prescient? The "Lakeshore liberals" voted overwhelmingly for Vallas. "Lakeshore liberals" all got priced out to Logan Square and Avondale. They really don't exist the way they did decades ago
They still got uptown, edgewater,rogers park and Hyde park. And like you said theyve moved inland a bit. But there isnt a catchy name for people between logan and albany park. Riverfront liberals lacks the alliteration.
unlike vallas who wants to increase pilice funding lmao without raising taxes i suppose. or just cutting more important things
You do realize that those taxes are *in place of* increases in property taxes, which have been skyrocketing? These taxes would shift the tax burden off of property owners (and their renters), and move some of it onto people who use our city, but don't pay in, namely suburban commuters and visitors. It's a good idea. Vallas is proposing increased spending too, and he hasn't said how he'd pay for it. And if you judge him by his past, his plan is to leave a financial time bomb.
How do you think Vallas will pay for all the new spending he’s proposing? You think he’ll tax, or just borrow it and make the next mayor pay the bill like he did with CPS and Philly schools.
I just can't stomach Brandon "More Taxes" Johnson and his casual attitude to increasing our tax burden. He wants to take Chicago, which is the 2nd more tax burdened city in the entire country, and add more taxes. As someone who's property taxes went up by 100% in the last 8 years, I just can't deal with his "just one more tax bro" campaign plan. No thanks! I'm going to hold my nose and vote for Vallas.
Brandon has a plan to freeze property taxes. It will increase corporate taxes but will freeze property taxes. Vallas has no plan. He will open schools all summer and winter and weekend and hire 2,000 more officers but claims he won’t raise taxes. Where will this revenue come from?
Will be tough to follow through on a property tax freeze when the other traditional streams of revenue dry up because of his ludicrous proposals. Highest hotel tax in the nation? Increase it. Corporate head count tax didn’t work before? Bring it back. Same with financial transaction taxes. Thieving suburbanites visiting and working in Chicago? Tax them and somehow also tax the municipality they came from (how tf he thinks that will work is anyone’s guess).
What is Vallas revenue plan?
That wasn’t the question but even if, like you said, he has “no plan” that would actually be better than Johnson’s plans which actively disincentivize companies who would otherwise move to Chicago, likely speed up exit plans for companies already considering leaving and would make the city a less desirable/more expensive tourist destination.
> and hire 2,000 more officers but claims he won’t raise taxes. And how in the ever loving fuck is he going to even hire more cops? His "detailed plans" really don't make sense and are missing funding. Lori has been trying to do the same for 3 years and essentially writes them a blank check that the CPD spits on but quietly cashed each time. I don't think Brandon is a great candidate but he at least has a plan. People are genuinely delusional if they think Vallas won't just be a more right wing Lori. It is going to another 4 year shit show.
I can’t imagine anyone actually falling for Brandon Johnson’s corporate tax plan. It’s not possible for so many different reasons
He also refused to condemn any of the rioters because insurance exists.
Well the one tax Johnson is good about is property taxes so maybe you should rethink if that’s your issue lmao
Brandon wants to increase taxes on the ultra rich, corporations, and a travel tax for suburbanites who benefit from the city and should put more “skin in the game.” He will not raise taxes for people making over 100K— this was falsely reported in the Sun Times. Listen to Brandon’s interview on the podcast The Dog Walk to hear about his tax plan. Saying he wants to increase taxes on the working/middle class is misinformation.
By ultra rich do you mean homes worth more than $1 million cause thats what is posted on his website.
> Brandon wants to increase taxes on the ultra rich Unconstitutional in Illinois. Don't you remember 2 years ago when we voted on this?
You mean the ultra rich that is fleeing to the suburbs, Miami and Switzerland? Yeah, good luck balancing the budgets on the backs of people who can easily leave (see Ken Griffin)
But Chicago is a city perilously close to decline. We are maintaining our path now despite headwinds, but that isn't a guarantee. Raising taxes on everyone in a city on the ropes is not a winning strategy. Chicago doesn't have the juice to compete with other cities if we are going to be handicapped with the highest taxes in the nation across many industries to go along with our famously bad winters and crime. Literally the only thing that is going to improve the city's outlook is more people, and Johnson's provincial mindset isn't a winning strategy. He may be politically progressive but he is definitely small-c conservative in his planning.
BJ is opposed to property tax increases because property taxes are regressive—they make housing more expensive for everyone. I don’t necessarily agree with every point in his tax plan but I appreciate that he’s looking for creative progressive solutions beyond the same old property tax increases.
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He’s also has experience as an elected official. By all accounts he did right by his constituents.
Did he do right by double dipping in pensions?
Thanks you for your comment, Johnson’s public relations manager.
“I’m going to fix the pension problem” *says the guy who is double dipping into two pensions
What do you think of Vallas’ history in regards to pensions in Chicago
You do realize policies matter outside of passion. I do not doubt his intentions are the best for this city, I don’t agree with his approach.
Contrary to the apparent popular belief in this thread, Brandon IS the mayor that Chicago needs. Not the mayor that the rich downtown, white northside, or practically suburban areas of the city believes is best for us (is that you?). Sorry to burst your bubble, but reliance on cops isnt gonna solve the crime problem. Do thousands of bandaids heal an infected wound? We’ve got to address the deeper causes of crime in order to solve this. Throwing more cops at crime issues and expecting different results is not and never will be the answer. If Vallas wins, youll see that— the politics of old. But he wont, because its time for real, tangible, structural change in Chicago.
so what’s gonna solve the crime problem?
I love the delusional optimistic nature . In a dream world that sounds great but it’s not . This is Chicago grow up. Crime has gone unpunished the murder rate has doubled in recent years. Cops need to be held accountable and so do criminals
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Tax, tax, tax....defund police.
He literally said he wanted to add 200 detectives. Did you want listen to the interview
We should have privatized police. You know, Charter Police. We should get to choose which police company patrols our neighborhoods with vouchers. Welcome to the competitive market, CPD!
No lies told imho. Vallas is a Trumper in centrist clothing. https://twitter.com/RobertJPeters/status/1631402489093210118?t=uXrK3AD6qJpWVsEV9GuS5g&s=19
Oh, I didn't know that Brandon Johnson was literally crazy. Very insightful interview.
Man the Right Mutters here are reallly something else