Paul Vallas – Page 7 –

CTU President Stacy Davis Gates at a rally outside CPS headquarters on July 27, 2022.

Paul Vallas: Chicago’s other looming budget crisis — school funding

October 26, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

There's an impending financial crisis looming within the school district. Much like the mayor's sanctuary city allies, Stacy Davis Gates and the Chicago Teachers Union are also clamoring for a...

Mayor Brandon Johnson's gavel on the rostrum after a City Council meeting in May 2023.

Paul Vallas: Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget does little to move beyond Lori Lightfoot’s programs

October 20, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

The mayor's proposed 2024 budget is balanced, but it does nothing to address the city's worsening financial situation. While the budget message is filled with rhetoric about making a "down...

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, left, and Mayor Brandon Johnson at a news conference at the Illinois Restaurant Association on Aug. 30, 2023.

Paul Vallas: The sanctuary city program threatens Chicago’s future

March 11, 2024 at 12:34 p.m.

Chicago, already grappling with a daunting budget deficit of $538 million for fiscal year 2024 and a possible $1.9 billion shortfall by 2026, now faces a crisis exacerbated by the...

Chicago Police Department veteran Larry Snelling answers questions during a meeting of the City Council's Committee on Police and Fire on Sept. 22, 2023. Snelling was confirmed as the new police superintendent.

Paul Vallas: Here’s what the City Council can do to help the police superintendent reverse the tide of crime

October 3, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

The recent confirmation hearings for Chicago's new police superintendent, Larry Snelling, left some of us questioning whether the City Council truly grasps the gravity of the crisis of violent crime...

Drivers travel through the toll lanes on the Chicago Skyway on Sept. 13, 2019. If the city had invested the larger Skyway lease and the downtown parking garages lease, combined investment returns would exceed $15 billion, Paul Vallas estimates.

Paul Vallas: How Chicago can save itself from the financial abyss

September 27, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

It comes as no surprise that Mayor Brandon Johnson's preliminary budget estimate reveals a large deficit of $538 million and that a once-promising long-term midyear budget forecast presented by predecessor...

Then-mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson signs an autograph while attending a "Bring Chicago Home" public hearing at Grace Church of Logan Square on March 12, 2023.

Paul Vallas: How Chicago could fund affordable housing without hiking its real estate transfer tax

September 20, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

Mayor Brandon Johnson's "Bring Chicago Home" resolution is a tax increase in search of a program. There is a better way to address Chicago's affordable housing needs. Johnson's proposal, which...

Migrants prepare to move their personal belongings and bedding across a busy street from the 8th District police station on West 63rd Street in Chicago on Sept. 12, 2023. The move was prompted by the need to clean the sidewalk area around the outside of the station.

Paul Vallas: How Illinois can respond to the migrant crisis before it overwhelms our communities

March 11, 2024 at 12:40 p.m.

Mayor Brandon Johnson's approach to immigration in Chicago threatens the very fabric of our city. While Chicago has a rich history of welcoming migrants, the current situation has reached a...

Charter public school students, parents and advocates wave signs during a rally in support of school choice in 2014 in Chicago.

Paul Vallas: CTU leader Stacy Davis Gates’ latest comments are clearly aimed at supporters of school choice

September 6, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

Stacy Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, has once again embraced hyperbole in a recent interview with the South Side Weekly. She see the encroachment of fascism in...

A contractor works on a lead service line connected to a water main in the 3100 block of South Ridgeway Avenue in Chicago on April 10, 2023.

Paul Vallas: Lead and forever chemicals in our water are inflicting harm on our kids. There is a path forward.

August 27, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

Chicago continues to ignore a serious epidemic facing our children — lead contamination in drinking water, which does irreversible damage to children and has been doing so for generations. No...

View of Sterling Bay's planned Lincoln Yards development, seen from North Throop Street in the West Town neighborhood, on July 3, 2023.

Paul Vallas: Five key ways TIFs should be reformed for Chicago’s benefit.

August 22, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

Is it truly surprising that the two most substantial developments in Chicago — Lincoln Yards on the North Side and The 78 in the South Loop — are poised to...

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