Month: March 2023

“Which of the two candidates has the most significant, the most relevant experience? And which of the candidates is able to make the independent, sound judgements that are necessary to move our city forward? That candidate is Paul Vallas,” Rush said.

Left, Vallas hits Johnson with Truth: Johnson is dancing around his Defund The Police Agenda. Right, Johnson hits back with crass racial politics. A leader of one of the groups supporting Johnson calls Vallas a Nazi (and calls me a Nazi for supporting Vallas). It’s a fringe view in Chicago to conflate community policing with fascism. Paul Vallas wants to focus police funding on improved versions of serving and protecting that worked in the past.

Brandon Johnson and his campaign are just flat out lying about Paul Vallas. I’ll have more to say about it later, but you ought to look it up if you don’t believe me. Progressives and every other voter should have second thoughts about electing a Mayor whose campaign is built on lies. It’s magical thinking to believe he will stop lying about his obstacles and opponents when he takes office. He’s an opportunist taking advantage of racial politics and hostility towards cops. However much of that is justified I can promise that Brandon Johnson using cop hatred as a political football will fail public safety and easily plunge Chicago over the edge into an economic death spiral. I also wonder why a preacher’s son and someone in the teaching profession would use dishonesty and scum politics to set an example for Chicago’s youth. That’s not “more progressive” that’s disgusting and disrespectful. 

Reed is a volunteer knocking doors in the cold and talking to undecided voters for Paul Vallas.

Maritza stops by to get Vallas signs for a community event.

I understand that progressive-minded people are impressed by Mr. Johnson’s long list of impressive endorsements. I understand respect for teachers, unions, and organizers.

Unfortunately, aside from smear tactics, there’s another big problem with Brandon Johnson. He’s also lying about himself and where he stands. If you believe in Defunding the Police, Brandon, maybe stop lying about Paul Vallas for a minute and explain your position instead of lying about that, too. 

Tell us exactly how the people of Chicago will be safer when more cops walk off the job and leave the city. Police are tired of being played for political scapegoats and working double shifts. Nothing gets fixed in this city without the police having some faith that the Mayor has their backs when they put their lives on the line for the city.

It’s true that simply putting more cops on the street isn’t the answer. If anyone bothered to sift through Paul’s wonky policy-speak website instead of enabling Brandon’s boondoggle rebrand, they might figure out Paul Vallas is the one with the everything plus the kitchen sink plans and the know-how to better reach our progressive goals without the Branding, slogans, and bullshit that made me walk away from politics to drive a bus.

Public Safety and holding the line on taxes is a winning message, but check out the Paul Vallas plan to reduce homelessness. I used to manage an emergency shelter. It would be wrong to simplify Brandon’s plan as simply stopping cops from hassling people sleeping at the airport, but not more wrong or simple than describing Paul Vallas’ community policing plan as some kind of fascism.

https://www.paulvallas2023.com/homelessness

Branding Brandon, with all the tics, tells, and body language that help professional poker players win tournaments, is creeping up on the lead. To put it nicely, voters aren’t always as observant as professional poker players. But they do see what’s on the streets and they know when politicians say, “I’ll just take another dollar” even some of the most uninformed voters know to clutch their wallet, or put it in the dog’s mouth so, hopefully, doggo runs down the street with it… away from Brandon.

Your wallet and Chicago’s revenue will be safer that way. Or maybe elect Paul Vallas who knows there is plenty of found money in eliminating waste and corruption.

If Brandon Johnson could manage reform, he wouldn’t have so many creative ways to raise taxes and his plan to add a 3.5% Chicago Income Tax on top of our State and Federal Taxes would have remained a shameful secret. Raise your hand, class, if you think the City of Chicago doesn’t have enough ways to juice people.

60% of Chicago’s revenue comes from downtown: hospitality, restaurants, conventions. Instead of adding new taxes, how about we make it safer to stand on an EL platform without getting stabbed? If the convention and hotel business go up, Chicago can collect more money on the existing taxes. Just a thought, Brandon.

There’s 1100 vacancies in the Chicago Police. Paul Vallas will restaff the force. Community policing in the neighborhoods, putting cops on the EL or on patrol in the parks won’t make him a right-wing extremist. For the Mayor of Chicago, that’s called doing your job. One guy knows how to do it. Another guy doesn’t. To get elected, the guy that doesn’t know how to do the job has to lie about the guy that does. CTA busses have a sign on top in front. The sign tells you which route you’re boarding. The sign on Brandon Johnson says Progressive. It should say More Crappy Politics. It’s not setting a good example for the kids and it’s not what Chicago needs.

Adam Broad was on the slate of delegates for Bernie Sanders 2020 in IL-10, but more importantly, has practical experience in government as Vernon Township Trustee reducing property taxes and expanding social services. He formerly organized for Students for Jesse Jackson 1988, Bobby Rush 2000, Barack Obama 2008, Tom Perriello 2008 and Nina Turner 2021. In 2004, Broad was regional field director of a non-partisan voting rights campaign that produced record turnout in under-served, under-represented districts in Duval County and raised the minimum wage in Florida. He grew up in Rogers Park has been a public chauffeur serving all communities in Chicagoland driving Taxi, Limo, Uber, and Bus since 1982. He is currently on leave of absence from First Student to elect Paul Vallas.  Both his parents were born and raised in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago. 

This is a personal blog to answer friends that don’t understand why I support the best qualified candidate. This is a rogue production and it is not endorsed by any campaign, candidate, or committee. 

FUN FACT: I professionally researched right wing extremists and hate groups for almost five years. Trying to paint Paul Vallas as anything other than a moderate problem-solver that brings people together for practical solutions is closer to the sort of thing THEY would do than anything I’ve seen in Paul.