Like a bad penny, Vallas turns up again in Chicago.

Bad penny.

Paul Vallas is like that proverbial bad penny. He always turns up, uninvited. When he does, he's usually part of the problem rather than the solution.

The bad penny turned up again this week in Chicago in the midst of the city's battle with COVID to offer us his unsolicited budgeting advice in a Tribune op-ed. Vallas decided to take a public backhanded swipe at Mayor Lightfoot's management of the city's crisis budget (she's "disingenuous") and offer advice on how best to put the city on a "wartime financial plan."

As if he had a clue.

In the year since her election, and especially during this, the worst crisis to befall our city since the Great Fire, the mayor has gained high marks and become Chicago's acknowledged and highly regarded leader while Vallas has sunk into political obscurity.

This from the mayor:

“Unfortunately, some people are desperate to be relevant,” Lightfoot said. “The suggestion that somehow our city budget is in tatters, as Mr. Vallas dramatically suggests, it's just foolish.”

When I say, the bad penny turned up again, I mean, it seems like I've written this "we thought we were done with Vallas" post several times before.

After all, he ran against Lightfoot for mayor on these ideas a year ago and the voters heard them loud and clear. He placed ninth out of fourteen candidates, receiving 5.43% of the votes cast. He also ran for mayor against Rahm Emanuel and was crushed. He ran for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois in 2014 with then-incumbent Governor Pat Quinn and was soundly beaten, leading to the election of Bruce Rauner and Evelyn Sanguinetti (who???)

Vallas has left a trail of tears from teachers and parents in his wake as he's moved as the corporate reformers' hired gun from Chicago, to Philly, to New Orleans and Bridgeport (with stops in Haiti and Chile), privatizing school districts and busting unions.

Remember, this is also the guy who left Philly's school budget in absolute shambles. It was there that he hooked up with Barbara Byrd-Bennett's criminal conspirators Gary Solomon and Tom Vranas to form their illicit Synesi consulting group, the group behind the SUPES scandal. How he escaped going to prison with them is still a mystery to me. Why anyone would solicit or accept his advice, especially under current conditions is another one.

Up until this point, no one has as far as I can tell.