It’s been said that you can’t truly judge a politician’s worth until you watch them being interviewed in a 10-year-old car while eating pizza.

Paul Vallas is the former CEO of Chicago Public Schools and former budget director for the city of Chicago. He ran for Illinois Governor and Lt. Governor, and most recently was a candidate in the 2019 Chicago mayoral election. And now, he’s one of the top names circulating as a possible spoiler to a second Lightfoot term.

On this episode of Car Con Carne, Vallas joined me for a conversation outside Haymarket Pub & Brewery (737 W. Randolph, Chicago). We chatted as we tried Haymarket’s new Detroit-style pizza (delicious, if not crunchy on-mic).

Vallas has a lot to say about why he thinks the February election will be wildly different from the last.

Topics covered:
-Is Vallas a “closet Republican?”
-Were COVID-related school closures necessary?
-How can Chicago get businesses (and residents) back downtown?
-How bad is the crime/violence issue, and how can it be tackled?
-Is there corruption in City Hall?
-How does Paul Vallas like his pizza?

Car Con Carne welcomes other mayoral candidates to eat in the car and talk about the 2023 election. Sure, the lighting is better on network news (and no one’s chewing food on mic), but from what people tell me, podcasting is the audio media of the future.

Car Con Carne is sponsored by sopelsolar.com. Now is the time to go solar! Let former Blackhawk Brent Sopel guide you toward cost certainty, for nothing out of pocket!