November 9, 2013


Type "Paul Vallas" into the Tribune's story archive, and one of the first stories begins this way:
"A longtime state government fiscal expert was named Tuesday as the City of Chicago's new revenue director, and he was immediately warned by his predecessor that, in spite of a year of reforms, there is still a lot of work left to do to get the city's financial house in order."
Welcome to 1990, Mr. Vallas. Or 2013. Either one.
The news that Gov. Pat Quinn picked Vallas as his running mate for the 2014 gubernatorial election brought smiles to many fiscal-minded Illinois voters. From his days overseeing the legislature's budget forecasting arm, during which he caused a dust-up by challenging then-Gov. Jim Thompson's revenue projections, to his time at City Hall and Chicago Public Schools, Vallas has managed to fuse fiscal discipline with revolution.
At Chicago Public Schools, he reversed years of budget deficits without begging the General