There has been a recent conflict surrounding Paul Vallas’ campaign group. Thursday, April 20, a lawsuit was filed against a consultant of Vallas’ campaign. The consultant is accused of defrauding the campaign of $680,000. It is said this money was to be spent on get-out-the-vote efforts. Supposedly, this was done in low-income communities.
The suit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, suggests that the consultant, Chimaobi Enyia, told the campaign he was given a blank check. He was given funds to do work in these low-income communities, but Eniya was unable to account for it. He supposedly received over $680,000 in a series of payments, and now Vallas is looking to get this money back.
Initially, the consultant was suspected of the most recent financial disclosure. This revealed that $480,000 of the $500,000 that was paid to Enyia’s company was being disputed. Following this, a payment of $200,000 was sent on April 3.
Furthermore, when Paul Vallas and Enyia were questioned about the suit, they weren’t direct in their responses. Vallas stated, “During an independent review of the Vallas for Mayor raise and spend, and as we prepared to file our report with the Illinois State Board of Elections, we flagged a pattern of payments to a vendor which are not in dispute.” Opposingly, Enyia was silent when given a chance to speak on the situation in the beginning.
Enyia Is Ready to Speak
Once a few days had passed since the initial request for comments, Enyia was ready to speak. He stated, “In the end, I will be vindicated, and Vallas’ claims will be seen for what they are — unfounded,” after filing a defamation lawsuit against the previous candidate. He went on to say, “Vallas asked me for my help, I provided my help, I billed for my help, the bills for my help were approved, and I have been paid for my help.” Followed by Enyia saying, “I fulfilled completely my obligations to the campaign. Now after I have provided my help, Vallas wants to claw back my compensation. That is absolutely unfair.”
He finishes with, “In the end, the voters were right, Paul Vallas did not deserve to be the mayor of the city of Chicago.”
More Campaign Controversy
In addition to money being taken, it is also reported that some money hasn’t been given out. Campaigners under Vallas have reported they have not received any payments for their work. As the employees gathered at Vallas’ campaign office they made sure to show the checks they received for their work. Unfortunately, the checks were invalid. The checks bounced once the workers tried to cash them. So not only did they not get paid for their work, they received bank fees.
Not only did the employees show up but activists also came in support. “Paul, stop playing basketball with your checks and pay these workers who’ve been at your side day after day making you look good,” community activist Patrick Gibbons stated. “This is not good.”
In response, Paul Vallas’ team is saying they are fixing this issue and blaming it on Enyia. They say he took money and performed little work which is affecting the rest of the employees’ pay.
The Aftermath of Paul Vallas
Currently, Paul Vallas has lost the election for mayor against Brandon Johnson. Some think this wouldn’t have happened if Paul Vallas was more active in Chicago. Many agree that if he was more involved and active, he wouldn’t have had to hire a consultant to be noticed by low-income communities.
This would have helped him get more organic votes and would have provided him with less conflict. As people have seen Brandon Johnson is more active. He goes into low-income communities and gets involved. In the end, this made him catch more attention and he was able to get organic support.
That is what won him the election. It is also what made him different from Vallas because the support wasn’t forced. Overall, people think the person who was more passionate about the position won. However, the only thing to do is wait to see what changes for Chicago.
By Cynthia Thomas
Fox32Chicago: Consultant accused of bilking Vallas campaign out of $680K says allegations are ‘shameful and unfounded’
Fox32Chicago: Some Paul Vallas campaign workers say they still have not been paid
abc7Chicago: Paul Vallas sues consultant who allegedly defrauded campaign out of $680K
Top and Featured by Christopher Dilts for Quinn for Illinois Image Courtesy of Pat Quinn‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image by Christopher Dilts for Quinn for Illinois Courtesy of Pat Quinn‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
