Paul Vallas will keep campaign contribution from former CPS board member

The decision marks an about-face from his stand in 2019, when he returned a donation from Deborah Quazzo.

Paul Vallas
Paul Vallas speaks during a news conference Chicago on April 2, 2014 as the Illinois Democratic Lt. Gov. candidate. On Tuesday, Vallas, who is now a candidate for Chicago mayor defended accepting $7,500 in campaign donations from a controversial former Chicago Board of Education member. M. Spencer Green / Associated Press
Paul Vallas
Paul Vallas speaks during a news conference Chicago on April 2, 2014 as the Illinois Democratic Lt. Gov. candidate. On Tuesday, Vallas, who is now a candidate for Chicago mayor defended accepting $7,500 in campaign donations from a controversial former Chicago Board of Education member. M. Spencer Green / Associated Press

Paul Vallas will keep campaign contribution from former CPS board member

The decision marks an about-face from his stand in 2019, when he returned a donation from Deborah Quazzo.

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Chicago mayoral candidate Paul Vallas on Tuesday defended accepting contributions from Deborah Quazzo — the venture capitalist who left the city’s school board after a scandal.

Quazzo was appointed to the school board in 2013 by then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel and left after the Chicago Sun-Times revealed her ownership stakes in companies doing business with Chicago Public Schools.

Vallas said he would keep the total of $7,500 he received from Quazzo in the past couple weeks. The move marked an about-face from the candidate’s position four years ago, when he returned a $500 contribution from Quazzo during his losing run for mayor.

Asked about that reversal Tuesday, Vallas said his campaign in next month’s election concluded there was no reason to doubt Quazzo.

“This time around, the campaign is very comfortable that there was no wrongdoing,” Vallas said.

Vallas campaign manager Brian Towne added, “I don’t think anything came of those investigations, those ethics investigations from four years ago.”

But in a 2018 report, the CPS inspector general’s investigation found:

  • Then-CPS chief executive Barbara Byrd-Bennett — who was convicted and imprisoned in a separate, unrelated contracting scandal — steered a $6 million contract to a company in which Quazzo was invested.

  • Byrd-Bennett and top aides enjoyed a series of expensive meals on the dime of Quazzo’s company during the bidding process for the CPS deal.

  • And Quazzo violated the CPS code of ethics by promoting her companies’ products to CPS principals and putting them in touch with company representatives. The inspector general said in the report, filed in May 2018, that Quazzo had denied doing so but acknowledged it after being shown emails that proved it.

A few months later, Vallas gave back a $500 contribution from Quazzo, after WBEZ asked about it. At the time, the candidate’s brother and then-campaign treasurer Dean Vallas said of the contribution, “I didn’t see it come in or I would’ve sent it back before.”

But on Tuesday, Paul Vallas sought to explain that decision, saying, “There were certain accusations made against her and we weren’t aware of how legitimate those accusations were. I also didn’t want to put her on the spot and, you know, make her the focus.”

Vallas also said he had become familiar with Quazzo’s work at conferences involving education issues.

“She has a reputation for being very active in school reform,” Vallas said. “She has a really solid reputation. I think that’s the reason Rahm Emanuel appointed her to the board the first time.

“But four years ago, we didn’t know. That was sprung on us and we felt, well, you know, let’s err on the side of caution. But I let my campaign committee vet all the contributions that are made and, you know, obviously they’re comfortable with hers.”

Quazzo contributed $5,000 on Jan. 24 and another $2,500 on Jan. 17, according to campaign finance disclosure reports. On Tuesday, Vallas reported having received a third check, for $1,000, from Quazzo on Friday. The Vallas campaign also has disclosed getting $10,000 from Quazzo’s husband.

Deborah Quazzo previously has made contributions to former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Emanuel, records show. She has not returned messages seeking comment on her support for Vallas’s campaign challenging Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s re-election.

Vallas was chief executive of CPS under former Mayor Richard M. Daley. Vallas’s 2019 campaign for mayor also returned a contribution from a west suburban banker who was convicted in federal court.

Dan Mihalopoulos is an investigative reporter on WBEZ’s Government & Politics Team. Tessa Weinberg covers Chicago government and politics.