After the defeat of the Cook County sweetened beverage tax, what the Chicago Tribune called a “cockamamie” tax, Board President Toni Preckwinkle proclaimed that she would issue a series of severe, even draconian cuts that would be at least tantamount to 11 percent across the board; she then later relented saying that she was only responsible for 8 percent of them.
With a looming deadline of Nov. 30, to pass a budget, and dire warnings from State's’ Attorney Kim Foxx, and Sheriff Tom Dart, that even 10 percent cuts would jeopardize public safety, and threaten an “already depleted office,” negotiations began “to save at least 85 jobs in the Cook County Sheriff's office, and the Public Guardian's’ office,” reported the Chicago Sun-Times.
With a looming deadline of Nov. 30, to pass a budget, and dire warnings from State's’ Attorney Kim Foxx, and Sheriff Tom Dart, that even 10 percent cuts would jeopardize public safety, and threaten an “already depleted office,” negotiations began “to save at least 85 jobs in the Cook County Sheriff's office, and the Public Guardian's’ office,” reported the Chicago Sun-Times.
“Through shared sacrifice and cooperation we were able to develop and pass a balanced budget,” President Preckwinkle said in a statement this past Tuesday. “We have had to make exceedingly difficult but necessary choices, but we have met our fiscal obligation to the people of Cook County. While at the same time protecting key public health and public safety services.”
In total there are 300 layoffs coming as a holiday gift to long-time employees, some with nearly two decades of service. Also, on the chopping block are the closing of a North Side court house, and including some in the Cook County Assessor's office, the Board of Review, the Chief Judge, the sheriff's office and others, said local NBC affiliate Channel 5.
The deadline for bringing petitions for all of the board positions, including the president, came on Monday, and heading the line was Preckwinkle herself, in her trademark solid colored suit, and sensible shoes, with bales of petitions, at her side, containing more signatures than she actually needed, and vowing to fight off contenders, as she gained the coveted top spot on the ballot.
A popular board president, she gained an immeasurable amount of support nearly seven years ago, as she defeated her predecessor, Todd Stroger, and his sky high sales taxes,and those opposed to his dynastic hold on county politics. She also became the darling of many liberals with her supportive stance for fair sentencing guidelines, and her support for dialing back jail time for low-level offenders, caught by police with marijuana.
Preckwinkle might have continued riding this wave of popularity, had it not been for the tax, and a somewhat lame projection, which few believed: that she was doing it to improve children’s health. She was later forced to reveal that it had been a revenue builder all along.
Another sustained injury is that Preckwinkle brought back the higher sales tax that she ran against, and now at 10.25 percent, the area holds the dubious distinction of having one of the highest in the country.
“I have a strong record and I’m going to run on it,” Preckwinkle said while talking to reporters before filing.
She faces no strong opponent and there are some that would like to see her defeated, while others, fearing her powerful political supporters, do not want to risk their reputations, such as, some have said of RIchard Boykin, a frequent critic.
Now, smelling blood in the water are Stroger, and old-school veteran, Bob Fioretti, to get the top job that serves the county’s 5.2 million residents. Yet, uncharacteristically, the former was not at the County Clerk’s office, with some saying that he did not get the required 8,326 signatures.
Following Preckwinkle are a string of names, some familiar, and others less so, all who have seen their vote, or their opponent's vote as commissioner, as a litmus test of reform in this populous county, that contains all of Chicago. That tax also saw some ironies in partisanship, in this bluest of blue states, where it brought about 63 percent of Democrats in support, with 57 percent of independents, and only 44 percent of Republicans. Adding even more irony is that all but four of the 17 elected commissioners are Democrats, bucking a statewide trend.
Another sustained injury is that Preckwinkle brought back the higher sales tax that she ran against, and now at 10.25 percent, the area holds the dubious distinction of having one of the highest in the country.
“I have a strong record and I’m going to run on it,” Preckwinkle said while talking to reporters before filing.
She faces no strong opponent and there are some that would like to see her defeated, while others, fearing her powerful political supporters, do not want to risk their reputations, such as, some have said of RIchard Boykin, a frequent critic.
Now, smelling blood in the water are Stroger, and old-school veteran, Bob Fioretti, to get the top job that serves the county’s 5.2 million residents. Yet, uncharacteristically, the former was not at the County Clerk’s office, with some saying that he did not get the required 8,326 signatures.
Following Preckwinkle are a string of names, some familiar, and others less so, all who have seen their vote, or their opponent's vote as commissioner, as a litmus test of reform in this populous county, that contains all of Chicago. That tax also saw some ironies in partisanship, in this bluest of blue states, where it brought about 63 percent of Democrats in support, with 57 percent of independents, and only 44 percent of Republicans. Adding even more irony is that all but four of the 17 elected commissioners are Democrats, bucking a statewide trend.
That could change, or even remain the same with the March elections, and with the decision of Jerry “Iceman” Butler, a 32 year veteran, not to run, and opening up a wide berth for five candidates from the South Side.
Political alliances rebound, in nearly a cyclical fashion, with Chicago area politics, and this election proves to be no exception, with Edwin Moody, (who voted for the beverage tax) and who is also a political operative for the powerful, and indomitable, Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, Michael Madigan.
He was chosen last year, to fill the seat of the late Commissioner Jean Patricia Murphy, who died of cancer; and her daughter Patricia Jean Murphy is also slated to run.
Joining them is John Ritchey who opposed the tax and wanted to fill the county coffers with money from a proposal to legalize marijuana; he is a Republican.
Nipping at the heels of the pack is Chicago Teacher Union organizer Brandon Johnson, who is after Boykin’s seat and has said, “Unfortunately, what you’re hearing from Richard is about cuts, closures, consolidations and efficiencies,” and “He’s going after working-class people. Those are the talking points of the Republican Party.”
Longtime local pol, the avuncular Larry Suffredin, from the Northern suburban lakefront communities, now is being challenged by DePaul University student Barbara Amiwala; Suffredin was one of two commissioners who voted for the beverage tax.
Joining them is John Ritchey who opposed the tax and wanted to fill the county coffers with money from a proposal to legalize marijuana; he is a Republican.
Nipping at the heels of the pack is Chicago Teacher Union organizer Brandon Johnson, who is after Boykin’s seat and has said, “Unfortunately, what you’re hearing from Richard is about cuts, closures, consolidations and efficiencies,” and “He’s going after working-class people. Those are the talking points of the Republican Party.”
Longtime local pol, the avuncular Larry Suffredin, from the Northern suburban lakefront communities, now is being challenged by DePaul University student Barbara Amiwala; Suffredin was one of two commissioners who voted for the beverage tax.
“Also in the line that snaked through the basement of the County Building downtown was Assessor Joseph Berrios, who doubles as county Democratic chairman. Berrios has drawn a primary challenge from Fritz Kaegi, an asset manager who has been hitting the incumbent over what he says are problems in the tax assessment system highlighted this year by the Tribune,” they reported.
“People are dissatisfied with the corruption they see in the process, that’s in the pay-to-play and the nepotism, the favoritism and the indifference to neighborhoods that have been impacted by the housing crisis,” Kaegi said.
“People are dissatisfied with the corruption they see in the process, that’s in the pay-to-play and the nepotism, the favoritism and the indifference to neighborhoods that have been impacted by the housing crisis,” Kaegi said.
Gosh, does this sound like Chicago?
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