In an e-mail to supporters and friends, Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin announced that he is seeking re-election. This was preceded by petitions circulating yesterday in Evanston. This rules out a run by Larry for either Cook County Board President or for Assessor, one of which seemed likely after public appearances and statements by Larry recently.
From Suffredin's e-mail:
I am committed to working to get new leadership in the Office of President of the Cook County Board. I will dedicate my efforts to insuring that the reform agenda that I worked on with Congressman Mike Quigley and Commissioner Forrest Claypool is the agenda of the next President. This reform agenda of both accountability and transparency is the only way to reduce taxes.
First, my efforts will go to overturning President Todd Stroger’s third veto of a repeal of the County sales tax at the Board meeting on September 1, 2009. The County is in a strong financial position and can afford to grant this tax relief. The $283 million crisis that the County faced in February, 2008, when the tax was enacted, has passed. The key to solving this crisis was the establishment of an Independent Health and Hospital Board which I proposed and which has brought -- for the first time-- professional management to the Health and Hospital System which spends nearly $1 billion and treats almost 1 million people annually.
I would say that I am surprised, except that so many surprises have happened in the last 9 months in Illinois, little is surprising any more. There were significant obstacles to a race for either Board President -- where the field is already crowded and many progressives have coalesced behind Toni Preckwinkle -- and Assessor (where the well-funded county party chairman Joe Berrios is the presumptive organization candidate at this date). However, Suffredin would have been a strong candidate.
In a season where "stay put" is the option many are opting for, this move by my Commissioner (Larry holds the seat I ran for in '94) could be see as a proverbial "smart play. It's also important for the Board to have some continuity, with both Claypool and Quigley gone come 2011. Because Larry had built up a countywide fundraising base and name recognition, undoubtedly this was a difficult decision, and one in which personal and family considerations weighed as well.
