Everyone Has A Little Less Choice: Raila Out of Assessor's Race

by: Jeff Smith

Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 09:55:14 AM CST


Longtime progressive activist Andrea Raila has folded her campaign for Cook County assessor. In a letter to friends and supporters last night, Andrea said, "This decision was made for personal reasons, with the understanding of the challenges and expense of pending legal objections to our petitions." Raila thus joins Oak Park Ali ElSaffar in the ranks of the fallen aspirants for this quiet but powerful post.

An article in the Reader a couple weeks ago quoted the slated candidate, tax appeals commissioner and Democratic county chairman Joe Berrios, as saying, with "a little chuckle," "If you look at my career, you know I have a lawyer who looks at petitions." The expense of defending a challenge to countywide petitions is daunting since it involves looking at thousands of facts, i.e., signatures. Berrios's petition challenge to Jay Paul Deratany, while unsuccessful, reportedly threw a major cramp into Deratany's campaign, robbing it of time and a lot of money.

Raila needed over 8,000 signatures to get on the ballot; rule of thumb is that a candidate should have at least 2x the minimum to ward off a challenge, especially if the signatures are gathered in public places as opposed to door-to-door. Raila had thousands more than the minimum but, I understand, less than 2x.

The episode highlights the advantage that a slate has over an independent solo candidate. Berrios benefited from being on petitions that also featured, e.g., David Orr and Maria Pappas. Good-government progressives historically "wait to see who's running" and vet their choices through endorsement processes with various degress of rigor; by the time they do that it's too late to run as a team.

It also shows the importance of seizing electoral opportunities when they arise. I am reminded of the George Harrison lyric: "Everyone has choice / When to and not to raise their voices / It's you that decides." Andrea thanked her "more than 100" circulators and is still planning to fete them on the 13th. But 100 just wasn't enough, and now Democratic voters in Cook County will have a little less choice on the ballot come Feb. 2.

As many here know, I ran against Berrios a number of years ago. I bear him no ill will whatsoever and coincidentally had a nice chat with him last night at a downtown event. But Andrea Raila has been an unsung asset to reform candidates for many years and would have been a breath of fresh air to Cook County government. Her candidacy would have brought a spirited debate and some sunshine to assessment practices in the county. Let's hope we get more government in place that can find a place for people like Andrea.

Jeff Smith :: Everyone Has A Little Less Choice: Raila Out of Assessor's Race
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Everyone Has A Little Less Choice: Raila Out of Assessor's Race | 31 comments
Bad news (0.00 / 0)
someone needs to challenge Berrios.  
What Happened and What's the Problem? (0.00 / 0)
The debriefing of this campaign closure is a little odd to me. She might have had great policies, or not, and we may never know.

What we do know is that she didn't have an army of volunteers to gather signatures, and she wasn't able to build a warchest of donations. I don't see that Berrios did anything wrong, or in fact, did anything at all. The campaign appears simply to have imploded under the weight of its own emptiness.

There's a method to winning local elections. You go out and build up coalitions through networking, as Jeff Smith himself has been doing. If Andrea Raila had been doing that for any length of time with any degree of fervor, I would have run into her at some point. I didn't.

I've known her for over 20 years... (0.00 / 0)
as a good government progressive, and, like me, parent to small children, who sometimes ask for at least some attention.  The pool of candidates in that race is smaller in more ways than one.
[ Parent ]
In defense of Raila and ElSaffar (4.00 / 1)
Jim Houlihan waited until late in the process to decide he was going to retire.

Houlihan's preferred candidates didn't volunteer to run.

Houlihan was talking to ElSaffar and, I assume, Raila. He'd make vague statements about supporting one of them at some time in the future.

Houlihan thought he could assemble a coalition of independents to back his chosen candidate. However, I think Houlihan found he had much less juice once he'd announced his retirement.

Quigley is busy with Congress stuff. Claypool is starting his business. Suffredin at one point told ElSaffar not to worry about sigs and then backed-out of the offer.

ElSaffar was somewhat victimized by a couple of campaign consultants.

Houlihan was indecisive and rather clueless about what it takes to run an independent campaign. When ElSaffar discussed nominating petitions with him Houlihan said he'd never dealt with nominating petitions because the Dem Party always handled it for him.

[ Parent ]
Raila's platform was a problem for me (0.00 / 0)
She's out of the race, so I don't want to dwell on the negative, but....

Raila's big policy proposal was to reduce property tax assessments on commercial property. This would have shifted the tax burden to homeowners.

To me this seems like bad policy, bad politics and anti-progressive reform.

The policy would substantially reduce the legalized bribery that is used to reduce property tax assessments on commercial properties.

But it's approximately the same argument as implementing the flat tax. In exchange for vastly reducing taxes on the wealthy we get a system with fewer loopholes, special considerations and inequities.

[ Parent ]
"Raila's platform...... (3.50 / 2)

..was a problem for me   Andrea's big policy proposal was to reduce property tax assessments on commercial property. This would have shifted the tax burden to homeowners".

Carl, this is absolutely not true.

The Illinois Taxpayer Federation commissioned Andrea to co-drafted and research an extensive property tax study called Taxation Without Representation: The Illinois Proeprty Tax System.

Andrea has been behind numerous petition drives to curb triennial reassessment increases on all properties for decades.

Anyone interested in Andrea's policies can review them on her web site www.Citizens4Raila.com.

If you're a true property tax policy buff,as you present yourself to be, you would know the following were her primary platforms:

Advocate for Equal Treatment of ALL Cook County Property Taxpayers
• Allow Cook County taxpayers to challenge the state tax multiplier on property tax appeals.
• Implement in Cook County the same assessment levels and practices used in all other 101 Illinois counties.

Control Excessive Property Taxation
• Cap Cook County triennial reassessment increases to no more than 5%, with the exception of new sales and construction.
• Address Cook County tax inequities and over reliance on property taxes, by using the state income tax for at least 51% of education costs.

Remove Political Pressures Intrinsic to an Elected Assessor
• Support legislation that appoints a Cook County Assessor or Supervisor of Assessments in counties of one million or more.
• Support campaign donation limits to all elected Assessors and assessment appeal officials.

As Randall Sherman suggested above - you can hear an excellent explanation of the problems and solutions on

www.blip.tv/file/2786452

Mary Hunter, Campaign Chair
Citizens For Andrea Raila

[ Parent ]
what's the difference between how Cook County (0.00 / 0)
assesses property and how the other counties assess property?

In Cook County there are different assessment rates for residential and commercial property. The rate for single-family homes is much lower.

When Raila said, "Implement in Cook County the same assessment levels and practices used in all other 101 Illinois counties," she was advocating a massive tax cut for commercial property owners.

The move would have put large numbers of tax appeals specialists out of business and made the appeals to the board of review no big deal.

From her presentation at Northside DFA, Raila understood what she was advocating. But she explained it in a way that people didn't understand how radical and how pro-business her platform was.

Like I wrote, it was a "reform" agenda from the point of view it would largely end the practice of giving commercial properties massive assessment decreases in exchange for campaign contributions.

However, the cost of Raila's "reform" was that taxes would increase for single-family home owners.

[ Parent ]
Rental property (0.00 / 0)
Lost in this discussion is that there are actually three different categories of property. Rental property is also assessed at a significantly higher rate than single-family homes. Although in theory the landlord pays the property taxes, as a practical matter they mostly get passed along to the renter. And I have never understood why renters should be expected to pay higher property taxes than homeowners.

Bill Thomasson

Permission to reprint explicitly granted
[ Parent ]
if renters pay higher property taxes (0.00 / 0)
this creates an incentive for renters to become home owners.

Every time a property sells, a realtor makes a commission.

And realtors and the real estate industry have disproporationate influence on local politics.

And property tax consultants get their bite of the action when commercial property owners seek reductions to their assessments.

See how the system greases the palms of the key players?

[ Parent ]
I also think it give s an incentive for renters... (0.00 / 0)
to become voters, and hope that comes to fruition, but won't hold my breath.
[ Parent ]
Assessments vs. taxes (0.00 / 0)
Andrea has been behind numerous petition drives to curb triennial reassessment increases on all properties for decades.
As I hope everyone here understands, this is irrelevant to the actual taxes people pay. There seems to be a perception that taxing bodies establish the tax rates that are applied to assessments. They don't. They establish a total tax levy in dollars. Then that levy is divided by the total assessment to establish a tax rate. So if the assessment is lower than it would otherwise be, that simply means the tax rate is higher and the total amount of property tax is the same.

Changes in the assessment of a given property can affect the tax that property pays, of course, because that affects the property's share of the total assessment. But that's totally different from policies aimed at reducing assessed value county-wide.

Bill Thomasson

Permission to reprint explicitly granted

[ Parent ]
this was the head scratcher for me and others (0.00 / 0)
Andrea Raila seemed to be advocating policies that would reduce the assessments for everyone.

She was operating under the assumption this would reduce taxes for everyone.

As I understand the system this is not true. The school district and other local taxing bodies are going to get a fixed amount of money from the tax base. The assessment process is to determine how much of the pie each property owner is responsible for.

But even if reducing assessments across the board did reduces taxes, Raila's idea was that by reducing the amount of money for local government the state of Illinois would magically make-up the difference, at least for schools.

And all those other taxing bodies? Well, they would either get money from the state or have to make cuts.

Like I said, as I understand property taxes, she was wrong about how the system worked. But even if she's right that reducing assessments across Cook County would reduce taxes across Cook County, the proposal was half-baked because she didn't have a plan to replace the revenue.

[ Parent ]
Not true. (0.00 / 0)
My city government brags that it hasn't raised taxes in years. How? Council votes every year to keep the tax rate the same. They've taken potluck on the levy, which was a quite lucrative practice until 2008. Obviously lots of people do not understand how this works (or is supposed to work).

I can't quite believe other municipalities haven't been trying to pull the same trick...or maybe I've just been observing this particular little cesspool for too long.

[ Parent ]
County differences or spin? (0.00 / 0)
It is conceivable that Cook County is different from DeKalb. Certainly Cook County is the only one in the state where different calsses of property are assessed at different rates. And it's the only one where different parts of the county are reassessed on a three-year cycle, rather than the entire county being reassessed annually. And it's the only one I know of where the taxes you pay in 2009 are theoretically the 2008 taxes, based on the 2007 assessment. So it's at least imaginable that outside Cook County taxing bodies do set a rate rather than a total tax levy.

But I'm more inclined to suspect that your city government is spinning its decision. It's no secret that many taxing bodies do consider how their levy will affect the tax rate. They can't just automatically bump it up every third year, which is what DeKalb would be doing if it were in Cook County, but long-term plans are certainly influenced by expectations about increases in property values. So I can easily imagine DeKalb setting a tax levy that they expect to leave rates the same and then announcing they haven't raised taxes.

Bill Thomasson

Permission to reprint explicitly granted

[ Parent ]
So Larry the Lobbyist backed out on ElSaffar? (0.00 / 0)
Why doesn't that surprise me?  Anyone who is counting on Larry Suffredin to act like a real progressive when the going gets tough will rue that belief in the end.
[ Parent ]
Andrea's Networks (0.00 / 0)
Most anyone interested and involved in tax policy knows who Andrea is. Her networks simply are not yours, Thomas. That you have not met her is not a reason to indict the quality of her candidacy. Rather, it is reason to acknowledge that political and policy talent lies even in places you do not frequent.  
[ Parent ]
Judge Ray Figueroa (3.00 / 1)
I'm meeting with Judge Figueroa on Monday.

I've met him once circulating nominating petitions and talked to him on the phone once. I liked him from my limited interaction.

I hope he emerges as a viable alternative to Berrios and Shaw.

You also still have Eugene "Gene" Staples (0.00 / 0)
Staples was literally the last person to file on Monday.  I want to find out more about him before I take a position.

As for Raila, I was very impressed with her performance last week when she taped a half-hour edition of "Issue Forum" with the Illinois Committee for Honest Government's Frank Avila.  I don't know when the Chicago Access Network will air the program (at this point, they will likely bury it on or around Christmas, since Raila won't be on the ballot).  But you can check it out for yourselves now by going to: http://issueforum.blip.tv/file...

RANDALL SHERMAN
Secretary/Treasurer, Illinois Committee for Honest Government

[ Parent ]
I ask, one last time, who's in "ICHG" besides you and the Avila's? n/t (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
Really, this is to be the last? (0.00 / 0)
Please keep asking until we get a reasonable response, or better yet an extended thread on the topic.

Jeff Wegerson
[ Parent ]
I would prefer the question not be asked (0.00 / 0)
over-and-over in threads where Randall is behaving and it's not key to any of his claims.

It seems unnecessarily antagonistic. The point has been made.

[ Parent ]
My bad. Point taken. n/t (0.00 / 0)


Jeff Wegerson
[ Parent ]
I don't note it where the ICHG banner isn't being waived. n/t (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
Obviously, you did not attend... (3.00 / 1)
...the October 11 Distinguished Service Awards Banquet of the Illinois Committee for Honest Government, held at the Croatian Cultural Center in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood.  Fortunately, you and everyone else can check out the proceedings of that event (which had about 200 people present) on your computer by going to:
www.issueforum.blip.tv

Once there, go to the list of video icons on the right-hand side to click on the one for the banquet, and judge for yourself.

I don't ask the IVI-IPO how many members they have (in part because I know it depends on how many memberships were bought up by Democratic Ward Organizations at a given time - the 43rd Ward was notorious for that for years).  The Illinois Committee for Honest Government has put its Cable-TV programs onto the Internet for everyone to watch at anytime.  Often this can be the most extensive means of learning about some of these candidates for these down-ballot races.  It might be best to refocus your energies on having other groups and organizations provide outlets for you and other voters to learn about candidates running in all of the races on the February 2 Primary ballot.

[ Parent ]
IVI-IPO organized the big IL-05 candidate forum (3.00 / 1)
But not everyone there was a member.

There are a few ways that make sense to answer the question.

You can respond by giving dues paying members.

You can respond by listing numbers of email addresses who are on your mailing list.

You can give the names of people who are active in leadership of the organization.

"Go look at my video" is not a satisfactory answer.

[ Parent ]
You can ask, we will answer. We've got nothing to hide. (0.00 / 0)
A list of Board Members is on our site, to start with.

It might be best to refocus your energies on having other groups and organizations provide outlets for you and other voters to learn about candidates running in all of the races on the February 2 Primary ballot.

IVI-IPO will post the questionnaire answers of the candidates of all races we endorse in (including down-ballot ones) on our website.  It's what we do.

ICHG (whoever it really is) can do whatever it wants.  My only problem is when people in glass houses throw stones.  When Randall posts here and is "behaving" (not my word), I really don't get involved.  When someone posts as though they're a big group, I think it's OK to ask a question or two.  JMO.  

[ Parent ]
Speaking of glass houses (0.00 / 0)
The IVI-IPO board list is not online. Hasn't been for months.
[ Parent ]
You apparently have a point... (0.00 / 0)
As a member of the Board, why haven't you mentioned it at a Board meeting.  Still, you can't argue that there's a not true difference in transparency between the two 'groups', no?  
[ Parent ]
Uh . . . (3.00 / 1)
I have mentioned it. Three times.

As for the differences between the two groups, I think the political marketplace, per se, vets the respective value of each and this value is demonstrated by how candidates, electeds, the media and others engage each group (or don't).

As for transparency, IVI-IPO has a longer and more predictable record but that doesn't mean that Randall's group is some cabal or that Randall is its dark lord. :-))

The two groups are apples and oranges, which, at least to me, makes the comparison pointless at best and at worst a new brand of harp on Randall, who, as far as I can tell, has done nothing more egregious than what 99% of guys do. Exaggerate.

[ Parent ]
Andrea Raila is friends with a bunch of my friends (4.00 / 1)
I'm glad she performs well on TV.

My concern was always her platform which was bad on policy level, IMO.

[ Parent ]
Everyone Has A Little Less Choice: Raila Out of Assessor's Race | 31 comments
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