I'm poring over the Chicago Sun-Times endorsements for the Cook County Board and I can't find any so far that disagree with the Trib's endorsements. I'm going to list the Dems, and put edited highlights below the fold, but, this is pretty interesting.
1st District (West Side, west suburbs): Adekunle "Ade" B. Onayemi.
2nd District (Near North, West and Near South sides): Desiree Grode.
3rd District (Near South Side): Monica Torres-Linares.
4th District (South Side): Elgie R. Sims Jr.
5th District (South Side, south suburbs): Sheila Y. Chalmers-Currin.
6th District (south, southwest suburbs): Nick Valadez.
7th District (Cicero, Southwest Side): Jesus G. Garcia.
8th District (Near Northwest Side): Javier "Xavier" Nogueras.
12th District (North Side): John A. Fritchey.
13th District (north suburbs, Far North Side): Larry Suffredin.
16th District (west suburbs): Jeffrey R. Tobolski.
17th District (northwest, west, southwest suburbs): Victor A. Forys.
The on-line Trib seems on the outside to be doing all it can to undermine the print side, with the fact that you can't easily find, on-line, the endorsements the print side put out a couple of days ago. I've been told, in one of my other capacities, that updates to the endorsements and links from the questionnaires to who they actually endorsed are taking 'a couple of days to update', so, if they drag the endorsement announcements out enough, we should be able to find the down-ballot race endorsement links about Valentines Day.
Here, below, are the final Cook County Board endorsements from the Trib. Spoiler: only one incumbent on the Dem side.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/...
The Chicago Tribune (so far) joined the comments section writers at the Chicago Reader blogs in a "VOTE THE INCUMBENTS OUT!" (caps by the original author(s)) rant. While I think the Tribune, like the proverbial broken clock, made a good decision, or three, it seems like they just did the 'broad brush' way of making the decisions: I've highlighted some of those below, you can follow this link if you want to read them all:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/...
We've been given fair warning. If Deborah Sims is re-elected, she will vote to raise our taxes (again) here in Cook County. "I think that penny -- we need to figure out how to get it back," she told the League of Women Voters candidate forum in Flossmoor on Wednesday night. "We've got to get that penny back." Despite the observation from Sims' opponent, Sheila Chalmers-Currin, that we "pay the highest sales tax in America," the current County Commissioner for the 5th district was completely unmoved. The increase of the penny sales tax was justified, and Sims made it very clear where she stood.
The Chicago Federation of Labor released their local endorsements yesterday. But it was more interesting in what they didn't do rather than what they did.
They withheld endorsement in the Cook County Board President's race, a seeming slap in the face to Board President Todd Stroger. But they also postponed endorsements in the County County Commissioner's races.
The CFL postponed making any endorsements for Cook County Board of Commissioners until after an important budget vote tentatively scheduled for next Monday. The vote would be whether to repeal a portion of the county sales tax creating a budget deficit that would harm county services and the frontline workers who provide them.
So no one can be surprised that this scandal-plagued politician wants to throw her opponent off the ballot. It seems that Deborah Sims, and her fellow Stroger allies, made the determination that she can't survive the Democratic primary, given the lack of trust between her and her fellow County Commissioners -- and the lack of faith between her and her constituents.
Sims is as loyal to the Strogers as one can be. As a resident of the 5th County Commission district, this would be less distressing if we actually got something from her loyalty. You wouldn't know it unless you drove around the county, but the condition of county property, facilities and roads are much worse in the South Suburbs than in the Western and Northern suburbs.
While this neglect suggests to people that the South Suburbs just doesn't care, it is really evidence of the lack of money spent by county government in the Southland and a massive failure of leadership on the part of those who represent us.
Cook County Commissioners who favored repeal of the 1% tax increase thought they had the votes (14 of 17) to override President Todd Stroger's veto.
However, Commissioner Deborah Sims switched positions and voted to uphold Stroger's veto. Sims provided the following explanation to Sun-Times (Lisa Donovan).
Sims said she decided against rolling back a portion of the tax increase because "we have so many unanswered questions" about what slashing the sales tax could mean.
From where does Sims expect the answer to this question? From Stroger? So, because Stroger wouldn't give Sims information about how he would cut spending, she decided to punish Stroger by voting to uphold his veto.
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.
It has been the most difficult decision of my life, but I have decided not to be a candidate again for Cook County board president. Nor will I be a candidate for a third term on the board.
My June 30 fundraiser at Hop Haus, my first since the 2006 primary, is cancelled and I will be returning all checks (or in the case of credit cards, ensuring there is no debit to your account).
I am so grateful to you for your support, your encouragement and your friendship during the last two campaigns and my nearly seven years of service. It means so much to me, and made the decision so much harder.
In January, I joined my longtime friend, Care Pages founder Eric Langshur, in founding a new company, Rise Health. In the ensuing six months we have developed a mixture of services and technology which we believe can improve access, lower costs and improve quality in health care.
President Obama is poised to finally pass national health care reform. But to achieve the goal of universal access, quality and affordability, it will take both government reform and private sector innovation. I have come to believe so much in the potential of our ideas that I have chosen to remain in my role as chief operating officer, and begin a new and challenging journey to help improve our national health care system.
Many of you know that I first ran for the board presidency largely because of the dysfunction in the Health Bureau, which not only robbed taxpayers but effectively rationed care to the neediest and most vulnerable in our society. I wrote a detailed plan to improve access to preventive and primary care and restructure the system.
Because of the administration's gross incompetence and neglect, the Health Bureau is now under the jurisdiction of an independent board. The independent board recently hired a CEO, who is beginning to make systemic changes. The jury is out, but we all hope for its success.
I hope that all of you who supported me will stay involved, and support candidates willing to challenge the old ways.
Thank you again for having given me the opportunity to serve. I will be eternally grateful.
The twist, for those of us up north here, is that Larry Suffredin is now forming an exploratory committee for Cook County Board prez. And because of the new law change, you can't run for prez and commish. So if Larry runs, the 13th is an open seat. As will be, now, Forrest's slot.
This email was sent out today by the Friends of the Forest Preserves. If you are at all concerned about Cook County green spaces, you probably are up to date on this issue.
Critical information about this bill is after the jump...
in all the hubbub about the presidential and congressional candidates in this february's primary, we may have forgotten that there are other races here in cook county that will be on the ballot.
one incumbent gets to elect herself (when she votes), in kind of a surprise. dorothy brown, our circuit court clerk, drew not a single challenger. it may be a thankless task, so that explains the lack of a republican or green party challenger, but dorothy, you may remember, ran against da mayor last february. some speculated, because she announced before jesse decided if he'd get into the race, that she was a plant, drawn into the race to dilute the black vote. well, she didn't exactly make the mayor mad. the fact that she draws no opponent will not dampen that speculation.
the race everyone is likely to watch is the open seat for state's attorney. tom allen, alderman from the 38th ward, has already posted here. assistant state's attorney anita alvarez offers perhaps the best credentials out of that office: she "oversees the day-to-day operations of more than 900 assistant state's attorneys in eight different divisions handling felony prosecutions and civil actions." howard brookins, alderman of the 21st ward, is seen by many as the front runner, having hired mike noonan to run his campaign and gotten perhaps the earliest start. cook county commissioner larry suffredin has forrest claypool's endorsement and looks to be running a similar kind of reform campaign. assistant state's attorney bob milan was in line by 9, but got the last spot out of the lottery. tommy brewer, also a evanston resident, completes the ballot for state's attorney.
Does government exist to serve the citizens or do the citizens exist to support the government?
On Tuesday, November 6, I attended a hearing about the Cook County tax increase proposed by Board President Todd Stroger and finance committee chair John Daley. The hearing was held at Proviso East High School in Maywood and many of the commissioners attended, including Daley and Stroger.
All Cook County employees were allowed to testify before the first non-employee taxpayer. Even employees who were late or out of the room got called a second and third time before any regular citizens were allowed to testify.
Ok, I am sick and tired of ranting and venting about the current B.S. regarding Bobby "I'll serve as commissioner if re-elected" Steele. I'm sick and tired of the county getting screwed because some politicos found some lottery loophole in the system. We cannot afford this, we cannot sit idly by complicity watching this city tax its citizens more and more while our city "leaders" find more reasons to pay themselves more.
Fine, she was board president for a whooping four months! Let her get that pension she wanted for 4 months then, but not a single dime more than that. And to somehow resign and let her son take her seat, where do we live? Medieval Europe with its monarchy system???
So, I say lets flex our muscles my fellow Soapboxers, let us tell Bobby Steele now (and any other politico who thinks they can get away with this kind of crap) that we are NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!!! We are the people, we are the gatekeepers, we are the future!
What is our plan of action? We need more numbers, we need a bigger voice, and we need someone who is going to have the courage and power to stop this from happening. I don't care if we have to go to Cook County leader Gary Skoien, Forrest Claypool, local non-profits, or Carol Marin. Heck, I'll even call up the Bears Defense if I can think they can help!
I am willing to take out much time out of my life to prevent Steele from getting away with this. Please help me with this endeavor. I urge you to help with this project. Any suggestions, comments, tips are greatly appreciated!
there is no one who has more contempt for the chicago machine and illinois' combine. but i am too smart to think that the way to break up these monstrosities is to invigorate the republican party or to look outside the two party system. my experience in campaigns and politics tells me that while these theoretical solutions appeal to some, voters won't buy it (with regards to a third party solution) or will turn away from progressive to right-wing policies. iow, the costs of opening peraica's box are simply too high for serious, intelligent advocates of reform to consider.
the biggest reason, afaict, that some progressives find peraica appealing is that they don't know better. sure, republicans have dominated the electoral landscape for 25 years, and what have we got? emphasis on making marriage exclusively between traditional couples. minor increases in wages that don't keep up with the cost of living. the rich getting richer. the poor being left behind. incredible pressure on government spending so that even critical programs are cut in order to put more money in rich people's pockets.
that's a record that progressives want to support?
This started out as a comment on the post about the "machine's" recent choice of Todd Stroger as the Dem nominee for Cook County Board President.
In that post a commenter was lamenting the fact that Forrest Claypool didn't win the primary. Though I voted for Claypool, I never got a chance to vote for for my preferred candidate, Mike Quigley. Not only did I like Quigley better on the issues, but he would have gotten the support of labor, which Claypool had no chance at. Would that have given him the edge to beat Stroger in the primary election? Who can know. What I do know is that I talked to many people who agreed that they preferred Quigley on the issues, but that they were supporting Claypool because he was almost as good and had raised more money. There would be little argument, I think, that it was was Claypool's money advantage that caused Quigley to drop out of the primary -- and the fact that if one of them didn't drop out there would be no chance of beating Stroger.
I tried to go to the IL Board of Elections to look up their financial reports, but their search engine seems to be down. However, it is my understanding that Claypool gained his money advantage due to large donations from a handful of donors (remember at the non-federal level in Illinois there is no limit to the size of the contribution) who gave money to his campaign very early on. I also remember that his final quarter fundraising was not that strong, meaning that his big donors were tapped out early and he did not attract significant numbers of new donors. In other words, big money decided who the opposition candidate would be, corruption and cronyism choose the nominee.
And I am not saying that Claypool would not have been an excellent Cook County Board President, I am saying that he was not choosen by the voters.
On July 18 there will be a vote by all the Cook County Ward and Township Dem Committemen as to who will replace John Stroger as the Democratic Nominee for Cook County Board President. According to an article in the Tribune, this meeting is open to the public, and will be at the Hotel Allegro, 171 W. Randolph Street, Chicago, 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday the 18th.
On Wednesday the 19th the Cook County Commisioners will meet to vote on an iterim president, at a meeting that is also open to the public, and will start at 10:00 a.m. at the Cook County Board Room 569, 118 N. Clark Street, Chicago.
In the last couple of days I have gotten:
- an email from Commissioner Mike Quigley stating that he will be voting for Forrest Claypool for interim President, and encouraging people to contact their committeeman to let them know who we feel is the best candidate to replace John Stroger on the ballot as the Dem nominee for President
- an email from Commissioner Roberto Maldonado stating that he plans to support Commissioner Bobbie Steele as the interim replacement, and will support either Bobbie Steele or Congressman Danny Davis is the Dem nominee, and encouraging people to attend the slating meeting on July 18
- an email from IVI-IPO stating that all three candidates have been invited to meet voters and answer questions at a public forum on Sunday, July 16, 3:00 pm at Old St. Paul Church, 531 N Kedzie, Chicago.
- and a personal email from Debra Shore expressing her support for Comm. Bobbie Steele as the Dem nominee for President.
More details, and my take on it, after the flip ...
