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.
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.
