Preckwinkle chooses Rogers Park to address entire Cook County

By Bob Spoerl for rogerspark.com

Newly elected Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is making a point of being seen and heard. She wants greater transparency and accountability from the Cook County government.

She’s also playing a difficult tune for county government officials and employees to listen to, proposing budget cuts to close a $487 million hole in the budget for the 2nd largest county in the nation.

“If we were a state in the union, we’d be the 17th largest state,” said County Commissioner Larry Suffredin, administrator of the North Shore of Cook County.

In fact, 5.2 million people call Cook County home.  And with an operating budget greater than the state of Wyoming, the County can flex a formidable financial muscle.

But that muscle will have to shrink because the County, like so many other governmental bodies, faces a huge sum of debt. The cuts Preckwinkle proposed, therefore, are going to affect millions of people, including some residents here in Rogers Park. They are going to be tough spending reductions ahead, and concerned county citizens are asking Preckwinkle difficult questions.

Some of those questions came out Thursday when Preckwinkle addressed a crowd of around 100 people at New Field School off Morse and Clarke. It was the location where she delivered the annual State of the County Address.

Preckwinkle is taking a hands-on approach to her job. She has the backing of most of the 17 Cook County commissioners. While the County board is essentially a legislative and policy-making group, it sets the operating budget for services like the sheriff’s office or the county hospital system. Preckwinkle, as president, has a high level of executive power – in order for her budget or initiative to get overthrown by the 17-person county commission that keeps her in check, a four-fifths majority would need to approve it. Preckwinkle’s proactive approach is what makes her appealing to many and is part of the reason she was elected to her position in November. It’s keeping her a popular figure in her job, which she’ll hold for four years until the next election cycle. Then, if she wants the job again, county voters will decide whether she keeps it.

County Commissioner Suffredin said the reason Preckwinkle chose to give the countywide address in the 49th Ward was because David Fagus, head of the Democratic Party in the Ward, offered to host the event.  Also, it should be noted that Preckwinkle, when she was alderman of the 4th Ward, which includes the northern part of Hyde Park and Oakland neighborhoods, often worked in partnership with current 49th Ward alderman, Joe Moore.

Moore, along with Fagus, sat on a stage at New Field above the crowd of citizens in attendance at the State of the County address. 

Preckwinkle gave Moore a shout-out during the question and answer session, calling him a champion of affordable housing.

But at least one resident in the crowd did not agree with Preckwinkle’s positive pitch for Moore.

Rogers Park resident Pattie Harding of 1412 Farwell used the question and answer portion of the address to sound off against county government in general. She also had some biting words to share with the 49th Ward alderman.

“Joe Moore, when’s the last time you took a 10 percent pay cut?” Harding asked the longtime alderman. 

This was after Harding commended Preckwinkle for taking a 10 percent pay cut before starting her job. The Cook County board president’s salary was slated to make $170,000 before starting her term.

A staffer for Alderman Moore replied to an e-mail about the rhetorical question Hardin raised.

“The Alderman and us staff members have had our paycut for the last two years and will this year with 24 unpaid furlough days and holidays,” Michael Land said. “If you consider that is roughly 10 percent of working days, it amounts to roughly a 10 percent paycut.”

In her rant, Harding was not just frustrated with Moore, but also with the top-runners in Chicago’s mayoral race.

Preckwinkle assured Harding after the resident complained that the new mayor will likely hike taxes once elected: “The leading mayoral candidates have not proposed to raise taxes,” the board president said.

“Oh, they’ll raise taxes,” Harding responded, and ‘oohs and ahhs’ from the crowd ensued. Several people clapped and snickered.

Links:
How does the Cook County government work and what does it do? Here’s a helpful guide from the League of Women Voters
Cook County Transition Report from December 2010

Photo Credits: Jessey R. Neves

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