Pledging to repeal the remainder of the county’s 2008 sales tax increase, Cook County Board President candidate Terrence J. O’Brien today jumped ahead of his opponents and unveiled the race’s first television advertisement.
The 30-second ad, produced by Adelstein Liston, is part of “an extensive” countywide media buy, he said.
In the spot, O'Brien also pledges to reform hiring practices and calls the current administration an “embarrassment.”
“We are to continue to work hard these last 30 days to let voters know what a wonderful job Terrence J. O’Brien has done at the Water Reclamation District,” and how that will translate to a successful presidency, O’Brien said at a press conference announcing the ad.
O’Brien said being the first candidate to air an advertisement gives him an advantage over his three opponents, President Todd Stroger, Clerk of Court Dorothy Brown and Alderman Toni Preckwinkle.
“It’s important since there is a large number of undecided voters in the population out there,” he said.
The ad takes aim at Stroger, underhandedly calling his governance an embarrassment. O’Brien pledges to hire employees based on merit, a clear reference to the numerous county hires that have raised eyebrows. It also promises to keep families healthy, and one scene takes place in what appears to be a hospital laboratory, a reference to concerns about the county’s health system.
“I will repeal the whole sales tax increase and end the embarrassment. Enough is enough,” O’Brien concludes in the spot.
One of his campaign pledges is to repeal the increase on his first day of office, if elected. Preckwinkle and Brown are in favor of a staggered repeal, while Stroger supports the tax hike.
O’Brien says the county risks becoming dependent on the funds generated by the tax if it stays in place for too long. To make up the lost money, he says he would audit each county department to make them more efficient.
Voters, he said, are tired of the status quo.
“We’ve traveled around the county, and people are desperate for change,” he told reporters.
But O’Brien has been saddled with his own baggage, namely reports of possible conflicts of interest at the MWRD, which oversees several clients of O’Brien’s firm, K-Plus environmental. He says he’ll dissolve his interest in K-Plus if elected. Allegations that the O’Brien and Brown campaigns have banded together to oust Stroger rankled the president to the point where he didn’t show up to a campaign forum in November.