Cook County is often criticized as being a lumbering, inefficient and out-of-date entity. But a new program championed by County Board President Todd Stroger aims to change the county’s reputation.
The program, known as OPTIMA, will streamline county government and improve the county’s profit margin by an estimated $300 million after three years.
Under the leadership of county chief financial officer Jaye Williams, the county will build on a commitment Stroger made three years ago to streamline government, further reduce the workforce and modernize the county.
"We are targeting transformation, not just improvement," Williams said at a press conference before Tuesday’s county board meeting. "We're making Cook County fundamentally more productive.”
Stroger said the timing of the announcement is not tied to the upcoming primary elections. OPTIMA, he said, has been something he’s wanted to institute since he took office, but funding wasn’t available until recently.
The move to boost efficiency, he said, “is all the more important because of the sales tax rollback’s negative impact on our revenue .”
36 Stroger nurses going to Haiti
Responding the earthquake that has devastated many parts of Haiti, Stroger and Cook County Health and Hospitals System Chief Medical Officer Terry Mason announced efforts to provide to relief to Haiti, following a massive earthquake that devastated the country's capitol.
Stroger said the county is ramping up fundraising efforts to help people affected by the 7.0 quake.
"This disaster is literally right at our doorstep," Stroger said. "We're committed to doing all we can do to support relief efforts in Haiti, just as our employees have answered to the call to support relief efforst for other disasters, from Hurrican Katrina in 2005 and the 9/11 attacks, to the 1999 earthquake that devastated Izmit and other towns in Turkey."
Groups, including Yele Haiti and the Haitian Crisis Relief Fund, will benefit from money raised by the county.
A team of 36 nurses has volunteered to go to Haiti to help.
“I am proud to say that as soon as the disaster struck, we had volunteers lined up, ready to help out,” Mason said. “Dozens of our nurses – many of them of Haitian background – have already said they are going to go to Haiti to be part of this historic rescue mission.”
Only two hospitals in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince remain open. The nurses are volunteering their time, and Stroger has authorized them to receive 10 days of working salary while on the humanitarian mission.
New O’Brien TV ad promises to restore trust
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District President Terrence O’Brien unveiled a new television ad today.
The 30-second spot features O’Brien sitting and speaking to the camera, promising to bring back trust by running county government as a business.
“I’ve met with people across this county who are kind of tired of the old tax and spend attitude,” he says. “That has got to change.”
As he did in his first TV ad, O’Brien promises to end patronage and immediately repeal the remainder of the sales tax hike, while touting tax refunds taxpayers received from the MWRD.
“I’ve been cleaning up waste at the water reclamation district. We’ll clean up waste in county government,” he says.
Spokesman John Davis says the media buy is comparable to the $500,000 the campaign spent on its first ad two weeks ago.
The campaign is also developing a more targeted approach to newspaper advertising. Davis says he is trying to divert more funds to community newspapers.
Preckwinkle supports Jackson’s plan for Peotone airport
Alderman Toni Preckwinkle this week said she supports the development of an airport in Peotone, 40 miles south of Chicago.
“The airport plan as proposed by the Abraham Lincoln National Airport Committee isn't just good for Peotone or for Chicago, for Cook County or for Will County. The ALNAC plan is good for the entire state of Illinois and our nation as a whole,” she said in a campaign e-mail.
The region’s third airport, she said, would create jobs, stimulate the economy and stabilize the area’s infrastructure.
The e-mail noted Preckwinkle’s support of the plan, which is championed by U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.
"I congratulate Alderman Preckwinkle for her leadership in recognizing the Abraham Lincoln National Airport Commission and its plan to provide 15,000 new jobs. Creating new jobs and business opportunities for Cook County will stem foreclosures, expand the local tax base and provide families with health care and pension benefits,” Jackson said.
Jackson, by the way, hasn't officially endorsed Preckwinkle, but told Fox News Chicago last week that he is impressed by her.