Roger Keats predicts his first day in office will be a busy one.
Speaking to the City Club of Chicago this afternoon, Keats, the Republican nominee for Cook County Board president, outlined an aggressive initiation that includes slashing the budget, firing political appointees, letting loose a cadre of inspectors general and handing over documents to reporters.
And, he says, he’d still have work leftover for the rest of the week.
“Day Two, we start to drain the swamp and drag Cook County into the 21st Century,” he said.
In his comments to the club, which drew about twice as many people when Democratic nominee Alderman Toni Preckwinkle spoke last week, Keats positioned himself as a proven reformer who would not be bogged down by favors owed to interest groups.
Noting that Preckwinkle’s largest donor in the primary campaign was the powerful Service Employees International Union, Keats warned that his opponent would not be able to install all the reforms she has promised.
It won’t be a problem, Preckwinkle says.
“Since the beginning of my political career, I’ve raised as much money as I could and as broadly as possible,” Preckwinkle says.
That tactic, she says, makes it “so you’re not in the position where you’re beholden to any special interest or particular constituency.”
Out of the $1.6 million she raised in the primary, Preckwinkle says only 14 percent of that came from unions.
He called her an “insider” for taking campaign contributions from corrupt developer Tony Rezko when he was building in her ward. Preckwinkle says Rezko stopped donating to her after a contentious conversation as he divested his properties.
Pledging changes based on common sense, Keats said he would cut the remainder of the sales tax hike, move to make the independent board governing the county’s health care system permanent and enact a number of good government policies proposed by former Commissioner Mike Quigley, who left the County Board to serve in Congress.
"This is real reform from a real indenpendent," he said.
Keats railed against corruption and waste in county government, promising to replace inept patronage workers and numerous department heads who have thrived under past administrations.
“Many are empire builders, and frankly they’re an impediment to progress,” he said.
He referenced a study by the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Better Government Association, which outlined the county’s dubious history of corruption.
“We’re almost immune to the news stories about the latest alderman or county official getting his just dessert,” Keats said.
He said he would work with local business schools to craft ideas on how to rejuvenate the area’s economy, including recruiting more out-of-state business, who have been scared away from the county.
“A pack of crooks. That’s our image,” he said.
Along those lines, he predicted Cook County could gain manufacturing jobs, which have been lost.
“Cook County used to be the greatest manufacturing county in the country,” he said. “Today, it’s on life support.”
Keats predicted he could raise at least $1 million for the general campaign, though he raised about $20,000 in his primary run against Chicago police officer John Garrido.
He said he would not move to ban abortions performed at Stroger Hospital.
“I don’t intend to fool with existing policy,” he said.
He also said the Tea Party movement might help his campaign, capitalizing on discussions he has had with local leaders.
“They are a group that frankly is ticked off by what’s going on. I’m ticked off about what’s going on,” he said.