In Cook County, the list of elected officials who have also lobbied includes three county commissioners, two Chicago aldermen, the Cook County Democratic Party chairman and even John J. Cullerton, the state senate president since 2009.
In Cook County, the list of elected officials who have also lobbied includes three county commissioners, two Chicago aldermen, the Cook County Democratic Party chairman and even John J. Cullerton, the state senate president since 2009.
Cook County commissioners began peeling back the layers of Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s 2012 spending plan like an onion Thursday, revealing the strong scent of expanded taxes and fees. Commissioner Larry Suffredin said he was surprised to see Preckwinkle is proposing expanded parking rates and a new tax on coin-operated pool tables.
For the second time in a month, Cook County commissioners yesterday failed to override a veto by County Board President Todd Stroger.
At the board's meeting May 18, Stroger's veto of a county-wide hiring freeze was upheld. This time, commissioners were unable to muster the 11 votes needed to force through an ordinance giving them closer supervision of personnel issues. The override attempt failed with nine yeas, six nays and two absent.
Stroger seemed pleased as he watched commissioners debate the veto override. He argued, as he did last month, that such an ordinance encroached on his power. It would have required him to notify the commission when he hired or gave raises to employees exempt from the county's patronage laws. Read more...
County commissioners are looking to put the kibosh on what they call a pattern of underhanded hiring and spending by outgoing County Board President Todd Stroger.
The ill-fated hire of a now-indicted former Detroit Public Schools executive and a payment to a Stroger’s aide’s firm that flew beneath commissioners’ radars are the latest in a series of events that have prompted Commissioners John Daley, Bridget Gainer and Larry Suffredin to call for increased transparency in hiring and spending.
At Tuesday’s County Board meeting the trio will introduce an ordinance that will require the administration to provide more detail on spending and hiring decisions. Read more...A consulting firm owned by Carla Oglesby, the newly-minted deputy chief of staff for County Board President Todd Stroger, received a nearly $25,000 payment just days after she was put on the county payroll, according to news reports.
Oglesby's firm, CGC Communications, was paid $24,975 for consulting work in Februrary. The contract evaded commissioners' scrutiny because it is not enough to require their approval. That amount? Twenty-five thousand dollars.
Some commissioners have complained during County Board meetings that few contracts were coming their way to be approved, leading them to speculate smaller payments were being awarded. Read more...
