Category: Chicago

Have we been too tough on Todd Stroger?

People tell me I should be more understanding of what Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is going through.

The media has been relentless. The Chicago Sun-Times today ribs Stroger’s choices for a new county hospital board: Hospital board slights suburbs.

They tell me we have to understand “the way things are.” When Stroger was running for office, I heard one Democratic Committeeman say just that to a college student who was critical of Stroger’s candidacy. This young lady wanted to know why she should support Todd Stroger, that it seemed that Stroger was on the ballot simply because he was John Stroger’s son.

“Young lady, you need to understand the way things are,” this committeeman replied. He then went on to describe what a great man John Stroger was (he’s right), and why Todd has earned this (he’s wrong).

I’m told President Stroger is young, still new on the job, and we should be patient. He’ll learn. He’ll catch up. His father was a tremendous man (they’re right), and Todd will prove himself before long (still waiting).

I don’t buy that at all.

Todd Stroger chose to run for Cook County Board President, and he has not handled things well.

Let’s look at this latest blunder. Regarding Stroger’s choices for the new county hospital board:

Six of Stroger’s choices live in Chicago, while the others are from Evanston, Flossmoor and Naperville, in DuPage County. None is from the heavily populated northwest or southwest suburbs — areas Stroger has been hammered by for perceived slights, and where there has been talk of breaking away from Cook County.

DuPage County? Did we really have to go all the way to DuPage County to find someone qualified to sit on a board in Cook County? Why did Stroger choose Jorge Ramirez of Naperville?

It makes one wonder, was Ramirez owed any favors?


R. Kelly trial finally under way

The Chicago media is calling it the “R. Kelly Porn Trial.” After successfully delaying proceedings for six years, Kelly’s attorneys made last-ditch efforts to further delay the inevitable. The defense claimed that potential jurors would be influenced by pre-trial media coverage, specifically mentioning recent articles in the Chicago Sun-Times.

The Sun-Times reported Friday that a potential witness in the R. Kelly trial — who would testify to having a threesome with Kelly and an underage girl — was allegedly paid by an aide to the singer in order to get back an incriminating sex video.

“There is no escaping the fact that the Sun-Times will be in every news box in Cook County,” said defense lawyer Marc Martin.

That’s very flattering for the Sun-Times, but it’s hardly true. While circulation of the Sun-Times is respectable, there are no doubt people in Cook County who do not regularly read the paper or follow its stories online. I would bet that there are plenty of people in Cook County who have never heard of R. Kelly, never heard one of his songs or don’t know that they have, and could care less who he is.

It is astounding that this case has stalled in the courts this long, and the court is making every effort to ensure the press is locked out of the initial proceedings:

Exactly how the opening moment of a trial six years in the making played out is unclear, however, because sheriff’s deputies barred reporters from entering the courtroom. In a case kept shrouded in secrecy by Cook County Circuit Judge Vincent Gaughan, the opening moments of the trial were also behind closed doors.

Kelly, 41, faces 14 counts of child pornography for a videotape authorities say was shot between Jan. 1, 1998, and Oct. 1, 2000, and shows him engaging in a variety of sex acts with a girl as young as 13. He has pleaded not guilty.

Six years.

I have no doubt R. Kelly will get a fair trial. If anything, the six-year crawl to justice simply bolsters arguments that the Olympia Fields resident has been treated with more fairness than most others who are accused of crossing the law.


Finally some good news for Todd Stroger

At long last Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is getting some good press, and from the Chicago Sun-Times, no less. The Sun-Times has been extremely critical of Stroger’s recent blunders, as has the Chicago Tribune. This time, however, Stroger gets some good news:

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is set to hand control of the county’s struggling health system to a panel of nine health care and industry executives he says “reflects the cultural, gender and racial diversity” of the county.

And Stroger’s choices are largely drawing praise.

The paper lists the names of those Stroger has chosen.

In March, the Chicago Tribune reported that Palatine, IL, was looking into ways that it could secede from Cook County. The issue in Palatine is not necessarily Stroger’s incompetence, but the higher taxes proposed by Stroger.

The Cook County Board needs to get a handle on all of this, or other municipalities on the outskirts of Cook County will consider like measures. There are strong arguments to be made for secession. Cook County’s equalizer may make sense for the City of Chicago, but it only makes a bad situation worse in the suburbs.

The first thing we need to realize is that taxes in Illinois make no sense. No one thought this mess through from start to finish. The Illinois tax code is a hodge-podge of nonsense.

Municipalities on the outskirts of Cook County are wise to consider other alternatives.


Todd Stroger thinks he’s Oprah Winfrey

Just when I thought I had heard it all, Todd Stroger reaches new levels of hubris.

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is “forcing anyone who works under him to sign a confidentiality agreement — promising they won’t disclose anything he deems ‘confidential’ that they ‘learned, disclosed or observed’ while on the job,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Stroger’s edict extends beyond employment with Cook County government:

They must also promise never to disclose information after they leave their job.

Not even Mayor Daley requires such obedience from his employees and those familiar with Gov. Blagojevich’s operations don’t believe he does, either. But Stroger is making those closest to him — department heads, bureau chiefs and anyone working in his PR operation — sign it.

Anyone working in his PR operation? Yes, this is great PR, Todd.

Stroger promised to make Cook County government more transparent. This move certainly muddies the waters.

Oprah Winfrey makes employees sign lifelong confidentiality agreements:

Oprah has successfully intercepted revelations by insisting that everyone who works at Harpo sign an unusual lifelong confidentiality agreement. “You wouldn’t say it’s harsh if you were in the tabloids all the time,” Oprah says in her defense.

I’ll give Oprah her confidentiality agreement because, well, she’s Oprah. While I may tire of her self-indulgent escapades like her road trip with best friend Gayle when she learns how to pump gas and drive in a car by herself — surrounded by cameras, of course — Oprah has done enough philanthropic work for several lifetimes. And she keeps giving.

But Todd Stroger? Todd, you’re no Oprah Winfrey. In fact, Todd, I’d wager that what you’re doing is not even legal, and I would encourage Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to take a good, hard look at this confidentiality agreement for possible violations of the Freedom of Information Act. Madigan speaks about the Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act on her Web site:

Both of these laws are intended to foster government accountability and increase the public’s ability to participate fully in government. However, FOIA and OMA are only effective when citizens, the media and public officials understand their rights and obligations under these laws.

Individual governmental bodies cannot be permitted to judge for themselves what the public gets to know. There must be oversight and review on this matter, and this nonsense must stop.


Did Blago try to oust Fitzgerald? Get ready for “Blagogate”

The Chicago Tribune tells the good news:

In a bombshell disclosure before testimony began Wednesday morning in the Antoin “Tony” Rezko trial, a federal prosecutor said a former Rezko confidant was prepared to say that another friend of Rezko was trying to pull strings with White House political director Karl Rove to fire U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald and kill his investigation into Rezko.

Karl Rove and Robert Kjellander issued statements denying the following allegations:

Before the jury was brought into the courtroom Wednesday, [ Assistant U.S. Atty. Carrie Hamilton] Hamilton told U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve that Republican National Committeeman Robert Kjellander was working with Rove “to have Fitzgerald removed.”

The potential witness at Rezko’s trial, Ali Ata, a former official in the administration of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is ready testify about conversations he had with Rezko in 2004 when the Rezko investigation had just begun. According to Ata, Blago was present in the room when Ata and Rezko proposed swapping a $25,000 campaign contribution for a job in the Blagojevich administration.

All roads lead again and again to the Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the Governor-Who-Won’t. It’s almost like we’re dealing with an elected mob — a klutzy Sopranos with styled hair.

I recall the night Blago was re-elected. As the numbers came in and it was evident that Blago would win, a friend who serves local municipalities as a prosecuting attorney made an intriguing observation. He said, “What’s it going to be like seeing a sitting governor indicted?”

No one has attached the legendary “-GATE” to this whole ordeal, but it’s coming soon. Perhaps “Blagogate”?

Whatever we end up calling this mess, it will not be good for Illinois.


Come on, Todd, Get Serious

I freely admit I was wrong in supporting Todd Stroger for President of Cook County Board. I believed friends locally who told me that Todd would do a great job. I believed them when they told me Todd was good for Cook County, and cared about Cook County residents.

I was suspicious when they insisted that Todd meant well, even after he insisted on a personal elevator in the County Building downtown. I’m not going to throw in, “What was he thinking???”, to paraphrase Blago-the-Destroyer’s campaign line.

Well, here’s the rub: Cousin: Stroger ready to tax again. Thank you to our friends at the Chicago Sun-Times for that wonderful headline. What does that mean? It means that Todd’s cousin, Donna Dunnings, who “took one for the team” and accepted the powerful CFO job with Cook County at a respectable salary, then accepted a 12% pay hike, proclaimed in a speech to the City Club of Chicago, “the county has bigger problems that need even more taxes to tackle.”

Well, that’s just sweet.

“The structural deficit is real and the sales tax is by no means an answer to that,” she said.

So, the county is going to turn to “cost containment,” according to Dunnings, and turn to “other revenues” to make ends meet.

“Other revenues”??? Translation: The Cook County Board will find a new and creative way to tax all of us.

Here is one important fact to remember: Our businesses are already being choked out of the suburbs, running to Will County in the south suburbs. Do Todd Stroger or Donna Dunnings really care about that?

I know some of the logic behind Cook County’s absurd tax structure that makes it so desirable for businesses to run to other counties. Something about business owners who commute from other suburbs to help pay for the infrastructure of Cook County, or something strange like that. Thus, the equalizer.

Look, Todd, and, for that matter, the rest of the Cook County Board: Sit down and act in concert. It’s that simple. We need the Cook County Board to stop blaming each other and act, yes, as a Board. Act in the best interest of the people of Cook County. Help those of us in the suburbs retain our businesses. Stop acting as if the borders of Cook County stop at the borders of the City of Chicago. Stop the patronage politics. We can’t afford it any more. You can’t honestly expect us to believe that the best person for the position of CFO of Cook County happened to be Todd Stroger’s cousin, Donna Dunnings.

Hold each other accountable on the board. Accountability in government is good.

And the rest of us will be incredibly more circumspect in future elections. In fact, those of us who stayed home last election day might show up next time and cast our votes.

Because, yes, we were wrong.


Todd Stroger Likes His Friends, and His Family More

Less than one month ago, Cook County government was struggling, facing a February 29th shut-down. Now, they’re swimming in it, and Stroger has money to give away.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports Stroger’s cousin, Donna Dunnings, will get a 12 percent pay increase as part of the 2008 budget.

How nice.

When Cook County Board President Todd Stroger introduced his cousin Donna Dunnings as the county’s new chief financial officer last year, they each boasted of the savings taxpayers would realize. She would take a salary far less than the previous CFO.

That was then.

Records show Dunnings is set to get a bigger raise than any other county employee in Stroger’s budget — a 12 percent increase — as part of the 2008 budget.

The average county raise is about 5 percent for most employees, records show. Those working in Dunnings’ office will get, on average 3.5 percent raises.

Dunnings will make about $5,000 more than Tom Glaser did in that same job, earning almost $160,000. Why the giant leap?

Dunnings’ double-digit jump is because “she’s doing twice the work she was before and has more responsibilities,” said Stroger spokesman Gene Mullins.

“She only took [less pay] when we didn’t have any money,” he said, referring to the just-passed 1 percentage point sales tax increase that is so substantial, it will ultimately give county government more money than it needs to operate.

In fighting for that tax, Stroger repeatedly asked taxpayers and commissioners to make sacrifices for the good of county government.

Stroger spokeswoman Ibis Antongiorgi later said Dunnings initially took the lower salary “because of her commitment to the county and public service.”

Since then, however, Dunnings’ performance “warranted” the large raise, Antongiorgi said, and brings her more in line with other county CFOs.

Well, good for her. I wouldn’t want to see Dunnings show up at county CFO parties with her head down.

Right.

March roared in like a lion with the Cook County board, and Todd Stroger is taking the lion’s share for those close to him. The 1 percent increase gave Chicago the distinction of having the highest overall sales tax of any major U.S. city: 10.25 percent. Meanwhile, the hundreds of county employees laid off last year “when we didn’t have any money” have yet to be called back.

Because Todd Stroger likes his friends, and his family more.


Alderman Mell Cashes In. So It Goes.

Chicago Alderman Richard Mell stands to take a chunk of a $15 million trial judgment, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Mell is not talking about the case, Cement-Lock v. Gas Tech. Institute, and the Sun-Times had little success turning up anything too specific. Mell’s attorneys, Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon LLP, who also list the Sun-Times among their clients, issued a brief statement:

“We are very pleased with the decision and the jury’s strong finding in favor of our client. Because this is ongoing litigation, we cannot comment further at this time.”

Plaintiffs’ attorneys could not be reached.

The case was heard by Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer. The federal jury’s decision was rendered March 11. By way of background, Attorney R. David Donoghue’s Chicago IP Litigation Blog offered the following in December:

Plaintiffs alleged that defendants permitted defendant Gas Technology Institute (“GTI”) to secure funding for Technology-related activities, despite defendants’ knowledge that GTI had no license to use the Technology and kept knowledge of the funding from CLG. GTI also allegedly claimed to own and have developed the Technology. The Court held that there was no written license between CLG and GTI regarding the Technology. But there was a question of fact as to whether GTI’s efforts to secure finding for the Technology was improper. Additionally, there was a question of fact as to whether GTI misrepresented its ownership or control over the Technology.

“CLG” is the Cement-Lock Group.

“Mell owns a 10 percent share of Cement-Lock Group, a company formed in 1997 to cash in on the remediation technology,” according to the Sun-Times. The suit alleged “massive fraud”:

Defendants in the case included Gas Technology Institute; Institute of Gas Technology; Endesco Services; Endesco Clean Harbors LLC, Stanley Brys, James Dunne and Francis S. Lau.

“What began as a legitimate enterprise to obtain funding to commercialize and market a technology . . . has become a massive fraud with defendants stealing and diverting grant funds through a pattern of racketeering involving acts of mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and more,” the lawsuit states.

Over a seven-year period, the defendants were accused of “contracting for or receiving” $30 million in grant funding without Cement- Lock Group’s permission by “misrepresenting ownership of the technology” they once claimed had a $5 billion world-wide market.

The scheme to “milk the cash cow” by prolonging the research phase — in part, by setting up a New Jersey demonstration facility — ended up “diverting millions of dollars . . . ,” the suit stated.

Of interest in all of this is where Mell might end up next. The Sun-Times again:

Earlier this week, a witness in the federal corruption trial of former Blagojevich fund-raiser Tony Rezko accused Mell of trying to muscle a lucrative kickback out of a deal at a state pension fund, which he denied.

Always looking for more exposure, Chicagoland pols must be hoping against hope no one even whispers their names at the Rezko trial. Yes, this was only one mention of Mell by a witness, but I suspect Rezko’s trial will only lead to more indictments. Is Mell’s name on the short list? No one has alleged anything formally against Mell, and I’ll not do so here.

But all of this raises horribly serious questions.

I really don’t get these Chicago Democrats. I don’t see them as Democrats at all. We have pols like these in the south suburbs. For many of them, the pursuit of ideals and the needs of the people are subservient to their desire for control and power. Patronage government is very expensive, and the feds are hungry to stop it all. But the Chicago machine rages on.

Time to rage back.