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Suppose a sea change swept a local body of government, and hardly anybody noticed.
 
Tom Jaconetty, who has been the de facto administrator of the Cook County Board of Review for years, was dethroned a week ago.
 
He was replaced with Scott Guetzow, whose supporters hope he will open up the board, make things more transparent and shift the focus from giving tax breaks to businesses to giving tax breaks to homeowners.
 
Among the casualties of last month's tidal wave of Democratic victories was Maureen Murphy, the lone Republican on the three-member board. Murphy had formed a strong alliance with Democrat Joe Berrios and backed up Berrios' choice of his deputy, Jaconetty, to be the chief deputy commissioner.
 
Murphy and Berrios teamed up to resist proposed changes suggested by upstart Commissioner Larry Rogers Jr., who had defeated their former colleague Bob Shaw two years ago.
 
So Rogers backed Democrat Brendan Houlihan against Murphy. In a heavily Democratic year, Houlihan squeaked past Murphy in an all-suburban district drawn to elect Republicans.
 
Big break for Sears Tower
Murphy had fought with Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan when they were legislators. But the two had a rapprochement since Madigan started appearing before her in one of his other roles -- as an attorney representing businesses who seek tax reductions from the board. Amazingly, Madigan, who chairs the state Democratic Party, refused to endorse Houlihan over Murphy in the general election.
 
Berrios likewise had a good rapport with Madigan because when the speaker is not appearing before him seeking tax reductions for his clients, Berrios is sometimes appearing before Madigan in Springfield seeking breaks for his clients in one of his other roles as a lobbyist.
 
Madigan and other attorneys who appear before the board get results for their clients -- more than $100 million worth. That's money homeowners have to make up.
 
The board grants more relief to businesses than homeowners. For every $1 the board knocks off a homeowner's bill, it knocks $7.75 off a business' bill, according to the board's data.
 
For instance, the Sears Tower sold for $840 million in May 2003, two years after the Sept. 11 attacks. But the new owners told Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan the building was really worth only $345 million because tenants wanted to pay lower rents and security costs were rising. Houlihan agreed to lower their assessment to $530 million. The Board of Review knocked off an additional $30 million.
 
The new Rogers-Houlihan duo threatens the winning streak the high-powered lawyers have enjoyed for the big commercial properties they represent. Shortly after he was sworn in and took over as chairman, Brendan Houlihan helped install Rogers' deputy, Guetzow, to replace Jaconetty as the day-to-day administrator of the board.
 
Seeks 'more transparency'
Berrios, having seen the writing on the wall, cast his vote to approve Guetzow, making it unanimous.
 
More changes appear to be in the works.
 
"I campaigned and Brendan campaigned on an objective of making the board much more accessible to the general public," Rogers said.
 
Jim Houlihan -- no relation to Brendan -- dumped $50,000 into Brendan Houlihan's campaign, tired of seeing businesses make end-runs around his staff's already below-market assessments.
 
"Hopefully there will be more transparency, more accessibility," Jim Houlihan said.
 
Berrios, Jaconetty and Brendan Houlihan could not be reached for comment.