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Cook County Board President Todd Stroger on Tuesday promoted his cousin to chief financial officer of the county, pushing aside an official who was nationally recognized and locally respected.
Former CFO Tom J. Glaser will come away with a nearly 50 percent raise, however.
He won respect from Cook County board commissioners last year when he publicly cast doubt on optimistic revenue projections from the bureau of health. Time proved Glaser to be right, and the bureau of health came in dozens of millions of dollars short of its rosy predictions.
Glaser, 50, of Inverness, is also president of the Government Finance Officers of America and is credited with raising the county's bond rating seven straight times to AA status, according to his profile on Cook County's Web site. He previously worked at First Chicago, a finance company and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
The new CFO, Donna Dunnings, never has worked outside Cook County government. She currently serves as county budget director. She has a master's degree in management from Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
"So I don't care what her name is, what her bloodline is, she has great credentials," Stroger said when asked if he was playing favorites with family members.
"I am qualified for this job, and there will always be critics. My mother told me a long time ago that Jesus walked our Earth, and he had critics," Dunnings said.
Glaser will be moved into a newly created position, chief operating officer of the bureau of health. He will make $225,000, up from his current salary of $154,000. Dunnings will continue earning her current salary of $142,840.
Not surprisingly, several commissioners were unhappy with the move.
"I think it's outrageous that you put your cousin in charge of the finances of a $3 billion government - the same cousin who as budget director misled commissioners into thinking this was a balanced budget, when in fact it was hundreds of millions of dollars out of balance," said Forrest Claypool of Chicago.
Also appointed Tuesday as interim county comptroller was Joseph M. Fratto, former chief financial officer of the Chicago Park District.