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Gary Skoien's two-year effort to get a seat on the Metra board finally appears to have paid off -- but it is likely to mean one less south suburban voice for the commuter rail line.
Elonzo Hill of Country Club Hills says he's going to a Cook County Board committee meeting today fully expecting to be reappointed, along with Arlene Mulder and James Dodge.
No one, he said, has told him of plans -- pushed by south suburban Commissioner Liz Gorman -- to give him the boot in favor of Skoien, a Palatine businessman and former Cook County Republican Party chairman.
But Gorman says that's coming because Hill voted to install Carole Doris, of DuPage County, as chairman, and he became vice chairman. Though that's mostly a ceremonial job and the vote for Doris was unanimous, Gorman singled Hill out for criticism, saying he "sold out Cook County."
But Commissioner Deborah Sims said she would fight the move at today's meeting of suburban commissioners, as she is concerned about the racial and geographic makeup of the Metra board and how much GOP politics is at play, as Gorman is now the party chairman.
Skoien did not return calls.
A board job pays about $15,000 a year, with full benefits.