Friday, March 07, 2008
Chicago Tribune
by Hal Dardick

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger on Thursday disputed the findings of a report suggesting patronage was alive and well in county government, then admitted he had not read the 54-page document.

"I haven't read her report yet," Stroger said, referring to the review filed in court last week by retired Cook County Circuit Judge Julia Nowicki, a federally appointed hiring monitor.

Stroger said he knew about the report's details from newspaper accounts. "I can read the newspaper," said Stroger, a freshman board president and former Chicago alderman. "I've got a good education."

On that basis, Stroger criticized the report -- saying illegal political hiring has not occurred during his 14-month tenure -- echoing remarks he made earlier during an interview on WGN-AM 720.

Radio host Spike O'Dell asked Stroger to react to the notion put forth by Palatine officials that they'll consider seceding from the county after commissioners voted last week for a sales-tax increase.

"Most of the services we have are geared toward the suburban areas," said Stroger, which is directly opposite the argument suburban leaders have made for years.

Palatine leaders fear shoppers will flee to nearby Lake County, where sales taxes will be 7 percent, compared with 10 percent in Palatine -- once the double-whammy of a new quarter-percent regional transit tax and the extra 1 percent county sales tax are in effect July 1.

County Board Commissioner Elizabeth Gorman (R-Orland Park) disagreed with Stroger's assessment of suburban services.

Before voting against the tax increase last week, Gorman circulated charts she researched using county data indicating her constituents pay more in county taxes than those in all but two of 17 districts.

In contrast, her district has the fewest number of public health patients in any district, according to the charts.

The county spends more on public health than any other service except public safety, which includes the jail, courts and sheriff's police.

In addition to citing health care as a suburban service, Stroger also named the sheriff's department, which often provides assistance in major criminal cases, as well as animal control services and road maintenance.

Palatine leaders said the county does plow four highways in their community, but the village takes care of the rest.

They also noted Palatine has its own police, animal control and health departments.

"We're not saying, 'We don't get anything, we're fed up,'" council member Scott Lamerand said.

His concern, rather, is that additional taxes estimated at $3 million to $5 million a year are "absolutely going to strangle us in our growth going forward."

Jack Wagner, the Village Council's longest serving member, offered a solution.

"Mr. Stroger, we'll let you off the hook," he said, noting he was speaking for himself, not the council. "You will no longer have to provide those services for us that you are losing money on. Isn't that a good deal?"

Meanwhile, Stroger said his administration has worked closely with Nowicki to ensure proper hiring procedures.

Nowicki's report documented allegations of illegal patronage practices that more than 220 people alleged occurred in a two-year period ending in February 2007, less than two months after Stroger took office.

His late father, John, was board president until he resigned in summer 2006 after a major stroke.

The report stated "there is no information or event that has been presented ... that would indicate that illegal political patronage has been eliminated."

Replied Stroger on Thursday: "We have cooperated with her office, but the way the report was written, it makes it appear there have been things that have been going on that are illegal in hiring since I've been the president, but it's not the case."