Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Special to suffredin.org

From the Clout Street blog:

Citing "political grandstanding by village council members," Cook County Board President Todd Stroger said Tuesday he would not attend a meeting in Palatine on Wednesday night scheduled to discuss county services provided to residents.

The meeting, arranged by Mayor Rita Mullins, was expected to touch on an increasingly hot topic among some northwest suburban communities—seceding from Cook County. Some officials say they favor the idea because of increasing county taxes.

Instead, Stroger withdrew from the meeting.

"I planned to attend a community meeting in Palatine to inform local residents of the extent and description of Cook County services that are provided to them as residents of the county," Stroger said in a statement.

"However, as a direct result of the actions of the village in changing the forum from a Community Meeting to a Special Village Board Meeting, and then to a Special Village Board Committee Meeting, it became apparent the format was manipulated such that the forum would no longer be community based. This change in format diminishes the ability of the community to voice their concerns and instead allows for political grandstanding by village council members."

Stroger said he still planned to address concerns raised by county residents and in coming weeks would attend community meetings throughout northwest Cook County.

He did not say when or where the meetings would be held.

"I want to speak to the residents of Cook County face-to-face," Stroger said in the statement. "That is the very reason why I planned to travel to Palatine, however; I will not debate local Palatine elected officials who expect to exploit this opportunity to further their own political agendas."

Mullins could not immediately be reached for comment.