Pols act as though Cook County is their personal fiefdom
Pols act as though Cook County is their personal fiefdom
BY LAURA WASHINGTON
July 17, 2006
Copyright by The Chicago Sun Times
It makes you wonder who makes this stuff up. But it's all real. A candidate who can't speak for himself. A spokesman who should clam up. A debate over leadership so antediluvian that the electorate is shaking their collective heads at such inspired stupidity. Perhaps it's time to ask the legendary Ray Wardingly to step in to run the Cook County Board.
The showdown is Tuesday. That's when the county's ward bosses and township committeemen will pick a nominee to replace Cook County Board President John Stroger, who is retiring after suffering a debilitating stroke last March. The Chicago ward boss extraordinaire, William "Dollar Bill" Beavers, claims he has the votes to install Stroger's son, 8th Ward Ald. Todd Stroger, as the nominee. Beavers has also notified veteran County Board members that he's coming across the street to clean up their mess. And by the way, he adds, he doesn't plan to work very hard, while collecting multiple pensions along the way.
Beavers will snare the vaunted triple play if he manages to collect pensions from his gigs with the Chicago Police Department, City Council and the County Board. Maybe the Chicago Cubs or Comcast could sign him up as a spokesman.
Beavers may get what he wants, but the Todd Stroger road show has been abysmally underwhelming, sources tell me. A nice young man, but not ready for prime time. In his pitches for the job, he has shown he has no handle on the mountain of crises facing county government. He has had three months to absorb that information. Still, the pols in those smoke-filled rooms say his knowledge of county government is perfunctory. Todd Stroger is keeping mum for a reason -- he doesn't have much to say.
The board's biggest crisis is balancing the $3 billion budget, which, experts say, is seriously out of whack. Todd Stroger's "mentor," 7th Ward Ald. Beavers, plans to join young Todd on the County Board so that he can watch the younger man's back. Beavers has cited his long tenure as head of the City Council's Budget Committee as proof that he knows his way around a budget.
"They talk about a $3 billion budget over there [at the county]. I manage a $6 billion budget over here," he told the Chicago Sun-Times last week. "It would be much easier for me to go over there and try to help him with the budget."
His City Hall colleagues are reluctant to talk on the record for fear of becoming targets of Beavers' bombastic blather. Privately, they say his budget prowess is limited -- to the orders he gets from the 5th floor. "He doesn't shepherd the budget" through the Council, according to one insider. "When he gets it, the numbers have already been cooked." He's just carrying water for the mayor.
Beavers' sanctimonious rhetoric is so annoying and hypocritical that Forrest Claypool's petulant pronouncements seem bearable by comparison. If Dollar Bill becomes "The Man" behind the "man," you can be sure that county government will become a firetrap primed to combust.
It's all about protecting black power and black jobs. That leaves the interests of other county taxpayers, particularly Latinos, on the cutting-room floor. Chicago's six Latino elected committeemen will be among those who will weigh in Tuesday. According to 22nd Ward Committeeman Ricardo Munoz, they have two chief concerns: Hispanic representation in leadership positions and health care for their constituents.
"There is not one Latino Cabinet member in the county. That's disturbing," Munoz told me last week. He and his colleagues want to ensure that whoever is in charge will assure "adequate health care for all county residents who need it," he said.
The Latino caucus recently met with each of the three contenders for Stroger's nomination: Beavers, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, and the most qualified candidate, Cook County Commissioner Bobbie Steele.
Munoz says he may remain undecided until the last minute. I asked him: If Latinos agreed on one candidate, would that give them the leverage to make a difference? "If Latinos would vote as a bloc, that would send a strong signal," he said, "but given the political diversity of the Latino caucus, I don't think that's going to happen."
The ultimate message: The voters don't matter.
BY LAURA WASHINGTON
July 17, 2006
Copyright by The Chicago Sun Times
It makes you wonder who makes this stuff up. But it's all real. A candidate who can't speak for himself. A spokesman who should clam up. A debate over leadership so antediluvian that the electorate is shaking their collective heads at such inspired stupidity. Perhaps it's time to ask the legendary Ray Wardingly to step in to run the Cook County Board.
The showdown is Tuesday. That's when the county's ward bosses and township committeemen will pick a nominee to replace Cook County Board President John Stroger, who is retiring after suffering a debilitating stroke last March. The Chicago ward boss extraordinaire, William "Dollar Bill" Beavers, claims he has the votes to install Stroger's son, 8th Ward Ald. Todd Stroger, as the nominee. Beavers has also notified veteran County Board members that he's coming across the street to clean up their mess. And by the way, he adds, he doesn't plan to work very hard, while collecting multiple pensions along the way.
Beavers will snare the vaunted triple play if he manages to collect pensions from his gigs with the Chicago Police Department, City Council and the County Board. Maybe the Chicago Cubs or Comcast could sign him up as a spokesman.
Beavers may get what he wants, but the Todd Stroger road show has been abysmally underwhelming, sources tell me. A nice young man, but not ready for prime time. In his pitches for the job, he has shown he has no handle on the mountain of crises facing county government. He has had three months to absorb that information. Still, the pols in those smoke-filled rooms say his knowledge of county government is perfunctory. Todd Stroger is keeping mum for a reason -- he doesn't have much to say.
The board's biggest crisis is balancing the $3 billion budget, which, experts say, is seriously out of whack. Todd Stroger's "mentor," 7th Ward Ald. Beavers, plans to join young Todd on the County Board so that he can watch the younger man's back. Beavers has cited his long tenure as head of the City Council's Budget Committee as proof that he knows his way around a budget.
"They talk about a $3 billion budget over there [at the county]. I manage a $6 billion budget over here," he told the Chicago Sun-Times last week. "It would be much easier for me to go over there and try to help him with the budget."
His City Hall colleagues are reluctant to talk on the record for fear of becoming targets of Beavers' bombastic blather. Privately, they say his budget prowess is limited -- to the orders he gets from the 5th floor. "He doesn't shepherd the budget" through the Council, according to one insider. "When he gets it, the numbers have already been cooked." He's just carrying water for the mayor.
Beavers' sanctimonious rhetoric is so annoying and hypocritical that Forrest Claypool's petulant pronouncements seem bearable by comparison. If Dollar Bill becomes "The Man" behind the "man," you can be sure that county government will become a firetrap primed to combust.
It's all about protecting black power and black jobs. That leaves the interests of other county taxpayers, particularly Latinos, on the cutting-room floor. Chicago's six Latino elected committeemen will be among those who will weigh in Tuesday. According to 22nd Ward Committeeman Ricardo Munoz, they have two chief concerns: Hispanic representation in leadership positions and health care for their constituents.
"There is not one Latino Cabinet member in the county. That's disturbing," Munoz told me last week. He and his colleagues want to ensure that whoever is in charge will assure "adequate health care for all county residents who need it," he said.
The Latino caucus recently met with each of the three contenders for Stroger's nomination: Beavers, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, and the most qualified candidate, Cook County Commissioner Bobbie Steele.
Munoz says he may remain undecided until the last minute. I asked him: If Latinos agreed on one candidate, would that give them the leverage to make a difference? "If Latinos would vote as a bloc, that would send a strong signal," he said, "but given the political diversity of the Latino caucus, I don't think that's going to happen."
The ultimate message: The voters don't matter.
posted by Carlos T Mock at 10:11 AM
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