Todd H. Stroger — the Cook County board president whose 2006 election may have matched last year’s election of President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan as spectacle — may now belatedly pay the piper called democracy. Perhaps he should breathe a sigh of relief.
There is no more dispiriting primary campaign than the one to run the bloated, inefficient, corrupt 23,509-employee and $3.2-billion-a-year social service agency and tax-collection behemoth known as Cook County government. If the winner wants to effect true change, he or she will need to make more enemies than the Taliban.
Recall how Mr. Stroger benefited from skulduggery prompted by the stroke suffered by his predecessor, his late father, shortly before the 2006 Democratic primary. The bedridden father defeated Forrest Claypool, the rival commissioner who might have won had his close friend then-Senator Barack Obama endorsed him sooner than the day before the election.
What ensued was a tragicomedy in which nobody knew whether the father was dead or alive, and if he would run, regardless. It was announced that he would not and the son was tapped in his place. Todd Stroger then won against a bombastic Republican, but he has since stumbled so badly, and exuded such executive weightlessness, that a Chicago television crew had problems recently finding anybody on the streets of his home Eighth Ward who would say something nice about him.
Mr. Stroger does have his supporters, but voters are left with him and three others in the Democratic contest, each of whom shares one characteristic with Mr. Stroger: an inability to address the job at hand.
There is Dorothy Brown, the county’s circuit court clerk, a hack who needs only to keep files in order but oversees an administrative mess so egregious you need a SWAT team from Organize-U to find a document in timely fashion. Plus, she has too quickly adopted the sordid legacy of Illinois graft, pressuring political donations from employees for her annual “birthday” celebration.
Then there is Toni Preckwinkle, the South Side alderman who has by far the most intellectual voltage and common sense. Unfortunately, she also has the censorious air of that junior-high teacher you hated: always on your case, especially if you told a joke.
Finally, we have Terry O’Brien, the Northwest Sider and head of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, a longtime employee of no particular achievement who has labored in obscurity and ascended to anonymity. If the three blacks split the black vote, perhaps he sneaks in and then whips the inevitable Republican long shot.
Whoever wins inherits a mess. The county board president has to operate in a world of multiple independent fiefs and tax-collecting bodies, including the sheriff, state’s attorney, assessor, recorder of deeds and real estate board of review. Employee expenses devour 80 percent of the budget and, while productivity appears woeful, union influence intimidates decision makers and federal judges maintain control over several areas.
There is little desire to deal with a growing deficit, and everybody but Mr. Stroger wants to ditch his only true legacy, a 1-cent increase in the sales tax, raising it above a dime on the dollar. Half of that increase will vanish in July.
The government deals with, and often mistreats, the poorest of the poor. The county jail, notorious for strip searches of women, would be the state’s largest mental hospital if only there was an adequate level of psychiatric care. The domestic-violence center has grossly mistreated women. And then there is my favorite, the juvenile detention center.
“Over the past 20 years, Illinois has had one of the worst records for mental health care for children of any state in the nation, and Cook County government arguably has the worst record in Illinois,” Ron Davidson, director of the mental health policy program at the psychiatry department at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said Thursday in an interview.
“County officials have knowingly allowed the juvenile detention center to become the state’s largest de facto dumping ground for emotionally traumatized kids, many of whom desperately need psychiatric treatment,” Dr. Davidson said. “We created a gulag for children, a destructive place where troubled youths suffered harm at the hands of an army of political patronage hacks.”
Fortunately, the Chicago news media have uncovered many atrocities, even garbage dumps in the Forest Preserve. We are lucky, too, that an independent board now oversees the inept hospital system, which once forgot to bill Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers for $250 million in services.
But no candidate appears to have the management savvy or the will to make enemies of virtually every entrenched group while seeking radical change. President Obama may have an easier time in Afghanistan.
When you’re up around midnight on Saturday, you should be drinking, not thinking about cook county politics. The even less desirable job may be trying to keep journalism afloat.
I cannot help but wonder if the lack of interest and the inability of each of the Democratic candidates to solidify support will end up paving the way for a Republican to actually capture this seat. Whichever Democrat wins the primary will still not enjoy immense popularity or backing among his or her own party. While the Republican candidate will still face an uphill battle, of Todd Stroger somehow survives the primary, I would give that Republican a decent change of beating him in the general election.
I have been hunting for information to guide my vote – a trip to the State of Illinois Board of Elections site produced a “Illinois Voter’s Guide” that has not been updated since 2008.
Here I find the meaty information I seek but am left wondering if it is worthwhile to choose from such a group of candidates. Looks like Preckwinkle is the least objectionable.
Keep on wading through the gunk.
Great writing. Thanks. Enjoyed it in the NYT yesterday.
You say a lot of things but OBVIOUSLY are uneducated on the facts..
Cook County is a working government..No Service Cuts, Layoffs, or Furlough Days..
There has Not been ONE indictment or arrested of employees during Todd Strogers term
He has produced the first independent hospital board as well as the first Independent Inspector general
His first month on the job he squashed a 500,000,000 dollar deficit by cutting payroll and costs.
He has had 4 count them 4 balanced budgets..all with only a 1 penny on a dollar tax increase that doesn’t affect groceries, medicine and other daily use items.
County payroll has dropped by thousands
What else does a 1st term president need to do..all of this while unde fire everyday.
I wish more politicians in Chicago had the ball to do what he has done
It’s easy to tell whats wrong, but what can we do. I suggest the Federal Government start doing their jobs so the reat of us can do our’s. Health Care Reform should be about the people and we should all have the same care and all pay our fair share. 93% covered is not enough. Why can’t we cover 100% for half the cost and live longer like the rest of the world. A National Sales Tax administered fairly and the tax adjusted as needed will solve almost all the problems you have mentioned. Why not? Get rid of Insurance Companies , politicians and special interest groups trying to run HC and just leave the doctors do what they were trained to do and have the licensed to do it.
1. It’s easy to say what’s wrong, but what can we do? I suggest the Federal Government start doing their jobs so the rest of us can do ours. Health Care Reform should be about the people and we should all have the same care and all pay our fair share. 93% covered is not enough. Why can’t we cover 100% for half the cost and live longer like the rest of the world. A National Sales Tax administered fairly and adjusted, as needed, will solve almost all the problems we’ve been talking about. It’ sustainable. Why not? It will eliminate insurance companies, politicians and special interest groups trying to run HC and just leave the doctors doing what they were trained to do and have the license to do it. Problems such as jobs, debts, big government, veteran care, tax reform, campaign reform, free trade, free market, medical records and much more become much clearer. It’s worth debating openly.
Like Clif, I have been seeking for quality information to help me make an informed decision. But what do I get here? “Then there is Toni Preckwinkle, the South Side alderman who has by far the most intellectual voltage and common sense. Unfortunately, she also has the censorious air of that junior-high teacher you hated: always on your case, especially if you told a joke.”
If that is the worst thing that can be said about her, then why aren’t you screaming for people to support her? I’ll take her dour demeanor over the incompetence and corruption of the others any day.
What is your opinion on the Juvenile Detention Center lawsuit?
Juvenile Center is poorly run and have been for the past three years. I hope the lawsuit against Juvenile is a victory for the people who work there. Good luck!