Forrest Claypool announced today that his campaign has amassed more than 90,000 signatures to place him on the November election ballot as an independent candidate for Cook County assessor.
Claypool will stay on the ballot if at least 25,000 signatures on his nominating petitions withstand scrutiny. Legal challenges are certain to come from lawyers for the Democratic Party and Joseph Berrios, the party’s nominee to fill the vacancy that is opening due to the retirement of Assessor James Houlihan.
Objections to his petitions must be filed by next Monday, June 28. James Nally, an election attorney, has reserved 30 computer terminals at the county clerk’s office for the entire week to review whether the signatures for Claypool are valid.
Claypool is a longtime Democrat who seemed ready to leave politics when he announced that he would not seek another term on the county board. He is best known for losing the party’s 2006 primary for county board president to the ailing John Stroger, and he was widely expected to challenge Stroger’s son and successor, Todd Stroger, this year.
But Claypool took a pass on that race. Instead, after the February primary, he said he would run against Berrios, who is chairman of the county Democrats and also is a lobbyist in Springfield.
At stake is a position at the head of an office that sets the taxable value of every property in the county. Houlihan has held the post for the past 12 years.
Berrios is a 22-year veteran of the county’s Board of Review, which has the power to grant reductions to property owners who appeal their assessments.
Much of the early debate between Berrios and Claypool has centered on who would do a better job of granting relief to homeowners struggling to pay increased property taxes.
The Chicago News Cooperative recently examined hundreds of thousands of decisions on tax appeals to the assessor and the Board of Review from 2006 until 2008. The CNC’s analysis found that both the assessor and the Board of Review routinely grant bigger breaks to commercial property owners than homeowners.