Todd Just Keeps On Keepin’ On
Filed under: Corruption, Reform, Spending, Taxes, Todd Stroger
The county board has repeatedly failed to override Todd Stroger’s veto of the hiring freeze passed by the commissioners — and so it looks like Todd has just kept on doing what he does best: abusing your tax dollars.
As this latest Fox News Chicago report shows, more questionable sweetheart contracts have come to light:
‘Fast Eddie’ Off the Illinois Attorney Rolls
The Chicago Tribune reports:
The Illinois Supreme Court on Monday struck former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak’s name from the roll of attorneys licensed to practice law in Illinois at his request. The action comes after he pleaded guilty in federal court in November to a felony charge of conspiring to commit mail fraud.
If you recall, “Fast Eddie” somehow avoided jail time - despite his guilty plea. For those of us who are used to Cook County politics - we weren’t surprised.
But perhaps the more important question is how active Eddie will be in the upcoming elections. We know he is a vehement opponent of Tony Peraica’s reform efforts - even supporting Peraica’s opponent (Mike LaPidus) for Lyons Township GOP Committeeman in the 2006 elections.
And we’ve already seen how the Vrdolyak-supported LaPidus has already begun to stir up trouble.
We expect Mr. Vrdolyak (as well as various corrupt and troubled special interests in the Western Suburbs) to oppose our reform efforts - but they should know that we are ready to expose each and every one of them, and their links to the corrupt Cook County political system that continues to embarrass us and cost us millions in tax dollars.
Video from the Chicago Tea Party
I had the pleasure of speaking with Commissioner Peraica at the Tea Party last Friday. It was great to see so many concerned citizens taking time off work to take a stand for a government that is accountable to them and responsible using our tax dollars.
A general video of the protest can be found here.
My speech can be found here.
Next tea party is on April 15th. Hope to see everyone there!
Peraica Live ‘Tweeting’ County Budget Hearing
Commissioner Peraica is currently “live tweeting” the Cook County budgeting hearing at www.twitter.com/tonyperaica.
Join the conversation on Twitter!
Stop Mayor Daley’s O’Hare Boondoggle
Filed under: Blagojevich, Corruption, Mayor Daley, Reform, Taxes
Commissioner Peraica participated in a City Hall press conference today expressing opposition to Mayor Daley’s $20 billion O’Hare expansion boondoggle.
At the press conference, Citizens Against Government Waste released TV ads being run in Chicago and Washington, DC that promote opposition to the O’Hare Project - and feature a quote from Peraica. We’ll share other press clippings from the press conference as they appear.
Sun-Times Highlights Peraica’s Effort to Axe Commissioner Stipend
The Sun-Times editorial board today highlighted Commissioner Peraica’s proposed amendment (which was not even “seconded” by any other commissioners) to eliminate the monthly $1200 stipend received by each commissioner.
Here’s a snippet from that editorial:
Cook County commissioners had a chance last week to show what they stand for.
Do they stand for keeping a sweet perk?
Or for the taxpayers?
Do we even have to tell you who won?
It happened when Commissioner Tony Peraica, that thorn in the paw of so many fellow commissioners, introduced an amendment to the county’s budget calling for the elimination of the county commissioners’ contingency fund.
Remember the contingency fund?
That’s the perk where commissioners get an extra $1,200 a month in addition to their salaries of $85,000 a year.
Call it a $14,400-a-year bonus.
The money is supposed to be for out-of-pocket expenses, such as gas, transportation and office supplies.
Some commissioners do use it for that and document their spending with receipts. You know, like any well-run business would require.
But most spend it however they want, with little documentation.
Still others just pocket it.
Peraica called on the County Board to eliminate the perk, but the commissioners didn’t even vote on it because no one would second Peraica’s motion.
We’re not talking about a lot of money. We’re talking about $237,000 in a budget of nearly $3 billion.
Budget-wise, it’s not even peanuts.
It’s not even peanut shells.
It’s the principle.
We agree. Read our previous post on Tony’s reform amendments that were rejected by the county board this week.
Peraica Proposes Reforms - Cook County Board Votes ‘Em Down
Filed under: Budget, Casino, Mayor Daley, Reform, Spending, Taxes
This week, Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica introduced a number of budget amendments designed to streamline the budget in these challenging economic times.
Given the fact that the County Board enacted a massive sales tax increase last year - and is looking to pass $740 million in bonds this year…you’d think they’d all jump at the chance to streamline the budget.
Yeah, right.
Here are the results of how these proposals fared:
- Amendment to eliminate the $1,200 monthly “stipend” paid to each commissioner (as detailed in this Fox Chicago News segment): No commissioner (Republican or Democrat) would even second Peraica’s amendment.
- Amendment to cap the budget of each commissioner’s personal office to $320,000 per year, which would equal a total budget cut of 10% of the FY 2008 budget. Currently commissioners receive varying budgets - and commissioners are certainly allowed (as does Peraica) to return excess or unused funds to the county coffers. This amendment failed to pass.
- An across-the-board county budget cut of 4% of the FY 08 budget - which would still leave the budget significantly higher than the FY 2007 budget, which had represented a budget increase of 13% over the prior year. This amendment failed to pass - but all Republicans voted for it.
- A compromise, modest 2% across-the-board budget cut of the FY 08 numbers. Commissioner Schneider joined all the Democrats in voting against this budget cut.
Looks like the county budget will continue to increase…and the county taxpayers will continue to foot the compounding bill.
Defending the Indefensible Stroger Budget/Tax Increase
Filed under: Budget, Corruption, Reform, Spending, Taxes, Todd Stroger
So, Todd Stroger went before the Chicago Tribune editorial board to defend his massive back-door tax increase proposal.
Yes, the same proposal that was assailed by the Civic Federation.
Yes, the same proposal that Tony Peraica and Forrest Claypool have shown to be unnecessary and irresponsible.
Reports the Tribune’s Hal Dardick in the “Clout Street” blog:
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger stood firm Monday on his effort to issue $740 million in bonds, saying every penny was needed to pay for big projects while maintaining services at the county’s massive public safety and health care systems.
Stroger was defending his proposed 2009 budget before the Tribune editorial board, a harsh critic of his financial policies. The budget calls for nearly flat spending and no new taxes—a year after Stroger pushed through a much maligned percentage-point increase in the county sales tax.
The problem here is that Hal reports the Stroger proposal includes “no new taxes.” The fact is, Stroger’s entire proposal is one big tax increase. It’s putting almost a billion dollars on the credit card in a time of economic uncertainty when the core economic problem was caused by …. a credit crunch.
As Peraica told attendees at a recent Westchester Town Hall meeting:
“The wrong thing in my opinion is to go out and borrow more money and take on more debt … There is no free lunch … Sooner or later someone has to pay for what one consumes.”
You don’t make our county’s employers and workers more competitive by sacking them with increased debt. As Tony has written before, you make them competitive by allowing them to keep more of their heard-earned money.
And you work to streamline and better manage the 25,000-plus county workforce - and reduce the waste, fraud and abuse that is regularly uncovered by Tony and the local media.
Giving Cook County Employers a Fighting Chance
Filed under: Budget, Spending, Taxes, Todd Stroger
The Sun-Times’ David Roeder brings us this cheery Christmas Eve story about the impending doom of your favorite Chicago shopping spots.
Analysts believe that the pullback in consumer spending will lead to an unprecedented number of store closings and retailer bankruptcies in 2009. Weak returns from the Christmas season just won’t be enough to sustain some debt-laden chains.
Obviously, the economy is hurting. Consumer spending is down. That would hurt businesses in even the best of tax climates.
But the fact that Cook County has some of the highest sales taxes in the country certainly can’t be helping.
It’s time to do what Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica has tried to do already in 2008: repeal the county’s sales tax increase.
Sales tax relief would provide an immediate stimulus to county retailers and give them a fighting chance against the weak economy. And, it would help struggling consumers who are paying an extra $10 every time they purchase $100 of groceries to feed their families.
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