After endorsing Mike Quigley in the 5th Congressional District special election today (no surprise there), the Chicago Tribune editorial board goes on to note that Quigley's successor on the county board will be chosen at an April 11 public meeting of the Democratic committeemen whose wards overlap with his county district. They asked Quigley to list the qualifications he would prefer for his replacement. Here's what he gave them:
- Experience with county issues -- particularly the need to radically reinvent county government -- would let the newcomer be effective from Day One.
- This board seat needs to deliver a reliably unwavering vote for reform—not a "most of the time" vote for reform.
- Independence from political bosses and other forces of clout. Example: "If you're doing the job the right way," Quigley says, "organized groups won't always like you."
Now here's the subtext:
Both Sara Feigenholtz and Quigley chief-of-staff Kimberly Walz are known to be interested in the position, as Greg Hinz noted a couple of weeks ago:
[S]tate Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, who finished third in the Democratic primary won by Mr. Quigley, has emerged as the clear front runner to get his current job as a county commissioner.
The choice will be be made by Democratic ward chiefs in Quigley's district, and while Mr. Quigley is pushing his chief of staff, Kim Walz, for the job, the inside money is on Ms. Feigenholtz.
Walz is impressive and the Tribune more or less endorsed her for the position in a March 5 editorial:
One excellent way to continue the reform agenda at the County Board is to replace Quigley with his chief of staff, Kimberly Walz. She's a whip-smart policy wonk who has helped Quigley shape proposals to reinvent county government -- and she's uniformly respected by the County Building's scarce supply of true reformers.
While the Tribune doesn't single Walz out in their piece today, it seems pretty obvious that the editorial board -- using Quigley's carefully tailored criteria -- is attempting to frame Feigenholtz as unqualified for the post: Unlike Walz, she hasn't been focusing on the county for years. Instead, she's been forming alliances with some "regular" Democrats in Springfield.
But it should be noted that, while Feigenholtz may not qualify as a "reformer" in the Tribune's eyes, she brings other assets to the table. Specifically, her passion for health care policy, which represents a huge part of the county board's responsibility.
It will be interesting to see who else shows up to express interest in the post at the meeting on April 11:
[Ald. Tom] Tunney knows of at least 10 people expressing interest in the post. They'll have the opportunity to address the committeemen -- after which the committeemen will meet behind closed doors to haggle out a decision. Then they'll vote in public.
Check out this previous post to see which committeemen will have the most sway over the final decision.
Comments
ProgressiveReform (not verified) on Fri, 03/27/2009 - 17:49
There's a better way to reform the government that runs the largest public hospital in the state than trying to cut taxes -- it's to focus on ensuring that we hire more nurses and physicians and other providers.
That's the benefit that Sara Feigenholtz can bring as a reformer to Cook County -- she can apply her subject matter expertise on health care policy to improving the administration of the public health care delivery system.
There's a role for anti-taxers in any government body. But it's not a very limited definition of a "reformer" to say that the only way to produce a better Cook County government is to follow the path of Commissioner Quigley. Sara Feigenholtz's career in reforming health care policy and appropriations to ensure we put more resources into actual health care delivery is another type of reform that the County -- and the hundreds of thousands of patients who rely on our public hospitals -- desperately need.
Besides, there are other Commissioners in the Quigley mold (fiercely and firmly insistent on efficiencies and loudly critical of any : Forrest Claypool is the obvious example. Tony Peraica is pretty close. (That's not to diminish the many ways that Quigley and Claypool have been pushing other progressive reforms that don't catch the eye of the Tribune, but on the core anti-tax, anti-corruption message, Peraica and Quigley are fairly similar.)
There isn't any Commissioner who really, deeply knows health care policy like Sara Feigenholtz does. She would be a unique asset to the County Board, particularly in reinventing the hospitals. And that's a different type of reform that is just as needed (and perhaps more so, given Claypool's presence) from Day One.
fedup dem (not verified) on Fri, 03/27/2009 - 22:00
I don't see Feigenholz or Walz winning the post on April 11. According to the rules, it will only take a plurality to elect someone, and with the current split among County Board members between Toddler toadies and the coalition of progressive reform Democrats and Republicans, the Daleys and Stroger will do everything possible to see that an absolute lapdog is selected by the committeemen. Perhaps someone like Ald. O'Connor, who has loyaly kissed Daley family butt for nearly 30 years.
Bill Wentworth (not verified) on Mon, 03/30/2009 - 09:43
Perhaps instead of turning their attention to corruption in Government, the Tribune should look at weeding out corruption in its own editorial board. There was a time when you could respect the opinion of the Tribune. Obviously with the blatant endorsement of Mike Quigley for Congress the first time, a second endorsement when comparative ads came out against him, the endorsement of him for the general (albeit he is the best candidate among the three contenders) and the underlying and potential endorsement of his flunky, Kimberly Walz; it is obvious that the Tribune Editorial board will post whatever their buddy Mike asks of them.
Feigenholtz is by far the best candidate. However, I find it hard to figure out why in the world she would be interested in pursuing this position. Whoever gets the job will be under the fire of the Trib board (unless of course its Kimberly Walz) leading up to the primary in February. Nobody will be able to prove themselves as a reformer in that short amount of time. The only reason Quigley is a reformer is because he simply votes against everything. Reminds me of the Groucho Marx song, whatever it is, I'm against it. He's already stated that he is against both Quinn's and Obama's tax plans and he's not even in office yet. Well, Mr. Quigley, how do you propose we get rid of 11.5 billion dollars in debt created in part by former Gov/future prisoner Blago?
And fedup dem, Feigenholtz is the most likely winner if she even decides to pursue it. The votes are from committeemen and are weighted. Michele Smith has a big chunk and she's running, but won't get much support from anywhere else. Tom Tunney and Carol Ronan have enough to throw it to Feigenholtz and are most likely willing to do that. O'Connor has a very small percentage as does Fritchey. Do the math!
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