Tomorrow at 10 a.m., the Democratic committeeman whose wards overlap with the district formerly represented by Mike Quigley on the Cook County board will meet at Truman College to appoint his successor.  The event is open to the public and will feature statements from those individuals interested in the position. Once the public portion of the hearing has concluded, the committeemen will meet behind closed doors to deliberate, before announcing their selection.

Today, both the Sun-Times and Tribune weighed in on the process and endorsed Kim Walz, Mike Quigley's former chief of staff.  The Tribune spoke highly of lobbyist Bridget Gainer as well, but went on to make this comparison:

Gainer's comparative inexperience with county issues surfaced this week when we asked her and Walz, in separate meetings, whether the County Board could repeal its noxious 1-percentage-point increase in the sales tax and still meet its responsibilities. The urgent need to reverse that unneeded tax increase is the reason we run a daily tax calendar counting off the days until voters can have their say on these board members. Gainer tentatively responded, "I certainly think that [repeal] should be a possibility." Walz instantly responded, "Yes," and ticked off specific tactics for cutting the tax without impairing county services.

We noticed a similar contrast at last week's NDFA/IVI-IPO forum attended by both Walz and Gainer.  

The Sun-Times also plays up Walz's experience and reputation as a policy wonk:

Walz will continue Quigley's mission on the county board and needs no on-the-job training.

With a master's degree in public policy from Georgetown University, she is a policy wonk, a detail person, someone who has had plenty of experience sniffing out waste in county government, having worked for Quigley for 8 1/2 years.

She understands the ins-and-outs of the county budget, and she has helped write many of Quigley's white papers -- the ones that suggest savings and efficiencies in many areas of county government.

You know, the ones that county leaders usually ignore.

Check back tomorrow for a report from the meeting.