Progress Illinois

Last week, a group of housing activists showed up at Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's office demanding to know why he hasn't spent a dime of the estimated $15 million collected in foreclosure filing fees on mediation services, which are proven to help people hang onto their homes. "Where is that money going?" asked Michelle Young of the group Action Now. 

After trying to land a meeting with Stroger for nearly a year, Action Now was finally invited to sit down with him yesterday afternoon. But Stroger ended up inexplicably "detained," Young tells us. To his credit, Chief Judge of the Cook County Circuit Courts Tim Evans made the meeting. And Action Now members tell us that Evans has agreed to recommend that the county finally set more resources aside, beginning with $3 million over the coming year. A measure is expected to be introduced at next week's county board meeting.

"Mediation has been effective in other places," Young tells us, "but we need the money to fund it."  Florida's Miami-Dade County is a prime example. Since making mediation mandatory earlier this year, 78 percent -- or 465 of the 599 foreclosure cases scheduled -- were settled in the local courts. While these local efforts are no substitute for a real loan modification program at the federal level, the fact that Cook County continues to pull in millions from foreclosure filing fees presents a logical revenue source for such a program.  And the need remains real.  As the Federal Reserve of Chicago has pointed out (PDF), a glut of vacant, lender-owned properties tends to "weaken [homeowners'] interest in reinvesting in their property," thus diminishing "the safety and security of the neighborhood" and straining public services elsewhere.

We'll be watching carefully to see if the Stroger administration helps push the proposal through as part of the county budget. "At least that would give people a fighting chance," says Action Now's Marsha Godard.

Deluged by the thousands of foreclosure cases that have clogged the Cook County court system, Chancery Division Presiding Judge Dorothy Kirie Kinnaird made a bold move back in June when she called for a two-month reprieve on mortgage defaults. Despite her effort to buy homeowners time to seek mediation,  resources remain too scarce -- particularly for people from the low-income communities hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis.

With the county pulling in millions in foreclosure filing fees, some local housing advocates are calling on Cook County Board President Todd Stroger to get creative and start redirecting that money toward mediation services. The local community organization Action Now estimates that the spike in $300 foreclosure filing fees has generated an additional $15 million for the county's coffers. Still, the Stroger administration has yet to allocate any of that money toward foreclosure prevention. "Why not use some of that money for mediation?" Marsha Godard of West Lawndale asked at a rally outside Stroger's office this morning. "At least that would give people a fighting chance."

It's no secret that low-income and African American neighborhoods have seen the highest concentration of foreclosures here in Illinois. "We saw someone getting put out on our way down here," activist Michelle Young of Austin reported at the rally. "This is about people losing their homes -- people who are moving out in the middle of the night because they're ashamed to say 'I'm having trouble with my mortgage.'" Watch:

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For those who haven't been following it closely, here's the latest news on the Democratic primary candidates for Cook County board president. As you'll soon learn, it's a messy, messy affair at the moment. 

Danny Davis
For months now, the 7th District congressman has insisted that he is "in" for county board president, despite simultaneously circulating petitions for reelection to Congress.  During the third quarter, Davis transferred $130,000 from his federal campaign account to his state coffers -- indicating a certain degree of seriousness.  Last Monday, he officially filed for the board president race.  But doubts about his candidacy persist, and for good reason.  As the Tribune's John Byrne reported, he also filed petitions for Congress yesterday. 

So what's the next move?  As Cook County Clerk David Orr told WTTW last week, Davis has until November 9 to drop out of one of the two races.  For the slew of candidates preparing to run for his House seat -- State Rep. Annazette Collins, Chicago Alds. Robert Fioretti and Sharon Dixon, Jim Ascot, Clarence Clemons, and Joyce Washington -- that decision couldn't come soon enough.

Todd Stroger
The incumbent board president created some suspense yesterday afternoon, waiting until an hour before the filing deadline to present his 22,000 petitions to the county clerk.  Not surprisingly, he had a tough time finding folks to circulate on his behalf.  From the Sun-Times:

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Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is not having a very good week. On Monday, court-appointed hiring watchdog Mary Robinson released a new report which found that the Stroger administration is violating its own anti-patronage policies by giving favored applicants a leg up.  (Specific practices include: providing test answers, waiving interview requirements, and ignoring criminal backgrounds.) Things got worse last night, when Cook County prosecutors subpoenaed some county financial records. What started as a probe into Stroger's controversial hiring of Tony Cole has apparently widened into what the Tribune is calling "questions about how the administration spent money and accounted for it."

As we wrote yesterday, reform in Cook County must begin at the top. To that end, board president candidate Toni Preckwinkle quickly released a statement this morning blasting Stroger and outlining how she would change the business of hiring if elected:

"Cook County government and its hiring process lack both transparency and accountability. Too often, county positions are not filled by the most qualified candidates, but by the most politically connected ones. Political influence in the hiring process has obstructed the efficiency of County government and strained the morale of County employees," said Preckwinkle. A candidate for Cook County Board President, Alderman Toni Preckwinkle (4th) has been vocal on the need to institute transparency and legitimacy in Cook County's hiring process, including all Shakman-exempt positions. [...]

"As Cook County Board President, I would work closely with hiring monitor Mary Robinson to ensure that policy practices are in place to prevent subversions of the decree." said Toni Preckwinkle. "Additionally, I will examine the hiring records over the last four years to determine if the Shakman decree has been honored."

As far as we know, none of the other Democratic candidates have statements out yet, but it is encouraging to see Preckwinkle take the lead.

Cook County politicians have been talking a lot about reform this week. First, a handful of officials unveiled a proposal that would finally force lobbyists to be upfront about their contracting connections. Then, suburban Commissioner Liz Gorman (R-Orland Park) made the common-sense suggestion that county employees shouldn't be handing out contracts to their relatives. The capstone, however, was the report (PDF) released by Mary Robinson — the court-ordered monitor keeping tabs on Cook County’s expensive patronage habit — as part of her ongoing hiring investigation. Not surprisingly, Robinson found that taxpayers are still forking over loads of cash to keep the county’s payroll padded with under-qualified, yet politically-connected, workers.

This is nothing new.  Reform-minded commissioners have, for years now, occasionally launched incremental efforts to clean up county government. Meanwhile, local reporters have regularly exposed the waste so common in this bureaucracy. But what's clear is that real change won't come until the board president's office makes a commitment to reform.  After all, even with her watching every hiring decision his administration makes, Robinson found that Todd Stroger's staffers continue to feed insiders answers on employment tests, allow favored applicants to skip job interviews entirely, and ignore criminal backgrounds. Stroger's brazen response? "[W]e don’t use clout in our system."

"Sunshine may be the great disinfectant," NBC 5's Steve Rhodes aptly pointed out yesterday, "but cockroaches are immune."  On that note, it was nice to see Democratic board president challenger and Chicago Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th Ward) voice support for the lobbyist sunshine ordinance noted above.  From a press release:

"Transparency is essential for efficient and effective government," stated Alderman Preckwinkle. "Though lobbyists are an important part of the system, they need to be held accountable by the citizens. This initiative guarantees the transparency that ensures citizens are able to hold their government accountable." [...]

"This initiative is a significant advance towards instituting the real and responsible change that Cook County needs," said Alderman Preckwinkle.

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The Cook County Board President's race kicked off with a bang last night on Chicago's West Side.  Hundreds jammed into an auditorium at Malcom X College to watch four of the five Democratic nominees duke it out in a forum sponsored by WVON Radio (Metropolitan Water Reclamation District President Terry O’Brien did not attend).

The main draw was incumbent Todd Stroger, whose introduction earned a standing ovation from portions of the crowd. Slightly defensive throughout the proceedings, Stroger joked that his biggest opponents this election cycle are the city's two daily newspapers. "As Cook County Board President, I've had to fight, and it's been a tough fight," he said at the outset. "But I have been taught by the best ... and I learned what is important about county government."

What accomplishments will Stroger tout on the trail? He noted that his office has passed three "balanced budgets" in three years (although last year's version was riddled with errors and relied on fearmongering to drum up support) and has kept the county's hospitals open in this tough economic climate. He also passionately defended his sales tax hike, arguing that the additional revenue is necessary to keep government services intact. And then there is his record of expanding contracting and other job opportunities for people of color, which he said in deflecting allegations of rampant patronage from critics on the board. He told the mostly African-American crowd that all the reformers want" is "your job."

The three other candidates on the stage offered competing visions for how county government should run.

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On WFLD's Good Day Chicago this morning, Rep. Danny Davis discussed his "exploration" of a run for Cook County board president in 2010.  At the end of the segment, Davis said that, if he sits down with incumbent President Todd Stroger in the near future, he will try to dissuade him from running and tell him point blank, "I don't think you'd get elected." Watch it:

Larry Suffredin also appeared on Fox Chicago Sunday yesterday and hinted strongly at his own interest in the race. "I really believe that it is necessary for somebody who has been part of this board -- and tried to change this board from the inside -- to run," he said. "Otherwise, all the work that Mike Quigley did in 11 years there, and that Forest [Claypool] and I have done in seven, will be lost."  Watch it:

Laura Washington published an interesting Sun-Times column today on the emerging field of candidates in this race.  She reveals that Toni Preckwinkle has so far raised $400,000 for her bid and asks the South Side alderman about Michael Sneed's rumor that Mayor Daley might be an eventual supporter:

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Cook County Board President Todd Stroger finally made up his mind this afternoon and announced he will veto the ordinance approved last week to repeal the controversial one percent sales tax hike he rammed through last year.  The bright red headline on today's press release read: "Stroger vetoes sales tax bill, calls for graduated roll-back instead." The statement doesn't offer any concrete plan to do so, however.  Instead it simply reiterates the 25 percent roll-back proposal he put forth several weeks ago:

“I have always supported rolling back the sales tax as funds become available. That is what I committed to in 2007, and that is why why I proposed rolling back the sales tax increase by 25% last month. That’s why I am committed to future roll-backs as funds become available. I stand on those positions. Even commissioner Claypool agreed that a staggered roll-back was the responsible course of action, rather than imposing the full penny rollback. He continues to talk out of both sides of his mouth, but even he cannot dodge this financial reality.

During the WVON interview in which he made the announcement, Stroger said that he's confident the board won't have the votes to override his veto.  This indicates that, in addition to the three commissioners who voted against last week's ordinance, he has the support of at least one of the two commissioners who missed that roll call (he needs four votes to defeat an override).

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Appearing on WLS Radio's Don Wade & Roma this morning, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger was asked: a) whether he plans to veto yesterday's sales tax repeal, and b) whether the commissioners have the 14 (out of 17) votes necessary to override his veto.  His answer to both questions: "I don't know."

This suggests that Stroger may not have the support of the two commissioners who missed yesterday's repeal vote: Earleen Collins and Deborah Sims, both of whom have traditionally backed him.  In addition to the three commissioners who voted against repeal yesterday, he would need one more to sustain a veto.

Listen to Stroger's comments:

Internal mp3

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On Tuesday, we highlighted Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's account of how he came to fire busboy-turned-patronage-worker Tony Cole.  That evening, Stroger told WTTW's Carol Marin that he had terminated Cole as soon as he saw a background check "last week" showing his history of violence against women. As we wrote at the time, it seemed odd that the background check had taken this long to surface, considering that Cole had joined the county payroll last October. (Stroger explained that process usually takes "2-3 months," which still didn't add up.)

Then on Wednesday, Cook Co. Public Information Officer Chris Geovanis reiterated that Stroger had acted immediately once Cole's rap sheet came to light: "As soon as the administration was advised by the inspector general that Mr. Cole's interview and Mr. Cole's affidavit and the background check created clearly the basis for his termination because he was no truthful, we moved immediately to terminate him."

Now the Tribune is reporting (as Rich Miller told his Capitol Fax subscribers this morning) that the State Police actually returned the background check to the county before Christmas.  And things just get messier from there:

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