Will the Cook County Sales Tax be Rolled Back After All?

By Kevin Robinson in News on Aug 31, 2009 2:00PM

One thing about Daley and his pals that you can count on is that they tend to know what they're doing when they say they will or won't do something. So it came as a bit of a surprise that 33rd Ward Alderman Dick Mell told the Tribune he would call the selection meeting to replace former Commissioner Roberto Maldonado sooner than Tuesday's meeting. The Cook County Board of Commissioners voted to roll back the sales tax increase in July, before Maldanado left the board to become 26th Ward Alderman. Stroger vetoed that bill, but it looked like the board might have the 14 votes it takes to override that veto.

Nevertheless, Mell told the Tribune that he will call the replacement meeting this morning at 10 a.m. at Lazo's Tacos on the Northwest Side. Mell says that overriding the veto isn't a precondition to being selected, but Maldanado, who is one of the 11 committeemen that will make the decision says it is, for him.“I just hope that my replacement will follow the wishes of the people of the 8th District and vote to veto the sales tax,” Maldanado said. With Mell preparing to anoint Maldanado's successor the day before a critical board vote, it's unclear if the sales tax will be rolled back after all. Regardless, it looks like Daley and his pals will get what they want in the end. If the sales tax veto is overridden, they're heros to regular folk around the county. If it doesn't they can say that they tried to make things right after Maldanado left, and voter anger stays squarely focused on Stroger and company, hopefully channeling outrage away from the mayor and the myriad other problems his wrought on Chicago taxpayers. While we're glad Mell's got the good sense to bring a replacement commissioner onto the board sooner rather than later, we're not sure if whomever they choose will be ready to vote on the issue tomorrow. Only 24 hours until we know for sure.