Results tagged “cookcountyboardpresident”

What was supposed to be a forum for the four remaining Democratic candidates for Cook County Board President turned into a Player Hater's Ball as the incumbent, President Todd Stroger, was a no-show, opening the flood gates for the remaining three candidates - Terry O'Brien, president of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th), and Cook County Clerk of Courts Dorothy Brown - to unleash some verbal attacks on Stroger. The S-T provides a sampling of what each candidate said about Stroger. As for Stroger's absence? His campaign manager, Vincent Williams, originally told the Sun-Times, "I haven't spoken to the president today, so I don't have an answer." However, this morning, Williams issued the following statement (via email) on behalf of the Stroger campaign:

With today being the drop deadline for next year's elections, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis has announced he will forgo a run at Cook County Board President and instead focus on getting re-elected to his current position, Congressman of Illinois' 7th District, and office he has held since 1996.

There were a pair of debates last night of interest to voters with the approaching primaries in February. Of particular interest to local voters is the The Hispanic American Construction Industry Association (HACIA) Cook County Board President forum. ABC 7 has video of the complete forum that you can check out here. The participants were current Democrat candidates Pres. Todd Stroger, Ald. Toni Preckwinkle, and MWRD Pres. Terrence O'Brien, Green Party candidate (and former No Games Chicago leader) Tom Tresser, and only one Republican candidate, John Garrido.

• A Naperville man has been charged with trying to bribe a "city agent," who the Sun-Times reveals to be Ald. Ike Carothers.
• GOP candidates for governor aren't the only ones debating tonight; the candidates for Cook County Board President will participate in a forum that gets underway at 6 pm. You can view it live online at ABC 7.
• Two men have been arrested in the shooting death of DePaul student Francisco “Frankie” Valencia from last weekend.

A new wrinkle has developed in the race for Cook County Board President as Tom Tresser, the man behind the No Games Chicago group that opposed the Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid, has announced his candidacy. The group "Friends of Tom Tresser" sent out an email to supporters yesterday indicating Tresser intended to announce this morning a run "for high local public office." It's since been learned that the office is Todd Stroger's. Said Tresser in the email, "I do this as a result of almost thirty years of civic work in the city and, most specifically, my last two years of volunteer community work." The email continues:

As we mentioned on Monday, Todd Stroger got his endorsement this week from a large group of black ministers that worry other black candidates in the Cook County board president race will split the vote, guaranteeing that Metropolitan Water Reclamation District President Terrence O'Brien, the lone white candidate in the race, will win. “This community needs a unified front to address the issues that are pressing against our people,” said senior bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Todd Stroger, he of low approval ratings and general malaise across the populace, is finally getting some support. Stroger will get an endorsement from a group of 300 African-American ministers today - Minister Louis Farrakhan is among the most high-profile members - in his race for re-election next year. Worried the four black candidates will split the vote, paving the way for the lone white candidate - Cook County Water Reclamation District President Terry O'Brien - to win, the ministers want a "consensus" black candidate. But two of Strogers challengers - Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th) and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, both of whom are black - aren't buying it, saying most of the group planned to support Stroger anyway.

Sure, we've talked to Ald. Preckwinkle. And there are several other options of opponents the Toddler will have to face in his campaign to keep his position for Cook County Board President. And while we don't make a habit of officially endorsing political candidates here (save the Leftcagoist comments) we're finding it hard not to root for YouTube user icephoenix23, especially after watching this video declaring his candidacy. Watch the whole thing. Trust us.

With Todd Stroger's approval rating apparently lagging badly, the field seems wide open for the four challengers who have already announced their candidacy against Stroger: Clerk of courts Dorothy Brown, Congressman Danny Davis, Chicago Alderman Toni Preckwinkle, and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District's Terry O'Brien. WBEZ takes a look at the early jostling for front-runner status as well as how race has become a factor, including the involvement of State Rep. James Meeks who has been busy organizing the black candidates. Says Meeks, "Four African Americans who are running in an election, and one white candidate who runs, the four African Americans cancel each other out."

Saying that “it just wasn’t the right time for me for a number of reasons,” county commissioner Larry Suffredin, subject of perennial speculation about his designs on the board president's chair, announced that he would seek only re-election of his current seat. And while Todd Stroger has said that he'll be seeking re-election to the seat his father willed him, Michael Sneed (and we all know how credible her political ramblings are) hears otherwise.

Sheesh, the race for county board president certainly seems crowded, at least among the Democrats. Toni Preckwinkle, Dorothy Brown and Todd Stroger are running for sure, but the list of people that smell blood in the water is long. Danny Davis has formed an exploratory committee, and Larry Suffredin, and Tom Dart. You can add Terrence J. O'Brien, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District board president to the list of candidates. "I want to do for Cook County Government, what I have done for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. So, I am officially announcing my candidacy for President of Cook County Board," O'Brien said in a prepared statement issued to the press on Friday.

Forget the Governor's race or the stampede to oust Sen. Burris. One race that's just as intriguing that's heating up for the next election seems to be for the Cook County Board President's spot. Incumbent Todd Stroger's list of opponents seems to have grown longer with the addition of U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, who has announced he is forming an exploratory committee to look into running for the position. Said Davis, "One could say that Cook County government, after the illness and death of President John Stroger, has experienced a crisis in leadership." If Davis jumps into the fray, he'll join Tony Preckwinkle (who we recently interviewed - keep your eyes peeled for that one) and Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court Dorothy Brown, both of whom have already announced their candidacy for the spot. Republican commissioner Tony Peraica, who ran against Storger in 2006, has yet to announce if he'll run though Demorcat Forrest Claypool has already announced he won't run, instead completely leaving the Board. [CBS 2]

The Sun-Times reports that U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis is forming an exploratory committee to consider a run for Cook County Board president early next year. The field is already crowded with at least six other officials showing interest. The Chicago Reader has a roundup of the potentials, which includes, Ald. Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin, Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown, Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, and of course Todd Stroger. Currently there is no clear candidate for the Republican primary.

In a surprise move, Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool announced yesterday afternoon that he would not be running for County Board President. Claypool, who ran as a reformer against John Stroger in the 2006 Democratic primary, said in an email to supporters that he has "decided not to be a candidate again for Cook County board president. Nor will I be a candidate for a third term on the board." He has also canceled his June 30 fundraiser, and "will be returning all checks." In an early May poll, Claypool was ahead of both incumbent Todd Stroger and 4th Ward Alderman Toni Preckwinkle.

The Sun-Times is reporting that Paul Vallas won't be making a return trip to Chicago to run for Cook County Board President. Instead, he'll remain in New Orleans where he's currently heading up the Recovery School District in New Orleans. Vallas had also considered switching political parties and running for board president as a Republican.

• Cook County Board President Todd Stroger says he won't fight a war of secession against the towns that voted to leave Cook County, mainly to avoid county taxes, and create their own county. Stroger warned, though, that Barrington, Hanover and Palatine townships might be in over their heads. "But, what they do need to know is when they do that, they will have to have their own jail," he said. "They'll have to have their own elected officials; clerk, sheriff and all that. It's not going to save them money, it's going to cost them more money." [Daily Herald]
• Stroger fired human resources assistant and former University of Georgia basketball player Tony Cole, after finding out that Cole neglected to mention a felony conviction for writing bad checks. Stroger personally hired Cole in October 2008, overlooking his various misdemeanor and felony offenses in the past, since Cole vowed to get his life back on track. He was hired as an administrative assistant in the budget department and had already been promoted to the HR position in the highway department and given a raise. Employees are worried now, since he had access to their personal information. [Sun-Times]
• The Todd-ler wants your vote again. He announced (again) that he plans to run for re-election in 2010.

According to a new Sun-Times analysis of last Tuesday's county-wide primary races, those candidates that attempted character assassination of their rivals by associating them with unpopular Cook County Board President Todd Stroger lost, almost across the board. Stroger's approval ratings are basically in the same territory as President Bush's—somewhere between rock bottom and Herbert Hoover—so the prevailing logic was that if you could associate a candidate with Stroger, it would be like transferring his unpopularity onto them. Makes sense, right?

It wasn't all about roasting pigs out in the 'burbs this week:

Just days after the death of his father, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger has indicated that he may agree to give control of the county hospitals to an independent agency. Stroger's chief of staff Lance Tyson told Crain's Chicago Business "the intent is to take health services for the poor out of the sphere of politics and put it into a sphere of greater business expertise." The proposal to turn the county's health care system over to an independent body came last October, when a committee of business and health care executives commissioned to study the systemreleased their recommendations.

Former Cook County Board President John Stroger has died, Mayor Daley announced this morning. He was 78.

SHOOTING: Two homeless men shot in a 24 hour span in Uptown -- they appear to be unrelated. In more shooting news (why is there so much?!): Police have two "persons of interest" in custody Sunday morning after two teenagers were shot in a playlot on the South Side in the Woodlawn neighborhood, blocks from the University of Chicago campus. TRAINS: Our dear friend warns us: This is why you NEVER put headphones in...

Bill Clinton was in town today to sign books at Borders on North Michigan. A woman arrested for battery of an off-duty police officer claims that the arresting officer offered the cop filing the complaint a "free shot" while she was cuffed in the squad car. She also claims that the next day she was pulled over as a joke and let go. What is he smoking? Cook County Board President Todd Stroger says...

There's no love lost here between Chicagoist and Cook County government. In fact, not only has Todd Stroger (as well as the other comedians that pass for "Commissioners" on the county board) been a target for our anger, frustration, and disappointment, they've been fodder for our ridicule and a symbol of what's wrong with local government here. Looking back at the news from last week, we've been following the story of Sally Lemke, the nurse...

Although the week is shorter, that doesn't mean that there hasn't been political news out there to round up! This week, we're making a special dedication to Chicagoist's favorite bad guy, the man that makes us the national butt of every political joke in town, the guy that represents everything that is wrong with our local political system, Todd "The Toddler" Stroger. Without further ado, let's take a gander at his follies and foibles, and...

Vito Zaccaro was working at Cook County ... that is Stroger Hospital as a Cook County Sheriff's officer when the inmate he was guarding pulled a shank on him, stabbed him in the neck and wrestled with him for his gun. Losing blood from his neck, he retained control of his weapon, and chased down Willis Reese in his attempt to escape. Now, two months later, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's office has denied...

That Todd Stroger. He makes being Cook County Board President seem easy. When he isn't slashing budgets, trying to hand out no-bid contracts to his mobbed-up friends, and devastating the already minimal social safety net that the county has set up for the most vulnerable residents, he's running late to an endorsement session held by black ministers or trying to get family members cushy jobs on the county payroll. And this week was no exception.

It's been another spring week of wacky weather here in in the Windy City. And just like the sunshine, our elected leaders have been coming out to shine. Let's take a look back at some of the more notable events thus far: Black Business Group Doesn't Like Blago's Tax Plan. The Alliance of Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs (ABLE), a group representing African-American businesses has reviewed the governor's proposed budget plan, and they've given it what...

Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool

First he loses the private elevator, what’s next? The family name off of the hospital? We speak today of Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, whose days of riding a private elevator are over. Stroger was given the private elevator in the County Building last month, in order to keep him from chatting with all of the regular elevator riders. When he rode the public elevator, his chatty side got the best of him and...

The big news yesterday was that Daley would run for relelection. Lined up at city hall with all the aldermanic candidates was none other than Terry Peterson, former Chicago Housing Authority CEO and Daley's campaign manager, carrying less than 25,000 signatures to put Hizzoner on the ballot. This is a far cry from past campaigns when Daley surrogates would arrive with nearly a quarter million signatures. While some have speculated that filing light like this...