Todd Stroger and his band of Merry Makers made a lot of promises during the last campaign, and now they are trying to carry through with at least some of them. Early last week Gerald Nichols had his publicly funded paid vacation (19 weeks of paid leave) end, when he was officially removed from the county payroll. But just because some of the highest-paid officials in the county have resigned, don't think that Stroger is... more ›

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... more ›

Hey there, little buckaroos! We sure do have us a whole herd a political tidbits to round up, so let's saddle up and git a rollin'! Mayor Daley has nothing but good things to say about convicted patronage chief Robert Sorich. In a press conference this week, he said they were all "fine young men," citing his personal knowledge of their families. He went to great pains, however, to avoid passing judgment over Sorich's 48-month... more ›

President-select of the Crook County Board Todd Stroger is backing off a campaign promise to fire the county's controversial patronage chief, Gerald Nichols, who was suspended from his $114,000-a-year job in the wake of a federal probe. Stroger had vowed during the campaign to fire Nichols, and many expected him to do it immediately as a sign of commitment to reform. Instead, Stroger said Tuesday that he would lift the suspension on Nichols and bring him back on board to serve as an advisor. more ›

Yesterday, County Board President candidates Todd Stroger (D) and Tony Peraica (R) both promised to cut county jobs. Stroger, the front runner and front man, won’t give any specifics other than saying that the County is top-heavy and could use some consolidation. Oh yes, he uses the favorite political chestnut of auditing the books in order to make a decision. Peraica proposes to make cuts of about 4,000-5,000 jobs through attrition and consolidating the County’s... more ›