Who's in Charge Around Here?

By Amy Hart in News on May 4, 2006 3:32PM

So we all know that Cook County Board President John Stroger suffered a serious stroke in March, still won the Democratic primary against Commissioner Forrest Claypool, is recovering at the Rehabilitation Institute, and will decide if he wants to remain on the ballot sometime in July.

But yesterday Claypool publicly raised a question many have been wondering for weeks: With Stroger out recovering, who is running county government? Even though officials insist Stroger is still in charge, Claypool worries that important decisions are being made by bureaucrats instead of elected officials. And recently Stroger's son Todd, himself an alderman and likely candidate to replace his father on the ballot, said the president was not currently running county government.

President Stroger's condition is being closely guarded by his family, a move we completely understand, but it does make us question if he is currently capable of making important governmental decisions. And with his son waiting in the wings, is Todd already assuming the role of chief decision maker? And if he's going to replace his father on the ballot anyway, is that such a bad thing?