Cook County Board's Tax Veto Repeal Falls Short

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Sep 1, 2009 6:40PM

The Cook County Commission's bid to repeal President Todd Stroger's veto of the tax rollback has fallen short. Commissioner Tony Peraica, one of the most Stroger critics on the board, has come down hard on Commissioner Deborah Sims via his Twitter feed, indicating that her change of heart was the difference maker:

• "Com Sims is speaking now. She seems to be wafling. This is dangerous."
• "Com Sims is about to flip. How sad. She is completely discrediting herself. She is being completely disingenuous. Sad. Very sad."
• Sims is now casting her vote: "hard decision for her", but she sided with Stroger, and will be THE DECIDING vote to SUPPORT Stroger's veto.

Indeed, with 14 votes needed to overturn the veto and 14 votes having previously been lined up, Sims' switch was the difference in the 13-4 vote. Peraica was even harsher in a statement that called today's failure to repeal the veto a "travesty." Sims defended her decision, saying, “I want to make an intelligent vote here. That’s what the people elected us to do, and we can’t do that if we don’t have all the information. This is a decision I made that I feel is in best for the people I represent."