The New Foibles Of Todd Stroger, Part 1

By Soyoung Kwak in News on May 1, 2010 2:30PM

Amidst the brouhaha surrounding former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich's upcoming trial, the news of Cook County Board President Todd Stroger using a county-issued credit card for his own pleasure comes at one of the most inconvenient times for Chicago politics. ABC7 has obtained copies of Stroger's spending habits to reveal that some of the charges on that credit card included numerous personal charges, including a birthday stay at a hotel, an Apple Blossom bouquet at Edible Arrangements, and clothes. Stroger and other figures have stated that although Stroger does charge personal items on his county-issued credit card, he reimburses the state for every personal item he charges, thus concluding that negative accusations against Stroger's spending habits are unwarranted.

Additionally, some have said that for a public figure who travels in and out of the city, Stroger's use of his county-issued credit card for things like hotel stays and meals isn't anything out of the ordinary. But Cindi Canary, for the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, disagrees: "One assumes the board president has a personal credit card so it shouldn't be too difficult for him to put his personal expenses on his personal card and his business expenses on his business card." Furthermore, Stroger obtained this government-issued card last summer after three years of being without a government-issued credit card. It is also likely that Stroger's spending habits will be questioned at the next county board meeting, with hopes to curb Stroger's unnecessary spending. Let's hope that Apple Blossom bouquet was worth it.