Successor To William Beavers Could Be Chosen Thursday

By Chuck Sudo in News on Apr 9, 2013 1:45PM

It appears the Cook County Democratic Party is wasting no time to replace William Beavers on the Cook County Board. The Tribune reported that Ald. Howard Brookins (21st) will lead a meeting Thursday to determine who will serve out Beavers’s term as a commissioner. Beavers was convicted last month of filing false tax returns between 2006 and 2008. He used his campaign funds and an expense account from the County for personal use, including gambling at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond.

Brookins said at least six potential candidates have submitted resumes to replace “The Hog with the Big Nuts” (Thankfully, none of those candidates is former County Board President Todd Stroger, who expressed an interest in the job.)

Beavers’s successor will be chosen based on weighted votes cast in his district during the 2010 elections, with Brookins’s ward holding the most weighted votes. Among the people lining up for Beavers’ job are Kenneth Sawyer, nephew of former Chicago mayor Eugene Sawyer; Brian Sleet, chief of staff to Ald. Roderick Sawyer; Nick Smith, an aide to 9th Ward Ald. Anthony Beale; and Stanley Moore, who unsuccessfully mounted a campaign for the Illinois Senate in 2008.