Yes, we know
you're eager to oust
Cook County Board President
Todd Stroger and the 10 board members whose
sales-tax increase is hurting local consumers and
employers. That crowd won't be on the ballot until
2010. This autumn, though, voters are choosing five
other county officials.
On Sunday the Tribune endorsed Democrat Anita
Alvarez in the race for state's attorney. Our
choices in four other races:
CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT
On Sept. 10 the Tribune reported: "Dozens of
employees of Cook County Circuit Clerk Dorothy Brown
are planning a 55th birthday bash for their boss in
a boutique hotel in the Loop this month—with the aim
of raising thousands of dollars for her campaign
fund." Minimum donation: $125. Organizer: "The X
Company," most of whose leaders and members have the
same names as Brown employees who are on the county
payroll and make $62,000 to $127,000 a year.
Four years ago, opponents
accused Brown of overly politicizing her office.
Some things apparently never change.
Campaign cash-raising is about the most efficient
thing done in this office. Brown has been highly
resistant to reform of this calcified operation. If
voters want to send a message that they're fed up
with Cook County's business as usual, they'll vote
for Republican Diane Shapiro. She's a county
probation officer and a college instructor with 32
years' experience in the courts system, some of that
as a sheriff's employee. She wants to repeal the
sales-tax increase. Shapiro, a former Democratic
precinct captain, says she quit the Cook County
Democrats in 2006 after concluding, "It's less a
party than a kleptocracy."
The Tribune endorses Shapiro.
RECORDER OF DEEDS
Incumbent Eugene Moore's chief deputy, Darlena
Williams-Burnett, memorably told the Tribune last
Nov. 28: "
I
manage a bunch of knuckleheads on a daily basis."
Ald. Ed Smith, who ran unsuccessfully against Moore
in the Democratic primary, put it perfectly: "At its
best, the current recorder's office is a visionless
public body that merely shuffles paper. At its
worst, the recorder's office is a patronage job
basement warehouse that escapes the spotlight of
public scrutiny because it is considered too low
profile to matter."Chicago attorney
Gregory
Goldstein, a Republican, works almost daily with
the recorder's office and understands how
desperately it needs to be modernized. Goldstein
told the Tribune: "I will not be asking the County
Board for a higher appropriation during my term."
Goldstein is endorsed with the hope that he would
put taxpayers first and work to eliminate this
obsolete office.
BOARD OF REVIEW
District 2: This obscure but influential
board has indirectly raised homeowners' property-tax
bills for decades by giving relief to big clients of
prominent attorneys. Last year, the Board of Review
gave about $3 of valuation relief to owners of
commer- cial property for every $1 it gave to
homeowners.
The king of this clouted realm is Democratic insider
Joseph Berrios of the board's 2nd District, which
includes parts of the near north suburbs, the North
Side, downtown and the Southwest Side. Did we
mention that Berrios happily supported Stroger's tax
increase?
The Republican on the ballot, Lauren Elizabeth
McCracken-Quirk, appears not to be actively
campaigning, so the Tribune can't endorse her. But
giving her your vote would tell Berrios and Stroger
how you feel.
District 3: In 2004,
Larry Rogers Jr.
dumped Democratic fixture Robert Shaw in the primary
election. We endorse Rogers, a bright man with
potential to advance to higher office. He has done a
good job in a district that includes central and
southern Chicago plus south and near west suburbs.
We do wish Rogers would operate with complete
independence from Berrios.
Rogers' Republican opponent, Lionel Garcia, could be
a building block in a re-energized Cook County
Republican Party. Mr. Rogers, we wish you
another term. Mr. Garcia, we wish you a lush future
in politics.
