Reports on meetings of Cook County governments from League of Women Voters of Cook County member volunteers.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Sales Tax Veto Not Overridden
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Cook County Forest Preserve Meeting May 6 2009
A resolution was read into the record by Larry Suffredin (D-13) thanking the Forest Preserve Police Dept. and the Cook County Building and Zoning Department for their help with the grand opening, April 19th, of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Educational Center, located in the Village of Skokie.
A spokesman for the Museum said there is an excellent section in the museum for children under 12.
The (IHSA) Sectional Bass Fishing Tournament was a tremendous success.
Twenty eight schools competed in 3 locations.
Busse Lake
Winner: Wheaton-Warrenville South High School
Runners-up York Community High School & James B. Conant High School
Tampier Lake
Winner: Carl Sandburg High School
Runner-Up Brother Rice High School
Skokie Lagoons
Winner: Maine West High School
Runner-Up Taft High School & Regina Dominican High School
All winners and runner ups will advance to the downstate Illinois State finals. No date set at this time. (but soon I expect)
Mary Ann Tate
May 17, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Commissioners Vote to End Sales Tax Increase
Cook County Board Meeting May 5, 2009
All commissioners were present, except for Commissioners Sims and Gainer.
The commissioners voted to approve President Stroger's appointment of Joseph Fratto as the Interim Chief Financial Officer. The Deputy Chief of Staff will assume Fratto's former position until someone is hired permanently.
Item #4, regarding the President being elected by the County at large, and being the Chief Executive Officer of the County, was moved to the Finance Committee. Commissioner Mareno said it should go to the Rules Committee, not Finance. Six voted "no", and eight voted "aye". The motion carried. ( Commissioner Mareno and Commissioner Peraica got into a shouting match.)
Item # 5 regarding Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Districts: A representative said it was no longer sustainable financially due to the economic downturn. Commissioner Peraica said it was unconstitutional. ASA Driscoll said he should speak to the Planning & Development committee, that drafted it. John Schneider, Director of Economic Development, responded that the fiscal impact would be determined on a case by case basis, and that the purpose of it was to keep business in Cook County. Commissioner Peraica commented that the way to keep business here would be to eliminate the sales tax.
The Department of Revenue recommended decreasing the sales tax from 1.75 to 1.25 per cent. Commissioner Maldonado moved to amend the item to remove the entire sales tax increase enacted in 2008. There was a discussion, during which ASA Driscoll approved the vote on a proposed amendment. President Stroger stated, "I'm very upset today", and proceeded to scream in the microphone about how this was a political move by the commissioners who were taking criticism for the tax increase. Commissioner Claypool said that instead of increasing the sales tax, the County should streamline the bureaucracy and eliminate excess staff. The Budget Director said that the impact of repealing the entire increase would be a 22% decrease from all departments' budgets. He also stated that the County's bond rating could be affected negatively. At this point, the President shouted in the microphone, "I'm tired of all this crap . . . I'm not taking this crap!" The amended motion to repeal the entire sales tax passed despite the president's remarks. Commissioner Peraica slapped a high five with a commissioner sitting behind him. Twelve commissioners said the County needs to make cuts.
The rest of the 60 items on the agenda were passed very quickly, with the exception of numbers 46 through 50, which were withdrawn.
--Submitted by Observer Beverly Graham
Monday, May 11, 2009
Cook County Finance Committee—May 5, 2009 Meeting
All commissioners present except for Simms, Steele and Gainer
Commissioner Peraica questioned an item ordering a transfer to Juvenile Detention. He said that since the population of the facility was reduced, it should not require more funding. He also questioned duplication of services with security and janitorial services, as the Sheriff was providing security as well. He also made reference to abuse of juveniles by County employees. Commissioner Daley reminded him that the Court had already ordered the expenditure. A representative from the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center spoke and said that it is a separate entity, and that the Sheriff had no jurisdiction over it. The spokesman said that the money comes from self-insurance funds as it is a court order. There were no other questions. Commissioner Peraica voted "no". The rest voted "aye".
Item 300007 Cook County Project Shield
This is a mobile, video and data network. The cost is $6 million for continual installation and repair. Commissioner Peraica asked when it would be completed. Answer: 12/21/09. It was approved with only Commissioner Peraica voting "no".
Commissioner Peraica questioned several workman's compensation claims.
Item 300039 (Workman's Comp Claim): Three commissioners voted "no", yet they were on the committee that approved the claim. ASA Driscoll explained that the County settled to avoid going to court. Commissioner Peraica said we should have defended the claim. (Apparently it was a Shackman case. ) Commissioner Peraica said it was "corruption tax".
Commissioner Peraica questioned bids on food contracts for Juvenile Detention. He also questioned the County Commissioners' Contingency Fund as he felt that an appointed officer should not report infractions. He also took issue with the Board of Ethics review as the Director is appointed by the President. (The ordinance allows several avenues of review and could be used by political appointees to their advantage.) Commissioner Daley asked why Commissioner Peraica didn't bring his complaints. Commissioner Peraica moved to remove the Director of the Board of Ethics. The motion was amended. All voted "aye" (even Peraica!).
--Submitted by Observer Beverly Graham
Friday, May 1, 2009
HHS Human Resources Committee deals with Union Issues and Diversity Report
Emily Young, a representative from the Stroger Hospital Doctors' Council, gave a presentation requesting that the doctors at Stroger Hospital be allowed to unionize, since the doctors at the other hospitals in the system already have. She stated that a petition requesting this has been signed by a majority of the doctors at Stroger. She provided the following reasons for unionization:
- A majority of the physicians want a voice in what they do for the county. While they acknowlege the voice of the Executive Council they feel their collective voice in a union would be more beneficial.
- The fact that doctors at some of the hospitals in the system are unionized while at Stroger they are not creates a dysfunctional system and lowers morale among the Stroger physician staff.
- The doctors at Stroger were a strong voice in helping to create a separate HHS Board and they want to be a partner with the board and have a voice in what happens within the system.
During the public comment time an RN from Cermak Hospital expressed the concern of her union that the negotiations for their contract were taking so long. Negotiations began in October of 2008.
Dr. Martinez gave a presentation on the Diversity Council for the HHS.
- Written information was provided to board members on health disparities.
- He stated that on-line Cultural Competency Training is done yearly.
- Attempts are being made to collect data on race/ethnicity of staff and patients throughout the system. He stated that system wide about half of patients are African-American, and a quarter are Hispanic. The large number of those in the "other" category indicates a probable data collection issue and training of data entry personnel will be done.
- Among the leadership at the hospital about 50% are white, 30% African American, and 7% Hispanic.
- Employee data is now in the system but so far no reports have been generated. Information on employees should be available soon.
- The Council is writing their Mission Statement which they will run by the State's Attorney before presenting to the Board
- They will meet with the new CEO when he arrives to see how they should move forward
The process for revision of Personnel Policies was outlined. Efforts are being made to combine 2 existing policies into one and update all policies. It was recommended that to expedite the process the staff would present the revised policies to an appointed Working Group from the board. This Working Group would work with staff to review and revise the policies before presenting them first to this committee and then to the full board for approval. The recommendation was accepted and Chairman Batts appointed directors Zopp and Ramirez and himself to be the Working Group.
The meeting went into closed session at 8:20am to consider stipends, personnel matters, and an update on labor negotiations.
Cynthia Schilsky, LWVCC Observer