Friday, May 22, 2009

Sales Tax Veto Not Overridden

May 19th Cook County Board of Commissioners Meeting

All Board members were present; the meeting began 25 minutes late waiting for President Stroger.  A large media presence (with cameras) was there. The main topic of the day was whether the Board would have the votes to override Stroger's veto of the  1% Cook County sales tax repeal voted on May 5th.  The meeting was rather contentious with several moments of audience participation.

Stroger began by reading his communication on why he vetoed the repeal of the 1% additional sales tax.  His main thrust was that the health and safety of the county would be severely harmed by the cut in sales taxes, warning that hospitals and clinics  serving the poor would be closed.  

Almost all commissioners had comments to explain their upcoming votes:  
Comm. Peraica pointed out that hospitals and clinics would not be closed and that it was up to the Board, not the President to make this decision.  He submitted a proposal that showed how to save money without making these cuts.
Comm. Mareno regreted his vote to repeal the 1% sales tax at the last meeting.  He said he was caught up in the "passion of the moment."
Comm. Collins "can't believe" the commissioners voted on a repeal at the last meeting when she was absent.  She will not vote for or against the override (effectively voting against it), wanting to just "go home for once in peace."
Comm. Murphy spoke in favor of cutting the tax, but not repealing the whole 1%.  She said the press needed to do more investigative reporting because lots of programs would be hurt.  She seemed a bit confused as she contradicted herself several times during this vote and the next one.
Comm. Claypool denied Stroger's claim that 17% cuts were already made.  He indicated it was only 3%; later in the meeting he showed documentation that the cuts have only been 1.9% and "they were in the wrong area--health and police instead of patronage and bureaucracy."
Comm. Steele said if unemployment goes up, the county will have to pay for "it" anyway.  He said the swine flu will get worse if clinics are cut and that Cook County only taxes 17 items.    Comm. Butler and Beavers basically concurred that health care would suffer.
Comm. Silvestri pointed out that the sales tax should be cut and the new budget  be  realigned with less money to spend.
Comm. Daley said he would still vote to repeal the 1% sales tax.  As far as expenditures, he pointed out that 85% of the budget is personnel and there is no hiring freeze and raises are still being given.
Comm. Maldanado referred to his constituents saying they were against the 1% sales tax.  He would vote to override the veto.  He proposed an additional $25.00 vehicle tax for all residents of Cook County instead of the sales tax.
Comm. Goslin said trimming and consolidating services is needed as well as cutting personnel to the 22,000 Stroger said he would do when elected.
Comm. Gorman said the additional sales tax hurts businesses because residents go to neighboring counties to shop where the tax rate is much less.  She said Cook County unions were willing to pay more for their own benefits in order to keep their jobs.
Comm. Gainer complained about "patronage and a bloated budget" that needed to be taken care of before new taxes are added.

Comm. Sims spoke at length about the need to help the indigent  with new revenues.  She would eventually like to repeal the 1% sales tax, but have money come from other revenue sources.
Comm. Suffredin questioned Stroger's written communication, saying the Health and Hospital System will probably have a surplus this year due to  restructuring of  billing and other changes made by the new hospital board.  The federal stimulus bill will help the county meet expenses.He stated that the sales tax makes Cook County a symbol of bad government.

In the end, the veto  was not overridden (11 votes for override, 4 against, and 2 present).  In Cook County, 14 commissioners need to vote yes to override a veto, so the sales tax increase of 1% (for a total of 1.75%) stays for now.

Directly after this, Comm. Gorman proposed a 3/4% cut in the sales tax with the balance to be repealed within 2  years.  The vote was 10 for and 7 against this.
President Stroger indicated later he would also veto this bill.

On another note, the Board passed an ordinance amendment sponsored by Comm. Goslin which prohibits the President of the Board from also being a legislative member of the Board.   This separates the executive and legislative branches of the Cook County Board.  Passed 9 to 7 with 1 absence. This took 3 votes to get passed due to confusion and maneuvering by various board members (for example, Collins wanted to vote yes, but said "for political reasons" she would vote no).

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Cook County Forest Preserve Meeting May 6 2009

Quick light upbeat meeting started with FPD Police Department’s Chief Richard Waszak, giving commendations to many officers for their superior efforts on behalf of the public, including saving of a life.

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

On May 1 at 7:30am the Human Resources Committee of the Cook County Health and Hospitals System Board met at Stroger Hospital.

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:
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
Ms. Young further stated that the doctors were upset when their petition to unionize was rejected by the HHS Board and they felt betrayed that the HHS Board had "sided with the County". She further stated that the doctors have tried for 20 years to unionize and the County has gone to court over the issue claiming that the doctors are supervisors and therefore cannot unionize. She was appealing to the Board again to honor their petition. 2 more doctors spoke in support of the petition, one stating that doctors have a role as teachers not as supervisors since they have no role in the hiring or firing of personnel.

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
Board Chairman Batts asked Dr. Martinez if progress was being made. Dr. Martinez says that the committee focus has mostly been on getting minority representation on the medical staff and while progress has been made, it is slow. Also with the latest budget cuts, some of the doctors who were cut were minority physicians since they tend to be younger and have less seniority.

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