The September 1 Cook County Board meeting commenced with an invocation by Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago, the Pledge of Allegiance, and a moving tribute to recently-deceased Senator Ted Kennedy. The Board recognized eleven-year-old Adonis Bell for saving his family from a fire in the middle of the night.
Mr. William Foley, the recently-named CEO of the Health and Hospitals Systems (HHS), presented a report on the progress of the hospital's attempts to reduce their budget. A $74-million reduction in the budget has already been attained. Mr. Foley provided the dates for public hearings, to take place in September at various hospitals throughout Chicago. He characterized the county's new direction in health care as seeking partnerships with other health facilities and medical organizations to ease the financial burden of Cook County's massive health system.
After Mr. Foley's address to the Board, President Stroger introduced Edwin Reyes, the newly appointed 8th District Commissioner, filling the seat from which Commisssioner Maldonado recently resigned.
Commissioner Beavers introduced a motion that the Head of Ethics address the Board about potential conflicts of interest regarding commissioners' use of the sales tax to advance their own political clout. He warned the commissioners of potential ethical charges that may be filed, due to such conflicts of interest. The motion failed.
Commissioner Daley, concerned about the whereabouts of the budgets of various county groups, introduced a motion for Takashi Reinbold, Budget Director, to report on the status of departmental budgets. President Stroger requested such information some time ago. Mr. Reinbold reported that many 2010 budgets still must be submitted.
The commissioners each stated their current position on the veto of the tax rollback, after which a vote was taken to either support or reject President Stroger's veto of the tax rollback. President Stroger's veto was sustained so that the entired 1.75 per cent of the Cook County sales tax remains in effect. William Beavers, Jerry Butler, Joseph Mario Moreno, and Deborah Sims voted to sustain the veto.
