Appointments and Reappointments
Before the regular Cook County Board meeting, several items passed in committee meetings. Appointments to several Boards were approved. Of note were three appointments to the Health and Hospital Systems (HHS) independent board: Ricardo Estrada, CEO of Metropolitan Family Services, Emilie Junge, a labor attorney, and Ada Mary Gugenheim, a reappointment with a community health and nursing background. (Keith Bevans name was withdrawn by President Preckwinkle). The Independent Inspector General of the county, Patrick Blanchard, was re-appointed to a 6-year term. His office has dealt with Shakman compliance issues, ethics, prosecutions, procurement irregularities, contract compliance and issues at HHS among others. He received a lot of praise from the CC Board for his office's work during his first term.
Revenue Report
The Revenue report given by the Comptroller showed a shortfall of over $33 million so far this year, mainly due to increased expenses in County Care and Cermak Hospital, lower case load in the courts (fewer mortgage foreclosures) with resultant lower fee collection, and less than budgeted fee collection in the Recorder of Deeds office.
At the regular Board meeting an AFSCME union representative spoke on behalf of the Public Defenders' Office who have been without of a contract for the last two years due to health care cost increase disagreements.
Ordinances Passed
An ordinance was passed to prohibit lobbyists from contacting commissioners during the Board meetings in the County Board room. A lobbyist registration ordinance was deferred to the next meeting. An amendment to the Cook County Real Property Transfer Tax Ordinance was passed. This mirrors state law and permits electronic affixing of tax stamps. A resolution opposing the construction of a nuclear waste repository in the Great Lakes Basin was passed. This protest resolution will be sent to various government entities in Canada and the United States. An ordinance was approved to consolidate the County's real estate assets under one umbrella group, the Space Allocation Committee, under the leadership of an Asset Manager. The County occupies over 19 million square feet of space. This project is meant to better streamline, consolidate and manage the County's real estate needs and current occupancy, which has often been under-utilized, antiquated, and yet also cramped.
Cook County Salary Discussion
There was much discussion of Cook County salary increases, including HHS and Board of Review salary increases. Commissioner Tobolski complained that HHS should not be spending $228,000 for a new senior management position. Representatives from HHS and the Board of Review explained the increases and need for position to the satisfaction of most commissioners. Commissioner Sims spoke against the Independent HHS Board and would prefer that the Cook County Board revert back to controlling the Hospital System. Pres. Preckwinkle and Commissioners Gorman and Daley declared an independent HHS Board is the better method.
Board Procedures
With regard to Board procedures during these meetings: It was still difficult to follow legislation passed because committee reports were passed as a whole without description of their contents. At this meeting, eleven committee reports were approved in this manner. Although this information can eventually be obtained on-line, it is not easily seen by members of the audience while the meeting is going on. These committee meetings are often held earlier in the day or on the day before the Board meeting, which is a very tight timeline. In addition, paper copies of agendas were not available until the meeting was well underway. Substitute amendments were passed out to Board members at the last minute before voting on them; the audience had no way of seeing those. The consent calendar, which sometimes contains resolutions regarding county business was not available on-line or on paper.
Amy Little
Karin Hribar
LWVCC Observers
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