Proposed 2015 Cook County Executive Budget: October 27, 2015 Public Hearing at Skokie Courthouse, 5600 Old Orchard Road

The following Commissioners were present at the public hearing: Moore, Goslin, Steele, Daley, Suffredin and Silvestri. This was the last opportunity for members of the public to provide comments on the proposed budget. The courthouse was full. There was a mixed reaction to the budget, below is a summary of the testimony.

There were several speakers, including church groups, a member of the McGaw YMCA in Evanston, and representatives from the Erie Health Clinic, that were supportive of the budget levels and the care that they receive and are provided by different centers in the Health and Hospital Systems.They believe that programs such as Access to Care, in partnership with County Care provide a needed service to people who are underinsured or with no insurance. Commissioner Suffredin commented that these programs were very important and that the Board will continue to support them. There was a speaker from Women’s Business DevelopmentCenter who also voiced support of their continuing partnership with Cook County.

Several speakers from church groups and Illinois Collaboration on Youth asked for a $1 million grant to support programs to combat violence in Cook County. There is a need for more community based programs in support of alternatives to incarceration of minor offenses, programs to help youth and initiatives to stop gun violence. In addition, there is an urgent need to reform the criminal justice system.

The National Nurses Association raised issues of the closure of several health clinics and felt this was a bad policy and has an impact on patients.  The patients now face extra costs to get to clinics that are not in their neighborhoods. In addition, nurses are worried that because of the closures, people will not go to clinics to receive proper immunizations, STD services, and care for women and children along with other services. It was also stated that there is concern for those clinics in courthouses. The process of entering a courthouse can be scary to some, especially undocumented people.

Submitted by Nancy Marcus