News Archive
State politics smitten with incurable plague
Chicago Sun-Times
August
20, 2008
By Carol Marin
Nepotitis. Unlike erectile dysfunction, the heartbreak of psoriasis
or restless leg syndrome, there's no treatment for this one. Read
more
Barred from putting name on forest preserves, Stroger claims road
signs
Daily Herald
August 15, 2008
Back in 2006 when the Cook County Board president's seat was vacant
from John H. Stroger's stroke and before his son Todd Stroger took
over, county commissioners saw a golden opportunity.
With no one around to defend the practice, they prohibited the
time-honored tradition of the president placing his name on forest
preserve signs - a costly practice to keep up when officeholders
changed. Read more
'It's just war'
Chicago Tribune Editorial
July 31, 2008
On the radio Sunday morning, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger
went after his critics, including this paper. Read
more
Stroger's magazine not the best idea for problem-plagued county
Southtown Star Editorial
July 30, 2008
Let's imagine you're an elected official. Public image is important.
You want constituents to think well of the job you're doing. You
want to get the word out about the good things your office is doing.
Read more
So now Todd's a publisher?
Chicago Sun-Times Editorial
July 29, 2008
It's another Wile E. Coyote moment for Cook County Board President
Todd Stroger. Read more
Misspellings, grammar errors put county mag on ice
Chicago Sun-Times
July
27, 2008
ByMark J. Konkol
Tired of getting "pummeled by the newspapers every day,"
Cook County Board president Todd Stroger's administration has decided
to counter with a new magazine overseen by county officials. Read
more
Amidst record tax hike, county cuts program for poor moms, babies
Daily Herald
July 14, 2008
Despite raising taxes $426 million annually earlier this year, Cook
County leaders have decided to stop funding at least $1.8 million
a year for a program designed to keep poor pregnant women and their
babies healthy. Read more
Killing the sales tax hike
Chicago Tribune Editorial
July 7, 2008
Day after day, Cook County Board members who voted to raise the
sales tax awaken to more headaches that will keep their dereliction
of duty right where it belongs: in the forefront of furious voters'
minds. Read more
Fitch questions Cook sales tax hike, cuts outlook
Crain's Chicago Business
July
2, 2008
By Greg Hinz
Even as controversy rages over Cook County’s big new sales
tax hike, a major financial ratings service is warning that the
county’s fiscal picture is darkening and suggests that a sales-tax
increase now may not have been a good idea.
Read more
Soaring taxes lead to sore taxpayers
Chicago Sun-Times
July
2, 2008
By Carol Marin
There it was, right in front of me, the face of the Dump Todd Stroger
Revolution. I witnessed it at the Starbucks on Racine and Wrightwood
at 6:38 a.m. Tuesday. The guy ahead of me was getting his usual,
a grande coffee, caf not decaf. Monday's price: $2.04. Tuesday's
price: $2.07. Read more
Sales tax hike goes into effect today
ABC News
July1
, 2008
By Theresa Gutierrez 
Get ready to pay more to shop in Cook County. A new hike in the
sales tax takes effect Tuesday, giving Chicago the highest rate
of any big city in the nation. Read more
Cook County tax hike will bite consumers, businesses
The Southtown Star
June 30, 2008
Come Tuesday, Chicago will have the highest sales tax rate of any
big city in the nation, and Keith Kujawa is already thinking about
how he could save money. For one, he could move. Read
more
Your Stroger-Daley Tax
Chicago Tribune Editorial
June 30, 2008
"Revenue is reform."
— Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, asserting in February
that higher taxation would reform county government. Read
more
Cronyism is the star of Stroger's hiring show
Chicago Tribune Editorial
May 20, 2008
The front page news Monday was Cook County Board President Todd
Stroger's hiring of two men with criminal records.
We have no quarrel with Stroger on that. Read
more
County clout for ex-cons
Chicago Sun-Times
By Steve Patterson, Staff Reporter
May 19, 2008
Both have criminal records and both are brothers of state legislators.
Now, both have been personally hired by Cook County Board President
Todd Stroger. Read more
Exposing Todd Stroger: A County In Crisis
CBS News
By Mike Flannery
May 12, 2008
Financial troubles at Cook County's Stroger Hospital and health
clinics are worse than previously reported. Officials tell CBS 2
that income fell short by $21.6 million in the first four months
of the fiscal year, about 24 percent less than projected. Read
more
A stacked deck
Chicago Tribune Editorial
May 7, 2008
If you were looking for qualified people to overhaul one of the
worst-run public health systems in the country, would you pick someone
who has already run a health center into the ground? Todd Stroger
would and did. Read more
Cook County Realtor hired by Stroger demoted after questions of
his qualifications
Chicago Tribune
By Hal Dardick
April 29, 2008
A real estate agent Cook County Board President Todd Stroger hired
for a high-level Health Department job apparently created just for
him in January has been demoted and had his salary cut after the
Tribune questioned his qualifications.
Read more
Critics: Chicago-style politics lives on in Cook County
Chicago Tribune
By Deanna Bellandi | Associated Press
Writer
April 27, 2008
Todd Stroger promised Cook County government would be different
when he was in charge. Long criticized as bloated by unwise spending
and a padded payroll, the county would be leaner. Hiring based on
political clout would be a thing of the past. And the massive bureaucracy
would be made more efficient. But more than a year after Stroger
was sworn in as president of the County Board -- succeeding his
father -- critics say not much has changed in a government perhaps
best known as a place where clout greases the political machine.
Read more
Stroger's cousin gets 12% hike
Chicago Sun-Times
By Steve Patterson, Staff Reporter
March 24, 2008
When Cook County Board President Todd Stroger introduced his cousin
Donna Dunnings as the county's new chief financial officer last
year, they each boasted of the savings taxpayers would realize.
She would take a salary far less than the previous CFO. That was
then. Read more
Cook County's health services chief submits resignation
Chicago Tribune
By Hal Dardick, TRIBUNE REPORTER
March 6, 2008
Dr. Robert Simon, the oft-criticized interim chief of the troubled
Cook County public health system, said Wednesday that he has submitted
his resignation after he achieved his goals of maintaining basic
services and helping fix the system's budget woes. Read
more
Second City No More
Wall Street Journal
March 5, 2008
Over the weekend, Chicago lifted itself to the top of a tax dishonor
roll: The city's cumulative sales-tax rate is now the steepest of
any major metropolitan area in America, at 10.25%. That blows past
the former valedictorian, Memphis (9.25%), as well as New Orleans
(9%), Denver (8.6%), and even New York and Los Angeles. Congratulations.
Read more
Patronage thriving, county told
Chicago Tribune
By Hal Dardick, TRIBUNE REPORTER
Tribune reporter Gary Washburn contributed to this report
March 4, 2008
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's administration has not
done enough to prevent illegal political hiring, according to a
new report from a federal court monitor that suggests patronage
is alive and well in county government. The report was filed Friday,
hours before Stroger won approval of more than $400 million in new
taxes, in part to make more than 1,000 new hires this year. Read
more
Monitor: Patronage still influences county hiring
Chicago Sun-Times
By Steve Patterson, Staff Reporter
March 3, 2008
As the Cook County board is adding hundreds of new jobs to the payroll,
a federal hiring monitor reports that political patronage continues
to influence county hiring. Read more
County gets its bounty
Chicago Sun-Times
By Steve Patterson, Staff Reporter
March 2, 2008
A drink at the bar, a fast-food meal and back-to-school shopping
are among those things about to get a bit more expensive in Cook
County. Early Saturday, Cook County commissioners voted 9-8 to approve
a 1 percentage point increase in the sales tax -- driving Chicago's
overall sales tax to double digits at 10.25 percent, easily among
the highest of any big city in America. And the new higher tax will
take effect just in time for the Christmas shopping season.
Read more
Stroger, Cook County get money for future
Chicago Tribune
By Hal Dardick and Robert Becker | Tribune
staff reporters
March 2, 2008
Oh, what a difference a percentage point makes. Only a year ago,
County Board President Todd Stroger was lopping bodies from the
county payroll and closing health clinics as a way to heal a gaping
budget deficit. Read more
Todd's new PR guy has a PR problem
Chicago Sun-Times
By Steve Patterson, Staff Reporter
February 29, 2008
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's latest choice for public
relations chief has a tough job. Before he can begin to try to clean
up his boss' image, Gene Mullins has a PR problem of his own. He'll
have to answer criticisms that Stroger's hiring practices resemble
a "friends and family plan." The rub for Mullins? He's
a childhood friend of Stroger.
Read more
Stroger rejects tax compromise
Chicago Sun-Times
By Steve Patterson, Staff Reporter
February 29, 2008
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger has the votes he needs
to raise the sales tax to 1.5 percent and help balance the county
budget. But he's rejecting it, because he wants an even higher sales
tax hike that will prevent him from having to ask taxpayers for
more funds in 2009 and 2010 — when he's up for re-election.
Read more
Todd Stroger's doomsday
Chicago Tribune Editorial
February 28, 2008
You knew the threats were coming. They always do. Year after year,
whenever the Cook County Board refuses to raise taxes, county officials
sputter to the TV cameras that they'll have to interrupt services.
Read more
Board eyes budget cuts after Stroger shuns smaller tax hike
Chicago Sun-Times
By Steve Patterson, Staff Reporter
February 28, 2008
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is unwilling to budge from
his demand to raise the county sales tax 167 percent and is preparing
to see county government shut down. Read
more
Board's D.C. trip costs you $10k
Chicago Sun-Times
By Steve Patterson, Staff Reporter
February 28, 2008
Amid threats to cut jobs and close health clinics and courthouses,
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger and almost half of the
County Board are set to get away from it all this weekend in Washington,
D.C., at taxpayer expense.
Read more
Cook commissioners OK bigger staffs, deny mammogram funding
Daily Herald
By Rob Olmstead, Daily Herald Staff
February 27, 2008
On a day when a block of Cook County commissioners cried out for
tax increases to pay for health care, most of the same commissioners
chose to raise their own office staff budgets by 26 percent rather
than give up some of that money to pay for poor women's mammograms.
Read more
Stroger's tax day--and yours
Chicago Tribune Editorial
February 25, 2008
Members of the Cook County Board on Monday will be asked one more
time to make their constituents pay hundreds of millions in higher
taxes -- because board President Todd Stroger has blatantly refused
to keep his promises. Refused to do his job. If you want County
Board members to know how you feel about that, keep reading. Read
more
Getting away from it all on your dime
Chicago Sun-Times
By Steve Patterson, Staff Reporter
February 25, 2008
Week after week, Cook County hospital chief Dr. Robert Simon painfully
tells County Board members there's no waste and no frills in his
bare-bones hospital operation.
It's the same argument used by his boss, County Board President
Todd Stroger, in asking taxpayers to cough up more to fund county
government.
Yet, on weekends, Simon uses taxpayer money to drive his county-issued
car 320 miles, round-trip, to and from his family home. Read
more
Stroger struggles for support of tax hike 
ABC News
By Andy Shaw
November 19, 2007
Cook County board president Todd Stroger ran into trouble trying
to sell his proposed sales tax increase Monday. He got together
with other county leaders hoping for their support. While they backed
his budget, they balked at endorsing the tax increase. Read
more
County health care system needs overhaul
Daily Southtown Commentary
By Jesse Jackson Jr.
October 28, 2007
Amateur night at the asylum. That's how a nationally recognized
public health expert describes the financial health of Cook County's
health care system. Read more
Stroger Goggles
Chicago Tribune Editorial
October 18, 2007
Should citizens entrust $890 million a year in new tax revenues
to Cook County Board President Todd Stroger? Put on a pair of Stroger
Goggles, which distort reality, and you'll see what he sees -- a
government that he says has achieved "enormous operational
efficiencies" and adopted "modern business practices."
Read more
How much more can we take?
Chicago Sun-Times
By Steve Patterson, Staff Reporter
October 18. 2007
Stroger defends his call for higher taxes
than needed as more fiscally responsible -- and says he might give
some back.
Read more
Stroger proposes to roll three years of taxes into one
Daily Herald
By Rob Olmstead | Daily Herald Staff
October 18. 2007
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger doesn't want to bother
you next year with yet another request to raise your taxes. Or the
year after that. After all, there's only going to be another structural
budget deficit in those years -- just like there's one this year.
Read more
Stroger's $888 million tax hikes
Chicago Tribune
By Mickey Ciokajlo | Tribune staff reporter
October 17, 2007
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger wants to triple the sales
tax and double the gas and parking taxes to pay for 1,130 new county
jobs and cover rising costs. Read more
A bit of the Southland goes slip-slidin' away
Daily Southtown Editorial
October 11, 2007
The Issue: Cook County officials decided to dismantle the Swallow
Cliff toboggan slides, a longtime area attraction.
We say: The closing of this popular winter recreation spot is typical
of the incompetent way our county is governed.
Read more
'Woefully lacking' county health system
Chicago Tribune Commentary
By Dr. Elizabeth Jacobs, Senior Attending
Physician, Stroger Hospital
October 8, 2007
Thank you to the Tribune Editorial Page for expressing what many
of us "in the trenches" know about Cook County governance.
It is woefully lacking. Read more
How Cook dug itself into a hole
Chicago Tribune
By Mickey Ciokajlo | Tribune staff reporter
October 7, 2007
Cook County came within a vote or two last week of slapping shoppers
with one of the heftiest sales taxes in the country. Read
more
No justification for Stroger's sales tax hike
Daily Southtown Editorial
September 28, 2007
The Issue: Todd Stroger is pushing a $750 million sales tax hike
without revealing a budget plan to justify the increase. We say:
It's an outrage, and the people of Cook County should not put up
with it. Read more
Todd Stroger's 'solemn oath'
Chicago Tribune Editorial
September 26, 2007
...here we are, edging toward the start of a budget year that begins
Dec. 1, and Stroger is playing footsie with the idea of tax increases.
Read more
Patronage killing health hope for poor
Chicago Tribune Commentary
By Forrest Claypool
September 11, 2007
The American Cancer Society recently announced it will devote its
entire advertising budget to the tragedies caused by inadequate
health insurance. Read more
IRS hits Todd Stroger's campaign for unpaid taxes
Chicago Sun-Times
By Steve Patterson, Staff Reporter
September 11, 2007
The Internal Revenue Service has slapped a federal tax lien on Cook
County Board President Todd Stroger's campaign committee. Read
more
The Issue: Cook County officials are mulling utility taxes and
other taxes to raise revenue as they prepare next year's budget.
Daily Southtown Editorial
September 11, 2007
We say: Before asking citizens to dig deeper, the county needs to
eliminate waste, mismanagement and bloated payrolls. Read
more
County's high-paid jobs escape 'chop from top'
Chicago Sun-Times
By Steve Patterson, Staff Reporter
September 9, 2007
As Cook County Board President Todd Stroger looked for jobs to cut
during this year's budget battle, union leaders and critics chanted
for him to "chop from the top."
But when the budget was finally passed, many complained that Stroger
had cut thousands of lower-paid, frontline workers in order to protect
higher-paid, politically connected patronage workers. Read
more
Women falling through holes in safety net
Chicago Sun-Times
By Carol Marin, Columnist
August 12, 2007
It is one of life's leveling moments: There you awkwardly sit in
a wrinkled, blue cotton hospital gown you had trouble tying, waiting
for your name to be called so you can untie, strip and be squeezed
into the vice-like grip of a mammogram machine. Read
more
Why evict patients who need help?
Chicago Sun-Times
By Mark Brown, Columnist
April 8, 2007
A ragtag procession of patients in wheelchairs made their way down
the long drive leading from Oak Forest Hospital to the 159th Street
entrance on Friday afternoon to hold a rally protesting their threatened
relocation. Read more
County clout survives as workers lose jobs
Chicago Sun-Times Editorial
April 6, 2007
After the Cook County Board passed its budget in February, some
1,700 county workers lost their jobs, most of them front-line workers
like nurses, prosecutors, janitors and court clerks. The cuts were
brutal and demoralizing, but given the county's precarious financial
situation, they might have been defendable, if not for the fact
that far too much fat and patronage escaped the ax. Nearly every
day since then, it seems, we find more proof that clout trumps common
sense in President Todd Stroger's world. Read
more
Cook County needs to retain commitment to long-term patients
Daily Southtown Editorial
March 25, 2007
The issue: Cook County's top health official is considering
eliminating most or all of the beds in Oak Forest Hospital's
long-term care unit.
We say: Closing -- or even reducing -- this unit would be disastrous
for the needy patients who require the complex care the facility
provides. The county should look for cuts elsewhere and not
put patients' health at risk. Read more
$130 million in unpaid hospital bills found
Chicago Sun-Times
By Steve Patterson, Staff Reporter
March 21, 2006
More than $130 million in unpaid Cook County Hospital bills
have been found stuffed into boxes — and officials said
40 or 50 more boxes could be stashed somewhere else. Read
more
No clear victory for taxpayers, but it's a start
Daily Southtown Editorial
March 1, 2007
The issue: Cook County board balanced the budget by cutting
front-line workers rather than patronage workers.
We say: The budget resolution might have been a step in the
right direction, but the test next year may be even tougher.
Read more
Stroger won budget battle -- now wage war on patronage
Chicago Sun-Times Editorial
February 26, 2007
The 2007 budget that was approved by the Cook County Board in
the wee hours last Friday was a clear political victory for
President Todd Stroger. In his first big test as county leader,
he won a showdown with a bloc of commissioners who pushed a
rival spending plan. But a political win for Stroger is not
necessarily a victory for Cook County residents. Read
more
Now, streamline Cook County
Chicago Tribune Editorial
February 25, 2007
As Thursday night lurched into Friday, the 17 members of the
Cook County Board argued a refreshing question: Which of two
proposals would best start to downsize their bloated government?
Read more
Jackson rips Stroger budget plan
Daily Southtown
By Jonathan Lipman
February 22, 2007
U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. stepped into the Cook County budget
mess Wednesday, threatening county commissioners in his congressional
district with "political consequences" if they don't
oppose board President Todd Stroger's spending plan. Read
more
Joy of tobogganing slides into memory in Cook County
Chicago Sun-Times
By Mark Brown, Columnist
February 21, 2007
I was driving through Western Springs past Bemis Woods on Tuesday
morning when I noticed the Cook County Forest Preserve District's
sign for the toboggan slides. "Closed for the 2006/2007
season," said the sign, as if this were some temporary
condition. Who are they kidding? The toboggan slides at Bemis
Woods have been closed since 2000.
Read more
Tuning out Todd
Chicago Tribune Editorial
February 14, 2007
During his inaugural address on Dec. 4, Cook County Board President
Todd Stroger made some worthwhile promises. He said he would slay
the "sacred cows in Cook County government" and balance
its 2007 budget without a tax increase... Read
more
Failure to bill costs Cook health system; Officials say total
for unpaid services at least $250 million
Chicago Tribune
By Judith Graham, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff reporter
Mickey Ciokajlo contributed.
January 14, 2007
Cook County's enormous health system failed to bill patients for
at least $250 million in medical services last year, and that helped
throw the system into a state of financial crisis, county officials
confirmed Friday. Read more
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