Looking back at last week's election

Looking back at last week's election
For the first time in a long time, Orland Park seemed to have one political spirit. It seemed like everyone had come together for the betterment of Orland Park.
I moved to Orland Park back in 1985 and it was still filled with prairies and vacant lots that soon after were filled with new homes. I knew the elected officials back then, Mayor Fred Owens and then trustee Dan McLaughlin and Tom Charnagorsky were great friends. Tinley Park, where I lived before moving to Orland Park, was the big political pond back then where another great leader, Ed Zabrocki was building his base.
It all made for great columns at the Daily Southtown, when that was a great community newspaper, and then the Chicago Sun-Times, another newspaper that has since fallen on hard ethical, skilled and financial times.
This last election, for some reason, reminded me of the good old days of Southwest Suburban politics where everyone had the same goal, to build this area up and make it better.
For the most part, the election went smoothly. John Fotopoulos, who has run unsuccessfully for office several times before, fell short. It seemed like he was a guaranteed winner. I told him that before the election. He was first on the ballot. He was also the only independent to file, which was important because the last time he ran, he took votes away from the slate of challengers trying to unseat controversial Village Trustee Pat Gira.
This time, though, Fotopoulos had no impact on the election.
Fotopoulos told Orland Patch editor Ben Feldheim, a good young reporter, that the low turnout caused his loss. He then took a shot at Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman who is also the Republican Committeeman arguing that Liz failed to slate someone against McLaughlin.
That was kind of a dumb comment. Sometimes, it's better to acknowledge that you lost because you failed to get your message out. And what was Fotopoulos' message? I don't know. He says he didn't have the money to reach voters, but he is an attorney and I drive by his name in big letters on his law firm every morning when I head out to work. Was it the money, or the lack of a message?
Bashing Gorman is certainly a big mistake. Liz Gorman has done so much for taxpayers. Remember, I used to be one of her critics, a long time ago. It was all politics then. But since then, Gorman proved she is a courageous and creative leader. She was fearless, too. I remember when she attended the Taxpayer Protest meeting I organized many years ago, while I was criticizing her politics, and that impressed me. I thought wow, you can hit her but she won't back down?
And then she led the fight against rising taxes, which was the very purpose of the meeting I organized. More than 100 people attended at the time. Gorman was responsible for a lot of great changes, including forcing the Cook County Board to repeal the excessive sales tax hike imposed by former Cook County Board Chairman Todd Stroger. She didn't have to do that. But she did.
She defended her seat against a formidable challenge from the 19th Ward and their candidate Pat Maher, the son of the former Village Clerk, and she has probably done more to make voting count in Orland Township and the suburbs, too, for that matter.
Bashing Gorman was a mistake by Fotopoulos. Unjustified. And maybe a major part of the reason why he lost and did so badly this time is his failure to work with Gorman and other leaders in the region.
It didn't help that someone sent out a very ugly attack against Brad O'Halloran, another elected official I respect a lot. The robo-call was vicious and offensive. Fotopoulos was blamed by his political foes in a mailer and I think everyone believed he was behind it. That robo-call may have cost him the election.
The robo-caller voice was that of a woman, with a fake name, and ended saying "This call is paid for by ..." and then it just ended.
Ironically, O'Halloran was the only elected official to join Gorman in challenging the financing of the Ninety 7 Fifty development near 143rd and LaGrange Road. O'Halloran came under vicious attack from Gira, who has been a big disappointment.
Rather than attack others, elected officials and candidates for elective office should instead spend their time telling people why they should be elected and detail their creative ideas to make this a better community. Voters tend to respond more to a clearly defined vision than to balls-out mudslinging.
Criticism is ok, but what we have seen in the past hasn't been criticism. It's been vicious and way beyond the line of doing any good. Voters are smart. They can see that.
The voter turnout was low, only 5,629 people voted. But the vote was decisive. It wasn't even close. 
I believe that contrary to popular belief, people who don't won't are not protesting "bad government leadership," but rather many are satisfied with the way government is working. They are happy with what government does and they recognize that taxes do increase and must. Who else is going to pay to upgrade our roads and provide services?
Remember, they implemented early voting to help bring out more voters, but the reality is that all that happened was that people who always vote ended up voting early and people who never vote but can, didn't. Nothing will make those people vote, it seems.
Outside of the Fotopoulos debacle and the ugly robo-call, the election went pretty smoothly and it suggests maybe a new era of our leaders working together for the betterment of the community. Gorman and McLaughlin are both strong leaders. They can do a lot more together than they can apart.
-- Ray Hanania

2nd Episode of Star Search Chicagoland taped for broadcast in August

Former White Sox Pitcher Bill Pierce poses with his wife Gloria, Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman (R-17) and 94 West Steak & Seafood Restaurant owner Bryan Sord. Pierce and Gorman were two of the celebrity judges appearing in the latest episode of Star Chef Chicagoland, a food reality show produced for Comcast Cable TV Channel 19 by Orland Park’s Ray Hanania. The show features celebrity chefs preparing meals for a panel of judges that also includes Nemer Ziyad, owner of Ziyad Brothers Importing and member of the Les Ames Escoiffier Society, and Sord. 

The second episode, to be broadcast in August on Friday nights at 7 pm or 8:30 pm (depending on your suburb) on Channel 19 Comcast Cable, features 2^nd City Comedian Aaron Freeman and his wife Sharon cooking a traditional Jewish Shabbat entre, Challah Bread and garlic string beans. 

For more information on the TV show you can visit www.StarChefChicagoland.com. The show is broadcast in 145 suburban Chicagoland communities. (Photo courtesy of Glenn Kaupert).

end

2nd Maher throws hat in for Cook County board ... and Orland Township committeeman

Gerald Maher, who was soundly defeated in a bid to unseat Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin last Spring, has turned his sights against his own Republican Party and is soliciting signatures to challenge Elizabeth “Liz” Doody Gorman both as Cook County Commissioner and the GOP Committeeman.

Maher, a Republican, believes he didn’t get enough support from Gorman and the Orland Township Republican Party in his bid to unseat McLaughlin and even alleged that Gorman backed McLaughlin.

McLaughlin, a union communications director, is also the Democratic Committeeman of Orland Park. Here's how Maher and McLaughlin did in the past three elections:

2001

Dan McLaughlin      6771 votes

Gerald Maher          2704 votes

2005

Dan McLaughlin      9248 (unopposed)

2009

Dan McLaughlin      5427

Gerald Maher         3049

Gerald Maher denied his candidacy is intended to help the candidacy of Patrick Maher, the Orland Fire Protection District president and the son of Orland Park Village Clerk David Maher, a McLaughlin ally.

“I am running because I want to make a difference in the 17^th Cook County District,” Maher said Tuesday during a telephone interview while soliciting signatures for his petitions. “Liz Gorman has been in office eight years and what has she done? Nothing. But absolutely, this has to do with her not supporting me and not doing what a committeeman is supposed to do when I ran for office.”

Maher said he is running for both positions that Gorman holds including Republican Committeeman for Orland Township.

Gorman, who has been leading the effort to repeal Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s oppressive 1 percent Sales Tax, scoffed at Gerald Maher’s assertions.

“He’s a stalking horse,” she said. “I put out a mailer for every one who ran for office and the only group I endorsed who lost was Gerald Maher’s slate. The highest vote getter came from the Republican side and I am proud of that. I had him in the endorsement sheet and he didn’t even have a mailer,” Gorman said.

“At the end of the day, everyone will figure out that Gerald Maher is a disgruntled wannabe public official who is upset not because I and the Republican Party did not help him. He is upset because has tried repeatedly to win office and has been consistently rejected by the voters. ‘Liz Gorman’ didn’t make him lose. We did everything for him. He lost because the voters don’t like him. He did it to himself.”

Gorman also said that she finds it ironic that Gerald Maher and David Maher got into a high profile battle over who was using whose name to win votes. (Read the story on the Maher vs Maher name controversy?) She is referring to the letter that was published in the Orland Pairie newspaper just before the village election in which David Maher, the village clerk, blasted Gerald Maher for using their good name.

Gerald Maher said he despises the tactics David Maher used in the last election and he insisted his own candidacy is not an effort to boost David Maher’s son’s chances next year. He also denied that Gorman endorsed his candidacy, but Gorman showed me her Township GOP brochure that in fact did include Maher's Ad, discounted.

“Is my candidacy a plus or minus for Pat Maher. I see it as an absolute minus. Contrary to what his father claims, I have been to Tipperary, Ireland and that is where the Maher name originates,” Gerald Maher said.

“They don’t pronounce it Mah-her there. They pronounce it ‘Maer.’ That name belongs to me as much as it does anyone else. For them to think they have the ownership of that name is naïve at best. Is it helping Pat Maher? Absolutely not. It is just the opposite.”

In an unexpected move, Gerald Maher's brother Robert Maher announced his unequivocal support for Gorman, blasting his brother and blaming him for his own election defeat. Robert Maher served as Orland Township Supervisor and was ousted in the April 7 elections by Democrat Paul O'Grady.

"I lost the election to Paul O'Grady mainly because my brother Gerald ran against Mayor McLaughlin and that caused a lot of confusion. But I think worst of all is my brother Gerald ran a terrible race," Robert Maher said in a telephone interview.

"I want to make it clear that I wholeheartedly support Liz Gorman's re-election for the Cook County Board and for Republican Committeeman. She has led the fight to repeal the 1 percent sales tax and to challenge County Board President Todd Stroger. She could not have done more for me in my election bid and I believe she is one of the most effective Republican leaders and county commissioners we have."

Patrick Maher is expected to file next week for the office of County Board in the Democratic Primary. He is expected to face Dr. Victor Forys in the February primary election. The winners of the Democratic and Republican primaries will face-off in the November 2010 general elections.

end

Reading the election fine print in the 17th Cook County District

A friend went to Randy's Market Monday in the Mall that the Village has been trying to shut down for the past year at 143rd and LaGrange when a woman came up to him and said, "Can you sign this petition? We want to get rid of Todd Stroger."

Now, my friend is no big fan of Todd Stroger, the Cook County Board President who shoved a 1 percent sales tax hike down our throats forcing businesses in Orland Park and other communities on the county's western borders to flee. So he said he stopped to sign and saw that it was actually a petition to Put Patrick Maher, the Democratic candidate for the Cook County 17th District on the ballot.

The friend was smart enough to ask what was up considering Pat Maher's father is in fact David Maher, the clerk of the Village of Orland Park, the very same village trying to shut down Randy's Market. And of course, he also knows that those "Mahers" are related to the powerful 19th Ward family of Tom and Dan Hynes, who both, by the way, have been big political backers of the Strogers, Todd and his late father John, for years.

I emailed Pat Maher (earlier today) asking him if in fact he is campaigning to oust Todd Stroger, because that would be a good story. It's especially a good story since Maher and Stroger are both Democrats and he is trying to unseat Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman, the Republican incumbent from the 17th District who has been a serious pain in Stroger's ass this past year. It was Gorman who wouldn't relent on the campaign to repeal Stroger's sales tax. Although the effort fell short several times, her efforts have made the Sales Tax repeal the most talked about issue for voters in Cook County. Maher, by the way, is the president of the Orland Fire Protection District.

Maher must face-off first with Victor Forys, who has a penchant for raising huge campaign contributions, in the Democratic primary. It's not a certainty that Maher will win and Forys has lined up significant Democratic backing for his campaign from Gov. Pat Quinn and many Democratic commissioners and party leaders in the bowling alley district that stretches from Orland Park to the northwest suburbs.

When asked about the incident, a manager at Randy's Market told my friend that he thought the petitions were for the Mahers (Gerald and Robert) who opposed the closing of the mall but who are not related to the David and Patrick Mahers. Ironically, David Maher published a letter in the local paper blasting the "other" Mahers claiming they were telling people they were "related" and abusing their "good name."

(I emailed Maher asking for his response and comments and also also Gorman and Forys. I'll post their comments in an update if and when they come in.)

Candidates turn in their signatures for the February election beginning Monday October 26 and have until Monday Nov. 2, which is another story I'll be writing about called "coincidences." (There are no coincidences in politics.)

Aaah. Politics! Nothing changes whether its in Chicago's Machine backyard or in the mini-19th Ward called Orland Park.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Gorman raises $65,000 at fundraiser

Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman reported raising nearly $65,000 in donations at her fundraiser last night at Sam McGuires in Orland Park. Gorman said she has at least three more fundraisers planned over the next six weeks. Her collections can easily exceed $250,000 by the end of the year with no formal Republican party opposition in sight.

Much of the funding has come from individuals moved by Gorman's steady fight against beleaguered Cook County Board President Todd Stroger and Stroger's oppressive 1 percent sales tax. Gorman, along with other county board members including Democratic Commissioner John Daley, repeatedly sought to roll back, repeal and trim the sales tax. Though the battle was undercut by a backstabbing flip-flop Deborah "The Hack" Sims, who withdrew support of the repeal, the fact is Gorman's persistence has sent a strong message to Stroger that his days as County Board President are numbered and her enthusiasm in leading this fight helped taxpayers recognize that they can fight taxes.

Her Democratic rivals, Dr. Victor Forys from the north side of the 17th Cook County District, and Patrick Maher from Orland Township and president of the Orland Fire Protection District did not report collections from their recent fundraisers. Maher said he would give me a count later. According to reports, during his unsuccessful race for congress in Rahm Emanuel's old district (won by Mike Quigley) Forys raised $160,000 in a one month period.

Forys has the power going into the Feb. 2 Democratic primary election. Forys has a fundraiser Sept. 29 where he will formally receive endorsements from Congressman Mike Quigley, County Commissioner Larry Suffredin, County Commissioner Forest Claypool and Gov. Pat Quinn. Maher has or will receive backing from Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin, Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes (the leading Democratic candidate for governor), and Hynes 19th Ward power house father, Tom Hynes. Maher has another fundraiser planned for Oct. 9 at Fox's Pub.

Gorman drew a crowd of supporters and endorsements including from State Sen. Kirk Dillard, who is running for Governor, and several trustees from Orland Township (who ran with Democratic Paul O'Grady) and trustees from Orland Park, Orland Hills and Tinley Park, too.

More than 265 people attended the fundraiser, Gorman reported.

NOTE TO THE LITTLE BIRDIES OUT THERE: If you see any petitions circulating, please send me an email note with the names you see. email: RayHanania@Comcast.net

AND ... Le Shana Tovah a Tikkathev/vi to Jewish readers and fans whoa re celebrating their New Years holidays this weekend, Rosh Hashana, and Eid Mubarak to Muslim readers and fans who celebrate the end of Ramadan Sunday with the Eid.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Big Democratic guns turnout for Forys in 17th Democratic race

It's not the highest profile political battle in the news media but it is the one with most twist, turns and political pedigree issues. People are lining up in the 17th Cook County Board District, a seat held by Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman who over the past few years has risen to become one of the county's most aggressive champions of taxpayer rights.

Gorman, a Republican, is being challenge by two Democrats who will duke it out in the February 2 Democratic Primary before facing the Gorman juggernaut. They are Pat Maher and Dr. Victor Forys. Maher and Gorman are local rivals from Orland Township. Gorman is the Orland Township Republican Committeewoman and Maher is the President of the Orland Fire Protection District (OFPD). He is also the son of Orland Village Clerk Dave Maher, who is a $75,000-a-year employee of the Cook County Court system, under Stroger's watchful political patronage (Administrative Assistant Level V for the county courts). Forys comes from the northern part of the 17th District.

Forys, who raised large sums of money in the congressional race to succeed Rahm Emanuel in the 5th District, lost to former Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley. But next week, Quigley will join Gov. Pat Quinn and County Commissioner Larry Suffredin, who has worked closely with Gorman to fight Todd Stroger's repressive 1 percent sales tax, will come out swinging to endorse Forys, not Maher, in the Democratic Primary. What happens after that primary is anyone's guess.

FIGHTING FOR TAXPAYERS

There are a lot of big issues in the 17th District. Gorman has been on the right side of most during her two terms in the office. She has distinguished herself as a persistent champion of taxpayer rights, winning three major battles for taxpayers.

The first was last year when Gorman was the only county commissioner to challenge a $190,000 county loan to controversial Regional Schools Superintendent Charles Flowers. Flowers budget has since come under scrutiny. A report by the auditor general shows that Flowers has since mismanaged millions of dollars in funds. His office has an annual budget of about $1 million and is reportedly more than $1 million in debt. The audit shows that Flowers has borrowed money to pay for all kinds of expenses, without proper records, but he insisted he has repaid everything.

Gorman was the only voice to challenge Flowers' poor leadership. But this past June, the entire County board joined Gorman to repudiate Flowers and reject the loan and acknowledge Gorman's leadership.

Gorman also has been a key leader in the fight to repeal Stroger's repressive 1 percent sales tax that is chasing Cook County businesses into neighboring counties. Although Stroger prevailed when Deborah "The Hack" Sims flip-flopped supporting the repeal and then denying the repeal the 14 votes needed to override Stroger's anti-taxpayer veto, the fight has become a voter mantra that is expected to drum Todd Stroger out of office in February when he faces off with Congressman Danny K. Davis, Ald. Toni Preckwinkle and Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown among many others.

Normally, so many challengers benefit the incumbent, but a recent Chicago Tribune poll shows that Stroger has an approval rating of only 10 percent, lower than the 13 percent for impeached former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

But Gorman's determination to set the county right for taxpayers doesn't end with that high profile sales tax fight. This week, the county board approved an ethics ordinance hailed by the Arlington Heights Daily Herald that forces lobbyists (and candidates for public office who lobby) to disclose the jobs of their relatives on government payrolls to help shine light on insider sweetheart deals that are often the heart of the county's government practices.

19th WARD TIES CAUSE TURMOIL

Stroger's plight and the race for governor are impacting this race directly. Stroger is the son for former Cook County Board President John H. Stroger, who often received huge campaign donations from the nation's top bond counsel, Chapman and Cutler. It so happens that Tom Hynes, the patriarch of 19th Ward politics, is of counsel to the firm, one strong link between the 19th Ward and Stroger, and a reason for the Hynes' family to dislike Gorman, who also has some strong ties to the 19th Ward.

Tom Hynes is a close relative of Patrick Maher through his father, Dave. And, of course, Tom Hynes is the father of  Dan Hynes, the Illinois Comptroller who threw his hat in fast to challenge beleaguered Gov. Pat Quinn.

It's the 19th Ward Hynes honchos who have been working hard over the past several years to install Pat Maher at the OFPD and to take control of Orland Park, which is distinguishing itself as one of the southwest suburbs more monied and affluent communities. They back another Democrat, Paul O'Grady, who took over as Orland Township Supervisor. O'Grady relied heavily on his 19th Ward ties and had 19th ward precinct captains working the election polls this past Spring.

Quinn, Quigley and Suffredin will make their endorsement of Forys at a Forys fundraiser Sept. 29 at White Eagles in Chicago, 6839 N. Milwaukee Ave. Maher just had his own fundraiser at O'Callaghan's, at 29 West Hubbard Street in downtown Chicago, too. The keynote celebrity there was, of course, Tom Hynes. 

I reached out to Maher, who was surprised when I informed him his colleague on the OFPD James Hickey is circulating petitions to challenge State Rep. Kevin McCarthy in the 37th House District. McCarthy is a staunch ally of House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, who is backing Quinn. Hickey told me he'll discuss his candidacy with me when he gets all his signatures. (Maher says he's supporting McCarthy and he's not supporting Hickey, though many say they are very close.) 

When asked if  Tom Hynes was his "keynote speaker," Maher emailed me back, saying: "Tom Hynes was not my keynote speaker.  He did show up and it was greatly appreciated.  I don’t have all the details but I am quite sure that the guy Liz had go spy on my event (which we all saw) could concur that I had about 70 to 75 coming in and out, not counting staff. Not too bad for something I put together about two or three [weeks] ago downtown where I don’t live or work.  I did not collect the money so I really have no idea how much was collected plus some was mailed in which I did not see either."

(I asked Liz Gorman and she said she had no idea and didn't care.)

Gorman will host her fundraiser this week Thursday (Sept. 17) at Sam McGuire's, which is in the 17th District. Maher has another fundraiser planned for Oct. 9 at Fox's in Orland Park. he's expected to have the backing of Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin, the Orland Township Democratic Committeeman.

Gorman is already leading the pack with donations. Maher's campaign disclosures include many contractors who do business with Orland Park and the OFPD, friends of his father and the mayor, no doubt. Forys has funds from his professional contacts and past election supporters. I'll have a detailed analysis of everyone's recent disclosures in an upcoming post.

                                                      

In the meantime, the cross-dynamics of this battle reflect the complex lines that crisscross some of the biggest races in the news, for county board president and for Illinois governor, and intersect with some big family and Chicago political names.

-- Ray Hanania

19th Ward targets Madigan's legislative soft spots in February primary: Hickey goes after McCarthy

Newly elected Orland Fire Protection District Trustee and home mortgage broker James P. Hickey apparently is changing his focus from the Orland Fire Protection District and now its his political agenda that is on the fast track. He has set aside the ambitious agenda he once set out to help improve the OFPD and has his sights on something bigger and better.

Hickey, who just won election to the OFPD, has his petitions on the street seeking nomination in the Democratic Primary against one of House Speaker Michael J. Madigan's stalwarts, Kevin McCarthy, who has represented the 37th District since 1997. (I haven't had a chance to speak with Hickey to find out if he is circulating them or if backers are trying to draft him.)

It's amazing how political egos go right to the top and public service goes right out the window in cases like this. Sources say Hickey is boasting, accurately, that his huge win in the OFPD race this past Spring shows how "powerful" he is.

Hickey's term in office at the controversy-plagued OFPD runs until 2015. I am not sure if this is some kind of twisted strategy to help Pat Maher -- who IS related to Orland Village Clerk David Maher (the Maher's are very sensitive to people claiming to be relatives as we saw recently) -- by fielding candidates and bringing out the Democratic vote in the 17th District where Maher apparently is running against Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman? Maher has to first defeat Dr. Victor Forys who has a knack of raising huge funds. He did respectfully in the recent race for Rahm Emanuel's vacated Congressional seat which was won by independent County Commissioner Mike Quigley.

Are Maher and Hickey are working together? Their petitions are being circulated together.

But maybe Hickey and Maher don't understand the Madigan powerhouse. The fact is Mike Madigan doesn't take challenges like this lightly. While I have hammered Madigan in the past, the fact is Madigan is tight with Gov. Pat Quinn who succeeded impeached former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Hickey is being backed by the 19th Ward which has its tentacles all over Orland Park and Orland Township and were rock-solid behind the candidacy of another recent victor, Paul O'Grady in the surprise Orland Township election victory.

But it's Hickey, a young recent entrant who has been fired up by his election victory who is promoting himself as the future of Orland Park and its ties to the 19th ward. (The Maher's, who backed Hickey, are related to 19th Ward honchoes including the one I have always admired the most, Tom Hynes. Hynes' son, Dan Hynes, now the Illinois Comptroller, is running for governor against Pat Quinn, Madigan's candidate.)

Is the Hickey candidacy a subtle message to Madigan from the 19th Ward because Madigan is not backing Hynes?

Madigan doesn't need any subtle messages. The guy is supremo when it comes to politics and strategy. You don't go up against him and expect to have a future in politics, if you are smart.

The protagonists will all be together at the Tinley Park parade today. Gorman has been invited by Tinley Mayor Ed Zabrocki to walk with his government officials. Maher is expected to be there and watch for Hickey's petitions to be circulating. 

Here's the vote turnout for the OFPD elections. Despite a big ego, Hickey barely won 50 percent of the district vote. Cindy Nelson Katsenes, a former OFPD trustee who has challenged Maher's rule there, came second.

James P. Hickey 3958 49.57%

Cynthia Nelson Katsenes 1539 19.28%
Robert K. Brennan 1119 14.02%
Christopher Ciciora 959 12.01%
John Jacobsma 409 5.12%

-- Ray Hanania

http://www.radiochicagoland.com/

Deborah Sims doesn't mind using taxpayer money for her own comfort

Deborah Sims, the do-nothing member of the Cook County Board who gave County Board President Todd Stroger the vote he needed to protect his repressive 1 percent sales tax on Cook County taxpayers, doesn't mind spending the taxpayer's hard-earned cash on her own comforts.

FOX Chicago news reporter Dane Placko did a report Thursday night detailing how Sims uses her $95,000-a-year salaried chief of staff to drive her around, not just to and from work but to and from political events and publicity events, and, even shopping?

Sims even uses county taxpayer money to pay to lease her big, fancy late model red Cadillac. her chief of staff drives to her home, parks his car at her house and then gets behind the wheel like a high-priced chauffeur and drives her everywhere.

It's not illegal for government officials to waste the taxpayer money on their own comforts and excessive luxuries. They get a fortune every year to pay for everything from staff, to offices, to cars (luxury cars apparently), and anything else their little hearts desire. They get the best healthcare taxpayer money can buy and they apparently don't feel they have to be accountable to the public, like when Placko asked Sims to answer some questions about her office practices and she responded saying whether she answers or not depends on the questions.

What's the issue? The Taxpayers have the right to know how their elected officials spend the taxpayer's hard earned money.

Get more information on the Sims' scandal at www.MyFoxChicago.com.

Now, while Sims is chauffeured to and from work in luxury, at the taxpayer's expense, other commissioners told Placko that they drive themselves to and from work. Well, not everyone drives. A few conscientious Cook County Board members know what it's like to be public servants and to respect the rights of taxpayers.

Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman (R-17th) doesn't drive. She takes public transportation to and from her home to the County Board meetings and her office. I know because several times in the morning when she would appear on my radio show on WJJG 1530 AM (www.RadioChicagoland.com) she did the interviews while on the METRA train.

That's the kind of dedication that Sims doesn't understand. Gorman led the fight to repeal the repressive sales tax which is chasing businesses out of Cook County.

Let's hope Sims and Stroger are both thrown out of office on their asses and are forced to find real jobs where they have to do the work, for a change. Maybe they would come to respect the taxpayer's hard earned money if they had to worry about paying their own bills.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Dodge makes it formal for comptroller at the Humphrey House Monday

ORLAND PARK, Ill., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Jim Dodge will formally announce his candidacy for the Office of Illinois Comptroller at a press conference Monday, Sept. 14 at 11 a.m. at the historic John Humphrey House, 9830 W. 144th Pl., Orland Park.

An Orland Park official since 1989, he is seeking the Republican Party nomination as the state's chief fiscal control officer in the Feb. 2, 2010 primary election. Dodge, who holds a master's degree in economics and finance from the University of Chicago, works as a technology consultant.

Dodge selected the Humphrey House site for its historical sentiment as John Humphrey served in the Illinois General Assembly, as a Republican Illinois state senator, and as Orland Park's first mayor.



Dodge is the first one to formally jump in to the race. Former Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka is also planning to officially announce and there are reports she is circulating her petitions, too, and will be running. Topinka has higher name recognition, but targeting Comptroller rather than the synch race for treasurer or governor might be an issue. Dodge needs to broaden his name recognition statewide. Both are friends and it is expected to be a cordially race.

* * * * *

Orland Fire District President Patrick Maher is also in the race for Cook County Commissioner in the 17th District. Maher, someone told me, was in the Lemont Parade (where I walked with my son). I didn't see him but I did see Mark Kirk and Judy Biggert.

I know because Maher's camp sent me their newsletter announcing his candidacy in the Democratic Primary Feb. 2. He'll face Dr. Victor Forys who has amassed a large campaign fund and ran once before for U.S. Congress.

I got the newsletter when I mentioned Maher in an earlier blog post. I also wrote that there have been more  sightings of one of Maher's top Fire Battalion Chiefs in their taxpayer-funded SUV gas guzzler driving his kids someplace outside the district again. Maher said he planned to look in to it. I thought he might actually act on the problem, because it is a major problem. But then again, all he did say was he would look in to it.


Here is Maher's campaign web site where he announces his candidacy: www.friendsofpatrickmaher.com.

He talks about the need to protect the interests of taxpayers, but I haven't seen him take any action on what I and other taxpayers consider a misuse of public vehicles, driving a Fire Protection District SUV outside of the district. Maher explained before that the 5 (?) battalion chiefs in the district drive the cars around on and off-duty so they are available when needed. Let's just hope that idea doesn't spread to other taxpayer funded government agencies.

The winner of the Democratic primary Feb. 2 will then face off with Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman, a Republican who has built a powerful front defending the rights of taxpayers leading the charge against the repressive 1 percent Todd Stroger Cook County Sales Tax. Maher didn't attack Stroger's sales tax plan in his newsletter discussion about fighting for taxpayer rights. That is going to be an hurdle that will be hard for him to overcome, the fact that Stroger and the Democratic Machine back him.

******

Former Cicero Town president Betty Loren-Maltese, who was convicted of corruption and spent seven years in the hoosegow and is now spending six months in a halfway house across the street from Circus Circus in Las Vegas, told FOX Chicago News reporter Anne Kavanaugh that she is writing a book called "Justice: Chicago Style" ... I thought it should be titled "Guilty."

Loren-Maltese, of course, never takes responsibility for her crimes or her vindictive ways and plays the victim so well. She's a split personality, on one side very likable and on the other vicious, cruel and mean. It's the Bad Betty and her greed that put her in jail and the Good Betty who only reappears when she needs sympathy.

When Kavanaugh asked me about whether her book would sell, I noted I would buy it, as a journalist. But, I wasn't sure a public that has had it up to here with former convicted criminals and convicts trying to make excuses for their actions would want to read the book. Betty most likely will simply fill the pages with junk about how it was everyone else's fault instead of her own, blame it on how "friends" betrayed her, and paint herself as the innocent victim of injustice, duped by male politicians.

The truth is if Betty were smart -- she has it in her -- she'd admit her responsibility in her crimes and her own life, stop playing the victim which is BS, and take responsibility for her own actions. Then, write about the colorful characters she met during her three year reign as Good Betty (93-96 when I was her consultant) and six year reign as Bad Betty (96-02 when politically sleazy PR consultants Dave Donahue and later Lee Harris ran her post-corruption defense campaigns under Ed Vrdolyak's direction. Donahue's greasy fingerprints are all over Orland Park and Township.)

I was her consultant when she was doing good and while she was quietly betraying everyone around her. Town Supervisor Joe DiChicio was found not guilty because the judge easily saw through her weak defense and efforts to manipulate the Town Clerk's board meeting records. I left her when I asked her if the FBI charges were true and she called Vrdolyak to tell him I spoke with the FBI, and Vrdolyak ordered Betty to fire me. Thank you Betty!

Harris and Donahue represented her when it was clear that she was the focus of a major corruption investigation that looted the Town of more than $10 million. That explains how Betty amassed all that money and property and big cars and high-flying gambling life.

If she got her act together, she could do some good with her life. but knowing Betty, she is always consumed with anger, hatred and meanness. Those are tough obstacles for anyone to overcome.

I liked the old, Good Betty, the one that shared leadership with other leaders in Cicero back in the early 1990s and opened the town together with progressive programs. But that Betty is just a memory that if came back would make her book a success. Bad, mean Betty writing a book. People who know her will buy it but that won't be enough to make it successful.

*****

Rumor is Rocky Wirtz, the owner of the Blackhawks and Judge & Dolph is a part of the investment group buying the Chicago Sun-Times. Wirtz is a smart guy. He put the Blackhawks back on the map and he is smart when it comes to business. I hope he can help re-organize the Sun-Times and keep it from closing.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Stroger may have won (and taxpayers lost) this battle, but Stroger will lose the war

Stroger may have won the battle but not the war

By Ray Hanania

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger boasts he won the battle to “save” the 1 percent hike in the county sales tax, a repressive tax that mostly harms the poor and lower incomed citizens.

Stroger’s victory came when Commissioner Deborah Sims, who supported the tax hike and who later – under pressure from constituents – voted to roll it back a ½ percent, flip-flopped again and refused to support the override of Stroger’s veto.

Sims’ told reporters she owed her loyalty to Stroger, the silver-spoon-fed politician who was lifted to public office by his powerful father, the late and former County Board President. Stroger has never had to work a single day of his life in a real job and the notion of paying a sales tax means nothing to someone who has everything done for him in life.

Although Stroger managed to prevent a repeal of half of his repressive sales tax hike – his only real achievement since the county board presidency was handed to him on a silver spoon – Stroger faces losing the war in the Democratic primary election Feb. 2.

Several strong candidates have stood up to challenge Stroger in the Democratic primary, Cook County Circuit Clerk Dorothy Brown and Chicago Alderman Toni Preckwinkle. It will be a tough battle, the notion being that Brown and Preckwinkle and others will divide the anti-Stroger vote. Congressman Danny Davis is also eying the race. But Stroger has so little popularity in the county that dividing the anti-Stroger vote will still give the challengers strong pluralities to win.

The real hero in this saga, though, is not in the Democratic Party, although key Democratic members were among the leadership in fighting to rollback the repressive 1 percent Stroger Sales Tax hike, like Commissioners Larry Suffredin and John Daley.

County Commissioner Liz Gorman, a Republican, was dogged in her determination to protect Cook County taxpayers. She refused to give up when everyone said it was impossible to build a coalition to challenge Stroger’s veto threats.

Gorman stubbornly pushed the issue, first trying to roll back the entire sales tax hike, which is chasing businesses out of Cook County into neighboring suburban communities and placing a heavy burden on consumers who are scaling back purchases.

When that failed, she came back with a 1.4 percent roll back and then a 12 percent roll back. Her persistence raised public awareness of the incompetence of the Stroger administration. The fact is that despite all the tax money that Stroger can dole out to hire ineffective flaks to rattle his cause in the lobbies of local community newspapers, the public recognizes that Stroger is incapable of running county government.

He has a record alliance against him that crosses color lines and political party lines, too.

Stroger is a coward, too, and fears defending his administration’s actions, hiding behind an army of paid consultants, PR flaks and patronage people, including a few who have criminal records.

He is remembered not for great achievement and foresight in leadership, but for his typically Machine extravagances like hiring a busboy who catches his eye at a costly steak house. Or his inability to control his high-salaried staff who wield their power to benefit themselves personally.

Normally, incompetence in office is rewarded by the party Machine but the Machine is even tiring of his failed leadership.

Meanwhile, in Stroger’s beleaguered administration and as he stumbles through office avoiding responsibility or accountability, declining media interview requests and dodging the tough questions, Gorman is rising as a powerful watchdog to defend the rights of Cook County voters.

Her coalition includes insightful leadership like Daley and Suffredin and many others.

Hopefully, the tax advocates in Stroger’s alliance, including Joan Patricia Murphy, who unbelievably tried to push the sales tax up by 2 percent, and Sims, will be swept out of office with the rest of the trash in February.

Murphy is being challenged by Nick Valadez. Sims may be challenged again by Dian M. Powell. It’s still early but it could save taxpayers a lot of money if Stroger, Murphy and Sims would just step down. We can only hope.

END

Pundits say Gorman has trouble but I don't believe it

Going in to every election, incumbents always look vulnerable. There's a lot of big talk and big ambition by officeholders who dream of becoming the next political "phenom" like Barack Obama, who went from relative unknown to president of the United States in less than six years.

The candidates are already dreaming and some of those dreamers have set their sights on one incumbent in the Southwest Suburbs, 17th District Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman.

Gorman is not the darling of the downtown news media which analyzes everything in terms of either Mayor Daley or the Chicago Loop. Most major media, with some exceptions, ignore the suburbs and pretty much follow the pack when deciding who is or isn't vulnerable in elections. So bright stars in the suburbs often are overlooked.

There have been a few exceptions like Media darling Forrest Claypool, who every writer pretty much ordained would become the slayer of the evil tax lord, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger. But Claypool discovered in his polling that he could neither raise the money nor could he count on real Democratic Party support. He would have lost to Stroger.

Then there is the other darling of the news media, Mike Quigley. Unlike Claypool, Quigley is made of much more genuine substance. He's more personable and less arrogant. He actually talks to people. Quigley was smart enough to throw his hat into the crowded Democratic primary battle to succeed Rahm Emanuel in Congress. It wasn't that Quigley was a phenom like Obama, but rather that the race for the congressional seat was more like the running of the bulls in Pamplona. Some people would luck out and make it through to the end of the race without getting gored, and a few unlucky ones would get gored.

Quigley got lucky. He has but two years to prove himself and he's working hard at showing he can handle the job, now that he was lucky enough to win.

Gorman is off the major media radar screen, except when the negative steamrollers come in to rehash all that deadweight about Ed Vrdolyak. Yes "Fast Eddie" will never leave the news. Ed happened to be friends with Gorman's husband, Gerry. They were business partners, too. But there isn't one politician Ed Vrdolyak hasn't helped, worked with or has not considered to be a friend. And he's done business with a lot of others, incuding a few who are among those being hailed by pundits as possible Gorman challengers.

The least known of the presumptive candidates to challenger Liz Gorman is in fact the front-runner, Pat Maher. President of the controversy-plagued Orland Fire Protection District (in two years its political legal spending went from nothing to hundreds of thousands) Maher is the son of a long time Orland Park village clerk, Dave Maher. Pat Maher has one brother who quietly and unsuccessfully ran for a village trustee post in nearby Lemont. In any other lifetime, the Mahers would be just an ordinary, bland suburban political family. Fat frogs sitting high on lilly pods in small pools. But this Maher family has ties to the powerful family of Tom Hynes, father of Comptroller Dan Hynes, who hail from the legendary 19th Ward where the the 19th Ward Machine stands ready at their beck and call.

Yet Pat Maher is not the name that everyone is talking about when it comes to the 17th District challenge to Liz Gorman. Take this paragraph from a recent column by my friend and capable columnist Russ Stewart (July 23) who looked at the county races from top to bottom:

17th District (Park Ridge, Des Plaines, Mount Prospect, then south in a narrow corridor to Lemont, Orland Park and Tinley Park): Incumbent [Liz] Gorman’s husband was a business partner of Ed Vrdolyak, and there is some negative fallout attaching to her. She was first elected unopposed in 2002, and re-elected in 2006 with 55.6 percent. She is the Orland Township Republican committeeman, was briefly the Republican county chairman, and has been feuding with Peraica.

A likely 2010 Democratic candidate for the seat is Dr. Victor Forys, a Polish-American who garnered 11.7 percent of the vote in the 2009 Democratic congressional primary in the 5th District. If Forys can assemble both a geographic (north versus south) and ethnic coalition, he could win. Other candidates include Orland Park trustee Jim Dodge and RTA Board member Dennis Cook. But well-known Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin is also a possibility, and would be favored in a primary. The outlook: Gorman has huge problems.

The first thing you notice is that focus is not on Liz Gorman, who has come out swinging this past year with some major legislative initiatives. Rather, the focus is on her husband, Gerry, a businessman whose family is involved in politics. It's a funny thing. I'd heard a lot about Gerry Gorman that made him out to be some kind of behind-the-scenes T-Rex. Then I had a chance to meet him. Turns out he's just like any other family man who takes his kids to little league practice and spends a lot of time with his wife.

The second thing you notice in Russ Stewart's analysis is the absence of any recognition of Pat Maher. The focus instead is on: Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin; Jim Dodge, who Gorman appointed to the METRA Board; Dennis Cook, a member of the RTA board with the Illinois Federation of Young Republicans. And perennial candidate Victor Forys.

Now, I'm not knocking anyone but I can tell you this:

Dan McLaughlin may covet higher office, possibly lieutenant governor in the Democratic race for Governor in 2010, as the rmor mill is now swirling. But Dan has a big job with the Chicago Plumbers Union that pays well and takes up much of his time. Being president of a village with a great reputation and a high-paid village manager is a second job that pays some money but offers great rewards. Give that up for the undistinguished arena of the Cook County board? I don't think so. Maybe for statewide office, yes!

Dodge, the former Orland Township GOP Committeeman, has ambitions. But in a fight with an incumbent Republican, he'd have a difficult battle. A nice guy, what has he done on the METRA Board and how would the public even know him? Could he raise the money you'd need to run in this fight? And would you backstab someone who went to bat for you when you needed it?

Dennis Cook may want to enter the race simply to give himself higher name recognition because he just ain't too well known with the voters. A nice guy according to Republican insiders who I know. He has a future.

But Orland Park based challengers really have a disadvantage. The 17th District is shaped like the Via Dolorosa, the cobble-stone path that winds its way through the narrow streets of Jerusalem, where Jesus carried his cross before being crucified. In addition to including Orland Township, where Maher may do well, the 17th District runs all the way north to include many areas where names like Maher, McLaughlin, Cook, Dodge and others might not mean so much. Places where building name recognition is not easy like in Park Ridge, Des Plaines, and Mt. Prospect, just to name a few.

I give Liz Gorman credit. She's fearless. I wasn't her biggest fan several years back when she headed the Cook County Republican Organization. I thought she could have done more. But since leaving that party leadership post for others, she has done much. The truth is I don't think any Republican could have done much better with the county or with the state. Illinois House Speaker Mike J. Madigan has the legislature in a vice grip, and despite numerous opportunities to break through the Democratic headlock, Republican leaders have fallen short. The disarray at the state level only gets worse in many prominent Republican bastions. So maybe she did as well as anyone else might have done.

It takes more than party identity. It takes action, someone willing to stand up and fight the fight for the taxpayers. And boy do the taxpayers desperately need someone to standup and fight on their behalf as everyone seems to tripping up all over. Everyone that is, except Liz Gorman.

In the past year, I have seen Liz Gorman stand up and fight, and fight hard for the rights of taxpayers not just in the 17th District, but in Cook County, too. She was the driving force behind the battle to force Todd Stroger to repeal the oppressive 1 percent sales tax hike. If it wasn't for her, the repeal battle might not have been fought. That it was fought has given the county board ambition to push even harder and there is a chance that next week, a compromise will pass that forces Stroger to cut the sales tax by half.

And while everyone else was hissing last year, Liz Gorman was the only county commissioner who stood up and asked why the board was going to give a $190,000 taxpayer funded loan to the regional schools superintendent, Charles Flowers. She fought hard trying to convince everyone that Flowers' office was drowning in mismanagement and wasteful spending. No one listened.

Turns out Liz Gorman was right on the money, where it counts for taxpayers. Gorman protested and last month, a state Audit concluded that Flowers had charged thousands of dollars worth of personal expenses on the taxpayers' credit card. And he couldn't provide receipts for more than 70 percent of those purchases. he also gave thousands of dollars in cash advances to his employees, including to one who is his sister.

Believe it or not, there are politicians like Flowers who think the public trough is their personal ATM machine where they can borrow money whenever they want.

Liz Gorman was the scissor who chopped up Flower's taxpayer funded Debit Card.

Two major initiatives defending the rights of the taxpayers just in the past two months. That has to make even the most seasoned of political challengers a bit wary wondering if Liz Gorman is really worth trying to unseat.

For the taxpayers, right now, the answer is Liz Gorman should remain in office.

I think if Pat Maher breaks from his father's shadow and starts to clean up the mess at the Orland Fire Protection District, he could make a name for himself as a champion for the taxpayer's too. And when Dan McLaughlin retires -- he's been in office a long time -- or moves on up the ladder as some are rumoring he will do in another bid for state wide office, Maher may want to try to run for village president.

And if he can do it without the help or meddling of the foreigners from the 19th ward, he just might make a great mayor. Someday.

By the way, there is one rumor that is worth looking at closely. Orland Park Police Chief Tim McCarthy, the hero who took a bullet for President Ronald Reagan in the assassination attempt in the 1970s, is being rumored to be a possible candidate for the U.S. Senate seat on the Democratic side. McCarthy is a titan. he ran for statewide office once before but with two statewide candidates coming from the same village, it made it tough to win. With Illinois Attorney general Lisa Madigan out of the race, why not McCarthy.

-- Ray Hanania

www.RadioChicagoland.com

Gorman credited with exposing financial mismanagement in regional schools superintendent's office

The Cook County Board last year granted a $190,000 loan to the Regional Schools Supt. Charles Flowers. Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman, from the 17th district, was the ONLY member of the board to vote against the loan. At the time, she was attacked as being anti-education and out of step with the rest of the board.

But yesterday came vindication. And many responsible county board members like Commissioners John Daley and Larry Suffredin acknowledged it was a mistake to give the controversy-plagued Flowers and his administration the loan, praising Gorman, who in the past year has risen to become one of the board's more responsible leaders and voices advocating for the rights of taxpayers.

Read the story?

A report by the auditor general shows that Flowers mismanaged millions of dollars in funds. His office has an annual budget of about $1 million and is reportedly more than $1 million in debt. The audit shows that Flowers has borrowed money to pay for all kinds of expenses, without proper records, but he insisted he has repaid everything.

But the idea that you can use a public agency like it is your own bank account is outrageous. Gorman saw this coming last year and deserves credit for bringing it to light.

-- Ray Hanania

www.RadioChicagoland.com

Everyone loves a parade: Orland Days a hit this year

Everyone loves a parade, including the kids who stand by the curb as the parade floats, fire and police vehicles and politicians and small businesses walk past tossing some neat candies to the excited kids.
This year's Orland Days Parade was excellent and had more people seated along the route, although it still could use more support from the community. And Orland Days, hosted and organized by volunteers from the Lions Club of Orland Park, was very well done, with some better food booths and a nice music tent nearby.

The Metra Station parking lot worked great for this year's event (held there last year too) and was far better than the spread at the old Homemaker's parking lot where Orland Days hit a low point. The food was terrible back then, but not this year. It was very good.

The corn on the cob from the Scouts was top notch and so were the sandwiches and the drinks. My favorite was the M8K Ur Own slush. Although the tickets were steep -- a sign of the still spiralling down economy, the rides were good. The best was the Inverter. Wow! Scary. And there were several others this year that included flips, spins and fast diving seating that were frightening to watch let alone actually ride.

The kids loved all the rides, of course. And the carnival atmosphere was appealing. But, still. As much as I enjoyed Orland Days, I wish we could have more. The rock band Janus was very good and there were many others. But the variety was narrow.

The parade, though had a great contingent from the Orland Fire Protection District headed by the nice-enough Pat Maher, who is planning to run for Cook County Commissioner. And that was Topic A1 at the Orland Days festival when I went there. Several firemen came up to me to say hello and said they appreciated having a columnist hold the politicians' feet to the fire regarding who gets promoted, who gets passed over, who is driving around in a taxpayer funded battalion chief's SUV and who has to schlep and do all the work.

It's my humble opinion Maher is going to lose to incumbent 17th District Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman who has been breaking headlines left and right leading the fight on behalf of the taxpayers against unresponsive and beleaguered Cook County Board President Todd Stroger. Stroger shoved a 1 percent sales tax hike down the throats of the taxpayers without once trying to reduce his own wasteful spending. And that will cost Stroger his job.

And it won't be soon enough as Stroger is a very vindictive and mean person surrounded by a bunch of vindictive and mean consultants and taxpayer-paid lapdogs who sing his praises to keep their high priced and wasteful jobs. (Of course, that doesn't include the competent Parliamentarian and Oak Lawn attorney Burton S. Odelson who does a good job. Too bad Stroger doesn't always listen to good advice.)

But Gorman was out there shaking hands and giving candy personally to all of the kids and she walked both sides to make sure no little tyke was without the booty. People were cheering her on and thanking her for leading the fight against the Stroger sales tax.

Maher's troubles begin with his father and the too obvious ties not just to Chicago's 19th Ward but to the power hungry Machine that wants to push Orland under its thumb.

It ain't gonna work. But, Maher will learn that he will be a better candidate in some future race and without the nudge from his father or the political consultants who are swarming around him like a coveted front-row seat ticket to a Rolling Stones' concert.

-- Ray Hanania
http://www.radiochicagoland.com/

Liz Gorman has been riding a media tsunami of publicity

Over the past few weeks, Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman has been riding the crest of a huge tsunami of media coverage, leading the county debate on the fight against the repressive Tod Stroger 1 Percent Sales Tax.

She was on WTTW Channel 11 last week and will be on again tonight at 7 pm discussing the decision by County Board President Todd Stroger to veto the sales tax repeal passed last week by the county board. The repeal ordinance was introduced by Gorman and backed by 11 other county commissioners including John Daley and Larry Sufferedin.

The repeal ordinance was dubbed "The Gorman Repeal" and it sent shock waves through the beleaguered Stroger administration which was taken by complete surprise. Of course, STroger's administration is so incompetent, the only greater surprises have been his scandals and controversies -- hiring busboys and towel boys that he meets at restaurants and exclusive health clubs.

Sounds too weird! Imagine, getting a top county job just by serving Stroger a plate of food.

Stroger's publicity campaign has been weak and poorly constructed. No matter what he does, most residents of the county rexognize that Stroger is scrambling to try and save his down-spiralling administration. He inherited his post from his highly qualified father, the late John Stroger. But he just doesn't know how to hang on. Instead of strategic media, he hires glad-handers and goofs to push his agenda, when in fact they're hammering him with high priced consulting fees to place releases and photos in community newspapers that could get in without any outside help.

But Stroger's message is the problem. What is his message? i'll cut health services and release prisoners if you don't give me more money for my bloated administration? Pathetic.

Stroger is faced with a real dilemma. He's in a fight for his life to survive the Democratic Primary this Spring. And even if he does, it is unlikely that he will survive the General Election in November 2010.

What would he do? Well, how about something smart ... like ... cut your bloated administration first. Set the xample of leadership. Shwo people you can make the cuts first before you hammer the county with more repressive taxation. Then ask the county board to follow your leadership with their cuts, too. Then, and only then, hold public hearings to explore more ways to off-set alleged budget shortfalls. Engage the public in the process.

But that would be too smart. It's easier for him -- leaderless and uncreative -- and his high priced money-driven consultants, to raise taxes and demand more money. And that's another problem. Stroger's lack of credibility. When he says the county needs money, no one believes his whimpering political snivling. Chances are he's just raising taxes to benefit himself.

Tragic. Such a nice guy. But a poor county leader.

Stroger's injured political career is going to reinforce the Republican Party and undermine the ability of Democrats to win. His party has to be seriously concerned about the ability to survive this, and that may in fact undermine his primary election in the Spring.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Other commissioners also deserve credit for supporting the Gorman Repeal Ordinance

Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman had the smarts to act quickly to organize a coalition of commissioners to draft the ordinance to repeal the repressive Todd Stroger 1 Percent Sales Tax, introducing it, enlisting support and being flexible to work with the other commissioners on a final version that gathered momentum and won Tuesday.

Todd Stroger, the beleaguered Cook County Board President, was adament that he WOULD veto the Gorman Repeal Ordinance after it passed. But reality set in and set in hard, despite the fiery words of his dragon lady Christine Geovanis, who does a better job taking Stroger's official PR photographs than she does defending his failures. Stroger realizes that a veto of the repeal would all but guarantee his utter and total defeat in the Democratic Party Primary in the spring next year. Now, at least he has somewhat of a chance to maybe come in second in a two-candidate primary contest.

But Stroger is being pushed by fanatics on all sides around him and he has been flip-flopping. Veto or not to veto? Save Cook County or Destroy Cook County. Hope for a career or abandon his career?

Maybe Stroger won't take Gorman for granted the way he has.

But the other major part of the story is the courage of County Commissioner John Daley who also stood up and said the words that made voters and constituents feel a brief moment of relief, where just for that moment voters in Cook County felt that our elected officials DO care about what happens to us.

Daley told Todd Stroger "you might want to listen for a change." The Chairman of the powerful County Board Finance Committee, Daley cautioned that "a Stroger veto" ... "would be a mistake, because of the strong vote of the board."

You have reinforced my belief, John Daley, that you do care about the people of Cook County. Thank you for having the courage to say that. And thank you for standing with the Gorman Repeal Ordinance to force Stroger to see the reality.

It took courage for all of the county commissioners to vote in favor of the repeal, and shame on those who voted no, like Bill Beavers, Jerry Butler and Robert Steele, all hoping to pander to racial politics.

Maybe the new dynamics of the Daley-Gorman alliance with Commissioners Larry Suffredin and others may bring a new day for the people of Cook County.

-- Ray Hanania
http://www.radiochicagoland.com/

Gorman on WLS Radio, and Chicago Tonight this evening

Liz Gorman, who sponsored the legislation to repeal the repressive Tod Stroger 1 Percent Sales Tax, appeared on the Roe Conn radio show this afternoon and will be on Chicago Tonight this evening on Channel 11. Check it out!

# # #

Here is the break down of the vote on the repeal of the repressive Todd Stroger 1 Percent Sales Tax that took place on Tuesday May 5. The ordinance was sponsored originally by County Commissioner Liz Gorman, and received 12 votes of support, three no votes with two commissioners absent.

This is a breakdown of the vote, plus the county's links to the commissioners who need to be pressured, followed by my analysis below:

NOT PRESENT FROM THE BOARD
Earlean Collins, 1st District
Phone: (312) 603-4566
Fax: (312) 603-3696
Phone: (312) 603-4566

Deborah Sims, 5th District
phone: (312) 603 6381

Voting to KEEP the Sales Tax
Robert Steele, 2nd District
Phone: (773) 722-0140
Email: rsteele@cookcountygov.com

Jerry "Iceman" Butler, 3rd District
Phone: (312) 603 6391
fax: (312) 603-5671
Email: jbutler@cookcountygov.com

William M. Beavers, 4th District
phone: (773) 731-1515
fax: (773) 933-5535


Voting to REPEAL the Sales Tax

Joan Patricia Murphy, 6th District
phone: (708) 389-2125
fax: (708) 389-2240
Phone: (312) 603-4216
Email: jpmurphy@cookcountygov.com

Joseph Mario Moreno, 7th District
Roberto Maldonado, 8th District
Peter N. Silvestri, 9th District
Bridget Gainer, 10th District
John P. Daley, 11th District
Forrest Claypool, 12th District
Larry Suffredin, 13th District
Gregg Goslin, 14th District
Timothy O. Schneider, 15th District
Anthony J. Peraica, 16th District
Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman, 17th District

Stroger plans to Veto the Repeal this morning, exposing his hypocrisy. In a transparent political move to try to save his crashing political career, Stroger proposed repealing or rolling back .25 percent of the 1 percent Sales Tax Increase that he proposed and that is punishing the people of Cook County.

But the board, thanks mainly to Gorman, pushed through the plan to roll the sales tax back completely.

In addition to Gorman and Suffredin deserving praise for their courage to stand up for the rights of Cook County taxpayers, Commissioner John Daley and Mario Moreno also deserve praise for telling Stroger to his face that he needs to wake up.

Joan Murphy, though, the chief sponsor of the sales tax, only supported the repeal hoping that she will be able to withstand an election challenge in the Spring of next year (2010). Murphy will go down with Stroger, most likely losing their re-election bids in the Democratic Primary and will not make it to the November 2010 General election.

Murphy needs to go. She's the biggest hypocrite.

Although there is little the county's voters can do about tyrants Bill Beavers, Jerry Butler and Robert Steele (remember Robert Steele's mother, Bobbie Steele, took the job of County Board President mainly to increase her retirement -- pathetic. Talk about putting meaning behind your last name. Just spell it right -- STEAL.)

Notice that Simms and Beavers have the least contact information.

-- Ray Hanania
http://www.radiochicagoland.com/