For Cook County Board of Review, Republican: Patlak

Candidates battling it out in the Republican primary for the Cook County Board of Review seem to agree on key points.

Wheeling Township Assessor Dan Patlak and Palos Park businessman Sean Morrison both advocate using technology to make property tax assessment appeals easier. And they both express concern about the way Cook County's property tax system has operated under Democratic control, arguing for reform and greater transparency.

Patlak also vows to fight to keep suburban satellite offices open so that taxpayers can speak to representatives of the Board of Review without having to go to Chicago - an idea we wholeheartedly support.

What sets one candidate apart from the other, however, is experience. Dan Patlak is a real estate broker who worked as an analyst at the Board of Review from 1999 to 2006 under previous Commissioner Maureen Murphy. After training to become a certified assessing officer, he was elected Wheeling Township assessor in 2005 and re-elected in 2009.

For that reason, we endorse Patlak as the stronger candidate to face incumbent Democrat Brendan Houlihan in the fall.