Cronin talks of consolidating forest preserve with DuPage Co.
For the past eight years, the DuPage County Forest Preserve Commission has operated as a separate entity of government, rather than part of the county board as it had for decades.
By all accounts, the commission has been operating fine on its own.
Nevertheless, Republican DuPage County Board chairman candidate Dan Cronin said he wants to examine the possibility of returning the forest preserve operations to the county board if he is elected in November in his race with Democrat Carole Cheney.
“I think there is a question of savings," he said at a recent Daily Herald endorsement interview. “I think it's a discussion worth having and it's something we'd like to talk about and build consensus on. I think everything should be on the table."
Cronin, who would give up his seat as a state senator if elected, believes the “forest preserve has done a very good job since separating from the county in 2002. But because the 2010 census figures will require a remapping of the county board's legislative districts, the time is right to discuss consolidating the boards.
“Consolidation is a very powerful tool," Cronin said. “But none of this is going to advance unless we have consensus."
It's going to be a tough sell to some forest preserve officials. Commission President Dewey Pierotti called the proposal “ill-advised."
“The two concepts and goals of each separate unit of government are not compatible," Pierotti said. “It's another step by Cronin to try and take more control."
Roger Kotecki, the incumbent Republican District 6 forest preserve commissioner, also opposes consolidation and questions Cronin's motives. Kotecki said county board members who want to consolidate may have their eyes on the forest preserve's $200 million in reserve funds earmarked for environmental issues and potential cleanups at DuPage landfills.
“The idea that we would want to consolidate those two bodies back together again, I think, comes out of a desire by the county board to access the forest preserve's reserves," Kotecki said Monday during an endorsement interview. “We have guarded those reserves. Those reserves are essentially the goose that lays the golden egg. They generate interest for us on an ongoing basis, plus they protect us if there is ever a landfill disaster and the landfill operators are not financially able to take care of it."
Kotecki is squaring off against Democrat Shannon Burns for the District 6 forest preserve seat.
Forest preserve officials have been at odds with Cronin for months now over Cronin's desires to increase the number of county board districts. Current state law requires the forest preserve commission to have as many districts as the county board. There are six now, but Cronin supports a larger number of districts and one board member from each district. That would require the forest preserve commission to grow as well. Legislation aimed at eliminating the shared legislative mapping is stalled in Springfield and forest preserve leaders blame Cronin. “This is the history of our state government," Pierotti said. “They take something that's working and break it."
Cronin's camp denies he played any part in the legislation's delay. For his part, Cronin said increasing the number of districts and going to a one-member-per-district system would create more accountability for voters.
It would cost taxpayers more than $50,000 in salary alone each year for each new forest preserve commissioner that has to be added if the district numbers are increased above the current six. The county board could increase to 18 districts, but Cronin said he wouldn't support that.
Cheney, Cronin's Democratic opponent in the Nov. 2 race, said there's no rush to consolidate the forest preserve and county board. She said if there's interest from both sides, studies should be conducted to determine if there will be cost savings and that's the only reason to move forward with such a plan.
“I would say if you're going to eliminate it and do it for cost savings, then it's an issue," Cheney said.