Preckwinkle looks to spur development with new agency

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle named Maria Saldana director of the newly created bureau of economic development, comprising several government agencies, including the embattled President’s Office of Employment Training.

Saldana, who served as president of the Chicago Park District from 2002 to 2007 and as the city’s chief assistant corporation counsel from 1989 to 1997, will oversee and coordinate a handful of agencies, including the community development bureau, the capital planning and policy department, building and zoning, and the employment training agency. The latter was beset by waste and scandal under the administration of Preckwinkle’s predecessor, Todd Stroger.

“The county can and should do more when it comes to job creation, work-force development and retaining and attracting businesses,” Preckwinkle said Wednesday.

Because economic-development functions were spread out, there was not enough coordination and efficiency, she said.

“We’re going to remove barriers to business development and develop initiatives to attract new businesses,” Saldana said.

Saldana said she would be concentrating on suburban Cook as well as urban areas, adding, “We need to do a lot more regional planning.”

“In the past, the county has not been a very active player in regional planning,” Preckwinkle said.

She expected Saldana to coordinate with the Des Plaines-based Northwest Municipal Conference, the West Central Municipal Conference and the South Side Mayors and Managers Association, as well as the Metropolitan Planning Council, to change that.

Although the move creates a new bureau and administrative position, Preckwinkle said the consolidation of departments would actually cut positions, and that the agency would require no new funding, with $75 million of its $79 million budget coming from grants. Saldana was hired at a salary of $150,000.