Get it together fast, Cook County board
To the editor: It is time to STOP government waste, and run the government as a corporation. Stick to a budget, and if there isn't enough money, simply trim the fat where needed.
NO MORE Carte Blanc on spending.
NO MORE patronism.
NO MORE spending on waste (non-essentials).
NO MORE raises outside of the regional cost of living allowance.
NO MORE inflated salaries.
If taxes are raised, it will diminish the possibility of meeting planners considering this area. DO NOT RAISE TAXES.
Chicago and the surrounding area have tremendous tourism appeal, however, when looking at costs, there are alternatives. These tax increases will blow any considerations right out the door, resulting in hundreds of people in tourism-related jobs losing them.
Homeowners will have to sell, foreclose or declare bankruptcy, which will force financial institutions into distress, which will then have a domino effect on the entire region, including retail, restaurants, hotels, etc.
Before you even consider raising taxes, take a look at all your current expenditures and make major changes in wasteful spending, unnecessary and incompetent staffing. Condense job responsibilities -- some of these people sit around while others are doing the work of three people! Make people responsible for their actions! Start collecting on parking fines and anything else that's been lacking over the years because of negligence; if someone isn't performing their job get rid of them.
There are plenty of honest, hard-working individuals who would be happy to have them.
Make managers responsible for employees, and then make whoever supervises the managers responsible for them, and so on, until you get to the top. By working with a pyramidal system of responsibility, you will eventually have a system that runs smoothly without waste, as no one wants to take the blame for something that is not being done.
Reward employees for doing their jobs, not by giving them automatic raises.
Last of all, stop the hiring of illegals, unqualified persons, and get background checks on employees.
If things are not changed soon, there will be an uprising or civil unrest in the near future. The citizens of Cook County have had enough!
Bren Zuschlag
Schaumburg