Cook Co. board fails to topple Stroger veto of hiring freeze

The Cook County Board failed to override President Todd Stroger's veto of a hiring freeze Tuesday when two co-sponsors of the measure abandoned it in the final roll call.

Democratic Chicago Commissioners Edwin Reyes and Robert Steele dropped out, suggesting the board take a less-confrontational approach to working with the lame-duck Stroger. Reyes voted "present," and Steele voted against the override.

The final tally was 9-6 with one absent and one present, with 11 votes needed to override.

Debate was contentious through a series of motions, resolutions and ordinances all intended to rein in Stroger's lame-duck spending.

Riverside Republican Commissioner Tony Peraica pointed to how Stroger had hired seven new employees this year, six at salaries above $100,000 and five since losing the Democratic Primary in his re-election bid in February, along with handing out 10 raises at an overall cost of "$900,000 more than the county board has appropriated in the 2010 budget."

"This is an attempt to really get a handle on our fiscal costs," said Chicago Democratic Commissioner John Daley, chairman of the finance committee. "I find it very strange," he added, to be hiring and hiking salaries in the current economic environment. He called the raises "ridiculous."

Elmwood Park Republican Commissioner Peter Silvestri said it was about exercising "the power of the purse."

"Our job is oversight," added Orland Park Republican Commissioner Liz Gorman. "It is the purse, and it's the people's purse."

Chicago Democratic Commissioners William Beavers and Deborah Sims, however, said it was "personal" and aimed at Stroger, with Commissioner Joan Patricia Murphy adding it was a "power play" intended to "embarrass" the president.

Stroger pointed to how the freeze applied only until the end of November, when he leaves office, saying, "This only affects me. It's about me."

Chicago Democratic Commissioner Earlean Collins added concerns that it could involve the county in a costly court fight over the constitutionality of imposing limits on the county's head executive.

In the end, however, Reyes and Steele were the key defections, both saying they wanted more "conversation" and cooperation with Stroger.

To that end, the board went on to pass a resolution "urging" Stroger to impose a countywide hiring freeze for all departments but the judicial and health systems by a vote of 15-1, with only Beavers opposed, but Stroger was defiant after his veto was sustained and seemed reluctant to endorse a freeze in remarks afterward.

"They urged a hiring freeze last year and we didn't do one and the budget came out perfect," Stroger said. He dismissed the personal aspects. "This is just water down my back," he added.

The hiring freeze was proposed after it came to light that Stroger had hired his campaign spokeswoman, Carla Oglesby, as deputy chief of staff after his defeat in the February Democratic Primary, and had recently handed substantial raises to Chief Financial Officer Jaye Williams and Communications Director Eugene Mullins, despite a December ordinance that passed unanimously and Stroger signed requiring any such actions countywide to be submitted to the board for approval.

The board went on to consider several measures aimed at overseeing Stroger's spending, with Chicago Democratic Commissioner Jerry Butler saying, "No matter how you sing it, it sounds like the same song to me."

The board also scheduled a measure calling on all county department heads to appear at the next meeting June 1 to defend all recently reported raises and new hires - including Stroger.

The board also gave final approval for a controversial $300,000 rehabilitation plan for the Hawthorne Warehouse on Chicago's West Side, a proposal that had been previously quashed time and again.

"I've heard of cats having nine lives, but I've never heard of a Cook County contract having nine lives," said Bartlett Republican Commissioner Timothy Schneider.

Schneider said it was awarded to the highest of three bidders, and Peraica said that was because the winning firm, Infrastructure Engineering, donated $5,000 to Stroger and $40,000 to other county officials. Bruce Washington, director of the Office of Capital Planning and Policy, countered that the award was based on "quality" and experience with that sort of paving work.

In the end, it passed 9-7, with Democratic Commissioners Forrest Claypool of Chicago and Larry Suffredin of Evanston joining suburban Republicans in opposition.