Cook County board flip-flops on Arizona boycott

In a day full of indecision, the Cook County Board passed a boycott of Arizona businesses over the state's new immigration law, then turned right around and approved a red-light-camera deal for a Scottsdale-based firm.

The boycott of the county doing any business with Arizona firms passed by a 10-6 vote. Suburban Republican Commissioners Gregg Goslin of Glenview, Timothy Schneider of Bartlett, Peter Silvestri of Elmwood Park, Liz Gorman of Orland Park and Tony Peraica of Riverside were joined by Chicago Democrat John Daley in opposition.

"We're punishing people - specifically businesses in Arizona - who may oppose this law," Silvestri said.

"To punish every single business in Arizona is just wrong," Gorman added.

Yet, some commissioners cited criticism that Arizona police would be forced into "racial profiling" to enforce the law, and Chicago Democrat Earlean Collins pointed to the good done by South Africa boycotts to end apartheid. "We saw change," she said.

Sponsor Edwin Reyes, a Chicago Democrat, got into it with Peraica, saying that as the son of an immigrant he should be "ashamed of yourself" for not supporting the ordinance.

"I am not the son of immigrants. I am an immigrant," Peraica said, adding that he came here in 1970 and worked 10 years to earn citizenship. Peraica is a Croatian born in Yugoslavia. He said he took offense at Reyes' charges.

The board passed on a chance to enforce its boycott right away by approving a "pilot project" on red-light cameras for Scottsdale-based American Traffic Solutions and British-owned RedSpeed Illinois. Again, suburban Republicans fought a ban over business interests. Schneider pointed out the county already had negotiated the project, saying, "This completely stinks" and adding he was "embarrassed that we're doing something so underhanded."

In the end, most Chicago Democrats agreed in going forward with the previously negotiated one-year program, in which each firm will be assigned camera operations at 10 intersections and the one that operates best will have a leg up on earning any other county red-light cameras.

"This is not getting us off to the right kind of start on this," Collins admitted.

In the end, the approval passed 10-3 with two voting "present," including Reyes.