Cook 'reform' proposals stir debate over politics

Politics inflamed the Finance Committee debate at the Cook County Board Monday.

Chicago Democratic Commissioner Forrest Claypool, who is running as an independent for assessor against Chicago Democratic Board of Review Commissioner Joseph Berrios, originally put forth reforms aimed directly at the assessor's office and the Board of Review.

In public comment, University of Illinois at Chicago political science professor Dick Simpson, who has aligned himself with the Better Government Association in pushing a reform agenda, cited those amendments as being too narrowly worded, so Claypool responded by extending them to apply to all county employees. Yet, Simpson went on to add that they weren't unjustified.

"I have no problem identifying Mr. Berrios as someone who has conflicts of interest that are currently legal," Simpson, a former Chicago alderman, said, adding later, "I do support Mr. Claypool in the assessor's race."

That got an immediate response from Chicago Democratic commissioners loyal to Berrios, who is also chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party.

"All of this is political," said Commissioner Deborah Sims. "It's not fair."

"This is not a democracy," added Commissioner Joseph Mario Moreno. "It's a hypocrisy."

Claypool called those statements "absurd," labeling the debate "an 'Alice in Wonderland' discussion."

Yet Berrios responded with a statement calling the meeting "nothing more than a campaign news conference" and labeling Claypool a "hypocrite" and Simpson a "political gadfly."

Berrios, it's been pointed out, has accepted campaign contributions from property-tax attorneys who argue appeals before the Board of Review, and also lobbies House Speaker Michael Madigan, head of the statewide Democratic Party, on behalf of clients, while Madigan's firm argues cases before the Board of Review - none of which is illegal, at least pending new reforms by the Cook board.

"We need not only to prevent the actual conflict of interest, but the appearance of conflict of interest," Simpson said, in advocating more-extensive reforms deferred at the meeting until mid-October.