Suburban businesses meet with Cook Co. president candidate

Having felt like a neglected stepchild, the Schaumburg Business Association on Tuesday welcomed a visit from the Democratic candidate for Cook County Board president, with members pointing out that outgoing incumbent Todd Stroger rarely made his way out to the suburbs.

"I was impressed with her willingness to come out to the suburbs," Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson said of Toni Preckwinkle, a Chicago alderman running to replace Stroger.

CPA Rich Augustine agreed, adding, "This part of Cook County has been a stepchild up until now."

Preckwinkle's opponents say they wish they had the same opportunity to meet with the association as she. Republican Roger Keats and the Green Party's Tom Tresser are also running for county board president in the Nov. 2 election.

Association officials, however, said there's nothing political about the invitation that Preckwinkle received to speak at the breakfast meeting. The invitation was made months ago in an effort to strengthen ties with county government, they said.

Preckwinkle, a former history teacher, talked to the group about her plans to roll back Stroger's sales tax rate enacted in 2008, bring "desperately needed transparency" to the county, and make sure county employees are doing their jobs.

She also talked about her plans to partner with local government officials on economic development issues that are already underway. "I will work with local officials to help implement things that are already on the books," she said.

The invitation was made some time ago, before current SBA President Tonya Lamia coming on board four months ago.

Both Keats and Tresser said Tuesday they would like the same chance to speak to SBA members.

Tresser did say that he has an appointment to speak to the SBA board of directors at an upcoming meeting.

Lamia stressed that there were no political motives behind having Preckwinkle speak at Tuesday's breakfast meeting. "We're not playing favorites or choosing a party line. That's not our agenda," Lamia said.

She said the goal was to build a stronger working relationship with county government. "We don't have that relationship now," Lamia said.

She said there was no political agenda, just as there is none with next month's speaker, Republican Congressman Mark Kirk.

Kirk is running for U.S. Senate against Democrat Alexi Giannoulias. "Mark Kirk was also invited a long time ago. He will talk as an elected official not as a candidate," Lamia said.

She added that the goal of the Good Morning Schaumburg meeting is to bring high profile speakers to the table. "That's what our members want," she said.