Bitter note ends Cook board farewell love fest

In its last meeting under President Todd Stroger, the Cook County Board indulged in a nonstop love fest Wednesday until Stroger himself ended it on a bitter note.

While offering send-offs to Stroger and Commissioners Tony Peraica, Forrest Claypool and Joseph Mario Moreno, fierce political rivals put down their grudges and expressed admiration for one another and the Democratic process.

Yet when praise came for Stroger at the end of the marathon session, it was more tepid and mostly from his loyal supporters.

“You took a bullet that nobody else was willing to take when you raised that sales tax,” said Chicago Democratic Commissioner Deborah Sims. “You should be proud of what you've done here.”

Moreno, another Chicago Democrat, said Stroger “wore the collar” for the penny-on-the-dollar hike in the Cook sales tax, adding, “And you're still wearing it.”

“It's amazing what money will do for you,” Stroger responded. “That made it easier for everybody.”

He defended that increase in the sales tax for keeping the county government solvent, even as it drew sharp criticism from Cook County suburbs that lost business over the borders and played a large part in Stroger's loss in the Democratic primary in February. He also defended county workers, who he said are unfairly maligned, and said the issue was really about how much residents are willing to pay for the social services they rely on.

“We had a tough four years,” Stroger said, adding, “There is some bitterness about how things are portrayed.” He, and his backers on the county board, blamed the news media for his persistent political problems after he followed his father, John, into the president's office four years ago.

Chicago Alderman Toni Preckwinkle takes office as President Monday.

Stroger said that he was considering working as a consultant or perhaps going into the insurance business, and that he planned to make some money in the private sector and then reconsider any possible return to public service. Asked afterward if he was concerned about a possible federal investigation growing out of the Cook County state's attorney's corruption case against Carla Oglesby, his former campaign spokeswoman and deputy chief of staff, Stroger said, “How do I know what they're doing?”

Earlier, a spirit of goodwill reigned as the board passed resolutions honoring Claypool, Moreno and Peraica. Bartlett Republican Commissioner Timothy Schneider praised Moreno's “tenacity,” a word later applied to Peraica as well, and told Moreno he liked “the barbs that went back and forth between you and Commissioner Peraica over the years.”

Sometimes, the comments were less than gentle, as when Chicago Democratic Commissioner William Beavers expressed respect for Peraica, a Riverside Republican, by saying, “You never stab a person in the back. You always stab them right in the chest. And that's what I like.”

More often it was teasing, with Murphy telling outspoken tax critic Peraica, “I am looking forward to our board meetings being at least two and a half to three hours shorter.”

For Wednesday, the board found a way to stretch the meeting with extensive debate on Health & Hospitals System contracts and a resolution backing a potential casino in Ford Heights.

“You were probably right more than you were wrong,” Glenview Republican Commissioner Gregg Goslin told Peraica. “It's just the approach you used needs a little work.”

While at opposite ends of the political spectrum, Claypool said he and Peraica often joined in backing good-government reforms, and that their differences were more in style than in substance.

Peraica summed things up by saying, “There is life, as President Stroger said, after politics, and I think the best is yet to come for many of us here.”

Claypool, a Chicago Democrat, did not run for re-election, then lost an independent run for assessor, while Moreno lost his re-election bid in February's Democratic primary, and Peraica was defeated in the general election.

Preckwinkle will be joined by three political allies as new commissioners: state Rep. John Fritchey and Jesus Garcia, both of Chicago, and McCook Mayor Jeff Tobolski. Re-elected county officials Treasurer Maria Pappas, Clerk David Orr and Sheriff Tom Dart were all sworn in to new terms Wednesday.

“It feels a little like graduation day,” Peraica said.

Moreno likewise put things in context by telling Claypool and Peraica, “Without the three of us, this is going to be one different board.”

And without Stroger as well.