Preckwinkle appoints purchasing team

Announcing her intention to make government purchasing more efficient and equitable, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle named two women to head that department Tuesday.

Maria De Lourdes Coss, who worked in the procurement departments at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the city of Chicago, was named purchasing agent. E. LaVerne Hall, formerly the director of the Office of Business Diversity with the Chicago Public Schools, was named director of contract compliance.

“Lourdes and LaVerne truly reflect our commitment to bringing in talented, innovative leadership throughout the county,” Preckwinkle said.

Coss was charged with consolidating county-government purchases, a key reform element in Preckwinkle's transition plan, in the belief that “pooling the purchasing power of all elected officials will enable the county to renegotiate with vendors for more favorable prices.”

At the last County Board meeting of the year last week, a number of vehicle purchases were held back and sent to the Finance Committee to be combined and renegotiated.

Hall was charged with improving the county's dealings with minority companies, as called for by statute. “The county can, and must, play a more active role in helping build minority-owned and women-owned businesses,” Preckwinkle said.

Preckwinkle added that her administration will begin publishing information on county bids and purchasing contracts online. “County residents should be able to find out where their taxes are going, including which vendors are receiving contracts and what the terms are,” she said. “This is an important step toward the transparency and accountability we need to restore the faith in Cook County government.”