Stroger relation resurfaces in assessor's office

Donna Dunnings, the former Cook County chief financial officer fired by President Todd Stroger a year ago over her dealings with Tony Cole, has been hired by Assessor James Houlihan to run a South suburban development program.

Dunnings will be paid $79,000 to run the Cook County Stimulus and Revitalization Project, a 10-year-old program that attempts to get tax-delinquent properties back on the tax rolls by offering buyers incentives to purchase and develop them.

According to Houlihan spokesman Eric Herman, Dunnings worked a dozen years in the assessor's office from 1987 to 1999 and served with distinction.

"By all accounts, she's a very intelligent woman," he said. "She did a terrific job. She was very highly thought of."

Dunnings is Stroger's cousin and twice bailed Cole out of jail when he was a county employee. Her position as county CFO became controversial and she was fired along with Cole when his previously undetected felony record emerged.