Cook Co. Board caves in to Stroger on hiring, raises

Opposition to Cook County President Todd Stroger's lame-duck raises, hirings and so-called 24-nine personal-services contracts collapsed at the county-board meeting Tuesday after commissioners failed to override a veto of an ordinance giving them oversight on new raises.

The attempt to override got nine votes, but 11 were needed. Chicago Democratic Commissioners William Beavers, Jerry Butler, Earlean Collins, Joseph Mario Moreno and Deborah Sims voted against, as did Crestwood Democrat Joan Patricia Murphy. Two critical votes were lost when Chicago Democrat Robert Steele was absent, and Glenview Republican Gregg Goslin left before the issue came up at the end of a marathon six-hour session.

"We lost two of our members who aren't here. You can't pass it if they're not here," said Evanston Democratic Commissioner Larry Suffredin. He admitted he was disappointed the meeting didn't provide more of a forum on Stroger's lame-duck spending, but added, "I think we'll find another way to do it, as long as we can get the data."

To that end, the board accepted a complete countywide report on raises from Human Resources Chief Joe Sova, who said new ones would be coming with each two-week pay period. Yet, while Riverside Republican Tony Peraica commented on the "familiar names" found on the list, otherwise commissioners held fire until a later date.

Since being defeated in the Democratic primary in February, Stroger has hired his former campaign spokeswoman, Carla Oglesby, as deputy chief of staff, and has handed out hefty raises to Chief Financial Officer Jaye Williams and Communications Director Eugene Mullins, among others. Oglesby has also handled the dispersal of several "24-nine" contracts, named for being worth $24,900 and change, just under the $25,000 figure requiring board approval, including one to her own public-relations firm.

"Once these raises are given, they're not going to be taken back," Suffredin said, so the board needs to know about them to consider them in future budgets. Finance Committee Chairman John Daley, a Chicago Democrat, also argued for an override, which would simply have implemented a procedure for how those raises would be reported to the board, which would then be given a nonbinding vote on them.

Yet other commissioners worried they were overstepping their bounds as the legislative branch imposing on the executive. "I don't think it's legal," Moreno said.

At the end of the meeting, Stroger seemed to glory in his victory. "Is there anything else anyone wants to talk about?" he said. Yet the commissioners said nothing, and the meeting was adjourned.