Shapiro campaigns for technological upgrades for circuit clerk's office
Diane Shapiro, the Republican Party's candidate for the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, has been part of the system practically from the womb.
Shapiro's mother was pregnant with Diane when she watched her late husband, assistant state's attorney Lester Shapiro, in action at the Criminal Courts Building. Diane Shapiro began working for the county in 1976, first in the office of the Recorder of Deeds and later as a sheriff's deputy. Since 1984, she's been an investigator in the Adult Probation Department.
A self-described subversive who spent 12 years as a Democratic Party precinct captain, Shapiro grew disenchanted with the party following Todd Stroger's 2006 election as president of the Cook County Board. She switched and was elected GOP committeeman for the 46th ward earlier this year. On Nov. 4, she faces Democratic incumbent Dorothy Brown and Green Party nominee Paloma Andrade in the race for circuit court clerk.
Shapiro calls the office under its current administration "chaotic." Citing lost, misplaced and incomplete files and improperly documented payments of fines and fees, she charges Brown with mismanagement, saying the office "needs to be run like a business for the taxpayers of Cook County."
If elected, she promises an employee audit to eliminate ghost payrollers and curtail patronage. She also says she will eliminate "accoutrements," specifically the clerk's car and driver.
"Why should the public pay for me to be chauffeured from place to place?" says Shapiro. "In this day and age, shame on all these people living large on the taxpayer's dollar."
Frustrated with the outdated computer system which she says uses "technology from the dinosaur era" and concerned about public accessibility, she wants to implement a Web-based case management system similar to one developed by DuPage County, whereby individuals can check dockets, file motions and make payments online. She also wants Cook County to join the Illinois Circuit Clerk's Information Center, which allows court employees access to driving records from all 102 Illinois counties. (Brown says she has made a request to the Illinois Secretary of State to adopt the program and is awaiting approval).
Other proposals include day-of-filing imaging, which allows for the filing of motions, orders, etc. at courtroom terminals, which she says will prevent files from being lost or misplaced. She doesn't have a price tag on the improvements, but says eliminating unnecessary jobs and vehicles would save the county $1 million that could be applied toward upgrades.
Operating her campaign on a shoestring budget, Shapiro estimates she has collected about $2,000 in contributions and has spent about $5,000. Andrade estimates she has about $1,500. Brown's campaign reported a balance of $76,319.61 to the Board of Elections in late July.
Brown has been criticized for accepting campaign contributions from employees and vendors. The incumbent says she complies with Illinois and Cook County ethics ordinances and that employees who donate to her campaign do so of their own free will.
"I made it clear to these employees, all 2,300, that they don't have to donate a dime to me," says Brown. "It will not affect your job if you donate to me, and it will not affect your job if you don't donate to me."
Responding to the Daily Herald's candidate questionnaire, Shapiro characterized taking donations from employees and vendors as "inexcusable" and an "ethical breach."
"I promise under no circumstances will I ever solicit funds from employees," she says.
Shapiro - who favors term limits - aims to put herself out of a job. Claiming that the office of the circuit court clerk is "too open to corruption," she proposes that the Cook County circuit court clerk be appointed by judges who would have the power to remove him or her based on performance.
"Somewhere, somehow we have to stop the waste and corruption," she said.