Candidate: Circuit court clerk should be appointed, not elected
A Democratic candidate for Cook County circuit court clerk believes the job should be an appointed post, rather than elected.
Jacob Meister, a Chicago attorney who also ran for the post in 2016, said Cook County's judges, not the voters, should choose the court clerk.
Meister's three rivals in the March 17 primary disagree.
In addition to Meister, the Democratic candidates are former Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin of Oak Park; state Sen. Iris Martinez of Chicago; and Cook County Board of Review Chairman Michael Cabonargi of Wilmette.
The winner will face Burr Ridge Republican Barbara Bellar in November.
The Democratic candidates spoke about the future of the clerk's office in a joint endorsement session with the Daily Herald.
The clerk is the official keeper of records for all judicial matters in Cook County.
Longtime Democratic incumbent Dorothy Brown isn't seeking reelection. Her office has been under federal investigation for corruption, culminating with an employee's perjury conviction last year. Brown has never been charged.
Meister said the General Assembly should pass legislation allowing Cook County's judges to select the court clerk for either a 4-year or 6-year term. Change is needed because of the history of political patronage in the office.
He also objected to the clerk's having to raise “substantial sums of money” every four years to run for election.
“The result is a system of pay-to-play politics that serves the private interests of the political elite more than the public interest,” Meister said in a follow-up interview.
Boykin called the concept of an appointed court clerk “the dumbest idea ever.”
Boykin said Cook County judges have a history of corruption, too. As an example, he cited the Operation Greylord investigation of the court system in the early 1980s, an undercover operation that led to 92 indictments of judges, lawyers, police officers and other officials.
The clerk's allegiance should be to the people of Cook County, Boykin said, not its judges.
Martinez said she likes the idea of consolidating political offices to save money, and she acknowledged the office needs reform. But she believes the court clerk should remain an elected post.
“Making the circuit court clerk's office an appointed office moves the office further away from the sunlight and transparency needed to address the mismanagement and corruption that has plagued the Cook County circuit court clerk's office for years,” Martinez said in a follow-up email.
Cabonargi wants the clerk to remain an elected post, too. The clerk should be accountable to voters, he said.
“I believe in more democracy, not less,” Cabonargi said.