Todd H. Stroger | |
---|---|
President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners | |
In office December 4, 2006 –December 6, 2010 | |
Preceded by | Bobbie L. Steele |
Succeeded by | Toni Preckwinkle |
City of Chicago Alderman | |
In office September 5,2001 –December 4,2006 | |
Preceded by | Lorraine Dixon |
Succeeded by | Michelle A. Harris |
Constituency | 8th Ward,Chicago |
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 31st district | |
In office 1992–2001 | |
Village Administrator of Robbins,Illinois | |
In office May 2021 –October 2021 | |
Appointed by | Darren E. Bryant |
Succeeded by | Jasmine Washington |
Personal details | |
Born | January 14,1963 |
Political party | Democratic |
Residence(s) | Chicago,Illinois |
Occupation | Politician |
Todd H. Stroger (born January 14,1963) is the former president of the Cook County,Illinois Board and a former alderman for the 8th Ward in Chicago. Stroger is a member of the Democratic Party. In 2001,he was appointed to the Chicago City Council by Richard M. Daley. He is the son of John Stroger,who himself had served as Cook County Board president for 12 years until his death.
On February 2,2010,Stroger finished last in the Democratic primary for President of the Cook County Board behind Dorothy A. Brown,Terrence J. O'Brien and Toni Preckwinkle (who won the primary),putting him in a lame duck stage for the remainder of his board presidency. Preckwinkle would go on to win the general election and assume office on December 6,2010.
In 2021,Stroger served as village administrator of Robbins,Illinois.
Stroger was raised in the Chatham- Avalon neighborhood,located on Chicago's South Side. He attended Gordon Tech and later received his bachelor's degree from Xavier University in New Orleans. Before becoming an alderman he worked as an investment banker for SBK Brooks Investment Corporation.
In 1992,Stroger was elected as State Representative for the 31st District of Illinois. Stroger worked as a statistician for the Office of the Chief Judge of Cook County;later he was also a jury supervisor with the Cook County Jury Commissioners. He worked for the Chicago Park District during the tenure of Forrest Claypool.
Stroger is an active fundraiser for the United Negro College Fund and a member of the Young Democrats.
In 2001 Stroger was appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley to replace Lorraine Dixon,who had died while in office. Stroger served on seven committees:Budget and Government Operations;Committees,Rules,and Ethics;Housing and Real Estate;Human Relations;Police and Fire;Special Events and Cultural Affairs;and Traffic Control and Safety.
On March 14,2006,John Stroger,Cook County Board of Commissioners president since 1994 and Todd Stroger's father,suffered a serious stroke one week before the Democratic primary. [1] John Stroger eventually won the Democratic nomination,winning about 53 percent of the votes cast,defeating Forrest Claypool. For months after the elder Stroger's stroke he did not appear in public,and his family provided little information about his condition.
Shortly after the stroke,Todd Stroger gave noncommittal responses about the likelihood that his father would remain on the ballot. But in May,he reversed his previous stance,saying his father would return to office. [2] Ultimately,John Stroger would submit his resignation. At the same time that John Stroger submitted his resignation,it was announced that alderman William Beavers would assume the County Commissioner seat while Todd Stroger,if elected,would take over the County Board presidency. This announcement came four days after the deadline for third-party candidates to file for the Board presidency race. [3]
In the aftermath of his father's resignation,Todd Stroger emerged as the front-runner for his father's presidential seat. His main opponent was U.S. Representative Danny K. Davis. Another opponent,County Commissioner Bobbie Steele,dropped out of the race shortly before party leaders chose a new candidate. [3]
On July 18,2006,the Cook County Democratic Central Committee (a collection of 80 county Democratic party leaders also known as "ward committeemen" or "township committeemen") overwhelmingly chose Todd Stroger to replace his father as the Democratic candidate for Cook County Board president for the Nov. 7,2006 election. The following day,Steele was unanimously elected by the Board as interim president.
According to state election officials,in July 2008,Stroger's campaign paid almost $27,000 in fines for failing to file paperwork in a timely manner. Paperwork was not filed on time for the 2006 election contributions it received along with late organization papers that were sent to the election board. The campaign also filed incomplete and late reports to the State Board of Elections during the week of July 21,2008,so more fines are expected to be brought forth. [4]
Stroger was a candidate in the Democratic primary of the 2020 Cook County clerk of courts election. However,he withdrew his candidacy once a challenge to his ballot petitions had disqualified enough signatures to have him removed from the ballot. [5]
After Darren E. Bryant was elected the mayor of Robbins,Illinois in April 2021,he announced his intention to appoint Stroger as village administrator (city manager). [6] [7] On October 5,2021,Stroger was moved from his position as village administrator to the position of executive assistant to Bryant,switching places with Jasmine Washington (who became village administrator). [8]
Stroger drew fire for perceived nepotism,including promoting his cousin Donna Dunnings,who had worked in the County's budget office for 16 years,to the position of the County's chief financial officer. [9] Dunnings and Stroger received additional criticism when she received a $17,000 raise after she initially agreed to not accept a pay hike (in an attempt to help county finances). [10] Dunnings stated that critics could have blocked the pay raise by submitting an amendment to the proposed budget "if they were so concerned about the salary of the first African-American female CFO". [10]
Dunnings was later forced to resign her position after the press reported that she had posted bail for Tony Cole,a former University of Georgia basketball player and busboy whom Stroger had hired to a $60,000/year Cook County position despite Cole's having an extensive felony record. On April 16,2009,Dunnings resigned at Stroger's request over the scandal involving the hiring of Cole as a human resources assistant in the County Highway Department. Stroger had earlier fired Cole (in Cook County Jail in connection with a domestic violence case at the time Dunnings resigned) for concealing his felony record. [11]
Stroger also drew criticism when he began raising certain taxes in an effort to balance the county budget and resolve staffing issues. In September 2007,he voiced his support for a proposal to raise the county-wide sales tax to 11 percent (an additional two cents on the dollar) to remedy a $307 million budget deficit,which would force public facilities such as Stroger Hospital to cut services or even close. [12] Critics of the plan included fellow Commissioners Claypool,Gorman,Peraica,and Mike Quigley who argued that spending cuts would accomplish the same purpose. Peraica additionally responded that Cook County's poorest citizens,who the tax hike is ultimately designed to serve,would find it to be the most unaffordable. Peraica's argument was seconded by then-Governor Rod Blagojevich,who expressed his opposition to the plan. [12] Gorman was instrumental,however,in refusing to back down and she introduced a resolution to repeal the sales tax on three separate occasions,finally winning board majority support on the third effort.
On February 29,2008,the Cook County Board,by a measure of 10-7,passed a budget initiated by Stroger. Stroger's budget contained a tax increase of 1 percentage point,the largest ever passed by Cook County,with the intent of creating more than 1,000 new County jobs. As a result of Stroger's bill,on July 1 the County sales tax increased from 0.75 percent to 1.75 percent bringing Chicago's overall sales tax to 10.25 percent,which was the highest of any major U.S. city,while the sales tax was a minimum of 8.75 percent in suburban Cook County. All five Republican members of the County Board voted against the tax increase and they were joined by two of the twelve Democrats. Commissioners who voted against the tax increase were Peter N. Silvestri,Quigley,Claypool,Gregg Goslin,Timothy Schneider,Peraica,and Elizabeth Ann Doody Gorman. [13] Despite the 133% increase,Dunnings stated on March 31,2008,that the budget shortfall resolved that year is expected to return. She explained that the expected cost increase would be the result of what she described as a 'structural deficit',meaning increases in revenue being unable to match increases in expense,citing runaway health care costs among other problems. [14] A county spokesman indicated that it would most likely happen in three or four years,well into the next county presidential term. [15]
Because of a number of unanswered questions and unresolved issues surrounding the county tax increase,Cook County's outlying communities,particularly Palatine,IL,considered secession and threatened to do so unless an explanation was provided. To avoid this schism,officials from Palatine and Cook County,including Stroger initially,agreed to hold a town hall meeting at Harper College on April 30 to discuss details of the hike that remain unclear. [16] However,on April 29,Stroger announced that he would not attend,accusing Palatine officials of using the meeting for political grandstanding indicating that he "[would] not debate local Palatine elected officials who expect to exploit this opportunity to further their own political agendas". [17] Eventually,Stroger did attend the Town Hall,which resulted in heavy press coverage and several Daily Herald articles refuting the claims he made while presenting there.[ citation needed ]
The tax increase was later partially rolled back by 0.5%. [ citation needed ] Chicago's overall sales tax is 9.75% and suburban Cook County is at minimum 8.25%.
Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States,after Los Angeles County,California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 2020,the population was 5,275,541. The county seat is Chicago,the most populous city in Illinois and the third most populous city in the United States. The county is at the center of the Chicago metropolitan area.
Forrest Edward Claypool is an American politician who has held several positions in the governments of Chicago,Cook County,and the State of Illinois. He was the Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools from July 27,2015,until December 8,2017. Previous offices held by Claypool include Superintendent of the Chicago Park District from 1993 to 1998,Chief of Staff to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel,and President of the Chicago Transit Authority. In 2007–2008,Claypool served as a key member of Barack Obama campaign's media team,in his capacity as a longtime partner of David Axelrod.
John H. Stroger Jr. was an American politician who served from 1994 until 2006 as the first African-American president of the Cook County,Illinois Board of Commissioners. Stroger was a member of the Democratic Party. He was also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and from 1992 to 1993 served as president of the National Association of Counties. Cook County's Stroger Hospital was renamed in his honor.
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Lawrence J. "Larry" Suffredin is an American politician who formerly served as a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners representing the 13th district.
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Toni Lynn Preckwinkle is an American politician and the current County Board president in Cook County,Illinois,United States. She was elected to her first term as president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners,the executive branch of Cook County government,in November 2010,becoming the first woman elected to that position.
Joseph "Joe" Berrios is a Democratic politician who was the Assessor and Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party of Cook County,Illinois,as well as a registered Illinois state government lobbyist. He was the first Hispanic American to serve in the Illinois General Assembly and the first and only Hispanic American to chair the Cook County Democratic Party. He was also a commissioner on the Cook County Board of Review,a property tax assessment appeal panel.
The government of Cook County,Illinois,is primarily composed of the Board of Commissioners,other elected officials such as the Sheriff,State's Attorney,Treasurer,Board of Review,Clerk,Assessor,Cook County Circuit Court judges and Circuit Court Clerk,as well as numerous other officers and entities. Cook County is the only home rule county in Illinois. The Cook County Code is the codification of Cook County's local ordinances.
Edwin Reyes is an American politician who served as Cook County Commissioner for the 8th district,in northwest Chicago. He held the position as a Democrat from 2009–2014.
Timothy O. Schneider is the former chairman of the Illinois Republican Party and a former member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners representing the 15th district,which includes all or parts of Arlington Heights,Barrington,Barrington Hills,Bartlett,Elgin,Elk Grove Village,Hanover Park,Hoffman Estates,Inverness,Mount Prospect,Rolling Meadows,Roselle,Schaumburg,South Barrington and Streamwood.
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