Palatine Mayor Rita Mullins pushes secession from Cook County

While other politicians are wallowing in the muddy wake of the felonious former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his tainted U.S. Senate appointee Roland Burris (the voiceless voice for the voiceless who refuses to answer questions), Palatine Mayor Rita Mullins is focusing on the needs of her constituents.

Last week on Radio Chicagoland (WJJG 1530 AM, www.RadioChicagoland.com), Mullins said she is working with other local township officials on the borders of Cook County's over-taxed residents to explore options including secession.

Most people can't spell the word, let alone understand the complexity of the challenge she faces. Mullins acknowledges that seceding from Cook County to merge with a neighboring DuPage County would require not only a 50 percent plus 1 vote of the voters in Palatine Township, but also a 50 percent plus 1 vote of the voters in Cook County. It's the second hurdle that depicts the imprisonment of the people of the Cook County suburbs.

Chicago is the 3 million pound gorilla and controls the county. Chicago is the governing body in Cook County. The mayor's brother, John Daley, controls the financial spigots. Mayor Daley, who rarely visits the suburbs and spends most of his vacation time in foreign countries these days or at his posh Lake Michigan home just over the Michigan-Indiana border, basically dictates to the rest of the county what the voiceless taxpayers must pay. And most of the time, what they pay doesn't go for suburban needs but rather for Chicago's bottomless pit of incompetent and corrupt bureacracies like the inefficient and dangerous CTA.

Mullins is in her 5th term and is running for re-election. She has three challengers, including Warren Kostka, a former member of the Palatine Village Council; Vito Manola, who lost a close race to Mullins in 2005 and runs a bagel and bread shop; and former Chicago Bears linebacker and part-time broadcaster Jim Schwantz.

Mullins will be coming out to Orland Park to help activists there consider a broader campaign to secede from Cook County and merge into neighboring counties.

Click here to listen to her interview on Radio Chicagoland.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com