Sun-Times endorses Valadez and Currin over higher tax-advocates Murphy and Simms

The Chicago Sun-Times issued two strong endorsements, and trip up on another.

In the 5th District (South Side, south suburbs) the Sun-Times endorsed Matteson trustee Sheila Y. Chalmers-Currin, a member of the ChangeCookCounty reform slate, over incumbent Deborah Sims, one of only four commissioners to vote with Stroger 90 percent or more of the time.
In the 6th District (south, southwest suburbs) the Sun-Times endorsed Nick Valadez, the leading reform-minded candidate with strong credentials challenging incumbent Joan Patricia Murphy. They picked Valadez over John Fairman, who some think is in the race to to help Murphy who wasn't satisfied with increasing the sales tax one percent as proposed by Stroger. Murphy proposed increasing the sales tax two percent. Yikes. Get her outta there!

In the 17th District, the Sun-Times gave an unenthusiastic endorsement to mudslinger Mark Thompson (with no mention of his mudslinging and ties to controversial county board members) over lower-tax champion Elizabeth "Liz"Doody Gorman. Gorman has won the endorsements of the Chicago Tribune, Daily Southtown, and even the Daily Herald which is based in Thompson's backyard and was disturbed by his mudslinging. Can't imagine what the Sun-Times was thinking, though. Of course, they also backed Peraica, who has been having a hard time as media after media pound him for his loner, him-first PR Strategy. Peraica's a decent person who knows how to make enemies from enemies and friends.

The big loser in endorsements, though, has been Patrick Maher, son of Orland Park Village Clerk David Maher. Maher was aced out in every newspaper by his Democratic rival Dr. Victor Forys. Must be his media and political advisers who stumbled badly. Nothing like bad advice to sink the campaign ship.

-- Ray Hanania
http://www.radiochicagoland.com/

Should we "fix" or "change" Cook County: the debate might miss the ball

Last march, Nick Valadez launched a group called "Fix Cook County." His web site is www.FixCookCounty.com and the group sought to encourage candidates to step up to the plate and run for public office.

Recently, another group has surfaced called "Change Cook County." But in the end, the two groups might cause Cook County to remain the same. Their web site is www.ChangeCookCounty.com.

Amazingly, Change is similar to Fix in wording especially on the issues of transparency, the accountability and sound financial management.

Valadez is challenging Cook County Commissioner Joan Patricia Murphy in the 6th District. Murphy not only supported Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's repressive 1 percent sales tax, she wanted to go further and impose a sales tax increase of 2 percent.

Of the five commissioners who backed Stroger in the last vote to rollback the sales tax 5 percent, Murphy was one of its chief sponsors. She was matched only in audacity on the board by County Commissioner Deborah Sims in the 5th District -- Sims was the commissioner who flipped flop and couldn't make up her mind. Should she screw the taxpayers of Cook County by increasing the sales or should she stand by the people. Sims, like Murphy, chose to stand by Stroger and the taxpayers be damned!

Challenging Sims is Matteson Trustee Sheila Chalmers-Currin. Chalmers-Currin has a strong chance of unseating Sims, who is best known for the FOX News expose which showed her being driven around in an expensive Cadillac by her chief of staff, who is paid by the taxpayers, too.

But also on the Change Cook County unofficial slate is John Fairman, a Justice trustee. Now, Fairman seems to be a decent person. I don't know much about him because he has only lived in Illinois since 2003. But more surprisingly, Fairman just won a seat on the Village of Justice board as a trustee this past April.

For a guy who no one really knows, his ambitions are getting a head of themselves. Wouldn't you think you would spend time working for the people of Justice first as the newly elected trustee before throwing your hat in for a powerhouse job like Cook County Commissioner?

The candidate I think can beat Murphy is Valadez. And just because a bunch of candidates come together on a  web site doesn't mean much. Valadez has sent out two direct mail pieces that I have seen and is planning much more. I haven't see anything from Fairman in the 6th District except for a sign on an office in Homewood that I drive past often when I take my son to Hebrew School.

The Change Cook County slate has some strong candidates among its ranks, though, including Dr. Victor Forys who many believe is the lead candidate in the Democratic Primary battle in the 17th Cook County District. Forys is facing-off with Patrick Maher, the president of the Orland Fire Protection District and son of a longtime Village Clerk, David Maher. Patrick is a decent person pushed, I think, by a 19th Ward family that insists that every son become a Chicago mayor -- none have by the way. but that kind of pressure takes the nicest people and throws them into losing causes all the time.

The winner of the Democratic primary will then find themselves on the butcher's block facing off against Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman who is an anti-sales tax powerhouse. Gorman, working with a handful of county commissioner, literally shoved the sales tax fight into Stroger's lap refusing to allow him to brush it away. Gorman kept bringing the sales tax fight back every time Stroger so arrogantly slapped it down until last month when the county board voted to roll back the sales tax by half of one percent.

Gorman is a certainty to win re-election despite some strong issues being raised by Forys. Maher can take this experience back to the Orland Fire Protection District where a good leader would trim the fat and bring the district to par with other Fire Protection Districts, or maybe even embrace my idea to do away with the fire protection district as a separate taxing body (one of the highest taxed in Orland Township) and merge it in with the village, cutting at least $15 million in costs and saving the taxpayers a bundle.

Of course, politicians don't listen to the public until it's too late.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Stroger may have won (and taxpayers lost) this battle, but Stroger will lose the war

Stroger may have won the battle but not the war

By Ray Hanania

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger boasts he won the battle to “save” the 1 percent hike in the county sales tax, a repressive tax that mostly harms the poor and lower incomed citizens.

Stroger’s victory came when Commissioner Deborah Sims, who supported the tax hike and who later – under pressure from constituents – voted to roll it back a ½ percent, flip-flopped again and refused to support the override of Stroger’s veto.

Sims’ told reporters she owed her loyalty to Stroger, the silver-spoon-fed politician who was lifted to public office by his powerful father, the late and former County Board President. Stroger has never had to work a single day of his life in a real job and the notion of paying a sales tax means nothing to someone who has everything done for him in life.

Although Stroger managed to prevent a repeal of half of his repressive sales tax hike – his only real achievement since the county board presidency was handed to him on a silver spoon – Stroger faces losing the war in the Democratic primary election Feb. 2.

Several strong candidates have stood up to challenge Stroger in the Democratic primary, Cook County Circuit Clerk Dorothy Brown and Chicago Alderman Toni Preckwinkle. It will be a tough battle, the notion being that Brown and Preckwinkle and others will divide the anti-Stroger vote. Congressman Danny Davis is also eying the race. But Stroger has so little popularity in the county that dividing the anti-Stroger vote will still give the challengers strong pluralities to win.

The real hero in this saga, though, is not in the Democratic Party, although key Democratic members were among the leadership in fighting to rollback the repressive 1 percent Stroger Sales Tax hike, like Commissioners Larry Suffredin and John Daley.

County Commissioner Liz Gorman, a Republican, was dogged in her determination to protect Cook County taxpayers. She refused to give up when everyone said it was impossible to build a coalition to challenge Stroger’s veto threats.

Gorman stubbornly pushed the issue, first trying to roll back the entire sales tax hike, which is chasing businesses out of Cook County into neighboring suburban communities and placing a heavy burden on consumers who are scaling back purchases.

When that failed, she came back with a 1.4 percent roll back and then a 12 percent roll back. Her persistence raised public awareness of the incompetence of the Stroger administration. The fact is that despite all the tax money that Stroger can dole out to hire ineffective flaks to rattle his cause in the lobbies of local community newspapers, the public recognizes that Stroger is incapable of running county government.

He has a record alliance against him that crosses color lines and political party lines, too.

Stroger is a coward, too, and fears defending his administration’s actions, hiding behind an army of paid consultants, PR flaks and patronage people, including a few who have criminal records.

He is remembered not for great achievement and foresight in leadership, but for his typically Machine extravagances like hiring a busboy who catches his eye at a costly steak house. Or his inability to control his high-salaried staff who wield their power to benefit themselves personally.

Normally, incompetence in office is rewarded by the party Machine but the Machine is even tiring of his failed leadership.

Meanwhile, in Stroger’s beleaguered administration and as he stumbles through office avoiding responsibility or accountability, declining media interview requests and dodging the tough questions, Gorman is rising as a powerful watchdog to defend the rights of Cook County voters.

Her coalition includes insightful leadership like Daley and Suffredin and many others.

Hopefully, the tax advocates in Stroger’s alliance, including Joan Patricia Murphy, who unbelievably tried to push the sales tax up by 2 percent, and Sims, will be swept out of office with the rest of the trash in February.

Murphy is being challenged by Nick Valadez. Sims may be challenged again by Dian M. Powell. It’s still early but it could save taxpayers a lot of money if Stroger, Murphy and Sims would just step down. We can only hope.

END

Nick Valadez announces candidacy for the 6th Cook County Board District challenging Joan Murphy

Nick Valadez announced his candidacy for the Cook County Board in the 6th District surrounded by 150 of his supporters out in Tinley Park Saturday. He hammered his opponent, incumbent Joan Murphy, who not only sponsored County Board President Todd Stroger's 1 percent hike int he sales tax, she tried to double it to a 2 percent sales tax increase which would be an even greater burden on taxpayers.

Murphy has never had to worry about being re-elected. She was backed by Crestwood's former mayor Chester Stranczek who was recently replaced by his son. But it turns out that while the Stranczeks were in power, the water in the village was contaminated with hazardous materials that many believe are behind the high rate of cancer there. Murphy has defended Stranczek and called those who complained about the increase in the sales tax and the hazardous water in Crestwood whiners.

Valadez is tapping the growing anger with Murphy, who is unresponsive to voter needs and does whatever Stroger tells her to do. She's a Machine candidate who takes her orders from machine insiders. in contrast, Valadez is taking his campaign to the people. He is running much of it on the Internet, which is the new media, and by going out and actually meeting voters one-on-one. He's combining old politics with new media and it can be very powerful.

I stopped by his announcement today and here is a links to a video interview posted on Facebook Video and also on MySpace Video.

His web site is FixCookCounty.com where you can read about his background.

Valadez wants to give you information and hold down the costs of taxation in Cook County. Murphy wants business as usual and is unaccountable.

The choice is simple.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Nick Valadez announces candidacy to challenge Sales Tax Hike Champion Joan Murphy in 6th Cook County District

For Immediate Release

July 16, 2009

VALADEZ ANNOUNCES COUNTY BOARD CANDIDACY AT REFORM GATHERING

Nick Valadez Chairman of Fix Cook County a grassroots organization created to reform

Cook County Government will announce he is a candidate for Cook County Commissioner in the 6^th District on Saturday, July 18, 2009.

Valadez will make his announcement before over 100 supporters at what is being described as a “Reform Fest” hosted by Sharon Miller at 17419 Parkside Avenue in unincorporated Tinley Park. Several groups are expected to be in attendance to promote causes ranging from recreational vehicle parking rights, repeal of the County sales tax hike and the Crestwood tainted water scandal.

“We found in talking to people throughout the District there were many issues of concern with the current County Commissioner. We decided to bring them together for a “Reform Cook County Lollapalooza” said Valadez.

The event will run from 1 p.m. through 10 p.m. with activities scheduled throughout the day including food, music, horseshoes and even Karaoke. Valadez will address his supporters at 2:30 p.m. The event is expected to be unprecedented for a County Board seat campaign announcement.

end