Hawaii meeting legit or largesse? County leaders' trip inspires furor on both sides of debate

Daily Herald

June 20, 2005

By Rob Olmstead

Ask Cook County leaders why so many employees and elected officials are going to Hawaii next month for the National Association of Counties conference and they invariably point to one answer.

As host of next year's conference, the county is required by its agreement with NACo to go.

But nearly two dozen people?

Honolulu County met the same obligation at last year's NACo conference in Phoenix with seven people. The entire state of Hawaii sent only 13.

The question has sparked a furor within and around the Cook County Board, and it's being repeated in varying forms in counties around the country, though officials with the county organization say the flap hasn't affected attendance.

"We don't need a caravan," said Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley, a Chicago Democrat and candidate for board president. "In life, but especially in politics, perceptions rule the world. In fiscally tough times, which they always seem to be, you don't go to Hawaii."

Skeptics point out that Quigley, who is running next year against board President John Stroger, could benefit from bad publicity for his opponent. But his complaint is hardly isolated. In Kane County, which has sent people to the annual conference in the past, it was enough to keep from sending anyone this year.

"I didn't think that was necessary," said Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay, a St. Charles Republican.

"I didn't think there was enough information made available to county board members to warrant spending taxpayer dollars sending people to Hawaii."

Cook County Commissioner Gregg Goslin of Glenview, meanwhile, decided not to go because the image of Hawaii doesn't sit well with some constituents.

Anthony Peraica, another announced Stroger opponent in Cook County, thinks it's excessive for the county to send nearly two dozen people to meet its obligations as next year's host. And, he says, he suspects the real number of county employees and officials who are going is closer to 30.

Some supporters of the trip acknowledge the sensationalistic nature of the word "Hawaii," conjuring images of sun-splashed beaches and relaxed tropical evenings in an island paradise. But they caution against letting that picture overwhelm the complicated realities of the conference, which officials in Cook County say will cost the county about $40,000 out of its $3 billion budget.

One such proponent, surprisingly, is a good-government type known for bashing politicians instead of praising them.

"I think some of the criticism is overblown," said Cindy Canary, director of Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, "especially since the conference is coming here (to Chicago) next year, when they'll all have to take the el."

Cook County Commissioner Carl Hansen, a Mount Prospect Republican who attends the conference almost every year, was even more adamant.

"It's disconcerting and disappointing just to look at this in a negative context," said Hansen, who, despite his strong feelings about the value of the conference, is paying for his own air fare and hotel. "People are asking about this whole thing as if they know what the value of NACo is. They have no idea."

Hansen said the county usually pays his way but he decided to pay out of his own pocket this time because of all of the uproar.

He points to an idea generated at the annual conference that resulted in an agreement on Medicare that brings $175 million a year to Cook County. And Democratic Cook County Commissioner Roberto Maldonado, who also is going, says it was NACo that gave him the idea for prescriptions by mail at the county hospital to save time and money and make things more convenient for customers.

This year, other supporters said, NACo will be fighting to keep millions more in Community Development Block Grant funds and to investigate a prescription drug card for underinsured constituents. The card costs counties nothing and costs users nothing, but saves up to 35 percent on drugs, said NACo spokesman Tom Goodman.

- Daily Herald staff writer Patrick Waldron contributed to this report.

Copyright 2005, Paddock Publications, Inc.

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