Lone commissioner calls for change; Lecture focus on budget reform, county corruption

Columbia Chronicle

October 23, 2006

By Allison Riggio

Mike Quigley has often been a lone voice for the reform of county government as a commissioner on the Cook County Board. Quigley, who is commissioner of the 10th district that spans the northern lakefront, shared his ideas for change during a lecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago on Oct. 11. The lecture was part of a series aimed at examining local governments.

“[Working within] this government in Chicago … you quickly learn that there are no shades of gray,” Quigley said. “God bless the mayor, but you’re either with him or against him.”

According to Jay Stewart, executive director of the Better Government Association, Quigley’s ideas for reform are being increasingly heard, though not necessarily being acted out. November’s election for Cook County Board president will determine the fate of many of Quigley’s soapboxes, including an expanding debt within the county.

“Most of his ideas didn’t get anywhere, but at least they got out there in public debate,” Stewart said. “Many of those issues are now being debated both in the political [field and] also in the governmental area in Cook County.”

One of Quigley’s efforts to initiate reform occurred in September when Todd Stroger, Democratic candidate for Cook County Board president, accepted Jennifer Koehler, Quigley’s chief of staff, as his campaign manager. She will work with Stroger until the November election, according to a Sept. 20 Chicago Sun-Times editorial.

Dick Simpson, head of the Political Science Department at UIC, thinks Koehler’s place on Stroger’s campaign is a good way to ensure that government reformation is a key issue to whomever is elected board president next month.

“I think it is a good move to try and promote the ideas that [Quigley] has had and, of course, his chief of staff helped develop them,” Simpson said, adding that an expanding county debt will likely be a main concern to the future board president.

Debt, however, was only one of many county government issues Quigley exposed at his UIC lecture.

The Sheriff’s Department currently polices unincorporated Cook County territory, a concept originally instated to provide police presence in areas where neighboring towns had no jurisdiction, Quigley said. Unincorporated Cook County is now half the size it used to be, however, the police force has remained the same size, he said.

Many aspects of county government are also unnecessarily complex, according to Quigley.

Elsewhere in the country, most traffic violators are given the option to plead guilty, pay a fine and receive driving supervision, he said, noting that in Cook County, motorists must go to traffic school or court since both create more county jobs and revenue.

“Almost every other county in Illinois has the recorder of deeds as part of the county clerk’s office, but here, they are two separate elected officials,” Quigley said. “I could run through each department and say ‘here’s what’s wrong.’”

Stewart acknowledged the difficulty that can come with being an independent voice within the government. He said that reformation can be a difficult process when there is only one voice against many disagreeing colleagues.

Stewart added that there is also an unfortunate misconception among the voting public that a little bit of corruption can, or should, be tolerated simply because it’s how the system works.

“For those who think it takes a little grease to go along, ask George Ryan how that theory worked for him,” Stewart said. “Apparently in Illinois, that is, unfortunately, the primary vehicle for reform: people going to jail. When faced with unambiguous facts to the contrary [of an issue], then—and only then—will action be taken. It works, but it’s very clumsy.”

Another inherent problem within most governments in general—not just Cook County—is the fact that they were designed many years ago and are structured for a world that no longer exists, Quigley said. Few have adjusted to accommodate drastic changes over time.

“[Many governments] couldn’t stand on their own if they were a business,” Quigley said. “Why don’t they change? Because the status quo is protected by those in power.”

Quigley added that it is difficult to initiate change even within the public—not just amongst politicians.

“The status quo is a warm, fuzzy blanket,” he said. “We have to raise people’s abilities to question just about everything.”

Copyright 2006, The Columbia Chronicle

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