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State's attorney accuses Stroger of reneging on raisesDaily HeraldJuly 26, 2007By Rob OlmsteadCook County Board President John Stroger went back on a budget promise Tuesday night, calling State's Attorney Dick Devine to tell him his attorneys won't be getting the cost-of-living raises they were promised, said John Gorman, a spokesman for Devine. The move comes one day after Stroger began to fulfill a promise to beef up the county's inspector general office. "Sadly, the day after they kept a promise, they break a really big one," said Democratic Commissioner Mike Quigley of Chicago. Quigley was the lynchpin to Stroger getting his budget passed at all, and Quigley made COLAs and pay parity between state's attorneys and public defenders a condition of his support. "This was a promise made to me, primarily," said Quigley. Because Quigley is seen as a reformer who often opposed Todd Stroger's father, past President John Stroger, several Republicans who voted with Todd Stroger on the budget needed Quigley to vote with them so they would not be seen as abandoning their constituencies, Quigley said. "They wouldn't have had the Republicans without me," said Quigley. Stroger's spokeswoman could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but his administration has said in the past that the raises were contingent on the county selling land it owns near Oak Forest Hospital. Others have disputed that, and say Stroger is simply flip- flopping. "Absolutely. It's going back on his word," said Gorman, who said "everything is on the table" when asked if the department is considering legal action. Quigley said he had asked for appraisals on the land for sale back in December, and the county is just now getting around to completing them. He said while the funding may be coming from the sale, the money can be spent now and replenished before the year is out.
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