Fight flares anew on pay for prosecutors

Chicago Daily Law Bulletin

July 26, 2007

By Jerry Crimmins

Money is available to fund cost-of-living pay hikes for Cook County prosecutors, public guardian lawyers and other non-union workers, but the county board president needs to OK it, a county commissioner said Thursday.

But a spokesman for County Board President Todd Stroger said Thursday afternoon that Stroger wants to postpone the pay hikes until the 2008 budget.

"The question is being fiscally responsible," said Stroger's press secretary, Ibis Antongiorgi.

With prosecutors threatening "mass exodus" and political retaliation if they don't get the raises that they say were promised for this year, three county commissioners were trying to meet with Stroger Thursday afternoon.

"We've identified $47 million that could be used to pay (cost-of-living raises) for state's attorneys and the public guardians and all other non-union county workers, 6,221 of them," Commissioner Lawrence J. Suffredin said Thursday morning.

"We have a belief that [Stroger] is going to meet with us ... and I'm optimistic that we're going to be able to work something out."

First Assistant State's Attorney Robert Milan said Thursday morning, "I'm confident there will be a mass exodus of this office if it [the raise] does not pass" at next Tuesday's meeting of the County Board.

Milan predicted that without the pay hike, "hundreds" of prosecutors would leave.

Milan said Stroger has repeatedly promised the prosecutors a 12.75 percent raise retroactive to 2004 to match the pay increases given to assistant public defenders last year.

On July 10 Stroger "indicated to the state's attorney [Richard A. Devine] very promising information that in fact we would be getting this," Milan said. "Tuesday, we were informed by Stroger it would not happen until 2008."

Speaking for Stroger, Antongiorgi said Stroger "has never committed to a specific date" to give cost-of-living pay hikes to prosecutors.

"During the 2007 budget negotiations, commissioners agreed that cost-of-living increases for the state's attorneys would be tied to the sale of land at Oak Forest Hospital," Antongiorgi said. "That sale has not yet happened."

Suffredin said he was surprised by the turn of events.

But he said he thought Stroger would meet with him and Commissioners John P. Daley and Michael B. Quigley on Thursday afternoon in Stroger's office.

If Stroger does not agree to put the pay raises for non-union county employees into the budget, Suffredin predicted, a majority of commissioners would vote to approve much of those raises anyway.

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Suffredin said he he was surprised to hear that Stroger had decided not to back the pay hikes because Suffredin said he and top administration officials had identified a source for the money on Wednesday afternoon.

Present at that meeting in Stroger's office, with Stroger absent, Suffredin said, were Lance Tyson, Stroger's chief of staff; Donna Dunning, chief county financial officer; Joseph Fratto, county controller; Gerice Wilson, county budget director. The three commissioners on hand were Suffredin, Quigley and Daley.

"The president wasn't there. We've been meeting every day for the last five days trying to work something out," Suffredin stated.

He said the $47 million could be assembled as follows: $21 million coming to the county from a major corporate bankruptcy proceeding; $4.4 million from a Rosemont tax case; $1.6 million from an insurance settlement related to the fire in county offices at 69 W. Washington St.; and $20 million set aside for cost-of-living pay hikes in "the 814 fund."

Milan said that $20 million is in the public safety part of the budget. He said the prosecutors needed only $8.7 million out of a $3 billion budget to get their pay hikes.

Asked about the meeting of top administration officials that Suffredin described, Antongiorgi said, "If they had that discussion, they're ongoing."

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Copyright 2007, Law Bulletin Publishing Company

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