Todd Stroger has served as president of the Cook County board since 2006. He previously served as both a state representative for the 31st District and as an alderman on Chicago's City Council. Stroger will face three opponents also competing for his position in the primary election Feb. 2.
Windy City Times: You have been at the center of plenty of media controversy over the last several years. What work have you accomplished that you think has gone unnoticed amidst those negative headlines?
Todd Stroger: You hit it right on the head, and I just figured it out myself. It's not story content that gives you bad press; it's headlines. And headlines don't really say anything, they just try to grab your attention. There are a lot of headlines and in the body of the story, the story goes nowhere. We've never had any indictments or anyone arrested. Everything has gone well under our watch. Of course, we've had tough times. It wasn't easy when you come in with a half million dollar deficit, but I took care of that deficit in 90 days, and we were able to keep our government solvent.
When you look at all of the large governments in our state, you will find that in the last three years, most of them have had to do some kind of tax increase, mostly property taxes. The county hasn't done one in 13 years, and I didn't have any property tax increases in my time frame. With that, we still made sure public safety is still going well, you have no problems with courts, we have no blackout dates, we didn't ask workers to take furlough days ... But we have ... had a reduction in the workforce of 2,700 people.
But we still find, everything you need to get out of county, you get. The county is the type of government that not only deals with its citizens directly, but it also deals with other governmental agencies. The municipalities and the townships are our constituents. When they have problems, such as Des Plaines and Robbins had flooding two times in the last year and the county was out there. We came out with people from the Forest Preserve District, the Highway Department and Facilities Management.
We have been there for them, and those are the kind of stories that don't get headlines. When one of our constituents went to a hospital and they told her she was fine, and she didn't feel fine, and she went to our hospital, Stroger. They told her she had breast cancer and she was treated. I hear those kinds of stories all the time. So we haven't gotten the credit for a lot of the things that have happened in county government, the good things.
WCT: Of course, we have to talk about the sales tax ...
TS: The misconception, and this comes from the headlines, and the headlines don't tell you anything. They just say, "sales tax," and if you do that enough, and the major papers put that "sales tax and Todd Stroger" on the cover so much that people don't even understand the sales tax. They think all their sales tax goes to county. They don't realize that we are only 17 percent. The state is the big giant, they are 61 percent of that. When the media giants mislead the public, it's hard for our government to fight it. WCT: Your opponents say it would be possible to balance the budget with out the sales tax. What is your response to that?
TS: The answer is no one has said what they would do differently. No one has said how they are going to fill a $400 million budget gap. The answer is always, "I'd get rid of waste." That is just saying, "I'm going say that until I actually have to do something about it."
We have an efficiency program that we have put in place, and our goal is that $300 million through revenue and consolidation will lower the budget spending. Those things are long term, they don't just happen in a day. When we don't have this $400 million, everyone has to take a slice out of their budget. So the Sheriff has to decide, is he going to take out policemen or is he going to cut a program that helps women with children? ... My office has cut 21 percent since I've been there. There comes a point where if you get rid of bodies, you can't do the job.
WCT: Do you believe we're on the right track with the independent hospital board? And, what additional improvements would you make?
TS: I think the board works hard, but I am not convinced that their goal is what it stood for -- the county itself. They appear to be reducing what they do for the constituents. Half of the people in our system don't have any insurance whatsoever ... A regular hospital would take 5 percent or less, and actually it's probably closer to 2 or 3 percent of their patients don't have insurance ... There is nothing wrong with the board, but it has to be more accountable to the people who really use your services.
WCT: You've been at the center of several headlines about allegedly corrupt hiring practices. What is your response to those accusations?
TS: They weren't corrupt hiring practices. Basically, one employee was released because he didn't fulfill his job because of his prior problems ... All you have to do is have the media yell at us, and they think there is corruption. But there hasn't been anyone who has ever been indicted since I've been here, and out of 20,000 employees, that is tough because every once in a while you're going to have people trying to figure out how they can bend the rules. We have a great hiring system, and it wasn't that anyone who was hired couldn't do their job, or they were caught doing anything ... We've done a lot of things we won't get any kudos over ... I meet every three months with the Shakman administrator to make sure things are fine. We hired an outside human resource director who has come in to make the office more transparent. We've made a lot of changes that give people more confidence. You haven't found we've done anything wrong ...
WCT: Hindsight is always 20/20. Looking back, is there anything that you would have done differently?
TS: In government, I would say just meeting with my allies a little more. Even when your allies are on the same page, you need to reassure them of the things that are going on. Through our many fights, I would say I probably didn't talk to them enough.
WCT: What have you done to work for equality for the LGBT community?
TS: Before I got here, I was a state representative for nine years and an alderman for five. When I was in the State House, I fully supported the Human Rights Ordinance, and it wasn't a hard thing to do ... Being a minority in this country, I know what it means when a majority thinks that you are different than them ... I've worked very closely with the lobbyists [ from LGBT organizations ] ….just last year, they told us they need some funding for homeless for gay youth, and we found the money for them.
WCT: Do you support the legalization of same-sex marriage? Why or why not?
TS: Yes. I can't remember if that issue has come before us, if we had a vote, I can't remember. But yes, I always have.
WCT: There are several people vying for your job. Why do you think you are the best person for this job?
TS: I think I'm the best person because once you listen to the other candidates, you realize they aren't really telling you anything. They will tell you we are in a fiscal crisis, when in reality we are the only government that is not in a fiscal crisis, and that because of the hard work of my administration. We are the government that has not had had any corruption charges. They may say things that get headlines, but when you look at it, nothing has happened. It has just been a lot of talk. Our government being sound and stable, I think speaks for itself. The people we've been able to keep in their homes, that speaks for itself. Keeping our healthcare system intact, that speaks for itself ... When people find out ... we only get a one penny on the dollar [ from the sales tax increase ] , when they find out it doesn't affect groceries or medicine or car sales or home sales, they are like, "Well, I didn't know that." And all of a sudden, their opinion changes, so it is all about knowledge.
See www.strogerforpresident.com .