On May 11, Governor Quinn vetoed Senate Bill 0365, a bill that would have limited but not eliminated legislative scholarships. His veto message states that he cannot condone a program that provides student assistance regardless of need or merit but relies instead on the favor of a legislator. Governor Quinn recommends that the General Assembly pass House Bill 4685, which would eliminate the legislative scholarship program effective June 1, 2010. Each of the 177 members of the Illinois General…
The ordinance that established the Cook County Health and Hospitals System (Health System) in 2008 specifically granted its independent Board of Directors the authority to participate in purchasing consortia. At a meeting on April 30, 2010, the Board reaffirmed its right to award a contract through such a purchasing group, despite objections from two Commissioners of the Cook County Board. The contract before the Health System’s Board involved the provision of laundry and linen services at…
In Cook County, township government often gets overlooked amidst the various local governments including municipalities, school districts, park districts, community college districts and others. In order to shed light on this largely unexamined unit of government, the Civic Federation has created a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) that provides information about the basics of township government in Cook County. Part 1 of the list describes the basic functions and structure of…
Cook County has recently taken efforts to improve its transparency and accountability to the public through its Open County Initiative website. The County developed the initiative as a response to recommendations by the Sunshine Review, a non-profit organization that advocates for better state and local government transparency. The Sunshine Review evaluated the content of Cook County’s website and identified areas for improvement. The County subsequently created the Open County Initiative…
The Civic Federation and the Friends of the Forest Preserves believe that the current governance structure of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County needs reform because it is impossible for one commissioner to fulfill the two diametrically opposed duties of economic development and land preservation. Currently the Cook County Board of Commissioners serves double duty as Forest Preserve District Commissioners, but there is legislation introduced in the Illinois General Assembly to…
This February Cook County launched a new online check register that gives the public access to how the County spends its money. The County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution to create the online check register in 2009. It is one component of the County’s new Open County Initiative website, which it developed in order to improve its governmental transparency and accountability to its taxpayers. The Open County Initiative website consists of four sections: the check register, budget…
When the Chicago City Council approved the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Sunshine Amendment in April of 2009 that called for the creation of a consolidated and enhanced TIF information website, the City took a significant step towards improving the transparency of its TIF districts. Although the creation of the website improved the accessibility of some TIF information, the Civic Federation recognized that further additions and improvements could help with the City’s TIF transparency efforts.…
On February 2, 2010 Illinois will hold its primary election. The position of Cook County Board President and all Cook County Commissioner seats are on the ballot. Many issues pertaining to Cook County government have been debated during this election cycle, including the repeal of the entire sales tax increase approved by the Board of Commissioners in 2008 and the future of the County’s health and hospital system. Another issue that has been raised during debates is whether a separate board of…
This article explains how CTA President Richard Rodriguez has reduced the number of managers and personnel costs at the Authority. The Civic Federation is quoted commending Rodriguez’s moves to reduce spending, but expressed concern that the loss of too many top-level managers may hurt the Authority’s operations.
This segment on the “Chicago Tonight” news program examines Chicago’s ward-based waste collection system. Civic Federation President Laurence Msall was interviewed for the report. He says the City pays too much for the management and labor needed to run 50 individual garbage collection districts. Click the link above or visit the Civic Federation blog to watch the video.
