Ask
Commissioner Peraica to Tell The Truth
Recently, Commissioner Tony Peraica sent a blast
email to a great number of people asking them to contact
my office to explain my vote for the Stroger Budget.
The Stroger Budget was NOT passed by the County
Board. The amendment to the budget that was passed was
a compromise between the Stroger Budget and the Claypool/Peraica
amendment. Any attempt to term the budget that passed
as the Stroger Budget is a lie and disingenuous.
First and foremost, the Claypool/Peraica budget
plan was not balanced and would not have withstood a Presidential
veto, thereby shutting down 100% of all services of the
county which would have harmed 100% of the citizens of
Cook County. Under our plan we were able to actually restore
more jobs than their amendment would have been able to
accomplish.
Here are the facts on what we were able to do to avoid
the drama and trauma of a veto:
1 - According to State's
Attorney Dick Devine, fewer Assistant State's Attorney's
were laid off under our approved budget amendment than
either the Stroger or Peraica budgets.
2 - According to
Sheriff Tom Dart, fewer Sheriff's department employees
were laid off under our approved budget amendment than
under either the Stroger or Peraica Budgets. We were able
to restore $10M to save Sheriff's Police and law enforcement
programs.
3 - 13 of the County's
26 Health Clinics were closed because they were only serving
5% of the total patient population of the County's Health
Care System. My constituents returned me to the Board
with a mandate to cut inefficiency in County Government
and that's what I did.
4 - The budget we
passed was a balanced budget, eliminated a $500,000,000
deficit and did it all without raising taxes.
5 - The final vote
on the budget was 14 to 3 with 60% of the Republicans
voting in favor of our budget plan and NOT the Stroger
Budget plan.
6 - It is unfortunate
when people have to lose their jobs, but the taxpayers
demanded a balanced budget without a tax increase. We
did that with our alternative to the Stroger and Peraica
budgets.
7 - The Chicago
Tribune termed the Peraica budget as unworkable - "It
would have retained too many unnecessary jobs that union
leaders demanded, and preserved more public health clinics
than patient counts justify" Said the editorial
in speaking of the Peraica budget plan.
Ask Commissioner Peraica how he can complain
about patronage on one hand while getting a family member
on the County payroll and attempting to get his law partner
appointed to the METRA board (a move the Chicago Sun Times
called "Sleazy").
Ask him why he continuously refers to our plan
as the "Stroger" budget when in fact it is not.
Ask Tony Peraica to start telling the truth.
In closing, I am asking Commissioner Peraica
to get off the campaign trail and stop causing massive
diversions, and start working with me and the other commissioners
to get down to the people's business and real government
reform.
Read the Chicago Tribune's Editorial on the Commissioners
who do the work of the County: So
Many Salaries, So Little Work
Commissioner Peraica has no place questioning
my character as evidenced in the following video clips
of election night debacle:
http://cbs2chicago.com/video/?id=27534@wbbm.dayport.com
http://cbs2chicago.com/video/?id=27512@wbbm.dayport.com
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