Commissioner Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman - 17th District
Commissioner Liz Gorman

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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

 

PAID FOR BY COMMISSIONER ELIZABETH "LIZ" DOODY GORMAN.
NO TAXPAYER FUNDS WERE USED IN THE CREATION OR MAINTENANCE OF THIS SITE.

©2007 Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman