GOV, county craziness
Chicago Tribune has a list of fees the county will probably enact to raise revenue.
Chicago Tribune (Mickey Ciokajlo):
ABC7 (Charles Thomas):
Don't people usually end up in county jail because they are too poor to make bail? Are there criminals declining to make bail so they can get medical care for free?
Commissioners Claypool and Sims seem to like the idea of charging people in the jail.
BTW, if the individuals get found not guilty will they get their fees refunded?
Neil Steinberg (Sun-Times) has an anecdote about Todd Stroger's sister getting busted for smoking in the bathroom at 26th and California.
In a way it seems petty since the smoking restriction is... imperfectly enforced at that facility anyway. But if Stroger and Beavers answer to everyone is "we have the power that allows us not to care what you think" then you can expect columnists like Steinberg to take the opportunity to be petty.
BTW, Todd Stroger was the one official to get booed at the Obama announcement at the UIC Pavilion.
Add more county craziness in the comments.
The committee also recommended increasing environmental impact fees. Board members rejected taxes on ammunition and sport-utility vehicles.
Chicago Tribune (Mickey Ciokajlo):
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger refused to say Tuesday whether he would veto a property tax increase if board members approve one to help fill the county's current budget hole.
ABC7 (Charles Thomas):
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is proposing some ideas to generate revenue for the county as it faces a $500 million budget deficit. The sheriff wants criminals to pay to be locked up and to foot the bill for their own medical expenses. It is an idea that is getting some support.
Don't people usually end up in county jail because they are too poor to make bail? Are there criminals declining to make bail so they can get medical care for free?
Downstate, the much smaller Kankakee County Jail has raised of hundreds of thousands of dollars with booking and bond fees and inmate medical co-pays. The 40 times larger Cook County Jail, with an average of well over 10,000 inmates a day, could be a mother lode for revenue-starved county commissioners.
Commissioners Claypool and Sims seem to like the idea of charging people in the jail.
BTW, if the individuals get found not guilty will they get their fees refunded?
Neil Steinberg (Sun-Times) has an anecdote about Todd Stroger's sister getting busted for smoking in the bathroom at 26th and California.
In a way it seems petty since the smoking restriction is... imperfectly enforced at that facility anyway. But if Stroger and Beavers answer to everyone is "we have the power that allows us not to care what you think" then you can expect columnists like Steinberg to take the opportunity to be petty.
BTW, Todd Stroger was the one official to get booed at the Obama announcement at the UIC Pavilion.
Add more county craziness in the comments.
Labels: Cook County budget, county jail, Todd Stroger, Tom Dart
posted by Carl Nyberg at
9:42 PM
2 Comments:
Hilarious that the crowd booed Todd Stroger. The irony was delicious, considering Obama endorsed the unelected Todd Stroger but he never would endorse the true reformer Claypool.
Hopefully Obama will get a clue next time a hack bullies him for an endorsement. Obama doesn't need Stroger or Daley - they need him.
By
Anonymous, at 12:32 PM, February 12, 2007
Good point ambivalent.
The Stroger's never gave Obama a thought when he sought their endorsement. I wish he had thumbed his nose at them when Todd needed him. Why Barack stooped to do so I'll never know.
Todd's four year gift is ticking away fast. He'll never get re-elected.
Somebody ought to help wipe that stupid grin off his face though. The pain that will be felt by those on the bottom is not funny.
By
Anonymous, at 1:59 PM, February 12, 2007
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