"Doc" Walls is running for governor

Last night I listened to WVON's "Voice of the People With State Representative La Shawn Ford" and learned that William "Doc" Walls III is running for governor in the Democratic Primary. Gov. Pat Quinn is the incumbent and was endorsed by the Cook County Democratic Party. Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, the son of Tom Hynes, former chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party is also running. State Rep. Jack Franks has raised money to run, but has not officially declared.


Wikipedia has a summary of the race that seems up-to-date with respect to which candidates are running.

Rep. Ford interviews Todd Stroger on WVON

Sunday, on his weekly WVON radio program State Rep. La Shawn Ford interviewed Cook County Board President Todd Stroger.

Ford's questions were a combination of obsequious and opening the door so Stroger could make the points he's making in his campaign for re-election. Ford made a big deal of Stroger's education based on being admitted to St. Ignatius College Prepatory School (competitive admission) and getting a BA in history from Xavier University in Louisiana. At one point Ford referred to Stroger being “crucified” in the media.

(Ford is a strong proponent of Catholic Schools, so it's not surprising he started by emphasizing Stroger's Catholic school roots.)

I called and asked three questions. Two callers made points about Kiddieland. Otherwise the callers were all Stroger supporters who spent time attacking either the media or Rep. Danny Davis for running against Stroger.

Stroger mostly left me thinking less of him after the interview than before.

Stroger mentioned that he started college as an engineering major, but decided to switch when he realized engineers sit at their desks all day. Stroger wanted to move around more.

I am 95+% sure Stroger is lying. Stroger quit his engineering major because he either couldn't do the course work or wasn't willing to make the effort to do the course work. Engineering is hard; history is easy. Stroger's line about engineers spending all their time at their desks is BS. Good engineers push to spend more time with the equipment and seeing how the operators handle the equipment in real life (as opposed to how they should be handling it according to designers). Good engineers spend time in design labs. The excuse Stroger provided for quitting engineering is designed to sound reasonable to someone who is ignorant, but it's simply not true.

In my first question I asked Stroger what he did as an investment banker. Stroger likes to mention his experience as an investment banker on the campaign trail. It sounds like a serious job.

Stroger connected taxing bodies who wanted to sell bonds to bond buyers. He was paid on commission. I'm sure there was some paperwork to do, but I suspect there is very little uncertainty associated with this work. The taxing body decides to borrow money. The rating agencies rate each taxing body. And then the bonds are sold to investors. Bonds are very conservative investments, so it's not like an investor needs to be convinced to take a risk.

Which taxing bodies did Stroger make commissions from? He listed a few, including City of Chicago, Chicago Park District, State of Illinois and District 152 (Harvey elementary schools).

One of the galling things Stroger said in the interview was that he didn't expect to go into politics, he saw himself in the private sector. What is the definition of “private sector” in Stroger's mind? Using political connections to get commissions on sale of bonds? If private sector means private investors raising capital and selling private goods and services to private (not government) customers, Stroger has never held a private sector job. Or, he hasn't mentioned it on the campaign trail.

I asked if Stroger bore increased responsibility for Donna Dunning not working-out as the CFO for Cook County government. Stroger fired his cousin, Dunning, as CFO because of her role in the Tony Cole scandal. See Eric Zorn (Chicago Tribune).

Stroger claimed hiring Dunning reflected positively on him. He said Dunning was successful because Cook County government is “in the black”. Stroger keeps hammering the message that Cook County government had a deficit (although Stroger used the word “debt”) of $ ½ billion when he assumed office and now has a surplus. Stroger's critics contend Stroger's 1% sales tax increase exceeded the needs of the county and that much of the excess taxation has gone to hiring people who aren't needed for Cook County to provide services.

In my final query I asked Stroger to explain the difference between good management and bad management. I asked this question because I suspect Stroger hasn't had experiences in well run organizations and poorly run organizations. He doesn't appreciate the difference; he doesn't know when to delegate issues and when to get involved personally. For example, he dictates who should be hired for low level positions (like when Tony Cole was hired). He doesn't understand that his job as President is to set a direction for county government and keep his lieutenants moving toward the goals he sets. Everything else should be delegated.

Stroger's answer to my query was, “Good management is when things go well; bad management is when they go poorly.” There are a few ways to take Stroger's answer. 1) He's an idiot; 2) He thinks the people listening are idiots; or 3) he just wanted to be disrespectful toward me.

Arlene Jones and then Chris from Edgewater called to encourage Cook County government to do something to keep Kiddieland operating. See Arlene Jones (Austin Weekly News). Both Jones and Chris wanted the Cook County Forest Preserve District to provide land. On this point Stroger balanced acknowledging the passion of Jones and Chris with the constraints on using FPD land for non-forest preserve purposes.

(BTW, I'm pretty sure the origin of making it all but impossible to shift the use of forest preserve land to non forest preserve purposes goes back to the building of Proviso East High School, which sits on land owned by the Forest Preserve District. Forest preserve advocates made the case that there wasn't a point to having a forest preserve if local politicians could raid the land for worthy projects easily.)

I was surprised that so many people called to criticize Rep. Danny Davis for running for President of the Cook County Board. Some said he's doing great in Congress and should stay there (or should have run for U.S. Senate). Others said Davis wasn't particularly productive in Congress. And some emphasized that Davis is just too old and should make way for younger voices. One caller was upset Davis got $160 million for "White folks".

At least one person, Eunice from the South Side, made the argument that Mayor Richard Daley has engaged in much mismanagement, insider deals and cronyism as Stroger. The media seems to accept Daley's misdeeds as part of the package while attacking Stroger for the same transgressions.

This is a strong enough argument that it should be discussed (as opposed to most of the arguments made by callers which were just silly). At a forum on TIFs (see (BobB) Prairie State Blue), Ben Joravsky made this argument on behalf of Stroger. Joravsky's position is not so much asking people to go easier on Stroger, but to ask, why the #%&* Chicagoans don't push to hold Daley accountable.

candidate forum, Black Dems running for Prez of Cook County Board

On Thursday, August 27, WVON hosted a forum for the four Black Democrats running for President of the Cook County Board at Malcolm X College (near West Side). Terry O'Brien, the non-Black Democratic candidate, was invited, but had a conflict. The crowd filled the seats and had people standing in the balcony. WVON's Cliff Kelley moderated.

Campaign message:

Dorothy Brown
Brown introduced herself and included the line, “We need new ideas, not new taxes.” She positioned herself as having relevant financial and management experience based on her education (JD, MBA and CPA) and her running the office of the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court (2,100 employees). Brown repeatedly mentioned that she has saved $187 million as clerk. Brown described the county as facing a crisis, financial and management.

Danny K. Davis
Davis started by saying he believed the county and state were in need and could be in crisis. He said he wants honest and open government. He acknowledged that people want to pay lower taxes. He explained the two “essential” functions of Cook County government as being health care and criminal justice. Davis offered himself as qualified to run the health care system because he ran a health care clinic before he was an elected official and because he was a leader in the National Association of Community Health Centers. On criminal justice, Davis expressed the goal of reducing crime and recidivism and to generally give hope. Davis emphasized the role the seventeen members of the county board play and said that he would be most able to bring the board together.

Toni Preckwinkle
Preckwinkle said government has two obligations: 1) to deliver quality service, and 2) to deliver services efficiently and effectively. Preckwinkle touted her experience as alderman improving the quality of life in the Fourth Ward as proof she has the energy and vision to be President of the Cook County Board. Preckwinkle said she'd do three things as President: 1) eliminate the 1% sales tax increase over four years which would make Cook County more competitive which would increase jobs; 2) continue the independent governing board for the Cook County health care system; and 3) reduce the jail population through increased substance abuse treatment.

Todd Stroger
Stroger emphasized having three balanced budgets multiple times during the presentation. He drew contrasts with city and state budgets that have large deficits. He complained the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times unfairly attacked him. Stroger said he was on the side of the people and the people were on his side. During the evening he injected positive information about Cook County government. Stroger's supporters were quite vocal, gave him standing ovations and frequently broke into chants of, “Four more years!”
In his concluding remarks Stroger said, “We let the major papers tear our leaders down.” He then told of shaking the hand of a Black boy at the Bud Billiken Day parade. Stroger said the boy could see, “This Black man is doing something powerful!... This is about Black people and how we are perceived.”

Style:

Brown
Dorothy Brown came across as passionate and energized. There was something not quite right about the modulation for me. Maybe it was too much, too much of the time. Her supporters were about as numerous and loud as Stroger's.

Davis
Davis appeared to be the elder statesman. The moderator, Kelley, helped by being most deferential to Davis. He could connect with the audience without theatrics. Davis was often smiling knowingly as other candidates spoke in a way that made Davis seem like he was watching little leaguers learn the game of politics.

Preckwinkle
While having her ideas organized and giving details was her strength, the style of her presentation was her weakness. Toward the end Preckwinkle's forehead was furrowed. It might have been the light pointing too directly at her face. But it was easy to get the impression she was scowling because she was frustrated. Was she frustrated with Kelly, who treated the male candidates better? Was she frustrated with the audience that seemed to be more interested in style than substance? Was she frustrated that her campaign didn't muster more people for the audience? Maybe it was just the light.

Stroger
Stroger has gotten more effective on the campaign trail than he was four years ago. Four years ago he appeared amiable, if a bit hapless. At the Malcolm X forum he was indignant at be treated disrespectfully by the major media outlets. Stroger used emotion and used details to make his case. Stroger failed to state a vision for the future, but when he said he was on the side of the people he said it with conviction.

Points about county government:

Cook County government spends about $3 billion per year, of which about $882 million go to the hospital, according to Preckwinkle.
Between 2005-07 Cook County forfeited $139 million of Medicaid payments for failing to apply in accordance with federal procedure according to Preckwinkle.
Dorothy Brown was the only candidate that drew attention to the patient intake system. Patients are expected to arrive at 5 AM; the hospital stops allowing patients to get in line at 7 AM. As Brown noted, this kinda sucks if you're sick and there is inclement weather.
Preckwinkle noted Cook County is “in trouble with the federal government for overcrowding” at the jail.

Criticisms of Stroger:

In response to complaining about media coverage, Preckwinkle noted that part of the president's job is to manage relations with the media.

Brown chided Stroger about the forums organized by Cook County government to advise homeowners about mortgage and foreclosure issues. Stroger said the program was an example of Cook County government serving its citizens. Brown countered that the county spent money on something that a foundation (she mentioned the name) would have done for free.
At this point, Kelley made it the clearest that some candidates were more equal than others. Kelley modified the format to allow Stroger to respond. Stroger denied spending money. Brown said he did. Stroger said it was federal money to deal with mortgage issues. Brown countered that the money could have been spent helping people if the forums would have been done for free.
I liked how Brown handled Kelley modifying the rules to help Stroger. Brown simply said her piece and kept talking when Kelly tried to give Stroger the last word. Brown didn't complain Kelly was putting his thumb on the scale, she just took control of the situation.

Other coverage:

Progress Illinois (Adam Doster)

I didn't see coverage in the Trib, Defender or Sun-Times.

[UPDATE: I asked the National Association of Community Health Centers about Davis' experience. This is the email response I received:

Rep. Davis was instrumental in helping to start the National Association of Community Health Centers and served as President before getting elected to Congress. He is also a former employee, board member and patient of two health centers and a long time friend of the Community Health Center Movement. Health centers were started as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty and today they serve 20 million people, nearly 40 percent of whom are uninsured. Congressman Davis has championed for their support and expansion as a Member of Congress, which is why he is a repeat winner of NACHC’s Health Center Champion Award.

[end UPDATE]