From the official notice that Todd Stroger will present his selections for the new Interim Board of Directors of the Cook County Bureau of Health next Tuesday to the Legislation, Intergovernmental and Veterans Relations Committee:
“I feel all of the candidates provided are excellent; thus, I will not address any questions that relate to why I did not select a particular individual. Instead, I would recommend to any person that wishes to offer someone else to consider, who they would remove from the list I have put forth.”
This recommendation most reflects the childhood development theory of:
A) I know you are, but what am I?
B) I’m rubber and you are glue . . .
C) I’m taking my ball and going home.
Nonetheless, the Tribune editorial page did just as Stroger asked. (The Sun-Times editorial board is also unhappy.)
Stroger also states that “I attempted to the best of my abilities, to be certain that there were no potential conflicts of interest in the members I have selected.”
I think the key caveat there is “to the best of my abilities.”
Here are Stroger’s picks and a little bit about what we know about them, according to published reports:
1. Daniel Cantrell, staffer to U.S. Rep. Danny Davis who “ran a clinic on Chicago’s West Side that failed to pay more than $1 million in payroll taxes as it went bankrupt.”
2. David Carvalho, deputy director of the Illinois Public Health Department
3. Jorge Ramirez, secretary-treasurer of the Chicago Federation of Labor
4. Heather O’Donnell, health policy director for the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability
5. Norman Bobins, chairman emeritus of LaSalle Bank
6. Andrea Zopp, former Cook County prosecutor who is now executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Exelon
7. Barbara Hillman, lawyer
8. Quinn Golden, former chief of staff at the Illinois Public Health Department
9. Benn Greenspan, UIC School of Public Health
Why should you care? Because this is what we’re getting in exchange for that tax increase.
2 responses so far ↓
Don Smith // May 8, 2008 at 8:44 pm
For the most part it looks like this “independent” board is anything but. Hillman, O’Donnell, and Ramirez are all labor people, O’Donnell is connected to SEIU via her group. The fact that organized labor has donated over $300,000 to Todd Stroger demonstrates what a farse this board is. Carvalho was at the Bureau of Health ostensibly covering up the fiscal malfeasance at bureau. Andrea Zopp donated money to Stroger. This board is a sham and the in Stroger’s pocket.
Yossarian // May 9, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Let’s face it - an independent board would start by firing patronage hires from the Eighth Ward who tend to find there way onto bloated PR and administrative staffs at DPH. That can’t happen as far as the Toddler is concerned, so an independent board is out of the question. I understand that Messers. O’Donnell and Greenspan and Ms. Zopp are all pretty good choices however.
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