All
of the African-American and Latino members of the county board supported the
idea, along with certain white members who had one thing in common with their
non-white colleagues.
 |
| PRECKWINKLE: She got her (or Stroger's) tax hike |
THEY
WEREN’T FROM the North Side or its surrounding suburbs.
It
would seem that Madison Street, the informal dividing line between South and
North sides, also applied here. Forget about any support for the increase of
the county sales tax from 0.75 percent to 1.75 percent on the North (supposedly
more affluent) side of the city.
South
of it, it would seem that political people were in line with the thought
expressed by Commissioner Stanley Moore, who said that while he doesn’t like a
tax increase, he is showing his “faith” in Preckwinkle’s judgment that she’s
not guiding the county into a political sinkhole.
It
is a potential sinkhole for him, since his county district includes
neighborhoods such as South Chicago, the East Side and Hegewisch, along with
suburbs such as Calumet City and Lansing that are located directly on the
Illinois/Indiana border – where local governments tend to think the sales tax
is something meant only for state government to use.
JUST
THINK OF how low the Illinois sales tax would be if there weren’t local and
county governments staking their own claim to it. Seven percent, to be exact –
instead of the 10.25 percent it will be now.
If
anyone is likely to feel a direct blow to their political futures for
supporting this, it is Moore – who only got onto the county board when he was
appointed to replace William Beavers following his indictment and conviction on
charges related to his desire to use campaign contributions while gambling at
casinos.
I
suspect that for Robert Steele (whose mother had a stint as county board
president), Jerry “the Iceman” Butler and Deborah Sims, the same faith was a
factor, as it would be for Jesus Garcia (how would Rahm have used this against Chuy if the mayoral campaign were still ongoing?) and Luis Arroyo.
 |
| MOORE: Will his 'faith' come back to bite him? |
As
for white commissioners, John Daley of the Bridgeport neighborhood is a
political establishment type who likely was consulted before the sales tax hike
was even introduced.
WHILE
JEFFREY TOBOLSKI of McCook and Joan Patricia Murphy of Crestwood also come from
parts of the county that align with the South Side.
 |
| DALEY: Wound up backing Toni |
Whereas
all the opposition to the tax hike came from the North Side and suburbs.
Even
from people like Bridget Gainer and John Fritchey – both of whom are people
with urban constituencies that usually think highly of Preckwinkle and her Hyde
Park ways. As are Richard Boykin of Oak Park and Larry Suffredin of Evanston.
THEN,
THERE ARE the Republicans who naturally would oppose anything that Preckwinkle
would put forward – particularly if it was an idea identical to something they
dumped all over former County Board President Todd Stroger for.
 |
| SCHNEIDER: Voted the party line |
Do
you know how badly Tim Schneider, who also is Illinois Republican Party
chairman these days, would be castigated by his GOP colleagues if he were to
back this proposal – no matter how badly the county needs the revenue?
The
same likely goes for Peter Silvestri of Elmwood Park, a former mayor, and Gregg
Goslin of Glenview, a former legislator. I’m sure some will argue it is a
matter of a more affluent North Side not needing to rely on government as much.
Although
I’m wondering if it would be easier on all of us to have our South Side vs.
North resolved on the ball fields each summer – it certainly would be a lot
cheaper on our pocketbooks!
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