Chicago Sun Times Editorial - Is county ready for this kind of reform?

Chicago Sun Times Editorial - Is county ready for this kind of reform?
Copyright by The Chicago Sun Times
September 21, 2006


It was with some surprise -- oh, let's be honest and say our jaws dropped -- to read that Mike Quigley, the reformer on the Cook County Board, the man who always questioned the way former president John Stroger did business, was throwing support to Stroger's son, Todd, in his bid to become the next County Board president. Sun-Times political columnist Carol Marin detailed the whole business in her column on Wednesday, noting that Quigley's chief of staff, Jennifer Koehler, is being seconded to work for Stroger's campaign. With Quigley's blessings.

"Would this be the same Mike Quigley who, beginning with his election in 1998, was the loneliest commissioner on the whole board?" Marin asked. "The guy crying for reform from a back bench? The lone vote for the longest time on cutting the bloated budget and confronting the endless corruption?"

Yes, indeed. One wonders about Quigley's motives, particularly when he tells Marin he would look "ridiculous" directly endorsing Stroger so he has sent him "the best and brightest" of his staff. Quigley says he needs to help Democrat Stroger, because the race for Cook County Board president has become a "grim choice" between Stroger and Republican Commissioner Tony Peraica. He adds that he hopes Stroger is being honest about wanting reform. Amen. It can only be said that politics makes strange bedfellows.