Cook County Commissioner Joan Murphy on the Hot Seat?

The Chicago Federation of Labor released their local endorsements yesterday. But it was more interesting in what they didn't do rather than what they did.

They withheld endorsement in the Cook County Board President's race, a seeming slap in the face to Board President Todd Stroger. But they also postponed endorsements in the County County Commissioner's races.

From their press release:

The CFL postponed making any endorsements for Cook County Board of Commissioners until after an important budget vote tentatively scheduled for next Monday. The vote would be whether to repeal a portion of the county sales tax creating a budget deficit that would harm county services and the frontline workers who provide them.

It would be premature for the Chicago Federation of Labor to endorse candidates for the county board with this measure looming overhead,” said CFL President Dennis Gannon. “The county budget is about vital services and the frontline workers who provide them to residents. We cannot endorse individuals who plan to balance the budget by slashing services and laying off men and women for political gain during an election year.”

While the CFL's press release mentions one issue it expects to be considered in Monday's budget meeting ("a vote to ban regulated video gaming in unincorporated Cook County") most people are interested in whether the Board will take up the half-a-cent repeal of Todd Stroger's sales tax increase.

The Illinois General Assembly passed -- and the Governor signed -- a measure rolling back the number of votes needed to override Todd Stroger's veto of the half-cent repeal of the sales tax increase (there are 12 Democrats and 5 Republicans on the Cook County Board). Monday's meeting is a special board meeting "to vote on rolling back the county’s controversial sales tax by a half-penny." Suburban Democrats -- specifically Joan Murphy -- are now on the hot seat.

Joan Murphy has been the very definition of a flip-flopper on the Cook County Board. First she proposed a two cents sales tax increase, then she voted for Todd Stroger's one cent sales tax increase before she voted to repeal half the increase.

But the CFL has thrown a wrench into her political calculation. The Chicago Fed made it clear to county commission challengers that they would be supporting the incumbents who supported the sales tax increase. Preserving jobs is the CFL's number one priority, and area labor unions are smart enough to realize that it is their workers -- and not those hired through the patronage system -- that are on the chopping block if county revenues fall.

Which leaves Murphy in a political quandary. Murphy represents the 6th Cook County Commission District in the South Suburbs, which borders both Will County (with a sales tax rate of 7.00%) and Indiana (with a sales tax rate of 6.0%). Like those who live in Deborah Sims' district, residents in Murphy's district have a daily choice between shopping in Cook County with its highest in the nation sales tax or taking a short drive to shop. Both Sims and Murphy deny that it effects businesses in their districts, but one assumes they know better.

The political heat from constituents about the sales tax burden was why Murphy switched from supporting Todd Stroger's tax increase to voting for a partial repeal. But Murphy also desperately needs the Chicago Fed's support.

Murphy couldn't afford to alienate voters, having one of the weakest bases of support in the Southland. She reported only $25,419.66 COH at the end of the last disclosure period and faces a formidible opponent from attorney John Fairman who has garnered support from village mayors throughout the gerrymandered district.

The CFL has been talking about being a force in the 2010 Cook County Commission races like it was in the 2007 aldermanic races. In 2007, the CFL endorsed candidates and sent full-time staff into several wards. The CFL and member unions gave endorsed candidates between $10,000 and $50,000 and had volunteers on the streets over the last two to four weeks before election day. On election day, it sent as many as 60 volunteers who worked all day to help elect favored candidates.

This is help that Joan Murphy desperately needs. Hence the dilemma. She voted for repeal because of the differentiation between tax rates in her district and Will County and Indiana stores. But the Chicago Fed is making Monday's vote a factor in its endorsement process. And the CFL's endorsement clearly has to be a consideration in Murphy's vote(s) on Monday. She really can't afford for the Chicago Fed to make a "No Endorsement" in her race, as they did in the Board President's race. She needs their help to win re-election. I doubt the CFL minds that it will be influencing at least one commissioner's vote on Monday.

Nick Kaleba, spokesperson for the Chicago Fed, described the delay in endorsing county commission candidates this way:

We look at the commissioners' complete records, including where they stand on balancing the budget on the backs of frontline workers and at the expense of vital county services. Monday's vote does not necessarily guarantee an endorsement or non-endorsement from the CFL. But with the vote just around the corner, it was necessary to hold off endorsing candidates until we have a more complete picture of their records.

The only other commissioner that faces a similar dilemma is appointee Edwin Reyes, who replaced Roberto Maldonado, who was appointed as 26th Ward alderman this summer. Reyes faces Xavier Nogueras (who was Maldonado's choice to replace him on the board) in what is likely to be a hard-fought primary.


The full set of endorsements by the Chicago Federation of Labor, as announced yesterday, are:

Cook County Board President
No Endorsement

Cook County Commissioner
Endorsements on hold


Cook County Clerk: David D. Orr (D)
Cook County Treasurer: Maria Pappas (D)
Cook County Sheriff: Thomas J. Dart (D)

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner
Michael A. Alvarez (D)
Mariyana T. Spyropolous (D)
Barbara McGowan (D)

Board of Review 1st District: Brendan F. Houlihan (D)

Cook County Assessor: Joseph Berrios (D)


1st Appellate – McNulty Vacancy: Jim Ryan
1st Appellate – O’Malley Vacancy: Thomas L. Hogan
1st Appellate – South Vacancy: Mary Katherine Rochford
Cook Circuit – Berland Vacancy: William H. Hooks
Cook Circuit – Bronstein Vacancy: Terry MacCarthy
Cook Circuit – Dolan Vacancy: Linda J. Pauel
Cook Circuit – Hayes Vacancy: Raymond W. Mitchell
Cook Circuit – Kelley Vacancy: John Patrick Callahan, Jr.
Cook Circuit – O’Malley Vacancy: Thomas V. Lyons
Cook Circuit – Riley Vacancy: James Michael Bailey

Cook Circuit – 1st Subcircuit – Coleman Vacancy: Thaddeus L. Wilson
Cook Circuit – 1st Subcircuit – Steele Vacancy: Michelle Hugghis Flagg
Cook Circuit – 1st Subcircuit – A Vacancy: No Endorsement
Cook Circuit – 3rd Subcircuit – Carmody, Jr. Vacancy: Allen F. Murphy
Cook Circuit – 3rd Subcircuit – Darcy Vacancy: Edward Harmening
Cook Circuit – 3rd Subcircuit – A Vacancy: Daniel Malone
Cook Circuit – 9th Subcircuit – Otaka Vacancy: Abbey Fishman Romanek
Cook Circuit – 9th Subcircuit – A Vacancy: Michael Ian Bender
Cook Circuit – 11th Subcircuit – Riley Vacancy: Steven J. Fruth
Cook Circuit – 14th Subcircuit – A Vacancy: Daniel James Pierce
Cook Circuit – 15th Subcircuit – Lipinski Vacancy: Linzey D. Jones
Cook Circuit – 15th Subcircuit – Panichi Vacancy: George F. Scully
Cook Circuit – 15th Subcircuit – Phelan Vacancy: John C. Griffin

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Deborah Sims' Suburban Problem

In reality, it shouldn't have been a surprise that Cook County Commissioner Deborah Sims reversed her vote and upheld President Stroger's veto of the recent tax increase repeal. It was a surprise that she ever voted to repeal the tax increase in the first place.

Sims is as loyal to the Strogers as one can be. As a resident of the 5th Cook County Commission district, this would be less distressing if we actually got something from her loyalty. You wouldn't know it unless you drove around the county, but the condition of county property, facilities and roads are much worse in the South Suburbs than in the Western and Northern suburbs.

While this neglect suggests to people that the South Suburbs just doesn't care, it is really evidence of the lack of money spent by county government in the Southland and a massive failure of leadership on the part of those who represent us.

Commissioner Deborah Sims. Commissioner Joan Patricia Murphy.

Deborah Sims can vote with impunity -- or so she believes -- because of several factors. First of all, she doesn't really represent the South Suburbs, she represents her Chicago Wards -- and, specifically, her loyalists are very proud of her residence in the 34th Ward. If Sims can get the votes out of the Chicago Wards and Thornton township, then she wins. Her work -- her neglect of the Southland -- is evidence that she understands this political calculation.

Hence her continued loyalty to Todd Stroger. Thus her neglect of the Southland.

Unlike the Northern and Western suburbs, people in the South Suburbs don't really know who their county commissioners are. We conducted issues canvasses down in the South Suburbs this summer, and while the number of respondants in each county commission district was small (~200), the results were not. Joan Murphy had almost no name recognition in her district and Deborah Sims was only a little better. The numbers aren't statistically significant, because an issues canvass conducted by volunteers via door to door canvassing isn't methodologically sound, but Sims had less than 10% name recognition in the South Suburban doors we knocked. (I'd assume that it was higher in the city.)

There's a good reason for this. In the decade that I've lived in Flossmoor, I've never seen Deborah Sims in the South Suburbs (except for once before at Frank Z's annual summer picnic) until petitions started being passed this year. Over that time, she may have conducted one Southland appearance (probably always in Thornton township) a year. Sims simply doesn't leave the city that often. When she does, she certainly isn't coming to the South Suburbs.

In the place of presence, Sims has built up a culture of fear. Opponents are confronted, with the purpose of beating them down. Pretty standard political tactics for Chicago machine wards. My own experience with Sims' loyalists seems pretty typical. Down in Springfield, for Governor's Day, a Sims' supporter asked me about why the political group I work with had allowed Sims' opponent to speak before the group. "Lies and misleading facts" were being used against the commissioner.

You know me, I'm fairly blunt. "The South Suburbs," I told her, "are getting f*cked and where's Deborah Sims? You can't be surprised that there's a lot of anger out there."

With irony dripping from every word, she replied: "It's those MEN on the county commission. That's why. They don't care about the South Suburbs."

I didn't have the heart to explain to her that it wasn't the job of "those MEN" (I can't properly explain the disgust with which she referred to the male commissioners) to care about the South Suburbs. They don't represent us. They are supposed to care about *their* districts.

I was struck by the admission of failure on the part of Sims' loyalist. The South Suburbs are getting screwed because we don't have effective leadership. The South Suburbs are screwed because our elected leaders can't negotiate effectively with the rest of the board. The South Suburbs are screwed because everybody on the board already knows how she is going to vote.

With the Strogers. The South Suburbs (two thirds of the voters in her district) be damned.

This admission of failure to lead on the county commission is reinforced by her work with Southland representatives in the General Assembly to get state money for South Suburban projects. Deborah Sims is quite proud of her working with our local state reps to bring in money from Springfield. I'm not complaining, but where's the money from Cook County? I pay county taxes, too, and it seems that the only benefits we see down here from Cook County are the politically connected county employees who have two and three county jobs. Many of them appear to work outside of the South Suburbs, so while they may be politically useful, they aren't helping to better *our* communities.

In an environment of fear and an absence of knowledge about who their county representatives are, voters in the South Suburbs may be more willing to consider the recommendations on the palm cards they are given at the polls. Even if both sides wage competitive campaigns and spend real money courting votes, the lack of name recognition on the part of Deborah Sims and Sheila Chalmers-Currin (in the 5th) and Joan Murphy and John Fairman (in the 6th) will be problematic. As Doug Price, one of the few organizers in the South Suburbs, pointed out, voter anger won't know who to direct itself at if voters don't know who is the incumbent.

On the other hand, there's a real possibility that both Sims and Murphy could be outspent in this election cycle. Neither one had much cash on hand in the last report, and both are aware that they face an angry electorate. Conventional wisdom down in the Southland is that neither Sims nor Murphy will get the endorsements of the newspapers. While the unions are generally expected to endorse the incumbents, unless they import workers into the South Suburbs it's hard to imagine that this will have much effect. Local AFSCME members say they expect their union to support Sims and Murphy, but they say they won't vote with their union leadership. They may feel differently if the union has an actual presence down here -- especially if they have to walk by a union member to enter the polls.

We should never forget that political machines -- of all varieties -- are more effective in low-informational races. Whether or not these county commission races are low information is up to opponents. It is the incumbents who benefit otherwise.

In the end, Deborah Sims has to do two contradictory things: have a strong presence in the South Suburbs (especially in Thornton township) and hope that voters don't realize who she is. Todd Stroger won't be successful down here -- John Stroger wouldn't have done that well if Forrest Claypool's campaign had tried to compete in the South Suburbs.

If Democratic reformers want to break the stranglehold that the machine has on the Cook County board, they will have to take over these two seats. Which won't be difficult in this particular political environment. Voters in the South Suburbs are pissed and there is no reason to expect them to be loyal to the machine. Toni Preckwinkle figured this out early, and has found the Southland to be a rich hunting ground. The era of Sims and Murphy is fast fading from the scene...

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