Black ministers endorse County Board President Todd Stroger for re-election

Quote :

About 100 African-American ministers gave embattled Cook County Board President Todd Stroger their much-anticipated endorsement for re-election today, saying black voters must stay "united" or risk losing the government seats they hold.

Two of Stroger's three African-American rivals in the Democratic primary boycotted the ministers' stated attempt to find a "consensus" black candidate because they said the group was dominated by Stroger supporters, and the outcome was pre-ordained.

Bishop John Richard Bryant said of the endorsement, "It's about the people in this city who need quality leadership."

"Quality! Quality!" shouted a minister in the audience at Quinn AME Chapel.

"You da man!" Rev. Joanne Long said hugging Stroger. That prompted chants of "You da man! You da man!"

"We stand with him as we stood with his father, John Stroger. We stood with that giant as we are now standing with his son," Bishop Cody Marshall said.

Accepting the endorsement, Stroger extended an olive branch to his rivals Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th) and Clerk of the Court Dorothy Brown, inviting them to join his campaign. Davis and Preckwinkle did not seek the ministers' support.

All three have said they planned to stay in the race despite today's long-anticipated endorsement. Supporters of the other candidates say they fear Stroger is too unpopular to hold the seat even if he won the Democratic primary.

Only one white candidate, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District President Terry O'Brien, is in the race, and these ministers say he will win if all four African-American candidates stay in the race.

Stroger said these ministers will help tell their congregations "the truth" about what a good job Stroger has done as County Board president.

When my minister got political, I walked out. I never asked anyone for advice on how to vote.

[quote="LoisLane"]

Quote :

About 100 African-American ministers gave embattled Cook County Board President Todd Stroger their much-anticipated endorsement for re-election today, saying black voters must stay "united" or risk losing the government seats they hold.

What's your point? The Christian right preachers have been backing white candidates for office for years.

[quote="Artie60438"]

LoisLane wrote:

Quote :

About 100 African-American ministers gave embattled Cook County Board President Todd Stroger their much-anticipated endorsement for re-election today, saying black voters must stay "united" or risk losing the government seats they hold.

What's your point? The Christian right preachers have been backing white candidates for office for years.

The point is quite obvious. Those voters who vote for a crook like Stroger just because he is black are racists.

[quote="Passion"]

Artie60438 wrote:

LoisLane wrote:

Quote :

About 100 African-American ministers gave embattled Cook County Board President Todd Stroger their much-anticipated endorsement for re-election today, saying black voters must stay "united" or risk losing the government seats they hold.

What's your point? The Christian right preachers have been backing white candidates for office for years.

The point is quite obvious. Those voters who vote for a crook like Stroger just because he is black are racists.

Thank you...

[quote="Passion"]

Artie60438 wrote:

LoisLane wrote:

Quote :

About 100 African-American ministers gave embattled Cook County Board President Todd Stroger their much-anticipated endorsement for re-election today, saying black voters must stay "united" or risk losing the government seats they hold.

What's your point? The Christian right preachers have been backing white candidates for office for years.

The point is quite obvious. Those voters who vote for a crook like Stroger just because he is black are racists.

No it's not! Where is your evidence that they are voting for him just because he's black. Btw,I'm not a fan of Stroger but there is no evidence that he's a "crook".

[quote="Artie60438"]

Passion wrote:

Artie60438 wrote:

LoisLane wrote:

Quote :

About 100 African-American ministers gave embattled Cook County Board President Todd Stroger their much-anticipated endorsement for re-election today, saying black voters must stay "united" or risk losing the government seats they hold.

What's your point? The Christian right preachers have been backing white candidates for office for years.

The point is quite obvious. Those voters who vote for a crook like Stroger just because he is black are racists.

No it's not! Where is your evidence that they are voting for him just because he's black. Btw,I'm not a fan of Stroger but there is no evidence that he's a "crook".

The guy's approval rating is below 9%...what other reason would the African-American ministers have to endorse him?

[quote="LoisLane"]

Artie60438 wrote:

Passion wrote:

Artie60438 wrote:

LoisLane wrote:

Quote :

About 100 African-American ministers gave embattled Cook County Board President Todd Stroger their much-anticipated endorsement for re-election today, saying black voters must stay "united" or risk losing the government seats they hold.

What's your point? The Christian right preachers have been backing white candidates for office for years.

The point is quite obvious. Those voters who vote for a crook like Stroger just because he is black are racists.

No it's not! Where is your evidence that they are voting for him just because he's black. Btw,I'm not a fan of Stroger but there is no evidence that he's a "crook".

The guy's approval rating is below 9%...what other reason would the African-American ministers have to endorse him?

They're obviously part of the 9% that think he's doing a good job. Nice try though,bigot.

"Committee members probably should have some confidentiality and not immediately call the press. But they are what they are."

-- Cook County Board President Todd Stroger on why County Board members shouldn't inform the public about a subpoena exploring how his

administration spends taxpayer dollars.



Only the foolhardy think they can guess precisely why prosecutors resort to subpoenas in any given case. In this case, though, we have an excellent clue: The Tribune's Hal Dardick and Matt Walberg report that Cook County prosecutors have subpoenaed county financial records in what sources tell the newspaper is a widening criminal investigation. The probe began with questions about Stroger's 2008 hiring -- and oddly rapid promotion -- of steakhouse busboy Tony Cole: You'll recall that Cole's county salary shot from $48,000 to $61,000 in only four months.

Whatever the prosecutors learn, we hope they'll eventually share every shred of it with taxpaying citizens. Stroger hasn't adequately explained this disturbing episode, which includes the abrupt firing of Donna Dunnings, the county's chief financial officer and his own cousin.

(Stroger loyalists on the County Board have succeeded in deflecting questions about all of this. Back on April 23, Commissioner Tim Schneider led a charge for Stroger's disclosure of why Dunnings had been fired -- and whether county finances had been mismanaged. A Stroger aide floated unsupported assurance that there had been "no misuse of county assets."

That was a lie. This chain of events started with the egregious misuse of county assets when Stroger hired Cole -- with taxpayer dollars, but without a criminal background check. The deeper Schneider and board members Larry Suffredin and Tony Peraica probed for explanations, the more Finance Chairman John Daley and other Democratic regulars tried to thwart them. Stroger apologists Joan Patricia Murphy and Deborah Sims even tried in desperation to adjourn the April 23 meeting rather than have appropriate questioning continue.

So here we are, five months later, with no answers but with criminal prosecutors on the case. They have ordered Deloitte & Touche LLP, the county's auditing firm, to produce documents related to the 2008 audit of county finances, according to a memo to County Board members from Daley, who also heads the board's Audit Committee.

An accompanying letter from Deloitte says that firm's personnel "may serve as witnesses to a current grand jury investigation." Assistant State's Attorney John Blakey, head of the office's Special Prosecutions Bureau, confirmed issuance of the subpoena but won't comment on what financial records he needs to see or the nature of the investigation.

By themselves, subpoenas don't imply that a crime has been committed. Many of them lead nowhere. We hope Blakey's probe does, though, help the rest of us assess whatever special treatment Stroger engineered for Cole -- and whether Stroger acted fairly in firing Dunnings. We're also curious about reports that the probe has widened to a broader inquiry into how Stroger's administration has spent money and accounted for it.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/chi-0928edit1sep28,0,2968956.story

(Click above for the rest of the story.)

Here's another one:

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's administration has hired a law firm to probe the county's finances after revelations that a grand jury has expanded its investigation.

The county's purchasing agent, Carmen Triche-Colvin, sent a letter Wednesday to Stroger and the 17 county commissioners, saying the firm of Mayer Brown LLP was hired five days ago based on a request from Jaye Williams, the new chief financial officer.

The firm was hired to conduct an internal investigation of "issues identified by Cook County's outside auditor's (sic)" and "an organizational audit" of the county's Finance Bureau, the letter states.

The hiring comes two weeks after the Tribune reported that a county grand jury had subpoenaed Deloitte & Touche LLP, the county's auditing firm, in what sources said is a widening investigation of county finances.

Mayer Brown was hired without board approval under an ordinance authorizing emergency purchases, the letter states.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-stroger-probe-01-oct01,0,3994237.story

(Click on the link above for the rest of the story.)


And why they stated they need the African American in "power":

But note the real sensible one from Toni Perwinckle???

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-county-board-president-14oct14,0,7992234.story


Cook County Board President Todd Stroger formally kicked off his re-election campaign Tuesday with the backing of nearly 90 African-American ministers who say they favor him over three other black candidates in the contest.

Though some of his opponents in the Feb. 2 Democratic primary sought to discount the endorsements, Stroger entered the historic Quinn Chapel AME Church to thunderous applause and thanked the ministers.

"I cannot be the only warrior," Stroger told them. "I stand on your shoulders."

Potential board president candidate U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, D-Chicago, called the endorsements an attempt by the Stroger campaign "to heighten expectations."

"It appears to me that the effort kind of fizzled and didn't turn out to be what the campaign had hoped it would be," Davis said. "Lots of other groups of communities were not there."

Chicago Ald. Toni Preckwinkle, 4th, said winning the board president contest will require appeal across demographic lines.

"This is a Democratic primary, not an African-American primary," Preckwinkle said, noting her efforts to reach other voting blocs, including Latinos and women.

Members of Clergy for a Better Chicagoland said endorsing a single African-American candidate in the primary is an attempt to avert fragmenting black political power.

"This community needs a unified front to address the issues that are pressing against our people," said the Rev. John Richard Bryant, a senior bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

The lone major white candidate for board president is Metropolitan Water Reclamation District President Terrence O'Brien.

The ministers also said they continue to back the other potential board president candidates -- Circuit Clerk Dorothy Brown, Davis and Preckwinkle -- for the offices they now hold.

After being formally endorsed, Stroger made a case for his leadership.

Stroger defended the controversial penny-on-the-dollar sales tax increase enacted last year, saying it prevented the budget shortfalls facing most governments and saved the public health care system.

Stroger said the ministers' endorsement should give his opponents "some pause in thinking; people don't know how well the county is being run and that I've really saved this health care system." (Oh, yeah, right!)

How helpful the endorsements will be remains to be seen. A recent Tribune poll found Stroger's approval rating stood at 10 percent. In addition to the tax hike, Stroger's administration also has been buffeted by patronage hiring scandals.


Well anyway, Artie, I've read it several times in the past week how the groups of ministers said they MUST have an African-American serving in Todd's place, should he loose. I felt that was terribly wrong. If Dr. Luther King's dream meant anything, it was the part where a person would be judged by character, not skin color. Now, given that, wouldn't you think these self-proclaimed ministers would be screaming if any group of whites or Jews, or Indians demanded one of their own in there? And, why have they forgotten that "I Have A Dream," and what it means?

We should be voting for politicians that are qualified. Not based on skin color. I'm ashamed of our politicians. They are ruining our country. Power and Greed has them fighting amongst each other, while our country is getting flushed down the toilet.

UrRight wrote:

Well anyway, Artie, I've read it several times in the past week how the groups of ministers said they MUST have an African-American serving in Todd's place, should he loose. I felt that was terribly wrong.

I don't believe for one minute that anyone said that. Show us some proof!

[quote="Artie60438"]

LoisLane wrote:

Quote :

About 100 African-American ministers gave embattled Cook County Board President Todd Stroger their much-anticipated endorsement for re-election today, saying black voters must stay "united" or risk losing the government seats they hold.

What's your point? The Christian right preachers have been backing white candidates for office for years.

Give me proof outside that silly political priest, I don't even consider a "priest," the Rev. Phigthierflagger from the south side of Chicago, who I doubt any devout Catholic has any respect for.

Instead of him marching and preaching outside of the church like Jesse Jackson, they should be opening up workshops for mama's to learn how to reign in their kids...ya know, do your homework, help with supper and watch tv, be in bed by 9 or 10 p.m.. and go to school the next day.

The problem with these gang-bangers does NOT lie with politicians. Society awards you with money, based on the amount of babies you churn out. The more you have, the more blessed you receive in assistance. When those "cute" babies hit a certain age, or don't verify they are attending school, momma gets cut off. She then thinks, "Why the hell should I care, I ain't got no money anymore!" Black, White, Asian, Muslims and every segment of society is at fault.

It boils down to when the benefits run out (because the father wasn't responsible., public working people pay for this. Those kids only know one life: an empty mind is the workshop of the devil. It doesn't matter what color your skin is. It doesn't matter how many times you are pregnant by different "baby's" daddies, the won't change because the parent doesn't give a rat's azz, where their kids are once the money runs out after the kid drops out, or the kid reaches a certain age.

What boils my blood is the fact that taxpayers are expected to support them, and the politicians that are just as screwed up as those kids. That's a fact you don't need a link to. The politicians are just like the thugs. The only difference is, the thugs attack with guns, graffiti, they act out the same way, but a different way than our politicians...our politicians slang words against each other, even within their own parties, expose tactics through the news media to tarnish their opponents, rip off taxpayers, and slap you with fines...that hurt far worse than a bullet in the heart.

So..PARENTS...where are your kids, whether grade school, high school, college or plain old drop outs at 9:00 p.m.? That's why I question you guys out there who's saying, "HE WAS SUCH A GOOD KID."

Really? What are teenagers at age 16 17 doing out at night when they should be in bed, having had done their homework? Why are your "20" year old kids out flying around at night, rather than attending a college, volunteering in hopes of obtaining a job, joining a workshop to acquire skills to hopefully, at least get a job somewhere else? Somewhere violence isn't an option?

Where are YOU parents when it comes to being involved in the school, volunteering, and dragging your kids in all kinds of activities at school, to keep them so busy (and yourself), so they don't have time to walk the streets, or meet other kids to steer them wrong?

I love how those thousands of churches you see on any given Sunday, show all those people coming out with their "Sunday's BEST," totting their kids like it's Easter Sunday...then learn their names, find out it was "SHOW and TELL" Once they got home, it was back to the basics...kicking butt, shootings, and "Where'd ya get that play game from? Damn. My boyfriend Fred loves that game, glad you got that game box, boy.."

[quote="UrRight"]

Artie60438 wrote:

LoisLane wrote:

Quote :

About 100 African-American ministers gave embattled Cook County Board President Todd Stroger their much-anticipated endorsement for re-election today, saying black voters must stay "united" or risk losing the government seats they hold.

What's your point? The Christian right preachers have been backing white candidates for office for years.

Give me proof outside that silly political priest, I don't even consider a "priest," the Rev. Phigthierflagger from the south side of Chicago, who I doubt any devout Catholic has any respect for.

That's what I figured. You have no proof and it's just your own prejudice that's surfacing. This is the reason no one takes you seriously.

Wouldn't matter if you had iron clad proof in hand, would it? I believe history in Crook County shows us that usually there's only a slim chance that black voters wouldn't vote for any black incumbent even if he was going to prison, especially if it were the general election. I think they'd even vote for the person if he or she were dead! LOL

So why isn't that voting by race since a non-black stands virtually no chance of winning those votes?

OTOH at least in Lake County, IN I think outside of Gary they would opt to vote the guy out if he remained on the ballot with a serious criminal trial pending. I would hope they would at least.

Sorry, Artie, thought I was in a different topic area, but give me a day, and I'll give a link, the whole article that I read in the Sun-Times, Daily Herald, or where-eva'!

I think it was in the paper way over a week ago. They came right out and said they need an African American to be sitting in that seat. This was well before the ministers' article. I was sort of shocked that they made that statement. Trust me, I'll research and find it.

Just watched a repeat from last night's "Chicago Now" where they had discussed hot topics for the week in Chicago.

During the round-table discussion, it was brought up whether or not they still insist on replacing Stroger with an African-American...and during that discussion it was noted that one of the Minister's son was hired for a $63,000 or $68,000 job by Stroger after all the Black minister's put on the show'boatin' for Stroger to be re-elected.

Thought they had a hiring freeze.

I still believe that one should not be elected based on color of skin. That's outrageous!!!!

Hey, just found an article on it; I guess I was wrong about the salary.



http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/cook_county_board/

147 posts categorized "Cook County Board"
November 13, 2009
Stroger rehires county commissioner's brother as primary election looms
Posted by Hal Dardick at 5:45 a.m.

Two months ago, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger fired the brother of a wayward political ally from a high paying patronage job.

Now that politically connected sibling is back on the county payroll with only a slight pay cut, less than three months before the Feb. 2 Democratic primary for board president.

Byron Steele, the brother of Commissioner Robert Steele, D-Chicago, started this week as an energy manager with the Environmental Control Department, Stroger spokesman Eugene Mullins said. Byron Steele is being paid $43 an hour, or a little less than $90,000 a year, Mullins said.
Continue reading "Stroger rehires county commissioner's brother as primary election looms" »

Posted by Newsdesk at 5:45 AM in 2010 Cook County Board President's race, 2010 Illinois election, Board president, Cook County Board, Cook County politics | Permalink | Comments (41)






About Clout
Clout has a special meaning in Chicago, where it can be a noun, a verb or an adjective. This exercise of political influence in a uniquely Chicago style was chronicled in the Tribune cartoon "Clout Street" in the early 1980s. Clout Street, the blog, offers an inside look at the politics practiced from Chicago's City Hall to the Statehouse in Springfield, through the eyes of the Tribune's political and government reporters.

Davis said he realized that it would be "politically dangerous" for candidates from the same political and community bases to run at the same time. That view was expressed earlier this fall by black ministers who said they were worried that the number of black challengers to Stroger could result in blacks losing the post, which an African-American has held for more than a decade.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-primary-ballot-10-nov10,0,504782.story

Artie, that's just a part of the story about the ministers endorsing Stroger; I'll look up where they said an African American must retain or obtain that post as President of Crook County.

Found it Artie! (Still have to research the Sun-Time's version where they came right out and said, "It must be an African American" holding that office.

I personally believe Perwinkle will win. hee, hee.

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2009/10/todd-stroger-kicks-off-reelection-campaign-with-ministers-endorsement.html#more

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger formally kicked off his re-election campaign today with the backing of nearly 90 African-American ministers who say they favor him over three other black candidates in the contest.

“This community needs a unified front to address the issues that are pressing against our people,” said the Rev. John Richard Bryant, senior bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, speaking at an historic black church where Stroger campaign workers handed out packages to gather signatures to get him on the ballot.

While choosing Stroger in the crowded Feb. 2 Democratic primary, the ministers also said they continue to support the other three potential African American candidates for the offices they now hold.
They are Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, D-Chicago, and Chicago Ald. Toni Preckwinkle, 4th. The lone major white candidate is Metropolitan Water Reclamation District President Terrence O'Brien. The ministers have said they fear a fragmented black vote would lead to the election of O’Brien.
Stroger, the only candidate to attend today's endorsement announcement, stood alongside the ministers at Quinn Chapel AME Church and made a case for his leadership.

Stroger defended the controversial penny-on-the-dollar sales tax increase he pushed through last year and prevented from being repealed, saying the hike prevented the budget shortfalls facing most governments and “saved the (public) health-care system.”

How helpful the endorsements will be remains to be seen. A recent Tribune poll found Stroger’s approval rating stood at 10 percent. In addition to the tax hike, Stroger’s administration also has been buffeted by patronage hiring scandals.

The endorsement of Stroger is “the right thing to do at the right time,” Rev. Clay Evans, founder of Clergy for a Better Chicagoland said in a taped statement to the group.
Posted at 03:53:17 PM in 2010 Cook County Board President's race, 2010 Illinois election