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Monday, August 18, 2008 - By Chuck Salvatore
- SWNews Herald
State Sen. Christine Radogno (R-41st) would like to see the Cook County sales tax increase be rolled back because she believes it is bad for business. Read more...
Monday, August 18, 2008 - By Steve Stanek
- The Heartland Institute
Hundreds of residents of Cook County, Illinois gave County Board President Todd Stroger (D) an earful over a 1 percentage point sales tax increase that is forcing county shoppers to pay the highest sales tax burdens in the nation. Read more...
Friday, August 15, 2008 - By Dan Mihalopoulos and Hal Dardick
- Chicago Tribune
City Hall must figure out how to come up with $420 million to balance its books, but aides to Mayor Richard Daley said Thursday they have not yet decided whether city employees will be laid off. Read more...
Thursday, August 14, 2008 - By James P. Miller
- Chicago Tribune
Illinois employers eliminated a total of 9,700 jobs statewide during the month of July, state officials said today, pushing the Illinois unemployment rate leaped from 6.8 percent to 7.3 percent -- the state's highest jobless level in almost 15 years. Read more...
Thursday, August 14, 2008 - By Dan Mihalopoulos
- Chicago Tribune
City Hall must figure out how to come up with $420 million to balance its books, but aides to Mayor Richard Daley said Thursday they have not yet decided whether to lay off city employees. Read more...
Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - By Patricia Trebe
- Chicago Tribune
Whether it was as chairman of the revenue committee when she was a Republican member of the Illinois House or as a commissioner of the Cook County Board of Review, Maureen Murphy had a goal to save taxpayers money. Read more...
Monday, August 04, 2008 The following letter, written by Tony Peraica, was published in Sunday's Chicago Sun-Times. Read more...
Monday, August 04, 2008 - Chicago Sun-Times
Last Tuesday, I and six other commissioners on the Cook County Board, sponsored a repeal of the recently enacted sales tax increase. Unfortunately, President Todd Stroger and his allies defeated the measure in a 10-7 vote. I was criticized and called "irresponsible" by pro-tax commissioners for sponsoring this proposal. Read more...
Friday, August 01, 2008 Tony will be a guest on WBBM's "At Issue" program this Sunday at 9:30 AM and 9:30 PM. Read more...
Thursday, July 31, 2008 - By Okema J. McLoyd
- The Shopper Online
As Tony Peraica pursues the office of States Attorney he asks one thing of Cook County citizens, "Make an educated vote!" If police brutality is going to end, corruption is to be beaten and if taxes are going to be lowered and if a change is to come, voters must start thinking outside the box. It makes no sense to vote for a Democrat just because you call yourself a Democrat or to vote for a Republican because you're a Republican. When I asked Peraica what caused him to make the drastic change from the Democratic to the Republican Party, he said, "It wasn't a drastic change, it was evolution. The Republican Party simply more closely identifies with my own political views." Read more...
Thursday, July 31, 2008 - By Eric Herman
- Chicago Sun-Times
One day after a Sun-Times story about political donations Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica received from men with criminal convictions, Peraica announced he is giving the money back. Read more...
Thursday, July 31, 2008 - By Joseph Ryan
- Daily Herald
Republican Tony Peraica and Democrat Anita Alvarez continue to blast each other over questionable campaign contributions as they compete to be Cook County's top prosecutor. Read more...
Friday, July 25, 2008 - By Ray Hanania
- SW NewsHerald
When Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin was running for Cook County State's Attorney, he told me that he opposed the tax increase package being rammed through by President Todd Stroger. Read more...
Thursday, July 24, 2008 - By Rob Wildeboer
- Chicago Public Radio
Campaign contributions for the first six months of the year were made public this week and they show that Democrat Anita Alvarez is taking donations from people who work in the state's attorney's office and would become her employees if she wins in November. Alvarez says she doesn't think that's a conflict. Read more...
Wednesday, July 23, 2008 - By Rob Olmstead
- Daily Herald
Tony Peraica lost twice Tuesday.
The first defeat was a foregone conclusion: His effort to roll back a wildly unpopular 1 percentage point sales tax increase had been widely acknowledged as doomed because no "yes" votes on the county board had indicated they would reverse their votes. Read more...
Wednesday, July 23, 2008 - By Rob Olmstead
- Daily Herald
When Cook County commissioners were writing the ordinance that revamped the county's Inspector General office, they never considered that one of the future candidates would be a Cook County assistant state's attorney. Read more...
Wednesday, July 23, 2008 - By Hal Dardick
- Chicago Tribune
An uphill battle to repeal Cook County's new sales-tax increase tanked Tuesday as commissioners accused its sponsor of political posturing to boost his bid for countywide office. Read more...
Wednesday, July 23, 2008 - By Mark J. Konkol
- Chicago Sun-Times
Self-described Cook County Board reformers took one last shot at repealing the county's sales tax increase that went into effect this month, but they didn't have the votes to make it happen. Read more...
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 - By Andy Shaw
- ABC7 Chicago
The tax revolt, led by Commissioner Tony Peraica, was crushed by board president Todd Stroger and his supporters. Read more...
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 - By Hal Dardick
- Chicago Tribune
After a lengthy and emotional debate peppered with political accusations against Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica, the County Board voted 10-7 on Tuesday to reject his proposal to repeal the county's new 1 percentage-point sales tax increase. Read more...
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 Chicago, IL -Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica, candidate for Cook County State's Attorney, joined by a bi-partisan coalition of four Republicans (Silvestri, Goslin, Gorman and Schneider), and two Democrats (Claypool and Quigley), called on other County Board members to join him in repealing the massive $430 million Cook County sales tax increase which went into effect July 1st making Cook County the highest sales tax county in the nation.. Read more...
Monday, July 21, 2008 - By Bob Uphues
- The Landmark
The Cook County Forest Preserve District-operated aquatic center, geared toward children 12 and under, officially opens Thursday, July 24 at 2 p.m. Read more...
Friday, July 18, 2008 - WQAD Channel 8 News
The number of unemployed workers in Illinois increased for the second month in a row in June, rising to its highest level since June 1993. Read more...
Friday, July 18, 2008 Read more...
Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - Chicago Tribune
Days since the Cook County Board raised the sales tax: 16 Days until the Feb. 2, 2010, Illinois primary election: 566
The push to roll back Cook County's increase of a full percentage point in the sales tax has begun. County Board member Tony Peraica on Monday filed the formal paperwork asking the board to reverse this most egregious of tax hikes. Peraica needs nine votes on the 17-member board to get traction. His measure now boasts seven sponsors. Read more...
Monday, July 14, 2008 - By Thomas A. Corfman
- Chicago Business
The vacancy rate for Chicago-area retail real estate shot up during the second quarter to its highest level in nearly five years, and is expected to continue to climb this year as merchants retreat. Read more...
Monday, July 14, 2008 - By Rob Olmstead
- Daily Herald
Despite raising taxes $426 million annually earlier this year, Cook County leaders have decided to stop funding at least $1.8 million a year for a program designed to keep poor pregnant women and their babies healthy. Read more...
Sunday, July 13, 2008 - ABC 7 Chicago News
Commissioner Tony Peraica held a news conference Sunday in front of Commissioner Larry Sufferdin's office in Evanston. Peraica is asking his colleague to change his vote for the tax and support him in repealing it. The new tax raised Chicago's sales tax to 10.25 percent, making it the highest in the nation. Read more...
Sunday, July 13, 2008 Chicago, IL - Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica, candidate for Cook County State's Attorney, today called on fellow commissioner Larry Suffredin to support Peraica's soon-to-be-introduced ordinance to repeal the county's recent 1% sales tax increase. Read more...
Friday, July 11, 2008 - By Craig Dellimore
- WBBM NewsRadio 780
Some Cook County commissioners are ready to try to repeal the county's new-and much criticized-sales tax increase. But, even they doubt if they will be successful. Read more...
Thursday, July 10, 2008 - By Tim Novak, Art Golab, Chris Fusco, Mark J. Konkol, and Natasha Korecki
- Chicago Sun-Times
City of Chicago has paid criminal attorneys more than $625,000 since Hired Truck
As City Hall's scandals mount, so do the legal bills for taxpayers.
Since January 2004, Mayor Daley's administration has spent more than $625,000 on outside lawyers to represent city employees in federal criminal investigations, records show. Read more...
Tuesday, July 08, 2008 - By Rob Olmstead
- Daily Herald
Besieged with negative press over a record-breaking $426 million sales tax increase, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's administration is forbidding department heads from speaking with the media unless his spokesman is present - an apparent effort to improve the news coverage of his administration. Read more...
Monday, July 07, 2008 - By Editorial Board
- Chicago Tribune
This week, County Board member Tony Peraica intends to finish drafting a resolution to do just that. Other board opponents of the hike, notably Michael Quigley and Forrest Claypool, likely will join as co-sponsors. Read more...
Wednesday, July 02, 2008 - By Greg Hinz
- Crain's Chicago Business
(Crain's) - Even as controversy rages over Cook County's big new sales tax hike, a major financial ratings service is warning that the county's fiscal picture is darkening and suggests that a sales-tax increase now may not have been a good idea. Read more...
Wednesday, July 02, 2008 - By Kimberly Pohl and Madhu Krishnamurthy
- The Daily Herald
For Leslie Kaehler, avoiding the 1 percentage point sales tax increase that went into effect in Cook County Tuesday is a matter of "principle more than a few cents." Read more...
Tuesday, July 01, 2008 - Associated Press
Chicago's no Second City, at least not when it comes to sales taxes. A boost in the Cook County sales tax that took effect on Tuesday means people shopping in Chicago now pay a cumulative 10.25 percent levy -- the highest of any major U.S. city. Read more...
Tuesday, July 01, 2008 A collection of news clips from Tony's 'Corruption Tax' Protest... Read more...
Tuesday, July 01, 2008 Chicago, IL - Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica, candidate for State's Attorney has called for the repeal of the new county sales tax and laid the blame for the tax at the door of the Cook County State's Attorney's office for failing to investigate corruption in county and city government. Read more...
Tuesday, July 01, 2008 On July 1st, Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica joined Don Wade and Roma to give you the inside story on why Cook County now has the highest sales tax in the United States. Whose fault is it and will it ever go back down? Will this hurt retail sales in Cook County? Plus, find out why he calls the new sales tax a "corruption tax!" And how will Tony Peraica help clean up Cook County if he is voted in as Cook County State's Attorney? Read more...
Tuesday, July 01, 2008 - CBS 2 Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) ― Sales taxes in Chicago are now the highest in the nation, and business leaders are furious. Read more...
Monday, June 30, 2008 - By Mike Nolan
- Chicago Sun-Times
Come Tuesday, Chicago will have the highest sales tax rate of any big city in the nation, and Keith Kujawa is already thinking about how he could save money. Read more...
Monday, June 30, 2008 - By Ray Gibson
- Chicago Tribune
A south suburban businessman accused of a nationwide swindle has told federal investigators he paid bribes to a Cook County official to operate an allegedly illegal recycling center for fluorescent light bulbs in a Riverdale warehouse, the businessman told the Tribune. Read more...
Monday, June 30, 2008 - Chicago Tribune
On Tuesday the cost of taxable items you purchase in Cook County will increase by a full percentage point. Chicagoans will awaken July 1 to the highest sales tax in the nation. Cook suburbanites will face sales taxes several percentage points higher than at stores in collar counties. Expect merchants in those counties to post more of the big signs that boast: "No Cook County Taxes." Read more...
Friday, June 27, 2008 - By Dane Placko
- Fox News Chicago
Chicago -- Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is catching heat for his new ride. Some commissioners are not exactly thrilled with the size of his new County provided S.U.V. Another problem is the plan to upgrade it with Federal Homeland Security money. Read more...
Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - By Carol Marin
- Chicago Sun-Times
There was a federal arrest at O'Hare Airport 13 days ago that was curious.
A Las Vegas-to-Chicago flight landed, carrying a number of retired Chicago cops and at least one still on the force, Joseph A. Grillo. Read more...
Monday, June 23, 2008 - By Phil Kadner
- Southtown Star
Harvey's park district shut down on Friday, an apparent victim of corruption and a political power struggle. Read more...
Sunday, June 22, 2008 - By Editorial Board
- Chicago Tribune
When Stroger appeared in Palatine to defend the wasteful government he runs, he was doing his job. The question is whether, as 2010 approaches, the rest of us will do ours. Read more...
Friday, June 20, 2008 - Chicago Business
The Chicago portion of a major national crackdown on mortgage fraud has netted 67 people ranging from mortgage brokers to attorneys, federal officials announced Thursday. Read more...
Thursday, June 19, 2008 - Chicago Tribune
I believe Mr. Stroger's department is not working efficiently. Probably, he is not capable to run the office. That is why Cook County constantly has deficit in the budget. Why does Cook County need thousands of new job positions? It seems that the existing Cook County governmental staff is not working at full force and possibilities. We are getting sick and tired of hearing and reading about dysfunctions and bribes. Read more...
Thursday, June 19, 2008 - By Ben Calhoun
- WBEZ Chicago Public Radio
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger used a rare tie breaking vote to squeak a multi-million dollar deal through the county board. Turns out the firm that drafted the deal has extensive ties to Stroger and his political organization. Read more...
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 - By Paul Rock
- Chitown Daily News
Cook County commissioners voted 9-8 yesterday to give chief financial officer Donna Dunnings the authority to borrow $150 million against increased sales tax revenues that go into effect next month. Read more...
Tuesday, June 17, 2008 - By Andrew Hellpap
- Wheeling Countryside
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger left some northwest suburban residents unsatisfied after his Monday evening visit to Harper College in Palatine. Read more...
Tuesday, June 17, 2008 - By Ashok Selvam
- Daily Herald
The audience applause portion of the night as begun.
You know when the crowd claps their hands to show their support of a fellow crowd member's idea or question. Read more...
Tuesday, June 17, 2008 - By Jeff Long and Hal Dardick
- Chicago Tribune
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger finally kept his date Monday with taxpayers in the northwest suburbs, where some officials had threatened to secede from the county in anger over a sales tax increase he championed. Read more...
Tuesday, June 17, 2008 - Chicago Sun-Times
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger pushed through a sales tax hike earlier this year -- giving the Chicago area one of the largest ones in the country --and Monday night, some 200 suburbanites pushed back. Read more...
Thursday, June 12, 2008 - Chicago Sun-Times
It's easy to brush off the torture allegations involving former Chicago Police Lt. Jon Burge and the cops he oversaw. Read more...
Monday, June 09, 2008 - By Rob Olmstead
- Daily Herald
Say this for Bill Beavers. He tells it like it is.
The plain-spoken defender of patronage let loose at Tuesday's Cook County board meeting with a tutorial on how to confound federal investigators and construct plausible deniability. Read more...
Monday, June 09, 2008 - By Rob Olmstead
- Daily Herald
A political donor to Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is in line to receive a county contract today, despite the fact that the company proposes charging 22 percent more than the next closest proposal and 32 percent more than the lowest price offered. Read more...
Wednesday, June 04, 2008 - By Paul Rock
- Chi Town Daily News
Cook County commissioners yesterday banned an ambulance company from vying for county business, saying bidding problems could have caused patients to suffer. Read more...
Tuesday, June 03, 2008 - By Steve Stanek
- Budget & Tax News/The Heartland Institute
A brewing tax rebellion in suburban Cook County, Illinois, which includes the city of Chicago, has local officials and some state lawmakers talking of forming a new county. Read more...
Monday, June 02, 2008 - By Hal Dardick
- Chicago Tribune
Former Chicago Park District executive once was Stroger's boss
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's new chief of staff is a former Chicago Park District executive from Bridgeport who once gave his new boss a job. Read more...
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - By Carol Marin
- Chicago Sun-Times
Mild-mannered columnist turns Indiana Jones in the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
What began as fact-checking a news tip became an all-out quest Tuesday. Snakes and fire ants and boulders in my path? Not quite. But an obstacle course for sure. Read more...
Saturday, May 24, 2008 - By Paul Merrion
- Chicago Business
Four years into a $41-million program to install police surveillance systems throughout suburban Cook County, a third of municipalities are equipped, the contractor has been replaced after a number of technical glitches and a subcontractor responsible for installing the equipment is bankrupt. Read more...
Thursday, May 22, 2008 - NBC 5 Chicago
CHICAGO -- U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said Thursday a series of arrests last year didn't stop the bribery going on in the Chicago departments of Building and Zoning, it just made those involved get "sneakier." Read more...
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - By Rob Olmstead
- Daily Herald
Back in February, Cook County administrators cited the dire need for health care for poor people when they raised taxes $426 million a year. Read more...
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - By Rob Olmstead
- Daily Herald
Cook County commissioners passed a resolution Tuesday praising outgoing Bureau of Health chief Bob Simon, even as they accepted a report on hospital financials that indicate revenues continued to plummet under his stewardship. Read more...
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - By Tom Roeser
- TomRoeser.com
I heard Tony Peraica's presentation at the City Club of Chicago earlier this week. Inured to campaign speeches since I first started covering them in 1953, fifty-five years ago, I thought I'd load up on good Italian food and meet some old friends while Tony would recite a list of campaign truisms. Read more...
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 - By Hal Dardick
- Chicago Tribune
State's attorney candidate ties Alvarez, Cook culture
The Republican nominee for Cook County state's attorney on Monday accused his Democratic opponent of being part of a culture that does too little to fight pervasive public corruption. Read more...
Monday, May 19, 2008 - By Steve Patterson
- Chicago Sun-Times
'FRIENDS AND FAMILY' | Stroger hands jobs to 2 brothers of lawmakers
Both have criminal records and both are brothers of state legislators.
Now, both have been personally hired by Cook County Board President Todd Stroger. Read more...
Thursday, May 15, 2008 - By Phil Kadner
- Southtown Star
Readers have been telling me for months they see a silver lining within the dark cloud that is the real estate market. Read more...
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - By Hal Dardick
- Chicago Tribune
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger must pick four new nominees for an important new health board, and critics said Tuesday they hope he uses the opportunity to create a more balanced, independent slate. Read more...
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - By Mike Flannery
- CBS2Chicago
After a daylong battle over who will run Cook County's billion-dollar system of hospitals and health clinics, County Board President Todd Stroger must come up with several new names. Read more...
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 Read more...
Thursday, May 08, 2008 - By John Greenfield
- Chitown Daily News
The head of Cook County's troubled juvenile detention center faced harsh criticism yesterday from county commissioners, who accused him of lying to them and failing to update them on problems at the facility. Read more...
Thursday, May 08, 2008 - Daily Herald
I would like to encourage the Arlington Heights village board to follow Palatine's lead and consider secession from Cook County. I see nothing negative about this idea. Our Cook County Board is out of control. Read more...
Monday, May 05, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - Despite the recent tax increase that has given Cook County the highest sales tax in the country - State's Attorney candidate Anita Alvarez wants more. In her speech to the City Club of Chicago earlier today, Alvarez parroted the political insiders' party line by claiming her office doesn't have enough money to do its job ("Cook County State's Attorney Candidate Anita Alvarez Blasts County Board for Cutting Prosecutor Office's Budget", Michael Higgins, Chicago Tribune, 5/5/08). Read more...
Monday, May 05, 2008 - Daily Herald
I would like to know why Cook County Commissioner Gregg Goslin, who represents Palatine, was not at the town hall meeting held Wednesday at Harper College. Read more...
Friday, May 02, 2008 Tony appeared on WLS 890-AM's "The Jerry Agar Show" this morning to discuss Todd Stroger's snub of a recent Palatine Town Hall Meeting to discuss the recent tax increases.
Click here to listen to the interview. Read more...
Friday, May 02, 2008 - By Kimberly Pohl
- Daily Herald
Official who missed meeting defends himself, county, but not Peraica
Cook County Board Commissioner Gregg Goslin says there's a good reason he didn't join his constituents at Wednesday's town hall meeting in Palatine Read more...
Thursday, May 01, 2008 - By Andrew Hellpap
- Chicago Sun-Times
Palatine residents got their meeting with a Cook County board member Wednesday to discuss the county's forthcoming sales tax increase, but it wasn't County Board President Todd Stroger. Read more...
Thursday, May 01, 2008 - By Jeff Long
- Chicago Tribune
About 100 people attend special meeting, where focus on high county taxes shifts to secession
Despite the absence of Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, about 100 people turned out for a special meeting of the Palatine Village Council on Wednesday, where discussion of high county taxes soon turned to talk of secession. Read more...
Thursday, May 01, 2008 - By Kimberly Pohl
- Daily Herald
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger may have done himself a favor by steering clear of Wednesday's town hall meeting in Palatine.
About 100 northwest suburban residents united in their disdain for county government showed up at Harper College despite the late-breaking news of Stroger's absence. Read more...
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 Peraica to Address Palatine Residents and Officials CHICAGO, IL - Cook County Board President Todd Stroger was scheduled to speak to a Town Hall Meeting of Palatine residents and officials tonight - but announced today his plans to skip the meeting. Palatine residents and officials are angry by this snub - but the meeting will occur as planned. Read more...
Friday, April 25, 2008 - By Adam Verwymeren
- Medill Reports
Even without the county sales tax increase coming into effect this summer, Chicagoans are already among the most heavily taxed people in the country. Some Illinois politicians are looking for ways to put more power in the hands of the people to control government spending. Read more...
Friday, April 25, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - Two media organizations this week reported on Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica's proposed resolutions that would give voters more power to defend against oppressive Cook County taxation. Read more...
Thursday, April 24, 2008 - By Shawn Allee
- Chicago Public Radio
Cook County government's had a reputation for patronage. Some commissioners say crooked hiring is rampant-others say it barely exists, if at all. Either way, the county ethics policy says employees must report illegal patronage hiring. Yesterday, the Cook County Board formally declared it will operate by the same rule. Read more...
Thursday, April 24, 2008 - By Steve Patterson
- Chicago Sun-Times
Cook County now spends more than $1 million for 15 salaried public relations employees. Read more...
Thursday, April 24, 2008 - By Steve Patterson
- Chicago Sun-Times
Just 18 months ago, Todd Stroger was campaigning for office on a promise to make Cook County government more open and transparent. Read more...
Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - By Shawn Allee
- Chicago Public Radio
Earlier this year, the Cook County Board voted to increase sales taxes. Politically, that's ancient history, but one commissioner never got over it. Today, he's proposing a measure to keep it from happening again. Read more...
Monday, April 21, 2008 Tony Peraica released the following statement following the weekend violence in which six were killed and 23 injured: Read more...
Monday, April 21, 2008 - By Megan Twohey and Emily S. Achenbaum
- Chicago Tribune
Sanders was one of 28 people shot, six fatally, in Chicago between 12:01 a.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Sunday, part of a bloody string of violence that stretched across the city, police said. At least one more shooting occurred Sunday evening Read more...
Friday, April 18, 2008 - By Tim Novak
- Chicago Sun-Times
Sorich kept an extensive Rolodex filled with 300 names and telephone numbers -- until his Rolodex was seized by FBI agent John Hauser on April 29, 2005, in a raid on Sorich's fourth-floor office at City Hall. Read more...
Friday, April 18, 2008 - By Mike Colias
- Crain's Chicago Business
(Crain's) - Three doctors who were laid off amid widespread layoffs at Cook County's health system last year are suing the county, claiming officials ignored their seniority in making the job cuts. Read more...
Wednesday, April 16, 2008 - By Abdon M. Pallasch and Tim Novak
- Chicago Sun-Times
HIRED TRUCK | Ruling on patronage hiring convictions could jump-start gov probe
The federal appellate court in Chicago Tuesday upheld the conviction of four men charged with running the patronage hiring system in Mayor Daley's City Hall. Read more...
Wednesday, April 16, 2008 - By Michael Higgins and Dan Mihalopoulos
- Chicago Tribune
In a sharply worded ruling that struck a new blow at City Hall patronage, a federal appeals court Tuesday upheld the convictions of four men for scheming to rig hiring in Mayor Richard Daley's administration-even though prosecutors never proved they personally benefited. Read more...
Wednesday, April 16, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - This week's announcement that the federal appellate court has upheld the convictions of four leaders of the Daley patronage army - including patronage chief Robert Sorich - should work Cook County State's Attorney candidate Anita Alvarez. Read more...
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 - By Andy Shaw
- ABC7Chicago
A court-appointed federal monitor testified on Wednesday that illegal political hiring is still an apparent problem in Cook County government. Read more...
Friday, April 11, 2008 - Chicago Sun-Times
Taxpayers, get out your checkbooks. President Todd Stroger is heading toward a showdown with the federal court monitor assigned to help root out patronage hiring in county government. Read more...
Wednesday, April 09, 2008 - By Rob Olmstead
- Daily Herald
The court-appointed official in charge of rooting out patronage hiring at Cook County scolded President Todd Stroger by letter Tuesday, chastising him for not having appointed a permanent human resources director for the past seven months. Read more...
Thursday, April 03, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - Cook County State's Attorney candidate Tony Peraica today called on candidate Anita Alvarez to return any campaign contributions raised, bundled or contributed by members of the scandal-plagued Hispanic Democratic Organization (HDO) or fugitive from justice Jorge Montes de Oca. Read more...
Thursday, April 03, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - The following statement was given today at a press conference by Cook County Commissioner and State's Attorney candidate Tony Peraica: Read more...
Wednesday, April 02, 2008 - By Greg Hinz
- Crain's Chicago Business
(Crain's) - Just months after receiving a pair of six-figure, no-bid contracts, Cook County's new Washington, D.C., lobbyist is hosting a fundraiser for the official who awarded him that work: County Board President Todd Stroger. Read more...
Wednesday, April 02, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - In a CBS 2 Chicago report last night, Cook County State's Attorney candidate Anita Alvarez called Tony Peraica a racist for "insinuating" ties to the scandal-plagued Hispanic Democratic Organization (HDO) - but she then confirmed those ties in a Daily Herald story this morning. Read more...
Wednesday, April 02, 2008 - By Rob Olmstead
- The Daily Herald
The Democratic candidate for Cook County state's attorney who pledged to make prosecuting political corruption part of her agenda recently hobnobbed with two longtime stalwarts of a now-disgraced political action committee, the campaign recently acknowledged. Read more...
Tuesday, April 01, 2008 - By Mike Parker
- CBS 2 Chicago
"It reinforces to the citizens of Cook County that what we have is corruption on steroids that is prevalent at all levels of government," Peraica, a Cook County Commissioner, said. Read more...
Tuesday, April 01, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - Cook County Chief Financial Officer/Todd Stroger Cousin Donna Dunnings today revealed the punch line to the county insider's April Fool's joke: despite Todd Stroger's claims to the contrary, the recent massive sales tax increase was just the beginning. Read more...
Friday, March 28, 2008 - By Editorial Board
- Southtown Star
Read more...
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica announced today that he will put forth a resolution at the April 9, 2008 County Board meeting that provides for a November 2008 ballot referendum calling on the Illinois General Assembly to rescind home rule for Cook County. Read more...
Monday, March 24, 2008 - Chicago Tribune
No, no, no. This isn't going the way they plotted and planned.
You're not behaving the way victorious members of the Cook County Board expected amid the high-fiving and back-slapping a few minutes after midnight Saturday, March 1. Nine of the 17 board members had just voted to add 1 percentage point to the sales tax. Read more...
Monday, March 24, 2008 - By Steve Patterson
- Chicago Sun-Times
COOK COUNTY | Took CFO post last year for lower pay -- that was then
When Cook County Board President Todd Stroger introduced his cousin Donna Dunnings as the county's new chief financial officer last year, they each boasted of the savings taxpayers would realize. She would take a salary far less than the previous CFO. Read more...
Monday, March 24, 2008 - Southtown Star
THE ISSUE: When we asked 11 government bodies to provide the cell phone records for one of their public officials, we were dismayed only three complied in full. Most cited reasons such as invasion of privacy for releasing only the bills instead of an itemized breakdown of calls made. Read more...
Friday, March 21, 2008 - By Chuck Salvatore
- Southwest News-Herald
Commissioner Says Stroger's Contention Is All Wrong
Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica (R-16th), the Republican candidate for State's Attorney, was at the Garfield Ridge Civic League meeting Monday to answer questions. Read more...
Friday, March 21, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - Doing what his office does best, Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine today defended the Stroger Administration against a recent federal court monitor's report showing rampant illegal patronage hiring in county government. Read more...
Thursday, March 20, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica today announced that he has launched an update to his popular online searchable database of Cook County employees. Available at CookEmployees.com, the site now includes a searchable database of all 2007 county employees, as well as a new database of 2007 Forest Preserve District vendors. Read more...
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - By Hal Dardick
- Chicago Tribune
A Chicago attorney frequently critical of government sued elected Cook County leaders Monday, alleging they have improperly diverted up to $15 million a year meant for specific programs such as court services, the public health system and collection of overdue child support. Read more...
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - By David Beery
- Daily Herald
Using Todd Stroger's new budget as a rallying cry, Republican lawmakers are calling on Springfield to restrict Cook County's ability to raise taxes and add workers. Read more...
Sunday, March 16, 2008 - By Steve Patterson
- The Sun-Times
More than a year ago, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger vowed to reduce a bloated payroll to just 22,000 employees. Today, there are 23,851 county employees -- 145 more than were budgeted just last year -- and 1,100 more are on the way. Read more...
Sunday, March 16, 2008 - By The Daily Herald
- Rob Olmstead
Critics of the Cook County inspector general's office have long argued that politics has interfered with the office's zeal in investigating corruption. Read more...
Sunday, March 16, 2008 - By Editorial Board
- The Daily Herald
Eight months after an ordinance passed that Stroger had offered to placate critics, the county still has not begun replacing its existing inspector general through a new, more-independent process. Read more...
Thursday, March 13, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - For someone who ran her primary campaign as an independent agent of change, State's Attorney candidate Anita Alvarez sure is doing her best to position herself as the candidate of the Daley/Devine/Blagojevich political insider class. Read more...
Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - By Liam Ford and John Keilman
- Chicago Tribune
After calling on Cook County Board President Todd Stroger to personally "explain himself" for pushing through a sales tax increase, some angry Palatine Village Council members said they had an even better idea -- secede from the county. Read more...
Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - By Judy Masterson
- Waukegan News-Sun
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Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - By Phil Kadner
- SouthtownStar
After this tax hike, if you've got a choice between a Best Buy store in Orland Park (Crook County) or Tinley Park (in Will County), where are you going to buy your $1,000 big-screen TV? Read more...
Tuesday, March 04, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - Cook County Commissioner and State's Attorney candidate Tony Peraica announced that he will not hold a press conference today to discuss the federal court monitor's report that illegal patronage hiring is "alive and well in county government." Instead, Peraica calls on Anita Alvarez, a 22-year insider of the State's Attorney's office, to hold a press conference to take questions about why that office has consistently failed to fight government corruption in Cook County. Read more...
Tuesday, March 04, 2008 - By Hal Dardick with Gary Washburn
- Chicago Tribune
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Monday, March 03, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - The Chicago Tribune reports today that Cook County is poised to award an $18 million contract to a firm that was recently named in the corruption indictment of Lacy Thomas, the man who once ran Stroger Hospital. Read more...
Monday, March 03, 2008 - By Hal Dardick and Ray Gibson
- Chicago Tribune
A consulting firm named in the corruption indictment of a former Las Vegas hospital official who once ran Stroger Hospital is poised to garner a multimillion-dollar contract to help Cook County fix the finances of its health-care system. Read more...
Sunday, March 02, 2008 - By Editorial Board
- Chicago Tribune
Sure enough, the 2008 budget approved late Friday reflected Cook County's true priorities. Board President Todd Stroger, with his broken promises of reform trailing behind him, won a 1 percentage point increase in the sales tax. That's half of what he had wanted, but still maddeningly unnecessary. The hike will take an additional $426 million per a year from taxpayers. Businesses? In Chicago they'll be stuck collecting the steepest big-city sales tax in the U.S.: 10.25 percent. Read more...
Friday, February 29, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica tonight voted against a massive tax increase that was part of an 11th hour, backroom deal on the county budget. Read more...
Friday, February 29, 2008 As Stroger pushes for a massive tax increase and threatens fictional "massive budget cuts", he has gone ahead and hired yet another six-figure staffer to his sizeable and expensive PR team. What's more, this new staffer, Gene Mullins, is a childhood friend of Stroger. Read more...
Friday, February 29, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - The Chicago Tribune today reports that yet another corruption investigation for the U.S. Attorney has resulted in a conviction - this time of a local businessman who bribed a Cook County official to win a lucrative county contract. Read more...
Friday, February 29, 2008 - By Steve Patterson
- Chicago Sun-Times
COUNTY | Critic calls conference 'a beyond-worthless boondoggle'
Amid threats to cut jobs and close health clinics and courthouses, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger and almost half of the County Board are set to get away from it all this weekend in Washington, D.C., at taxpayer expense. Read more...
Friday, February 29, 2008 - By Steve Patterson
- Chicago Sun-Times
With less than 12 hours to go until a potential government shutdown, Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley suggested the board break up into groups to discuss ways to broker a deal to balance the budget. Read more...
Thursday, February 28, 2008 In addition to showing the political insiders' frustration at Tony Peraica's opposition to their massive tax increase plan, Commissioner John Daley today exhibited the insiders' support for Anita Alvarez, their chosen candidate for State's Attorney... Read more...
Monday, February 25, 2008 - By Charles Thomas
- ABC 7 Chicago News
Peraica remains the most outspoken anti-sales tax increase commissioner. He is joined by the board's four other Republicans and four Democrats. Read more...
Monday, February 25, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica today called on Cook County Board President Todd Stroger and Finance Chairman John Daley to stop their fear tactics and distorted numbers in their quest for a nearly $1 billion tax increase on Cook County residents and taxpayers. Read more...
Monday, February 25, 2008 - By Steve Patterson
- Chicago Sun-Times
COOK COUNTY | Officials speak up to defend budgets
There are just two pressing budget choices facing the Cook County Board next week -- raise taxes or cut spending. Read more...
Monday, February 25, 2008 - By Steve Patterson
- Chicago Sun-Times
COOK COUNTY | Hospital chief gets paid $391,000 but uses county car and county-paid gas to drive to his Michigan family home every weekend
Week after week, Cook County hospital chief Dr. Robert Simon painfully tells County Board members there's no waste and no frills in his bare-bones hospital operation. Read more...
Wednesday, February 20, 2008 - By Hal Dardick
- Chicago Tribune
Paid fees do little to help fix budget
The Stroger administration acknowledged Tuesday it collected only slightly more than a third of nearly $150 million in previously unbilled Cook County public health services, and that's about all it expects to get. Read more...
Wednesday, February 20, 2008 - By John Garcia
- ABC 7
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Wednesday, February 20, 2008 - Peraica Press Office
Stroger's Inflated Budget Contains 1,100 New Hires; Administration Seeks Lucrative Contract for Politically Connected PR Firm Read more...
Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - By John Garcia
- ABC 7 News
Some workers at the Cook County juvenile center are worried about their safety and the safety of the children there. Ten people were hurt during a big brawl at the center Monday. There's even talk of a possible worker walkout. Read more...
Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - By Bill Dwyer
- Riverside/Brookfield Landmark
"The state's attorney office has long built a reputation of turning a blind eye to public corruption," Peraica campaign manager Curt Mercadante said last week. "Anita Alvarez, especially since she boasts of heading the Public Integrity Unit, was a big part of this well deserved reputation. Read more...
Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - Peraica Press Office
CHICAGO, IL - Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica is leading by example, cutting a minimum of 15% of his commissioner's office - even though county commissioners were only asked to cut 13%. Read more...
Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - By Editorial Board
- The Southtown Star
It feels like it's always either/or when it comes to Stroger's budgeting - make massive cuts or approve a tax hike. Who cuts expenses across the board by a flat percentage point rather than taking a hard look at line-by-line spending? By withholding a new document until so late in the approval process Stroger gives the board almost no time to review it or suggest alterations. Read more...
Monday, February 11, 2008 - By Meghan Street
- Northwest Indiana Times
Peraica, an attorney who presently serves as a Cook County Commissioner, told reporters Wednesday that he intends to "campaign vigorously." He criticized Alvarez for being part of what he calls "a political elite club that ran (the state's attorney's) office as a personal political patronage fiefdom." Read more...
Sunday, February 10, 2008 Cook County State's Attorney candidate Anita Alvarez has based her campaign on the claim that she is not a "politician" and promises to be an independent prosecutor. This morning on "Fox Chicago Sunday", however, she admits to a pre-election sit-down with Mayor Daley (she handily won the Daley-controlled 14th Ward), and credits her TV ads (funded with campaign cash from county contractors) with her primary election win. Read more...
Thursday, February 07, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - The Chicago Tribune editorial board today labeled Cook County Commissioner/State's Attorney candidate Tony Peraica a "change agent" while noting Alvarez "more likely to defend" the status quo. Read more...
Thursday, February 07, 2008 - By Mario Lavorato
- Mario's Mark
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Wednesday, February 06, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - After a full day of media interviews following her Primary Election victory, Cook County State's Attorney candidate Anita Alvarez was conspicuously absent from a "joint appearance" with her opponent, Commissioner Tony Peraica. Read more...
Wednesday, February 06, 2008 - Daily Herald
In a non-binding temperature-taker on veterans' benefits, Cook County voters overwhelmingly endorsed funding benefits for U.S. veterans. The resolution was introduced by Tony Peraica.
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Tuesday, February 05, 2008 "We congratulate Anita Alvarez on her Primary Election Victory, and we look forward to a General Election campaign based on an honest discussion of who is better fit to serve as this county's chief law enforcement officer." Read more...
Tuesday, February 05, 2008 The Polish Daily News, the oldest ethnic langugage daily newspaper in teh United States, has endorsed Tony Peraica for Cook County State's Attorney. Read more...
Monday, February 04, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - The leading Democrat candidates for Cook County State's Attorney may be attacking each other, but they all have one thing in common: they would all be stewards of the status quo, the political insiders, and the failed policies of the Stroger administration. Read more...
Friday, February 01, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica today announced that he is endorsing Senator John McCain for President of the United States. Read more...
Monday, January 28, 2008 - ABC7Chicago
One of the closely watched races on the ballot in Cook County is the race for Cook County state's attorney. Six Democrats and one Republican are vying to replace Dick Devine, who is retiring. Read more...
Friday, January 25, 2008 - By Rob Olmstead
- Daily Herald
In one of the clearest dividing lines in the Cook County state's attorney race, the one Republican and six Democratic candidates are sharply divided on whether to allow police officers to give out warnings instead of filing formal charges for possession of drugs in small amounts. Read more...
Friday, January 18, 2008 "John and I didn't always agree on policy positions, but I respected him and his four decades of service to Cook County. It has been a tough year for John and his family, and our prayers and condolences go out to them in this time of mourning. We wish them all the best." Read more...
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 - By Ashley Sears
- Medill News Service
All but one Cook County state's attorney candidate emphasized a need for change rather than experience during a forum at Chicago-Kent College of Law on Tuesday night. Tony Peraica, the only Republican candidate, led the surge against the status quo in his opening remarks. Read more...
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 CHICAGO, IL - Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica today urged Illinois legislators to block final passage of the mass transit bill that would increase the sales tax by a quarter of a percentage point in Cook County and a half of a percentage point in the five collar counties. The legislation also gives the Chicago City Council six months to enact a 40 percent increase in the real estate transfer tax. Read more...
Tuesday, January 15, 2008 LAGRANGE, IL - The Republican Organization of Lyons Township (ROLT) announced today the organization's endorsements for the February 5, 2008 Primary Election. Read more...
Sunday, January 13, 2008 - By William Lee
- The Daily Southtown
Cook County Tony Peraica says that as top prosecutor, he would step in to fix troubled towns - including Harvey. Read more...
Thursday, January 10, 2008 - Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune reports that County Board Todd Stroger inability to compromise on his budget plan is going to hurt the county. He instead keeps trying to bully people onto his side with threatening letters and refuses to listen to other's ideas. Read more...
Wednesday, January 09, 2008 - By Bob Roberts
- WBBM 780 Chicago Radio
WBBM 780 Chicago Radio reports on Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's latest idea to try to get his budget passed. Scare tactics to county employee unions threatening layoffs and naming the nine commissioners who oppose his budget as the culprets. Read more...
Wednesday, January 09, 2008 - By Clare Walters
- The Southtown Star
The Southtown Star reports that County Board President Todd Stroger is going to increase funding for hospitals. This is after weeks and weeks of saying we need new taxes to cover current expenses in the budget. Wonder where this money is going to come from? Read more...
Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - By Bill Dwyer
- Chicago Daily Observer
The Chicago Daily Observer reports on the recent Stroger blunders to have happened over the holidays. These include his aides calling into radio shows that Stroger is on and trying to disguise his voice, to his faulty math in the budget struggles. Read more...
Friday, December 21, 2007 - By Rob Olmstead
- The Daily Herald
Tony Peraica, the lone Republican and a Cook County Board commissioner from Riverside, said he's most up for the task because, as a Republican, he'd break the stranglehold of the "one-party system" in Cook County. Read more...
Wednesday, December 19, 2007 - By Tribune Staff
- Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune reports that the Cook County Board voted against 2 new billboards along I-355. Read more...
Wednesday, December 19, 2007 - By Rob Olmstead
- Daily Herald
The Daily Herald reports that the county approved a measure to allow more casinos and gambling in Cook County. Read more...
Wednesday, December 19, 2007 - By Bob Skolnik
- Riverside/Brookfield Landmark
The Riverside/Brookfield Landmark reports that Edward J. Barron was kicked off the ballot for Cook County State's Attorney for failing to file enough valid signatures on his petitions. Read more...
Wednesday, December 19, 2007 - By Laurie Cohen and Todd Lighty
- Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune reports that a court-appointed monitor rips apart Mayor Daley's administration for ignoring hiring rules and giving jobs to favored candidates. This illistrates why the county needs a new states attorney who can catch this early. Read more...
Tuesday, December 18, 2007 - Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune reports on the waste that is going on in the county that should be getting cut instead of having tax increases. Read more...
Monday, December 17, 2007 - By Greg Burns
- Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune put together a committee of five businessmen to review the county budget. They came to a conclusion that the tax increases are not the answer but instead need to concentrate on their expendatures and to get rid of wasteful spending. Read more...
Friday, December 14, 2007 - By Eric Herman
- Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that current Cook County States Attorney is complaining about the Cook County board even though they did grant a 12.5% increase in salaries last month. Read more...
Thursday, December 13, 2007 - Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune reports that the taxpayers have spoken and the result is stopping Todd Stroger's tax increases. Read more...
Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - By Steve Patterson
- Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Todd Stroger is trying his hardest to tax just about anything and everything instead of looking for alternatives to tax increases. Read more...
Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - Daily Herald
The Daily Herald reports Tony's budget plan for 2008 and how it is different than the one set forth by Todd Stroger. Read more...
Monday, December 10, 2007 CHICAGO, IL - Cook County Commissioner and State's Attorney Candidate Tony Peraica today called on the State's Attorney's office to investigate alleged abuse at Aunt Martha's Youth Center, and to ensure all residents served by the county are protected, and whistleblower protection laws are enforced. Read more...
Tuesday, December 04, 2007 - By Kathy Chaney
- Chicago Defender
The Chicago Defender reports that people are mad about the lack of progress by the Cook County State's Attorney in identifying police officers who have used deadly force in apprehending people. Read more...
Tuesday, December 04, 2007 - By Jesse Jackson Jr.
- Chicago Tribune
Jesse Jackson Jr. writes that the old-school, massive bureaucracy that protects itself needs to be changed, along with this new tax that Todd Stroger wants. Read more...
Monday, December 03, 2007 CHICAGO, IL - Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica will sponsor a resolution honoring the life and accomplishments of Congressman Henry Hyde, who passed away last week. Read more...
Sunday, December 02, 2007 - By Chicago Sun-Times
- Steve Patterson
Cook County taxpayers paid Friday to shuttle in demonstrators to support a tax hike. Read more...
Sunday, December 02, 2007 - By Tony Peraica
- Chicago Sun-Times
The vitriol and personal attacks that have surrounded the Cook County budget discussions are unfortunate and accomplish little but damage the faith of the taxpayers in our government. Read more...
Saturday, December 01, 2007 Two more key endorsements for the Peraica campaign ... Read more...
Saturday, December 01, 2007 - By U.S. Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.
- Chicago Sun-Times
The historic forces who rob taxpayers and call tax opponents "racist" are now gearing up to keep control of key Cook County government positions in the Feb. 5 primary. Read more...
Friday, November 30, 2007 The Regular Republican Organization of Elk Grove Township held its endorsement session last night and overwhelming endorsed (by a vote of 78-2) Commissioner Tony Peraica for Cook County State's Attorney. Read more...
Friday, November 30, 2007 - By Kristen McQuery
- The Southtown Star
The Southtown Star reports that the stall on the proposed budget by Todd Stroger has nothing to do with racism, but on the tax increases that have been proposed. Read more...
Friday, November 30, 2007 - The Southtown Star
The Southtown Star reports that the policy and taxes that Todd Stroger is trying to pass is flawed as is the bringing up the race card against the commissioners that are wanting discussion on the budget. Read more...
Thursday, November 29, 2007 Tony Peraica has introduced a budget proposal that would balance the budget, avoid any new tax increases and save the Cook County taxpayers more than $125 million. Read more...
Thursday, November 29, 2007 - By Editorial
- Chicago Tribune
Beavers is playing an old and very tired game, and few people are buying it. No one on the County Board echoed his complaint of racism at play. If he listened to black talk radio Wednesday, his ears were burning. Callers said Beavers did a disservice to those who stood up and risked their lives during the civil rights movement to confront real racial inequities in America. Read more...
Thursday, November 29, 2007 - Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times writes that it was wrong to play the race card just because Stroger and his allies cannot push their budget plan through with higher taxes. Read more...
 | | Former U.S. Congressman Henry Hyde |
Thursday, November 29, 2007 For more than a quarter-century, Congressman Hyde served us with distinction in the U.S. House of Representatives, providing consistent conservative leadership aimed at improving the lives of all Americans.
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Wednesday, November 28, 2007 - NBC 5 Chicago
NBC 5 reports about the low blows and uncalled for name calling against Tony Peraica which shows how desperate they have become. Read more...
Wednesday, November 28, 2007 - By Andy Shaw
- ABC 7 Chicago
ABC 7 reports that the board is stuck on trying to pass their taxes and have resorted to name calling and using the race card as a last grasp at trying to sway voters. Read more...
Monday, November 26, 2007 - By Mickey Ciokajlo
- Chicago Tribune
The chairman of the Cook County Board's Finance Committee said today a vote on President Todd Stroger's 2008 budget may be delayed because it appears there's not enough support for the tax plan. Read more...
Monday, November 26, 2007 - By Chicago Tribune
- Editorial
If the Stroger 9 do vote for taxation instead of cutting bureaucracy, Stroger then will be free to add whatever he wishes -- in higher operating costs, capital improvements, and new beneficiaries of his Friends and Family Hiring Plan. Read more...
Wednesday, November 21, 2007 - By Meghan Streiet
- Northwest Indiana Times
Commissioner Tony Peraica, R-Westchester, proposed slashing departmental expenditures by 2 percent nearly across the board, and eliminating dozens of "duplicative" county jobs. Read more...
Wednesday, November 21, 2007 - By Rob Olmstead
- Daily Herald
Cook County Commissioners were livid Tuesday upon learning a $220,000 audit had been contracted through the sheriff's office without, they maintained, their knowledge or approval. Read more...
Wednesday, November 21, 2007 - By Steve Patterson
- Chicago Sun-Times
Hundreds of Cook County workers are thumbing their nose at a demand they take 20 unpaid days off work to balance the 2007 budget. Read more...
Tuesday, November 20, 2007 - By Greg Hinz
- Crain's Chicago Business
In a bizarre twist to Cook County's budget woes, the county's public defender on Tuesday announced that he is suing County Board President Todd Stroger in a bid to get needed funding for the office. Read more...
Monday, November 19, 2007 CHICAGO, IL - In what is only the latest troubling incident to cast doubt on the competence and integrity of the Stroger Administration, the Illinois State Board of Elections today slapped Todd Stroger's campaign fund with a $25,000 fine for hiding more than a quarter-million dollars in campaign contributions until three months after the 2006 election. Read more...
Monday, November 19, 2007 - By Chris Fusco
- Chicago Sun-Times
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's political fund was fined today for failing to report $255,816 in campaign contributions until three months after Stroger won election in 2006. Read more...
Monday, November 19, 2007 - By Mickey Ciokajlo
- Chicago Tribune
Three major Cook County elected officials declined Monday to endorse board President Todd Stroger's plan to more than triple the county sales tax as they stood with him at what he hoped would be a show of support for his budget. Read more...
Friday, November 16, 2007 - By Paul Meincke
- ABC 7 News
"We're going to audit the books and lock up the crooks," said candidate Tony Peraica (R) of his own campaign slogan. Read more...
Thursday, November 15, 2007 - By Gary Washburn and Mickey Ciokajlo
- Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune reports that two of the candidates for state's attorney did some political gymnastics over Mayor Daley's tax increase plan. Read more...
Wednesday, November 14, 2007 The Republicans of Wheeling Township announced this week that they have endorsed Tony Peraica for Cook County State's Attorney. Peraica won the endorsement with 82% of the vote - the highest percentage received by any of the candidates endorsed by the organization. Read more...
Wednesday, November 14, 2007 - By Fran Spielman
- Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that a massive property tax was approved by the alderman of Chicago, much to the chagrin of reformers. Read more...
Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - By Jo Napolitano
- Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune reports here that the cleaning up of corruption in Cook County is getting some much needed help from a superintendent of suburban schools in Cook County. Read more...
Friday, November 09, 2007 CHICAGO, IL - Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica today sent letters to Governor Rod Blagojevich, Speaker Michael Madigan, Senate President Emil Jones and Republican House and Senate leaders urging opposition to the construction of a casino in the Chicago area as a supposed solution to the state's budget problems Read more...
Wednesday, November 07, 2007 - By Press Release
- Citizens for Peraica
CHICAGO, IL - Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica joined Commissioners Claypool and Schneider in voting against a Cook County Forest Preserve District (FPD) FY08 budget that increases the real estate levy by 5%. Unfortunately, the budget passed on a vote of 13-3 (1 absent). Read more...
Monday, November 05, 2007 - By Press Release
- Citizens for Peraica
CHICAGO, IL - Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin, who yesterday announced his candidacy as a "reform" candidate for Cook County State's Attorney, has one major trait he shares with current State's Attorney Dick Devine: he works for the same politically-connected law firm that used to employ Devine, and which profits handsomely as a contractor for Devine's office: the law firm of Shefsky & Froelich, Ltd. Read more...
Monday, November 05, 2007 - Daily Southtown
The Daily Southtown reports that amid all the tax increases that Todd Stroger is advocating, he now wants to also increase the commissioners payroll. Read more...
Monday, November 05, 2007 - Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times reports on the health care system's problems in Cook County. Read more...
Monday, November 05, 2007 - By Lynda DeLaforgue
- Daily Southtown
The Daily Southtown reports that Todd Stroger and company are trying to ignore the problems that are happening in the Cook County health care system. Read more...
Thursday, November 01, 2007 - By Judith Graham
- Chicago Tribune
Cook County's public hospital is facing major hardships the Chicago Tribune reports here. Read more...
Thursday, November 01, 2007 - By Carol Marin
- Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the city of Chicago is trying to hide all the scandals and lawsuits against the police officers and government of Chicago. Read more...
Thursday, November 01, 2007 - Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune reports that Todd Stroger might be given a light fine for his numerous campaign finance violations last year. Read more...
Thursday, November 01, 2007 - By Kayce T. Ataiyero
- Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune reports that competent legal representation for juveniles is not being given because of the sheer amount of cases, and the system that rewards plea barganing instead of actually working cases. Read more...
Wednesday, October 31, 2007 In honor of Halloween, the campaign of Tony Peraica, reform candidate for Cook County State's Attorney, compiled the following "scariest statements of 2007" from Cook County's leading political insiders. Read more...
Wednesday, October 31, 2007 - By Rob Olmstead
- Daily Herald
Rob Olmstead reports here about Todd Stroger hiding from the public over his proposed tax increases. Read more...
Tuesday, October 30, 2007 - By Ray Hanania
- Southwest News Herald
Peraica attacked Stroger's plan as adding to a "Tsunami of taxing plans," noting that taxpayers are getting hit from every side. Cook County. Chicago. And in the neighboring counties, too. Read more...
Tuesday, October 30, 2007 - By Steve Patterson
- The Daily Southtown
"I thought all of us were in this together, trying to help the county's bottom line," Commissioner Tony Peraica countered. "It appears some are helping the bottom line more than others." Read more...
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Sunday, October 28, 2007 - By Don Wade & Roma
- WLS 890 AM
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Sunday, October 28, 2007 - By Mike Flannery
- CBS 2 Chicago
"The solution is let's soak the taxpayer again," said Republican Comm. Tony Peraica. "At the federal level we have the Rangel plan. At the state we have the Blagojevich plan. At the county we have Stroger. In city we have Daley…" Read more...
Saturday, October 27, 2007 - By Mickey Ciokajlo
- Chicago Tribune
Allies of Cook County Board President Todd Stroger pushed back at critics of his proposed tax increases Friday... Read more...
Friday, October 26, 2007 - By Deanna Bellandi
- Associated Press
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Friday, October 26, 2007 - Chicago Tribune - Voice of the People
I am considered by friends and family to be one of Daley's greatest fans. However, I am furious about his idea to raise property taxes. Read more...
Friday, October 26, 2007 - By Victor Herbert
- Chicago Tribune - Voice of the People
I am concerned, no, alarmed about escalating taxes and fees. For the first time in my life I am beginning to feel like I can no longer afford to live here! | |