Todd Stroger

On February 2, 2010, Stroger finished last in the Democratic primary for President of the Cook County Board behind Dorothy A. Brown, Terrence J. O’Brien and Toni Preckwinkle (who won the primary), putting him in a lame duck stage for the remainder of his board presidency. Preckwinkle would go on to win the general election and assume office on December 6, 2010.

Dunnings was later forced to resign her position after the press reported that she had posted bail for Tony Cole, a former University of Georgia basketball player and busboy whom Stroger had hired to a $60,000/year Cook County position despite Cole’s having an extensive felony record. On April 16, 2009, Dunnings resigned at Stroger’s request over the scandal involving the hiring of Cole as a human resources assistant in the County Highway Department. Stroger had earlier fired Cole (in Cook County Jail in connection with a domestic violence case at the time Dunnings resigned) for concealing his felony record.

According to state election officials, in July 2008, Stroger’s campaign paid almost $27,000 in fines for failing to file paperwork in a timely manner. Paperwork was not filed on time for the 2006 election contributions it received along with late organization papers that were sent to the election board. The campaign also filed incomplete and late reports to the State Board of Elections during the week of July 21, 2008, so more fines are expected to be brought forth.

On February 29, 2008, the Cook County Board, by a measure of 10-7, passed a budget initiated by Stroger. Stroger’s budget contained a tax increase of 1 percentage point, the largest ever passed by Cook County, with the intent of creating more than 1,000 new County jobs. As a result of Stroger’s bill, on July 1 the County sales tax increased from 0.75 percent to 1.75 percent bringing Chicago’s overall sales tax to 10.25 percent, which was the highest of any major U.S. city, while the sales tax was a minimum of 8.75 percent in suburban Cook County. All five Republican members of the County Board voted against the tax increase and they were joined by two of the twelve Democrats. Commissioners who voted against the tax increase were Peter N. Silvestri, Quigley, Claypool, Gregg Goslin, Timothy Schneider, Peraica, and Elizabeth Ann Doody Gorman. Despite the 133% increase, Dunnings stated on March 31, 2008, that the budget shortfall resolved that year is expected to return. She explained that the expected cost increase would be the result of what she described as a ‘structural deficit’, meaning increases in revenue being unable to match increases in expense, citing runaway health care costs among other problems. A county spokesman indicated that it would most likely happen in three or four years, well into the next county presidential term.

Stroger also drew criticism when he began raising certain taxes in an effort to balance the county budget and resolve staffing issues. In September 2007, he voiced his support for a proposal to raise the county-wide sales tax to 11 percent (an additional two cents on the dollar) to remedy a $307 million budget deficit, which would force public facilities such as Stroger Hospital to cut services or even close. Critics of the plan included fellow Commissioners Claypool, Gorman, Peraica, and Mike Quigley who argued that spending cuts would accomplish the same purpose. Peraica additionally responded that Cook County’s poorest citizens, who the tax hike is ultimately designed to serve, would find it to be the most unaffordable. Peraica’s argument was seconded by then-Governor Rod Blagojevich, who expressed his opposition to the plan. Gorman was instrumental, however, in refusing to back down and she introduced a resolution to repeal the sales tax on three separate occasions, finally winning board majority support on the third effort.

On March 14, 2006, John Stroger, Cook County Board of Commissioners president since 1994 and Todd Stroger’s father, suffered a serious stroke one week before the Democratic primary. John Stroger eventually won the Democratic nomination, winning about 53 percent of the votes cast, defeating Forrest Claypool. For months after the elder Stroger’s stroke he did not appear in public, and his family provided little information about his condition.

On July 18, 2006, the Cook County Democratic Central Committee (a collection of 80 county Democratic party leaders also known as “ward committeemen” or “township committeemen”) overwhelmingly chose Todd Stroger to replace his father as the Democratic candidate for Cook County Board president for the Nov. 7, 2006 election. The following day, Steele was unanimously elected by the Board as interim president.

In 2001 Stroger was appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley to replace Lorraine Dixon, who had died while in office. Stroger served on seven committees: Budget and Government Operations; Committees, Rules, and Ethics; Housing and Real Estate; Human Relations; Police and Fire; Special Events and Cultural Affairs; and Traffic Control and Safety.

In 1992, Stroger was elected as State Representative for the 31st District of Illinois. Stroger worked as a statistician for the Office of the Chief Judge of Cook County; later he was also a jury supervisor with the Cook County Jury Commissioners. He worked for the Chicago Park District during the tenure of Forrest Claypool.

Todd H. Stroger (born January 14, 1963) is the former president of the Cook County, Illinois Board and a former alderman for the 8th Ward in Chicago. Stroger is a member of the Democratic Party. In 2001, he was appointed to the Chicago City Council by Richard M. Daley. He is the son of John Stroger who served as Cook County Board president for 12 years until his death.