The decibel level on the 5th floor of the Cook County Building has grown appreciably over the last three years as upstart politicians challenged the man at the top.
Expect the noise to get even louder during the next five months.
While nominating petitions for Cook County Board president have yet to be submitted for the March 21 primary election, at least four potential candidates meet face-to-face publicly three times each month.
And if there’s such a thing as a precampaign campaign, it’s well under way in Room 569, where the county commissioners hold their meetings.
The quarreling reached such a point recently that Commissioner Jerry Butler, who objected to a sharply worded resolution proposed to go to his committee, warned commissioners he would not “play your politics.”
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“I won’t do it today. I won’t do it tomorrow and I won’t do it in heaven, if I ever get there,” said Butler, one of the few board members not actively seeking to advance his political career.
Butler is the rare exception in a boardroom marked by insults and personal attacks, the byproduct of an environment in which candidates spend hours together with ample opportunity to score political points.
Passion for political banter
Much of the rollicking atmosphere can be attributed to Board President John Stroger, 76, a self-described country boy from Arkansas whose passion for political banter is matched only by his sheer unwillingness to allow any perceived gamesmanship by an opponent to go unchallenged.
Stroger, who has been the 8th Ward Democratic boss since before man walked on the moon, has led the 17-member County Board since 1994.
Stroger announced last month that he would seek a fourth term as the county’s chief executive in 2006, saying he’s ready to “take on those hypocrites who are trying to get this job.” His opponents on the board are ready, and waiting.
Tony Peraica, a Riverside lawyer, is the only Republican so far to declare his intention to run for the presidency next year.
In Peraica’s best-case scenario, Stroger wins a contentious primary, leaving the Republican a one-on-one shot at a battered incumbent, a golden opportunity to maximize his theme of “Man vs. The Machine.”
A skilled and dogged debater, Peraica, 48, has pulled no punches and given little ground in verbal tussles with Stroger since winning election in 2002.
Peraica routinely inquires about seemingly mundane contracts on meeting agendas, often in attempts to highlight alleged cronyism.
When Peraica attempted to question the county’s finance chief about an anticipated budget deficit in 2006, Stroger cut him off.
“I think we have to help ourselves,” Peraica said in a campaign-style plea for cutting spending.
“We just have to think this thing out, forgetting about the election,” Stroger responded.
The retort was more civil than two weeks earlier, when Stroger called Peraica nuts and warned him: “You better be careful. They’re going to lynch you out there.”
Peraica later called a news conference to denounce “Stroger’s cynical use of race for political purposes.”
Spirited exchanges
Stroger has not sparred solely with Republicans. Indeed, some of his most spirited exchanges have been with fellow Democrats, especially Forrest Claypool and Mike Quigley, who plan to challenge him in the primary.
Like Peraica, both Claypool, 48, and Quigley, 46, are lawyers who use their oratory skills during board meetings to draw attention to their issues.
In arguing in favor of the resolution criticized by Butler, Claypool referred to a “culture of patronage,” prompting Stroger to tell Claypool he was out of order.
“I don’t care what you say,” Stroger said.
“Obviously you do,” Claypool replied. “Every time I or someone else on this board disagrees with you, you cut them off.”
Claypool argued that if the board did not act on his measure, the commissioners would be “complicit in executive failure.”
At the same meeting, Stroger used some characteristic humor to shut down Quigley, a second-term commissioner who has been needling him longer than the rest.
Quigley, who plays recreational hockey, was railing against the administration’s handling of union contracts and the county’s inability to rein in health-care costs.
Knowing such talk would not sit well with county employees, Stroger quipped, “You want to get even with Quigley? Come over and play hockey. Hit him with a stick. My athletic days are over.”
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The exchanges are only expected to heat up as the board moves into budget season and the election draws nearer.
Unless Gov. Rod Blagojevich unexpectedly picks up an opponent in the coming months, the primary race for County Board president could be the race to watch among Democrats in March.
But the sneak preview is available now, three times a month, in Room 569.
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