Stroger Watch

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger has once again demonstrated that he is unfit to manage a multi-billion dollar budget. His latest involvement in the the Donna Dunnings/Tony Cole scandal is another example of his severe lack of judgment. Below is the news release issued by the Cook County Republican Party calling for the resignation of Todd Stroger. Unfit to Govern Cook County GOP News Release - 4/22/09 CHICAGO— The Cook County Republican Party calls on Todd Stroger to resign as Cook County Board President immediately. Stroger and his administration refuse to directly answer taxpayer questions about hiring practices in county government and now we know of at least two employees engaged in activity representing a serious breach of ethical standards. Stroger hired his cousin, Donna Dunnings and a man he met at a restaurant, Tony Cole, without vetting them or conducting proper background checks. This kind of irresponsible management of county staff is not an isolated incident - it is a hiring culture Stroger has created that rewards county jobs to unqualified people without asking substantive questions...read more... Stroger Aide, CFO Dunnings Resigns Chicago Sun-Times - 4/17/2009 Cook County Board President Todd Stroger has ousted his cousin from her $175,701-a-year job as the county's chief financial officer amid questions about her dealings with a recently fired county patronage worker. Donna Dunnings resigned after Stroger asked for her resignation "in the wake of Dunnings' disclosure of issues related to a personnel matter that could conflict with her abilities to fulfill her responsibilities" as CFO, Stroger's office said in a press release this morning...read more... County Commissioners call for State and Federal probe Southwest News Herald - 4/21/09 Fearing that the county's funds may have been abused, Cook County Commissioner Lawrence Suffredin (D-13th District) called on the U.S. Attorney to investigate the circumstances surrounding the firing of Cook County Chief Financial Officer Donna Dunnings....read more... Todd Stroger leaves unanswered questions Chicago Tribune - 4/21/09 Cook County Board President Todd Stroger today continued his media rounds to answer questions about why he dumped his cousin, one of his administration's top officials, amid an imbroglio over their contacts with a felon Stroger hired, promoted and later fired. But during a session with newpaper reporters at his fifth floor office, he broke little new ground and left many questions unanswered, as he has done in a string of broadcast interviews he's granted since he informed the Tribune of the resignation early Friday morning...read more... Time for Todd Stroger to answer key question Chicago Sun-Times - 4/21/09 Cook County Board President Todd Stroger must understand one key fact: Getting rid of his chief financial officer, his first cousin Donna Dunnings, won't make the scandal involving her and her former employee, Tony Cole, go away. Stroger blames his political foes for his problems, but he has been less than forthright on the scandal....read more... Commissioner Tony Peraica on Fox News ReformCookCounty.com - 4/20/09