Better Government Association

Watchdog hits Stroger for fundraising

By Jonathan Lipman - The Daily Southtown
January 12, 2006

A government watchdog group on Wednesday accused Cook County Board President John Stroger of creating an atmosphere of corruption by collecting too many campaign donations from county employees and contractors.

The Better Government Association says 51 percent of Stroger’s itemized campaign donations over the past six years have come from people on his payroll or doing business with the county.

“There are problems in Cook County, make no mistake about it,” BGA executive director Jay Stewart said. “It’s a pay-to-play mentality.”

In 11 cases identified by the BGA, Stroger possibly received more from a contractor than is allowed by county ethics rules.

The BGA analyzed $2.4 million in itemized donations on his public campaign disclosure documents from Jan. 1, 1999, through June 30, 2005, and compared them with lists of county employees and contractors, Stewart said.

“The astonishingly high percentage of contributions from contractors and employees shows there’s a blind spot on behalf of President Stroger,” Stewart said.

“To pretend it has nothing to do with all these corruption scandals is just naive.”

Stroger said he did not believe the BGA’s numbers were accurate and denied pressuring employees or contractors for money.

“I don’t think the percentages are any different than Mayor Daley or the guy who’s running against me,” Stroger said.

“Nobody is pushed or penalized if they didn’t come to my (fundraising) affairs.”

Stroger and Commissioner Forrest Claypool (D-Chicago) are vying for the Democratic nomination for county board president.

Stroger accused the organization of working on Claypool’s behalf. Both the BGA and Claypool denied working together on the report.

“What?” Claypool said when told of the accusation. “That’s hysterical. I don’t even know what to say to that.”

Stewart said the organization had been working on the report for six months and focused on the county because newspapers and federal prosecutors were not paying as much attention to the county as they were to the state and Chicago.

The county’s ethics ordinance prohibits any person or company who has done business with the county within the past four years from contributing more than $1,500 to any elected county official. Twice as much is allowed during election years.

The BGA picked out 11 companies that may have violated that rule with regard to Stroger.

“We try to follow ethics rules,” Stroger said. “When (errors) come to my attention, when this person gave more than what the law says or if they’re in a precarious position with the government, we send it back.”

Stroger said he did not know if his campaign has already returned money from the companies named by the BGA. He plans to have his staff review each case and return any donations over the limit.

One of the largest donations came from Gareda Diversified Business Services of Calumet City, which gave $5,000 to Stroger in 2004.

The company has a contract to provide temporary nurses at county hospitals. A message left for company owners was not returned.