A Cook County Ethics Reform Proposal

According to an article in yesterday's Chicago Daily Observer, Cook County commissioner Tony Peraica has proposed a series of improvements to the ethics code. Here's a summary of the proposed amendments, taken from the commissioner's website (there's also a video on the topic):

• No Cook County employee or elected official may serve as a lobbyist for any entity other than Cook County. (Sec. 2-573)
  
  
• No Cook County elected official or employee may sell property to the county under the guise of eminent domain. (Sec. 2-581)
  
  
• The limitations on campaign contributions which apply to entities doing business or seeking to do business with Cook County will also apply to individuals holding a financial interest in any such entity. The entity doing (or seeking to do) business with the county, and anyone holding a financial interest in such entity, shall be combined and counted as an aggregate towards a single maximum. (Sec. 2-585 (b))
  
  
• Campaign contributions to a county elected official or candidate for county office shall include non-county political funds under the candidate or elected official’s name, meaning that contributions to all funds under an official's name will be combined and counted as an aggregate towards a single maximum. (Sec. 2-585 (g))

• No current or former Cook County elected official, nor any business or firm in which they have a financial interest, may receive business from the county for a period of two years after employment is severed with the county. (Sec. 2-580)

• No current or former Cook County elected official or employee may have a financial interest in any entity doing business with the county for a period of two years after termination of employment with the county. (Sec. 2-581)

• The threshold for being considered a county vendor will be lowered from $10,000 over 12 months to $5,000. (Sec. 2-585 (d))

• The term “seeking to do business” with the county will mean taking action within the past 12 months to obtain a contract or business with the county, instead of the current 6 months. (Sec. 2-585 (f))
  

The proposed reform that struck me as most special, and most indicative of what goes on in Cook County, is the prohibition of officials and employees selling property to their government "under the guise of eminent domain." People aren't supposed to make money from eminent domain. But if it's an inside job, the sky's the limit.

It's also worth noting that Cook County appears to have a problem with officials serving as lobbyists (see a recent blog post on Chicago-area officials lobbying other officials). There's no better way to rub each other's backs.

Also important is the addition of those with a financial interest in firms doing business with the county. Too often, ethics codes refer only to the firms themselves, allowing their principals to make contributions, or to be forced to do so in a pay-to-play scheme.

Peraica, who has had ethics problems of his own according to a Chicago Tribune article, seems to be on an ethics warpath. He even has a website Reform Cook County. I wonder what odds the Chicago bookies are giving these reforms.

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics

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