The major candidates for Cook County assessor both found themselves addressing potential political liabilities during a televised debate Monday night. […]
“What you’re basically saying is that Joe Berrios should get out of politics,” Berrios said during the exchange on WTTW-Ch. 11’s ” Chicago Tonight.” “If my brothers or whoever wants to come and work in government, they shouldn’t be allowed to work in government. If you want to pass a law that says one individual is in government, then none of their friends or relatives can work in government, then you should pass that law.” […]
Claypool, a longtime Democrat, confirmed that he did not vote in February.
”It was one of those crazy, crazy days, like we all have,” he said. “I think in the last 30 years, I’ve missed two elections out of about 60. … I guarantee you, I’m not going to miss this election.”
* Both Berrios and Claypool plan to run ads on black radio stations, WBEZ reports. Claypool was at Sen. James Meeks’ House of Hope on Sunday. ABC7’s photo still wasn’t exactly flattering…
: This is Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. As head of the Chicago Park District, Forrest Claypool rebuilt parks in our community that had always been neglected. … Instead of favoring clout-heavy business interests downtown, Claypool will put us first.
…Adding… From the Berrios campaign…
Two weeks ago, Claypool, a Cook County Board commissioner, voted against ethics reforms which would have capped individual contributions at $10,000.
On Oct. 1, Houlihan, who is retiring, contributed $100,000 from his own coffer to the campaign of Forrest Claypool, a former Democratic seeking the same office. Eychaner gave Claypool $200,000 on Sept. 17. Houlihan receives money from property tax attorneys, a practice in which Claypool has used as his main criticism against Berrios.
Houlihan has given Claypool over $130,000 in recent months, and held a fundraiser at his home for the former Democrat on October 12th.
==Instead of favoring clout-heavy business interests downtown, Claypool will put us first.==
C’mon Jr.. Check out where the Gump is getting his camapign millions from. Do you think politics is just their hobby? By the way, how’s your mayoral bid shaping up?
Claypool took control of the parks from the Ed Kelly hacks who served themselves rather than the City. Kelly has a long feud with Mayor Washington and was the villain to many in the African American Community. Claypool did a very good job at improving parks throughout the city including African American wards that were neglected by Kelly. So I understand why the African American community is supporting him.
- CircularFiringSquad - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 10:50 am:
Le’t see if I get this Gump takes a major figure in Blagoof II and uses him for robo-calls and thinks voters are thinking he is a reformer?
Wow What planet was Gump on when his missed ELECTION DAY
By the way the ad cannot be more hard hitting because there are no details, facts or events that might confirm any Berrios wrong doing
I think Claypool did a great job on Chicago Tonight. Berrios made my skin crawl. There couldn’t be a clearer difference between the two.
Liked Claypools ad. He’s not the loud bully type.
This is a race that can actually make a big difference. You get what you vote for. That’s how Todd won with Berrios help.
Objective Dem, that’s just wrong. In 1986, Washington gained control of the City Council after special elections. His first act with the majority was to dump Kelly and bring in Walter Netsch to run the parks.
Daley appointed his former chief of staff, Claypool, to the parks in 1993. By my math, that’s seven years after Kelly was gone.
Bill, you’re being very ungenerous to Claypool’s contributors. They’re just everyday, simple billionaires. You know what it costs to heat those mansions? Have you checked tuition lately at The Latin School?
Claypool’s ad is good, but 7/10 is all I can give it. Maybe I was expecting more, but I thought Claypool would strike hard at the juglar right out of the gate. He needs to do more to break through the clutter of all the other ads out there so voters remember him way down on the ballot.
I hope he has another one in the can that is much better than this one.
Could it have been that he was plotting an independent bid, either for Assessor if Berrios won or Board Prez if Stroger (somehow won), and pulling a party ticket in the primary could have posed legal problems?
There was all that talk about a challenge to petition signers not being legit if they voted in the primary. Could have been used against the candidate as well?
So the Gump doesan’t take money directly from tax attorneys, he launders it through Houli first. Houli does a such great job as assessor that the Gump wants to be just like him. After all, there are only about 500,000 appeals every year because of Houlis incompetence. Maybe Forrest will hire him as an expert consultant. If Houli wanted to continue his clown act in the assessors office he should have run himself instead of hiring a cheap imitation.
Negative ad stills can make even the gentlest, goo-gooiest candidate look sinister, but this one of Berrios might be the best ever. The shot makes him look like he would scare Santino Corleone and Suge Knight.
Cook County being a land of ethnic and racial sensitivities, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Hispanic and Black officeholder featured in a negative way, right next to each other, in the same ad — certainly not by a white “reformer.”
Maybe that’s progress.
Wordslinger: Tuition at Latin School is around $18,000.00. I chose not to send my kids there, but the last thing I would do is rip people for doing so. Where people send their kids to school is their own business. It should never be a political issue.
But to the merits: I like Joe Barrios. He’s a very effective one on one politicians. But does he really think anybody will believe that the family just happened to get on the payroll? Comments like that just serve to remind people why he’s a bad choice. He would be far more effective just talking around the issue than in giving an answer that serves to annoy people.
My impression is that while Kelly was gone, he had a legacy because he had hired so many people through the years. From what I remember it wasn’t until Claypool came in that there was significant reform and progress at the park district.
Unobjective Dem,
Daley sent the Gump to the parks to break the union. The lapdog did what he was told, as usual, and forced hard working park district employees to either retire or convert to part time where they would work almost as many hours but receive substandard wages and no benefits while feathering his own nest and the nest of other Daley cronies. He did more harm to the park district in a couple years than Eddie did in two decades.
As for the ad, someone should tell him that Todd isn’t running for anything this cycle. How long are these guys gonna run against Todd? I guess if there is no substance to their campaign, they just trot out Todd. That’s always good for the backstabbing brie eater vote. Anybody who lives south of Madison Street and votes for the Gump should be reprimanded, to say the least.
Touched a nerve, Wordslinger. As a parent who sends kids to private schools, I’m tired of comments like that one. No big deal, but you might want to keep in mind that there are a lot of people like me who send their kids to private schools but then don’t eat lunch most days so that we can afford it.
Yeah, right Skeets.
I bet there are a lot of starving loop attorneys living in Lincoln Park who really have to skrimp and save so their kids can avoid the rabble. Lunch is on me next time.
Skeeter, no offense intended. Doing right by your kids ain’t cheap or easy, believe me, I know.
Bill, I don’t think Judge Pincham said “reprimanded.” That quote always reminded me of something Sheriff Bart said in a similar vein in “Blazing Saddles.”
I like Claypool; h canbe an od duck at times but I get the sense from him that he is trying to do what he thinks is the right thing, and is not afraid to make a decision. Too many politicos afrai to make decisions or move forward.
Word, no problem at all. I used to make similar comments before I started getting those tuition bills.
Bill, on the other hand doesn’t get it. It has nothing to do with “rabble.” It has to do with “quality education.” Blago never understood, which is why our schools are so bad that I need to send my kids to private school. No shock that Bill wouldn’t get it either. Neither cares about the middle class.
But we are getting off subject.
Bill, you can sling cute names all day, but it doesn’t change the fact that before Richard M. Daley, parks in the neigbhorhoods were ignored despite the fact that the payroll was bloated. You don’t understand that either. You LIKE bloated budgets and workers sitting while picking up big checks. The rest of us sure don’t.
Well, Skeets, the parks in my neighborhood were fine until Little Dick made Gump fire the painters, landscapers, groundskeepers, pool attendants, activities directors and anyone else who they thought they could bullie. After just a few short years of the Gump my neighborhood park looked like a deserted cemetery. Kelly supported programs like Piano lessons, sports, a city-wide boxing tournament, spelling bees and so on. Gump promoted wine tastings for rich white guys. We had to go out and service the fields ourselves so our kids could play little league baseball.
You and Objectivedem can try to lie and re-write history but those of us old enough to remember get a laugh out of the Gump portraying himself as good for the parks.
Oak Street beach and Belmont Harbor made out under Daley/Gump. The rest of the city got screwed.
Bill — IIRC, the Park District was a bloated mess when Claypool came in — Kelly spent money on programs, but let’s not forget that the money came directly from the taxpayers’ pockets. I’m ok with less services if it ultimately costs me less in taxes.
As someone who regularly deals with the Cook County Board of Review, I can tell you that it is not run well at all. It is exceptionally difficult to work with them because of disorganization (although, to their credit, most who people who work there are pleasant). You can’t even blame it on trying to do more with less — fairly regularly you can walk in and see people sitting around doing nothing. In other words, we’re not getting value for money.
A bit disappointing. I hope there’s something better in the can. Berrios is a walking pinata…but if Claypool doesn’t hit him any harder than that, don’t look for him to break.
Cynic Al,
I agree. They cut the budget and services, but I know your taxes didn’t go down,they just went elsewhere. As far as working regularly with the BofR you have my deepest sympathy,brother, but that’s Gorman’s fault, not Joe’s.
Bill, I don’t appreciate being called a liar. We may have different memories and experiences but your comment is out-of-line. This website tries to be about intelligent debate and the name calling is a real disservice.
The reality is Claypool dramatically changed the ways the parks were run. This included getting rid of a lot of workers who were connected to Ed Kelly. I remember an increased emphasis on parks in all neighborhoods rather than just a few neighborhoods, like Lincoln Square. My overall my impression is he did a very good job. You may disagree but those are my opinions from living in the city and following the story in the media.
By the way, I can’t think of a single improvement to Oak Street Beach unless you count the cafe. Otherwise the underpasses, bathrooms, and benches are really in poor shape.
Berrios is wrong for the job. Yesterday on Chicago tonight he all but admitted that he used his clout to get family members jobs. Really? And he’s not in jail?! He is an example of what is really wrong with public service…
Bill - Gorman? Joe seems to have the greatest influence at the BoR (far more than Rogers or B. Houlihan). And I appreciate your sympathies. Dealing with the Board is like banging your head on a desk, only the desk doesn’t read the Sun-Times when people are waiting for help.
Bill, you shortened what I said which says a lot about your integrity. The exact quote was “Claypool took control of the parks from the Ed Kelly hacks who served themselves rather than the City.” Yes Ed Kelly was gone, but his patronage army was still there.
Claypool should have at least told the truth about why he did not vote in the February primary. He knew he was going to run as an independent and therefore could not vote in either primary or risk being kicked off the ballot as an aspiring independent in November. He is a phony.
Back a few years ago Eric Zorn pushed Erma Trattner, head of Friends of the Park, to react to Todd Stroger’s accusation that Claypool hurt the parks.
From Zorn’s column: “What I will say,” she said when I pressed her for a politics-free evaluation — up, down, neutral – on the Claypool years, “ is that the parks improved dramatically under Forrest’s leadership.”
Yeah,you also tried to interject Harold Washington in the discussion. He’d been dead for about 5 years when Gump took over. That says a lot about your integrity and your attempt to somehow pander to the AA community.Go ahead and lie if you want just don’t act so self righteous when Word calls you on it.
–Yes Ed Kelly was gone, but his patronage army was still there.
OD, again, that’s just not true.
Kelly had a lot of his patronage army as “temporary” workers. They had no civil service protection, so they were beholden to him and their ward boss sponsors.
When Washington dumped Kelly, Fast Eddie engineered a deal with Lee Daniels and Pate to try to extend civil service protection to them in exchange for a Regional Airport Authority covering O’Hare and Midway — in effect, trading the airports, then under Washington’s control, for the park district.
After a well-publicized, private meeting with Fast Eddie, Madigan allowed a debate and a vote on the bill, and was in the chair into the wee hours of the morning. Ronan was running the show for the ethnic Dems, Vinson and Daniels for the GOP.
Raw, racial debate. Fast Eddie had imported Larry Bullock, who had been absent for Springfield since his indictment for one more vote. He voted with Ronan all night long on the procedurals, until the last final vote, when he pretended to be asleep. They were one vote short; Ronan came running down the aisle to get Bullock to vote when Madigan slammed the gavel, looked at Ronan and shook his head, “No.” It failed.
The next day, Ronan told me Bullock had made a deal with him, but must have made a better deal for the final vote with Madigan, who said nothing to anyone on how it all went down.
Washington had the park district and cleaned house.
Just take a look at the numbers- when Claypool walked in on the Park District, it was bleeding out tons of cash. When he left, it was saving money AND surveys showed services improved drastically.
All this union talk, firing good people etc. is exactly whats wrong with our government. It was a bloated bureaucracy full of high paying patronage jobs. He made the tough cuts, saving us money. Period.
Berrios’ record of corruption is crystal clear. I’d rather have a doorknob be our assessor. Fortunately, I have a better choice. Claypool.
Objective Dem — that’s a nice find and seems to fly in the face of those who want to smear Claypool’s record.
In reading the comments for the Assessor’s race (this post and earlier posts), I find it curious that none of the Berrios supporters ever comes out and says why their guy is any good — they just try to whack Claypool, often with petty name-calling (Gump? Really? That would be funny…if you were 9).
Berrios has been in office an awfully long time, yet all he does (and his supporters do) is point
fingers at others. Kind of pathetic.
Below is some information regarding Kelly from a Tribune article from July 21, 1986:
“Critics charged Kelly had made the park district a patronage haven, with its 5,897 employees that included 4,547 temporary employees. Critics said the park district lacked professional leadership and long-range planning and was top-heavy with administrators.
A U.S. Justice Department suit in 1982 charged the park district with systematically shortchanging black and Hispanic neighborhoods by providing them fewer parks and services. In a 1983 consent decree, the park district agreed to spend more money in minority neighborhoods, though never admitting to the discrimination.”
Word, your powers of total recall are simply amazing. Ahhh, the good ol days. What a great story. I haven’t thought about Larry Bullock in decades. LOL
- Phineas J. Whoopee - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 1:40 pm:
Wow, the boys are a little testy today.
I remember when Claypool led his purge of the Park District. They followed a manual called “High Velocity Change”. The basic premise was if you want to change entrenched bureaucracy you need to shock it by slashing and burning without any regard for who gets hurt (unless of course your Daley’s pet)
It was heartless and brutal. Although Claypool will argue he was doing this to clean up the parks and it’s entrenched corruption and patronage it really only freed up space for Daley to employ his own cronies.
If that is the legacy Claypool is so proud of, I pity him.
OD, see, temporary workers. I just think you’re misreading the history. Kelly was gone seven years before Claypool got there and the park district was under the control of first Washington and then Sawyer in the meantime.
If I remember my history correctly, Washington eventually forced out his own pick, Walter Netsch, and replaced him with Jesse Madison, because Netsch wasn’t dumping Kelly cronies fast enough. But they were getting dumped.
Berrios doesn’t have a record of corruption. As far as saying something good about your candidate look at the Gump’s own ad and these comments. In the ad we have Todd and Joe; nothing good about Gump except that he’s against them. Look at the Gump’s legion of supporter’s comments here. We’ve got Ed Kelly, we’ve got Harold Washington, we’ve got that goof Erma, we’ve got Eric Zorn, Where among the Berrios insults is there anything positive about Forest except lies about how he saved the park district from Ed Kelly who, unfortunately, is no longer here to defend himself..
Bill, I’m trying not to spend too much time researching and writing every comment. I threw Harold Washington into the discussion to raise the issue that historically control of the parks were a big issue in the African-American community. I didn’t intend to imply that Claypool while Washington was mayor. My original post was simply a way to explain one reason why the African American community may be favorable to Claypool.
You really need to get over the “lie” comments. You still haven’t shown a single case where I “lied.” I think I have supported my opinions pretty well. I will fully admit that I may not always be correct because I get my news from the Trib/Sun Times and my memory can be faulty. But that is far different from lying. So turn it down a notch.
Don’t be so sensitive, dude. Politics ain’t bean bag. OK you didn’t lie you were just conveniently wrong so you could make your point. Whatever. you guys are gonna lose by 40%.
“I don’t know, probably a few. Should they not be allowed to serve the public because a relative is an elected official?”
A few? Per the BGA: “Perhaps the Berrios friendliness reflects his warm relations at work. Though he has campaigned on a promise to cut patronage from the assessor’s office, the employee roster of the Board of Review reads like the invitation list to a Berrios family reunion: His son, Joseph, is a computer operator at the board. Berrios’s sister Carmen works there, too. So do two sisters-in-law and a brother-in-law. A daughter, Vanessa, already works at the assessor’s office.”
But I’m sure that were all the most qualified people for the jobs. /snark/
Why hasn’t it come out that Bowen and his goons, as well as Peraica, have asked the GOP candidate to drop out? She’s told them to hit the road more than once. Smart woman.
reading thru this blog and noticed that there is one thing people dont realize Claypool got rid of all of patronage from years past to bring in all of Daley’s and his guys.
But lets just talk him. He says he has lowered taxes WRONG! look at the 10/25 everyone got taxed at a lower rate with their property value going up. so where has he lowered them. he talks about joe berrios supporting strogers tax increase. WRONG! joe berrios doesnt even get a vote on the tax increase that the board of commissioners passed on the 5th floor of the county building.
But i also agree Claypool is an opertunist why else would you not vote if you werent going to run as a independant. he figured he would everyone to knock eachother out so he would have enough money to make an independant run for it. To bad Claypool and Houlihan have both used the Democratic Party to get where they are today and want to bash it when its not in their favor.
Haha. It’s our time down here. Goonies never say die.
- CircularFiringSquad - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 3:19 pm:
Berrios made it clear on the show +400,000 complaints filed over Houli mistakes. That should be enough elect him.
A few meetings prove nothing — especially if the media looks at the files ands see nothing improper was done — btw Trib did that last spring — and a few hires that is about as bad as Houli giving Andy Shaws B&B a tax break with no real explanation.
Calling Gump seems polite. Maybe we have QOTD on what Gump’ moniker should be.
But Andy Shaw is head of the Better Government Association and previously was a crusading reporter fighting corruption. How could he ever do anything inappropriate? What’s next, are you going to tell me he operated the B&B without proper permits and licenses?
If the person who broke the system Big Jim Houlihan thinks he was doing such a good job why would he retire? But instead of following the election process we in america use to elect our elected officials he found a loop hole for the person he wants to succeed him since he has had it out for the minority Joe Berrios who corrects Gods mistakes. I mean anyone who corrects God(Big Jim Houlihan) is wrong because God doesnt make mistakes.
Joe Berrios has been helping home owners for years get their assessments correct which hasn’t sat well with God (Houlihan) that is why the last 4yrs he has given, give or take half a million dollars to candidates that would go after Joe Berrios and put him on the streets.
Joe Berrios in my opinion knows the process of property taxes, and knows how to correct the mistakes. I mean his office has receive more complaints since God(Houlihan) has become Assessor of CC. Someone is doing a bad Job and all roads lead to Houlihan.
Joe Berrios has my Vote and he should have yours!!!
Sportslife, you seem to know a lot about All Things Berrios. Maybe you can answer this one:
Why do people like you fill this thread with your comments, while Toni Berrios will not allow ANY comments on her Facebook page(s). What is she afaid of? If you all are so confident of the strength of your arguments, why shut down argument on her page?
Pathetic. YOU don’t have a clue Sportslife.
One last note on this: Before today, I actually was undecided on this one. After reading Bill and Sportslife, I now will back Claypool. They’ve convninced me that Berrios really is a Blago-like hack.
Skeets,
Glad we could help you out. Would you like some advice about the governor’s race too? By the way, quit picking on Toni. Why should she let commentors like you insult her on her own page? By the way, she’s gonna win by 40 too. Somehow,I’m thinking that it is you that doesn’t have a clue but,of course, you know everything. Kinda like Houli and Gump and Andy Shaw. Birds of a feather and all that.
Way to go, mustache! Next time just pull a Forest abnd don’t vote at all. With you and Skeeter the Gump has two already. If he bothers to vote himself he’ll have three.
Bill, if you are right, it will be great for those Lincoln Park lawyers you hate so much. In particular, those who work as in the US Attorney’s office.
The thing about Claypool is that he was one of the Daley guys but he was allowed to act like he was not. How? by slashing and burning all the Madigan, Kelly guys at the Park District because they were in charge and then they were not. Was it
nice? Of course not, restructuring is always painful to the entrenched. Was it necessary? Chicago residents who looked at their property bills would say yes. but don’t worry, a whole
boatload of the connected came over to us on the County side,
they with their ward positions. Madigan has a long memory. Plus, early Claypool positions as a staffer were in the Madigan
and Quinn realms, so along with Daley, they are watching one
of their own staffers grow up and try to take a big bite of their
money apple. I hope he upsets their apple cart!
Here we go again is it just me or is Joe Berrios running for assessed not Toni Berrios. Looks like tour the one with the problem since you can determine who is running for what. Why so don’t you get informed Skeeter since it looks like your the clueless one. It’s individuals lime yourself who are an embaressment why on earth invalve his daughter.
Geez, what is it with you people attacking Andy? For the record, Andy’s B&B got no special tax break and no special treatment. He hadn’t even filed for the tax breaks he was entitled to before Berrios attacked him for the BGA investigation of his conflicts of interest.
If you people don’t like the BGA investigations, perhaps you should point out mistakes instead of attacking Andy’s character. But since Joe Berrios still hasn’t identified a mistake in the Chicago Magazine/BGA 10,000 word story, I guess I understand the vitriol.
- Bill - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 10:36 am:
==Instead of favoring clout-heavy business interests downtown, Claypool will put us first.==
C’mon Jr.. Check out where the Gump is getting his camapign millions from. Do you think politics is just their hobby? By the way, how’s your mayoral bid shaping up?
- dave - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 10:47 am:
Someone should tell Claypool that you are allowed to early vote.
Seriously? A big-time politician who ran out of time to vote?
- Objective Dem - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 10:49 am:
Claypool took control of the parks from the Ed Kelly hacks who served themselves rather than the City. Kelly has a long feud with Mayor Washington and was the villain to many in the African American Community. Claypool did a very good job at improving parks throughout the city including African American wards that were neglected by Kelly. So I understand why the African American community is supporting him.
- CircularFiringSquad - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 10:50 am:
Le’t see if I get this Gump takes a major figure in Blagoof II and uses him for robo-calls and thinks voters are thinking he is a reformer?
Wow What planet was Gump on when his missed ELECTION DAY
By the way the ad cannot be more hard hitting because there are no details, facts or events that might confirm any Berrios wrong doing
- city girl - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 10:55 am:
I think Claypool did a great job on Chicago Tonight. Berrios made my skin crawl. There couldn’t be a clearer difference between the two.
Liked Claypools ad. He’s not the loud bully type.
This is a race that can actually make a big difference. You get what you vote for. That’s how Todd won with Berrios help.
- Wondering - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 10:57 am:
How do you forget to vote? I mean, you only have Election Day, plus the three weeks before.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 11:10 am:
Objective Dem, that’s just wrong. In 1986, Washington gained control of the City Council after special elections. His first act with the majority was to dump Kelly and bring in Walter Netsch to run the parks.
Daley appointed his former chief of staff, Claypool, to the parks in 1993. By my math, that’s seven years after Kelly was gone.
Bill, you’re being very ungenerous to Claypool’s contributors. They’re just everyday, simple billionaires. You know what it costs to heat those mansions? Have you checked tuition lately at The Latin School?
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 11:11 am:
Claypool’s ad is good, but 7/10 is all I can give it. Maybe I was expecting more, but I thought Claypool would strike hard at the juglar right out of the gate. He needs to do more to break through the clutter of all the other ads out there so voters remember him way down on the ballot.
I hope he has another one in the can that is much better than this one.
- Anon - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 11:16 am:
Could it have been that he was plotting an independent bid, either for Assessor if Berrios won or Board Prez if Stroger (somehow won), and pulling a party ticket in the primary could have posed legal problems?
There was all that talk about a challenge to petition signers not being legit if they voted in the primary. Could have been used against the candidate as well?
- OneMan - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 11:17 am:
Nice picture of Berrios he used in the ad.
How do you get to busy to vote?
- Bill - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 11:20 am:
So the Gump doesan’t take money directly from tax attorneys, he launders it through Houli first. Houli does a such great job as assessor that the Gump wants to be just like him. After all, there are only about 500,000 appeals every year because of Houlis incompetence. Maybe Forrest will hire him as an expert consultant. If Houli wanted to continue his clown act in the assessors office he should have run himself instead of hiring a cheap imitation.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 11:25 am:
Negative ad stills can make even the gentlest, goo-gooiest candidate look sinister, but this one of Berrios might be the best ever. The shot makes him look like he would scare Santino Corleone and Suge Knight.
Cook County being a land of ethnic and racial sensitivities, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Hispanic and Black officeholder featured in a negative way, right next to each other, in the same ad — certainly not by a white “reformer.”
Maybe that’s progress.
- Skeeter - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 11:26 am:
Wordslinger: Tuition at Latin School is around $18,000.00. I chose not to send my kids there, but the last thing I would do is rip people for doing so. Where people send their kids to school is their own business. It should never be a political issue.
But to the merits: I like Joe Barrios. He’s a very effective one on one politicians. But does he really think anybody will believe that the family just happened to get on the payroll? Comments like that just serve to remind people why he’s a bad choice. He would be far more effective just talking around the issue than in giving an answer that serves to annoy people.
- Objective Dem - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 11:26 am:
Wordslinger,
My impression is that while Kelly was gone, he had a legacy because he had hired so many people through the years. From what I remember it wasn’t until Claypool came in that there was significant reform and progress at the park district.
- 42nd Ward - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 11:28 am:
The Republican Cook County Chairman is pressuring the GOP candidate to withdraw to help Claypool.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 11:37 am:
Lighten up, Skeeter. In context, it was an apparently vain attempt at humor.
- Bill - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 11:39 am:
Unobjective Dem,
Daley sent the Gump to the parks to break the union. The lapdog did what he was told, as usual, and forced hard working park district employees to either retire or convert to part time where they would work almost as many hours but receive substandard wages and no benefits while feathering his own nest and the nest of other Daley cronies. He did more harm to the park district in a couple years than Eddie did in two decades.
As for the ad, someone should tell him that Todd isn’t running for anything this cycle. How long are these guys gonna run against Todd? I guess if there is no substance to their campaign, they just trot out Todd. That’s always good for the backstabbing brie eater vote. Anybody who lives south of Madison Street and votes for the Gump should be reprimanded, to say the least.
- Levois - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 11:40 am:
I heard that robocall yesterday with JJJ’s baggages I wonder if it’ll be more of a detriment no matter the message.
- Skeeter - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 11:40 am:
Touched a nerve, Wordslinger. As a parent who sends kids to private schools, I’m tired of comments like that one. No big deal, but you might want to keep in mind that there are a lot of people like me who send their kids to private schools but then don’t eat lunch most days so that we can afford it.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 11:42 am:
===Anybody who lives south of Madison Street and votes for the Gump should be reprimanded, to say the least.===
Lol. Where have I heard that before? You’re on fire today Bill.
- Bill - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 11:44 am:
Yeah, right Skeets.
I bet there are a lot of starving loop attorneys living in Lincoln Park who really have to skrimp and save so their kids can avoid the rabble. Lunch is on me next time.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 11:48 am:
Skeeter, no offense intended. Doing right by your kids ain’t cheap or easy, believe me, I know.
Bill, I don’t think Judge Pincham said “reprimanded.” That quote always reminded me of something Sheriff Bart said in a similar vein in “Blazing Saddles.”
- Bill - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 11:49 am:
I figured Miller would ban me if I said hung…to violent and all that.
- Ghost - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 11:56 am:
I like Claypool; h canbe an od duck at times but I get the sense from him that he is trying to do what he thinks is the right thing, and is not afraid to make a decision. Too many politicos afrai to make decisions or move forward.
- Skeeter - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 11:57 am:
Word, no problem at all. I used to make similar comments before I started getting those tuition bills.
Bill, on the other hand doesn’t get it. It has nothing to do with “rabble.” It has to do with “quality education.” Blago never understood, which is why our schools are so bad that I need to send my kids to private school. No shock that Bill wouldn’t get it either. Neither cares about the middle class.
But we are getting off subject.
Bill, you can sling cute names all day, but it doesn’t change the fact that before Richard M. Daley, parks in the neigbhorhoods were ignored despite the fact that the payroll was bloated. You don’t understand that either. You LIKE bloated budgets and workers sitting while picking up big checks. The rest of us sure don’t.
- Bill - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 12:10 pm:
Well, Skeets, the parks in my neighborhood were fine until Little Dick made Gump fire the painters, landscapers, groundskeepers, pool attendants, activities directors and anyone else who they thought they could bullie. After just a few short years of the Gump my neighborhood park looked like a deserted cemetery. Kelly supported programs like Piano lessons, sports, a city-wide boxing tournament, spelling bees and so on. Gump promoted wine tastings for rich white guys. We had to go out and service the fields ourselves so our kids could play little league baseball.
You and Objectivedem can try to lie and re-write history but those of us old enough to remember get a laugh out of the Gump portraying himself as good for the parks.
Oak Street beach and Belmont Harbor made out under Daley/Gump. The rest of the city got screwed.
- Bill - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 12:15 pm:
Ghost,
Your posts are like the commercial where the guy leaves out all the “M”’s.
- Cynic Al - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 12:26 pm:
Bill — IIRC, the Park District was a bloated mess when Claypool came in — Kelly spent money on programs, but let’s not forget that the money came directly from the taxpayers’ pockets. I’m ok with less services if it ultimately costs me less in taxes.
As someone who regularly deals with the Cook County Board of Review, I can tell you that it is not run well at all. It is exceptionally difficult to work with them because of disorganization (although, to their credit, most who people who work there are pleasant). You can’t even blame it on trying to do more with less — fairly regularly you can walk in and see people sitting around doing nothing. In other words, we’re not getting value for money.
- Bardo2 - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 12:30 pm:
A bit disappointing. I hope there’s something better in the can. Berrios is a walking pinata…but if Claypool doesn’t hit him any harder than that, don’t look for him to break.
Is this an AKPD ad?
- Bill - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 12:38 pm:
Cynic Al,
I agree. They cut the budget and services, but I know your taxes didn’t go down,they just went elsewhere. As far as working regularly with the BofR you have my deepest sympathy,brother, but that’s Gorman’s fault, not Joe’s.
- Objective Dem - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 12:47 pm:
Bill, I don’t appreciate being called a liar. We may have different memories and experiences but your comment is out-of-line. This website tries to be about intelligent debate and the name calling is a real disservice.
The reality is Claypool dramatically changed the ways the parks were run. This included getting rid of a lot of workers who were connected to Ed Kelly. I remember an increased emphasis on parks in all neighborhoods rather than just a few neighborhoods, like Lincoln Square. My overall my impression is he did a very good job. You may disagree but those are my opinions from living in the city and following the story in the media.
By the way, I can’t think of a single improvement to Oak Street Beach unless you count the cafe. Otherwise the underpasses, bathrooms, and benches are really in poor shape.
- GetOverIt - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 12:47 pm:
Berrios is wrong for the job. Yesterday on Chicago tonight he all but admitted that he used his clout to get family members jobs. Really? And he’s not in jail?! He is an example of what is really wrong with public service…
- Cynic Al - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 1:00 pm:
Bill - Gorman? Joe seems to have the greatest influence at the BoR (far more than Rogers or B. Houlihan). And I appreciate your sympathies. Dealing with the Board is like banging your head on a desk, only the desk doesn’t read the Sun-Times when people are waiting for help.
- Bill - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 1:12 pm:
==Claypool took control of the parks from the Ed Kelly==
So I guess this must be the truth then since you don’t lie.
- Objective Dem - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 1:18 pm:
Bill, you shortened what I said which says a lot about your integrity. The exact quote was “Claypool took control of the parks from the Ed Kelly hacks who served themselves rather than the City.” Yes Ed Kelly was gone, but his patronage army was still there.
- "Old Timer Dem" - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 1:24 pm:
Claypool should have at least told the truth about why he did not vote in the February primary. He knew he was going to run as an independent and therefore could not vote in either primary or risk being kicked off the ballot as an aspiring independent in November. He is a phony.
- Objective Dem - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 1:26 pm:
Back a few years ago Eric Zorn pushed Erma Trattner, head of Friends of the Park, to react to Todd Stroger’s accusation that Claypool hurt the parks.
From Zorn’s column: “What I will say,” she said when I pressed her for a politics-free evaluation — up, down, neutral – on the Claypool years, “ is that the parks improved dramatically under Forrest’s leadership.”
Here is the link to the full article.
http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2006/02/whos_a_friend_o.html
- Bill - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 1:31 pm:
Yeah,you also tried to interject Harold Washington in the discussion. He’d been dead for about 5 years when Gump took over. That says a lot about your integrity and your attempt to somehow pander to the AA community.Go ahead and lie if you want just don’t act so self righteous when Word calls you on it.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 1:32 pm:
–Yes Ed Kelly was gone, but his patronage army was still there.
OD, again, that’s just not true.
Kelly had a lot of his patronage army as “temporary” workers. They had no civil service protection, so they were beholden to him and their ward boss sponsors.
When Washington dumped Kelly, Fast Eddie engineered a deal with Lee Daniels and Pate to try to extend civil service protection to them in exchange for a Regional Airport Authority covering O’Hare and Midway — in effect, trading the airports, then under Washington’s control, for the park district.
After a well-publicized, private meeting with Fast Eddie, Madigan allowed a debate and a vote on the bill, and was in the chair into the wee hours of the morning. Ronan was running the show for the ethnic Dems, Vinson and Daniels for the GOP.
Raw, racial debate. Fast Eddie had imported Larry Bullock, who had been absent for Springfield since his indictment for one more vote. He voted with Ronan all night long on the procedurals, until the last final vote, when he pretended to be asleep. They were one vote short; Ronan came running down the aisle to get Bullock to vote when Madigan slammed the gavel, looked at Ronan and shook his head, “No.” It failed.
The next day, Ronan told me Bullock had made a deal with him, but must have made a better deal for the final vote with Madigan, who said nothing to anyone on how it all went down.
Washington had the park district and cleaned house.
- Anon - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 1:35 pm:
Just take a look at the numbers- when Claypool walked in on the Park District, it was bleeding out tons of cash. When he left, it was saving money AND surveys showed services improved drastically.
All this union talk, firing good people etc. is exactly whats wrong with our government. It was a bloated bureaucracy full of high paying patronage jobs. He made the tough cuts, saving us money. Period.
Berrios’ record of corruption is crystal clear. I’d rather have a doorknob be our assessor. Fortunately, I have a better choice. Claypool.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 1:35 pm:
Claypool always brings out the worst in commenters. No matter what he runs for or passes on, it’s always the same here.
- Cynic Al - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 1:35 pm:
Objective Dem — that’s a nice find and seems to fly in the face of those who want to smear Claypool’s record.
In reading the comments for the Assessor’s race (this post and earlier posts), I find it curious that none of the Berrios supporters ever comes out and says why their guy is any good — they just try to whack Claypool, often with petty name-calling (Gump? Really? That would be funny…if you were 9).
Berrios has been in office an awfully long time, yet all he does (and his supporters do) is point
fingers at others. Kind of pathetic.
- Objective Dem - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 1:36 pm:
Below is some information regarding Kelly from a Tribune article from July 21, 1986:
“Critics charged Kelly had made the park district a patronage haven, with its 5,897 employees that included 4,547 temporary employees. Critics said the park district lacked professional leadership and long-range planning and was top-heavy with administrators.
A U.S. Justice Department suit in 1982 charged the park district with systematically shortchanging black and Hispanic neighborhoods by providing them fewer parks and services. In a 1983 consent decree, the park district agreed to spend more money in minority neighborhoods, though never admitting to the discrimination.”
- Bill - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 1:37 pm:
Word, your powers of total recall are simply amazing. Ahhh, the good ol days. What a great story. I haven’t thought about Larry Bullock in decades. LOL
- Phineas J. Whoopee - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 1:40 pm:
Wow, the boys are a little testy today.
I remember when Claypool led his purge of the Park District. They followed a manual called “High Velocity Change”. The basic premise was if you want to change entrenched bureaucracy you need to shock it by slashing and burning without any regard for who gets hurt (unless of course your Daley’s pet)
It was heartless and brutal. Although Claypool will argue he was doing this to clean up the parks and it’s entrenched corruption and patronage it really only freed up space for Daley to employ his own cronies.
If that is the legacy Claypool is so proud of, I pity him.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 1:43 pm:
OD, see, temporary workers. I just think you’re misreading the history. Kelly was gone seven years before Claypool got there and the park district was under the control of first Washington and then Sawyer in the meantime.
If I remember my history correctly, Washington eventually forced out his own pick, Walter Netsch, and replaced him with Jesse Madison, because Netsch wasn’t dumping Kelly cronies fast enough. But they were getting dumped.
Dawn, are you there? Maybe you can clear that up.
- Bill - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 1:46 pm:
Berrios doesn’t have a record of corruption. As far as saying something good about your candidate look at the Gump’s own ad and these comments. In the ad we have Todd and Joe; nothing good about Gump except that he’s against them. Look at the Gump’s legion of supporter’s comments here. We’ve got Ed Kelly, we’ve got Harold Washington, we’ve got that goof Erma, we’ve got Eric Zorn, Where among the Berrios insults is there anything positive about Forest except lies about how he saved the park district from Ed Kelly who, unfortunately, is no longer here to defend himself..
- Skeeter - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 1:49 pm:
Bill come on.
How many friends and family of Joe are on the payroll?
- Objective Dem - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 1:53 pm:
Bill, I’m trying not to spend too much time researching and writing every comment. I threw Harold Washington into the discussion to raise the issue that historically control of the parks were a big issue in the African-American community. I didn’t intend to imply that Claypool while Washington was mayor. My original post was simply a way to explain one reason why the African American community may be favorable to Claypool.
You really need to get over the “lie” comments. You still haven’t shown a single case where I “lied.” I think I have supported my opinions pretty well. I will fully admit that I may not always be correct because I get my news from the Trib/Sun Times and my memory can be faulty. But that is far different from lying. So turn it down a notch.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 1:57 pm:
I don’t know, probably a few. Should they not be allowed to serve the public because a relative is an elected official?
- Bill - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 2:00 pm:
Don’t be so sensitive, dude. Politics ain’t bean bag. OK you didn’t lie you were just conveniently wrong so you could make your point. Whatever. you guys are gonna lose by 40%.
- Skeeter - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 2:06 pm:
“I don’t know, probably a few. Should they not be allowed to serve the public because a relative is an elected official?”
A few? Per the BGA: “Perhaps the Berrios friendliness reflects his warm relations at work. Though he has campaigned on a promise to cut patronage from the assessor’s office, the employee roster of the Board of Review reads like the invitation list to a Berrios family reunion: His son, Joseph, is a computer operator at the board. Berrios’s sister Carmen works there, too. So do two sisters-in-law and a brother-in-law. A daughter, Vanessa, already works at the assessor’s office.”
But I’m sure that were all the most qualified people for the jobs. /snark/
- Wondering - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 2:07 pm:
Why hasn’t it come out that Bowen and his goons, as well as Peraica, have asked the GOP candidate to drop out? She’s told them to hit the road more than once. Smart woman.
- Cynic Al - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 2:08 pm:
Anonymous — If you’ve dealt with the BoR, you’d realize very few people are trying to “serve the public.”
Bill — any chance you want to let us know what government job you hold?
- regular democrat - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 2:11 pm:
Dear Bill-Ed Kelly is alive and well and very capable of defending himself. Do some homework before you start your bs rant. SHEESH
- Bill - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 2:12 pm:
No.
- Phineas J. Whoopee - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 2:14 pm:
BTW, the proverbial kiss of death, coup de grace and kibosh was put on the Forrest Claypool campaign.
What happened you ask? Russ Stewart predicted him to win.
Poor Bill Brady got the nod as well.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 2:15 pm:
===Bowen and his goons===
Wait, Bowen has goons? How many? I’ve always wanted a couple of goons. Where can I get some? Costco?
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 2:16 pm:
Bowen has goons?
- Bill - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 2:37 pm:
Hey Reg,
I don’t remember saying he was dead but I’m glad he doing ok. As for homework you gotta be kidding. I’m from the south Side.
- SportsLife - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 2:40 pm:
reading thru this blog and noticed that there is one thing people dont realize Claypool got rid of all of patronage from years past to bring in all of Daley’s and his guys.
But lets just talk him. He says he has lowered taxes WRONG! look at the 10/25 everyone got taxed at a lower rate with their property value going up. so where has he lowered them. he talks about joe berrios supporting strogers tax increase. WRONG! joe berrios doesnt even get a vote on the tax increase that the board of commissioners passed on the 5th floor of the county building.
But i also agree Claypool is an opertunist why else would you not vote if you werent going to run as a independant. he figured he would everyone to knock eachother out so he would have enough money to make an independant run for it. To bad Claypool and Houlihan have both used the Democratic Party to get where they are today and want to bash it when its not in their favor.
- Tom B. - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 2:48 pm:
47th, Rich,
Me, Chunk, and Sloth go way back.
- Bill - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 3:02 pm:
TB,
Quit talking about your candidates that way.
- Pioneer P. - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 3:03 pm:
Haha. It’s our time down here. Goonies never say die.
- CircularFiringSquad - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 3:19 pm:
Berrios made it clear on the show +400,000 complaints filed over Houli mistakes. That should be enough elect him.
A few meetings prove nothing — especially if the media looks at the files ands see nothing improper was done — btw Trib did that last spring — and a few hires that is about as bad as Houli giving Andy Shaws B&B a tax break with no real explanation.
Calling Gump seems polite. Maybe we have QOTD on what Gump’ moniker should be.
- Objective Dem - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 3:28 pm:
CFS,
But Andy Shaw is head of the Better Government Association and previously was a crusading reporter fighting corruption. How could he ever do anything inappropriate? What’s next, are you going to tell me he operated the B&B without proper permits and licenses?
- SportsLife - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 3:38 pm:
If the person who broke the system Big Jim Houlihan thinks he was doing such a good job why would he retire? But instead of following the election process we in america use to elect our elected officials he found a loop hole for the person he wants to succeed him since he has had it out for the minority Joe Berrios who corrects Gods mistakes. I mean anyone who corrects God(Big Jim Houlihan) is wrong because God doesnt make mistakes.
Joe Berrios has been helping home owners for years get their assessments correct which hasn’t sat well with God (Houlihan) that is why the last 4yrs he has given, give or take half a million dollars to candidates that would go after Joe Berrios and put him on the streets.
Joe Berrios in my opinion knows the process of property taxes, and knows how to correct the mistakes. I mean his office has receive more complaints since God(Houlihan) has become Assessor of CC. Someone is doing a bad Job and all roads lead to Houlihan.
Joe Berrios has my Vote and he should have yours!!!
- SportsLife - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 4:12 pm:
Is it just me or is Stroger not running in this race????
Is it just me or does the Stroger sales tax have nothing to do with Claypools ordance that increased Property Taxes?
Is it just me or does Claypool never talk about how he would fix the broken product which is Property Taxes?
Is it just me or does Claypool never answer a question without the word Joe Berrios, Corruption, Stroger, Stroger Tax, or BGA???
Sounds like someone who doesnt have a clue or is it just me?????
- Skeeter - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 4:20 pm:
Sportslife, you seem to know a lot about All Things Berrios. Maybe you can answer this one:
Why do people like you fill this thread with your comments, while Toni Berrios will not allow ANY comments on her Facebook page(s). What is she afaid of? If you all are so confident of the strength of your arguments, why shut down argument on her page?
Pathetic. YOU don’t have a clue Sportslife.
- Skeeter - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 4:22 pm:
One last note on this: Before today, I actually was undecided on this one. After reading Bill and Sportslife, I now will back Claypool. They’ve convninced me that Berrios really is a Blago-like hack.
- Bill - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 4:42 pm:
Skeets,
Glad we could help you out. Would you like some advice about the governor’s race too? By the way, quit picking on Toni. Why should she let commentors like you insult her on her own page? By the way, she’s gonna win by 40 too. Somehow,I’m thinking that it is you that doesn’t have a clue but,of course, you know everything. Kinda like Houli and Gump and Andy Shaw. Birds of a feather and all that.
- mustache mike - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 5:05 pm:
claypool is a complete doorknob, and i voted for him, its really scary voting this year.
- Bill - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 5:13 pm:
Way to go, mustache! Next time just pull a Forest abnd don’t vote at all. With you and Skeeter the Gump has two already. If he bothers to vote himself he’ll have three.
- Skeeter - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 6:45 pm:
Bill, if you are right, it will be great for those Lincoln Park lawyers you hate so much. In particular, those who work as in the US Attorney’s office.
- Skeeter - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 6:51 pm:
By the way. I’ve often wondered if Bill is actually a Republican. He doesn’t back all Democrats. Just the corrupt ones.
- Amalia - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 7:46 pm:
The thing about Claypool is that he was one of the Daley guys but he was allowed to act like he was not. How? by slashing and burning all the Madigan, Kelly guys at the Park District because they were in charge and then they were not. Was it
nice? Of course not, restructuring is always painful to the entrenched. Was it necessary? Chicago residents who looked at their property bills would say yes. but don’t worry, a whole
boatload of the connected came over to us on the County side,
they with their ward positions. Madigan has a long memory. Plus, early Claypool positions as a staffer were in the Madigan
and Quinn realms, so along with Daley, they are watching one
of their own staffers grow up and try to take a big bite of their
money apple. I hope he upsets their apple cart!
- Sportslife - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 7:51 pm:
Here we go again is it just me or is Joe Berrios running for assessed not Toni Berrios. Looks like tour the one with the problem since you can determine who is running for what. Why so don’t you get informed Skeeter since it looks like your the clueless one. It’s individuals lime yourself who are an embaressment why on earth invalve his daughter.
- BGA Dave - Tuesday, Oct 19, 10 @ 11:06 pm:
Geez, what is it with you people attacking Andy? For the record, Andy’s B&B got no special tax break and no special treatment. He hadn’t even filed for the tax breaks he was entitled to before Berrios attacked him for the BGA investigation of his conflicts of interest.
If you people don’t like the BGA investigations, perhaps you should point out mistakes instead of attacking Andy’s character. But since Joe Berrios still hasn’t identified a mistake in the Chicago Magazine/BGA 10,000 word story, I guess I understand the vitriol.