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Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is the illusive political power behind the individuals and policies driving Chicago’s decline
Cook County Board President and Democratic Party boss Toni Preckwinkle is crowing about her fiscal prudence in unveiling a $10 billion budget. A budget that has no new taxes, does not include any new layoffs, and is aided by the last of $1 billion in COVID money, Ms. Preckwinkle submitted the new budget while sucker punching her protege, Mayor Brandon Johnson. Though the Cook County Democratic leader is congratulating herself for fiscal discipline, the fact remains that her tenure has been characterized by a dramatic increase in spending and the systematic abandoning of public safety as a high priority.
A little over a decade ago, in 2011, Preckwinkle rolled out her first budget. At the time, Cook County employed 23,260 employees and required just over $3 billion to sustain itself. By 2024, 23,364 were in the service of Cook County, but the budget introduced by Preckwinkle had exploded to $9.26 billion. Owing to Mr. Preckwinkle giving enormous raises to political operatives and unions who support the candidates she chooses in her role as the Chairwoman of the Cook County Democratic Party, county taxpayers are now paying almost three-times in taxes for the same amount of services.
During her tenure, property taxes throughout Cook County have skyrocketed, and in the Southland where many African American families reside, taxes rose 19.9 percent this year alone. The startling rise in taxes have forced many residents to sell their homes. Despite the rising tax burden on homeowners, property tax relief has never been a priority for either Preckwinkle or her County Board allies. As party leader, Preckwinkle supported the current elected Tax Assessor, Fritz Kaegi, whose clumsy mismanagement of his office has inflicted historic increases to property taxes to commercial properties and homeowners.
Aside from the excessive taxes imposed during her tenure, under Preckwinkle’s watch, the Cook County jail population has shrunk to record lows. Now with nearly half the number confined than when she took office, the drop in inmates has occurred despite the dramatic increase in violent crime since COVID struck. On balance, public safety has been decimated under Preckwinkle. As Board president, Preckwinkle has ignored the malpractice of the Cook County court system and overseen the rise of the incompetent Kim Foxx, who has spent eight years declining to prosecute many violent felons arrested by Chicago Police. The number of violent criminals who evaded justice and were released under Foxx reached record numbers.
Preckwinkle’s unholy alliance with Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Stacey Davis Gates strengthened the union’s ability to pressure the school district to make demands that drive up property taxes. Today, 56 percent of all city property tax revenues go to Chicago's failing school system. As Democratic Party boss, Preckwinkle’s silence over the CTU carrying out three strikes and its shuttering of school campuses for 78 weeks after COVID with devasting consequences was an abdication of leadership.
Ms. Preckwinkle’s domination over Cook County is not limited to schools or the justice system.
Mayor Johnson’s road to elective office was paved by Preckwinkle and greased with the financial support of the CTU’s Davis Gates, who effectively raised member dues — without approval of the rank and file — to help finance Johnson’s campaign. This is their gift. A failed five-year teacher turned union organizer and lobbyist, Johnson is in thrall to the Chicago Teachers Union agenda and in servitude to the fringe progressive left. Despite establishing a record of shady entanglements to solidify power, Preckwinkle is now distancing herself from her protege Johnson. Thanks, Toni.
It is painfully obvious Preckwinkle’s criminal justice reform efforts, in particular her support for pre-trial release — including the release of violent felons — has resulted in a flood of violent criminals returned to the streets. These failed policies have wreaked havoc in Chicago’s neighborhoods and are to account for a spike in the crimes committed by those released under the elimination of cash bail. CWB Chicago reports that 20 percent of those arrested for violent felonies are out on pretrial release. Since 2017, 387 individuals arrested for murder or attempted murder have been released under the Preckwinkle-backed pre-trial release. Given the abysmal arrest rates, that number is many times higher.
Domestic violence offenses, too, have surged. According to Cook County data, domestic violence has risen 16 percent over the last three years and the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence has reported a 110 percent spike in domestic violence related deaths last year. More worrisome is the fact many women murdered in domestic incidents had filed orders of protection that were never applied due to low priority or inattention from the Cook County Sheriff’s Office or other local law enforcement agencies.
When Preckwinkle first took office in 2011, 40.9 percent of the county budget went to public safety and 29.8 percent was distributed to health programs (Stroger Hospital). Today, public safety receives a mere 17 percent of the budget and health programs gobble up 46 percent of all county spending. It should come as no surprise that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and their affiliates that represents the healthcare workers is one of the top donors to the Democratic Party. The SEIU and its appendages have given Preckwinkle’s campaign alone $1 million.
It is important to bear in mind that while violent crime impacts the quality of life for all Chicagoan’s, blacks suffer most from the shortage of police officers, the release of violent criminals, and the lack of protection for both witnesses and victims of crime. In Chicago, blacks comprise 32 percent of the city’s population but comprise nearly 80 percent of victims of murder or attempted murder. Black women are particularly at-risk: Black women account for 30 percent of all crime victims. Worse, black female youths are particularly vulnerable. In Chicago, a black girl 18 years and younger is 14 times more likely to be attacked and injured than a white girl in the same age group.
As the mayhem continues on the streets, Preckwinkle meanwhile exerts her political power to block any transparency or independent assessment of Cook County government. Preckwinkle will spare no effort to crush those demanding transparent government. For example: Iris Martinez, Cook County Clerk of the Court, who Preckwinkle and her committeemen refused to endorse for reelection, recently reported that since the SAFE-T Act went into effect, defendants released after arrest under the no-bail provisions have missed and astonishing 67,416 court dates. An absentee rate of nearly 70 percent, this includes defendants charged with violent felonies.
Meanwhile some of the Democratic Party machine’s biggest contributors are those who benefit from the Preckwinkle-driven criminal justice reforms that effectively treat criminals as victims. Between law firms known for habitually filing lawsuits against Chicago and law firms the city hires to settle lawsuits — the sue-and-settle racket — as criminal justice reform advocates, universities funded to do client directed research to validate reforms, there’s big money in criminal justice “reform” and Preckwinkle’s political allies are the beneficiaries.
While Stacey Davis-Gates draws much of the attention, as it is her style to attack any critics of herself or her policies as being racist, Boss Preckwinkle deliberately maintains a low profile. This pose helps Ms. Preckwinkle evade much-deserved criticism. The goal of the Preckwinkle machine is to acquire and exercise absolute power and control in which her agenda goes unchallenged. A Keyser Söze figure of Chicago politics, Preckwinkle is the illusive political power behind the damaging policies that are contributing to the crime pandemic and the election of incompetent political allies who can advance her agenda.
Meanwhile, we marvel at a so-called balanced budget at Cook County, but at what cost? Next time we go searching for root causes of problems Chicago faces, we need to look no further than Boss Preckwinkle’s doorstep.
Photo courtesy Colin Boyle/BlockClub Chicago
