“I’m running for Cook County assessor,” Andrea Raila tells passersby—most of them rushing for the train—at the Davis Street el stop in Evanston on a sunny Tuesday morning. “This is a chance for some reform.”
This is a race that in an ideal world would be determined by a healthy debate on our head-spinning property tax system. But in the early going it’s been dominated by raw, unadulterated Chicago politics.
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Berrios is not without vulnerabilities. He works as a lobbyist in Springfield for Comcast, the RTA, and video gambling firms, among others, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest since some of the lawmakers he lobbies—including House speaker Michael Madigan—are also attorneys who come before the Board of Review seeking reduced assessments for their clients. And as party chairman he helped engineer Todd Stroger’s elevation to the county board presidency, which may qualify as an unpardonable sin to the Tribune editorial board and thousands of north-siders and suburbanites.
Figueroa’s candidacy, Berrios says, is nothing but the latest round in a complicated political squabble involving former eighth district Cook County commissioner Roberto Maldonado, who was appointed 26th Ward alderman by Mayor Daley in July. The Democratic committeemen whose wards make up Maldonado’s old district were responsible for selecting his county board replacement, and Maldonado asked them to pick Xavier Nogueras, president of the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce of Illinois. But 33rd Ward alderman Richard Mell favored a former state trooper named Edwin Reyes. Mell outmaneuvered Maldonado—it wasn’t the first time and probably won’t be the last—and got Berrios and other committeemen to choose Reyes.
Bill Shaw lost his state senate seat to James Meeks the same year, and when Bill died last December, it looked like the Shaw political dynasty had reached the end. But Bob Shaw is back and predicting he’ll survive any ballot challenge Berrios brings. “I know all about Joe and his guy, Jaconetty,” Shaw says. “You don’t have to worry about me getting those petitions. I have them already. I’ve never been knocked off the ballot. I’ve knocked a few people off the ballot, though. I know how this game is played.”
Raila probably knows as much about property taxes as any candidate in the race, if not more—the woman’s a true tax geek—and she’s got a lot of cage-rattling spirit. On the other hand, voters don’t know who she is, she doesn’t have a lot of money, and no elected officials have come out to endorse her.
Last week the City Council voted unanimously (and without debate) to approve a deal giving United Airlines $35.4 million in taxpayer-funded subsidies to move its operational headquarters, along with at least 2,500 jobs, from Elk Grove Township into the Willis Tower. That works out to about $14,356 per job. This money comes on top of $15.4 million in assistance the city gave United just two years ago to move its corporate headquarters and at least 325 jobs from Elk Grove Township to 77 W. Wacker.
