My name is John Garrido, and I live on North Austin Avenue on the Northwest side of Chicago.  It’s incredible that in such economically difficult times, Todd Stroger can actually present this budget with a smile on his face.  The scary thing is that he actually thinks he’s doing a good job.

Of course the budget is balanced; it’s balanced on the backs of the taxpayers.  This budget also assumes our sales tax revenue will continue to increase; it’s estimated by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce that this year alone we will lose 6% in sales tax revenue.  As businesses and jobs flee the county, where will we be in another 4 years?

Typical of inefficient government, Todd Stroger feels the need to spend it because he has it.  He displays no desire to manage, primarily because he has the taxpayer as a steady stream of revenue.

One such striking example is the bloated and inefficient highway department budget.  It’s amazing that a budget of over 16 million dollars even exists.  Well over 90% of our County roads lay within local, urbanized or suburbanized municipalities, yet our highway employees are responsible for 33% less work than employees in surrounding counties.  Still we maintain a highway system as if Cook County is predominately rural.

Another example is over 250 thousand dollars requested for a film commission office, a new expenditure to this year’s recession budget that never existed before.  And, despite our economy shrinking, we are presented with a budget that increases nearly 6%; including capital improvements.  This budget is not, in any way, shape or form a budget of efficient government.

This budget proposal also lacks integrity, in that it’s rife with patronage opportunities that have exploded. Looking at the Office of the President alone, the number of full time employee positions has a proposed increase of 31.7%, including a new Special Assistant to the President making $172,000 per year; what does this person do and why do they make more than the president?  His Chief of Staff makes $181,000 per year; again, why is his salary higher than the President’s salary?

Additionally, the proposed budget requests three full time positions for a cable television network, and three full time positions for a film office.  For a budget which supposedly uses performance based budgeting principles, these should be soundly rejected as frivolous.

At minimum, this budget should be frozen to last year’s budget.  Ideally, this budget can be given a thorough line-by-line evaluation and reduced by 5%, instead of increased nearly 6%.

Remember these principles – efficiency and integrity – and I have faith the budget will reflect what’s truly best for Cook County.