“I see Cook County as having four obligations.  Our government must keep the people safe, provide for a healthy community, tax and spend wisely, and meet a minimum standard of ethical decency.  These final two proposals, added with my other two previous proposals, explain how I will meet those obligations,” said Garrido.

The “Community and Corrections Initiative” will consolidate Forest Preserve police with the county sheriff, emphasize rehabilitation for non-violent offenders, move to legalize concealed carry laws for Cook County gun owners, and create an independent corrections board, among other reforms.

“All other candidates in this election propose status quo solutions to our County’s problems.  The only reform that my opponent proposes in this primary is to give GEDs to temporary detainees.  I commend him on his effort, but it’s just not enough to truly reform a corrupted system.  Giving inmates GEDs will not stem patronage corruption that has hampered the functioning of our system.”

The “Public Service Initiative” will expand the inspector general’s office, disclose all Shakman exempt hires, devolve authority to the Human Resources department, hire a full-time non-exempt compliance officer, and publish detailed investigation reports by the Office of Independent Inspector General, among other reforms.

“Once again, I’m the only one truly committed to reform.  Of all the candidates in this election, I am the only one that has detailed how deep my ethics reforms go, and why they are necessary.  We need systematic changes, which my proposals do, in addition to hiring more investigative personnel.  It’s time we prevent corruption instead of merely responding to it.”

Garrido has released four different initiatives during the primary campaign.  They deal with the health care network, the Cook County budget and taxes, the public safety system, and government ethics.  He has called the four his “Fresh Start Initiatives,” and emphasizes that he is the only Republican in this race to propose reforms aimed at truly bringing a fresh start to Cook County.

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.

“My initiative is based upon two principles. The first principle is building an independent network of hospital, clinics, and service
centers that can efficiently operate for Cook County residents,” Garrido said.

He said this portion of his initiative includes removing the sunset on the Cook County Health and Hospitals System Board, decentralizing primary care to more localized facilities, and limiting all non-life threatening services to Cook County residents. “Basically, we need a health network that operates for the people of Cook County, instead of
the politically connected.”

Garrido continued by explaining that his initiative also includes building an information network that rivals the effectiveness of the
Veteran Health Administration’s VistA system. The VHA treats about 5.5 million patients per year, and has successfully used the program to increase quality and decrease cost. For example, the VHA has used VistA to reduce hospitalizations for pneumonia, saving taxpayers $40 million, and has a prescription accuracy rate of 99.997%.

“If the VHA can manage a network of over 1,400 care centers with increasing patient loads, all the while improving efficiency and
reducing costs to the taxpayers, then we can manage to do it in Cook County. More than that, the VistA program is open-source software, meaning the taxpayers of Cook County will have a cheap, infinitely capable information technology system if implemented.”

Garrido also expressed the difference between his platform and that of his opponent’s as a telling sign of who is both eager and ready to lead Cook County. “We’ve heard vague plans with little to no definition. In a county health system that is under the control of politicians doling out patronage, and one that can barely even manage to bill correctly, how is this effective?

“They are not comprehensive, and vague plans for reform are why we’ve lost as much as $200 million in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. My plan is a fresh start for Cook County’s health care network.”

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For more information about John Garrido or his campaign to bring a fresh start to Cook County, please contact Robert Lee by cellular
phone at (815) 347-0294, by email at media@garrido2010.com, or by visiting http://www.garrido2010.com.