Peraica, Murphy and the County Combine: McQueary’s Omissions
Interestingly, the attackers Kristen McQueary cited were all Republicans, except I don’t know how McQueary labels herself. Usually, McQueary seems pretty balanced, but not this time.
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The nine vote County Board majority was up against a County Combine, or so Peraica would argue, and he would probably be supported by his fellow Four Horsemen on that argument [Although with Stroger’s victory over Claypool in the recent Primary, Suffredin, a lobbyist, looks to be spinning off and looking for a deal with the County Combine...
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Jeff Berkowitz: So, do you think she [Maureen Murphy] broke the agreement when you lived up to your end and she—
Commissioner Tony Peraica: No question about it.
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Jeff Berkowitz: ... Liz Gorman, she’s part of the Combine?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: There is that element, yes?
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[Cook County Commissioner Tony] Peraica said his critics are simply insiders who don't want change: "I didn't choose this. They came out against me. My very existence angers them because I talk about smaller government and lower taxes. I don't accept insider deals, like Tom Walsh sucking off the taxpayers in four different jobs."
You get the idea.
McQueary, Daily Southtown, April 2, 2006.
That’s the way Kristen McQueary ended her Sunday Daily Southtown column. Taken in context, the above concluded a pretty one sided attack of Cook County Board President Republican nominee Tony Peraica. McQueary’s column makes Peraica out to be a power hungry, insensitive, fake reformer, who is inherently divisive, or so McQueary implied and argued.
Interestingly, the attackers Kristen McQueary cited were all Republicans, except I don’t know how McQueary labels herself. Usually, McQueary seems pretty balanced, but not this time.
For those of my readers who are from outside the area or who do not generally keep up with Cook County Board politics, a bit of a Cook County Board primer is included, directly, below. It is a little hard to understand the antics of the players unless you get a little perspective.
In December, 2002, an infusion of new blood occurred on the Cook County Board, with three new reformers, among others, being elected to the 17 member board. In particular, commissioners Forrest Claypool, Tony Peraica and Larry Suffredin were elected and they joined Mike Quigley, who had already been fighting for reform for the previous four years, to form the Four Horsemen, a name I gave them two years, or so, ago and has since been borrowed [which I am glad to see] by WTTW’s and NBC-5 News’ Carol Marin and others.
As I put it, the Four Horsemen sought to bring to non-reformer and President of the Cook County Board, John Stroger, his Apocalypse now. Of course, they intended no harm to the 76 year old President, simply a retirement from his office and his replacement by a true reformer, i.e., Claypool, Quigley or Peraica. [Even those guys know that Suffredin is a somewhat fair weather reformer]
The Four Horsemen, which includes three Democrats [Quigley, Claypool and Suffredin] and one Republican [Peraica] on key votes, e.g., their efforts to turn back Stroger tax increases to support his budget bloat and patronage, would recruit the other four Republicans to join them and then engage in a hunt for the decisive 9th vote, which they generally found in the person of Democrat Commissioner Earlean Collins.
According to the reformers, the issue is not between government spending or not spending, but it is about spending and taxing in a way that is efficient and not patronage laden to help corporate and individual patronage friends of the Combine. Thus, as they see it, those who pay high taxes and those low income people who do not receive County services efficiently should both join in a coalition to support the reformers.
The nine vote County Board majority was up against a County Combine, or so Peraica would argue, and he would probably be supported by his fellow Four Horsemen on that argument [Although with Stroger’s victory over Claypool in the recent Primary, Suffredin, a lobbyist, looks to be spinning off and looking for a deal with the County Combine, as he promotes Stroger ally, Democratic Commissioner Bobbie Steele, to replace Stroger on the ballot, should he decide, as is likely, not to run due to the severe stroke he suffered a week before the election.
The County Combine is similar in concept, and in some cases, involves some of the same people who are in the political juggernaut that John Kass dubbed long ago—the Daley Ryan Combine. That Combine reflected the combination of Democrat Mayor Richard M. Daley and then Republican Governor George Ryan, and others, to pursue a variety of State of Illinois-City of Chicago programs and schemes to benefit themselves and their corporate and political cronies, instead of the public interest. Of course, with George Ryan now deposed from his throne, the Combine might be the Daley-Kjellander Combine, or perhaps a Kjellander surrogate. [Bob Kjellander is Illinois’s Republican National Committeeman]
Enter Tony Peraica and his Republican foes, as reported by the Daily Southtown’s Kristin McQueary. Kristin turns Peraica, who came to the United States at 13, not speaking a word of English and without any parents, into an all around bad guy, surrounded by wonderful, selfless, charming politicians, who just don’t want Peraica to be the Lyons Township Republican Committeeman, don’t want him to be the Republican nominee for Cook County Board President and probably would prefer that he not be member of the Cook County Board, or as Tony puts it, not exist at all.
An election by the Cook County Township and Ward committeemen of their Cook County GOP Chairman is scheduled for April 19, 2006. Given that the perks of the job are few and the headaches many, you have to wonder why the incumbent Cook County Chairman, Gary Skoien, wants the job for another term, but he does. Cook County Board of Review Commissioner, Maureen Murphy, after being dumped from her County GOP chairmanship two years ago, would like it back. Peraica and others have told me that if Murphy had a Lyons Township Committeeman who would support her [as would LaPidus apparently], Murphy could go to Wheeling Township Committeewoman Ruth McConnell and tell her that Ruth’s vote could make Murphy the Cook County GOP Chairman again, and McConnell might give Murphy the vote. [But, Peraica has now won the Lyons Township Committeeman race, subject to any protest].
Peraica denies sending a letter to Township Republicans raking Lyons for retiring early, as McQueary asserts. Peraica denies calling Gorman a scumbag, as McQueary reports that Gorman asserts.
Peraica denies “They [women] would like to see Gorman on the ticket, not Peraica.” Then there is this from Peraica on the Combine:
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Jeff Berkowitz: What are you going to do with Liz Gorman [Cook County Board Commissioner] and Maureen Murphy [Cook County Board of Review Commissioner]? Are you going to get them to support you?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: I hope to, yes.
Jeff Berkowitz: But, as of now [April 2], you agree- you don’t know if they are going to say that they will?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: Perhaps they will say that they will support John Stroger.
Jeff Berkowitz: You think they might?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: They might.
Jeff Berkowitz: Are they part of that Combine? Is there a County Combine out there?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: Yes. Sure.
Jeff Berkowitz: Maureen Murphy, she’s part of the Combine, you might think?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: Absolutely.
Jeff Berkowitz: Really? Liz Gorman, she’s part of the Combine?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: There is that element, yes?
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From an episode of Public Affairs [live to tape on April 2, 2006] that will be airing in the suburbs next week.
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And there is this from Tony on Maureen:
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Jeff Berkowitz: Was there a deal that you wouldn’t run a candidate against Maureen Murphy [in the Republican Primary for her County Board of Review position] and she agreed not to run a candidate against you for Lyons Township Committeeman?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: It wasn’t a deal, as such.
Jeff Berkowitz: What was it?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: It was a matter of trying to make sure that we don’t have squabbles within the Republican Party and that our energies are directed towards winning the general election. There were people that were expressing an interest to run in the First District Board of Tax Appeals [Maureen Murphy’s office] and I discouraged them in order to focus their attention elsewhere, so that Maureen Murphy would not have an opponent.
Jeff Berkowitz: And, did you expect that if you did that, she wouldn’t run someone against you in Lyons Township for Committeeman?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: I think that was the general agreement…
Jeff Berkowitz: So, do you think she [Maureen Murphy] broke the agreement when you lived up to your end and she—
Commissioner Tony Peraica: No question about it.
Jeff Berkowitz: Who was behind putting LaPidus there, to run [for Lyons Township Committeeman]…was somebody behind it or was he just doing it on his own
Commissioner Tony Peraica: You have that list of people in that Landmark article: you have Lyons, [Senator] Radogno, [Commissioner ] Murphy, Walsh, Vrdolyak.
Jeff Berkowitz: Did you include Gorman?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: No…She denies involvement but…our workers indicated that she had individuals who were working in Lyons Township and who were sent there by her and were from her organization in Orland Township.[Ed. note: the Landmark article, above, states that Commissioner Gorman supported LaPitus]
Jeff Berkowitz: You believe those individuals who stated that?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: I do.
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From a telephone interview on April 6, 2006
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So, it looks like McQueary gave you one side. We just gave you the other. What can I say, fair and balanced, as usual. We discuss, you decide. ******************************************
Jeff Berkowitz, Show Host/Producer of "Public Affairs," and Executive Legal Recruiter doing legal search can be reached at JBCG@aol.com
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The nine vote County Board majority was up against a County Combine, or so Peraica would argue, and he would probably be supported by his fellow Four Horsemen on that argument [Although with Stroger’s victory over Claypool in the recent Primary, Suffredin, a lobbyist, looks to be spinning off and looking for a deal with the County Combine...
*************************************************************
Jeff Berkowitz: So, do you think she [Maureen Murphy] broke the agreement when you lived up to your end and she—
Commissioner Tony Peraica: No question about it.
*****************************************************************
Jeff Berkowitz: ... Liz Gorman, she’s part of the Combine?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: There is that element, yes?
**********************************************************************
[Cook County Commissioner Tony] Peraica said his critics are simply insiders who don't want change: "I didn't choose this. They came out against me. My very existence angers them because I talk about smaller government and lower taxes. I don't accept insider deals, like Tom Walsh sucking off the taxpayers in four different jobs."
You get the idea.
McQueary, Daily Southtown, April 2, 2006.
That’s the way Kristen McQueary ended her Sunday Daily Southtown column. Taken in context, the above concluded a pretty one sided attack of Cook County Board President Republican nominee Tony Peraica. McQueary’s column makes Peraica out to be a power hungry, insensitive, fake reformer, who is inherently divisive, or so McQueary implied and argued.
Interestingly, the attackers Kristen McQueary cited were all Republicans, except I don’t know how McQueary labels herself. Usually, McQueary seems pretty balanced, but not this time.
For those of my readers who are from outside the area or who do not generally keep up with Cook County Board politics, a bit of a Cook County Board primer is included, directly, below. It is a little hard to understand the antics of the players unless you get a little perspective.
In December, 2002, an infusion of new blood occurred on the Cook County Board, with three new reformers, among others, being elected to the 17 member board. In particular, commissioners Forrest Claypool, Tony Peraica and Larry Suffredin were elected and they joined Mike Quigley, who had already been fighting for reform for the previous four years, to form the Four Horsemen, a name I gave them two years, or so, ago and has since been borrowed [which I am glad to see] by WTTW’s and NBC-5 News’ Carol Marin and others.
As I put it, the Four Horsemen sought to bring to non-reformer and President of the Cook County Board, John Stroger, his Apocalypse now. Of course, they intended no harm to the 76 year old President, simply a retirement from his office and his replacement by a true reformer, i.e., Claypool, Quigley or Peraica. [Even those guys know that Suffredin is a somewhat fair weather reformer]
The Four Horsemen, which includes three Democrats [Quigley, Claypool and Suffredin] and one Republican [Peraica] on key votes, e.g., their efforts to turn back Stroger tax increases to support his budget bloat and patronage, would recruit the other four Republicans to join them and then engage in a hunt for the decisive 9th vote, which they generally found in the person of Democrat Commissioner Earlean Collins.
According to the reformers, the issue is not between government spending or not spending, but it is about spending and taxing in a way that is efficient and not patronage laden to help corporate and individual patronage friends of the Combine. Thus, as they see it, those who pay high taxes and those low income people who do not receive County services efficiently should both join in a coalition to support the reformers.
The nine vote County Board majority was up against a County Combine, or so Peraica would argue, and he would probably be supported by his fellow Four Horsemen on that argument [Although with Stroger’s victory over Claypool in the recent Primary, Suffredin, a lobbyist, looks to be spinning off and looking for a deal with the County Combine, as he promotes Stroger ally, Democratic Commissioner Bobbie Steele, to replace Stroger on the ballot, should he decide, as is likely, not to run due to the severe stroke he suffered a week before the election.
The County Combine is similar in concept, and in some cases, involves some of the same people who are in the political juggernaut that John Kass dubbed long ago—the Daley Ryan Combine. That Combine reflected the combination of Democrat Mayor Richard M. Daley and then Republican Governor George Ryan, and others, to pursue a variety of State of Illinois-City of Chicago programs and schemes to benefit themselves and their corporate and political cronies, instead of the public interest. Of course, with George Ryan now deposed from his throne, the Combine might be the Daley-Kjellander Combine, or perhaps a Kjellander surrogate. [Bob Kjellander is Illinois’s Republican National Committeeman]
Enter Tony Peraica and his Republican foes, as reported by the Daily Southtown’s Kristin McQueary. Kristin turns Peraica, who came to the United States at 13, not speaking a word of English and without any parents, into an all around bad guy, surrounded by wonderful, selfless, charming politicians, who just don’t want Peraica to be the Lyons Township Republican Committeeman, don’t want him to be the Republican nominee for Cook County Board President and probably would prefer that he not be member of the Cook County Board, or as Tony puts it, not exist at all.
An election by the Cook County Township and Ward committeemen of their Cook County GOP Chairman is scheduled for April 19, 2006. Given that the perks of the job are few and the headaches many, you have to wonder why the incumbent Cook County Chairman, Gary Skoien, wants the job for another term, but he does. Cook County Board of Review Commissioner, Maureen Murphy, after being dumped from her County GOP chairmanship two years ago, would like it back. Peraica and others have told me that if Murphy had a Lyons Township Committeeman who would support her [as would LaPidus apparently], Murphy could go to Wheeling Township Committeewoman Ruth McConnell and tell her that Ruth’s vote could make Murphy the Cook County GOP Chairman again, and McConnell might give Murphy the vote. [But, Peraica has now won the Lyons Township Committeeman race, subject to any protest].
Peraica denies sending a letter to Township Republicans raking Lyons for retiring early, as McQueary asserts. Peraica denies calling Gorman a scumbag, as McQueary reports that Gorman asserts.
Peraica denies “They [women] would like to see Gorman on the ticket, not Peraica.” Then there is this from Peraica on the Combine:
********************************************************
Jeff Berkowitz: What are you going to do with Liz Gorman [Cook County Board Commissioner] and Maureen Murphy [Cook County Board of Review Commissioner]? Are you going to get them to support you?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: I hope to, yes.
Jeff Berkowitz: But, as of now [April 2], you agree- you don’t know if they are going to say that they will?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: Perhaps they will say that they will support John Stroger.
Jeff Berkowitz: You think they might?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: They might.
Jeff Berkowitz: Are they part of that Combine? Is there a County Combine out there?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: Yes. Sure.
Jeff Berkowitz: Maureen Murphy, she’s part of the Combine, you might think?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: Absolutely.
Jeff Berkowitz: Really? Liz Gorman, she’s part of the Combine?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: There is that element, yes?
*****************************************
From an episode of Public Affairs [live to tape on April 2, 2006] that will be airing in the suburbs next week.
*******************************************
And there is this from Tony on Maureen:
******************************************
Jeff Berkowitz: Was there a deal that you wouldn’t run a candidate against Maureen Murphy [in the Republican Primary for her County Board of Review position] and she agreed not to run a candidate against you for Lyons Township Committeeman?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: It wasn’t a deal, as such.
Jeff Berkowitz: What was it?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: It was a matter of trying to make sure that we don’t have squabbles within the Republican Party and that our energies are directed towards winning the general election. There were people that were expressing an interest to run in the First District Board of Tax Appeals [Maureen Murphy’s office] and I discouraged them in order to focus their attention elsewhere, so that Maureen Murphy would not have an opponent.
Jeff Berkowitz: And, did you expect that if you did that, she wouldn’t run someone against you in Lyons Township for Committeeman?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: I think that was the general agreement…
Jeff Berkowitz: So, do you think she [Maureen Murphy] broke the agreement when you lived up to your end and she—
Commissioner Tony Peraica: No question about it.
Jeff Berkowitz: Who was behind putting LaPidus there, to run [for Lyons Township Committeeman]…was somebody behind it or was he just doing it on his own
Commissioner Tony Peraica: You have that list of people in that Landmark article: you have Lyons, [Senator] Radogno, [Commissioner ] Murphy, Walsh, Vrdolyak.
Jeff Berkowitz: Did you include Gorman?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: No…She denies involvement but…our workers indicated that she had individuals who were working in Lyons Township and who were sent there by her and were from her organization in Orland Township.[Ed. note: the Landmark article, above, states that Commissioner Gorman supported LaPitus]
Jeff Berkowitz: You believe those individuals who stated that?
Commissioner Tony Peraica: I do.
**********************************************
From a telephone interview on April 6, 2006
*******************************************************
So, it looks like McQueary gave you one side. We just gave you the other. What can I say, fair and balanced, as usual. We discuss, you decide. ******************************************
Jeff Berkowitz, Show Host/Producer of "Public Affairs," and Executive Legal Recruiter doing legal search can be reached at JBCG@aol.com
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