Talk:Todd Stroger

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[edit] Online links

All the links on this page refering to Chicago Suntimes sources only take you to the Suntimes index, which I'm finding to be very unhelpful considering that they're supposed to be linked to the specific stories they refer to. Is this a problem with the Suntimes website or the url in the links? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Quixoto (talk • contribs)

It's not necessary to provide online sources, only reliable sources (written, printed sources are fine too). It's always helpful to link directly to the article, but in some cases, article locations change, or they're archived, or they're deleted from the website, or they can't be accessed without paying a fee. So it's not always practical. Nobody of consequence 21:29, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed Addition to "Career as Cook County Board President"

Propose the following addition to the section:

<start> "February 29. 2007, Cook County Commissioners pass a budget sought by County Board President Todd Stroger 10-7. In addition to the tax increase, it is also intended to create more than 1,000 new county jobs. The sales tax increases from 0.75 percent to 1.75 percent. As a result, someone buying $100 worth of merchandise will pay an extra dollar in sales tax. Chicago's overall sales tax will stand at 10.25 percent, the highest of any major U.S. city. In suburban Cook County, the sales tax will be a minimum of 9 percent." <end>


Constructive, creative and balanced editing WELCOME to this proposed addition. Wikipedia Administrator Guidelines are referenced below in order to garner agreement instead of simply deleting a post made by an editor.


Wikipedia Administrator Guidelines Focus on content, not on the other editor. Wikipedia is built upon the principle of representing views fairly, proportionately and without bias. When you find a passage in an article biased or inaccurate, improve it if you can. If that is not possible, and you disagree completely with a point of view expressed in an article, think twice before simply deleting it. Rather, balance it with your side of the story. Make sure that you provide reliable sources. Unreferenced text may be tagged or deleted.

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Agctrain (talk) 04:05, 2 March 2008 (UTC) Agctrain, March 1, 2008

Your first edit was reverted because it was POV couched in weasel words. Quoted: Stroger has not followed up on that pledge. Instead he spent 2006 and 2007 adding friends and family members to the payroll (such as Gene Mullins Dir. of public relations for Stroger and a childhood friend). He campaigned in 2006 saying he’d cut the county payroll to 22,000. The 2008 budget adds 1,000 employees. The 2008 budget with its regressive sales tax hits poor people hardest. I've reverted your second addition because it's not really about Stroger but about the Cook County Board passing a new tax hike, creating new jobs, etc. This is not POV, but it should have more to do with Stroger himself since this is the article about Stroger. Otherwise, it probably belongs in an article about the Cook County Board. Nobody of Consequence (talk) 16:03, 2 March 2008 (UTC)
I posit that the new tax increase passed by the county was initiated and driven by Stroger because he had to. It is the legal responsibility of the office of the county president to create the annual budget for the county, not the county board. It is HIS budget because it's his job to propose it and put it up for vote.
Additionally, the county president position holds considerable sway and authority when it comes to patronage and agenda setting for the county, i.e. how the millions will be spent and how the 1000+ jobs will be doled out. That is how the county administration works. (that is not commentary but simply how Cook County is administered - as any knowledgeable local resident knows).
The 1% tax increase – the largest ever by passed by the county board - would not have happened without Stroger and the budget the office of president created. For good or bad, Stroger and his allies fought for the tax increase over months and months and won it. There was considerable acrimony between Stroger and those that opposed the tax cut. Local media and local common knowledge know that this was a Stroger lead initiative.
To say that the budget increase passed by the county commissioners is really a story about Cook County Board and not about Stroger doesn’t make sense. It's like saying the "State of Union" speech the President gives is really a story about Congress and not the President, because the law requires the President to present a state of union to Congress in the halls of Congress.
Stroger deserves the credit for pushing the budget through. Time will tell if the tax increase will be seen as an investment that the county needs or a burden that drives business and people out of the county. From a career perspective, it doesn’t get any bigger than that.
That being said, I offer this re-write:
<start> "February 29. 2007, Cook County Commissioners pass a budget initiated by County Board President Todd Stroger 10-7. Stroger's budget contained a tax increase of 1%, the largest ever passed by Cook County, and also creates more than 1,000 new county jobs. The sales tax increases from 0.75 percent to 1.75 percent. Chicago's overall sales tax will stand at 10.25 percent, the highest of any major U.S. city. In suburban Cook County, the sales tax will be a minimum of 9%." <end>
Agctrain (talk) 2 March 2008 —Preceding comment was added at 23:18, 2 March 2008 (UTC)
How about this- <start> "On February 29, 2007, the Cook County Board, by a measure of 10-7, passed a budget initiated by Stroger. Stroger's budget contained a tax increase of 1 percent, the largest ever passed by Cook County, and also created more than 1,000 new County jobs. As a result of Stroger's bill, the County sales tax increases from 0.75 percent to 1.75 percent. Chicago's overall sales tax will stand at 10.25 percent, the highest of any major U.S. city. In suburban Cook County, the sales tax will be a minimum of 9 percent." <end>
Just some copyediting. Also, we really should find a source for the figures, the Tribune or whatever will be fine. Otherwise, seems fine to me. Nobody of Consequence (talk) 02:47, 3 March 2008 (UTC)
No objections so I've inserted the text with a reference. Nobody of Consequence (talk) 22:44, 5 March 2008 (UTC)