Turbulent Times in Cook County. Is it, or isn’t it? Seems turbulent to me regarding taxation anyway. Anyone paying attention can see, there is a lot of discussion in the newspaper, and on social media, having to do with our county government. The turbulence is a symptom of faith and trust lost by the voter and taxpayer on the Cook County commissioners, and administrator.
Some of you may be asking why this is being “aired” in the Cook County newspaper. The paper is the only place that one can fully share a point of view. The commissioners’ meeting format doesn’t allow for much public input.
At the regularly scheduled bi-monthly commissioners’ meetings, you’ll discover that the “open comment” period is the first agenda item following the acceptance of last meeting’s minutes. In the open comment period, each person who comes forward has five minutes at the podium. The commissioners will not engage with you in those five minutes, as advised by the county attorney.
Additionally, when were you invited by your district commissioner to a district meeting to get an update on issues the commissioners are considering for the county?
The county commissioner board decisions creating the “turbulence” are, in no meaningful order: the process to, and implementation of large county wage increases for the department heads (the issue is not with the individuals receiving the increases but with the process to give the large increases); county union contracts and how they were processed; how the soon to be, new county garage for Hovland came about; and the process for deciding to propose expansion of the county Law Enforcement Center from Class 1, to Class 3, or now to Class 2. The latest add to this list is that the county commissioners, administrator, and county attorney have begun to discuss discontinuing the recording of their meetings. These items together, along with a lack of transparency, have compromised the trust we as voters, and taxpayers, have in the board, and the processes utilized to make these decisions.
We really need to ask if these projects are NEEDED. Or, are they an item on someone’s “want list”? The cost of these projects, necessary or not, roll to the property owner. Affordable housing is already a concern in the county. As the tax burden grows, so grows the problem around the affordability of our housing. This holds true for the renter as well because next year, when it is time to sign a new rental agreement, your landlord will likely raise the rent to accommodate for the new, higher, tax burden on the rental property.
Somewhere I was counseled that one cannot complain, without also offering a suggestion. For instance, let’s consider using tax dollars for the “greater good,” to improve the quality of life for all residents of Cook county. The Arrowhead Regional Development Commission (ARDC) has identified affordable housing, quality daycare for our young families, and an eye on the needs of our growing seniors as needs for the region and therefore for Cook County. Several new homes have been built in Grand Marais, targeting the affordability issue. More is needed.
Help in getting additional daycare space available is also a good target for our county commissioners, and tax dollar utilization. But here is another idea: can some of our tax dollars be better utilized in the establishment of a fund to protect our waters? Like it or not, mining is no longer in question as new and additional mining comes to the region. Protection of our water resources, our water assets, is paramount. I think a proactive position would be wise.
I’d like to think we all want the best for Cook County. How we get to “the best” and what “the best” looks like is subjective. The “best” for you, might look different than the “best” for me. How to get to the best, and how quickly, may be different as well. The key to arriving at the “best” is transparency and a re-establishment of the lost trust. Until and unless transparency persists, the county commissioners and the associates will be part of the discussion in the public venues.
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