If ever there was a governmental body in need of a healthy dose of glasnost, it is the Cook County Board of Commissioners. Under the careful eye of board president George Dunne–who is also chair of the Cook County Democratic Party–county government has been a closed shop for the past 20 years, serving primarily as a patronage instrument for party loyalists.
A few liberal organizations have endorsed Phelan, but several others are staying neutral. Phelan won the endorsement of the Illinois Public Action Council (IPAC), a statewide consumer advocacy group. The Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization (IVI-IPO)–which chair Jerry Meites proudly describes as “the only white organization to support Harold Washington from day one”–might seem to be fertile ground for Pincham, but the organization has decided to make no endorsement.
Orr seems likely to get elected to the little-noticed clerk’s post, where he would run suburban elections and voter registration and take charge of county record-keeping. (The county will surely have a journal again under Orr, who calls the clerk’s office “a reformer’s dream.”) A lot of people think he could have got elected board president, too, if Pincham could have been persuaded to stay out of the race.
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Orr, a former history professor, has been a steady supporter of progressive causes in the City Council since first taking office in 1979. His legislative accomplishments–including a campaign ethics bill, a tenants’ rights ordinance, and the designation of Chicago as a nuclear-free zone–have earned him wide public attention, occasional praise from editorialists, and frequent brickbats from a number of his colleagues, many of whom cannot stomach his squeaky-clean approach to city government.
According to conventional wisdom, an ultraliberal like Orr would show up only as an asterisk in a countywide race. Orr running for County Board president in 1990 would look a lot like Larry Bloom running for mayor in 1989: a nice guy with decent ideas, a narrow, quiche-eating electoral base–and no chance of winning.
Dunne also faced a challenge from within regular Democratic ranks by Stanley Kusper, who announced his candidacy for board president in mid-November. There is a long history of conflict between Kusper and Dunne, in part because Kusper has been angling for the top county job ever since he became county clerk in 1973.
In order to avoid the danger of too many independent challenges, party leaders at the Bismarck attempted to create a balanced slate that would appeal to all factions of the party, but they were unsuccessful. There was some discussion, for example, of slating black reformer Danny Davis for county clerk. Dunne is reported to have favored the move, but was unable to muster support for it. Because the county clerk has responsibility for administering elections in suburban townships, suburban committeemen insisted that someone from their own ranks be slated for this pivotal position. The eventual choice was state rep Cal Sutker from Skokie.
