Cook County Board, 17th District
Two disappointing candidates.
Republican incumbent Sean M. Morrison of Palos Park is out of touch with the needs of the working class when it comes to wage issues and paid sick days. In Chicago alone in an average year, the pay of some 460,000 private-sector employees was being docked when they called in sick until the City Council in 2016 required that all employers provide a minimum number of paid sick days.
But Morrison’s Democratic challenger, Abdelnasser Rashid, who lives in southwest suburban Justice, doesn’t seem to grasp just how pinched taxpayers are feeling because of tax increases in recent years. We asked for his thoughts on the $165 million in revenue lost over three years by the Cook County health system — money lost because of clerical errors and lax procedures. He acknowledged there is room for improvement but brushed off the loss as “somewhat comparable to other systems of this size.”
How does that sit with you, taxpayers?
That leaves us looking at the balance of power on the County Board, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 13-4. A little more balance couldn’t hurt, each side serving as a check on the other.
Our pick is Morrison. We’re counting on him to continue scrutinizing taxation and spending, as he did when he opposed Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s ill-conceived and since repealed soda tax.