Miscellaneous Rant on Chicagoland Corruption

Posted byHoyManorPosted inUncategorizedTags:, , , , , , ,

Illinois Cook County Residents – is anyone following the sheriff race?

Apparently, the incumbent sheriff Tom Dart isn’t facing any serious opposition. He was. But not anymore. His significant rival, Carmen Navarro Gercone, was stricken from the Democratic ballot. The reason: “anyone running for sheriff must be a certified law enforcement officer”

Law enforcement creds for Navarro Gercone:

  1. Executive Clerk for the Circuit Court of Cook (managing 1000 out of the 1300 employees in the office of the Circuit Court)
  2. Graduate and current BOARD MEMBER of the FBI National Academy in Northern Illinois. Just in case it’s not clear, this is a certification of being a law enforcement officer.
  3. DEPUTY SHERIFF for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office
  4. SERGEANT at the sheriff’s office
  5. LIEUTENANT at the Sheriff’s Office
  6. ASSISTANT CHIEF at the sheriff’s office.

Law enforcement creds for Tom Dart prior to being elected Sheriff:

  1. LOL.
  2. LMAO.
  3. ROFL.
  4. He was a lawyer.
  5. He was a legislator.

“Cop” was not on his resume. We clearly have a problem here. Does anyone else smell what’s cooking?

Is Tom Dart’s administration corrupt? It’s difficult to be certain. There are a lot of Cook County residents wondering what happened to $182 million for labor costs during the pandemic, when the Sheriff’s office staff shrank, and the jail population had dipped significantly for at least 7 months of the pandemic. It’s not an accusation, it’s just a matter of curiosity. It doesn’t compute. This is not pocket change that fell into a couch cushion.

Who is serving us this heap of voter suppression with a little topping of voter disenchantment?

Who of the three officials in charge of this decision are to blame?

  1. No blame goes to Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Iris Martinez. She stood up for Cook County, our democracy, and for common sense by voting in favor of allowing Carmen Navarro Gercone on the ballot. Graduating from, and sitting on the Board of the FBI National Academy, as well as working in various capacities (some in uniform!) in the Cook County Sheriff’s office meet the legal criteria. As a voter, I appreciate the wise decision as well as the explanation her office provided. Transparency = Good. Fairness = Good. Consistency = Good.
  2. DEFINITELY blame State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. Foxx shot Navarro Gercone down. This is the same Kim Foxx who has let us down in a big way by failing to prosecute murderers and child rapists. All while running a witch hunt against cops (even the good ones) and throwing hundreds of millions of desperately needed tax dollars to murderers and their families. Corruption = Bad. Lawyers Who Don’t Understand Law = Bad. Elected politicians who ignore their constituency = Bad. Prosecutors who don’t prosecute = Bad.
  3. ABSOLUTELY blame Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough. A little bit corrupt? She’s certainly an expert at avoiding scrutiny and declining to comment or justify her decisions. On this issue, her office has predictably given no public comment, nor the statement that would traditionally accompany this type of decision. Secrecy = Bad. Lack of Accountability = Bad. Inability to Function Adequately at One’s Job = Bad.

Is the media to blame? As citizens, we essentially “vote” for media by deciding which sources receive our attention.

Fundamentally, we as voters are to blame. It is difficult to quantify a concept like “evil” but I can’t help but wonder – is the voter base itself a cesspool of dishonesty and depravity? (Clarification – this means YOU out there, odds are that if you are a resident of Cook County your status as an ethical human being is questionable. No offense, of course.)

Corruption as a concept is vague and perhaps difficult to align with. I can use some other concepts: transparency, equality, consistency. The best advice I can give is to pay attention to what is going on, listen, consider all sides of an issue, vote for legislators who prioritize equality, vote for judges who decide cases with consistency and fairness, and law enforcement officials who provide transparency and enforce the laws in an equal, consistent, and ethical fashion.

I’m not asking for a miracle (or maybe I am?). All I want is for people to act in a way that is representative of being a reasonable, functional human being with a brain. And that is unfortunately not happening right now.

Leave a comment