Push for budget that protects essential services at press conference and rally

An unprecedented alliance of labor and community leaders stood together this morning and urged the Cook County Board to reject the budget proposed by board president Todd Stroger. Leaders from health care, law enforcement, the religious community and the legal system joined unions representing frontline county workers to decry Stroger’s suggested cuts and massive layoffs that would decimate county health services, court system and public safety.

 “The working men and women who provide county services stand shoulder to shoulder with those who depend on their work,” said Dennis Gannon, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor. “Together we’re urging the commissioners to say no to these drastic cuts. Support a fair budget that protects county services and the jobs of the frontline workers who provide them.”

Gannon’s comments came at a news conference preceding the third of four public hearings on the county budget. He was joined by Chief Eugene Kraczewski of the Riverside Police Department, executive director Laura McAlpine of the Health and Medicine Policy Research Group, Reverend Tyrone Crider of Mt. CalvaryBaptist Church, trial lawyer and former assistant state’s attorney Martin Dolan, Stroger Hospital nurse Martese Chism and county juvenile probation officer Francisco Arenas.

Chief Kraczewski said steep cuts to the office of the county sheriff would jeopardize public safety in his suburban community. Rev. Crider spoke for a group of ministers that has opposed the Stroger cuts because they will disproportionately affect low-income residents who rely heavily on county services. And McAlpine and Chism addressed the dramatic reduction in health services and loss of hundreds of doctors, nurses and other health care workers that would result if Stroger’s budget is approved, forcing the closure of 16 community clinics and curtailing care at county hospitals.

Dolan spoke to the threat posed by the Stroger cuts to the county’s court system. “We who work in the justice system each day are deeply concerned about these cuts,” he said. “Eighty state’s attorneys and more than 40 public defenders may lose their jobs, plus investigators and support staff. The system will break down. Costs will rise, criminals will have the edge and taxpayers will lose.”

Juvenile probation officer Francisco Arenas painted an equally grim picture of potential repercussions for public safety. “The proposed budget would cut dozens of probation officers and support staff who are vitally important to the criminal justice system in Cook County,” Arenas said. “Let’s be clear about what cutting probation means: It means more crime, and it means more incarceration.”

Following the news conference, CFL president Gannon led a massive picket and rally of county employees who gathered on Daley Plaza, marching and chanting.

“We need real leadership from our county commissioners and board president,” Gannon said. “Don’t cut essential county services. Don’t lay off the men and women who make Cook County work. This budget proposal is a recipe for real pain felt by real people—the county residents who need services and the workers who provide them. We want a fair alternative that protects frontline workers, cuts management waste and raises enough revenue to fund essential services.”