Hospital board slights suburbs

COOK COUNTY | 6 Stroger picks from Chicago -- 1 lives in Naperville

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger says his nine choices to sit on a new county hospital board represent "the cultural, gender and racial diversity of our county."

But records show eight of the nine represent just three municipalities in Cook County, while another doesn't live in Cook County at all.

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A spokesman for County Board President Todd Stroger says he paid no attention to the hometown of his choices for the board.
(Richard A. Chapman/Sun-Times)

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Hometowns of the nominees

Six of Stroger's choices live in Chicago, while the others are from Evanston, Flossmoor and Naperville, in DuPage County. None is from the heavily populated northwest or southwest suburbs -- areas Stroger has been hammered by for perceived slights, and where there has been talk of breaking away from Cook County.

"Who's going to be the watchdog for suburban interests?" asked county Commissioner Liz Gorman (R-Orland Park), who regularly reminds her colleagues that her constituents pay more to fund county government than any other area.

"It's frustrating because this just lends credence to people talking about seceding."

Stroger's nine choices come from a list of 20 delivered to him by an independent panel. The system takeover plan was approved as part of the 2008 budget process and, this week, the County Board will screen those nine in a series of public hearings before voting on whether to approve them.

Stroger spokesman Gene Mullins said Stroger paid no attention to the hometowns of his choices, saying qualifications trump residency.

"It's about their talents, experiences and backgrounds," he said. "He didn't know where they were from, and he didn't care. He looked around the country at how hospital boards are chosen and knew we needed a diverse group based on their backgrounds, not their geography, and who represent all parts of life."

The nine choices -- Chicago residents Daniel Cantrell, Heather O'Donnell, Norman Bobins, Andrea Zopp, Barbara Hillman and Quin Golden, Flossmoor resident David Carvalho, Evanston's Benn Greenspan and Jorge Ramirez of Naperville -- have been both praised and criticized, with the criticism coming because most of the nine are tied to Democratic Party causes and labor unions.

Suburban Commissioners Tim Schneider and Gregg Goslin said they're more worried about those ties than where board members reside. Mullins said much of the criticism comes from groups hoping to control the board.