Chicago Sun-Times Editorial -Time for Todd Stroger to answer key questions

Chicago Sun-Times Editorial -Time for Todd Stroger to answer key questions
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times
April 21, 2009
http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1536277,CST-EDT-edit21a.article

See Chicago Tonight Carol Marin's interview: http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=42,8,1&vid=042009b

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger must understand one key fact:

Getting rid of his chief financial officer, his first cousin Donna Dunnings, won't make the scandal involving her and her former employee, Tony Cole, go away.

Stroger blames his political foes for his problems, but he has been less than forthright on the scandal.

All his wounds have been self- inflicted, with each new development in the scandal making Stroger only look worse and calling his judgment into question even more.

As you may recall, Tony Cole is the former University of Georgia basketball player who has a history of allegations against him for brutalizing women. He also pleaded guilty to writing bad checks.

Stroger, though, liked what he saw when he met Cole, a restaurant busboy, and decided to hire him for a county job -- as an administrative assistant to Dunnings. Stroger said he knew something about Cole's troubled background in Georgia, but not the entire story.

After he started his county job, Cole got in trouble repeatedly, getting thrown in jail twice for allegedly violating an order of protection against an ex-girlfriend.

Each time, his boss, Dunnings, bailed him out.

After the last time he was bailed out, Cole didn't get fired -- he got a promotion at his county job.

Stroger has tried to get ahead of the scandal, first by firing Cole when the Sun-Times questioned county officials about his background, then by forcing Dunnings out as the Sun-Times was preparing a story detailing how she bailed Cole out.

Last night, Stroger acknowledged for the first time in an interview with Carol Marin on WTTW-Channel 11's "Chicago Tonight" program a few troubling facts.

Stroger said he knew about one of Cole's two arrests as a county employee, although Stroger wasn't clear on which one.

He knew that Dunnings bailed out Cole in one instance, but said he did not know about the other.

And he knew that, despite all that, Cole got promoted.

Stroger acknowledged that another of his top lieutenants, Eugene Mullins, accompanied Dunnings to bail Cole out of jail -- confirming a fact first reported by Chicago Sun-Times reporter Mark Konkol on the newspaper's Web site Monday night.

Despite his recent interview, Stroger still must answer seven key questions:

1. President Stroger, you said you were aware of at least one of Cole's arrests in Georgia and another one here in Chicago. You also knew Cole got a promotion. Given those facts, how could he get promoted on your watch?

2. You denied that Cole called you to have you bail him out -- as Cole told the Sun-Times. Why then did Dunnings and Mullins go to bail him out?

3. Please explain why Cole received such special consideration from high-ranking county officials.

4. You said in your "Chicago Tonight" interview that Dunnings did nothing wrong. But she loaned Cole, her subordinate, thousands of dollars in bail money. Does this show good judgment? Did you ask her why she bailed Cole out?

5. You also said Dunnings had no obligation to tell you about bailing out Cole a second time, because the arrest happened in his personal life. Don't his two arrests affect his ability to do his job?

6. You said you didn't learn about the extent of Cole's troubled background until roughly two weeks ago, just before you fired him. Given your knowledge of Cole's background in Georgia, why didn't you ensure a background check was done before you hired him? Why didn't you demand a background check when you learned of his arrest in Chicago, several months ago?

7. Were you concerned for the safety of other county employees each time the county allowed Cole to return to work?

In all this, we want to make one thing clear: This isn't about personalities. This is about managerial competence and the public trust.

Stroger can start answering these questions to prove to taxpayers that he's the man to lead the county.

Or he can start looking for another job.