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| Ethics board fines Cook County assessor $41,000 over political donations from lawyers |
| 2018-01-11 |
| [ChicagoTribune] Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios is facing $41,000 in fines for failing to return campaign contributions from property tax appeals lawyers whose donations exceeded legal limits, according to a pair of new rulings by the county ethics board. The rulings raise the level of scrutiny on campaign contributions given by appeals lawyers to Berrios, who doubles as chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party and depends heavily on their donations in raising political funds. The action also ignites another high-profile showdown with the county Board of Ethics, with which he previously clashed over nepotism issues. At the center of the ethics board’s rulings is a 2016 county ordinance stating that donors who seek “official action” with the county may contribute no more than $750 in nonelection years. Attorneys for Berrios are seeking to overturn the rulings, arguing that the county limits are unconstitutional and that higher limits set by state law should apply, among other objections. The fines add to the controversy surrounding Berrios, who is heading into a March primary as he bids for a third four-year term as assessor. Berrios has been under fire for inaccurate assessments that favor the wealthy over the poor since the Tribune published “The Tax Divide,” an investigation launched in June and continued in December in collaboration with ProPublica Illinois. Federal court monitors also have criticized Berrios for being too slow to erase politics from hiring and other employment decisions as required under the anti-patronage Shakman decree. In rulings released late Monday, the ethics board listed 30 examples of property tax attorneys or firms whose donations to Berrios’ main political fund in late 2016 or early 2017 exceeded the $750 limit. It fined Berrios and the Committee to Elect Joseph Berrios Cook County Assessor $1,000 for each violation, for a total of $30,000. The $1,000 fine per violation is the maximum allowed. An additional $11,000 in fines were imposed on Berrios and his 31st Ward Democratic Organization, the source of his main power base. The ethics board said the 41 donations to Berrios’ political funds exceeded the limit by a total of $62,250 — an excess of $52,200 for the assessor’s election fund and $10,050 for the 31st Ward fund. |
| Posted by:Bright Pebbles |
| #3 Berrios is also the chair of the Cook County Democratic Party. |
| Posted by: Zenobia Hupoluque6543 2018-01-11 08:22 |
| #2 That is what you get for playing without paying the political bosses. |
| Posted by: T. Panda2560 2018-01-11 02:10 |
| #1 Cook County has an ethics board? With ethics? |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2018-01-11 00:37 |