Tribune Editorial Board endorses Toni Preckwinkle for Democratic primary for Cook County board president

Toni Preckwinkle is tough. At 75 years old, she’s likely running for her final term as president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, an office she has held since 2010 when the former five-term alderman was elected as the first Black woman to run the county in which some 40% of Illinoisans reside.

But if she has decided that for herself, she wasn’t letting on at our endorsement meeting. Her brow was firm, her body ramrod straight, her teeth gritted and her determination palpable.

That was no surprise. Few politicians are as hardworking or as disciplined when it comes to messaging as Preckwinkle.

Cook County, it’s worth noting, has a population larger than more than half the states in the country. Its areas of jurisdiction (among others) include policing, corrections (the Cook County Jail is one of the most famous detention centers in the land), transportation, infrastructure, a circuit court, a forest preserve and, as we all have come to know, public health. In unincorporated areas, which account for 15% of its 946 square miles, its role is especially crucial.

With more than 800 governmental units within its boundaries, it’s a vast, ungainly and crucial component in more than 5 million lives, governing growth and death alike. And it takes a formidable chief executive to run.

There are flashier pols around but Preckwinkle has been a steady hand on the Cook County tiller. We’ve been impressed with how she has managed a budget that has grown to $8 billion mostly without the recent need for new taxes, fines, fees or tax increases.

She’s avoided budget holes and her fiscal management has been so impressive, we’ve often suggested other Illinois political leaders borrow a page from her playbook. Specifically, we’ve been impressed that she was cautious in how she apportioned the $1 billion in federal cash that arrived on her doorstep, courtesy of President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan. Despite all the pressure from her political left, she has chosen to divide the money over three years’ worth of budgets, making some savvy investments in things that matter, such as violence prevention and mental health services.

She also has worked on reducing the familiar public sector pension crisis, with the Cook County fund now 64% fully funded, including an additional $325 million pension payment to be made this year. By Illinois standards, that’s impressive.

COVID-19 also landed hard at Preckwinkle’s door, of course, and she quickly figured out that she had to go to door to door in some communities to achieve reasonable vaccination rates. And while her success was far from perfect, it was impressively focused and undoubtedly saved Cook County lives. Here, as in many other areas, we’ve been impressed that Preckwinkle knows how to hire top-level fiscal and policy managers who work hard for the public good and who, when we’ve talked to them, have revealed an impressive command of the salient issues.

At our endorsement meeting, Preckwinkle’s opponent, former Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin dinged his rival for her support of the notorious soda tax, ancient fizz at this juncture. More to the point, Boykin criticized the incumbent for her pandering toward defund-the-police activists, especially in the summer of 2020 following the murder of George Floyd. That’s a fair criticism and we heard Boykin’s commitment to improved support for law enforcement at the Cook County level. Preckwinkle should listen too.

Boykin has other good ideas when it comes to working on what inarguably is Cook County’s most disturbing and destructive problem, the number of violent deaths that take place within its borders almost, it feels, on a daily basis. He pointed out the relationship between Preckwinkle, who ran for mayor of Chicago herself, and the winner of that contest, Lori Lightfoot, remains visibly strained, when cooperation between these two governmental entities is as crucial as cooperation between Cook County and Springfield. Not even 50% of that Lightfoot chilliness can be laid at Preckwinkle’s door, but the need to work together remains, nonetheless, and Preckwinkle made a commitment to us that it would be a top priority for her new administration.

Boykin, who struck us a genial public servant and a thoughtful candidate, also is correct when he pointed out that many Cook County residents suffer the pain of one of the highest rates of sales tax in the nation, with the county taking 1.75% as part of a total that adds up to more than 10% in many cities, including Chicago. As inflation eats away at household budgets, many of which also struggle with astronomical property tax bills, that taxing rate likely will come under increased pressure. And we remind Preckwinkle that just because a tax has risen over the years, that does not prevent it from coming down, especially a tax as regressive as sales tax. Allowing people to keep more of their money should always be in her suite of options.

Preckwinkle left us with the sense that, for the remainder of her political career, she will focus on the stewardship of Cook County. Our view is that her record in that role, especially during the recent time of crisis, means that she deserves the support of Democratic primary voters. Boykin is certainly a credible candidate, and one fully capable of sparking some healthy debate. But Preckwinkle is the candidate with the record of fiscal stability, reasoned reform and, not least, a reputation for ethical, competent management.

Join the discussion on Twitter @chitribopinions and on Facebook.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.