First reported 8/3/2009 1:34 p.m.
Former District 97 school board member Ade Onayemi is looking to replace incumbent Commissioner Earlean Collins on the Cook County board next year.
Onayemi confirmed to Wednesday Journal over the weekend his intention to challenge Collins for the 1st District commissioner's seat. A formal public announcement is scheduled in the next couple of weeks. The 1st District includes Oak Park and the West Side of Chicago
"I've been observing the district's activity for quite a while, and I've felt that there's been a disconnect between the current commissioner and the people in the district," he said.
The Nigerian-born, Oak Park resident said he was approached by people in the district over the last six months about running. He's promising to bring transparency to the board and is calling for trimming the county's bureaucracy. Onayemi said he started attending the board's meetings while considering a run. The tipping point on his decision was the board's action to increase the county sales tax by one cent. He noted that last year's penny-on-the-dollar increase, proposed by Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, socked voters with the highest sales tax in the nation.
Onayemi, who is 53, said raising a regressive tax at a time when the economy is struggling is a bad move. He maintains Collins and other commissioners should have alerted voters about the increase earlier instead of springing it on them.
"There were no forums, no invitations to attend meetings. It was something the district really didn't know about," Onayemi said.
In May, commissioners voted to pull back on the one-cent hike, slashing it in half. Stroger vetoed the repeal. Collins, who voted for the original increase, voted present on the repeal. Her decision, or lack thereof, helped Onayemi decide.
"After that vote, she said to voters that if they didn't like her decision, to vote her out. I thought, maybe it's time to do that," he said.
Onayemi was also critical of Stroger, insisting that the county's already corrupt patronage system has gotten worse during his tenure. He wants to eliminate the patronage system and trim the county's bloated budget and is calling for an audit of the entire system. But Onayemi insisted cuts should not be made to needed services, such as health funding.
"You shouldn't be cutting for the sake of cutting. If you cut services that are central, what usually happens is that you will have to replenish those cuts. So if services need to be kept, then you need to find revenue elsewhere, he said, emphasizing again his desire for transparency.
"If we're going to simplify it, we have to talk about transparency and accountability in the budget process," he added. "You must have faith in your government because if the people don't have faith that their elected officials will do the right thing, they're not going to be very supportive in your efforts."
Onayemi said he supports tax reform in the state. The former two-term Dist. 97 board member also wants more funding for education, in particular for early childhood education.
Among his other goals as commissioner is establishing more neighborhood health centers and encouraging residents to seek them out for their primary care instead of going to a hospital emergency room.
He also talked of decreasing the high recidivism rate, particularly for nonviolent offenders, in the Cook County jail system, arguing that doing so will help the county's finances in the long run. He's called for looking into sentencing guidelines for nonviolent offenders while offering drug treatment, counseling and education.
Concerning Chicago's West Side, Onayemi, an architect by trade, said he wants to bring manufacturing back to that area. To do that, he promised to work with local municipalities to direct funds to lure businesses back. Onayemi's firm, Urban Resource Inc., relocated from Oak Park to Austin in 2004, shortly after he left the Dist. 97 board. Onayemi moved his business to the area, he said, to help create development in the community. He still lives in Oak Park with his wife, Kathy. They have two adult children - son Justine and daughter Christine.
Onayemi promised to be an independent voice on the Cook County board and to connect more with voters.
"I intend to be a progressive commissioner," he said. "I want to be able to listen and engage, and I think that will be beneficial to the county and the community itself."
CONTACT: tdean@wjinc.com
