Stroger Decides Not To Attend Forum After Reports Show Opponents Used the Same Volunteers
by Lesley R. Chinn
A controversy alleging a conspiracy to oust Cook County Board President Todd Stroger prompted the incumbent not to appear at a candidates forum on the Northside.
The alleged conspiracy involves Strogers opponent s in the race for Cook County Board President including Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown and Terrence OBrien, president of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. A Chicago-Sun-times investigation showed Brown and OBrien used the same campaign volunteers to circulate petitions.
After Stroger failed to appear at a forum for Cook County Board primary candidates, his campaign released a statement on Monday morning. The campaign stated that due to the strong nature of the allegations now detailed on the front page of the Chicago Sun-Times, it was then decided that the President not attend the 43rd Ward forum Vincent Williams, Strogers campaign manager, also noted that the President attended another candidates forum last Saturday in Oak Park.
The petitions showed 10 out of OBriens 2,000-plus petitions resembled the ones Brown submitted, according to a Sun- Times investigation. Nearly 200 voters signed 10 petitions for OBrien in the same order they signed for Browns petitions. Three people circulated 10 petitions. Two notaries stamped more than 200 petitions for OBrien and more than 75 for Brown.
The Sun-Times also discovered that two longtime Democratic supporters-Sam Morabito and Teresa Navarro-reportedly notarized petitions circulated by 25 people for OBrien or Brown. Morabito notarized 150 petitions for OBrien and 42 for Brown. Morabito is an assistant chief operating engineer for the citys aviation department while Navarro landed a city job with the assistance of the 33rd Ward Regular Democratic Organization, according to reports.
Another petition circulator, Jeremy Dean, who identified himself as a stand-up comedian, gathered 80 signatures for Brown and 45 from OBrien. Sam Butcher, a Northwest side resident, gathered 60 signatures for OBrien and Brown.
Andrew J. Tolbert, another Northwest side resident, gathered 280 signatures for Brown and 45 for OBrien. Nearly a majority of all the voters who signed OBriens petitions also signed Brown, which includes Tolbert, who signed his own name on three-once for OBrien and twice for Brown, the Sun-times investigation uncovered. In response, the Brown campaign said in a released statement that they did not, authorize anyone to circulate petitions for any other candidate, and that Dorothy Brown is not working with Terry OBrien. Calls to OBriens campaign office however, went unreturned.
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