Cook County Blog

Ex-alderman Robert Shaw throws hat in for Cook County assessor (Sun Times)

One of Chicago's most controversial and entertaining former aldermen, Bob Shaw, said Thursday that at age 71 he is ready to jump back into the limelight.

Shaw, who served 20 years as an alderman and eight years on the County Board of Review before being voted out of office five years ago, is running for Cook County assessor.

Ironically, Shaw's opponent is his former ally Joe Berrios. For eight years, Shaw and Berrios were the two Democrats on the three-member Cook County Board of Review.

They voted, in many cases, to lower the tax assessments on properties that Assessor Jim Houlihan had set. Now that Houlihan is retiring, both men are seeking the job setting the assessments at the front end.

And both men are taking shots at each other:

"The big hot-shot lawyers are the ones who got the tax breaks," Shaw said of Berrios' approach on the Board of Review.

Asked if he didn't sign off on all those tax breaks for hot-shot lawyers as Berrios' ally on the board, Shaw said, "I did not sign off on every tax break."

In fact, the record shows that sometimes Shaw did dissent from the decisions of Berrios and the board's late Republican commissioner Maureen Murphy, to lower the tax rates for big downtown properties represented by clouted law firms, such as those of Illinois Democratic Party Chairman Mike Madigan and Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th).

This corruption is out in the open, yet...what consequences to they face for having done this? Republicans and democrats are at fault here.

But in most cases, Shaw and Berrios voted together.

"When he makes comments about lawyers donating money, he might want to look at his old D-2s [campaign contribution disclosure statements] because when he was at the board and had his fund-raisers, the people contributing to him are the same people he's beating up right now," Berrios said.

Shaw also took a shot at Berrios over his role as a successful lobbyist for the video poker industry, convincing Madigan and other Springfield legislators to pass a massive expansion on gaming in Illinois in this most recent session.

"My opponent, we call him the 'Video King,' the 'Poker King.' What I'm asking him today, because of his run for this office, is to withdraw and resign immediately as a lobbyist for the video people of Illinois," Shaw said.

Berrios defended his advocacy for video gaming by noting the tax money the state will bring in will help pay for roads and create jobs. He said he was only one of five lobbyists the industry hired to get the bill passed.

Shaw noted the Cook County state's attorney's office is investigating whether Berrios improperly lowered the tax rates for some businesses represented by a former Berrios aide and state Rep. Paul Froelich.

"Where there's smoke, there's fire," Shaw said.

Berrios said he is confident the investigation will show he did nothing improper.

So Berrios is running while under investigation for having lowered the tax rates for cronies on downtown properties. This should be highlighted; but who is investigating him - one of the Madigans?

Shaw faces a daunting task going up against Berrios, who is chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party and has a $3 million war chest. Berrios' fellow committeemen just endorsed him over Shaw this month.

You can see why they would endorse him; he's a part of Chicago politics as usual; they'll get their paybacks soon enough.

Poking fun at the way the lights went out in his conference room at the South Loop Hotel just as he was about to launch his campaign -- they were ought for about 16 minutes -- Shaw said he brought light and transparency to the Board of Review, pushing to have meetings in the neighborhood educating homeowners about their rights to appeal their tax assessments.

I wonder if he has ties to ACORN. And indication of that is 'educating homeowners about their rights to appeal their tax assessments' - and this:

Shaw was quotable enough to make the news often, pouring rhetorical gasoline on racial arguments in the Council.

"A white should not be mayor. When they were mayor, they did not treat blacks and other minorities fairly. They don't know how to be fair," Shaw told the Chicago Defender in 1988.

I suppose "fairness" to this guy means black folks don't have to pay the same as everyone else. There is an unending entitlement mentality here based on race, and it is shamefully ACORN-esque.

Most of the Democrat candidates for Cook County positions have been given money by ACORN/SEIU:

For countywide office, the Democratic Party slated: Joseph Berrios, Assessor; David Orr ($24,500), County Clerk; Tom Dart ($57,338), Sheriff, and Maria Pappas, Treasurer. For the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District the party slated Michael Alvarez, Barbara McGowan ($500) and Mariyanna Spyropolous.

But this is also happening on the Republican side; it's both sides that are getting funding from ACORN, the SEIU and AFSCME.

The tax assessments issue has been going on for a long time and is something my great grandfather fought against back in the 1920's. The powers that be didn't appreciate it very much, so they went after him. There needs to be some fairness brought to the Cook County system - but it won't happen under either one of these clowns.