On Thursday evening, I spoke before the Bremen Township Republican organization. It was an opportunity to debate my opponent incumbent Board of Review commissioner Dan Patlak face to face.  

That is why I didn’t waste any time on Thursday and called Mr. Patlak out on what I passionately believe has been a troubling ethical pattern of shaking down attorneys and law firms who appear before him at the Cook County Board of Review for campaign contributions.

 

In the current campaign cycle, Mr. Patlak has raised $161,375 over three quarters. About $136,950 or 90.20% of his total donations came from the very property tax attorneys who appear before him attempting to get a reduced property assessment for their clients.

 

As candidate Dan Patlak, he claimed a principled conservative mantle. That he would be above special interests and pay-to-play politics. That is why I contributed to his general election campaign in 2010, hoping that he would do what he promised. But aggressively soliciting property tax attorneys in record amounts is not what a principled conservative would do. It is pay-to-play politics 101.

 

If you run as a principled conservative, that means you are supposed to be different. It doesn’t mean that you can revert to exactly what the Democrats have been doing for decades. It doesn’t mean you can operate the same way – or worse.

 

I thought the Bremen Township Republican organization and leadership was outstanding. However, we only had time for one question from the audience and it happened to be a staffer for Dan Patlak’s campaign. I took up the challenge and answered the question posed by Dan Patlak’s staffer and – in so doing – laid down a gauntlet of my own.

 

The question was: Would I ever accept any contributions from attorneys if I were elected Commissioner of the Board of Review? And I repeated firmly my answer: I would NEVER shake down attorneys that appear before me for contributions.

 

I also took it one step further: I challenged Commissioner Patlak to limit contributions from real estate and tax attorneys to $250 and to refund contributions in excess of that amount. A $250 limit protect the freedom of attorneys to give campaign contributions but also protects the residents of Cook County and limits pay-to-play politics and political favoritism. You can’t rig the system with $250 and, if I were to be elected Commissioner of the Cook County Board of Review, I would work to make this practice the norm, not the exception. I would stand by this limit and have my employees sign tougher ethical requirements than are currently on Cook County’s books.

 

Mr. Patlak attempted to avoid the challenge and questioned me about a small $25 fundraiser I held in October with friends and supporters. I misunderstood his accusation believing that he meant that I listed $5,000 sponsorship solicitations on my invites. I absolutely do not.

 

All we asked for were $25 but would take more to defray the cost of that night’s event. I am not opposed to a friend or neighbor giving a candidate $5000 if they feel a candidate will be an advocate for good governance.

 

On Thursday, I also had the opportunity to explain one of my areas of expertise: technology. For decades, this has been a problem at the Cook County Board of Review. With today’s available technology, there is just no reason not to implement inexpensive virtual technologies that would enable people to upload their documents, Skype or telephone into their hearings, and save the taxpayers hundreds of thousands – and eventually millions – of dollars.

 

My program would mirror the use of teleconferencing that has been the norm at unemployment hearings before the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The Illinois Department of Employment Security has primarily conducted hearings via telephone for the last eighteen years. Why not the Cook County Board of Review?

 

 I was very happy to have had the opportunity to directly present myself and the facts to the Bremen Township Republican organization and I look forward to the opportunity to do so again in the future. After meeting so many wonderful people in the crowd, it was clear it is an organization that cares and is committed to real reform in Cook County.

 

A huge thank you to everyone involved in putting on such an outstanding event!

 

Sean M. Morrison

Candidate, Cook County Board of Review, First District