Cook Co. Commissioner Quigley voice of independents
He has targeted sacred cows of Daley, both Strogers
So how did an aldermanic aide on the Ed Vrdolyak side of the Harold Washington/ "Vrdolyak 29" divide end up as the voice of independence on the Cook County Board?
Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley said he went to about 300 community meetings in his district over the years and began to see things from the little guy's perspective. His nights on the hockey rink conditioned him not to fear being checked over and over again.
(Al Podgorski/Sun-Times)
Intended "signature" issues: Transparency, accountability
Issue on which he disagrees with Rahm Emanuel: Partisanship
Favorite restaurant: Wrigley Field. "Humphrey Bogart once said: 'A hot dog at the ball park is better than a steak at the Ritz' -- it's the atmosphere. Wrigley may have the worst food in baseball, but being there at a game with a beer and a hot dog -- that's the best."
First car: '66 Ford Mustang
Last book read: American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley -- His Battle for Chicago and the Nation
Last good movie: "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
Favorite TV show: "The Simpsons"
Favorite comedian: Jackie Gleason
What do you listen to in your car? WBEZ
What dish do you cook best? Chili
Best vacation: "The Democratic convention in Denver. I got to watch my daughters work the convention, yelling at people to get out of the aisles."
Best childhood memory: Watching his father try to make the best of a birthday when he couldn't afford to buy Quigley a present because he was on strike from his job with the phone company.
Is that why he so rarely smiles?
"Everybody tells me to smile more," said Quigley, who's among the crowded Democratic field seeking to replace White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel in Congress, representing the Northwest Side's 5th District. "I'm concentrating. I'm thinking about stuff. If I smiled and did nothing, would they feel better?"
Unusual among elected officials in Cook County, Quigley has spoken out against some of the sacred cows of Mayor Daley and County Board Presidents John and Todd Stroger, including "blighted" special-tax districts for a booming downtown that divert tax money from schools and the common practice of finding jobs for Democratic officials with the Cook County Forest Preserve District.
Quigley has spoken out about things that commissioners before him rarely spoke out about. Other independents, including Forrest Claypool, were elected to join Quigley on the Cook County Board, and together they cobbled together an unprecedented majority of votes to block John Stroger's proposed tax increases and force other changes.
For years, Quigley was the strongest voice on the Cook County Board for gay rights, abortion rights, environmentalism and protecting the forest preserves.
"Mike has displayed the courage and independence that few politicians are capable of," Claypool said. "He had the guts to take on the Machine and business as usual 10 years ago when he got to the County Board -- that's the kind of leadership voters should want in their elected representative in Washington."
But Quigley lost some of his credibility as an independent when he voted for Todd Stroger's first budget.
The bottom line, Quigley said, was that Stroger's a Democrat.
Quigley said that budget, which did not raise taxes, was better than the alternative.
Quigley's rivals are already trying to paint him as a Stroger ally, though he has since split with him.