Cook County Board President Todd Stroger signs Transparency in Government Pledge

Chicago, June 1 – Todd Stroger made Cook County political history today when he stepped up to the plate and became the highest ranking county official to sign the Transparency in Government Pledge. The pledge is part of the Open Illinois project of the Illinois Policy Institute and the government transparency website Sunshine Review (www.sunshinereview.org), a project of the Sam Adams Alliance.

“We commend President Stroger for signing the Transparency in Government Pledge,” said John Tsarpalas, Sam Adams Alliance President. “Open and honest government is the ‘responsibility’ of all elected officials, and any effort to engage in transparency is a step in the right direction.”

The Sam Adams Alliance received a letter from Mr. Stroger’s office that contained a signed pledge with a witness signature from the president. The form was dated May 26, 2009, and did contain two inserted words. Responsible, was added in front of the words efforts to implement, referring to “greater transparency” and “comprehensive transparency program.”

“I contacted Mr. Stroger’s office on the 15 of May to discuss the need for open and honest government in Cook County and to ask him to sign the pledge,” said Paul Miller, Communications Director for the Sam Adams Alliance. “I wasn’t able to get through to him, but an aide, Dawn Austin, asked me to send her the pledge and she would present it to Mr. Stroger.”

President Stroger included a personal letter with his pledge that indicated his pride in the current level openness in Cook County government:

I have reviewed the Sunshine Review Ten-Point Transparency Checklist and I am proud Cook County discloses a wealth of information on our website.

A significant initiative was the redesign of the county’s website which now provides access to much of the information suggested for county websites by the Sunshine Review. As the website continues to evolve, additional information contained in the Checklist will be made accessible.

“The Sunshine Review community will continue to watch Cook County and every county website in the country and report on their level of transparency,” said Miller. “We look forward to Mr. Stroger following through on his pledge to meet the criteria for all ten points of the transparency checklist.”