Secession Watch: Cook County Board President Todd Stroger to skip meeting with Palatine

The Chicago Tribune reports on Obama's Crook County:

Citing "political grandstanding by village council members," Cook County Board President Todd Stroger said Tuesday that he would not attend a scheduled meeting in Palatine on Wednesday night to discuss taxes and county services.

The session was expected to touch on a volatile topic among some northwest suburban communities: whether to secede from Cook County, a move some officials favor because of the county's recent sales tax increase.

Stroger was upset about the format of the session—a special Village Board meeting, which Palatine officials said was necessary under the state's Open Meetings Act.

"It became apparent the format was manipulated such that the forum would no longer be community based," Stroger said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. "This change in format diminishes the ability of the community to voice their concerns and instead allows for political grandstanding by village council members."

Despite Stroger's last-minute decision not to come, the meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the Wojcik Conference Center of Harper College, said Palatine council member Scott Lamerand.

"I'm not sure how we're grandstanding," Lamerand said. "I think it's us asking questions and looking at ways we can work together to control costs. To ask for a dialogue with President Stroger, I think, was completely appropriate. I don't think canceling the day before is."

State Sen. Matt Murphy (R-Palatine), who supports the secession of seven townships in northwest Cook County, also criticized Stroger's last-minute cancellation.

"It's another disappointing lack of respect by Todd Stroger for the northwest suburbs," Murphy said.