Carving another county out of Cook

WHEN Jim Thompson made his first downstate swing as a candidate for governor, he faced the inevitable question from one of the downstate political writers: "How is your campaign going in Lincoln County?" That question — with variations — has been separating the downstate men from the Cook County boys through most of Illinois history because, as every statewide candidate learns (sooner or later), there is no county in Illinois named after Abraham Lincoln.

But that time-honored lesson is in jeopardy because a segment of Cook County is making a strong effort to secede from the Chicago axis to form a new county. The name they've selected is "Lincoln County." And, whether the secession works or not, the underlying motives have major political implications.

To set the scene: Cook County is the state's biggest. It consists of the city of Chicago and 30 townships outside the city limits. Normally the city is Democratic, the suburbs vote Republican. But, except in unusual circumstances, the county winds up Democratic because Chicago has the bulk of the population.

The president of the Cook County Board is elected countywide, but with the notable exception of Richard B. Ogilvie (a Republican later elected governor) the Democratic party has dominated the office. Despite this political inequality, however, there was relatively little discontent even in the suburbs because most of the 30 townships were themselves dominated by their local communities.

Times have changed, however. There has been a flight to the suburbs and one-time cornfields are now shopping centers, industrial complexes and suburban communities. The most dramatic of the changes are in the northwest suburbs — and this is where the agitation centers on creation of a new county. One spokesman is Republican state Sen. David Regner of Arlington Heights.

Question: What is involved in the Lincoln County concept?

Regner: We're talking about the six northwest townships: Schaumberg, Hanover Park, Barrington, Elk Grove, Palatine and Wheeling townships. If Lincoln County were to become a reality, it would be the third largest county in the state. The only ones larger would be Cook County as it exists today and DuPage County.

Q: Why are you thinking of a separate county?

A: Over the years, people out here have felt unrepresented. We can vote 70 per cent for a candidate, but normally he doesn't win. And the winner, they feel, doesn't represent them at all. The same is true of taxes — we pay the taxes but we don't feel we get our fair share.

Q: But how do you untangle the legal problems? If you were to secede from Cook County, how would you finance the change? There must be all kinds of present and future indebtedness to figure out?

A: The interesting fact is that should an area disconnect from an existing county, the. way it is calculated as to "who owes what" is on the basis of population— the number of people belonging to that area. We'd have about 10 per cent of the population or thereabouts, and that would be applied to the finances of the county. Our assessed value is high; our population is low; so Cook County would wind up owing us money.

Q: Has this ever happened? Has an area ever seceded from a county?

A: Not successfully. The most recent case was in Los Angeles County. Our problem is very difficult. You can hold referenda with as little as 5 per cent of
the voters on some matters, but the present statute on withdrawing from existing counties requires a petition signed by a majority of all registered voters. We think we could meet that problem because the enthusiasm is very high. But we have another hurdle: To be successful would require a majority of all persons voting in that election. As we know, many persons don't even take a ballot on such matters, and every nonvoter would be counted as a no vote.

Q: Where did the idea come from?

A: About six years ago a group of us were studying election returns and found that Bob Hanrahan [ Republican] carried the suburban area 3 to 1 for school superintendent, but lost to [Richard] Martwick because of the city vote even though he has no say whatsoever over Chicago schools, but does over suburban schools. Somebody mentioned the idea of a new county — and the idea took hold.

Regner introduced two bills in the last session of the General Assembly to make it possible to create Lincoln County, but both lost on party lines. He'll try again next year, he says, on grounds that only a change in state law would produce any chance of ground rules under which they could win.

Despite the odds, its backers are serious. At first, the rest of the county — and most politicians — gave it little attention, but that's changing. George Dunne, the new Democratic county chairman, is also president of the Cook County Board and he comes up for reelection in 1978. He's not unmindful of the embryonic revolt. Other county officials are setting up branch offices in suburbia as part of the decentralizing process. But that's not just streamlining government; it's politics at work trying to make sure Lincoln County remains only a symbolic test for would-be candidates for statewide office. 

34 / September 1977 / Illinois Issues