COOK COUNTY POLITICS AT ITS BEST - County Board Proposes Boycott of AZ Immigration Law, Then Awards Major Contract to AZ Firm!
SEEMINGLY-HYPOCRITICAL ACTION CASTS DOUBT ON EFFECTIVENESS OF COUNTY BOYCOTT MOVE!
The new Arizona Immigration Law, which gives AZ Police, in certain situations, the authority to question, check identity documents, and detain those officers may consider "illegal aliens" has drawn harsh criticism from across the country.
President Obama decries the new law. Several state and municipal governments across the country, California being the largest, have threatened boycotts of firms based in Arizona. Radio talk shows have been abuzz with what many consider blatant "racial profiling," while others consider it a just action toward solving a serious immigration problem.
The latest stab at a boycott against AZ comes from the Cook County Board of Commissioners (Cook County IL includes the City of Chicago).
As reported in the Chicago Tribune by John Byrne and Hal Dardick, the new law, as originally introduced, would have forbade new Cook County contracts with companies based in Arizona. However, the final version, approved by a 10 to 6 vote of the County Board last Tuesday requires the board to directs the county to avoid contracts with Arizona-based companies only if there are other, cheaper options elsewhere. The Cook County Boycott would continue until the AZ Immigration Bill is repealed.
The issue, commissioners contended, was a matter of "civil liberties."
Apparently, however, practicality won out over "civil liberties" later in the same meeting, however. The Cook County Board subsequently voted to award a sizable contract to install and maintain Red Light Enforcement Cameras at intersections in Unincorporated Areas of Cook County to Scottsdale AZ-based American Traffic Systems.
Well . . .???
DEAN MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
