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Cook County has many problems, many solutions.
Start with the Forest Department.
They have a separate police department. They have a top heavy, clout filled administration that manages to do little or nothing. They are so bloated that some other counties have come to inspect how the Forest Preserve Dept. works, just to see what to avoid. (Let's ignore the gilt porta-throne that Ye Olde John Stroger used to use, before his brain damage. I am NOT making this up)
Then, move to Medical Centers. While Stroger handles poor and indigent, and while military docs love doing rotations through Stroger (they have more hands on opportunity for treating critical gun shots and knifing wounds than at any other facility, including the VAs across the nation), anyone who looked closely at the Cook COunty medical system would be shocked. Stunned. Tased. And very, very angry.
Next, Cook County Sheriffs. Do they REALLY need a deputy in each and every courtroom? Really? Even in Law Division or Muni? OK, criminal courts, domestic relations, and those chancery courts that deal with foreclosures, yeah, there is a need. But really, come on.
How about the TB unit? Yep, Cook County has employees who staff a TB emergency unit, separate and apart from the COok County hospital system. It does, in a word, NOTHING. Hasn't had a patient in a decade. Hasn't dealt with the TB drug resistant cases, because other hospitals and centers are dealing with it. Talk about a plush, lush, do nothing job. Or, more precisely, multiple jobs, mostly appointed.
Ejukashun. Don't ask, don't tell, seems to be their motto. A mire of Quags that cannot be believed.
The Courts? OK, we have the largest unified court system in the world. More cases are filed here per year than anyplace else. I repeat, ANY PLACE ELSE. Some clerks offices are kick ass. Bridgeview, Skokie and the Law, Domestic and Chancery divisions of the Daley Center are not only professional, they are polite, friendly, helpful, and do a great job. Others? Markham Rolling Meadows? Traffic? Not so much. At least the additional fees for computerization are finally paying off. The Clerk's website continues to get better, and soon, the Beta program for online filing will spread to all divisions.
But, if you walk through courts at 3pm, especially most of the floors in the Daley Center, every court room looks empty. Unused. There is this crazy idea that judges can never share courtrooms, but must have their own.
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