Roger Keats is the candidate for Cook County Board President that is supported by the Cook County Republican Party. Linda Shelton has an extensive interview with Keats as well as a compilation of the positions he taken on his website. (Campaign website www.keatsforcook.com/)
It looks like Mr. Keats is trying to run of an anti-corruption/boost the economy platform.
Keats believes the difference between himself and other candidates is that he’s not afraid to do what is necessary to clean up Cook County government and bring the budget under control. “I’m not afraid of one term”.
The biggest concern Keats has in this County is lack of private sector economic growth which causes high unemployment. He feels this can be addressed in three ways:
1 – Lower taxes;
2 – Stop the corruption tax by appointing only qualified persons, developing clear job descriptions, and refusing to appoint relatives or patronage appointees;
3 – Develop enterprise zones, which he helped define by passing legislation in the 80s, and which have not been used much. The difference between enterprise zones and TIF districts is that in the zones workers and entrepeneurs control the money, while in TIF districts the government controls the money.
Head on over to Linda Shelton’s full report. There’s a lot of info there if youa re curious about where Mr. Keats stands on things.