Dear Supporter,

Republican incumbent Elizabeth Doody Gorman is really reaching when she tries to speak as an authority on tax dollars and the Cook County Budget.

Let's make this clear: Doody Gorman voted for the last two Todd Stroger budgets.

The same budgets that triggered two tax increases that sent our taxes through the roof and allowed the county to continue to operate under a budget deficit; a deficit budget that has reached a whopping $3 billion!

Last week, Doody Gorman sent her supporters a letter accusing the Orland Fire Protection District of raising our taxes. This is a complete and reckless distortion of the truth.

Under my leadership, the Orland Fire Protection District has cut our taxes significantly.

In fact, the District's tax rate has dropped by 20% from 2003, my first year on the board, to 2008, down from 1.062% to .85%.

In comparison, between 2007 and 2008, the Cook County tax rate went up 20%, from .186% to .224%.

Doody Gorman needs to check her homework next time before she turns it in.

I'm very proud of my tenure on the Fire Protection District Board. During the last four years that I've served as its president and, as a group, we have cut spending, improved services and brought fiscal responsibility to a taxing district that desperately needed it.

Her statement seems to indicate that she doesn't even understand how taxes work. Maybe that's why the county budget she helps oversee has a deficit of over $3 billion.

The baseless political attack we saw today is what people have, unfortunately, come to expect from the elected officials who represent the failed county government. The voters are turned off by rhetoric and half-truths.

The do-nothing members of the County Board are desperate to make up for wasted time because there is an election on the horizon. They should be worried because the voters are done with Todd Stroger, Doody Gorman and the rest of the failed Cook County government.

Our campaign is being attacked for two reasons: Because our message is resonating with the voters and because the opposition knows we can win in the February 2010 Primary Election and again in the November General Election. I have talked to thousands of residents in our district and they are ready to press the reset button on Todd Stroger and the Cook County Board.

To continue to get our message out, we need your help. I hope these political attacks from an entrenched member of the failed County Board will motivate you to help our campaign for reform. If you can, please click here to make a contribution and/or click here to volunteer for my campaign. I promise you I'll continue to fight for responsible spending, ethics reform and an end to rampant corruption on the county board.

Sincerely,

Patrick Maher
Candidate for Cook County Commissioner, 17th District