Politics on Valentine's Day can be like a box of chocolates. You don't what you are going to get next.
The Cook County Board's Finance Committee has picked Valentine's Day to debate an issue pushed by Commissioner John Fritchey: combining the Cook County clerk and recorder of deeds offices. Fritchey thinks it could save the county $1 million a year.
If the Finance Committee, which is a committee of the whole, approves the plan, the County Board could vote on it the very next day. A yes vote there would put the issue to referendum in November. (The County Board all by itself doesn't have the power to eliminate an elected office.)
State Rep. Karen Yarbrough of Maywood
Expect a close vote. It's always hard to change the status quo. Some people will worry about losing jobs. And state Rep. Karen Yarbrough, who has no primary opposition on March 20 in her campaign to leave the Legislature and become recorder of deeds, would go from having a clear path to a four-year term in a countywide office to an uncertain future. (There's also no Republican on the ballot, but the party can appoint one after the primary.)
If the referendum passes, the recorder of deeds would go out of existence as a separate elected office at the end of 2013, cutting Yarbrough's term short. But that's also when it's time to file for the next election. If County Clerk David Orr doesn't run for re-election, Yarbrough would be in a strong strategic position to pursue that office.
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You are correct, in that case Yarbrough could very well pursue that office and I believe she will do just that..