County Board Approves Changes To Contracting Process
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Cook County Board has approved a new way of hiring consultants and making purchases, which actually reduces some of the board's oversight.
As WBBM Newsradio's John Cody reports, County Board President Tony Preckwinkle says board members will no longer be involved in requests for proposals, opening of bids, and individual process payments in the contracting process. They will only vote at vendor selection and contract execution.
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The board also raised to $150,000 the size of contracts that need full board review.
Preckwinkle says new transparency means there will be no sliding by oversight requirements, such as placing the value of contracts at just under $25,000 as seen during the last administration.
"We're not having any more of these $24,999 contracts, for which there was not a bid process or an RFP process," she said.
Board Member Larry Suffredin (D-13th) voted for the measure but cautioned it places significantly more power in the hands of the county executive.
