CHICAGO—The city's business community clearly loves MayorRahm Emanuel, but yesterdayBOMA/Chicago had lunch with Cook County BoardPresident Toni Preckwinkle, a politician whocurrently beats the mayor in polls, giving members the chance tolearn a little about someone who may one day run City Hall. She wasasked questions about county finances, its real estate, the pensioncrisis, and of course, her political future.

Preckwinkle began her speech by notingthat although she ran for the county's top job largely so she couldinfluence its approach to public safety and public health, anotherpriority was to institute a more business-like attitude towardcounty finances. Once elected, Preckwinkle first task was to closea $487 million budget gap, “and we did that in the first budgetcycle without an increase in property taxes and even rolled backthe sales tax increase, as we promised in the campaign.”

She added that the county currentlyfaces a $168 million gap, a considerable improvement over thefinancial abyss she confronted that first year. And however countyofficials close the current gap there seems no doubt that theywon't impose the type of sales tax increase seen under herpredecessor. “It was bad for working families and bad forbusiness.”