Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle to Hold Online Town Hall

Chicago, IL, August 20, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced today that she will be holding an online Town hall next week, August 23, 2011 at 7:15 p.m. The town hall will give the residents of Cook County a chance to “Tell Toni” their ideas on the Cook County Budget and engage directly with the President and her office on the important financial decisions that will be made in the coming weeks and months.

There will be video of the Town hall live-streaming online at the President’s new budget website cookcountyil.gov/budget where residents throughout the County can watch and participate. Participants can ask questions up until the day before the town hall at the President’s website at the “Tell Toni” page and on Twitter using the hashtag #TellToni. Questions can also be submitted online during the event.

“Cook County residents deserve to know how and why their money is being spent and I’m looking forward to talking with folks about the budget process,” President Preckwinkle said. “It’s important to take advantage of whatever mediums exist to help bring more people to the table. I may not know a lot about Twitter, but I’m willing to learn if it will help better serve the people who elected me to this office.”

On July 28th, President Preckwinkle released a preliminary budget – the first in Cook County government. Citing the need for a more effective budget process, President Preckwinkle issued an Executive Order on June 29th mandating a preliminary budget be issued by July 31st of each year. The Executive Order also calls for a public hearing which will be held August 25, 2011, in order to more fully engage the public in the budget process. The President will submit her Executive Budget recommendation no later than October 31, 2011.

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