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Politics & Government

Cook County Unveils 'Transparency, Accountability' Program

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced county departments will set and track goals through the STAR system.

Cook County is working to be more efficient and to hold departments accountable for the quality of their performance, county board president Toni Preckwinkle said Thursday.

 The county released its first quarterly performance management report. Preckwinkle said the Set Targets Achieve Results (STAR) reports will help streamline county services.

"Performance management gives us the opportunity to change the culture of the County and begin a new chapter in county government," Preckwinkle said at the County Building in Chicago.

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Preckwinkle said STAR is designed to boost accountability and lower the cost of government by setting and tracking goals for each county agency and department. A full copy of the first STAR report can be found here.

Some of the county-wide goals include lowering jail populations, improving access to health care, workforce development, and fair and timely billing and property assessment.

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Some improvements have already been made, according to the report, such as faster invoice processing, and the creation of a manager-training program to ensure proper budgeting.

Cook County Clerk David Orr cited specific improvements within his department, such as a new online database of financial disclosure statements.

"We believe this is very helpful, and we'll do our best to continue the efficiencies," Orr said.

The Cook County Clerk's new Statements of Economic Interests site can be viewed here.

The next quarterly report will be released in October.

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