Ongoing tensions between Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Aurelia Pucinski and County Board President John Stroger escalated this week into high-technology brinkmanship.
Pucinski’s camp said Wednesday that because of the Stroger side’s stubbornness, the court system’s computers may go dark next week.
Stroger’s staff responded that if the computers shut down, the clerk will have the public to answer to and no one but herself to blame.
The two sides have been feuding since September, when Pucinski bought more than $500,000 in computer equipment without County Board approval. She said court computers were so overtaxed that she had no choice.
But county administrators said their computers could accommodate court records. Stroger’s office argues the clerk had no need–and, without board approval, no authority–to buy more.
The Illinois Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments next year on whether the purchases required the board’s okay. But in the interim, the infighting is beginning to show signs of heavy shelling.
“I am telling you that there will be NO COMPUTERS IN OPERATION IN THE CLERK’S OFFICE AFTER NOVEMBER 30, 1999,” Pucinski warned Stroger in a letter Monday..
One of her deputies acknowledged Wednesday, however, that “will” means something more like “may.”
The lease on the clerk’s computer program expires Tuesday, Pucinski’s letter explained. The court system has leased software for years from IBM, renewing the agreement annually for about $300,000, said George Rada, her associate clerk for public policy.
Pucinski sought permission to renew the lease several times this fall, according to her letter.
But county staffers, still intent on getting the court clerk to use county computers, never brought her request to the County Board.
“This is another example of your staff making extremely reckless decisions,” Pucinski complained in her letter, sending copies to a roster of judges, County Board members and state officials.
Rada said it’s actually not clear what will happen if the leases expire, but IBM could decide to stop the clerks from using the software, rendering the computers useless and plunging the court system into the technological dark ages. The clerks still can work with only paper records, but far more slowly, he said.
Rada said he doesn’t expect a computer lockout, but “we’re erring on the side of being cautious.
“We’re not trying to surprise anybody or alarm anyone,” he explained. “We’re just trying to make (people) aware of the fact that we’re having a little problem right now.”
Stroger spokesman Jack Beary retorted: What problem?; And, if there is one, it’s of the clerk’s own making.
Since county administrators have offered space on their computer system, Beary maintained, “there is no inability to operate.
“The circuit clerk will have to answer to the public for any reckless withholding of public records,” he said.
Lee Schwartz, the private lawyer representing Pucinski in the state Supreme Court lawsuit, said Wednesday he did not know whether the latest dispute would become a factor in the case.
