Chicago City Wire

Bob Fioretti is fighting for the preservation of the only place he’s known as home.

“This budget has doubled from a little bit over $2 billion in eight years,” Fioretti said during a recent appearance on the "Chicago’s Morning Answer" radio show. “We have got to find a way to implement strategic partnerships and cut the budget, live within our means. If we don’t this county and state will no longer survive.”

"Chicago’s Morning Answer" is co-hosted by Dan Proft, who also is a principal in Local Government Information Services, which owns this publication.

The 64-year-old Fioretti, a former Chicago alderman (2nd Ward), recently launched his campaign for Cook County Board president against Toni Preckwinkle.

As the controversy over the recently repealed soda tax enacted by Cook County played out, Fioretti was one of Preckwinkle’s biggest and harshest critics, going as far as to set up a website advocating that the law be stripped away.

“I grew up in Chicago; I’m true to a lot of Democratic ideas,” Fioretti said. “We are in a stage where people are leaving this state, this county, this city because we are taxing them out. At some point, the system is going to collapse. As alderman, I brought 8,000 jobs to my ward; I created 8,000. I worked under two administrations; I worked with a lot of companies to help schools. We have to do it by working with the people instead of dictating to them.”

In making his run official, Fioretti filed an eye-popping 38,405 signatures. 

“A lot of it was a groundswell,” he said. “We were walking down street and people would say ‘can I sign petitions.’ I was amazed at the outpour and that people want to get involved. We going to concentrate on the issues making Cook County live within its means, go back to its core mission of quality health care and safety.”

Fioretti said he is hoping to have the chance to debate Preckwinkle during the campaign and already knows what the issues are he wants to talk about.

“I think we need a series of them,” he said. “I think that’s what’s been lacking about this administration. They fail to take what the people are saying about the budget.”

Fioretti said the flood of signatures he filed were far away more than all the other Democratic candidates running for president filed combined.  

“Things are starting to come together,” he said. “If they want to challenge our signatures, so be it.”

Fioretti said he has not spent a lot of time thinking about his run against Preckwinkle, instead focusing on the things he sees as truly being important.

“We need to invite more people to work here and businesses to come here instead of taxing people and businesses out,” he said.

Fioretti, who is eight years removed from the cancer he once had, added he would not have entered the March 2018 race if he were not strong and healthy.