Continued Berrios attacks desperate, misleading

COOK COUNTY (December 11, 2017)–In response to Joe Berrios’ latest false claims, progressive Democrat Fritz Kaegi’s campaign manager Rebecca Reynolds issued the following statement:

“The Berrios team’s latest statement about Fritz’s alleged investments in private prisons is replete with blatant lies–hallmarks of Assessor Berrios’ disturbing flagrant perpetuation of economic inequality.  This is yet another feeble Berrios attempt to deflect public attention from the Assessor’s own scandal by lying to voters. Their statement this morning calling lifelong progressive Democrat Fritz Kaegi a ‘Wall Street Republican’ would be laughable if the ease with which Berrios’ campaign lies to voters wasn’t so troubling.

“Fritz’s commitment to progressive Democratic issues and his responsible and ethical investment record are all a part of the public record and can easily be found with little effort.  However, the current Assessor has shown a shameless disregard for getting the facts right for the taxpayers of Cook County–so it should come as no surprise they didn’t get the facts right in their campaign attacks either.

“We understand that this has been a tough time for Mr. Berrios. Just last week, the ProPublica Illinois-Chicago Tribune analysis of tens of thousands of property records demonstrated conclusively that politically connected law firms got billions of dollars in property tax breaks from Joe Berrios on commercial real estate deals–and that Berrios, in turn, put that tax obligation directly on the backs of Cook County residents.

“Especially in this political climate, voters expect and deserve the truth. We call on Mr. Berrios and his staff to at least try to make their case honestly and treat the voters with respect.

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