My heart goes out to the family of LaQuan McDonald. I cannot begin to understand the grief felt by LaQuan's family and friends. We cannot ease their pain but we can demand accountability. While we cannot yet know all the facts of the case, delay and obstruction have prevented justice from being carried out. I commend Judge Valderamma for demanding the release of the dashcam video. However, I am dismayed that we had to rely on his intervention and that only after his decision was the officer involved charged.

Eileen Quinn's life was filled with the riches of family and community. A native of Englewood and a lifelong resident of the Chicago area, she will be best known to many for her unapologetic advocacy for and defense of her son, former Gov. Pat Quinn. Her appearances with him on the campaign trail remain an inspiration to many. Our sympathies to Gov. Quinn and other members of the Quinn family.

We appreciate that Fitch Ratings recognizes our efforts to help address the solvency of the Cook County Pension Fund. Raising the sales tax rate by 1 percent was a difficult but critically important action to help address a $6.5 billion Pension Fund shortfall that has been growing by $1 million a day.

Today, with the support of the Board of Commissioners, we successfully culminated months of work with passage of the FY 16 budget. I want to thank Chairman Daley and the commissioners who stood with us in approving a budget that reflects fiscal realities while at the same time protecting key public health and public safety initiatives, and preserving essential services for our residents.

The Cook County Board of Commissioners today approved the FY 16 budget, a comprehensive plan to increase efficiency, cut the County’s tax-supported expenditures by almost $112 million and address long-term fiscal challenges.

Cook County has been honored for implementing sustainable principles and practices.

The County was among the recipients of the Governor’s Sustainability Awards, considered the “Emmy Awards for sustainability.” The award was presented by the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center. ISTC is a unit of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

I am grateful to Chairman Daley and the Commissioners who supported the revenue proposals we brought today before the Finance Committee. These modest tax proposals will provide us with enough revenue in FY 16 to meet our obligations in core County programs, especially in the public safety arena, without further position reductions. We have said all along that FY 16 would be a very challenging year, and we have worked hard to find savings in the budget -- some $111 million worth -- that will minimize impact on our residents.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said today she will propose a 1% tax on hotels and motels in the County to provide revenue critically needed to close a gap in the County’s FY 2016 budget and fund critical public safety services in the coming year.

The tax proposal is expected to be introduced at a special Board of Commissioners meeting Monday and will replace a previously proposed expansion of the County’s existing amusement tax. Not pursuing a tax on in-home cable and participatory events like golf and bowling leaves a $20.25 million dollar gap in the County’s budget.

Cook County is hosting a public event to celebrate maps and geospatial technology on November 17, 2015. Cook County's Geographic Information Systems (GIS) department and other local governments will demonstrate how they use geospatial technology. The event will be held at the County George Dunne Administrative Building, 69 West Washington, Chicago, Illinois, Lower Level Conference Room, from 9:30 a.m. to noon. County Clerk David Orr is this year's guest speaker. At 10:30 a.m.