Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart speaks at Democrat fundraiser
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Saline County Democrats held a fundraiser at Morello's Friday night, and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart was there as a guest speaker.
Dressed in khakis paired with sneakers, Dart set the tone for the fun, amusing and engaging speech he gave to Saline County Democrats.
Dart, a former state representative, is the sheriff of the second largest county, based on population, in the country. He currently oversees between 9,000 and 11,000 inmates, and approximately 3,800 employees of the Cook County Sheriff's Department.
Dart first made the headlines back in Oct. 2008, when he announced he was suspending all foreclosure evictions in Cook County. Due to the subprime mortgage crisis, the number of evictions had risen dramatically since years past, and, according to Dart, many of the people being evicted were renters who had never missed a payment and had no idea their landlord was in financial trouble.
"I saw something really unjust and I wasn't going to be part of it," said Dart at the fundraiser. "People were just being thrown on the street."
Largely due to his outspokenness on this issue, Dart was named one of Time Magazine's top 100 most influential people of the year in 2009.
There have been rumors circling about the possibility Dart may run for mayor of Chicago or even a statewide position, but he says he has no plans for a run in the near future, though he left his foot in the door for the possibility. With his five children ranging in age from two to 10, Dart says his family is too important to him to attempt a campaign at this time.
"Maybe when they're a little older," said Dart.
Dart also seems extremely content with his current job, which he says is "nonstop entertainment."
"I have the ability to touch so many people's lives," said Dart.
Overall, the fundraiser was a big hit, with a good turnout. Several big names in Democratic party politics showed up for the event, including State Senator Gary Forby, State Representative Brandon Phelps, former U.S. Representative David Phelps, along with several city and county officials.
"Our goal was to raise some money and raise some people." said Democratic Party Chairman Bob Oglesby. "I think we did that."