Stanley Moore will assume the 4th District Cook County Board seat vacated after longtime commissioner William Beavers was found guilty of tax evasion last month.
Moore, the former deputy director of the Illinois Department of Transportation, was one of 11 candidates trying to fill the seat.
But the one man responsible for the newest $85,000 a year Cook County Board Commissioner wasn't even in the room.
Sources close to the selection process say State Sen. Donne Trotter -- who happens to be related to Stanley Moore, was the main reason Moore won the appointment.
The source says the committee was pressured and "Donne threatened to cut them off from state resources if they didn't pick Moore."
In making the decision to choose Moore, committee member Ald. Howard Brookins said "some of it had to do with relationships."
Moore was fired from his IDOT post after he was accused of campaigning on state time. He denies the charge, but says he didn't have the money to fight it.
Moore paid the $3,000 fine this week.
The committee heard from interested candidates such as former Cook County President Todd Stroger Thursday before making its decision.
"I still have a desire to do public service," Stroger told the committee.
Other candidates included Ken Sawyer -- the nephew of former Mayor Eugene Sawyer -- who said he'd donate his salary to a scholarship fund.
Moore will serve out the remainder of Beavers’ term, which will end in December 2014.
Beavers was charged after failing to report thousands of dollars in income taken from his campaign funds, converted $68,000 in campaign money to beef up his aldermanic pension and failed to properly account for thousands of dollars in county expense funds. His attorney plans to appeal.
